𝐜𝐲𝐚𝐫𝐞'𝐬𝐞 - 𝘥𝘪𝘯 𝘥𝘫𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘯

Just Fine

just fine • gn!reader
Din comforts you after you suffer through a tumultuous nightmare.

—§—

You can't stop running.

Your legs are moving as fast as you can manage, and your broken heart slams against your ribcage as your breathing fills the air around you. Din's last words to you had told you to run, and so—for his sake—you kept going.

You hope he catches up. Whatever happens, you can't lose him—you can't. You've already lost enough, and this would just be the thing that ruins you completely. His odds in the fight he'd made you flee from are extremely low, and you're afraid you may never see him again.

The child coos in a sad manner as it remains tucked in your arm, and you give its head a gentle pet as you keep running through the dense foliage. The blaster shots in the distance start to get louder and louder, and you wonder if Din's also trying to get away—and is being pursued.

Your thoughts are cut off by an Imperial speederbike blocking your path, the scout trooper looking at you aggressively. You stumble to a less-than-graceful stop, protecting the child with both your arms. The trooper pulls his blaster, aiming it directly at you. It happens in slow motion as you close your eyes and turn away, hearing the shot of a blaster nearby—but not feeling the coldness of death. Upon opening your eyes again, you see the scout trooper laying limp on the bike, and you spin around to see Din standing a few feet behind you. Your heart fills with relief as you smile at him.

"Come on, we have to keep—" Din starts to say, but he's cut off by something much worse than a blaster shot.

Your body is thrown back by a strong blast of flames, and you continue to cushion and protect the child as you roll over a few times. When you manage to lift your head, you don't even see Din's body, yet you know what's happened.

You let out a scream of his name in utter turmoil, feeling the sobs well up as the other Imperial troops begin to close in.

Din's sudden calling of your name and soft yet frequent shakes of your shoulders bring you back to reality with a start. You sit up quickly, feeling the hot tears you must've cried on your cheeks as your chest heaves with emotion. Din's kneeling next to you, his helmet tilted to the side in strong concern. "I heard you call for me. Are you alright?"

The sight of him should relax you, but it doesn't. You keep picturing the image of him bursting into flames over and over in your head. You want to say something to him, to tell him that you're okay and it's all in your head, but when you open your mouth no words can come out.

"If you can, I need you to answer me." Din's modulated voice is soft and soothing, and he runs a gloved hand over your cheek to wipe the tears away.
You try to close your eyes to focus but end up only seeing that horrifying image once again. The sobs that had welled up in your throat during the dream remain there, and you try to keep them contained.
"Did you have a nightmare?" Din wipes your other cheek as he speaks. The concern he feels for you bleeds into his words, and you feel guilty for making him so worried. You're able to give him a nod, though you still can't say anything else without the cries coming first. You hear Din let out a gentle sigh as he sits beside you on your cot, reaching for both of your hands and placing them between his. "Can you talk about it?"

At his physical comfort, you feel yourself calming down just a bit, and you release a shaky breath as you focus your gaze on your hands. "I... I dreamt that we got caught." You gain the faith to look back up at his visor, which is still looking at you with a sympathetic tilt. "By the Imps." Din's about to say something, but you cut him off as you manage to continue—and it all spills from your lips in a single, strained breath. "And they almost killed me, but you saved me just in time, but then before we could keep going you—they—you—."

You still can't quite put the terrible image into words, and you bite your lip to keep it from trembling so much. Din begins to run his gloved thumb over the back of one of your hands, which gives you the gentle push you need to rush out the last part of the dream.

"There was an explosion, and you died, Din. I lost you." The last three words come out in a voice so quiet you're not sure if Din's even heard them. At the fearful images they bring back to your mind, another tear manages to escape your eye, and you can't meet Din's visor anymore.

Din releases your hands to hold your face gently in his hands, once again wiping away the tear. "I'm here," he assures you in a coo. "I'm right here, cyar'ika. And I'm not leaving anytime soon."

Your gaze falls back on him at those words, and your arms take a gentle yet firm hold on his wrists. "Please," you say in a pitiful plea, your voice sounding lower than a whisper. "I've lost so much, Din. I can't lose you, too." You swallow hard before finishing. "Not even if it's to save me."

Din evidently can't stand seeing you like this anymore, and so he pulls you in tightly to his embrace, letting you hide your face in the fabric that covers his chest. "You know that I'll do whatever it takes to keep you safe. But those plans usually try to include some kind of safety for myself, too. If I've made it this far in my life being safe, then I think I'll be fine going forward. Trust me—it's not something for you to worry about." One of his gloved hands lightly strokes the back of your head as he speaks, his presence and his words effectively working to make you feel more and more at ease.

"But, Din, these are Imps," you whine, keeping your arms secure around him. "They're ruthless. What if—."

"You can't think about it," Din interrupts you softly. "The Empire is technically gone. That means any 'Imp' is just as much a threat as the bounty hunters who are going after the child. You trust me to handle them just fine, right?"

You nod, almost giggling as you recount a recent memory of Din taking out a bounty hunter before they'd even had the chance to make their presence known.

"Then I'll be fine in any instance with an Imp. And, trust me, I'm not letting a damn Imp kill me. Not with that kind of aim." He successfully gets you to chuckle at that, and you can picture the smile spread under his helmet as he continues to get you relaxed. After a few moments of pausing, Din gently lifts you from his chest, resting his helmet against your forehead as his visor—and, presumably, his gaze—looks right into yours. "I'll be just fine, cyar'ika. We'll all be just fine."

You close your eyes and hold his helmet between your hands, absorbing the feeling of his Keldabe kiss. You let the silence persist for a bit longer before you reopen your eyes and speak again. "You're right." In a quieter plea, you add, "But please keep holding me."

Din doesn't hesitate to comply, and he urges you to lay down again. He does the same beside you, inviting him into his arms as you let him hold you tightly to himself. The feeling of his body being so close to yours, being so full of life, invites you to finally start becoming drowsy again with no fears of you losing him coming back to haunt you.

"Din?" you ask after a long moment of silence.

"Yeah?" Din's modulated voice answers softly.

"Thank you," you whisper, a small smile coming on your lips as you think about the life you've gotten to live with him thus far. "Thank you for trusting me."

Din pulls you in even tighter, remaining silent before he finds the words to reply with. "I should be the one thanking you, cyar'ika." His modulated voice is strained with honest emotion. "But, please, get more rest. I'm not going anywhere." When he physically feels you relax more into his arms and breathe in a slower rhythm, he adds one more thing—in a voice so soft you can barely hear it. "Ni kar'tayl gar darasuum."