Kanan sat in the co-pilot's chair, his face drawn as he mulled the current issue over. Their teenage tagalong had been captured by Imperials, and Hera wanted them to go back and save the kid. On top of it, the rest of the Ghost's crew were all staring at him, awaiting his answer.

'No pressure of anything.' he thought to himself before redirecting his thoughts to the decision at hand.

Frankly, Kanan didn't know what to think.

Hera liked him, and that was usually enough to get someone on Kanan's good side, but this time was different.

The kid aggravated the former Jedi to no end, and he didn't know why. The little thief had not only tried to steal their target, but had even gone snooping around Kanan's room and found his lightsaber. Sure, it was a test, but still. Everything about this teen screamed troublemaker to Kanan, and talking to the kid made him feel like a father scolding his son.

'What?' he started, his train of thought coming to a screeching halt 'Where did THAT come from?'

One theory was quick to present itself, but Kanan discarded it. Hera had been the one to suggest testing the kid, Kanan had agreed just to please her. Everything he did was to please her, she was his oldest and closest friend. He didn't actually think he could take the kid as his padawan and teach him to be a Jedi. Didn't he?

His head told him there was no way they could or really even should rescue their young... friend? Another part of him, something deeper and more powerful than his gut, told him they should. The Force tugged at his mind, urging him to turn back. Kanan fought against the feeling, attempting to rationalize away the sensation. Too many Imperials, no real plan or time to prepare.

That's never stopped you before, a voice nagged at him. Again, Kanan argued.

'The kid'll be fine.' he snapped at himself 'He proved he could take care of himself.'

It doesn't mean he should

Still feeling everyone's eyes on him, Kanan reached out with the Force, wanting to get an idea of what the others were thinking. Apprehension and guilt from Hera, the lovely twi'lek most likely blaming herself for sending the kid aboard the Imp ship in the first place. A heady mixture of guilt and self-loathing from Zeb, the Lasat was probably calling himself a coward for ditching the teen in question. From Sabine, dread and hope battled for supremacy. It looked like the Mando teen wanted to go back for Ezra, even though the trained warrior side of her had convinced her a rescue was impossible. Turned out they all wanted the same thing, despite saying otherwise: they all wanted to go back. So, Kanan decided to give them what they wanted.

"We're going back."

With those three words, the dam broke. A flood of relief washed over him, making him glad he was sitting down, otherwise he surely would have been knocked off his feet from the sheer intensity of it. With a smile in his direction, Hera set to work reconfiguring the Ghost's heading, taking them back to the Star Destroyer. No one said anything, but then again, words weren't needed. It was like a weight had been lifted from all of them, making them feel free and light.

Turning to gaze out at the swirling blues of hyperspace, Kanan remembered a lesson that had been all but forgotten since the end of the Jedi. A lesson taught by the clone troopers, ironically. He had learned it while watching them fight and live together, going to any imaginable length to keep each other alive:

No one gets left behind


A/N: First off, I am SORRY. I know this is a REALLY terrible chapter. This was a hard one for me to write, Kanan is a tricky character for me to do properly, and I know I messed up a lot. This is one of my worst pieces, but frankly I had no idea what to do with this, so I just decided to wing it. PLEASE DON'T HATE ME!

Anyway, Merry Christmas and don't forget to review. Don't hold back, go ahead and tell me if it sucked to the point where I should redo it, but no flames, I still won't tolerate them.