Time is a social construct pt. 7
Mandalorian Time Travel AU
Summary: Din is trying his best, ok? But between trying to find a teacher for his magic kid and learning there were other Mandalorians who follow a different creed, Din is very confused and lost. So when he ends up on a plant that his HUD says is Manda’yaim and encounters two teens on the run from a group of dar’mandas called Death Watch, Din figures he way as well help them. He never meant to adopt them. Or become Mand’alor.
Note: This chapter is shorter than I prefer, but I like the ending point, so we're just going to go with it.
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Din hated how much sense it made. He hated how the various puzzle pieces swirling in his head were slotting together to create a picture. Din thinks he preferred the jumbled mess to the final picture.
Because time travel? It’s kriffing ridiculous. Impossible even. But Obi-wan had said it with such conviction, and it made sense.
“Osik.”
Obi-wan let out a laugh that was uncomfortably close to a hysteric sob. Din, without thinking, stepped closer and pulled the kid into a hug, making sure Obi-wan’s head didn’t hit his chest plate too hard. Obi-wan let out a full sob this time, turning to hide his face in Din’s neck.
“They’re all dead,” Obi-wan managed between sobs and hiccups. “And I- I-“
“Shh, ad’ika,” Din murmured, stroking Obi-wan’s hair. “The future is not your fault.”
“No!” Obi-wan cried, burrowing deeper into Din’s embrace. “I saw! I saw- I wasn’t there in time- I couldn’t save them-“
Din was beginning to suspect that Obi-wan had a close relationship with the Jedi. He was also beginning to suspect that those lightsabers weren’t just a rare weapon that Din had only seen twice.
But none of that mattered now, not when Obi-wan was still crying in his arms. Din slowly rocked the two of them side to side as he muttered old Mandalorian songs to Obi-wan. The ad’ika was gripping the edges of Din’s chest plate so tight his knuckles had turned white.
There was a soft whoosh of a door opening, nearly inaudible over Obi-wan crying. A concerned Satine and Grogu were standing in the doorway, and Grogu’s ears drooped low. Grogu, from his place in Satine’s arms, held out a hand and opened and closed it in Obi-wan’s direction, letting out a pitiful whine.
Obi-wan inhaled deeply, cutting off his next cry, and peak his head up from Din’s shoulder. Din didn’t know if some type of Force communication happened, but when Obi-wan saw Grogu, the teen sobbed again. Satine, becoming frantic in her worry, rushed over with Grogu. Immediately, Grogu pulled himself onto Obi-wan's lap, smushed between the teen and Din. Obi-wan’s arms wrapped around the child, hunched over as if trying to protect Grogu from the world.
“I’m sorry, ni ceta, I’m so sorry,” Obi-wan let out a stream of muttered apologies, still rocking slightly in Din’s arms even after the man had gone still.
Satine was looking between Din and Obi-wan, concern showing with a hint of suspicion. Din wanted to reassure her that Obi-wan was fine and that Din hadn’t done anything to him. But that wasn’t exactly the truth, was it?
So Din settled for saying, “It’s hard to explain.”
Satine didn’t like that explanation, but she still rested a hand on Obi-wan’s shoulder. Obi-wan had opened his eyes and was staring into Grogu’s. He wasn’t sobbing anymore, but tears were still running down his face.
“I’m so sorry that you-“ Obi-wan hiccuped. Grogu cooed and rested on clawed hand on Obi-wan’s cheek. They must’ve been communicating mentally again because Obi-wan shook his head. “No, no, I’m not- I’m no hero- I couldn’t-“
“Patu!” Grogu huffed and turned to stare at Din demandingly. The kid’s expression practically screamed, ‘do something about this!’
Din was never good at denying his ad’ika anything, so he brought a hand up to rest on the back of Obi-wan’s head. “Hey, there’s nothing we can do about it right now, ok? Let’s get some water and food in you first, then we can, uh, figure things out.”
Obi-wan sniffed and used his shoulder to try and wipe away the tears still on his face. He wasn’t actively crying anymore, but he still looked one wrong move away from bursting into tears.
“Obi-wan, what happened?” Satine asked gently, reaching a hand out slowly to wipe away the tears Obi-wan missed.
“I-uh-“
“Apparently, Grogu and I are from the future,” Din said after Obi-wan struggled to get the words out. “It’s, well, it’s not been great for some time.”
It was vague, but Satine still looked incredibly shocked. She looked between Din and Grogu as if trying to process the fact that the two beings in front of her were, chronologically, younger than her. Admittedly, it hurt Din’s head to think about it too much, and he already had practice with having a son who was older than him.
Finally, Satine looked at Obi-wan for answers. The boy sniffed and straightened himself. Din let his arms fall but kept a steadying hand on Obi-wan’s back. “I had a vision- and uh, I saw, well, it was so bad-“
When Obi-wan’s breath hitched, Satine cut him off. “It’s ok. You don’t have to describe it right now. I think Din’s idea of food and water is good, yeah?”
Grogu exclaimed, “Baa!” settling the issue.
Obi-wan stood up slowly, still cradling Grogu in his arms as if the kid was the only thing keeping him tethered to the ground. Din kept a hand on Obi-wan’s back until the kid stepped out of reach. Satine took over, holding onto one of Obi-wan’s arms as she led him back into the living room. Din took a moment to himself and took a depth breath.
So, time travel. Clearly, they were in a time before Mandalore had been glassed and before the Jedi had been killed. Din didn’t know yet if the Clone Wars were currently happening or if they were even further back. Satine hadn’t really reacted to Din’s mention of the droid army, but that could also have been because it was buried in his mini-trauma dump. Grogu seemed to recognize Obi-wan from around the time of the Jedi Purge, so they’re probably not much over 80 years at maximum if Obi-wan was at an old age for a human at the time.
Din’s best bet would be to figure out the year (and hoped he still remembered how to do the year conversions, which has been one of the biggest pains in the past few years). But, Din was worried that revealing how many years until the Purge happens would only send Obi-wan into another panic. From what Din could tell, the kid would take full responsibility for trying to stop it. Which, obviously, Din wasn’t going to let happen.
Din allowed himself a single groan. All he had wanted was to get his kid safe; how the hells did he end up on the mission to save the Jedi from their massacre? He was a bounty hunter, for kriff’s sake. One who hadn’t even known Jedi were a thing until a few months ago. The Manda, the Force, or whatever, must’ve been laughing at him. Or incredibly desperate.
Satine appeared in the doorway, eyes narrowed. Din resigned himself to an interrogation. He was kind of curious how a pacifist would pull that off.
“Me’bana?” Satine demanded. Din let himself have a moment of victory at the girl using Mando’a. “The future? How do you expect me to believe that?”
Din shrugged and decided to sit on the stool Obi-wan had been sitting on. “Obi-wan and I were, uh, discussing Jedi, and it turns out they’re still alive now.”
“What?”
“In my time, almost every Jedi was killed nearly 30 years ago*. They called it the Purge.” Din said, watching the devastating and understanding cross Satine’s face. “Obi-wan is a Jedi.”
It wasn’t a question- it was the only explanation that Din could come up with for Obi-wan's reaction to the news. And he could use the Force and had a sword. As Din understood, those were the main qualifications to be a Jedi.
Still, Satine nodded in confirmation. “Yes, he is, um, on a mission-“
“To protect you from Death Watch,” Din filled in. Satine nodded again, and Din filed away his questions about why she was important enough for Death Watch to want to kill for later. “But, yes. The Jedi are dead, and Obi-wan didn’t take it well, and-“
Din cut himself off with a shrug and a gesture to the living room. Satine looked back for a moment before focusing on Din again. “And Grogu?”
“From what I know,” Din said softly, “He was smuggled out of the temple in the midst of it.”
Satine gasped in horror. “So he saw….” Din nodded grimly. “Oh, the poor thing.”
Din let her sit with her thoughts. He couldn’t hear any crying, so he was ok with staying where he was for a few more minutes. After a minute, Satine asked, “And Mandalore? What’s been going on?”
Din winced, expression hidden by his helmet. “As far as I know, not much.”
“So the New Mandalorian leadership worked?” Satine asked hopefully.
“Mandalore was glassed- bombed to the point of uninhabited. Most Mandalorians were killed. I can only assume that included the New Mandalorians.”
“Oh.” Satine deflated. “Who did it?”
“The Empire,” Din responded before realizing that was a whole other conversation. “But that’s a long story that Obi-wan should hear.”
Satine huffed but agreed. “Ok. But not right now.”
“Definitely not,” Din agreed. It was a bit funny. Obi-wan was apparently the topic that two vastly different Mandalorians could agree on.
When they re-entered the main room, Obi-wan was curled up on the couch, Grogu resting back on his leg that were tucked up. There were two empty wrappers and a water pouch on the table. Obi-wan was muttering something to Grogu, a small smile on his face.
Grogu interrupted whatever Obi-wan was saying with a squeal when Din walked in. Obi-wan gave Din a small, awkward smile.
“Hi. I was just telling him some stories about my childhood and friends.”
Din hummed and took a seat at the dining table. Satine sat on the opposite end of the couch from Obi-wan, pulling her feet up too. “Mind sharing? I’d like to hear about growing up in a Jedi Temple.”
Obi-wan froze for a second before chuckling sheepishly. “Ah. You figured that out.”
“Yes,” Din said. “You don’t have to share if you don’t want.”
“No, no, I don’t mind,” Obi-wan assured. “Maybe you can also share some stories?”
Din chuckled at the hidden interest in Obi-wan’s voice. “Sure.”
“Satine?”
“Of course,” Satine said. “But I’m not sure how they match up.”
And so they swapped stories for the afternoon, Din taking the time to do a maintenance check on his weapons and armor. They should have been looking for supplies, places to go, and making plans. But, as Din watched Satine and Obi-wan laugh over stories of childhood pranks gone wrong, Din couldn’t bring himself to say anything. The teens were relaxed, and Grogu adored the attention. Who was Din to take away a moment of relaxation and security? He would happily keep watch and entertain with humorous stories about learning to be a beroya.
They deserved it, especially if their soon-coming conversations would be as emotional as Din predicted.
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Mando'a translations:
Mando'a translations:
osik-shit
ni ceta- sorry (lit: I kneel) groveling apology
Me'bana- What happened?
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