** Hey guys, just a short chapter today :). Trying to decide if I'm going to drag this out until Christmas, or if it's going to conclude before then. Hope you enjoy!* ~Ocean
Chapter 11: Pre-Dawn Snack
Ezra tossed and turned all night. He never woke up, but when he had finally drifted off there was much on the young padawan's mind that he remained restless. When he would wake up later, he would find himself very stiff in the arm from the stiches being tugged on all night.
Kanan was in the same boat, but remained wide awake. The older man could feel the unsettling of his student. He had attempted to calm him multiple times, but it never lasted long. The Jedi finally probed his mind a little and found no trace of nightmares so decided to leave him be for the time being. There was too much on his own mind at the time.
Kanan was trying to figure out what he had felt in the city. Someone had been there but had not wanted it to be known that he was there. The signature was too blocked to know if it was good or evil, it was very powerful. The Jedi was worried that somehow Ezra was going to be controlled, or followed by a Sith, or Inquisitor.
The older human had checked over Ezra, while the boy slept, for any potential tracking devices the Empire could have secretly planted on him while they were separated. He had seen all the goodies in the boy's bag as well during his search, but Kanan had let those stay a secret.
Even now, he could sense something different emitting from the boy, but what? It frustrated Kanan and he growled softly rolling over.
He looked over at his holo-clock. 4:17am. He could get up now and it would normal; usually the "parents" of the ship were up early going over plans for the day. The man sighed, he hardly ever got a full night's rest. It was very tiring.
Kanan finally got up and dressed heading to the common room. There, on the table, was several crudely wrapped parcels with brown paper and string tied into bows, each one was addressed to a member of the ship's crew. The Jedi smiled softly seeing this. The adult human started to get a fresh pot of coffee started and noticed a plate of cookies, he walked past it casually snagging one and sticking it in his mouth as he got a mug to pour his coffee in.
"I thought you didn't like sweets?" The Jedi startled, the cookie falling from his mouth doing a fine set of acrobatics before Kanan finally managed to catch it trying to hide the evidence.
"I uh…okay fine. I like cookies, it's rare that I ever get to eat them." Hera smiled. Kanan had known lying was futile against the pilot; sometimes he swore she was force-sensitive. He proceeded to eat the round moist dessert. When he got his cup of coffee, he snagged another sitting down.
"What are these for?" The Twi-lek asked motioning to the parcels on the table. She saw the one addressed for her and had a mild look of child-like excitement.
"My guess? Christmas presents from our youngest crew member." Kanan said after swallowing a bite of coffee dipped cookie. The human did not see one with his name on it, he would never admit it, but he was slightly hurt that he didn't get one. The Jedi figured Ezra didn't get him one because of that being exactly what he was, a Jedi. They weren't supposed to receive gifts right?
"You don't have one, why?" Hera seemed to read his mind constantly. She watched him tense very slightly before relaxing back to his neutral stance.
"Yeah, I think the kid understands that Jedi aren't supposed to be materialistic." Kanan mustered up a smile as he spoke before eyeing the plate of cookies again.
The female cocked an eyebrow as she took a sip of her drink. Hera decided to drop the subject and move on.
"You can have one more, but then save the rest for when the "kids" wake up love." She smiled at Kanan again.
He got up grabbing his last one sitting back down to enjoy it, purposely keeping his eyes off the table.
"They are good Hera, thank you." Kanan had almost forgotten to thank the motherly Twi-lek for her donation to Sabine's surprise.
The two sat in near silence the next few hours, enjoying the peace before the remaining crew members woke up. Both knew that silence and peace was impossible after that.