Chapter 56 – Settling in

Author's Note: Yes, Theseus is now 19. :)

Alsooooo... I ship BoMarr to the end of the world. ^-^

To Guest: But what if Theseus doesn't want to be a Jedi anymore? ;)

To Jayden: Yes, he's 19. Idk a whole lot about Odessen, but the person we wrote it for wanted it to happen like this. I imagine that yes, the Empire is spreading all the way into the Outer Rim and beyond. We don't know much about the planet; perhaps it has some resources that the Empire wants, idk. :P I hope that you like how we wrote out Theseus' thoughts/struggles. ^-^ It's haaard to write plotless bonding time, but we did our best. Revan can't train him; he already told him as much. However, he can guide him to the right places. ;) I enjoy your reviews so much! 💖

Thank you all so, so much for reading and reviewing! ^-^

~ Amina Gila

"Look which idiot I found," Anastasia announces cheerfully, shoving Theseus forwards as they walk down the ramp of the shuttle.

"I can walk on my own, thanks," he retaliates, then turns to see who exactly is waiting for them at the bottom.

Bo-Katan is there, and a couple others who he remembers, though doesn't know nearly as well.

"Marr?" Bo asks, surprise flickering across her face. She looks just the same as she did when he last saw her, and only now does he realize how much he missed her, too. He can't believe he's really back here again.

"I – it's good to see you, Bo," he utters, as they stop in front of her. He doesn't even know what to say, suddenly.

"Yes, he might've conveniently forgotten there's a few other people who would've liked to know if he died," Anastasia chirps, because for some reason she had to word in a way implying that she wishes he had before she turns to head off with the other Mandalorians, leaving him alone with Bo.

She looks him up and down. "You've... grown up," she comments.

"I am nineteen now," he points out. Nearing twenty, actually. In some ways, he feels so much older. So much has changed since he was seventeen. It almost feels like another person entirely who was once a Jedi. Maybe taking on the name Marr really does fit him at this point, because he isn't really Theseus anymore. At least not the person he always thought of 'Theseus' as being. In truth, he hasn't been since... he lost everyone.

"You've changed a lot," she observes, after a moment, "How have you been? What happened?"

It's been so long since he even had someone to talk to about this, and it's relieving, even though he doesn't want to start thinking back to the most painful time of his life right now. "The Jedi were accused of treason – which they may actually have been guilty of, I don't know – and the clones were ordered to turn on them."

"And they did?" She sounds disgusted.

"They were being mind-controlled. They didn't have a choice." He sighs. "We were able to break Rex free from it, and Ahsoka and I escaped together with him."

"What happened to her?"

"She wanted to fight against the Empire. They both left, to work on starting a rebellion."

She eyes him. "You didn't want to go with them?"

Theseus looks away for a moment. It's strange to admit this to her, but he thinks she'll understand. Maybe. It's hard to say, since she literally used to be a terrorist, and has been fighting her entire life. "I wasn't ready to keep fighting," he admits, bluntly, "It's all I've been doing for years, and I know that's how you were raised, but I wasn't. At least not to fight in constant wars all the time. And it just seems so impossible, to actually go up against the Empire like this. We're only a few people. What could we even do?"

It's not right to keep hiding and do nothing, and he knows that, but especially now it feels so impossible. And he just wants to settle down. It's all so confusing, and there's no one he can really turn to for help. (Well, technically there's Revan, but in a way, he's been avoiding talking to him, because he's pretty sure he'll hear what he doesn't want to right now.)

"You do need more numbers, to make a significant difference, but any bit of resistance against the Empire is worth it," Bo responds, "They think they can control Mandalore. So long as they aren't outright doing anything beyond maintaining their presence here, maybe we can let it go, but I know that isn't going to last."

"No, it won't," Theseus agrees, "They just want more and more control, wherever they go." Talking about it like this, it feels wrong for him to sit back and do nothing when he could be fighting, but...

"Are you intending to stay here?" she inquires, thankfully switching topics.

"I am. They kind of found my last hideout, so hopefully here I can be more invisible." At least he can keep his helmet on much of the time and try to blend in with the rest of the Mandalorians.

"Saxon knows you're a Jedi," Bo says, bluntly.

A sinking feeling hits him immediately. "Do you think he'd report me?"

"He doesn't need to find out that you're here," she replies, "And even if he found out, I don't think he'd risk doing something that would cause so much chaos."

It's strange, that they have this much loyalty to him when he's literally a Jedi. Even if he is Vizsla's son.

Then again, Vizsla always did call him by his Mandalorian name when he was staying with Death Watch, so Theseus isn't sure how many of them actually even know his last name and realize it's significance. That he's Revan's descendant. He doesn't care to find out. If they're willing to give him this, he won't risk losing it.

"I'm glad you came back," Bo says, "I was concerned about what happened to you."

"I thought it would be too dangerous to come back, and I never really thought about that part of things," Theseus admits. He still wonders now, if Ahsoka and Rex are safe. He didn't mean to make his friends here have to do the same for him for so long.

She waves it off. "What're you planning to do, now that you're here?"

"I haven't thought that far ahead, actually," he admits, smiling faintly.

"Just like you didn't think far enough ahead back on Carlac to figure out how you'd get to the ship first when everyone else had jet packs?"

"Hey, it almost worked!"

"Really. You got stunned in like ten seconds."

"You were the one who shot me, in case you forgot."

She smirks. "You deserved it."

He mock-glares at her, glad for the sudden change in mood of the conversation. "You were the ones who kidnapped me. What was I supposed to do?"

"You were the ones who walked right in there and hoped we wouldn't notice, when you literally still had Jedi braids."

"Padawan braids," he adds under his breath, though his mood promptly drops again. Because it's reminding him of things he'd rather not think about again, this time including the fact that his father is dead. Being separated from his family back when he was stuck with Death Watch was hard, but at least he knew he could see them again. Now there's nothing to go back to anymore. In many ways, he's still struggling to accept that.

"Well, if you're staying here, you'll need to get settled in," Bo decides, "Why don't I show you around?"

**w**

For some reason, she was the last person Theseus was expecting to meet first. "Duchess?" he asks, eyes widening with surprise. Of course, he knew she was coming back to Mandalore. He just wasn't expecting to see her so suddenly.

"Just Satine, please," she replies, "I'm not the Duchess anymore."

He would've expected the Empire did something about her already, considering how much he knows she must be against it. Although if she's so anti-fighting, she's probably not creating too much of a problem for them.

"I wasn't expecting to see you here, Theseus," she admits.

It's weird to hear the name now, for some reason. It feels wrong. "I go by Marr, now," he tells her.

"I see," she nods. "It's good to see that you survived."

Everything leads back to that, doesn't it? He supposes it will for a while, until they get used to him being here. "Yes," he confirms, "And as far as I know, Ahsoka and I were the only ones." He doubts that's true, but he has no way of knowing beyond that.

"I have a... personal question, if you don't mind," Satine begins.

"Go ahead," he prompts, though he's suddenly certain he knows what it has to deal with.

"Do you know what happened to Master Kenobi?"

He winces. Of course. "I don't," Theseus confesses, trying hard not to think about how much he misses his former master. It's a constant ache mixed with everything else, that's always there. He just feels empty, and he doesn't know what will fill that, or if anything can. It seems impossible, now. "I don't know. But he had gone to fight Grievous with his clones and that's the last I heard of him."

He knows what most likely happened.

And as much as he wants to pretend otherwise, he knows it will only be more painful in the long run.

Satine is quiet for several long moments, and he can feel her sorrow in the Force. "This is why I always preferred a non-violent solution," she replies.

"I know," Theseus replies, "Though I don't think complete pacifism is the answer. Right now, that will just let the Empire trample on our rights."

"I know," she admits, "But war will only lead to our destruction."

He has to admit, he does see her point. Sidious will react with haste if a Rebellion was formed in his Empire. That's why he destroyed the Jedi, after all. "What do you propose we do?" Theseus inquires.

"The Empire's influence on Mandalore has not yet become great," she responds, "For now, we must wait. I agree that the Empire must be destroyed, but we do not have time resources or support to try it. The risks are too great."

"I understand," Theseus concedes reluctantly because he does. Maybe. He wants to fight back, but he won't ask the Mandalorians to do something that could bring them and their planet to ruin.

**w**

"Do you think she'll remember me?" he asks dryly as they enter the home of Ursa Wren. Theseus still remembers the baby he'd watched over on Carlac.

"Unlikely," Bo tells him, "She was a little too young for that."

"Never know," he replies cheerfully. "Seeing as I doubt you remember being a baby."

"I don't, but that literally has nothing to do with it."

"It does actually, because you would have no way of knowing what babies do or don't remember."

Sabine is older now, and she's talking a little. Personally, Theseus thinks it's adorable, but it makes him miss the younglings at the Temple – not that he'd spent much time with them. And, Sabine has a baby brother, who looks so much like her.

"I'm Marr," Theseus tells her as Bo watches from the side, looking amused about nothing apparent, "Do you remember me?" Really, he just had to ask.

Sabine stares up at him, cocking her head to the side as regards him almost quizzically. Finally, she lets out a strange half-squeal that he thinks might be supposed to be a 'no', but it's hard to tell.

"I told you," Bo replies smugly.

"I was your babysitter when you were younger," he tells her seriously, ignoring the others.

"Ma!" she squeals.

"What?" he asks, looking half-panicked at Bo.

"I think she's talking to you," she answers, amused.

"Maaa!"

"That's not my name," he protests. "It's Marr."

"Arrrr?" Sabine asks. On second thought, he won't even try to teach her pronunciation anymore, because this is freaking him out. And it would definitely help if Bo would stop laughing at him.

"Just leave it at 'Ma'," he decides with a grimace, "What's your brother's name?"

"Twiten!" She looks immensely proud of herself for some reason.

Theseus raises an eyebrow at Bo with the silent message of 'please tell me she has it wrong'. Frustratingly enough, she seems too amused to reassure him.

"You stay here?" Sabine asks, eagerly.

Is she asking if he's staying here or not leaving again? Wait, does that mean she does remember him? "I am," he replies.

She squeals, reaching up to grab his hand, and tugging him out of the room after her, to show off some sort of strange rainbow scribbles that he thinks is supposed to be artwork.

"... looks nice," he settles for, finally.

"Something tells me you don't even know what that is," Bo says dryly, under her breath, too quiet for Sabine to hear.

"Shush, don't be mean. She's only three."

"If you need to find a new career here, I think babysitting would work nicely for you," she teases.

He glares at her. "No thanks."

Sabine grabs his hand again, pulling him away to show off something else. And if that's really her 'basta!' like she claims, he sincerely hopes the blaster doesn't actually work.

Although, it's not as if Jedi don't give training weapons to little children too, so maybe Mandalorians and Jedi are a little more similar than he thought.

**w**

Seeing as the only thing Theseus is good at other than fighting happens to be working with machines, that's what he ends up doing again, much like he was back on Odessen. He has to do something with himself, after all. But he has to say, now that he's around people he can actually interact with again, it's easier to forget. Or at least pretend that things are normal.

Well, not normal, but it's a new normal that maybe he can try to get used to. Maybe. He'll have to, if he has any hope of doing anything in his life, at this point.

The past is the past and nothing will change what happened.

It's a little easier, at least, to not dwell on it so much. It's easier to keep himself occupied.

He's working on repairing a speeder when Bo steps into the room. "Do you need something?" he asks, glancing up at her briefly.

"No, just dropping by," she replies, moving to take a seat near him, watching him working.

"I'm fine, if that's what you're worried about," he replies, a little distractedly.

"You are not fine," she retorts, "I can see it. You're still adjusting, and it's not easy."

"The culture here is opposite of what I knew as a Jedi," he admits. "It's not easy to change. It doesn't happen overnight."

"I imagine it isn't."

Bo shifts a little closer, sitting right beside him. They don't usually get this... close to each other, and it's unusual, but he doesn't really mind. She silently watches him work for a few moments before speaking again. "You seem a little... protective over those."

He blinks. "What?"

She shrugs. "Those tools."

His hand clenches around the one he's currently using, one of his last connections to his old life, really. To Anakin. "They're not mine," he answers, quietly. "They belonged to someone I used to know."

"You can tell me, if you want," she offers.

He's about to say that there's nothing to talk about, but... That's not true. Not really. He's wanted to talk to someone about things like this for so long, even if it will mean bringing up a lot of painful memories. "Remember the other Jedi with me when Ahsoka and I came to Mandalore?" he inquires.

"Of course."

"He was... a close friend. I don't know what happened to him, or if he's still alive," Theseus sighs heavily. He hasn't cried over Anakin or any of them because it's a pain that runs too deep. "I think sometimes... but I don't want to hope for nothing. If Ahsoka and I survived, I don't see how he couldn't have, but..."

She doesn't offer him any useless reassurances, for which he's grateful. Confirming that it's likely he's alive is going to make it hurt worse if he finally finds out otherwise. "You miss him," she observes, quietly.

Theseus furiously blinks away the tears that abruptly sting his eyes. "Yes," he murmurs, quietly, "He was more than a friend, in so many ways. Maybe like... a brother."

She reaches over, resting a hand on his arm. "We always lose someone, someone important, at some point in life," she says softly, "I won't pretend to understand how you're feeling. When I lost my sister, it was my own choice more than anything. But, from what you've said about your... brother, if he did die, I know it would have been honorable."

That is probably consoling for a normal Mandalorian, but it does little to make him feel better. Okay, on second thought, maybe it does, to know that Anakin would have at least been fighting at the Temple and maybe could've saved some others even if he didn't escape himself, and that at least he wouldn't have been taken down by one of the clones in a matter of seconds before he even knew what was happening. Or maybe that would be better, so he wouldn't have had to go through the feeling of betrayal Theseus did when the clones turned on him. He doesn't even know. It doesn't matter anyway. It won't change what happened.

"I know," he murmurs, "I just wish I knew what happened."

"You'll find out, someday," she replies, "Even if it's only a confirmation of what you already know."

A part of him actually does believe that, even if he isn't sure why, because believing he'll actually get a confirmation is ludicrous. It's not as if he could go back to Coruscant and find the recordings, not that he'd want to. "I hope so. I... fear what could have happened," Theseus admits, suddenly remembering Maul's words again. It's a thing he dares not think about, but sometimes... "Even if he is alive, I don't know what his condition is."

"The Empire wouldn't have a reason to keep him alive, would they?" she asks, "So if he's alive, he should be safe."

"I wish that was true, but there is a lot more to him than... Anakin was the most powerful known Force-sensitive," Theseus explains finally. There's no point not telling her everything. "I suspect that the 'Sidious' my master told us about is none other than the Emperor himself, and I don't know if he'd kill Anakin or try to force him to join him."

"If your brother was the warrior of which you speak, you must have faith he went down fighting."

"I want vengeance," Theseus states, finally, determinedly, "I know it's against the Jedi way, but I'm not a Jedi anymore."

"It's the Mandalorian way," she replies, "And vengeance you shall have."

"We stand no chance against a Sith," he states bluntly.

"We can find a way," she replies, firmly, "If this is what you want." She's learning a little closer to him now, and their proximity is suddenly reminding him of – of what used to want with Bo. Or does still want, actually, even if he doesn't know her that well.

And he never thought she might want the same thing since she always seemed to think of him a bit as an immature child, but he supposes that's only his own perception of how she acts. He doesn't know that.

He doesn't shift away, though, and she seems to take that as his agreement.

Maybe it was partly a decision on both their parts simultaneously. He doesn't know or care, doesn't have the time to think anymore as she closes the rest of the distance between them, kissing him. He returns it immediately.

He's wanted this for – He doesn't know, ever since back on Carlac, to a point. Ahsoka is long gone now, so it doesn't matter anymore. They long since agreed to part ways in this regard, anyway.

He wanted a home, a family. He talked to Anakin about this, once.

Maybe he'll actually have more of a chance at that than he ever thought. They'll have to talk about it, when he has time to think over the implications of it all, a time that certainly isn't right now.

"Am I interrupting something?" asks Anastasia, suddenly appearing in the doorway.

They both pull apart instantly, heads swiveling towards her.

Rude. Very, very rude.

"What are you doing here?" asks Bo, unusually irritably.

"What, I can't stop by to say hi to my brother? If you want me to leave and shut the door, I can."

He feels himself blushing which only makes it worse. Did she really have to barge in like that? "That won't be necessary," he says, flatly. And that smirk on her face is more than a little aggravating.

"Okay," she replies cheerily, "Because if you're both done here..."

"Do you need something?" He can't help but snap. He's not in a state to deal with this right now.

"Not really, no." Can she stop grinning? "No need to get your feathers ruffled."

"That is quite enough, Anastasia," Bo says, flatly.

"I did actually come to find you," she replies, smoothly changing the topic, "There's been a development with Saxon – nothing major – but you probably want to deal with it."

Bo sighs, throwing a glance back at Theseus before she heads out of the room.

Well. That went very differently than he was anticipating. And he really wishes they hadn't gotten interrupted like that, but he needs time to think about this before they talk again.

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