Hey guys! Happy Hanukkah and Merry Christmas to all! This is my Christmas special, and I hope you enjoy.
Ezra lay on his back in his bed in the afternoon, sighing as he thought about... today. Today was Christmas Day in the galaxy, and being a kid who's lived most of his life on the streets, Ezra really wasn't in a festive mood today. He's known for a long time that Christmas meant a time of happiness and festivity, a time of being with family, friends, those who care about you and love you with their lives... To Ezra, although he's lived with the Ghost crew for about close to three years or so, although he viewed them as his new family, Christmas was practically nothing to the Lothalian. He just wished that Christmas wasn't even a thing. At that moment, there was a knock at his door.
"Who's there?" Ezra asked.
"It's Kanan." the muffled voice of Kanan came through. "Ezra, can we please talk?"
"What about this time? Nothing's up with me."
"Ezra, something is up with you. You can tell me anything. Can I come in?" Ezra sighed.
"Okay, fine." The door hissed as it slid open, a concerned Kanan walking in. Ezra jumped down from his bunk and sat next to Kanan on the bottom one, looking down, avoiding eye contact with the blind Jedi.
"Ezra, what's up with you today?" Kanan asked. "You've been in here for a while, come join us. It's Christmas."
"That's the thing though." Ezra responded. "Christmas is practically nothing to me."
"Ezra, why do you say that?"
"The thing is... Christmas is a day that you're supposed to celebrate with those who care for you and love you, right?"
"Well, yes."
"It's supposed to be a time with family and friends, isn't it?"
"Yes." Kanan sensed where this was going, mentally preparing himself to here what Ezra had to say. He was going to cut to the chase, but he let it slide, Ezra saying what he wanted to say.
"I remember when I was younger, before everything changed." Kanan saw, again, where this was going.
"Go on." he told him.
"Christmas used to be my favorite holiday. I remember waking up every day on Christmas morning and seeing the presents under the tree, opening them up. I had my parents watching me when I opened them, seeing them smile at the sight. But that was just the past. By the time the Empire moved in on them and I was alone, I had to go through 7 Christmases on my own. I wasn't festive, I wasn't happy, I was sad and always disliked it. My parents were gone, and since I was just a simple lothrat living on the streets that no one cared about, and on Christmas day people should have at least spread some Christmas cheer to me, but no, they didn't!" Ezra began tearing up a bit. "I saw Christmas as nothing for all those years, in fact I even wished that people would just move on because this was how life was gonna be from then on until the end of me. But when I met you guys, and when we celebrated Christmas all those times, I still didn't see it as a real thing then, and I don't see it as a real thing now. All because my parents are gone and Christmas is nothing. Because family's a big thing, something that I don't have anymore." Ezra teared up more, sobbing. Kanan pulled him in and embraced him. Ezra didn't object.
"Ezra, Christmas is still a big thing. I mean, you went seven Christmases on your own until you met us. We are your home, Ezra. We are your family. Christmas is always something that we celebrate as a family, because we all lost our old ones. We only do things like this because we know that the holiday would make us all happy, and we all care for our happiness just as much as yours. And that means that we'll celebrate Christmas again and again as long as we remain a family. Ezra, all those other times when you didn't feel in the mood on Christmas day, I want to make it up to you this time. You could just stay in here and dwell on the past, or you could focus on here and now; spending Christmas with us, your family, the ones who love you and care about you every step of the way."
The thought made Ezra brighten up slightly. Why the heck did he reject all those other Christmases with the crew when all they were trying to do was make him feel like a part of the family? Because of himself, because of how he felt about Christmas. However, that all changed at this moment. For the first time, Kanan really did show himself even more as a fatherly figure to Ezra by wanting to bring back the holiday into his life. This was his chance to really enjoy the cheer and feel of Christmas, as if he was really a kid again. Ezra, for the first time in a long time, realized that just because his family was gone doesn't mean that families have to be biological to celebrate Christmas, or any holiday for that matter. Ezra broke himself from the hug, smiling.
"Kanan, thank you so much." he said, trying hard to hold back tears.
"For what?" Kanan asked, although he already knew the answer.
"For, you know, showing me that family's don't have to be related to enjoy Christmas Day together." With that, he hugged Kanan. The blind Jedi broke the hug, throwing his arm around his "son."
"Come on, Ez, let's go and enjoy Christmas."
They walked through the halls of the Ghost, the halls red and green with Christmas lights everywhere. When they entered the kitchen, everybody else was there. Hera was decorating a gingerbread house, Sabine was doing the same thing, and Zeb was putting a ribbon on top of a wrapped present in the kitchen. They stopped what they were doing and turned their heads when they saw the Jedi enter.
"Look who decided to finally show some cheer around here." Sabine teased, playfully punching Ezra on the shoulder, giggling. Ezra returned, himself laughing as well.
"It's good to enjoy Christmas with family, my family." Ezra replied, gesturing for the others to come to him. He hugged Kanan, Hera joining in on the hug. Sabine and Zeb were the next ones in. "I love you guys."
"We love you too, Ezra." Hera said. At that moment, Chopper, who was rolling by, bumped into them, laughing.
"Chopper!" they all said at the same time. Chopper laughed again before zapping Ezra. He groaned in response.
"Merry Christmas to you too, Chop."
Later that evening, they had a Christmas dinner, consisting of nerf meat and potatoes on the side. It felt good to the crew that their youngest member was enjoying Christmas for the first time in years, but Ezra was the one who felt more good about himself than the others as he was missing out a lot on the holiday. Dinner flew by, and now it was time for presents.
They all went to the common area, sitting down as Hera decided to hand out the presents underneath the tree. Unlike most trees that usually had a star, or something, on top, this one had Sabine's orange starbird symbol. Hera pulled out the first present from under there. "Ladies first in this case. Sabine, this is for you." the twi'lek said as she handed the Mandalorian the present.
She dug into it, her eyes widening when she feasted her eyes on what it was. It was an art catalog from a very famous Mandalorian artist, one of her favorites. She opened it up and looked at some of the artwork in there, closing it up and embracing Hera. "Thank you so much!" she exclaimed in happiness.
"Merry Christmas, Sabine." Sabine sat back down, holding her art catalog as Hera got the next present. "Zeb, this one is for you." She handed the lasat his present.
He opened it up, seeing that it was a new honor guard rifle made just for him. He look in his hands as he examined it, aiming it down as he looked down the sight. He took it one hand as the barrel pointed towards the ceiling, hugging Hera. "Hera, you shouldn't have. Thanks for this."
"Merry Christmas, Zeb." Zeb put his rifle away in his and Ezra's room before he came back out, seeing that Kanan was the next one to get his gift.
Kanan opened it up, seeing that his present was some spare parts for his lightsaber. He was okay with the gift, not wanting really much of anything for Christmas this year other than being with his family. He embraced Hera. "It wasn't necessary, but thanks, love."
"Anytime, Kanan. Merry Christmas." Kanan put the spare parts away in his room before coming back out, seeing that Ezra was about to get his gift. He opened it up, his widening at the sight of what he got. He got a green kyber crystal, a spare in case something went down with his current one. But then again, the best gift of all was that he got to enjoy Christmas again, with his family. However, he then noticed something.
He saw that there was some paper below the crystal. I picked the crystal up, hugging Hera. "Thank you. For my present, for everything, Hera. I love you."
"I love you too, Ezra."
"Where did you get the crystal anyway?"
"Black market. Figured you would need a spare sometime."
"Yeah, you do have a point. Merry Christmas, Hera."
"Merry Christmas, Ezra."
When he sat back down, he read the note to himself.
"Ezra,
when this is done, come meet me in the cargo bay.
Sabine"
Ezra, puzzled by the note, put it away, waiting to see what Hera got. "This one is for me, and it is from... Kanan." She opened it up, and saw that she got a new blaster pistol. She saw that it said "Enjoy this Hera" written on it. She turned to Kanan, hugging him. He returned the hug. "Thank you, love."
"Merry Christmas, Hera." Kanan replied.
"Merry Christmas to you too, Kanan." She then gave him a quick kiss on the lips, gasping when she realized that the others were watching her. "Um, mistakes happen?" Hera said, sheepishly. Zeb, Sabine and Ezra laughed at that.
"I saw it coming. I have for a while now." Sabine said. "Merry Christmas, all." She hugged Zeb and Ezra close.
"Merry Christmas, Sabine." Zeb and Ezra said in unison.
"Anyway, I think it's time for bed." Hera said before Kanan kissed her lightly. He then looked at the others, then back at Hera.
"Um, Hera, I think we should go."
"Agreed." The Jedi and the twi'lek left the common area for the night, followed by Zeb, then by Chopper, until it was just Ezra and Sabine.
"Ezra?" Sabine said.
"Yeah?" Ezra responded.
"Do you remember that note?"
"What about it?"
"Well, I... Oh, forget it."
She put Ezra, gently, up against the wall, pressing her lips against his. Ezra's eyes widened, but then he relaxed his body and closed his eyes, going along with the kiss, relishing in this awesome Christmas gift from Sabine. They broke apart, gazing into each other's eyes with a smile on both their faces.
"Merry Christmas, Ezra."
"Merry Christmas, Sabine."
They made out for a few minutes until Sabine broke the kiss. "Goodnight, Ezra."
"Goodnight, Sabine." He gave her a quick kiss on the lips before they went to their cabins for the night.
When Ezra got into bed, he felt amazing. Him celebrating his first Christmas in a while was amazing as it felt satisfying to him to get involved in the holiday season. But most importantly, it felt great that he got to spend with those who love him and care about him.
His family.
Merry Christmas!
