(A/N) Happy New Year Everyone!

So, I'm back from the states. The trip was great. The money was weird and colourless, and I kept receiving strange copper disks in my change, but the food was great and I had fun! Still, it's good to be back home in the True North Strong and Free.

Hope you all enjoy the chapter. It's a little short, but sets up a lot.

Guest Reviews:

pnew106s: glad you like her. I'm kind of proud of what I have in store for Rachel.

TheForceIsStrongWithThisOne: It's not Ezra I'd be worried about… yet. And yes, I have Disney Plus and have been watching the Mandalorian. I got to say, that Tatooine Episode almost threw this out of canon compliance for a little bit. Fixed it pretty quickly though so that was good.

Brandon Palmer: Glad your enjoying it.

Guest 1: Yeah, she's playing a dangerous game.

Hello-im-what-now: Glad your enjoying it :)

Achillies453: One can only hope eh?

Stormhound12: THese next few chapters are where things are going to start hopefully speeding up.

Nicky: Thanks. Glad you like it.

Ramage: Happy new year to you as well! Glad you're liking this story this much.

Red2: You're welcome. I've really been enjoying writing this for you guys. I'm just glad it's something other people can enjoy along with me.

hellothere209: Well I thank you for taking the time to leave a review. It makes writing this so much more fun when people engage with the story. I hope I can continue to deliver for you.

Chapter 21

Sabine ejected an empty paint canister from her paint sprayer and inserted a new cartridge full of Byzantium purple. She swept her hand quickly over the canvas' surface and an angry mark appeared on the cliffside she was painting. Slowly but surely, the twin twin sunset she'd seen on Tatooine was appearing over the harsh, cold, desert landscape she'd painted.

Sabine was mad, and it showed. Her work was full of fast, sharp lines.

Everything had been fine. Things between her and Ezra were doing great. She had her best friend, her partner back and they were finally settling down into a somewhat normal life. For the first time in their existence, there was no Empire, no Rebellion, no war, no Thrawn or wild bantha chases into the unknown depths of space. It was finally just her and Ezra living their lives in peace and only worrying about the things normal people had to worry about, like bills and food, or what they were going to wear that day. For the first time in her life, there wasn't the ever-present fear lurking in the back of her mind that she'd lose someone she loved.

Then Rachel had come along and upset everything.

Because of her, they'd been shot at not once, but twice.

Because of her, they were probably being hunted by whoever Rachel had managed to tick off.

More importantly, because of her, she was more awkward than ever around Ezra.

Every time she had gone near him today Rachel's threat would work its way into her mind and she'd get all flustered to the point where she couldn't even talk to him properly. The memory of her and Ezra's fight was still fresh in her mind and she didn't want to go through that again.

To make matters worse, Rachel had apparently decided to make good on her threat to 'woo' Ezra. She'd been making cute faces at him and calling him "hot stuff" all day. She'd challenged Ezra to a sparring match earlier after she and Ezra were done and had gotten a little too handsy for her taste. Later, after supper, Sabine had nearly spit out her choco-calf when Rachel had asked the 'Master Jedi' to 'show her the Force'. Ezra, as dense as he was, had promptly levitated her off the ground.

When she started getting the urge to stun the woman and lock her in her cabin (or worse), Sabine had asked K-4 to keep an eye on Rachel and make sure she didn't get too bold around Ezra. She had then promptly disappeared into her room to take her anger out on the canvas in front of her.

Still, it was only for another day. Tomorrow, they'd arrive on Malastare. She and Ezra would unload the generator. Rachel would be out of their hair, and hopefully, things could go back to the way they were. She just needed to figure out a way to keep Rachel from confronting Ezra and revealing how she really felt for him.

Sabine didn't know what she would do if Ezra said no again.

o~0~O~0~o

Ezra settled into a meditative pose on the floor of his room and reached out to the Force. The light came to him gladly and soothed away the confusion and worry that had been built up throughout the day. For whatever reason, Sabine's emotions had been strained, and she'd been distant all day. The effects had traveled down the length of their bond to him, but whenever he had brought it up, Sabine had shrugged him off and said it was nothing.

Rachel on the other hand was an enigma. She was aloof, yet always close by. Expressive, yet hiding something. Strong, yet broken.

Ezra had come to the conclusion that Rachel was a great actor, showing only what she wanted you to see. If it hadn't been for the traces of sadness and worry that had occasionally leaked through her shields, Ezra might have never even noticed.

As it was, she was putting up the appearance of a young woman with a crush. With what he had felt slip through her shields however, he knew that wasn't the case, He wasn't really sure what she wanted. Maybe just a distraction, maybe something else. He'd still have to be careful around her.

Although, the fact that she had such strong shields was a little unsettling. Rachel's mental defenses were almost as good as Sabine's. In fact, if Rachel hadn't been so distracted and overtired, he doubted he would have felt anything from her. For normal sentients, shielding was a non-issue. These days, most didn't even know a Force Sensitive could take a quick glimpse at your thoughts, and even if they did, had no clue how to protect themselves. He didn't know who, but Ezra was certain that he wasn't the first Force Sensitive that Rachel had dealt with.

Then there was K-4 to deal with. The droid had apparently been watching Rachel a little too closely and she had screamed at him to leave her alone. Since then, K-4 had been hovering over his shoulder like a loth-cat and all of a sudden, he understood Rachel's screaming fit. It was unnerving having someone watching your every move. After putting up with it for too long, he had decided to retreat to his room to get away from the droid and meditate.

He gathered up all the frustration and confusion he could and released it into the Force. He hummed in relief as the calming waves of the light gently washed over him and took it all away. He felt a little tug on his consciousness as it went by. The Force seemed to be leading him somewhere and so he followed. It lead him forward, past the cockpit of the Nightbrother and all the way to Malastare.

He began seeing images. An explosion, but not the bright, colourful kind that marked Sabine's handiwork… there was Rachel, running… to what, or from who, he did not know… him and sabine walking up the Nightbrother's ramp, weapons drawn… and… what was that? A flash of pink? No, not one, but two. He wasn't sure why, but they seemed really important to him and so he pressed further. A green blade and a blaster… A Westar if he wasn't mistaken… and then the vision was over.

Ezra awoke from his trance with a few beads of sweat pooling on his face.

He looked over at his clock and discovered he'd been meditating for a couple of hours already. It was time for bed.

He slipped into his PJ's and climbed under the covers. He followed his bond with Sabine back to her room and felt great joy when she opened up to his touch. She seemed much more at ease than she did earlier today. He sent a quick goodnight to her and then settled back in his bed for the night.

The vision was still fresh in his mind though and wouldn't let him go straight to sleep. He didn't know what it meant yet, but the Force was insistent. Everything would change at Malastare.