Kyrimorut was… almost exactly the kind of place Ruusaan expected her biological dad to live in. Isolated, remote, out of the way, well hidden from the rest of the galaxy…. It was like something out of one of the stories she remembered being told of, of the illustrious galaxy-trotting adventures of Mandalorian merc Kal Skirata. Her papa.
Her memories of Kal Skirata before the divorce were striking yet vague at best and childish reinterpretations at worst. She remembered him being her favorite parent, at least. No offense to mom, but Ruu favored her time playing with daddy's golden armor, ducking head under his shiny dome of a helmet, and listening to his romanticized tales over mom's stiff lectures of not eating the household bars of soap. Her brothers had agreed with Ruu's preferences tenfold, though it wasn't until the beginnings of their adolescent years when the youngest Skirata sibling realized how resentful Ijaat and Tor were of their father.
Ruu hardly understood why Kal Skirata had to leave the family at the time. Her mother was too vague in her explanations, and her brothers were absolutely silent. By the time they all started talking again, the damage was already done. Even if mom's new husband was nothing but supportive and spoiling to them all, there was always the overhanging bitterness in their new home.
Amidst all the family troubles and teenage dramas, Ruu began to fantasize of moving to a different planet, away from her family. Their downtown apartment was unbearably cramped and claustrophobic. Dad – her other dad, not Kal Skirata – liked to have the volume maxed whenever he watched a vid from his "classic" movie collection, which was practically every night before dinner. Mom, as sweet as she could be, was a pain in the arse when she was in one of her lecturing moods. And Ruu's siblings – don't let her get started on them. If Ruu had a credit for every time Ijaat had brought a girl home and wanted Ruusaan to cover for him with their parents….
Mandalore seemed to be going under its winter seasons. White snow covered the entire planet, from the flat plains stretching miles and miles to the veshok forests where Kyrimorut was located. The base consisted of an underground bunker, Ruu was told, with the top floor of the bunker camouflaged on Mandalore's surface. Ruu could see the dome from where she was leaning against a speeder with a tarp draped over it. The area around Kyrimorut was clear of most of the big trees, allowing a small expanse of land big enough for half a dozen reasonably sized ships to land. Nearby in the northeast was a frozen lake, visible down the horizon.
A ship or two were already parked in the bastion. A cluster of people seemed to be moving back and forth between the ships and the bunker. Some were in Republic clone armor, others in plain winterized clothes. They were obviously stressed about something or other. Perhaps it had something to do with Chancellor Palpatine's galactic-wide announcement of a Jedi coup, or something with this whole desertion business they seem to be running.
That one clone, Sull, he and Ijaat were leaning on the speeder beside her. After leaving Pols Anaxes, everyone seemed to be sweating bullets and wetting their trousers while talking on their comm links. Ruu didn't catch much of what was said, and she had been overwhelmed with a weariness she was not aware she had, falling asleep in the ship. The next thing she knew, she and her brother were ushered out of the ship with Sull acting as their guide.
"What's happening, exactly?" Ruusaan asked aloud, puffing clouds of vapor into the icy air. Kyrimorut's residents sent them sporadic glances but were mostly preoccupied with whatever it is they were doing.
"It's endex," Sull shrugged, his green Mandalorian armor plates shuffling over one another. "War's over, so Kal Skirata's pulling all of his favorite boys and girls out."
"Clone troopers are really deserting?"
"Yeah. Or they will be. Republic pay doesn't cut it. Mercenary work – that's where the big bucks are at." Sull turned his head, the rest of his body still as a statue. "So you're his daughter, and you're Ijaat's sister."
"Yup." Ruu wasn't exactly sure who Sull was. A clone, yes, but she never met him on Khemerion. "I'm assuming you've worked jobs before with Ijaat?"
"I have."
"Did he treat you right? No backstabbing?"
A snort, from Ijaat. "Oh, if only you knew."
Sull shifted his look to Ruu's brother. "Never knew you were a Skirata. If I did, I would have never taken on that job with you." Ijaat just gave an unimpressed grunt. "Try not to get into any fights with anyone here. Kal Skirata still owes Spar and me our pay after springing Ruusaan, and I'd like to die of old age sixty years from now rather than ten to twenty." With that, Sull wandered off.
"I like him," Ruu said after a while. "He doesn't take any of your bull. Good man."
Ijaat didn't take the bait. When something was on his mind, he ignored practically everything else around him. "Why are we still here?" he asked. "We can leave, right now. I'm sure they won't mind if we appropriate a ship for ourselves and send it back later."
Ruusaan rolled her eyes. "You don't want to see what our dad's been up to? Why he decided to listen to Tor and send people to break me out of prison?"
"It's been thirty years, Ruu, and from what that clone, Fi, has been saying, Kal Skirata's already got a family for himself. We don't need him, and he doesn't need us."
"To you, maybe. But we – I lost Khemerion. There's not much else I've got left. I want to see what he has to offer."
Ruu can tell from the way Ijaat let his arms slacken and his head dip down that he was getting quietly frustrated. He held it in though, of course. Her brother always preferred for things to go quietly and smoothly. Unfortunately for him, fate didn't always let him have his way.
When Ruu turned her gaze back to the erratic crowd, her attention was drawn to the sound of shoveling snow. She observed a small shallow trail, a long line of depressed slush beginning from somewhere near the parked ships Her eyes followed the trail, and at the end was something the size of a newborn womp rat gradually dragging itself toward Ruu.
It was a human baby, Ruu soon realized. It was a tiny toddler with a blanket wrapped around it. It's arms pulled the baby forward, the cloth around it leaving the long semi-circled cavity behind it. As the child came closer, Ruu could make out the dark brown eyes and the short black hair on the boy. He gave a tiny smile as he approached.
"By the Force," she heard Ijaat mutter, "is that a kid? If he's Clan Skirata, does that make us his aunts and uncles?"
Ruu ignored him. The cute child made motions for her to pick him up, so she did. He gave an excited cry as Ruu snuggled him in her arms. She couldn't remember the last time she was this close to a happy, innocent child. All the ones back on Khemerion were either depressed or dead, Force have mercy on them.
"And who are you?" Ruu asked the toddler. The infant pulled at her shirt collar. She hadn't changed out of her prison uniform, and the fabric seemed to be different from the child's blanket. Then the kid started poking and feeling Ruu's cheeks. Laughing would only encourage him, so she held him slightly away from her, keeping her lips in a thin smile.
"Hey, Ruu," her brother jabbed her elbow, "eyes up. Got incoming."
A Republic Commando in obsidian black armor and a young woman with reddish brown hair were jogging toward the Skirata siblings. The clone had his helmet off, and the woman let her long strands run freely. The panic in their faces was as obvious as the excitement in the baby's.
"Kad," they seemed to call out. "Kad! Kad'ika!" She let them take the child away from her arms. The clone seemed to be slurring words under his breath. "I just set him down for a second. Just a second." They moved farther away before Ruu could catch any more snippets, though Ruu's intuition gave her a pretty good idea why they seemed so worried.
"You ever miss being a kid?" Ruu asked loud enough for Ijaat to hear. "Before life decided we could never get a good night's sleep for the rest of our days?"
"Yeah. As if life was ever that lenient with us."
The congregation of folks almost paused together as the couple and their baby moved toward the bunker. The unhelmeted members of the mob clearly stared at Ruu and Ijaat for a moment, and some of the helmeted clones and Mandos probably did, too. They went back to whatever it was they were doing once one of the Mandos took a step away and walked toward the siblings.
It was a Mandalorian in gold armor. He removed his helmet, letting his wrinkled face, white hair, and prominent cheek bones show. If anything, he looked just as shocked as Ruu must have looked when she was told of Kal Skirata wanting to see her again.
"And the prodigal father returns," Ijaat murmured. Ruu punched his elbow to shut him up. He owes her anyway, and she needs this.
The Mandalorian stopped about a meter away from them. He was discreetly glancing back and forth between Ijaat and Ruu. Ijaat gazed back safely from under his armor and visor. Ruu was blatantly staring at those blue eyes, the exact same hue as hers.
"You okay, ad'ike?" Kal Skirata asked. It was a little hesitant, but the same assertive and fatherly tone Ruu had once loved to listen before was still there. "Ad'ike – Ad'ike means –" He cut himself off, giving Ijaat an undiscernible look.
"My Mandalorian's a little rusty," Ruu answered up, "but ad'ika means daughter, son, children. Something like that."
"Yes…" Kal looked back at Ruu. "I suppose I should start simple. I'm sorry. For not being there, all those years."
Age-old instincts rose from Ruu: the compulsive, reactive fallback to joking repartee. "Well, I was given 35 years to life back in prison, so it looks like you've made up for some of that lost time after breaking me out."
Kal was still wary, but at least his apparent optimism appeared to parallel Ruu's. "Where are you planning to go from here?"
"From here? Well, from what the extranet's been saying, the war's over. Looks like the CIS lost, so I'm out of the job. Maybe I could… stick around, get some career advice… from you." Kal beamed. "If you've got the time."
"Of course I have, sweetheart."
Ruusaan Skirata was taken back to a time when she believed the whole of her family was actually happy. Despite whatever grievances she may have, she was starting to feel like a little kid again, looking up to her dad for his whimsical and other worldly guidance.
Ijaat Skirata, however, shared none of her sentiments.
"I didn't know what you would do when I sent you that message." he piped up, forcing a neutral tone. "I never would have thought you would have gone out of your way like this."
Ruu snapped her around. "You contacted him?"
"I sent two lines of text. Never got a response." Ijaat met her furious look easily. "You were missing. I couldn't find you. I was getting… desperate."
"Really?" Ruu scoffed. "You're giving me all this dwang for wanting to see our dad, and you went and called him first. What about your precious clan? Why not ask them?"
Even after all this time, they were about to spring back into another one of their useless, stupid arguments where the only time someone will concede defeat is when Mustafar freezes over. But Kal Skirata caught them before they plummeted down that bottomless abyss.
"How's Tor?" he said loudly. "Is he also Mando'ade, or…."
Ijaat looked back to dad. "You found Ruu. Go find Tor and ask him yourself." Ijaat pushed himself off the speeder, standing half a foot over dad's head. Ruu stretched her arm against Ijaat' chest, to stop him from making blows or so he didn't walk away, she wasn't quite sure.
"Stop being so petty," Ruu demanded. "He's trying to be nice. Why can't you do the same?"
"He had thirty years to be nice, and he couldn't even be there for mom's funeral." A flash of hurt danced on dad's face. "I didn't come here for him. I came for you, Ruu. If you want to stay here, fine. I'm leaving."
Dad stepped in front of Ijaat when he shoved Ruu's arm out of his way. "I understand if you don't want to talk, but we need to, since you know about Kyrimorut now."
"What, do you think I'd sell out your clone retirement business to the Republic?"
"It's just so we all know the score. You can't blame me for being cautious, son."
The moment "son" slipped out was when one of the clones – an ARC trooper, Ruu judged from the armor – materialized behind Kal Skirata. "Buir," he said in a stoic voice, "Vollen commed in. We need to prepare Kyrimorut for her arrival."
Buir. So this was another one of Ruu's new siblings.
"Vollen?" Ijaat's harsh tone raised an octave, sounding surprised. "Nyreen Vollen? Is she on your payroll?"
"Not–" Dad had the look of a man whose heart skipped a beat. "–exactly."
The helmeted clone set his gaze clearly on Ijaat. "We can't allow you to leave until we have assurances you won't risk exposing this operation, this base."
Ijaat waved a hand dismissively, keeping his eyes on dad. "I'll stay, to see Ny." The clone flinched, as if he wanted to take a step forward and get up close to Ijaat, but he held himself back.
"You don't decide when you want to leave."
"Whatever you say, ner vod."
Ruu hustled her brother away from dad and the clone. The last thing anyone needed was blown-out fight. Granted, the clone appeared adamant in remaining unmoved, but Ruu didn't know him well enough to know if he would let Ijaat's snark get to him.
"Ignore him." Ruu glared at Ijaat until he sauntered off, going toward where Sull and his other green Mando buddy were hanging around. "He's still pissy." She met the ARC trooper's scrutinizing stare. "So, I'm Ruusaan Skirata. And you are?"
"Ordo," he introduced himself, "Skirata." Ice cold, he was. He was going to get along swimmingly with Ijaat.
"Relax, Ord'ika." Dad placed a hand on his shoulder. "Ruu, this is another one of my boys. He just wants to get to know his new siblings better." There was a sliver of teasing dad was giving, but its forcefulness was too evident.
"I don't mean to offend," Ordo continued. "I just don't know how to deal with you."
You and me both. "Likewise. I'm just excited to get to know my dad again."
Ordo let his thousand yard stare persist for a few moments before he walked away. Ruu and her dad went back to exchanging uneasy smiles.
"Where do you want me to start?" dad said. "My side of the story? Yours?"
"No, let's hit the reset button. What's the phrase? Cin vhetin. We begin again." And life really, really needed a reset button. It would have fixed a thousand mistakes, though Ruu suspected she'd make the same ones again anyway. She may as well settle with patching up the things that she still can.
Father and daughter leaned across from each other, almost relaxed against the speeder. "Tell me what your life's been like, ad'ika. I want to hear it all."
For Ruusaan, it was like a childish dream come true
But her adult side couldn't forget that one of the brothers whom she grew up with was standing not 50 feet away.
"Mando'ad draar digu," Ruu articulated carefully. "A Mandalorian never forgets. That's the translation."
"Yes, it is."
"So you never forgot about us. Me, Ijaat, Tor, mom."
"I never could."
"When mom remarried, she wanted us to never mention or reference you, like you never existed. We knew that you were sending us credits, but mom would always go on a tirade whenever your name came up. Kept us distracted from talking about you, I guess."
Dad looked hurt again, only more controlled this time. Ruu wondered what was worse, losing the people you care about because of uncontrollable circumstances or because they left you of their own free will.
"Some of the details might be messy, but we still remember what it was like when you were still around. We couldn't forget either." Ruu glanced at Ijaat, quietly conversing with Sull in the distance. "Each of us remembered you a little differently, though."
Dad took in an audible breath. "What do you mean?"
"Mom remembered you as a ghost. Tor saw you as his tuition backer. I remember the grizzled old man who always came home with neat gifts and colorful stories, and it looks like that part hasn't changed at all. And Ijaat… long story short, munit tome'tayl, skotah iisa." Long memory, short fuse.
Ruusaan got her dad back, and all Ijaat can see is the man who abandoned his family.
It was going to be tough patching up this mess, Ruusaan knew for sure.
