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Kanan screeched his speeder bike to a halt, the others stopping in his wake. "I'm going back. I have to do this." He told the others.
"I understand." Ezra said. "We'll see you back at base."
He set off back towards the city. As he sped along the road, his thoughts dwelling on the woman he cared about most in the galaxy, his attention was brought back to the present as the Force alerted him to a familiar presence dead in his path. He slammed the brakes hard in a desperate attempt to avoid a collision. The bike skidded to a halt and Kanan was thrown off violently, landing hard with a heavy thud. As he pulled himself to his feet, noting that the bike appeared to have gone right through where the presence had stood, he sensed the street lights shut off around him. "Where are you?" Kanan shouted across the apparently empty road. His urgency to find Hera was rising along with his temper. "I don't have time for this! If you want to help, fine. Otherwise, stay out of my wa-"
Out of nowhere he felt the presence appear directly in front of him, bearing its teeth and growling threateningly. He approached cautiously, feeling simultaneously unnerved and reassured by its presence. "What do you want?" He asked.
"Dume." The word left its lips as a growling hum, shaking the very earth beneath his feet. He turned, sensing more wolves approaching out of the darkness. Their Force signatures were deeply connected to the planet. He wondered what it all meant. He turned back to the wolf in front of him, removing his mask and reaching out with the Force. He felt not only the signature of the wolf but also its will. He could feel its acute sensitivity to not only its surroundings but also to something deeper: to him, his consciousness, as if his and the wolf's were one and the same. The Unifying Force held a strong presence within the wolf, something Kanan knew to be highly unusual in animals. He looked deeply into what he knew were its eyes, and when it spoke, it spoke not with words but with feelings, images, sensations, with the will of the Force itself. He saw himself standing in the centre of Lothal, a place that existed outside of time and space. He saw many doorways, each revealing a possible outcome in an infinite stream of paths and possibilities all intertwined, bound by time and fate. He saw his past, watched as his master was killed by bolts of plasma meant for him. He could see Hera running through the streets of capital city, narrowly avoiding the blasts of stormtroopers' guns. He could hear the voices of friends long gone and of those yet to be born. But among them, he heard a voice that was out of place. It rang out, shattering the balance of light and dark, of past and future. He turned to see the Emperor standing behind a doorway, his hands emitting an icy blue flame. He stood unable to move, helpless as the flames enveloped the world around him, burning every past, present and future out of existence; and with them, everyone he loved. He knew what was at stake.
"I understand." He said. "What must I do?" He felt his own energy dragged deeper into that of the wolf. He felt his hands outstretched, shielding friend from flame. He felt another within his body holding the same stance, holding back a familiar presence wrapped in a cold embrace. He understood. He knew what had to be done. For the sake of Lothal, his family and the galaxy. His path had been fated from the beginning. In his years before the Ghost he had tried to block out the Jedi's teachings on the matter, that there is no such thing as luck. He could not bring himself to believe that the execution of the Jedi had been the will of the Force. Now though, he understood that some things were inevitable, just as his fate was inescapable. Ezra and the others must live, even if that meant paying the ultimate sacrifice. That was the way of the Jedi. That was his path.
He felt his presence coming back into his own body. When he looked up, he no longer sensed the wolf. The Force gently tugged at his mind, bringing his attention to the drain below him. He opened the hatch with the Force and saw Mart clinging to the ladder. "C'mon, let's get you out of here." He said, reaching out an arm. He pulled him up and saw chopper flying out in his wake. He beeped something about Hera having fought her best, how she had told him to run.
"I know she did, Chop. I know.
"Kanan, I'm so sorry." Mart said. Kanan could feel his guilt.
"It's all right Mart. There was nothing you could've done. But there is something I can do."