Broken Soul | Din Djarin

chapter thirty-five: loophole

You blink away the glaring suns as Din directs the speeder through the Dune Sea. Other than the harshness of the Tatooine suns, the desert is peaceful... quiet.

Din had sat with you in the sand for nearly an hour, apologizing constantly and whispering the endearing nicknames and soothing words in Mando'a that you had come to cherish. But when the darkness settled over the desert, you had both climbed back onto the bike, eager to depart this desert planet. Din wanted to drive... wanted to let you sleep, even though he hasn't slept in days. You weren't able to sleep anyway - just sat with your arms wrapped around Din's torso as he scanned the desert.

The two of you didn't fight often, and neither of you wanted to make a habit of it. Now you were both drained, both physically and emotionally. The past few days have been rough, and you were eager to return to the Crest to get some rest.

Your mind continues to drift back to the dragon and the fight between you and Din. You're going to have nightmares of Din disappearing into the jaws of the beast for days... you're aware of it. But the knowledge that Din is alive and well... well, as well as you're aware of, it brings you a sense of peace. But if it's not the image of Din disappearing into the sand that'll bring you nightmares, the memory of people crumbling to dust from acid will definitely cause a disruption in your sleep.

Din

Even Din was disturbed by the visual of the people melting and dying because of that monster. His own mind keeps flashing to Alora's look of horror in the distance as she watched her new comrades crumble to dust in the sand. The sound of her screaming of his name while the dragon's teeth surrounded him haunts his mind, and it echoes through his ears as he drives.

It's going to take a very, very long time to make it up to Alora. Din's kicking himself internally for not even thinking of how another death like Ari would affect her. Din had seen the look of pure fury on her face when he'd broken free of the dragon's jaws. The way she'd held her saber as if she was ready to tear the beast apart just to get to him. No sense or understanding other than the grief and rage that 1was in her mind, and Din was thankful that he was able to get out before she had snapped.

Alora had warned him in the past that she wasn't sure how she would react to another event like Ari's death. He had spoken to her about it when she had confessed to her shared feelings months ago, and he couldn't forget the way her eyes had darkened as she spoke about it.

"I don't remember what happened."

"What do you mean?" Din had scooted closer, letting his hands rest on his crossed legs as he sat on the floor of the Crest.

"Vader said he would return to find me, yeah?"

"Yeah... You didn't show me that memory," Din had said slowly.

"Well, because... I don't remember. I remember him finding me and... that's it... after seeing him, it all goes dark." Her lips had pulled into a tight frown.

"Did he get you?" Din started to stress that the monster had done something worse to her than he'd realized.

"No... that's the thing... I woke up standing in the middle of a street filled with dead stormtroopers." Her eyes were dark when they met his. "Their armor was shattered like glass, limbs twisted and broken... blood all over the gravel... and blood was on my hands... I had done it. Killed them all... and I don't... I don't remember..."

Din had grimaced at the idea... waking up with no memory of the havoc you had reeked. Alora had murmured that she was thankful that she didn't remember, as now she didn't have to relive it in her nightmares... but she was horrified all the same.