Chapter 24

Disclaimer: I do not own Star Wars Rebels or its characters.

They had been talking when it happened.

Zeb had been grouching about something Sabine had said, arguing with her, when his ears had flattened and his face scrunched up with pain before he toppled over. Sabine lunged for him the best she could with her damaged legs, barely managing to catch him before he fell face down onto the floor. She wrapped her arms around him and struggled to keep him upright while she checked if he was okay.

"Zeb! Can you hear me?" Sabine questioned, shaking him lightly. "What's wrong?"

Zeb's eyes were shut tight, wrinkles appearing around his eyelids from the strain. His teeth were grinding together, and his ears were twitching erratically.

"Kanan…..ugh…..screaming," He ground out, "Too….loud…"

"Screaming? Okay, can you walk? I need to check it out, but I can't move with you leaning on me."

"No need," Zeb responded, pushing himself away from Sabine and swaying for a few seconds before standing upright. "Grab on, and I'll take us there."

"Um, no offense, but you almost fainted for a second, and I don't exactly feel like face planting if you decide to tumble over. I already have enough things to worry about."

"I'm fine, just got disoriented for a second. Knocked me off guard. I'm good to go, so grab on."

Sabine hesitantly grabbed onto Zeb's fur, and he took off running, stumbling every few seconds.

Zeb maneuvered throughout the halls, catching Hera and Chopper's attention as they passed them.

"What are you doing?!" Hera called out.

"It's Kanan!" Sabine answered as they rounded a corner.

"What?" Sabine heard accompanied by footsteps and clunking noises as they followed them.

Skidding to a stop in front of Zeb's and Kanan's room, Zeb let Sabine down before opening the door, immediately flinching backwards as the sound assaulted him. He shook his head before approaching the screaming Jedi, reaching out to touch him. Just as he got within reach of Kanan, the Jedi's head turned towards him.

"Get back!"

Sabine moved backwards from the ferociousness of his tone, but Zeb continued forward, ignoring his command.

"What's wro-"

Zeb's sentence was cut off when his hand came to rest on Kanan's shoulder. The moment his fingers brushed against Kanan, Zeb was forced back, landing outside the room.

"Did you just use the Force on me?" Zeb growled, "Trying to help you, and you use the Force on me!"

"He's not in his right mind Zeb." Sabine soothed, watching Kanan carefully. He had stopped screaming and was resting against a wall, gasping for breath.

"What happened?" Hera asked, finally catching up to them.

"Kanan went psycho, screaming bloody murder," Zeb explained, eyeing Kanan warily.

"We don't know what's wrong," Sabine added.

"Okay," Hera said, looking at Kanan before turning towards the two of them. "Let me handle this. I don't think he'll hurt me."

"So I'm fodder then?" Zeb grumbled.

"That's not what I meant Zeb, you know that. What I meant was, he seems calmer, so I don't think he'd hurt me. Can you guys give us a moment?"

"You sure about this, Hera?" Sabine asked.

"Positive."

They were silent for a moment before nodding and backing away from the door, only Chopper hesitating before he too moved away, turning back a few times.

Hera sighed and turned towards Kanan, inching forward, careful not to alarm him. She didn't know what had set him off, but she didn't want to him going off again.

"Kanan?" Hera asks quietly, coming to a stop in front of him. She's careful not to lean over him or make it seem as if she's going to touch him, staying at least a three feet away from him.

Kanan glances at her, eyes somewhat glazed over, still gasping for breath, but doesn't do anything besides that.

Taking that as an ok to continue, Hera moves closer until she's close enough to reach out and brush her fingers against his clothes. Still not seeing a negative reaction to her being there, she moves around him until she's able to sit down next to him.

They both sit next to each other, neither talking, the unasked question lingering in the air. Hera doesn't know how long they sit there until Kanan finally speaks.

"I heard Ezra."

Hera quickly turns toward Kanan.

"What did he say?!"

"He was screaming."

Hera's heart beat loudly at this and her worry for Ezra increased drastically.

"I could feel Ezra breaking," Kanan continued on, "I could feel him being eaten alive. He lost himself to his grief and the Dark Side began to consume him. I could feel his despair, Hera, and it was killing me." A pause, "I shouldn't have been able to feel his emotions. I was locked out. And the fact that his emotions were so strong that I could feel them terrifies me."

Kanan turned towards Hera and sighed.

"He's losing, Hera, and I don't know if he'll be the same the next time we see him."

Hera reached out and gripped his hand.

"All we can do is hope. That's all we have."

Both of them fell into silence once more after that statement, seemingly lost in their own thoughts.

Hope, Kanan thought, that's the only thing we can rely on anymore.

That's all we have left.