Salvation - The Mandalorian

Chapter 15

Din, Rey, Luke, and Grogu rushed outside of the base to greet the New Republic fighters. Many Stormtroopers laid dead after being defeated by the New Republic. Luckily for the four, there were no Darktroopers coming after them again. Once they made it outside, the New Republic ships were landing in front of them.

Soldiers ran out of the ships to check out the base, checking the area for more troops. Out of the main ship came Leia and Han along with a Wookiee, Luke smiling when he saw his sister and brother-in-law. He ran over to them and hugged the three of them while Din, Rey, and Grogu watched. Rey looked down when she saw the exchange, thinking of what she had seen earlier.

"What happened here, Luke?" Leia asked.

"The Imperial remnants have been collecting Kyber crystals for reasons I'm unsure of," Luke explained. "And Rey... we found out something about her."

Rey looked up at her Jedi Master. "You already knew?" She questioned, furrowing her eyebrows. "Why didn't you tell me?"

Luke turned to her and rested a hand on her shoulder. "I only just found out now from Moff Gideon, and so did Din," he told her. "The only thing I'm confused on is... you remember a whole life on Jakku and not this."

Rey nodded. "I don't remember anything of being in an Imperial lab," she confirmed. "Or Moff Gideon or anything to do with the Empire."

"Hold on, let's backtrack a moment here," Han spoke up as the Wookiee groaned, the both of them confused. "An Imperial lab? Why was Rey in an Imperial lab?"

"Moff Gideon told us that he created Rey with Grogu's blood," Din told Han and Leia, a hint of disgust in his modulated voice. "That everything that she's ever known was a lie."

"It's... it's so confusing," Rey whispered, more to herself than to the adults around her. "Now that I know my real past... it's all jumbled. I don't know what's real and what's not."

Rey felt so overwhelmed with the overflow of memories in her head. Her mind was filled with a childhood on Jakku, but also a life in a lab that she couldn't remember clearly. They were there, but it didn't feel right. Nothing felt like it belonged in her mind, which worried her. The only things that did feel real was...

"Din?"

Din looked over at Rey, seeing how pale and scared she was. He immediately grew concerned for her and took her hand, which she responded to by squeezing his. Rey felt better by holding his hand, a sense of ease coming over her. Din knew that the situation was overwhelming her and that he had to get her away from the conversation. Grogu seemed to agree, as he was giving Din a knowing look from the bag he was in.

"I'm taking Rey and Grogu back to the Crest," Din announced to the three. "You can finish up whatever cleanup you need to do without me."

Before Luke, Leia, or Han could say anything, Din grabbed Rey by the waist and took off in his jetpack. Grogu squealed in delight as they flew through the air to get to the Razor Crest II. Rey gasped at how high they were off the ground, but she smiled for the first time in what felt like eternity. The thrill of the flight gave her a sense of peace, taking her mind off of the overwhelming thoughts.

The three of them landed in front of the Crest and entered the ship. Din noticed that Rey looked more pale than before, so he quickly led her inside the ship. He sat her down on the bench, putting Grogu down next to her. Rey laid down on the bench, her eyes feeling extremely heavy. Din grabbed a blanket and put it over her body. Rey smiled at the gesture as she fell asleep.

Grogu looked up at his father, cooing at him. Din sighed and lifted him up. "I feel bad for her too, kid," he told the child. "What Moff Gideon did to her... I don't think I want to know. Just like how I don't think I want to know what you went through before I found you."

Din rested a hand on Rey's shoulder, her body feeling cold. Grogu reached his hands out to her, wanting to get up to her. Din lowered him down to her and Grogu put a hand against her arm. Nothing was happening, which seemed to frustrate the child. He groaned and looked up at his father for an explanation.

"I don't think any of your healing tricks can help her with her head. Besides, you don't want to tire yourself out," Din said, sitting down. "Who knew that magic powers could cause headaches like this? I thought I got bad headaches, but nothing compared to what Rey's going through."

Grogu gazed down at Rey's sleeping figure, gurgling softly at her. Din noticed how unsure his son looked and knew just the thing that would comfort him. He reached up and took his helmet off, smiling at the young one. Grogu giggled and reached up to touch his father's face. Din picked him up again and let Grogu explore his face with his hands. While he did this, Din looked back down at Rey. He could keep Grogu distracted from the situation at hand, but not himself.

Din leaned down and kissed Rey's temple, hoping to give her some comfort as she slept.

...

After a few hours, the Razor Crest II arrived back on Yavin IV. Din landed the ship in front of the temple and climbed down the ladder. Rey was still asleep while Grogu had fallen asleep right next to her. Luke was there too, sitting next to the sleeping kids. To Din, this felt somewhat normal to him. He shrugged it off and walked over to them, picking up Grogu so he wouldn't disturb his slumber.

"Is the... Force telling you anything about Rey?" Din asked, worried about whatever Luke could tell him.

Luke looked down at Rey, a distant expression on his face. "It's strange," he wondered out loud. "It's like she said earlier; her memories are all jumbled. She can't tell what's real and what isn't, and it's messing with her connection to the Force."

"Is there anything we can do to help?" Din hesitated, growing even more anxious. "There might not be much I can do, but I want to do whatever I can to help her."

Luke was silent for a moment, taking a deep breath. "There is one way," he told him. "It's actually something I was thinking on using for Grogu. Just like Rey's, his mind is confused as well. There are parts of his memory that's missing due to repression, which is hurting his connection to the Force as well. It's hurting him, and he's too scared to try and access them. I was actually going to ask you about it before we left for Ilum."

Din nodded at the Jedi. "Ahsoka mentioned something like that," he remembered. "What were you thinking of doing to help him?"

"It's a process where I go through his memories, helping him see them and process them," Luke explained. "The same can be done with Rey so her memories will stop conflicting with each other. But they might be too scared to go through with this process, even if this halts their training. This is where you can help your kids."

Din bit his lip at Luke's nervous tone of voice. "What do you need me to do?" He asked.

"I believe they'd be more inclined to go through with this process..." Luke began. "If they see their father experience it. They both trust you."

Din hesitated, unsure of what this process could entail. He knew Luke wouldn't do anything to hurt him. Despite only knowing the Jedi for a few weeks, he trusted him. But the idea of this process, going through traumatic memories, scared him. Din wasn't sure if he was ready to accept his trauma, constantly being reminded about it every day.

But then he though of Rey and Grogu. They needed this, even if they were scared to process their own memories and trauma. If they were too scared to go through this, then they needed someone to encourage them. That person needed to be Din, even if he was scared as well.

"Right," Din finally agreed. "Show them that there's nothing to be scared of."

Luke gave him a comforting and warm smile, one that Din could get used to seeing. "We can begin tomorrow," he said with a nod.

Din nodded and lifted Rey off the bench, carrying his two kids out of the ship. He took them to their shared room in the temple, laying Rey down on her bed and Grogu in his crib. The two of them looked so peaceful, yet they had gone through so much pain. Neither of them deserved what they were forced to experience. And now, Din would have to know exactly what they went through in order to help them process it.

And process his own as well.

Din sighed and collapsed on his bed, not looking forward to tomorrow's exercises.