I'll Do The Same { Din Djarin x OC}

Chapter Twenty Three: Vigor

"I want you to teach me how to fight... like a true Mandalorian."

To her dismay, Thell could only watch the confusion wash over her father's face. His gaze flickered to and fro as he leaned back in his chair, folding his hands over his chest.

"I can't."

Thell blinked. "What? Why?"

He gestured to his body. "I'm an older man, Thell. And when I got caught in that explosion all those years ago, it wounded my body. I'm able to infiltrate facilities and work with tech, but no more than that. I was barely able to defend myself before I got captured. I'm sorry, but I can't teach you."

Thell slumped back in her seat, feeling defeated. The only two people she could ask, one having refused and the other unable to do so. She hadn't wanted to go behind Din's back to ask her own father, but she was an adult, and felt as if she had some right to ask. He had let her stay on anyway, had made her swear to protect Grogu. That's all she had been trying to do.

"Kriff," she muttered under her breath.

Her father shifted from across the table, scratching at his beard. "I can't teach you... But I could instruct you. It wouldn't be perfect, you would need to nail every move I have you do, get everything correct since you can't actually fight me back. You can train, beforehand, build up your strength and stamina. That's only the beginning. After that, you'll need to learn basic hand to hand combat... Why haven't you asked your Mandalorian friend?"

Thell shifted awkwardly in her seat. "I, um... I already did. But he doesn't want me to purposefully put myself in a fight, which I understand... He's only trying to protect me. But I need that kid back, and I'll do whatever I can to make that happen."

Theldar looked at her with a quiet, introspective gaze before finally saying, "You love him, don't you? That Mandalorian?"

Thell felt the color flare to her cheeks. No one had asked her her feelings about Din for months, not since she had seen Bo and Cara. Now it was different, after kissing him and feeling his face under her hands, sleeping beside him in the darkness of their house. She did love him... She just wondered if he felt the same way. If he had accepted those feelings as his own, and not just the words he wanted to hear.

"I.... I care deeply for him," Thell explained. "Ever since he took my master, Mando and the kid have been family to me."

"I... I guess it's a bit different now."

Thell laughed, and it felt like the first time she had in years. "Yeah... It's weird, I'll be honest about that. But... I'm glad you're here," Thell said softly, reaching for his hand. "... Father."

When Thell returned to the house, softly closing the door behind her, she didn't find Din sleeping in the bed like she might have thought. She peered through the dim light of the house, even peeking in the fresher to try and find him. He wasn't even on the porch.

Leaving her vambraces in the house, she descended the stairs again and made her way into the woods, just beyond the border of trees where the Razor Crest lay hidden. Maybe he wasn't there either, but at least she could try. The moon was high overhead, and Thell pulled her cloak tighter to conserve warmth as she trekked through the woods.

Seeing the ship felt like seeing home, and for some reason, tears came to Thell's eyes. She had first seen the ship five months ago on her homeworld in Bespin, running after the Mandalorian as she had begged him to come with. It felt like a lifetime since that night.

She missed Din... and she wasn't sure why. She should have been content with where they were, having openly acknowledged their feelings and shared several sweet moments with each other. He was here, anyway, and he was safe. She knew she had been spending more time with her father than with Din, and maybe he was just feeling jealous because of it. Maybe that would explain the lingering glances he would give him when they all ate dinner together. ... Or maybe it was because she still didn't know what he looked like under the mask.