They are home

Hera's pov

I sigh, the mission is finished and right now I am sitting up in the cockpit with Ahsoka, not really talking about much, just basking in the afterglow of the successful rescue of Kanan. Ahsoka knows how much this success means to all of us...well maybe more to Ezra and me. I know we are the closest to the Jedi than anyone else on the ship,oh its not that Zeb and Sabine don't care for him, its just that Ezra and I are closer.

Speaking of close, I look over the ship's controls to the monitor and smile at the sight on it. The sight of master and padawan, talking about something,something that was important to both of them. A part of me would like to know what they are saying but another part of me realizes there are some parts to the Jedi life that I will never understand and as young as Ezra is, soon he will know more than me because he is Kanan's boy after all.

Which made me think...what about Ezra, once he finishes his training...will he want to leave us and go out on his own? from what I knew of masters and their padawans,it was a rare pair that stayed together for any length of time after the padawan graduates.

"That will not be an issue with Ezra" said Ahsoka

Do Jedi read minds? because how did she know that I was thinking that about Ezra. Then I thought that even if she read my mind because she was once a padawan learner herself, didn't mean that all Jedi read minds, I know Kanan didn't or wouldn't and I know Ezra wouldn't have the ability yet but Ahsoka? maybe she could, or was I that easy to read.

"Why is that?" I ask turning from the two in the monitor.

"Ezra's bond with Kanan is too strong and I think they are just now finding out how strong that bond is."she replied and when she saw the look on my face she continued "don't believe me, turn the sound on that monitor, listen to what they are saying, look at their body language. You will soon see and hear what I mean"she finished.

I did what she said and I wasn't surprised by what I heard, but what I saw, now that was the real surprise. To see Ezra not shying away from a hold that Kanan had him in, when before he rarely liked to be touched,usually he would back away from that kind of affection and to see Ezra treat Kanan, not like a master, not just like a friend or family member. It was more than that, it was like I didn't have the right word for what saw.

"They are whole"Ahsoka filled in for me, when I turned back to her she continued "for many Jedi that were around before order sixty six, having a padawan meant finishing that youngling's training in all things but unlike Ezra, who grew up rough, these younglings were whole in themselves, they didn't have the pain that Ezra grew up with,same with Kanan too. Neither of them are going to be as whole as a Jedi that was trained before order sixty six but they fill the gaps in each others lives...that's what I mean".

I thought on that and remembered the Kanan before Ezra and the Kanan after Ezra joined us. I realized that there were differences in the man. Kanan before Ezra was, while friendly, he wasn't open on who he was, on his past, on a lot of things. He liked to forget that he was ever Jedi in the first place, now with Ezra he was open about his past, he knew that by facing what happened to him he would help Ezra deal with his own but then I what about if...

"If Kanan didn't have Ezra, if Ezra had died when he fell off that catwalk" I inquired.

"Then we would have been looking at a different Jedi, different crew too maybe"Ahsoka said.

Which made me think on what the ghost would have been like without Ezra and that made me shiver. Ezra might not be my son but there are times I think of him as one and I know that Zeb and Sabine think of him as brother, how did Kanan see him...maybe a mixture of a few things, brother, son and padawan, I wasn't sure.

"You might be right about that"I said looking back to the two Jedi, only to find Ezra curled into Kanan and him holding the boy tighter, he was saying something to him too.

I wonder what caused that?

"They really are a different kind of Jedi but then they are not the first Jedi to act this way. My own master told me about his own master's relationship with his master"Ahsoka said.

"Why what was special about it"I asked.

"Qui - gon Jinn and Obi - wan kenobi were together for years, almost twice as long as a normal master/padawan relationship but that was to end when my master Anikan came into their lives. Anikan was suppose to be Qui - gon Jinn's new apprentice and Obi - wan Kenobi to become a knight but still stay with Qui - gon after he did" Ahsoka said thinking on what her master had told her.

"But what happened?"I asked.

"Qui - gon Jinn was killed by a sith, by the name of darth Maul. My master didn't talk much about the days after that but he did say that Obi -wan Kenobi was pretty cut up about it. Probably felt the same way I felt when I learnt of my own master's death"Ahsoka finished.

I thought about that, Jedi even though they worked alone for a lot of the time, without any other Jedi around to help them, they still would know where their friends in order were and how to call for their aid if they needed it and if what I knew of Jedi bonds was true, the master/padawan bond, just like Ahsoka was trying to tell me, was the strongest of all and watching the two Jedi in the monitor I could believe it.

"Watching them really gives me hope for the future of the Jedi race. It won't be quite like it was before, with all its rules and regulations that they followed but then some of those things had to be dropped anyway, they were from a different era"said Ahsoka.

I nodded and think... well if that is the future of the Jedi and as long as Kanan and Ezra survive this war to teach them the new rules of being a Jedi that is. Ezra just then shivers as if something he thought of just scared him but Kanan just tightens his hold, which calms Ezra and Kanan at the same time. Then I had a thought, what if one of them turns to the dark side of the force? what would happen to the other? I asked these thoughts to Ahsoka.

"It depends on who turns...if it is Ezra who turns, I think Kanan will be able to get him back. I am not saying it wont be hard for him but I believe he could do it" she said.

"And if it is Kanan?" I enquired.

"Then that might be a little harder...I am not saying that Ezra wouldn't be able to do it but I think he would need help to do it. Ezra at the moment doesn't have the ability to call Kanan back yet...and I am saying yet, in the future I know he will, but I don't think that Kanan will be the one to turn though, Ezra is the more likely one and if dark Ezra captured Kanan, which is likely because Kanan I think will never be able to hurt Ezra, even if he is on the dark side" she said then stopping to think a little on what she said.

"But..."

"Now the only way I see them turning to the dark side, is one of three ways. One, Ezra or Kanan dies which sends the other over the edge and without the other to pull them back, they would stay there. Only because of the way they see the world" she said.

"What way is that? how is that different from other Jedi?"I asked

"They feel comfortable among their friends, care for them and Jedi in the past were not taught like that. Jedi in the past were taught to not grow too attached, too fond, too in love with life as it is for them now. Not that those emotions are not valuable and should not be suppressed but Jedi learned that they had to rule them, unless they rule you" she answered.

"Well what are the other ways they could be turned?" I asked finially when I thought on what she said as I realized she was right.

"Two, some one they both know and are about dies and sends them both over, which gives neither one hope of bring them back and third as I have said Ezra is captured and turned then Kanan gets captured trying to rescue him and is turned because of it" Ahsoka said.

"Their bond is that strong?"

"I believe it is, Ezra has already shown this when he went against your orders and went to Vizago to get information on Kanan, even though you had told him no"Ahsoka said trying to explain Ezra's actions that day.

"It was really your orders...I was just the one to say them to him, to all of them, but some where inside my heart I wanted to do what Ezra did...but I know the cost better than most and I didn't have the courage to do it" I said.

"I suppose you are right, still he took a risk for some one who means the world to him, but to be Jedi means that he cannot do this again, because it would be against the force but then it might not be, who can say" Ahsoka finished.

I think on this...to be a Jedi means to give up a lot but they also get a lot in return. Seeing Kanan and Ezra together is proof of that, whether they are both together here or on a mission etc... they will always know something...they will always know that they are not alone, they will never be alone. I believe what Ahsoka said is true, Kanan is the other half of Ezra just as Ezra is the other half of Kanan. They are each other's home, they give the other a place to belong, to feel alive.

I smile and sigh, what ever we face in the future, for now we are together and the two Jedi, one a knight and the other a padawan as they fall asleep in each others arms as I watch over them, for now... they are home.

An:I know, I know, I was supposed to have this out ages ago but life got in the way. Hopefully none of you have Vader on speed dial or even is his email, he might just track me down and then you wont get my new story, which I promise to have up soon.

An: Have any of you seen the new trailer for season 2, got to say brilliant and I am so jealous of any one who saw it already(gets light saber out and starts destroying things, then puts them back together with the force).

Until next time

may the force be with you, always

NewDawnFox