An AU where Obi-Wan doesn't die in that fight with Vader and they all make it to Yavin 4 with Leia
also Kanan is alive and Ahsoka's here too so yayyy everyone's here
this one is kinda all over the place
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Ezra watched with anticipation as the ship landed in the hangar, off-loading four people and two droids.
None of whom he was looking for.
He watched a kid with sandy blonde hair and a white tunic walk off the ship with Princess Leia, trailed by a familiar astromech that beeped wildly and a gold-plated protocol droid who responded with exasperation. The droid duo reminded Ezra of Chopper and AP-3 in a way. Perhaps the four of them would get along.
Ezra watched with amusement as Rex went sprinting after the two, shouting "Hey! R2!"
Without missing a beat, the astromech stopped beeping at the protocol unit and happily wheeled around and rolled towards Rex. The protocol unit began prattling on about R2's 'strange friends', to which Rex responded "Eh, jam it '3PO" and continued talking to R2. Ezra puffed out a chuckle as he watched the Princess and the boy exchange a confused glance.
Princess Leia of Alderaan - She'd lost everything. Her people, her home, her parents; however, using his impeccable judgement, Ezra figured that she wasn't planning on giving up any time soon. Despite all that she had lost, she still had something to fight for, something to fight against - she had the Rebellion. And she had the Empire to fight.
Ezra felt that she blamed herself for the loss of her people, and he wished he could tell her that would never be true. However he knew that somewhere, deep down, she knew that, too.
Still, the losses were obviously hitting her hard.
Next, two scruffy-looking people stepped out of the Corellian light freighter - And when he said scruffy, Ezra meant scruffy. A huge Wookiee and a man that Ezra felt would make great friends with Hondo (or maybe Lando) walked down the landing ramp, looking lost. Out of place. They made their way into the crowd, eventually finding something to do.
After the hangar went mostly silent except for the occasional electric spasm, Ezra found himself waiting. Still. He would have gone inside, he should have been at the briefing. He knew that - he was needed elsewhere. But he couldn't leave. He knew he'd be here.
He could feel it.
"Relax, Ezra," Kanan chided. Though he was blind, he could still sense Ezra bouncing on his feet.
"Yeah, kid," Rex said, returning to his side, "He'll be out in a minute. Just..."
Rex's voice trailed off as his face fell. Something drastic had changed, although Ezra couldn't tell what or when or why. "Just give him a second."
Finally, Ezra couldn't take waiting anymore. He groaned and fell back onto his heels. "Rex, you knew him, right?"
Rex looked at him as though that question were a shock. "Yeah, kid, I knew him. Why, you want me to go in there and make him come out?"
"Please?" Ezra begged, although he meant it only half as a joke. He even made pleading hands in an attempt to get Rex to go in there for him. Rex scoffed, his hands on his hips.
"Nope! Jedi need their alone time, you know that."
Ezra groaned, feeling like a little kid all of a sudden.
He would've complained more, had he not spotted a hooded figure making its way down the landing ramp in a dirty brown robe, arms folded. Rex turned to look as well - alarm in the room shot up. No, not alarm...
As the person reached the bottom, they flipped the hood off of their head.
There, he was there.
Obi-Wan Kenobi. Jedi Master.
Ezra knew.
He looked at the three of them, face as inscrutable as it had ever been. However, his eyes softened when they fell upon Rex - instant recognition. And in an instant, the air filled with something cool. Bittersweet. Something Ezra couldn't describe, but clearly, Rex felt it too. He was the first one to step towards Master Kenobi, hands clasped behind his back and a soft smile spread across his face. "I'm glad to see I'm not the only one who got old."
After a moment of looking over Rex with something like sadness, Master Kenobi managed a smile. "Well, it has been a while."
Rex seemed taken aback by something. Perhaps his voice? He cocked an eyebrow, but Master Kenobi only dismissed it with a playful head shake.
Rex moved closer, reaching out an arm and placing it on Master Kenobi - on Obi-Wan's - shoulder. "It's... nice to see a familiar face. I thought we'd lost you, sir."
Obi-Wan smiled kindly, still. "Not quite yet, Rex."
From over Ezra's shoulder, a voice spoke. "Obi-Wan."
Rex's hand fell from Obi-Wan's shoulder, and both men looked towards the sound. Ezra turned slowly as well, Kanan following suit.
There, underneath an X-Wing, Ahsoka stood. As still as ever, as cold and impassive as Obi-Wan himself.
"It's been a while."
Obi-Wan's smile fell. The coolness in the air came - like empty stone, a mossy temple. A vacant dais. Something deeply chilling. "Ahsoka. I hope you're doing well."
Ezra could hear it, lifeless in the air - You've grown up, Obi-Wan had meant, had wanted to say. Now Ezra wondered how long it had been since they'd seen each other, how close they'd once been.
Finally, Obi-Wan said it. "You've grown up."
Their greetings seemed friendly enough. They sounded like things you'd say to someone you were so happy to see, you didn't know what else to say. But perhaps, it was different - there was no joy in their tones, nothing happy to say, like it'd been with Rex. However, there was an undertone of some imperturbable understanding, some... something solemn that Ezra couldn't name. Tense, shared grief and sorrow. Guilt. Regret. Pain.
Perhaps this was all there was anymore.
"And you lost your accent," Ahsoka said, still sounding... What was the word? Skeptical? "How in the Force does that even happen?"
As a flattened chuckle lightened her voice, a smirk pulled down at the corners of Obi-Wan's mouth. Something flickered in his eyes. Something... something.
"Well, the Force works in mysterious ways."
Humor? Ezra pondered, Are they joking?
After a heartbeat of silence, barely a second, Ahsoka spoke again. Her voice was softer, duller. Sadder. Tenser. "What happened?"
Obi-Wan's gaze fell. He closed his eyes, briefly grieving before looking up at Ahsoka again. "I failed him."
Ahsoka looked at him with something Ezra interpreted as distaste. She walked closer to him, close enough to place her hands on his shoulders and look him in the eye. "No, Obi-Wan," She closed her eyes. "We failed him."
Obi-Wan sighed as though he'd had this debate before - with himself, maybe. Ahsoka opened her eyes, still looking at him with rue.
That's what it was. Rue.
That's what blew in on the breeze.
"I made a promise. I failed him, I failed the Order," He looked right at her, right into her eyes, "And I failed you, Ahsoka."
No more words were spoken. All Ahsoka did was wrap her arms around him. And, hesitantly, he hugged her back.
Ezra glanced over at Kanan, who stood as neutral-faced as ever. Perhaps, Ezra would have known what he were thinking if he could see his eyes and his face. He knew that Kanan could feel what was happening, he was sure he could. He was sure he could feel it as crisply as though he were hurting himself.
When Ezra looked back, Rex, Ahsoka and Obi-Wan were laughing together. He suspected Obi-Wan hadn't laughed in a while. Perhaps they were happy to be together again, like family.
Still, however, this picture seemed... incomplete.
Ezra wondered who they were missing.
Then, a shadow breathed over him, and he stood petrified. He shivered, suddenly frozen. Freezing. He held his hands up before him as they shook, shaking, shivering. His fingernails turned black, his fingertips frozen. The burn spread down his fingers, down his hands like the veins of a poisonous plant, rooting itself in him. Taking his body. Fear. Fear, he was afraid as something grasped him. The world seemed inverted around him, he couldn't move. He couldn't run. Terrified, freezing, frostbitten and... and... alone, stuck...
He was back in the real world, rooted in the ground. A sharp gasp escaped him, earning a worried glance from Kanan. His arms seemed glued to his side. But then, he could move again. And now, a name floated in the front of mind.
Darth Vader.
Anakin Skywalker.
The lost one.
A pang of pain and guilt threaded its way into Ezra's mind.
He felt lost. Broken. Empty.
The seeds of something he knew.
And just like that, it was gone. The shadow receded, the sunlight from outside cast across the floor. The shadow casting ice over him, taking breath from the air, receded. However, it left a dust in his mind that the wind couldn't blow away - Like wind-beaten dunes or a field of light, bristling gently in the breeze. An angle; The vanishing point.
He frowned, something behind his eyes raw. Loose.
As he watched three friends, a broken family, fractured, shattered hope...
Was this what rebellion was built off of?