The Ancient Homeland

11

"I won't." You whispered out into the silence, and Cal stayed there, ever so slightly nodding his head in understanding. "I promise." You whispered once more, snuggling your head into the crook of his neck; slowly breathing in his cozying smell that made you feel right at home.
   The void you once felt shriveled to that of nothing to your relief and you didn't know why, but that empty feeling in your heart you had felt those years alone was gone. You felt whole, almost as if the force had schemed that the two of you to meet. But you didn't occupy the thought for long, as you wanted to just breathe in the scent of Cal, which was extremely comforting and certainly addictive.
Cal gently released you, much to your disappointment, and searched for your eyes. Once they met, you looked into his and you both shared an unspoken promise, that neither would leave without the other.
   Your heart skipped a few beats when Cal looked at you adoringly, and as you searched his eyes you saw a certain emotion in them, something you couldn't quite identify, or something that you brushed off too insecure to even think about.
   He brushed the hair out of your eyes lovingly, chuckling slightly at the way your cheeks flushed a light pin. He pulled away with a tender smile.
   "Let's head inside, Cere's expecting us." Cal murmured, reaching out to grab your hand and squeeze it one last time before heading inside. As he walked inside you looked down to the ground and saw BD-1 looking up at you with an accusing look. You giggled and crouched down to the cute droid.
    "Don't look at me like that!" You whisper-shouted in an airy tone, chuckling as you jokingly poked BD-1; which made BD-1 shook his head in mock frustration. He beeped out a few words, but you didn't understand. You made a face to show you didn't understand, which caused him to do what seemed to be the motion of rolling his eyes. What he did caused a giggled to escape your lips, "Hey! That's a little rude, don't you think!" You declared with a fake pout, causing BD-1 to let out a string of beeps.
You made out most of it to be, "Cute!" but you thought you misunderstood. You laughed and brushed it off and patted BD-1's head. Boogie let out a squeak from your shoulder and jumped down to start playing with BD-1.
"Let's head inside cuties, " you told them, your heart warm and fuzzy once more. BD-1 beeped and Boogie squeaked, and they both raced to see who could get into the Mantis first. You chuckled to yourself, following after them quickly thereafter.

"We need to figure out our next move, also explain everything to Y/N." Cere declared as everybody had settled down and left Zeffo. Greez was up in the cockpit talking to BD-1, and Cere, Cal, and you were in the main area. You looked up questioningly at this, wondering what was more to talk about. Cal stood up and left the room, leaving you even more perplexed. You gave Cere an obviously very confused look which elicited a laugh that you hadn't heard in a very long time.
"Don't look so scared hun, " she chuckled, "so what exactly we're doing here is rebuilding the Jedi order. You already know that, but it all started on Bogano, " Cere began, and you listened attentively to every word she said. She ranted continuously for what felt like ages, but she was finally beginning to draw to a close when Cal came back out from the hallway with something behind his back.
"And you remember what a Holocron is right? Well, you should, but anyway, that's what we are all looking for now. We know where it is and everything but we just need to get the key which I already told you about. But why we need the Holocron is because it contains a list of force-sensitive children. So, therefore, we can use that to rebuild the Jedi Order." Cere finished, a sense of pride radiating off of her as she stood up. You followed suit, standing up alongside her as she walked over to Cal. Cal brought out a cubic shaped thing from behind his back that was a beautiful sky blue with what looked to be gold-encrusted edges and diamond-like shapes of the same gold looking material on the surfaces. You had seen a Holocron before, but it had been so long that you had nearly forgotten. Cal scrunched his face together cutely for a second, and the item opened up, and a message began to play.

"This is Master Obi-Wan Kenobi, " you gasped, The Obi-Wan Kenobi??? Cere and Cal looked at you in amusement as you stood there, entranced by the holographic image before you. "I regret to report that both our Jedi Order and the Republic have fallen..." The transmission cut off, a wave of gloominess overtook you. Your heart ached as you remembered the collapse... the loss of hundreds of innocent lives all for what? You wondered to yourself, lost in thought, Cere broke you out of your reverie by placing a gentle hand on your shoulder.
"I know what you're thinking. We all feel the same. But, to get that Holocron, and to save those children from the Empire... We could rebuild the Order and live in peace!" Cere exclaimed excitedly, a newfound fire in her eyes as she looked at you with passionate enthusiasm.
"Ok. I'll do it." You said confidently, thoroughly unexpecting the hug that Cere struck you with. You laughed and hugged her back, momentarily forgetting the petty disagreements between the two of you.
  Cal looked at you warmly as you reached out your hand to bring him into the hug. He sheepishly denied it, his stunningly abashed smile formulating across his handsome face. You laughed affectionately as Cere pulled away.
    "First, we need to go to Kashyyyk." Cere said with a smile, a noticeable skip in her step as she strolled over to the holo-table. You grinned lightly, the cheerful feeling creeping back into your heart. You looked to your left and saw Cal already looking at you. A light pink blush made in onto your face as you laughed and pulled the adorably attractive man into a tight hug. You pulled away and gave Cal a playful wink before turning to walk over to Cere.
    You took a seat at one of the half-circle couches that surrounded the holo-table. Cere was messing with the controls, apparently trying to click a certain destination. Once she finally clicked one she told Greez, "Kashyyyk, " to let him know before sitting beside you.
    After a little moment of silence, you mumbled, "Sorry for wandering off..." Guilt finally catching up with you as she situated herself into the cushions. Cere sighed in slight annoyance.
    "It's fine, just don't do it again..." Cere trailed off, flicking away imaginary dust off of your leggings. Another beat of silence passed.
   "I'm sorry for the way I've been treating you lately... I was scared I was going to hurt you, and I lashed out in the worst way possible. Things happened in that six-year period, bad things, and I had hoped that nothing bad would happen to you if I pushed you away and forgot, and I guess just have a barrier. That maybe, just maybe, if anything were to happen to you, God forbid... that it would hurt less." Cere said waterily, her eyes welling up with tears as she tried to look at anything besides you. Remorse written over her features as clear as day, and it was hard to have believed that she was lying.
   "It's alright, " you sighed, putting a hand on her knee before continuing. "we all make mistakes, just please learn from this... I'm sorry about what happened before, but I don't think that that justifies why you did what you did. Please, don't do it again Auntie." You explained quietly, nose pricking with pain and eyes beginning to water.
   Cere nodded graciously and gave you a big hug, "I will, I pinkie promise." She said holding out her pinkie to secure it with your own. A few tears fell from her eyes as she looked at you, and your tears threatened to spill as you looked at her.
    "I've been crying way too much lately!" You said slightly loudly as you wiped at the corners of your eyes, trying to lighten the atmosphere. It worked because the two of you fell into a fit of laughter.