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Jango meets Shmi on a slave freighter.
He is tossed in the hold amongst so many other slaves. He is tired, emaciated, and covered in mud and spice dust. He lashes out at anybody who tries to help him. Then, she comes forward, and he catches himself before he can lash out at her.
She is beautiful, even covered in grime. Her hair is dark, her skin not quite as tan as his own, her brown eyes are warm, and her belly is round with child. He doesn't dare hurt her. His buir taught him better than that.
She makes sure he gets enough food and water. He protects her from the slavers and other slaves who try to take their rations. They tell stories to pass the time. They sit together in the corner, pressed close. Jango tells her about Concord Dawn, about Jaster, about Tor Vizsla, and about Galidraan. Shmi tells him about Ar-Amu, about Ekkreth, who she took her name from, about the mighty Krayt Dragon Leia, and about Depur.
He holds her close at night. He sleeps with his back against the wall, and her back pressed to his front. She sleeps wrapped around her belly and his arms wrapped around her.
They have known each other for nearly two months when her baby is born. He is there, holding her hand while the midwife guides her into bringing her baby into the world. The little boy is placed almost immediately into his arms so she can deliver the placenta.
He gazes down at this little boy in his arms. The boy is so small, still covered in fluids, and the midwife hasn't yet cut the umbilical cord. He feels breathless and off-balance, and his heart feels full like it could burst at any time.
"Ni kyr'tayl gai sa'ad," he says in a quiet voice that is only meant for his new ad.
They only get two more months together.
They've landed somewhere, Manda knows where. The slavers come into the hold, bearing force pikes, and gather up the strong men and drag them away. He tries to fight, but they press a force pike against his back until he drops. He looks up at her for the strength to keep fighting. She's frowning and shaking her head.
"Ret'urcye mhi." He almost doesn't hear her, but when he does, his heart shatters, and he lets the slavers drag him away.
She doesn't cry.
He hadn't expected her to.
***
"He was a Mandalorian," Shmi tells her son when he is old enough to understand.
"He was a Mandalorian, and he loved us," Shmi tells herself in the dark of the night when she feels lonely and terrified and hopeless.
He was a Mandalorian, and he is dead.
Spice ships are hard work with long hours and little food and drink. Even the hardiest beings don't last more than a few months.
He was a Mandalorian, and he is dead, and Shmi's heart aches.
He was a Mandalorian, and he is dead, but he loved them, and that is enough.
***
Anakin is about five when Amu tells him about his buir.
Earlier in the day, Kitster introduces Anakin to his father. Afterward, Anakin goes home and asks his amu, "Do I have a father?"
Amu looks at him for a moment, then smiles and says, "No."
Anakin may be five, but he knows enough about the world to know that is not technically true. He has a biological father out there somewhere. Still, he doubts that whoever that father may be doesn't care enough about Anakin and his amu to be considered a father.
"...but you have a buir," Amu adds a moment later. Anakin frowns and searches his memory for the word, but before he can find anything, Amu speaks. "It's Mando'a, the language of the Mandalorians. It means parent."
"Tell me about them?"
"He was a Mandalorian, and he loved us. His name was Jango Fett, and he was the ruler of his people before slavers captured him," Amu says, with wet eyes, a sad smile, and a soft voice.
Amu tells him about Mandalore that night. She tells him the old myths and legends and teaches him as much of the language as she can remember. After that, they never speak of it again.
Late at night, when the krayt dragons roar and the desert wolves howl and Anakin feels small and worthless, he thinks about his buir. He contemplates the man who was a ruler and is his buir. He wonders if Buir would like him and if he would be proud of him.
Sometimes, not often, but sometimes, Anakin dreams that Buir comes for them and takes them away from this gods awful life.
He never comes.
Instead, when Anakin is nearly ten, a Jedi comes. Master Qui-Gon frees him and takes him away from Amu, and a vicious bitterness settles next to his heart, and Anakin isn't sure if it's towards his buir or the Jedi.
***
Jango misses Shmi, and their ad, like one would miss their heart, viciously and unendingly. Boba helps, makes it ache a little less. But at night, when Boba is asleep and the constant rain pounds against his window, Jango feels like he is drowning.
He nearly cries when he gets word from a contact on Tatooine that there is a woman there matching Shmi's description. It's the first lead he's had in eleven years, and he doesn't hesitate to follow it.
Tatooine is chaavla sa shebs be'striili.
Jango goes straight to the slave quarters of Mos Espa. There is a large courtyard surrounded by rough-hewn sandstone homes all stacked on top of each other. Children are running about, and he can't help but smile. Sitting in the shade on the other side of the courtyard is a group of three women. He walks over to them and stops about five feet away, pulling off his buy'ce as he does.
"Hello," he greets. "Ek masa nu Jango Fett ka," he adds, carefully saying the words Shmi taught him so many years ago. The three ladies' tense postures relax, and they smile at him and introduce themselves.
"What can we do for you?" The eldest of the ladies asks.
"I'm looking for Shmi Skywalker," Jango tells them. The women glance at each other for a moment then one of the women calls for one of the children. After quick whispered instructions, the Rodian boy motions for Jango to follow him and leads him to a house on the right side of the courtyard.
"Thank you."
The Rodian boy smiles up at him then goes back to playing with his friends. Jango turns back to the door he is standing in front of and takes a deep breath before letting it out slowly.
Would Shmi remember him? Would she want to come with him? Would their ad still be with her?
Before he can lose his nerve, Jango knocks on the door. A second later, it scwicks open, and Jango gets his first look at his cyare for the first time in eleven years. The desert sun and the years have stripped her of her youth, but she is as beautiful as he remembers. Her hair is still dark, her eyes are still brown, and her skin is still deeply tanned. She's perfect.
***
He was a Mandalorian, and he loved them, and he is standing right in front of her.
It has been eleven years since she last saw him. It has been eleven years since he looked up at her, begging her for strength, and all she could say was goodbye. Because, no matter how much it hurt, saying goodbye was easier than watching him be killed right in front of her.
It has been eleven years, and he loved them. It has been eleven years, and she loves him. It has been eleven years, and she has had so much time to think about him and what she would say if they ever met again. It has been eleven years, and he is standing right in front of her, but she doesn't know what to say.
After several minutes of tense silence, she reaches out. "Jango?" She breathes, her long, calloused fingers running across his cheek.
"Hello, Shmi," he says, his voice soft with affection as he reaches up to take her hand in his.
"You're here." She steps forward, raising her other hand to cradle his face while she intertwines their fingers.
"I'm here, ner cyare. I'm here."
Shmi pulls her hand from his and throws her arms around his neck, burying her face in the junction between his shoulder and his neck. "I missed you so much," she says, her voice hoarse like she's holding back a sob.
"I missed you too, ner runi," he whispers as he wraps his arms around her as tight as possible and buries his face in her hair.
They stay like that for several minutes before Shmi pulls away and tugs Jango into her house. He looks around while she makes them glasses of water. It is when they sit down beside each other, legs pressed together from hips to ankles, that he asks her the question she has been dreading. "Where's Anakin?"
Shmi looks down at her water and forces her tears back. "Watto sold him about a year and a half ago."
"To whom?" Jango's voice sounds hard and angry.
Shmi looks up at him and, her voice solemn, says, "A Jedi."
***
Anakin is watching Master Obi-Wan talk with Dex when he feels the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end. He shakes the feeling off and continues to pout. He's nearly twelve, and he really feels like he's old enough to listen in on the conversation, but Obi-Wan feels differently, and Anakin is feeling a little bitter about it.
A shiver runs down Anakin's spine, and the force whispers for him to turn, so with a growl of frustration, he turns to look out the window.
Standing about three meters from Dex's Diner is a being in full Mandalorian armor. They are nonchalantly leaning against the wall, and their t-visor is pointed right at Anakin. The hair on the back of his neck prickles.
For a moment, they just stare at each other, then the Mandalorian turns his head. Anakin follows his line of sight to see a hangar about a block away. He turns back to the Mandalorian, who is looking at him again and nods to him. The Mandalorian nods back, then turns and walks away.
Later that night, Anakin paces back and forth in his room, debating with himself. The force whispers and moves in a way Anakin has never felt before and, not for the first time, Anakin doesn't know what to do.
"Rangir," Anakin grumbles to himself after thirty minutes of pacing. He grabs his lightsaber, pulls on his boots and cloak, walks to the door, and is careful and quiet so as not to wake Master Obi-Wan.
Anakin has snuck out many times in the last couple of years and finds it easy. The hard part is getting to the hanger the Mandalorian had gestured to. It takes him about forty-five minutes to get there, and when he is finally there, he isn't quite sure what to do next.
"Anakin?"
Anakin's head jerks to his right to find the Mandalorian standing and setting aside their datapad. “Who are you? What do you want?" He asks, placing his hand on his lightsaber.
The Mandalorian stops about a meter from him and pulls off his helmet, tucking it under his arm. "My name is Jango Fett and I–"
"Buir?" Anakin murmurs. A look of relief crosses Buir's face, and Anakin kind of feels like punching him.
"Hello, ad'ika. Sorry I'm late," Buir says, stepping forward until he is right in front of Anakin and drops to one knee.
The knot of bitterness that had sat next to his heart for so long now unravels, and Anakin feels about five. "Buir?" He whimpers, making an aborted move to reach out to him.
"I'm here, ad'ika. I looked so long for you," Buir says in a soft voice. "I'm sorry it took so long, but I'm here now." Buir reaches out to Anakin, who looks at him for a moment before stepping forward and letting his buir hug him tight.