The Space Between Us - The Mandalorian

Chapter 26

A chuckle rumbled through him, she could feel the vibration through the heavy armour as he took her hands in his, holding them up to the side of his helmet. 

"Here, I'll close my eyes, maybe that'll help make it a little easier." She wanted to make this as comfortable for him as possible. 

"Thank you." She closed her eyes and he pulled against her hands, they both lifting the helmet together, at the same time.

She sucked in a breath at the movement. "Tell me when."

A moment before, "You can open your eyes now."

"Open your eyes, cyar'ika..."

She did, this time, as promised, taking a good, long look.

Her gaze swept over his whole face.  She took in his strong jaw and round cheeks lined with stubble, the soft lips, wisps of dark hair atop his head, a little messy from being squished under a helmet all hours, but extremely soft. And the warmest eyes were staring back at her, full of nothing but trust, love, and a little nervousness. 

Oh, Din... Tears spilled down her cheeks. 

His eyes flicked downward. "That bad, huh?"

"Oh, shut up." She gave him a little shove.  "These are happy tears and you know it. Overjoyed tears." The tears of one seeing their love for the first time. "My Lore, my riddur." She blinked away her tears so that they would not mar her view of him. 

But that was when, once the initial excitement and surprise of seeing him, getting a good look at him for the first time, wore off,  she realized that he looked familiar. But that was impossible, wasn't it?

"Wait a second-" She peered at him closely, tipping his head this way and that to see him from various angles. "Wait - that day, when we stopped and Leo and I had lunch.  The man we met, Damien - that was you?"

He smiled, almost shyly.  "Yes, it was."

She blinked back in shock and adorable confusion.  "What?"

"I really wanted you to see me, but I was nervous. So that allowed me to show myself to you without you knowing it was me. I wanted to assess your reaction."

"You thought I wouldn't like you?"

"I don't know..."

"Well I hope you're reassured now that I like you very much."

He chuckled. "Yes, I am."

"Good.  So wait, when you - when he, well, when you - were  talking about your travel companions, you were really talking about us, Leo and I?"

"Yes."

"And when you were saying you were lucky to have them, and that you were all like a family-"

"Yes."

"And when you - oh, I'm sorry, did I poke your eye? I'm sorry-" She was still cupping his face. They dissolved into chuckles. "Well, I liked him a lot, but I was falling in love with you, so I guess I was technically falling in love with him. You fooled me, that's for sure." She brushed a gentle thumb over the crinkles at the corner of his eyes. "What's the word for beautiful in Mando'a?"

"Mesh'la."

"Well you're mesh'la, Din Djarin."

"If anyone's mesh'la, it's you, cyare."

"Who? Me? Eh," she shrugged.  "I've always thought I'm pretty plain."

"Well I don't. I think you are the brightest star ever to shine in the galaxy."

She felt more tears forming at his words.  "Wow..." She cupped his face in her hands.  "I adore you." 

"And I you." His hands were resting on her hips.   "Can I kiss you? Or, rather, can we kiss each other?"

His request lit a fire deep within her that had already been boiling. "Oh Maker - yes." 

He licked his lips.  "Just to forewarn you - I've never... Done this..."

"Never? Like never ever?"

"No, never."

"Well, neither have I."

"No?"

"Yeah. Working forced, isolated shifts in a mine doesn't allow for a lot of intimacy." He spluttered. She snorted with laughter. "Sorry, didn't mean to kill the mood."

"Well, I must admit I'm glad we get to learn this together."

"Me too."

They locked eyes and both leaned in, hesitating slightly before closing the gap. 

Din's lips were chapped, but soft against hers, gentle and cautious in their movements. 

"Hmm." She hummed as they pulled away for need of air.  "I like kissing."

He chuckled in agreement, resting his forehead against hers in another kov'nyn.  "Me too. I guess I'll have to take the helmet off more often."

Now was her turn to chuckle.  "I wouldn't be opposed to that. And before you put it back on - could I maybe try it on? Or would that be like super offensive?"

"You can try it on." He held it out to her.

"Cool!" Without another thought she slipped it on over her own head. The helmet was too big for her, and wobbled if she let go, but she still got a sense of what it was like to wear it. "Wow, it's pretty dark in here. And this is really heavy - you must have a really strong neck.  How do I look?"

"Like a Mandalorian."

"Aw, really? 'I can bring you in hot, or I can bring you in cold'," She lowered her voice to mimic his, making them both chuckle. 

"It's,  'I can bring you in warm, or I can bring you in cold'."

"Oh, I'm sorry, pardon me," she laughed, slipping it off. 

He chuckled, taking back the helmet but setting it in his lap, not putting it back on, not just yet.  "Ni kar'tayl gar darasuum."

"You're going to have to teach me how to say that."

"Gladly." He opened his arms to her and she snuggled against him, both savouring this moment. 

"Din?"

"Hmm."

"Thank you - for showing me you."

"I'm glad I did, cyare. Thank you for - thank you for loving me as I am."

"Of course. Always. And thank you for doing the same for me."

He pressed a kiss to her forehead, his stubble tickling her skin. "Always."

They sat there like that, staring out at the now endless starry sky, arms around each other, she leaning into him, head resting on his chest, warm and loved in each others' embrace. 

(Just pure love here! The defining chapter! Whew, it took me longer than I'd hoped, but I  wanted it to be perfect!

I will mention that since I'm moving out of the show storyline now, updates won't be quite as consistent as I have more of my own storyline to figure out and write!

Thank you so much for reading and, as always, I hope you enjoyed! :))