A/N: Hi everyone! In this story Caleb Jarrus has grown up. He's now fifteen or sixteen, so this takes place about 7 years after the events in "Not to Yield." I hope you still love this story as much as I do. Please drop me a line, if you feel so inclined. I'd love to hear from you!

Chapter One

Caleb entered the little shop, hoping that he could find the meiloorun preserves that were his mom's favorite. When he, Ezra, Sabine and Zeb had left for the latest milk-run, she'd hinted around that she wanted some, and they had become so hard to find on Lothal that he really wanted to bring her some back.

They were on Queln, a lush green planet with beautiful lakes. Meilooruns grew well on the planet, so he knew that he had a good chance of finding the preserves.

The half-Twi'lek browsed the shelves as he walked through the store, reading the labels on the food.

"Hi."

He turned and saw a little girl standing behind him. She was short, no more than about seven. She wore a pink shirt and purple pants and green shoes. Caleb grinned, thinking she reminded him of Sabine.

"Hi." The teenager smiled back at her, then returned to browsing the shelves.

"What're you lookin' for?"

"Meiloorun preserves," he answered. "Have you seen any for sale?"

"Ummm…I dunno. Let me go ask." The girl ran to the front of the aisle and yelled to ask her grandma where they were.

A very old woman came slowly to the aisle. She was medium height, wearing a grey shirt with blue pants and had her long silver hair caught up in a braid. "Yes, yes we got a shipment yesterday." The lady reached out and placed a hand on the girl's shoulder to steady herself before she began to search the top of the shelves. She began moving boxes, murmuring to herself as Caleb sensed sudden danger.

"Let me help with—" he began, but stopped as he saw the unbalanced boxes tilt then begin to tumble down on the unsuspecting elderly woman.

His reaction was automatic. He threw a hand out and both boxes stopped, in midair. They hung incredibly in space, causing the little blond girl's mouth to hang open with wonder.

Slowly as he lowered his hand, the boxes that had been about to come down on the old lady moved to hover and land between her and Caleb.

"Woah! Wizard!" The girl whispered, her eyes wide. "How did you do that?"

"You…can use the Force…" The old lady said, studying him with her twinkling blue eyes. "Now that's something I haven't seen in a long time."

"Umm…" Caleb looked around a little nervously. His lekku were stiff with tension. His master had taught him to be careful where and how he used the Force, due to the unexpected reactions of others. Most of the time, people had no need to know what he could do, even though the responses had been mostly positive so far. Only once or twice had a situation turned bad, and even then, he'd only been the victim of a few harsh stares of people who had believed the Emperor's lies about the Jedi.

Ezra had been forced to hide his Force abilities over half of his life, so Caleb understood his master's hesitation.

The lady placed a hand on his shoulder. "Easy, child. Before the Empire…I remember. I knew such good souls as you. They were called Jedi then. I had heard stories that some survived, but never thought I would see someone like you again."

"I'm just…glad to help." Caleb murmured, glancing to the girl who was still watching him with wide eyes.

The lady opened the boxes, rummaging around inside. "Here," she lifted out a jar of preserves. "This was what you were looking for, yes?"

He took them. "Yes, Ma'am. For my mother."

"Good. Take them." The elderly woman patted him on the shoulder.

"Oh no," he said, offering a cred chip. "I can't…"

"Take them," she said firmly, closing his hand back over his cred chip. "What is it they would say back then?" Her eyes twinkled as she remembered the phrase. "May the Force be with you," she said, then she laughed just like a girl. "It's wonderful to be able to say such things again." Satisfied, she turned to begin opening and stocking the items in the crate on the shelves, as if the matter was closed.

He went to the end of the aisle and looked over his shoulder at the little girl. Then he headed for the front of the store, knowing she'd follow.

She ran up beside him. "Are you a Twi'lek?"

"My mother was, so yeah." He replied with a smile. He was used to answering this question, and it rarely bothered him. Especially coming from someone so innocent. "My father was a human, though, so that's what's up with the hair."

"I think you're very handsome," she said, shyly.

"Awww. Thanks. Hey…Can you do me a favor?" He said, crouching as she stood in front of him.

"Okay," she nodded.

"Give this cred chip to your grandma after I've gone." He placed a chip in her palm.

She nodded, closing her hand over it. "Are you a Jedi? Gramma tells me stories sometimes…"

"One day, I hope to be," he said softly, walking backwards toward the door without looking at it. The seven-year old was suitably impressed. "May the Force be with you."

He stepped outside into the brilliant sunshine of a busy day on Queln. People hurried from place to place in the market square, doing their shopping or selling. Apparently, scenes like this did a lot to make Ezra happy as they traveled around the Rim. His master liked to see how life had mostly returned to how it had been on planets before the shadow of the Empire. He said it was proof that the universe would and could recover from what the Emperor had done to it. It was a sign of hope, that what they'd lost in the war had not been in vain.

As for Caleb, himself, he could hardly remember the war from personal experience, although he knew a lot about it due to his studies on the holonet and conversations with Zeb and Rex. He had a few memories of somewhere really cold, and lots of ships and pilots with the starbird on their helmets. Then there was Endor. He remembered the warm jungle planet because it had been so different than the place before…what was that planet? Hoth? Maybe that was it. He'd have to ask Ezra later.

His mother had been a pilot and General with the Rebellion, so he had grown up on bases with her, Zeb, Sabine and Ezra, until he was around six and the war ended. They had then moved to Lothal, which he had to say he liked the best out of all the planets they'd been to. Something about the wind waving over the grass and the stars at night, the affinity he had with the Loth-wolves and Loth-cats…it was beyond something he could explain. It was like he could feel the life-force of the planet, singing to him. Ezra was the only other person who understood how he felt. Sabine and his mother couldn't use the Force, so they didn't get it.

He began to make his way across the busy market, in the general direction of the spaceport. He went inside, walking through the cool, shadowed semi-darkness in the direction of their bay. He stopped to admire an old Kom'rk-class fighter, wondering what it would be like to fly it. He'd have to ask his mom. She'd flown just about every ship there was, it seemed.

Caleb tugged absently on the straps of his fight cap. He had taken after his mom, developing a love of flying early on. After the war, the Spectres had begun taking small shipping jobs, like his mom and dad had done before the war, back when Hera was undercover for Fulcrum, so Caleb had gotten to see a lot of the Outer Rim and many places in the Inner and Mid-Rim. He loved traveling to places that his mom and dad had gone in their younger days.

Kanan Jarrus had cast a long shadow over Caleb's life and the life of his family. He had been a remarkable man, according to almost everyone Caleb had met. As Caleb worked with Ezra to become a Jedi, he had realized that he'd only just begun to try and understand his dad. He'd met him once as a Force ghost. Somehow his father had come back from dying to see him when he was just seven…or was it eight? A lot of those days seemed blurry in Caleb's mind, but he'd never forgotten the gentle voice of the man who had set him on the path to becoming a Jedi.

As he grew up, he'd begun to realize that his father was a hero. A hero who had sacrificed himself to save not just the Spectres but all of Lothal. But being a hero was not the reason Caleb wanted to become a Jedi. Becoming a Jedi would allow him to help others, to do positive things in the universe to counteract the dark side and bring him one step closer to the father he had only known for a few minutes in that cave on Lothal.

Ezra was in their bay, working on one of the ramp's hydraulics as Caleb approached.

"Found them," the teen said, holding up the jar of preserves like a prize.

"Never thought you'd be able to find them here." Ezra said with a grin. The Jedi tossed Zeb a credit chip, settling their bet.

"Kit's got a little bit of his Uncle Zeb in him, I guess." Zeb grinned.

"You guys made a bet?" Caleb raised an eyebrow.

Ezra shrugged, and Zeb slung an arm around Caleb, using his big paw to ruffle the kit's hair. "Okay, kid. What's for dinner?"

"Don't call me kid, Zeb. Aren't you cooking tonight?"

"Yeah, but after Ezra's…'stew' last night, I figured you'd want a break from bad cooking." Caleb was a good cook, like Kanan had been, but Ezra had a bad habit of trying new recipes and failing spectacularly. Each failure however, never served to dampen Ezra's adventurous spirit. It was just too bad that they all had to suffer the consequences. Zeb's creations were iffy as well.

"Sabine cooked the first night out, so it's not her turn." Ezra called.

"Can we bring take-out back to the ship?" Caleb raised an eyebrow, looking from Ezra to Zeb hopefully. "Think Sabine'll go for that?"

"Oh, I'm sure she will," Ezra nodded.

"I've got first dibs on the shower," Zeb called, heading up the ramp.

"Great." Ezra muttered, "It's gonna smell like wet Lasat in there." He sighed comically, then took a seat on the Ghost's ramp. Caleb came and sat beside him. After a few moments, they were joined by Sabine.

"Hey, Caleb," she said as she sat down beside them. "Did you find them?"

"Yes, he found them." Ezra answered, rolling his eyes in mock disgust. "Cost me 5 credits."

Caleb snickered with Sabine, then asked. "How long are we staying?"

"Couple of days." Sabine said. "Hera commed. We're picking up a shipment of dried bantha meat and taking it to Yavin 4. It's just a quick trip before we head back."

Caleb nodded. "Is she feeling any better?" His mother had not come along because she'd been sick with a cold. She also had a meeting with Ryder Azadi about upgrading and improving Lothal's planetary defense squadron.

"She said she was better."

"That's what she always says." Caleb knew his mom hardly ever stopped for anything; she'd even fought a war pregnant with him up until the last four weeks. Apparently, it was something his mother was legendary for. She'd flown with broken bones and blaster wounds. Dantari flu or concussions meant nothing when Hera Syndulla put her mind to it. So therefore, he worried about her.

"Well, we're all getting older, I guess. But she did look better. She's still going to her meeting with Ryder. Comm her a bit later; she wants to know how you're doing with your study of the ship's systems," Sabine said. She saw his frown, and was struck by how much he looked like Kanan when Kanan worried about Hera working too hard. "Hey, buddy. You really don't have to worry about her, you know?"

Caleb nodded, a little unconvinced as Sabine rubbed his shoulder.

Ezra stood up. "Well, I'm going to go get cleaned up. Maybe I can get Zeb moving a little quicker if he knows I'm waiting. You know what time it is, right?" He raised an eyebrow at Caleb.

"Yeah. Meditation practice." Caleb said. Ezra had always been surprised that he liked meditating as much as he did. He'd been a pretty active youngling, and Ezra had claimed that he always thought meditating would be hard for Caleb to settle down for. But it was easy, and he found that meditating during their journeys was fascinating. Each planet seemed to have its own relationship with the Force.

Ezra eyed the boy who stood up in front of him. Caleb had grown and was now just about able to look Ezra in the eye. He still had a bit to go, however, if he was going to be as tall as Kanan. The boy and his father had the same coloring. Except for Cale's lekku, the points on his ears and the smattering of green freckles on his nose, the kid most likely resembled Kanan at fifteen. It made Ezra feel sad, yet proud at the same time.

"What?" Caleb asked.

Ezra shook his head. "Nothing. I was just thinking how much you've grown." Ezra slung an arm around Caleb's shoulders and one around Sabine's shoulders and began to guide them back inside.

"Yeah. Mama thinks I'll be as tall as my father was." Caleb mused.

"That's probably true—he was always the tallest, except for Zeb." Ezra replied, as they entered the Ghost.

Caleb drifted in the Force's embrace for some time until something strange and unexpected happened.

It started like a tugging at the back of his mind. It was like the Force was a kid pulling at your sleeve or pant leg for attention. Then he began to sense the presence of another. The presence was different than Ezra's, different than any other Force user he had met.

He hadn't met many of them, to be honest. He'd met Luke Skywalker a few times, and then there was that old hermit they'd met on Chalacta. And Tarek, of course. Even though he'd been young when the darksider had taken him, he remembered the man's mental touch and golden eyes with an inward shiver. Sometimes he had bad dreams where he was still a helpless little kid and Tarek captured him and everyone he loved. Luckily, after so many years, those were few and far between.

But this…this was different. The presence was alternately glowing bright, then dim, like a Lumawing in springtime. It was an energetic, yet erratic presence that alternately drew his attention then faded into nothingness. He felt one last flare, as if someone had noticed him, then it faded away completely. They were either hiding or gone. He stayed within the Force, waiting to see if the brilliant glow would return, but there was nothing.

After a time, Ezra's voice brought him back from his meditation. "Everything okay?"

Caleb opened his eyes, one at a time. "Yeah…are you guys ready to go?"

Ezra nodded. "In just a minute. What's wrong?" The kid's curiosity plucked at his mind, like it was pulling at a stray thread that he couldn't find the end of.

"I just felt something strange when I was meditating. A presence…that flickered. It disappeared when I noticed it." Caleb unfolded himself from his meditation posture and stood up.

Ezra did a quick check, extending his Force-heightened senses out around them. "Hmm. I don't sense anything right now." Ezra wondered if it could be an untrained Force-sensitive. They'd run across them before-in the Force; they gave off a faint signature. There was no Jedi Order to find promising children and train them. As a result, a great many Force-sensitives might never know they were.

The Force plucked at Caleb gently for a moment before it finally settled. "I'll let you know if I sense anything else." His lekku curled thoughtfully as Ezra went on.

"We're going to have to check the parts shop while we're out. We've been getting a strange message from the fuel computer, and Zeb thinks we should try to replace a few sensors until we can get it home and let Hera check it. You have some schoolwork still to do, right?"

Because of their frequent trips around the Rim and Caleb's Jedi training, he attended virtual school over the holonet. He wasn't always that great about getting his assignments done, but when he was interested in a subject like Galactic History, he would show that his level was far above that of his peers.

Caleb nodded, letting out a sigh. "Yeah. Got any tips on how to learn all the ship's systems before we return? I mean I know them, but mom wanted me to get a good idea of what kinds of mods have been made to the different systems. She's gonna quiz me."

"Get Chopper to help. He knows the systems better than even Hera. The three of us will be back in a couple of hours. Want anything special for dinner."

The Ghost's systems and mods were confusing, but as Caleb studied them, he realized why. His mother and Chop had been flying the Ghost since way before he was born; even before his mom had met his father. In all those years, the eccentric astromech had continually modified things; in some places he had adapted existing systems to make the Ghost faster, or bypassed certain safety systems. Caleb continued tapping on the datapad, now fascinated.

"Chop...wait! You disabled the safety protocol to allow for going to hyperspace from a planet's atmosphere? That's…that's really dangerous Chopper." Caleb's eyes widened as he took in the astromech.

Chopper beeped and whistled at him.

"Mom did that? Seriously?" He raised an arched eyebrow. "You expect me to believe that mom flew through an Imperial Construction Module and jumped to hyperspace from Lothal?"

Chopper rocked side to side on his struts, emphatically stating that GeneralHeraSyndulla had not done that particular maneuver in the Ghost, but she had used the Ghost for similar jumps from a planet's atmosphere on two other separate occasions when they were being chased by the Imperials.

"No karking way."

Chopper plugged into a nearby port and brought up the data to prove it; he grouched that if Caleb didn't believe him, he should analyze the information himself.

"Don't need to. It should be impossible…and to do that three times? Are you sure you haven't burned out a few circuits?"

Chopper threw up his manipulators and rolled off, frustrated with the teenager.

Caleb snickered at irritating Chopper, then went to the ship's comm and dialed up his mom. When her tiny holo appeared, Caleb smiled. "Hi, Mom. Feeling better?"

"Much better, love. Everything okay?"

"Sure. I just had to ask a question. I was going over the ship's systems when Chop told me you jumped into hyperspace from a planet's atmosphere three times, two of which were in the Ghost. He's pulling my leg, right?"

Hera shook her head with the twist of a smile on her lips. "Sorry, keella, he's not lying this time."

Caleb heard what he thought was an indignant squawk from Chopper way back somewhere in the ship. "Woah, are you serious? There's like a bunch of reasons that's not possible or at least incredibly dangerous…"

Hera saw the look in her son's eye that seemed to say he was wondering if he could pull the same maneuver off. Her first desire was to scare him into never thinking about it again. But then she reminded herself how much her little daredevil had grown up. Perhaps she should address this as she would have with her student pilots during the war. "Caleb, the only reason a stunt like that should ever be pulled is if the alternative is worse than death. Most of the time a foolish maneuver like that has ended in tragedy. Since you are interested in this, research the consequences of jumping to hyperspace from atmosphere. We'll talk when you get back."

Caleb nodded. His mother had trained hundreds of pilots in her lifetime and he heard her "teacher voice" kick in. Being talked to like one of the pilots in her squadron made him sit up a little taller. "Yes, ma'am."

"And don't forget. If you EVER try something like that with MY ship…and you survive, I will kill you with my own two hands, Spectre Seven. That's a no-win scenario, sir."

Caleb grinned. "Okay, Mom."

"Very well. Where's everybody else?"

"Out getting dinner. They should be back any time. OH! And Zeb thinks there's something wrong with the fuel computer. Maybe a bad sensor. He and Ezra are going to check it out and replace some sensors to see if they can clear it up."

"Hmm…" He looked in her eyes and could tell she was itching to run a diagnostic. "Before they replace anything, get Chop to run a level three diagnostic on all sensors. They might have forgotten to do that first."

"I will, Mama." He looked over his shoulder, wondering suddenly why Chop had not come to gloat. "I better go check up on Chopper…he's probably mad at me."

"Okay, then. I'll see you in a few days. I love you, Caleb."

"Love you too. Specter Seven out." Caleb said. He shut off the comm and stood, trying to listen for Chopper, but he heard nothing.

"Chop?" He called, but there was no answer. Caleb made his way through the ship toward the cargo bay, peeking around corners. Chopper was known to get a little too handy with the shock prod when he was angry, so he didn't want to make himself too much of a target.

When he looked out into the cargo bay, he saw a silent Chopper. A small hooded form hovered over him, nimble fingers working at the droid's chassis.

"Hey!" Caleb yelled, "What are you doing to my droid?!" How had they gotten into the locked cargo bay?

The person looked up, face hidden in the black hooded jacket they wore. As Caleb leaped over the railing, the being yanked Chopper's memory core and began to run.

Caleb landed with one hand grazing the ground to steady himself. "Stop!" He began to pursue, using the Force to sense the direction of travel as the person tried to disappear into the crowd of people who were hurrying to destinations in the spaceport. Immediately, he recognized the Lumawing-like Force signature from earlier in the day.

He lost sight of the thief, but the Force led him to make a left, then a right. He hit his comm, never stopping. "Master…someone, maybe a Force-sensitive, stole Chop's memory core! I'm in pursuit."

Ezra's voice came back immediately. "On our way, Seven. Stay with them, and be careful."

"I will." He cut the comm and narrowed his eyes as he refocused on his run. They would NOT get away with stealing Chopper. He wouldn't let them.