Chapter 9
Ezra stood outside the ghost, Kanan stood not too far away from him watching as Ezra stood eyes closed
"Clear your mind, keep it from becoming clouded" Kanan instructed
Ezra continued until he sighed loudly and opened his eyes
"I can't Kanan" He said irritated
Kanan sighed before walking toward Ezra
"You're never going to get it if you don't focus"
"It's a little hard to focus after the empire attacked us only a few hours ago" Ezra said sighing
"And that the empire is trying to find us right now..."
"I know, but that makes it the perfect time" Kanan said putting his hand on the Padawans shoulder
"Why do I even need to do this? I thought we were going to be training" Ezra moaned
"This is training" Kanan stated letting out a small smirk
"I need to make sure you can keep your mind clear"
"Clear how?" Ezra asked watching as Kanan walked behind him
"To be able to with stand the Inquisitor... or Agent Kallus if they try to get to you" Kanan explained turning back to Ezra
"But... I can't" Ezra said sighing
"That's because you're not trying hard enough, stop telling yourself you can't" Kanan said
"It's not that... I just... I'm not like you Kanan" Ezra said looking down to the ground
"I know, that's why I need to train you" Kanan said putting a hand on Ezra's shoulder again with a smile
"Now, let's give this another go" He said stepping backwards as he moved his hand away
Ezra breathed a breath of air before closing his eyes again. He listened to everything around him, finally after a few seconds, everything went silent, and he could hear nothing. He focused on his surroundings and managed to hear the gravelly earth beneath Kanan as he stepped backwards slowly. Kanan stopped and watched impressed and his student was finally managing to concentrate hard enough. Ezra continued to focus on nothing but the sounds around him, blocking out the sounds of which would be distracting... until he felt two hard hands on his shoulder.
"Hey Kid" Zeb said with a large grin
When he did this Ezra lost his focus, he stopped as he opened his eyes and stumbled backwards
"Zeb!" He shouted
"What?" Zeb asked lifting his arms up
"Kanan, Hera's back, she needs to talk to you" Zeb said turning away from Kanan
"Ha-ha, you did good kid" Kanan said walking up behind Ezra and putting his hand on his shoulder
"Kanan, I'm never going to get this" Ezra said sighing looking over his shoulder
"You will... It just takes time" Kanan said walking to the front of Ezra
"I can't stay focused long enough" Ezra said looking away from his teacher
"That's what I said to my master" Kanan said as he let out a small smirk
"But don't worry. We've got plenty of time"
"...Yeah" Ezra said rolling his eyes
"Ezra, you need to be able to do this" Kanan said moving his hand away from Ezra
"I know..." Ezra said
"You can use the force, and that's good, but being able to focus and clear your mind is more important than everything I've taught you" Kanan instructed
"Why?" Ezra asked
"If... The empire does manage to get a hold of you, Which I dought they will..." Kanan began turning
"You need to be able to block them out. Keep your mind clear of the things they could do to you..."
"A strong will" He finished sighing as he turned to Ezra once again
"That's what you learned?" Ezra asked
"Yes... except... it was different for me" Kanan said sighing
"How?" Ezra asked curiously
Kanan just sighed and placed his hand on Ezra's shoulder
"Everything was different when I was training Ezra, that's all you need to know"
Ezra sighed before looking up to his teacher
"I'm sorry Kanan, I'm trying my hardest, I really am"
"I know, you're doing well... just don't lose that concentration" Kanan said turning away
"That's enough training for today"
"You should stay out here, do some target practice" He suggested turning and walking backwards
"Target practise?" Ezra asked looking down at his blaster
"Why?"
"Improve your aim" Kanan chuckled as he turned
"My aims fine" Ezra stated
"I know But It wouldn't help to practise" Kanan said waving his hand over his shoulder
Ezra folded his arms before Kanan walked toward the Ghost and went inside, Ezra stood and grumbled before turning and pulling out his blaster/Lightsaber.
"Yeah... because Lightsaber practise isn't something I need" He said rolling his eyes throwing his lightsaber between his hands
"So, how's training?" A familiar voice came from behind him
Ezra turned and saw Sabine leaning on the side of the ghost
"Uh... Hey Sabine" Ezra said
"Any luck with the blasters?"
"We found someone who was willing to take them... but they didn't pay much" Sabine said taking of her helmet and putting it under her arm
"Great" Ezra said sarcastically, walking toward Sabine
"You and Kanan finally got some training done then?" Sabine asked as Ezra reached the Ghost
"Huh... Oh yeah" Ezra said sighing
Sabine looked at Ezra and saw he was slightly distressed. She sighed before smiling then she took out one of her blasters and put her helmet down
"Common kid, how about some practice" She said walking past him and pulling his shoulder
"When I was at the imperial academy...we used to train by shooting blasters at each other... it improved skill, and trust" Sabine said looking at Ezra as she walked to a clear patch of land
"But... we did kind of take down a imperial ship a few hours ago" Ezra said smirking as he walked toward Sabine
"I know, that's exactly why we should train, we make a good team" Sabine said bumping him on the shoulder
Ezra smiled at Sabine before running not far from her.
"Don't look to much into it kid" Sabine said grinning
"We're just a good team"
Ezra smirked before looking at his blaster and turning to Sabine
"Oh... and there's one more thing" Sabine said putting a hand on her waist
"What?" Ezra asked
Before Ezra could say anything else, Sabine shot at him causing Ezra to quickly move to the side
"Don't let your guard down" Sabine said grinning referring to Kanan
Ezra grinned back and shot at Sabine causing her to quickly jump and shoot at Ezra while still in the air.
"So, how'd it go?" Kanan asked walking into the cockpit
"Well, we got fruit" Hera said looking at him
"...Fruit?" Kanan asked
"That's all they would give us Kanan, it's not like 4 dead blasters are worth anything" Hera said putting her hands out
"At least that job wasn't a total waist" She said trying to lighten the mood
"How?" Kanan asked falling back against his seat
"Well..." Hera said smiling as she looked out the window
"It seems to have taken its toll on those two"
Kanan leaned forward and saw Sabine and Ezra practicing their blaster fire
"Those two? Hera they've been hiding something ever since they got back from there trip to the city..." He stated
"Well yes... but that's made them a better team, and they've been showing they can really trust each other, that is why you sent them to destroy that imperial ship together" Hera explained
"I did that to get them to work together" Kanan said turning to Hera
"And they proved they can, and they're proving it right now" Hera said smiling as she turned back to Kanan
Kanan looked at Ezra and Sabine firing at each other, and continually dodging the blaster fire
"Ezra's gotten better" Hera said smiling as she watched Ezra dodge Sabine's blaster
"That's because I've been training him" Kanan said sitting back on his chair
"What's gotten into you?" Hera asked turning from the window
"...It's Ezra" Kanan said sighing rubbing his eye slightly frustrated
"He needs to be able to focus... after everything that's happening" Kanan said sighing dropping his hand
"He'll get it Kanan" Hera said smiling putting her hand on her shoulder
"He's strong, just like you"
Kanan looked up at Hera; she continued to smile warmly at him, causing Kanan to slowly smile back
"There, that's the Kanan I know" Hera said with another warm smile
"Now you better get those two in... we need to get moving soon" Hera said turning and pressing a few buttons
Kanan nodded before standing and walking out, Hera turned and looked over her shoulder before leaning back against her chair again. She watched Sabine and Ezra and smiled slightly before the door opened behind her. Chopper came wheeling in before going up to Hera
"Hey Chop. You've fixed the phantom... I don't it leaving the ghost without me knowing again" Hera asked
Hera waited for a response then smiled before pressing buttons in front of her. She paused as she noticed a certain droid continued to face her
"What?" Hera asked turning to Chopper
Chopper turned and waved his arm at the two teenagers outside the ship
"They're going to fine Chop... don't worry" Hera said smiling as she turned and continued to prep the ghost
Chopper grumbled before turning and began to leave the room, Hera turned and watched as Chopper waved his metal hand before the door closed, Hera sighed with a slight smile before turning back to the window.
Kanan walked outside, he watched as Sabine and Ezra both fired another blaster at each other. Then both quickly dodged.
"Ha, not bad kid" She said pushing herself up from the ground
"What you expect? I've been around you for months now" Ezra said standing up as he turned to Sabine with a smirk
Sabine replied with another grin then shot another blaster bullet at Ezra. Ezra jumped and fired at Sabine, the blaster merged and created a small flash. Sabine smiled at the color before putting her hand on her waist with a grin, the light soon died down and Sabine smiled, she aimed her blaster and waited, the light soon completely faded but Ezra wasn't there. She looked around for him until she felt something metal on her back; she looked over her shoulder before smirking
"Don't let your guard down... remember?" Ezra asked as he moved his blaster away
"Ha... I gotta say, you've defiantly gotten better" Sabine said putting her blasters away
"Well, duh" Ezra said grinning
"I have to agree with Sabine kid, you've improved a ton since the first time I saw you shot a blaster" A voice came from behind both Sabine and Ezra
Both turned and saw Kanan walking toward them, they both looked at each other and smiled before walking toward Kanan
"So, how'd the blaster practice go?" Kanan asked looking at Ezra
"Good, Sabine helped" Ezra said turning to Sabine slightly
"Yeah I could see... we're heading out again soon, so be aboard in about 3 minutes" Kanan said turning and walking toward the ghost
"Where are we even going to go?" Sabine asked putting a hand on her waist
"Away from here" Kanan said
"There is a job we could..."
"...We can't just keep running Kanan" Ezra stated
Kanan stopped and sighed; he turned and looked at Ezra before walking toward him again. Sabine and Ezra both looked at Kanan as he reached them. Kanan knew they both thought the same.
"We're not running" Kanan explained
"Then what are we doing?" Sabine asked
"Doesn't running away just make us seem like we're scared of them?" Ezra asked
"No..." Kanan said sighing
"Then what does it make us? Kanan, why can't we just fight, it's what we've always done" Sabine said eagerly
"I know..." Kanan started
"Then why don't we?" Ezra repeated
"We've always been fighting them, and we always win... why are we changing all that now?"
"We could take them on if they turned up... just like we always do"
"Ezra enough" Kanan said frustratingly turning from Sabine to Ezra
Ezra stopped and looked down. Sabine looked at Ezra and Kanan before sighing
"Look Ezra... I know we could take them, but... things are different at the moment, it's not safe to just barge into a fight" Kanan explained putting his hand on Ezra's shoulder
"Why? Because I let Kallus put that chip thing on me? And now they know everything?" Ezra asked knocking Kanan's hand from his shoulder
"Ye...NO" Kanan stated quickly
"Yeah, that's what I thought" Ezra said walking past Kanan, slightly hitting him as he did
"...That went well" Sabine said sarcastically as she watched Ezra board the Ghost
"Not helping Sabine" Kanan said putting two fingers into both eyes and rubbing them frustrated
"I wasn't trying to help" Sabine said walking toward the ship
Kanan sighed before following Sabine back toward the ghost. He got aboard then closed the ramp before leaning against it
"What happened this time?" Hera asked looking over the small balcony grinning down at Kanan
"The kid was bugging me about why we're running from the empire" Kanan said looking at Hera
"And?" Hera asked climbing down the ladder and walking to Kanan
"He asked if it was his fault... and I may have... accidently" Kanan began putting his hand on his head
"You blamed Ezra? Really Kanan? After everything that's happening. Blame isn't exactly what the kid needs right now" Hera said
"I didn't purposely blame the kid, besides, he blamed himself, I may have just agreed" Kanan explained rubbing his head
"You're an idiot" Hera said bumping Kanan on the arm
"Go and talk to him"
"Well, you're gonna have to wait in line, Sabine's already about to talk to him" Zeb said looking over the balcony
"Ok, so I'll talk to him after" Kanan said walking toward the ladder
"But you will talk to him" Hera said folding her arms
Kanan climbed up the ladder ignoring Hera. He walked along the corridor and turned slightly as he walked past Ezra's room, he sighed to himself before walking into Chopper
"Chop!" He said stumbling forward
Chopper grumbled before circling his arms around.
"How was that my fault? You ran into me" Kanan said folding his arms
"Arg... just go annoy Zeb" He said pushing past Chopper and walking into the cockpit
Kanan walked into the cockpit and sat on his seat, soon joined by Hera who sat beside him.
"So... what now?" She asked getting ready to leave on the ship
"Well, we still have Vizagos job" Kanan suggested
"At least Vizago himself told us the job this time"
"Well, at least it'll get everyone's mind of the empire for a while, especially Ezra" Hera said smiling
"Good" Kanan said smiling as he leant back against the seat
"Once we're in space, I'll calculate the jump to hyperspace... we get this done quick, you can talk to Ezra" Hera said grinning at Kanan
"Hera, I AM going to talk to him" Kanan said
"Like you 'talked' to him last time?" Hera asked smirking
Kanan just smirked back before getting up and climbing down the ladder
The ship soon left the grounds of Lothal and headed for space, Vizagos job was to collect small light weight blasters from a planet they had been to before.
Chopper watched as they soon made it to space from the cockpit, he turned as he heard a door open along to the corridor. He made his original noise before turning and following the footsteps.
Sabine walked up a ladder and saw the phantom, she sighed before opening the door and seeing Ezra inside
"What you doing in here?" She asked seeing Ezra sitting in the seat
"Trying to stay away from everyone" Ezra said turning to see Sabine
"Oh, so me to?" Sabine asked putting a hand on her waist as she walked in
"Well, you're here aren't you?" Ezra asked grinning as he looked out the window at the stars
"Kanan didn't mean to say that... he was kinda under pressure... since we were kinda pressuring him" Sabine said walking to the seat and leaning on the controls in front of him
"I know" Ezra said sighing
"And he..." Sabine began "Wait what?"
"If you know he didn't mean it, then why are you mad at him?" She asked folding her arms
"I'm not mad at Kanan" Ezra stated turning away from Sabine
"...Then, what's wrong?" Sabine asked
"I just... I just want to be alone" Ezra said sighing
Sabine sighed before walking away from the controls; she turned to face the door before Chopper ran into her knocking her back into the controls, causing the doors behind Chopper to close
"Chopper!" She shouted as Ezra helped her back up
Chopper span his head around a few times before hinting to a light flashing on the phantom controls
"...What did you do?" Ezra asked watching the flashing
"I didn't do anything" Sabine said turning and looking at the flashing
"Chopper!" They both shouted turning back to Chopper
They both stepped toward Chopper, but as they did the phantom shock, then after a few seconds they felt as it disattached from the Ghost
"Um... Sabine" Ezra said looking at the ghost through the window
Sabine and Ezra both looked from the window and saw as the ghost turned around ready to go into hyperspace
"Hasn't Hera realized the phantom dis-attached?" Ezra asked watching as Sabine grabbed her communicator from the floor where Chopper had bumped into her
Sabine didn't answer as she tried to use her communicator, but it didn't work
"Oh that's just great! Chopper you broke it!" She said hitting the droid
Chopper began to spin around blaring out noises that Ezra had no idea what it meant, but Sabine did
"You What?! You were supposed to fix it!" Sabine shouted sitting on the pilot's seat and pulling back on the controls
"What didn't he do?" Ezra asked curiously as Sabine tried to turn the phantom
"He didn't re-fuel it, and he didn't fix it, that's why the light hasn't flashed in the cockpit so Hera doesn't know the phantoms gone!" Sabine shouted turning to chop frustrated
"Can you make it..." Ezra began
Before any of the three could say anything the ghost went into hyperspace in front of them. Sabine and Ezra stared, before turning to Chopper
"CHOPPER!" They both shouted
Ezra and Sabine took turns hitting Chopper, before Sabine sat back in her seat
"I don't even have my helmet, this day couldn't get any better" She said leaning back against the seat
"There's not enough fuel to wait in space for them to get back... we're going to need to head back to Lothal"
"When we get there, we're going to need to land straight away to get fuel, once we have it we're going to have to find the ghost, they're not going to find us unless we land close enough to capital city"
"Yeah I guessed that" Ezra said rolling his eyes
"You think you could fix my communicator?" Sabine asked looking up at Ezra
"I can try" Ezra said taking it from her
Chopper grumbled before bumping Ezra in the side
"Don't look at me, this is your fault" Ezra said looking down at him
"How long do you think it'll take until they figure out the phantoms gone?" He asked leaning against the seat Sabine was sitting on
"Not long..." Sabine said sighing
"I dought we'll know when they'll get back, so we'll keep trying to contact them. But I need my communicator fixed first"
"Don't worry I'm on it" Ezra said walking toward the back seats
"Chop. As soon as we get to Lothal, you're staying here to fix the phantom while me Ezra go and find fuel. Got it?" Sabine instructed turning and piloting the phantom
Chopper waved his metallic arm before going to join Ezra
"You do realize we're going to get blamed for this?" Ezra asked grinning as he fiddled with Sabine's communicator
"Yep" Sabine said grinning back
"Just what we need huh?"
Thank you for reading chapter 9!
Please remember the story in this fic is not canon! It's just a fanfiction .please remember that before reviewing :)
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