A/N Basically what it says in the title. Hopefully I'll get this out by the time the show ends. Set during "The Path of the Jedi". Also basically what I wished would have happened in this episode.
"A Jedi you may yet be"
The voice and his surroundings faded away as a bright light floated down from above. At first Ezra thought he was seeing stars until the light landed in his outstretched hands that seemed to instinctively know to catch it.
"Nice rock." A voice said from behind him.
Terrified for a moment that the inquisitor had been here all along Ezra spun around in a panic. But behind him instead stood a woman whose skin he was able to tell was a dark honey brown despite the faded blue aura surrounding her. Her hair was curled back in an intricate braid and a pair of gold beads sat on her brow. She was dressed in a set of long lose fitting pale robes with a hooded cloak. Despite knowing that he'd never seen this woman before Ezra couldn't help but feel like he recognised her from somewhere.
"Do I know you?" He asked.
Her lips turned upwards into a smug smile as though she knew what he had been thinking. "I should hope so youngling, with all the times my padawan has spoken of me."
Padawan? So she was a Jedi! Ezra thought. But who could her padawan be? All the Jedi has been wiped out except-
"You're Kanan's Master! Depa Billaba!" Ezra exclaimed. He'd never seen what she looked like before. Most pictures of the Jedi had been destroyed after The Empire took over and Kanan didn't have any on him when he fled.
"Yes. But I knew him under a different name." Depa said her eyes crinkling with fondness that was broken by specks of sadness.
"But how are you here? Aren't you dead?" Ezra asked. Maybe the temple wasn't done playing tricks on him.
"The force works in mysterious ways." Depa Billaba said with a small smirk as though she'd heard those words many times herself and was glad to finally have the opportunity to say it at someone else.
"Cool, but that still doesn't explain how you're here." Ezra retorted wishing that for once the force would actually try to make sense.
She let out a chuckle and ruffled Ezra's hair. He wasn't sure how her ghost like figure could touch him but he didn't care. His mother used to do the same thing.
"You truly are your Master's padawan." She sighed. Then her hand stopped suddenly. She then started to search his hair with a confused expression.
"Where's your Padawan braid?" She asked.
"My what?" Ezra replied in confusion.
Depa let out a low sigh. "Typical. My Celeb tried begging me to let him have three braids yet he doesn't give his own padawan one." She mumbled in a tone that tried to come across as angry but only sounded fond to Ezra's ears.
She then took a small section of Ezra's hair. For a moment he was worried she'd cut it off before she started twirling and folding it together. It felt oddly relaxing. It reminded Ezra of when his mother would brush his hair as a child.
"There, now you're a proper padawan."
She held out the piece of hair for Ezra to see. Since his hair was still relatively short he could only see it out of the corner of his eye but he could tell that it had been braided.
"Not that I'm complaining or anything but why a braid? Why not a tattoo or a piece of clothing? What if your species doesn't have hair? What if-"
He cut himself off when Depa started giggling.
"Oh I am so glad Celeb has you for a padawan. Now he will finally understand what it's like to have an inquisitive youngling bombarding him with questions every waking moment."
Ezra shrugged. "What can I say? It's part of my charm."
At that she laughed even harder before a proud smile graced her face.
"Kanan was right. You never would have made it as my padawan. And you certainly wouldn't have made it as my master's." Her eyes looked to the ceiling as they glossed over with memory before leaning forwards and crouching slightly so that she was barely inches from his face as she looked him directly in the eye. "But as my Celeb's you will do incredible things. Things that will alter the path of the galaxy forever."
She ran her hand through his hair one more time as though desperate to touch him longer than she could and leant down towards him. Ezra closed his eyes as she placed a gentle kiss to his forehead.
"And Ezra, tell my Celeb he needs a hair cut." She whispered.
When he opened them she was gone. He felt the weight of the crystal in his hand and the weight of the braid in his hair and knew that in this moment he had truly started his Jedi training.
He left the strange room to find Kanan sitting in the same place he'd left him. Ezra let out a small breath that he didn't know he had been holding. Despite knowing that the inquisitor hadn't been real he felt a rush of relief at seeing his master unharmed.
"How are you?" Kanan asked getting up so that he could go over to meet him.
"Different but the same" Ezra replied knowing that Kanan would understand.
His master chuckled. "I know what you mean."
Ezra held out his hand to reveal the crystal. "Oh I found this."
"I don't belive it." Kanan said his voice a whisper.
"What is it? It's good, right?" It wasn't until this moment that Ezra had realised that neither Depa Billaba or the strange big enough had explained what the crystal was for. For all he knew it was cursed or worse.
"Ezra, that's a kyber crystal!"
"Wow!" Ezra exclaimed before realising he was missing one crucial piece of information. "What's a kyber crystal?"
"It's a lightsaber crystal."
Ezra gasped and looked down at his hands in shock. Now that Kanan had mentioned it he could feel the raw power radiating from the rock just waiting for him to tame.
Kanan watched his padawan's face light up with a proud smile. He'd never heard of anyone getting a crystal so early in their training. He'd always known his padawan was special.
As he gazed down at him he noticed the small braid sticking out from under his thick mop of hair.
"Wait! You got your padawan braid?" Kanan asked in confusion.
"Yep." Ezra said smugly popping his 'p'.
"How? Can you even braid your own hair?"
If Ezra wasn't in such a good mood he'd probably be offended by that comment.
"Didn't need to. Your master did it for me."
"My ...my master?" Ezra had seen his master surprised a lot that day but this was different. His eyes were wide with disbelief but they glowed green with hope and amazement.
"Yeah." Ezra said gently knowing that now wasn't the time for his cocky attitude. "I met her. Well kind of. It was like she was part of the force somehow. I don't know how to explain it."
He glanced up so he could look into his master's eyes who were fixed on him. Like they were absorbing every possible detail about Depa Billaba. Up until now Ezra hadn't fully understood how strong the bond between master and padawan was.
"She was just like you described her. She was beautiful and kind but also kind of sarcastic. She reminded me of my mother."
Kanan let out a small chuckle that somehow managed to sound both happy and sad. "I know exactly what you mean."
He ruffled his hair in a familiar fashion that Ezra now knew where he'd gotten that habit from. Which reminded Ezra of Depa'a last words.
"Oh yeah. She also told me that you needed to get a haircut."
Kanan raised his eyebrow in a way that reminded Ezra of Hera before a flash of understanding crossed his eyes. Ezra watched as he reached up and took his hair out from his pony tail. Kanan run his hand through his hair until he found a small braid hidden under layers of hair at the base of his neck.
"I suppose I can't truly be your master if I'm still a padawan myself." Kanan sighed, his voice laced with to many emotions for Ezra to comprehend. Somehow he knew that he hadn't been the only one to experience a journey in the temple.
He watched as Kanan brought up his lightsaber to the base of his neck. Ezra was worried for a moment that he was going to slice himself or worse his long locks of beautiful hair. He needn't have worried. With almost impossible precision Kanan sliced off his braid. It fell to the floor with a silent thud.
"Come on." Kanan said placing an arm around his padawan's shoulders. "Hera and the others will be waiting."
Feeling safer than he'd ever had before within his master's arms Ezra, took a quick glance over his shoulder as they left the tunnel. For a moment he though his saw the faint outline of a someone standing above Kanan's braid. But in a blink they were gone. Along with the braid.
In this moment he knew that him and Kanan had truly become master and padawan.