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The smell of the hospital corridor was enough to make him feel sick, it was bad enough when the kid was sick and he had to bring him to a med centre, but now - now it was you, and this wasn’t just a quick trip either, this was something that needed to be taken care of, it was a long and arduous procedure. Surgery.
Din’s heart raced when he had found you on the floor of your bedroom, passed out; he can still remember how you looked that day, how empty the ship sounded, aside from Grogu making like ‘patu’ noises at him, how he kept tapping the door to your room. When he saw the look of fear in Grogu’s eyes, he felt as though his heart dropped.
A million thoughts ran through him that day, wondering what could have happened that made Grogu look so frightened. When he knocked on your door and nothing but silence greeted him back, not your jovial voice, or your snarky remark, a chill went down his spine. The door swished open and you were on the floor, pale, clammy, and looking as though you were writhing in pain.
Within seconds he was by your side, calling your name, you barely were able to open your eyes, saying things that made no sense to him. He called you over and over again, yet it was as though you couldn’t recognize him.
He tried to pick you up off the floor, to carry you over to your bed, but the minute his hands touched you, you winced. When he moved his arms around you, you screamed out in pain, it made his stomach queasy, he wanted to throw up. He didn’t want to harm you, he never wanted to hurt you.
A squeal from across the room, drew Din’s eyes and out of his memory of that day. He watched as Grogu played with the toys the clinic had for kids; thankfully he hadn’t decided to put any of them in his mouth, yet Din remembered he should be focused on the kid.
“I’m looking for Mesh’la’s family” a medic with their face covered stood at the entrance of the surgical suite.
Din cursed himself, he didn’t know what name to put, after all you were adamant about not letting anyone know your name except for him and Grogu, regardless he stood, taking two strides over to Grogu picking him up in one move and placing the toy he had in his hands back on the table.
“That’s us” Din stated. It was a bit of a lie, well not really. He did consider you family, maybe you didn’t consider him, but he cared for you. His heart ached for you. He was concerned about you, if you were beside him or not. He wanted only the best for you. Isn’t that what family did?
“Mesh’la’s out of surgery, everything looks good. It’s a good thing you brought Mesh’la here when you did.”
“But Mesh’la’s really okay?”
“Yeah, Mesh’la will be just fine”
Din let out the breath he hadn’t even realized he was holding, he felt Grogu hold on to his thumb, he looked down to the kid and his big eyes were telling him he felt relieved too. He couldn’t help let out a little chuckle at the kid’s expression, he looked back to the medic, “When can we see Mesh’la?”
“Well Mesh’la’s in recovery. Give us about ten minutes and we’ll bring you in.”
“Anything, that we need to be worried about?”
“The doctor will go over that with you, when Mesh’la’s awake.”
“I thought you were the doctor”
“Just the assistant” the medic was hesitant at first, but decided to place their hand on his shoulder, “don’t worry, the doctor is the best. Just relax. Everything turned out great.”
“Thank you”
He could breathe. He finally could breathe.
Those ten minutes felt infinitely longer then they were suppose to. Since when did ten minutes feel like ten hours.
“Mesh’la” his hands hovered over you unsure of what to do, or how to take care of you, when everything he did hurt you. “Tell me what to do” he was pleading, he wanted to look after you. “I don’t want to hurt you” yet every statement fell against nothing but silence and your soft breaths.
Din felt a small hand pat his thigh as Grogu stepped beside him, he closed his eyes lifting his hand, he watched as you were slowly lifted by invisible hands, guiding you over to your bed, Grogu placed you down gently and with a little gasp of relief escaping your lips, you almost seemed better. He was grateful to the kid, but why couldn’t he be the one to look after you, or be the one to cause you to gasp in relief.
He sat beside you, taking off his gloves, the back of his hand pressing against your forehead, you were warm; feverish almost. Something was most definitely wrong with you - he needed to look after you. “Mesh’la, I need to take you to the med centre, something’s wrong” you didn’t respond simply groaning, “I’m going to take that as a yes.”
He couldn’t help smirk as his eyes took in your peaceful form, you were no longer that crumble of mess on the floor. He could feel the stress and worry ease as you no longer had pain etched into your face. Grogu waddle up beside you, curling into the space between your neck and shoulder, as his hand rested on your cheek. His eyes closing, as he let out a contented ‘patu.’
Din placed his gloves on the stand beside your bed, he felt his lungs could breathe. The doctor told him, everything went incredibly well, and you would need a follow-up appointment to make sure the surgical site was healing well and there were no complications from the surgery itself. Din felt the data stick with your surgical records burning in the pouch hanging off his belt.
He hadn’t realized how serious your condition was, the doctor informed him, had he waited to bring you to a med centre he could of lost you. It was that thought alone that made him realize how foolish he had been for the past few months.
He had kept trying to tell you so many different ways how he felt, yet every time, things didn’t work out the way he wanted. One time he had planned a nice evening with you, however, Grogu ended up getting sick, and you spent the entire evening taking care of him.
There was a moment when you two were picking up supplies, you had left Grogu with Peli; Din wanted to buy you a necklace, he wanted you to have something so you could understand what he hoped would happen between the two of you, instead, the necklace he had picked out, you said was perfect for Peli; and now Peli has the gift that was suppose to be for you.
Din let out a chuckle, you always somehow managed to thwart his every attempt at declaring how he felt, and it wasn’t intentional, you were just that kind hearted and sweet. His hand brushed back your hair, carding it through his fingers.
Your eyes fluttered open at his actions, you couldn’t help smiling at the beskar helmet currently watching and studying you, as though you were some sort of exam that gave the answers to life and death.
“D … um … Where am I?” Your eyes were scanning the room around you, not sure of what was happening. It was a med centre, at least that’s what you thought.
“Med Centre on Iago”
“What happened?”
“Your condition exasperated and I had to rush you here”
“I’m sorry, love” you mumbled as your eyes felt heavy, “should’ve told you …” you cleared your throat, “I wasn’t feeling well.”
Din didn’t know what to say, you probably hadn’t even realized what you said yourself, you just called him love. Love. That was a mistake, right? It had to be. There was no way you felt …
“Hey love,” your hand rested on his thigh, “you okay?” You were still mumbling, almost as though you were between sleep and awake; Din’s heart was beating out of his chest as he felt the warmth from your hand seep through his flight suit.
“Yeah, just glad you’re okay”
“Me too. Guess we’re even”
“Even?”
“For all the times you made me worry, love” you smirked at him,
“I guess I’ll have to make it up to you, mesh’la”
“I guess you do, love”’
He lowered his forehead against yours, his hand resting by Grogu’s head, the other by your hip, he practically enveloped you.
You felt at ease as though this should have been the way between the two … the three of you, always. After all you were a family. So many times you had wanted to tell him how you felt, how you always felt. You smirked as you remember the time you had made him a special dinner, only for him to come back bruised and injured, you ended up spending the night taking care of his injuries rather than a romantic dinner for the two of you.
There was the time you bought him a new sleep shirt, only to find out, he made a new outfit for Grogu. Turns out the shirt was a size too small, and he didn’t want your gift to go to waste; he had told you when he saw the expression on your face when Grogu came down the ramp in his new outfit.
“I promise, mesh’la, when you are feeling better, to take you on a special trip”
“Special?” You chuckled
“Yes. The kind of trip that is just for us.”
“You mean with Grogu?”
“No. As in you and me.”
“You and me?” Your eyes widened at his statement, he pulled back to look at you.
“Yes. I want to take care of you. Not just for a moment. Not just as friends. As something more.”
“Something more” you couldn’t stop the smile that was growing on your lips.
“Something that would allow me to call you my riduur”
“Riduur?”
“Spouse”
“You … you want me to be your riduur?”
“If you’ll have me”
Tears pricked your eyes as you looked at the helmet, you couldn’t stop the tears nor the smile that etched across your face, you tried to throw your arms around him, but the pain for the surgery caused you to stop and reassess your movements. “Can you do me a favour now?”
“Anything mesh’la” it didn’t escape Din’s notice how you winced in pain.
“Can you hug me?”
Din gently moved his arms around you, trying hard not to disrupt Grogu, he felt your arms wrap around him, “I’ll have you for as long as you’ll let me, Din” you whispered into his helmet’s ear. He tightened his arms around you, let out an excited gasp.
“I love you, mesh’la. I have for a long time.”
“I love you”
“I’ll take care of you, for as long as I draw breath, cyar’ika. You are my family, my life. You and Grogu.”
“You are too, Din. I can’t imagine my life without you”
“You’ll never have to”
True to Din’s words from that day on, he did take care of you, for the first few days after you left the med centre, he carried you around in his arms. He made sure to get your tea, book, blanket, anything you wanted, if it made your life easier. It wasn’t long before the two of you exchanged vows, and made every effort to tell each other everyday, how much you both loved one another.