This is a one-shot requested for 5.56X45.
I hope this was what you had in mind!
"I'm so sorry about what happened to your freighter! I wish I knew about this earlier! Are you sure you're okay?! You don't need anything?! Your crew is okay too?! Good! I wouldn't want anyone else to get hurt! Gosh! I'm so sorry this happened!" Hera gushed as she and her friend stood on the landing pad near her friend's freighter—or at least what was left of it. The whole ship had been reduced to a hunk of melted and twisted metal after the ship's engines had exploded, causing a fire. Fortunately, they were just returning from a mission and close enough to Attalon to make an emergency landing.
It was a miracle no one was seriously hurt.
"It's fine, really," Hera's friend—an attractive young lady—assured her. "I know it was an accident and Commander Sato promised to let me use the next available freighter." She offered a sad smile. "Accidents happen." She swepted a long arm around the base. "Besides," she continued, "everyone here has been very supportive and helpful, especially your crew. Young Bridger has quite a heart."
Hera nodded wistfully, allowing a grin to creep onto her lips as thoughts of Ezra's past snuck into her mind. Ezra certainly had changed since they first met him.
"I really need to go," Hera's friend suddenly exclaimed as her commlink beeped. "I forgot I had a briefing on my next mission." She waved a gloved hand in Hera's direction as she jogged off to the command center. "Bye!"
Hera waved back, trying to bite down the sudden feeling of paranoia rising.
Anyone's ship could have exploded like that. Come to think of it, her friend's ship was older than the Ghost. The Ghost was at more risk than her friend's freighter.
A sudden image of the Ghost in flames flashed past her mind, bringing fear along with it.
She shook her head at the thought. Don't be silly, Hera, she berated herself. Something like that will never happen. She paused. Will it?
"Alright, what's wrong?"
Hera snapped out of her thoughts and looked up at Kanan lying next to her in their bed. "What do you mean?" she asked, feigning innocence.
Kanan frowned. "You're worried about something," he explained. "Your Force signature is so full of fear you're putting me on edge."
Hera knew that was supposed to be a joke, but she really didn't feel like laughing. Her stomach was churning with worry as millions of fiery scenarios played in her head.
"Hey," Kanan interrupted her thoughts, bringing a rough hand to rest under her green chin. "Seriously, what's wrong?"
Hera avoided his hazy gaze. "Honestly…" she trailed off. "I'm still kind of paranoid about the fire. Remember that? Well, it could have been us. The Ghost could have…" she once again faltered.
Kanan nodded. "I know," he agreed. "The Ghost is much older than that freighter that burned, not to mention the crew probably wouldn't know what to do if the ship did catch fire."
Hera nodded. A sudden spark of an idea entered her head. "What if we test them?" she asked.
Kanan cocked his head to one side in confusion. "What do you mean?"
"What if we set off the fire alarms, like a fire drill?" Hera continued to elaborate. "That would prove to me that we'd be ready if ever we had a fire on our ship."
Kanan nodded slowly, trying to picture such an idea in his mind. "That doesn't sound to bad," he decided after much thought. "When were you planning on doing it?"
Hera shrugged. "Tonight seems as good a night as any."
Kanan stood up from his place on the bed. "I'll tell the kids. You find the fire alarm system and figure out how to trigger it." he walked out the door and into the hall.
Hera smiled to herself. This would sooth all her worries.
Ezra couldn't sleep that night. He and Zeb had been out training all day. Sure, he was exhausted from the intense training, but he couldn't shake the feeling that something was off. It was as if the Force was trying to tell him something.
It was right then when an ear-piercing beep echoed through the ship, repeating itself like an alarm.
A fire alarm.
Ezra had heard fire alarms before. One went off when his mother's cooking caught fire. It was a terrifying rush through the smoke-filled house and into the open air of Lothal's plains. Everyone around him were yelling things in loud voices that hurt his ears. They ran to the house with buckets full of water and poured the water on the house for some reason. He didn't know why, being only five years old when it happened.
All he knew, though, was that he was scared. He could feel the tension and fear in the air, mixing with the suffocating scent of smoke wafting past his face. By the time the fire was out, he was in tears. He didn't know why. It just scared him.
Panic gripping his heart, Ezra jumped down from his bunk and violently shook Zeb awake.
"Zeb!" he called urgently above the sound of the fire alarms. "Fire!"
Zeb growled as he forced one eye open. "What fire, kid?" he demanded in a dangerously low voice. As his ears adjusted, he recognized the unmistakable ring of a fire alarm. His eyes widened as he leaped out of his bunk. "What are you doing here, Kid?! Get out!" he practically screamed as he rushed Ezra out of the loud ship, down the ramp, and into the cold night air.
Ezra stood where Zeb had left him, panic and adrenaline still pumping through his veins. Zeb had told him something before the last had run off, but he didn't hear it. Memories of his past trauma still raced through his head.
"Ezra!" Hera greeted as she casually walked out of the Ghost, followed closely by Sabine and Kanan. She rushed over and embraced him in a tight hug. "You did great on that fire drill! I'm so glad you know what to do!" she pulled back to look him in the eye.
Ezra lowered his gaze, a choked sob escaping his lips. A tear slipped down his cheek.
Hera stopped, taken aback by the odd behavior. "What's wrong?" she asked. "Are you hurt?"
Ezra shook his head, burying it in the soft material of her flight suit in hopes of hiding his emotions from the rest of the crew. All his fear and panic flooded his emotions as another sob escaped. He didn't want to cry, but he couldn't help it. He was scared.
Hera stroked Ezra's soft, short hair with one gloved hand, whispering comforting words in twi'leki. "I'm sorry," she whispered to him. "I didn't mean to scare you. It was just a drill. It's all over now." she glanced down to meet his teary blue eyes. "Why don't we go to the kitchen and get some tea, okay? Does that sound okay?"
Ezra shakily nodded, wiping away the tears with his sleeve.
"Tea does sound nice," Kanan agreed. He started for the ramp of the Ghost only to be stopped by a charging last armed with a bucket of water. Seeing someone in his path, Zeb abruptly stopped. What he was not aware of, though, was that the water inside the bucket was catapulted forward and onto an unsuspecting Kanan.
For a long moment, all anyone could do was stare at the soaking Jedi standing in the moonlight.
"I-I-" Zeb stuttered, too shocked to form a sentence.
Kanan held up a hand for silence. "It was smart of you to get water," he started, "but shouldn't you have called over a firedriod instead?"
Zeb was about to stutter another answer, but Kanan once again held up his hand. "No explanation needed."
Silently, the crew of the Ghost turned and walked back into their ship.
Much to Hera's surprise, she was feeling confident that her crew would be ready for any fire or other emergency.
Kanan—on the other hand—wasn't ready to agree with such a bold statement.
I am literally falling asleep as I write this, but I did my best! What did you think? Did you like it?
Please review below!
May the Force be with you!
-Spector7 out!