Jaina and Jacen Solo didn't much care for Boba Fett. They especially didn't care for him marrying their mother, or picking them up from visiting Lando and Chewbacca. Of course, neither of the two males enjoyed his visit any more than the children. All eyes were on the armor-clad bounty hunter, and not a single set were friendly.

I would get more welcome stepping into a nest of Gundarks. Fett thought to himself with a mild frown.

"Leave them with us until Leia is done with her business, then. Let her come get them." Lando sounded impatient, and was obviously restraining himself from just blasting the man.

"Their mother wants them to come home. Even I am not foolish enough to argue the point."

Chewbacca growled a retort, and Lando nodded. "Yeah. We're willing to deal with Leia on this, Fett. The kids don't want to go with you anyway."

Jacen nodded adamantly. "Yeah! We dun like bad man's ship. And we dun like him, either."

Fett found himself a little hurt. His marriage to Leia had done nothing about their hatred. It didn't please him. They were now part of his extended family. The children of his former enemy. And they hated him with the same passion their father did. His hands went up, and slid the helmet off his head as he knelt down to the children. "Would you rather I tell your mother that you specifically disobeyed her orders, little ones?" His face was soft, sad. Hurt. It had taken concentration to erase his normally-stoic expression, but he hoped they wouldn't find him so frightening without it.

Lando stared in shock. That hunter had never once removed his helmet in his presence. Not in anyone's presence, as far as he knew. He took in the man's face, committing every detail to memory. He never thought for a moment that he would ever see what that hunter really looked like. Of course, it was very hard not to shoot him right in that black-haired head of his. But he didn't want to upset Leia.

Jaina frowned at Boba. "Mommy'd be mad.. but we hate bad man. We wanna stay with Chewie and Landy."

Fett quirked one sharp-angled brow. "'Landy'?" Those dark eyes drilled into Calrissian with an amused glint.

Lando glared at him. "They get to call me that, Fett. Not you." Now that he could see more than just the left side of his face, he was stunned. His glare faltered. Boba Fett was the spitting image of a man he'd met on Ord Mantell. Either that man had been Fett himself, or they were somehow very closely related. "Who the Hell are you, really? I've seen your face before…" Save the scar over his right eye, and the one on his forehead. In fact, the man he'd seen hadn't had any scars at all.

Jacen crossed his arms, and answered the question for him. "Bad man's a stupid clone. Daddy said the clones made the Jedi almost go 'way. Said they not to be trusted."

Chewbacca nodded and grumphed, and Lando quirked a brow. "A clone? Go figure."

Fett stood, his expression growing cold again. "I am more than a clone." He sighed, and slid his helmet back into place. "Let's not make your mother give us all a lecture, hm? I'll let you ride in the cockpit this time.."

Both twins nodded reluctantly, and gave Lando and Chewie a hug before slumping off towards Boba's ship. They didn't like that ship at all.

Lando narrowed his eyes. "If you weren't married to Leia, I'd kill you where you stand, bounty hunter. You better not hurt her."

"I have no intention of hurting her, or the little ones. I was a father once. Children are innocent. There is no justice in harming them." He turned to leave, ducking out of the way of an incoming projectile tossed by the Wookie.

Chewbacca gave a series of grunts and roars. Fett simply stopped, looking over his shoulder. "You don't know me. I am no liar. Not when it comes to my family. If you don't believe me, that is your problem, not mine." The hunter stalked off after the children, closing the hatch to his ship.

"I don't like this, Chewie. How did that bounty hunter weasel his way into Leia's life?" Lando frowned. "She'd be better off marrying another smuggler."

Chewbacca grunted something that translated roughly to 'I don't know, but I really hate that man.'

"Me too, Chewie. Me too. That hunter almost cost me everything. I hope Leia knows what she's doing."

Fett had to use the Force to get the kids to strap into the passenger seats. Down in the cargo hold, he set them in a safety field. It had been a great deal easier.

Jacen swatted his helmet as he was being strapped in, but Fett ignored his assaults. "Bad! Leave me alone!"

Jaina was a bit easier. She just pouted up at the hunter. "How come bad man's not with his real family? Why bad want us?"

Boba frowned under his helmet, and went to strap into the captain's chair, then lift off. He set a course back to Concord, thinking of how best to answer the child's question. "They're gone, Jaina."

"Gone?"

"Yes. They were taken away from me." He felt his emotion about that entire ordeal rise up and threaten to leak tears from his eyes, but he struck it down into place, narrowing his eyes in protest. He would not cry. He'd already broken his calm over this too many times. When he told Luke, he had nearly broken down. It had been the only time, and he planned to keep it that way.

Both children were silent for a long while. Half-way through the trip, Jaina spoke, playing with her straps. "Bad man lost his family? That why you want us?"

"..I lost everyone I ever cared about. It was not my intention, at first, to find anyone else to share my heart with."

"So you didn't want us?"

"Not at first, no. I didn't want to endanger anyone else. My job invites enemies. Attachments become a liability. But love doesn't care about your job description." He shrugged. "Your mother accepts what and who I am.. and… that is a rare and valuable thing, in a life like mine. You may be the children of a man I once considered to be my adversary, but I have never harbored you ill will."

Jaina frowned at him. "You dun hate us? But we hate you! How 'come you not hate us too?"

"Every being is responsible for their own actions, Jaina. That you were taught hatred was not your choice. You are still young, and your father is gone. I understand why you feel you should have the same opinions and feelings as he did. But what you should follow is his code, if he had one. We can do much to honor the memory of our parents. But trying so hard to feel what he felt will only hurt you, and those around you."

"Code? Honor? Whassat?"

"A code is.. a way of life. A list of things you must follow at all costs. Morality, Jaina. Your mother has taught you what morals are, yes?"

"Uh-huh."

"A code is how one adheres to the morals they have been taught. Honor is the practice of keeping that code. It is never surrendering, never breaking your code, and never betraying the ones you love."

"Does bad have a code?" Her little head tilted. Jacen wasn't even listening. He'd fallen asleep.

"I live by my father's code, Jaina. It is an honor to his memory."

"You dun have a daddy either?"

"He died.. when I was ten."

"Older than us."

"Yes."

"How come daddy died an' you didn't, bad?"

"I don't know, little one."

"Can I call you Boba?"

"You may."

"May?"

Fett gave a soft chuckle. "Can implies physical capability, Jaina. May is more of a permissive additive."

"Ooooh. Boba knows a lot of stuff." Jaina grinned at him.

"You will too, little one. I'll help your mother see to it that you and your brother receive a good education."

"How come?"

"I married your mother, Jaina. In a way, that makes you my family, just as much as Ailyn was."

"Ailyn? The girl in the holo?

"My daughter. Yes."

Jaina frowned, pulling out the small holoprojector he'd given her. "I'm not gon' call you daddy. You're not my daddy."

"I do not expect you to, Jaina. But I will take the responsibility your father left behind."

"Why? You're not daddy. Why act like daddy?"

"Your father is gone, Jaina. Someone will need to carry on in his place, and help take care of you. I will be that someone."

"How come?"

"Because, I love your mother. And because it's the right thing to do."

"You're weird."

Fett smiled beneath his helmet. Perhaps he was odd, but it didn't matter. He would try his best to be there for them, unlike he had been for his own flesh and blood. Perhaps he could somehow make up for his mistake, by doing right by them. Han Solo could be a good father. So could Jango, his own father. He had failed Ailyn. He would not fail Solo's children.