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The bar that they were in was very obviously one that Han was familiar with. Even though he was now the husband of the mayor of Cloud City and the boyfriend of a Jedi, he still seemed to find the seediest places.
Luke had missed Lando and Han. They were great company even if it was weird that his best friends were dating his sister. It didn’t surprise him that Leia and the two men had fallen in love, but it was still a little awkward.
That’s why Luke was so happy that he got to spend time with his friends - mostly - alone for a week. Leia, newly knighted at 24, was on some mission infiltrating Hutt space with Chewbaca and the two would be gone for a few months. She had gotten to see her boyfriends arrive and had left that same day.
Not that she would have had much time to spend with them if she stayed though. Lando and Han were on a diplomatic mission from Cloud City, setting up trade routes with different senators as their world recovered from the War two decades ago. Well, Lando was setting up trade routes. Han was avoiding getting arrested and people he owed money to. But they had a day to relax, exploring Coruscant with Luke, who had lived there his entire life.
So here they sat, on one of the lower-level bars, surrounded by bounty hunters and spice dealers, in one of the most disgusting booths known to man. Luke had spent several months on a swamp planet and he very much decided that that was much more sanitary than the bar they were in.
When they were on their third drink, Han said, “Why’d you have to dress so Jedi-y? Everyone’s staring at you kid.” When they had first met, Luke had been nineteen with very much a babyface. Han had started calling him kid and had never stopped.
“I dress like this everyday.” Luke said, confused.
“What he means is,” Lando interjected. “You’re dressed like a Jedi. You stand out.”
“I am a Jedi?” Luke said. “You dress like a mayor, Han dresses like a smuggler.”
As Lando asked “What’s a mayor dress like?” Han felt the need to remind them that he was not in fact a smuggler anymore, which was promptly ignored by those around him.
“I dunno.” Luke mused. “All fancy like, with that dumb cape. Everyone should just dress simple, like me.”
“My cape is not dumb!” Lando said, holding up his gold velvet cape as if proving him words. “And your clothes are not simple! You wear like nine layers everyday.”
“You Jedi do wear a lot of layers.” Han said, resting his head on the sticky table. “I still can’t figure out how to tie Leia sash-thing right. She always laughs at me.” He sounded heartbroken by the fact. “But your cape is kind dumb.” Han said, looking at his husband’s attire. “You could wear literally anything else.”
“I like it.” Lando said, puffing his chest out, making his bright yellow shirt stand out even more. “He only wears brown and black.” He said, pointing to Luke. “And you never do anything with your hair. Only that little braid.” He motioned to Luke’s Padawan braid.
“Yeah, what is that kid?” Han asked.
“Leia never told you?” Luke was a little surprised that his sister hadn’t told the two men in their three years of dating.
“We didn’t want to offend her or anything.” Lando said, sounding embarrassed. “We didn’t know if it was something important to the Jedi or something. And when we finally got the courage to ask, she cut it off.”
“Well she was knighted.” Luke said and then held out his Padawan braid for them to see. “It’s a Padawan braid. We put them in when we become padawans and then our Master cuts it off when we’re knighted.” He pointed to the beads, string, and bands in the braid. “The beads are our areas of speciality. I have a green bead and a red bead, since I have strengths in the Living Force and piloting.”
“You are really good at piloting, kid.” Han said. “Almost as good as me.”
Luke rolled his eyes and continued. “The yellow band at the top and the red band at the bottom symbolize our journey as padawans, but the red one is only put in when we’re sixteen or the equivalent age. The green strand is representative of our lightsaber or our life force.” He shrugged. “It depends on who you ask. If you don’t have hair or don’t want a braid, you get a string of silka beads. It means the same thing.”
“Why did Leia get knighted before you?” Han asked.
“She got chosen before I did.” Luke said. “Master Yoda says it’s the will of the Force, but Master Obi-Wan said I’m just a late bloomer. I was sixteen when Master Yoda selected me and Leia was thirteen when Master Windu chose her.”
“I like Master Windu.” Lando said, crossing his arms in front of his chest.
“He’s really scary though.” Han replied.
“No he’s not.” Luke said, confused.
“He told us we’d never see any sun again if we hurt Leia.” Han exclaimed. “You were so nice. Kenobi was nice!”
“Of course he did.” Luke rolled his eyes. “He’s her Master, that’s his job. Master Obi-Wan did the same thing with my mother when my father was his padawan. But Master Windu is really great. He runs all the youngling plays.”
“Your dad’s a Jedi?” Han asked, seeming confused. “Leia said she could marry us because she’s a Jedi.”
“And she can’t.” Luke said. “Our vows don’t allow us to, especially with the political ramifications of her marrying a mayor and an ex-smuggler. My father had to leave the Order when he married my mother, especially since she’s a senator.” He paused. “At least I think she’s still a senator. I’m not completely sure.” He brightened. “But as soon as I’m knighted, Leia and I are going to Naboo to meet them.”
“That nice, kid.” Han said, waving down a waitress for another drink. “We really got to ask our girlfriend more about her life, Lando.” Lando nodded, very much in agreement. “Like we love her and all, but she is a little more scary than you kid.”
“She’s always been.” Luke said. “When we were kids, she’d do this thing where she’d know someone's deepest fears and doubts and then tell them what she thought about it. Our Crechemaster used to have to remind her not to make anyone cry.”
“That sounds like Leia.” Lando said. “When I first met her, I thought she was going to kill me.”
“She called me ‘flyboy’” Han complained. “And shoved me down a garbage shoot.”
“I have to pee.” Luke announced suddenly, standing up. The husbands shooed him away and went on sharing stories about their girlfriend.
Luke stumbled to the bathroom. The fresher was in a dark hallway to the side of the bar which he was pretty sure had never been cleaned. He paused, the smell making him nauseous not noticing the group of bounty hunters blocking the entrance.
“Hey! Jetii !” One of the bounty hunters called out. The man (Luke was pretty sure he was a man) was wearing beskar'gam, with the symbol of the Death Watch fused to his breastplate. Luke called his saber to his hand, but one of the hunters knocked it to the floor before he could activate it.
“What are you doing down here with the common folk, child thief?” Another hunter sneered. This one was a female human, wearing armor made of plasteel. “Don’t you Jedi think you're too good for us?”
“Hey.” Luke said, raising his hands in surrender. He wouldn’t be able to fight off this many people unarmed, especially without his saber and drunk. “I don’t want any trouble. I’m just having a couple drinks with some friends.”
“Yeah well.” The Mandalorian said, advancing. “You should have thought about that before you came into our bar.”
“Luke taking a long time.” Lando said, glancing around for their friend. “Should we go and check on him?”
Han looked about, casting his eyes around the bar. “I don’t see him.” He said, downing the rest of his drink in one go. “Might as well make sure he hasn’t passed out on the floor somewhere.”
Lando went to the bar, asking the bartender if they’d seen a “small blond twink dressed like a Jedi” and Han went in the direction of the fresher. When he approached the hallway, he heard laughing and someone crying out in pain.
He rushed towards the site of the noise finding a group of eight people, dressed like bounty hunters. They were circled around Luke, who was curled in a small ball on the floor, trying to protect his head from the kicks of the bounty hunter in Mandalorian armor.
“Hey! What the hell are you doing?” Han yelled, pulling his blaster out and aiming it at the man who was kicking Luke. “Get the fuck away from my friend, you useless son of a bitch.”
“What the fuck did you just call me?” The Mandalorian growled, stopping in his kicking. “Do you want me to shoot you?” The rest of the hunters shifted anxiously as the two pointed blasters at each other.
“You already attacked a Jedi.” Han said, gesturing at Luke, who was still curled up. “Do you really want to get yourself in any more trouble by shooting the husband of the Mayor of Cloud City, here on a diplomatic mission?”
“Hey, Kiiz.” Another bounty hunter said, resting his hand on the Mandalorian’s shoulder. “Give it a rest. We should head out.” The Mando growled at him, pushing his hand away and reluctantly sheathed his blaster.
“This isn’t over Jetii .” He said, spitting on Luke, before walking away.
“Yeah, get the hell out of here!” Han shouted after them, before putting away his blaster and rushing to Luke. “Hey, hey, buddy. Are you okay?”
Luke uncurled, face blotchy red. “They cut off my braid, Han.”
Han and Lando supported their friend between them, basically carrying him back to their speeder. Han drove the speeder, glazing back occasionally to check if they were being followed, while his husband tried to comfort the inconsolable Luke.
“They cut off my braid Lando!” Luke sobbed. “I’ve had it since I was sixteen years old. My Master gave it to me. They had no right to cut it off!”
“No they didn’t.” Lando said, straightening Luke’s robes. “We’re going to get you to the healers-” Both men were familiar with the Jedi Healers as they had visited the twins in the Healing Halls more than once. “-and they’re going to check if you’ve got a concussion.”
Luke wiped his eyes and started to speak to himself under his breath in the language that Leia had been trying to teach them. It sounded like he was praying and Lando could pick up on a few words here and there, like Dai and ben .
He continued as they drove to the Temple, seemingly repeated the same few phrases over and over again. Lando knew that the Jedi prayed, Leia had mentioned it a few times but he had never seen it before. It seemed private. Like Mirialan prayers. One of the council members in Cloud City was Mirialan and he prayed five times a day. He usually found somewhere private but if he couldn’t, then he would ask them to ignore him while he prayed.
They arrived at the Temple and were greeted by two Temple Guards. Lando was never sure what to think about the Guards, they always unnerved him, but in that moment he had never been happier to see someone.
“What happened?” The one on the right said, helping Luke out of the speeder, very subtly pushing the young man behind her.
“It’s okay.” Luke said, resting a hand on the guard's forearm. “We were out drinking and a few bounty hunters jumped me. Han chased them off, but-” His voice broke. “-they cut off my braid.”
The guards seemed to notice the missing braid and one sighed. “It’ll be okay Padawan Luke.” The second guard said. “Let’s get you to Master Che to make sure you’re okay.”
The guards led them through the Temple, Lando and Han trailing awkwardly behind the Jedi. This wasn’t their first time in the Jedi Temple, but it was still breathtaking. Towering statues and elaborate murals. The Temple was thousands of years old, filled with art and culture and weathering of every Jedi who had lived there.
The Healing Halls were mostly empty, a few knights or Masters (Lando could never tell them apart) lying in beds, asleep or doing something on a datapad. It was night and most of the lights were dim. A Healer came rushing out, speaking rapiding in Dai Bendu to the Temple Guards and Luke and pushing Luke towards a bed. She cast an eye over Han and Lando, and said, in Basic, “Sit, sit!”
They awkwardly sat in a set of chairs near the bed that Luke was sitting on. The Healer, an older Twi'lek, placed a hand on Luke’s chest. If Lando had to wager a guess, then he would say that she was using the Force or something.
“You’ll be happy to know that it’s just a few superficial bruises. It’ll ache like hell for a few weeks but there’ll be no long term damage.” The Healer said, removing her hands from Luke’s chest.
“I’ve contacted your Master, Padawan.” The first guard said. “He’ll be here in a few minutes.”
“Thank you, Guard.” Luke said, feeling for the bit of hair that used to be his braid. All that remained was the yellow band and a small tuft of hair.
When his Master arrived, Luke almost cried for joy. The small, green Master pulled himself onto Luke’s bed and held his hand with his small claws.
“Okay you will be.” Master Yoda said.
“But Master,” Luke said. “They took my braid. How can I be a Padawan without a braid?”
“Growing back your hair time it will take.” His Master said. “Grow hair some Jedi cannot. Cover their hair others do. Any less padawans are they?”
“No Master.” Luke said, fiddling with the yellow band he had pulled from his hair.
“Silka beads we will get you.” Master Yoda said leaving no room for argument. “My padawan you will be until knight you I do.”