Ezra Lost

Chapter 14

14

AFTER HIS brief conversation with Zeb, Kanan headed to his cabin as promised to take care of his injury and swap shirts. The more Kanan moved, the more his wound bled and ached.

The door opened and slid shut behind him with a pneumatic hiss. Kanan briefly stood in front of it, taking in his virtually empty and undecorated cabin. Multiple times over, he had considered (and Sabine had repeatedly offered) adding some sort of decoration or extra furniture to break up its monotony, but he had always decided against it. Kanan was a man who appreciated practicality, and he didn't want any distractions while he was trying to fall asleep or meditating. In those categories, Kanan's cabin was perfect just the way it was.

Kanan walked over to a large panel on the far left wall. He pressed a single button beside it and it popped open, producing a sound similar to the one the door did. Inside was a shallow closet, within which hung various articles of clothing. It was pretty clear by looking inside that Kanan really liked gray pants, green tunics, and navy blue undershirts.

Kanan selected a replacement undershirt and tunic, shut the closet, and placed them on his nearby bed. Then he unbuckled the armor on his left shoulder and arm. After putting that on the bed as well, he proceeded to remove his bloodstained apparel as gently as possible. It took a lot longer than it normally should have, but he still winced and bit his lip despite his cautious efforts.

Kanan dropped his ruined shirts on the floor and hesitantly glanced over at his injured shoulder. He grimaced as he inspected it as best as he could. Though Kanan had gotten lucky - the blaster bolt had not hit him full-on; it had merely clipped him - it was still a pretty unfortunate and unpleasant wound. He knew he wouldn't be able to fend Darth Vader off again anytime soon.

Just as he was bending down to look for medical supplies in the drawers on the metallic edge of his bed, he heard a knock on the door.

Kanan paused and straightened, turning around to look at the door. He scowled slightly in frustration. He didn't want anyone to see how bad his injury looked, and getting caught half-naked wasn't a plus, either. Unfortunately, he didn't have much of a choice at the moment.

"Come in," he called awkwardly.

The doors opened, and Kanan was even more aggravated to see Hera Syndulla standing where they had been. Her vibrant emerald eyes widened in surprise and embarrassment.

"I-I'm sorry, Kanan," she said quickly, becoming a little pink in the face. Kanan had forgotten that Twi'leks could blush. "I came to see if you were okay. Zeb said you were injured."

Kanan sat on the bed beside his replacement clothes with a sigh. "It's alright, Hera. To be honest, I could use a little help."

Hera immediately spotted the bloody gash on his right shoulder and gasped in horror, dashing over to him. "What happened to you, Kanan?!" she demanded.

"It's a bit of a long story, and it's best that Sabine and I tell it in the common room together," Kanan said, trying to give her a reassuring smile. "I'm okay, really. I'm just not too sure if I can treat it properly with only one hand."

Hera's lekku twitched - in annoyance, Kanan assumed. "You have to be more careful," she muttered as she bent over, opening a small, rectangular panel on the edge of Kanan's bed by simply pressing it with one hand. She shoved it closed again after removing a miniature first-aid kit, then straightened again. She put the first-aid kit on Kanan's bed and opened it, withdrawing a roll of gauze, a few absorbent puffs, and a couple bottles, the contents of which Kanan suspected would sting a lot. "Next time, maybe you won't be so lucky, and where would any of us be without you?"

Kanan winced. He did try to be careful, always. But more often then not, he was hurt in battle. The Empire just seemed to get more and more souped up with each time the Ghost crew struck. "I know, Hera. I'm sorry."

"Don't be sorry; be careful," Hera said, raising one thin black eyebrow and giving him a small smile. She treated his wound (he had been right about it stinging) and tied his gauze off extra tightly.

"If I didn't know better, I'd say you did that on purpose," Kanan noted, glancing at her with a vague smirk of amusement.

"What? Whyever would I do that, love?" Hera asked innocently, putting the medical equipment away.

Kanan rolled his cyan eyes and gave her a gentle, playful nudge with his elbow. "No idea." He stood up, quickly yet gingerly pulling on his new-but-mostly-identical-to-his-previous-ones shirts. He then picked up part of his armor and stared at it, wondering how in the Outer Rim he was going to get it on again.

Hera took it from him. "Here, let me." She strapped the dark green armor back onto his left arm. It only took her a minute or two. Then she stepped back and surveyed him. "There. All better."

"Thanks, Hera," Kanan said, smiling at her gratefully. "You're the best."

"I know," she teased. "Now, go throw those away-" she gestured to the small pile of torn and soiled shirts on the floor-"and I'll meet you in the common room, okay?"

"Okay," Kanan agreed. As she turned to go, however, she caught sight of the thinking look on his face. Noticing that it seemed artificial, she paused and raised both eyebrows at him.

"What is it?" she asked, folding her arms. A small smirk appeared on her lips.

Kanan blinked at her. "You forgot to kiss it."

Hera laughed, extremely amused. "Oh, poor widdle Jedi. How could I have been so cruel?" She stepped over and softly kissed his shoulder, then gave his armored one a light punch and left the room.

Kanan grinned after her, then sighed, looking back on what had just happened with conflicting expressions of amusement and mortification on his tan face. Despite the embarrassing parts, the whole scenario was a much-needed refresher after his terrifying encounter with Darth Vader (and the typical daily workout with Agent Kallus), and even though Hera was far from knowing the whole story yet, he was pretty sure she'd known he had needed it.

He gathered up his discarded clothing and left his cabin. After disposing of the ruined garments as Hera had requested, he headed straight for the common room, where Zeb, Chopper, Sabine, and Hera were all waiting to hear the reenactment of the failed investigation of the Imperial docking bay.