Author's Note: This story ties in with Tano and Twins, though with the information I'm about to give you, you shouldn't need to go read it first (I would ask, however, that you do go read it at Some Point!).

Basically, Caleb Dume ran into Ahsoka Tano a few years after Order 66. Already absorbed with raising the Skywalker twins, she brings him to Obi-wan Kenobi, who completes Caleb's training and knights him. Taking the name Kanan Jarrus, the young Jedi sets out to help with growing resistance efforts against the Empire, something that takes him to various planets - which is how he winds up as the partner of Hera Syndulla and joins her aboard the woman's ship. In the couple of years since then, they've travelled widely, running missions for the rapidly expanding rebellion as well as rescuing Force sensitive younglings to take to Master Yoda's secret Enclave on Dagobah.

That's the pertinent information. Now, our story begins properly...

Chapter 1

Stepping out of the Ghost and into Lothal's fresh air, Kanan took a deep, bracing breath, tapping fully into the Force as he did so. Master Kenobi had been correct in assuring him there were no Sith-trained Inquisitors present on the Outer Rim world, or at least none in the capital city. That was always subject to change, though - the Emperor had slowly been growing more erratic in assigning tasks to his various Force sensitive agents, which included Hands, Inquisitors and Vader himself.

"Anything wrong, love?" Hera asked idly as she joined him on the ramp.

"Not at the moment," Kanan answered back softly, eyes scanning the city skyline. He was just about to dim his openness to the Force when a sudden spark of something stood out to him.

"Hera?"

"Mm?"

"Think you can handle the information pick-up yourself? I just got a lead on another matter..." Catching on to her friend's drift, the twi'lek woman nodded.

"Chopper!" She called back through the ship. "Mind the ship for us, and get the Guest room ready!"

There was a specific cabin aboard the Ghost that was always reserved for any Force sensitive younglings Kanan was tasked with delivering to Master Yoda on Dagobah, and by mentioning it Hera had just alerted their temperamental astromech to the fact that there would likely be another one incoming.

Exchanging brief smiles, the two Rebels parted company outside the spaceport: Hera to retrieve some information needed by the Alliance on recent Imperial movements through the Outer Rim, and Kanan to investigate the source of the Force flare he'd felt earlier.

He soon found it, in the form of a small child attempting to pick his pocket.

-J-

"Do you need anything else, Ezra?" When the dark-haired boy shook his head, Hera smiled and gave him a gentle squeeze to the shoulder. Stick thin and garbed in ramshackle clothing swiftly turning into rags, Ezra Bridger was filthy, in need of a good cleaning. After making sure he knew how to work the 'fresher aboard the Ghost, Hera left him to it, returning to where she'd last seen Kanan in the med bay.

"He bit me, the little slagger," her friend was complaining. Even as he applied bacta to the various wounds along his arms, though, the Jedi Knight's tone of irritation was none-too-lightly colored by amused admiration.

"I'll admit, Jarrus, I'm surprised a kid that small gave you so much trouble." Hera couldn't help but smirk at the scratches and bite-marks, small but numerous from where Ezra tried to escape the man's grip before accepting that he wasn't in danger.

"Yeah, well, I still got him in the end, didn't I?" Abruptly, Kanan's expression of humor darkened into something else. "Kid would have been in a lot more trouble if I were anyone else, though."

Hera frowned at the concern her partner was showing. "You got to him first, love. And now he'll get care and training on Dagobah, with the others." That was when she saw it - the faint flicker of apprehension, something that indicated Kanan didn't necessarily want to simply deliver this child like they had before. "Love...?"

Kanan abruptly shook his head, putting the medical supplies away again, and left without another word. Hera stared after him, confused, but willing to respect that the Jedi clearly needed to be alone to think something over. Instead of pestering her friend, the woman returned to looking after their new passenger. Ezra had finished cleaning up in record time, even expertly dressing himself in the small orange jumpsuit Hera had left for him.

Obviously, the boy hadn't always been on the streets, causing her to wonder what had happened to force him to be there. As she settled the seven year old into the large bunk in the Guest room, she asked if he had any friends or family he wanted to say goodbye to.

Ezra promptly started to sniffle, startling Hera into drawing him into a tight embrace. Haltingly, the boy told her of his parents, and how they'd disappeared. It took a long time for Hera to settle him down again, and even after Ezra dropped off into sleep, she continued to hold him as she sat on the bunk. Kanan wandered in after a while, watching her and the boy carefully.

"Are you alright?" He asked in a subdued tone, kneeling beside her.

"Not really," Hera murmured back, stroking a bare hand through Ezra's dark locks.

"You're thinking about orphans again, aren't you." It didn't have to be a question. Kanan had known her long enough to become perfectly aware of how Hera reacted around children bereft of their families - either she gave them love and attention herself, or found someone else capable of sharing it.

And Hera knew, when Kanan cautiously reached out his own hand to place it on Ezra's tearstained cheek, expression soft, that he'd already become attached himself.

-J-

Keeping his hands pressed to the window, Ezra watched with awe as Lothal shrank from view - or, more correctly, as the Ghost lifted up and away into space.

"Wow..." he whispered. The kid's eyes got even wider when they made the jump to hyperspace, stars and darkness replaced with streams of blazing light.

"Pretty cool, huh?" Kanan chuckled from behind him. Ezra nodded rapidly as he clambered back down to the floor from his perch. "So, I need to ask you something, kid."

Silently, the boy blinked at him.

"I know I said yesterday, after you calmed down, that we'd take you to a safe place, where you could learn to use the Force." Brows furrowed, Ezra continued to watch the man closely, wondering why he started to look so nervous. "I was wondering, if, instead of going somewhere new, you might like to stay here instead. On the Ghost. With me and Hera. You'll still need to meet the other Jedi at some point, but I could be the one to handle your training, and well, while it might not be as safe, I can promise we'll do our best to take care of you." Kanan stopped there, looking anxiously at his still silent audience. "So, what would you prefer."

That was when Ezra smiled. He took a couple steps forward, and hugged Kanan around the waist. "Here. I want to stay here."