Zeb could hardly believe that, immediately after he and Kanan had been approved to be foster parents, they'd found Sabine. It seemed almost like a miracle, but for Zeb it was almost a bit too much of a coincidence. Kanan seemed to think that the force was greatly involved in all of this, and while Zeb wasn't usually one to believe in higher powers it was hard to ignore the fact that the force (or Ashla) did seem to exist in some sort of form here-no amount of wishful thinking could account for Kanan being able to lift things with his mind. But at the same time he had a feeling that there was something-or rather someone-else playing a role in this.

Zeb never brought it up with the others for fear of sounding paranoid, but even since leaving the game he kept having strange moments, especially when he was in public spaces, where he felt like he was being watched. Even if there weren't other people visibly around, he'd get a prickly feeling on the back of his neck like there were eyes on him. And, if he was right, those eyes in question belonged to none other than Dr. Tano.

Still, things were going really good right now, so he was trying to avoid worrying the others without having any real evidence that there was truly a need for concern. And he was trying to get himself to relax and just enjoy the here and now too. They'd managed to get Sabine placed with them shortly after the school year had started, and they couldn't be happier to have her home with them. There was some concern regarding her moving to a new school closer to the house when the school year had already begun, but Sabine had actually been happy to have a fresh start at a new school, even if it meant starting a bit late. And, as it turned out, she'd apparently met one of the kids whose family lived on the lake, Jack, at camp so she already had a friend at school and also in the neighborhood so that made the transition even easier.

Zeb had grown a bit solitary by nature from his time living alone, so having two teenagers (sometimes more if they invited other friends over) in and out of the house at all hours on top of Hera and Kanan was a bit of an adjustment for him. But seeing everyone so happy and being surrounded by that happiness made it all worth it. Of course there were two other people who were needed to make that happiness complete, but he was trying to just be grateful for what he had right now and not worry about what he didn't.

Even though there was a bus that stopped in the neighborhood, whenever she could Sabine would pester him into driving her and Jack to school since it wasn't too far out of the way from his commute to work. He'd grumble about it and both Hera and Kanan told her that there was nothing wrong with taking the bus to school, but most days Zeb would give in because the truth was he doted on her (they all did) and spoiled her whenever he could-after everything she'd been through, they all felt like she deserved some spoiling. So this Friday morning found Zeb driving with Sabine and Jack riding to school in the back of his truck, chatting away about whatever it was that teenagers talked about these days.

Usually Zeb didn't pay much attention to whatever they were saying, their voices just making cheerful white noise as he drove, but sometimes, like now, one of them would say something that would catch his attention.

"Yeah, Mom was able to get me an appointment to start seeing a gender therapist next week! She and Dad are going with me to the first visit, and if the therapist is any good I might get to start transitioning!" she was telling Jack.

"That's awesome!" Jack cries.

Zeb had to smile to himself, partly because it was nice hearing Sabine's friend being so supportive, partly because it was still really sweet to hear Sabine calling Hera and Kanan "Mom and Dad". Their family dynamic in the game had been mostly unspoken aside from a few quips about Kanan and Hera being the mom and dad of the crew. Out here, though, they knew that some people might find it disrespectful for Sabine to call Hera and Kanan by just their first names so they'd had to come up with an alternate solution. There had been some discussion of her calling them Ms. Syndulla and Mr. Jarrus or Aunt Hera and Uncle Kanan, but when Sabine had shyly asked if she could call them Mom and Dad they had immediately agreed, and if anything Zeb could see just how much they were enjoying it. For his part he had been happy to become Uncle Zeb-still family but without as much responsibility.

He drops Sabine and Jack off at school with minimal fuss, promising to be back at six to pick them up after their theater club meeting (both Sabine and Jack were on the set crew), before heading into town and opening his shop for the day. It was a fairly quiet morning-things had slowed down some with summer break over but he was still getting enough online business that he didn't have any pressing financial worries-and he was just getting ready to go on lunch break when he received a call from Kanan.

It wasn't unusual to get a call from Hera or Kanan throughout the day. Usually they texted for small things like requests for specific areas of the house to be cleaned up or seeing if one of them could pick up something from the store, but a call wasn't unheard of. Considering it was a Friday, he had a feeling that Kanan just wanted to talk about that night's plans-they made an effort to spend Friday nights with all of them together as a family (it didn't always happen with their hectic schedules, but they tried to make it work when they could)-and currently there wasn't anything specific planned so maybe Kanan had come up with an idea or wanted to see if he had thought of something.

This thought in mind, Zeb answers the phone cheerfully enough, only for Kanan to almost immediately cut him off.

"Zeb, where are you right now?"

"Um, at my shop?" Zeb answers, frowning at the almost frantic note in Kanan's voice. "Everything okay?"

"Not exactly. Do you know that convenience store down the road from your shop?"

"Think so-the one with the red roof, right?" Zeb answers, only to wonder how Kanan knew about that place when he'd never taken him there or even told him about it.

"That's the one," Kanan answers. "Is there any way you can go there for me right now?"

"I guess, I mean I was about to take lunch? Why, do you need me to pick something up for you?"

"No, I… I don't know how to explain it but I think one of us is supposed to be there."

"...One of us is supposed to be there?" Zeb repeats slowly, not sure what to make of that.

"I know it sounds weird, and I'd go there myself if I didn't have a class in ten minutes, but I do and I can't risk getting in trouble for running off just because I had a vision of a convenience store-!"

"Wait, you had a vision?" Well that was new-he'd never heard Kanan talking about visions before.

"Kind of? I think? Just like a few brief pictures in my head, but it was pretty clear where it wanted me or at least one of us to go-"

"Okay, Kanan, I'll go." Zeb knew that he needed to step in before Kanan got himself too worked up, and it wasn't like this was too much of an inconvenience.

"You will?" Zeb could almost see the relieved look on Kanan's face even though he was only talking to him on the phone.

"Yeah," Zeb reassures him. "I was going to run out and get lunch anyways, I can get lunch as easily from there as from anywhere else."

"Thank you, Zeb," Kanan says gratefully.

"Sure. But any idea what I should be doing or looking for there?" Zeb asks, hoping for some sort of guidance.

"I don't know for sure," Kanan admits. "All I got was an image of the inside of that store, nothing more specific than that"

Well, it wasn't much to go on, but it was something.

"Okay, I'll go and let you know if I see anything out of the ordinary."

"Thanks, Zeb, this means a lot to me."

"Sure thing, Kanan." Zeb says goodbye and then hangs up and goes to grab his keys. This was probably the strangest errand Kanan had ever sent him on, but he couldn't help but hope-and he knew that Kanan was hoping too-that this might have something to do with finding the rest of their family.

Zeb was at the convenience store within five minutes, it was that close to his shop. He had to admit to himself once he was there that he felt a bit foolish-what was he supposed to tell anyone if they asked him why he was just hanging around if whatever or whoever he was waiting for didn't make itself quickly known? This convenience store was a hot spot for shoplifting since it was so close to the local high school so the current manager was extremely anal, always sniffing around and getting suspicious of anyone who stayed for too long, and he was always happy to call the police and try to press the the most severe charges he could on anyone he caught in the act.

Zeb hated him, frankly-sometimes kids did stupid things, or they were in enough need to be willing to risk getting caught just to eat. He tried to help out when he could-warning teenagers he saw pocketing things about the strict manager and high security measures here and, if he could tell that they were doing this because they needed whatever they were taking, he was always happy to pay for whatever they needed so that they didn't have to risk getting caught.

At this point he'd gotten pretty good at spotting anyone acting out of the ordinary, especially keeping an eye out on days like today when the manager was manning the register, and he found himself being doubly watchful as he was also trying to spot whoever or whatever Kanan had sent him there to find. But there was nothing at all out of the ordinary today, and even though he dawdled as long as he dared over his lunch choices he was eventually at the point of giving up-the manager (who didn't like him any more than he liked him) was giving him the evil eye and looking pointedly at the clock on the wall. Zeb was about to leave (he'd lost his appetite), feeling like he'd failed somehow, when suddenly someone stumbles into him and then wobbles away without a word of apology.

"Hey!" Zeb starts to protest, thinking they were either being rude or else were incredibly drunk for the middle of the day on Friday. But then his eyes fall on the kid who had run into him and he felt a small pang in his heart. The teen couldn't be much more than five foot tall, so skinny a strong gust of wind could easily have picked him up and carried him away, and everything from his lank hair to his worn clothes to his beat up sneakers looked like they could use a wash.

"Hey," Zeb says in a much softer voice. "Kid, you okay?"

"What?" The teen looks up at him (or at least Zeb guessed he was looking at him, his too-long bangs were covering his eyes) in an almost dazed manner.

"Are you okay?" Zeb repeats, carefully putting a hand on his shoulder. "Are you hurt? Are you sick? Where are your parents?" He doubted a kid would have snuck out of school in this condition, so the kid should have been home with his parents-wherever or whatever home was-if he was in this state.

The boy seemed to be struggling to form a coherent answer. "No parents," he finally answers, his words slurring slightly. "'M just hungry."

"When's the last time you ate?" Zeb asks gently, even though inside he was panicking-no parents?

"...Wednesday?"

Christ-this kid hadn't eaten for two days?

"Kid, pick out whatever you want," he says firmly. "Anything you need or want, let me take care of it."

"No, 'm fine," the teen protests, pulling away, but he was swaying on his feet.

"Karabast, you're not fine!" Zeb cries. "You look about to pass out!"

An odd look crosses the teen's face. "Zeb?" he whispers, for a moment seeming totally coherent.

Wait, Zeb wonders, how did this kid know his name? There was something vaguely familiar about him, was it possible…?

Zeb reaches out and gently brushes the hair out of the boys' face, revealing bright blue eyes-so blue they seemed almost unnatural.

"Ezra," he breathes.

The teen Zeb was pretty sure was Ezra seemed to be about to answer when suddenly his eyes roll back in his head and he slumps forward.

Fuck. Zeb reaches out to catch him, supporting him in his arms. This was definitely not good-Ezra, or whoever this was, needed help, and quickly!

"Ezra? Ezra, please, wake up. Talk to me!" Zeb begs. No response. Okay, not good, not good! If Ezra couldn't support himself, he'd have to carry him. Carefully he slides an arm under Ezra's legs and lifts him up to carry him bridal style out to his truck-he needed to get him to the hospital.

He was almost at the door when suddenly the manager steps into his path. "Where do you think he's going?"

"To the doctor, for help!" Zeb snaps.

"He's not going anywhere until he puts it back," the manager sneers.

"Puts what back?"

"Whatever he took."

"...Are you fucking kidding me? This kid just collapsed and you're worried about him taking something, when he was clearly talking to me the entire time and couldn't have taken anything even if he wanted to?"

"I know his type, always coming in here and trying to take things from the company-"

Zeb had no idea that he could still growl like a Lasat, but apparently he could because a growl, angrier possibly than any he'd ever made before, rips out of him, leaving the manager cowering.

"You're disgusting," Zeb spits, his words dripping with disdain, pure anger and adrenaline coursing through his veins. "Now move, and let me get this kid to a hospital before you have his life on your hands."

The manager wordlessly steps aside, and Zeb pushes through the door, cradling the teen protectively to his chest.

He was almost all the way to his truck when Ezra started stirring in his arms.

"Hey!" Zeb grins down at him, his heart lifting a bit. "Glad to see that you're still with us!"

Ezra looks up at him with big, wide eyes, not saying anything.

"Don't worry," Zeb tells him when he remains silent, "it's going to be okay. I'm taking you to a doctor to make sure you're okay."

"No!" Ezra's eyes go even wider. "No doctors!"

"Why not?" Zeb asks, completely caught off guard by his response.

"I-I can't afford a doctor, even if they'd take me," Ezra mumbles, not meeting Zeb's eyes.

"Kid, believe me, I will gladly take care of this for you," Zeb reassures him. "I just want to make sure that you're okay."

"I am!" Ezra cries. "I'm just… I haven't eaten in a while and sometimes I pass out if I haven't…"

"...Kid, how many times has this happened?"

The teen refuses to meet his eyes, confirming his suspicions: too many.

Zeb really wanted to take Ezra to the doctor, but the kid was already as scared as a cornered mouse. He was afraid that if he tried pushing him he'd bolt, and he could not lose Ezra, not when he'd just found him again.

"Alright." Zeb somehow manages to maneuver the passenger door open, setting Ezra down on the seat. "Buckle up. I'm taking you home."

"I'm not telling you where I live!" Ezra protests, already starting to try to climb back out of the truck. "And I'm not going anywhere with you in your creepy truck!"

"For the love of Ashla, Ezra, will you calm down?" Zeb picks the teen up by his tiny shoulders (he couldn't have weighed more than 100 pounds soaking wet) and puts him back in the seat. Ezra, at least for the moment, stops struggling. "Y-You know my name."

"'Course I do!"

"You know about Ashla?"

"Yes."

"...I wasn't imagining it back there in the store? You're really Zeb?"

"Yeah, little kit." Zeb lovingly ruffles his hair. "It's me."

"Oh…" Ezra sinks back against the chair, seeming a bit overwhelmed by this news.

"You okay?" Zeb asks, hoping that he hadn't broken the poor kid.

"Y-Yeah," Ezra asks, and Zeb saw a few tears starting to trail down his cheeks. "This is just… It's really hard to believe…"

"I get that. But if you buckle up I'll take you back to the house to see everyone and we'll explain everything," Zeb bargains.

"Okay." This time Ezra does as he was asked without argument, and Zeb feels safe enough to leave him alone for the time it took to walk around to the driver's side. Fortunately Ezra didn't try to run again-any fight seemed to have gone out of him. Zeb, for his part, opens up his truck's console-he usually kept energy boosters in there for before and after workouts, and he pulls out a protein bar and a bottled health shake.

"Here." He offers the food to Ezra. "Hopefully this will tide you over until we can get you some real food at the house."

Ezra accepts the items, looking at them like they were gold. "T-Thank you…"

"Of course." Zeb reaches over to pat his knee before starting to drive towards home, glad that he'd had the foresight to lock his shop up securely before he left. Sure he'd lose an afternoon of in-person business, but he could live with that. Ezra, for his part, was too focused on eating to be saying anything. Zeb had thought he'd need to tell Ezra to take the food slow or else he'd get sick since he was eating on an empty stomach, but Ezra already seemed to know that, taking slow, careful bites and chewing each one thoroughly before swallowing. The fact that he had enough experience to know to do this worried Zeb, but he tried to put it out of his mind and just focus on getting them home.

It was a bit unnerving how quiet Ezra was being-in the game it had almost been impossible to get him to shut up. But to be fair he'd just gotten over fainting from hunger. Hopefully a few good meals and a lot of love and care from his family would get him back to his old self.

The next time he heard from Ezra was when he was pulling into the house's driveway.

"You live here?" Ezra asks incredulously, with maybe just a bit of awe in his voice.

"Yep. Inherited it from my grandparents-it's been in the family since it was just built by my great-great grandfather."

"Wow." Ezra seems to be trying to take everything in at once.

"C'mon." Zeb softly chuckles, unbuckling himself. "Let's get you inside."

Ezra follows willingly enough, Zeb keeping a careful eye on him to make sure that he didn't collapse again, but fortunately the food seemed to have helped with that.

"Hera!" Zeb calls once they're inside-she was the only one who would be home right now. She'd gotten in from a flight late last night, but he knew that she should be awake by now and that she'd kill him if he brought Ezra home and didn't tell her right away.

"Coming!" a voice answers, followed shortly by the sound of footsteps on the stairs.

"Hera?" Ezra whispers, looking up at Zeb with a somewhat nervous but mostly hopeful look on his face.

Zeb just smiles and nods in the directions of the stairs where Hera appears a few moments later.

"Zeb, who is this?" she asks with a small frown, and Zeb could understand that him bringing an unknown teenager home during the middle of the school day would seem a bit sketchy. Hopefully his explanation would be enough to keep her from freaking out on him.

"Hera," he says, gently propelling the suddenly very shy teen next to him forward, "this is Ezra."

"Ezra?" Hera gasps, her eyes going wide.

"Hi…" Ezra gives her a weak little wave, and he had that scared mouse look on his face again. But within moments Hera had closed the gap between them, hugging Ezra tightly as if afraid that he'd disappear if she let go.

"Oh, Ezra," Zeb hears her whisper, and he was pretty sure she was as choked up as he was starting to feel. "I can't believe you're really here!"

"I can't either," Ezra answers so quietly Zeb could barely hear him, his arms tightening around her.

"We've been trying to find you for so long," Hera finally pulls away from Ezra, only just enough so that she could get a better look at him. "H-How did you two find each other?"

"I found him at a convenience store earlier-he fainted because he hadn't eaten in two days," Zeb tells her when Ezra fails to answer.

"I didn't faint!" Ezra protests.

"Call it what you want, but you definitely lost consciousness," Zeb deadpans.

"You hadn't eaten in two days?" A protective glint appears in Hera's eyes. "Who's been taking care of you that they hadn't fed you in two whole days?"

"...Me," Ezra mumbles.

"...What?"

"I-I don't have a home, okay? I don't have any parents, and I've been living on my own, eating whatever I can scrape together, and I just hadn't found anything edible for a couple of days..."

"...Kid, you haven't aged out of the foster system, have you?" Zeb asks slowly-there was no way Ezra was eighteen or older.

"No." Ezra shakes his head. "I had to leave."

"Had to leave?"

"It wasn't safe."

"What wasn't safe?" Hera asks, sounding a bit alarmed. "Did someone try to hurt you?"

Ezra shakes his head but after that they couldn't get anything else out of him. Finally Hera sends Ezra upstairs to take a shower (the fact that he was so happy to be able to take a shower reminded Zeb of how happy the kid had been to have regular access to a fresher on the Ghost) while she goes to sort through the old clothes of Sabine's they'd been about to donate to try to find him something clean to wear while Zeb was put on kitchen duty to go warm up some of last night's leftover soup. As he stirs the soup on the stove, he can't help but hope that maybe Kanan would have better luck with the kid-Ezra seemed to be in just as bad if not a worse state than he'd been in when they'd found him on Lothal.

Wait. Kanan. Kriff. He'd totally forgotten to call him back and tell him what had happened! But at the same time Kanan had been in a class so he probably couldn't have answered anyways…

He checks the time on his phone. He was pretty sure that Kanan should be out of class by now so he decides to take the chance and call him.

Kanan picked up after only two rings. "Zeb! How did things go? Did you find anything?"

"You could say that."

"...I could say that? What does that mean?"

"It means Ezra."

"Ezra?" Kanan breathes, sounding like the name had halfway caught in his throat.

"Yeah, we found him, but he's not in the greatest shape, and he's barely talking to us," Zeb answers, wanting Kanan to be prepared. "I'm hoping that maybe he'll open up to you more than he did to me and Hera."

'I'll be there as fast as I can" Kanan says, his voice even more stained. "Promise me that you won't let him leave until I get there?"

"I promise."

And that was a promise Zeb intended to keep. They were so close to having another part of their family back with them for good. He wasn't going to let Ezra slip away that easily if he had anything to say about it.