A/N: This is my gift to the fandom for the holidays. I hope you enjoy it!

For mood, I recommend listening to the song Yuri on ICE while reading. There were certain movements in the song which influenced the piece. Again, enjoy!

Kanera on Ice

In the middle of the night, while the rest of the crew slept, Hera lowered the ramp of the Ghost to peer out into the twilight of the frosty landscape beyond.

It was a snowy moon they'd chosen earlier to set down on, on the way back to Atollon after their most recent mission. A rare fatigue left them weary, and the quiet agreement to take the night as a well-deserved break had been unanimous. After landing, her crew quietly retired to their quarters, and the still winter of the moon surrounding them all. It pervaded the Ghost's well insulated interior, bringing with it the promise of peace and uninterrupted sleep.

But not for Hera. The sleep the wintry moon gifted skipped over her, and from the moment she'd set down only one thing had been on her mind.

Getting outside. Or, more importantly, getting to the frozen lake she'd intentionally landed near when she'd first scanned the moon for viable landing sites.

With a pair of attachable skating blades hanging in her hand, the Twi'lek stepped out from the warmth of the Ghost and into the quiet of the snowy night with every step down the ramp she took. Soon she was right at the edge, a scant inch away from the soft line of virgin snow. With a secret thrill she'd hidden deep in the heart of her inner child, she took that final step.

Her boots sunk into the snow with a delicate, crisp crunch.

That inner child within her beamed, and just like that Hera strode out, her small smile growing with each crunching step. She imagined herself the first person to set foot on this moon. Impossible, of course, but in the silence of the twilight moon, surrounded by nothing but untouched snow and a singular trail through it growing behind her, she could almost imagine and almost believe.

For the moment, Hera wasn't Captain of the Ghost crew, and she wasn't Phoenix Leader in the Rebellion.

She was Hera Syndulla, pilot and explorer of the wilds of the Outer Rim. And Hera Syndulla, pilot-explorer, had just found a winter wonderland, complete with a natural ice rink upon which she might further evoke her inner child and skate.

Thinking of the ice and the freedom found there, her steps took on a more familiar stride, ones filled with purpose as opposed to simple enjoyment. There was somewhere she wanted to be and she was going there.

Hera couldn't wait. She hadn't skated in years.

A gentle wind trickled over her body, and she was thankful for the thick winter coat she kept in the depths of her bunk. It was for those days when they became stranded in places like this, with little to no fuel in the Ghost to keep them warm. Besides the coat, the only other change in attire was a thick scarf wrapped around her head and both of her lekku to keep them protected.

Coming from a warm planet like Ryloth insured cold weather went right to her head, literally. The scarf helped protect her, though, as the wind helpfully proved, not all the way. The very tips of her lekku stung with the cold, but thankfully it wasn't too painful. Just uncomfortable, and she knew from experience that once she was out on the ice, she'd forget about the cold entirely. She'd be too caught up to notice. To care.

At the edge of the snow dusted lake she sat and attached the skating blades to her boots. They were luxuries she'd surprised herself by keeping over the years. She'd never expected to ice skate again, and she'd never purposely searched for opportunities to try. There had been no reason to keep them at all.

But that child in her had kept them, for moments exactly like this one.

With the blades on, her feet were weighted and heavy, clunky in comparison to her usual grace. But as she stepped on the gleaming lake, stumbling at first to find her balance, she found herself more graceful than ever.

It had been years since she'd skated. Ryloth was too warm for ice like this, and she'd only learned because she'd lived on an icy planet for a time while she refined her skills as a Rebellion operative. She'd skated often back then, but had little opportunity since. Admittedly, her skills were rusty.

But she found it was a lot like flying a ship she hadn't flown in a while, and she picked it up again easily enough to fly across the ice fearlessly. The exposed tips of her lekku stung for a few moments before the discomfort fell away like she knew it would. It wasn't long before the entire frozen lake was her domain, a further conquest for the pilot-explorer Hera Syndulla. Skating was like being a pilot, only she was the ship, and though on the ice she wasn't as deft at flying her body as she was the Ghost, she was good enough to enjoy the motions. That was all that mattered to her.

For a long time, she simply skated around the lake, enjoying the whisper of metal on ice as she recalled how to handle choppy terrain and find all the best spots to fly and spin and be free. This was a special recreation which soothed her soul and relaxed her mind as she became enchanted by the glitter of the snow in the twilight, illuminated only by the huge planet above and the dim lights of the Ghost.

Like this, with no one watching, she was her inner child. That pilot-explorer Hera very rarely had the chance to be these days.

It was liberating.

"I wondered what you were doing out here."

A warm voice broke the illusion Hera had half believed of herself, along with her delicate focus. Alarm made her arms spiral as she lost her balance and, with an embarrassing thud which echoed through the air, she toppled over and slid as her knees and elbow smarted sharply. She ignored the pain and the deep blush across her cheeks, a blush that had nothing to do with the sting of cold, and looked up to see an amused figure standing on the edge of the ice. A smile rested on his bearded lips and crinkled the edges of his blind eyes.

"Kanan!"

"That sounded like it hurt, darling."

In the frosty twilight his warm voice hung in the air as if for eternity, as if the moon desired to keep it. His breath misted with every exhale, and carefully Hera climbed to her feet again, moving far more slowly than she had moments ago as she worked past the shock her body endured. She drew up in front of the Jedi Knight and eyed him.

At the very least he hadn't seen how bad her fall had been. He might have known through the Force, sure, but he hadn't seen it in all her inelegant and graceless glory. Just as she was about to point out that he as the reason for her fall, he surprised her by stepping out on the ice himself.

Hera stared as Kanan got his feet under him after teetering dangerously on skating blades he'd attached to his own boots, and not for the first time was she floored by the fact that he was blind and doing something which should have been impossible. But that was Kanan. Doing the impossible and always shattering her expectations. Soon he'd taken a few first steps, each stride growing longer and more confident as if he were remembering how to move from memories he hadn't used in a long time.

Curious, she skated closer.

"I didn't know you had a pair of skates."

He shrugged as his arms flew out, as if to test his limits and range of motion. Then again, he might have been reaching out with his hands for the comfort and safety of the Force to steady him. Hera didn't know.

"I saw yours once in your cabin ages ago, and I happened to come across a pair myself in our travels. Been waiting ages to take them for a test drive."

Hera held her breath when Kanan surprised her by dashing off to build up speed before he sprung into the air with a powerful kick, spinning twice to land haphazardly before catching himself. He grinned and Hera found it contagious as she caught up to him. Even blind he matched her movements, keeping time with her effortlessly.

"You know how to skate?" Hera asked incredulously, and Kanan shrugged.

"Sure, somewhat. I had a girlfriend a while back who was crazy about it and hoped that I'd do a couple's routine with her one day."

"Oh?" Hera flew gently across the ice, and Kanan followed after like an echo.

"As you can imagine, it never got that far. You know me."

"Heartbreaker."

"Just didn't think I'd found the right partner for something like that. Couples skating always seemed ... intimate to me. Too intimate."

Hera's smile gentled as she twisted to skate backwards. Kanan mirrored her and together they glided smoothly in an arch around the nearest edge of the lake before Hera pivoted forward again. Kanan continued to skate backward, and though the skin around his blind eyes was still stiff with scar tissue, a serene gaze lingered on his face and made Hera's heart warm.

Intimate indeed.

Hera weaved and Kanan pivoted to weave with her in time. They flew like birds across the ice, graceful in a dance they made up with each press of their blades across the frozen water, their blades scraping delicately. He matched her perfectly, led by the Force in that strange way of his, and they shared a knowing smile. With a deft kick, Kanan circled around her in a manner which made her slow, and he drew to a stop right in front of her to take her hand.

"Do you trust me?"

Hera smirked at the blind Jedi, and the soft snort which slipped from her was filled with that special warmth which lingered between them like an invisible line. That special warmth they both felt but never named, as if naming it would bring bad luck.

But, then again, they'd never needed to name it.

"What sort of question is that?"

"Then how about a dance?"

With a gentle press of her blades, she slid until only a few inches separated them. Their world shrunk as they shared warmth and breath before, with a lean and a careful hand, he drew her across the frozen lake.

The dance wasn't anything complicated. Both were amateurs at best, only good enough to have fun, but not for anything too showy or complicated. Yet together, alone on this wintry moon, their inexperience didn't matter. After all, as far as this moon was concerned, pilot-explorer Hera Syndulla and her trusty blind monk-warrior were the best ice dancers in the galaxy.

Together they flowed across the ice in slow, elegant strides, and with almost perfect coordination he helped lead and balance her through spins and turns, an anchor for her so she might impress an invisible audience. Throughout this simple and impromptu routine, they couldn't help smiling at each other. Out here with Kanan like this, there was a soothing freedom. As if all the worries of the galaxy, of the Empire, of the Rebellion, were happening to other people. Two other people with immense responsibility who didn't exist here and now.

For the moment, Hera could forget everything. Everything except Kanan's solid and dependable presence, and the warmth which existed between them.

Then Kanan began picking up speed and Hera's heart raced as she suspected what would come next. In all likelihood they were both about to crash and burn into the ice, but if not ...

"Do you still trust me?" he murmured into her ear as they glided with increasing speed. An edge of bright excitement lined his voice, like he hoped they could pull it off as well, and was willing to try if she was. His hands already encircled her waist. She looked at him expectantly.

"When have you ever dropped me before?"

Kanan chuckled, and her warm alto joined his as together they crouched. His hands tightened on her waist and at a silent count their hearts shared, Hera sprang up at the same time Kanan lifted her.

This time she flew through the cold air like a true bird, her arms spread as she maintained her balanced atop Kanan's strong arms and she smiled and closed her eyes. This was how she envisioned it felt like to be a bird, disconnected from the earth, even if she was supported so faithfully by someone who still touched it.

But given who it was, she might as well be truly flying.

"Ready, darling?"

No, she'd never be ready to let something like this, something so unbelievable, go. But her heart was full and more than anything she wanted to be level with Kanan, this incredible man, and so she nodded.

"Whenever you are."

Careful as he could manage, he began to lower her but it was proving that going up was a lot easier than coming down, and she landed on her skates with a bang. She tried to salvage their lost balance by pulling on his arm to act as a counterweight, but all that did was cause him to grip her tighter. Suddenly they entered a swift spin together, around and around like a binary star system, and her heart pounded and throbbed with equal parts fear and excitement. All she could see in the blur of the snowy twilight was Kanan. His face, she knew, matched hers, torn between concern and elation. Worry and glee that made them both want to bark with laughter.

Together they would go down hard and fast, but all things considered, at least they would go down together.

One of them tripped and they started to fall, but instead of landing on the hard ice and in a painful heap like she'd expected, she felt them propelled by an invisible force into the air. Soft snow cocooned them, cushioning their fall, and she found herself half on Kanan who lay sprawled on his back. Their legs were tangled together and weighted by the heavy blades, and icy snow slipped into the small gaps in their clothes, forcing gasps of sharp surprise from both of them.

Hera and Kanan looked at each other, and then burst into rolling peals of laughter which filled the air like harmonious music. What fun! Thrilling, dangerous, maybe even a little stupid, but she couldn't remember the last time they'd had so much fun like this together.

The Twi'lek smiled down at her Jedi and he gently pressed one of her scarf covered lekku over her shoulder, the warm touch sending shivers all the way down her body. Kanan smiled at her, his blind eyes gentle and unseeing, and filled with enough warmth to chase the cold away from her bones.

"You skate beautifully."

If only he could see the way she looked at him now. If only those eyes were beautiful blue instead of milky white. But even though he couldn't see in the same way she could anymore, somehow she thought he knew, and she caught his hand and pressed it against her heart.

"You're not too bad yourself."

For a moment everything faded away again, and it was just her and him, together in the snow on this moon in the dead of night, sharing breath and warmth and a happy moment that she would forever hold in a most cherished place of her heart. The place she needed when times were rough, and the impossible seemed likely. The place she needed for inspiration and hope. But for now ... for now it was just them, as they were now.

Hera and Kanan.

A huge shiver raced up Kanan's spine and Hera laughed with amusement before rolling off him to sit up and detach the skating blades from her boots. The weights around her feet fell away and she stood so she could help get him out of his skates and upright again.

"Come on, luv. We're going to catch a cold if we stay out here any longer."

"Might be too late for that," he replied before he sneezed loud enough to crack the air. Hera grinned as he brushed snow off his clothes, and she picked up the skates. Now that they weren't moving anymore and had been laying in the snow, the cold had sunk in and she shivered. He might be right. It wouldn't surprise her if in the morning they both woke up with a cold if they didn't get inside soon.

With the cold in her bones, all Hera could think of was the warmth of the Ghost. She blinked, however, at Kanan as he pulled her close, wrapping his arm around her back and over her lekku. He'd dropped his arm low enough that the exposed tips were covered, and she was amazed at what so small a change could do in helping her feel warmer.

Happy to return the favor, she slipped her arm around his waist to share warmth and companionship and the quiet hope that, one day, there might be time for more. That Captain Hera Syndulla and Jedi Knight Kanan Jarrus might not be needed anymore, and simple Hera and Kanan might have more than just these stolen moments. That there might be a future for more.

One day.

"Let's get home."

Kanan grinned at her. "It is pretty warm there."

She thought of her ship, and the sleeping beings that made up their little family inside, with all their quirks and problems and wonders, and she smiled. He was right.

With their arms wrapped around each other, they made their way back to the Ghost. It waited before them like a gentle beacon, and illuminated the footprints they left behind in the snow, together.