The Ancient Homeland

23

    "Y/N!" Cere rumbled loudly to wake you up as she leaned against your doorframe. In response, you grunted and flipped over to face the wall; showing your distaste in being woken up by such a means. You could hear Cere's chuckle, which made you flip your pillow to cover your ear. You internally groaned because you could sense her move closer to poke at the pillow covering your face.
"Wake up girlie, we're gonna practice!" Cere explained gleefully, but it came out muffled due to the barrier. After a minute of Cere waiting impatiently for your response, you sighed, knowing you couldn't get out of this. Not this time.
"Fine." You murmured, giving rise to some odd squealing noise you'd never heard make before come out of the older. "What was that??" You asked as a confused look grew onto your face, causing Cere looked to the floor in what seemed to be embarrassment.
"I don't want to talk about it..." Cere jokingly mumbled, inducing a loud laugh to come from deep within you to erupt.
"Shhhhh!!" Cere whisper-shouted, a sudden realization swelling onto her face.
"What?" You snickered out, barely holding back the fit of giggles that was about to burst forth.
"It's four in the morning!" Cere whispered exasperatedly, making you pull a, 'you're-not-serious-because-if-you-were-you'd-be-dead' look.
A period passed before Cere spoke once more. "Yeah..." Cere mumbled, a mischievous grin just barely being contained.
   "But why?!?" You questioned incredulously, another look of pure bafflement stamped onto your face. Another minute passed. Cere finally mumbled her response but you didn't catch it. "Whaaaaaaat?" You asked, provoking an eye roll from Cere.
   "Because it looks cool when you battle in the dark with lightsabers..." She muttered quietly.
   You visibly facepalmed at the response, it was definitely not what you were expecting.
   "Fine... just get out so I can change..." You groaned, noticeably annoyed at her antics. She smiled brightly while vigorously nodding her head. She scurried out of your room to allow you some privacy, causing you to sigh in relief.

    You changed quickly, brushed your hair and fixed it to your liking. Once you finished up, you didn't leave the room but sat down on top of the bed instead, much to your surprise.
Your mind was no longer on sparring with Cere, but elsewhere. More like Cal. You held the necklace he had bought for you gently in your hand. It seemed to emanate the chaotic yet comforting energy of the two of you, and that's what made you stop and think. You giggled to yourself as you reminisced from the night before.

-Flashback-

      "Are you going to even try to go to bed Cal?" You asked, your tinkling laughter filling the room as he childishly shook his head no in an exaggerated way.
   "How could I when I have an angel in front of me?" He retorted, making you laugh once more, your cheeks heating up as you did so.
   "You're real smooth mister..." You replied to the other, making it Cal's turn to laugh.
    "I try to be!" He chuckled out, prompting you to lightly punch his arm. Which only made him laugh harder.
    After a period of time, the joking atmosphere faded and Cal looked at you with that same unreadable gaze that you'd been under multiple other times.
   "Are you wearing it?" He quietly asked, making you smile radiantly in response to the adorable question.
   "Of course Cal, why wouldn't I be?" You contended, igniting a precious blush to bloom on Cal's face. "You're blushing!" You gasped, making Cal's blush only deepen, much to your liking.
   "No, I'm not!" He defended, stimulating you to laugh and involuntarily grab Cal's hand affectionately.
   "Yes, you are don't try and deny it mister!" You announced, and if Cal could be anything right now, it would be a tomato. Cal opened his mouth to reply but no words came out. You had to stifle a laugh because you felt slightly bad for the other. You were about to speak up but your eyes dropped to the enveloping warmth that surrounded your hand. To your embarrassment and surprise, it was intertwined with Cal's calloused yet wonderful hand. It was your turn to blush a deep crimson, and you could see the sudden boost of confidence that surged inside of Cal. You pulled your hand away regretfully, sputtering out an apology as you did so.
   "S-s-sorry C-Cal!" You stuttered, prompting a smirk to flourish onto Cal's devilishly handsome face.
    "Don't apologize, " he said with a pout while seizing ahold of your hand once more. Your cheeks deepened in color if even possible, and Cal's smirk returned in full force. "you're awfully adorable when you blush... Did you know that?" Cal inquired playfully, causing you to roll your eyes. Seconds passed, and you enjoyed the amazing feeling of having his hand in yours, no matter how foolish it felt.
Your blush began to fade as the two of you began to descend into a peaceful silence.
"Aw, you're not blushing anymore? We can't have that!" He declared mischievously and before you could even react, he brought your hand up to his mouth. Your face heated up at the mere thought of what he might do next. His warm lips softly landed atop your knuckles and they lingered for what felt like an eternity, the entire time your eyes interlocked. After a breath, he placed multiple more kisses, his grin only growing as he saw the effects of his actions. You must've been a tomato, you conceded, but you didn't mind it. Your heart was completely gone at this point, having left your body ages ago, and your mind was stuck in between not working at all and working way too fast for you to comprehend, so that's nice.
    "Hmm..." Cal hummed as he lowered your hand to the bedsheet, holding it tightly as he did so. "You should get used to that... because every time I see you after a bit of time I'll have to do that now." He asserted with a wink, leaving you in a daze as he settled down into his bed; his hand still holding onto yours.

-Flashback end-
  

    "Did you die?!" Cere jokingly asked, but you could hear the undertone of concern.
   "No!" You quietly laughed out, grabbing ahold of your lightsaber beside your cot, jumping up as you did so.

   You spent the next few hours practicing new techniques as well as old, and only taking a break to get some water and see the sunrise on Kashyyyk. The daybreak was absolutely gorgeous, the colors were vibrant and remarkable, something you'd never been able to witness before in your life.
   "Beautiful isn't it?" Cere asked, not even sparing you a glance, her eyes fixated solely on the sunrise.
"Yeah..." You breathlessly murmured in response.