Foreword:

Hey! So I did a second chapter! This time it's on Hera and Kanan's reunion in Fire Across the Galaxy. It's quite different in tone from the last one. I love doing these though and I'm thinking of new moments to capture. If you have a suggestion for a moment you'd like me to enshrine, I'll do it. Next one is probably going to be Hera comforting Kanan at the end of Always Two There Are.

The Galaxy

"We are not leaving here without you and Kanan," Hera snapped. Zeb and Sabine were squeezed in beside her in the TIE but she felt more trapped by the thought that this mission would all be for nothing and Kanan would be left behind again. It had cost them an open debt to Vizago, two dangerous recon ops and now Ezra was telling her to just leave empty handed! Nuh-uh! Hera would stay right here until she could see Kanan's beautiful face again, clutch him tightly to her…

"Just listen to the kid, will you?" It was him. He sounded tired, drained, but she felt her heart skip a beat and felt the corner of her lips curl up instinctively. Hera's eyes beamed and she saw her expression mirrored in Zeb and Sabine's beside her. It was the greatest joy she'd felt in weeks and she was sitting in a TIE fighter on an Imperial Star Destroyer about to explode. The only explosions she noticed though were from her racing heart. They were going to make it, she knew it.

Hera pushed her feelings to the bottom of her heart as she pulled on her game face and guided the multi-colored TIE out of the hangar. Sabine's paint job really left no part of the ship unadorned. They would be a bright yellow target for the whole Imperial fleet to lock onto. Right now though, she could take on a million Empire TIEs. Kanan was alive!

Hyperspace zipped by on both sides, the blue blur a comforting, familiar calm like the oceans on Alderaan. Hera had been to Alderaan just the once with Kanan two years ago. That seemed so far away before, but now she remembered it like it happened yesterday. She remembered his smile as she got splashed by the waterfront. Ryloth was an ugly planet; it was harsh, dry and had far too many volcanoes. It was her home and had a special place in her heart but it was not beautiful, not like Alderaan was. Having the softness of the water on her skin was an experience she wouldn't readily forget, and Kanan was there too, his carefree attitude as much a relief as the water pooling at her toes.

"Hera blinked for a second longer than usual and let out a sigh of relief. "We made it guys!" she exclaimed as Zeb and Sabine slumped backwards in the TIE. "I don't know how or what happened, but we made it!" Hera said excitedly. Before the others could move, she flipped open the top hatch and clambered up onto the transport deck. Another TIE had also docked alongside theirs. Hera hesitated for a moment. What if it wasn't them? What if she went over only to find two blaster toting Stormtroopers? It had all happened so fast that for an instant she doubted herself and began to fear the worst.

The hatch opened and a familiar pony-tail popped into view. Ezra's mop of blue hair shot up right after and he grinned at her. Hera stood still for a moment, trying to take it all in. They did it, they got him back. Her emotions couldn't pin themselves on one thing and instead she just felt tingly. He turned around, and their eyes met. She felt a whole new wave of relief wash over her as he smiled. Hera's eyebrows curved downwards toward her cheek bones as her lips curved up the opposite way. It was like her whole face was collapsing inward from the joy building within her.

They met halfway and she felt him put his hands on her shoulders. Their eyes never once left each other's as she watched his lips mouth the words: "I owe you all a great debt of gratitude. Even if what you did was rash, and reckless." Hera shook her head. She didn't want to hear any more of this. It had been hell and she didn't want to think back to a time without him. What's important was that Kanan was back, and she could feel his strength and light through his touch; that's all she wanted right now. "You're welcome, dear."

They embrace and Hera in that moment felt safe again. Safe like that day on the shores of Alderaan or under the catwalk on the Forager when she first found out he was a Jedi. Even Chopper's rude interruption couldn't ruin this moment. Kanan was back and she had him. Today Hera was at peace again and she marveled at how small the galaxy was as she held it in her arms.