┏━━━━━━˙*¨༺ ༻¨*˙━━━━━━┓
𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐅𝐈𝐅𝐓𝐘
┗━━━━━━˙*¨༺ ༻¨*˙━━━━━━┛
"HOLD MY HAND," Din commanded and yet, his voice was far from the stern voice one uses to be followed. Instead, his voice sounded gentle and...caring.
There he was, standing in the middle of the makeshift exit they made out of kicking one of the metal blinds of the window off. The hall was dimly lit and yet to Aeryn's eyes, Din Djarin was a beacon of light.
The sunlight reflected on his back as he stood there, lending his right hand to Aeryn whilst holding a blaster with his left one. She couldn't see his face and yet she knew that he was giving her a look of reassurance.
And she was right.
Underneath the helmet, Din Djarin had a look of utmost reassurance on his face. Something that he would only show to a certain violet-eyed woman and the child.
"Hold my hand," he repeated, inching closer to Aeryn who remained down the hall, looking up at him. "And don't let go."
The Mandalorian was bathed in blinding sunlight, his back facing the outside. The gentle wind brushed against Aeryn's skin as her eyes were glued on Din.
He was there. He was really there.
Seeing Din Djarin right in the flesh and having him hold out his hand for her was something she wasn't expecting to ever see again. She was never expecting to see her home once again.
"Never," she replied with a face that displayed both guilt and longing. "You can trust me on that one."
"Good."
With that, Aeryn Mavek reached for the Mandalorian's hand and there, they both stood by the window, eager to escape.
Mayfeld followed right after.
"Oh, wow," Aeryn gasped, immediately looking away from her feet. "That's high. We're high. I-I'm not scared, though."
They were high up. She could see the rest of the building's structure, the bridge, and the plethora of trees surrounding the area. The harsh, violent flow of the water from the dam fell to the river underneath.
"You're safe," Din shot one of the troopers following them. "You're with me."
"I know."
The Mandalorian squeezed Aeryn's left hand as they both made their way to where the ladder was.
"Do you have a plan?" the girl asked, looking around. "Not that I think you don't."
"We do. We just have to go straight up there and meet our pilot."
"Pilot?"
Din halted, kicking one troopers peeking by the window.
"We have a fair amount of catching up to do, Aeryn." he stated, looking right into her familiar violet eyes.
"And I am looking forward to it."
"Look out!" Mayfeld yelled and instinctively, Aeryn ducked while Din leaned back to the wall to take cover.
They were being surrounded by several troopers but for some reason, the troopers were also being shot from shots the three did not make.
"Who's shooting for us?" Aeryn asked as she proceeded to stand up and lean right beside where Din was.
"Cara and Fennec Shand,"
Disbelief clouded the violet-eyed girl's mind.
"But I thought--" she cut herself off, remembering Din's words from earlier. "Right. Catching up."
"Catching up."
Din nodded and gestured for Mayfeld to go ahead of them. The reunited pair, with one of their hands clasped to one another, kept shooting troopers who tried to follow them out to the cliff-like pavement they were walking on.
"You go first," Din ordered, shifting his attention from the ladder to the troopers.
Aeryn furrowed her eyebrows at him, about to protest.
"You go first and I'll hold your hand once we're both in the ship," Din assured her and nodded once. "Okay?"
The violet-eyed girl stared right into the Mandalorian's foreign helmet and reluctantly nodded back.
"Okay."
Aeryn Mavek let go of Din Djarin's hand and began climbing up the ladder as fast as she could.
Blaster shots were fired at her from time to time but still, she was able to reach the top with no new scratches. Fortunately, Din was right behind her.
"Come on, let's move." Din instructed as the three of them ran across the rooftop.
"The hell do you think I'm doin'?!" Mayfeld replied, catching his breath.
As if on cue, a ship unfamiliar to Aeryn Mavek's eyes flew right above them, heading towards the end of the rooftop.
"Is that our ride?" Aeryn asked.
"Yes."
Blaster shots rained around the three as they ran as fast as they possibly could to the edge of the rooftop where the ship waited. Its hatch opened, signalling for them to jump on it as fast as they could.
Mayfeld was the first one jump to the ship successfully. Sure, he almost slipped but he made it alive, anyway.
When Din was about to jump to the ship, he halted, noticing that Aeryn stopped behind him. He did not plan on leaving her behind.
The Mandalorian watched as Aeryn's determined eyes looked straight right into his. She had an unreadable look plastered across her face. It was a mixture of reluctance, guilt, and care.
"Din, you go first," Aeryn urged, trying her best to control her heaving chest.
"What?"
"You go first." she repeated with a stern voice.
"No." Din took a step closer to Aeryn.
Blaster shots fired all over them but the two didn't mind.
"Aeryn, I know what you're thinking but I can't let you slip through my fingers," Din explained, his voice slightly weaker and softer than usual. "At least, not again."
"Mando! Mavek! Get your asses up here!" Mayfeld yelled from the hatch.
Cara Dune and Fennec Shand could only watch from afar as the scene unfolded.
"I'm not planning on being left here," a short, sharp sigh escaped her lips. "I don't know if I have enough strength to jump so I was thinking you jump first and in case I fall, at least I know you're sa--"
"Okay. I jump first," Din's voice was filled with anger that only he knew about. He couldn't believe his girl was thinking about her own death. "But I will do so to make sure I don't let you fall."
Aeryn gulped and gave Din a nod of assurance.
How could he still say such things even though I once left him? When I already broke my promise?
How?
Why?
"Okay."
The Mandalorian took a few steps back and proceeded to jump to the ship's hatch. He immediately faced to the rooftop's direction where Aeryn stood and let go of his blasters. He reached both of his hands out to Aeryn, nodding his head in assurance.
"Aeryn!" he called. "Please."
That was all that she ever needed to survive. To have the people she loved and cared about waiting for her on the other side. To see Din Djarin waiting for her to return to his side.
It was worth all the pain and suffering she endured to see his face again. And she already learned her lesson. Leaving Din or the child behind does not do any good. She needed them and thought she's still skeptical about it, they needed her.
They were a family, after all.
With all the strength she has left, Aeryn Mavek took a few steps back and ran as fast as she could and jump as far as she could to the ship's open hatch. Her hand clasped onto Din's as her body made it to the hatch.
Sure, she almost slipped and fell but Din Djarin made sure she didn't. He made sure that he caught her, no matter what.
"I got you," Din breathed, holding Aeryn close to his chest.
There they were, amidst the blaster shots, they were back home to each other's arms.
Aeryn Mavek had returned to the familiar, warm arms of Din Djarin and he, too, had returned to his safe place. To his safe person. To his sanity.
Though he had his helmet on, Din buried his head onto the crook of Aeryn's neck whilst wrapping his arms around her frame. Aeryn held Din tight onto her, her left hand gently caressing the back of Din's helmet as he held her in return.
Aeryn Mavek and Din Djarin had once again, found their way back to each other.
"Never leave my side again."
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a/n:
hello there! i am still alive :"))
i sincerely apologize for not uploading for such a long time but i promise i'll finish this story no matter what! i don't wanna leave you guys hanging.
thank you for all your sweet messages and i apologize for being unable to reply to all of them (i will do now!). i truly appreciate you and your kind gestures!! i cannot stress that enough.
happy new year, everyone! i wish you all the best!! stay safe! thank you for reading!
p.s. how do you find my writing? i haven't done this in a while :"))