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"Dad! DAD!"
"Argia Koth!" Mace shouted outside. "I'm shaving my beard!"
Just when he thought it was good and that the little girl was going to calmly wait until he was done to demand whatever she wanted this time, the child responded with excitement, and from how it sounded, she was asking for it right under the window.
"For real? Can you shave my beard too?"
"You don't have a beard, you damn brat," he laughed, shaking his head, amused by her antics.
"Yes, I do!"
"Facial hair doesn't mean beard, little darling, you see the difference between you and me as we let the days go by."
"Hmm... that's not fair, I want you to shave me too."
With a defeated sigh, still confused as to why the kids were fascinated by this, Mace put his head out the window, raising a critical eyebrow when she scoffed at the foam on half of his face.
"I hope you're not making fun of me."
"I would never do it!" The child replied seriously, but from where he was Korun could see that she was biting her cheeks to keep from laughing.
"Good. Hurry up."
"What for?"
"You wanted me to shave you, right?"
The big happy smile and excited squeal of joy convinced him that this was the right path to take even though he sometimes felt much too old and broken for that. Raising a child that young was... definitely a demanding job, and Mace could not really complain, he had droids who helped with the housework and watched over her when he had to be away. And yet, it was exhausting to take care of a child, Mace did not understand how the Crèche Masters had managed to do this for decades without ever failing.
The lightweight that slammed into his legs, the tiny hands that clung to his belt, and the adorable face that smiled at him was perhaps a good start to answer that.
"Don't forget, you said you were going to shave my face too! "
"I'm not that old yet," he took offense by throwing foam in her face. "Come here. Ooh, you are so heavy!"
Far from being offended, the six-year-old nodded and smiled.
"It's because I'm am a big girl."
"Tall and with the beginnings of a moustache," he laughed gently. "Close your mouth, stop breathing and... it's done. Now you watch what I do without saying anything, this is what I'm going to do to you next, understand?"
"Yep."
Enjoying the calm and silence, Mace then finished cleaning up his face, enjoying the serenity that was so close. He liked this planet, Naboo was a wonderful place of nature and truly peaceful, the ideal place to raise a child. At first, he had been hesitant to even consider settling on Palpatine's home planet, but so far he had not regretted it. A small, simple and isolated house in the nature was enough for them and the rare times when he had worried about their anonymity, they had found refuge for a few days with the Gungans, really, it was a beautiful place where no one would think of coming to look for a Jedi Master declared dead and the officially non-existent daughter of one of his former comrades.
She was happy here, that was his main concern now that he was a father again and nothing else. He did not have to worry about training his Padawan on top of handling his duties for the Order and the Republic, neither of which existed now, and in any case, Argia Koth was his daughter above all. Maybe one day he would choose to teach her the ways of the Jedi, she was already learning a lot informally, but... he was well aware that with the Empire out there hunting down the Jedi, making her an old-fashioned Jedi was not doing her any favours.
"What are you doing with these flowers?" He finally asked, lifting her to sit on the sink at a height more convenient for him.
"I wanted to braid them into our hair."
"We can do that when we're done," he suggested, grabbing her face. "Now shh."
The little girl remained carefully silent and still, bright eyes looking with interest as she squinted to follow his movements. Mace for his part held back a laugh because what he was doing was really pointless but... if Eeth had been there, he probably would have done it, it was the least he could do for him.
Sometimes he wondered if he was doing enough, if he was enough. She had a few friends, mainly Gungans, but he remained well aware that he was the centre of her world. He was not sure he deserved it, he did not want to ruin her too.
The big, attentive brown eyes staring into his were so bright, so happy. She would not have looked like this if she had been a Jedi child, and that certainty broke his heart.
Did being a Jedi really have to stand in the way of that? This naivety, this innocence?
Was a life dedicated to serving common good because that was what he was destined to do from birth really a good thing?
He did not know, he did not know anymore, and that was probably what hurt him the most.
To be wrong, to lose everything, and then realize that perhaps his beliefs were wrong and were the very thing that had led them all to their downfall.
A slow, silent poison, present within.
"When is it over?"
"Shh! Patience brings many blessings. That's it, and now wipe your face well. Hmm... harder, like that," he teased as he placed his hands on hers, rubbing her face much more vigorously, laughing as she struggled as best she could to push the towel away. "Happy now?"
"Yes, I'm much more elegant now," she said, surprising him with her more elaborate choice of words than usual.
"Oh, I see. Would My Lady kindly grant me the honour of these promised flowers or must I resign myself to an eternal hell of life without light?"
"What are you saying?" The girl said with a frown.
"I only match your eloquence, my child. Your diction was perfect."
She smiled with a look full of pride, descending with agility.
"What did you say?"
"What didn't you understand?"
"Resign."
"Reluctantly agreeing to something because you have no choice."
"Like when you said you'd never have horns like me?"
"Exactly yes."
"All right. And yes, you can have the flowers."
"Thank you, wait for me outside, I'll be there in a moment."
"All right! I'm going to braid your hair!"
Mace ran a hand through his hair. Braids. At a time when she had not known him, this would have been completely impossible. His hair had grown a lot during these ten years on the run. At first it was to go more easily unnoticed, then he stopped caring just as he no longer cared about the grey that had started to appear for some time.
Still feeling just as old and much more tired than then, Mace finished cleaning and tidying up after himself, checking to make sure his prosthetic was still operational. He tried to stay orderly, not being so with a child immediately made everything a mess within a few hours.
On his way out, he checked that his lightsaber was well hidden and easily accessible if needed and walked over to a fallen tree that he had made into a bench the year before. The result was... functional, but not great aesthetically. He would have liked to be more versatile.
Being an excellent duellist had been useful to him but it had not helped him track down Caleb who had survived Kaller even though Depa had not. He was not even that discreet, because he had been recognized by someone who knew someone who knew him, luckily for the best but after that he still started to get paranoid that no one would see his face for a while because his survival depended on it.
Knowing that his Jedi Master had survived gave him hope, as did seeing young Korto Vos grow up into a happy child. This future was also allowed for Eeth's daughter when her discovery and the death of her father spread. Mace just did not hesitate for a second, he could not leave her to them, no matter who he had to kill to take her back.
He had almost Fallen that day as he killed former Fallen and Corrupted comrades to get to her, like many other days before and after that, but he had danced on the razor's edge for hours back then to save her from Darkness he did not even want to imagine.
Before and after that, sometimes with his help, Quinlan Vos' network had allowed certain Jedi to find each other and take with them surviving Padawan before helping them escape, often even beyond the limits of the Empire, where they would be even less sought after.
There was a future for children of the Force who refused the Corruption of the Dark Side, a difficult one, but it existed and some would survive.
You will survive.
"So how do you want me?"
"You sit down and I do the braids in front."
"All right."
Zabrak men often wore hairstyles that gathered their hair so that it was completely in the back or conversely so that it rested on the front of the body, but always in a symmetrical manner. Braids were rarer but for a child who was not raised in this culture it was not a big deal.
"Did my first dad also have a beard like you?" She asked once she reached the middle of the braid on his left, carefully placing each flower with the hair.
Another face briefly superimposed on that of the child.
"No, he didn't have much facial hair, but on the other hand he had hair longer than yours."
"Why are you in pain?" Argia asked, placing a hand on his chest. "When you think about him, you are hurt here."
"It's because I miss him, my dear. I loved him so much."
"As much as me?" She asked seriously.
"Yes, as much as you. He was my best friend, you know."
She did not have a best friend yet, the kind who knew you better than yourself and loved you exactly like that, the kind who would do anything for you and for whom you would do everything, the kind who completed you and always encouraged you to be a better person.
She was not yet old enough for this kind of friendship, but he wished her to experience it one day.
"He would have been a great dad for you."
"You are also a very good dad."
A raw, overwhelming emotion grabbed his throat and Mace forced himself to bottle it all up deep within himself.
One day he would tell her that he was good at it because he had experience. Because he had learned decades ago and never forgot what it felt like or how to do it. Because there had been another girl with tan skin and brown eyes who had looked at him the way she looked at him.
One day he would tell her about this other little girl who he braided.
Today was not that day, though.
"Thank you my little one. You are a very good daughter too."
He welcomed the offered – imposed – hug with open arms. To think that not so long ago he refused to do this kind of thing for fear of excessive attachment.
If he could he would teach some things to this man stuck in his own beliefs. Things like: Let your love shine through every day as if it was the last, because one day it really will be.
He loved Depa and knew that she knew it and loved him back, but he never told her enough, he never showed her enough.
"I love you."
"I love you too dad."
He heard these words twice, and for a second it seemed to him that there was someone next to him hugging him.
Even though these moments could not last forever, they were beautiful, so Mace kept his eyes closed and enjoyed the moment.