The hours slipped slowly by.

In the darkness of Din's room, Lysa lay there alone, staring up at the ceiling above.

Having stripped off her boots, she was lying on top of cool sheets, her chest rising and falling hard beneath the bodice of her pale tunic dress.

She had been tossing and turning for hours, desperate to drift off, and yet she couldn't. The evening's events playing through her mind like a looping transmission.

If only her aim had been better…

She wouldn't now be fretting about what would happen if Crix was still alive out there. About what would happen if he came back, angry and looking for revenge.

But despite this, Lysa tried to keep reminding herself that she was free.

Free from the clutches of a monster like Crix.

She could still feel the ghosts of bruises over her ribs. Still feel the place where his fingers had closed around her throat.

She swallowed now, trying to push thoughts like this from her mind.

Lysa knew she was safe with Din just outside the door, keeping watch.

She felt safer with him that had ever done in her life.

Protected.

His strong arms wrapped around her earlier this evening, stirring feelings inside her she had tried at first to bury.

But as the minutes and hours slid by, here alone in the sleeper, all Lysa could think about was him.

Yearning for his closeness.

Here lying on top of his bedsheets and his flat pillow, she could smell his musky scent.

Like starship fuel, ocean water, and burning driftwood. A cool, salty, heady scent that seemed to envelope Lysa as she lay there.

Desperate for him…

She swallowed again, breathing hard.

Din's bed was large. Large enough for two.

She wondered now if he had ever shared it with another?

A bitter sting of jealousy tugging at her stomach as she thought on Din being with another woman.

It must have happened of course. But even so, Lysa tried to push these painful thoughts away. Shaking herself.

She needed to stop this.

But propping herself up onto her elbows, Lysa stared at the door just a few feet away.

Din was out there now- she knew that, keeping watch for any sign of Crix.

She wondered now where he was sat. What he was thinking on, as he sat out there alone.

Wanting nothing more than to see him now.

And so making up her mind before she could second guess herself, Lysa sat up and slipped from the bed, padding to the door on bare feet.

Din was sat up on the wide cushioned window ledge, back against the wall, one leg bent, his free arm leaning against his knee. As he kept a watch out of the wide window.

In his other hand, was his trusted Amban pulse-wave sniper rifle, which he raised every few minutes, checking the long-range scope for any movement.

It was his second of these weapons since his first had been destroyed along with the Razorcrest. Near to the perfect weapon for keeping a look out.

But the only thing Din had seen so far during his hours here, was the odd lava cat, and in the far distance, the Peacekeepers patrolling on their speeders.

But so far, no Crix.

Din wasn't sure if he was grateful for that or not. For Din would like nothing more than for Crix to show up here again. If he did, the protective Mandalorian would not hesitate to shoot him between the eyes, for the pain and anguish he had caused, and was still causing, Lysa.

In the darkness of the living space, with the lights long since extinguished, Din glanced at the door that separated them now. Thinking of her.

How he longed for her. Ached for her. With every fibre of his being.

But as though on cue, he heard a sudden hiss, as the door to his sleeper slid open.

Din swallowed hard as Lysa suddenly emerged, looking like a dream to him now…

…still in her cream tunic dress, but she had removed the belt at her waist. Her top two buttons on her bodice were undone, revealing a low cut white blouse beneath.

Her long golden hair was ruffled and her clothes rumpled…as she appeared from the doorway on bare feet.

Din felt his breath catch in his throat as he looked upon her, feeling his heart constrict beneath his beskar armour.

He knew, in that moment, that he wanted her. For now and forever.

"I couldn't sleep," she said in a quiet voice, tilting her head and causing her hair to drift over her slender shoulder.

To him she looked like perfection. And Din knew that he would never in a million years deserve a woman like her.

She approached him slowly, her eyes travelling to the large window at his side.

"Anything?" she asked in an uneasy tone, wrapping her arms over herself.

But Din gave a shake of his head, his gaze shifting to the expansive dark desert outside the window.

"R5 would notify me if anything had crossed the perimeter," he said in a low voice.

Lysa lingered on her feet for a moment before suddenly, to Din's surprise, settling herself on the window ledge opposite him.

From here he could see the rise and fall of her heavenly chest, the light tanned skin of her collarbone catching in the moonlight.

But Din glanced up quickly to see her staring back at him. She licked at her perfect lips gently before speaking again.

"Thank you…again," she said, her voice calmer than it had been just a few hours earlier. "For letting me stay. And for…well….everything else too. I-"

She paused, giving a heavy sigh, shaking her head, her eyes drifting towards the clear night's sky.

"I'm so sorry," she said, her voice full of sorrow and honesty. "I should have listened to you. I just-"

She looked back to Din, her green eyes searching his helmeted face.

"I think I thought he loved me. I think…when he hit me I used to convince myself that it was something I'd done wrong, and if I just tried harder I wouldn't make him so angry next time." She shrugged, letting out a sorry-laugh. "But of course it never worked. He just got angrier and angrier. And I just sort of put up with it I guess."

Din remained silent. Letting Lysa speak. It seemed important to her now that she explained.

Lysa chewed on her bottom lip for a short moment, before continuing.

"But then I met you, and-"

But she stopped suddenly, mid-sentence, visibly swallowing now.

Her gaze quickly left his once more, the tops of her cheeks flushing the slightest shade of pink.

She changed the subject quickly.

"Grogu," she said looking back to Din. "…what he did tonight…"

She shook her head, giving a frown.

"…is he…a Jedi?"

Din gave his own frown at her words. He cursed himself for having underestimated her.

Lysa has travelled through the outer rim and likely beyond. So it was stupid of him to think that she hadn't heard of such things as Jedi.

Din let out a long huff of air through his nose.

"He was trained at the Jedi temple on Corcuscant," he explained. "And then he spent some time with a Jedi by the name of Skywalker. But he's chosen not to travel that path. I have agreed to train him as a Mandalorian foundling while he is under my care."

Lysa gave an understanding nod, the pair falling into a comfortable silence for a long few seconds.

Din stared at her. He had never seen her look so at ease. Looking like a weight had been lifted from her shoulders, hair loose around her, in bare feet, with buttons undone. She looked comfortable here with Din.

Like she belonged here with him.

After a few moments had passed, he noticed Lysa's gaze fall to the rifle in his hands momentarily.

"How far can you see through that thing?" she asked in a soft voice, a genuine expression of interest across her features.

Din paused for a second before looking up at Lysa, his heart rate increasing slightly as he shifted against the wall behind him, readjusting his position. Wordlessly creating room for her beside him.

Lysa blinked at him for the shortest of moments, before, to Din's relief, and yet his nervousness also, she got up from her seat. Coming to sit in the space to Din's right.

Din shifted again. The cushioned ledge was wide, and yet the pair sat close, their hips touching.

From here, Din could smell her heady scent. It was sweet and sleep-filled. Like warm nectar. Causing Din to almost salivate at this close proximity to her.

He tried at once to control his breathing, but he was almost certain his pounding heart would give him away.

To get into a position where Lysa could see through the scope, Din moved slightly, circling his arm around her, so that her back was pressed close to his chest.

His beskar-covered face coming to rest beside hers, as he held up the rifle with both hands.

Lysa was closer to him now than she had ever been and it took all of Din's strength to control his body.

Everything about her intoxicated him. Her scent filling his nostrils, causing him to give a harsh swallow.

At this, he felt her glance his way, only moving her head a fraction, but it was enough.

Din knowing that if he had been helmetless, their lips would have been a mere inch apart.

But he wasn't.

He couldn't forget that now of course.

He turned back to the task in hand, lifting the rifle a little allowing Lysa space to look through the scope.

She leaned in as Din watched her.

"If you swing it left a little, you can see the gates to the city in the distance," he murmured in a low voice into her ear.

Din tilted the pulse rifle in the general direction of the city, knowing that the looming city gates could be seen, a mere speck on the horizon, at the weapon's highest setting.

After a moment Lysa pulled back.

Sitting up straight once more, she turned to Din.

He lowered his right arm from the rifle, allowing it to drop around her easily.

She was an inch or two away now, her pretty green eyes searching his through his beskar.

But that look of worry was back again, that horizontal line between her brows deep with concern.

"Do you think he'll come back?" she said with a whisper.

He could see her breathing hard now.

And Din could only stare back at her. Wishing he could take every single worry from her now, keeping her safe here with him forever.

"If he does I'll be here," Din replied in a low, meaningful voice. "I'm not going to let him hurt you again."

He was serious now.

Knowing that he would never let Crix lay another finger on her as long as he lived.

Lysa stared at Din for a long second, before turning away from him once more.

But to Din's surprise instead of moving away, Lysa shifted herself back into him. Coming to lean her head in the crook of Din's covered neck.

Turning her body into his, and lifting her bare feet onto the sill. Her knees grazing his, she placed a hand to his breast-plate.

And Din could only swallow carefully before lowering his arm around Lysa's shoulder, his gloved thumb instantly moving to rub gentle circles over her tunic-covered arm.

And it was only a moment or two later that he felt her breathing settle, as he held her to him.

And by the time Din looked back to the window to see the first speck of dawn creeping over the horizon, He knew that Lysa was fast asleep.

Thanks to MsRosePetal, aprilkay7 and J-James for reviewing the last chapter.

I'd love to hear any comments you may have on this chapter. What did you think?

Please review! :)