Hey guys, it's time for a new chapter! I intend on this one being a special one! This story has kind of shot up in views in the past month or so, so that's great! All of you have been awesome, and it has made me want to make a new chapter each time! I'm going to try to get this chapter out as fast as I can! Finally, here's the chapter!

Ch. 20: The Will to Keep Going

(Cal's POV)

Luna grabbed my arm and walked us out of my room to go back to the cockpit. I felt myself starting to smile again. It was weird because she was really the only person who could do that to me. BD-1 was the only droid, if we're being technical.

Everything that happened in Kujet's tomb really messed me up. Usually, I'm pretty thick-skinned when it comes to tough situations, but I can't get Master Topal's words out of my head. He blamed me for his death. He blamed me for not being able to do anything when the Clones attacked us. He even said I would fall to the Dark Side, that I was a failed apprentice to his standards of the ways of the Jedi. I don't know…I can't seem to shake it off.

Luna's done everything she can for me, though. She's comforted me more than anyone has in my life, and I'm beginning to feel myself again. She's really amazing…

What happened in my room just now? When we were on my bed, it was like we were both lost in ourselves. I've never felt that way before. It was almost sensual. In fact, I'm pretty sure it was about to be if Greez hadn't barged in when he did. Luna was right there. Her face was only a couple of inches from mine. Her lips looked so soft, and they had a gentle pink color to them. Her green eyes looked brighter than usual. For some reason, I felt all hot inside, and I couldn't take my eyes off her. Sure, I've thought about asking a coworker out to dinner or something on Bracca but never went through with any of them. As a Jedi, we're taught not to have romantic relationships. Romantic relationships cause the Jedi to worry too much about their other, thus creating a possibility to slip into the Dark Side. That's the idea, anyway.

For five years, I've tried to retain the ways of the Jedi. I'm not perfect, and I never will be, but I've done pretty well. I haven't really had to confront the "relationship" question until I met Luna. She's a Jedi too, and I remember her mentioning she dated a couple of guys back on her planet. On one end, I want to continue the Jedi way but…on the other, I care about Luna more than I expected I could care about anyone. Everything she does and says is perfect. She probably doesn't think so.

Jedi deserve happiness too. The only problem is that there's constantly an internal conflict with what you can and can't do. It's something I'm going to have to think about…

"That was quick," Luna said to Greez and Cere, her delicate fingers still wrapped around my wrist.

"Ilum is pretty close to Dathomir compared to a couple of the other planets we've visited," Cere said. She had her usual comms headset sitting on top of her head. I took a deep breath and looked out the window at the white-colored planet.

"It's a good thing because I want to fix my lightsaber as soon as I can. I didn't want a lot of time to think about it either, to be honest," I said. I felt a squeeze on my arm, and Luna was giving me that smile of hers. Damn, she's making it really hard not to think about that "relationship" question.

"I know it will all turn out fine. I promise," she told me sweetly. I hope she's right. One thing's for certain, I feel much better about it with her beside me. Cere walked up to us, and she had her lightsaber in her hand. That wasn't something we saw every day. When it came to her past life of being a Jedi, Cere kept most of it to herself. Luna and I have worked hard to gain her trust so she can tell us the truth about everything. In the back of my mind, I feel kind of bad for prying into her life, but if we're going to live together we have to trust each other. Everyone on this ship is my new family. I want all of us to be comfortable around each other.

In Luna's case, we hit it off the first day we met. It's been a few weeks since that happened. It's kind of hard to tell with all of the traveling we've done. It's possible it's been a couple of months, actually. I remember every minute of that first day. It was beginning to rain, and I was so frustrated after looking through every single shop on that busy street in Hosnian Prime. I was starving and went into the cafe. Then, she appeared. She was wearing her work outfit which was a simple t-shirt and pants with an apron over her waist. Her hair was in a long, beautiful ponytail, and she had a sketchbook in her hands. Looking at her now, we've come a long way from that day. I don't know what I would do if I had never met her. I don't even want to think about it. I'm getting way off-topic as it is.

"You'll be tested. Not just in there, but in general with the Dark Side. There's always going to be a struggle that you will have to deal with," she told us. I glanced at her lightsaber and then back at her.

"You're still struggling with it?"

"Yes, every day. You have to find out who you are and stick with that. That's how you fight against it. Always fight against it."

"I'm anxious to find out who I am in there," I said to her. She nodded and reached her hand out.

"My lightsaber."

She wanted me to take it. I slowly took it from her hands and felt the various grooves and ridges of the hilt. It felt different from what I was used to.

"Greez and I will be here when you return," she said.

"I, of course, will be there with you every step of the way," Luna said next to me with a big smile on her face. The worry and anxiety I was feeling fell drastically seeing her like that.

"Thank you. I'm grateful for all of you," I said, surprising myself with how sentimental I sounded. Cere gave me a small smile as well, and Greez threw his hands out like it was nothing. I knew he cared, though.

"It's no problem at all, Cal. We're in this together," Cere said before leaving us to ourselves. BD-1 hopped on my shoulder with enthusiasm.

"Beep boop boop!"

"I'm grateful for you too, buddy."

"Boop boop!"

"I'm only catching bits and pieces of what he's saying, and it's hilarious," Luna said giggling. I found myself smirking as we walked down the ramp.

"I'll give you some binary lessons when we get back."

"I'll hold you to that," she replied. She then grabbed both of her arms and began shivering.

"Crap, I forgot how cold Ilum was. It's not unbearable, but it's not pleasant either."

My eyebrows raised at her as I tried to keep myself from shivering as well.

"Yeah, me too. You know…I could lend you one of my ponchos to keep you warm," I said. She immediately straightened herself out and crossed her arms.

"Actually, I'm good!"

I chuckled at her neverending hate for ponchos. Yes, I know they are ugly, but I like them!

"...Besides, you're the only one who looks good in them," she continued. That caught me off guard a little bit, and I found myself reacting surprised.

"I'm almost certain that you would look good in a poncho, Luna."

"Yeah, almost. That indicates some form of doubt."

I rolled my eyes but ended up laughing. We have a debate about what I wear at least once a day. I actually enjoy them because I'm never ever betraying the poncho. They're too valuable to leave alone.

We walked away from the Mantis and stopped to look at what was in front of us. Before us was a Jedi Temple built into the snowy mountainside. If you weren't paying attention, you would probably go past it without even noticing. After so much time being unused, the ancient markings on the front of the Temple were concealed by aged ice. It was just another reminder that the Jedi Order was gone…For now, at least…

"Wow, I remember this place. Master Yoda would let us in, and then we had to go from there all by ourselves. That feels like it happened ages ago," Luna said.

"Yeah, I remember being so excited to make my own lightsaber," I confessed. We reached the front of the Temple and held out our hands. In order to get into the Temple, the Force was needed for access. The door crumbled alive and lifted up from the ground, causing snow to drip and melt off its sides. It was dark inside the historical structure, but the light outside filled the first room of the Temple enough to where it wouldn't be a problem.

"I heard a rumor that the Temple only opens to the Light Side of the Force, not the Dark Side. This was to keep any Sith lords from entering the Temple and ruining the balance of light that was in it. My master told me that, but I think she was trying to make me feel better about going inside it," Luna told me as we walked in.

"You must have met her pretty early on then, huh?" I asked. Typically, a youngling would go into the Temple first and create their lightsaber before being paired with a master, but there were some exceptions. She nodded at me in response.

"Yes, I ended up being assigned to her right before so I was still new to her at that point. She was always kind and supportive from the very beginning."

We walked into a large room filled with ice, and I shook off the coldness I was feeling from our surroundings.

"I remember this room too," I said. I looked around to see if the thing that made this room special was still there, and it was. There was a crystal at the top of the room on a tiny pedestal. I pointed up at the crystal and chucked a bit.

"Do you remember that?"

She smiled.

"Yep, I do."

The crystal was another "test" for younglings. You had to use the force to move the crystal to the right spot where it reflected the light at the wall of ice and melted it. It was supposed to symbolize warmth with the peace that the Jedi sought.

"I think I'm getting nostalgic overload here," Luna joked. I smirked and agreed with her as I moved the crystal into place.

"Me too, I don't know how to feel about it," I said sadly.

The crystal moved in the way of the light coming from outside at just the right angle and reflected the beam toward the wall of ice on the other side of the room. It didn't take long for it to melt. Beyond the wall, I saw something flicker almost like a blinking light. I tilted my head and squinted my eyes.

"Do you see that?" I asked.

"What?" Luna said back. I looked at her, and she seemed confused as to what I was staring at.

"There's a blinking light over there. You can't see it?"

She shook her head.

"I don't. Is it a Kyber crystal?"

I hadn't even thought of that. Why didn't I think of that? This place made me forget why we were even here.

"You're right. The Kyber crystal chooses you, you don't choose it!"

"Exactly," she said with a grin.

"Then that means we're getting closer. We just have to find a way over there!" I exclaimed. BD-1 beeped with excitement, and I started running towards the crystal. The crystal was across an abyss, but there was a path that looked like it would eventually lead to where it was. I got a little bit ahead of myself because I ran to the path as quickly as I could without checking my surroundings.

"Cal, wait!" Luna said behind me. I stopped and turned, and she was looking down at my boots. I peered down and noticed I was standing on weak ice. I tried to back away from it, but the sudden movement immediately shattered, and I fell. I caught myself on the edge of the ground where there was solid footing, and I saw Luna running over to me.

"Cal!" she yelled with worry.

I clenched my jaw at myself for ending up in this situation and felt myself slipping. I could hear a rush of water below me, so I knew it would be okay. On instinct I pushed BD-1 off my shoulder and held my hand out.

"No, BD! Stay with Luna!" I commanded him before I felt the ice under my arms break as well.

"Cal!" I heard Luna yell as I fell, her voice getting farther and farther away. The next thing I knew I felt a rush of freezing water fill every inch of my body, and it was like someone stabbed me with a thousand knives. I knew I had to fight through it, though.

I quickly put my water breather on and swam with the current. I needed to get that Kyber crystal!

(Luna's POV)

"Cal!" I screamed as I tried to save him before falling. I watched as the ice supporting his grip broke and made him fall into the water stream below. BD-1 looked over the edge of the hole in a panic, and I picked him up.

"It's okay BD-1, he'll be okay. He has his breather; we just need to find him so we're not separated. But we will find him. Okay?" I said to the droid, trying to reassure him. I put him on my shoulder like Cal does and hopped over the open hole in the ground. The path follows where the water is going, so this will be safer than jumping into it.

"Hold on, Cal. I'll find you," I whispered to myself. The path was extremely narrow, so I had to go forward sideways. I kept glancing at my footing, afraid I would fall into a thin sheet of ice as well. I thought about yelling for Cal's name but screaming in an ice cave wasn't exactly the smartest thing to do over and over again.

"Beep boop," BD-1 said to me. I understood most of it this time.

"I know, BD-1. I'm worried about him too. He's probably kicking himself for getting too excited about seeing that crystal. I can see his mindset right now. He gets excited about something, and then it blows up in his face, and then he's going to feel depressed again. He was already vulnerable before this happened…

"I'm going to try connecting to his comms."

I took out my communicator and tried connecting to his. I got nothing back.

"Damn…Let's just keep going."

I rubbed my arms as I walked and suddenly heard a voice I knew well. It was Cal's!

"No, no, no, no. No!"

Oh no. I increased my pace and tried to follow his voice. He sounded super discouraged.

"Cal? Where are you?" I asked out loud. I got no reply once again. Rounding the corner, there he was, sitting up against a large chunk of ice with his head bowed. I frowned and walked over to him slowly. His clothes were drenched and still dripping with water. He must have just made it out. The severe dryness of the air was already drying his soaked hair from the looks of it. I could tell he was freezing to death. I wanted to wrap my arms around him in a big hug.

"Cal…" I said, crouching down beside him. BD-1 jumped off my shoulder and nudged his hands.

"It's over…I failed…" he muttered.

"What do you mean?"

He opened his hands, and what was in them was a broken Kyber crystal, split perfectly in half. I looked back at him, and he looked totally defeated. All of the color was drained from his face, and he didn't have that brightness in his eyes that I was used to seeing.

"What happened?"

"I found the crystal…and when I held it in my hand it broke apart. It's like…It's telling me that I'm done. It's telling me that I'm not worthy of being a Jedi anymore."

I shook my head and put my hand on his shoulder.

"Cal, you're the strongest person I know. You have so much fight left inside you, and there's no way it didn't think you weren't worthy enough."

"Then why did it break…?" he asked, sadness laced in his voice. I stared at him and sighed.

"I don't know…"

I sat beside him and intertwined my fingers with his. He felt so cold, so I scooted closer to him. I tried to warm him up the best I could.

"I feel like such a failure, Luna…" he finally said after a couple of minutes of silence. It almost made me cry hearing that from him. His will was broken as if the breaking of the crystal was the last straw.

"N-No, Cal…You'll never be a failure to me," I said to him, pulling him into a hug. I rubbed his back and wiped the tears that were forming in my eyes. I had been so excited to help him rebuild his lightsaber, and now I just looked like an idiot. I had amped him up so much only for this to happen. Cal heard me sniffling and brought his hand to my hair. He brushed it a few times without saying anything. Honestly, I think if he did he would start sniffling too.

"Beooooop."

We stopped what we were doing to see BD-1 standing there next to us. Cal and I managed to smile for a brief second and embrace him in a hug too. At least we were all together. BD-1 hopped away from us after a while and the projector on one of his lenses lit up with a bright blue light. The projection showed both Eno Cordova and BD-1. Have we ever seen both of them in a single projection?

"The time has come, my friend. This might be the last you see of me. I can sense that the end of the Jedi Order is upon us," he said solemnly. BD-1 let out a saddening array of beeps and sounds until Cordova chuckled.

"No, failure is not the end. It is a necessary part of the path. Hope will always exist for those who continue to fight…Like you BD-1. I believe you will find someone just as brave and persistent as you have been. And you will help them, as you have helped me."

Cal and I watched the projection without saying anything. It was such a wholesome moment between a droid and his former master. It was obvious the two were very close.

"But your memory will be completely lost. Are you sure you're ready for this?"

The projection of BD-1 nodded, and Cordova crouched down in front of him.

"Very well. Beginning total memory encryption," he said as he inserted a chip into BD-1 drive.

"...Only with a trusted connection will your memories be restored. I believe in you. And I believe in whom you choose to replace me," he told the droid. I felt a tear run down my cheek, and I reached my hand up to wipe it away. This was like BD-1's way of saying how much he loved us.

"Goodbye, old friend," Cordova finished before the projection ended. The antennas on BD-1 head went back, and the droid looked down at the ground, having regained that crucial memory from the past. I felt so bad for him but also touched that he had chosen us as his new masters and friends. I looked at Cal, and he looked at me.

"You risked your memories for us?" Cal asked him, feeling the same way I did. BD-1's antennas perked back up, and he ran over to us again.

"Boooeeepp!"

"We love you too, buddy," Cal and I said in unison. It somehow got even more wholesome! Cal petted the top of BD's head and laughed at himself.

"I guess I didn't realize how much you cared for us…You've been with us this whole time," he said. He looked at the broken Kyber crystal in his hand and gazed intently at it. Out of nowhere, the crystal snapped back together and glowed a bright light. I blinked repeatedly trying to make sense of it.

"It's like Cordova said. There's always a chance of hope if you keep fighting," Cal said, flashing a smile on his face. The pink in his cheeks started to return, and his breathing wasn't hitched anymore like he was out of breath. It was a total turn-around from the hopelessness he had been feeling before. BD-1's projection was the last step he needed to find his passion again. I think the Kyber crystal sensed that, seeing as how it chooses the Jedi.

I felt a grin appear on my face, and I looked around. There was a makeshift workbench made out of ice a few feet away from us.

"Ready to fix your lightsaber?"

"Yeah."

We both jumped up off our butts and went over to the bench. Cal set the crystal on the bench and then laid down his lightsaber next to it. He stopped to think before taking out Cere's lightsaber as well. Using his scrapper equipment, he started tinkering with both lightsabers and the crystal. I rubbed his back as he worked.

"You got this."

I saw his lips turn upward into a confident smile, and I couldn't help but do the same.

"That should do it," he said before using the Force on the crystal. When he did, I felt a powerful sense of energy travel through his lightsaber, and I knew it worked. Cal glanced at me one more time before picking up his lightsaber. He clicked the button in the middle of it, and both ends lit up into a long blade of light. I hadn't even noticed that he used that part we found back on Dathomir to make a double-bladed lightsaber. It was freaking awesome!

"I chose the color blue again. I think it fits me perfectly," he said, pulling the blades apart so that he was dual wielding them. That made me think of Master Secura.

"I think so too," I replied. Clicking off the saber, he clicked it to his belt and looked at me.

"Thanks for dealing with me through all that…I really couldn't have done it without you, Luna," he said shyly, while rubbing his neck.

In my heart, I knew I would stick with him through anything, no matter what. I care more about him than anyone I've ever met. That's the truth after all the time we've spent together. Through all the battles and hiccups we've experienced, he's been there to support me and me for him. We've laughed and cried with each other, even feeling comfortable enough to sleep next to each other in the same bed. I love his face, his eyes, his hair, and even his sense of fashion in a funny sort of way. But I love his personality and passion for the people who are closest to him the most. To me, he's the kindest, coolest, funniest, and most genuine guy in the universe. I'm not even kidding.

He probably expected me to give him a witty response or say something sweet, but I couldn't think of anything to say. Like how it was back in his room, my body moved on its own, and I took a step closer to him until we could feel each other's cold breaths on our faces. His eyes widened a bit, and he dropped his hand to his side. I stared into those dark green irises for a moment before leaning forward and pressing my lips to his. His body stiffened for a second before relaxing. He closed his eyes and kissed me back. His lips were so soft against mine, and I felt his strong hands wrap around my waist. I let out a gentle moan and laid my hand on his chest. He pulled me closer to him, and we were now pressing up against each other. It felt right to be this close to him. It felt right to be this intimate with him. Kiss after kiss, my heart was beating faster than I ever could have imagined it would.

This was such a new feeling for me. A feeling of want and need.

After a few more kisses, we had to separate to catch our breaths. We stared at each other and began to smile.

"W-Wow…" he said through heavy breaths. I giggled and touched my tongue to my lips.

"S-Sorry…I had to…" I said back to him. He shook his head and leaned his forehead on mine.

"I'm not complaining," he said as he glanced down at my lips every couple of seconds. I reached my hand up and touched his face. It was cold from the freezing Jedi Temple but also warm from our body heat being mixed together. I pulled him into another kiss and felt like I was in bliss. This is how I dreamed it would be; me and him embracing each other, enjoying shy but loving kisses until we were out of breath again. It was absolutely perfect.

"Boop beep beep."

We stopped and looked down at the workbench. BD-1 was standing there and looking at us with confusion. He probably didn't know what he was watching! Cal and I laughed and wiped our mouths with the back of our hands.

"Sorry, BD! We uhh…We were just…" Cal tried to find the right words but couldn't.

"Making out?" I finished for him.

"Yeah," he laughed. BD-1 made a gesture that almost looked like a shrug, and Cal helped him up on his shoulder.

"I'll explain it to you when we get back on the ship."

I smirked and brushed a strand of hair behind my ear.

"We really should get back. It's freezing in here," I told them as Cal's warmth left my body. They both nodded, and we started the trek back to the Mantis. There was a path on the map that exited the back of the Temple so we used that path. Before walking, Cal looked at me and held out his hand. I knew what that meant. I gladly put my hand in his, and we walked with our fingers laced together. This is what I wanted. I can't even describe the happiness I was feeling right now.

"You know…I had actually been thinking about asking you out for a while now," Cal told me with a dry chuckle. I raised one of my eyebrows with interest.

"Oh really?"

"Heh, yeah I was. Though, I don't think I ever had the confidence to kiss you the way you kissed me. That just means you're braver than me, Luna," he joked.

"I don't know, Cal, you're pretty brave to me," I replied, pecking him on the cheek. He just blushed and smiled at the ground.

We walked out of the back of the Temple and noticed a large metal piece of machinery drilled into the wall.

"What's this?" Cal asked out loud as we walked around it. It was so large that it had created the exit we saw on the map. This didn't look good. It looked like Imperial technology. We carefully looked around the opening in the wall and saw a group of troops standing around.

"The Empire? How long have they been here!?" I whisper-screamed to Cal. He bit his lip and sighed.

"It doesn't look like they've been in the Temple, so they probably just started trying to breach the wall. You want to take them out?" he asked. I nodded and clicked my green lightsaber on. He nodded back to me and clicked on his blue one.

"Good time to try this new saber out."

"Exactly," I said before we ran outside and attacked the troopers. I slashed two troopers and Force-pushed one of them over the edge of a cliff, while Cal tried out his dual-wielding skills on the other three. Behind them was an Imperial door. The bad feeling I was getting was increasing by the second. We entered the door and saw that it was a huge indoor training ground. On the right side of the room was a door that led back to the path we took from the Mantis. We must have missed it on our way in. We started walking towards it, but a clicking sound coming from the far side of the room stopped us.

"Threat detected! Halt! Rogue Jedi!"

A group of thirty security droids came filing out of a room on the far side of the one we were in. They all just so happened to have their sights set on us, the two Jedi in the room.

"They have a whole Imperial army here!" I screamed.

"Run!" Cal yelled, taking my hand and leading us to the door on the side. You could hear the metal clanking of the security droids behind us, but we were faster than them. This felt just like Dathomir with the undead witches on our tail. How do we keep getting into these types of situations!?

"Cere! We're on our way back!" He yelled into his communication device.

"Cal! The Empire has caught sight that we're here! They have multiple forces on their way here. Where are you!?"

"We're exiting the Temple and running as fast as we can! We should be there in two minutes!"

"It might be longer than that. I'm detecting two AT-STs on the radar walking in your direction!" Cere warned us. I gulped and gripped the saber in my hand. Cal sensed my anxiety and smiled.

"Don't worry, we got this!"

"You're right," I said to him. There's two of us and two of them. The AT-STs came into view and they immediately started shooting missiles at us.

"Son of a…!" I cut myself off and Force-pushed the missiles back at them, resulting in a huge explosion. The missiles ended up destroying one of the AT-STs because they all went toward one of them. The pilot seat burst into flames, and the AT-ST fell to the ground with a thud.

"Nice one!" Cal yelled to me as he deflected a few blaster shots back at the second AT-ST. He sprinted at its legs and used his duel blades to cut off the legs of the machine. The AT-ST fell as well, but the pilot survived this time. He tried running at me with his blaster, but one deflected bolt later, and he was dead.

"You see? Piece of cake," Cal said to me.

"It did go much better than I thought it would," I told him with relief. Now to get back to the ship. We resumed our sprint back to the Mantis, and we saw Cere standing in the doorway above the hatch. Taking out those AT-STs bought us some time so we slowed down a bit.

"What do you think Cere and Greez will say about us kissing in the Temple?" Cal asked me out of nowhere. I snorted with a smile.

"I'm pretty sure Cere knows that I had a crush on you."

Cal looked surprised.

"Really? Wait, how long have you had a crush on me?" he asked out of curiosity and interest. I put my hand on his back and laid my head on his shoulder.

"I'll tell you everything when we get back on the ship."

He grinned at that and nodded his head.

"Okay, cool. I can't wait."

We reached the front of the hatch of the ship, and I remembered something I had told Cal before we left the ship earlier. I stopped him before he could walk up the hatch.

"Oh yeah, I kept my promise, didn't I."

"Which was?"

"That everything would turn out fine in the end."

He slowly grinned and nodded.

"Yeah, you did."

And that is the end of the chapter! They finally kissed! The cover of the story is supposed to represent how the kiss looked, so I think the artist did a great job. I was so happy to write this chapter because I knew that would happen inside the Temple once Cal's lightsaber was fixed and he got his will back. In the next chapter, we're going back to Dathomir! Please comment or review the chapter and let me know what you think! I can't wait to write about Cal and Luna being even more lovey-dovey with each other in the next few chapters! Finally, I'll see you guys next time!