Darker the Night (A Star Wars Rebels AU)

Chapter Thirteen

Caleb woke with a start, and his mind immediately registered all of his body's complaints. Of particular note were his completely numb left arm, the stone digging into his hip, and the wound on his back. Hera was still asleep, with her face pressed against his chest and one arm curled around his waist. He didn't want to wake her, but dim morning light filtered through the rocks that created their little shelter, and he wanted to get the homing beacon to a higher altitude as soon as possible.

He eased his numb arm out from under her neck, cradling her head as best he could with his other hand as he did so. Even in the gloom of the cave, even smeared with dirt and dried blood, her face was heart-clenchingly beautiful. Her eyelids opened slowly, and she looked up at him. She wasn't fully awake yet, and the raw, undisguised emotion in her eyes scared him almost as much as it undid him.

He wanted to kiss her. It would have been so easy- he was already holding her lovely face in his hands- all he had to do was lean forward. And, from the look in her eyes, he doubted his kiss would be rejected. The pull he felt towards her was nearly overwhelming, just as it had been in his room at the Temple, and there was no one to interrupt them this time. But there on that moon, so far from the Order and their mandates, his feelings for Hera seemed...amplified. Looking at her, he could see the end of everything he'd worked for his entire life. He could have easily forgotten his training- set aside everything he'd held most dear- just to allow himself to be consumed by what he felt for her. But for how long? Would he walk away from the Order for her? Could he? As long as he was unable to answer those questions in a definitive way, kissing her seemed like the wrong thing to do. It was a promise he couldn't keep.

Instead, he brushed his thumbs along her jawline and smiled at her. "How are you feeling?" he asked.

She gave him a brief searching look. Pulling her arm from around his waist, she pushed herself up onto one elbow with a grimace, dislodging his hands from her face. She absently skimmed her fingertips across the back of one of his hands as he withdrew it, but he was fairly sure it wasn't accidental. "Not great," she said. "Who knew that sleeping on the ground isn't the best thing for broken ribs?

"Maybe we'll find a luxury hotel today." He sat up, brushing the dirt from his robe.

"It's too early for sarcasm."

"It's never too early for sarcasm. We should set up the homing beacon in a higher spot, away from the trees...the stronger the signal, the sooner we'll get off this rock."

She frowned. "What if the Separatists pick up the signal?"

"That's a chance we'll have to take if we ever want to leave this moon." He reached for the rucksack and rooted around inside, pulling out a ration bar and a bottle of water. He held them out to her. "You should eat something."

"Split the bar with me," she said. "We should try to eat as little as we can."

"I don't need it- you eat it."

"Caleb." She glared at him- she didn't like it when she didn't get her way.

"Hera," he said, trying not to smile as he imitated her stern tone.

She tugged the ration bar from his hand with an exasperated huff, unwrapped it, and broke it in two, holding one half out to him. "Just take it."

He shrugged and took it, deciding to choose his battles with her a bit more wisely. "I'm going to go outside to look around."

"I'll come with you," she said.

"I think you should stay here and rest."

She snorted. "I don't. I'm coming with you."