Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Danny had never known Din to be nervous. He spent half the day fretting about his armor and the other half scrubbing the interior of the ship from top to bottom. Danny would have been amused if he weren’t in a similar state of anxiety. 

In a few hours, they would be meeting the Jedi and Grogu. Danny understood Din’s unrest. Din had barely had a chance to speak to the Jedi who took Grogu, and everything he’d learned since came from secondhand accounts. Ex-rebels told stories about the farm boy turned pilot who was charming and seemed to have this ability to just know things. Those in the know whispered stories about his Jedi mind tricks and how he could take down armies of droids with a wave of his hand and swipe of his lightsaber. 

Despite everything that had happened at Fett’s Palace and all of the assurances Din had given him, Danny still couldn’t help but wonder if Din planned to leave him with the Jedi the same way he’d left Grogu. He knew it was a little different–Grogu had wanted to go with the Jedi, and Din’s whole mission since acquiring him had been to bring him to a safe home. Danny was scared though that Din would decide that he’d be safer with the Jedi too. 

Frankly, he didn’t even know what a Jedi was, and Din hadn’t been able to give him much information on that front either. Din said they were people who used something called “the Force,” which seemed to be like a weird telepathy, and that they used to be enemies of the Mandalorians. They were all supposed to be wiped out when the Empire rose to power, but a few managed to survive and go into hiding. Fennec hadn’t had much of an opinion on them, unlike Fett, who utterly despised them. The Jedi basically existed as legends and ghost stories now, and it didn’t seem like anyone could agree whether they were good or bad.

Danny tried to stay out of Din’s way during his frenzy, keeping to the cockpit and practicing his reading skills. He’d gotten much better at Galactic Basic, but he still had a long way to go before he could pick up a book and read it. Danny understood enough to read at about the same level as a kindergartener. He was just glad for whatever ghostly ability he had that let him adapt to understand local languages. He couldn’t imagine coming into this dimension and trying to explain everything with a language barrier. It was still frustrating to have to ask Din what things said constantly. Learning to read would allow him to study on his own, too, and currently, he wanted to read up on the history of the Jedi.

It was a fruitless endeavor, literate or otherwise. He’d been flipping through the holobook for about an hour when Din came up into the cockpit, glanced at his search, and said,

“It’s all been erased. You’re better off asking around underground.”

Danny groaned and switched the holobook off, tossing it onto the seat he floated over. He’d taken to using his ghost powers more often outside of his ghost form since Din didn’t seem to mind.

“Figures. The one time I actually try to prepare myself, and I literally can’t.”

Din settled into the pilot’s seat and tapped a few switches. “You don’t need to worry.”

“What if I say something wrong and offend him, and he decides to Force murder me or something?”

“I survived a Jedi with minimal injuries. You’ll be fine with this one.”

“That doesn’t make me feel better!”

Din chuckled, and the ship came out of hyperspace, briefly jolting before settling into a cruising speed towards a planet. Danny leaned in a little, all worries evaporating at the sight of a new world. He flew up to press his face up to the glass, a grin slowly spreading across his face. 

“It kind of looks like home,” Danny whispered, his breath leaving ice crystals on the glass.

“Your world has a lot of green plants and water?”

Danny nodded, “Earth is in this region colloquially called ‘the sweet spot.’ It’s the perfect distance from our star to sustain life and liquid water. Not too hot, not too cold, and not covered in toxic gas.”

It was the first green planet he’d seen in this dimension. Danny had been starting to wonder if most worlds were just sand or molten rock. Seeing something that looked closer to the world he was used to, he felt a mixture of curiosity and perhaps homesickness. 

“This is Dagobah,” Din explained, “Technically uninhabited and unexplored, but the Jedi must have chosen it for a reason.”

“What better place to hide than a practically unknown world?”

“There are plenty of those. This one must be different.”

It seemed like Din was trying to convince himself that there was a logical reason beyond the obvious for the Jedi to choose such an out-of-the-way planet. Danny wasn’t sure if it was that deep. Who knew with Jedi, though? Maybe there was some weird mystical Force reason…whatever the Force was.

As they drew closer, Danny felt a slight chill run down his spine and swore he saw a faint trickle of mist pool in his breath. It’d been almost a month since he’d felt his ghost sense, and it set him on edge. He stiffened, and his eyes briefly flashed green. Din glanced up, frowning a little at the shift in Danny’s demeanor. The strange sense of death persisted, but when no ghost popped out to disrupt them or steal their cargo boxes, Danny relaxed a bit.

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” Danny shrugged, “Think my core’s just reacting to how I’m feeling.”

“Which is?”

“Little stressed, pretty excited, kind of nauseous.”

Din reached up and grabbed Danny’s ankle, tugging him back down to the ground. He nudged him over to the seat, and Danny rolled his eyes before sitting down and buckling up for their descent into the atmosphere.

They passed through the planet’s atmosphere without issue and landed at the coordinates given by the Jedi. There wasn’t anything special about the landing location beside the fact that it was an open spot in a sea of trees. The humidity almost immediately caused the windows in the cockpit to fog up, and Danny shuddered. He hated humidity as much as he hated the heat. He was liking this planet less and less.

The two unbuckled and headed down to the cargo bay to suit up in their armor. Din checked Danny’s armor over after he’d finished with all of the buckles and adjusted a few pieces he’d had trouble reaching. Once that was done, Din picked out his usual blaster. However, he added a few other weapons he didn’t usually carry with him. He took out an old-fashioned spear made of pure metal and an oddly shaped weapon that looked like the hilt of a samurai sword. Finally, he pushed his cloak aside and latched out a device that Danny instantly recognized as a–

“Jetpack. You have a jetpack? ”

Rather than answering, Din picked up his helmet and slid it on. 

“You know what this means, right?” Danny asked, voice lowering into a serious tone.

“That you’re…upset with me?”

“Damn right! Do you know how many times we could have gone out flying together? I don’t have any friends I can do that with that aren’t trying to fight me at the same time!”

Din chuckled. “That’s a good reason to be upset. I guess I have to make it up to you now.”

Danny paused. “Wait. Now as in like, eventually, or now as in now?”

Din lowered the ramp and stepped out onto the planet. He turned back to Danny and tapped a button on his vambrace. The jetpack roared to life with a burst of flame.

“Now.”

Danny grinned and unleashed his core, letting his transformation rush over him. Icy cold energy flowed through his veins, and bright rings of light sparked at his waist, splitting and running over him. He concentrated on keeping his form, retaining his new armor rather than changing into his usual suit. The colors on the armor inverted from white and dark red to black and green. Danny floated towards Din.

“Lead the way.”

Din shot up into the air, and Danny eagerly followed. He kept up with ease, gliding alongside Din. Din smiled beneath his helmet at the expression on Danny’s face. Din enjoyed flying, but he had nothing on Danny. Danny didn’t just fly. He danced in the wind, flowing from one current to the next and playing with the space between. He flew circles around Din, not to show off, but simply because he could.

It didn’t take long for them to get to the rendezvous point. Din landed and tapped his vambrace, hopefully alerting the Jedi (and only him) to their arrival. Danny remained in the air under the guise of keeping watch. Din knew he just wanted an excuse to continue stretching his legs, or lack thereof currently. That bit did unnerve him just a bit, not so much because it was odd, but because it reminded Din of the truth of Danny’s abilities.

The bog should have been muggy and still, but the air was pleasantly cool. Din suspected Danny had something to do with that, but like with the “keeping watch,” he didn’t press the matter.

Din wondered what the Jedi would be like and how much Grogu had changed. He doubted the little one would have gotten any taller, but images of a waist-high Grogu running around (dressed suspiciously like Ahsoka) kept popping into his mind. The Jedi had acted serene and knowing when they met, but that was just an initial impression. He planned to spend at least two to three days on Dagobah catching up with Grogu. That was plenty of time for whatever mask the Jedi kept up to slip. He hadn’t seemed old enough to have that air of wisdom he’d radiated on the bridge, not to mention that he’d allegedly grown up as a poor farmer on Tatooine. Surely he’d been putting up an act to make Din feel better about leaving his child with a total stranger? 

Danny appeared next to him (had Din been too far into his thoughts, or had Danny been invisible before?) and landed on the ground. Din didn’t miss the way his stance shifted to make himself a smaller target in a fight.

“I think I saw…felt? I don’t know…there was something coming this way.”

Din flicked the retaining strap off his blaster, but he didn’t draw yet. Danny followed his lead, staying closer but otherwise remaining non-threatening. 

The temperature dropped a few degrees, and Din lightly pat Danny’s shoulder. It became a bit warmer once more, and Danny gave him a sheepish smile.

The minutes dragged on. Danny kept his eyes latched onto one spot, though, and Din trusted his instinct. 

The two tensed at the whisper of rustling leaves.

Then, a high-pitched shriek rushed towards them, and a knee-high green blur absolutely bolted out of the undergrowth. The little force would have smacked into Din’s shin if he hadn’t immediately dropped down and wrapped up the familiar little alien in his arms.

Grogu cooed in his ear, burying his face into his shoulder before pushing back and clawing at the lip of his helmet. Din pushed it up, smiling down at the bright face of his adiik. Grogu’s coo became a full-on squeal of delight, and he smacked his little hands onto Din’s cheeks.

The foliage rustled again far more noticeably, and a moment later, a young man with pale hair stepped out of the trees a little less dramatically than Grogu. Unlike when they’d met on the ship, the Jedi looked less than composed. His hair was slick from sweat, and he wore a somewhat dirty tank top and trousers. His boots were muddy, and Din if hadn’t known any better, he might have guessed the Jedi had fallen into one of the many hidden sinks in the bogs. The Jedi’s bright eyes flicked from Grogu to Din. Din almost let his helmet slide back down, the Creed lingering in the back of his mind, but he held himself back, meeting the Jedi's gaze.

“I underestimated how fast he could run,” the Jedi said simply, and Din thought heard an echoey snicker somewhere to his right.

Speaking of echoes, he glanced around for Danny, but he couldn’t immediately see him. Then, finally, he noticed that the Jedi was staring at a spot in the air right near where he’d heard the repressed laugh and flicked on his thermal. Sure enough, he saw the floating frozen orb that he’d come to know as his kid.

“You can come out, Danny. It’s alright.”

The Jedi frowned slightly, then put up his hands placatingly in much the same way Din and Fett both had after the trouble at Fett’s Palace.

Danny blinked into existence. He studied the Jedi curiously, his head tilted slightly and his lips pursed. He didn’t appear tense anymore, but there was still some uncertainty to the set of his shoulders.

“You don’t look like a mysterious hooded figure filled with infinite wisdom,” Danny mused before adding, “And trust me, I’ve met one before.”

The Jedi smirked at that, and once again, Din was struck by just how different he seemed here compared to the ship.

“I left my mysterious cloak back at my secret base of infinite wisdom.” The Jedi continued to smile before addressing both Din and Danny, “I don’t think we really had a chance to get introduced before. Sorry about that–my sister reminded me that I need to remember my manners no matter how many dark troopers there are.”

“I can relate,” Danny mumbled, rubbing the back of his neck.

“My name is Luke Skywalker,” the Jedi continued, looking more to Din now, “and it’s good to see you again.”

“Din Djarin,” Din said, “And that’s Danny.”

Danny waved and floated back down to the ground, seemingly only just realizing that he’d been flying since Luke’s appearance.

“Nice to meet you, Danny.”

Grogu squirmed a little in his arms, trying to get a better look at Danny now. Din held his breath as the two stared owlishly at each other. Danny tilted his head. Grogu did the same. Grogu squeaked something in his toddler speech. Danny crouched down. The two never broke eye contact. 

“Grogu?” Danny asked.

The Child made a questioning sound.

Danny smiled and scooted a little closer. He held out his hands, and a blue glow began to form between them. It crystallized into an ice sculpture of Din. Grogu shrieked happily and made grabby hands for the icy toy, and Danny floated it over into Grogu’s outstretched hands. 

“Yoda said I had a lot more to learn about the Force, but I’m not sure if this was what he meant.”

Danny blushed and hunched his shoulders a little again, “I guess I should have warned you first before ah…”

He gestured vaguely at the ice toy that Grogu was currently staring in awe at.

“A warning would have been better before the initial vanishing act,” Din said with a slight smirk.

“Oh. Right. Dang it…”

“Don’t worry, you’re safe here, Danny. Both of you,” Luke added with a nod to Din, “Although I think we’d be a little happier not in the middle of the swamp. My base isn’t too far from here.”

“Hah! So you do have a mysterious base!”

“Less mysterious, more just a rugged campsite in the middle of nowhere.” Luke gestured over his shoulder, “I can’t promise that it’ll be any more comfortable than anywhere else here, but I have dinner cooking with R2 keeping watch.”

Din adjusted his grip on Grogu and stood up again. He enjoyed the familiar weight of the Child in his arms. For the first time in what seemed like months, he felt complete. He had both of his ade by his side, and they were somewhere no Imp would think to look. Danny and Grogu both seemed to like each other too, easing a knot of anxiety in his chest he hadn’t even realized was there.

Chapter Text

There was something oppressive about the strange bog. Danny suppressed a shudder as he floated and kept his eyes on the lichen and vine-covered trees. His ghost sense was a constant tingle down his spine, and a faint mist was ever-present before his nose. It was the reason he stayed in his ghost form rather than turning back (he also wasn't sure how Luke would react to that, and he wasn't quite ready to see).

No one else seemed to sense anything amiss, though. Din held Grogu cradled in his arms, looking down at him with a small, fond smile while he whispered Grogu's name. Luke was watching the two with a similar if distant expression. Danny briefly wondered if perhaps Luke had a child of his own that he was missing or whether the interaction reminded him of someone from his past, but dismissed the thought. Something else in his look made Danny suspect that perhaps Luke was a little jealous of the bond Din and Grogu had. Danny doubted that the Jedi had had many opportunities to forge bonds given his role in the rebellion and status as a Jedi.

Danny realized that Luke was studying him now and had a brief moment of panic where he worried that he'd been staring for too long.

"I can't tell you how much trouble I could have avoided if I could fly," Luke said suddenly.

The abrupt, almost childish comment made Danny snort with a held-back laugh.

"You'd think, but trust me–you'd just manage to find more."

Luke sighed, "You're probably right."

The exasperated 'don't I know it' look that Luke wore perfectly matched the one that Danny knew he'd sported on the daily back home.

"Sounds like you have a story."

"Or five," Din agreed.

Luke rolled his eyes and shook his head good-naturedly, "Maybe I'll tell you some of them while you're here."

Grogu chirped at this, clearly eager to hear the stories too. 

"Looks like you don't have a choice now. No one can say no to a face like that," Danny said.

It was a long walk to Luke's camp. Luke clearly knew the way and had little trouble picking out the path, but that didn't shorten the distance or stop the air from being so damn humid. Danny used to think Florida was bad? This was much worse. Between the constant "there's a ghost" alarm running through him and the heavy air, he felt himself becoming wearier and wearier as they went on despite the short bursts of chatter that came in now that they'd broken the ice a bit. 

Danny's core worked overtime to keep him cool (Luke had to have noticed, but he was tactful enough not to say anything yet–or maybe he just wasn't quite sure what to say), and he was beginning to feel like an overworked laptop. If it weren't for the fact that he wanted to make a good impression, he probably would have asked if they were there yet (he thought of the long drives with Jazz when they went camping as kids and how annoyed she got when he'd all but chanted the forbidden question). 

It was close to nightfall by the time they reached a small, dry clearing. Danny smelled the woodsmoke before they arrived and something not quite identifiable but presumably a stewing meal. It was a pleasant scent compared to the rest of the swamp, which stank of fermenting vegetation and still water. The suffocating sensation of wrongness was worse here, despite the comforting atmosphere that Luke's camp attempted to provide.

A whirl of beeps and chirps called out to them as they broke through the trees, revealing a cylindrical blue and white droid covered in mud and grime. Luke went to the droid, and Grogu made to try and run out of Din's hands to greet it too. Din hesitated, eyeing the droid before putting Grogu down. The little one rushed to the droid and wrapped his arms around its body as well as it could before looking back to Din, then the droid with a clear message.

"R2D2 and Grogu are good friends," Luke explained, "He wants you to say hi."

Din went over to R2, looking down at the red eyestalk that spun and peered up at him. "Hi…R2D2. I'm Din, Grogu's buir."

R2D2 let out a series of buzzes and chirps.

"R2! Be nice!"

"What did it say?"

"Nothing I can repeat in front of the younglings."

"I take offense to being called a youngling," Danny chimed in.

"Fine, foundlings then."

Din snorted at that, and Danny crossed his arms, not willing to protest because of the warm feeling the word left in his heart.

"If R2 did his job, then dinner should be ready."

"You let a droid cook? How?" Danny asked.

"He was supposed to keep the fire going and stir the pot every so often. If he didn't, well… it'll just be a thick stew, I guess with a bunch of burned stuff on the bottom."

Thankfully, R2 turned out to be a good stew watcher. The pot over the fire contained a hearty soup of some sort with a salty red broth. There were chunks of softened root vegetables in it that reminded him of carrots, taro, onions, and slightly chewy meat that wasn't particularly distinct in flavor. Danny couldn't really think of an Earth equivalent for the dish, even if the individual tastes and textures were familiar. In Danny's opinion, it was too hot out for soup, but turning it into gazpacho seemed rude, so Danny ate it as it was (even if it just made him that much more uncomfortably hot).

"So," Luke began after they'd been eating for a few minutes, "how did you come to start traveling with a Mandalorian? That's got to be a story."

"You have no idea…" Danny sat his bowl on his knee. "Let's just say I hitched a ride by accident, helped fix his ship, and then he was stuck with me."

"You forgot the part where you saved me from a bounty hunter and helped patch me up."

"Details," Danny said flippantly, but he did flush a little with pride.

"Those seem like pretty important details to me," Luke poked, "Are you an engineer then?"

"Not exactly, although I did grow up tinkering with a lot of random stuff in my parent's lab. They did a little bit of a lot of different things, so I just picked things up. Nothing all that special, just stuff to be helpful."

"You'd never seen a starship before the day you met me, and you figured out how to repair an engine just by looking at another one."

He flushed darker still, his freckles lighting up his face in the firelight.

"Danny has a lot of skills already, and he's a fast learner. I'm hoping to take him through the Verd'goten soon."

"What's the 'verd'goten'?" Luke asked.

"It's the rite of passage for Mandalorian children to be accepted as adults," Din explained, "Traditionally, children begin training at age eight and are then tested at thirteen."

"Wait, really?" Danny perked up.

Din ruffled his hair, "Soon. Not yet."

Danny groaned and slouched, pretending to pout.

"Are you sure he's old enough?" Luke joked, "He's a little short to be a Mandalorian."

"Hey, I'm not that much shorter than you! And I can fly!"

"What does flying have to do with it?"

Danny floated slightly off the log, so he was 'taller' than Luke. Din pinched the bridge of his nose with a deep, long-suffering sigh.

"Taller."

"That's cheating."

"Still above you."

Once dinner was finished, Luke showed them where they'd be sleeping for the night. The structure was built partially into the roots of one of the many giant trees in the bog. It was made as a temporary shelter consisting of stacked and woven branches covered with mud and other vegetation. The 'front door' was a tarp that Luke held aside for them to head in.

The floor was also covered in a tarp, but small comforts such as pillows, blankets, and a lantern were scattered around to help accommodate someone resting. There wasn't a lot of space: it was a tight fit with just Luke and Grogu. Adding in the armored Mandalorian and foundling proved too much of a squeeze. 

"We can sleep outside if you have a bedroll for Danny," Din suggested, rightly assuming that Danny wouldn't want to sleep in such a crowded space with his nightmares as they were. 

"I like watching the stars, so I don't mind," Danny chimed in hopefully.

"There are a lot of bugs. Are you sure you won't mind?"

"Eh, they tend to avoid me." Danny shrugged, "I think I taste bad to them."

Ecto-contaminated blood did have a few perks, one of those being that mosquitos and other pests didn't bite him anymore.

"Are you going to sleep like that?" Din asked, gesturing to Danny's overall self.

"Hmm? Oh yeah, I guess I should switch back. Sorry, I kind of forgot?"

Danny released the internal breath that withdrew his transformation. Cold, ecto energy pooled back from him, retreating into his core once more with a flash of white light. Danny landed gently on the ground, already missing the feeling of flying.

Luke frowned and reached out a hand, stopping himself at the last moment from touching Danny. It wasn't lost on Danny or Din that the spot he'd reached towards was Danny's core.

"What did you do ?" Luke asked, his voice almost a whisper. "What are you?"

"Some creepy little boy with creepy little powers?"

Grogu poked his head out of the shelter and stared up at Danny with wide eyes. His ears drooped a little, and Danny wasn't entirely sure what to make of the gesture. He pushed down the voice and tried to ignore the way Luke had blanched.

"I um…huh, I've never really had to explain it before. I alived myself."

"Alived…yourself?" Luke repeated faintly, "I've never felt the Force react that way."

"That's because it wasn't the Force," Danny grumbled, moving a little closer to Din. "I'm not a Jedi or whatever."

Din put a hand on Danny's shoulder. Danny leaned into the touch.

"Every living thing is connected to the Force, whether they're Force-sensitive or not," Luke explained carefully, "And until a moment ago, you weren't connected."

"What does…is that bad?"

"There are some who can sever their connection to the Force. That's how I saw you before, even when you were invisible. I saw you by what wasn't there, and now, you are once more connected except for one small spot."

Danny touched the cold spot on his chest. Din squeezed Danny's shoulder and looked almost defiantly back at Luke as he said,

"Remember what I told you after what happened on Nevarro."

Danny tried to hold onto that hope, to think back to Din confirming that his core was his heart and that he was alive, but he saw how Luke continued to stare at that singular, dead spot within.

Luke gathered up an extra tarp and some bedding from inside. Din set up the bedding to make a decently comfortable bed pad for them to rest on beside the fire. Once the outdoor camp was ready, Din went to put Grogu to bed (it sounded like he was telling him a bedtime story) while Luke waited outside with Danny.

Danny stared up at the stars rather than trying to engage the Jedi in conversation, especially after what had just happened. All of the goodwill from before seemed to be gone now, replaced by a puzzle that neither wanted to answer. Yet, strangely, Luke was content to let him be, and when Danny glanced over, he saw the young man watching the sky too. He seemed almost meditative, lost in his thoughts but untroubled by them. Danny wished he could feel the same.

He looked back up to the sky, hoping to distract himself with the distant planets and suns, but the names alluded him. He tugged his knees up close to his chest, for once feeling lost and small, surrounded by the unknown.

"I was unsure of Din coming here," Luke finally said, breaking the carefully constructed silence.

Danny frowned before feeling himself scowl. "Why?"

"I worried that his presence would disrupt Grogu's training. He's at a fragile state now, and forming bonds can be dangerous for Jedi."

"That's stupid," Danny said bluntly, "How could bonds be bad? Without friends or family, we…"

His mind flashed to Dan. Without family, without friends, he became the worst version of himself. 

"Jedi are allowed to have friends and family, and compassion is encouraged, but we have to be careful not to let ourselves get attached. Attachment can lead to fear, and fear is the path to the Dark side." Luke stared off towards the fire. "Fear, anger, hatred… they're all dangerous emotions for Jedi."

"I don't think I understand. You say "dark side" like there's a capital letters in there."

Luke chuckled, some of the tension bleeding from him. "That's because there is. The Force is everywhere, and there are two aspects to it: the Light Side and the Dark side."

"Let me guess; we're going to be basic and say that Light is good and Dark is bad. One day people will get more creative when naming things. There are beautiful things in the dark, just like there are terrifying things in the light. Like, you can't see stars in the light."

"You may have a point. As I was saying, though, it's an important time for Grogu. He's incredibly attached to Din. Having him here could set him back on his training, or worse, cause him to feel doubt and loneliness."

"Aka, 'the bad things we don't feel and instead shove away into the do not open box,' right?"

"Is that how you handle the emotions you don't want to feel?"

Danny glared, "And you don't?"

"No. Everyone has emotions that are good and bad. It's about acknowledging them and letting them go rather than holding on to them and allowing them to fester. Even fear built on good intentions can lead to your destruction."

Fear of failure…

He did fail, and then he destroyed everything.

"I sense much fear in you, Danny. Fear, pain, loneliness, a want to hope…conflicted desires."

"Don't." Danny felt the ectoplasm build unbidden from his core. He knew his eyes were glowing. "Whatever you're doing–don't. Stay out of my head."

"Your anger is built on fear."

Danny got to his feet. His hands shook, and he could feel his 'scary eyes' getting worse.

Luke seemed unbothered. His expression remained relaxed, even as he turned from the fire to look up at Danny.

"I would like to help you if you'll let me. I wouldn't have told Din where Grogu and I were if it weren't for his desire to help you."

"So it's my fault now that Grogu's in danger is what you're telling me? It'll be my fault if I refuse your 'help' and Din can't see his kid?"

"That's not what I'm saying–"

"But it is! It's always that way! I cause problems, and when people try to help me fix them, it just makes things worse for everyone else!"

"If that were the case, I wouldn't have offered to help."

"Hah! That's what they all say! Vlad, Spectra, my parents! Ancients, even my friends! They don't help, though, unless they want something, and even when that's not the case–when someone genuinely wants to help, I kriff it up!"

"Danny–"

He was already walking away, letting his power wash over him as he vanished into the night. He heard Luke call his name again, followed by a distressed Din, ignoring them both. Danny took to the sky, flying slowly at first, then faster and faster, until he was miles away from camp. Only then did he let himself float back down to the trees, landing softly on a branch.

Coming to Dagobah was a mistake. 

He'd ruined Grogu's training. Grogu would want to stay with Din now, and then Luke would have to stop teaching him. Who knew if Luke even wanted to be involved with Din and Grogu now after meeting Danny and seeing just how much of a freak he was? Din wouldn't want Danny anymore after ruining Grogu's chance at mastering his powers. Grogu was Din's real son–Danny was just a pretender, an interloper who wasn't meant to be here. An interdimensional parasite. He was always that way no matter where he went. Not a human, not a ghost, unable to survive entirely in either dimension because he was wrong, a mistake, a–

"You're a freak! Not a ghost, not a boy! Who cares for a thing like you?"

Danny startled, phasing and falling through the tree. He hit the ground with a thump. His heart beat wildly in his chest as he searched for the source of the voice.

Then, his ghost sense went off.

Danny followed the pull, walking through the undergrowth and brush until he found himself at the entrance of a cave. Strangely, light echoed out from within. The air was no longer humid. Instead, a chill hung over the swamp, creating mist on the water surrounding him. Dread tugged at his core, warning him to turn away, and yet he felt the same tug from before, calling him. Danny tentatively stepped forward and passed beneath the canopy of moss and vines.

Chapter Text

The camp was silent following Danny's disappearance. Luke stood at the campfire's edge, staring off where he'd last seen him. Din forced himself to count to ten before he asked what happened. Luke turned away from the sky and looked at him, regret plain on his face. 

Din could get mad, but that didn't seem productive, especially when it was so obvious that Luke hadn't meant to push Danny away. Grogu had a favorable view of Luke too, which helped his case. So, Din would hear the man out, even if he wasn't particularly happy with him.

"I'm sure you heard most of what was said."

"I did," Din said evenly, "But I want to know why you did it. I brought Danny here because I trusted you to help him. I explained his situation and as much of his history as I could. To me, it looks like you used that knowledge to attack him."

"I was genuinely trying to help." 

Grogu poked his head out of the shelter, looking between Din and Luke. Din stooped down to pick him up, tucking him close to his chest. He dared Luke to say anything at this point about the gesture. When nothing came of it, and Luke didn't continue speaking, Din sighed and prompted him once again.

"Then explain how that was helping."

"I sensed a lot of turmoil in him," Luke began slowly, "I thought perhaps confronting it head-on would be the best solution, especially after his comment about ignoring it. It seems I was wrong."

"You were."

"Are you sure he hasn't interacted with a Force user before?"

"Positive, unless there was some secret Jedi hiding around on Tattooine."

Luke chuckled, and Din heard a bit of grief in the sound. "There was, but he's long gone."

"Why do you ask? He's not Force-sensitive, is he?"

"No, not from what I can tell, but he does affect the Force, unlike anything I've ever seen before. That's not why I ask, though." Luke crossed his arms, "He told me to 'get out of his head.' That's when I noticed his mood shift. He was agitated before, but when he made that comment, I felt a rush of fear and anger."

Din frowned, thinking back to every story and offhand comment he'd heard Danny make. 

"The Jedi can influence some minds," Luke continued, "I saw my mentor do it, and I am capable as well."

That got Din's attention. He suddenly wondered if Grogu's amiable demeanor towards Luke was because of some Jedi mind trick. Was he under the same influence?

"I haven't done that to either of you or Danny," Luke confirmed as if really reading his mind, "It only works on ah…well, Old Ben called them 'weak minds,' but that's a little rude."

"Danny's mind is anything but weak," Din said, "He's as stubborn as they come. That said…I have no idea if he encountered something similar back home. He's dealt with a lot there that is outside of my scope."

"He mentioned Vlad, Spectra, and his parents specifically."

"I haven't heard the name 'Spectra' before." Din thought for a moment. "Vlad's done a lot to him…his parents too.."

"I'll ask him about it once I find him."

Din startled a little at that declaration. Luke smirked at his expression before turning away to look in the direction Danny had flown off in.

"Grogu's claimed you for the night, and I think it would be a good idea for me to talk this out with Danny. Besides, I'm a little worried that he specifically chose to fly off that way."

"Of course, he chose the dangerous direction, didn't he? That's all the more reason for me to go with you. I promised I would protect him, and if there's something out there that could hurt him, I need to be there."

"This isn't something you can fight off with a blaster." Din heard the hesitation in Luke's voice. "There's a reason I chose for us to meet on Dagobah instead of the planet Grogu and I have been training on."

The air seemed to get a little chillier, and Din half expected to see Danny pop back into existence. But, to his disappointment, it was only the night wind blowing through the underbrush and trees. Something about it put him a little on edge, though, in a way he couldn't quite explain. He noticed Grogu cling just a little tighter to him too.

"Dagobah is a strange planet. The Force is strong here, making it easier to connect to it. It's a good place to train, but that connection also comes at a price." Luke ran a hand through his hair. "When I was younger, I came here seeking training from Master Yoda. I stumbled upon a cave that made me face my worst fear."

"The cave is that way, isn't it?"

Luke nodded grimly, "Yup."

Din hesitated, glancing down from Grogu back towards where he knew Danny had flown off. 

"I don't want him to think I'm abandoning him."

"I'll make sure he understands. For now, please, stay with Grogu while I talk to him."

Din bowed his head rather than reply.

Danny brushed away the roots that clung to the ceiling like stalactites. Mist rolled across the ground, parting and rising around him as he waded through it.

"Danny…"

"Jazz?"

"Dann…y…"

His ghost sense was a constant now, mingling with the mist and threatening to overtake him completely. He kept walking, though, following the pull in his core that called him further into the cave.

"Of course, you will. It's only a matter of time."

Danny shivered and held his hand aloft. Soft green light whispered out from a glowing orb in his palm. It bounced off the gathering mist, doing little to illuminate the chamber. The scent of petrichor and rot faded away, replaced by smoke,  iron, and the acrid burning of plastic. The tang of it clung to his tongue and caught in his throat. 

Sweat beaded his brow.

He felt a tickle near his ear; the prickling of eyes on his neck.

"Me, my future, I'm inevitable."

"You're wrong," Danny muttered, refusing to turn around. "I'm here, galaxies away, and you're trapped in a can."

"Oh, that may be true, but that means little in the grand scheme of things, and you know that."

Danny pivoted, coming face to face with a looming figure striding through the fog.

"I'm still here. I still exist. That means you still turn into me."

Danny took a step back.

The ghost of his future looked exactly as Danny remembered, with broad shoulders and a towering, confident gate. Dan grinned wide, forked tongue flicking across fanged teeth. His white, flaming hair lit up the cave, creating dancing shadows of destruction in the mist: collapsed buildings, fallen friends, the remnants of the Nasty Burger.

"Did you think running would prevent me? Us?" Dan chuckled, "You might be able to rearrange the pieces, but the future will always happen."

"Clockwork said it wouldn't," Danny batted back weakly, still trying to put distance between them.

"And when have they ever been honest? They're nothing but a liar speaking in riddles."

"You're not real!" Danny shouted, charging up ectobeams.

Then Dan was there, hands wrapped around Danny's wrists with crushing strength.

"I may be a ghost, but I am very real."

Luke had planned to take Danny into the cave in a few days after getting to know him and helping him hopefully work through some of his troubles. The cave was dangerous, but Luke believed that it could be used as a tool for learning. What would the cave do, though, with Danny? 

Luke didn't like to admit it, but the boy unnerved him. The boy was friendly, witty, and genuinely wanted to help others around him. However, he also harbored an unfathomable amount of pain. Luke sensed a little of it when the boy was in his "ghost form," but the moment he changed, the onslaught of emotions left him winded. At first, he tried to attribute it to the sudden burst of emotions where there hadn't been any before, but the longer he sat beside Danny, the less likely that seemed. He was like a winter storm: a torrent of fear, guilt, uncertainty, and self-disgust that cut through the softer sentiments like ice. He hid everything under a blanket of snow, but even so, Luke still felt it. 

Luke was worried that, if nothing changed, Danny would be buried under it all one day.

He didn't want to see a bright soul like that die.

Luke stopped when he heard a death knell cry from beyond the trees. The ground trembled beneath him, and for a moment, Luke didn't want to move. All he could think of were the moments when he thought his death was inevitable, and beyond that, he could practically feel it.

The wail ended and the hypnotic horror with it.

Luke took a moment to ground himself once more with the Force before running on.

Danny slammed into the wall, ears bleeding and core aching from Dan's wail. He felt like one big bruise as Dan grabbed him by the neck and lifted him.

"Your time is up, Danny. It's been up for ten years. Now, I know what you're thinking: 'you can't kill me without killing yourself,' but luckily for you, that's not my plan. Remember this?"

Dan brought a familiar, dented silver thermos into Danny's field of vision. 

"Are you asking me to send you home?" Danny managed.

Dan squeezed his throat tighter and leaned in, "We both know that's not how this will end."

He flicked the cap off of the thermos and aimed it at Danny.

Danny kept struggling, trying to kick at Dan and claw his hand off. It was hopeless, though. His core felt too brittle to change, and he couldn't phase through the iron grip of his older self. There was no way out.

He couldn't give up, though. That went against his entire being. He'd faced his death twice in the portal, and both times, he'd fought with everything he had to remain, even if it meant being stuck between two worlds.

It made him a freak.

It made him a monster.

It also made it impossible for him to stay down when he knew others were waiting for him.

Danny reached for the blaster on his belt and flicked the retaining strap off. 

Dan pressed the switch on the thermos.

Danny drew the blaster and fired.

Dan dropped him and stumbled back, holding the oozing green hole in his stomach. He continued to smirk at Danny, the embers in his eyes alight with nasty hope.

"My job here is done."

Dan began to destabilize until only a puddle of ectoplasm remained. Danny dropped the blaster and scrambled away, his eyes locked on the remnants of himself. The mist began to swallow him and his doppelganger, consuming both until Danny couldn't see anything beyond the wall of white.

"–anny! Danny!"

Danny covered his ears and curled in on himself. Maybe if he ignored the voices this time, they wouldn't be real. He couldn't admit that what had just happened was real. If he did, he'd have to acknowledge that Dan still existed and that he'd taken the first step to becoming him.

Danny tasted bile, and he bit down hard on his lip to keep himself from getting sick.

A hand touched his shoulder, and Danny tried to scramble away even as part of him wondered if it was just better to let whatever it was in here finish him off. The touch was gentle, though, as were the soft words that came with it. The familiar deep, calculated voice made him pause.

"Do you really have such little faith in yourself?"

"Clockwork?"

It didn't seem possible, but then, neither had Dan's appearance. Floating before him was the elder form of Clockwork.

"How are you–?"

"I'm here because I'm the Master of Time, and it's my job to make sure that everything is as it should be."

"The Observants want to eliminate me again, don't they?" Danny hung his head. "I understand. I'm sorry. You gave me a second chance, and I blew it."

"Is that what you think?"

"You see everything, so I know you saw what I did. It's the first step. I've always known since Dan still existed…I knew this would happen!" Danny dug his fingers into his hair and waited for the inevitable to come.

"You did nothing wrong, Danny." Clockwork gently took Danny's hands and plucked them from his head. "Nothing is inevitable. So many variations, so many possibilities that may or may not come to pass. How can any one outcome be a certainty? That's what makes life so interesting."

"Why are you here, then?" He couldn't keep the thick misery from his voice. He didn't want to hope, even though it stuck to him like a bur. 

"Because sometimes you need a reminder. I also happen to miss my odd ward."

Danny glanced up. Clockwork was wearing his child form now even though he smiled down at Danny like a proud if somewhat exasperated parent. 

"Let go of the past. Acknowledge it, but don't let it hold you back from the future."

Once more, the mist closed in, but even as Clockwork was lost in it, another person broke through.

Chapter Text

Luke stepped through the wall of mist just in time to see Danny collapsing to his knees, staring blankly at a spot just in front of him. Luke had sensed something when he entered the cave. The raw power that had ebbed out was almost overwhelming, like swimming through the Force rather than tapping into it. It hadn’t been malevolent, but it still left him feeling uneasy. Luke shook the sensation off and took a few cautious steps toward Danny. He knelt down, keeping his hands open.

“Danny? Are you alright?”

Clarity bled back into the boy’s blue eyes. He frowned a little, glancing briefly around and past Luke before giving him a slow nod.

“Can I help you up?”

Luke saw the hesitation, but Danny still took his hand. He counted that as a win and helped him to his feet. 

Danny was a little unsteady, but he kept his footing as Luke led him back through the fog and out of the cave. Danny’s hand was freezing, and Luke swore he felt frost creeping up his arm, but he kept it to himself. If he could survive Hoth, he could survive a little chill.

Luke steered them a good distance away from the cave before he found a relatively dry patch of dirt they could rest on. He moved to sit down, and following his lead, Danny sat beside him. He watched Danny draw his knees up to his chest.

Luke allowed the silence the way he had before. This time, though, he made an effort not to push. Patience hadn’t always been his strong suit, especially not when others were in trouble or hurt. He wanted to speak first and apologize, but Luke sensed (not through the Force) that was the wrong move. Of course, he would apologize at some point, but he needed to allow space for Danny to feel comfortable enough to hear the apology, even if he chose not to accept it.

Danny’s gaze was turned up towards the sky. Luke hid a smile (he had to do that a lot now).

They sat there on the damp ground for nearly an hour, watching the stars roll by and listening to the chirps of distant frogs. Danny didn’t move once except to tilt his head a little when he noticed a particularly interesting galactic spark.

“Did you see any of it?” Danny finally asked. His voice was hoarse; whether from weariness or the night’s events, Luke wasn’t sure.

“No. The visions weren’t for me.”

Danny’s shoulders slumped. “So they were just visions.”

“My old master told me that the cave is strong with the dark side of the Force. The only thing in there is what you take with you.”

“Why not destroy it then?”

Luke chuckled, “I don’t think the Force would like that.”

“Sauron’s ring didn’t like being destroyed, but that didn’t stop Samwise.”

“...is that a Jedi?”

“Nah, it’s a story from where I’m from. It’s not important.”

“Stories are always important.” Luke shifted to sit a little more comfortably (he hadn’t moved either while waiting for Danny to talk). “I think if we destroyed the cave, a new one would appear elsewhere. There has to be balance within the Force.”

“So getting rid of evil things doesn’t really get rid of them.”

Luke chose his next words carefully. “It’s true that you can’t ever truly destroy evil, but you also can’t destroy goodness either. One always rises to meet the other.”

“It’s all inevitable, then.”

“Nothing is inevitable. Some people may have a ‘greater’ purpose, but ultimately, there’s always a choice.”

Danny sighed and started tracing his finger across the dirt, leaving fern-like ice spirals in his wake.

“I don’t know what to believe anymore. I mean, I know the literal god of time, and I got to rewrite my destiny or whatever, but I saw that future still. It happened , so in the end, did I really escape fate?”

Whatever Luke had expected to hear, that certainly wasn’t it. He realized Danny was smirking at him. He wondered what his expression looked like–his reaction must have been amusing to pull Danny out of his melancholy. 

“Yeah, it’s a lot. Want to hear a story?”

“I would be happy to listen.”

Danny told Luke about almost everything he’d told Din so far: his parent’s research, the Accident, fighting ghosts, defeating the Ghost King, the Fruitloop, almost getting erased from time, stopping his evil future self, befriending the god of time. By the time he finished, his throat felt dry, but he did feel lighter. Luke hadn’t interrupted his story except to clarify a few points (“What’s a ‘Fenton’? Is it a special material? It seems important since it’s used in a lot of object names.”)

“So what I saw in the cave was Dan. He was saying all of the stuff he said before, but this time…I mean, he was there! You know?”

Luke looked thoughtful. “He was there because you brought him with you, just as I brought Vader with me into the cave.”

Vader? The name held weight, but Danny couldn’t remember hearing it before. The way Luke said it implied importance, though.

“Darth Vader was my father,” Luke explained, “He was good, once. Before he became Vader, he was loyal to a fault and tried his best to help the galaxy.”

“What happened?”

“Fear…loss…” Luke shook his head, “When you bottle up your emotions and refuse to acknowledge them, they can consume you.”

Danny fidgeted with an ice fern. 

“That’s what happened in the other timeline, right?”

“The Fruitloop said I’d…Dan…that me or whatever–he couldn’t take the feelings anymore, so he asked Vlad to remove them.”

“It’s OK to feel grief and fear, even anger. They’re part of who we are, and our emotions are there for a reason. What’s important is how we handle them.”

“I hate feeling it, though! It just…too much. They’re too much, and the one time I actually went to talk about them, it just made things worse.”

The fern beneath his hand shattered. Danny glared down at it before hiding his face in his knees. 

“I thought things were getting better since I’ve been with Din, but then it was like all my nightmares got worse. I don’t get it. Am I messing up by being here? Is this the universe saying to go back?”

Luke leaned forward a little. He didn’t reach out to Danny, but Danny could see the slight shift of his hand as if he’d thought about it.

“After we destroyed the Death Star–the second one–my sister and I had some time to rest. We were on a peaceful planet filled with life and trees. I grew up on a desert world, the complete opposite of that one. I slept well the first few nights, but then I started having nightmares.

“Leah would sense them. It took a while for me to talk to her about them, but once I did, it helped. I think that being somewhere safe let me process everything. Before that, we were constantly on the move, flying to new bases, running from the Empire, and preparing for the next attack. I didn’t have time to think about what happened to my Aunt and Uncle or Ben or all of my close calls.”

“Once you did, the floodgates opened?” Danny guessed.

Luke nodded. “It hurts right now, but with time, you’ll heal. I can’t promise how long it will take, but you’re already better than you were.”

“I’m not very good at it…opening up it all, I mean.”

“It takes time and people you trust. Leah only just started processing everything. She puts up a brave face and hides how she feels since she’s a leader, but even princesses and generals need time.”

Luke fell silent until Danny looked up and found him waiting patiently for Danny’s attention.

“I’m sorry about what happened at camp. I wanted to help, but I should have listened to you before trying to step in.”

“Yeah, you kind of Forced it,” Danny said, deadpan.

Luke stared, blinked, and then dropped his head into his hands.

The sun was up by the time Luke came floating down into the campsite with Danny at his side. Din heard Grogu chirp in a confused tone as the two settled down on the ground. Then, two rings of light appeared at Danny’s mid, and he transformed once again into the dark-haired boy that Din had come to know. He looked a little more tired than usual and there were leaves and mud caked to his clothes, but he was unharmed. Before Danny could say anything, Din broke the distance between them and scooped him up into a hug.

“What have I told you about running off?”

“To be fair, your rules so far have been no running off and no ghosting people. I flew off.”

Din set Danny down. “I’m adding that one to the list along with all other semantics.”

“Boo–and I mean ‘boo’ as in you’re no fun, not ‘boo’ I’m a ghost.”

“I’ve been dealing with his jokes the entire flight back,” Luke groaned.

“Dealing with? They’re spectre-cular , thank you very much!”

“Danny…please…”

“I can keep ghouling all day.”

Din smirked at Luke’s deadpan stare and Danny’s equally as serious delivery. Grogu looked between the two, his ears perking up a bit. Din sincerely hoped that the Child didn’t learn Danny’s humor. While he enjoyed the older (...no, younger, but taller?) ade’s jokes, he didn’t think he could handle two children having a battle of words all the time.

Danny relented in his torment of Luke and sat down on the ground. Grogu scrambled over to sit on his lap. Grogu made grabby hands up at Danny, much to Din’s confusion.

“I’m guessing your talk went well then?”

“Yup!” Danny said, before he made another little ice toy for Grogu.

Grogu squealed with delight, reaching for the new figure, but Danny held it back a little from him.

“If you want it, you have to do the magic hand thing.”

Din saw Luke mouth, ‘the magic hand thing?’ before Grogu’s face scrunched with concentration. Then, the toy flew out of Danny’s hand and into Grogu’s. Danny grinned, and his freckles lit up.

“Wow, that was awesome! Great job, venku‘ika !”

“You’ve been practicing your mando’a,” Din noted.

“I’ve been trying to, but languages are hard.”

Danny went back to playing with Grogu. He made more figures for Grogu to play with of different animals from his dimension. 

Luke smiled fondly at the two before gesturing for Din to follow him. Din hesitated, unwilling to leave his two children alone, but Luke hadn’t moved too far away. The kids would still be in sight.

“Anything I should be worried about?” Din asked once he’d joined Luke.

Luke’s smile faded. “Danny told me what happened to him.”

It was a good sign, even if Din figured Luke probably hadn’t been happy to learn the details of Danny’s past. That Danny told him anything at all meant that he trusted Luke, which made Din feel better about…well, a lot of things.

“I could sense he was leaving a lot out, but I didn’t press him. I think you should, though, when he’s recovered a little.” Luke explained what had happened and the history of the cave. “I know this is his choice, and it’s part of your Creed to return foundlings, but if you can, try to convince him not to go back home.”

“It is his choice,” Din conceded, “But if I can, I want him to stay with me. I don’t think he wants to return. He doesn’t talk about it much, though.”

“It may be harder than we think,” Luke said, crossing his arms, “Beyond the guilt he feels for leaving behind his sister and friends, there’s something else…deeper.”

Din waited for Luke to continue. It seemed he was trying to figure out the best way to explain something involving his Jedi magic. Din was content to watch Danny and Grogu play. Danny was making it snow over the camp, much to the Child’s delight. 

“The guilt feels almost like a tether,” Luke frowned, his eyes on Danny as well, “There’s the natural guilt of leaving his life, but this other one is different, more persistent. I noticed it more when he was in his other form.”

“I’ll ask him about it when he’s better.”

“Sooner rather than later.”

Din nodded.

“There’s one other thing we should discuss. About Grogu.”

Danny watched the planet through the glass as it became a distant orb lost in a sea of stars before the ship went into hyperdrive. He settled back into his seat, looking over at Din.

“Are you OK?”

Din glanced over, “I should be asking you that.”

“Totally fine, way not as bad as other things, would rate umm…7/10 on the Life-Changing Trip scale.”

“Why did it lose points?”

“Too humid. At least the other hot places were dry heat. That planet was as bad as Florida–it even had a Florida-man cave!”

“...Florida-man?”

Danny nodded seriously, “If you can imagine it, Florida-man’s done it. Back to you, though. You’re really OK?”

Din looked back out at the lights speeding past them–billions of planets and stars left in the ship’s wake.

“I will be,” Din said finally.

“But you’re not right now.”

He watched the hesitation in Din’s face along with a myriad of other rapid emotions that crossed it.

“Grogu will be safe with Luke,” Danny guessed, turning to the stars as well, “He doesn’t always know what he’s doing, but he’s doing his best. Grogu likes him, too.”

“How can you tell?”

“He seemed happy. I mean, he was upset when you left–I mean, I understand he needs to stay with Luke, and I’m not trying to make you feel bad for leaving him, and he’ll totally be fine he’s just a little sad now and–”

“Kid, breathe. I understand.”

Danny complied, taking a few breaths to steady himself.

“I’m sad too,” Din admitted, “But I know that he’s safest with Luke, and you’re right–he did seem to like him.”

“You could have stayed with them.”

Din’s eyes fell, and he shook his head. “No, I couldn’t.”

Danny mirrored the gesture. “Because of me?”

“Because my being there was distracting for Grogu. His training is delicate. It deals with emotions and bonds, according to Luke. So, distractions could set him back and cause him to get hurt. Before you try to apologize for ‘making me go,’ I want you to know that I’m glad we did.

“I got to see him again and make sure he was well. He got to know that I was OK too. I was able to learn more about Luke, and I think we were able to come up with more ways to help you. I don’t know how long I would have waited to see him, or if I would have been allowed to, if you didn’t need to see Luke.”

Danny felt himself unwind, just a little. He looked over to see Din smiling at him.

“So me being a complete disaster was helpful for once,” Danny chuckled.

“You’re not a disaster, little hope .”

“Hey, no copying. That was my nickname for Grogu!”

“We can share it.”

Din tapped in a new set of coordinates. Danny peered curiously at the numbers, trying to place them on his internal starmap. He was good, but he wasn’t that good yet, and their next location was, unfortunately, a mystery to him.

“Somewhere new?”

“Maybe.”

Danny leaned a little closer. “Sooo…where’re we going?”

Din just smiled and continued tapping unnecessary buttons on the console. Danny groaned and flopped back in his seat.

“You’re lucky the holobook is down in the hold, or I would so be spoiling the surprise.”

Din continued to smirk, and Danny felt a small inkling of suspicion.

“It is in the hold, isn’t it? Din!”

“You can have it back after you sleep. I saw you reading all night.”

“I can’t believe I’m grounded for learning . Can you at least give me a hint?”

“You’ve read about it,” Din conceded, “And it’ll be different from anywhere else we’ve been.”