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“Do the Jedi have customs?” Din asked, not trying to hide the bite in his voice.
He would be permitted to see his foundling, just one last time if that was all. He came all this way, he fought too hard to be turned away. Grogu may be with the Jedi now, but he deserved the beskar. He was a foundling. This was the way.
Ahsoka set her jaw for a moment before she looked away from him, “They did .”
“So you know this is important.” Din refrained from gripping the bundle in his hands too tight, not wanting to show his aggravation. Some situations were best handled diplomatically.
Once more, Ahsoka looked him over, and it seemed for a moment that her mind was already made up. That she would not let him approach Grogu and Skywalker. But, much to her obvious annoyance, Ahsoka didn’t get the last say, when the blonde caught a glimpse of them. They were a distance away, but Din swore Skywalker and Ahsoka locked eyes for a moment before the man nodded.
Din waited as the annoyance seemed to slide off of her face, momentarily replaced with worry before she turned a softer gaze on Din.
“You may see them.” Ahsoka finally conceded, turning away from Din.
Hope rose in his chest as Din wasted no time, pushing off from the underbrush to cross the clearing. As he got closer, the impending conversation loomed further over him. He had said goodbye to Grogu, had made sure he was with his kind, but had still tracked the Jedi across the galaxy. He didn’t want the Jedi to be angry with him or Grogu, especially since his appearance was not Grogu’s fault.
And a foundling’s beskar was a right.
“Mandalorian,” Skywalker said as he got closer, “I expected to see you sooner.”
Sooner? Din blinked, wanting to speak but the child caught his attention instead.
Before him, Grogu opened his eyes and turned quickly, getting to his little feet to rush towards Din. Din scooped him up in a motion almost too fluid for his old bones, hugging him close to his chest. Grogu cooed and hummed, claws clicking on Din’s beskar as he showed no unhappiness at being pressed against the hard surface.
“I’m here, I’m-“ Din choked down the sob that threatened to wash over him, “I’m here, kid. Sorry it took so long.”
Grogu cooed and reached up, tapping on Din’s helmet. Din chuckled, the noise sounding scratchy in his vocoder. “Not right now, kid.”
Aware of the Jedi’s presence, Din finally tilted his head to look at him. He had been watching their reunion, but didn’t speak again after his first comment. Din let out a breath, trying not to be tense after his interaction with Ahsoka. “You uh… Expected me sooner?”
“You’re supposed to be a rather highly prized bounty hunter. I thought you would find us sooner, yes.” Skywalker stood, but didn’t walk closer to them yet.
Din felt oddly at ease around him, especially now having proof that Grogu was healthy and visually well taken care of. Still, his gaze fell on Skywalker as he held Grogu close, sizing the man up. He was - small, really. Shorter than Din by a head, not built up in muscle, and didn’t look like he could hurt a fly.
But Din knew better. He’d seen the man mow down those Dark Troopers.
“I didn’t have a ship. No commercial flights available to your secret planet, so…” Din looked down at Grogu, who was curled up against his chest and quite suddenly asleep.
Despite Grogu being asleep, the air between them was anything but relaxed. There was tension that made Din’s stomach churn.
“So… You came to take him back?” Skywalker asked, keeping his face blank.
“What?” Din tensed, then shook his head, “No. He’s - Grogu needs a teacher. Needs this. Not… I can’t give him the life he needs. Or protect him like you can.”
Skywalker tilted his head, and motioned to Din’s hip, “With that you can.”
Din shifted Grogu to one arm, his free hand reaching down for the Darksaber, just gripping the hilt for a moment. He still didn’t know how to properly use it - he couldn’t protect anyone with it. “If I knew how to use it.”
Skywalker considered that for a moment, before he nodded calmly and motioned for Din to follow him, “Come with me, I’ll show you where we stay. We can talk on the way.”
“About?” Din asked, but followed anyway.
Fett and Shand needed his help, but a few hours, or even a day, wouldn’t put a skank in their scud pie. And the jungle planet, Yavin 4, was a nice break from the never ending desert of Tatooine. Napping on the bench was also catching up to him, which meant sitting in the N-1 right now was an awful idea. Every joint in his body would protest for weeks.
“If you didn’t come to take him, then why are you here?” Skywalker asked as they walked, now side by side. “I’m sure Ahsoka gave you the attachment speech.”
“More than once.” Din muttered, taking in the sights as they walked. The jungle was buzzing with life and somewhere nearby was running water. The nearby croaking of frogs convinced him Grogu would never go hungry - even if raw frog should not be the food of choice for a child.
They lapsed into momentary silence while Din got a good look at the jungle. It was nice, and part of him wondered if Mand’alor had jungles like this. Or a temperature that didn’t make his suit’s regulator work overtime. There was a hint of humidity, but there was a chance he could only feel it because he had been in the dry air for a couple months.
Eventually, Skywalker made a sound of question, which urged Din back to the conversation at hand.
“To answer you… I brought him this.” Din reached into his bag and tugged out the small bundle. Since he didn’t have the hands to open it, he held it out to Skywalker.
Skywalker was gentle when he took the bundle, their hands brushing for a moment longer than necessary. Then Din watched as the Jedi unwrapped it, looking at the contents curiously. “A chainmail shirt?”
“Yes. Beskar.” Din reached up and smoothed a hand over the top of Grogu’s head, gently rubbing his ear to help him sleep better. “Grogu may be a Jedi now, but he was a foundling. My foundling. Every foundling needs protection. This is what I can provide him.”
“You sacrificed beskar, a very limited resource, to ensure Grogu could be protected?” There was only awe in Skywalker’s voice.
“This is the Way.” Din muttered, the phrase feeling familiar and comforting despite his own rocky standing with his identity. “I was having trouble finding my tribe. I had hoped to find them before returning Grogu to his kind, but hadn’t. I couldn’t get him his beskar until after. I sacrificed my spear for the material.”
“Giving up a weapon for armor. Noble.” Skywalker wrapped the bundle back up, looking up at the cabin they were approaching. “Jedi have similar traditions. Masters show Padawans how to harvest Kyber for their lightsabers. The lightsaber is one of the best tools a Jedi has to defend themselves. It can cut through nearly any material in the known galaxy.”
“Except beskar.” He knew that first hand. Multiple times. His armor had been the one thing keeping him safe from the plasma swords.
“Which makes this gift for Grogu perfect.”
“What?” Din blurted out, surprising even himself. “I mean - Ahsoka made it clear Grogu was no longer a foundling. He was a Padawan. So it didn’t matter what I had for him.”
“Ahsoka is stuck in the past.” Skywalker stepped up to the cabin and pushed the door open, where the inside was spacious and clean, but not pristine. It was clear the Jedi didn’t keep clutter, but the dishes were not done for at least a day and the single couch was strewn with blankets. “Things are different now. It’s an age about creating new traditions. The past will always be there, but it doesn’t need to dictate the future.”
“You’re changing your traditions.” Din stated more than he asked, closing the old fashioned door behind them with his foot.
“I have to.” There was no need for further explanation. Din understood the need for change. Skywalker stepped over to the small kitchen area, and paused after he retrieved two glasses. “Mando, I apologize I don’t have any straws.”
Din was quiet for a moment, then lifted one hand to his helmet, hesitating before lifting it off his head. The Jedi before him didn’t look away like others had in the few times he had done this. Instead, Skywalker lifted his chin and chose not to hide the interest in his eyes.
“This is the second time I’ve seen you remove your helmet...” Skywalker turned then, getting a pitcher to pour them both water. “Changing your own traditions, Mando?”
Though alcohol would calm his nerves, Din was thankful to see the water after stomping around Tatooine for the better half of a year.
“I have to.” Din echoed, setting his helmet carefully on the breakfast nook in the kitchen. “No straw needed.”
**
They spent the better part of the afternoon just talking about Mandalorians and Jedi. Skywalker knew more about the history between their people, he claimed he knew such from an old friend, who he spoke about like he was gone now. Din shared what little knowledge he had been told of the Jedi, and as much as he could about the different Mandalorian sects he had now met in his travels.
The news that Grogu had not been sleeping well made Din just hold the child closer, who in turn only woke up after Skywalker made dinner. Typical. They ate between their ongoing conversation, and both equally fawned over Grogu. It was comfortable, and warm in a way that Din had rarely felt before. After they ate, to thank him for the hearty meal, Din washed the dishes while Skywalker put Grogu properly to bed.
Before long, they found themselves sitting on the couch, water exchanged for alcohol with a bit of bite to it. Some kind of whiskey from the core worlds that Din knew was pricey, but it went down smooth.
“So - so your father got secretly married, but it really wasn’t a secret, but the whole - all the Jedi just - let him keep thinking it was a secret?” Din managed to follow along as well as he could, his eyes momentarily falling on the nearly empty bottle between them.
They’d given up on pouring shots and were instead just sharing the bottle now.
“Yeah. Yeah, they thought - the war, you know? Because of the war, he didn’t wanna say anything.” Skywalker lifted the bottle and took a sip, holding it out to Din again. “But it’s not - marriage wasn’t forbidden, you just - gotta know when to let go. He didn’t… Didn’t really think about that. Just - letting go.”
He punctuated letting go with a rather dramatic hand movement that made Din grin and chuckle into the bottle before taking a swig himself. He rested it between them, not moving his hand when Skywalker’s hand rested on the bottle too, their fingers ever so slightly overlapping.
“Any secret marriages I should know about, Skywalker?” Din asked suddenly, his voice dropping without intention.
He hadn’t thought about it the first time they met, but Skywalker was gorgeous in every way he could think of. The man was a fighter, too. He wanted to spar with him, to see if he could knock him off his feet and pin him down or best him in saber combat, or manage to tie the Jedi up, or —
Or —
The thoughts slipped away as Skywalker leaned closer, close enough that Din could smell the alcohol on his breath. His words came out more like a sigh than actual speech, “Luke… Call me Luke.”
“Luke,” Din relished the feeling of his name in his mouth, and wondered briefly what else he could get there, “Any - any uh…?”
“No secret marriages here, Mando.”
“Din.” Din responded as he stared at Luke , almost in the same shared breath. “Din Djarin. My name.”
“Your face and your name, on the same day?” Luke teased, though Din could see the rosy flush on his cheeks.
“A change is overdue.”
“So it is.”