Chapter 1: An Unexpected Training Session

Kana watched Hera toss and turned in a fitful sleep, a thin layer of sweat blanketing her frail thin body. He couldn't bring himself to leave her side. Surely he would find a cure. She would not leave him. Not like this. His thoughts were scattered and panicked as he remembered the last six days. It felt like a lifetime ago.

'Kanan! One more dent on my ship from you...' Hera's green eyes burned with anger. He was a good pilot but he was no Hera.

'I'm fine. This was your idea remember?' She had decided that they should get some practice at each others fields. Kanan was flying and Hera was in firing pit. She was clearly not happy with his flying.

It had started as a regular training exercise. Kanan was flying right outside an asteroid field and Hera was firing at the asteroids. They had been practicing different maneuvers, when two imperial ships emerged from hyperspace. They immediately opened fire.

They had both been caught off guard and the hyperdrive had been damaged. As they rushed to defend their ship the force tugged at him letting him know they were about to have additional company.

'Kanan! They had just deployed Tye fighters. Use evasive maneuvers and stray rocks for cover' Hera shouted.

'HERA! Concentrate on the guns, let me fly! Chopper! What's the status of the hyperdrive?'

Chopper made a series of unhappy bleeps.

'What do you mean, you can't fix it?!' Hera yelled. 'Kanan we need to go into the asteroid field.'

Kanan started to argue but Hera cut him off.

'Our shields are down by sixty percent. We can't take any more of this. I want my ship in one piece Kanan.'

Kanan switched to manual controls and flew the Ghost straight at the incoming tye fighters. He wasn't sure who was cursing more; Hera or the pilots in the Tye fighters. At the last second he pulled up and sending six of the Tye fighters into a huge rock that had been behind him. He used the explosion as cover to zip into the asteroid field. He was hoping it would they would go unnoticed. They did. The imperials must have thought they had gone up in the explosion. Just then he felt a sizeable asteroid come pinwheeling at him. He dropped the Ghost and swerved. He would have to find a sizeable rock to land on and make repairs. He was concentrating on not hitting any asteroids when he felt warm fingers on his back. He had felt her presence before he had seen her. It troubled him how he had buried the force down for so long and in the instant he had met Hera it had resurfaced. He didn't like to rely on the force any more than he liked to think about his history with the force. Most days he wished to be normal, like Hera.

But Hera was curious about the force and asked about it. It reminded him of when she first found out he was Jedi. He had saved her from being crushed to death. The idea made him shiver involuntarily. The idea of losing her gave him more sleepless nights then his all too vivid memories of Order 66. Still, she always asked when she thought he was drunk or too tired to just say no. He had always been evasive with his answers. Sure, he would like to have had someone to talk to about his life before, but it was too painful. He would have talked about this with his master. She was kind and always listened. He immediately felt a sharp pain in his chest. He should not have delved so deep. He would never find peace, so there was no point in dwelling in the past.

'Kanan... you there?' Hera was sitting in the co-pilot seat looking at him inquisitively.

'Looking for a sizable rock to settle on. Hmmm... what about that one?' He point at a jagged looking rock. It was much darker than the other rocks and struck out at odd angles. It wouldn't be easy to land but it would make would be impossible to seem them in the ridges. The high peaks would make it tricky for large ships to slip by unspotted by them.

'Great. You mind if I land? I think you've flown enough today love.' She winked at him.

'Ha! You're just scared I may be a better pilot than you!' He could see her eyes sparkle as she doubled over laughing. He smiled, that had been the point.

'You...you...' she had tears rolling down her face as he passed her and she slid into the pilots seat. 'I never knew your people were allowed to be funny!'

'Humanoids are allowed to be whatever they want, from what I'm told. Except for those ridiculous dancers in the Traders Core. No one should have to see that. Ever.'

She continued her laughter as the touched down gracefully into the third shelf of jagged rocks. Hera started to run diagnostics as Kanan got the repair kit.