There is no death, there is the force. There is no death, there is the force. There is no death, there is the force…
So he hadn't exactly died, but the force wasn't helping, either. Who invented that stupid line, anyways?
There is no force, there's the ridiculous voice in my head that keeps saying…
"Ezra! Karabast, kid…"
The force wasn't supposed to cuss like that.
"I can't believe… Sabine, tell Hera to get the ship running! We're dragging Kanan back with us."
"Zeb, we're not even supposed to be here!"
Sabine is a Jedi? Only Jedi talked in the force, right? Or maybe the serum was spurring illusions again. Ezra squeezed his eyes shut, pawing at the fog in his mind. Just go. Please. Leave me alone.
"And I say orders change!" Zeb's voice rallied. "Go find that loafer and tell him I'm bringing in the kid."
"…. Zeb…. He said... There wouldn't be a body."
"Would you just get in here, Sabine?"
A large hand ruffled Ezra's hair, like a child finding a long-lost bear. He heard a gasp from the far right, a shriek that almost sounded like Sabine.
But it wasn't her.
It wasn't them.
It was just another one of those dreams he wanted to last forever.
Karabast, he didn't know why he was following Kanan onto this filthy planet. The kid was gone. Zeb was willing to let him rest. Hunting down a Sith lord would end in two things: a dead Jedi, and an equally dead Lasat.
Still, jamming his bo-rifle into Vader's eye socket was a diverting thought.
Maybe that's why he was stupid enough to leave the ramp – besides the fact that Sabine had already run off on her own. Reckless snip needed someone pulling her out of Imperial hands.
Naturally, they would both lose Kanan in the blasted smog. Karabast, Zeb hated this! One wrong move – one inch too close to a Sith lord, and the Ghost would become more than a physical spirit.
"Haunting Mutafar forever," Zeb grunted. "Fine way to go; right alongside the rest of the Je…."
His eyes flickered to the security holos. Glancing both ways, Zeb tapped the console, waving aside different rooms. "Come on, Vader, show your face."
No crew members or workers. No Imperial Starfighters, either. It seemed the whole base had been abandoned. Just locked doors, a few droids, and ….
"Karabast!"
He was skidding down halls, shoving doors aside, crunching panels in dismay when he entered the wrong room. Finally, three halls in, he found the only door guarded by five IG-100's.
"Thought the crummy lot was antique by now," Zeb muttered, reaching for his bo-rifle. He paused, then shrugged and pulled out a blaster. A few bolts to the head and the ancient droids fell apart. "Should've stuck with the storm troopers."
Sprinting to the door, he punched the keypad. "C'mon, open up, you –"
The barrier slid and he lunged inside, bo-rifle ready for any more droids. The room was empty.
Save for the brat Zeb thought had been reunited with his parents long ago.
"Kid…." Zeb edged forward, touching the inky, grimy hair. "Ezra…."
Ezra shifted and tucked his head into his arms. Hiding from him.
"Karabast, kid… I can't believe… I never knew. I didn't –" Boggled, Zeb remembered his comlink. "Sabine!" he shouted into it, daring to touch the kid's shoulder. "Come on, pick up…."
Ezra wasn't moving. With infinite care Zeb rocked his shoulder. "Kid? Come on, Ezra. Look at me."
Burns dotted the scarred cheek. His breathing was irregular. He should be awake, then; talking; making some idiotic quip like he could never shut up.
"Oh, for pity's sake, use the – Sabine?"
"Zeb." Sabine sighed his name. "We need to get Kanan back to the Ghost. He's lost his mind. There's no one here, and any minute Hera's going to –"
"Well, tell Hera to get the ship running!" Zeb thought he sounded too gleeful, and he didn't care. "We're dragging Kanan back with us."
"We're not even supposed to be here, Zeb!" Sabine growled in frustration. "You talk to him. He gave specific orders not to leave without word of Vader."
"And I say orders change! Go find that loafer and tell him I'm bringing in the kid."
"…. Zeb…." Sabine's voice cracked. "He said …. There wouldn't be a body."
Zeb rolled his eyes. "Look, would you just do it?"
Sabine sighed resignedly. "Hold on – I'm coming in."
Four minutes. He checked the kid's breathing, hoped there were no broken bones, calculated how he would explain it to Hera when….
"Zeb, I think we should just –"
Sabine's voice broke off in a squeal that he would tease her for later. She backed into the wall, warily removing her helmet.
"Is that ….?"
"It's him." Probably was safe to lift the kid. Carefully Zeb eased his hands under the small frame, fighting down that block in his throat that was anything but emotion. "Karabast, he's scrawny – more than usual, I mean."
"Is he…."
"Can't form a coherent sentence, can you?" Zeb cracked a smile. "Come take a look."
Sabine pattered closer, her fingers brushing Ezra's cheek. Gasping, she rested her hand on his forehead. "He's alive!"
"For now. Let's get him off this dump, 'fore that blasted Sith spawn returns."
Amber eyes snapped up and Sabine nodded. "Spectre Five to Ghost," she spoke into the com. "Two returning to the ship. I'm off to find Kanan."
"Whoa, whoa!" Zeb growled. "I'm not finding one of you twits only to have the other vanish on another suicidal quest. We'll meet at the Ghost, then I'll search for Kanan."
"We work together, remember?"
Well, he wasn't fighting that snapfire look. "Yeah, yeah." Zeb rolled his eyes. "Come on; the kid's in dire need of a nutrient bar." And a few hundred bacta patches. And an overdue visit with his missing crew.
"Spectre One, this is Spectre Five." Even before they left the room, Sabine was jabbering orders. "We found Spectre Six. Repeat, we found Spectre Six."
"What?"
"Would you please not shout into the com? Meet us at the Ghost. We'll catch you up on the details."
"Not until I find Vader."
"There is no Vader here!" Zeb yelled into Sabine's helmet. "If we don't move fast, none of us well be here, either – particularly a certain snotty-nosed padawan of yours. So scamper back to the ship or stay where we can find you, cause I'm not training the brat if you kill yourself."
"… On my way."
"How did he get so far out?" Sabine grumbled.
"He's Kanan. He can do things us ordinary folk find impossible."
"Yeah, well maybe a little more ordinary would be good for those two right now."
Holding the kid a little tighter – just a little, it wasn't like he was getting fond of him or anything – Zeb chuckled grimly. "Right you are, Sabine."
He didn't know what had happened. One moment he had been hunting, the force a whisper of caution shoved into the back of his mind, his single goal to track Vader and bring him down once and for all.
A call from Sabine. A grumble from Zeb. A sense that maybe something was right.
The next moment he was running, pelting down rickety scaffolds, flinging himself to the lower levels, reaching out with a ferocity he thought was lost.
Ezra!
There! It was barely recognizable; a trick in the force concealing him from Kanan's mind.
He didn't need the force to know his padawan was alive.
Kanan swung down the last railing, bolting to the landing platform where Sabine and Zeb were just reaching the Ghost. Sabine tapped Zeb's arm and the Lasat turned, and all that Kanan could focus on was –
Dangblast it! His back chose that moment to remind him of the Empire's lingering effects. Kanan rolled in a flurry of undignified Jedi, limbs askew and pain hollering in every bone.
"Aw, come on now!" Zeb yowled, shoveling Ezra into Sabine's arms. She eeped a cry, flailed backwards, and was balanced by a chittering, exhilarated Chopper. Galloping to Kanan, Zeb easily slung him over one shoulder, ignoring the 'oomph!' of protest.
"If you can gallivant across Mustafar, those ribs can't be hurt any worse."
"Garazeb Orrelios, get him inside right now!" Hera snapped over the com. Zeb and Kanan exchanged a worried look.
"Well, it was nice seeing your padawan before Mother Hera took over." Zeb shrugged. Kanan cursed and wrapped an arm around his ribs.
Thank you to Kat Bridger, PrincessCadence2012, RadicalCat, A M3mb3r123, BuruPlays2, majo2, UnfathomableFandoms, Force sensitive, AzulaBlue92, and Guest for leaving feedback on the last chapter! :D