(D8 EN) Long Time Coming

[Vanito Cadera]

The infamous Hangman lied in his bed as he waited for his impending execution. His eyes were fixated on his locket, a small smile on his lips. In it was an album of holoimages of his wife and daughter. Occasionally, his finger flicked through to the next one.

[Riza]

Riza was present in the sickbay, at this moment, waiting some distance away with her back up against the wall and looking out over the sickbay, Vanito in her view. Standing there she thought, she waited, she stood guard against notions that would betray the truth of the situation.

Arms crossed over her stomach she seemed to count the seconds, perhaps. Watching and waiting.

[Phoebe Wren]

She'd been in and out during the day to check on him, but other things had kept her away and modern technology made it so that there was much she didn't need to do herself for a patient's recovery.

But well... that wasn't really nescessary this time. It kind of surprised her how heavy she felt about this stuff now, considering he had been their enemy for a while. Probably because it feels too similar to my own story, she reasoned as she stepped inside the sickbay.

"Hey," she said in greeting, calm and a little low-key in mood.

[Vanito Cadera]

"Hey," Vanito replied, eyes not leaving his locket for a few moments. He then shut it off and then looked up at her. "I have a favor to ask you."

[Phoebe Wren]

Nodding, she stepped closer over to his side. "Sure." She cast a glance at the locket, before focusing her attention on him.

"What can I do for you?"

[Vanito Cadera]

"When you free my daughter," Vanito said, "Bestow upon her my family's armory. Her mother's armor may fit her better when she is of age, though I imagine she could use the plating from mine. The sniper rifle in particular has gone down for generations. I've heard it's shot Sith Lords of all individuals to defend the Galactic Republic before its fall."

He looked back to the locket. "Do you think she should know what I did? Or is she better off not knowing?"

[Phoebe Wren]

She understood the importance of what he asked of her, and how important it would be for her to see it done. For a people like the Mandalorians, there was great value in such heirlooms - and Phoebe understood the sentimental value of such from her own experience.

"Of course. I'll make sure she recieves it," she assured him, her tone softer than normal. His question gave her some pause. "... Sooner or later she will hear of it, I would assume, so it's not a matter of if she will know about it, but rather when and from who. Maybe it's something you could explain to her in your own words, rather than hearing it from someone else?"

[Vanito Cadera]

"You're right." Vanito smirked and then closed his eyes. "I'm more afraid of explaining my sins to my daughter than I am of dying."

[Phoebe Wren]

"Not saying you need to tell her everything, but... it's your call." She wasn't going to tell him what to do, even if she had ideas of things she would've preferred to have heard from her own parents.

"Guess I just feel like I can kind of, in some small way, understand your situation differently than the others do."

[Vanito Cadera]

Vanito looked Phoebe over. "If I could go back, I'd send my wife to the Mon Calamari or the Selkath and keep my daughter under my wing. Maybe she'd have turned out like you."

[Phoebe Wren]

"Maybe..." she sighed softly, clearly having thoughts along a similar vein as he was having. "It... well it wasn't easy. The choice was probably not an easy one for my parents, but I guess after mom died, maybe the choice became easier to make."

So many times had she asked herself for the reasons behind the decisions she hadn't had any voice in.

"Right..." Phoebe shifted the recorder between her hands, "... just think of what you would want her to know. What you'd want her to understand."

[Vanito Cadera]

"We all make choices thinking its the best for our children," Vanito answered. He held out his hand for the recorder. "I'll do it for myself, unless you feel obliged to hold it."

[Phoebe Wren]

That was the meaning of Resol'nare, she thought, unable to quite voice the words. You cared for your family - even when the situation called for hard choices.

"Go ahead," she offered it to him. There was nothing she had against him doing it himself. "Do you want me to stay?"

[Vanito Cadera]

Vanito's first look was dismissive. However, he then looked at Phoebe with an impassive gaze. "You may stay, if that is what you wish."

[Phoebe Wren]

For her, it wouldn't be the first time she'd listen to someone record a last message to someone. Or keep them company in their final hours. It was one of the jobs of being the medic, one she had done many times during her time with the rebel alliance.

"I'll stay then." Maybe it was kind of like a moral support since he didn't dismiss her? It was hard to tell.

[Vanito Cadera]

The man nodded and flicked on the recorder. He took a breath and then shut it off, deleting it. After a few moments, he turned it back on again.

"Vera. This is your father." Vanito smiled weakly. "Guess you know that." A pause. "If you're watching this, then I'll already... have joined your mother in the Manda. I'm sorry, so sorry, that you'll have to be without us both so soon."

Vanito took a breath, steeling himself for the story to come. "Your mother never wanted you to know the truth but it will come to you. You'll hear it, and I want it to be from me." He looked back to the locket in his hands. "I've failed your mother in many ways but she loved me. The only thing she loved more was you. She endured so long for your sake. We both tried to do our best for you."

The dead man brought out his shattered helmet to show her. "This helmet is the infamous among the underworld and our people. I was known as the Hangman and I terrorized the galaxy for two generations.

"When I was younger, I was a devout member of the Death Watch. Back then, I felt like Clan Cadera had been betrayed by the Galactic Republic. We were of the first to swear loyalty and yet we were disposable." Vanito stared into the camera and then sighed. "Still I feel betrayed. Their clone army stole our traditions and were much more malleable slaves than our people would ever be.

"And because of that, I enjoyed what I had done. Your mother never wanted me to say that but you deserve to know that. Pre Vizsla sent me to do the deed and I'd do it without any reservation. And after his death, I left. Bo-Katan Kryze, our Mand'alor, and I never got along well." He reached forward to the camera. "But you should follow her. On my honor, I should have followed her afterwards.

"Instead, I became a mercenary. That went on until I was hired to rescue your mother from capture." His smile came back. "You should have seen me then. I felt something as soon as I had seen her holoimage. And when I found her, I almost let one of her captors get the drop on me." He raised the locket closer to him and flicked over to her image. "As he hanged in the room, she told me to cut him down. I didn't understand why and she had to tell me it was excessive."

He smirked. "You know the rest of this part already. She treated me, I stuck around. I finally had a purpose in the galaxy, I finally understood the Resol'nare."

His fist clenched around the locket. "And then she fell ill. We went to her people first and they were unable to cure her. Then, despite her warnings, I reached out to Clan Saxon. I wanted our people, our planet, to help.

"They put me under employ. With her incapacitated, we had to place you under their 'care.' It became clear soon that they would not allow us to leave." Vanito looked up to the ceiling, taking a few breaths. "They sent me on missions just like Pre Vizsla had. And at first, I think I really had enjoyed it again. I was so... distraught over your mother's condition, your captivity."

Vanito looked back to the recorder. "I never told your mother that. She believed I did it for both of you and that was the primary reason for it." He closed his eyes. "Maybe if I had just taken a moment to think... then you wouldn't have been held hostage by them. Maybe I could still be with you.

"So for that I'm sorry. I would have done anything for you, but maybe I shouldn't have gone for the 'easier' path. I failed you and your mother."

His eyes reopened. "The Resol'nare does not call for war, Vera. It calls for us to defend, to protect. Remember this as you grow." He laid his head back and closed his eyes. "Follow Clan Laerrin and do not blame them for my death. That is all I ask of you."

He sat back up and hovered his hand by the end-recording button. "I love you. I wish I could say I had done everything for you and your mother but that would be a lie." A pause. "You shouldn't be burdened by me saying it was all for you. Your father made his choice and then you'll have your life to craft."

Both hands went to the recorder, focusing it right on his face. "The family legacy goes to you. Though I have tainted it, I am sure you will live up to your namesake. Follow Mand'alor in rebuilding a better galaxy."

[Riza]

Seemed he had.. some sense, and so Riza relaxed when he did not tell his daughter it was all for her. However, in an effort to not interrupt perhaps, Riza said or did nothing until he finished.

When he did, however, she began to exit. Passing by, "She didn't deserve you," she said derisively as she exited the room.

[Phoebe Wren]

Phoebe had listened and watched in silence. For her, it was almost like she could've tried to imagine that her father had left her a similar message at some point. Something that might've made her understand more back then.

Maybe he had just expected of her to be strong and mature enough to accept it then.

She took a deep breath as he concluded the recording, and glared at Riza as the Chiss left the room.

"... Don't listen to her. She might be good at what she does, but she doesn't understand our ways."

[Vanito Cadera]

"She's right. My daughter deserved a better man to raise her." Vanito closed his eyes. "If only I had been the one to fall ill."

[Phoebe Wren]

"I wasn't there, and neither was she, to cast such judgement. But unlike her, I know personally what the situation was like for our people." Phoebe's tone was firm, proud even of defending her fellow Mando'a.

"It's easy to say in hindsight what would've been the right decision to make. At the time though, no one knows. None of us can see the future."