An Uninvited Guest

The night sky was clearer than usual days, Din sat down with Grogu in his lap as Aria made a little bonfire just outside their huts. It was quiet, not the awkward type of quiet but calming and serene type of quiet that one feels when they are at complete peace with themselves.

Grogu watched the flames dance and heard the crickets chirping in the woods. Din kept looking at Aria as he knew she won't be able to tell if he was watching her or looking out into the ocean. She turns her face to look at him, but her face was tense. "Take Grogu inside! Someone's coming!" She said as she jumped up on her feet in a swift motion.

Din didn't have much to think as he sprang up into his fighting position with Dark Saber in his hands, "Who is it? They are coming for him?"

"I don't know!" She said, as they were alerted by a cruiser ship appearing in the night sky and he immediately knew who it was. He looked over at her as he deactivated the Dark Saber and placed it back on his waist. "That's a friend, I am sure they don't mean any harm," Din explains as Aria was confused to see why he suddenly didn't want to fight.

Aria was still holding back from revealing her saber in front of Din and she was starting to think that this was probably the moment but as he retrieved the weapon, she sighed a little. "But how did they find us?"

Din didn't have an answer for that so he waited until he heard footsteps arriving towards them. Aria could tell three armored individuals were approaching. Din stood closer to the woods, Grogu watched Din standing closely behind him. Aria climbed onto the top of the hut to get a clear view and to prepare if they had anything unexpected under their sleeve.

"Bo-Katan!" Din exclaimed as three figures appeared at the clearing of the woods in full Mandalorian armor. "Was not expecting your company, what is it about?"

Aria watched the figures carefully and looked at Grogu who was clinging to his Din's feet. Her hand was resting on her saber even though she hoped she wouldn't be pushed into a fight at this point.

"I am here to take back what is mine!" Bo-Katan's voice echoed through her helmet, spreading through the surroundings. The figures began to walk closer to Din and knowing what she was trying to say, he picked up the Dark Saber again in his hands.

Aria looked at him confused, as she knew the blade itself was not bound to any power of ownership but the lore that was attached to it. She knew about the way he acquired it but she didn't quite understand how it was hers. "It was never yours, Bo-Katan Kryze!"

Din looked up at Aria in shock as he didn't quite understand the Jedi ways yet and how they could know things that they had no way of knowing. Bo-Katan turns her face to look up at where Aria stood and scoffed under her helmet.

"You are a shame to your creed, now you are a shame to the blade you hold," Din purses his lips as he tries to avoid the anger and instigate a fight that might end badly- especially for Aria, he looked up at her momentarily. He found that she was looking at him but this time, he saw care in her eyes.

He reignites the Dark Saber, "And I thought we were friends!" Din replied as he held the blade in a fighting stance.

"I see you have made new friends, a Jedi! This should be interesting..." Bo-Katan lifts her helmet and holds it in her hands as she walks closer to him with a smirk on her face.

"I challenge you to a duel!" She looks straight into his visor. Aria flinched a little as she clutched her hand to the saber tighter.

"When?" Din's eyes didn't move from hers and all he could see in those were rage and ambition. He didn't want the blade at all, he never really thought about ruling Mandalore or anything for that matter. But as he was facing this Bo-Katan that he never thought he would see, he didn't want to let go of what he earned that easily. Especially, he wasn't happy about someone with those qualities ruling the planet that his creed calls home.

He might be banished from the creed, the titles had been snatched but they were still his family. Being a Mandalorian, in his perspective was to care about others more than themselves and Bo-Katan were not what that represents.

"I will give you a fortnight to prepare! That's me being generous, but you will fall!" She said as she stared him down and shifted her gaze at the Jedi woman with disgust. As she walked away with her companions, Aria climbed down from the top and came closer to Din.

Din looked at her for a moment, "I thought you said this place was protected!" Aria looked down at Grogu for a moment and then at him as he deactivated the Dark Saber again.

"It is protected from Siths, users of the dark side of the force. Not from Mandalorians."

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"They are going to come for me!" Aria said as she stood near the window looking over at the moon that was big and clear in the night sky again. Din walked up to her, standing close behind her.

"Who?" he asked almost like a whisper.

"I could sense her thoughts, why do you think there are not many Jedis left? We are hunted, some are scared to come to find us or just don't have enough arsenal to fight against our defenses," Aria explained as she felt getting more and more worried about everyone's safety. Moreover, about Grogu's safety.

"Nobody is going to touch you!" Din reassured as he turned to look at Grogu was fast asleep in his bed. "Now go get some sleep, you have lessons to teach tomorrow!"

Aria turned to look at him, her face had a smile this time. Din smiled involuntarily and wondered if the moon was better looking than her. But he didn't bother to look at the moon at all when she stood there and smiled at him. "You were not going to continue the training, right?"

Din looked down for a moment as he felt a little guilty for not appreciating her help in trying to wield the weapon, "I didn't have a reason to wield this weapon, but now I do!"

Aria nodded at him in response knowing that a willing participant is easier to teach than someone who is resisting the ways. "And you should keep your thoughts while in meditation in check, I can hear them clearer than your normal thoughts."

Din was embarrassed at this point as he shook his head a little before looking at her, not knowing what to say to make it alright. She smiled again as she placed her hand on top of his arm lightly and stroked it with her thumb before walking past him towards the door. "Goodnight!" she said, as she walks out leaving him standing there in shock for quite some time.