Bad Blood

Chapter 27 - Catharsis

"You know, your mother named you."

Astéri stared at the blurry figure. "Dad?"

He came into focus as he stepped towards her. "I always thought it was because it meant star."

"This isn't real, is it."

Ross Vorte ignored his daughter and carried on speaking. "Later she told me that you were named after her grandfather, Asterion."

Astéri came up short. "Her grandfather? That's not a typical Mandalorian name."

Ross smiled and took his daughter's hand. "That's because it isn't. Merra was a foundling."

"A- a foreigner?"

"That's right. She was born into poverty in the mid-rim, but she always said that she had been born for Mandalore. She had the spirit. The heart." Ross stepped forwards and cupped his hands around his daughter's face. His hands, not fully corporeal, ghosted through her skin. "You have that same heart, that same spirit. You were born for Mandalore. And now there's another Mandalorian that needs you."

Astéri didn't bother to wipe the tears that were streaming down her face. "You're not here. You're not real."

"And? So what if I'm not really here. The memories are real. This is who I am. This is what I would say to you if I was still alive. And this is what you need to hear from me."

Astéri reached for her father, then stopped short. She couldn't bear to have her fingers phase through him, couldn't bear to watch him fade into mist. Instead she clutched at her talisman. "I won't see you again after this."

Ross shrugged. "Probably not. It makes no difference. You need to go. Life isn't done with you yet, you have so much left to see, to do. But first you need to wake up."

"I love you, Dad."

Ross rolled his eyes. "Semantics. I'm not the one who needs to hear that."

Blinding light shone from the edges of Astéri's vision and she almost missed her father's last words.

"I'm proud of you."

Astéri shot upright, crumpling the white sheets that had been covering her. She was wearing a white tunic and trousers, her bodysuit folded on a table beside the bed she was lying in.

An Imperial medical droid whirred to face her, selecting a needle from its vast array of tools. "You need more rest. You are not fully recovered yet."

Wincing as the needle jabbed into her arm, Astéri drifted back into sleep.

Surprisingly, it only took a day for Astéri to complete her recovery, though when she awoke to see a looming black figure standing over her, she nearly passed out again.

"Apologies, Miss Vorte." The metallic voice sounded amused for once.

"Where is Boba? What happened? Is he alive?"

Vader flinched minutely and Astéri briefly wondered what she'd said that had caused him to react this way, but the moment passed.

"I have been instructed not to reveal any details-"

Astéri's heart sank.

"-though it would be a shame if someone were to let slip that Boba Fett himself was recovering safely in the next door medical room. Hypothetically, of course."

Astéri smiled weakly. She would never understand the enigma that was Darth Vader, but she was grateful that he had told her this at least.

"Where am I? How long was I out?" Were her next questions.