User blog comment:KaharZamet/Star Wars Rebels Premiere Review/@comment-2000765-20141004150532/@comment-24499270-20141006020128

I think Kanan just avoided using it because he didn't want to give the Empire another, bigger reason for hunting them down just yet. That, and think. If you had made it fourteen years in an Empire as a former Padawan, and had been able to keep that quiet for so long, would you be too keen on using the one weapon that would identify you for what you really were?

The thing with Hera calling Kanan 'love', I forgot to put earlier, she called him that in 'The Machine in the Ghost', too. I think it's just a nickname.