When Depa pressed the door chime, there was no response, but she could feel her former padawan’s presence nearby, plain as day, without even needing to search for him. She reached out, sending a soft mental nudge across their bond, letting him know it was her outside his door.
“It’s open!” she heard Caleb’s voice call.
When Depa entered Caleb’s quarters, she found the common room empty. She crossed to one of the bedrooms and peered through the open door, stopping in her tracks at the sight that greeted her, and the emotional storm that crowded the room.
Ezra was still in bed, lying curled up on his side, his eyes wide as he stared blankly into space. He wasn’t crying now, but his eyes were tinged red and there were faint marks on his face showing where tears had been running across his skin not long ago. Caleb was sitting on the edge of the bed, a hand on Ezra’s back. He looked up as Depa entered the room.
“Master Valin gave up trying to comm you and called me instead,” she said. “Ezra didn’t show up this morning.”
“I’m sorry,” Caleb said, turning his gaze back to Ezra, who didn’t give even the smallest acknowledgement of the conversation going on around him. “I should have commed her. Ezra…he can’t today. He’s…”
Caleb’s hand moved in a circle on Ezra’s back, a small gesture of comfort.
“Ezra,” he said, his voice gentle. “I need to talk to Master Billaba. I’ll only be gone a minute, okay?”
Ezra’s only response was to blink slowly, but he didn’t protest as Caleb stood up and made his way to the door. He stepped out of the room and closed the door behind him, his shoulders drooping slightly once he and Depa were alone.
“Is he alright?” Depa asked.
“He’s fine,” Caleb said, a little too quickly in Depa’s opinion. “He just…he couldn’t stop crying this morning. I’m still not sure why.”
“Could it be his nightmares again?” Depa suggested.
“I don’t know,” Caleb said. “He hasn’t said much except…”
His voice trailed off as he looked away, avoiding her gaze. Depa barely needed to put any effort in to sense his concern for Ezra and that deep, aching feeling like a punch to the gut that told her something had happened, something that drove home just how much the boy had suffered.
“Caleb?” Depa prompted, gently touching her former padawan’s arm.
“I tried to touch him, just to calm him down, and he just screamed “no,”” Caleb said. “He backed into the corner, like he was afraid of me. He’s calmed down some now, but he was crying so much, I – I didn’t want to send him to class. They probably would’ve just sent him back here anyway.”
“Has he even gotten out of bed?” Depa asked, glancing back toward the door.
“He did,” Caleb said. “For a minute. I got him back into bed once I knew he wasn’t going to be leaving. It was – I could sense he felt safer there, at least a little.”
There was a quiet hiss as the door opened and Ezra cautiously stepped through it, reminding Depa of a tooka kit assessing the danger before coming out of its den. Without saying a word, he walked over to where they were standing and pressed himself against Caleb’s side, staring blankly down at the floor.
“Hey, kiddo,” Caleb said, running his hand through Ezra’s hair before settling his arm around the boy’s shoulders as much as he could when Ezra barely came up past his hip. “You out of bed, then?”
Ezra nodded slowly, leaning closer into Caleb’s side. His need to be near Caleb was so obvious that no one would need the Force to sense it.
“Here,” Caleb said. He guided Ezra to the couch and sat down, gently pulling the boy onto his lap, where he curled up against Caleb’s chest. His eyes were still wide and unblinking, his face blank. He seemed almost catatonic.
“You can stay here,” Caleb said, running a hand through Ezra’s hair to soothe him. “We’ll have a quiet day, and if you’re up for it later, we can work on your shielding lessons together, okay?”
Ezra nodded, and Depa could just barely hear the small “mhm” in the back of his throat. Deciding it was time to leave the boys alone now that she knew they were alright, Depa walked toward the door to make her exit. She stopped beside Caleb for a moment and rested her hand on his shoulder.
“I can let Master Valin know what happened,” she said. “But next time, don’t forget to comm her.”
Caleb nodded.
“Thanks,” he said.
“You’re doing great,” Depa said with a small smile. “Both of you are.”