One Year After A New Dawn

"Well, this is certainly a change of pace," Nash Arkanian said from the common room doorway, for what had to be the five thousandth time since coming aboard the Ghost. He shoved Chopper away with his boot. "And not necessarily a good one. Do you think you could tell this rolling garbage can to stop zapping me?"

"Nah," Hera shrugged. "He's never liked you, and I don't blame him."

"Thanks! You've always been such a sweet girl," Nash snarked. His tall, lanky form slouched in the doorway, and he pushed his shock of black hair off his brow, smiling broadly at her.

Hera barked out a laugh. "I've never heard anyone call me 'sweet', even as a joke."

"Not even that Kanan fella you're always mooning over?"

Hera, who was sitting with her feet up, scrolling through the HoloNet on a datapad, shot a glare in his direction. "I should never have told you about him," she grumbled.

"Well, for one thing, Chopper's the one who told me, and I just annoyed you until you gave me more information. For another, I've known you for a million years. I would have known there was something romantic afoot," Nash said, arching an eyebrow.

Chopper let out his approximation of a diabolical giggle.

"There's nothing romantic afoot. He left. That's all there is to say about it. Chopper, you can go up to the cockpit and run the diagnostics on the sublight drive," she snapped. Chopper grumbled, waving his arms angrily, and whacked Nash's knee as he passed through the doorway.

"OW! I've always hated that droid," Nash yelped. "And that's hardly all there is to say about it. This Kanan guy probably only left because you kissed him, and then you wouldn't make good on it. Can't blame him. What's really interesting to me is how angry you get about it. It's too bad he left; I would have loved to meet the guy who finally got to Hera Syndulla. By the way, can we just acknowledge how great I am at getting you to talk about things you don't want to talk about?"

"Sure. While we're at it, let's also acknowledge the fact that I have no problem shooting you, right here and now."

"I can't think of anyone more deserving of collecting the bounty on my old noggin, so you go right ahead," he told her, grinning. "By the way, thanks again for taking me in. The Mid-Rim was getting a little too...confining."

Hera was never able to stay mad at Nash for long; he reminded her of Kanan in that way. The two men had few similarities beyond that, though. Nash's human parents had been recruited into the Free Ryloth Movement by her father not long after the Clone Wars ended, and she and Nash grew up together, causing and getting into trouble- usually just as much Hera's doing as Nash's. Nash had few loyalties and tended to be entirely motivated by credits, making him ideally suited for smuggling and getting into hot water with almost everyone he encountered. He didn't care who was doing what to whom in the Galaxy, just so long as it was profitable for him. Hera's empathy and compassion merely amused him. While he did have some scruples, and regarded himself- morally speaking- as at least one cut above the Empire, he was also a born cynic, and felt that worrying about everyone else was a waste of his time.

One of his few loyalties, however, was to Hera. And she still considered him a good friend, although they'd seen each other infrequently over the years. He was fun in small doses. Letting him live on the Ghost, however, had proven to be somewhat trying. He was noisy and constantly in motion, and he always wanted to be doing something illegal for no other reason than to do something illegal. But by far the most annoying thing he did was incessantly ask inappropriate questions about Kanan.

Nash was right about one thing: Hera definitely got angry whenever he brought it up. She really would have preferred not to think about Kanan at all, and reminders always put her in a bad mood. But Nash was a habitual button-pusher, and he knew Hera well. His ability to hone in on her insecurities was one of his most uncanny and obnoxious traits. Despite his numerous irritating flaws, though, it was entirely against Hera's nature not to help a friend in need, regardless of what it brought into her life.

"I don't know what you did this time, but it must've been something pretty bad," Hera said.

Nash shrugged. "I stole from a gambler. It's not that big a deal, he's just the worst. He has absolutely no sense of humor about anything. And he cheats. Trust me, you'd approve of my stealing from him, if you ever had to spend any time in the same room with him."

"I tend to set my sights a little higher," she told him.

"That's right! Hera against the Empire, fighting the good fight...on Lothal. Are you making much headway these days?"

Hera rolled her eyes. "Not with you around, I'm not.'

"Lothal, of all places," Nash complained. "What are you doing on this cultural backwater, anyway?"

"You've asked me that before," Hera said.

"About a hundred times! But I have yet to get a decent answer."

Hera liked Lothal, but she'd never stuck so closely to the planet than she had in the past four months. And that, unfortunately, had nothing to do with Lothal, and everything to do with hoping Kanan would come back.

It had not taken her long to realize one very important fact: She missed Kanan horribly. Helping Nash out was just as much a response to her loneliness as it was to her friend's predicament.

"Lothal is a good place to lie low, Nash. That's a particularly good thing for you, at the moment."

He shrugged. "So you keep saying. But, stars, it's boring. What did you and Kanan do with all your downtime on this boring planet, anyway? Don't spare me any details."

Hera sighed heavily. "Believe it or not, there's actually a lot of work to do on this ship. If you helped me occasionally, you'd know more about that."

"Do you really expect me to believe that all you two did was fix this ship? Is this guy good-looking, or what?"

Hera involuntarily recalled Kanan's face, his beautiful blue-green eyes and his smile. She felt her cheeks get warm. "Yes," she blurted, without actually meaning to. She scowled at her mistake, knowing exactly what was coming.

Nash's eyebrows climbed into his hairline, and he grinned, thoroughly enjoying Hera's discomfort. "Ah. And he'd have to be dead not to find you attractive. So let me see if I'm understanding this correctly: you were alone for months with a guy you clearly like a lot, who most likely felt the same way about you, and your cabins were right across the corridor from each other...but all that happened was one kiss?"

"Yes," Hera growled. "Not everyone hops into bed with any remotely attractive man, Nash. And, anyway, he left. And that's all I'm going to say about it, so drop it."

Nash's face softened a little as he looked at her. "Hmmm. My guess is that there was a little more going on between you and Kanan than just mutual attraction. But, Hera...it's okay. You know that, right? It's okay to love someone- even if it's just for one night. Life is short, old friend. We don't know what will happen tomorrow. If you found someone you really love, you shouldn't let that go. You should dive in, head first."

Hera didn't have the energy to be angry anymore. "I didn't let it go. He did. And it's not that simple. And...diving in isn't safe. Love and the Empire don't mix."

"Are you kidding? The Empire is the best reason there is to hang on to whatever love you can get. Maybe your situation with Kanan is the most complicated thing in the world- although I really doubt that- but in the long run, it's simple. Get what love you can, while you can, before someone takes it away from you," Nash told her, almost looking serious for once.

Hera was surprised. "Does this mean you actually have a heart?"

"Nope," Nash chuckled. "Well, I have one for you. You've always been there for me. Remember the time we stole that little supply ship and crashed it, and you said it was your idea?"

"It was my idea," Hera laughed.

"I encouraged it. I thought your father was going to kill both of us. Speaking of ideas, it just so happens that I've got something that'll keep me from going crazy with boredom, and it'll give you something to do that hurts the Empire."

"You really shouldn't be doing anything like that right now," Hera said, dubious.

"The Empire isn't looking for me," Nash said.

"Not yet," Hera replied. "But I'm sure they'll be after you soon enough."

Nash shrugged. "It's nothing big. It's nothing they'll miss, but it's definitely something that you can give to those sad sacks over in that little hovel of a refugee camp."

Hera perked up. "They started calling it Tarkintown, isn't that great? So what is it?"

"Tarkintown is fitting. Like I said, it's nothing big. Just some supplies inbound from the Core, for the garrison here on Lothal. I'm thinking maybe a hijacking might be fun," Nash said, a big grin spreading over his face.

"That is not a two person job, Nash."

"How about a mid-air heist? You drive, I hijack...well, yeah, maybe not. But Imperial supply convoys in the Outer Rim, especially this part of the Outer Rim, are never heavily manned…"

Hera couldn't help thinking that they could have pulled it off with Kanan. "We need more than just you, me and Chopper."

"Are you counting the droid as a person? The droid doesn't count."

Hera ignored him. "Forget it. It's too risky."

"Suit yourself. Hey, let's go to the Pit Stop and get a few drinks," Nash suggested.

"Pass."

"Come on! You're wallowing, waiting around for this guy to come back," Nash said, pushing buttons again.

Hera didn't feel like playing. "I have work to do here, since no one but Chopper is helping me maintain this ship."

Nash shrugged and headed for the cargo bay. "You know I'm terrible at fixing things, Hera. Well, I'll see you later...that is, unless I find a companion at the Pit Stop. Gotta find love where you can!"

Hera rolled her eyes, listening to him sing an old love song from Ryloth as he headed out of the ship. As much of a pain as he was, it was nice to have someone else around. The month before Nash arrived on Lothal had been one of Hera's worst. She'd kept herself busy, but she spent a lot of time thinking about Kanan. She should have been angry with him. She was angry. But, mostly, she just wanted him to come back.

Hera also thought quite a bit about him telling her he loved her. She'd suspected it, but hearing him actually say it left her reeling. She thought about what Nash said about love. He was a hedonistic idiot, but maybe his point was valid. Or maybe she just wanted an excuse to let herself love Kanan back. It didn't matter, either way, though. He was gone, and knowing him, he was probably drunk in a cantina right that very second, in the company of some other woman. Hera had never felt jealousy before, but she burned with it now, thinking of a completely imaginary woman with Kanan.

She chastised herself for being ridiculous. Kanan wasn't coming back, and she was just going to have to get on with her life, the way she always did.

Notes: I came up with this character awhile back, and he sort of became this stand-in for me, in a way. Not that I'm anything like him, but the things he says are the same things I want to say to Hera.