Rebel Bonds - Star Wars Rebels

III

Hera watched the two children sleep, the small, frail street-rat boy and Sabine curled together. Kanan had assured Hera that that sort of thing was perfectly normal before disappearing to meditate. He obviously was not calm, and Hera had not really figured out what was happening.

Ezra was the boy's name, and he had bright blue eyes, electric as hyperspace stars. Those same eyes were laced with so much guarded fear that Hera had to fight not to just scoop up the tiny boy and never let him go.

Hera still was not really sure why, but Sabine had placed herself as his guard of sorts, absolutely convinced that Ezra would be unable to take care of himself and that everyone else would hurt him. The last bit kind of stung, but Hera was more amused than anything, just grinning and tucking both Sabine and Ezra into the medical bay's cot. It was way past the time Sabine would normally sleep, and Hera had no idea what time Ezra had been going to bed, but both had fallen asleep. 

While the boy was asleep, Hera had checked over Ezra, finding a myriad of scars all over his chest and back. He was malnourished, but other than that, he didn't seem too injured. He certainly looked better now than he did before.

Hera sighed, settling back in the chair, her eyes slipping closed. Surprises seemed to happen on the daily in her life.

Hands came to rest on her shoulders and she jumped, calming only once she felt the warmth suddenly flooding her body. Kanan.

"Hey, love."

Kanan looked over to the children, checking to see if they were asleep before turning back to Hera.

"He's been through a lot, huh?"

Hera just nodded, getting to her feet. She turned to Kanan, suddenly intent on answers.

"Okay, what's going on with them?"

Kanan was reluctant to answer, shuffling his feet and moving over to the children's bedside. Sabine was as cute as ever, hair flopped over every which way, mouth slightly parted as she snored quietly. Kanan grinned fondly before his eyes moved over to the boy, Ezra. He was tiny, even smaller than Sabine, and his face was calm only when he had both of his hands holding Sabine's. 

Kanan's smile slowly slipped away.

"What is it, love?"

He took a breath before starting, focusing on the force, his eyes closed.

"Sabine isn't force sensitive, you know, right?" Hera nodded, running a hand through the girl's hair, multi-colored from paint earlier in the day. "Well, Ezra is. And somehow he managed to find not only the only pseudo in existence, he managed to find his bondmate, too. He and Sabine are bonded, and they've only known each other for a few hours."

Hera stared, confused. "You make that sound like it's a bad thing."

"Well, it isn't necessarily bad, but the boy hasn't had any formal training. He's projecting his force-presence. They're collecting force-sensitive kids more now than ever, Hera, and he's going to be a prime target. We can't just stop him from it until he's been trained. And-"

"You can train him."

"What? No- no, Hera, I can't. I never graduated the rank of padawan. I never was knighted. I can't take on a padawan!"

Hera just sighed, looking down at Ezra's sleeping form.

"Well, you're his only chance. We can't drop him off somewhere, he can't be more than six, and we can't just keep him without him learning to control it. Either you train him, or we drop him off for the Empire."

Hera turned, heading for her quarters. Kanan sighed from behind her, and, grudgingly-

"Fine. I'll train Ezra."