Private Heavenly Misfortune

[Amaya Cardei]

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NORTHERN LAKE DISTRICT, NABOO​

THEED ESTATE​

Amaya crossed the open courtyard, flames upon their torches flicked in the night bringing their warmth and light to the evening. The sun had long since set along the horizon the colors it painted in the sky above, the violet and blue hues gave way to the stars above. Dressed as any proper Nabooian noble, Amaya made her way to the balcony that overlooked the lakes. No doubt her father Darth Metus would be arriving soon they had been long overdue for a proper talk. The last she truly saw of him had been in battle and before then, another battle - they never quite seem to have time to simply talk. Now with Isley the Younger, at the age of fourteen, the young boy needed guidance - he was angry, resentful of his father Teyn Gratiir who had been the puppet Manda'lor during the Sith Empire's reign. ​

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Teyn had left Amaya and his children to tend to his duties, while she remained on Naboo insisting that it was a much more stable life than anything Mandalore or Concord Dawn could offer. So when Teyn was exiled, he remained exiled - informing his family he wished not to bring shame upon them nor the term darmanda. All her children wanted as their father, and she wanted her husband - but so it was that Teyn and Amaya parted ways. Her younger two children, the twins Artemis and Lorsimo were not quite as angry as their brother. Still, the two children had questions and often wondered, why their father had not returned. ​

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The woman herself was left with more questions than answers, and a broken heart all the same. Even so, among the mysteries of her life, her ex-husband aside had been her Force abilities. Once dormant and tucked away carefully until a confrontation with other Mandalorians led to Ember Rekali unlocking Amaya's true potential. Powers and feelings she had since locked away refusing to acknowledge what she could become. So there she stood, waiting for the tell-tale signs of her father's arrival, Amaya focused on the lake and the soothing sounds that the water brought with it. ​

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[Darth Metus]

With upheavel came relief.

It was an odd state of affairs to be certain. In the wake of his "departure" from the Confederate political world, Isley had been able to look upon his life with more clarity. For as much as he spoke about wanting to protect his family through his nation, he was not very present. He was a father. Nay, a grandfather. And though there were many limbs which extended from his tree, he was not privy to their fruit. Even now, his grandchildren were nearing adulthood - and he was woefully ignorant of their progress.

As for his children, most of them wanted little or nothing to do with him.

Those that did...well, there was an ocean between them.

Now, he had an opportunity. Though his ambition was calling him home, he could indeed make change. Make a difference in his own life. He could be the grandfather and father they deserved. He could try and live up to the lofty goal he assigned to erecting the Confederacy in the first place. So it was that he and one of his eldest children agreed to sit down and talk. As the mother of most of his grandchildren, it was a shame that Isley and Amaya did not speak more.

He endeavored to change that.

As evening descended upon Naboo, so too did Isley upon the balcony. Long, confident strides bore him to his daughter's side - where he promptly opened his arms in greeting. He didn't expect an embrace, but the offer was certainly there.

"Amaya, it's been far too long." he began, stating the obvious. "How are you? How are the little ones?"

Amaya Cardei​

 

[Amaya Cardei]

"Not nearly as little as I wish they were," replied Amaya with a smile, "I am as well as one can be expected." ​

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An answer but perhaps not one that was nearly as straightforward as it could have been. "Tell me, since stepping down from the seat of power, how do you find things? How are you?" She returned his question with light mirth to her voice. It was odd, to say the least, that he was no longer the Vicelord of the Confederacy. Her arm rested upon the railing as the whispers of the lake against the wind as if it too had a say in their conversation. ​

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"The twins fair alright, they are not nearly as angry and resentful as their brother."​

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"Of which I cannot fault him for being so," she explained, answering in full to the question her father asked moments ago, "he... I'm sure if he was allowed to scream, yell and hurl objects at his father then I am sure he would." Amaya spoke of her oldest, Isley the Younger. "He's also begun to manifest his abilities in full form. I fear that his path if it remains uncontrolled, will take him places that I cannot go."​

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She sighed - the feeling of burden rested heavily on her shoulders, "and Teyn continues to be out of reach, although he signed our divorce papers without question."​

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Amaya was a far cry from the young scavenger she grew up as on Taris, further still from her heritage as a Mandalorian. Naboo was a far cry from many things she felt, even as her mother's palace loomed behind them. ​

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Darth Metus ​

 

[Darth Metus]

Motherhood suited his child. Like most, the sentiment of the little ones growing up too fast defined her. He smiled in turn, nodding as she asked him of his current days.

"It is...difficult...to sit still." came his admission amidst a chuckle. "Frankly I haven't sat still in decades. And yet I've tried to force myself to do just that. I've had time to reflect. Time to recover. It's...nice, but I don't think I will stay retired forever." But in the meantime, he would make the most of every minute. And do better overall.

Then, she spoke of the grandchildren in earnest. The twins were fine, but their brother - Isley the Younger - was angry. Resentful.

And Isley the Older understood. It was a maddening fact when one's sire was...a literal disappointment. Even more still when they were leagues away. The Mandalorian sighed. The pain of his grandson and his daughter were not lost upon him.

"He reminds me of...me in so many ways."

Isley placed his back upon the railing, folding his arms.

"The situation you speak of...I was there once. Your grandfather, my father...he and I did not have a good relationship. There were far less..." he chose his words carefully, pausing for a moment. "Politics. But far more infractions in the home. Lost track of the beatings." He shook his head somberly. "I bring that up to say, Isley needs two things if he is to remain himself. An outlet and care."

He reached out, placing a hand upon her shoulder. "With you as his mother, I believe care is more than covered. If you are willing, I would be happy to find him an outlet. I will not have my grandson be lost."

His fingers squeezed her shoulder. She did not speak of the pain that came with losing a spouse. But he knew. Having been there. Having lived there. He knew.

And he was there for her.

Amaya Cardei​

 

[Amaya Cardei]

Amaya exhaled shortly after her father's reassuring gesture. She shifted her stance, both hands now on the railing, the woman stood with her shoulders back and head held high. "I would be grateful if you took him under your wing, I believe he is in dire need of guidance that I cannot give him." Without a doubt, she knew her son needed someway to exercise his demons and her father she knew there would be plenty of outlets for the young boy. "It is you he is named for, after all." A soft smile on her features although it did not appear for long.​

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"You're right, I don't think you will find yourself in retirement for too long." Resting on one's laurels while the galaxy continued to spill its own blood over the frivolous things such as the Dark and the Light, was not something that they or their kin were well suited for. "Speaking of... retirement." Amaya let the word roll off her tongue as she stood to face her father, her attention squarely on him - away from the lake.​

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She took a moment to gather her thoughts and it could be noted in the rise and fall of her shoulders, the way her hands came together nervously. It had been so long ago since that day when she stood side by side with her father standing up to the then leaders of the so-called Mandalorian Empire. "I have been meaning to talk to you, not so much about Isley and the twins, but rather about me." Amaya remained focused on her father's features, "do you recall the day we charged up the leaders of the Mandalorian Empire. The confrontation there, well, before that day I had not been sensitive to the Force."​

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"However."​

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"Soon after, I became aware of it - much more than I had been previously."​

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Another pause as she took another breath and exhaled.​

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"I am understanding that someone by the name of Ember Rekali had a hand in unlocking my supposed potential in the Force." Something she had long since tried to hide. "As much as I have tried to hide it away, I feel as though I should accept it, and by doing so. I could in turn not only assist my children but perhaps others as well."​

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Darth Metus ​

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