1 Chapter 1: The Child From Lothal

Lothal was a dusty planet, not as dusty as Tatooine but still dusty. Kanan could sense the other sentient beings that lived there as well as the Loth-Cats and Loth-Wolves that called the barren plans home. But he could also sense something else, something that he hadn't felt in eight years. Something was here, something small but that seemed to pull at his conscious; a Force sensitive being called Lothal home and from the Force signature Kanan could tell that whoever it was had a lot of power but was untrained. However, he decided not to tell Hera about it. The Twi'lek was still getting used to having him around and he didn't want to add someone else Force sensitive to the mix. Unfortunately, despite the short time they had known each other, Hera had an uncanny ability to tell when Kanan was lying to her or keeping something from her. If Kanan didn't know any better, he would have sworn that she was Force sensitive.

"Something's bothering you," Hera said.

"Its nothing," Kanan said. "Let's just get the supplies and go."

♧♧♧

The market place was busy but fortunately, busy was a good thing. The more people around the more Kanan and Hera would blend in. The Stromtroopers there barely gave them a second glance. Determined to get the supply run done as quickly as possible, Kanan and Hera divided up the list.

Kanan had just gotten the last items on his half of the list when he felt a disturbance in the Force. He didn't have to look far to find it either. A young boy no older than eight practically ran into him and Kanan could sense that he had a strong Force signature.

"Don't let them take me," the boy said as he ducked behind Kanan to hide.

Before Kanan could ask who the boy was talking about, two stormtroopers rounded the corner. From the way they were walking, he knew that they hadn't been chasing the boy but he could still sense his fear.

"Is there a problem?" one of the stormtroopers asked.

"No. No problem," Kanan said quickly. "My...son got separated from me but he's fine now."

The stormtroopers seemed to have accepted this but Kanan knew that it was best to get the boy away from them.

"Come on, Caleb," he said taking hold of the boy's hand. "Let's go find your mom."

As casually as possible, Kanan lead the boy away and towards the spot where he and Hera had planned to meet up. Together, they would search for the boy's parents before leaving the planet.

♧♧♧

Hera waited patiently at the meeting place wondering what was taking Kanan so long. Finally, she saw him walking towards her...and he wasn't alone. A young boy no older than eight was with him.

"What happened?" Hera asked.

"He found me," Kanan said. "I think he got separated from his parents."

Hera crouched down so she was eye level with the boy.

"What's your name, sweetheart?" she asked.

The boy didn't say anything but Kanan could sense him instinctively reaching out with the Force to read both of them.

"It's okay," Kanan said. "My name's Kanan and hers is Hera."

The boy looked up at him and then back at Hera.

"Ezra," he said shyly.

"And where are your parents, Ezra?" Hera asked.

"I don't know. The white men took them away."

Hera and Kanan exchanged a glance. "White men" could only mean one thing, stormtroopers.

"How long ago?" Kanan asked.

"A really, really long time ago," Ezra answered.

Kanan didn't need to use the Force to know what Hera was thinking.

"We can't leave him here," she said.

"I knew you were going to say that," Kanan replied.

"Come on," Hera said to Ezra, standing up and taking his other hand. "We'll take you back to our ship where you can get cleaned up and have something to eat."

Ezra smiled up at both Hera and Kanan. He couldn't put his finger on it but he trusted them. Something told him that they wouldn't hurt him and he'd be safe with them until they found his parents. And, after being alone since just before his seventh birthday, it was nice to have two grownups he could depend on.