** Wasn't going to post this until after Christmas, but here it is anyway! This is the Hopefully final sequel to Separation and Second Chances. Hope you enjoy!** ~Ocean

Chapter 1: Padawan Hunt

Ezra raced through the thick vegetation. The youth was on a mission that he was determined not to fail. 5 minutes was all he had to find cover.

Hera had taken all his restrictions off two weeks ago, after more than a month of getting to do nothing. His arm remained in a brace, but he almost had full range of motion as he ran as fast as he could. The padawan had grown bored of lectures and meditation; he, like his master had been at his age, was ready for action.

Ezra actually didn't mind the brace, he easily had it hidden under his clothing and unless the sleeves were pulled up, no one could tell he was recovering still.

The kid stopped and looked around, he was hardly out of breath despite his lack of exercise the previous month. His eyes glanced around; opening himself to the force before looking way up in the top of the tree where there was a thick hollowed out area. Unless you knew it was there, it couldn't really be seen through the branches.

"Perfect. He'll never find me there!" He thought to himself as he started to climb, using the force to help him. The teenager tucked himself in the hollow after checking to make sure there had been nothing living inside. An alarm on his wrist beeped once to signal his five minutes was up. Now he had to wait. Ezra shut his eyes and concentrated on being invisible. The Hunt had begun.

Kanan and Hera were seated side by side on the ramp of the Ghost. Kanan was giving his student 5 minutes to hide and block his signature; something they had been working on for almost two months now. Tomorrow, they had an assignment for the alliance and he wanted to make sure that Ezra was mentally ready.

"Are you sure he's ready luv? It's barely been a week. I came back here to give him time to de-compress because it was quiet and peaceful." Hera glanced over to the Jedi leader as she spoke. Her voice full of concern.

"The kid is fine." The Jedi reassured her as he looked at his timer. 4 minutes left.

"Kanan, he just found out that his parents died. How can you tell me he is fine?" The Twi-lek Captain looked at the man in disbelief at his quick confirmation.

"I don't know how he is, I just do. If he's not, he knows he can talk to me about it. Besides, his parents aren't really dead. I mean they are, but according to Jedi beliefs they just become part of the force again. That gave him a lot of comfort." Kanan had already had this conversation with Hera and was a little frustrated at her persistence, but he understood. Ezra needed to be fully ready, mentally and physically, for their next assignment.

"Will you at least talk to him? If I need to postpone this assignment a little longer, I would rather do that than risk the of everyone on this ship." Hera was starting to do that motherly concern thing, but this time she threw in the safety of the crew for good measure. Kanan sighed in defeat

"Okay, I'll talk to the kid when I find him." The Jedi said calmly as he stood up. 3 minutes.

"Are you sure you will? Zeb says he's gotten better. He said that last time you almost ran out of time. The only thing that was on your side was a creature decided to come out of hiding and startled Ezra." Hera smiled up at him as she remained seated.

Kanan pulled a device from his pocket and waved it around in a flashy manner. Hera recognized it immediately as a tracking device.

"You're cheating. I thought the purpose of this training exercise was to help Ezra learn to block people from being able to read his signature and keep others from entering his mind. That tracker has nothing to do with the force and his ability." The female's voice held amusement at the fact that her Jedi comrade had gone back to his old ways before she had met him; doing anything to win.

"No, I said the purpose of this exercise was for Ezra to practice his focus, concentration and vigilance to his surroundings. I bet I find him in less than five minutes." Kanan sounded a little proud and full of himself for his mastermind plan.

He told Ezra that if he hadn't found Ezra in 10 minutes, that he would treat him to food in the city a few miles from where they had set up camp. Kanan didn't plan on losing any credits on feeding a bottomless teenager.

"Well I'm rooting for Ezra. Cheating makes the game less fun." Hera stood up as she saw less than a minute remaining on his timer.

"The Empire doesn't care about what is fair. This will be a good lesson for the kid." Kanan's eyes went cold for a moment before looked down, the timer beeped and the Jedi took off on the hunt for his padawan. The man had to admit to himself that this was pretty fun.

Hera sighed as she boarded her ship. As much as she didn't like cheating, she knew the Jedi was right. The empire didn't care about playing fair.