Summary: Kanan attempts to clear the air with Ezra regarding his little escapade and the Ghost gets some unexpected visitors.
Sorry an update has taken this long but this chapter took an unexpected turn and now I'm debating exactly where I want to take this story. It may very well be longer and more complicated than I originally planned. Hope ya'll enjoy this bit at least.
What was taking Kanan so long? Ezra thought as he rolled over onto his side for the fifth time, staring at the door of the cabin he'd been exiled to. His master wasn't one for postponing discipline, but he'd left Ezra alone in his room for more than an hour. He'd been more distracted than usual when they'd crossed paths in the galley earlier, and the sharp way he'd spoken had caught the padawan off guard. Kanan hadn't shouted at him in ages. 'Course he hadn't gone and broken almost every rule that had ever been set for him in a long time but still…
Just when he was considering if mutiny was worth the chance of finding out exactly what was going to happen next, a knock sounded. Quickly dropping off his bunk and onto his feet Ezra took a deep breath and waved the door open.
Kanan - no surprise - stood in the hallway with his arms crossed and a frown on his face. Also not a surprise.
"May I come in?" he asked, a little tentatively Ezra noted. That was a bit of a surprise. Kanan was never cruel, but breaking the rules was always met with firm correction. Still he nodded, waiting quietly as his master entered and looked him in the eye - truly looked him in the eye which was still a marvel Ezra didn't know who to thank for.
"I'm sorry I yelled at you."
"I just wanted- what?"
Kanan rolled his eyes. "Don't make me repeat it Kid."
Ezra opened and closed his mouth a few times, now even more unbalanced when it came to reading his master's demeanor. He couldn't help the small jump he gave when Kanan's hand landed on his shoulder.
"That doesn't mean you don't owe Hera and I an explanation. I know you're not stupid Ezra. Why would you do something like this?"
Dark blue eyes flicked upward to meet his. "Because some things are worth the risk."
"I agree with you in principle," Kanan said after a moment's consideration, "but possessions are never going to be worth the lives of the people I love. I would march onto Thrawn's ship and hand him my lightsaber myself before I would ever ask one of you to do something so completely reckless and irresponsible."
Frown was as prominent as ever Ezra snarked back. "And I would be following right behind you to snatch it back. That filthy kri-"
"Watch it."
"-Imperial has no more right to your saber than he does Sabine's art or anything else on this planet. Price has holos in her office, you know? Of other things she's 'gifted' to Thrawn and other admirals and senators. Things that belong to my people! Honestly you can't deviate from the mission in order to retrieve Hera's Kalikori and tell me I'm wrong to do this. Besides, didn't the Jedi always teach your lightsaber is your life?"
Ezra's taunting smirk vanished as Kanan's fingers dug into his shoulder. "They were wrong. You are my life. Hera and our family are my life. A lightsaber is replaceable, Ezra. You are not. Do you really think I could ever bring myself to pick up a worthless hunk of metal knowing one of my kids was the price I paid for it?"
Tugging himself free, Ezra backed away, sitting down heavily on Zeb's bunk. After a moment Kanan joined him, reaching over to lift Ezra's chin so he could look his boy in the eye. "No sacrifice is too big if it means keeping you safe. And it scares me a little that you can't seem to get that through your head."
"How do you think I feel?" His padawan whispered. "No sacrifice too big…I've watched you almost die so many times in the name of keeping me safe. Is it really so wrong for me to take a calculated risk in an effort to protect you in return? Why can't you see you're worth that much at the very least?"
Reaching into his pack Ezra pulled out the object that was the cause of all this fuss. Taking Kanan's hand he placed the lightsaber inside it, closing the other man's fingers over it almost reverently.
"This isn't about a hunk of metal. It never was."
Try as he might, Kanan found he couldn't hold onto both the weapon and his frustration at the same time. Letting the latter slip away, if only for the moment, he inspected the lightsaber carefully, flicking the blade on to bathe the room in a soft cerulean glow.
"I didn't know how much I missed seeing this."
"Here." Ezra unhooked his own blade, adding a brilliant green to complement the blue. "They go good together don't you think?"
A short time later Kanan powered down the weapon and held out an arm in invitation. Ezra happily obliged, scooting across the bunk to return the half hug.
Holding the younger man close, Kanan blew out a long breath. "I have to admit, I'm not sure how to handle this one, Ezra. I'm angry and scared and proud and grateful. And I don't know what to do about it. Got any ideas?"
He felt Ezra hum against his collarbone before offering, "We could, you know, forget it ever happened?"
"Mm tempting. But that might be seen as permission to do something like this again."
"I'd do it again with or without permission. They've made enough of a trophy out of my planet. I won't let them make one out of my family."
"I know." Kanan murmured softly, running a hand through his child's hair. "Are you sure you were undetected?"
"Positive. Sabine hacked together a rotating scrambler code that we fed into all the vid screens and motion sensors -"
"Sabine was in on this?" Ezra gave him a look. "Right, of course she was."
"Anyway, we pumped that aerosol sedative Vizago stole last raid into all the corridors around Price's office and Zeb clubbed the creepy gray dude Thrawn left here so hard he won't wake up for a week. And even if he does, we shoved him in a maintenance closet and triple locked it. We didn't get distracted smashing anything and we didn't leave any calling cards behind. If they figure out who was there it won't be our fault."
"They'll figure it out, you can bet on that."
"So what? They have no more clues to our location than they did before we went in and the loss of whatever slight advantage we might gain from them thinking you're dead doesn't equal forcing you to function without the one tool that's an extension of who you are."
"I functioned just fine without it for fourteen years," Kanan felt obliged to point out. He was saved a no doubt scathing riposte by a knock on the door.
"Come in," Ezra called, not breaking eye contact with his mentor.
A purple haired head stuck its way into the room. "If you two could call a truce for a moment, you need to come outside right now."
The two stood and followed the mandalorian, Kanan catching her by the arm. "Don't think you aren't going to hear about this too."
Sabine blinked at him. "I have no idea what you're talking about."
"Save it. Ezra already told me you were involved."
That earned Ezra a punch to the arm. "I told you to leave me out of it!" She hissed.
"I had to tell him! He'd never believe we could pull everything off undetected without your help."
"Well, that's true I guess."
Further bickering was stalled by their arrival at the cargo bay. The ramp was open and a large white Loth wolf was standing at the end of it. It was Kanan's first time laying physical eyes on the creature and the sight was one quarter enthralling, three quarters terrifying. Particularly when it caught sight of him in return. The wolf's eyes seemed to narrow momentarily before it turned its head away with a huff.
Taking that as a sign he was now dismissed from whatever their plan for him had been, Kanan stayed back as the wolf approached Ezra, lowering its head to nudge a flat rock in his padawan's direction.
Ezra knelt silently, studying the stone. He soon looked up and rested a hand on the wolf's snout. "I appreciate the gift and all but what exactly does this mean?"
"Mission." The wolf intoned.
"What mission?"
"Save home."
"Yes, I'm here to save Lothal. We all are."
The wolf shook its head slowly. " Home," it said again, a sense of…pleading? Longing? Pouring out from deep within the force.
"Kanan, what's he talking about?"
"I'm not sure Ezra. The wolves are bonded to the Force of Lothal but it seems to want more than that."
"Could he mean something to do with the Jedi's home?" Hera asked.
"For most Jedi that would've been the temple-"
"The temple! It has to be. It's the only other place we've seen with paintings like this." Ezra turned to the wolf who was shifting in agitation. "The empire is threatening the Jedi temple, and you want us to stop them."
The wolf snarled then gave a short howl. Immediately three other wolves, one equal in size to the white and two a good deal smaller appeared. The white lowered its snout to the ground with an impatient snort.
"You want us to stop them right now." Ezra deduced, grasping the wolf fur to pull himself up.
"Wait all of you," Hera spoke up as Sabine and Zeb moved to follow his lead.
The remaining wolf padded over, pausing close by. Cocking its head, the young creature leaned down and sniffed her before turning to its leader with an inquiring growl.
"What are you whoa-" Ezra barely kept himself astride his new companion as the wolf rose and sharply turned his back on the two lead spectres. The others immediately followed suit, the small wolf that had approached Hera changing course to snap a highly displeased Chopper up in its jaws.
"Hey now, if you want our help we need to be together!"
The wolf ignored the young Jedi's protests and without warning the group took off at top speed across the plains, vanishing from sight in an instant.
Hera recovered first, shaking her partner's shoulder. "Kanan, fury beasts just ran off with our family, are you really going to just stand there?!"
Muttering a few choice words he pretended Ezra hadn't taught him, he scrambled up the ramp after her. "What are you doing?"
She didn't pause. "Going after them, what do you think I'm doing?"
"Whatever the wolves want, we were left out of it for a reason."
This time she did turn, stopping so quickly he nearly stumbled into her. "Before you spout off that all is as the force wills it, let me remind you it almost willed me into becoming a single parent. I don't know everything, but I know when my children are going to need me."
"You don't know everything?"
She was not amused. "Are you coming or not?"
With a deep inhale Kanan nodded. "Of course I'm with you. But might I suggest we take the Phantom? Smaller, less noticeable? And the temple is several hours from here. We need to be prepared that whatever is going to happen could very well be over by the time we catch up."
Hera blinked quickly, irritation and alarm warring for dominance in her signature. "Whatever we're facing, we face it together. That's all I want."
"Then let's go." And Force help me because I haven't the slightest idea what's going on.