1 The Calm

The Naboo Starship soars through the outer rim as Din pulls the steer, bringing its speed under control as a yellowish planet comes into the vision. The tiny hands of Grogu were holding on to the silver ball from the Razor Crest as his big eyes caught a glimpse of the planet ahead of them. He coos a little louder, trying to grab Din's attention. Din looks over his shoulder with a grin under his helmet, "Yes, kid! We are going to the station here for a couple of weeks."

Din's muffled voice through the helmet makes the youngling giggle and jump in anticipation, as he knew he would be able to be in Din's arms again soon.

The Razor Crest was probably the easiest ship to land on the grounds of Navarro. The starship cruises above the land for a couple of minutes before touching down. Din jumped out after switching all the buttons off and held out his hands to Grogu, who was still inside his little pod, "Come on, kid!"

Grogu cooed as he jumped into Din's hands, making him chuckle a little under his helmet. "Let's get you something to eat!"

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Aria's feet touch the dark soil of Nevarro as she gets down from Luke's X-Wing. She was dressed in a light blue robe that hid almost all parts of her body, including half of her face. She looked up at R2-D2, who whistled and beeped at her as though he was bidding her farewell. "Alright, go on then! She smiled as the X-Wing begins to hover a little and lifts itself into the space.

Aria watches the craft disappear into the clouds before walking towards the town area where she was sensing the presence of the youngling that Luke had assigned her to find. She didn't question her Master's decision to find this particular one again even if he chose the Mandalorian over him. But she felt it was not a wise decision on the part of his caretaker to not let him be with his kind and become who is destined to be.

And that was the mission that she was set on, to bring back the child and make the Mandalorian understand the hazards of his action. She entered the bazaar area where everyone was busy selling or buying one thing or the other. If it mattered, there were credits. If you have credit, you can buy things, and if you don't, you get sold for a price.

Soon she was standing in front of the common house, where she could sense the presence even more strongly than before. "He must be here!" She said to herself as she stepped into the dimly lit area. In the middle of the room, a droid was bartending. She approached it and asked, "Hey! One glass of spotchka!" She placed the credits on the table and adjusted her hood as she looked around carefully.

Her eyes scanned the room back and forth, and they found the hook that made her look twice to make sure. A beskar-clad man was seated by himself in the far corner of the room, but she couldn't spot the kid as of yet.

"Bring it to that table over there!" She pointed in the direction of their table as she slowly made her way there. The Mandalorian was alert at this point as he saw someone walking in their direction. She saw his hand reach for his blaster almost immediately.

"May I?" She asked softly before sitting down. Din readjusted himself as he pulled out his blaster under the table, holding it straight at her. Aria's brown eyes moved to the child almost quickly, she could sense high resistance on his part, *force is strong with him* she thought to herself.

"Who are you?" Din's modulated voice resonated as she sensed caution and threat at the same time.

"I am Aria Reytal. I am here to talk!" She said this in a calm tone as she lifted her hood and let it fall back onto her shoulders.

"Talk about what?"

"Him!" She shifted her eyes from him to Grogu.

"Are you a Jedi?" he asked almost immediately.

"Yes, I am Luke's Padawan. He found me after Grogu left his academy." Aria answered firmly.

Din was confused as he knew that Grogu had made his choice, but why was he still coming after him? He didn't want to let go of him again, as he meant more to him than anything he had ever known in his life, and losing him again would kill him inside out.

Aria sensed his emotions and looked over at Grogu as she tried to mentally connect with him, *why did you choose this path of attachment, Grogu?*

Grogu's eyes widened and she cooed at her, which alerted Din as he spoke to the woman, "He doesn't want to go with you. He made his choice." But Aria kept looking in the direction of Grogu as she searched for her answer and she began to sense his thoughts, and she looked at him in fascination.

"You're right, he always chose you even when Luke took him. He wanted to wield the force better so he could protect you and be with you." She looked at Din who sat still as a statue, she was beginning to doubt if he was breathing.

"But when Luke presented him with the choice to choose your gift or the Jedi way, he told Grogu the truth. A short time for you is a lifetime for someone else, he said."

Din's lips quivered a little under his helmet as he heard her words. He heard the coos of Grogu but he didn't dare look at him now as he knew he won't be able to stop his tears. "He wanted to spend whatever time that is left with you." Aria herself felt a lump in her thought. A child who was lonely his entire life, running away to save his life for more than 30 years was finally feeling like he was home.

"I...I am not letting him go again. You can leave!" Din's voice was breaking a little as he finally looked at Grogu who was stretching his arms at him. He picked him up and held him tight.

Aria looked at the Mandalorian and his child, and she admired them, she understood why Luke himself didn't try to talk to him. But she also knew that Luke would understand if she changed the terms of the deal they made. She smiled widely, "I am not going to take him away from you, nor let anyone do that again. But I can help him in another way."

Din's eyes narrow as he stays silent, waiting for the Jedi to speak again. He was not going to trust her that easily, but if it assured him that Grogu would stay with him as he wished, he would consider anything under the sun. Aria continued to stare at him as she says, "I can train him."