Private Sunset, Sunrise

[Fiolette Fortan]

Fiolette looked out onto the ocean from the balcony of her Genesia home. She felt the rush of the warm smoke down the back of her throat, the cigarra burned a brightly with the sweet scent in the air. She relaxed into the rush that the cigarra provided. Waters rushed up along the shore, and she relished in the sight of it she wanted the peace that the waters offered. A cool, serenity that had been in her home for days, if not weeks since the Mandalorians invaded Mandalore and Kaine Australis, a name she never wanted to hear again slipped from the lips of her wife. Kaine had somehow left their unborn son, dead. So she smoked to forget, she smoked to numb away any of the pain and if that wasn't enough there beside her was a glass of Galidraan's finest bourbon. ​

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Her red hair pulled back into a ponytail, she wore simple clothing, a plain white shirt and a pair of sweatpants. Behind her on the lounge chair a towel and a set of weights where she'd been pushing her body to its limits. When her wife Taeli Raaf first told her what happened in its entirety, Fiolette punched a few holes in the wall of their Bastion home. Punched a few more here, all of which she knew she'd have to fix. Fiolette let out a sigh and tapped the ash from the cigarra into the ashtray that sat along the balcony's edge. She leaned against the rail and looked out onto the crystal clear waters that went on for days. She grabbed for the glass of bourbon and drank it straight and while it burned and numbed all that it touched Fiolette's mind eased into a fog. ​

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Father had always warned them about the Force, her family, her nation... The Force was a cheated mechanism, a devil as they said. When she met Taeli, Fiolette had set aside those prejudices and now? Now she wanted to see every damn Force User that did not share her name or blood, dead. Fiolette decided as she took another drag, every person bearing the name or blood of Australis would be hunted. But not now, no, not now - revenge was a dish best served cold...​

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She looked down at the cigarra and sighed again, Taeli hated it when she smoked. ​

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A shrug, Fio let the smoke drive the pain as she exhaled and took another drink if all so she could forget what it was like to feel. ​

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[Taeli Raaf]

The sound of waves was what stirred her first, blank purple eyes slowly blinking awake. She had been sleeping more, ever since... since the surgery to... and as happened every time she awoke, the pain washed over her anew, tears wanting to form at the edges of her eyes. The grief rose up, the hatred for all things Australis boiling beneath all of that. Hair hung limp as she tentatively stirred, pulling her knees closer to her chest, blankets clinging to her body. Makeup had been forgotten for days, even the Force Illusion she kept over her Sith tattoos was gone.

The news had been... the most difficult thing she could remember giving. Fiolette Raaf had started to punch things, including the wall, their bond telling Taeli exactly what the retired Admiral wanted to do to Australis. The girls... that had made it even worse for her. Nerralyn was old enough and far enough along in her education to understand what happened to a point. The cries of her little girl, the... she shook her head, it was already beginning to take root in her heart; the hatred for Mandalorians for stealing away what would have been her baby brother. Aerys had been sad, but at her age, death was still a nebulous thing, not really... well real. Death didn't take little girls and boys away in her reality, and Taeli's news had shaken that belief.

Stormvale was determined to be too painful a reminder for the Raaf family, the nursery already decorated and prepared for the arrival of little Medraut. She had, before they left for the quiet of Genesia, ordered the nursery taken down. She... did not want that reminder of what Kaine had stolen from her there...

Once... once the remains... had been removed, he had been cremated and his ashes compressed into two little gems in the Corellian tradition. One was sent to Corellia, to be placed with the gems with the rest of her family at the memorial to her sundered birth family. The other... she would carry with her...

"Fio," she whispered, stirring a bit more.

 

[Fiolette Fortan]

Fiolette's jaw was clenched tightly when she heard the whispers of her name through the Force. She finished the glass of bourbon and turned away from the peaceful scene before her. Her mind swirled with many thoughts, and they were on the edge of her tongue but now was not the time to relay them or even feel them. Quietly she entered the master suite from the balcony, "hey." Her voice was soft, warm, a smile at the corner of her lips, the bed dipped slightly as Fio sat along the edge. ​

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She rolled into the bed beside her wife, and placed a kiss on Taeli's forehead, "I'm here."​

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What Fiolette saw before her, was the most precious woman in the entire galaxy. What they had built together was worth far more than the riches of conquest could ever give. What they had lost had been devastating a stark reminder of the sacrifices made for the sake of the Sith, the Empire. Rage quelled within the retired Admiral. Rather than acting on it, she placed her forehead against Taeli's. She was quiet, only the sound of the ocean around them filled the silent void. ​

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Sunlight eased its way into the room, laying a radiance across the pair. ​

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Even so, Fio's attention laid squarely on her wife as she worked to thread her fingers with Taeli's. ​

Taeli Raaf ​

 

[Taeli Raaf]

Fiolette Raaf

The smallest of smiles managed to break through the numbness and pain within her as her wife rolled into bed again, kissing her forehead gently and twining their fingers together. The presence of her wife was soothing to the Sith Lady, although as out of touch with the world as she was, as distant as she felt, she could not help the nose curl from the scent of the cigarra. It was an instinctive reaction from her body.

"I thought I threw all of those cigarras away," she whispered after the comforting silence stretched for what felt like hours but was likely minutes. It was something for her to latch onto, to start pulling herself out of the stupor she had been in for days now. Something to slowly start setting her world back into order.

It would never be the same though, and the tears wanted to slip out again, and for once... she allowed them to. She didn't need to be Darth Arcanix, Triumvir of Power and Lady of Secrets here. She could just be a mother and wife that had lost a child because of...

Her untaken hand curled into a fist, blankets bunching into her grasp, as she thought about the man who had caused this. The tears kept slowly crawling down her cheeks, borne of her grief and rage building up. Emotions were fickle things for Sith, one had to be master of them at all times because they were so close to them. Fueled their powers. When one lost control, it could be far worse than if a normal person, one not touched by the Force, could feel. She blinked a few times.

"The girls?"

 

[Fiolette Fortan]

Fio couldn't help but give a small smile in return, "and that is where you are wrong my dear, I've got my stashes." She also had someone at her beck and call, the Force Dead bodyguard and current go-fer whatever it was Fiolette needed. Phoenix Edorath who was most likely on patrol along the waters of Genesia at that very moment. "Even if you did manage to find all my stashes, I have Phoenix and Mr. Bloodborn, of course, who can fetch me my cigarras, of course," Fiolette added matter-of-factly, her voice quiet but upbeat. The old vice not only helped to relax the retired naval officer but gave her wife something to talk about. ​

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The tattoo along Fio's forearm glowed just as she felt the rage her wife did. The non-Force Sensitive of the two swallowed hard and took a deep breath as she rolled to her side. Her efforts to bring her body as close to Taeli's as possible. An immeasurable amount of grief and rage followed them from their home Bastion to their home here on Genesia. ​

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It was perhaps one of the few places that Fiolette experienced Taeli at her most vulnerable. Even now, especially now, she thought to herself just as her wife inquired of their daughters. "Lucy tells me that they are well," again, the Galidraani's voice soft and warm, like a much-needed hug around each word her accent let to flourish around each letter. She drew in a breath and looked at her wife's form - a woman who had evolved over the length of their relationship. ​

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From simple pleasures to a deeper connection, the ups and the downs in their marriage they had managed to weather the storms. And this storm felt much like a hurricane and it was if Fiolette were to be quiet honest. Another wave of silence overcame them, and the retired naval officer quick to think on her feet asked, "would you like to have breakfast brought up to you?" Normally this was a death sentence because Fio could scarcely craft anything that didn't come in a Meal-Ready Bag or rations from the navy. However, over the years she had learned to cook a few things for these occasions. ​

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Taeli Raaf ​

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[Taeli Raaf]

Fiolette Raaf

"I'm going to have to have a chat with them," she whispered. "Can't be enabling you when we have little girls. Could damage their development." It might be an old vice for her wife, but it was one that had significant health risks and Taeli... she would not risk ANYTHING happening to Nerralyn or Aerys, and that included the threat of secondhand smoke.

"I hope they're having fun," she replied as Fiolette informed her of the girls being well. It was such a formal way of saying it she thought. She wanted to know if Lucy was taking them on trips, if Nerra was being mischievous with her little control of the Force she had, if Aerys had taken apart her toys yet... and those thoughts did much to draw her out of the pit of melancholy she had been in for weeks. If kept moping and grieving her, she would not be able to see, play, and guide her daughters.

And then Fiolette asked if she wanted breakfast brought up to her and that, if anything else, was a massive motivation to at least get out of bed. Fiolette might have come a long way in the long tradition of cooking... but...

"I think I've been in bed long enough," she muttered, giving her wife a very light kiss before sliding out from under the covers and the embrace. "Plus, I still don't trust you to not burn the kitchen down."

She hadn't realized it until now, but she was utterly famished. Absorbing ambient Force energy might have kept her going, and the very occasional small meal, but she needed real sustenance now. Plus, it was another task to keep her mind occupied and not gripped by the still threatening to consume her again despair.

 

[Fiolette Fortan]

Fio resisted the urge to roll her eyes and replied plainly, "the girls are fine, I do not smoke around them and even if you did manage to talk to Phoenix and Kurayami, only one of them would remember." Her words were just as whisper quiet as she nuzzled into Taeli's face. She thought a moment on Taeli's comment if they were having fun - fun was subjective she thought but then she had no doubt that Lucy and Calvin were more than capable of keeping the two rambunctious Raaf girls company. Not to mention there was Josie, "mhmmm well, I am quite sure that they are having fun, but of course, it pales in comparison to time spent with mom." ​

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Aerys and Nerralyn especially adored Taeli, Nerralyn was her wife's shadow and Aerys seemed more drawn to Fio and Lucy. Fio smiled warmly as her wife kissed her lightly, but then placed a hand on her chest as if she'd been wounded gravely. "I am hurt madam, I have come quite far in my culinary aspirations and I will have you know that I have not had a single incident in at least three months." She adjusted herself to sit upright in their bed, and then Fio heard something she scarcely heard. The rumbles of one Taeli Raaf who hadn't had a proper meal, "then may I get you a quick snack before you get into meal prep? You need something to keep you going."​

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The Galidraani rose from the bed and began to make it, "we did get our delivery this morning so there are some ready-to-go snacks, and I am told the afternoon delivery will include several fresh catches from the market." A pause as she worked on the corners of the bed, "I also wasn't quite sure if you were running low on anything, but do let me know and I can add in whatever it is you need." Life on Genesia was quite easy, they were largely left alone and utilized delivery services through their own secured runners to get what they needed. ​

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Taeli Raaf ​