Hey out there fanfiction reading people! This is my first ever fanfiction! X) Yay! I love Star Wars Rebels and have waited to post this FOR. SO. LONG!

Plz excuse any grammar, like, and review!

Chapter 1

Kanan walked into his room, closing the door behind him and locking it as Hera stepped in.

The man lowered his head and caressed the bridge of his nose, as most adults do when they're upset. His eyes were closed; face showing deep stress and frustration. Hera

stared curiously at her friend. She'd never seen him like this and it scared her more than any number of imperial squads.

"What happened on that mission?" She almost demanded, her face contorted in worry.

Kanan's hand made its way up his face as he pushed back the few strands of hair that had wriggled their way out of his tight ponytail.

"Ezra…he," The man started. He let out a shaky breath. "The kid fell to the Dark Side."

Hera's eyes filled with worry before dimming again.

"Kanan…i-it's not his fault." She said. "Or yours."

The man's brow furrowed.

"That's not true though." He whispered. "He did it to save me…to protect me because I didn't do my job to protect him. He wouldn't have been exposed to the dark side if I'd

done that job. And, he can't protect me from something like that."

Hera sat down on Kanan's bedroll, crossing her legs and looking up at him. "Well, he hasn't been taught that, yet. You didn't know that he was ready for it and neither did he."

"Yes, I did." The Jedi whispered.

Hera raised an eyebrow. "What?"

"I knew weeks ago." He said, face palming himself. "I sensed it and…I ignored it."

Hera shook her head solemnly.

Kanan was strong, stronger than anyone she'd ever known. But, he'd been Ezra's age when he'd had everything ripped away from him. To tell the truth, she had thought numerous times about how Ezra was essentially reliving Kanan's hard shake of reality. Watching them sometimes, she interpreted that the man tried to serve the purpose of cushioning the blow and tossing the boy a ball of swirling, strobing hope.

When you're young, and you lose someone close to you, you can't remember all the details of the tragedy occurrence. You

can't always clearly remember the details and deep emotions of the event. From this feeling, some have small flashes of despair and let the small whispers that the tragedy was their fault consume them.

That was the way Kanan envied his student. Hera knew he'd give anything to have saved even one person from the deadly tornado that scooped up his life.

His Master, his fellow Jedi, his whole family had been carelessly stolen from him at the age of 14. He'd watched as his master had died, felt as their bond had shattered and

her force signature had faded into nothing. He'd seen the ruins of the Jedi temple and mourned profusely for the fallen Jedi. The worst thing was that the force sensitives who

had survived had turned to the Dark Side and, if were not able to, were killed off. Kanan had gotten lucky, though, escaping using his own wits.

He'd been alone for years, using his small amount of Jedi training to survive.

Ezra was like him. Except, he hadn't had that kind of training yet and therefore wasn't as strong with the force as his Master had been. He was still, in a way, a blind sheep

who was trying to find its way around. The Inquisitor would stop at nothing to steer him toward the Dark Side, even if he killed the boy in the process, and Kanan could never

live with himself if that happened.

To the crew, and more importantly to Ezra, Kanan was a strong, quick-witted, and determined man who laughed in the face of danger. He always had a plan, always a trick,

always a way out without doubts.

"Kanan," She said. "You can't keep doing this! Next time…"

"There won't be a next time!" The Jedi growled.

"Kanan," Hera said with a serious edge to her voice. "Before this was alright, to hold off his training a little. But, now…now the kid has someone after him…a real Jedi

hunter wanting him as his apprentice."

Kanan tensed at the word apprentice. An image floated into his mind of his padawan, eyes golden around the rims instead of blue, decked out in solid black clothing and

wielding a red lightsaber. Kanan shuddered.

"You won't always be able to protect Ezra. Especially now." Hera continued. "What happens the next time something like this happens? He was almost k…"

"I KNOW!" Kanan yelled, cutting her off completely.

Hera jumped startled by his sudden outburst.

"I know." Kanan said lowering his voice. "He almost ended up like every other padawan in the temple. We…Ialmost got him killed… and it's my fault."

The Jedi turned away from the Twi'lek woman, placing his hands on the edge of a desk, which stood in the corner of his room, and bowing his head down. He gripped the

edge of the table tightly and silently shook his head.

Hera walked over to him, reaching her hand out when her com went off;

"Specter 5 to specter 2, are you there?" Sabine's voice came through the com system.

Hera slipped the com out of her pocket and raised it to her lips.

"Come in, specter 5, what's the situation?"

"Well, you know how Tseebo knew everything about the Empire? So much that he kept spitting out random bits of information?" The girl asked eagerly.

Hera chuckled. Sabine had always had an astute memory. Whether it was conversations or deciphering code, she remembered it. Hera smiled fondly as she remembered

that, when Sabine had first boarded the Ghost, that she'd tried to hack the Ghosts main frame to be sure she was safe with them.

"Yeah…"

"Well, I was going over one of the strings of numbers he'd listed…"

"And…?"

"And one is actually a shipment code for a large shipment coming in on Lothal…" The mandelorian paused briefly, translating the last few numerals. "In about two

hours. I'm not sure exactly what it is, but if there's any time to mess with the Empire and stalk up on supplies, it's now."

"Okay, thank you specter 5. Gather the rest of the crew in the cockpit and we'll discuss the plan then. Specter 2, out."

Hera turned back to Kanan who was leaning so far down that she couldn't see his face.

"You'd better go meet the others," He muttered, lifting his hand and force opening the door.

Hera bit her lip and placed her hand comfortingly on one of the man's broad shoulders. The Jedi squeezed his hands around the edge of the table tightly until his knuckles

turned white.

"Kanan…you won't always be able to protect Ezra, but that means he has to be trained so he can protect himself." She said shaking his shoulder encouragingly. "If you really care for Ezra, then you'll train him in the ways he needs to be before this can happen again. The kid cares about you and if you're ever in trouble then he needs to know how to help you. And you know that he will no matter what, even if he's running in blindly."

Kanan flashed her a smile with slightly less hurt in his face and looked something approaching his normal self.

Hera smiled back and turned towards the door, walking only a few paces out of the room, when she suddenly popped her head back in.

"Y'know he's too patient with you." She said chuckling.

"What's that supposed to mean?" The Jedi asked with a playful glare.

Hera paused for a moment before replying; "It's because he trusts you."

And with that she walked out of the room and headed down the hall towards the cockpit.

Kanan listened as the woman's footsteps slowly padded down the hall until the soft rhythm was completely faded away.

He sighed deeply as he closed the door and slowly lifted his head. He then slipped out a key from his pocket, and used it to open up a small drawer in the desk. He rummaged through all of the loose papers and old mission plans before stopping at two photographs in particular.

The first showed a young padawan, no older than twelve years old wearing a loose white shirt and holding the hilt of a lightsaber in his hand. A padawan braid rested on his shoulder, appearing at least a foot in length. His eyes shone bright and showed deep innocence.

Kanan chuckled quietly at his young self.

A woman was standing behind him with two tight braids twisted into loops that fell loosely onto her back. Though she wasn't smiling in the picture, you could clearly see the great pride and dignity shining in her oak brown eyes.

Kanan smiled at the picture, a wave of nostalgia and comfort washing over him. His gaze fell to Depa and he stared silently at her thin figure as if somehow trying to catch

her attention through the printed image. He reached out to touch the photo, but recoiled back when his hand made contact. Horrible images of war mixed with devastating

emotions.

He growled.

Though, it was hard not to let everything wash away at the sight of his master, hard not to let everything go, even just for a moment. She'd made him feel safe and had

cared for him as though he'd been her own child.

Kanan sighed, lifting the other photo from the drawer. There he stood, lightsaber ignited and eyes seeming to burn into the world outside the photo as though the him in the

photo was actually self-aware. Ezra stood beside his master, giving the camera his best confident smile. He held an imperial helmet in his hands, decked out in the same

pilot's suit he'd always worn. His electric blue eyes were soft, content, focused, and colored with a blue shade of innocence.

"Master," Kanan whispered. "If it had been me, what would you have done?"

Yes! First chapter done! BTW, I'm new at this, so please excuse any misuse of grammar.

Thanx!