Star Wars Rebels: Teenage Response

Relaxation

Ezra lay on his bed, casually floating his precious red holocron in his hand. He had spent hours upon hours of just lying down and studying the artefact. The amount of time he spent in his room however, was still inferior to how often Sabine was in her's...but how could he blame her? There just simply wasn't much to do.
Six months had passed since Malachor...since Ahsoka died and Kanan was blinded. The Jedi was good at seeing without assistance, now...he would still stagger a bit occasionally and he still often had his hand out in front of him, but he didn't need Chopper constantly holding him and guiding him...he just needed the Force.
"And all I need is this amazing holocron..." Ezra happily thought.
It truly was a beautiful thing to him, almost as beautiful as Sabine. Ezra had cracked the item open, and had slowly began to absorb its secrets and knowledge...there was an almost overwhelming amount, a lot of it he couldn't understand...but it was all good stuff. While he hadn't learnt much in the way of stopping the Empire specifically...he had a few new Force-related experiments to run.
"Just need to perfect it..." He muttered, looking at his hand. "...and if I can perfect it..."
He tensed his face, clenched his hand into a fist, and a few sparks surrounded his fingers before quickly dazzling out. He couldn't get the power to work for more than a millisecond...but for now it might be useful as a lighter, right?
The holocron also had many tales stored inside, something about a Darth Revan and some other jibber like that...but that didn't particularly interest Ezra. All he knew was that the more time he spent looking at this holocron, the closer he became to becoming a true Jedi.
"It's so much better than Ahsoka's holocron..." He compared. "This stuff actually tells you things that matter, and gets to the point"
Whereas the Togruta's holocron would include lessons on how to swing your lightsaber right, the Sith holocron could tell you a thousand different ways to crush your opponent's windpipe. Why should Ezra engage in a lightsaber duel when he could just literally wave a hand and boom! Dead Inquisitor.
"Haven't had any Inquisitors to practice on..." He murmured. "Things have been quiet these last few months..."
Ever since Malachor, the Empire haven't proven a huge obstacle directly to the Rebellion. There was no more running away, no more desperate fuel runs...it was just going out there and making the Empire's life hard. The Imperial's seemed to have NO idea where they were...and for as long as those Inquisitors remain far away or dead? It could stay that way.
"That Sith must be dead, then..." He speculated. "If he was alive, wouldn't he come for us all?"
Ezra didn't care, as long as the Empire remained oblivious to Atollon. Things were really looking up. Ezra was getting more powerful at a satisfying rate, Kanan was adjusting to his predicament nicely, Hera was a lot less stressed, Sabine was very happy with Ketsu, and Zeb...well...
"Zeb still ain't beaten Kanan at Dejarik..." He snickered. "And Kanan is blind!"
Just as he said that, he heard the Lasat roar in rage in the Lounge. Another loss at the board game, it must mean.
"I should probably stretch my legs..." Ezra supposed, having spent almost the whole day in the cabin. "And get some fresh air..."
He carefully placed the holocron in the storage compartment of his bed and left the cabin with a grunt as he moved his stiff limbs. He headed inside the Lounge, where the men of the crew were, as expected, playing Dejarik.
"I can't believe you still beat me..." Zeb snarled. "Karabast! What's your secret, Kanan? I swear you've actually gotten BETTER!"
Kanan chuckled and sensed Ezra's presence in the room.
"Ezra, I see you're out of bed..." He greeted his padawan without turning to face him. "Wait, did I say see? Sorry...I meant I smelled you"
Ezra rolled his eyes and Zeb howled in laughter, pointing his finger at the boy and his rage suddenly disappearing.
"Haw-haw. Very funny" Ezra said sarcastically, before punching Zeb on the shoulder to make him shut up. But the Lasat was still sniggering. "Don't you have better things to do!? Like losing to Kanan some more, like the big old loser geezer you are?"
That made Zeb silent.
"I'm not that old..." Zeb thought to himself. "...dumb kid"
"Anyways, where's Hera?" Ezra asked. "She said she'd let me take a bath if I did a chore for her today"
The luxury of having a whole planet's worth of water beneath the surface, was that you had enough to clean yourself. Hera and Sabine had been making particularly good use of that luxury.
"Hera is busy talking to those Mando folks..." Zeb answered. "What was his name, Fenn Rau? The weasel that nearly killed her, that guy"
How could Ezra forget? The Protectors had been forced to work with the Rebellion by opening up hyperspace routes for rebel scouts, thanks to the combined efforts of Sabine and Kanan. They were grudgingly benefitting too, with the Empire not swarming over their system for as long as their leader being held captive was unknown to them.
"Shouldn't Sabine be doing that?" Ezra questioned. "Like...she's one of them, wouldn't she be the most logical choice?"
Zeb glanced at Kanan, and Kanan smiled. Ezra locking himself up had left him oblivious.
"Sabine is a bit busy already..." Kanan told his padawan. "She's on the hull of the ship, working on her tan apparently. It's a sunny day, you know"
"It's a sunny day EVERY DAY on this planet, Kanan..." Ezra thought. "Though I shouldn't blame you, you can't see the sun"
"Hm, that so?" Ezra said with intrigue. "Is Hera just letting her...do nothing? Like, aren't there more important things for her to do?"
"Hera must've thought Sabine earned herself a break when she spent so much time upgrading A-Wings last week..." Zeb supposed. "And yesterday, when she and Ketsu gave Kallus's ship a real thrashing"
Zeb laughed at the thought of his arch-enemy's face when his mighty ship was bested by a modified dropship and some custom explosives. Ketsu helped Sabine as a favour and the two Mandalorians worked together to destroy an Imperial kyber crystal shipment, encountered Kallus and got away while leaving their mark on him.
"Oh yeah, she stayed over last night, didn't she?" Ezra asked, Kanan almost tasting the jealousy in his words. "Those two sure are in love...Sabine only works as hard as she does so she can get some free time with her"
Sabine and Ketsu were always finding excuses to see each other, and Sabine was certainly seeing Ezra a lot less...but he didn't care, the only company he needed was his holocron.
"So...Sabine's on the roof, huh?" Ezra supposed with a smile. "And tanning? Hm...maybe I should go say hi..."
The image of Sabine working on her tan in the sun was very appealing to Ezra, though he loved his holocron...he still liked admiring Mandalorian skin.
"Oh I wouldn't" Kanan advised, teasingly. "Ketsu hasn't gone yet, and there's no telling what those two are doing up there..."
"Stuff that'll scar you for life..." Zeb said in agreement.
Ezra curled his lips. That was alright, he'd just go straight back to looking at his holocron in peace. But...he'd be lying if he said he wasn't a little disappointed. He told the men that he'd leave her alone, before making his way back to Zeb's cabin.
"Shame, Ezra..." Kanan called after him. "You know, Sabine once told me that she doesn't like tan lines!"
"Fuck you, Kanan" Ezra cursed. "I hope Zeb beats you"
But that was unlikely wishing.
When Ezra left the room, Zeb looked back at Kanan. The blind Jedi was resting his chin on hands, looking rather sternly at the table, but the Lasat could tell it wasn't the game that he was focusing on.
"What's up?" Zeb asked curiously.
Kanan, after a little while, removed his hand from his chin and shook his head. He dismissed Zeb's question and started up another game. As they played however, he was troubled.
"Something isn't right" He realised. "Ezra is different"
He didn't know if it was just him being blind, but the darkness surrounded Ezra...but not necessarily from within. It was something he had noticed ever since Malachor. The vision he had at the Jedi temple was right, the dark side really was calling to Ezra.
"I have to have faith in him" He told himself. "Like Ahsoka said, I trained him"
But Kanan always doubted his ability to train Ezra...and he had a feeling that Ezra didn't leave Malchor completely unchanged.
Kanan wondered if his Padawan's time with Maul had effected him.