The next day, Wedge woke me up early, as usual, crying for his breakfast. I pulled myself from Boba's arms and moved groggily toward the crib. Boba rolled over and went back to sleep.
After feeding the baby, I took him to the back of the cave - the small pool of water that served as our bathtub, for his bath. There was a separate basin where I bathed Wedge, and when he was done, I went back to the kitchen and plopped him into a highchair that Boba had made for him while I started making breakfast. Wedge was in a particularly loud mood that morning, and his gurgling and babbling woke Boba up before too long. He got up, got dressed and walked into the kitchen, stretching and yawning, and kissing both Wedge and I on our cheeks in turn.
" I think I'll take the ship out today," he said, " Just give her a test-run, see if that bug with the sensor array has been fixed. You and Wedge want to come?" he asked, as Wedge began reaching for him and whining – his new trick for attention. Boba plucked him from the highchair and bounced him in his lap.
" I don't know," I said, turning our dustcrapes. " Maybe you should make some kind of baby-restraining seat before we try that." He grinned.
" I'm way ahead of you," he said. I laughed.
" You're kidding," I said, " Is that what you've been tinkering on in there?" he nodded. " A baby seat in Slave 1." I shook my head in disbelief and giggled.
" Actually," he said. " Its only a modified version of the one that already existed. What do you think I rode in when I was a kid? My dad made me one for travelling – it was still in storage, just needed some modifications." Something in me sank when I thought of Wedge being apprentinced to Boba as he had once been to his own father. Boba slid him back into his highchair, and Wedge whined in protest.
" Just flying, though, right?" I asked, nervous. " No ion cannon firing lessons or anything . . ." Boba laughed.
We were interupted by the sound of someone coming up the rocky entrance to the cave. Boba jumped back up and reached for his blaster, which he still kept attached to his belt. Wedge cooed softly in inquiry at the sudden change in his parents' demeanor, and I moved protectively to his side, though I could smell our breakfast beginning to burn.
" Who's there?" Boba called, and we were answered when a tall, dark man appeared at the entrance of the cave. I thought I heard Boba's breath catch as I was letting mine out in relief, but before I could, I saw him raise his blaster and go for the trigger.
" Boba!" I shrieked, running over and pulling down his arm. " Stop! He's a friend!" Boba turned and looked at me, his blaster still clutched tightly in his hands, and the look on his face made me take a step back.
" Your friend?" he growled.
" Yes," I said, frowning. " Remember that life I had while you were away? This is Mace Windu – he was a good friend to me on Corasaunt."
Mace approached cautiously, setting down a bundle of what looked like gifts on the floor of the cave.
" I've come at a bad time," he said, looking from me to Boba, his voice somber.
" No, no," I said, waving my hand. " You just took us by surprise, that's all. Boba – put that thing down." Boba's arms slowly dropped, but his moves were still as cautious as a nexu who was focused on his prey.
" Are you sure?" Mace said, still standing a good twenty feet from the kitchen table. " That I'm not intruding?"
" No, I'm happy to see you," I said with a smile. " I'm glad you were able to find the cave – I suppose you sensed it or something? You're welcome to stay for breakfast, though I'm afraid I may have burned it . . ." I rushed back to the stove. Boba was still standing, like a stone, at the foot of the table. Mace approached slowly.
" I'm happy to see that your child has been born," he said, first walking to Wedge. " And that he is as healthy as is possible. And handsome, too." I turned to give him a smile in thanks and saw Boba flinch when Mace dropped to his knees to say hello to Wedge. The baby giggled happily, reaching out to touch the Jedi's nose. Mace laughed, and then stood, facing Boba. My heart rate increased when I saw their eyes meet – what was going on? Was it only because of his Jedi robe that Boba was acting this way?
" I don't believe we've met," Mace said to Boba, though there was something in his dark eyes that made me think maybe they had, and that neither of them wanted me to know about it.
" Right," Boba said shortly. " Its Boba."
" Mace Windu," Mace returned, walking forward and extending a hand. After an awkward pause, his eyes locked on Mace's all the while, Boba finally offered his own hand, and they shook, menacingly. Maybe I'm imagining it, I thought, hopeful, turning back to the dustcrepes. But something dark had descended over Boba as soon as Mace had stepped into the cave. Outside I heard the wind picking up, and turned to see the sky clogged more thickly with dust.
" Looks like we might have a storm," I mused, but neither Mace nor Boba turned to look outside. " Why don't you two have a seat?" I suggested, panicky.
" No thanks," Boba said, jerking away, toward the back of the cave.
" Where are you going?" I called, but he didn't answer. I listened to his footsteps until I couldn't hear them anymore. " I'm sorry," I said, turning to Mace, who was taking a seat at the table. " He's usually – I mean – I don't know what's wrong with him all of a sudden."
" Its alright, Callia," Mace said, still distracted but looking over at Wedge. " I came to visit you and the baby, anyway."
" Well how are you?" I asked, almost afraid of the answer. I brought a plate of dustcrepes to the table, and he took one, studying it a bit before eating it.
" I've seen better days," he admitted. " But I'm thankful for your safety, and for this child's, and for the safety of several other friends in other small corners of the world." He looked up at me. " I haven't given up hope." I reached over and placed my hand on his.
" I'm afraid to ask what's become of Corasaunt, and those who are still fighting for the Republic," I said. He shook his head.
" We have suffered terrible losses," he said. " And yet I fear that this conflict has only just begun." I sighed, and we both turned to look at Wedge, who had grown quiet.
" You have a beautiful son," he said. " That man – Boba – is his father?" I nodded.
" You'll have a bad impression of him," I said, " But he's actually been wonderful with Wedge."
" I'm glad," Mace said. He stopped there, and I got the feeling that there was something he wasn't telling me.
Wedge slapped the tray on his highchair with his hand, and I jumped. In that moment something dark wiggled its way into my mind, and my throat went dry.
Boba hated the Jedi, because a Jedi had killed his father.
Mace was a Jedi – it stood to reason that this was why he had acted rudely when he arrived.
Unless.
Unless there was something more than an angry prejudice there. I looked up at Mace. He seemed to understand where my train of thought was headed, confirming my fears.
" Callia," he said. " I've – brought you some things."
" Mace," I said, my voice cracking. " What –"
" Shhh," he said, shaking his head. " Let me show you something." He stood and retrieved the bundle he'd placed on the floor of the cave upon entering. Bringing it over to the table, he did not meet my eyes as tears began to slide down my face.
" It can't be . . ." I muttered, shell-shocked and unwilling to believe what I had finally realized. " No, its too – its impossible."
" Callia," Mace said, touching my wrist and bringing my attention back to the gifts he had brought. " I brought you these books, thinking you might be bored on a planet that offers little in the way of the printed human language." I shook my head, and let the tears pour down my face.
" Oh, its all over," I cried, " Mace, why did you come here?"
" And this," he said, continuing to ignore the fact that I now understood who he was. " This is a sort of electronic medical encyclopedia – see, you enter the symptoms here –"
" Mace!" I demanded in a shout, making Wedge start to whimper at the other end of the table. The Jedi finally looked up at me, his eyes full of sorrow.
" Callia," he said, in his voice a heavy pain. " You must believe that I did not anticipate this."
" I believe you," I said in a growl, rising from my chair to pick up Wedge, " Because coming here will certainly mean your death. I recommend you go." I said, holding Wedge protectively against me. " Before he returns. When he does, he'll kill you."
" Please," Mace said, " Listen to both sides of the story before you make a judgement."
" I'm not making a judgement," I said, though I was, and though my eyes had grown cold and slanted when I viewed the man I had once reguarded as a friend. " I'm simply stating a fact. He will kill you. He's been waiting his whole life for the chance. If you value your life, you'll leave."
Mace shut his eyes and sighed, and suddenly I could not bring myself to even feel sorry for him, for wandering into the cave of a deadly predator. He had killed Boba's father. He had ruined Boba's life, and so he had ruined mine as well. I knew that this meeting would mark the end of anything that Boba and I had together. I had befriended the man who had destroyed his world.
" My father should have let you die," I said, a sob escaping with the harshest words I had ever spoken.
" Calli," Mace said, his paitence with my hysteria only enraging me further. " When I looked into the eyes of your baby's father, I could feel the hurt, the pain that a long-ago stroke my light-saber cost him. And I am sorry for what that move in battle meant for him. But I do not regret defending my life from an approaching enemy. I cannot apoligize for these horrible circumstances."
" He was there, you know," I said, crying and hugging a confused and increasingly upset Wedge to me, " He was in the arena that day. He saw you do it. He saw his father murdered."
" I think murder is too strong a word," Mace said. " He seems to have explained to you what happened that day – but did he tell you that his father was trying to kill me when he met his end?"
" He – he said his father was working for a diplomat," I said, my voice still shaking as my defense of Jango Fett faltered.
" Diplomat," Mace said darkly, " May not be a strong enough word." He closed his eyes. " I don't want to have to tell you this, Callia. I cared very much for your parents, and I have come to care for you, too. But I feel you need to know the truth."
There was nothing I could say. I waited for him to speak, while the dust storm outside grew more violent, the sound of the sand pelting the rocks outside louder. Mace looked up.
" The 'diplomat' Jango Fett was working for was Tyrannus," he said, " Better known as Count Dooku."
" No," was all that could scarcely escape my lips. My knees grew weak, and I was afraid I might topple over from the weight of what had been revealed. Mace brought a chair for me to fall into. I squeezed Wedge to me and prayed that it could somehow be untrue. Boba's father had worked for the man who killed my parents – for I knew he could have even been the hunter that Dooku had hired ten years before, the hunter who put a blaster against my father's head and robbed me just as Mace had Boba.
" This is all too . . . ," I muttered, crying. " This is just –"
" Callia," Mace said, kneeling to face me. " I never meant for any of this to happen. But this conflict, this war that the Separatists have waged, has touched all of us, cheated all of us. I lost many of my friends the day that Boba lost his father. Most of my fighting fleet, but, more importantly, good men and women, who were fighting for what they believed in. Can a bounty hunter say that he fights for something he believes in?" he asked.
" Please," I sobbed. " Please, don't." He stood.
" Fair enough," he said, " I will leave you to draw your own conclusions about your baby's father. But anger is a powerful, terrible thing, Callia. I don't want you to be hurt."
" He won't hurt me," I croaked out, stroking Wedge's hair as he began to whimper. " I know he won't."
" Yes, I can sense that much – that he won't physically harm you," Mace said. " If I wasn't completely sure of this, then I wouldn't leave as I soon shall. But all the same," he said, reaching down and lifting my chin so that I faced him. " His anger, his need to take revenge for his father, will hurt all three of you in a deeper sense, I'm afraid."
" Mace, just go," I cried. " Just go, please, quickly. I – I don't know what to say. But he will kill you the next time you meet. So please. I don't want my son following in his father's footsteps and witnessing a murder before he reaches adolesance."
" Callia," Mace said, and I met his eyes, which were still calm, though sorrowful. " If you need anything, I am staying in an traveller's Inn near the Geonosian city of Rohiem. This visit was not purely personal – I have something to investigate on this planet that once posed a threat to the Republic." He stopped. " To the late Republic," he said.
" But what if he comes looking for you!" I said, " You have to get off of Geonosis." Mace shook his head.
" Don't worry, my young friend," he said, smiling at me before turning to go. " We will meet again," he promised, and stepped out of the cave into the sandstorm. His figure instantly disappeared behind the cloud of sand and dust that the raging wind was carrying.
When he was gone, I let myself burst into tears. I cradled Wedge, who was also crying, against me and tried to make sense of all that had just occurred, but there was no sense in it at all. Boba had lied to me about Dooku, just as I had lied to him about Mace. We had betrayed each other for our fathers' murderers.
" So," I heard Boba say, and gasped. I looked up to see him standing near the left entrance to the cave – smaller, and accessible to his garage. He was wearing his father's armor, and the helmut was at his feet.
" After all this time," he said, the coolness of his voice like a handful of icy needles in my heart. " After all of my searching, its you who led me to him after all." He laughed: or, it was a thing like a laugh, but completely devoid of mirth. " Funny," he said.
" Don't you dare," I said, my face twisting into an expression of anger, though my heart was breaking so horribly I simply wanted to cry. " Don't you reprimand me for anything. I don't know how long you were standing there, but perhaps you heard him tell me that Dooku has quite a history with your family."
He offered only a wicked smirk. " Oh," he said, " You're mad at me. How – ironic? Is this irony? Its practically serendipity, don't you think? You lying to me about the man who killed my father, about the thing I've been questing for for the past ten years, and me lying to you about the man who had your own father killed." He walked toward me, his rage evident in his purposeful steps.
" Only," he said, standing close to me, grabbing my shoulders roughly and glaring at me. " I lied to protect you. I didn't want to hurt you by telling you that my father had once worked for Dooku –"
" Oh, liar!" I screamed, " You didn't want to admit that your father wasn't the perfect man you thought he was! He was a killer, and he didn't care who he worked for or who he hurt. That's what bounty hunters are, Boba. Ruthless, heartless killers!"
He walked across the room, and kicked a chair at the table so hard that it flew against the wall of the cave and shattered into splinters. Wedge was crying, screaming at the top of his lungs in my arms.
" What do you care?" I cried, furious. " You're just like him."
" Good!" Boba screamed. " Better to be like my father, than this idiot I've let myself become. This fool that you've made of me – my father never would have put himself in a situation like this, letting someone he thought he could trust betray him in such in an amazing way," he scoffed, " And bravo, Calli," he said, " You're good. You're really good. I didn't see that coming. I didn't see that coming at all."
" See what coming?" I cried, wishing that Wedge would stop crying, as his wails were only making me feel more disjointed, more completely blown apart. " This wasn't some plan I had, this wasn't some game I was playing. Mace knew my father - he found me on Corasaunt and told me about my parents – about what Dooku and some bounty hunter had done to them. I had no idea – I had no idea – if it had been any other Jedi I would have turned from him, but he knew my parents –"
" Oh, why bother, Calli?" he snapped, going back for his helmet. " This is over." I shook my head, and let myself begin to cry again.
" Why?" I shouted, " Why are you doing this?" He cast one last furious look at me before sliding on his helmut, and said:
" Why aren't you?"
" What?!"
" Why aren't you out there, going after Dooku, for all that he's done to you?" he demanded. " Why is it so damn hard for you to understand, the fact that I want to kill the man who killed my father? You, of all people, should know exactly why I'm doing this." He slid his helmut over his face, and disappeared again into his father's spector.
" Oh, that's just lovely, Boba," I spat, trying in vain to comfort Wedge as I spoke, " You know, I was going after Dooku. I was in an Army that was fighting against his forces. But that all ended when I got pregnant with Wedge."
" That's not my problem," he said, in the harsh voice that came from behind the mask. " You should have been more careful."
Even after all that had already been said, I was ruined by those words. They scalded the very pit of my soul – in an instant he had dismissed not only me, but our son as well. All for his anger, which he had been clinging to all along, under the surface, like a lifeline. All for his obsession.
" Where are you going?" I asked, deadened, as he headed for his ship. A stupid question.
" To finish something that began a long time ago," he barked, opening the cockpit.
" You're the one who'll be finished," I shouted over the noise of the storm still raging outside. " At first I was afraid, no, sure, that you would kill him. But now I know who'll be walking away alive. He's stronger than you, Boba. You're a weak man, ruled by anger."
He stopped as he was climbing into the cockpit, froze for a moment as if he was searching for something to say. In hindsight, I think my words had cut through his armor and stabbed at his heart, however closely guarded and cold he had kept it all along.
Without turning back again, he pulled himself entirely into the cockpit, and closed the door without looking at Wedge and I, huddled together in the face of the exhast from Slave 1's engines as they kicked in, and the ferocious winds outside that blasted the edges of the cave.
" Wait, the storm," I whispered into the dust-clogged air, stroking Wedge's head, trying to calm him. It tore at me more than anything else that I was still worried about Boba's safety. If the storm didn't put his ship down, Mace would be forced to kill another Fett in self defense.
Ignoring all signs of danger as always, Boba lifted off, and flew out of the cave, sending a new burst of air over Wedge and I. As the warmth of it washed over us, I was sure, positive, that we would never see him again.
I fell to the floor and knelt there, holding Wedge and slowly easing his cries. After some time, the storm outside waned, and I could see through the dust to the horizon.
It was still morning, I realized, reaching up to touch my cheeks, raw from being wiped clean of tears so many times, that day and always.
Still morning, I thought, watching the light outside grow brighter. My world had ended before the sun had even come up.