Chapter Text
“Admiral Yularen?” a voice asked, and the admiral in question turned to face the person. He saluted as Mace Windu came to flutter in front of him. Mace saluted him back, and they both dropped theirs. He was surprised to see the fairy up and about. He had been hurt during the invasion of Palpatine and his subsequent capture. But nothing could stop Mace when he decided to work. “I was wondering if I could ask you for a favor.”
“Of course, General,” Wullf said.
“We need someone to go to Keldabe to negotiate a trade agreement, and with most of the Council out healing, and the rest covering…” Mace trailed off.
“You would like me to go,” Wullf finished for them.
“Yes,” Mace said, despite it not being a question.
“Of course, General,” Wullf said, “When should I leave?”
“Tomorrow,” Mace responded. Wullf sighed through his nose. He would have liked more notice than that, but he nodded and excused himself to go pack for the trip. Mace acknowledged it, and the two parted. Wullf flew home as quickly as he could, knowing that he should be packed before he went to bed, as he wasn’t sure what time he would be expected.
The next morning, he waited patiently for more instructions, and it did not take long for Mace to arrive about details on where he should meet with the delegation, who he was talking to, and when he should leave. He sighed, returning to his flower, feeling a tad bit alone. He had thought about messaging people that he would be going on an extended trip today, but when he thought about who would care to know, he realized the answer was nobody. Sure, he had friends, but they only hung out sometimes, and he hadn’t heard from them in a few weeks, despite his attempts to reach out.
He shook his head. They were all busy, just like him. He was going to be gone for two weeks, so this time, he gets to be the busy one who can’t answer. He ignored the little voice in his head that told him that they wouldn’t reach out anyways. Now was not the time for such thoughts. He needed to focus on the negotiations with the Mandalorians. They had been at each other’s throats for decades now, and it had fully broken apart about eighteen years ago. That was not a long time ago, but that only meant the wounds were all the fresher.
“Are you ready?” Mace asked.
“Yes, sir,” Wullf answered, coming to attention. His one bag was sitting at his feet on the trunk of a tree. He wasn’t hovering as he normally would, instead he was stretching his wings and standing on his own feet. He wanted to make sure they would not cramp up on the long flight. He wanted to get there and get settled, and what was the point of stopping for breaks? He wasn’t one to stop and smell the roses, not anymore.
Besides, he wasn’t able to fly as long or as far other fairies.
“Alright, let us know if you have any trouble,” Mace said. “Fly safe, and I hope you have a good time.”
“Thank you, sir,” said Wullf, and he grabbed his bag, looping it around his waist before tying it off, and he jumped off the branch, wings flapping behind him to keep him up. He kept up a steady pace, despite the fairies zipping around him, calling him an old man for his speed. He was used to it by now, so he brushed the comments to the side. He had a rare disconnection with the Force that gave the fairies their ability to fly. The healers didn’t think he would ever fly, but fortunately, they were wrong.
He was soon out of the fairy city, as they grew up far quicker than they went out, not that it bothered Wullf any. He stuck to the same mid level floors of the city, never needing to go up or down once he settled into his own place. His family liked to live in the extremes, but Wullf’s wings didn’t have the stamina to keep going up and down without many breaks, meaning he was left home alone more often than he was brought along with. He hadn’t visited his mother in years, and his father and cousins would get onto him for it. And yet, none of them made the effort to visit him either.
The Mandalorian city of Keldabe would only be a four hour flight for a normal fairy, but for Wullf, it would take at least six and a half hours to fly there without breaks, which he would be impossible for him to do. He tried his best, but he still had to make three hour long breaks through the trip, meaning he arrived in far later than he would have liked and feeling quite embarrassed by his tardiness.
“Wullf Yularen?” a young merman asked, “I am Trose, the Mand’alor. I am pleased that you arrived safely.”
“I apologize for the late hour,” Wullf said.
“Oh, it’s not a problem,” Trose said, with a smile. “This is Longshot.” His hand waved, and another merman, that Wullf had not noticed until now, swam forward. “He will be your guide and assistant during your stay here.”
“I thank you, A’lor,” Wullf said, and he bowed. “But it is not necessary.”
Trose gave him a wry smile. “We shall see.”
Wullf gave the merman a small, polite smile as he turned away. The fairy didn’t like the feeling of being made fun, but since he was the guest and this was a diplomatic mission, he did not say anything. He turned to the other merman, this Longshot, and waited. He scanned him briefly, taking in the young merman. He had curled black hair floated around his head like some sort of dark crown, his strong arms and what could only be a six pack obscured by some armor, but no shirt. He had brown eyes and only a few visible scars. He looked like a military man, which Wullf could respect.
Despite the fairies being a peaceful societies, they still had a small military, a necessity with the war against the Fungi, Laverna, and Palpatine. He hoped with the recent defeat, the two would give up, but he wasn’t going to hold his breath for it. Longshot seemed to be giving him a once over too, and Wullf felt a bit lacking. He was sure that Longshot could tell there was something off about him.
Maybe because of how long it took for him to arrive, despite the only medium distance between the two places. Coruscant and Keldabe was hardly the worst flight in the world.
Maybe it was how his wings were weighing him down instead of keeping him afloat, like they should have.
Or maybe it was just how awkward Wullf felt in this situation.
“This way, sir,” Longshot said, with a wide smile across his face. “I’m going to show you to the rooms that you will be staying in for the duration of your stay.”
_______________________________________________________________________________________
Longshot barely knew the fairy that he had just deposited in his room, but oh boy, was he going to have some dreams tonight. He had always known that he was attracted to older men. His greying hair and the stern look on his face. The way he held himself. He was a military man, which made sense. He would know how to speak the language the Mandalorians spoke. And if he was competent…
Oh manda, if Admiral Yularen was competent… Longshot would not survive.
_______________________________________________________________________________________
Wullf had been determined to not need Longshot, and he had mostly been successful. The only times the merman was around was when Trose called him to lead the fairy somewhere else in the palace. It was huge, both broad and tall, making it very difficult for Wullf to learn where things were, but he did his best. Longshot seemed disappointed that he wasn’t needed so often, which surprised Wullf a bit. He would assume the merman would want some free time, but he must have been disappointed he couldn’t get any gossip about him.
He had gotten lost going back to his room several times, but he always managed to get to the meetings on time… even if he had to leave hours before it started, just in case. By this point, he had memorized where the specific rooms were and the fastest ways to get there and back, so he could avoid any unnecessary interactions with people. He did this back in Coruscant too, which was probably why he only had a few friends, and they were getting tired of him. He couldn’t go to many of the things they wanted, and even when he could, he typically declined.
He glanced around the halls, cursing himself mentally for getting lost in thought. He missed the turn he needed to return to his room for the night. He continued to decline the Mand’alor’s polite offers of dinner, and so he would once again be eating in his room, alone. There seemed to only be one merman in this vicinity. Wullf didn’t want to look like he didn’t know where he was… he didn’t want to seem any more fragile than he already did, but he also didn’t want to be trying to find his way back to his rooms after the sunset. The halls grew dark very quickly, and he was not accustomed to using the glowing coral.
“Excuse me, sir,” Wullf said, “Do you mind-”
“Go away, scum,” the merman said, pushing past Wullf, knocking him into the wall. His wings crunched a bit, and he winced, turning to carefully straighten them out and make sure there was no damage. Thank the Force, they were. Fairy wings, in general, were prone to injury, but his even more so.
“If I could have some directions, please,” Wullf said, trying to remain polite. He would chew the Mandalorian out, but he was here for diplomatic reasons, and he would not return to Coruscant having failed because he couldn’t keep his scathing tongue to himself. He straightened up, looking seriously into the merman’s eyes.
That was apparently the wrong things to do. He was once again shoved into the wall. This time, pain seared through his wings, and he knew they were injured. His head hit the glass window, and he heard it crack. He let out a small groan, from both pain and annoyance. He was definitely going home then. There was no way the Mand’alor would side with a fairy over a merman, and he glanced down the armor. A general at that. He would have to apologize to Councilor Windu, his commanding General.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________
“Listen here, you pathetic scum,” a voice said from around the corner. Longshot raised an eyebrow. Who had pissed off General Gretl when he was in a bad mood already? He swam forward, both curious and concerned. He would have to break it up. The general did not restrain himself well, and Trose was one wrong move from removing the man from his position, no matter how wealthy his family was. He had skated by through bribery under the previous Mand’alor, but Trose was not having it.
His blood turned to ice when he saw the fairy being crushed against a window. Oh karking hells, Trose was going to kill him.
“Hey!” Longshot shouted, and he swam over to the two quickly, putting himself between the enraged general and the most likely concussed diplomat. He used his momentum to separate the two. He heard the fairy thump against the sandy floor, and a protective rage (that was definitely because it was his job to help Wullf and not because of any lust/love he was feeling, definitely not) boiled up inside him. “What the kark do you think you’re doing?”
“He’s a fairy,” Grutl answered, as if that explained anything.
“He’s here on a diplomatic mission,” Longshot responded through gritted teeth. “And you may have just jeopardized that.”
“We don’t need the fairies help,” the general answered, swimming back and forth with a quick stroke of his tail, “The previous Alor would have never negotiated with fairies.”
“The previous alor was beaten fair and square by Trose,” Longshot said, “And Keldabe is all the better for it.”
The general glared at him before swimming off, leaving Longshot to care for Wullf. Not that he minded. He wouldn’t have trusted Grutl to administer aid to the fairy anyways, and he certainly didn’t trust him enough to turn his back on him to do it. He waited for a few minutes to make sure the general was not returning, before moving to look after Wullf. He commed Trose as he glanced over the wings and head injury, wincing. Wullf would need a medic.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Wullf woke up with a raging headache the next morning, and he winced at the bright light filtering in through a window. There wasn’t a window right across from his bed in the rooms he was using. He had two on either side of the bed. He blinked in confusion before glancing around, noticing the white of the walls, how there was rock along the floor instead of just sand, and… the water was fresh… Not like new, but like this was specifically freshwater.
A hand closed the kelp curtains, and the sun was no longer blinding him. He glanced over and then down when he saw both Longshot and Trose there. Here was the part where the two of them told him that he was no longer welcomed here, that negotiations failed, that they would have to send someone else, someone more competent. Wullf was good at his job. He knew he was good at it, but for some reason lately, things had not been going as planned. It was why Mace had sent him on a vacation before he was sent here. It was why he was told to get out more, as if that would help anything.
“I would like to formally apologize to you and the Fairy Council for General Grutl’s actions yesterday,” Trose said.
Record scratch. “What?” Wullf asked.
“His actions were cruel and unprovoked and are completely against what we are trying to do here. Ni ceta,” Trose said, with a deep bow. “I understand if you would like to return home, after Kix clears you, of course, but I hope this will not affect the dealings between the Fairy lands and Mandalore in the future.”
“If you would not be opposed, I would like to remain and finish up our negotiations, Alor,” Wullf answered.
“I would like that a lot,” Trose said. “Our meetings have been postponed until the medics clear you.”
“That won’t be necessary,” Wullf answered. “We can continue on schedule.”
“Oh, as much as I would like to pretend to believe you, I’m more scared of Kix,” Trose said, “I hope you feel better soon. Longshot will remain here to make sure there are no more… incidents.”
________________________________________________________________________________________________________
A few days later, Wullf was still in the medbay, and he was starting to get annoyed. Yes, his wings weren’t healing as quickly as they should. No, it’s not a medical problem. Yes, it was an underlying problem. No, there wasn’t anything they could do to fix it. No, he wasn’t going to tell them what it was. And apparently, NO, HE COULDN’T GO BACK TO HIS ROOMS. He understood not being allowed to continue the negotiations, but couldn’t he at least be back in his guest room? But nooo, they had to monitor his wings healing.
He wasn’t pouting, no matter what Longshot said, and he could wipe that smug look off his face too, while he was at it. His arms were crossed, as the merman medic, Kix, finished up his check up and then packed away his things to leave. He wanted to flop down on his back, but his wings were being held out, instead of folding in like they normally would, so he had to sleep on his stomach. He hated it.
“So…” Longshot started. “Want to talk about why the fairies and mermaids don’t get along?”
“Sure, why not?” Wullf said, with a sigh.
“Oh, okay!” Longshot said, surprised. Wullf turned to look at him, ignoring the tightening in his gut at how attractive the young merman was. He wasn’t Wullf’s type… too loud, too funny, too much of an extrovert. At least, he was genuinely funny, and the pranks he saw weren’t cruel or meant to humiliate. Besides, he was young. He would never go for an older fairy like himself. “Well… I know the mermaids were upset, because they thought if you… general fairy you’s, not you you… were more aggressive than it wouldn’t have spread so far.”
“It makes sense, and I know sometimes I think that too,” Wullf said, meeting Longshot’s eyes. “But we are not an aggressive people. We are peacekeepers. We help people, protect them. But we only use force if we have to. Before things got bad, we thought we could negotiate. We didn’t see how much their influence was spreading. Maybe we should have been aggressive, but we didn’t know that at the time.”
“Hindsight is always 20/20,” Longshot said. “I think we’re both right and both wrong. We’re just different societies with different customs and beliefs. It doesn’t make one better than the other. We just are. And I think once we accept that, then we can be friends. We can understand each other. The fairies can be the shield, and the mermaids can be the sword.”
“I think… I think I like that,” Wullf said, smiling.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________
He was finally free from the medbay and allowed to return to the negotiations. He had almost begged Trose to ask the medics if they could continue in the medical room he was in. But he withheld, and now he was free. Longshot was still staying by his side, but Wullf found he didn’t mind the younger merman’s presence. He filled the silence, but he also knew when Wullf wanted quiet, and he even knew when a single person’s presence grated along his nerves, and he would leave as quickly as he could and give Wullf the rest of the night off, alone.
“How are your wings?” Longshot asked, coming in to see Wullf stretching them.
“They’re alright… I woke up a bit late, but I’m almost done,” he answered, expanding them as far as they would go, flapping them a few times. It was a bit harder in the water, but he still managed just fine. He had to work them every morning if he didn’t want cramps throughout the day, and he had to use them soon, or their strength would start deteriorating. Maybe today he could go out for an hour or so and fly above the water.
“That’s good to know,” Longshot said. “I didn’t know fairies had to stretch their wings so thoroughly every morning.”
“Oh, they don’t,” Wullf said, doing the last little stretches he needed.
“They don’t?” Longshot asked, confused.
“Oh… well, our wings are connected to the Force,” Wullf said, “And while there are fairies who can’t use the connection, all of their wings still connect correctly… But mine doesn’t… the healers didn’t think I would ever fly, but I went to wing therapy and I worked… I can fly, but not as well or as fast or as long as the others. And it means I have to do certain things to keep my wings in shape that the Force does for them.”
“Oh,” Longshot said, frowning, “I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay,” Wullf said. “I’m used to it.”
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________
The negotiations were over… finally. Or at least, he should feel like it was finally done, but he was finding it hard to be happy that he was going home. He was enjoying Longshot’s company, and while he knew that it was more due to his job than desire, it felt nice to have someone around so often. Longshot was maybe only there because he was getting paid, but he did seem genuinely interested in what Wullf said. They shared some nerdy passions, like history and science. Longshot used the science to pull pranks, and Wullf was just fascinated by how the world works, and he always wanted to know more.
“Heading home then?” Longshot asked, looking a bit down.
“Yeah, I will be,” Wullf said.
“I’ll miss you,” Longshot said, quickly, and his shoulders hunched in on themselves.
“I’ll miss you too,” Wullf said, and he handed him a slip of paper. “This is my address… if you want to send me a letter.”
Longshot took the paper, and he tucked it into a pouch on his belt loop. He smiled at Wullf and waved as the fairy swam to the surface. Once he broke the water, he frowned. But he allowed himself a small bit of hope. It had been four weeks now, because of the medbay stay. Surely his family and friends would be waiting for him.
But when he arrived home, it was just Mace, who was glad to see him. And they did chat for a bit, and he told him he would submit his report by the next evening. They were probably just waiting for him at his house. Of course. They wouldn’t know when he was arriving. It would be much more reasonable to wait at his flower than the city limits. Also, there are so many different levels. Yes, of course, they were at his…
He arrived to an empty flower… in the same state as when he had left it. He frowned, his wings wilting behind him. Maybe they would be here in the morning. He was pretty tired, didn’t really want company anyways. He slowly unpacked his stuff and started writing up the report, as the sunset and his flower started to glow. He should be able to speak to his flower, but like his wings, it was something that he lacked the connection for. It started to glow in the pale yellow and blue light that matched its petals.
The next morning, nobody came over, and Wullf wanted to pretend that it didn’t bother him, but it did. He had been used to having someone who paid attention to him, who was excited to see him. He forgot that was not how things worked for him back here. He submitted the report and then did some household chores. He tried to message his friends, but they didn’t respond. He messaged his parents and siblings, and only his sister looked at it, but she left him on read. He sighed.
The next day, however, he received his first letter from Longshot, and he opened it excitedly. He read the words over and over again, glad to have an update, a friend who cared about how he was doing. He spent the rest of the day, pouring over a letter to send back. Sure, it had been three days, but Longshot reached out to him. He didn’t wait for Wullf to make the first move. A small piece of his soul started to warm up, and it almost made up for all the people here who should care and didn’t.
He was back on vacation, it seemed, but this time, he was okay with it. He read the books Longshot liked, watched the shows and movies he recommended, just so he could write entire essays about them to his new friend. Even if he didn’t like them. The two would debate through letters and tell stories, ask for advice. He was waiting for Longshot to ask for advice on dating, and his heart would break just a little when he did, but for now, he lingered in the feelings of love and happiness.
It was Longshot who convinced him to give his family one more chance, and Wullf nodded. He had been allowing this condition of his to control him for too long. So he flew down, taking several short breaks, and he knocked on his parent’s door. His older brother answered, and Wullf smiled, ignoring the stunned look on his face.
“I didn’t think they invited you,” his brother said, and Wullf felt his smile falter a little bit. He hadn’t been invited. He didn’t realize there was anything going on to be invited for. His brother must have realized his misstep. “Oh, of course they did. I guess I thought you weren’t going to be back in time to see it.”
“I didn’t get an invite,” Wullf said, quietly, swallowing around the lump in his throat.
“Must have been lost in the mail,” his brother said, trying to salvage this conversation, and then he ushered Wullf inside. Everyone fell silent when he entered, and Wullf hadn’t felt this unwelcome in a place since he was a child. He had even felt more welcome in Keldabe when the General had threw him into a wall.
“Wullf,” his mother said. “Why it’s lovely to see you.”
“I came to visit, Mother,” he said, “Just like you wanted.”
“I’m glad you’re here,” she answered.
“What are we celebrating?” he asked, trying to clear the awkwardness in the room.
“Oh, your cousin just won first place in her flying race,” his uncle answered, and Wullf nodded.
He followed his mother to the kitchen and helped her with the cooking. She pursed her lips but didn’t say anything. Wullf almost stopped, but he couldn’t bring himself to go back into the main room with everyone else. Although, his eyes burned at the fact that not even his mom wanted him near. He ignored it, pushing it back. They just worked in silence.
“I negotiated a treaty between the Fairies and the Mermaids,” Wullf said.
“That’s nice, dear,” his mother answered.
When he got home that night, well into the early hours of the morning, because he couldn’t bring himself to stay at his parent’s house. His mother’s lack of arguing really drove the nail into the coffin. He slumped into his room, burying his face into his pillow. He didn’t cry, but it was almost a thing. He just slept. When he woke up the next morning, he wrote a short letter to Longshot.
I guess they’ve moved on from me, Shot. I wasn’t invited to celebrate my cousin’s win. They didn’t come visit me. And all I got was a “that’s nice, dear” when I mentioned being a central part of negotiations. I shouldn’t be upset. I knew it was coming… I just hoped… Well, it doesn’t matter. I was wrong either way.
Not having the energy to do much else, he curled his wings underneath him, turning on one of Longshot’s favorite shows. It was mindless, which was just what he needed.
The next day, he went to work, and he threw himself into it, ignoring how lonely and small his home had started to feel. And how quiet it was… He had grown used to Longshot’s boisterous laugh, and had even found comfort in it. Now, he only had letters, that he was keeping safe, tucked away in a drawer. He would pull them out and reread them whenever he was feeling down. He had found himself pouring over each page multiple times a day, but now he had other distractions.
It took a bit longer for his next letter to get to him, and it was all of the same stuff, some lamenting of how bad his family was, and wishes that he could be there to fight them for Wullf. It all made Wullf smile and feel better, and he almost missed the one line scrunched at the bottom of the page. The one thing he had been hoping to say to Longshot, but had been holding back. In fact, he didn’t notice until he was putting the letter with the others.
I love you.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________
It had been two weeks, almost three, since Longshot sent his last letter, and he hadn’t gotten a response back. He cursed himself. He should have known better than to send the I love you. They were just friends. Obviously, just friends. Now, Wullf felt uncomfortable as well as upset. No wonder, he wasn’t responding. He groaned out loud and work, and received a small glare from his boss.
He gave a sheepish smile and returned to work. He could write an apology letter when he got home, pretend he was drunk? No, his feelings were real, and he wasn’t going to deny them. But he would say that he was okay with being friends (only slightly a lie) and that he wouldn’t bring it up again. He promised himself that he would try to make things right, because he wanted the fairy to be happy. He wanted to help him realize his own self worth.
Once his work day was over, he was immediately out the door, swimming home as fast as he could. He needed to write his letter, needed to make things right, needed to… There was someone outside his house, sitting on the step. He drew a knife, just in case, and slowly swam closer. He peeked around the coral, blinking. It was a fairy… It was Wullf!
“Wullf!” he shouted, and he tackled the man into a hug. The two went tumbling, but Wullf was laughing, and Longshot was laughing. It felt right to be here right now. Wullf’s arms came to wrap around him too, and when they finally landed, with a soft poof of sand, they were both grinning and hugging. “I thought you were mad.”
“No, I love you too,” Wullf said, and Longshot couldn’t help but kiss the older man.