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Christmas had always been a big deal on Lothal even after the formation of the Empire. Kanan and Hera had spent eight years on Lothal with their adopted son Ezra. They had found him as a baby when they fourteen and had decided to raise him as their own. It wasn't easy since they were just teenagers and neither one had any experience with child care but things had gotten easier once Ezra had grown out of the baby and toddler stage.
~*~
It was the day after Thanksgiving and Ezra was up early. He knew that today was the official start of the Christmas season and, like all the kids on Lothal (and in The Galaxy), he was excited about going to see Santa and give him his Christmas list. He entered Hera and Kanan's room to find that his parents were still sleeping. Not wanting to wait, he crawled on to their bed and began pulling at Kanan's nightshirt.
"Il est temps de se réveiller, Papa," he said in twi'lek.
Hera silently laughed. She didn't speak twi'lek that much around Ezra but he had picked up enough to hold a conversation with her in her native language. Beside her, Kanan groaned.
"Why did you teach him that phrase?" he asked.
"Maman, on va voir le Père Noel, non?" Ezra asked as Hera sat up.
"Bien sûr que si. Aide-moi à monter ton père," she said.
Ezra began bouncing up and down on the bed.
"Wake up, Daddy! Wake up!"
"Okay. Okay. I'm up. I'm up," Kanan said.
~*~
The market place was far busier than normal. Not all that surprising since it was a big shopping day for Christmas and Ezra wasn't the only child that woke his parents up early to go see Santa. Kanan and Hera each held tightly on to one of Ezra's hands, holding the excited child between them so they wouldn't lose him in the crowd.
"I need to do some shopping while we're here," Hera said.
"But I want to see Santa and give him my list," Ezra said.
"Well how about I take you to wait to see Santa while Mommy does her shopping and then she can meet us there?" Kanan said.
"Okay!" Ezra said excitedly, letting his hand slip from Hera's and pulling Kanan in the direction all the kids were going in.
"Stay with your father, Ezra," Hera called after them.
~*~
After almost an hour of waiting, Ezra was next in line. The eight-year-old waited as patiently as he could; there were still 26 standard days until Christmas and, like every other kid, Ezra was being on his best behavior. When the child on Santa's lap was done, Ezra calmly walked up Santa; Kanan and Hera behind him.
"Well, Ezra," Santa said as he lifted the boy onto his lap. "What do you want for Christmas?"
Ezra looked up at him. Santa was a big, snowy white Wookiee with ice blue eyes. This was different since, ever since the formation of the Empire, Santa was always portrayed as a human. Ezra pulled out his datapad and read off his Christmas list. It wasn't as lengthy as the other children's; maybe a third shorter.
"Is that all?"
Ezra shook his head and said something in twi'lek.
"Oh dear," Hera said quietly.
"What did he say?" Kanan asked.
"He said he wanted a toy Twilight and Negotiator," Hera whispered.
While toys of Republic and Clone Wars ships weren't hard to find, specific ships (especially those belonging to Jedi) were. How were they going to find one let alone both?
26 days later...
"Réveil! Réveil!" Ezra shouted from the other side of the door of Kanan and Hera's cabin. "C'est Noël!"
Kanan got up and opened the door. Ezra was bouncing in place with excitement.
"It's time to open presents!" the child said excitedly.
Ezra ran off towards the sitting room, Chopper close on his heels. Ever since Kanan and Hera adopted Ezra when he was a baby, the old droid had become very protective of him. Hera and Kanan followed them. Ezra would wait for them but not for long. He had been waiting for 26 days to open his presents. The small tree the family had wasn't a big one (The Ghost didn't have a lot of room for a big one) but it was still big enough to hold eight years of special ornaments plus the ones they got eight years ago. A pile of gifts was waiting underneath it. Half were for Ezra and the other half were for Hera and Kanan (and Chopper, too). The cookies and milk that Ezra had left out for Santa the night before were gone.
"Okay," Hera said to the eight-year-old waiting patiently by the tree. "Let your dad pass out the gifts and then you can open yours."
Once the presents had been handed out, Ezra picked up the one closest to him. Ripping off the red and white peppermint striped paper, he lifted the lid of a white box and smiled.
"Mom! Dad! Look what Santa brought me!"
Ezra lifted out two toy ships; one the Twilight and the other the Negotiator.
"Did you get those for him?" Hera whispered to Kanan.
"No. I would have told you."
"Then where..."
Hera caught sight of a drawing of Santa Ezra had made when he was three. Could it be possible? Hera had traveled the Galaxy for eight years and had seen a lot of things that most thought didn't exist. Her husband was able to move things without touching them, could sense her mood, and make Stormtroopers do what he wanted and her son was showing signs of the same abilities. Why couldn't Santa exist? Why did he have to be subjected to the realm of children's stories much like the Jedi were now? In these dark times, the simplest, child-like fantasies had a way of making things much more bearable...even if it only was for a season.