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CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
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"NO!" Artemis shouted as she fell down, her legs no longer being able to hold her any longer. Disbelief filled her body and mind. Din could not be dead. He wasn't dead. Please don't let him be dead.
Cobb removed his helmet and kneeled down next to her. He was still staring at the place where the dragon had disappeared in the ground with Din, in disbelief. From behind him, Artemis could hear the kid whine, but she didn't have the energy to comfort him. Her green eyes were glassy as she gazed at the sand.
And then the ground started to rumble and she jumped up again, pulling Cobb with her. Both of her hands were on the hilts of her lightsabers, ready to pull them off her belt and ignite them at any moment.
The krayt dragon re-emerged from the ground and opened its mouth as it roared. Din flew out of its mouth and detonated the explosives.
The krayt dragon exploded, sending out such a big force that knocked Artemis to the ground. The dragon fell on the ground, dead, but that wasn't Artemis' main priority.
"Din!" she exclaimed, scrambling back up and running towards him as he landed onto his feet. She wanted to curse him, hug him, kiss him and kill him all at the same time, but Din stopped her when she came too close.
"I'm covered in acid," he said. "You'll get hurt."
"I'll get hurt?" Artemis said, her voice raising a couple of octaves. "I though—I thought—I thought you were dead!"
Those last words came out as a sob as she started to cry. It had been five years since she had last cried—at Anakin's death—but now that she had started, she wasn't able to stop.
"Hey," Din said, immediately closing the distance between them, but he didn't hug her. Instead, he pulled off one of his gloves and brushed her tears away with his fingers. "I'm all right. I'm okay. I'm fine, Fury. I'm here with you. Everything's all right." He then cupped her cheek. "I could never leave you."
Artemis smiled, wanting nothing more than to hug him to death, but there was still the acid problem and Din would never allow her to do it anyway.
Behind them, people started to cheer and Cobb joined the two of them.
"Sorry," Din apologized to the two of them, putting his glove back on. "I had no time to explain."
"No need," Cobb said cheerfully, handing him the armor. "This was well-earned."
"It was our pleasure," Din said, as he shook Cob's hand.
"And I've definitely underestimated you," Cobb said, turning to Artemis. "Sorry about that."
Artemis gave him a smile as she tried to get it back together. "Don't worry about it."
Cobb looked at the two of them. "I hope our paths cross again."
"As do we," Din said.
"Oh, and you tell your people I wasn't the one that broke that," Cobb said, gesturing at the jet pack. He gave them a last smile and headed back to the townsfolk.
"How about a detour?" Din suggested, glancing at Artemis who was stroking Grogu's head.
Artemis smiled. "I'd like that."
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ARTEMIS was scrubbing the acid off Din's armor as Grogu sat opposite of her. After arriving at the small house Artemis had shared with Obi-Wan, she had send Din straight to the shower, not wanting him to be bothered by the acid any longer.
The kid babbled, talking about his day even though he had been with her the entire time. She smiled and nodded once in a while, indicating that she was indeed listening.
She put the chest plate down before reaching for his helmet. Now that the three of them were part of Din's clan, Artemis supposed they could all see his face. She wet her cloth before scrubbing the acid off the visor.
Suddenly two arms made their way around her waist and Din pulled her into him, placing his chin on her shoulder.
"You shouldn't have to do this," he whispered. "Here, give it to me."
"I don't mind," Artemis said, smiling slightly as she continued to scrub the helmet.
Din released her and moved to sit in front of her, picking up Grogu and placing him onto his lap. He had pulled on a simple pair of pants and a matching shirt. He looked clean again.
Grogu continued to babble on, now even more excited since Din had joined them. Artemis could tell they shared a deep bound—different than the one she and Grogu had.
"He cares for you, you know," she said, her green eyes darted between the two of them. "He wants you to know that."
Din glanced down at the kid who was looking up at him. "I care for him as well."
Artemis put the helmet onto the seat next to her together with the cloth before leaning forward, eying Grogu intently. He cooed and looked back at her. Artemis knew he was starting to see Din as if he was his father. However, she and him had a different kind of relationship. The kind you saw between a Jedi Master and their Padawan. Artemis was glad of that. She didn't know how to be a mother after all—having been brought up with the other younglings.
"I never asked," Din began, sounding a bit uncertain, "but do you know your parents? Do you know where you came from before you joined the Jedi?"
Artemis' green eyes flickered up to look at him. After a long pause, she leant back into her seat and said, "No. I only know I was born on Stewjon. I don't remember leaving it, nor the Jedi Master who found me. They never told me."
"Stewjon?" Din repeated, frowning. "I have never heard of it before."
"Not many people have. I've never been there after I became a Jedi."
"Don't you want to see it?" Din asked.
Artemis shrugged. "Neither me, nor Obi-Wan, who was also from Stewjon, felt the need to see it. We were busy fighting the Separists, anyway. For all I know, Coruscant is my home. It's where I was raised."
"We should visit it," Din insisted. "We can look for your parents if you want."
Artemis flinched back. She had never talked about her parents. If it was up to her, she didn't even have parents. The Jedi made sure that she had no attachments and she was fine with it. She had had Obi-Wan, Ahsoka, Anakin and Cody, and that had been enough.
But now Obi-Wan and Anakin were dead, Ahsoka was Force knows where and Cody was still recovering from years and years of torture and starvation.
Din stared at her worriedly. He put Grogu down before coming over to sit next to her.
"Are you all right? I'm sorry I asked." He sounded worried as well.
"It's okay," Artemis said, shaking her head. "I just never really thought about it. I never talked about it. I never asked Obi-Wan and he never brought it up. I wasn't even sure if he knew who'd brought me to the Temple. Besides, I don't need to know my parents. I have a family of my own now." She gazed at him and gave him a small smile.
Din stroke her cheek before pulling her in for a hug. Artemis hugged him back and burried her face into the crook of his neck, thankful that his helmet was off.
"I'm sorry," Din murmured again, stroking her hair.
Artemis let out a chuckle as she pulled back. She caressed his cheeks, feeling his stubbles, and said, "It's okay. You didn't know."
A weight was added to her lap and Artemis gazed down to see that Grogu had climbed onto her lap. He placed one of his tiny hands on her arms and cooed.
"I'm fine, Grogu," she assured him. "I have two wonderful guys looking after me."
Din smiled. "That you have."
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THEY left for the Razor Crest the next morning. Artemis decided to drive so Din sat behind her, his arms wrapped tightly around her waist.
The speeder raced across the sands of Tatooine towards a gully ahead. Before Artemis could comprehend what was going on, a rope was pulled up, knocking them off the speeders. Almost in slow motion, Artemis felt herself fly off the speeder with Din who initiated his jatpack to steady their fall.
The two of them jumped up and Din groaned as one of the ambushers shot him.
"Get the Child!" Artemis could hear one of them yell.
Looking up she saw that there were no more than two raiders. Her hand went to her lightsabers and she ignited them, blocking the shots that were coming their way.
"Where's Grogu?" she questioned Din, her eyes not leaving the raiders.
"There!" Din said, pointing at the small green creature who was laying on the ground.
"We need to—" Artemis was cut off when a third raider appeared from behind them. As quickly as she could, she twirled around, ducked and avoiding a punch to the face. Raising her lightsaber, she slashed through the raider, making him fall onto the ground. She turned to look at Din and saw that he had already taken out the other one.
The kid whimpered and both Artemis and Din turned around to see the last raider holding a knife against Grogu's throat.
"Wait!" Din said, raising his hands. "Don't hurt the Child. If you put one mark on him, there's no place you will be able to hide from us."
Artemis stopped him by raising her hand. With the other one, she waved towards the raider. "You will release the Child."
For a moment, nothing happened as she felt him fighting against her order. Then, he lowered the knife.
"Put him on the ground," Artemis added, maintaining eye contact.
The raider put Grogu on the ground and he hurried over to them, cooing. Din picked him up.
"Go, and don't come back," Artemis ordered and the raider ran away. Her eyes didn't leave him until he disappeared from view. Then, she turned to look at Din, who had been watching her. "What?"
"You can do that?" he questioned.
"Only to those who have a weak mind," Artemis explained. "I don't like doing it but it was the safest option here. I call it the Jedi Mind Trick."
"Pretty impressive," Din admitted. "Did you ever think of using it on me?"
"Of course not," Artemis said, as she went to pick their stuff up—at least, the things that could still be saved. Their speeder was a wreck. "But I could never do it to you. You have a strong mind and I'm not that powerful. Grogu might be able to do it when he's older. He's strong with the Force."
"You're pretty powerful to me," Din muttered and Artemis let out a laugh.
"You should have met Master Yoda," she told him. "He was the most powerful Jedi I have ever met." She smiled sadly. "He was of the same race as Grogu." She cleared her throat. "Do or do not, there is no try," she said, imitating Yoda's voice. She smiled sadly. "It's one of the many things he taught me."
"How did he die?" Din asked, pulling Grogu closer to him.
"Because of old age," Artemis said, recalling the moment. She had been there when Yoda had been training Luke. While Yoda had learned Luke the ways of the Force, it had been her who taught him how to fight. "He was somewhere around nine hundred years I believe. I asked Obi-Wan once, but even he didn't really know for sure."
"Nine hundred?" Din exclaimed, glancing down at Grogu.
"Species age differently," Artemis pointed out. "And then you have the fact that the Force gives us a longer lifespan—"
"Longer lifespan?" Din repeated. "Do you mean you can also live for hundreds of years?"
Artemis shook her head. "I don't plan on doing that. At least, I never thought about it." She glanced at Din, grinning. "Don't worry, it seems that you're stuck with me for a little while longer."
Word count: 2089
Okay so we got some background info in this chapter :) what do you guys think? Any predictions on what's going to happen next? I'll give you a shoutout (in the chapter it will happen in) if you're correct! ;)
Published: 16.03.2022