Not How Your Stories End

Chapter 8

"HERA!"

Kanan's scream rang throughout the empty halls of the Ghost, reverberating in every chamber and corridor in a magnitude that would have sent shivers down the spine of even the most hardened sentient. In that moment, time stood still, and it felt like an eternity before Hera and Zeb exchanged a terrified glance, before sprinting to the living quarters faster than they ever had before.

As Ezra's bunk room came in to view, Hera nearly skidded to a halt, wasting no time pressing the release button next to the door and barrelling inside with fearfully baited breath.

As soon as she entered the cramped living area, Hera gasped at what was before her. Ezra, still as death only moments before, was now seizing and shaking on the ground; his own body turned against him as he spasmed out of his control and mussed the sheets around him. All the while, Kanan hovered helplessly at his side, his mouth agape and his hands suspended above his charge - clearly wanting to help but having no knowledge or means to do so.

Hera, on the other hand, recognized his symptoms immediately and strove to take control of the situation. "Chopper, set a timer now!" she commanded, kneeling next to the seizing teen and moving any potentially hazardous objects away from him. "Kanan, I need you to step back! Nobody can touch him unless you see blood! We're gonna have to ride this out..." The tone of her voice was as low and sad as the expression on her face.

The room was still and silent, a grim aire surrounding the haggard bunch as they looked upon their youngest member, helpless to do anything but watch from the sidelines as his terrifying fit continued.

It took an excruciating minute minute and a half; just 90 seconds that felt like an eternity of uncertainty, but eventually Ezra's body stilled and they were safe to offer him assistance.

Checking his vitals and finding them as strong as they possibly could have been given the circumstances, Hera breathed a short sigh of relief before barking out more orders out to the group.

"Help me get him into recovery position," she commanded softly, scooting her body even closer to that of her trembling charge. "I need someone to re-set up his IV. I don't care if it's safe at this point, we need a medical transport ASAP". Using a discarded rag, she gently wiped the saliva from his face before starting to remove his soiled clothes.

Zeb responded first, re-attaching the IV tubing before grabbing the kid a new set of clothes and a clean sheet to place underneath him. Kanan, all the while, sat against the wall breathing heavily, his unseeing eyes locked on the floor in shock.

"Hera," he spoke, his trembling voice barely above a whisper, "what was that?"

Hera sighed deeply, her heart breaking for the man before her. "He had a seizure," she explained solemnly, still recovering from the shock herself. "And a pretty bad one at that."

Kanan's breath began to steady, but he still refused to lift his head. "What could have caused it?"

"I can't be entirely sure," she honestly confessed, "but I've heard of instances of seizures occurring due to high fevers. They typically don't cause any lasting damage. Let's hope that's all it was." She finished with a sigh, her saddened eyes never leaving the slack features of the teen in front of her.

As she continued to clean the area around them, Zeb finally cut in. "I hate to interrupt," he said, "But if we need ta' get the kid medical attention then yer' prolly gonna wanna hear the info I got from the other cells."

This attracted the attention of both of the younger adults in the room, both their heads snapping forwards in anticipation and hope.

Zeb cleared his throat awkwardly. "There's a small medical facility on Alderaan ran by a close friend of Senator Organa. They said they'll take Rebel patients 100% off the books for a small added fee. The only catch is that with the recent Imperial crackdowns and the suspicion that the Princess has been raisin', we 'ave to be ready to leave at a moment's notice if things go wrong."

Hera pondered this for a moment. "Well it's not like we're not used to leaving in a hurry," she quipped, the options still being weighed in her head. "Are there no free Rebel medcenters within our system? Alderaan is on the other end of the sector and far too close to the core for comfort. Even if Alderaan has remained publicly neutral during this war, the Imperial presence is only going to go up the closer we get to Coruscant."

"There are no Rebel bases ova' here that are fully equipped," he explained. "We could send a request to Senator Mothma fer reinforcements ta' safely escort us ta' the Alda'ranian system, but I haven' 'ad any luck gettin' through ta' 'er, and with the time it would take ta' get approval, an' the time it would take ta' avoid the increased Imperial security-"

"-It could be too late," Kanan finished, his tone bitter and sorrowful.

Hera considered it all for a moment. "What about Yavin? I know they're trying to hold off on disclosing the exact location of the new base until it's fully functional, but they've got to have at least a semi-equipped medical unit on standby during construction, and it would be safer and faster than trying to get to Alderaan," she queried, knowing that they would have to plan their next move very carefully if they were going to save Ezra without getting blown to pieces in the attempt.

"A good option if it were possible," Zeb explained. "But like I said, no matte' 'ow many times I tried, I couldn't get aholda' Senator Mothma to ask, and nona' the otha' cells 'ad any clue ta' where it is".

Hera weighed the options once again. Everything about this Alderaanian contact just seemed ill-advised, and Yavin appeared to be out of the question at the moment.

"This might sound crazy..." Hera started, an idea vaguely taking shape in the back of her mind.

"What else is new..." Zeb mumbled in the background.

"But what about Mandalore?" Hera asked, knowing full well the immediate reception wouldn't be positive.

"Ya' kiddin' us, Hera?" Zeb asked incredulously. "Imp presence 'as gone up tenfold at least since the 'ole incident with Chopper Base. There's no way we can get in on our own!" He huffed, amazed at her sudden lapse in judgment, even in spite of the situation.

"But we won't be on our own," Hera spoke matter-of-factly. "We already have people on the inside".

"...Sabine..." Kanan mumbled in revelation, having long since moved forwards once again, cradling Ezra's head in his lap like one would a newborn.

The room was suddenly suspended in a collective, contemplative silence for a moment, every member going over the possibilities and trying to hold on to any sense of hope they had left.

"It's the best shot we have," Kanan said, finally breaking their contemplation and uniting them all under the simple truth.

"Wubb Wabb WAAPP!" Chopper warbled in agreement.

Hera smiled slightly before her face set in seriousness once more. The fire in her heart reignited with the small amount of hope that came with a solid plan.

"Alright, Chopper," she nodded, "get me a private link through to Sabine."

AN: Alright you Sabine fans! Get ready for yo' girl! I've been so excited to get to the point where I could get my girl in this story, so I hope you all enjoy too! Just a warning, I have no idea when the next chapter will be out, because even though it's already outlined and partially written, I am coming up on finals week so I'm gonna be pretty busy. In fact, half of my finals fall on my birthday so... Happy Birthday to me I guess :/ As always, thank you all so much for reading! Feel free to comment any thoughts and critical suggestions you might have and don't forget to follow me on instagram: @mrntanks and Tumblr: @mrntanksart. I hope you all have a wonderful day!