Without you

Chapter 18

No one's p.o.v

In the dark of the night when everything freezes in the desert it is easy for those who move in the shadows to go unnoticed. Maybe this is why no one saw or heard Kanan Jarrus and his companions breaking into the slave camp.

The plan was simple. Kanan, Hera and Luke would go to get Ezra. Lonnie and Ofelia would break free the other slaves. Zeb would make sure that everyone would get out safely. When everyone was out Sabine would set off the bombs shutting this place down once and for all.

Kanan, Hera and Luke walked silently, hiding behind spare crates and dark corners just in case any of the guards came by. But, nothing. Not a single guard. There was complete silence in the slave camp.

"Something's wrong. This place was full of guards and slaves when we came here to get you. Where are they now?" Kanan asked.

"I don't know. Slavers never leave their camps except if they want to go on a slave market. But, even then they don't take all the slaves and they definitely don't leave their camps unguarded" Luke commented.

"Something is definitely wrong then" Hera said worry clear in her voice.

"Specter 5 to Specter 1, do you read?"

Kanan picked up his comm.

"I read you specter 5. What's wrong?"

"There are no guards. Or slaves. Ofelia and Lonnie opened all the cells on the south side. They were all empty. And Zeb did not find anyone and  he says if he doesn't punch someone soon, he's going to punch you"

"Tell Zeb he doesn't stand a chance. There is no one on the west side either"

"Wait" Lonnie's voice sounded through the others'.
"If there are no guards, or slaves and we know for a fact that slavers don't leave their camps like that then... "

"It's an ambush" Kanan finished for her. His grip tightened around the commlink as he yelled at all the spectres.

"Specter one to crew, evacuate the slave camp. NOW!"

They all started running to the exit. Lonnie and Ofelia were the last ones to make it out and just as they reached the others the whole camp was set on fire by a huge explosion.

They were all panting, breathing in as much as possible of the cold air.

"W-what happened?" Sabine asked shivering.

"They were waiting for us, that's what happened" Kanan answered leaning in a rock.

"What are we going to do now? They took Ezra and we have no idea where they are or how to find them" Sabine stated.

"I swear if the do anything to the kid-"

"Zeb, calm down please"

"What happened last time?" Kanan said all of the sudden.

"Bwaw Bwaw Bwaw Bwaw Bwaw"

"Choper's right love, what are you talking about?"

"Ezra told me he was taken by the slavers before. What happened then?" Kanan asked and looked at Luke, waiting for an explanation. Luke looked at Ofelia. She nodded.

Luke sighed softly and sat down in the sand.

"It happened two months after Ezra and I first met. Slavery is not a problem here, more like a way of living. People would go by the body markets and would not stop to give a second glare. Everyone knows that being a slave means suffering. Not only because you loose your freedom. If your master is not 'civilised' things might get hard. But, as I told you, for the locals slavery is a part of everyday life. It was not for Ezra though"

By this point everyone had sat down and listened carefully, eager to know what happened to their specter 6 these last two years.

"Ezra was seeing these people's suffering. And it was making him miserable. He wanted to put an end to it. He wanted to help these people, to stand up for them. For their freedom"

"That's my boy" Hera mumbled as Kanan side-hugged her. Leaning her head on his shoulder, she nodded for Luke to go on.

"That's why he let him self get kidnapped"

Everyone looked at him with terror clear on their faces but, Luke didn't stop.

"He said he'd be back in a few weeks. He told me to look after Choper while he was gone. But, a few weeks went by and he didnt show up. The weeks quickly became months and after two months of no news, well, we thought he was a goner"

"Bwaw Bwaw Bwaw Bwaw Bwaw Bwaw"

"Yeah Choper, I know you never gave up on him" Luke said chuckling.

"But, what happened afterwards? What did you do? How did you find him?" Kanan asked.

"Well, that's the point, we didn't"

"What does that mean? I don't understand what it means" Zeb growled as Choper hit him in the leg telling him to keep quiet if he wanted to find out.

"One night he just came to my front door. Most of his bones broken, with a high fever, cuts and bruises everywhere. He kept whispering the same thing over and over again: No more. Then he collapsed"

Kanan felt  the color leave his face. He looked around  to see everyone almost as worried as he was, if not more.

"We took him to the medical centre but, in a planet as detached as this, it didn't really help. Our medical supplies are limited and most of our medical droids are rusty or broken anyways. We really thought he was going to die"

Like paused for a moment and hid his face on his palms. He thought he'd almost lost his best....his only friend back then. And now, he might loose him for real.

"No!" He thought "We went through this last time, we'll do it again!"

He looked up to see the crew waiting for him to finish. As if the story held the answers of what they should do now. It didn't. But, he kept going anyways.

"After a few weeks of nothing but silence, he finally opened his eyes. It took him time to recover. We tried to ask him what happened but he never told us. We did not pressure him"

"So, you have no idea where they took him last time or where they might have taken him now?" Sabine asked dissapointed

"Not at all" Luke sighed.

"Ezra knew they'd be back. He was always looking behind his shoulder. He was never fully relaxed and I couldn't blame him. None of us let his guard down from that day on, until-"

"Until I came" Kanan said looking down. No matter how hard he tried he always seemed to manage to lead Ezra to more pain and suffering.

"Kanan it wasn't your fault" Lonnie said.

"He's right mate. There was nothing you could do" Zeb agreed and patted Kanan in the back.

"I'm the reason he got here in the first place"

"Kanan, stop it. You have been blaming yourself for the last two years. I think you beat your self up enough. Now, stop drowning in that self-pity pool of yours and let's focus on how to find Ezra"

"I-I didn't-I-Thanks, Hera"

"If Ezra managed to escape all on his own in such a bad shape, we can find him" Sabine reassured Kanan.

"It wasn't that simple"

"What do you mean, Luke?"

"What I mean Lonnie, is that Ezra wasn't alone"

"Wait, what?" Hera asked confused.

Luke turned to look once more at Ofelia.

"You wanna tell them, or should I?"

"Tell us what?" Sabine asked getting impatient with the conversation.

"Ezra, did not escape all on his own" Luke finally answered .

"Because I was with him" Ofelia who was silent all this time continued.