The Apprentice

Sabine clasped Ezra against her as he wept. She had no idea what to do or say. Hesitantly she ran a hand through his hair and hummed the tune of an old Mandalorian lullaby her mother had sung to her as a child. It hurt her to see Ezra like this, the boy she'd met on Lothal had been fearless, not letting anything faze him. He'd even had the nerve to hit on her moments after they'd met, it had annoyed her at first. All she'd seen was an arrogant, delinquent Loth Rat who was just out for himself. But after he'd joined them she had watched him grow and change, abandoning his selfish attitude, risking his life for others fearlessly, vowing to protect the galaxy had earned him his kyper crystal. Then she had let him make the ultimate sacrifice, dooming him to a fate worse than death. Whether or not she had loved him before those blast doors had closed behind him she had no idea, but now all she was sure of was what she'd felt the night before when they'd laid in each-other's arms. So, she stayed with him, holding him tightly.

###

Ashoka walked into the hanger of the carrier, the Rogue Shadow was settled next to the Ghost. Armour plates had been removed and a pair of boots were sticking out from under it. As Ashoka walked forwards she heard unintelligible mutters and curses coming from under the ship.

"Juno?" She asked cautiously. The muttering stopped and after a second Juno Eclipse slid out from under the Rogue shadow.

"What?" she asked, raising an eyebrow irritably.

"I had some questions I wanted to ask you" the Togruta said, unshaken by the lukewarm welcome. The pilot rolled her eyes and slid back under the ship

"If you hadn't noticed I'm a bit busy right now" she said as she worked

"This will only take a second" Ashoka said as pleasantly as she could. There was a moment silence, then came an audible groan and Juno remerged from under the ship.

"What can I tell you?" she said as she stood and crossed to a small fold away table and picked up a towel and wiped drops of oil and other engine fluid off her face.

"Where did you meet Galen?" the Togruta said, calmly surveying the pilots face, any details she purposely left out would be there.

"I had just defected from the Empire" Juno said as she turned back to the ship and started fiddling with the wiring inside the hull "I had been assigned to a TIE escort of a Star Destroyer, our primary mission was maintaining a military presence on Kashyk, subduing any uprising from the air before it could start. I didn't sign up to be a slave driver" she said darkly "I was having a drink in a bar in a port called Mos Eisley when some smuggler started trying to hit on me" the pilot rolled her eyes "something about his ship making the Kessel run in less than twelve parsecs. He was drunk, and an idiot." Juno shrugged "I was about to tell him to scram when this random guy in a white robe knocked him clean out"

"Never figured you for the damsel type" Ashoka said surprised

"I'm not" Juno said harshly "I told him to get lost too". The pilot grinned at the memory. "I was staggering back to where the shuttle I'd stolen was docked when a troop of bucket heads started asking about my identification and "proof of ownership" for the shuttle. I was getting ready for a shootout when the guy in the robe came back, waved his hand and told the bucket head commander that he didn't need to see my identification and to move along. I thought the whole thing was ridiculous until the bucket head agreed and moved on." Juno paused and stopped untangling a knot of cables. "I'd heard stories about the Jedi and their mind tricks but I'd never believed them". Ashoka nodded slowly and motioned for the pilot to continue. "He disappeared after that but I kept my eye out for him whilst I was in Mos Eisley but I didn't see him again."

"So how'd you end up traveling with him?" Ashoka asked folding her arms

"It was maybe a week later" Juno said as she pulled a wrench from her belt and started work on the Shadows inner workings again "I was getting supplies from the market for the journey to the next system when I overheard some lowlife talking about how a bunch of Hutt thugs had cornered a Jedi across town. For a second I didn't care then I realised something"

"And what was that?" Ashoka asked warily

"From day one of my training at the academy I'd been told that the Jedi were selfish and cruel, that they'd started the Clone Wars and had tried to over throw the Republic, in that moment I realised that the Republic had been overthrown anyway and that this Jedi had helped me, me. Some random deserter he didn't know anything about and in that one act he'd been kinder and more compassionate then all the Imperials I'd met and that I owed him"

"Quite a turnaround" Ashoka said sceptically

"Think what you will" Juno snapped turning to face the Grey Jedi "but I saw a chance to do good and I took it". There was tense few seconds as the two women stared each other down. "Have I answered all your questions?" Juno said her eyes never leaving the Togrutas

"I just have one more" Ashoka said "where did you find Ezra?" Juno sighed and turned back to the ship.

"I should've known that you'd want to know that" the pilot shrugged "We were in deep space, around the Lothal sector. Galen was mediating, it was all quiet then suddenly he jumped up and ran to the cockpit jabbering about a "Dark Presence on Garel", so we jumped there and docked."

"Why would Galen run to a dark presence?" Ashoka asked bemused

"Don't ask me" Juno shrugged "Galen thought it was an Inquisitor, or maybe Starkiller, he seems to have some agenda against them, never bothered asking exactly why, I figure the less Imperial agents the better"

"So, you found Ezra on Garel?" Ashoka tilted her head to the side slightly, aware that the pilot had turned away from her again.

"In a bar" Juno chuckled "So drunk he could barely stand, that hadn't stopped him from picking a fight with some Bucket Heads though"

"He was drunk?" Ashoka was both surprised and repressing the urge to laugh. As far as she was aware Ezra had never touched a drop in his life. Juno didn't have such restraint and started to laugh.

"It's quite the sight" she smiled "he puts on this tough guy act, which is all well and good when you're normal, but when you have the power to back it up…." The pilot trailed off "Galen had to stop him from killing the commander"

"Wait, killing?" Ashoka gasped, horrified. Had Ezra really been that far gone? She could never imagine Ezra taking a life. Juno nodded sagely

"He put up a hell of a fight when Galen stopped him" Juno frowned "we had to drag him out of the bar and dump him in a water trough to sober him up" a small smile reappearing on her face "that was funny, when he could string a sentence together he told us who he was, not that he had to, he was easy to recognise without his helmet on"

"Did he say anything about Starkiller?" Ashoka asked sceptically "any specifics?"

"No" Juno said flatly "he wouldn't talk about it and I don't think he ever will"

###

"What did he do to you?" Sabine murmured. She and Ezra were sat on a bench against the wall. Ezras eyes were hollow and blotchy.

"He said the key to gaining strength in the Dark Side was pain." He said quietly, almost subconsciously rubbing his scared arms.

"He tortured you?" Sabines eyes widened in horror. Ezra nodded without looking at her.

"He said, "pain leads to fear, fear leads to hate and hate leads to power". It was nonstop sparing matches, no safety blades. He'd only ever let me get two hours sleep at most at a time. I was wired and on edge, constantly ready to strike." He looked down at his hand, it was trembling. Sabine took his hand and squeezed it tightly.

"It's going to be ok" she said softly "You're home now and I'll never let you go again". Ezra turned to her with a small smile. Slowly she leaned forward and rested her forehead against his. They rested together in silence for a few minutes, both smiling in contentment. After a moment, Sabine said quietly "Ezra. About last night"

"Yeah?" Ezra said suddenly worried

"Last night was amazing" Sabine said chuckling softly at the look of obvious relief on Ezras face.

"Yeah it was" he smiled sheepishly. There was a shudder as the carrier dropped out of hyperspace. A planet hung below them its landmasses a mix of browns. "Where are we?" Ezra asked confused. He got to his feet and stood in front of the window.

"After you disappeared the Rebels found a suitable planet to hide a base" Sabine stood up and joined him at the window. "But it turned out to be a trap."

"Could've seen that coming" Ezra said sarcastically

"Hindsight is 20/20" Sabine shrugged "At the last second Chopper and AP-5..."

"AP-5?" Ezra looked at Sabine in confusion

"Long story" Sabine smiled, thinking of the droids' dry humour "AP-5 is an Imperial Droid Chopper befriended, together they found this planet, it's called Atollon" slowly Sabine took Ezras hand as the carrier began to descend into the atmosphere. "Welcome to Chopper Base."

Authors note: I know this one is a lot shorter than usual, I just really wanted to put something out today since its' been a year since I started this story. I just want to say thank you all for reading. You're going to like what I've got planned from this point on.

So, until we meet again

Regards

Nighttrek