Zeb can hardly believe his eyes. They know that Hera was telling the truth, they’re looking at exactly the person they came here to see, but there had still been that gruff, cynical, scared voice in the back of their head that didn’t dare to believe they would actually find him.
“Ezra?” Zeb’s voice sounds tight. Suspicious. When the boy -- man, now, look at how much taller the little lothrat got -- turns to look with that animated expression that stirs a familiar fondness in him, every one of Zeb’s prickly defenses drops away. “EZRA.”
Zeb rushes toward their friend, their long-lost family member, and seizes his shoulders. “What the kriff were you thinking, you absolute madman!” Zeb shakes him. Ezra is a little bit more solid than the child that disappeared himself and Thrawn’s entire Star Destroyer, but not so much that Zeb still doesn’t need to be careful not to break him. Zeb’s arms fall limp, his growl fading to a choked little rumble. “Karabast.” Zeb pulls Ezra into a big purple hug. “Good to have you back, kid.”
@spectrcsix















