"No!" He shouted, running after the retreating group. He saw the agony on her face, the way the imperials were roughly holding her. Her lekku swung behind her, her mouth contorted in a silent scream. He didn't get farther than the ramp, because a hulking figure was blocking him.
"You can't save her!" Zeb yelled, even though Kanan was standing right in front of him, "You'll get yourself killed!"
Ezra fired his energy slingshot, a useless defence against the Jedi. Kana dodged it easily and elbowed Zeb out of the way. The lasat responded with an indignant grunt. When Kanan turned to look back at the Ghost, Sabine grabbed him by the shoulders. "You can't go there! They have armies. You can't save her!"
Kanan shrugged her off. "Then I'll die trying."
"But why is she so important to you?" Ezra asks. Kanan stopped midstride. Then he turned towards the Ghost.
"Kanan!" Ezra shouts, chasing after him.
"Kanan!" Ezra found Kanan in the control room, sitting in Hera's seat. "Why is she so important to you? Can you just answer the question?"
Kanan sighs and put his head on his hands. "Kid, you ever wonder about my past?" The question caught Ezra by surprise.
"Yeah, all the time."
Kanan slumped back in the chair. "Hera and I met on Gorse. I was in my early twenties, and she was maybe eighteen. I knew from the moment I saw her that there was something special about her, something that not many women had. Back then, I wasn't focused. I was a migrant, moving from planet to planet for odd jobs. I never let myself get too attached to anyone or anyplace." Kanan looked away as if embarrassed. "I lived to flee, to earn enough money to drink another day. That's what I had become after years and years of fear, of always being on my toes, never being too exceptional. I tried to throw away the force, but it isn't something that can be forgotten in a trash can back on Corusant.
Ezra listened curiously. He'd never heard or seen his master as anything but confident, but he knew that all members of the Ghost had a history, and this was his.
"I isn't fair to say that we met. It was more like," He scratched his beard, "It was more like she found me. We pulled off the op, but we killed many in the process; even those who helped us, who got tangled in things they never should have been involved with. That was the first time I ever felt needed, the first time my life had a purpose." He glared daggers at Ezra. "Do you understand now, how much Hera means to me?"
"I do now," Ezra said with a tone of seriousness unlike him. He turned to leave the room. "Are you coming to save our captain?"