Hello, everyone! Katierosefun aka Caroline here! What better way to spend the weekend than writing fanfiction all day long? (And since season one of SWR is now over, I think the fandom is gonna need a certain amount of fanfiction to tide us over 'till S2.) Enjoy!
Battle Scars
Ezra Bridger hadn't even been aware of the cuts he had gotten until after the Togruta – Ahsoka Tano? – and Hera walked into a separate room. Everyone was bewildered, but there was an obvious atmosphere of relief mingling in between. Because right now, everyone was safe and back in one piece. And even though Ezra knew that it wasn't true, he figured that everything would go back to normal.
But then, he found himself being dragged into the small medbay of the Ghost, much to his annoyance. "Kanan," he was protesting as he watched his mentor sort through the cabinets. "I'm fine. Really. Shouldn't we be looking at you instead?"
"I've had worse," Kanan responded. He turned only a little way to look at Ezra. In return, the boy gave him a cynical look. Kanan's tone softened as he re-phrased, "It's okay, I'll live. The second I take care of that, I'll take a break." He gestured at Ezra's face. Suddenly self-aware, Ezra robotically lifted a hand to lightly graze his fingers against the scratches on his face. "Forgot," he only said. "Kanan's lips twitched into a smile. "I can't blame you – I figured that with all the excitement going on, you wouldn't think about the kind of stuff. That's good sometimes." Kanan tapped his head. "Keeps you steady. In the moment. Resilient."
"Whatever you say," Ezra only replied. Kanan let out a quiet laugh, causing the boy to beam with pride. "Coe on, kid – hop up. I've got the stuff." Kanan waved the small kit in his hands. Ezra obliged, jumping on the small cot in the room. "To be honest, though, this," Ezra pointed at the twin marks on his face, "isn't all too bad. Besides, I thought you weren't a big fan of medical issues?"
"Not a big fan, but that doesn't mean that it's not necessary. You'd be surprised by what I can do in a crisis." Kanan replied, shuffling through the bandages. He held one up and when Ezra didn't show any great signs of preference, the older man went back to preparing the bandage. Ezra, on the other hand, stared at Kanan. In a crisis, he thought to himself. Like we haven't had enough of those already.
"Here. Stay still, alright?" Kanan asked, leaning forward. Ezra waved his hands around halfheartedly, only to be quickly put down by a single look from the older man. With a sigh, Ezra let Kanan put the bandage over. "There," Ezra said, hopping off the cot. "You know, I could have done that by myself. Seeing that I've done that sort of stuff before?" Kanan smirked as he closed the kit. "You kidding?" he asked. "I don't think you come here a ton. You'd probably mix up the kits or something."
"I would not!" Ezra protested.
"Keep telling tha to yourself, kid. One day, you might actually believe it. That'd be a real mess," Kanan laughed. Ezra shook his head and started to walk out of the medbay. Kanan followed out, and while the two walked down the corridor, Ezra managed to ask, "Were you serious, though?"
"Serious about what?"
"About what you said before – you've had worse?" Ezra asked slowly. Kanan flicked his eyes down at the younger boy. There was a pause, and for a second, Ezra wondered if he had stumbled into something private. (It wouldn't be his first time.) But to his pleasant surprise, Kanan's face remained neutral. "I've had worse," he confirmed.
"Oh." Ezra's voice was quiet.
"Hey." Kanan nudged Ezra by the shoulder. "But that was…still pretty intense. I know I have you to thank for getting me out." Ezra looked up. Kanan's eyes were surprisingly gentle. Ezra felt heat warming up his face at the gesture. "The others helped out, too," he responded. He shifted his weight. "So…you should probably thank them, too."
"Good point," Kanan replied with a light shrug of his shoulders. Tone becoming more serious, Ezra's mentor added, "But I heard you were the one who really did the persuading."
Ezra shrugged his shoulders. "You…" He tried to search for the right words. After wildly searching his mind for something right to say (that was a new feeling), he said, "Would have done the same thing for me." Kanan nodded his head once. He opened his mouth, as if he was about to say something more – but then, closing his mouth, Kanan nodded again and headed back down the hallway. Ezra spared a few seconds to watch his mentor and quietly walked back to his own quarters.
xXx
A week later, Ezra's scars turned into something between respect and amusement. "Should I call you Scarface from now on?" Zeb asked, jabbing a finger at the identical, worn-looking scars. "Zeb," Sabine scolded, smacking the Lasat on the arm. She looked over at Ezra. "I like them. It gives you a very...different look. Less innocent." Ezra grinned. "Thanks," he replied, sitting down across the older girl.
"You shouldn't be calling Ezra Scarface, anyways," Hera called from her corner of the room. "It's not very nice."
"First battle scars, too," Kanan added. He gave Ezra a wink. The boy smiled. Then, turning to Zeb and Sabine, he said, "I was up against the Inquisitor. Come on. That's pretty impressive." Zeb rolled his eyes. "Looks like your ego's returning," Sabine said with a small smirk. Ezra leaned back in his seat. "Hey, what can I say?" he asked, rolling his light saber between his hands. "I think I get bragging rights."
"I wouldn't go that far," Hera said. (Ezra, however, saw Kanan trying to suppress a grin.)
"What about you, Ahsoka? Anything on scars?" Ezra asked, looking over at the Togruta. The woman looked around the room – Ahsoka (Fulcrum, whatever) had agreed to stay for a few days, and she already had a bit of a reputation for sharing certain stories. Ahsoka blinked. "A few," she replied. "You see a lot after a while." Then, letting out a laugh, she added, "To be honest, though, I knew someone with a scar. Only I don't think he would have appreciated being called Scarface, either. So keep it light on the jokes."
"Ha!" Ezra gave Zeb a pointed look. "Hear that?"
"Whatever, kid."
A/N - Because I feel like most of my SWR fics have been a bit angst-y. I'm going to try to write more humorous SWR fics in the future, because I feel that humor is the genre that I especially like. XD
Reviews are always awesome! Constructive criticism is tolerable, but flames are not!