Taking In An Orphan

Chapter 19

After their mission for Fulcrum, the rebels made their way toward a new star system. All the rebels were happy to see Ezra acting normal around Kanan again. Ezra sat in his new ship seat as he watched the ship jump into hyperspace. 

After lift off, the rebels all retired to the kitchen to talk. Ezra ran around with Chopper, playing hide and seek with his stuffed Loth cat. Hera gave them strict instructions not to go into the engine room or the crew’s separate rooms, but she let them run around the other rooms. Though Ezra had only been stuck on the ship for a few days, he had not been allowed to leave the ship for long in between missions, so he had a lot of built up energy. Hera and the rest of the crew were happy to see Ezra letting out his energy. 

“Why are we going to the Sido system?” Zeb asked, as the crew watched Ezra run through the room and out the hallway in search of his Loth cat, Chopper at his heels. 

“Fulcrum said there’s a group of Wookie prisoners on an imperial ship and we need to save them and get them home,” Hera said. 

“What else did Fulcrum say?” Sabine asked, always curious. Hera glared at her. 

“You know I can’t tell you that.” 

“Why not? Is it because you don’t trust me with the information?” 

“Of course not. I’ve told you before, Sabine. It’s safer to have less information. Especially from Fulcrum,” Hera said. Sabine had heard this from Hera many times. 

“Say you got captured and they tortured you for information. You could only give the information you know, therefore you are not as valuable to capture because you couldn’t give them the information. In other words, we are trying to keep you safe,” Kanan added. 

“But I know how to keep myself safe. And if I had the information, I wouldn’t be careless enough to spout it out.” 

“Sometimes, you don’t always have a choice. They could torture, manipulate, or drug you for the information. Hera and I don’t want you to have to go through that. Keeping information from you is just a precaution, it has nothing to do with trust,” Kanan told her. 

“Ya, Sabine. I’ve never talked to Fulcrum and I’ve been here way longer than you,” Zeb told her. 

Sabine was going to argue with the crew, but at that moment, Ezra came up to the table with his Loth cat in hand. 

“I know Falrum! Mommy and Daddy talked to him. They said it was a secret and I couldn’t listen. They said they were talking to Falrum.” This caught the crew’s interest. 

“Were they part of the rebels?” Hera asked. 

“Ya. They went on missions, like you. I always wanted to go, but they said I had to stay with Uncle Tseebo. Just like you make me stay with Hera.” 

The crew smiled. 

“They wanted to protect you, like we do, Ezra,” Kanan said. 

“Can I rescue the wooty with you?” 

“How did you hear us talking about that?” 

“Chopper turned his com on so we can listen to you while we play games.”

“So you’re a spy?” Zeb asked. “Do you know what we do with spies?” Ezra looked at Zeb and shook his head. 

Zeb leapt up from his chair and picked Ezra up, swinging him around, causing Ezra to giggle. 

“Careful, Zeb,” Hera said. 

“We beat them up and throw them off the ship!” Zeb attacked Ezra with tickles and then pretended to bring Ezra to the airlock. 

“No, Zeb,” Ezra said through his laughs. “I’m innocent!” 

“You sure?”

“Yes!” Ezra laughed as Zeb set him down. Then Ezra said, “just kidding.” He held up a com. From it, the voices of Kanan and Hera could be heard. 

“You tricked me, spy!” Zeb shouted and “chased” Ezra into the common room, then he picked him up again and wrestled the com out of his hands. Ezra smiled at Zeb and then struggled to be let free. Ezra hit Zeb in the arm. The blow was so weak, Zeb barely felt it, but he pretended to fall to the ground in agony. 

Kanan and Sabine were glad the two were getting along, especially since Ezra didn’t seem afraid that Zeb would hurt him. But Hera thought it was getting too rough. 

“Boys, no rough housing on my ship,” Hera said. “Save it for the Empire.” 

“Hey, that reminds me, you said I could teach Ezra self defence,” Zeb said. 

“What’s self depence?” Ezra asked Zeb.

“It means learning how to take care of yourself,” Sabine said. 

“I know how to do that already!” Ezra protested. “I lived without a mom or dad when I was a baby. I ran from the bad guys and they never catched me…. Well except for this one time when they got me, but I got away…” Ezra trailed off. 

The crew’s mood darkened. 

“Did your parents ever teach you anything, Ezra? Like colors or the alphabet?” Sabine asked. Ezra shook his head. 

“They teached me ‘bout stranger danger. They said to use a code name so bad guys can’t figure out who I am. One time when I was running away, someone got me and I said my name was Dev and they let me go because they didn’t think that I would give them any money,” Ezra told them. 

“So they taught you the useful stuff,” Zeb said. Sabine frowned and smacked Zeb’s arm. 

“This is serious, Ezra doesn’t know anything!” 

“Hey! I know lots, like don’t steal from fast people and food that smells weird gives you a tummy-ache and…” Sabine stopped him, looking sick. 

“No, Ezra. I mean school stuff. As soon as the Wookie mission is over, we need to start teaching you things!” 

“And self-defence!” Zeb added. The two looked toward Kanan and Hera for confirmation. 

“For right now, focus on the mission. Then, we can talk about teaching Ezra things,” Hera said, though she was on board with the idea of teaching Ezra. It would keep him, and her other crew mates, occupied between missions.