Beep, Beep, Beep.
The Chronometer continued to go off, each beep getting louder. Hera knew she had to turn it off, so without opening her eyes, she used her hands to feel around for the source of the obnoxious noise. Finally, her hands rested upon the chronometer where she found the button to turn off the retched alarm. Finally, silence filled her small cabin yet again. Hera knew she had to get up, she knew she had to fly the ship back to Lothal from Eriadu, and she knew she had to wake up at four in the morning in order to get back to Lothal to talk to Jho about a job he heard about; the real question though was did she want to get up.
"Ahhh," Hera moaned as she pulled the cover's off, prompting a shiver to go down her spine. No matter how much she argued, she could never win a battle against herself. Slowly but surely Hera finally got ready for the Ghost morning flight. Hera was stumbling to get her goggles over her lekku's as she entered the kitchen. As Hera made her way to the caf maker, she found that the caf was already made, much to Hera's pleasant surprise.
"Kanan?" Hera asked herself. Here knew she had not preset the maker yesterday, so she assumed Kanan must of. Never the less, she was just happy to have the hot beverage in her mug, ready for her morning flight.
Hera soon made her way to the cockpit. As Hera got into her comfy pilot seat, she checked her surroundings. Not matter how tired she was, Hera was content to know she was exactly where she belonged. She was in her favorite seat, the controls and steering yoke were at her finger tips, her caf was on her left, and Ezra was sleeping in the co-pilot seat on the right.
"Wait?" Hera questioned herself, being taken a little back. That last part was not right. Ezra was supposed to be in bed. But on her right side in the cockpit sure enough was her little Ezra sitting in the co-pilot chair, his head resting on the arm rest.
While Hera found Ezra sleeping in the seat adorable, she also was curious as to why he was sleeping in the cockpit.
"Ezra?" Hera gently whispered as she nudged the young boy's thin shoulders.
"Huh," Ezra muttered as he instantly shot up awake, still with bed head and drool on the side of his face.
Hera chuckled a bit, revealing to Ezra who woke him from his slumber.
"Hera?" Ezra asked sleepily before a thought caused him to immediately wake up. "Are we back on Lothal?" Ezra asked quickly as he wiped the drool off his face.
"Not yet," Hera assured Ezra.
"So we can still do the flying lesson then?" Ezra asked innocently
Now Hera was awfully confused, "Flying lessons?"
Ezra was beaming at Hera, his smile wide "Yeah, remember? We were talking about it while the others were first exploring Eriadu."
Hera, after stirring her mind for what Ezra could possibly be talking about, finally recalled the conversation Ezra and herself had almost a week ago.
While the others were going over the layout of the Imperial run factory town, Hera and Ezra were in the cockpit in case any imperials recognized the crew and they needed a quick getaway. While Hera was going over some of the pressure meters, Ezra kept looking at all the buttons.
"Hera what do all the buttons do?" Ezra asked as curiosity lite up his eyes.
"Well Ezra it depends, some buttons do different things, and some buttons do the same as the one next to it." Hera briefly explained as she finished analyzing the meters.
"How do you remember them all?" Ezra asked, amazed that someone could know what all the many buttons do, "It must take forever to remember them all."
Hera smiled at Ezra's fascination at her ship
"I tell you what, how about some morning when I am flying the ship, you can watch me while I explain what I am doing. Sound like a plan?" Hera offered.
Ezra grinned ear to ear and nodded his head.
"Then it's a plan," Hera confirmed as she ruffled the little guy's hair.
That felt like ages ago to Hera. With the crew being noticed by the Empire, they ended up having make a quick getaway. Not to mention their cargo retrievals had to be done at night. With the crazy schedule, flying lessons completely slipped her mind, as did her regular sleep cycle.
"I'll be honest Ezra, I didn't expect you to get up so early just for flying lessons," Hera admitted to Ezra, who was still grinning at her.
"Are you kidding?" Ezra questioned, "I set my alarm extra early and made sure everything was ready so we can get right to it."
Hera then recalled the premade caf.
"Ezra, did you make the caf this morning?" Hera asked, questioning if Ezra would break the rules of touching caf.
Ezra, realizing his mistake pointed out, "No, I asked Kanan to set it up to brew this morning for you. I know the rule, 'don't touch caf again till I'm fourteen."
Hera smiled at Ezra, "good boy." Hera acclaimed for Ezra knowing the rule.
"So we can do the flying lesson, right?" Ezra asked, his eyes glowing in excitement and curiosity.
In all honest, when Hera was thinking about teaching Ezra how to fly the Ghost, she thought about doing it on Lothal, and going into knowing the steps before actually flying. But Ezra was up now, and the best way to learn was observation.
"Sit back kid, and watch me okay?"
"Okay," Ezra replied with excitement lining his voice
"Now the first thing you got to do is make sure you are seated where you want to be, so you can reach the yoke." Hera began to explain, then waited for Ezra to finish giggling before she continued.
"Then you got to make sure you have the avionics off, "Hera then turned the avionics switch off before she continued
"Next you turn off the carburetor heater and turn the mixture knob is all the way in," Hera instructed as she pushed the nob in, "Now we prime the engine to make sure it has the fuel to fly." Hera then primed the engine.
"Now we turn the engine on along with the thrusters." Hera explained.
"What do thrusters do?" Ezra asked.
Suddenly as soon as Hera finished turning on the thruster, the ship began to float.
"Does that answer your question?" Hera asked with a cunning smile on her face.
Ezra nodded, a little startled from the ship suddenly floating; he supposed he was still a little tired.
"Now, we pull down the yoke to ascend." Hera pointed out as she did so in order for the Ghost to go up into the air. "We keep this up until we are far enough in space to chart our course."
"Where do we keep the map?" Ezra asked as he began to look for a datapad.
"You see that?" Hera pointed out to the green screen.
Ezra nodded his head.
"Press the blue button next to it." Hera instructed.
Ezra did as he was asked, and smiled as the green screen turned on to show a map of where they were in the galaxy. A line on the screen spinning slowly to assure where the Ghost was.
"Is that blinking green light us?" Ezra asked as he pointed to the light just next to the circle that read Eridau.
"Yup, we're in orbit now next to the planet." Hera pointed out, as the ship entered the starry sky that lead to space.
"Now this is the part where we enter hyperspace." Hera explained.
"Yes!" Ezra squealed like a happy puffer pig.
Hera just chuckled at this before she continued to go over flying the Ghost.
"Now we have to go into full throttle," Hera indicated as she put the throttle lever to max, "Now we hit the hyperspace button," Hera finally indicated to the red button.
"You want to press it?" Hera asked Ezra, already sure of the answer.
Without missing a beat Ezra smacked the red button hard, throwing the Ghost into the realm of the beautiful blue hyperspace.
Ezra smiled gleefully at Hera.
"Good job sweetie." Hera praised, as she pressed the button to put the ship into auto pilot.
"How long will it take to get back to Lothal?" Ezra asked
"Oh about an hour, so why don't we make breakfast." Hera suggested
"Can it be waffles?" Ezra asked hopeful
"Sure," Hera agreed as she took Ezra's hand as they made their way to the kitchen
Hera and Ezra had finished eating breakfast and were heading back to the cockpit when Ezra began to ask some questions.
"S what happens if the ship is under attack while in autopilot?" worry obvious in the boy's voice.
"The ship has an alarm in place so if there is anything within the immediate area of the ship, it will warn us so we can stir the ship away." Hera assured her little Ezra.
"How did you get so good at flying?" Ezra questioned.
"Well I learned from those who flew before me. I read datapads and manuals on flying. Also a lot of what I know is from trial and error, learning from my successes and failures."
"You make mistakes?" Ezra asked baffled at the idea.
Hera giggled, "Everyone does Ezra, the key though is learning from mistakes, which is what I do, so I know how to better myself for next time.
"How did you get into flying?" Ezra asked, wanting to know a little bit more about Hera's past.
Hera smiled at the question, "Well when I was little, the Clone Wars was happening. A lot of battles were fought over my planet of Ryloth. I would see the ships fighting for my planet to be free. When I was very little, I knew I needed to be up in the sky. As strange as it sounds, when I am flying the ship, using the skills to help others, I know exactly where I belong."
Ezra was silent for bit; he knew what it felt like to want to belong somewhere. He then smiled at himself, happy that Hera had a place she belonged.
As the two entered the cockpit once again Hera looked at the holomap.
"So we are about to enter Lothal's galactical area, so we will need to get out of hyperspace soon. Do you want to help me steer?" Hera asked, smiling at Ezra
"Really?" Ezra asked a little stunned.
"Um hum," Hera replied as she padded her lap where Ezra could sit.
Ezra eagerly got up from his chair and happily got into her lap, finding comfort to be right beside Hera.
"Okay, we're going to slow down out of hyperspace," Hera explained to the ecstatic child as she pressed the red button once again to exit out of hyperspace. Suddenly the sky was back to the star array of space now with the colorful planet of Lothal clear in the scenery.
Hera smiled at Ezra's grin; she knew no matter how long they were away; Ezra was always happy to see his home planet.
"Okay Ezra, now grab onto the yoke okay," Hera directed as she helped him pull back the throttle to slow down the ship.
Ezra did as he was told, and grabbed onto the yoke with both hands.
Hera continued her directing, "Now pull the yoke a little bit."
Ezra gently pulled it back, successfully slowing down the ship,
Hera then placed her hands over Ezra's tiny ones on the yoke.
"Now we're going to land near Jhothal, so we need to turn north due west, okay?" Hera instructed
Hera could sense Ezra's tiny hands tense underneath hers.
Hera gently placed one of her hands on Ezra's shoulders. "I'll be right here to guide you." She assured him.
Hera then sensed his hands loosen up a bit as she again placed her hand back on top of Ezra's. Slowly but surely the two guided the ship north before turning it west. The whole time in silence as the two concentrated on their delicate procedure. Soon the outskirts of space flew past them and the orange sky of Lothal's sunrise entered the horizon.
Ezra smiled, "We did it!" Ezra exclaimed, surprised he actually was able to do it.
Hera hugged him, "You did great hun," she applauded before kissing the top of his head.
"Why don't you go back to your seat; we'll need some more practice before we work on landing." Hera pointed out.
Ezra nodded and went back to the copilot seat.
Within minutes Hera landed the Ghost back on the earth of Lothal.
Soon Hera turned off the ship, and turned to Ezra who was now standing right next to her, glowing with happiness.
"What?" Hera asked smiling.
Ezra then hugged her around her waist.
"Thank you. I had a great time learning from you." Ezra thanked happily,
Hera, smiling, returned the hug.
"Hey, you're a great student. It's a pleasure teaching you." Hera acknowledged.
"Are we going to be doing more flying lessons?" Ezra questioned, hoping this was not the end of his lessons with Hera.
"I don't see why not," Hera pointed out, "and maybe I can teach you more about robotics so you can help me fix the ship or Chopper."
Ezra grinned, "Really? That's so cool."
Just then the door to the cockpit opened.
"What's so cool?" Kanan asked as he came in with caf in his hand.
"Kanan," Ezra exclaimed as he ran up to him, "Hera taught me how to fly the Ghost, and she helped me steer it to Jhothal, but she landed it, and she says she's going to teach me more about flying the Ghost and how it works and stuff!" by the time Ezra was finished with his exciting news he was almost out of breath.
"Wow, that's awesome Ezra," Kanan responded, "But we have another lesson soon, so why don't you go get ready to meditate so we can start our Jedi training." Kanan suggested.
"Okay," Ezra agreed, "Thank again Hera," and with that Ezra left the two adults in the cockpit.
"Are you serious about teaching Ezra how to fly the Ghost?" Kanan asked with skepticism.
"Why not? There's no reason why I shouldn't, is there?" Hera asked defensively.
"Well…" Kanan was about to argue, but he then noticed the twi'lek stern face, and he knew immediately not to question her.
Kanan just smiled in agreement. "You're right. There is no reason as to why you can't teach Ezra. After all he is learning from the best." Kanan admitted.
Hera smiled in satisfaction. "That is exactly what I was thinking." Hera agreed as she kissed Kanan's cheek before exiting the cockpit to get some well-deserved rest.
Kanan just laughed, he knew that the flying lessons weren't really for Ezra. More or less they were Hera's excuse to spend more time with Ezra, and Kanan couldn't deny Hera that, he wouldn't even dare to.
A/N: I think this is the shortest amount of time I spend on a chapter, I finished it in one day. I've actually had this chapter idea for a while when I saw the comic done by meiloonrunnigs comic of Hera and Ezra having flying lessons and then Ezra giving Hera the holocron. Anyways I was going to write it in the earlier chapters but decided to wait on it. I hope you all like it.
Also someone commented and asked if I answer questions. I do if you message me. If you do, I am so game to answer anything.
And Finally, who else is freaking out about season three? I CAN'T BE THE ONLY ONE!
That's all from me, for now (evil laugh).
