Work Text:
“Officer, officer, I swear I just got my license renewed-”
“What?” Grogu was squirming, trying to escape out of the barely open hatch, and Luke hugged him closer. “I’m not a cop, I’m looking for a Mandalorian.” The mechanic that had approached his ship was paying more attention to Grogu than Luke, after learning he wasn’t actually an officer.
“Well, hello bright eyes, what are you doing back here?”
“Grogu,” Luke corrected, pulling himself up and out of the X-wing. “His name is Grogu, but, miss, I’m looking for-”
“Grogu? Oh, that’s an awful name. I’m not calling you that.” Luke sidestepped a number of droids, small little things on two legs that were constantly moving around their owner. R2 was doing the equivalent of a cackle at him, and Luke straightened his shirt, leaning forward.
“Listen, I’m trying to find the Mandalorian.”
“Oh, yeah, he’s working a job in Mos Espa.” Luke sighed in relief. At least, if he had to be back on Tatooine, it was a city he knew somewhat well.
“Great. I need to see him, so we can just-”
“I don’t care how much of a rush you’re in,” the mechanic interrupted him, “the baby has to eat.” Luke watched as Grogu hummed happily, shoving small lizards into his mouth. The amount of frogs he had been catching while taking care of the kid, he’d become an expert at recognizing their specific Force signatures.
“I…guess we can wait. Can I at least get your name?” She wasn’t taking her eyes off the little guy, and he had to wonder how much time, exactly, they had spent together.
“Peli,” she said, eyes sliding over him. Luke was sure he looked strange, in black clothes that were tight fit instead of flowing, one gloved hand and the other bare. In the back of his mind, he could hear Beru telling him he was gonna roast, that he would have to deal with the consequences himself. He smiled, even if the memory stung. “What are you doing with the little guy?”
“I’m his teacher,” he said, because that was the simplest version of things, “and I wanted to talk to his…” Friend? Guardian? “...father.”
“Ah. Well take a seat, we can head out after he’s done.” Grogu was still slurping away, and if the empty cupboards back home were any sign, this could take awhile. Might as well get comfortable.
*
Luke hadn’t been on the planet in a while, sure, but Mos Espa felt too quiet. Luke had only been in town a few times, but it had always been busy. He’d hated the place, and part of him still did, but he would never say the towns had been this empty. There were always people, creatures, animals, sellers; now there was sand and empty stalls, shutters closed and eyes barely peeking out. The Force shuddered along his spine, stops and jerks, Grogu curling into him.
“What was the job Mando was working?” he asked. Peli leaned back, not worried despite it, and Luke did have to admit; the city folk on Tatooine didn’t really get surprised by anything.
“He’s extra muscle for Fett.” Luke purposely took his prosthetic off of Grogu’s body, just in case the nerves spasmed and he squeezed too tight.
“Did you say Fett? As in Boba Fett?” That wasn’t possible, of course. No. He’d seen Fett fall into the pit. Han and Lando had told him that he had gotten pushed in.
“Yeah, he- Oh! There he is!” Peli jumped up, the rickshaw bobbing a bit beneath them as she frantically waved. “Mando! Boy do I have a surprise for you!” The Mandalorian was dressed the same as when Luke had first seen him, silver and black, gun in his hand. Luke didn’t need to hear the scream to understand what was happening. The fear that was pouring off the man, along with the confusion, the thudding that no living thing could make. It was an easy flick to the droid’s circuits, to get the rickshaw to turn and race, the Mandalorian a sudden weight at the back.
“Skywalker?! What are you doing here?” His voice, even modulated, was panicked. Luke opened his mouth to say something, only for Grogu to jump out of his lap and right into the other man’s arms. “Kid?! I, hello, I missed you to, but, uh-”
“Grogu, please, stay down,” Luke admonished. “I came to talk to you about some things, but this doesn’t seem to be a very good time.” A laser shot from the droid took out a chunk of wall. Plaster pinged off the silver helmet, and was pushed back to the wall when it came close to Luke’s head.
“No, not really!”
“I-”
A well placed shot, too well placed, and the rickshaw flew. Luke cursed himself for getting distracted, flipping himself in the air to land on his feet. It was a matter of focus to grasp onto Peli and Mando, stop them from crashing into the dirt with all the force of that throw. They stopped, gravity hesitating, before gently landing. Peli scrambled up, looking at him in disbelief before Mado shoved Grogu into her arms. “Take cover,” he said, and she didn’t hesitate.
Luke stared the droid down, shield in all, before unhooking his saber from his belt. Green reflected along the sand, and he tried to figure out how fast he could be. Mando was already running, blasting, and Luke made to move after him, when he pulled a hilt from his own belt. He nearly tripped when the black and white blade expanded, humming with heat. Mentally, he made a list to address, starting with Boba Fett apparently being alive, and ending with where the hell he got a lightsaber.
Not only that, but Mando was holding it wrong.
Luke moved forward, reflecting the shots, and trying to worm his way into the circutery. The droid would be easy to take down once he got the hang of it, and he reached out a hand. The red eye of the droid cracked like an egg, glass splintering, the metal of the core warping until the legs started to spasm. There was a screeching Luke could only describe as a death rattle as the thing landed, kicking up dust. Mando was breathing heavily beside him, and Luke looked to him with a tight smile.
More pounding shook the ground beneath them, and Luke readied himself to face another one, to crush it even faster than the first. Then he saw the claws, wrinkled and brown, gaping mouth with too many teeth. He could almost feel the grip again, the grating against his ribs. And on top, in deep green, a man in armor riding the rancor off across the rooftops.
“That was Boba Fett,” Luke stammered. “Riding a rancor.”
“Apparently,” Mando said next to him, looking at the same cracked wall and blanket of blue sky.
“But…both of them are dead. Boba fell into…and the rancor, I…”
“What, you saw it die?”
“No,” Luke said, actually taking the time to look at Mando, all that silver, the T of black glass, “I killed it.” He waits for a laugh. If he had told anyone he knew in this town that he had killed Jabba’s rancor, they’d have laughed in his face, told him to go back and dream about something else. Mando just nods, head inclined just slightly to the hand that holds his hilt.
“Did you kill Boba too? That might be a problem.”
“Uh, technically it was my brother in law, but I’m pretty sure it was an accident.”
“How do you accidentally kill someone?”
“You temporarily become blind,” Luke supplied. He shook himself. Ghosts from the past, that were not actual ghosts aside, there were more important things. “I came here to talk about Grogu.”
“And we will. After we make sure that this is won.”
“We?” Mando was already running in the direction the rancor had run, cracks and debri in its wake. “I’m not technically a part of this!”
“You are now Skywalker! So, hurry up!”
*
Luke had technically been taught by two Jedi masters for a number of months, if you were going to be technical about it. One of them had been there, and then had died, and then had returned as a ghost. One of them probably was not all mentally there. He was fully aware, and had admitted this to several people, that he certainly did not know all there was to know about the Force.
Still, when Grogu calmed a furious rancor and then cuddled with it while napping, Luke was in no way going to admit out loud that he didn’t know the Force could do that. First of all, because these people did not need to know that. Second of all, he did not need Mando thinking he was the worst possible Jedi to pass his kid off to. Instead, he stayed silent, and looked at Mando who was looking at his son, and then said with the awe of disbelief that Luke had heard out of too many rebel mouths: “I almost got eaten by a rancor.”
“Welcome to the club,” Luke responded, and did not go pick Grogu up. Never disturb a sleeping rancor. He had never been told that, but was sure it was true. “Can we talk now?”
“Uh. Sure. Yes.” Mando just sat in the sand right then. Luke did sort of regret the black now, but he’d already been tossed around enough. He sat across from Mando.
“He got your gift,” Luke started, “and I’m sorry if Ashoka said anything that came off as…defensive. We’re still trying to figure all this out.”
“Are you here to tell me that his attachment to me will be bad for him?” Luke winced.
“No…yes? It’s complicated.” He ran a hand through his hair, tugged it to try to ground himself. “The old order had that idea, but they didn’t survive. Love and the Force, it works better in harmony, it’s toxic attachment that’s the problem. I don’t think your attachment is toxic, but trying to force someone to give it up, is.” How to explain it, the unasked advice of the dead that came to him. The warnings about his father, the reminders that it was love that saved the whole damned galaxy. Luke wasn’t sure what being a Jedi was about yet, but he knew it was not this.
“So I can see him, is that what you mean?” Mando asked.
“I want to try to set up a schedule, so you can see him regularly while he trains,” Luke continued. “I’ll be honest, this is all new, and I have no idea it’ll work, but…he loves you.” He shrugged, started fiddling with the cuff of his glove. “I can teach you to wield your saber, while we’re at it.”
“I thought I had a decent handle on it.”
“You’re holding it too low,” Luke found himself saying, “you’ll accidentally burn yourself if you keep that up.” Mando remained silent, and did not move his head. “You accidently burned yourself, didn’t you?”
“Your help would be welcome,” Mando finished, not at all acknowledging what Luke just said. Luke would almost describe it as cute, if he didn’t know that burn had to have hurt more than any other wound.
“You can stay on the planet if you like. There aren’t a lot of buildings yet, but it'd be simple,” Luke said. Hard to imagine teaching with Mando over his shoulder, not because of the stress, but worrying that he’d say something idiotic. At least Mando wouldn’t be able to see the old ghosts judging him.
“I do have jobs,” Mando said. “But I could make the planet my base.”
“That could work,” he confirmed, nodding along. Already he was imagining it, a school on one side, homes for the families on the other. Maybe, just maybe, he was starting to get the right idea.
“You should probably stay out of Boba’s sight.” Luke was taken out of his thoughts by the statement, and felt himself flush. It wasn’t like he had plans to kill this rancor, or to call Han in to finish the job.
“That is one reunion I would avoid for the time being,” he admitted, taking the hand Mando offered him. “You can call me Luke, by the way.”
“Din.” He liked the simplicity of the name, the way it felt steady in the air. It felt like a secret after not knowing it for so long, something to hold close to the chest. “I can meet you after I finish up with Fett.” Luke nodded along, already thinking, already planning, already half in the sky with silver and black on his tail.
*
“You know R2, I think that went pretty well.”
Be whoop.
“Be a bit quieter will you? Grogu is still asleep.”
Ah wapp
“I, well. Yes, he is , but I am not going to tell him that! He’s my student's parent, for Force sake. And don’t you go telling him anything, either.”
Boop.
“Or 3PO.”
Skee.
“No, do not send a comm to Leia! Do not!”
Sometimes, when dealing with R2, Luke really considered installing a mute button.