Thanks to Ezrabine fan28, Xertib and Guest for the feedback!

Ezrabine fan28: I didn't go that far. Even with all of Sabine's training, I don't know if she could hold her own against and Ezra that was truly out for blood, one that showed no mercy. Unless you want this story to end with just a broken Ezra, we can't go that route.

Xertib: I don't know if he's channeling the Dark Side currently, but there are some shadows of the past that have returned because of the darkness he displayed before. One pops up in this chapter...

Guest: Ezra was at his scariest when he made that AT-DP pilot kill himself. Oddly enough, I think the only other time he kinda returns to that persona is when Thrawn threatened Sabine in 'Family Reunion and Farewell'. Hmmm...

Spoilers for Jedi: Fallen Order and Clone Wars Season 7.

Enjoy!

. . . . . . . . . .

Ezra ducked under the blade, rolling and Force-Pushing his assailant into a pile of snow. "You have yet to land a hit."

Sabine fired her repulser, sending Ezra into the opposite pile of snow. "Rather not have Cale lose a parent."

Ezra smiled and gently lifted Sabine towards him, setting her down next to him, lying in the snow. He accepted his lightsaber from her and gently kissed her. "I would have stopped if I thought you could kill me."

Sabine leaned to face him and frowned. "The lightsaber wasn't even on low power mode."

Ezra nodded and sat up. "You have to let go of your fear."

Sabine sat up as well. "I don't fear anything."

Giving her a soft smile, Ezra stood. "Yes, you do." He half-turned to face her. "You're afraid of losing me; of losing Cale. You have to control your fear; otherwise it controls you."

Sabine scoffed. "Of course I'm afraid of losing you! I lost you for seven months, I never want to go through that again."

Ezra's expression softened. "You won't." He promised. "We're safe with your family."

"Commander Bridger!" Tristan ran up to him, a grin on his face as he sarcastically bowed. "Countess Wren requests your presence."

Ezra scoffed as he grabbed his mask. "Thank you, Captain." He clapped Tristan on the back as the trio began walking back to the main compound. "Any idea what this is about?"

Tristan shook his head. "No. But she seemed worried."

Sabine touched Tristan's arm. "Did she seem mad?" She grinned up at Ezra as her younger brother shook his head. "Well, she likely won't kill you today."

Ezra gave a small smile as the blast doors opened. "That's good news, at least."

As they entered the Throne Room, Ezra bowed at the waist. "Countess Wren."

Ursa chuckled. "I do believe I asked you to call me Ursa?"

Ezra straightened. "Sorry. Old habits die hard." He took a step forward. "Tristan said you wanted to speak with me?"

"Indeed." Ursa stood and grabbed a holo-projector. "This came for you."

"Commander Bridger." Ezra tensed. He knew that voice. It was Kei Larson. "You will surrender yourself to me, or I will find the remainder of Phoenix Squadron, and kill them. I know exactly where they are, and what they have been doing for the past year. Just to prove to you that I am not bluffing," The sound of a blaster pistol firing and a body falling had Ezra tensing. "Come to Dathomir. I will be waiting, Jedi."

The holo-gram dissipated, and Ezra turned his head to Sabine. "Who did he kill?"

Sabine's voice was shaking. "Mart." She slipped on her helmet. "Mother, we are leaving for Dathomir. We-"

"No." Ezra shook his head. "I'm going alone. You're staying here to look after Cale."

"Ezra, I won't be sidelined just because I'm a mother!"

Ezra reached up and removed his mask, staring at Sabine. "It's not that. Any other planet, and I would welcome your help. But Dathomir-" He ran a hand across his face. "Last time you were there, you were nearly consumed."

Sabine narrowed her eyes. "But I have you this time."

Ezra closed his eye. "If I couldn't protect you then, then I won't be able to now." He smiled sadly. "You think you're the only one afraid that Caleb will lose a parent?"

After a moment, Sabine nodded, scowling. "You had better come back alive. Or I will kill you myself."

Ezra chuckled and replaced his mask atop his head. "Seems reasonable."

. . . . . . . . . .

"We could walk that path together! As friends!"

Ezra closed his eye, trying to forget the last time he was on Dathomir. Maul was gone, merely a memory.

"As brothers!"

An unfortunately persistent memory.

Landing the Gauntlet in a clearing, Ezra exited the ship, reaching out with the Force for anything dangerous. It pinged, and he rolled to the side, narrowly dodging a blaster bolt.

Kei strode forward, firing as he went. "Surprised you actually came. Figured you didn't have the honour."

Ezra pulled out his lightsaber, deflecting the bolts. "You're threatening to kill my friends. I have no choice."

All of a sudden, Kei stopped firing, blaster dropping from nerveless fingers. He fell to his knees, face contorting in agony. Ezra took a step forward, when a harrowing voice rang out:

"You will leave this planet!"

Ezra slowly backed away, focus fixated on Kei, who was writhing in pain. "Who are you?" A figure appeared in front of him, whom Ezra recognized as a Nightsister. "I will leave, you have my word. I just need to finish this."

The woman eyed his lightsaber. "You are a Jedi?" Ezra nodded, and she relaxed, still holding Kei with the Force. "My husband is a Jedi. We met here."

Ezra lowered his lightsaber. "I didn't know there were any Nightsisters left on Dathomir."

"There aren't." The woman turned to Kei. "A transmission from this Imperial mentioned my planet, and Cal thought it best to return."

Ezra frowned. "Cal?"

The woman's eyes fixed behind him, and Ezra turned to feel the heat of a lightsaber blade staring him in the face. "What are you doing here?"

Ezra returned his lightsaber to his belt. "You must be Cal. I'm Ezra."

The blade didn't waver. "How did you get a lightsaber?"

Ezra handed it over. "I made it with the help of my Master."

The blade activated for a moment, before Cal returned it. "Your Master, who was he?"

Ezra took off his mask, staring at the bearded man before him. "Caleb Dume."

"Depa Billaba's Padawan." After a moment, Cal's blue lightsaber switched off, and he held out his hand. "Cal Kestis."

Ezra smiled and took the hand. "Ezra Bridger." He turned back to Kei and the Nightsister. "What are you going to do with him?"

The Nightsister smiled. "Kill him. His kind brought an end to my family, and to Cal's. Leaving him in any other state would be too great a mercy."

Ezra nodded and regarded the Jedi behind him. "What have you been doing since the Purge?"

Cal looked down. "Hiding, mostly. We attracted the attention of the Emperor's Enforcer a few years ago, and we've just hid since then."

Ezra's eye widened. "You escaped Vader."

Cal nodded. "Must be him. He wasn't any ordinary Inquisitor." He lifted his comlink. "Cere, we have company."

The response was instantaneous. "Good company, or bad company?"

Cal smiled. "Good. Another Jedi."

"Another survivor?"

Ezra shook his head. "The Padawan of a survivor."

The comm was quiet for a moment. "He's welcome aboard."

Cal nodded and looked at Ezra. "My ship will be here in a few minutes." He grabbed Ezra's arm and led him away from the Nightsister and Kei. "You don't want to watch this part."

. . . . . . . . . .

"Spectre Five to Spectre Six, are you there?"

Soft screaming was heard as Ezra answered his comm. "Hey, Spectre Six. I think Kei is finally finished."

Sabine smiled sadly. "That's-that's good." She lowered her head. Kei had saved her life back when she was in the Mandalore Academy, and he had once been a friend. Despite what he had become, there was a part of her that had wanted to redeem him. "You seem happy."

"I found someone. Another survivor. I'm going to see what he's been doing all this time." There was a pause. "Spectre Six, out."

Sabine sighed and laid her comlink back onto the table. "He's going to be a few more days."

"You seem distracted." Ursa appeared at her side, holding a mug of Shig tea. "I imagine if I asked you what Ezra had told you, you couldn't tell me."

Sabine looked up and accepted the tea. "I'm trying to make sure we haven't been tracked."

Ursa sat down beside her. "If anyone had tracked the Blue Spirit to Krownest, we would have been informed long before."

Nodding, Sabine lowered her data-pad and sighed. "You're right." She glanced at her comlink. "I hope Ezra finds whatever he's looking for."

. . . . . . . . . .

"Welcome to the Mantis."

Ezra stepped inside the S-161 and stopped, focusing at the woman sitting on the couch. "You're a Jedi." He closed his eye, focusing on the Force. "Or, used to be one."

The woman nodded and stood. "My name is Cere. You've already met Cal." She gestured to the couch. "Have a seat."

Ezra sat down and turned his head to Cere. "What is your team's mission?"

"Right now?" Cal's voice came from behind Ezra, and he shifted his awareness. "We're trying to find out more about Vader."

Ezra stood. "I can help you. I've faced him before."

"So did I." Cal laughed. "Wasn't really a fight."

Ezra's gaze darkened. "You can't fight Vader." Subconsciously, he touched the remains of his right eye. "You can only run."

Surrender the boy to me or die, Jedi.

Ezra abruptly turned to the 'fresher. "I'll be back in a minute."

Now you will die like a Jedi!

. . . . . . . . . .

"Sabine!"

Sabine ran into the Throne Room, keeping a careful eye on her mother's expression. "What is it?"

Ursa turned to her, fear in her eyes. "A V-19 Starfighter has just landed."

Sabine's eyes widened. "It has to be the Empire." She glanced at Tristan. "How many star fighters are there?"

Tristan shook his head. "Only the one. We've jammed their comms, but no attempt has been made to communicate."

Sabine scowled. "That's not usual protocol. The V-19's can only hold one passenger, so whoever it is, they're alone."

Tristan slid on his helmet and grabbed his blaster. "Let's go find out, shall we?"

. . . . . . . . . .

Ezra stared at his soldered right eyelid in his reflection, then closed his left eye, hoping to see anything other than the constant darkness.

Nothing.

After a moment, Ezra grabbed his mask and placed it back on his head, banishing all thoughts of his partial blindness to its cage. He had never mentioned anything to Sabine, though he suspected she knew, but he had tried in vain to use the Force to restore his vision. There was nothing but a sense of hopelessness, considering the reason he was blind was dead.

Opening to door to the refresher, Ezra focused on Cal, who had been joined by the Nightsister. "Do you guys have a base?"

Cal shook his head. "No. The Mantis acts as our base, as well as our home, but we don't have a specific location we journey to."

The Captain, a four-armed Latero, snorted. "It used to be a home for all of us, but then these two," he pointed at Cal and the Nightsister, "decided to keep us up at night!"

Cere smacked his arm. "Captain!" She admonished, turning her gaze to Ezra. "The Mantis is our base, but why do you ask?"

Ezra slowly sat down on the couch. "My base is much the same, which means we are mobile. If I gave you my comm frequency, would you come if we required assistance?"

All eyes turned to Cal, who nodded. "So long as you do the same for us."

. . . . . . . . . .

Tristan stopped a few meters behind Sabine and levelled his rifle at the V-19 cockpit. "I'll cover you."

She nodded and unholstered her pistols, taking a step back as the viewport opened, and a cybernetic monster wearing modified armour that Sabine's viewfinder identified as dating back to the Clone War stepped out. "I come in peace."

Sabine levelled her pistols at the…thing. "What are you?"

It laughed. Not a sadistic laugh like those she was used to, but a genuine one. "Ah, sorry. Forgot how others see me." It removed their helmet, revealing a clone trooper, one that seemed to be the same age that the other clones would have been during the Clone War. "My name is Echo."

. . . . . . . . . .

Chapter Notes!

I). I really enjoyed the main story of Fallen Order. But I think one of the things I enjoyed most were the subtle moments between Cal and Merrin. They obviously like each other, something I hope will be explored in the sequel. So I took that idea and jumped fifteen years to where this story is taking place.

II). Ezra being partially blind, as important as it is to his arc, I never really explored how he feels about it. Sure, he's afraid of everyone else's reactions, hence him using Kanan's mask, but I never delved into what he himself thinks about it. My entire view on the Dark Side and how it affects you is complicated, and nowhere near short enough for a Chapter Note. PM me if you want to start a dialogue.

III). ARC Trooper Echo, as far as I know, his arc ends at the end of the Bad Batch series. Does he execute Order 66? Seems convoluted to spend a third of a season finding the guy, only for him to betray the Jedi six months later. He definitely gets explored next chapter.

Thanks for reading!

Judge