"Argh for kriffs sake!" Hera was almost beat. It wasn't like her to get so frustrated but she had been working in a cramped maintenance shaft near The Ghosts internal temperature control unit for two hours and for the last 30 minutes she had gotten nowhere. Rather than the temperature plummeting, as it had been two hours ago, the ghost was now almost passing tropical. She stuck her head out of the top of the shaft and yelled;
"Kanan! Did you find anything at all I could use instead of the 14k hydro clamper?"
Kanan emerged from down the corridor, he had ditched his usual long sleeve shirt in favour of a white vest which was already marred with oily finger prints. Despite her frustration, something inside smirked as he walked through the hall towards her, his hair was loose, and the vest clung to his body due to the heat. Lately, Hera often found herself thinking she would have to search a good few systems to find another human who was as aesthetically pleasing as he was. But that didn't mean anything in particular. It was probable that she would find him appealing at some point, they had lived together now for several months, she was sure it was quite normal to find a friend attractive.
"Was the 16k no good? I didn't find anything else, everything we've got that's even close, you've already tried." He stopped by the open access panel and looked down at Hera, his hair fell forward slightly as he leaned over. He hesitated; "Can I try, I... I have an idea."
Hera made a move to extract her self from the shaft, "Ah actually I need you to stay down there, even if I can get the clamps back on and locked in, your still going to need to connect the circuits, I don't know them as well as you."
Hera watched as Kanan sat on the floor of the corridor next to the hatch and crossed his legs, back straight. He placed his hands on his knees and with a half smile he looked at Hera, "Let's get it on!" He closed his eyes a took a deep breath.
What ever was left of his Jedi past had taken a while to surface, so long in fact Hera almost began to think she had imagined him saving her life on the Forager. Those first few months she never asked any direct questions about where he was from, who he might have been before. She was patient with her curiosity, he would let a small piece of the puzzle slip from time to time, Hera consumed any morsel of information with great interest. She rationalised this behaviour, it was perfectly natural to want to know more about this human she had let onto her ship and into her life. As Hera looked up at Kanan she realised he was sat in a meditation pose. This was new. She cursed the flutters of excitement that raced around her body.
Although he tried, Kanan couldn't hide what he was every minute of every day. Small actions that to a casual observer would have been missed: catching a tool before Hera had realised it had fallen, locked doors that were suddenly open, vaulting a roof top alleyway, cheating at sabbac! The more Hera watched, the more evidence she saw, but something had shifted recently and he seemed to be using his abilities more, or at least not hiding them from her. Their trust in each other had grown along way. Here he sat now, perfectly poised, like some sexy Jedi poster boy, a picture of serenity in an oily vest that showed off his lean yet muscular physique.
"Are you ready, dear?" Although his voice was even and deep, there was a hint of usual playfulness, the fact he was talking startled her. Hera hoped she hadn't been standing gawping at him for too long. "Oh, sure." She bent back down and stuck her head and shoulders back in the control panel hole. Kriff! Could Jedi's mind read? She hoped he didn't hear her think the words 'Sexy Jedi poster boy'? Before her brain could incriminate her any further the whole temperature control unit slotted smoothly into its compartment.
"It's in! Ok I'm going to connect the circuits." She completed it quickly and efficiently, trying desperately not to think about Kanan's mind reading skills or his hot, sweaty body outside the hatch.
Sweating, she had always thought it was a weird human function, how did he make it look good? She was sure it was supposed to but repulsive and yet the few times she had seen him sweating it was definitely far from that, the way it coated his skin and slicked his hair was fascinating. Kanan's hair, that was also very attractive. If she had a friend, other than Kanan or Chopper, she might confide in them that sometimes late at night, very occasionally, she indulged in a harmless little fantasy scenarios that might lead to her having to run her fingers through his hair. Circuits Hera Syndulla, get your thoughts back on the circuits. The hair of a mind reading Jedi is not what you should be thinking about, especially when that hot Jedi is two meters behind you practicing his crazy mind skills.
"All done" As she backed out of the hatch she heard a metallic clunk and saw the clamp nuts start turning to lock the panel in place. She looked up to see his eyes were closed and he was perfectly still, apart from his hands, they moved slowly, palms facing the panel with index and middle fingers straight but his other fingers slightly bent. She stood up in the maintenance shaft, with Kanan sitting on the floor in front of her they were roughly the same height. She studied his face while he... used the force? Is that what he was doing?
"Is there something wrong, dear Hera?" Again his voice was measured and calm, but it was lightly laced with classic cocky Kanan tones.
The access shaft was small and she leaned up against the side, her hips almost touching his knees "Can you see me right now?" She waved a hand in front of his face. He didn't answer straight away, she was aware of his rhythmic breathing again.
"I can't see you Hera, my eyes are shut... I know your standing right in front of me I can hear you. But I can ..." He took a deeper breath; "I can sense you." He stopped and seemed to concentrate on his breathing for a moment. "The Force is what gives a Jedi his power. It's an energy field created by all living things. It surrounds us and penetrates us. It binds the galaxy together... I haven't said out loud in a very long time, yet as a youngling... I heard it and said it many times." He paused. "If I had my eyes and ears closed, I could still sense it was you, I can feel you through the force."
Hera was barely breathing, her heart seemed to have joined in with the flutters and was now completely out of her control. She swallowed, "You have such a gift, please don't feel that you have to hide it from me. I kept that promise you asked me back on the Forager, I've never told anyone. Not that I have anyone to tell." She watched Kanan for several moments, before he spoke.
"I've finished, can you get Chopper to run a diagnostic?" She was glad his eyes were closed because she was sure her cheeks were flushed. Hera stuck her head back in "It looks perfect, Chopper, can you check all the circuits are good and read the unit please?"
"Engaged and reading. How did you fix unit cc0005076? 14k hydro clamper cannot be located." The astromech beeped in her ear.
"Kanan used his own hydro clamper." She looked back over her shoulder, Kanan was still sat cross legged, but his hands had returned on top of his knees".
Chopper blurted several unflattering names for Kanan "C1-10P has warned Hera that the unit Kanan has several pieces of equipment he is hiding under his bunk. Internal temperature control unit diagnostic complete, unit function ok. Shall I eject him into hyperspace via the main exhaust?"
"No it wasn't a real hydro clamper Chop, look I'll explain it to you later, thank you." She closed the hatch and stood again level with Kanan, he didn't seem to be making any attempt to move, although as she looked at him, his face seemed more contemplative than it was earlier, a slight furrow in his brow. She decided to get all the tools together that's she had strewn about the place and get the floor panel back on. She wondered whether she should ask him about the mind reading, probably best not to know about that.
"I'm not hiding from you." His eyes were open now and he locked them on Hera, "Ten years I'd been trying to make it go away, I strayed far from the path that was chosen for me. Until I met you Hera, I thought the Force had forgotten me, like I'd forgotten it, but from the moment I heard your voice, I couldn't ignore the signals it was sending me... This is the longest I've ever called anywhere home." A big smile erupted on his face "You know, you actually have more friends than me, because I only have you, but you have me and Chopper, he still hates me!" Kanan stood on one fluid motion and held his hand out towards Hera.
Hera couldn't help smile as he pulled her out of the maintenance shaft. "Yeah, you know he says you have things hidden under your bunk!"
He winked, "Any time you want to search my bunk, captain, I'm there!" He picked up the last of the tools and turned back down the corridor.
Watching him leave was also pleasant. As she put the floor panel back Hera thought back to that first mission with Kanan, how she had thought he had followed her because he was attracted to her, but maybe it had been the Force guiding him. She often congratulated herself that she had successfully shut down any advances he may have been trying to make back then and as he had just said, they were friends. If she did have another friend, apart from Kanan or Chopper, she might admit she felt a little pang of disappointment. But this was much better, best friends, partners. They would try and free the galaxy one mission at a time, and that was more than enough for Hera syndulla.
Hera was about to get back to the cockpit when Kanan yelled from down the corridor "If you don't need me I'm going to get cleaned up?" As she turned to tell him to take his time, Kanan stepped out of his room vest in hand... Sexi Jedi poster boy just de-robed. She muttered something that might have been "Well yes, thanks, you are amazing.. You did amazing." And scurried back to the cockpit. Friends. Yes.