Star Wars Rebels: When Hope Is Lost

Chapter 20: Rallying

Yoda smiled. "Good to see you again, it is, Caleb."

"How is this possible?" Kanan started. So many questions had filled his head upon seeing the Jedi Master in front of him. "How can I see you? How am I here? "

"The Force works in mysterious ways," Yoda said vaguely. "Dwell on that, we must not. Much time, we do not have."

"Time for what?" Kanan asked, confused.

Yoda looked at him, his bright eyes searching him. "Know why you are here, do you?"

Kanan shook his head.

"Figured as much, I did." Yoda sighed. "Your Padawan; disappeared, he has, hm?"

Kanan nodded. "My crew and I have been trying to figure out a way to get him back, but it hasn't been easy. We can't launch any sort of rescue mission without–"

"Want to be rescued, does he?" Yoda cocked his head at the young man.

"Yes–" Kanan started, then stopped. "Well.... he ran away of his own free will. But he had the dark side in his head, and we can't just leave him to be found by the Empire! They'll hurt him, try to make him turn to the dark side completely!"

"Hm. Strong connection to this boy, you have, hm? Care for him, do you?"

"He's part of my crew," Kanan stated. "In that way, he's family."

"Dangerous, attachments are. When attached, fear for them, do you. For their safety. Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering." Yoda explained in his calm and backwards way of speaking. "Fear, is the path to the dark side."

"I will never turn to the dark side," Kanan vowed firmly. "No matter what. But I have to protect my crew and my friends.

"When I first met Ezra, he was reckless and completely dependent on himself. I thought he couldn't be trained or taught how to trust. But then that changed. He started to open up more, and before he left, we had a bond made of durasteel, Yoda. But now, I can feel our bond weakening in the Force–and in my heart. I don't want to lose him, or fail him any more than I already have. He's a like a son to me." Kanan stared at the green alien, eyes full of sorrow.

Yoda studied him, turning his head as though he could get a look into Kanan's soul that way. "Like a son, you say?"

Kanan nodded.

"But a son, you have, Kanan," Yoda said gently.

"Had," Kanan corrected. "He's dead. The Empire burned our home while I was gone. He was dead when I got there." Kanan looked down at the floor. "And I checked the camps the Empire set up for everyone else that had lived there–those who survived. There was no one of his description."

"Saw the body, you did?" Yoda questioned.

"Well.... no. But it would have been impossible for him to survive. No one can survive a raging fire of the size that it was! Everything was blackened ash, when Ezra and I saw it."

"What about your vision?" Yoda said suddenly. "There, Dev was, hm?"

"Yeah. He and Ezra had both turned to the dark side, and they were horribly angry. They said I had left them, that I had abandoned them. Dev said that I had left him for dead, that he hadn't burned in Tarkintown, that he had escaped...." Kanan stopped short. His breath caught in his throat.

"Search your feelings," Yoda suggested gently. "What do you sense?"

Kanan shut his eyes. He could feel the Force, flowing through him, flowing through every living being in the galaxy, connecting them all together. A moment later, he opened his eyes again. He stared at Yoda in shock and surprise.