That man in Beskar [The Mandalorian x OC]

XVIII. The Brother

Din takes one step forward, putting a hand on my back to move me behind him.
"What do you want from me?" he says coldly
"I expected you to be smarter, Din" Fenn smirks
"Don't you dare say my name. You're not worthy of knowing that"
That makes me almost smile, knowing that the Mandalorian beside me trusts me enough to let me use his name.

"Whatever you want to do to me, just leave them alone" he points to me and Grogu "You want me"
"I'm not going to do it. I know how to hurt you the most... I just need to hurt the ones you care about"
Din's hand closes to a fist.
I put Grogu behind me.
Then the Mandalorian attacks.

As he runs, full of rage, Din takes out a weapon he never used all this time we traveled together: the darksaber.
I stand there at the magnificence of the object. It's dark blade and light radiates strength, its owner could win a fight just by scaring the opponent away thanks to it. It is like a lightsaber but way more powerful. I heard legends about it being able to slice everything apart from pure Beskar. The perfect weapon for a Mandalorian.

Din charges with so much determination that even a Mudhorn would retreat in front of him. But Fenn Gideon stands there smiling, with his hands behind his back.
My first thought is that he wants to distract Din with confusion, but I discover the real reason as the armored man slices the figure in half.
When the blade encounters the body I see a light blue border around it.

'It's a hologram!' I think
And that's what Din must have thought too, as he switches from confusion to more anger.
Fenn Gideon laughs mockingly at him.
"Amazing how technology works, huh?"
What a funny gentleman.
"Yeah, Gideon" I talk back "Like it's amazing how yet again you lack of courage and send others to do your work"
"Jedi, if you're implying again that I'm-"
"I am indeed. What you gonna do about it? Slap me with your stupid hologram? You know it won't hurt me, right, or are you dumb other than chicken?"

Fenn Gideon's face turn red in rage
"This will be the last time you mess with me"
The image trembles and he disappears.
For a second I worry about having crossed the line with the mocking, but that motivates me most. If things get worse I'll be able to protect everyone I care about.

"You certainly have a way with words, Kai" Din says getting back to us while putting away the darksaber
"You know it, tin can" I reply with a smirk that fades away seeing Din's mood.
He thought it could be the end of this battle, maybe he could find again a little peace. The moment he was waiting for had been delayed. The man he wanted to take down wasn't even there.
I feel him angry, tired, annoyed. I can't blame him, but I can try to improve the morale.

"You know it's pretty cool to know that you care about me. Grogu I knew, it's your son... But I didn't know I was part of the equation"
He moves his gaze from the ground to me, and scratches his neck.
"Well,we met not long ago, but it seems like much more. You are helping me and Grogu, you've been protecting him for a year. So yes, you're not a nobody to me"
I smile
"I care about you too, Mando. I know Jedi and Mandalorians usually hate each other, but you are kind and you treat me with respect. You did a great job with Grogu"
I put my hand on his arm for a second.

"Talking about Grogu" I say after a second "While we were battling the stormtroopers your kid called me 'mama' "
"What?" Din freezes
"Yeah, uhm... I don't know if he was imitating me when I talked to my mamma or if he really wanted to mean that"
Din looks at Grogu and picks him up causing him to giggle at us.
"As Jedi we shouldn't have this strong bond, but I don't know what to say to him. So I guess... your kid, your problem?"
Din tilts his head
"Oh don't look at me like that"
"I don't mind how he calls people, I only care about understanding who he's talking about. If he wants to call you 'mama' I'm okay with it. It's your choice to decide if it's right or wrong"
I press my lips together in thought and nod.

I never thought that much about my bond with my padawan, I always repeated to myself that it wasn't the Jedi way.
I've always treated him more like a son that like an apprentice. I was never hard on him and I enjoyed playing with him more than training him. Is that what having a kid is like?
The truth is that deep down having a family would be nice, and it being Grogu would be the best thing. He is important to me. But what does that mean for my Jedi nature?
And then how can I be his mother and Din his father? How would that work? I travel around the galaxy and he rules on Mandalore, how would Grogu's life be? The only solution would be for me to live on Mandalore or for Din to travel with us, but how can I ask him to change his lifestyle from loner king to Jedi's teammate? The last thing I want is to force him to be someone that he is not.
But at the same time I want the best for Grogu, and I don't know what to do.

I am so lost in thought that I didn't even notice we were back at the landing bay.

Din goes straight to the Spark ready to go, and Grogu and I are greeted by BB-4.
As usual he can't wait to tell me what he did while we were away, he has always been chatty.
I kneel down to hear about the maintenance he did on the ship.
Then tells me about a nice man who complimented him for his colorful looks and asked him to check out the Spark and ran away right after.

Strange.

"Buddy, do you remember what did this man looked like?"
He beeps in response
"A black robe? Like the imperial dude we fought last year?"
He moves his top as a nod
Oh crap.

"Mando!" I see him already inside the ship as I pick Grogu up "Come out, quick!"
A bad feeling sends shivers down my spine as Din runs out.
He's still on the gangway of the spark when there is a big explosion.
I turn around shielding Grogu and BB-4.

Beings all around look in our direction, scared.
I leave the kid with my Droid and I turn to check ond Din.
There's dust in the air and I find it hard to see. The dust starts to fade away as I get closer.
The first thing I notice is the scraps remaining of my ship. The man was one of Fenn's guys, if not him.
Then I see the beskar armor. In horizontal position. Din is on the ground.
Panic finds his way into my head.

-Haar'chak_Kaira