Before It All Began

Chapter 2

Morning came around way too soon for Kanan. He woke up at 8:40 which made him jump out of bed; he needed get ready, get to work before preparing and opening the pub for 9:20!! Once dressed, the man suddenly realized something...where's Ezra?! He wasn't in bed!! After scanning the room to confirm that, he checked the bathroom and then entered the living room/dining room/kitchen. To his relief, Kanan heard the child's voice coming from the kitchen area; he saw Ezra....cooking?? He was stood at the stove cooking some bacon and eggs....as well as singing?? And he wasn't half bad; Kanan lent against the door frame with a smile as he listened to the remainder of the song; he'd never heard of it before but it had a good message.

Just as Ezra finished singing and making breakfast, he spun around to place the plated food onto the table when he saw Kanan; it startled him of course but he managed to not drop the food...somehow. The kid's cheeks turned a shade of pink "how long have you been standing there??" he asked earning a chuckle "long enough" he smirked. The two sat down and dug into the food "thank's for cooking kid, it was really sweet of you" Kanan praised earning a smile "and you have an amazing voice too" Ezra ducked his head down a little, not used to the compliments "em...thanks...the last time I sung in front of someone they...they told me to shut up". Once they finished, Kanan insisted on doing the dishes whilst Ezra washed up as quick as he could in the bathroom. By the time the clock struck nine O clock, the two left the flat and hurried through the streets until they reached the bar; the man needed to hurry or else he'll be running late to open up, which meant he'd lose money and anger his boss if he found out. The secret Jedi instantly began with the mile long list of chores; he finished reloading the beer barrels, checked all of the drinks to make sure they hadn't gone bad, wrote out the menu on the chalk board outside and then began sweeping the floor on the left side of the pub. Whilst Kanan was doing all of this, Ezra sat at the bar but soon realized the situation his new guardian was in; he saw the list hung up behind the bar and decided to help. 

After rolling up his sleeves, the boy wiped the tables down, arranged the chairs, cleaned the windows, pushed the pool table into place and then swept the floor. Kanan entered the area of the pub that he had yet to prepare, not knowing his little secret helper had jumped in; he came to an immediate halt. The man was gobsmacked!! Ezra, this incredible six year old boy had probably just saved his job!! "Em...are you okay Kanan??" the child asked once he noticed the man; Kanan asked if he had really just completed half of the chores that were written on the list "yeah, and good thing too" he stated "one minute until twenty past nine". To prove it, Ezra pointed up towards the large clock; Kanan's eyes widened momentarily before rushing to flip the closed sign to open. "Thank you for your help Ezra" he praised before becoming stern "now you stay behind the bar at all times unless I say otherwise, understood??" the kid stood straight and saluted to the man "sir yes sir" and with that, he sat on a stool behind the bar and began to doodle in a notebook Kanan had managed to find in the back whilst cleaning. Kanan chuckled and shook his head in amusement before beginning to serve some customers.

As it was yesterday, the pub was completely packed by twelve O clock; no one really took notice of the random child behind the bar, if they did then they'd just shrug it off. But soon enough, Kanan was beginning to struggle with the amount of customers, especially when he needed to go down to the cellar and change one of the barrels; Ezra took note of this and being the helpful little boy he was, jumped up and began serving. By the time Kanan returned, all of the people that were previously waiting for a drink had their drinks?! Had someone gone behind the bar?! Not liking being completely and utterly confused, the man asked one of the near by customers that now mysterious had a drink; his reply was surprising "the kid over there served us, not bat at it either". Looking in the direction the man had pointed, Kanan spotted who this kid was....it was Ezra!! He was in the middle of serving someone, using the stool to kneel on so that he could reach things. The Jedi made his way over to serve more people, choosing to speak once the bar was quiet "hey Ezra"he smiled, the action being returned as the kid greeted him back "you're quite the little bar boy aren't ya??" the man chuckled. Ezra help his smile as he shrugged "it looked like you needed help....I'm not in trouble, am I??" Kanan was surprised by the question "what?! No, not at all kid!!" he reassured "Ezra...you've been a big help today, from making breakfast, helping with this morning chores and now serving". 

With that, they both smiled and carried on serving drinks; Kanan always found his job rather boring, yet today, with Ezra....it was actually really fun. They played and joked about...he really did have fun and enjoyed working; he even thought that maybe - if Ezra liked the idea - he'd bring him to work every now and then, make it a regular thing even. He did recall Ezra saying "if it's this fun running a pub, I want to own a pub with I'm older" he wasn't sure if that statement was a good thing or not. Sadly, after five hours of work and fun, Kanan noticed two men beginning to fight; he rung the bell but nothing happened so he had to go break them up himself. Ezra being....well...Ezra, wanted to help and so he followed which the man didn't notice till it was too late. One of the men was completely drunk to the max so when he was leaving, just to be mean and spiteful, he 'accidentally' hit Ezra!! As soon as the barman saw this, he rushed to the little boy side; Ezra managed to stand up but had a nose bleed, and a bad one at that. Kanan picked the child up and returned him to the bar, patching him up - his nose wasn't broken; some of the customers that saw the drunken idiot hit Ezra wanted to make sure he was alright, helping Kanan by making the boy laugh and smile. Although he was smiling once again, Ezra refused to let go of Kanan - the man didn't mind however as he suddenly found himself not wanting the child out of arms length and so he sat him on his hip, one arm wrapped around him so that he wouldn't fall. He could still serve with one hand...and Ezra helping on his hip. Thanks to the fight, the bar had become extremely quiet.

Finally, it was ten O clock at night; the two had just finished cleaning and locked up; they arrived home fine and ate a late dinner and got ready for bed. Kanan read a story he had quickly picked up to the boy; it was called 'The Jedi's First Mission'. The man was surprised to find himself fine with reading about the Jedi and the force; it was actually nice. Ezra listened to every single word and took in each detail to every picture but as soon as the story was over, he was nearly fast asleep; Kanan allowed the book to fall to the floor as he turned off the lamp and pulled up the covers. He held the child close "night night Ezra" he whispered as he planted a kiss on the kid's forehead "night night...daddy". Complete shock took over the man before a smile returned to his lips; the boy was fast asleep. And soon, Kanan joined him.