- 4 months after Never Alone


"Ezra, do you read me? Ezra!"

She heard Hera's voice, and somehow she knew it was over.

"Ezra! Ezra, come in!"

"This is Kanan…." His voice was weary. Lost.

Hera inhaled stiffly. "Where is Spectre Six?"

"...I'm bringing the kid home."

Home. Lothal. Where his parents were.

Sabine whirled and collapsed behind Hera's chair, covering her head.

Ezra. That stupid grin. His resolution to find Kanan.

They had found Kanan.

The Inquisitor had still demanded his price.

"Kanan…." Hera's voice was tight. "Where are you?"

"Stealing a Tie." No jokes. No relief for his freedom. Weariness. Forfeit.

"Eh… where's the kid?" Zeb asked, refusing to see the implications.

No answer, save for Kanan's ragged breathing. Hera slapped a hand over Zeb's mouth.

"We'll be waiting for you," she said softly.

How? How could they react so calmly? How could they –

Suddenly Sabine was in her room, surrounded with empty paint cans and crude graffiti. The Inquisitor's lightsaber was painted over the door.

"It's not true!" Sabine screeched, smashing a can against the silver handle. "He's not dead! We got him back!"

He was alive! She'd heard his voice.

"Sabine." Kanan stood in the doorway. Shadow. Translucent. He blinked out.

"Kanan?" Rushing to the doorway, Sabine frantically searched the hall. "Kanan!"

Her feet pounded in time with her heart. Rooms empty. Kitchen abandoned. "Kanan!"

She reached the cockpit, where Zeb was lounging in the co-pilot seat and Hera was studying the star charts.

"Where is he?" Sabine asked hysterically. "Where is Kanan?"

"He's dead," Hera said bluntly before returning to the star charts.

"No – he can't be," Sabine stuttered. "He was returning to the ship – he brought Ezra back! I saw him in the doorway!"

"Oh, he's dead all right," Zeb said lethargically. "They both are."

Chopper rattled irritably and poked the Lasat.

"Now see here, you little garbage disposal!"

No remorse. No pain. Was she the only one crying?

"Ezra!" Sabine kicked out and yelped when her knuckles rapped the wall. She scrabbled about frantically, knocking over art scraps and pencils before her fingers closed on a glowrod.

Relief. Calmness as her dark room brightened into a cluttered, death-free haven. Sabine sat back and folded her arms over her knees.

They're alive. The Inquisitor is gone. Darth Vader is far away. Everyone is fine.

Sabine's eyes fell on the red coloring pencil.

She grabbed a paint can and didn't stop.


Thank you to Superherotiger, Force sensitive, majo2, Angela, Ichichi05, Gracie, UnfathomableFandoms, SWRebels, heartbreakerninja, and AzulaBlue for leaving feedback on the last chapter, and thank you to those who reviewed previous chapters after the acknowledgements.