Not the Jedi Way

Memories

Luke had asked Din to come down to help with Grogu's training. He was waiting for him to land and when he did Grogu ran up to him hugging his legs. "Patuu!"

"Hey there!" Din picked him up. "Did you grow taller?"

Luke walked up to him. "He missed you."

"I missed him too."

"Let's go inside. We got to talk." Luke smiled and led Din into his apartment. While Grogu played with R2 Luke sat down with Din. "Grogu is doing great. He has amazing potential but I can't teach him further without addressing his suppressed memories. There is a way I can do it but he's scared."

"So what do you need me to do?"

"I need to do it with you so he sees that everything will be okay. Basically, we will be sharing our past and emotions with each other." He paused. "I get that this is a lot, really intimate and I'm not sure I'm ready for it either but Grogu needs to see that it's okay."

"I-" Din was scared of the idea of showing the Jedi everything he had done and went through but it was for the kid. "Okay. What do you need me to do?"

Luke called Grogu over and put on a blindfold. "Are you comfortable with taking your helmet off in front of Grogu or should I put one on him?"

"It's fine." Din took off his helmet. "The child has seen me without it before."

"Okay." Luke gently grabbed the other's face and took a deep breath. "Ready?"

"Ready as I'll ever be, I guess."

Din closed his eyes and all of a sudden pictures and feelings started flooding his mind. They started as ones from a small child running through his room tinkering with a droid. It was as if he were him.

A man came inside. "Luke! Dinner, Ben is here." The child ran through the door and the scenery changed to a party. He felt himself talk. "Aunt Beru would flip if she know I was here Biggs." A burst of laughter escaped his mouth. The other teenager hit against his shoulder playfully "Aw come on, Wormie. She'll never know."

It clicked for Din he was living moments of Luke's life and feeling them how the Jedi must have felt during them. He saw his failed attempts at relationships, next. The scene changed again with him kneeling in front of a holo message of Leia.

Suddenly the memories' tone started to shift and they started to run by quicker. He saw Luke meeting up with Obi-wan. After that, he felt tears run down his face as he saw burnt corpses in front of him. He knew who they were and what they meant to the Jedi. But most importantly he felt the pain of losing them. Before he could work through that he got thrown into the next memory, freeing Leia and losing obi wan. The sadness grew heavier until he was hit with the ecstasy of shooting down the Death Star.

He experienced the training on dagobah and suddenly saw Boba and Han frozen in carbon. His mistrust towards Din made so much more sense now. But before he could dwell on that he saw Vader confronting Luke and cutting his hand off. The dread and horror when finding out he was his father. He felt the months of doubt boil in him the pain and the fear Luke felt after that. He found himself freeing Han and handing himself over to Vader. He felt the determination of saving his father and the betrayal and pain when he was lying on the floor being electrocuted and on the brink of death.

His lungs were burning and everything hurt as he was saved by Vader. Din felt Luke's desperation as he dragged his father's body to the ship and held him in his arms one last time as he slipped away. The next few memories were bittersweet. The celebration of winning the war and trying to form the new Republic. The happiness of holding his nephew for the first time and training with his sister.

Then he saw the holovideo of the Jedi's father killing the children and throwing him against the wall. All the fear and pain of having hurt him. Din felt the sadness of feeling like he had wronged him when he saw himself leave for Mandalore. The anxiety of meeting after half a year and the conflicted feelings when meeting Boba.

Luke meanwhile experienced Din's memories, the horrors of war, and seeing the droids killing his friends. He wanted to scream as he sat in the dark waiting for his parents to come back just to feel the dread when a droid opened the doors. Fear filled him before getting rescued by the death watch. He felt safe as they flew off with him. But the next memories he felt himself question the code until settling on this life. He saw the people Din would bring in and him bringing in people cold.

He felt the distance between himself and other people until he was hit by the innate need to protect when he saw Grogu. He felt the dread after leaving him with the client at first before coming back to get him out. Luke felt Din's confusion when seeing the child use the force for the first time and the pain when he found his creed slaughtered and seeing the one droid he trusted destroy himself for the kid.

He saw Ahsoka Tano and the seeing stone waiting for Grogu to finish. Luke felt the fear of thinking he had lost Grogu and the dread when the dark trooper tried to break the door down. He saw himself through Din's eyes as he took off the hood. Luke felt the relief as he heard he could stay with Grogu. He felt the worry Din felt when seeing him eat less and less. The worry when he found him absorbed in the video.

He felt Din's desperate want to help him get through it. The fear when he collapsed and had a seizure and the surprise when he asked him to sleep with him. Luke felt Din's want to protect him and his pain when he found him bleeding out on the floor. The sadness that ran through him when seeing all the old scars knowing what he must have been through.

Luke felt the doubt that made him leave him and the regret when seeing him cry in front of the Club.

They both got pulled out of the memories and found tears running down their cheeks. Din wanted to hold the other close and to make sure nothing bad happened to him ever again. "Luke, I-"

Luke just pulled him into a hug. He held him close. Tears ran down his cheeks.

Grogu touched them looking worried. Din just pet his head. "It's alright, kid. We're okay and safe."

Luke felt like they now shared a special bond knowing the pain and the happiness they went through. He held Din's face in his hands. He leaned his hand against the other and felt like there were no words to be said between them. They understood.

Din didn't need to see Luke's eyes to know that they were thinking and feeling the same thing right now.

The Jedi picked up the youngling. "See it's safe. Now you little bed Bug got to get some sleep we'll train tomorrow." He tucked Grogu in before returning to Din with drinks in his hand. "Are you okay with Vodka?"

"Yeah."

Luke sat down, pouring them their drinks, and took a long sip. "Are you alright?"

"I don't know." Din drank as well. "What about you?"

"I just wish I could've been there done something and-"

"You're here now."

"I guess you're right." Luke chuckled. "I hope you don't think less of me now and-"

"Less of you? I am amazed you're still here and still good after all you went through. You're amazing."

"Speak for yourself." Luke hit his arm. "Thanks though."

Din stayed the night. There wasn't much to talk about so they just enjoyed each other's company. Luke eventually leaned against him laughing as he was tipsy. "Thank you, Din."

"For what?"

"Trusting me and sharing your past with me." He paused. "And for not leaving me."

"Thank you, for doing the same."

Din left the next day and Luke felt a pain in his chest when he left.