Today had been a good day for Hera. She got to bed at a decent time last night, and actually slept through the night which was rare considering rebuilding a Republic wasn't an easy task, especially when there were still a lot of people suffering in the galaxy that needed help. So that's what she had been doing since the war ended. Making supply runs to different planets to give them the resources that they needed to rebuild. It was an easy enough job to manage for a new mom and it only got easier as Jacen got older and insisted on helping her. He also may or may not have snuck a couple of meilooruns out of a crate. Hera was upset at first when she went into the four year old's room and caught him mid-bite with four other fruits in a pile next to him on his bed, but then he offered her one and all was forgiven.
Despite the occasional thievery, Jacen was a good kid. He was excited to travel the galaxy with her and see all of the new places and people that the New Republic helped. And he also got to learn a lot about flying too, he loves to tell everyone he meets how he's going to be the best pilot in the galaxy just like his mom. Hera couldn't be prouder and she knew that if Kanan was watching over them from wherever he was that he must be proud too.
Not a day went by when she didn't think about her fallen knight. Over time the pain of losing him had dulled but it was still there. Jacen reminded her of him so much. The day he discovered he could use the Force when he lifted a rock using it, he called her over to watch and when she saw that he had the same gift as his father her knees buckled and she fell on the ground crying while Jacen ran over to her and asked what was wrong. She smiled and told him everything was fine and that she was crying because she was happy and proud of him which she was, but she was also sad because she thought of how Kanan would have reacted to seeing his son use the same power he possessed, and Hera wished he was here with them because he would know how to train him. She could try to find Ezra but Force knows where he had run off to and if he'd even want to train Jacen.
But she didn't have time to worry about that right now, today was going to be a good day. Sabine had reached out to her and told her to come to Lothal with her and Zeb. They said that they had a surprise for her and Jacen, so naturally Hera assumed it was some sort of prank but she hadn't seen them in awhile and she missed them so of course she was going to go see them anyway, even if it was a prank on her for the amusement of her son.
She flew the Ghost over to a grouping of rock spires and as she got closer she noticed three figures standing in the clearing but she wasn't close enough to see them before she landed the ship. She knew that two of those figures had to be Zeb and Sabine, but who was the third?
"Mommy do you know what the surprise is?" Jacen asks excitedly as they get up to go outside.
Hera giggles and ruffles his fuzzy green head.
"No sweetie. That's why it's called a surprise." She tells him.
As she walks off of the ship with Chopper, she gasps when she sees who's standing in-between Zeb and Sabine.
"Did you miss me?" Ezra asks.
"Ezra!" Hera shouts and runs up to him and gives him a big hug.
He hugs her back and lets her smush his face in her hands when she pulls back to look at him and see how he's changed. His hair had gotten a bit longer and he had grown a few more inches. He was the same height as her now. And she should tell from the scratchy feel of his skin on her hands that he had started shaving too. She wondered if Kanan had taught him how to do that before...everything. She felt a slight pang in her heart when she realized that he wouldn't be able to teach Jacen.
"Where have you been for the past four years?" Hera asks.
"I don't know. Everywhere I guess." Ezra says. "Met some new people. Found some old ones."
He, Zeb and Sabine shared a knowing smirk with each other that Hera didn't notice.
"Mommy who's this guy with Sabine and uncle Zeb?" Jacen asks and points at Ezra.
"Jacen, this is our other crew member that I told you about. Ezra." Hera explains.
"Oh! You're the one that has the same powers as my daddy and me! The one that he trained!" Jacen exclaims.
Ezra looks shocked.
"He's Force-sensitive too?" Ezra asks.
"Yep. It runs in the family now I guess." Hera says and ruffles his fuzzy green head. "It's one of the reasons I'm glad these two found you-"
"Well technically Sabine found me. With some help from Ahsoka. Zeb just tagged along for the ride here to see you again after we found-" Sabine's eyes widen and she punches him in the arm to cut him off "-out that I hadn't met Jacen yet." Ezra quickly answers and gives her a nervous grin.
Ezra's nervous smile told Hera that he was hiding something. But what that was, she didn't know. So she decided to just forget about it and relish in the fact that Ezra was back. Kanan's death taught her that she should keep her family close.
Chopper noticed some movement behind one of the spires. He zooms in on the movement using his sensor, and gets alarmed when he registers the shadow of a person. Deciding to investigate, he casually rolls away from the group, making his way around the spire to see who's hiding behind it and comes to an abrupt stop when he sees who it is.
"Okay, I can do this." the alive Kanan Jarrus says to himself.
Chopper didn't know how to process this. He must be having a malfunction in his visual scanner. Kanan Jarrus had died years ago, how was he here now, in the flesh, just as he was before his passing except his hair was long again and he had his beard back too. Something was wrong here, none of this made sense. This had to be some sort of malfunction because there's no logical reason for why Kanan Jarrus would be here after being dead for what was somewhere around five years now, hiding behind a rock spire on Lothal and having a personal pep talk.
"I don't know why I'm so nervous. I mean, Ezra told me that Hera's not seeing anyone else right now but what if she's fallen out of love with me over the years and hates me now or something? What if Sabine's prediction is right and she doesn't believe it's me and that it's a trick and tries to shoot me or something! I mean, that's what Zeb did and thankfully he was so shocked that he missed but would Hera miss?" He freaks out before taking a deep breath. "Just don't think about that. You're imagining worst case scenarios. Any moment now Ezra's gonna give me my cue, and then I'll walk out there and be reunited with the love of my life and-OUCH!" He shouts as he gets shocked by Chopper.
"What was that?" Hera asks, looking around and protectively putting her hand in front of her son while her other hand gropes her side for her blaster.
"Uh, nothing! I think Chopper's just shocking a stray loth-cat or something." Ezra lies, followed by a nervous laugh that gives him away again.
"Ezra you're a terrible liar, I heard someone shout, now step aside and let me see what's going on- WHAT THE KRIFF!" She screams when she sees Kanan fall into view from where he was hiding behind the rock spire and land on his butt on the ground.
Chopper rolls out after him warbling loudly and waving his arms around while aiming the spark plug at Kanan in warning while Hera aimed her blaster at him with her hands shaking from all of the emotions she was feeling right now. She couldn't shoot Kanan, but this couldn't be him. Chopper wouldn't attack him if it was really him- actually he would so Hera wasn't sure what to believe right now.
"Mommy used a bad word!" Jacen exclaims.
"MOMMY?" Kanan exclaims and does a double-take when he sees Jacen. "WHAT THE KRIFF!"
"YOU'RE ALIVE!?" Hera shouts.
"YOU'RE A MOM?!" Kanan shouts back.
Zeb, Ezra, and Sabine look back and forth between the startled lovers before looking at each other and shrugging before shouting "surprise!" to both of them with big smiles on their faces.
"Wait...if you three knew about this and brought me here then that means this isn't a trick is it?" Hera asks as her lips begin to curl up into a trembling smile as her eyes begin to water. "He's not a changeling or something, it's really him back from the dead?" She chokes out.
The three spectres smile and nod, confirming her hopes as tears start to spill down her cheeks.
"It's really me Hera, I'm back." Kanan says, sitting up. "I'm sorry I startled you like that. The plan was for Ezra to talk to you about the possibility that I came back to life to prepare you so that when I revealed myself you wouldn't be so shocked. But then someone," Kanan growls while glaring at Chopper "decided to attack me and ruined the grand entrance I had planned where I'd walk out with the setting sun at my back to set the mood and then say 'honey I'm home!' and then I'd hopefully get a hug and a kiss but instead I got shocked by the most annoying droid I've ever had the misfortune of knowing and made a fool of myself so thanks a lot Chopper."
Chopper warbles "you're welcome" while being aware of Kanan's sarcasm before zapping him again just for kicks while Hera lets out a sob before covering her hand over the huge smile on her face.
"Oh it's definitely him!" She exclaims and drops her blaster and runs as fast as she can towards him.
Kanan smiles at her as she comes for him, tears pricking at the corners of his eyes as he stands up so he can hug her. And he gets up just in time for her to knock him over again, taking her down with him as he falls back on the ground from the force of her body slamming against his.
They hug each other tightly as Hera scrambles to sit up so she can see his face and she gasps when her green eyes meet his...teal-blue ones.
Kanan smiles as Hera gasps in surprise at the fact that his eyes had been restored too and he reaches up and gently cups her cheek in his hand.
"Just when I thought I'd never see your beautiful face again." Kanan says.
"Just when I thought I'd never see yours either!" Hera chokes out before pressing her mouth to his in a passionate kiss.
They both held each other tightly, tears streaming down their faces as they hugged and held their kiss for as long as they could.
The other spectres were tearing up as well. Sabine, Ezra and Zeb were all hugging each other and sniffling as they watched the reunited lovers embrace. And even Chopper let out a few whimpering warbles and waved his claws even though he couldn't shed any tears. Jacen however, was confused as hell.
"Ew why is mom sucking on that guy's mouth?" He says and makes a "yuck" face.
Hera giggles when she hears her son's reaction and rolls off of Kanan and sits on her side with her legs tucked under her and smiles at him. Kanan sat up too, looking back and forth between Jacen and Hera.
"So uh...you have a son now." Kanan says and scratches the back of his neck nervously while avoiding her gaze.
Hera is confused for a minute before she realizes that he must not know Jacen is his.
"Yeah. His name is Jacen." Hera explains.
"Jacen." Kanan says and forces a smile. "That's a cool name. Is he adopted or-"
"No I gave birth to him." Hera explains. "He's my flesh and blood."
"Oh yeah, I can uh, sort of see that." He says while looking at Jacen before tracing patterns in the dirt with his finger.
"Seems like he doesn't know, should we tell him?" Zeb whispers to Ezra and Sabine.
"Don't you dare!" Sabine says and hits him in the chest. "That's Hera's news to share."
"Well I'm glad you weren't lonely while I was gone." Kanan says honestly, still looking at the ground.
"Well, not as lonely as I could have been without Jacen but I still have Chopper and Zeb was around too so I was never alone." Hera reminds him.
"Well yeah but I meant...uh..." Kanan pauses as he shifts his body a bit to stall for time. "Jacen's father?" He whispers, barely able to get the words out.
Oh this was gonna be good, Hera thinks to herself as she rolls her eyes and lets out a dramatic sigh.
"He's not in the picture." She says and Kanan looks shocked.
"Really?" He asks.
"Yeah." Hera says. "He left after I got pregnant with Jacen."
"Seriously!?" Kanan exclaims.
Kanan looks furious and Hera has to bite her bottom lip to keep from smiling.
"First of all, anyone who is lucky enough to be with you would have to be an idiot to leave you, but what kriffing jerk would leave you after you got pregnant!" Kanan exclaims.
Chopper warbles in amusement while Sabine, Ezra and Zeb start snickering from Kanan's obliviousness.
"Why are you guys laughing?" Kanan asks the the three snickering spectres. "Some guy walked out on Hera when she was pregnant and left her to raise Jacen on her own that's not funny that's horrible! I'm especially surprised that you think this is funny Chopper. If I were you, I'd shock the jerk that did this to Hera with as many volts as possible."
Chopper warbles something along the lines of "alright if you say so" before giving Kanan a hard shock to the leg.
"Ouch! Chopper what the hell was that for!" Kanan shouts and rubs his shin where Chopper shocked him.
Hera giggles before calling Jacen over. He happily runs to his mother's arms and she hugs him before sitting him down on her lap while Kanan smiles at the two of them. Now that he could see the boy more closely he had to admit he was an adorable kid. He wouldn't expect anything less from Hera's genetics.
"He's a cute kid." Kanan compliments.
"Thank you." Hera and Jacen say at the same time before giggling with each other.
"Mom says I look a lot like daddy." Jacen explains.
"I see." Kanan says and looks him over.
"And she says that when I'm an adult I'm gonna be really handsome just like he was!" Jacen adds.
"Oh, so daddy was really handsome?" Kanan asks, a hint of jealousy in his voice.
"Not really handsome, super handsome! Mommy says that daddy was the most handsome man in the galaxy!" Jacen exclaims and Kanan looks away so they wouldn't see him frowning.
Ezra began to laugh before Sabine silences him by covering his mouth with her hand and Zeb was biting his thumb while Sabine was biting her lip to keep their own laughter contained. And Chopper wasn't sure how much more of Kanan's obliviousness he can take.
"Well he might have been handsome but he couldn't have been that great of a guy if he left you alone while you were expecting a baby." Kanan grumbles.
"No, mommy says that my daddy was a really great guy, the best she's ever known!" Jacen tells him.
"What?" Kanan asks, turning to Hera with a frown. "The guy ditches you after you get pregnant and you still think he's great!"
"Well he had a pretty good excuse for not being around." Hera argues.
"No he doesn't! There's no excuse in the world that would be good enough to justify walking out on the most amazing woman to ever exist! And especially not when she's pregnant! That jerk should never have left you to raise Jacen alone for- Jacen how old are you?" Kanan asks, needing the information to strengthen his point.
"Four!" Jacen shouts and holds up four of his fingers.
"Right, for four years without taking any responsibility-" Kanan stops mid-sentence and Hera smiles.
She could tell by the look on his face that he was doing the math in his head and suddenly it all added up.
"Four years..." Kanan says softly. "I've been gone for..." he begins to tear up as he looks at Jacen and realizes the similarities he has to himself. "It's me." he says softly as the corners of his mouth raise slightly as she nods to confirm his theory. "Me! I'm the most handsome and amazing jerk father in the galaxy that left you when you were pregnant!" He exclaims happily and grabs Hera's shoulders with his hands before his smile falls and his face pales. "Oh no I'm the most handsome and amazing jerk father in the galaxy that left you when you were pregnant!" He repeats but in a sorrowful tone. "Hera I am so sorry!"
"It's alright Kanan. It's not like you walked out on me or anything." She says.
"I know but still. I mean, did you know you were pregnant before..."
"Yeah I did." Hera admits with a shrug before playing with Jacen's hair. "I was waiting for the right time to tell you but, I guess I should've said something a lot sooner huh?"
"Oh Hera if I had known-"
"Oh no!" Hera suddenly exclaims and bends forward, hiding her face from Kanan and covering her eyes with her hands as she began to hyperventilate.
"Hera?" Kanan asks.
"Mommy why are you crying?" Jacen asks and hugs his mother to try to make her feel better.
After a few moments she picks up her face to look at Kanan and sniffles.
"So if you had known I was pregnant you wouldn't have been so quick to...so I could have stopped you from..." She whimpers before she starts crying hysterically.
No one knew what to do. Sabine, Zeb and Ezra look at each other, wondering if they should go comfort Hera. But Kanan took care of that for them, pulling the sobbing twi'lek into his arms and hugging her tight.
"Hera, darling don't blame yourself for what happened! It was my choice to sacrifice myself for all of you, I thought that was obvious." He tells her while hugging her and Jacen close to him.
"But you were going to say that you would've reconsidered if you had known I was pregnant. If I had told you sooner then you wouldn't have been so quick to-"
He cut her off with a kiss, not wanting to hear any more.
"Hera." He says to her softly, pulling away. "Look at me. I'm back now. I'm right here in one piece. There's not a scratch on me! Literally, look I've got my eyes back and the scar is gone too!" He says and points at his face and she smiles. "How I died and who's fault it was or wasn't doesn't matter anymore. The Force brought me back to your side and I am never leaving you again I promise."
"Oh I'll make damn sure of that!" Hera adds, now crying tears of joy. "I'll handcuff us together if I have to to make sure you never leave me again."
"Well there's an image that's never leaving my mind." Kanan says and raises his eyebrows before Hera punches him in the arm gently.
"Mommy?" Jacen asks and gently tugs her sleeve.
"What is it little love?" She asks him.
"I'm confused, who is this guy? And why do you keep putting your mouth on his mouth?" Jacen asks.
"Jacen sweetie, this man is your father." Hera tells her son.
Jacen gasps excitedly, his pointy ears twitching and his teal-blue eyes wide and bright as he looks away from his mother towards his father. Kanan smiles at him, tears pricking the corners of his eyes.
"Really?" Jacen asks.
"Yeah. Your daddy came back sweetie." Hera says with a huge smile as those sweet words she never thought she'd say tumble from her lips.
"You're my dad! I have a dad!" Jacen exclaims and throws himself against Kanan's chest.
Kanan hugs him tight and buries his face into his fuzzy green hair.
"Yes! Daddy's here and he loves you and your mother more than anything. I'm sorry I couldn't come back sooner but I'll make up those four years I've missed with you both somehow I promise." Kanan says before giving his son a big kiss on the cheek.
"Oh I know what you can do to make it up!" Jacen says and bounces in his lap. "But I doubt you'll actually do it..."
"Jacen for you I'll do anything just name it." Kanan says.
"Awesome! Then can I have your lightsaber?" Jacen asks.
"Uh..." Kanan looks at his son then up at Hera who seems shocked. "Why do you want a lightsaber?"
"So I can become a Jedi Knight like you!" Jacen says.
"A Jedi? Wait Hera is our son-"
"Yes. He's Force-sensitive too." Hera tells him and the look on his face is priceless.
Kanan's jaw was hanging and he was staring at Jacen in amazement.
"I can lift a rock! Want to watch?" Jacen asks.
"Yes!" Kanan answers eagerly.
Jacen saw a decent sized rock on the ground next to Hera that was about the size of her hand. He holds out his hand towards it, closes his eyes, and concentrates as hard as he can. The rock began to shake, then it rose off of the ground about an inch or two for all of one second before it plopped back on the ground with a little cloud of dust puffing out from around it. Jacen looks disappointed.
"Aw, I thought I could get it higher than that." He whines.
"Jacen that was amazing!" Kanan exclaims and tosses his son up in the air before catching him in his hands.
"You really think so?" He giggles.
"Yes! And now that I'm here I can help you raise it higher and do a bunch of other things too." Kanan promises and Hera felt a warmth spread in her chest at the thought of watching them train together like she used to watch Kanan train Ezra.
"So you'll give me your lightsaber?" Jacen asks eagerly.
"Uh..." Kanan looks at Hera who was shaking her head 'no' "well why would you want mine when you could make one of your very own that's just for you?" Kanan says instead.
Jacen gasps and Hera frowns at Kanan. She didn't like the idea of her energetic four year old being in possession of such a dangerous weapon.
"I can have my own!" Jacen exclaims.
"He can have his own?" Hera repeats and arches her eyebrow.
"Uh..." Kanan looks between them wondering which one was safer to have angry at him. "Yes you can. And I'll teach you how to use it properly too." He says while looking at Hera and being relieved when she smiles at him, accepting his promise to their son as long as he teaches him how to use it.
Hopefully by the time he gets his hands on one of those lightsabers he'll be a bit less energetic and less likely to wreck the Ghost while using it.
"Everyone was right, you are the coolest most awesomest dad ever!" Jacen says and hugs Kanan.
Kanan tears up and begins to cry and so does Hera so she hugs him and their son together. And the rest of their family watching them starts to cry too before joining in the group hug.
The newly reunited family walked onto the ship that they called home and Kanan was looking at everything. It had been awhile since he had actually seen everything after all.
"Well it's nice to see that not much has changed since I've been gone." Kanan says as he goes into the galley with Hera and the others.
"I still can't believe you can see again." Sabine says. "You know, after I got over the whole being alive again thing."
"Yep. I've got my old eyes back. They were included in the Force revival package." Kanan jokes and Hera snorts. She missed his jokes.
"That makes sense. If they were going to heal your whole body then that includes your eyes too." Ezra says.
"Yeah. I don't know why they gave me back my long hair and beard though. But I'm not complaining since I seem to remember you preferring that look much more than my previous look before I died." He says and puts his arm around her shoulders. "So I'm sure you're relieved about that."
"Oh Kanan, my love I couldn't care less how you look right now, I'm just so happy you're back!" Hera exclaims and hugs him tight and kisses him again.
Kanan kisses her back deeply before their lips parted.
"But yes I am happy the Force made you handsome again too." Hera whispers to him and smiles cheekily.
"Was it really that bad?" Kanan asks.
"Yes." Everyone says sternly in unison.
"Alright then." Kanan says.
Hera pulls back and sighs. Kanan furrows his eyebrows in worry of why Hera looks so worried.
"Okay, let's get down to business now." Hera says. "Kanan you coming back is without a doubt the best thing that's ever happened to me aside from Jacen being born-"
Chopper rolls into her leg and warbles in offense.
"And finding Chopper." Hera says. "But as amazing as this is and how happy I am to have you back, this whole thing still begs the question...what's the catch?"
Kanan looks confused.
"Catch? What catch? I don't know what you're talking about honey." Kanan says.
"You know." Hera says and sits down at the table. "The Force just gave you your life back. But at what cost?"
"Cost? No cost. It was a gift." Kanan says.
"A gift?" Hera asks. "I've hung around with you for long enough to know that the Force doesn't give gifts. Especially not ones as convienient as reviving people. There's gotta be some sort of 'price' for this that we'll have to pay. Either that or this life you've been given isn't going to last for as long as I'd like it too."
"No there isn't a catch, I promise you. Me coming back to life is literally a gift from the Force." Kanan assures her by putting his hand over hers on the table as he sits down next to her. "And it's going to be a lot longer than what you're probably thinking it'll be."
"How do you know?" Hera asks.
"Because that's what my Master told me." Kanan says.
"You saw Depa Billaba when you died?" Hera asks and squeezes his hand, remembering how upset he used to get when he talked about his Master.
"Yeah. In fact the conversation I had with her before I got revived is the only thing I remember from my time being one with the Force." Kanan says.
"What did she tell you?" Sabine asks and the others gather around Kanan curiosly.
"My dearest little Caleb." He starts, quoting what she said to him.
Ezra snickers and Zeb punches him in the arm to shut him up so Kanan can continue.
"As much as I am happy to be with you again, you came here far too soon for someone who suffered so much. The Force we are all a part of believes you should live, not only for yourself but for those you love." Kanan says and looks around at his family. "And those you will love." He says as he ruffles Jacen's hair. "We are giving you the gift of life. This is your second chance at having a happy and peaceful life with the family you love, don't kriff it up." Everyone laughs. "Now run. Run through that portal and don't stop until you're back in the arms of that amazing woman you love, and never leave her again." Kanan says and caresses Hera's cheek to collect her tears with his fingers. "And then next thing I knew I was in front of Sabine, Ezra and Ahsoka on some planet called...what was it called again?"
"Ach-To." Ezra answers.
"Right, that place." Kanan says.
"Why did you show up there?" Hera asks.
"Heck if I know." Kanan shrugs.
"Well it's nice to know your Master approves of us." Hera says, deciding to change the subject.
"Yeah that was nice to hear. Although I don't really remember but I'm pretty sure she also thinks you're way out of my league." Kanan says. "And I agree with her."
"Well regardless of whether or not that's true." Hera says and cups his cheek. "I'm just so happy you're back and for good too!"
She hugs him and they kiss again. Then they start kissing a bit more. And more. Until Ezra clears his throat and they pull apart to look at him.
"Uh if you guys are going to keep that up do you mind going to your room?" Ezra asks.
"Well there's an idea..." Hera says and gives Kanan a look that gets him excited before they both run off down the hall.
"Thank you so much for making them leave Ezra!" Jacen exclaims and hugs Ezra's leg. "They were starting to get really yucky."
Everyone laughs and Ezra picks him up and holds him in his arms.
"Yep. Now let's get you off the ship to play outside before you hear them get even yuckier." Ezra says while carrying him hastily towards the door.