Taking In An Orphan

Chapter 4

Hera was in the middle of her shift when the boy started to move around and then sit up. The boy was confused. Where was he? He knew he wasn't with the empire. They never gave him nice sheets or pillows. Maybe he was with Uncle Tseebo?

Hera, who had been reading, saw the child sit up and stare around in confusion. She watched to see if he was going to get scared. The child looked around and his eyes landed on Hera. Hera started to move toward the boy, who leaned back as Hera approached. Hera stepped back at the boy's reaction, saddened that any child would act like this. 

    "Hello, I'm Hera. I'm a friend of Kanan, the man who saved you. I brought you here last night." The boy remembered the friendly twi'lek from yesterday. But why was she so happy? Adults were always angry and sad. But Kanan wasn't. And so maybe his friend was nice, too. 

    "Do you want some food?" Hera stepped over to the fridge and took out an apple. Again, they were going to give him some food. 

The child still regarded her with weary eyes. Why did they give him food without him earning it? Did they expect something from him in exchange?

    "Here, I'll cut it up for you, so it's easier to eat," Hera said. The boy was shocked. When he was with the empire, he had to eat what they gave him and if it was too hard to eat, he would starve. Now this nice lady was cutting up his fruit for him. Hera set down a bowl on the table. The boy leapt into the booth-seat and started to chow down the food. 

    "So," Hera said, sitting down on the opposite side of the table, "What's your name?" 

    The boy stopped eating for a moment and said, "Ezra." He then continued to finish off the last bite of apple. Hera got up to get him another one. 

    "How old are you, Ezra." 

    "Um... four." Ezra answered. Hera handed him the other cut up apple and he ate that one, too. The poor child seemed starved as he finished the second apple off. 

    "Do you have any questions for me?" Ezra had so many questions, so he didn't know which one to ask first. 

"Um... where are we?" 

"We are in my ship, The Ghost," Hera replied. The boy looked around the common area, which consisted of a kitchenette and table and on the other side a couch with a screen on the wall. Ezra seemed a little overwhelmed by everything. Hera took sympathy for the child and told him she was going to get Kanan. 

Ezra was excited to see the man who had rescued him again, but he was a little nervous to be left alone. The empire always left him in his room by himself for hours. Though he didn't like to be with anyone from the empire, he was also afraid that they would forget about him and leave him there to starve and die on his own. Ezra leapt up to follow Hera out of the door. He saw her in the hallway, knocking on the door to a room. Ezra seemed a little shocked. Did Hera keep Kanan locked up just like the empire did to him? No. Hera was too nice for that. Hera pushed a button and went into Kanan's room. Ezra was so afraid that Hera would decide to lock him up, so he found the nearest room, pushed the button, and hid inside. 

The room was dark and smelled weird. There was a weird sound like an engine, but Ezra ignored it. Ezra left the door open and hid in the corner. That way, Hera couldn't find him to lock him up. 

Hera knocked on Kanan's door and let herself in. She went over to Kanan and shook him gently. 

"Is it my turn to watch him?" Kanan asked. 

"No, love. The boy's awake now and I thought he would want to see you." Kanan shot up and grabbed his clothes. 

"Give me five minutes. Tell him I will be right there." Hera smiled and went back into the kitchen to find it empty. She immediately started freaking out. There was a four-year-old lost in her ship. Hera checked around under furniture and around corners in the common area, but she couldn't find him. She checked the cockpit, which connected to the common area, but he wasn't there either. She looked back into Kanan's room and Kanan had come out of the refresher with his wet hair tied back and a fresh pair of clothes on.