22Epilogue
Din was many things. He was a bounty hunter, a fighter, and most days he showed his enemies no mercy. He was also good at repairing his ship, but craftsmanship was not his strong suit.
They had to briefly return to Nevarro, because Greef had a surprise for them. It was the pram Kuiil had made. It had managed to just barely survive the battle at the cantina. The outside was scuffed, dented, and covered in soot. The inside wasn't much better, and needed repadded. Its circuitry also needed rewiring. But all in all, the majority of it was still intact. If Din could repair his ship as needed, then he could certainly repair the pram.
They were in the hull of the Razor Crest. The Child was sitting on top of a storage container, tapping the heels of his feet impatiently against its surface.
Din was busy running some diagnostics, and also applying the finishing touches. Due to the battle, the pram wouldn't look as nice as it once did. But what he lacked in creativity, he made up for with practicality. Once he was done, he took a step back to inspect his handiwork. Then, he set his tools aside, and pressed a button on his gauntlet.
The pram hovered.
Unable to wait any longer, the Child jumped to the floor. He pattered over to the pram, gripped the edge, and immediately climbed inside.
Din shook his head amusedly. "No, by all means, have a look."
The Child sat inside, babbling contentedly at being on the cushioned surface.
Din crouched beside him to be at eye level. He needed to demonstrate some of the features he added. Without activating anything, he tapped his finger against something rectangular on the front of the pram. And he also tapped something identical that was located on the inside. "See these panels," Din indicated. "Press them."
The Child cooed curiously, and copied him. The doors of the pram gradually closed, until he was encased inside.
Din waited.
After several seconds, the doors opened again. The Child was staring down at the panels with impossibly wide eyes. His entire being was absolutely still, as if in a state of shock.
Suddenly, his face seemed to light up. He flung his hands in the air, and his triumphant squeal echoed ecstatically throughout the hull.
A puff of air escaped from Din's mouth, and it took him a moment to realize that it was his own chuckle. Upon hearing the noise, the Child stopped marveling at the pram and looked at Din. He then leaned over the edge of it, and did something completely unexpected.
One of his hands was now resting on Din's helmet, just below the visor.
Reflexively, Din froze and tensed, but only for a second. Normally, when someone did this, it was an attempt to remove the helmet and disgrace him. It was very rare when someone had good intentions. Thankfully, logic was part of his instincts. He could feel that the tiny claws didn't grip at all, and his shoulders dropped as he gradually relaxed.
The Child cooed, smiling brightly at him, and he clumsily patted the beskar.
Perhaps it was seeing the Child so happy, or perhaps it was because he had caused that happiness, but Din felt something in his chest. A sort of warmth that he didn't know what to do with.
His voice was a gentle murmur. "Kuiil would've modified it better," he said. "But I'm glad you approve."
He stood up, and the Child began opening and closing the doors of the pram, over and over, thoroughly enjoying himself. Din pressed the other buttons on his gauntlet, double checking that everything else still worked. The pram hovered and moved around the hull. All the while, the Child giggled in pure delight.
This pram solved a problem that Din needed to address a long time ago. Any time he and the Child were separated, any time he left him behind on the ship, things always went wrong. Things always backfired.
The Child was far safer when they were together, not apart.
Din stopped the pram directly in front of him, and crouched down again. Noticing this, the Child stopped playing with the doors, and once again beamed at him.
"Wherever I go," Din stated. "You go, too."
* Well this story sort of took on a life of its own. The intention was for it to be more of a short story format. But it quickly turned into more of a chapter story, hence the slight summary change. For those of you that have read this, thank you so much.
If you want to leave a review, please give a shout out to my editor, who works just as hard on these stories.
Currently, we are working on Scattered Moments - Part 2, which will be centered around season 2. It just might take a while before we post.
Once again, thank you.