𝐒𝐄𝐂𝐔𝐑𝐈𝐓𝐘 - DIN DJARIN

Chapter 21: The Riduurok*

chapter 21: the riduurok •••

Din can't think straight as he flies you and the child back to the Razor Crest. He's been through too much in the past few hours to make a coherent thought. He still can't even believe he's getting the ending he wanted. This isn't how it's supposed to go—not for someone like him. All he can do is pull you a little tighter to him, relishing in the excited coos of the child in your arms as he focuses on getting you back safely.

Still, there's a single thought that makes its way back to the forefront of his mind over and over again. He can hear the Armorer's words as if they've just been spoken, sparking an ambitious fire inside of his chest: a clan of three. Din knows exactly what the Armorer was telling him to do—and he's known that he must do it for quite some time now. He needs to secure your place in his life. He needs to officially adopt you into his clan. He needs to marry you.

Din doesn't know how the hell he's going to do it—or if you'll even want to at all—but he has to say those vows with you. He's already run the risk of losing you, and he can't do it again. If this experience has taught him anything, it's that he can't live without you or the child. Not since he's known what it's like to have you both. Not since he realized that his true purpose is to keep you two safe and happy as long as he lives. Din always wondered why he was trained for a life of fighting, asking the Maker why he—of all people—came to be known as the best hunter in the parsec, one of the best warriors in the galaxy. Now, he's sure he knows why. It's been training him to learn how to keep the two of you safe, at all costs. It was preparing him to protect his family. To Din, it's no coincidence that the two people who have thawed his cold heart have been targeted by dangerous people. He was made to love and protect you both with everything he has.

And so, he will.

Din pushes these thoughts aside when he spots the Crest, landing as gracefully as he can manage to get you all on the ground safely. He feels a sharp pain in his chest when he comes upon the body of Kuiil, his form curled up and the comlink laying just a few feet away. His helmet hasn't stopped looking ever since he landed, and it only looks away when he feels a hand on his pauldron. Din turns to see you, your expression full of sympathy and shared grief as you watch him mourn his friend.

"Take the time you need, Din," you urge him softly, your voice alone sounding like the warm embrace Din needs right now. "I'll take him to the ship." You pause, gently reaching your free hand up to the back of his helmet as you press your forehead against his. "I'm so sorry for all your losses, riduur. I'm here for you."

Din smiles beneath the helmet, wishing you could see it—and hoping you'll see it soon enough. "I know," he murmurs, soaking in the way your eyes shine so lovingly at him. He watches as you pull away and walk with the child over to the Crest, and he uses his vambrace to open the hatch for you. When Din turns back to Kuiil, he feels the heaviness of the day fully weigh upon him, especially in your temporary absence.

Kuiil had been an unexpected friend who'd helped Din without hesitation in everything he asked of him. He refused payment because he worked out of the sheer kindness of his heart. Din knows that this reaps an honorable burial, one more proper than what the Imps left behind. He instantly sets to work, ignoring the weakness of his recovering body as he hoists stones into his arms and brings them over to Kuiil's body. Once he's obtained enough stones, he gently reaches down to slide Kuiil's cap off of him, setting it aside and beginning to stack the stones around him.

While he works, Din reflects on his other losses. Seeing his covert's pieces of armors broken and alone on the floor of the tunnel brought a feeling to Din he'd only felt once before—when Xi'an had cut your face. Din felt angry, helpless, and utterly guilty for their fate. It was his fault the covert had revealed himself, his fault that the Imps were able to track them, his fault that they had to either reveal themselves or die. The people who had taken him in when he was so young, who had been so patient in training him, who had given him a way to live when he thought he couldn't go on—they were gone.