Kissed by Fire: Cal Kestis

Chapter 21

She didn't realize how long she had been in the fresher until someone banged on the door, startling her. "Hey, kid, you know you're not the only one who needs to take a shower?" Greez's muted voice said. "Jeez, and they say I take forever."

~~~

Cal took a deep breath when he woke. He blinked his eyes open, seeing the surrounding room. He remembered the night before, and the kindness Y/n had shown him after they returned from Kashyyyk. He let a light smile lift on his face, and looked to the side to find her. Only, she wasn't there.

He sat up on the bed, looking around the room. "Y/n?" he called, but no answer. He pushed the sheets off of his legs and stood, looking around the room. The small holoprojector on her desk caught his eye. Approaching it, he gently took it in his hand, looking over the small device with caution. He turned it on, and his brows raised to see the now familiar face of Vosso Novar. Cal watched as he messed with the camera for a moment, muttering small things to himself before setting it down in front of him.

"Papa, you promised we'd play!" a tiny voice said over the hologram, and Cal smiled when he saw a little five year old Y/n rushing in with her box full of dolls.

Vosso turned away from the camera with a wide smile to his daughter. He took the box from her hands to set it on the ground before lifting the girl up high into the air. She let out a squeal of joy, Vosso kissing her on the cheek as he held her in his arms. "And I always keep my promises, don't I, sweetheart?"

"You do. You always do," the little Y/n smiled as he kneeled down, resting on his knee. "Princess Vulptex needs to get to the Crystal Ball to meet her prince."

Cal watched the hologram for a moment longer, seeing just how much Vosso truly loved his daughter before he was killed. He shut it off and set it back on the desk, running a hand through his hair before turning and leaving the room. As soon as he did, though, he was met with Cere. He paused, still not ready to speak with her about Trilla and the Inquisitors. But Cere's wondering gaze was not on him, but the room he just came from.

Finally, with an eyebrow raised, she looked to Cal and asked, "What were you doing in Y/n's room?"

"She offered to let me sleep there last night," Cal responded quickly, hoping this conversation would be quick and short.

Cere hummed, crossing her arms over her chest. "Cal, I know you don't want to talk with me right now-"

"Then let's not," he interrupted her, but she kept speaking, not letting him leave once he realized what she wanted to talk about.

"but Y/n means the world to me," she finished. Cal paused, taking a deep breath. "I know you have feelings for her, Cal."

"I still don't see how that's your business," Cal told her with an aggravated sigh.

"You might not like it, but I am her guardian. And I don't want you to hurt her."

"That's the last thing I would want to do, Cere," he snapped at her. He almost regretted it, but her face remained unmovable.

Cere looked him over with stern eyes. "Being a Jedi is no small feat. You know the Code, and it will live on in the next generation you train."

"You're telling me things that have already passed my mind," he told her with the smallest of shrugs. "I can't figure out my own feelings, but the Code is... it's certain." He hesitated. More and more he was beginning to see flaws in his old way of life, a life he still committed everything to no matter the flaws. Because a Jedi is who he is. "There's a reason I haven't said anything to you, or her."