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Rey was around two years old when Luke and Lando decided she could have a pet. They debated exactly what kind of pet it should be, before landing on the idea of a kitten, and after much research and searching, they had found the perfect one. Both Lando and Luke were excited to see Rey's face when they gifted the kitten to her, and before long, 'kitten day', as they had named it, had arrived.
Rey sat on the plush carpet in the living room, babbling away to no-one in particular. Luke sat on the sofa, watching her. The door opening behind him caused him to look over his shoulder and he broke out into a big smile when he saw Lando, holding a small box with holes in it. Within seconds, he was on the sofa next to Luke, holding the box gently.
"Rey." Lando called softly, attracting the little girl's attention. She looked up at her parents and smiled.
"We have a present for you." Luke said, as he moved down onto the floor next to her.
Lando placed the box near Rey, and went to sit near Luke. Rey looked at the box for a moment, before crawling over to it, curious at this new item. Just as she reached out her tiny hand to touch the lid, there was a noise and the container shifted ever so slightly. Confused, Rey turned her head to look at her fathers, and then looked back towards the box.
"Maybe she needs a little bit of help." Lando murmured.
"Yeah." Luke agreed, as he lifted his hand and used the Force to remove the lid, floating it out of the way.
Rey was momentarily distracted by the floating lid, she always enjoyed it when Luke made things float, but soon her attention had returned to the box and its contents. A tiny black kitten had appeared, it placed its paws on the edge of the box and jumped out, sauntering towards Rey. Luke and Lando observed the two with great interest. Rey seemed unsure about this animal, and as it came to a halt and sat down in front of her, she shuffled backwards slightly. For a tense moment, both Luke and Lando worried the same thing - maybe Rey wouldn't like the pet, and they waited to see what would happen.
"Meow." The cat looked up at Rey with large, yellow eyes. "Meow."
This noise, so sweet and surprising, delighted Rey, and she clapped her hands together.
"M-ow." Rey blurted, attempting to reply to the kitten. "M- OW."
"That's good, Rey!" Lando laughed.
Feeling confident, the little girl slowly reached out her hand towards the kitten's head. "M-ow."
The kitten sniffed at her fingers, and, content that Rey smelled friendly, rubbed its head against her hand. Gurgling happily, Rey let the kitten come closer.
"Here, Rey, you can stroke her like this." Luke demonstrated, carefully running his hand across the kitten's back.
Copying her father's actions, she was rewarded with a strong purr. "M-ow! M-ow!" She replied, excitedly.
"She needs a name." Lando muttered to Luke.
"Right. Any ideas?"
"I don't know." Lando patted Rey's head, "What do you think, sweetheart? What shall we name your cat?"
"Ca?" Rey asked, interested by this new word. "Ca!"
"That's right, darling. Ca-t! Or kitty. Ki-tty." Luke offered.
"Ca-ee. Ca-eeee." Rey tried, as she continued to stroke the purring cat, who had placed her front two paws on Rey's knee. "Ca-eee."
"What about 'Cali'?" Lando suggested. "Kinda sounds like what she's saying."
"Yeah, Cali. That sounds good. Can you say that, Rey? Ca-li?"
"Ca-eee."
"Ca-li. Ca-li. Cali." Luke and Lando repeated the name together.
"Ca. Ca-ee. Ca-li. CALI." Rey said, pleased.
Luke and Lando congratulated Rey, but she was oblivious - the kitten was much too interesting. Rey and Cali had taken to each other so easily, it was clear, as they cuddled together, that they were destined to be very close.