𝐒𝐄𝐂𝐔𝐑𝐈𝐓𝐘 - DIN DJARIN

Chapter 37: The Loss

chapter 37: the loss •••

Wherever I am with you and the child is a home enough to me.

Din can hear your voice saying these words as he stands in the dust of what used to be his home, the heap of dirt still steaming as it fogs up his visor. His own voice haunts him next. Home?

Yes, Din. Home.

He kneels down, taking a handful of dust in his hand and watching it fall through the cracks of his gloved fingers.

I've finally found that sense of belonging again, Din. And it just so happens to be when I'm with you.

When Din looks back down at the dirt, his eyes catch something shining through the darkness. Carefully, he reaches forward to brush the dust off the object, taking it in his gloved fingers as he studies it. What did I say about that? he can hear his past self saying. This needs to stay in the ship.

Din clutches the silver sphere in his fist for a moment, closing his eyes behind the visor before he slips the ball into the pouch on his belt. The moment he'd shared with his son in the Crest—the last time he'd been inside it—flashes across his mind as he temporarily tries to bury the pain of it all, just as the sphere had been buried within the ship's ashes.

He spots one more shining object in the destruction. Din bends down to investigate, realizing that it's the beskar spear he was gifted by Ahsoka. With gloved hands that have started to tremble in the aftermath of the day's events, Din picks up the weapon, rising to his full height as he studies it. Of all the weapons he'd compiled ever since swearing the Creed, this—the newest, the one he's trained with the least—is the only one that survived. Not his reliable Amban pulse rifle. Not his extra charges.

Just the blaster on his hip, the jetpack on his back, and the spear in his hand.

There's a dull pang that radiates throughout Din's chest but he can't process it just yet. It remains there as a constant reminder of what's happened even while Din attempts to leave it all behind in a steaming heap on the soils of Tython. He approaches Boba and Fennec, who both stand by the destruction as they wait for his return. Din's surprised they haven't scrambled to get away already.

Din stops once he's at Boba's side, his visor studying the spear again as he speaks. "This is all that survived." He doesn't bring up the silver ball, instead keeping that kind of precious information to himself.

"Beskar," Boba observes, earning Din's gaze as he notices the man staring at the long spear. Din just nods to confirm his words. After a beat, Boba goes on. "I want you to take a look at something." Boba taps his vambrace, pulling up a hologram full of Mando'a letters. "My chain code has been encoded in this armor for 25 years."

Din takes a look at the letters, trying to piece each one together to spell out the names. He catches onto a few before Boba continues.

"You see, this is me, Boba Fett." He then points to a lower grouping of Mando'a letters. "This is my father, Jango Fett."

When Din further observes the letters, he traces them back, coming upon a shocking conclusion as his gaze lifts to meet Boba's from behind his visor. "Your father was a foundling."

"Yes." Boba sighs lightly and turns off the hologram. "He even fought in the Mandalorian Civil Wars."

Din nods, taking a tighter grip on the spear. "Then that armor belongs to you."

Boba returns the gesture with fond respect in his eyes. "I appreciate its return."

Din looks around, his gloved fingers fluttering at his side as he tries his best not to acknowledge the one thing he knows they must be thinking about. "Then our deal is complete."