The Force Betrayed: Cal Kestis x OC

11.

Cal closed his eyes and sighed sadly as his focus shifted to Greez. It took every bit of patience he had left to not storm into the cockpit and chew the Kashyyyk out of the Latero.

Cere poked her head out of the cockpit and as soon as she noticed that Sakana was gone, she let out a quiet sigh.

"I'm sorry, Cere, I tried to talk to her—"

"You're not the one who needs to apologize," she said, shifting her eyes in Greez's direction. "It's not your fault you both got dragged into this mess."

"Yeah, I guess so. I'm the one who begged her to leave with us, though, so I feel a little responsible," Cal said, taking a seat at the small table in the middle of the Mantis. "If I hadn't asked her to leave, she'd be catching up with the Wookies and celebrating a small victory against the Empire. I don't blame her for being upset."

"I don't blame her either," Cere replied as she sat across from him on the couch. "She needed more time to adjust than she got, and I think she's being much harder on herself than she realizes. There is a great strength in her that I can sense, whether she can understand it or not."

"She feels things that I don't, sees things that I don't, she..." he trailed off, hesitating for a moment. "I don't want her to leave our crew."

"I don't want her to leave either," Cere said, taking a moment to pause before continuing, "but she doesn't seem to be open to the idea of staying."

Cal leaned forward and thought for a moment. His mind wandered back to Bindi and how she had been the one to ultimately convince Sakana to leave. If Cal couldn't convince her to stay, maybe Bindi could.

"Her friend," he said, looking at Cere. "Her friend convinced her to leave Kashyyyk the first time. Maybe if I can talk to her alone, we can both convince Sakana to change her mind."

Cere nodded, her gaze fixed on the empty space in front of her. "She just needs someone who isn't a stranger to believe in her."

Cal nodded and sat back against the couch, crossing his arms as he thought about Cere's words. As much as he respected her, hearing the same praise from Master Tapal absolutely would've mattered more to him now than if it had come from her, so it made sense.

"Well, if Bindi can't convince her, I'm gonna kill Greez."

Cere let out a quick chuckle and looked up at Cal. "Something tells me this would've happened eventually, bounty hunters or not."

"What do you mean by that?" he asked curiously.

"This is the first time she's ever been away from Kashyyyk, and from everything she's told me, I gather that this has all been really hard for her. Maybe she just needs some time to realize that the first decision she made was the right one."

Cal took a deep breath and looked over at Cere, realizing she was right.

"Yeah," he sighed, nodding. "You're right. I'll give her some time before I try to talk to her again."

"I think that's a good idea," she said, getting up. "I'll be in the cockpit, but you're welcome to come join me."

"I think me and BD are gonna rest on the couch," he smiled, and the droid's antennas perked up in agreement.

"Well, you know where to find me."

Cal smiled up at her as she walked away. His eyes shifted in the direction of Sakana's room and he sighed again as he thought about her. He wished she could see how valuable she was to the team and how helpful she had been thus far. But besides just being helpful, she was also becoming a good friend, and ally. For a Jedi on the run, a true companionship was rare, and he knew Sakana wasn't someone he could afford to lose.