I'm back! Sorry about the wait. I wrote this after watching Fire Across the Galaxy (that was so amazing!) and didn't get a chance to type it up til now. And thank you to everyone who followed, favorited, and read! And a big, special thank you to those who reviewed:

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Flashbacks

/Thoughts/

-Speaking through the force bond-

[Com speak]

Thank you so much! And without further ado, the new chapter! Warning: major spoilers for the finale. Enjoy!

Reaching out through the Force was something Ezra had worked on with Kanan a lot. Being able to tell where people were was a very handy thing. Sitting in the transport, the teen recalled his master's teachings.

They were sitting in Kanan's room, in the meditating position.

"You have to clear and open your mind, Ezra. You can't be distracted by other things. Focus." Ezra had closed his eyes, and focused on his master's words. Suddenly, his mind opened. He could feel the force signature of Kanan, and further away, the signatures of Zeb, Sabine, and Hera.

"Good job, Ezra." He could feel his master's approval and inwardly glowed.

Ezra closed his eyes, concentrating. He could feel Sabine and Zeb behind him, Hera next to him, and…Kanan! In a cell on Tarkin's ship.

-Kanan!-

-Ezra?-

Ezra's eyes snapped open. "He's there. H-he's alive!"

-Hold on, master. We're coming.-

Ezra headed down the halls of the Star Destroyer, following the signature of Kanan down to the cell block, confidently and calmly leading the others, though inwardly, he was but.

/Vents. Always with the vents./ Ezra thought to himself, cutting the grate off with his lightsaber. He was in the cell block. He paused, feeling through the Force for Kanan. Finding the right one, he walked over. He had been relieved beyond words when he'd found his master from the transport. Now, time to free him. Quickly checking that the hallway was empty of bucket-heads, he opened the door to the cell.

Ezra let out a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding when he saw Kanan. A huge weight lifted off his shoulders as he descended the stairs.

"Looks like you taught me well." He quipped, eagerly waiting for a response and terrified one wouldn't come. But his master looked up, a smile twitching on his face. Relief flooded both master and padawan alike, their bond filling with it and warming both of them. Both took great comfort from the other's presence; both elated at finally being reunited.

Kanan let out a small breath of laughter. "You shouldn't have come here. But I'm glad you did."

"You would have done the same for me. In fact you have." Ezra reminded the Jedi. He released the bonds restraining him, and caught Kanan when he pitched forward, supporting a lot of his weight.

They walked unopposed through the ship, at least until they went through a door to the core room of the ship. Blocking their way, was the Inquisitor.

"Let me borrow that." Kanan said, getting Ezra's lightsaber.

"Yeah, no problem." Ezra, while concerned for Kanan, knew he could handle himself.

He was mildly surprised at the ingenious use of his blaster-lightsaber mix.

"I never thought of that." He said to himself, watching his master, before running to help.

Seeing Kanan's lightsaber on the Inquisitor's belt, Ezra quickly used to Force to pull the weapon to him, and ignited it, making the Inquisitor glance at him before pushing Kanan away and turning.

Master and padawan charged at the dark force-user together. Their duel was fierce, the Inquisitor spinning and making the most of his double-bladed lightsaber.

Ezra's head hit the deck hard when the Inquisitor pushed him back. Getting back up, he frantically blocked away the red saber, crying out in pain when it hit him. Unbalanced, he felt himself fall, hearing his master's cry, then everything went black.

"NO!"

Kanan stared down, barely able to make out his padawan's still form. Grief overwhelmed him. Ezra was gone. The bright, young teenager who had somehow wormed his way into his heart, and the crew's heart, was gone. Gone, just like his master. Emotions raging inside him, Kanan stood, facing the Inquisitor, grief and rage making him see red.

"That was a mistake." He growled.

"Why? Because you have no one else to die for you?"

How dare he. Kanan pulled his lightsaber to him and ignited it. "No. Because I have nothing left to fear."

Red and blue clashed together fiercely.

Ezra. Ezra? Ezra! EZRA!

[Ezra, are you out there?!]

Waking up hurt. His head hurt. His face hurt. His side hurt. Everything hurt, but it faded to dull ache, except for his face. Yeah, that hurt a lot.

"I'm here." He replied, sitting up.

[Do you have Kanan? Is he okay?] The sound of lightsabers clashing made Ezra look up. Relieved his master was still alright, and in awe of his skills, Ezra answered the pilot.

"Yeah. I think he's better than okay."

"You were right. I was a coward. But now I know there's something stronger than fear. Far stronger." Kanan snarled at the dark side user before him. "The force." He could see the fear in the Pau'an's eyes.

"Let me show you how strong it is." He thrust both blue blades forward, catching the handle of the Inquisitor's spinning blades, cutting it in half, letting them fall below as the Inquisitor also fell, barely catching the edge of the walkway.

Explosions rocked the ship. Regaining his balance, Kanan walked over to the Inquisitor, who looked up at him hatefully. Kanan brought both sabers down, forming an x in front of the Inquisitor's throat.

"You have no idea what you've unleashed here today." Kanan deactivated the lightsabers, glaring down at his beaten opponent, brushing off his cryptic words. "There are some things far more frightening than death." Then he let go, letting himself fall towards the compromised core of the ship, leaving Kanan to watch in surprise.

Kanan watched the flames, looking for a sign of the Inquisitor. But there was none.

"Kanan? Kanan?"

Snapping out of his reverie, Kanan turned towards the voice in disbelief.

/It can't be….he was dead./

But there his padawan stood.

"I thought I lost you." He confessed, his grief and rage draining away, leaving only overwhelming relief, filling him and the bond between him and the teen. Ezra smiled.

"I know the feeling." He so knew that crushing grief. But they were both alright, and reunited at last. "Let's go home."

More explosions brought the pair out of their tender moment. Tossing Ezra his lightsaber, the two ran for the exit.

They were near the hanger bay when Hera contacted them.

[Ezra, we're in the tie. Where are you?]

"I'm on my way. Go!"

[We are NOT leaving without you and Kanan.]

Kanan answered this time. "Will you just listen to the kid? Don't worry, I've got him."

"You mean I've got you." Ezra interjected, making the older man smile.

"You take care of Zeb and Sabine. I'll get him out of here. Trust me."

They entered the hanger bay, looking for a ship. The only one left was-

"The Inquisitor's TIE."

"Well, we know he's not gonna use it."

/Really?/

"You know what kid? You worry me sometimes."

They climbed into the TIE, Kanan taking the pilot's seat. They got out just as the hanger bay exploded behind them.

They both saw Sabine's TIE, Kanan raising an eyebrow, but not commenting. They reached the others just in time to blow up the TIEs about to shoot them.

"We got your back."

[Thanks, but without Chopper's transport, we're going nowhere fast.]

Oh no.

[We got TIEs closing in.]

[How many?]

[Too many.]

That was so not good.

[We're in a bit of a tight spot.]

[Yeah, well, these things weren't meant for three.]

[I MEANT OUT THERE! Not in here.]

[Trying to concentrate!]

Kanan tuned out the bickering, trying to instead keep his focus on flying and staying alive.

"I just wanna say it was really nice getting to know all of you!" Kanan smiled, amused, but didn't reply.

Then, out of hyperspace, came Chopper!

[Bua bua bua bua bua!]

Followed by the Ghost and three Alderann cruisers!

Shock and relief filled the crew.

"W-who is that?"

Shaking away his shock, after all, he was flying a ship, Kanan slightly shrugged. "I don't know. But I think they're on our side."

The five ships flew in, firing madly, destroying many of the TIEs on their tail.

Kanan, Ezra, dock with Chopper's transport so we can make the jump into hyperspace.

They docked, and as soon as they were attached, the ship took off, into hyperspace.

Climbing out of the TIE, the two force users grinned tiredly at each other. Turning to see the rest of their little family, Kanan could see the absolute relief flooding them, especially Hera.

He clasped Hera's shoulders. "I owe you all a great debt of gratitude. Even if what you did was rash and reckless." The Twi'lek smiled and grabbed his hand.

"You're welcome dear."

The two embraced, melting in each other's arms.

Until a certain astromech came in that is.

"If Chopper was in this transport ship, then who was flying the Ghost?" His padawan had a good point. Who was flying the Ghost?

Entering the ship, the crew was surprised to see guards, standing at attention.

Chopper stopped, and started a hologram. It was a man they had met once, the guy who owned that protocol droid and the astromech that had caused them trouble.

"Hello my friend. It's good to see you again."

Kanan was confused. "I don't understand. I met you once, for a few moments. I don't even know your name."

"His name is Senator Bail Organa." Hera answered, leaving him even more confused. Hera knew this man? What was going on?

"And the crews of the blockade runners?"

"Members of other rebel cells."

"There ARE other cells." Sabine said, softly, the 'I knew it!' evident in her voice.

"We're a cell?" Ezra asked in disbelief. He glanced at Zeb. "Wait, did you know we were a cell?"

"Um, no."

"We weren't supposed to meet. That way, if captured, we couldn't reveal the other rebels to the Empire."

It suddenly made sense, the Inquisitor's questions now.

"That was the protocol."

"The protocol is changed." Someone said, climbing down from the cockpit of the Ghost.

"Fulcrum." Hera greeted. Kanan's eyes widened at the sight of the Togrutan, who had two lightsabers hanging from her belt.

"Ahsoka. My name is Ahsoka Tano." Shock flooded Kanan. He knew that name.

"Why did you come here?" Not that he wasn't grateful.

"Because of you and your apprentice." She said, patting Chopper. "Many in this system and beyond have heard your message." Ezra ducked his head bashfully. He hadn't expected that many people to hear his message. "You gave them hope in their darkest times. We didn't want that hope to die."

"So, what happens now?" Ezra asked.

"I don't know." Ahsoka admitted, standing. "One chapter has closed for you, Ezra Bridger. This is a new day. A new beginning."

The whole crew smiled at that. Ahsoka was right.

Even though they were far away, neither master nor padawan fully relaxed until they finally reached the Lothal system, well away from Mustafar. Entering the system, Kanan's shoulders untensed. He and Ezra had remained close together, both unwilling to let the other out of sight. They went to the medbay together, caving to Hera's demands that they take care of themselves. Kanan handed Ezra a bacta patch for his cheek, and the teen applied it gently, wincing minutely.

"Are you hurt?" Ezra's worried eyes scanned him for injuries, making the older man smile.

"I'm fine. My ribs will be a little sore," he admitted. "But I'm fine." Ezra smiled.

Kanan could feel Ezra's lingering concern for him, the worry that something irreparable had happen during his torture, but was afraid of the answer. He waited patiently for his young padawan to gather his thoughts.

"Kanan…when the Inquisitor had you…" He swallowed. Kanan smiled softly.

"Nothing extreme happened," he reassured the teen. "It was painful; but nothing really bad happened."

"Good." Ezra breathed in relief.

"Nice to know you care." Kanan said, halfway joking. The teen gave him an unamused look.

"I'm…glad you're back." Ezra admitted softly, looking at the floor. He hadn't been this close to anyone in years, leaving him unsure as to what to say in a situation like this.

A hand on his shoulder made him look up.

"It's good to be back, Ezra. And I have you to thank for that."

It was silent after that, a comfortable silence in which both of them simply basked in the other's presence and force signature. The silence was broken by Ezra.

"I want to thank you." He said so quietly Kanan almost didn't hear him.

"Thank me? Why?" He asked in surprise.

"….before you guys, I didn't have anyone. Now," he looked up at his master. "I have a family."

Kanan smiled. "Believe me, Ezra. You made it a family."

And the teen had. Before he had come along, they had been simply a tight-knit crew. With the addition of their youngest Specter, they had become more than just a crew. Ezra had clicked right into an empty space they hadn't realized had been there, and had fit right in; worming his way right into each member's hearts, making them open up.

Kanan figured they were better off because of it; because the strongest bonds, were those of family.

And the whole crew felt the same.