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When Zeb was young he went to the Matchmaker, to be told his fate; whether he was to mate and have children or to forge the path of life alone. He didn't know what he hoped for, honestly. He was young and the idea of a mate and children seemed overwhelming but part of him wanted that.
Everything went as it usually did. One by one, the group he came with went into the dark curtained room to ask their future. No one asked anyone else what was told; that was private. Almost secret. You could tell others if you wish, but no one did.
Zeb waited and waited for his name to be called until finally he was the last one waiting in the dark warm room. He was starting to fall asleep when the Matchmaker called him in. A deep worry rose in Zeb as if he knew the news was not going to be what he expected. The Matchmaker looked him over in silence. The two of them sat several moments before she spoke.
“You have a mate,” Zeb felt relief wash over him. “but you will not meet him for many years and before you do much tragedy must unfold, a great tragedy.”
Zeb wanted to ask the Matchmaker what would happen. What great tragedy was coming? But he knew she didn't know. The whispers of the spirits didn't give details like that.
“Your suffering will be great. Heartbreak, devastation, and you will not trust your mate, not at first. He will be dangerous. He will be misled. The path he is on must be changed and you are the only being with the power to do this. Be his warmth in the cold.”
Zeb felt the weight of an immense burden fall on him as the Matchmaker spoke, but before he could fully process it, she was dismissing him with a wave. He stood and left in silence.
In the years that followed he rarely thought of what he had been told. He focused on his duties as a member of the royal guard, on his sister and her little ones, on caring for his grandmother.
One night, after Lasan fell, while drunk out of his mind, Zeb remembered the Matchmaker's words. He laughed to himself as he lay on the floor of some flophouse.
“Great tragedy, got that right.” He doubted he’d ever find his mate. The few remaining Lasats were scattered, hiding. Even coming across a single member of his species was unlikely. He resolved himself not to think about what could have been, should have been.
And he didn’t until one day on Atollon.
“Guess we can thank Agent Kallus. He knew Fulcrum's secret code phrase.”Kanan’s words hit Zeb like a speeder.
“Wait, wait, wait. Kallus is Fulcrum? How does that even make sense?” Sabine asked as Zeb unraveled everything that had happened.
“Karabast. I must've recruited him.” Zeb desperately tried to keep his calm demeanor as the full realization came to him. “You know, accidentally.”
“You mean when you were stuck on that ice moon with him?” Ezra teased.
‘Be his warmth in the cold’
Did the kid know, somehow? Some jedi trick?
“Yeah, well. We didn't kill each other. So I guess we're friends now?”
Friends, yes they’d start there.