“No, I think there are things you can’t forgive. But executing someone is a step beyond, and if you’re thinking about it… just remember me.”
Jaina seriously considered a little careful mind influence right then just to stop Mirta being brokenhearted and guilt-ridden on her wedding day. But given Mirta’s strength of will, Jaina was sure it would bounce right off her. She didn’t even try.
“No disrespect to your granddad, “she said, “but he wasn’t totally blameless, was he? I can imagine how much damage it does to a marriage when something that awful happens. But other folks handle it differently. He could have, too. He could have stayed in touch, at least.”
“When you’ve got the blaster in your hand and his back lined up in your cross-wires, it doesn’t feel like that. And things happened to him to make him that way. Maybe they happened to your brother, too.”
“I can’t believe you’re pleading for Jacen, “Jaina said. “If he walked in here now, wouldn’t you shoot him dead for what he did to your mother?”
“Yes, I would.” Mirta had a few wild flowers twisted in her hair, but she was still in yellow battle armor. It was incongruous and very Mandalorian. “Without a second thought. I’m Fett’s granddaughter in every sense. But that doesn’t mean it’s the right thing for you to shoot him. Do whatever you can to get him locked up and treated or whatever. Maybe let fate take its course and leave someone else to…. kill him.”
And that was incongruously Mandalorian, too. Family-not bloodline, but the living fabric of being a family-meant a lot to them, and maybe that was the root of Mirta’s anguish.
She’s worrying about me going through what she nearly did. Jaina was taken aback. That dualistic Mandalorian mindset-extreme violence, profound love-always threw her.
“I’ll never forget what you’re trying to do for me, “she said at last.
Mirta looked suddenly embarrassed, as if she didn’t want to be caught being kind. “Funny how I’ve only really got to grips with my own messy family since I’ve been talking to a shabla Jedi.”
“I’ve learned more than I ever thought I would from all of you, and I don’t mean saber tactics, either.”
There was nothing like living close to someone who wanted to kill their granddad to make you look at the lightsaber in your own hand and ask if you could really use it on your own brother. Jaina had been thrown up against the choices and consequences here in a way that she would never have experienced in her own polite, restrained, reasonable Jedi family. She was also a lot clearer about what it meant to be a Jedi, because of the mirror held up to her by Mandalore. Everyone needed to see themselves as others saw them.
But she still didn’t know exactly what she should do when it came to stopping Jacen on his headlong rush to disaster.
“I’ll be back later, “Jaina said. “I need to mull over what you’ve said. But please go back to the party and be happy today. Promise me?”
Mirta didn’t have a lot of happiness genes, that was obvious, but she managed a smile and clasped Jaina’s arm. “Let’s never be in opposing armies, but if we are, we’ll make sure we avoid each other. Deal?”
“Deal, “said Jaina.
Jaina knew she wouldn’t have understood that a couple of weeks earlier, but she certainly did now. She passed Sintas walking up the dirt track toward Vevut’s house from the center of Keldabe. She was clutching something tight in her right hand as she ambled along slowly, looking down at her fist as if she had a comlink in it, but when Jaina got close to her she could see that it had to be something much smaller than that.
Sintas looked up as if she hadn’t seen Jaina coming, and almost stepped out of her way. There were tears in her eyes; Jaina would have been stunned if there hadn’t been. Losing your memory was bad enough, but having to recover memories as bad as hers was living through pain twice.
“Sorry, “Sintas said, unfolding her fingers. There was a huge deep blue gem in her palm, shot with brilliant rainbow colors as it caught the light. “Just been doing some catching up.”
Sintas walked on. Jaina marveled at the ability of beings to recover from the worst experiences, and hoped her own family would be able to find some of that resilience.
She could still hear the wedding guests singing-that same plantive ballad she’d heard the other night. She chose to hear it as a song of love and homesickness. It would al-ways sound that way to her for as long as she lived.
OYU’BAAT TAPCAF, KELDABE
If Fett had wanted a drink in the tapcaf today, he’d have had to get it from behind the bar himself.