The Ancient Homeland

25

       You softly gasped into the kiss ever so slightly, prompting a smirk to form on the other's lips.
It didn't take long for you to mold your lips against his, having secretly wanted such a thing to be real, and now it finally was.
Bt eventually, to your dismay, all good things must come to an end. Cal regretfully pulled away with an apologetic look in his eyes.
"Sorry but I do need to breathe..." He said softly with a grin, soon after placing a chaste kiss to your now kiss-bitten lips.
   After a breath, you giggled lightly as he stared deeply into your eyes, a blush making its way across your cheeks. To distract yourself from reddenning even more, you twirled the soft ginger hair at the nape of his neck.
"God, you're gorgeous." He mumbled tenderly, his eyes burning with intense passion as he lowered his head once more to kiss your lips gently. After another comfortably serene moment, his lips then glided to your heated cheeks, then to your nose, and as he slowly moved his lips he gently placed soft kisses that made you feel like you were floating on a cloud. Your giggling didn't stop until he quieted you with a gentle kiss to the lips. He smiled into the kiss with a chuckle, which only made your heart melt at the sound. You continued to twirl at his hair, but your wit came back to you in a flash, having nearly forgotten his sweet comment.
    "Never as stunning as you though..." You whispered back with a smirk. Your compliment elicited a wave of pink to crash onto Cal's cheeks, making his perfect little freckles stand out in all the best of ways. You chuckled as he sheepishly grinned, only adding to your unexpected confidence.
     "That's a lie!" He declared jokingly with a glint of mischief in his eyes. You flicked his shoulder blade and stuck your tongue out at him.
   "Nuh-uh!" You replied, his eyes following your lip's movement as you said it.
    "See the thing is, if you think I'm more attractive then you are, you're dead wrong." He murmured, placing a soft kiss onto your lips after saying that.
    "You'll make me sad if you don't agree with me!" You abruptly confessed, wondering silently if he would take the bait. You played with the words, adding a pout and working up your best puppy-dog eyes. He looked shocked for a split-second but then a low chuckle erupted from his chest.
     "Cere was right..." He admitted, his fingers toying with yours as he looked into your eyes powerfully.
    "About what?" You asked in confusion, suddenly blanking on whatever he was talking about.
     "Your pout does do wonders with me..." He muttered ever so quietly, and it was so quiet that you had to lean in slightly to hear what he had uttered; only making the distance between you even smaller than it already was. Once it finally registered what he said, Cal figured out that you knew what he meant because both of your cheeks became flushed a deep red, and you felt your heart do a not-so-subtle flip, twirl, leap, and more. Cal looked at you for a moment before lovingly kissing your crimson cheek.
"Cere's probably getting suspicious... But can we talk more later?" He asked, hope unabashedly shining in his eyes and smile as he grasped your hand in his.
You nodded your head quickly at the notion, and without a second thought you blurted out, "By talking do you mean we could kiss more?" And Cal's cheeks heated to a substantially bright pink, and when it finally registered to yourself, your face darkened a few more shades.
I've been blushing way too much lately... And what the hell were you thinking Y/N???? wHy sAy sUcH tHiNgS yOu oNLy jUsT kISSED- Your internal monologue was cut off by another sweet kiss to your forehead and a smirk by Cal as he pulled away.
"Of course, my sunshine." He quietly replied, cheeks tinged pink and his adorable smile and freckles on display as he got up to leave the room. At the sweet and endearing words he had just uttered, your heart twisted at the nickname, and you definitely wouldn't admit it, but you wanted him to call you that as much as possible. (You wouldn't have to admit it aloud though, for Cal already knew how it made you feel) He chuckled and gave a small wink before the familiar 'whoosh' of the metallic door resounded through your ears.

"Y/N!!!" Cere's voice resounded throughout the tiny room to grab you for another afternoon of training. You groaned ungratefully, still butt-hurt at her relentless teasing.
    "What?" You mumbled darkly, loud enough for the other to hear.
    " 'Tis time, my child." Cere replied in a funny accent, pulling a 'fancy' posture and face composure as she did so. At the act, you snorted and rolled your eyes.
     "Ok, dweeb." You murmured in a somewhat snidely tone, eliciting another infamous eye roll out of Cere. "I think instead of the Mantis, we should call it the Eye Roll Ship, just sayin' " You declared with a laugh, getting up and grabbing your lightsaber while speaking. Cere seemed to be holding back another eye roll, because she teasingly scoffed as her eye slightly twitched. You laughed at the slight motion, and was about to speak, but Cere's quick reply shut you up.
"Eye know." She chuckled with a hand raised to cover her mouth. It took you a second before you jokingly glared at her in mock disgust.
"I can't believe you Cere." You muttered as she laughed loudly, a smirk on display as she slowly sauntered out of the room. At that, you shuffled towards the main hatch in minor dread that was mixed with potent anticipation.

    You spent the next few hours practicing into the sunset, the beautiful twilight greeting you warmly like the night before. The lightsabers clashed in the darkness once more, and it filled you with such an exhilarating feeling that you couldn't exactly put into words.
   Match after match it went on, leading into the wee hours of the night, but your exhaustion would not become the better of you; for you had caught up to Cere 5-6, and you were very eager to tie it, perhaps even beat it.
   'Bzzzz' The familiar sound of a lightsaber clashing against another lightsaber resounding throughout the midnight air. Swing after swing you were able to build up, attacking relentlessly at Cere's defensive stature. Before you knew it, you'd managed to down Cere to the ground, her lightsaber pulled into your grasp. At the accomplishment you smirked in victory, Cere breathing heavily as you loomed above her.
   "Ok fine girlie, you win this one. It's a tie now but tomorrow I'll kick your butt just you wait and see!" Cere announced indignantly, causing you to stifle a laugh.
   "Yeah, ok." You replied with fake snarkiness, accenting it with another eye roll. Cere laughed as you offered a hand to pull you up. She took it gratefully, taking her lightsaber from your hand as well.
    "I'm gonna go wash up now..." Cere said with a smile, saluting you as she walked back towards the ship. You nodded in response, taking a seat at one of the crates that overlooked the canopy of trees that we're not too far from the Imperial set-up.
   You smiled as thoughts of Cal's sheepish smile and blushed cheeks ran rampant without a leash through your mind. After a moment of staring up at the beautiful stars, color began to bloom upon your cheeks at the thought of Cal possibly kissing you once more flashed into your mind.
     What does this make us?
The notion suddenly cultivated in your mind, quickly accumulating speed as you sat there in the dark, all alone. Unease settled inside you at the thought of being played with... Cal wouldn't do that, another, sane part of you chimed in, and you quickly agreed. Not to settle the uncertainty you felt, but because you knew it to be true. Cal was too nice of a person to dangle you on a thread and leave you hanging. You were just a little unsettled as to not knowing, as the unknown could be a chilling aspect, which you'd had enough experience of to last a couple of lifetimes. You were so lost in your thoughts that you didn't even hear the footsteps that plodded in small rain puddles coming towards you. You looked up at the last second, your thoughts halting to a stop at the person before you, your movements ceasing completely. You expected Cal, Cere, hell even Greez, but this caught you entirely off-guard.
  Trilla prevailed before you in all her malevolently abhorrent glory, a sadistic smirk ever-present on her face as she stood and watched her stormtrooper clones descend upon you like a moth in a trap just waiting for its ultimate demise.
   Before you even had to time to think to pull out your lightsaber, a blaster shot ran out in the silent gloom, striking you in the shoulder. At the unexpected hit, you doubled over in sudden pain, shrieking loudly in agony as the trauma shot through you like a lightning bolt.
  You knew instantaneously that you weren't meant to be killed, only disabled. You winced in pain as you reached for your lightsaber, igniting it quickly and doing your best to deflect the blows with your non-dominant hand. You managed to be quite successful, but the small feeling of victory soon vanished as Trilla's chilling voice reverberated throughout the carnage, rapidly making its way to your ears.
   "You can't win darling." She simply stated, a sudden outburst of sick and bitter laughter erupting from within her body as she looked upon you. You didn't let it get to you, trying to squelch all possible emotions at the moment, quietly fearing the worst.
   It was all over, you knew, when a blaster bullet shot into your knee; buckling you to the quickly approaching metallic floor. The ammunition had yet to cease though as your body hit the floor, and you could just make out a manly blood-curdling cry ring out as Trilla came down upon you, her disgusting smirk on full display as she lifted you easily with the force.

   The last thing you saw was the butt end of a blaster rifle coming straight at your forehead.

I'm really sorry guys 🥺 I'm so bad at updating and it's unfair to you all, I'm sorry this chapter wasn't great either, but ily all and I hope you are all staying safe! 🥺❤️