A/N: Hi guys. I know it's been a little bit since I updated. I struggled a bit with this chapter, but I think it's good now.

Sorry for so much angst, but for me, that's what fanfic is built on, right? Lol!

Chapter 10

Hera was the first awake when Caleb began to scream. She was on her feet with her blaster at hand before she realized what was happening. So many years of dealing with Ezra and Zeb's nightmares had prepared her and she hit the hallway at a run, bursting through Caleb's door.

She flipped the light on and saw her sweet child was not in his bed. Where had he gone? She looked around and noticed his cries were coming from the closet. Hera hit the switch with her fist and it opened immediately to reveal her terror-filled child curled into the corner of the closet, his eyes squeezed closed and his lekku twined around themselves in fear.

"Oh baby…baby…" She went to her knees, dropping her blaster and gathering him in her arms. His continued sobs were muffled against her sleep shirt, and she placed kisses on the top of his head. She also squeezed him as tightly as she dared, as injured as he'd been, and felt him respond by putting his arms around her neck. That was good. "Okay. It's okay, Caleb." She kissed the side of his head and face, still bruised from the accident. What was happening to them? she wondered helplessly. For the past two days, Ezra had not been himself lately, and as a consequence, even Caleb had seemed preoccupied and withdrawn.

Sabine came in soon after, kneeling down as well to rub circles against the little boy's back. At first, he flinched and let out a cry, but he melted back into his mother's arms when he saw it was Sabine. "We're here, Caleb," she said softly.

"I think he had a bad dream." Hera was rocking him gently back and forth while he continued to sob against her shirt. "Is Ezra—"

"Ezra wasn't in the bedroom. I need to go find him." Just like Hera, Sabine figured Ezra probably had a bad night and had somehow affected Caleb as well, or vice versa. Some of the same things had happened on the Ghost with Kanan and Ezra, until Ezra had mastered his mental shields. It was probably the same case here.

She got up and headed for the door. When she got into the living room, she saw Zeb was watching something outside the front door. "Zeb?" she whispered.

"Sabine…I'm…I'm not sure what to do." He moved a little and she saw that Ezra was standing outside the front door, looking out on the grasslands. He was holding his lightsaber in one hand, but it was not ignited.

And five Loth-wolves were in a semicircle around the front of the house. They were facing out into the night, though. Their attention was not on Ezra, but on something outside their circle, which they were watching steadily.

Before she could try to wake him up, he stepped forward, off of the porch and out into the yard. He ignited his lightsaber and took a stance, waiting.

"Zeb…what are they doing?" Sabine muttered, as she stepped outside. They looked around but saw no one. No threat, just the quiet of a cool, windy night settling around them.

"I don't know." Zeb took an experimental sniff of the air. His ears twitched. He thought for a moment he detected something on the wind, but then there was nothing there. Despite his findings, Zeb ducked back inside and came out with his bo-rifle in hand, just in case.

The lead wolf began a long and lonely howl, lifting its snout to the sky. The other wolves began to growl, standing up and shifting uneasily from foot to foot. It was a growl that Sabine could feel vibrating in the very air around them. A warning.

Ezra lifted one hand up, palm out and two fingers extended. Sabine had seen him do this countless times, which meant he was using the Force to sense the area in front of him. It was also the same motion she'd seen him use on the blurrgs when connecting with them.

She stepped out, past the porch into the yard, followed by Zeb.

Her husband's loose hair obscured his face, and she couldn't get a read on his eyes. She knew he had to be cold; all he was wearing was a black tank and sleep pants, and his feet were bare, but he didn't seem to feel the chill. It reminded her achingly of Hoth. She could see the tension in his muscles as he held his stance, waiting for a threat that neither she nor Zeb could see. For a moment, her fear overtook her and she wondered if he WAS unraveling…Force knew what state of mind he was in. How much terror could one person endure? When would the past stop torturing him? She wished the past was some enemy she could fight; some force that she could defeat, but it was only a ghost in the dark that kept surfacing again and again.

She approached slowly, sure that he would sense her.

"Sabine, careful…" Zeb's worried voice came from behind her.

She glanced at him and shook her head. "It's okay," she whispered. Then she laid a hand on Ezra's shoulder. "Ezra?" She murmured, not wanting to startle him, but he didn't react at all.

"It's there." He nodded his head out toward the night.

"What's out there?" she whispered.

"Darkness." His voice was slow; it was the slurred speech of a sleep-talker. "They're coming..."

He didn't sound like himself either. She looked around them and saw that the wolves were bristling and snarling now. Was Ezra controlling them? Was there really a threat or was this just another nightmare? Her confusion was an agony as he stepped forward and her hand slipped from him.

"Come on." Ezra growled, his voice now low and dangerous as he advanced, swinging his saber impatiently. "Show yourself!"

There was nothing but the rustle of the grass around them. Long moments passed, in which Ezra finally lowered his head and remained silent and stationary. His distressed breathing indicated another panic attack. Sabine turned to Zeb, who was now standing beside her. "Do you sense anything?" she whispered.

Zeb shook his head, noticing the wolves. They had stopped growling and were now merely sitting in their places. The tension they'd reflected seemed to have passed. "Look." He motioned to Sabine, then pointed.

One by one, the wolves were vanishing into the high grassland. Ezra lifted his head and disengaged his lightsaber as he stood staring into the dark. When only the large white wolf was left, the creature turned toward Ezra and took several steps until it was close enough to look directly in his eyes. It nudged him with its snout, and then vanished.

Ezra wavered, then fell to his knees.

Both Sabine and Zeb came to his side immediately. "Ezra…" Sabine put a hand on his cheek, which was so cold, and turned his head toward her. His intense blue eyes focused on her through his fall of black hair. He reached up and ran a gentle touch down her face, as if he didn't believe she was real. "Are you okay?" she breathed.

"Did—did you see anything?" he asked her.

She shook her head slowly, glancing to Zeb. Ezra followed her gaze, and Zeb shook his head as well and knelt down beside him, placing a hand on Ezra's shoulder in support. "I'm sorry, kit," he murmured.

"There was something…something evil out there." He narrowed his eyes and looked into the darkness. "It's gone now, but it was there."

She nodded, placing a hand on his other shoulder. "Ezra? Did…did you call the wolves here? Or did they just come?"

He looked around, confusedly. "I…I don't know. I-I'm not sure." As his distracted blue eyes scanned around them, Sabine felt Ezra shiver through her touch on his shoulder. "Wait…Where's Hera…and…and Caleb?" He struggled to his feet.

"They're inside! Ezra—" Sabine said, but Ezra was pulling away, staggering to the house and through the front door.

When Zeb and Sabine entered, they saw Ezra in the living area with Hera and Caleb. Caleb was held tightly in Ezra's arms and Hera had her arms around both of them. Ezra's face was buried against Hera's shoulder, and the shaking of his shoulders showed that he was overwhelmed. "It's okay. Shhh." Sabine saw Hera smooth her hand over Ezra's hair gently. "I'm okay. Caleb's okay, love. You don't have to worry anymore." Hera's eyes met Sabine's over Ezra's head, and it was as if they could read each other's thoughts.

Whatever was happening to Ezra, it was rapidly becoming clear that they were helpless to stop it.

Roxi watched the Jedi through her macrobinoculars. She could tell he was the Jedi by the green glow of his lightsaber as he stepped out among the fearsome Loth-wolves. He swung his saber a few times, his mouth moving, but the wind over the grassland would have drowned out his words anyway, even if she'd been close enough to hear. Then two other figures came out, which she identified as the Mandalorian and the Lasat. After a few moments, she saw the wolves begin to slip into the grass.

"Time to go, Inquisitor," she murmured, wondering if the wolves would come their way. She watched as she saw Tarek open his eyes. They were about seven klicks from the Jedi's abode, which Tarek had said was as close as they wanted to get to the homestead of the Ghost crew for what he had to do. An overt attack would come later, after they'd weakened the Jedi, according to the former Inquisitor.

Tarek's eyes gleamed in the darkness. "The wolves are coming." He returned to his trance and focused on his own Force signature, cloaking it in layers upon layers of stealth. He didn't think the Loth-wolves, creatures of myth, which no one had seen on Lothal for over a hundred years until after the Battle of Lothal, would be able to detect him with their Force abilities.

Roxi chewed her bottom lip as she walked over to ready the speeder, a small two-seater, with mods that allowed it to be almost silent as they zoomed over the grassland. She hoped that Tarek would hurry up and get finished with his Jedi magic and allow them to go before those creatures showed up to tear them into bits. They were huge, and they looked hungry. She wasn't sure if the Inquisitor could defeat two or three of those.

She felt her hair begin to stand on end as the Inquisitor rose and made his way over to her. It felt like some electrical charge was building in the area around them. "It's done," he said.

Visible relief showed on the bounty hunter's face as she started up the speeder.

As he climbed in to the conveyance and they headed back toward the far-off lights of the city, Lelan felt a dark pride. After what he'd just done to Bridger, the Jedi's pain was like a bleeding wound in the Force. By using immense focus and meditation, he had sensed which point of weakness would break Bridger the quickest. The more he broke the Jedi down, the easier it would be to get the boy. Bridger was strong with the Force, but the half-breed kid was brilliant with it. The son of one of the last Jedi would make a powerful dark-side user.

Lelan Tarek had survived the fall of the Empire, proving that he'd had more focus and devotion to the dark side than his "brothers" and "sisters." Despite being only partially trained when Lord Vader and the Emperor fell, he had not only survived, but thrived. He'd left his quarters in the Imperial palace the same night they heard about the Empire's fall. As he ran, he stole a Sith holocron which had been given to the head Inquisitor for training purposes, and escaped through the secret tunnels of the complex.

The holocron had been invaluable for learning the secrets that had not yet been taught him. He'd spent over two years poring over it, and honing his innate ability for finding the shatterpoints in others. This natural ability had been one of the reasons the Third Brother had chosen him as an apprentice. With the Force and an immense focus and expense of energy, he could determine the fault lines in other people and things. Then he could use that weakness to shatter them.

He had used it to see that Bridger's darkest fear was losing someone else in his family. Kanan Jarrus's death had apparently shaken the young Jedi, and like many other weak-minded veterans, Bridger struggled with his memories of the war and the loss that he'd faced. The Inquisitor smirked. Those on the light side had never figured out how to take pain and make it into strength.

Ah yes. Love for others and attachment. Those were Jedi weaknesses-not hard to identify. But how to exploit that weakness? THAT was where Tarek's little gift became very valuable indeed.

"What did he see when he came outside?" Roxi asked. "Did he know we were there?"

"He could feel a threat. Something he couldn't define." The Inquisitor smirked. "But he will find nothing, and it will drive him mad."

"Then we snatch the kid…your new apprentice," she corrected herself.

"When the time is ripe." Tarek suddenly felt drained of his anger; pushing it all into the manipulation of the dark side left him feeling empty. Only unhappiness remained, and it made him irritable. The bounty hunter started to ask another question, but the look on the Inquisitor's face when he glanced to her was enough to still any further conversation.

He began to put together his dark plan. He would send one of the crew to surveil the comings and goings of the Ghost crew. If Bridger and the child were separated for any length of time, they would make their move.

The dark landscape sped by them as they headed for the lights of the city.

Adrenaline and their battle hardened reflexes kept them awake, long after Ezra and Caleb had gone back to sleep. Caleb had insisted that Ezra not leave him…and so the kid had fallen asleep in Ezra's arms as they both laid on the couch. It seemed that Caleb had a relaxing effect on Ezra as well because it wasn't long before the Jedi was asleep also. Sabine had gone to wake them to go to bed when Hera stopped her with a hand on her arm.

"Don't," Hera said gently. "If it keeps them from having any more bad dreams tonight, let them sleep."

"Was that all that was, you think? Just a bad dream?" Sabine asked softly, following the Twi'lek into the kitchen and sitting down.

"Maybe," Hera replied, handing Sabine a cup of tea. Zeb was standing at the window in the living room, keeping a silent watch, and she smiled at him, even though he couldn't see it. After all these years, protecting them was still second nature for the old Lasat, and she felt a fierce love for him, certain that she never would have made it through losing Kanan without Zeb's steady guiding presence.

"Do you…do you think Ezra's going to be okay?" Sabine whispered, staring down into the cup of amber Twi'lek tea.

Hera put a hand on Sabine's head, smoothing her hair. Then she sat down at the table. "I know something's happening. I don't know what it is, but we have to believe Ezra will figure it out. All we can do is be there for him. Like we did for Kanan after…well, after Maul." The Twi-lek thought back to when Kanan had first been blinded. He'd struggled so hard to find his way after Malachor, that her heart had broken every day for him. She had provided silent strength when he needed it, and someone to listen when he wanted to talk. Ezra needed the same from them. She was sure of it.

"It…It was like…like Hoth." Sabine's eyes filled with tears and Hera leaned forward and embraced her for a long time. "He was so afraid. I just want to take it all away for him."

"I know. Give him some time. Seeing Kanan again…and then Caleb getting hurt shook him up, I think." Hera took Sabine's hand as she nodded. "We have to trust that he'll find his way, and be there for him to talk to when he's ready. That's all we can do."

Sabine nodded as she took another sip of her tea. Hoth. It seemed like a lifetime ago; but it had only been about five years…

Hoth

Ice chunks were falling as the Imperial guns in range of the Hoth base tore the tunnels and rooms apart. When the shield generator was destroyed, they were given the K-one-zero.

"Chopper—get to the Ghost. Tell Zeb to prep for takeoff." Hera ordered. The short astromech made his way down the hallway, waving his manipulators and squawking in binary to clear the way. The Ghost was located in Hangar 6. Hera was carrying Caleb, thankful that the little three-year-old wasn't crying at all. His composure was eerie; his large luminous blue-green eyes were silently taking in everything that was happening in the hallway. Worried people streamed by, running. Thunder from the blasts rocked the base, and there had been falls of ice and snow all over the caves. There was a rainbow around the wall illumination, caused by the diffusion of light from ice crystals in the air. Hera noticed it when Caleb pointed.

"Rainbows," he said softly, in awe.

Leave it to her kid to find the beauty in the midst of an evacuation, she thought with a brief smile. He'd seen a rainbow in the last painting that Sabine had done in his room, Hera realized. "Mm-hmm," she murmured. "Let me know if you see Ezra or Sabine, love. We have to leave very soon."

She exited the small hallway for a larger one and made her way through the chaotic throng of running people. Another base abandoned…many good people would die today, she thought sadly as she clung to Caleb and looked for her other two kids.

But she'd been over a large portion of the base already, and she could feel herself beginning to panic at not finding them. She reminded herself that she'd been through too much to panic now, and she got a hold on herself. Becoming paralyzed like a baby nerf caught in speeder lights was not going to help anyone.

Sabine had been in intelligence, lending help to the codebreakers and slicers. Hera wondered if she should head that way. Just as she had that thought, Caleb pointed back through the crowd. "Mommy look!"

Hera turned to see Sabine making her way toward them. She was bleeding from a small cut on her head, but she seemed otherwise ok.

"No…no…ouch, Sabine." The toddler touched his own head on the same side that hers was hurt on. His face crinkled with worry at seeing her bleeding.

"I'm okay, little one. Part of the ceiling fell, that's all." Sabine said, kissing him on the forehead quickly. "I can't find Ezra." She rubbed the toddler's back, as she looked to Hera for orders.

Hera had tried to comm him on their way down, but hadn't been able to reach him. She tried again. "Spectre six, come in. Ezra, come in!" She frowned.

Hera signaled Zeb. "Please tell me Ezra's already in the Ghost."

"Karabast!" The Lasat's reaction let her know exactly what she didn't want to hear. "Hera. I'll go after him."

"No. Get us ready to burn sky, Zeb. We'll be there soon."

"Hera. I'll go. Get Caleb to the Ghost. If you have time, detach the Phantom and I'll leave in that. I know the rendezvous," Sabine said. People were running through the halls, carrying datapads and other equipment, but there weren't as many as there had been a couple of minutes ago when the evac had first been called.

"No way." Hera swore, grabbing the girl's shoulder with her free hand. "We're not leaving without you, so hurry."

Sabine nodded, and Hera enveloped her in a quick hug. When Sabine went to go, Caleb reached for her.

"No…No…Sabine!" Caleb shook his head, hand extended.

She took his little hand in her own. "Sweetheart—"

"Bad men are coming. Don't go." Again, his forehead with that crease of worry on it.

Hera looked at her son in surprise. She'd said nothing about the Empire being the reason they had to evac, but the kid understood nevertheless. Caleb was almost frighteningly smart and perceptive; it had to be the Force, she thought again, for the thousandth time.

"Gotta find Ezra, but I'll be careful, sweet angel." Sabine murmured, kissing his hand, and then she was gone.

Ezra felt the danger right before the alarm was given. He was in the hangar, giving some help to the mechanics by working on an X-wing, when he felt a familiar coldness creeping down his spine.

"You okay, Bridger?" Old Jarvis, a gear head at the base Ezra had been working with, looked up when the Jedi stood. Jarvis liked having Bridger come help out. There was a lot of repair work to do and the Jedi never refused a job, no matter how dirty or unattractive it was. The red-haired tech thought that the young man probably just liked to keep busy. Lots of soldiers were that way and needed something to do during their off hours, or the burden of memories of the lost became too heavy to bear.

"I'm good. Just taking a break." The Jedi went over and grabbed his canteen off of a suspension crate. He drank some water, then closed his eyes to try and see what he could sense in the Force. Something wasn't right. He felt the familiar mantle of the light side falling over him, but it was immediately snatched away by the coldness of the dark side. Death was coming for them. Looking into the approaching evil presence was like looking into a black hole. It sucked him in, and he felt all the warmth in his body drain away.

The canteen slipped from his fingers and fell on the floor unheeded, splattering his shoes. When the warning claxons went off, he didn't hear them.

"Bridger! Kriff, we gotta evac. Come on!" Jarvis came over and grabbed his shoulder.

Ezra looked at the old mechanic, but Jarvis might as well have been speaking Aqualish. He shook his head slowly, and pulled away from the touch. He still looked like he had his head tilted to one side, listening to something Jarvis couldn't hear.

When Jarvis reached for him again, Ezra felt everything start to close in. He couldn't breathe, and his heart was pounding. "Go. Just go before it's too late." Ezra pushed the man away and the bewildered mechanic finally left, swearing and murmuring something about finding Syndulla's crew.

The Force had gone cold. So cold. Ezra staggered to the wall, and leaned against it, trying to get control of his pounding heart rate. The unnatural cold stole his rational thought, leaving only his fear behind. His mind seized up and was numb. He couldn't think. He needed to get to Sabine, Hera and Caleb, but he couldn't breathe.

They are already lost, foolish Jedi.

You have no hope of saving them.

The surety of that statement was like a hammer to the brain. He tried to sense his crew…his family, but could get no read on them. Were they dead already? The pain that ripped through his heart at that thought forced him to his knees. A loud boom thundered from overhead and chunks of ice chips and a fall of frost came from the ceiling, landing on his head and shoulders.

Time passed and he remained frozen in place, unable to take action. The presence he now identified as Vader, the Sith in black, drew closer. In the Force, Ezra could feel the Sith turning his eye toward him, seeking him. He began to moan, squeezing his eyes shut. Memories of Malachor came back to him, and he was paralyzed with fear, reliving the horror of Vader's presence and the Sith's fight with Ahsoka that had ended with her death.

His breath was heaving, as he fought the iron bands that had tightened around his chest. He let out a loud moan and buried his face in his knees, as if he could hide from the inevitable. It was as if all the oxygen had been sucked out of the room. Another boom sounded and he looked up to see more ice fall from the ceiling. He closed his eyes and tried to find some shred of the Light to dispel the terror of the Dark.

There was a whisper of movement and he felt a familiar touch on his head. "Ezra. Are you hurt?"

He opened his eyes and saw Sabine's pale face, streaked with blood. He tried to say something to her, but his mouth worked helplessly. He struggled to breathe, to think, to move, to even focus on her. Her hands gently but quickly brushed over him, obviously looking for blood or wounds.

"Force! You're so cold. We have to go, Ezra." Sabine took his frozen hands in her own and squeezed them. His lips were tinged with blue and she was alarmed. When she'd approached him after the mechanic told her where he was, she'd first thought he was frozen solid. He was curled into himself, and had a fine fall of frost on his head and shoulders, giving her the horrible notion that he'd frozen to death. She'd seen a rebel soldier brought in from being caught outside overnight, and Ezra looked like that. Pale, with frost dusted over his skin like glitter.

"He's…" Ezra struggled to talk, his strangled voice only a whisper between his chattering teeth. "He's coming."

"Who?" she asked as she reached up to put a hand on his cheek. He was so pale that he seemed like a ghost.

"Vader," he shuddered, grabbing her arm. "Sabine—It's Vader."

He didn't have to say anymore. "I understand," she said, and her arms went around him and pulled him to his feet. Vader was enough to send any of them into a panic, and if he was here, it was past time to go.

Ezra felt like an icicle; his body was stiff as she helped him get to his feet. He had turned his head back toward the doorway, a dazed look in his eyes as if he expected Vader to appear any moment. She placed hands on each side of his face and made him look at her. "Ezra? Just follow me. We have to get you back to the Ghost." She led him by his hand, noticing how he kept close to her. He wasn't reacting right; he was so distant it felt like the time after Malachor-all over again.

"You're hurt?" He asked, finally realizing what the blood on her face must mean. Everything, even his mind, seemed to be moving in slow motion. He struggled against it, but only ended up being more mired in the mental quicksand.

"Not really-just a piece of ice fell on me." She tried to wipe off the blood with her fingertips, then scrubbed her fist across it. "It was nothing." She squeezed his hand harder as Ezra flinched and ducked at the close sound of blaster bolts, pulling her with him. He held out his hand and his saber flew into it from the clip on his belt. The green glow of the ignited blade cast an eerie light around them as he waited to deflect blaster fire.

"No. It's still a little way off. We just have to reach the Ghost." He looked at her blankly, as if she was speaking another language. Then his eyes wandered back to the doorway. With a touch on his cold cheek, she pulled his attention back to her. "Look at me. You're okay." He disengaged his blade, and they continued walking rapidly toward the Ghost. The entire time, Sabine glanced back and forth from their destination to Ezra's pale, strained face. She had to keep him moving to the ship. "You're doing well, love. Stay with me." She then hit her comm. "I'm on the way with Ezra."

"Copy that." Hera's relieved voice came across the channel.

"I thought I'd lost you..." Ezra murmured.

When she looked up, she saw that his eyes were full of tears.

"I was scared for you too," she replied, leaning in to slip her arm around him to hurry him along. "But we're okay. All of us." Eventually they reached the Ghost and saw Zeb was standing on the loading ramp, with his bo-rifle. Seeing Ezra's tears made his ears twitch. He slung the weapon over his back. "Everything okay?"

Ezra looked around him suddenly confused. The dark side was pounding at him, trying to find a way in and his thoughts became jumbled. "I can feel him, Sabine. Vader's here. We've got to save Ahsoka and Kanan. We've got to get off of Malachor."

Sabine's eyes went wide in terror. What was going on? Ezra thought they were on Malachor? He thought Kanan was still alive? Was this some kind of mental break, a flashback or some effect of Vader's? Just how close was the Sith? Sabine looked at Zeb desperately.

The Lasat's ears twitched again. The kit's scent was all wrong, but he played along in order to get Ezra on board. They could figure out the rest later, in the safety of hyperspace. "Come on, then." He held out a hand and pulled Ezra up on the ramp. He eyed Sabine again as she climbed up behind him.

He looked quickly for any stragglers that might need a ride and saw the hangar was mostly empty. It seemed like they were going to be one of the last ships to leave. "Go, Hera! I've got everyone."

As the ramp closed, Ezra turned around, ready to run back off the ship and into danger. "No, we don't have everyone! Where's Kanan and Ahsoka? We can't leave them!"

Zeb simply wrapped his arms around Ezra—Ashla, the kit was too cold; he'd be surprised if Ezra didn't have hypothermia. He felt the Jedi struggle in the circle of his arms. "They're gone, kit. Gone." He reached up and smoothed Ezra's spiky hair. He could feel the ship take off from the vibration in the floor and the sound of the engines.

Ezra let out a moan—the most broken sound Zeb thought he'd ever heard. He remembered something he'd seen on Lasan, during the end of the last stand. A mother had been holding a dead kit in her arms, crying over it, and she'd made a similar sound. It was a grief beyond words. And if there was one thing the Ghost crew knew about, it was grief.

Ezra finally stopped struggling and began to sob against Zeb. The Lasat's face hardened at the kid's breakdown, holding him tighter. Karking war. It was tearing them all to pieces. "Let it out, kit." He murmured, then lifted his eyes to Sabine's. He wasn't surprised to see her crying as well.

"Uh, I'm gonna need you all up here. We're going out hot." Hera called over the ship's comm.

Ezra backed away from the Lasat. "I'm okay." He said softly, wiping at his face with the heels of his hands. "I'm coming up...go."

Zeb didn't like it, but he began to climb the ladder. Sabine remained a moment, taking Ezra's cold fingers in her own and pulling him to her. She rested her forehead against his and stared into his watery eyes that matched her own. He reached up and wiped her tears away with his thumbs. His hands were still cold, but her tears were warm.

"We'll go together," she whispered simply.

He nodded and took her offered hand.

A/N: I hope I explained shatterpoints well enough. I figured people could have mental shatterpoints just as well as physical ones. I have been browsing Wookiepedia and incorporating things I've found here and there. As always, I'd love to hear what you guys think!