I'm back after not posting anything last week. Yay.

But tbf it's also RvB Angst War this week so I'm gonna be doing some stuff for that, plus another Kanan and Ezra centric multi-chap that should be on the way soon.

Night time on the sparsely populated farming planet they'd landed on to escape Imperial detection turned out to be pleasantly warm, so much so that the crew (barring Hera and Chopper, who had stayed in orbit on the Ghost running repairs and making sure they hadn't been followed) had all decided to sleep outside next the Phantom, instead of cramming onto the small ship's floor like they usually did.

This turned out to be the best decision they'd made all week, as the planet had little-to-no light pollution (a rarity in the civilised galaxy), meaning that the stars were clear, bright and numerous once the red sun had set. They twinkled through the atmospheric dust with a dazzling clarity usually only seen through the window of a spaceship.

Ezra, used to densely populated planets like Lothal and Garel, had looked up with abject wonder in his eyes. He, Kanan and Sabine had spent a couple of hours on the first night just lying on their backs, trying to point out familiar star systems and using a chart Sabine had on her holopad to identify local constellations and the myths surrounding them.

Zeb had watched them with amusement, privately agreeing that compared to some of the skies he'd had slept under before, this one wasn't too shabby.

They were just there let an Imperial trail cool off before heading back to Lothal. Kanan had parked them next to a rocky outcrop on a small mountain range that bordered an endless horizon of farmland. The rocks offered good protection from the wind and kept them hidden from any overhead traffic, which was sparse in and of itself. It had been safe and quiet so far, with Sabine mostly reading, Zeb taking the time to thoroughly clean his bow-rifle and Kanan and Ezra getting in some quality lightsaber training with Ezra's brand new, freshly built lightsaber.

While it may have seemed like a holiday, none of them were foolish enough to let their guard down, even in the vast, lonely landscape; the crew was ready to pack up and leave the moment Hera warned them of an approaching Imperial presence from hyperspace.

On the third night, Zeb swapped over watch with Sabine and trudged his way back down the rocks into camp. He barely spared the stars above him any thought, now used to them, instead fantasising about his comfortable bunk back on the Ghost which was far more appealing than his lumpy bedroll. It was probably petty to wish so considering he'd had far worse in his life, but if there was one luxury that Garazeb Orrelios prized above all others, it was a comfortable night's sleep.

Jumping down beside the Phantom, Zeb made straight for his bedding, intent on unrolling and falling into it as quickly as he could. However, he stopped partway there when he noticed Kanan's own bed was conspicuously empty.

Casting a quick look around the small campsite, he found the errant Jedi almost immediately, armour and shoes absent and kneeling a few feet away from a sleeping Ezra. Ezra's bed was the furthest away from the ship, as the kid had jokingly pulled it as far from Zeb as he'd could on the first day, citing it as an opportunity to 'get away from the smell for once'. Zeb had almost pushed him down the hill for it.

The night was cloudless, and in the light of the stars it was bright enough for Zeb to see that Kanan was frowning intently. As Zeb watched, he cautiously reached his hand forward as if to touch Ezra's sleeping body, only to reconsider it and then pull back.

Weird, Zeb thought.

He yawned, feeling his bedroll call to him across the way. They'd walked a fair distance down the hill and across the plains to the nearest settlement for fresh supplies that day, and he was owed a good night's rest- even if the sleeping bag was lumpy and the ground hard. But then he glanced again at Kanan, who was anxiously running a hand through his loose hair, and sighed. Some things you just couldn't ignore.

"Kanan?" Zeb said quietly, his words carrying through the quiet night. "You… right there?"

Kanan nodded, not surprised by Zeb's presence and still frowning his weirdly shaped eyebrows. He again half-reached for Ezra and aborted the move awkwardly when the kid flinched in his sleep.

"Yeah, Zeb, fine. I'm just not sure what to, uh, do," Kanan finally replied at a low whisper. Zeb recognised an undertone of panic there that put him on low alert, and he set a hand cautiously on the bow-rifle strapped to his back.

"Something wrong with the kid?" Zeb asked, pricking his ears up and trying to search out any possible danger. Sabine was up on the top of the rocky outcrop and had a clear view three-sixty degree view of the landscape, but it was always possible that either of them had missed something

"Potentially," Kanan said back, now rubbing his hands up and down his thighs. "It, uh, might not be a problem but at the same time it, uh…" In lieu of further explanation, the Jedi gestured uselessly towards Ezra.

Now curious and more awake than before, Zeb tiptoed across the camp to see what the problem was. He crouched onto his knees beside Kanan and frowned down at the sleeping kid. Nothing immediately seemed to be out of the ordinary; Ezra still had the same dark brown skin tone, floppy hair and ratty old orange jumpsuit, but Zeb couldn't see-

"Oh," Zeb said, his ears flattening against his skull. "I can see why that might be a problem."

Ezra, apparently forgoing covers in the warm night air, was curled into a ball on top of his sleeping back with the bedding twisted around him like a nest. Clutched to his chest like a stuffed toy was his new lightsaber.

Zeb turned to Kanan, worried.

"Er… the safety's on that thing, right?"

"I think so. I hope so, it should be. Yes."

"But it still might be dangerous if he rolls on it the wrong way."

"That's what I'm worried about."

"So what are we gonna do then, take it off him?"

Kanan sighed and tucked an errant lock of brown hair back behind his ear. "I know I'd sleep much better if we did."

Zeb shook his head. "He won't like that. Kid's still got street mentality, who knows how he'll react to someone trying to steal 'is stuff."

He'd shared a room with the kid for months, and there were still nights where he took a trip to the 'fresher and startled the kid awake on accident just by standing too close to the bunk. Something sad clenched at Zeb's heart every time he saw the kid's wild, unfocused eyes ram open as he tried to scramble away only to hit the back wall.

"I know, I know," whispered Kanan. "And if he's startled, he still might hurt himself."

They both turned to contemplate the sleeping kid before them. Zeb knew there had been nights he'd held his bow-rifle similarly in his sleep, ready to jump up and fight at a moment's notice. Sabine, he knew, also had a habit of sleeping with her blasters in hand, and he didn't doubt that both Hera and Kanan had a weapon easily in reach at all times.

The difference, however, was that they were all trained soldiers to an extent, while Ezra had only months ago been a civilian; not only that, but a child civilian, potential Jedi notwithstanding.

"Hey, what if you just, ya' know, use the Force to get it off him?" Zeb asked in a low tone, flapping his hands about for emphasis. Mystical powers were beyond him, but that didn't mean they weren't useful to have.

Kanan turned his frown on Zeb.

"And how's that any different from just taking it with my hands?" he said with a note of incredulity.

Zeb shrugged. "Dunno, just a thought."

Suddenly, Ezra mumbled something indistinct in his sleep, and the both of them froze, staring at him. The kid didn't wake up, however, instead rolling from his side onto his back, and, most importantly clutching the lightsaber in closer so that it was almost tucked under his chin.

Zeb grimaced and flattened his ears again. The end that the deadly laser sword came out of was now pointed directly into Ezra's neck.

Karabast, that's no good.

Beside him, Kanan had brought his hands up and clasped them together in front of his mouth and nose. Zeb wondered if he was trying not to scream in frustration.

The Jedi released a long, tension riddled breath.

"Okay, I can't take this anymore. Zeb, we're gonna need to wake him up and get him to hand it over. Without startling him, preferably."

"You sure? The safety's probably on and he's been complaining all afternoon about bein' tired."

"I'd prefer him complaining in the morning than accidentally running himself through in the night."

"I think anyone would prefer that, mate."

"It's the best option and it'll only be a few minutes."

"Alright, alright, I'm not arguing with you, karabast. Just wake 'im up if you think that's best," Zeb said, holding his hand up placatingly.

Kanan opened his mouth as though to say more, then seemed to realise that it wasn't necessary. In the starlight, Zeb suddenly noticed the dark bags under the human man's eyes. So he wasn't the only one just hoping to go to bed around here. How long had Kanan been sitting there before Zeb had come back?

"Alright, let's do it."

Zeb briefly clasped Kanan's shoulder, then stood up and took a few steps back. Kanan raised a questioning eyebrow at him in response.

"What?" Zeb whispered. "You're the one worried about a jumpy kid with a lightsaber, I'm just taking precautions."

Kanan rolled his eyes, and then turned back to the kid. He exhaled heavily.

"Ezra," Kanan said, louder than his previous tone but still not quite at a normal speaking volume. "Ezra, buddy, I'm gonna need you to wake up." He didn't try to reach out again.

There was a tense few moments of nothing, and then Ezra twitched and sighed. His blue eyes flew open, and turned to look at the both of them in annoyance.

Tension seemed to ease in Kanan's shoulders. "Alright Ezra, good. Sorry for waking you, but-"

"Yeah yeah, I know," Ezra said loudly, startling them both.

"Know what, kid?" Asked Zeb.

"I woke up a few minutes ago and I've been listening to you two bicker. I think got the gist of it," Ezra groaned tiredly, rubbing at his eyes and then stretching out his limbs until his joints cracked. "Karabast, if I give you the lightsaber now will you guys leave me alone? Some of us are actually trying to sleep here."

Kanan and Zeb exchanged an incredulous look, Kanan blinking through his confusion.

"If you've been awake and listening, why didn't you speak up before now?" said the Jedi, annoyed.

Ezra growled like an irritated loth-cat and thrust the lightsaber towards Kanan.

"Look, the safety's on. There was no danger. I'm not that stupid, Kanan."

As soon as Kanan took the weapon, Ezra rolled over and curled into an even tighter ball than before on top of his bedding nest, his back to them. It was an obvious dismissal if Zeb had ever seen one.

Kanan, however, hadn't seemed to have taken the hint. He was looking down at the lightsaber in his hand, and Zeb half expected his eyebrows to fall off entirely from the frown workout they'd been getting.. "Ezra, there was no way to know what could have happened if you'd-"

"Come on, mate," interjected Zeb. "You got the thing off him, end of story. Let's just go to bed, it's late and we're all tired." He yawned for emphasis.

Kanan looked to argue, but in a moment his shoulders sagged and fight was kicked out of him.

"Alright, Ezra. I'm leaving your lightsaber here in reach if you need it." He placed the weapon on the ground, and added a, "Goodnight."

Ezra did not respond, and Zeb suspected it wasn't because he'd already fallen back asleep.

"G'night," Zeb said. He patted at Kanan's shoulder comfortingly, before stomping across the camp to his own spot.

Now that the excitement was done, tiredness pulled at Zeb's eyelids and limbs, and he collapsed gratefully on the bedroll as soon as it unfurled. Not even the lumps and hardness would stop him from falling asleep.

Zeb settled down on his back, his hands tucked behind his head as a pillow. He gazed at the thick blanket of twinkling stars above him and spied the bright tail of a meteor or something burning up on atmospheric entry. It wasn't the worst place they'd ever hidden, but it was far too quiet for Zeb's liking. If all went well, tomorrow Hera would radio to say that it was time to leave, and they would return to the Ghost and the privacy of their respective bunks.

And maybe when they were back, Zeb would start making sure Ezra left his lightsaber on the bench in their shared room, if for nothing else than for the sake of Kanan's poor nerves.

Zeb closed his eyelids, and his ears pricked in the direction of the sounds Kanan made as he shuffled into his own bed. It wouldn't be long until Sabine came and woke the Jedi up for his own watch shift.

Everything eventually settled, and Zeb found himself drifting off.

"I don't think you're stupid, Ezra," came Kanan's voice through the quiet air after a few minutes. "But you can never know with those things, and I was worried about you."

"You don't have to be," was Ezra's equally soft and muffled reply.

There was a pause.

"Yeah I do. Of course I do."

Inspiration: Eyeloch made a post on tumblr about the various things Ezra has cuddled in his sleep, and his lightsaber was one of them and I was immediately like 'buT kANAn's REaCtiON'.

Ngl I did this from Zeb's POV because, much like with 'Push', I feel kinda bad for neglecting some of the characters and only focusing on Kanan and Ezra. I think at this point tho the only one of the main crew I haven't written is Chopper, which might be interesting to do one day. Let me know how you think I did with Zeb, guys, I think it was alright.

Also, this has literally an entire page of exposition because I am apparently unable to write without building out the scene first. I debated whether all that stuff actually fit with the fic, buuuuuuuuut screw it I like it so it stays.

G out. *cha cha's real smooth away*