The political nightmare in the aftermath of Palpatine's death would have been far messier if not for Gunray giving a full confession, albeit claiming that 'Sidious' forced him to blockade Naboo, Dooku testifying about Palpatine being a Sith, and the evidence regarding Palpatine's illicit dealings which the Jetii unearthed when they searched his files with Queen Amidala's express permission. From there, the word began to spread, rumors abounding and multiplying over how Din had killed both Sith and how he's the wielder of the Darksaber.
He had wanted to live a quiet life on Naboo, but any such hopes were shattered mere months after Palpatine's death when the first Mando'ade arrived on the planet. Duchess Satine Kryze of Mandalore had exiled all the warriors to the moon of Concordia, but many of them were able to leave, travelling elsewhere in the galaxy and finding places where they could live in secret. Din being the wielder of the Darksaber automatically made him a figurehead for the war-torn, now-homeless Mando'ade, so they came to Naboo.
A covert springs up there, as more and more Mando'ade stragglers come to join their brethren. They call Din the Mand'alor. They call him the Sith Slayer. He isn't comfortable with either title, but he doesn't mind having them on Naboo either. If they stay together, they're stronger. Din isn't opposed to that, especially in a time where Mandalorians are being hunted. It's not as bad now as it was – would have been – under the Empire, but it's still… not good.
Whether he likes it or not, he's their leader. And he doesn't like it. At all. He goes to the Gorane for help because they are the spiritual leaders of their people, and he doesn't know how to lead. He's only beginning to figure out how to be a father, and he doesn't – he's not able or ready to lead a people. He helps them, of course, as much as he's able, but he doesn't consider himself the Mand'alor. Maybe he will one day, but not yet.
Or maybe, he can pass the Darksaber off to Anakin when the boy is old enough.
Anakin's thriving under Dooku's careful guiding hand, and even though the Jetii aren't happy about it in the least, they're not actually stopping him from learning the "Dark Side" from the Count, whatever that means. It sounds dangerous, but Dooku assured him repeatedly that it's not. Anakin is happier though, so Din – and Shmi – decided to let it go.
The Jetii did, however, maintain that Anakin needed to be exposed to what a "proper Jetii" should be like, which means he's being given some lessons periodically from both Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan, primarily the latter, on Naboo in addition to going to the Jetii Temple on Coruscant. For all intents and purposes, Din and his aliit have two homes. From what Qui-Gon has told him, the Jetii have started a new initiative to allow younglings to remain in contact with their families to see how they turn out as adults. Anakin and Grogu – both of them – are a part of it.
And really. It's not Din's fault that when he brought his foundlings to the Jetii Temple for their first lessons there, a second tiny Grogu decided to latch onto his boot and refuse to let go, no matter what anyone did. … Din adopted him, too. Of course, he did. The kid needed and wanted to be with him, and he'll start a war if the Jetii try to take him away. He doubts that will happen though, what with Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan being friends of his, and especially of Anakin's and Grogus'. Qui-Gon is helping Grogu – the older – to work through his trauma from the Jetii Purge and re-remember what he used to know.
It's nice… until Grogu the older gets into mischief that he could not have reasonably gotten into without using his magic. Maybe it's a little bit annoying at times, but worse things could happen, and as long as he's happy, Din's happy too.
The Jetii are changing, and Din can't see those changes being anything but good. No longer are they so… rigid on attachments. "Loyalty and solidarity are the Way," he had said to one of the Gorane. Maybe the Jetii are beginning to learn that having a tightly knit, close, attached community is better than being completely independent. Dooku certainly approves of the changes.
Din and the Count have spoken at-length about the future that Din lived, about the way the Republic and Jetii were becoming complacent and corrupt. The Jetii are changing. They are growing. They are adapting. But the same cannot be said for the Republic. It's not changing. If anything, it seems to be slowly deteriorating even further. Dooku admitted, privately, to conspiring with Sidious to start a war to force a change, though he's since abandoned the idea. Still, he's determined to do something, even if it's no more than a smaller, political movement.
Dooku has even spent time with Queen Amidala, and the two have a strange… friendship with one another. Padme respects Dooku, but she's still quite the idealist. She wants to believe that the Republic can change, even if she can't anymore, given the future that Din lived and Palpatine's manipulations.
There have been… rumors that Padme and Dooku are planning a Mid Rim Alliance which will include parts of the Outer Rim as well, in a bid to re-stabilize the galaxy and offer it something other than the massive, slow-moving, corrupt Republic. Din approves. He and all the Mando'ade will support her, no matter what she chooses to do. This is her home world, and she is a good, compassionate leader. All of Naboo will support her. Din suspects that the Jetii will as well.
Though he doesn't fully understand how their Council works, he knows that Qui-Gon joining its ranks after Obi-Wan's Knighting is significant. The "maverick Jetii" as he's called by many, is pushing for the Jetii Order to leave Coruscant entirely and raise the younglings on less privileged worlds. Din approves. Dooku approves. The Council does not, which is their loss, in Din's opinion. If they can't understand the benefits of living among the people they claim to serve, then it is to their detriment. Perhaps that explains why, in the future Din and Grogu lived, the Jetii fell.
There's a lot to sort out and fix all over the galaxy, but at least the future is shaping up to be better than the one which Din and Grogu witnessed.
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It takes Din an embarrassingly long time to track down Jango Fett – nearly a year. But in his defence, that's because the other bounty hunter was on Kamino. Kamino is not the first planet which Din would have gone to. He probably wouldn't have gone to it at all if not for Dooku pointing him in the right direction. There he finds Jango. He actually finds a lot more than he bargained for.
Din knew what the Clone Wars meant; he knew that it was fought by clones. He never realized that the clones were Jango's clones. It explains a lot about Bo-Katan Kryze's attitude towards Boba. How Jango could have sold out his own blood, his own aliit, as soldiers Din does not know. It's not the Mandalorian way, but Din isn't going to judge him, not when he doesn't know the other man's story, much less what made him do what he did.
Jango is surprised to see him, and after Din explains why he's there – he wanted to find him, because he knew of him, and believe it or not, he's from the future – they talk. It's… interesting. Dooku had, apparently, been the one who ordered the clone armies from the Kaminoans, but after he changed his mind, he cancelled the contract and encouraged Jango to take in his clones and raise them as his own. It's not really a task for one man. Initially, Jango had only requested payment in the form of one, unadulterated clone: Boba.
It's weird, beyond weird, to hold tiny, baby Boba in his arms, and after discussing the situation, namely what the best course of action is for the thousands of clones on Kamino, Din offers to move them to Naboo. Padme won't mind; she's actually been encouraging him to find more Mandalorians and bring them together in one place. If they can't be on their home world, they should at least be able to have another safe place to live.
Much to Din's chagrin, Jango only agrees to the proposal of raising his very large Fett clan on Naboo, once he realizes that Din is the rightful Mand'alor. But at least that means that Boba will be raised in the Mandalorian way. Because really, for all that Boba was an accomplished warrior, he clearly did not have that good of an understanding of Mandalorian culture. It wasn't… obvious, but Din could still tell, even if he never said anything to his fellow Mandalorian.
Having Jango and the rest of the Fett clan on Naboo will be beneficial to everyone. Jango, because he won't be alone in raising all of his boys – and girl: Omega is the only female clone – and the Mandalorians, because they can participate in training what must be the largest clan to ever have existed in history.
Of course, there's the bonus of giving Anakin and both Grogus many other children which they can be around, even if the clones are all babies right now.
They end up having a few other issues which they need to deal with, and Din is glad that they came to light when they did. A perusal of the Kaminoan's database revealed that the clones had been implanted with inhibitor chips in the early months of development; they were also genetically modified to age faster. Both are issues which Din helps Jango go about repairing. The other bounty hunter is regretful of his decision to allow himself to be cloned to produce an army, especially after he learned what the clones were for.
Din can forgive him for that, but he needs to forgive himself.
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As for the future… no one knows what it will hold.
If Din and Shmi – who becomes Mando'ade in her own right – become more than friends, if they choose to marry, that's no one's business but their own and their children's. Well, Din isn't sure he's ready for more children yet, but… maybe someday?
If Anakin practically adopts Rex Fett and his twin brothers, Echo and Fives, as brothers, that can only be a good thing, right?
If Anakin becomes a Jetii Knight after the Order changes their rules even more, taking the youngling Ahsoka Tano as a Padawan – foundling, in Din's opinion – then what could that be other than the will of the Ka'ra?
If Anakin marries Padme – something Din saw coming years before – and she later gives birth to the twins Luke and Leia, should he really be surprised?
If Anakin leads an army against the Hutts and Zygerrians, waging a war to wipe out slavery like he had first talked about when meeting Din, and thereby earning the reverent title of Sky Walker, it would only be expected, yes?
If Anakin eventually becomes a part of the Jetii Council in addition to taking up the title Mand'alor and winning the Darksaber from Pre Vizsla, thereby uniting the Jetii and Mando'ade permanently, Din would be so proud of him.
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Their stories will never end. There will always be more conflicts, more struggles, but if they all work together, they can still achieve peace. In time, they will become legends, all of them. In time, it's even possible that Grogu the older and the younger will take one – or more – of the Skywalker-Djarin lineage as their own apprentice-foundlings.
Do the details really matter if they're all happy? Is it not enough to know that they get to live their happily ever after together?
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"Did you think this was possible?" Din queries softly, looking down at Grogu the older in his arms. "It's still strange sometimes, but…" He trails off, unsure how to put his thoughts into words.
Grogu tips his head, considering, before shaking it in the negative.
"It's nice though, huh?" Din says, smiling as he glances out over the balcony railing at the massive, sprawling field, picking out the members of his aliit.
The kid coos an enthusiastic agreement. "Yeh, Boo!"
He can't talk normally yet, but he's trying, and his attempts at saying 'buir' will never not make Din's heart melt instantly.
"You're still very special to me, Grog'ika," Din whispers, lowering his head and pressing his buy'ce to Grogu's forehead. "Ni kar'tayl gar darasuum, ad'ika."
Grogu doesn't need to say the words back for Din to know that the kid feels them with every fiber of his being.
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Mando'a Translations:
Jetii - Jedi
Mando'ade - Mandalorian (literally, sons/daughters of Mandalore)
Gorane - armorers
aliit - family, clan
Ka'ra - stars (ancient Mandalorian myth - ruling council of fallen kings)
buir - father, mother
buy'ce - helmet
Ni kar'tayl gar darasuum - "I love you."; literally: "I will know you forever."
ad'ika - little one
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THE END.