Valentine's Day
Kanan boarded the Ghost, he looked around to see if Hera was inside the cargo bay.
When he believed the coast is clear, he bolted towards the back, and accessed the ladder and made his way up into the main hallway.
He peaked his head over the hatch, looking all ways, he then hurried up the rest of the way and dashed towards the galley.
Once inside, he saw Zeb at the table, downing a plate full of Space Waffles. He didn't mind if Zeb saw him, he closed the door behind him and pulled out a fresh Mellorun.
Zeb raised an eyebrow and watched as Kanan began searching the cupboards for various bowls, tins and baking appliances. "Kanan, you hardly cook any fresh food, what are you doing?"
Kanan twirled around with a goofy smile on his face. When he spoke, it almost sounded like he was singing "Zeb, do you remember what day it is today?"
The Lasat began to imagine the galactic standard calendar in his mind, twisting his eyes all around, counting on his fingers, Kanan saw as Zeb's eyes widen, and his ears dropped down. "Karabast… its Valentine's Day…"
Kanan moved closer to Zeb, leaning over him. "So, for Hera, I'm going to make a Mellorun pie, then we will have dinner at Old Jho's, and watch the sunset over sea."
Zeb was clearly uncomfortable with the concept of love and began to push Kanan away from the table so he can escape.
Kanan returned to the kitchen area and began to look at the recipe he had written on a Datapad.
Zeb made it back to his room, only to see Ezra lying in the top bunk, strolling though a magazine of flowers and assorted chocolates.
Zeb snarled; "Don't tell me you're into this Valentine's day nonsense two!"
Ezra looked away from his magazine. "I wish I knew; Sabine hardly opens up to anyone, she's impossible to shop for. I don't know her favorite color, flower, chocolates, and…"
Zeb elbowed Ezra's knee. "Kid, trust me, it ain't worth it to go on a date with Sabine. If you get it right, she'll downright refuse, if you get it wrong, you'll turn into her personal art canvas for a day."
Ezra slowly turned his eyes back to the magazine, with the new knowledge at the forefront of his mind.
Zeb tried to lay down in his bunk but was soon tormented by the sounds of the magazine pages ruffling with each turn as Ezra scanned each page and went to the next one.
Zeb finally lost his cool and stomped towards the door.
He was about to head towards the cockpit when Hera's door swung open, Zeb scanned the pilot up and down, and was surprised to see her not wearing her regular fight suit.
"How do I look?" Asked Hera, striking a pose in front of Zeb.
Zeb was actually at a loss for words, he has never seen Hera wear anything else before, she was wearing a short dark red and black traditional dress, dark tights, and a dark red headcover, for once, she did not smell like droid oil and carbon scouring.
Zeb's first action was to try to get away, but he needed to give Hera the response she wanted to hear. "You look good, but I got to go into town."
He sidestepped out of Hera's way and hurried down the ladder into the cargo bay.
He turned to see chopper running some tests on the Ghosts magnetic locks. Chopper began to beep and groan at the sight of Zeb.
Zeb rolled his eyes. "I don't know what you're saying Chop, but If it's about a date, no, I don't like this Valentine's day stuff."
Chopper stopped his repairs on the ghost and tried to strike a conversation with Zeb.
Zeb just shrugged. "I don't know about you, but I'm going to go into town, play some Sabacc at old Jho's before the love birds come in, and probably find some bucketheads to smash between my fists."
Zeb began to walk off the Ghost into Lothal's pains towards the town as chopper watched
Zeb just turned his head and shouted, "You're welcome to join me if you want."
Chopper was egger to leave the chores for a guy's night out he swung his dome around, howling as loud as the volume would let him, and wheeled his way to catch up to Zeb.
Ezra stood outside Sabine's door, he took extra care to wash his hair, and put on the nicest clothes he could find.
He stared at the door, as if he was expecting it to open.
He brought his hand towards the door, and with only minor hesitation, he knocked.
He stood back and waited. It was not long for the automatic doors to open, and he saw Sabine.
Sabine scanned Ezra up and down, looking at his nice getup, she was a bit confused at first "Yes?" She said reluctantly.
Ezra cleared his throat. "Hey Sabine, I was uh. I was wondering if you want to tag along with me to Old Jho's. He's having a lovebird special for two tonight and..."
Sabine raised an eyebrow. "So, it's a date?"
Fear came across Ezra, recalling what Zeb said. "Well, I um… It's more of a… Well, it is a date."
Ezra hung his head down, waiting for the worst, but to his surprise, he heard Sabine chuckle just a bit.
"Alright, as long as you're paying, just give me a moment to freshen up and find something nice."
The doors closed, when Ezra was sure they would not fly open, he silently danced with his first success.
Old Jho was setting up balloons that were in the shape of hearts, red tablecloths, and breaking out the best drinking glasses.
Two stormtroopers came in, they weren't carrying blasters, and they made their way to the Sabacc table where Zeb was playing with three other citizens.
The citizens and Zeb watched as the stormtroopers pulled two chairs to the table and removed their helmets, a rare sight to see anywhere in the empire. You were more likely to see a jedi then a stormtrooper without his bucket on in public.
"Deal us in." said the older looking stormtrooper.
Zeb realized they were probably getting out of the street where couples were being affectionate in public, so he shuffled a few cards in the deck and passed them to the two troopers.
Hera and Kanan then walked into the establishment.
"Table for two, Old Jho." Kanan said, as he was giving an over exaggerated bow.
"Right this way Kanan. First couple of the day." Old Jho commented. He stretched his arms to a small table.
Kanan helped Hera into her seat before sitting down himself. Old Jho gave the two the special menu for the day.
"Might I recommend the stuffed puffer pig, made fresh today." Old Jho added.
Kanan looked at the menu item. "Shareable for two, we'll take it."
"Excellent choice, I'll get that out to you in a few." Old Jho collected the menus and went back to his kitchen. Just as Ezra and Sabine walked into the place.
Kanan and Hera looked at their two 'Kids' as they walked in. The gamblers playing Sabacc also looked away from their decks. It was quite a surprise to the ghost crew specially to see Sabine dress nice.
She kept her hair the same, but she was wearing an olive-green dress jacket, and a pink dress. Zeb swore he heard Chopper manipulate the equivalent of an "Oh la la."
Old Jho came out as fast as he could. "Ezra, Sabine, Table for two I believe?"
"That would be great!" Ezra awkwardly smiled. Old Jho lead them down to a table, after they had sat down, he gave them the menu.
Ezra's eyes widen and mouth nearly fell open as he looked at the prices of some of the items.
Sabine noticed just by Ezra's eyes that he could hardly afford anything on the list. "How does a Blue milk shake with ice cream for two sound, Ezra?"
Ezra gave a sigh of relief as he saw the price of the milkshake. "Sure, we can do that."
Old Jho collected the menus and went back into his kitchen.
It's almost been an hour since the Sabacc game started, one of the citizens gabled away his paycheck, Zeb was doing fine, ignoring the advice from Chopper, while the other citizen and the two stormtroopers made sure their next play would win the game.
The establishment had more customers flood in, the room was filled with love talk, light laughter, and the tapping of silverware on porcelain dishes.
Kanan and Hera just had their table cleared, and they we're almost finishing recalling their first mission where they had met, when old Jho returned. "Would you two care for any dessert?"
Kanan smiled at Jho. "Thanks, but I brought something personal for Hera"
Hera was caught off guard but covered her mouth with her hand to hide the grin when Kanan reached for the Mellorun pie he made earlier.
Old Jho nodded "I'll get two extra plates and silverware for you two."
Sabine And Ezra were sipping on the milkshake with two straws. The two stopped sucking on the straws too reach for the spoons and dig into the ice cream still in the cup.
Ezra was about to take a bite of the ice cream, when he looked at Sabine, who was looking at him with a smirk on her face.
"There's only one cherry in there." She said, determined to get it.
Ezra was almost tempted to use the force to fly it into Sabine's mouth, but there was to many people around, it might draw too much attention, not to mention Zeb just became Sabacc friends with two stormtroopers.
So, he picked it up with his spoon and passed it to Sabine, who just simply put the spoon and all its contents into her mouth.
Ezra noticed Sabine also handed her spoon of ice cream to him, so he did the same.
The two giggled as they withdrew their spoons.
Kanan and Hera we're enjoying the slices of pie.
While Zeb was about to make his last draw on the deck, he looked up at Hera and Kanan, laughing as a piece of pie fell off Kanan's spork and landed on his nice slacks. He then turned to Ezra and Sabine, making fun of the ice cream mustache they accidentally gave each other with the next spoonful of ice cream. He then looked at his hand, and smiled as he showed it to Chopper.
The two stormtroopers and the one civilian laid their hands on the table, once that, Zeb laid all his cards on the table. "Sabacc!" he proclaimed.
The stormtrooper smiled and shook their heads as Zeb reached for all the credits and pulled them towards him.
"You two are alright, you can play here any time."
The two stormtroopers put their helmets back on and walked out of the restaurant.
The crew began to walk back to the ghost together, laughing and telling stories along the way. When they reached the Ghost, Zeb realized he was the only one, as well with chopper who walked in.
He turned to see the others still on the ramp, he didn't say a word, he didn't want to spoil the moment. He just watched them hold hands as the moons rose up in the night sky.
Zeb smiled, and turned to continue to his bunk.
He placed is winnings on the table and reached into the draw under his bunk, he pulled out a wooden box, he lifted the lid carefully, as light music began to emit from it, inside the box was a necklace and a picture of a Lasat.
He slowly pressed his fingers across the ridges and cuts in the necklace, and the picture, he smiled as a tear ran down the side of his cheek. He finally felt the strength to muster the words he wanted to say.
"Happy Valentine's day."