Kanan was grateful for Ezra's understanding of his situation and was willing to take over when he asked him to. Then Kanan left. Then Ezra sat down and said: "Anakin, Ahsoka, you should probably sit down for this. I know that you'll probably flat out deny it. But I need you to listen to me before you say anything." Anakin said: "Okay." Then the two Jedi Knights sat down. Ezra said: "the reason why Kanan left is because this topic is hard for him. From what he told me, things turned pretty nasty. Ahsoka was framed for the bombing of the Jedi Temple but was later cleared. But she'd lost faith in the Jedi Order. They turned their backs on her when she needed them the most. She ended up leaving the Jedi Order. Obi-Wan faked his death which sent Anakin into a downward spiral. Sidious had been slowly manipulating Anakin over the years. He put visions in Anakin's head. I've been researching that. Anyways, back to where I was. Sidious had been manipulating both sides of the war. Several years later towards the end of the war, the Jedi went to arrest the Chancellor. Needless to say, it didn't end well. Sidious took advantage of Anakin's mental vulnerability and promised him the power to save the ones he loved from death which Anakin believed and ceased to be Anakin Skywalker and became known as Darth Vader. Then all hell broke loose. I'll spare you the violent details but let's just say that Anakin went kamikaze. An order was sent out. Order 66. Which accused the Jedi of treason against the Republic. The clones turned on the Jedi and killed them. Kanan's Master was one of the ones that were killed during Order 66. And then several hours later, a very intense duel ensued between Anakin and Obi-Wan. Obi-Wan got the High ground and warned Anakin not to jump. Anakin jumped. Needless to say, he became more machine than man. And Padme died after giving birth to twins. Some say that she died of a broken heart. The Empire rose to power and ruled the galaxy with an iron grip. But a rebellion had started and slowly, it grew. More and more systems joined the rebellion. Our crew, the Ghost crew, is part of that rebellion. We've been fighting back against the Empire. Kanan is actually my Dad. I'm not entirely sure, but I think that's why the Force brought you here. So you can see what the consequences of your choices are. And believe me, the future isn't pretty. I was born into war. I never really had a childhood. All I've ever known is war. I had to fend for myself for a long time. Then I met Dad and the Ghost crew and my life changed for the better. For once I wasn't alone. And I was able to let down my guard." Silence. Then Ahsoka said: "well, I for one do not want to see Anakin turn to the Dark Side. So, even if what you say does come about, I won't leave the Jedi Order." Anakin shuddered and said: "Okay, it feels weird knowing that I have a bond with a kriffing Sith Lord. Well, not anymore." Anakin focused hard and severed the bond between him and Sidious and said: "no more. He's not getting in my head anymore." Ezra stood and walked over to the ladder and stopped in front of the ladder and looked at them and said seriously: "be careful. These are dangerous times. Tomorrow, I'll take you guys to get different clothes. That way you don't stick out like a sore thumb. I'll see if Sabine will come with. It'll look less suspicious having her with us. Besides, she has a good eye for clothes. In the meantime, we might as well get you settled in with quarters while you're here. I'm pretty sure Hera will kill me if she finds you sleeping in here. And I'd rather be alive thank you very much. Rule number one: Never piss off Hera Syndulla. Or she will go into mother bear mode. So, we try not to get on her bad side. I thought you should know that. Because when Hera gets mad, she gets loud. And it's kinda scary." Then Ezra climbed up the ladder. Anakin and Ahsoka stood and followed suit. Ezra said: "Follow me." Then they followed Ezra down the hall to a vacant room and said: "Here. You can stay in here while you're here. It's not much. You'll have to share." Anakin said: "That's okay. We have an identical setup at the Temple in our timeline." Ezra said: "Huh." Then the two Jedi Knights walked into the room and closed the doors behind them. Ezra shook his head and walked to Sabine's room and knocked on her door. Sabine said: "Come in." Ezra waved the door open using the Force and walked in and said slowly: "Hey Sabine, are you free tomorrow?" Sabine said: "Hera told me that she doesn't need my help with anything tomorrow, so yeah. I'm free tomorrow. Why?" Ezra said: "Because I'm going to need your help again. Anakin and Ahsoka can't keep wearing their Jedi robes while they're here. I'm going to take them to get new clothes tomorrow and I know you have a good eye for clothes. You could take Ahsoka and help her pick out clothes while I take Anakin. Also it would look less suspicious." Sabine said: "Sure. I can come with." Ezra said: "Thanks Sabine. I appreciate it." Sabine said: "No problem." Then Ezra left her room and walked down the hall to the room he shared with Kanan and walked in and closed the door behind him. He walked over to the bed and started to climb up the ladder to the top bunk and said: "Hey." Kanan said: "Hey." Ezra said: "Sabine and I are taking Anakin and Ahsoka to get different clothes tomorrow. I asked Sabine if she would come with because I know that she has a good eye for clothes. Also it'll look less suspicious having her with." Kanan said: "How'd they take it? The debriefing?" Ezra said: "Once they processed it, they reacted very rationally. Just from what you told me about Anakin, I thought he would freak out when I told him what happened to him. But he didn't react the way I thought he would. After I told him about Sidious, he shuddered and severed the bond with Sidious. I also warned them about Hera and her temper. I felt they should know." Kanan said: "Ezra, can I ask you something?" Ezra paused and hopped down and said: "Sure. Fire ahead." Kanan said: "how is it that you're not easily angered?" Ezra said: "Well, I used to be. But I learned that anger tends to cloud your judgement and throw you off in battle. So I tend to ignore the Empire's insults. There used to be a time where their insults made me mad. But I quickly found that anger clouded my judgement and threw me off in battle. I knew that if I didn't stop letting them get to me, one of these days, I'd most likely end up dead. And I'm not ready to die yet. Why do you ask?" Kanan said: "It was hard for me to see Anakin again, knowing who he became." Ezra sat down beside him on the bed and said: "Dad, the Force brought them here so they can see the consequences of their choices are. And you have to remember, Sidious had been manipulating him. He took full advantage of Anakin's mental vulnerability and made him a very tempting offer that Anakin bought hook, line, and sinker. To be fair though, there's no way that Anakin could have even began to suspect that Sidious was evil until he showed his true colors. I'm not defending his actions as Vader. I'm just pointing out what caused him to turn. Give him a chance. Maybe you should go talk to him. Who knows? Might do you some good. Their room is three rooms down from ours if you decide to go talk to him." Then he stood and climbed up the ladder into bed and pulled the covers up around him and fell asleep. Kanan lay in bed thinking. Finally he got up and stood and left and walked down the hall to Anakin and Ahsoka's quarters and stopped outside and knocked on the door. Anakin opened the door and stepped out and said: "yes?" Kanan said: "Um, can I talk to you?" Anakin nodded and said: "Sure. You wanna walk while we talk?" Kanan said: "Yeah. I'd like that." Anakin said: "Okay. Let's go." Then the two men started walking. As they walked, Kanan said: "when I first saw you, it was hard for me to see you again, knowing who you became. And I kinda felt a bit angry when I first saw you. Because knowing who you became, and then seeing you as Anakin, well, it was hard for me. Ezra explained what caused it. Kriff, sometimes I think my son makes more sense than I do. He has a certain way of laying things out in a way that is easy to comprehend and understand." Anakin said: "Kanan, I know and understand why you were angry. I would be angry too if I saw a man that I knew had turned evil and had done a lot of bad things show up as his past self before he turned. I've been known as a guy who tends to act first, think later. That's probably the reason why Master Windu hates me so much. Because I'm too unpredictable in his opinion. He's not wrong. I am pretty unpredictable." Kanan said: "You know, it was so hard to understand half of what Master Yoda was saying half the time. I could never figure out what half of his little sayings meant. Like his favorite one for example. You and I both know it. We've heard it so many times." Anakin shook his head and chuckled and said: "Oh yes. "Do, or do not. There is no try." That one always stumped me too. Heh. There was one time, he was under confinement in the medbay. He asked me to help him escape out of the Temple without the Council knowing. He knew that the only way they'd let him out of the medbay was if another Jedi was with him. Naturally, he chose me because I'm a bit of a rebel Jedi. But you probably already knew that. Anyways, back to the story. He asked me to help him get to the Hangar Bay. Well, I did. By the time the Council found out, he was long gone! Master Windu said: "What have you done with him?!" I said: "Hey, for once, it wasn't my idea." I might have added something else under my breath but I can't remember what." Kanan laughed at that and said: "Yep! That definitely sounds like a stunt that Master Yoda would pull." Anakin said: "Has he ever done that with you?" Kanan said: "He probably did. He was always something of a prankster." Anakin said: "that is so true. Ezra told me about your Master. I'm sorry." Kanan said: "It's okay. You're not the one who sent out the order to kill all the Jedi." Anakin said: "I know. But still, I just felt like I had to say it. And I promise you, when we get back to our timeline, I'll talk to the Council about activating order 65. It will stop the clones from turning on the Jedi. If I have anything to say about it, your Master won't die." Kanan said: "Really?" Anakin nodded firmly. Kanan said: "Thank you. I'm grateful for that." Anakin said: "You're welcome." Kanan said: "Sometimes I think Ezra is more of a leader than I am."
