My 10th posted story! I've worried over this one for a long time so I really hope you all like it.

"It's a valid concern Ezra! Ryloth is a world steeped in history, with a complex mythology and traditions going back centuries. Coruscant is just as old and has been influenced by thousands if not millions of cultures from all the different beings that live there. If Hera and Kanan want their baby to have a connection to something important the first question that needs to be asked is which planet do they want the baby's name to have an origin from?"

Zeb raised his hand. "Ah shouldn't the first question be is it a boy or a girl?"

All eyes turned to Hera who was watching the debate with a tired face. If she'd known Sabine - or anyone - was going to take it this seriously she'd never have thrown out the question of picking a name in the first place. "Well it's too early for a scan to show anything, but the blood tests say there's an 82% chance it's a boy."

"Why is there any doubt?" Kallus asked.

"There aren't many Twi'lek-Human hybrid children in existence," Kanan answered. "Medical data is a little sparse."

"I've been working on a list." Sabine cut back in. "It's far from complete but I think I've included some of the best options available."

A little reluctantly Hera took the datapad her surrogate daughter offered, skimming through it.

"Wait go back up," Kanan leaned over her shoulder and pointed at a name. "I like that one."

"Jules?" She shook her head. "It's one of the most common names on Ryloth. Actually it would have been mine if I'd been a boy."

"What's wrong with that?"

"I want our baby's name to be a little more individual. See like this, Lionel, you almost never hear that one."

"Ugh, that's 'cause it sounds awful."

"Oh fine." She searched for a few minutes more but the names quickly started blurring together.

"Yohann?" Kanan snorted. "Sabine were you even trying with this?"

"Hey I worked hard-"

"Enough." Hera interrupted before their crew ended up one member short. "Thank you for your effort Sabine but clearly we all need to put more thought into this and I'm too tired. I'm going to bed." She grabbed Kanan's arm and dragged him from the room before he could start any more arguments.

"Wait, at least take the list with you." The Mandalorian started to scramble after them, picking up the discarded datapad. "Guys!"

Ezra shook his head and stretched lazily. "Sabine, relax. We've got at least six months before we meet the little guy. There's plenty of time."

Zeb carefully maneuvered his way through the debris scattered across the Phantom II's floor, grumbling silently to himself. Hera had always been obsessive with repairs on her ship but this was beginning to become extreme. Something must be weighing heavily on her mind. It almost made him feel guilty for bothering her.

"Hera," he called out before getting too close. "There's a message from your father."

"What does he want?" The Twi'lek's voice queried from underneath the navigation console.

"For you to come for a visit. He said he has a surprise for you."

"Ugh I've had about enough of surprises lately."

"Do you want me to send a reply?"

She crawled out from under the panel with a sigh. "No. Thank you. I'll call him once we're back at base."

"Have you told him about the little one yet?"

"Not yet. There's going to be a lot to talk about when I do."

"Because of the situation or because, you know, it's Kanan?"

Hera chuckled, surprising the Lasat. "Kanan's so nervous around him it won't matter what my father thinks of him getting me pregnant. No, I just keep thinking about how I'm going to be having a child in the middle of a war, something I always swore to him I would never do. He's never going to let me hear the end of it."

Zeb's ears flickered curiously. "Something tells me it's not the potential for him reminding you of that that's bothering you." She was quiet and he shuffled his feet. "Look I know I'm not the best at this sort of thing but you can talk to me. You know, if you want too."

Putting down her spanner she rested a hand over her abdomen, feeling the tiny movements inside. "Having this baby was never optional. Once I knew he existed, I started fighting for his life more than any other. But I can't help but be scared. We're facing down death every other day. Children should be born in peacetime. I wanted things to be safe before Kanan and I started our family."

Zeb was quiet for so long she was afraid he wasn't going to answer. Finally he did.

"Well you can call me a cynical warrior if you want, but we've both lived in this galaxy long enough to know even when things are peaceful they're rarely safe. If it's not war between planets and ruling classes, it's civil unrest and just plain personal conflicts. If you waited for peace you'd never have a family. That doesn't mean good things can't happen even in the middle of bad. Look at Ezra. If his parents had decided they didn't want a child born during the clone wars then our family wouldn't be what it is now. If I'm being honest, and don't tell the runt I said this, I don't know if any of us would even be alive if he wasn't here. Same could be said for Sabine. The Mandalorians would have died out centuries ago if they only had children when they weren't trying to kill each other."

"It's not just the danger. This baby is the child of General Syndulla and grandchild of Cham Syndulla. Both of us are war heroes in our own way. Kanan is too. A veteran of two wars actually, same as my father. I don't want people hearing my son's name and immediately associating it with war. I don't want him pressured to follow in our footsteps. I want him free to be his own person. And I don't know how to make that happen."

"Hera," He said, gruff voice filled with a kindness rarely heard, "I know you and I know Kanan. Neither of you is the kind to force anyone to be something they're not. In fact at times it's taken other people to motivate you to become or at least accept parts of who you are. But you've still maintained your own outlooks and principles. No matter what name he's saddled with either at birth or by the things he accomplishes, that little one inside you right now will not grow to be anything less than who he decides he's meant to be. His family will make sure of that. Karabast, if he's half as stubborn as either of his parents, he won't even need our help."

"You really think that?"

"I'm not saying you have nothing to worry about, 'cause we both know that's not true. But worry isn't going to change very much at this point. Like you said, this kid's coming whether we're ready for him or not. Don't let what might happen change how you feel about what is happening."

Despite herself, Hera laughed. "Now you're sounding like Kanan."

"Well what can I say, he's not an idiot all the time."

"No. Not all the time."

He smiled and rested a large hand on her shoulder. "If anyone can do this it's you two. I know it."

The older Ezra got and the deeper involved they all became with the rebellion, the less time Kanan had to give him one on one instruction in anything, much less basic fighting exercises. Truthfully there wasn't much use in that anyway, Ezra was more than capable of teaching such exercises. But when he'd caught his apprentice by the arm the night before and suggested a sunrise sparring session, the kid had been almost gleeful in his acceptance.

Now he was realizing why. They may not have practiced much together in recent months but that didn't mean Ezra hadn't been practicing. Where in times past the boy was worn out after only five minutes of combat, they were now going on nearly double that time and Kanan was the one who's movements were starting to flag.

Their movements flowed in a tight dance of twists and jabs too quick for the eye to follow and the two soon found their sabers locked tightly together, panting hard breaths in their mutual air space. Neither side had the desire to force a retreat and by mutual agreement they parted, simultaneously deactivating their weapons. Ezra promptly flopped down on the grass.

"You haven't worked me that hard in ages. Did I do something?"

"Kid, when haven't you done something?"

"Alright fair." He flipped over onto his stomach as Kanan slumped on the ground next to him. "You okay?"

"Tired." The master answered, rubbing the side of his face. "The baby's got his day/night cycle backwards so he's been keeping Hera awake. Which in turn keeps me awake. She's said she won't be offended if I want to go back to sleeping in my old cabin but it doesn't seem right to make her deal with sleepless nights alone. On the other hand...never mind, I don't know why I'm telling you this."

"I'm not stupid Kanan. You both try to hide it but I knew neither of you were sleeping. And I know you're worried she's pushing herself too much."

"It's not like she doesn't have a choice. Command said she's free to start her leave anytime now but she's insisting on working right up until Firith is born. But things are only going to get harder from here. We think we're not getting sleep now!"

"Wait, wait, Firith? You guys picked a name?"

Kanan winced. Great you've gone and done it now. "It's not a sure thing," he hedged. "Sabine mentioned it the other day and Hera liked it. It means defender, she said. Probably will be a middle name at least. I didn't mean to use it, I'm just…" He trailed off and Ezra sensed he didn't really have an explanation.

"Firith Syndulla-Jarrus. I like it."

"That's just Syndulla kid."

"What? Why? You're married now. Hera's added your name to hers, why wouldn't you give it to your child?"

"Because it wasn't the name I was born with, you know that. There's no lineage attached to it. I don't feel the need to saddle a baby with two family names when one of them doesn't need preserving."

Ezra pushed himself to a sitting position, frowning hard. When several minutes passed in silence Kanan attempted to gently read him through their bond but came up flat against a wall. A frown tugged at his brow as well. "What's on your mind?" he finally asked.

"Nothing. It's none of my business."

"Ezra."

"Not having a past doesn't mean it doesn't deserve a future."

"What do you mean?"

"You think it's not worth preserving the name of a man who's survived against impossible odds? Who's overcome loss and betrayal, and opened his heart to an ever expanding family when no one would blame him for shutting people out forever?"

"I just-

"Kanan Jarrus takes in strangers who've lost their world and refuses to give up on them. He gives them hope because he knows from experience no matter what a person has gone through, others will help them find their way again, so long as they're willing to open themselves to the possibility." His Padawan huffed out a breath, meeting his gaze levelly. "Jarrus is the name of the man who's taught me, and raised me, and been there for me when no one else knew how or even bothered to try. And it's a name I would carry with pride if the universe had chosen to give me that honor. How dare you deprive your son of that opportunity!"

Ezra got to his feet and marched away before a dumbfounded Kanan could even begin to formulate an answer. Eventually his swirling thoughts gave up on the effort and turned to contemplating how he could love someone so deeply and be driven so mind numbingly insane by them at the same time. Such a thing shouldn't be possible. Then again, he sighed quietly, it was Ezra. And if he knew his boy at all - and he did - then he knew the Padawan was currently endeavoring to puzzle out the exact same issue about him. Kanan could only hope he was having more success.

"Ezra there you are!" Rex let out a sigh of relief. "I was just telling these two that I've told Kanan numerous times that the names we clones gave ourselves were more often random than anything else. But he's got it in his head I'm an expert on the subject and keeps asking my opinion on ones he thinks of for his kid. You know him better than me. Is there any way I can politely tell him to lay off that he'll actually listen too?"

"No idea," His younger shipmate answered, dropping onto the common room couch. "Everything I tell him on the subject of the baby's name goes in one ear and out the other."

"Don't blame him for that." Kallus muttered from across the room.

Ezra's face contorted into a scowl. "Who asked you?"

The ex-imperial arched an eyebrow completely unabashed. "Do you think anyone in their right mind would accept naming advice from someone who more than once identified themself as Jabba the Hutt?"

That earned him a snort. "It was an alias, Your Intelligenceness. I wasn't about to tell an Imperial officer my real name."

"'Cause you were a rebel?" Rex asked.

"I wasn't the first time we met. Just a kid with issues."

"Nothing's changed there." Zeb teased.

"Please, find me someone in this galaxy that doesn't have issues." He sobered at the sight of Kallus frowning. "It wasn't personal you know. I thought I had to hate everyone back then. To keep them from hurting me."

The older man rubbed his chin. "I know the feeling."

Endeavoring to lighten the mood Rex queried. "You know Alex, we haven't exactly heard you giving any ideas."

Kallus made a face at the clone. "I haven't made any recommendations because I don't have any. Should I ever have a child of my own then I'll consider what to name one. As it stands Kanan and Hera are responsible for raising this boy, therefore they are the ones who should have the privilege of deciding what they are going to call him."

Zeb shook his head. "Yeah tell that to them."

"Well if the medic's prediction holds true we have a few more weeks till Spectre Seven makes his entrance." Ezra forced a smile. "They'll figure something out soon. I hope."

Poetically Hera would acknowledge that the idea of bringing her son into the world on the ship she'd called her home surrounded by her family was a beautiful thing. However, the combination of laying on her side on a too small bunk feeling like her insides were literally tearing themselves apart, and still being high on the adrenaline of a last second jump away from the battlefield, was not putting her in a poetic frame of mind.

"Where is that blasted med ship?!" Kanan shouted from the hallway outside.

"They all jumped the opposite direction," Sabine answered him. "It'll be a couple of hours before it's safe for any of them to reroute."

"What about the half dozen evacing Dantooine, can't they reroute one of them? Ezra get on the com."

"I've already tried! I yelled at everyone who didn't outrank me and some who did." The younger Jedi's voice rose helplessly. "Apparently 'General Hera Syndulla is having a baby' isn't a terrifying thought to some people!"

"Are we sure the kid's coming now? Isn't false labor a thing that happens?"

"Her water broke Zeb."

"I don't know what that means." The Lasat muttered.

Kanan obviously decided to ignore him, instead resuming his frantic tone. "What are we supposed to do if they don't get here in time?"

Chopper broke in, warbling a long stream of facts that Hera only half heard as another contraction seized her body. She tuned back in in time to hear her husband's exasperated reply.

"I don't care how long labor typically lasts if we don't get some trained help soon who knows what could happen!" More chirping followed that he cut off "You do not count as an expert and if you try to suggest that again I'll-"

"Caleb Kanan Dume Jarrus if you threaten my droid I swear you're going to be hand scrubbing every cloth our son soils for his first year!"

A stunned silence lingered outside broken only by Chopper's electronic snickering. The door to her room slid open and a subdued but still anxious Jedi knight made his way to her side.

"Do you want something for the pain?" he asked softly.

She considered for a minute before shaking her head. "We've never figured out for sure if we have anything that's safe. The alliance will have a better supply, I'll get something when we get back to them."

"Hera-"

"It's only a couple of hours Love. I'll survive. Come on," she broke off sucking in a sharp breath. Waving away his hand she forced herself to refocus. "I need you to talk to me."

"About what?"

"About anything. About..argh..about the fact that we've talked to everyone we know about our son's name but we haven't really talked to each other. What do you want to name him?"

"I..I don't know. Nothing I've heard has spoken to me. Besides you've been doing all the hard work, you really should be the one to choose."

"No, it should be both of us. I want it to be both of us. But you're right, I've tried so hard to find something I like but... "

Kanan suddenly laughed.

"What's so funny about me gasping in pain?"

He took her hand, an apology written all over his face. "It's not that. I was just remembering something my master told me once. That the harder you try to find an answer the easier it is to miss it. We've gotten so caught up in finding the perfect name but what if it was never up to us?"

"I love our kids but you know we'll have no peace if we go with only one of theirs suggestion."

"I'm not saying we ask our kids, I'm saying we ask our son. Let's concentrate on meeting him and just trust that the right name will come to us."

A frown tugged at her brow as the idea took hold. Just waiting went against all her instincts but she had to admit it was the only thing they hadn't tried. "You're sure about this?"

He smiled warmly, an unfathomable depth of love shining in his blue-green eyes. "I am."

Small blue eyes blinked sleepily up at the world, their gaze easily hypnotizing the five other people - and one droid who was actually immune to such things but willing to play along for harmony's sake - in the room.

"He has my nose." Hera commented proudly, to the amusement of three who were visiting their two hour old shipmate for the first time.

"He looks plenty like you." Kanan countered. A momentary snickering broke out at that, quickly silenced by his glare.

"Name one thing that actually reflects me more than it does you Love."

"Ummm, well there's...uh.."

She laughed lightheartedly. In truth ever since she'd learned that they were for sure expecting a son she'd been quietly hoping that he'd resemble his father. There was no way to know with hybrid children but at least for now it seemed her wish had come true, remarkably so. His skin was Kanan's warm tan but for the pale green on the tips of his ears. His hair, what little there was, was dark but also had a greenish cast to it, something that pleased a certain member of their family greatly. Full cheeks, pink lips, and an expression that she thought inclined toward impish completed his features.

Those bright eyes, which had been distracted by the light above their heads focused on her momentarily before crinkling as he yawned, his tiny lips smacking together as he finished. Her heart all but melted at the sight. Glancing around she saw the feeling mirrored by all present.

"Here," she turned and carefully handed the child to Kanan. "He'll be hungry again soon. Better let everyone hold him before that happens."

Zeb claimed first dibs, his oversized hands dwarfing the baby in as he cradled him gently, big eyes alight with joy. Little Specter Seven let out a tiny grunt each time he changed hands but otherwise tolerated being passed around well. Each member of their family looked at him with something like awe, which Hera and Kanan found incredibly endearing. It wasn't like none of them had cared for a baby before, but they were in tune with one another's feelings enough to appreciate the difference. This baby was theirs.

"So come on, don't leave us in suspense." Sabine finally asked, not tearing her eyes away from her newest sibling.

"Huh?"

"What's his name?!"

Kanan reclaimed the now squirming babe from Ezra, who parted with him rather unwillingly, and gave him back to Hera who snuggled him close.

"You still like what I said earlier?"

She nodded immediately, thinking of the name he'd whispered upon holding their son for the first time. She couldn't dream of one that fit better.

"I think it's perfect. Do you still want the same order for the rest?"

"Yes."

"Alright then." She turned the infant to face the rest of the room. "Zeb, Sabine, Ezra, meet Jacen. Jacen love, this is your family."

The three exchanged glances, repeating the name quietly to themselves. "Jacen...?" Ezra prompted after a moment.

"Jacen Jarrus-Syndulla." Kanan answered, a look passing between the two of them that Hera didn't quite understand. Ezra smiled though and that seemed to settle the matter.

Sabine meanwhile was frantically tapping her wrist computer. "Huh," she muttered. "No record of the name on Ryloth. It's used throughout the core worlds but as for origin..."

"Sabine does it really matter-"

"Oh. It's from Alderaan." She rotated the screen so they could all see. "It means Healer."

Hera shared a sad smile with Kanan, then joined him in watching Jacen attempt to coordinate getting his fist into his mouth.

"Now that is a connection worth having," she said, softly kissing the baby's brow. "I know you'll do it proud."

Notes on the names for info junkies such as myself: Dave Filoni said Jacen Syndulla was named in honor of the Extended Universe (now Legends) character Jacen Solo. So I thought giving the name an Alderaan connection didn't seem like too much of a stretch. In reality it means Healer in Greek or Hebrew. The "Ryloth'' names here are all french origin 'cause most Twi'leks speak with french accents. Lastly, and I don't remember what website I got it from, but Firith is (or at least was depending on how the lore is now) an actual Twi'lek name that does mean Defender.