For the week that followed his argument with Lysa, Din had thrown himself into his work.
A distraction was always a good thing. He knew that. And taking two tricky bounty hunter jobs, one straight after the other on behalf of the New Republic, had certainly kept his mind and his body busy.
After six days of chasing after two separate criminals on the run, Din was completely spent. As was Grogu.
But as they had been heading back towards Nevarro, it turned out his prize N-1 Naboo Starfighter, wasn't faring much better either.
The ship had felt clunky since Ryloth and so Din had been forced to make an unforeseen pit stop in Tatooine. At the Mos Eisley spaceport. And at the home and workplace of Peli Motto.
The familiar curly-haired woman of course had welcomed Din and Grogu with welcome arms, despite the late hour.
"It's jus' your fan belt," she said placing her hands to her hips as she stepped back from examining Din's ship. "You've obviously been going too hard on her for the last couple of days."
Din who was stood beside his beloved ship, gave a sigh.
"Can you fix it tonight?" he asked in a heavy voice. "I just want to get back and sleep in my own bed."
Din looked over to his green son who was sat on a small bench near to the wall beside them, his eyes closing tiredly.
They were both exhausted and all Din wanted was to get home and have a proper rest - in something that wasn't the pilot seat of his Starfighter at least!
"Of course, but it'll cost ya," said Peli Motto in a sing-song voice, cocking her head to one side, causing Din to give a groan.
She moved over to him, giving him a slap on the back.
"Pfft, I know you're good for it, Mando, quit your whinin'."
Din turned to her, shooting her a look, which she ignored, and instead began yelling at her droids to go fetch her the various parts she required to fix his ship.
There was a lot of hustle and bustle for several minutes as the droids sped this way and that.
Din took this as his opportunity to wander over to Grogu.
"Hey," uttered the Mandalorian through his modulator, causing Grogu to blink his eyes open at the sound. "She's gonna fix the ship and then we'll be home soon. Okay?"
Grogu gave a nod, as Din sighed again and dropped down onto the bench beside his son.
The pair sat in silence for a few minutes before Peli Motto reappeared with a small cup in her hand.
"Here," she said, handing Grogu the tiny dish of bone broth. "You must be starving."
Din gave a frown.
"I do feed him, you know-" he said with a huff.
But Peli Motto merely eyed him. "Not enough," she replied scoldingly, cutting across his words. "A baby like him needs to be fed up…make him nice and strong."
"He's already strong," retorted Din huffily.
At this Peli Motto placed her hands to both her hips once more, narrowing her eyes in his direction.
"Phew," she said loudly. "What's got your beskar in a twist today, Mando?"
Din sighed heavily. He wasn't in the mood to be questioned.
He was tired, dirty and all he wanted now was some rest.
Because the longer he was awake, the longer he had to dwell on what had happened between him and Lysa.
Maybe he was wrong for confronting her about Crix like that. But he had only done it because he cared.
And he did care.
The idea of Lysa getting hurt by a man that was supposed to love her…well, it boiled Din's blood.
But he had tried to reason with Lysa. Tried to get her to admit what Crix had done…what he had surely done, right? Because those bruises were certainly not the result of an accident getting out of a speeder.
But that was not what Lysa had wanted obviously. And what more could Din do? She had made her choice and he needed to respect that now.
But that didn't mean he was happy with it.
Din had tried to distract himself with a bounty or two, and it had worked to an extent. But it was the in-between moments that thoughts of Lysa seeped through into the forefront of his mind. The long journeys where Grogu was asleep, with nothing but a vast expanse of space to occupy his thoughts. That was when he thought about her. What she was doing… if she was ok? If she was thinking about him, the same way he was thinking about her?
"Earth to Mando!" came a sudden voice snapping Din suddenly from his thoughts.
"Huh?" he replied looking up into Peli Motto's face.
She gave an audible tut and rolled her eyes.
"I saaaaid, what's on your mind," the woman in an accusing tone. "Or should I say where's your mind, cause it's certainly not here with us."
"It's nothing. I'm fine," sighed Din, interlacing his fingers before him. "I'm just….tired."
He was tired. That was no lie.
But to his annoyance, Peli Motto raised both eyebrows, her lips twitching up into a knowing grin.
"Ah….a woman, huh?" she said with a nod, shooting Grogu a look.
Din instantly frowned behind his beskar helmet.
"What?" said the Mandalorian quickly. "No-...I-...how did you-"
But Peli Motto grinned widely, raising both hands either side of her head.
"You didn't have to say anything," she uttered in a purposeful voice. "I know that look."
Grogu who now seemed very much awake, enjoying his bone broth and watching the conversion between Din and Peli Motto play out, looked up his father. The irony of Peli's last sentence not lost on either of them, seeing as Din's face was covered with a kilo of beskar.
Looking back up towards her, Din let out another exhausted huff.
Was he that transparent? Had his feelings for Lysa become almost imprinted onto him? Visible for those around him to see?
Din hoped not, as she had now made it very clear that she had not appreciated his interference and wanted him out of her life.
Din remained silent for a little while longer, before speaking slowly.
"There's this girl…woman. A friend. Well…..maybe not even that," he began, as Peli Motto folded her arms over her chest, listening intently. "But she's….the man she's with. It's like he doesn't even seem to care about her."
Din shook his head, the words had spilled from his mouth before he could stop himself.
But Peli merely gave a sniff.
"So what are you gonna do to get the girl?" she said starkly, causing Din's face to flush behind his helmet.
At her words, Grogu too looked up at his father with interest.
"Me?" Din began, sounding a little exasperated, and initially going to argue that that was not his intention at all. But he softened slightly, letting an audible breath of air escape his lips. "A woman like her, wouldn't want someone like me."
"Poppycock!" Peli Motto said sharply. "You might not be much of a talker but you've got lots going for ya." She raised her hands, checking them off one digit at a time. "You've got a nice new home…a sexy ship…a cute kid…."
Din frowned again.
"She's with someone…" he murmured.
Peli tutted.
"Well then you're gonna have to show her, that you're a better match for her than he is," she replied.
Behind his beskar Din chewed at his lip.
"How?" he breathed.
But at this, the curly-haired woman merely gave a huge roll of her eyes, bending at the knees and leaning back on her heels.
"Well I don' know!" she said in a exasperated tone. "But you'll think of something. You're a Mandalorian. You're used to thinkin' on your feet."
And with that she shook her head and headed off to check on the droids.
"No don't put that there!" she yelled across the workshop, as Mando gave a final sigh.
And so folding his arms over his own chest, Din Djarin rested his head back against the wall behind him, closing his eyes, just for a moment.
And for a second, Peli's words sat in his mind starkly. 'So what are you gonna do to get the girl?'
Right now Din wasn't so sure…but he let out a small smile despite himself, before he felt himself begin to relax into sleep….
….as a woman with golden hair and a kind smile slipped her way easily into his dreams as he did so…
Thanks to MsRosePetal, J-James and smichale for reviewing the last couple of chapters.
I'll be away from this fic for a few days. Would you guys be happy with me carrying on when I get back? Not really that sure how popular this fic is.
Happy to keep writing if you guys want to keep reading. Just let me know if I should continue.
Please review.