Kanan walked into the cockpit and Hera immediately checked that Kanan had Ezra before telling him and Sabine to strap in. Kanan took his seat, setting Ezra on his lap, and putting on the seatbelt. Ezra rubbed at his eyes and nose, smearing tears and snot around his face. He coughed weakly, which quickly turned into a hacking cough. Kanan rubbed Ezra's back as Hera worriedly glanced at them.
"Are you okay?" Hera asked Ezra, taking her eyes off the sky again.
"Hera, focus on landing, then we'll worry about Ezra," Kanan said.
"Tha' cough doesn' sound good," Zeb said from his seat behind Kanan.
"No, really?" Sabine asked.
"Hey, I don't know much about human illnesses it's much different from a Lasat's,"
"Ya, Lasat's immune systems are more like a cat's," Sabine said, smirking.
"Not helping, you two," Hera scolded, steering the ship a bit further East.
"I'm firsty," Ezra gasped at Kanan.
"Just give Hera another minute and then I'll get you something." Ezra had another coughing fit and he curled further into himself. Kanan held him tightly, trying to comfort the boy.
When the ship had landed, Kanan handed Ezra to Hera and left to get the kid a drink.
"What hurts, Ezra?" Hera asked him.
Ezra pointed at his throat and his chest.
"Okay, can you take a deep breath for me?" Hera put her head against Ezra's chest, listening to his shallow breathing. "When did it start hurting?"
"Today." Kanan came back with some water and Ezra drank a little.
"I'm boiling some tea, so just give it another minute and I'll give you that. We can add honey to help sooth your throat, if we have any." Kanan left to go check to see if they had honey. They didn't, but Sabine had left and grabbed some cough medicine from the medbay.
"This would be better to put in the tea. I'd check with Hera first, but I think it'll help."
Zeb stood in the corner of the common room on a datapad.
"Zeb, what are you doing?" Sabine asked.
"I'm researching what kind of sickness he has. He said a sore throat and a cough. There are a lot of options, it could be anything."
"Well, he also passed out. See if that symptom helps." Kanan brought the tea out to Ezra and Sabine and Zeb continued to research, worried for their little spectre.
"Hey, look at this. This is the planet we were just on. It says 'Tisnian Cough.' The symptoms are a severe cough and fainting when the cough gets too severe. Humans are most susceptible to it, but they get a vaccine that should stop the sickness."
"What's the vaccine?" Sabine asked.
"It has some weird funky name I can' pronounce." Zeb looked up the vaccine. "Says it stops these type of cough illnesses found on more swampy planets. It is given to children when they are three. The kid shoulda gotten that already then." It took Sabine a minute to think about it, but she realized something.
"No, he wouldn't have gotten it. Neither the Empire or Tseebo would have bothered to get him vaccinated when he turned three and his parents died the day after. He should have gotten it, but he doesn't have it, making him susceptible to the illness. What's the cure for the Cough?"
Zeb went back to the prior search.
"It says that nothing cures it, but it will go away in a week. It'll be less if the person has a good amount of sleep, hydration, and cough medicine. Even if it doesn' heal 'im, it'll make the kid more comfortable. And less whiny."
"Zeb, he's a four year old with a bad coughing sickness, he can be a little whiny."
"Yer right." Zeb said. He sometimes forgot that Ezra wasn't older. He was still only four.
The two walked into the cockpit to explain their discovery.
"No, Kanan. The mission still has to go on. Ezra will be fine with me. Hopefully, the mission will be in and out," Hera told Kanan.
"Hera, we know what Ezra has. He has Tisnian cough." Sabine handed Hera the datapad to read about it. Then she handed it to Kanan and continued to help Ezra drink his tea. Ezra coughed weakly.
"I forgot he couldn't be vaccinated. We need to talk to Fulcrum about this," Kanan said.
"We definitely do. But there's not a shot for everything. We brought Ezra off the planet he's lived on all his life. Of course he's going to get sick," Hera replied.
"It's true. When I left Mandalore for the first time, I got really sick. I didn't get better for weeks." Hera gave Sabine a sympathetic look. Sabine reddened and said, "But it was fine."
"Well maybe it's different for different people, but at the Jedi temple, I never got that sick when I left. So many people traveled to different areas in the temple, so we were exposed to many different sicknesses from planets." Kanan saddened at the thoughts of the temple. He got up and left. He returned with a wet cloth to wipe off Ezra's face. Ezra backed away from the cloth, but Kanan promised he would be gentle. Ezra let him wipe off his face.
"Mission starts in 5 minutes. We need to time it right so that you move in when the guards change. Plan stays the same as we've discussed. You're going to have to move on foot, speeders are too detectable. Everyone to the cargo hold. I'll signal to let you know when to drop," Hera said.
As Hera started the ship, Kanan got Ezra situated in a seat. Ezra slumped over with another round of coughing, causing Kanan to pick him up to comfort him.
"Hera, he's not going to automatically stop coughing when we leave. What are we going to do if there are ties on your tail and Ezra starts to have a coughing fit?"
"Stop worrying, Kanan, we don't need you distracted during the mission. Fulcrum needs the information asap. Go to the cargo bay with the others. Good luck, love." Kanan hesitated before setting Ezra in the co-pilot seat. He strapped him in, but the seatbelt hovered over Ezra's tiny frame.
"It doesn't even fit him. He's gonna fall out." Kanan said. His eyes found Ezra's. "Hold on tight, buddy."
Ezra nodded.
"But Hera's a good flyer, she won't let me fall out." Ezra told him.
"That's very true."
"Kanan, GO! We are approaching the jump zone." Hera told him, but she was smiling.
When the crew was on the ground, Hera landed the ship back at the original landing zone, farther from the imperial base.
"How are you feeling, Ezra?"
"I'm okay. My throat hurts, though."
"Did the tea help at all?" Ezra nodded.
"Um...thanks."
"For what?"
"For helping me. The bad guys never helped when I was hurt. And when I was with Uncle Tseebo, I got sick, but he couldn't give me anything because we didn't have money. Only mommy and daddy used to help when I was hurt and sick."
"Oh, you poor thing." Hera got up to grab him in a hug. She picked him up from his seat and let him get comfortable on her lap. He started coughing again, his throat burning. Tears appeared in his eyes.
Hera sat him up straight and rubbed his back.
"When I was a little girl on Ryloth, I got sick a few times." Hera began, trying to distract Ezra from his coughing. "My father was almost always off fighting a war, but my mother would stay with me and tell me stories. She would hold me and tell me all about her childhood. I never knew if they were made up or if they were real, but I never cared because her stories were so much fun to listen to." Ezra stopped coughing for a moment. The two sat in silence, Hera weaving her hands through Ezra's hair.
"You're a really good mom, Hera," Ezra said.
Hera hadn't expected this, but the more she thought about it, the more she got used to the idea. She realized she kind of was like Ezra's mom at the moment.
"I'm happy you see me that way, Ezra. Thanks for letting me be a mom for you."
"Your welcome, mama." Ezra cuddled close to Hera and she began to tell him a story.
