Author Note - It's still slash


Ezra hadn't ever actually seen snow before, and he tried hard not to gawk . Winters on Lothal where he lived were long and dry, while the temperatures often dropped below freezing it stayed dry. Occasionally a warm front would move in and bring rain, but it was a cold unpleasant rain. He's heard closer to the poles had snow, but the whole area tended to be unstable and unsuitable for habitation. There was no reason to go visiting just to marvel at a weather phenomenon.

He stepped out onto it and floundered, expecting it to be like sand. Instead it collapsed, his feet sinking down until it felt like he reached firmer ground. Behind him Chopper made a rude sound from the safety of the Ghost's hanger. "Yeah, well, I'd like to see you do any better!" He was answered with a series of aggravated beeps. He hadn't yet picked up on the astromech's language, but he didn't need a direct translation to get the gist of things. "Yeah, well same to you." He took a careful step, awkward but at least expecting the snow's movement this time, turning in time to catch the pack Kanan tossed him.

Kanan didn't seem to have any problem with the snow, stepping down confidently. "Be careful to stay on the roads, the fresh snow makes it harder to see where the edge is, but step off and you'll be sinking up to your neck in fresh powder."

"Got it." Ezra strapped on the pack. Thiarin was popular as a tourist destination, because while the air temperature stayed comparatively mild the winters dumped an incredible amount of snow, perfect for sporting. Many planets and locations with similar amounts of snow easily dropped down to temperatures that were dangerous to humans and many humanoids even in brief exposures. Thiarin required only moderate precautions to be safe.

Kanan smiled, and then leaned in. Ezra took advantage of the moment to stretch up, pressing their lips together briefly. On the mission proper they would be fully professional, of course, or as professional as they ever got. But before the shuttle arrived they could have a few moments.

And it was just a few moments because before they fully pulled apart Zeb came down the ramp, walking stiffly.

"Karabast, I hate these things." He lifted one foot awkwardly like he wanted to shake it before he stepped into the snow. Lasat feet were tough enough to handle a lot of conditions, but snow was enough to require protection. They were more like gloves than shoes, which made sense considering how he walked, textured on the bottom for grip. Zeb despised having to wear them and made it very clear. "Still say we should have taken the bikes."

"Now Zeb, we're tourists, and good tourists take the shuttle in to town." Sabine didn't seem bothered by the snow either, they were all playing the part of tourist. It was the easiest disguise, and meant they could probably get away with more rude stupid questions. Reports were that Imperial activity had gone from a cargo ship every two weeks to a large number of transport ships in and out every week, and the presence there had nearly tripled. It could be nothing, it could be important, and they were being paid well to figure out all they could about the situation. Sabine would be playing the role of Zeb's ward again, Hera would be on her own, and Kanan and Ezra would stick together. Chopper, while he could be modified to handle the snow, had made his opinions on that very clear and threatened to electrocute the first inbred Bantha spawn that tried.

"Can't we be terrible tourists? I like the sound of that better." Zeb smiled though, stepping out gingerly onto the snow. The way his feet spread made it easier to move on it, but that didn't mean he had to enjoy it.

"Alright everyone, the shuttle will be here in a few minutes. Last shuttle runs at dusk, because the winds pick up after nightfall, so either catch it or make arrangements to stay in town. Got it?" Kanan waited for nods.

"Got it, dad." Ezra smirked.

"Older brother, we agreed we'd be brothers. I'm not… ok, technically I'm old enough, but just barely." Kanan rubbed the back of his head, looking sheepish.

"Ok, ok." Ezra grinned as he trudged through the snow towards the shuttle stop. Chopper raised the door behind them. Hera had gone ahead as soon as they landed, to make it harder to connect their group together.

Kanan put a hand to Ezra's back as he stumbled a little at a clump of snow. People didn't pay as much attention to families as they did couples, and family was allowed a certain amount of close contact without raising eyebrows.

"How do people walk in this stuff all the time?" Ezra kicked the hard clump of snow, finally making it to the shuttle stop.

"The streets in town will be clear, just slushy in places where they use solar panels to heat the road and keep the snow from sticking. It won't be nearly so bad there." Kanan smiled, and decided not to warn him when he saw Sabine stealthily reach down and start packing snow into a loose ball. The snowball caught Ezra entirely off guard and the resulting battle lasted until the shuttle finally made its way to the stop.


Ezra perked up when this shop at least had a chair, sinking down gratefully while Kanan wandered around, pretending to look at knick knacks while he listened in on conversations. The bars had proved surprisingly unhelpful, full of rowdy people determined to enjoy their vacation to the fullest and waitstaff far more interested in dealing out expensive drinks and snacks than in settling in and talking. Instead they'd hit the shops where the clerks were more than happy to talk, at least for a few minutes. Once they started realizing both of them were more interested in talking than purchasing anything they got a lot less friendly and far more coldly polite and it was time to leave.

Ezra hadn't realized he'd zoned out some until a hand holding a cup appeared in his field of vision, he came back to himself with a start and reached to take it, glancing up at Kanan. The satisfied look on his face looked like he'd finally found something and Ezra hauled himself to his feet, following him out. He had stiffened up while he was in there, his clothes were more than warm enough for Lothal, but they weren't waterproof and the slush and melting snow soaked through, and sweat from making his way through it left him damp and chilled when he stopped moving. He took a long sip of the nearly too hot liquid gratefully.

"Are we going back to the ship now?" Ezra hoped so, and had a flash of momentary disappointment when Kanan shook his head.

"No, but don't worry. I thought we'd stay in town. Get a room to ourselves." Kanan smiled, amused that he could see the exact moment everything clicked and Ezra realized what he was suggesting.

"Really? That's great." Ezra grinned, straightening up and forgetting for a moment how cold and tired he was. Kanan chuckled, and reached to steal his drink back for a moment to take a sip.

"The only downside is it is a few blocks away so we'll need to hurry before it gets dark." Kanan let Ezra steal the drink back without a fight.

"Then lets get going." Ezra was a lot more prepared to slog through the slush knowing there was a room waiting for them at the end of it, rather than a slow shuttle ride and more snow.


They arrived at the hotel as dusk was falling, the wind already starting to pick up. It wasn't to the point it would shove them around and need to be fought against, but it was enough to whip Ezra's hair into his eyes and tug at his clothes and make him grateful when they stepped inside and out of it. The room, once the checked in, was nicer than he expected, and he started stripping off his muddy boots right inside the doorway rather than track water and mud inside.

"You're sure we can afford this?" Ezra didn't want to be the voice of reason, but he didn't want to think Kanan was spending a lot of credits that could go towards fuel and repairs on this.

"Very sure. Lodging like this is cheap, the city keeps prices down to encourage people to come in and stay, spend their money on everything else. The food here would be straight up robbery, but that's why we brought some with us." Kanan did the same, and then kept stripping. The room had a small clothes cleaning unit in it and everything could go in there, he didn't want to stay in muddy clothes any longer than he had to. He finally got everything off, and then smothered a yelp as Ezra snuck up behind him, suddenly hugging and nuzzling his cold face against his back. "Stop that, you're freezing!"

"No way, you're warm." Ezra grinned against his back, as Kanan pried his hands apart and twisted around so he could just scoop him up.

Ezra squirmed playfully for a moment, like he was struggling, and then laughed when Kanan just dropped him the short distance onto the bed.

"Get under the covers and warm up." Kanan reached to ruffle his hair, Ezra grinned.

"Only if you join me." Ezra tugged the blankets back so he could slide under them, the sheets cold against his skin as he held the blankets up for him. Kanan didn't need to be convinced, sliding under with him.

Ezra turns so he could tuck back against him as Kanan settled an arm over him. It took a little work to find a position where no one's limbs were falling asleep or poking the other, but they managed it well enough.

"Did you find something out at the last shop?" Ezra finally spoke after they'd both been quiet for a time.

"Yeah." There had been a lot of speculation but no one had seemed to know any facts before then. "The clerk, her brother's in the Imperial Army, so she said they were planning on constructing a training base outside town. The cold weather troops they have now are experienced adults training on some of the nastier planets, but they want a safer planet to toss rookies to learn the basics of snow and ice before taking them off to the harsher conditions. She says people are hoping it will mean a customer boost, but…"

Ezra sighed "But troops will just come in, tighten down on regulations, tax everything, scare the tourists, and take whatever they want without paying. The same way they did on Lothal."

"That's probably why people have been quiet about it. As soon as word gets out that this place is turning into yet another Imperial dumping ground no one's going to want to vacation here anymore. We can do a few things to confirm that it isn't a cover, but it does seem like a likely explanation." Kanan stroked slowly over his chest, just touching.

"Maybe someone else will have a better idea how to discourage them before it's too late."

"Maybe. We can brainstorm tomorrow." Kanan kissed the back of his head lightly. Even if they were on a mission it didn't mean he couldn't regret having to tell him the bad news and spoil his good mood. "Warming up?"

"Kinda, my back's warm now, the rest of me's still cold."

Kanan chuckles "Turn around."

"But I just got comfortable" Ezra pulled away enough to squirm over facing him.

Kanan took his hands, rubbing them between his own. "Why didn't you say something about being cold?

"I didn't want to cause any trouble. It's not that much colder than I'm used to, I just didn't think it would all be so… wet. And it didn't start really feeling cold until it wasn't that long before we were heading back. I knew I could take it until I could warm up again. " Ezra nudged in to press his forehead against Kanan's. "Promise, if it was actually a problem I'd have spoken up. You couldn't have shut me up about it."

"Good." Kanan smiled at the touch, letting go of his hands once they felt like they were starting to warm and tugging him closer. "You know I worry."

"I know. I worry too." Ezra tucked back up against him, getting comfortable. His extremities were finally starting to feel like hands and feet again, not just awkward blocks of ice. He felt Kanan press a kiss to the top of his head and smiled. Despite the cold and the mission maybe this wouldn't be too bad, After a few minutes he felt Kanan chuckle. "What is it?"

"We finally get a bed big enough for two and we still end up crammed into a few inches of it."

"Shh, good heaters don't talk too much."


At the end of it they all piled out of the shuttle back to the Ghost, starting back on the short trek back to the landing spot.

"Now can I ask about the sling?" Ezra reached to like he was going to poke at the arm Zeb had tucked up and secured against his body.

"No, nothing happened." Zeb growled and swatted at him with his uninjured arm.

"I told him he was getting too close to the trees." Sabine offered helpfully. She was moving a little stiffly from sore muscles, but generally uninjured. While Ezra and Kanan had stayed in the town proper she and Zeb had done a tour of the more athletic oriented tourist attractions, trying out most of the various sports, and talking with the instructors and employees. Some of the sports had turned out easier than others.

"Zeb, how bad is it really?" Hera had spent the time meeting with various contacts and making new ones.

"Fine, just a shoulder sprain. Couple'a days taking it easy and it'll be good as new." Zeb wiggled the fingers on the bound arm to reassure her.

"How's everyone else?" Kanan glanced around.

"Sore." Sabine admitted. "I forgot that cold weather makes it easier to overdo things. But not sore to the point I need time to recover."

"I'm fine, but I'll be glad to leave the snow behind." Hera signaled to Chopper and the ramp started down.

"Same here." Ezra had been trailing behind a little, letting the others break the path, but at the welcome sight of home he picked up the pace.

"And you, Kanan?" Hera asked.

"Fine. I don't know, I might actually miss all the snow." Kanan smiled, looking back at it. And then he sneezed.

Kanan became very aware that everyone had paused to eye him suspiciously and he tried to sniff without making a sound.

"No, it's fine. It's just the cold making my nose run, promise." He held his hands up innocently.

Ezra just grabbed him by the elbow, tugging him up the ramp. "Uh huh, not taking any chances."

"I swear, I'm fine, you don't have to, I…. no one's listening to me, are they?" Kanan complained as he was dragged up the ramp.

"Not a chance, dear." Hera stifled a laugh as she started the ramp closing, glad things were back to normal. They had the information they needed, and for the moment all was right in their little family.