Author's Note: Okay if you've read any of my stuff you're probably here with a certain set of expectations. Well, I'm sorry because throw your expectations out.

There's a story behind this. Having finished my previous story, I was trying to figure what I wanted to try writing next. ddaulton94 (You should read his Second Dawn fic, review it, and then pester him to update more often. He's funny. VERY funny.) suggested that I should write a date fic.

"A date fic?" I say. "What's that?"

"It's where two characters go on a date. Oh and West. Don't overthink it. Or overbake it. I know how you tend to write. Just a nice simple date fic."

Of course, if he TELLS me not to overbake it, I'm going to overbake it.

Challenge accepted ddaulton94. Challenge accepted.

So yeah it's not one date fic. It's like six, with a framework narrative to support it that's set WAY in the future. Also, the framework narrative is present tense because clearly, I hate myself.

Don't expect my usual schtick of daily updates. They may be a bit more spread out this time as I've still got some writing to do.

So yeah this is some radically different writing for me. It's been a challenge, and I hope you enjoy it!

WestwardGlance

Family History

Hera stands out on the plains of Lothal. She closes her eyes and feels the wind on her lekku, content to simply stand and wait for her son, to wait for Jacen. He's coming home today for a week. The academy has a break in its current session, and he'll be back at the homestead. She's made sure the rest of her family have cleared some time to spend together.

Of course, Ezra and Sabine are never far; they still live in the old tower at the center of the homestead. Before finally retiring, Rhyder had gifted the tower and the surrounding four hundred or so square klicks to Ezra and his descendants when he had returned nearly nine years ago. That was the start of the homestead.

Sabine has been here for longer than that. She's been on the land for over seventeen years at this point, save for the time she was looking for Ezra. Shortly after Ezra returned, Hera had retired from the New Republic military, and she had had a comfortable house built for her and Jacen not far from the tower.

From that point, the scattered remnants of her family slowly returned to Lothal. Rex and Wolfe came back first, now quite old. Ahsoka had found a geneticist to stave off their rapid aging years ago, but the damage was already mostly done. Rex was happy to get a few more years, and even more pleased to retire with one of his oldest friends. They spend most of their days reminiscing about old times and generally being a lovable nuisance in the way that only very old men could.

And Ahoska? Well, she stops by occasionally, though she never seemed to stay in one place long. Ezra supposedly knows more about here travels, but he doesn't say much about them.

Zeb and Kallus had been next. They had done a good bit of work on Lira-san, but Kallus had eventually grown restless and wanted to have a part in the healing of Lothal as well. Hera had chided Zeb for not returning with a wife, but Zeb just chuckled and said that the only girl for him had died years ago on Lasan. He was happy to serve as the family guardian.

And as for Alexandr Kallus? He is a servant of the people and spends his time righting the wrongs he had helped commit. A year or so after he returned, he tracked down the late Minister Maketh Tua's family to apologize for the role he had had in her death. They were forgiving, like any true family of Lothal. It turned out that Maketh Tua had several sisters, and, in a strange twist of fate, one of them took an immediate fancy to the ex-Imperial. It took two years for her to convince him to forgive himself, after which they were happily married. Hera had insisted they build a home on their growing homestead.

Of course, Ezra and Sabine are doing their part to add to the homesteads population. Sabine is pregnant right now and just starting to show with what she insists is going to be the last Wren-Bridger added to the family. Hera loves the grandkids, as she calls them, but secretly wishes they had come sooner when Jacen was younger.

Hera smiles and looks around the grasslands, content at their little community, clustered around Ezra's tower. She wishes Kanan were here, but seventeen years has taken away that particular hurt. Kanan was now a happy memory to her, and his sacrifice was remembered and honored not just by her family, but by the people of Lothal. A memorial stands where the old fuel depot used to be.

Hera sees a speeder bike racing across the plains. Jacen. She can see that startling shock of green hair even from this distance. He's pushing the speeder past its safe top speed, as usual. She does her best not to worry about him. After all, his daredevil piloting streak comes from her. And while he doesn't seem to have inherited Kanan's force sensitivity, Hera can't help but wonder sometimes; his reflexes seem impossibly fast.

He pulls up to a stop, and the seventeen-year-old Human/Twi-lek hybrid gets off the bike. "Hey mom!" he says confidently "You know I'll still find my way home if you're not out here waiting for me right?"

Hera chuckles. "Oh I don't know about that, even a young man like you still needs his mom." She wraps him in a hug and runs a hand through his hair. He hates it, but she can't help it; it reminds her of Kanan.

Jacen laughs and pulls out of her embrace. "Oh come on, you're always so sappy."

Hera cocks an eyebrow, planting a hand on her hip. It's her signature look and never fails to get it's point across. "Jacen Syndulla I have every right to be sappy and dote upon you, and I will until I'm old, wrinkled, and the color of a ruppa pear left too long in the sun."

"Fine, fine, I know I'm not winning this one. Let's go inside. You've got the rest of the family coming over tonight I'm guessing?" They walk towards the home. He dutifully opens the door for his mother.

"Later yes, but Sabine is already here to help with the cooking." They enter the house. Jacen carries his bag to his room while Hera goes to the kitchen to check on Sabine.

"Oh, is he here already?" the Mandalorian woman asks. Most people don't recognize her as Mandalorian these days. She only puts on her armor for special occasions, but her long flowing hair still changes with the season. Right now it's coral and purple.

Hera nods, "He just ran to his room he'll be..."

"Hey, Aunt Sabine! Love the hair, but I miss the green!" Jacen says it with that touch of swagger. He comes in and hugs his aunt.

Sabine obliges but scolds him with a laugh. "Look, kid, green's a good look, and we've both proved that, but I'm not a one color kind of girl. The times change, and so does my hair."

Jacen just laughs. "Nah, green never goes out of style. It may have even gotten me a date tomorrow."

Hera has just started chopping a meiloorun but stops short when she hears this. "Woah, back that up kiddo. What's this about a date?" She's smiling, but a part of her wants to scream no and beg Jacen not to grow up.

"Umm... well she's uh..." Suddenly Jacen is bashful. Once he had been a shy kid. His unusual looks had gotten a lot of stares when he was younger, and he had been self-conscious about his ears and hair. Human/Twi-lek hybrids are rare. In the last couple years though, he's started to grow into his features and started to remind everyone of Kanan. Since then he's been a confident and bold young man. Leave it to a woman, though, to steal the courage of a man, Hera thinks to herself. She knows she did that to Kanan.

Sabine passes by him and elbows him in the ribs. "You can start by telling us her name."

Jacen laughs. "Right I guess that's a good start. Her name's Celesta, human, same academic year as me. We've been friends for awhile now and, well it just seemed that... I can't believe I'm having this conversation with my mom and aunt."

Both women laugh. "No need to be bashful," Sabine says, checking on a pot simmering on a stove. "Trust me; we're rooting for you."

"Well..." Hera says, drawing the word out. "We're probably rooting for you. I mean if she's the right kind of girl. I have high expectations you know; not just any girl gets to date my only son."

Jacen rolls his eyes at his mother. "You'll like her mom I promise."

"Yeah, well we'll see about that."

Sabine laughs; she is clearly enjoying giving Jacen a hard time. "Relax, Jacen, you know we're not serious. So what's the plan for the date? Where are you taking Celesta?"

He pauses. "I don't... I haven't figured that out yet."

"Well, why not? I thought you said it was tomorrow?" Hera asks incredulously.

"I don't know," he says defensively. "I'm new at this. First date I've been on, okay?"

"Really? With those good looks?" Sabine asks, winking at her nephew.

"Yeah I've had to beat them off with a stun-club," Jacen says, sarcastically.

Hera laughs and pats his arm. "That's my boy."

Jacen looks bashful again. "So yeah first date and I'm not sure what to do about it yet..."

"I can recommend you a couple of good places to eat in Capitol City," Sabine says thoughtfully. "Know what kind of food she likes. If she's into seafood, there's a Mon Cala place that opened recently. Ezra and I liked it."

Jacen shrugs. "I don't know, to be honest."

Hera shakes her head at her son. "Better to avoid the seafood then. Maybe Alderaanian? That stuffs everywhere nowadays, and everyone I know seems to like it." It was indeed ubiquitous now that Alderaan was gone. Famous for its philosophy and art, now it was also famous for its cuisine.

"You know Alderaanian isn't a bad idea. Thanks..." His sentence trails off.

The women continue what they're doing while Jacen just stands there looking lost.

Finally, Sabine steps back over to him. "Okay two things. If you're just going to stand there, you can help. Here chop these roots. I needed them in the pot five minutes ago if they're going to be tender. Second, you look like you're expecting something. Looking for more advice?"

Jacen blushes a little, probably still finding it awkward to talk about this with his mother and aunt. "Well, maybe I guess. I don't even really know what to do on a date."

Hera has a thought and almost manages not to say it out loud. She fails. "Well I know what you're not going to do," she says with just a hint of mischievousness.

"Mom! No. Just stop, please!" Jacen protests loudly. The women both chuckle. Jacen tries to compose himself. "I'm here opening my heart to you guys, and all I get are jokes," he pouts.

"You know I'm teasing. What do you want to know?" Hera says. Maybe that one had been a joke too far.

"Well, what did you and dad do on your first date? How about that."

Hera pauses and thinks back. "You know, I don't think we ever really had a first date. Our lives weren't exactly peaceful back then."

"Yeah, yeah I know, the Empire," Jacen says. "What about you and Ezra, Sabine? How about your first date. What did you guys do?"

Sabine stirs her pot one more time, then pauses, thoughtful. "Well our early years together were mostly busy with the Empire and the Rebellion too, but I guess you could say we had a couple of first dates."

Jacen raises an eyebrow, a spitting image of his mother's famed expression. "How does that even make sense? How can you have more than one first date?"

Hera laughs. "Your aunt and uncle's courtship was a little less than... What's the word here? Traditional."

"Yeah, I've heard some of that story before," Jacen says. "What's that got to do with more than one first date? You know what nevermind. Just tell me about your first first date. Knowing the two of you, it's probably a story worth hearing."

Sabine pauses for a minute to collect her thoughts. "Okay, so this would be... what twenty-one or so years ago now? Here on Lothal...

New Kinds of Caf

Everyone on the Ghost knew that Hera Syndulla had a breaking point, and it was the duty of every member of the crew to make sure that she never, ever crossed that point. Kanan was the master of this skill. Hera would never admit it, but the Jedi knew exactly how to push her buttons to either calm or provoke her at his leisure. Much to everyone else's chagrin, Kanan used this power for evil as much as he did for good.

And of course, even he would occasionally miscalculate and have an incident on his hands. Whenever the shouting started between Specter One and Specter Two, the other crew members knew to get lost fast or get saddled with extra chores. Even chopper avoided Hera when this happened.

One afternoon Hera hit such a breaking point. It started innocently enough. It was a light duty day, a day between missions with minimal chores. Things began to go wrong when Chopper wasn't assigned enough duties and went to help Zeb clean the exhaust manifolds on the sublight drives. How the situation degenerated into Chopper being chased around the Ghost by the irate Lasat, Hera didn't know or care. She did know that when the two nerf-herders plowed into the common room, Zeb was unable to correct course fast enough and bumped into Hera, causing her to spill her cup of caf on herself.

"Oh, Karabast! Sorry Hera, Chopper shocked me and I..."

"I don't want to hear it," Hera said acidly. "Zeb, new cup of Caf while I get changed. Chopper. Go to your charging station. Now."

Chopper responded with a short but very rude grunt. "Oh, is that how it's going to be? Zeb, turn him off. I'll deal with the rustbucket later."

Zeb chuckled as he reached past Chopper's flailing manipulators and turned off the surly droid. "Heh. That felt good."

"Zeb. Caf."

"Right, sorry."

There was peace on the Ghost for the next hour. Hera was nearly finished with her diagnostics when Kanan entered the cockpit and sat next to her in the copilot's seat. "You and Ezra already finished cleaning the carbon scoring off the hull?" Hera said eyebrow raised.

"Finished half an hour ago," Kanan said smoothly, propping his feet up on the console.

Hera pushed his feet down, and he grunted as he fell forward. She hated when he did that. "I don't know. Seems pretty fast. Are you sure you guys did a good job? If I get out there and it's only half done I'm not..."

"Hey, I happen to know the pilot of the Ghost, and she's not bad. There wasn't much scoring to scrape off this time, because you don't get hit by Tie Fighters. Much."

Hera rolled her eyes. "Okay, first you're right. Except she's an amazing pilot. And second, flattery is only going to get you thrown out of the cockpit."

"Wow, not sure I want to be in the cockpit anyway if this the kind of mood you're in. What's got you in a funk?" Kanan asked with a chuckle. The grin disappeared when he saw Hera's icy glare. "Yeah, I'll be seeing myself out." He left the cockpit. He'd been hoping to spend some time with Hera, but it didn't really seem worth it today. Kanan knew when he'd just end up getting burned. In fact, he decided it was better to not be on the Ghost at all, and decided to meditate out on Lothal's plains.

On his way out Kanan passed Ezra and Sabine in the cargo hold. They had Ezra's speeder bike pulled apart trying to fix something. At the moment they were arguing. Kanan rolled his eyes. Sabine was probably right if they were arguing over the bike and he thought about stating the obvious to the two youngest members of the crew, but then realized that it wasn't worth getting pulled into. Still, it wouldn't hurt to give them a bit of friendly advice.

"Hey, watch out, Hera's in one of her moods."

Ezra and Sabine stopped arguing and looked at Kanan. Then Sabine laughed. "What's the matter? Did she throw you out of the cockpit for trying to put the smooth moves on her?"

Kanan frowned. "No, even I know better than to try and put smooth moves on Hera today. Seriously. Keep your distance."

"Yeah, okay, we got it, Kanan," Ezra said impatiently, then turned back to Sabine. "I'm telling you it's that relay right there that's shorting and causing the steering to give out."

"No, that's a fuel line, you moof milker. It doesn't even have anything to do with the steering," Sabine countered quickly.

Kanan left them to their argument. He'd done his duty and warned them. It didn't matter to him if they ignored his good advice. He walked down the ramp of the Ghost to freedom. And to safety.

An hour later Ezra and Sabine made their fatal mistake. They had finished fixing Ezra's speeder. Sabine had been right about how to fix it, naturally, and now they were trying to get it back together without breaking anything else. Ezra's pride was hurt, but he had managed to swallow it. An afternoon spent with Sabine was worth the hurt ego.

Finally, they put the last panel back on the speeder. Sabine's mood had turned sour. "Kid, if you'd just listened to me we would have been finished with this an hour ago. I was hoping we would be able to head out to you know where today, but there's no way that's happening now."

Ezra knew she was referencing the Tie Fighter he and Zeb had stolen. Sabine had naturally been overjoyed when he'd gifted it to her to paint, and he'd felt that had been a turning point in their relationship. Also, he'd tried to lay off the obnoxious flirting. Zeb had cornered him and had somehow managed to beg and threaten him at the same time into backing off. Apparently, everyone was sick of it. Since then he and Sabine had been on much better terms.

And yet here she was calling him Kid again. He followed her up the ladder towards the crew quarters. "Sorry, I thought you weren't calling me Kid anymore."

"Hmm, well if you act like it and the name fits, I'm going to use it. Kid." She added the last with deliberate emphasis and rolled her eyes.

Ezra could feel his face turning red. Sabine was walking towards her room. He would need a comeback fast if he were going to get it out before she disappeared into her room. "Yeah well if you weren't such a stuck up... Mando-girl..." he shouted at her. It was lame, and he knew it the moment of it came out of its mouth.

Sabine paused, laughed and then turned around to face him. She was long past annoyed now and had progressed straight to angry. She raised her voice. "First of all if you think that was insulting, you're kidding only yourself. I'm a Mandalorian. I'm a girl. I am a Mando-girl. Second," she said stabbing a finger at his chest for effect, "I'm sorry if I hurt your oh so delicate male pride. But if you'd just try growing up..."

"That's it. Both of you. Out now. Off the ship." Hera was coming from the cockpit, and Ezra could see that she was mad. Not just ordinary mad; more like frighten-off-a-rancor mad. Everything from her posture to the look on her face said dangerous predator moving in for the kill.

Ezra looked at Sabine. She looked back at him. A quiet moment passed between them that seemed to stretch out for eternity. Ezra thought it was a moment of solidarity, a certain comradery in knowing that there was no hope for them. Kanan had warned them, and not even Kanan could save them now. Not that he would anyway. He and Hera would probably just laugh about the fate of the doomed younger Specters after she cooled off and told him about it later.

"Okay, Okay!" Ezra said raising his palms up. "We'll just go... somewhere, and I don't know, do something. Come on Sabine."

"Right... Right behind you." Sabine said sheepishly.

They both turned to flee. If they could just get off the ship before Hera got more specific with her instructions they might still salvage the afternoon. Ezra did not want a repeat of the Meiloorun Incident, as he and Zeb had taken to calling it. Maybe they'de go hang out at their Tie Fighter for a while after all and...

"Oh no, you don't. Supply run. Head into town."

Sabine groaned, then frowned. "Hera, the whole crew, did a supply run yesterday, we're stocked."

Hera smirked. "I'll think of something we forgot yesterday and comm you. Just go." She practically chased the two down the ladder to the hold before retreating to the cockpit.

Ezra and Sabine climbed down the ladder. "Well that could have gone worse," Sabine said thoughtfully. "At least we're stocked up; she could have given us an entire supply run."

"Yeah, we got lucky. Hey, let's take my bike and see how the steering is," Ezra said suddenly looking forward to the trip. A chance to spend the afternoon with Sabine in town with no major responsibilities seemed pretty good to him. And she'd thankfully seemed to have forgotten their previous argument.

Sabine looked at the bike for a moment then smiled slyly. "Sure thing. But I'm driving."

Ezra's face fell. "Hey what? Why? It's my bike!"

"Look, Ezra, we both know that I'm the better pilot and if something is still wrong, you're going to need my expertise to fix it."

Ezra raised a finger and opened his mouth to reply and then paused. "Okay, you're not wrong. Let's go before Hera gets more creative with her punishment."

"Ezra Bridger, you just read my mind," Sabine said mounting the bike.

Ezra chuckled as he hopped onto the back. "That's a first. Take it easy and try not to throw me; I know we put handholds on this thing, but this wasn't exactly designed for... YEAaaaghhh!" he shouted as Sabine sped out of the Ghost down the ramp and across the prairies of Lothal.

After twenty minutes of Ezra fearing for his life, they approached the outskirts of town and parked the bike behind a building. "Huh," Ezra said patting his chest and then his waist to make sure everything was still attached where it should be. "I'm still alive."

"Of course you are," Sabine rolled her eyes, "I was driving. If you were driving, we'd be a grease smear out on the plains."

"Hey, I'm not that bad a driver," he leaned against the bike. "Anyway, has Hera tried to comm you yet?"

Sabine checked her wrist. "No doesn't look like it. Do you think I should check with her or should we just leave her be and hope she forgets."

"Leave it. I don't want her getting any funny ideas. No wild bantha chases. No Meiloorun Incidents."

"Hmm, and I was really hoping we could work on our Tie Fighter today."

Ezra noticed that she said our Tie Fighter but knew better than to comment, not wanting to compromise the friendship he'd been carefully building with the Mandalorian. He was still head over heels for Sabine. How could he not be? She was smart, talented, made killer art, and was gorgeous to top it off. Unfortunately, it had taken him a few months to realize that the older girl appeared to be completely immune to his charms.

This naturally had been very discouraging until Zeb had given him some good advice. "Have you tried being her friend?" Zeb had grunted out, intent on getting Ezra out of his hair.

So Ezra had stopped with the obnoxious flirting and, weirdly enough, he and Sabine were getting along well these days. Sure they fought a bit, but Ezra was pretty sure that Sabine enjoyed a good fight as much as he did. He even made sure that she usually got the last word in.

"Hey, Ezra you there...?" Sabine asked waving a hand in front of his face.

He jumped, hoping he hadn't been staring or anything else awkward. "Sorry! Sorry, just lost in thought."

Sabine raised an eyebrow. "Over what?"

"Ummm..." What had they been talking about? Oh right, the Tie Fighter. "Eh, I was just thinking about how much I had hoped to work on the Tie Fighter today too. Pity. Nice day out. Now we're stuck... What are we doing, anyway...?"

Sabine sighed and shrugged. "I don't even know. I think it was just an excuse to get rid of us. Come on let's head into town." She put her helmet back on. "We'll find something to do."

They left the speeder and walked into town on one of the roads. A collection of a couple hundred low dusty buildings, Town 12 was one of numerous nearly identical towns dotting the continent around Capitol City. Serving, mostly to support the farmers and mining in their region, Town 12 had far more services than you would expect from a settlement so small. And a very boring name.

"You'd think that the locals would have given their town an actual name," Sabine said gesturing to the welcome sign as they walked down the main road.

Ezra shrugged. Some of the towns renamed themselves after they were settled. Some didn't. You grow up calling a place Town 12, and it makes it hard to start calling it something else."

"I guess," Sabine said slowly. "Seems kind of a Lothalian thing though. Laid back like everything else around here.

"Everybody except the Empire," Ezra said nodding towards a couple of stormtroopers a block further down the street. "That's something we don't need. Come on." They redirected down a side street and wandered a few blocks further before spotting another imperial patrol, this one larger and walking towards them.

"I bet Hera didn't know she was going to get us killed when she sent us on a fake supply run," Sabine hissed as she and Ezra turned and went back up the way they went.

"It's fine, relax. These guys'll be easy to avoid," Ezra said, confident. "The Lothal garrison isn't exactly known for their cunning."

"Yeah, but they're getting better, and there's only two of us," Sabine said carefully.

"We'll be fine," Ezra said. Suddenly another patrol rounded the corner in front of them and began walking towards them. They were now trapped between two patrols. "Huh, actually we should probably get off the street. Your armor is a little too easy to recognize for my taste."

"Hey, my armor is...!" Sabine started to retort.

"Yes, it's amazing. I agree." Ezra cut her off. "In here." He directed her into a building that he was familiar with. "Lucky for us we just happened to be passing in front of the best cafe in town. Get you a drink?"

Sabine stood inside the threshold of the building, sighed and then joined Ezra. "If I didn't know any better I'd think you planned this, Ezra Bridger."

"What? The Imperial patrols?" he asked confused.

Sabine shook her head and pulled her helmet off. "No, where we are. The... Nevermind. Let's go sit down. Better this than walking around town waiting for Hera to forgive us and say we can come home." She walked past Ezra to one of the dimly lit booths.

Ezra just shrugged and joined her, sitting down across from Sabine. He picked up a menu and glanced at it, but he already knew what he was going to get. This place was famous for one thing and one thing alone. Ezra glanced over the menu at Sabine. She was busy looking at the drinks and didn't notice him looking at her. He cleared his throat, reached out his hand, and slowly pushed her menu down to the table. "Allow me, Sabine. I know what you want," he said smiling.

Apparently his grin a was a little too self-assured for Sabine's taste, and her eyes narrowed icily. "Oh really now? Now you're going to order my drink for me?"

"I..." He stopped. That hadn't come out right. "What I meant was, can I make a recommendation? This place is famous locally because they actually import chocolate." He gestured for effect.

Sabine stared at him. "Am I supposed to know what that is?"

"Oh come on? You've never heard of chocolate? It's a sweet and slightly bitter... Something. Look, I don't know what it is, but they make it into a drink. They even have one drink where they mix it into caf. Knowing how much you need your caf in the mornings..." Sabine's eyes narrowed again, and Ezra realized his mistake, but he kept going, "I'm pretty sure you're going to love it."

Sabine let out a sigh and looked down at the menu. "Fine, I'll try it and... Karabast, that's an expensive drink. I'm not paying that much for a drink."

"Well, they do have to import it." Ezra looked at the price himself and winced. It was easily three times the price of any other drink on the menu. "Okay look. I'll pay for it. I know you're going to like it and..."

Sabine rolled her eyes. "Ezra I'm not going to let you pay for my drink like this is some sort of date."

"I never said it was," Ezra winced "You're the one that brought that up. Trust me I know that's not happening anytime soon."

"Or ever." Sabine corrected.

Ezra's heart fell a little when she said that but he noticed she was smirking playfully, so he decided not to take it personally. He took a deep breath and barely managed not to give a retort.

"Hmm. Color me surprised." Sabine said.

"What?"

"I was expecting you to take the bait and come back with a corny pickup line."

Ezra frowned at her. "I've been trying to do better about that. I know I've been a bit of a jerk sometimes. Why? Were you trying to bait me?"

Sabine turned a little red and looked away. "I'm sorry. You have been a lot better about that lately. Was just testing you I guess. I shouldn't have done that." They were both quiet for a minute before Sabine added. "I'll let you buy me the drink."

Ezra's face brightened. "Oh good! I know you're going to love it!"

Sabine laughed lightly. "I had better, with how much it's about to cost you."

The waitress, a female Quarren walked up, and Ezra proudly ordered two Choco-cafs. The waitress nodded and said "Two Choco-cafs. One for you and one for your date." She turned away before Ezra could protest.

Sabine just laughed. "It's fine. Don't worry about it." She looked at her wrist comm again. "At this point, I don't expect to hear back from Hera. She was just getting rid of us. Probably didn't even try to think of anything we'de missed yesterday."

"Yeah, that's what I think too. Could have been out at the Tie Fighter," Ezra grumbled. "Not that... not that this isn't great too, I mean," he quickly corrected.

"Alright. Ezra. You can take a deep breath and relax. I'm sorry I ever used the 'D' word."

"Right. Sorry." Ezra shrugged. Being in close proximity to Sabine in an unusual setting was intimidating.

The waitress returned and gave them their Choco-cafs. "Here's you lovebird's drinks."

Ezra turned red again, and Sabine laughed at him. She grabbed her drink eagerly but stopped short before taking a drink from the straw. "Have you ever had one of these before?"

Ezra shook his head. "If you think I could afford this as a street-rat..."

"That makes sense, I guess. Alright. Let's both try it at the same time. Ready?"

Ezra smiled. "Sure let's do it. 1.."

"2..." Sabine continued

"3!" They both said and took a deep pull from their straws.

Several things happened at once. Ezra frowned clearly disappointed. He'd tried some stolen chocolate once and liked it and was okay on caf, but the combination? Not so much. Sabine's eyes, on the other hand, went wide with some expression Ezra had never seen. Surprise? Euphoria? He wasn't really sure, but it frightened him. He wondered if he had created a monster.

"Kriffing Mythosaurs," Sabine muttered under her breath. "That's good...! What did you say this was again? Chocolate?" She greedily began sucking her Choco-caf down.

Ezra laughed and watched her. He wasn't sure he'd ever seen her drop her guard and act so... he wasn't sure what to call it. Undignified? After a minute Sabine seemed to come to herself suddenly. She looked up sheepishly and noticed Ezra had barely touched his. "What's the matter, don't like it?" she asked in disbelief.

"Ehhhh..." he said making a so-so gesture with his hand.

Sabine just laughed and drank more of hers. "Your loss. This is amazing." She thought for a moment. "You know I'm going to be out a lot of credits because of you."

Ezra raised his palms up. "Hey now just because you lack self-control doesn't mean it's my fault."

Sabine pointed a finger at Ezra's chest. "Look here, Loth-rat. I think you know me well enough to know that I indulge in very few things. One of those is explosives. Every wanted poster with my face on it attests to that. The other is caf. You know I have a weakness there, so if this turns into an expensive addiction, it's your fault."

Ezra laughed. "Told you that you'd like it," he winked.

Sabine regarded him for a moment, possibly wondering if she was annoyed by the wink, then shrugged. "You weren't wrong."

They sat in silence as Sabine finished her drink. She stared at it disappointingly for a moment, then glanced at Ezra's mostly full glass. Ezra saw this and thought about offering it to her to finish, but then thought it would be more entertaining to wait and see if she would ask for it. She was clearly struggling with how to do so politely, finally biting her lower lip in frustration.

Ezra couldn't take it anymore and laughed out loud. He put a hand on the bottom of his glass and slowly slid it across the table to the Mandalorian. Sabine looked at the glass, and cooly reached out to slide the drink closer to herself. Ezra could imagine she was doing everything in her power not to just grab the glass from him.

"Thanks," she muttered.

Ezra just laughed again. "Honestly was it that hard just to ask? You were eyeing it like a starving tooka."

Sabine pushed a lock of blue and orange hair back behind her ear. "Look I'm the dignified one between the two of us. I have to keep up appearances at least."

"Keep telling yourself that."

"I will," she said. "Because it's true." She took the second glass much slower, possibly to savor it, knowing it may be a long time before she had another Choco-caf, or possibly because she was wondering if this much caf at once was a good idea. Ezra wondered how much caffeine she had ingested today.

"Only in your dreams, Sabine, I happen to be a prime specimen of dignity and umm..." Ezra drew a blank not really sure where he was going with this particular boast.

Sabine watched him from over her glass. "Go on. I'm waiting to see how this flaming wreck of a sentence ends."

Ezra made a grand gesture with his arms opened his mouth... And nothing came out. They both laughed. "I got nothing," he admitted, and they both laughed again.

Ezra and Sabine ended up staying for another hour. It was getting on towards evening, and Hera still hadn't called them back with further instructions or given them the okay to return to the Ghost, so they ordered a light meal. Sabine insisted on paying for their sandwiches, which incidentally cost a lot less than the Choco-cafs.

They spent the hour laughing, arguing, telling jokes, gossiping about just how serious the relationship between Hera and Kanan was, talking about how loud Zeb snored, and on and on. An outsider looking in would have rolled their eyes and maybe muttered something derogatory about teenagers, never knowing the weight these two carried on a day to day basis. But for just this once, just this evening, they were teenagers.

They paid their tab and left the cafe. The two carefully poked their heads out the door. It was sunset, and there were no stormtroopers visible. "Let's get going," Sabine said. I'd rather be out of town before it's dark. The number of patrols will go up."

"Don't have to tell me twice," Ezra said. They walked silently through town to their speeder without incident. Ezra noticed that Sabine didn't drive quite so recklessly on the way home either. By the time they reached the Ghost the stars were coming out. The worn ramp of the VCX-100 was down, and Hera was silhouetted against the ship's lights.

"Great," Sabine muttered as she slowed to a stop.

Ezra just chuckled. "How bad can it be?"

"Pretty bad," Hera said, her hearing clearly better than Ezra realized. "You bring what I wanted?" Ezra and Sabine froze, glanced at each other, then at Sabine's comm. "I'm kidding," Hera said. "Look I may have gone a little overboard throwing you guys out earlier, but for future reference? No shouting matches in the ship. Alright? This is my home. Our home. We're family. And we don't shout at each other."

"Right... Sorry." Ezra said, genuinely feeling a bit guilty.

"Yeah, we won't do it again," Sabine said slowly.

"Good. Now come in." Hera said gesturing. "I'm sure you're starved; the rest of us already ate."

"We're good," Sabine said shaking her head. "We ate in town when it became clear you weren't going let us come back anytime soon."

Hera laughed as the two younger crewmen pushed the speeder up the ramp into the hold. "I didn't know I was sending you two on a date. Maybe you owe me a thank you." She winked and climbed the ladder.

Ezra's face went red. He'd just spent some of the best time he ever had with Sabine, and he really didn't need Hera ruining it now. "Hey! Hera!" Ezra called after her desperately. "It wasn't a date!"

Hera didn't answer as she left the hold and Sabine just chuckled.

"Hey sorry," Ezra said rubbing the back of his neck. "I'll go make sure she understands that...

"It's fine," Sabine said. "Hera was just trying to get under my skin. You just happened to get caught in the crossfire."

"Oh," he said flatly. He finished securing the speeder bike and stood there awkwardly for a moment not really sure what to say now. He didn't want to leave the hold yet and his perfect evening to be over, but he wasn't sure what he could say that wouldn't just ruin things.

Sabine laughed again. "What's the matter? Loth-cat got your tongue? Since when is Ezra Bridger so quiet."

He thought about this for a moment. "Today was... great really. We fixed my bike together, weathered Hera's wrath, and went into town for a fun evening goofing off at the cafe. I'm glad you're my friend Sabine, and pretty much anything I say would just undermine today."

The smile faded from Sabine's face, and she regarded him seriously. "For the record, Ezra Bridger, today was one of the best not-dates I've ever been on. I'll definitely let you buy me another Choco-caf someday."

The corner of Ezra's mouth turned upward in a sly grin. "Yeah, but only cause they're expensive."

Sabine inclined her head conceding the point. "Okay that's part of it, but sometimes it's good to spend time with a friend, away from..." she gestured around at the Ghost. "All this, if you know what I mean."

"I know exactly what you mean." His courage renewed, Ezra decided to push his luck. "And well maybe someday we can try a real date." The second it came out of his mouth he regretted it and smacked his palm against his forehead. Good going dummy, he thought, that was exactly what you were trying to avoid. "Sorry, my mouth kind of ran away with things before my brain had time to say no..."

Sabine must have been in a good mood after the day because she shrugged. "Make ya a deal. We kick the Empire off Lothal, and we go on a real date to that same cafe."

Ezra smiled that big dumb grin of his and laughed. "Well, I think that's the best I'm going to get so, yeah. You got a deal."

Later that evening Sabine was about to turn out her light to get some sleep when she heard a light knock on her door. "Sabine you still up?" It was Hera.

"Yeah, come in." She sat on the edge of her bed as the Twi-lek woman came in. "Need something?"

"Oh, nothing. Just apologizing for the day again." she paused and smiled. "And for trying to make it awkward when you came back."

Sabine rolled her eyes. She'd done that a lot today. "It's fine. I knew it was coming. I kinda deserve it for all the grief I give you and Kanan."

"Hmm. Fair enough; maybe you do deserve it," Hera said raising an eyebrow and putting a hand on her hip.

"There is a key difference though," Sabine said coyly.

"What's that?"

"You and Kanan are a couple. Or have been. Or will be. I haven't figured it out yet."

"Or maybe it's none of the above, and none of your business?" Hera said, smiling lightly. She wasn't mad. Hera and Sabine had been around this particular line of conversation at least a hundred times in the last year.

Sabine shrugged. "I'll have my proof one day."

"Maybe. I won't keep you up. I was just making sure you weren't upset with me," Hera said and turned to leave. She paused at the door and turned around "You know what I think?"

"About...?"

"I think you and Ezra may be... more than friends someday.."

Sabine frowned, suddenly annoyed with Hera. "Really, Hera? The kid?"

"I thought you'd stopped calling him that," Hera said, leaning against the door.

"I... had. Er... well should," Sabine said taken back. She did have to stop calling him that.

"You know why?" Hera asked? The corners of her mouth were beginning to tug into a smile.

This unsettled Sabine further. "Because it's a kinda scummy thing to call a friend?"

"Well obviously. But what I was getting at was that he won't always be a kid. One day he's gonna grow up, and I think you'll notice."

Sabine's mouth dropped open. When she realized this, she shut her mouth and scowled. "He'll always be younger than me Hera."

"Let's call it feminine intuition, but I don't know that you'll care in a few years. Goodnight, Sabine." And with that parting shot, Hera turned and left her room.

Sabine sulked for a minute before turning the light off. Hera was out of line here. She was glad to have Ezra as a friend, but if Hera thought Sabine would ever see him as more than that she had been sucking too much vacuum.

And then she remembered she had actually agreed to a date with Ezra, contingent on freeing Lothal. Admittedly this seemed rather unlikely, so she probably wasn't ever going to have to fulfill that end of the bargain. She wasn't sure why she'd done that but seeing the way Ezra had lit up had made it seem worth it. She did enjoy seeing that big dumb grin of his she thought distantly as sleep took her.

Author's Note: Hope you enjoyed. This first story takes place in season 1 and I tried to aim for the same light-hearted style. Fun stuff to write.

Did anyone catch my meta joke about LucasFilm Animation repeatedly reusing Minister Tua's model?

As always please leave me feedback, but go easy! This one isn't my usual fare and has been a real challenge to work through!