Lost in Space

Kanan

Kanan Jarrus stood in the shadows of the Ghost like a sentinel. In many ways, he was a sentinel. It was his job now. To watch over the ones he loved. His heart, Hera. His beloved friends, Sabine and Zeb. Even Chopper, he thought with a laugh.

Only his protege and padawan, Ezra, was missing. He frowned at the young man's absence. Hmm...

He sat down on the edge of the bunk he used to share with Hera watching her sleep. His hand rested protectively on the soft swell of her stomach.

Hera stirred. She shifted in her sleep, unconsciously rolling towards him. "I miss you, Kanan." She said softly in her sleep.

"I'll always be with you, Hera."

Hera smiled as she settled back into a deep sleep.

"Sleep well, my beloved." Kanan murmured softly. His voice, nothing but a whisper on the wind of the Force.

Kanan shifted his awareness. Where is Ezra? Where is his padawan?

He reached out into the Force, searching through the different melodies until he found it.

Ezra's song.

#

Ezra

Ezra Bridger gasped for breath, his lungs aching. Chaos surrounded him as the purrgil wrapped their tentacle-like tails around him and Thrawn, locking them both in a warm embrace.

The tentacles began to glow again.

He braced himself.

He knew what that glow meant. The purrgil were jumping through hyperspace again. Blue streaks of stars were reflected in his bright blue eyes as they jumped.

He held on, pushing past the pain.

He cut his eyes over to Thrawn, the man who had become his nemesis. The Chiss had passed out, sagging in the Purrgil's glowing tails.

Ezra tried to relax. He trusted the purrgil. They'd helped him before - he knew they wouldn't fail him now.

Unfortunately, he had no idea where they were going...or when they would get there.

I'm sorry, Sabine. Ezra pictured the Mandalorian woman clearly in his mind. I wish I'd had the time to explain...to make you understand that I had to do this. That...this was the only way that I could save all of you. I wish I had time to tell you that...I love you.

He swallowed down the rising emotion. Stars, I miss you. I miss you all.

Tears ran down his cheeks as he let go.

The purrgil's tail wrapped securely around him, holding him up tenderly, as they sped towards destination unknown.

#

Ezra woke suddenly. He fell against one of the navigation chairs as he realized that the purrgil's tentacles were no longer holding him upright. He breathed in deeply, feeling a catch in his side.

"Damn, that hurt," he muttered softly as he pulled himself up. "Urgh, why did they have to squeeze so tight?"

He limped over to where Thrawn lay on the bridge of the Chimaera, weaving his way through the thrown bodies of the stormtroopers. Carefully, he rolled him over and checked his pulse, finding a strong and steady heartbeat. Noting that no serious damage had been done to the Chiss, he sighed. "You'll live."

With a groan, he pushed himself up to standing. All the blast shields had lowered during their flight with the purrgil. "Where in space are we?" he asked out loud as he crossed over to the viewscreen.

Static.

Damn. He smacked the side of the terminal in frustration. This was worse than he thought. He brought his fist down hard on the terminal's keyboard and the screen flickered to life. His eyes lit up, then widened as he saw the approaching planet.

Or rather, they were approaching the verdant planet extremely fast.

"Oh, no no no!"

Ezra's heart was racing as he limped to one of the pilot's chairs and sat down heavily. His hand gripped the controls, but with the blast shields down - he was flying blind. "Awhh! Where's Hera when you need her? Oh, right! Where I left her - on Lothal!"

His eyes raced over the control panel.

Think, kid. You can do this.

Ezra's eyes widened. He swore he just heard Kanan's voice.

"Kanan?!" He shook himself. "Wow, that smack on my head must have done more damage than I thought," he muttered.

Ezra, use the Force.

"Kanan!" Ezra gripped the controls tighter as he closed his eyes and let the Force flow through him. His hands flew over the panel, seemingly flipping switches at random.

At that moment, Thrawn rolled over with a deep groan. He glanced up to see Ezra flying his ship with closed eyes. The boy is a...Sky-Walker? Impossible.

He rose and stumbled over to the boy. "Where are we?"

"I don't know," Ezra replied with a flippant remark. "Why don't you check the navicomputer? I'm a little busy keeping us from crashing into...I don't know- a kriffin' planet!"

Thrawn rose one slim black brow at the impudent young man. "We would not be in this particular predicament had it not been for your tentacled-friends."

"Hey, my friends kept us alive! You should be grateful!"

Thrawn glowered at him, but then checked the navicomputer. "The nav has no information at all regarding our current position. We are lost, somewhere in Wild Space."

Ezra let out a hmph. "Big surprise there," he muttered softly. "Hey! A little help here would be nice!"

Thrawn held his side as he shuffled over to the co-pilot's chair and sat down with a groan. Quickly, he scanned the readouts on the screens before him. "We're nearing the planet and should enter the atmosphere in three...two...one…"

Heat.

Ezra muffled a groan as he felt heat surrounding the vessel through the Force. "We're coming in too hot." He struggled with the controls as he tried to slow the ship down. "Well c'mon, help me out!"

Thrawn glared at him but did as asked.

Together, they worked to slow down the ship.

Ezra...use the Force.

Ezra's head popped up. Kanan.

He focused on the Force as he reached out with his senses. He could feel the Force surrounding the ship, and he focused on feeling it pool tighter around them. He felt it constrict tighter around them. Slow...our...fall…

Thrawn glanced at the force user with a quick side-long look as he felt the ship's descent begin to slow down. The controls were still flashing red though. "Whatever you're doing is working, but we are still coming in too fast."

Ezra gave a curt nod, acknowledging that he heard the Chiss. He continued his concentration as he reached deeper into the Force, pulling it closer...tighter…

Slower…

The controls flashed a brilliant green.

Ezra kept his focus on the Force. Slower...until he felt the ground suddenly getting closer.

Slower!

SLOOOOWWWEERRRR!

They were thrown forward as the ship skidded over the rough rocky terrain. Ezra kept his hold on the Force as it slowly came to a stop.

He opened his eyes as he wiped the sweat from his brow. Did he really hear Kanan, or was he just imagining it all? Hearing what he needed to hear to get him through what seemed to be an impossible situation.

He searched the Force for some sort of answer. Kanan?

The Force swirled around him. For a moment, he thought he heard the soft growl of a wolf. A flash of white through the Force. The smell of the grassy meadow on Lothal filled his nostrils.

I will be with you...always, Ezra.