Chapter 31 – Failures and Family

Author's Note: In which... Theseus continues spending time with his family, and hangs out with Bo-Katan. :)

~ Amina Gila

"Their camp was right here," Ahsoka frowns as she stares out the cockpit window. Anakin flies the ship down a little closer to the surface of the planet so they can get a better look. There's nothing left in the area, except for the burned remains of the town from before they left.

As soon as she got back to Coruscant, Ahsoka had gone straight to Anakin and the Council to get permission to look for Theseus. She is far from impressed with how the Council ordered them to drop by for no more than a "quick look" around and leave immediately if they don't find what they need. They're already supposed to be going on another mission, and with the war and all, the Council simply doesn't have the resources to search for one missing padawan. Ahsoka can't help but remember the way those padawans were left to the Trandoshans because no one was looking for them.

"Well, there's no one around here now," Anakin observes, "They probably already moved elsewhere before someone could come looking."

"And this place isn't even remotely civilized, so there's no way to know where on the planet they are, or if they even are still here," Ahsoka growls.

"There's small villages everywhere. Even if we did a droid scan, we wouldn't be able to find him immediately," Anakin points out quietly, and yes, that's what's driving her crazy. They can't leave him with Death Watch. "We should contact the Council to report what we found."

She really, really doesn't want to, because she knows what they're going to say, but they don't really have a choice. "Find anything, have you?" asks Yoda.

"Their camp is gone," Ahsoka reports.

"We'd have to search the entire planet," Anakin relates. She knows he's upset, but he's hiding it admirably well, as he always does.

"We don't have time for this right now," Windu declares, "You need to rejoin your battalion now."

"But we can't leave him there!" she protests.

"There is no other option right now," he replies, "We cannot risk losing the entire battle and several systems in the hopes of finding one person."

Ahsoka is about to argue back, but Anakin shifts forwards in a way that pointedly reminds her to be quiet and let him handle this. "We will proceed as you instructed, Master," Anakin states monotonously, bowing as the call disconnects.

"We have to find him!" Ahsoka yells, whirling on him. She won't leave Theseus here!

"I'm sorry, Ahsoka," Anakin says quietly, and she can tell he truly is, "The Council gave us a direct order, and we can't disobey it."

"But –"

"Ahsoka, do you trust him?"

The question floors her. "Of course," she answers without a second thought. Theseus will always do what he has to, what he thinks is right, even if she doesn't agree. But, he means best, and that's what matters most.

"When you were gone..." Anakin turns to the controls, slowly bringing the shuttle out of the atmosphere. "Master Plo told me that I have faith you could take care of yourself and find your way back. I guess we'll have to do the same for him."

Well. She didn't know that. There's no way she wants to abandon him like this, but she knows Anakin's right. And she knows that Theseus is more than capable of handling himself, and one way or another, he'll find his way back. She knows it.

**w**

Theseus isn't sure if being around constant cold like this is making him hate it more, or tolerate it a little better, but he's already been here on Carlac for a week now. He thought the Jedi or someone was going to come back for him soon, but he hasn't seen any signs of it. And he certainly doesn't know enough about the camp to try and stage an escape of his own any time soon. It's simply too well guarded everywhere, and even if he tried, he'd probably be captured before he got very far. And then he'd probably be under even heavier security, and that would make escape impossible for sure. Whenever he tries to escape again, it has to actually work. Realistically, he's pretty sure he's only going to get one more shot at it.

Most of the past week he's spent hanging around the droids. Even if BD is stuck with a restraining bolt so he can't call for help, at least he can talk to him. Besides, droids have always been his thing so tinkering around with them is at least a bit of distraction from the rest of the situation.

After the first few days, he's been given a little more freedom to move around, although he knows everyone is still watching him like hawks. Although that also means he hasn't been around Bo Katan as much, the only person he's talked to here really other than his father. He wouldn't exactly call himself and Bo friends, but at the same time, they aren't exactly not.

And then there's Vizsla. Theseus isn't entirely certain what to make of him. He can't help but notice that Anastasia seems to be pointedly avoiding him, though, unlike their father, and he's not quite sure why. Not that he's dying to talk to his raised as a terrorist twin sister or anything, but... Still. Besides, there's some part of him that almost wants to. He's always wondered what it would be like to actually have a biological sibling, not an adopted one like Anakin sort of is.

So finally, against his better judgement, he decides to approach her himself. She's occupied fighting one of the droids he put back together earlier. What a stupid hobby. Not that he'd ever tell her so. "Doesn't that get kind of boring?" he asks after a few minutes.

She fires another shot at the droid, throwing a surprised glance over her shoulder. "You did the same, right?"

"Well, I wasn't doing it for a hobby. Just saying," he argues.

Anastasia shoots at it several more times before deciding it's too badly damaged to keep fighting, then turns towards him. "I'm not doing it for a hobby, either. It's practice."

He decides to hold back the very snarky comment on what exactly she needs practice with anyway. For burning down more villages? "If you say so."

"Do you want something?" she practically snaps.

"Not in particular," Theseus says lightly, "Just dropping by to talk to my sister. We haven't really had the time to meet."

"Since when did you want to?" she shoots back. "Isn't all you care about your precious little Order?"

"Firstly, it's actually quite large," he replies mildly, and he can't help but think he's really picked up Obi-Wan's ability of making people mad. Clearly, even if Vizsla doesn't care that he was a Jedi, Anastasia definitely does. "And second of all, that doesn't mean we can't talk."

She makes a disgusted sound. "If I cared to talk to you, I would've done it a long time ago."

That, he kind of already figured, but what he isn't sure of is what's with her attitude anyway. Although he gets the impression that she's not happy with him being here in general, unlike their father. Most of the other Mandalorians don't pay much attention to him, and even when they do, they don't act so openly hostile. They clearly erroneously believe he's going to change. Not happening. "Oh, I see," he replies, with a fake note of puzzlement in his voice. "Maybe I thought you were shy."

The growl that escapes her made the whole awkward conversation worth it. "I have more important matters to attend to, Jedi," she snaps before spinning around and stalking off.

"Oh, well, I wouldn't want to keep you," he chirps.

She ignores the comment, disappearing between the tents.

Well, that probably went better than it could have. It's so hard to remember he is related to these people sometimes. It feels like they have nothing in common, though part of him is afraid they do. He's done many dark things himself, and after knowing the Death Watch, he can no longer say they're for a good cause. He's seen where that belief can lead a person, and he has little doubt anyone, no matter how good and noble their intentions are, can fall that far eventually.

He heads off across the snow again, carefully studying the area. The camp was moved to a different part of the planet shortly after his arrival, and it's made it harder for him to plan an escape. It's frustrating is what it is, but he has to keep working.

"Finally had a talk with Anastasia?" a familiar voice asks from behind him. He turns to see Bo-Katan eyeing him. Wherever she appeared from.

"Yeah," he confirms, eyeing her for a moment, "I did."

And he has to admit, at least to himself, that he knows the attraction he feels towards Bo is much like he does towards Ahsoka, even if it's also quite different. It's more fast developing, and while he cares for her deeply, he knows he can't trust her the same way he does Ahsoka. But he also knows these feelings towards Bo aren't from the formation of a bond, which always temporarily enhances any sort of feeling.

It's hard, but when he actually thinks about possibility of having a relationship – he'd be lying if he said his mind hadn't wandered there a number of times in his serious lack of activities – he knows Ahsoka isn't really a possibility. Even if she would want that, and he's not completely certain she wants that with him, he can't ask that of her. Theseus can't ask Ahsoka for something that could ruin her life and end in their expulsion. That would be selfish. Ahsoka is, above all, a Jedi.

He knows he'll always care for Ahsoka more – they've grown up together, and they know each other far better than anyone else ever could – he also knows that... as much as it hurts, it wouldn't work. Now that he finally has taken the time to understand as much, it makes it easier to let himself try to sort out how he feels towards Bo, even if he feels minorly guilty for it. He doesn't know that Ahsoka wants the same with him as he does with her, he has to remind himself again.

It... would be much easier to develop that relationship with Bo, but Theseus can't stay here. She's... a terrorist, even if he's certain she's a good person at heart, and she could do the galaxy and her people a lot of good. For some reason, the fact that she is quite a bit older than him doesn't bother him much. Maybe being on the front lines of a war has matured him past things like that, he doesn't know.

And most importantly, if he does develop such a relationship, he wouldn't want it to end. He'd want it to be something permanent, a guarantee, and... he doesn't have that chance with Bo right now. In the future, maybe, but not now. Now, he needs to find his way back to Coruscant.

"How'd it go?" she asks. Why does she seem almost amused about something? Maybe the reaction was pretty expected, he's not sure. He supposes she's known his sister for a long time.

"She's a very pleasant person to be around, to be sure." Sarcasm drips from every syllable.

"She isn't usually like that. It's just because of the situation."

"What situation? Or does she hate the cold, too?"

"Other than being a Jedi, which she thinks automatically makes you our enemy?"

"Maybe she should go complain to Vizsla then," he suggests. He supposes he can understand her attitude to a point, and it doesn't exactly bother him, but it's not like he's the one who wants to be here.

"After all the years he spent trying to find you, I don't think that would help the situation," Bo states dryly. Wait, he spent years trying to find Theseus? That's more touching than it ought to be. What did he expect, after all? Even if it takes years – that better not happen – Theseus is determined to go back home.

"So, the fact that I am a Jedi doesn't bother you?" he asks.

"You're Mandalorian, and you will be one of us," she says. Really. What makes her so certain that he's going to agree?

"I'd rather not spend the rest of my life hanging out on an icy planet like this one," Theseus quips finally. Because that's a lot simpler of a response than getting into another argument over beliefs. Seriously.

"You won't have to," Bo reminds, "We will return to Mandalore eventually." Right. To take over the planet.

"What are you waiting for?" He can't help but ask, because really, he's wondering.

"We need the people's support, and right now they're on Satine's side." He can sense her frustration, even though she's hiding it admirably well.

It's weird to think that Satine has a sister like Bo. They're on totally opposite ends of the spectrum.

And why is his mind promptly jumping to what sort of things could happen that might change the people's minds and make them warriors again? No, he's absolute not giving these people any advice, even if he probably could.

He nods in understanding instead. "So, assuming you do win, what then? You're going to let Satine be killed?"

Bo looks away. "It's necessary. I can't go along with what she's doing and how she's trying to destroy our culture." She sounds determined, but Theseus is pretty sure a part of her, at least, still does care what happens to Satine. Even if they're on opposite sides of a conflict like this.

Kind of the same way he is with his own biological family, he supposes. They'll never see eye to eye, no matter what happens, but that doesn't mean he doesn't care about them more than he probably should.

**w**

"Still playing with those?"

Theseus looks up at the sound of Bo's slightly teasing voice.

"Don't have much else to do," he shoots back, turning away from the droids to face her. It's been a few days since his encounter with his sister, and he decided to not try talking to her again for now. No point trying to start an argument for no reason.

"Vizsla is asking for you."

Well, that's... a little unusual. "Why?"

She shrugs. "He didn't say."

"Well, I probably shouldn't keep him waiting." Theseus stands, slipping out of the tent.

It doesn't take him long to find him, but Theseus isn't very happy to see Anastasia there, too.

For some reason, the momentary silence when he walks up makes him feel uncomfortable, so he blurts out the first thing that comes to mind. "I hope you aren't planning to ask me if I want to join Death Watch."

"No, I don't expect the Jedi's brainwashing to wear off so quickly," he informs him flatly.

Theseus suppresses his instant flash of irritation at the words, avoiding the urge snap back at him. He has to admit, at least to himself, that the Jedi sort of do brainwash the younglings, but he'd like to think he's seen past that by now with everything that changed on Mortis.

He returns the passive-aggressive glare his sister is giving him before looking back at Vizsla. "How much do you know about Mandalorian tradition?"

Well, that was a kind of unexpected question. All he knows is... they're obsessed with being warriors, they seem to think they're superior... to some people at least but he doesn't really know, and umm... that they believe it's okay to burn down villages? So yeah, nothing very flattery. Not to insult their culture of anything, but seriously... "Not much," he offers instead.

"That's what I thought." Vizsla doesn't look particularly pleased, and Theseus has no idea why that bothers him. "Since you are the elder, the clan will be passed on to you after me, unless another takes it by winning a duel."

Well. Ummm... Okay. And wait a minute, he's the older of the two? He never really thought about it, for some reason. And talking about it makes him suddenly think about how he would have been around Vizsla when he was a baby which is... Too weird to keep thinking about, actually.

Theseus exchanges another glance with Anastasia, who seems to be giving him a veiled glare whenever she's sure no one is looking. Is this because she's afraid he'll want to take over a clan of terrorists instead of her? She's out of her mind if she even thinks he'd entertain the possibility.

"If you two have a problem, avoiding each other will not solve it," Vizsla commands.

Yikes. He sounds like a parent right now. Like the parent who really should have forcefully made him and Ahsoka sit down and talk right after Mortis.

"Oh, we don't have a problem," Theseus replies casually. "It's awkward meeting a twin for the first time in sixteen years."

Vizsla gives him a very pointed look. Which reminds him so much that look he gets from Obi-Wan all the time when he's not listening to orders. Okay, this is making him even more squirmish.

"Okay fineeeee, maybe we do," he concedes reluctantly when Anastasia remains stubbornly silent, "We only ever talked once, so..."

"Well, you need to work it out. Because you're going to be staying in our tent from now on."

Wait, he's going to – what?! Stay in the same place as his father and sister? He isn't sure if that'll make it more or less difficult to escape, but part of him is afraid it'll make him want to leave even less.

"Why the sudden change of heart?"

"You've been here long enough to start adjusting."

Theseus turns his gaze to Anastasia as Vizsla disappears through the tent door. The hostility in her expression is a little less visible, but he doesn't think it's gone. He suddenly feels like he almost should try talking to her, but he's at a sudden loss for words. She doesn't seem to be in any better of a state – assuming she's even planning on saying anything in the first place.

"Make yourself comfortable," she says finally, before disappearing out the tent flap and leaving him alone.

Well. That went better than expected. Sort of.

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