chapter 28: the cave •••
"Wake up, Mandalorian."
It's the familiar and metallic voice that rips you from your sleep—though, for a quick moment, you wonder if you're stuck inside yet another nightmare from that day upon the prison ship. You'd been nestled against Din's chest as his helmet rested against your head, but the move he makes to instantly reach for his blaster and extend it towards Zero's figure hanging from the wall disrupts that. You release a quick gasp as one of your hands instantly presses upon Din's cuirass, the metal cold and frozen beneath your fingers as you nearly cower into Din's figure.
"This cannot wait until morning." Upon further observation, you can see that the Frog Lady's standing beside Zero, speaking into a wire that's connected to his decapitated head. You look up at Din's helmet, silently questioning why he'd even kept the droid's body around. You hadn't been aware that he had it on the ship. "Do not be alarmed," the Frog Lady continues via Zero. It makes a chill go down your spine as you feel the baby climb onto your lap, one of your hands helping him as he hides away with both you and Din. "I bypassed the droid's security protocols and accessed its vocabulator."
You raise your brow. Impressive. Din doesn't have quite the same reaction, instead slowly lowering his blaster as he looks between the Frog Lady and Zero with disbelief. "What the hell are you doing?" Din barks, causing you to throw him a warning glance that he easily disregards. He aggressively reholsters his blaster before he points at Zero. "That droid is a killer."
"These eggs are the last brood of my life cycle," the Frog Lady continues, unfazed by Din's frustration. "My husband has risked his life to carve out an existence for us on the only planet that is hospitable to our species."
The Frog Lady pauses. You can feel Din take a deep breath beneath you, your body moving with his beskar as you feel your own chest tighten with the risks of this crash.
"We fought too hard and suffered too much to resign ourselves to the extinction of our family line," the Frog Lady goes on. "I must demand that you hold true to the deal that you agreed to." The Frog Lady stops, whimpering a few times as she looks Din's way desperately.
You swallow hard as both you and the baby look up at Din, watching his helmet barely move as he responds with a tight voice. "Look, lady, the deal is off," Din insists, his tone fuller of exhaustion than it is frustration. "We're lucky if we get off this frozen tomb with our lives."
You sigh gently as you see the Frog Lady lower her head and whimper more, placing your hand upon Din's cuirass again as you whisper quiet enough for only him to hear. "Din..."
Before you can say more, the Frog Lady continues—now, with more resilience than before. "I thought honoring one's word was a part of the Mandalorian code," the Frog Lady asserts, taking you aback at her rather harsh accusation. Your face heats up with sudden anger, especially as you feel Din deflate beneath you. You'd been on board with her before she'd started using your husband's code against him. "I guess those are just stories for children."
The baby turns to look up at Din with ears that fall to his sides, his chin tucking into his chest as if he's encouraging him to do what she's said. You, on the other hand, sit up further from your place against Din's cuirass as you frown harshly at the Frog Lady. "It's not right to use his code against him," you nearly snap, your brow furrowing as you stare directly at her. "He's doing everything he can for all three of us right now."
"Cyar'ika—," Din tries to stop you.
"In case you've forgotten, I nearly froze to death," you press on, ignoring Din's plea and attempting to get closer to the Frog Lady. Instead, you feel one of Din's arms wrap around your middle, forcing your back into his cuirass as he keeps you tight against him. "If it wasn't for him, we all would've. And now you think that's not enough? There's only so much that can be done!"
"Cyare, please—."
"You knew the consequences when you came with us, we told you traveling sublight would be dangerous! And now, you have the audacity to—?"
"Riduur, k'uur." Din's words are firm yet calm, as if he understands what you're feeling but knows he must put an end to your rant. "She's right. Think about what I'd do if it was our children at risk." You sink back into his form, now sensing a small amount of shame for the way you've just blown up at the Frog Lady. "I must do what I can. Continue to rest." Din's gentle as he eases you off his lap, setting you in the place beside him and making sure the baby's also still comfortable in your arms. He presses his helmet to your forehead in a quick yet gentle manner, soon standing up to search for his toolbox. Din looks to the Frog Lady, offering a small nod before he steps out of the hole in the hull.
As soon as he's out of sight, the baby whimpers, his little hands grabbing at the blankets that cover you in a vain effort to get closer. You smile at him, kissing his little head as you invite him beneath the blankets with you. "He'll be all right out there, ad'ika," you assure him, letting him grab at the fabric of your shirt as his little eyes begin to close. "Promise." You then look back up to the Frog Lady, noticing her placing her blanket over the container of her eggs. You bite your lip, a fresh wave of guilt running through you as you clear your throat and speak up. "I'm very sorry about what I said. I was just... he's been through a lot, especially because of his Mandalorian code." You nearly shiver at the memory of leaving him behind in the blazing cantina on Nevarro.
The Frog Lady nods as if she understands. She says something back to you, but she's since abandoned her place at Zero's vocabulator, leaving you to hope that it's something of forgiveness. You smile at her, nodding as you attempt to get comfortable in the place where Din's left you. Without him, it's much harder to achieve any sense of comfort, making you sigh to yourself as you close your eyes and struggle to rest as Din had urged you to.
When you come to again, it's solely from the sudden and sickly feeling in your stomach. Your eyes nearly double in size at the sensation, your mouth dry as you attempt to let the feeling pass.
It won't.
You set the sleeping baby aside as you rush to stand up and make your way to the vac tube, releasing the contents of your earlier meal into the metal bowl. When it's all out, you heave a sigh, wiping your mouth with the back of your hand as you groan and lean against the nearest wall. You accredit the sudden bout of sickness to the events as of late—the effects of the near-hypothermia, the stress of that and the conversation you'd just had, the aftereffects of being tossed around the hull during the crash. It makes sense. But that doesn't mean it wasn't unpleasant.
Thankfully, when you feel well enough to make your way back over to where Din had set up the heater, you find your canteen still rather full of water. You plop down and draw a few little sips to help your stomach settle further, already feeling more like yourself as you go to sit back next to the baby.
He's gone—as is the Frog Lady.
You immediately panic. You know you've only just left the baby here, but you can't remember if you saw the Frog Lady when you woke up and got sick. In a scramble, you get back on your feet, tumbling your way out of the ship and into the cold as you search for Din. The brightness of the white snow blinds you for a moment, making you narrow your eyes as you call out for him.
"Ridu—!" you start to exclaim, cutting yourself off when your gaze settles upon the forms of the baby and Din just a few feet away. Your husband's knelt down in the snow beside the little green bundle, their backs facing you as they look somewhere in the distance. Upon hearing you, however, Din turns around quickly, standing up with urgency as he makes his way over to you.
"What is it, cyar'ika?" Din questions, setting a gloved hand upon your shoulder. You grimace at the way his beskar's completely frozen over. The baby follows in Din's footsteps, tilting his head at you as if he's concerned. "You look as if you've just seen a ghost."
Still, you breathe a sigh of relief. "I just—I woke up and realized our passenger and the baby were gone." You leave out the part about getting sick for now. There's no need to concern Din over something so fleeting.
"Yeah," Din sighs, turning his helmet briefly to look towards the place he'd been facing before, "seems like she's gone exploring in that cave." When he looks back at you, his helmet tilts in its familiar concerned manner. "I'll go find her. You two can stay here."
You start to shake your head, setting your hand over his that's still on your shoulder as you try to remove it. "No—."
"Rid'ika, please, it'll be all right." Din avoids your grasp and instead lifts his gloved hand to your cheek, running the cool leather over the place beneath your eye before he continues. "You may feel better now, but you still need rest. I'm afraid we... still haven't gotten much of that." You bite back a chuckle at Din's subtle reference. "Plus, I could use someone to guard the ship while I'm gone."
You offer a nod, placing your hand more gently over his as you stare deep into his visor. "Okay." Your words are soft, as if they've simply been breathed on air and swept away by the gentle breeze. There's a pause as you take a breath, running your thumb over the back of his hand. "Be careful."
"I will." Din uses his free hand to lift his helmet just enough to reveal his mouth, leaning forward to press a gentle yet loving kiss upon your mouth. "So long as you stay safe, too." Din's words are murmured upon your lips, his gentle rasp so quiet that you can barely even hear it. You press another kiss to his mouth for reassurance, making him smile before he pulls away. He lets the helmet fall back in place as he picks up the baby at his side, offering him to you as the little one whimpers softly. "I'll return soon, buddy. Don't worry."
The baby's ears perk up a bit upon hearing that, making you smile before Din turns around and starts to head towards the looming cave. You bite your lip as you watch him disappear, attempting to alleviate the knot that's getting tied up again in your stomach before you head back inside the broken Crest. The baby's wriggling a bit in your grip, making you curious as you sit back where you'd been before and draw up the blankets around the two of you. "You're eager to follow your father, aren't you, little one?" you tease, chuckling softly as you brush a hand over his furry head.
The baby coos, propping himself up on your middle to face you better. As his hands meet the fabric of your shirt, his brow wrinkles more than usual, as if he's falling upon a realization. He sits up straighter on your middle, his little hands completely flattening against the fabric as his large eyes begin to flutter closed. You raise an eyebrow, wondering what he's trying to do—until you realize he must be sensing the sickness you'd felt before and is now trying to heal it.
"It's okay, ad'ika," you assure him, brushing your hand over one of his ears in an attempt to catch his attention. "I feel much better now."
Your words don't break his trance. Instead, you raise your brow as you sense his strange energy filling the space, warming your middle as his hands remain placed upon it. Just as you're about to take him by the hands and forcibly remove him from you, the baby stops, his eyes flying open again as he coos loudly. He looks up at you, his brown eyes glittering with some kind of joy and wonder as he smiles with his tiny teeth.
"What?" you ask with a laugh, pulling him up closer to your chest as you press a gentle kiss to his head. The baby just coos even more enthusiastically, tapping one of his hands against you as his eyes somehow get even wider. "Are you happy that I'm feeling better, too?"
The baby releases a long coo, his ears rising on his head as he lets his tiny head fall against your chest. You use a gentle hand to keep it pressed upon you, closing your eyes as you press another kiss to his head. This little one hasn't even been yours for a terribly long amount of time, but you know you would do anything to keep him safe. It's selfish of you and Din both to call him your son, you both know, as you try to track down his true people to whom you'll give him away, but you truly do see him as your son. He's already a part of your clan of three, as ordained by the Armorer herself. You're not ready to stop being a mother yet.
Being parents is something you and Din have always seemed to love, ever since you first met him.
It doesn't take much longer for you and the baby to drift off to sleep together—and it definitely doesn't take much longer for something to wake you back up. It's the distant sound of explosions that jerk you awake, also making the baby whimper on your chest as you hold him tight against yourself. In a panic, you stand up and rest your hand on your holster, climbing out of the hole in the Crest's hull to see what's happening.
There are flames, smoke, and red flashes of blaster bolts coming from the cave in the distance. It's Din's blaster that you hear, going off nearly every other second as the sounds come closer and closer. Your heart falls in your stomach as you draw your blaster, keeping the baby tucked into the crook of your elbow as his ears fall in worry.
It's the Frog Lady who emerges first, leaping as if she's running for her life. Din follows closely with her canister of eggs slung on his shoulder, turning to use his blaster as you strain your eyes to see what he's shooting at. When you do, your eyes widen to double their size, chills running down your spine as you start to instinctively back up closer to the Crest. There's dozens upon dozens of multi-sized white spiders crawling after them, closing in on them no matter how many times Din shoots at them. When he sees you standing outside of the ship, he waves his arm aggressively at you.
"Get back in the ship!" Din orders, his tone leaving no room for argument as you let the Frog Lady in first. You set the baby in the hull along with the canister of eggs Din offers you before you watch the two of them make their way safely to the cockpit. Instead of joining them, you return to Din, standing at his side just as he crushes a spider with his gloved hand. He notices you with panic that's evident even through his helmet. "I told you to—!"
"Are you crazy?" you scoff, having to raise your voice over the sounds of the spiders that surround you. "I'm not gonna let you fight all these things on your own!"
The two of you start blasting together, but you no there's still no chance at both of you fighting them all off. Din gestures with his helmet to the hull, and you nod as you climb in first and watch him follow after. You're both going as quickly as you can, shooting behind you as you make your own way to the cockpit. Din shoots as you ascend the ladder, soon doing the same as you hurry into the cockpit and turn to close the door.
The spiders try to jam it, causing you to curse under your breath as you and Din both shoot as much as you can at the intruding spiders. A few sneak their way in, but you can't focus on them right now, instead aiming for the majority as you let both your blasters sing.
It's only when the baby starts to cry out in fear that you look away from the spiders, noticing the one that's currently terrorizing your son. Before you have a chance to blast the spider, though, someone else does, catching both your and Din's attention as the Frog Lady breathes heavily with a small blaster in hand. She looks at Din with guilt in her eyes, as if she's apologizing for whatever caused this mess of spiders to chase after them. He simply turns back to the door, using his flamethrower on the spiders to get the doors closed.
"Thank the Maker," Din breathes once he's done that, turning around at the sound of spiders crawling on the ship from the outside. He lunges towards the pilot's seat, doing what he does best: forming a fast plan. "Strap yourselves in," he commands, causing you to pick up the baby as you sit in the seat to Din's left. "This better work."
You bite back a dramatic agreement, instead focusing on how Din's going to get you out of this situation as he works his hands over the controls. You've never seen him attend to everything so quickly, reaching up and over like it's second nature. The baby whimpers on your lap, reaching out for Din as he even jumps off to approach his chair. Din scoops him up quickly with his arm, letting him sit on his lap before he continues.
"I've got limited visibility," Din confesses. "It's gonna be a bumpy ride."
"It can't be much worse than before," you respond, gripping your seat and Din's tightly as he gets the engines running. The Crest shudders as Din attempts to get it moving, eventually actually getting it off the ground. You even start to smile in a hopeful manner, watching as you climb your way higher and higher out of the cave.
Until something large lands on top of it, causing the Crest to crash back to the ground as all four of you thrash around with surprise. You furrow your brow, looking at Din with concern.
"What the hell was that?" you question sharply.
"That would be the mother spider we pissed off earlier," Din answers, barely getting the words out before one of the aforementioned spider's legs breaks through the transparisteel of the cockpit and lands directly in front of your seat. You gasp in surprise, all of you turning away—but not before you can feel a shard of the material scratch your leg. The pain's numbed by your shock and fear for now, especially as another leg breaks through on the other side of Din's chair.
The spider then briefly stops their assault, moving until you can see their eyes. They look as if they're studying all of you, trying to plan out their next attack skilfully. You swallow hard, looking to Din to see him watching the spider closely. The baby's eyes are wide with fear, filling you with the need to console him but continuing to let Din do the job as the spider drags their teeth against the transparisteel. "Riduur," you say in a warning tone, watching as the spider leans back to gain momentum for some other kind of attack. "We have to do someth—!"
You're cut off by the loud sound of blaster bolts defeating the spider who stands above the Crest, watching as they fall off to the side. The sounds and flashes of red continue, causing you and Din to glance at each other with curiosity and concern. He then hands the baby off to you, nodding as if to silently command you to stay put as he draws his blaster and heads out of the cockpit. You watch him go as your teeth sink into your lower lip, fighting the desire to go with him as you instead comfort the whimpering baby who's cuddled up in your lap. The blaster fire continues as you watch the transparisteel, waiting for some sign that whoever's out there is on your side.
You're temporarily distracted, however, by the pain that returns in your leg from the shard of transparisteel. You curse under your breath, looking to see the blood that oozes from the scratch. The baby seems to notice as he looks towards the wound, his brow furrowing as he instantly makes his way towards it. "Ad'ika, no," you say, trying to pry him away. He's stubborn as usual, pressing his hand upon it as he closes his eyes and works his magic. You go to fight him more but stop when you suddenly hear voices outside of the cockpit.
"... tabs on the Razor Crest," someone's saying. You widen your eyes as you recognize the voice of one of the pilots who'd been chasing you earlier: Carson. "You have an arrest warrant for the abduction of prisoner X-Six-Nine-Eleven."
You close your eyes and take a deep breath. That damn job. It always comes back to haunt you. You're about to go fight for Din's innocence when Carson continues.
"However, onboard security records show that you apprehended three priority culprits from the Wanted Register. Security records also show that you put your own life in harm's way to protect that of Lieutenant Davan from the New Republic Correctional Corps." You bite back a smile at his words, vividly remembering when Din took charge in that moment. "Is this true?"
Rather than owning up to his heroics, Din gives the kind of response that best suits him. "Am I under arrest?" he questions, obviously still agitated with them. You chuckle under your breath.
"Technically, you should be," Carson answers. "But these are trying times." You breathe a sigh of relief.
"Let's say I forgo the bounties on these three criminals," Din starts to offer, making you raise an eyebrow as you wait for his proposal. "Can you two help me fuse my hull so I can get off this frozen rock?"
There's brief silence before Carson speaks again. "Let's say you fix that transponder, and we don't vaporize that antique the next time we patrol the Rim?"
You can nearly sense Din's frustrated sigh as you hear the x-wings start back up again, making you lean back further in your chair as you resist the urge to make your way out there and demand some kind of assistance thanks to your connection to Arilia. They're gone before you have the chance to decide. It doesn't take much longer for Din to return to the cockpit, remaining by the doorframe as he addresses all three of you. "All right," Din begins, looking pointedly at you through his helmet. "I'm gonna repair the cockpit enough for us to limp to Trask. There's nothing I can do about the main hull's integrity, so we're gonna have to get cozy in the cockpit." You raise an eyebrow, earning a slight tilt of Din's helmet that nearly makes you laugh. "It's the only thing I can pressurize. If you need to relieve yourselves, do it now. It's gonna be a long ride."
Din turns to head out of the cockpit, but you set the baby down and approach him before he gets far, grabbing his arm to make him turn around and face you. "Won't you need help?" you ask, your voice soft as you keep your hold on his arm.
Din gives his helmet a shake, instead inspecting you as his helmet stops on the place where your wound had previously been. "No." He points at the blood-stained rip in your pants. "What happened? Is that from the spider? We need to take care—."
"Our son already did," you inform him, gesturing with your head back to the semi-sleepy baby. Din tilts his helmet with concern, but you beat him to the punch. "I know, I know, I tried to stop him, but it was no use. He's stubborn—like you."
Din huffs, giving his helmet a shake but ultimately letting it fall affectionately against your forehead. "From both of us. Let's be fair now, rid'ika."
You smile at him, nodding and holding his helmet between your hands before he forces himself to step away. As Din goes to grab his tools and fix the ship, you return to your son, rocking him completely to sleep despite the way Din's work accidentally tries to disrupt him. Thankfully, Din finishes his repairs in record time, the baby already asleep in your arms as he returns. The Frog Lady's still holding on tight to her canister of eggs as you mirror her with your own baby, watching as Din heads to his seat.
"Okay, the repairs are all done," Din announces, beginning to work around the controls as he attempts to get the Crest in the air again. "Let's see if we can get this thing going once and for all."
The trip up from the ground is as bumpy as before, especially when the Crest manages to scrape the sides of the cave a few times. You hold tight to the baby, praying to the Maker that he stays asleep as you watch the ship make its way back into the light. Din then manages to fly back into the atmosphere, soaring on the path to Trask once again before he sighs.
"Wake me up if someone shoots at us," Din says, looking pointedly at the Frog Lady. You grimace as you sense a dark-humored joke coming from your husband. "Or that door gets sucked off its rails."
"Riduur," you chastise softly, raising an eyebrow when the Frog Lady whimpers with concern.
"I'm kidding," Din insists, yet you still look at him with doubt as he even dares to continue. "If that happened, we'd all be dead." He looks at the Frog Lady over his shoulder again. "Sweet dreams."
You roll your eyes dramatically, grimacing a bit as you attempt to make yourself comfortable in your seat. Sleeping in such a position has never been something you're able to accomplish successfully—especially without Din being right there with you to rest upon. As the Frog Lady starts to ease to sleep, you watch Din turn to you, tilting his helmet with sympathy as if he's read your very thoughts.
"Are you comfortable, cyar'ika?" Din questions, his modulated voice now a whisper to mind the two sleeping people in the cockpit.
You shrug, ashamed to admit it but also not wanting to lie to him. Din clicks his tongue with disapproval, gesturing for you to set the baby on your seat. You do as he says, standing up and setting the baby down behind you as you face Din. He waves you over with both hands, inviting you closer as you stand above him. Gently, his hands fall upon your waist, encouraging you to slowly sink onto him until you're straddling his lap. You raise an eyebrow, silently questioning why he's put you in such a position with two other people in the cockpit as he lets his frozen helmet meet your forehead.
"Once I'm done admiring you for a moment," Din starts to explain, already making your face warm, "you can use me as... a pillow of sorts." Din lifts one gloved hand to cup your cheek, and you can nearly see the smile beneath his helmet as he brushes his thumb over your skin. "Bid mesh'la, ner rid'ika."
You have to try hard to bite back your smile, resting your hands upon his cuirass to keep yourself steady. "Now's not the time for flattery, Din," you chastise him softly. "We have to actually rest this time."
Din nods to agree, his hand that's still on your waist giving it a gentle squeeze. "I can't argue with that, cyar'ika." He pauses, lowering his voice even more before he goes on. "Can I at least have a goodnight kiss?"
You giggle at that, nodding as you help him to lift his helmet just enough to press your lips upon his. The kiss is soft and tender yet full of what you both need, making both your smiles melt into each other before you force yourself to pull away. The helmet slides back down and Din's hands move to your back, encouraging you to press your chest against his as your cheek rests upon one of his pauldrons. Din shifts a bit as he moves to take off that pauldron, setting it aside to make his shoulder more comfortable for you. You smile against the cloth of his shoulder, wrapping your arms around his middle as you cuddle even further into his warm figure. Din keeps his helmet pressed against the side of your head, somehow easing you into some of the more peaceful rest you've had in a long time—and leaving you both blissfully unaware of everything that awaits you on Trask. •••