Set shortly after Kanan died.
As soon as the ship hit the ground Ezra watched Hera's shaky footsteps falter as she stepped out of the aircraft, clutching her kalikori tightly to her stomach, her knuckles white from the pressure. He followed but only for a moment. The realization was setting in.
Kanan was gone.
Dead.
The word was swirling sourly around in his mind, as the last few seconds of Kanan's life played out in his head on repeat. Stumbling over the uneven ground, his blurry vision barely managed to locate Zeb in front of him.
The Lasat took Ezra by the shoulders, his green eyes searching frantically for the answer he hoped couldn't be true. "What's going on."
It took all of Ezra's willpower to rasp out, "Kanan's gone."
Zeb felt Ezra shaking in his arms. "What do you mean gone. Like captured?"
"NO." Ezra burst out, the shout stealing what all strength he had left. All that was left was to whisper. "He's gone." He hardly registered the look of shock and devastation that followed as he collapsed into the Zeb's arms.
His eyes were stinging with unshed tears. He couldn't move; almost couldn't breathe. When was the last time he'd felt this weak? This helpless?
Two furry arms embraced him sadly, and Ezra couldn't hold back any longer. His mentor, the closest thing he had to a father, was gone and was never coming back. He could feel his whole world collapsing in a panicked frenzy and suddenly, he needed space, and he needed it now.
Shakily, he pushed himself out of Zeb's arms, ignoring the feeling of burning pain in his chest as he broke out in a full run in the direction Sabine had stumbled off to.
Ezra gasped for breath as he finally reached the rock formation. Sabine had wrenched off the head covering of the pilot suit, her dark hair blowing in the whistling wind. She was painting, but it wasn't...her. The spray guns she usually preferred to work with were haphazardly thrown into dust, except the paint extension had been removed.
Sabine hurled, slammed an angry red splash onto the rock, followed by another slap of orange fury. There was far too much paint, and it dripped down the smooth surface. Ezra could feel an intense violent energy devouring her, driving her on. Beneath it all, a thick sadness, tightly hidden behind a wall of coursing passion.
Sabine groaned, as if a heavy burden had been dropped on her shoulders. She wanted to scream. Scream and forget what it was like to feel pain, to feel her heart being ripped in half.
Her flung her hand into the red, dragging it through the color, listening to the hollow echo in her mind that whispered, 'Everything you love will be lost'.
She wanted to deny it. But it was true, wasn't it? This was going to be the end.
She sunk to her knees, her hand sliding off the rock and hitting the dusty plain.
"Sabine." A shaky voice behind her falterd. She didn't turn around. And she didn't answer. Salty tears clung to her cheeks as she cried bitterly. She knew it was Ezra behind her, but she wished, for once, that Kanan would be the one to walk up to her. To tell her everything would be okay.
It wasn't.
The dry grass had a nauseating crunch with each step Ezra took towards her. Sabine wanted to be by herself, but she also knew being alone would become unbearable. And as Ezra kneeled down beside her, head bowed, she didn't hesitate to lean her head on his shoulder. She also noticed him slide his left arm around her waist in a comforting gesture.
At any other time, she would have slapped Ezra's arm away, not wanting to give him any ideas. But now...
Now it was just him and her, the two of them feeling lost and hopeless, and looking for strength in each other.
Sabine's thoughts were interrupted when she noticed something wet was dripping onto her leg, and she no sooner had brushed it off to be replaced by another. Peering up, she saw Ezra's heartbroken face, tears rolling down both of his cheeks, his expression frozen in a silent sob. He was shaking, though no sound came out of his mouth.
She wanted to speak up. To say, 'It's okay. Everything will be okay.' She wanted to say, 'We've gone through tougher times'. But it'd all be false. There was nothing to do but hug Ezra harder, to try and stop her own tears from falling, and feel the warmth of his to touch to try and melt the icy hole Kanan's death had left.
And she wasn't surprised when he hugged her back.
They sat there, grasping each other tightly, not saying a word, but knowing that the other would be there for them, no matter what.
...
SW