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: Thrawn- Mads Mikkelsen, Minerva- Jenna Coleman, Konstantine- Mark Hamill, Kanan- Freddie Prinze Jr., Hera- Vanessa Marshall, Ezra- Taylor Gray, Sabine- Tiya Sircar, Zeb and Rex- Steve Blum, Paelleon- Mark Harmon, Lyste- Daniel Radcliffe

Pairings: Thrawn/Minerva, beginnings of Ezra/Sabine, Kallus/Zeb and Krennic/Galen Erso

Chapter soundtrack: Day of the River from Spirited Away, Overture from The Dark Crystal- Trevor Jones, Awful Waste of Space- Alan Silvestri

Chapter 37: Empire Day, Part 1

August 3, Imperial Year 18 (Earth Year 1995) Ezra considered to be the best and worst day of his life. On the pro side, his message had been received by his parents and had reached all of Lothal, not to mention it was his birthday. On the con side, today was the day he lost his parents as a small child and then learned that they had been killed after hearing his message. So many years he had been alone, before Kanan and Hera came along. While he loved his new family dearly, part of him resented that his parents had died so young. Was it too much to ask for those seven years back? He could have had a secure childhood, not being forced into a charity school run by supposedly concerned citizens where you were forced to learn what teachers on Coruscant thought was important. Nothing but the basics of grammar, reading, science, math, (Imperial) history, and very little in the way of art and music. The teachers were harridans, ready with a riding crop to beat you into obedience. Ezra had been taken from Old Jho at that point, and school was the only thing keeping him alive. By the time he was 11 years old, Ezra had already learned everything that the curriculum covered and was tired of having to keep his head down, so one day after lessons were over, he threw away the data pad and left Jhothal behind.

After several hours of wandering, the skies opened up and left him completely soaked. Not caring if he cried, he ran blindly into the base of a communication tower. Seeing how isolated it was, Ezra was curious to see if it was abandoned. The door opened, and the tired boy stepped into the dry room shivering. The room itself was silent, dust covered the abandoned second hand furniture that hadn't seen a living soul since Padme Amidala ruled Naboo. Stripping, Ezra pulled on some underwear and a flight suit that were a bit large. It felt good to wear dry clothes. Apart from the ramshackle look of the place, it was cozy in its own way, from the perspective of an orphaned 11 year old boy.

There were plenty of rations stowed away, although Ezra was doubtful about how fresh they were. Oh well, there were plenty of chances to con the Imps. Besides, this wasn't such a bad place. I can totally live here, Ezra thought before falling asleep.

It was sunrise on Atollon, and Ezra had been musing on his thoughts. As his birthday had drawn closer, the crew knew well enough to let Ezra meditate and rejoin them when he felt ready. He had grown up so quickly, he was more man than youth and everyone had noticed. He was more responsible with missions and chores on board, he was taller and had grown into himself. Gooti would make weird faces at him, and oddly enough Sabine would give her the stink eye. It had ever since Iron Squadron had joined up and it amused all of the adults (Hera, Kanan, Zeb and Rex) to no end.

Ezra and Sabine's feelings towards one another (or lack thereof) had fluxed over the years, starting off as an annoying crush and then turning towards a deep and abiding friendship. However, the longing glances and blushing had not gone away, even though both teens tried not to engage in that as of late. At the end of the day, Kanan and Hera decided that Ezra and Sabine felt something for each other, but were unsure of what they wanted. They had a good friendship, and didn't want a possible romance to ruin it. What if they broke up and were suddenly bitter enemies? That, it was decided, would be left up to the two teenagers themselves.

This particular morning found Sabine Wren restless in Atollon. She had trouble sleeping after dreaming about walking in on Ezra and Gooti, which had not been pleasant. Waking up with a start, she shook her head and washed her face, mentally pulling herself together. She was a Mandolorian, for Force's sake! Even though her own family had abandoned her, she had found a new one. My new family, my real one, she thought as she brushed her teeth.

As she tiptoed through the galley, she was surprised to see Zeb up and about. It looked like he was getting ready to bake something, as nearly half the pots and pans were out on the counter. Looking up at her, he conjectured gently, "Out to confess your feelin's to Ez, this mornin'?"

At the mention of this, Sabine blushed and had to sit down, "It's not like that! Don't give me that look... Ok, okay- it is like that!"

Facing her, Zeb explained, "Listen, Bean. Take it from me, the feelings you have for Ezra haven't changed much from the time the two of you first met, it's you two that have changed. Your both a few years older, you know each other better and your friends. Then one day, someone makes goo-goo eyes at him and you off yer rocker. Every moment after that, he seems different somehow. You're seeing him with new eyes."

"Is that how it is with you and Skander?"

"Oy, none of that! Only I get to call him Skander and yes it was like that with us. The destruction of Lasan defined how we met, but after all those skirmishes we changed, I got smarter about fighting and Kallus began taking us all on as a group. Of course, with that ice moon, we got to talking and I noticed that something had changed between us, and he was very well aware of it, but I guess he wasn't ready to admit it yet."

"Maybe those small acts of Rebellion were his way of figuring out what he really stood for, where he stood with you," Sabine replied thoughtfully as she and Zeb continued prepping the cake ingredients. Zeb nodded, she was taking his advice.

He opened the hatch and told her, "Take it slow, all right?"

Laughing, Sabine promised she would. Shaking his head and proud to have helped the young lovebirds, he turned back to baking Ezra's cake.

Ezra's favorite meditation area was just beyond the base, overlooking the sandy canyon floor that the spiders and hermit crabs called home. It was peaceful here, not to mention he could speak to the Bendu about Kanan. With the recent outbursts concerning Minerva and the repeated denials afterwards, Ezra had decided to speak to the Bendu about his dad's mental state. True to his nature, the Bendu had not given any useful advice (despite foreseeing Thrawn's total annihilation of Chopper Base come Christmas Day), he had offered Ezra some comfort, "Take care of yourself first and the rest will follow."

So far, Ezra had heard the Bendu today, which was just as well. Happily, he felt Sabine's gentle presence and it made him giddy. Did she like him back? He was hesitant to call it love, that would be to awkward. One day, yes he could call what he felt for Sabine romantic love, but not yet. He wanted to consider her feelings as well.

Turning around, he greeted her, "Hey Sabine, care to join me?" He stood up and she smiled at him. Handing him a mug of caf, she asked, "How are you doing?" She knew this was a loaded question, it being his birthday and all.

Sitting down, Ezra let out a deep breath before replying, "I guess I'm pretty good, all things considered. I mean, it still hurts my parents are dead and I don't have a home, but at the same time I'm proud they heard my message and it meant something, that they didn't die in vain. I love you- I mean you guys as my new family, and my purpose as a Jedi and a member of the Rebel Alliance. I guess it all evens out in the end." He was blushing bright red and was gripping Sabine's hand tightly and hardly daring to look her in the eyes.

Heart pounding, Sabine took a stab at asking Ezra on a date. "Since today's your birthday, and we're not really doing anything til later, would you like to go speeder bike racing with me?"

"As friends, or as a date?"

"A date, I guess…"

Laughing, Ezra pulled her close so her arms were around his shoulders, Ezra replied, "Of course." Kissing her on the forehead, he yelled as he ran off, "Last one to the bikes has to give Chop an oil bath when we get back!" Sabine grinned and ran off after him.

Unbeknownst to the young lovers, the Bendu had been spying on their conversation. Young love, such a grand thing.

…

The week leading up to Empire Day amongst the higher ups in the Imperial Armed Forces was always a chaotic one. Aside from getting official invitations and booking hotel suites, there was also a flurry for the best (if not most outrageous clothes for the female attendees), a suitable date and who to talk to and who to avoid. Konstantine had been hoping to use his influence to get the Corulagi planetary governor to relax regulations against the planet's LGBT community, but his punishment for the Mykapo fiasco was not only could he not attend, he had to wash every last astromech on ship with nothing but toothbrushes for the next three months during his down time, excluding sleeping and eating. On top of that, Lyste had been assigned to a light cruiser, thus ending their relationship. The only saving grace was that Lyste still saw him as a friend, and this was the best outcome in a horrible situation.

Thrawn and Minerva would be attending the ball as a formally engaged couple, and everyone wanted to talk to them. The excitement was palpable, only 5 days to go!