Summary: Ahsoka Tano was the first Jedi Kanan had seen since the Republic fell.

Notes: Kanan and Ahsoka talk alone for the first time. Takes place at the end of Rebels: Season 1. Kanan Jarrus POV. Some of the quotes towards the end are from Dave Filoni's scene between them which never made it into Rebels.

The Apprentice

Kanan couldn't keep his eyes off her.

He could feel Hera watching him, would catch a glimpse of her small smile out of the corner of his eye before she hastily schooled her expression to solemnity when he glanced at her. He tried not to let it bother him. He tried to take his eyes off of Ahsoka as well, aware it was creepy.

But he couldn't.

Ahsoka Tano was the first Jedi Kanan had seen since the Republic fell.

She was…she was…she felt like coming home.

Kanan had no idea how lonely he'd been, how much he had missed that constant feeling of light and warmth and…and…family – how much he had been lost in the darkness of the galaxy until he felt her again.

Ahsoka Tano was definitely a Jedi Knight, no matter what she claimed. She felt centered, powerful and alive in the Force like Kanan hadn't felt since his Master. Moreover, she was Anakin Skywalker's Padawan. The Hero With No Fear. Kanan had spent years and years after the Republic was destroyed going over in his mind where each of the Jedi Generals had been, and how they could have survived.

Anakin Skywalker had been on Coruscant, with only half the usual strength of his battalion, the renowned and feared 501st. He had also been with either his Master, or his Padawan. Whatever had happened to him, he would have been unprepared…and alone.

"Where were you?" he blurted out. The first words he had spoken to her, apropos of nothing, and it was an accusation. He winced and fought the urge to look away from for the first time.

Ahsoka had been deep in conversation with Commander Sato and a hologram of Senator Bail Organa of Alderaan, but she looked up slowly at his words. Her big blue eyes blinked at him. She stood in a relaxed form of military rest, arms folded across her chest in a way he remembered from posters of Master Kenobi which were all over Coruscant during the Clone Wars. And her armor – grey, scuffed, utilitarian – also looked like General Kenobi's standard gear, covering her wrists and elbows, chest, knees and the front of her lower legs.

Then again, Ahsoka Tano had been Obi-Wan Kenobi's apprentice as well. Kenobi and Skywalker. The Team. Always together. There was nothing the two of them could not defeat.

She raised an eyebrow marking in the exact same way that Kanan remembered Master Kenobi doing and a sharp pain of loss dug between his ribs. He gripped his lightsaber hard enough to hurt, just to ground himself.

Ahsoka's smile was a kind as her warmth in the Force. "I was on Mandalore. Captain Rex and half of the 501st were placed under my command when Anakin and Obi-Wan were recalled back to Coruscant to save the Chancellor. Together with Bo-Katan Kryze and several of the Mandalorian Houses loyal to her, we were attempting to take back Sundari from Darth Maul. We had finally captured him when…" She trailed off, sadness flowing through her.

Order 66.

"And after?" he couldn't help but ask. It was a child's question, illogical and selfish. Where were you when I needed you? Never mind that the adult Kanan knew that logically Ahsoka Tano would have had no way to find any Jedi who survived, no means to communicate with them, no possible way to prove that she wasn't leading them into a trap.

But he had been 12-years-old, alone and scared, and no one had ever found him.

Ahsoka's eyes were sad and her Force presence hummed with regret and compassion. Ezra, who had been smiling at Ahsoka since he first saw her, darted quick glances between them, opening his mouth to intervene when Hera shook her head at him.

Ahsoka rested a hand on the little astromech beside her – the same one he and his crew had returned to Senator Organa several months ago – and answered his question. "Senator Organa and Artoo here found me about two years later. I was trying to…help some people. And I brought a little too much attention to myself." She laughed ruefully, her silvery voice rippling, and underneath all her sadness and loss, Kana could feel the strength in her. "He offered me a job. A way to help others in this new galaxy. And I accepted."

Kanan remembered Master Obi-Wan's message – the one which had saved his life, the one which he had given the Jedi Master the idea for so many months before it had been needed, and the words of which were engraved inside him, played over and over again, a last bit of wisdom and advice and teaching from the family he had lost.

This message is a warning and a reminder for any surviving Jedi: trust in the Force. Do not return to the Temple. That time has passed…

"Avoid Coruscant. Avoid detection."

Ahsoka's sharp flare of emotion widened Ezra's eyes, but she was smiling. "Be secret…but be strong. We will each be challenged…" She trailed off and swallowed roughly.

"…a new hope will emerge. May the Force be with you always," Kanan finished in a whisper.

Around them the bridge was silent. Senator Organa looked between Ahsoka and Kanan, Commander Sato simply looked confused, and Hera reached out to place a comforting hand on Kanan's shoulder. Ezra, standing stoutly by Kanan's side, seemed to be the only one who really understood the words they were saying to one another.

"Master Obi-Wan always knew the right words to say," Ahsoka offered at last, her smile a complicated amalgamation of love and melancholy, pride and uncertainty.

Kanan nodded and left the bridge.

The Rebels set up a small, temporary basecamp on the habitable planet of Garel. It was within the Lothal system and easy enough to launch attacks and raids on Ezra's homeworld. It seemed that Phoenix Squadron – the disparate cells who came together above Mustafar, and which would now be personally led by Ahsoka – would be focusing on the Lothal system in the near future, due to the large, unexplained Imperial presence in this sector.

Kanan watched from a distance as the initial set-up was complete, orders were given, and then Ahsoka wondered off across the gently-waving grasslands surrounding the base, probably in search of a quiet place to meditate. Hera came and leaned against the side of the fuselage he was currently standing next to.

"So…" she began, "you mind telling me why you're lurking over here?"

"I'm not lurking," Kanan insisted, not sounding as certain as he wanted to be.

"Uh huh." Hera clearly didn't believe him either.

Kanan sighed and watched as the tips of Ahsoka's montrals disappeared over the horizon. He pinched the bridge of his nose. "Why didn't you tell me?" he asked at last.

Hera didn't even deign that one with an answer, just waited for him to reach the right conclusion. At last, Kanan sighed again. "Because it was safer this way. Because it wasn't time yet." Quieter, more ashamed, he admitted, "Because I wasn't ready to be a Jedi."

For a short moment there was silence between them. Then –

"Chopper! Get back here you bucket of bolts!" Ezra howled in anger, darting out from somewhere in hot pursuit of Hera's menace of a droid. He was cackling as he rapidly wheeled past Kanan and Hera. Ezra passed them too, stopped, and then back-tracked a bit.

"Hey guys," he said, attempting nonchalance. Hera smothered a laugh and Kanan rolled his eyes. "Just don't destroy the base," he admonished. "Like the last time."

Ezra looked mildly abashed but not enough for Kanan's peace of mind. That last time he managed to explode their food supplies, which shouldn't have even been possible.

"Yup, got it. Later!"

And he was off again.

For a moment Kanan and Hera were silent, listening to the distant sounds of Ezra and Chopper causing chaos. "I wasn't ready until Ezra came along," Kanan said at last.

There was some sort of loud bang and then one of the starfighters started smoking. Shouting started and Kanan groaned. "Nope, I changed my mind. I'm still not ready."

Hera smiled and shook her head. She placed a gentle hand on his arm. "Go, love. Talk to her. I've got this covered." And then she strode away, shouting "Ezra Bridger!" in her best commanding voice. The green of her lekku shone in the sunlight and the soft sway of her hips was as enticing as her laughter when she turned the corner out of Kanan's sight and obviously saw what kind of mess Ezra and Chopper managed to make this time.

Kanan pulled his eyes away and looked down, realizing he had been running the fingers of his right hand absently over the hilt of his lightsaber. The worn metal felt familiar and cool in his hands, the kyber crystal humming reassuringly. He moved through the grasses, left hand skimming over their tickling tops as he moved up the hill and towards where he felt Ahsoka to be.

Several valleys away, he found her, hands on knees and her lightsabers placed on the ground before her. Around her the Force hummed with light and peace.

"Last time I sparred with you, you used one lightsaber, not two," he called to her.

She smiled as she opened her eyes and stood, picking up her 'sabers to stand and wait for him to reach her. "And defaulted to reverse grip," she said. "Anakin despaired of me."

She held out her weapons for him to look at. "But then Master Obi-Wan taught me jar'kai, as a way to compensate for the delay in striking when using reverse grip." Kanan admired the balance of the weapons, the smaller hilt of the shoto. He turned them on and was surprised by the pure white blades, but the crystals sang a beautiful, haunting song and there was only light in them. "Of course," Ahsoka continued ruefully, "Anakin continued to drill me in fighting with a normal grip."

He handed the weapons back to her. Could feel her studying his face. "Does anyone know your true name, Caleb?" she asked gently, and he almost cursed himself for thinking that she would have forgotten him, even though they were only distantly acquainted.

Ahsoka Tano had been a child prodigy, the same as Anakin Skywalker; one of the best to come out of the Jedi Temple. She would not have forgotten a Jedi she crossed blades with. "Hera," he admitted.

"Good," Ahsoka said. His green eyes met her blue and he watched as her lips quirked in a mischievous smile. "Are you up for a little sparring?" she asked, not even waiting for his answer but moving several yards away and sanding in a ready position. "I want to see if you've learned any new tricks since last we fought."

Kanan sighed and ignited his blade. Blue faced off against twin silvery-white. This was going to end badly.

Five times they stood across from one another and began their match, and five times Kanan ended up resoundingly defeated in the span of ten seconds or less. The last time ended with Ahsoka Force-shoving him away until he flew through the air and landed hard in the grasses around their small clearing.

He should have landed on his feet. Sloppy.

Ahsoka came over and stared down at him. There was no triumph on her face, just understanding and a gentle smile of commiseration. "Even at a young age you were gifted with a lightsaber. But without training and discipline, those skills fade."

"So, it seems." Kanan got to his feet and stared at his lightsaber, unlit, in his right hand. "I haven't had to fight with my lightsaber very often. For a while, I chose not to. I was…" He trailed off, shame filling him. He had been a coward.

"You were afraid to use it," Ahsoka said softly. Then, "I understand."

He glanced up at her quickly, and she did understand. He took a deep breath. "I've been teaching Ezra as best I can. I want him to be the Jedi I'm not, that I couldn't be." He swallowed quickly, planning on telling her that he didn't deserve the lightsaber he'd placed in her hands, that he wasn't qualified to teach Ezra, especially with her here. She was actually a Jedi.

Ahsoka shook her head firmly and handed the lightsaber back to him. She closed his fingers over the hilt. "And I want you to be the Jedi that you are," she told him.

She sounded…proud. Her Force presence washed over him, as it had since the moment she came down that ladder and stood before them as Fulcrum. He and Ezra were not alone. Together, they were Jedi. He nodded and went to hook his lightsaber back on his belt.

Ahsoka's hand forestalled him. "Maybe…just a bit more practice," she said.

Kanan flushed with embarrassment.

"Where Ezra can't see," she continued, winking at him.

Kanan playfully grimaced at her. "Yes, Master," he intoned mockingly.

Ahsoka shoved him.

Notes: Next, for Ahsoka's first mission with the fledgling Rebellion, Bail Organa sends her and Artoo to meet an old friend on Tatooine.