Mia felt her coming long before the door opened, Tess had never been particularly loud in the force, except when she was angry. Had the door been on hinges, she probably would have kicked it open for the sheer hell of it. Instead it slid open letting her step in two paces before she stopped. “What’s wrong?” Mia asked, without looking round, peeling the armour away from herself to assess damage beneath it. There was a dull stinging at her hip where Adelle’s beskad had caught her, but use of crucitorn was so instinctive now, she had to be careful not to miss wounds that might get septic if not treated.
“You could have killed her.”
Mia frowned, finally looking round at her daughter, noting the flush of her cheeks and the heavy blinking.
“You’re drunk, Tess.” She rolled her shoulders and turned to face her fully. “You are welcome to stay and sleep it off, and we can talk about it in the morning.”
Tess took two aggressive steps forward, and Mia’s eyes flashed dangerously in response, bringing her daughter to a halt. “I see you are not drunk enough to be completely senseless.”
“Fuck you.”
Mia sighed heavily and closed her eyes.
“I see. It’s one of those nights.” She opened her eyes and shook her head. “Alright.”
She closed the distance between them, noting how Tessa’s feet shifted instinctively, ready for a fight.
“Say it, whatever it is you need to say. Get it out of your system now while you still have the courage.”
Tess’s bottom lip trembled and she blinked harder. “You didn’t need to do that to her. I told you she needed your help, how was that helping her?!”
Mia shook her head. “You are not sober enough to wrap your head around the answer to that question. I know she is your friend, but that is not enough to trigger this kind of rage. What is this really about?”
For a long moment, Tess said nothing, and Mia didn’t press, she just waited for her daughter to find words. She found movement first, moving past Mia deeper into the room. She gave her the space she needed, patient and quiet. Tess finally turned, the anger fading away to something else, something deeper as she stopped holding back the tears.
“Did you know it was all over the holonet? The biggest news there was and they had no shame. They played it on repeat. I couldn’t escape it, every spaceport within three sectors played it on billboards. I had to watch him kill you, over and over again.”
“Tessa…” she breathed, her chest tightening as she moved to close the gap only to stop when Tess held up her hand.
“I begged you. I begged you not to go. To leave it alone. Why couldn’t you just walk away for once? Why couldn’t you choose me?”
Her words hit like a freight train, forcing her to take a breath as a lump formed in her throat. “Because I believed I could beat him. Because I believed that winning that war would have protected your future, just as much as any other force wielding mandalorian.”
“You didn’t win though, did you?”
The accusation in her tone stung and Mia swallowed. “No, I did not.”
Silence fell between them heavy with the words that Tessa did not say. Mia had failed, and her failure had been the catalyst for everything that had come after. If she had won…so many more would have lived.
Slowly she moved closer, careful to watch for any signs that Tess didn’t want her there, before pulling her into an embrace.
“I’m sorry that I failed you.”
Tess didn’t answer, she just wrapped her arms around her and sobbed into her shoulder.
