(Midnight, I think you're Force-sensitive... Did you know you predicted this chapter?) 0_o

Warnings: Violence, tragedy

Disclaimer: Neocolai does not own Star Wars Rebels or anything related.

The Future – how it might have played out if Ezra's vision had come true.

Setting: Never Alone Alternate Ending, if Darth Vader had removed Ezra from Mustafar early on and the Ghost crew had still attempted to retrieve him.

Mustafar: 5 years prior

"Your meddling is at an end, Jedi."

A scream. The sizzle of a severed limb. The gurgle of agony. Darth Vader clapped his foot over the Jedi's rolling lightsaber, advancing as Kanan crawled away from him.

"Did you believe you could retrieve your padawan? Do you intend to steal what is rightfully mine?"

"He's not… yours…" Kanan grated, thunking his head against the smoldering ground. The pain of a severed arm. Crippling for even the most stalwart Jedi.

"You have failed. My new apprentice will make a powerful ally. You are too late to save him."

A roil in the force. A shout as the Jedi was flung against volcanic rock. His scream as he fell closer to the fire.

Darth Vader turned away, retrieving the blue lightsaber.

How fortunate that the Force had warned him of a rescue attempt. Ezra Skywalker had been moved to a secluded starship two hours before. Mustafar was too unstable for his fragile mindset.

The Jedi was left to burn.

"Kanan – Karabast, Kanan! I told you not to pursue Vader."

Zeb laid his hand gently on Kanan's left shoulder, flinching when the Jedi cried out. "Kanan…."

Bleary blue-green eyes slid past him. "Ez…?"

"The kid's gone," Zeb said softly. "Karabast, Kanan…."

Lopped arm at the shoulder. Zeb couldn't look at it without nausea. Crisping burns on both legs; Zeb had scrambled down the slope just in time, snuffing the fire before it could reach Kanan's back. He had been spared the worst injuries, but the damage was horrific. Dented skull on the left side. Lightsaber burns on the face and hands. Darth Vader had toyed with him.

After all of this, what did we accomplish? The kid was still dead. The Empire had won. And now Kanan was barely lucid, saber arm lost.

"Spectre Four to Ghost," Zeb croaked into the com. "Three for pickup. Spectre Five, meet us there."

He should never have allowed Kanan to leave the Phantom.

For an instant Ezra thought he felt his master. Barricaded within the grey walls of an Imperial Star Destroyer, the monotony of protocol droning from the overhead vents, he felt the briefest flash of pain.

Then …

The door swished open and the cloak and helm of Darth Vader filled the entrance. Ezra bitterly rose.

"Why did you do it?"

"The Wookie rebel was nothing more than an insurgent. I merely carried out the Emperor's will."

"That's not true!" Ezra shouted. "He wasn't an insurgent! He had a family – he had something to defend!"

"As did you." The cylinder in Vader's hand was nearly unrecognizable. Blaster scars scored the finish and the lower half was melted.

"Kanan, no!" Ezra lunged for the lightsaber and yelped as his shoulder rammed the opposite wall. "Give it back!"

"A Jedi is forbidden to form attachments, yet you cannot relinquish the ties to your master." Darth Vader cast the lightsaber down and ground his foot over it. "Kanan has failed you in this small task."

"Remembering my master is not forbidden!" Ezra snatched for the lightsaber with the Force, grinning savagely when his fingers closed over the familiar handle. Kanan. He envisioned his master's resolve. His frustration during his padawan's initial training. His encouragement and guidance. I'm sorry, Kanan.

"You continue to defy me," Darth Vader lectured. "Perhaps another lesson is in order."

"No – wait!" Ezra gasped as a familiar Togruta was thrown inside. "What are you doing? No! You don't have to kill anyone again! I understand!"

"Relinquish your master's lightsaber." Darth Vader held out his hand and Ezra thrust the weapon into his palm.

"Now let her go!"

"You have learned nothing."

A score from Kanan's blade. A scream cut short. The flapping of a head-tail. Ezra crumpled to his knees.

"Why? Why? Why?"

"She was my weakness." Darth Vader callously nudged the Fulcrum's arm and then tossed Kanan's lightsaber into the corner. He stretched forth his arm. "Come, Padawan. Your training begins."

More death. More witnessing of Jedi; rebels; innocents slain. The only escape was through Vader.

"From now on, you will address me as Master."

Ezra vaguely felt himself nod. Whatever he was now, it didn't matter.

Ezra Bridger didn't have a master.

Kanan was dead.

So was his apprentice.

5 years later – A New Hope

A good ambassador never showed her fear. Leia had trained herself to remain calm when the people shouted curses; when they blamed her for the Empire's grip on Alderaan; when they wept and begged her for answers. A good ambassador never revealed weakness.

But when Darth Casus entered; yellow-eyed and as young as herself; when he caged her in visions of Bail Organa's death, over and over until she was screaming for her father to be spared, suddenly she was the one sobbing, "Why?"

His response was even more apathetic than the Grand Moff Tarkin's. "When I was younger than yourself I watched my father die."

Yellow eyes narrowed and Leia plunged into the nightmares, listening to her father's ragged cry as he was cut down under a red blade.

"Tell me where the rebel plans are, and your father will be spared."

She couldn't speak. The bravado of Leia Organa, diplomat and negotiator, strong-headed princess who never flinched when stormtroopers passed by; all was worthless. She was terrified.

"If you think this small charade is frightening, you have no idea what Darth Vader is capable of."

Slowly Leia raised her head. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

"That is your answer?" Gold eyes flinted and Leia almost flinched, glancing down at his clenched hand.

"I know nothing of any rebels."

"Lord Casus," one of the stormtroopers hailed over the com. "We discovered a child hidden on the Corellian corvette. Shall we bring her aboard?"

"No!" Leia clapped a hand over her mouth, too late to stop her cry. Darth Casus smiled thinly.

"Lock the child in a cell near the princess. I will conduct the interrogation myself."

"She's only an infant!" Leia shouted. "We were transferring her to her parents on Lothal. She has nothing to do with the rebel alliance!"

"And you do?" Casus retorted. His throat constricted and for an instant his eyes flickered…

Was that blue?

Leia peered at the Sith lord. "What connections do you have with Lothal?"

Caught. For a vapor of a moment, a flinch. Darth Casus whirled away.

"Rest while you can, Princess. Your 'infant companion' will reveal everything to me."

In the grey room of an Imperial cell, a three-year-old Twi'lek hugged a stormtrooper's leg. The door opened and the trooper briskly saluted as Darth Casus entered.

"She … uh… wouldn't let go, Lord Casus. I figured it would keep her calm until…."

"Leave us."

The infant cried out as her security was torn away. Wringing her small hands, she backed away until she was hidden under the bench. Casus crouched before her.

"What is your name?"

Best to get this over with quickly. Lord Vader would not tolerate failure.

The Twi'lek whimpered, too-thick lekku swishing around her head. A mixed breed, then. Lothal had its share of mutts.

Memories of a kinder life poked Ezra's mind. Darth Casus shunted them into a dark corridor, stagnant with death.

"Tell me your name." He pushed the dark side against the child, strong enough that she would understand the punishment of disobeying, faint enough to abstain from mind damage.

"E-Ezma," the child sniveled.

"Why were you on the Alderaan ship?"

"Go thee Mummy and Dadda?" She cringed against the wall, covering her face.

"Why did you leave them?" Poor rations and incompetent medics, no doubt. Lothal had disintegrated over the last few years.

"Thee Unca Seb?"

"And where is Uncle Seb?"

"Big thip?" Huge blue-green eyes met Casus' golden ones, and the child shrank into herself.

"Which ship is that?" He expected no answer, and was not surprised when the child shook her head. She did not know.

"What do you know of the rebels?"

The child gasped softly and put her hands over her mouth. Casus increased the sense of malice.

"No, no, no!" the child whimpered, squeezing her eyes shut and shaking her head. Mottled yellow lekku swung around her face. It was almost like….

But it wasn't.

The brave captain of the Ghost had been dead for many years.

But perhaps her tactics would prove more useful with a frightened child. Children were more malleable than their stubborn guardians; they could be swayed without violence. Casus wasn't sure how one gentled infants… but his personal droid might offer him assistance.

"Ezma," he said, forcing a light, pleasant tone, "Do you want to leave this dark, abysmal room?"

Tearfully the child nodded. Casus held out his hand.

"Come with me. I'll see to it that you're properly taken care of." Perhaps a few acts of kindness would coax her to reveal her knowledge of the rebels.

If not, Darth Vader would take his time dismembering her in front of Princess Leia.

Unconsciously wary, Casus scooped up the child and swung her onto one hip. Something in the force whispered like he hadn't heard in years.

He brushed it aside.

Hope was dead.

Lothal was darker. Abandoned. Streets filled with scrapped AT-ST's and warehouse droids that malfunctioned.

Here they stayed. It was the only hideout left.

"Come on, work for me," Hera muttered, swishing fresh sand from the home console. Dust storms, now a power outage. What was next – an Imperial invasion?

"Don't think that way," Kanan grunted, lightly touching the side of his head. Hera cringed, remembering when he had once surged into the Force like the Jedi of old. Now, the dip in his skull seemed to block off all connection to the Force.

Everything except her feelings.

"Did you get ahold of Ezma?" Kanan asked, bending to inspect the battered console.

"System's out. It might be another hour."

"She's safe." Kanan squeezed his eyes shut and fingered his brow, then gave up with a sigh. "That's all I know."

"Supply dispatch is in another five hours," Hera said. "Chopper should have a working com."

"If we can wait that long." Kanan knelt and Hera instinctively worked with him, her right hand twisting wires and holding cables while his left hand manipulated. They were a perfect team.

Once they had been a perfect family.

Stop it, Hera told herself, pinching a wire harder than necessary. Ezma's birthday is tomorrow. You've got to hold Kanan together.

It wasn't the little one's fault she had been born on Empire Day.

A nutrient bar and a glass of nerf-milk later (as prescribed by T-36), and the child was perched on Casus' desk, swinging her legs and singing softly. She was calm. Unsuspecting.

Vulnerable.

"Have you succeeded with the princess?" Tarkin asked over Casus' personal com.

"In time," Casus said shortly.

"Loth-cat, Loth-woof wun, ick a paf an' all ith fun…."

Ezra cried out and Casus shoved him back into the lightless cell where his master had suffered.

"Ezma, tell me about your father," he said coolly.

"Dadda?" the child looked around hopefully.

"He's not here," Casus said. "Your parents are on Lothal, remember?"

Chewing her thumbnail, Ezma nodded. Casus perched on the desk beside her, his cloak casting a shadow over the child's face.

"Tell me what you know of the rebels. Princess Leia told you something, didn't she?"

Once more the young Twi'lek flustered, biting her thumb harder and inching away. Casus encased her in the force before she could fall off the desk. Crying out, Ezma wriggled frantically.

"Sir, perhaps frightening the child is not the wisest course for obtaining her loyalty," T-36 warned. "My protocol tells me that children –"

"I am conducting the interrogation." Casus glowered at the droid.

Mutely T-36 returned to the console. "As you wish, Sir."

"Go!" Ezma whined pitifully. "Le'go!"

"Where is your Mommy and Daddy?" Casus hinted. "They're on Lothal, aren't they? Both of them together? You were supposed to be there with them."

Ezma's eyes widened and her breath hitched.

"Come now, nothing to be afraid of." Kneeling before the infant, Casus flicked her lekku and smiled. "If you don't tell me the truth about the rebels, I'll blow up Lothal and make you watch. That won't be nice at all, will it?"

"No!" Ezma pushed his hand away, blue-green eyes flaring with panic. "No! Go'way! Go'way!"

"Ezma." He sifted the dark side around her, feeding her threads of despair; anguish; fear; the sensation that she would never be whole again.

He gave her the feelings he had experienced when Kanan was murdered.

Sobbing, Ezma buried her face in her hands and shook her head. "No! No! No! Mama! Dadda!"

"Tell me what Princess Leia did," Casus whispered. "Tell me what her secret is, and your parents will be safe." Safe. He echoed the word in the force. Home. You can go home.

"Th-Theecret?" Ezma whimpered.

"What is Princess Leia's secret?" Casus encouraged.

The child's eyes darted and she hugged her arms. "Thee… thee pud it in a dwoid," Ezma said softly, glancing worriedly at T-36. "Thee thaid not tell anybody."

"What kind of droid?" Casus pressed.

Ezma crossed her eyes in thought. "Bwu?"

A blue droid. He could find that easily on the holo-cam records. Smiling, Casus lifted the dark side from the child and waved for T-36 to bring a hot chocolate. "Thank you, Ezma."

"Now I cad go home?" the child lisped.

"Soon," Casus promised. After all, if the Jedi believed that the Force was home for every living being, then the child would be rightfully returned.

Pausing at the door, Casus' eyes shifted to the toddler. He didn't want to hand her over to Vader. Force knew it was never easier with time.

His master would not stand for rebellion, however.

Luckily for the child, Casus had initiated the interrogation himself.

Darth Vader would have retrieved the information and then blown up Lothal anyways.

"What do you mean, she's not there?"

Hera dropped the crate against Chopper and dashed to the console. "Zeb?"

"Sh!" Kanan hissed. "Where is the Tantive Four?"

Zeb mumbled over the com unit, and Hera could imagine him twisting his ears in dismay. "It … uh… got pulled over by Imperial spawn. I've already called in Sabine. We're tracking –"

"No time!" Kanan's left hand thrummed across the controls. Frantically he glanced at Hera. "I can't do this single-handedly!"

"Save the puns!" Hera snapped back. She joined in, both hands flinging up starcharts and system databanks. "Chopper, lay in the Tantive Four's last known coordinates."

Pushing Kanan aside, the droid irritably zipped his claws over the controls. Kanan's eyes narrowed as he watched the flitting systems. Abruptly he clamped his hand down over Chopper's claw.

"Wait. There."

"There's nothing in that system," Hera said in bewilderment. She squinted at the blank space beneath Kanan's finger. "Kanan, the scanners don't indicate –"

"She's there."

Sighing, Hera clasped her husband's shoulder. "Love, not everything is the same now…."

"You think I can't sense her?"

Hera winced. Kanan looked frantic.

"Hera, just because I can't harness the Force doesn't mean it won't speak to me! Chopper, get these coordinates to Zeb and Sabine. We're going to find her!"

And if you're wrong…?

Hera didn't dare question it. Closing her eyes, she nestled her cheek on Kanan's head.

That's my Jedi. Bring our little girl home.

"Your results were successful," Darth Vader said triumphantly. "Once the droids are in custody, the rebel base will be destroyed."

"Or we could simply incite the princess to tell us, M'lord Emperor," Darth Casus said languidly. Emperor Vader. Casus wanted to scorn him. Ezra crawled deeper into the abyss.

Three years had passed since Darth Vader and Darth Casus had overthrown Emperor Palpatine. Four years since the Tarkin had realized Vader was more than a pawn. Five years since Casus had tortured Commander Kallus to death for undocumented crimes.

Two years since Lothal had anything good left, Ezra whispered. Casus twisted the pain until the blue-eyed padawan shrank into his dark hole.

"I believe the princess will tell us everything," Darth Vader agreed. "Where is the child you brought onboard?

"In my personal quarters. I thought it would give her a false sense of security."

"You are too soft on the rebels. Bring the child to the princess' cell. I will attend to the rest."

"As you wish, M'lord Emperor." Bowing low, Casus slowly strode from the room.

One more life. One more sacrifice.

I don't want this! Ezra cried, slamming his fists against his prison.

Darth Casus clenched his fist, and the weakness sifted away.

"Spectre Five is in position. Spectre Four?"

"Spectre Four to Spectre Five. All clear."

"All systems are at your disposal, General," the engineering cell intoned.

"Yeah, yeah." General Garazeb Orrelios adjusted the viewscreen and peered at the coordinates Kanan had sent. "Uh… there's nothing there."

"That's what Loth-Two reported," Sabine said. "Seeing as we don't have anything to go by except for feelings right now, I suggest we follow Loth-One's orders."

"Not to demean him, Spectre Five, but … it's been a long while since he was a Jedi."

Sabine growled over the com. "That's what Spectre Three said. Now are you with us or not?"

"For finding the little brat?" Zeb chuckled nostalgically and set his course. "We can't exactly leave her alone out there, now can we?"

Not like the kid. Not like last time.

Five years later, regret still honed his life.

Darth Casus was delaying the inevitable. Drawing up punishment for himself as well as torment for the child. Still, he paced. Ezma watched him with watery eyes as she gnawed a nutrient bar.

"Sir, Lord Vader will be expecting your presence within the hour," T-36 said. "He wishes to make a demonstration."

"What kind of demonstration?" Casus asked. He caught himself chewing a nail and brushed his hand off in disgust. The toddler was giving him bad habits.

"The princess has revealed the rebel base. Lord Tarkin wishes to prove the full operations of the Death Star."

Darth Casus faltered. The force threaded and shook, and for an instant it screamed 'Wrong!' Then the dark side eased back. Simple. Forgetful. Without pain.

"What planet has he chosen?" Casus wondered, activating his own star chart.

"The princess' homeworld."

"Alderaan?" Casus exhaled slowly. "We have a trade route with that planet."

"Apparently it has been cited as … a subgroup of insurgents, Sir."

"An entire planet?" Wrong! Wrong! Wrong!

Shaken, Casus deactivated the console. He could survive the menial deaths Darth Vader required. He could murder if that was required of him.

Obliterating billions of lives for the sake of a few rebels?

"When shall this 'demonstration' take place, T-36?"

"The Death Star will be within range within five hours, Sir."

Casus swallowed, and gold clinched in his eyes. One more life. He would feel no pain.

"Spectre Five, I don't like this!"

"Relax! I'm disguised as a Tie pilot, remember? They won't even notice me under the armor."

"Well they wouldn't have if you hadn't painted a blasted target on your armor!"

"It's grey tones, Zeb. Trust me – they're colorblind behind those helmets."

"Yeah? Well, I can bet the officers aren't! Why couldn't you wear an ordinary pilot's uniform?"

"Because how else will the little lekku recognize me if I look like everyone else?" Sabine said pertly, easing out of light speed. "Just be ready to pick me up, okay?"

"Karabast, I don't like this. You couldn't have –"

Sabine inhaled sharply, nearly firing the shuttle's lasers in alarm.

"Spectre Five, what's going on?"

"That… that's pretty big," Sabine whispered. The durasteel orb swamped her window.

"What is it? Talk to me, Spectre Five."

"It's … it's a space station," Sabine said in awe. "Kanan was right… Ezma must be here."

"And you're right in the middle of Imperial radio transmissions, so watch your mouth!" Zeb snapped. "Put it on the viewscreen for me."

"Tell Spectre Three to scan the systems as soon as they arrive," Sabine ordered, hacking into the station's com unit. "There should be reports on the princess and any other prisoners."

"Wait – so this is a double rescue?" Zeb sighed. "Karabast – fine, just so long as you get the kid back safely. You know who will murder me if she doesn't come home."

"Parent A or Parent B?" Sabine smirked.

Zeb chuckled lightly. "Well, I was thinking the one with the head-tails, but now that you mention it…."

"Not to worry, Spectre Four. We'll have our mini uj'alayi dispenser on board before you can say – Karabast, did they sic me with a tractor beam?"

"Do you need a pull-out?" Zeb said in alarm.

"No, no! It's fine! They're just pulling me into the docking bay. I'm turning off communications; they'll be tuning into my station next."

Hastily Sabine switched off the communications and adjusted her Imperial helmet. Keep it together. Everyone is depending on you. Do it for Ezma, and the hope we have left.

Her eyes still stung occasionally. For Ezra, and the good he believed in.

"Go thee Dada?" Ezma chirruped, clinging to Darth Casus' cloak. She feared him, as was meant to be, but he was her only security amidst the Imperialists.

She was also too slow.

Grudgingly Casus lifted the child and lengthened his stride. "We're going to Alderaan." And then to Lothal, no doubt, but you won't live to see it.

"Oh." Ezma's lower lip trembled. "Then thee Dada?"

"I'm sure of it." He cast calming waves about the child, urging her to be silent. She would shed enough tears by evening.

A rumble in the lower decks flung Casus' senses awry, and he snarled as the alert blared. "What happened?"

"This is a red alert. Sabotage reported in Hangar C. Red alert."

Slinging the child onto his shoulder, Casus flicked on his lightsaber. Crimson illuminated blotched yellow skin and for a moment Casus saw remnants of the Inquisitor's war in blue-green eyes.

Ezra wept for what could have been. Casus was glad the child would soon be disposed of.

The hangars were two decks down from the prison cells – close to Casus' location. Perhaps he would tend to the insurgents himself.

Every child should understand the futility of hope.

"Spectre Four, I'm going to need a fast pickup!"

"Did you find Seven yet?"

"Negative. The Sith spawn still has her. I found Target Oregano, though."

"Please, let me invent the code names next time."

The rebels' flippant banter was easily traced on the Imperial channel. Grouch versus Snippy; for an instant Ezra peeked out and called for his friends. Casus clipped him for his foolishness and thrust him back into his cage. There were no surviving rebels from Lothal. The Empire was superior.

And you are alone.

Blaster fire in the third corridor betrayed the saboteurs' location. Casus slid against the wall, lightsaber singeing his hood. Ezma shuddered and twisted her hands around his neck.

Three….two…one….

The princess barreled around the corner first, stormtroopers flailing under rapid scarlet bolts. In another life, five years before, Ezra Bridger would have been duly terrified. Now Casus merely snatched the princess' blaster away and rattled her against the opposing wall. One insurgent dismantled.

Shrieking, Ezma tumbled from Casus' shoulder. "Preesas!"

"Seven?" Another soldier toppled and the second insurgent leapt over him. The pilot's uniform would almost have been convincing if not for the orange falcon painted on the leg….

It's not possible! Ezra screamed, and Casus' hand wavered.

"Thabee!" Ezma screeched, flinging herself at the pilot's leg.

Thabee. Seb.

"Who are you?" Casus roared, Force-ripping away the pilot's helmet.

Maroon and cobalt tinted hair. Crisp, honey-amber eyes. Bravery in an Imperial-chiseled face.

"Sabine?" Casus croaked.

She thrust Ezma behind her. "Who are you?"

Aghast, Casus flung back his hood. Sallow yellow eyes. Cobalt hair. Sabine's knees wobbled.

"Ezra?" she whispered.

The Twi'lek child whimpered.

"You're … you're just an illusion," Casus said as he approached. "You're dead."

"You're the ghost," Sabine retorted. She hissed, closing her eyes when Casus' hand brushed her cheek. "No – stop. You were dead. Kanan felt you die on Mustafar!"

"Kanan?" Blue gushed into gold and Ezra knew. Teal eyes in a half-breed. Zeb and Sabine. Faint, Casus stumbled. "He was lying."

"Who?" Sabine's voice cracked. "Ez – Spect – is that really you?"

Stumbling back, Casus pressed a hand against his brow. Kanan!

Ezma looked between the two with brimming, curious eyes.

"How long?" Casus pleaded. "How long have you known he was alive?"

"…Four weeks after your capture," Sabine whispered. "Ezra…."

"Don't call me that!" The lights in the entire corridor sizzled, and Ezma screamed. Heaving, Casus focused on his lightsaber and extinguished the blade. Sabine shuddered.

"Don't call me that," Casus repeated jaggedly. "Ezra died with his master. I'm not …. The Jedi you knew doesn't exist."

Sucking in a breath, Sabine eased towards him. "Ezra, you're wrong. Kanan isn't dead and neither are you. Come back to us – come back to me! You don't know how lost Kanan has been without you."

Tentatively Ezra peeked out out of his cell, and for a moment Casus wavered. Red alarms sounded anew and fresh troopers pounded down the far corridor. Whirling his saber to life, Casus thrust the unconscious Leia at Sabine.

"Go!" he shouted. "Take the child and the princess, and don't look back."

"Not without you!" Sabine argued. "You expect me to report this and leave you here? We're a family, Ezra!"

For an instant blue glimmered strong, and Ezra Bridger smiled. "I know. I'll be right behind you."

Elation lit Sabine's face, and Casus slurried the force around her, maintaining the illusion of hope. "Go," he urged. "Take Ezma to safety."

"But you'll come!" Sabine ensured.

"Soon," Casus promised. As soon as Vader is eliminated.

"We'll be waiting." Sabine smiled with that old confidence, and Ezra lunged before Casus could think. A twist, a clasp of warm lips, a headrush of fantasies he had forgotten since he was fifteen. Sabine's fingers threaded in his hair, heedless of golden eyes and a name that was feared. Ezra tucked her closer, a foot taller now, her light form like a fragile bird lifting him from his cage.

The moment was over. Casus tore away, and blue eyes shone clear. "Hurry."

"You'll be right behind us." Sabine nodded. She dragged the princess over one shoulder and tugged Ezma onto the other. Swerving away, Casus raised his crimson blade and strode to meet the reinforcements.

"Sir, shall we pursue the insurgents?" the commander asked.

Casus smiled. A swipe of the hand, a crunch of bone, and the stormtroopers toppled.

"Casus to the Emperor," Darth Casus said smugly. "The insurgents have been abolished."

Abolished – not demolished. Vader would missenterpret the connotation, just as he would never sense the overclouding of the Force before his plans dissentigrated.

"I'll be right behind you, Sabine,"Ezra whispered. As he stepped into the Death Star's central core, he reached into the Force one last time.

Kanan….. Kanan…..

No answer. It was enough.

Plunging his saber into the Death Star's heart, Ezra Bridger triumphed in Darth Vader's alarm, and then flumed the energy outwards.

The Force glared to life and became his world.

"Loth-Two to Spectre Four," Hera called, tuning the skittering transmitter. "Status update."

"Uh…. Hera…." Zeb said reluctantly.

Kanan fell into the chair beside her, fingers digging into his skull. "Ez…."

"No!" Hera whispered. The last time…. "Spectre Four, report!"

You found her alive. Please, Zeb!

"Ezra….!" Kanan moaned, eyes gritted shut.

"Spectre Four!" Hera shouted.

"We … found the little lekku," Zeb said heavily. "She's safe. Spectre Five, the senator's kid; they're all here."

Hera swallowed dryly. "Zeb, what happened?"

"It's all right." Kanan was suddenly calm, left hand steadying her shoulder, dimmed eyes clear for the first time since Mustafar. "The Emperor has fallen."

"What?" Flummoxed, Hera whirled around. "What's wrong, Kanan?"

"Hera!" Sabine's voice broke. "We found him. Ezra. He was alive."

The console whirled and Kanan's hand caught Hera before she fell. What? How?

"How?" Hera gasped.

"He… Vader got to him," Sabine whispered. "But he was good in the end. He saved us." Even lower she added, "He said he would be right behind me."

Kanan's hand clenched.

"You're sure of this?" Hera murmured.

"It's unquestionable," Zeb said. "That space station blew as soon as we cleared range. You can see the rubble above Alderaan."

"Vader was there," Sabine said. "Hera… the Empire… it's over."

"Mama?" Ezma chirruped over the com.

Hera choked. "Hey, Sweetie. Want to speak to Daddy?"

Kanan gripped her shoulder. "Hi, Ezma."

"Mama! Dadda!"

Kanan turned away, and Hera didn't need the force to know his thoughts.

The Empire was finished. The war was won.

They had gained freedom for their daughter, and Kanan had lost his son.

A.N. "Always in motion the future is." This is a possibility of how the future might have carried out if Ezra's vision in the 11th chapter of "Carbon" had come true. As you can see, Kanan actually was present, but not in the snippet Ezra saw of himself.

Here is how the "future" of this chapter concludes:

Kallus is already dead - he was executed by Darth Casus one year after Kanan's "death".

Emperor Palpatine was previously overthrown and murdered by Darth Casus and Darth Vader, the latter of whom became the new Emperor.

Darth Vader and Darth Casus were both killed in the Death Star explosion. Darth Vader is ... erm... not redeemed, and Ezra becomes one with the Force thanks to his last act of valor.

Years later, Sabine marries a former rebel officer. They name their son "Ephraim" after Ezra's father. Ephraim is an artist, like his mother, although Sabine sometimes wishes he had taken an interest in laser-swords instead of pencils. Ephraim settles on Naboo and marries, carrying on an ordinary, sophisticated family line. Sabine remains with the New Republic military until her husband is killed in action. She returns to Mandalore soon after and ferries between her home planet and the budding city on Lothal.

Zeb, a general in the Rebel fleet, retires early. He tries settling down and is a babysitter for Ezma for a few years, but finds the memories too unsettling. He enlists as a bounty hunter for lingering Imperialists and is killed in action sixteen years after the beginning of the New Republic.

Chopper is offered a position in Alderaan's diplomatic corp. He refuses, choosing to assist Hera and Kanan with the rebuilding of Lothal. He spends most of his days griping about Kanan trying to do everything "single-handedly" and is the best housekeeper/engineer that Hera could ask for.

Because of his dented skull (remnants of his failed attempt to kill Vader and avenge his padawan), Kanan has very limited use of the Force. He can sense Hera and Ezma's feelings, but he has never built another lightsaber. Ezra steps in often and communicates as a Force ghost. Little Ezma and Hera cannot see him, but his past and Kanan's has been patched up by frequent conversations.

Hera is a busy mother and New Republic leader, rebuilding Lothal on one hand and raising a daughter on the other. Thankfully Kanan is a devoted daddy and Hera can tend to most of the diplomatic business while he looks after their four-year-old. She represents Lothal until her death - sixty years after the beginning of the New Republic. Kanan passes into the Force two days after he discovers she's gone.

Ezma remains an only child. When she is thirteen Kanan sends her to Yoda to advance her training as a Jedi. She only visits her parents a couple times a year until she is eighteen, whereupon she joins the army of the New Republic. By then, Lothal is a straggling city which is gradually regaining its former grandeur. When Ezma is twenty-three she takes on her own padawan; a child of the third Skywalker generation.

Leia Skywalker was rattled by Darth Casus' interrogation. She rallies Alderaan and the New Republic to a higher defense system, and convinces Bail Organna to establish a new Jedi Order. The remaining Jedi are slowly discovered, and within fifteen years a small temple on Alderaan is established.

Luke "Lars" gets tired of Tatooine and smuggles himself off planet. He runs into Zeb, who drags him to Kanan, who discovers he is Force-sensitive and sends him directly to Degobah. Obi-wan is not pleased. (Until he learns that Ezma is force-sensitive, and gives Kanan a few tips to begin her training in preparation for her later tutelage under Yoda.)

Owen and Beru are most displeased with Luke's actions, and never speak to any Jedi thereafter.

Maketh Tua was mysteriously assassinated in the first year after Darth Casus was born. It is rumored that a scandal involving Kallus' high security files had something to do with her demise.

Han Solo became a rogue smuggler who kidnapped Princess Leia five years after the birth of the New Republic. After a series of quarrels, threats, ridiculously lethal scenarios, and explosive situations, they realized fighting was more fun than diplomacy. Han was too independent, however, and Leia too responsible for the ideals of romance. They parted ways and continued to stay in contact, bashing each other through sarcastic messages relayed through C-3PO and Chewie. Leia eventually married the Prince of Hapes, uniting two worlds under the New Repubic. Han never settled.

Again, all of this is the "possible future" for the vision that Ezra saw in the 11th chapter of Carbon. This is NOT the prediction for how the Never Alone series ends. This is how the future could have played out if Ezra's vision was true.