Modern AU: Rebels Era
Kanan and Hera met while she was in college; the official story is that they were volunteering in the same program for homeless and at-risk youth (which is technically true). Hera because it was a cause she was interested in, Kanan mostly because it was court-mandated community service after he was charged with public intoxication and disturbance of the peace.
The real story is that they met at a street race but shhhh
Hera has a degree in automotive engineering and is an off-road racing driver. Kanan works driving buses and bartending part time for his friend Okadiah
They live together but it’s kind of unclear whether they’re married. Zeb thinks they aren’t but Sabine could have sworn that Hera told her that they eloped
Kanan continued volunteering because he found the work *gag* fulfilling. And he’s pretty good at mindfulness stuff, actually (mostly thanks to being raised by Depa). Hera doesn’t have as much time anymore but she still stops by every now and then
Sabine is a teenage runaway who crashes on their couch, but, for legal reasons, doesn’t “live” there (this is a lie) and for these same legal reasons Kanan and Hera technically have no idea who she is or that she ran away
Ezra is a homeless kid who Kanan saw attempting to shoplift directly in front of Kallus and ended up bringing to a homeless shelter because it’s better than juvie, at least. He signed up for the program that Kanan volunteered in, met Hera, and just kind of ended up not leaving after being invited over for dinner
Zeb rents out a room in Hera and Kanan’s place. His occupation is undefined but he has a tense relationship with the local constable (Kallus) and practices traditional Lasan martial arts. He could probably stop paying rent at any time and no one would care until the power got shut off
Chopper is Hera’s immortal, irritable, ugly old cat that she’s had since she was twelve and hates everyone besides her
266 notes
·
View notes
My first contribution to Spring Fling, run by @monthly-challenge!
Day 2: Green
Fandom: Star Wars Rebels
Pairing: Kanan Jarrus x Hera Syndulla
Had it been any other person, any other encounter, any other voice, Kanan probably would have just brushed it off and moved on.
Bumping into some stranger in the hall of the VA? That was normal enough. Getting around with about 75 percent of his vision gone was something he was still getting used to, and the building was pretty full on an average day.
So when he bumped into someone while leaving a meeting he’d been at, Kanan caught himself quickly. “Sorry,” he said, stepping back to let whoever it was by.
“No worries,” they said— she said. It was a woman’s voice, and the very sound of it rooted Kanan to the ground, speechless.
He’d been alive for 25 years, fought in a war, lost people he loved, and made a variety of highly questionable decisions. And in that time, Kanan had seen and heard a lot, both ugly and beautiful.
This voice? It blew all of them away. Both gentle and firm, with a musical quality that sent warmth through his bones and made his heart skip a beat. It was absolutely exquisite, and Kanan knew, without a doubt, that he absolutely had to know the woman it came from.
She was already walking away, towards the elevator, by the time Kanan recovered enough to come to this conclusion. And by the time he’d started to move or speak or do anything, the elevator door was already sliding shut.
All he’d seen, with what was left of his vision, was a bright, vibrant flash of green.
From a shirt or a scarf, or something else entirely? Kanan didn’t know. All he knew was that the color was burned indelibly into his memory, and that he definitely needed to find out who that woman was.
He took the stairs, but when he made it to the lobby a floor below, the woman was long gone, leaving behind the memory of her voice. Kanan bit back a frustrated growl. Don’t worry, he told himself. If she was at the VA, it was for a reason. Which means I might bump into her again.
So he stayed calm, and headed out. Unfortunately, he was late for lunch with his friend Zeb thanks to his searching. The burly man was waiting in the usual booth at their favorite diner when Kanan made it.
“Oh, thanks for bothering to show up,” he said as Kanan slid into the seat across from him.
“Sorry,” Kanan said with a grimace. “I didn’t think I was going to be that late. But I— got distracted, and then the cab had to take a detour thanks to some accident. Did you order already?”
“I waited like ten minutes, but then I got bored,” Zeb said with a good-natured snort. He wasn’t the type to hold a grudge over one being late. “What exactly distracted you so much you forgot about lunch with your best mate?”
“I didn’t forget,” Kanan corrected. “I just got distracted, like I said.” The waitress approached, and Kanan ordered. He and Zeb had been coming to the diner since long before he’d lost his vision, and the menu was ingrained in his memory.
As were the staff, for that matter, and Kanan frowned as the waitress walked away. “We don’t know her, do we?”
“Nope,” Zeb said, slurping from his drink. “Some Russian kid Quinlan picked up. Now, are you being evasive, or am I going nuts?”
Kanan hesitated, then admitted, “You’re not going nuts. I was distracted by… someone I met. She and I bumped into each other in the hall—”
“Ohhh,” Zeb said, and Kanan didn’t need to see him to know a smirk was stretching across his face. “She?”
“It’s not like that!” Kanan protested, then paused. “Well… it is a little. But it’s not like I had enough time for anything to happen.”
He recapped the incident for Zeb, lingering just a little on what he remembered of the woman. Especially her voice— he probably lingered a little too long on that.
“Right,” Zeb said as the waitress reappeared, carrying both of their meals. “So you fell head over heels for this girl you met one time, and you’re gonna do what about it?”
Kanan shrugged. “Find her, I guess? Thanks,” he added as the waitress set his sandwich in front of him, along with his drink. “How hard could it be? I just need to talk to all the women in Lothal City until I find one that sounds—”
“Like an angel from your dreams?” Zeb said, snickering as he took a bite from his burger.
“I was going to say familiar,” Kanan said, scowling at him.
The man chuckled. “Sure, mate. Well, you’ve got the VA to start with. Maybe ask Piett. He and Veers know everyone around there, and if they don’t know her, they’ll know someone who does.”
“Good point,” Kanan said, his heart lightening a little. Veers was his former CO, and between him and his best friend Piett, they had a handle on pretty much everything that went on in both the VA and Lothal City. (Although it helped that Piett’s sister in law was a state senator.) After their meal, Kanan headed home planning to speak to them the next day.
He didn’t have to wait that long.
While he knew it made him something of a stereotype, Kanan liked to stop at the same diner every morning before work. He’d been going there for years, and the owner, Quinlan Vos, had been close with his mother. So he could usually count on cheap— or free, depending on if Vos’s wife was there— coffee, and a decent breakfast.
What he hadn’t counted on, however, when he stepped inside, was finding someone in his usual booth. In fact, Kanan had been expecting it so little that he’d sat down before he realized someone was sitting across from him.
“Oh— sorry,” he said, starting to slide out of his seat.
“No apologies necessary.”
Kanan froze. That was the voice— warm, slightly amused and curious, and stunningly gorgeous. And, as he gave her a proper look, there was the green. Her hair, by the looks of things. It was unexpected, and fit her well. Really well, he thought.
“Do we know each other?” she asked, her voice thoughtful. “You look familiar.”
For a moment, Kanan couldn’t speak. A long moment, as it turned out, because she asked, “You speak English?”
“Words fail me.”
There was no mistaking her smile, gentle and wry, as she said, “So they do.”
Recover, Jarrus. Pull yourself together. “Um.” Not a strong start. “We, uh, we actually met the other day,” he told her. “Bumped into each other at the VA— literally.”
“That’s right,” she said. “Which is why you sat down next to me?”
Kanan couldn’t help himself— he laughed. “Believe it or not, this is a complete coincidence. Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad it happened. But this is my favorite spot, at my favorite diner.”
It’s almost like fate, the unhelpfully romantic side of his brain whispered.
He elected not to say that part out loud.
“Well, you may as well stay, then,” she told him serenely. “I’m Hera.”
“Kanan.”
“Nice to meet you, Kanan.”
A smile crossing his face, Kanan said, “Trust me, the pleasure is all mine.”
43 notes
·
View notes