Ezra's pov

"Why do you guys have to go?" I ask.

"It's a mandatory mission Ezra. Only we were assigned to it, so we need to go." Hera says.

The whole crew was assigned to a month long mission in Hoth. Well, everyone but me.

"Why can't I go too? I could help out a lot." I say.

"This mission is very dangerous. Kids like you shouldn't go." Sabine says.

"But why are you going then?" I ask her.

"I'm older than you Ezra. And besides, they need my miracles and paint work." She says.

I sigh. "Can you at least bring me back ice cream?"

"I doubt they have ice cream there kid." Zeb says.

I look down in defeat. I feel a hand go on my shoulder. I look up to see Kanan.

"Ezra, I know you are heartbroken about this. But to make you feel less alone, one of my best friends before Order 66 will stay here and watch you." Kanan says with a smile.

"Who?" I ask.

"His name is Benny, but he likes to be called Ralph for some reason. He is very good with kids and will keep you company." Kanan says.

"Will you guys come back to visit?" I ask hoping they will.

"We'll see if we can." Kanan says.

"Ok.......I wish it didn't have to be for this long." I say still sad.

"We know Ezra." Hera says.

"I'll make sure I won't destroy the ghost while you're gone." I joke.

They all laugh, except for Hera.

"You better not." She says.

I nod. "I'm going to miss you guys."

"We will miss you too." Kanan says and we all group hug.

I know they will be fine on the mission. That Ralph guy seems to be nice. What could happen while they are gone?

Time Skip

One Month Later......

Kanan's pov

The mission is going to be longer than expected. I was able to leave in the phantom, but everyone else is still at Hoth.

Turns out, there was a bigger amount of security at the imperial base then we thought. Our month of planning wasn't enough.

I was sent back to our base to get more help from the fleet to fully attack. I didn't disagree because now I could see Ezra again.

We all haven't spoken with him ever since we left. Ralph never contacted us either. I just hope everything is alright.

It is in the middle of the night, so they are probably asleep.

When I entered the ghost, it was silent. That is until the ramp closes behind me creating a loud noise.

I heard footsteps coming my way after that. Then, I see Ralph climb down the ladder with a smile on his face.

He looked the same as he used to as a teenager. Same black short hair and same height. Ralph was never that tall, but he has the strength of a professional fighter.

"Caleb, its been awhile." Ralph says shaking my hand.

"I take it as Kanan now." I say.

"Oh, name changer. Just like me." He says.

I chuckle. "Nice to see you again. How's Ezra been?"

"He's been good. At times he would get sad because he missed you guys. But he would cheer up in no time." Ralph says.

I nod. "I would expect that from him. Where is he anyways?"

"In his room. He is asleep." Ralph says.

"Ok thanks." I say and head to Ezra's room.

I open the door right away so I won't wake up Ezra. But when the door opens, he's not asleep.

But something didn't look right.

Ezra was laying on his bed covering his face. He was breathing heavy too.

I walk towards him. "Ezra?"

I shake him gently causing him to flinch. When he looks up, I could see the brokenness in his eyes.

"Please don't touch me!!!!" He shouts not making full eye contact with me.

He must be hallucinating. "Ezra it's me Kanan."

That's when he blinks and looks at me. Ezra squints a little at me to see more clearly.

"Kanan?" Ezra whispers.

"Yes, I'm back." I say trying to calm him down.

That's when Ezra snaps out of his state and hugs me.

"I missed you!!!" He says. I hug him back.

"I missed you too." I say and we both stand up.

I look at Ezra again to see him not looking broken anymore. But something is still off. I could see how tense he is and how he observes his surroundings.

"Are you ok?" I ask.

"Yeah......why wouldn't I be?" Ezra asks trying to sound like his normal self.

"You were screaming." I say.

He shakes his head. "I just had a nightmare that's all."

I'm not convinced. "Are you sure?"

"Yes stop being so protective." Ezra says with a smile.

I smile back. "I'm just making sure. Well since you are up, let's talk more in the common room."

He nods. But before I turned around to leave, I saw Ezra's smile turn into a frown.

What happened to Ezra while we were gone?

We walked into the common room to see Ralph there too.

"Hey C.....I mean Kanan. This is going to take long to get used to." Ralph says.

I laugh. But Ezra remained motionless looking down.

"Let's all sit together. I want to tell you both everything that happened at Hoth." I say and sit down.

There are three seats. I sat on the one on the right and Ralph sat in the middle. There was one seat left for Ezra next to Ralph.

I see the hesitation when Ezra sat next to him. I could tell Ezra didn't want to sit next to Ralph, which I found was odd.

I'm going to find out what's going on.

"Before I tell you what I did, I want to know what happened here. Ezra can you tell me what you did with Ralph?" I ask him.

Ezra glances at Ralph before speaking. "We......we mostly hung around the ghost. Nothing big."

I nod. But then Ralph starts speaking.

"There was one time we had to go to the hospital. Nothing to worry about now, but he was having a panic attack." He says.

My eyes widen. A panic attack made Ezra have to go to the hospital? Must've been a bad one.

"Are you ok now Ezra?" I ask him.

His head is still down and I could barely hear his voice. "Yes...."

Ralph immediately changes the subject. "Tell us about Hoth now."

"Ok well....." I start off.

I was telling them how cold it was there. It took a little while to get used to, but I got the hang of it.

I also told them how the mission went wrong and the rest of the crew needed to stay at Hoth for another month. Ezra was sad to hear that, but he soon brightened up when I told him I was staying.

While telling my month long story in Hoth, Ezra just sat there silent. When he would ask me questions, he would look at Ralph for a second.

It's like Ezra needed permission to speak. I'm starting to have a bad feeling about Ralph.

"Since I'm staying here, you could go back home Ralph. And thanks for watching Ezra." I say.

"You're welcome Kanan. But my flight back home got......cancelled so is it ok if I stay here for a few days to book a new flight?" He asks me.

Ezra tensed up the second he said that. There was now more than brokenness in his eyes. I could now see fear. But fear of what?

I'm starting to get very bad vibes coming from Ralph. But I can't just say no and leave him on the streets. I need to work all of this out and find out what happened to my son.

"Sure thing. You could sleep in my room again and I'll sleep in Hera's." I say. I'm sure she won't mind.

"Thanks, you're room is......very comfortable." Ralph says.

Ezra looks at him again and looks quickly back down.

Ralph starts to yawn. "I'm really tired."

I yawn too. "Me too. Let's all get some sleep."

We all then get up and walk to our rooms. But Ezra stops at his door.

"Are you ok Ezra?" I ask placing a hand on his shoulder.

"Yeah......I'm fine." He says and takes a deep breath before walking into his room,

I'm not sure if it's another nightmare Ezra was worried about, or something else. But all I know is, this is not the Ezra I know and love.