This is a three part songfic using the song Demons by Imagine Dragons. This is also my first Rebels story. Like the summary says each chapter will get a verse or set of verses all the way up to and through the chorus that follows. This chapter takes place after "Gathering Forces" and "Path of the Jedi". Ezra is becoming withdrawn from the crew after the events of the two episodes.
It had been several days since the events on the asteroid base and the temple on Lothal and ever since then Ezra had been unknowingly distant and his withdrawal from the crew more and more each day. The whole crew, who had started becoming his family, had started to worry as the teen started depriving himself to the point that he would lock himself in his and Zeb's room for hours on in and through the night, forcing Zeb to crash in the common room every night. Kanan was especially worried about the boy, who had become more like a son to him rather than just his padawan. With Ezra only coming out of his room too briefly for comfort, Kanan had come to realize the boy started looking ghastly. He looked like he hadn't been much of any sleep if any at all in days.
Everyone tried interacting with Ezra, trying to get him to talk, or even get him to open up to what was bothering the teen. Hera was the first. Her motherly instincts took over, as she tried to talk to Ezra when she caught him up during the night, but he just brushed her concern as side claiming it was nothing, before returning to his cave. Zeb was the second to try. He took the chance to claim attempt to get his part of the room, as well as confront his roommate about his problem as best as the Lasat could, only to fail. Ezra claimed that he need time to be alone, so Zeb decided agreed to it, even with how irritable he appeared to be. Sabine was under the assumption that Ezra just needed space after everything that happened since his birthday which was also Empire Day, so she just let Ezra have his space, and it seemed like she was the only one Ezra acknowledged when she saw him. Kanan would be the last to try to approach the boy, after taking Sabine's advice to give him at least one more day.
Kanan finally took his turn at communicating with Ezra, which fell one week after the events. Kanan found himself in front of Ezra's down in the dead of night. The sounds of screaming was concerning. Fortunately for Kanan, Ezra forgot to lock his door for the night, not that anyone else would have known since they were all already sleeping. The Jedi pried the door open, only to find his padawan spastically tossing and turning in his sleep as Kanan entered the room. Kanan knew this had to be a nightmare and as he made his way over to the buck to awaken the teen, he miraculously made it over right as Ezra unconsciously threw himself off the top bunk. He caught Ezra and had held him bridal style. Ezra woke up disoriented.
"Kanan?" Ezra called out in confusion, once he regained composure.
"We need to talk." Kanan insisted as he placed Ezra on his feet, placing his hands on the boy's shoulders to make sure he would be steady on his feet in this state. "What's going on?"
Ezra avoided eye contact with his mentor and made himself look at the ground.
"It's nothing Kanan." Ezra replied. "I just need time to myself to think."
"Somethings bothering you. You've been avoiding everyone as much as possible for the past week. You're barely eating, You rarely speak with the exception of Sabine on occasion, and the bags under your eyes clearly imply that you haven't had a good night's sleep since we got back. You need to spill. What's bothering you?"
Ezra was silent, almost like he didn't hear Kanan's request. When the grip on his shoulders gently tightened, Ezra knew he wasn't going to worm his way out of this.
"A nightmare." Ezra stated just barely above a whisper, confirming Kanan's suspicions.
"Tell me what happened."
"We were fighting the Inquisitor. At first we were at the asteroid base. We were fighting, giving it our all, when the next thing I knew, you were knocked unconscious and he had me in a choke hold after trying to protect you. I tried to get out of it, but his grip was too strong. The next thing I knew, we were all in a cave, like the one I saw in my vision when we were at the Jedi temple. I was still in his choke hold when you regained consciousness and tried to save me."
At this point Kanan could feel Ezra shaking ever so slightly and Ezra's breathing was tense.
"He threw me against a wall, and he went to attack you. I couldn't move, like a force was crushing me. He disarmed you and beheaded you right in front of me."
Tears started falling and Kanan knew Ezra was crying, but the boy continued.
"He told me it was my fault. He said that you died because I was too weak to stop him. He said I would meet the same fate, but not before he made me …"
"Made you what?"
"Made me kill everyone. Hera, Sabine, Zeb, even Chopper, all of them, using your lightsaber and I couldn't stop myself. I stabbed Hera throw the chest, piercing her heart. I sliced Zeb in half. Chopper managed to get out of a death by lightsaber, but I crushed him with the force instead. Sabine was the last to fall and I beheaded her. With their dead and blood stained bodies lying at my feet, the Inquisitor approached me, lightsaber in hand. He raised it and killed me."
I wanna hide the truth
I wanna shelter you
But with the beast inside
There's nowhere we can hide
With the story now completed, Ezra was sobbing, and this broke Kanan's heart. Kanan as if out of nowhere, pulled the boy into a comforting embrace. Ezra was shocked at first but welcomed the embrace and continued to sob, soaking Kanan's shirt. If he had only gotten Ezra to speak up sooner, this whole incident could have been avoided. As much as he wished he could have saved his padawan the trouble it was too late to prevent it, but it could be fixed. Not that Kanan wasn't familiar with nightmares after troubling events. He use to have nightmares after he escaped the massacre known as Order 66 and the murder of his master Depa Billaba.
Not to mention everything after that his past. The life he lived after Order 66. The Jedi inside of him that he had long since forgotten. That is, until he met Hera and the rest of the Ghost crew, including the boy sobbing in his chest. He never expected to find the family that he had received in the form of the crew, but now he couldn't feel more connected than he did at this moment.
After several minutes of silent contemplation Kanan decided to talk to the youth. He lightened up his embrace and allowed Ezra to back up a little bit.
"Hey, look at me." Kanan requested, placing his hands on the sides of Ezra's face and gently made Ezra look at him eye to eye. He whipped away the tears stuck on Ezra's eyes. "It's okay, alright? I would never let that happen to you. You and I share quite a few things in common and I would never want you to end up like that."
Though not ready to share his past experiences in full, his eyes told Ezra enough to inform the boy of his master and father figure's troubles. Ezra let out the first smile he had imprisoned all week, which pleased Kanan to no end.
"Now how about we get some sleep?" Kanan suggested.
At first Ezra was terrified at the notion.
"Don't worry, I'll be with you. That is if you'd like me to."
Ezra's expression eased and the boy gave a nod in agreement. Kanan helped Ezra get back into bed before sitting on the edge while Ezra fell into a deep dreamless sleep.
The following morning, Hera along with Sabine found the two asleep on the bunk, Ezra staying comfortable close to Kanan. They smiled at the scene, before leaving them in peace, but Hera did not leave without taking a picture as evidence later on as well as a memory.