"Padawan! Run!"

"RUN!"

A figure shot up from his bed, panting loudly and in pain. He groaned slightly to himself pushing back brown hair, his blue eyes in pain.

Again…it was always the same words. Billaba haunted his every mindset and Caleb couldn't…

No he wasn't Caleb Dume anymore. He was Kanan Jarrus; freighter pilot, bounty hunter, frontier ranger, anything that would give him credit and pay for food and gas. And right then meant he was without a job on Ukio unless he could find something that would be a good job. He frowned and fell back onto his bunk looking up at the ceiling. Maybe he'd find somewhere to freighter cargo or food supplies. No too risky.

He closed his eyes again. It was funny really. If things hadn't changed he'd likely nearly be a Jedi Knight, almost done with training at 19. Yet here he was not even a Padawan anymore.

Nothing really.

"Now Leia, you stay really close to me alright? And if you want to explore you tell me or Uncle Rex, okay?"

"Yes Papa." Leia replied as Anakin gripped her hand tightly as they made their way through the brush towards the largest city in Ukio. Rex glanced at Anakin, almost amused.

"Sir, I don't think you have to worry about her too much, she's pretty reliable on staying close."

"We can never be too careful. With those Inqusitors starting to make their rounds, and with the rumors of Palpatine having taken another apprentice…" He trailed off and shook his head. The new apprentice was likely an attempt to get him out in the open to try and 'save' whomever he was corrupting or corrupting further. He had actually thought about it too when he had first heard the rumor…but the thought was immediately destroyed when he thought of his baby girl who had been sleeping in the room just across from him as he read the reports of a man seen walking around with Palpatine. It was likely a trap, and he didn't want that risk his daughter becoming an orphan.

"Where the hell is Cham?" Anakin muttered as they waited for a line of pods to float by while Leia looked around, curiosity bubbling through her as she clung to Anakin's robe, looking around at the stalls and not really paying attention to Rex and Anakin who conversed softly.

"He has to be careful. With all the Emps around, Syndulla can't be seen all too much."

"True…Wolffe was pretty clear where we're meeting though, right?"

"Impeccably, Sir." Rex remarked with a snort as the entered a thicker crowd, keeping close to the side, but still keeping pace. Anakin sighed. They were never going to find Cham at this rate. He grinned.

"Say Leia, why don't we go and get some food. I bet you're hungry, aren't you? Leia…Leia?" He looked over his shoulder and felt his heart plummet into his boots when he saw that she was no longer clutching the end of his robe.

She had vanished among the crowds.

"Ooohhh…" Leia cooed as she watched a small doll begin to pick up some blocks in a window. It was so cute and tiny. It also looked like fun! "Papa, can we go in here...Papa?"

Her reach to tug on his robe met empty air and she turned to see that neither her father nor Rex was standing there. Her eyes widened considerably and she began to look around frantically for their familiar forms, vacating the spot she had originally been in.

"Papa? Daddy? Daddy! Daddy!" She cried out. Her father didn't answer, but it seemed she was attracting other attention, and not of the good sort.

She didn't notice them at first as she hurried down the streets looking for any signs of her father and her adopted 'uncle'. She was going to be in so much trouble it wasn't even funny. She kept looking around, tears building in her eyes.

"DADDY!"

"Lost, little one?"

She turned in surprise to see two men standing there. One wasn't a human, and the layers of thick scaly green skin around his face made it look like he had no neck. His belly protruded out from his shirt and she could see a gun tied to his belt. The other had a skinny face in comparison to the other, looking reminiscent to that of a rat. His two front teeth protruded over his lip and when he smiled it sent shivers down her spine.

"Now we can help you find your Daddy." One of them cooed, bending over and she took a few steps back. The other man grabbed her arm and yanked her up, still giving that same creepy smile. She didn't like these men. Every part of her was screaming to run.

"Leggo!"

"We're just taking you to your Daddy, little one. Don't be s-"

He yelped as she lurched up and bit his hand with all her five-year-old strength. He dropped her, clutching his hand and she took off down an alleyway, panting hard and crying at the same time. She yelped when she ran full force into someone's legs. She looked up, hoping it was Rex or her father, but it was a young man with darker skin and his hair pulled back into a ponytail. He looked at her in confusion.

"Sorry 'bout that. Should have been paying attention." He apologized and then panicked as she began to cry. "Ssh! Don't cry, I'm not here to hurt you. Look, my name's Kanan." He said hurriedly looking around to make sure it didn't look like he was going to snatch her. "See we know each other now, so can you tell me what's wrong?"

Too upset she couldn't manage to speak and Kanan frowned.

"Listen Kid, I don't have time-"

"The bad men are chasing me!" The little girl all but sobbed at him, looking behind her shoulder. He glanced up and spotted likely the two shadiest of species looking around as they turned around the exact corner. Possibly sensing she wasn't in danger around him, she bolted around him and hid behind Kanan's legs, cowering behind him as the two males went up to him.

"There you are, you're in trouble for running off like that!" One of them rasped almost kindly, extending a hand with gnarled and dirty fingers, bleeding slightly from a bite. She hid further, clinging to him and looking at Kanan, clearly begging for help.

"You know her?" Kanan asked, crossing his arms looking at the pair appraisingly.

"We know her father, and we were taking her to him when she bolted. Come here…" One of the men remarked wheezing as he bent down.

"No!" She cried out, clinging to tighter to Kanan's leg.

"Alright, enough. It's pretty clear that you two don't actually know her." Kanan remarked, pushing the little girl back a bit, before bending down and picking her up, his gaze never wavering from the two, whose kind expressions had slid off of their faces quickly.

"Give us the brat." One of them warned. "We can probably cut you a pretty large take of whatever we get from her."

"Ah, so you don't know her or her father." Kanan replied in an even tone and the one man glared at the other.

"Just give us the kid."

"No." Kanan replied evenly. "In fact, I think it's time you both left." He continued evenly. The men stood there blinking for several minutes as though in a daze, but then Kanan spotted Imperial soldiers. The men did too and bolted. Kanan grabbed the little girl and hurried away.

Whatever the case was, he somehow felt that he shouldn't hand her to the officers. Something was telling him not to.

The girl cried all the way down the alleys that he carried her until he reached the rundown apartment he was staying in and set her down. She sniffled loudly, wiping her face but the tears still came. He rubbed his temple. He did not need this. Why in the hell didn't he just hand her over the Imperials? Sure he despised them, but they would have taken her somewhere to find her father.

"T…thank you…" She said, her nose congested and he sighed, pushing his hair back.

"You're welcome. Now where's your father?" He asked shortly, and as though she had found another new reserve, she burst into tears again.

"I dun kkknnnooowwww…" She wailed and he frantically tried to calm her.

"Alright, alright. I'm sorry!" He hissed out. "Please stop crying!"

She sniffled again, thick tears still falling down her cheeks and all of a sudden her stomach rumbled. He groaned slightly. Why him? Why the hell did he have to worry about this!? She wasn't his concern!

Still…she was only a little girl who couldn't find her father and had been seconds away from being kidnapped and likely sold into slavery. The poor kid had had a rough day. Being hungry shouldn't be something to add to that.

He sighed and went to the pantry.

"Here, Kid. It's a ration bar. Not all that good tasting, but it will hold." He grumbled. She sniffled and took the bar, sniffing it before beginning to nibble on it. She looked at him with puffy eyes.

"My name isn't Kid…" She said with a sniff.

"And what is it then?"

"Leia." She said with a pout and he snorted.

"Pleased to meet you Leia." He responded and she seemed to appraise him. As she did this, he felt a familiar tug, a familiar ripple of the Force. He blinked and looked at her closely. She continued to stare at him with innocent brown eyes, still slightly red from the crying previously.

"You funny." She responded one cheek protruding out with the bite of the ration bar.

"…I suppose I am." Kanan managed slowly grabbing a fruit from the bowl nearby. He then tossed it towards her and she jerked in surprise.

The apple stopped its movement and floated in midair. He stared in shock before looking at Leia who began to look panicked and the apple shook and then fell to the floor with a plop. She began to try and scramble out of her seat.

"Wait! Wait, you're not in trouble!" He remarked hurriedly and she paused, but her wariness of him was obvious. "Trust me, alright? You're not in trouble."

"Daddy says I'm not supposed to do that in public!" She whimpered, the threat of crying coming back.

"He's a smart man." Kanan agreed before shaking his head. "But you're not in trouble with me. I won't tell anyone."

Again she seemed uncertain and looked at him as though she was analyzing and trying to get a feel of him. He felt a familiar tingle and pushed it out of his head as Billaba's voice echoed in his head.

She finally seemed to relax, but still curled up. "I want Daddy."

Kanan sighed and sat down, pulling his blaster out and beginning to clean it.

"Look Kid, you'll find your father eventually. He's probably looking for you too, but that doesn't mean you should be running around like a chicken without its head."

Especially with the fact that she was Force Sensitive. If anyone found that out, she'd likely be killed.

"Look, I'll try and help you find your father, don't know how but…" He looked over and trailed off to see she had fallen asleep, her eyes blotchy and red from her crying. He sighed.

It seemed she trusted him enough to fall asleep, or rather she was so exhausted from the events of the day she didn't care.

He hoped it was the former of the two, even though he supposed he should have scolded her for trusting a stranger so much. But maybe it was because she could sense that he was like her. He watched her and sighed again. Well he was going to start the search tomorrow.

No point in starting tonight.

Meanwhile Anakin was hurriedly running through the streets, looking for his daughter, panic now clinging to him as he called out for her. He was too panicked to try and use the Force to find her, and there were too many people around.

"Sir, we can't keep going."

"What?!" Anakin snapped, whirling around and looking at Rex in anger. The ex-clone trooper however didn't flinch.

"Sir, we can't keep looking for her. It's too dark and too many places for her to hide during the night."

"She's out there! Lost!"

"I know that, Sir. " Rex replied, almost tiredly. "But we won't be able to find her like this. We'd attract too much attention."

Anakin looked about ready to explode.

"I'm not leaving her out there alone." He replied angrily.

"Sir…we'll find her."

"I'm going to keep searching." Anakin remarked turning around and disappearing into the darkness. Rex watched him with a neutral expression and glanced out towards the town. He hoped that Leia was alright…because if she wasn't…

There would be hell to pay.

Kanan awoke with a sore neck and nearly fell out of his chair as he opened his eyes to look right into two innocent brown eyes.

"Don't do that!"

"Do what?" Leia asked innocently. He groaned and stood up, stretching his back. He hadn't meant to fall asleep in his chair, but she had basically passed out in the only cot his ship offered after another crying session the night before because he didn't know a story her father had always told her. And he didn't have the heart to dump her onto the ground. He was the adult in the situation, as sad as it was.

"Right…you're probably wanting breakfast."

"I wan Daddy." She responded instantly and he groaned.

"Can we eat first?"

"No! Daddy!" She responded angrily, and he could see tears welling up in her eyes. Cripes, he didn't need that again!

"Alright, alright. I'll grab a few ration bars and we'll go look."

Leia beamed happily and then scrambled towards the entrance. He grumbled under his breath and grabbed the few ration bars and followed the little girl. He cracked his back and wandered after Leia who was searching around already and he had to walk fast to keep up. She paused when she spotted a racer and then pointed.

"Dats a racer."

"That it is."

"Daddy said you can go really fast!" She continued. "Escape the bad guys!"

"Is that so?" He asked with a smirk.

"Mhm…but not to fast 'cause you can' turn weally fast or you could fall off."

"Really?" Kanan remarked with a grin. Leia beamed, nodding happily as she nibbled on the ration bar.

"Mhm! Daddy said so." She replied as though that alone was enough of an answer. For her it likely was. He smiled as they continued walking down the street. Leia paused looking at a shop store. He paused as well, but glanced up to look around.

And it was there he froze.

He recognized the face. He would never forget that face.

A clone.

A clone trooper.

The man was looking around apparently not noticing him at first as Kanan's breath began to turn into gasps of panic and fear. Finally the clone locked eyes on him and blinked in confusion as the expression he likely had. He then glanced down at Leia who was looking at a doll that was dancing in the window.

Relief on the troopers face was instant, which confused him for a split second before fear flooded through Kanan and he grabbed Leia, picking her up, and rushing away.

"Mista Kanan?" Leia called out in confusion as he ran around a corner shouts echoing after them, but he pressed her face to his shoulder.

"Leia, don't look!" He commanded and fear must have set in as she did what she was told, clutching his shoulder. Kanan gripped Leia tightly as he ran through the alleyways. He kept her face pressed down to his shoulder as she gripped him tightly. He could hear shouts of the clone trooper chasing after him, which only spurred him on faster. Why was he after a little girl?!

Kanan knew she was one who was Force-sensitive, but how could the clone have known that? He himself had only just sensed it and seen it the night before! He turned a corner and as he ran into an alley, sliding to a stop when he realized it was a dead end. He jerked to the side, narrowly missing a laser blaster that was aimed, rather poorly, at his head. He turned to glare, holding Leia tightly to him.

"Get away from us, Clone!" Kanan snapped.

"Identifying an unmasked trooper is no simple." The man remarked in a slight accent that Kanan couldn't forget. "So that begs the question, who are you?"

Kanan didn't reply, merely tightening his grip on Leia and she shifted in confusion. The clone noticed the movement and Kanan was surprised to see what looked like relief flash across his face for a moment.

"Give me the girl."

"Why? So you can kill her?" Kanan spat angrily and the clone blinked his tired expression confused, before his eyes narrowed.

"I would do no such thing." The clone replied tersely, a tone of warning layered in it. Kanan's grip tightened as he angrily glared at the trooper and Leia shifted her head and looked over. She blinked several times.

"Uncle Rex?" She called out uncertainly and Kanan looked at her stunned. She…knew the clone?

The relief on the clone's face was evident and he lowered his gun.

"Hey littl'un, you gave us quite the scare disappearing like that." He said evenly as Kanan nearly dropped Leia. The little girl ran to the clone, sobbing and within seconds she was in the clones arms, clinging to his neck. Kanan stared and took a step back, hitting the wall as he watched them stunned.

"Did he do anything to you?" The clone asked and Kanan's anger flared again, but Leia quickly shot down the theory, vigorously shaking her head.

"Mista Kanan is nice. Pwomise." She sniffled loudly, clinging to the clone tighter.

"Kanan, hm?" The clone said. "Well the name's Rex."

"Yeah…I noticed." Kanan replied taking a few steps back so he could go around. Rex noticed this.

"You're coming with me, kid."

Kanan scoffed.

"Right, you and what army?"

Apparently the army included a few Twi'lek's and others with blasters. Kanan grumbled as he was led into a hangar far away from the town he was in. Leia was looking at him from over that Rex fellow's shoulder and she waved happily. He didn't return the wave, a bit angry with her for even trusting the girl.

"Sir!" Rex suddenly called out and Kanan looked up to see whom the clone was addressing.

His jaw dropped as he saw Anakin Skywalker, the Anakin Skywalker turn. The Jedi's expression, which had been stony before, though a little exhausted, changed to relief in an instant as he spotted Rex and the little girl he was holding.

"Leia!"

"DADDY!"

Rex let the little girl down, and she bolted to the Jedi the tears returning with vengeance. He met her halfway and scooped her up into his arms, swinging her up, hugging her tightly.

"Daddy…" Leia whimpered, clutching him tightly.

"I told you to not let go of my robe." He whispered half angry, half relieved. "Why would you do that?" He asked. She made a sobbing sound, burrowing her face deeper into his shoulder.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry." She kept whimpering over and over again, as he brushed her hair back, seeming to try and collect himself.

"…y…you know Master Skywalker?" Kanan finally managed to voice, looking at Rex suspiciously.

"You don't know the half of it, Kid."

"Stop calling me kid." Kanan warned, gulping as Anakin walked up to them.

"Who are you?"

"K…Kanan Jarrus." He replied, stammering a bit and internally wincing at how meek that sounded. Pathetic really, but who could blame him? Even when he had been on Kaller, the stories of Master Skywalker was something everyone heard about. He was legendary in the war, but was now considered a traitor and a terrorist.

He glanced at Leia who was clinging to Anakin's neck as though she was just another accessory for him, and then something clicked.

"Jedi's aren't supposed to have kids." He heard himself saying and mentally kicked himself again. And there was the old him; the Caleb Dume part that Master Billaba teased him about, coming out. However instead of being stern, Anakin smiled.

"Yes, that would be true." Anakin remarked with a chuckle. "But that is a different story for a different time. I must thank you…from the looks of it, my daughter was kept out of danger through the night, and it was thanks to you."

Kanan shifted sheepishly.

"It's not a problem. She well…we sort of just ran into one another." He admitted and Leia giggled.

"Sir…we do have a problem. He's well aware now that you have a daughter. If he goes to any Empire officials, it will be detrimental to the rebellion and put Leia at risk." Rex called out and Kanan glared angrily at the clone.

"True…"

"Daddy, Mista Kanan's nice." Leia reiterated, tugging on Anakin's shoulder.

"Nice or not, it's still a danger littl'un." Rex explained and Leia was pouting, clearly not understanding why everyone thought he was a bad person. Anakin was silent, looking at Kanan, who felt a familiar tingle down his spine and he shifted his weight from one foot to the other.

"He can join my father and me in looking for more allies."

They all turned and Kanan blinked at a young Twi'lek who walked up with an older one behind her.

"Hera…" Anakin began.

"Miss Syndulla, with all due respect we don't know if he's trustworthy at all."

"If he was for the Empire, I think he would have given Leia to them, don't you?" Hera asked with a raised brow. "Yet he didn't."

Rex seemed ready to object.

"He can be the first member of the crew I'm starting." Hera interrupted before the clone

"I said I was thinking about it Hera…not that I was agreeing." The other Twi'lek mumbled good-naturedly.

"Still…it's up to him." The female Twi'lek stated. "Will you join with my father and me? We can always use another person for our cause and it never hurts to have an extra set of eyes."

"Cause?" Kanan remarked.

"Kid…you just walked into the Rebellion." Rex remarked, cold and authoritative. Kanan glanced at him as the ex-clone trooper glared at him.

"So the question is this…are you in? Or out?"

"I don't trust him, Sir."

"Rex, no offense, but you don't trust anyone." Anakin reminded him as he carried a sleeping Leia through the halls of the rebel headquarters. Leia it seemed hadn't slept as well as she had wanted to, not all that surprising and after dinner had nearly passed out. So it was now bedtime for the little girl and after demanding to wear one of his shirts to sleep in, he was tucking her in.

"Sir, we don't know if what he did was out of kindness. He ran the moment he saw me. He knew what I was, even though I no longer wear my trooper uniform."

"Judging by his age, he was likely a young boy when the Clone Wars ended… he hates the Empire just as much as everyone else."

"But letting him go with Hera and Cham…it's risky Sir."

"If he betrays us, I think Hera will be more than happy to pull the trigger."

"Why are you putting so much trust in him?"

"One, he kept my daughter safe." Anakin explained as he settled Leia down in her cot. "Something that would earn my trust even if he didn't find out that he had helped the daughter of the leader of the Rebellion." He continued as he tucked Leia in, giving a slight kiss on her forehead.

"And the other?"

"…He has the Force within him. From what I can sense, he was at least training as a Padawan when the war ended."

"But…how…Order 66…he wouldn't have survived."

"From what I could sense, I think his Master died protecting him. He's pushed that life away from him, so I doubt I or anyone else that remains in the Order would manage to convince him to return as a Jedi." Anakin explained. "Whatever the case, he's in more danger than being a simple pilot."

"So you allowed him to join because he rescued your daughter and because he was once part of the Jedi Order?" Rex asked. Anakin gave a slight chuckle.

"Among other things. Rex, I have a feeling that everything will be alright." Anakin said, clapping a hand on his ally's shoulder. "Trust me on this?"

Rex looked at Anakin and sighed.

"You better hope everything turns out alright, Sir." Rex warned and Anakin laughed.

"Always with that trust." He joked as they closed the door. "If there is one thing that this galaxy will never be short of…its hope, Rex."

"Hope, Sir?"

"Yes…hope…" Anakin replied glancing at the door where Leia now slept and then looked at Rex.

"Hope for a new beginning."

And the nominee for a chapter that sounded better in my head than it does written out goes to…! Seriously this took way longer to finish because I had a good idea on how it went in my head, but it wouldn't be written out correctly. So here it is…I hope you like it.