#and give kanan zeb and hera heart attacks

[kanerallels]

Zeb amd Ezra in the circus AU, please?

Hehehe I shall answer this one before I head into work today, as a treat!! For context: this is set when Ezra was really young, but had already lost his parents. This is part of how he first became part of this circus!

“Don’t move, kid.”

Ezra looked up at the man balanced up above him, holding onto the bars of the cage. “Are you a trapeze guy?” he asked, eyes widening. “That’s AWESOME.”

“Yeah, yeah— listen, take my hand.”

“I’m okay down here, thanks,” Ezra said cheerfully.

“Oh, for kark’s—”

“Don’t scare him, Zeb,” the woman standing nearby said, her voice the kind of calm that didn’t sound completely real. Like she was scared of something. “Just take things nice and easy.”

The man glanced back down at Ezra, then nodded. “Right. Kid, you gotta come with me.”

Ezra frowned. He kind of liked it in the cage— he’d snuck in here to stay out of the rain. It was dry, and curled up next to the other occupant, he was warm.

“We’ll feed you,” the man added.

Well, that changed things. Ezra was extremely hungry. “Okay,” he said, hopping to his feet. The minute he took the man’s hand, he was yanked up and out of the cage.

Below him, the lion stirred a little, but didn’t wake.

[kazoosandfannypacks]

summary: sabine's been having a rough day, and though she can't quite put her finger on why, she's pretty sure ezra can make it a little better. set on lothal during season 4. word count: 1K a/n: i hope you guys like this fic! let me know what you think; your reblogs here and comments on ao3 mean the absolute world to me! shoutout to @kanerallels for betaing this one! taglist:@laughingphoenixleader @accidental-spice @kanerallels @piraterefrigerator @jedi-nurse @dootchster @lucasbridger @redroverrider @light-umbra @commander-tech {if you’d like to be added to or removed from my Sabezra taglist, let me know!}

also on ao3!

The Bad Day

 Sabine's day was not going very well.

 It all started innocently enough. Waking up from a nightmare, only to find she'd overslept. Tripping on her way out the door. Chopper pulling a poorly timed prank. Hera getting upset at her for attacking Chopper because of his prank and sending her by herself on a supply run��� a chance to cool down, Hera had reasoned, but it only steamed her up more.

 Then there was the guy in the market whose catcalling would've been met with her fist if she hadn't been carrying the crew's supplies and trying to avoid imperial suspicion. And then the upcharged groceries that never seemed to fit their supply budget. And the annoyed screams of Zeb when she returned without his beloved space waffles that had been so significantly overpriced, she figured she could skip them this time. Then the angry words she'd yelled as she'd stormed out. Then Kanan trying to ask her what was wrong like he was some kind of dad.

 That was the last straw. Usually, she didn't mind her family on The Ghost. But today? After the dream she'd had last night? The last thing she needed was more family to worry about.

 She left The Ghost in a huff, thinking maybe some time by herself would calm her down, though she knew the opposite was often the case when she was left alone with her thoughts.

 But then she saw Ezra, tinkering with some circuits on the underside of the ship, lost in his own little world, a Loth Cat curled around his leg.

 Now, Sabine had never been known to have an affinity for hugs, and she'd also never been known to have an affinity for Ezra, but something inside her told her a hug from Ezra would make this nightmare of a day a bit better.

 So, she marched up to him, fists clenched, her mere frustrated presence scaring away the Loth Cat. Ezra, however, didn't seem to notice her right away, instead watching the Loth Cat run into the distance.

 "I need you to give me a hug," she said, quickly, sharply, as if upset at herself for saying it and stopping herself from stopping herself.

 Ezra turned to her and smiled at the sight of her, but with deep confusion in his eyes.

 "What?" he asked, then shook his head and blinked a couple times, "wait, why? Is everything okay?"

 "I'm not talking about it," Sabine said, knowing what would happen if she tried to talk about it, and not ready to cry right now, "I just need a hug. Don't make me change m...."

 Before she could finish speaking, she was in his arms. On any other day, if she'd even let him get this close, she would've complained that he smelled like Loth Cats and mechanical failures, and about how sweaty he was, and how whatever kind of starship grease he'd been using was all over his hands and staining her shoulder pauldron and her sleeve— but with everything that had happened that day, she almost didn't notice, and if she did, she certainly didn't care.

 He'd pulled her in so quickly, she hadn't even the chance to hug him back— not that she needed to, instead clinging onto Ezra's shoulders in front of her as tightly as she could.

 She wasn't sure when he'd gotten taller than her, but she was glad that he had, because his heart's gentle beating beneath her ear calmed her own heart rate down as well. She hadn't noticed how cold she'd been until Ezra's arms closed around her, his warmth quickly spreading from her back and arms all the way down to her toes and her fingers.

 "Is this okay?" Ezra quietly asked.

 "Yeah," Sabine whispered.

 As he held her, held her close to him, neither of them backing away or making it weird, Sabine's stress floated away, like a leaf in the wind, like every layer of hardships she'd faced that day peeled itself away from her, and when they were all stripped back, maybe it wasn't so hard a day after all— except for the nightmare she'd woken up from.

 Even an eternity in his arms couldn't fix that one— not that she normally would've liked the idea of spending an eternity in his arms, but this sacred moment made it a tempting prospect.

 She heard him sigh as his arms slipped out from around her and he took a step back from her, though his hand still rested on her shoulder.

 "Are you okay?" Ezra asked, his gaze seeing through her rough exterior.

 "I just," she shook her head, "just a bad dream."

 "In the middle of the day?" Ezra asked, and though anyone else could've meant it sarcastically, he seemed legitimately confused.

 "No, last night," she explained.

 "And you're still stressed over it?" Ezra asked, and when she nodded, he added on, gently, "may I ask what it was about?"

 "The Empire," Sabine said, letting the words come out angrily rather than risk letting sorrow herald them, "somehow they'd recreated the Duchess, and they," she let a deep breath fight against the tears she knew would betray her, "and my family...."

 She couldn't bring herself to say it, and she didn't have to. Once again, Ezra cut her off by pulling her into a hug— and this time, she hugged him in return.

 As her head hit his chest, she found that her tears fell faster than she could stop them, and hoped Ezra wouldn't notice a few teardrops mixed in with all the sweat and grease on his shirt.

 "I couldn't stop it," Sabine said, "I had to watch...."

 "It's okay," Ezra said, his hand moving off her shoulder so he could cradle the back of her head, pulling her closer to him in support, "it was just a dream." 

 "It felt so real," Sabine said, through gritted teeth.

 "I know," Ezra said, the softness in his tone smoothing out the rough edges of hers, "it's okay. Your family is okay."

 "And what if they're not?" Sabine asked, pushing a little bit away from him, though he didn't take his hands off her shoulders, "what if the Empire tries again?"

 "Then we'll stop them," Ezra said, "we always do."

 Sabine wanted to argue, but she knew it was pointless to try and disagree with those reassuring blue eyes and the confident smile below them.

 "Yeah," Sabine nodded.

 That was all she said. That was all she could say, and she hardly even looked at him when she said it.

 But it was apparently enough for Ezra. His smile shifted ever so slightly, and Sabine responded with a smile of her own.

 As one last comfort before she inevitably put up her walls and shut him out again, he pulled her back into his arms, close to his heart.

 And Sabine sighed with contentment as she returned his embrace.

 Maybe today wasn't going so bad after all.

[loth-creatures]

Sabine's Story ? 👁️ -aaeeart

Ah yes, the elusive secret sabine's-backstory fic I slowly but surely chisel at on the rare occasion I have writing motivation. No promises on ever finishing it but I will publish at least some of it eventually I prommy

Here's one of my favorite snippets so far! There's another here, since two people asked about this one :)

A flash of color amidst the greenish steel caught Kanan's eye. At the end of the cluttered shelf was a Mandalorian helmet, painted indigo and magenta with a few bright red cartoonish symbols and a clan crest in deep maroon. It was easily the loudest paint job he'd ever seen on Mando gear. The rest of the set plus a folded holster containing twin blasters sat next to it, strapped together for storage.

Kanan pried his gaze away, trying to refocus on the task at hand, even as he was struck by how small the armor was; a youngling's set. Likely enough it had been stolen off a dead child's body. Bile rose in his throat as he found the crates of [stuff] they were after and magnetized them, slamming them together a bit more aggressively than was necessary. He started for the exit, blaster drawn and pulling the train of crates behind him. He made it five steps before he was turning around, cursing under his breath. It couldn't be left here. It had to be returned to someone even if the owner was long dead.

He intended to snatch it quickly and get the hell out of there as planned, but as he slid the bound pieces under one arm and reached for the helmet his feet remained rooted to the deck and Kanan found himself staring into the black of the visor as the ancient metal cooled his hands. Beskar had a weight to it. Not just physically, it was heavy in the Force. Heavy with the memory of fire and water and blood.

The click of a blaster behind him snapped Kanan back to reality. Well fuck me he muttered internally. Just had to lose it in the Force with his back turned. Like an idiot. He was about to whip around and use the damn helmet to smash the blaster away when his attacker spoke.

"Turn around, slow."

It was the voice of a teenager. Kanan knew it belonged to the owner of this armor even before he complied with their demand and saw a girl with bright pink hair, her young face streaked with blood. She couldn't be older than fifteen. Her dark eyes indicated the armor before meeting Kanan's.

“Give it to me, now.”

The kid’s voice was hard and steady, leaving no room for argument. Her stance was the same. She was hiding exhaustion and pain well enough to fool most people. But Kanan could see the slightest tremble of her hand in the way the blaster slowly tilted from its line to his heart, her stiff and slightly uneven posture, the tightness of her face that betrayed urgency and fear.

Kanan slowly bent to deposit the bundle of armor on the floor, raising his hands as he set it down. He used his foot to scoot it in her direction. The girl’s eyes and her blaster’s nozzle remained trained on Kanan, but he didn’t miss how hard her knee hit the deck as she knelt to retrieve the armor, or the effort it took her to stand back up. She put the helmet on, but didn't waste time on the rest, instead clutching it to her chest and backing away.

“Kid, wait.”

She did not. She fired a warning shot past his ear, then another shot took out the control panel for the door as she backed through it. The door slammed shut. Well. The beskar was returned to its rightful owner, mission accomplished. Kanan shook himself and redirected the crates towards the secondary entrance, raised his comm to alert Zeb to the change in route.

She won't survive she won't survive she won't survive

Kanan accepted the knowledge then shoved it aside, resolved to tell Hera about the little Mando. Chasing after her while she had no reason to believe that he wasn't one of her attempted captors would do nothing but waste both their time and botch this operation more than it already was. But the kid needed help. Something told Kanan it had to be them.

[books-and-cats-26]

Caleb

Warning: Character Death, not gonna lie it's a bit sad so if you don't like that kind of thing, please keep scrolling, loves. Please let me know if I'm missing warnings in the tags

Summary: Kanan Jarrus' last thoughts before becoming one with the Force and what came after.

The last thing Kanan remembered was the Force giving him back his sight just in time to see Hera, the twi’lek woman that became the love of his life, suspended in the Force as he held her away from him and the explosion he was trying to hold back. Behind her he could see Ezra, his padawan, still holding out his hand to Hera when he had tried to stop her, though now his eyes locked with Kanan’s. He could see horror in his student’s eyes as Ezra understood what his master’s plan was.

Kannan had turned his eyes to Hera one last time, her beautiful eyes were full of fear and confusion. He took a deep breath and he tried to convey through the force the love and pride he had for the both of them.

He released his hold on the inferno and used the last of his strength to push Hera into the arms of his padawan. Just as the flames rushed to consume him, memories flooded forward:

The memory of his padawan’s crushing hug after a hard mission, and his grin as Kanan showed him how to feel life through the Force.

The memory of Sabine teasing him about his obvious crush on Hera, and her excitement when he had given her paint for her Life Day.

The memory of Zeb awkwardly admitting to accidentally recruiting Kallus into the Rebellion, and his wild grin when Kanan allowed him to attack the stormtroopers first.

Memories of Rex, Ahsoka, Kallus, and the other members of the Rebellion flashed by like all the others.

Even the memories of Chopper as the little murder droid threatened to kill him, only to be quieted into reluctant approval when Kanan offered credits to him to pick out a new upgrade.

But the memories that resided closest to his heart and the last ones to cross his mind were the memories of Hera. Her determined glare as she piloted the Ghost through Imperial blockades and through the chaos of battle. Her soft voice as she offered advice when he felt insificent in the role of master to his new student. Her touch when she held him tightly before and after every mission. His favorite memory, however, was the look of wonder and pure joy her face often held as she touched the controls of Ghost as if, no matter how often she flew or how many worlds she saw, she still couldn't believe she was bringing her dream to life.

A smile touched his lips as his vision filled with fire before everything went dark.

“Caleb.”

He opened his eyes, confused, only to choke back tears as he was met with the sight of the Temple. It looked just as he remembered it, spires reaching for the skies of Coruscant and the feeling of home rushed over him.

“Caleb.”

Kanan turned to the voice and his eyes met with the sight of Stance, the man who saved his life and was like a brother to him. He didn’t realize he was running until he collided with Stance, his arms wrapped tightly around the other man’s neck. For a moment he buried his face in his brother’s shoulder.

He finally looked up when he heard footsteps getting closer and grinned when he saw Captain Styles and Captain Grey and other members of his former battalion.

“Caleb.”

Kanan released Stance and moved towards the voice. His brothers moving aside to clear the way to a figure who stood at the entrance of the Temple.

“Master Billaba.”

Kanan sobbed as he ran into the arms of his master, once more feeling her arms wrap tightly around him.

“You have done well, Caleb.”

He could feel her love and pride for him as she tightened her hold before stepping back slightly to smile at her padawan, her hand resting on his cheek.

“It’s time to rest now.”

Caleb closed his eyes as he leaned into her touch. He knew in his heart that one day the Spectres, his padawan, and Hera would join him in the Force, but for now he would take his master’s advice and rest.

[redrikki]

May the Fourth Masterpost

Prequels/Clone Wars Era

May the Force Get With You- You’d think Anakin Skywalker’s conception would be pretty epic, mythic even, but you’d be wrong. Turns out, the Force is a lousy lay and a worse father. (Shmi Skywalker, Anakin Skywalker, The Force, Salty Narrator)

Second Wind - Ahsoka takes the wrong exit of the the world between worlds and ends up with a second chance at saving her master. (Ahsoka Tano, Shmi Skywalker)

Pain Management - Anger can get a slave killed. Shmi teaches her son some coping strategies. (Shmi Skywalker, Anakin Skywalker, Watto)

The Force Is In the Details - The chance cube lands on red and now Shmi must learn to manage with a freedom she never asked for. Written as part of the Jedi Fest Rogue Robin challenge as a continuation of The Force is in the Details. (Shmi Skywalker, Anakin Skywalker, Qui-Gon Jinn, Padmé Amidala, Jedi Council)

The Anchor That You Can’t Leave Behind - On the queen’s yacht headed back to Naboo, Anakin and Padmé miss their mothers but Obi-Wan can’t get why. (Anakin Skywalker, Padmé Amidala, Obi-Wan Kenobi)

Another Word For Nothing Left to Lose - When Obi-Wan told him he was free at Qui-Gon’s funeral, Anakin took him at his word. There may, however, have been something of misunderstanding. (Anakin Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi)

For Amidala - Her handmaidens had all poured so much of themselves into Amidala, it was like they were part of her now. Padmé didn’t know if she had the strength to let one go. (Padmé Amidala, Sabé, handmaidens)

Wordspring - Anakin’s words dry up in the middle of his fourth month at the Temple. If Obi-Wan can’t get them flowing again, maybe someone else will. (Anakin Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Sheev Palpatine, various Jedi)

Nothing to Write Home About - A month after losing his wife, Cliegg Lars decides to write to her son. Anakin Skywalker gets the pen pal he never knew he needed. WIP. (Anakin Skywalker, Cliegg Lars, Owen Lars, Beru Lars, Ahsoka Tano, Padmé Amidala)

For the Greater Good - Count Dooku has never seen the appeal of Anakin Skywalker, but, when the Chosen One breaks with the Council over the treatment of the clones, he decides acquiring the boy’s allegiances might be worthwhile after all. WIP co-written with @grand-duc and @thendstartsnow (Count Dooku, Anakin Skywalker, Palpatine, Clone Troopers)

Once More With Feeling - A redeemed Anakin travels back in time post-RotJ and decides to unfuck the timeline with mixed results. (Anakin Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Padmé Amidala, Sheev Palpatine, Jedi Council, bunch of other people)

Bridal Carry - On Naboo, it’s tradition for the groom to carry the bride to their marriage bed. With Anakin’s new prosthetic, it’s more difficult than it sounds. (Padmé Amidala/Anakin Skywalker)

Secret Tunnel - War in the Outer Rim! While fighting on the mining world of Mumblety, Jedi Padawan Ahsoka Tano is tasked with mapping the tunnels along with a team of clones. When trouble strikes, will she have what it takes to save the day and complete the mission? (Ahsoka Tano, Echo, Fives, Anakin Skywalker)

No Place Like Home - Ahsoka’s return to the temple after her first deployment was strange, made even stranger by the fact that it should’t be strange at all. (Ahsoka Tano, Rex)

Eat, Snip, Love - Ahsoka can’t remember the last time she had a home cooked meal. Anakin and Padmé are determined to change that. (Ahsoka Tano, Anakin Skywalker, Padmé Amidala)

Love and Support - After Padmé is shot at a conference, her mother insists she come home. Padmé, of course, is going no where. Episode tag to 3.07 “Assassin.” (Padmé, Ahsoka)

Across a Crowded Room - It’s a party in his honor, but it turns out the Hero With No Fear isn’t good with crowds. Padmé to the rescue. (Padmé Amidala, Anakin Skywalker)

Lightening Rod - Anakin gets electrocuted…again. It probably says something bad about his life that he’s getting used to it. (Anakin Skywalker, Ahsoka Tano, Obi-Wan Kenobi)

Coming Out of My Cage, Doing Just Fine - On the way back from Kadavo, it finally hits her. In this war, Ahsoka had been outmatched, outmaneuvered, and outgunned, but she’d never felt powerless. Not like she did in that cage on Zygerria. (Ahsoka Tano, Anakin Skywalker)

In Our Bed After the War - After the mission to Zygerria, Padmé and Anakin have a difficult conversation. (Padmé Amidala, Anakin Skywalker)

Domestic Life Was Never Quite My Style - Despite her best efforts, Padmé is pregnant. Now she has a difficult decision to make. (Padmé Amidala, C-3P0)

You Call That Family? - In an AU where Anakin has left the order to be Padme, Obi-Wan encounters unexpected resistance when he goes to collect the twins. (Obi-Wan Kenobi, Anakin Skywalker, Padmé Amidala)

Birthright - The Force called him to his family and Anakin is not prepared to give them up. Not even to the Jedi Council. (Anakin Skywalker, Yoda, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Mace Windu, baby Skywalkers)

If Not For These Bad Dreams - Fives has dreamed about killing every Jedi he’s ever met except General Skywalker. Turns out he’s not the only one. (Fives, Kix, Tup, Jesse)

Dateline Felucia - Embedded with the troops on Felucia, a reporter from HoloNet News paints an intimate portrait of the men of the 212th Attack Battalion. (Cody, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Waxer, Boil, clone troopers)

Ahsoka the Vampire Slayer - Ahsoka is the Chosen One, the Slayer, or at least she was until she died. She got better, but now there’s a new Slayer in town and things with her Watcher are strained at best. Add in a bunch of zombie mind control bugs and Ahsoka’s week could be going better. BtVS fusion. (Ahsoka Tano, Anakin Skywalker, Barriss Offee, Luminara Undili)

Bursts of Stardust - Collection of short tumblr prompts. (Everyone ever)

Rebels Era

With the Rest of the Miscreants - Boy meets galaxy and learns to live in it. A lost baby Jedi adapts in four ‘easy’ steps. (Caleb Dume, Janus Kasmir)

Cloak, No Dagger - In light of the intel from Gorse, Hera and Ahsoka rethink mission protocols while putting on a show for the ISB agent watching them.  (Hera Syndulla, Ahsoka Tano)

Tag - Sabine and Ketsu, bounty hunters extraordinaire, argue about how to sign their work. (Sabine Wren, Ketsu Onyo)

A Self-Fulfilling Prophecy - Depa stumbled free of the maze, back into the atrium for the Lothal Temple. There was just one problem. The man kneeling between the desiccated bodies of the ancient Jedi was not her master. (Depa Billaba, Kanan Jarrus)

Swordsmith - Ezra makes his lightsaber. It’s not his life, except in all the ways it is. (Ezra Bridger, Ghost Crew)

Graffiti on the Walls of the Heartland - Three works of art Sabine made for crew members and one she made for herself. (Sabine Wren, Chopper, Hera Syndulla,Kanan Jarrus)

Chicken Soup for the Jedi Soul - Four meals Kanan cooked for his crew and one he made for himself.  (Kanan Jarrus, Ghost Crew)

Ain’t No Fun (Life on the Run) - Ain’t no fun living life on the run but, with his Hera and their crew by his side, Kanan finds it isn’t always so bad. (Kanan Jarrus, Ghost Crew)

Wild Blue Yonder - After the events of “The Brotherhood of the Broken Horn,” Hera decides it’s high time Ezra learn how to fly. (Hera Syndulla, Ezra Bridger, Zeb Orrelios)

A Distraction - Kanan’s been blinded. There’s nothing Hera can do to fix it so Chopper gives her something she can. Written as part of the Jedi Fest Rogue Robin challenge as a continuation of A Distraction. (Hera Syndulla, Kanan Jarrus, Chopper)

Then My Hair’s Too Short - Apparently, Ezra had a new hair cut. That’s fine, it’s his head after all. Kanan just wished he had mentioned it. (Kanan Jarrus, Ezra Bridger)

The Blind Beggar - When Ezra objects to Kanan taking point on a mission, Kanan decides its time they had a talk. (Kanan Jarrus, Ezra Bridger, Ghost Crew)

Cut to the Heart - Sabine found the stupid thing in a cave, but now the Darksaber is taking over her life. Kanan gives her a little perspective. Tag to 3.13 “Trails of the Darksaber.” (Sabine Wren, Kanan Jarrus)

Rebel Moments - Collection of short tumblr prompts (Ghost Crew)

Rogue One

The Lord’s Estate - Every lord must have an estate. Lord Vader’s is Mustafar. (Vader, Palpatine)

Peace is a Lie - Sometimes Vader wakes up and can’t remember what war he’s fighting. (Darth Vader)

A Cog In Something Turning - Cassian hadn’t meant to give K-2SO free will. Good thing for both of them he’s a terrible slicer. (K-2SO, Cassian Andor)

Original Trilogy

Sea of Sorrow and Sand - Ben Kenobi is an island in a sea of sorrow and sand. Beru Lars has come to drag him back to shore. (Obi-Wan Kenobi, Beru Lars)

What Remains - What remains of a relationship built on lies? Nothing, as Darth Sidious will soon find out. (Darth Vader, Darth Sidious, Padmé Amidala’s preserved corpse)

On This Strange and Mournful Day - The events of Vader Down go very differently. The father and child reunion is only a motion away. (Darth Vader, Luke Skywalker, Dr. Aphra)

After the Funeral - Han offers Luke some unexpected support after the funeral of the guy who tortured him. (Luke Skywalker, Han Solo)

A Cynic’s Guide to the New Golden Age - The second Death Star goes kabloowie and takes the galaxy with it. It’s a new golden age of piracy and Aphra’s got some looting to do. (Dr. Aphra, Luke, 0-0-0, BT-1, Black Krrsantan)

The Last Truce We Ever Came To - Darth Vader is dead but he won’t leave Leia alone. (Leia Organa, Force Ghost Anakin Skywalker)

Lego Star Wars - The Freemaker Adventures

Disembodied - Roger loses his head and, frankly, it’s getting old. (R0-GR, Rowan Freemaker, Kordi Freemaker, Zander Freemaker)

Sequel Era

Red Fish, Blue Fish - Leia bought an aquarium for her child like her father before her. In a perfect world she could raise Ben to fill his grandfather’s legacy. Too bad he had more than one. (Leia Organa, Ben Solo, Angst)

A Matter of Precedence - FN-2187 wasn’t the first, except for the time he was. Others have defied the First Order before, but none quite as spectacularly. (Finn, First Order)

So You Want to be a (Space) Wizard - Finn finds a mysterious book, takes an Oath, and starts one hell of an Ordeal. Crossover with Young Wizards. (Finn, Poe Dameron, Rey)

Old Haunts (All We’ve Ever Known) - Anakin and Obi-Wan as snarky Force ghosts during The Force Awakens. (Anakin Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi, TFA cast)

Lady in Waiting - Rey’s spent so much of her life waiting it’s hard to know when to stop. Luckily, Poe’s there to give her the push she needs. (Rey, Poe Dameron, Leia Organa, Finn)

Not a Drop to Drink - On Luke’s island, Rey couldn’t quite get her mind around the sheer amount of water stretching out towards the horizon. (Rey, Luke Skywalker)

[greensword101]

So, I had jokingly talked to @princesstadashi a few times about an AU where everyone’s age was the same except for Ezra’s. I’d say he would be around 7 in this au, still had his parents taken from him on Empire Day.

For a year, Ezra has been surviving on the streets of Lothal as an urchin. No one offers much sympathy for him and he holds the heartbreaking belief in his head that his parents were taken from him because he must have been bad.

That doesn’t mean he doesn’t try being good from time to time, like saving a fruit vendor from having his goods wrongfully stolen by Stormtroopers with a stolen communicator, a few rocks, and a decent impression of some deep voiced officer. He got a piece to eat for free as thanks that time.

During the weapons raid, Ezra manages to sneak inside one of the crates in his attempt to snag some food. Turns out it was a weapons crate. Cue chase scene where he is stuck inside a crate Zeb took and is terrified for dear life. By the time he gets out of the crate, he is on Ghost and the entire crew is staring bug-eyed that ‘Oh dear GOD, there’s a stowaway and he’s a kid!’

The thing is, they all think he is some random kid with parents out of their minds with worry. And Ezra is all ‘sure, let’s go with that’ and is secretly screaming on the inside like ‘they’ll find out I was lying and they’ll be ever more mad at me!’

As much as they want to return him to his ‘family’, the Ghost crew has already been sighted by Imperial forces and they have no choice but to do the rendezvous and mission first.

Hera takes to Ezra instantly, but not for his skills that were shown in canon. He’s a little kid and is a gold mine of questions she more than willingly answers for him. She gets the impression that he is intelligent, if a little shy.

Sabine isn’t too impressed by him; after all, he ends up adding to their load with his presence. She can’t help but think that his parents will end up killing them when they return the boy. If they’re able to.

Zeb is gruff, hates having his personal space invaded and can’t wrap his head around why the kid is treating him like a giant stuffed animal! Ezra’s only complaint is that the Lasat smells awful.

Chopper is neutral towards him. He doesn’t think they’ll see him again after the day is over and gets irritated when the boy keeps poking him for no reason.

Kanan, for reasons he doesn’t understand yet, feels that there is something strange about the stowaway boy. He keeps his distance from Ezra because of this, which is fine for the boy because Kanan kind of scares him too.

The weapons stolen from the Imperials is sold in exchange for food that the crew distributes at a resettlement camp while Ezra senses Kanan’s lightsaber in his room. He just gets his hands on the thing when he hears Kanan shout:

“Don’t touch that!”

Kanan doesn’t see a Force-sensitive kid. He sees an idiot boy with his hands on a very dangerous weapon now put it down right now young man before you lose an eye! When Ezra absentmindedly mentions that he could hear it, then Kanan gets scary.

“Stay out of my room. Don’t touch that again!”

Because Kanan is now thinking that the chances of the kid staying under the radar forever are slim if the Empire discovers him. He tells Hera and realizes that they might need to help Ezra get relocated somewhere safer too. Another thing to add to their list that they refuse to ignore.

If Ezra wasn’t scared of Kanan then, he was now.

During the rescue mission that turned out to be a trap, Ezra overhears Hera attempting to communicate with the other members on the enemy ship and decides to head out there and warn them himself. Cue Hera having a heart attack when she sees he is gone and the rest of Ghost thinking Hera sent a 7 year old to risk his life to warn them.

Ezra gets captured right as they reach Ghost and he demonstrates his Force powers for the first time, disarming the guards and saving Zeb from being shot, giving him the chance to escape. No one is happy with the outcome and turn around immediately to rescue the kid. Zeb bangs his head against a wall the entire way back.

Kallus learns of the Force sensitive child in custody and decides that ‘reeducating him’ would make him a useful asset for the Empire. He attempts to get information about Ghost from Ezra, but he doesn’t budge. He does almost cry in front of the officer, though and Kallus thinks that he’ll be easy to break.

The Inquisitor will be pleased to have a Force-sensitive child in his grasp.

At the same time, Ghost returns and everyone is battling through Stormtroopers because they are not going to leave a little kid behind. That’s not their way. Kanan is fighting especially hard, replaying the last time the two of them spoke in private and wincing more and more at the memory. I shouldn’t have been so harsh, he thinks, I’ll make it up to him somehow.

Ezra pulls the same ‘my uncle’s the Emperor’ trick and while the guards outside his cell don’t care that some little brat is their prisoner, they get nervous when Ezra threatens to ruin them - and maybe Ezra inadvertently uses the Jedi mind trick on them with the correct phrasing - and they go inside. Cue Ezra using the Force again to disarm them of their blasters.

Ezra has only been fending for himself for a year, so he doesn’t think of air vents to sneak through. Instead, he slowly starts realizing that he can do stuff like move things without touching them or mind control. So he uses the mind trick again to convince the guards that they are escorting him to his stuff, and then to a ship he can escape in. For extra measure, he has one of his ‘guards’ send a false report of a breach in the upper hangers - inadvertently making it easier for Ghost to land.

That’s when he bumps into Ghost and it takes several repetitions of ‘Don’t shoot! Don’t shoot!’ from Ezra to prevent two dead Stormtroopers. There is no small amount of relief from Zeb, Sabine and Kanan to see the kid unharmed and maybe Sabine pulls him into a tight hug that makes Ezra wish she wouldn’t let go. Zeb still punches the troopers, though no one is upset, and he doesn’t mind that the kid hugs his leg. They decide to bring one of the soldiers as a prisoner for information.

Kallus appears, now pissed that the kid is out of his cell and the Inquisitor will kill him for not delivering the promised apprentice he had just told him about. Ghost escapes and it’s happy reunion for all.

Kanan catches Ezra alone while Zeb interrogates their prisoner and learns about where the Wookies are really being sent. Its awkward for both of them. Ezra still sees him as the scary guy on the team and Kanan has no idea how to talk to children.

“Hey...kid...look, about earlier...when I saw you holding that...and you said you heard it calling to you...”

“He’s saying he’s sorry!” Sabine shouted from the hallway. Kanan is flustered, but it did the job of calming Ezra down and looking at the older man in a less intimidating light. Kanan tries to discuss with Ezra a plausible story to tell his parents when they drop him off and Ezra lets it slip that he lives by himself. There isn’t time to unpack the comment because Ghost landed at the coordinates their prisoner informed them of.

The Wookie rescue goes as well as it did in canon - aside from the Ghost crew getting simultaneous heart attacks when Ezra slips from their sight to rescue the child Wookie. Kanan reveals himself to be a Jedi and is ready to murder Kallus when he tries to shoot down Ezra and the Wookie child. They escape and Ezra leaves the room after watching the child reunite with their parent.

The crew offers to walk Ezra back to his house, but he waves them off. He reaches his tower in Lothal, having stolen Kanan’s Holocron instead and accidentally activates it. That’s when Kanan shows up and gives his little “You can stay here or come with us” speech and disappears. In canon, Ezra is amazed by the stealth hi/bye and with the knowledge that he was helping a Jedi. In this au, Ezra is a seven year old boy who lost his parents and believes it was because he was bad. He’s not impressed and becomes hysterical when Kanan pulls this trick.

The Ghost crew is about to leave, since they all realized that Ezra was lying about his parents, but Kanan decides to check himself. He comes back carrying Ezra in his arms like a parent holding a child, sobbing into his shoulder while Kanan mouths “Help me” to Hera. It takes a while to calm the kid down and when he hears that they weren’t going to leave him behind, he’s almost catatonic with shock at the news.

Kanan doesn’t even finish asking Ezra if he wants to learn to be a Jedi when the kid shouts “YES! YES! YES!” And then has to deal with the kid glomping him while the others laugh.

As if the cosmos had decided that he needed to be humiliated even further, Kanan is the one who ends up having Ezra as a roommate instead of Zeb - Zeb is both relieved and disappointed, the kid was growing on him - and therefore his babysitter.

That night, Kanan and Ezra are about to knock off.

“Night kid,” Kanan yawned.

“Night Daddy.”

Kanan suddenly realizes with terror, amusement, and joy that they didn’t just get a new crew member. Ghost gave the boy a family and Kanan as his father. 

[rebelquilts512]

Howls of the Past... and the Future

The long awaited sequel to Through the Fire is here! Also known as Part 2 of my Phoenix AU, or my Kanan Lives AU.

This took longer than I anticipated and ended up longer than I anticipated. I hope it’s worth the wait.

There are songs in this and they will be credited at the end.

This is over 14,750 words and around 75% of it is flashbacks. Hope you enjoy it.

Reblogs, likes, and comments are appreciated.

After they went around with introductions, everyone involved in the attack had gathered around to exchange stories of what they'd been up to.

“So let me get this straight,” Kanan was saying. “You had a vision of the Lothal Jedi Temple, convinced Sabine, Zeb, and Rex to help you get to the Jedi Temple, which was under Imperial excavation, snuck into the temple, touched a couple murals, then had to run as the temple collapses, after which it disappears, taking the Imperial excavation crew with it,”

There was a pause.

“Well when you put it like that it sounds crazy,” Ezra replied.

“It was crazy, Ezra,” Sabine said, giving him a look.

“Hey,” Ezra held up his hands. “The Empire can't find out anymore of the temple’s secrets, and they're short an excavation crew,”

“Still,” Hera put in. “Ezra, what you did was risky, and you don't know how bad it could have gone,”

“I don’t know,” Kasmir said from his seat. “From what I've heard this kid can handle anything,”

“Kasmir, you're not helping,” Kanan groaned, rubbing at the burns on the side of his neck.

“Hey, I remember some the crazy plans you had back in the day would…” Kasmir suddenly trailed off. He, along with everyone else, was staring at Kanan, or rather, what was behind him.

“What's wrong?” Kanan asked. Then the white Lothwolf exhaled, making his hair ruffle.

Kanan slowly turned around.

“Dume,” the Lothwolf breathed.

Kanan froze. The rest of the Ghost crew, Kasmir, Kleeve, Kallus, and the clones, who all knew about Kanan's old name, stared at the wolf in shock. The rest of the group looked terrified, and half of them were reaching for their weapons.

“What do you want?” Kanan asked.

“Follow,” the Lothwolf answered.

The wolf turned around and started walking. Kanan stood up and did as he was told. Hera, Ezra, Sabine, and Zeb exchanged glances before getting up and following him. Chopper rolled up behind them. Everyone else stayed where they were and watched them go.

***

The white wolf lead them into the cave Ezra, Zeb, Sabine, and Kanan remembered from when the white Lothwolf took them to this hemisphere.

The wolf stopped by the cave painting, the one with the temple, the Jedi, and the wolves. The wolf put one paw on the wall and tilted his head, gesturing for them to do the same.

He must’ve done something in the Force, because Kanan got the message and came up to place his hands on the wall.

Ezra put his hands on the wall next, standing between Kanan and the Lothwolf.

Then Hera came up on Kanan's other side and put her hands on the wall.

Sabine and Zeb looked at each other before taking spots on the other side of Hera, farthest away from the Lothwolf, and doing the same.

They all closed their eyes and suddenly it seemed like they were falling.

***

When they landed, even Kanan could see the grassy Lothal plains and rock spires that filled their view.

There was smoke in the distance. Then the thrum of speeder engines filled the air. A single speeder bike appeared from the direction of the smoke and the crew got the distinct impression that they were watching a flashback.

A human woman was driving the bike. She had chin-length brown hair and amber skin and was wearing a silvery-white cloak. She held a bundle protectively against her chest as she sped across the plains.

The roar of speeder engines got louder as a group of assorted beings on their own bikes and speeders followed her, at a distance that implied they were chasing her.

“Dume!” the Aqualish leading the group shouted at her.

{Kanan's eyes widened at the mention of that name, so did Hera’s, and Sabine's. Ezra gasped and Zeb’s jaw dropped. It seemed like this flashback had something to do with Caleb Dume’s family, Kanan's family.}

The woman looked nervously behind her. When she saw the size of the group chasing her, her eyes filled with fear and she pushed her speeder bike to go faster.

One of the goons fired at her. She barely managed to dodge the shot and darted into a cluster of rock spires. She weaved through them in an attempt to lose her pursuers. It only half worked. While the bigger speeders were unable to get through, most of the bikes kept up the chase.

Finally, the woman managed to temporarily lose them. She slowed her bike down until she stopped. She pulled her bundle away from her chest and looked down at it, then she sighed in relief.

The white Lothwolf appeared a few yards in front of her. He stood still for a few moments before he turned around and started walking.

There was a shout from behind the woman. She turned around and saw that her pursuers were starting to track her back here. The Lothwolf turned its head back; his eyes conveyed a promise of safety. The woman turned her speeder bike back on and followed the Lothwolf. The Lothwolf started running as the goons got closer. The woman followed the wolf until he disappeared into a cave. She made a move to follow, but then a blaster shot hit the back of her bike, causing it to spin out of control as it entered the cave.

There was a flash of blue light.

The scene changed and the speeder bike came spinning out of a different cave, preceded by another blue flash, and into view. The woman fell off and started rolling, practically wrapping her body around her bundle. She stopped when her head hit a rock and she went still; her bundle rolled out of her arms.

The bundle let out a whimper, surprising everyone. The white Lothwolf appeared and nudged it with his nose. A little arm emerged from the blankets and the crew got a look at the baby inside the bundle. It couldn't be more than a few months old and had the same brown hair and amber skin as its mother, and was now crying.

A brown Lothwolf came to see what was making all the noise. Following her were two pups; one was brown with gray mixed in, and the other was gray with brown mixed in. The brown Lothwolf, clearly a mother, took one look at the baby bundle and started trying to free the baby from the blankets. The white Lothwolf helped her.

Once most of the blankets were off, the brown wolf laid down on her side. The white wolf helped her move the baby so it was in a perfect position to nurse. The baby found a nipple, stopped crying, and started eating.

Certain members of the Ghost crew worried that the wolf's own pups, who were twice the baby's size, wouldn't take kindly to a strange creature drinking their mother's milk. To the crew’s surprise however, the pups calmly walked up to the baby and started sniffing it.

Eventually, they’re curiosity was satisfied. They laid down on either side of the baby and rested their muzzles on their front paws.

The next thing the crew saw was the woman again. She was still unconscious, but it was clear some time had passed. The white Lothwolf touched his nose to her forehead and she started to come back to consciousness.

The woman started feeling around her, searching for something. After about a minute of frantic searching, the woman started to panic. “Caleb!” she screamed. “Caleb!”

{Zeb and Sabine's jaws dropped, Ezra and Hera gasped, and Kanan looked like he was about to have a heart attack.}

The woman found her baby sleeping up against the brown wolf with the pups. She scrambled over and picked him up. When she saw that he was okay, she sighed. “Aren't you a strong boy,” she cooed, kissing him on the forehead.

That's when the baby woke up. He let out a tiny little baby yawn and opened his eyes.

Their teal color was the final confirmation the Ghost crew needed. The baby was Kanan. They were watching Kanan's childhood before the Jedi Temple, which was apparently connected to the Lothwolves.

Caleb smiled when he saw his mother. He laughed and reached up towards her face. She gave him a finger to hold and took the opportunity to look around their surroundings.

The rock spires surrounding them formed an oval shaped clearing, with a couple of openings into the prairie beyond, and it was full of Lothwolves.

The white Lothwolf appeared by her side, startling her. “You!” she yelped, jumping a little. She took one more look around; at the other wolves, who were relaxing or playing; at the small stream that made a pool in between two rocks; at the cave she came through; and at her damaged speeder. She looked at the white Lothwolf again. “You...you saved us. Why?”

“Dume,” the Lothwolf answered.

“I..I don't understand,” the woman hesitated. “I mean… my name is Rebekka Dume, but...how am I important to you?””

“Dume,” the Lothwolf repeated, leaning forward to point his muzzle at Caleb, who laughed and patted his nose with his hand.

“Caleb?” Rebekka asked. “Why do you care about him? He's barely three months old!”

The white Lothwolf sat down and cocked its head to one side. His expression read ‘You'll have to wait to find out’.

Then, Caleb started fussing.

“Oohhhh, what's the matter?” Rebekka asked, bouncing and rocking him in her arms. “Are you hungry?”

She checked. He wasn't.

Next, she turned him over and sniffed his bottom. She wrinkled her nose. “Someone needs a diaper chaaange,” she said in a sing-song voice.

After re-establishing her hold on him, Rebekka walked back to her speeder bike and grabbed one of the bags strapped to it. She sat down on the ground and took what was probably a changing mat out of the bag. Once it was smoothed out, she laid Caleb on it. There were a few more things she had to get out of the bag before she unbuttoned his onesie. Then she proceeded to change his diaper.

Caleb, for his part, put a hand in his mouth and lay mostly still while he was being changed.

Once he had a new diaper on, Rebekka cleaned her hands with some sanitizing wipes. Then she picked up the dirty diaper with two fingers and looked around bewildered.

“Now where am I supposed to put this?” She wondered aloud.

One of the pups, the gray one with brown added in, walked over, took her sleeve lightly with their teeth, and tugged. The pup pulled her over to a small dark space between two rocks. It released her sleeve and started digging.

When they had dug a good-sized hole, the pup sat back and cocked its head towards the hole.

Rebekka looked at the diaper in her hand, then down at the hole. “You want me to bury it?” She asked. She thought for a moment. “Well, I guess it is biodegradable,” She tossed the dirty diaper into the hole.

The wolf pup refilled the hole, letting Rebekka scoop in a few handfuls of dirt. When they were finished, Rebekka rushed back to Caleb.

Caleb was doing fine. The other pup had laid down beside him. They had a front paw across his chest and was resting their muzzle on top of his head.

When they noticed Rebekka, the pup moved its paw and got up, allowing her to easily reach him.

Rebekka picked Caleb up, checking him over before looking down at the pup, who had been joined by the sibling that helped her. She kissed his check. “I think you made friends, sweet boy,” she told him, pressing their foreheads together.

{Zeb couldn't resist snorting at the nickname. Ezra made a little ‘aww’ noise and Hera and Sabine giggled. Kanan was slightly surprised, and a little embarrassed, knowing the crew probably wasn't going to stop teasing him about it for a while.}

Rebekka held him in one arm while she picked up all the diaper changing supplies. Then she put the bag back on her bike. Her eyes landed on the smoking hole where the bike had been shot. She sighed. “I'm not getting back home am I?” She asked no one in particular. “It’ll be months before the Edgeherd Gang gives up, and I'm not getting far on this bike,” She reached into her cloak and pulled out what appeared to be a purse of credits. She looked inside it. “I think I have enough to buy passage off-world,” She sighed again. “But where would I go? And how will I know if it's safe?” she asked, hugging Caleb close to her chest and kissing the top of his head.

The white Lothwolf appeared beside her again.

Rebekka jumped and almost dropped her credit purse. “Would you please stop doing that!” She scolded. “Especially when I'm holding Caleb! Since he's so important to you!” She added, annoyed, shifting Caleb to one shoulder.

“Stay,” the Lothwolf said. “Here,”

Rebekka tilted her head to one side. “You want us to stay here?” She asked. Then she started to ramble. “But… How? What will we eat? I mean… I have some provisions, but they won't last long. And I'll run out of diapers. WHAT EXACTLY IS YOUR PLAN?!”

“Trust. Me.” the Lothwolf replied.

They stared each other down for a minute. The wolf’s yellow eyes against Rebekka’s sea green ones.

Eventually, Rebekka relented. “Fine, but you'd better know what you're doing. And if my son and I are going to stay here, I going to have to know what to call you. Do you have a name?”

The white wolf seemed to hesitate a moment, then he replied. “Ashla,”

Rebekka nodded. “Alright, Ashla,” She turned to where the brown Lothwolf was standing with her pups. “Do they have names?”

Ashla shook his head no.

“Well then,” Rebekka walked to them and reached out to stroke the brown wolf’s head. “Would you mind terribly if I gave you and your pups names?” She asked.

The Lothwolf closed her eyes in acceptance.

“Alright,” Rebekka replied. “Hmm....I think I'll call you...Maica,”

Maica licked Rebekka's arm, as if she was agreeing with her new name.

Maica’s pups started jumping up on Rebekka. Either they were excited to get names, or they wanted to get closer to Caleb, who was smiling and waving an arm at them. One of them managed to lick his foot, making him laugh.

“Do you want names too?” Rebekka asked with a smile. She squatted down to their level. They immediately stopped jumping and waited excitedly. Rebekka let them give Caleb attention while she checked their genders. “Well you're a boy,” she told the mostly brown pup. “And you're a girl,” she told his mostly gray sister.

Rebekka started petting the boy while thinking. “Your name will be….Teman,”

Teman gently licked her cheek, like he was thanking her for the name.

She moved to his sister. “And you can be...Sora,”

Sora energetically licked her whole face, with much less restraint than her brother.

Rebekka laughed. “Well I think this will work out just fine,”

***

The scene faded away and the Ghost crew wondered if that was all they were going to see.

***

Their question was answered when a new scene appeared. It was still the Lothwolf compound, but it was clear someone was living there now. There appeared to be a wash-line hanging between two rock spires; what looked to be some sort of hide tanning station leaning against another spire; an area that looked like a fire pit, with a bunch of cooking utensils stored beside it, was in between the two; on the other side of the washline was what was probably a garden; Rebekka's speeder bike was sitting with a crate attached to it by what the Ghost crew decided to call “the portal cave”; and a small cave entrance the Ghost crew hadn't noticed before appeared to have some significance.

They didn't see Rebekka or Caleb until they heard a laugh.

Rebekka was kneeling by a tub of soapy water. Her sleeves were rolled up and her hair was held back with a handkerchief. She was the one laughing. The Ghost crew wasn’t sure why until they noticed Caleb, who looked around five months old now, sitting in the tub. It took a second before they realized that Rebekka was giving him a bath.

Rebekka took a cup, and poured it over his head, using one hand to keep the water out of his eyes. Caleb smiled and splashed around when she was done.

Rebekka poured one final cup of water down his back before she took him out of the water and wrapped him in a towel.

“Now you’re all clean!” she cooed, cuddling him to her chest and giving him a kiss on the cheek.

After drying him off, Rebekka put Caleb in a diaper and dressed him in an outfit that vaguely looked like it was made of animal skins. Then she picked him up and stood.

It was then that the Ghost crew finally saw the Lothwolves in the compound. Maica, Teman, and Sora were lying nearby.

As soon as Caleb was dressed, Sora and Teman got up and walked over to him.

Caleb made happy baby noises and tried to reach down to them.

“Oh no you don’t!” Rebekka scolded, turning Caleb away from them. “I get to have my clean baby for a few minutes, thank you,”

The statement did not affect the pups’ behavior. They continued to try to get Caleb’s attention. Caleb, for his part, was trying to get down to them. Eventually, Caleb realised he wasn’t being let down and started to pout, and then to whimper.

Rebekka found herself up against three equally adorable sets of puppy dog eyes.

She signed. “Well, I tried,” She admitted.

Rebekka walked over to where the grass was shorter and set Caleb down. She produced a toy that looked to be made of Lothal grass and animal bones and gave it to him. Caleb laughed triumphantly.

Caleb, Teman, and Sora started to play, although it was mostly just Caleb alternating between chewing on the toy and waving it in front of the pups’ faces as they followed it with their heads. Rebekka walked over to a basket by the entrance to the smaller cave and took a few pieces of cloth out of it, which again resembled animal skins, and grabbed a needle and thread. She leaned up against the nearest rock and started to sew.

They stayed like that for a while. Rebekka sewed while Caleb and the pups played.

The Ghost crew’s view changed to the sun. It moved from the position of mid-morning to around high noon.

When they looked back at Caleb and Rebekka, Rebekka was putting her sewing away, as Caleb was starting to get fussy. She walked over to him and picked him up.

“I think it’s time for your lunch, sweet boy,” she told him.

She walked back to the rock she was leaning against earlier and sat down. She moved her shirt to expose one of her breasts and brought Caleb to it. He nursed while Rebekka hummed and brushed her fingers through his hair. When he finished one breast, she adjusted her shirt and moved him to the other.

Caleb finished eating a few minutes later. Rebekka fixed her shirt and propped him up against her shoulder. She patted his back until he burped. Then she set him down on her lap and tickled his tummy. Caleb laughed.

“Alright, now it’s Mommy’s turn for lunch,” Rebekka said as she got up and carried him over to the small cave and went inside.

“Let’s go see what leftovers we have,” the crew heard Rebekka say as she went further into the cave.

She returned a few minutes later with a covered pot in one arm and Caleb in the other. She walked over to the fire pit and hung the pot over it before she started the fire, which she made sure Caleb stayed away from.

After a few minutes, Rebekka took off the pot’s lid, revealing that there was soup inside, which she stirred with a ladle from the container of cooking utensils. Then she put the ladle down and went back into the small cave. She came back out with a bowl and a small spoon. She ladled a portion of the soup into the bowl, replaced the lid, and sat down.

Rebekka took a spoonful and moved it towards her mouth. Caleb, from his position on her lap, tried to grab the spoon.

Rebekka giggled. “This is Mommy’s food. You already ate,” she told him, patting his head.

After Rebekka finished eating, she gathered her bowl, spoon, the ladle, and Caleb and carried them into the small cave.

{The Ghost crew actually got to see inside it this this time.}

Inside the cave, it was much bigger than the small entrance made it seem, and almost looked like a room of a house. There was a large pile of handmade pillows and blankets that took up most of the floor, a tunnel that seemed to lead farther into the rock was across from the entrance, a stack of assorted dishes and cutlery sat in one corner, and a good sized bucket was near the door.

Rebekka put her dirty dishes in the bucket, then she went back outside and returned with the pot. She carried it, and Caleb, into the tunnel. It was surprisingly well lit, for a tunnel in a cave surrounded by rock. She walked down the tunnel for a couple minutes, passing by an entrance to a cavern or two, and when she came upon a fork in the tunnel she took the left path.

A few yards into the new tunnel, Caleb shivered and clung harder to his mother.

Rebekka set the pot down and hugged him close. “It’s okay, Caleb. It’s just a little cold, nothing you can’t handle, sweet boy,”

She wrapped him in her shawl and grabbed the pot again. She continued walking until she reached a small semi-dark cavern.

It was there that it became apparent why Caleb had shivered. The cavern walls were streaked with ice. They could even clearly see Rebekka’s breath. All around the floor were assorted food storage containers like the pot Rebekka was carrying, and slabs of home-butchered meat hung from a rack by the far wall. It was almost as if this was some sort of ice cave that Rebeka used as a cooling unit.

Rebekka placed the pot she was carrying down beside another pot. “There,” she sighed. Then she looked down at Caleb. “Now we can go back outside,”

Rebekka walked out the cavern.

The next time the Ghost crew saw her, she and Caleb had exited the cave and were being greeted by Sora and Teman, who had been spending the time since Rebekka fed Caleb with their mother. They all sat down in the middle of the grass and began to play some sort of game.

The Ghost crew got a view of the sun again. This time it was descending. Right before sunset the sky suddenly darkened, clouded over and there was a flash of lightning and a loud clap of thunder. A thunderstorm had started.

Rebekka and Caleb took shelter inside the small cave. They were huddled together in the blanket pile. Caleb cried every time the thunder boomed.

“Shhh, shhh,” Rebekka soothed, rubbing his back and rocking him back and forth, “It’s alright. It’s just a little thunder, nothing that’ll hurt you,”

Another thunderclap sounded and Caleb buried his face further into her neck and cried.

Rebekka sighed and reached down her shirt. She pulled out what looked like a small sound recorder attached to a string that hung around her neck.

She activated it and the sound of some sort of string instrument started to block out the sounds of the storm. Caleb, still sniffling, lifted his head and looked curiously at the music player.

Then Rebekka started to sing:

“You had your maps drawn,

You had other plans

To hang your hopes on,

Every road they lead you down felt so wrong,

So you found another way,

You've got a big heart,

The way you see the world

It got you this far,

You might have some bruises,

And a few scars,

But you know you're gonna be okay,

And even though you're scared,

You're stronger than you know,

If you're lost out where the lights are blinding,

Caught in all, the stars are hiding,

That's when something wild calls you home, home,

If you face the fear that keeps you frozen,

Chase the sky into the ocean,

That's when something wild calls you home, home,

Wo-o-OHHH

OH-OHHH

OH-OHHH-OH-oh

ohhh

ohhh-oh

oh-OH-Oh-oh-oh

ohhh

Ohhh-oh

oh-OH-Oh-oh-OH,

OH

Wo-o-OHHH

OH-OHHH

OH-OHHH-OH-oh

ohhh

ohhh-oh

oh-OH-Oh-oh-oh

ohhh

Ohhh-oh

oh-OH-Oh-oh-OH,

OH

Sometimes the past can,

Make the ground beneath you feel like quicksand,

You don't have to worry,

You reach for my hand,

Yeah I know you're gonna be okay,

You're gonna be okay,

And even if you're scared,

You're stronger than you know,

If you're lost out where the lights are blinding,

Caught in all, the stars are hiding,

That's when something wild calls you home, home,

If you face the fear that keeps you frozen,

Chase the sky into the ocean,

That's when something wild calls you home, home,

Wo-o-OHHH

OH-OHHH

OH-OHHH-OH-oh

ohhh

ohhh-oh

oh-OH-Oh-oh-oh

ohhh

Ohhh-oh

oh-OH-Oh-oh-OH,

OH

Wo-o-OHHH

OH-OHHH

OH-OHHH-OH-oh

ohhh

ohhh-oh

oh-OH-Oh-oh-oh

ohhh

Ohhh-oh

oh-OH-Oh-oh-OH,

OH

Calls you home,

Calls you home,

Calls you home,

Calls you home,

If you're lost out where the lights are blinding,

Caught in all, the stars are hiding,

That's when something wild calls you home,

If you're lost out where the lights are blinding,

Caught in all, the stars are hiding,

That's when something wild calls you home, home,

If you face the fear that keeps you frozen,

Chase the sky into the ocean,

That's when something wild calls you home, home,

Wo-o-OHHH

OH-OHHH

OH-OHHH-OH-oh

ohhh

ohhh-oh

oh-OH-Oh-oh-oh

ohhh

Ohhh-oh

oh-OH-Oh-oh-OH,

OH

Wo-o-OHHH

OH-OHHH

OH-OHHH-OH-oh

ohhh

ohhh-oh

oh-OH-Oh-oh-oh

ohhh

Ohhh-oh

oh-OH-Oh-oh-OH,

OH,”

Caleb calmed down during the song and now leaned his head against his mother’s shoulder with his eyes closed, clutching a lock of her hair in one hand.

Rebekka saw that Caleb was asleep and smiled. She leaned back against the pillows and kissed his forehead.

“Goodnight, sweet boy,” She said as she laid him down beside her, after untangling his hand from her hair. “I love you,”

***

The scene faded to black, and again the Ghost crew wondered if there was more.

***

Again, another scene appeared. Nothing in the Lothwolf compound appeared to have changed much this time.

Caleb, who now looked close to eight months old, was crawling around as Teman and Sora followed right behind him. Rebekka stood by the washline and was hanging up their laundry.

Eventually, after thoroughly exploring the open area he was in, Caleb wandered over to the fire pit. He approached the tall, narrow container of cooking utensils and, after failing to stand, sat down in front of it. Then he started reaching up to try and grab something from the container, all the while making little straining noises. Sora and Teman sat on either side of him and watched, occasionally poking the container with their noses.

Suddenly, the container appeared to have had enough of their shenanigans and tipped over, spilling its contents out. One particular knife flipped out and sliced across Caleb’s open left palm.

Then Caleb started screaming.

Rebekka dropped the shirt she was holding and came running.

“Oh, Caleb!” she cried, pulling him into her lap. “What happened?” She took his bleeding hand and tried to brush some of the blood away, but it was quickly replaced with more blood. “Oh I need the medkit,” she moaned.

Teman stood up and trotted over to the small cave and entered. He came out carrying something in his mouth before Rebekka had fully stood up. Of course, her progress was slowed by Caleb’s flailing and screaming, and his bleeding hand.

Rebekka saw what he was carrying and her eyes widened in surprise. She took a few steps toward him and knelt down. “Thank you, Teman,” she said as she took the medkit from his mouth.

She opened it and started digging through it. Once she found all she was looking for, Rebekka started cleaning the blood off Caleb’s hand. With most of the blood gone, the cut could be seen. It started at the base of Caleb’s left index finger and went down in a slight curve to the bottom of the opposite side of his palm. Rebekka covered it with an appropriately sized bacta patch and wrapped it in gauze.

“There,” Rebekka said when she was done. She finished with kissing his palm. “Is that better?”

Caleb was still crying, quietly now, but still crying.

“Oooh,” Rebekka cooed. She picked him up and stood.

Teman took the medkit in his mouth again and returned it to the cave.

Rebekka carried Caleb over to one of the rocks and sat down with her back against it. She pulled Caleb up to her chest, hugging him tight. Caleb snuggled into her hold and buried his face in her chest. Rebekka started humming. She rubbed his back and rocked him back and forth.

The humming turned into singing, but it was a different song than the one she sang before. This time Rebekka sang:

“Come stop your crying,

It will be alright,

Just take my hand,

And hold it tight,

I will protect you

From all around you,

I will be here,

Don't you cry,”

Caleb had managed to grab Rebekka’s music player. Rebekka gently took it from his hands and activated it. Light percussion started to play that grew into a orchestra as she continued to sing:

“For one so small,

You seem so strong,

My arms will hold you,

Keep you safe and warm,

This bond between us,

Can't be broken,

I will be here,

Don't you cry,

'Cause you'll be in my heart,

Yes, you'll be in my heart,

From this day on,

Now and forever more,

You'll be in my heart,

No matter what they say,

You'll be here in my heart,

Always,”

“Always,” Rebekka whispered, kissing the top of his head. Caleb had finally stopped crying and seemed to have calmed down.

They stayed cuddling like that for a while. At some point, Caleb grabbed a lock of Rebekka’s hair and held onto it.

Later that day, a dark grey Lothwolf appeared, dragging a lothelope by its hind legs. They dropped it a few feet in front of Rebekka.

Rebekka looked up. “Thank you, Venari. You’re just in time,” she said as she stood up. She carried Caleb over to an empty crate near the garden and placed him inside it. “Stay,” she told him firmly, pointing a finger inside the crate.

Caleb looked up at her innocently.

Teman and Sora appeared on opposite sides of the crate and put their front paws up on the top edge.

Rebekka sighed. “Think you can keep him in there ‘til I’m done?” she asked, ruffling their heads.

Instead of answering (not that they technically could), Sora and Teman stuck their noses in the crate, at which Caleb laughed happily.

“Alright then,” Rebekka said. She walked into the cave and came out wearing a large smock and carrying half a dozen empty containers.

She produced a vibroknife and knelt beside the dead lothelope. She proceeded to gut the animal and skin it. Much to the shock of the Ghost crew.

She brought the pelt to her hide tanning station and draped it over a frame.

She returned to the carcass and continued to butcher it.

Once she divided the meat into separate piles, Rebekka put the meat into the containers.

Then Venari came and dragged the remains of the carcass away.

Rebekka removed her smock and cleaned her arms. Then she carried the full containers into the cave, presumably to put them in the cooling unit cavern, or whatever they were going to call it.

Rebekka returned a few minutes later. She walked over to the crate and lifted Caleb, who had fallen asleep, out. “Did you get bored in there, sweet boy?” she asked, kissing his cheek and waking him up.

Caleb yawned and threw his arms around her neck.

Rebekka laughed. “Do you wanna go play?”

Rebekka pulled out a blanket and spread it on the ground by the garden. She placed Caleb and a few toys on it before sitting down beside it.

Caleb explored the blanket, careful of his injured left hand, as Rebekka entertained him with the toys.

Sora and Teman came over and poked their noses into whatever Caleb was doing.

Rebekka was jingling a toy that looked vaguely like a purrgil with bells on its tentacles when Caleb rolled over. He batted at the bells as Teman and Sora licked his cheeks and hands.

Rebekka put the toy down and started tickling his tummy.

Caleb laughed. He grabbed one of her fingers in his right hand. This prompted her to use her free fingers to lift his shirt and give him a zerbert. Caleb laughed even louder and released his mother’s finger.

Maica appeared and settled down behind Rebekka, offering some shelter from the wind.

Caleb rolled back over and started crawling again.

Rebekka laid down on her side and watched him.

Eventually, Caleb crawled over to her. Rebekka took him in her arms and rolled onto her back. She sat him on her stomach. Her hair was splayed around her face as she looked up at him.

Caleb leaned over and placed his hands on her face.

Rebekka took one of his hands in her own and kissed it. “I love you so much, Caleb,” she told him. “And I always will,”

***

The scene faded to black again, and at this point the Ghost crew assumed that there would be more.

***

The next scene came soon after. The speeder bike and the crate attached to it were gone, and Rebekka was nowhere to be seen.

Teman and Sora were squating in the middle of the grass. Caleb, now looking between ten and eleven months old, was sitting between them. The crew watched as Caleb grabbed a handful of Sora’s ruff and a handful of Teman’s ruff. When his hands were secure, Teman and Sora started to stand, slowly, and after a brief struggle, Caleb did too.

Then Caleb started taking a few shakey steps. Sora and Teman slowly walked forward, enough so that they were both still beside Caleb.

Caleb made it a couple yards before he stumbled and lost his grip. He fell on his bottom, hard. Then he started crying.

Teman and Sora immediately turned around and started licking his tears away. After about a minute, Caleb was laughing and he reached for their ruffs again. He was up in a few seconds and they started walking again. This time, Caleb managed to walk all the way to one of the rock spires without falling again. But then he, and Sora and Teman, tried to turn.

Caleb slipped and bumped into Sora, who was on his right. He made a frustrated noise that was somewhere between a whine and a groan and stomped his foot angrily.

Teman turned and licked his cheek.

Taking a determined breath, Caleb straightened up and started walking again. Teman and Sora stayed beside him the whole time.

They walked around the compound for a while longer. Then there was a flash from the portal cave.

Rebekka came riding in on her speeder bike.

Seeing her, Caleb burst into a huge smile and tried to run towards her. Unfortunately, it appeared he wasn't quite ready for that, and he stumbled forward before continuing at a slower place.

By the time he'd made it to where she had parked, Rebekka had already dismounted and was watching him with a smile on her face, even when he gave up on walking a few yards away from her and let go of Sora and Teman to crawl the rest of the way.

When Caleb made it to her, Rebekka picked him up. “Were you walking?” she asked, lifting him above her head and pressing their foreheads together.

Caleb just laughed and waved his arms around.

{The Ghost crew offhandedly noticed that Caleb hand a scar on his left hand where he’d been cut the last time they’d seen him.}

“Oh, I’m so proud of you sweet boy,” Rebekka cooed, as she lowered him down to her hip. She kissed his nose on his way down.

Caleb smiled, reaching out to grab at her hair.

“Do you want to try in front of Mommy now?” she asked.

Caleb responded by starting to struggle to get down.

Rebekka laughed. “Okay, okay, I’ll put you down,”

Rebekka set him down and made sure he was standing steadily, before taking a few steps back. Then she squatted down and held out her arms.

“Come on, you can do it,” she encouraged.

Caleb looked down at his feet, up at his mother, then back down at his feet again. He took a tentative step forward, then another. He wobbled a few more steps before falling into Rebekka's arms.

“You did it!” Rebekka cheered. She hugged him and kissed his cheeks as she straightened up.

Caleb hugged her back. When he pulled away, he had Rebekka's music player and was biting it, showing off his four top teeth and two bottom ones.

Rebekka gave him a stern look and gently pried it from his mouth. Then she glanced back down at him and her face softened. “Well, I guess you deserve a song,” she said.

Rebekka activated it and the same string instrument the Ghost crew heard before started to play. Rebekka started swaying in time to the music.

It wasn't long before she started to sing:

“You had your maps drawn,

You had other plans

To hang your hopes on,

Every road they lead you down felt so wrong,

So you found another way,

You've got a big heart,

The way you see the world

It got you this far,

You might have some bruises,

And a few scars,

But you know you're gonna be okay,

And even though you're scared,

You're stronger than you know,”

Rebekka started dancing in place with Caleb in her arms.

“If you're lost out where the lights are blinding,

Caught in all, the stars are hiding,

That's when something wild calls you home, home,

If you face the fear that keeps you frozen,

Chase the sky into the ocean,

That's when something wild calls you home, home,”

Rebekka took a step to the side and started spinning around the compound as she continued to sing.

“Wo-o-OHHH

OH-OHHH

OH-OHHH-OH-oh

ohhh

ohhh-oh

oh-OH-Oh-oh-oh

ohhh

Ohhh-oh

oh-OH-Oh-oh-OH,

OH

Wo-o-OHHH

OH-OHHH

OH-OHHH-OH-oh

ohhh

ohhh-oh

oh-OH-Oh-oh-oh

ohhh

Ohhh-oh

oh-OH-Oh-oh-OH,

OH”

Rebekka continued to dance around the compound.

“Sometimes the past can,

Make the ground beneath you feel like quicksand,

You don't have to worry,

You reach for my hand,

Yeah I know you're gonna be okay,

You're gonna be okay,

And even if you're scared,

You're stronger than you know,

If you're lost out where the lights are blinding,

Caught in all, the stars are hiding,

That's when something wild calls you home, home,

If you face the fear that keeps you frozen,

Chase the sky into the ocean,

That's when something wild calls you home, home,

Wo-o-OHHH

OH-OHHH

OH-OHHH-OH-oh

ohhh

ohhh-oh

oh-OH-Oh-oh-oh

ohhh

Ohhh-oh

oh-OH-Oh-oh-OH,

OH

Wo-o-OHHH

OH-OHHH

OH-OHHH-OH-oh

ohhh

ohhh-oh

oh-OH-Oh-oh-oh

ohhh

Ohhh-oh

oh-OH-Oh-oh-OH,

OH

Calls you home,

Calls you home,

Calls you home,

Calls you home,

If you're lost out where the lights are blinding,

Caught in all, the stars are hiding,

That's when something wild calls you home,

If you're lost out where the lights are blinding,

Caught in all, the stars are hiding,

That's when something wild calls you home, home,

If you face the fear that keeps you frozen,

Chase the sky into the ocean,

That's when something wild calls you home, home,

Wo-o-OHHH

OH-OHHH

OH-OHHH-OH-oh

ohhh

ohhh-oh

oh-OH-Oh-oh-oh

ohhh

Ohhh-oh

oh-OH-Oh-oh-OH,

OH

Wo-o-OHHH

OH-OHHH

OH-OHHH-OH-oh

ohhh

ohhh-oh

oh-OH-Oh-oh-oh

ohhh

Ohhh-oh

oh-OH-Oh-oh-OH,

OH,”

Rebekka stopped dancing and sighed. She sank down to a sitting position. “Wasn't that fun?” She asked Caleb, sitting him on her legs, with a smile.

Caleb laughed and clapped his hands.

Rebekka looked at him adoringly and kissed his forehead. “Don't ever forget how much I love you Caleb,” she said. “Because I always will,”

***

The scene faded away, and now the Ghost crew wondered what they were going to see next.

***

In the scene they were shown next, Rebekka had just pulled in on her speeder bike. She dismounted and grabbed her bag, looking around.

“Caleb!” she called. “I have a surprise for you!”

“Mama!” Caleb cried, appearing from behind a rock.

Rebekka smiled. “Oh, come here you,”

Caleb toddled over and Rebekka picked him up and kissed his cheek. She carried him over to a spot near the fire pit and sat him down.

Rebekka sat down in front of him and opened her bag. She took out a box and set it on the ground in front of her.

Caleb started to reach for the box, but Rebekka shook her head.

“You need to wait for it, sweet boy,” she said with a smile as she opened the box.

Rebekka reached in and pulled out a small cake, with white, green, and blue frosting, on a plate.

Caleb’s eyes widened as she placed it in front of him.

“Happy Birthday Caleb!” Rebekka cheered.

Caleb reached for the cake, but Rebekka scooted the plate back.

“Hold on. I need to sing first,” she insisted.

Then she started to sing:

“Happy Birthday to you,

Happy Birthday to you,

Happy Birthday dear Caleb,

Happy Birthday to you,”

Caleb waited a moment after she finished singing.

Then Rebekka enthusiastically shoved the cake in his direction. “Okay, now dig in!”

Caleb didn’t need to be told twice. He dug into the cake as soon as it was in his reach.

It wasn’t long before his face and hands were covered in frosting and cake crumbs.

{Zeb chuckled and Hera, Ezra, and Sabine covered their mouths to hide their giggles.}

Sora and Teman wandered over to see what Caleb was doing. Teman sat down on Caleb’s right and Sora sat down on Caleb’s left. Caleb laughed when he saw them and extended cake-filled hands towards each of them. Teman and Sora carefully ate the cake out of Caleb’s hands.

Rebekka laughed. “Caleb! It’s your birthday cake! You’re not suppose to share!” she scolded playfully.

Caleb ignored her and continued to give occasional bites of cake to Sora and Teman.

After about a minute of Caleb taking some time to eat the cake by himself, he looked up at his mother, who’d been sitting there smiling at him this whole time. Caleb grabbed a hunk of cake and stood up. He stepped around the rest of the cake and walked over to where Rebekka was sitting. Caleb then tried to shove the cake in Rebekka’s mouth.

Rebekka laughed, understanding what Caleb was trying to do, and let him feed her the cake.

“Mmmmm, thank you Caleb,” Rebekka cooed. “Now go finish your cake!”

Caleb smiled and walked back to his cake and sat down in between Sora and Teman. He buried his hands in his cake and started eating again.

Rebekka sighed. She pulled her knees up and draped her arms around them.

“This isn’t the way I originally pictured your first birthday, Caleb,” Rebekka admitted after a moment, while Caleb was still occupied with his cake. “I thought we’d be living in a nice little house and all our family and friends would be close by. You’d have friends that weren’t wolf pups,”

“Of course I still wouldn’t have made your cake myself,” She continued. “I can’t bake no matter how hard I try. Your father...” Rebekka paused to wipe a tear out of the corner of her eye. “Your father always said that I could make Croaker soup that could make a whole planet happy and roast fit for a king, but my pound cake was better off being used as a weight,”

Rebekka chuckled and sighed again. “He was always such a jokester,”

“We would have been married by now,” Rebekka lamented, letting out another chuckle. “He always wanted to be a father,”

Sora licked some frosting off Caleb’s cheek and he laughed.

Rebekka giggled and proceeded to talk about Caleb's father. “His name was Judah Braga. He worked as a docking controller, but then he got roped into working with one of the local gangs,”

Rebekka signed and shook her head. “Some gambling venture or something must not have panned out, because the next thing we knew, he owed the Edgeherd gang over 10,000 credits,” She paused to take a deep breath that almost caught in her throat. “They shot him when I was pregnant with you. I never even got a chance to tell him. After you were born, the Edgeherd came after me for the credits he still owed them,”

“So I guess they’re the reason we ended up here, huh Caleb?” Rebekka said after a moment.

Caleb, having finished his cake, toddled over and gave her a hug.

Rebekka smiled and kissed his cheek. Then she sat him on her lap and wiped the frosting and cake crumbs off his face and hands.

After he was cleaned up, Rebekka reached into her bag. “Now it’s time for your birthday present,” she said as she pulled out a larger box, this one wrapped in blue paper with a green bow.

Rebekka set it down in front of them and help Caleb rip off the paper. She opened the top and Caleb practically fell into the box. When his mom pulled him out he had fistfuls of tissue paper in his hands.

Rebekka reached her hand in and pulled out all the tissue paper. “Oooo,” she cooed as she pulled a toy hovertrain out of the box.

Caleb cheered and reached for his birthday present.

“You wanna play?” Rebekka asked cheerfully.

“Play!” Caleb cheered.

Rebekka laughed. “Okay, you can play with your new toy while Mommy cleans up,”

Caleb played with Teman, Sora, and his new hovertrain while Rebekka gathered up the boxes, paper, and the empty cake plate and set them by the firepit, probably so that she could burn them later.

When she finished, Rebekka walked over to where Caleb, Sora, and Teman were playing and joined them.

After a while, Caleb got tired (made apparent when he yawned) and snuggled up in Rebekka’s lap.

Rebekka smiled and kissed his forehead. “I love you, Caleb,” She said as he rubbed his eyes and started to fall asleep. “I always will,”

***

The scene faded to black and the Ghost crew waited for what they assumed would be the next scene.

***

The next scene gave them a clear view of the Lothwolf compound. They couldn't see anyone at first, but then they heard laughter.

Caleb came running into view, completely naked.

Rebekka appeared a few seconds later, running after him with a fistful of clothes. “Get back here you little hooligan!” She shouted.

{Ezra and Zeb burst out laughing, Kanan turned bright red, Hera covered her mouth with her hand to hide her giggle, and Sabine was tempted to put a hand over her eyes.}

Caleb just laughed again and continued to run.

Rebekka chased him around the compound.

Caleb managed to stay just out of her reach as he ran through the grass. He tramped through the garden, not caring if he trampled anything.

Rebekka followed, carefully stepping in between the rows.

Caleb ran under the clothesline with ease, but Rebekka got tangled in the clothes hanging from it.

While his mom was distracted, Caleb hid behind a rock a few yards away.

By the time Rebekka got untangled from the clothes, Caleb was out of her direct line of sight. She blew out a puff of air. “Caleb, not right now, sweet boy,” she said wearily. “Please, not today,”

Rebekka took a few steps away from the clothesline and glanced around. Not even a second later, she walked over and reached behind the rock Caleb was hiding behind.

“There you are,” She said as she picked him up and placed him on her hip. “We need to get you dressed,”

Rebekka carried Caleb over to a mat, presumably where she had been changing him before he took off.

Rebekka laid him down and started putting a diaper and pants on him.

There was a tooka doll lying about a foot or two away. Caleb tried to grab it, but it was about a foot out of his reach.

After about a minute of not being able to reach the toy, Caleb scrunched up his face in determination and concentration and extended his hand in the toy’s direction. A few seconds later, the tooka doll started to slide toward him.

{Ezra, Sabine, Zeb, and Hera all gasped. Kanan raised an eyebrow, but was mostly unsurprised. Growing up in the Jedi Temple, he knew that Force-sensitive children often showed signs early on, which was why the Jedi Order usually found them before they had a chance to have lasting memories of their families.}

Rebekka looked up just in time to see the tooka doll move the last few inches into Caleb’s hand. Once there, he pulled it to his chest and bit down on one ear.

Rebekka gasped and dropped the shirt she'd been preparing to put on him.

“Ca-aleb?” she sputtered. “Wha-what did you do?”

Caleb just stared up at her and clutched his toy.

Rebekka took a deep breath. “Well, I guess I’ll have to figure that out for myself,” She took the tooka doll out of Caleb's hands and deliberately placed it off the mat to her left, well out of Caleb's reach.

“Noooo!” Caleb whined, on the verge of tears, as his toy was taken away.

“Shhh, don't worry. You'll get back,” Rebekka soothed as she lifted him up to put his shirt on.

Caleb ignored her, stuck out his hand, and scrunched his face up again. Not a moment later, the tooka doll started moving in his direction.

This time, Rebekka had her eyes up and saw the toy move. Her eyes widened as it slid into Caleb’s hand again.

“Caleb,” Rebekka gasped. “Did...but...how… Did you just use the Force?”

Instead of answering her, Caleb sat up and lifted his arms off to Rebekka's right. “Ashwa!” He cheered.

Rebekka looked to her right and, indeed, Ashla had appeared beside her. “Ashla?” She asked. “Did you know about this?”

Ashla nodded his head.

Rebekka sighed and sat back on her heels. “What do I do?” She asked. “If he has the Force then the Jedi Order will want him, and I don't want to give him up,”

Her musings were interrupted when Caleb laughed. Ashla had leaned forward enough so Caleb could pat his nose. The laugh came when Ashla gently licked Caleb's forearm.

Rebekka giggled, then went back to her thoughts.

“Well, what's the likelihood that they'll find us here away?” She asked. “So I guess I shouldn’t worry too much about this yet,”

Ashla turned his head towards her. In doing so he turned away from Caleb, who protested for a moment before going back to his tooka doll.

“Time. Will. Tell,” Ashla told her.

“I guess you're right,” Rebekka replied after a moment.

“Well,” Rebekka said, scooping Caleb and his toy up. “I think it’s time we get on with our day,”

Sora and Teman, who had apparently been out of the compound doing who knows what this whole time, came trotting up to Caleb, Rebekka, and Ashla. Ashla left a few minutes later.

Caleb, Rebekka, Teman, and Sora spent the rest of the day playing with Caleb’s toys and doing whatever else they did on a day to day basis.

“I love you Caleb,” Rebekka said suddenly. “And I always will,”

***

The scene faded away and the Ghost crew was starting to wonder exactly how much of Caleb Dume's early life they were going to see.

***

The next scene showed the Lothwolf compound just like they always saw it.

Rebekka, Caleb, Sora, and Teman were gathered by the fire pit while Maica was lying down on the other side of the compound.

“Alright everybody,” Rebekka said. “I'm gonna cover my eyes and you three have to hide before I open them again. Then I have to find you,”

Rebekka put her hands over her eyes. “Okay, go!”

Caleb, Teman, and Sora all took off in different directions.

Teman disappeared behind some rocks and Sora buried herself in plant life.

Caleb ran around trying to find a suitable hiding spot, but he shook his head at every spot he checked and kept looking. Eventually his eyes landed on Maica and his face broke out in a huge grin. Caleb giggled as he ran over to her.

“May-kah! Shh!” Caleb whispered (not very well), pressing a finger to his lips.

Then he got on his hands and knees and started crawling. Caleb wriggled under Maica’s chest and front legs. Then he oriented himself so his head was sticking out.

If he positioned his head just right, Caleb’s hair almost blended in with Maica’s fur, almost.

Caleb burrowed into Maica’s fur while Maica relaxed and pretended he wasn’t there.

Rebekka opened and uncovered her eyes. “Okay, I’m ready to find you!” she announced as she started searching the compound.

“Hmmm... Where could they be?” Rebekka questioned dramatically.

Caleb giggled and Rebekka pretended to ignore him.

Rebekka continued to look in nearly impossible hiding spots as she wandered over to Maica and where Caleb was hiding.

“Oh, I just don’t know where Caleb could be hiding,” Rebekka said as she plopped down next to Maica.

Caleb giggled again, this time it was a bit muffled, like he was trying to cover his mouth with his hands.

Rebekka raised an eyebrow, but otherwise acted like she didn’t hear anything. “He must have disappeared,” she continued. “I think I’ve searched every place he could have hid,”

After a moment of thought, Rebekka shot up. “Unless..”

Then she whirled around and stuck her hands in Maica’s fur, right where Caleb was hiding.

“Ha! Got you!” Rebekka exclaimed triumphantly as she pulled Caleb out and held him in the air.

Caleb laughed and clapped his hands.

Rebekka put him down. “Wanna help me find Sora and Teman?” she asked.

“Yeah!” Caleb cheered, giggling and dashing off to check possible hiding spots.

Rebekka chuckled and followed after him.

They search for a while until Rebekka spotted a familiar gray-brown ear peeking through a pile of grass. “Caleb, look!” she pointed.

Caleb walked over to where his mother had pointed and grabbed a clump of grass that was in front of the ear. He pulled and threw it away, revealing Sora’s face.

“Found you, Sora!” Caleb shouted.

Sora stood up and shook the remaining grass out of her fur. Then she licked Caleb’s cheek.

“Good job, Caleb,” Rebekka praised. “Now can you find Teman?”

Caleb wandered near the rocks Teman was hiding behind. Then he saw a brown-gray tail sticking out from behind two rocks. He grabbed it.

Teman’s head appeared from behind one of the rocks.

“Found you, Teman!” Caleb cheered.

Both pups licked his cheeks and Caleb laughed.

Rebekka clapped her hands. “You did it, Caleb! You found both of your friends!” she crowed.

Caleb, Sora, and Teman gathered around her and Rebekka squatted down to her level.

“Who’s ready for another game?” she asked.

The four of them played hide-n-seek for almost the entire day.

Then, later that evening, Caleb stumbled towards the end of a game and sat down. He rubbed his eyes and yawned.

“Alright, that’s enough for today,” Rebekka announced, picking him up. “I think it’s time for bed,”

Caleb just rested his head on her shoulder and grabbed a lock of her hair in his small fist. Teman and Sora went off and laid down next to their mother.

Rebekka carried Caleb into their “house” cave and changed him into his pajamas.

They both laid down in their home-made bed and Rebekka wrapped the fur covers around them.

“Do you want a song to help you fall asleep?” Rebekka asked.

Caleb nodded sleepily.

Rebekka took out her music player and activated it. Familiar string music filled the room.

Then Rebekka started to sing the now familiar song:

“You had your maps drawn,

You had other plans

To hang your hopes on,

Every road they lead you down felt so wrong,

So you found another way,

You've got a big heart,

The way you see the world

It got you this far,

You might have some bruises,

And a few scars,

But you know you're gonna be okay,

And even though you're scared,

You're stronger than you know,

If you're lost out where the lights are blinding,

Caught in all, the stars are hiding,

That's when something wild calls you home, home,

If you face the fear that keeps you frozen,

Chase the sky into the ocean,

That's when something wild calls you home, home,

Wo-o-OHHH

OH-OHHH

OH-OHHH-OH-oh

ohhh

ohhh-oh

oh-OH-Oh-oh-oh

ohhh

Ohhh-oh

oh-OH-Oh-oh-OH,

OH

Wo-o-OHHH

OH-OHHH

OH-OHHH-OH-oh

ohhh

ohhh-oh

oh-OH-Oh-oh-oh

ohhh

Ohhh-oh

oh-OH-Oh-oh-OH,

OH

Sometimes the past can,

Make the ground beneath you feel like quicksand,

You don't have to worry,

You reach for my hand,

Yeah I know you're gonna be okay,

You're gonna be okay,

And even if you're scared,

You're stronger than you know,

If you're lost out where the lights are blinding,

Caught in all, the stars are hiding,

That's when something wild calls you home, home,

If you face the fear that keeps you frozen,

Chase the sky into the ocean,

That's when something wild calls you home, home,

Wo-o-OHHH

OH-OHHH

OH-OHHH-OH-oh

ohhh

ohhh-oh

oh-OH-Oh-oh-oh

ohhh

Ohhh-oh

oh-OH-Oh-oh-OH,

OH

Wo-o-OHHH

OH-OHHH

OH-OHHH-OH-oh

ohhh

ohhh-oh

oh-OH-Oh-oh-oh

ohhh

Ohhh-oh

oh-OH-Oh-oh-OH,

OH

Calls you home,

Calls you home,

Calls you home,

Calls you home,

If you're lost out where the lights are blinding,

Caught in all, the stars are hiding,

That's when something wild calls you home,

If you're lost out where the lights are blinding,

Caught in all, the stars are hiding,

That's when something wild calls you home, home,

If you face the fear that keeps you frozen,

Chase the sky into the ocean,

That's when something wild calls you home, home,

Wo-o-OHHH

OH-OHHH

OH-OHHH-OH-oh

ohhh

ohhh-oh

oh-OH-Oh-oh-oh

ohhh

Ohhh-oh

oh-OH-Oh-oh-OH,

OH

Wo-o-OHHH

OH-OHHH

OH-OHHH-OH-oh

ohhh

ohhh-oh

oh-OH-Oh-oh-oh

ohhh

Ohhh-oh

oh-OH-Oh-oh-OH,

OH,”

Caleb was fast asleep.

Rebekka smiled and kissed his forehead. “Goodnight sweet boy. I love you,” she said. “And I always will,”

***

The scene faded to black and the Ghost crew had questions other than why they were being shown all these events from Caleb/Kanan’s past.

***

The next scene brought a change of pace as it showed the open plains of Lothal instead of the Lothwolf compound.

Rebekka’s speeder bike came riding into view. Rebekka was driving at a leisure pace with Caleb on her lap.

“How did you like your first trip into town, Caleb?” Rebekka asked, smiling down at him.

Caleb smiled back up at her. “It was fun!”

Rebekka slowed the speeder to a stop. She got off and picked Caleb up. She held him up in the air as she looked at him.

“Oh, you’re getting so big!” she cooed. “I can’t believe you’re two already!”

Rebekka kissed both his cheeks and moved to get back on her speeder bike.

Then the sound of an approaching ship filled the air and she froze.

Rebekka looked up as the ship passed overhead and gasped. It was a Jedi corvette.

The Jedi ship landed about 150 yards away.

Rebekka stood stock-still as the ship’s ramp lowered and three Jedi stepped out. From this distance, one was short and green, one was a dark-skinned human, and the third looked like a Cerean. The Jedi approached and Rebekka could do little more than stare.

“Greetings,” the bald dark-skinned human said as he bowed when the Jedi reached her. “I am Master Mace Windu of the Jedi Order,” Then he introduced the others. “This is Master Yoda and Master Ki-Adi Mundi,”

“Call us here, the Force did,” Master Yoda stated. “See why, now I do,”

Rebekka hugged Caleb to her chest and waited for them to continue.

“What are your names?” Master Mace Windu asked.

“My name is Rebekka Dume,” Rebekka answered. “This is Caleb,” She tilted her head toward him.

“Ms. Dume, you may not know this, but your son is strong with the Force,” Master Windu told her. “Very strong,”

Rebekka nodded. “I know,” she murmured.

“Then you must understand that it is only proper that he is trained as a Jedi,” Master Ki-Adi Mundi said.

Master Windu held up a hand to stop him from continuing.

“Of course, that’s entirely up to you to decide, and you don’t have to decide right now,” Master Windu said. “But know that he will receive the utmost education and have every opportunity to decide what he wants to be,”

“I..I’ll have to think about it,” Rebekka answered.

Master Windu nodded. “Very well,”

Master Yoda seemed to consider something for a moment.

“But this, you must know. Important to Lothal’s future, he will be, if trained as a Jedi, he is,” Master Yoda said.

Rebekka nodded, filing that information away for when she considered the possibilities for Caleb’s future.

“Return to Lothal in a few months we will,” Master Yoda said. “Make a decision by then, you must,”

Rebekka sighed in relief. “Thank you,”

“Could you tell us where you live, so we can visit you when the time comes?” Master Mundi asked.

Rebekka shook her head. “I’m afraid not,”

“Well, then we will have to meet you here,” Master Windu said.

“How will I know when to meet you? And how will you know where to find me?” Rebekka asked.

“Bring us together, the Force will,” Master Yoda answered.

Rebekka nodded. “Alright, see you then,”

Masters Yoda, Mace Windu, and Ki-Adi Mundi said their goodbyes and went back to their ship. Then it took off and flew away.

Ashla appeared beside her as Rebekka watched them leave.

“The Jedi came for him,” Rebekka told him, turning to face the Lothwolf. “I have a decision to make,”

Ashla just nodded at her.

“Mama!” Caleb whined, tugging on her hair. “Go ‘ome!”

Rebekka patted his hand. “Okay,” she said. “Let’s go home,”

Rebekka got back on her speeder bike and started for the compound. “I have a lot to think about,”

Rebekka, Caleb, and Ashla made it back to the Lothwolf compound a few minutes later. Rebekka put Caleb down and let him wander off to find Sora and Teman. Then she unloaded her bags.

Rebekka set the bags down by the entrance to the “house” cave. Then she pressed her back against the rock and slid down to the ground.

“I know the Jedi mean well,” Rebekka said, to no one in particular. “But that doesn’t make this any less hard,”

Caleb had found Teman and Sora and they were playing a few feet away. Rebekka smiled at the sight. Then she looked around the Lothwolf compound and sighed.

“This isn't the kind of life Caleb deserves,” Rebekka continued glumly. “He shouldn't be living in the wilderness all his life with only his mother and wolves for company and only an occasional trip to the nearest town. Caleb deserves the kind of education the Jedi can give him, the kind I'll never be able to,”

Caleb, probably sensing his mother's distress, left Sora and Teman to walk over to her.

“Mama,” he said as he gave her a hug.

Rebekka smiled and hugged him back. Then she pulled him into her lap and kissed the top of his head.

“You deserve to have your best chance,” Rebekka told him, hugging him closer to her chest.

“Even if it's not with me,”

***

The scene changed to the open plains before anyone in the Ghost Crew could think of a response to what they just saw.

The Jedi’s ship was sitting with its ramp down in a similar spot to where it was last time. Masters Yoda, Mace Windu, and Ki-Adi Mundi were waiting at the bottom of the ramp. All of their heads turned as Rebekka’s speeder bike approached.

Rebekka stopped a few feet away from them and got off her speeder. She held Caleb in one arm and had a bag slung over her opposite shoulder. She also looked like she’d been crying.

“Have you made your decision?” Master Windu asked.

Rebekka nodded. “Yes,”

“Then what have you decided?” Master Mundi prompted.

Rebekka sighed. “It would be better for him if Caleb went with you,” she admitted, moving to hand Caleb and the bag over.

Master Yoda seemed to study Caleb and Rebekka for a moment.

Then he said. “Return to Lothal he will, in years to come, and find a home here, he will,” It wasn’t entirely evident if he’d intended to comfort her with that information or if he just wanted to share that information with her.

Rebekka perked up. “You mean, I’ll see him again?” She asked hopefully.

“The future has many possibilities,” Master Windu answered. “Master Yoda’s prediction may come true, and it might not. Only time will tell,”

“But there’s a chance,” Rebekka pleaded.

“A chance of anything, there always is,” Master Yoda replied.

“Are you ready for us to take him?” Master Mundi asked, clearly ready to finish their business and go their separate ways.

Rebekka took a deep breath.

“Alright,” Rebekka said, her voice unsteady.

“It’s for the best,” she told herself, her voice breaking, as she handed Caleb to Master Windu.

Caleb was clearly confused by this turn of events. “Mama!” he whined as he struggled in Master Windu’s hold.

Master Windu adjusted his arms to hold Caleb securely as Master Mundi took the bag Rebekka offered.

“We will let you know if something changes,” Master Windu said.

Rebekka nodded as tears started to form in her eyes.

The Jedi turned around and headed back to their ship, with Caleb.

Rebekka stood still as the Jedi ship’s ramp closed and the ship took off. Then Ashla appeared beside her.

“I...I will see him again... right?” she asked, sniffling.

“He. Will. Return,” Ashla answered.

“I trust you,” Rebekka replied. She was crying in earnest now.

Rebekka looked off in the direction the Jedi’s ship, with her son, had gone.

Then she started to sing, her words intermittent with sniffles and sobs. “If you're lost...out where...the lights...are...blinding, Caught in all, ...the stars...are hiding, That's when...sOmething wi...ld...calls...you...”

“Home,” Rebekka finally lost control and sobbed hysterically into her hands.

***

The scene faded away as the Ghost crew were left in shock. They fully expected that to be the last scene they would be shown, but they were wrong.

***

The next, and most likely final, scene presented them with the open plains of Lothal again. The Ghost crew couldn’t see anything until Rebekka’s speeder bike appeared. Although she was riding fast, she didn’t seem to be paying much attention to the path ahead of her. Rebekka appeared to have one hand over her face as she steered the bike. She also had the hood of her cloak pulled up over her head.

Rebekka drove on until she reached the portal cave.

Ashla was waiting for her on the other side.

Rebekka threw herself off of her speeder and slammed her fist into his chest, which bore little reaction. Her hood fell off to reveal her tear-streaked face. She also looked to have aged maybe a decade or so.

“The Jedi are gone!” she wailed. “They’re all dead! I’ll never see my son again!”

Rebekka sank to the ground sobbing.

“Chancellor Palpatine labeled the Jedi as traitors,” she explained. “And had them all killed, even the children!”

“Caleb’s dead!” Rebekka cried. “I’ll never see my son again!”

Maica, Sora, and Teman started to approach, curious and concerned about what was going on. Ashla seemed unphased.

“He. Lives,” Ashla said.

Rebekka’s head shot up. “What?”

“He. Lives,” Ashla repeated.

“You...you think he’s alive?” Rebekka asked.

“I. Know,” Ashla replied.

Rebekka took a deep breath and let it out in a long exhale.

“I trust you,” she finally said. “I trust that Caleb will come home,”

Rebekka looked up at the sky, and the galaxy beyond it.

Then she started to sing, though her crying hadn’t quite stopped yet. “If you face...the fear...that keeps...you frozen, Chase the sky...into the ocean, ...That's when something wild calls you home,”

“Come home to me, Caleb,” Rebekka begged. “Come home to me,”

***

Then the scene was gone and Ghost crew were left staring at the cave wall whose paintings were just starting to make sense. Well, technically, Kanan couldn’t actually see the cave paintings, but he still stood frozen.

Hera was the first to speak, saying the first thing that popped into her head. “You were so cute,” she murmured.

“Karabast,” Zeb said after recovering from his shock. “The little green troll was right,”

Sabine had removed her hand from the wall and shoved passed Hera to grab Kanan’s left hand, which was fortunately his remaining flesh hand. She ripped off his fingerless glove to reveal a familiar scar on his left palm that started at the base of his index finger and curved down to the opposite side of his palm. Everyone in the Ghost crew hand seen it at some point, but they were never sure how he got it until now.

Meanwhile, Chopper was yelling at them about how they’d been staring at that cave painting for over an hour and that nothing he did snapped them out of it. The Ghost crew was too distracted by the shock of what was revealed to them to tell him what was going on.

Ezra was now the only one who still had his hand on the cave wall. He continued to stare at it as he processed what they’d just seen.

“You...You were found on Lothal,” Ezra finally said. “You and your mother lived with the Lothwolves. She waited for you to come home...”

“Wait a minute,” Zeb interrupted. “We’ve been on and off Lothal for years. Why haven’t the Lothwolves told Kanan about this before? Why make his mom wait so long?”

“Because I wasn’t ready to let Caleb Dume back in yet,” Kanan answered.

Hera, Zeb, and Sabine all turned to looked at him.

Kanan gently pulled his hand out of Sabine’s slackening grip, although he let her keep his glove, and explained. “When we first came to Lothal, I was still hiding the fact that I was a Jedi. I’d hidden Caleb Dume away for years in order to survive. Then we met Ezra and I started acting like a Jedi again, but I was doing it in a Kanan Jarrus way. I never really let Caleb be a part of who I was until Hera was captured and the Lothwolves appeared to me,”

“But Ezra said the Lothwolves started appearing before then,” Sabine hinted.

“They must have sensed that it was almost time,” Kanan replied.

“Time for what?” Zeb asked.

“Time for you to come home!” Ezra exclaimed, although it seemed like he’d only been half listening to their conversation.

Everyone was looking at him now.

“Kanan, your mother might still be alive!” Ezra continued. “and she could still be waiting for you...”

“Ezra-” Kanan started.

But Ezra didn’t appear to have heard him.

“Maybe Ashla can take us to her!” Ezra interrupted. “If she’s still alive,”

“Ezra...” Kanan repeated.

Ezra still didn’t hear him.

“No wonder the Lothwolves knew your name and were so interested in you,” Ezra rambled. “Kanan! You have to reunite with your mother, if you still have the chance to. I mean... what else are you supposed to do? Now that the Lothwolves have reconnected with you and you’ve started becoming Caleb Dume-”

“Ezra!” Kanan shouted.

Ezra finally stopped and stared at Kanan.

“I...don’t remember any of this,” Kanan admitted, looking like he was sorry that he had to say that, while placing a hand on the cave wall to indicate what he was talking about. “Ezra, it’s been 30 years. It might be too late. Besides, I’m not Caleb Dume anymore. Yes, I’ve accepted him as a part of me, but I don’t think I’ll ever fully be Caleb Dume again. If the Lothwolves take us to Rebekka Dume, I won’t be the son she remembers. I’ve said before that it’s too late for me, and that’s still true,”

“You might think it’s too late for you,” Ezra argued. “But your mother won’t think it’s too late. She’s been waiting for you all this time,”

Kanan was silent.

“It wouldn’t hurt to just meet her,” Ezra pointed out after a beat.

“You’re not gonna let up on this are you?” Kanan sighed and turned to Hera, Sabine, and Zeb, silently asking them for help.

Zeb just shrugged. “I don’t know, mate,”

“It’s your decision, love,” Hera said, placing a hand on his shoulder.

“Fine,” Kanan finally relents, turning back to Ezra. “You can ask Ashla to take us to Rebekka Dume, if she’s still alive,”

Ezra grinned and immediately turned to Ashla. “Can you take us to Kanan’s mom, please?”

Ashla nodded and turned around. He extended his tail to Ezra, who grabbed hold of it with one hand. Then he reached back and took Kanan’s hand. Kanan reached back and took Hera’s hand. The Ghost crew all joined hands, with Zeb bringing up the rear. Then Zeb slung a very confused and indignant Chopper under his arm so the droid wouldn’t be left behind.

Ashla started walking and a glowing blue portal appeared on the wall in front of him that looked familiar to Ezra, Zeb, and Sabine and felt familiar to Kanan.

Ezra, Hera, Sabine, Zeb, and Chopper could see nothing but blue light as Ashla lead them through the portal.

When they emerged, they were standing in the Lothwolf compound, and it honestly hadn’t changed much over the years.

Ashla was standing in front of them. He turned around and lead them to presumably where Rebekka was. The Ghost crew released each other's hands, Zeb set Chopper down, and they followed him, letting Kanan take the lead.

On their way there, they walked passed many lothwolves of the pack. Two in particular, one who was brown with gray mixed in and one who was gray with brown mixed in, took special interest in them and trotted over. They stopped in front of Kanan, who had to stop walking so he didn't run into them. The wolves started licking Kanan's face and rubbing their heads against him.

It took a second for the Ghost crew to realize that this was Sora and Teman, now full-grown adult wolves.

Then Sora grabbed the collar of Kanan's jacket with her teeth and pulled it off, revealing that Kanan's right arm was obviously a prosthetic.

Teman took the jacket from his sister. It was a miracle that they hadn't heard any ripping sounds at this point.

Teman and Sora joined their group in following Ashla to wherever Rebekka Dume was.

They approached a brown wolf, that they guessed was Maica, who was lying down near one of the rock spires that surrounded the compound.

As they all got closer, they noticed something was resting against her side, or rather, someone was resting against her side.

It was Rebekka Dume. She had her head down and some sort of animal hide covered her legs.

Sora and Teman went to say hi to their mother and Rebekka looked up.

She definitely looked like a woman in her fifties. She had gray streaks in her brown hair and her face had a few wrinkles.

“Oh, hello Ashla,” Rebekka Dume said when she noticed the white wolf, and stood up; the animal hide falling away.

Then she tilted her head and noticed the Ghost crew, who were staring at her wide-eyed. “What are these people doing here?” she asked.

Ashla whacked his tail against Kanan’s back and pushed him forward.

Rebekka Dume studied Kanan for a moment with a look of mild confusion, then she took a step forward.

“Dume,” Ashla said. “Has. Returned,”

“What?” Rebekka hesitated. “You mean it’s...”

She stepped forward until she was standing right in front of Kanan.

“Caleb?” She murmured, placing a hand on Kanan’s cheek.

Kanan managed to nod.

Rebekka Dume let out a sob and threw her arms around him and cried into his chest.

Ezra was grinning widely, while Chopper continued to let his confusion be known. Zeb and Sabine just watched and Hera paid close attention to Kanan’s reaction.

Kanan was stock-still. He didn’t know how to react, but after a minute of Rebekka clinging to him and crying, he lifted his arms and awkwardly patted her back.

Over five minutes went by before Rebekka released Kanan and started studying him.

“Look how you’ve grown up,” Rebekka Dume sighed.

Then she noticed the scar across his eyes. “...what?” she stammered, trailing her fingers along the scar. Then her eyes filled with fresh tears, this time of mourning.

“What... How... Your eyes... You’re blind!” Rebekka cried, finally coming to the realization.

Kanan just stayed still and silent as her eyes trailed over him. She mumbled worriedly as she looked at the burns on his neck. She smiled when she saw the familiar scar on his left palm.

Then Rebekka Dume saw his prosthetic arm and everything went up a notch, or ten.

“What!” Rebekka practically growled. She placed one hand over it and looked up into his blind eyes.

“Who did this to you?” Rebekka asked, actually growling this time. Her eyes swelled with maternal protectiveness.

Kanan couldn’t think of a response to her question.

Then Rebekka looked behind him and noticed the rest of the Ghost crew. “Who are these people?” she asked.

“These are my friends,” Kanan answered, finally finding his voice. He ran a hand through his hair. “Well, actually, more like my family,”

Rebekka smiled at them. “Hello,” she said, momentarily forgetting about Kanan’s scars. “I’m Rebekka Dume,”

“Hi,” Ezra said, speaking first. “I’m Ezra,”

“My name’s Hera,” Hera introduced, taking a step forward. “And this is Chopper,” she added, gesturing to the droid.

“I’m Zeb,” Zeb added.

“I’m Sabine,” Sabine said.

Rebekka smiled again and nodded at each of them. “It’s nice to meet you,” she greeted.

Having met the rest of the Ghost crew, Rebekka took Kanan’s hand and pulled him over to her discarded animal hide. “I want to hear everything,” she said, sitting them both down.

“That might have to wait,” Kanan replied. “We have people who are probably wondering where we are and we have a battle to prepare for,”

“What do you mean?” Rebekka asked, straightening up.

“I don’t think you need to worry about it,” Kanan answered, standing up.

“No,” Rebekka said firmly, reaching up and grabbing his arm. “Caleb, tell me what’s going on,”

Kanan sighed, clearly seeing no way out of this. “Fine,”

***

“I’m coming with you,” Rebekka announced after Kanan told her about the attack they were planning.

“What?” Kanan exclaimed. “No, you don’t need to do this,” He had since reclaimed his jacket from Teman and was putting it back on.

Rebekka was already moving to gather her available weapons, which mostly consisted of knives. “I am not losing you again,” she said. “And I want the Empire to leave too. Besides, you’ll have a stronger attack if you have the Lothwolves with you,”

“I don’t want to put you in any danger,” Kanan argued.

“It’s not up to you,” Rebekka replied. “You can’t stop me or the Lothwolves from joining you,”

Hera and Sabine started chuckling and had to cover their mouths with their hands.

“What?” Kanan asked, turning to face at them.

“She’s just as determined as you are, love,” Hera answered.

Rebekka grinned with pride when she heard that statement. She’d also noticed Hera’s endearment and grinned wider.

Chopper asked when they would be leaving, because he thought they’d been on this little Lothwolf side-quest for long enough.

“Chopper’s right,” Sabine agreed. “I think it’s time we headed back to the base. We still have to prep for the attack,”

“Fine with me,” Rebekka said, swigging onto Maica’s back before the Lothwolf stood up. “Maica, Ashla, Teman, and Sora can give us all a ride. That way they can gather the rest of the pack and we can all stay together,”

“Do the wolves even know where our base is?” Zeb asked.

“Ashla found Kanan at the base before,” Ezra answered. “He should be able to find his way back,”

“Oh yeah, right,” Zeb replied.

As they spoke, the rest of the Lothwolf pack started to gather around them. The crew recognized one of the dark gray wolves as Venari. A reddish brown wolf stood beside them. Then a light gray wolf came up and touched noses with Sora. There were about eight wolves in the pack, counting Ashla, Maica, and her children.

“Oh! I almost forgot!” Rebekka exclaimed, tapping herself on the head with two fingers. “I haven’t told you everyone’s names!”

“The white wolf is Ashla in case you hadn’t figured that out already, and this is Maica,” Rebekka said, gesturing to the wolf she was riding.

“These two are Sora and Teman,” she continued pointing to each of them. “They’re Maica’s children,”

The Ghost crew already knew their names, but decided not to say anything.

“That’s Venari, and that’s Pemburu,” Rebekka said as she pointed to the dark gray wolf, that the Ghost crew recognized earlier, and the reddish brown wolf respectively.

“That’s Siguri, Sora’s mate,” she continued, pointing at the light gray wolf. Then she moved to the other dark gray wolf. “And that’s Socorro,”

‘Alright! Can we go now?’ Chopper asked, clearly annoyed.

“Well, sounds like Chopper has an opinion,” Rebekka observed, although it didn’t seem like she understood binary.

“He says that we should probably get going,” Hera translated. “I think our friends are worried enough as it is,”

“Alright,” Rebekka replied. “Get on a wolf,”

Ashla knelt down in front of Kanan, who got the message to climb on, which he did. After getting situated on Ashla’s back, Kanan reached a hand down to Hera. Hera took his hand and used it to swing on and sit behind him.

Sora came up and knelt down beside Ezra, and Ezra climbed on her back.

Teman came and knelt down beside Sabine, who climbed onto his back after a moment of hesitation.

Zeb glanced between Ezra on Sora’s back and Sabine on Teman’s back and decided to ride with Sabine. He trusted her not to do anything crazy while riding a giant wolf.

Chopper started complaining that he would be left behind if they used this mode of transportation. He was interrupted when Sora grabbed him in her mouth.

“We should probably call ahead and warn everyone that we’re coming,” Kanan suggested.

“I got it,” Ezra volunteered. He activated his comm. “Spectre 6 to base, do you read me?”

There was no answer other than the vague sound of static.

“I think we’re out of range,” he announced.

“Then we’ll have to wait to comm them until we’re in range,” Hera responded.

“Let’s get going then,” Rebekka said.

Ashla took off, followed by Maica, Sora, Teman, and the rest of the pack.

_____________

“They’ve sure been gone for a while,” Ryder Azadi observed.

“I’m sure they’ll be back soon,” Rex reassured.

“Really? Cuz’ usually when people walk off with wolves they don’t come back,” Ketsu countered.

“You forget that Ezra and Kanan are Jedi,” Hondo said. “And Jedi often do seemingly impossible things, like taming oversized wolves,”

“Well it did appear like the white Lothwolf wanted Kanan for something,” Kallus added. “And I doubt he would have let the Ghost crew come with him if he thought it was going to be dangerous,”

Their discussion was interrupted when the main comm beeped.

“Spectre 6 to base,” Ezra came through. “Can you read me?”

“We read you, Ezra,” Ryder answered, activated their side of the comm. “Where are you?”

“Don’t worry. We’ll be back soon,” Ezra replied.

“Well, good. We need to start preparations,” Ryder replied.

“Oh, and just a heads up. We made some new friends, so don’t freak out when you see a bunch of wolves headed toward you. That’s us,” Ezra warned.

“What!” Ryder and a few others exclaimed.

“See you soon!” Ezra said, before shutting off his comm.

“What’s going on?” Jai Kell asked.

“I don’t think we’ll find out until they get back,” Kasmir said.

“When will that be?” Mart Mattin asked.

“Incoming!” Wolffe announced.

Sure enough, a pack of Lothwolves was running towards them. As the wolves got closer they could see people on their backs. Soon they realised it was the Ghost crew.

“What the...” Kallus mumbled.

“We’re back!” Ezra announced, as the wolves the Ghost crew were riding came up to the rest of the group. The wolf Ezra was riding had Chopper in its mouth and started putting him down, as the droid protested being carried in their mouth.

“Where’ve you been?” Ryder asked, crossing his arms over his chest.

“It’s a long story,” Kanan said as he dismounted from the white wolf and reached up to help Hera, who had been riding with him, down.

A brown-haired woman in her fifties hopped off one of the other wolves. She smiled at everyone. “We’re here to help,” she said, referring to herself and the wolves.

“Who are you?” Mart asked.

“Rebekka Dume,” the woman answered.

Everyone gasped. While the Ghost crew was gone, everyone had been filled in on why the white wolf said ‘Dume’ and how it connected to Kanan.

“Is she...?” Kasmir started to ask.

“Yes, she’s Kanan’s mother,” Ezra answered. “She lives with the Lothwolves and they’re all gonna fight with us,”

Gregor nudged Wolffe with his elbow excitedly. “Wolffe, looks like you have your wolf pack back! ehh?”

“Yeah,” Wolffe agreed, though his eyes never left Rebekka’s face.

Zeb and Sabine had dismounted from their wolf and had gathered with the others standing in front of the wolves.

“Alright then,” Ryder said. “Come on. It’s time to prepare for our mission,”

The wolf pack followed everyone further into the base, where they started to prepare their weapons.

“Do you know how to use a blaster?” Rex asked Rebekka as he handed her one.

“Yes, but it’s been years since I last used one,” Rebekka answered, inspecting the blaster. “I may need a refresher course,”

“I’ll teach you,” Wolffe volunteered, perhaps a little too quickly.

“Everyone here should be prepared to use a blaster on this mission,” he justified.

Rebekka smiled at him. “Thank you,”

They smiled at each other for a moment before Wolffe cleared his throat.

“We should probably start now,” Wolffe suggested. “There’s an area over there where we can practice,” He pointed off to his left, where a rock spire hid a clearing from view.

Rebekka nodded. “Okay, lead the way,”

Wolffe and Rebekka went off with blasters in hand.

“I didn’t catch your name,” Rebekka said as they walked off.

Wolffe chuckled. “You’re probably not gonna believe me,” he replied. “My name’s Wolffe. I’m an old clone trooper,”

“Oh,” Rebekka said. Then she laughed.

The others went on with preparations. They could hear blaster shots in the distance as Rebekka and Wolffe went over their blaster refresher course. Occasionally they would hear Rebekka shriek in triumph, presumably because she hit the target Wolffe had set out for her.

While they were preparing for their mission, the lothwolves remained near them. Some were lying down nearby, Maica was sitting near the rock spire that separated Rebekka and Wolffe from the rest of the group, Teman and Sora hung out near Kanan, and Ashla watched everyone like some sort of benevolent god overseeing his people.

At one point, Sora shifted and swung her tail so it hit Vizago in the face, making him stumble back in surprise and annoyance.

“Why did I ever get involved with you Rebels?” Vizago grumbled.

“Because we’re incredibly persuasive,” Kanan answered.

Songs used were “Something Wild” by Lindsey Stirling and “You’ll Be in My Heart” from Disney’s Tarzan, written by Phil Collins.

[tarisilmarwen]

Splinters: Sleep Aid

(I’ll be honest, this chapter was mostly just done for the ship tease.  Guess I can finally cross off the “Bed Sharing” trope from the bucket list.)

---

Clatter!

Sabine's head jerked up, startled, as several ration canisters spilled off the hoverlift that Ezra was pushing. He tripped over one, stumbled, shaking his head as if jolting himself back to attention, and hastily began to gather them back up.

She put her datapad down on the crate with a frown. Ezra could be uncoordinated at times but this was the third time he'd tripped over his own feet within the past ten minutes. That was clumsy even for him.

Sabine got up from her stool and crossed the landing field over to him.

"You want any help with those?" she asked.

"Nah, I got 'em," he replied, sending her a smile, but Sabine could see that it was tired, pinched, faltering under the heavy bags under his eyes.

She stopped him, grabbing onto one of his wrists. She looked him up and down, noting the wrinkles in his clothes, the worn lines on his face, the slight sway in his balance. Her eyes softened with concern.

"All right, fess up," she demanded, folding her arms over her chest. "Are you getting any sleep at night?"

Ezra grimaced. "Not enough," he answered. His eyes tightened with embarrassment. "You can tell?"

"Ezra, you're practically falling over where you stand," she pointed out, gently exasperated. Her voice dropping quieter, she touched a hand to his arm. "Is it nightmares?" she asked.

He made an uncomfortable half-shrug. "Sometimes. Most of the time it's—" He broke off, his face turning away. Sabine waited for him to continue but he didn't.

"It's... what?" she prompted after a moment.

"Nothing. I'm fine," he insisted, suddenly closed off, shrugging off her hand, his own gripping the handlebar of the hoverlift and nudging it in the other direction.

"Ezra..." Sabine sighed.

He stopped trying to roll the lift away, his shoulders slumping with exhaustion. He turned back to her, expression sober.

"You know that place, right between waking and sleeping? When you relax and your thoughts start to get fuzzy and confused and you're sort of half-dreaming but not really asleep yet?" he explained.

Sabine nodded.

Ezra took in a deep, shuddering breath. "I hate... I hate feeling that," he said. He shook his head. "I can't sleep unless I'm out right away. It just..." His voice dropped almost to a whisper, quiet and wavering. "It feels like it did when I was drugged."

Sabine's heart panged with concern, recalling the haze Ezra had seemed to be coming out of when she'd first been able to see him after the incident, recalling Dr. Leslynn's muttered grumble about the excessive amount of serums and toxins in his bloodstream. It had taken a full day and a half for everything to purge from his system. He'd been mostly coherent, at least with her, but ever so slightly... off. She could only imagine how much worse it must have been with the full force of the drugs running through him.

"Is that why you've been working yourself so hard?" she asked.

"Trying to exhaust myself." Ezra nodded. "Yeah."

Sabine stepped back, both hands fisting on her hips. "Well you can't keep going like this," she told him. "You're going to give yourself a heart attack. If you don't collapse from sleep deprivation first." Concern took over again, beaming from her eyes. "Isn't there something else that works?"

Ezra thought for a moment, then replied, "Smells."

"Smells?" Sabine repeated.

"Familiar ones. Un-Imperial smells," Ezra clarified. "Hera's spicy caf. The jungle. Zeb."

That last one made her raise an amused eyebrow. "Really?" she asked.

Ezra grinned cheekily. "Yeah turns out Lasat stink is pretty soothing." He turned his head slightly, coughing awkwardly into his fist and muttering his next words as if they embarrassed him. "Your paint works pretty good too," he said.

Sabine's mouth twisted. "I hope you haven't been huffing my paint for a sleep aid," she said, vaguely alarmed.

"Just a little," he kidded. He took hold of the handlebars of the lift again. "I'll be all right, Sabine. I just need to finish putting these away and then I'll sit down, I promise."

"I'll come with you," Sabine volunteered. She cracked a smile as she moved up next to him, brushing arms as she grasped one of the handles. "Make sure you don't swoon over the ration bars," she teased.

Ezra rolled his eyes, but allowed her to help him, pushing the hoverlift along to its destination.

***

She watched him carefully the rest of the day, not always right next to him, but never straying too far, keeping him within her sights. Ezra didn't push himself, making sure to take breaks between tasks, but he didn't stop working either. Every time Sabine saw him beginning to nod off, beginning to close his eyes and slump in place, he would start, shake himself, and get up to do something else, busy himself with another job. Sabine's frown grew deeper and deeper, but she kept her distance, tried to give him space to take care of himself on his own.

She should have remembered how stubborn he could be.

Dusk fell and night came and hours later he was still up, moving around the base as if afraid to stay in one place. He was barely coordinated and every movement was sluggish, but he still refused to return to the Ghost.

When she caught him spilling fuel around the top of the canister he was filling, she'd had enough.

"This is ridiculous," she muttered, striding under and past X-wings to go grab him by the wrist. "All right Ezra, enough," she told him sternly.

He stumbled, dropping the refuel hose as he was yanked the other direction. "Wha—? Sabine?" came his befuddled response.

"Back to the Ghost. Now. No negotiations," Sabine ordered.

"But—" Ezra protested weakly as she dragged him along.

***

Zeb had only been settled in for a few minutes when his ears pricked up, catching the sound of Sabine and Ezra's voices coming down the hall.

He craned his head up from the bed, listening. The two teens appeared to be having an argument. Their voices grew clearer as they rounded the doorframe, Sabine striding in purposefully and leading an awkwardly embarrassed Ezra by the wrist.

He tugged weakly on her grip, expression flustered. "Sabine I don't think —"

"You said the smell of my paint helps relax you," she interrupted. She released his wrist, gesturing towards the bunks. "I figure this is safer than letting you sniff my aerosol cans."

His face wrinkled. He made no move towards the ladder.

"Are you sure about—?" he tried to protest.

Sabine stopped him with a pair of firm hands on his shoulders. "Ezra, you need," she emphasized, "to sleep." She turned him to face the bunks with a small push. "And I'm going to make sure you do even if I have to handcuff us together," she warned him.

Ezra looked reluctantly one last time towards his bunk before giving in with a sigh and moving to climb up the ladder.

Vaguely amused, Zeb sat up. "What's this now?" he asked as he stood.

"Ezra's been having sleep troubles," Sabine explained, sounding almost offended by the fact.

"'kay. I knew that part," Zeb nodded. "But why are you here?"

Sabine started ascending the ladder herself, looking back over her shoulder to reply. "Sensory input. I'm helping him relax and keep his mind grounded."

Zeb raised an eyebrow. "By getting in the bed with him?"

From on the bunk Ezra turned to appeal to his roommate, mortified and pleading. "Zeb, please tell her I don't need this," he begged.

"I dunno, kid," Zeb mused, stroking his beard as he took in Ezra's haggard condition. "Ya look awful. I think a good night's sleep'll do you wonders." More seriously, eyes narrowing with just a little bit of disapproval, he added, "An' I thought I told you to wake me up if you needed help settling down."

Ezra dropped his eyes uncomfortably, mumbling towards the floor. "I didn't want to bother you."

Zeb sighed in aggravation, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Kid... You know that doesn't help anything."

The boy made a sound of frustration as he looked up again, trembling. "Zeb I don't... I can't..."

Soft hands found their way to his shoulders again as Sabine turned him towards her, looking him square in the face. "Please Ezra," she said. Her eyes radiated worry. "I can't watch you falling over from exhaustion. I know you're afraid. But I'm here for you. We both are. Please just sleep," she begged. "For me."

Ezra quietly absorbed her words. She could feel tension in his shoulders and could see the uncertainty in his eyes. He was still trembling, ever so slightly.

But finally he gave a shaky exhale.

"...Okay," he said quietly. He shifted backwards on the bunk, moving self-consciously, eyes averted. "Um... go ahead and make yourself comfortable then."

Sabine settled herself down next to him carefully, trying not to make it too awkward. Her arms reached out, wrapped around his head and shoulders. The warmth of her body seeped into him through their contact. Ezra's heart thudded loudly in his chest, drowning out the ringing static in the back of his head that he'd been dreading to face all day. He was glad the darkness masked the flush on his face.

She moved a fraction closer, adjusting her hip so the blaster on her belt wouldn't poke her. She felt Ezra trying to release the anxiety in his limbs, and moved a hand around behind his back encouragingly.

Zeb watched them both with a puzzled stare.

"...Does Kanan know you're trying out this kind of 'therapy'?" he asked.

Sabine blanched a moment.

"Kanan's on a supply run mission for the next two weeks," she heard herself sputtering out nervously. "What he doesn't know won't hurt him."

Zeb chuckled.

Sabine scowled, brows narrowing furiously. "Seriously Zeb, don't you dare breathe a word of this," she hissed.

"My lips are sealed," he promised, swiveling around and climbing back into his own bunk.

Metal creaked and groaned and then fell silent.

Sabine focused back on Ezra. His blue eyes looked straight ahead into hers, wavering. The tension she felt in his back was beginning to loosen, but he was still shaking.

She offered up a smile. "It's okay. Remember, I'm right here," she told him softly.

"Mmm." He adjusted an arm, shifting his head on the mattress as he tried to settle.

He focused on breathing, on listening to the ambient sounds of the ship. The quiet. Sabine's gentle embrace. Her warmth.

He inhaled slowly.

Paint.

He breathed out in relief, relaxing. Slowly, his eyes drifted closed. The warmth and the safe, chemical fragrance enveloped him like a soft blanket. It was... soothing. He felt... like he could...

Sabine kept him cradled to her breastplate until she heard the steady rise and fall of his chest. His breathing grew deeper and deeper, settling into a soft pattern. Only then did she let out her own tensions.

He was asleep, finally. Thank the stars.

She supposed, technically, that she could get up now, get down from the bunk and let him be, but she wasn't about to move. Ezra needed this, he needed her, and she was determined to be there with him until morning.

It was the least she could do.

"I'm sorry," she whispered at his sleeping face. "I'm sorry I wasn't there. But I'm here now."

She pressed his forehead into her collar, holding on tightly.

"I'm here now."

---

Chapter notes!

1. Ezra has graduated from not being able to sleep to actively avoiding going to sleep. He's definitely gonna be an insomniac before the end of this, lol.

2. Dr. Leslynn in a OC Rebel medic who appeared before in "Cracks In The Mirror". She'll feature again a couple times and be mentioned here and there by other characters.

3. As it turns out, Zeb is not the only one who partially blames themselves for what happened to Ezra. Sabine, too, has some Strong Feelings about that. (Insert however many shippy jokes you please.)

[zareleonis]

My Star Wars Top 10 of 2018

This year I fell massively in love with Star Wars, learned more about a galaxy far, far away that I ever expected and started this blog, first to liveblog Star Wars Rebels, and later to share my thoughts on whatever new (and old!) Star Wars media I came across. In honor of what, in my mind, was a really fun year for Star Wars, I wanted to share my top 10 list of my favorite Star Wars things that came out this year, across different kinds of media. Read more because it’s really long :P

Honorable Mention: Flight of the Falcon multimedia series (by multiple authors and artists)

Okay, if I’m honest, this gets honorable mention spot, mostly because I felt like putting it in top 10 when it’s really a BUNCH of comics and books would be totally cheating :P One of the more fun things to come out of Solo: A Star Wars Story, this series of loosely connected books and comics whose main connecting factor is the Millennium Falcon (and Bazine Netal’s hunt for it!) is an absolute joy. Cavan Scott knocks it out of the park with the ridiculously fun Choose Your Destiny: A Luke and Leia Adventure. IDW Comics does what’s it does best by bringing together some exciting and unexpected pairs of characters for the last couple months of Star Wars Adventures. In Lando’s Luck Justina Ireland gave us the coolest darn Princess in Star Wars since Leia, Rinetta Gan. And they’re not even done yet, with 2 more comics and Pirate’s Price left to go!

10. Star Wars: Scum and Villainy: Case Files on the Galaxy’s Most Notorious by Pablo Hidalgo

What an awesome and fun book! So much great art, and Pablo Hidalgo always gives 100% with his work. It’s such a creative concept, following Tan Divo and and his descendants, as they report on the criminals and rebels of their day. I completely geeked out over how it gave soooo much neat new information about characters and organizations from ALL OVER the Star Wars universe. It’s an absolute blast!

9. Solo: A Star Wars Story: Tales from Vandor by Jason Fry

This book is AMAZING. Even among the “replica journal” style books that Studio Fun puts out, it stands out as super unique, written from the point of view of the Midnight, the bartender at The Lodge on Vandor (where Han meets Lando), as if he is telling the story to a guest. It’s such a fun outsider’s point of view of Han and the other characters of Solo. The best part though, is the parts of the book that are just a shameless love letter to Star Wars Legends, with nods to stuff like The Wookiee Storybook, LEGO Star Wars: The Padawan Menace and several novels. Jason Fry’s love for the franchise really shines through.

8. Star Wars: Poe Dameron by Charles Soule and penciller Angel Unzueta

This year we said a bittersweet goodbye to Marvel’s monthly Star Wars: Poe Dameron and goodness gracious it was good. Between the Legend Found arc that was to be the original ending and the final The Awakening arc, where Black Squadron is reunited after The Last Jedi, this comic really touched my heart. The last couple pages of issues 25 and 31 still make me cry. :’)

7. Solo: A Star Wars Story directed by Ron Howard and screenplay by Lawrence and Jon Kasdan

THIS MOVIE IS CRIMINALLY UNDERRATED AND I’M MAD AT EVERYONE WHO LET IT FLOP. I’ll admit I wasn’t exactly desperate for a Han Solo Backstory Movie, but Solo was just AWESOME. Just some good, raw, Star Wars-y fun that you can’t help but smile the whole way through. It might not be groundbreaking, but it introduced some super cool characters in L3-37, Qi’ra and Enfys Nest, gave us Maul’s grand triumphant return to the public at large and has INCREDIBLY charming performances by Alden Ehrenreich and Donald Glover as the Han and Lando we all come to love.

6. The Mighty Chewbacca in the Forest of Fear! by Tom Angleberger

If Solo, is good, this kid’s book written to accompany it is even better. I mean, Chewbacca meets K-2SO meets Tooka cats meets teenage bounty hunter/librarian?? On a planet with scary monsters and a spooky evil Force user? Also Cassian is there?? And the daughter of This Funny Hat Dude from Return of the Jedi? Hell yeah!!!!!

The book is hysterical, ridiculously fun and I can’t recommend it enough. I just have to say if you do get it, try and grab the audiobook it’s got a full cast of voices for the main characters including Marc Thompson giving his best Shyriiwook as Chewbacca. I laughed so hard I cried at the narration and a K-2SO’s lines done out loud. You won’t regret it!

5. Star Wars: Women of the Galaxy by Amy Ratcliffe and eighteen awesome artists!

THIS is one of the coolest Star Wars books out there and a celebration of all the women we know and love (and sometimes hate) in a galaxy far, far away. It’s such a wonderful collaboration, created by all women (& non-binary) artists and author. I love that it’s got characters from practically everything—movies, books, comics, video games, you name it! We even got to see characters like Jas Emari for the first time which makes me SO HAPPY. it’s one of the books I come back to all the time just to flip through it and enjoy the illustrations.

4. Star Wars Resistance created by Dave Filoni and executive produced by Athena Yvette Portillo, Justin Ridge, and Brandon Auman

I LOVE RESISTANCE SO MUCH!! I didn’t quiiite know what to expect with the new animated series, but was super excited and it hasn’t disappointed one bit. It’s such a fun show and really enjoyable to have a Star Wars show that is almost just ‘slice of life’ compared to the others. The animation is so cool to me and the characters really cute. I’m ridiculously charmed by all of them, especially our main man Kazuda Xiono and really hyped to see where these characters go. It’s more happy and fun than anything, but I know it will break my heart to pieces soon enough (KAZUDA XIONO. HOME PLANET: HOSNIAN PRIME). I hope more people give it a chance because it really is awesome!

3. Star Wars Adventures: Tales from Vader's Castle by Cavan Scott and various artists

LET THIS BE MY LOVE LETTER TO CAVAN SCOTT AND ALL THE COOL AND AWESOME STUFF HE’S DONE WITH THE STAR WARS UNIVERSE!! I was soooo excited when these came out because it’s such an AWESOME idea, I mean? Star Wars Horror story one-shots connected by a wider plot??? YES PLEASE AND THANK YOU. Doubly so when they star Lina Graf, of the Adventures in Wild Space series by Cavan Scott and Tom Huddleston. I was soooo excited to see her again and it’s amazing to see how she’s grown from a young kid to a brave and capable pilot and Commander in the Rebellion.

Then the individual stories are just awesome. It was a joy to see Kanan and Hera back together again after Rebels (or, well, pre-Rebels). The Dooku story was just amazing and such an enthusiastic tribute to Christopher Lee as Dracula. The Frozen inspired Han and Chewie story was also pretty great and I LOVE that it referenced the events of The Mighty Chewbacca in the Forest of Fear! And, my personal favorite story, the spooky ewok story featuring a young Chief Chirpa and Logray was brilliant and I enjoyed getting a closer first-hand look at ewoks (something we don’t have much of, at least in canon!). All in all just an absolute masterpiece in my book and a great reminder of why IDW Comics’ Star Wars stuff has been so freaking awesome.

2. Join the Resistance: Attack on Starkiller Base by Ben Blacker and Ben Acker and illustrated by Annie Wu

I’M BACK AT IT YELLING ABOUT WHY MORE PEOPLE NEED TO CARE ABOUT THESE WONDERFUL, CHARMING LITTLE KIDS’ BOOKS!! This was such a perfect end to the J-Squadron kids’ story. To me, this series is such a hidden gem and I really hope more people give it a chance. It was wonderful how all the characters’ stories closed out. I loved seeing Jo finally openly defy his parents, Mattis putting his faith in the Force and his friends, the return of Klimo, AG-90 and Dec fighting as brothers but growing stronger for it, and Lorica becoming the hero everybody thought she was. There’s so many fun cameos, from Rey, to Hux to Poe and Black Squadron, with the backdrop of the actual climactic battle in The Force Awakens.

And, one thing I really want to talk about that I love, is how the book (in tandem with the first two) give us the first gay character in a Star Wars kids book, with Dec Hansen. I wish they could’ve said it a bit more explicitly, but we actually got the kid and his friends talking about it in the books? And, with most of the LGBT characters falling more on the “scum and villainy” circles of the galaxy, it’s so refreshing to see a brave and unambiguously heroic gay teenage starfighter pilot trainee. Like, holy shit that actually happened!!!! ANYWAYS READ THIS SERIES I LOVE THEM AND YOU SHOULD TOO.

Oh, also, Annie Wu’s illustrations are AWESOME and I hope she does more Star Wars stuff (Pirate’s Price, out in a week!)

1. Star Wars Rebels created by Dave Filoni, Simon Kinberg and Carrie Beck

I don’t think there’s way I could place anything but Rebels at #1. This show changed my life in so many ways and I’m just. ridiculously thankful it exists. without Rebels, I wouldn’t have this blog, I wouldn’t be up to my ears obsessed with Star Wars and I there’s so many friends I wouldn’t have either. It’s touched my heart in a way that.... gosh I don’t know if I can even think about anything that resonates with me quite in the way Star Wars Rebels has. Pretty sure most if not all of my followers have seen Rebels, haha, but if you haven’t. You won’t regret it. Well, you might. It hurts. I hate to say, but it does. But even if the end destination leaves you heartbroken and uh prone to randomly bursting into tears about it, you will never regret the journey. Everything I learned and experienced with Ezra, Kanan, Hera, Sabine, Zeb and Chopper is beyond precious to me and I’m thankful it exists because it made my year in so many ways.

[rey-skywalkin-away]

Kanera Fix-It Fic I was Talking About

Y’all thought I was joking when I said I had 3000 words of a fic all lined up to fix this, right? GUESS AGAIN. 4117 WORDS. I had to delete 90% of my original 3000 words and re-write it just now to conform to what happened in the midseason premiere, and it took me four hours, but I did it! Anyway, I put myself into the queue to make an archiveofourown account, but that’ll take a month to activate, so until then, I’ll just post this chapter-by-chapter on here. I got part 1 done tonight, and it might be a few days before chapter 2: I have college life and work that’s going to be occupying my time this week. But I’m not abandoning this. I am FUELED BY PAIN. 

@secrettunnelyeah you’ve been losing your shit with me, so I hope this helps. @fluffyapplecat thanks for all your support! @commoner64 because you said “please””.  @blueboxdrifter you expressed support for this a few weeks ago, so here you go! @brickhawk you gotta help read this shit before the next chapter. I can’t post again without a second opinion.

Um, I hope you all enjoy.

Fair warning to everyone else: this is my first time posting any kind of story online, and it’s as rough as any story can be. I normally spend time editing my chapters, as any writer should, but I was just hammering it out as fast as I could to a) get it done before I fell asleep and b) to give you all a little hope after this agonizing premiere. So I’m sorry if it’s full of errors that I’m too tired to edit right now, and that the format under the cut is kind of wonky. I’m not entirely happy with the content, either–it’s kind of melodramatic and rushed for my taste, but I’m running off pure emotion right now. Hopefully I’ll find time to edit it before I before I post it on Archive. The chapter and some explanations for various things are down below. Happy readings, and everyone be okay out there!

*Writer’s Notes*

First off, I had literally 20 ideas for how Kanan would survive this premiere, and I had “explosion” down for two of them. Here, he survives by basically copying Ahsoka during her fight with the Inquisitors and Force-clapping backwards into Hera’s arms. He gets burned up and spends 3 weeks recovering in a bacta tank. No one’s going into much detail about it in the story, because they don’t want to re-imagine it all over again, but that’s what I was envisioning happening.

Second, Kanan is still blind: him getting to see Hera before he died was painful and sweet, but I honestly felt he had a lot of growth because of his injury, and it needed to stay. (And disability representation is important).

Third, I can’t start calling him “Caleb Dume”, guys, I’m sorry! I’ve spent four years calling him Kanan, and I can’t get into the habit of calling him Caleb.

Fourth, his beard and ponytail are coming back.

Fifth, I have a very large, multi-fandom, decades-long (in-universe) fanfiction world that I’m always playing with and developing to further my own writing prowess, character development, and storytelling skills. I’m going to make references to that multi-fandom work in this story (not a lot, but if there are moments where you’re thinking “where did that come from? I don’t remember that in the show or comics”, well, it might be from the multi-fandom). I’m including this story in my collection of works, and I don’t feel like editing it all over again just to include references to it. So you should all be able to follow what’s going on, but there might be a few odd moments. 

————————————–

Chapter 1

         Hera checked her calendar again, counting down days and weeks and making notes as she went. Nine weeks ago…captured. Eight-and-a-half weeks ago…rescued. Five weeks ago, we…and four weeks ago…well, I’m now very late. I should’ve started another cycle by now. And on a regular diet for over eight weeks, with additional nutritional supplements to get back to full strength after confinement. And we’re hardier than humans; we don’t get so out of sync after missing a few meals and getting a few electric shocks. So that shouldn’t explain why I’m late. She then checked her star charts for any habitable systems nearby, and winced when there weren’t any. Should I divert our flight path to go to the nearest star system just to buy a test? No, we’re fine on other supplies, and everyone will ask questions as to why I think we need to make a stop. She would’ve killed for a certified medical droid onboard her ship in that moment, but she was out of luck. They’d left the medical system on that nameless little asteroid five weeks ago now, and they were back to their own devices out in space. Great. Just great. Gonna have to go on instinct this time. And she wasn’t liking what she was coming up with.

           Hera opened her mouth to say the word out loud, but couldn’t do it. Pregnant. You’re pregnant. You’re four weeks late, and your idiot self didn’t want to think about protection after you were saved by Kanan and the others. And after what nearly happened to Kanan…

           After her rescue, after telling Kanan that she loved him, after he nearly died and had to spend three weeks in a bacta tank, the minute he’d showered off and went to his own bunk to be alone, she’d slipped into his room and reiterated her love for him. Free of drugs and pain, she’d finally broken down for once in her karking life and loved him, not as a general, or a pilot, or a freedom fighter. Just him and her, together, as it should always be. To remind herself that he’d been blasted back into her arms instead of dying in the fuel explosion, that he’d survived three flatlines before they could find him a bacta tank. That he’d eventually woken up and immediately began to listen for the sound of her voice. And afterwards, curled up in each other’s arms, she’d whispered that, now that his beard had grown back and his hair was beginning to return, he’d better keep it that way. Kanan had laughed, but they’d clutched each other in the semidarkess and just listened to each other breathe. No, of course you weren’t thinking clearly. He needed you, and you needed him. But look what came of it.

           Hera rubbed the corners of her eyes and tried to think past the rising panic in her gut. What am I going to do about this? Pills? A clinic visit? Which is cheapest? What’s safest and gets me back into the pilot’s seat without anyone noticing something was wrong? She thought back to the pamphlets and medical texts she’d memorized when she’d left Ryloth to strike out on her own in the galaxy. Twi’leks were always targeted anywhere one went in the galaxy, and she’d prepared herself for what to do if she was attacked and how to handle any possible outcome. But thinking about the next few steps right now made Hera’s heart hurt. A few years ago, this would’ve been an easy decision for her. Three months ago, she wouldn’t have hesitated. Today…

           Hera knew why she was conflicted. Will there ever be a tomorrow? We got lucky this time—will I be next? Or will the Force finally decide to call Kanan back to wherever it is Jedi go when they die? Will there ever be a second chance for us to conceive? She hadn’t given much thought to the end of the war, to her future, but sitting next to Kanan’s bacta tank and listening to his pulse monitor for several hours a day had broken something inside her, and she’d begun to think. A mild, deserted little planet. Not dry and harsh like Ryloth. Someplace cool and wet and green. A little home, with rooms for the rest of the family. Sabine can paint the family room with murals of our adventures. Maybe little tookas frolicking on the baby’s nursery walls. Zeb can carve us furniture with all the designs of Lasat that he’s lost. Whatever he can remember. Ezra…he can have a real bed, not a bunk. And a home-cooked meal that didn’t come out of a ration pack. When was the last time he had one of those? Chopper can have a nice oil bath and shut down without worrying that we’ll wake him up for an emergency. And our baby will run in the grass and will never know war, and…

           Hera swallowed back tears and controlled her emotions. You’re dreaming again, Hera Syndulla. It’s one thing to admit your feelings for Kanan and finally be open in your relationship, and it’s another thing to abandon the rest of the galaxy to pursue your selfish dream. How many people want the same dream as you? How many people have the skills and resources to make that dream come true for everyone else that can’t help themselves? Your little fantasy will have to wait. Get rid of this and get back to work.

           Her heart broke as she made up her mind, and a sudden fatigue overcame her. Raw emotion? Something related to the pregnancy? She knew nothing about pregnancy, come to think of it. Or how to be a mother. What makes you think you have time to learn? Especially now? You aren’t ready for this. You know what you have to do.

           Hera wearily glanced at her chrono. A few hours until your shift. When I’m back in the pilot’s seat, I can tell the others I’ve got nerve damage from torture, and that I need to see a specialist somewhere. Maybe I could say we all deserve a treat after what we’ve all been through. She shuffled to her dresser and opened the secret panel on the side to check how many credits she had left in her emergency fund. Enough for the procedure and a little left over for the others. This could work. Damn it. This’ll have to do. There will be other opportunities, Hera. Just have hope.

           But it could wait. The fatigue was seeping throughout her body, fogging up her mind and turning her limbs to jelly. A few hours to nap, and then it’ll be time to call everyone. In twenty-four hours, this will all be over. A few tears blurred her eyes, and she roughly wiped them away. Either get out all the sorrow now, or sleep and cry afterwards. Hera chose the latter, and she barely made it to her bunk before she collapsed on top of the covers and sank into a deep, misery-filled slumber.

———————————-

           It only felt like a few minutes had passed before Hera was startled out of her uneasy sleep. “Who is it?” She rasped. She groggily sat up and wrapped a blanket around her shoulders.

           “Hera? It’s me.” Hera shivered at the sound of his voice. Every word that he spoke seemed like a precious gift after what nearly happened. But now, after what she’d finally admitted to herself, he was the last person she wanted to see right now. Or, maybe she needed him most. Can he feel it? In the Force? Does he already know? Does he know what I’m planning to do?

           “Kanan.” Her voice caught in her throat, and she couldn’t keep going.

           “Can I come in? Please?”

           Hera hesitated. Either you don’t tell him now, and you don’t involve him at all, or he knows what you’re planning to do. Could she do it alone? Without him? She didn’t know if it would be more painful to involve him, or to never let him know what could have been.

           But Hera had made a commitment to Kanan when she’d told him she loved him, and there was no backing out of that commitment now, no matter how she’d chosen to handle her pregnancy. “Come in,” she whispered.

           Kanan was framed in the light of the hall for only a second before he shut the door and crossed the distance to her bunk. He sat down next to her, his hands automatically wrapping around her shoulders; he froze when his hands met the rough fabric of her blanket. “Hera? What’s going on? Are you ill?”

           Not in the way that you’re thinking, but yes. “What makes you say that?”

           “Well, I…” He hesitated. “I know it’s getting pretty old for me to say it, but I feel a…disturbance in the Force. Around you.”

           Hera tensed up. Oh karabast. He knows. “Tell me what you feel.” In their first years together on the Ghost, if they had time to rest, they’d park the ship in the first meadow they could find. Stretched out on the hull, in the light of the stars above, Kanan would describe the world to her as he felt it in the Force. A web connecting all living things, from the deadly dance of predator and prey in the grasses below them, the cries of the plants as they cried out for rain, jostled to and fro by the silent paws of some canid beast, to the needy, incessant hunger of newborn chicks in the trees at the edge of the meadow…

           This time, she couldn’t control her tears, and Kanan’s fingers were immediately brushing them away from the corners of her eyes as soon as she sucked in a strangled breath of air. “I feel…you’re so unhappy. You’re full of…pain, and despair. Hera, I don’t understand. Why do you feel like you’re losing something?”

           He doesn’t know. Oh stars, if there was only another way…But there wasn’t. She gently took one of his hands away from her face and held it in her own. “You can’t understand because you’re looking in the wrong place.”

           Kanan cocked his head. “What do you mean?”

           “You’re looking into my mind…” She held his hand up, paused, and pressed his fingers against the still-flat skin of her lower torso. “Try feeling here, and you’ll know why I’m so conflicted.”

           Hera wasn’t sure if he felt something in the Force or if he immediately understood her implication. “Hera–!”

           “Only five weeks,” she whispered. “I wasn’t assaulted in prison, so I definitely know it’s yours. And I know the date of conception. But only five weeks. Not that far along, really…” She trailed off as she noticed Kanan’s face shutting down, closing off all emotion. Oh no. She waited a few moments to allow him to process the news, to say something, anything, but he didn’t. “Kanan? Luv? Tell me—what’s going through your head right now?”

           He coughed. “Do you have any water?”

           “I—uh—yes. There’s a pitcher and some cups on the dresser. To the left of my ‘fresher.” He nearly banged his head on the top of the bunk as he stood up and held out his hand to feel his way along. “No, your left.”

           He bumped against the edge of the dresser and winced. “Do you want any?”

           This was definitely not the reaction she was expecting. “…sure. I guess.”

           Kanan poured two cups of water, spilling what seemed like half the jug before he was done. Hera took the cup from him so he could have a free hand to feel his way back to her side without hurting himself further. She sipped her water while he chugged his straight down and tossed the cup aside. “Kanan. Please. Talk to me.”

           He sighed. “I don’t…I don’t know where to begin.”

           “I don’t either. But we have to start somewhere.”

           “Well then…I suppose…did you ever want to be a mother?”

           Hera sat down her cup and wrapped the blanket tighter around herself. “I wasn’t lying when I told you that I hadn’t given much thought about my future after the war. But I started thinking about it when you nearly died.”

           Kanan’s breath came in a soft, weak gasp, and he pulled Hera into his arms. She melted into his embrace and felt his trembling. At least he doesn’t hate me. And he knows me well enough to know what my feelings are on this. Somehow, she allowed herself to speak about her dream life after the war: their quiet home together, the rooms for the rest of the family, their child playing in the yard outside. She felt his tears begin to run down his cheeks and drip on top of her lekku, and she knew that he could feel her sorrow in the Force.

           “You know,” he said slowly. “I hadn’t thought much about kids, either. But I started thinking about them more when we found the others. Especially Ezra. We’re like their parents already, aren’t we?”

           Hera chuckled, in spite of her pain. “We definitely are.”

           “And I started to think…it wouldn’t be so bad, to do it all over again. But with a baby of our own…”

           Hera closed her eyes and pressed herself against his chest. “But…?”

           Kanan swallowed; she could feel the effort it took him. “But I know you. And whatever you choose to do, no matter my feelings…I’ll support your decision. You’re the pregnant one, after all. You’re the one at risk. Its—it’s up to you.”

           “What are your feelings, Kanan?”

           “They don’t matter.”

           Hera sat back and cupped his face in her hands. “Yes, they do. I love you Kanan, and I wouldn’t have told you about this if I didn’t want to involve you, no matter what. So please, tell me your honest, true feelings.”

           “Honestly…I’d love nothing more than to have a baby with you. I don’t know when we’d get another chance, with the war…”

           Hera sobbed, half with relief and love, half with pain. “This damn war. It poisons everything it touches, including us. Our futures…”

           Kanan started to cry again. “I know you. And I know what you want to do. I know it already.”

           “I want this baby, too, but I don’t know how we’d make time. We can’t have a baby here, on the Ghost. It would be cruel just to bring it into the world and have it blow up with us in battle. Or die from some sickness.” Everyone knew babies didn’t thrive in prolonged periods in space. “And we can’t send it to my father; you know how dangerous it is on Ryloth.” She’d told him about her brother before, and he nodded. She started to cry again, and they held each other for long, painful minutes. Stang, I don’t want to do this. But I have to. What other choice do I have? I can’t leave the war. Not while others suffer. But at least I won’t have to do this alone.

           But, for some reason, she felt tension in Kanan’s arms. Hera pulled back again. “What is it?” Why do you look so…guilty?

           “We could leave the Rebellion and raise the baby together. Or get an abortion.” Hera made a sound of assent in the back of her throat. “Or…there’s another option.”

           “What are you talking about?”

           “What if I were to leave the Rebellion, maybe with Ezra, and the two of us raise the baby while you and the others keep fighting?”

           Hera gasped. “Leave? Are you serious?” Was he so upset about what happened at the fuel depot that he wants to run away?

           “I don’t know how to put this into words. When I was in the bacta tank, in the coma, I remembered something. Something from…right after Master Billaba died. I’d forgotten it until I was at the edge of death. I don’t remember what happened, but… I woke up with the sense that I was supposed to die at the fuel depot.” He choked on the last few words, and Hera couldn’t have spoken if she tried. “And I feel that, whatever happened in that blank in my memory as I was running away from her body, it saved me. Not…oh karabast, I don’t know how to explain it. But whatever it was, it gave me a feeling: that I needed to leave the conflict, or else I wouldn’t get a second chance to live. For some reason, Ezra’s been getting a weird feeling, too. Not quite the same as me, I don’t think, but he’s been hinting that we need to leave and do more Jedi work away from the rest of the group. Maybe something similar happened to him when he was younger. I don’t know. I haven’t been able to ask. But…”

           Hera stood up. “After everything that happened, you were just going to leave us?” Leave me? She couldn’t fault him for listening to his visions, but it stung, especially after she’d finally opened up and bared her soul to him for the first time in years. I give you my love and you leave. “Whatever happened to being careful about listening your visions? Or was that all just a bunch of Jedi nonsense you were feeding to Ezra? Hmm?”

           “Absolutely not. This feels completely different from a Force vision. Like…someone physically told me these things and blocked my memory. Not the Force. Not some cosmic energy. A person.”

           “So you’re going to run away because of some half-remembered whispers?”

           He felt for her hand and pulled her back onto the bunk. “Hera Syndulla, I love you. I love you more than I ever knew I was capable of loving someone. And I wouldn’t leave you and the others unless I was absolutely certain that this vision was something I needed to listen to. It’s going to kill me inside to do it, but I believe it’s what must be done if we want to survive. What if there are other Inquisitors out there? And what if Vader decides to end us once and for all, especially with what happened at the fuel depot? I’m stronger now, Ezra and I both are, but we couldn’t defeat him. And I couldn’t let the rest of you be put in jeopardy because you’ve got two Force-users leaving a trail for a Sith Lord to follow.”

           Hera squeezed his hand. Just a bit. “So…you’d leave? And raise the baby? Are you sure you could do it? With your blindness?”

           “Ezra could be my eyes and help out. And think about it: we could keep the house while you’re all away, and you could visit whenever you wanted, and keep fighting. And you’d know that there’d always be a home for you to return to, and the minute you wanted out of the fight, we’d be there, waiting for you.”

           Hera turned away. “Could you really do that? Wait at home while we risked our lives out on the battlefield?”

           Kanan sighed. “I’d be happiest if you were home with us. And I want to keep fighting, same as you. But if we could make some of your dream come true this way…I’d bow out.” His voice caught, and Hera suddenly realized how hard this all was for him. “Just…promise me one thing. Could you do that?”

           Hera took his hands again. “Ask me first.”

           “If this war keeps dragging on…will you consider finding a window of opportunity to leave? And be with us?”

           Could you do that? Leave the fight, even if it wasn’t over? But Kanan was sacrificing part of his happiness, too. He’d be worrying every day, watching their child, waiting for her to come home. And if she never did, all he’d have was their baby to remind himself of how happy they could’ve been. Hera reached over and cupped his cheek in her hand, her heart bursting with love for him. “Yes. I will consider it, Kanan, knowing that you’re waiting for me. You’re the only one who could make me leave this fight. You…and the baby.”

           Kanan sobbed with joy and pulled her into a crushing hug. They cried together again, but Hera’s joy was bittersweet. Why can’t I get to fully enjoy my dream? I want to be at home with Kanan and the baby. But I can’t. Not just yet.

           But this way, there was a chance to have that future, when there otherwise wouldn’t be. And Hera Syndulla’s life was never fair from the moment she was born; she knew it, and wasn’t one to dwell on it for long. Besides, there were much more wonderful things to think about. A baby. We’re having a baby. “If I don’t miscarry, that is,” she muttered to herself.

           Kanan frowned. “What was that?”

           Hera wiped her eyes and looked around to find some tissues for them both. “Sorry, thinking out loud.”

           “About miscarrying?”

           Hera found some tissues and grabbed them. She passed a few to Kanan and blew her nose. “Just…it would be awful for us to go to all this trouble just for me to miscarry after the stress of a fight.”

           “Hmm. You’re right. Maybe we could hang back for a while and do some logistics work. At least until you’re further along.”

           “I’m going to have to find a way to hide this pregnancy, Kanan. If Inquisitors are still out there, hunting down Force-sensitive children, they’ll come for our baby, I’m sure of it.” She paused. “Is there a chance the baby could be Force-sensitive?”

           Kanan blew his nose and she took it from him to throw in the trash. “I don’t know. There was a pretty big taboo about getting pregnant at the Temple, if you could imagine that. But I guess there’s a strong possibility of it.”

           “Then we’ll have to hide my pregnancy. No one can know about it. Well…maybe Mon Mothma. But she’s it, outside of the crew.”

           “I…oh damn, I think that means that I’ll have to fake my death. Ezra, too, if he comes along to help out.”

           Hera banged her head on the top of her bunk. “Ow! What?!”

           “Careful, careful—the baby—“

           “A bruised lek won’t kill the baby, Kanan. But faking your death—“

           “Well, that’s what we’ll have to do if we want to make sure we’re not tracked down. If everyone believes without a shadow of a doubt that we’re gone, no one will come looking for us. And your “grief” will give you an excuse to pull back for a few months, while you need to hide the bump.” Kanan suddenly moved off the bed and ran to the tiny ‘fresher.

           “Kanan!” But he waved her away, and she hung back, waiting until he was done vomiting. Then, she found a rag and wet it from the remaining water in the jug. She went over to Kanan, who was still slumped over the toilet. She pulled him away from the bowl and gently began wiping his face. “I’m the one who’s supposed to be getting morning sickness, remember?”

           He snorted, but let her keep tending him. “It’s just…we’re going to have to make sure everyone thinks, beyond a doubt, that we’re dead. And that means leaving no body— ” He turned around to retch again, but nothing came up. “And that means—fire, and explosions—“

           “Oh, Kanan…” She held him until the panic attack—or flashback, whatever it was—subsided, and he’d calmed down again. “We’ll find a way to make it work. A safe way. If there’s anyone who could do it, it would be Sabine.”

           “And how could I do that to Ezra? Put him at risk like that?”

           “Well, we have to tell him about the baby, first. We’ll have to tell everyone. But, for right now, let’s just go lie down.” She helped him to his feet and into her bed. They crawled under the covers together, and Hera settled comfortably into his arms. I don’t know how I lived without this for so long. This feels so right, to be here with him.

           Kanan’s eyes were drooping. “Don’t you have a shift soon?”

           Hera’s fatigue was setting in again. “I’ll just tell one of the others that I have a call to take from someone in Rebel command. They’ll understand. Or Chopper can take the shift.” She yawned and couldn’t keep her eyes open. “I’ll deal with it later.”

           They fell asleep, wary about the future, but both full to the brim with love for each other and the life beginning in Hera’s body.

—————————-

Okay, so I promise that this story is going to get happier, okay? There’s just a lot of depressing stuff that needs to be ironed out in this first chapter. It’s not going to be all sunshine and roses, but it will have a happy ending.

I also was originally going to have Kanan and Ezra faking their deaths by pretending to blow up when the rebels attacked a weapons supply store. They were going to dig tunnels underneath and be well-away before the explosion happened, but were going to pretend to be killed by the fire/explosion/falling debris. It hits so close to home in light of the midseason premiere that I don’t know if I can do it.

Or maybe I will. Because I’m kind of sadistic.

Also, the reference to Kanan being “warned” to escape is the reference to my multi-fandom story. There’s some Prisoner of Azkaban-level time travel shenanigans that go on, but it’s not “adult Kanan visits ‘lil Caleb”. It’s a lot more complicated and I don’t feel comfortable explaining it.

[kaliori]

Bookends, Part 6C

[Aka I wrote that note saying “idk when I can write again” and then I wrote again]

By now, Kanan was used to Hera’s urgency. Whether it was her at the helm of the Ghost hightailing it out of a tight spot or the night between them that refused to leave his memory, Kanan knew when it was best to let her drive.

She hustled him out the door and away from the club so quickly that he struggled to keep up at first, despite his longer stride. He didn’t need the Force to sense the white hot energy steaming from her body. She was pissed.

He waited until the club was far enough away that the thumping music faded into a dull sound behind them. “Hold on,” he said.

“We have to go.” Her voice took on an unfamiliar tone to him, like she was speaking from the back of her throat.

“Hera.” This time it was his voice that did things to her. Hearing her name on his lips usually thrilled her to the depths of her emotions, the places where she kept most of what she felt locked up tight. That night, facing a failed mission and yet another reminder of how the rest of the galaxy really saw her, she turned to one of the last people she knew she could trust.

Hera kept Kanan off balance all night, even longer if he counted the last few weeks between them filled with uncomfortable silences and truncated speech. He couldn’t in good faith call those words a conversation, when they talked at each other and most of it went nowhere. But when their eyes met in the desolate night between the club and the rendezvous point, she fit into his open arms just like they were made for each other.

She squeezed hard him around the bottom of his ribcage while he rubbed her back. He kept her close to him, taking great care to not disturb her lekku. “You’re shaking,” he said. He couldn’t hide his pounding heart from her snuggled up so close to him.

“I hate this,” she said. Her face buried in his shoulder muffled her voice.

His usual glib persona was gone. Kanan chose Hera over the years of isolation, repressed sadness, and detachment that molded him into the lost soul she’d found on Gorse. He was all hers and he’d follow her into a thousand more irritating situations as long as she held onto him. He told her all she needed to know about him with a warm, silent embrace, until he had to break the moment. “We should get back to the rendezvous point before Zeb thinks we’re in trouble,” he said softly. When she pulled away, he took her hand like she took his in front of the club. He gave her a smile before leading her back to the Phantom. The fake couple that entered the bar called it a night looking more like a real couple with nobody around to convince.

They made it far enough for Hera’s breathing to get almost back to normal and Kanan’s pulse to calm before Kanan stopped short, suddenly gripping Hera’s hand tighter than he ever had before. Something hard, round, and metal shoved into his spine. He couldn’t speak and could barely breathe from the pain and the surprise of being ambushed in the middle of nowhere.

“Where you lovebirds headed,” a voice on the other end of the blaster asked. Hera squeezed his hand back, keeping her eyes straight ahead.

“We’re not armed and we have no credits on us,” she said. “We’re not looking for a fight.”

A circle of large men formed around Hera and Kanan, while the one with the blaster stayed behind them to give orders. “You,” he said to Kanan. “Hands on your head.” Kanan reluctantly dropped Hera’s hand from his grip to oblige their attacker.

“Now you,” he said to Hera. “You’re the one who started the fight.” He nodded to two from the posse, who restrained Hera by her arms.

“Don’t try it, cowboy,” he said to Kanan, pushing the barrel of the blaster deeper. Somehow it found a nerve between bone and muscle. The pain and the warning was enough to keep Kanan at bay.

“My boss just wanted to buy you a drink,” he went on. “He’s rich and he knows how to treat a lady. He’s disappointed that you turned him down.”

“I wasn’t interested,” Hera said.

“Why? You got a boyfriend? Him?” He laughed and kicked Kanan in the calf to knock him down. Hera tried to break free from the thugs holding her back, but one twisted her arm behind her at a sharp angle.

Kanan went down hard but stayed down with the blaster trained on him. He held his hands on the back of his head to keep them alive. It was all he could do to keep from pulling his own ponytail out from his scalp from rage and worry.

“Because I don’t drink with impotent scum who send his boys to do his dirty work,” Hera spat.

The gang leader motioned to two others in the circle to point their blasters at Kanan on the ground. He turned his full attention to Hera. Just inches between them, he spoke to her in a menacing tone. “What you did goes beyond a simple ‘no thank you’. Your disrespect can’t go unpunished. You understand.”

“I understand that you’re as pathetic as he is.” She met him glare for glare.

“You know, I told him not to bother with you, but he insisted. He said he wanted the hottest one in the club. I told him you tailheads aren’t worth the trouble.”

As soon as Kanan heard that word come out of the gang leader’s mouth, his fingers twitched, ready to fight. Hera clenched her jaw, fighting back the urge to spit in his face. He watched her struggle against the thugs holding her back and her need to rip his teeth out. “Don’t worry, I don’t hit ladies.”

Instead, he went back to Kanan with a swift kick in the ribs. After a few more kicks, Kanan couldn’t get up to fight back. It was hardly a fair fight with him on the ground. Hera knew she was no good to him with a broken arm, so she dropped her head so she wouldn’t have to watch.

The others in the gang crowded around to watch their leader pound Kanan into the ground, blasters holstered to better enjoy the show. Hera’s captors kept their grip on her strong. With her head bent down and behind her, following the angle of her arm, she saw a purple flash closing in behind them.

She took a deep breath and braced herself for any residual jolts from the incoming electromagnetic pulse. Her captors went down in a sizzle of electricity. Hera rolled away from them and caught the blaster Zeb threw to her.

Zeb stood tall, projecting his leverage over the gang. “Back off,” Zeb ordered with his bo-rifle raised.

Hera fired first, a bolt right through the shoulder of the leader. He went down beside Kanan’s still body, roaring in pain and sending the others scrambling to draw their blasters. Flanked by the nearly 7 foot tall Lasat, Hera meant business. They had her outnumbered, but she had them outdrawn.

“Get out of here,” she told them. “10 seconds or I start shooting again.” Nobody stayed to test her, except for the leader cowering on the ground and suffering a charred shoulder. Hera plucked his blaster from its holster and left him alone in the dusty expanse of nothingness. To die, or to have his gang members collect him later. She didn’t care either way. Kanan and Zeb needed her now.

Zeb hefted Kanan into his arms as gently as he could. “What in hell happened out here,” he asked as they hustled back to the Phantom.

Nothing had gone right that night. A bad tip led to a failed mission. Vile men would always come back to remind her of how Twi’lek females were treated throughout the galaxy. The shock and horror of watching the gang beat Kanan nearly unconscious set her nerves trembling all over again. She shook her head at him, unsure of where to start.

She ran ahead when she saw the Phantom come into view. “Hera,” Zeb called after her. She didn’t turn back to look. She just kept running.

[maryayers]

“Zero Hour” Overview

The stakes have never been higher as Grand Admiral Thrawn descends upon an unsuspecting Atollon as rebels prepare their attack on Lothal.

I have to be honest – this episode really ranks up as one of my favorites of the series. Not only has the build up to this season finale been one of my favorites so far as well, but it felt like it balanced the plot and its characters. Ezra, who has been on a rocky road since the events of Malachor, is a changed person from the beginning of the season. His emotions are more controlled in that he doesn’t angrily lash out and the call to the dark side is effectively silenced following the defeat of Maul.

To get a full list of things that stuck out to me, check below the cut

1. Tender Moments. The great thing about this episode is that it was littered with small, tender moments throughout. It didn’t distract or hinder from the action or the plot of the episode but rather enhanced it and drew viewers even deeper in the relationships of everyone’s favorite rebels. Right off the bat, Ezra is thanking Kanan – someone who has become more like a father than just a Jedi Master – for teaching him beyond the force about how to be a good person. While it could have felt like a goodbye between the two, it felt more like closure for the trouble their relationship endured throughout the season. The door on Ezra drowning in his guilt, turning to the dark side, and Kanan feeling more inadequate than ever now that he as blinded has closed and what a great sendoff. More subtle tender moments that I loved include Hera calling Kanan “Luv” and urging him to get home, a little bit of her vulnerability slipping through, of course Kanan’s comment about the family being back together again, and finally Zeb’s comments to Rex about Joopas. All of these small moments help deepen the camaraderie between our favorite rebels and serve as a reminder of what’s at stake if they fail.

2. Sabine. Though her appearance was brief, it provided the necessary support both physically and emotionally to deliver a dashing blow to the Empire. Sabine has always been a favorite character of mine and she had a line, as well as Kallus in this episode, that really sums up what this particular group of rebels is about. They make what seems impossible actually possible. For a lesser group of rebels, Thrawn’s appearance would have been a drastic blow with casualties more than can be counted. Yet with Sabine’s help, prior to this episode with the shield and bringing reinforcements, that turns the tide. She is going to be a great leader.

3. Commander Sato. This is one character that was always touch-and-go for me. At times I enjoyed him, others I didn’t care or couldn’t stand him. I remember there being talk amongst fans about Hera’s ascension to General and if Commander Sato would have to depart, in one way or another, for her to move up. While I’m not particularly upset to see this character go, I absolutely loved the way it happened. He made the ultimate sacrifice for the Rebellion and it tugged at the heart strings to watch it unfold. It couldn’t have happened in a more beautiful and moving way.

4. HERA. As if I haven’t stated this enough as well, I’ve really loved Hera since the beginning. She is ultimately one of my favorite characters and it was exciting to see another side of her this season. Hera has always been shown to be an excellent pilot on top of being a genius and while her piloting skills has been shown time and again throughout the series, it was really nice to see her step up into a larger leadership role and do so brilliantly. What I loved so much about this episode is how on par she is with Thrawn. She is the first one of the officers to deduct that he’s found their base and she continually understands what his next move will be. Her calculations on how to proceed with the battle and how to ultimately get them out on top proved to be vital. She is willing to risk her life for the better of the Rebellion, as she stated with, “If I’m going out, it’ll be on the Ghost,” but not without taking all measures to try and help others survive. Hera was definitely getting pushed back on all her advances against Thrawn and while difficult, she moved forward and didn’t let up.

5. Thrawn. Ah, Thrawn. He has become one of my favorite villains and it was nice to see this cool air of confidence on the other side of the fight. All season, he has been studying and calculating the best way to take out this group of rebel cells. In his mind, he has the entire fight planned out for nearly every possible outcome and, with a lesser rebel cell, it would have been ultimate defeat. Kallus even warns Thrawn of his own misgivings yet Thrawn thinks himself better. While he has not been completely defeated, it will be interested to see if he’ll play a role in season four, given that the Atollon wilderness hadn’t killed him by then or that he hasn’t been too ashamed of failure and probable demotion (with a slight chance of a force choke) to return.

6. Kallus. Speaking of Kallus… His defection to the Rebellion has been suspected and hoped for since season two. To see it play out throughout this season has been wonderfully exciting and nerve stopping. There were too many times to count that I really thought Thrawn might just kill him. I figured that Thrawn knew Kallus was Fulcrum for the longest time and it was a joy to actually see the confrontation play out. I honestly thought he was a dead man walking in this finale. Kallus knew that this was a possible outcome, more so than ever when he pinned the identity of Fulcrum to a fellow agent. While everyone in the Rebellion is risking everything to bring down the Empire, Kallus has essentially been living in the lion’s den. He does not have a good past with Rebellion, namely the Ghost crew, and he has been making up for that a lot this season – no matter what it may cost him. To see that moment of gratitude between Kanan and Kallus was amazing and something that really helped to put their past behind them and to allow them to move forward in the upcoming season. I really loved that moment quite a lot.

7. Zeb and Rex. These two guys are an absolute pleasure to see working together and I only wish we got more of it. Both are seasoned war veterans and have tactical battle training that aides in this fight a great deal. While the screen time for both this season has not been large, their moments are ones that matter – both independently and together. And these two together feel like an unstoppable force. (Also, anyone getting The Clone Wars season four Krell arc flashbacks with the setup of the battle?)

8. THAT YAVIN MENTION THO. So subtle yet so important. This really sets up where the series is going in the upcoming season and it sets the crew on the track for where they will be come the time of Rogue One. Paging General Syndulla on Yavin 4, here we come.

The finale ends with one of my favorite scenes of the series as it moves through the Ghost, displaying the branching off of its crew members onto different paths. It leaves open endings and creates new roads for future storylines. What will become of Thrawn? What will happen with Mandalore’s civil war and will the Ghost crew pop in every once and a while to help (Hm, maybe that’s where Kanan, Ezra, and Zeb may be during Rogue One/A New Hope, given they’re still alive)? It would be a disappointment to give Sabine all this character development just to write her off so I’m hopeful for appearances by her next season. What role will Kallus play with the Rebellion now that he is no longer a spy? What role will they all play as time moves forward in the fourth season? Season three really saddled Kanan and Zeb in favor of Ezra and Sabine’s storylines this season, with a dash of Hera sprinkled in here and there. I look forward to seeing how the remaining members of the Ghost crew fit in with the larger Rebellion as things become more concrete and as it inches closer to the events of the Original Trilogy.

Until the fall…

[kingdomheartsloversstuff]

Voiceless

So I finally wrote the fic for my Mute Kallus AU! It is the first part in what I hope is several parts. I already have a few other ideas that I’ll be working on over time if people enjoy this one! Anyways hope you enjoy it!

Read it on AO3

@heartbreakerninja

Kallus couldn’t shake the feeling that something was very, very wrong. Grand Admiral Thrawn summoned both Kallus and Lyste for a meeting, saying it was urgent. Had something happened? Had the Rebels attacked an Imperial station? He hoped not, that would have been incredibly stupid of them. A dark part of his mind wondered if Thrawn had discovered he was Fulcrum but pushed the thought out of his mind, if Thrawn knew he was Fulcrum he would have arrest him….right? Kallus calmly walked into Thrawns office, surprised to find he was not studying art as he usually did.

 “Agent Kallus,” Thrawn calmly greeted. “I’d imagine you’re wondering why I summoned you here today.”

 “Yes,” Kallus admitted. “Do you have information on Rebel activity?”

 “No, I have found something even better,” Thrawn said.

 “Something better than the rebels?” Lyste asked.

 “Yes, I have discovered the identity of the Agent known as Fulcrum,” Thrawn calmly said, startling both Lyste and Kallus. “But you already knew who he was Agent Kallus, didn’t you?”

 “I don’t know what you’re-“

 “You are a traitor to the Empire Fulcrum.” On instinct, Kallus turned to run out of the room, but found his way blocked by two Stormtroopers who grabbed him and shoved him down onto one of the chairs

 “So…are you going to kill me?” Kallus spat.

 “Oh no,” Thrawn calmly said as a medical droid entered. “No, that would make you a martyr and we cannot have that. No, I have something much better planned for you. Something that will send a clear message to any who would think to speak out against the Empire.” Kallus’s eyes widened in horror as his head was roughly pulled back and the medical droid starting pulling out tools.

 “W-what are you d-doing?” Kallus gasped, heart hammering in his chest.

 “Silencing you,” Thrawn said as Lyste watched in horror as the droid proceeded. “Permanently.”

 ------

 Lyste couldn’t tear his eyes off of Kallus’s unconscious form as he was dragged out of the room, having passed out part way through the….procedure. Lyste shuddered as he thought of Kallus’s screams of agony that where brutally cut off, leaving the former agent only able to whimper in pain, tears streaming down his face.

 “Is there a problem?” Thrawn cooly asked, startling him.

 “….was it necessary to not sedate him at all?” Lyste nervously asked.

 “Yes,” Thrawn said, “This was his punishment for his crimes against the Empire. He is a warning against those who would think to betray their Emperor.”

 “I see,” Lyste uncertainly said, doubts filtering through his mind. Treason was a serious crime, but this…this was inhuman…They had to be harsh on traitors though, right?

 “You are dismissed.” Thrawn said.

 “Yes sir,” Lyste said, fleeing Thrawns office, his mind swirling with dangerous thoughts. His mind still couldn’t fully process that Kallus was the traitor. Yes he did have access to highly classified information but he was loyal to the Empire above anything else. The more Lyste thought about it however, the more he realized as of late Kallus had been acting….differently. More willing to give up the chase, less likely to jump on anything that hinted at Rebel activity, more willing to speak up to injustices the Empire committed.

 So…maybe he was the traitor, and if he was a traitor he deserved this punishment…. Lystre tried to convince himself of this, but it didn’t sit well with him. No one deserved to go through such torture. And even if someone did…someone as loyal as Kallus defecting seemed wrong. They knew they did questionable things at times to keep peace, but the Rebels where terrorists, they had to do these things to keep peace. But if Kallus had defected despite that…he must have found something absolutely vile the Empire was doing….but what? What could be so terrible that would convince him to leave? He needed answers, now.

 Determined, Lyste found a datapad and made his way to Kallus’s cell, the guards letting him in without any question thankfully. Thankfully, Kallus was awake, curling up in the corner of his cell, eyes glossy, body hunch, like he was trying to protect himself from further harm.

 “Why did you do it?” Lyste asked, Kallus not even having the decency to look at him. “Answer me.” Kallus gingerly tubbed his bandage covered throat, a look of pain crossing his features. “With this.” He added, holding out the datapad for Kallus to take. “Go on, explain yourself!” Kallus however wouldn’t take it, continuing to state at the wall, rubbing his neck, his body trembling.

 “Maybe you did deserve this you traitor!” Lyste spat, freezing when Kallus weakly nodded his head, curling in on himself. Lyste had expected Kallus to try and defend himself or at least villainize the Empire for what they did to Kallus. But this…this was unexpected and a little unnerving. “So you agree you deserved this for betraying the Empire-“ Kallus shook his head, his gaze distant. “What do you mean no? You are a traitor to the Empire!” Kallus tiredly looked at him for a moment before looking away, expression defeated. “Fine, rot in here for all I care!” Lyste snapped, turning and leaving the cell without a second glance back.

 Kallus deserved this, he did this to himself, he probably just wanted power or something. Lyste told himself this over and over again like a mantra, but no matter how many times he told himself this, he couldn’t convince himself.

 ----

 Of course Lyste wouldn’t understand, couldn’t understand. He didn’t know the horrors the Empire had committed, that he’d committed in the name of the Empire. He couldn’t see that Kallus deserved this not for treason, but for not committing treason sooner. He’d let so many innocents suffer and die in the name of justice, he deserved punishment for that. Of course, the rebels might not think that this was enough, they probably would make him pay with his life. A part of him hoped they would, he didn’t deserve to live, not after all he’d done.

 Kallus shivered weakly, curing up in a tighter ball in an attempt to warm himself but to no avail. Why did they have to take the meteor? It was warm and it couldn’t do anything useful in this cell. He wished Thrawn had just killed him, but no that would have been too merciful of him. No, Thrawn wanted him to suffer a long and miserable life so he could slowly suffer for his crimes. All he could hope was that the Rebels wouldn’t attempt to break him out and leave him to rot. It was what he deserved.

 ----

 Something was wrong, it had been weeks since Kallus had sent them any messages and it was starting to worry Zeb. Even if he didn’t have any information, he would have usually at least sent them a quick message to assure them everything was alright. He’d never been silent for so long before…

 “I don’t get why you’re so worried about him,” Ezra said as he watched Zeb pace. “He’s done a lot of terrible things to all of us, especially you.”

 “He’s trying to be better now,” Zeb firmly said. “That’s what’s important, not what he’s done in the past.”

 “Seems important to me…” Ezra grumbled.

 “Zeb’s right,” Kanan said. “Besides he does give valuable intel for us.”

 “Well….yea I guess…” Ezra reluctantly agreed.

 “And he’s risked his life several times not to help us,” Zeb added.

 “Besides, I do recall you weren’t exactly a model citizen when you first joined the crew,” Hera added with a smirk.

 “But I was stealing from the Empire!” Ezra cried.

 “You stole from us,” Zeb corrected.

 “Okay but that’s not trying to kill you.”

 “Yea but some of our own slaughtered his unarmed and injured men,” Zeb said. “He had his reasons to not trust as but now he realizes not all Rebels are like that.”

 “What do you mean?” Hera asked. Zeb cringed, wishing he hadn’t said anything; this was not his story to tell. Thankfully, a messenger saved Zeb from having to respond.

 “Captain, we received a transmission from an Imperial.” The messenger uncertainly said. “He insisted we let him speak with your crew.”

 “Who?” Hera asked.

 “Lieutenant Lyste.”

 “Why would he want to talk to us?” Ezra hissed.

 “Seems suspicious,” Kanan agreed.

 “Put him through, but make sure he can’t see us.” Hera ordered.

 “Yes Captain,” He said, doing as she asked him. Soon Lyste’s holograph appeared and Hera asked,

 “What do you want?”

 “I’m only sending you this message as a courtesy,” Lyste said. “Kallus was revealed to be Fulcrum and has been captured.”

 “What?” Zeb cried. “How could this happen?”

 “Why are you telling us this?” Hera suspiciously asked. “How do we know this isn’t a trap?”

 “I am no fan of your rebellion but….what Thrawn did to Kallus was….vile and wrong-“

 “Done to Kallus?” Zeb asked, “What did he do to him?”

 “I’m sorry I have to go, good luck,” Lyste said before ending the transmission.

 “I don’t know about you but this doesn’t sit right with me,” Hera said.

 “Me neither,” Ezra said.

 “I think he’s telling the truth,” Zeb said, “We haven’t heard from Kallus in way too long.” Chopper eagerly beeped and Hera said,

 “Sounds like Chopper agrees with you.”

 “His vote doesn’t count!” Ezra cried.

 “Why not?” Hera asked. “He is a member of the crew.”

 “What do you two think?” Zeb asked.

 “…I don’t trust Kallus but….I do trust your opinion so I think we should go.”

 “I agree,” Kanan said. “If we leave Kallus after all he’s done to help us, we’re no better than the Empire.”

 “I guess we’re going on a rescue mission,” Hera said, smiling at Zeb.

 ----

 Kallus had long since lost track of how long he’d been in his cell. His cell didn’t get any sunlight and food was sporadic at best. Not that Kallus really ate much when anything was brought. Swallowing anything was agonizing, his throat throbbed at even the thought of trying to swallow anything. He knew he needed to eat, but that didn’t make it any easier for him.

 Maybe he could just stop eating and waste away to nothingness….Kallus almost immediately shoved the thought out of his mind, the Empire would just find a way to force feed him the nutrients he needed to survive. He had to live as an example after all. An example of what though? Absolute hatred by every living creature in the universe? The Empire saw him as a traitor, and the Rebels saw him as nothing but Imperial trash. Even if they didn’t, it there was no way they could rescue him…

 Kallus tiredly looked up at the door at the sound of muffled shouting, what was going on? He heard the familiar sound of blaster fire with even more shouting. Where the rebels here? Why would they come here? Surely not for him….distantly he heard the familiar sound of a bo-rifle firing and realized Zeb was here. If Zeb was here…that meant the Rebels had come, for him of all people. A small grin rose on his face at the thought, someone cared enough to rescue him, the smile quickly fell off of his face though when he realized they probably only came to get intel that he did not have and could no longer give even if he had any. He was completely useless to everyone now. What would they do to him when they realized what the Empire did to him?

 The door to his cell opened, Kallus tensed half expecting it to be Stormtroopers, relaxing when it was in fact Zeb standing there.

 “He’s in here guys!” Zeb called out, relief spreading across his features. “Are you alright.”

 Kallus nodded his head, a small smile on his face despite everything. It was odd, knowing that there was actually someone in the Galaxy who cared about his wellbeing and was actually happy to see he was alive. He wasn’t sure he could exactly call themselves friends, but maybe someday he could. If they both survived. His smile quickly fell when he realized Zeb probably didn’t actually care about him, just the information he thought Kallus had.

 “Kal, is everything okay?” Zeb asked.

 “Now is not the time for small talk Zeb!” The young Jedi, Ezra, exclaimed. “We need to move!”

 “Can you walk?” Zeb asked. Kallus nodded, shakily getting to his feet making Zeb frown. Wordlessly, he reached out to help Kallus out of the cell.

 “What? No thank you?” Ezra grumbled, rolling his eyes. Kallus instinctively rubbed his throat over the bandages, wincing. How was he going to let them know he couldn’t talk anymore? Zeb stared at Kallus’s face, his eyes trailing down to the bandage wrapped around his throat, eyes widening in horror.

 “I…I don’t think he can….” Zeb breathed.

 “What does that mean?” Ezra snapped.

 “We can talk about this later!” Kanan exclaimed, “We have company!” Kanan’s words spurred the group into action, Zeb carefully leading Kallus down the halls towards where Kallus assumed they were keeping their ship with Kanan and Ezra at the rear, thankfully meeting very little resistance as they raced back to the ship.

 “Sabine’s diversion must be working,” Ezra commented.

 “Maybe a little too well,” Kanan nervously said.

 “She’ll be fine,” Ezra assured as the ship came into view, the Mandalorian girl Sabine running towards them.

 “Let’s move it!” Sabine cried, the group running onto the ramp.

 “Spector two this is Spector one, we’re all aboard!” Kanan said into his comm link.

 “Come on, let’s get you to the medbay,” Zeb softly said, Kallus tiredly nodding in agreement as the Ghost flew to safety. He was safe.

 -----

 “Zeb was right,” Hera sighed as she stepped out of the medbay, “Kallus can’t speak.”

 “How? What happened?” Ezra asked.

 “According to the meddroid, his vocal cords where removed,” Hera said, jaw clenched.

 “That’s horrible,” Ezra cried.

 “It’s going to be hard adjusting to this,” Hera agreed, eyes flashing, “We gave him a datapad with a translator for him to use to talk until we find a better way for him to communicate but he’s not talking much.”

 “In which sense,” Kanan asked with a smirk.

 “You know what I mean,” Hera sighed. “All he’d say is he didn’t know anything of use to us.”

 “Maybe I should try talking to him,” Zeb offered, “I’m sort of a friend so maybe he’ll open up to me?”

 “I think we should give him a little space, he’ll talk when he’s ready.” Hera said.

 “I’m not so sure….” Zeb mumbled.

 “He’s been through a lot, just give him some time,” Hera firmly said. “In the meantime we’ll hunt down the bastards that did this to him.”

 “Alright…” Zeb reluctantly agreed, praying to Ashla Hera was right.

 -----

 A week later, Kallus was released from the med bay and was given his own room on base. Though Commander Sato and others urged Kallus to share any information he had, Kallus remained silent. Despite his continued silence, Commander Sato found some useful information for Kallus to learn sign language so he could communicate more easily with everyone on base, but according to him, Kallus hadn’t touched anything given to him.

 Enough was enough, something was wrong and Zeb was going to get to the bottom of it. Ignoring Hera’s plea’s to give him a little more time, Zeb made his way to Kallus’s room, knocking on the door before stepping inside. Kallus glanced up at Zeb, looking surprised for a moment before grabbing his datapad and typing out, a robotic voice speaking as he typed the words,

 “Hello Zeb I am surprised to see you.” Sitting up from his position on the bed.

 “Sorry I didn’t come sooner,” Zeb said, walking over to the bed. “Can I join you?” Kallus eagerly nodded, scooting over to make room for him. “Thanks.” Zeb said, sitting down.

 “Don’t be sorry I know you’re busy,” Kallus quickly typed out.

 “Not really, Hera said I should give you some space but I heard you haven’t really been talking to anyone and….I wanted to make sure you where okay.” Zeb admitted, nervously rubbing the back of his neck. Kallus froze, his face falling.

 Kallus started to type something several times before quickly erasing it before the translator could start to translate it before eventually typing, “I know your friends don’t believe me but I swear I have no useful information. The only thing I know for sure is Imperial protocol but your friend Sabine already knows most if not all of that.”

 “I believe you,” Zeb assured. “But I more meant just….talking or even practicing that sign language stuff.”

 “Oh.” Kallus said, pausing to think of what to say before typing, “No one on this base knows it, so what’s the point of learning?”

 “How do you know no one knows?” Zeb curiously asked.

 “It took a week for Sato to find what he did, don’t you think he would have just sent someone who knew it already if there was someone on base who could?” Kallus typed out, sighing heavily, rubbing his throat.

 “I…I honestly didn’t think about that….”

 “I don’t think anyone did,” Kallus typed.

 “Well that’s not right,” Zeb said.

 “Hardly anything is.” Kallus typed. “Besides, no one here really wants to talk to me anyways.”

 “I do,” Zeb firmly said.

 “You do?” Kallus typed, surprise etched across his features.

 “I do, we are friends right?” Zeb asked.

 “I yes I suppose so,” Kallus typed, a small smile on his face.

 “So I’ll learn with you,” Zeb said. “Might make it easier that way since we both can practice with each other.” Kallus beamed and Zeb and typed,

 “Thank you Zeb.” Before pulling up one of the files Commander Sato sent him.

[multi-muse-transect]

A Mother’s advice.

AU: Protocol dictates if the supreme leader dies then Thrawn will be put in charge. Thrawn is dead. Mira is all that remains. She stands in an uncertain future for the First Order and she’s scared. But Sabine has some words to his daughter. Mira belongs to @meldy-arts

The supreme leader’s office is cold and almost dull as Mira sits on her desk. She is wearing a white grand admiral uniform and white cape that was given to her by Phasma. Mira never knew about the protocol that if Snoke dies then Thrawn will be in charge but if Thrawn dies then its her turn to be supreme leader. On the shelf is a collection of stormtrooper helmets from previous eras, old republic and clone wars maybe some imperial collectibles from the war.

She’s scared. The First Order was her life then when she was thrown or honorably discharged, she didn’t know what to do and became a bounty hunter. Kyle found her and took up a job that that involved finding Blare. She wasn’t alone anymore when she found her family. But deep down inside, she still had lingering loyalty for the First Order. Mira wonders if her relationship would affect the organization, sure they tolerate homosexuality even Phasma addressed it but with a Jedi? She can’t tell if she should keep it a secret or break it off...

Today is her speech as being supreme leader now. She’s scared on what to say. Most of the First Order is anti-Republic, all except Gillad Pallaeon though who is very wise. Talks of peace and war flows through her head. Will she finish what Snoke did? Or will she begin a new era of peace and ensure the First Order’s survival? Mira shakes her head and looks outside the window. A knock on the door is heard.

“Come in.” Mira said. She looks at the reflection of the door opening to reveal Sabine escorted by a team of storm and death troopers. Mira looks around surprised that her family would see her fearing that she ruined everything for them. How a Bridger became an Imperial.

“What....Why are you here?” She asks. Sabine smiles and walks towards Mira as she signals the troopers to leave her alone and shut the door. Mira sits on her seat.

“Well I thought it’s a good idea paying the supreme leader of the First Order. Head of clan Wren meets the new leader of the First Order.” Sabine replied while smiling causing Mira to chuckle.

“Well that means I get much better security and a better room than all of the First Order combined if you ask me. So how did you get here? Security is the tightest.” Mira replied. Sabine could see fear in her eyes but she has to take it slowly.

“Captain Phasma invited me and Ezra, he’s outside hanging with general Hux.” Sabine explained.

“I see, hope Hux doesn’t hold a grudge on dad.” Mira chuckled. Sabine diverts her eyes away from Mira then back to her.

“Mira....Are you okay? Supreme leader looks like its a stressful job and I don’t want you to become the new Palpatine or Snoke, even worse Thrawn. You left us without a word and almost gave Blare a heart attack. It wasn’t until Phasma located Chopper base and told us what happened to you.” The Mandolorian stated. Mira sighs.

“I’m sorry mom....Its just hearing the news just got to me. I....I thought it was a trap but then the death troopers came and told me everything. I didn’t want hurt you or put you all in danger.” Mira explained.

“We can take care of ourselves Mira....There’s something more to this isn’t it? I heard from the troopers that you haven’t been talking that much even to Phasma.” She worried. Mira knows she can’t hide forever before gulping...Then sighing. Mira grips her head and lowers her head.

“Mom.....Mom I’m scared.” Mira stated while borderline crying.

“Honey I know your feeling.”

“You’re a head of a clan, I’m head of the reincarnation of the Empire. I’m basically an Empress! This is beyond my reach or profession! I always thought I could apply Pallaeon’s beliefs to them but I fear I would be making the wrong move!” Mira explained with tears in her eyes.

“I wish I wasn’t given the position....” She sobbed.

“I’m not fit for being the leader of the First Order.....I wish Phasma could be the one or Pallaeon!....I don’t know what they saw in me.” Mira cried. Sabine’s face turns serious.

“Look at me.” Sabine sternly ordered causing Mira to look up to her.

“Mira Wren Bridger.....What you said earlier about being the leader of the reincarnation of the Empire, you are right. But look at this power Mira! You bring peace to them. You said time and time again that you wish it hadn’t had to be this way right? This is it Mira, you can save the people you served with and cared for. You won’t be like Snoke or Thrawn, you would something different, you’re something the First Order needs. Compassion. You have that compassion to save them.” Sabine implored. Mira lifts her head up.

“You’re a Mandolorian, Mandolorians always find a way.” She ended. Mira has a moment of doubt before closing her eyes then nods. Captain Phasma enters the room.

“Mame, its time.” Phasma stated causing Mira to get up then turns to her mom and nodding before heading out. The two are escorted by the death troopers joined in by general Hux. Its a silent walk as Mira passes by Finn and Poe while troopers salute her. She makes it to the hologram room then sits on her seat. Its the place where leader Snoke sits. The screen activates to reveal all of the First Order.

“Men and women of the First Order.....it is a great honor and heavy burden to be your leader.....Burden because this cape looks so annoying, you might as well call me Krennic part two.” The personnel chuckle at Mira’s choke.

“Perhaps if I blasted point blank by a planet killer THEN I’ll be called Krennic part two. That should be a rank.” Mira smirked causing the personnel to laugh.

“All jokes aside, our war against the New Republic and Resistance has cost a lot of lives. Troopers, personnel, families....I know the past has been harsh for us. How we fell because of ineffective leadership or we got cocky. But we cannot repeat the same mistakes as before. Supreme leader Snoke thought we were on a different path. A path that would ensure victory....He was wrong and in the process, was killed by his own ambition.” She spoke sternly.

“All this time we’ve been repeating the past, we’ve tried to recreate the empire and we almost did. But we failed and cost us one of the best grand admirals and directors of the most elite unit of the First Order....This rivalry and hatred will get us nowhere and lead us to nothing but perdition. We must not let the past shackle us. But we must embrace the notion that the past may happen again at the same time. There are words that the New Republic has offered us to demiliterize our forces....I refuse this offer. I told them that one day the tides will change and we will end up in another war and they agreed to my statement. Therefore, both sides will not revoke their military strength thus giving us defenses we need to protect ourselves.” The personnel clap at her deal.

“But our ways....Our ways will get us nowhere. Therefore, we shall not take more worlds but make peace with them while working for the Republic. I am the consultant as of now and we are working hard to ensure a peaceful relationship. But that doesn’t mean we’ll follow them all the time. We must be passive-aggressive but lessen our brutality to others though embrace our Imperial roots to truly protect the galaxy alongside the New Republic to ensure a safer galaxy!” Mira exclaimed leading to even more applause leading to cheers and roars of approval. She smiles warmly in response to the applause.

“Glory to our alliance! But most of all....GLORY TO THE FIRST ORDER!” Mira roared. The personnel rise and salute Mira including Pallaeon who smiles at her decision knowing its the only way to ensure the First Order’s survival. The hologram deactivates as Mira heads out with a satisfied smile on her face as Phasma claps alongside the stormtroopers even death troopers also. 

“Well done mam.” Phasma complemented. 

“Our job isn’t over yet mam-I mean....Captain. You know what? I’m still calling Phasma. Like I said our job isn’t done yet and I need your help as always alongside my family.” Mira replied.

“Speaking of family.” She turns and introduces the Bridgers alongside Kallus Sr and Fenn Rau. All of them smiling. Blare joins in as Mira nods.

“I’ll leave you all to have a talk. You’ve started something Mira and knowing you, you would be the best leader for all of us.” Hux pats Mira on the shoulder before leaving and signaling the troopers to come with him and Phasma. Ezra walks towards Mira as the woman hugs him close.

“I knew we raised a good kid despite not being there....We’re so proud of you Mira.” Ezra smiled. 

“I know you are dad....” Mira muttered.

“You’ve done something that no supreme leader or sith lord has done: You’ve convinced the Imperials to stand down and accept peace. Now that is something worth bragging about.” Fenn added. Kanan, Hera, Sabine, Zeb, all group on Mira and hug the new supreme leader while Chopper huddles against her leg. They all let go and move out of the way for Blare, she is wearing a sleeveless shirt with a vest on it and brown pants. Mira gives a half smile and walks towards Blare with her arms open but Blare slaps her causing the group to gasp.

“That was for leaving the base without a word!” Blare said then grabs Mira’s cheeks and slams her lips against hers before letting go.

“And that was for doing the right thing.” She smiled before leaning her head against Mira’s. The two lean their heads against each other with eyes close and smiles on there faces. A new dawn was beginning. A new hope.

[redrikki]

Star Wars Fic Masterpost

Prequels/Clone Wars Era

May the Force Get With You- You’d think Anakin Skywalker’s conception would be pretty epic, mythic even, but you’d be wrong. Turns out, the Force is a lousy lay and a worse father. (Shmi Skywalker, Anakin Skywalker, The Force, Salty Narrator)

Second Wind - Ahsoka takes the wrong exit of the the world between worlds and ends up with a second chance at saving her master. (Ahsoka Tano, Shmi Skywalker)

Pain Management - Anger can get a slave killed. Shmi teaches her son some coping strategies. (Shmi Skywalker, Anakin Skywalker, Watto)

The Force Is In the Details - The chance cube lands on red and now Shmi must learn to manage with a freedom she never asked for. Written as part of the Jedi Fest Rogue Robin challenge as a continuation of The Force is in the Details. (Shmi Skywalker, Anakin Skywalker, Qui-Gon Jinn, Padme Amidala, Jedi Council)

The Anchor That You Can’t Leave Behind - On the queen’s yacht headed back to Naboo, Anakin and Padmé miss their mothers but Obi-Wan can’t get why. (Anakin Skywalker, Padmé Amidala, Obi-Wan Kenobi)

Another Word For Nothing Left to Lose - When Obi-Wan told him he was free at Qui-Gon’s funeral, Anakin took him at his word. There may, however, have been something of misunderstanding. (Anakin Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi)

For Amidala - Her handmaidens had all poured so much of themselves into Amidala, it was like they were part of her now. Padmé didn’t know if she had the strength to let one go. (Padme Amidala, Sabe, handmaidens)

Wordspring - Anakin’s words dry up in the middle of his fourth month at the Temple. If Obi-Wan can’t get them flowing again, maybe someone else will. (Anakin Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Sheev Palpatine, various Jedi)

Nothing to Write Home About - A month after losing his wife, Cliegg Lars decides to write to her son. Anakin Skywalker gets the pen pal he never knew he needed. WIP. (Anakin Skywalker, Cliegg Lars, Owen Lars, Beru Lars, Ahsoka Tano, Padmé Amidala)

For the Greater Good - Count Dooku has never seen the appeal of Anakin Skywalker, but, when the Chosen One breaks with the Council over the treatment of the clones, he decides acquiring the boy’s allegiances might be worthwhile after all. WIP co-written with @grand-duc and @thendstartsnow (Count Dooku, Anakin Skywalker, Palpatine, Clone Troopers)

Once More With Feeling - A redeemed Anakin travels back in time post-RotJ and decides to unfuck the timeline with mixed results. (Anakin Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Padmé Amidala, Sheev Palpatine, Jedi Council, bunch of other people)

Bridal Carry - On Naboo, it’s tradition for the groom to carry the bride to their marriage bed. With Anakin’s new prosthetic, it’s more difficult than it sounds. (Padmé Amidala/Anakin Skywalker)

Secret Tunnel - War in the Outer Rim! While fighting on the mining world of Mumblety, Jedi Padawan Ahsoka Tano is tasked with mapping the tunnels along with a team of clones. When trouble strikes, will she have what it takes to save the day and complete the mission? (Ahsoka Tano, Echo, Fives, Anakin Skywalker)

No Place Like Home - Ahsoka’s return to the temple after her first deployment was strange, made even stranger by the fact that it should’t be strange at all. (Ahsoka Tano, Rex)

Eat, Snip, Love - Ahsoka can’t remember the last time she had a home cooked meal. Anakin and Padmé are determined to change that. (Ahsoka Tano, Anakin Skywalker, Padmé Amidala)

Love and Support - After Padmé is shot at a conference, her mother insists she come home. Padmé, of course, is going no where. Episode tag to 3.07 “Assassin.” (Padmé, Ahsoka)

Across a Crowded Room - It’s a party in his honor, but it turns out the Hero With No Fear isn’t good with crowds. Padmé to the rescue. (Padmé Amidala, Anakin Skywalker)

Lightening Rod - Anakin gets electrocuted…again. It probably says something bad about his life that he’s getting used to it. (Anakin Skywalker, Ahsoka Tano, Obi-Wan Kenobi)

Coming Out of My Cage, Doing Just Fine - On the way back from Kadavo, it finally hits her. In this war, Ahsoka had been outmatched, outmaneuvered, and outgunned, but she’d never felt powerless. Not like she did in that cage on Zygerria. (Ahsoka Tano, Anakin Skywalker)

In Our Bed After the War - After the mission to Zygerria, Padmé and Anakin have a difficult conversation. (Padmé Amidala, Anakin Skywalker)

Domestic Life Was Never Quite My Style - Despite her best efforts, Padmé is pregnant. Now she has a difficult decision to make. (Padme Amidala, C-3P0)

You Call That Family? - In an AU where Anakin has left the order to be Padme, Obi-Wan encounters unexpected resistance when he goes to collect the twins. (Obi-Wan Kenobi, Anakin Skywalker, Padme Amidala)

Birthright - The Force called him to his family and Anakin is not prepared to give them up. Not even to the Jedi Council. (Anakin Skywalker, Yoda, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Mace Windu, baby Skywalkers)

If Not For These Bad Dreams - Fives has dreamed about killing every Jedi he’s ever met except General Skywalker. Turns out he’s not the only one. (Fives, Kix, Tup, Jesse)

Dateline Felucia - Embedded with the troops on Felucia, a reporter from HoloNet News paints an intimate portrait of the men of the 212th Attack Battalion. (Cody, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Waxer, Boil, clone troopers)

Ahsoka the Vampire Slayer - Ahsoka is the Chosen One, the Slayer, or at least she was until she died. She got better, but now there’s a new Slayer in town and things with her Watcher are strained at best. Add in a bunch of zombie mind control bugs and Ahsoka’s week could be going better. BtVS fusion. (Ahsoka Tano, Anakin Skywalker, Barriss Offee, Luminara Undili)

Bursts of Stardust - Collection of short tumblr prompts. (Everyone ever)

Rebels Era

With the Rest of the Miscreants - Boy meets galaxy and learns to live in it. A lost baby Jedi adapts in four ‘easy’ steps. (Caleb Dume, Janus Kasmir)

Cloak, No Dagger - In light of the intel from Gorse, Hera and Ahsoka rethink mission protocols while putting on a show for the ISB agent watching them.  (Hera Syndulla, Ahsoka Tano)

Tag - Sabine and Ketsu, bounty hunters extraordinaire, argue about how to sign their work. (Sabine Wren, Ketsu Onyo)

Swordsmith - Ezra makes his lightsaber. It’s not his life, except in all the ways it is. (Ezra Bridger, Ghost Crew)

Graffiti on the Walls of the Heartland - Three works of art Sabine made for crew members and one she made for herself. (Sabine Wren, Chopper, Hera Syndulla,Kanan Jarrus)

Chicken Soup for the Jedi Soul - Four meals Kanan cooked for his crew and one he made for himself.  (Kanan Jarrus, Ghost Crew)

Ain’t No Fun (Life on the Run) - Ain’t no fun living life on the run but, with his Hera and their crew by his side, Kanan finds it isn’t always so bad. (Kanan Jarrus, Ghost Crew)

Wild Blue Yonder - After the events of “The Brotherhood of the Broken Horn,” Hera decides it’s high time Ezra learn how to fly. (Hera Syndulla, Ezra Bridger, Zeb Orrelios)

A Distraction - Kanan’s been blinded. There’s nothing Hera can do to fix it so Chopper gives her something she can. Written as part of the Jedi Fest Rogue Robin challenge as a continuation of A Distraction. (Hera Syndulla, Kanan Jarrus, Chopper)

Then My Hair’s Too Short - Apparently, Ezra had a new hair cut. That’s fine, it’s his head after all. Kanan just wished he had mentioned it. (Kanan Jarrus, Ezra Bridger)

The Blind Beggar - When Ezra objects to Kanan taking point on a mission, Kanan decides its time they had a talk. (Kanan Jarrus, Ezra Bridger, Ghost Crew)

Cut to the Heart - Sabine found the stupid thing in a cave, but now the Darksaber is taking over her life. Kanan gives her a little perspective. Tag to 3.13 “Trails of the Darksaber.” (Sabine Wren, Kanan Jarrus)

Rebel Moments - Collection of short tumblr prompts (Ghost Crew)

Rogue One

The Lord’s Estate - Every lord must have an estate. Lord Vader’s is Mustafar. (Vader, Palpatine)

Peace is a Lie - Sometimes Vader wakes up and can’t remember what war he’s fighting. (Darth Vader)

A Cog In Something Turning - Cassian hadn’t meant to give K-2SO free will. Good thing for both of them he’s a terrible slicer. (K-2SO, Cassian Andor)

Original Trilogy

Sea of Sorrow and Sand - Ben Kenobi is an island in a sea of sorrow and sand. Beru Lars has come to drag him back to shore. (Obi-Wan Kenobi, Beru Lars)

What Remains - What remains of a relationship built on lies? Nothing, as Darth Sidious will soon find out. (Darth Vader, Darth Sidious, Padmé Amidala’s preserved corpse)

On This Strange and Mournful Day - The events of Vader Down go very differently. The father and child reunion is only a motion away. (Darth Vader, Luke Skywalker, Dr. Aphra)

After the Funeral - Han offers Luke some unexpected support after the funeral of the guy who tortured him. (Luke Skywalker, Han Solo)

A Cynic’s Guide to the New Golden Age - The second Death Star goes kabloowie and takes the galaxy with it. It’s a new golden age of piracy and Aphra’s got some looting to do. (Dr. Aphra, Luke, 0-0-0, BT-1, Black Krrsantan)

The Last Truce We Ever Came To - Darth Vader is dead but he won’t leave Leia alone. (Leia Organa, Force Ghost Anakin Skywalker)

Lego Star Wars - The Freemaker Adventures

Disembodied - Roger loses his head and, frankly, it’s getting old. (R0-GR, Rowan Freemaker, Kordi Freemaker, Zander Freemaker)

Sequel Era

Red Fish, Blue Fish - Leia bought an aquarium for her child like her father before her. In a perfect world she could raise Ben to fill his grandfather’s legacy. Too bad he had more than one. (Leia Organa, Ben Solo, Angst)

A Matter of Precedence - FN-2187 wasn’t the first, except for the time he was. Others have defied the First Order before, but none quite as spectacularly. (Finn, First Order)

So You Want to be a (Space) Wizard - Finn finds a mysterious book, takes an Oath, and starts one hell of an Ordeal. Crossover with Young Wizards. (Finn, Poe Dameron, Rey)

Old Haunts (All We’ve Ever Known) - Anakin and Obi-Wan as snarky Force ghosts during The Force Awakens. (Anakin Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi, TFA cast)

Lady in Waiting - Rey’s spent so much of her life waiting it’s hard to know when to stop. Luckily, Poe’s there to give her the push she needs. (Rey, Poe Dameron, Leia Organa, Finn)

Not a Drop to Drink - On Luke’s island, Rey couldn’t quite get her mind around the sheer amount of water stretching out towards the horizon. (Rey, Luke Skywalker)