Kissed by Fire: Cal Kestis

Chapter 31

Cal had set the Astrium on the caf table just to look at it, admiring the fact that he had actually found the key to the Vault. Finally, this journey would lead to their purpose, and his new purpose as they rebuilt the Jedi Order to what it should've been. No politics, no fear of the unknown, and no Chancellors to make any of their decisions. The fall of the Jedi began when they got involved in the politics. That was a mistake Cal didn't want to repeat.

"You think it'll work?" he asked those around him, being Cere, Y/n, and Merrin.

"It worked for Cordova," Cere claimed with a sigh.

"You can make it work," Merrin told him, a little surprise in Cal's eyes when she spoke.

"She's right, Cal," Y/n told him. "We've gotten this far."

"Oh, hey. Is anybody hungry? I was thinking of whipping up some scazz steaks," he began as he walked into the common area, but trailed off when he saw them all surrounding the Astrium. "I'm sorry, am I interrupting?"

"No, Captain," Cere smiled, sitting up straight in her seat. "And we couldn't have gotten this far without you."

Greez looked at the floor, a tiny smile on his wide mouth threatening to weaken his resolve. "Oh, huh, well, I..."

"Its true, Greez," Cal said, and Y/n couldn't help the grin on her face as Greez shifted from embarrassed bashfulness.

"Thank you," he quietly said, and changed back to Cal as he said, "Hey, I hope you get in there and you find that holo-thing."

"Holocron," Cal amusingly corrected him as Greez left to the kitchen.

"Are you sure this is something you should find?" Merrin's voice broke through his smile, causing him to look back at her bewildered.

He let out a light confused scoff, still trying to face the future with a smile. "What do you mean?" he asked her as BD jumped up next to his seat.

"The children on that list," Merrin continued. "If you take them from their homes to train as Jedi... won't they be hunted like you?"

Cal recalled a similar conversation on Zeffo between him and the girl to his right, who was looking between the conversation with hesitant eyes. "It has to be kept out of the hands of the Empire," Cal replied after a moment's struggle.

"It'll help us put an end to the Empire," Cere claimed, almost offended.

Y/n was about to speak, but the buzzer from the cockpit alerted Greez to their arrival. "Oh, hey, uh, change of plans. We're arriving."

"Oh, Greez," Merrin called to the Latero as he tried to walk to the cockpit.

He paused, gulping slightly before clearing his throat and weakly saying, "Yeah?"

"I take my steak rare," she simply said, and Y/n hid the smile behind a cough as Greez visibly deflated with a sigh of relief.

"Ah! Okay! Now we're cookin'!" he exclaimed with a good-natured point at the girl.

Cere and Cal stood to approach the cockpit, but Y/n stayed behind beside Merrin. The Nightsister was still obviously uncomfortable in her situation, and Y/n felt that it was her duty to make her feel welcome. "Hey," she said, gaining the girl's attention. "A rare steak is always best, hm?"

Merrin raised a brow, her lip quirking up. "Indeed," she replied. "You should probably get up there. Cal is waiting for you." Y/n looked up to the cockpit, and sure enough, Cal was looking at her in wait. His gaze turned elsewhere when she caught him, and she couldn't help but chuckle gently. "He is very obsessed with you."