Welcome Back Everyone!

I hope your first month in this new year went as good as you wished! On my side, everything isn't perfect, but it's way better than what it once was! So, I think I'm on the right path :3

Will Ezra be, too, on the right Path? (I know, bad pun XD) Well, let's find out this year with new chapters! :D

Special mention!

- XXXX = Your review honestly surprised me ( in a good way :3 ) I'm so happy you enjoyed everything I've written so far! :D False Lie should be updated soon too ;)

- Magic = Don't worry, the box had holes to let that cat breath XD And, does anyone had ever said to you that you're just too cunning ;)

- Rebel Spectre 6 = Thanks for believing and supporting Kanan! I believe too he is a better Master for Ezra in the end :3

- Hivedragon = Yeah, sorry for the armor thing, I just thought it would be so hilarious XD

- HiddenJade = Hahaha, well, Isn't Ezra just so adorable that everyone would want to own him in one way or another? ;)

- Master Skywalker 121 = I don't want to promise anything, but I might like a lot the Dark Ezra idea ;)

- Ilamamoose 23 = Thanks for that sweet review :3 I'm happy I could write stories that you can enjoy so much :D And, be careful of what you wish ;)

And a big thanks to the others too ! :3 Let not wait anymore to see what will happen next to our (maybe too much) impetuous Kanan ;)

Have a nice reading time! :D

P.s. I own Nothing!

Chapter 15

Ezra continued to cry through the night until exhaustion caught up to him and he finally let his consciousness rest, all curved up on the floor.

He cried so much that, the day after, his eyes were still red when he woke up, but it didn't matter. He also didn't look at the time. He knew he had over slept too much for his schedule, but no one came to bother him...

Resting his head on the floor once more, he turned his sight to the little Lothcat. He was still nestled against him, closely leaned to the kid's belly, just under his arm, as if he wanted to be protected and warmed by Ezra. When he felt the boy moving slightly because he was awake, he started to purr and stretched his front paws before hiding his head with them and burying his nose in his own furr. Ezra smiled at that and curled up more to continue resting around the little furry ball.

Anyway, he had no motivation to move anywhere...

...

Two days passed in a flash. Ezra didn't move from his room at all and, since no one came for him, he didn't eat either. Although, he didn't care for the hunger. A blank feeling filled him whole and he couldn't muster any strength to do anything. Everything seemed vain, futile.

Everything except those few moments where it felt like his whole being was on fire... All his muscles would tense and it felt like his brain was being wrecked. It would hold for minutes. Sometime, it even lasted for half an hour!

Then, the sensation would disappear and only that vast emptiness would consume him once more... and, those times, he wondered if it was really okay for him to feel even the slightest joy about Kanan being alive. He wanted this kind man to stay alive. He didn't deserve to die because of some random kid bursting into his life and getting into trouble, but Ezra knew that what he felt was what that man felt, even if it was obviously a faint and far remnant of what he could endure. Ezra knew Kanan was getting that suffering because of him. Because he had tried to help the kid...

He truly wanted to be happy about Kanan being alive. If only that man could have minded his own business...

...

At the beginning of the third day, the door suddenly slid open and a shiver ran along Ezra's spine. At that exact moment, the little Lothcat jumped from between the boy's arms and ran to hide under the bed again.

Without looking, Ezra knew who it was and, although it wasn't really a surprise, what startled him was to sense the Grand Inquisitor sit just beside him. Then, the kid looked above his shoulder, witnessing that imposing man sitting right on the floor, holding a food tray with a water glass and a plate for the boy and little ones for the cat on it!

-"It's not healthy to refuse to eat like that." The Pau'an's voice was calm, gentle.

Ezra managed to rise and sit too, his sight staying on the floor. -"How did you know?"

-"I felt it."

That simple answer made the boy raise his head to look directly into the Inquisitor's eyes. He saw in their worried shape his own pitiful reflection. He got thinner, looked dehydrated and his eyelids had darkened a little.

The Grand Inquisitor set the tray on the floor and locked his stare into Ezra's. -"Eat, but take your time. You don't want to feel sick for filling your empty stomach too quickly."

Ezra dropped his sight to the tray and nodded. The Inquisitor posed a comforting hand on the boy's shoulder, firming his grip gently, and rose to his feet to leave the room.

Not long after the door was closed, the little Lothcat pointed the tip of his nose from under the blanket and happily took a few bites from his bowl. A corner of Ezra's lips curved into a light smile and he patted his little furry friend before taking tiny bites into his own meal.

...

The Grand Inquisitor was walking in the corridors with a fast pace.

Although he had eased part of that unsettling feeling that had twisted his guts since a few days, he knew he would need to act soon if he wanted to erase it completely.

That disturbing feeling, he needed to get rid of it fast... and Permanently.

As he was approaching to the cell area, he could hear Kanan's cries. He was yelling so loudly that his suffering voice would fill the corridors, even with the door of his cell closed!

The Grand Inquisitor would normally have smiled in front of this foe's pain. He would have enjoyed witnessing his misfortune, but that man had tainted his Bond through his connection with his Apprentice and it was the whole reason that this boy was so unsettled right now. It was the reason behind that disgusting disturbance into the Inquisitor's own feelings.

Hiding his discomfort behind his marble face, passing in front of the Troopers guarding the door without a look at them and entered the cell.

The prisoner was panting, taking back his breath after another electric shock. His eyes were closed as he kept silent, still defying his captor.

The Agent Kallus, removing his fingers from the torture devise's control panel, moved to lean his forearm just above Kanan's head, talking with a low, menacing tone. -"Your resistance is futile. Your rebellion cannot win. No one can win against an enemy like the Empire."

But the rebel only kept breathing, ignoring his torturer.

The Grand Inquisitor humfed with disdain. -"Haven't you obtained the information you were looking for? How hard could it be to break one single man?"

Kallus turned his sight to the newcomer, standing up again with a sigh. -"He has proven to be a tough opponent."

But, rather than feeling sorry for his ally's misfortune, the Inquisitor only scowled, irritated. -"How much longer do you think you'll need to break him?"

The man didn't take offense in it. The stern Inquisitor was known to be cold.

He simply stated. -"He is weakening. Maybe a few more days."

The Pau'an grunted in a mutter. -"That's far too long."

-"What did you..." But Kallus' speech was interrupted by the Grand Inquisitor closing the distance between him and the prisoner and reaching a hand to him. The Agent got in the way, stopping him with his arm raised. "Hey! We had an agreement! You are to let me handle this procedure before..."

-"Do not misunderstand, I did not forget your terms. He will not meet his demise right now, but I can ease your work."

-"How?" Dubiously asked Kallus.

-"Jedi are trained to resist interrogation, but they still feel pain. You handle the physical part, I will take care of his mental and emotional suffering."

The Agent's frown deepened, but he moved to make way. Kanan, finally getting his senses back together, glared at the Inquisitor walking towards him. He could not evade him, but he could gain some time to shake his mind off the dizziness.

And he knew only one thought that should affect the Inquisitor enough right now.

-"Where is Ezra?"

The Pau'an scowled more, his lips twisting into a snarl. -"His whereabouts is of no concern to you."

-"You know it's false."

But, rather than slowing him, Kanan's taunt only made the Inquisitor's attack happen faster! He lunged, grabbing with his long hand the man's forehead and hair, digging his fingers so strongly into the skin that it was almost breaking his skull, and he used the Jedi's weariness to his advantage to dive into his mind!

Kanan snapped out of the pain just in time to evade a direct blow. He jumped back, looking around. For an experienced mind, the inner-self wasn't a foggy space filled with mist. Kanan's inner-space was a soothing and vast field of green grass and flowers with big blue petals warmed by a bright sun. His sight got caught by the Grand Inquisitor, walking towards him again, each of his steps making the grass curled into yellow, dried strands of hay.

-"I will make you regret the day you decided to lay your hands onto my Apprentice." Growled the Inquisitor's representation.

-"I was gonna say the same." Kanan defiantly answered back.

They got into a fighting stance, attacking each other with the Force, each wave making the calm field rumble as the green and blue landscape got damaged by the aftershock.

Even despite his weariness, Kanan was standing his ground pretty well, until Kallus intervened. Another strong electric shock passed through the Jedi's being, bringing him to his knees, and the Grand Inquisitor took this opportunity to launch the decisive strike. Mustering all his strength, he made yellow chains pierce the ground from under and wrap themselves around Kanan's inner-self!

The second he sensed those icy cold chains ensnaring him, Kanan struggled as vividly as he could, but it was already too late. They firmly hold him down, trapping him, helpless to move away from his shackles.

The Grand Inquisitor raised his head, this prowess having drained him from his strength, but this victorious sensation eclipsed all his weariness.

Kanan darted his look at the Imperial Inquisitor. -"Proud, aren't you. You must be so proud you can take down your weakened enemies."

The Inquisitor walked toward the subdued Jedi, gloating. -"You can struggle as much as you want, nothing you do or say will get you out of those shackles."

Kanan tugged at those chains by reflex, making them soundly rattle. He dropped his head to look at them, his eyes narrowing as he realized what color they were.

-"As I thought," Continue the Inquisitor. "you have no idea about how the inner-self works. I see in your eyes that you wonder why those chains are yellow and the ones that hold the boy are blue."

He was getting dangerously close and Kanan tried to shove him away with the Force, but the Inquisitor withstood the attack and hit back, destabilizing his enemy! Kanan had to shake his head to get rid of the dizziness and he painfully looked back again at the Pau'an

The Inquisitor sneered before Kanan's trouble and continued his explanation. -"You are simply too weak to resist my attacks, that's why I can keep you trapped within my power. The boy doesn't know it yet, but he is far stronger than most. Fortunately for me, one cannot be stronger than oneself. So, when I was inside his inner-self, I tricked him into believing I was more powerful than him and when I plunged that yellow chain in him, I manipulated his heart and used his own strength against him. Those blue chains are his and he'll never be strong enough to break them by sheer force since they'll strengthen along with him."

Kanan clenched his fists. Everything about that man was sickening him. Not only did he trick Ezra to cage himself, but he did so knowing how it would hurt the kid!

Swallowing his hatred, he breathed to keep his cool. Losing to his rage would only advantage his opponent. -"Still, I'm surprised you didn't try to use this interrogation to boast before your 'Apprentice'"

The Inquisitor winced. -"Don't take me for a fool, I saw how he looked at you when you were losing our fight in the corridor and, most of all, I saw what it did to him to endure your selfish connection during those few days. He is not ready to witness any of this, and I won't risk breaking everything we built in those past weeks..."

Wait. Was Kanan hearing right? It's as if the Grand Inquisitor was being considerate of Ezra! He couldn't believe it, not after everything he had done to that poor child, but one thing was certain.

Kanan and Ezra's Bond was still intact thanks to the fact that this Inquisitor didn't understand anything about it! If he did, he would not call it a 'selfish connection'.

-"What, you still didn't remove it?" Kanan faked his surprise, and then grinned. "Ah, but, what was I thinking, you can't." His expression firmed as he furiously continued. "You'll never be able to break that bond as long as you don't understand it, and you'll never be able to break it because you'll never have the heart to truly understand that boy!"

The Inquisitor stooped to clench his hand on Kanan's hair, making the man winced. -"The subtleties of that disgusting thing might escape me, but only as much as those chains binding you." The Inquisitor twisted his hold, pulling Kanan closer to himself with a yelp. "You'll never be able to escape them without help and they'll keep you away from my Apprentice's mind. He doesn't need to be constantly hindered by some harassing weakling trying to teach him some stupid and useless Jedi tricks."

Kanan's expression became serious, assured with each word he pronounced. -"You will only make him suffer and, in the end, I'll be the one to whom he'll turn to."

His visage being deformed by the rage, the Grand Inquisitor hit Kanan's face with the back of his hand so strongly that a stray of blood was spilled on the grass!

-"This conversation is over for now, Jedi, but rest assured." He pulled once more on Kanan's hair to talk in his ear. "The minute Agent Kallus is through with you, I will make you meet your demise with an utmost pleasure."

Standing up again, the tall Inquisitor unleashed all his hatred against that Jedi! He hit him with the Force, again and again, until the chains were the last things maintaining Kanan somewhat standing on his knees...

Turning his back to his powerless enemy, he exited his inner-self and left him there, surrounded by the ravaged field with the blue flower tainted by the red stains of defeat...

...

Turning to look at the Agent, the Inquisitor saw Kallus startled by the sudden movement and he sneered before his surprise.

-"Your participation was... appreciated, Agent."

Kallus scowled. -"You were supposed to leave him alive long enough to..."

-"He isn't dead." Interrupted the Inquisitor. "Merely unconscious and, I assure you, it will be much easier to interrogate him after that."

Kallus kept his frown, but nodded. The Inquisitor's tone was giving him goosebumps and he was happy to see him leave the cell. He looked at his departure and then moved his sight to the unconscious prisoner.

What could he have done to him during those silent minutes? The Agent supposed he would never know, but if it could make him pierce this rebel's stubbornness sooner, then he was grateful to have this freak on his side.

He smirked, thinking for an instant about the boy. What a wonderful ally Ezra would be with that kind of potential and without the Inquisitor's awful personality. He just needed to snatch him away before the Inquisitor could taint him too much...

...

Poor, Poor Kanan! I hope he'll be fine after everything he endured :3 (No, I'm not ashamed of having written this XD )

Ever seen Metal Gear Solid 3 Boss last showdown scene? The battle inside Kanan's inner-self was inspired by that :3

But, on a little side note, for those who also follow my other story and might have missed the last update because I made so much changes with the fusion of the two parts together (sorry if the bunch of notifications was a hassle), chapter 22 is a new chapter! It's Part 8 of the Brand arc! :D And chapter 23 should follow soon :3

See you soon and take care! :D