Star Wars Rebels: Hera & Kanan

Chapter Twenty-three

Hera left Kanan banging around in the galley, where he was fulfilling her request for waffles (and more caf, of course), and went in search of Nash. The morning was now progressing towards afternoon, and they'd both reluctantly agreed that it was time they got back to tasks far less pleasant than kissing each other.

As she walked down the corridor, she couldn't help grinning like a fool. She was happy- happier than she'd been in a very long time. And if Kanan's inability to keep a smile off his face was any indication, he was feeling the same way.

She saw that Nash's cabin door was wide open, and assumed that he must be in the cockpit. She walked by it, throwing a cursory glance inside as she went- and stopped dead. A few steps backward fully revealed what her quick glance had caught: Nash lying facedown on his bunk, snoring, and Chopper getting ready to zap him.

Chopper paused with his electro-shock prod poised when he noticed Hera standing in the doorway.

She put her hands on her hips and raised an eyebrow. "Well?" she asked. "What are you waiting for?"

Chopper giggled, and promptly zapped Nash at full power.

Nash bolted up and out of the bunk, slamming his head into it as he went. "WHAT THE HELL?!" he yelled, staring around wild-eyed as he rubbed his head where he'd smacked it. Hera barked out a short laugh, and then quickly composed her face as Nash's eyes fell on her, narrowing with suspicion. Chopper let out another of his maniacal giggles, and Nash's gaze slid to the droid. Realization, quickly followed by anger, filled his face. Chopper squawked and rolled backward, just out of reach.

Hera smothered a grin.

"That's it, you blasted kriffing garbage can on wheels! I'm going disintegrate you! No! Better yet, I'm going to sell you to someone else for parts, and I'll give them a discount to watch them slowly dismember you!" Nash roared, moving menacingly towards Chopper.

She leaped between them, blocking her little troublemaker from harm.

"Out of my way, Hera! I've tolerated that piece of rolling space trash for years, and I've had enough!"

"You're not doing anything to my droid," Hera said, poking her finger into his chest. She briefly marveled at how little guilt she felt over her part in all of it.

"Oh, yes I am!"

"Oh, no you're not," she growled, feeling an expression on her face that Kanan referred to as her 'Captain Hera look'.

Chopper warbled out a string of insults, and Nash immediately turned his attention back to the object of his wrath. Hera, keen to get her droid away from Nash, told him, "Go work on the Phantom, Chopper."

Chopper chittered assent- he knew when to take an opportunity to escape- and sped out of the cabin. She heard Kanan yelp from the corridor, followed by another giggle from Chopper; she guessed that Kanan must have gone out into the corridor to find out what the commotion was, and Chopper got him, too. She really needed to do something about that droid.

A couple of seconds later, Kanan appeared at the cabin door, rubbing his thigh and wincing. "Uh...what's going on?" he asked warily, as he regarded her and Nash standing in the middle of the cabin, glaring at each other.

"I'm going to destroy Hera's evil droid, that's what's going on," Nash snarled, his black eyes glittering.

She planted her fists on her hips and drew her eyebrows further together, letting her expression do the talking. Nash never could withstand her looks for long, and sure enough, she saw the anger in his eyes waver briefly with uncertainty. It was only a matter of time before she won this battle.