**Hope you're enjoying . ** ~Ocean
Chapter 2: Harsh Accusations
When Hera landed the Ghost later on that evening, Ezra left his hiding place and made his way towards the empty cargo hold. The youngling, had somehow formulated that the failed mission was in fact his fault and that he needed to be punished in some way. He was going to go out into town now to see if he could make up for losing the supplies.
On the way through, he passed by the cockpit, stopping as he heard the adults talking. The youth put his ear against the door to listen in. If they were going to give him chores because of what he did, maybe he could start now. Usually, Hera would have a long list; If Ezra started, they wouldn't be as mad at him right?
"Kanan, he's just a kid. He made a mistake, sure, but you don't have to be so harsh on him. Just be glad there were no casualties. We'll get the items somewhere else. Besides, I don't think it was his fault at all. Did you see the look he had? He's not acting the same as he normally would. He seems…displaced and confused. Surely you can sense that." Hera gently spoke, trying to calm down her friend.
"Kid or not, he went too far this time Hera. This wasn't a usual mistake of his. Usually he just does something careless that can be fixed with minor adjustments to the plan; this time he flat out went against the plan. His directives were clear and precise. An infant could have carried them out. I can't have him endangering everyone if this is what he's going to do. Maybe it was a mistake to bring him on the ship. If he keeps this up, something will need to be done." The harsh voice of a pissed of Jedi echoed through the door causing the youth to back away.
He could feel Kanan's anger and frustration, the youth looked down. He had failed his master. Ezra didn't need to hear anymore. He left the area, leaving the ship soon after. He needed to clear his head and get away from everyone. Ezra knew he had messed up big this time; everyone hated him now, he was a worthless asset to the crew and a danger to them.
Kanan and Hera came out of the cockpit. The Jedi's arms were crossed in childish frustration; Hera's were crossed gently in concern. Kanan started to walk away but she gently reached out and grabbed his arm stopping him and turning him around.
"Did you even listen to his side of the story love? Maybe there was something that happened to cause the detonations. Maybe he didn't hear the directives clear enough. I'm telling you, something is wrong with this whole situation." Hera was being the voice of reason. The Jedi chose not to listen, she hadn't given him time to sort out his emotions and feelings. One more hour of meditation and he would have been calm and rational.
"His side? What side is that? The side where he tried to kill all of us? Sabine told him specifically to meet at rendezvous. She said he confirmed and then BOOM. The place lights up." He was still mad at the boy. He leaned against the doorframe with his arms remaining crossed.
"How can I even train him when he doesn't show any signs of wanting to improve? I'm starting to regret all of this." He shut his eyes taking a deep breath.
He had regretted those words immediately and started to force himself to calm down. Ezra wasn't a mistake; it was just complicated trying to work with someone as reckless as him when he was that age. When he opened them Hera was right in his face.
"Now you listen to me Kanan Jarrus. I know that kid better than you if you think for one second that he would sabotage a mission like this for the hell of it. I'm telling you, something went wrong. Now, I'm ordering you to go find out what really happened out there." She enunciated a lot of her words by poking her long slender finger hard into his chest. She turned and went back into her cockpit shutting the door leaving a wide-eyed Jedi watching after her.
"Yes Captain Hera." He said sarcastically, still angry. He knew that Hera hated when he called her that.
"I heard that. Get." He looked back at the closed door before he left heading for the commons.
Sabine and Ezra had partnered-up for this mission, so he started there. He knocked before opening her cabin door and walking in. He watched her for a minute waiting for her to finish her current art piece. The Mandalorian got to a stopping point and turned around.
"What did you need?" She asked, her anger and disappointment was gone. She had learned to let things like this go, after turning it into art of course. Her currently drawing was a depiction of Stormtroopers running around as caricatures with purple flames with Ezra standing on top of a walker laughing. It made light out of their situation.
"Hera told me to find out what happened. Did you confirm, with the kid, the plan? Was he acting differently? Goofing off? Being unfocused and reckless?" He asked feeling that this was a waste of his time. Of course Ezra was doing something he wasn't supposed to. His padawan always was.
"Yeah, and he sounded like he was all good. He had finished the detonator and told me that he was heading to collect the fuel cells. Maybe he tripped and hit the button? You know how touchy those things are. As far as goofing off, no. He was on ball tonight Kanan. He finished before I did." Sabine said. She was on Hera's side, but at the same, time remained a neutral party right now, just giving facts. Kanan was pretty scary when he was upset with them.
Kanan left without another word. He went to the boys' cabin and found the sleeping Lesat deciding to let him sleep. He walked around looking for Ezra before giving up as well. The Jedi left the ship to get some fresh air and clear his mind. Maybe something had happened to cause the pre-signaled explosion.
As he walked down, Ezra was walking up. He saw his master and unconsciously crossed his arms into himself in a guarding gesture, looking down. He walked passed Kanan planning on making a dash for the storage room he had picked as his hideout. Kanan frowned slightly when he sensed Ezra's fear, of him?
"We need to talk." Ezra flinched. He hated those words coming from Kanan.
"About what?" He knew what about. Kanan was going to kick him off the ship. His voice was a little cockier than he had planned. Honestly, Ezra was trying to keep his voice neutral but it was a defense mechanism and right now, the teen was scared.
"You know what? I don't appreciate your attitude kid. None of us do. Now tell me why you hit the detonator switch before you were told to do so." The older human raised his voice not wanting his student to be disrespectful. Kanan unfortunately still had a short fuse after all these years and lacked patience.
"Because I did what I was told to do. You told me to do it, so I did. Not my problem you gave the command at the wrong time." Ezra snapped. He was hurting, physically and mentally and like a trapped animal he lashed out at the person cornering him.
Kanan glared daggers. He was trying to pin this on him? Not once had Kanan even contacted him during the mission. Or at least that's what he thought.
"I did no such thing. You need to own up to your own fucking mistakes and stop hiding behind made up excuses and blaming everyone else." The Jedi snapped back a lot harsher than intended, but he didn't realize this. Ezra was fixing to say something but lost his confidence and gave up.
"It's not an excuse…" With that he turned and went to his room getting something before Zeb woke up and saw him. He left, heading to the nearby empty storage room he had found. It was a place that he could be alone and not get yelled at.
Kanan half sighed and half growled in frustration before stomping off the ship. He found a large rock and sat down taking in a large breath of fresh air to calm his nerves and his frustration. Kanan shut his eyes. When he let it out, he let go of the negativity, his whole body and persona relaxing.
With his mind cleared, he could feel the displacement and confusion that Ezra had. Tomorrow, after they had both had their space, Kanan would revisit the situation. He felt bad for being as harsh as he was and thinking some of the things he did. Ezra was a good student, he just happened to attract trouble. Most of the time, Kanan was very proud of him.
