A/N: Sorry for the long wait. I have been working on a piece to be published in a Rebels Fanzine in the fall. I have been sitting on this for a while, and have decided it's probably about as good as it's going to get.

Next up: either the new arc for "Orbits" or the next part of this saga. If you have a preference, let me know!

21.

Ezra lifted his head when Hera, Sabine and Zeb returned. His gaze was bleary; he was bone-tired.

"Ezra?" Sabine said, seeing the burn along his upper arm. Her eyes were wide. "Are you alright?"

He nodded. "Did you see him, or was it just…"

"I saw. We all saw." Sabine said. She reached down along with Zeb and they helped him to his feet.

"We need to make sure Caleb's okay, then I'm going to need to take a look at that," Ezra said, examining Sabine's shoulder.

"Zeb…can you meet with Ryder's men? Fill them in?" Hera asked as she watched the speeders begin to arrive.

"Got it." Zeb turned around and went out to meet them, as Hera, Sabine and Ezra entered the house.

The living area was damaged from the smaller ship's strike, but that was on the opposite side of the house from where they'd left Caleb. Sabine murmured that she was going to get the medkit.

They reached Ezra's room quickly and rapped on the door. "Chop, it's me," Ezra called.

The door slid open, and Chopper, warbling, rolled to the side and allowed them to come in.

Caleb's location wasn't readily apparent at first. In fact, Ezra found it hard to sense him at all. His Padawan was deeply hiding his signature in the Force.

"Where's my kid?" Hera asked, raising her eyebrow at Chopper. The droid chirped that Caleb was hiding in the closet.

She palmed open the closet and knelt, along with Ezra. She could see Caleb in the back of the closet, buried under a pile of blankets that Chopper had covered him with.

"Caleb? Everyone's safe, and you can come out now, little cub."

She saw the sudden gleam of his eyes in the dark. "Everyone's okay, Mama?" His voice was a barely-there whisper.

"Yes, sweetheart. Come on," she held out her arms and Caleb crawled into them. His eyelashes were wet with tears and his eyes were red as she gathered him close. A fresh set of sobs began as he took in Ezra's appearance.

"You and Sabine…got hurt…" he sobbed. "I was…I was…so scared…I thought…" he hiccupped as his tears took his words away.

Ezra reached out to wipe his tears away. "We got hurt a little, but it's okay, now." He began to use the Force to calm the boy. "You're tired. Why don't you close your eyes? When you wake up you'll feel much better."

"You're not going anywhere?" Caleb said as his sobs began to slow.

"No, kid. I'll be here when you wake up. Always." Ezra reached out and smoothed the boy's hair, watching the stiffness in his lekku slowly fade. It was a good sign that he was calming down, due in part to his mother's presence and the slow warmth of the Force that Ezra was wrapping him in.

"You're different," Caleb blinked slowly.

"Maybe," Ezra said. Hera looked surprised, but Ezra went on. "We'll talk more about that later. Rest, little kit." He tilted his head as he looked at the boy, who seemed like he'd drifted off until he sat up again with a realization.

"Zeb's okay too?" Caleb's blue-green eyes opened in worry.

"Yes, love. He's fine." Hera murmured into one of his pointed ears.

"Okay." Caleb began to ease back into sleep against his mother. Ezra continued smoothing the boy's brown hair, until he knew Caleb was securely slumbering.

"Ezra, whatever you did with him just now was amazing." Hera said. "Being without Kanan these years…I don't know what I would have done without you." Her green eyes were glossy with unshed tears.

"I don't know if I'd have…gone on very well after Kanan died if I didn't have you, Sabine and Zeb to look after me." He thought for a moment. "Kanan said something…before he left. He said 'Maybe we saved each other.' Maybe that's the case with all of us."

Hera nodded solemnly, and they shared each other's gaze as Sabine entered.

"Ezra, c'mon. I need to take a look at your arm, and someone needs to take a look at my shoulder." Sabine held a medkit in her uninjured hand. As he turned, Zeb appeared behind her in the hallway.

"Ryder brought a medic. Come on." Zeb stepped past Sabine to help Ezra to his feet. Then he reached down for Caleb. The kit was getting almost too big for his mom to pick up, but he was still easy for Zeb. The little boy mumbled and twisted his fingers into Zeb's purple fur before falling asleep for good.

Ryder had moved to debriefing Sabine when Caleb awoke. Ezra, who'd been half asleep himself, got up and went to him. He sat beside his Padawan, who now sat up blinking and looking around with wide eyes at Ryder and his soldiers like a newborn baby nerf.

"You okay?" Ezra said, taking a seat beside the bewildered little boy.

"Who are they?" Caleb asked, looking over at one of the men who resembled Ezra a little. He was a native of Lothal, with dark hair and dark eyes, and he was standing by the front door, taking his job very seriously.

"They're soldiers of Lothal." Ezra said. "They came to help us when they found out Tarek was on the way. They were just…a little bit late, so we had to take care of things before they got here."

"Wh…where's my mama?"

Ezra nodded toward one of the larger armchairs, where Hera was curled up sleeping. She had her head pillowed on her arm and her feet tucked under her. She looked at ease for the first time since Tarek had taken Caleb and Sabine.

"I felt you and Sabine get hurt."

"Yeah." Ezra pulled up his sleeve and showed Caleb his bandaged arm. "But we're okay. Just another wizard scar to add to my collection."

Caleb reached out and latched onto Ezra's arm. "I don't want you to have any more scars, Ezra."

"I'm okay, kit. Really." Ezra's multi-colored blue gaze fixed on Caleb. "You don't have to worry about me."

"I hope I can be brave as you one day."

Ezra put an arm around Caleb and pulled him in. "You already are, kid."

Caleb snuggled up against Ezra's chest. "Do you think my father would say that?"

"Yes." Ezra leaned down and kissed the top of Caleb's head and hugged him close. "Without a doubt." The Jedi thought about the child he held in his arms and knew that one day he'd have to let him go. When it was time, he knew he'd be able to, but thankfully, that day was not today.

It had been three weeks since the battle with the ex-Inquisitor, and slowly, they were all healing, physically and mentally. Caleb's nightmares had gone from every other night to once a week, if that often. Ezra had been working with Caleb on meditation; in fact, it was the only thing they'd done since before Tarek had come for the boy.

"It's good that they have each other," Sabine murmured. It was late afternoon and she was leaning against the door frame. Hera and Zeb were sitting on the front bench.

Zeb cracked open an eye. He was leaning back against the house with his hands locked behind his head. "What do you mean?"

Sabine turned more toward Zeb and Hera. "I don't know exactly how to explain it. Before…before Caleb was old enough to understand what the Force was, it was different. Ezra was alone. He had us, of course, but losing Kanan…." She trailed off, shaking her head. "I can't explain it, but now…he's found his balance again." As she spoke, she was gazing at the two Jedi who were meditating in the grass, but then she looked up to see Zeb and Hera looking at her. She blushed self-consciously.

"I see it, too, Sabine." Hera replied, shifting her gaze to the two. As she watched, she saw another stone levitate into the air and hang there impossibly with the others. There were probably about twenty-five rocks of all various sizes lazily orbiting the two Jedi. Three more Loth-cats joined the two who had already gathered. One of the tookas hissed and growled as it was also lifted into the air by the Force.

As the struggling tooka wiggled its legs and tail, a giggle broke forth from Caleb as he opened his eyes. Then half the rocks tumbled out of the air at the same time. "Awww," he pouted.

"You lost focus." Ezra murmured, setting the Loth-cat down and opening his eyes to regard his Padawan. "There may be times where you need to be able to focus on multiple things at once, so we will keep practicing until you completely have it, kid."

The previously floating Loth-cat leaped into Ezra's lap and curled up in it. His hand went reflexively to petting it as the rocks he still controlled twirled lazily about him. They began floating down toward the ground, forming a rough pyramid in front of Caleb. "It's all about concentration."

Caleb nodded. "I can try again," he offered as the last rock came to rest on the top of the pyramid.

Ezra shook his head. "Not now. You're tired and need a break."

He protested, but Ezra raised an eyebrow. "I can feel you're tired," he said, "So go do something else for a while. The world is not just meditation and saber practice, okay? See if Zeb's ready to change out the ventilation filters on the Ghost. Maybe you can help him."

"Just about to get to it." Zeb said as Caleb ran over to him and threw his arms around Zeb's waist. "I was just waitin' on you to finish, kit."

Hera joined them and they made their way to the Ghost, Caleb chattering the entire time. Sabine came to Ezra, who was still holding the orange and white tooka in his arms and watching Caleb fondly.

"You're a good teacher," Sabine said, lowering herself to the grass.

"He's an easy student."

Sabine settled next to Ezra. Facing his greatest fear, his conversation with Kanan and being knighted by the Force had changed him. A sort of peace had fallen over Ezra; he hadn't had a panic attack in a long time, and she wasn't sure he'd ever have another one. The thought made her smile.

"What?" Ezra asked at her broad smile, reaching out an arm for her.

"Nothing." She relaxed into his embrace, leaning her head against his shoulder.

"Okay." He shook his head, pulling her against him. They stayed that way a long time, until Hera, Zeb and Caleb made their way back in the early evening twilight, and they all went inside together.

A/N: Okay, you know what sucks? I'm not good at endings, then I lost the ending to this, and I had to rewrite it. I wish you could have seen the first version, but oh well. :( Talk to you guys soon!