A/N: Hi, everyone! This is my first try writing our beloved spacefamily; I apologize if it's been done before, I haven't been able to do as much reading as I'd like to in this fandom yet. I've tried to sneak in some references though, and I hope you all enjoy.
P.S. I've been horribly behind on my Rebels, and just watched "Twilight of the Apprentice," so if anyone is still reeling from emotional devastation (including any from the Kanera in "Mystery of Chopper Base"), please send a PM— we can share in it.
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Kanan shifted his weight, knocking on the door.
To his surprise, the woman who answered was young, with chestnut hair that fell just past her shoulders and bright green eyes. He realized that, though he wasn't sure what he had been expecting, it was far from this.
"Hi." He swallowed nervously. "Ms. Syndulla?"
She smiled warmly. "You must be Kanan Jarrus." The woman shook his hand in a manner that was both businesslike and friendly. "Please, call me Hera."
He was about to reply, but the sound of barking cut him off.
"Oh, and that's Chopper," she shook her head, as a medium-sized mutt came running up. The dog started sniffing Kanan's legs, and though he couldn't have identified the breed (or any one of the breeds, for that matter) to save his life, the mongrel seemed friendly enough.
"Don't worry, he's the definition of gregarious." Hera remarked. "Occasionally a nuisance, but gregarious." Chopper looked up toward his owner and gave a single, irate bark, as if he had heard her; then turned back to Kanan, circling him.
"Why don't you come in," Hera gestured, holding the door open for him. "Come on, Chopper," she grunted, giving the dog's collar a tug to bring him inside. Hera ushered the mutt away and led Kanan through the simple but tastefully designed home into a smaller room, off the common area. It was sparsely decorated, with a desk in one corner and a small table flocked by two chairs in the center.
"This is where you'd be staying," she explained as they sat down. "We'll move the table out, of course, but I thought it made the most sense to show you the room."
"Of course," he nodded.
She had with her a few sheets of paper, and a pen, and she arranged them in front of her. "So, tell me a bit about yourself."
He cleared his throat. "Well, I work as a mechanic, and I own my own shop."
"Where were you living before?"
His stomach tightened. He had figured he would need to lie, but he hadn't realized it would be difficult. Kanan cleared his throat. "Ah, I was living in an apartment building, but my lease ends next week, and they're going to raise the rent. I don't really need all the space, and I saw your listing, so I thought I would look into it."
She nodded, marking something down on the paper. "I should let you know, we're looking for someone who can commit to at least six months."
There it came again, that indicative, anxious jolt in his abdomen. "I can do that."
"Great," she smiled, looking up at him, and he was struck by the green of her eyes. The knife in his stomach twisted a bit deeper. "There are just a few things I'd like to go over, then… You don't smoke, do you?"
He shook his head. "No."
"And you're not allergic to dogs?" She asked. "I know you met Chopper on the way in."
"No, he won't be a problem."
"Do you mind kids?"
The question surprised him. "Uh, no."
She looked up with a faint smirk. "That didn't sound convincing."
"No, uh, kids are great. I just didn't realize…" He looked over his shoulder. "Where are they?"
"At school," she looked amused. "It's Monday morning."
"Oh," he shifted in his chair. "Right."
She looked at him carefully, a mild suspicion filtering into her eyes. "Anything else I should know?"
Worried that he had blown it, Kanan tried for a joke. "I'm terrible at keeping track of days?"
To his great relief, she smiled back. "That won't be a tenant requirement."
He grinned back. "Lucky me."
Each held the other's gaze, just for a second, and then, all too soon for him, Hera broke it, looking down at the papers in her hands.
She cleared her throat. "Well, it's a fairly straightforward lease. Rent is $600 a month, which includes utilities."
"Okay," he nodded, relieved.
"You'll have your own bathroom," she nodded at a door to their left, "and the room does lock, so I'll give you the key when you move in. If you want the desk, I'm happy to leave it, otherwise we can move it into Zeb's room."
"Zeb?" He asked curiously.
"Oh, right. Zeb is my oldest son; he's a sophomore. Sabine and Ezra, the twins, are in fifth grade. The four of us are in the bedrooms upstairs, so you'll be the only person sleeping on this level. Even with all the kids home, it shouldn't get too loud."
"Okay," he nodded.
"I should tell you, we all have to leave the house by seven-thirty on weekdays, so there might be a little commotion in the morning," she admitted. He couldn't tell if her affect was apologetic, or worried that he might change his mind.
"That shouldn't be a problem," he said. "I get to the garage pretty early."
"Great," she smiled again, relieved, and the compunction returned with a vengeance. "And I don't mean to pry, but if you plan on going out early or coming back late, I ask that you try not to make too much noise. I'll give you a key to the house, so you don't have to worry about being locked out, it's just I would prefer you didn't wake the kids."
"Of course," he nodded. "Is there anything else?"
She looked over the papers in front of her. "No, I believe that covers everything. If you want to take a few days to decide—"
"Actually, I think I'm ready to sign," he offered. Her eyebrows went up.
"Okay," she shuffled the papers. "I suppose we'll just need to pick an official move-in date then."
"Honestly?" He shrugged. "I could move my things in tonight."
"Tonight," she repeated in surprise. He rushed to reassure her.
"I know it's sudden, but, I could pay you for the whole month," he offered quickly.
Hera frowned. "It's the twenty-first, that would be highway robbery."
"Half, then?"
She was given pause, and flicked her eyes down to the table, then back up to him with a smile. "Welcome to the house."
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He felt dirty. The woman, Hera, had been nothing but genuine and kind, and he had lied to her face. She, in contrast, had been completely honest with him, about the kids and the noise— Of course she had kids, a family to support, that was just perfect. The room was probably needed income for them, while to him, it was nothing more than a month-long crutch.
She was the perfect landlord, and he, the perfect fraud.
Kanan unlocked his apartment with a sigh. Right above his garage, it was the ideal living situation, until he had nearly fallen through the floorboards last week. A quick call to one of his friends in the business had told him the rotting floor would take a month to fix.
The mechanic put his hands on his hips, surveying the flat with apathy. It was just a studio, encompassing his bed, a small bathroom and an even smaller kitchenette. It had come with the garage, and had never struck him as a home so much as it did a place to retire when he was done working. He had been staying in a motel, until he remembered seeing the listing. Renting a room seemed like the perfect solution; it was much cheaper than the motel, and closer to the garage, too. It would be a temporary lease, just the one month, until the apartment was fixed.
But then, she had asked for six months. And he had told her, without even blinking, that he could make the commitment no problem.
Kanan had never been very good at commitment.
He sighed again, staring at the hole in the floor. The crew would start tomorrow, so he needed to get his belongings out. With his mattress and bedframe, he figured it would take two truckloads, maybe three.
Everything fit in one. His single dresser, the clothes within it, the mattress and its frame, all fit in the bed of his pickup, with room to spare. When he stopped at the motel to pay his bill and pick up the suitcase he had brought with him, he was almost dismayed at how much space there was left for it.
The bedframe did fold. That was probably why.
He was done within the hour, and drove back to the house, but when he knocked at the door, there was no answer. Frowning, Kanan waited for a moment, then decided to wait at the garage. He worked on someone's engine, and then, antsy, tried again around four. As he approached the house, another car was pulling into the driveway, and so he slowed his truck, crawling up to the curb in front of the house and stopping in sync with the SUV. Unlike his car, hers quickly had three kids spill out of it. He hovered outside of his pickup, picking up statements from the two he assumed were twins.
"Mom, guess what I learned in school today!"
"Hey, Mom, do I have soccer practice tonight?"
"Sabine, I'm trying to tell Mom what I learned!"
"And I'm trying to figure out if I have soccer practice!"
"It's Monday. Even I know you don't have practice on Mondays."
"Well, sometimes I forget!" The dark-haired girl finally turned and noticed him loitering. "Mom, who's that?"
Hera had been retrieving a bag from the trunk, and looked up. "Kanan," she said. She seemed surprised to see him. "Hi."
"Hi," he said. "Um, sorry, this is a bad time—"
"No, no you're fine," she shook her head, running a hand through her hair. "Kids, this is Kanan, our new tenant. Kanan, this is Zeb," a tall, gawky boy with rumpled brown hair lifted his hand, "Sabine," the girl gave him a cheeky smile, "and Ezra, the twins." The younger boy, with hair so black it was almost blue, blinked at up at him curiously.
"Uh," Kanan cleared his throat, "Hi."
"Hi," Sabine replied cheerily.
"Kids, why don't you bring your backpacks inside, and then we can help Kanan unload his things," Hera suggested.
"Okay!" Ezra and Sabine raced into the house, and Zeb lumbered behind them.
"I'm sorry, this is probably bad timing," Kanan started.
"No, no, you're fine—" she waved a hand dismissively.
"I tried to come back earlier, but, you weren't home."
"Oh, God, sorry, I was at work. I should have been clearer, that was just my lunch break. I didn't think you'd be back so soon."
"Ah." He chose not to explain his brevity. "Where do you work?"
"I actually teach at the high school," Hera explained. "Which Zeb loves," she added, and rolled her eyes.
He chuckled. "What subject?"
"Science. Physics and astronomy," she clarified.
"Oh, man. I was terrible at physics," Kanan admitted.
"You should see some of my students," she sighed.
He laughed. "Just be glad you didn't have me."
Hera smiled, started to say something, and then appeared to change her mind. "Ah, can I help you bring anything in?"
"No, no, I've got it," he shook his head, but the kids had returned, and apparently disagreed.
"I get the bed!"
"You don't get the bed, that's Mr. Kanan's bed!"
"I don't want the bed, I want to carry the bed!"
"No, I wanna carry the bed!"
"You carry the dresser!"
"But I don't wanna carry the dresser, I wanna carry the bed!"
"Kids!" Hera stopped them both. "Kanan and I will carry the mattress. You two can bring the bags, and Zeb will get the dresser."
The twins pouted, but complied, bickering over who would take which bag. Zeb wordlessly lifted the dresser and carried it into the house. Within a few minutes, everything was inside. He re-assembled the mattress frame as Zeb disappeared, and the twins assessed the room.
"That's not a lot of stuff," Sabine commented.
"Where are all of your toys?" Ezra asked.
"Where are all your clothes?" Sabine added. "Do you wear the same thing every day? Because that's fine if you do, but—"
"What about your toothbrush?" Ezra interrupted. "Did you bring a toothbrush? You can use mine if you want."
"Ezra, Sabine, some people pack lighter than others." Hera effectively silenced the pair. "And Ezra, don't share your toothbrush, that's unsanitary. Kanan, do you need any help with that?"
"No," he grunted, pushing the frame into place. "I got it."
"Are you sure?" Ezra piped up. "Because I'm really strong. I did ten whole push-ups today in gym class."
Sabine cut in. "I did twelve!"
"Those were girl push-ups!" Ezra protested.
"They still count!"
Kanan chuckled. "I think I've got it, thanks."
"Great. You two get started on your homework," Hera said pointedly, and the twins groaned, trudging out. Kanan watched them retreat, then exchanged a grin with Hera.
"Sorry about them," she said.
"Don't be," he shook his head.
"Well, save that apology for the future, then," she consented.
Kanan chuckled. "They seem like great kids."
"They are." A soft smile that graced her features, but he had turned to lift the mattress onto its frame, and missed it. Hera cleared her throat.
"You're welcome to have dinner with us. If you'd like to."
He was glad his back was turned to her; it hid his surprise. "Really?" He kept his voice carefully level. "Are you sure?"
"Of course. I think it would be nice," she said. "That way we won't feel like strangers. It's important to me that you and the kids to feel comfortable around each other."
Kanan nodded in agreement. "That sounds great. Thank you."
"Don't mention it. We'll eat around six." She slipped out, closing his door behind her.
Kanan watched her go, and then sat down on his bed, surveying the room. Ironically, within five minutes of moving in, it felt homier than the apartment he had spent most of his life in. The walls were a pleasant green color, and a white chair rail ran around the room. What little furniture he had brought fit right in, as if it had sat in the room its whole life, waiting for someone to claim it. The window, facing the neighborhood, was large; he approached it, and stared out at the houses, picturing endless families and imagining endless lives, until Sabine knocked on the door and told him it was time for dinner.