"Gzzzhhh…"

I smile while setting the last of the dishes away, then walk over to the couch, where Sof is passed out under her pink blanket and holding her bear.

"Okay Sof, let's…get you and Beary to bed." I smile while gently lifting her up and turning to the basement stairway.

Sof completely ignores the movement by curling up and cuddling her bear as I carefully descend the stairs then turn right towards her bed.

Sof's got a really nice setup down here. Her own holo that we found used for cheap, bed, dresser, bookshelves, she's in the process of painting her room, pictures everywhere, her bow over by itself in the corner of the room closest to the door…

"Why'm I moving." Sophie finally mumbles, sounding exhausted.

"You fell asleep on the couch. Couldn't let you sleep there." I smile as Sof rolls over in my arms and peers sleepily up at me.

Sof frowns at me. "Sorry I fell asleep. Dinner was yummy."

"Don't say sorry for falling asleep." I tell her then set her on her bed. "Change into your jammies, brush your teeth then try to get to sleep quick. Big day tomorrow."

Sophie's eyes light up and is quickly followed by her smile. "I will. I'm excited for tomorrow!"

"Me too. Night. Sleep well." I smile back, then move to hug her.

Sof quickly hugs me, smiles and yawns and her pants rise up enough to grab my attention. "Night Ezra."

Those pants were starting to be good in case of a flood. She's growing right out of them.

"Night." I wave, then turn around and dim the lights for Sof except for the one by her bed, then sneak back up the stairs and toward the office.

I'll have to talk to her Mom about that.

"Tracked a series of ships to Tatooine, where he went to Jabba the Hutt's palace."

Jabba the Hutt's palace?

Mrs. Wren asks "What would he want from a slum lord like the Hutt's?"

"Don't know." Sabine adds. "But whatever he went for, he got it because our recon team got caught moving to listen in and regrouped to surround him."

"Uh oh." I quietly say as I slip past the cracked door.

Sabine nods. "He slaughtered them all, keeping one member's comm on him the whole time to get his signature line. "All I'm surrounded by is fear. And dead men."

I feel like we've heard that one before.

"He's reusing material." I shake my head sarcastically.

Both Mrs. Wren and Sabine laugh quietly. "Well, he's been so busy knocking heads he probably doesn't have time to come up with new material." Sabine smirks, then turns to the empty Vader helmet just out of reach. "Apologies, my Lord but the truth hurts."

I can't help but laugh for a moment. "Do we kind of know where he is now?" Her mom asks.

"Yes, on Geonosis. We've found a secondary way to track Vader, thru an archeologist by the name of Dr. Aphra. Where her ship is, Vader is usually in the system. Ramordia thinks that she's a rebel target."

"Good call." I nod sadly.

The less they know, the better.

Mrs. Wren asks "How about the Imperial Joint Chiefs?"

"No word."

"And all this has been presented to Leia and the Council?"

Sabine nods, then we all stay quiet for a moment.

"How about Luke? What's he up to?" I turn and as Sabine.

She shrugs. "Nothing too much. Ran an errand for Ackbar, which he got done no problem. They're starting to trust him."

"Anything exciting happen?" I ask. Instantly, Sabine shakes her head.

"Disobeyed Leia's direct order. Other than that, no. I can grab the file if you want to look at it." Sabine volunteers.

I nod as Mrs. Wren sips her wine. "So, how long did you two know about him before you told us?"

"Mom…" Sabine sighs as I can't help but cringe.

Mrs. Wren quickly raises her hands to show she isn't angry. "I know you had your reasons…" She says delicately. "I just want to know. Carid wants to blackmail Lux into dinner."

"Just ask." I counter.

He'd buy dinner once if they asked.

Mrs. Wren shakes her head. "You don't understand those two. At a certain point, everything becomes about one-upping each other. They've know each other since before Sabine was born."

Sabine looks to me, a reluctant look on her face before turning to her mother. "Over a year. We found out just before you came to see us on Dxun."

Her mom whistles quietly. "Wow. That's longer than I was expecting."

"It's one of the reasons Vader began to respect me, indirectly. I knew more about him, so I knew what not to do."

"What buttons not to push. Did he know that you knew?"

I nod. "Yes. And he responded with tips on how to help my lightsaber form and thinking thru a fight."

"I remember that…" Sabine muses. "Kanan wasn't a huge fan of you putting those to use."

"Did they help?" Mrs. Wren asks.

"Yeah, a ton." I nod, then let my eyes wander to some of Sabine's art. "I've used those lessons in every fight since then."

This piece in front of my used to be glass, but she's melted it and thrown in some minerals to add some color to it.

She's been selling some art in Keldabe proper in the months since Yavin and the destruction of the Death Star. It's kind of been a hobby or passion project for her when she's not being Fulcrum.

"Not to change topics completely, but you might want to think about shopping for Sof. Her shirt and pants seemed tight on her when I took her to bed." I speak up, causing both Mom and Daughter to turn to me.

Mrs. Wren's face falls. "I know, we will right after we get back to Keldabe. She's growing weird."

"Weird?" Sabine echoes.

"Yeah." Her Mom nods. "She'll go weeks where it doesn't seem like she grows. Then one morning you can see her tummy on her favorite shirt. I've bought three versions of that purple shirt with the wolves on it that she loves. It's weird."

"But she's okay?" I make sure.

Mrs. Wren nods. "Yeah, we've had her checkups, and she's fine. She just doesn't grow like Sabine, who was always up and up and up you could almost schedule it."

She does like being on time and prompt.

I smirk over at Sabine, who reads my mind, reaches out and punches my arm. "Shut up."

"But I didn't say anything. I—" I answer defensively

"Shut up!" She punches me again.

Mrs. Wren just shakes her head and turns back to the holo. "How's the house working out for you two?"

Good.

"Good." Sabine returns to her calm state. "Really, just boring."

"Hah." Mrs. Wren laughs. "So you guys have found your normal. That's good."

I smile back. "How's Keldabe? House quieter now that we're gone?"

"A lot more boring. And quieter. A lot quieter." Mrs. Wren smiles, then trails off mournfully.

She misses us.

"Do you have anything big planned for tomorrow?" Sabine asks me.

Huh?

"What?" I parrot back to her.

Sabine rolls her eyes gently. "What do you have planned for tomorrow?"

"For Sof and everyone? I'm going to teach them a few fun, but basic moves they'll be able to use." I explain.

"What is it?" Mrs. Wren asks.

"Diagonal chops on either side. They'll want to swing the swords, so I'm going to try to corral that." I say before Sabine smiles.

"That should work."

I add "We'll be using super dull blades, so they won't be able to cut each other."

"Good idea, they'll only be able to whack each other." Mrs. Wren nods.

Sabine turns to me "They won't be swinging as hard as they can right?"

"Yeah." I say dismissively. "And if they don't listen, they won't have a sword. Period. But they won't. I've got a few ideas to get them engaged."

Mrs. Wren and Sabine both laugh. "Oh yeah?" Mrs. Wren asks. "What's that?"

"You'll see. It'll happen about when you guys come in." I smile, getting them both to laugh again.

(The Next Day)

"Good, good…keep that pace but keep your footwork." I call out as the fight in front of me reaches a the boiling point.

Either it devolves and becomes a mudslinging contest with swords, or evolves to a beautiful fight that whoever executes better wins.

"Clink—Tink—GRSSSHHH!"

I sit up a little straighter on my crate and clear my throat. "PUSH HIM! Don't give him a free breath!" The fight continues, with one of the newer girls pushing an old student of mine all around the room, dutifully trying to not let him break free from her vice grip on the battle.

"YAH!" He yells desperately, releasing a spontaneous jab, catching her off guard and sending her into a panicked backpedal.

THAT'S IT!

I smile as he gathers his wits and starts attempting to work her on either side while working her toward the corner of the room.

Another few steps and she's trapped.

The Force gently tugs for my attention, and I reach out only to feel Sof, Mrs. Wren and Will nearby. Out of curiosity I snap my eyes away from the battle and see small children in the hall.

Back to the fight.

My eyes reach the fight just in time, as he spins her one final time into the corner so that she really has no clue she's stuck.

She's going to turn and—

"WHACK! Clink…" She turns right into the corner in an attempt to escape, only to run face first into the wall and drop her sword. Her opponent slices at where her sword should have been, making a diagonal mark on the wall.

I smile, then hop off the wall. "Okay, enough! Thogr, good job. Iyshi had no idea where she was, and that's a credit to you." Iyshi blushes in embarrassment.

"Don't view that as a true loss though Iy." I mend her ego. "Thogr put to work what I've been preaching about being decisive with a move and put it together with the timing of the fight. He won it a lot more than you lost it." I say, then gesture for them to sit.

"It's all about decisiveness and knowing situation when using this tactic. What do I always tell you guys?" I ask the room.

"Always finish a fight early." My students say in unison, causing me to smile.

"Exactly." I clap my hands together, then pull the remote for my practice droid out of my pocket and hit the power button. "Thogr did it late, but he did it. If an opportunity presents itself early on, jump on it. The longer a fight goes, the weirder it gets. Looks you've never seen, things I definitely wouldn't think to teach you guys, you get my point. Now…"

Now.

"If you look behind me to my left, we have some visitors today. The younger classes down at shuk'orok Mando'ad in Keldabe." I smile, then peer back to the doorway to see that they've silently piled around the doorway, with Sof up front with Kex beside her. Mrs. Wren and Will are beside each other in the back.

"I don't want you guys to feel pressure, they're here to learn about swordfighting. I've already paired you up and assigned you to a group. They'll go to you for questions, do your best to answer them. If you think it's worth it, come ask me. Now, enough on that." I smile, instantly loosening the class up again. "Lunch should begin any moment now."

Right on cue, the lunch bell chimes, causing a rush toward the door before Mrs. Wren and Sof slip through.

"Verd?" A familiar voice chimes quietly behind me, forcing me to turn and see Brir lingering behind me.

I smile encouragingly while giving him a quick once over with my eyes. "Yes Brir?"

"Do you have some tape or something? The grip on my sword tore in my hand…" he says sheepishly before showing me a torn handgrip and a bloody palm.

Quickly, I take the sword and try not to cringe. "Yeah, I'll fix it. Go get your hand wrapped though. You'll want it tight so that it doesn't blister and make you sit out."

"It's not that bad." He frowns at me.

"But it will be if you don't get it wrapped." I counter, leaving no room to argue. "Off you go."

Brir seems to mull over his options for a moment, then walks to the door. "Didn't want to go, now did he?" Mrs. Wren says quietly as I probe out.

Sabine's here.

I can't help but smile and nod to Mrs. Wren. "I'll probably sit him. His hand could get seriously messed up and go from a day or two to a week's thing."

"Who'd you hurt this time?" Sabine chimes sarcastically, causing me to turn and for Will and Kex to laugh as Sophie is drifting over toward the practice swords.

"I didn't hurt anyone. He tore the grip in his hand. What'd you bring?" I ask as my stomach rumbles.

Sabine glances down to the basket on her shoulder. "Sandwich stuff mostly. But I sold another one of my glass pieces right before I did some shopping."

Ooh.

"What'd you get Sabine?" Her mother asks, taking the basket.

"3200 credits." Sabine says with a straight face.

"What?!" Will blurts out in shock

"Seriously?" I add.

Sabine nods. "I tried to be a little more sales oriented today, and asked what he thought it was worth. That's what he thought it was, so I sold it to him for that."

"Good job Sab'ika." Mrs. Wren smiles, unpacking the sandwiches and Sophie and Kex begin lightly tapping two practice swords together.

I smile and lean against the wall, catching Kex's eyes and for him to freeze up. "No, no." I shake my head. "Show me what you got."

"Okay!" He lights up, then starts combatting Sophie, who spins and jabs clumsily at him. Kex bats the jab away before the blade shakes in his hand and he chops at Sof's waist. Sof blocks it horizontally…then does an awkward imitation of my salute.

Makashi Salute…she's stealing my material.

My eyes follow the action as Sophie pushes Kex back, their blades pushed together before Kex suddenly moves, sending Sophie stumbling before wildly swinging and nearly connecting directly with Kex's forehead. "Whoa! Hey! Stop." I raise my voice, causing Sof and Kex to stop and turn to me. "Okay…rule number one. No wild swings. Always have an idea…of what you're doing. Sof, you came about this close to splitting Kex's head open." I say, holding my index and middle fingers infinitesimally apart.

"Sorry." Sophie's eyes fall to the floor.

"Don't say sorry to me." I counter, causing Sof to shrink up more.

"I'm sorry Kex."

Kex smiles. "It's okay."

"Now…" I slow down and grab both of their eyes again. "That was good. The biggest thing I'd change is for both of you to just stand up. You were both crunched up."

"Lunch is ready." Mrs. Wren calls out.

The entire room turns to the table she, Sabine and Will have set up for us all to make sandwiches with chips and drinks off to the side.

"Looks great." I thank Mrs. Wren.

She smiles, then beckons me to the table. "You've been working. Come fill your plate first."