Private Polish and Roughcut

[Acier Moonbound]

Location: Naboo - Theed

Equipment:
Training Jumpsuit | Lightsaber | Modified DL-27 | Tic

Ace's brow ticked as Tic shot ahead, trilling like he already had credits on the bet. "Traitor." He muttered under his breath, though the corner of his mouth tugged faintly upward.​

​

He followed Sibylla into the skiff, dropping into the seat beside her. The hum of the engines were low and smooth, something he wasn't used to Everything about it screamed luxury. The transparisteel barrier clicked into place, shutting the guards out, and Ace felt the difference immediately. The privacy felt more freeing.​

​

The ambassador's question landed heavier than it should have. Fun. His jaw tightened briefly before he forced it loose, leaning back against the seat. His eyes were deep, contemplative, and his freckled features pensive. After a few moments, the ashen haired rebel finally answered.​

​

"Fun..." He repeated, voice carrying its usual dry edge. "Don't think I ever really learned the definition. Bonadan didn't leave a lot of room for it. Closest I had was sneaking into the Vergeworks and running the scaffolds with the other kids. If you didn't break your neck, that counted as a good day."​

​

His mouth twitched, caught between a smirk and something heavier. "Guess it stuck. Danger, speed, getting out with your skin still on? That's about as close to fun as it gets for me."​

​

He glanced sidelong at her, hazel eyes catching the light as the skiff glided out over the water. "So don't be surprised if I enjoy this more than I should."​

​

As the skiff cut across the water, Tic trilled happily at Sibylla's side. He shook his head faintly, mouth tugging into something that wasn't quite a smile. Tic was always anxious and shy, but had definitely taken a liking to the ambassador. Ace's chest swelled at seeing the little BD unit step into confidence a little.​

​

"Tell me straight." He muttered, glancing sidelong at her - flashing her a faint half-smile. "You actually enjoy all that polished fun you listed back there? Museums, gardens, cafes." His brow ticked, tone light. "Or was that the court-approved answer?"​

​

Sibylla Abrantes ​

 

[Sibylla Abrantes]

Acier Moonbound ​

The skiff surged forward, its nose cutting clean across the lake as spray kissed the air. As fun as this was to be in the skiff, having an open one would be even more entertaining.

But they first had to get to the Overlook Manor to do it. Perhaps find an open water skiff there?

She noted Ace's slight discomfort, and she hoped that the conversation would help him relax. Tic was enjoying himself, of course, and that prompted more than one upward twitch at the corner of Sibylla's mouth in amusement.

Danger, speed, and survival. If there were any methods to get the blood pumping, then those surely would be the way.

So different from the sort of entertainment expected to be enjoyed by a young lady of the Royal Houses.

Again, that slight bit of envy filled her, but Sibylla shook it aside. Ironies of ironies, Ace had found the truth of it anyway. His question lingered in the air: whether she truly enjoyed the museums, gardens, and cafés she had named.

A wry smile twisted over her lips that melted into a light chuckle.

"Oh, I enjoy museums and gardens well enough," she conceded, amusement flickering in her hazel eyes. "But the court would frown most gravely if I confessed that skimming the lake at breakneck speed is far more to my liking."

Regardless, her tone softened as she considered his question more thoughtfully.

"Hmm...There are aspects I do love -- the history, the lore, the myths like the tale of Set and Vere. I was quite the precocious book girl when I was younger. I daresay I still am, though perhaps more tolerably so now. I'd been entirely devoted to my studies, and yes, annoyingly precise."

Her gaze flicked sidelong at him, a sparkle of mirth dancing in her eyes. She'd done it to Cassian Abrantes more often than naught, having been the main target of her proclivities.

"I was very much the sort to correct another's pronunciation without hesitation. Imagine the delight that must have made me at Junior Youth Assemblies."

 

[Acier Moonbound]

Location: Naboo - Theed

Equipment:
Training Jumpsuit | Lightsaber | Modified DL-27 | Tic

Ace's grin came quick at her confession, sharp and satisfied. "Knew it." He muttered. "All that polished court talk, and really you'd rather be tearing across the lake like you stole the thing. You sure you're not from Bonadan?"​

​

This felt great. The movement, danger, the lake rushing by - something he could understand. He'd been half-ready to choke on the idea of museums and gardens, things that were completely out of his comfort zone. This though? This was all him. And apparently, it was Sibylla too.​

​

He leaned back in his seat, eyes cutting sidelong toward her as delved into history and lore. The corner of his mouth tugged upward again, this time more wry. "Correcting everyone's pronunciation?" He gave a low chuckle, rough at the edges. "Oh man. Bet you were everyone's favorite."​

​

For a second, he tried to picture it. Sibylla at those Junior Assemblies, hand shooting up to correct some poor idiot who said something wrong. He almost laughed. She'd been sharp even then, and he could see it clear in her now. Funny how that same edge that probably made her insufferable as a kid was the reason she carried herself so steady in the present.​

​

Tic trilled like he agreed, pressing his lens against the transparisteel as the water blurred by. Ace shook his head faintly, his mouth twitching again. Tic was starting to become incredibly biased to their esteemed tour guide.​

​

The water rippled bright around them as the skiff surged ahead. Ace's eyes tracked the horizon, the towers of Theed thinning as the lake opened wide, but his words aimed back at her.​

​

"So… these myths you love. Set and Vere, right? Never heard of 'em. Feel like educating the ignorant street rat?" He gave a low chuckle, rough and amused. "Promise I won't correct your pronunciation."​

​

Sibylla Abrantes ​

 

[Sibylla Abrantes]

Acier Moonbound ​

Sibylla's smile dimmed the moment she spoke the names.

"Set and Vere," she murmured, and the air between them seemed to shift.

"He was a prince, brave and beloved, the sort of figure everyone looked to as if he could never fail. And she was Shiraya, goddess of the moon, hiding herself in mortal form. They were never meant to meet, yet the moment they did, there was no undoing it, they were bound together."

Her gaze drifted out over the lake, following the path of light along the water's surface.

"Her father tried to tear them apart. Trial after trial, storm after storm, yet still they held fast to each other. She gave up her immortality for him. Bu then he was cursed into shadow. In the end, her love was the only thing that could bring him peace. And they died together, side by side."

She drew a soft breath, her voice quieter now, carrying a thread of something almost raw. Because she knew the truth. She new that Set and Vere did not die. In fact, Vere was now trapped within the body of an unconscious Jedi Master.

"The gods relented. They let them rise again, she as the Moon, he as the Sun. Always near, always apart. Close enough to see, never close enough to touch."

She turned Ace and gave a soft but certain smile, "I don't like that ending, to be honest. For me, even ancient love stories deserve their ending,"

 

[Acier Moonbound]

Location: Naboo - Theed

Equipment:
Training Jumpsuit | Lightsaber | Modified DL-27 | Tic

Ace listened in silence as Sibylla told him the story, her voice carrying the myth with a steady rhythm. He caught the shift in her expression, the way her hazel eyes shimmered between green and gold as the sunlight caught them, how the curve of her mouth softened when she spoke of love and loss.

He wasn't the kind to linger on appearances, but with her it was hard not to. Every part of her screamed Naboo's high society, and yet there was a spark beneath it, something alive that kept her from ever seeming dull. He didn't know if it was the story or her, but the air around her felt charged.

Ace's dark gaze finally shifted, searching the glistening lake as it passed by. His eyes conveyed a quiet longing as he pondered on her words. Close enough to see, never close enough to reach. The words cut much sharper than he wanted, echoing a familiarity that lived in him like an old wound. The aching gap between wanting something and never being able to close the distance. It had plagued him all his life.

Finally, he dragged in a breath, gaze returning to her. He forced an unconvincing grin, that gradually became a little more real when his eyes laid upon hers. Sibylla admitted that she didn't like the ending, drawing out a quiet chuckle from him.

"You're a romantic. Can't say I'm surprised" He softly declared, his tone a little teasing. But then his smile faded a little, reforming into something a little sheepish "I don't really understand romance."

The words slipped out before he could stop them, and for a second he almost didn't recognize his own voice. It was something he hadn't confessed to anyone before. Truth be told, he never had the time for it. Between simply trying to make it another day back on Bonadan, to living on the run with a bounty on his head, and now to actively fighting against the Empire and Sith.

The closest thing he had were the flickers of attraction stirring in him now, sitting beside Sibylla. And even then, it only left him frustrated. The pull was confusing, raw, something he had no idea what to do with.

"Sometimes... I wish I did." He admitted matter-of-factly, closing it off with a shrug.

For a moment, he looked out to the lake again, letting his words hang. Then, gently shook his head - defaulting back to his wry smile.

"If you were the one writing Set and Vere's story. How would you end it?"

Sibylla Abrantes ​

 

[Sibylla Abrantes]

Acier Moonbound ​

Sibylla gave a quick smile and tilted her head in a small gesture of concession, as if to say yes, she was a romantic.

"Guilty as charged," she replied lightly, her hand rising to cradle her chin as her elbow rested against the skiff's door. They would be arriving soon, but for now the quiet hum of the engines and the sweep of the lake gave her leave to muse.

"Hmm… I do not think you are alone in your uncertainty. Everyone seems to imagine romance differently," she went on, tone soft but edged with reflection. "And what I call romance may well be dismissed by another entirely."

Her gaze wandered toward the water, thoughtful now.

"To me, it is much as I've read of Set and Vere, it is a devotion that endures flaws, defies expectations, and still chooses the other, in spite of everything."

A love like that had to be worth fighting for.

"As for Set and Vere…" she hesitated, unwilling to voice the secret of what she had been searching for, but she could at least share the heart of it.

"My wish is that their suffering might finally end. That the love they have fought for so long could finally bear fruit. That they might be allowed to rest together, in whatever form that takes… life, death, or whatever lies beyond."

Her hazel eyes lifted then, settling on Ace's freckled face, her expression sharpening into quiet resolve.

"Because if one will not fight for their love… then what claim can one make to call it love at all?"

 

[Acier Moonbound]

Location: Naboo - Theed

Equipment:
Training Jumpsuit | Lightsaber | Modified DL-27 | Tic

Ace didn't interrupt. His eyes were fixed on her while she spoke. Sibylla had managed to do it again, her words resonated in his very soul. Devotion that endures flaws. Because what else was he but flaws stitched together? Bonadan had carved them into him, war had reinforced them, silence had kept them raw. What would someone even see, choosing him in spite of it?

And yet… when she spoke of Set and Vere finally resting together, he felt something twist inside him. Rest. He couldn't remember the last time he'd even thought of the word, not without it sounding like surrender. But the way Sibylla framed it, love not as another burden to carry, but as a place to finally lay something down. It made the idea sound… almost possible.

Then came her last line. If one will not fight for their love, then what claim can one make to call it love at all? He'd made it known he didn't understand love. But fighting? That he understood better than most. Her framing gave it teeth, grit, something he could grasp. Maybe love wasn't soft or easy. Maybe it was stubbornness. Loyalty you bled for. Maybe that was the only kind he could ever offer.

It echoed something he'd heard once before. Stop surviving and start living. Aadihr Lidos had said it to him back when he was seventeen, green, and still clawing for purpose. Back then, the words hit because all Ace knew how to do was survive. But now, hearing Sibylla, it struck deeper. Because maybe love, the kind she described, was the difference. The line between surviving and truly living.

He realized then that his gaze had lingered too long, too openly again, and forced himself to glance back out at the lake. His voice came low, rough.

"Fighting I get. That part makes sense." A dry huff left him, half a smirk tugging at his mouth. "But romance? Love? Still feels like a language I don't speak."

The smirk faded into something smaller, more honest. "Maybe one day I'll figure it out."

Ace's gaze drifted back out toward the water, watching as the shape of the manor began to rise in the distance. The skiff cut smooth across the lake, but his thoughts were anything but steady. Sibylla's words lingered in him as he drew in a slow breath, jaw tight. Then, before he could stop himself, the words slipped out, rough and low..

"You uh... You ever meet someone who makes you want to believe in that kinda ending?" His eyes stayed fixed on the horizon, a muscle ticking in his jaw. "Even if you got no reason to?"

The silence stretched a beat before he shook his head, mouth twisting.

"…My bad. That was too personal."

Sibylla Abrantes ​

 

[Sibylla Abrantes]

Acier Moonbound ​

Sibylla froze. Just for a heartbeat, but it was enough. Ace's question slipped past every wall she thought she had in place, catching her off guard.

And her mind went to Lysander at once.

The comm buzzing in the middle of the night. The rush in her chest every time she thought it might be him. The sound of his voice when it carried both fire and doubt all at once. The way she felt that night when he sent the last message. The poetry and emotions that threaded through each line. How the ache of missing him still crept in when she least expected it.

Hazel eyes would drift and fall past the transparasteel to the water cutting beneath the skiff, watching how the silver ribbons broke against the hull. She barely noticed the manor rising in the distance. What she felt instead was the familiar tug in her chest, longing, frustration, the question that never seemed to let her go. Would things ever be like they were before?

When she finally spoke, Sibylla's voice was softer than she meant it to be.

"Yes," she admitted, almost under her breath. Then, after a pause, steadier: "I have."

She let the silence linger before lifting her gaze back to him, forcing the corners of her lips into a small, wry smile.

"Maybe it is too personal. But you asked. And it deserves an honest answer."

Her fingers brushed the fabric of her skirts, a small, grounding motion. She might only be eighteen, and perhaps, in her youth and inexperience with life beyond that of politics, things threaded with far more emotion and overwhelming tragedy than what other more experienced individuals felt.

However, her youth and inexperience didn't diminish her heartbreak or longing any less. Or what she truly thought she'd felt.

"Someone who makes you believe, even when logic tells you not to… that doesn't go away, Ace. No matter how much you wish it would."

It was then that the skiff began to slow, arriving at their destination.

"Well, it appears we have finally arrived. Perchance we may be able to find a suitable skiff to really explore the lake," Sibylla redirected with a tone that was more cheerful than she felt.

"When was the last time you've piloted a skiff over water, Ace?"

 

[Acier Moonbound]

Location: Naboo - Theed

Equipment:
Training Jumpsuit | Lightsaber | Modified DL-27 | Tic

Ace felt it before she even answered, a ripple brushing against him through the Force. The same longing, the same ache from before. When her voice finally came, soft and unguarded, it only confirmed what he'd already felt.​

​

He didn't press. Wouldn't. Whatever name or memory she carried behind those words wasn't his to take. But the pit still formed in his stomach, heavy and unfamiliar, tugging sharper than it should have. He didn't know the word for it, nor did he want to.​

​

Without thinking too hard, his hand lifted and came to rest against her arm - steady, firm, but not overlong. Just enough to be felt, not mistaken. His voice came low, rough.​

​

"Never had what you had," he admitted, blunt as ever. "But I know what it's like to carry that kind of pain."​

​

His hand slipped away just as the skiff began to slow, gliding toward the dock. The shift gave him an out, and he seized it, jaw ticking before his tone lightened again. When she asked him the last time he'd piloted a skiff, an uncharacteristically sheepish smile crept on his freckled features.​

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He let out a resigned chuckle "Never." and cast her a sidelong glance. "Never even been on a skiff."​

​

Tic trilled, lens pressed against the transparisteel as if ready to throw his bet in. Ace huffed a rough chuckle, shaking his head.​

​

"Okay, so, my win is seeming less and less likely. Can't pilot a skiff and you have homefield advantage?" He paused, finally turning to face the ambassador, flashing her a wry grin "Sibylla, if I didn't know any better, I'd say you were scamming me."​

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Sibylla Abrantes ​

 

[Sibylla Abrantes]

Acier Moonbound ​

For a moment, Sibylla forgot the steady hum of the skiff, her attention flickering down to where Ace's hand rested on her arm. It was not a lingering touch, but it startled her all the same, giving her a warmth that slipped through the cracks in her composure. Yet it was his words that struck deeper still.

She swallowed, lips parting as if to answer, but nothing came at first. Ace's blunt honesty had a way of disarming her, peeling away the polished layers she kept wrapped tight. Aether Verd had the same uncanny ability. Perhaps, why Sibylla felt too keen to converse with Mand'alor so plainly, without the fear or pretense often seen in the Assembly or Naboo's Royal courts.

To hear Ace speak of pain with such plain certainty, without trying to mask it or cloak it in politics, stirred something in Sibylla's then.

Her hazel eyes lingered on him a breath longer than they should have, searching his freckled features, the set of his jaw, the weight behind the roughness in his voice. Then, gently, she inclined her head.

"Thank you," she said softly, her tone carrying more sincerity than she meant to show.

And then the moment broke, his hand slipping away as the skiff began to slow, gliding toward the dock.

Sibylla caught the faint shift in his tone, the almost sheepish smile when he admitted he had never even been on a skiff. That tugged her lips into a light laugh.

"Scamming you? Hardly. If I wished to win unfairly, I would have chosen a duel of witty quips. Then you'd truly stand no chance."

The vessel eased into the dock with a gentle sway. For a moment there was only the soft hush of water against stone before one of the guards stepped forward, sliding the door open. The scent of waterlilies and sage drifted in on the breeze, fresh and sweet, and the manor rose before them in all its Naboo grandeur, arches and domes carved in pale stone.

Sibylla stepped out with a smile and a gracious nod.

"Thank you," she told the guards warmly, her voice carrying the practiced cadence of someone used to acknowledging every effort around her.

Then, with a playful tilt of her head toward Ace, she added, "We will take one of the open-air skiffs from here, just around the lake."

The guards exchanged looks, their expressions tightening.

"My Lady," one began carefully, "that would be inadvisable. Too exposed. Too great a risk."

Sibylla's smile lingered, though her brow arched just faintly. It was a familiar refrain, one she had heard more times than she could count. She glanced at Ace, the glimmer of challenge there unmistakable.

"Our first obstacle," she murmured under her breath in mild humor just low enough for Acier to hear.

And then, a touch more brightly.

"But truly, what danger could there be in a turn about the lake?" Her gaze slid to Ace, her eyes sparking with invitation. "Perhaps you might help me convince them of it."

 

[Acier Moonbound]

Location: Naboo - Theed

Equipment:
Training Jumpsuit | Lightsaber | Modified DL-27 | Tic

Ace's mouth curved into a mischievous smirk at her quip about a duel of wits. Guess it was a good thing they stuck with skiffs then. Ace had no doubts he wouldn't last a minute with Sibylla in a verbal sparring session.​

​

He stepped down onto the dock after her. The guards stiffened, already half-set in their refusal. Ace held in a snicker at Sibylla likening the guards to obstacles, and when she invited Ace for back up he merely nodded and took a step forward.​

​

Bonadan had taught him how to handle types like this, how to talk your way out of corners sharper than this, ease the edge without showing your hand.​

​

"Out there on the lake?" He tilted his chin toward the water. "Clear sight lines, nothing hiding around the corner. You'll see trouble coming long before it reaches us."​

​

Then his hand brushed against the hilt of his lightsaber, calm but deliberate. His voice roughened, but was steady and sure.​

​

"Either way, doesn't matter where she is. Sibylla's safer with me than with anyone else."​

​

His words came blunt, unpolished, just fact. But there was something in the way they landed - rough-edged, protective - that carried more weight than he intended.​

​

He let the silence stretch a moment longer before his mouth twitched into something closer to a smirk. "Besides… what's the point of Naboo if you don't take the lake?"​

​

Tic trilled at his heel like he agreed, hopping once as if daring the guards to argue. The guards exchanged a look, one of them letting out a quiet breath through his nose. Their stance eased by a fraction, and though neither looked entirely convinced, they stepped aside all the same. Reluctant agreement, but agreement nonetheless.​

​

Ace caught the shift and gave a single, short nod. He didn't gloat, nor did he press the point. It was just the simple acknowledgment that they'd stand down.​

​

He moved ahead first, boots thudding against the dock's planks as he stepped toward the open skiff waiting by the water. The repulsors thrummed low, the craft hovering just above the surface. As Ace climbed aboard, the vessel shifted with a soft sway, stabilizers humming as they adjusted.​

​

Without thinking, he reached back, hand extended toward Sibylla. Not a flourish, not courtly like the nobles she knew. Just steady, firm, an unspoken offer to help her across the small gap.​

​

His voice was rough when he spoke, almost offhand. "Careful. Step's trickier than it looks."​

​

Tic chirped brightly, hopping onto the railing with a warble that sounded suspiciously like laughter. For him, this was the most fun he'd had in centuries.​

​

Sibylla Abrantes​

 

[Sibylla Abrantes]

Acier Moonbound ​

Sibylla was more than a little amused at the way Ace had stepped up with the guards, rough edged but persuasive all the same. Yet persuaded they were, and that was what mattered. Soon enough, they found themselves at the open-air skiff, its sleek frame humming quietly over the water.

She accepted Ace's hand with a gracious smile, her hazel eyes glinting.

"Thank you," she murmured, steady as she stepped across and onto the skiff. Settling into her seat, she could not help the rare grin that spread across her face, flashing briefly in his direction.

"Well, I must say, those were some impressive negotiation skills, Ace," she quipped, brushing past him with the faintest arch of her brow as she moved toward the controls.

"I just might be in need of your services if I ever need to slip out for another drive," She added, her tone lightening into a playful one now.

"I know you've said you haven't piloted a water skiff before, but surely you've piloted an airspeeder before? If you can handle a ship, there's no reason you cannot manage a skiff."

She cast a wink at Tic, who answered with a burst of hoots, beeps, and whistles, clearly delighted by the idea.

"Or would you rather I pilot and you enjoy the view?"

 

[Acier Moonbound]

Location: Naboo - Theed

Equipment:
Training Jumpsuit | Lightsaber | Modified DL-27 | Tic

Ace eased down into the seat, the hum of the skiff thrumming under him. Sibylla's grin and playful jab about his "negotiation skills" earned a low chuckle out of him.

"Guess I've still got a few tricks from back home." he muttered, although his smirk lingered.

When she mentioned slipping out for another drive, his brow arched. He responded with a playful shrug, indicating he wasn't totally opposed to the idea. Her next question about piloting followed up by the slight tease, slight challenge drew a small shake of his head.

"Hey." He muttered, voice low but steady, "I still know what chivalry is. I'll figure it out."

He reached for the controls, fingers brushing over them with the same care he gave the Flickerfox. Not quite confident, but steady, like he trusted himself to learn quick enough.

"Besides." He added, casting her a sidelong glance "Wouldn't feel right letting you do all the work while I sit here taking in the view."

Tic chirped excitedly, hopping in a circle at Sibylla's side as if he'd just declared victory. Ace shot him a crooked smirk, shaking his head. "Yeah, yeah. Maybe you should live with her instead, then."

Then he glanced at Sibylla once more, catching her hazel eyes in the light, and for a moment, the grin softened into something warmer.

"Hold on." he muttered.

The repulsors thrummed louder as Ace pushed forward, the skiff leaping across the lake in a burst of speed. Water sprayed wide at their sides, the wind rushing past them. As the lake stretched out ahead, Ace let the laughter slip free. Still rough, still unpolished, but for the first time - it was full and alive.

For a boy who'd never known peace, this was as close as it came.

-END-​

Sibylla Abrantes​