Star Wars: Gray Rebellion

Part I

Act III

Chapter IX

Disclaimer: I am not George Lucas, nor am I Walt Disney…

(A/N): GUYS ITS CHAPTER IX! FREAKING CHAPTER IX! THIS IS HUGE!


Sabine held him tight in her arms, keeping one at his chest to monitor the slow beating of his heart, hoping against all hope that it would not stop. "You can't die on me, Ezra," she whispered into his hair, her eyes closed. "I need you," her voice broke and she had to fight back tears. Sabine hated feeling so weak like this, yet she understood well her need for a reminder that she was not unstoppable. She nuzzled into his hair. Ezra was the perfect reminder. When she was upset or even angry, his words were enough to calm her, upon times when grief accompanied her, his arms were her secret place; when it came to him, be it that he was the cause of her pain like now, or that he was the reason for her ire, nothing could calm her. If she lost him now, or ever, nothing would ever be gained in his place, nothing would fill the hole in her heart he was already leaving. Looking passed his bruised face, her eyes fell on a simple golden ring at her finger, and her mind returned to better times.


One Year Ago:

She was done, tired of playing these games. A year had gone by since the two had joined together. Slowly, they'd begun, timid with one another. Though she would never admit it, she often watched him, and she knew he watched her. She'd caught him a few times, as he hadn't always been subtle about it. He never did ogle her, he only watched her, learned her, examined her. She couldn't say the same. At first glance, Ezra seemed scrawny, all bone and no meat; by a further examination one would see his toned form. It was even more obvious if one watched him working. At one point, she'd caught him working on the outside of an old ship they'd found. He'd become quite the mechanic over the years. Mechanic, Jedi, boyfriend, what couldn't he do? A lot, actually. That aside, he'd caught her watching him and become obnoxious about his work. She almost laughed upon remembering his sudden high pitched shriek at the shock he'd invoked from the wires he was tampering with. After, he'd given up.

Sabine had learned a lot about Ezra in their first few months together. At the surface, he came off as goofy and silly, those who didn't know him, and those less observant would often take him for a fool. This was the guise he'd created to keep people from seeing just how broken he was; eventually he'd begun to fool even himself. She'd made him face that, because in all reality, it worked more against him than it did for him, and she wasn't going to let him destroy himself. Ezra was much less open than he'd first seemed. He would constantly joke with the others, and on rare occasion he would have meaningful conversations with the other members of the crew. However, she often found him up at night when she would wake for a snack. He would be sitting alone in silence, his eyes searching the floor. She would sit with him, those nights, and they would talk. At first it had only been about him, eventually he'd begun asking her about her, and together they began learning about each other. It was through the nights that they comforted each other in the dark that they found light in each others eyes, home in each others hearts. She'd found a great many things buried deep within his heart under his guise, that guilt and fear that he hid from everyone so well. Everyone except for her. Even before they'd come together, she could read him like a book, now it was that much easier. He still blamed himself for Kanan's blindness. He didn't regret leaving with Maul, but it was apparent that he did, sometimes, regret coming back. He hated himself for his attempt on her life, and she knew he would likely never forgive himself for that. He feared that they hated him too. These things seeped into every aspect of his life, and he barely noticed it. Perhaps it was due to his learnings from Maul, but she found that he was much more ruthless in combat, and that scared her. She didn't want to lose him to the darkness.

Sabine didn't want to confront him about that yet, though, she knew she had to. She wouldn't allow him to walk alone in his pain. When she did confront him, she found that, though his methods were extreme, though his perspective was jaded, his heart was in the right place. Ezra didn't kill for no reason, but when people threatened his family, he ensured they would never have the chance to hurt his people. However, this mindset led to more problems. Ezra was known for his recklessness. Months ago, the crew had been on a simple cargo mission. The objective was simple: steal some high-grade Imperial Weapons from the Empire and supply them to the Rebellion. Somehow, it had happened that they had been surrounded by Stormtroopers and Imperial Officers. The crew had decided to split up into teams: Kanan and Zeb would steal the weapons while Ezra and Sabine would distract the enemy. They had done a great job distracting the enemy, yet, a terrible job getting away. An officer had fired on her, and rather than redirecting the bolt via the Force or his lightsaber, Ezra panicked, shoving her out of the way. He'd been lucky the bolt struck his shoulder, as the officer's gun had been set to "kill".

Sabine had never known she could be so scared or angry. She'd slaughtered the group of enemies like sheep, and made sure to get Ezra the medical attention he needed, before tying into him for his recklessness. She had told him that he needed to think before acting, rather than just jumping in. He'd told her he wasn't going to let her get hurt, even if the cost for her life was his own. Despite his genuine sincerity, this only served to feed her anger. Didn't he understand that she felt the same way? That she worried about him too? Sabine had went on to tell Ezra he was an idiot, and the discussion escalated into an explosive argument that ended in him walking away, shaking his head. Both of them we're hurt. Now, a few months later, he barely spoke to her. They still spent time together, they joked and conversed, however, he seemed to be gone most days. Sabine was growing frustrated. A week ago, she had received summons to Mandalore, and she was leaving tonight.

Sabine had yet to even see Ezra today. According to Hera, he had left on a solo mission the night before and hadn't yet returned. "Of course you did," she thought. He knew about the summons, she had made sure to tell him herself. She had planned on spending the day with him, and yet, he was gone. Ezra had been on a string of solo missions in the past month, and he didn't always come back right away. Despite her bitter frustration, she couldn't help but worry. The worst he'd come back with was a black eye and a few bruised ribs, but in a world like this, that can easily escalate into a gouged eye and a few cracked ribs. It was made worse for her when he told her only that there was a mission, never going into detail about them. That hurt. Weren't they supposed to tell each other everything? That was what couples did, they told each other everything, kept nothing from each other, right? Sabine turned from the cockpit and moved to the door. She needed air. The door opened and her eyes widened. Suddenly, Ezra was right there, standing at the entrance, surprise overtaking him. Pain, hurt, anger; Sabine hadn't expected her emotions to well up so quickly. She closed her eyes. "Why am I about to cry?!" "Why didn't you tell me you were gonna be gone today?" The words were out of her mouth before she could stop them.

"What?" Ezra reared back. He was obviously confused as Sabine pushed passed him. It was raining tonight and she could tell he'd been out here for some time with how soaked he was. He wasn't even wearing a jacket and was barely shivering, yet she was freezing. "Idiot," she thought. "Hey, Sabine?" he called after her. Sabine stopped but did not look back. He stepped behind her, his hands ghosting at her waist as he silently asked permission to hold her, wrapping his arms around her when she didn't move away. He pulled her to him, and she found herself instantly more soaked, he was literally dripping wet. "Why the hell aren't you wearing a jacket, Ezra?! You're gonna get sick!" She scolded. He chuckled at that. "That doesn't matter right now. What's wrong?" He asked. Sabine spun, her fists clenched at her sides as she stared up him. "This, Ezra! This is exactly what we were just fighting about the other day!" She yelled at him. He quirked a brow. "The other day? Sabine, that was a few months ago," he stated. "I don't care Ezra. I don't care if it was yesterday! Why aren't you wearing a jacket?!" She was more worried than she thought she'd be. "It wasn't raining until a few hours ago, actually," he said. "A few hours ago?!" Sabine exasperated. "Where the hell have you been?! Why are you avoiding me?!" She shouted. Confusion, pain, worry, these things were etched on Ezra's face. "Avoiding you?" He asked. "Sabine, I'm not avoiding you. I've been running myself ragged with missions for the Rebellion. Why would I avoid you?" He asked. Sabine pulled him into her embrace suddenly, perhaps too eagerly, burying her face in his shoulder. "Why?" She asked. She needed to know.

Sabine heard and felt Ezra sigh into her hair. "It was supposed to be a surprise. I was going to wait until you got back from Mandalore," he said, shyly. She was confused at that. Guilt hit her hard, she hadn't been sure she would come back until now. Reigning in her confusion, and gasping as she saw the little black box he'd drawn from his pocket, she rested her hand on his. "Then wait," she said softly. He hesitated for a moment before nodding, moving to place the box back into his pocket. Just as he retrieved his hand from said pocket he stiffened, leaning into his elbow as he began coughing deeply. Sabine sighed and shook her head. "C'mon, lets get you inside and dried up," she said, pulling him by his hand.

Hours later, Sabine stood in front of a holoprojector, the image of a stoic woman before her. "So then you're not coming tonight?" The woman asked. Sabine shook her head. "I have some stuff I need to take care of here first. I'll leave first thing tomorrow morning," she replied. The woman sighed. "I understand. Get a good night's rest, daughter. I will see you tomorrow," then, the image cut out, and Sabine turned back into her quarters. "Hey," a hoarse voice greeted her. "I thought I told you to go to sleep," she stated as she moved towards her bed, slinking in beside him, wrapping her arms around and holding him. "I'm pretty sure you did," he smiled. "So why are you still awake?" She asked. "Couldn't get comfy without you," he said, as smug as he could manage with such a desperate cold. She smirked at that. "Better not," she replied, tiredly, snuggling into him. Mandalore could wait for her, he needed her now, and he would always come first. The two were snoring in minutes.

Two weeks later upon her arrival, Ezra Bridger had proposed to Sabine Wren, and she had accepted on one condition; that no matter what happened, that no matter how hard the Empire came at them or how hard life tried to separate them that they would endure and fight, standing always at each others side, fighting until it was time to pass on the mission to the next generation.


Sabine was brought suddenly out from her reverie as the heart beneath her arm slowed suddenly. Its rate had decreased for seemingly no reason, and it was falling slower and slower. Her eyes widened. Her heart sank. She stilled. His heart stopped.

"NO!" Sabine screamed, throwing Ezra onto his back. She brought her fist down into his chest. He bounced, falling limp once more. "Damn it Ezra! You can't do this to me!" She hit him again. Nothing happened.

Tears were streaming down her face now. "You promised me you wouldn't let this happen! You don't gET TO DO THIS! EZRA!" She pounded into him once more, and he only jumped before falling again. Sabine shook her head, tears flying about as she did, falling to her hands and knees, leaning over the man she loved so desperately. "You can't do this to me, Ezra…" Tears ran from her eyes to the fabric of his robes. "You can't…" She couldn't give up, She wouldn't. "YOU CAN'T!" Raising both her arms, clenching both her fists, she brought them down hard.

A body jumped.

A man breathed.

A heart was beating anew.

Ezra moved to sit up, straining his battered body, only to be tackled down by the very woman he loved, her face buried in his chest. "Don't you ever do that to me again!" Sabine cried, desperately hugging him, squeezing as tight as she could. She was terrified that he would disappear if she let him go. She nuzzled him, listening for a heart beat she knew was there, she almost missed it. Weak arms embraced her, she could feel how feeble they were around her. "I'm sorry," his voice was strained. "I love you…" she said, desperate for him to know. "I love you…" she pressed her lips to his neck, her hands rummaging through what little hair he had as she lay atop him, soaking his robe with tears. "I love you…" he replied, remaining still, his body ached too much to move. Together they lay for some time, though the hours were lost on them. Soon he was asleep, and she dragged him to and placed him on the couch. Then, she joined him there in slumber, too tired to move; too scared to move away. She was his world, and he was hers.


(A/N): Firstly, thank you to everyone reading this, reviewing, favoriting and or following. You are a large part of my motivation. I also thank MandoCommander for making time for me in his crazy and busy schedule.

Now, here's an important announcement: For all of those who read this whom are writers, you know the struggle of writing a story. You know the trap of, "I don't have any motivation" and the truth that motivation for writing is found, at least for me, in writing itself, in those who read it, and in friends who read it, especially. I've never finished a story before, and while this series is far from over, the next chapter will be the last chapter in Part I. This is huge for me, this is a milestone in my career as a writer, and in all honesty I could not have done it without you guys. Thank you all. As always, I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and I'd love to hear your thoughts. Have a good one, fellas.

-Wikked Grin-