On the Loom of Chariclo
A/N
So this piece has been rolling and rumbling for a little while now – moreso rumbling and up-heaving than usual. Characters 'vying' for inclusion, and or prominence, while others accepting their fate as background players in a larger world. As I work on finding the voices of new friends, old friends start to show me sides I never knew (or perhaps never wanted to) they had – darker, and more morally ambiguous than I thought, but at my core, I should have known all along. The signs and signals were always there, as well as the outcomes and repercussions there of.
As a rule, I don't like messing with existing canon if I can help it -unless it's the old 'EU' AKA 'Legends' then I'll happily supply the match to burn it to the ground. I prefer to try to slide into the established Galaxy as cleanly and as unobtrusively as I can. I'd rather twist my threads into the fabric than rip it all asunder, and there in lay the problem. I wanted to cut my new friend, our 'Cowboy Jedi' a break. The writers of 'Rebels' have really put him through the ringer over the last three seasons, and I don't doubt the last season will be the worse for him.
I wanted him to see what the world he is in was like. Visuals are also a big part of my story telling forte. It's not as if I haven't written a blind character before (and the irony wasn't lost on me) but he had not only a strong support mechanism, but a larger group of people to surround him. Unfortunately, unless I want to stomp all over things and go very A/U, it just wasn't going to work. Not only would it throttle any chance of it really 'working' (in my mind) for this particular story, it would stain any works I would hope to write in the future. It. Just. Wouldn't. Work.
Once I gave over to the idea, knowing it will make things harder (I used to love a challenge) things really, finally clicked into place. Sadly, for Kanan Jarrus, it won't be an easy ride (for either of us, really) but I think it will be an interesting, rewarding one – at least I hope so – and fill in a few gaps as neatly as possible. Not perfectly, of course. The Star Wars Galaxy has long been a patchwork of many, many hands, and this is just my little piece, but I hope it will be a good one.
This story, in many chapters, takes place after "Steps into the Shadows" from Rebels Season three.
Breathe… Just, breathe… - Luke Skywalker, The Last Jedi
"Uh, Hera?" Ezra Bridger, nervously knocked on the door of the Ghost's captains quarters. He had looked everywhere else, and since neither she nor his Master could be found…
"Hera?" he asked again, a little louder now, resisting the urge to reach out into the Force to search for Kanan. They had repaired the rift between them only recently, and didn't want to push. Still…
He knocked louder, and now he heard a distinct thud and the murmur of voices – not just one voice but two.
"Erza?" came a muzzy reply at last. "It's not even 0600! Is something wrong? Are we under attack?"
Another thud, and an unmistakably masculine oath. Well, at least he'd found them. "Uh… No!" he called through the (he assumed) locked door, his face coloring. "It's Chop – he's got a message from Fulcrum! The other Fulcrum! Ummmm… It's uhhh, Kanan… It's important!"
"What's so important that it couldn't wait?" Kanan's voice grumbled back. "Never mind… I'll meet you in the common room in five."
Ezra swallowed hard. "I'll have Chop meet us there, and re-establish the link. "Kanan, I think it's bad."
"What?" all the anger replaced by concern in his voice. "What was the message?"
"All I got was… was… He knows."
"I'll be there in two."
As good as his word, Kanan Jarrus padded out into the common area, barefoot and only dressed in dark sleep pants and an ill fitting shirt. His hair, for the most part, been pulled back into its familiar pony tail, although errant strands stuck up and out oddly. Without the jaig eyed half mask he usually wore, the dark circles under his milk while eyes were more apparent then ever.
Adverting his eyes from the fresh non-battle mark at the base of Kanan's throat, Ezra motioned to the galley. "Do you want some caf first?"
A stretch and a sigh. "No… Yes… Fine."
"And ummm, Hera?"
"Getting dressed," Kanan answered, stifling a yawn. "Might be a minute. Just have Chopper play the message."
The droid burbled grumpily, as if to remind the two humans that he was quite capable of fulfilling the request without additional prompting, and activated his holo-projector.
Unlike the usual triad that symbolized a message from their contact, the holo projected something else.
"What was that?" Ezra exclaimed.
He knows
"Hold Chop," sighed Kanan. "What was what?"
"That symbol!"
"An interruption?"
"No, it was different - a brief flash of wings, and a shining light between them. Kanan?"
Kanan had paled, but his expression was still carefully neutral. "Never mind – keep going Chop."
"You must go to the city of Folaim on the planet of Jelucan. Seek out Lelantus, and may the Force be with you." The message ended abruptly, just as Hera appeared from the fresher.
"Lelantus..." Kanan echoed softly.
"Le-wha-hu? Jelucan?" said Ezra. "Kanan, what was he talking about?"
"Kanan, love?" Hera said gently, moving right to his side. She absently brushed an errant strand of hair from his face. Kanan only smiled at her, and brushed the underside of her chin. "Nothing, Hera."
Ezra cleared his throat, as if to remind them of his presence, and they separated as if shocked.
"Your message," she began, but Kanan shook his head.
"You're not going to like this, Hera, but - "
Hera's green eyes narrowed, and her lekku began to twitch like an angry cat's tail.
"I'm not going to like what?"
"Ezra and I have to leave for a while."
"Wait, what?" she snapped. "Leave? When? Where? Most importantly, why?" I've already almost lost you twice, she almost added, but didn't.
"Ahhh, I think I'll go check on that caf," Ezra muttered, sensing a fight on the horizon. "I might be a while." Chopper blatted in agreement.
"Don't go far," Kanan said, not taking his sightless eyes from Hera's. "I need you to prepare the Phantom for the trip."
"In case you forgot, Kanan Jarrus," Hera retorted, her voice rising. "First, Ezra just lost the Phantom to Hondo, and secondly, it's my ship!"
"Thirdly, you want to wake up the entire base?" Kanan snarled back. "Hera, we don't have a choice!"
"You can't go! I won't… I'm ordering you not to go!"
Torn between angering either of them any more, or sticking around for an explaination, Ezra decided to make the caf. It seemed like the only safe option. He could still hear the furious voices from the common room. Thankfully, for the most part only a few individual words could be made out. Not one of your soldiers, Hera! My dameded crewmate! Danger! Jedi lover – and then the word that shocked them all into silence.
Vader.
Ezra could have probably made a full course first meal in the time he'd taken to finally bring in the caf, but at least the fighting had stopped. Indeed, Kanan and Hera were still sitting at the dejarik table, but now they were resting their fore-heads together, eyes closed, hands caressing each others cheeks.
"You'll be safe?" Hera whispered as Erza walked in, making more noise than necessary. They seemed to have not to heard. "We'll come back, I promise..."
Ezra cleared his throat theatrically as the lovers parted, Kanan keeping Hera's hand tightly in his own.
"Caf!" he said with forced brightness. "Just what we need before we go!"
Hera smiled wanly as she took the preferred cup with a murmured thanks. Ezra pretend not to notice that her eyes were wet and red rimmed.
He handed her a napkin. "For the caf," he said.
They drank in silence for a few minutes, when Hera suddenly stood up and announced that she would find them a ship, and provide the clearance for their journey. "And you're taking Chop," she added. "I want my droid back, Kanan. In one piece!"
Chopper gave a blast of electronic spitting, as he dutifully followed behind her.
"Eye Captain!" Kanan called after her, a forced gaiety he didn't feel. "We'll see you on the flight deck."
"So," Ezra said at last. "Are you going to tell me why we're abandoning the base and - "
"We're not abandoning them, Ezra," Kanan cut him off softly. "Hopefully, we're saving them. "