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When Luke left Tatooine, everything happened far too quickly for him: the death of his uncle and aunt, the meeting with Han and Chewie, the discovery of Princess Leia, then the death of old Ben, all the way to the destruction of the Death Star. He had had very little time to think. Him, a Jedi? He was nothing more than a poor little farmer from Tatooine…
There was nothing special about him. He didn’t even know his biological parents, and the most exciting thing that had ever happened to him was the crash of a bounty hunter’s ship on their farm. He had always dreamed of leaving Tatooine, but he had never thought it would be under such circumstances.
And now, he found himself in the new Rebel base on Hoth, which was the complete opposite of Tatooine: cold, hostile, swept by icy winds, covered in endless stretches of ice and snow, deprived of any warmth, any color, any apparent life. He was terribly cold; the frost bit at his skin and his lips had remained blue ever since they had landed on Hoth.
On top of that, he had the unpleasant certainty that he had forgotten something, and it stressed him to the highest degree. This feeling had been haunting him ever since he had left Tatooine three weeks ago, and he couldn’t get it out of his head.
At the moment, he was sitting on a supply crate, trying to remember what he had forgotten while attempting to warm his hands through his gloves.
Too focused on what he was doing, Luke didn’t notice Princess Leia approaching him.
“Luke?” Leia called, sitting down beside him.
He lifted his head before smiling at the princess, intrigued by the reason why she had sat there.
“Yes? A problem, Leia?”
Leia looked at him while stifling a small laugh.
“Shouldn’t I be the one asking that question? You seem elsewhere, fiddling with your wrist as if your life depended on it…”
Oh? So that was it?
Luke realized that he was far too disturbed for no one to notice. Too focused on what he had forgotten to remember that—
Oh! Kriff, my wrist! he remembered.
“Oh Leia, magnificent Leia! I adore you!”
Luke threw himself into Leia’s arms, kissing her fervently on the cheek. So much so that behind them, Han, who was repairing the Falcon, let out an indignant and very unmanly cry, but Luke didn’t care at all.
“You’re the best! You’re saving my life! Literally!”
Luke stood up and rushed toward the common dormitories, under Leia’s gaze, who didn’t understand what was happening.
Luke came back a few moments later with a bag and a smile on his lips. Han had joined Leia and was standing where Luke had been moments earlier. Luke smiled awkwardly at them as he pulled an old communicator out of his bag, but when he saw it, he immediately noticed its unusable condition.
“Oh…”
“That’s all you’ve got to say, kid? A little ‘Oh?’ after all that panic?” Han threw out as his lips twisted into a slight smirk.
He didn’t have time to enjoy it before Leia drove her elbow into his ribs, while Han groaned in pain.
“So, Luke?” she asked with a curious smile. “Why such a fuss?”
“Um…” He threw a pitying glance at Han before answering Leia. “Well, when I left Tatooine, I more or less… forgot to take something that’s precious to me, and I was counting on being able to ask someone to retrieve it for me…”
His gaze dropped to the sandy communicator.
“But well…”
Leia grimaced at the sight of the certainly unusable object, then put on a thoughtful expression.
“Is that object really that important?”
Luke blushed at the question.
“To be honest…” But he bit his lip before answering, blushing even more and stammering something incomprehensible.
“Ah!” Han lightly shoved Leia while smiling. “See? He just wants to leave planet!”
“Han!” Leia shouted indignantly. “Be polite, kriff, who raised such an idiot…”
Luke set his bag down while blushing and cleared his throat.
“In reality, it’s something rather stupid, but it’s my… the equivalent of a wedding ring. It’s a personalized armor armband with my name on it, given to me by my husband…”
Luke touched his forearm reflexively at the mention of the armband.
“It’s the most precious thing I have, that I had…”
“Husband!?” Han exclaimed, grabbing and shaking Leia.
While she, she just asked calmly, “You’re married? But you’re so… innocent!”
Maybe not that calmly, apparently.
“Alright, alright… so it’s a very sentimental object,” Leia said with an amused smile. “Then call this person through the Rebel communicator; our communications were just secured against Imperial listening devices, I think…”
__________________________________
Leia set Luke up at the communications station before letting him enter his friend’s coordinates. Luke slumped into the chair and pushed a rebellious lock of hair back into place.
On the screen, a message appeared:
“Coordinates and communicator in place; initiating communication.”
Luke was about to initiate the call when a technician shouted:
“Stop the comm’, the Empire is connected to our transmissions!”
But the call was already launched and the Empire was already listening; it was impossible for them to cut the conversation without it seeming suspicious. Leia suddenly hoped that this famous person wouldn’t answer.
Beep beep beep… tchack.
“Hello?”
In vain, because a rough, modulated voice echoed through the communicator. Leia wanted so badly to cut the communication at that moment; a simple wedding armband was not worth the extermination of the Rebellion, but before she could say anything, Luke cut her off.
“Din, love? How are you?”
The communicator began to crackle and blaster fire echoed. Luke looked at the transmitter console with an amused smile. The crackling intensified, then the sound of an explosion rang out, and a voice answered through the comm.
“Cyare ? I’m busy, what do you need?”
“Ah… You’re chasing a bounty? Who is it this time?” he asked, amused.
“Zilla Ryn, independent saboteur, on Geonosis,” Din replied with his usual pragmatism. “She’s worth 40,000 galactic credits. I just caught her.”
“But that’s great news, you’ll be able to repair the Razor Crest! And when you come home, we can have a feast!”
Luke smiled, winking at Leia and signing with his hands: After this, they won’t suspect Hoth of harboring rebels anymore, especially if it’s a young couple.
Leia’s eyes widened in astonishment and she offered him a pleasantly surprised smile before whispering to Han what he had said.
“…I should be back in two days. I drop off my bounty, collect the money, and I come home.”
In the background, the sound of a ship taking off could be heard.
“Could you stop by Tatooine? I forgot my armband during our stop at Peli Motto’s place, you know, when her house burned down.”
At that moment, the tone of Luke’s voice changed slightly; anyone who didn’t know him wouldn’t suspect a thing, but Din Djarin was Luke’s husband and had known him long enough to notice his changes in tone.
There was no response for a short moment, which could be explained by the clicking of buttons that his interlocutor seemed to be activating, then Din’s deep voice was heard again.
“Of course, mesh’la. How are your days going on Hoth?”
The rustling of a seat could be heard as Din continued.
“I’ve put the Razor on autopilot. I can really listen to you now, sunshine.”
Han and Leia exchanged an amused giggle at the mention of the nickname, but straightened up when they remembered the blinking red light that meant the Empire was still listening to their conversation.
“Well, my days are pretty busy. Do you remember my… sister?”
Luke glanced at Leia with an amused smirk before continuing.
“Luma, and her husband ? They were kind enough to come visit me, even though I sometimes, even often, prefer the company of a wampa to that of my dear brother-in-law.”
Luke laughed, while Han and Leia looked at him with offended expressions.
“Oh Ka’ra…” A sigh echoed from the other side of the communicator.
“Din? Are you okay?”
Luke settled back comfortably in his chair, knowing very clearly what was wrong with his husband, but really, what was the problem with teasing his dear spouse?
“I’m fine. Nothing abnormal.”
“So pragmatic, love.”
He laughed again, knowing it was just the nature of his handsome brunet, but he couldn’t help teasing Din.
“Is it my laughter that has that effect on you?”
He heard another sigh through the communicator, but this time one of exasperation.
“What am I supposed to say then?” Din asked, both amused and annoyed.
“Well, the truth, isn’t that obvious?”
“So I have to tell you that I miss you? That I just want to hold your slender body against mine and more?”
Luke blushed, but they continued to talk like that for a full two hours while the indicator light remained on.
The Empire stayed listening to their discussion. Luke had the unpleasant impression that Darth Vader was the one who cared so much about continuing to monitor their conversation.
Then, for ten minutes, Din answered only with hums. Luke was a little annoyed, but he mostly hoped that Din wasn’t having engine trouble with the Razor. It happened so often lately that his ship was starting to resemble the Falcon in that regard.
Then after another ten minutes of humming, Din finally spoke, abruptly cutting him off.
“It’s done.”
“What is done? And also, you just interrupted me…”
“Sorry? Anyway, I have your armband. What were you saying, Ka’r’ika?”
“…Nothing important. Thank you for my armband.”
Luke was now staring at the communicator with a completely dreamy and nostalgic look.
“Ni kar'tayli gar darasuum, darasuum, ner riduur…”
The silence that followed this declaration was more comforting than awkward, since a few seconds later Din’s rough voice turned into a joyful laugh distorted by his helmet’s modulator, and Luke foolishly had the impression that he would die for this man.
“Who’s being sappy now?” Din asked in a vibrant voice.
But Luke didn’t let it go and shot back:
"But I never, ever said that you were sappy, darling.” Luke replied sarcastically.
And in their bickering, Luke didn’t notice that the red indicator light on the communicator had gone out, and Han and Leia didn’t have the heart to warn them, finding the scene sweet and comforting in times of war. They would ask him more questions about this mysterious Din later.
Din and Luke continued talking like that for another full hour.