*in a magician voice* For the last chapter, I have brought fluff! Pure, amazing fluff! Enjoy!

Ezra groaned softly as he was gently pulled out of the warm waters of unconsciousness. However, it was not a happy awakening. His entire body burned and ached. His mouth felt like it had been stuffed with cotton and his stomach felt hollow, as if he hadn't eaten in days. His eyelids felt heavy, which made Ezra wonder how long he had been unconscious. He had only flashes of memory that were interrupted by the tube, something Ezra did not appreciate. Oh, well. At least the blasted tube and straps were gone.

Ezra turned his head slowly, and groaned again at the pain that rippled up his neck from lack of movement.

"Ezra?" a voice called out, almost distant. "Ezra, can you hear me?"

"Dad?" Ezra whimpered without thinking. He heard the sound of someone sucking in a breath. Ezra's face tensed in another failed attempt to open his eyes. "Am I dead?"

"No, but you tried."

After some effort, Ezra was finally able to pry his eyes open. When his blurred vision cleared, he saw Kanan's face. He didn't have his mask on, allowing Ezra to see his full face and the shock and concern it held. When he sensed Ezra fully regain consciousness, he smiled. "Welcome back, buddy."

"What happened?" Ezra whispered, his voice hoarse. "The last thing I remember is my ship exploding. How am I still alive?"

"The medics were wondering the same thing. You…" Kanan hesitated, unsure if he was ready to explain what happened. He shook his head and sighed. "I don't know what you did, but you survived the explosion. You were thrown into space, but Hera was able to get you back onto the light cruiser and the medics were able to get you breathing again. You got some pretty nasty burns, so they kept you under medication until they were healed."

"How long was I out?" Ezra asked, though he could only guess.

Kanan sighed. "You've been out for about three weeks. They finally decided to take you off the medicine last night and let you wake up on your own."

"I had flashes of waking up, but I thought I was dreaming. I had a nightmare though. I was lying down strapped down on a bed. I don't know if that was real or not."

Kanan pursed his lips. "It may or may not have been…"

Ezra's eyes widened. "Why would they do that?"

"Because they didn't want you moving around and worsening your injuries. Honestly, I thought the straightjacket treatment was a bit too much, but the medics here knew what they were doing. They did save your life." Kanan sighed as he narrowed his sightless eyes. "It was more than I could do anyway…"

"Kanan?" Ezra asked, concern in his hoarse voice.

"Nothing…" Kanan replied. "I'm fine. I'll go tell the others you're awake."

Ezra nodded as Kanan stood and left the room.

One by one, over the course of a several hours, the crew came and went.

Sabine was the first one to enter the room. Her hair was a mess due to the fact that she was trying to catch up on lost sleep when she got the news. She had bolted out of bed and towards the medbay, not caring about appearance. She was still suffering from the grogginess that came after a short nap, but was alert all the same. "Welcome back," Sabine greeted.

"Good to be back," Ezra replied. "Nice bedhead."

"You have quite the rat's nest yourself," Sabine replied with a smile. "You should know that you scared everyone to death. Even Chopper was worried."

"That bad, huh?"

"Yeah, Zeb and Chopper actually got along while you were sleeping."

"Did I also miss Mustafar freezing over?"

"Not quite."

Sabine ruffled Ezra's hair and they continued chatting until Zeb came in and told Sabine dinner was ready.

"Karabast!" Zeb cried. "Don't scare us like that!"

Ezra flinched at Zeb's harsh tone.

Zeb felt a pang of guilt. "I'm…I'm sorry…I…"

Ezra shook his head. "It's fine. That's all everyone's telling me. It's either about how much I scared them or my condition. I'm used to it."

"No, it's not fine…" Zeb muttered. "What happened wasn't your fault. It was on the Empire. I'm just glad you're alive. The ship would get pretty boring without you."

Ezra smirked. "Oh, ha ha. What about you? If me getting hurt was all it took for you to get along with Chopper, I should have gotten hurt ages ago."

Zeb shrugged. "Not my problem Chopper is getting soft?"

"Chopper? Not in a million years. I think you're the one who's getting soft."

Zeb rolled his eyes. "As much as I hate to admit it, I think that much may be true…"

"So...are you admitting I'm right?"

"Don't get used to it."

Hera was the last one, as she was too afraid to see Ezra. She was relieved that he was alive and was going to make a full recovery. However, she couldn't shake that image of Ezra floating in space in the middle of debris, badly burned and covered in frost. "How can I face him? This is my fault…"

Hera sighed. She took a deep breath and willed the butterflies in her stomach to go away before she entered the room.

Ezra looked better. He looked tired, but he looked better than he did before. The bed was cranked up so that the padawan was lying in a semi-seated position. She quietly sat down next to Ezra, the silence continuing for too long. Eventually, it became too unbearable. "Say something, Hera…" Ezra murmured. "Anything…"

Hera sighed and took Ezra's hand. "I'm sorry…" she whispered.

"For what?" Ezra asked.

Hera narrowed her eyes sadly. "I should never have let you on that mission." Ezra chuckled painfully. "What?"

"You say that as if I'm dead," Ezra replied.

"Well, you almost were. You weren't breathing when Kanan pulled you into the hangar. If it weren't for the medics…" Hera's voice trailed off, unable to finish her sentence.

"But I'm alive," Ezra pressed.

"Barely…" Hera sighed once more. "Was this how it was when I was shot down on Concord Dawn?"

"Pretty much. You were pretty bad off. Flatlined several times."

"So did you. Besides, I wasn't ejected into space."

"Might as well have been. The cabin pressure was dropping when we got you back." Ezra sighed, wanting badly to change the subject. "How is everyone?"

"Kanan's exhausted, but he refuses to admit it," Hera replied. "We all are. Everyone missed you. You scared us to death."

Ezra smiled. "So what else is new?"

Hera, despite herself, laughed.

And just like that, the butterflies flew away.

"Are you okay?"

Kanan snapped out of his daze with a start and turned towards the sound of Hera's voice. "I should be asking you," he replied. "You've been blaming yourself for this whole thing when you shouldn't be."

Hera snorted. "Like you aren't doing to same thing. Besides, I came to ask you if you're alright. You've been kind of out of it lately."

"I'm fine."

Hera sighed. "We both know that's not the case. Let's talk in private."

The two made their way to Kanan's cabin on the Ghost. They both sat down on the edge of Kanan's bed. "Spill it," Hera said gently. "What's wrong?"

Kanan sighed, then spoke. "When they were trying to bring Ezra back…" His voice trailed off, but he didn't need to finish. Hera understood.

"You were scared. I could tell. You hadn't been that scared in a long time."

"But I wasn't just scared. I felt so kriffing helpless. Ezra was dying after being ejected from his fighter and all I could do stand by. Hera, we could have been burying him right about now. That kind of thing really shakes me up."

"You really care about him," Hera pointed out.

"I always cared about him. He knows that."

"Go talk to him," Hera said gently.

Kanan nodded and stood. Hera followed him to the medbay. She watched as master and padawan talked, and a smile graced her face when Ezra threw his arms around Kanan, who immediately returned the hug.

At that moment, Hera knew it would be okay.

Just like that.

Fin

And that's it! Hope you enjoyed! Don't have much in the way of closing remarks so I will bid you adieu!

Thief, out!