A/N: Thank you, guys! First update in 8 months! This story is currently at 664 views, 12 follows, 7 reviews, and 13 favorites. :) If y'all notice and problems, or you have any suggestions, drop me a review!

blueberry wubber 1516 - Thank you so much!

Jedi Alice - Thank you! As for your question, I like to think that Winter has developed some skills at masking her presence from Force users, especially from ones not quite as adept with their abilities, like Ezra and Kanan. I imagine they can catch flickers of her using the Force, but not really be able to pin point it. Hope that made sense.

Rirry-chan88 - Thank you! Hopefully this will satisfy for now. :)

DimensionJumperAlpha - Thank you for your review, and thank you for sticking with my story this long! :)


Kanan and Winter walked across the sandy plains of Lothal. They'd already sent Sabine, Ezra, and Zeb ahead to Kothal to start shopping; Hera and Chopper were back with the Ghost. If Winter din't know better, she'd think Hera was trying to set her up with Kanan. She glanced at him out of the corner of her eye. Strong jaw, hard forehead. His eyes were a brilliant teal, a few shades bluer than her natural eye color; they seemed to show the struggles and trials he'd been through. She snorted, making him turn to look at her. She blushed, looked down. He shook his head and turned back. Kanan didn't seem remotely interested in beginning a relationship with anyone, let alone a girl he'd just met yesterday. Nah. She'd give him his space.


"Well, here we are," said Kanan. Winter glanced around at the sandy clearing, surrounded by large boulders. "And where is here?" A Devaronian walked up. "Ah, hello, Kanan. And who is this? A new slave?" "This is Winter, Vizago, and she's not for sale," said Kanan. 'Vizago' looked Winter up and down. "What a shame. I would have paid handsomely for her." Winter sized him up. "So this is the famous Cikatro Vizago I've heard so much about." Vizago grinned slowly. "You've heard of me?" "Unfortunately. And let me say, the reports overestimated you." Vizago scowled. "You can keep her."

"Down to business," said Kanan. He motioned toward the crates they'd been hauling. "I think we got everything you wanted. Where are the creds?" VIzago eyed the crates contents, then piled some credits into Kanan's open hand. Winter mentally added up the money. "C'mon, Vizago, you and I both know they're worth more than that." Vizago growled and gave several more credits to Kanan. Winter shrugged. "Fine, if you're gonna be that way, I know somewhere else we can unload them." His glare was murderous, but he promptly handed over the rest of the credits, knowing he couldn't lose this source of income.

"Thanks," Kanan said as they walked away. "No prob. He usually get away with that?" "Nah. Every once in a while I let him. Did you really have somewhere else you could have taken the stuff?" "Yeah. Maybe I'll introduce you to her sometime. She's great, if a little unique. Knows the Black Market like the back of her hand."


Kanan's radio suddenly crackled to life. "Specter 2, this is Specter 6." Winter could hear blaster fire in the background. Kanan sighed, held up the radio. "What did you do now, Specter 6?" "Hey, it was Sabine's idea! I-Never mind. Doesn't matter. We could really use some backup right now." Kanan glanced at Winter. "We're on our way.

As they drew closer to the commotion, Winter shouted, "Are things always this hectic around you?" Kanan gave a maniacal grin and winked. "Yep."

Winter smiled and began to run. Kanan looked even more attractive when he smiled...


Winter winced as a blaster bold hissed by her ear. "I thought we were laying low?" she yelled as she popped up to return fire. "Lesson one of the Rebellion: we never lay low!" returned Sabine. Winter grinned. "Got it."

Whilst innocently attempting to liberate a shop owner from the Imps, Zeb, Ezra, and Sabine had, naturally, drawn unwanted attention to themselves. Kanan and Winter had quickly come to the rescue, but now the five were backed into a corner, trying to protect their supplies while simultaneously trying to get out of town and back to the Ghost.

Ezra groaned with frustration. Kanan, sensing his padawan's next move, shouted, "Ezra, wait!" But it was too late. Ezra had already darted out into the fray, blue lightsaber blazing.

Kanan shook his head. "No helping it now." He began to run, quickly assembling his lightsaber as he went.

Winter stopped firing, staring dumbfounded at Kanan and Ezra. "They're... Jedi? But how?"

Sabine shook her head. "Not the time!"

"Time to go!" Kanan shouted as he angled himself, giving the rest of the team an opportunity to escape.

Winter shook herself, firing several more shots before following after the others.


"You're Jedi!" Winter exclaimed when they were safely on board the Ghost. She didn't know why she was surprised. She'd been hearing rumors of them for several months now.

She'd sensed something off about Ezra when she'd healed him. It all made sense now. "I need a minute," she said, running out of the ship. She heard somebody yell after her, but she ignored them.


"How? How did he survive? Are there others? Is it possible...?" She paced back and forth, ripping her hair out of its braid, the long prairie grass rustling around her. She plopped down in the midst of it, flopping down on her back to stare at the sky. A small, furry head appeared in her vision. She gasped, startling it. She sat up, very slowly. "Well, hello there," she said. The head popped back out of the grass cautiously. She held out her hand, focusing intently on the small creature. 'I won't hurt you,' she promised mentally to it. It tiptoed towards her. She stroked its head. It seemed to purr beneath her hand. It crept into her lap, curling up and falling asleep. She smiled half-heartedly. "I wish my problems could dissolve that easily."

The lothcat remained in her lap a while longer. Winter absently braided up the right side of her hair, right where her padawan braid had been many years ago. She finished, tucking her hair up into a ponytail. She stroked the loth cat again, then gently deposited it, stood up and sighed. "Guess I'd better get back." She smiled down at the creature rubbing against her legs. "Thanks for hanging out with me. See you around?"


Winter walked up the gangplank, hoping to encounter nobody, at least for a while. She cringed when she heard someone behind her. "Hey, Winter!" said Ezra. She turned. "Yes?" Ezra looked down. "I... I just wanted to say I'm sorry. For not telling you. Don't be mad at Kanan. He's only trying to look out for us." She smiled, resting a hand on the boy's shoulder. "Don't worry, Ezra. I'm not mad. I understand why he didn't tell me." He smiled, looking relieved. "I'm going to go find Kanan, and then you and I are going to do some Physical Therapy. You looked a little awkward trying to wield that lighsaber one-handed. Very nice design, by the way." With that, she winked and walked away, leaving the padawan confused behind her.


Winter stopped before Kanan's door. She sighed, then hesitantly knocked. It swooshed open. She could see him kneeling, face away from the door, in the dimly lit room. She stepped inside, sensing the door swoosh shut behind her.

She heard him sigh. "I thought you weren't coming back." She smiled wanly. "It takes more than a couple of Jedi to scare me away." The smile slipped. "You though I'd gone to the Imperials." "They would have rewarded you. You'd have position, you wouldn't be on the run anymore. That's far more than we can offer you." Winter grimaced. "I'm not like that; I wouldn't do that to you." He finally turned, met her eyes. He looked almost desperate. "Winter... I am sorry. But, leading the kind of life I do, it's really hard to find people worth trusting. And when I do happen to find them... Hera is the only person in a long time that I've let into my life. And even she doesn't know very much about me."

"I understand," said Winter. She looked to the ground. She wanted to give him some reason to trust her. She met his eyes again. "I had a little sister once. Jeswi. She was adorable; brown hair, sparkling blue eyes. Slightly on the pudgy side. Looked nothing like me. She was six years old." Kanan's face seemed to soften. He didn't know why she was telling him this, but she seemed to think it was important. "What happened to her?" he asked.

"She was training to be a Jedi. She was slaughtered along with all of the other younglings during the attack on Coruscant."

"I'm sorry," said Kanan. She would have been roughly the same age as he had been when he'd lost his master. He stepped toward her, loosely put his hand on her shoulder, lending what physical comfort he could.

She looked up at him. "Me too." She smiled, blinked away tears. "We will be able to trust each other some day." she said. He smiled back. "Is that a fact?" "Definitely."