The next few months were busy ones. Kanan's semester at the university ended, but he helped teach at theater camps for high school students that the university ran during the summer so it wasn't really a break. Hera and Zeb's workloads both picked up over summer as well, Hera's because there were more flights taking place during the vacation season and Zeb's because summer vacation was the biggest tourist season for the town and so the busiest time for his shop.

It was also a busy time for all of them at the big house on the lake, and not just because they were all still hanging out there. Actually, it had gone beyond just hanging out: Kanan and Hera, after discussing the idea with Zeb and getting his approval, were moving in. Kanan could still hardly believe just how much and how quickly his life was changing: moving into a house with people he had technically just met was something he'd never pictured himself doing. And the reason that he was moving in was because of something he'd really never thought he'd do until recently.

After about a week of worrying after the water park outing, Hera had made a practical observation. Even though they didn't know for sure if her dreams about Sabine and Ezra had been accurate, if the kids were in need of homes none of them were legally allowed to take in any child that wasn't biologically related to them. So it followed that, the way things were going, fate (or the force, or whatever was at work here) wouldn't bring the kids back into their lives until they could commit to caring for them. That was why she, Zeb, and Kanan had all signed up to start training to become foster parents-they figured they'd stand a better chance of at least one of them getting approved if they all started out together. It was also this decision that had sparked the move, as it was determined that Zeb's house was more likely to pass a home study than Hera or Kanan's one bedroom apartments. On top of that, the idea of all living together in one place like on the Ghost just sounded appealing, and Kanan had to admit that, even though it was a longer drive in to work each day, getting to come home to Hera and Zeb and even Chopper made it well worth it.

Although they were hoping to prompt fate to allow them to find the kids by taking the steps to make a home ready for them, Hera was also having them try another, more active strategy: since the kids (and Alex, who they were also actively looking for) were almost definitely Star Wars fans, what better place to look for Star Wars fans than at conventions? And the logic followed that, what better way to make it easy for the others to find them than to look like their game avatars?

Zeb had drawn the line at dressing up himself, both because he refused to wear a fursuit and because none of them had the skill to properly make one (he did allow Hera to cajole him into a purple striped hoodie and a Star Wars t-shirt at events, but that's as far as he went.) Kanan's avatar's outfit was something that was much less flamboyant and easier to wear, though, and Hera was willing to commit to body paint and leku prosthetics, so between her and Zeb's sewing skills and Kanan's experience with making both props and costume armor they managed to put together outfits that closely resembled their avatars. They hit up as many events as they could with their busy schedules, and while they hadn't had any success so far with finding the kids they weren't giving up hope, at least not yet.

It was right before summer break that they had something to celebrate-both Kanan and Zeb had been approved to be able to become foster parents! Hera's process was taking longer due to the fact that she had a more erratic schedule so getting in all of the required training was harder to manage, but the fact that if they found the kids and they were able to be fostered or even eventually adopted they had a good chance of bringing them home was something to be excited about. To celebrate, Zeb had enstated a semi-mandatory barbecue on a Sunday when they were all available (Hera was home for the whole day and Kanan didn't start his final session of the summer camp until the next morning.)

None of them were trying to get their hopes up too high, but they couldn't help but let talk about the kids slip into their conversation, talking about things they were looking forward to doing with them and debating whether it was okay to start gathering things to decorate the kids' rooms with (Hera said yes, Zeb wasn't sure, Kanan wasn't getting involved but the truth was in his spare time he'd been secretly making prop sabers for the kids-for Ezra his blaster/lightsaber combo with the blue blade, and for Sabine her darksaber.)

Despite their excitement about the kids, Kanan could see that Zeb, at moments, seemed a bit subdued for the celebratory mood, and he had a pretty good idea of why.

"Hey," he says softly at one point when Hera was inside making more limeade while Zeb was staring out absently towards the lake from the back porch swing, taking the seat next to him. "We're going to find him."

"What?" Zeb looks over at Kanan, appearing startled, as if he hadn't noticed him until just then.

"We're going to find Alex," Kanan says, putting a hand on his shoulder. "I promise."

"Thanks." Zeb gives him a small smile. "I appreciate that. But the truth is… I'm starting to come to terms with the fact that I might not ever find him."

"What?" Kanan cries. "No, you can't give up! We haven't given up on the kids, why would you give up on him?"

"Because the kids don't have a lot of freedom to find us-Alex does, so if he's real then why haven't we found even the smallest trace of him?"

"A lot of things could be happening, we don't know what's going on in his life-maybe he's just having as hard a time as we are! ...And what do you mean by 'if he's real'?"

"Kanan, I know that you game about as much as I do. Have you even thought, with his story and how pivotal he was to the plot of our story… That maybe he was just a romanceable NPC? That he's not even more than bits of data? I mean, leave it to me to fall in love with a computer, eh?"

"Zeb, there's no way that Alex was just a computer!" Kanan protests. "He's real, and we are going to find him!"

"Sure, Kanan." Zeb gives him a small, rather miserable smile, and Kanan had the sinking feeling that his pep talk wasn't working. He could only hope that they'd get some good news soon to lift Zeb's spirits. He half regretted now signing up for the last session of camp as it was a sleepover camp, meaning he'd be away from home almost full time for two weeks and couldn't be there to support Zeb. He might have tried to call off but they were already short staffed for this session, and he had promised Carrie that he'd help keep an eye on things since she was out of town with no cell reception taking her kids camping and the university had put Derrek in charge of this session.

Ugh, Derrek. Kanan could understand why Carrie wanted him to keep an eye on him. Derrek was a self righteous prick who had very archaic ideas about the theater and about the world in general. Carrie had tried to get Kanan put in charge of the last session since he'd volunteered, but Derrek had also applied and had two more years' experience at the university and so between that and Kanan's previous behavioral record Carrie couldn't put Kanan in charge without looking like she was playing favorites (or furthering the rumor that Liz was trying to spread that Kanan was sleeping with her.) So she'd privately asked him to be her eyes and ears, to make sure that everything went smoothly since most of the other staff were also dubious about Derrek being in charge. Or at least that was her pretense-he had a feeling that she'd actually approached him because she knew he wasn't afraid to push the limits and question authority when it came down to it, so he was the perfect one to put Derrek in his place if needed. As it turned out, it would be very much needed.

Monday morning rolled around much too early for Kanan's liking, but he somehow managed to drag himself out of bed, making himself a very large thermos of coffee so that he would have some chance of having the energy to keep up with a whole camp full of teenagers, especially the group of five boys who had been assigned to his dorm room and that he'd be responsible for looking after.

Staff orientation went about the same as usual-everyone knew their roles and camp procedure so Derrek couldn't mess that up too badly, despite his grandstanding: telling them how he wouldn't let them slack off just because Carrie was gone, how he expected their full respect, essentially already getting high on the power he'd been given. Kanan would be looking for any opportunity he could to knock him off of that pedestal he'd put himself on, but he'd promised Carrie he wouldn't start any unnecessary fights so he was going to at least try to make nice. Unfortunately that only lasted about two hours, at which point Derrek made himself a very powerful enemy.

Orientation for new campers was always a bit hectic. Kanan was grateful that at least he wasn't in charge of the check-in table this session. He just had a designated spot in the theater building's atrium to stand with a sign for his designated dorm room, the "Dear Evan Hansen" room (it was a theater camp, after all, so the rooms were themed accordingly), and wait for his campers to find him. Kanan checked each of the teens off his list as they came up to him and introduced themselves, and by the time the counselors were directed to take their groups up to the dorms he had four of the five. It wasn't unusual for a camper to be running late so he just alerted the check in desk to be on the lookout for a boy named Benjamin Wren and send him up to the dorms when he showed up before taking his group up to their dorm.

As was to be expected, things were a little crazy trying to get all of the boys to focus on settling in and unpacking so that they could then get down to the auditorium for orientation-he understood that the boys wanted to get to know each other and get started on having fun already but he also had to be the authority figure and keep them on schedule.

He was so distracted with trying to keep order that he wasn't sure how long a girl had been standing rather nervously in the doorway before he noticed her.

"Oh, hello!" He hurries over to greet her. "Can I help you? Are you lost?"

"I…" The girl shuffles her feet, nervously rubbing her arm. "I think I was assigned to this room…"

"What?" Kanan frowns, checking the roster on his clipboard. "I think they gave you the wrong information, I'm only missing a Benjamin Wren…"

"I know," the girl sighs, looking completely miserable. "That's the name my foster parents entered me under, and I guess they entered me as a boy as well…"

If Kanan hadn't already had this conversation with two other campers this summer he might have been confused, but now all he felt was anger at whoever had done this to this poor teen. As angry as he was, though, anger could wait. Right now this camper needed his support more than his anger.

"What's your name?" he asks gently.

"I mean, it's right there on the paper-"

"No, not what name you were entered under-what's your name? And pronouns, if you don't mind me asking?"

Kanan saw a flash of relief in the teen's eyes, and they stood up a little taller as they answered, "Sabine Wren, and I'm a girl, pronouns she/her."

Kanan felt his heat stutter and miss a beat. Sabine? No. No, it couldn't be. It was way too much of a coincidence. But even though the girl's hair was brown without any of her usual bright colors her eyes and the general shape of her face were the same-!

Was it possible? Was this his Sabine? He was ninety percent sure that she was. But what now? What was he supposed to do? He was her camp counselor, if he was wrong and started asking her about the game and she reported him to Derrek or someone else because she thought he was being a creep he could get fired, or worse! So what could he do?

Well, first things first, he needed to see if he could get her into the right dorm. As much as he would love to have her in his group, to be able to get to know her and try to confirm if she really was his Sabine, her comfort and safety came first.

"Do you want to see if I can get you into a girls' dorm?"

"You'd do that?" Sabine asks, her eyes going wide.

"Of course!" Kanan reassures her. "Carrie's done it for other students and- Oh. Shit." Kanan winces as he suddenly remembers that Carrie wasn't here, and who was here in her place. "Okay. Minor problem. The usual camp director isn't here for this session, and the guy taking her place is a bit of a tightass. …Which is something I probably shouldn't have said to a camper and so I'm asking you not to repeat it to anyone. What I'm trying to say is that I can't guarantee I can get you into the right dorm, but I'll try, and no matter what I'll make sure you stay safe and have a good time. Okay?"

"Okay," Sabine agrees, giving him a small smile-he could tell that she was still nervous, but she looked less so than before so that was something.

"Would you like to introduce yourself to the others, or would you like me to do it?" Kanan offers.

"Introduce…?"

"Make sure that they have the right name and pronouns. I know the theater is supposed to be accepting of people in the LGBTQA community like us, but you still never know what to expect. And I'm happy to let you introduce yourself, but I know having an authority figure publicly on your side can help make sure that you stay safe."

Sabine's eyes light up at his words. "Wait, you're…?"

"Pansexual as hell? Yep," Kanan laughs.

"Awesome." Sabine grins up at him. "Guess if I have to stay in this dorm at least I know I have the cool counselor."

"Oh, don't worry, there are plenty of us on staff," Kanan reassures her.

"Good to know." Sabine nods, seeming relieved to hear that.

"So, ready to go in? If nothing else just to drop your stuff until we can get things sorted out?"

"Sure," Sabine agrees. "And I guess… I can introduce myself, but maybe you could be my backup if I need it?"

"Of course."

Kanan knew that this might not be his Sabine, but he couldn't help but feel an almost fatherly protectiveness of her as she walks into the room and the boys all look up at the newcomer.

"Hey," she says, waving a bit awkwardly to the others. "I'm Sabine. I, um, I'm not sure if I'll be in this dorm for long, but for now I'm here so I thought I'd introduce myself…"

Kanan saw mostly curious but friendly looks from the other campers, which was a good start, until a boy in the furthest back bunk with slightly greasy black hair suddenly asks, "Why is a girl staying in a boys' dorm?"

Kanan was about to step in when a boy with shaggy brown hair and large glasses that magnified his already large green eyes lets out a small groan.

"Snotlout, we don't know that they're a girl!" the boy says before turning back to Sabine. "Please let me apologize on my cousin's behalf."

"No, it's okay." Sabine lets out a laugh. "He is right, I am a girl, so that's why I'm hoping to get moved to a girls' dorm, but if not hopefully you guys don't mind me staying here…"

"Hell no!" A white haired boy pops his head down from an upper bunk. "I hope you can get into a girls' dorm, but if not we're happy to have you here. I'm Jack, by the way. That's my boyfriend Hiccup." He points down at the brown haired boy. "And that is his cousin, Snotlout." He points to the black haired boy who had spoken first. "Please don't ask about the nicknames in their family."

"Snotlout means well but doesn't always think before he speaks," Hiccup sighs.

"Yeah, sorry dude-er, dudette?" Snotlout apologizes. "Didn't mean to put you on the spot, but I'm totally chill with you staying wherever."

"Thank you." Sabine gives them all what looked like a very relieved smile.

"For the record, hi, my name is Fred, and also very chill with anyone of any gender staying here," says the fifth teen in the room, a blonde haired boy in a beanie who until then had seemed completely absorbed in a comic book.

"Okay then," Kanan says, thinking to himself, Thank god for Gen Z being so open minded. "Guess I should officially re-introduce myself now that everyone's here. I'm Professor Jarrus, I'm going to be your counselor for the next two weeks. I teach prop making as well as stage combat if you guys decide to sign up for either of those classes, and even if you don't you'll still see me when I take you to our recreational activities and when we go on field trips. That said, I am also the guy who is going to get his butt in a lot of trouble if I let us be late to opening ceremonies, so let's get going!"

All in all, Kanan thought as he led his little group down to the auditorium where opening ceremonies were being held, things were going quite smoothly. Maybe there weren't going to be any problems after all.

He should have known better. When he went to talk to Derrek about getting Sabine moved, it was like hitting an ice wall.

"No," was Derrek's immediate response when Kanan voices his request.

"No? Why 'no'?" Kanan demands.

"In addition to the fact that I don't think we should be feeding an impressionable young boy's delusions," Derrek sneers, "it would be a liability. His parents entered him in the camp as a boy so they want him to stay in the boys' dorms, and we could get in big trouble if they found out we were doing otherwise. The same goes for if a girl's parents found out that we'd let a boy into the girls' dorms."

"She is a girl, and she deserves to be with other girls if that's where she wants to be," Kanan growls, his hands balling into fists. "You know that's always been Carrie's policy."

"Well Carrie isn't here, and she left me in charge, and I say that he stays in the boys' dorms."

"Call her a boy one. More. Time," Kanan threatens, his blood boiling until he swore he could physically see red.

"Or what?" Derrek asks. "Please. I would love to have an excuse to send you home so I don't have to deal with you for the rest of the session."

Kanan was so close to punching the smirk off that asshole's face, but unfortunately Derrek had a point: if he was at home, he wouldn't be there to look after Sabine. And while he wished he could call Carrie, she was impossible to reach at the moment.

"Fine," Kanan finally spits. "But this isn't over."

"Keep telling yourself that, Jarrus," Derrek laughs. "I have the power here, and you don't."

He had a god complex is what he had, Kanan thinks sourly to himself as he stalks back over to his group. Maybe he couldn't get Sabine's dorm assignment changed, but he could make sure any counselor who was even a halfway decent person correctly gendered and named Sabine, and he was going to make sure that she had the best possible time here. He was a bit worried when he had to tell her during the time after opening ceremonies in which all the teens were signing up for the classes that they wanted to take during the camp, but she took it surprisingly well.

"Yeah, it would be nice to be in a girls' dorm, but I'm okay with being in a room full of people who are going to respect me and my gender," she says with a shrug when he tells her. "That's at least better than I get in my foster home. Which is funny when you consider my birth parents kicked me out and gave up legal custody of me because I'm trans…"

"Sabine, I'm so sorry," Kanan says softly. How could anyone not want a girl as amazing and talented as Sabine in their lives? Even if she wasn't his Sabine, he could already tell that she was incredibly brave and strong, and considering she was in a foster home and he'd just been approved to foster…

He knew that he needed to take his time, not rush into things. But all the same he found himself calling Hera to tell her about Sabine when he managed to steal a way for a few minutes on lunch. "That does sound like our Bean," Hera says after listening to his description.

"I know." Kanan agrees. "But I don't want to say anything that might scare her off."

"You'll have to be subtle." Hera hums softly, something she sometimes did when she was thinking hard. "Find a way to drop clues and see if she picks up on them."

"It's a good idea but unfortunately as you know subtlety is not one of my strengths," Kanan sighs.

"I know, love," Hera says, and Kanan could almost hear her teasing smile through the phone. "Hm… Wait. I might actually have something."

"Really? I'm all ears!" Kanan says eagerly.

"Is there any way you could meet me sometime this afternoon, maybe in an hour or two?

"Well, I'm in charge of activities all this afternoon. I suppose if you could get to the cafeteria around six? That's when we have dinner, it's more public access than the camp areas, I might be able to sneak away for a couple of minutes like I am now."

"Perfect. I'll meet you by the entrance-see you at six."

Kanan had no idea what she had planned, but he knew better than to try to make her spill her plans before she was ready to. Whatever he spent the afternoon imagining, though, it wasn't for at six o'clock her to shove a small pink and orange gift bag into his hands.

"What is this?" he asks, raising an eyebrow as he starts to open it.

"No, leave it closed!" Hera tells him. "I made everything look nice so please don't mess with it!"

"...Okay?"

"Okay. Do you think you can sneak that into Sabine's things, somewhere not too obvious but where she'll find it?"

"...It feels sketchy without knowing why I'm doing it, but probably?"

"Good, then do it-maybe now while the kids are out of their rooms."

"Hera, can you please just tell me what's going on?"

"It's... They're some things I think Sabine will like. Even if she's not our Sabine."

There was something so soft and hopeful in Hera's expression that Kanan found himself losing the will to argue.

"All right," he finally agrees. "I'll do it."

"Thanks, love." Hera pecks his cheek. "Call me or text me to tell me how she likes it?"

"Sure," Kanan answers, pecking her back.

It was a bit nerve wracking sneaking back into the dorms and then sneaking the bag into Sabine's duffel bag. Technically he could use the excuse that he needed to get something from his own belongings, but he still felt a lot more at ease once he was back down in the cafeteria where he was supposed to be.

After dinner was a bit of free time before the evening's activity: show tune karaoke (these were theater kids, after all.) Kanan was slightly jittery as he led the kids back up to the dorm. Would Sabine find the gift bag now, or would she not find it until later? Would he be able to pull off pretending not to know anything about it? (Counselors weren't really supposed to give gifts, especially personal ones, to campers, it could be seen as favoritism and also just downright creepy.) And what exactly had Hera put in this bag in the first place?

As it turned out, he got his answer to all three questions almost as soon as they returned to the room. Sabine went to her duffle bag as if he had told her to go there (he hadn't accidentally said anything out loud, had he?) As she did, Kanan proceeded to busy himself with pretending to be looking through the list of kids who had signed up for his classes (not pretending, really, he was actually reviewing them and he was surprised but pleased to see that all of his campers had signed up for both of his classes-they seemed like a fun group and he was looking forward to spending time with them) when he felt someone tapping on his arm.

Looking up, he saw Fred standing in front of him, a rather worried look on his face.

"Hey, is everything okay?" Kanan asks.

"I don't know, sir," Fred admits in a voice that was almost a whisper. "Sabine is sitting in front of her bag crying and we don't know what to do…"

Kanan looks up with a start to see that Sabine was indeed sitting on the floor, holding the gift bag, and crying.

Hera, he mentally groans. What did you do?!