Since the animal they were roasting was now soaking wet, the four of them had a meal of rations and fruits and nuts that were native to the planet. One of them, called "blueberries" were even the same color as Ezra's hair.

"I started calling Thrawn blueberry because he's blue like these berries." Ezra explains and the girls laugh while Thrawn rolls his eyes in annoyance.

"You're one to talk." Sabine says and Ezra turns to her with a raised eyebrow.

Sabine felt her cheeks heat up ever so slightly. Every new expression he made with that new attractive face of his was getting her flustered. How could he be so effortlessly cute! It was annoying as hell.

"Your hair is the same color as these berries, and your eyes are blue. I might start calling you blueberry from now on." Sabine teases.

Ezra laughs, running his hand through his hair and flashing her a charming grin.

Dammit could he stop being hot for like five kriffing seconds so she could eat her meal in peace!

"It's a little ridiculous but hey, it's better than some of the other things you've called me over the years so I'll allow it." Ezra says.

"Oh you'll allow it?" Sabine asks, surprised by his confidence.

"Yeah, like I said before I've gotten a lot stronger over the years. It won't be as easy for you to beat me in a fight as it used to be." Ezra reminds her. "So if I don't like you teasing me, I can fight back." He says with a wink that sends a warm feeling down South and Sabine quickly looks back at her plate, becoming suddenly very interested in her food.

According to Thrawn, the nuts and fruit here were much higher in protein than they are on other planets. Maybe that's how Ezra was able to become so…not like Ezra. At least, not an Ezra she ever expected to see. He was still his dorky self, and she could still see that in his appearance but combining that with the other changes was making her heart pound because the scrawny kid that joined their crew all those years ago and wormed his way into her heart had finally grown up into a man. And let's just say, puberty really did not have to outdo itself like that with him and yet… as Sabine stares at him from across the campfire, she can't help but like what she sees.

Why does the universe have to keep making her question her feelings for this boy so constantly? Who's decision was it to let Ezra kriffing Bridger be hot! She wanted to know who so she could curse them. But she was scared to admit… a small part of her wanted to thank them instead.

As much as his now fully mature adult self annoyed her, she also couldn't help but admire the changes. They were after all, very good changes in her opinion. From what she could tell anyway. She could admire his face all she wanted but everything else she could only speculate on since it was covered by his clothes. And speculate she did…

"If you're gonna keep undressing Ezra with your eyes instead of eating, can I have your fruit?" Ahsoka asks.

Upon realizing what she was doing, Sabine squeals and nearly drops her plate, her cheeks feeling even warmer than the firelight shining on them.

"You okay?" Ezra asks, noticing her outburst.

"I'm fine." Sabine says, obviously lying with a fake smile but Ezra didn't notice.

Holy kriff… Sabine thought to herself. What was that! How did my mind get sent into the gutter so quickly? And for Ezra of all people! What is happening to me!

"So, I think it's finally time to address the obvious." Ahsoka says, clearing her throat and directing the attention towards her. "Now that we've found you two, where will we go next?"

"Well over the past decade Bridger and I have discussed where we would go if we were ever able to get off of this planet." Thrawn starts before Ezra quickly interrupts.

"Lothal." Ezra says sternly, turning to Thrawn with a serious look on his face to which the Chiss frowns in obvious disagreement.

Sabine pauses bringing her fork to her mouth when she sees how serious he is and the obvious tension between him and Thrawn regarding this issue.

Her heart begins to beat faster. Lothal. He said Lothal! One of Sabine's biggest fears was that Ezra wouldn't want to come home after being gone for so long. There were some nights that she would wake up crying after a nightmare of her finding Ezra and he refuses to go back with her, or worse, she finds him as a Sith Lord who's working with Thrawn to rebuild the Empire.

Ahsoka had calmed her down from some of those nightmares. So she wasn't surprised that as soon as Ezra said with such firm conviction that he wanted to go home, Sabine leapt from her seat, not caring that she just spilled her plate and drink onto the ground in the process as she launches herself at Ezra and hugs him tightly.

Ezra fell backwards from the inertia of her throwing her full weight at him before he had the time to brace himself. So now his dinner and drink were on the ground too but like the girl currently sobbing into his shoulder, he didn't care.

He was stunned at first by Sabine's hug. He and Thrawn hugged each other occasionally when one of them was having a rough time but that was rare and when it did happen it was never as tight of a hug as the one Sabine was giving him right now. This was his first real hug in a decade…and the fact that it was from Sabine made him tear up and hug her back even tightly, wanting to relish in the feeling of getting to hold someone he loves in his arms again.

"Why are you crying?" He asks her softly.

"Because you said-" Sabine sniffs and takes a gulp of air to finish her sentence "you wanted to come home."

Ezra winces as he senses her feelings, understanding why she was upset.

"And you were afraid I wouldn't want to?" Ezra asks rhetorically.

Sabine lets out a loud sob to confirm he was right and Ezra gives her a reassuring squeeze.

"Sabine I said in the message I left that I couldn't wait to come home." He reminds her.

"I know but that was ten kriffing years ago so I was afraid that-"

"After so long my desire to come home has only gotten stronger." He finishes, cutting her off and she pulls her head back to look at him.

Ezra's lips curl into a soft smile and he carefully reaches up to brush a tear from her cheek with his thumb.

"The longer I've been away, the more I've wanted to go back." He tells her and Sabine smiles as she lets out another short sob. "Why wouldn't I? It's my home, it's where I grew up. And even more importantly, everyone I've ever loved is there waiting for me." He says and gently cups her face, worried about whether or not she wanted him to touch her but those worries are short lived when she throws her arms around his neck again and hugs him tight.

Getting emotional himself, Ezra hugs her back just as tightly and nuzzles his face against hers, unexpectedly causing the girl in his arms to squirm and giggle.

Confused, Ezra pushes her up so he can look at her face to face.

"What's so funny?" He asks.

"There's nothing funny." Sabine says and laughs, causing Ezra to quirk an eyebrow at her contradictory behavior. "Your beard…it tickles." She giggles.

Ezra couldn't help but laugh and remove one of his hands from her back to rub his hairy chin.

"Ever since I grew this thing I'd occasionally wonder what you and the others would say about it once I saw you all again. I was wondering when you'd mention my beard." Ezra says with a grin.

"I never thought you'd be able to grow one." Sabine teases.

Ezra scoffs at her remark and Sabine's eyes widen as Ezra holds her tighter in his lap.

"Well I've got one now, and apparently it's very ticklish!" Ezra exclaims before rubbing his cheek against Sabine.

"Ezra!" Sabine shouts as she laughs. "Cut it out you stupid blueberry!"

That only encourages him and she squirms in his hold as he pulls down the collar of her body glove so he can nuzzle it against her neck. She squeals with laughter from the feeling at first but then she realized…it felt kind of…good.

She finds herself sitting a bit more firmly in his lap, getting a little lost in the sensation. And when his lips brush against a sensitive part of her skin, she can't help but let out an airy sigh.

When Ahsoka heard the noise that escaped Sabine's lips she immediately spits out her water and Thrawn gags.

Ezra immediately pulls his face back from her neck and looks at her in shock.

"Uh…Sabine…did you just…moan…?" Ezra asks, unable to believe what just happened.

HOLY KRIFF I JUST MADE THAT NOISE OUT LOUD! Sabine screams in her head and she frantically tries to think of a cover up for her mistake.

"If your little…whatever it is you two were doing is going in the direction I think it is then perhaps Ahsoka and I should leave you two alone…" Thrawn suggests, making Sabine panic even more.

"Wait…" Ezra says as his singular neuron finally fires. "Did I just make you-"

Sabine yawns and stretches her arms above her head. She made her yawn sound as close enough as she could to the embarrassing noise she made.

"Yawn. Yeah. I'm getting tired." Sabine says and honestly that wasn't a lie.

After all of the excitement that went on today she was utterly exhausted. And thankfully her obvious fatigue only further aided her cover up.

Ahsoka and Thrawn were impressed.

"Then you should get some sleep." Ezra says and smiles at her. "We have a long trip back to Lothal to get ready for." He continues, his tone getting serious again as he frowns at Thrawn.

The Chiss rolls his eyes and groans.

"For the millionth time Bridger we can't go straight to Lothal." Thrawn groans.

"Why not?" Ezra nearly shouts.

Sabine was surprised by how frustrated he was getting. He really wanted to go home. And now that she was closer to him…him being all serious like this was really…hot. No! No no no Sabine stop that! Get your mind out of the gutter! Out. of. the. gutter!

"Because as I keep having to remind you, Lothal is quite a long journey away from here and I'm positive that Wren and Tano don't have enough fuel in their ship to make that trip back." Thrawn explains.

"And that's why I'll just call up the purrgil and-" Ezra starts but then Thrawn cuts him off with a groan and rests his hand on his forehead as if he had a headache.

Which he did. He's had it for the past decade. And it's name was Ezra.

"I swore if you ever brought those damned creatures back here I'd strangle you!" Thrawn growls.

"Hey!" Sabine shouts, feeling protective. "I'm the only one that's allowed to beat him up! If you hurt a hair on his head I'll gut you like a fish!"

A wide grin formed on Ezra's face from her words. Even after all these years, she was still protective of him.

"Relax Wren." Thrawn says. "Even if the purrgil did come back to hyperspace us away, there's no telling where we'd end up. We can't direct them to take us to Lothal. So the only option is to go to another civilized planet, the one my family lives on, Csilla to refuel and get any other necessary supplies for the long journey." Thrawn says. "We can't go back to Lothal without those supplies Bridger."

Ezra inhales through his nose, closing his eyes before opening them and looking into Sabine's concerned brown eyes. He takes his hand in hers and her breath catches as he gently runs his thumb over the back of her knuckles and she thanks the Force that he can't see the goosebumps that rose on her arm as a result of his touch.

As she looks into his eyes, she can see the longing look in them and it made her heart flutter. They had been able to communicate with just a look before they left. In fact, that was the last time they saw each other face to face. And right now, he was telling her that he wanted nothing more than to go home, with her…if her face wasn't hot enough, it definitely was now.

But Ezra knew that Thrawn was right, so with a sigh he reluctantly turns away from Sabine and back to the Chiss.

"Fine. Your place it is." He grumbles. "But just for supplies." He adds sternly. "Nothing more, and not for very long. You'd better not have any other plans."

"Oh Ezra you know me well enough by now to know that I always have other plans." Thrawn says with a smirk.

Ezra's anger flares and Sabine can tell he's about to go fight Thrawn and she instinctively presses her hand on his chest to hold him back, not wanting a fight to occur that could cause a rift between them that would delay their departure.

Upon feeling her touch, Ezra instantly relaxes, but still frowns at the Chiss.

"But in this case, I have just barely been able to tolerate your presence for over a decade. I don't plan on keeping you at my side any longer than necessary." Thrawn says flatly.

"Likewise." Ezra growls.

"I thought you guys were best friends now that you've only had each other for company for the past decade." Ahsoka notes.

"WE ARE NOT!" Thrawn and Ezra quickly exclaim looking embarrassed.

Sabine and Ahsoka both laugh, because that outburst told them otherwise.

Ahsoka and Sabine brought out their sleeping bags, so that they could sleep out under the stars with the boys tonight.

"It's getting hot out here." Sabine says and reaches for her water to take a refreshing sip after she climbs into her sleeping bag.

"Yeah for some reason the temperatures on this planet rise at night." Ezra says, fanning himself as he walks over to his hammock.

"It's not for 'some reason'." Thrawn chides. "It's because there's a mineral in the soil that traps the heat and in the absence of the sun-"

"Yeah yeah, no one cares about your science Thrawn." Ezra says and removes his shirt.

As soon as Ezra's sweaty, bare torso is revealed, Sabine's eyes go wide and she immediately does a spit-take. It was too dark to make out all of the details, thank the Force she prayed silently. But the moonlight was just bright enough that she could make out the outlines of defined pecs, biceps and a six-pack, on EZRA KRIFFING BRIDGER?!

"WHAT THE KRIFF IS THAT?!" Sabine exclaims, shocked from the sight of her friend's now muscular torso.

Ezra and the others however, thought they were under attack due to the surprised and almost terrified tone that Sabine shouted in. Thrawn grabs his blaster, Ahsoka was immediately on her feet, both of her lightsabers ignited and ready. And Ezra, as if by reflex, held out his hand and called his lightsaber that Sabine had set down on the ground next to her like she always did before she went to sleep. Ezra ignites his saber and rushes over to her side. Which made Sabine panic even more because the last thing she needed was to get a closer look…

"Sabine what did you see! Where is it!" Ezra asks, concerned for her safety.

"I…I uh…" Sabine stammers, trying her best to keep her eyes on his and not give into the temptation to look down…she even looks away from him a couple times when her curiosity gets the better of her.

Ahsoka tears up, unable to contain her glee when she realizes why her friend screamed and she grabs her pillow and presses it to her face to muffle the howls of laughter that were escaping her lips as a result.

Thrawn simply rolls his eyes in annoyance and climbs back into bed.

"There are some big bugs that fly around here at night sometimes. They're attracted to heat so they fly towards the ground and sometimes land on me and Thrawn at night. Did you see one of those?" Ezra asks.

"Yeah I think I might have." Sabine admits, still not looking at him.

Don't look Sabine…Don't look…Don't OH! She gasps when Ezra takes her hand and places it on his chest in what she assumes were in-between his pecks but she didn't want to look and find out.

"Can you check to see if it's still there?" He asks.

Her face felt like it was on fire and she could feel a warm feeling start to pool in her lower belly. The muscle was firm. His skin was warm. And she could feel some thin, soft hairs under her fingertips. Huh. So he could grow hair in more places than just his face now. Wait. No! Bad train of thought! Do not think about where else his body might have hair! Abort! Sabine! Abort!

"Here look at my-"

"No I don't need to look!" Sabine quickly shouts.

Ezra looks confused and Sabine flashes him a fake smile and laughs.

"I uh did see one of those bugs you were talking about on your back but it's gone now! Maybe you should keep your shirt on so the bugs don't see how hot you are-I mean so they don't get attracted to your body heat and latch onto you!" Sabine suggests, quickly saving herself.

There was still some awkward tension but then Sabine notices he's holding his lightsaber and found a way to change the subject.

"Your lightsaber…" Sabine says and when Ezra notices it in his hand he stares at it in shock.

He doesn't let go of it for awhile. He just stays silent, staring at it taking in the fact that after all of these years he was holding his prized weapon in his hands again. Then he turns back to her with a smile.

"I thought you were in danger and it's the first thing I thought of." Ezra says then lets out a short laugh. "Even after ten years I still have that reflex. Crazy right?"

"Yeah….crazy." Sabine says as her heart pounds.

Out of the corner of her eye she could see his chest rising and falling with his heavy breaths and Sabine knew she had to get away before she risked getting a closer look.

"I think I'm go take a walk." Sabine says and quickly gets up and heads for the path before anyone can stop her.

Ahsoka watches Sabine leave and then turns to Ezra and smirks when she sees she wasn't the only one watching.

"Don't worry Ezra." Ahsoka says, sensing his worry.

The Jedi rubs the back of his neck and shies away from her gaze once he realizes she could sense his worry.

"It's been a big day filled with a lot of emotion. She just needs some time to herself to calm down a bit." Ahsoka tells him.

"I know." Ezra says. "But knowing her, she's probably not gonna be doing anything calming."

"That! Little! Shit!" Sabine shouts, stabbing a tree trunk with her knife with each word.

Sabine growls, turning away from the tree and swinging her arm around in the clearing, like she was practicing her knife strokes.

Ahsoka comes upon the clearing but hangs back, wanting to observe how Sabine dealt with her feelings and what exactly those feelings were.

"Thank goodness he's still dense as a rock." Sabine says in relief. "Otherwise I wouldn't be able to cover these slip ups so well. But why am I slipping up!" She exclaims. "I mean it's EZRA for Force's sake! I shouldn't be getting this worked up over him! I shouldn't even be having these thoughts about him but here I am getting all hot and bothered at just barely seeing and touching his bare chest and I moaned at just feeling that stupid beard of his against my neck-HOLY KRIFF I MOANED FOR HIM!" Sabine exclaims, remembering the most embarrassing thing to happen to her that night. "I MOANED FOR EZRA BRIDGER!" She shouts and throws her knife at the tree on the opposite side of the clearing.

"How the hell is this happening!" Sabine exclaims as she retrieves her knife out of the tree and makes her way back over to the one she was originally stabbing on the other side of the clearing.

"How did he get so hot so fast? I mean it's not like he was never attractive before. Before he left he was fairly nice to look at, especially when he was fighting…" Sabine smiles as her mind wanders back to old memories of Ezra showing off on the battlefield. "So it's not like these feelings are entirely new. I've definitely checked him out at least in passing before he disappeared but now he's walking around looking like sex on a stick and how the-" Sabine growls and swings her arm back to stab the tree trunk again multiple times through the next part of her sentence. "kriff am I supposed to deal with that!" She growls through gritted teeth.

Ahsoka watches curiously as Sabine's breathing slows and she begins to calm down.

"This is not good…" Sabine says before groaning and lightly tapping her forehead against the tree. "This is not good at all!"

"These feelings…" She whines and runs her hands through her short hair. "I know I started feeling something before Ezra left. I mean, we were close and every now and then he'd make my heart flutter and I know what that meant but I just couldn't wrap my head around it! Then after he left, when I was living in his old tower and spending time on Lothal I just kept thinking about him and I started to think that maybe I could feel something more for him beyond friendship but I thought I'd never see him again so I didn't want to think about it! But then Ahsoka said she may have gotten a lead on where he is and without any hesitation I jumped on it! And thinking about seeing him again made me happy but in a way that I hadn't felt before…I'm not gonna try to fool myself I know how I feel about him! But I thought I could handle it. I mean it was more of a fleeting thought occasionally, nothing more than that. I could have kept those feelings in check until we caught up with each other and who knows maybe I would end up not feeling anything for him after all and then everything would just go back to normal!" Sabine exclaims sarcastically with a smile on her face.

"But him turning from a semi-attractive dork into a Force-damn hunk!" Sabine exclaims and stabs the tree again. "In the span of a kriffing decade!" Another stab. "Was! Not! A! Possi-bility! That! I! Planned! For!" Sabine exclaims, emphasizing each word with a stab.

"I mean it's Ezra for Force's sake!" She exclaims and stabs the tree again. "How the kriff did that annoying little shit do this to me!" Sabine whines as she turns away from the tree trunk and leans her back against it.

"When we first met I could barely stand being around him because he kept flirting with me! It was so annoying how he'd try to be all smooth with those cheesy lines of his. But now he's gotten over it and I'm the one can't stop thinking about having him hold me in his surprisingly strong arms and…looking at me with those pretty blue eyes…" Sabine says dreamily and closes her eyes and smiles. "Before he leans in and kisses me-WHAT AM I SAYING! IT'S EZRA!" Sabine shouts as she snaps herself out of whatever fantasy she was having.

She growls in frustration before turning her attention back to the tree and readying her knife for another round of forceful stabs.

"Stupid! Hot! Ezra! Making! Me! Feel! Things!" She growls. Again, stabbing the tree once with each word.

Ahsoka could feel the anger coming off of the Mandalorian girl in waves, and decides that for her own safety, it's best if she leaves her alone to have it out, lest she be discovered.

Sabine kneels on the ground, knife in her hands and thinks about what Hera told her before she left on this journey.

"Don't wait. Don't make my mistake. As soon as you're sure of how you feel, tell him. Because you don't know how much time you'll have until it's gone."

After what happened with her and Kanan, it made sense why she would warn Sabine of the dangers of waiting to tell Ezra. Their relationships were similar in many ways, and she could only pray that if it did come to be, it wouldn't end the same way Hera and Kanan's had.

But Sabine still wasn't sure. Or maybe she was, but she was still too stubborn to admit it. So she decides to pray to the Force, the universe, any higher that would listen.

"Look, if I can make one small request. Please, just let that annoyingly attractive blueberry keep his clothes on until I can sort out these thoughts. Because I got lucky that I could barely see anything tonight but even that was too much for me so please, please just keep him clothed in my presence until I can process these feelings!" Sabine begs.

But, as some prayers sometimes are, these would go unanswered.