"Ezra!" Kanan shouted his name as he raced into his padawan's room. "Ezra, we need to talk!"

Ezra's eyes fluttered open and he turned to his other side before gingerly leaping down from his bed and seeing Kanan standing under the doorframe.

"You're back," Ezra blankly said.
"We need to talk," Kanan simply replied.
"Ugh, you're leaving, aren't you?"
"I will be. I just wanted to lay down a few rules here before I go—and before we start training."

Ezra sighed and took a seat on the lower bunk.

"You're getting older," Kanan said. "I feel like I've raised you myself."
"Get to the point," Ezra snapped.
"Okay, what's with everyone today? What's with the secrecy and the cryptic language? Did I do something to you guys? Did I not do something?"
"Sorry, Kanan, we're just on edge today. Can you blame us, though? Our leader is going to be leaving us to go on some epic adventure with a new crew for a few months."
"I don't understand! Why are you guys are so upset with that?"

Ezra stood with a stern appearance plastered on his face. There was a reason, but he couldn't fathom it into words. Kanan sighed and rested his hand on his padawan's shoulder.

"Sorry, but I just have to do this," Kanan said. "It's not just for the rebellion anymore. I'm interested in this mission too. It won't be long and I'll be back soon."
"Do what you want, I guess," the younger boy replied.
"Let's just drop the subject and do some training."
"Can we do it tomorrow?"

Kanan thought for a quick moment and then smiled.

"Sure."

****

Kanan meticulously watched over his padawan as they proceeded to do go through basic defense training. Something was off. He could sense it. His eyes tracked the movements of his padawan. Today his padawan was more delicate on his feet and was less exact. Strange pulses were felt through the Force.

"Let's make it a little harder!" he shouted.

Chopper heard him shout and joined Sabine and Zeb, who were already shooting at Ezra. Ugh, why is he doing this to me?, Ezra thought as he tried to stay focused, Does he know? If he does, why can't he just be straightforward and tell me so?

Rex walked up to Kanan and they began to talk. Ezra could see them out of his abnormally good peripheral vision. They were just talking. Ezra assumed Rex was trying to persuade Kanan to stay. Ever since Kanan returned, everyone had been nagging him about it and trying to make him stay. However, Kanan was as adamant as ever and nothing seemed to keep him from leaving his crew. But was a crew without their leader?

Sabine, Zeb, and Chopper exchanged uneasy looks as they continued to shoot their pistols at Ezra. Even Chopper was a little worried about this training session. One wrong move and everything could be spoiled.

"Zeb, are you just as uncomfortable as me, or am I just being overly sensitive right now?" Sabine whispered to the Lasat.
"For once, it's not just you," he grumbled as Chopper beeped in agreement.

Kanan noticed they were beginning to shoot fewer and fewer bullets as he was talking to Rex. This made him even more suspicious.

"Guys, I said step it up a little bit!" he shouted again.
"Sorry!" Sabine replied. "Will do..."

Kanan shook his head in slight disappointment as Rex continued to somewhat distract him. They weren't talking about the mission nor was Rex trying to persuade Kanan to stay. Instead, they were talking about consequences.

"The Empire is probably going to try and beat you to that unknown system," the Clone Wars veteran said. "Imagine what could happen out there."
"Exactly!" Kanan sighed in satisfaction. "At least someone here agrees with me."
"I just don't know what we'll do without you. But we know what you're doing is right, Kanan. We trust you."
"I just wish everyone understood that I'm only doing this for the rebellion. I'm not trying to abandon anyone. I hope Ezra understands that. I know this is kind of...similar to what happened in the past for him."
"I'm sure he'll understand."

Kanan turned his attention back to Ezra and was happy to see that he was progressing.

"Alright, let's make it even harder," he told the four Specters.

Sabine bit her lip as she forced herself to follow Kanan's command. He watched them for a few more seconds and then turned his head back to Rex. He had a little story to tell him about something he ran into last night.

"Hey Rex, I don't know if you know anything about this, but last night I couldn't sleep. I just decided to walk around The Ghost to try and fall asleep when I discovered something in one of the unused rooms," Kanan started.

Karabast..., Rex thought to himself.

"I saw tons of crates just stored in there for no reason. They seemed new. I was wondering if Hera was trying to smuggle some supplies just for her, but I remembered I was thinking about Hera. So Rex...did you guys happen to pick up any supplies when I was gone with Ahsoka and the new crew?" Kanan asked.

Just as Rex was about to tell Kanan the truth—which he had to, now, because it was obvious Kanan knew that they went on the mission—something happened.

The pistols dropped to the ground and everyone rushed over to a blood-stained area. It was over. Sabine took off her helmet and saw Kanan's angry, yet concerned expression. Ezra grimaced in pain and knew he was done for.

"I thought you guys had your blasters set on stun!" he yelled at Sabine, Zeb, and Chopper.
"We did!" Sabine said.
"Kanan, let us explain!" Zeb said.
"Oh, you better explain! How could you purposely shoot Ezra?"
"Kanan, they didn't—"
"Quiet, Ezra—"
"Let me explain," Hera suddenly intervened from The Ghost.

Kanan shot her a suspicious look. She ushered him into The Ghost as well as the others. She sent Ezra to the med bay and brought Kanan into the kitchen for a private discussion. 

****

Ezra was properly wrapped and given medicine. He was resting on the bed with the others and they were all closely listening to Hera and Kanan's conversation as best as they could.

"It's over now, right?" Ezra asked them all. "Kanan knows we went on that mission."
"It's okay," Sabine comforted him. "At least he knows now."
"Yeah," Zeb agreed. "We couldn't keep it a secret forever."

Rex was closest to the kitchen doors that were shut and nodded, partially in agreement. Chopper followed Rex as he walked closer to Ezra.

"He definitely knew that we went on the mission, but he didn't know that it was a botched mission," Rex explained to everyone. "He's really upset now."
"Nothing will ever be the same again," Ezra sighed.

The voices in the kitchen grew louder than ever and became clearly audible from the med bay.

"How could I have been so blind?" Kanan shouted. "Why did you keep this from me? I thought we told each other everything!"
"Kanan, I'm sorry!—" Hera said.
"Sorry won't cut it! You deceived me! You know full well that Ezra is the best chance the rebellion has until we get bigger numbers! And we're co-commanders of this ship; we tell each other everything. We had a code we lived by! Why would you keep an injured Specter out of my knowledge?"

Only Kanan's rapid footsteps could be heard as he paced around the kitchen, completely distraught. Hera didn't know what to say to make the situation better. She knew they did something wrong.

"Well, don't just stand there! Say something!" Kanan yelled.

She remained at a complete loss of words and Kanan had lost it. The doors opened and he marched out of the kitchen. His shadow was the only thing the remaining Specters saw from the med bay. After a few moments of silence, Hera then came out and slowly entered the med bay.

"Hera...," Sabine softly said.
"You all should get some sleep, especially you, Ezra," she said as everyone stood there frozen. "Go on."

Everyone began to reluctantly walk out of the room. Once they all left, Hera looked at Ezra, all wrapped up.

"Ezra, you know I care about you, right?" she asked.
"Of course," he told her. "You're like my mother. You are my mother."

Hera tried to force a smile, but she remained solemn.

"Let's just get some rest, okay?" she told him.

Ezra nodded in agreement and then she left in peace. But deep down, he knew the Ghost family was falling apart. Kanan would be leaving soon and when and if he returned, everything would be different and nothing the same. So he just decided to sleep it off and that he would deal with it all later. Yeah..., he thought to himself, I'll just deal with it later...

And his eyelids fluttered and then slowly covered his dull blue eyes as sleep enveloped him.

****

Specters,

Sorry for the delay in updates! I've been really busy lately with interims and school. I hope by March to have more steady updates. More information to the delay in updates will be explained in my "Crafter's Guide" book, if you're interested.

Anyway, I hope this chapter didn't disappoint! I was trying to think of the perfect way for this to play out, because, as stated in the previous chapter, Kanan would find out; he always does. Let me know what you think in the comments below and don't forget to vote if you enjoyed it!

May the force be with you!

Specter 7, out!