Ezra stared out of the window in his room, at the hills in the distance. It had been three weeks since his rescue from the wrecked TIE defender. He was now in a hospital room, waiting until the doctors medically cleared him.
He closed his eyes, remembering the descent through the atmosphere. The planet had looked beautiful, its single continent covered in forests, lakes, deserts, mountains and grass plains. In one area it had even been white. That area was probably near one of the poles of the planet, Ezra figured.
After they landed, he was immediately taken to the hospital. There his shoulder had been treated, and now he had to stay for several weeks to allow it to heal.
The first few days Ezra had been too exhausted to think about anything, he'd slept most of the time. But after a week he was well rested, and the boredom soon caught up. There wasn't much to do in his room. He'd spent most of the time staring at the part of the city visible from his window, and the forest covered hills in the distance behind it.
There also weren't many visitors. The nurses brought him food three times per day, and a doctor returned every few days for routine checkups. He'd been visited once by Samantha, the captain of the Voyage once again wanting to know how he'd ended up in his situation. Ezra still felt reluctant to tell her anything about himself, even though she didn't seem to have bad intentions. A few days later he'd been visited by a man from the Space Refugee Program, a program aimed at helping people who, like Ezra, accidentally ended up on this planet. He'd asked Ezra several questions, both about himself and how he'd ended up here. Ezra didn't want to share much information beyond what he'd told Myra and Samantha on the Voyage, but the man hadn't pressed too hard for answers. And since then nobody beyond the medical personnel had visited.
This had left Ezra with a lot of time to think. He reflected on the events over Lothal, and the war as a whole. He also thought about his friends a lot. Where were they now? Probably still on Lothal, assuming they finished their plan. They were probably setting up defences in case the empire returned. Afterwards he was sure some of them would return to the rebellion, Hera was a general after all, to continue the fight against the empire.
Ezra found himself wishing time and time again that the crew would just walk through the door, into his room. Even if it was only Chopper rolling in just to zap him it would've made his day. But he knew that wouldn't happen. Even if they had decided to search for him, it would be impossible for them to find an isolated planet in the unknown regions.
Ezra heard the door open. He didn't look up, it was probably just a nurse bringing him his food.
Then his eyes caught the clock, it was still an hour early for lunch. He turned his head around, and spotted Myra standing in the doorway. "Can I come in?" She asked.
"Yeah of course," he answered.
Myra stepped inside and sat down on the chair next to his bed. "How are you doing?" She asked.
"I'm doing okay," Ezra said. He could feel that Myra was a little nervous.
Myra stayed silent for a moment. Then she spoke again. "I'm sorry I didn't come sooner. I wanted to visit you but I couldn't find the time."
This surprised Ezra. She had wanted to visit him? "That's okay," he said, "I didn't expect anyone to come and visit me, I don't know anyone around here."
He saw Myra briefly smile. "Well, this is the only time I'll be able to visit. I need to go back to the ship in two days."
"You're going to continue the mission I ruined?" Ezra said, half jokingly.
It had the effect he'd hoped. He could feel the nervousness from Myra disappear as she relaxed a little. "That's one way to put it," she said. After another moment of silence she continued. "If you don't mind me asking, could you tell me a bit about Lothal?"
Ezra had not expected that question. "Why? What do you want to know?" He asked.
"Oh," Myra said, looking a little uncomfortable, "I was just curious, I just want to know what the planet is like, what kind of wildlife you have and all that. But-" she paused for a moment before continuing, "but if you don't want to talk about that either then that's fine."
"No of course it's not a problem, just wanted to make sure," Ezra said quickly. "If I tell you about my home, could you also tell me about this planet?"
"Of course," Myra nodded. And so Ezra began.
He told her about the prairies, the mountains and the seas. He talked about the Loth-wolfs, Loth-cats and other animals. He didn't mention how much of the planet was destroyed last time he was there.
When he was done Myra had a fascinated look on her face. "Sounds like a place I'd like to visit some day," she said.
Ezra nodded. "If you ever get the chance, it would be well worth it." Assuming it would've had the chance to recover from the damage done by the empire, he mentally added.
Myra didn't immediately respond, she seemed to be deep in thought. "Those Loth-cats you talked about, it seems we also have animals similar to them around here."
"You do?" Ezra started feeling excited. If there were Loth-cats here then maybe he'd still have a connection to his home.
"Well we don't call them Loth-cats, we call them Tooka. They were brought here by someone who also ended up stranded here, long before I was born. Some of them escaped and now they form part of the wildlife on this part of the planet." Myra explained.
Ezra had heard that Loth-cats were a sub-species of Tooka. But he doubted these specific tookas were Loth-cats, since people rarely took them off Lothal. But he was still glad to hear there were some familiar animals around. "What about other animals?" He asked.
"Aside from the tooka all animals here originate from this planet, as far as we know. You got the myracks, which I was named after, the oikars, and the bez…" Myra went on to describe the animals that lived on the planet, and then talk about the planet itself.
It was as Ezra had seen from space, a huge ocean with a single large continent. What surprised him was how few people actually lived here, only about one hundred thousand. Most of them lived in the city where the hospital was located, and a handful were scattered across the coastal areas nearby. The vast majority of the planet was untouched by civilization.
"...and that's why there are likely still a lot of undiscovered species." Myra finished.
"It sounds like an amazing place to live," Ezra said genuinely.
"It definitely is," Myra agreed, "If you want, I can show you some really beautiful places nearby, ones that most people don't know about."
"I'd like that, it's been a long time since I've been somewhere that wasn't disturbed by destruction or war."
War? Myra was shocked when Ezra mentioned that word. Then it clicked. The damaged ship, the blaster, his scars and wounds, it made sense that those would be from fighting . Perhaps even from whatever battle he'd been in before they found him.
She saw Ezra's facial expression tense, likely realising what he just said. She wanted to ask about it, but it was clearly something he didn't want to tell her about, so she kept silent.
"What happens to me once I'm fully healed?" Ezra changed the topic, "I don't know anyone or anything around here."
"Well, usually when people are stranded here the Space Refugee Programhelps them out, gives them temporary housing and food until they find work and can live on their own again." She answered, "usually people who end up here are in groups, so they don't take that long. But I'm not sure how long it'll be for you, since you don't have anyone else."
"Ah alright, thanks." Ezra's gaze quickly went into the distance, seemingly lost in thought.
Suddenly Myra got an idea, she quickly got a piece of paper out of her pocket and wrote down a number. "Here," she said, snapping Ezra out of his thoughts, "my comm number. If there's anything you need help with, don't hesitate to call me. Like I said, I'll be gone for the next few weeks, but I'll make sure to respond as soon as I get back."
Ezra stared at her for a moment, and Myra was starting to wonder if she had said something wrong before he spoke up. "Th- thank you."
"You're welcome."
Ezra stared at the paper for a moment. Then he looked back to Myra. "Why are you helping me?" He asked.
Myra hesitated for a moment. "I know what it's like to be completely alone, away from everything you know. And I don't want other people to feel that same loneliness." She finally said.
"Well, I'm glad you're doing it, it's nice to have someone to talk to," Ezra said.
Myra nodded, and then looked at the clock. "Oh, is it already that late?" She looked back at Ezra. "Sorry, but I have to go."
"That's okay," Ezra said, "It was nice to have someone to talk to. I guess I'll see you again soon?"
"You will," Myra promised as she got up from her chair and started walking to the door
"Myra?" She heard Ezra's voice behind her. "Thank you for coming. It means a lot," he said as she turned around.
Myra gave him a quick smile. "Of course, that's what friends are for." And then left.
After she closed the door she pondered over those last words. Was that right? We're they friends? They seemed to get along nicely, so maybe they were.
Myra smiled to herself. Friends
Ezra looked at the forest in front of him. And he felt the call through the force again. Something wanted him to enter. At first when had felt the call, he had suspected it wasn't anything good. But it kept on repeating until it was impossible for him to ignore. And he couldn't feel any malicious intent behind it. So he took a deep breath and stepped into the shrubbery.
It had been two weeks since Myra visited him in the hospital. He'd been surprised when she had called them friends. But in the days that followed he had thought about it. She was the first person he'd felt safe enough with to somewhat open up with. He hadn't told her all that much about himself, but still more than anyone else. He felt like he could trust her. Maybe not as much as he trusted his family on the Ghost, but enough to consider her a friend. And given his current circumstances, he'd take all the friends he could get.
Ezra could feel the call getting stronger, as he was getting closer to the source. The terrain started to raise up. He concluded he reached one of the hills. As the terrain grew steeper he started seeing patches of solid rock between the dirt and grass. He continued on, feeling the call more clearly as he got higher and higher. Soon he was able to see the treetops of the forest he'd just made his way through, and behind it, in the distance, the city he'd come from.
Ezra took a quick break, and let himself enjoy the view for a moment. It reminded him a bit of his view of Capital city on Lothal, back when he still lived in the abandoned comm tower. In this case it was a forest between him and the city, instead of grassy plains, and the city of course looked a lot different. Still, Ezra couldn't help but notice the resemblance. A city, surrounded by nature on one side, and an ocean on the other side. It looked beautiful.
Thinking about Lothal reminded Ezra, not for the first time, of his friends. Where were they now? Probably still on Lothal, assuming they successfully finished the plan. They were probably preparing for the empire to return to retake the planet, or destroy it. And if that happened, Ezra wouldn't be there to protect his home.
But my friends will still be there, he thought to himself. They had faced impossible odds before, and succeeded, so they could do it again.
His thoughts were interrupted when he felt the call again, stronger than before. He started climbing again until he came across a cave entrance. There he could feel it the strongest. Whatever was calling to him, it was in this cave.
Ezra made his way inside. For the first part, where there was still light coming from the outside, it just looked like any other cave. The further Ezra got from the entrance, the darker it was. Soon he found himself surrounded by darkness. Fortunately he didn't come across anything that could trip him over. The path felt clean. Perhaps too clean.
After a few minutes of walking through the darkness, Ezra spotted light in the distance. Once he reached it, he looked up to see it was coming from above him, a small opening in the ceiling that led all the way outside.
Thanks to the light, Ezra could see three different pathways in front of him. It reminded him a little bit of the Jedi temple on Lothal, which had a similar area. Here there was no pattern around the entrances, but still felt familiar enough for him to deduce that this was something similar.
Ezra reached out with the force, and felt a little spark coming from the middle pathway. He walked into the tunnel, which was pitch dark. After a few seconds of walking the darkness disappeared, and Ezra found himself on some familiar grassy plains. His heart jumped, he was back on Lothal!
But that couldn't be right, he was on the other side of the galaxy, there was no way he could be back on his home planet. Maybe this was a vision?
"I have to do this Hera, for Ezra," he heard Sabine's voice behind him.
He turned around and found himself next to his old tower. His heart jumped again when he saw the Ghost parked nearby, and Hera and Sabine standing only a few steps away from him.
Hera sighed, "alright Sabine, just stay safe." It was clearly the end of a big discussion Ezra could see.
Sabine smiled at Hera. "You know me, nothing to worry about." The two women then embraced each other into a hug, and the vision disappeared. In the darkness Ezra smiled to himself. His friends were okay, Lothal was okay. His sacrifice had worked.
"Happy are you?" A voice said behind him.
Ezra turned around to see a small green creature sitting on a piece of tree log. "Master Yoda?"
The Jedi Master nodded. "Me it is yes. Now tell me, happy are you?"
"Yeah I'm happy, I just had a vision showing me that my friends and home are okay." Ezra answered.
"Not on Lothal are you?"
"No, I'm on some planet called Pangaea, it's in the unknown regions."
"Hmm," the grandmaster closed his eyes, "end up in the unknown regions, how did you?"
"The Purrgil… took me here, they helped me remove the empire from Lothal." Ezra answered.
"Sacrifice yourself, you did?"
Ezra nodded. "Yes, that's something I learned from Kanan, when he died."
Yoda opened his eyes again. "The death of your master, felt by many it was. Die, how did he?"
"He sacrificed himself to save us from an explosion." Ezra recalled the moment in his head. Kanan holding the flames back, and pushing Hera back on the gunship. Getting his sight back to look at them one last time.
"Sacrifice himself like a true jedi, your master did," Yoda interrupted his memories. "Sacrifice yourself like a true jedi, you did as well." Something subtly changed in the grandmaster's expression, but Ezra couldn't tell what. The grandmaster waved to the floor. "Kneel."
Ezra did as he was told. He heard what sounded like a lightsaber ignite. Yoda spoke again, but his voice sounded different.
"By the right of the council, by the will of the force. Ezra Bridger, you may rise."
Ezra looked up. "What-?"
Yoda smiled at him. "A Jedi knight, you now are," he said.
Ezra forgot to breathe for a moment. Him? A Jedi knight? "Thank you master," he bowed his head respectfully, barely able to contain his excitement.
Yoda chuckled. "Thank me? Done nothing I have. Thank yourself you should." He said
"It- it just means a lot to me that you think I'm worthy of being a Jedi knight." Ezra said. After a moment of silence he asked, "what now?"
"Hmm," Yoda closed his eyes. "Clouded, the future is," he said, "darkness you will face. But not alone you will be. Friends you will have, help you in difficult times they will." The grandmaster looked at Ezra again, "May the force be with you, Ezra Bridger."
As soon as Yoda finished that sentence, the cave went dark again.
But the darkness didn't bother Ezra. Lothal was safe, his family was safe, and he was now a Jedi knight. Things couldn't be any better.
"Emerging from hyperspace in three, two, one…" Johnny counted down, "now!" The space around the Voyage turned from the blue swirls of hyperspace back to the black of realspace.
"We're here," Samantha announced, "Myra?"
Myra turned back to her navigation station, and tapped on the screen a couple times. "Adjust course to trajectory 3 3 7," she said to Johnny.
"On it," the copilot responded, and he steered the ship accordingly.
Myra leaned back in her chair for a bit. She wouldn't have to do anything for a while, so she could relax for a bit. Still she wanted to remain in the cockpit just in case there was something to see.
Time slowly passed by while the ship travelled through the solar system, the local star becoming more and more visible. This was Myra's first time outside her home system, so she wanted to take it all up as much as possible.
"Coming up on our destination," Samantha announced after a couple of hours.
Myra looked through the window, and saw the grey mass of a planet beneath them. The Voyage started descending down to the planet surface. Soon they could see the ground, which was mostly made up of grey rock.
"What's that over there?" Adrian pointed at what looked like unusually shaped rocks ahead of them.
"That," Samantha said, "is our destination. The wreckage from which we found quite a large group of survivors last year. Outbound flight."
Author's note: I was expecting the Ashoka show to make my story non-canon compliant once Ezra showed up. But no, they put him in an entirely different galaxy... ah well. So far it's a fun show, definitely enjoying it as a Rebels fan. Anyways, I hope you enjoyed reading this, I would appreciate if anybody has any feedback.