"Time together as a family is a gift"

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Chapter Thirty-Four

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Translations

Mando'a

Buir - Parent

Vode - Preferred name for clones

Vode Ketin - Council of Vode

Ni kyr'tayl gai sa'ad - Mandalorian adoption vow - lit. "I Know your name as my child"

~*~

Your family was visiting Mandalore for the first time as a group. You'd been Mand'alor for nearly six months and hadn't been able to find a time that worked for all of you. The war was still dragging on, and with it, all of you had been kept separated for terribly long periods of time. At this point it was hard to ignore the feeling that it felt purposeful - all of you being on different ends of the galaxy at any given time. With what you had slowly been learning about the war, the clones, and the Sith, you were almost certain such things were on purpose.

But now, Anakin and Obi-Wan were fresh off a mission that led them to team up with the infamous Bad Batch. You'd met them a couple of times before, and found them to be an odd but enjoyable bunch. Cody was incredibly close with them and Drifter was by extension, so you knew them well. Apparently, on this last mission, they had located Echo, Fives' batchmate who had supposedly died on an old mission. Because of the discovery, the 501st was given a short period of leave time for their injured member to reacclimate and decide what he wanted to do with his newfound freedom. You'd welcomed him to Mandalore a day ago, along with the Bad Batch, Cody, and Rex, so he could reunite with Fives. His new modifications were slightly offputting, but you were happier to see him alive than anything.

The 501st's leave time just so happened to line up with the 212th's leave as well, allowing Obi-Wan, Anakin, and Ahsoka to come to Mandalore for a week before returning to the war. Even more coincidentally, Senator Padme Amidala - one of your favorite women in the universe - was staying planetside on Senate business. The Senate was worried about your plans for the future of Mandalore and sent her in hopes of either pulling you into the Republic or at least having you remain neutral.

Their timing in this situation couldn't have been better, as you were about to introduce a new member into the family.

At this point, it was a bit difficult to keep track of all your relations. From mysterious old grandmasters to clones you had adopted to keep safe, your family tree was most certainly one of the most interesting out there. Every time you added a new person your sister called from Othan to yell at you for putting so much stress on the Royal Recordkeeper. You could admit you had a bit of a problem. Obi-Wan often grumbled about how you had Qui-Gon's habit of "picking up strays" but it just couldn't be helped at this point. You did as the Force guided and clearly, it wanted you to have a large family made up of all sorts of people, and who were you to argue with such a thing?

This new member was a bit more normal than fully grown clones, however. A month ago, the Separatists had attacked a town full of civilians and although you sent in your commandos to protect them, it was too late for a young boy's parents. The boy, Din Djarin, had been slow to open up to you and even slower to accept your offer of adoption, but you moved entirely at his pace to make sure that he was comfortable and emphasized that you weren't attempting to replace his birth parents.

Although you weren't entirely sure why the Force was rather insistent that you were the one to take the boy in. Whenever you began to think that taking in a child in the middle of a war that you were such a large part of wasn't a good idea, the Force simply whispered Mand'alor the Reluctant and nudged you toward him again.

Most Mand'alors received some sort of title during their time ruling unless it was tragically short or undeserved. You had learned from Korkie that yours had become Mand'alor the Deliverer, a rather fitting title to add to your already long list. Mand'alor the Reluctant, however, was an incredibly interesting choice and made you wonder what Din's future would be.

You made sure not to focus too much on his potential future and instead focused on being a good parent to him. Especially now, as he waited anxiously by your side for the ship carrying his new family to land.

"I promise that even though they might be a bit excitable, they're all really nice," you knelt down next to Din and gently tugged on his hood. He had insisted on having some sort of item to hide his face since he had been found. The mind healers blamed it on the trauma of his situation and assured you that allowing him to continue doing so wouldn't hurt him. So you allowed him to wear hoods as often as he could, and when the time came he'd be presented with a helmet he could then use as well.

"Are you sure they're going to like me?" Din whispered, deep brown eyes searching yours for the truth.

"I promise. They're going to absolutely love you."

"We already like you quite a bit, Din," Korkie added from his place next to Padme. The two had gotten along extremely well, and you got the feeling that Korkie had a future in politics because of it.

"It's impossible not to love everything about you," Padme concluded, in a tone that left no room for argument.

"Master," Barriss said quietly from your side, sending Din a reassuring smile when he looked her way, pointing up at the sky, "They're here."

The five of you stood in a line, watching as the ship landed on its directed dock. As the ramp slowly lowered, Din reached up and took a tight hold of your wrist. Knowing what he really wanted, you loosened up your hand and allowed him to loop his fingers through yours. It was impossible to hold back your smile as Ahsoka, Obi-Wan, and Anakin departed.

"Padme!" Anakin made a beeline for his partner, wrapping her up in a tight hug. On Mandalore, there was no such need for the secrecy that you all kept everywhere else in the galaxy. Your people would never reveal anything to the Council or any other person off-planet.

"Hello, my dear," Obi-Wan was less obvious in his affections, but even just seeing his smile filled your heart with warmth. He pressed a kiss to your temple in greeting before turning to Korkie, "Hello, Korkie."

"Hello, Father," the two of them were still a bit stiff around each other, as the war had prevented them from properly bonding, but you had high hopes for the future.

"Barriss," Ahsoka greeted your student stiffly, one of her hands hovering over a lightsaber blade.

"Ahsoka," Barriss' tone was carefully neutral but still warm. It wasn't Barriss' place to seek out friendship with Ahsoka anymore, but that didn't mean she would greet her with any sort of hostility or hesitance. Perhaps one day they would be able to be friends again, but such an event was a long way away.

"Oh, Ahsoka, I've missed you so much," you pulled your daughter into a tight hug, running a hand over her montrals, "You've grown since I've last seen you."

Ahsoka flushed under your affection, scuffing her boot against the ground, "Just a bit. Being offered Knighthood can do that to you."

"Don't I know it? After I became a Knight I grew a beard," Obi-Wan exclaimed from where he was speaking with Korkie, drawing laughs from the group.

"Is this our soon-to-be relation?" Anakin came over with Padme, his arm wrapped tightly around our waist. Din shrank under the sudden attention, burrowing further into your side. Placing a hand on his head, you tried to reassure him that everything was alright.

"This is Din. Din, this is your soon-to-be family. We have Anakin and Padme over there. Anakin is a bit like my little brother, so he'll be your uncle."

"The best uncle you can imagine!"

"And we have Ahsoka there, she'll be your big sister, a great one too. You've spent plenty of time with Barriss and Korkie already, and this is Obi-Wan. Your other buir."

"Hello, Obi-Wan," Din whispered, stepping out for just a second to get a good look at his new father.

"Hello, little one. It's a pleasure to meet you," Obi-Wan lowered himself to one knee so Din wouldn't have to look up at him, "Are you ready for today?"

"Maybe."

"A little nervous, perhaps?"

"Yeah."

Din was a child of few words, but through your time with him, you learned that he had endless love for the world around him. He was a bright light in the force despite being completely Force null. You adored him, truly, and would be forever grateful that the Force had sent him your way.

"Well, I would be nervous too. This family is a little bit crazy, but despite that, we all love each other dearly, and I think you'll fit right in."

Obi-Wan had come a long way from the freshly knighted young man that was terrified to admit he cared for you. It filled you with a strange sense of pride to see how much he had grown. Now, he could openly admit and express his love for those he considered family without the fear of falling into the Dark Side. He guided Anakin to be a strong warrior and a good person and was ready to do the same with the rest of your children as well. Even Tup and Fives he accepted with open arms - the two of whom were currently overseeing the chip removal operations and would sadly be missing tonight.

Your strange little family left the landing bay and took two separate cruisers back to the Mandalorian palace. While Bo-Katan was there to awkwardly greet everyone as one of your advisors, Jango and Boba were notably absent from the welcome party. Considering his complicated past with Obi-Wan, he decided that taking Boba on a tour of the planet where he grew up would be a great idea. You were eager to have this day go well, so you were more than happy to let him go for the day.

"Nice place, (Y/n)," Anakin whistled at the sight of the throne room, motioning to the throne at the very front, "You sit up there often?"

"Only when I need people to listen to me," you chuckled.

Traditionally, Mand'alors had some type of throne to sit on while meeting with their advisors or speaking to the people. Satine had inadvertently carried on that tradition in her new palace. At the moment you were quite alright with the style the throne was in, and were determined to keep it in order to honor Satine. However, Jango and Bo-Katan had both been pushing for some modifications in order to keep some hidden weapons compartments in there. You were inclined to agree with them and had plans to put those in once things had settled down a bit more.

You had plans for a family dinner that night, but before that, you had managed to convince Din to go out with the others for the day in order to get to know them better. You offered to go with them since he was most comfortable with you, but he assured you that he would be alright and that he wanted to learn more about his new buir and siblings. So, after a brief tour of the palace where Ahsoka and Anakin just gawked the entire time, you handed a carefully crafted itinerary to Obi-Wan. It was full of things that Din enjoyed doing, but also assured you that he wouldn't be overwhelmed by the end of the day.

Waving goodbye to Obi-Wan, Anakin, and Ahsoka as they drove away on a cruiser, you turned back to the family that remained. Korkie and Barriss had their normal studies to attend that day, and the Vode quickly took their leave to meet up with their on-planet brothers, likely for a Vode Kedin meeting. That left you and Padme. The two of you had been catching up over the course of her time on-planet under the guise of "diplomatic meetings", but something felt off with her. Aside from the fact that she'd been fidgety and less on-point than normal, her Force signature was coming off stronger. Such a thing rarely ever happened with Force nulls. You hoped that the time alone would give her the comfort to actually talk to you.

"I'm more than happy to return to the Senate and tell them that you're going to remain a neutral planet for the duration of the war, despite personally fighting for the Republic," Padme said conversationally as the two of you settled down in a sitting room near the center of the palace that outlook Sundari.

"Many of them aren't smart enough to understand the implications of that," you said dryly.

To be fair to the idiotic Senate members, the situation was a bit politically confusing. You'd withdraw from the war entirely if you could, but because you still maintained control over the 377th and the Vode were currently owned by the order, your men were still under their jurisdiction but your leadership. It was confusing, to be certain, but after the bitterness of being banished from the order faded you were able to work out a system that worked for all of you. Now, however, you were also the leader of a planet. And while you maintained that the planet was independent, your personal actions didn't reflect that which was undoubtedly causing some political strife. You'd been on several personal calls with Chancellor Palpatine, and even though you left every meeting feeling ill and angry, he at least seemed to understand your situation. Despite the Chancellor's personal approval, the Senate had yet to give their opinion, hence Padme being here.

"Well, with any luck this war will be over soon and we won't have to worry about it anymore," Padme sighed, and it was easy then to see just how big of an impact being in politics during such a time had on her. She would always be beautiful, and compared to you she was still young, but you could see the stress lining her delicate features.

This war was destroying you all, and with the Force swirling around you the way that it had been, you knew that something was coming. The reason for this war, the fate of the Force and the universe, it was all coming to a head. You were desperately trying to get ahead of it. You had been since you were freshly knighted. It's why you were so careful with Anakin, why you emphasized strong relationships between the Vode and the Jedi, and now why you had left the Order and were removing the chips from the clones. Even then, you still feared that something would go wrong, and all your work would be for nothing.

"There are... other reasons as to why I want the war to be over," Padme began slowly, her hand rubbing her stomach. Your eyes were drawn to it. She had been wearing loose dresses and tunics during her time here, and you had thought nothing of it until now.

"Don't tell me you're-"

"Pregnant," Padme nodded, smiling nervously, "Anakin and I have spoken about it briefly before, but children always came after marriage, and marriage came after the war. Now, however... we were being so careful too. I just don't understand how this could have happened."

"The Force works in mysterious ways," you mumbled, struggling to stay in the moment rather than drift away into your thoughts, "Does Anakin know?"

"He does. I told him as soon as I found out. He's excited but nervous. He's been having dreams. Dark dreams. About me dying in childbirth. He said the last time he felt something like this was with his mother."

"That's troubling," you sighed. Another thing to add to your list of mysteries. Everything was connected, you were absolutely certain of it, but there was one tiny detail you were missing.

Nodding in agreement, Padme added, "I don't mean to take any attention away from Din by telling you this. Today is still his day. But I'm at this point where it's appropriate to begin telling people, and you always have so much insight about these things..."

Snorting, you said, "After adopting basically an army of kids you learn a thing or two. I'll talk to Anakin about his dreams after dinner tonight and see what I can do, alright?"

"Thank you, (Y/n), truly."

A couple of hours later Korkie and Barris were finished with their classes, and Obi-Wan, Anakin, Ahsoka, and Din returned from their day out. All of them had bright smiles on their faces, and you were relieved to see that things had gone well. It was the final test in your mind, to make sure that Din would be happy with all of you. A test that had been passed with flying colors, of course.

So, all of you sat down for dinner that night together for the first time in nearly a year, simply enjoying each other's company. The food was a combined effort of all of you in the kitchen - all of you capable in the kitchen, that is, Obi-Wan was still banned - providing several different dishes for everyone to enjoy.

When your plates were empty and ready to be washed, all of you gathered together in the throne room. Despite it being a bit of a clinical place, it was the easiest spot to call and project your family on Othan on hologram. They, sadly, hadn't been present at any of your other adoptions but were determined to be present for this one.

"Are you ready, Din?" You asked gently, placing a hand on his shoulder.

"Ready."

"Ni kyr'tayl gai sa'ad, Din Djarin," you and Obi-Wan recited in unison, welcoming Din as your newest child.

Everyone gathered around to give their congratulations, and your over-hologram family clapped and cheered, drawing promises out of you to visit with Din soon so they could meet him in person. It would also double as your first meeting with your new niece, as Zena had given birth a month ago.

"Anakin," you placed a hand on his arm, motioning to the other side of the room where you could speak privately. The two of you wouldn't be missed for a short while anyway, as Ahsoka was drawing most of the attention as she insisted on teaching Din how to use a lightsaber despite not being a Jedi, "Padme told me you've been having some disturbing dreams lately."

Anakin's face scrunched, his mood instantly dropping at the reminder, "Yeah, I've had a couple so far, maybe once a week."

"Tell me about them." Anakin remained stubbornly silent, "Anakin, I want to help you, but I can't do that if you don't tell me what's going on."

"Fine. Most of them are the same. Padme is giving birth and she's crying. Obi-Wan is there encouraging her. I can... I can feel her dying. Something

it's going wrong. I never see the end, or myself. They're just like the dreams I had about my mom before the war."

"Those dreams were false," you reminded him.

"I know. I keep telling myself that these dreams are wrong too, but I'm scared, (Y/n). I can't lose Padme, and I can't lose our child either. I don't know what to do."

Humming in understanding, you perked up when hit with an idea, "The doctors on Mandalore are incredibly skilled, and if you bring Kix it'd be even better. If Padme is here, surrounded by trusted medical staff, guarded by a planet full of warriors, then she'd be completely safe, right? So have her come here to give birth, and then I can do everything in my power to protect her too if for some reason you aren't there."

Anakin nodded, seemingly convinced. You knew the anxiety wouldn't leave until after Padme gave birth and was completely fine, but at least now there could be a plan in place to keep his thoughts from driving him crazy until then.

"Okay, that sounds great. Thank you, (Y/n)."

"Of course, Anakin. Anything for you. Now, come on. You have a brother to get to know and I need to celebrate my new son."

This war was coming to an end, soon. You weren't sure how you knew, but the feeling had ingrained itself in your bones. This mysterious Lord Sidious would reveal themselves and you would finally know who had plotted the end of the Jedi Order, and who had created the clones. Deep down, you weren't sure if you wanted to know the answer. Because if your current suspicions were proven right... the rot came straight from the heart of the Republic, and you'd be forced to cut it out.

Time was a valuable resource, and something you didn't have much of. There was too much to do before this all came to a head. Finishing the operations, confronting Lord Sidious before he surprised you all and acted, making sure that Anakin could achieve his destiny as the chosen one, and not falling to the Dark Side...

Despite your neverending responsibilities, you returned back to your family with a smile. When you were surrounded by their light and love, it was easy to forget that the weight of the universe was on your shoulders. Time was a precious resource, and you were more than happy to spend some of it on them.