It was rare for it to rain on Lothal, maybe twice a year at best. When it did rain on Lothal however, it was a massive down pour and it would happen at the most unexpected times. One such occasion happened when Ezra and Chopper were out on one of their Lothcat hunts.
"Chopper, look," Ezra called out to the droid nearby. Chopper soon saw what Ezra was pointing at; a whole heard of lothcats were scurrying away from the field towards the rock formations nearby.
"Huh, that's weird, why are they all-," Ezra's thoughts on the suddenly fleeing felines were haulted though by the sudden downpour of rain.
Chopper chirped to Ezra, "Lets get back to the ship before we soak."
"Right behind you," Ezra shouted as the two hurried towards the distant Ghost.
As the two specter's raced to get out of the rain, Ezra was having a hard time seeing what was in front of him; with the rain and his own soaking hair starting to blind him, he didn't see what laid in front of him.
"Umph," Ezra cried out as he fell into a mud pit. Ezra immerged from the mud physically fine, but was now covered from head to toe in mud, and was only to wipe off some of the mud on his face.
Chopper was soon by the the younglings side, checking to see if his human friend was okay.
"I'm fine Chopper, just a little muddy," Ezra reassured the droid.
Chopper then beeped at Ezra to get onto his chrome for a ride, in order to prevent another trip in the mud.
Ezra gladly accepted, "Thanks Chopper."
The two then made a beeline for the Ghost, Ezra holding onto a speeding Chopper for dear life.
Hera was the first to notice the down pour and naturally was the first to worry about the droid and boy being out in it all. She looked out the window at the rainfall, hoping to see
Kanan, playing sebac with Zeb could sense the twi'leks worry, "Don't worry Hera, the two will be back soon."
"That doesn't mean I can't worry." Hera argued
Kanan though just smiled, "Hera, If Ezra was in any trouble I would sense it and-,"
Just then Kanan froze, concern in his face.
"What?" Hera was now really freaking out.
Kanan though just laughed, "Just kidding."
Hera was not amused,
"That is not funny! You know how much I love that kid," Hera yelled at him while continuously hitting Kanan's shoulder.
While Kanan and Hera were having their lover's coral, the ramp to the Ghost opened, stopping the spat. Kanan just shot Hera his 'I told you' glance as the two made their way to the ramp.
"Looks like I'm taking Kanan's spot in this game," Sabine happily stated as she and Zeb continued to play sebac while Kanan and Hera went to check on Ezra.
As Chopper and Ezra rode up the ramp and into the Ghost, Ezra was soon flung off the droid and across the room.
"Awesome!" Ezra shouted at his enjoyment of having rode Chopper, "Lets do that again!"
Suddenly Kanan and Hera entered the cargo hold and found the dripping wet droid and the soaking and muddy Ezra.
"Ezra, look at you, you're a mess you poor thing." Hera exclaimed as she knelt in front of the dirty child. Kanan was just standing in the doorway smiling at the situation.
"You go get in the shower before you catch a cold," Hera ordered her young specter.
"What shower?" the boy asked naively
Kanan and Hera looked at him very thrown off by the question.
"The one in the fresher," Kanan clarified to Ezra when a disturbing question occurred to Kanan, "Kid, have you not taken a shower since you've been here?"
"Nope." Ezra replied bluntly with a smile on his face, before frowning when he noticed the disturbed look on Kanan and Hera's face.
"I only took baths back at my old house, and didn't need to take baths on the street as I was a 'lothrat'." Ezra reasoned with the two adults.
Hera was unamused, "First off Ezra, never refer to yourself as a Lothrat, it is demeaning. Secondly when was the last time you actually washed up."
Ezra then recalled his experience, "At the Imperial base. They hosed me down when I got there. Outside, and it was cold, and the water hurt my skin, and -,"
"Why don't I show you how to work the shower kid. That way you can get all that mud off you," Kanan suggested to Ezra, before Hera scared the kid by taken the cargo and throwing them at the wall.
"Okay," Ezra happily agreed as he took Kanan's hand, the two heading to the refresher.
Hera smiled at herself and then noticed the wet Chopper,
"Come on boy, lets dry get you dried up." Hera indicated for Chopper to follow her to the common area to blow dry.
Kanan lead Ezra to the fresher,
"Why do I need to take a shower? It's just mud." Ezra questioned as the two males entered the fresher.
"Do you really want to question an order from Hera?" Kanan asked
Ezra thought of it for a moment before shaking his head and smiling, "Never question Hera, that is rule number two."
What's rule number one then?" Kanan asked curiously
"Always listen to Hera." Ezra pointed out, causing Kanan to bust a gut laughing.
Kanan then opened the curtain to the shower.
"Okay kid, the soaps and stuff are on the side. Turn the faucet to the left for hot water and right for cold. Also the shower head unattaches from the wall." Kanan explained all this as he got the shower hose down for Ezra to hold.
Ezra then smiled, went to the faucet and turned the showerhead towards Kanan.
"Ezra, Ezra! Don't you-,"
Suddenly the hose was sprouting water all over the place.
"So the kid's okay?" Zeb asked Hera as Sabine laid down her idiot's array, smiling triumphantly at the distraught Lasat.
Hera was finishing up drying Chopper when she turned to the two at the table.
"Did you guys know Ezra hasn't taken a shower since he's been here?" Hera asked the two, hoping she wasn't the only one who hadn't noticed.
The two were silent for a while, in thought on the matter when Sabine finally spoke up,
"Well that explains the smell coming from the cabin, and here I thought Zeb was the one not bathing." Sabine remarked before laughing at her own joke and get an angered stare from Zeb.
"Your comparing the smell of our cabin? Yours smell like we all stepped into a toxic waste dump with all that paint in there."
Before a fight between Mandalorian and Lasat began, Hera gave the two the stink eye to silence them.
"It doesn't bother either of you guys that Ezra didn't ask any of us how to use the shower here?" Hera asked.
"Not really," Sabine admitted.
Hera was silent for a bit before Zeb became the voice of common sense.
"Hera, the kid was on the streets for a while. Added to the fact he's seven, he probably went a while without thinking of personal hygiene."
Hera had to admit it, Zeb had a point. While it pained her to remember that Ezra was once on the streets, she had to so that she could understand him better.
Kanan suddenly emerged to the common room, his head soaked.
"What happened to you?" Sabine asked, trying to stifle her giggles
"I was teaching Ezra how to use the hose part of the shower, he sprayed me."
The whole crew began laughing their heads off.
A short while later Ezra was in his oversized shrunken Kanan shirt and was finally cleaned up, and smelling better because of it.
A/N: I have been wanting to do this chapter for a while now. I figured with Ezra being on the streets would mean lack of personal hygine. Shout out to Midnight Luna for coming up with the mud idea, I knew I needed Ezra to not know what the showers was and the mud touch added more of a reason for him to use it. So I hope everyone liked this fluffy chapter cause the next one will pull at some emotions. STay tuned please
