Not Even Death

Dead is Past Tense

Two weeks earlier.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you."

"Ah!" Pain shoots through my limbs and lower torso. I could almost imagine being caught in a sandstorm the way my skin feels raked and raw. It hurts just laying here. Wherever here is.

"Wh—" I wheeze. It takes a few moments of chest aching coughs before I can finish. "Where am I? What happened? Who are you?"

The voice speaks again, and this time the vibrations of the force reveal a familiar image. "You know me, Kanan."

"Old Jho?" I breathe incredulously, "but you're dead!"

The old bartender laughs an ugly, hoarse chuckle. "So are you, Master Jedi."

"What..."

Oh no. The refinery. The fire. Hera.

Hera.

"She thinks I'm gone. They all think I'm gone!" I try to sit up, but my arms won't support me. My hands scream as white-hot needles burn through the skin.

"You should stay still, Kanan. I thought maybe you went blind in the explosion, and that would give it away."

I shake my head. "A sith gave me those scars." But I swear I could see the green of Hera's eyes just before... "What did you mean by give it away? How bad is it?"

Silence. The Force bunches in tight wads as it passes by Joe, and I know.

"I'm sorry," is all he says.

"Just tell me."

I can hear his deep breath. "I'm no medic or doctor, and I don't have any supplies in this old cave. To be honest, I brought you here to give you a place to die in peace. That's what I was certain would happen when I found you in the rubble, but you just kept breathing..."

"Jho."

He sighs. "Your hands are a mess of burns and infection, and your legs... your legs are... They're just gone. It's a miracle that you're still here."

My legs? I try to move something, anything below the waist, but pain rockets up my spine.

"That's... that's okay. They have prosthetics, right?" Wow, so I'm blind and paralyzed. I try to laugh, but that's not a great idea. "Where's Hera and the others?"

I don't care if my legs are gone just like I don't care that my vision is gone, but Hera. She's the one thing that matters. She's the reason the fire in my lungs doesn't hurt as I breathe. She's the joy in my life. Hera is my light in this darkness that never ends.

I love her. And she loves me.

"My spies tell me they're liberating Lothal as we speak."

At this, I stop. Distantly, almost like a memory, I hear Ezra telling me that he wasn't prepared for this. And I remember those wolves. The white one.

Sometimes, it's really weird being blind with the force.

"I have to get to them. I have to help..." I try, futilely, to get up again.

I hear the shift of fabric as I assume Jho shakes his head. "I think they're doing just fine. Your death has only allowed them to fight harder, stronger. Besides, you're in no shape to go anywhere."

"So what would you have me do?"

The man chuckles. "Isn't patience a Jedi virtue?"

I groan.

Within the hour, or my best blind guess at an hour, tremors ripple through the earth. I can only imagine the battery and onslaught happening in the city, but I can still feel Hera at the edge of my range, her determination and ferocity.

She's okay.

I hear rustling echo through the cave as Joe makes his way over to me.

"Alright, time for us to go."

Finally. "We're going to help them?"

The bartender laughs with the same ugly cough but deeper this time. "Oh, no. We're using the fight to escape."

"No, I have to get out there!" I shout as I struggle against the pain in my body, but I can feel the bed underneath me move as Joe unlocks the holding clamps and pushes me away. I'm useless, completely useless.

I drop back onto the bed with a painful thud and allow Joe to slowly pushes me onward. Something warm touches my skin, and I recognize it as sunlight. Usually, I like the feel of warmth on my face, but the burns from the fire are so fresh, even this slight heat is uncomfortable. The sounds of the outside fade into the distinctive hum of an old ship missing a cylinder or two.

"We're going off-world?"

"You need proper medical attention, and I think you have some old friends that can help out," Jho replies. "But, eh, you'll need to transmit some clearance codes first."

Uh, huh.

"To the Yavin-4 it is then."

Hey readers! I actually have a lot of this story written, and I'm only a few chapters away from completion. So, I should be able to publish a chapter on Mondays and Fridays! See you on Monday! Until then, don't forget to leave a vote or a comment.