Author's Note: Hey it took me some time to get this one ready to go. There's a side character here, whose name I won't spoil, that if you do your best to imagine the character's voice in your head, it makes their lines much better.

Hope you enjoy it!

Mira snuggles close to her mother's side. "I thought you didn't like kissing?" Sabine asks her playfully. "Because that last story definitely had some kissing."

Mira laughs but looks bashful. "It's okay when it's you and Daddy in a story."

"I'm glad to hear that because I love your Daddy, very very much." Sabine kisses Ezra right then and there in front of everyone. Mira sighs loudly, but she's smiling this time.

"I'm surprised," Kallus says thoughtfully. "I thought for sure you were going to tell the vows from Ezra's point of view and use dramatic irony with him not knowing about the Chakadi you made for him."

Sabine laughs. "I actually thought about it, and I had trouble deciding which way to go. From Ezra's point of view it had dramatic irony, but from my point of view there was the double surprise of the vows and him making a Chakadi for me."

Kallus nods in appreciation. "Well done, then, I think it turned out beautifully."

Jacen clears his throat "Alright, let's get this over with. At this point, I know you've just been leading me on for hours. Surely here at the end, there's an actual date, right? You guys have to go back to that cafe when you get back to Lothal. It's been like twelve or thirteen years now since you guys first went there at this point.

Hera chuckles to herself; no, Jacen certainly hadn't gotten what he wanted when he asked about Ezra and Sabine's first date, but maybe he's gotten something better with this healthy dose of Family history. "Well, Sabine," Hera says. "Are you ready to bring this home and stop stringing your nephew along?"

Sabine hugs Mira close, to her side and smiles. "It would be my pleasure."

Dinner for Three

Nearly eight years spent in Unknown Space and Ezra was finally home. He only wanted two things: a chance to see his home rebuilt and rest after nearly a decade of travel. It seemed his people had something different in mind; parades and festivals where held in Capitol City in his honor. He would have been just fine without all the fanfare and attention. In his absence, Ezra had been dubbed the Hero of Lothal, an utterly ridiculous moniker as far as he was concerned. He was particularly horrified of the massive statue of himself in front of the Old Senate Building. Sabine had only laughed at him and told him she had provided the holo it was based on. "Betrayed by my own wife," he said sadly, looking up at the fifteen-meter tall statue of himself.

"Heh, I wasn't your wife at the time. Rhyder wanted a statue of all the Specters, and I was going to do anything to keep from being immortalized in stone. So yeah. I sold you out."

"Right, I bet you just wanted to be able to see me every day."

Sabine let the comment slide since he didn't know how painful it was for her to see the statue back then, but she did roll her eyes at him.

Ezra was happy when a month had passed, and the commotion had died down. He was very sure that he had kissed enough babies, met enough civic leaders, sat through enough banquets, and given more speeches than he felt was even remotely justified. But at last it was over, and Sabine and Ezra began to contemplate what life together after the Empire meant. Sabine slipped back into the habit of painting and reestablished her contacts in the world of fine art. Ezra spent several weeks working on an extensive report on the Unknown Regions for the New Republic. That finished, his main task was...?

He had no clue. One morning he told Sabine that for the first time in his life, Ezra Bridger had no mission. As a kid, it was steal enough food to eat. In the Rebellion it was save Lothal and topple the Empire. In the Unknown Regions, it was save the Chiss and come home to Sabine. Now he had no real direction.

"You'll figure it out," Sabine said giving him a quick kiss. "For now, just rest. You're home. You've got the rest of your life to worry about what to do with it." He'd grumbled a little but agreed. Life was good for those few weeks, except for a few niggling concerns.

First, shortly after they'd returned to Lothal, Sabine had changed in a way that Ezra couldn't quite place his finger on. She was more prone to emotions, both positive an negative. He first discovered this when he accidentally left a plate in the common room of the tower. He'd lived to regret the misdeed, barely. Later that same day, she'd been strangely affectionate when he'd given her a simple compliment.

And then there was her change in the Force. Ezra was long used to how Sabine's presence felt through the Force, but now it was different somehow. He thought it was improved, more radiant, more... something. Perhaps it felt more complete. Maybe this was a side effect of her being home at last, or maybe it was something else entirely. He couldn't put his finger on it, and he wasn't quite ready to bring it up with Sabine.

Ezra's other concern was that one night they had an intruder in the tower. He had felt the presence and awoke in an instant, but, by the time he had taken the turbolift to ground level, whoever had been there was gone. Sabine was mostly annoyed by the whole ordeal because she had had to reconfigure the tower's security doors. Ezra only shook his head. "I can't believe you're not more upset than this. Someone was trespassing on the bottom level."

Sabine merely shrugged. "What are they going to do to a Jedi and a Mandalorian? Seriously, I'd like to see someone try to break in and do us harm. It would almost be fun." Ezra let it go for the time because she did have a point. Still, the safety of his wife was on the line, and he wasn't going to forget about the incident so easily.

A couple of days later Ezra made a short supply run to Capitol City. It turned out that these runs were far more domestic than they used to be: less blaster power packs, explosives, and ship parts, and more household items and groceries. "I've been thoroughly domesticated," Ezra laughed to himself as he picked through jogun fruit at the market. After insisting that he pay for his produce for the third time in a month, Ezra moved on to the next stall. Everyone wanted to give the Hero of Lothal free stuff, and it was starting to get a little tiring.

At the last stop, he found a vendor selling small bars of imported chocolate. Ezra felt the handful of credits in his pouch. He had more than enough, but he knew Sabine would complain about him spending more than he should on a treat. But she would eat the chocolate. Ezra stared at the Chocolate for a minute and then got an idea and pulled out his comm.

"Hey, Sabine? We have plans for tonight?" he asked her when she answered.

"No, What's up?"

He smiled a simple boyish smile. "I was just thinking. You owe me one, and I think it's time you paid up."

The comm was quiet for a minute. "Ezra, I don't know what you're talking about."

Ezra stared at the comm, a little disappointed. Very well he'd have to spell it out. "Look, you made me a promise a long time ago. We free Lothal; we go on a date to a certain cafe in Town 12." The comm was still quiet. Okay, this was getting weird. He was expecting her to think this was a great idea, but then again he'd had trouble predicting just how she'd react to things lately. "You uh... You okay?"

Suddenly Sabine answered a little too forcefully. "No, I'm fine! That's... That's a great idea, actually. It'll be fun. Feel like old times."

"Right..." Ezra said, not even close to convinced. "Listen, Sabine, are you okay? If we need to pick a different day then..."

"No no. This is good. I'll be ready when you get home."

"Mmmhmm, look I'll be home soon; I was just finishing up in the market." He paused briefly, "Sabine, I want this to be fun, so if you're not up to it today I'd..."

There was an exasperated grunt from the comm. "Ezra, I said I'm fine with it, and I mean it."

Ezra laughed, determined to make the best of the day in spite of Sabine's obvious moodiness. "Okay whatever, look this will be fun. It'll be just like we were kids again."

"Right," Sabine said hollowly. "Kids."

A little while later Sabine met him at the base of their tower. She was leaning against the door, the wind blowing her purple hair. Ezra had been expecting her to change it now that they were back, but for some reason, she hadn't gotten around to it yet. "Hey, Mando-girl," he said playfully, still trying to get a judge on her mood. He decoupled the crate from the speeder bike, filled mostly with food, and pushed it towards the door.

"Hey Loth-rat," she said smiling. He breathed a quick sigh of relief. That was a real smile; this was going to be fun after all. "I do owe you a date, I guess, but Ezra surely this is a little silly. We're past our first anniversary."

"Yes it's very silly," he said in as serious a tone as he could manage. Sabine helped him push the crate into the lift. "But when have we ever taken ourselves seriously. Besides, think of the nostalgia that's coming. That was like twelve years ago. We can laugh about how you used to think I was an annoying pest but were secretly falling in love with me the whole time." Ezra favored her with his best smug grin.

Sabine mashed the lift button and crossed her arms as the door shut. "Ezra. You were an annoying pest."

"...that you were falling in love with," Ezra said as if finishing her sentence.

Sabine laughed. "At the time of that not-date? No. Not even a little, don't even try to flatter yourself."

Ezra shrugged dramatically. "Suit yourself; someday you'll admit the truth."

The door of the lift opened, and they pushed the crate into their home and began to unload it. "By the way, I chased Hondo off a little while ago."

Ezra stopped abruptly, "Wait, Hondo was here?"

"Yeah, it was right after you commed. He wanted to see you, but I told him we had plans and to come back tomorrow." Sabine was inspecting the jogun's that Ezra had picked. In spite of the fact that she did very little of the cooking, she was still incredibly picky about the produce Ezra purchased at the market. Last week he'd gotten in trouble for not doing a thorough enough job inspecting them.

Ezra came and took the jogun out of her hand and put it back in the bag. "That's not necessary," he said taking the bag from her. "I'm a little sad you chased him off. I haven't had a chance to see Hondo since... Well since the Battle of Lothal. I'm kinda surprised he hasn't gotten himself killed or thrown in prison yet."

Sabine sighed. Ezra knew that she never had the patience for Hondo. "Look, Ezra, you can pal around with your pirate friend tomorrow. He said we'd see him again soon. Date. Remeber?"

"Yeah, I know, I know," Ezra said, still a little disappointed. "You didn't ask what he wanted, did you? Hondo always wants something when he shows up."

"Nope. Don't know, don't care." Sabine put the last of the groceries away. "Give me a minute to go change into my armor. If we're going to make this like the old days, I'm at least going to dress up. You should go put on an orange shirt, too since that's what you wore back then. Oh, wait. You always wear orange. You never don't wear orange."

Ezra laughed. That was the one battle that he didn't let his beautiful wife win. He'd cross the galaxy for her, but some things just didn't change. Not even for Sabine Wren.

A few hours later they were sitting in the booth in the cafe. Their booth, as Sabine had called it sitting down. Ezra chuckled; that day was so etched in his memory that it felt almost surreal to be back here now. "If only we still had that Tie Fighter to go paint. Pity we never got to finish it, and it was taken away from us."

Sabine leaned on her elbow as she glanced at the menu. "Yeah, I'm still a little bitter over that. That thing was a kriffing work of art. Oh hey, that amazing Lothalian stew is on the menu. Peppradown Stew. Is that the one? I've heard that it's really hard to make."

Ezra shrugged. "I think it's more of a patience thing; when Mom used to make it, she'd have to work on it all day."

"It's really good though," Sabine said thoughtfully. "I wonder if it's worth learning to make... Tahreen would probably give me the recipe."

"Who's that?" Ezra asked absently, "I may get the stew too, now that you've got me thinking about it."

"Tahreen is the wife of the owner of this place. She was our waitress back in the day." Sabine suddenly looked a little sheepish. "I might have come here a few times while you were gone."

"Oh, you never told me that." He laughed. "Guess you went on the date without me?"

Sabine frowned at Ezra. "Look, sometimes I had trouble believing you were coming back, and I had a promise to keep, so I came just in case... I was also probably feeling a bit down. I don't know; maybe I was trying to cheer myself up."

"How did that work out?" he asked raising an eyebrow.

"I cried in public."

"You. You cried in public?" Ezra asked, incredulous.

Sabine made a small shrug. "Not my finest hour."

"I... I'm not sure I can even imagine that to be honest," Ezra said looking at his wife.

"It was pretty horrifying, but I ended up gaining a friend out of that ordeal."

Ezra was saved from having to reply to that when a Quarren waitress stepped up to the table. "I don't believe my eyes, but it's Ezra Bridger, home at last."

"Ezra this is Tahreen," Sabine said simply. She's, uh, the friend I made that day."

Ezra stood and extended a hand to the woman, who surprised him by pulling him into a hug. "Oh, I saw you were home on the holo-news! I've heard so much about you from Sabine."

Ezra laughed awkwardly as Tahreen released him. "I'm glad to see you again too. Sabine says you were our waitress all those years ago."

"I was, and I'm so very happy that Sabine came around to see your way of thinking! It certainly took her long enough didn't it?" Sabine's mouth dropped open, and she frowned a little. "But if this is the fabled date finally happening, I'll get out of your way and just be your waitress today. We'll have you two over sometime soon Sabine."

Sabine smiled broadly, "I'd like that. It's been a long time. Tahreen, I'll have the Peppradown Stew."

"And, uhh, I guess I'll have the same," Ezra said sitting down.

Tahreen tapped the order into her datapad. "Choco-cafs?"

Ezra shook his head. "Just a glass of water for me."

"Same," Sabine said, her voice casual.

Ezra and Tahreen both turn and look at Sabine. "Wait, why not?" Ezra asked. "It has to have been ages since you've had one."

Sabine looked down at the table, and Ezra noticed her face blushing very slightly. "You're not wrong, but I don't know; I was thinking I might need to start cutting back on the caffeine. You understand." Ezra didn't understand, but apparently, Tahreen did. The other woman suddenly smiled, nodded, and left them.

Ezra continued to scrutinize Sabine for a moment. "So what was that about?"

"What was what about?" Sabine said looking at her hand.

"The caffeine thing. Since when have you ever worried about how much caffeine you had?"

Sabine shrugged her shoulders in a single lazy motion. "Look we're not kids anymore. It can't hurt to pay more attention to those sorts of things.."

There was more to it than this, Ezra was certain, but he also knew he wasn't going to do anything but annoy Sabine if he pushed her on the subject. "So back to the Tie Fighter," Ezra said.

Sabine stared at him blankly. "What?"

"The Tie Fighter we never finished. What if I found you another one to paint? There's got to be tens of thousands of those things still lurking around the galaxy, and there's no way they've all been scrapped. So let's get one and paint it." Ezra was pretty proud of his idea until Sabine frowned.

"That's kind of dumb," Sabine said shortly.

The smile disappeared from Ezra's face. "What? Why?"

"Because it's a Tie Fighter and the Empire doesn't exist anymore. We were painting it to disrespect the Empire. Seems like it would be a waste of time now. And where are we going to put it, leave it parked outside the tower?"

"Yes... or..." Ezra hesitated, dumbstruck; he thought Sabine would have loved the idea. "I just wanted the chance to paint it with you; I was thinking more about the fun we'd have than what we'd do with it afterward..."

Sabine softened, and her cheeks tinged a little pink. "Sorry I... Look it's fine. I've just had other things on my mind besides art today. See if you can find us a Tie. I bet I can find a collector who would buy it. I haven't had new art on the market for a while; someone will buy it off our hands."

And there was another one of those weird mood swings, Ezra thought to himself. It might be time they had a talk about what was going on with these mood... Tahreen returned with their stews and drinks as well as a large hunk of a hot crusty bread. Ezra took a deep breath and inhaled the savory aroma of the stew. It reminded him of being a kid, his mother, and his home. "Sabine if you want to learn to cook this, you would make me a happy man."

She shrugged and tasted a spoonful of the thick soupy broth. Her eyes opened wide, and she smiled. "Okay, this may be worth the effort. I'll look into it. It wouldn't hurt for me to do some of the cooking."

They had happily begun to eat their stew when Sabine suddenly stiffened and stared over Ezra's shoulder. "Umm..." Ezra said setting down his spoon. "Do I want to turn around...?"

"Well, I never expected this... Ezra my friend...! My favorite Jedi! I absolutely never expected that when I came into this unassuming cafe that I would see just the man I wanted to see!"

Ezra's eyes went wide. Hondo Onaka.

"Yes, yes... I know you recognize the sweet sound of your old pal Hondo's voice," the Weequay pirate said, suddenly sitting down in the booth beside Sabine. He sniffed loudly and continued. "BUT. I am here, and Bridger, Ezra Bridger, I need to talk to you, because I have a deal for you today." Hondo paused suddenly and glanced at Sabine. He leaned forward, shielded his mouth with his hand as if to keep Sabine from hearing him, and then spoke loud enough for the entire cafe to hear. "You know I'm not sure that Mandalorian woman really wanted me to see you today, and I can't possibly come up with a single reason why that would be the case. After all the years and all we've been through..."

"Hondo," Ezra interrupted. "You should uh... probably move away from Sabine."

Hondo froze. His eyes darted to Sabine as if suddenly realizing he was being eyed by a dangerous predator. Abruptly he stood, straightened his tunic, and then moved to the other side of the booth to sit by Ezra. "You see Ezra; this is why I like you. You think about other people and not just yourself. It's almost like you actually believe some of the crazy things the Jedi used to preach. I was in mortal danger, sitting by the armored lady, and you saved my life, and not for the last time today, might I add."

"Wait a minute, what's that supposed to mean...?" Sabine asked with narrow eyes.

"Oh nothing, nothing, it means mostly nothing to warriors like you, and I shall explain it all later to you fine people. Probably."

Ezra put a hand on his shoulder "Hondo, I have no clue what that means, and look, we were kind of on a date when you just showed up out of nowhere and... Maybe you should stop by tomorrow, and I'll give you all the time you need."

"You are on a date?" Hondo said, suddenly smiling. "With the Mandalorian!? Why Ezra Bridger, I am so proud of you. So very very proud of you my boy! After that one time, you poured out your little heart to me about the deadly and beautiful Mandalorian Lady who wouldn't so much as glance in your direction... I am sure you must have heeded my advice. Yes, what is happening here is surely because of the good advice your old pal Hondo gave you..." he started counting. "Long ago, long ago... I, uhh... Guess it took some time to set to work and...

"Hondo." Sabine cut him off. He shut up immediately. "Ezra is my husband, and I assure you it has nothing to do with any advice you gave him." Hondo began to light up as if he were about to say something when Sabine cut him off again. "No. You can congratulate him tomorrow. You're going to turn and walk out of that door right now before I get very angry."

Hondo had a sad look on his face, looked sidelong at Ezra and whispered "Congratulations," and looked back at Sabine as if to judge her reaction. She merely raised an eyebrow threateningly. Hondo took off his hat, gave it a good fluff and sat it back on his head. "Very well friends. I shall return tomorrow, but I regret to inform you that I will be dead by then, so that will be rather difficult, even for Hondo."

Sabine reached across the table and grabbed Hondo by his collar and pulled him towards her threateningly. "Talk, Hondo. Why are you here?"

"Aughh!" he said, with a gasp. "It seems that I have made a few rather unscrupulous business partners, and it seems that for some reason, that I assure you I had absolutely nothing to do with... They want old Hondo dead."

Sabine shoved Hondo back into the booth. "Har-chaak, Hondo we talked about this last time you came to Lothal. Lothal is my territory, and I don't want you dragging your third rate petty crimes here. The only reason I haven't had you locked away is because Ezra, for some bizarre reason, happens to like you."

"Yes, yes and that is why I came to you two, the only friends Hondo has left in the Galaxy. Besides Melch of course, he's standing watch outside the cafe for Hondo. But YES! My only friends, and very talented dangerous ones that can protect me from the Black Sun thugs on my tail..."

Sabine just stared at Hondo. She looked at Ezra, who shrugged, and then back at Hondo, who smiled and waved at her. Sabine closed her eyes and managed to spit words out from between her clenched jaws. "I spent two years convincing the Black Sun that Lothal wasn't worth the trouble. Two. Whole. Years. And you just led them back here? During our date?!"

Hondo opened his mouth as if he was about to protest, then froze. He shrugged, nodded and said, "Yes, that seems to be what happened."

Ezra took a spoonful of his stew thoughtfully. Sabine gave him an eye and frowned. "Look, Hondo," Ezra said carefully and pointed at a booth across the room. "Go sit over there. Don't say anything. Just let us finish, and we'll talk in a little bit. I really don't want Sabine to hurt you, and you're dangerously close to that edge."

Hondo sulked and stood. "Very well, I shall do as the Bridger Boy asks. But I should warn you that..."

"Hondo," Ezra said simply.

"Right..." he said retreating to the other side of the room.

Ezra looked back at Sabine who was glaring intently at him. "You know this isn't in any way my fault right?"

"Yes it is; you befriended that scoundrel all those years ago, and he always brings trouble with him."

"Sabine," Ezra cocking his head. "Come on. Be reasonable. I'm sorry he's here now. I'm sorry he kind of ruined the date. Let's just finish eating and get out of here. We'll come back another time."

She let out a sigh, deflated, and quietly went back to her stew. They finished their meal mostly in silence. The few attempts at small talk fell flat, and Ezra sighed, annoyed with Hondo for ruining a happy day. He glanced over his shoulder; the pirate was sitting in his booth nursing a drink quietly. At least he was doing what he was told to do now. Ezra pushed the rest of his Peppradown stew away, his appetite gone.

"Not going to finish that?" Sabine asked. When Ezra shook his head, she glanced at it and then pulled the bowl to herself and continued on it. Ezra raised an eyebrow. Not only had she finished her bowl, but apparently she was working on his too. She sure was hungry today...

"Oh, my friends!" Hondo said suddenly from across the room.

"Not right now, Hondo," Ezra said dismissively.

"No, no I think you'll want to hear this. Melch just signaled me, and it seems my unscrupulous friends are here."

Ezra felt the danger a moment before it hit reaching out with the Force he grabbed several tables and upended them to make defensive barricades between the door and the dining area. "Get down!" He must have shouted very convincingly because the handful of other customers in the cafe and Hondo obeyed. With a shriek, the front door was blown off its hinges. Ezra caught the door and gently laid it aside before it had a chance to hurt anyone. Four heavily armed and armored thugs walked into cafe followed by...

Sabine gasped. "You have got to be kidding me... Katon Ul'zimit."

"What?" Era whispered fiercely.

"A Black Sun Strongarm. You don't want to know." She stood. "Ul'zimit. I thought I made it clear that your syndicate wasn't welcome here on Lothal. You're putting yourself and the lives of your men in very real danger by coming here."

Ul'zimit, a green scaled Faleen, suddenly turned to look at the Mandalorian woman challenging him. Shock registered briefly on his face. Sabine was apparently the last person he expected to see today. He bowed his head respectfully. "You'll have to forgive me, Lady Wren, but I am here for the pirate. We will take him and be offworld again as soon as possible."

Hondo opened his mouth to say something, but Sabine shook her head. "Shut up, Hondo. Look Ul'zimit; I can't let you do that. For some reason I've never understood, my husband actually likes Hondo. I'm going to have to ask you to leave disappointed." She rested both hands on her blasters in a silent threat.

Hondo tried to speak again, but the Faleen shook his head. "Shut up, Hondo." Ul'zimit looked back at Sabine. "After what he said to my daughter, I'm afraid that's not possible..." Every head in the room slowly panned to look at the pirate, who smiled and waved.

Ezra sighed. "Hondo has anyone ever told you that you're an idiot?"

"Possibly. Maybe once or twice. I haven't been counting, to be honest, but I know at least Melch has told me that..."

"Shut up, Hondo," Sabine said. "Ul'zimit I'm going to send the innocents out the back. You're going to let them go."

"I have no quarrel with the people of Lothal."

Sabine gestured to the back, and the handful of the other customers scurried out. "Well," Hondo said with a smile, "I guess that means I'll just be going too..."

The Black Sun thugs suddenly opened fire at Hondo and Ezra had to use the Force to throw the pirate into cover. Ezra ignited his lightsaber with a snap-hiss and moved towards the center of the room, confident he could block the bolts from the small handful of blasters. He couldn't believe Hondo had gotten them into this ridiculous situation; they were going to have serious words after this was over. A few of the thugs fired a handful of shots at Ezra, and he directed them back at their feet, hoping they would get the message. He'd prefer not to leave a trail of bodies in the cafe if he could help it. The thugs and Black Sun Strongarm scattered to cover themselves and prepared for a standoff. Ezra glanced at Sabine and suddenly realized that she was afraid. Sabine was as deep into cover as she could be and showed no signs of moving out to provide the cover fire that he had been expecting.

Time seemed to slow to a halt as Ezra reached towards her with the Force. There was no doubt she was terrified, but not for herself. She was afraid for... Her hand reached to her abdomen, and Ezra finally understood. He understood the mood swings. He understood why she was cutting back on caffeine, why she was hungry enough to finish his stew. He even understood why she felt so different in the Force. Stretching out his sense toward her, now knowing what he was looking for, it was now plain as day. He could feel both of them in the Force: Sabine and their unborn child.

Sabine saw his glance and nodded once, the corners of her mouth turning upward in a smile and her shoulders moving to shrug. Ezra made up his mind right then and there to end this immediately, and he would use overwhelming force if he had to.

Ezra moved without warning. Gesturing with his off hand, he threw the thugs to the ceiling, hard enough that he was pretty sure he broke a few bones. Then he made a pulling motion with his hand and every Black Sun blaster, as well as Hondo's, flew towards him. In one stroke, he sliced all six weapons neatly in half. Ezra continued walking towards Ul'zimit, keeping the thugs pressed hard to the ceiling. The Jedi pointed his saber at the Strongarm. To his credit, the Black Sun leader didn't flinch and only smiled.

"It seems the legends about the Jedi are true. Very impressive, Jedi."

"Not interested in hearing your flattery," Ezra said shortly. "Only interested in you leaving and never coming back. I'd really rather not kill anyone today."

"I understand, Master Jedi. But for the honor of my daughter I cannot leave here without Onaka," the Faleen said stoically.

Ezra shook his head. "That's not happening either. Hondo may be an idiot, but he is my friend." He looked back and forth to where Hondo was cowering in cover and then back to the Black Sun Strongarm. "What did... What did Hondo say to your daughter?" Ezra asked, curious.

The Faleen glared at the Weequay. "He called my beautiful daughter a bloated scaley Hutt."

Ezra furrowed his brow. "Wait, that's it? I mean that's pretty harsh but... What if he just apologized, and then you never saw him again? You know, so no one has to die today."

Ul'zimit looked at his guards still pressed to the ceiling than at the lightsaber pointed at his face. He was quiet for a long minute, and Ezra assumed he was weighing his options. "As a businessman I know to accept the best deal I will be offered. Very well. In the interest of no one dying today, I will accept an apology."

Ezra turned to Hondo. "Alright, you hear that Hondo? You're going to make nice with the crime boss here, and then you get to live."

Hondo stood up from his cover and carefully walked toward the Faleen. "You, my friend, are a very lucky lizard man because Hondo Onaka only apologizes to people he considers the dearest of friends."

"Hondo," Ezra said softly.

"Ah! Yes, yes, of course." He cleared his nose and sniffed loudly. "I am sorry that I called your daughter a bloated scaley Hutt, and I promise that I shall...!"

"That's enough," Ezra said. "Please just... Don't say anything else." He looked at Ul'zimit. I think that's the best you're going to get. Either you accept it and leave, or this gets messy.

The green scaled reptilian looked at Hondo and made a gesture of disgust. "Fine. If I ever see his face again, though, I'll let my daughter kill him herself."

Ezra nodded. "That's fair. I'm okay with that. Got that Hondo?"

The washed-up pirate sulked a little. "Fine, fine, we will dissolve our illustrious partnership here and now." He may not have been wise enough to completely hold his tongue, but he was wise enough to retreat to the far end of the room away from the Black Sun Strongarm

Ezra lowered the thugs to the floor. "Leave. We're through here."

Ul'zimit bowed. "And so we are." He turned to Sabine who had come out of cover. "Lady Wren I apologize for intruding upon your territory. It will not happen again." Sabine didn't answer and merely glared turbolasers at him. The Black Sun contingent left the cafe, and it was quiet. Tables and chairs were overturned, food and drink spilled everywhere, and a handful of blaster marks still smoldered. Ezra had even damaged the ceiling where he had smashed the thugs.

"Weeeellll!" Hondo said loudly "I'm just going to wait around here for a few minutes and then I'll go remove that tracker from your speeder..."

Sabine turned on Hondo. "Wait, is that how you followed us here?"

"Of course! What else do you think I had Melch do when he broke into your tower the other night. I couldn't risk you two being too far away from old Hondo when the Black Sun came for me, now could I?"

"Hondo," Sabine said severely. "Go sit over there and do not speak to me again today."

Hondo raised a finger as if to say something and then for the first time in his life thought better of it. He turned and walked across the trashed cafe and sat in a chair tapping his fingers together and humming to himself.

Sabine stood silently staring at the wreckage; her hands rested gently on her abdomen. Ezra walked to her and wrapped her in the tightest hug he had ever given her, ten thousand thoughts going through his mind. Suddenly he started laughing and lifted her up and spun her around. "Sabine, this is amazing! I... I'm..."

"You're going to be a father," she whispered, a small smile on her face. "I just found out this morning, and I was going to tell you today, but then..." She gestured around her. Ezra laughed again. "What's so funny?" Sabine said, frowning slightly.

"You know for the last couple weeks I've been contemplating what a normal life would look like. I think I've just realized, though, that we will never have a normal life, Sabine. I mean... This was our first date. And just... wow."

Sabine pulled Ezra close again. "You know we're going to have to pay for all this right? I can't just destroy my friend's cafe and act as if nothing happened."

Ezra looked sad for a moment, then brightened up. "Don't care. Gonna be a daddy," he said kissing Sabine right then and there.

"Ughh, stop, stop!" Sabine said trying to untangle herself from her husband. "No public displays of affection. No, I'm serious get back; I will let you kiss me more later. I have to go find Tahreen, this... This is a bit of a disaster."

"You think she's regretting us coming here on a date yet?" Ezra winked wryly.

"I know I am. I can't believe of all days for Hondo to show up..."

"Speaking of Hondo!" Hondo said suddenly at their side, "Yes, yes I know I was supposed to be over in my corner. But! I couldn't help but overhear the glorious news that there will be little Jedi Mandalorian children... People soon, and oh I am so excited." He put an arm around the couple. "Did you know that believe it or not, and I know that some people have difficulty believing this next bit..." He sniffed loudly and chuckled. "That I, Hondo Onaka, the legendary pirate, actually like children?! I know! I know. I wouldn't believe it myself if I wasn't, well, me. But it's true. And I absolutely insist that the little Jedi Mando person coming along call me... Uncle Hondo!" He flourished his arms expressively as if he had just said something profound.

Sabine looked at Ezra, then looked at Hondo. "No." She turned and walked away, probably to find Tahreen and apologize.

Ezra laughed and rubbed the beard at his chin. He couldn't stop smiling right now if he wanted to. He looked over at Hondo and said something he knew he'd regret later. "I'm sure Uncle Hondo will be fine. Sabine won't mind."

Hondo laughed. "Ohhh ho ho, Bridger, you play with fire. And I love it. Very well, very well I shall be Uncle Hondo."

"I'm a dead man," Ezra said simply, clapping Hondo on the back. "A happy dead man. But a dead man none-the-less."

Jacen laughs. "I'm through. I should have known better. Of course, your first real date was a disaster. And Uncle Hondo showing up? That's almost too much for me to believe. That really happened?"

Ezra nods. "Every word was true."

"Also, allow me to remind you that there is no Uncle Hondo," Hera reminds her son severely. Try as she might she could never put a stop to that ridiculous title being associated with Hondo.

Mira laughs. "Uncle Hondo is the best!"

Sabine gives her oldest a look. Mira looks at Ezra, and the two share a laugh. Both Sabine and Hera give Ezra a withering glare but he doesn't care; he knows that he won this battle long ago and Uncle Hondo was here to stay.

Jacen rolls his eyes at his family. "Well it was fun, but I don't think I learned much for my date tomorrow."

"Oh?" Sabine says, "I'd thought you were paying attention better than that."

Hera looks at her son as he glances at Sabine, not sure if she's serious. "Well," he finally says thoughtfully, "I guess maybe I could pull a couple things out of all that."

"Enlighten us then," Hera says, curious as to what Jacen could have gleaned from an evening of family history.

Jacen is quiet for a minute and then says, "Trust. It was all built on trust. Ezra built the strongest friendship he could with Sabine. And when it mattered, the trust they had in each other was enough for them to hold on and make it through the hard times."

Hera raises an eyebrow, impressed. "Well, I think that's probably a little much for a first date, but that's pretty solid long-term advice."

Jacen laughs. "Yeah don't make me get too sappy. I still can't believe you guys kept this going for so many hours, only to have it end with a story of you two destroying a cafe with Hondo." Hera noticed he avoided the Uncle title, for now, probably to avoid being scolded again. "Well played guys. Well played."

Sabine stands and walks to her nephew to hug him. "Anytime for you, kiddo." She ruffles his green hair. "We weird-haired family members have to look out for each other, you know."

Jacen laughs and rolls his eyes but hugs his aunt back. "Yeah... that's how that works, Sabine. Thanks though. It was fun." He chuckles again as he steps back.

"What?" Sabine asks, confused.

"Oh, just thinking. I'll try not to destroy the restaurant on my first date like you guys did..."

Sabine smirks. "I think that would be for the best."

Author's Note: Okay, that might have gotten a little out of hand... Big shout out to AvalancheZ250 for the positively dumb idea of adding Hondo to this thing. I'd be really having trouble making this one work out because I was trying to out serious the previous chapter. His ridiculous suggestion was just what I needed to make it fun. :D Ironically I'd already written the Uncle scene before someone showed me the Meldyarts piece that's somewhat similar.

This was the final main chapter. Look for a short epilogue in the coming days!

Thanks for reading and let me know what you think!