The Youngling

Return to Lothal

•Time for the epic chapter I promised. I proudly present to you...

It had been two years since the Ghost had been to Lothal. Yeah, they had broken their promise to Ezra, but he did not even care. He had pretty much lost hope that his parents were still alive and would come back for him a long time ago. Honestly he knew the day they were taken away from him they were never coming back. That didn't stop him from hoping that they would. In two months he'd be with the Ghost crew for seven years. The first half of his life he was raised by his parents. The second by Kanan and Hera with the exception of those two months between his birthday and his Spector anniversary.

Today was Ezra's birthday though. Kanan and Hera were going to try and make it a good day for him. Like everyone's birthday should be. However, it was always a bad day full of bad memories for the entire crew.

For Kanan it was the fourteenth anniversary of his master's and most other Jedi's death. Hera and Zeb it was the day they lost their freedom. For Sabine it was once a day of actual celebration for years. Now it was a reminder of why she couldn't go home to her family.

For Ezra, being his birthday, Empire day was always celebrated differently. It was never a good day though. Something happened every year on that day. His parents always had a small party for him. A few gifts and some cake. That was always his favorite part. Kanan and Hera keep up that tradition. However they also gave him some space today. Mostly because it was also the anniversary of his parents arrest.

"Hey Ez. I know you want some time alone, but I have a surprise for you." Hera said.

"I'll be there in a bit." The teen replied. "I'm just thinking about my parents."

"Look, I know we broke our promise to take you back home once a year..." Hera began as she sat down beside the boy on his bunk.

"It's fine. It's kinda pointless anyways. They're not there and they probably never will be again." Ezra says.

"Well I was going to tell everyone at once, but I think I'll tell you now. Fulcrum remembered our promise to you, & gave us an assignment." Hera says.

"To Lothal?" Ezra ask.

"For a year maybe more. Lothal has a lot of people suffering and imperial presence has increased over the years. Fulcrum thought that with you being from there maybe seeing one of their own helping others out and standing up against the empire others wound stand up as well." The Twi'lik explained.

"Great I can spend some time in my tower and doing what I usually do on trips home." Ezra says.

"Just check in with us every once in a while ok. We'll stay close by just incase. Usual procedure if we need you on an assignment..." Hera started to go over the rules of a solo mission.

"I know you com me and I'll be there. Kanan and I meet at my tower for training at scheduled times. This is my sixth time doing this Hera." Ezra continued for her.

"Then you're excused from the briefing." She said. Then she left to tell the others.

The Ghost landed on Lothal later that day. Ezra immediately left the ship and headed into town.

"Ezra wait. We aren't supposed to leave the ship without telling anyone." Sabine shouted at him. She was about to run after him when she felt a hand on her shoulder stopping her.

"He's going home. We'll check on him later." Kanan said to her.

"This is his home planet? He has family here?" She asked.

"Had, his parents were arrested here seven years ago today. He was left to live on the streets alone. He's checking to see if anyone's heard or seen them." The Jedi explained.

"He's going to come up empty." Sabine said understanding now. She had been taken from her family by the empire, but Ezra was the only one they left behind. She wondered if her family was still looking for her like Ezra was for his parents.

"The past five times he hasn't. We promised him we'd come back here and check our contacts once a year to see if there was any updates." Kanan added.

"So, do we go after him yet?" Hera ask as Kanan walked into the cockpit.

"Not yet, he was held up by stormtroopers." Kanan answered.

"I hate this wait. The kid always comes back upset every time. Remind me why we let him do this again?" Zeb asked.

"Because, if his parents are back, or send for him they would expect him to be alone." Hera says.

"I don't like it as much as you. He shouldn't be alone when dealing with this. We're there when he needs us though." Kanan says. He then gets up and starts to walk out.

"Kanan, where do you think you're going?" Hera asked.

"After him. He's not going to let anyone see him like this. However, he can't hide it from me and he knows that. I can sense the feelings he hides from us. He'll be more open if it's just me this time." Kanan says.

After running through the streets Ezra finally got to his parents' house.

"Mom, Dad!" Ezra called as he searched each room only to find them still empty. With each room he lost more hope that they or anyone would be there.

Ezra entered his old room and sat down on his bed. He pulled out his lothcat and laid back on the bed. He closed his eyes as he tries to hold back his tears. The tears were just about to fall when he heard the door.

"It's just me." Kanan says entering the room.

"No ones here, Kanan. They're still missing." The teen cried.

"I know. I knew there wasn't going to be." Kanan said as he sat next to his Padawan.

"You always know every time, yet you let me go anyways. Why?" Ezra ask.

"As much as I'd like to protect you from this I can't. You have to find this out on your own." Kanan explained.

"How?" Ezra asked. Kanan knew exactly what he was asking before he asked it. "How do you always know before I do?"

"I can't exactly explain it to you yet. All I can say is the force showed me how this would turn out. I've sensed from the beginning that they weren't coming back. You feel it too, don't you?" The older Jedi answers.

"I keep hoping it's wrong. Every time I do this I know it's pointless, but I still try. I've known all along I would never see them again." Ezra says. "I don't want to do this anymore Kanan. I don't want to go through this again. It's to hard & painful."

"I know. That's why we skipped last years trip. So much had already changed we didn't want you to go through this again during all of it. I'm sorry we broke our promise to you." Kanan says.

"I know. I didn't say anything because I didn't want to come back here. Not like this at least. I wish there was an easier way where I didn't have to do this." Ezra replies.

"There is. You just haven't been able to use that ability yet." Kanan says.

"Guess I don't have that gift." Ezra says.

"Oh, you do. You've been showing signs of it for a while now. It just hasn't developed yet." Kanan started to explain. 'Honestly, I'm shocked you haven't already started having visions. You learn this stuff so quickly I had to slow down your training just to stop your powers from growing so fast. I don't know how much more I can teach you.' He thought to himself. "One day the force will tell you exactly what you need to know about your parents. Until then your stuck with me kid."