The Quiet Brings A Mind’s Noise (Kaine/Caz)

[Yasha Cadera]

Night swept Vanquo. Construction crews broke for a few hours, ceasing their racket which arched the tempest, which the party brought to the house. Yasha poured three mugs of tea from the teapot, as Tamar came in to make hot cocoa for each of the children in their nightly routine.

“The children say goodnight, Lady Yasha. Miss Adara desired to stay up a bit longer, but I’ve sent her to her bath.” In the time away from her riduur, Yasha retreated from many sources of affection. Returning to her more militant path. With the addition of her Panathan refugee family, Yasha’s posture fixed. Her grandparents rested in the living room, with Aditya and Aunt Peggy, chatting softly in Epicant. Papa Girak sat beside Aditya, arms around her shoulder as he kissed her brow. Papa Hector sat on a chair, and even Peggy was quiet in the ebb of the night.

“Adara may approach, once her nightly ablutions are complete. But do knock.” Tamar curtseyed and fled.

Pulling a loose shawl over her shoulders, Yasha brought two mugs out from the kitchen to the porch. She passed one to [member="Caz Australis"] and the other to [member="Kaine Australis"], then retreated to grab her own. Stopping first at the liquor cabinet, Yasha watched to ensure nobody was watching, and filled her tea to the brim with whiskey. A glut of whiskey down her throat from the bottle, and Yasha replaced the cork top, sipping her tea until she padded back out to the porch and stood staring at the way Kaine’s back showed his physique in the moonlight.

He stole her breath. Yasha shut her eyes, and tried to breathe.

How... how could she bridge the gap she self-inflicted?

 

[Caz Australis]

Caz could see the pain in her wife. She loved Yasha but they were opposites in almost every way, including how they loved Kaine. Caz had the benefit of a few more years with him and this wasn't the first time he'd been gone for a long period of time. She believed in the Universe always conspiring to provide what was best for her, and she knew that no matter where he ended up, Kaine would find his way back to her. Yasha would learn it... she would see that their bond, their love, was an impenetrable force that she just had to trust.

Caz's voice was soft. "My loves, come sit. There is much to discuss, but the most important thing first. I love you both, very much. And I always will. I think that it's important that no matter what, we recognize that." She took a deep sip of her tea.... "Also, why is it that I'm the only one that didn't get booze in her tea?" She winked at them both and reached for Kaine's flask and doctored her mug with the contents. "Remember when we married Yasha? It was such a beautiful day.... and we committed our lives to one another, unconditionally. Remember that?" She sat back and looked at them both. It would be ok, she told herself. It always worked out.

 

[Yasha Cadera]

At first, Yasha could only stand on the porch, and face the unfinished lawns and side houses of her second estate. Second, because they lost Westralis. Second, because of Eshan. A battle she was too pregnant to fight.

“Then let’s do this properly.” Each heartbeat, and choke to [member="Kaine Australis"]’ face rebuked and reinforced her ire. A man’s tears held back in the presence of his two wives. The twin suns of his solar rotations. Yasha retreated to the kitchen, placing both hands on the counter and stifling a sob. This should be a happy time. Her riduur was home. Playing momentarily with a little folded napkin shaped like a bird, Yasha flicked it across the counter, and grabbed the whiskey before sitting on the porch a few inches from Kaine.

“It was right after Kaas City... when I was pregnant with the twins.” In the building tension, [member="Caz Australis"] was the water upon both her spouse’s dry soil. “You were thrilled, just like you were, when we were having Reyn. I was… terrified and guilty for sleeping with a married man. And you… took me in. For all my fears, my self-hate. My grief over Kaden… You smoothed it all over. Our Caz’ika. And when you spoke the vows to me… my heart exploded. It was like life itself was complete.”

Yasha found it in her to smile at the memory, her marrying Caz after she and her Kain’ik wed. The aftermath of Kaas City was a hard one to bear. And her spouses remained ignorant as to why.

“I love you… both of you.” A bridge, before the munitions fired. Bringing the bottle of whiskey to her lips, Yasha took a long drag and grimaced at the burning liquid rushing down her throat.

“Stop fighting the Sith.” Words she knew would shatter the old Kain’ik to ribbons. That would cause a battle, a challenge for the Mantle. “After all you’ve done to provoke them, after killing Myrcalla, the second… we needed him, Carnifex was there. He was instantaneous. He knew I did nothing for myself, but made the decision of a ruler who must always consider my People before my own desires, and he came. Again.”

Yasha breathed out a heavy sigh, took another sip of whiskey.

“We have enemies, Kain’ik. Real enemies, who are avidly attempting to slaughter us… can’t you fight them instead of the only government, who sent its’ soldiers to bleed on our behalf? Its’ fleets to fight our foes? Fight our enemies. I need you to fight our enemies, Kaine. Not… not the Sith. Not now.”

A part of Yasha’s spirit shattered. She stifled a sob, wringing her arm around Kaine’s and placing her forehead on his shoulder.

“Why is Kaine Zambrano the biggest proponent of mercy I’ve ever known? Mercy, upon mercy, upon mercy. Bound in his place by the laws he erected, and when we bit and clawed at him, he turned with his other arm extended and let us beat that, too. I had his brain… in my armour… and he still refused to attack us. Five years after the death of his own wife by your hand, he still went to Dathomir, and accepted terms. I sat on the table, looked him in his bearded face and told him all are equal, and he locked eyes with me? And he waved his hand, and said ‘as you wish’, while Prazutis visibly grit his teeth. Every time I’ve said no, or refused his requests, he’s been patient, understanding. It’s more mercy than I’ve ever gotten from anyone. And yes, I know he’s evil… but Kaine, Zambrano isn’t the worst evil in this Galaxy. So please. Let’s fight that.

I would love to think selfishly. To fall into your arms right now and let everything go, but I do not have that luxurious a life. My body, my duty, my soul belongs to Mandalore, and I must always act to Mandalore’s betterment…

… Never my own… and it’s breaking my heart. I… I missed you.”

 

[Caz Australis]

Caz pulled her legs under her and sat back in the porch swing she was sitting on. She often times was the facilitator of communication; something that was very important in a relationship, especially like theirs. But this time, she just sent love onto her partners and listened to their vulnerability. It was painful to be without their husband for so long. He was impulsive at times, made rash decisions and faced the consequences of them. Caz knew that he had learned some valuable lessons in his time away.... how to pause, how to consider the Clan, how to honor his wives. She knew he wasn't the same man that had left them. He was softer and more compassionate, but still a warrior. Self reflection and growth was not an easy task, but he did those things to come home to be a better husband, father and Mandalorian. Caz had missed him, and it was hard to be without him, but it was the best thing for them all.

 

[Yasha Cadera]

And in the gripping silence, [member="Kaine Australis"] relented. Yasha gasped, releasing the pent up tensions she’d been holding in since the fateful deal was struck on Dathomir. In order to keep the peace between Sith and Mandalorian, Yasha prepared to do even the most egregious of settlements.

She had to. The Mandalorians’ survival was paramount. All that was gone. Her Kain’ik’s time away indeed shifted his perspectives enough to see the reasonable conclusion to their lives’ events.

“He’s the best friend we have. It’s not madness I see, when I look into his eyes, Kaine. It’s survival.” A glimmer in amber eyes, fortified by the whiskey she yet again pulled to her lips. “Our enemies are closing in around us. Their forced moral high ground is as hypocritical as their tactics. We will never be seen as their equals.

So, do we become the dogs of those who appear angelic, bowing our heads with tails low to perhaps receive a scrap from their lauded tables, or do we stand as the warriors we are… and make the Galaxy shake, when they dare attempt us harm?”

Yasha could no more accept the cost of the Jetiise, or others who condemned Mandalorians for their once or future connection with the Sith. The Jetiise refused to act with grace.

A grace so readily availed to them by the Dark Lord and his Council. By the Chiss. How then, did they continue? Kaine’s training under the enigmatic Echani Force Master seemed to do him more benefit than Yasha recognized at first. Now, sitting in the sunsetting twilight, she curled her shawl around her against the chill and watched as the night let her eyes rest.

“There are so many… but we can overcome them, c’yare. We have to be united. No more fracturing… no more grimaces held back.” Sitting beside Kaine, Yasha bumped her shoulder against his, thinking back. Back to the events after Kaas City.

“I know… I know you love me. It kept me alive. He was kind. I fought him, and marred his face, and… he took it.” For the first time, Yasha set her head on Kaine’s shoulder, and spoke of what she’d spent five years hiding in her heart. “There were Ymir, cannibal-creatures… victims of the Mandalorian bombardment of Dromund Kaas my father and Captain Larraq underwent under Mand’alor the Builder… the ruins Carnifex and I were under were the same ones our people created, when their militant excess killed millions.

I will never conduct collateral damage on that scale. Not to innocents. I was haunted and chased by the sins of the Mandalorians, in a hellscape with no exit. Tunnels upon tunnels carved in the subterranean vaults. We fought each other… we fought the Ymir, his back to mine. There was nothing to drink, nothing to eat… nothing but the black lake. A lake created by Mandalore’s sins, the last time they wiped the Sith out. By the third day I was so dehydrated... I seizured and hallucinated. Their blood was disgusting, but… it sustained enough.”

Eyes raw, Yasha sunk her arms around Kaine’s arm. “I’ve seen too well what detestation we Mandalorians can cause… hold me? Just a little?”

 

[Sidara Vercopa-Vhett]

Caz listened to her partners confess their deepest feelings and what really had happened during their long hiatus. She was never much for battles and preferred to stay at home where she could take care of the children and the house, honing her healing practices and quietly expanding her force use. She knew it meant spending extended amounts of time away from her partners, as they were warriors to their core. She had become accustomed to not getting attached to an idea of what life was supposed to be, and just enjoyed the moments she shared with them.

She moved to make room for them, wrapping her arms around them. They needed her love right now. She needed to show them that no matter what, this wasn't the end, but the beginning of the next chapter of their life.

Together. We do this our way.

Yes, always and forever. It's time that we stand in our truth as Australis'. We aren't like the others. And, no matter how hard it is, remember that we live in transparency. Unconditional love is unconditional. I know you both have been through so much. You have much healing to do. We will start tomorrow... each of you with me, one on one. In time, this will be a distant memory. Just remember, we love each other. No matter what.

Caz leaned over and kissed the center of each of their foreheads. She opened her heart chakra, and closed her eyes and watched as the energy radiated from her body and washed over them.

 

[Yasha Cadera]

Healing, and familiar arms. [member="Kaine Australis"] held her, reminding Yasha of the years he spent working for, then caring for her. Her kids. Kaine Australis was the man, who pulled her through. His urges complicated, yet they were from a loving place. [member="Caz Australis"] promised the one thing her spouses needed most. But healing could only come, when the tangles of negative energies were in order. Lengthened out.

“Darling Caz’ika. Your spouses are a mess. Thank you, love. Without you, we’d all be lost.” Kaine spoke of darkness, and his family’s fall. Yasha pulled away after reciprocating the kiss, padding barefoot along the deck to chase the nighttime landscape.

“Unconditional...” Yasha spent a moment focusing on breathing. She had to, no air was volunteering to enter her lungs. “Under Kaas City... The hallucinations got worse. I was days without water, dying. And… he cradled me. He was patient, unyielding and hard. He forced me to face the hallucinations, the pain and the hate in my blood. The loneliness in a place of my father’s making… it was so cold, he… wove his cloak around me, pulled me against him and kept me warm. Spoke tales of Panatha, while I seizured. What the jungles are like… how the sunrise colours the blooms...

… and I woke in my underlayers and his cloak. He’d fed me the only liquid we had. His blood. I hated him. I was vulnerable and exposed to the last piece of my soul, and could not tell hallucination from reality. We fought, and fought. He took and gave back until I was broken on the ground… and when I could no longer move, when I was exhausted and starved, he baptized me in the Black Lake. Washed my wounds in the waters of the Dark Side... it was that or death.

I landed blows, and his body reconstructed. He felt… no… pain. All I am… all I trained for, the years serving Mandalore were naught. He whispered, how nothing in me was weak, but...

He made me weak, and I could never forgive him… for years I didn’t know what was worse, not separating hallucinations from reality, failing to end the battle, the fact he’s the kindest person I’ve known or being incapable of doing more. When I saw him on Dathomir...” Yasha gulped, running her hands along her biceps. How she longed for her Kaine’s arms...

“... I wasn’t prepared for kindness... Kain’ik... the twins, they... will always be like me. Children of the Dark. This doesn’t stop us from educating them rightfully, or... but you deserve to know. I couldn’t defeat him. If that makes you never want to touch me again, I understand.”

 

[Caz Australis]

Caz sipped her drink and watched her loves. Her heart grew big and she knew that no matter what they would be okay. She didn't know how, but she knew they would. She sat back in her seat, and her eyes filled with tears. She didn't have the combat knowledge her partners had, nor had she experienced what they had, but she was the one at home, always missing them and worrying that they wouldn't make it back to her. She could finally breathe. They were home.. with her.

Caz started to plan the healing sessions while she watched them. She needed them to be okay as much for herself as for them. They were her life, along with the kids. Nothing mattered if she didn't have them.

She listened to their conversation. It gave her hope that she wouldn't have to go without either of them for a very very long time. She wasn't sure her heart could take another separation. With any luck and the blessings of the Gods, she never would be away from them again.

 

[Yasha Cadera]

“He’s ineffable, love. No mortal can defeat him.” A young woman leaned her head back against the most stalwart lover she’d ever known. The man, who with patience and stubborn verve broke down a traumatized woman’s walls. Kaine refused to leave Yasha as she was. Cloistered and protected from any harm, including those harms which come from companionship and community by alien protectors, who shared their own community in their telepathically connected minds.

“I don’t want him dead, Kain’ik… not anymore.” Snaking her hands around [member="Kaine Australis"]’ waiting arms, Yasha sighed with a shrug. “Sounds like a betrayal, but it’s not. I live in perpetual consideration of our Vode, and he has time and again, proven himself discerning and capable of keeping our interests firm in his hand. Better than Jetiise, or Aruetiise… better than other Mandos, sad to say.”

Her lips smacked as Kaine let loose the fear in his heart. That self-same fear which led him to unforgivable action, and intensity which killed more of their vode than the enemy. Yet, Yasha knew how it weighted on him. She just hadn’t known how to face him as Mand’alor and wife without breaking.

“Ahani…” The familiar name on her lips, the signature black lipstick faded to a patchy grey. “Eshan ended… Ahani is… she’s everything inevitable with the Universe. A basket with missing weft. I’d hazard she’s more dangerous than Carnifex, love. Kaine Zambrano is a man of reason and intent. His intent isn’t full of angel-song and rose petals, but he’s knowable. Whatever there is to know in Ahani’s mind is… it’s one part destiny, one part a child’s jumbled scribbles.”

Yes, Yasha knew Ahani. The insane Echani’d been married to Kaine Zambrano for a decade or more, a piece of Bastion one was steered from instead of welcomed to see. She hugged into Kaine’s embrace, leaning her head back enough to kiss his cheek. The corner of his lips.

“My love still keeps you alive, c’yare. And it will till the day I die.” Shifting in his grasp, Yasha faced her lover. She towed her arms around his neck and played with the base of his hair at the nape of his neck. All the horrors they committed in the name of family and love. All the terrors they allowed.

And Caz would know none of them, but their haunting expressions on her spouses’ faces. It was a relief to Yasha, leaving Caz behind so she could remain untouched by the battlefield, or the immediate screaming hereafter. Fully aware that the unity between their triumvirate was tantamount to Caz’s greatest pleasures, Yasha let her stern but beautiful face contort in a slim smile.

Her fingers played at the nape of Kaine’s neck, the other hand settled between his shoulder blades.

“Then forgive me again. Forgive and forgive. Our kids miss their father… Adara is… off and away… when can life be less complicated? I’m… I’m tired, Kain’ik. This galaxy exhausts me. I need you… both of you.”

 

[Caz Australis]

Caz stood and made her way to her partners. She wrapped her arms around them and laid her head on Kaine's shoulder.

"Yes, we will be here, no matter what. And right now, my loves, I am tired and I would love for us to retire. I have a fire going in the fireplace and some cookies and tea already sent to our chambers. Tomorrow morning I will start your healing and we will begin to move forward. I am so happy we are all together. Don't leave me anytime soon please."

She reached up and placed a kiss on Yasha's cheek and then one on Kaine's.

"I love you both. I need you both. I don't want anymore time to pass that I'm not with you."

 

[Yasha Cadera]

Her love kept him alive, and it would until the day she died. How right that sentiment was lingered beyond him. Yasha spent years keeping jackals from their gate, working tireless and constant for the betterment of Mandalore. For her family’s safety.

Safety was ever complicated and dissonant with what [member="Kaine Australis"] did naturally. Yet, his love for his wives and children and vode drove his boosters and sent him caterwauling at the dark. An aging warrior, he spent the life-energies he had on his brides and the next conflict. The next moment requiring retribution or justice or pay. What had Yasha done in the dark to save him? To suture and repair damages conducted? Many condemned her for being a Mand’alor without Crusade.

In truth, her crusade was the survival of her Vode and the security of not only Mandalore, but the surrounding space. It meant more to her than a battle for glory or some mean resource they could get within their own borders. Would history damn her?

The Mand’alor Collaborator, whose dearest political companion walked in boots larger and more destructive than any since Palpatine, or Naga Shadow? Unlike many, Kaine’s blue eyes were warm. Alive like an ocean beside a desert, warmed by the summer sun. Warm, constant waters.

They restored her soul. His hands on her waist stung like fire, burning past her thin dress to singe her skin. Her arms tightened around his neck, fingers feeding through his hair as she felt the brush of the ghosts they shared in sending to Manda. Amber eyes drifted shut with the sight of his grin, severing the strands of her fears to lay fallow upon the porch of their yet-completed home.

“You did. A long, long, long one. And dresses that don’t weigh the same as armour, and hot tubs, and travel in the outside Galaxy. You promised us.” Her voice drifted off, lost in Kaine’s kiss. Finally. Finally the waters in his cerulean eyes flooded the fire singeing her spirit. Yasha pressed into the kiss, lingering. Swept in it, no longer the 22 year old veteran and widow, who jittered at every touch. Eight years later, Kaine’s bride was confident in their mutual compassion. Desirous and open.

“We’ll be together. Kaine? Caz is right. Separation isn’t… it does us no good. Stay. Stay with us. Whatever work you have to do, do it here. Let's let the past be done. We’ll figure it out, but… I can’t… wake up without you near anymore.I don’t want to… and neither does Caz.” And [member="Caz Australis"] had everything to do with the shift. She first gave permission for Yasha to explore, and feel less shame about Reyn’s conception. The long hours sipping tea, and curling up in front of the fire tamed Yasha’s self-guilt. The grief over Kaden’s death. Her loss of control at the Golden Festival. Tilting her forehead down to rest on Kaine’s, Yasha tugged her strong arm around Caz’ika’s smaller body.

“What our Caz’ika desires, we shall give, eh? Tea and cookies sound wonderful, c’yare. Let’s go in.” Yasha reached down and kissed her wife, then tipped her lips up to place another on Kaine’s mouth. Bent down, Yasha picked up the bottle of whiskey and turning away from her spouses, drank near the entire bottle dry. Her fingers slid into Kaine’s.

The same old fears drifted in, and out of her mind. They no longer served. She set the empty glass bottle on the kitchen counter, and padded barefoot off to their bedroom, refusing to let go of Kaine’s hand. Stepping backward so she could still face him, Yasha tugged Kaine along, to the rooms he’d never seen. A suite specifically for them, the three spouses. Each with their private space, and a common space in the middle, with a rustically roaring fire and the aforementioned snack on the table beside a sizeable couch long and wide enough for all three of them to sit, or lay together.

“Welcome home, love.”

 

[Caz Australis]

Caz climbed up on the huge bed and curled her bare legs under her. "Yes, please, love, I would love a cup of tea." She pulled the throw blanket over her lap and smiled as Kaine handed her a steaming mug.

"I can't remember the last time we were all in the same room together. I'm so happy to have you both home with me." Her lids dropped a little as she looked at them. She needed connection with them both. She needed to feel them around her. She needed to be grounded with their love and affection. The last five years had taken a toll on Caz as well. She wouldn't let them know just how much. She had routinely learned to process the events of their battles. But every time they were gone, it was a dent in her armor. She sighed and looked at them again. Her heart swelled, and her body warmed. Right now she just needed them on the most primal level.

"I'd be even happier if you'd both come curl up with me right now. I need you around me."

 

[Yasha Cadera]

The energy shifted. Tension, anger, the horror of their lives drifted off toward the breeze of Erebos’ jungles to emaciate and die in the desert. Never would it return. [member="Caz Australis"] forbade such negative energies from reaching her monarchical dominion. Kaine and Caz’s wife walked softly as she led [member="Kaine Australis"] by the hand. Kids’ toys rested in their places, the children’s rooms in another area of the house.

“Tomorrow I’ll show you the workshop… Mama claimed the design of it. Aunt Peggy and Mama got into this fistfight, it was ridiculous and I laughed so hard… but Mama really did fill it with the best tools for what you two do. She thought of everything and more. Connects to the forge. Your forge.” Roots. Yasha’s smile spread across her entire body, as Kaine praised the house and promised to settle. She and Aunt Peggy worked tirelessly to get it right, to give Caz, Kaine, the kids, all of Yasha’s extended family the compound they needed. Wanted.

Unlike her lonely childhood, or the years she spent with only Aditya, Kaden and Shia, now Yasha had her family around her, and the Epicanthix was loathe to let any go. Loathe to refuse any their space as close to her as they wanted. It was a house for the children to grow up in, with room for them to strike out into a side house, like Aditya’s, or Aunt Peggy’s. Like Papa Girak, Grandmama Ada and Hector’s chalet. Yes, the family would likely never be present all at once, but they had one place. One single location to come together. To hold out, or enjoy each other. And now Kaine would stay. They wouldn’t be alone anymore.

Body weaving from the alcohol, Yasha plunked down beside Caz, and curled into a ball. Laid her head on Caz’s lap. Sometimes it was hard to picture how Caz shouldered them both. She was such a rock, their point of origin in all things, and yet she had needs, too. Worries and fears.

“Yes please, tea.” Hand drifting along Caz’s knee, Yasha blinked and looked away from the fire, lest it temporarily blind her. When was the last time Yasha had freedom to be with them both? “When the twins were born… I came back from that silly trip to see the troops in hospital after Eshan. Don’t think Cassie will ever let me live down the fact I went into labour visiting wounded Mandos. That two weeks I had off, before going back to work… was that it? Gosh, four years almost five… that can’t be it.”

Yasha replayed the last years. Mandalore required tending. Her position demanded her to remain on Mandalore vastly away from Caz, the children, from Kaine. Visits Yasha promised spread further and further apart, except when Caz bundled everyone up to be on Mandalore with her. Campaigns battled, the slaves freed from Sith Space required time to acclimatize, and Er’kit took up a mammoth amount of time.

Too much. Her Mantle pressed weightiness upon her shoulders. Dug in, and now Yasha realized the scars her tenure was leaving not only on herself, but her beloveds. Sat up to take her tea from Kaine, Yasha brushed her fingers along his, as she took the mug and sipped. Once Kaine climbed beside Caz, Yasha curled up on his lap, her legs draped over Caz’s.

“Do…” Holding her tea in both hands, Yasha shuddered out a hesitant breath. “Do you think the Mandalorians would despise me, if I retired? Once they have another, who could fulfill my role?”

A whisper, “Is there another?”

For the first time since she was eight years old, Yasha gave voice to a lingering and increasing reality. Before Kaine and Caz, the young woman rectified the fact that she would live and die with the Mantle of the Infernal upon her shoulders. Now, alone with her spouses and warm in their arms, Yasha finally… finally let herself consider laying it down.

“Do you think I’ve repayed my debt?”

 

[Caz Australis]

The throuple talked into the diminutive hours of the morning. When they ran out of words, they showed each other how much they loved one another. Legs and arms tangled, sounds and energy hung in the heavy air above them. They dozed and woke and moved again over and over until the daylight shined through the small spaces their curtains on their windows.

Caz opened her eyes and pushed her dreads off her face. She was wedged between her lovers who were both breathing sleepily. Caz's heart was full. All was right with her world. She snuggled in closer between then and pulled the blanket over them. This was the only place she wanted to be right now.

 

[Yasha Cadera]

This new construction was where love lied, waiting like a spring during the winter’s thaw to burst once more from the waiting ground. Being home with [member="Caz Australis"] and [member="Kaine Australis"] was a better lesson in self-and-otherly forgiveness than any in the universe. She exhausted herself to prove her value, to reconnect.

Eventually, Yasha too fell unconscious. She slept with her arm across Caz’s body, fingers splayed on Kaine’s waist. The seven foot tall Epicanthix’ reach aided the maneuver. Gave a new pace to their continuing hours.

She could spend the rest of her life like this. In this room, this place. Yet, Yasha’s internal clock attempted to rouse her. Paperwork, correspondences, the rule of laws… her duty haunted her slumber, attempting to steal it back.

To take what belonged to Mandalore. At one point, Yasha crept out of bed, careful to cover her spouses with comfortable blankets, and tip-toed out to Ambrose and the never ending work of being the Infernal. He poured stim-caf by the double-cup, set a sweater around her thinly clad shoulders. Yasha poured over reports, sent orders, mapped out the next three days’ worth of work while her spouses slept. When her eyelids drooped and her body grew heavy, Ambrose nudged her.

A little longer. A little more, then you can go. Yronwulf will take what you don’t finish. This one… what would you do for Vena? Schedule the talks with Zakuul...

Dawn threatened her, breaking across the skyline and Yasha set her work in Ambrose’s hand, freed to spend more than a hasty breakfast with her spouses. She crept back into bed before Caz roused, sliding her arm around her to snuggle the much smaller woman’s back to her chest. Yasha kissed Caz’s shoulder and reached out to feel along Kaine’s arm, which draped over her waist.

Her eyelids closed before she noticed Kaine already stirred. In the quiet hours, serenity combatted the fatigue lingering in the Infernal. Maybe now... maybe... she would get a quiet day.

 

[Caz Australis]

There was a quiet knock at the door of their chambers. Caz slid out of the end of the bed, out from under the tangle of her lovers, put on her robe and smoothed her hair. She had arranged for Cook to bring them breakfast this morning. She opened the door and the kitchen staff quietly set the small table by the window with enough food to feed the entire clan. Caz smiled and thanked them as they bustled off back to the kitchen where surely a few of the children were milling around looking for something to eat.

Caz looked back at the bed and smiled at her partners. The way they loved one another made her love them more. She slid her robe off and crawled back in between them, pulling them closer to her. She knew it would only be moments before Kaine smelled the food and he would wake. She smiled at him and caressed his arm. She felt Yasha move closer. She had only been back in bed with them for a short time and wasn't in a rush to wake her. Caz knew sleep increased healing, and that was just what she wanted for her wife.

Caz smiled and closed her eyes. Her heart content and her soul relaxed. Her loves were home and she was going to soak up every slow minute of their morning together.