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“I’ll see you again. I promise.”
The tiny, three-fingered hand lets go of his cheek, and he sets the little one down on the floor. Grogu toddles over to the cute Jedi - a very cute Jedi. When the Armorer told him about the order of enemy sorcerers, why didn't she mention that the sorcerers can be this attractive?
Anyway, it doesn't matter now. The Jedi picks up Grogu, and soon, two of the cutest beings Din has ever seen are walking away from him, into the elevator and behind its door. With a sigh, he puts his helmet back on and turns around, only to find Cara, Fennec, Bo-Katan and Koska all staring at him.
“What are you looking at?” Din asks.
Koska quirks her eyebrows, Bo-Katan cocks her head towards the elevator, Cara’s cheeks pucker like she is holding back a laugh, and Fennec is the first one to speak aloud:
“Quick! You still have time.”
“Time for what?” Din has no idea what there could possibly be left for him to do, maybe ever. Grogu is gone with the cute Jedi. There is no one left who needs him.
Cara rolls her eyes and nearly screams: “Go get him!”
“What?” Din looks to the direction where the Jedi’s magic-loaded body just vanished. Does she really mean…?
“You obviously already miss your foundling”, Bo-Katan says.
“And you obviously have a crush on the Jedi”, Koska adds.
“I don’t have a…” Din starts, but everyone else cuts him off in unison:
“You do!”
The swivelling sensation in his stomach tells him that his companions are right. But do they really mean that he could..?
Fennec gives him no time to think about it any further. “We must be quick, before he boards his starfighter.” She is already on her way towards him and gesturing at him to lead the way.
“I’m coming, too.” Cara joins Fennec, then Bo-Katan and Koska.
“I’m not going anywh…” Din is cut off by Bo-Katan’s sharp words:
“You are.”
“But he’s going to train Grogu to become a Jedi”, Din insists, willing any false hopes rising in his heart to dim down.
“Didn’t you see how he was looking at you, begging with his eyes for you to come along and train the foundling with him, so that he may grow up as both a Mandalorian and a Jedi?”
Din blinks behind his visor. Koska has definitely been carefully observant if she read all that in the few mostly silent minutes the Jedi spent on the bridge with them.
The women are right in front of him now, in one line that only leaves him with one way to go, towards the elevator. And that's where he heads for, risking a hopeful smile inside his helmet, because maybe, if any of what they said has even a spark of truth in it…..
The elevator seems to take ages to get down. Once they are on the hangar level, Din breaks into a sprint, followed by his companions who promptly shoot every remaining stormtrooper that shows up on their way.
But he was too slow. When they reach the main hangar, the lone X-wing is already taking off and accelerating.
Cara reacts in a flash. Still running, she picks a tracker from her pocket and throws it with all her strength. It sticks on the starfighter’s hull right before the thrusters flash and send the small ship into hyperspace.
“Nice throw”, Fennec says, and Din has to agree, even though he would never admit it aloud.
Next, Fennec has a commlink in her hand and says into it: “We need a pick up.”
It does not take long for Boba’s ship to glide into the hangar. On board, Cara plugs the tracker's signal into the navicomputer, and soon they are in hyperspace, on their way to the same destination. Both Cara and Bo-Katan take out their commlinks and say the same words:
“We need back up.”
Apparently, whoever they are talking to asks for elaboration, because Cara adds:
“You don’t wanna miss this.”
At the same time, Bo-Katan explains in her own call: “A vod is going to get his riduur.”
“I’m not…” Din protests, but whoever is on the call with Bo-Katan does not hear it, as she switches her commlink off. He is already starting to wonder if this was an even worse idea than he first thought.
Again, he is not given much time to think, as they drop out of hyperspace in the upper atmo of a green, cloudy planet. It is raining, and Boba steers them down through grey clouds and over lush forests, until Cara points at a hill in the horizon.
“The signal is coming from there.”
Just as expected, behind the hill, they find an opening where the Jedi’s X-wing is parked, next to a small construction site where ant droids carry stones back and forth. A black-clad figure is climbing out of the ship, helping another smaller figure along and opening an umbrella to cover them both, while an astromech droid jumps out of its port.
Boba lands next to the starfighter, and soon, the rainy sky fills up with more traffic.
Two Mandalorian drop-ships emerge out of hyperspace, open their bellies and let out full squadrons of Mandalorians floating down with their jetpacks. Half of them are wearing the blue-shaded armour of the Nite Owls, led by Axe Woves, while half of them are protected by the more personalised armour used by the Children of the Watch. Among them, Din recognises the Armorer and Paz Vizsla, along with many members of their covert Din thought were forever lost in the Imperial raid.
Din has never seen so many Mandalorians together, let alone members of different tribes. Have they all been united by Din's simple will to go after his foundling and perhaps ask an attractive Jedi out?
Next to the drop-ships, a New Republic troop carrier slows down and eases itself to the ground. Carson Teva jumps out of it, followed by a ship-full of former Rebels, now New Republic soldiers and officers.
Yet another ship lands next to the troop carrier - this one much more original, looking like it has been patched together of vintage ship parts from various centuries. It hits the ground with a loud bang, and as soon as the boarding ramp opens, sounds of swearing come out, in a voice that Din recognises immediately as Peli Motto’s. She emerges out of the ship with her pit droids and Cobb Vanth on her tail, accompanied by more Mos Pelgo residents than Din would ever have believed could fit in that size of a ship. Many of them spread their hands and look up to the sky in wonder, perhaps seeing rain for the first time in their lives.
“What did we miss?” Cobb asks loudly.
Cara silences him with a hiss. “Nothing yet.” She nods at Din, who turns away from the excessive back up troops to face the Jedi.
Rather understandably, the Jedi has backed away several paces. He has dropped his umbrella to free his hand to hold his green laser sword up, the other arm closed protectively around Grogu. Even the astromech next to him has his taser up, ready to defend its Master and his new student against odds that are certainly not on their side.
All is dead quiet, apart from the hum of the green laser and the steady patting of rain droplets on Mandalorian armour. Din moves closer to the Jedi and raises his palms as a token of peace. “We mean no harm to you or the child.”
The Jedi’s gaze flicks between Din and the sizeable army behind him, visibly uncertain if he should believe him or not. In the end, he does turn off his laser blade and gestures his droid to put down his taser, too.
“Then why are you here?”
“Because…” Din resists the temptation to look back and ask someone what to say. Instead, he opts for simply telling the truth: “I don’t want you to train Grogu alone. I want to come with you, help him learn the ways of both the Jedi and the Mandalorians. And if it’s okay, I’d like to take you out for dinner.”
Din can practically sense how every spectator behind him is holding their breath, waiting for what the Jedi will answer. He looks straight into Din’s visor in silence, for an eternity-long moment that has Din’s heartbeat racing, until he finally says:
“I thought you’d never ask.”
Relief and joy flood Din’s veins in one sweep. He picks up the discarded umbrella from the ground, raises it above them to protect the Jedi’s already wet clothing from more rain. Carefully keeping his back towards their audience, he uses his free hand to inch his helmet up just enough to kiss the Jedi. Behind him, the crowd breaks into loud cheers.
“Sorry, Jedi, my friends were a bit over-eager”, Din explains as the Jedi chuckles against his mouth.
“It’s Luke. You can call me Luke. And the only problem with this…” He waves his hand to gesture at the crowd. “...is that this was supposed to be a secret location for my Jedi Academy.”
“I’m sorry, Luke. I’ll find you another one. Even more secret. Even more green. With a beautiful house. And more students. And…” Din kisses Luke again between each item that comes to his mind. He already has so many things he wants to give to this man, even though he has barely known him for an hour.
“What happened to the dinner, Mandalorian?” Luke chuckles again.
“Call me Din. The dinner is how it will all start.”