Heart Transplant (Zezra)

Old Ally, Risky Deal

[ZEB POV]

"Ferpil?"

I finally stop staring at him and turn to actually look at the holo-screen. I see an guy on the seller's profile with a long, thin neck and an small, egg-shaped head.

"Who's he?" I ask.

"He's... someone I knew and sold the stuff I stole to before," Ezra sighs and shakes his head. "I thought he was dead, though..."

"Why?"

"Last time I saw him, it was two days before I met you guys," he clicks the offer and scans it. "Hmm... he's got a healthy human heart? I'm starting to worry where he got that from..."

"Not you, obviously," I tease.

He chuckles in response. "Yeah, yeah, not from me, but he knew a bunch of other humans who'd steal to sell to him. I'm actually kinda afraid that it was one of their hearts,"

"Eh, a heart's a heart," I shrug.

"And its only 1 thousand credits," he concludes. "Much cheaper than the other ones I've seen,"

"I feel like that's a fake," I snarl, cautious as usual.

"Maybe..." he seems to think about it before he clicks on the seller's contacts. "But it's better to know than assume the worst, I guess,"

"Eh, I guess," Well, as long as he knew the guy, I guess I can lower my guard a bit...

Suddenly, we're facing the seller, his eyes widening when he saw Ezra.

"Ah, if it isn't my old friend," the guy smiled in an uncomfortable way. "Ezra Bridger. What a nice surprise!"

"Nice to see you too, Ferpil Wallaway," Ezra speaks, letting me learn the guy's full name. "I see that you found a human heart to sell. Should I be concerned on who it belongs to?"

"No, no! It's fine, Ezra," Ferpil replies with a grin. "One of the bounty hunters sold it to me when he was able to take one from an imperial officer,"

Alright, that was an info I didn't need to learn.

I give a look to Ezra, and he holds in his urge to vomit just to keep a straight face on. I smirk.

Looks like he ain't taking the info well either.

"Well, um, that didn't make me feel any better," Ezra shudders. "But, uh, anyway, I see that the organ's only a thousand credits. What's the catch?"

"No catch, old friend," Ferpil replies. "Just doing business. Besides, I got this for 10 credits, so a thousand credits is already expensive,"

"Fair enough," Ezra sighs.

"But," Ferpil smirks. "how about a little arrangement? Exclusive to you, my old trader,"

I glare at the seller while Ezra raises an eyebrow. "What kind of arrangement?"

"Easy," Ferpil chuckles. "I give you the heart, well-packaged and secured, and you don't need to pay me any credits. Just a trade of... something else..."

"What kind of something?" Ezra narrows his eyes.

"Hmm... what about that Lasat?" He points to me, and my eyes widen. "I mean, Lasats are rare nowadays, ever since the destruction of their planet..."

"My friend is NOT trading material, Ferpil." Ezra growls.

"Fine, fine," Ferpil sighs, possibly defeated. "How about... a heart for a heart?"

'A heart for a heart?' I think about his words, feeling uneasy.

"So... you want to trade the heart you have... with another heart?" Ezra questions.

"Yes, that simple," Ferpil cackles. "It can be any heart. I need it to sell for 20 thousand credits!"

Ugh, I hate when these people only care about their business.

I was about to speak up my opinion when Ezra speaks up first. "It's a deal."

"Good," Ferpil grins. "Where can we meet?"

"I'm here in Lothal, but I don't know for how long,"

"I'll actually be in Lothal soon with another old friend of mine. Maybe when we cross paths, I'll give you the heart then you'll give me the trade,"

"The other one might take a while," Ezra scratches his head.

"I'll be in Lothal for a week. That's the only time you have, or else I'll take back the heart," Ferpil growls.

"A week, it is," This kid is insane. How can we find another heart in a week?!

"See you there, Ezra," With that, the screen goes blank.

I grab the kid by the shoulders and shake him vigorously. "What is the matter with you?! Where and how are we going to find another heart in a week?!"

"My diseased heart, duh," Ezra answers with an eye roll. "Once we get the heart from Ferpil, we'll take it to the hospital and give it to Dr Gia. Once she has it, she'll have to perform the surgery immediately then you take my old heart to Ferpil,"

"That's... pretty smart," I begin to think over his plan as I let go off him. "But won't Ferpil notice?"

"He only cares that it's a heart. He didn't say whether it's healthy or not,"

"Fair enough," I chuckle and ruffle his hair. "Looks like you know a lot more about business than you look, kid,"

"Been in the business for 8 years, after all," he winks at me. "Now, come on. Let's get to bed before Kanan finds out that I'm still awake. You know how good he can track me,"

"Yeah, I know," I snicker as we stand up and slip through the halls to enter our room.

He lets out a yawn while he heads up to his bunk. I lay on my bed and hear him snoring in seconds. I sigh and turn to face the wall, but something was bothering me.

I mean, sure, Ezra knows Ferpil, but what if the guy's got something behind his back? It's still possible. If I learned anything about this kid, it's that he doesn't trust anyone. Why does he trust Ferpil then? I mean, yeah, he just outsmarted the deal, but still.

I try to close my eyes, but I can't sleep a wink. I let out a groan, rubbing my eyes to try to fall asleep.

This is going to be a LONG sleepless night...

{MEANWHILE}

[??? POV]

I press a contact on my keyboard, and the imperial agent, Agent Kallus, appears on the screen.

"State your business, trader." he hisses.

"I've got a deal for you, Agent," I say with a toothy grin. "100 thousand credits if I hunt down the Rebels and successfully kill at least 1 of them,"

"Good luck with that, but if you ever succeed then the credits are yours," Kallus folds his arms. "Give us your name and location to where the Rebels might be heading,"

"They are in Lothal," I reply. "and my name is Ferpil Wallaway,"