Never Going Back

Chapter 17- Wolves and a Door

Noelle fought to calm the shaking in her hands as they sped through the grassy plains of Lothal and away from the Capitol city.

Another close call. She didn't want to think where she'd be now if–

"How did you find me?" she blurted out. They had already been riding for quite awhile in silence, yet she hadn't bothered to ask them until now.

Ezra looked up. There was a deep sadness in his eyes. "The wolves..." he started.

"Wolves?"

"After Kanan– after he–" Ezra looked away, unable to finish his sentence.

The realization dawned on Noelle. "He's gone, isn't he?" she said quietly. It only made sense. Ezra was here and Kanan was not. She felt another stab of guilt and grief for someone else she couldn't save.

There was a long moment of silence, until Ezra finally spoke. "The Loth-Wolves spoke to me in a dream. They told me to go to the Jedi Temple on Lothal. The Empire is after something there, and they told me to find you first."

Noelle was silent. It was almost too perfect to be true.

"The Jedi Temple is where I need to go," she said. "I came here to Lothal looking for answers, and the best place to go for those answers is the Temple."

"Well, you came to the right place," Sabine said with a heavy sigh.

Noelle shook her head."With the Force there are no coincidences. I was meant to come here at the same time as you are, although what your purpose is is likely different from mine."

Ezra frowned. "The Loth-Wolves told me 'restore past, redeem future.' What does that mean?"

"For starters, what in the galaxy is a 'Loth-Wolf?'"

Ezra actually managed a chuckle. "You'll have to see for yourself. Let's just get back to base first."

~~~~~

Their "base" was practically a deserted hollow situated in the side of one of the hive-shaped structures that dotted Lothal's surface. Only Hera remained. Noelle was curious to see how Hera was doing after all this. She likely wasn't in a good state after just losing the man she loved.

The green Twi'lek looked up from a stone platform she was musing over when she saw them approaching. Noelle hopped out of the speeder.

"Hera!" She genuinely was pleased to see her either way. She missed being under Hera's command, even though she would rather take orders from no one. "How are you?'

Hera gave a tired smile. "Better than before– I think. It's good to see you."

"It's good to see you too," Noelle replied sincerely. "Now what's this business with the Jedi Temple."

"Ezra." Hera gestured to behind Noelle. "You have our attention, now explain what's going on."

Ezra, Sabine, Chopper and Zeb joined Noelle and Hera at the little stone table, on which was a golden mural with three various hand configurations. Noelle had never seen anything like it before.

"This stone came from the Jedi Temple here on Lothal," said Ezra.

"That's far to the North," Hera observed. "How did it get here?"

"The Loth -Wolves gave it to me," Ezra explained casually. "They think the Empire's doing something terrible there."

Zeb laughed. "Ok, wait." He held up his hands. "They think. What did they talk to you?"

Ezra scratched his head, as if he didn't know how to explain it himself. "Uhh, just the one."

That was why Noelle wanted to see these Wolves for herself. They were obviously strongly connected to the Force in ways other creatures were not. They seemed no ordinary wolves from the description.