PURPOSE | The Mandalorian

XXXXVI

"I don't plan on it," I responded breathlessly, but my response didn't seem to relieve the tension in his shoulders. After a moment he released me, stalking up to the fried ferry droid. I kept my saber activated in my hand, just in case something else needed slicing.

Just as Din reached the droid, it beeped and crackled to life, rising up from the hardened rock as it used a pole to guide us down river.

Din looked at the ferry droid, satisfied, as he called to any of us, "I don't suppose any of you speak droid?"

After a moment of relative silence, IG stepped forward, the child still strapped to his torso and both of our jetpacks tucked under his arms. Then the droid said, "We wish to go down river, to the lava flats."

The ferry droid beeped in response, using the pole to guide us faster through the thick lava. I took a seat on the bench beside me, and everyone else followed suit. Din stalked back towards me as he took the seat next to mine, scooting himself as close to me as he possibly could.

I turned my head to look at him. "Are you alright?" I asked quietly.

He exhaled, reaching over to grab my hand. "I've been better," He admitted, "But the bacta seems to be working."

A sad smile crossed my face. "I shouldn't have left," I whispered as he massaged my palm, but his fingers faltered slightly as I continued, "You were dying, and I just left you—"

"Don't," Din stated in a low voice. "You would have died if you stayed."

"And you would have died anyway," I retorted, staring at his visor again. Then I croaked, "I had your blood on my hands, for fucks sake. And I just left—" My voice broke. "I'm sorry. I should have stayed until the end."

"Until the end?" He questioned, somehow sliding even closer to me on the bench. "Jeyna, you talk like I actually died. But I'm still here, and this is just the beginning." The hope in his voice was contagious, and it began to swell in my heart. "We're a clan now," He continued proudly, "And we have a Foundling to look after. And you..." He breathed, taking either side of my face in his hands so I was forced to stare into his blank visor. "You are going to bring us all back together. You heard the Armorer—"

Something else began to seep into my chest, killing all the pride and hope that Din had planted there. I interrupted, "What if I can't?"

Din's words sputtered to a stop. Then he asked flatly, "What do you mean?"

"Din," I breathed, biting my lip to keep my emotions bottled up inside, "This impossible streak of miraculous escapes and close calls with death is eventually going to end. I can't keep pretending like I know what I'm doing because the truth is, I've been winging everything for the last decade. I have no plan for a future, and I have no idea if what I'm doing is right or wrong. And now people are counting on me to find the Darksaber, bring our people back together, and save the entire fucking galaxy." I let out a sharp breath. "What if it's all too much?"

Din just remained silent beside me, still as a statue. My lungs squeezed as I held in a sob and said, "I don't know if I can do this."

My husband's neck bobbed as he swallowed. "Jeyna," He began as I blinked at him, "I would give you this speech about how strong and amazing you are, but we're approaching the end of the tunnel and there's an entire platoon of stormtroopers waiting to blow us all to hell."

I recoiled, whipping my head around to stare at the opening of the river. I flicked a button on my vambrace to activate the heat trackers, and sure enough, there were at least fifteen or twenty troopers surrounding the mouth of the tunnel.