Chapter 55 - Reluctant Relations, Part 2

(Summary: In which Mira Bridger's maiden name was Fett.)

Takes place a few days after Part 1

"Okay, I'll admit it," Boba sighed when he handed the burbling Ezra back to the infant's mother. "He's adorable."

Mira beamed at his words. "See, I knew becoming a tough-as-duracrete bounty hunter couldn't have completely desensitized you to cute things."

"It's desensitized me to unpleasant things. Cuteness just seems amplified now." Smirking as he got his big sister to laugh, Boba allowed his gaze to once again inspect the living room they were in.

Decently furnished for a house in the cheaper part of town, with enough knickknacks and holo-projections present to firmly identify it as a family home, the place was cozy, inviting. A stack of holo-pads rested on the center table, brought from Mira's job while she continued to work from home for another couple months. Some toys were close at hand, as well: a few that Ezra was currently able to play with, along with others he'd have to grow a bit bigger before receiving.

His battle-scarred armor would've been horribly out of place. Thankfully, Boba had come in civilian clothing, blaster and vibro-knives hidden beneath.

Clearing his throat, the seventeen year old waited until he had his sister's full attention. "Ori'vod, tion gar briikase?"

She blinked, startled by his use of Mando'a, but then smiled at what it signified. "Yes, vod'ika. I'm happy here. Ephraim is good to me, to us, and I love him dearly."

"Alright then." Boba nodded firmly. "As long as he continues to, I won't have to do anything unpleasant to him."

"You'd better not!"

Even so, through the course of dinner that evening, Boba did is best to keep Ephraim Bridger off guard. The man treated him warily, with respect as Mira's beloved brother, but held his ground when not-so-subtly belittled or threatened. That he never shrank under the intimidation earned him a measure of Boba's respect, though the teen himself earned more than a few warning looks from his big sister. Ezra simply giggled at it all.

By the time he had to leave the next morning, Boba was resolved to send some of his profits every month to the little family - because even if he only grudgingly liked one of them, the other two were very dear to his heart.

Over the course of the next several years, the pair of Fett siblings kept up their correspondence, even when visits weren't possible. Ezra grew up adoring his Uncle Boba, always eager to see what trinkets the man brought or sent him. Mira would simply roll her eyes at her brother's insistence on spoiling the boy, while Ephraim would try (often without success) to hide his alarm at some of the more dangerous gifts.

The only true point of contention that remained between brother and sister was the matter of Ezra's instruction in his Mandalorian heritage. While his mother remained adamant that the kid would not grow up to be a warrior, while his uncle insisted that it wouldn't hurt to at least pass on some basic self-defense skills. Boba would, at the very least, try to sneak some cultural lessons in when he visited, and despite Mira's disapproval, her son inevitably learned quite a few words in Mando'a, including some of the rather more colorful curses and insults. She reluctantly let her brother have that little victory, as it was one of the few things that both her only remaining blood kin could joyfully bond over. After all, Mira would still have occasional nightmares from the years of the war, when she was alone in the galaxy, no father or brother or anyone else by her side until meeting Ephraim. Her greatest fear was that of loss, of being bereft of family once again.

A few lessons on language and history could be overlooked if it meant her fear was quieted for a while.

The greatest joint fear between her and Ephraim, however, was directed towards the Empire and all it stood for: the powerful trampling over the weak, the poor losing more and more to the wealthy... the Sith wiping out the Jedi.

They'd never openly spoken of it, much less shared anything with Boba, but both the Bridgers highly suspected their son was Force-sensitive. When he was an infant, toys left on the other side of the room would inexplicably wind up within Ezra's grasp. He picked up new words and their meanings almost instantly, far beyond what was typical for a toddler. And once, when he was six, he'd not only managed to nimbly climb up to the top of their roof, but then jumped back down the full distance with hardly a bump or bruise to show for it.

All of this fueled their conviction to keep up the secret broadcasts, to keep a light burning in the darkness. Up until the day the stormtroopers arrived.

Giving him only a few murmured assurances, Mira ushered her seven year old son down into their hidden basement, extracting a promise that he'd stay put no matter what. Then she and Ephraim sealed up the hidden entrance, turning to face the front door just as it was forced open.

That was the last time either of them saw their Ezra. And though he hadn't known it at the time, Boba's visit only a few months before was the last he'd ever see his sister alive.