Rebel Bonds - Star Wars Rebels

Chapter 2

Ezra Bridger was a small boy. He was thin from years on the street, but he was getting more nutrients now, and he was growing. His hair was long and navy blue, and his eyes were a shocking electric blue color. He was tan and he looked very energetic from the hologram alone.

Katooni just wasn't prepared for how energetic he was.

"Whoa! You're... Jedi!" The kid had exclaimed as soon as they had met up with the Ghost Crew. He screwed up his nose after a moment, squinting as he looked between Petro and Katooni, the former of whom was talking to the lasat, Zeb, and Kanan Jarrus. Hera and Sabine, the only two females on the ship, were standing a small distance away, watching Ezra with amused smiles.

"What, Padawan Bridger?" Katooni asked, pool-blue eyes curious. Ezra beamed at the title before remembering he had a question and sobering up.

"You're... connected? To him? Petro?" He said, confused. "I mean, Hera and Kanan are connected... kind of, but you guys are really connected. It's like you have part of each other's presences?"

Katooni smiled, nodding. "Petro's my bondmate. That means we're connected, kind of like you and your master, but it's different. We share energy, and sometimes our minds. If Ahsoka were here, she could explain it to you better than I could."

Ezra nodded slowly.

"So, do all Jedi have that? Is it just between Jedi?"

"Well, I'm fairly certain all Jedi, all force-users, have the potential for one. It's just whether or not you meet your bondmate. And I don't think both of you have to be force-users."

Katooni smiled at Ezra's wonder, knowing instantly why the Crew loved him so much. They all had faint attachments to him and each other, even if they didn't know it and probably never would. Katooni was more attuned to the force than most other Jedi, a fact she was proud of and helped her with almost every social interaction ever.

"How do you know when you find them?"

Ezra's voice was quieter this time, almost shy.

"Well, their presence always sticks out to you. You connect with them when no one else really seems to. And theres tons of other things, but I knew it was Petro when he saved me from getting stuck in a cave. We just... clicked, then."

He nodded, and suddenly he felt Sabine's hand on his shoulder.

"Let the woman think, Ezra," she jabbed, a laughing lilt to her voice. Katooni instantly knew why Ezra was asking the last one. It was Sabine. He wanted Sabine to be the one. Katooni could feel the connection trying to form on Ezra's end, and she could feel Sabine's hesitant, weaker presence connecting too.

Hera walked over too, the green twi-lek woman smiling at the two teens fondly.

"Katooni, Ahsoka said that you and Petro had a mission for us. To help the rebellion?"

Katooni nodded, nudging Petro a bit through their bond. He looked over and nodded, motioning to Kanan and Zeb to follow. Once the three males got back over, Katooni continued.

"We need the assistance of one of Anakin and Ahsoka's old friends. He is currently in the Seelos system, and we need to bring him back to... uh, his bondmate?" She looked to Petro for conformation. He shrugged.

"Well, simply put, we need allies. He would be a great asset to the rebellion. And since he's gone into hiding, we've only now managed to find his comm network. So, now that we have his location, we have this." Petro gestured to the droid-head, and Sabine's eyes lit up.

"I've heard of these! They were used in the Clone Wars!" Katooni watched Ezra's lips quirk into a little smile as he watched Sabine. That boy was gone.

"Yes, they were. Now, when is the soonest we can leave?"

---

"Petro, I know what the issue with Ezra is," Katooni said quietly, resting her head on his chest. His arm was around her back, but other than that they lay separately. Since their bond had completed at age twenty (they were now twenty-five), they hadn't been as clingy with each other. That wasn't to say that they loved each other any less, but they knew that they needed their space at times.

"What, Kat?" Petro asked, stifling a yawn and rubbing her arm with his hand.

"The girl? Sabine? She is definitely his bondmate. He just doesn't know, so he's projecting as much as he can, unconsciously trying to gain her approval and attention. Kind of like you." Petro's dark skin turned a little pink in embarrassment. When he and Katooni had been younglings, he had been projecting his presence so much that Master Yoda himself had come down to the dormitories and tried to connect the bond because he could no longer meditate without having Petro's presence intervene. Katooni had reluctantly agreed to stay around Petro longer, and eventually they were best friends until they realized what the bond actually meant. Then they kind of freaked out, avoided each other, got sick, and then had to face it all over again.

Petro reached out in the force, finding the Padawan's presence and smiling a little. It was a happy one, still mostly innocent despite everything he had seen. His presence was strongly connected to his master's own, way closer than would have been tolerated in the Temple. The boy's presence also was reaching out to the girl's multi-colored one. It was far from innocent; instead, it was hard and jaded. It still had a happy tinge to it, likely coming from the people around her. However, she wasn't a force-user, and she obviously couldn't really tell that Ezra was trying to bond with her. 

Petro resurfaced, nodding his agreement.

"They're definitely bondmates. But she can't feel it, not really. She could if Ezra made an effort to tell her what's going on."

Katooni nodded, yawning after a moment.

"Okay, can we sleep now? We've got a long day tomorrow."

Petro laughed.

"Sure, Kat. Goodnight."

"Goodnight."

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