Chapter Text
Bo-Katan rolled her eyes and Luke had to force himself not to as well. No matter how close the clans became after the battle with the Islanders, she would never truly change. Cara was speaking about future plans and how to strengthen their clan ties and for some reason Bo-Katan still couldn’t quite listen to Cara.
Leia flashed a smirk toward Luke and he returned it before they both turned back to Cara. In the six months since the battle, Leia and Cara had become very close. Cara had started Leia’s Mandalorian training, just as she had promised, so they were almost inseparable. Boba and Cobb seemed to think it was amusing that Cara was training Leia herself, rather than assigning one of the teachers in her clan to do it. Luke and Din however understood. Something of a connection had formed between the two of them during the battle. Luke couldn’t wait to see the results of it either.
Once Cara was done, everyone began milling around except the sea clan council members. Most of them began heading back to the beach to head to Navarro – still being protected by the Force bubble that Luke had set up – except for Paz. He made his way over to Cara with a smile on his face, reaching out to clasp her wrist with his hand.
“It’s been wonderful seeing you again, my friend,” he said before bringing her into a hug.
Cara hugged him back before leaning back and smiling at him. “And you, my friend. Been too long since we hung out.”
“How long have you known each other?” Leia asked, almost unconsciously sliding a little closer to Cara. Luke hid his grin at that.
“Since we were children,” Paz supplies, flashing a smile at Leia. “We grew up together on the island before I decided to remain under the sea.”
Luke and Din stepped a little closer to the group, reaching out to grasp wrists with Cara and then Paz in return. “We are going to head out soon,” Din offered, smiling at them both. “We will be in contact through Leia should you need us.”
Cara smiled up at him. “And you’ll be gone how long again?”
Luke shrugged. “A few months. Not sure since time feels different under the sea.”
“And they found someone to replace your teaching position finally?” Leia asked as she reached over to hug him tightly.
“Yeah, last week. The sub, if you can believe it. She worked out perfectly so they offered her the position. I'm glad to see her in that position.”
“And you won’t miss teaching?” Boba asked as he walked up next to Cara, Cobb leaning against his other side.
Shrugging, Luke turned slightly to face the men. “I mean, I will because I love teaching, but...” He cast his eyes up to his husband. “I’m looking forward to my honeymoon.”
Cobb grinned at them both. “An’ ya deserve it. Both o’ ya.”
After another round of hugs, Leia followed Luke and Din out of the house. She’s their ride to the beach and Luke isn’t fooled. He knows it’s because she wanted to have a private goodbye with them. Yesterday, Luke and Din had said goodbye to the Organas. Since the news of the merpeople had landed, Luke felt comfortable telling his adoptive parents a little more of the story. Surprisingly, they both believed him fairly easily, but were still sad to see him leave.
Their plans were simple. After a quick stop on the Island of Yavin – checking on Cody, who now lived there, and seeing Anakin and Obi-Wan – they were just going to swim. No real destination in mind, just meandering through the ocean. The only thing they wanted was time together without threat of battle or harm from islanders.
“Do you have everything you need?” Leia asked as she parked her car in the empty parking lot.
Luke smirked at her. “I literally only need my body, Leia. So, yes, I have everything.”
Rolling her eyes, she unbuckled herself and got out of the car. Luke and Din followed, sharing a smile as they linked their hands when they were out. Leia walked over to them and hugged them each before pulling back and wiping a tear from her eyes.
“Leia,” Luke whispered, pulling her into his arms again. “We can talk all the time! You'll know where we are and that we are ok.”
“I know,” she said, sniffling and hugging him tighter. “I’m just going to miss having you here is all.”
“You’ll be having so much fun with Cara you won’t even notice that we are gone,” Din offered, chuckling as she slapped him on the arm. “When is the divorce going to be final?”
Leia straightened, letting go of Luke and looking up at Din. “In a couple months.”
“He’s still not fighting it, right?”
Shaking her head, Leia chuckled. “Chewy won’t let him. I believe Han was threatened by his bestie to let me have whatever I wanted, considering what he did.”
“I’m sorry, Leia.”
Shaking her head again, Leia said, “No, it’s fine. After what he did, I couldn’t stay married to him.”
“I understand, but he was still your husband. The father of your children. I'm sure it’s still hard.” Din stepped closer to her and hugged her again; Luke smiled at the two of them and their easy comradery.
“A little maybe. But Cara’s been helping. Her last partner was pretty bad, too.”
“Oh, I’m sure Cara’s been helping a ton,” Luke teased, earning a slap on his arm from his sister this time. “I’ll tell Father to look out for you in the next couple months. Cara still planning on taking you, right?”
Leia disconnected from Din and smiled at him. “Yeah. Cobb and Boba are coming also, since they know how to get there. I think Boba wants to check on Cody as well.”
“I’ll give you an update as soon as we get there regardless.” Luke smiled kindly at his sister. “I am going to miss you. Stick with Cara and her clan, Leia. They will take care of you in case the Islanders get any other weird ideas.”
Leia laughed and shoved her hands in her pockets. “After you magicked their ships back into the dock and knocked them all out for half a day, I doubt anyone will be coming after the mer anytime soon.”
Grinning back, Luke shook his head. “They were lucky I didn’t just sink all the boats.”
Din put his arm around Luke’s shoulders, hugging him close. “You don’t have that in you, and you know it. You were kinder than they deserved.”
Luke shrugged. “I was feeling generous, I suppose. But I couldn’t just end that many lives. It was terrifying to consider, honestly.”
Din kissed his temple. “And that’s why I love you so much.”
After another round of hugs, Leia waved at them as they disappeared behind the dunes near the cove they always used. Luke took his clothing off and shoved it in the water proof bag, sticking it on the beach for Leia to collect after they left. Din followed suit and then they grabbed hands as they walked into the ocean.
“I wonder if I’ll ever love being on land again as much as I love this,” Luke wondered out loud as they swam through the kelp garden near the Island of Yavin. “Swimming is so much more fun than walking.”
Din chuckled as he turned, resting on the sandy ground of the ocean. “It’s because you can swim faster than walking.”
Sinking, Luke turned slightly so he could sit on Din’s lap, wrapping his arms around his husband. “And because you are more comfortable like this. You are so happy when you are swimming, and it makes me happy for you to be happy.”
Din hummed, kissing his cheek softly. “That’s a lot of happy, love.”
Luke rested his forehead against Din’s temple. “There is a lot of happy when I’m around you.” Leaning back, he looked into Din’s dark eyes. “I love you so much.”
Din’s grin was filled with happiness. “I love you, too. Now, let’s go check on everyone and get back on the wave.”
Laughing, Luke flipped his tail to rise off Din’s lap. “Get back on the wave? Is that a saying where you come from, Mandalorian?”
Din smiled as he took Luke’s outstretched hand. “Of course. Why, it’s not one you have on the land, Jedi?”
“Nope. It's ‘get back on the road’ where I'm from.”
Laughing with him, Din started to pull him toward the island. “No roads where we are going, love.”
“Too true.”
Once they had changed into their islander bodies, and dressed in the coverings that Din had made them so long ago, they made their way to the temple in the center of the city. Once they got there, a mound on the ground in front of the temple gates made them halt in their tracks. Anakin appeared in front of them, a sad smile on his face.
‘He went last night,’ Anakin explained, shaking his head slowly. ‘It was peaceful.’
Tears sprang to Luke’s eyes as he regarded his father. “He was happy though? When he p-passed?”
Obi-Wan appeared next to Anakin, his smile wider than Luke felt it should be. ‘He is happy.’ Obi-Wan looked to his other side and a younger version of Cody appeared. Luke almost blanched at how similar he and Boba looked. ‘We are together again. This is how it always should have been.’
Cody grabbed Obi-Wan's hand, threading their fingers together before turning to face Luke and Din. ‘Please make sure my family knows that I've never been this happy in my life. Spending the rest of eternity with my husband and bondmate is all I ever wanted.’
Din stepped forward as though he were going to reach out to the man, but dropped his hand quickly. “I’m...should I say I’m happy for you? I’m sorry that this happened?”
Cody shook his head, looking at Obi-Wan again. ‘Say you are happy for me – for us. We are together in the same life again.’ Cody turned back to Din. ‘I have a few things I want you to pass on to Boba and Cara. If you don’t mind?’ Din nodded and the three of them shifted to the side, talking quietly.
Luke turned his attention back to his father. ‘Should we not fear death, Father? It seems as though it’s very similar to being alive.’
Anakin smiled, walking up beside Luke and placing a cool wisp of his hand on Luke’s bare back. Turning, Luke started walking further away from the group. ‘The Force works in ways we didn’t truly know until we slid into it fully. I would say, live now as well as you can, just know that bondmates are never too far away from each other.’
Luke laughed. ‘Is that a fancy way of saying not to fear death?’
Chuckling, Anakin turned to face him. ‘I suppose so.’ His silvery eyes twinkled as he regarded Luke. ‘I hear your sister has begun her training.’
‘She has. But she told me to tell you that she’ll be here in a couple months to train with you and Obi-Wan, too.’
Anakin glanced over at his companion before facing Luke again. ‘I imagine it will be just me training her. Obi-Wan and Cody have time to make up together.’
Luke glanced at them also. ‘My mother...she isn’t with you in this life?’
Anakin smiled sadly. ‘She’s with me, but not in a way that you can see her. She was an Islander and she couldn’t slide into the Force the same way, but she’s still here.’
‘Can...’ Luke took a deep breath. ‘Will I be able to meet her when I die?’
‘Yes, son,’ Anakin’s hand landed on Luke’s shoulder. ‘But make sure it’s not soon. You and your husband have a lot of life left to live.’
A few days swim later, Luke and Din were lounging near a rock formation holding each other. The loss of Cody had hit Cara’s clan hard, but Luke was able to show Leia just how happy he was to be with his husband. That had done a lot to dissuade Cody’s family’s sadness. Leia and Cara had decided to take more people with them to the island, so that they could all see Cody for themselves, and Anakin was thrilled.
‘The more the merrier!’ he had said, eyes twinkling. ‘I’m looking forward to meeting my daughter’s bondmate.’
Luke laughed as that question had finally been answered. He and Din had assumed, of course, but hearing Anakin confirm it made sense.
‘What are you thinking about, love?’ Din said, low and sultry in the back of his head.
‘About Leia and Cara being bondmates. I wonder if they have figured it out yet.’
Din chuckled, snuggling closer. ‘If they haven’t, they will soon. Boba and Cobb had a suspicion they mentioned before we left.’
Luke leaned over and rested his head on Din’s chest. ‘Maybe we don’t need to think about my sister right now.’
Din’s hands ran softly over Luke’s back. ‘What else did you want to think about?’
Luke shifted so that their chests were pressed together as Din relaxed against the sandy ground. ‘I don’t want to think at all.’
Before Din could reply, Luke’s lips connected with his. Their kiss was searing and in moments Luke felt Din’s cock start to harden under him. By mutual agreement, their tails flipped and soon, they were swimming parallel to the ground, circling and rolling in the water together. Their lips never disconnected as Din slid inside of Luke.
Luke marveled for only a moment at how so very different making love to his husband in the water was than when they were in their Islander bodies. His attention was diverted very quickly, though, as they continued to glide through the water. Sparks shot through his body as Din moved within him, the water feeling decadent on his skin.
Rolling and tumbling through the rocking waves, Luke kept his eyes closed but his awareness keen. Ensuring that they didn’t hit anything was only on the side of his mind, considering just how much Din always seemed to consume his thoughts.
Soon, Din was thrusting inside him harder and Luke slowed their swimming, relaxing his body and letting his husband take over. Moaning, Din came hard within Luke, biting down on his shoulder, just to the side of the scales covering them. Luke grabbed Din around his back, letting his husband finish and enjoy the sensation before he made his way inside Din’s body.
Flipping their positions, Luke began to thrust wildly, unable to even think about going slow. Making love on the tide was like nothing Luke ever felt in his life. Din let the current take them, only flicking his tail now and then to help Luke’s motion inside his body. Tingles and heat spread through Luke’s body when suddenly-
‘Din?’ Luke said, shock entering his voice as his eyes met Din’s. He always felt his husband within his mind, but this was different. Not only was the feel of him on his skin heady, the fact that Din had slid into his mind even deeper was simply consuming. ‘How did you do that?’
‘Feel me, love.’ Din closed the distance again, pressed their lips together in a searing kiss.
With every thrust inside Din, Luke felt dual sensations. He could feel what Din was feeling and what he was, so he didn’t last much longer after that. As he reached the peak of ecstasy, he felt pure love pour into him from Din. It was a heady combination and he groaned loudly into Din’s neck.
‘That was...’ Luke was panting, unable to get words out of his mouth, so he kept talking to Din in his mind. ‘I don’t know how you did that, but damn. We need to do that again.’ He pressed his lips to Din’s again. ‘And again. And again.’
Din laughed and hugged him tighter as Luke slipped outside of his body. ‘Forever. We'll do that forever.’
‘Agreed.’ Luke smiled and kissed Din again. And again. And again.
Luke smiled as he watched the sea turtle glide by them. He watched it slip away through the coral before he turned his attention to the bright colors all around him.
“It’s beautiful here,” he said, holding Din’s hand tighter.
“It’s one of my favorite places to go,” Din commented back. “The Coral Desert closer to Navarro is pretty, but after I was called out here to visit our other city, I had to keep coming back. The coral feels like it goes on forever. So much more than the desert.”
They were only a week or two into their trip – Luke couldn’t tell, because time really did work differently in the ocean – but everything Luke was seeing was new. Exploring the ocean with Din was an amazing experience. His husband’s excitement just added to the new sights that Luke was seeing.
“I wonder how far it really-”
A loud cry broke into the calm around them. Din and Luke immediately jerked their heads in the direction of the scream, starting to swim. Their hands separated as they gained speed through the water. The voice broke through the calm once again and they slowed down, realizing just how close they were to whatever was happening.
Crouching behind a large rock formation, Din peaked out and cursed loudly. ‘A sea monster. It has a child cornered at the far side of the kelp.’
‘What do we do?’ Luke asked, not daring to look.
‘When I go, follow me and get to the child. I'll take on the monster and you get him out of the clearing and behind these rocks.’
Luke’s eyes met Din’s when he turned around. ‘Be careful.’
‘I will.’
They kissed quickly before Din slid out from the rocks and began to barrel toward the monster. Luke’s eyes were wide as he took in the creature. It appeared to be a large squid of some kind, but there were more legs than Luke was used to seeing on it – and it was much larger, too. He spotted the child, cowering on the ground behind the creature and he made quick work of closing the distance. The child appeared to be around ten or so, and terrified out of his mind.
Ignoring the bodies of what were probably the child’s parents nearby, Luke reached him and gently put his arms around the merchild. “It’s ok,” he murmured, holding him close. “We are here to help you.”
Wide eyes met Luke’s as the child nodded. As quickly as he could, Luke moved them both back to the rocks, trying to ignore Din in battle with the creature. As soon as they were under cover, Luke turned to face the child.
“Are you hurt?” The boy shook his head. “Can you talk?” The boy stared blankly at him, but didn’t say anything. His wide eyes were still betraying how terrified he was, so Luke just held the child close to him. “I’m sorry about your parents.”
The boy shook his head again. “Not...parents. Just...met.”
Nodding, Luke just held him and hoped like hell his husband would be alright. A loud screeching noise came from the clearing, but Luke didn't dare look. He could feel that Din was alright, and that the creature wasn’t, but he didn’t want the child to see whatever was happening. After several terrifying minutes waiting, Din finally swam behind the rocks, his only mark a slight scratch on his cheek.
“Are you ok?” Din asked, bending slightly to study the child.
‘He’s ok, Din. Those weren’t his parents, he said they just met.’
Din nodded his understanding, but didn’t take his eyes off the boy. “Do you have someone waiting for you? Where do you live?”
The boy shook his head. “No...home...”
Din’s eyes met Luke’s for a moment before looking back at the child. “Why don’t you come with us, then?”
Wide eyes studied Din for only a moment before the boy nodded slowly.
“What’s your name?” Luke asked him quietly.
The boy’s eyes met Luke’s and Din’s in turn. “Grogu.” He licked his lips as his bright green tail flicked in the water.
Smiling at him, Luke held out his hand. “It’s nice to meet you, Grogu.”