Ballad of the Winter Rose

A SW Rebels/Doctor Who Romance

Written by: Nehru_Amidala aka FossilQueen1984

Genre: Gothic romance, drama, hurt/comfort, dark fantasy, slight horror

Cast list: Minerva- Jenna Coleman, Thrawn- Mads Mikkelsen, Vortigern Slavin- Mark Hamill, Kanan Jarrus- Freddie Prinze Jr, Hera'Syndulla- Vanessa Marshall, Sabine Wren- Tiya Sircar, Ezra Bridger- Taylor Gray, Zeb- Steven Blum, Chopper- himself/Ben Burtt, Cham'Syndulla- David Ogden Stiers, Numa- Cote DePablo

Pairings: Thrawn/Minerva, slight Kallus/Zeb

Rating: T/PG-13 for battle sequences, thematic elements, blood, snogging, SPOILERS for Thrawn

Universe: Doctor Who and AU! Rebels

Chapter Soundtrack: The Days Between- John Williams, Arrietty's Song- Cecile Corbel

Chapter 21: Fortes Fortuna Iuvat, Part 2

It took the Ghost crew the entire three days to reach Ryloth from Lothal because of engine problems. First, Chopper had updated the wrong components and then tried to blame it on Zeb, who wasn't having any of that and spent the better part of the morning chasing the droid around, shouting obscenities and finally trapped the droid next to the hyperdrive motivator and gave them both a long zap with the shock-blade. Well, it did a number on Chopper all right, and it revealed that the sneaky droid had been recording Zeb at night for blackmail. The holofilms revealed his risqué dreams involving him and Kallus, and the Lasat was not yet ready to admit his long standing crush on the Imperial officer. Everyone else knew he was gay and were fine with it. "Karabast, that can't get out," Zeb lamented as the droid rolled away, cackling evilly as the Ghost suddenly dropped out of hyperspace.

As it turned out, Zeb's payback also fried the hyperdrive motivator, so Hera had to call Vizago to get another one installed. Chopper apologized, but refused to say what for. Kanan spent most of the night helping Hera install the hyperdrive, while Ezra and Sabine discussed why Zeb had gotten so angry with Chopper to begin with.

"It has to do with Zeb's secret crush," Ezra told Sabine conspiratorially as they started a round of holochess. Sabine's brown eyes narrowed, since when did Zeb have a secret crush? Then again, Ezra was his roommate. She grinned, "Spill."

Looking around and using the Force to make sure nobody was listening, Ezra whispered to her, "You are not to say a word of this to anyone. Not Hera, not Kanan, not Rex and especially not Zeb. He's sensitive about this."

"About being gay? We already know and are fine with it. Not like he's head over heels for Agent Kallus…"

Ezra groaned and smacked his forehead.

"KRIFF! Is that it?"

"Yes and calm down!"

"How can I calm down knowing my friend is in love with an Imperial? How long have you known?"

"Since last October, when those dreams began. Ugh, it's bad enough that I hear them when I sleep."

"How racy are they?"

"You don't want to know."

Sabine shuddered and the conversation as a sulky Zeb came in after being lectured by Hera. The hyperdrive was finally installed, but it would be another 12 hours before it could be activated, so the first twelve hours of the second day were spent travelling at sublight speed.

Kanan and Ezra got in some Jedi training, and Kanan was proud of his padawan. In many ways, he considered the boy to be the son he never had. Heck, the whole crew was his family, his real family and nothing was going to change that. It didn't help that he had blatantly lied to the Bendu about this, and when Thrawn did raze Atollon (on Christmas Day no less) Kanan's perfectly constructed world would fall apart. For the time being though, all was right within his personal life.

By the time the Ghost limped to Ryloth, Cham'Syndulla and his number two, Numa were on tenterhooks. Hera had not contacted them as she said she would and then he learned about the hyperdrive malfunction. Surely, she could get another ship that worked better for everyone. The Free Ryloth movement had a small fleet of freighters, and since he was running the operation he could afford the loss of one.

Drinking his afternoon pot of herbal tea, his video comm rang, the holo symbol of Phoenix Squadron appearing. He smiled and let out a sigh of relief, it was about time they made contact.

"Hera! You're all right!"

"Hi, dad. Yes, we're all okay. Sorry we couldn't get here sooner. We had… technical difficulties."

"So I have heard. Hera, don't you think it's time to upgrade to a newer model of freighter? I have a few beauties in the fleet you can use."

"Dad, I appreciate the offer, I really do. But, you're making a bigger deal out of this than you need to. The hyperdrive has been fixed. We answered your call for help. We noticed the high amount of Imperial ships. Have they taken Tann Province?"

"Yes after a matter of months. At first, the campaign was sloppy and troops were lost on both sides and for a while, we had the upper hand. One day, everything changed. The Empire heard about Slavin's complete mess and set up a two pronged approach."

"You're not making much sense, Dad. Who or what has changed things so radically?"

"There's a girl here, a human woman not much older than your resident artist… she fought me in open combat and she's a Gallifreyan! Not to mention, she used the legends of the Night Witch against us. On top of that, the new commander has stymied us at every turn. He is ruthless and effective."

"Who are they?"

"I am unsure of who they are, the girl is a complete enigma. Unlike other Imperials I have faced, her eyes are unclouded by hate and she left a proper offering and showed reverence at the family crypt. The commander is unlike anyone I have ever met, he has blue skin and glowing red eyes."

"Shavit, that's Grand Admiral Thrawn! Don't know who the girl is though, Thrawn's girlfriend maybe?"

"Sounds about right, she was wearing an engagement ring when I met her in single combat- don't give me that look, Jarrus! I'll meet you within the hour."

Severing the connection, Numa walked in and informed her boss that the Ghost had been sighted. Speeders and blurrgs had been prepped.

Meanwhile, on the other side of Tann Province, Thrawn's timeline had been correct, down to the last millisecond. Imperial slicers had intercepted the Ghost's transactions with Vizago and the transmissions from Cham'Syndulla to his daughter. Thrawn was slightly distressed at the revelation of Minerva's Gallifreyan heritage, but he couldn't hide her away forever. As far as they knew, she had no connection to Kanan Jarrus. He hypothesized the Jedi had not made mention of having a daughter, and would not as it would jeopardize the mission. He had buried this secret deeply, and it would eventually reveal itself at a most inopportune moment. Now, all he and Minerva had to do was wait for the Rebels to come charging in.

For Vortigern Slavin, the three days had been the longest of his life. After being castrated, he had been forced to repair and restore the statue of Rhea'Syndulla under the supervision of Grand Admiral Thrawn, who would beat him with the barrel end of a rifle if he did something incorrectly. It took him 14 hours to complete it and then he was forced to do all of his own laundry and formally apologize and pay restitution (4 month's pay) to the mapmaker. She had forgiven him, and had blackened his eyes, under the order of Moff Tarkin.

Time seemed to slow down into the wee hours of the fourth day, as everyone prepared for the next steps.