Disclaimer: I own nothing Star Wars. It belongs to the man in plaid, George Lucas.
Seris' father carried Fett inside while the farm hands surrounded them slack jawed. Later there would be avid debates about exactly what was under that helmet. They put Fett in a guest bed. Seris' mother wrapped clean bandages around his arm and the wound on his shoulder. "Seris, I'll take care of your friend, go help your father with the chores. You'll probably have to help explain all this to the hired help too," she said with a wiry smile.
"Will he be alright?" Seris asked, afraid that he would have caused the hunter's death, even if Fett had told him not to tell anyone he should have told anyway. Seris had never really seen anyone die. When he was very small they had buried Old man Fith, but all he had seen was the fire, and Fith had never even left his house as long as Seris could remember. Well, that and that lizard Fett had killed. Seris could feel a cold spot in his chest at the thought of seeing that, someone killing intentionally.
"I hope so. I think so. Don't worry, go help you father, I'll take care of our guest."
Fett never did remember much of what happened during the intervening period of time. He was delirious part of it and darkness often closed in on his thoughts. He remembered a woman leaning over him occasionally who seemed to know something about medical care, and had a vague idea of the passage of time. The boy, Seris, was often sitting in the corner watching Fett. He didn't present a threat though. If they were going to do anything to him it would have already been done, but even so Fett hated being so helpless. Fett also knew that he was in their debt, the boy and the woman; he would have to repay them. This was another thing he hated. Whenever he was conscious enough to think straight he cursed Sumark and his brainless followers. He knew he was fortunate though. If he had to be helpless, Home was a good place to be. The people were so…unaware and naïve; it amazed Fett at times; he never would have thought a place like this existed in the galaxy. There was nothing to fear from them.
Seris watched Fett sleeping. It had been several days, almost a week actually. The farmhands had almost accepted their mysterious guest. They still liked to try and find excuses to get a look at the man or his strange armor. They had all sorts of rumors among them about who he was. They didn't of course believe for a moment the story Seris had told them about the spacer who was hauling cargo and skidded his ship on the atmosphere crashing in the forest. They thought they knew better, he must be a fleeing leader, a warrior, or something else dangerous and important. It was a perfectly reasonable assumption in Seris's opinion. Even asleep Fett seemed dangerous. The hunter certainly didn't fit in with the somewhat rustic air of the farmhouse, and he didn't look anything like a spacer.
His mother had assured him that the hunter would recover. His fever had broken after less than a day. They hadn't even needed Dr. Josik, though the townspeople had suggested it, probably hoping Dr. Josik could bring them information about his patient. Fett's wounds had started to heal, though he had a broken arm, and it would be a while before he could walk easily with his leg. Seris wondered what would happen when Fett recovered enough to leave. He hadn't told anyone about Fett's profession yet. It would probably send the whole town if not the whole planet into a panic. Sometimes he imagined that he had left with Fett, maybe finding somewhere in the galaxy were things were fair, and a lot less boring. Instead of just herding their beasts or watching the droids in the field his mind was instead on the stars, and what it would be like out there.
Seris leaned back in the chair watching the dust drift down from the ceiling through the beam of light coming in through the small window. When he looked back at the hunter he saw that Fett was awake. "How are you feeling? Better?" Fett nodded watching Seris as the boy worked on repairing a motivator for one of the farm droids. "I haven't let anyone know anything about you, especially not your job. You probably know how people would react to that!"
"The same as they do on other worlds." Fett's voice was rough, but it didn't frighten Seris, he had gotten used to Fett's abrupt answers.
"I suppose so. Do you think they'll find you here?"
"Not yet, they need to rebuild their fleet."
"The farmhands think all sorts of silly things about you. They can't decide whether you're a general or a prince." Seris thought he almost saw Fett's expression change for a moment. Seris couldn't see beneath the helmet, but sometimes by the way the Fett moved it was almost like seeing his face.
"How did I get here?"
"Well, after that lizard attacked you I couldn't wake you up, so I asked my family for help. I told my mother. She came and got you in the landspeeder. She's been taking care of you since then." He could see Fett considering this.
"That 'lizard' was a Trandoshan. He served under those who are searching for me." He wasn't particularly interested in sharing information, but informing the boy might make him more observant. An advance warning of Sumark's arrival would be helpful.
"You killed him." Seris's voice was quiet. This was the part of that day that scared him.
"He had killed many others; scum like that needs to be removed from the universe." Fett couldn't keep the disgust from his voice. Beings who killed for the shear joy of it were repulsive.
"But does that make it right to kill him?" Seris could feel adrenaline in his blood, he couldn't believe he was saying this, but something inside him wouldn't let him stop.
Fett couldn't help but look at him in amazement. There weren't many who would dare question him like this, and it was intelligent questioning. He could see the fire in the boy's eyes. It reminded him of someone long gone. "If I don't kill him he continues to pillage and destroy. Entropy exists, that is part of the universe, but when sentient beings willingly cause that destruction it becomes an act of evil. It is the duty of those who serve justice to remove his kind from the universe." Seris was quiet after that, leaving Fett to his own thoughts and memories of a journeyman proctor.
Then he remembered the thought that had entered his mind during the period of semi-consciousness he had just emerged from. "I am in debt to you and your mother." Seris stared at him blankly.
"Wh-what do you mean?"
"What I said." Seris just gaped at him for another moment before realizing what he was doing. Then he leaned back and regarded Fett, thinking.
Fett closed his eyes. The silence stretched out and would have been uncomfortable for an average human, but Fett wasn't an average human, and it looked like Seris was beginning to learn.
Seris decided after some time that Fett must really be asleep, or at least wasn't interested in conversation. He cautiously got up from the stool and walked quietly out of the room. When he glanced back over his shoulder, Fett hadn't moved. This would surprise his mother; she hadn't expected Fett to regain consciousness for days yet.
The next time Fett woke someone was standing over him. He tensed and sat up. Then he saw who it was, Seris's mother. She smiled as he winced. "You should be more careful. I wouldn't want you wrecking all the hard work I put into you." Fett leaned back and folded his arms over his chest. "That's better. Let me see your arm." She sat down on the chair next to his bed. She reached over and took his arm in the stiff material it was wrapped in.
"It looks better than I thought it would. You'll have to leave it in a sling. We don't have any bacta on Home." She smiled ruefully. "I've been talking with Seris. He tells me you think you us some sort of honor debt." Fett nodded.
"You saved my life."
"I did. What should I require from you?"
"It is your choice." She stared at him. Fett knew she was thinking as she checked the bandages on his leg as well. "Your very lucky to survive that crash, or very skilled. What did you do to anger those pirates so much? We've heard about them, even here." Fett didn't answer and she shrugged, "You can keep it to yourself, but no one on home will want to know anymore than you want to tell, except to fuel their gossip." She laughed. "Yes, I expect that Dr. Josik will be here sometime today. He claims that an injured stranger ought to have the best medical care, namely his. Actually he just wants to brag to everyone about all the information about you he will get. You might want to have a story ready. Dr. Josik won't accept your silence." She smiled again, and reached behind her to hand him supper.
Fett ate silently. He hoped to leave soon. Fett glanced towards the door, no one was in sight. He moved to the side of the bed and stood, leaning heavily on a small table. It wasn't easy but he staggered over to the chair near the wall. His armor and weapons lay in a pile next to it. He was forced to wait a moment until his breathing slowed before he could pick them up and begin working.
Fett was still there when the doctor arrived. Fett first heard him when he entered the house. He started up, but instantly regretted it, and sat back down. He would just wait for the man here. Dr. Josik bustled in followed by Seris' mother who looked somewhat exasperated.
"What is going on here? This man is in no condition to be out of bed!" Dr. Josik wasn't a small man, but his voice was shrill, and his white hair stood almost on end as he berated everyone within his reach. "Karim, you could very well be the death of him allowing behavior such as this!" Fett looked up, incredulous that he would have to submit to something such as this. He glanced at Karim, Seris' mother, but she shrugged. "What do you have to say for yourself, behaving this way?" Fett came to the conclusion that if he didn't participate, the inhabitants of Home would never leave him alone.
"I'm acting on my own, and her skills are adequate. I do not need any help from you." Dr. Josik sputtered for a moment as if trying to find his footing with Fett. Finally he decided.
"Well, I will have to prove that to myself!" He moved over to where Fett was sitting; taking a stance as if to say he was in charge. Fett resigned himself to being poked and prodded for some time. He knew he could easily have scared the man into leaving with a look, but here that would not hold him off for long. What seemed like hours later when Fett was thoroughly exhausted and didn't think he could stand anymore Karim intervened.
"All right Josik, I think the man has had enough of your 'care,' we should get him back to bed don't you think?" He harrumphed and then nodded. Boba Fett relaxed for the first time in hours and staggered to his feet. Karim supported him and he limped over to the bed hoping that if he seemed to fall asleep the irritating man would leave. He leaned back and closed his eyes.
"Wait Karim, I still have questions for him! Don't let him fall asleep yet!" Karim gripped him firmly by the elbow and steered him from the room. Fett could still hear them even in the next room. "The man is just a spacer with a downed ship, pirates attacked him near Home and he was forced to make a crash landing. He needs to sleep now. Your questioning won't help anyone." Josik tried to argue, but Karim was firm. His protests were just fading as Fett drifted to sleep.
When Seris looked in on Fett the next morning he was already in the chair working on repairing his more delicate equipment. He looked up when Seris came in, but then continued working, wondering if the boy had more questions. He had said more than he had meant to before. Seris watched him for a moment. Fett was very good at what he was doing. It didn't take him long to repair the damaged circuitry.
"Fett?" he didn't get a response so he tried again. "About yesterday…" Fett still didn't look up. "I understand why you do that." He pointed at the pile of weaponry and armor. This time the bounty hunter stopped what he was doing and looked at Seris. "It is right, even just." He smiled and Fett nodded and went back to work. "Is that why you are a bounty hunter?"
"Yes." Fett felt the sting of the past's painful memories resurfacing. Especially of the memories of the one who had taught him to be a bounty hunter and had taught him what justice meant.
Seris didn't understand everything, and the galaxy was still a huge place, but he felt he had learned something very, very important. He needed time to think, Fett's arrival had thrown his view of the galaxy into chaos. At least the hunter seemed to be recovering quickly. Then Seris' life would go back to normal. The only problem was that he wasn't sure he wanted that.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*
I'm very sorry I'm slow, but I have 4 stories now. Starting stories is more fun than finishing stories unfortunately, but hopefully this will make up for it!