Solemnly walking the plains of Mandalore in the aftermath, he grew increasingly unsettled. Broken bodies in bloody armor littered the ground. So many more of them than Jedi. It hardly seemed fair. The thorn in his mind kept him silent while he cast his eyes around the endless field of death he'd helped to create, trying to justify it. Yes, they'd turned on him. Turned on their Lady. But he knew some of these people well. Feasted and laughed with them. They might have been turncoats, but he couldn't make peace with it despite their deceptions. In his heart he knew he'd betrayed all sides.
But he would never betray the faction that mattered most. His wife and their son. The little girl who would come in a few more months. It was the thought of them that kept his voice even and his mind clear. They were his only mission now. He'd only fought this final battle to offer them freedom. To find a means of escape and finally see their visions manifest into the physical world. Raise their children in peace, and love each other without the shadow of secrecy clouding every joy. It was the only way he could justify it, knowing that in a few more hours, they would leave it all behind and finally start looking ahead.
These thoughts arrested in his brain when his eyes seized on a small form in blue armor. At first he thought he'd imagined it, but with every step toward the twisted body, the features of her armor and the shape of her hips underneath it became sickeningly undeniable. When his eyes rested on the delicate swell of her pregnant belly under the armor, his mind finally grasped the horror he was seeing, and his heart stopped dead in his chest.
"VAE!"
He flung himself to the ground beside her and took the small, limp body into his arms, begging the Force and the Maker and all of it that he was wrong. He yanked her helmet off her head to let the raven curls fall free, and took her beautiful face in his hands, begging to see life lingering there. But the violet eyes were empty.
A pinpoint in his soul collapsed, and pain sucked him backward into a fathomless black hole as his entire life lay dead in is arms.
The searing rift broke him utterly apart. There was nothing he could do to save her. Nothing he could do to save himself. His heart throbbed and released a dying keen that pushed tears out of his eyes as he screamed her name to the sky, cradling her against him as he sobbed uncontrollably into her hair, begging the Force to bring her back. But there was nothing left. Nothing to draw from. His fatally wounded heart couldn't summon anything as his hand trailed over a sickening pool of blood and a gaping wound in her belly that proved their baby was gone too. He collapsed in the sand, clasping her to his chest while everything inside him went black.
He sat in this state of agonizing nothingness for he didn't know how long, until he felt his companions' eyes boring into him, in various states of awe while Master Lome wept over his wife and child. Their thoughts became too insistent, and he couldn't block them out anymore. It didn't matter what they knew anyway, so to silence the questions, he managed to tell them through sobs that this woman was his wife and he had a son with her. "I loved her... loved her…"
He collapsed again into deep, bitter sobs as one of the Jedi put his hand on his hilt, prepared to bring this traitor before the Council. But wise Master Verische didn't seem disturbed or surprised by Lome's outburst, and counseled patience, looking at each of his companions significantly to suggest they back off. His eyes burned slightly brighter when he made his suggestion to Master Holdoc, who was in rage to see Lome punished for his insolence at last. But even Holdoc wouldn't defy Master Verische, and finally dropped his hand from his saber and settled where he stood, a sour look broadcasting his displeasure across his stark face. Verische nodded his cool appreciation to Holdoc, then stepped back a few paces and knelt patiently to hear what Master Lome would say when he was able.
After some time, Lome's sobs finally subsided, and he sank over his wife's body while he wrapped his arms around her, and kissed her lifeless lips. "Nothing will take you from me," he whispered. "Nothing will take our son. I swear it, my Lady. Everything I do from this day will be in honor of you, Vae. In honor of us."
Exhausted and empty, Master Lome lifted his tear-streaked face to look into Verische's kind eyes. The pale, cool blue barely disguised the fire Lome had always seen there. Now they betrayed everything. Verische secretly understood exactly what Lome could no longer feel, and the patient eyes were overtaken with compassion and pain. He sighed sadly and shook his head. "You will not come back with us, will you, Lome?"
"I am not subject to the Council, Verische, because I am no longer Jedi."
"What are you, then, Djaret Lome?"
"I am Djae Lome's father. I am of the Force. That is all that's left."
"Verische, we can't let this betrayal go unanswered," Master Holdoc insisted, having lost what little patience he had. "He has broken the Jedi Code! He has taken a wife and fathered children. He married a Mandalorian! An enemy of the Republic and the Jedi Order!"
"Holdoc," Verische said in that deep, accented tone that brooked no refusals. "Master Lome has already been punished. Rather cruelly. We will allow him to raise his son in peace with what's left of his heart. So long as he can give us his assurances."
"I will not betray the Light, Fainion. What little remains, I must keep for my son. But I am no Jedi. I only protect the things that are most important. That is what the Force wants of me. All it wants. So from this day, I will walk my own Way."
Din shot up in bed when the voice in his dream sounded like his own. He gulped in air, heaving and terrified until he was sure it was only a dream. When he remembered where and who he was, he looked anxiously beside him to make sure she was still there. He had to check every so often anyway, and this dream about his saber's maker jolted him. Djaret Lome's anguish was so real Din almost saw himself sobbing over Aldor. A terrifying thing to see so much of his own fear through this ancient Master's memory.
Din's journeys into Djaret Lome's memory had become increasingly frequent since Mayfeld left. He knew there had to be a reason for it because he saw so much of himself in this man who died without his heart. So many of the same words and even their words, all laced through these visions. Many of the same feelings. Occasionally the same thoughts. There was something in Djaret Lome's life Din was meant to learn from, but visions like this one made it hard to learn through the fear of being too much like him.
It took some time, but Din finally managed to set himself enough at ease to lay back down beside her. He wanted to wake her just to look into her eyes and kiss her. Whisper how much he loved her, and that the greatest joy in his life was to wake with her in his arms every morning. But he wasn't willing to bring her out of her peaceful green meadow, because he loved to feel her sleeping thoughts within it. On nights when he couldn't find it on his own, Din found peace there with her, and she never seemed to mind it.
She murmured in her sleep when he lovingly brushed his fingers through her hair, then she burrowed her little body deeper into his embrace as they lay together in her meadow. Din softly chuckled as she purred like a Loth-kitten in his arms. A sweet massage that relaxed the tangle of anxiety in his chest. He could swear he heard his name in her amorphous thoughts, so he whispered hers back and let it settle in his heart as a tiny smile briefly crossed her sweet lips.
This was all either of them wanted from life these days. To simply lie together with the elements, unconcerned and at peace. For nearly a full standard year, they'd come as close as they possibly could. But Mayfeld's sudden appearance made them all too aware of new movement in the Force. For better or worse, it would eventually make its way to the Eye and disturb their peaceful existence. This knowledge remained lodged in Din's mind, and he couldn't stop himself sometimes from dwelling on it.
But he didn't want to think of that right now, and coaxed his thoughts away from the Galaxy and ancient memories, back into her meadow to remain quiet and warm beside his Lady. He inhaled the scent of her hair, loving it so much, he dipped his nose into the soft auburn locks and hugged her gently closer, holding her like a child clinging to a doll as her heart wrapped him in calming ribbons.
My comfort. Swear I'll be yours, my Lady. Swear it to you in your green meadow so you know I mean it. I'll be anything you need me to be.
Only need you to be my Mandalorian. As you are.
"Sorry I took you from your meadow, my Lady," he murmured aloud as he closed his eyes, reveling in the delicate kisses she laid across his chest and up his neck. "Mmm. You were so much at peace. Didn't mean to disturb you."
"I'm glad you woke me," she whispered. "Because your thoughts are troubled, my Love." She rolled her face into the bend of his neck to press more kisses under his jaw, dipping her nose behind his ear as she wrapped her arms around him. She opened her eyes to his and smiled sleepily as she brushed her fingers through his hair. His muscles instantly loosened their grip on his bones, and he murmured in relief as he relaxed under her delicate hands.
It was all he needed. His only mission. To protect this.
Din kissed her deeply in appreciation, sweeping his tongue into her sweet flavor to thank her for her love. When he drew away, he gently dropped his forehead to the delicate brow and heaved a heavy sigh. "I am a little troubled."
"You've been distracted since Mayfeld came."
"Yes," he admitted. "I'm sorry, my Lady. Can't stop it sometimes. I wish I could just forget about the rest of the Galaxy, but… Mayfeld showing up like that… and the hunters… it meant something."
"Mm…" Aldor murmured. "I think you're right. Our run-in with the hunters made me see Grogu is ready even if we aren't. And… yes, my Love… I wish we could ignore the rest of the Galaxy too, but I don't think we'll ever have that luxury."
Din grumbled vaguely. "Probably not. And I agree Grogu is ready. But... there's something more, my Lady." He closed his eyes and hugged her closer, needing her there as he searched for adequate words to explain what had been on his mind for weeks. "I've been dreaming about my saber's maker. Saw his wife... saw her dead like I was him... like... like she was you. I feel all his pain, Aldor. Because his feelings… when he thinks of his son and wife… what he would do to protect them… I… I understand him. Deeply, my Lady. Because his heart was his master like mine is. His family was his reason like mine is. So… so I'm beginning to really believe…"
"He's your ancestor."
Din nodded. "I feel it, my Lady. I sense there's more connected to him... and to us... than we realize. He wants me to know what happened to him. Why I'm different and how I'm the same. Why I've been given his lightsaber and what I should do with it."
"Did you learn his name?"
"I'll tell it to you, but not right now… feel like I need to…"
"Find out for yourself."
Din huffed as a fraction of his smallest smile barely stirred under his mustache. "Yes, my Lady. I need to get to know him… before… before you start scanning your archives."
"Do you know how to accomplish that, my Love?"
"I think so… think it has to do with the voices… the… the pull…"
"From the Iris?"
"And the bunker."
"Good timing, then."
"My Lady?"
"I think in the next few days, Grogu will earn his first light saber."
"Well yes… but what does it have to do with the Iris?"
"I guess I never told you out of habit, but there's a large deposit of kyber crystals on the Eye. Concentrated in the caves throughout the Iris. I found my second one there."
"Do you think, my Lady…"
"I do," she answered. "You may find one too."
"But have you ever heard of a kyber crystal calling to anyone? From what you told me about the Youngling quest, it sort of… introduces itself… but doesn't call across continents."
"No, they don't typically call, my Love. But there have been so many unusual things about your abilities, I kind of just go along with it now."
Din chuckled. "Me too."
"I think I know for certain what's calling you from the bunker," Aldor admitted. "But as ever…"
"I need to find out for myself."
Din tried to focus on his morning tasks after they got out of bed, but his mind remained fixed on Djaret Lome's memories, the Galaxy, and the relationship between them and his family. He sensed it was all interconnected. Like some massive undertaking of the Force that had somehow culminated here and now with Clan Djarin after three-thousand years. It felt huge and important and horrifically real, and Din struggled to picture himself near the crux of anything so significant. But he couldn't deny what his heart told him either. Some tiny circumstance of Mayfeld's visit would galvanize something or someone into action, and it would be a matter of time before Clan Djarin found themselves looking at all the faces they'd seen in their visions. Maybe Djaret Lome's memories were the final lesson before it began in earnest.
Whatever the circumstances or the lesson, it became clear the Galaxy wasn't finished with any of them when they picked over what was left of the hunters and their pod a few days after Mayfeld left. Finding the charges and weapons among the bones made it all a little too real. They'd also analyzed what R5 decrypted from the data core they salvaged, and discovered most of the Remnant's movements were limited to a hyperlane leading back to the known Galaxy from Ilum. Thankfully, it was nowhere near the Eye, and their system wasn't even on the maps in the navigation logs R5 recovered. Although this information gave Din some comfort, it wasn't at all encouraging. The number of Remnants arriving there looked to be on a steady rise for the last three years, and there was no guarantee they wouldn't spread to new systems they would inevitably exploit and ruin. None of it looked good, but Clan Djarin held on to the hope that the Imps' interests would remain exactly where they were.
They were glad to have a clearer picture, and the weapons would be valuable to them, but all these reminders of the known Galaxy appeared somehow dirtier when Din considered all the terrible ways they could bring harm to his family. It wasn't all that long ago when he was out there himself, navigating the post-war uneasiness. Bounty hunters and Moff Gideon and rogue Mandalorians and cloning experiments. It was still happening somewhere in the Galaxy. Maybe everywhere.
All these considerations kept Din in a heightened state of alert the first few weeks after their run-in with the hunters, but brutal Jar K'ai training and Grogu's continued successes through the Gauntlet finally succeeded in keeping his concerns at bay. Since then, it had been two months of the Kid kicking ass while Aldor kicked Din's through the Maze.
Today's trial was for Grogu, but Din hoped he'd be able to get in at least one run before Grogu took his. He took to the specialist Jar K'ai form easily given his prowess with long weapons and a number of familiar moves, but the bulky pike often distracted him. More than once he found himself wanting to grab the plasma blade when he got in a Mandalorian tear, and often lost his stride when he couldn't. Luckily, he always recovered himself quickly from these fumbles, and it happened less and less as he advanced through the form, but it irritated him that there were certain Manadalorian moves he just couldn't manage with it. These few mild complaints notwithstanding, the Temple Guard's pike was serving him dutifully. It didn't feel as comfortable as Djaret Lome's saber, but the two menacing yellow blades did come in handy against a few vultures, so Din had taken to adding it to his belt whenever he left the settlement.
As for Grogu, lessons with his staff had gotten too easy, and today was the deciding factor. Din and Aldor discussed it at length this morning after he'd recovered from the aftereffects of his dream. By the time they got out of bed and dressed, all was well understood. After their morning tasks and breakfast, they would take Grogu to the Gauntlet and have him run it a few times with his stick. If both of them were satisfied, they would make plans to take their son for his kyber crystal.
Until Aldor mentioned the crystals at the Iris, Din assumed they would let the boy take one from her collection in the bunker, but Aldor felt Grogu needed to find his own crystal and build his own saber from scratch. She explained this was an important rite of passage for the Jedi, and in this instance, she agreed with them. A crystal he found for himself would serve him better than one harvested by other hands. More importantly, Grogu remembered when Aldor returned to the Temple with her first saber, and as happy as he had been for her, he lamented that he wasn't able at the time. For this fact in and of itself, Din agreed they couldn't deny their boy the quest he'd looked forward to for more than thirty years.
This thought was echoing in his mind when Din heard the call from the Iris while he was gathering frost melons for breakfast. He was almost positive now he'd find a crystal too, but he was a little ambivalent about it. He didn't know how another saber could serve him better than Djaret Lome's, but he was a Mandalorian after all. However his Way had changed, weapons were still part of his religion, and it never hurt to have a backup or three.
It was a beautiful, mild and sunny day on the Eye, but Din was too distracted to enjoy it two hours later as they hiked toward the Gauntlet. The call from the Iris came reverberating softly through his head for the fifth or sixth time since they set out from the YT. It had grown more insistent, and he barely watched where he was going because he couldn't stop turning to look toward the Iris, as if he might be able to see the source of the call from here. After a few klicks of this, Aldor gently tugged at his attention and asked, "Where are you, my Love?"
"The call," he murmured. "Louder now. Like it's getting impatient."
"Are you impatient, my Mandalorian?"
"Not… not so much impatient," he answered thoughtfully. "Been hearing it since I first started paying attention to the Force, so maybe I'm a little… anxious… after so many months of this… knowing the time has come to answer it. I just wish it would lay off for a little while. It knows I'm coming, so I don't know why it feels the need to remind me. Anyway, this isn't my time. It's Grogu's. Need to focus on him right now. This is an important step in his training… and… and… it's just not my time."
"I sense you're also particularly worried about something, my Love."
"Maybe," he grumbled. "Worried I still can't move things. Worried I'm not… not ready… not worthy yet… of whatever's calling me."
"It wouldn't call you if you weren't worthy," Aldor soothed. "And it wouldn't be so insistent if it didn't think you were ready. You worry too much, my Love. Have confidence in your ability. No Jedi Master could deny your progress or your power."
"It's been hard lately not to worry," he murmured. "Mayfeld and the dreams… don't know how they come together yet, but I think it means there's a bend coming in our Way. Not sure I'm ready for that either, my Lady." He heaved a huge sigh and remained silently looking downward for several steps, ruminating on these premonitions that were needling into his psyche. He was deeply irritated with it at this point, because he should only be ecstatic Grogu was thriving. Should be blissful with his beautiful lover. But the needles were sharp and insistent, and left a phantom pinch even when he managed to shake them off. He was falling victim to it this very moment, and he'd finally had enough.
He forced himself out of his head and looked beside him at his Lady, taking a moment to appreciate her. Fuck, she was beautiful. Vibrant and fresh and healthy. Strolling along so gracefully in her flowing blue robes with her back held erect and her lips bent in a pale crimson bow. Her hair flying free in piles upon piles of delicious auburn as her sharp blue eyes took in their surroundings. How could he worry about anything with this woman beside him? Power and intelligence radiated from her, and at last he realized he had absolutely nothing to worry about. Suddenly, with a deep breath and a pulse of calming ribbons, Din felt downright silly, and he finally broke free from the web of jumbled dark matter in his brain. He shook his head at himself, soothed back into logic when he remembered she was with him and he was with her.
"I'm sorry, my Lady. I'm too much in my mind today. My dreams last night shook me a little. You know how that goes with me." He tilted her a bittersweet smile. "I've never been this happy in my life, Aldor. Didn't know I could be so happy at all. So maybe some part of me is waiting for the hammer to drop. Our life has been so beautiful here and I know it won't always be this way, but I guess that doesn't mean it's a bad thing. All I know is something's happening in the Force that's going to change everything, and I don't like it."
"Not everything will change, my Love," she said softly as she laced her fingers through his.
Din released a short huff, and instantly relaxed again as her ribbons soothed him, and he brought her hand to his lips to kiss her palm in appreciation. "You'll be beside me, won't you, my Lady? You and Grogu. Only thing that keeps me balanced… remembering we're part of each other."
"I do understand your anxiety, my Love," she said soberly. "I feel the same way sometimes. The hammer always seems to drop on me too. But since we've been together – the three of us – I've had a constant. The knowledge that we are a family. That this man beside me loves me and will never leave my heart. That the boy we raise together will grow to be strong and wise like his father. These facts alone have proven my theory that however hard the hammer drops, we will not break under it."
Din squeezed her hand in his while silken ribbons vibrated through his blood, soothing the last remnants of cyclical worry to a halt. A deep huff shook through his feet, and the Eye answered it with a gentle rumble. The huff advanced to a laugh as he shook his head at himself. "Our tapestry makes the ground shake, my Lady, but still we doubt ourselves."
Din pulled her closer as they walked, and Aldor looped her arms intimately around his bicep. She briefly rolled her face into his arm, and the ground trembled again as Din struggled to see ahead of him. "Perhaps we should work on that too, my Love."
"Looks like it," he grunted with a breath of amusement.
Grogu was well ahead of them, and when they arrived at the Gauntlet, they found him staring gravely up at the massive maze of weathered boulders. Where he had been ecstatic and wired all the way here, now he was all business. But Din felt he was nervous too. Grogu gripped his little staff like a totem, and took a deep breath in an attempt to calm himself. Din crouched beside him and tousled his hair. "Don't worry, Son. The last time you went against moving traps, you ran it in less than three minutes. Less than two with stationary targets. You've got this."
Grogu instantly relaxed and gave Din a little smile. "Badass."
Din chuckled. "That's right, Kid. We're a family of badasses. So I know you've got this licked."
Grogu hesitated a moment longer, and looked up at Din almost pleadingly. "Run first?"
"If you really want me to, I will."
"A-wee-paa?"
"Of course, dear One," Aldor answered. "If you'd like. But remember, after we've done our runs and you've done your first, I'll still change the configuration and you'll have to run it again."
Grogu heaved a great sigh, but there was a small smile in place on his lips because his mother had answered exactly the way he expected. So he straightened his little back in determination and gave her a short nod. "Okay."
"Me first?" Din asked.
Grogu nodded. "Getting good."
"Thanks, Son. I hope so."
"Yes, my dear One, I believe your father advanced rather spectacularly through Vapaad. I knew he would be a natural. Now let's see how he does with his pike this time. I believe you had a bit of a struggle the last time you ran it with the pike, my Love. Maybe it was too much Mando and not enough Jedi."
"Yeah," Din chuckled. "I was just thinking of that. It is a bit of a challenge with this pike, but I think I'm getting used to it. Funny how I'm having trouble with what I thought was my strongest skill, and did better with Vapaad when I was so intimidated. But Vapaad isn't as hard as I thought." He took the pike from where he kept it strapped to the back of his belt, and rolled his shoulders a few times to loosen up while he continued. "To stay in the light, I mean. I was afraid once I started to harness the darkness, it'd try to take over. I'm sure there'll come a time when it wants to lead me to evil, but it's… I don't know how to say it… but… I've learned how to wield the Dark Side kind of… indirectly…"
"How do you mean, my Love?"
"It's not just my darkness," he answered thoughtfully. "I can pull it from the vultures and the rays when mine is too intense. Then when I really need it, I think about something like those hunters and that fucking Zabrak that shot you. I draw it from all my dark memories. But even my darkest memories have led me here… back to the Light. So maybe that's why… why it's been so natural for me to use it. There are a lot of things I hate, and uncomfortable thoughts in my head, but… I always feel like maybe… as long as they don't rule my heart… maybe that will protect me… the way I protect you, my Lady. Because of you… since your heart stays with mine."
Aldor smiled and planted a short kiss on his lips. "Funny how that works, my Love," she said. "There's a reason the darkness has served me so well lately too. Your heart and mine united… the Dark Side doesn't stand a chance against it."
"Wise," Grogu piped. "I take darkness same way. Parents always with Grogu even if not out loud. I protect. Parents protect. Elemental. Equal."
"That seems to be the answer to everything, doesn't it, Kid?" Din replied. "To love and protect each other. Out loud or otherwise."
Grogu nodded. "Good lesson."
Din gave his son a smile, and jerked his head upward, prompting Aldor and Grogu to leap up to the top of the rock shelf while he shook out his limbs and prepared himself for his run. When they were in place and Aldor had her timer set, Din looked up at his family while golden bands and ribbons of steam and smokey little whisps filled his body and Spirit, strengthening everything inside and around him as he gazed up at his reasons. The circuit they created charged him from the inside out, catalyzing the puddle of warmth in his chest that had expanded into a vast sea. It gave him verve and light. Gave him strength to conquer his fears. With these thoughts in mind, he gave them another smile. "Let's see what I can do with that good lesson, huh Kid?"
Grogu answered with a Mandalorian nod, and Aldor let him know she was ready when he was. He gave his signal and shot through the Gauntlet feeling like a man of 25, full of light and love while he drew from the darkness of his memory through every target and trap. The pulse of their trinary system ran through his muscles like a current as he flew through the run, decimating every remote and target with precise swings, thrusts, and twirls of the pike. He found the malice of the vultures and the spite of the rays, harnessed it and applied it as he tore through the final onslaught of remotes like he was cutting down Storm Troopers. He clocked a minute and a half, and he couldn't help but smile to himself when he realized the pike hadn't bothered him this time. It was his best run to date with it.
The run may have been a little easier than some of Aldor's previous set-ups, but something in it felt significant. Like he finally understood exactly what he'd been doing all this time, and why Aldor said the darkness was a little afraid of him. Because his was a covert sort of power. Strength his enemies couldn't sense because they would always misinterpret it. He felt confident that he could go so far as to disguise himself in his foe's own hatred. That way, the raw material of his emotions could inform the attack under cover, rendering it impossible to exploit. But he sensed he wouldn't need this tactic often. After this run, he was sure he could bring down most opponents without calling his active demons. He'd become so familiar with the darkness of others, memory alone would more than suffice for most battles.
My Mandalorian is so wise. Din looked up at her, and saw that her eyes were full of pride. Your foe feels your hatred, never knowing you've already conquered it many times over. It's the memory of evil that informs you, my Love. Your distaste for power. You let your enemy think you're like them, but they never see the specter of the Elemental in their own reflections, do they? You use that tactic every time you wield a light saber. She dropped down to the ground beside him and gave him a quick kiss. "Your empathic powers are immeasurable, my Love. It constantly amazes me. The things you know by nature. The things you've come to understand in such a short time. There's not much more I can teach you. Most of the rest you'll have to find out for yourself."
Din drew her back to him and kissed her in a deep, brief pulse, then gave her a small smile. "I'll find out for myself, but there are always things I can learn from you, my Lady. I'll need practice once I'm finally able to move things. I'm sorry I've been so far behind…"
"Don't do that, my Love," she said. "No. You've excelled in so many ways, it almost doesn't matter. I agree you'll need some practice, but you'll be surprised how naturally it will come once you've broken through."
Din huffed and looked at the ground before he raised his eyes back to hers. "I suppose you're right," he murmured. "I guess I'm just frustrated. I'm used to picking things up faster than this."
"Don't forget, my Love, your block is a problem of feeling, not of skill or ability. In skill and ability, I would almost call you Master. You're certainly as wise as any Master. Because of all the ways you've been tried, you taught me things I never knew about the Force. Many things that seem obvious to me now. In the process of finding your own Way, you've created a new one that I think will resonate through the Force for centuries after we're both part of it. After Grogu is part of it."
"I can't… I can't accept that, Aldor," he said quietly. "I'm amazed and honored that you think so, but I can't accept it. Because I didn't find my own Way. We have found our Way. It wouldn't exist without you and Grogu, my Lady. I wouldn't even be alive if not for the two of you."
Aldor smiled and shook her head as she took his cheek in her hand. Din instantly melted and closed his eyes, sighing at the feel of her soft, slender fingers caressing his jaw. "By the Maker, my Love," she whispered. "If you weren't so humble, you'd be the most dangerous man in the Universe."
Din shrugged. "I'm not sure it's humility, my Lady. Just four decades of shitty luck and bad ideas. Sometimes I'm a little too aware of how powerful I can be. So… in a few years… you might need to knock me down a peg or two." He gave her a tight smile, and kissed her briefly before he leapt up to the top of the Gauntlet to time her run.
After Aldor finished her run in about forty seconds, she reset the same configuration for Grogu and joined Din on top of the Gauntlet so they could carefully consider their son's performance. Aldor sensed Din was as nervous as he was, because half of him wanted Grogu to tear the Gauntlet apart, and half of him wasn't quite ready to see their boy train with a plasma blade. "Don't worry, my Love," she soothed. "I wouldn't consider it if I didn't think he could handle it."
"Of course, my Lady, but… I'm just standing here watching him, and right now I kind of want him to stay a little boy. I wish he didn't have to know how to defend himself." Din tilted her a bittersweet smile. "And I guess I just… I worry he won't need us anymore."
Aldor kissed his cheek. "Me too, my Love. I suppose that's the burden of all parents. If we raise them right, they won't need us anymore. But I don't think that's entirely true. He'll always need us in some ways. And we'll always need him. To be fair, what would either of us have done if we didn't have him?"
"I don't like to think of that, my Lady," Din murmured, watching their son practice a few forms outside the entrance to the Gauntlet, loosening himself up for this important run in a way that echoed his father's. "How do you think he'll do?"
"I was almost ready to take him for his crystal last week," she answered. "But maybe I was a tad reticent for exactly these reasons. I'm afraid it was rather a selfish decision."
"I'm glad we waited," Din said. "Needed the time to make my peace with it too. Decided as long as I can get a nose bump from him, I'll be okay with letting him grow up."
Aldor leaned closer and wrapped her arms around his waist as Din returned the favor, and kissed the top of her head. "I like that metric," she said wistfully. "I'm not sure how I'll feel if he ever stops giving me kisses on the cheek."
Finished warming up, Grogu raised a determined expression to his parents and let them know he was ready. Aldor reset her timer, and gave her son an encouraging smile. "Ready when you are, my dear One."
Almost as soon as she'd finished speaking, Grogu gave his nod and was off like a shot through the Gauntlet. Grogu's traps and targets were simpler than those she designed for herself and Din, but not by much. Grogu had gotten so good so quickly, he skipped many of the steps she'd originally planned for him. As if to prove this just as she thought it, Grogu sailed through what she considered the most challenging trap. It barely held him up as he put up his powerful shield to stave off a barrage of weak fire from a swarm of five remotes. They chased him until he batted the laser blasts directly back at three at the same time, then took out the other two with a beautiful sweep of his staff as he flipped over a high obstacle and landed at a run, hurtling head first toward the next challenge.
"Sweet Mother of Bendu," Din murmured in awe. "Holy shit, Aldor, look at our boy go!"
Aldor laughed at this expression. She'd never heard him say it before, but she'd sensed it running though his mind in those rare moments when he was particularly excited. A strange expression for a Mandalorian, but she let it go for the time being, just so overjoyed to watch her son destroy the Gauntlet like it was nothing. "I thought this configuration would be a challenge, my Love," she laughed. "I'm going to have to really try to stump him with the next two."
"Good luck with that, my Lady," Din chuckled. "I think he's probably beyond both of us at this point. He's just humoring us now." He laughed outright, shaking his head as Grogu landed with a vengeance at the exit. "Remind me why we were nervous about taking him for a crystal."
Aldor laughed and squeezed Din tight in her excitement, bursting with pride at seeing their boy so advanced and confident. "I have no idea, my Love," she said. "I think maybe it was our problem and not his."
"Good job, Kid!" Din exclaimed. "A minute fifty-five!"
Grogu squealed delightedly and rocketed 20 meters up into Din's arms to give him a huge squeeze and a deep nose rub. "Did good!"
"You did!" Din agreed, smiling wide enough to show his teeth as he crushed their son in a proud hug. "But hey! Hey!" Din couldn't remove his smile entirely when he remembered the test wasn't over, and prompted Grogu to look him in the eye. "Remember, you've got to do it two more times."
"And I'm changing the configuration as we speak, dear One," Aldor added as she carefully rearranged the run, smiling as wide as her men. The most beautiful things she'd ever seen. "But we have confidence in you. We know what you're capable of."
Grogu hopped over to Aldor's shoulders and bent down to press a sweet kiss to her cheek. "Ready, A-wee-pa!" Then he was gone again, sailing to the ground as gracefully and easily as a feather on the wind.
Din smiled wider than Aldor had ever seen, all anxiety gone in the face of such a resounding success for their boy. She could hardly breathe when she realized what a gorgeous example this moment was of their trinary bond. The epitome of everything that made them strong.
We love in circles, Aldor. All three of us do. Always feeding. Always serving. But always accepting too.
Our trinary system.
Clan Djarin.
And nothing will take it from us.
Nothing, my Lady.
Clan Djarin's sunny outlook remained through not two, but three more runs. After the third, Grogu wanted to try a forth, more difficult run to convince himself of what his parents had already agreed on. Like his father, the boy was definitely thorough. And determined. After he completed all four runs, clocking an average of two minutes, all of them agreed it was time for Grogu to build his own light saber.
He was elated and energetic, but Grogu remained well within his reason, and all the way back home, his little mind ran through forms, considering how he would apply them to a plasma blade. He stayed ahead of them as Aldor and Din followed at an easy pace, walking hand-in-hand as they shared thoughts about how Grogu's lessons would progress from here and what they would need for their trek to the Iris. When his mind turned to the Iris again, Din looked in that direction, reacting to another call. "Yes, my Lady," he said quietly. "It knows I'm coming soon. Promises to leave me be until I need it. That sets me a little more at ease."
"Do you think the call is from an object or a spirit, my Love? What does it feel like?"
"It feels like… like Djaret Lome."
"Djaret Lome," Aldor repeated. "Your ancestor?"
Din nodded. "I'm not ready yet to see what you have in your archives, my Lady… but… maybe… maybe you could start looking him up. If you can find anything. And if you don't mind, maybe you could load it into the table for when I'm ready."
Aldor nodded. "A specific request, my Love, but I entirely understand it. I imagine you'll want to learn everything you can once you've found out for yourself."
Din tugged her closer and settled his arm around her waist. "You always understand, my Lady."
"So do you, my Love. Because we love in circles." She walked a few steps on her toes to reach his cheek for an affectionate peck. Din chuckled at the odd angle, and suddenly seized her around the waist and hefted her up so they were eye to eye and body to body. Aldor giggled and wrapped her arms around his shoulders, and gave him a proper kiss. Din smiled in satisfaction, then set her down and kissed her one more time before they were back underway. Delightfully teased and simultaneously giddy, she snuggled as close to him as she could without tangling their feet as they continued down the track to the YT. Giddy as she was, she had the presence of mind to consider his request more carefully and finally asked him, "Is there anything you can tell me that might make my search easier?"
"Hmmm…" Din considered his dreams as they walked, sorting through hazy recollections and familiar feelings to find words and names in the dark matter tangle of his brilliant mind. "His wife's name was Vae," he answered. "His son was Djae. Officially, he was stationed on Mandalore to keep an eye on Dathomir. But I think it was actually a cover to keep an eye on Mandalore. He didn't like the deception. Found it dishonorable. Being with Vae brought it all to a head, I think."
At this, a massive pulse rippled through his golden blanket, catching her momentarily off-guard. Aldor sensed this anomaly was how Din experienced his ancestor's feelings. At first the foreign sensation troubled her, but when it pulsed again and rolled through her, she changed her mind. There was no malice in it, and it was vaguely similar to that sensation of Din. But it was a little unsettling. "Your ancestor has shared a lot of himself with you, my Love," she commented carefully. "Are you sure it's for the best?"
"Nothing feels off," Din answered. "It has occurred to me, my Lady, that it could be a trick or a lure. But it doesn't feel like it. It feels like… when I talk to the suns… or… or when I go to the glen for a few hours. It's too real. Truthful. Too… pitiful really. A trick would show me something glorious or terrifying. But this is just… honesty."
"I suppose either way, we'll both find out soon," Aldor replied. "But I trust my Mandalorian's instinct above all, so I foresee what I find will be no surprise to you."
"Or to you, my Lady. If he's as much like me as I think he is."
Before dinner, Aldor sat Grogu down with one of her holopads to study all she had on light saber construction. Since Din was likely to find his own crystal at the Iris, Grogu settled in his father's lap so they could study together. It was good for both of them, because Aldor was all too aware of what Din had been trying to get to in the bunker. It also provided her with hours of entertainment, watching her men ask each other questions and take suggestions from each other about the materials they would use for hilts and lenses. Aldor reminded them she had a healthy supply of appropriate metals, circuits, and lenses they could choose from, but they mostly speculated over what raw materials they could find on the Eye, and how they might work as well if not better.
"You made your second light saber here, right?" Din asked. "How does it compare to your first?"
"I tried to make it as close to the same as I could," Aldor answered, and handed her hilts over for her men to inspect. "But you can probably tell which is which. I will tell you, the one I made here has a crisper, more powerful beam. A lot of it has to do with the crystal, but the lens was… well… if I do say so myself, that lens is perfect. I made it from a crystal that's common on the Eye. Its composition isn't much different from kyber, so it didn't surprise me that they work well together. I'm able to adjust the beam more meticulously than the other one, and my power flows more easily through it. That's why I use it in my dominant hand."
Din and Grogu closely inspected both hilts, looking back and forth between their data pad and the specimens she'd provided, comparing their notes with what a 21-year-old Padawan scraped together from found parts and fortunate finds. Both her hilts were nyix alloy. Jumper salvaged some from their exploits in the Outer Rim, and helped her process it into the second casing. The embellishments were composed of the pale blue stone she often glimpsed near the junction of the Iris and the Pupil. It was dangerous to harvest at its source, but during every Solstice, the geysers dutifully deposited more of the durable stone as far away from the center of the continent as the junction between the Iris and forest, more than a hundred klicks in every direction. It was a chunk of this stone that led Aldor to her second kyber crystal. It felt significant, so she machined it down to create a fine filigree inlay that wasn't all that dissimilar from the beskar design in Din's Old Republic hilt. She liked the effect so much, she re-machined her first hilt to add the stone inlay.
Din let loose a quiet huff as he deeply studied her second hilt. "It's so much like you, my Lady," he murmured. "Cool to the touch and so fine… but there's fire in the crystal. Like your fire." The fire I feel when I'm inside you. "So I think this crystal likes me."
Aldor chuckled when her hilts hummed in her men's hands. "They like both of you," she said. But you excite them, my Love. My fire wants to dance with yours. "If they ever need to, they will serve either of you with honor."
"Does that surprise you, my Lady?"
"Not in the least."
"I understand that," he continued more thoughtfully as he took her first hilt from Grogu and handed both of them back to her. "I know my saber would serve the two of you if I asked it to."
"They have their own Spirit, my Love," Aldor said as she hung her belt and hilts by the door. "The crystals know what we feel, and they wish to serve those feelings." She looked purposefully at Grogu. "But they also serve our reason, my dear One. It is up to you to learn what to ask of your saber and when."
Grogu nodded in understanding. "Remember A-wee-pa's first," he said. "I very proud. Thought I never learn. Hard to do things with hands then."
"My dear sweet Grogu," Aldor cooed as she took a moment on her way to the hob to plant a kiss on Grogu's head. While she was there, she claimed a quick smooch from Din too, and proceeded to grab a stock pot for their leftover stew while she continued to consider her son's feelings. "I know how difficult it has been for you. So wise and agile in your mind and Spirit, but your little body just lagged behind for so long. It must be frustrating to learn so quickly yet grow so slowly."
Grogu merely shrugged. "Master Yoda wise. Taught many things. Do what can with what have. Like parents say. Yoda say too."
"Our boy is wiser than either of us, my Lady," Din said fondly. "It doesn't matter if he remains a little whomp-rat, he'll always be a badass." He dropped a kiss to the crown of Grogu's head, now covered in a thick dark mane between his ears that had begun to fall down his back just past his shoulders, sparkling with wide streaks of copper. "And we might need to give you a haircut… or put it up in a top knot maybe… before you start swinging a plasma blade."
Grogu giggled and suggested the same could be said of his father.
"He's got a point, my Love," Aldor laughed as she stepped back over to the table to inspect Din's mop of dense waves that had gotten long enough to curl at the ends past his ears. She stood behind him at the table just to drag her fingers through it. Unable to resist, she briefly kissed the top of his head just to inhale his scent. There was nothing she didn't love about this man, and that included every wild tangle of the chaos on top of his beloved head. Din shuddered and closed his eyes as his shoulders dropped and he leaned back in his chair, utterly distracted. "I'm not sure how you get all this in your helmet lately, my Mandalorian," she said softly, trying to be funny as a caress of golden bands distracted her.
"I kind of like it," he murmured, becoming lost as she was. "Mostly because my Lady likes to run her fingers through it." They remained aloft in a haze of desire for a few seconds until they remembered Grogu was watching them. Din cleared his throat as he sat back up in his chair while Aldor reluctantly dropped her hands to his shoulders, unwilling to let go of him just yet. "And… and you know… it helps me to know where I am… can sense where things are better. I've always noticed that. Even when I never took off my helmet, I sometimes let it grow a while. But I think this is probably the longest it's been since I was a boy."
"There is wisdom in letting it grow, I think," Aldor mused, and gently coaxed him to tilt his head back so she could kiss his regal nose before she went back to the hob. "Many Jedi kept their hair long for that very reason." She laughed at herself through a memory. "I cut mine off once on a whim… many years ago… and I noticed a marked difference in my spatial awareness. There's a reason I never cut it that short again. Many, actually."
"I can't let mine get much longer," he huffed. "Or my Lady will be waking up every morning to a nest of tiny rathtars."
Aldor laughed and set their stew to simmer before she went back to the table to join her family. "I imagine that doesn't do quite as much for your spatial awareness, my Love."
"Nothing at all. So I'll let you know when I need a trim."
"Understood," she laughed. She looked to Grogu. "What about you, my dear One? I agree with your father. For now, I think we should give yours a trim or put it up. Which do you prefer?"
"Up like Master Yaddle?"
"If you want. Hers was much longer, but I think I can manage something like it. Or we can put it in a top knot like your father suggested. It's entirely up to you, sweet Grogu."
Grogu flipped through a number of pictures in his mind of Jedi Aldor barely remembered from their time at the Temple. None of their hairstyles seemed to suit him, and he decided it didn't really matter anyway. So he looked up at his father and said, "Top knot."
Din nodded. "Right now or do you want to wait until later?"
"After crystal," Grogu answered.
"Good idea," Din agreed. "Me too. I think I've got a few weeks before I'm at the rathtar stage."
"It'll be beneficial when we get to the Iris," Aldor added. "Let me assure you, my Loves, you will need all your senses to harvest your crystals."
"By the way, my Lady, who is Master Yaddle?"
"A female of Grogu's species," Aldor explained. "She was also a great Jedi Master, but I'm afraid she was killed right before the Clone Wars. There were some rumors that Grogu is Yaddle and Yoda's son, but I don't think so. I think their species is born through more Cosmic means. Plus Yaddle and Yoda's relationship was always more like brother and sister. Though honestly, what do we know? Nobody knows except them. And they never reveal their origins. I think that's for the best given how powerful they are. And I'm not sure it's possible for anyone but them to understand it anyway."
Grogu nodded in agreement. "Can't say."
"I think that's probably wise." Din sighed sadly as he gazed at his boy, his mind full of things that might have been while he simultaneously thanked the Force for how things were. "But I am sorry you were taken away from your only kin, Son. Proud as I am to look after you and call you my son, I'm sorry you didn't get more time with them."
"Nobody enough time. War hurt everything." Grogu shook his little head somberly. "Many things wrong in Force." He reflected in shrouded thoughts for a moment, but quickly perked back up when he looked up again at his parents, and cracked a sweet little smile. "Many things right too."
After dinner, the three of them sat down again to discuss when they would make their journey to the Iris, and decided they needed at least a day to prepare. If Aldor and Din were satisfied with the weather, they would set out day after tomorrow. Even though it was nearly two-hundred klicks away from their sector and they still had plenty of fuel in reserve, all three of them agreed that hiking there would be better. "I've gotten used to walking everywhere," Din added. "It's been nice to slow down a little. To harvest Grogu's crystal… and maybe mine… I feel like we need to walk the distance anyway."
"We might have to fight off some vultures," Aldor warned him. "But I sense they don't disturb you as much as they used to."
"Not at all, my Lady," he answered. "With a lightsaber, they're easy to take down. Anyway, I don't remember seeing too many of them down that way last summer."
"Oh!" Aldor exclaimed. "You've been here for a year now, haven't you, my Love," she laughed. "By the Force, how time flies. No wonder your hair has grown so long. Strange to think of how long and short the time has been. Because I feel like we've been together for decades."
Din cracked one of his smallest smiles. "So do I, my Lady. But I think next week, it'll be a standard year since we came here."
"I'm not sure if we should celebrate or just continue to live as we do," Aldor mused.
"Maybe we should go for a ray hunt," he suggested. "That seems to be our way of marking milestones."
Aldor laughed. "I suppose it is, my Love. And by then I suspect you'll have a new saber to try out."
With the subject turned back to the matter at hand, Clan Djarin had some discussion over circuitry. Aldor produced her sabers again and took them apart to show her men. Her second hilt in particular, giving them finer details on how she constructed it from found parts. She pointed out the configuration of the cycling field energizers and what she'd used for insulation, assuring them they had everything they needed to create whatever configuration they wanted. When the obvious problem of power cores came up, she confirmed there were several diatium cores in the bunker to choose from too.
After a while, Grogu started to nod off a little, and bestowed his ritual kiss and nose bump after his parents roused him. He stopped on his way to his room, and grinned sleepily up at them. Promise. Always kiss A-wee-pa's cheek. Always bump nose. With that one cheerful thought, he turned back to his door and retired for the evening.
Aldor and Din looked across the table at each other to share in a moment of affection for their son, then bent their minds to their respective tasks. Aldor had already started scanning her data index for anything related to Djaret Lome or the legend Mandalore made of his life. She was surprised to already have several hits, but her scanning algorithms weren't great, and she was sure she would have to sift through some misses. Nevertheless, she was determined to study everything that came up as efficiently as possible because her Mandalorian would be finding out for himself very soon.
While Aldor was buried in her datapad, Din rummaged through his shelves of carving stones for a few minutes, then produced exactly the type of pale blue stone that embellished Aldor's light sabers. He smiled wide as he set the massive gemstone and his tools on the table. It was a beautiful specimen, and Aldor understood how it would have captured Din's attention. Its color ranged from a pale, faint blue to a deep midnight indigo that concentrated in the heart of the stone. Veins of warm metallic brown shot through the glassy surface to provide just that hint of imperfection Din appreciated in his medium. It was almost as large as a training remote, but that didn't seem to deter him now. "When you showed us your sabers, I remembered I had this," he explained. "I think I know what to make from it now."
"Quite an undertaking, my Love," Aldor commented. "I've never seen you work a stone that size." She leaned over and gave him a quick peck on his cheek just because he was adorable when he was in the throes of creation, and because she couldn't wait to see what he would make of it. "Feeling up for a challenge, I see."
"Not really," Din chuckled. "This thing intimidates the hell out of me, but my idea kind of pivots on this stone, and I want to finish it in time for our ray hunt."
"In commemoration of your first year on the Eye?"
"Sort of," he shrugged. "Anyway, my Lady, you'll see."
With that, Din dove into carving while Aldor continued to scan her archives, and they settled into a merry symphony of notions. Her Mandalorian's anxiety had abated for the time being as he cheerfully roughed a shape out of the gorgeous stone in front of him. He was intent on the carving, but his thoughts were made up mostly of pride and love, reliving Grogu's four runs through the Gauntlet. Utterly amazed at how far his boy had come. Din barely remembered his son was tiny and helpless when they first came here. Only a year ago. The contrast was incredible. Somehow, in only a year, a tired toddler dozing in his hover-pod became a scrappy little boy bound for his first kyber crystal. Now that he was free and properly cared for, Din was sure there was no limit to what their boy could do. His heart filled to overflowing with these proud thoughts, and it poured into Aldor's only to gush back out in the form of a radiant steam, to create one of their completed circuits while they loved their boy and each other in circles.
They'd been locked in this tender oscillation for at least half an hour when she felt his eyes on her face, and his thoughts centered on her and how she'd made it all possible.
I can't take all that credit, my Love. Aldor tentatively met his eyes, momentarily bashful in the face of all this admiration. She continued humbly, "Grogu was skilled before he came here, just as you were. I merely provided a little bit of context."
You gave him confidence, my Lady. Gave him joy. You showed him love and care in a way I didn't know how. I needed it too, Aldor. You sensed it right away… then you gave it without question. To both of us. "You gave it to both of us and have never asked anything in return."
"I was given everything I could ask for, my Love."
I'll never be able to say the right words, Aldor. "The best I can do is tell you I love you. Only words I know that might come halfway."
"I love you too, Din. Even though it's nowhere near halfway." From the beginning to the end.
Nothing will take it from us.
Din held her eyes a little longer as the fire reflecting in endless shards of brown glass flared and sparked. He leaned in and kissed her so softly, the tickle spread from her lips through every pathway in her body, instantly drawing a wanton sigh from her throat as she leaned in closer and buried her fingers in the gorgeous pile of waves.
She moved to stand up and straddle him, but he stopped her and took her hand to help her up as he stood at the same time, then guided her arms around his waist. He took her face in his hands and brought their foreheads together. His sweetest smile curled subtly into his mustache while his eyes consumed her, swaddling her in his golden blanket while he tenderly brushed his thumbs across her cheeks. He kissed her again more deeply, taking his time to explore her mouth and breath as if he were savoring it.
Aldor lost herself in his flavor, served on beautiful caresses of his talented tongue. Spicy and slightly sweet. Exciting. All the while, he wordlessly whispered that she was beautiful. That she was amazing and brilliant and that he loved her in a way that has no words. When he released her from his kiss, she could already feel him between her legs.
"I've left you empty too long, my Lady," he whispered.
"At least a few days, my Love."
A small smile hitched up one corner of his mouth, and she needed to taste him again. She couldn't resist the wide divot in his bottom lip any longer, and trailed the tip of her tongue through it before she pulled him down by the hair to take another long, deep kiss. She needed more than a tease now. Needed more of that flavor, as if it were the only thing that could sustain her.
Din murmured deep in his throat as he wrapped his arms around her, then suddenly they were on fire. Aldor lost track of everything else in the Universe as they stumbled frantically and blindly toward their bed in a whirlwind of ribbons and blankets, tearing at each other's clothes as they went, unable to keep their lips off one another as garments went flying furiously across the hull. His scent flooded her nostrils when he tossed his tunic aside, and she had to taste the golden flesh on her tongue. She worshiped his bare chest with her lips, flitting kisses everywhere she could reach as he moaned and yanked her leggings over her hips. They tripped and fell into bed, her lips still clamped to his nipple as she kicked out of her bottoms and opened her legs to accommodate his wide, strong body as he lay over her. She gathered the taught flesh of his ass in her hands, begging him to make her complete again. Aching from a place so deep, it rumbled through every cell as her lover devoured her in a hungry kiss. So wet for you… please, my Love… need you inside me… need you… "Ahh!"
For all Aldor knew, the Universe imploded when all that firm, thick heat plunged into the core of her body and soul. She was senseless to everything but Din Djarin as he slammed his hips into hers. She was filled with heat and desire and ache, and wanted nothing more than to absorb everything he gave her as she went blind with the ecstasy of him inside her. A powerful thrust exploited that spot as he held her tight against him, and she was ripped open to the stars when a thousand years of energy rushed into her with another deep thrust that had her clawing at his powerful shoulders. Her pussy flooded with ecstasy, gripping him possessively as he pounded into her, until she tripped over the edge and through the eye of the storm, turned completely inside out as she flew across the universe in a shambles. She declared his name to every system that went by just so everyone knew she was his, then her body seized and went limp, completely out of her power and utterly subject to him.
"Aldor… so beautiful… when you cum…" His voice was rough and adoring at once as warmth permeated their tapestry of dark matter and plasma. He roused her with loving kisses under her jaw, and she sighed in rapture. A burst of molten gold answered it as he held her eyes and slowed his pace. The warmth of his adoring gaze sent shivers of pleasure through her blood as he drew tender fingers along her jaw. His perfect lips followed his caresses, trailing kisses along her cheeks and nose as lust cooled and desire settled deeper. All she could do was float in this beautiful warm blanket of Din's love, worshipping it heart and soul as her body ached and hummed and purred in turns, taking every hard inch of him as he moved in languid strokes, murmuring and sighing, kissing her everywhere as a slow burn ignited in her womb.
She never wanted it to end, but agreed with her lover that to preserve this was their primary mission from now until the end of time. She would rather die for this than anything.
She opened her eyes to his, and shards of shattered brown glass focused on her face as he tenderly stroked into her, seating himself deeper as oceans of golden magma poured out of his soul and rushed through her heart. A single quiet thought rode the crest of the wave as he sighed and wrapped himself around her.
My wife.
