Last Known Trajectory

Chapter 19

That day, Ezra woke up slowly opening his eyes to the sense of the Force rearranging itself in the universe and around him. He stared at the ceiling for a moment before taking a deep, calming breath and glanced at Eli at his side before getting out of the bed.

It had been almost a month since he had finished his lightsaber. The time he had shared with Eli had been... like a wonderful dream. He had lacked a 'normal' life for so long that this seemed some kind of illusion. Just the two of them living and training together, and exploring Csaplar, the great capital of Csilla, getting to know the Chiss better.

No war. No Inquisitors. No hiding from troopers. Just enjoying Eli's companionship and learning more and more about the Chiss. Several times Ezra had questioned himself if he truly deserved this... to enjoy this normality, and when he closed his eyes he could almost hear a warm familiar voice that brought a smile to his lips telling him that living life was just as important as protecting it. Ezra kept that thought close to his heart. He cherished this opportunity because he knew it was so exceedingly rare and he knew it wouldn't last forever.

And now the time had come.

Change, the Force almost echoed.

Change wasn't always bad but it could be... difficult. Complex. Confusing. Maybe more than a little overwhelming. But it also meant the start of new possibilities... and that was good. Sometimes it was just what you were looking for.

"You are too quiet this morning," Eli pointed out as he served himself a hot cup of maka at breakfast.

"Yeah," Ezra nodded with half a smile reaching to grab Eli's hand and rub his thumb over it.

"Is... something wrong?"

"No. It's just-..." Ezra tried to find the right words. "Something is about to happen. Something important," Ezra explained and Eli looked at him worriedly so he hurried to clarify. "It's not something dangerous. It's not an attack." At least it didn't feel like that. He didn't want to concern Eli like that.

"Oh, I see."

In that moment Eli's datapad beeped and they looked at each other in surprise. Eli read over it.

"It's Thrawn. He wants to talk to us. It's about the investigation."

Ezra sighed deeply. So that was it? Could it be that what he was feeling was something related to Thrawn's investigation? Maybe.

"Better not keep him waiting, right?"

"May I see it?" Thrawn's voice was calm but there's a certain curiosity in his tone. Ezra swallowed and tried not to grimace. Thrawn would get a good look at his lightsaber eventually but that didn't mean Ezra was too happy about it. Thrawn could learn so much from people's arts and craft, and his lightsaber was certainly something a little too personal.

But...

Thrawn had given him the Kyber crystal to make it. From what Ezra and Eli could gather, Thrawn was likely in debt with the Head of House Mitth in order to bring the rare crystal in such short notice.

Right now they were in Thrawn's private office in the Head Quarters of House Mitth in the Capital of Csilla. The homeworld of House Mitth was the planet Copero but each House needed an 'embassy' in Csilla where the members of the Council of Families lived most of the time.

Eli gave Ezra an apologetic smile. It was Thrawn after all. He knew he wouldn't pass the opportunity to analyze someone's art. In fact, the office was dimly lit, only with certain paintings and holoprojections illuminated on the walls around them, just like Thrawn's office back in the Chimaera. Ezra couldn't recognize who could have done these paintings but realized most of them were not Chiss. Even Ezra had gotten familiar with their style. He sighed looking at them and wondered if Thrawn had defeated them and took their art as well. He certainly had a tendency for that kind of behavior. Seeing that Thrawn was still looking at him intently, Ezra finally took the lightsaber from his belt and placed it on the desk between them.