Chapter Text
1.
“Hi Mando!”
“Hey Mando, Grogu-”
“Mando, could you-”
“Take care, Mando,”
It felt wrong.
He didn’t know when it had started feeling wrong hearing Luke call him like how others called him. He had never told Luke his name and Luke, being the respectful man he was, had never asked.
Maybe it was because of how much Luke had done for him, or how much time they spent together, along with Grogu and the other younglings under Luke’s care. Din took time away in between the jobs he picked up to go to Ossus to see Grogu and check on how he was doing in school and to teach him some Mando’a now and then, which would guarantee him meeting with the Jetii now and then. He just couldn’t pinpoint when the familiar term others called him by started sounding wrong when it was on Luke’s lips.
It felt…too distant. Which scared Din a little honestly.
He never had any reason to tell his real name to the people he saw often. ‘Mando’ always felt enough for him and they never seemed to be bothered about it.
So why was it affecting him now?
Grogu made a little noise from where he was resting in Din’s arms and looked up at Din with questioning eyes. He reached out one small hand towards Din’s helmet, as if trying to ask him what he was thinking about.
Din chuckled and lowered his gaze to look into Grogu’s large inquisitive eyes, the child having started to make a pfftp sound with his mouth.
“I’m fine, ad’ika ,” Din reassured him. “Just thinking about things.”
Grogu blinked and flattened his large ears to his head and made a sound that reminded Din of someone blowing a raspberry, as if he was saying ‘Don’t you always.’
Din couldn’t help but chuckle again.
They were currently sitting in the grass facing the large lake near the school, as they usually did before Din had to leave. No matter how many times Din left, Grogu never failed to be disheartened every time so Luke figured it would do them both (yes, including you, Mando) to spend some special time together before Din left.
Grogu reached up again and slapped the side of Din’s helmet to get him to look at him again, before he pressed one hand to Din’s chest armour, above his heart, and looked up at Din expectantly. He wanted to know what Din was thinking about.
Din sighed affectionately and stroked his small head with a thumb, silently hoping the little guy’s stubbornness didn’t give Luke too much trouble.
“I was just thinking about your ba’jurur ,” Din admitted.
This gets a hmmr? out of Grogu.
“Do you think I should tell him my name?”
At this, Grogu visibly lit up, his ears raising and his eyes widening with excitement as a stream of happy intelligible babble came out of his mouth. Grogu’s excitement is always contagious and Din, as usual, can’t help but smile as he readjusted his hold on the little one.
“You’d think he’d like that?” Din asked.
Grogu beamed up at him and stuck his little hands up in the air to show his agreement.
This time, Din laughed out loud at his son’s response.
Later, when it was time for Din to leave, Luke came over to say his goodbyes, as well as to take over Grogu from Din as he prepared to leave.
“He misses you already,” Luke smiled as he bounced Grogu lightly in his arms.
Din sighed and reached over to stroke one of Grogu’s long ears. “I miss him, too.”
“Your visits can’t be longer?” Luke asks. It comes out as a question even though they both already know the answer, Luke having asked about this before.
Din shook his head. “There are still things that I have to deal with.”
Luke nods understandingly, and looks down at Grogu who hasn’t taken his eyes off his father. “Well, if you ever need someone to help, we’ll be here,” Luke smiled reassuringly at Din.
Something stirs in Din at that and all he can say is a small ‘thank you’ to Luke.
Grogu stretches out his hands towards Din and makes a small whining sound. Luke smiles softly and walks closer to Din to pass him over. “Seems like he wants one last hug.”
Din gently takes Grogu from Luke's outstretched arms and can’t help feeling the little warmth that emits from Luke’s hands as his gloved one briefly brushes them accidentally. He holds Grogu close to him who snuggles in more, and tries not to think about how he’ll be thinking about him all the time they’re apart.
“Time to go, ad’ika,” Din murmurs softly to him, and Grogu fixes his big eyes on Din’s own through the visor and taps the side of Din’s helmet one last time as his way of saying goodbye, before he obediently goes into Luke’s arms once Din hands him back.
“Take care, Mando,” Luke says. “We’ll see you soon.”
Grogu stares at Din expectantly, as if encouraging him.
Well, it was now or never.
“Din,” Din says, before he can overthink it and lose the nerve to tell Luke completely. “My name is Din Djarin.”
Maybe it was a trick of the light, but Luke’s eyes seemed to light up upon hearing what Din had said before his attention was diverted to a cheering Grogu. Apparently unable to contain himself any longer, Grogu had started wiggling around gleefully in Luke’s arms at this, while looking back and forth between his buir and ba’jurur. Luke grins as if he can feel the sheer joy and excitement coming off in waves from Grogu, and looks at Din.
“Thank you, Din.”
Hearing his name in Luke’s voice instead of the usual ‘Mando’ was less of a shock than Din had been expecting. It felt nice.
“Sorry if I wasn’t more surprised about it, this little guy was telling me about how his buir had something to tell me but he couldn’t tell me himself what it was because it was only for you to tell,” Luke chuckled with Grogu smiling so wide in his arms.
“You little womp rat,” Din smiled despite himself and poked Grogu’s tiny cheek. “Couldn’t keep all of it to yourself, could you?”
“Bah!” Grogu exclaimed. Din knew that he was so proud of himself in that moment.
“I’ll see you soon, ad’ika. ” Din promised. “You too, Luke.”
Grogu waved a small hand in farewell as Luke smiled brightly at Din, the evening light making his eyes shine even more than usual.
“Stay safe, Din.”
Oh. Oh. Din was going to have to get used to that now.
__________
2.
The Jetii was exhausted.
Despite the fact that he was always bubbly around his students and with Din, Din could begin to see the telltale signs of someone who was worn out.
Din knew he had no right asking Luke to get some rest, so when he had suggested going out for a fly to ‘view the surroundings from a better angle’ and had asked Luke to accompany him, it seemed like a good way to get Luke to take a break or at least get him away from working himself too hard.
Luke had been hesitant at first, but his assistant had urged him to go ahead, reassuring him that she could manage on her own for a while. She had sent a look at Din when Luke hadn’t been paying attention and Din wasn’t sure whether it was a ‘thank you’ or a ‘make sure he doesn’t do something stupid’ signal. Maybe both.
Din wasn’t entirely sure what ‘stupid’ Luke could get up to when they would only be out for a fly, but he figured that it would be rather difficult for him to get up to trouble when they were in the sky.
“Hey Din, do you wanna see a trick?”
Apparently, Din was wrong.
The Jetii then proceeded to almost crash into a solid rock face, while Din helplessly watched from the sidelines in his own ship.
Luckily, Luke managed to swerve out of the way with a barrel role at the last second upon hearing Din’s shout which only caused Luke to let out a burst of laughter.
Din couldn’t help but be surprised that Luke was secretly an adrenaline junkie. He had thought that as a teacher, Luke wouldn’t be the type of person who actively engaged in things on his own that could cause him to get his neck snapped.
And because Din couldn’t help himself, and he had had the goal to get Luke to relax a little while they were out here, he found himself asking, “Wanna race?”
He heard Luke’s laughter filter through the comm.
“Come on Din, do you know where this is? I used to come here and fly all the time!”
“Well then, let’s see if you still know your way around.”
“Oh hoho, is that a challenge?” Din could hear the grin in Luke’s voice.
“See you on the other side, Jetii .”
“Oh, it is on!”
In the end, Luke won narrowly. To Din, the sheer joy and glee he could hear in Luke’s laughter and the wide smile he was sporting that Din could see that seemed to make his eyes light up with the sincerity of it was worth it. He wanted to see Luke that happy again.
“You didn’t tell me you were such a good pilot! We could have done that ages ago!” Luke was still grinning from the exhilaration after their race as he hopped down from his X-Wing.
At one look, Din once again recognised how he looked so different than the Jetii that had single-handedly gracefully defeated all the Darktroopers without batting an eye. In his old flight suit and gear, he looked like the Luke that Din had come to know after many cycles of visiting. The man who seemed to have the sun smiling down on him all the time and who Din had entrusted Grogu’s life with.
Oh. He had been staring. He should probably say something because Luke was still smiling at him through the visor of his flight helmet.
“Well, you didn’t really seem like you had the time. With the whole…” Din made a vague gesture with his hand in a valiant attempt to refer to everything Luke had been so busy doing.
At this, Luke chuckled and ducked his head bashfully as the two of them made their way to the shade of one of the trees in the field. Luke reached up and removed his own helmet, using his other hand to ruffle the blonde mop on his head.
Din couldn’t help but stare as Luke messed up his already messy hair, and thought about how well the look suited him. The almost-golden shade complemented his eyes and shone all the more now, and with the fading sun filtering through the leaves of the trees and shining down on him, he looked at ease. Din suddenly felt really warm.
“Thanks for offering to fly with me,” Luke said as a light breeze blew past and ruffled the leaves. “I really didn’t know how much I needed that.”
“You’ve seemed stressed these past few days.” Din couldn’t help saying.
“Oh, you’ve noticed?” Luke looked up at Din through the fringe sheltering his eyes, still smiling, before something faltered slightly in his gaze, almost as if he had said something he hadn’t intended to.
Din felt his fingers twitch and suddenly had the ridiculous urge to reach out his hand and brush Luke’s fringe aside.
He settled for resting his treacherous hand on his hip and lifted his shoulders in a shrug as a response to Luke’s query.
“I haven’t really gotten the chance to get out and have a good fly with no purpose in mind,” Luke admitted, as he plopped himself down on the grass and laid back. “I forgot how much I love it.”
“Do you miss it?” Din couldn’t help but wonder.
Luke sighed and plucked at random tufts of grass. “I do.”
“I mean,” Luke started. “With more students coming in and all, and having to accommodate them, and the school getting bigger…It’s great and all, but, it can really pile up at times and I’m not sure what-”
“I could stay.” The words were out of Din’s mouth before he could really think it through. Hm. That seemed to happen more often than Din would have liked around Luke.
Luke immediately shot up, mouth falling open. “What?”
“I could stay…and help, if you’ll let me?” Din offered as he sat down cross-legged beside Luke in the grass.
“Din…I-I can’t ask that of you.” Luke was still staring at him like that time Grogu had told him that his buir had been eaten by a Krayt dragon and honestly, how were these situations any similar?
“You’re not asking, I’m offering.” Din replied. He wanted to be able to help Luke in any way he could, after everything he had done for him and Grogu. “You’re also teaching and taking care of Grogu and there’s not really any place I need to be at the moment.” Din moved slightly to let the folds of his cape fall over the hilt of the Darksaber.
Luke was still gaping a little, like he couldn’t believe these words were coming out of Din, but eventually he managed to say, “Thank you, Din. I didn’t mean to-”
“It’s nothing.” Din said quickly. He didn’t want Luke to think that he owed him a favour. The tufts of grass in the field looked awfully long to Din, they probably needed to be cut. “I was- I was going to ask you if I could stay a little longer this time round anyway.”
He didn’t see Luke staring at him, his eyes soft as a slow, gentle smile spread on his face.
You would never have to ask, Din. Luke thought, but did not say out loud.
___________
3.
Din had no idea why he was even here.
Yes it was a rather grand party that he had been invited to by none other than Leia Organa, where… something was being celebrated, Din couldn’t even remember. All he knew was that Luke had asked him if would be willing to attend this party that Leia was hosting and that it would mean a lot if he could come.
Din had been extremely hesitant at first because he was definitely not a party person, but Luke and Leia had invited him as a friend and it would have been rude to say no. Plus, he had been carrying Grogu at that time and his big ears had perked up at the words “party” and “food”. He had immediately turned around in Din’s arms and his eyes – which always managed to find Din’s even through the helmet – were the biggest Din had ever seen them and Luke had laughed so hard, so how could he have said no?
After that had been settled, Leia had brought Luke to somewhere else in the school to try on the outfit that she had brought that Luke would be wearing. Din hadn’t thought much about it at first and had gone back to watching Grogu eat his lunch and making sure he didn’t eat the spoon in his greed.
Not too long after, he had heard a commotion just outside the common room where he could hear Luke protesting against something before he was interrupted when Leia had abruptly physically hauled him into the room and turned to Din.
“Tell him he looks good.”
“No, Leia, I really don’t have to wear-“
“Shush, I asked him, not you.” Leia had said, not even bothering to face her brother.
Din had been, to put it, at a loss for words.
Luke was in a suit. The high-cut collar of the shirt tailored so that it was a comfortable fit around his neck, while the design of the lapels of the outer jacket made a V-outline to show off the intricate layering of the shirt. The outer jacket itself was a dark, midnight shade, a complement to the sky in Luke’s eyes.
Din had only seen Luke in his usual black robes up until that point so seeing him in that for the first time was really…something else.
And he had been staring for longer than necessary.
“You really don’t have to-“ Luke began.
“Good,” Din had managed to get out, tearing his eyes away from the other man. “You look good.”
He hadn’t seen the sudden flush of colour in Luke’s cheeks as he stuttered out a ‘Thank you’, or the smirk on Leia’s face as she announced that yes, it was decided then, Luke would be wearing that to the event.
Currently, Din was standing outside on the balcony where it was much less noisy and he could hear himself think and avoid the judgemental stares. Simply walking in had been a nightmare and he had felt immensely grateful for the helmet covering his face. He had seriously been considering turning around and walking right back out with Grogu still in his arms when Grogu made an interested noise and Din looked up to see a familiar blonde head moving nimbly through the crowd and making its way towards them. Just the sight of Luke’s bright face and his breathless, “You came!” was almost enough to calm Din’s nerves.
He had looked even better in the suit, at the actual event and Din had had to look away to make sure that Luke didn’t catch him staring accidentally.
How was it his fault really, when Luke seemed to automatically attract the attention of everyone around him and all eyes seemed to follow him wherever he went.
Luke’s gaze had then fallen on Grogu who was cooing and making grabby hands at him. Luke’s smile only grew as he let Grogu hold on to one of his fingers and said a soft “Hello to you too, Grogu.” Din had met up with Han and Leia after that, the latter thanking him for coming.
Grogu was off bonding with his schoolmates and other children, after Grogu had seen them playing and they had beckoned him to join them. Grogu had turned to his father for permission and after a quick hug and a “Play nice, kid”, Grogu was toddling off to join them in their game.
He felt the cool night breeze blowing and hesitantly unclipped the Darksaber from his belt. Holding the hilt in his gloved hand, he thought about how he had ended up with it. Finding Grogu, saving him, searching for a Jetii …and he had found one. One who was like a shining star in the night sky, the literal Saviour of the Galaxy, who mingled effortlessly with other people who had endless words of praise for him.
It had been fascinating watching Luke at the party, the way he manoeuvred his way through the crowd, and handled all their generous gratitude, and yet he still looked so elegant and graceful, hair falling into place every time he moved. And yet, Din couldn’t help notice how rigidly the man held himself. It was so unlike the Luke that laughed so heartily and freely after a good fly.
Din sighed and clipped the Darksaber back on his belt. He really didn’t know what to do with it, but he sure as hell knew he didn’t want it.
There was a sudden increase in the muffled noise from the party through the balcony doors as they opened and Luke poked his head out. “Din, mind if I join you?”
Din, caught off-guard, simply said, “Sure,” and waited for Luke to join him at the railing.
Luke shut the balcony doors, crossed over to his side in three strides and draped himself over the railing with a groan, much to Din’s amusement.
“Party drained you?” Din asked.
“Mmmfh,” the head of hair replied.
Din couldn’t help but laugh a little at that.
“I’m so borrreddd,” Luke whined, forcing himself to stand upright.
Din was confused. “Weren’t you talking to people in there?”
“I wouldn’t really call it ‘talking to’, more like ‘listening to’ them. They’re actually really dull and boring to listen to because of how much they like to talk about themselves and how much they’ve done.” Luke waved his hand in a flippant gesture as he talked, and sighed.
“Besides…they’re not like you,” Luke pouted.
What?
“What?” Din asked aloud, certain he misheard.
“I mean-” Luke cut himself off, his lips tightly pressed together. His face looked slightly red. Din hoped he hadn’t drunk himself sick talking to those people.
“I mean, it’s really nice, talking to you. You say things that you mean and you’re really direct, not like people I’ve talked to who can talk you in circles and bore you out of your mind. You rarely ever talk about yourself, even though I wished you did, plus the fact that I love y-” Luke tensed up and snapped his mouth shut so quick, Din could hear his teeth click together. His face looked ever so slightly redder than before.
“Luke?”
“Your voice!” Luke blurted out. “Also the fact that I love your voice and it’s really nice to hear, no wonder Grogu always insists on having you read something to him before he goes to sleep!”
Luke was talking so fast and turning redder by the second in the pale moonlight. Din was seriously considering getting Leia or someone to check on him to make sure that he hadn’t been drugged. He had only been half-listening to what Luke was saying, only concerned with making sure that he was feeling alright.
“Luke, are you okay?” Din asked and reached out a hand towards Luke’s on the railing but the other man jumped back as if he’d been scalded.
“Yes!” He almost shouted, his voice an octave higher than his usual and looking very much the opposite of okay. “Why wouldn’t I be? I’m fine!”
Din let him have a moment.
“I may be a little drunk.” Luke whisper-muttered to his boots more than to Din.
Din couldn’t help but smile a little under the helmet. “Do you want me to help you find Leia?”
Luke was silent for a moment longer before he bobbed his head.
“Let’s go then.”
__________
4.
Din was screwed. Completely and utterly fucked.
He probably should have realised this much earlier but hey, at least he did.
The thing he should have realised earlier was just how much Luke actually cared about Grogu and how he went further than being just a teacher to Grogu. The realisation came in the form of the container of blue cookies that Din was currently holding.
Luke had asked about them in passing before and Din had just guessed that Grogu had told him about them and how he had somehow managed to eat the whole packet when Din hadn’t been looking. The cookies were actually really difficult to find (Din had been looking without Grogu knowing to see if he could surprise him with them), and he had been starting to think they weren’t actually being sold.
And then Luke had just walked up to him one day, proudly holding a container with said blue cookies, his bright hair sticking up every which way which made Din kind of want to reach out and touch it. Din could still remember the brilliant smile on Luke’s face and that particular shine he got in his eyes that reminded Din of– Hm. He should probably stop.
Before he said something absolutely stupid that he would regret for the rest of his life, Din managed to get out, “Where did you find those?”
Luke’s smile grew brighter somehow as he said, “I made them.”
Oh.
Luke had made Grogu’s favourite cookies for him. By hand. Himself. For his student. Din’s son. All because he had found out that they were Grogu’s favourite and that they were impossible to find.
Stars, Din was fucked.
He was strangely reminded of the time he had seen Luke shin-deep in the water with his students as they tried to catch frogs after a day of lessons, both him and the children laughing together wholeheartedly as the frogs jumped up and narrowly escaped their hands. Eventually, it had turned into a water fight and the squeals of laughter had only increased tenfold.
“You said that they were really difficult to find,” Luke continued, blissfully unaware of how Din was feeling, “and I know how much Grogu loved them, from what he told me. So I asked around and turns out a friend of mine had an old family recipe so I thought I’d give it a try.”
Luke plopped the container of cookies into Din’s hands that had opened on auto-pilot to receive them. “And… I think you should give them to him yourself.” Luke finished sincerely.
This made Din snap to attention immediately.
“What.” It came out more like a statement than a question.
“Look, you and I both know how much Grogu loves these. I think he would really appreciate them more if you gave them to him.”
“Luke, I’m not going to steal credit from you and lie to-”
“No! No! That’s not what I meant. I just meant that Grogu would be happier if he received them from you. You know, his father. You can tell him I made them, if you’d like.”
Din felt like his boots were frozen to the floor. He started to protest again, but Luke had clearly made up his mind about the whole thing as he had started walking backwards to the door.
“Anyway I have to go now, I just wanted to give you that,” he gestured to the container sitting innocently in Din’s hands. “I’ll see you later after Grogu’s classes?”
Dank farrick. “Luke, wait.”
Luke paused with one backwards foot out the doorway, blue eyes gazing into Din’s own. He and Grogu had that same skill, Din realised offhandedly. Somehow being able to find Din’s eyes with their own despite the helmet, and making him feel as vulnerable as he would have been without it. Must be some Jedi thing.
“Thank you.” Well, at least Din could get this one phrase out before he straight up passed out from this beautiful man’s kindness.
A smile appeared on Luke’s face once the words were out of his mouth. “You’re welcome, Din.”
And with that, Luke ducked out of the room, leaving Din standing alone with the damned container still in his hands.
Din stared at the container and tried not to sigh. Luke had absolutely no idea what he was doing to him.
__________
5.
Luke was. Stunning.
Absolutely mesmerising.
There were no other words that would come to Din’s mind as he watched the Jetii perform a series of graceful actions and calculated movements that were clearly to be used for combat, if the humming lightsaber that danced with him was of any indication.
Seeing him fighting off the Darktroopers the first time they had met was something but this was…something else.
Din watched in silent awe as Luke effortlessly twirled through the air with the lightsaber gracefully following his every move, the green gentle glow casting dancing shadows on the walls.
Din couldn’t help but notice that despite how beautiful Luke looked in his element, he was serene. Calm. As if he trusted the air around him that it would catch him and that the solid floor beneath his feet would break his fall for him when he defied gravity. The gleam in his eyes gave away how much Luke was enjoying this and Din could only imagine what that was like. The brief feeling of freedom of feeling as light as air, with the only thing breaking the silence being the gentle hum of the lightsaber.
Luke’s lightsaber sounded nothing like the foreign drone of the Darksaber, and Din thought back to how it felt in his own hands. Looking at how easily Luke handled his made the weapon clipped to his side feel even more out of place. He had an abrupt thought of what it would be like to have Luke teach him how to wield a saber and quickly shut that thought down before it could develop anymore. That would be too much to ask.
“Din?”
Luke calling his name jolted him from his own thoughts and he looked up to see Luke looking over at him from where he was standing in the room, the lightsaber still glowing in the dim evening light.
Din realised he had been caught standing in the doorway and judging by the questioning look that Luke was throwing his way, he was probably wondering what Din had been doing just watching him silently without saying anything. Like a creep. Fuck.
“Sorry, I was- You were busy, and I didn’t want to disturb you.”
Luke grinned and retracted his lightsaber with a shrrik. “Were you watching me?”
“Maybe,” Din replied as he walked further into the room to stand opposite Luke. “You’re really good with it.”
“A compliment from Mr. Mando himself? I’m beginning to think you admire the Jedi ways.” Luke teased, as he clipped his lightsaber back onto his belt.
“I admire you .” The statement was out of Din’s mouth before he could think twice about it. The sheer honesty in his tone shocked the both of them and Luke’s eyes widened ever so slightly.
“You…? Admire me?” Luke breathed out.
How could I not?
“You saved us.”
“But you’re-!” Luke cut himself off with a huff and looked away, clenching his fists ever so slightly.
Din tilted his head to the side, wondering what had gotten him so frustrated.
Luke sighed before turning back to Din, apparently having decided to dismiss what he had meant to say earlier.
“I mean…thank you Din. That means a lot,” Luke smiled, the earlier cheeky glint in his eyes nowhere to be seen.
Luke lowered his eyes to their feet before looking up at Din again, finding his eyes through the visor. “I admire you too.”
What.
Din honestly hadn’t been expecting that and was, not for the first time, grateful for the helmet that covered his face because Luke would have definitely laughed at the expression that he currently wore.
He seemed to know anyway because he smiled that smile, and Din couldn’t help but stare.
The two of them remained like that for a beat longer, gazing at each other in the dim lighting, before Luke’s gaze flickered across his face, and for a moment, he seemed unsure of himself.
And then, the moment was over as quickly as it had come, as Luke muttered something about having to go back to watching the younglings and walked out of the room with a silent wave, leaving Din standing there, wondering what had just happened.
Din had been looking for the Jetii to ask him something in hopes that he would get an answer, and instead had gotten so much more but yet so little at the same time.