(no subject)

[notallofus]

The sound of crates clattering from a neat stack into a haphazard pile resounds from the cargo bay, followed shortly after by contentious voices -- and bleeps -- raised in a chorus of 'he did it'.

Kanan rests his face in his hand for a moment, eyes closed.

"Do you think they'll clean it up, or are they going to pretend we couldn't hear them and have no idea who could have made the mess?"

They can get back to mission planning in a minute, and should. But --

Comments

[notallofus]

Kanan is quiet for a minute, gaze still fixed up on the ceiling while he thinks.

Or tries to avoid thinking. But --

"Maybe the only way to avoid the same old mistakes is to make new ones."

Unfortunately.

"And you know I'm good at those."

Kanan could wish it were more of a joke, really.

[for_everyone]

"We all make our share of those."

She takes another deep breath, then looks over to him. "Kanan, I know this won't make it easier, but - you know he respects you, right? That he looks up to you?"

[notallofus]

"Nothing's going to make this easier."

Kanan's responding smile is small and crooked, and doesn't exactly reach his eyes.

"I'm trying to be worth it. I just don't know how."

[for_everyone]

"I think..."

She blinks away, going silent for a few seconds. "I think you have to make it your own. You can't be someone else, the person you think would be better for this. And you can't always be what he needs you to be - no one can ever really do that."

Her eyes still down, Hera does move one hand toward him, just short of touching his.

"But you can take what you've learned, and make it into something you can do. In your own way."

[notallofus]

Kanan reaches back after a moment, fingertips just barely touching hers.

"You're right. I'm never going to be Master Depa, but . . . I can use her as an example, and just keep trying."

In a galaxy full of uncertainty, that's really the best any of them have got.

[for_everyone]

"And you can be yourself."

She presses her fingertips just slightly back.

"That's a good thing."

[notallofus]

His smile is crooked in the extreme.

"If you say so."

[for_everyone]

Hera lifts her hand, reaching over to lightly shove at his shoulder.

"I do say so."

And he better remember it.

[notallofus]

"Thanks."

He sways with the shove, over-exaggerating for effect.

Then --

"Is there anything you need?"

[for_everyone]

Her first instinct is to say 'no.' That she's fine, she's not frustrated, or exhausted, or uncertain. An easy, simple reflex.

She swallows it down. Instead, she says, "I don't know."

With a look back up to him, "But I'll think about it."

[notallofus]

"You do that," he says quietly.

Then he winces at the sound of a body -- probably Ezra's -- colliding heavily with the wall.

"Enough with the roughhousing, you two!"

The look he gives is accompanied by a very crooked smile.

"Guess that's a sign, huh?"

[for_everyone]

Hera nods, with her own half smile. "Come on."

She rises from the cot, glancing back at him as she walks across the cabin, and then opens the doors.

"All right," she calls, stepping out and unconsciously putting a hand on her hip. "What did you three do to my cargo bay?"

[notallofus]

"And whatever it is," Kanan says, standing shoulder-to-shoulder with Hera, "guess who's going to be putting it back the way it was before anyone gets to use the galley?"

They get three guesses, and the first two most definitely do not count.