This would be his first meal on the ghost, Ezra knew through experience he should take it slow, eat just enough to stave away the worst of his huger, then leave the rest for later. Things usually took a bad turn when he ate too much after practically nothing, and the last few days had been rough, between just general bad luck on the streets and his abrupt adventure with the rebels whose ship he now shared, not to mention his brief imprisonment. Those dratted imperials had even gone to the trouble of taking the yogans he had….earned, and not even bothered to spare him a few ration bars! Ezra pouted. He hoped they choked on the seeds…

By the time he had finished sulking over his lost fruits and looked up, he saw Hera handing Sabine a bowl which she accepted with gratitude before retreating to her room. As the colourful girl stepped lightly past him he could smell the food, it smelt like salt and meat with that undertone of starchiness that all rations had, he could almost taste it. His eyes followed the steaming stew and Sabine rolled her eyes, thinking she was the focus of his gaze, but for once, his mind was elsewhere, revelling in the thought of a hot meal.

A hot meal!

His mouth watered. He couldn't count how long it had been since he'd had one of those!

Hera soon arrived at the table where he and Zeb sat, as far as possible from one another. Kanan followed soon after, they both carried two more bowls, each filled with the same protein stew. To his obvious dismay, Zeb was forced to scoot closer to Ezra to allow Kanan and Hera room to squeeze in, his face twisted in a dramatic disgusted snarl. Ezra gave a repulsed grimaced in retort and Hera shot them a look that was gone in two seconds flat, melting back into her companionable smile, but it had been just long enough to scare the pants off of the both of them.

Ezra deduced that this little "dinner as a family" thing was Hera's idea given that her gentle smile looked out of place when put next to Zeb's scowl and Kanan's face that somehow managed to convey an air of masked awkwardness and acceptance. Kanan seemed to be good at conveying his feeling through only the slightest expression, or maybe he wasn't, Ezra thought, maybe it was just this force thing the man liked to babble about, he wasn't sure. It wasn't just emotions the Lothali boy had picked up on either, even in the short time he had known the man, Ezra got the impression Kanan sometimes had a hard time saying no to Hera. He was fairly sure he didn't need the force to see that though.

In the corner of his eye he saw Zeb glance at him. he started to envy Sabine and wonder how she got out of this.

His thoughts where completely shattered when a bowl and a spoon clinked down on the table in front of him and the tantalizing sent of food flooded his senses with salty promise. Instantly, his earlier rules of taking it slow were forgotten.

Kanan watched as his newfound apprentice picked up the spoon with enthusiasm and begin to shovel the stew into his mouth. He was about to just roll his eyes and continue with his own meal before a grim thought wormed its way into his head. Now, he didn't know much at all about Ezra, and he could admit that, no matter his knee jerk reactions at first, he knew the boy was more than just some reckless punk wanting to cause trouble. When Hera had told him that he was an orphan it had added an extra layer to Ezra's motives that he hadn't thought to consider before. He grazed a look at the younger boy, who was still intent on his food, and suddenly noticed the hollowness of the lithe teens eyes and his sunken cheeks, even the way he chewed looked awkward. His mind wandered back to the days he had spent rooting through dumpsters after order 66. He remembered the way hunger had clenched at his empty belly with an iron grip and sowed a weariness into his heart that made him snap and lash out if someone came too near. His hand clenched subconsciously around his spoon.

"you okay love?" he heard Hera say softly, breaking away from the quiet conversation she had been having with Zeb. he didn't reply but gave her a meaningful glance that made her soft smile stiffen into a line of concern, before turning to speak to Ezra

"hey kid, slow down a little"

Ezra glanced up at the sound of Kanan's voice and swallowed the stew in his mouth with a bit of difficulty, his throat had a hard time with food occasionally. What right did this guy have, to tell him how to eat his food? So, in response he just gave an irritated grunt and shot the Jedi a striking blue glare before pulling his bowl closer almost protectively and eating even faster. Even Zeb glanced at that before going back to his own meal, the genocide of his people had ensured he was no stranger to hunger. They were all rapidly beginning to expect something was going on here.

Ezra didn't care

The stew was amazing, he couldn't get enough, it was hot and filling and it had been so long since his last bite of food let alone his last decent meal. Ezra couldn't eat fast enough. But then the stew turned unexpectedly sour in his mouth and his throat refused to swallow the chunks of chewy protein. his stomach, which had once accepted the nutrition thankfully, was churning. He felt the stinging sensation of bile rising in his throat. He stilled his spoon a few centimetres from his mouth. A part of him was hitting itself for forgetting how his stomach had might have shrunk in the last few hungry days. The spoon fell from his hand and into the stew with a plop that splattered the table and caught the attention of the three sentients. Ezra sprang from his seat and ran out the room, grabbing the door frame and using his momentum to skid around the corner and towards the 'fresher, the location of which he was thankful he knew.

It was Kanan who leapt to his feet first followed by the other two, he stalled for a moment, unknowing of what to do and frankly a little startled. He was quickly snapped out of his daze when the blur of green that was Hera dashed past him. He followed hot on her heels.

Zeb could only stand dumbfounded, he'd never been any good at this sort of thing.

but then an idea sparked in his green eyes and he turned to the small kitchenet in the far side of the room.

When Hera turned towards the small room, Kanan lagging a little behind, she saw the door had been left open giving her an immediate view of Ezra hunched over the toilet, throwing up violently. She saw some of it had splashed against his jump suit and the thin white undershirt he wore underneath. He knelt with his legs splayed out every which way and his bangs obscuring his face, it gave her an opportunity to really notice just how sickly he looked, the dry, unhealthy dullness to his hair and the faint rash that seemed to be spreading up his neck. The trembling boy turned his head slightly towards her and Kanan, he looked like he was about to speak to her but snapped his face back towards the toilet coughing and spluttering before once again wrenching, this time bringing up only bile. As the boy coughed and gasped Hera settled down beside him.

In some weird, unfamiliar way, Ezra was glad Hera had come, but it also ignited a small spark of fear in his chest, she had an air of gentleness the others seemed to lack, but there was also some sort of anxiety that rose in his throat when he was around her, she was the captain and owner of the ship after all and if she deemed him more trouble than he was worth he'd be dumped back on Lothal without a single yogan stashed away for the fast approaching winter months. They didn't get much snow on Lothal, but there was a frost that came and settled over the grasslands, hardening the ground and sinking into the bones of those without sufficient shelter. If you didn't have enough food, you would surely die. What would Hera think of him like this? He was weak and useless, a useless boy that couldn't even feed himself. He felt her gaze burning into him, why keep him on the ship if he was no use to any-

-the thoughts swirling in Ezra's head dispelled as he felt Hera rubbing a gentle, comforting circle on his back, anything he might have said was interrupted as he once again heaved, but his stomach was empty so all it did was make him choke and splutter, squeezing small tears from his eyes. He gasped in short deep breaths.

Ezra heard feet scuffing near the door and gave a sideways glanced to see Kanan still standing where he had been before. He had taken his shoulder armour off before dinner and his hair was a little dishevelled from a long day, a few strands had escaped the previously tight pony tail. He had expected the Jedi had come to say something along the lines of I told you so, but then Ezra saw his face, his teal eyes were soft and his eyebrows creased in concern, he wore an almost knowing frown. It was a look of… understanding and empathy.

Ezra could most definitely say he hadn't been expecting that.

Kanan stared back at the boy when he caught the deep blue eyes studying him through a drape of greasy blue hair. He let out a sharp breath, at that moment (however inappropriate a moment it was) he felt relief, no matter his insecurity's and concerns about teaching Ezra, at least he would be fed and sheltered, and in some twisted sense of the word, safe. Hera's voice brought his attention back to the situation at hand and he noticed Ezra had finally stopped vomiting. He sat next to the twi'lek a hand covering the right side his now pale face. He looked exhausted.

"we should get you out of your jumpsuit, and your under shirt as well, I think" he heard her say gently, rubbing soothing circles into Ezra's back, but then moving her hand away when the boy looked uneased by the simple gesture. He saw her frown but Kanan knew it was because of something other than their newest member's edginess towards her

"I don't think I saw you bring any more clothes though" he barley heard her murmur, the thought directed at herself. He was trying to think how to solve this new problem before remembering the sleep top he had accidently shrunk a in a wash cycle.

"I have something that should fit, hold up a minute" Hera regarded thankfully him with a small nod, but when he looked at Ezra, the boy's blue eyes swirled with confusion. He found himself dwelling on that as he walked briskly to his cabin

Hera watched Kanan leave before turning back to the newly named spectre six. He sat with his knees pulled into his chest and he was fixated on the wall outside that could be seen through the still open bathroom door. He didn't seem to be bothered at all by the state of his clothes, but Hera was sure it couldn't be comfortable. He had looked distant but when she shifted so that she was crouching on the balls of her feet his blue eyes darted too her as quick as a pouncing loth-cat. Hera did her best to give the gentlest smile she could

"why don't you get your jumpsuit off and I can wash it for you" Ezra still didn't speak, but his wary gaze seemed to soften a little. They stared at each other for a few seconds before Hera heard him murmur a quick thanks and reach a hand behind his back to fumble with the zip of his clothes. She breathed a small relived sigh as Ezra struggled to pull his arms from the tight sleeves of his scruffy attire. Talking to the kid in this state was like trying to heard tookas.

Kanan rounded the corner as Ezra stepped out of the pile of orange fabric leaving him in his sick tainted under shirt and thin black trousers. He was holding a loose cream coloured sleep shirt that looked small enough to fit his padawan. As Hera gathered the dirty suit off the 'fresher floor he extended the bundled shirt to the boy. Ezra reached almost tentatively towards the soft material. When he had it in his hands he grasped it so hard his knuckles went white, as if someone were about to steal it, but then his darting eyes glanced towards her and his grip loosened

"I will- "he broke off to cough, trying to lose the hoarseness in his throat "-I'll give it back later"

Kanan gave a wry chuckle

"it's not like it fits me, kid" he countered with slight amusement in his voice "besides, it'll do you as sleep clothes until we can get you other stuff"

Ezra had an expression that Hera could only describe as bewilderment. He looked like he was about to say something but Kanan cut him off

"better get it on, so we can wash that as well" he suggested, pointing at Ezra's splattered white under shirt. The blue haired teen blinked out of his daze and began to pull his shirt over his head. Hera did her very best not to gasp. As he pulled up his shirt the stretched fabric slid over the bumps of his protruding spine. A red, dry rash cracked its way down his right shoulder, caking itself on his spine, it stopped halfway down only to be replaced with a fairly new looking dark purple bruise that bloomed across his lower back like Sabine's water colours. Although he wasn't starving just yet, he was a good half of the way there and she could have counted his ribs with little difficulty. She didn't get time to properly examine his array of old scars and new scratches and bumps before he pulled the cream sleep top over his dark mop of hair and let it slide down to cover his torso. When his sunken blue eyes turned to glance at her as she took the newly shed shirt from his hands, all she could see was the grim childhood memory of the hollow eyes of her people, starving in the tight clutches of the war many a cycle ago on Ryloth. She raised her gaze to see Kanan, she knew he had seen what she had, but instead of horror, instead of pity. She was met with something else.

Ezra was frankly feeling a little overwhelmed. He was starting to think maybe he had judged these people wrong but then a doubting voice rang out in his thoughts. "No", he told himself, "they'll only disappoint you, as soon as winters over you stick to the plan and make a run for it". But there was another voice that argued in favour of this motley band of rebels, a voice that had always been there, unlike the cold logic that had only developed on the dusty streets of Lothal. That soft humming that usually told him of dangers and traps, but more recently to trust. Right now it shouted to him, "no! no! stay! This is where you should be!" he had always trusted it before, but this was different, he needed more than this to convince him to change his entire way of life.

so then the voice said, as if in answer "look up" so he did

He lifted his head slightly, only to be met with the glittering teal of Kanan's gaze, he saw all that he had before, the knowing and the empathy, but now, shining in the depths of blue and green, he felt something new. Respect, and a promise.

Kanan's hand on his back between his shoulder blades guiding him to his room didn't bother him as much as he thought it would. He didn't like touches, people could grab you too easily when you let them get that close. But that paranoia… that fear just wasn't there as Kanan nudged him through the door and towards the ladder. I'm just tired, that's all, he lied to himself.

"you should rest, take a nap or something, you're as white as snow on Hoth" Kanan observed and Ezra huffed in agreement already climbing the ladder, hoping to sleep before the building headache he had worsened and his returning hunger came back with a vengeance. Kanan was just leaving as Zeb walked in, holding a glass and a packet of crackers. The Jedi halted in curiosity, looking up at the tall lasat.

Zeb shuffled uncomfortably, suddenly looking embarrassed. The clawed paws hurriedly transferred the goods into Kanan's hands, murmuring something Ezra didn't catch, before hurrying out the door. Kanan examined the packet before smiling and handing them and the glass up to Ezra

"I didn't think, you won't have any food left from dinner, you must be starving, not to mention dehydrated" as he said that Ezra was already hurrying to get the glass of water to his lips but Kanan reached up and stilled his hand, lightly gripping his wrist "just do me a favour and take it a little slower this time, alright kid?" the Jedi gave a wry smile and dropped the boys wrist then made his way out the cabin, as soon as he'd left, Ezra smiled back.

Taking small slow sips from the glass he gave a sigh and began to open the packet. He looked at the salted cracker in his hands and took a small bite of the corner, letting it melt in his mouth

Maybe he'd be here a little longer than expected

"I kind of feel better about all this now, in a kind of twisted way" Kanan murmured into his caf as Hera blew on her own, trying to cool the hot beverage down. Her breaths sent steam swirling into the air, catching in the glow of the lights above them that had been dimmed to signal the artificial night. They had both volunteered for the graveyard shift and were currently sitting next to each other right where the drama had started a few hours before.

"about what?" she asked as she decided the drink was cool enough and took a sip.

"this whole training him thing," he replied, moving his tanned face away from I own mug. She looked up at him and gave a warm smile that meant more to him than she could have ever said, he didn't even need to explain. He loved that about her, always so smart.

"I'm surprised he wasn't more trouble today, especially with his shirt, I suppose he did look awfully tired" Hera spoke in a hushed voice, trying to keep her words from leaking through the thin walls of the ship and disturbing the others, especially Ezra.

"me too-" Kanan agreed, "-he doesn't really know us yet, I would have been apprehensive of showing stuff like that to you when we first met" he mused, thinking back to the man he had been without her but then the serious atmosphere was shattered as Hera laughed into her caf. He raised an eyebrow in the pilot's direction.

"Kanan" she exclaimed between giggles "you had trouble keeping your shirt on around me when we first met!" Kanan rolled his eyes and feigned a pout as her giggles died down, melting back into the companionable silence

"but seriously Kanan" she said as she turned to look at him "you can do this, you'll figure it out" her voice was soft and soothing but at the same time determined, she could speak in a way that made him feel he could do anything "and for what it's worth, I think Ezra will make a great student"

Kanan gave a huff and settled his cheek on her covered head

"if you say so" he murmured "but first I think we need to get a little meat on his bones"