Chapter Text
When Mace had agreed to take on the difficult task of connecting with Kanan, Depa could practically guarantee that he hadn’t expected the side effect of the teen becoming nearly attached to his side.
The man can barely move without Kanan coming up, offering to do anything he can to help. One day, however, it seems that Mace must have finally spoken to Kanan about it, because the teen seems to be more reluctant to offer help.
That doesn’t mean he’s no longer a constant presence.
Depa has to admit that she finds the whole thing adorable. Yes, Kanan technically isn’t his Padawan, but with the Order as fractured as it is, he may as well be.
And maybe that’s close enough.
Kanan still doesn’t show up to his daily lessons with Luminara most of the time, though that’s to be expected. Mace confides in his own former apprentice one day during a rare minute of Kanan’s absence that he’s made progress with the boy, gotten him to open up more. Depa’s glad.
Ezra, too, has been making progress. He’s been sleeping through the night better, or at least his shields are strong enough now that his nightmares don’t wake the whole Order. He’s trying to actually reach out to Luke and Leia, too, something he’d rarely done before Kanan. Sure, he hadn’t been unfriendly, but the very nature of Ezra’s survival had alienated him from the other younglings whether he liked it or not.
To Depa, it seems like everything is finally turning up for a change.
Which is why when Master Yoda summons her to a meeting she becomes very, very worried.
She’s barely closed the door when Mace clears his throat and says, “We know who Kanan is.”
She walks over to sit in the makeshift circle of chairs they’ve made, raising an eyebrow. Obi-Wan’s there, too, and his expression is just as grim as the rest of theirs.
“Beyond a traumatized boy forced into things he didn’t want?” she asks.
“Caleb Dume, his birth name was.” Yoda taps the holoprojector in the middle of the circle with his gimer stick, and a file appears. Depa’s eyes narrow as she recognizes the text as a list of names from the list of Force-sensitive children on the holocron. One in particular is highlighted.
“He was born on Lothal, an Outer Rim world. He and Ezra share a homeworld,” Mace continues. “And now that we know what his birth name was, I realized...Master Yoda and I, we were sent to find him, a long time ago, years before the Cleansing. Along with another few kids on neighboring planets. Dume’s parents...they were reluctant to hand him over. We, of course, agreed and said they could keep him, and if he ever wanted to learn more they could bring him in as long as he was younger than three standard cycles.”
Depa nods. It’s not abnormal for parents to want to keep their children. And Mace has been a Seeker on and off for years now. He’s dealt with this situation plenty of times.
“They never contacted us again, and Ezra’s parents brought him to the Temple, and we never had another Lothal-born on the list, so there was no reason…” Mace trails off, staring at the hologram file.
“So...do we have a hypothesis as to how he ended up with Pal- Darth Sidious?”
Obi-Wan nods. “Yes. Anakin and Ahsoka had a mission, at one point, to retrieve a holocron from Cad Bane. In the process, they discovered that there was a plot...a plot to kidnap Force-sensitive infants and, presumably, to raise them in the Dark. Therefore, it’s not much of a stretch to assume that that was, or was similar to, Dume’s predicament, especially given what he’s told us so far.” Somehow, he manages to keep his voice devoid of emotion, speaking about the probable past of a boy who only wanted to live peacefully with his family, and instead drew the shortest stick possible.
Depa sighs, massaging her temples. “I feel as if we discover worse things about Darth Sidious every minute since his death,” she says, voice hollow.
Obi-Wan laughs, the sound empty and joyless. “I would have to agree with you there.”
“On a lighter note, Kanan’s been making progress recently. Slow, but still progressing. He should be ready to take on the role of a Padawan soon, provided we still uphold that tradition.” At Mace’s words, Depa raises an eyebrow.
“And you wouldn’t be taking him on as yours?”
There’s a single moment of silence in the room, during which Mace tries to defend himself before Depa raises her hand.
“I’ve seen you two interact. You fit together perfectly.”
“Solely because I’ve touched the Dark?”
“Not just that, though that does factor into it. He cares for you, Master. As close to attachment as a Jedi can come.”
Mace is silent, pondering her words. When he next speaks, his voice is quiet. “And what if it turns out I’m not a good fit?”
Depa shrugs. “Then we reconvene. The Force is fluid. We tried to be static in it for too long, and we learned our lesson. But we still need to apply it.”
Mace nods thoughtfully and Yoda taps his gimer stick on the projector again, clicking it off. “Very good points, Master Billaba made. Discuss this again, later, we shall.”
Depa and Obi-Wan nod, rising at the same time. The pair heads for the door as Mace lingers to speak to Yoda, and as they walk down the hall together Obi-Wan clears his throat.
“Ezra seems quite taken with the twins.”
Depa nods in agreement. “He told me they were ‘smarter’ than the other younglings, which is apparently his reason for playing so much with them,” she snorts, rolling her eyes.
“I’m not quite sure we should be encouraging such elitist behavior in him,” Obi-Wan says, fighting back a smile.
“In all honesty, I’m just glad he’s finally opening up. And to people...less traumatized than he is.”
He nods, silent. They reach the ramp of the ship and exit, pausing at the base.
“If you ever need someone to teach them katas once they’re old enough, I’m sure Ezra would,” she says. He nods, smiling.
“I may take him up on that.”
They linger for a moment longer before Depa smiles in farewell, starting off to the mess hall to check on the boy. If she’s being honest with herself, all this talk of Padawans has made her wonder...but no. She can’t take on a Padawan. She had no experience with one even during the war.
Maybe that’s exactly why you should take one on.
She brushes the thought away and continues walking.