Disclaimer: Don't own anything but the idea; I'd appreciate it if Mr. Lucas and Ms. Hambly didn't sue me, as all I've got to offer is an '88 Volvo.
Author's Note: No music this time, but the story needed to be finished.
The Reset Button:
Chapter Six: End Credits
The hanger bay rang with a cacophony of sounds: species shouting at each other in different languages, parts being dropped, carts being pushed. Sweat, blood, fighter fuel and caf mixed together for a not-wholly unpleasant smell. Inside the Crusader, it looked as though all was well.
Callista lay on her back, staring at the underside of an A-wing. The small rolling platform did little to relieve the pressure on her joints and she could feel bruises forming at the corners. Still, the fighter needed repair while things were quiet. It wouldn't do anyone a bit of good if the stabilizer flew off in the middle of battle.
She brought one grease-covered hand to the back of her head, scratching where her neck met her skull. The itch had been persistent for days, and no amount of topical treatment was solving the problem. I'm probably allergic to the filtered water, she thought.
Above the din, she became aware of someone walking towards her. The man was a ball of nervousness and excitement, with a bit of caution thrown in to spice things up. Sliding out from underneath the fighter, Callista raised a quizzical eyebrow.
"A problem, Raimind?"
He shook his head. "No…well, yes…maybe?" He shook his head again. "I'm not sure exactly. You, uh, have a visitor."
Callista raised her other eyebrow. "A visitor? No one knows I'm here."
Raimind shrugged. "Tell that to the Jedi Master waiting in your quarters."
Luke!
And then the itching made sense; he'd been getting closer the whole time, but didn't want her to know. It was a surprise. A welcome surprise.
Dropping her tools, Callista dashed out of the hanger bay and through the corridors of her temporary home. Somewhere inside she thought she should change, or take a shower, or even stop to think about why he was here. Was it to see her? Or to ask for her help.
The trip was over nearly before it began, and Callista found herself outside the doors of the quarters she shared with two other women. Inside the room, a presence throbbed, a bright beacon of Force energy, anxiously awaiting her arrival. It picked up as she stepped closer to the door; he knew she was there.
With a deep breath, she keyed the door and let herself in.
Although she'd talked to him over the comm, nothing replaced this real meeting. He was shorter than she had remembered, and his hair was showing more gray than the Holonet had let on. His eyes though, were that same fierce blue that could not be quenched or defeated, no matter what was thrown his way. He'd not succumbed to the expanding waistline of middle age; in fact, he seemed to have lost weight.
They stood in silence at opposite ends of the room, taking each other in. Callista became even more aware of the grease smudges on her hair and face, and the blue cover-all she was wearing. Definitely not how she had planned their reunion.
The itching at the base of her skull had faded into a gentle questioning. Bit by bit, she opened parts of herself up to him, and he to her, as they gently explored each other for emotions and answers. The emotions were too jumbled to decipher, however, and the answers were merely questions.
"You're a little more…rugged, than I remember," Luke finally said, his voice gravelly from disuse. He smiled though and Callista laughed.
"If I'd known you were coming, I probably would've taken a shower." She grinned. "Probably."
The silence fell over them again and Callista found herself staring at the floor, drawing patterns with the dirt on her boot. She felt him coming over, but before she could look up, his right hand was on her shoulder and his left was lifting her chin.
"I came to see you, Callista, not the Cell Leader, not the Jedi…just the woman. I need to know…how you feel."
She tried to ignore all the sensations that rolled over her body the closer her stood. "You're married," she whispered, the first time she'd uttered the words. The sounded hollow in her heart.
He shook his head. "Not anymore. I left her. Not for you, but for me. And yet…I couldn't stop thinking about you and I had to know…if you still felt something. Something that wasn't nostalgia."
She stood there, trying to find an answer. There had been other men since she'd left Luke, but none of it had felt quite the same. Had she pined away for him all these years, hoping he'd come back to her? No. But the thought of being with him again, to discuss the Force, to learn and to teach, to fight the battles that needed to be fought…
He waited on the edge of her consciousness, impatience battling with Jedi codes as he prepared for his answer. She flicked across him briefly, judging for herself what he might want her to say.
"I've missed you," she finally whispered, leveling her eyes on his. "For over a decade, I've wanted to talk to you, to be in your presence again. And now that I'm here…its exactly how I remembered it, but…deeper somehow." She smiled. "I thought you'd never get here."
He dropped his left hand, only to wrap her tightly in a hug. He still smelled of the long spaceflight, but she knew she was worse for wear. Bringing her own arms around his waist, she leaned into him, reveling in the strength and absolute certainty they were both feeling at the moment.
Pulling away for a minute, he leaned down. "There's been something I've been meaning to do for a long time now."
He brought his face down and kissed her.