The next day, Kanan was on the command ship walking through the halls. He was stopped when a hand was placed on his shoulder;the hand belonging to Ahsoka. Kanan turned around to face the togruta.
"What's up, Ahsoka?"
"I've called a meeting on the Ghost. It's important," Ahsoka told.
"What about?" Kanan questioned. "Another op?"
Ahsoka shook her head, "No. But, it's best you come to the meeting."
"Alright," Kanan confirmed as he followed Ahsoka back to the ship he called home. She lead him to the common room where the rest of the crew was gathered.
Rae slightly gripped her wound on her stomach as she sat in between Sabine and Zeb. Ezra's scar on his shoulder had healed enough that he now wore his normal orange shirt. Kanan stood next to Zeb as he sat on the couch.
Standing in front of the group, Ahsoka began, "I called you all to this meeting to share with you some very important news. Though, I fear it may not be good news for much longer."
"What's up?" Zeb asked.
"As Athena would say: the opposite of down," Ahsoka remarked. A sting of hurt felt through the group as her name was so casually mentioned. "And...that's what I came to talk about. Athena. She's alive."
The group was obviously wide-eyed and shocked at this news. Chopper even seemed surprised as he let out a string of beeps.
"She is?" Kanan asked, seeming to have a little bit of disbelief in his eyes.
Nodding, Ahsoka further explained, "We received information that she was being transported from a Lothalian prison as no one had recognized her until now."
"That's great! We can rescue her!" Sabine said with a cheerful voice.
"But," Ahsoka interrupted. "There's a problem."
"Isn't there always?" Ezra remarked.
Brushing away Ezra's remark, Hera asked, "What is it, Ahsoka?"
Ahsoka seemed to falter on words as she stood there, seemingly unsure whether or not to tell them something.
"We have information that she is to be transported to the Sith Lord you and Kanan had encountered on Lothal, " Ahsoka answered Ezra.
"We can still find out where she is, can't we? We can just find the Sith Lord," Rae questioned.
"The Sith Lord has proven to be very elusive. I cannot ever seem to find anything that would lead us to him."
The hope seemed to dim in the crew's eyes as Ahsoka had told them this. The light that had sparked for a pure moment quickly faded. It showed very prominently in the crew as they let this news settle in their minds.
Kanan looked to the ground and crossed his arms. He asked, "So, why are you telling us this?"
"I figured that you all have a right to know that we are doing everything in our ability to find where the Sith Lord is as well as Athena," Ahsoka explained.
"Alright, Ahsoka, thank you," Hera said as she stood and looked at her crew. "Alright, let's keep up our hope."
Later, Hera walked into the kitchen as she searched for Kanan. She had been looking over the ship for him as he had not been seen much after Ahsoka had informed them about was like a cat, Hera noticed. Whenever something were to strike the crew with a hard blow, he'd always be forced to take on the leadership role and act that everything was ok when he was around the others. When he was alone, this wasn't the case; and Hera knew it.
She soon spotted the brown-haired human sitting down with a cup of coffee in front of him. He held his head up with his two hands as his elbows sat on the table, seemingly stressed.
She sat across from him and had a concerned look upon her face.
"Hey, love."
"Hey,"Kanan simply replied. His voice somber and his body language radiated it. Hera did not need to have the senses of a Jedi to tell that something was wrong with him.
"I know you're upset, can't you just talk about it?" Hera compassionately asked.
"I'd rather not," responded Kanan as he kept his eyes locked onto the table, looking into nothing.
Hera slightly bit the corner of her mouth as she seemed to have difficulty knowing how to get him to talk. She just needed him to open up, even just a little. The sorrow inside of him as well as the guilt was bottled up, she knew that he needed to talk to unbottle his feelings of grief, even if that meant he'd be a little mad at her for bringing up the touchy subject.
"Kanan, please. I don't need to be a Jedi to tell you're upset. Just talk to me."
"Hera, I'd rather not," responded Kanan.
"Kanan, look, I know you're upset about Athena. I get it. She is your little sister, she is family."
"Was, Hera. She was."
Looking at Kanan, Hera questioned, "What do you mean? She is."
"No. She was. She's gone, Hera."
"You can't say that! She's still alive!" protested Hera with a shocked voice.
Kanan looked up at Hera, his eyes seeming angry and a little empty. Shaking his head, Kanan said, "She won't last long. You know how much the Empire wanted her dead. Now they got what they wanted. All because I didn't go back for her."
"Kanan, I know this is just grief talking. You and I both know Athena is stronger than what the Empire could kill."
Hera did her best to reason with the human, but she could tell that look in his eyes from a mile away. It was the sight of hope lost to the sea of hate the Empire knew how to spread. It was seen in the eyes of many civilians under the tyranny of the Empire. She recognized that look from even her home planet of Ryloth.
"Hera. This is the Sith Lord we're talking about. She was probably starved for the past few weeks on Lothal and she couldn't even put up a half of a fight with an average person. Let alone a Sith Lord. She's dead. There's nothing else to do but move on."
"Caleb Dume. I can't belie-"
"Don't call me Caleb," Kanan said in a low voice, almost a mumble as he looked back at the table.
"What was that?"
"Don't call me Caleb!" Kanan raised his voice and looked back at Hera.
Hera seemed shocked from Kanan lashing out like he had. He must've really been hurting for him to have raised his voice at her.
After a moment of silence, Kanan looked back down and said, "She never liked it when I called her Syla Dume. I don't like being called my birth name either."
Hera gently grabbed Kanan's gloved hand, she looked at him and assured, "If you believe she's dead, let her not have died in vain. For the sake of the rebellion, and for this crew, don't lose hope."
Kanan looked up at Hera and gave her a weak smile, his expression filled with regret and sorrow. Hera soon moved so she sat next to Kanan and she brought him into a comforting side-hug.
Sighing, Kanan admitted, "I miss her."
Darth Vader knelled before a blue hologram as the lights dimmed so the hologram of the cloaked Darth Sidious could be seen by himself. His mechanical breathing the only sound before he greeted his Master.
He knew that the capture of the child was a major success. He would most likely be rewarded once his Master had been told of her capture. Vader wanted her to be captured live is because he knew that if his Master wanted an execution to send message to the rest of the Jedi in hiding, it wouldn't work if the child was dead. The child also knew many secrets of the Empire being from Earth. Plus the fact that the child was in the rebellion, they would possibly come to rescue her. That meant they'd capture the other Jedi. Especially the Padawan of Anakin Skywalker. If he wanted her dead, Vader could just lie and say she's already been killed and then send a message for the Inquisitors to kill her on the spot.
"Master," the Vader spoke.
"Lord Vader, what is the meaning of this call?" Sidious's voice crackled.
"The daughter of Cyla Dume, she has been captured, my lord."
"Good...good...Was she captured easily?" Sidious questioned.
"She was captured when she was found unconscious in the streets of Lothal when she uncovered a crate of secret cargo on Empire day," Vader answered.
"Yes...have her brought to Lola Sayu Citadel. I want to see how low the mighty Jedi have fallen. To see if they had wasted the potential of this child," ordered Darth Sidious. "And, have the officers at the prison she was kept at be punished. They will pay for their ignorance."
Still kneeling, Vader responded, "It will be done, my lord."
