Atollon, Chopper Base:
As they overlooked supplies, Anakin noticed his girlfriend watch Rau enter the Ghost before placing a hand on her shoulder. "You okay?" he asked. "Yeah. Just thinking." she replied before he placed a gentle kiss on her lips.
Sabine reluctantly pulled away before smiling at him. "Thank you, I needed that." she said softly. The ex-merc mirrored her smile before they got back to work.
Anakin knocked on the door to his and Sabine's room before hearing her voice. "Come in." she said before he opened the door and walked in to see her sitting on the top bunk.
"Hera's calling a meeting." he told her. "Who all is there?" she asked quietly. "Everyone." he answered before she placed her helmet on the bunk and jumped down. The Mandalorian gave him a soft kiss on the cheek before they headed for the common room.
"I won't do it." she stated firmly. "So you do know what the darksaber is." Fenn realized. "I know it caused my family nothing but trouble after Maul took it." she exlained.
"Maul used it to divide and conquer our people. You can wield it to do the opposite." the other Mandalorian went on. "Wield it?" she repeated in disbelief before addressing Kanan.
"You're crazy. Kanan, tell him he's crazy." she told him. "Consider what he has to say." the older man suggested. "What?" everyone but her boyfriend asked in surprise.
"I don't think it's a coincidence this saber came into your possession." the Knight began as he held it up. "Yeah, but, Kanan, that doesn't mean she can fight with it." his Padawan spoke up.
"No offense." he said to her. "Go on." she urged with a warning tone. "Look, it's taken me a while to learn, and, I mean, I use the Force." he replied. "Just because she isn't Force-sensitive, doesn't mean she can't wield it." the ex-merc told him.
"She might not be able to fight like a Jedi, but she can learn to be proficient with the blade." the older Jedi continued. "I am proficient, with many types of blades and blasters and explosives, but that is a lightsaber." she argued.
"The combat training is not as important as what that blade represents." Rau stated. "Right, right, you want me to lead my clan. I don't know if you realize this, but I'm not that popular with my family these days. Plus the odds of them accepting a Revan as my husband-to-be are pretty low." she argued again.
"That can change." he assured her. "No, it can't. You don't know what you're talking about. she snapped. "I know that family is important to the Wrens, just like it is to all Mandalorians. And as for Anakin, I'm certain you could convince them." he said as he walked up to her and placed a hand on her shoulder.
"I have a family, here, on this ship. I don't need them." she continued after shrugging his hand off and folding her arms. "But we do. If there's a chance that you can rally an army of Mandalorian warriors to our cause, I have to ask you to do it." Hera spoke up as she stood.
"Hera." the younger woman said in disbelief. "Family history can be painful. Believe me, I know. But we can use those warriors for our attack on Lothal." the other woman stated as she walked towards her.
"Hera's right. We need to ask you to do this, but that doesn't mean you have to. You can walk away and forget about it." Kanan told her while holding the saber out.
"What do you think?" she asked her boyfriend. "Honestly? I think you should go for it. I mean if it means meeting my godmother and getting her out from under the Empire's thumb, then I'm all for it." he replied with a small smile.
Sabine returned it before sighing and turning back to the older Jedi. "All right. I'll do it. Just give me the saber." she relented before grabbing the saber and looking at him when he didn't let go.
"Listen. Once people know you have it, you will be challenged. And you need to be able to defend yourself." he warned. "Okay, I'll try my best." she reassured. "First lesson, don't try. Just learn." the teen told her.
"Give me the sword." she told the Knight, struggling to pull the hilt from him before glaring at his apprentice. "I'm gonna learn how to kick your-" she started before the ex-merc cut her off.
"Sabine." he said, calming her down. "Okay." she said more calmly before the older Jedi let go of the hilt and let her hold it.
"Hey, why can't we just practice back at the base?" Sabine asked as she, Anakin and Kanan flew away from the base in a landspeeder. "It's better out here. Fewer distractions. Keeps your mind focused." the Knight explained.
"And it's safer for everyone else. You'll do less damage." her boyfriend teased as he piloted the speeder. "Even though I'm partially torn up by the thought. I'll still damage you if you don't shut up." she threatened in a teasing tone.
Anakin chuckled softly at her before continuing to fly the speeder.
Sabine sighed in relief after she and Anakin finally finished unloading supplies from the speeder. "When you said you were going to be training me, I thought there'd be more sword fighting involved." she said to Kanan after sitting on a box.
"It was the same with my dad. And look how I turned out." her boyfriend joked. "Are you being serious?" she asked, sounding a bit worried. "Eh. Fifty-fifty." he replied with a hand gesture.
"We should get started." the Knight said while picking up two sticks. "Uh, try not to sound so excited." she muttered sarcastically as she stood up before he tossed one of the sticks at her then the other at the ex-merc.
"What the hell are these?" the ex-merc asked in confusion before the Jedi turned to face him. "You don't know what a training saber is?" he asked, sounding surprised. "Nope." the younger man replied with a head shake.
"What did your dad teach you with then?" his girlfriend asked. "These of course." he replied while unclipping the saber from his belt and turning it on. "What?" he asked in confusion after sensing surprise from Kanan.
The Knight just shook his head disbelief while muttering something along the lines of 'unbelievable' before walking towards the supplies. "Before we start with the real thing, I want to see your technique." he explained to the Mandalorian as she approached her boyfriend.
"I already know how to fight with a stick." she stated while twirling the stick once. "Then this should be easy for you." he told her as she held the stick behind her neck, stretched and cracked her neck before they readied the sticks.
"Just because your my girlfriend, doesn't mean I'll go easy on you." he teased with a smirk. "That should make kicking your ass a lot more fun." she teased back while mirroring his smirk.
His girlfriend then charged and attempted to hit him before he dodged it with ease then Force-pushed her back a bit. "That might work on a stormtrooper, but not me. Try again." he said while walking up to her.
Sabine grabbed the stick and stood back up before charging again and swinging wildly. Anakin evaded each strike before grabbing the end of the stick, spinning her around, then pulling the stick out of her hand at the same time he placed his own at her neck.
"And that's your head." he said as he took the stick away and she turned to glare at him while panting a bit. "Every mistake is a limb lost. Believe me I know." he continued while flexing the fingers on his mechanical and holding the other stick out to her.
"The blade is never at rest." he added as she took the stick and managed to catch her breath. "Okay, let's go again." she sighed. "Anakin, you parents teach you the forms?" the older man asked.
"They did." he said while looking at him. "Walk her through them." the Jedi replied before the ex-merc turned to stand beside her. "Alright. Ready position." he said before going into the stance of Form I also known as Shii-Cho.
"There you go." he said after she mirrored his stance. "Now follow as I go through the other forms." he continued before going through the other forms slowly so she could keep up.
Anakin parried Sabine's strikes as Kanan kept watch before she tried a stab aimed upward towards his head. "That's not going to work." the Knight informed her after her boyfriend easily tilted his head to avoid it.
"Working so far." she replied before the couple traded a few more blows. "You're doing pretty well, actually." the ex-merc complimented as they stopped for a moment.
The Mandalorian gave him a light punch on the arm. "Opinion noted." she stated with some annoyance before they continued. The couple traded a few more blows before she attempted a jump.
Anakin avoided the attack before pointing the tip of the stick at her when she got up and turned. The woman fell back down in surprise while panting. "You're overcommitted." Fenn said before she smacked her boyfriend's stick away from her.
"Oh, good. Anyone else have an opinion they want to share?" she asked, annoyance obvious as she got back up. "Let's take a break." the Jedi suggested, walking forward a bit as she threw the stick to the ground in anger.
"And here I thought I had anger issues..." the ex-merc muttered under his breath. "Anakin, help unload these supplies." the older man told him. Instead of replying, the ex-merc merely rested the stick on his shoulder before heading over to the speeder bike and helping Kanan.
"What have you got there?" he asked his girlfriend after seeing vambraces on her arms. "More than you can handle." she taunted with a smirk. "Hmm." he replied before they took stances.
The younger man attacked first before she blocked and they started trading blows again. Sabine blocked and attacked a few more times before avoiding an overhead strike then aiming her left arm at him.
Unfortunately for her, Anakin actually did know what they were before raising his hand and putting a Force shield up at the same time her vambrace released a small sonic boom.
Both her and Rau were surprised when she was pushed back instead. "Is this a game to you?" the ex-merc snapped, glaring at her as she managed to stand. "No game, just trying to outsmart my opponent." she replied, mirroring his glare.
"Care to take another shot?" she challenged, raising her other arm before a grappling line shot out. The Mandalorians were surprised again when he grabbed it out air before pulling her towards him.
The young woman grunted as she hit ground and rolled before coming to a stop at his. Anakin already had his saber ignited and placed by her neck at the same time she rolled around to face him.
"History lesson. The Jedi led by my ancestor, won the war against Mandalore. These tricks will amount to something, maybe save you from time to time, but they won't keep you alive in the long run. Only training... and discipline will do that. Even I had to learn that." he scolded as they glared at one another.
Anakin turned his blade off before she stood back up. "The only thing I'm learning is that that I have a lousy fiancé for a lousy teacher!" she yelled as she threw the stick on the ground and stormed off.
The ex-merc glared at her retreating back before dropping it as he released a tired sigh and rubbed his face.
Night had fallen by the time Sabine had returned to the camp and approached her boyfriend who was currently inspecting the darksaber. "I'm sorry, Sabine..." he apologized softly after looking up to face her.
"I'm sorry, too..." she apologized just as softly before he held the saber out to her. "Uh, maybe I should practice more first." she suggested. "Take it. Kanan agrees it's yours." he replied before she gently took it from him.
"Ignite the blade." he said before she held it properly and pressed the button. "Whoa..." she muttered softly after the blade came out. "It's heavier than I thought." she commented while slowly swinging it around a bit.
"Energy constantly flows through the crystal. You're not fighting with a simple blade as much as you are directing a current of power. Your thoughts, your actions, they become energy. They flow through the crystal as well, and become a part of the blade." her boyfriend explained before igniting his own blade.
"The blades will be drawn to each other." he said before holding the saber above his head. "Block high." he said, bringing his down before she did so. "There's pull. Can you feel it? That sword is old, heavy, but powerful. Respect its strength." he said before breaking the saber lock and going for a low slash.
"Block low. High. Middle. High. Low. Middle." he directed as his girlfriend blocked each one before entering another saber lock. "Good. Let's work on a series. Are you ready?" he asked.
"Yes." she confirmed before they raised their blades. "Remember the forms I taught you." he reminded while taking position. "Take ready position." he told her before mirrored him.
"We'll start slow." he said before they continued trading blows. "One... two... three... four... five... six..." he directed before they relaxed again. "Faster. One, two, three, four, five, six." he directed again before repaeating faster. "One, two, three, four, five, six." he directed before the last one knocked her over.
"Don't make it easy on me now, missy." he taunted playfully as she panted softly and smiled. "Ready position." he instructed before she stood back up and re-ignited the darksaber.
"One, two, three, four, five, six." he directed faster than the last. Anakin smiled as she managed to block each them perfectly this time. "The blade feels lighter." she said after breaking another saber lock and looking at the blade.
"That's because you're connecting with it. It's becoming a part of you." he explained before they started circling each other. The young woman grunted in effort as they traded a few more blows before the blades slid against one another and she stumbled forward after he pulled away.
"But you cannot rely solely on the blade." he commented before she attempted a stab. The ex-merc easily dodged before grabbing the hilt with his left hand and pushing her by.
"You must use all your skills together. Ready position." he instructed again. His girlfriend did so for a moment before attacking aggressively and getting only two slashes in before he knocked the saber out of her hands.
"You'll have to do better than that, Snips." he said before she used her grappling line to grab the hilt and pull it back to her. Sabine turned the saber back on before attacking and driving him back a bit until he managed to kick her feet out from underneath her.
Sabine grunted in pain as the darksaber cut her right vambrace before extinguishing itself. "You're not fighting me, you're fighting yourself... and losing." he told her while turning his lightsaber off.
The young woman grunted angrily before grabbing the saber and swinging wildly at him again after standing up. "You're not committed to this. You should quit." he said, dodging another strike before she stopped momentarily and held the blade over her head.
"I don't quit. I never quit!" she stated angrily before attempting more strikes that he continued to avoid. "Prove it to me then. Show me that you're still the strong warrior I fell in love with." he demanded before shoving her away twice as she attacked him again.
"You did run, didn't you? Just like I did." he told her as they stopped again. "No!" she yelled, attempting another stab before he grabbed her right wrist with his left hand.
"But that's what your people believe, isn't it?" he stated before she growled and managed to flip free of his grasp." "You ran from the Empire. You ran from your family!" he yelled.
"Lies!" she yelled before he grabbed the blade of her saber when brought it down for another strike. "So what's the truth!?" he demanded. "The truth... is that... I left to save everyone." she admitted before breaking free of his grasp and continuing her assault.
"My mother, my father, my brother! Everything I did was for family, for Mandalore! I built weapons, terrible weapons, but the Empire used them on Mandalore, on friends, on family. People that I knew. They controlled us through fear." she yelled before scoffing.
"Mandalore! Fear of weapons I helped create. I helped enslave my people! I wanted to stop it. I had to stop it. I spoke out! I spoke out to save them. To save everyone!" she yelled before starting to cry as he kept blocking.
"But when I did... My family didn't stand with me. They chose the Empire. They left me. Gave me no choice." she said sadly, turning her saber off. "The Empire wanted to destroy worlds. And they did." she sobbed before falling into his arms. "They destroyed mine..." she sobbed against his chest as he held her close.
"Sabine, the Empire rules with fear. And not everyone can be as strong as you've been." he reassured her softly. "Your family is in a prison, one of their own making. It's up to you to help them out of it." he said while placing a gentle kiss on the top of her head.
"But how? Why... Why would they believe me? Why would they follow me?" she asked while pulling away a bit to look at him sadly. "I know this might not be what you want to hear. But for what it's worth, I would follow you." they heard Fenn say before looking at him as he and Kanan approached.
"So will I. You were there for me after my parents died. It's only right I be there for you when you get yours back." he said while placing another kiss on her head.
"You've come a long way in a very short time. Where you go from here is up to you. But know, this family, will stand by you no matter what you choose." the Knight assured with a small smile before the woman looked back at the darksaber .
Noticing her look, Anakin gently turned her head to face him before placing a reassuring kiss on her lips and feeling her relax in his arms...
Chapter 36 finished.