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Chapter 4 - Haircut

Kanan was not happy.

He sat in the principal's office in a wooden chair, across from the principal himself. He was a typical Empire loyalist, wearing formal clothing with not a single strand out of place.

"We just wanted to inform you so a proper punishment could be carried out."

And that led Kanan to the reason why he had to sit in the humid office listening to a loyalist drone on and on about what Ezra had done. Honestly, he could not blame him. He wanted to fight this man as well. He glanced over at Ezra, who was slumped in the chair next to him.

"Oh, yes. Rest assured, I will make sure that this does not happen again," Kanan glanced over at Ezra, trying his best to look disappointed. He was slightly, but he was more annoyed that something had distracted them from the mission.

"But that's not fair. The other kid started it, and he's not in trouble!" Ezra exclaimed, obviously still upset about what was happening. And he was not wrong. Kanan had seen the way the teen had smirked at Ezra as he walked out, and muttered something under his breath to him.

"That was not how Roth had told the story." Knowing the principle was losing patience, and knowing that Ezra would not let it slide, Kanan quickly butted in.

"Yes, Sir, we understand. If you don't mind, I'd like to take Dev home now." Kanan heard the grumble from Ezra.

"Certainly. And how about getting the kid a haircut, he seems to need one. Now leave." The man waved him off and it took all of Kanan's willpower to walk away. It also seemed to take all of Ezra's, considering Kanan almost had to drag him out of the office.

As soon as they were outside, they meet up with Sabine.

"There you are. How'd it go?" she asked, as she fell into step with them.

"The NERVE of that guy." Ezra walked with his arms folded, still upset over the scene that had just happened.

"I know, Ezra. I wanted to punch him too," Kanan agreed.

"I take it did not go too well," Sabine stated as they approached the Ghost, that was landed in an empty field on the outskirts of town.

"No, it didn't. And now the mission is blown all thanks to you." Ezra stopped walking and turned to Sabine.

"What do you mean my fault? You're the one who got into the fight!"

"If you hadn't been to busy socializing with your new best friend, then I wouldn't have had to fight!"

"I'm not the reason you decided to pick a fight!" Sabine said, and took a step towards Ezra.

"I'm not the one who picked it! He did!"

"Then you should have not engaged him in a fight!"

"Hey, Ezra, Sabine, cool it," Kanan said, but his attempts to stop the fight were ignored by the teens.

"I didn't have a choice! I had to defend myself!" Ezra shouted back at Sabine.

"Defend yourself? I heard you threw the first punch!"

Kanan stopped his attempts to pull them apart, taken back by this statement. It was not like his padawan to start a fight at this magnitude. Kanan knew that something else was behind it.

"So what if I did? He's the one who-" Ezra stopped himself quickly, turning away from the standoff between the two teens.

"He's the one who what?" Sabine asked, not knowing that for Ezra the fight was over, as Kanan observed.

"It doesn't matter." Ezra turned and walked aboard the ship. Kanan exchanged glances with Sabine, and turned and boarded as well. Kanan climbed up the ladder and into the cockpit, where Hera sat at the controls, running maintenance. He took the seat next to her, and watched her work in silence. When Hera noticed Kanan, she began to speak.

"Well – what happened? I could hear Ezra and Sabine arguing from here."

"Ezra started a fight at school, and because of that, they couldn't get the data," Kanan stated. Hera spun around in her chair to face him.

"What? Kanan, that's not good. We have a limited window – not to mention that one of us could be recognized. Why did he start a fight? He knew the importance of this mission."

"It had to do with a few things. First, Sabine got sidetracked, and second…I think he was picked on."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, the other kid must have said something to Ezra that made him attack like that. I just don't know what would trigger him to do that." He looked up at Hera, who was about to say something, but Kanan cut her off, knowing what she was going to say. "And I'm not going to ask him; he seemed pretty upset."

"Fine. I'll ask him." Hera stood and began walking toward Ezra's room.

"Hera, that's not what I suggested!" Kanan shouted, as he stood and tried to catch up with her. They turned down the hallway, and they saw Zeb standing in the hallway, banging on the door.

"Kid, I swear, if you don't open the door this minute, I'll-"

"You'll what? If you didn't notice, I'm in here and you're out there." Ezra's voice was muffled by the walls. Kanan heard Zeb growl, as he banged once more on the door before giving up. He turned and saw Kanan and Hera standing there.

"Good luck. You're going to need it." Zeb turned and walked off down the hallway. Hera and Kanan exchanged glances before walking in front of Ezra's door.

"Ezra? It's Hera. Can I come in?"

"Go away." Hera was taken back for a moment, before quickly recovering.

"Ezra, I don't know what's wrong, but you can't stay in there. Do you want to talk about it?"

"No. Go away." Kanan heard Hera sigh. She turned around to face Kanan.

"Why don't you try? You're his master. He'll listen to you."

Kanan took a step closer to the door as Hera took a step back. He knocked twice, and paused.

"Ezra, I'm coming in." Not waiting for a response, Kanan flicked his wrist and the door open. He walked in, and the door slid shut behind him. He glanced around the room, looking for the always energetic teen. But when he saw him, he looked anything but energetic.

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