AN: And here is the final chapter! I'm planning a part two, though I don't have an exact release date for it yet, since I don't have it all outlined. I tend to wait until I have a story planned out before I publish it so I don't run into writer's block. Enjoy! And please review!

Chapter Eighteen

"Content"

If silence could eat him alive, he'd be gone now.

Ezra sat completely still, head set against the cold wall beside Kanan's bed. He didn't feel quite well enough to get up yet, or move at all for that matter. But, he had convinced himself to sit up. All it did was make him more conscious on the thoughts lingering about in his mind and the things he had yet to tell Kanan and the crew, but needed so desperately to tell them.

He didn't know if them finding out from someone else or them not finding out at all was worse. In one way, he hadn't told and in the other, they didn't know but…He would still have the weight on his chest. And oh God…If he did tell…They would hate him. Surely they would hate the very blood in his skin.

Ezra had to shut his eyes a moment to regain himself.

He jumped thought when the door to the room slid open suddenly and Kanan appeared with a surprised look on his face at seeing the child sitting up and awake.

"Ezra," Kanan said quietly. "If had known you were awake I would have come in sooner. I didn't want to wake you."

"It's fine," Ezra hummed, shaking his head. Obviously his thoughts were still elsewhere, floating off into a distant Cosmo where no one would ever wonder or acknowledge its existence.

Kanan seemed to notice though. He seemed to see the thought in the corner of Ezra's blue eyes, but he asked, "Are you hungry?"

Ezra swallowed. His stomach hadn't growled once and he was sure he hadn't eaten in several days. But, he just didn't feel hungry. He didn't feel that pang of wanting something so desperately like he did on the streets or when Sabine cooked them dinner and made her hot chocolate. It wasn't there and that frightened him to a certain extent.

"No," Ezra answered honestly.

Ezra scooted back a bit when Kanan approached the bed and sat down. There was a deep sigh from the man and Ezra shifted slightly, feeling pain radiate from his lower back. The wound was irritating now more than anything, but most of the ache had passed.

Ezra grabbed the other's attention when he spoke without really thinking, "I'm not dead?"

Of course he wasn't. He knew he wasn't, but it was so hard to believe he had managed to survive such an ordeal. Kanan gave out a gentle laugh. Nothing condescending, but just amused in all honesty as he chuckled, "No Ezra, you're not dead."

"Kanan," Ezra said, voice as serious as it could be. "He's going to come back."

Kanan's small smile faded to something of furrowed eyebrows and fierceness as he said, "No. We're not going to let that happen. The Binding is broken and we're going to keep you safe. All of us."

"That's not the only reason he'll come back though," Ezra's voice was cracking with each syllable, his throat bobbing up and down. "There's a bond there you can't break and he'll find me."

Kanan looked terribly confused and Ezra fought the urge to hide his face in his hand with anguish. Kanan spoke quietly, "What do you mean?"

That broke him. A sudden sob escaped Ezra and he dropped his head, shutting his eyes tightly. Tears rolled freely down his cheeks, though it wasn't from lack of trying to keep them hidden. Ezra shook his head hard, "No. No. If I tell you, you'll think I'm scum."

Ezra's eyes flew open when two hands wrapped around his upper arms and gave him one good shake. Ezra looked in the blue-green eyes that were Kanan Jarrus and the younger blinked past his tears to process what was being said to him and the comfort that waved throughout the Binding between the two in the spoken voice…

"I would never. You can tell me anything."

A shaky breath escaped him and his shoulders fell slightly. His eyes searched for answers everywhere in the room and he knew he had to speak the whole and honest truth because Kanan could feel the darkness welling in his chest and here he was, trying to fill it with his own light. There was no way for Ezra to avoid any of it now. This was it.

It was small…

"He's my brother, Kanan. The apprentice…Isaac…He's my brother."

Shock enveloped Kanan's face and the hands on Ezra's arm slackened a little as he argued, "Maybe he was lying, Ezra. Maybe it was a way to manipulate you."

"No!" Ezra shouted, causing Kanan to actually jump. Ezra pressed a hand to Kanan's chest, more tears streaming his pink face, "I felt it here, Kanan. I felt it right here. He's my brother. I know for sure…And I'm so angry…During the Binding I saw Vader come and take him away and wipe my parents' memories. And I just hid! I coward behind the couch and cried!"

Kanan said nothing when Ezra paused and continued, "I had this imaginary friend when I was little. He looked just like Isaac and I guess he was him…That's just how I processed it when I was a kid. That Isaac had never been real…Just imaginary."

Kanan took an inhale of air and wrapped his arms tightly around the sobbing child. He rubbed a hand on the upper portion of Ezra's back where the injury was clear and shushed him quietly before insisting, "What the Empire did to your family wasn't fair. But, that's just it, Ezra. The Empire did this. Not you. None of it was your fault. And the people you are related to are out of your control. "

Ezra shut his eyes tightly, burying his face in Kanan's chest, "I don't want to be like Isaac. I don't want to do the things he does."

"You won't," Kanan spoke softly. "You will never become what he is."

"Don't let me," Ezra was getting smaller and smaller with every worried statement. "Please…If I ever turn into that-"

Kanan shushed him, "You won't."

Ezra nodded, not replying verbally.

Please be right.

Vader was alone on the star destroyer. His dark eyes stared blankly out the window, still outside of the Naboo system. Everything that could have gone wrong went wrong and he couldn't help but be angry at himself. Had he delayed the Emperor's summons just a few days, things would have gone a lot differently.

But, then again, he had to think that these things needed to happen.

There was something unsettling about the boy though. He had known things about Anakin Skywalker no other outsider could have known. The Force was definitely strong with the boy, there was no denying it. He couldn't avoid the thought though eating away at his subconscious. Vader just couldn't understand any of it.

He heard the doors behind him slide open and Vader didn't need to turn to know it was Isaac. The teen spoke immediately after bowing, "You sent for me, Master? Is there news on Ezra?"

"No," Vader replied, turning to face the younger. "But, I needed to inform you that you are being sent back to the Inquisition Academy."

"What?" Isaac whispered in shock. "Master, I'm needed here to help find the boy-"

Vader held up a hand, immediately silencing Isaac as he boy snapped his mouth shut in obedience. Vader explained, "You will still be assisting in the search. But, there are a few classes you need to take and you will be helping in the teaching of the younglings in the ways of the Dark Side."

Isaac clenched his teeth, "It will be a distraction."

"It will keep you alive," Vader growled. "You are currently under the watchful eye of the Emperor and though I am no allowed to take on apprentices, I can help instruct Inquisitors. When Ezra is located he will be sent to the Academy as well because of its safety and I will keep an eye on the two of you there."

Isaac knew there was no use in arguing, but a deep pit had formed in his chest. He had hated that place with a passion and the thought of going back was enough to produce vile in his throat. However…He nodded slowly in agreement.

"Yes Master."

Klatooine was never ending expanses of sand.

Ezra sat silently, staring off in the distant mounds before him, the rolling hills whipping around in the slight wind. The sun beat down on it and sent up a large glare, causing him to squint his eyes in some discomfort. The next few months of his life, this would be all what he would see. And the thought was…Perilous.

Infinite.

Ezra was somewhat spiteful this had come to be the place they would be living. He wished he had gotten a vote, because if he had he would never have picked someplace so barren. But, he had been unconscious and the decision had been made for him.

The fifteen year old sighed, sitting on the ramp of the Ghost, just observing and being pessimistic about the situation. He had finally managed to get out of bed when they landed and come to the ramp in order to see their temporary system.

He didn't pay much mind when Kanan came out and sat beside him. He wanted to complain, but he didn't. He knew this was hard on everyone and he was the reason they were stuck here, so he had no room really to be complaining about anything they did in order to protect him and keep him hidden.

He knew when they took him in this was not what they signed up for.

They'd never admit it though.

Kanan cleared his throat, breaking the silence of the breeze, "When you're fully well again, we can go explore the village a few miles from here and continue your training."

Ezra looked over when Kanan held something out to him. His lightsaber. He had wondered where it had gone and thought somewhere in the back of his mind it had been left with Isaac. But, here it was, blaster and blade. He took it into his hands, remembering the weight and the way he shifted it when aiming. Every cut and detail from the weapon he had built with his own two hands.

He was proud.

Ezra whispered, "There's not much to explore."

"Which makes this place safe," Kanan insisted. "I mean, we have a Lasat with us, this would probably be the last place they'd expect us to go."

"I guess," Ezra sighed, staring back off into the distant sea of sand. "It's my fault we have to hide here."

No beating around the bush or even trying to deny it. He knew it was true, so he spoke it, though Kanan obviously went stiff because he didn't agree. Or if he did he wasn't willing to say he did. Instead he responded, "It's not. We all want to keep you safe."

He paused and then continued, "And who knows. Maybe one day we'll win this war."

Ezra felt a rock in his throat, "Do you think that?"

Kanan sighed, and smiled a bit, looking down at the metal ramp below him. He shook his head, "I don't know…But, I hope I do."

Ezra felt his lip beginning to tremble as all the weight of the world seemed to hit him in one fluid motion. He shifted heavily where he sat, blinking up at the sky above his head. It was so bright and warm, but he felt so cold and dark.

He muttered, "I'm afraid, Kanan. I let your teachings down…I don't feel like I'm even close to being a Jedi…Or a padawan for that matter."

A long moment of silence came over them like a cloak until Kanan moved closer, grabbing a tuft of Ezra's hair. Ezra jumped in surprised and opened his mouth to ask what Kanan was doing, but Kanan only shushed him in response. Ezra felt several tugs, but after only a few minutes passed, Ezra was shown the tuft of hair on the side of his head.

A braid.

Ezra's eyebrows furrowed and he asked, "Uhhh, ok. What's this?"

"A padawan braid," Kanan said. "It was the symbol of the padawan learner when I was young. Yours isn't quite as long or as prominent as mine was, but we can't very well do that. It would be a dead giveaway. This is just enough to be true."

Ezra felt a warmth grow in him. The symbol of the padawan learner, huh? He smiled, taking the braid between his fingers, craning his neck just to catch a glimpse of it. The blue and black shimmered in the sunlight and he wanted to cry for some reason.

He didn't know why…But, he did want to cry.

All the world felt right and in place in a sudden moment of heartbeat and a smile towards Kanan brightened his blue eyes…

He was content.