When Y/n awoke the next morning, she let out a sigh of relief. This was the second time she had been able to go to sleep without her Blue Ivy Tea, both times having been when Cal was resting next to her. Something about being near him made her feel safe and secure, making falling asleep even easier. Going to move out of the bed, she halted when she felt something around her, pulling her back onto the mattress. Furrowing her eyebrows, she turned her head, surprised to see a sleeping Cal settled right behind her. His arm was wrapped around her waist, pulling her closer to him and tangling their legs together under the sheets.
She flushed red, feeling her face grow hot as she realized their position. When she invited Cal for a restful sleep, she didn't think they'd end up like this. One of them on each side of the bed was what she assumed would happen. Not curled up into each other.
She stiffened when he let out a heavy sigh, his breath hitting the back of her neck. When Y/n tried shuffling away, he let out a low groan, one that sent a shiver down her spine and left goosebumps on her arms. Releasing a breath when she realized he was still asleep, she carefully removed his arm from around her and slid off the edge of the bed, trying her best not to take any of the sheets with her. Y/n prided herself when she succeeded, but she couldn't help but look at Cal's sleeping form as she stood.
He was so peaceful, almost innocently. It was strange. When he was first aboard the Mantis she would hear Greez complaining about how Cal constantly talked and murmured in his sleep. Little things here and there that connected to his past. All his trauma of a life lost. But here, he was silent. The steady rise and fall of his chest was a soothing pattern, unhindered by words from his lips. His red hair was a wreck, amusingly so. She just wanted to run her hand through it. She almost reached down to trace the small scars that painted his face, and the freckles that joined them.
Y/n blinked at her own thoughts. She let out a disbelieving laugh at herself, shaking her head free of the moment. She was being ridiculous around Cal, almost annoyingly so. Her mind and her impulses were suddenly always clashing when she was around him, and it was beginning to drive her crazy. She just couldn't figure out why she all of a sudden had such an infatuation with the Jedi. She never got this attentive around boys. Sure, she'd had her fun in the past, but none of it meant anything.
She took some extra clothes and headed to the fresher, closing the door behind her quickly. She was glad it was one of those days Greez wasn't hogging the fresher shower and using up all their hot water. She set her clothes aside and removed her grimy Kashyyyk wear before stepping under the lovely hot water of the shower. Y/n let out a sigh of content as she washed the remaining muck from her hair. Kashyyyk was lovely, sometimes, but the trek through the forests would leave you worse for wear.
Droplets of water ran down her nose and chin as she stood under the steady flow. Her mind kept wandering back to Cal asleep on her bed in her room. Why did she do that? Why did she offer up her bed for him? Because you knew exactly what helped you fall asleep the devil on her shoulder whispered to her.
No it's because I wanted him to feel comfortable. I wanted him to rest well for once, not on that stiff cot she told the devil back, shaking her head slightly.
Oh, please. You wanted him in your bed.
Y/n shook her head at the devil on her shoulder, knowing it was laughing at her denial. Everything Greez had said before swirled in her head, but she couldn't possibly accept it all. Rubbing her eyes, she cursed to herself. "I've gotta calm down," she mumbled to herself. "Nothing is going on with Cal Kestis."
Yeah. Tell yourself that.
Y/n cursed off the little voice in her head again. She felt like she was insane. Instead of answering herself once more, realizing that talking to herself was only going to drive her deeper into this hole she dug herself, she started humming a small tune to get something else stuck in her head. Other than the ginger boy laying on her cot at that very moment. It seemed to work, her mind focused on the music in her head other than the rest of life's trials bothering her.
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."
"Be smart about this," Cere nearly begged him. "I've seen her hurt once before, and it almost broke her. I can't risk seeing her hurt again."
Cal looked her right in the eyes. "As I said. That is the last thing I would ever want to do." This time, she remained quiet as Cal turned to head towards the front of the ship. Finally, he spotted Y/n. Her hair was slightly damp, so he could only assume she took a shower when she left the bed. "Hey," he called her attention.
She turned, facing him with a smile as she stood by the holotable. "Hey. How'd you sleep?" she asked him.
"Great. I haven't felt this well rested in a while," he told her, tapping against the holotable. "Thanks again, for..."
"It was the least I could do," Y/n responded with a shake of her head and a dismissive brush of her hand. "I mean, you did defeat an Inquisitor. You deserved a good rest."
Cal wasn't exactly sure what to say, especially after his talk with Cere. Did Y/n know Cere cared so much? She had to. But not to the extent that Cal now realized. He hoped Cere didn't let slip his struggles to Y/n to convince her against something he wasn't even sure was on her mind. He knew he was struggling with his feelings for Y/n, but he had no clue what Y/n was feeling towards him. Sure, she was an amazing friend to him, but was that as far as it extended for her?
Instead, Cal changed the subject on his mind and turned to her saying, "Are you on for Dathomir?"
Y/n nodded her head, although it was filled with slight hesitation. "I am, but I just hope we don't run into anything too creepy or crawly. The planet might be a wasteland now, but we still don't know what's inhabiting what the Nightsisters used to call home."
"BD and I will watch your back," Cal commented with a wink, the droid himself hopping up onto the table. He whirred at their attention.
"Coming up on our creepy destination," Greez called to them from the pilot's seat. "Grab some seat."
They exchanged an amused glance at Greez's clear distaste for their next planet, BD crawling up to Cal's shoulder before the two of them took their seats. Cere soon joined them just as Greez let the hyperspace dissipate. The blue swirl became black patched with white as he shut off the hyperdrive, seeing their next mission dead ahead of them.
The planet of Dathomir was painted a dark crimson by the red sun that lit its soil. Upon approach, Y/n noticed that even the waters of the planet were a deep maroon. Storm clouds covered most of the planet, Greez flying to an area where there was the least amount of fog in the air, although that wasn't saying much. The red haze covered the entire surface, which Cal noticed when Greez brought the Mantis down beside a large abandoned ruin.
Greez was instantly on edge as soon as the bay door was opened for Cal and Y/n to leave. He kept muttering to himself, "On the ship. Indoors. I got walls. I got Jedi. I'm fine. Yeah..." Y/n smiled and left the ship with a shake of her head. Cal went to follow, until Greez spoke and said, "Hey Cal. You and Cere... is everything alright?"
"I don't know," Cal answered honestly. "That's not what's important right now."
"You know, Cere believes in you. To tell you the truth, I didn't really think much of you at first." Cal bristled slightly, but he was amused by the Latero's words.
"I noticed," he answered back almost jokingly.
"I mean, she got me to follow you to the scariest place in the galaxy, so... ya know," Greez spoke with ease, putting his easy mask over his words.
"Heh, yeah, that's true," Cal nodded back. He had definitely noticed Greez's caring demeanor had formed over a very long time on this ship, but he avoided mentioning the fact that it was Cere that convinced Greez of it in the first place. It was just so difficult for Cal to see past the lie Cere had been hiding behind.
"Well, I hope you two can sort this thing out soon so we can finish this quest and go relax somewhere," Greez spoke, letting out a sigh. "I know a great castle on Takodana that makes the best Bloody Rancors in the galaxy."
Cal laughed a little, asking, "You hungry?"
"Cal, buddy, have you been outside? Do you know where we are?" Greez condescendingly asked while Cal tried to keep his grin down. "This is not the place to relax and eat. Let's get going. I'm starving."
"I'll try to keep the mission short this time. Can't say the same about Y/n, though," Cal said, and Greez perked up.
"Oh, how is it with her? I saw you comin' out of her room, eh?" Greez winked, but Cal shook his head.
"No, Greez, it wasn't like that. Nothing is going on," Cal told him, and sighed. "I've got to go, but we can talk about it later, okay?"
"Fine, fine," Greez waved him off, setting back towards the cockpit, where he was most comfortable on the ship.
Cal stepped off into the open air, and immediately his gut wrenched at the feeling of the planet. It was strong with the Force, but it all felt so off. Like the Force here was warped, almost wrong to him. It was dark, so dark. But not like the darkness he felt in the Inquisitors that sprung from the pool of the Sith. This was something else, something he didn't know how to describe. Let alone handle.
"Cal, do you have a moment?" He snapped from his stupor when Cere spoke, Y/n standing beside her.
"I'll go with BD to map the layout of this place," Y/n spoke quickly, nodding her head to the droid who leaped off Cal and onto Y/n's shoulder.
He watched her leave, but Cere caught his attention once more with a withering glance. It fell when she started speaking. "You've come a long way since Bracca, but the path is far from over. I want you to know the difficult challenges ahead."
"I can handle it," Cal brushed it off, wanting to go and get this over with.
"I know what you can do, I'm not denying that," Cere assured him.
"And I know what has to be done. I've done it before," Cal replied back to her words.
"Cal, even the strongest of Jedi-"
"I'm not Trilla," Cal silenced her, although he did it more gently than he would've before. Watching Y/n start talking to Cere again let him know that she was figuring out her own anger at Cere and learning to move on from it. "I'll be fine."
"I know you're not. I didn't say that."
Cal sighed lightly when Cere spoke, closing his eyes a moment as he said, "I'm not asking you to say anything. It's okay, Cere. Really."
"Just be safe, Cal. That's all," Cere finished off. "And please, I don't want Y/n out here on this planet in the first place. Keep her safe."
"She won't leave my side. You know what she means to me too, Cere," Cal spoke carefully. He was just getting the reigns of dealing with these feelings he had. "I'll do everything in my power to protect her."
"I know that. But on a place like Dathomir, your emotions can be..." Cere began, pausing for a moment as he thought of the right words, "manipulated. The Force surrounding this planet is not the one you know. It may only intensify what you're trying to keep back."
"What are you saying?" he asked, furrowing his brows.
"Embrace your emotions, but don't do anything you'll regret. Or something she'll regret," Cere put as gently as she could. "Things are not as easy here as they were on Zeffo or Kashyyyk."
"I'll... do my best," Cal told her with a slight bristle in his stance. She nodded, gesturing for him to go on his way just in time for Y/n to return with BD-1 on her shoulder.
"I found a way up, but there's a mean looking creature just above our position," she told him as he began to follow her down a long path, leading to a set of purple vines.
Just as she set her foot upon the end of the path, the bottom crumbled beneath her and fell into the pit below. Cal grabbed her arm quickly and pulled her back, both of them looking down at where she almost fell to. "Whoa. Good thing we weren't standing there," Cal mentioned.
Be-beep BD agreed, and alerted them of the not-so-friendly presence above.
"What is that thing?" Cal asked and Y/n shrugged her shoulders.
"I don't know, but if it's anything like the jotaz, I suggest we tread lightly," Y/n responded, firing her grappling mechanism up once it disappeared. Cal followed her on the vines.
Unfortunately for them, the creature noticed their presence. Cal ignited his double-bladed saber, quickly making to attack as Y/n fired off her blaster. BD-1 whirred in fear on Y/n's shoulder, watching as Cal jumped over the beast and stabbed down onto its head, bringing it to the ground. He shut off his weapon, and they made to continue on their path as BD showed them their way.
They climbed up different levels on the outskirts of the ruins, finding more of the bane-back spiders that Y/n discovered during their time with the Haxion Brood. She didn't think she could hate an arachnid more than the wyyyschockk, but the bane-back was close to taking its crown if it didn't stop shooting globs of poison at the two of them.
Cal managed to find an abandoned fireplace, feeling the echo from within the Force. He closed his eyes, concentrating on the voice. When he looked back up at the wondering Y/n, he said, "A Nightsister was here practicing her craft."
"Recently?" Y/n questioned with a small sense of urgency.
"I'm not sure. It's possibly, but unlikely. This place looks like it's been abandoned for some time," Cal answered her back. He tried to soothe her nerves, but the truth was the feeling of Dathomir was starting to get to him.
"If she's been here all that time... I can't imagine. They were dark before. Imagine what it'd be like living here all alone after that massacre," Y/n said, almost saddened.
After excavating everything they could from the outside, the trio finally made their way into the ruins of the Nightsister temple. A series of steps led up into a large open room. Almost as soon as they reached it, BD-1 jumped from Y/n's shoulder and ran to a small carved stone. Upon this stone were carvings of Zeffo letters, similar to those they had seen on Bogano and Zeffo. Cal knelt down in front of it, his eyes scanning like BD's sensors. "Looks like the Zeffo were here," he said as he examined them.
Boooo BD responded, but something caught Cal's ears. Stones fell around him, almost uncatchable.
"Cal, are you okay?" Y/n asked, reaching for the baton on her back.
"It's strange..." he spoke quietly, his eyes scanning each and every rock around them. "This place seems abandoned, but..."
A burst of green light from behind cut him off as he took his lightsaber from his belt, but didn't ignite it. Y/n held her baton in one hand while gripping her blaster in the other. They turned quickly to see the silhouette of a woman forming from what seemed to be green fire. When the light dissipated, they could clearly see the red cloaked Nightsister that stood in front of them. She glared hatefully at the two of them. "You trespass, Jedi," she spat the words, her strange accent thick on her tongue.
Cal looked to Y/n to lower her weapon, the girl hesitantly doing so. Looking back at the woman, he said, "You must be a Nightsister. I had heard you were all dead."
She tilted her head at his words. "Not all," she said, and twisted her hand. Magick shimmered around her palm, the sudden appearance of two Zabrak men behind her causing Y/n to put her weapons back up. "Dathomir is forbidden to you, and any of your allies," the Nightsister said with a vicious glance towards Y/n.
"I'm just his doctor," Y/n told her, attempting to soothe some of the tense atmosphere.
She wasn't amused. Her fingers glowed again as she pointed to the way they had came and demanded, "Leave at once!"
"I'm afraid we can't do that," Cal casually said as easy as he could. He didn't want to escalate an already dangerous situation. "But, perhaps we could help each other. You see I-" When he tried to approach the Nightsister, the Zabrak behind her lifted their glowing maces. "Easy! We are not your enemies."
"Your actions say otherwise," the Nightsister sneered, lifting her hands as the magick began to swirl around her once more.
"Wait, hold on! We're not here to-"
The Jedi was cut off as the Nightsister brought her hands down, the green fire bursting around the two Zabrak. Their eyes glowed an intense lime green, and she shouted out "Vashe!" before disappearing behind her magick.
"They certainly aren't your average stormtroopers," Y/n mentioned as she activated her baton.
"Just be careful. I don't think she made them any weaker," Cal said just as the first Zabrak went to attack him. The magick made his mace impenetrable to his lightsaber, a minor annoyance as Cal tugged him near and shoved the saber into his chest.
Y/n blocked the first two attacks from the Zabrak before rolling out of the way and hitting him from the back. He was knocked to the ground, and ran to stand and attack once more, until Cal brought his lightsaber down on his head. "Yeah. Not your average stormtrooper," Cal panted slightly. "I have a feeling we haven't seen the last of these guys yet."
"Then let's not keep them waiting," Y/n managed to joke before they began the new and treacherous journey through Dathomir. With a witch on their tail, their mission just became much harder.