You're Finding Things That You Didn't Know
Summary: Real World AU! A sequel to "I Just Want You To Know Who I Am," Kanan didn't know raising a teenager, who up till a week ago, was living on the streets, would be so hard. From everything from not knowing what to do with the teen, to Ezra not knowing how to deal with someone caring for him, both of them are learning these things together.
Note: If you have not read my other story, "I Just Want You To Know Who I Am," stop right now and go read it, because at several points you may get lost if you haven't read it. Anyways, here is the first chapter of the sequel I promised.
Chapter 1: Morning Confrontation
"Ezra hide under the bed." his mother ordered.
"Why?" the seven year old Ezra asked.
"Don't question your mother just do it." his dad said.
Ezra crawled under the bed and could see his parents' feet. Suddenly he heard the door slam open.
"Well if it isn't the Bridgers." said of voice Ezra didn't recognize.
"We don't want trouble. Leave now and we won't call the police." Ezra's dad tried to reason.
"Now see why would we do that?" the stranger questioned.
"Please, just leave us be." Ezra's mom begged.
"Oh we will leave you be, for the rest of eternity." the stranger said manically. "Imperials, you know what to do."
There was a loud bang from a gunshot. Ezra saw his mom fall to the ground, blood coming from her chest. He bit his hand to keep from screaming. Another gunshot and his dad fell to the ground blood coming from his stomach.
"Let's get out of here before the cops show," the head Imperial said. "They should be here in a couple of hours," he added with a laugh.
Ezra waited until he was sure they left the house.
"Mom?" Ezra asked quietly. "Dad?"
"Ezra," his father responded.
Ezra crawled out and went over to him.
"Dad." Ezra whispered.
"Ezra, I'm going to be honest with you." Ezra's dad said.
"Okay." Ezra nodded.
"Your mom is dead. And I'm dying." Ezra's dad said.
Ezra wasn't stupid, he knew what dying meant. "No, daddy, you, you can't." He was getting chocked up.
"There's no stopping it Ezra." Ezra's dad said. "Ezra, you're a smart boy. I know you can make it."
"I need you." Ezra sobbed.
"I'm sorry Ezra. You can't have me." Ezra's dad said. "Be strong son. I" he started to close his eyes, "love," he never finished his sentence.
"Daddy, Mommy?" Ezra asked sobbing.
Another loud bang jarred Ezra awake from his nightmare. Sitting straight up from where he had been laying, gasping for breath, he looked around to get his bearings. He sighed in relief when he found himself to be on the pull out couch in Kanan's apartment.
"What woke me up?" Ezra whispered to himself.
It was then that he noticed the sound of water pounding against the window, which was quickly joined by a flash of light, before being over powered by the sound of thunder.
Ezra sighed, looking at the time to only be three in the morning. It was never easy to sleep after that particular dream, and the rain wasn't going to make it any easier. He was never able to sleep in the rain, mostly due to the fact that he would get soaked every time up till a week ago, when Kanan took him in.
He got out of the bed and headed towards the kitchen to get a glass of water, hoping it would calm his nerves. He had a thin layer of cold sweat from the nightmare lacing his face and hands. Ezra grabbed a glass from the cupboard and went to close the said cupboard, only to have it slip from his sweaty hands and slam. He flinched slightly praying that Kanan didn't hear it.
As he was filling his cup at the faucet he heard Kanan's voice, "What are you doing in my house!" Before the sound of a gun cocking, "I have a gun."
"Kanan, it's me." Ezra said.
The lights flipped on to reveal Kanan holding a gun, which he quickly lowered once he realized that the sound was his foster son. "What are you doing up at this time of night?"
"Can't sleep." Ezra mumbled.
"Did something happen?" Kanan asked.
"Had a nightmare is all." Ezra shrugged. "Then the thunder woke me up."
Kanan pulled out a seat from the table and sat down, motioning for Ezra to join him.
"What was the nightmare about?" Kanan asked.
"Kanan, it was just a bad dream, I'm okay." Ezra tried to reassure. "Just go back to bed."
"If your okay, then you should go back to bed." Kanan reasoned.
"That's okay, I'm fine." Ezra said, trying to get out of it.
Kanan sighed, "It's obviously bothering you Ezra. Talk to me."
When Ezra didn't Kanan let out another sigh, he had been doing that a lot since he met the kid. "Want some hot chocolate?
"What?" Ezra asked, obviously confused.
"It always helped me after an unpleasant dream." Kanan explained.
"Oh, o-okay." Ezra stammered.
Kanan made some instant hot chocolate and brought over two mugs, handing one over to Ezra. He took it but didn't move to drink it, just holding it, letting the heat seep from the mug into his hands that suddenly felt cold.
"Okay, spill." Kanan said.
"Really Kanan, it's not that big of a deal, I had a bad dream, now the storm is keeping me awake." Ezra reassured, unsuccessfully.
"The storm?" Kanan asked, not buying it completely.
"Hard to sleep in the rain when you don't have a roof over your head." Ezra explained.
"Alright kid, I buy that, but I don't buy the dream not being a big deal." Kanan said.
Ezra avoided answering by taking a long drink, only to end up burning his tongue.
"Ow," Ezra said, trying to gain sympathy and avoid the conversation. Neither of the two worked. "Alright fine."
Ezra sighed in exasperation. "The dream was the memory of eight years ago."
"Your parents?" Kanan asked, knowing that just a few hours ago was the anniversary of Ezra's parents' murders.
"Yeah," Ezra muttered, taking a cautionary sip of his coco.
Kanan sighed. "What can I do to help?"
"I don't think there's anything you can do." Ezra said somewhat sadly.
Kanan studied his foster son across the table for a moment before tentatively asking, "What did you do with your parents?"
"I don't really see how that is relevant." Ezra muttered.
"Ezra," Kanan stated.
Ezra sighed, "I would climb into their bed whenever I had a bad dream or trouble sleeping."
"Alright then, come along." Kanan said with a small smile.
"What?" Ezra asked. He was extremely confused.
"You can sleep in my bed." Kanan offered.
"Kanan, I'm nearly fifteen! I'm not sharing a bed." Ezra said. A clap of thunder made him jump.
"Kid, you don't need to act proud." Kanan said. "Sometimes sleeping in the same bed with someone you trust can help you sleep."
Ezra didn't respond.
"You trust me right?" Kanan asked.
"Yeah," Ezra confirmed.
"If you need comfort I'm trying to offer it." Kanan said.
"It's not that I don't want comfort it's…it's," Ezra stuttered.
"It's what Ezra?" Kanan asked.
"I just don't want to seem like a baby." Ezra said. "I mean, what teenage climbs into bed with their parent or parent figure?"
Kanan put a hand on the teen's shoulder, "The one who needs comfort after being denied it for nearly eight years, who just relived the most traumatic moment of their life." He stood, and Ezra soon did the same.
Kanan smiled and exited the kitchen with Ezra following right behind him. Ezra turned off the light behind him and followed Kanan to the bed room.
Kanan climbed into the bed first and held the sheets up for Ezra to climb in after. The bed was a queen size so there was plenty of room for the two.
"Good night Ezra." Kanan said.
"Night Kanan." Ezra returned.
Another clap of thunder and Kanan felt the bed shift with Ezra's flinch.
"Scared of thunder?" Kanan asked.
"Like I said, thunder equals rain and rain equals nearly impossible to sleep. I got a really bad cold a few years ago because of sleeping in the rain." Ezra responded.
"How bad?" Kanan asked, fearing for his foster son.
"It hurt to breath and I would cough up mucus that was like green and sometimes red. I would also throw up sometimes and I was always cold." Ezra explained.
"Ezra that was pneumonia!" Kanan was shocked. "You could've died."
"Oh," Ezra said. "Well I don't have to worry about it again right? You only get it once right?"
"That's chicken pox, Ezra." Kanan corrected. "It's actually easier to get pneumonia again if you already had it once."
"Oh," Ezra said solemnly.
Kanan sighed once again, "Just try to sleep Ezra, I'm right here."
"Okay," Ezra said and made himself comfortable on his half of the bed.
Kanan did likewise. When he woke up later that morning he found that Ezra had moved and snuggled into his chest. Kanan smiled and wrapped his arms around his foster son. "I'm here, Ezra," he whispered. "I'll always will, and I'll never let go."
well there's the first chapter. :)