Part 2

Summary:

Now enlightened from seeing your Jedi masters as force ghosts, you made a promise to now train the child in the ways of the force. With the new teachings bestowed by grandmaster Yoda, holding emotions back was no longer required in the Jedi code. You were free to form attachments to whomever you wished, and that strong attachment that you've been feeling has been to protect the child at all costs and your growing love for the Mandalorian...

Word Count: 3059

***

The planet's sun had just touched the horizon of the sea, indicating that it will soon be evening as the pigmentations of the sky had slowly transitioned into darker shades. The ocean glistened with the sun's reflection, as the waves gently crashed into the more shallow area where the once dry sand resides. The breeze of the wind swayed the palm trees, giving the beach a picturesque appearance as if it was a picture for a vacation post card. 

The armoured man felt a slight tickle of the wind from areas of his body that didn't have the protection of beskar. Oh how he so badly wanted to remove his armour, especially that helmet of his so he could feel the wind against his bare flesh. But that meant he would violate his very creed into never showing his face to any living being. The amount of sweat that built up on the exterior of his body had tempted him, his skin needed to breathe.

"Ooowaaah!" The child cooed excitedly, titling its head onto the side as he stared at his father with his dark large doe eyes.

"Don't you dare tempt me, kid. Even you can't convince me otherwise," he crossed his arms, pointing his index finger towards the little green bean. 

A shadowy silhouette appeared before the Mandalorian and the child, readying his blaster to shoot. To his relief, that figure happened to only be you. 

"Don't shoot! I surrender," you yelled out sarcastically, raising your hands up in the air. 

"For a second I thought you were someone else. It would have been my biggest regret if I actually shot you, (y/n)." 

You felt your cheeks flush from his statement, covering it up with one of your witty jokes, "Not if I stop you with my lightsaber first, Din Djarin."

The Mandalorian laughed, which was something rare for him to do, "You're right, a Jedi like yourself is far too powerful to be challenged. Come one, I've seen you in combat. You've taken out bounty hunters and thugs like they were nothing, it's actually a little scary."

"I only have to be like that if you give me a reason to," you snickered.

"Anyways, the kid's stomach has been growling the entire time you were gone. We should get some food, you hungry too?" 

A loud cackling grumble emitted from your stomach, your hand covering it as if you were telling it to be quiet, "Y-yeah. I'm pretty hungry too. There's probably some food in the ocean, it'll be easier to catch while the sun hasn't completely set yet. You build a fire and watch the child, while I go catch us our dinner."

While you walked towards the shallow parts of the ocean, the Mandalorian immediately set out to find twigs and branches that would be perfect for your source of fire. Palm leaves that have fallen on the ground had been used as the base for the wood to stand firm on, since the sandy surface had proven it to be most difficult. His greatest advantage was his flame-throwing weapon. At least he didn't have to manually start a fire, such as rubbing wood together. Now that the bonfire was taken care of, only the food remains missing.

You stood by the shore as the cool waters of the ocean swept past your toes. It was a rather soothing feeling, considering that you always wore your boots where your feet rarely got exposed. The sun was setting fast, and you had two companions relying on you for their source of food. Finally finding a species of crabs, you used the force to lure the little sea creatures towards you as they levitated onto your hands. Basically cheating while fishing. 

"Din! I found some crabs!" You yelled out in joy, jumping up and down like a child. 

Time somehow slowed down for the Mandalorian. He stared at you with such awe as if you were a serene being, with you standing there by the ocean with a smile that he never knew you've ever possessed. The gentle breeze of the wind that blew on your (h/c) hair, as the water droplets glistened like crystals with you. To him, you were the most beautiful being in the galaxy. 

"What's the matter? You're not in the mood for crabs?" You titled your head, awaiting an answer from the armoured man. 

Din shook his head back to reality. He was so attuned by just looking at you that he never heard what you said just earlier, "N-no.. Crabs are perfect. Thanks for catching them. Let's just hope the kid likes them just as much as he likes frogs."

"He's gonna have to like them. Did I ever mention I'm an excellent cook?"

"I've never tasted your cooking before."

"Well, you learn a few things while working as a dishwasher. Don't worry, my cooking isn't going to kill you."

The planet's sun had finally fully set as the crabs had finished cooking on the bonfire. You heard excited coos from the child here and there as he watched the colours of the crabs transform from blue to orange. It had amused him and raised his curiosity. 

Using the force, the Mandalorian watched as you placed the levitating crab onto a stick. You looked at him sheepishly.

"It's fresh out from the fire, don't wanna burn my hands." You paused, averting your gaze towards the child, "You want to try doing what I did, little one?"

The child cooed excitedly and nodded its bobbly head, outstretching its green hand towards the last crab that was still cooking over the fire. With eyes closed, the little green creature took a deep breath and concentrated, feeling all the energy of the force surging within him. In only a few seconds, the crab had quickly levitated towards his hand, seemingly unharmed from the heat it was producing. 

"Good job little one! Your first lesson of your training from me is a success."

The child giggled with joy, breaking off the shell of the sea creature and gnawing on the freshly cooked crab meat. 

"You're gonna train the kid?" The Mandalorian asked, slightly confused. 

"Yeah, I am."

"What made you decide that all of a sudden?"

You sat across from the armoured man, gazing at him intently with your piercing (e/c) eyes, "Okay, you're gonna think the next few things I'm about to say are weird."

"I'm listening."

You sighed, hesitant to continue on without somehow freaking the armoured man out, "I saw my old master."

"Wait, what? I thought you said your master was dead??"

"Yeah, he is. But he's become one with the force."

"He's become one with the force?"

"Y-yeah! It's hard to explain when you're not a Jedi, but he's become a force ghost now. Do you understand?"

"I'd be lying if I said yes."

You chuckled nervously, sensing the confusion from the Mandalorian, "I can sense that you're confused. But one of my masters has told me that I need to be the one to train the child. I have finally completed my own training, and just earlier while conversing with my master, I have become a Jedi knight. Din, it's the will of the force as to why I have to train him." 

The child's large pointy ears perked up the moment you mentioned the word training. He too, could sense a strong connection with you through the force.

"Grogu. That's your name, isn't it little one."

Little Grogu perked up once again, nodding his head at you. Then for a few minutes, there was silence. Physically yes, it was silent. But through your minds, there was a deeper conversation going on between you and the youngling. A conversation worth sharing with his father, who sat there with the two of you, completely clueless of what was being said in your minds.

"Do you understand him?"

"Yes. Yes I do." You sat up, picked up the child and gently sat him on your lap. "Like I mentioned earlier, his name is Grogu. He was trained by many masters in the Jedi temple in Coruscaunt. But his memories become dark during that tragic event of Order 66. He was suddenly taken away from the temple, and woke up realizing that he was on his own. He's hidden his abilities order to survive all these years, just like how I did. If even a sliver of Jedi skills were shown, we could have easily been killed just like the others."

"I'm so sorry that this has happened to you both," the Mandalorian's modulated voice echoed through his helmet.

"There's no need for you to apologize. We were simply living in great fear during those dark times. But now, I will do everything I can to ensure that Grogu gets the proper training, so that I may protect him, as well as he can protect himself. He has great skills, but he still needs to master them. We can no longer live in fear. Not now when the empire is starting to rise up from the ashes again. We need to fight back, even if it's just in baby steps for now."

Grogu cooed excitedly, placing his tiny green hand onto yours, agreeing for you to be his new master, with him as your first apprentice.

"Grogu," the Mandalorian gently called out the child's name. 

"Ooowohh!" Grogu responded back, his head and large ears perking up once again. 

"Grogu," he repeated, amusement laced in the tone of his voice. "Now that I know your name kid, you'll both get to know my story tomorrow."

"We'll know about it once Grogu finishes his lessons for tomorrow."

***

You awoke feeling rejuvenated, feeling the cool breeze of the wind as you laid down underneath a palm tree. You rolled over to your right, seeing an adorable surprise; it was Grogu. Your lips twitched to a wide smile, seeing the child standing before you as he stared with his large doe eyes. Getting in a sitting position, you scooped him up and placed him onto your lap.

"You want to start training right away, little one? Well, aren't you eager to learn." 

Grogu's large pointy ears perked up, staring at you with the most adorable expression as he spoke. Many would not understand what he was saying, as the only thing they will hear are squeaking noises. But through the force, you had been able to perfectly communicate with his unique kind of vocabulary. 

Your gaze averted to the Mandalorian, who happened to still be fast asleep under another palm tree. You snickered, thinking how the armoured man looked like under his helmet while asleep. He, of course, had still worn his entire armour as well.

"I know Grogu, he's missing out how great this planet feels under all that beskar." You paused, finally getting up on your feet and dusting off the soft sand of the beach that lingered on your skin, "It's time for your second lesson, little one. We'll have to go somewhere a little further from your father. We don't want to wake him up."

The child outstretched his tiny green hand, pointing out towards the ocean. He made his way to the shallows of the waters, and caught himself a love crab. Without waiting for a response from you, the child placed the entire crustacean in his mouth as it slithered down his throat, the shell included as well. 

"Grogu no! At least remove the shell before you eat it," you ran towards the child, with a slight panic in your tone. 

To your surprise, the little green bean looked unharmed, cooing excitedly as he had his fill of breakfast before his second lesson from you. 

A sigh of relief escaped from your lips, the beating of your heart had finally normalized, "You can sense my anxiousness? Of course I was panicking, I thought you were going to choke! Well, at least I now know that you can eat the shell of a crab, let alone eat it raw. Your stomach is very unique, little one."

The child giggled from your remark, while you looked for something easy that Grogu couls practice his skills with. Scanning the surroundings of the beach, you spotted a palm leaf laying idle by the ocean. 

"Come, Grogu," you stretched out your hand towards the child, scooping him up then placing him down beside the palm leaf. "I want you to pick it up by using the force."

The lone palm leaf easily levitated towards your hand. Now placing it down, you instructed the child to do the same.

"Just pick up the leaf how I did, Grogu."

The child stretched out his green hand, but the leaf wouldn't budge, leaving the little green bean grunting in frustration. 

You gently held onto his hand, laughing at how adorably he reacted. But you also knew how complicated it must be for him to reawaken his abilities as he hid them from all these years to survive from the enemies.

"It's alright, Grogu. Just take your time and be patient, you'll eventually get it. You're extremely strong with the force, you just need to master it as I have." 

The child looked at you with his dark beady eyes, hesitant to continue on with the lesson.

"Don't worry, I'm not going to be mad if you can't get it in the next few minutes. I'll be patient with you." You paused, stretching out your hand towards the leaf as it levitated towards you once again. "You just need to concentrate, feel the force around you. I promise you'll be able to get it." 

Feeling encouraged and with tightly closed eyelids, Grogu once again gathered all the energy around him where he could feel the force the most. You watched intently as the palm leaf began to shake, and with a matter of seconds, it was already in the hands of the child.

"Wow, Grogu! I knew you could do it! I could sense it from the beginning before our lesson even began! By mastering your abilities, you'll be able to protect yourself as well."

The little green bean giggled excitedly, waddling adorably towards you as you scooped him up. 

"I'm so proud of you little one! What was that? You want to tell Din about your success?" You chuckled at the child. "Of course we can tell him all about it."

Walking back you and the child spotted the Mandalorian busy repairing the damaged Razor Crest once again. Of course, he was still wearing his full suit of beskar armour along with his helmet. You've never ever once seen him remove any piece of his armour, let alone even a glove. You don't even know what his skin looks like, or if he has any hair. 

You briefly remembered what the lady mechanic mentioned to you back in Tatooine. What if he's a Gungan? No, impossible. His vocabulary alone already indicates that he isn't one. Everyday you spent with him, you were curious about his face looked like. What the colour of his eyes were, if he had any hair or if he was bald. Most especially, how his voice sounded like without his modulator. You just wanted to know. 

"I don't know how you can handle all the heat and humidity this planet has under all that beskar. But when I wore my Jedi robes back then in a hot planet, I could already feel the heat creeping up to me." 

"My creed prevents me from showing my face to any living being. That also includes both you and the kid." 

The Mandalorian couldn't agree with you more, though. He had been feeling the sweat building up to him ever since you landed on this planet. If it were up to him, he would remove his helmet and breathe in the fresh air instead of breathing his own breath in his helmet. He would also want you to see how he looked like, that he was also human just like you. 

But he felt extremely conflicted. It was either he followed the people from his creed, who had basically raised him from childhood until adulthood, or pursue how he felt for you. It was driving him into complete oblivion. He wanted so badly to show you, but he couldn't violate his lifestyle. 

"Just... Just don't ever ask about my helmet again, got it?" His tone was firm, with a hint of annoyance in it. 

You clicked your tongue in frustration. You were curious yes, but you've never pestered nor forced him to remove his helmet. His sudden change of mood had gotten on your nerves. Now you wanted to use the force on him so he could be flung into the middle of the ocean and float like a tin can. After all, he was the only Mandalorian you've seen without a jet pack.

"I rarely ask about your helmet, Din. You didn't have to be so rude about it. Anyways, Grogu wanted to tell you that his second lesson of his training went well earlier, and that he wanted to demonstrate what he was able to do. But I guess you're too annoyed to listen to me." You scooped up the child, who gave you a confused expression about your petty disagreement, "let's practice with the palm leaf again, Grogu. It seems that your father wants to be left alone for now. We'll go practice somewhere a bit more further." 

The Mandalorian sighed, frustrated from his unintentional rude remark. But before he could even apologize, you and the child were already walking away from him, off to master his skills again. 

He stretched out his arm towards you, clenching his fist tightly. Tonight, he promised himself he would tell you how he felt about you. There was no stopping him now.