Broken Soul | Din Djarin

chapter sixteen: the walker

The morning sun pulls you from your sleep and you blink aggressively in its light, shoving the cloud of sleep out of your mind. Rays of light pour through the leaves of the trees above you and you look around to see that the cart is still moving. A village can be seen in the distance and you look down to check on the child, who is comfortably tucked in the crook of your elbow. Small snores rise from him and a smile appears on your lips as you watch him sleep. A movement against you makes your head spin to look at who is so close to you. 

Din is asleep at your side, his head tilted towards you and his arm around your shoulders. You sit up straight and freeze, eyes wide like saucers as you look at the sleeping Mandalorian. You don't want to move and wake him up by accident, but you don't know what else to do. Nervously, you glance over at Cara, afraid that she had seen the closeness between you and Din.

She's passed out, head resting on some of the luggage and one of her legs is propped to rest over one of your own. Her face is serene and calm and the sight of her in this state helps you to decide not to move from your spot in Din's arms.

You tilt your head to watch Din sleep. The cart hits a bump in the road and his head falls back to rest on the wall of the cart. You suppress a snort of laughter at his awkward position and slowly nestle yourself back into your position against him. Nervous knots grow in your stomach as you rest your head against his pauldron. As if he was aware of your presence, Din's arm raises from the side of the cart to hold you tighter against him, giving you a light embrace as you lean against him. His gloved hand rests on your arm while his head is still thrown back in an awkward manner.

Your eyes flick up to his visor, wondering if he was awake. You get your answer when a small snore comes from the small gap between his face and his helmet, too quiet to be picked up by the modulator. A smile tugs at your lips as you close your eyes. 

You're so close to ditching the Code of the Jedi, just for this man. Just to allow yourself to feel close to someone again. You shut down whenever you sense warmth in his chest when he looks at you, and you avoid looking at his emotions out of fear of the answer you would get from it.

You close your eyes, allowing yourself to relax when the cart comes to a sudden halt, jolting everyone that's in it awake. Your eyes flash open and you see Cara jolt up from her rest in a momentary state of panic. Din's head rises from its awkward position, looking around drowsily as you look up from your comfortable position in his arms.

A swarm of kids is running to the cart, cheering and talking among themselves as they make their way over to your group. One kid beats the rest to the cart and she peeks her head over the side to look at you.

Din adjusts his position, sitting up straight while keeping his arm around you protectively. He helps you to sit up as well and you keep your eyes on the new child while you move. The girl's eyes are wide as she stares up at you and you widen your own eyes to mimic her expression, not entirely sure what to do.

"Looks like they're happy to see us," Din mutters, his voice deep and thick with sleep. His hold on you loosens and you try to hide your disappointment. His embrace had brought you comfort and you were sad to see it go.

Cara smiles at the children, but they've been distracted by the strange green child that rests in your arms to pay her much attention. The Child looks around at the mass of children, looking back and forth between you and their hard stares.

You hold him out for them to see, earning a clamor of children saying how cute he is. You chuckle as the Child giggles and chitters in happiness at the swarm of new friends. Din gives your arm a squeeze before climbing out of the cart, turning back to offer you a helping hand in getting down. Taking it, you hop down from the cart and continue to hold onto him before crouching with the children so they can see the Child.