Thank Kriff for Dads (part 1):

Kanan told Chopper to go find a charging station or something for fifteen minutes and then closed and locked the door on the droid's indignant beeps with the very clear thought of, "Sweet revenge," in his mind, making Ezra laugh. Then he strode over and settled into the co-pilot's chair, spinning it to the left a quarter turn. Ezra swivelled his chair back around so they were facing each other. One look at the serious expression his Master was suddenly wearing was enough to sober his own mood in an instant as well.

"This is about Vader, isn't it?" Ezra said solemnly. "I knew we were going to have some decisions to make when Duchess Kryze announced to everyone that he was coming and that their war had only just begun."

Kanan sighed and nodded before setting his chin on his steepled fingers as he leaned forward, elbows to knees, much like Ezra was still sitting. "We can't stay here. Can't sit like suicidal beacons of Force energy for him to find on this dying planet."

"You're suggesting we leave the Mandos to fight their own war." Ezra didn't like it, but he understood his Master's point of view. He didn't particularly want to face Vader again either. And neither of them were quite willing to cut themselves off entirely from the Force so that they could blend in like a normal Human on Mandalore.

"I'm suggesting that we try and draw him away before he gets here. I don't know if it will work, but I know that we can both sense him when he's drawing near. If we go in two different directions, jumping away to Force strong planets, it might be enough to inspire him to follow one of us, and then we can dim our signatures and get lost to him again. It worked the entire time we were on Atollon, it should work again."

Ezra leaned back in his chair, crossing his arms over his chest as he swung his seat from side to side a few fractions with the push of a foot, taking up his favourite thinking pose. After a moment, he said, "It's worth a shot. I don't like leaving the Mandos to fight on their own though if he doesn't take the bait." And there's no way in the Seven Hells I'm leaving Sabine behind. Even if I have to knock her out and carry her away with me.

Which will make her hate me.

Kanan sighed again, his burn scarred eyelids closing, and he bowed his head a little in resigned acceptance of what felt like the cowards way out. "I know, Ezra. I don't like it either. But what choice do we have? If we stay here, Vader will inevitably find us on whatever ship we're fighting from and come blow us up along with whoever else is in the ship with us. Or if we stay down here on the ground, he'll find us down here and make us look like untrained younglings again before putting us out of our humiliated misery."

"Surely we're good enough to take him on by now, with the two of us?" Ezra protested, because he felt like he should, not because he actually wanted to test that theory. "We've improved a lot since we last saw him on Malachor, and way more than a lot since we tried to fight him on Lothal."

Kanan's mouth quirked up on one side. "While that's true, can you honestly say that we could beat Ahsoka right now if she were still alive and with us?"

Ezra frowned at the reminder of his biggest mistake that still tormented him in his nightmares, but he shook his head. "No, probably not. She always wiped the floor with us when we sparred. Those two lightsabres of hers are a definite advantage."

Kanan chuckled dryly. "Not to mention the fact that she's incredibly powerful with the Force and that she was trained by the best swordsmen of the time; Skywalker, Kenobi, Yoda, and whoever she could coerce into giving her an extra lesson or two. That girl soaked in new knowledge and fighting styles like a sponge, adapting whatever was helpful to her own unique style." He shook his head, a bit of envy leaking down their bond. Ezra understood completely, since he had to work his ass off to learn things too.

"She even talked Master Windu into giving her a lesson on defending against Juyo once she was confident with her shoto. The whole Temple turned out to watch, including myself. Windu wasn't the only one surprised when a tiny, fifteen year old Padawan held her own against him. Skywalker was practically beaming and you would have had to be Force blind not to feel the pride he had in his student." Kanan smiled at the memory and then his expression fell once more. "And that's my point. If Ahsoka couldn't beat Vader, then there's no way that we could."

Ezra slumped, sliding down in his chair, chin to chest in sullen acceptance. "You're right. Of course."

Kanan smiled wanly, trying to generate some humour. "Aren't I always?"

Ezra smiled just as half-heartedly back. "As a supportive Padawan, I think I'm supposed to say yes."

Kanan narrowed his eyes at him. "Cheeky Padawan with a mind of your own, more like."

Ezra shrugged, a genuine grin emerging. "You already knew that."

"I did, from day one, unfortunately," Kanan said, teasing back.

Ezra huffed good-naturedly and then drew his legs up onto the chair, sitting cross-legged. He leaned forward again. "So what's the plan? Where are we going?"

Kanan ran a hand over his reddish brown hair, tucking a strand behind his ear that had escaped from the tie at his nape. "I'll talk to Hera first, but I think I'm going to catch a ride with Ketsu back to Yavin 4. There are old Massassi temples there and I'm sure I heard somewhere that the moon is practically swirling with the Force. If I can't hide my signature in that, there's something wrong."

"True," Ezra smiled. "And me?"

"You, I'm going to leave up to yourself and Sabine since I don't think you should leave her alone anytime soon. She might be acting normalish on the outside, but on the inside, she's still a mess from losing so much of her family at once. She needs you."

"I know," Ezra said softly. "If she were a Jedi, I'd say that she very nearly fell to the Dark side on Saxon's destroyer. And all of this…" he waved a hand in the vague direction of space, "…fighting stuff is just her way of pushing the hurt to the side for now. The way she all but threw herself into our new relationship too, it's just a cover so she doesn't have to think about it. Not that I'm complaining," he added with mixed hints of pride, joy, embarrassment, and consternation colouring his Force aura.

"I'm glad you can see that," Kanan said approvingly. "I'm not so sure you would have even a year ago; you've matured a lot lately."

"Thanks, Kanan," Ezra said, beaming and blushing, glad his Master couldn't see the later, even if he undoubtedly could sense it. "So, if you were me, where would you go?"

The Jedi Knight shrugged slightly. "There are a few options that I can think of, such as Lothal or Takodana, but I have a feeling you'll end up on Krownest for now. From what I know of Mandalorian culture – which isn't much – Sabine has some things to deal with now that she's the Countess."

"Yeah, I can imagine. You think the Force is strong enough there to hide me?"

"Barely, but yes. If you shut your signature down to the barest minimum. And you can always jump planet if you get any sort or warning from the Force, which it particularly seems to like to give you." Kanan paused and tilted his head a little. "Have I ever told you that your easy affinity for visions and animals is incredibly rare?"

Ezra raised a brow. "No, you haven't. You mean you've let me think I was just a normal Jedi all this time when I'm not?"

Kanan smirked. "Maybe. I didn't want your ego to prevent you from fitting through doorways."

"I wouldn't…" Ezra started to protest and then stopped, remembering how much of a bratty kid he'd been when they'd first met. "Okay, maybe a little."

"Yes, you would," Kanan smirked wider. "And Sabine could barely stand you as is back then. Trust me, I was doing you a favour."

"All right. So you had your reasons. So I'm special then?"

Kanan reached across the space between them and rubbed his buzz cut hair fondly. "Yeah, you're special. Even without the extra Force gifts. Ahsoka and I talked about it once when she realized that you were far from normal after you'd had a third vision in as many days and we both agree that you would have been placed as a Force Seer in the Temple."

"What's that mean?"

"It means they would have trained you to develop your connection with the Force to encourage even more visions and your job would literally be to predict the future for the Council to make decisions on."

"Whoa. Sounds important."

"It was. Grand Master Yoda was also a Seer, the last one alive before the Order fell."

"Hunh. And what about the animal thing?"

Kanan chuckled. "Pretending that you didn't receive visions and warnings for all and sundry, then the 'animal thing' would have put you in a position to travel the galaxy to help with problems relating to animals such as wild nexu terrorizing a village."

"Now that sounds more like me." Ezra smirked, imagining a life like that if the Order had never fallen and the Empire hadn't taken over. Maybe I would have stumbled upon Sabine somewhere along the way.

Kanan smirked back. "Agreed. I can't see you cooped up in the Temple either."

"I probably would have hated it. But then again, if I had been raised in the Temple like you, I wouldn't have known anything else, would I?"

"No, you wouldn't. It was a completely different life than what you once described your childhood as being like. No picnics. No birthday parties. No presents. No cuddles." Kanan was frowning now, and a hint of bitterness trickled down their bond before the older Jedi almost visibly shook himself back into the present and his usual peaceful aura. Ezra hurt for him. As much as Kanan had said that the Jedi weren't slaves, everything he'd learned so far about the old Order made him think that they most definitely were.

A sudden knowing passed over Ezra and he looked at his Master with deadly serious blue eyes. "I will never bring back that Order, no matter how many other Force users I stumble across or raise as my own children."

Kanan's eyebrows rose for a moment in surprise and then he nodded once. "And I would never ask you to. That Order was flawed in so many ways. That was another thing Ahsoka and I talked about one night – how we wouldn't go back to it even if they would let us back in with Hera and Rex all but permanently attached to us at the lips and hips." He grinned, cloudy eyes shining as much as they could with his own twisted brand of humour.

Ezra snorted and shuddered. "Force, Kanan, I didn't need that image. I just got this picture of all four of you writhing around on a bed together."

Kanan blinked, then blinked again before bursting into laughter. "Kriff…" snort "Now it's in my head too. Thanks a lot."

"You're welcome," Ezra chuckled.

"Not that it ever happened, mind – Ahsoka was fiercely territorial about Rex and Hera isn't into sharing me either – but that sure would have been something."

Ezra's brows went up. "Wait, why do I get the feeling that you wouldn't have been opposed to a group thing?"

Kanan shrugged, blushing a bit across his cheekbones. "I kinda went a little wild after I gave up the Force and my Jedi ways and before I met Hera. Singles, groups, females, males, a wide variety of species, as long as it came with the illusion of affection and booze so that I could forget what I'd lost, I honestly didn't care. Some of that's still in me I guess."

Ezra gawked at his Master, eyes wide. "I'll say. You're lucky you didn't end up dead of some freaky disease."

"Don't I know it," Kanan said grimly, now staring blankly at the floor with his unseeing eyes. "Or alcohol poisoning. Hera is honestly the best thing that ever happened to me. She held me through the withdrawal shakes. Stopped me from committing suicide when the depression hit worse than ever. Convinced me that I was worth something even without any Force powers. Let me love her even when I was sure I wasn't worthy of kissing so much as her hand. Talked me into giving the Force a chance again. Talked me into giving you a chance." He looked up at Ezra again, expression intense and oh so serious. "There is nothing I wouldn't do for that woman, nothing."

Ezra honestly didn't know how to feel at that soul bearing confession. There was just too much to process, but he did know how to respond to it thanks to the two families he'd been blessed with in his life so far; he stood and wrapped his arms around his Master's shoulders from the side, hugging him tight and pressing his forehead to Kanan's temple. "I'm sorry for what you went through," he whispered, throat tight with emotion. "I know what it feels like to lose everything too, and I undoubtedly would have ended up on a similar path if I hadn't stumbled upon you guys. And I understand how you feel about Hera too. I'd follow Sabine into the furthest, blackest, most dangerous corner of the galaxy if she asked me to. But I'd follow you there, too, because of everything you've done for me. Everything you've taught me. You might have been out of control and confused for a while, but you have always been a good person. I have no doubt that Hera saw that, and I saw it too, when I met you. You shine, Kanan, so brightly. Your Force gift might not be as flashy as visions and talking to animals but I think it's way more important."

Kanan hung onto Ezra's left forearm in return, eyes burning a little with the urge to leak moisture at the support and at how wretchedly and then perfectly similar their lives were, both going from miserable orphans to blessed with more love than they knew what to do with. "And what is that?" he asked huskily.

Ezra squeezed him just a little tighter. "You SEE people and you help us be the best versions of ourselves. I believe your gift is the purest form of Force Sight. Zeb was broken when you found him. Sabine was broken. I bet even Hera was a little bit too. And I had been crying on the inside for someone to love me, to see me as something other than a useless street rat. You say that Hera was the one to talk you into keeping me, but it was you who knew what to say to make me come back. It's always been you who knew how to bring me back."

Kanan turned his head and grasped the back of Ezra's with one slightly trembling hand, pressing their foreheads together, cloudy teal eyes locking onto royal blue, making the boy feel like Kanan was looking right into his soul. (He probably was) "Ezra. Kriff. If I never have the chance to raise any children of my own blood - which is highly likely since Human/Twi'lek hybrids are very rare - it won't matter, because I'll always consider you my son. I'm so proud of you, you know that, right?"

Ezra blinked back the threatening tears that were clogging his sinuses and throat and mustered a smile from somewhere as he gave Kanan one last squeeze before pulling away. "I do. That handy bond thing, you know."

Kanan chuckled and rose to his feet, hand coming to Ezra's shoulder and squeezing tight for a moment. "I know. Now you should go find Sabine and work out what you're doing. I'm going to comm Hera and then go in search of Ketsu and beg a ride."

"Sounds good to me," Ezra nodded as he started backing towards the door, more than ready to abandon ship before they got any more emotional and started bawling like little kids. "Tell Hera hi for me."

"Will do." Kanan smiled brightly, belying the glimmer of moisture in his eyes that Ezra politely pretended he didn't see. "If you see Chopper, tell him to get his metal carcass in here."

"Will do," Ezra parroted, now grinning again. He triggered the locked door to open with a wave of his hand as he approached and then laughed as the orange astromech was just about to bang a manipulator against the durasteel. "No need. Chopper's here."

"And I've been here for the last seven and three quarter minutes!" he beeped indignantly, waving his manipulators around as he rolled into the cockpit. "You organics have no sense of time!"

"Oh, the indignity," Ezra said sarcastically as he moved out into the corridor. "Your life as a droid is so tough. I feel for you, I really do." Not.

"Thank you. It's about time someone other than Hera understood." Chopper beeped, not registering the sarcasm at all.

Kanan met his gaze and they both rolled their eyes at each other, inspiring quick grins.

"Good luck with his royal highness, there," Ezra sent via their bond.

"Thanks," Kanan thought back dryly. He waved a hand and the door closed and locked again almost in Ezra's face.

The young Jedi snorted softly, knowing that meant that Kanan thought his conversation with Hera would probably stray into the 'private' category. Although, how he could be inspired to talk anything even remotely sexy with Chopper as the conduit between them was beyond Ezra's ability to fathom.

Deciding not to dwell on it any longer before too many unwanted mental images decided to insert themselves into his mind, Ezra strode down the hallway quickly, eager to find Sabine and talk about their future together.

Even if it was just short-term for now. He'd work up to long-term plans with her when the time was right.

Plans that included those Mandalorian wedding vows he'd memorized years ago.