Last time: Viran learned that Selina placed the bounty on Sasha and attack the Sith Temples. But something is wrong with her.

Now: Kait chats with Nova.

Chapter 7- Kait and Nova

"But if you had to choose, which one?" Kait asked as she took a bite of eggs.

"Uh… that's a tough one." Oppie said as he slumped in his chair. He looked down at his own breakfast but there was no help there.

"It's that tough of a question?" Kait asked curiously.

"Well, kinda." Oppie answered. He sighed. "Couldn't you ask me something easy?"

"It's not that hard a question." She said with a smirk.

"Steaks, I guess." He finally answered. "I mean, it was the thing I decided to make for you the first time I had a chance to cook."

"So not baked goods?" Kait asked, reaching for her pastry and bringing it up for a bite.

"Well, I don't know, they can be pretty good." He said as he casually put his hand forward.

She felt a tugging sensation as the pastry slipped from her fingers, and looked at it shocked for a split second as it started lazily floating through the air towards Op. "Oh no you don't!" She said, lunging forward and tugging the pastry back protectively. "Thief." She declared as she took a pouting bite.

Oppie chuckled. "Worth a shot." He said as he took a bite of hashbrowns.

Her hand darted across the table and took his bagele.

"Now who's the thief?" Oppie asked, aghast at his girlfriend.

She just smirked at him as she took a bite of her new bagale.

Oppie glanced at the chrono on his wrist and did a double take. "Oh, jeeze, I need to go meet Viran in five minutes." He said, looking down at his nearly finished plate.

"The commute across the ship will take longer than that." Kait said. "I'll take care of your dishes." She said.

"Thanks," Oppie said, getting up from his seat, "you can have my bagale as payment." He stated hurriedly as he started walking away.

She glanced at him as he turned to go. "See ya." She said as she gave him a curious look.

That brought him up short as he glanced back at her. "Sorry." He said quietly as he stepped back and gave her a sheepish peck on the cheek, which made her blush as he hurried off to go meet Viran. She smiled sheepishly as well as she took another bite of her stolen bagale.

After a few moments, Nova walked past with a full cup of caf. She slowed when she came up to the table. "Hi Kait," she greeted as she stopped.

"Oh, hey Nova." Kait replied distractedly.

"How are you doing?" Nova asked. She then noticed the other plate at the table. "Hungry?" She joked as she loosely gestured to the empty plate.

"What?" Kait looked down at the table, "oh, no you just missed Op." She said, a little embarrassed after he had just kissed her in front of everyone in the canteen.

"I figured," Nova said, smirking. "I was just joking." She chuckled. "Mind if I join you?"

"Sure." Kait said gesturing at the empty seat.

"Thanks," Nova said as she took a seat. She sipped her caf before setting the mug down before her. "So anyway, how are you doing? I feel like we haven't really chatted much."

"I'm doing fine." Kait said, reaching for her own mug and leaning back in her chair. "Though it's a lot trying to keep up with everything. I'm sure you're used to it, being military." She said with a shrug as she sipped her caf.

"Yeah, but I wasn't at first," Nova admitted with a shrug. "I remember this all being a bit much when I first joined. And that was in the middle of a war." She took a sip of her caf. "So I get it. Probably more than most of the Coppers."

"What did you do before you signed up?" Kait asked.

"I lived with my family in a small town in the outer rim and pulled pranks on the Empire," Nova said, simply. She then smirked. "Those were the good ol' days."

"When was this?" Kait asked with a confused smirk.

"Oh years ago," Nova said, trying to do the math in her head. "I was about sixteen when I left home and I'm twenty-six now. So… about eleven years since I've been home." She then frowned slightly as she didn't realize it had actually been that long since she had seen her family. She knew they were all doing okay from the bit of communication they've had over the years, but it had been too long.

Kait looked at her a little surprised. "You haven't seen your family in over a decade?" She asked, confused. "My mom and dad get annoyed if I don't call them every month, and they get mad at me for not calling more often."

"We keep in contact," Nova pointed out. "At first, I promised my eldest brother that I would keep him posted on how things were. I did for the first few months, but when the war took off I just didn't have time. It was a few years before I reached out again." She frowned at that. "They all thought I might have died, but were thrilled to hear I was okay. I promised them I would come and visit once things settled. But the 19th got right to work helping clean things up once the Empire was beaten." She took a sip. "Kelce and I have talked about going to visit them now that we are official. But once this whole mess with Selina is over and when we find Cien, then we will go for a nice vacation."

Kait hid a slight frown realizing she wasn't talking about parents. "How many siblings do you have?"

"I'm the middle child of five kids," Nova said simply. "What about you? Any siblings?"

"I, uh," Kait paused for a split second. "I had an older brother but he passed away about fourteen years ago." She said with a shrug to keep Nova from feeling bad.

"Oh, I'm sorry," Nova said quietly. "My parents passed around then too and my eldest brother moved us all away to someplace safe at that time." She added after a moment. "But that was so long ago."

"But it still stays with you." Kait said with a frown. "I'm sorry too."

"You're right. It does still stay." Nova then gave her a comforting smile. "But it's okay, because I just think about all the good times with them. And how they would have loved Kelce." She chuckled lightly as she took a sip. "Do you think your brother would like Oppie?" She asked, carefully.

Kait frowned and looked down into her caf. "That's, uh, quite a question." She said, thinking.

Nova frowned. "Sorry, I shouldn't have asked that."

"No, it's fine." Kait said, shaking her head. She sighed before speaking again. "Op isn't the kind of guy my brother would have hung out with, I don't think they would have been friends. But I think he would have liked me being with Op for that very reason." She admitted.

"That's good," Nova said, nodding. "You guys are really cute together." She complimented then took a sip of caf.

"Thanks." Kait said with a bashful chuckle.

"How is he doing with all of this?" Nova asked, curiously. "I haven't really had a chance to talk to him since the Aspis. I know Kyr and Viran are… having a hard time, but I wasn't sure about Op. Is he okay?"

"He's being his usual solid self." Kait said with a troubled smile. "I know he's upset by the whole thing but he's trying to be the rock for his brothers." She said admiringly.

"Well that's good to hear," Nova said, smiling lightly. "That he seems to be doing okay, that is. But I think it helps him that he's got you around to help support him."

"I hope so. I don't really feel like I'm doing much." Kait replied with a bit of grimace.

"What do you mean?" Nova asked, slightly confused.

"Oh, there's just not a lot for me to do, I feel kind of out of my depth with all of this." She said annoyedly at herself.

Nova looked down at her mug for a moment. "I get that. But one thing I've learned with being around this family, especially Kyr, is that they are the most stubborn folks when things are rough. They act like they are okay, but we all know they are hurting. I just figured it out over the years that being there for them emotionally helps more than we realize." She explained then looked up. "I know it feels like there isn't much to do, but just being by their sides and supporting them is what they need right now. Especially with Sasha and Cien out of commission at the moment."

"You and Kyr are close?" Kait asked, looking up at her.

"Yeah," Nova nodded. "He is like a big brother to me. Always has been. All of us here in the 19th are like a pseudo family."

"I'm still getting used to that whole thing." Kait admitted. "Kyr and Cien seem to have already adopted me as a little sister. Viran and Sasha are treating me like I'm part of the family already. That's new to me."

"You get used to it," Nova said with a lighthearted shrug. "But I know in the beginning I too thought that was the weirdest thing ever. My family was never like that with anyone else. So it took me a little while to adjust to it. Now I can't imagine my life without all of the 19th as my family. Even the rest of the Xiv's, even though I've only known them for two years." She took a long sip. "What about Op? What does he think?"

"Think of what?" Kait asked, a little confused.

"Uh, you being a part of the family?" Nova clarified. "Sorry if that was too forward of me to ask that." She then immediately apologized.

"Oh." Kait said, looking down at her caf. "I think Op thinks it's just normal. Which it is for them, I guess. Though whenever anyone brings up marriage he gets a little nervous. I think it's funny." She said, not mentioning her own tentativeness about the topic.

"He's not the only one," Nova said, smirking. "Kelce is nervous too whenever anyone brings it up. Even I get a little nervous at the thought, but I would love to marry him someday."

"I…" Kait started, she realized she also wanted that with Op. "The first person to bring it up was my mom of all people, when we went to visit my parents."

"Really?" Nova asked as a smile grew on her face. "That had to be quite a moment." She chuckled lightly behind her mug.

"It was." Kait said with a smirk. "She whipped her head around the corner and said 'Kaity, you better marry this man, he knows how to cook!' Or something like that." She said taking a sip of caf.

Nova burst into laughter, almost spraying caf in the process.

"I wish I had seen Op's face when she said that," Kait said, laughing with Nova.

"Oh I bet it was as red as a zherry," Nova guessed with a laugh.

"Probably, all I heard was shocked silence I guess." Kait replied as she. "Then my dad took him shooting. And golfing."

"Oh wow, really?" Nova asked, curiously. "When Troy first tried to ask Wynnie out, Kyr did the same thing. It was hilarious. But if my eldest brother met Thane, I'm pretty sure he would be a little too intimidated to take him shooting, even though Thane is the biggest teddy bear I know." She said fondly.

"What are your brothers like?" Kait asked curiously.

"My eldest brother was always so serious," Nova started after a moment as she thought about her family. "He would always be kind of bossy, even when our parents were around. I always found that annoying. My other older brother was quiet. He mainly kept to himself and liked to read a lot. But he was the smartest person I know. Probably more so than Dravis. And then my baby brother was only about seven when I left home. He was so adorable and sweet as a kid, but I'm not sure what he is up to now. Or what he is like."

"You should go visit them soon, then." Kait said, "I know you have a family here with the 19th but you should get to know them, then." She observed. "I think that's my greatest regret with my brother was that we had some distance between us that we never got to resolve."

"I was already planning to soon, but I'll keep that in mind," Nova said genuinely then finished off her caf. "Thanks for letting me join you. I've had a lot of fun hanging out and chatting."

"Me too, it was nice getting to know you." Kait said, drinking the last of her caf in a bigger gulp.

"Well, I was going to go and hit up the gym for a bit," Nova said as she made to stand. "Would you like to join me or do you need to check on the others? I'm sure they need a hand right now."

"No, actually the gym sounds good." Kait replied, "Op and Viran were going to try to wake Sasha up some more, and I have no idea where Kyr is."

"If I had to guess, he is probably down in the shooting range," Nova thought aloud. "He usually likes to go down there to think or clear his head." She said as she grabbed her empty mug.

Kait glanced down at her mug. "I'll go take a look in the shooting range, perhaps. Never hurts to practice more. I'll go find you in the gym if he's not there."

"Alright, that sounds good," Nova said, nodding. She started to walk away then turned back to Kait. "You know, you're a really good friend. The Xiv's are very lucky to have someone like you looking out for them." She said, genuinely before turning and heading for the gym.

Kait watched her go with a curious expression before glancing down at her empty mug. She realized, as she stared at the last traces of caf, that she wasn't trying to be a friend, she was just being the person they saw her as. As their sister. She got up to head towards the shooting range to find Kyr.

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