Chapter 6: Terms of Agreement

Kanan tossed and turned on his bed. Soon after treating Ezra, Hera had discovered that Kanan had a fever too, gave him a bacta injection and put him on immediate bed rest. The Jedi didn't protest and was soon in a potent, drug-induced sleep.

The door opened and Hera stepped in with a tray. It had been several hours, but there he was still asleep. The Twi-lek sat down next to the bed and took his temperature with one of the devices she had brought.

"103.2…" She frowned, His fever had only gone down 8/10ths of a degree.

While they were refueling, Hera had sent Sabine and Zeb to get medical supplies, mainly medication that wasn't resistant to the bacteria living in the water, bacta; the universal drug used for most ailments. That, along with a drug synthesized on this planet specifically for the bacteria. Hera was starting to think that it was the planet's way of making money because of how expensive it was.

She gently placed a cool cloth on Kanan's forehead, earning a small groan from the sick Jedi. Kanan rarely got sick; She hoped that they had caught the infection early enough. Ezra hadn't been so lucky.

"How's Ezra?" Hera startled and looked down at him surprised to see him awake.

"We had to move him from his room to the medical bay because of the infections. He's strong, I'm sure he'll be fine." She continued to take care of him, noticing a small shift with how he addressed his student. She had just assumed it was Jedi related and left it at that.

Kanan didn't remain awake long after; Hera left quietly after he was asleep again.

Days passed and Kanan was back to his usual self with one exception. He was avoiding his student. The Jedi hadn't gone to see his student yet since Hera had taken him off bed rest. He was scared and didn't know what to expect. Kanan had spent the extra time getting his feelings for Ezra sorted out.

Unfortunately, Hera and the others had left just a few hours ago to join the fleet for an assignment in the Phantom. Kanan was volunteered to stay behind and watch the youngest Spectre since he was still recovering himself. He tried to protest but Hera ended up giving him a direct order.

He was currently in the commons, sitting and enjoying a hot drink when he felt his student stirring. Over the last few hours, Ezra had stirred many times and Kanan had remained in the room he was currently in not wanting to put himself in a situation where he would have to open himself up.

"Why am I avoiding him?" He thought silently. He still didn't know the answer. Was he scared of repercussions from the crew or his dead master, or was he scared of rejection from his student?

He was too busy in his own thoughts that he didn't hear Ezra's door slide open and the youth come stumbling out until he hit the wall and slid down it, falling into a coughing fit breathing hard when it subsided.

"Ezra?" Kanan got up quickly and strode over gently helping the teenager up. Ezra was shaking and leaned heavily against Kanan.

"Why are you out of bed? You need to be resting." His mood shifted and Ezra tried to stand on his own leaning against the wall. His mental wires were crossed due to being sick and because of that, he thought that Kanan was mad at him for something, so he was trying to distance himself.

"I woke up and I was alone…it was too quiet…was coming to find Hera" He confessed quietly to his master not looking at him. Kanan must think that he was being childish. Kanan felt his forehead; his fever was almost gone but his body was still weak. He didn't understand why he wanted Hera and not him though. Had he done something wrong?

"You can come sit with me and I'll make you some soup. Hera said you haven't been eating well." He gently led Ezra to the larger chair, sitting him down, going to heat up some soup. As he did, Kanan felt a tiny amount of hostility leaking from the sick Padawan. He decided they needed to talk now, while they were alone.

"I think we need to talk. About what happened?" Kanan had no clue that Ezra thought he was mad about not being able to stay on the ship, falling off and then panicking as much as he did in the water.

"Is that why you haven't come to see me?..." The youth said bitterly looking away from the soup that was put in front of him.

"Yes, I mean No…I mean…ug. It's complicated, alright." Kanan sighed heavily and took a seat. Maybe he had just been delirious…

"What do you remember and we'll start there." Kanan decided he would probe for information first, to see where to begin, if he even needed to.

"I remember trying to get to the hatch and falling. I remember you grabbing me with the force, but then I fell into the water. You ended up showing up and we got to land but it was cold. You built a shelter…" Ezra's memory was pretty foggy and he just remembered the main details. So far Kanan was in the clear to just pretend all of this never happened and continue staying in denial.

"At one point, you kinda shoved me off you and then apologized and told me that you didn't know I had feelings for you and you said that we would talk about it later…after that everything is blurry…I remember you stroking my face and softly kissing me…" Ezra added the last part almost silently.

"Karabast…so he does remember…" Kanan watched him for a moment.

"I need you to be honest with me Ezra. I need to know exactly how you feel towards me." Kanan was trying to be rational and knew that this needed to be discussed since Ezra wasn't cognitive when it was first brought up.

"Why? So you can lecture me again about "attachments" and "relationships". No thank you. We can just pretend I didn't say anything." Ezra crossed his arms childishly looking away.

Kanan moved the soup closer to him as a peaceful gesture.

"No, so I can figure out how my feelings pan out in this as well and so that we can figure out what to do about it together." Kanan had finally admitted to himself that over the past several months he had developed feelings for Ezra. He had written them off as nothing more than emotions that he didn't understand due to his upbringing.

Besides just any relationship, Master/Padawan relationships were strictly forbidden because of how bonded the pair already was. Kanan was stepping far outside his realm of comfort admitting his feelings.

"Oh…" Ezra looked down, the anger leaving him, leaving him with mild embarrassment over his assumption.

"Now, what are your feelings towards me?" Kanan waited with great patience for Ezra to gather his thoughts.

"I don't really know. It's not the same feeling that I get when I see a cute girl but it's similar. When I'm close to you I feel…connected. Even more so than our usual bond. I feel warm. Like when I see the picture of my parents…only different…it's gotten stronger over the last month…" Ezra looked down. He didn't understand what he felt and didn't do a good job of describing it.

Kanan smiled gently at the confusion.

"It's the same for me. I don't understand the feelings either. I was always taught to suppress them, but with the Order gone, I don't feel the need to. The council was concerned that love lead to jealousy and that would in turn lead to the dark side. I feel that good has come from my attachments with the crew and with you so I can't condone it." It was Ezra's turn to watch his master. He was half leery, he felt like this was some kind of Jedi test. Would Kanan do something like that?

"On Lothal, what is the definition of adult? Depending on the system you're in, an adult is between 13 and 21."

"15. On Lothal, an adult is 15. That's when you can join the Imperial Navy because they consider you old enough to be away from your parents."

Silence fell between them for a long time. Kanan was weighing on the options and consequences that could become of a relationship. He and Ezra would have to work hard to make sure that it didn't cause any conflict of interest and that during missions, emotions would have to be set aside. The fleet couldn't know…meaning Hera and the others. It would just be between the two of them.

"You need to eat Ezra." Kanan finally noticed that the soup remained untouched. Ezra looked at the cup looking away again.

"Sorry Kanan…I'm just not hungry." Kanan sighed. He knew the infection Ezra had was destroying the youth's appetite.

"Later then." He was trying to figure out how to reach an ending to this whole relationship thing. It perplexed him and he was overthinking it but he didn't know what else to do. Ezra sensed this and leaned over quickly giving him a small kiss before leaning back again, not before Kanan gently grabbed him reflexively and return the kiss allowing it to last a little longer. When Ezra had regained his composure he continued.

"Terms: Secret between us two, not even Hera gets to know. It goes slow with the understanding that if it causes too much conflict in Jedi training or anywhere else, it ends, no hard feelings. No jealousy allowed, and all emotions are left out of assignments and missions no matter what." Kanan was caught off guard surprised that Ezra had been able to come up with arrangements so fast.

"Sounds like a deal." The older Jedi said.

"One more thing?" Ezra was staring at Kanan with a serious face.

"Anything. Name it."

"Hera cares about you with everything she has. If she ever chooses to start anything with you. We're over and you choose her." Kanan was taken back by this. He had already agreed so he nodded not thinking anything would ever come up between them.

"Agreed. I think we need to call this an open relationship then because I want the same terms for you. That way it will also lessen the chance of there being any issues caused from jealousy. And Ezra? I'm asking you to be patient with me on this…" Kanan looked away slightly before looking back at the teen.

"What we're doing would be considered forbidden activity with how I was brought up. This is pushing me well past my comfort levels, but I want to see how this turns out. The force seems to be pushing us in this direction and I trust the force." Ezra nodded before he started to get up.

Unfortunately, the teen stood too fast for his weakened state, and with the lack of food in his system he got dizzy, falling towards the floor. Right before he hit, he felt warm arms enveloping around his body and gently lifting him up.

"Easy kid…You're still really sick." Kanan picked him up the rest of the way noticing how light his student had become.

"When are the others coming back?" The youth asked, weakly resting his head against Kanan's shoulder. He felt a little awkward but at the same time, he felt like this was right.

"In a few days. Hera gave me a long care checklist for you." He passed Ezra's cabin and went to his own gently laying the padawan down right as a coughing fit wracked his body. He could feel the sickness radiating out.

"Kay…" He tried to sit up but Kanan pushed him gently back down, kissing his forehead and another on his lips before sitting back up.

Very gently, the Jedi started to take care of the sick teenager. Making sure all the medications were taken or inhaled as per instruction, and his leg was treated. The infection was clearing up at least. He placed his hand over Ezra's chest shutting his eyes and feeling around with the force.

"Your lungs are clearing up. They're inflamed still and filled with fluid though…" He said before opening his eyes giving his student a sad look.

"I'm sorry I had you on the roof. I should have listened to you…" Kanan blamed himself for the whole incident.

"It's okay. I'm sorry I panicked and almost drowned you…" Ezra didn't blame his master.

"Yeah, I guess you need to take some swimming lessons…in water that isn't festering with bacteria."

"Sounds like a good plan…" He liked Kanan's bed. His master had a calming smell and the bedding was saturated with it. Ezra breathed it in deeply before coughing. Within a few more moments Ezra was fast asleep.

After finishing his afternoon checklist, Kanan scooted Ezra over gently, without waking him and climbed in bed. He wrapped a protective arm over him placing a soft kiss to the back of his head, feeling the younger male smile softly in his sleep. Sleep soon claimed the older Jedi, both staying asleep the remainder of the night.

When Ezra woke the next day he felt better. Kanan still had him in his protective embrace waking as soon as Ezra tried to sit up.

"You okay?" He looked up wondering if something had happened? When Ezra snuggled closer to him, Kanan relaxed again. He reached up and pushed Ezra's hair to the side. He could feel that Ezra's fever was gone, causing a small smile to grace his lips.

Ezra didn't want to move. He was safe, he was warm and he had Kanan. If they stayed like this forever, he would have not protested. Kanan ruined those plans when he started to sit up.

The youth pouted slightly as his heat source left. He was fixing to say something but Kanan silenced him with a loving kiss. Ezra melted. The older Jedi broke it and planted a whisper soft trail over his jaw line before reaching his neck.

Ezra shut his eyes feeling a hand trace down his chest onto his abdomen before Kanan pulled back and stood. Kanan was teasing him!

Kanan chuckled softly. He was going to have fun and began thinking of all the ways he could incorporate this newly founded relationship into training to use as a motivator and as a source of testing.

"The agreement was slow." He bent down and kissed his forehead.

"Now, what do you want for breakfast?" He asked, getting back up and heading for the door.

"Space waffles?" Ezra smiled watching Kanan return the smile before he left.

They still had a few days alone to build their relationship. Ezra had the feeling that from now on, they would be having a lot of Master/Padawan time alone though. He relaxed back into the pillow sighing softly shutting his eyes. His life had never felt so right.