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Nightmares had plagued Hebe's sleep the following week. There had been many different scenarios ranging from simply enjoying a day out with her boys to being back in that place. Stuck in Moff Gideon's grasp, in that firey room with Mando lying limp against that slab. But all of them had one thing in common: Mando died each time in her arms. His cold corpse felt too real as she shot out of bed each night, crying out quietly at her mental distress or her injured hip. Each time it happened, Din would always be there, sitting by her side to calm her down and ask what was plaguing her. And the 8th night was no different.
Her heart skipped a beat as her whole body jolted, Hebe scrambled to sit up. Her hip bumped against the wall and she yelped in surprise as she felt a part of her wound rip open. She clapped a hand over her mouth but Din was already sitting up and alert. Earlier that night, Din had insisted that he slept beside her so that he could be ready if she had another nightmare. It had warmed her that he would wake up for her every time and even insist on staying by her side until she fell asleep. As he sat up, his low v neck shirt shifted to reveal the pinkish scars that littered his collar and chest.
"Hey, I've got you cyar'ika. I've got you," he shushed and grounded the frantic woman. She gripped tightly onto his shirt and leaned her head onto his chest.
"Why do you keep dying?" Hebe slurred tiredly.
"What?" he tilted his helmet in alarm. "Your nightmares..."
"You keep dy-dying. I can't stop it," her lips trembled, refusing to meet his gaze. His heart broke at the sound of her scared voice. This was the one thing that he couldn't protect her from, but if he could- Din would chase every one of those nightmares until he collapsed from exhaustion. Anything to spare her some peaceful, well deserved sleep.
"Gar cuyir morut'yc ner kar'taylir darasuum," he repeated, stroking her hair over and over until her breathing steadied. Despite Hebe not understanding a word he was saying, she couldn't help but be comforted by his gravelly voice laced with sleep. She took in a deep breath.
"My hip hurts..." Mando clicked something on the side of his helmet and a light splintered through the stagnant dark.
"Dammit," he cursed as he watched a pool of red start expanding over her grey shorts. "Stay here." He moved over to the light switch.
"Wait no, you'll wake the child," Hebe reasoned, he hesitated at the switch before grunting and moving back towards her. She moved to stand up but he placed a large warm hand on her bare shoulder. "I'm going to pick you up now," he told her. She just blinked tiredly and allowed him to grab the back of her thighs and hoist her up. Hebe's legs automatically wrapped around his waist and her arms linked around his neck. He rubbed her back comfortingly before switching the bathroom light on and setting her down on the cold counter. Goosebumps trickled down her legs.
Din shuffled quietly around the room and retrieved a medkit from a sliding cupboard. Her luminous white hair was mussed from sleep, her rosy lips oddly charming to Din. Cute, he thought. His eye twitched slightly in his tired state. He let Hebe lean herself onto his torso for support, him settling between her legs as he slid his finger under the hem of her shorts. She hummed and nodded subtly, he pulled down one side of her shorts with halting movements. The wound had only opened up a 2-centimetre long laceration that was bleeding minorly, much to his relief.
