2 BBY

The moment Boba left on his ship and Kaleena had taken off her bandages and cleaned up in the refresher, Ezra showed Kaleena his Sith Holocron. The Ghost had already entered hyperspace and the first thing Ezra wanted to do was gush about what he found. The two young Jedi sat in Kanan's empty room as Ezra held out the red, pyramid-shaped holocron out to his friend.

"It's not glowing," Kal pointed out as she took the holocron into her hand. She glanced at the Jedi Holocron sitting nearby. "Neither of them are. And they're open. What happened?"

Ezra had the audacity to look embarrassed as he rubbed the back of his neck. "Oh, right, that. Well, they combined."

When Ezra didn't offer any more details, Kal raised an eyebrow and pressed on. "Combined?" The blue-haired boy didn't want to talk about it. It was a sensitive topic. "Ezra."

Ezra sighed. "Alright, Kanan and I met a Sith. Well, I guess, former Sith? I don't really know. But anyway, he tricked me into combining the holocrons together. When you combine Sith and Jedi holocrons, they show you the answer to any question you have. I don't think it really worked since I broke the connection too early."

"Did you know his name?" Kal asked.

"Uh, yeah. His name is Maul." Kaleena's blood ran cold, and she quickly dropped the holocron. Metal clanged against metal as the holocron hit the floor. "Woah, hey, are you okay?" Ezra picked up the Sith relic and studied his friend's expression. "Do you know him?"

Kal hugged her jacket closer and folded her arms around her stomach. "My dad told me about him. Darth Maul was the Sith who killed his master, Quin-Gon Jinn. Then my dad cut Maul in half. He thought Maul had died, but then he resurfaced during the Clone Wars. He never told me anything else about him."

"Oh, I'm sorry." Ezra gingerly reached out ready to comfort her if needed, but Kal quickly shrugged and stopped hugging herself.

"It's alright. Didn't know him. How much longer till we reach the base?"

The two exited the Ghost the moment the ship touched down. Ezra was super excited to show his friend around, and he finally had someone to hang out with other than Zeb. He never really got close to the other rebels that were around his age like Wedge or Hobbie. He didn't mind though but didn't realize just how much he liked having a friend around until he walked down the loading ramp with Kaleena.

Hera, Chopper, and Rex watched as Ezra talked a mile a minute as he pointed out everything to Kal. Each had varying levels of amusement. Chop whistled. "Oh, let him have his fun," Hera told the droid.

"Shouldn't we stop him from divulging too many secrets?" Rex asked, still watching the two teenagers slowly make their way towards the main part of the base.

Captain Syndulla shook her head. "No. I trust Kaleena. So does Kanan."

"And her bounty hunter friend? I never did see his face."

"Yeah, that was definitely strange, but she obviously trusts him with her life. We should probably give him the benefit of the doubt for now. And something tells me she won't tell him anything anyway. He had no idea who we were."

Rebel pilots walked about as Ezra talked animatedly. Kal glanced between him and their surroundings with amusement and astonishment. The rebellion was getting bigger. They actually had a base. It was pretty amazing.

"Ezra," a voice called out from behind them. The two turned around and spotted a stern man with sleek black hair that was speckled with greys. He walked up to them. "Who is this?"

While Ezra had initially thought he was in trouble, he beamed once again. "Commander Sato, this is my friend, Kaleena."

Kaleena stood straighter the moment Ezra said "commander". She stretched out her hand in greeting. "Kaleena Aput, sir."

Sato shook her hand. "Forgive my surprise and skepticism, but the friends of Mr. Bridger that I've-"

"Oh, no, sir," Ezra interrupted. "She's good. She's like me and Kanan."

Sato looked at her with newfound respect. Kal immediately knew that Ezra probably had a bad record with introducing outsiders. But she also realized that Sato must know that Ezra and Kanan were Jedi based on Ezra's statement. Sato offered her a polite smile. "We can never have enough Jedi, I must say."

Ezra gasped and turned to Kal, practically giving her whiplash. "We should spar! It's been forever. I've gotten better, I promise."

While Kaleena didn't doubt that Ezra had improved, she still snorted and smiled. "I actually don't have it with me. It's on Boba's ship."

"Oh." Ezra looked like she had kicked his pet.

Sato took that moment to leave the conversation. "If you'll excuse me. Welcome to Chopper Base." After a polite nod, Sato turned and left, walking past some male pilots in civilian gear while on his way.

Both pilots looked at the two Jedi. "I've never seen the commander so pleased," the dark-haired one said, pointing to the retreating man.

"I didn't screw anything up this time," Ezra offhandedly replied.

"This time?" Kal asked, looking at her friend. Ezra waved his hand while shaking his head.

"New recruit?" the blond boy asked, gesturing towards Kal.

Kaleena didn't allow Ezra to answer that, instead choosing to introduce herself. "Kaleena."

"Derek, but people call me Hobbie." The blond stuck his hand out for Kal to shake.

She shook the other guy's hand, too. "I'm Wedge. Ezra pull you out of an Imperial Academy, too?" He was referencing her accent since it was shared by most Imperials.

"Oh, no, my ship was attacked," Kaleena explained. "The Ghost came to my rescue."

Hobbie grinned. "Well, saving damsels in distress is what us rebels do best." Kal laughed a little and smiled at him. He was charming and dare-she-think cute. While Ezra was cute in an adorable, little brother sort of way, Hobbie was more dashing with his perfectly styled blond hair and blue eyes that matched the clear sky.

Wedge glanced at Hobbie, not surprised with his flirting. "Do you plan on staying?" Wedge asked.

Kaleena nodded her head slowly. "For a little bit. Long enough to catch up with old friends." She turned to Ezra. "Speaking of, how much longer do I gotta wait before Kanan gets back? I saw a new wanted picture a few days back and something is definitely wrong with it."

Ezra's eyes widened. He forgot to tell her. "Oh, yeah, he's blind now."

Her shoulders slumped. "Seriously? I'm gone a year and everything gets blasted to smithereens. Sabine's gone, Kanan's blind. Anything else?"

"Ahsoka's dead." Any sign of joking disappeared from her expression. "But hey, we have a base?" Ezra's attempt at making up for the slight disaster that is the Ghost crew didn't help.

Wedge lightly hit Ezra's shoulder. "You're not helping, bud."

Ezra grumbled, slightly annoyed. "You're not much better, Miss Bounty Hunter."

Kal scoffed. "You're lucky I don't cash in on your bounty. Or Kanan's. You know how much I could get for two live Jedi? Especially with your lightsabers? I'd never have to work again."

Both pilots were amused at their banter. It made them miss their families and friends on their homeworlds, but the rebellion was their home now. They didn't want to change that.

After a few more minutes, a small ship was spotted in the sky. Kal and Ezra felt the familiar Force signature of Kanan Jarrus before they could even tell the ship was the Phantom. The two said their goodbyes to the young rebellion pilots and hurried towards the Ghost so they could greet their friends.

Kanan and Zeb entered the Ghost after leaving the Phantom to see Kaleena and Ezra waiting for them. Kanan's expression pinched together in confusion has his head tilted to the side. It was the first time he had seen the young girl since Maul had blinded him. Her Force signature felt different than before. Zeb was simply annoyed that Ezra's friend was back.

"When did you get here?" Zeb asked, his voice as harsh as usual.

Kal ignored his mood, knowing by now she shouldn't take it personally. "About an hour ago. Miss me, ugly?" She had quickly learned the first time around that the only way to communicate with Zeb was if you were snappy.

Zeb grunted. "Not really. Two Jedi are enough. We're good without a third."

"Or a fourth," Kal muttered offhandedly, now reminded of Ahsoka.

Kanan sighed lightly. He could feel her dread. "I take it Ezra's told you."

Kaleena nodded then quickly realized he's blind and said, "Yeah."

"Well, if it helps to know, she gave her life for a good cause." The rebellion immediately popped into her head, but somehow she knew that wasn't the reason Ahsoka died. Deep down, she knew it was something else. Possibly related, but not the same. Still, Ahsoka would have laid her life down for the rebellion if given the chance.

"How do I join?"

"Ezra, calm down."

"See, if you physically joined us, you know became a pilot, strategist, whatever, I'd be fine. But spying? That's where I wanna draw the line."

Kaleena rolled her eyes at Ezra's panicked expression. "First, you're not my dad. Second, I'd be a lot more help as an informant than being stuck on a base. Third, Ahsoka was an informant, too. I want to do it for her."

"What about your bounty hunter friend? Won't he get suspicious?"

Kal placed her hands on Ezra's shoulders to stop his pitiful almost-pacing. "Boba and I aren't joined at the hip. We both like having our alone time, too. Stepping aside for two minutes won't even cause him to blink an eye."

"Wait, Boba?" Kanan asked. Kal looked over to him, dropping her arms. She had almost forgotten that he and Zeb were still there. Ezra's mental freak out was her sole focus for the past few minutes. "What do you mean, Boba?"

"Oh, right, she's a bounty hunter now," Ezra blurted out.

The older Jedi ignored his pupil and looked harshly at the young girl. "Boba. As in Boba Fett." His lack of an uptick at the end of his sentence made it clear to Kal that he already knew the answer and was not happy. Kaleena didn't get the chance to confirm nor deny it as Kanan continued. "As in the Jedi killer."

"What?" Ezra and Zeb's simultaneous exclamation went unnoticed as the blind man was still able to stare someone down.

"Yes." Her voice was minuscule and barely audible, but she was actually scared. For once in her life, Kaleena was actually genuinely scared of something. She wasn't afraid of a potential fight, no. She was afraid they wouldn't talk to her again.

Kanan's jaw was set. While he couldn't see her, he could feel her feelings and emotions. While he was disappointed, she didn't deserve true anger. She was young, just like Ezra. Why did the newest generation of Jedi have to befriend known Jedi killers? First Ezra with a Sith and now Kaleena with a bounty hunter. Kanan relaxed his jaw, sighing. "Can I ask why?"

"He-I don't know. I guess he-okay, look." After stumbling over her thoughts and words, Kal looked sternly at the three. "I don't know why I decided to go with Boba after learning he has killed Jedi. But I do know that I was trapped in an endless cycle on Coruscant and he got me out. He taught me how to shoot. He taught me more ways to fight. He's actually shown genuine worry and concern over me. He's kind of like a father to me now."

Kal sighed and rubbed her eyes. "If it makes you feel better, since we've met he's had a chance to kill a Jedi, and he didn't. And I'm not talking about me." She recalled the day they met when the Devaronian she shot had tried to buy off Boba by telling him about a Jedi on the planet. He hasn't mentioned it since, but Kal knew he hadn't killed someone that day. Whether the person was actually a Jedi or not was irrelevant.

The point was that Boba wasn't an absolutely terrible person with no mercy. Kaleena knew that. Now she needed her friends to know that, too. Not to mention, at this moment, Kal was fairly certain that he'd never killed any Jedi and just got the nickname "Jedi-killer" because he helped the Empire hunt them down, who were then the ones that killed them, but Boba himself hadn't actually killed any.

"Okay," Ezra said, perking up quickly. Zeb and Kanan turned to him, both with varying levels of confusion. "What? She trusts him, we trust her, so why shouldn't we trust him, too?"

"He's not a merciless killer. I'm telling you."

Hera and Kanan walked Kaleena to Commander Sato in the middle of the base. All three stood tall and confident. While Kanan was still wary, Hera knew Kal would make a good informant, like Ahsoka. And that's exactly what Hera told Sato. That Kaleena should become a new Fulcrum.