NIA'S POV

It must be sometime in the middle of the night, the sun has not yet risen above the mushroom forest of Felucia. The moonlight shines through the kitchen window. The fireplace had already burnt out and the rain has stopped. Nia is astonished at how many times that man could cum in one night. He has the stamina of a God and the strength of two men. She had to give herself time to recollect and recover from the extreme amount of physical energy that occurred hours ago.

She was just about to fall asleep when she feels the steady pressure around her head loosen, and then she realizes that he had removed the blindfold. He pulls the satin fabric up and sets it aside on the nightstand. She opens her eyes and is greeted with the familiar darkness of her home. A soft smile spreads across her lips when she feels his chin move down to kiss her forehead, his arms wrapped around her. The light from the moon allows her to see the contours of his silhouette laying on the bed.

After a few minutes, she feels him roll over and stand up. Then she hears him walk across the room in the dimly lit cottage. Without warning, she gets blinded temporarily by the light in the refresher. As her eyes adjust, the image of a very naked Din Djarin is standing at the entrance of the bathroom. She can see the shapes of all the dips and curves of his back, his hips, his legs, his broad shoulders, and his round muscular ass. His messy brown hair on top of his head is glowing from the light. His arms are bent at the elbow as he rests the palms of his hands on the edge of the doorway. Then he looks over his shoulder slightly, just enough for her to see the outline of his forehead, nose, lips and chin with some facial hair. It's almost like he - wanted - her to see him. After a few seconds, he steps inside and shuts the door.

DIN'S POV

He stands in front of the mirror, completely naked in this woman's refresher. As he stares at himself he wonders, who is he? Is he Din Djarin, the man from Aq Vetina? Is he the infamously merciless, faceless and nameless Mandalorian bounty hunter without a clan? Or is he the leader of an entire planet? Or is he all of these things? He doesn't know. He doesn't know what he's going to do once he leaves this planet. Perhaps go back to bounty hunting, roaming the galaxy alone once again.

As he continues to stare at his reflection, he wonders, what would Nia think if she saw his face? Would she like what she sees? Dank ferrik! How is he going to let her go? The smell of her, the smooth warm skin on her neck, and how she gave him the permission to do anything he wanted to her. He wants to pull her into him and not let her go. He hadn't actually planned to show her his face tonight. He wants to get this out off his chest but without all the difficulties. His creed is already broken, so what's the point in hiding from the people he cares about and trusts? Because in this moment, it's not if he'll show her his face...but when!

As he uses the toilet, he wonders if she saw him without the helmet, would she stay if he'd ask her to? Then again, his life is dangerous and filled with violence. It's not that she can't handle herself. He saw firsthand how well she fights in battle, a skill he respects and admires. She's also quite talented at healing and caring for the helpless, another characteristic he appreciates and thinks highly of. If anything ever happened to her while she is with him, he wouldn't be able to forgive himself. He remembers the pain he felt when Grogu left him. Yet knowing that the kid is safe with the Jedi, has helped him cope from the grief he's experiencing. Attachments are dangerous! He thinks to himself as he turns on the faucet at the sink, then splashes cold water on his face. He turns off the water and then switches off the light before exiting the bathroom, then walking over to the bed and laying down on his back next to her.

———————

As they lay together on the bed in silence, the moonlight from the kitchen window lighting up the small cabin. Her head on his chest, his arms wrapped around her as he holds her tightly against his beating heart, but she can sense something is bothering him.

"Din, you're troubled. What's wrong?" She asked softly.

"My ship will be ready today," he says shortly.

"Oh. Well that should make you happy, right?"

He hummed but didn't speak.

"I sense hesitation," she says as she glides her hand up and down his torso, running her fingers through his chest hair.

"It's nice here," he blurts out.

"Oh. I never thought you would ever say that. You were so irate and enraged when you first arrived," she chuckled.

"I was in a dark place," he explains, but he's not sure why he's telling her all this. But she makes him feel calm, like he could tell her anything and she would comfort him in response.

"Want to talk about it?"

"Uh, well," he begins to say but gulps. "I had a foundling once. I rescued him from the Empire, which is how I got the darksaber."

"Ah. Well that makes sense. I heard the rumors. Where's the child now?"

"With the Jedi."

"What?" She replied in surprise. "They are all dead!"

"Not all of them apparently."

"Who did you meet?"

"First it was Ashoka Tano, then I met Luke Skywaler. You will be the third."

"I'm neither a Jedi or a Mandalorian. But I heard of Tano. She was the padawan to Anakin Skywalker. I'm assuming Luke is his son. He must be the only Jedi alive right now. So the child is Force-sensitive?"

"Yes. I had to let him go. It was my mission."

"I'm sure that must've hurt you, but you did the right thing. Thank you for telling me this. But that's not the only thing that's bugging you, isn't it?"

"No."

"Do you want to talk about it?"

He thinks about it for a moment. He does feel better now that he has told her about Grogu. He normally bottles everything inside, and he's been able to ignore his feelings. Yet recently it's becoming harder and harder to run away from his emotions. She makes him feel more relaxed, and he's never felt this way with any ally or friend before.

"I don't want the darksaber," he says, the words falling from his mouth.

"Then what do you want then?" She asked, but doesn't know. No one's ever asked him that before. "You have to be the one to decide your own destiny. No one can force it upon you."

"I want you," he says, finally the confession is out there in the open.

"Our paths have crossed for a reason, Din. The Force guides us. I know you don't know what that means, but there's a reason why you crash landed onto this peaceful sleepy town in the Outer Rim."

"Come with me," he says softly.

"There's something I got to do first, but I'll offer you another trade."

"What's that?"

"I need to go to Tatooine. Give me the darksaber. I'll hold onto it for safe keeping. If you change your mind, I'll give it back. No questions asked."

"You would do that for me? I have an angry princess after me. She wants the saber. She claims it belongs to her."

"Of course I would. But as you know, I can handle a Mandalorian. Besides, no one has to know I have it. It'll be our secret."

"Hm, why do you need to go to Tatooine?"

"It won't be easy to explain, but the Force told me. I had a vision of my master saying that a child is in danger there. I can't ask you to come with me, but that doesn't mean we'll never see each other again. A talented and experienced bounty hunter, such as yourself, could locate me quite easily. So what do you say?"

He thinks about this for a moment. It definitely would solve a major problem for him. It would relieve him of the saber so he could go back to his old life, it would also give him an excuse to go seek her out. So he agrees.

"Deal. The saber is yours," he says quickly.

"For now," she says as she looks up at him, stares at the underside of his chin and nostrils.

"Din?" She says after a moment of silence.

"Hm?"

"Put your helmet back on, the light is too bright."

"It's okay."

"What?" She asked surprisingly shocked.

"You can look."

"Don't break your creed for me. I'm not worth it."

"My creed was already broken when I had to let the kid go, and you are worth it!"

"Are you sure?" She says with a smile.

"Yes. I don't do anything I'm not entirely sure about."

She stays still for a moment, a bit nervous about seeing him for the first time. Actually - no - it's the second time. The first time was when they were children at the covert. She lifts up her head slowly. He's looking down at her, waiting for her reaction. The most beautiful part of his face is his dark brown eyes, full of need and desire. Full lips and prominent jawline, he was - incredibly attractive! A huge smile spread across her face as she cups his jaw with her hands.

"Oh Din, I remember those eyes. How handsome you've gotten over the years. Has anyone ever told you that you have beautiful eyes?"

"No," he says shortly, unsure of what to say. Having anyone compliment his looks is a new experience for him, and he's not sure how he should react. "....but thank you. I wasn't sure what you'd think of me."

"You are very handsome. I'm very glad to have met you, Din Djarin."

"I'm glad I have met you too, Nia Senn."

——————

The hours tick by as they relax in each other's arms. The sunshine now creeping it's way through the window, lighting up the whole house. He buries his face in her hair, deeply inhaling her scent. Neither of them sleep, there's only a few hours left but they just want to absorb every last second together before they have to leave. They have to eat and sleep sometime, but the moment felt too good for both of them. Nia couldn't stop looking at his face and he couldn't stop holding onto her for dear life.

Once the sun is fully out and brightening up the entire room, Nia asked a question.

"Are you still awake?"

"Yes."

"Can I hold the darksaber?"

"Of course, but I kind-of tossed my armor and weapons over there on the floor," he says as he rolls over towards the other side of the bed.

"Ok I'll go get it," she says as she stands up and walks over towards the pile of beskar and discarded clothes on the ground. The second she picks up the darksaber, a vision immediately flickers in her mind.

Death. Blood. Violence.

She sees a chaotic scene of Mandorians killing Jedi. Then a flash of Ashoka Tano's green lightsaber followed by Darth Maul's red lightsaber. A cave on Dathomir. A young Mandalorian rebel, the sister of Satine Kryze and then an Imperial Moff. The previous owners of the darksaber.

The vision fades and she sees Din's face above her. She had collapsed on the floor.

"Nia! Are you alright? What happened?!" He cries out frantically.

"Oh. That rarely occurs nowadays," she says with a smile as she gets back to her feet.

"What happened?!"

"Do you remember asking me how I know people are innocent?"

"Yes."

"I have a rare gift, most Force-sensitives don't have it. It's called psychometry. Any item, or organic life form, that I touch I am able to see the past. How an item was created, for example. Or past events a person has experienced. In my youth, I wasn't always able to control these visions. Today, these images only come to me if the emotions or the energy is powerful enough. This saber is dark. It has seen many battles and bloodshed. It's to be expected of course, for a Mandalorian artifact. However, it's also the weapon of a Jedi," she explains as she sandwiches the saber between the palms of her hands.

"Look, I'll show you what I mean," she says as she lifts up her top hand as he watches the saber hover in midair between her palms. Then suddenly it does something that surprised him. The saber is dismantled in pieces as it floats between her hands.

"You see that crystal in the center? It's called a kyber crystal. It's what powers all lightsabers. This one is a grayish black. My color, as you saw, is a teal turquoise. Every saber is unique to the creator," she says as the saber returns to it's original shape and falls into her hands.

"During training, usually upon a child's tenth birthday, they must go through a ritual called 'The Gathering.' I had to do it right before the purge. Master Yoda took a group of us younglings to the planet Illium to harvest our crystals. But it's not as easy as just walking in and grabbing it. The crystal cave challenges you. It tests your weaknesses and vulnerabilities. Only when you conquer the temptations of the dark side is when your crystal will reveal itself to you. Then, you are free to build your own saber to express your individuality. The color of the blade is distinctive to each person and their traits," she explains.

"Then I'm glad you are here. The saber will be in good hands," Din says softly.

"I will keep it safe and hidden. I promise," Nia says. "Now I think we should shower and get ready to leave."

"After you," he says with a smile.