Repairing Beyond Ambition - Star Wars: Jedi Fallen Order fanfic *EDITING*

Chapter 34

After dinner, they both walked down to the corridor towards the cabins holding hands, this time it was more confident than the previous occasions. They strolled into Altheeda's cabin and sat on her bed, side by side as per usual.

"What a day, huh?" She thought out loud.

"Yeah, a lot has happened." He smiled.

"Who knew that we would face off with an inquisitor and a whole crime organisation?"

"And live to tell the tale."

"All thanks to you." She turned to him with a coy smile.

He gazed upon her softly and he could see her face turning ever so slightly pink.

"Back at the prison, you came back for me."

"Of course." Cal shrugged.

"I told you not to go after me." She looked at him curiously.

"We both got captured. I wasn't going to leave you."

She was silent very briefly before she responded.

"I'm glad you didn't actually." She admitted sheepishly. "But it can't happen again."

Cal nodded.

She shifted on the bed so she was sat against the wall and her legs were stretched out on the bed, patting for Cal to sit next to her in the empty space. He too swivelled in his place, propping his legs on the bed and rested against the wall, their shoulders touching, she looked at him with a shy expression.

"Come here." He murmured, opening his arms out.

She allowed herself to lean into his chest, welcoming the warmth of his body and the touch of his arms wrapping around her waist.

"You don't need to be shy around me." He said soothingly.

"I know I know, I just... I still can't believe it..."

She lifted her head to face him getting lost in his facial features, his eyes were twinkling in the light and she felt the joy beating in her heart. The corners of her mouth were raised as she gave him a chaste kiss on the lips that he gratefully received. When they parted, she buried her head into his chest and Cal laughed gently.

"How long have you felt this way?" Her voice was muffled against his shirt.

"Care to take a guess?"

She took a moment to reflect in her mind filtering through all the instances where she noticed his attempts and the earliest moment she could recall was their interactions on Kashyyyk.

"Kashyyyk?"

"Earlier than that." He confessed.

"Really?" She gasped. "How early are we talking, like when we were on Bracca?"

"Yeah." He smiled.

"Are you serious?!" Her eyes widened. "I never knew."

"You were always focused on the work. Other people noticed it though." He blushed.

"Like who?"

"Prauf did."

A complex smile formed on her lips. It was one of nostalgia, fondness yet deep sadness at the same time. Altheeda deeply missed Prauf, and even more so in that moment. She desperately wished that she could tell him about all the adventures she had with Cal recently and of their newly found love for each other. He would have been thrilled, but it was another stark reminder that he was gone and it was something she was still having to process.

Cal rubbed her upper arm soothingly, picking up on her change in mood.

"He was very supportive." He reminisced.

"Really?" 

"I remember talking to him one time, you were recovering from hurting your arm. He was asking about when I stayed with you. I mean, I think he already had an idea about how I felt about you. He was the one that told me to go for it." Cal then gave a bashful laugh as he told his story. "He was really rooting for us."

A small chuckle escaped her, she could almost picture the conversation in her mind. 

"No wonder he wouldn't stop teasing you."

"If only he could see us now." He joked with a hint of sadness behind his eyes.

Altheeda blinked rapidly, the memory of her old friend becoming too much to bear. Cal looked down upon her and kissed her temple.

"Hey." He spoke softly, cradling her with reassurance. "I miss him too. But he would be so proud of us right now. I know it."

"He always was." She gave a small nod.

The joy lit up her face and she allowed herself to enjoy the moment in a content silence. Cal picked up on this and decided to live in that moment also. Holding her brought him peace and tranquillity that he had been seeking out for a while. After a long duration, she let out a slow sigh and he felt her body unwind as she exhaled.

"Tell me everything about Dathomir." She hummed, changing the subject and making herself comfortable in his arms.

"It's not very welcoming at all." He let out a soft laugh. "You know about that scholar I saw, but I also saw somebody else."

"Who?"

"I saw one of those Nightsisters that Cere warned me about. Said I was trespassing and had to leave. I tried to compromise with her; tell her I was there to help but she refused to listen."

"She's probably very protective of the place." She sympathised.

"It makes sense, the scholar said her family perished in the war when she was only a child."

She fell silent. Cal gently rested his chin on her shoulder as he continued to unload about his day.

"There's these ruins. I sense a dark energy from them, but I know I need to get to them somehow."

"Do you think it's a good idea to explore it?"

"Something is drawing me to it..." Cal spoke slowly. "That's all I can understand about it for the time being."

"It definitely seems like one of the tougher places we've been to."

"Yeah, it's exhausting." He groaned.

She straightened her posture as she had a realisation and he let go of her gently allowing her to move.

"I've got something that can help." She announced excitedly.

She stood up and made a beeline to her toolbox and the Jedi watched her curiously. She opened it and retrieved the music player and snapped the lid of the tool box shut again. When she straightened up, she extended her arm and offered it to him, to which he grinned at it gratefully.

"I'm so glad you fixed it."

"What would you do without me?" She smirked placing it in his hand as she sat back by his side.

She stifled a yawn as she stretched out her legs onto the bed once again.

"Did you want to go to sleep?" He asked, preparing to move off the bed.

"You don't need to leave." She shook her head. "Rest, Cal."

He allowed her to fall back carefully into his chest and he hugged her from behind, giving her a loving kiss on top of her head. He then put the headphones over his ears and pressed play a melancholic expression formed on his face when 'Sugaan Essena' started from the beginning. He hadn't thought about how much he had been missing his old life on Bracca until presently. Although he wished for just one last moment back in that life, he began to realise that he was doing far better now; he was being a Jedi, he found new friends and he still had Altheeda.

He sensed that she was succumbing into a sleep and with a feather light touch, he ran his fingers through her hair as he listened to the music player. With this action and hearing the steady thump of his heartbeat in her ears, she drifted off to sleep, feeling the safest she had felt in a long, long while.