#like. okay sabine says it's still ezra 'sometimes' when we see him using the dark side.

[amaraudermind]

YOU'RE SOOOOO RIGHT ABOUT EZRA YOU'RE SO RIGHT IT'S LIKE YOU LOOKED INTO MY HEAD AND WROTE EVERYTHING DOWN

he's so in tune with the force I HAVE SO MANY THOUGHTS

NO YOU'RE RIGHT HE IS

And it's like. Being in tune with the force is one thing, right? Lots of Jedi are, lots of force users in general are, even!

But like. Okay so Hera mentioned in the pilot that Ezra opening the Holocron being a level of test, right? And it sounded like she and Kanan had discussed before something about him opening the Holocron meaning Kanan would train him.

But that's such a horrible test! In clone wars they specified that you could only open a Jedi Holocron as a Jedi. You had to be so dialed in specifically on the light side of the force.

So walk with me here. Ezra Bridger. He not only has a strong connection to the force. He not only instinctively calls on it without knowing a thing about it. He effortlessly tunes into the light side of the force, like it's as natural as breathing.

"but Void" I hear from the crowd "Ezra also tunes into the dark side of the force"

Indeed. Yes. Correct.

No but just stick with my crazed rambling for a sec okay? Because the dark side is supposed to be the easy path, the one that's so simple to fall into, it calls to force users, I mean, we see that the dark side is exactly that time and again.

I bring this up because. It's not for Ezra. The first time he grasps for the dark side he's in a panic, and it hurts him. It does get them away from the grand inquisitor but it almost doesn't. And the next time? It's after encouragement from Maul, and even then he's having to actively pursue it. He has to try to use the dark side.

And, because I think of this oh so much, when Maul needs him to open the Jedi Holocron--after he's been using the dark side and frequently, mind you--Ezra still can.

And like I have so many more incoherent thoughts about him and his force connection there's just so much he has taken up my entire brain<3

[thedistantstorm]

Tribute: A Kalluzeb Story (pt 2)

Fandom: Star Wars Rebels

Pairings: Kallus/Zeb (kalluzeb)

Chapter: 2 of 3?? (still TBD, apparently I have a lot to say...)

AO3 Link Here

Summary: Zeb works on a gift for Kallus, to replace something he’s lost. It’s a gateway to a conversation Zeb wants to have in the future, but there’s something a bit more urgent they need to talk about first.

Notes: Thank y’all so so much for your lovely comments and likes and reblogs, they seriously make my day. All you kalluzebs out there are the nicest freakin’ people I’ve encountered in fandom and I’m having such a ball writing these two for us. Not to mention getting to explore Hera’s relationship with them is something I’ve wanted to do for a hot minute now, so please excuse my self-indulgent hurt/comfort.

<< Previously // Next >>

Kallus enters the grounded Ghost to a beeping, ornery droid and the sound of the exhaust fans roaring. It's just shy of daybreak, and Yavin 4 is alight with parchment colored skies and fog that creeps silently through the trees. The temperature is cool at this hour, good for working outdoors. The morning shifts here start early.

He catches the faintest hint of lacquer, some protective finish he doesn't entirely recognize. It's stronger outside than inside the Ghost, and it only takes a quick glance around to understand why. Something had been on the crates sprawled across the cargo bay, the ones that became tables for anyone who ate away from the mess hall or seating that they'd drag outside for an impromptu fireside debrief in the dark of the night, since the smoke keeps bugs away. Whatever it was, it's not there now, though he does see his suspected culprit.

"Garazeb," He says, careful not to speak too loud. It's still early, and his voice has a tendency to carry. Off to the side, he sees Hera curled up on an old weapons crate. He isn't sure how long she's been there, but she'll likely be sore. He rounds a makeshift worktable to see Zeb sitting on the floor beside her, slumped over on himself, chin lurching closer to his knees before he tries unconsciously to right himself.

Chopper quietly rearranges some of the crates to help Kallus, commenting that they're his problem now. Somehow, he doubts that very much, but he knows better than to argue with this particular droid, regardless of his opinion.

Judging by the way Zeb's sitting, angled with one shoulder against the crate Hera's using as a bed, there's a good chance he'd attempted to wake her, and in his attempts not to frighten her, fallen asleep himself. Orrelios was a good liar, and bags didn't show under his eyes. Still, Kallus knew Zeb wasn't sleeping well.

He crouches and places one hand on both their shoulders. Zeb only seems to relax further, clearly recognizing him by touch or maybe smell, his senses are far keener than a human's. Hera's chuckle is thick and sleep-laiden, but she blinks her eyes open at him.

"Looks like we've been caught," She grumbles without malice, nudging Zeb in the back with her boot. He jerks awake immediately, only for Kallus to change his hold on the Lasat's shoulder to a palm on his cheek, preventing him from bashing their heads together. "I thought you were going to carry me to bed," Hera accuses.

"Yer the one who said 'five more minutes, I'm finally comfy,'" He mouths back, tilting his head away from Kallus's hand to look at Hera, "If he's here to yell at us, it's on you."

Hera rolls her eyes. "I don't think he's here to yell. I think he's going to send us to bed."

"Bwah, buabahba bah!" Unconcerned about his volume, Chopper insists that somebody should. Whether he means that in regards to yelling or sending them to bed, it's anyone's guess.

"General," Kallus holds his arms out, indicative that he will be the one to lift her, seeing as Zeb's eyes are already drooping again.

"He-ra," She reminds him with a firm poke to the chest. He hums something agreeable, though he doesn't bother to oblige her by calling her only her given name. He's coming off a week-long mission. It's hard to switch off the work part of his brain, though it gets easier all the time.

"Draven pushed back our debrief to noon. Should give us all a decent lie in," He looks down to Zeb, already snoring.

"Great," She exhales, as Kallus scoops her up. He turns them sideways to navigate the doorway. Wryly, she asks, "You gonna carry him to bed too?"

This time, he does drop the formalities. "Hera," He warns, voice low. He's too in control to let a blush cross his face, but his lips quirk uncomfortably.

She looks up at him, as if transitioning from asleep to fully awake with a single blink. Realizing she's made him uncomfortable, she says, "You can put me down."

"Is that an order?"

She sighs. They treat her like glass, and it's annoying. "I can walk by myself."

"I suppose you can, but," He looks away. He's an eloquent man, but the lack of required restraint (no matter how many times they encourage him to say what's on his mind, to be human, imperfect), always makes him hesitate.

She smiles, just a little, and yields, "To be honest, my foot's asleep."

"Ah. Best if we proceed as is," He says aloud. It's a weak excuse and a blatant lie, but he doesn't question it.

"He didn't leave his work out, did he?"

"It did not appear so, no," Kallus whispers. To speak any louder in the silent ship would be like yelling. Chopper is already waiting for her, her cabin doors thrown open. "If you wouldn't mind, Chopper-" He begins.

The droid runs into his good leg, though not hard enough to hurt, and begins fussing over Hera as he lays her in her bunk. He catches a salute as he steps back. That means Chopper heard about the rescheduled debrief, and that he's grateful enough to come get him later, should he oversleep.

It hasn't happened yet, but one of these days, it might. Kallus is exhausted. He still has another sentient to drag off to bed, and despite Hera's quips, he very much doubts he could carry Zeb the same way. All things considered, it would be an uncomfortable, logistical nightmare, even though he'd likely be capable of the actual lifting.

He makes it back to the hold and pauses, taking the scene in for just a moment. If his heart clenches with something fond and he watches his fellow rebel breathe deep and slow for more time than necessary, no one will know. He steps over the threshold, footsteps light across the durasteel.

"Garazeb," He calls, reluctant to disturb him. Once he's close enough, he leans down to put a hand on his shoulder, shaking. "You shouldn't sleep here."

Whatever the reply is, it's muddled and incoherent. Kallus exhales. He knows if he sits down on this crate, he'll fall asleep on it like Hera, and it certainly won't reduce the kink Zeb's going to have in his neck from twisting himself to use the crate as a pillow.

"That cannot be comfortable," He comments with mirth.

"Wha?" Zeb's eyes are unfocused, and it takes him a second to focus on Kallus. "Hera?"

"Tucked in. Come along, Garazeb."

Zeb shuffles to his feet, Kallus close enough to steady him. "Mission go okay?"

"Yes," He breathes. He's alive, so he counts it as a victory. His identity as Fulcrum may have been compromised, but he still has a bit of a wide reach, and now, a potential successor, but Zeb won't retain any of it, so he doesn’t elaborate. Instead, he asks, "Have you finished your project?"

"Mmm," Zeb agrees muzzily.

Their journey through the vessel takes longer than it had for him to whisk Hera back to her bunk, but Kallus is happy to help the larger man stumble along. In the weeks since returning from Lothal, he’s found Hera, but more frequently, Zeb, asleep in a myriad of strange places.

Grief is… tricky. Kallus cannot say he does not wade through his own on a near-daily basis, but he feels like this is something he can do, something valuable and worthwhile. He will see Zeb and Hera through this. He’ll check on Sabine through cryptic messages and make sure Chopper does not fry his circuits keeping tabs on their remaining crew. He’d have done it even if he didn’t know Kanan or Ezra personally, even if he hadn’t felt indebted to them. When he’d realized it, it felt like a weight he hadn’t registered shaking itself loose. It was something he wanted to do for those who remained, because he cares for them. Not that the dead or the lost do not matter; He thinks of them often. Jarrus’s steadfast calm, his otherworldly compassion and understanding. Ezra’s unyielding hope, his fierce resolve, and his courage. For someone so young to have made the decisions he had, to carry on despite everything pitted against him… well, Kallus can admit to himself that he could only aspire to be that strong.

The door to their shared room opens. That is a recent development, but Kallus is a nomad amid the Rebel base, with scarce few belongings, all of which (sans spare clothes, which are standard issue) are carried on his person. He holds a hand out to spot Zeb as he takes the boost of the small but sturdy ladder to the top bunk. The Lasat had been sleeping there ever since…

Well, Kallus had reasoned, at the time, Ezra did say it was his again…

“Got someth’n t’show ya, later,” Zeb murmurs, voice almost a rumble.

Kallus can’t help himself, reaching a hand out to cup one side of Zeb’s face. The two of them are quite the pair. War-torn and jagged, sometimes barely holding themselves together. They’ve lived through enough to know that there’s only so much they can hold back. To the rest of the galaxy, of course, there isn’t much that would make them seem less rigid or frightening, certainly nothing that could make either of them less dangerous adversaries. But to each other, to a comrade who understands, to a friend who walks a similar path…

Zeb presses his face into Kallus’s palm, the fine fur there soft and velveteen against calloused skin. “I’ll come for you after my debrief,” Kallus promises, endeavoring not to wake him later when he rises to meet Draven with Hera. “Get some sleep.”

Yellow-green eyes open for just a moment, something warm and unspoken in their depths. A large, four-digit hand covers Kallus’s, squeezes his fingers tightly when he begins to pull away. “You too.”

Once their hands separate, Kallus discards his jacket and belt, toes off his boots. He hears Chopper heading down the hall towards their room, sees the door crack a few centimeters in the center as the droid checks on them. He dips his head in a nod and Chopper retreats. He turns off the lights and takes the three short steps across the room to his bunk. Zeb is already snoring softly, the sound infinitely soothing to the ex-ISB agent. By the time his head touches Zeb’s old pillow, Kallus is already asleep.

[maryellencarter]

Rebels thoughts part 2/?

* I keep thinking Vizago’s first name is Cilantro.

* So I have a sort of rant about the Force, which fits as well here as anywhere else. I *really* didn’t expect to get along with a Jedi character, okay, which is the other reason I’m probably not watching Clone Wars. See, my thing about the “will of the Force” is that I don’t think it exists. I think the Force binds the universe together, and if you are Force sensitive and meditate it will show you things, but I think every single piece of “it was meant to be such and such a way” is the relevant Jedi projecting their own interpretation on the events they see.

(I also don’t believe things in our universe have that kind of intentionality behind them. Shit happens. Sometimes it seems like the universe is mocking you. Sometimes it seems like it’s on your side. It’s all pareidolia. Which is a belief that makes my life harder, but that’s another post. I think.)

* Um. Where was I? Right. So I really didn’t expect to like Kanan. I think why I do like him is a combination of facts. One is that he doesn’t pretend to understand the Force; he was only a padawan during Order 66 and he knows little more than Ezra in some ways. Another is that, being voiced by Freddie Prinze Jr, he doesn’t really have a default “reverent” setting like most Jedi. XD So we have a Jedi who’s doing his best, but doesn’t act all-knowing with his dignity up his ass like most Jedi tend to do at times. Also, as noted, he is very much the mom friend. Which is distinct from being the friend who has the brain cell, but he’s competent at what he does and he tries hard to protect the others, which are both characteristics I am weak for.

* Hera usually has the brain cell. Not always. Unusually for an astromech, Chopper *never* has the brain cell. XD Ezra occasionally gets to hold the brain cell for a hot minute but it tends to slip through his fingers. Sabine thinks she has the brain cell a lot more often than she does.

* I suspect the first new-canon Thrawn novel will make a whole lot more sense to me if I reread it now that I know whomst the fuck Arihnda Pryce is and why I should be interested in Lothal.

* I was able to deal with loth-rats and loth-cats, started to roll my eyes at loth-wolves, and am really rather irritated with loth-bats. Seriously, I put more work into naming vegetables in a grocery store in “Dutybound” than this show puts into naming anything to do with Lothal. (Okay, Leia put in most of the work naming the vegetables, but still. If meilooruns were native to Lothal they’d be called loth-mangoes or something.)

* I did like Captain Rex. I may wind up watching Clone Wars at some point to borrow clones and parts of clone culture for Leverageverse. I don’t remember if I’ve mentioned, but in @camshaft22 ‘s and my Leverage AU, Wes (the Eliot character) is the first non-clone to become a clone commando, some time after Order 66 was prevented, which is where the AU branches from canon. He’s culturally a clone, and sometimes forgets he doesn’t have a clone face, which occasionally causes trouble for him. XD Anyway, so that’s my main thought on clones, and Rex is a suitably badass one, I like him.

(You knew I was somehow going to bring Wes into this conversation, right? ;P)

* Kanan destroying the Grand Inquisitor’s lightsaber wheel in the first season finale was sexy as fuck. Just saying.

* The Inquisitors being able to fly with their helicopter lightsaber blades was utterly ridiculous and made them ironically less scary.

* I do kinda see why people like Hondo Ohnaka. He’s very much a trickster’s trickster. He reminds me of somebody but I’m not sure who.

* The B-wing episode was pretty damn cute.

* There needs to be a LOT more Sabine/Ketsu. I swear to god, people, this is the single biggest problem with fandom is you can’t get femslash when it’s right the fuck there in front of you.

* (This is not actually the biggest problem with fandom but I have opinions.)

* “Legends of the Lasat” was a really neat episode. It reminded me of the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode where Sisko builds an ancient Bajoran spaceship that flies on tachyon eddies, which made me squee loudly in the 24 hour computer lab the first time I watched it. Both of them hit me squarely in the Thor Heyerdahl / Tim Severin fanthingy -- I have a huge soft spot for that whole genre of using ancient techniques to recreate boats and follow ancient travel paths, and doing it in space only makes it cooler.

(No, I am not allowed to tangent off about Odysseus. Some other time.)

* Tarkin and Vader did *not* have the problem of the voice actors not sounding quite right. Whoever does the animated Tarkin’s voice is astonishingly good.

* Kanan being knighted in the Jedi Temple by the ghost of the Grand Inquisitor! That was such a damn good episode. I really like when the show actually leans on the thing where Jedi aren’t just about fighting, where peace and balance are important.

* Rant, continued: The prequel Jedi especially go on and on about bringing balance to the Force, but they don’t want balance, they want the light side to win. They don’t get it. They don’t consider what they’re actually saying, and that drives me crazier than anything else. Balance requires the existence of both light and dark, order and chaos in equal measure. Ethan has a tangential rant I don’t think we’ve ever actually done anywhere, about how modern culture is so very regimented that the only way to move toward balance is to be aggressively chaotic. That’s an argument we probably need to have in more depth at some point, because I like order and agree that I need to be better at chaos but I also very much want to stay within the confines of society and not be a semi-homeless jobbing magician, Ethan.

* Ahem. Where was I? Balance in the Force, right. I have thoughts about Kanan and the Bendu that are still processing. The Bendu really, really reminds me of Tom Bombadil, which... I can go into more depth in if anyone wants, but short version, I’ve never found Bombadil annoying or pointless, and I have an essay on what approximately makes me think this way, but there will be a lot of Elvish in it.

* I really love Chopper’s friend AP-5. He reminds me a whole hell of a lot of Squeaky. I think one of my very favorite moments in this whole series was the episode where it’s Zeb, Chopper, and AP-5 against the infiltrator droid, and Zeb and AP-5 are sniping at each other like Squeaky and Ton Phanan the whole time. :D

* “Twilight of the Apprentice” was one hell of a season finale. I wonder if they thought they weren’t getting renewed, or if that was a worry, because *damn*. Blinding Kanan, sending Ezra halfway to the Dark Side, blowing up Ahsoka, finishing off the Inquisitors... they certainly did close with a bang.

* Baby Wedge was cute but didn’t have much personality. That seems to be an ongoing problem with new canon’s Wedge, from what I hear. Still and all, rather have Wedge than no Wedge. I wish they’d have gone with more Wedge-and-Hobbie though -- poor Hobbie never gets any damn screen time. It’s a sad case when Starfighters of Adumar is still his best outing with two whole memorable moments. :P

* Saw Guerrera (sp?) makes me very uncomfortable. I know he’s supposed to, to show the way the “good” side can become extremists, but I was one slip of an Overton window from becoming him myself for a long time, and I don’t like being reminded. Nor having the writerly part of my brain noticing how I could write him more realistically.

[rebelquilts512]

Surprises

A Post-ROTJ One-Shot

Luke Skywalker breathed a sigh of relief as he exited his fighter and glanced around at the hustle and bustle of the Rebel base. The Emperor was dead, but that didn’t mean the fight was over. However, things had been easier for the Rebellion since the second Death Star blew up and the Emperor with it.

As Luke went to find his twin sister Leia and his friend, and Leia’s husband, Han Solo, he listening to other rebels chatting about the latest gossip. He’d been gone for over a week looking for useful things to help him build a new Jedi Order, so he was a little behind on recent news. On his walk, he overheard a lot of people talking about someone being pregnant. A few months ago, nearly two months after the Emperor’s death, Leia had announced that she and Han were expecting a baby. People couldn’t still be talking about that... Could they? Or was something else going on?

Luke found Leia in the Command Center, going over a report from the most recent planetary liberation, but she looked up as he approached. “Hey Leia,” he greeted, giving her a hug. “Did something new happen with my future niece or nephew while I was gone or has someone else gotten pregnant?” he asked lightheartedly.

Leia laughed, “I’m guessing you caught the theme of the latest gossip on your way to find me?” she asked, Luke nodded in response. “It’s not me they’re talking about, word just got out that General Syndulla’s pregnant.”

“General Syndulla?” Luke had seen the legendary twi’lek pilot in briefings and in the hangar bay getting ready to fly, but he’d never actually met and spoke to her face to face. “I didn’t know that she...” Luke trailed off, unsure of how to finish without possibly downgrading the general. “... was married.” he finished, going with the most respectable answer, although he didn’t know of any other Syndullas in the Rebellion.

Leia chuckled, “Not many people do, it’s one of the Rebellion’s best kept secrets.” Then a strange, slightly mischievous look passed over her face. “I just realised, you haven’t gotten to meet her or any of her crew since you joined the Rebellion. Now’s a good of a time as any to introduce them to you.”

“Okay,” Luke said as he followed her out the door and through winding corridors until they found a green twi’lek woman with a general’s rank insignia on her jacket giving orders to a group of pilots.

“General Syndulla!” Leia called, getting her attention.

The general finished giving her orders and turned to face them with a smile on her face. “Princess Leia, it’s good to see you.” she greeted, “What brings you here?” Then she turned to Luke, “I don’t believe we’ve met.”

Leia placed a hand on his shoulder, “This is my brother, Luke Skywalker.”

General Syndulla nodded, “Of course, Luke Skywalker, I should’ve known. You’re the reason we’ve made it this far, with blowing up the Death Star, defeating Darth Vader and all that.” She extended her hand, “It’s a pleasure to finally meet you.”

Luke shook her hand with a sheepish smile, it always seemed like people gave him too much credit for the things he’d done for the Rebellion, he hadn’t done any of it alone. “It’s an honor to meet you too General,” He released her hand. Then he remembered what had lead to this meeting. “Oh, I almost forgot, congratulations,” he said, gesturing to her belly, she wasn’t showing yet, especially when compared to Leia, but soon she would. “You and your husband must be very happy.”

General Syndulla laughed, “Thank you, although I haven’t told him yet.” So she was married.

“How could he not know?” Leia asked, “The whole base seems to.” Luke was confused too, how could he not know?

“You can blame Gonni Novan for the whole base knowing,” General Syndulla told them, naming one of the Rebellion’s biggest gossips, “But Kanan’s on Lothal right now, still helping Ezra free the planet from the Empire’s grasp. The last time I visited was when...” she trailed off, although it was clear what she was saying. “And then, he told me they were almost done and they would join the rest of us here soon. I planned on having the reveal then, but apparently people can’t keep their mouths shut, even when we’ve been fighting a war for years.” she finished.

“Who’s Ezra?” Luke asked, getting a feeling in the Force that he should know who this person was.

Both women turned their faces to him, Leia was grinning. “Ezra’s another member of my crew,” General Syndulla answered, “I’m surprised you haven’t met him yet, he can be a bit of a trouble magnet sometimes.”

Before Luke could reply, an orange astromech came up to General Syndulla and blabbered something in binary.

“Kanan and Ezra are back?” General Syndulla asked, a hit of excitement in her voice, “Great, thanks Chopper.” Then she turned back to Luke and smiled, “Well Skywalker, it’s time you met my crew.”

“Okay,” Luke replied as he and Leia followed the general through the hangar. While they were walking, Luke felt a shift in the Force, and he began to suspect a conspiracy. “Why do I get the feeling that you know something I don’t?” he asked.

“Because we do,” Leia answered.

“Alright then,” Luke replied, deciding that, knowing Leia, he wouldn’t find out until he met General Syndulla’s crew, or maybe even later than that.

They were joined by a large purple lasat, who fell into step beside General Syndulla. “Hey Hera,” he greeted her, “Heard Kanan and the kid were back, gonna tell ‘em the news?”

“Yes Zeb,” she replied, then she remembered Luke, who had never met a real lasat before. “Oh, Zeb, this is Luke Skywalker. Luke, this is Zeb Orrelios, another member of my crew.”

“Pleased to meet you,” Luke said politely, slightly intimidated by the alien’s bulking size, despite the fact that Chewie was about the same size.

Zeb gave him a once-over, then his face broke out in a rather toothy grin. “Luke Skywalker huh, ‘bout time you came around.”

Luke was even more confused now. What was everyone so excited for him to see? He wondered about this as they moved outside and a woman in colorful Mandalorian armor appeared beside them.

“Thought I’d join the welcoming committee,” she said with a smile. “Wouldn’t want to miss this.” Her gaze landed on Luke and she brushed some of her brightly-dyed hair out of her eyes before asking, “Who are you?” Although it sounded like she had some idea of who he was.

“Luke Skywalker,” Luke answered, he guessed this was another member of the general’s crew. “You part of General Syndulla’s crew too?”

She nodded, “Name’s Sabine Wren.” If she had any reaction to his name, she didn’t show it, she just turned and started the group walking again. “Come on, we should get to the Ghost before Kanan tries to go looking for Hera and gets lost again.”

They headed towards a VCX-100 light freighter. As they approached, a small shuttle came and landed on top of the ship. By the time the group reached the ramp, two figures were walking down it. The first was a young man about Luke’s age, with short blueish black hair and bright blue eyes in orange. The other was also a man, this one with brown hair pulled back in a ponytail and a beard, wearing a green shirt and a mask that covered the upper half of his face. He looked about General Syndulla’s age. At least, that’s what Luke guessed, it was hard to tell with the mask. He was probably General Syndulla’s husband.

“Bout time you got back,” Zeb said with a smile. “What took you so long?” he quipped.

“Well it’s not like we had a lot of help from you,” the man in orange replied sarcastically as he walked up to where Zeb and Sabine were standing.

Sabine laughed, “Ezra, he was only kidding, we’re honestly surprised you finished this soon.”

“Ah thanks... Hey!” Ezra’s pride turned to protest as he realised what all she said. Then Zeb had him in a headlock and it looked like they were about to start an all out brawl.

Luke, deciding he didn’t need to watch them fight, turned his attention to General Syndulla and her husband, Kanan. The two stood on the ramp, Kanan’s hands were at the general’s waist while her arms rested on his shoulders. She held his mask in one hand and their foreheads were touching, both of them had their eyes closed. With his mask off, Luke could see a thick dark scar that cut across his face and over his closed eyes. When Kanan opened his eyes a second later it confirmed Luke’s conclusion that Kanan was blind.

“I missed you,” Kanan said quietly with a soft smile, his thumb rubbing at the fabric of her flight suit.

General Syndulla smiled and moved her head to get a better look at his face. “Kanan,” she said, making him look up expectantly. This also got Zeb and Ezra to stop as their wrestling as they turned to look at the general.

“Yes?” Kanan asked, looking concerned.

“I’m pregnant,”

Kanan’s face went slack, and Luke heard Ezra gasp from his left. “Really?” Kanan asked, sounding hopeful, but also like he didn’t quite believe it. “Hera, are you serious?”

She nodded, although he couldn’t see it. “Yes Kanan, we’re really going to have a baby.”

At this, Kanan laughed. Then he grabbed the general around the waist and spun her around him, and she laughed. As Kanan spun, Luke noticed a familiar looking metal cylinder hanging from his belt. When Luke looked back at Ezra, he saw something similar on Ezra’s belt.

Luke put the pieces together; Leia’s behavior, Zeb’s reaction, his feeling in the Force. There was a reason everyone wanted him to meet these two.

“You’re Jedi!” Luke blurted out when he finally realised it. Everyone was staring at him now.

Kanan and Ezra shared a looked, as well as two people could when one of them was blind. “You could call it that,” Ezra said hesitantly after a moment.

“Leia!” Luke exclaimed, “Why didn’t you tell me?” he asked. “You know I’ve been working to rebuild the Jedi Order for months! And you never thought to tell me there were two living Jedi associated with the Rebellion? And that one of them was married to General Syndulla!” He waved his hand at the couple still standing on the ramp, feeling rather livid.

Leia, clearly seeing he was near hysterics at this point, held up her hands and said “Luke calm down, Ezra and Kanan have been on and off Lothal since before you joined the Rebellion. They haven’t been seen by anyone other than General Syndulla and the rest of her crew in years, when they make the occasionally visit.” Leia paused, making sure Luke understood what she was saying. “They felt that their duty was to Lothal and I respected their decision to stay out of the rest of the galaxy. But they’re here now, available to help.”

Luke took a deep breath, “You’re right, a lot’s been going on lately, and it’s not like I haven’t been flying all over the galaxy.” He turned so he was facing both Kanan and Ezra. “As you’ve probably figured out by now, I’m Luke Skywalker, and I’ve been working on building a new Jedi Order. I hope to construct a new Jedi Temple and find force-sensitives I can train to be the next generation of Jedi.” He paused so Kanan and Ezra could take it all in. “Would you be interested in helping me? I’m sure your knowledge would be greatly beneficial in training new Jedi.”

Kanan and Ezra seemed to consider this for a moment. Kanan was the first to speak. “With all due respect, I believe now is a time I’d best spend with my family.” he said as he shifted closer General Syndulla, who had turned around but still remained in his embrace. “But I am willing to answer any questions you might have about the old Jedi Order.”

Luke nodded, “I understand, thank you.” He turned to Ezra, who still looked like he was thinking. “What about you Ezra?” he asked.

“Aahhh, can I get back to you on that?” Ezra asked after a moment, making Zeb, Sabine, Kanan, and the general chuckle in amusement.

“Of course,” Luke replied, “Take all the time you need.”

Comments are appreciated.

[prepare4trouble]

For a prompt, how about: Ezra is uncertain about what to do when someone actually flirts with him? (Flirts back? Up to you)

Ezra scanned the crowded marketplace, trying to look as though he was simply checking what goods were on offer.  His gaze hesitated over a girl… a woman really, of around his own age.  She was standing behind a fruit stall, also scanning the crowd with a wary expression on her face.  “I think I might see her,” he said.  “Average height, long dark hair?”

Kanan shrugged.  “Could be.  I never asked.”

Right.  Ezra folded his arms.  “Fruit stall,” he tried.  “Lots of meilooruns.”

“That’ll be the one.”

“Over there, to our left.  Second stall on the next row.”

Kanan didn’t turn his head in her direction, but nodded once to say that he had located their contact among the market crowds.  He took hold of Ezra’s arm without comment, and Ezra began to walk toward her.  Kanan didn’t need to do that, of course, but there was always the possibility that he would attract attention otherwise.  Most of the time, that wouldn’t matter.  Right now, it did.  He was attracting a kind of attention anyway; as they passed, Ezra turned and glared at a boy of maybe six who was staring unabashedly at the strip of cloth across Kanan’s face that disguised his scar.

Ezra tried not to look too purposeful as he strode in the direction of the fruit seller.  For the benefit of the three stormtroopers assigned to the market square, he casually browsed the other stalls as he passed.  Nothing unusual here, just two guys out looking to buy some produce.

Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed that the fruit seller was watching them with interest, the wariness in her expression deepening the closer they came.  They’d been made.  Maybe he hadn’t been quite as subtle as he had thought.

He kept up the act anyway, the stormtroopers didn’t appear to be paying them any attention, and he wanted to keep it that way.  He stopped at her stall, eyeing the fruit on display there critically.  He reached for a particularly juicy looking meiloorun.  “Are these in season on this part of the planet?” he asked, using the rehearsed code phrase.

Her eyes widened briefly in surprise and she gave him a strange look.  For a moment, he didn’t think he was going to get a reply.  Finally, she smiled, and looked him up and down, sizing him — both of them — up.  “The season’s nearly over, but they’re still good,” she told him, then leaned in a little to whisper, “I was told there’d be one of you.”

“Change of plans,” Kanan told her without elaborating.  She didn’t need to know any more than necessary.

She shrugged, then smiled at Ezra.  “Fine by me,” she said, meeting his eyes.  She took back the meiloorun he had picked up, her hands brushed against his as she did.

Ezra smiled back, and waited for her to hand him the object.  When she didn’t, he asked her. “So do you have it?” he dropped his voice as much as he could, keeping the conversation private but still wanting to be heard over the background noise of the busy market.

She nodded and reached underneath the table supporting her wares.  She barely took her eyes off him as she did, her free hand playing with a loose strand of hair just in front of her ear.  She was pretty.  Not Sabine pretty, but enough that he noticed.

She glanced around one more time, making sure nobody was paying them too much attention, then placed the box on the stall and picked up a few pieces of fruit to place on the top to disguise the contents.  “I thought I’d spotted you in the crowd,” she said as she packed the box.  “My contact sent me a description, so I knew vaguely who I was looking for, but there being two of you threw me off.”

Ezra nodded.

“He didn’t mention how blue your eyes were though,” she added.  She fiddled with her hair a little more, her tongue quickly flicked over her upper lip.  “Are they your real color, or some kind of a disguise?”  Her eyes met his and hovered there, waiting.

Ezra frowned, confused.  He glanced in Kanan’s direction, expecting him to insist that they get on with it, and saw a small but amused smile playing on his lips.

She hadn’t given them a detailed description of her eye color either, or her hair, or what she might be wearing.  It wasn’t exactly relevant as long as the had enough to find each other.  “Uh, no, they’re real.  But why would you expect to be told that?  It’s not really a useful description; lots of people have blue eyes,” he said.  “Anyway,” he indicated Kanan with a wave of his hand.  “Kanan was your contact.”

“He’s right, I’m not great at visual descriptions lately,” Kanan added.  He was still smiling, his lips pressed tightly together as though he was trying not to laugh.

Ezra winced.  That wasn’t what he had meant.  He had simply been telling her who she had been communicating with over the comms channel.  He was going to have to apologize for that later, even if Kanan did seem to find the whole thing inexplicably hilarious.

Ezra reached into his pocket and retrieved the agreed payment.  He passed the datacard to her as though it was a credit chip offered in payment.  She barely glanced down to look at it before slipping it into her pocket.  As soon as it was secure, she slid the box toward him.  As he took it, her hand very deliberately brushed against his again.  “A ‘fruitful’ transaction,” she said with a grin, watching him for his reaction to the play on words.  She placed the meiloorun he had selected earlier on the top of the box.  “I hope we can do it again sometime.”

Ezra felt his eyes widen and heat rush to his face as he realized what was going on.  “Uh… yeah,” he said.  “Yeah, that’d be great.  Well, hey, You’ve got my comms frequency.  Well, you’ve got Kanan’s, but that’s practically the same thing.”  That didn’t sound right.  “I mean, he can always get you in touch with me.  I don’t mean touch, but…”

“Ezra,” Kanan interrupted.

Ezra stopped.

“We should go,” Kanan said.

“Right.  Right…” He grabbed the box, making sure the meiloorun didn’t fall from the top, and waited for Kanan to take his arm.  “I’ll be going now then,” he said with a grin, then turned and fled quickly.

They left the market quickly, not bothering to pretend like they were still shopping.  The stormtrooper’s attention seemed to be elsewhere, and so was Ezra’s.

“She seemed nice,” he said.

Kanan sighed and shook his head in exasperation.  “Yes she did,” he said.  “When we have time, remind me to substitute a Force lesson for some flirting techniques, okay?  It’s a useful skill to have, for all kinds of reasons.”

“What are you talking about?”

Kanan let go of his arm as they left the marketplace and the crowds behind and moved into an unpopulated area where it didn’t matter if anybody noticed him.  “You don’t think there was anything wrong with how you handled the end of that conversation?”

Ezra hesitated.  She’d caught him off-guard, that was all.  He was used to flirting with people, and an expert at laughing off the inevitable rejection, it had just never occurred to him that someone might flirt with him.  “Okay, yeah.  It wasn’t perfect,” he admitted.  “But it wasn’t that bad.”

“If you say so,” Kanan agreed.

“Hey, I’d like to see you do better,” Ezra said indignantly.  He couldn’t imagine Kanan of all people flirting.  In all the time he’d known him, he had never seen him so much as look at a person that wasn’t Hera in that way —well, back when he could look… — let alone try anything else.

Kanan shrugged, still looking amused; either at Ezra’s performance or his assumption about Kanan, Ezra couldn’t be sure.  “The offer’s open,” he said.

Ezra tucked the box under his arm and grabbed the meiloorun from the top, tossed it in the air and caught it again.  “I think I’m doing fine,” he said.  “After all, who’s the one that scored us the free fruit today?”

“You’re right,” Kanan said.  His smile widened to almost a grin.  “Hey, maybe you could teach me a few tricks sometime?”

Ezra sighed deeply.  There was no way he’d heard the last of this.

[prepare4trouble]

Star Wars Rebels fanfic - Background Noise

It feels odd to be posting this today, the time between writing and posting this one is much less than normal.  I mean, I have stuff for this AU that I wrote months ago and am still chipping away at, making little changes and tweaks.  This one, I wrote most of it the day before yesterday.  Hopefully you’ll like it anyway! :-)

Part of the Little By Little AU

Kanan was seated in the middle of his bed, wearing sleepwear that consisted of a loose-fitting pair of pants, and a shirt that looked as though it had seen better days.  He untwisted the band that held his hair in place.  It fell loose around his shoulders, a kink near the nape of his neck where it had been held in place all day.

Ezra clambered up the ladder to the upper bunk and tested the bed.  Unsurprisingly, it felt much the same as his own, perhaps a little firmer, but that could easily be his imagination.  “Thanks for this,” he said.

Honestly, if Kanan hadn’t offered to let him borrow his spare bunk for the night, Ezra thought he might have spent the night camping out somewhere else in the base.  Not in one of the various crew dorms or rooms though — that would have meant coming up with an answer to any number of difficult questions.  Most likely, he would have found a comfortable hiding spot and bedded down for the night.  Wherever he ended up, he could guarantee that it wouldn’t have been the worst place he had ever slept.

“Don’t mention it,” Kanan told him.  There was a creaking sound below him, much quieter than when Zeb got into bed, but distinctive enough for Ezra to recognize it.  “Just remember, you need to go back tomorrow.”

Ezra sighed quietly, but he knew that Kanan was right.  The longer he left it, the more awkward it would become.  Anyway, now he was here, he couldn’t help but feel a little bad; what would Zeb think when he never showed up for bed?  He should have said something.  Of course, the problem with that was that it would have involved saying something.

He lay down on his side, facing out into the room.  “I will,” he promised.

Probably the best way to handle it would be to act as though nothing had happened.  Zeb would realize he didn’t want to talk about it, and respond in kind.  Or at least he hoped that he would.  It probably wasn’t going to work that way.

It was too late to use that tactic with Sabine.  He thought of the stack of work she had given him to read through; page after page of dots arranged into patterns, a key showing him which letter each combination of dots corresponded to.  It had been interesting at first, and then not so interesting, and then he had put down the flimsi and loaded the datacard into his datapad and realized from the title of the file why she wanted him to learn that particular code, and…

He should have realized right away.  He had made the connection between what she was giving him and the nameplate on Noisi’s door.  He knew, in theory at least, that there were better ways for blind people to read than to listen to audio files.  And Noisi was an eye specialist, after all.  One serving as a general med droid for the whole base, it was true, but he had a specialty, and apparently a custom-built nameplate to match.

The information that Sabine had given him was all designed to be read visually.  Still, he had run his finger across the screen, trying to imagine what it might be like to feel the letters beneath his fingertip.  It seemed impossible.  Part of him had wanted to go to Noisi’s door and try it out, just touch the embossed code there and try to feel any kind of a difference from one letter to the next.  If he could do that, he might be able to convince himself that the project was a worthwhile use of his time.

Kanan didn’t use it.  At least, not as far as he knew.  He could ask him, but he didn’t want to.  The fewer people were aware of it, the fewer people there would be expecting him to learn it.  Because he wasn’t going to be able to do it.

Honestly, there was no point even trying.

“How was today?” Kanan asked him.  “What did you do for the rest of the afternoon?”

Ezra squirmed a little uncomfortably.  He didn’t like lying, not to Kanan.  Not to any of them really.  “Oh, you know,” he said.  “Just wasted my time.”  It wasn’t a lie.  Or at least, he didn’t think it was going to be a lie.

He thought back to the code, trying to bring it back to mind; after hours of studying, he could only remember five of the letters.  Maybe six.  Either way, not enough.  And that was reading with his eyes.  When they decided to fail him, he was going to have to switch to his fingers, and that would be an entirely different skill.  One he wasn’t sure that he possessed.

“I guess that’s fine for one day,” Kanan told him.  “Tomorrow we need to do some training.”

He didn’t specify what kind of training.  Ezra was okay with that for now.

“Well,” Kanan said.  “Goodnight.”

“Night,” Ezra repeated.  He closed his eyes and braced himself, but the light in the cabin didn’t switch off.  It wasn’t until then that he realized, the old familiar argument over the light wasn’t going to happen here; it wouldn’t matter to Kanan whether it was on or off.  Still, he figured he should probably ask, just to make sure.

“Hey, Kanan?  Is it okay if we leave the light on overnight?”

There was a pause before Kanan answered.  “…Yes, I think that’ll be fine.”

Okay, now he felt vaguely ridiculous for asking.  He opened his mouth to apologize — pointless, as he knew that he hadn’t actually done anything wrong, when a noise started up unexpectedly; a dull buzzing that grated on his senses, seeming to fill the room with sound that was impossible to ignore.  Ezra gritted his teeth and wrapped his pillow around his head to block out as much of the noise as he could.  It still penetrated, seeming to settle, vibrating, inside his skull.

He squeezed his eyes shut and tried to think about something — anything — else, but the noise intruded on his mind, he couldn't relax to sleep, because he couldn’t stop listening to it.  It wasn’t a particularly unpleasant sound, but there was something about it that just bothered him.

Noisi.

The tone was completely different from the sound generated by the med droid’s wheels, but it was similar in that it was a single tone, steady and unchanging.  He didn’t know what was making it, but he felt sure that it hadn’t been there the last time he had been in Kanan’s quarters.

How it wasn’t bothering Kanan, he had no idea.

“Kanan?” he asked.

Kanan didn’t answer right away.  Ezra heard him shift in the bed below him and clear his throat before he did.  “Yeah?”

“Um…” he didn’t want to sound like he was complaining, but if that was going to continue all night, he probably wasn’t going to get any sleep, and if he wasn’t going to get any sleep, he might as well have avoided Zeb by spending the night camped out in the lounge.  At least he would have had access to snacks there.  “What’s the noise?” he tried.

“Oh.”  He heard Kanan sit up in bed, and leaned over the side to check what he was doing.  He was reaching for some kind of dome-shaped object on the chair by the side of his bed.  “Sorry,” Kanan said.  “Habit.

The object was a light grey color, a rounded shape on the top, sitting on an oval base.  He couldn’t make out any detail, but there appeared to be buttons on the base, as well as some kind of display on the front, slightly illuminated text that he definitely couldn’t see.  He wasn’t sure whether that was down to his distance from the thing, or not.  “What is that?” he asked.

“White noise generator,” Kanan told him.  He pressed his hand onto the top and the music cut out instantly.  “I’ll turn it off.”

Ezra leaned a little further over the edge of the bunk to get a better look at the thing.  “What’s it for?”

“Well,” Kanan ran his fingers over the buttons on the front.  “Generating sounds, mostly.”  He paused, a little awkwardly, and sat back on the bed.  “Hera gave me it.  When I… after Malachor.  Sometimes I’d wake up, and not know…” he stopped again.  “It was supposed to be something to listen out for, to tell me instantly where I was when I woke up uncertain.”  He paused.  “Leaving the lights on wasn't an option for me,” he added.

Ezra understood then.  Those rare times when he woke from some dream or nightmare to darkness in the middle of the night, when all he could do to chase away the dream and convince himself that he was safe and at home was switch on the light and look around him at the familiar surroundings; Kanan hadn’t been able to do that anymore.  And at the time, he probably didn’t lack for bad dreams.

Somehow, he had never considered that Kanan might have gone through something like that, but that was because Kanan had never shared that with him; and why would he?  It was private, and probably not an easy thing to share.  Possibly not something he ever would have shared, if Ezra hadn’t intruded upon his space like this.

Unless, of course, Ezra had brought it up, because that was definitely going to be something he was going to have trouble with too, he knew that already.  He didn’t dream often, but when he did, it was as though his mind decided to commit fully to it, and sometimes took a while to bring himself back to reality.  If… when… he couldn't switch the light on, things were going to be so much worse.

“Did it help?” he asked quietly.

Kanan shrugged.  “Not really.  But switching it on has turned into a habit.  One I can do without for tonight.”

The room suddenly seemed unnaturally quiet, Ezra could hear the sound of his own and Kanan’s breathing, the slight creak of the bunk underneath him as he adjusted his position, and nothing else.  He was glad of the light, because if it were dark he didn’t know whether he would have been able to stand it.  He licked his lips.  “Does it make any other noises?” he asked.  “Ones that sound less like…” it didn’t actually sound like Noisi, “like that?”

“I don’t need it on, Ezra,” Kanan told him.  “Like I said, it’s just a habit.”

“Still,” Ezra said.  “Something else might be nice, something that sounds a bit less like someone fell asleep with their head on a musical keyboard.”

Kanan laughed.  “Okay.  There’s quite a bit on there, music, nature sounds, there’s a display on the front with the titles, if you want to look through and choose…” he stopped abruptly, probably remembering Ezra’s struggle to read the datapad a few days earlier.  “Or I could just flip through them until we land on one you like,” he suggested.

“Yeah.”  Ezra lay back in his bunk.  The display looked larger than the datapad, he probably would have been able to read it, but he didn’t want to try.  “Let’s do that.”

Kanan reached for the noise generator again and pressed the top again.  The buzzing noise kicked back in.  He pressed a button on the front and the tone changed to something softer, but similar in nature.  Kanan scrolled past it, either because he didn’t like it himself or because he correctly assumed that it wasn’t going to work for Ezra.

He pressed the button a few more times, and the sound of raindrops on a metal roof filled the room.  They began slowly, then growing heavier as though a storm was beginning outside.

“Wait,” Ezra said.  It reminded him of Lothal, when the rains started, sometimes they would continue for days at a time.  He could hear them from his room in his parents home, it reminded him of feeling safe and warm, listening to the voices of his parents speaking in low tones in the next room while he snuggled beneath the covers and drifted off to sleep.  “I think I’d be okay with that one,” he said.  “If you are, I mean.”

By way of an answer, Kanan pulled his hand back from the noise generator, and lay back down on his bunk.  “Yeah, I think I could live with that,” he said.