Solus
Part 3: Sun
Pairings: Din Djarin x OFC
Chapter Summary: Thea swears the Creed
CW: None, Fluffy McFlufferson… and a teeny bit of angst
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“Come on, Din Djarin! Show me what you’ve got!”
Din grins, gripping his spear with ease as he circles his opponent. Thea Sol only uses his surname when she’s cross with him or when she’s teasing him. Now, it seems, she’s doing both.
“Think I’ve done that,” he quips, gesturing toward her dirt covered backside.
They’ve been trading blow for blow, dancing in circles and exploiting each other’s weakest points. Despite his aching muscles and the sweat dripping down his flight suit, he doesn’t back down. Neither does she.
“Luck was with you,” she retorts, feigning a strike at his knee and landing a strike to his shoulder.
“Mirdala,” he grits, spear blocking her next move. “Bantov…”
Din maneuvers himself closer, closing the distance. Thea is iviin’yc, fast and lethal. Din’s skill comes from his size and vision, his lack of acute hearing increasing his spatial awareness and ability to use leverage to his advantage. He traps her spear and pulls. If she lets go, the weapon is his. If she doesn’t…
“Oof!” Thea exhales as Din pins her arms, forcing her back to his chest.
“Luck, huh?” he grits out, combating Thea’s attempts to disengage from him. This earns him a growl and a kick in the shin. “Aikiyc?” he teases, widening his stance as she claws an arm free.
“Hardly!” she grunts, left hand reaching across her front to grasp the thick material at the neck of his flight suit.
Din’s world turns upside down and the air bursts from his lungs as he lands on his back. He blinks up at Thea, kneeling on his chest with a blade at his throat and the sun lighting her from behind like a luminous halo.
“Do you yield?” she asks, blue eyes piercing with triumph.
Those same eyes widen as Din knocks her blade hand away and rolls, the two of them fighting for the upper hand amongst the dirt and dust. He pulls his own blade from his boot as he attempts to stand, only to have his leg buckle from a kick to the back of his knee. He blocks a punch, she dodges a hold. In the end the two stare at each other, breathless as the other holds a dagger to their throats.
“Draw?” they both gasp.
Laughing, Din collapses onto his back next to a giggling Thea. He closes his eyes against the sun’s glare, its warmth enveloping him as his breathing slows and his sweat dries. After a bit, Thea sighs, that heavy sort exhale of hers that makes Din tense up. She wanted him to hear it. He turns his head to look at her, waiting.
“I spoke with the Armorer this morning,” she says finally, eyes still closed and a furrow between her brows. Din feels his heart clench and exhales slowly. He rolls to his side, looking down at her as he props his head up with his hand.
“You’re ready,” he says. Not a question. Not an assurance. A fact. The Armorer would not have sought Thea out if she wasn’t ready.
“Am I?” she replies quietly, something other than doubt clouding her eyes as she looks up at him. Din doesn’t need to actually hear her words to know their meaning, her expression. He knows Thea Sol like the back of his own hand. He nods, forcing himself to smile so he doesn’t cry.
“Unless getting your shebs kicked just now will make you change your mind?” he jokes feebly.
Thea scoffs, knocking his hand out from under his head and laughing as his face theatrically hits the dirt.
“Very funny, Din Djarin,” she teases, closing the distance between them and laying her head on his shoulder as he wraps his arms around her. Her next sigh is a contented one and it nearly breaks his heart.
“I’ll miss you,” he whispers, pressing his mouth against her hair as she holds him tighter.
His nearly three cycles with hardly a day apart from Thea Sol had taught him much. He was bound to her, his heart, his sun. As such, he had to let her go.
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Din’s hands are in fists, nails digging into his palms as Thea follows the Armorer through the gathered Mandalorians. He tries to memorize her. Her eyes, the color of her hair, the firm set of her mouth. As she reaches the edge of the lake, the Armorer motions her into the shallows. Thea turns, eyes searching until they find his. Din’s breath catches but he doesn’t look away. He can’t. The last sight of her face he’ll ever see is her smiling sweetly at him.
“I swear on my name and the names of the ancestors,” Thea Sol repeats after the Armorer, her voice now distorted by her vocoder.
“Din! Din!” he hears as he makes his way through the tunnels to the ceremony. He’d know that voice anywhere.
“That I shall walk the Way of the Mand’alor…”
Thea slams into him, arms wrapping around his neck and squeezing tightly.
“And the words of the Creed shall forever be forged in my heart.”
She pulls back, hands cupping his face.
“I’ll miss you too,” she says, her lips meeting his in a sweet, close-mouthed kiss.
“This is the Way.”
“This is the Way,” the tribe echoes.
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Master List
AN: I am so happy to finish a chapter of one of my fics. I’ve missed writing and am thrilled to feel inspired again. Thank you for reading 💜
