The rain may have stopped but things weren't getting any "drier" for either of them.

The smug look on the Jedi's face turned to one of surprise as his brain short-circuits upon hearing the words that left the lips of his best friend. Words he's only heard spoken by the people in the fantasies he comes up with when he has some time alone with just himself and his hand. Was that what was happening now? A fantasy? No, it couldn't be because it was Sabine who said "fuck me" to him.

Although Sabine would occasionally come to mind when he was touching himself, she was never the focal point. Even though she wasn't force sensitive like him so there was no way for her to ever know, he still felt guilty about thinking about her like that when he knew she didn't feel the same. He knew that if she knew he thought about her while jerking off she'd be disgusted, so he felt like it was wrong to do that. He just created random attractive people in his mind instead. Although, now that he thought about it, all of those people did resemble Sabine in some way.

And beating Sabine in a fight, pinning her down underneath him with her legs spread open before she begs him to screw her was an old hormone fueled fantasy he used to have of her when he was a young teen who thought more with his dick than his heart when it came to her.

Right now, his dick was reading the position he was in with her, and her words as an invitation to have a different kind of "sparring" session. But his heart knew better. And because he was an adult and not some horny teenager, he listened to his heart first.

So Ezra grins and laughs, climbing off of Sabine, much to her relief and confusion.

"Oh come on, don't be so hard on yourself you got some good licks in." Ezra says and offers her his hand to help her stand up and she takes it. "It's just been awhile since we've fought each other. A lot's changed over the years so our old tactics won't work on each other anymore."

He could sense through the Force that she was frustrated. So his heart read "fuck me" as a frustrated exclamation instead of a request.

Which ironically, made Sabine even more frustrated along with Ahsoka and Thrawn, who were dumbfounded that he completely missed the meaning of Sabine's words.

Although, he wasn't completely oblivious since Sabine had felt something hard against her thigh and now he was adjusting his pants in an attempt to hide an obvious erection.

So that wasn't his lightsaber…Sabine thinks and gulps. He was hard…for me. And for some reason that sent a shiver of pleasure down her spine as he locks eyes with her and realizes she was aware of what he was trying to hide.

"Well, clearly somethingworked for you." Sabine says before turning away from him, refusing to elaborate on if she was referring to the fight or his dick.

Ezra grimaces and curses himself under his breath for slipping up like that.

"You know I never had much interest in Mandalore during my time with the Empire." Thrawn says, clearly addressing Sabine, who turns to him to hear what he has to say. "And I found the warrior culture of your people to be both barbaric but at the same time, complex and fascinating."

"Uh huh, and your point is?" Sabine asks curtly.

"My point is that your culture takes not only combat but winning in combat very seriously, so it's no wonder you're a sore loser right now since Bridger kicked your ass." Thrawn says and Sabine's anger flares.

Instantly both Jedi rush to restrain her from unleashing her wrath onto the Chiss.

"I am not a sore loser!" Sabine retorts, struggling against Ahsoka who had her arms pinned back behind her.

Ezra places his hands on her shoulders.

"Sabine-"

"Don't touch me!" She scolds him harshly while shaking him off of her at the same time.

Only after saying that does she regret it when she sees the hurt look on his face. Her anger immediately fades and Ahsoka releases her.

"Your actions suggest otherwise." Thrawn says.

Ahsoka and Ezra frown at him as he continues to agitate Sabine.

"I mean, he is someone you care for greatly. Probably more than anyone in the galaxy considering how many years of your life you spent searching for him. So why else would the outcome of this fight cause you to be so upset with him if not for the fact he beat you?" Thrawn probes.

Ahsoka's eyes widen as she realizes what he was really getting at. A decade alone with Ezra clearly hadn't dulled his sharp mind very much if at all.

And Sabine's face which was once hot with anger was now flaming with embarrassment as she comes to the same conclusion. Thrawn may not be Force sensitive but he is intuitive as hell. Of course he'd notice how thirsty she was for Ezra. Especially since it seemed obvious to everyone except for the Jedi in question!

"I-I…" Sabine stammers, trying to find an answer.

She looks over her shoulder at Ezra and sees him staring at her with a curious look on his face as he awaits her answer. So she quickly turns back to Thrawn and decides to lie.

"I'm not upset with him…" She says softly.

The Chiss arches an eyebrow.

"Really?" He asks. "You sure seem upset to me."

"Yeah I'm upset because people keep asking me about my feelings when I don't want to talk about them!" Sabine exclaims and glares at both him and Ahsoka.

"Okay, Sabine I think you need to cool off a bit." Ezra says, and quickly adds the next part before she bites his head off. "Take a walk with me? There's something I think you'll like that I want to show you." He suggests, offering her his hand.

Sabine looks from Ezra's face to his hand and tentatively places her small hand in his larger one. Their warm skin touching gave her goosebumps and when his hand closes around hers and gives it a gentle squeeze, the softest gasp escapes her lips and her heart races. Even though she literally had this man in-between her legs with his erection pressed against her thigh, this felt so much more intimate. And when she looks up and sees Ezra smiling at her, relieved that she wasn't turning him away, she couldn't help but smile herself, although she quickly looks away once she feels her cheeks begin to heat up, so he can't see how his touch is affecting her.

Once the mutually pining idiots disappear from view, Ahsoka decides to be the one to initiate the gossip session.

"That was some impressive questioning there with Sabine." Ahsoka compliments. "For a moment there she didn't have an answer. You really caught her off-guard."

"Yes but then her guard went back up and the truth was not revealed so I don't deserve too much praise." Thrawn says. "I'm more intrigued by Bridger at the moment. One thing I have found both fascinating and annoying about him as of late is his obliviousness. You would think that a Jedi would be more aware of what's going on around him but no this one has tripped over rocks, branches, and misplaced countless items that are right in front of him. Not to mention the times when he fails to understand when I'm being sarcastic and when I'm not. You'd think that with his skill at using the Force he'd have no problem with those things."

"Jedi are only intuitive and aware when they're trying to be." Ahsoka explains.

"Well that it's clear he's not trying nearly as much as he should be." Thrawn replies. "Especially with Wren. Given how strong his feelings are for her, and how weak her attempts at hiding her obvious sexual attraction towards him have been, I thought that he would have noticed and confronted her about it yesterday! He knows her so well, why won't he at least try to look a little deeper past her words and be able to sense the true emotions behind them? And now, even when he was in-between her legs and she offered herself to him he still doesn't get the message!?" He exclaims and Ahsoka laughs. "It's both amazing and frustrating how deep that boy's ignorance truly goes if he's unable to see that the woman he's been yearning for for so long finally loves him back!"

"I think there's a good chance he does realize how she feels about him but he's choosing to ignore it." Ahsoka proposes.

"I did consider that but I can't think of a reason why he would ignore it. It can't be fear of rejection because he would know she wouldn't reject him if she's in love with him." Thrawn says.

Ahsoka laughs and shakes her head.

"Clearly you have no idea how stubborn Sabine Wren can be." Ahsoka tells him.

"Well if she's as stubborn as Bridger is oblivious, it may take them another ten years before they get together." Thrawn says.

"I disagree." Ahsoka says.

Thrawn arches an eyebrow at her and Ahsoka continues.

"It's been a day since they've reunited and already Sabine's slipped up a handful of times. It's by sheer luck and Ezra's sheer ignorance that he hasn't figured it out already."

"And she can only give so many excuses as well. Perhaps you're right and this won't take as long as I thought." Thrawn agrees. "I think all it will take is one perfect moment where one of them falters without an excuse and it will all fall into place. And if Bridger is taking her where I think he is, something tells me that moment could be coming very soon. Because as soon as she sees what he's made for her it'll probably take all of her willpower not to take him right then and there. Hopefully he made that bed sturdy enough for two…" Thrawn mutters.

"Where is he taking her?" Ahsoka asks, now extremely curious about where the young lovers had run off to.

"We'll have to wait and see what fate has in store then. Because perfect moments can often be interrupted." Ahsoka informs him.

She was Anakin Skywalker's padawan after all. She knew first hand how easily a romantic moment could be interrupted for a Jedi and his lover.

But Ezra and Sabine's relationship was different from Anakin and Padmé's in a lot of ways. For starters there wasn't a Jedi Order anymore so there wasn't any rules keeping them apart. And at least for now, there was no war, so it's not like those feelings would cloud their judgment for important war decisions.

The only thing that would be a problem is the animosity between Mandalorians and Jedi but…now the Mandalorians had been purged too so there really wasn't anyone save for Sabine's mother who would possibly have an issue with them being together.

Nothing ever happens by accident. The Force acts in mysterious ways but always with a purpose. If there was ever going to be a romance between a Mandalorian and a Jedi that gets to live happily ever after…now would be the best time for that to happen. And given how every other relationship Ahsoka's ever seen for a Jedi end…she desperately hopes that this one will get a win.

And as she's watched Sabine and Ezra grow over the years and grow closer with each other, Ahsoka can't help but smile from how lucky she is that the Force gifted her the chance to witness their story play out. And if all goes well, she'd get to see the happily ever after that the universe so desperately needed to restore hope that love can prevail after years of war had torn too many deserving couples apart.

And a Mandalorian and a Jedi, two people from two feuding cultures destroyed by a common enemy falling in love after there's no one left to fight? Sounds like the perfect pairing to her, even though no one else would have ever thought it possible.

Now that the Jedi Order was gone and the Empire was defeated, it was time for the start of something new. And Ahsoka was certain that Sabine and Ezra would play a role somehow.

"Where are we going?" Sabine asks she climbs over another large log and Ezra smirks and turns around to answer her.

"For the fourth time, I can't tell you. It's a surprise." Ezra says and Sabine rolls her eyes and looks at the now setting sun.

"Well the amount of time it's taking to get to the surprise is going to make me feel less surprised and more irritated-" Sabine complains before her foot hits a tree root.

"Careful! Watch your-" Ezra warns just as Sabine trips and falls forward before landing against Ezra's chest as he catches her in his arms.

"Step." He says with a sheepish grin as Sabine's face flushes from her position.

Having her hands pressed on his pecs was making her face feel warm. And having his strong arms wrapped around her wasn't helping her feel any less flustered.

Ezra's cheeks were coloring as well. But to his luck, Sabine was too busy avoiding looking at him and escaping his embrace to take a few steps back from him to notice. And Ezra's heart clenches with fear as he thinks about the reason why she was avoiding him.

"Hey, Sabine. Now that we're alone, I want to talk about what happened at the end of our sparring session." Ezra says.

Sabine's heart leaps into her throat.

Oh no…She thinks as dread washes over her. He sensed it didn't he…He sensed that I wanted him to screw me and now he's either gonna reject me or push me up against a tree and take me and I don't know which is worse! Although, the latter option doesn't sound too bad- No! Stop Sabine! It's Ezra! Remember? It's EZRA! Her stubborn mind reminds her.

"I know you saw how I uh…reacted to the position we were in." Ezra says and scratches the back of his neck.

How he reacted? Oh! He's not talking about me saying "fuck me", he wants to talk about how his dick got hard for me!Sabine realizes, and her fear is replaced with relief until fear settles in again when she realizes: Oh fuck, he wants to talk to me about how his dick got hard for me!

"Ezra, we really don't have to talk about it." Sabine insists but Ezra persists.

"Yes we do because you've been looking at me weird ever since it happened so clearly it made you uncomfortable and I want to explain myself and apologize so this doesn't make things weird between us." Ezra explains.

Well the ship sailed on that when you had your sexy glow up.Sabine thinks to herself but she's still curious about what he has to say.

"Alright then, explain away." Sabine says as sternly as possible to disguise the fact that her heart was pounding.

"Okay so, this isn't an excuse, it's only an explanation." Ezra clarifies. "But, I've been stuck on this planet with no other intelligent life except Thrawn for a decade. There has been one else around for me to talk to much less…you know…"

"I know. Continue." Sabine says, urging him to get it over with.

After a nervous chuckle he continues.

"So, basically it's just been me and my hand my whole life and so when I realized the position I was in with an attractive girl my mind went somewhere it shouldn't have and my body reacted and I'm sorry." Ezra says.

Sabine smirks and dips her chin.

"You, think I'm attractive?" She asks and runs her fingers along her short bangs.

"Sabine you're beautiful. You always have been." Ezra says, making her heart pound. "But I don't think about you like I did when we first met. I'm over that now, and I like what we have or had before I left way better than what we started with."

Hearing that should've made Sabine feel relieved and happy. But instead, she found herself feeling disappointed, and a little bit…heartbroken? Why would she be upset that he just wanted to be friends? Friendship was all she's ever wanted from him, right?

"So I just wanted to let you know why that happened. It's not because I still have feelings for you like I did when I was 14. It was just biology. But I still feel bad for it happening with you." Ezra says.

"Don't be!" Sabine replies, perhaps a little too quickly. "I totally understand, there doesn't have to be anything awkward between us. It's just…biology."

Ezra smiles and lets out a sigh of relief.

"Oh thank the Force, I was so worried you were gonna hate me for this." Ezra says and turns around to keep walking.

"Well don't worry…" Sabine says and her voice trails off as she can't help but check out his backside, and how the muscles in his back flex as he climbs up over another large log and she swipes her tongue briefly along her bottom lip. "I definitely wouldn't hate you for this…."

"I hate this." Sabine complains as Ezra stands behind her with his hands covering her eyes. "Why can't I see where I'm going on this last leg of the trail again?"

"Because the surprise will be so much better if you take it in all at once!" Ezra explains and Sabine can't help but laugh.

"You are seriously hyping this up, it better be good Bridger." Sabine says as she walks forward and Ezra steers her to keep her on the path.

"It will be." He says and stops walking, so she does too. "Just take a look."

He removes his hands from her eyes and immediately steps beside her so he can see her reaction. And the look on her face definitely doesn't disappoint as Sabine takes in the sight of the hut she was standing inside of, filled with holos of her art.

Tears begin to fill her eyes immediately because she knows exactly what this is.

"Oh Ezra…is this…did you really build-"

"An art gallery for all of your art that was on the Chimera. Yes I did." Ezra says and Sabine chokes out a sob before covering her mouth. "Thrawn did help by the way. He'd be pissed at me if I didn't mention that. But the idea of building it and filling it with your art was all mine."

Ezra's grin was practically as big as the one Sabine was hiding under her hand.

"Judging by your reaction I'm guessing you don't have this back at home?" Ezra asks and Sabine shakes her head no, still unable to find her words.

She had one or two of her pieces on display in random galleries on Lothal and other planets but not an entire gallery dedicated to her work.

Ezra scoffs.

"Well then art critics must not know what good art is nowadays because you should have at least ten of these by now-"

He's cut off by Sabine throwing herself at him and wrapping her arms around him in the tightest hug he can remember getting from her. And that's saying a lot, because there haven't been many.

"Oh Ezra I love you…" Sabine blurts out before she can stop herself, causing both her eyes and Ezra's to widen in shock before Sabine quickly adds "For this! This! I love you so much for building this!"

Ezra laughs and hugs her back.

"You're welcome. It's the least I could do for my best friend who spent years of her life looking for me." Ezra says.

"Oh you still owe me big time for that Bridger but this definitely chips away at your debt." Sabine says and Ezra laughs again.

"I'll take it." He agrees.

This hut was beautifully constructed. It was just one big room but the way the big leaves were layered to create the roof made a swirling pattern that you could follow right to the center skylight. And the walls were made out of a similar material but they were woven like a basket. It was clear a lot of effort and time went into building this and that only made Sabine love him more.

"It's beautiful." Sabine mutters.

"Thanks. It took me and Thrawn months to-"

"I'm not talking about the building." Sabine interrupts, leaving his embrace to walk towards something that caught her attention. "This."

One of the walls of the gallery had nothing on it. It was a huge window. A huge window with a perfect view of the sunset.

"Yeah. I found this cliff with a really pretty view of the sky. So I figured this would be a great spot to build something and fill it with other beautiful things on this planet." Ezra says.

And if he was brave enough he would have added "But the most beautiful thing that's ever been in here only entered just now."But he was content to say that to himself and stare at Sabine as she takes in what he's made.

"Why is there a bed here?" Sabine asks, when she notices the bed behind her.

"I uh…sleep here…most of the time." Ezra says shyly.

"Why? Because it's dry when it's raining or you need a break from being around Thrawn?" Sabine asks.

"Well there's that." Ezra says with a short laugh while scratching the back of his neck. "But it's also because I just sleep better here, surrounded by your art. It reminds me of you and makes me feel safer and happier. And reminds me to have hope because there's someone out there looking for me."

Sabine lets out a soft sob and wipes the tears from the corners of her eyes.

"Ezra, I'm sorry I took so long." Sabine says.

"Don't be, I know you came as fast as you could." Ezra says. "And you're here now, getting to see the art gallery dedicated entirely to your work, so that makes this all worth it."

"Well I can see it's not all mine." Sabine says, noticing the photo of Ezra and his parents that was on a table beside his bed.

Technically it was sort of hers since she fixed it up but she couldn't claim credit as the artist.

Then she looks over to the other we all and immediately slaps her hand over her mouth to muffle the laugh that instantly left her lips when she saw what was hanging there.

"What's that?" Sabine asks, trying her best not to laugh at the crude drawing hanging on the wall beside the other art.

"Oh! That…" Ezra says embarrassed as he scratches the back of his neck. "That's mine."

"Yeah it definitely is." Sabine says.

"Hey!" Ezra retorts and lightly smacks her arm. "It wasn't supposed to be artistic anyway, it's plans for a house."

"A house?" Sabine asks. "You and Thrawn built a house to live in together? You guys still sleep outside, did something happen to it?"

"Yeah, we never built it." Ezra says and Sabine couldn't help but chuckle.

"Why didn't you build it?" Sabine asks.

"Well when the Chimera started to become too dangerous to inhabit because the bolts were rusting and animals moving in, we decided we should build a house but we kept arguing because Thrawn thought all of my ideas were impossible to build so we ended up not building it." Ezra explains and Sabine laughs. "An art gallery is the only thing we could agree on so…" Ezra gestures to everything around them "This is it."

Sabine bursts with laughter and Ezra's heart swells with joy at the sight. For the past ten years, he'd only seen her laughing, smiling and happy in his dreams. But now, here she was, laughing again in reality and it was so beautiful it brought tears to Ezra's eyes which he wipes them away before she can see them.

"You are such a dork Ezra Bridger." Sabine says. "I'm so happy that hasn't changed."

"Thanks. I think." Ezra says and Sabine giggles again from his reply. "I think I might be more mature now but I don't really think much else has changed in the past ten years."

"I guess not on the inside but the outside is…very different." Sabine says and furrows her brows as she admires the work of art standing before her.

Ezra's breath hitches as Sabine gently reaches forward to touch the scar that was on his shoulder. As she runs her finger along the mark, a shiver runs down his spine. As much as he wanted to touch her back, caress her as gently as the way she was caressing the wounds his time here had left on him, he refrained. That's not what she wanted right now. So he stood as still as he could, and did his best to keep himself in control as she explored the new strokes added to the canvas of his body since they'd parted.

"You have too many of these…" Sabine mutters. "No one should have ever been allowed to hurt you like this…"

Ezra's lip curls up in a small grin hearing that.

"That's sweet of you to say but what's done is done I'm afraid. But hey, it's not so bad. It's not like they're the first ones I've ever gotten." Ezra reminds her and gently takes her hand and places it on the side of his face so her fingers are brushing the two scars on his cheek and the rest of her palm is cradling his jaw.

"I know." Sabine says before giggling.

"What's so funny?" Ezra asks.

"Your damn beard is tickling my hand." Sabine says and Ezra smiles brightly and lets out a short laugh as Sabine removes her hand.

"Again with the beard." Ezra says and shakes his head. "You know if it's becoming an issue for you I can shave it once we get to Csilla." Ezra offers.

"No you don't have to." Sabine says and brings her hand back up to cup his face, gently stroking his hairy jawline with a look in her amber eyes that makes Ezra's heart pound. "I don't mind it that much. In fact I kind of like it."

Ezra's eyes widen in shock.

"Really?" He asks.

"Yeah." Sabine says with a smile. "It looks good on you."

"Wow…I think that's the first time you've ever complimented me on my appearance." Ezra says.

"Don't get used to it." Sabine quickly replies.

Although maybe he should…She thinks to herself. Because for once, I can't see a single thing on Ezra that I don't like…Oh manda what is happening to me! It's Ezra! It's Ezra! It's…She looks into those gorgeous sapphire eyes, and for a moment she connects her emotional feelings for her best friend to the physical ones she felt for the man he's become and to her horror, she feels something that feels a lot like…love. Ezra…It's Ezra…It's really Ezra…

She quickly averts her gaze to his chest but then she felt herself getting flustered by looking at it. But avoiding looking at his chest by looking at his face wasn't very helpful either. Those blue eyes of his were so dreamy. She couldn't help but get lost in them. And her gaze couldn't help but travel to his lips. In this position they were fairly close to her own, and with all of the emotion swimming through her heart and head right now, she couldn't resist the urge to kiss them.

If someone had told her that in fifteen years she'd be in Ezra's arms wanting to kiss him, she'd have ejected them from the Ghost's airlock. But now, here she was, being held in his arms and feeling nothing but happiness and something else that was probably love but she just wasn't sure. Or she was sure it was love but her mind was still clinging to the denial that it was by a thread. And as she stares at his face, thinking about everything they've been through and everything she wants to go through with him in the future, that thread was rapidly unraveling.

She moves her hands around to his back and Ezra's hands copy hers until they're hugging each other.

"If you ever leave me for this long again, I swear I'll kill you Ezra Bridger." Sabine threatens.

Most people would have been terrified upon receiving a death threat from a Mandalorian. But Ezra laughed instead because knew Sabine well enough to know that she'd never actually kill him. If she was being serious he would sense it from her. And then he'd be running for his life instead of hugging her.

"Fair enough. If I'm ever dumb enough to abandon my best friend again then I'd deserve it." Ezra says. "I'm not even sure if I deserve you now."

"You do." Sabine replies immediately, hugging him tighter. "Ezra I spent ten years searching for you. I wouldn't have done that if I didn't think you were worth it."

"You really care about me that much?" Ezra asks and when Sabine sees the tears form in his eyes she gets tears in hers as well.

"I do, I care about you so much Ezra. When you left it broke my heart. I couldn't bear being without you, you're my best friend, you're everything to me! My life is so much better with you in it." Sabine says and Ezra gives her a gentle squeeze as his heart swells with love for her.

"You're my best friend and I care about you more than anything and anyone in the galaxy. I'll never forgive myself for leaving you for so long but I had no choice. So I'll spend the rest of my life making it up to you. And I'll never willingly leave your side again, I promise." Ezra swears.

Sabine's heart was so full of love for him. She just had to kiss him now! She wanted to so she decides to just do it now before she can stop herself. She brings her lips closer to his but then Ezra's breath hitches when he sees her moving in and that was enough to make her chicken out of her plan and she opts to rest her head against his chest instead, burying her burning face in his chest.

Ezra's eyes were wide in shock from what almost happened to him. He swore for a brief moment he sensed feelings of love from her. He'd sensed that from her before he left, and he always assumed it was just platonic love but if she was about to kiss him does that mean this love he was sensing from her was…no. It couldn't be. Sabine had made it clear she didn't think of him that way and if he dared himself to hope she did now that he was truly in love with her and not just infatuated with her like he was when they first met, he'd never recover if she broke his heart by not returning his feelings like he knew she wouldn't.

There was no way Sabine would try to kiss him. He must have just been imagining things. Sabine only saw him as a good friend. And if that's what made her happy then Ezra was more than happy to stay her friend. He'd rather have that then risk losing that friendship he treasured so much by revealing he's still in love with her. But still…those three words burned on his tongue, begging to be spoken. So he couldn't help but let them out.

"I love you." Ezra whispers in a tone that was barely audible so she wouldn't hear it.

But the Force works in mysterious ways. And even though she couldn't hear it and she wasn't Force sensitive, somehow in this moment she could feel it. And she didn't believe it was real. It felt like a dream. But even if it was only a dream she dared herself to dream that there was some part of Ezra that still loved her after all of these years.

So she replies to the soft voice in her head, in the same inaudible voice "I love you too."