Disclaimer: As always, I do not own Star Wars Rebels.

Beginning of the Bond

Kanan paced a tight circle on the metal floor of his room aboard the Ghost. He had never been the most patient person. Patience was a trait Master Billaba had tried to cultivate in him, but had never had the chance to see through to fruition. As a result, Kanan became a man of action. He was all right with waiting for something as long as there were little things to do along the way, but he hated doing nothing. And nothing was all he had done for the last three weeks.

Kanan lowered himself onto his bunk. He tried to quiet his mind, focusing only on his breathing. He imagined the Force as a living thing around him, flowing through his body, pumping through his blood, and vibrating in the hum of the ship. Stretching out mentally, he searched again for Ezra's Force signature. It was something he was just barely beginning to recognize, and it was a slippery thing to hold onto. But even here, in orbit above Lothal, Kanan should be able to sense that slight spark on the planet that was Ezra.

Ezra and Kanan had begun to develop what Kanan suspected was a Force bond between master and padawan about a month ago. He felt it first as a sort of poke in the back of his mind when Ezra stubbornly declared, "Well I don't want the best teacher. I want you!"

Before that time, Kanan had been having serious doubts about his decision to train him. How could an apprentice who had never finished his own training then go on to train someone else? Ezra was clearly gifted in the Force, and deserved someone better than the wandering padawan Caleb Dume for a teacher. He expected Ezra would be as crestfallen as he was upon discovering that Master Luminara Unduli was in fact not still alive. But Kanan was surprised. The teen was mostly upset that day because he was afraid of being unwanted. Kanan had unintentionally given the impression that he did not think Ezra worth training himself. Once that misunderstanding had been cleared up, something just sort of snapped into place. Ezra became more focused and dedicated to his lessons. Kanan started to notice a small hum on the edge of his consciousness. It was strongest when Ezra was concentrating on using the Force. It was a mere shadow of the bond Kanan had once shared with his own master, but it grew stronger every day.

And then Kanan had to go and get this brilliant idea. The crew received intelligence that the Empire had gotten their hands on a huge shipment of kyber crystals. How that was possible, he didn't know. Mining them large scale from Ilum would have been inconceivable due to the severe weather conditions. But regardless, the Empire could not be planning to do anything productive with a batch that large of Force-infused lightsaber crystals. The shipment had to be intercepted before it reached its destination. The question was, what was the destination? And where was it now?

The rebels discussed various strategies about how to go about lifting that information from the Imperials, all of which came up as dead ends. Finally it struck Kanan that the youngest member of their crew was exactly the right age and physical type to pass as a storm trooper cadet. Ezra responded enthusiastically to the plan and agreed to go undercover at the academy on Lothal and get the required intel. He left them with his very specific instructions committed to memory and an eager spring in his step.

That was three weeks ago. Kanan had never dreamed it would take this long for his padawan to get inside Imperial HQ. True, Chopper had managed to roll inside as well and receive discreet messages from Ezra that he then passed on to the ground team, which in this case consisted on Sabine and Zeb. But day after day they had radioed the Ghost with the same result. Ezra was still inside with no word on the kyber shipment.

Kanan opened his eyes. He could sense Ezra, if very faintly. Surely he would know it if something had gone terribly wrong. Surely.

He glanced at his chrono-clock. It would be nightfall soon on the hemisphere where his team was located. Almost time for Sabine's report. Kanan made his way to the cockpit to join Hera.

"Hey," she greeted him as he plopped into the co-pilot's seat beside her. "Worn a hole through your floor yet?"

Kanan glanced sideways at her. "I don't know what you mean."

"Oh please. You've been pacing for the last ten days. When do you even sleep?"

"This is taking too long," he growled in response, in no mood for her levity. "For all we know the crystals are already at their destination and the Empire's using them to do something unspeakably horrible."

"Right," she said rolling her eyes. "Because the shipment'swhat you're really worried about."

Just then the comm beeped and Sabine's voice sounded through the ship's speaker.

"Specter Five to Ghost. Looks like the kid passed the first test. He's inside Imperial HQ."

"Roger Specter Five," Hera answered. "Ghost standing by."

Kanan groaned internally as the comm clicked off. He supposed it was good news that Ezra was making progress, but he could not help but feel that the longer this plan dragged on, the more likely it was to go south. "We've been standing by for weeks," he complained. "I'm sick of this."

"You're worried about Ezra," Hera said more than asked.

"I'm not worried about the kid," he replied defensively, frustrated by her knowing tone. "I'm worried about the op." After a moment he gave a resigned sigh. "What were we thinking, putting him undercover?"

It was meant to be a rhetorical question, but Hera responded anyway with an incredulous, "What were we thinking? This was your idea."

"He's just not ready!" Kanan went on, ignoring her. "And if he gets caught..." He didn't want to finish the thought out loud. He had already been haunted by worse-case-scenarios every day for the last three weeks. Some master he was. Sending his apprentice into danger while he sat idly by on the ship. Logically, he knew that he and Hera were crucial to the next phase of the plan, but logic was not offering him any comfort right now. What if Ezra was caught? Sabine and Zeb might not be able to get to him in time.

"He hasn't gotten caught so far," Hera offered comfortingly.

Kanan made a tense fist against the armrest of his chair. "The minute he gets that decoder, Zeb yanks him out of there."

"Uh, that's the plan."

"I should have done this myself," he grumbled.

"Oh yeah," Hera said sarcastically, "you'd make quite a cadet."

Kanan looked away. She had a point there. "There must have been another way," he said after a moment.

"You know there wasn't. We went over a hundred different options before deciding to do this. Besides, it's almost over. If all goes as planned, Ezra will be back tonight."

Kanan gazed out the viewport at the planet below. Patience…he just had to have patience. An hour ticked slowly by. Kanan tapped his fingers against his seat as he stared at the comm speaker, willing Sabine's voice to come back and say that the mission was a success and that all four of them were now awaiting pick up.

At long last, the comm did blare to life, but instead of the words he longed to hear, Sabine said in a worried tone, "Specter Five to Ghost: Something went wrong. The kid didn't get the device and he didn't come out."

A sense of dread sunk into Kanan's stomach as Hera responded, "Copy that Specter Five. Give him one more day."

The Jedi let out another sigh. "This decoder better be worth the risk."

"What's the alternative?" Hera asked firmly. "Do you want to stop the kyber shipment or not? You know what the Empire could do with that crystal."

"Nothing good," Kanan conceded.

"So we give Ezra one more day."

He nodded slowly. The Force was strong with his padawan; that much was clear. Perhaps all he could do now was have faith that it would be with him now.

Standing, he turned to leave the room. "I'm going to meditate," he said. "If you hear anything from them—"

"You'll be the first to know, Love," Hera assured him with a smile.

To be honest, meditation was not one of Kanan's strongest skills. It wasn't something he regularly practiced until recent months. But it was the surest way to align himself to the beat of the Living Force, and if he could do that, maybe he could get a better grasp on his bond with Ezra. At least if he could confirm that his apprentice was all right, just delayed, he might be able to get some sleep tonight.

Sitting down on the floor of his room, he closed his eyes. He could feel the Force pulsing through him. He concentrated on the light it created in his mind, banishing all other thoughts. The world became like a still ocean around him. There were no ripples of movement, no disturbances. Kanan extended his range, reaching out to Lothal. As before, he caught a brief flash of a familiar presence. It slipped in and out of his grasp as nimbly as a tadpole in cupped fingers. He frowned slightly. If Ezra could quiet his mind, as he had been trying to teach him, he would not be so hard to hold onto. Kanan kept trying, but each time he found Ezra he immediately lost him again. At the very least, he could be certain he was alive and did not seem to be in any kind of pain. The only sensation he could glean was one of careful waiting. Some unforeseen obstacle must have presented itself, keeping Ezra from making the rendezvous.

Kanan felt significantly lighter after coming to this conclusion. His shoulders relaxed and breathing felt easier. With luck, the obstacle in question was not something overly dangerous, just inconvenient.

The next day passed incredibly slowly. Kanan and Hera were both in the cockpit ready and waiting two hours before Sabine's report was due in. When the comm finally sounded, a full fifteen minutes late, Kanan found himself unintentionally holding his breath.

"Specter Five to Ghost," Sabine said urgently. "Sending coordinates for Imperial jump root. If you leave now, you should still be able to intercept."

Kanan and Hera glanced at each other. That was a slight deviation from the original plan, but it was still excellent news. The ground op was over, and they were not too late to catch the shipment. Kanan exhaled. At last, he could stop worrying about Ezra and the others and concentrate on his own part.

"Coordinates received," Hera replied, pulling the numbers up on her screen and immediately plugging them into the hyperdrive computer. "We're heading out."

"Good work Specter Five," Kanan added. "And you too Specter Six."

Sabine's voice came back as she hesitantly said, "Uh, Specter Six isn't with us…"

"WHAT?" Kanan shouted, his mouth suddenly going dry. "Where is he?!"

The stars outside the viewport burst into bright lines as the Ghost abruptly jumped into hyperspace.

"Specter Five, repeat: where is Specter Six?!" Kanan yelled anyway.

"Kanan, we're out of range," Hera pointed out gently. "All we can do now is complete the mission and get back as soon as possible."

Kanan stared unblinkingly out at the blue swirl of hyperspace. Why did Sabine and Zeb have the decoder but not Ezra? He must have been caught. That had to be it. He must have given the information to Chopper but been unable to get out himself. Would Sabine and Zeb try to stage a rescue mission while Kanan was halfway across the galaxy? Surely they wouldn't be so foolish as to take on the entire Imperial Academy alone. If they did, Kanan was certain that they would all end up as Imperial prisoners. What if they called in that "Inquisitor" once they realized who Ezra really was?

His heart pounded angrily against his ribcage. This was all his fault. He should have known better. He did not realize that he was squeezing the armrests of his chair until a hand lightly touched his white knuckles, causing him to jump.

"Kanan…they'll be okay," Hera said. Her green eyes locked onto his. "Even if they did catch Ezra, they won't kill him right away. He's too valuable. That's why it's important for you to focus on our mission right now. The more efficiently we complete this mission, the faster we can go back and save him."

Kanan willed the tension to leave his body. She was right. Her ability to keep a level head in the middle of intense situations was one of the many attributes he admired about her. If she had been born Force-sensitive, she would have made one powerful Jedi.

He took a deep breath in through his nose and slowly let it back out. "Okay," he said at last. "Let's get it done."