Taking In An Orphan

Chapter 2

About 10 minutes later, they slowed their speeders as they approached the city. It was not a huge empire stronghold, but Kanan knew that there would still be troopers. Zeb and Sabine slowed their speeders as they entered the city. Kanan parked his speeder and climbed off. Hopping onto the top of the building, he could keep an eye on the speeder. He followed, hopping to the next building and then the next, always keeping an eye out for signs of trouble. They approached the drop spot where the supplies were supposed to be left and parked the speeder. A man stood there in a cloak. When he saw the rebels, he nodded and Zeb and Sabine whispered the password. The man stepped away from the supplies and allowed the two to take them. 

Zeb and Sabine started to load the supplies onto the speeder. They tried to go slowly enough not to be seen as suspicious. 

Kanan turned at the sound of yelling coming from one street over from his fellow rebels. Kanan went to check out the commotion and found a man, who had supposedly been stolen from, bearing down on another, who Kanan couldn't see. This disruption wasn't a problem for him, but whenever there was commotion, troopers followed. 

Sure enough, no sooner had the man stopped yelling that troopers approached him. 

"Spectre 1 to Spectre 4 and 5. Hurry it up, troopers in sight." 

Kanan listened to the trooper's conversations. 

"What's this commotion?" 

"A boy stole from me. He was small and had blue hair." The giant man told them. 

"That sounds like Criminal 1519." The other trooper said. "Did he look like this?" The trooper was holding up a holo image to the man. Kanan was too far to see what this criminal looked like. 

"Yes, exactly like that." 

"Which way did he go?" The tall man pointed in another direction and the stormtroopers headed off in the opposite direction of Sabine and Zeb. Kanan was about to check back in with Sabine and Zeb when he sensed something unfamiliar. It was definitely another force-user, but it didn't feel like a Jedi. Kanan would have thought it was a youngling, but the force-signature was not fresh, it had been taught a little before. There were no Jedi younglings anymore since the Jedi were wiped out years ago. Kanan felt panic coming from the force user, and his instinct told him to help. 

Kanan followed the force signature and found himself on top of a building that the stormtroopers he had just seen were trying to get into. From a side door, came a streak of white and the stormtroopers let out a yell and followed the person. Kanan knew this white being was the force user, so he followed as well. 

The troopers had followed the person all the way to the corner of an alley and were now cornering the person against the wall. Kanan started to step toward them, interested in who this force sensitive person was when...

"Spectre 4 to Spectre 1." Kanan got distracted and grabbed his comlink. Kanan ducked out of sight as the troopers looked up to see what that sound was. Kanan turned down his comlink and replied. 

"Spectre 1 here. Are you done?" 

"Yes, ready to go."

"Alright, you go back to the ship. I will be right behind you." But Kanan needed to check out this force situation first. He slowly stood up to see the force user. He caught a glimpse of two storm troopers, but Kanan couldn't look to see who the person was without being seen. 

"Kallus is not happy that you left again," a trooper said and Kanan saw him step forward, obviously shoving the person to the ground. 

"Yes, he told us you would be deeply punished, again. He might even call in your 'friend,'" the other added with a laugh and Kanan saw him kick the person. The victim let out a barely audible groan. 

"Come with us now, Criminal 1519, or we will have to knock you out again." The trooper raised his gun and set it to stun. 

Kanan couldn't hear the poor person fighting back. He couldn't wait any longer to see who it was. Kanan stood up and the sight made him feel sick. 

A small child, who couldn't be older than four, was on his side, clutching a piece of fruit and shivering in a filthy t-shirt and shorts. He was bent double in pain and his grimy blue hair was falling into his eyes. The troopers got closer to him and one attempted to pick him up. At the close contact, the child started to wriggle free from the trooper. The other trooper pointed his gun at the child, but couldn't get a clear shot in without stunning the other trooper. Kanan knew what he had to do. He jumped from the roof.

    "Why don't you fight me instead?" The troopers turned around to face Kanan, dropping the boy. The trooper frantically tried to pick the boy back up, but Kanan landed a good kick to his back as the man bent down. The other trooper was frantically trying to get his gun back on kill mode when Kanan gave a good punch to his stomach and knocked him to the ground. Grabbing the weapon, he stunned both troopers, then looked at the cowering child behind him. 

    The boy who Kanan had saved looked up with bright, tear-stained blue eyes. Kanan bent down to the child's level. 

    "Hi, I'm Kanan. Can you stand?" Kanan reached over to help the boy up, but the child struggled to get away from his arms.

    "Hey, I won't hurt you. I'm not like them," Kanan tried to explain. The kid, still weary, pulled himself up. Kanan saw the squished apple in the boy's hands. 

"Hey, do you want some food? I have a snack bar in here." Kanan said, opening up his bag and handing the child the bar. The child struggled to open it, but finally managed to rip it open. The poor thing looked so hungry that he could probably eat twenty snack bars and still feel hungry, but he was still cautious when taking a bite. When the food touched his lips, his guard fell and the bar disappeared in a matter of seconds. 

    "Okay, now do you have a family that I can bring you to?" The boy shook his head and started to shake with silent sobs. Kanan noticed how dirty and tired the kid looked. Kanan knew he couldn't just leave the poor child out here by himself, especially since the empire was looking for him. 

    "Okay. Do you want to come with me? I can keep you safe from the empire and I can give you food and warmth." The boy thought about it for a second, but at the sound of food, warmth, and safety, the boy nodded and hugged Kanan around the neck. Kanan was taken aback. He was never hugged by a child before, but Kanan felt a protectiveness over the poor thing and hugged him back, picking him up and starting to walk toward where he parked his speeder. Kanan kept a watchful eye out for more stormtroopers. When he saw a pair, he quickly hid behind a dumpster and hurried out of the city. Once he was at the speeder, he could feel the young child's steady breathing. He was definitely asleep, but he was still shivering violently. The temperature was dropping quickly as the dark approached. Kanan quickly took off his jacket, happy that Hera had made him bring it. He tied it around the boy and around his back, making a satchel so he could steer the speeder. 

    "Spectre 2 to Spectre 1." Hera. Zeb and Sabine must have made it back and, upon Hera's worried questioning, told Hera that Kanan said he would be right behind them. 

    "Here."

    "Where are you? Zeb and Sabine said that you were coming back. What happened?"

    Kanan glanced down at the sleeping child. "Well, there's been a slight complication." 

    He heard Hera's sigh. "Not again."

    "I think you'll like this one. See you in 10 minutes." Kanan sped off.