Star Wars Moments

Lost and Cold

The rain hit the strips of metal that was carefully placed between two trees, sheltering the two people underneath. A fire sat crackling in the centre of the small camp, spitting embers every few seconds that danced in the air.

Even with the shelter and the fire, to Ezra Bridger, it was still cold.

He sat curled in on himself, shivering. His left arm was still healing from the blaster wound in the battle of Lothal. Being strung up in a sling kept Ezra from burying his face into his knees though he desperately wanted to. His eyes burned and he blinked rapidly, staring up at the ceiling. He wasn't going to cry, he wasn't. A small whine came from his throat making him wince and bit his lip hard, trying not to make more noise.

"Bridger?"

Ezra froze at the accented voice. Thrawn was sitting up from his spot on the floor, giving Ezra a look he couldn't place. He opened his mouth to tell Thrawn to go back to sleep but a choked sob came out instead. His hand slammed over his mouth, muffling the following cries that threatened to emerge.

"Bridger, are you alright?"

The question only made Ezra further curl into himself, wincing when his whole arm burned with pain. "I-I'm-" his voice broke off into a whimper, making his point of being okay completely redundant.

Shuffling came from his left and Thrawn's presence felt closer to him. "Speak Bridger."

Ezra shook his head stubbornly. Mostly because he didn't want to give Thrawn new material to use against him, and he was sure if he tried to speak all that would come out would be broken sobs and tears.

"Bridger we've been stranded on this planet for almost three months now" Thrawn told him like he'd heard his thoughts, "and we may be here far longer, we can't survive if we can't trust each other."

Ezra's fingers clenched the fabric of his shirt tightly, trying to ground himself. "Bit rich coming from you" he mumbled. "Considering you were trying to kill me some time ago."

"Bridger that was when we were fighting on opposite sides of a war" Thrawn sighed in annoyance, "now we're two individuals trying to live long enough to get back home."

Ezra started at the floor for a moment longer then sighed, dropping his head further into his arms. "I...I miss home...my family...I did this to myself, it was to save Lothal and I don't regret it but-"

He wiped his face with the back of his hand, hating himself for letting his guard down like this, but he couldn't bring himself to put his walls back up. They'd been chipped away by exhaustion and defeat, and tonight, watching the flames, the last of the structure had fallen.

Ezra put his head in his hands, muffling himself as the tears continued to fall. "I don't know how we're gonna get out of this, I don't know what to do anymore, I...I feel lost."

Thrawn stayed quiet for a moment. "Well really Bridger, we are lost, so you aren't wrong there."

Ezra spat out a bitter laugh, fingers digging into his head.

"And I'm not entirely certain how we're going to get ourselves out of this either, but keep in mind that you spent years on the streets alone and I have experience of situations where the odds are stacked against me. We have each other's skills Bridger, we can survive, and you told me your rebel friends will find you eventually."

Thrawn exhaled slowly, then spoke again. "We will survive this, Brid...Ezra."

Ezra glanced up from the gap in his arms, lifting a brow. "First name basis? We've really gotten to this point?"

Thrawn rolled his eyes, but the slight smile on Ezra's face made him relax a margin. "We might be here for awhile, better now than at a later date."

"Does that mean nicknames are on the table?"

"Definitely not."

Ezra pouted a little but the relaxed smile remained. Thrawn turned away as the boy wiped the remaining tears from his face. He felt too awake now to go back to his bed.
"Go to sleep, I'll take watch till morning."

"But my watch isn't done yet-"

"That's an order Bridger, I outrank you."

"But ranks don't matter out here though-"

"Ezra for the love of Mortis Gods just go to sleep" Thrawn pinched the skin between his eyes.

The small chuckle Ezra let out released the last of the tension in the air. "Alright alright" Ezra went to his designated spot in the shelter. He practically collapsed onto the floor, his emotional outburst before leaving him physically exhausted. His eyes closed, and a small breath escaped him. "Thanks by the way...for that."

"You needed to hear it" Thrawn waved off the gratitude, "now sleep."

Ezra rolled over, to face the fire, the light catching the scars on his cheek. "Night Thrawn."

Thrawn glanced over at the boy.

He really did look young in the light, curled up on the ground, injured and vulnerable. Thrawn pushed back the feelings of regret that were slowly but surely growing within him everyday. The more time he spent with this boy, the softer he was getting. If only the Empire could see him now...

Those thoughts however, didn't stop Thrawn from mumbling a low response, "Good night Ezra."