Knowing The Ropes

Chapter 10

A month has passed by since Ezra had become Kanan's Padawan. They had done much training - as well as with each of the members of the Jedi Council; Ezra was indeed a fast learner and extremely strong. Some clones has buried the teen's dad in the graveyard about a mile away from the temple - they had even created a head stone in memory of his mother too. The kid had explored all of the temple and had a few of his favorite places - like his bedroom, the gardens, the library, his and Kanan's training room and the willow tree surrounded by a large pond with a few stepping stones hidden behind the temple. That one was his favorite by far. 

He had also mad a few friends; Ahsoka Tano who was Anakin's Padawan, Padme Skywalker who was also his wife and young Luke and Leia Skywalker (Anakin's wife and kids live at the temple with him). And then there was Zeb, Sabine, Hera, Kenobi, Anakin and Kanan of course, as well as the Jedi Council who seemed to have take a liking to Ezra as they were extremely kind to him. They could all tell Ezra didn't trust easy or much and none of them could blame him, not after everything he'd been through. Kanan and Ezra had grown extremely close; the kid had opened up to the man about his past and his parents - he had done the same to Hera, Anakin, Padme and Yoda but not as much as his Master. 

Today however, Ezra was given the day off from training so he decided to enter the library to find a book called 'Peter Pan'; Zeb, Hera, Sabine, Rex, Kenobi and Chopper were once again away on a mission to discover some information from an unknown source. Kanan was with the rest of the Council talking about who knows what. Whilst the ten was looking for the book, Ahsoka entered with a smile and approached him "hey Ezra" she greeted as she sat down at a near by table "hey Ahsoka, where in the name of the force could I find books on fairy tales??" he asked earning an amused gaze "come on, I'll show you". 

The two Padawan's walked through the library until they stopped in front of a bookcase "here they are" the girl smiled as the boy's face lit up like a lightsaber "thanks Ahsoka". The older teen once again sat down at a table and watched her friend stand on a chair before beginning his search for which ever book he had in mind. "What book are you looking for??" Ahsoka asked, showing her interest as she knew the boy had a large liking for books and information all together "the Peter Pan story, have you read it??" Ezra asked, not taking his scanning eyes off of the shelf "I don't believe I have" was her reply; the boy smiled "it's amazing!! It was my favorite story as a kid, still is" he explained "my mum would read a chapter once a night to me before I had to go to sleep". 

Ahsoka practically beamed as she had just learnt something knew about her cut off friend's past, as well as how it was him himself that had told her!! "Found it!!" Ezra suddenly exclaimed with happiness and excitement; he pulled the book from the high shelf - it was an old book was thankfully still intact. "I better go, I'm meeting some friends for lunch and then going to fix some ships" Ahsoka stated as she stood up "you can tag along if you want??" she offered but the boy shook his head "thanks but I'll pass, I want to do some reading before training". 

This confused the girl "training?? Isn't it your day off??" she asked earning a nod; she just smirked and shook her head. After that, the two said their goodbyes before parting ways; Ezra decided to go and sit under the willow surrounded by the pond - it had a bit of land he could rest on. It was a nice day; the sun was out, not a single cloud in the sky. Once there, Ezra sat down on the grass, resting his back against the tree before opening the book to begin the story in peace. 

After a long thirty minutes, Kanan was happy to say the meeting was over and had left the Council room with his best friend by his side; they were talking about Ezra of course. "So how's his training coming along??" Anakin asked as they walked through some hallways "great actually, the kid is such a fast learner" Kanan explained with complete pride "I think the only thing he needs to work on is his focus and discipline". The Council member smiled, happy from his friend "whoa...he's really good at wielding a lightsaber too" Anakin admitted as he was the boys lightsaber teacher, along with Kenobi "he just needs to earn a crystal and build one, but honestly...he's one of the best at hand to hand combat I've ever seen in a while" Kanan nodded as he understood that "yeah well that's because when he lived on the streets, that's all he had as protection". 

Both Jedi Knights were amazed and proud of the boy but were also saddened by the reasons Ezra was so good. "I'm gonna go find Ezra, see you at lunch??" Kanan asked earning a nod "yeah, mind if I bring Padme and the twins??" Anakin asked, received the same action he had just given "of course!! I've not spoke to Padme in a while" he admitted "and I'd love to see my Godkids!!" and with that, they went their separate ways. Kanan searched the well known areas for his Padawan to hang out - the library and the kids bed room but no sign of him. Next he checked the gardens when he eventually spotted the boy sat against the willow tree in the middle of the pond; Kanan smiled as that used to be his favorite spot as a youngling. 

The man walked over and carefully hopped from one stone to another as he crossed the pond; Ezra looked up at this point from the sound of footsteps but soon smiled once he saw who was there. "Hey Kanan" he greeted, earning the same kind gesture "hey Ez" the boy asked how the meeting how gone "the usual, long and boring" Kanan stated once he had passed all of the stepping stones. "What are you reading??" he asked, noticing the book his is Padawan's hand "Peter Pan, it's one of my favorites....but there's just one problem" this made Kanan smile with curiosity "and that problem may be??". 

The Jedi watched as Ezra sighed and rubbed the back on his neck "because I lived on the streets and then in prison most of my life, I'm street smart, not school smart....so I never really...learnt how to read" he admitted, slightly ashamed and embarrassed "I know the basics but...it's still hard". Truth be told, he had only read three pages of the book so far. Kanan had to admit, he was shocked by the confession; he never even considered any of Ezra's school skills!! "Well...everyone should know how to ready" Kanan stated "so we'll work on that together, but for now...do you want me to read to you??" he asked with a genuine and kind smile as he made yet another mental note to had to the hundreds already made in his head "really?!" Ezra was surprised by the offer and not getting laughed at "sure, pass it over". 

And with that, Kanan moved over and sat down next to his Padawan who handed him the book happily; they sat side by side as Kanan read the story. An hour passed and it was twelve O clock; they had reached chapter ten when Kanan marked the page and closed the book. "Come on, we should get something to eat" the man stated earning a nod and a stomach grumble "yeah, agreed" they both laughed. The two jumped up and made their way to the mess hall, grabbed some food and sat down with Anakin and his family. 

"Hey Anakin, Padme" Kanan greeted, earning the same back and began to eat as they all spoke to one another about different things; Padme was quick ask how the fifteen year old was as she cared for him deeply, maybe as an Aunt would for her Nephew. Half way through lunch, Leia suddenly burst into tears "what's wrong sweetie??" her mother asked with worry; was her daughter hurt or something?! "I dropped my chocolate cake!!" she wailed, the adults had to hold back a chuckle from her reaction from such a small and silly think. The mother didn't know what to do as all of the slices of cake had run out and she and her husband had already eaten their portions; they all knew the child wouldn't stop sobbing until she had some cake. 

Ezra suddenly realized, thanks to his small stomach, that he had yet to eat his own cake that his Master had insisted he have in an attempt to help gain a proper apatite that he hadn't had in many years. Feeling bad for the little girl that he had grown close to, Ezra picked up his plate of the untouched slice of cake and placed it in front of the tearful Leia "here kiddo, you can have mine" he smiled, also sending her a small wink; the child's face lit up instantly, quickly wiping her tears away and dug in after thanking her teenage friend that she loved dearly "thank you Ezzy!!". 

The fifteen year old sometimes babysat the two toddlers for the married couple when they were both busy with work, or when it was date night; at first it was for a few credits and to help them out but soon, he began to really care for the children and began to refuse the credits,s saying he loved spending time with Leia and Luke. So Padme gave Kanan the credits to store in his Padawan's money box that he had in his room. The woman mouthed the words "thank you" with a kind smile, Anakin doing the same as the boy just bowed his head slightly to show he understood. Kanan ruffled the teens hair with a proud grin. Once he fixed his messed up hair, Ezra sat back and thought about how much his life had completely changed in the last two months.

- He had escaped from the hellhole, also known as prison.
- He had killed his father.
- he had discovered the truth about his parents.
- He now living at a Jedi temple!!
- He found out he was strong with the force and was being trained.
- He had a Jedi Master.

And last but certainly not least, he had found a group of friends...a family. A family that made him smile and feel....alive again. Yeah, life wasn't as bad as he believed it to always be.

The End.