The next time Ezra woke, morning sunlight was streaming through the window. He sat up with a yawn, stretching his stiff muscles. Looking over, he saw Kanan draped over the other bed, fast asleep. Ezra smiled. He had to admit that it helped a lot last night, knowing that Kanan was right there if he needed him.
He checked the clock on the bedside table. No use going to back to sleep; it was less than a hour until the others woke anyhow.
He slipped out of the bed. Stepping lightly to avoid waking Kanan, he slowly opened the door and headed downstairs.
As he passed the door to the living room, he heard snores coming from inside. He stifled a giggle and continued on.
He found Hera already up and in the kitchen, pulling a bowl out of the cabinet. He stood awkwardly in the door for a few moments until she looked up and saw him. She smiled.
"Morning Ezra. You're up a little bit early, aren't you?"
He just shrugged. He received a sympathetic smile as she set the bowl on the counter.
"I'm working on breakfast right now. How does pancakes sound today?" She scooped the flour into a bowl. She paused just before she added the sugar.
"Do you want to help? With both of us working together, we'll get it done in no time."
He didn't even stop to think about it, stepping forward eagerly.
She showed him how much to put in of each ingredient. Once they had dumped everything into the bowl, she handed him a wooden spoon to stir up the batter.
"Why don't you get this mixed up while I get the pan heated?" He nodded and took the spoon.
She had just turned on the stove when she heard the crash behind her. She whipped around.
Ezra was standing still in horror, hands clasped over his mouth. At his feet laid the bowl, shattered into several pieces. The batter was spilled out and spreading from its source.
He stared down at the growing mess. He was so dead. Hera was going to kill him.
"Ezra, are you okay?" slim hands entered his vision, resting on his arms.
"Ezra?" He was shocked at the gentleness in her voice. It contained none of the fury he expected.
He steeled himself before looking up. Her eyes were studying him, as if concerned. She ignored the mess on the floor, confusing him. Didn't she care about the bowl?
He gestured to the bowl, then at himself. She saw the guilt on his face. To his surprise, she only laughed. She embraced him quickly. He tensed for a moment, than relaxed. He had to admit it felt good, being held like this.
"Don't worry about it. I needed an excuse to mop the floor anyhow." She pulled away. Patting his arm, she left the kitchen. She soon returned with a mop.
"Here, let's get this cleaned up. Then we'll start another batch."
Together they cleaned up the mess. Then they made another batter, this time with success.
As they poured the batter into the pan, Hera showed Ezra how to flip the pancake at the right time so it could finish cooking. She stood behind him, guiding his hand holding the spatula.
For Ezra, working on the meal was bittersweet. It reminded him of when he was little, helping his mother in the kitchen. He could dimly remember her voice, praising him for something he had done right. Her hands guiding his tiny ones as he stirred and poured.
He craned his head to look at the woman behind him. She smiled down at him, green eyes warm and affectionate. And he found himself smiling back, the first real smile he could recall in a long time.
….
Zeb was the first to enter the kitchen. Yawning, he plopped down into a chair.
"Morning Zeb." Hera said cheerfully as she set a plate stacked with pancakes in front of him. He mumbled an incoherent reply, digging into the meal.
It wasn't long until the other two drifted in. Rubbing sleep from his eyes, Kanan distractingly patted Ezra's head.
"Hey kid. I was wondering where you were when I woke up this morning." Ezra ducked out from under the man's touch, handing him a plate.
"Ezra helped with the pancakes this morning." Hera said as she sat down.
"In fact, he did almost all the work."
Ezra waited for her to mention the broken bowl, but to his surprise it was never brought up. She met his gaze and gave him a small wink. Surprised, he stared for a moment. Then slowly his face lit up with another grin. He returned the wink. Kanan noticed the exchange and raised an eyebrow, but decided not to comment.
Zeb, already halfway through his own stack, waved his fork in the teen's direction.
"Not bad kid. Not bad at all."
Sabine tried to speak through a mouthful of food, but a stern glare from Hera stopped her. She finished chewing and swallowed before trying again.
"These are great. I can never cook this good when I help in the kitchen."
"I agree." Kanan chimed in after trying his first bite.
"You did great." He looked down at Ezra.
"I'm proud of you, kid."
Ezra blushed and ducked his head, but not before he saw the smile forming on his face. This was the first time that the boy had given them more then a faint grin. And so many times in just one morning. Maybe, just maybe, they were finally reaching him.
They were just finishing up breakfast when the phone rang. Kanan excused himself and stood to answer it.
He returned several minutes later, just as the others were gathering up the dishes and placing them in the sink. Ezra had found two straws and now he and Sabine were engaged in a 'sword fight'. Zeb was rolling his eyes at the ridiculousness of it all, while Hera laughed.
She noticed Kanan standing in the doorway, a small frown on his face. She moved so she was beside him instead.
"What's wrong?" She spoke quietly so the others wouldn't overhear. He didn't answer immediately, drawing her into the hall where they could speak more privately. The others didn't even notice their disappearance as they laughed and carried on.
"That was the police." Kanan said. Both his voice and face were strained.
"They just set a trial date for Trevor."
"When?"
"Almost three weeks from now." He scrubbed at his face with his hands.
"They also said that social services was searching for a lawyer for Ezra."
"We'll find him one." Hera said quickly. She didn't trust social services. The fact that Ezra spent almost seven years on the street without them noticing. Then when they finally decided to 'care', they stuck him in a abusive home without even making sure it was the best home for him. Who knows what lawyer they would hire?
Kanan looked up with a humorless smile.
"I had a feeling you would say that. That's what I told them. I'm going to search for one today." He frowned.
"I guess we need to tell the kid." He glanced through the kitchen doorway. Ezra had managed to latch onto Zeb's back, laughing at the man's attempts to pry him off. Sabine stood off aways, giggling.
"Why must life be so hard on him?" Kanan whispered.
Hera squeezed his hand. "I know what you mean. No child should have to go through what he has. But we're changing that. One way or another, we will give him the life he deserves."
"I hope you're right." Kanan sighed. He then raised his voice.
"Guys, can you come to the living room? We need to talk."
….
Ezra and Sabine sat on the couch, while Zeb stood behind them, arms crossed. All three exchanged looks of confusion.
Kanan took the lounge chair. Hera sat on the chair arm next to him, gripping his shoulder for support. He smiled up at her gratefully before turning to look at the others.
Taking a deep breath, Kanan explained what was going on. He informed them about the trial and how they needed to find a lawyer.
Ezra turned pale at the mention of Trevor. Sabine took his hand, squeezing it in an attempt to comfort.
Zeb groaned, rubbing his neck.
"And how exactly are we supposed to go about findin' a lawyer?"
Kanan and Hera exchanged glances. Finally the man turned to look at Zeb.
"Well first we were going to make a few calls, see who are the best ones in the…"
He stopped short when Ezra suddenly jumped up and left the room. He made as if he was about to go after him when Ezra returned, waving the phone book.
He took his place on the couch again. Tongue sticking out of the side of his mouth, he flipped through the pages. After almost two minutes of searching he brought the book to Kanan, pointing to a name on the page.
Kanan raised an eyebrow as he read where Ezra's finger was at.
"Morad Sumer?" He looked up at the teen.
"Who's he?"
Ezra pointed at the number, and then mimed a phone being up at his ear.
"Do you want me to call him?"
The boy nodded eagerly. He grabbed Kanan's sleeve, tugging him up and toward the door.
"Alright then. I'm coming." Confused, Kanan allowed the teen to pull him toward the phone. The others trailed along behind them.
Just before he dialed, Kanan hesitated. He looked down at the small teen next to him.
"Are you completely sure about this?"
Ezra nodded. He folded his hands together, as if begging. The man's green eyes met blue, and he sighed.
"Okay then. What do we have to lose?" Finally he dialed the number and held the phone up to his ear.
The phone was picked up by the third ring.
"Sumer residence." A female voice came over the line.
"Hello, may I speak to Morad Sumer please?"
"Hold on for a moment." He heard muffled voices speak on the other end of the line. After a moment, someone picked up the receiver.
"This is Morad Sumer. May I ask who is this?"
"My name is Kanan Jarrus and I'm calling on behalf of my charge, Ezra. Apparently he thought you could help us with on a upcoming trial…" He was cut off.
"Ezra? Are you talking about a Ezra Bridger?"
Shocked, it took Kanan a moment to answer. He stared at the phone in his hands.
"Yes. How did you…"
"We'll talk when we get together. How about we meet at my office at one o'clock?" He gave Kanan the address, which he recognized as the local law firm.
"Alright, we'll be there." He said farewell and hung up the phone
"What'd he say? Did you find out why Ezra wanted him?" Sabine asked.
Kanan grinned at her.
"Seems like the kid here found us a lawyer." He ruffled Ezra's hair. The boy batted his hand away playfully, smoothing his locks back into place. Kanan laughed and looked up.
"Everyone get ready. We have a meeting to go to."