"Do you think we can trust him?"

Internally, Hala wanted to smile. She liked that Cara thought of her as a part of the team – that Cara saw it as her, Hala, and Din against the world. It had been a long time – maybe her whole life – since Hala had been able to point to someone else as a true friend. And here was Cara, standing next to her on a short cliff, on the opposite end of the lake that abutted Maz's palace, asking her if they should believe what Luke Skywalker had told them once everyone had uneasily lowered their weapons. But Cara's question wasn't one that invited gushing over the importance of female camaraderie. It was a question that demanded a serious answer. Hala wrinkled her brow.

"He's a Jedi. We're supposed to be able to trust him, aren't we? He's one of – no – he's THE good guy, right?"

"I guess," Cara grumbled, "Just…I'm not used to trusting anyone, even if it is the guy who allegedly brought down both death stars."

Hala stared out into the water gently crashing against the bluffs below.

"I feel safe around him. And the fact that he's attuned to the child…I think he means what he says."

Cara snorted, her gaze also riveted on the scenery around them.

"Yeah, well, if he does betray us, I'll be ready."

"So will I," boomed a voice from behind them and both women started before turning around. Cara glared.

"For someone so big, you sure do get around quietly."

"I could say the same for you," Paz replied and while Cara might've murdered anyone else, Hala included, for the retort, she seemed to understand it was a compliment of sorts from the heavy.

Paz cocked his helmet to look at Hala.

"Jedi shouldn't just be blindly trusted, you know."

"I'm not just trusting him because he's a Jedi," Hala replied in exasperation, "I really believe him when he says he can feel what the child's feeling. And the fact that he doesn't want to take the kid away from us…that's a refreshing change."

All three people silently contemplated Hala's point. It was a valid one. Luke Skywalker had been very clear about the fact that the child belonged with them.

"He sees you both as his parents…and given everything he's been through – just the things I can sense from here – I won't risk any further damage to him by removing him from your care."

"But you can train him?"

"Yes. And I will. As long as you're willing to come with us and keep him with you when he's not at the Temple training."

Hala and Din had turned to one another and shared a silent exchange. Getting to keep the child AND have him trained…it was almost too good to be true. As if sensing their hesitation, Luke had spoken once more.

"It won't be easy. He'll be tired from training, and will likely try to test the boundaries of his powers with you. I won't be there to clean up messes in your dwelling. But he needs the training. Already, he's been tempted by the dark side. I can see that it's clouded his judgment from time to time."

Cara had made an affirmative noise at that revelation and Hala wanted to ask her about it but she didn't think now was the right time, what with Paz there.

"Maybe…" Paz hesitated before resuming his thought, "Maybe this one is different. He's the only Jedi right now and he doesn't seem to have any interest in fighting."

"At some point, you're gonna have to sit me down and explain just why Mandalorians hate the Jedi so much," Cara replied but before Paz could answer she put a hand up. "Not right now."

Paz shrugged and turned back to Hala.

"You and Din…things are better now?"

Hala blushed. This was definitely not a conversation she wanted to have…with Paz or Cara.

"Yeah, things are fine."

Cara laughed. "That doesn't sound reassuring."

Hala felt her face grow hot as she grew more red.

"No – we're good. I promise."

"Then what's got you so embarrassed?" Paz asked, amusement flooding his voice.

"It's just…we could really use some time alone…you know…just the two of us."

At that, both Paz and Cara cracked up and Hala didn't know whether to laugh with them or cry in frustration.

"You don't understand. I love the kid with my whole heart but he's ALWAYS there. And he's got really bad timing."

"Oh stop," Cara wheezed, "I don't want to know."

"I do," Paz leered between snickers, somehow managing to not sound creepy.

Hala just stared at her feet, wishing she could be anywhere but there, admitting to Paz and Cara that she was in dire need of sexual release.

"Tell you what," Paz finally said as he stopped chuckling. "I'll do you both a favor and take the kid off your hands for an evening."

"And I'll help so he doesn't teach it anything too dangerous," Cara added but her mischievous glance at Paz made Hala realize the child would probably return knowing how to make his own grenade launcher. Still, the idea of several hours alone, just her and Din…

"You're serious? And you promise me, whatever you teach him, you'll keep it relatively safe?"

Paz and Cara looked at each other.

"Define relatively safe."

"Oh kriff, I don't even care," Hala admitted.

"You told Paz and Cara we needed time to ourselves?" Din asked in exasperation later after his friends had stopped by to grab the kid.

"I didn't mean to," Hala replied, her voice full of contrition, "It just sort of tumbled out."

She knew he was rolling his eyes at her. She could feel it.

"Look, they wanted to know how we were doing. What was I supposed to say?"

"Nothing."

"Not all of us are as good at killing conversations as you are."

"I'm never gonna hear the end of this from Paz."

But even though his tone conveyed a certain weariness, Din moved closer to Hala and she bit her cheeks to keep from smiling.

"If you don't want to spend time together –"

"Shhhh," he admonished her, pulling her into his arms.

"It's not too late," she continued impishly, "I can go find them and tell them we decided to spend an evening together as a family – you, me, Green Bean."

"What'll it take to get you to be quiet?" Din asked her, the forehead of his mask pressed against hers.

"You could always gag me," she replied coyly.

"Kinky little loth cat."

"You love it."

"I do," Din agreed, as he continued to hold her and backed Hala up against the wall of their ship.

"Close your eyes," he murmured and Hala readily obeyed, hearing him remove his helmet, feeling the beskar brush against her forearm as he bent down to set it on the ground.

"I love tying you up, love making you beg, love all the toys…but for tonight, no games."

Hala couldn't help the pout that her lips formed but Din must have been watching her face because she felt his hand graze her cheek before his thumb caught on her lower lip.

"Tonight, I want to hold you in my arms and make love to you. We'll have time for the other stuff later. Let tonight be about celebrating us."

Hala choked back something that was painfully close to a sob. Din was a man of few words but he knew how to knock the breath out of her with just a sentence or two. He pulled away from her and Hala leaned into his retreating form, not wanting the contact to end.

"Stay," he commanded and she pressed herself back against the wall, eager to show him she was listening and willing to do whatever he wanted. She heard him moving about the cabin, heard the sounds of various buttons being pressed, the familiar sounds of the ship being secured – Maz had offered them a room within her palace but they'd been more comfortable staying on the ship, though they didn't turn down her generous offer to supply them with fresh foods and linens.

Din returned to her and Hala reached out to touch him, feeling for the warmth of the canvas cloth as opposed to the beskar – she wanted to feel him, not his armour, even if they were often inseparable in her mind. But Din had other ideas as he gently swatted her hands away and wrapped a familiar piece of cloth around her eyes.

"Just till we're in my bunk," he assured her, "I can't cut all the lights yet."

Hala nodded and allowed him to take her hand in his, to lead her down the narrow corridor to their bunks. She heard a door swoosh open, felt Din pull her into the room, and heard the door close behind her before Din's hands were cradling her head, removing the blindfold.

And even though it was still blackness all around her when the cloth fell from her eyes, Hala smiled because she knew she was seeing what Din was seeing – they were now on even footing. And they were FINALLY alone. No one small and green to interrupt them.

Hala reached out in front of her, her hands clumsily bumping into Din's cuirass as his hands tentatively touched her neck and jawline. They were silent for a few moments as they traced their fingers along one other, learning the contours as they did each time they were in the dark with one another. But Hala's eagerness to feel Din's skin, all of it, led to her fumbling with the magnetic releases at his shoulders. She was impatient to rid him of his armour and he chuckled, taking pity on her and helping her out. But when he reached for the hem of her shirt, Hala backed away and pushed his hands down.

"You have so much more on than I do. First we undress you, then we worry about me."

"Yes, ma'am."

Hala clucked her tongue in approval of his deferential tone and they resumed their blind removal of his armour and canvas coverings till he was only in his thin underclothes.

"Seems like we could start focusing on you now," Din teased but he didn't push the issue because Hala was too busy worshiping his body with her fingers, tracing them over the lines of his back, the planes of his chest, and then lower as she allowed herself time to linger and learn his every muscle and bone in the blackness of his bunk. They'd been sharing a bed for weeks now and she knew how his body fit against hers as they curled into one another. But the decadence of being able to touch his stomach, to feel its slight curve without worrying about if the child would start cooing for her attention – she savored it and when the time came that Din grew impatient, and wanted to carry out his own explorations of her body, Hala backed away and allowed him to remove her top, her pants, her underthings. Allowed him to push her gently to the bed, where she sat back, then laid down, so he could join her and explore her as she lay beneath him. And as he skimmed his lips against the curves of her hips, she gently tugged the rest of his clothes off, rubbing her palms against his warm skin, curling her fingers in his hair as he sought her mouth with his own.

They were no strangers to each other's mouths – even with the child around at night, they had found time for soft kisses that occasionally led to something hungrier. But somehow, this felt like the first time they'd kissed, as though everything else had been practice for this moment. It was a first kiss for mouths that had learned one another thoroughly – knew when and how to press an insistent tongue against lips willing to open and allow entry, knew exactly what kind of pressure to apply when licking into the other person's mouth and knew how to allow two tongues to come together through quiet, muffled moans of approval and satisfaction. Maybe another couple would have considered a meal first before running to the bedroom but this was the meal Hala and Din had been craving. They didn't need any pretenses and neither could have eaten if they'd tried because all either of them could think about was this – being alone and naked and able to see this through till every touch and kiss had led to its logical and inevitable conclusion.

"Din," Hala murmured as his mouth moved away from hers to the column of her neck, sucking his way lower as Hala relished being able to call his name out without consequence.

"Meshurok," he mumbled in reply, his breath warming the valley between her breasts as his tongue licked slow lines down her chest. Hala could feel Din's hard length against the inside of her thigh and without thinking, she arched her back and spread her legs, wrapping them around his hips, giving him unfettered access to her already-wet core.

"So impatient," he breathed against her right breast, his tongue lapping at her pebbled nipple.

"How are you not impatient?" she replied in frustration, realising the man on top of her was in no hurry and shifting her body so she could rut herself against his thigh, trying to chase her pleasure however she could.

"It's not that I'm not impatient…but I know good things come when we take our time."

"I'm gonna come one way or another," Hala replied through gritted teeth, "And I'm not going to wait any longer."

"Have it your way," he whispered and then he bit down on her nipple and Hala shrieked, stars of pleasure and pain dancing in front of her tightly-closed eyes. Dimly, she was aware of his hand traveling down, below her waist but it wasn't until his thumb brushed her swollen nub that she realized what he was doing and she squealed again as he pressed circles against her clit while his index finger slid inside her.

Hala rubbed herself against his palm as he continued to stroke patterns around her clit with his thumb and he slid another finger into her wet center. She had never really thought about how massive his hands were till now, as he handled her like she was nothing more than a weapon for him to clean and polish. He drew sounds out of her that she would later be embarrassed about but in the moment, it was like he'd turned an electric current on inside of her and all Hala could do was writhe and moan as Din drew her closer and closer to her climax.

"Din, more! Yes…yes…oh Maker! I'm gonna come…I'm gonna…"

"Good girl," he purred, catching her lips in his momentarily before releasing them and sucking on her earlobe before adding, "Come for me, Hala."

All she could do was cry out incoherently as she fell over the edge, a white light behind her eyelids and a buzzing in her ears that she would only later realize was Din, humming in happy satisfaction as he felt her walls clench and spasm around his slickened fingers.

After he removed his fingers, he held them up to her mouth and let her lick her own juices from them, giving her a grunt of approval for her enthusiastic completion of the task.

"Think you've got another one in you?" he asked as he guided her hand down to his hardened cock.

"We haven't had sex for months," Hala replied, "I've got so many orgasms stored up – we're gonna need more than one night alone, Din."

He chuckled before kissing her so hard and deep that she had to gasp for air when he finally relinquished his domination over her mouth.

"Good, because I want to have you in every way conceivable."

She shivered from excitement as she stroked him, running her thumb over the swollen head of his cock and smearing the beads of precum across it.

"Let me," she started and without finishing her thought, she pushed him down on the mattress and straddled him before shimmying her body down so she could take him in her mouth.

His groan as she licked him from the base of his dick to the head let her know he was more than amenable to this new position and Hala took him into her mouth, going as far down on him as she could, and using her hand to stroke what she couldn't fit in her mouth and down her throat.

"Kriff, Hala, it's good," Din moaned and the way he thrust up into her mouth made it clear he wasn't just giving her platitudes, "But I want to come inside you."

Hala slid her mouth off his cock with a satisfying popping sound as she released his head.

"You don't have to tell me twice," she murmured and before she could finish the sentence, Din had her on her back on the mattress, his body weight holding her down.

"My darling," he whispered, before kissing her deeply, "Beautiful Hala."

She knew better than to roll her eyes. Even in the pitch black, Din would know. Besides, Hala was getting accustomed to the idea that Din really did think she was beautiful. And the longer they were together, the more she was learning to find parts of herself attractive. But this wasn't a moment for introspection. She felt his length pressing near her entrance and Hala moaned as she made adjustments to her position so Din could enter her easily.

And when he did, she couldn't help the noise that tumbled out of her. No one had ever filled her the way he did. And when he withdrew and pushed into her again? Hala saw stars.

Din set a gentle pace. He had been serious when he'd told her he wanted to make love to her. There was nothing hurried about his rhythm despite how close he might have been to coming. Years of rigorous discipline came in handy for more than hand to hand combat.

Over and over, he thrust into her and Hala was helpless to do anything besides meet his hips with her own, praises on her lips as he drew her closer and closer to another orgasm. And when she finally came, Hala triggered Din's orgasm, leaving both of them a sweaty, panting mess.

"I love you," she whispered as Din sought her lips with his own once more. "I love you so much."

Paz Vizla had a big mouth. It was the first thing most of his friends would mention if they were asked about his defining feature. But it wasn't just Paz's booming voice – everything about him was oversized – his opinions, his reactions. Paz was just the kind of person who walked into a room and expected the attention to turn to him. Which was fine…except for when it wasn't. Because sometimes, you didn't want everyone to hear what you were saying. Sometimes, you wanted to have a private conversation without anyone else being party to it.

A week into their stay on Takodana, Paz had finally found a free moment alone with Din. Hala and the kid were out exploring the area around Maz's castle and it was the perfect time for Paz to question his friend about something that had been bothering him since they'd rescued Din from the Imperial cruiser and taken him back to Quora.

"I don't get it. Why haven't you shown her your face?"

Din remained silent but Paz didn't care. He was used to his vod'ika's reticence.

"I mean, she's crazy about you. What are you waiting for?"

"We don't show our faces. Not unless we're committed for life," Din finally answered, uneasily.

"And you're not committed to her? 'Cause, I gotta tell you, you're not gonna find a better riduur."

"It's not a choice I'd make casually."

"She stuck with you after you tried to kill her. What are you waiting for?"

Din either had no good answer or he wasn't willing to share whatever response he had and Paz grunted to show he'd "won" the argument.

"Wait too long and you'll lose her. You realize that, don't you?"

"Has it ever occurred to you that we could just hang out and you could not lecture me? Just once?"

Paz grunted once more and the two men returned their attention to the weapons they were disassembling and cleaning.

Hala remained frozen in her place until a tiny hand reached up and tugged at her skirts. In a daze, she looked down at the green creature beside her. Oh right. They had come back to the ship to grab him something to drink on their exploration of the land around Maz's palace. Hala had forgotten all about their original goal as she'd eavesdropped on Din and Paz talking. Though eavesdrop wasn't the right term. She hadn't meant to overhear the conversation. It was just that Paz was so damn loud. And when she'd realized he was talking about her…well, it had seemed wrong to barge in. Only now…

Hala felt cold inside.

Was it true? Could Din have shown her his face this whole time?

And what did it mean that he hadn't?

Hala felt her cheeks heat as she remembered how Amudai and Paz had reacted at the covert, when she'd told them she'd never seen Din without his helmet. All this time…she'd thought she was respecting the way. What a fool she'd been.

The last week had been like a dream come true. Between Paz and Cara, Maz and their new friends Lando, Leia, Luke, Han, and Chewy, there had been no shortage of people to look after Green Bean for an hour here and there so Din and Hala could have a moment alone. She was sore in all the best ways from their liaisons but now it all felt cheap.

Why hadn't Din revealed himself to her? Did he not care about her as much as she'd let herself believe?

Hala wiped her tears as she moved away from the ship to Maz's palace. They could find something for the kid to drink in there. Right now, Hala didn't want to be anywhere near the ship or Din.