Ezra in the Jedi Praxeum

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It was early morning, the time when every proper Jedi in the Temple rose with the sun and meditated in solitude, but the air already resembled a hot soup. Ezra wiped the sweat from his brow and scowled.

He hated Yavin 4. Why had Luke single-handedly decided to start the Academy here? The horrible climate, giant bugs, jungle full of poisonous predators, ancient ruins teeming with angry Sith ghosts... No wonder people didn't want to become Jedi. Like that Jade woman. He could understand her sentiments exactly.

Ezra toweled off, knowing that it was an exercise in futility as soon he'd be sweaty again, and went to the mess hall.

He sighed, staring at the sludge that passed there as a porridge. He hoped supplies would finally arrive and he would get some real sustenance. The only fresh food was the local fruit that came from the orchards. But even that didn't taste as good and sweet as a nice, juicy meiloorun.

"Something troubles you?" asked Corran Horn, taking a seat across from Ezra. The man had once been a CorSec officer. No wonder his presence put Ezra on edge. Bridger shook off the irrational uneasiness.

"It's nothing. I just miss Lothal."

"Your homeworld? You haven't been there in a while, right?" Corran asked. He took a spoonful of porridge and ate it with gusto.

"Almost ten years," Ezra sounded wistful.

Lothal... He pictured it effortlessly as if he'd seen it just yesterday. The grassy plains stretching until the far away horizon, the unique conical spires which made the best hiding places, the jogan plantations and spine tree forests, the bustling towns and the melody of the free winds in the prairies...

Corran whistled. "That's a long time. You plan to go visit?"

"I don't know. I need to finish my training."

"Oh, come on, Luke won't get mad if you take a few days off. You've been a Jedi even longer than he has. I bet you could teach him some stuff."

Ezra smiled. "Probably, yes."

"Did I tell you about that one time he took us down to the geysers and we almost died?" Corran launched into a story from the very beginning of the Jedi Academy. By the end of it, he had Ezra in stitches.

"I can't believe Luke did that! Kanan did some crazy training with me but this is on a whole other level," Ezra said and chuckled again.

"What's so funny?" Luke asked, surprising both of his students.

"Oh, you know, I was telling Ezra some old stories. Remember the geysers?" Corran replied with a grin.

Luke put a hand over his face. "Please don't remind me of my past mistakes. Mara and Leia yelled at me enough for that."

"Ah-ah, doesn't Tionne tell everyone that we have to remember the past so we don't repeat our mistakes?"

"Corran..." Luke said wearily as he sat down next to the Corellian.

Ezra took the chance to change the topic.

"Luke, I was thinking about going to Lothal."

"What about finishing your training?" Luke replied anxiously. Who could blame him when his students seemed to regularly run off somewhere?

Ezra rushed to reassure him and was struck by a sudden bout of inspiration.

"Actually, this could be potentially educational." When Luke gave him an intrigued look, he elaborated. "I want to investigate the temple on Lothal."

"But you told me the Empire destroyed it?"

"Yes, well, I could still find something in the ruins. There might be some secret passages still untouched somewhere deep inside. Also, if the ancient Jedi built one temple on Lothal, there's a big chance there's more hidden on the planet." Ezra was half-bulshitting, but the more he spoke, the more he hoped this all to be true.

"Sounds possible. If the secrets can be accessed only by a Jedi, they might be untouched to this time," Corran added.

Luke thought this proposition over. "Alright, you convinced me. But I can't let you go alone. I'm coming too," he decided.

"Aren't you needed here, Master?" Corran asked.

Luke waved off his concerns.

"Everyone can handle a few days without me. You'll take over in my absence."

Corran spluttered. "Me? Why me? I was planning to go too!"

Luke gave him a knowing look. "Sorry that you won't get an excuse to call up Mirax for a ride."

"How did you?" Corran gaped at him indignantly.

Luke smirked and pointed at himself. "Jedi Master. You'll learn to do this too when you become one." All the while Ezra was snickering in the background.

"Won't you two need some back-up?" Corran tried to weasel his way into the expedition.

"Two of us should be enough to see some ruins," Luke said.

When the outsmarted Corellian got up and stomped away in a huff, Ezra smiled at Luke.

"Hey, thanks for agreeing to this trip."

"You didn't expect me to?"

"Uh, yeah," Ezra admitted awkwardly.

"I'm sorry. I'm too strict on my students, apparently," Luke said with self-deprecation that alarmed Bridger.

"No, it's not that, Luke! You're a great teacher! Yes, you're strict, but sometimes we just need a kick in the butt to learn all of this Force stuff. You're doing a great job. Believe me," Ezra said in his most confident tone and put a hand on Luke's shoulder.

"Are you trying to flatter your teacher?" Luke asked, but a smile returned to him. Crisis was averted.

"No," Ezra said with a straight face. "Well, maybe a little."

"I knew it." Luke stood up. "I'm going to arrange for a transport and we can go. Pack up and meet me in the hangar in..." he glanced at his wrist chrono, "two hours."

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Ezra strode into the hangar with a stuffed bag slung over his shoulder and a wide grin. He was so pumped for his trip home that he came fifteen minutes early, but to his surprise Luke was already there, chatting with a red-haired woman standing by the ramp of a luxury yacht. Ezra went up to them.

"You're early," Luke remarked.

"Not as early as you," he replied, eying the pair of them suspiciously. Reflexively, they moved slightly apart. "So, you're the famous Mara Jade?" he asked and extended his hand to her. "I'm Ezra Bridger."

Jade's grip was firm as she shook his hand. "Skywalker is telling stories about me?"

"No, it was all Corran."

"I'll have to get him someday," she mused.

"I wouldn't worry, he didn't say anything bad."

Mara seemed sceptical about it, but she didn't bother to object verbally. Instead she gestured to her ship in the invitation.

"Since we're all here, we should get an early start. You're both in luck. I have a delivery to make on Lothal," she explained as they all climbed the ramp.

"It's not luck, it's the Force," Luke told her seriously.

Mara snorted. "Whatever." She disappeared in the cockpit.

Ezra glanced at Luke who wore a strange half-smile, half-frown. Then he shook his head. He was not trying to decipher what was really going on between his Jedi Master and the trader.

As they lifted off the Yavin's surface, Ezra was celebrating with a can of muja juice straight from the cooler. Goodbye, hot tropical jungle, welcome, normal weather!

He toasted to it.