The waves lapped softly at the sandy beach in front of me. The noise was calming to my soul as I tapped into the force, feeling it flow all around me. The wind blew lightly against my face, it was cool but not unwelcome due to the warm climate of the planet we were on. I moved my leg slightly and felt the sand that was stuck to the fabric of my pants.
The peaceful moment I was experiencing was interrupted by the sound of Din's voice. "Hey, no." The child whining in annoyance followed his stern voice.
I opened my eyes and looked to the right to see Din standing a few feet away from me with Grogu in his arms. Din looked up from the child and sighed heavily, his shoulders rising and falling heavily in his frustration. "Look what you did." He scolded Grogu.
"It's okay. Come, sit." I said with a small smile as I lightly patted the sand next to me.
Din nodded gently and walked over with Grogu in his arms. Din lowered himself down beside me on the sand and crossed his legs under him. He placed Grogu on the sand and allowed him to walk over to me. He held his little arms up towards me and cooed softly. I smiled down at him and gently picked him up and placed him on my lap, wrapping my arms around him and facing him towards the water.
"Little womp rat." Din shook his head fondly. I let out a small chuckle at his indignation.
The child moved his ears as he watched the waves lap at the shore, he reached out a hand in curiosity. I smiled gently and plucked him off of my lap, placing him on the sand so he could go and explore.
Grogu shuffled through the sand towards the sea. The tide pulled the water in and Grogu sat down on the wet sand.
"Grogu, please don't get your clothes wet." I said in slight amusement, I didn't want to have to wash the salt water off of his only outfit.
"Do you think he's ever seen it before?" Din asked me
"Seen what?" I questioned him as I watched the tide rush back in towards Grogu.
"The ocean." Din explained with a gentle tone
"I don't know, it's possible." I said. The tide was just about to hit Grogu's feet but he stood up and jumped up, using the force to jump back towards us.
Din chucked at the child's actions and I smiled fondly. When Din had said that we were going on a vacation, I hadn't expected it to be this much of a vacation. But I definitely wasn't complaining, it was nice to have a moment of rest amongst the chaos of our lives.
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My sabers crackled and I grunted quietly as the darksaber clashed with my blades. The darksaber was heavy against my own weapons as Din heavily thrashed the weapon. I pushed back against him and he stumbled back, the weight of the darksaber causing him to stumble backwards and drag the blade across the sand.
"You're resisting. You have to embrace the power." I said as I readjusted my stance.
"I don't know how." Din sighed as he tried to drag the blade up off of the ground. I sighed gently and disengaged my sabers, trying to fight over and over again clearly wasn't working.
"Okay, we should take a break." I said. Din nodded and disengaged the darksaber. I hooked my sabers back on my belt and took a few steps until we stood close to one another.
"This isn't a physical problem, we both know you're very strong. We should think about what could be holding you back mentally." I said gently as I placed my hand on his arm.
Din nodded gently and sighed, I could tell he was holding back and keeping something from me. But I was hoping that he would eventually trust me with whatever it was that was burdening him. I bit my lip as he looked down at his feet and shifted, just as I was about to say something Grogu cooed and interrupted me.
I looked down at him to see he was staring up at us with his ears perked up. I tilted my head and tried to push down my worries for Din. "What's wrong, Ad'ika?"
Grogu cooed again with wide, sad eyes. I nodded in understanding and walked over to pick him up. "He's hungry." I lifted him up in my arms and turned to face Din.
"He's not the only one." Din chuckled. I nodded with my head over to the small house that we had rented for a few days, gesturing to him that we should go in and make something to eat.
The three of us started to walk over to the house together, Din's arm was wrapped around my shoulder and his thumb rubbed comfortingly against my shoulder.
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The fire crackled softly as it warmed up the small living room. I sat on the comfortable sofa with my data pad held in my hands, reading a book that I had found, one that I had been meaning to get to for ages. I sighed softly as my eyes scanned the words, my heart felt content in this moment and I knew that I had made the right choice. To come back to Din made the universe feel right again.
I could hear Din's footsteps on the wooden floor, he was approaching the living room from Grogu's small bedroom. After a long day of playing on the beach he was wiped out.
"Is he asleep?" I asked quietly as he walked into the room, not looking up from my data pad.
"Yeah, he fell asleep instantly." Din said, his voice sounded different and I picked up on it instantly. I looked up from my data pad and had to hold myself back from audibly gasping.
Din had removed his helmet and all of his armor, all he was wearing was the clothes he wore under his armor. My eyes darted over his form over and over again, only coming to a stop when I looked into his doe brown eyes.
I felt frozen as I tried to think of what to say, my brain and my mouth didn't seem to be cooperating. His gaze was soft as his eyes bore into mine, though I could see a hint of uncertainty and nervousness.
"Hi." Was all I could mutter, usually I would berate myself but I don't think I could get anything else out.
"Hey. Everything okay?" Din asked almost teasingly
"Yeah...yeah, everything's fine." I said, trying to act casual and not show how flustered I was.
"Good." He said with a smile that melted my heart. He walked across the room and sat next to me on the sofa, his shoulder and thigh were brushing up against mine. My breath hitched in my throat as I looked back down at my data pad and tried to focus on the words in front of me. I had to go back and read the same sentence over and over again because all I could think about was how he was sitting next to me without his armor on. I could feel his gaze boring into the side of my head and I had to fight hard to keep the heat from rising to my cheeks.
"What are you reading?" Din asked me quietly, the sound of his unmodulated voice made me tightened my grip on the device.
"Just...a Book." I said unspecifically.
"Oh, yeah. I think I've heard of that." Din said sarcastically with a teasing lilt in his voice.
I sighed gently and turned off my data pad, placing it on the table in front of me. I turned to face him and when my eyes made contact with his he looked away, now who's the flustered one?
I reached my hand out and gently placed my hand against the side of his face, his skin was hot under my hand. I turned his face so he was looking at me and I couldn't help the smile that formed on my face. He was just as beautiful as I remembered him to be. His skin flushed a light pink under my intense gaze.
"I've missed you." He said quietly, averting his eyes from me again, opting to stare just right of my face.
"I know." I said just as quietly, I moved forward and gently pressed my lips against his. Din was quick to reciprocate, he was still uncertain in his movements but he had grown more confident since our first kiss on Boba Fett's ship. I hadn't kissed him in 7 months, and I hadn't realised how much I missed it.
His bare, gloveless hands came to rest on my hips to try and pull me closer to him. The hem of my shirt had ridden up when I stretched over to kiss him and his skin brushed against mine. I inhaled sharply as I moved my hands up into his hair. The feeling of my fingers carding through his hair seemed to pull a groan from him, which only encouraged me to deepen the kiss.
We parted for a moment and I took in a deep breath before I pushed my lips against his again. I needed him more than I needed oxygen anyway. I hesitated for a second as a thought graced my mind, but I pushed on and followed my instinct regardless of my nervousness. I shifted in my seat and lifted my left leg over his legs and sat on his lap. Our chests were flush together as I sat on his strong thighs.
I pulled away from him for another breath of air before I started to litter soft kisses along his face, slowly trailing towards his jaw. His skin was hot from being flustered and he had his eyes closed shut. His head tilted back as I trailed my lips down to his jaw and his neck. His breath hitched and his grip tightened on my waist. The noises that I elicited from him was like music to my ears, and I knew that if I died there and then, I would die happy.
The two of us stayed as close as we could to each other, trying to make up for the time we lost together. To forget about all the pain and misery we have gone through together for just a moment. I also had the alarming thought that if the loss of anyone would be able to turn me to the dark side, it would be him. So I vowed to myself that I would never lose him.