It had been several weeks since an imperial attack. Kanan was on edge, as was the rest of the crew. He was pacing back and forth in the Ghost's lounge before Ezra approached him.
"Kanan, are you alright?"
The man stopped and sighed. "Yeah, I'm fine." He sat down on the sectional and invited Ezra to sit next to him. "It's just... I have a feeling..." he trailed off.
"What kind of feeling? Something bad?" He studied Kanan's filmy eyes.
"Yes. It's been gnawing at me for several days now."
"What happened?"
"I don't know. It's still unclear," said Kanan, reluctant to speak.
A long silence passed between them before Ezra wandered off. Kanan relaxed and began to meditate on this.
Kanan!
Kanan! A voice called out to him.
He could feel a drop of warm liquid fall on his face. Blood? He thought.
Kanan! The familiar voice said again, this time closer to him. He heard crying, crying from a person he'd never heard crying before. Don't leave me!
Why? I won't leave... he said.
Kanan, you're-
He felt as if he were falling into the dark abyss.
He snapped out of his vision, breathing heavily. He could hear nobody around, nobody but himself and his heartbeat. He reached out with the Force to make sure the rest of the crew was alright; maybe that would help him relax a little. They were, except he sensed the Force moving around something new, something that he had never seen or sensed before.
"You alright, love?" Hera had sat down beside him without him realizing it.
Startled a bit, he turned his head toward Hera's voice. "Yes, dear." He smiled. "Especially when you're around." He nuzzled his head into his wife's and kissed her cheek.
Hera smiled and hugged him. "I love you." She kissed Kanan back and leaned her head against his shoulder.
"So glad we escaped that pirate gang on Lothal," began Kanan. "I don't think we would have made it without you as our pilot." He had his arm behind Hera's back and ran his hand up her side.
"Yeah, you almost got yourself and Ezra killed. I definitely can't afford that, especially now."
"Oh, yeah, because I'm part of the Rebellion? Part of the spark?" He laughed at his own silliness. Hera joined in, too.
"Yes, dear. That and another thing."
"What is it, love?" He looked directly into Hera's beautiful emerald eyes.
"Kanan... I-"
The ship was ripped out of hyperspace, jolting all the contents in the ship. "Hold that thought," Kanan said before his senses went on hyper-alert. "There are two Immobilizers on the scanners." He ran toward the cockpit with Hera close behind.
"And we're caught in a tractor beam."
"Damn it! We've lost control of the ship!" yelled Hera in frustration. Kanan was a little startled; he hadn't heard her swear in a long time.
"Prepare for boarding! Now!" Hera yelled to her crew.
"Aye aye, Captain Tightpants," Chopper grumbled in binary. He mock-saluted her.
"Chopper!" Hera gave him a nudge with her foot before grabbing her blaster.
The droid laughed and followed her.
What seemed like forever passed before the door burst open. Kanan was the first to react. Using the Force, he slammed the first two stormtroopers against the back wall of the imperial corridor. Sabine shot the next three, not missing once. A few more white-armored troopers came in, not lasting for more than five or six seconds. Then, there was a pause.
"Was that it?" Zeb inquired.
Kanan cautiously wandered a few steps into the corridor, being completely aware of his surroundings. Nothing out of the ordinary, a few troopers patrolling the halls. Until, suddenly, Darth Vader himself jumped out at him. He assumed a defensive stance until Ezra caught up with him.
"This is where the Rebellion comes to an end, Kanan Jarrus," said Vader.
The hum of the two sabers intensified the air around him. A third one, Ezra's, disrupted it momentarily, but fell into place. It was a song Kanan was all too familiar with, but he felt alienated and a tad afraid.
"No," he reassured himself. "This is where it starts."
Vader was the first to swing his blade. Kanan bounced his off of it and swung it around to the opponent's knees. The motion of the blades was comforting to some extent, yet still deeply unsettling.
Don't let him take advantage of you, he reminded himself.
He glanced over at Ezra, who was trying to distract their opponent. Still, Kanan felt uneasy and distracted by what he'd been sensing over the last week. It was so close, yet so alien to him.
Was it something with Vader? He wondered as he blocked a series of swings from him. They were both beginning to move faster, and Kanan managed to push him back to the reactor core center while the others fended off stormtroopers.
Hera, watching the battle from a distance, was a little nervous. She noticed they were moving faster and faster, and Kanan seemed to be a little slower than usual. He was distracted by something, she could tell, but by what? She shot several more stormtroopers before watching a bit more.
"Come on!" shouted Sabine. "Let's get away while we can!"
Reluctantly, Hera followed the others back toward her ship. "What about Kanan and Ezra?"
"Don't worry, they'll find a way!" Zeb answered.
The rhythmic song of the light and dark blades continued. The pattern of the swinging and the clashing felt almost serene. Without realizing it, Kanan kept slowly backing up, which he subconsciously knew he shouldn't do. The tempo had gradually sped up, over such amount of time that he didn't notice it until now. He had a hard time keeping up with all of Vader's swings. He was cornered, yet he felt so close to freedom. Ezra jumped in, trying to keep Vader away from him. He spun around and his red blade grazed Ezra in the knee, causing him to fall to the catwalk. Kanan took advantage of the pause and swung at Vader's head, but he blocked the blue blade mere centimeters from himself.
The dance of the sabers kept on. It was one after the other. Hit, block, hit, block, hit again, block again at a more steadied tempo, but still insanely fast. He did this mindlessly and wandered in his thoughts. His mind went back to the Force signature he had sensed earlier.
It was something with...
His thought was interrupted. He grimaced as the red blade slid out of the center of his chest. Only when he hit the ground did he feel the pain. He immediately fell unconscious.
"Kanan!" Ezra yelled. Vader had left for the others, he sensed. With all his might, he pulled himself up, limped over to the critically wounded Kanan, and dragged him back to the Ghost.
"Hey, kid, you alright?" Zeb asked Ezra, who was lying on the medbay bed.
"Yeah, I'm fine." He tried to sit up to look at his knee, which was still painful. The synthskin covered up the wound pretty well, though.
Zeb pushed him gently back down on the bed. "Hey, take it easy, now. You're not healed yet."
"I'm fine!" He struggled to sit up again. "Where's Kanan? How is he?"
Zeb scratched the back of his head. "Yeah, about that..." he took him in his bed to the other room.
"Is Hera... crying?"
A cold hand grasped Hera's heart when she saw the burnt hole in her husband's chest. He had a slow, weak pulse. Hera reached for his hand and gently squeezed his fingers. No response. There was nothing she could do for him. Kanan was going to die. She cradled his face, feeling his soft skin and beard for what was going to be the last time. A small tear of hers fell on his face, which he responded to.
"Kanan..." Hera said, choking back further tears.
He didn't reply, which made Hera even more heartbroken. It hurt for her to swallow.
Ezra was propped up against Zeb. They were both nervously waiting for him to wake up. Sabine was quietly biting her nails in the corner. They all knew he wouldn't make it.
She looked into his tranquil, filmy, turquoise eyes for the last time. He looked finally at peace, relieved of his worries at last.
"Kanan..."
"Hera..." he managed with a raspy voice. He blinked a couple times and smiled weakly. He felt no pain whatsoever; Hera knew him well enough that he would want to die comfortably. He was surrounded by the faces of the ones he loved.
"Kanan!" The kids said simultaneously.
"You're alive!" said Zeb.
Neither Sabine nor Ezra knew what to say.
"Are you... okay... Ezra?" Kanan asked.
"I'm fine."
"Sabine..? Zeb..? You, too?"
"Yes, Kanan, why are you worried about us?" Sabine replied.
Kanan turned his attention back to Hera.
Hera embraced her husband, no longer holding back tears. "Love..."
"Yes, dear?"
She sniffed, wiped her eyes, and smiled. Her fingers intertwined with his.
"I'm pregnant."
It wasn't long before another tear streaked her face.
An extremely shocked expression appeared on Zeb's, Sabine's, and Ezra's faces simultaneously. Sabine was the first of the kids to smile.
Kanan smiled. A tear ran down his face as well.
That's what it was!
"I'm... I'm a dad!" He choked up and started to cry softly.
"I know."
Ezra had lost so much, and now he would lose his master, his father-figure, his friend. He couldn't be strong anymore. He let his tears flow along with Zeb, who was crying as well.
No matter how frustrating he was, Sabine had loved Kanan. And after losing her own father, he was the only dad she had. She was happy for both Hera and Kanan, as they were now expecting. It tore at her heart that he would never get to meet their child. Her mixed emotions blurred her vision and she started to cry as well.
"I... love you... Hera..." Kanan used his last scraps of energy to kiss her.
The kids didn't mind it as much as they used to; it really didn't matter now.
"I love you, too."
There was no longer a pulse. Hera's heart sank to the floor. She rested her head on his shoulder for a long time, mourning, knowing that there would be an emptiness in her, the baby's, and the crew's souls forever.
Sabine knelt down next to Hera and hugged her; she knew she needed it. Hera didn't bother to wipe her tears.
Eventually, the tears dried. There were no more. Crying was useless; the love of her life was dead, but life went on. She turned to Sabine, who still held her in an embrace.
"This is really bad timing, but... well... congratulations!" she said.
Hera smiled a bit. "Thank you, Sabine. For being here." She looked up to the rest of the crew. "And you, too. Thank you."
Zeb and Ezra felt a little awkward. Ezra hobbled over to Kanan and touched his shoulder. He looked at his lifeless, pale face and a lump formed in his throat. Ezra's eyes unfocused a bit, leaving him to his own thought. Every memory he'd had with Kanan flashed before his eyes, when suddenly, out of the rush, he heard a voice:
Ezra.