It must have been a very hard life for him. He must have been mad to choose it.
Or desperate.
Or maybe the last place anyone would look for a Jedi was in the middle of hostile country like this.
BEVIIN-VASUR FARM, NEAR KELDABE
“Mirta, where have you been?” Sintas asked.
“Been on a job, Ba’buir.”
Fett watched Sintas making her way competently around the room, navigating by touch. Watching her when she couldn’t see him made him uncomfortable now; he was predatory, intruding. He wanted more than anything to do what was right for her but he was going around in circles.
She located Mirta and the two women hugged. “What job, sweetheart?”
“We seized an Imperial Star Destroyer.”
Sintas parted her lips slightly, then laughed. “Oh, just a little job. Nobody hurt?”
“Loads of people. But not us.”
“I can remember how to strip down a blaster.”
“You were a bounty hunter, Ba’buir.”
“I can recall chasing a man who had something I wanted back-a metal box. I’d better remember how I did it, if I want to earn a living again.”
Watching Sintas desperately grabbing at scraps of her life and trying to build herself back into a whole woman made Fett feel scared and dirty; it reminded him that he’d failed in every aspect of living, except his job-except killing people. It wasn’t the killing that bothered him. It was the failing, and not being like his dad. Jango Fett had taught him how to be a perfect soldier, but he’d also shown him by example how to be the ideal father. He’d managed one out of two.
“Sin, “he said. “You never have to worry about scraping a living again. I owe you credits. A lot. I’m paying up.”
Sintas felt her way toward him. She was going to touch him. He could see it coming, and he dreaded it, because it was going to bring it all back, not just the memories that were better left forgotten, but the way it felt to touch her, because that part of his life was dead and buried. You left her.
She found his hand and took it. “I know I must have married you for a good reason. And whatever went wrong, you still seem like a good man.”
“Sin, there’s some more bad news you need to know.” She still had a grip on his hand. He’d seen her at her best and worst, although she’d never seen the best of him, and he never got over how beautiful she always was, whatever the circumstances. He needed her to let go of his hand; but he didn’t want her to. There was nothing salvageable in the relationship and he didn’t even want to hear himself think if only.
Imagine if you’d both been happy when she went missing, though. Imagine pining all those years, getting her back so many years later, and then having to face the separation of age-that she couldn’t want you again, even if she tried.
Yes, it was better this way, if it had to happen at all.
“I can feel some of the things in the heart-of-fire, “she said. “But I can’t make sense of it.”
“Okay. Sit down.” He steered her to a chair. Mirta watched as if she was waiting to pounce on any mistake. “Our daughter died.”
Sintas took the news with a few blinks. It was awhile be-fore she spoke again. “I feel bad that I can’t remember enough about her. What happened to her? She must have been an adult, because Mirta’s here.”
It was a guessing game, and Fett hated those at the best of times. “I’m going to get it all over with now, or I’ll just be giving you a fresh bit of misery every day, “he said. Or maybe it’s because I need to blurt and run. “She was killed, Sin. She was a bounty hunter. She blamed me for you going missing on a job, because I should have been there to look after you both. She stalked me for years and she tried to kill me. But she got picked up by the secret police on Coruscant, and she died under interrogation. She was fifty-three or fifty-four, I think. And that’s about it. Except she raised Mirta to hate me, too, and Mirta tried to kill me, but we got that out of our systems.”
Mirta was as tough as they came. She just stood there, and the expression on her face was acceptance. The boil was lanced. Sintas did a reasonable job of controlling the shock, but her lips moved silently as she tried framing a question and failed for a few moments. The anguished expression in her eyes was all the worse for the fact that Fett knew she couldn’t even see their expressions.
Regret, guilt, pain, anger. That’s what you’re missing, Sin. But I bet you can imagine it well enough.
“The barve who killed my girl-where is he? Is he still alive? I’ll fix that…” Sintas burst in anger. Maybe it was all so terrible and alien that she was too shocked to cry, and Fett knew it was better to act rather than feel. “And how could you want to kill your own grandfather, Mirta? You didn’t even know him.”