By the time the Jedi got back to the Ghost, nearly everyone was asleep. Hera stayed up to wait for them, but Sabine and Zeb had already crashed for the evening. Ezra went to bed at Hera's bidding, but the captain allowed Kanan to stay up long enough to see Anakin off.

As they walked toward the Rogue, Kanan started asking questions. "Are you sure it's a good idea to go to Malachor? I mean, you grew up hearing the same legends I did, right?"

"I may not agree with everything the Order did in its day, but I'd rather not investigate something they tabooed," he affirmed. "When Jedi get cautious about something, that's not a good sign."

"So... what? Are we going to loophole our way out of this?" he wondered, pausing in the hallway. "Can we just... not go, as long as Master Yoda didn't give Ezra an order?"

Anakin didn't respond right away. He didn't want to break this news, not when things were already tense enough within the Rebellion, but he remembered what had happened when he didn't prepare Kanan and Ezra to meet more Inquisitors. They had come to trust him much more in the past few months, and Anakin didn't want to break that trust. He couldn't withhold this information.

Still, Kanan noticed his hesitation. He grew worried, but he didn't rush the new Jedi Master. He would explain when he finished gathering his thoughts. Sure enough, after a moment, Anakin made eye contact with him. "Yoda is not a Jedi Master anymore."

Kanan didn't make any effort to conceal his confusion. His eyes narrowed as he asked, "What do you mean?"

"After you left the temple during Order 66, after the fight was over, Yoda renounced the Jedi Way. He left his lightsaber, walked out of the temple, and no one has seen him until now. He's exiled himself."

"Renounced... like Ahsoka did?"

"Like Ahsoka did."

Anakin could almost see the information processing in his head. It was a large pill to swallow, even if it happened nearly sixteen years ago. "So this wasn't something you decided? He did this... on his own? But he- how could he..."

Sighing, Anakin looked down and shook his head. It wasn't a fond memory. "I don't know. On the one hand, I wish he had taken accountability for the surviving Jedi after the Purge, but instead, he ran away and hid. On the other..." he couldn't hide the truth from Kanan. Not now. "I don't trust him. I'm not sure I would want his advice if he were here. I'm not even sure I trust what he said to Ezra."

"Well, if he left, why should we trust him?" Kanan asked, and he looked away, clenching his teeth. "Why didn't you say something sooner?"

"Because I trusted you," Anakin told him. "You believed we had something to gain from going to the temple on Lothal. I don't regret it."

He was slightly taken aback by Master Skywalker's faith in him. Just like with their conversation about Jadis months ago, he took everything Kanan said so seriously. He allowed them to speak to Yoda despite not wanting to himself, just because Kanan had suggested it.

It was a lot of pressure. "What if I said something that wrong? Or maybe not even wrong, just a bad idea in general? Would you still trust me then?"

"You already have. When you asked to hunt down Jadis, I told you I didn't think it was a good idea, but I also told you why."

"And then I changed my mind," Kanan remembered. "If I hadn't, you said we'd go together."

Anakin nodded. He looked down the hallway where cabins were, where Ezra was likely sleeping. "Do you see where I'm going with this?"

Following his gaze, Kanan started to connect the dots. "It's a bad idea, but Ezra hasn't heard the legends, so he doesn't think that. He wants to go, and we should go with him."

"If there's one thing Ahsoka taught me, it's that stubborn kids will find a way to do what they think should be done," Anakin pointed out. "Going to Malachor may be a bad idea, but Ezra going alone is worse."

"Then I guess we're going to Malachor," Kanan concluded, crossing his arms. "I'm still a little hung up over Yoda, though."

"Can't say I blame you. It's been nearly sixteen years, and I still..." he paused before he said something he might regret. He looked at Kanan and faked a smile, which seemed to amuse the Knight. "There's a reason I haven't tried to find him."

Kanan snickered, then stifled it with his fist before composing himself. "I shouldn't laugh. I'm supposed to be an adult now."

Recoiling in disgust, Anakin raised his eyebrow. "Speak for yourself. I don't think I ever got older than twenty."

He actually laughed now, making Anakin smile. He felt warm, then realized he had nearly forgotten something else. "Have you been noticing a warm wind blowing around recently?"

"Yeah, I've been meaning to look into that," Kanan remarked. "I was going to tell Chopper to check the heater on board."

"The heater's fine," Anakin assured him. "That wind isn't coming from the Ghost. It's coming from Ahsoka."

The words didn't process right away, but Kanan's eyes went wide as the pieces started clicking into place. Right on cue, more wind started blowing around them. Anakin grinned, looking around the hallway. "Speaking of stubborn kids."

A gust blew directly in his face, surely Ahsoka's new form of retaliation. Kanan gaped at the empty space. "This whole time? How did you find out?"

"I got to see her in the temple. Just for a few seconds, I didn't even have time to say anything before the Inquisitors showed up," he explained. "I figured you should know, though. I'm going to tell Rex too, the next time I see him."

"How is this even possible?"

Anakin shrugged, not trying to hide his lack of understanding. "No idea. I've never understood the Cosmic Force that well. Wait until you learn about Force Ghosts. It takes forever to get a basic understanding, and even then, it's complicated."

"Ghosts?" Kanan repeated incredulously. "That's a thing? When were you going to tell me about this?"

"Not today," he groaned, shaking his head. "It takes too long. I'd be here for a week just trying to explain it, and I'm pretty sure your crew needs to get going. Remind me after we get back from Malachor."

He was really curious, but he was also tired and knew Anakin probably needed to head out too. "I'll hold you to it. When all of this calms down, maybe we'll have time to talk."

"Here's to hoping," Anakin agreed. "I'll keep an ear out until I see you again. If I can, I'll try to give you a heads up before I find you."

"Will do. Good luck out there, Master Skywalker," he told him as he walked aboard his ship.

Laughing at himself, he muttered, "Now there's something I never thought I'd hear. Good luck to you too. Congrats again on your Trials. You should tell Hera. She'd be happy to hear it."

Anakin didn't miss Kanan's grin when he mentioned Hera. Closing the seal on the airlock, he made his way to the cockpit and smiled just thinking about it. Jedi Knight or not, Kanan was still head over heels in love with Hera. He wondered if Obi-Wan had been this entertained when he saw Anakin and Padmé together during the Clone Wars or if it had been stressful for him to watch.

When he got into the cockpit, he sat down and started the takeoff sequence. Artoo, who was plugged into the ship, announced that new coordinates had been transmitted through the Fulcrum frequency. Anakin had another mission.

"No rest for the weary, I guess," Anakin sighed, punching in the coordinates. "Go ahead and release from the Ghost."

While Artoo did that, Anakin transmitted to Hera. When her image appeared, Anakin made his notice quick: "I've gotta go, I'm being sent off again."

Hera nodded, fiddling with the controls of her own ship. "Same here. Commander Sato wants us back with the carrier."

"That's right, I heard about that but never got to ask," Anakin remembered, thinking back to a few reports that had passed his way recently. "Nice work. I heard your people helped too."

"Eh, sort of," she amended, thinking about it. "Long story, not worth the time right now. We've got places to be."

"When don't we have somewhere to be?" he pointed out. "Talk with Kanan. He and Ezra can explain what happened on our trip. I'll be back soon, but I don't know when or for how long. It depends how quickly I can get a few days to spare from the council."

Hera groaned. She knew how tedious of a process that could be. "Good luck. Give a shout if you're in the area."

"I will," he assured her before ending the transmission. By that time, the navicomputer had finished calculating the hyperspace jump. Anakin activated the hyperdrive and shut off the engines, sitting back as he watched the blue lights fly past.

He sat in silence for a minute, letting his thoughts swirl in his head. All in all, not a bad day. If it weren't for Yoda's suggestion to go to Malachor, it would have been near perfect. Still, he was glad he had the chance to talk to Kanan before he disappeared for another week or so. Anakin would have liked to talk more about his Trials, maybe go over in more detail what had happened, but the conversation hadn't gone there.

To his surprise, he didn't feel compelled to talk much about his own promotion. It was astounding and unexpected, but it didn't really mean anything. Not now, when the Jedi Order was limited to five other people. The only other Jedi Master was Obi-Wan, who was in hiding. Luke and Leia were still training with Obi-Wan, and Anakin was in regular contact with Ezra and Kanan. Other Jedi survivors were in hiding or doing their own thing outside the Rebellion.

It didn't diminish the significance of it, though. Somehow, Anakin had learned more by being forced to operate outside the Jedi Order than he had within it, and stepping up to lead others had been no small part of that. He had guided the efforts of rebel cells within the Rebellion, and now he was advising other Jedi. He and Obi-Wan had been rediscovering aspects of the Force while teaching them to the twins at home. Everything Anakin learned culminated over time, and the Jedi Council decided to pass authority to him.

"You've certainly had a big day," a familiar voice piped up beside him. Anakin turned his head and saw Qui-Gon's image sitting beside him in the copilot's chair, his feet resting on the dash and his hands laced behind his head. "Anakin Skywalker, Master of the Jedi Order."

"Yes, our Order of six people," he clarified sarcastically, but he appreciated the gesture. "Have you told Obi-Wan yet?"

"Oh, no," he assured him, shaking his head. "That's your news to share. You can tell him yourself when you go home."

Pivoting his seat, Anakin leaned forward on his knees and faced the late Jedi. "Malachor?"

The lighthearted conversation turned sour quickly. "I don't know. I could look around and see what's there, but all I know are the same stories you've already heard."

Anakin was afraid of that. He tried something else. "Do you know why Yoda suggested it?"

"Now, that's tricky," Qui-Gon told him, and Anakin prepared himself for an explanation. "I can't observe a vision unless I directly interact with it as I did with yours. Visions aren't materialistic or tangible, so there's no way for me to access them. It exists only in Ezra and Yoda's memory."

"So you don't know what was said, and you can't take a stab at why Yoda said it."

"Exactly."

"You're a lot of help," he grumbled, sitting up again and leaning back in the chair.

Qui-Gon smiled fondly at him. "I'm dead, Anakin. The fact that I can help at all is strange enough."

He knew this, but it still wasn't convenient. Qui-Gon had taught Obi-Wan and Anakin about the Cosmic Force and how to become Force Ghosts for when the time came. There was only so much he could do, but he was the first Jedi to make a Force Ghost in centuries. The little help he had to offer was more than everyone else in the afterlife, with a few exceptions.

"Speaking of, I take it Ahsoka's getting stronger?"

Chuckling, he grinned. "I was wondering when you were going to figure that out. She's been trying to get your attention for months."

Anakin thought back to every instance he had felt a warm breeze in his face. It made much more sense knowing that Ahsoka was behind it all now. "Still no Force Ghost?"

"Not yet. She's getting better, though," Qui-Gon remarked. "Give it a few more years. You'll see her again, I'm sure of it."

"I saw her today," he pointed out. "Right before the vision ended, she congratulated me for the promotion. She looked exactly the same."

"Most of us do. Our natural form is how we looked when we died. It takes the least effort to project through the veil to the Living Force," he explained. He didn't go into much more detail than that, though. Qui-Gon usually didn't unless it was important for Anakin while he was alive. He said it was because he didn't want him or Obi-Wan to think about death too much.

Glancing around the room, Anakin asked, "Is she here?"

Qui-Gon shook his head. "I believe she's tagging along with Kanan for a while. Something about 'Anakin will be fine if he has to wait another hour or so.'"

"Thanks a lot, Snips," he groaned. "She finally learns how to get something through to the Living Force, and then she hangs out with Kanan instead."

"She's been nagging you this whole time. It's not her fault you ignored her."

"I didn't ignore her; I just didn't realize it was her!"

"And now you do, so next time, you'll know better," Qui-Gon laughed, amused at his frustration. "I imagine you two will find a way to communicate even if she is limited to gusts of air. Maybe her lightsabers will help you."

Anakin nodded, hopeful at the idea. Though he had come to terms with Ahsoka's death, he still missed her. Talking to her again, even if her communication was a bit abstract, would be encouraging after all this time.

Pointing out the windshield of the cockpit, Qui-Gon offered his advice: "Focus on the mission at hand. I'll do my best to scout out Malachor for you, but I can't make any promises. I'm afraid I don't even know what I'm looking for."

"Anything is better than nothing," Anakin assured him. "Thanks again."

"You're welcome, Anakin. May the Force be with you."