Authors Note: So I have had this idea floating around in my head since the first time I watched Call to Action. There were two ideas I could have gone on with; this idea or an idea that takes place on the Phantom. I thought this version of the idea had a better flow and better length. Anyway, I hope you guys can enjoy my really bad writing…
Special Thanks to my friend Spoopie for Beta Reading this!
"We could have saved him… Why didn't we try to save him?" Ezra said angrily, following the crew off of the Phantom and back into the Ghost.
Silence surrounded them, the same silence that fell upon them the past three times he mentioned it in the Phantom… Nobody answered him.
"Why?!" Ezra asked, shouting out his question this time around. Sabine and Zeb turned around to face the blue-haired youth, staring at him with an expression that was trying to will him to not start anything further. While they were both upset at the capture of their leader, they knew Hera was taking it a lot harder than the rest of them, save for Ezra.
All eyes then turned to Hera, who stopped in her tracks, head facing downwards and body stiffened.
Despite the warning stares from Zeb and Sabine both and the sudden, thick tension growing in the room, Ezra kept going.
"We could have easily swooped in there, shot out the Inquisitor and then picked up Kanan."
"And what? Risk the rest of the crew's lives?" Hera suddenly snapped, voice thick with a mix of sadness and frustration, "There was nothing we could do, Ezra."
"What about that whole 'If you don't risk your life for others your life is worth nothing' speech you gave me back during the Wookiees rescue mission? Does that not apply here?" Ezra retaliated, hands clenched into fists as he intently stared at Hera.
"'It's different this time!" Hera said, trying to keep her usual levelheaded composure, "It's… It's just different this time." Hera turned away.
"How so? We risk our lives daily to save people we don't even know! And now… now we won't even risk our lives to save one of our own?" Ezra yelled, arms flailed out to his sides.
All of the composure Hera had left now became a lost cause. "You think I wanted to leave Kanan behind?!" She yelled out, turning around sharply, "Ezra, I wanted to save him, but Kanan knew the risks of trying to save him, as did I… There just…" she sighed, "There just wasn't anything we could do." Her voice softened as she completed her sentence. She quickly walked off, not wanting to continue to fight with her youngest crewmember.
The three that were left over watched as the Twi'lek pilot walked off and out the sliding door. Chopper, whom everyone actually forgot was there, made a few disgruntled beeps and whines at Ezra before leaving out the same door Hera did.
Sabine turned to Ezra, annoyed.
"Ezra, your reaction was totally uncalled for. Trust me, none of us wanted to leave Kanan behind, especially Hera." Sabine said, crossing her arms.
"She had a hard choice to make," Zeb cut in, "But she did what she had to do to keep you-" he poked Ezra hard in the chest, "-and the rest of us safe. She doesn't have to keep hearing from you about how we could have saved him."
With that, Zeb made his way out the door, Sabine following behind. She stopped in the doorway, turning to look at Ezra, "She cares about Kanan as much as you do, Ezra… She cares about all of us and, like Kanan just did, sacrifices a lot to keep us all safe… Once things calm down a bit, you might want to consider patching things up with her…"
Sabine then proceeded out of the door, the door hissing shut and leaving Ezra alone. He sighed, putting his face in his hands, all anger from before now gone and replaced with regret.
Thirty minutes passed before Ezra gained the courage to face Hera and apologize. He spent most of this time calming himself down in the common room away from everyone else (minus Chopper who was making his rounds to preform minor repairs on the ship). He sat by the round table, leaned forward with his chin on his arm. He tried to meditate, something Kanan told him to do whenever he needed to clear his mind, but failed to stay entranced for any longer than a few minutes…
Eventually he willed himself to stand up and apologize to Hera. Walking out into the hallway, me made his way up to the bridge. He assumed she was either there or in her room, but he opted out of checking her room since she was usually only in there to sleep...
A soft sniffling sound emitted down the hallway. Confused, he followed the sound. He checked Sabine's room and then his and Zeb's room, only to find them both empty. He continued down the hallway and stopped at Kanan's room. The sound was louder right outside the door… He looked at the door curiously before opening it. His eyes widened, completely unprepared for what he saw.
There, leaned over with her elbows on her knees and face in her hands, sat Hera. Her thin frame shook lightly as a small, quiet sob emitted from her.
It took her a moment to register that she was no longer alone. Lifting her head up from her hands, she looked towards the door. Despite the low lighting in the room, Ezra could make out tear tracks on Hera's face and a slight redness to both her cheeks and eyes. He felt his heart sink in his chest.
Hera was quick to compose herself, sitting up and wiping her cheeks dry with her gloved hands. "D-Do you need something, Ezra?" She asked, annoyed with herself for not being able to keep her voice from cracking.
Ezra quickly became fascinated with his shoes as he clenched his fists to his side. "I…"
"Ezra?" There was a short pause.
"I'm… I'm sorry, for snapping at you Hera…" Ezra finally said, looking up to face the Twi'lek.
"I-Its fine, Ezra…" Hera sighed, beginning to stand up, "You were ju-"
"No, its not fine, Hera!" Ezra cut Hera off, raising his voice in the process, "I shouldn't have gotten mad at you… I was… I was just frustrated…" Ezra put his face in his hands and let out a loud groan.
Hera walked over to the teen, placing a hand on his shoulder, "Ezra...-" Hera was cut off by Ezra who quickly wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her into a hug.
"I just… I didn't want to lose my family again…" Ezra said solemnly.
"Hm?" Hera questioned, taken back by the sudden hug. She carefully snaked her arms around his shoulders, placing her hands on his back.
"I was… I was mad because I didn't want to lose my f-family again… N-not over this… I already l-lost my parents… I… I don't want to l-lose…" Ezra's body began to shake a bit as his voice trailed off…
"Ezra?" Hera asked, carefully trying to remove his arms from her waist so she could get a better look at his face. She gently grabbed hold of his trembling shoulders and moved back a bit. The teen had his head held down, hair working as a curtain to cover his face.
"Ezra, look at me." Hera bent over a bit, gently lifting his chin up with her hand.
In the dim light, Hera could see bubbled up tears slowly dripping down Ezra's face from the corners of his closed eyes. A small hiccup escaped his lips, followed by a quiet sob. Hera wrapped her arms around the boy's shoulders, pulling him into a hug.
"Oh, Ezra…" She sighed out. She maneuvered the boy over to Kanan's bed, sitting him down. With his head leaned against her chest and her arms draped around his shoulders, Ezra cried, all the anger from earlier flushing from him through his tears.
About ten minutes passed by before Ezra's sobs died down. The room fell quiet, save a few sniffles from Ezra every so often.
"I-I'm sorry, Hera…" Ezra said, breaking the silence. His voice was low, cracked and broken from crying.
"Ezra…" Hera sighed, "You don't need to be sorry. You were speaking through your fear … I-I probably would have done the same thing if I was in your place…" Hera said, running a hand through the teens blue hair. Silence fell over them once more.
"Do… d-do you think he's ok?"
"… I'm not sure…"
"…"
"…"
"Do you think we will get him back?"
"…"
"Hera?"
"… We will do our best…"
"…"
"…Ezra…"
"Hm?"
"I want you to know something…"
"What?"
"No matter if we are all here, or if we are all spread out, we will always be your family… Nobody, not even the Empire, can change that…"
Ezra sat up, looking over at Hera. They both looked at each other for a moment before Ezra pulled Hera into a hug.
"Thank you, Hera…"
Hera smiled then gave Ezra one last tight hug before letting go.
Suddenly, the door opened to reveal Sabine.
"Hey, I got the signal working… If we are still going through with this, now might be the best time to do it." She said, looking to Hera.
"Ok. We will be out in a second." Hera said, nodding to Sabine.
Sabine gave a quick nod back before retreating from the doorway, the automatic door closing behind her.
Hera looked to Ezra, placing a hand on his leg, "You ready to do this?"
Ezra nodded, using his hand to wipe away any evidence of tears on his face.
"Lets do this… Lets do this for Kanan."