Ezra lunged from his position, screaming as he grabbed onto his chest. Even though the scream had echoed throughout the ship, it fell onto deaf ears. Ezra panted heavily, caving into his hands that never left his chest. Sobs began wracking his body as Ezra began to shutter. He felt so cold. So broken.
Slowly, a clouded hand came into Ezra's blurred vision, waving up and down. Out of fear, Ezra flinched, even though he could barely see the hand. His sobbing never ceased. Everything was just so numb around him.

With tear filled eyes, Ezra turned his head to see a grey figure. The person wasn't too close, but they weren't far away either. Forcing his eyes to adjust, Ezra could make out pointed ears amid the blur of tears. For a moment, the image haunted him, halting his breathing, but a stuttered sigh escaped the boy's lips as he recognized who he was with.

Zeb.

Words were being spoken by Zeb, Ezra could tell. He could hear it, albeit faintly. It was like everything was muffled. Did he have a pillow over his ears? No, his hands were still clinging to his chest. His chest. Peering down, Ezra saw that he was clutching his shirt tightly, his hands shaking as if he were in searing pain.

"You failed me, Ezra. You failed all of us."

Ezra flinched and gasped in pain as if the memory wounded his chest. The boy's breathing quickened drastically. He was hyperventilating.

The same hand came into Ezra's vision, waving slowly. The movement was somewhat soothing. Not too fast, like how Kanan and Sabine had attacked Ezra before.

"Z-Zeb?" Ezra's hoarse voice squeaked. He sounded so far away; like he wasn't all there.

Ezra darted his eyes, trying to find Zeb again, though all he could make out was a blur of light grey. Faint noises resonated to the left of Ezra, toward the blur of grey. Zeb was talking again. His voice wasn't as gruff. It was soft and full of worry. Ezra concentrated hard on his voice. The soothing concern from his friend began bringing him back to reality. Soon, Ezra found that he could make out what Zeb was saying.

"Ezra, stay with me, kid. I need you to listen."

Ezra nodded slowly in understanding, his eyes darting away from Zeb. A sudden snap alerted Ezra back to Zeb, looking at him with fear filled eyes which brimmed with tears.

"Listen. Kid, you're having a panic attack. At least I think. I need you to count with me, alright?"

Perplexed, Ezra raised an eyebrow. Panic attack? Was it because of-. A set of snaps alerted Ezra to look at Zeb once more.

"Don't think about nothin'. Focus on me, kid. We're gonna count, alright? One…"

Ezra hesitantly opened his mouth to speak 'one', and barely managed to say it. He still sounded so far off.
"Two. Three. Four…"
Repeating these words, each with a stronger force, Ezra began to come back to reality. He mimicked Zeb's counting, growing more tuned in to his senses around him. Soon, Ezra's breathing evened out as they continued to approach 10.

"Eight. Nine. Ten." Zeb and Ezra finished in unison. A stuttered sigh escaped Ezra, causing Zeb to cast a worried glance toward him. The room fell into an uncomfortable silence. It made Zeb uneasy, causing him to shuffle his feet. He really wished he could just get Kanan to help, but knew that was a bad idea. Ezra went through enough turmoil in his dreams as it is.
Ezra began to look around, taking in his clear surroundings, while Zeb rocked back and forth awkwardly. The bedding on which Ezra sat was disheveled, no doubt by his rude awakening from that hideous nightmare. His clothes were also disheveled and wet from sweating so profusely. Ezra took note that he was still shaky, although not quite as bad as before. A shutter quivered through Ezra's body, the memory of the nightmare slowly resurfacing.

"Hey, kid? You alrigh'? You had me worried for a while."

Ezra looked to Zeb fearfully, which only caused Zeb's worry to increase. The kid didn't look very good, to say the least. Zeb could smell and see the layer of sweat that covered Ezra's body, and even in this lighting, Zeb could tell that Ezra was very pale. Whatever the kid saw in his nightmare that involved both Kanan and Sabine wasn't good.

Bringing a hand to his head, Ezra sighed heavily, wiping his brow. He felt both hot and cold at the same time. Not a good combination. Looking back to Zeb, Ezra smiled weakly.

"I just… had a bad dream, is all."

"Karabast, I could have told you that." Zeb chuckled dryly, setting a hand on his hip.

Once more, the room fell silent. Ezra seemed to go distant once more, his mind travelling back to that dark place. Narrowing his eyebrows, Zeb waved his hand in front of Ezra, causing the kid to flinch. It hurt Zeb to see Ezra so vulnerable, but he wanted to help. Needed to help.

"Hey, how about we go get something to drink, eh?"

Ezra shrugged, avoiding Zeb's gaze. It was obvious that he wasn't alright. Zeb could see it in his eyes. The fear. The distant gaze. Ezra looked like an 8 year old again; lost and small and scared.
Zeb flattened his ears against his head, rubbing it awkwardly. Maybe he should get Hera. At least she knew how to take care of this kind of stuff. Quickly, an idea struck Zeb's mind, causing him to smile at the thought.

"Come on, kid. I've got a hot chocolate that has your name on it." Zeb said, perking his ears forward and looking at Ezra with a warm smile.

Ezra turned to Zeb, a weak smile forming on his pale features. He nodded in agreement and scooted to the edge of the bed where Zeb helped him down. From there, the two walked through the Ghost to the kitchen area where Ezra sat at the table and waited for Zeb to make the drinks.

It took a little while, but Zeb managed to successfully make two steaming mugs of hot chocolate. While he wasn't necessarily ecstatic about drinking the warm liquid at such an odd hour at night, Zeb still made it in hopes that it would cheer his young friend up and help to settle the kid down. Grabbing the two mugs of hot chocolate, Zeb wobbled to the kitchen area where Ezra sat at the table, with his head resting on his arms. He set one mug in front of Ezra, who jumped at the sound, staring at the cup in surprise before letting out a soft sigh, cupping the warm liquid and allowing his hands to heat up from the cup. Zeb took a seat across from Ezra, taking a sip. A pleasant expression cascaded onto Zeb's face as he drank the liquid. It was sweet, and with it being this sweet and this warm, there was no doubt in Zeb's mind that this wouldn't relax Ezra. Except Ezra wasn't drinking. Ezra stared down at the hot liquid, deep in thought.

"Hey kid. Your drink's getting cold."

Ezra shrugged, furrowing his brow. He was trying to hide his fear, but Zeb could see right through him.

"Ezra. It's alrigh' to be scared. I mean, even I-"

"-No its not!" Ezra cut Zeb off, pounding a fist on the table. Zeb's ears flattened, looking at Ezra warily.

"I shouldn't be such a coward, Zeb! I should be fearless and cast nightmares aside! Not let it haunt me." Ezra clenched his shaking fist in hopes that it would stop. Cautiously, Zeb set his hand on Ezra's, causing the kid to look up in surprise.

"I know what you mean. It's not every day I get a nightmare, but when I do, it's usually a nasty bugger that disrupts my sleeping patterns and makes me feel discombobulated."

"Yeah, but I always hear you snoring. If you do have a nightmare, I'm not around to see the aftermath."

Zeb chuckled wholeheartedly.

"I could say the same to you, kid."

"Yeah… Not this time, though." Ezra huffed, crossing his arms over his chest. Zeb looked down at his drink, swirling its contents, before taking a swig of his hot chocolate.

"You uh… wanna talk about it? It's alright if you don't. I'm not going to push you." Zeb said, casting his gaze to the boy. He saw the teen sag his shoulders before meeting Zeb's gaze entirely. Tears threatened Ezra's vision as he looked at Zeb pleadingly. For what, he didn't know.

"What's wrong, Ezra?" Zeb asked, his eyes wide. Ezra cast his gaze back to his hot chocolate, cupping his hands around the warm mug once more. A hefty sigh left Ezra as his eyes became fixated on the swirling brown liquid in his hands.

"It was Kanan. A-And Sabine. We were back on Dathomir."

"You mean that nasty place where Maul's from?"

A nod of confirmation was Zeb's only reply before Ezra began to speak once more.

"Everything was green. And then I saw him. Kanan. He was possessed by the Nightsister spirit. He attacked me. Pushed me around. Then Sabine showed up with the Darksaber. Kanan and Sabine came after me. Chased me down and tried to kill me. They kept telling me 'Our due must be paid.' I tried stopping them, but they wouldn't listen to me. They became fixed on killing me. So I did the only thing I could do. I fought back with everything I had. I fought and fought until everything suddenly became deathly still. They were gone. But they taunted me. Called out to me like they were everywhere at once. And just when I thought it was over… They showed up. But… They weren't Kanan and Sabine. N-Not anymore." Ezra shuttered as the disturbing memory of Kanan and Sabine's decayed forms filled his psyche. He shut his eyes, seeing them. Remembering the feeling of Sabine wrapping her arms around his, holding him down. Sensing that everything was wrong about the situation and that there was nothing he could do. Ezra could feel his heart beating in his ears as the image haunted him. He saw Kanan raising his saber, causing Ezra to flinch and come back to reality, where Zeb sat across from him, a concerned expression worn on his face.

"What happened?" Zeb asked, hoping he wasn't pressuring Ezra into talking about something too uncomfortable for the kid.

Taking a deep breath, Ezra began to speak once more.

"Sabine, she… Got the better of me. Held me back. She was just so strong. And I was so weak. All I could do was watch as Kanan grabbed ahold of both his and Sabine's saber, pointing it at me threateningly. I-I was helpless! I tried to get out. I had to get out! I pleaded with Kanan, begging him to stop! But it was no use. And then-" Ezra paused, bringing a hand back to his chest, which pulsed as if the blade in his dreams had punctured him again.

"Then I watched as Kanan swung the sabers at me, piercing my chest. The next thing I remember is that I'm back in my room and you were there… helping me." Ezra bit his lip, hoping to stop the oncoming tears that brimmed the edges of his eyes. The room feel quiet, which only caused Ezra's anxiety to increase. What if this was all a dream? And Zeb was going to attack him too. Or Kanan was still possessed. Would Ezra have to run? Would he-

Ezra suddenly flinched, feeling a warm, fuzzy arm wrap around his back, pulling him in for a side hug. During the midst of Ezra's dazed processing, Zeb had gotten up and sat next to Ezra. He knew Ezra needed comfort, and while this wasn't exactly Zeb's thing, he knew it's what Ezra needed.

A sob soon wracked Ezra's body, causing him to cave into Zeb's massive form. Ezra wrapped his arms around Zeb, clinging desperately to him as if he were his only hope of survival. Zeb's ears flattened against his head as he held Ezra, patting him on the back. He soon pulled the kid closer into his embrace. Ezra clutched Zeb's fur tightly, but Zeb didn't mind. This was just a small price to pay in order to help Ezra.

"It's alrigh' kid. I've got ya. You're going to be ok." Zeb said, offering some comfort to the boy who continued to cry in his arms.

The two stayed like that for a while. Zeb continued to offer Ezra comforting words while Ezra continued to cling to Zeb, crying into his chest.

After a while, Ezra's crying seemed to calm down to light breathing. Zeb, taking notice of the difference, cautiously pulled Ezra away, only to see the kid asleep in his arms. A warm smile crossed over Zeb's features. Maybe he was good at comforting after all.

Taking this opportunity to get comfortable, Zeb slouched in his seat with an arm around Ezra. He decided to just rest here for a moment before moving the two to their shared room. Before he knew it, though, Zeb was quickly falling asleep. The hot chocolate and late night adventure really did him in. But it was worth it.

It was all worth it, if it meant Ezra was ok.

At the back of his mind, Zeb knew he was going to regret not going to his room, but it was soon whisked away as the comforting blanket of sleep washed over his form, sending him into the comforting peace of his subconscious mind.

I finally got this done! It took forever to get out of the writers block I had for this story, but here it is. I really hope you enjoyed this. I feel like I could continue with this, but I'm not sure. Let me know if you think I should continue on with it, or just keep it as it is. ~ Ciao Ciao ~