A songfic to the song Measure of a Man by Elton John. A warrior reflects upon his past to find out what he truly is.

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Mandalorian Measures

The encampment was lively with its various members going about their business, whether it was training to gain honor or general management. Here on Dxun, much management was needed especially after the last few months. That didn’t matter for the lone warrior, the leader of the clans, that was standing and facing out towards the open valley of jungle.

These battered hands are all you own
This broken heart has turned to stone
Go hang your glory on the wall
There comes a time when castles fall
And all that’s left is shifting in the sand

He was a warrior, a Mandalorian. For years he had fought the greatest of all battles, the battle for survival. Many other battles he had fought and still had yet to fight. Oh he once sought battle for glory but there comes a time when it doesn’t mean that anymore. You come to realize that there is something more than carnage. She had taught him that and yet he was standing here with nothing but the scars that he had won in countless battles. The time of the clans had come and gone and now he was alone and all that was left, as the old witch said, but a shell of a man.

You’re out of time, you’re out of place
Look at your face
That’s the measure of a man

He was a warrior. He was a Mandalorian. He helped save the galaxy from the Sith. Before it didn’t use to matter but then she came along. She showed him the way. In the end, he was able to step back and look at himself. He was merely a man but he was what his people strove to be, a Mandalorian.

This coat that fits you like a glove
These dirty streets you learned to love
So welcome back my long lost friend
You’ve been to hell and back again
And God alone knows how you crossed that span

After the Star Forge, he thought he would have to go his own way but something made him stick around. Maybe he thought that she would need him and he did say that he was her man until the end. Mandalorians didn’t keep promises lightly. In the end, he was rewarded. She presented him with the helm of Mandalore. She had said that he was made for the role. He said nothing but looked at the helm as if it were an old friend. Then she left him for the Unknown Regions. He had been through the blistering deserts of Tatooine, the halls of Korriban, the plains of Dantooine and now here he was at home on Dxun.

Back on the beat, back to the start
Trust in your heart
That’s the measure of a man

Here at this place, the heart of the Mandalorian wars, he was home. He began to build and unite the clans under one banner. Again the Mandalorians would rise again to bring honor and glory to their people. They would rise up and he would be their leader. He was a Mandalorian.

It’s the fire in the eyes, lines on the hand
The things you understand
Permanent ties from which you once ran
That’s the measure of a man

He built up the encampment. He gathered members of the clans wherever he found them. He knew that not only was he to reunite the scattered and broken clans but that deep within his battle toughened heart he was doing what she asked. She left him there with his orders and he would follow them but he would honor his clan. He would not run away nor be the lackey he once was for Davik. He was a Mandalorian.

You’ve come full circle, now you’re home
Without the gold, without the chrome
And this is where you’ve always been
You’ve had to lose so you could win
And rise above your troubles while you can

As a mercenary for hire, it was grunt work. There was no glory in it. In the beginning it was something to do. Now that he had attached himself to her and her crew, he saw things that changed him. Jagi was a matter of honor but when she stepped in and made them see the light, he saw that not everything had to end in death. In the end, he lost one of his own people to see that there was more to life than blood, death and glory. In the end, he rose up to fight side by side with her as she battled through the Star Forge as a Mandalorian.

Now you can love, now you can lose
Now you can choose
That’s the measure of a man

He was a hero of the Republic. He helped defeat the Sith. He had brought honor and glory to his people. He found that he could choose to live in battle instead of asking for death and still bring honor to himself. He could be true to himself. He was a Mandalorian.

It’s the fire in the eyes, lines on the hand
The things you understand
The permanent ties from which you once ran
That’s the measure of a man

Now that he was what he was in heart and spirit, he stuck by the one who showed him the way. He became, as they jokingly called, “civilized.” It didn’t prepare him for the fact that he would have to do it all over again when the Jedi came to his encampment. The loyalty that he had for the one who showed him the way back to honor, he now showed to the Jedi. He followed the Exile living to the oath that he gave the one who left. He was to be ready to protect the Republic since the Sith didn’t like to share power. The Republic was better at doing that.

You’ve come full circle, now you’re home
Without the gold, without the chrome
And this is where you’ve always been
You’ve had to lose so you could win
And rise above your troubles while you can

He fought again to save the Republic. He had remembered the ship from Malachor V and fought to end what had begun during the Mandalorian wars. He helped save Republic’s butt again but that was small compared to the small relief that would come while the Republic recovered. He helped the Jedi whelp with her mission and now she was on her own to finish the old witch and do whatever she needed to do. He would go back to Dxun and continue to follow what Revan had asked him to do. Saving the galaxy was not brass bands and glory but it was in a way fulfilling. It was different but it was like the days of old. The days of the Mandalorian.

Now you can love, now you can lose
Now you can choose
That’s the measure of a man

He stood there looking at the valley of jungle, thinking about all that had happened. He had come far from the mercenary he had been on Taris. Now he was Mandalore, leader of all the clans. He was close to uniting them as they had been in their former days of glory. He thought about those he had met and left behind, absorbed in his thoughts until a gentle hand touched the shoulder of his armor. He turned to face one that he fought side by side with against the greatest beast of the Dune seas. Her blue eyes shown softly and her auburn hair flapped gently in the wind as she asked softly in that voice that once called him a kath hound, “What are thinking of?”

He looked at the valley for a moment before saying, “What it should mean to be a Mandalorian, Princess. What it means to be a Mandalorian.”

The End