Rebuilding (COMPLETE)

Episode 11

It wasn't often the Ghost crew had a moment's peace, but when they did they usually spent it training Ezra. He was standing between Kanan, Sabine, Zeb, and Chopper, deflecting blaster fire.

Now that he was using his own lightsaber instead of someone else's, he wasn't doing half bad. It always helped when it was your own kyber crystal in the weapon. Kanan remembered how when Younglings switched from the training sabers at the temple to their originally crafted ones, their lightsaber skills always took off. This was hardly different.

"You've got the blocking down for the most part," he noted from the side, "but you shouldn't just randomly deflect the energy any which way. You've yet to hit the target I gave you."

"Yet!" Ezra insisted, dodging another shot. "Key word is 'yet'."

Kanan rubbed his forehead. He should have seen that coming. Waving his arms to call off the shooters, he approached his apprentice. "You're distracted, impatient," he accused him. He was getting better at reading Ezra's emotions without having to ask him. "What's your rush?"

Retracting the face shield on his helmet, Ezra confessed, "I don't want to miss Senator Trayvis's transmission."

"You don't even know if he'll transmit today."

"He's been on more frequencies lately," he reminded his master, "and I have a feeling. Today's the day."

Sarcastically, Kanan put on a fake optomistic face. "Well, I have a feeling you're gonna get stunned if you don't stay in the moment. This moment," he specified, pointing at the ground. Backing up again, he motioned for the drill to continue.

Sabine and Zeb obliged, and even Chopper threw some charge in Ezra's direction. Kanan watched him train, still not quite deflecting the bolts at the stormtrooper helmet off to the side. They were getting closer, though.

Trust the process, he told himself. He's figured it out so far, but it's a staircase, not a ramp. Sometimes the best way to learn is to stumble through the mistakes.

As if to prove the point, Ezra finally managed to hit the helmet with a deflected shot. Then another, and another. Kanan grinned, but got a little confused when he saw his face shield was pulled back again. His eyes were closed though. Still, it seemed to be working.

He let it go for another ten seconds, letting Ezra get the hang of it. Then he waved again, signalling to the other three that was enough. Right as the ceasefire was called though, Ezra collapsed on the ground, mumbling a little bit.

"Ezra!" Kanan called, running over to him. The others crowded around, wanting to make sure he was okay. They didn't think any of them had hit the kid, but then why had he fallen?

It took a second, but Ezra gasped and sat up, fully conscious now. "I got stunned, didn't I?"

"No," he corrected, pointing at the smoldering helmet on the ground. "You deflected every blast back at the target."

~

At the end of the day, the entire crew walked back to the Ghost. Everyone was pretty devastated about Trayvis, but none so much as Ezra. Kanan and Hera walked behind him, and it was very clear how low he was hanging his head.

Kanan knew the feeling. It wasn't the first time he had been betrayed by someone he thought was a friend. That was the thing about betrayal: it never came from an enemy, or at least anyone you thought was an enemy. You don't see it coming until it's too late to do anything about it. Maybe you can survive or escape, but you can't change their mind and you can't undo what had already been done. Whatever connection you had with them, whatever good moments had happened, it wasn't enough to win them back.