Private Bridges and Binds

[Briana Sal-Soren]

The first spring breeze had whipped through her open window to waken her an hour earlier, carrying with it the balmy scents from the Estates garden below. Rominara flowers and poplar trees just beginning to flower again.

The last of the snow had finally begun to melt the week before, and by the time she’d finished devouring her light breakfast of nuna eggs and bacon, washed down with a heady cup of tea, the pale stone of her bedrooms banister was dusted in tiny white flower petals and golden pollen. Signs of renewal.

It was a strange juxtaposition, given that she felt anything but renewed.

“Make your father proud.”

Brandyn’s words had struck her hard, playing on an endless loop ever since she’d left Crait. For him, of all people, to throw their father in her face? After everything they’d survived together… after everything they’d fought so hard to reclaim…

Perhaps, that was just the nature of their relationship now, forever tarnished, both of them cursed to eternally doubt the other because of the missteps they’d both taken after their parents deaths — a deep scar that would be ever present in their dynamic, no matter how hard either of them fought to regain some state that might resemble something close to normalcy.

Briana exhaled slowly and frowned at the hilt of her brother's lightsaber resting on the wooden nightstand, the physical manifestation and reminder of their rift, then reached out and drained the last remnants of her tea to the dregs, unable to stare at it any longer.

The day had barely begun, and already her mind was heavy with thoughts she had no space for among everything else.

Scooping up her dishes, Briana padded her way towards the kitchen. She could figure out what to do about her brother, later.

Sera was already preparing for lunch at the worktable, but paused as she made to take Briana’s dishes until she waved her off. “I can wash them,” she told her by way of greeting. Up to her elbows in some sort of meat pie, the android gave Briana a soft smile and left her to it. She’d always been a droid of very few words, graceful in the way that her mother had been.

“The poplar trees are finally blooming,” Briana observed rather pointlessly, peering out the kitchen window at the garden beyond as she rinsed off her plate, fork, and cup.

Sera laid an ornate lattice crust atop the pie and began carefully pinching the edges together, making quick and deft work of it. “Mmmh, yes. I noticed earlier. Spring is in full swing. It’ll be nice to have fresh flowers in the house again,” she responded softly. “Your mother always loved this time of year.”

The mention of her mother sent a fresh pang through Briana’s chest, though she kept her features cool and in check, methodically drying each hand on a nearby towel, trying to push away the sudden flood of memories before they could marinate her mind and remind her of all the moment’s she’d taken for granted. “She did,” Briana managed after a soft swallow. “Always made sure every vase was filled the moment the first blooms popped.”

It was still strange, remembering that her mother had been gone for almost three years now. Stranger still, to imagine what life might be like were she still living and breathing. Would she be proud of the paths her children were taking, or ashamed and embarrassed? Mercifully, that particular line of thought was interrupted before she could travel any further down the trail, feeling her awareness pulled in another direction when out of nowhere, the echo of him, burst across her consciousness. The minute his foot crossed the threshold of the Estates gates, the warmth of everything he was, cast down the reforming mental link in announcement of his arrival.

Vizion.

She’d been so preoccupied with her thoughts, so exhausted from the previous weeks day and all it'd entailed, that she’d already forgotten of his promise, his plan to stop by so they could finally have that long-overdue ‘talk’ they kept pushing back.

"Kriff," she muttered under her breath.

| TAG: Vizion Trozky |

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[Vizion Trozky]

EMERALD HEIGHTS
GALLO MOUNTAINS ☛ NABOO

The promise of spring was beyond welcome this morning as Vizion made tracks from his apartment in the planetary capital of Theed, out to the Gallo Mountains where the large estate Briana called home was located. An expansive property she lived in, alone at times, with only Sera for company.

It gnawed at him, this breadth of months, seeing abundantly how she had taken the death of the Hapan Prince he’d only learned of, by virtue of news coverage, was an old flame. With how much more unresolved pain she was likely carrying around… one evening wouldn’t have made much of a dent at all. At least not in that.

But it messed with him. That one night changed his trajectory, despite the evening’s outcome. It put a pause in the direction of his thoughts that wondered, perhaps, if he should take a page from the Jedi of old after nothing had worked out in his personal life for as long as it had. He’d had enough to fill his days - was it worth it, was it a good idea to split his attention? Was he even meant to?

All he knew was how inexplicably certain it felt, being with her. Clear alignment. The most sense his life had made in too long, and that was a hell of a thing to untangle when the imagery of her had hardly fled his mind since. Was it just in his head?

A weak sense of her grew stronger the closer he got to the gates, slipping through and making for the door. They had to talk. He couldn’t keep existing like this, as if they had never been anything to each other. As if nothing had ever happened. As if he wouldn’t give a damn if she had been hurting.

Soon enough, the buzzer rang, and he waited, pulling the strap of his bag over his head to hang on one shoulder. He didn’t know how long he’d be out here, but if he had to come all the way out here, it could be a good chunk of the day, so he brought his day with him, more or less.

Maybe it’d be overkill. Maybe not.

Briana Sal-Soren​