It was a long ride and scorching ride, but at least it was better than walking. The kind man named Jerry bought them some McDonald's before they continued on their ride - seeing the mud covered pair were probably starving at this point. The two decided to go the full ride to Las Vegas with the man, seeing that the further they were from that military base, the better.

As Athena took another bite of her hamburger, her hair flying in the wind, she spoke. "So, you got any idea on contacting the others?"

He shook his head. "No clue. Maybe we'll think of something when we get to this Vegas place."

That made Athena chuckle. "I guess you would never have heard of Las Vegas, huh? Well, I think you'll like it."

"You've been there?"

"No," she shook her head. "It's just a very well-known city."

"What's it known for? Should I be concerned?" Kanan raised an eyebrow.

Athena shrugged, "Nah, not really. It's mostly known for gambling and stuff."

"Don't do gambling," Kanan rolled his eyes. "Please. You scare me enough with your other questionable habits."

"I can't, I'm too young according to the law," Athena said.

"What's too young for smoking in your country?" Kanan joked.

Athena rolled her eyes, "Alright, alright, Guy. I see you."

"You haven't smoked any more, have you? Since the day we found you?"

She shook her head, "No. I don't know how I got rid of my cravings, though. Usually I gotta go through Hell to get over cigarettes. This time… it was like I had never picked one up. Ever since I woke up in the Rebellion."

"Hmm…" Kanan pondered.

He looked off to the horizon behind him, placing his arm along the side of the pickup truck's edge. An arid desert with dark green shrubs here and there and skinny trees. Beyond that, giant mountains topped with ice and snow. He turned to face Athena, behind her tall, tan ridges of rock that flattened at the top, hundreds of green shrubs surrounding the base of the rocky structure.

This planet varied so much. Within just an hour of driving, they went from lush green forests with giant trees to this. Desert around them, snow topped mountains in the distance.

A few more hours of driving and Kanan started to wish for more variety in the scenery. For approximately two harrowing hours did they drive through red, static, barely changing, desert. Nothing but red rock, a few shrubs, and a passing city every few dozen miles.

The Jedi didn't even notice himself drifting off into sleep until he was once again shaken out of it by Athena. He groaned and shook his head awake. Athena led the way by jumping out of the now still truck.

They gave a final wave to the kind old man before he continued on his way.

Athena and Kanan were a little wide-eyed when they got to look around a bit more as they stood on the edge of the sidewalk. Large, flashy buildings lined the entire area. Large buildings made of glass glinted in the sunlight. Countless numbers of people passed by on the sidewalk, many more in cars on the road. In front of them was a tan, ornate, old-fashioned building. Behind that, a pointy tower made of metal. Further behind that, a royal blue fake hot-air balloon stood with the word "Paris" written across it. Palm trees lined the street, the long green leaves swaying with the breeze.

"Wow, the Eiffel tower," Athena chuckled. "The baby replica." she had never heard of "Paris Las Vegas", but she still thought it was neat.

"This is pretty different from Cleveland," Kanan said, scanning the area around them. Behind them, a red and silver building with a heart and three letters on it. He pointed to it. "What's this building?"

"CVS, it's a pharmacy," Athena said. "So, what's our plan? How do we get back to the Rebels?"

"I- I don't know," Kanan admitted. "We have no contact with them or any way of telling them we're on Earth."

"So, current objective is to survive?" Athena asked.

He sighed, "I guess so." he turned to the girl. "You're more acquainted with Earth, what would you say our first should be? I'm used to surviving in my galaxy, not this one."

"If we don't get to the Rebels by tonight, we'll need a place to sleep. I don't know the safe nor sketchy areas of this place, so I wouldn't know a good bridge to sleep under. We'll need money for a hotel. I'm not sure how much money, though. Vegas is a huge place for tourists - meaning everything is more expensive," Athena scanned her eyes around the area. She wanted to soak up the beauty of the city. The beautiful buildings and signs. But, she was in survival mode.

Pity, Athena thought to herself, she'd always wanted to travel to cities like this for fun.

"Please tell me you have a morally correct way of getting money," Kanan sighed.

She pondered for a moment. The sun was almost at noon height. It was scorching. Though well into the autumn season, the temperature here was much warmer than Athena was used to - it was about the temperature she'd feel in Cleveland during the summer months. Her black hoodie was beginning to cook her entire torso. Sweat began to form on her forehead. It was like a sauna in that jacket.

The girl looked back to Kanan, putting on her best kid-begging voice, "Can I do just one immoral thing? Just one?"

"What?" Kanan gave an annoyed frown.

She took his wrist and brought him up the stairs to the CVS pharmacy. She brought him into the isles of the store, making sure they were in an isle no one was all that close to.

"Okay, this is a multi-billion dollar company," Athena started. "If we get you some sunglasses, we can get you to get money by pretending to be a homeless blind-man."

"You said one immoral thing," Kanan glared.

"I don't count stealing from a multi-billion dollar company as immoral," Athena smugly smiled.

"I am not going to con-" he shook his head. "You are really expecting me to pretend to be blind just to get money?"

"You wanna have your kidney stolen when we sleep under a sketchy bridge?" Athena sarcastically remarked. "Or do you just wanna sit on the ground with some sunglasses on for a couple hours?"

He glared at her. "Do you have a single bit of morality in your body?"

"Actually yes," Athena remarked. "I didn't kill you guys back in Cleveland and then I bought you food."

"With money you stole."

"Hey, if you have any better way of surviving on this planet, I'm all ears," Athena snapped. "It's either stealing or stripping for me to survive on these streets."

"Excuse me?!" Kanan was disgusted. "You're thirteen-"

"I was talking about my future career plans if stealing went south," Athena said. "It pays well in some places."

He shook his head in disgust, "You are insane on this planet."

"Didn't you guys put a thirteen-year-old on the front lines with a broomstick against an Inquisitor?"

Kanan let out a heavy sigh and rolled his eyes.

"Now, listen to my plan," Athena said in a hushed voice as another customer passed behind them. She waited until they were gone before turning to Kanan. "We pick up a couple of things. A pop, a bottle of sunscreen, and other crap on top of some black sunglasses. When we get to the register to buy all of the stuff, you remember that you forgot your wallet at the campsite that we had to flee from. When that happens, we insist on taking the items back to where we found them out of politeness. The cashier will say that it's okay and take our stuff behind the counter to put away later. During this, we slip the sunglasses into my pocket and we leave."

"Why not just take them?" Kanan questioned. "It would be much simpler."

"You would look suspicious," Athena said. "They got cameras all over this place. It's better if they never suspect a single thing from us. Walking into a store and leaving with nothing but your hands in your pocket doesn't look good."

He blinked a couple times, "You seriously do this?"

She chuckled. "I used to take my little foster siblings in stores like this so I could stuff the things in their stroller. Then, I'd put a little item in their hands. When we were about to leave, I would run back and give them back that item so it would seem like I was a good-samaritan kid. Not some street rat looking to steal."

He let out a laugh of disbelief, "You really are a criminal mastermind."

"You have no clue."

So, Kanan followed along with her plan. They got a little red basket and filled it with random junk. Some sunscreen, a couple of waters, a candy bar, a couple of souvenir key chains, a hat, and the sunglasses sitting towards the top of the basket. When they got to the register, the cashier gave them an inquisitive stare.

"You two look like you've had a rough day," she commented.

It made sense. Kanan and Athena's ponytails were near rats' nests. Leaves and dirt stuck in their hair here and there. Their clothes were stained with mud. Their eyes had bags under them.

"We were camping when a bear attacked our site," Athena sighed as she put her basket on the conveyor belt. "Thankfully, we hitched a ride here from a passing stranger."

"Oh, I'm sorry about that," she began to scan every item from the basket, placing them in a plastic bag beside her and in front of them. Athena was right there at the bag, ready to grab it. The cashier announced the total and Kanan began to pat his pockets while Athena held onto the bag of things.

He put on a worried face and looked to Athena. "Kid, please tell me you have my wallet."

Athena smacked her forehead and exclaimed, "Crap! We must've left it at the campsite!"

"Oh great…"Kanan grumbled. "As if this day could get any worse for us."

Athena sighed, "Sorry, Dad. I completely forgot about it."

He patted her shoulder, "It's okay, kid. Not your fault. I'm just glad both of us made it out of there alive."

The cashier had a sympathetic face, "Oh I'm sorry to hear that. I can hold onto these things until you can get your wallet back."

Crap. They skipped a step. They were supposed to insist on bringing the things back themselves.

Holding the bag at her hip-level, Athena scrunched up the bag and snuck her hand in quickly, dragging the sunglasses into her sleeve. She placed the bag back on the counter and smiled at the cashier. "Thank you."

Athena did her best to keep both of her hands up in her sleeves now, making it seem like her sleeves were just really long on her. Kanan followed her out of the store back onto the sidewalk. Athena led him outside and they stopped a while after they crossed the street, near one of the legs of the replica Eiffel tower. Athena took the sunglasses out of her pocket and handed them to Kanan.

Kanan sighed as he held them, "I seriously feel like this is against every ounce of morality in my body. Pretending to be blind just to get some spare change?"

Athena pondered for a moment, looking around, the large screens of advertisements catching her eye for a moment. Las Vegas sure did have a lot of entertainment to sell.

Ding!

"Magic!" Athena had excited eyes.

"What?" Kanan was confused.

Athena held up a small flicker of fire in her hand with a smile on her face. "Magic! People love it! I can just do some-"

Kanan quickly covered her hand with his, his eyes wide with worry. He spoke in a hushed voice, "What are you doing?! We could-"

"People here don't think it's real," Athena assured. "Trust me. People do this stuff all the time. Back in New York, people would do magic for money all the time. No one suspects a thing."

"What if-" Kanan sighed, letting go of her hand. "What if Jalo is near?"

"How in the name of God would he be able to track us from Utah to Las Vegas?" Athena pointed out.

"What's Utah?"

"It was apparently were we camped last night. It said so on the road signs." Athena said. "Now, just let me throw some fireballs in the air so we can get some money."

"You don't exactly have great control over your powers yet," Kanan warned. "Remember that campfire last night?"

"Remember that ice I entrapped Jalo in?" Athena pointed out.

"That was ice, not fire," Kanan reminded.

"It'll be fine, I'll keep the flames small and have my ice ready," Athena held up her hands, fingertips alight.

Kanan huffed and rolled her sleeves down to her elbows to further them from the flames. "Don't catch yourself or anyone else on fire."

"So, yes?" Athena smiled.

"It's the most moral thing you've come up with so far and I'm just glad for that," Kanan sighed. "Just be careful."

"Alright, I'm going to have to start this where I have space, but people's attention…" she extinguished her flames and put a hand on her chin as she scanned the area once again. She briskly took off in the direction of the road and stopped at a green cylinder in between two benches of the same color. She plunged her hand in the garbage can and pulled out an empty soft-drink cup. "Something to collect money."

Kanan crinkled his nose in disgust as he walked up to the girl. "Are you serious?"

"Hey, I don't have a hat, so this will do," Athena held up the cup. She paused as she noticed a couple of people give them a strange look. Athena looked at Kanan and sighed. "Okay, can you take off that sleeve?" she pointed to his green armor. "We are going to get too many questions."

"Where am I gonna put it?" Kanan questioned. "We don't exactly have a bag."

Athena took off her black hoodie and began to fiddle with it. Kanan watched as she took her drawstring around her hood, tying it around the hood and neck area to close it. She pulled her sleeve ends together, uniting them inside of the large pocket on the front of the jacket. She took the spare hair tie on her wrist and twisted it around the ends of the sleeves, conjoining them inside of the pocket. The sleeves became the straps. The bottom became the opening of the newly made bag.

Smart.

Kanan chuckled. "You learn that all by yourself?"

"An old foster brother of mine taught me," Athena held out the opening of the make-shift bag. "Now, put your stuff in here."

He soon slid off the green armor, placing it in the bag piece by piece. After he put in the last piece. Athena gave him a look.

"The knee pads?"

He sighed, soon sliding the knee pads off his legs. He tossed them into the bag. "Okay, do I look normal yet?"

"Best we're gonna get," Athena shrugged. Though one of his sleeves on hid green sweater were black, it looked semi-normal. She handed him the bag and reached for the back of her head. Her hair soon fell out into a lumpy maine as she took out of her hair tie. She took the elastic band and twisted it around the hoodie's opening, encasing Kanan's things inside the "bag" completely.

Kanan put his arms through the straps made of sleeves, placing the bag on his back. Athena took the hood that hung down below the rest of the bag and tucked it up so it was between Kanan's back and the bag.

"Alright, just stand by and I'll work my magic," Athena patted his shoulder and began to walk towards the pharmacy they had just left.

Kanan followed the girl as she weaved her way through the crowd of people bustling down the busy strip of sidewalk. She broke away near the corner of the sidewalk; just before the small crosswalk leading to the pharmacy was a patch of sidewalk no one was walking on, its side lines with green bushes and a couple flowers. It was a perfect spot. Just a few feet from people eating in a pavilion for the mini-Paris restaurant and right in sight to the mass of passing people. She sat down her cup and held out her hands, closing her eyes in an attempt to concentrate.

The male Jedi stopped, standing a few meters away from the girl now. Watching for what was next. He rested his arm on some of the bushes and watched the girl in the black t-shirt cause a small ball of fire in the palm of her hand. No bigger than a baseball. She smiled and created another one in the other hand.

Kanan smiled as he watched her levitate these balls of fire in each hand. She experimented at first, shifting her hands up and down with the flames to follow. She tossed them in the air a little, to see them float back down into her hand like a feather.

Within the first thirty seconds, a mass of people got interested by this kid's fiery hands. To others, she was a muddy, messy-haired, kid with magic fire. To Kanan, it was a Padawan slowly learning how to control a gift she was given.

Athena had a smile of pure light glow on her face. She began to throw the balls of fire in a circular motion, juggling the two balls of fire, levitating just above her hands.

The crowd got a little bigger, people now taking out their phones to record the miraculous show. The crowd oohed and awed as the flames flew faster in the air. They cheered as Athena smiled, catching the two balls of fire in between her hands then meshing them into one larger sphere. The bright ball of light swirling between her hands, about the size of a soccer ball.

As sweat began to drip off her forehead, Athena realized that she was going to overheat if she kept going. They had a big enough crowd already. No need to risk it.

The girl planted her feet into the ground, seemingly getting into a fighting stance. She balled up her hand in a fist while keeping the ball in the other. The ball went up in the air like a volleyball as she punted it.

They watched as the ball of flames flew about 20 feet in the air before erupting in a flash of sparks. The sparks dissolved as they floated to the ground. A crackling fizzling sound erupting from the sparks as they fell. It sounded just like the crackles of a com. The sparks reminded her of a call.

A call.

The crowd cheered, joined by the people eating up in the pavilion. Athena held up the cup and people began to stuff some dollar bills in it, impressed by the young girl's show. As the last of the pedestrians dissolved from the crowd, the people still at their tables in the pavilion cheered. She reached over the bushes and fence to the people who handed her some dollar bills, standing right next to Kanan who helped here-and-there. She chuckled as the cup got too full, so people just put the money in her hands.

Nice crowd.

As a man and woman walked over to the fence to hand Athena five-dollar bill, they spoke with a bewildered smile.

"You sure got some tricks, kid," the man said, handing Athena the bill.

"Thank you, sir," Athena thanked, taking the bill in her hand. Before she could turn around to go, the woman spoke.

"What kind of magic-equipment did you use? You don't even have any sleeves to hide a flame thrower," the woman said. "That was impressive. I've paid more to see professionals and they couldn't pull off what you just did."

"A magician never reveals their secrets," Athena gave a casual salute. The couple took this as a reasonable response and gave one last compliment before going back to their table.

Athena chuckled and turned to Kanan with the wads of cash still in hand. They sat on a bench as Athena quickly counted the money.

"Holy crap! This place is a lot more generous than Cleveland!" Athena chuckled. "Probably 'cause they're all tourists right here."

"How much did you get?" Kanan asked as Athena still shifted through the bills.

"About $70," she let out a small laugh.

"I don't know what that means. Non-Earthling, remember?" Kanan pointed out.

"Oh yeah…" Athena paused for a moment. The memory of sparkling flames crackling like a com filled her ears. "Hey, I think I have an idea."

"A show with ice?" Kanan joked.

"No," Athena said. "To get home."

That got his attention. He questioned, "How?"

"Well, you say everything is connected to the Force, right?" Athena said. "What if- if…" she trailed off, waving her hand dismissively. "Ah screw it, I don't know anything about that stuff."

"No, no, go on," Kanan said. "We got nothing so far. It's better you say something rather than nothing right now."

"What if we called them? Through the Force?" Athena shrugged. "I-I don't know. I got to thinking about it when my flames were crackling like a com. I just thought-"

"That...that's actually a good idea," Kanan said, putting a hand on his chin. "We might be in a different galaxy, but the Force is the Force. And with you by me to amplify the signal...It might just work."

"So, how do we do it?" Athena questioned, stuffing the money in her pocket. "Meditate or something?'

"Yeah, exactly," Kanan nodded with a smile. This kid was catching onto the Force quicker than expected. He ruffled her messy hair. "You're a pretty smart kid."

Athena scoffed as she pushed away Kanan's head. She never heard that before. She skipped school. She couldn't care less about what a parabola was. No one ever considered her smart, and neither did she. She swore, smoked, fought - she was just a delinquent.

"So, where are we going to do this meditating thing?" Athena asked.

"We can just do it here," Kanan suggested. "Honestly, your people already are convinced you and I are weird."

"Alright," Athena shrugged. "How do we proceed?"

Kanan folded his legs up onto the bench so he would sit criss-crossed and Athena followed suit. They turned their backs to each other, leaning together slightly so that they met. It was difficult to sit with their legs criss-crossed on the bench, but it worked.

"Focus on the Force. Reach out for Ahsoka and Ezra. Feel their presence within yourself," Kanan instructed, closing his eyes. "Call out for them. Feel the connection you share with them."

She let out a deep breath and closed her eyes. She slowed her breathing and did her best. It felt fuzzy, almost numbing, at first. It was like she was in a pool of warm soup.

"Think of what connection you have with them," Kanan said. He could feel the Force, but it wasn't all that strong. Her flame was bright, just not clarifying. It was like a fire in the middle of a strong fog.

Athena let out another breath. She pictured Ahsoka, the togruta with a kind smile and even kinder heart. The warmth of happiness Athena felt whenever Ahsoka was near. She smiled a little when she thought about it. Someone who cared about her that much.

Then they felt a click.

Then a hand.

They opened their eyes and turned to see a hand planted on each of their shoulders.

In a galaxy far, far away, a boy Padawan and a togruta gasped as they awoke. The Force jerking them awake up with a clear message ingrained in their minds.

Earth.