(A/N)- Helloooooo dear readers, let's calm things down a bit from last time shall we? Lol.

Disclaimer: Ah nope, still don't own Star Wars. Drat.

Aftermath

Pryce squirmed under the severe scrutiny Thrawn's red eyes were leveling on her. The Grand Admiral was only a holographic projection, the man himself several thousand lightyears away, and yet his anger seemed horribly immediate and physical, coiling around him like a rat snake about to strike.

"So," he began, his voice icier than she had ever heard, sending a cold jolt of fear straight to her heart. "You allowed the Rebels to escape."

The words sent tingles of panic through her. "Grand Admiral I—" she started to protest.

"And not only that," Thrawn continued, interrupting her, "but your carelessness and unthinking actions, in fact, gave them the victory they had so desperately hoped for: the destruction of the fuel depot, and a complete halt to all factory operations on Lothal." His eyes were burning red embers, searing daggers of heat at her. "My TIE Defender program is compromised, because of you, Governor," he seethed. "And now Krennic's project will be gaining the funds and resources I had sought to secure with my departure to Coruscant."

She felt like an insect, pinned down by a sharp needle through her torso and washed in harsh laboratory light, and her face twisted with uncomfortable twinges of guilt and fear.

"Do you think, for a single moment," Thrawn asked her, tone withering with displeasure in every syllable, "that once Krennic's Death Star has been completed, that the Emperor will not immediately put Lothal in the docket of targets to be destroyed, for your failure to quell the rebellion there?"

She had been cowering with her gaze down but yanked her head up at that, alarmed.

Thrawn's expression didn't change, betraying his absolute seriousness. "And that is assuming he does not dispatch me to return immediately to the planet to glass it myself," he added.

"The uprising has been put down!" Pryce argued, clinging desperately to the last shreds of her dignity, pointedly ignoring the smug smirk Ruhk had on him as he leaned against the wall in the shadows of the corner. "Martial law has been ordered, the full garrison is deployed! There are checkpoints and patrols on every corner, every exit in or out of the city is being sealed and watched." Her words stuttered, fumbling on the way out of her mouth. "The—the fighter attack squadron was destroyed, and we did capture some Rebel pilots. I—I don't—I don't know—What else do you want me to do?" she asked frantically.

"Perhaps you could devise a method by which to reverse the course of the temporal flow, to go back in time and fix your mistake," Thrawn said with an odd sour sarcasm tracing through his voice.

Pryce's teeth gnashed inside her head, anger sparking up her spine. "It's not my fault!" she cried. "It was Bridger! He... he did something to the walker, damaged it from afar, threw off its aim!"

His red eyes flashed at the mention of the boy's name, livid.

"Do not attempt to deflect your blame on the anomaly, Governor," Thrawn growled, unamused. "You were the one who ordered the walker to open fire." His image turned suddenly, addressing their silent observer. "And do not look so satisfied, Ruhk," he scolded sharply. "You, also, failed to apprehend the Jedi and his apprentice before they could get to the fuel depot."

Ruhk looked appropriately chastened, the smile dropping off his face at once. "I accept that blame, my lord," he promptly kowtowed, bowing his head.

"Well you needn't worry about the Jedi any longer," Pryce hissed, a vaguely deranged look hinting in her eyes, tugging at the corner of her lips. "Kanan Jarrus is dead," she announced proudly.

That gave Thrawn a moment of pause.

He sidled his attention back towards Pryce. "Are you certain?" he asked, tone much softer, more neutral.

Seizing upon the moment, she produced his lightsaber, the plastisteel bits on the handle a bit melted from the heat of the inferno, but intact and seemingly functional. "We found his lightsaber and the burnt scrap of armor he wore over his eyes, next to an immolated corpse about his size and build," she explained. "We are only waiting on forensics to confirm it."

Tension loosened slightly in the man's shoulders and he looked almost pensive, considering her bit of news, mulling over it inside his head. "If that is indeed true, that is a great advantage to us indeed," he reasoned. "The Rebels will flounder, their morale broken, with the loss of the Jedi Master."

Pryce's breathing relaxed a bit. She was smiling breathlessly, peeking up from the presented lightsaber, the vague hope beginning to rise in her that Thrawn would—

But the next moment she flinched as his expression changed, the bone-chilling anger returning, furrowing between his brows.

"This does not, however, make up for your grievous blunders," he told her severely. "And until you have a confirmed body, I would hesitate to rush to proclaim Kanan Jarrus's death." He leaned forward, making sure she heard every hissed word, enunciating with sharp precision. "Rest assured, I will deal with you when I return... Governor."

She cowered under the threat, the fear bald on her face long after the Grand Admiral ended the call. Ruhk took his leave without even asking her permission, stalking casually out of the office with nary a word.

Pryce swallowed dryly, looking down at the lightsaber and seeing it for the pitiful consolation prize it was. Her trembling hand refused to steady.

She was so dead.

-SWR-

"Hey."

Ezra startled a little at the voice behind him, looking up and turning his torso to see Sabine walking up, a speeder parked a ways up the hill behind her.

"How'd you manage to wander all the way out here by yourself?" she asked, amused smile quirking on her lips as she made it to him.

He shrugged. "Just sort of picked a direction and kept walking," he said.

She put her hands on her hips. "Didn't Leslynn tell you to avoid any strenuous activity until your symptoms improved?" she accused, though her tone was playful.

"Hey, the walking part itself only took like thirty minutes. I've been sitting here staring out at the grasslands this whole time," Ezra protested lightly.

"I should go back to base and get on the transmitter to tattle on you," Sabine teased, boots scritching as she moved to sit down next to him, legs folding comfortably underneath her.

"I'm okay," he promised. "I've been... meditating mostly. It helps."

She nodded softly, leaning her arms around her knees.

The both of them looked out across the wide Lothal plains, watching the amber grasses flutter in the wind that whispered in their ears, shifting across the field.

The comfortable silence stretched out. Neither spoke, but then it felt like they didn't need to. Lost inside their own heads, they just sat together side by side, listening to the rustle of the grass.

A low howl drifted across the plain.

Sabine glanced up, seeing the white Loth-wolf suddenly there across the distance, where there had only been empty space before. It stood atop one of the rocky mounds, quietly observing them.

"Huh," she said. "Wonder where he just came from. Could've sworn he wasn't there a second ago."

"Dunno," Ezra responded. He was uncurling from his meditative position, squinting towards the white blur of fur in the distance. "They have some kind of strong connection to the Force. I can sense it."

Sabine chuckled lightly. "So I guess they just... do that, huh?"

He grinned, shifting and starting to get up. "Yeah," he agreed. "They just do that."

She shook her head, reaching for his easily offered hand as he helped her up. "I'm telling you right now, I don't think I'll ever fully understand all this mystic Force stuff."

"Me neither," Ezra confessed, bright smile on his face. "So at least we're even there."

Sabine smiled back, and tugged on his hand, angling back towards the speeder, leading him to it. "C'mon, you've been out here for hours. People were starting to get worried."

"You were getting worried," Ezra corrected with a tease. He released her hand to reach for the handlebars. "I'll drive," he offered.

"Oh no you don't, mister concussion," she said, smacking a hand across his chest to block him. She shouldered him out of the way and took the front seat herself. "Then I really will tattle on you to Leslynn."

He made a mock offended frown, his face twisting. "Killjoy," he grumbled.

But he wrapped his arms around her waist anyway as he took second place behind her, holding on tight as they sped away.

-SWR-

The base was fluttering with quiet activity when they pulled up in the speeder. Ryder and Jai were listening in on Imperial broadcasts, and Ezra caught snatches of the triumphant announcement of Kanan's alleged death repeating for probably the seventh time that day as he and Sabine dismounted.

"All citizens must continue to remain in their homes under emergency lockdown, due to the ongoing threat of insurgent activity, but we invite you to participate virtually with us in a special Holonet broadcast to commemorate the occasion," the crisp Core World accent chirped in a voice that belied the nightmarish content of the words.

"Turn that thing off," Hera demanded, snapping as she stalked out from the path that led deeper into the caverns.

Jai startled and fumbled with the dial, and Ezra and Sabine both flinched like delinquents caught with contraband as Hera walked up and came to stand in front of them, folding her arms.

"And where exactly have you two been?" she asked sternly.

"Don't blame me," Sabine said, immediately putting up her hands with a step back. "Ezra's the one who wandered away from the base."

Hera's green eyes flicked to him.

He only dropped his gaze, evasively. "Sorry," he mumbled. "I just... couldn't keep sitting around watching everyone else work while I did nothing."

Her severe look softened with understanding. Her ear cones echoed with the memory of his quiet complaining that morning, begging for a task to do and wilting when she'd had to deny him.

She reached out a hand, placing it gently on his shoulder.

"Oh Ezra," she breathed. "You've already done so much."

"Yeah," Zeb piped up from the alcove where he was sitting, welding together metal panels for the Rebels to expand their makeshift platform. "Single-handedly blew up the whole fuel depot from what I heard," he said, grinning widely at Ezra.

"On accident," Ezra pointed out, his eyebrow twitching slightly.

"Accidental or not," said Ryder, standing up from his seat by the transmitter, "you won us a big victory that day." He came up to stand behind Hera's shoulder, his expression warm. "Don't be so hard on yourself, Ezra," he said genuinely. "You've done fine work."

His cheeks turned slightly red at the praise, and he turned away with a cough. Dismissing the subject he turned back to Hera and asked, "How's Kanan?"

"Awake." He startled at that, double-taking, an eager light flicking on in the depths of his eyes and Hera smiled softly as she added, "And he wants to see you."

Ezra glanced back at Sabine, seemingly checking for permission to go, and she nodded, and Ezra trotted off, deeper into the caves, bootsteps scuffing the earthen rock.

-SWR-

Ezra's steps slowed as he approached the small chamber they'd been using as a makeshift medbay. The lanterns mounted on the walls struggled to light the room, dim yellow glow straining across the heather floor.

The boy's heart prickled nervously. Kanan had been almost comatose for two days, as they did what they could for his burns with what meager medical supplies they had.

But now, as Hera had said, he was awake and sitting up, the blanket half-crumpled around his legs, blinking towards one of the walls in some private contemplation.

His head turned at the sound of Ezra's footsteps. With his beard shaved off and his hair shorn close to his scalp, the scarring still on the back of his neck, Ezra almost didn't even recognize him.

He fumbled for words a moment, feeling awkward and inadequate, some weight seeming to block his speech before it could come out.

Eventually, his emotions settled on relief and an irreverent joke. "Nice haircut," he quipped, walking further into the room.

Absently, Kanan reached up a hand to finger it, feel the stiff and blackened ends. "Hera hates it," he said. He grinned. "But you know, did the best I could considering I'm blind and half of it was burned off."

The corners of Ezra's mouth quirked. The warmth through their bond was beginning to put him back at ease, dissipating his tensions. "And you shaved the beard because...?" he teased.

Kanan rolled his shoulders in a shrug. "Ah, I figured since I was changing my look anyway I might as well," he commented lightly. He beckoned Ezra closer, tone lacing with soft concern. "How's your head?" he asked. "Hera said you whacked it pretty hard."

Ezra took the invitation to sit down next to him, mashing a knuckle under his right earlobe. "Hearing's still coming back," he explained. "Light's sometimes too sharp in my eyes. But much better."

"Good," Kanan said, nodding, sounding satisfied. "That's good. I'm glad. The last thing you need is more brain damage," he joked.

Ezra sniffed with a small chuckle, but didn't reply, curling his legs up and leaning his arms on his knees. It felt weirdly... nice... to be able to crack jokes about what had happened on the Chimaera. Like the terrifying power it normally had over him was far diminished, a shadow on his thoughts.

It felt like a lot of things inside him had shifted, recently, and he was still trying to figure himself out in the roiling confusion.

Kanan flexed his shoulders and stretched, cracking his neck. "So what'd I miss?" he asked.

"Empire thinks you're dead," Ezra replied automatically. Better to get that bit out first. "They're holding some sick victory celebration over it."

Kanan looked like he was valiantly holding back another cheesy grin. "They're gonna be pissed when they find out I'm not," he quipped. "Then again," he amended, "maybe it's better they don't find out." His fingers fiddled with the blanket, picking at it. "I could go underground. Disappear."

"Like you'd leave all the fighting to Hera," Ezra laughed.

"Hera could come with me," Kanan insisted, almost whining.

"You take Hera, then you'll have to take Chopper," Ezra pointed out. "Bolt bucket's not going anywhere without her. And then you'll have to take me too. And Sabine. And Zeb of course." He let the smile crack his face. "And I'm not sure Kallus and Iron Squadron would want to be left behind either."

"Guess we'll all have to disappear together," Kanan decided, with a light, flippant tone.

Ezra chuckled. "Yeah."

They fell silent for a moment, just letting the Force reverberate between them, saying all the things they couldn't say out loud. They sat and just... breathed, being present in the room together.

A shift in Kanan's emotions through the bond stirred Ezra's attention.

"Ezra..." Kanan began. His eyes scrunched, a thinking frown pulling at his mouth. "What happened out there with the walker?" he asked.

"What do you mean?" Ezra said, a nervous prick going through him.

"I felt some strange surge of power in the Force," Kanan told him. He shook his head, marveling in bewilderment. "It was like nothing I'd ever sensed before. For a moment, your signature was so bright."

He was secretly glad he wasn't the only one who felt odd about it. Ezra traced a finger along the seam of his sleeve. He was quiet a few seconds, putting together words inside his head.

"Remember that Force vision I told you about? The one I had on Ilum, with the old Jedi Master who knighted me?"

Kanan nodded slowly. "You've mentioned it a few times."

Ezra shifted in his seat. "He... taught me this technique that I used to beat Maul. And I've been using it since. That's what I did with the walker."

His master absorbed that, quietly thoughtful. "So you've done it before?" he asked.

"Well..." Ezra rubbed the hair behind his head. "It's usually not so intense," he admitted sheepishly. "I look for flaws and weak spots through the Force and just sort of... press on them, to make the whole thing collapse or break internally."

Kanan gaped, his sightless eyes open wide. "Ezra, that's a high-level technique," he said, amazed. "I only knew of one Jedi Master who could do that." He chuckled. "Makes a lot of sense he'd teach it to you, actually. He was my master's Master, Mace Windu," he explained. "High Council member, and a very wise and powerful Jedi."

"I'm not very good at it," Ezra dismissed. "Takes forever to concentrate enough to see the weak spots clearly."

"Still," Kanan pressed, a hand settling on Ezra's back, "it's impressive."

"But, something was different this time," Ezra said, pulling away in a bit of agitation. "The shatterpoint was... well, it was... like a cluster of possibilities?" he tried to describe, his hands opening outwards and fingers curling in helpless gestures. "I could almost... see different futures, branching off that one moment." He gulped, swallowing down a sudden wash of anxiety and fear.

Kanan had fallen stone silent next to him, his pensive frown of concentration back.

Ezra's arms curled back around his knees and he hugged himself quietly. "What do you think it means, Kanan?" he plied.

"I don't know," his master admitted. "Your powers have always grown in leaps and bounds. I have to believe the Force is preparing you for something." He leaned back on his palms. "Some destiny we can't see yet. All paths are coming together. We'll just have to see where they lead."

Ezra's mouth twisted wryly. "You know I hate it when you go all cryptic like that."

"Give it time," Kanan joked, lifting a hand and ruffling it through Ezra's hair. "Soon, you'll be making the mystic platitudes, padawan."

"Jedi Knight," Ezra corrected cheekily.

Kanan rolled his eyes. "Whatever."

-SWR-

The three teens leaned very seriously over their cards, studying their own hands intensely. Jonner was inclined with his back against a crate, and Mart had his ankle resting on the corner of the one that was serving as their table, which irritated Kallus only slightly as it was technically following Dr. Leslynn's instructions, but every time the boy shifted he jostled the stacks of credits in the center.

Mart sat back with a smug look. "Ha!" he crowed, slapping his hand down face-up.

Gooti and Jonner both groaned and made faces, folding their hands and giving up the pot. But as Mart reached for the credits, Kallus's hand on his wrist stopped him.

"Not so fast, Mattin," he said.

He revealed his cards.

Mart groaned now, wilting, watching Kallus sweep the credits in his ever-growing stash. "Again?" he said in disbelief. "Really?"

"Your sabaac face is something else, Captain," Gooti complimented, gathering up the cards to begin shuffling them again. "How'd you even find the time to get so good at this game in-between, you know... chasing down Rebels and oppressing the masses?" she asked.

Kallus's mouth quirked from the compliment and the backhanded reference to his former career. "Even Imperials had the occasional downtime," he said neutrally, meticulously stacking the credits piece by piece. "I've been playing sabaac since before you three were born." Brightly, he asked, "Shall we deal in another round?"

The teens mumbled evasively, but made no move to get up from their seats—not that Mart or Jonner were supposed to anyway—and Gooti was busying herself with shuffling when a ruckus from further down the gully drew their attention.

A couple startled shouts went up, and Rebels stumbled back from the figure of the white Loth-wolf, who had seemingly just... appeared on their makeshift platform. Jonner flattened himself back against the crate and Mart latched onto Gooti's arm, biting down on the curse that clearly wanted to spit out of him.

Kallus went on alert, standing up in a guarded crouch, hand hovering near his sidearm.

The wolf made no threatening movements. It just stood there, blinking its golden eyes slowly. Kallus assessed it, noticing an odd chunk of rock between its front paws.

The air stirred behind him, footsteps echoing out of the caverns.

"What's going on?"

Keeping one part of his attention on the Loth-wolf, Kallus glanced back to see Ezra and Kanan walking out onto the ledge, eyes filled with confusion.

The wolf stirred. It lowered its nose with a snuffle, nudging the piece of rock, moving it forward towards them.

"I... think it's here to talk to you two," Sabine guessed, slowly approaching from the other side.

Frowning, Ezra glanced back at Kanan, who gave a hopeless kind of half-shrug.

Kallus watched Ezra approach the wolf, kneeling down to pick up the piece of rubble, which—Kallus now noticed—was beautifully etched on one side with golden paint in spiraling patterns. Ezra looked at the piece for a moment before meeting eyes with the wolf, some silent communication seeming to pass between them.

Ezra held eye contact with the Loth-wolf for what seemed like a very long time, before the creature snuffed and straightened, raising its head and bounding away down the carved path, Rebels flinging themselves out of the way as it vanished down the gully.

The ex-ISB agent shook his head.

I am never going to get used to this, he thought in a slight daze.

(A/N)- The Mirrorverse series has a TVTropes page! (h[ t t ]p s : / tv tropes . [or ]g pmwiki /pmwiki . php /Fanfic/ Mirrorverse) Aaaah whoever created it, you absolutely made my night!

Anyway, chapter notes.

1. Thrawn continues to unravel and I dunno about you but I wouldn't want to be around when he's finally had enough shenanigans. More to come on that end later. :)

2. And a little shout-out to my OC Rebel medic Leslynn from previous installments. She can't actually be there to treat anyone in person but she certainly still has useful medical expertise. (Which Ezra is terrible about following because he hates sitting around being useless.)

3. Pryce did not wait for the forensics to come in. Whoops. On the plus side, we now have justification for the Empire to consider Kanan as presumed dead, which will be important later.

4. So much bricklaying for future plot points in this chapter. So much.

5. Kallus has been overexposed to all this Weird Force Shit, he needs a well-deserved nap, lol.

One more chapter to tie us up and then a pause while we finish moving and I put together an actual outline for the last fic. Thanks for sticking with me dear readers!