Taking In An Orphan

Chapter 33

Kanan rolled over in his bed. His throat still burned and he couldn't breath out of his nose, but at least his head didn't feel like it was going to explode anymore. Kanan slowly opened his eyes.

Instead of seeing his room, Kanan was looking right into someone's face. Kanan startled and jerked back from the face before he realized it was just Ezra. Holding his chest, Kanan tried to catch his breath.

"Hi," Ezra whispered.

Kanan, whispering back, said," Hi."

"Um...sorry."

"It's...It's okay, buddy. What's up? Why are you whispering?"

Ezra glanced at the door, then back at Kanan. Kanan took a better look at Ezra. His clothes were splattered with red. Red dripped from his arms, legs, and middle. Even his hair had red on it. Kanan leapt out of bed, ignoring the sudden rush of nausea. He bent down and grabbed Ezra's shoulders.

"Ezra, why are you bleeding? Are you okay? Where does it hurt?" Ezra just looked at him strangely. Slowly, he shook his head.

"No, I'm not hurt."

Kanan heard yelling from the common room. A realization dawned on him.

"Who's bleeding? Who made your clothes all red?"

"'Bine did, but..." Kanan didn't let Ezra finish, he took off toward the common room. He heard Hera yelling and Zeb came out of the common room, his arms and face also full of blood. Zeb grumbled and nearly ran into Kanan before telling him,"It's not pretty in there." Kanan ran into the room, Ezra following quietly behind him.

Hera was yelling at Sabine, who was sitting at the table. The table, wall, seat, and Sabine were all covered in red. Kanan rushed over to Sabine, interrupting Hera's yelling.

"Why are you bleeding? Are you okay? Hera, why is she not in the medbay?" Hera's face softened at the sight of Kanan's confusion.

"Everything's alright, love. No one's hurt."

"Then why is there blood everywhere?"

"It's not blood, it's just red dye. But it would have been blood if you had used a real bomb, Sabine." And Hera was back to her rant.

Kanan was so confused. With a glance at Sabine and Hera, Kanan collapsed onto the couch. Ezra sat next to him, leaning into his side, smearing red dye on Kanan's clothing.

"I can't tell you how dangerous that was, Sabine. You have to help me clean this mess up and no holo-television for a week." Sabine sat at the table with her arms crossed. She didn't seem angry, just disappointed in herself. Sabine wasn't someone who cried easily, but she looked close to tears.

"I'm sorry, Hera. I'm good at making bombs. It's usually really easy and I..."

"I want you to read about how to make them before you touch one again."

"But I know how..."

"I know you know how to make them, but I want you to be safe."

As their conversation continued, Kanan could tell that Hera wasn't all that angry. She seemed more worried and spooked. Kanan decided to interrupt the conversation.

"Can I ask what happened? I'm so confused." Hera seemed to forget that Kanan was there.

"Oh, sorry, love. Come sit at the table and I'll make you some soup." Kanan sat down to hear Sabine's account of what happened.

"Well, I mentioned something about bombs and then Ezra asked me to show him how to make one. I got out some supplies, but got distracted and the color bomb exploded. Of course I wasn't going to use a real bomb to show Ezra! That would be way too dangerous if something went wrong. Anyway, it exploded and then Hera came in and um... freaked out. When Hera started yelling, Ezra must have left. Zeb went to take a shower. Hey, Ez, why did you get Kanan?" Sabine asked.

"Um... because Mama was being scary."

Hera came over and handed Kanan some soup. She rustled Ezra's dyed-red hair.

"Sorry, hon. But, if you don't want an angry Hera, you have to always be good."

"And even that doesn't work sometimes," Kanan said. Hera slapped his arm. "Hey, I'm sick, be nice." Hera's face softened once again.

"How are you feeling?"

"Better," Kanan replied, though he still felt worse than usual.

"Good. We don't want you passing out again," Hera said. "Hey, Ez, let's get you washed up and in clean clothes. Sabine, try to clean up as much as you can of this mess. I'll send Chopper in here to help you and I'll come when I'm done." Sabine sighed, but started to get the cleaning supplies.

A few minutes later, Chopper came in, grumbling about having to help Sabine. Kanan helped scrub the table as Sabine and Chopper scrubbed the wall and seats. Sabine was about to sit down again when Kanan reminded her that she was covered in paint. She went off to change clothes. Sabine knew what she had done was wrong. She knew to be careful when working with chemicals. She wouldn't let herself think about what would have happened had she used a real bomb.