Family by Birth

Sabine wasn't certain how long she stood there, in the snow, watching the patch of sky that the _Phantom_ had disappeared into. It had been so strange, watching it go, taking Kanan and Ezra with it, cutting her off from Zeb and Chopper and Rex and everyone else. She hadn't felt like this since the day she had left her clan behind; unattached and drifting.

In her mind, she knew there was a difference. Kanan and Ezra had respected her choice, even agreed with it. She knew that she had their support, even if they weren't right there by her side. But her heart didn't seem to give a damn. That was probably why a stray tear was making its way down her cheek right now.

Oh yeah, they would never be hearing about this!

Quietly chuckling at the thought of good-natured ribbing she would receive from her de-facto family, she wiped the wetness away from her eyes. She was so wrapped up in the image of it that she didn't hear the footsteps in the snow behind her until they were almost on top of her. Her spine stiffened a little and she nearly jumped.

"Hey," a voice said over her shoulder. For a moment - just an instant - she could have sword had heard heard Ezra. But the voice resolved itself into another one, just as familiar but somehow more distant.

Mercifully, Tristan wasn't making a move to get her to turn around or look at him or anything equally as annoying and humiliating.

"Hey," she answered back, softly, trying to get her thoughts under control.

"So, crazy day, huh?" Tristan went on.

"Yeah," Sabine replied, awkwardly, "how's mother taking everything?"

"Well, you know how she gets," he replied, taking a couple steps forward to come even with Sabine, "silent and serious and pondering. Trying to be all fearless-leader-like even though she's just as messed up as the rest of us."

Sabine gave a huff, looking down at the Darksaber, still held in one hand. "Guess I kinda tipped over the jogan cart, coming back with this thing, huh?"

"Yeah, but it needed tipping," Tristan replied, "it was time we were reminded what being Mandalorian is all about."

"The family, the clan, and the house," Sabine said as if reciting by rote, "all these shall come before all others. It's not as easy as it sounds, is it?"

"Not when the Empire's involved, too," Tristan agreed, "they mess up everything."

"You have no idea," Sabine said sadly.

A warm hand landed on her shoulder and she looked up at her brother. He looked a little afraid but also like he was determined at last to look at something with fresh eyes.

"Tell me about it?" he asked, without a hint of sarcasm or irony.

She gave him a weak smile and rested her hand over his. "I don't even know where to begin, Tristan," she said, "there's so many explanations that I owe you all. Some of it pretty unbelievable. Honestly, I'm a little scared everyone's going to call me a liar and boot me back out again." She had said the last part as lightly and flippantly as she could, but somehow she knew that Tristan was going to see right through that.

Tristan looked down at her, a little aghast. "Is that really what you think of us? Of your family?" he asked.

Sabine gave a sigh. "Do you really want an answer for that?"

"No," he admitted, "but maybe I should hear it anyway. I've been wrapped up in my own point of view long enough."

And so they stood there, for another hour or more. Sabine spoke and Tristan listened. She told him about the academy on Mandalore, of helping to develop weapons only to see them turned on her own people. She told him of the Empire's merciless murder of children simply because they happened to have a connection to the Force. She told him of Ketsu and their falling out and of how she had come to join Kanan, Hera, and Zeb on the _Ghost_ and how Ezra joined them. And finally, when she was ready, as if all of that had just been a run-up to the important thing, she told him about how she had felt when she stood up to the Empire for her family only to have them cast her out.

"Wow," was the only thing Tristan could manage when she was done.

"Yeah," Sabine said in agreement.

"Guess we really screwed that up," he said.

"I did too," Sabine said, "and I'm willing to accept that I might never really be a part of the family again, but-"

"Hey, whoa, stop!" Tristan exclaimed, turning to face her and resting both hands on her shoulders. "Maybe things are going to be weird for a while, but we're not making that mistake again, Sabine. What kind of family would we be if we didn't give blood a second chance? We wouldn't even be one."

"Tristan, would you say that if I wasn't your sister?" she asked. "Would you think that of me if I was just some other random Mandalorian from another house and clan?"

"Probably not," he admitted, "but I should also be ready to face that whole other clan standing behind you if you were. Or at the very least, your big brother."

"Blood matters," a new voice broke in on the conversation. Brother and sister both looked up to see their mother only a few steps away. "Two words to sum up what it means to be Mandalorian. We've all let the Empire come between us for too long. It is time to be Mandalorian again."

Sabine's eyes watered anew as she looked over to Ursa, filling faster than they had in years. She felt her knees weaken a little and before she knew it, she felt Tristan's arm around her, holding her close to him, holding her up. A moment later and Ursa had come forward, wrapping an arm around each of her children.