Chapter Text
Grogu looks up at the cheery welcome banner in apprehension.
It's taken sheer months for his dad to finally decide on a suitable school for him and Yoda's Academy for Li'l Padawans is apparently the winner. His dad works all day at Nana Peli's auto-shop, so he doesn't have the capacity or the energy (or the knowledge, truthfully) to home-school Grogu, and Auntie Ahsoka doesn't have the time to teach Grogu either. Their other options are, well, less than desirable, because the last time his dad left him in the care of someone who ought to have been teaching him, it led to a whole bar being blown up.
Also, it led to him being in a bar.
So, Yoda's Academy it is.
One short glance at his dad tells Grogu that he isn't the only one feeling wary about this whole ordeal.
His dad sighs heavily before crouching down before Grogu; they're lingering by the gates leading to the kindergarten class; most of the other children have already gone inside. Grogu can feel, more than see, the stares of curiosity from the other parents, as well as a few glances of appreciation. He does not approve of those kinds of looks, but at least they're not trying to hurt his dad.
Those are the worst kinds of looks.
"Listen, kid," his dad says, his voice muffled through the motorcycle helmet; he won't take it off unless, not in public and very rarely in private, but Grogu can feel his dad's warm stare regardless. "This is an important day for us." And thus begins the lecture – it's not like he hasn't heard it five times already, but what's a sixth, really? "So, you're going to be respectful and good, like always. No biting the other kids. No running away. No eating anything that doesn't belong to you – actually, don't eat anything unless your teacher gives you the all-clear, got it?"
Grogu barely restrains himself from rolling his eyes but nods, throwing himself into his dad's arms for another clinging embrace; ever since his dad adopted him from that orphanage, it's always been them. Together. Always.
This will be the first time they've ever been separated and whilst it is mildly thrilling, it's also quite… nerve-wracking. But Grogu doesn't know how to express himself like that, so he settles for wrapping himself tightly around his dad in hopes of getting his feelings across.
It must work because his dad clings back tighter.
"You got this," his dad murmurs, though Grogu isn't entirely sure which of them he's speaking to.
He's about to pull away and give his dad his most assuring look when a door opens behind him. The sound is shortly followed by a man's voice, friendly and warm, welcoming them to the school.
"You must be Grogu," the voice says. Grogu pulls away from his dad to turn around and inspect the newcomer who knows his name. His eyes fall upon a young man, with sandy-blond hair and soft eyes. His aura is welcoming, gentle, open and Grogu immediately finds comfort in his presence. He coos happily, his anxiety slowly ebbing away at the sight of a friendly smile. "I'm Mr Skywalker, I'll be your teacher. It's nice to finally meet you and—"
There's a pause as confusion flitters across the man's face.
Grogu blinks, tilting his head as he feels a cool breeze against his back and the telling sound of a growling motorcycle engine. He barely restrains himself from rolling his eyes as he peers over his shoulder to find a billowing cloud of smoke as his dad drives away. He narrows his eyes at the shrinking blur and ponders on the reasons why his dad suddenly left.
It's not like him to just abandon Grogu – especially after the arduous adoption process and the fact that they're both deeply aware of Grogu's separation issues. And his dad's separation issues, if he's being frank – after all, Grogu isn't the one with the silver ball in his pocket. It's the first toy his dad gave him, symbolising pretty much everything about their relationship.
Still, he already feels the itch of anxiety beneath his skin; he totters over to Mr Skywalker in hopes of having it soothed away.
"—I'm guessing that was your father?" Mr Skywalker finally finishes his sentence, sounding faintly stunned as he reaches down to curl a hand around Grogu's head. "Is he late for work?"
Grogu really does roll his eyes at that one, because his dad is always late for work; how Nana Peli hasn't fired him yet is beyond his comprehension. He shakes his head, clings to Mr Skywalker's legs and gazes up at the man curiously. He wonders why his dad didn't stay to greet the man, wonders why he hasn't given his teacher the full rundown of what to expect when caring for Grogu… wonders why his protective guardian didn't even bother with his typical threats and in-advance apologies.
But then Mr Skywalker glances down and smiles at Grogu, sincere and sweet.
"Shall we go in? I'll introduce you to your new friends," he says, gently leading Grogu into the school.
And well, his teacher is actually rather quite pretty – or so Uncle Cobb would say.
As they venture towards the school, Grogu can't help but flick one last glance at the wisps of smoke lingering on the road before his eyes skitter up to his teacher's soft smile.
He has his suspicions, but…
No.
It can't be – right?
Becoming a teacher hadn't exactly been written in the stars for Luke; rather, he fell into the role quite literally when he collided with Headmaster Yoda outside the building after being fired for the fourth time that week. Admittedly, taking a client's vintage Mustang out for a drive hadn't been the smartest move for a valet, but Luke's done worse truthfully speaking.
He's just counting every blessing that Headmaster Yoda had found him quite charming and deemed him a good fit for a kindergarten teacher; the year that followed had been gruelling because Yoda does not mess around when it comes to his school, only the best teachers get to grace its grounds and damn it, Luke would do anything to be the best.
Five years later and becoming the best is still a work in progress, but Luke's pretty sure he's made a name for himself for being driven to an almost alarming degree. He gets to know every child, learns the names of every family member, finds out their likes and dislikes, favourite colours, introduces them to his ferret – R2D2 – as well as commits every little conversation to memory, because you never know when a child will ask if you remember their favourite song lyric from three weeks, four days and two hours ago.
He never really expected to love his job this much, but he does.
He really does.
Luke thrives with the highs, embraces the lows and greets every new challenge with bull-headed determination.
Now it seems he has a new challenge to face.
"Mr Skywalker, Grogu keeps eating the paint!"
And oddly enough, it's not the child.
Mr Djarin,
It's unfortunate we didn't get to meet this morning. I hope to fix that soon.
I just wanted to let you know that Grogu is settling in but seems to be having issues with the other children. I've caught him stealing their snacks twice and he's developed a habit of hiding toys in his mouth to avoid sharing them.
If you could come in for a chat, we can sort this whole matter out.
Thank you.
Mr Skywalker (Luke)
Luke doesn't exactly expect a reply during his lunch hour but mere seconds after he's sent his message to Grogu's singular guardian contact, his inbox trills with an incoming email.
Blinking, he opens it with minor trepidation and is quite baffled by what he reads.
Mr Skywalker.
I'm sorry about Grogu's behaviour. He's had some trouble with separation in the past, which makes him quite possessive over what he considers to be 'his'. This is the first time we've been apart of a substantial amount of time which might be proving difficult for him.
As for stealing snacks? Well, it could be worse. He could be eating the kids themselves, so I consider this progress honestly.
I am quite busy, but I'll see if I can schedule in time for a chat.
Din.
Okay, so the man's name is Din and apparently—
Wait.
Eating kids?
Once Luke is over his initial bout of hysteria, he re-reads Din's (Din, Grogu's father's name is Din and oddly, it suits him so nicely? Single syllable, strong starting consonant, soft ending, just fits on his tongue so nicely and— what is he doing?) email.
Luke considers himself to be quite a good judge of character, so he picks apart every word and strains his eyes to read between the lines. Din is a man of few words, clearly, but the ones he does use make an impact. He's smart and quick. Isn't a man of pride and is willing to admit fault but isn't a complete doormat either.
Above everything, he's quite clearly proud of Grogu.
The love is evident.
The care.
The concern.
Luke bites his lip and tries to establish a mental image of Grogu's father. From the little that he's seen of the man before he dashed away, Luke knows that he has… well, impressive shoulders. Lovely legs, fine arms… a firm body all wrapped up in motorcycle leathers, so he's probably quite fearless. Tough. Confident in his area of expertise. Judging from his email, he's also honest with a dry sense of humour. Like, the driest of humour. Though, he's protective and loyal, isn't afraid of being gentle and—
And now Luke's got a little voice in his head, laughing at him for getting infatuated with a glorified ghost.
The voice sounds horribly like Han.
"How is the new cohort?" Headmaster Yoda asks, catching Luke just before he returns to class.
Luke smiles easily and nods at the question. "I have a good group this year, some interesting characters for sure."
Headmaster Yoda hums serenely before his intelligent eyes carefully cast over Luke's expression.
"And the newest student?" he asks, cocking his head, "a strenuous process, it was. Getting him here."
"Oh, Grogu?" Luke says, "he's… it'll take some time, but I think he's a perfect fit for the class." He opens his mouth to say more but feels instantly foolish and closes it again.
"Go on," Headmaster Yoda encourages, arching a knowing brow.
"His dad," Luke blurts out, "I haven't had the chance to meet him yet – I think he," he flounders uselessly, waving a hand in the air as he gathers his thoughts, "I think he literally ran away from me this morning."
"Interesting," Headmaster Yoda notes slowly, "this bothers you?"
"No one's ever ran away from me before!" Luke insists because he can't explain why he's so fascinated with Din, why he has this uncontrollable urge to meet him and understand what makes the man tic. He's managed to meet every single parent, likes to know the families and get them involved in their child's education – this single anomaly is practically eating away at him. "I just… I want to know why."
"Meddling?" Headmaster Yoda suggests, regarding Luke with steady eyes.
"I'm not going to meddle—" Luke protests at first.
"No," Headmaster Yoda interjects, "meddle, you will."
"—oh my god, I am going to meddle," Luke finishes defeatedly, because he's never met a challenge that he hasn't risen to, and Grogu's father is the most intriguing challenge yet.
He's… god, the man's an enigma tied up in a mystery wrapped up in enticing motorcycle leathers.
Holy shit – does he have a thing for leather?
Din,
Thank you for letting me know – I'll look into some intervention practices to help Grogu settle into his new learning environment. You can help me with this later when you pick him up.
Kind regards,
Luke
The rest of the day passes without incident.
Grogu paints a picture of himself with his dad – it consists of one large green blob with a silver ball and a squished grey blob with lots of pink hearts around it. It seems Grogu had been very confident with his painting at first and then panicked when he realised how much space he had left for his dad. All in all, it's a lovely piece and speaks volumes about how much Grogu loves his guardian.
"This is your dad, right?" Luke asks, pointing to Grogu.
Grogu nods – he's pretty nonverbal, which Luke takes in his stride as he can sense intelligence rolling off the child in waves – and splatters another heart onto the page.
"Could you paint him without the helmet?" Luke asks lightly.
Grogu looks at him plainly, pointedly smearing another pink heart next to his dad's face.
Right.
That's clearly a dead-end then.
"Is he… did he have to leave in a hurry this morning?" Luke asks instead, trying hard to sound curious without being overly probing. Grogu glances up at him, blinks once before he returns to showering messy hearts upon his painting. "I mean, he left quite quickly and I do like meeting your guardians. Is he picking you up? Maybe I can meet him then?"
Grogu answers with coo as he smacks his hand against his painted dad's face.
Luke merely smiles and nods. "What about—" but then he cuts himself off because it's a rather delicate matter, asking for the whereabouts of his other parent. Assuming he has another parent is bad enough, so Luke drops it and just waves Grogu's concern away when the child looks up at him again.
Perhaps Grogu just doesn't have enough space for his other parent.
Perhaps Grogu's parents are separated and he's living with his father right now.
Perhaps Grogu's dad is a widow and he had to leave quickly to make it to work on time because it's just him and his kid and he needs the money and—
Fuck.
Luke really needs to stop watching those soap operas Chewy loves.
Mr Skywalker.
I cannot come into school because I'm not sure what I will do if I see you smile at my son like he's the centre of your universe again, he's never become so readily attached to anyone quite like you and it makes me feel
Message Deleted!
When school ends, Luke waits patiently with Grogu, who has his large eyes pinned to the door. He's taught many children, but there's something about Grogu's adoration for his father which is just… refreshingly nice. Absently, he wonders if it's due to his own issues regarding male paternal figures, but it's a thought which is quickly dashed away.
The door to his class opens; the receptionist, a polite young man named Finn, gestures to a woman beside him with a dazzling smile.
"Here's Mr Skywalker's class," Finn says warmly, "this is Cara Dune, she's come to pick up Grogu." Finn nods towards Luke before he slips out of the room with a short wave to Grogu.
Cara is a strong woman with dark eyes and an indiscernible expression. She walks into the room with slow, deliberate steps, owning the space she occupies with all the lithe grace of a panther. Luke takes one look at her and knows that this is a woman who must be worthy of Din Djarin's heart.
Oddly enough, it hurts to think about the man being taken.
His spiralling thoughts are brought to an abrupt stop when Grogu suddenly cries in delight and rushes over to her, barrelling into her legs with babbling joy. Her expression immediately melts into a fond smile as she reaches down to cup a gentle hand around his head.
It's a soft touch, affectionate and… well, maternal.
"You must be his mother," Luke says, tucking the pain in his heart away for later; he reaches out to shake her hand but falters when she merely arches a brow at him.
"Must be?" she echoes curiously before she glances down to where Grogu's tangled himself up between her legs. "Did you tell him that?"
Grogu merely coos at her, smiling like the little imp he is.
Cara merely hums and strokes her fingers over the shell of his ears.
"I'm not his mother," Cara says, finally glancing up to stare impassively at Luke; he gets the feeling that he's being weighed up, assessed, tested for some bizarre reason. "We don't really do labels in our family, do we Grogu? It took long enough for Din to get over being called 'daddy', didn't it?"
Grogu merely grizzles and nods happily.
Luke tries to ignore the heat burning in his gut at the thought of Din being called daddy.
"Right, so should I expect you to pick him up tomorrow?" he asks, canting his head.
Cara hums and swoops down to collect Grogu into her arms.
"No," she says, nuzzling Grogu warmly, "I'm on drop-off duty – I've left the timetable with reception. They'll keep you updated. Now, I heard this one has caused you some mischief," she purses her lips at Grogu who suddenly grows quiet, "care to explain?"
Luke nods and gestures for her to sit down so they can sort things out.
He also tries to ignore the alarming concern when he realises that Din's created a timetable.
In all honesty – what the fuck?
Mr Skywalker.
Grogu informs me that he enjoyed his first day at your academy.
I want to thank you for helping him settle in and clearing up his behavioural issues with Cara – I know he can be a handful at times but he's clever. I know he can do well if you give him a chance.
Thank you. Again.
Din.
Din,
You're welcome! Grogu is a spirited child, I won't lie, but he is sweet and has impeccable manners when the mood strikes him. Honestly, I look forward to having him in my class for the rest of the year!
I am a little curious about your timetable, however – do you not have time to come into school at all?
It's not a problem, I've just never seen such an extensive child-care routine before.
I'm a little impressed.
And please, call me Luke!
Kind regards,
Luke
Luke.
I'm afraid I won't be able to come to school for the foreseeable.
I'm busy at work and can't imagine I'd have any free time for the rest of his academic year with you.
Apologies. If you require someone to come in, then please refer to the timetable. I have planned for all the necessary arrangements.
Din.
"I must have upset him," Luke says with finality, curling up on Leia's sofa with a mulish pout, "why else would he just… avoid coming into school?"
His mind is just stuck on the sentence, his academic year with you, as in Luke is the problem here. Clearly.
"Maybe he's busy," Leia suggests, passing him a mug of decaffeinated coffee. She perches on the armchair next to him, hand resting atop her bump. "Not everyone has the time to cart their kids to and from school."
"I guess," Luke says, drumming his fingers against the hot porcelain.
"Or he could've taken one look at you and thought: ‘this twink is teaching my kid’?" Han says with a dry snort, "he's probably busy trying to avoid you whilst looking for a new school."
"Han!" Leia scolds.
"What's a twink?" Luke wrinkles his nose.
"Han!" Leia scolds again.
The next day, Luke prepares himself to learn more about Din Djarin in any way possible.
The man not being able to come into school is just a single hurdle that Luke can leap over easily.
He meets Cara once more, greets her warmly and is pleased when she actually shakes his hand. The day is much better than the last as Grogu doesn't steal a single snack, though he still spends the first two hours of the day staring out the window in hopes of catching sight of his father.
He emails Din, requesting a copy of this supposed timetable and is astonished when he receives it alongside a comprehensive list of contact details for each person in the Grogu Babysitter's Network, which isn't the actual name but come on.
This is definitely a network of babysitters.
"You have a big family, don't you?" Luke says to Grogu during continuous provision; he's watching as Grogu slowly organises number tiles into groups of odd, even and even prime numbers. It's pretty advanced stuff but, Luke's quickly learning that Grogu is a pretty advanced child. Though, he still has issues with recognising certain colours and Luke knows that, eventually, they'll have to work on his verbal skills too. However, it's evident he communicates with his father, which means Grogu has some basic capacity in speech and language. Regardless, he's also quite the loner, as the other children are giving quite a wide berth for now, but Luke knows he can fix that soon enough.
Grogu glances up at him and nods at the question.
"Do you all live together?"
Grogu releases a wail of cackling sounds before he shakes his head with gleaming eyes.
Luke feels like he's asked something rather stupid.
"So," Luke fumbles, waving a hand in the air, "is it just you and your dad? Living together?"
Grogu blinks at him and abruptly turns back to the task at hand. Right, probably too invasive right now. Time to build up some trust. He glances around the room to quickly peruse the rest of his class; they all seem to be getting along just fine without any adult interference, so Luke focuses on Grogu for the moment.
"I was adopted," he informs him quietly, his nape prickling when Grogu snaps his head up to stare at Luke with large, intense eyes. "My mother died when I was a baby. My dad… wasn't around. My uncle, he… he helped me find a new family, a new home. Owen and Beru, they gave me a home." Grogu is silent, tilting his head as he listens attentively. "So, you know," Luke continues with a small smile, "I get that not every family looks the same. As long as you're loved, as long as you're happy and healthy, then it doesn't matter what your family looks like, right?"
And Grogu releases a stream of excitable babble, pointing at Luke insistently before pointing at himself. Luke doesn't understand at first; not until Grogu is moments away from climbing into his lap with enthusiastic intent.
"You— I was adopted… were you adopted too?" he cants his head curiously.
Grogu nods furiously, cooing with joy.
"Your dad adopted you?" Luke asks needlessly again.
Grogu nods once more before returning to his task, humming happily under his breath as he organises his numbers. Luke merely watches him as he slowly digests this newfound information.
So, Din adopted Grogu? That's… that's nice.
And if Luke's heart feels alarmingly fluttery in his chest, then that's no one's business but his own.
Luke meets Grogu's second babysitter that afternoon – the rest of the children have been picked up until it's just him and the child left in the classroom. Grogu is happily scribbling on a piece of paper whilst Luke paces the room, wondering how to process this whole situation.
He's had children get picked up by separate parents, he's had children get picked up by several babysitters – he's never seen a military-style operation with the aims of ensuring that Din and Luke never meet, ever.
Which is all presumptuous reasoning, but it's not entirely ridiculous. The man has even pencilled in backup guardians for extenuating circumstances, as well as noting down who'd be in charge of parent-teacher conferences and any charity or competitive events taking place.
Din's not down for anything.
It's rather alarming that someone is this avoidant of getting involved in their child's schooling, especially when Din's apparently tried so hard to get the best school for Grogu, plus it's evident that Grogu has a lot of love for his dad, so… so it must be Luke who's the problem, right?
Right?
"Mr Skywalker?" Finn's voice calls out lightly. "This is, uh, Cobb Vanth? He's here for Grogu."
And Luke plasters on a friendly smile and turns to see one of the most attractive men to have ever graced his classroom. Even Finn, who's happily married to a very handsome pilot, seems rather taken with the guy. Luke watches as Cobb saunters into the room, jogging up to Grogu with a dimpled smile and wide arms. He gives off an aura that is distinctively Han Solo and Luke idly wonders if they've been separated at birth.
"Hey troublemaker," Cobb drawls, picking Grogu up with a throaty laugh, "been biting anyone today? Used any of that language I definitely didn't teach you? Because if your dad asks, you know to blame it on Fennec, right?"
Grogu babbles and places both hands on Cobb's face, squishing the cheeks with sheer joy.
"Yeah, you know," Cobb says, tucking Grogu into the crook of one arm and using the other to wave at Finn. "Thanks for showing me around pal."
"You're welcome," Finn says, giving Luke a look that speaks volumes before he disappears out of the room. Luke takes several breaths and tries to focus on his mission – to uncover all of Din's secrets, starting with his marital status.
"So, if Cara isn't Grogu's mother, then—"
"You thought Cara was Grogu's mother?" Cobb asks before he throws his head back in hysterical, cackling laughter. Oh damn, he's definitely Han's long-lost brother, fuck, there's two of them.
"—I don't suppose you're Grogu's—"
"You think I'm Grogu's mother?" Cobb cuts him off, laughing even harder. Grogu peers at Cobb with concern when his voice grows hoarse and wheezy, "no offence buddy, but I haven't been anything remotely female in years, you dig?"
"N-No! I wasn't implying— I didn't mean— I'm sorry," Luke ducks his head, gnawing his lip as he feels his cheeks heat up.
"Nah, it's fine," Cobb is quick to wave away his apologies, "I'm just… I'm not the parent-type. I'm more… the uncle you invite over and immediately regret, 'cause now your kid knows how to swear in four different languages, type."
"Only four?" Luke teases before he can stop himself. His words draw Cobb to a halt, who arches a brow and considers Luke steadily, gently rocking Grogu in his arm as he does so. The silence only lasts a beat or so, but eventually, Cobb's lips curl into a delighted grin.
"Yeah," he says, eyes flickering down to Grogu, "he'll do."
Grogu cries out with joy.
"Do for what?" Luke asks, utterly mystified.
"See you, Mr Skywalker!" Cobb salutes him, turns on his heel and saunters out of the room with a second look back. "Enjoy meeting Migs!"
Who the fuck is Migs?
Migs Mayfeld, as Luke quickly learns, is rough around the edges and isn't afraid to tell him to piss off when Luke innocently enquires about Din's appearance. And relationship status. And his whereabouts in general.
The man laughs himself hoarse as he does so, which admittedly takes most of the sting out of the insult.
But he still doesn't give Luke a solid answer.
Luke.
Grogu told me about your story – thank you for making him feel less alone.
The adoption process was difficult as he was orphaned at a young age. I was adopted myself. It's probably why I felt so connected to him when we first met.
He would like me to tell you that he doesn't mind sitting by himself in class, but I have my reservations. I want him to be surrounded by people who love him, so if you could, please help him make friends.
It's rare that he ever encounters someone who doesn't immediately love him, but I know what he's like when he gets into one of his moods.
Thank you.
Din.
PS: What's a Padawan, exactly?
Oh crap.
The man is cute.
Luke is so fucked.
Luke goes to reception during morning break the next day and tries to ply information out of Finn.
He even resorts to bribery and threats, telling Finn that he isn't afraid to tell Yoda about Finn's predilection for using the school's WiFi to Facetime Poe when he should be working. He also tells him that he'll get Rose's number for Rey if it helps, which clearly sweetens the deal as Finn relents with a long-suffering sigh.
"I don't know what he looks like – he kept that helmet of his on throughout the entire meeting," Finn tells him with a shrug, "Yoda didn't seem to care, so I didn't either. Guess it makes him feel safe? Or it's a personal thing? Religious, maybe? I don't know, I used to do something similar before I worked here." He doesn't share what that something similar is exactly, but Luke knows enough about Finn's past to not probe for further details.
"You really don't know what he looks like?" he asks, greedily desperate for any detailed morsel about Din's life.
Finn eyes him closely. "Didn't take you for the shallow type."
"I'm not!" Luke protests, "it's just… I'm just curious! I don't care what he looks like, I just—" and his words trail off as he purses his lips in disappointment, blinking dolefully at Finn until the man visibly crumbles.
"Look," Finn begins, with all the patience and weariness of several saints, "I don't know his relationship status, he didn't fill that bit in on the parent/guardian form. All I know is that he's a mechanic, earns enough for his kid to come here and that he's the only one down as Grogu's emergency contact. Oh, and if he's not available, then everyone else written down on his timetable should be placed in a hat and picked out at random to avoid World War Three breaking out."
"What?" Luke utters.
"Favouritism is frowned upon in the Djarin household," Finn shrugs, "but that's all I know."
"What?" Luke repeats weakly.
"Wait, no it's not – Cara says he rides a motorcycle, speaks four languages and reads to Grogu every night," Finn adds before his smile turns coyly wry, "but you wouldn't be interested in that kind of information, would you?"
Oh god, he reads to his kid every night?
"Do you think it's possible to develop a crush on someone you never met?" Luke asks wildly, drumming his fingers nervously on Finn's desk.
Finn shoots him an unimpressed look.
"If you have to ask that, then it's probably too late," he says, his wedding ring gleaming in the light, "don't you think?"
Din,
It's no problem! I've always been open about my background with the kids!
Most of the time, I start off with an ice-breaker, then I wait until one of them begins to struggle before offering them a hand. By that, I mean I physically remove my artificial hand and pass it to them. It has a 70% chance of being funny. I've only ever really terrified two children with the joke.
Somehow, I think Grogu would appreciate the jest.
Don't worry, being new is always a struggle but the kids are warming up to him – I won't let you or your son down, I promise.
Kind regards,
Luke.
PS: I don't actually know? I asked Headmaster Yoda once and he merely looked disappointed that I had to ask. I'm kinda scared to ask again, to be honest.
Please do not give Grogu your hand. You will not get it back.
Luke realises the severity of Din's warning two hours later when he finds himself bribing Grogu with macaroons in an attempt to get his hand back.
Din,
Grogu may not be able to eat his dinner this evening. I may have spoiled him with seven macaroons in our negotiations.
Sorry about that.
Luke.
You gave him your hand, didn't you?
Well, I'd say seven macaroons is an improvement. The fourth time he stole the keys to my bike, he refused to give them back until I persuaded my boss to bake him a birthday cake.
His birthday wasn't for another three months, but what could I do?
"Oh my god," Luke breathes, head in his hands as he tries to stifle his helplessly charmed smile, "he's so fucking cute."
"Brown eyes sends his regards," Migs says when he drops Grogu off one morning.
It takes Luke several minutes to regulate his breathing because holy fuck, Din has brown eyes? They're probably big and soulful, giving doe-eyed a whole new meaning and—
"Mr Skywalker, Sera pushed Codin over!"
—and he has a job to do, fuck.
So, Luke can safely say that he's intrigued by Din, if not a little infatuated.
He cannot safely say if Din is taken at this point, but his classroom soon becomes the stage for an outright parade of attractive, strong, intelligent people who are all lucky enough to have a slice of Din's attention.
It's frustrating that none of them will answer Luke properly when he asks about Din; all he gets in return is arched brows and thinly-veiled amusement. For a desperate, wild moment he wonders if they're going back to Din and gossiping about the needy kindergarten teacher who's clearly obsessed with him.
It makes him glad that no one is really taking him up on his offer to chat about Din.
Admittedly, he's slightly relieved that he doesn't know about Din's relationship status – he's not sure what he'd do if the man were to be taken.
Then again, he's not sure what he'd do if he learns that Din is single.
Din,
I was wondering if
Do you have a wife, husband, partner
Are you into blonds
Would you like to
Are your shoulders as broad out of the leathers
Can I ride your
Grogu has made his first friend today – I'm not sure if he told you this himself. Her name is Winta and they've begun sitting together at lunch. I know you've been quite concerned about him making friends but please don't worry.
The children are warming up to him and I daresay he has most of the faculty wrapped around his finger already.
Kind regards,
Luke
Luke.
Thank you – it's a relief to hear.
I'm glad I chose your class for Grogu. It's clearly the best decision I made.
Din.
"I am the best decision he's made," Luke whispers aloud, staring at the screen until his eyes begin to burn, "did you hear that R2 – I'm the best decision he's made."
His ferret merely squeaks and nips at him, unimpressed by his gushing sighs.
"I think I'm in love," Luke sighs dreamily before he snaps his head around to stare at R2D2 in horror, "what the fuck do I do now?"
"Take him out," Leia says, rolling her eyes after dryly applauding him for his new take on falling in love at first sight.
"I can't just— I don't even know if he's— we haven't even met— I'm his child's teacher, there's ethical— I can't— take him out?" Luke tries to explain, but his face feels so hot, his hands have grown so clammy and he's pretty sure he's actually on the edge of a heart attack. Luke had stormed over to her apartment the moment he recovered from his graceless hysteria, with R2D2 clinging to his shoulders as the ferret emitted a series of furious squeaks.
"Who are we taking out?" Han pipes up, strolling into the kitchen covered in grease and fur, "and what are we using? Knife? Gun? Makeshift noose? Can I make the noose?"
"No, you idiot," Leia says fondly, smacking Han on the arm, "take out as in, on a date?"
Han blinks. "There's a difference?"
Luke isn't entirely sure how to seduce someone he's never officially met before, but anyone with half a brain could agree that murder-plans are not the way to a man's heart.
Except for Han.
Actually, most statements in the world could come with the footnote, 'except for Han'.
The babysitters still come in strong and Luke wonders what it says about Din that he's managed to amass such a loyal army of diverse individuals.
He wonders what it says about Din that he's managed to seduce Luke without even trying.
"Did you just take a photo of me?" Luke asks Cobb one day.
The man merely smiles innocently despite his phone still flashing in his hand, camera pointed straight at Luke.
"Din," he says, eyes glittering with thinly-veiled glee, "he wanted a photo of Grogu as proof that he's enjoying school."
"But," Luke says uncertainly, blinking fast and hard as he points at Grogu weakly, "but you're holding Grogu." Then he frowns, brows knitting together with threads of confusion as he points to himself. "And I could always send him photos of Grogu myself."
"Oh," Cobb chirps with faux-surprise, glancing down at Grogu like he's seeing him for the first time, "so I am!" Then he turns on his heel and saunters out with a short salute. "So long Mr Skywalker!"
Luke waves, inwardly vowing to never let Han meet this guy.
Luke.
Cobb just sent me a photo of yourself with the caption: this twink will obliterate you and I think you should know that you have full permission to kill him, it's your honour he's besmirched after all and
Message Deleted!
There's Fennec Shand, who speaks with her eyebrows more than her lips, leaving Finn practically starry-eyed when they first met. Apparently, she reminds him of his best friend and has somehow managed to swap numbers with her. He hopes Rose doesn't have competition for Rey's heart, but then he figures this is just for Finn's benefit instead.
Luke squints his eyes at Finn and wonders how the man makes friends so easily.
Luke solemnly decides to find a way to get Finn to spill all his secrets.
There's Greef Karga who exudes an aura of safety so strong, Luke almost beat Grogu to the punch in throwing himself at the man for a hug.
But he manages to restrain himself.
Barely.
Instead, he gets treated to the sight of Greef carefully lifting Grogu up like he's a ticking bomb, keeping him at arms-length despite the warm smile on his face. Grogu babbles happily, shoving paper in the man's face with scribbles all over it.
"That's a good drawing, little one," Greef says, sincere and true as his eyes scan over the paper, "I guess that green blob is you?" Grogu coos with a nod. "And this black blob is… your dad?" Grogu coos louder, hands flying in the air. "And… who is this yellow blob?"
And Grogu points to Luke with a toothy smile and Luke just about dies.
Greef stares at him with a suspicious squint, humming lowly as he sizes Luke up; he feels honestly so exhausted by this strange series of trials he's been put through, but so far, he's seemingly passed them all, so he simply stands tall and meets Greef's gaze unflinchingly.
"Mr Skywalker?" Greef says and Luke opens his mouth until it becomes apparent that Greef was not speaking to him. Grogu nods harder, patting the paper with an excitable chatter. "I see."
And those two words, spoken so quietly, ring loudly in the silence stretching in the classroom.
Greef's gaze flicks back up to Luke, his eyes softer now, as he nods once more and repeats, "I see."
"What the fuck does he see? I don't understand! What have I done?" Luke paces Leia's lounge in angry, tight circles, running a hand through his hair in distress. "Who is this man and what does he want from me and why can't it be a date?"
Han just watches him pace before he turns to Chewbacca who's been ignoring them both in favour of dismantling Leia's toaster. At first, Luke had thought it had been broken and Chewy was trying to fix it, but then Han had told him that he was breaking it out of spite, 'cause he wanted the pink toaster, but Leia came home with the blue one instead.
It's… a whole thing, apparently.
"Well," Han begins, slowly and drawling as he scratches his cheek, "I've travelled around a lot, been to a few places, seen a few things – done more than a few things – and maybe this is just. I don't know, some ostentatious courting ritual."
Luke blinks.
Chewy pauses in breaking Leia's toaster to cackle loudly.
Luke blinks again.
"A courting ritual," he echoes tonelessly, despite the flame of hope sparking into existence in his chest, "you think I'm being courted."
Han smacks Chewy and rears up, indignation flowing from every pour. "Yeah, courting ritual – I said what I said. Maybe you need the approval of his family before he can date you. Some cultures do that kinda thing. Assess you and see what you can bring to the family. Now that he's got a son, it's more than likely that they're making sure you're a suitable parent for the kid."
Luke nods slowly as he digests Han's theory; it's not a bad theory, but it is a little out there. Plus, Han has travelled a lot more than Luke, so maybe this is Din's way of getting to know him, of making sure his family approves before he makes a move.
Maybe this whole sorry situation is just a ruse because Din wants him as much as Luke wants—
"Or maybe he's got a hit on you and every person picking up Grogu has just determined that you're not worth the effort," Han pipes up, settling back into his chair with an impish smirk.
Luke gapes at him.
"Or maybe he's trying to kill you himself and his friends are running recon," Han adds, with Chewy snickering as electricity begins to spark from the toaster.
Luke thinks he can see smoke and oh god, he really hopes Leia kills them both this time.
"Or maybe—"
"Please, go back to the courting theory!"
A woman with beautiful facial markings picks up Grogu next – her name is Ahsoka Tano and she asks for a job.
Luke worries for a moment that maybe Han had been right and she's here to kill him, or at least spy on him so Din can kill him instead. But then he sees how softly firm she is with Grogu, how she doesn't condescend him or coddle him – he sees her and is reminded of Rose Tico, his assistant trainee from last year. Rose had been a massive help in the classroom and honestly, her absence has been heavily felt.
He tells Ahsoka that he'll have a word with the headmaster and see if there's any vacancy for volunteer work, just to see how she adapts to teaching in their school.
He doesn't bother asking for her experience.
One look at how she interacts with Grogu tells him all he needs to know.
She also tells him to not take offence to Din's aversion to the school.
"He's shy," she says, allowing Grogu to trace her markings with a curious finger, "most consider him cold or guarded, but he's not. He's just—" she smiles softly, helpless and charmed, "—socially inexperienced with these sorts of matters."
Luke’s breath catches in his throat at Ahsoka’s implications – Din? Shy? Awkward?
Goddammit.
Luke.
I think you have the wrong idea about myself and the people I'm sending into school. I'm not romantically attached to them, nor am I shy as Ahsoka insinuates, I simply
Message Deleted!
Luke writes up a list of everything he knows about Din, acutely aware that R2D2 is watching with severe judgement gleaming in his beady eyes:
- has brown eyes
- has a son
- adopted him
- kind
- clever
- protective
- mechanic
- shy/introverted/awkward
- wears leather a lot
- is vaguely husband-shaped
- has those shoulders
- has those thighs
- has that waist
- has that…
He doesn't get very far before he rips it up out of sheer embarrassment.
Bo-Katan Kryze walks in and Luke is just stunned.
She is a colleague of his sister's and he can't believe that Din knows her. He can't believe that he and Din have been so close to meeting, yet— oh. Maybe they have met? He still doesn't know what the man looks like, but Luke is pretty sure he'd remember a pair of shoulders that delectably broad.
Still, it's baffling that Bo-Katan has walked into his classroom to pick up a child. She works in some fancy business corporation and Han swears down she's a royal of some kind, but then again, Han also has a theory that Leia is a princess too, so what does he know?
She allows Grogu to cling to her legs, smiling indulgently at the child before her eyes flit up to Luke. She's about as discernible as the rest of Din's entourage, though Luke finds himself standing straighter in her presence.
"You're Mr Skywalker, I presume," she says, slow and deliberate, "I've heard a great deal about you."
Funny, seeing as I've heard nothing about any of you, Luke thinks sourly.
"Oh? From Grogu, I'm guessing," he says instead, grinning when Grogu grizzles in response, "I like to think we've become friends and—"
"I cannot speak to Grogu," Bo-Katan interjects silkily. "His father, on the other hand, well," her smile turns a touch patronising, "for such a stoic man, he can be quite the chatterbox when the mood strikes."
Luke blinks, unsure as to how to react to the revelation that Din talks about him!
"H-He… he is?" he queries.
Bo-Katan merely smiles serenely and turns neatly on her heel. "I look forward to meeting you again, Mr Skywalker," she says with a graceful wave, "I do think you might be good for him."
"For Grogu?" he asks, canting his head, "you're talking about Grogu, right?"
But all he gets is a quiet laugh before he's left alone in his classroom.
She… she was talking about Grogu… right?
Right?
"Bo-Katan picked up Grogu today," Luke says with little fanfare, stalking into Leia's apartment with fierce intent, "Bo-Katan picked him up and implied that I would be good for Din. She knows Din and you, Leia," he rounds on his sister, "you know Bo-Katan, which means in a sort of roundabout way, you know Din too!"
He pants heavily as he points accusingly at his sister, uncaring that she's in the middle of an apparently romantic meal with Han – complete with candles and chocolate-covered strawberries.
Leia's frozen in the act of hand-feeding Han one of the aforementioned strawberries, her face contorted with confused outrage before Han sighs heavily and plucks the strawberry from her fingers.
"Bo-Katan works in a completely different company to me," Leia explains patiently, rubbing her temples wearily like Luke is giving her a headache, "we have three annual meetings at most, and we barely talk at social functions. What gives you the idea that I would know Din from all that?"
"Is Din a princess too?" Han teases, though there is a serious squint in his eyes.
"I am not a princess," Leia tells him primly. "We're heiresses – there's a difference."
"Not outside the bedroom, apparently."
Luke grimaces and rolls his eyes up to the ceiling despairingly.
"Behave."
"Put me in the stocks then."
"Din isn't a princess," Luke interjects sharply, rolling his eyes with a huff, "he just knows princesses apparently." Leia groans as she is wont to do whenever Luke indulges Han in his conspiracy theories.
"So do you," Han snorts, snatching up another strawberry, "man doesn't have the monopoly on royal connections, so it's not like this makes him special—"
"Everything about him is—" Luke cuts himself off, face heating up with mortification as Han lurches forward with interest. Whatever his brother-in-law intends to say next is smothered by Leia's hand flying across his mouth.
"You're a grown man," Leia tells him delicately, "you've been flirting with each other online for weeks, so just ask him out. You're making this to be a bigger deal than it needs to be. This is not a romcom, stop treating it like one."
Luke blinks at her.
"What are you trying to say?" he says, narrowing his eyes.
But Leia doesn't answer him in words, rather she just tips her head into her hands and emits a rather pained, albeit muffled, scream. It's all very dramatic. Luke really doesn't know what he's supposed to do with her reaction.
He looks at Han who simply eats another four strawberries in succession and distantly wonders why he keeps coming to them for help.
Din,
I hadn't realised you were friends with Bo-Katan.
My sister works with her sometimes, Leia Organa? I don't suppose you've met her or heard of her…
I should stop being surprised by the kinds of people you're friends with, but it was quite surprising to see a supposed heiress walk through my classroom door.
It's nice that Grogu has so many people who love him.
Luke
Luke.
Honestly, I don't think either of us had a choice regarding a friendship. Besides, she owes me about thirty-five favours and Grogu likes playing with her hair.
I guess I've never considered the type of people I associate myself with but I must admit, I've never heard of Leia Organa before. Apologies.
As for Grogu? He deserves love. All of it.
Din.
Luke rubs at his face and sighs; the man is actually apologising for not knowing his sister.
This means Luke has to apologise for accusing her of a crime she's never actually committed.
Goddammit.
Slowly, and without Luke even being aware of it, other parents start getting involved in the Grogu Babysitter's Network.
It begins with Omera, whose daughter was the first child to befriend Grogu. Winta used to be a shy, introverted student at first, though she's lately come out of her shell and is typically the first to ask a question in his class or volunteer for a project.
She's managed to encourage the other children to sit with Grogu now that he's ceased stealing from them.
There's Captain Carson Teva, who makes it adamantly clear that he isn't doing this for Din but for Grogu and even then, that would be pushing it. He's gruff around the edges but isn't mean about it, plus Luke enjoys how he speaks to his granddaughter and Grogu like they're adults.
Somehow, Luke gets the feeling Grogu understands the man regardless.
Then there's Ms Grenouille, whose children were initially wary of Grogu but then realised that the best way to get him to stop biting them was to bite back. Grogu found it absolutely fascinating, though Luke despaired at the marks on his skin and hoped Din wouldn't be too mad about it.
Either way, he's slowly gotten over the fact that he might never meet Din and—
Nope.
No, that's a lie.
It's been nice meeting everyone the man considers important to Grogu's life – Luke just hopes that one day he'll be considered important too.
Luke.
I'm surprised no one's bit him back sooner.
He's not hurt though, is he? No blood? Please let me know if this happens again.
Din.
God, Luke is so gone for this man, how has he fallen so quickly for someone he's never really met?
Koska Reeves walks in that afternoon. Luke knows that if he ever meets Din, then there's a high chance of Leia meeting all of Din's impressively scary friends and he doesn't think the world has a strong enough constitution to handle all that power in a single space.
She doesn't say much – just walks in, picks Grogu up and walks back out, blowing raspberries in the child's delighted face.
Although Finn does come in moments later with eyes full of awe.
"She really liked you!" he says, waltzing up to Luke with a broad grin as he claps Luke on the shoulder soundly. "Do you think Din is trying to hook you up with one of his friends?"
And honestly, that's even worse than Han's theory of Din trying to kill him off.
Luke.
I don't know how you managed it but Koska approves of you and she doesn't approve of anyone, how did you
Message Deleted!
Luke comes to the end of his rope when Boba-fucking-Fett walks into his classroom, head held high, swaggering into the room like he owns it.
Grogu immediately perks up and rushes over, grizzling and cooing as Boba picks him up.
"Hello, little Skywalker."
"Boba Fett," Luke says mildly, carefully eyeing the way Grogu nuzzles deeper into Boba's touch; he also makes a note as to how silently swift Finn's exit is. The man has been relentless in teasing Luke over his crush on Grogu's dad, so it's interesting to see how quickly his impudence deserts him in the face of someone truly intimidating.
Of course, Luke doesn't really consider Boba Fett intimidating – more irritating, truth be told.
"How is your brother-in-law?" Boba asks politely, his gaze piercing as he distantly allows Grogu to play with his fingers.
Luke clenches his teeth and forces himself to smile. "Han is fine, thank you for asking."
"Pity," Boba sighs, an affable expression playing on his otherwise impassive features, "I had so hoped to… catch up with him."
Over my dead body, Luke thinks and is very concerned over the type of sordid individuals that Din apparently associates with. Boba Fett and Han had gotten into quite the tussle some years ago, which ended with Han in a coma and Boba Fett disappearing from the face of the earth. The demand for Boba's arrest simply faded away when Han woke up; the man was uncaring that he had almost died and seemed more distressed by the fact that Leia had seen him in a hospital gown.
Then, upon waking up properly, he expressed reluctant respect for Boba Fett and promised that the next time he crossed paths with the man, it wouldn't be him resting in emergency care.
Luke isn't entirely sure how or why Boba and Han got into an altercation – only that Han's dodgy dealings crossed paths with Boba's underworld rulings which led to a disagreement of exhausting proportions.
"I'm sure he wouldn't share the sentiment," Luke says through gritted teeth, and for the first time, Grogu emits a noise of distress in front of him.
"Pity. I wouldn't mind a rematch," Boba grins sharply, before he shushes Grogu with a soft croon, "in another life, perhaps? As it is, I no longer have the time to play with black-market dealers. I have bigger fish to fry, I'm sure you understand."
Luke scowls, eyeing Grogu with fierce concern.
"I'm somewhat inclined towards refusing you permission to leave with that child," he says, shifting his weight from one foot to the next; it's been a while since he's had a fight, but he is more than willing to throw a punch if it means protecting Grogu. "So, you best find a way to persuade me within the next five seconds."
It's a challenge and one that Boba – irritatingly enough – rises to easily.
"I'm sure you're aware of Din's protective nature – rivals a lioness at best," Boba says, rocking Grogu gently when he begins to fuss, "if you don't trust me, at least trust in him to know what he's doing."
Annoyingly enough, Luke does.
He takes one look at Grogu who stares back at him with a small frown and tries to envision a future where he doesn't want to punch Boba Fett in the fucking face. Then again, it's how Leia met Han, so maybe his vitriolic feelings towards the man could slowly dampen down to something more… tolerant.
Or maybe Boba will finally meet his match and end up dead in a ditch somewhere so Luke will never have to deal with him again. Either option suits him, truthfully speaking.
Grogu babbles at him with a whine, and Luke knows that he needs to start picking his battles more carefully.
Plus, Headmaster Yoda would not be happy if he starts another fight in his classroom, so…
"Fine," he relents because Grogu really is starting to look concerned, "but don't make me regret this."
"As if I could ever make you do anything," is Boba's parting shot before he stalks out of the classroom, Grogu patting at his cheeks as he babbles with incessant worry.
Din,
How the hell do you know Boba Fett?
Luke
I tried to kill him once. It's how I meet most of my friends honestly.
Luke stares at the screen and knows that somewhere, Leia is laughing at him hysterically.
Din,
A violent environment isn't very conducive to a healthy life for Grogu – you are aware of that, right?
And then Luke pauses because his message has completely missed the flirting tone he's been aiming for and instead sounds horribly condescending.
If you haven't yet learned that lesson, then I'd be happy to educate you.
Luke
PS: You are joking, right?
Nailed it.
Luke.
Thank you for the offer.
I am intimately aware of what happens when my companions occupy the same space for a substantial amount of time. Due to last year's Winter Solstice, we found that Cobb and Boba cannot be in the same room unsupervised, especially if alcohol is around. Similarly, Ahsoka and Bo-Katan need to have at least three people separating them at a table.
We also cannot give Fennec a knife.
Koska cannot have a knife either.
No one is allowed to have knives.
In an ironic twist of fate, Grogu is the one who ends up overseeing them rather than the other way around. It's disconcerting how little the revelation surprised me.
Do not worry about them, though. They love my son and would not bring any harm to him. I've also found that Boba is quite inclined towards giving me anything that I ask for even before I'm aware that I need it, so I don't believe he'll be a problem.
Trust me.
Din.
PS: Naturally, I'm joking Mr Skywalker. Most of them have actually tried to kill me first.
It takes Luke a disconcerting amount of time for him to read the email in its entirety, as his mind keeps stumbling on how Din has written intimately aware and tries to imagine the man saying it in front of Luke's face.
He imagines a husky voice, rough around the edges but soft like silk.
Fuck. What is he doing?
"He knows Boba Fett," Luke announces, running onto Leia's bed with ardent desperation; it might be 6.00am on a Saturday, but he needs his sister's advice and Han's unsolicited opinions on this matter. Or perhaps, he needs their continued support and maybe their approval too – after all, Boba tried to kill Han.
It would be quite the downer at birthday parties when— if he gets together with Din.
"He knows Boba Fett and he lets him babysit his kid," Luke repeats, "he can't meet me face-to-face, but he's happy to let Grogu be cared for by… by Boba-fucking-Fett!"
"Who's being cared for by Boba-fucking-Fett?" Leia murmurs, cracking her eyes open to peer at her brother. It's a testament to how many times Luke has done this that they don't question it anymore – nor do they kick him off the bed.
"Grogu. Din knows Boba Fett," he says emphatically, "how does one man, who barely exists, know so many people? Do you think… do you think he's in cahoots with him? Like, underground cahoots?"
"The boy is saying cahoots, Leia," Han notes with lazy amusement.
It's distressing how little they seem to care about the severity of the situation.
"He tried to kill you," Luke says.
"Who hasn't?" Leia murmurs, rolling over with a stifled yawn.
"Shouldn't I worry about who Din is friends with? He's got his child being cared for by a convicted killer," Luke stresses, anxiously clutching onto the strands of his hair.
"An almost convicted killer," Han points out with a shrug, "besides, your sister has a point – who hasn't tried to kill me. Leia thinks about killing me three times a day."
"Often it's five times before noon," Leia teases, her voice thick with sleep.
"Shouldn't I report this?" Luke asks, nudging at Leia's leg, face creased with concern. Han finally sighs and sits up, canting his head as he steadily regards Luke's borderline hysterical breakdown. "I mean, he says I should trust him and I do… but he also might have implied that Boba Fett is some kind of sugar daddy and I don't think I can compete with that."
"Not with your salary," Leia comments with a snort.
"See," Luke enforces, thrusting a hand in Leia's direction, "all I have is an artificial hand and really nice hair. Which, admittedly, is more than I can say for Boba."
There's a beat of silence.
Leia suddenly, blindly, reaches for her husband and smacks at him insistently.
"He's feeling insecure," she announces, "if he's like this before 10.00am then it's your job to fix it."
"I know, I know," Han says, batting her hand away with a heavy sigh.
Luke isn't sure how he feels about them having set shifts for dealing with him; in the grand scheme of things, it isn't the worst thing he's recently learned.
"Listen, pal," Han begins, holding up a hand to enforce his advice, "didn't you say Din works as a mechanic of some kind? The guy probably ran into Boba on a job, it's not unheard of. They're most likely legitimate work buddies or something." Okay, yeah, that does seem appropriate and not at all like Luke's harrowing visions of Din being a hitman for hire. "What is unheard of is this guy's level of accidental charisma," Han's tone turns appreciative as he settles against the headboard with a sigh. "The guy should bottle it up and sell it as an aphrodisiac – it clearly works, so he's basically sitting on a goldmine."
Han stares at Luke pointedly, who does not appreciate those implications.
"You are never meeting him," Luke states seriously.
"Funny that," Han says with a smirk, "because apparently, neither are you."
Luke gapes at him, outraged at the sheer audacity and the hurt only blossoms when he hears Leia snickering quietly at him.
Well. That settles it.
"Chewy is the one who keeps breaking your stuff," he announces to Leia before he jumps from their bed and stalks out of the room, pleased with the carnage he's left behind.
Honestly, he's never going back to them for help again.
Din,
Please, for the sake of my heart, elaborate on your working relationship with Boba Fett.
Luke
Someone vandalised his car. He came to me to have it fixed.
Buffering out the carved insults was easy enough – removing the blood from the leather interior, however…
Please tell me that was ‘blood’ is a typo for something else, I don't know what it could be a typo for, but please, please, please tell me Boba didn't murder someone in his car and had you clean it up.
I'm kidding.
Boba would never kill someone inside his car.
Fennec drops Grogu off the next morning, pausing only to shoot Luke a wry smile and a short nod before leaving.
He stands there, momentarily stunned by the way her sharp features lit up, only to reminded of Grogu's presence when he feels a tiny hand tug on his pants. He glances down and softly smiles at the large eyes peering up at him; really, he ought to have gone to Grogu a lot sooner.
"Hey buddy," he says, ducking down, "Auntie Fennec again today?"
Grogu nods jerkily.
"And I suppose… your dad won't be picking you up again?"
Grogu nods again.
Luke opens his mouth, bites his lip and hesitates – Grogu is only a child; it would be so inappropriate to ask him if his dad is single, but he can at least be a little honest.
"I really want to meet your dad," Luke says, his eyes skittering away for a second when Grogu coos with intrigue, "I just. He seems nice, that's all. Brown eyes. Good arms. Nice." He clears his throat awkwardly as he finds himself spiralling into a Din-shaped daydream.
And Grogu blinks, his intelligent gaze sharpening as he tilts his head. Luke feels stripped raw under his stare and it's like he's being emotionally and mentally x-rayed; he doesn't think he's ever met a child quite like Grogu and honestly, he'll miss him when he leaves his class at the end of the year.
Better to savour the time they have together now before… well before Grogu moves on to the next class and in doing so, causing Luke to lose his reasoning for messaging Din.
Still, no point mourning something he's never had.
"Well," Luke murmurs mostly to himself, gathering Grogu into his arms to carry him into school, "even if he is single, I'm sure he could do better than me anyway. Your dad knows a lot of impressive people – what's a kindergarten teacher in comparison, really?"
Din,
I'm afraid Grogu is sick – could someone come and pick him up, please?
It's nothing serious, but I think it best for him to get some rest at home.
Luke
Din reads the message and instantly panics.
He forgets that he has his friends and allies written into a timetabled schedule of Grogu Pick-Ups/Drop-Offs, finds that he doesn't care that he made contingency plans for everything but sickness, doesn't care that he's in the middle of a job, doesn't care that it means running into Grogu's pretty and kind teacher – his son is sick and Din just… panics.
He gives Peli a half-hearted apology as he sprints out of her auto-shop and leaps onto his bike, swiftly kicking the ignition switch to storm down the road towards Yoda's Academy. His entire world crumbles away and becomes reduced to a mere flickering thought: Grogu needs him.
He fingers the silver ball in his pocket and feels his heart lurch painfully.
Grogu needs him.
And that's all that matters.
Grogu is not sick – he hasn't been sick in years and will probably never be sick in the years to come.
He is, however, rather quite desperate.
He's had to suffer weeks of watching his dad curl over his laptop as he stresses over every word he writes, wondering if it's too forward to say that Yoda's Academy is the best school he's chosen, or that he's grateful for Mr Skywalker's kindness towards Grogu. Weeks of having to tolerate Mr Skywalker's unsubtle probing of his dad's dating life, of having to watch as he tries to make small-talk with his dad's friends, of having to actually, physically witness Mr Skywalker assume that each and every single one of them is his dad's partner.
Then he has to hear about Mr Skywalker apparently giving up? When he's probably the best and only candidate worthy of his dad's heart? The man is kind and giving but understands where to draw the line on Grogu's mischievous behaviour. He's firm and fair; Grogu knows that if his dad does get together with Mr Skywalker, then he'd at least have someone to help him with his homework. Auntie Ahsoka only has so much time to spare; everyone else is pretty much useless.
And if all that wasn't bad enough, he's also witnessed the bets, with Auntie Cara assuming they'll get together by the end of the year and Uncle Boba saying that he'll be dead before Din steps foot in the school.
Grogu doesn't want that.
Grogu especially doesn't want that, as Uncle Cobb is the only one who'll let him join in on the bet and he really wants him to win because the jackpot will earn him a lot of cakes. So, he pretends to be sick and asks Winta to help him appear physically ill – she helpfully heats up a blanket and covers his face with it, helping him achieve that flushed, hot look which has most parents scrambling for WebMD.
Mr Skywalker is no different.
He takes one look at Grogu and immediately asks Winta to fetch someone from another class to watch them as he needs to contact Grogu's dad to inform him that his son is feeling unwell. It's a perfect plan, perfectly executed and it better have the perfect outcome. If Uncle Cobb loses this bet, then Grogu will be most displeased.
Once his dad has been emailed, Mr Skywalker ushers Grogu to the reception, leaving a nice man called Mr Threepeeoh behind to take care of the class in his short absence. Winta winks at Grogu and he mimics her, learning early on that it's a sign of mischievous comradery.
When they get to reception, Finn simply clucks his tongue at Grogu, passing him a cool bottle of water from beneath his desk and gestures for him to sit on the plushy sofa by the front door. Mr Skywalker sits next to him, positively trembling with nervous energy and Grogu dearly prays that his dad actually does turn up. He watches as Finn arches a brow at Mr Skywalker, who flushes and shoos Fin away with a sharp flick of his wrist.
Interesting.
Grogu kicks his legs as he keeps his ears tuned towards the street; Nana Peli's auto-shop isn't that far from the school, which had been an initial selling point until his dad saw how pretty his teacher was. Now it's become a source of anxiety, with his dad worrying about bumping into Luke every time they go into town. Auntie Cara finds it endlessly amusing, with Aunt Koska declaring his dad to be a coward – in her opinion, he ought to have asked Luke out upon their first meeting.
Which is, admittedly, how she got together with Aunt Bo-Katan, but Grogu believes that people travel at different speeds, so it's not fair to assume his dad would operate as quickly as she would.
That being said, he hadn't anticipated a turtle's pace either, so maybe she has a point.
"Oh, that must be… that must be him," Mr Skywalker breathes, stepping to his feet when the rumble of a distant motorcycle grows in volume. Grogu watches quietly as Mr Skywalker runs a hand through his hair, brushing himself down as he peers at himself in the window. "How do I look?"
"Like you have a sick child to look after," Finn points out dryly, "though the boots are a nice touch."
"Are they? Han got them for me," Mr Skywalker says, glancing down at his knee-high black boots. Grogu doesn't think he's allowed to wear them to school, but Mr Skywalker has been doing many things he shouldn't be doing at school – like flirting with his dad. "Oh… oh, it's him. Finn, Finn, it's him."
"You're never allowed to complain about my Poe-stories ever again," Finn says, "also his boss – Peli, I think – called in with a very specific message for you," Finn clears his throat before he says, "he's single so put us out of our misery already." He grins as Mr Skywalker's face grows pale then pink then an alarming shade of scarlet. "Gotta say, I think she has a point," Finn adds before he peers through the window to gawk at Grogu's dad.
He's clearly come straight from work – he's dressed in dark grey overalls, a leather jacket and his helmet perched perfectly on his head. He's covered in grease and dirt; Grogu honestly despairs, because his dad is supposed to be making a good impression. Then again, Mr Skywalker looks pretty dishevelled himself, seeing as he has finger-paint scattered across his shirt and a distinctive juice-stain on his jeans. Also, he looks like he's about to faint whilst throwing up. But the boots do look nice.
Maybe they're perfect for each other after all.
Grogu watches as Finn presses the buzzer to let his dad in – Mr Skywalker jolts at the noise, his cheeks growing flushed as Grogu's dad stalks into the reception. He can't see his dad's face, but his movements are stiff and frantic, meaning he's worried but doesn't really know how to handle it. Grogu merely coos and runs into his dad's legs, not enjoying his distress in the slightest and wanting to fix it immediately.
His dad is quick to scoop him up, cuddling him close as he swipes a gloved hand across Grogu's forehead. In his other hand is a small silver ball, clenched tightly between anxious fingers. Grogu croons softly, hands flying up to play with his dad's necklace as he tries to exude a soothing aura towards the upset man.
"Hey pal," his dad murmurs, worry dripping from every syllable as he checks him over, "are you okay? Are you hurt? What do you need?"
Grogu merely catches his dad's fingers to nibble at them, pleased that his plan has gone off without a hitch. His dad has finally walked into the school, has finally met Mr Skywalker and now maybe they'll get married and have a big wedding cake made out of vanilla cream.
"He's got a temperature," Mr Skywalker finally pipes up, his expression wreathed with pleasure as he finally captures Grogu's dad's attention. "Apart from that, he seems tired. I think he just needs rest… if this is his first time at a school, then he may be just overexerted from all the work and attention. Take him home and maybe feed him some of those cupcakes I know he likes – you never know, he could make a miraculous recovery."
And Grogu giggles, because that's exactly what he needs – a nap and some food and maybe for his dad to propose to Mr Skywalker so Uncle Cobb can win the bet.
His dad, however, freezes to the spot; he slowly looks up from Grogu to gaze at Mr Skywalker and though his face is hidden beneath a helmet, Grogu can hear how his breathing has hitched, can feel his increased heartbeat and the slight quiver in his hands.
His dad is flustered.
"I… thank you," his dad utters, sincerely polite.
"You're… you're welcome," Mr Skywalker says softly, ducking his head with a pleased smile.
Grogu watches them stare silently at each other and vaguely wonders if this is what Auntie Cara means by useless men being useless. He shares a look with Finn who seemingly agrees that this stretched silence is awfully painful to bear witness to.
Well.
At least they're breathing in each other's general direction – that's progress, right?
Luke,
Thank you, Grogu is feeling much better. Interesting how it only took two hours and three cupcakes for him to achieve the picture of health.
I have considered your proposal. I believe I may have time in my schedule for a coffee date.
We can talk about it more tomorrow when I drop Grogu off in the morning.
Din.