Kamino - Part 1
The Force had guided her journey this time, and in her little craft, floating through space, she felt a tug toward the Mid Rim planet of Ord Mantell of all places. Was he here? It seemed… unlikely. But she was not about to argue with a Force pull so strong. Perhaps there was a clue then?
Landing, she found it to be a busy spaceport and busier city. There was a lot going on and she began to wonder, as she descended from her little ship, whether she would be able to find what she needed, she was unsure, there was a lot on her mind.
For one, there was the obvious of finding her… Friend. Or should she think of him as Master? The title didn't sit right anymore after the last few years. She didn't want to have to think of anyone as her Master again. Should she call him friend then? She had not thought of anything more than that… until those last few days. The training room… the hallway in the space station. She didn't know what to think of it, though she had to admit that the thoughts of his kisses had always remained in her mind, locked away like precious treasures that she only looked upon deep in the night when she was alone. Sometimes she swore she could feel his touch while in the half-awake state just before she opened her eyes. It was this touch that actually helped her through the tougher moments. It was a good memory, albeit very confusing.
All of that swirling in her mind, she also had a name in her head. One her mother had whispered. Temuss. She could only assume it was her father's name though no matter how much she had asked, Tailli said nothing. It was infuriating. Why was her mother so frightened? Why would she keep it a secret?!
The whole time her thoughts ran away with her, spinning like a whirlpool, her feet took her forward, and before she knew it, she was being led to a cantina. Her hood was up and cloth mask covered from the nose down, though she had deliberately kept a low profile previous so even without these precautions it was unlikely that she would get recognised.
She'd barely taken three steps across the cantina floor when an argument broke out between a trandoshan and… a familiar armoured man. The lizard was on his back in two seconds flat, and she stared into the visor of a Mandalorian bounty hunter. Well. This was not what she had expected when arriving.
"Jango Fett…" She muttered, turning to face him fully, hands on her hips.
"Do I know you?" He asked, from under the silver helmet, blaster still held out in case she tried anything. She chuckled lightly.
"It's been a hot minute, last you saw me I would've been oh…" She waved a hand about chest level, "So high, had a proper eye back then too. You showed me fast drawing a blaster on Corellia." The blaster in his hand lower slightly.
"Siren?" He asked, the shock evident in his voice, "Hah! And everyone thought you were dead!" He let out a laugh, slinging his blaster into his belt.
"Want a hand?" She nodded toward the twitching lizard man at her feet.
"You need work?" His hands rested on his belt, the man was a picture of badass confidence, just like she remembered in their brief encounters previously.
"Not gonna take your bounty, if that's what you mean." She laughed, grinning under her mask. He gave a brief shrug and she helped him hoist the reptilian onto his shoulder. "I'm looking for someone." She shrugged.
"Same as before…?" He asked, hm so he did remember that.
"Kind of, found them for a while… got a bit lost in the middle." She admitted, though she wasn't sure how much she should say. Jango was indeed the best bounty hunter in the galaxy, no doubt, but she had always felt pretty at ease with him around when they had worked the same jobs. He'd had some choice words about her learning from Bane, the two had some rivalry she hadn't wanted to get into.
"Hm, yeah that can happen-" He grunted as he began hauling the trandoshan out of the building. They made it to the street when a young boy ran over, he had dark wavy hair, brown skin and the biggest brown eyes she'd ever seen. This was an adorable kid.
"Dad the ship's prepped-" He paused as he reached the two, looking from Jango to Zaiya. "Who's this?" His accent was unmistakably the same as Jangos. His eyes narrowed as he looked up at her with suspicion.
"Dad?" Zaiya asked, eyebrows shooting up so high they were nearly to her hairline.
"Boba, this is Siren, she's a bounty hunter too. Siren, this is my son Boba." It took Zaiya a few seconds to process, but she leaned down to look at the kid, tugging the mask down under her chin and flashed a smile.
"Boba, it's nice to meet you." She reached out a gloved hand toward him. "Are you a hunter like your dad?" She asked, the corners of his lips curved and he let out a little laugh.
"Yeah I am." He nodded proudly.
"Are you better than him yet?" She asked and the kid seemed a little surprised.
"Not yet, but I will be!" He insisted, jutting his chin out in defiance. Zaiya righted herself to her full height, though she was still several inches shorter than the Mandalorian beside her. He was just watching for now.
"Oh I have no doubt. You watch, people are going to know the name Boba Fett across the galaxy!" She grinned. Boba's expression cracked into a reserved smile, and he glanced at his father for confirmation.
"Of course they are." Jango chuckled. He adjusted and jerked his helmet to indicate she join him.
"I didn't take you for the type," Zaiya muttered as they walked.
"Well… some stuff happened… got lost in the middle." He repeated her words back to her and she let out a sharp laugh.
They reached the ship, the two adult hunters led by the miniature one. Jango heaved the trandoshan onto his ship, storing him in carbonite with three others he already had stored.
"Thanks for not treating him like a kid." Jango muttered quietly in her ear as she helped him lock the carbonite panel in place. Zaiya scoffed lightly.
"I left my planet when I was not much older than him." She replied, "I didn't have the luxury of my buir with me." she shrugged. "Though…" She clicked the last lock into place and dusted her hands on her pants. "I have more to go on now." She sighed.
"Oh yeah?" Jango sounded mildly interested as he sealed the cargo hold, turning to head for the cockpit.
"Yeah, Temuss, apparently." Jango stopped in place.
"What?" He slowly turned and looked over his shoulder. Zaiya frowned.
"Temuss, apparently that was his name. No clan name that I could get though." She shrugged. Why did Jango care… wait.
"What colour was his armour?"
"I… don't know. I assume it's similar to Adaji's… orange and black."
"Osik…" He spat, and yanked his helmet off, turning to look at her with wide dark eyes. "Temuss… was my jua'vod." Zaiya blinked, it took her a few seconds. Cousin. Temuss is or was…
"He… he was a Fett?" She asked in shock.
"He was a part of my clan. Not by blood but we were basically brothers. We grew up together on Concord Dawn." He replied, seemingly as stunned as she was.
"So… I'm… a Fett?" She leaned heavily against the wall with a blank expression.
"You are a Fett." He nodded, then let out a little laugh. "No wonder Boba likes you, he doesn't like anyone."
"No, you don't like anyone, ba'vodu." She paused. It had slipped out but he stilled as well. This man was literally her family, after not knowing about that half of her, she finally had… something.
"Well…" Jango sighed, his helmet resting on his hip, and ran a gloved hand over his curly short-cropped hair. "I guess I am your ba'vodu, huh?"
"Bane and Adaji will be pissed." Zaiya muttered, suddenly, causing Jango to let out a loud laugh this time.
"Fuck, I forgot you were funny." The Mandalorian managed through his laughter, partly from the ridiculousness of the situation, and partly from the weird tension, she assumed, letting out her own laugh.
"What's funny?" A little voice spoke from the ladder leading to the cockpit, Boba leaned down, looking confused.
"Well, Siren's been my friend for a while, turns out she's aliit." He shook his head.
"It's Zaiya…" The Nightsister-mandalorian interjected. "My real name… is Zaiya Valessa." Jango turned to her with a smirk and shook his head again.
"Zaiya Fett." He corrected. She let out a curse in old Dathomiri and covered her mouth with her hand. So this is why she was guided here.
-)O(-
It was an interesting trip back to drop off the bounties, usually Ord Mantell was where one collected bounties, but this time, the client wanting the Trandoshan was on Oba Diah, apparently the Pykes had some business with him and Zaiya was not about to get in the way of that.
They talked on the way, discussing Jango's relationship to her father. From what she could tell he was just as much a formidable warrior as Jango himself and the two were close as brothers… until they were separated during Jango's capture. She grew quiet when he mentioned being sold to slavers. The Mando noticed.
"Is that where you've been?" Jango asked quietly as he prepared to descend. She nodded and there was a quiet moment between them before the bounty hunter reached out and petted her hand. Two quick taps and then he retreated again, but it was enough of a gesture for her to feel comforted. He knew something of what he had experienced and while it was not a lingering soft mushy moment where he offered to listen to her talk. He wasn't like that. Two pats. You're okay, it said. And it was enough. She didn't want to talk about it anyway.
"So you heard nothing of him since?" She asked with a soft clearing of her throat.
"No, unfortunately. I thought he was dead. This whole time…"
"He might be." She shrugged, "The Nightsisters… hm… they don't like to keep their 'mates' alive after the child is born." He turned and gave her a look of both bewilderment and disgust.
"They-" He shook his head. "No witch took him down."
"I suspect not, else my mother would not be so… strange. Apparently he cared about my mother… very much." She shrugged. Your father loved you. Tailli had said. Did that mean he had seen her when she was born? If that were the case… was she not born on Dathomir? Ugh. She ran a hand over her hair, her fingers finding the braid that was twined with the beads and feathers from her brothers. She fiddled with it, letting her fingers feel the texture of the wire and beads and the soft yellow feather. The ship descended and Jango had Boba watch the ship, probably wise, she would not want the Pykes to know about the kid either. Zaiya however apparently looked intimidating with her glowing eye, so she covered Jango's back while he handed over the bounty. It would not be wise for the Pykes to cross him, but he mentioned that it would be good to have the backup. He seemed to trust her well enough not to cross him either. She would have to be an utter nuna to try and betray Jango Fett, whether he was family or not. She flipped her hood and mask up, agreeing to keep an eye on the cargo while Jango did the hand off. It was uneventful, and the Pykes kept looking at her with mistrust. Then again… she imagined they looked at everyone that wasn't one of them like that.
The hand-off complete, she walked back to the ship with the bounty hunter.
"How many guns are on us, do you think?" She asked under her breath as they reached the ramp of Slave I.
"At least a dozen that I got a glimpse of." He muttered back with a dark chuckle.
"Did you clock the one in the window?" She asked out of interest as the hatch began to close behind them.
"No, I didn't see that one. Nice spotting."
"It's not just for decoration." She gestured to her nexus eye, he let out another bark of laughter as he pulled himself up the ladder. It was a small space in the cockpit, but Zaiya positioned herself behind the Pilot and his Co-pilot as she awaited mention of the next destination.
"Are we going home now dad?" Boba asked, then there was an immediate pause and she could feel the tension in the cockpit. "Sorry." The boy whispered. Her pale brows furrowed and she looked between them.
"Well… do you think we can trust her?" Jango turned to his son. Boba paused and turned in his chair to look at her with his big dark eyes.
"Hmmm…" He mused. Zaiya leant forward, her eyes on him, one of her hands propped against her cheek while her elbow rested on her knee. She let him make up his mind without input for now. "She seems okay…?" He frowned, clearly unsure with the decision. It was not an easy choice to trust another in this world, especially in the profession they were in. Even being blood related didn't mean much, though… for a Mandalorian, family was everything, wasn't it? Zaiya had to wonder whether it meant the same to her. She believed Savage and Feral were her family, Sunder, Riot and Brutus were of course treasured to her as well. Though she knew that she and Jango met only a few times, and she was still a teenager then. He was surprisingly trusting of her for a bounty hunter.
"Do you trust me?" She asked suddenly, looking at the older Fett. "I could be making up half the things I have said to you." She looked him over as he watched her with a smirk.
"I knew there was something too familiar about you when we met before. Something in your eyes, the way you stood, the way you walked. You remind me of Temuss." Zaiya blinked in surprise. How was that possible?
"I… I never knew him."
"Makes me all the more certain, you're his little girl." He nodded, throwing the ship into hyperspace. He turned to face her. "You have the same eye shape and nose, even the eye colour-" He gestured to her good eye, "Is the same as his sister's."
"I have an aunt?" She asked with a frown, but Jango shook his head.
"Died young…" A dark look crossed his features. "When Deathwatch came to Concord Dawn… Temuss and I fell in with the Mandalorians…" He trailed off and waved a hand. "Anyway, we promised each other that if one of us had an ad, that we would look out for them." Zaiya was left a little stunned, this was nothing like the Nightsisters.
"Well… thank you." She mumbled, the shock evident on her face. "Then… if… if you need me to, I would be happy to… if you needed-" She gestured to Boba awkwardly. Was she good with kids? Could she even look after a child? She'd looked after Savage and Feral as kids but… this was a human! By the Void this was getting complicated fast. No, no reason to think about it now, as if anyone would be able to get the better of Jango Fett. Ridiculous. Jango himself laughed softly at her nervous offer but nodded.
"Not that I am going anywhere, but thank you." She nodded, hopefully that would never happen, the Fanged God only knew what she would do in her search, that was no place for a child- though… the life he lived now, and the one she had lived previously… was it really her place to have such thoughts?
The Nightsister turned and glanced out the window, catching a glimpse of herself, she raised a hand to her nose, it was a little rounder and flatter than the other Nightsisters, she had always wondered why…
"No wonder they called me corcitura." She muttered.
"What's that mean?" Boba asked, peering around his seat.
"Uh… it's an unkind word for someone with mixed blood." She muttered with a frown, not realising she'd said it out loud and suddenly wanted to backtrack, she wasn't keen to go into detail about such names.
"You own people called you that?" Jango sneered and shook his head. "You should have been raised Mandalorian."
"If only…" She replied with a little chuckle. But waved a dismissive hand, "The past is the past, what matters is what's ahead." She would be glad to change the subject. "You mentioned 'home', yes? I assume that is where we're going?"
"Yeah, I have… an interesting ongoing job on Kamino." He jerked his head toward the console and the NavaComputer.
"Kamino?" She frowned, "Never heard of it."
"I imagine you might find it interesting, you're like your buir, always interested in things you haven't seen before." So that was where her inquisitive nature came from. She was not aware such a thing could be biological.
)O(
Notes:
What's this? Not just a NAME but now we know who Mando dad really is! I was so tempted to make it Jango himself but I figured it would be too complicated. I was also thinking for a while to make her part of clan Viszla but I thought this was better. Anyone that gets the reference of Temuss name gets ten gold stars. So! Zaiya is going to KAMINO and lets see how things go! Obi-Wan hasn't even come by yet! Will she see him here? Will the Clone Wars start or not yet?! SOME questions coming tomorrow. Let me know what you think of the reveal. Do we like Zaiya being part of the Fett Clan?
