Author's Note: This is the second part to the second chapter that I was to sick to write for last Friday's submission. So, Chapter 2 Part B…another shortie. But my hope is to catch up and have one full chapter put together by this weekend. I hope you enjoy!! And thank you for all the kind words and kudos that you've sent me so far. They make me happy!
Disclaimer: Not mine.
Chapter 2b
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For Djarin, consciousness is like surfacing from the dark pool of Mandalore. He takes a long, deep breath, and yet his lungs still seize and choke for air. His hand flails for anything solid, and someone grasps it tightly.
"What? What?"
"It's okay Din Djarin, you're safe." The voice is vaguely familiar, the words sibilant, slightly lisping.
"Where's the k-kid?" he asks. It is his only thought. There is nothing more.
"Grogu is nearby. I'll have R2 get him if you want."
There is a whispering sound that quickly fades.
"I can't see. What's happening?" he asks the gentle voice associated with the hand that still grasps his. He tightens his grip. He'll go under again if he doesn't.
"Listen carefully, Din Djarin, and I will explain. We don't have much time, because I fear that you're too weak to stay conscious long."
"What? Why? Where is Grogu?"
"Grogu is nearby. R2 is getting him," the voice says patiently. "I am Luke Skywalker. Do you remember me?"
"No, no? Skywalker? No. Who? Has he eaten? He n-needs, a-always needs food. I-is he safe?"
"Din Djarin, listen please. I need to tell you what has happened," Skywalker says.
The lost man feels a gentle, grounding pressure on his chest. His lungs strain against the compression. He coughs, moans, and momentarily slips into the dark nothingness that surrounds him.
When he resurfaces, the voice speaks many things he does not entirely understand. Grogu. That name, yes, that he understands. Grogu. A warm word. There are other words that sound cold, but he does not understand them. The Dark Side. Death. Killing. The words don't make sense. They are a puzzle with disjointed edges and sides that do not fit together precisely.
"Din Djarin, you're ill. Something has damaged your mind. I can't fix it completely. I want to take you to your people. Where are they now?"
A word. His thoughts are overcome by one gleaming word.
"M-Mandalore."
"Yes, I'm aware that they've returned to Mandalore. But your cohort. Where on Mandalore can I find them?"
"The A-Armourer. Take me to…."
His strength gives out with the remembering. He struggles, cries out, and slips under the darkness. Skywalker yells his name, grabs his other hand, and Din Djarin feels more solid again.
"Where's my son?" he sobs. "Where is he? I want to see him. He needs me. He's my son. He should be with me."
"He is coming, Din Djarin. He will be here in moments. Save your strength, and he will be with you."
Djarin tries to do as the voice says, but what little power he has is useless now. He hears Skywalker hiss in annoyance, feels a straining in his head, and then slips under. Drowning again, and then gone. Just gone. Back to nothingness.
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Luke is momentarily shaken. Son? What was this? Din must mean Grogu, but how had this happened? Din Djarin, a bounty hunter, had actually adopted the child?
Luke puts his surprise aside as Grogu steals into the room with R2D2. There will be time later to think through the situation.
Cowering, Grogu stands helplessly in the middle of the room. Wordlessly, Luke shakes his head and reaches out his hand. Grogu cringes back and stumbles to his father. He climbs onto the bed and settles on Din Djarin's chest. Luke senses the child's attention turning inward and knows Grogu is readying to submit himself to the meditative state he's been in since Luke found him.
Luke mentally reaches out to stop the child from subsuming his own spirit to feed his father's.
Grogu pushes him away, but Luke insists this time.
"I need to talk to you, Grogu. It's about your father."
Grogu's right ear turns in his direction, and Luke can't help but smile.
"Grogu, your father was back, for a moment. I saw what you've done for him."
Both long ears now droop as Grogu closes his eyes.
"He needs to go to Mandalore, Grogu. He told me to find someone he called the Armourer. Do you know who that person is?"
A wisp of an affirmative. Not outright communication, but more than he's had since finding the traumatized child.
"Can you lead me to this person? Your father tried hard to give me their name. I think it's important to get him to them."
One long ear perks up, and that faint thread of positivity drifts into Luke's mind again. He feels Grogu's consciousness submerging once more, but he calls out insistently.
"Grogu, we need to talk!"
There is no response.
"Grogu! I know what you're doing. It's draining you far too much. You need to stop. We need to work together to bring you back into the true way of the Force, to take you off the precipice of the Dark Side on which you—"
As if a thick metal door is slammed down in front of him, Luke loses contact with what small part of Grogu's mind he has been privy to.
"Grogu! Grogu, please," Luke calls, stretching out his awareness in desperation.
Another metal door slams down strongly enough to make Luke flinch.
Grogu sighs, buries his head in his father's chest, and begins his task again.