Private Naboo Revelation

[Sibylla Abrantes]

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DEE'JA PEAK
Abrantes Estate | Nightfall
Interacting with: Cassian Abrantes Elian Abrantes
Items: x x x x x

It was Elian's weight leaning into her, his arms looping around her shoulders, that finally tugged Sibylla out of her spiraling thoughts.

Her hazel eyes shifted toward him, taking in the familiar laughter on his lips… and the quieter worry hiding just beneath it. Trust Elian to notice even what she tried to keep perfectly folded away.

What is going on?

How was she meant to answer that? The question hovered like a delicate thread and evven then she did not yet know where to place her fingers on it. Perhaps she was overthinking it. Or perhaps she was not thinking enough.

All she knew is that she didn't want to lose Ace's friendship...and while time had allowed her to understand to some degree that he had not been in the best of places when she met him on Roon...it still didn't excuse his behavior as a whole.

Biting her lip, gaze dropped back to the comm, rereading the four small words that seemed to echo louder every time she looked at them. A heavy sigh slipped from her chest before she could catch it.

No. She could not delay. Not again. She had learned that lesson with Lysander, a knot still tucked somewhere deep inside her because of it.

She would not repeat it with Ace.

"Elian…" she began quietly, her voice softer than she intended. "Have you ever had a fight with a friend who told you to leave them alone, to stop reaching out… and then, after some time, they contact you again?"

It was a simple question but her tone said there was more to it than that.

​

Lady Callista softened the moment Cassian's hand covered hers. It was the smallest gesture, yet it spoke volumes. A mother knew these things. She felt the shift in him as clearly as the change in a mountain wind and she was grateful for it, that her son was letting her in.

Another deep breath, and she breathed in the chill of the evening, but even then, she brought her hand up once again to cup his cheek once more. Her palm was warm against the rough scruff there, and there was no mistaking how her smile gentled with pride but edged with heartbreak that he was feeling thusly so.

"Oh, Cassian…" she breathed, slowly brushing her thumb over his cheek, smoothing away a worry she wished she could lift entirely. "Armor has its purpose, but it was never meant to be worn in the heart."

Another soft exhale as Lady Callista mused on what he revealed to her.

"You have always taken the world upon your shoulders far too young," she murmured. "You inherited your father's sense of duty, and my stubbornness… never the easiest combination for a peaceful life."

Another trace of her green eyes over him and she added. "So, I will not have any more of this staying at the barracks unless it is necessary due to your duties, come home. Sleep here. Talk to us, okay. We are ready to listen at any time."

When he pulled her into that strong embrace, she held him as if she had been waiting months for it, one hand lifting to cradle the back of his head as she used to when he was small.

"My brave boy," she whispered into his shoulder, "thank you for letting me carry even a piece of this with you."

Only when he drew back did her curiosity return, softened by maternal instinct.

She watched the shift in his eyes at the mention of Shade. There wasn't wariness there, nor tension. No instead it was warmth. Real if quiet, blooming warmth.

The dark slash of her brows lifted ever so slightly, even as the corners of her lips curled into a knowing smile.

"Ah," she said softly, "so that is the name of the shadow who has been following your thoughts."

She listened closely, absorbing every word, noting as a mother what others might not -- the fondness in his tone, the hesitations that were not fear but depth, the softness she had not seen in him for years.

And when he finally said it, someone I love, Callista's breath caught just a little, her eyes shining.

"Oh, Cassian…" she whispered, her voice nearly trembling with affection, "how proud I am of you."

She reached up again, smoothing a stray lock of hair near his temple.

"To love, in times such as these, is no small act of courage... and to be loved in return… that is a blessing I have wished for you more than you know."

She took his hands in hers and then squeezed them gently.

"I would very much like to meet this Shade one day," she said with quiet sincerity.

"But more importantly… I am glad you have someone who you feel can ground and steady you when the galaxy grows heavy and chaotic."

There was another reassuring squeeze.

"You deserve that, Cassian. You deserve every bit of it."

 

[Elian Abrantes]

Sibylla Abrantes
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Elian tilted his head at her question, the easy slant of his posture softening into something more thoughtful. Not heavy, never heavy with him, but curious, open, quietly earnest in that way he only ever was with the people he loved most. He draped himself a little more comfortably against her, arms still loosely looped around her shoulders as though he intended to anchor her in place until the storm in her chest stopped spinning.

"Hm…" he hummed, eyes drifting upward as though consulting the grand archives of his own questionable life experience. "Have I ever had a fight with a friend who told me to leave them alone and then suddenly reappeared?"

He tapped his chin with exaggerated scholarly seriousness.

"Oh, yes. Many times. Usually because I did something stupid. Or they did something stupid. Or we both did something stupid." Elian shrugged his shoulders lightly. "Friendships are built on coordinated stupidity, in my opinion. I mean look at my group of friends."

His grin widened and Elian squeezed her shoulders, warm and reassuring.

"Alright, alright, real answer?" he went on. "Yeah, it's messy. It feels like you're holding a fragile vase and you're afraid to touch it because it already cracked once. And you're wondering if it's safer to leave it alone, or pick it up anyway and risk shattering it again."

He wiggled his hand in the air.

"My advice? Talk to them. But don't tiptoe. Don't beg. Don't dance around it like you're afraid of your own shadow." He leaned in closer. "People who shove you away are usually hurt. Or confused. Or having a spectacularly idiotic crisis. And when they come back, it means they're reaching for something familiar. Something safe."

Then he lowered his voice, soft, honest.

"But make sure it's really what you want too. Not out of guilt. Not out of habit. Because you actually want that person in your life still."

He held up a finger, like the final point in a lecture.

"And if they stopped talking to you in the first place…" Elian paused dramatically, eyes widening with faux wisdom.

"You probably deserved it."

He barely got the words out before a laugh tore from him, bright, bubbling, completely unrestrained. He shook his head, leaning fully into her shoulder now.

"I'm just kidding, Sibylla. Stars, the look on your face."

He nudged her gently with his forehead.

 

[Cassian Abrantes]

Sibylla Abrantes ​

Cassian had endured battlefields with less impact than the way his mother's words landed. Her touch, her warmth, the unwavering steadiness she offered, he felt each piece of it like armor being peeled away, leaving him bare but no longer exposed. Seen. Safe. His breath left him shakily when she cupped his cheek again.

He bowed his head into her palm, not dramatically, just a subtle lean, instinctive, the way he had as a child after a nightmare. A gesture he had forgotten he remembered.

"Mother…" he murmured again, but this time the word was full. Heavy. Softened by everything he had been holding back. When she spoke of him coming home, of resting here, of letting them shoulder what he could no longer hold alone, Cassian felt a warmth bloom through him, not relief exactly, but the first hint of it. The possibility of it.

He nodded, slow and deliberate.

"Okay," he said quietly. "I'll try to come home as often as I can. I think I need that more than I've been willing to admit."

Months of tension, of distance, of trying to swallow storms alone, they slipped, even if just a fraction. His face pressed into her shoulder, eyes closing as her hand slid to the back of his head the way it had when he was small.

When she drew back and spoke of Shade, of love, of pride. Cassian's entire expression softened. Really softened. The kind of softness he rarely let anyone see.

He glanced down for a moment, the ghost of a smile tugging at his mouth, shy, boyish, almost disbelieving.

"Truthfully, I wasn't sure what you were going to say," he admitted quietly. "About this, and about her, and love."

He lifted his gaze again, meeting her eyes with honesty that carried not a single layer of armor.

"Shade isn't easy," he said, though the gentleness in his tone made the words warm rather than cautious. "She's precise. Controlled. She's had to be. She carries her own shadows…but she's never turned away from mine."

His smile deepened, quiet but sure. "And I'd be honored for you to meet her. I think she'd… she'd surprise you."

He squeezed his mother's hands gently, mirroring the reassurance she'd offered him.

"And thank you," he added, voice barely above a whisper. "For saying I deserve it. Sometimes I forget that I might."

A final breath, steadier than any before.

"It means more than you know, Mother."

 

[Sibylla Abrantes]

​

DEE'JA PEAK
Abrantes Estate | Nightfall
Interacting with: Cassian Abrantes Elian Abrantes
Items: x x x x x

Sibylla let out a breath that turned into a laugh. Elian's ridiculous analogies, his dramatic wisdom, his warmth pressed against her shoulder... they all worked far too well.

She cast him a sidelong glance with the faintest smile tugging at her lips despite herself.

"Only you would compare emotional turmoil to a cracked vase and somehow make sense," she said wryly, a soft laugh slipping free. But even then Elian's words lingered.

Talk to them. Do not tiptoe. Make sure you actually want them in your life.

Her gaze drifted to her comm again, to those four simple, heavy words.

Can we talk?

"I suppose you are right," she admitted reluctantly. "Running from it or letting silence answer for me doesn't resolve anything. Not for him… and not for me."

She exhaled slowly, her fingers brushing over the comm as she thought it over. Thinking back to that day and what Ace had said, how he looked at her. Accused her while at the same time looking so hurt.

Ace had pushed her away so harshly, and it still hurt... yet even then... silence won't solve anything.

Another pause, and Sibylla took a deep breath. She held it for a moment, then exhaled, decision made.

"All right," Sibylla murmured more to herself than him, "I will answer him."

Her hand tightened once around her comm.

"Thank you, Elian," she added, her tone warm despite the lingering worry. "For being… well. You."

She bumped his shoulder gently, smiling at him with a fondness that was rarely spoken aloud.

"Even if your advice is wrapped in the most absurd metaphors imaginable."

Looking down at her comm, she gave a faint nod.

"Alright, I'm going to send this out... tell them I'll just be a bit."

 

[Sibylla Abrantes]

​

DEE'JA PEAK
Abrantes Estate | Nightfall
Interacting with: Cassian Abrantes Elian Abrantes
Items: x x x x x

Lady Callista felt her heart warm at the way her son leaned into her touch, the smallest instinctive gesture that showed just how much he still needed her reassurance. Truly, there was no battlefield victory sweeter to her than seeing Cassian allow himself to be held.

She brushed her thumb across his cheek once more before letting her hand slip down to clasp his.

"Oh, my darling boy," she murmured, her voice full and soft in a way she reserved only for her children, "you need not fear my thoughts on love. I only ever wished for you to find someone who sees you… truly sees you… and still chooses to stay."

And as she listened to him speak of Shade and heard how she challenged him and accepted him, Callista's expression grew brighter.

"That," she said gently, "sounds very much like a woman worthy of your heart. And I should like to meet her one day. I have a suspicion she will surprise me, yes… but in the most wonderful of ways."

Lady Callista gave her son's hand a firm, reassuring squeeze.

"And as for coming home," she added, arching a knowing brow at him, "you had better do exactly that. Before I am forced to come drag you back myself, just as I did with Elian when I heard of his tomfoolery at Theed."

But just as quickly a soft warm laugh spilled from her as she stepped forward and drew Cassian into a tight embrace, her arms wrapping around him with years of maternal certainty.

"I love you, Cassian," she whispered against his hair as she held him tightly. "We all do. Never forget that."

She lingered a moment longer and then added:

"And you deserve every happiness that finds you," she added softly, "more than you have allowed yourself to believe."