"How much farther until we get there?" Ahsoka shouts to Thrawn over the huge gusts of the blizzard that is currently raging on the Chiss homeworld.
"Not much farther!" Thrawn shouts back! "The entrance to the Mitth family homestead is just up ahead."
"I see some boulders sticking up out of the snow!" Sabine shouts using her scope on her helmet before taking it off. "I'm guessing there's some sort of cave up ahead?" Sabine shouts to Thrawn.
"You're correct Wren!" Thrawn shouts back. "Aside from the main entrance, there's a secret one that you can get to through a cave in that boulder formation."
"Yeah and tell me again why we're using the secret entrance instead of the main one?" Ezra asks suspiciously.
"Because the Patriarch, the person in charge of my family, hates me. I don't know if he's still the Patriarch though. Something could have happened to him in the past decade but just in case he's still alive and still despises me, it's safer to go this way. At least for now." Thrawn explains and continues.
Ezra had a bad feeling about this. Even though he had spent the last decade at this man's side, and seen the good in him, he had also seen more of the cunning and manipulation he was capable of. So he wasn't going to take any chances. Especially not when he was finally reunited with the person he cared about most in the galaxy.
Sabine gasps softly as Ezra gently grabs her hand.
"Sabine, please stay close to me." Ezra whispers.
"You don't have to tell me twice." She replies eagerly and without even thinking, she hugs him tightly, her body desperate for some form of warmth.
"Sabine…" Ezra starts then smiles from her hug, amused that she misunderstood him. "I meant that in a different way." Ezra admits. "I'm worried about what will happen when we get there. And I don't want to get separated from you again." Ezra explains.
"Neither do I!" Sabine immediately agrees, causing both of them to be flustered. "But why are you worried? You spent a decade with Thrawn, you trust him don't you?"
Ezra looks away from her with a serious look on his face.
"If you can't trust him, then does that mean he is planning to hurt us once we set foot in his family's home?" Sabine asks. "Ezra… I just spent the past decade looking for you! If I lose you now…" Sabine's voice trails off as she gets choked up as fear and worry over losing him a second time, possibly forever cloud her mind and her heart.
Sabine's worry begins to grow strong enough for Ezra to pick up on it and so he immediately turns back to her and cups her cheek in his hand, smiling from the bliss that suddenly replaced her negative emotions that his touch provided.
"I can't make any promises." Ezra tells her. "But you've spent the past decade being worried about me. That's enough for one lifetime. Let me be the one to worry about what Thrawn has waiting for us for now. I don't want to be your burden any more."
Hearing him say those things while holding her so tenderly made Sabine completely forget how cold it was around them. All she could feel was warmth from his comforting words and actions.
"Well I can't make any promises either. Knowing you, you're always going to give me a lot to worry about." Sabine says.
"Oh?" Ezra asks, arching an eyebrow. "Like what?"
"Like how you're going to get all of that snow out of your beard." Sabine teases and playfully brushes a few flakes that had blown on from the storm.
Ezra laughs and smiles at the ground before looking back up at her.
"Well I wonder how you're going to get the snow out of that always brightly colored hair of yours. Maybe you should just dye it white again?" Ezra suggests and Sabine laughs.
They both smile and stare into each other's bright eyes. It had been so long since they'd been able to have conversations like this. So despite the fact that they were standing outside in below freezing temperatures, neither one of them could feel anything but pure happiness.
Except they had stopped moving and their companions feared that they might be left behind.
"Hey! Are you two making out back there or something, hurry up! Unless you want to freeze to death out here!" Ahsoka shouts, immediately pulling them out of the moment to catch up with her and Thrawn.
"Yeah, it's been forever since I've felt this cold. But thankfully Ahsoka and I are able to use the Force to tolerate it a bit more." Ezra says.
"Lucky you." Sabine says, before her teeth start chattering and Ezra hugs her close again and Sabine let's out a sigh of relief from feeling his body warmth again.
"I'm literally shivering from the cold." Sabine says. "I can barely even speak because my teeth are chattering!"
"Well then don't worry." Ezra says in a low voice.
His tone makes her gulp as he wraps one arm around her waist, pulling her in closer, causing one of his thighs to press against her thighs as he squeezes her hand that was pressed against his chest before finishing what he was saying to her "I'll keep you warm."
Oh you sexy loth-rat you've really done it now…Sabine thinks to herself as she feels her pussy clench and her panties flood with warmth and wetness.
Now she was trembling, but not from the cold. Just hearing him say that made a heat pool in her lower belly and she discreetly rubs her thighs together to relieve her now damp pussy that was throbbing with want.
It should be wrong to have these intense feelings for someone who's just a good friend. Sabine thinks to herself before looking into his smoldering sapphire eyes. But if it was wrong, then why does it make her feel so good in all of the right places!
It took all of her willpower not to just start grinding on his thigh right then and there.
"Hey, you seem warmer already. I guess something I'm doing is working." Ezra says in an innocently positive tone.
Oh Ezra you sweet, stupid, sexy blueberry you have no idea.
"You know, for someone who was complaining about the cold earlier, you seem to be taking your sweet time in following me now." Thrawn notes about Sabine.
"Well can you blame her?" Ezra fires back. "We're just supposed to blindly trust that the man who's attempted to kill us both is leading us to a safe haven and not our doom. You can't be surprised that we'd be hesitant."
"I never advertised my family homestead as a safe haven." Thrawn reminds him. "As I said before, the Patriarch, Thurfian, isn't very fond of me. And he's even less fond of outsiders. Odds are we will not be greeted warmly but we will at least be somewhere warm!" Thrawn says, gesturing to the frozen landscape around them.
"So you are leading us into a trap!" Ezra accuses and lets go of Sabine to approach Thrawn.
"I am not!" Thrawn argues.
"Really? Because everything you've said makes it sound like coming here was a bad idea for me and my friends and you know it!" Ezra shouts. "We should've just gone straight back to Lothal."
"We didn't have enough supplies to get back to Lothal, much less your galaxy alive!" Thrawn reminds him. "Yes, coming here is a risk but at least in this scenario our odds of survival are much higher so I felt it was worth it!"
"Worth it for you but what about us?" Ezra growls.
"Well I figured that if you had the choice between being imprisoned for an unspecified amount of time and dying I thought you'd choose the former!" Thrawn exclaims.
"And why are you putting us into a situation where those are our only options?" Ezra argues.
"They aren't! The third option is that you're welcomed as guests!" Thrawn reminds him. "I just don't know which one will occur because it's been a decade and if your appearance is any indication, a lot can change in that amount of time!"
"We could have easily found another inhabited planet with supplies I'm sure." Ezra argues. "Coming here wasn't our only option and you know it."
"Actually it was our best option, Bridger!" Thrawn shouts back at him. "As Wren and Tano could tell you, there aren't too many inhabited planets in this region, even less with inhabitants that are friendly towards outsiders!"
Ahsoka and Sabine look at each other then meet Ezra's gaze and nod, confirming what Thrawn was saying.
"But thankfully, you have me with you, so I can vouch for you all before my family so that they help you instead of killing you!" Thrawn continues.
"But you just said there's a chance they'll kill us all anyway!" Ezra argues.
"Well perhaps if you just trusted me-" Thrawn starts before Ezra interrupts him.
"Given your track record with trying to kill me you shouldn't be surprised why I don't trust you!" Ezra shouts.
Between the cold and their arguing, Sabine couldn't take it anymore.
"Well at this point I don't care what happens when we get there! I just want to be warm!" Sabine exclaims before falling to her knees in the snow.
"Sabine!" Ahsoka exclaims and rushes to her side.
Ezra stares at the scene before him. His chest was tightening and even though he wanted to run to her side like Ahsoka did, he felt like he couldn't move.
"Sabine, you're practically frozen!" Ahsoka exclaims as she hugs the Mandalorian girl close to her.
Ezra was too, but not from the cold. Fear was gripping his heart because now he knew that he had no choice but to gamble with Thrawn's plan if he wanted to get back to Lothal alive with Sabine and Ahsoka.
"Well I think now the choice is obvious Bridger." Thrawn says with a smug grin. He knew he'd won. "The Mitth homestead is the only shelter close enough to provide Miss Wren with the warmth and care she so desperately needs right now. So either trust me, or she dies."
Ezra looks at Ahsoka holding Sabine, using the Force to see what's wrong before giving Ezra a worried look. Ezra sets his jaw and turns back to Thrawn with an angry frown.
"I swear if you pull anything when we get down there. You will regret it." Ezra threatens before making his way over to Sabine and Ahsoka.
"I'm not sure if she can walk fast enough in this condition to get there before hypothermia sets in." Ahsoka tells him.
"I'll carry her then." Ezra says, scooping her up in his arms bridal style without a second thought. Wrapping her cloak around her like a blanket to help keep her warmer.
Was she not freezing to death, Sabine would have been extremely flustered by this. But right now she didn't care. She happily welcomed the warmth she felt coursing through her body from being held in his arms, close to his body.
"We should put her helmet back on too, it'll help protect her head from the cold." Ahsoka says and picks it up from the snow where she dropped it when she collapsed. "Why the hell she'd want to take it off in this weather in the first place is beyond me."
"It's been so long since I've seen Ezra with my own eyes." Sabine mumbles. "It was something I took for granted before, so now I don't want to let those moments pass me by."
Ezra feels warmth spreading from his chest to his heart and he places his forehead against hers. A keldabe kiss. A gesture that he knew was important to her people.
"You'll get plenty of others, I promise. Let me be the one who worries, at least for now. Just stay warm and stay alive for me Sabine." Ezra tells her and Sabine concedes and nods her head as Ahsoka slips her helmet back over her head and they make haste to the cave that leads to the homestead below ground.
"So this is a Chiss homestead?" Ezra asks as they stood on a cliff-edge overlooking the underground cavern that the homestead resided in.
"Well others have the luxury of being above ground on different planets. But my ancestors chose to have their homestead on our species home planet." Thrawn explains. "You seem surprised Bridger."
"I just wasn't expecting something so…green." Ezra says looking over the orchard and other flora and fauna in the cavern.
Ahsoka takes off Sabine's helmet so she can see the environment in its full glory. And her eyes light up in amazement at the beautiful and intricate landscape of this underground cavern.
"Well how else would the family get food if they didn't grow it themselves?" Thrawn asks him.
"Fair point. I guess I've got a lot to learn." Ezra says.
"Understatement of the century." Thrawn says and walks past the Jedi to walk down the path.
Ezra frowns and glares at the Chiss and is about to approach him before Sabine stops him.
"Ezra, I know he's a huge jerk but if you fight with him in his family home, odds are, his family won't take too kindly to that." Sabine reminds him.
Ezra takes a deep breath before smiling at Sabine, glad that she was able to speak more clearly, meaning she was warming up because her lips weren't numb.
"And as always, you're my voice of reason." Ezra says to Sabine, causing her eyelashes to flutter and her cheeks to color.
"But given that he mentioned the Patriarch isn't too fond of him, perhaps he'd like it if I rough Thrawn up a bit." Ezra taunts.
"He may not be fond of me but I am a member of his family so if you attack me he will treat it as an act of war." Thrawn explains.
"K. Never mind then." Ezra says and the group continues on.
Once they reach the main house, Thrawn seems confused.
"What's wrong?" Ahsoka asks.
"There's an old woman sitting out here on the patio. I don't recognize her." Thrawn says.
"How can you not recognize her? If she's here then isn't she a member of your family?" Sabine asks.
"Yes. Unless she's a guest but we don't have many of those." Thrawn says, still trying to deduce who the old woman in a rocking chair sipping a drink was.
Curiously, Thrawn goes up to investigate. And Ezra, who had been on high alert this whole time, readjusts his grip on Sabine, holding her tighter and making the girl flustered. She was thankful no one was around to see. Except for two children watching from the window that the party was unaware of.
"Uh hello! You there!" Thrawn calls to the elderly Chiss woman.
When she turns to face him he continues.
"I'm Mitth'raw'nuruodo. What is your name?"
"Mitth'elm'aklaio." The woman replies and stands up with her cane. "It's nice to meet you Thrawn. I was wondering when you'd show up!"
"Yes well I apologize for the delay but who exactly are you to my family?" Thrawn asks.
"I'm Thelma." She explains.
"Yes, thank you for telling me your core name, but who exactly are you?" Thrawn asks, thoroughly confused. "Are you someone's wife, mother-"
"I'm someone who doesn't need to answer you! Who exactly are you to show up after all of these years of exile and start questioning an old woman?" Thelma snaps back.
"Well considering it's been so long since I've been home and I have never met you before, you can surely understand why I have a lot of questions?" Thrawn argues.
"And you can surely understand that you're in no position to make me answer them. You're not the fucking Patriarch, I don't have to tell you shit." Thelma replies before sipping her tea.
Thrawn glares at his three companions snickering behind him and they cease immediately.
"Fair point I suppose…" Thrawn mutters. "Well then speaking of Patriarch's, where is the current one? I believe it would be Thrufian, correct?"
"Yes and thankfully for you, he's not here!" Thelma informs him.
"Not here?" Thrawn asks, confused. "He's the Patriarch, why wouldn't he be here?"
"One of our resident Sky-walkers had a dream you'd be coming with company and thankfully she was smart enough to tell me and Thalias first instead of Thurfian so I just happened to present him with a reason to leave and sent him out on a long errand with Thalias to keep him busy while you take care of your business here." Thelma says.
"Sky-walkers?! Do we have Sky-walkers living amongst us now? How did they get here? Did you kidnap them from the Ascendancy you old hag!" Thrawn accuses.
"Have some respect for your elders, boy! I didn't kidnap them, someone rescued them from a destroyed ship and brought them here." The old Chiss woman says, pointing her cane at him.
"And it seems like one of your friends nearly froze to death above ground, and is in desperate need of a warm blanket and some hot tea to warm her body." Thelma gestures to Sabine and Thrawn rolls his eyes.
"She's not my friend." He tells her.
"Well she's someone that needs help so I'm going to help her." Thelma says and points her cane at Ezra.
"Hey! Scruffy pretty boy set the girl down in this chair." Thelma says and despite feeling awkward about what the old woman called him, Ezra does as instructed and gently sets Sabine down in the rocking chair.
"Now you should change into something warm." Thelma instructs. "So I'll go find some warm clothes and you need to get that wet cloak off of you and that cold armor too-"
"No!" Sabine weakly protests and Thelma seems confused.
"Her armor is very important to her culture." Ezra explains to the Chiss. "It's like a second skin to her. And taking it off in a foreign place, around people she's unsure if she can trust would make her very uncomfortable."
Thelma smiles and nods.
"I understand." She says then notices Sabine takes Ezra's hand and he squeezes it. "I understand perfectly." She adds with a knowing grin.
She picks up a warm blanket and drapes it over Sabine, wrapping it around her shoulders and letting Ezra help adjust it so it was covering her better.
"Take this too dear, if your hands are steady enough to hold it." Thelma says and hands Sabine the warm cup of tea that she had made for herself, but was now generously offering to someone who needed it more.
"Thank you. You're very kind." Sabine says, taking the cup from her and letting the warm liquid slip past her lips and into her body.
"Perhaps but she's also very strange." Thrawn notes as he comes up the steps onto the patio, still trying to figure out how he never knew about this old woman in his family.
"And you're a bit of a prick aren't you!" Thelma retorts, making Ahsoka snort with laughter and the other two smile.
"I don't even know who you are!" Thrawn exclaims.
"But you do know who I am." A different voice, belonging to someone who just came out onto the patio speaks.
Thrawn looks up to see the owner of the voice of the other person who just came out to speak. And he never would've guessed who was standing before him now. But his heart had never felt so full.
"It's been a long time Thrawn."
"Lieutenant Vanto!" Thrawn exclaims.
And that was the last thing he remembered before everything went black and Ezra caught his body before it hit the concrete patio.
When Thrawn came to, the first face he saw was Eli's.
"Oh thank goodness! You're finally awake! And just in time for your welcome home party!" Eli says.
Thrawn turns his head and notices party decorations hanging from the pergola on the patio and various food and alcoholic beverages set out.
"I don't believe it…" Thrawn mutters, his heart swelling with happiness. "I'm home. I've really come home."
He looks back at Eli and can't help the grin forming on his face from seeing the man he cared for sitting beside the lounge chair he was laying on.
"Yes!" Eli exclaims, just as happily as Thrawn. "You're home!"
"This is too good to be true! I must be dreaming!" Thrawn insists, starting to feel doubt that the universe would let him be happy after everything it put him through.
"Hey Thrawn you're awake!" Ezra's voice shouts and Thrawn winces and turns in his direction.
He felt his heart sink as he expected to awake once more on his cot in the camp he and Ezra made to see him nagging him to wake up to show him some ridiculous creature he had discovered.
But instead when he turns to see Ezra standing beside him the setting remains the same. That was a compromise Thrawn could accept.
"Awake! Awake!" He hears a child shout and soon a young Chiss girl of about four years old with her long dark hair in two ponytails runs over to Eli and hugs his leg.
"Yes Lu'na! He's awake!" Eli tells the girl.
"Good. I was starting to worry for him." Another child's voice says as he approaches Eli.
This one was a boy of around nine years old and from an important family by the look of his uniform.
"Lieutenant Vanto…" Thrawn asks and Eli feels his face heat up from hearing Thrawn say his name. "Are these children…yours?"
Eli laughs and messes with the little girl's pigtails.
"No but I did find them and bring them here. They're orphans. And Sky-walkers. Lu'na here is too young to work for the Ascendancy yet and Icarus's services aren't needed as of now. So I figured this would be a good place to bring them."
"This boy is a Sky-walker?" Thrawn asks, eyes wide in disbelief. Typically only female Chiss had Force-sensitivity.
"Yeah. He's one of those rare cases where a male was born with the Sight." Eli explains. "I'm glad I was able to rescue him along with this little Sky-walker." Eli says and rubs Lu'na's head.
"Well then that begs the question. W-what are…you doing here?" Thrawn asks, still stunned that Eli was really here on the homestead.
"Well, I came here to look for you actually." Eli explains with a slight coloring in his cheeks. "No one had heard from you in years and I got worried. I figured that if you were going to turn up anywhere after all these years, it would be here. And it looks like I was right!"
"Awww…" Ezra says and Thrawn growls at him.
"Oh shut it you moron!" Thrawn exclaims with a blush on his face.
"Mitth'raw'nuruodo is that any way to talk to the man who helped you survive in wild space for a decade?" Eli asks.
"Wait what did you just call him?" Ezra asks.
"Mitth'raw'nuruodo." Eli repeats. "That's Thrawn's full name."
"Wait…we spent an entire decade stranded together and you never told me your full name!" Ezra exclaims.
"It was for the best not to." Thrawn explains. "It's terribly hard for anyone to pronounce. You would have butchered it and annoyed me with that for the entirety of our time being stranded on that planet."
"Fair point." Ezra agrees.
Then he senses someone watching him and turns to see the two orphans staring at him.
"Is there something I can help you kids with?" Ezra asks.
"Sky-walker!" The girl exclaims and hugs his leg.
"Sky-walker?" Ezra asks, wondering why a child he had never met was hugging his leg.
Then he remembered what Thrawn had told him about Force sensitive Chiss.
"Oh! Right, that's what you guys call Force-sensitives." Ezra says.
"Sky-walker!" Lu'na exclaims again and hugs Ezra's leg tighter.
Ezra grimaces from the contact and tries to free his leg from the child's grasp but she was holding him too tightly. He and Thrawn didn't cuddle at all for obvious reasons. So it had been awhile since he had any sort of comforting physical contact with another person. Except for Sabine.
The second he saw her, all he wanted to do was hold her and never let go. And ever since they reunited he's savored every opportunity he got to have her in his arms.
"Lu'na is saying that she can sense you have the Sight like us." The boy explains. "Do you?"
"Yeah! I do!" Ezra tells him. "Sort of. I don't use the Force in the same way that Chiss do. I'm a Jedi."
"I am familiar with the Jedi. Ivant has told me about them." Icarus says.
"Ivant?" Ezra asks.
"It's what the Chiss call me. They gave my full name 'Eli Vanto' a Chiss spelling so 'Ivant' is my core name." Eli explains.
"Ah." Ezra replies. "Another new name I'll need to remember…"
"But we lose our abilities as we grow up. How can someone so old still have their Sight? " Icarus asks.
"Hey!" Ezra replies, mildly offended at the remark about his age but still smiling nonetheless because he found it amusing. "I'm not that old."
Lu'na giggles and buries her face in his pant leg and Ezra can't help but smile at her. Maybe it was their shared connection to the Force that was making these kids grow on him.
"Where I'm from people don't lose their connection to the Force. I think that's something specific to you guys for some reason." Ezra says and looks back at the girl sitting on his leg and shakes it, making her giggle.
"Fascinating." The boy says.
"I'm Ezra Bridger." Ezra introduces.
"Obbic'aru'sabosen." Icarus introduces and can practically hear the crickets in Ezra's head as he tries to piece together how to pronounce it, even though he just heard him say it. "Just call me Icarus. And this is Lu'na."
"Cool names! This is Jabba by the way!" Ezra says, gesturing to the Loth-cat that just stepped out from behind him.
The two children scream in fear and Jabba jumps, his back arches and his fur standing up and he screeches back at them.
Icarus nudges Lu'na behind him as she lets go of Ezra and runs to him for safety.
"Don't get too close Lu'na! That thing could be one of the most deadly creatures on its planet! It could kill us both at any moment!" Icarus exclaims.
Jabba's ear twitches and then he gets bored and decides to lick his leg.
Ezra laughs at the kids' reactions.
"Oh yeah he's horrifying isn't he." He says to them sarcastically.
Icarus frowns at him and Ezra gently pets the cat.
"He's a Loth-cat. From Lothal, the planet I'm from. You two can pet him if you want. He's really fluffy." Ezra adds specifically to entice Lu'na who now seemed very curious about this animal.
She cautiously approaches and holds her hand out to pet his head. Once she makes contact with him and realizes she's not dead, her face lights up and she continues to pet him. "Fluffy! Fluffy!"
"Hey look at that Lu'na learned a new word in basic!" Eli notices. "Thanks for teaching her Ezra."
"No problem Eli. I'm happy I could help!" Ezra says and lets Jabba climb from his hand onto the ground to nuzzle against Lu'na who squeals in delight from the attention she was receiving from the creature.
"Teaching…" Icarus mutters to himself as he looks at Ezra. "Perhaps this elder Sky-walker could teach Lu'na and I more than just basic."
Then the Force calls Ezra's attention to something. Sabine. Ezra immediately turns his head to her direction when he sees her rejoin everyone on the patio and goes to check on her. Icarus watches them with interest.
"Hey." He calls to her, and she jumps from the sound of his voice. "Sorry, did I startle you?" He apologizes.
"Just a little." Sabine says with a shy smile as she wrings her hands together.
Ezra could feel a lot of emotions coming off of her, mainly embarrassment. And he thought he knew why.
"Hey." He says again, softer this time.
And he gently takes her hand in his, while flashing a smile that conveys how much he cares about her.
Doing that only made her more flustered.
"Don't feel embarrassed about almost getting hypothermia. It's inhabitable out there because of how cold it is. No one here thinks you're weak for nearly freezing out there. And on the off chance that anyone does, I'll be sure to tell them what an incredible warrior you are." Ezra says and Sabine smiles at the ground.
"Thanks Ezra." She replies shyly.
He sensed that she still felt uncomfortable, so he steps closer to her, trying to get a better read on her. He began to worry that she still wasn't feeling good.
"Sabine, you seem tense, are you sure you're feeling okay?" Ezra asks as he gently tilts her chin up with his fingers so he can see her face.
She gasps from the contact and pulls away from him. Her cheeks were flaming with embarrassment and Ezra grimaced with regret.
"I'm fine." She tells him tersely with a tight-lipped grin. "I'm going to go get something to drink." She says and walks away.
"Hm…" Icarus says after watching the two adults interact with each other.
"Humans are pretty interesting, huh?" Eli asks Icarus.
"It's not their species that interests me. It's their relationship to each other. Ivant, do you think I am correct in assuming that they're a couple?" Icarus asks.
"Well, I only just met them today so I can't say for sure." Eli says. "But given how Ezra's been caring for her this whole time since she nearly froze to death above ground, and has been practically fussing over her even though she's clearly fine now I'd say there's definitely a good chance that they might be lovers."
Thrawn chuckles softly and rolls his eyes.
Literally everyone could see how obviously in love with each other they were after barely knowing them. The only people who couldn't see it were the lovers themselves.
How utterly ridiculous. Thrawn thinks to himself while avoiding eye contact with Eli.
Thelma watches from a fair distance away and chuckles to herself.
Sabine was about to pour herself a glass of wine at the bar when Ahsoka stopped her.
"Oh you're back from bringing the starbird to dock in the homestead's hanger?" Sabine notices.
"Yep. I've been back for a while now. It took me a lot less longer than I thought to find the ship and calm down Jabba so he'll be comfortable here. Ezra was the one who handled that part though. You know how he is with animals." Ahsoka reminds her.
Sabine chuckles as she remembers all of the lothcats that used to follow him around Lothal.
"How could I ever forget?" She says with a grin and goes to pour herself a drink.
"So did you find anything interesting in the refresher?" Ahsoka teases and Sabine nearly drops the wine bottle she was holding.
The Mandalorian's face heats up as she remembers what she discovered during her bathroom break once she was feeling better and while the others were treating Thrawn.
Sabine quickly covered her mouth to muffle the scream that threatened to escape when she saw how big the wet spot on her panties was. All Ezra did was utter a sentence. Albeit a very sexy sentence: "I'll keep you warm." But nonetheless it was only a sentence, and that was enough to make her flood her panties! Ezra Bridger had made her pussy completely drenched with just one. Kriffing. Sentence! What was the world coming to?
"You already know don't you?" Sabine asks with a frown.
"It was hard not to. You were practically screaming your thoughts. Any Force-sensitive nearby could have picked up on it." Ahsoka says and takes a sip of her wine while Sabine gasps in fear.
"Does that mean that Ezra-"
"Relax, he's still as dull as a doornail. He didn't pick up on anything. Besides, he's just been worried about your health this whole time since you nearly froze to death out there." Ahsoka explains and Sabine let's out a sigh of relief.
She also couldn't help but think of how sweet it was that he took care of her like that. It made her feel all warm and fuzzy inside. Like how she used to feel as a little girl when her father would take her out to show her famous paintings. Thinking about Ezra, made her feel that child-like feeling of pure joy again that she thought she lost somewhere along the way.
And speaking of children, she hears the voices of two children nearby and notices the two Force-sensitive orphans that were with Eli talking to each other while looking at her and Ahsoka. She couldn't really make out what they were saying. Until...
"You can't just ask people why they're not blue!" The boy scolds her.
Sabine chuckles and makes her way over to the children. The little girl hides behind the older boy. The boy immediately stands up straighter upon seeing Sabine approach. She arches an eyebrow at the fact that someone so young was behaving so formally towards her. He was like a mini Thrawn. That comparison makes her smile.
"And who might you two be?" Sabine asks the children.
"My name is Obbic'aru'sabosen." The boy says and Sabine just blinks. "You can call me Icarus."
Sabine lets out a sigh of relief and Icarus grins softly from the look of relief on the Mandalorian's face that she wouldn't be expected to pronounce his full name.
"And this is Lu'na." Icarus says, gesturing to the small girl who was hiding beside him. "She doesn't speak basic very well yet but she can understand it."
"Oh okay. Well hello Lu'na, it's nice to meet you." Sabine says warmly, giving the girl a kind smile in hopes of getting her to warm up to her.
The girl smiles a bit before whispering something into Icarus's ear.
"She says that she thinks your armor is pretty." Icarus translates.
"Awww that's so sweet." Sabine says, feeling heart-warmed by her compliment.
Lu'na whispers something into Icarus's ear again.
"She says she thinks your hair is pretty too." Icarus translates and Sabine feels her heart swell even more.
"Oh, thank you so much." Sabine says and feels her heart swell even more. "I think your hair is very pretty too."
Lu'na smiles before hiding her face in the sleeve of her brother's jacket.
"So do your parents live here?" Sabine asks.
Icarus and Lu'na exchange sad looks an Sabine's heart instantly drops.
"We don't have parents. Not anymore." Icarus explains. "Lu'na was brought to the Ascendancy by her parents as an infant to be raised as a Sky-Walker, like most Force-sensitive Chiss are. And mine were a part of the Ascendancy as well but unconventionally chose to acknowledge me, a Sky-Walker as their child. Until they died when our ship was attacked by an enemy and crashed. If it weren't for Ivant and his ship coming to rescue any survivors, Lu'na and I would have died."
Sabine wipes away the tears that were forming at the corners of her eyes.
"I'm so sorry you two had to go through that at such a young age." Sabine apologizes.
"It's alright. It may have been tough for us then but now we're in a comfortable home. Thelma and Thalias have been taking good care of us. I don't know if I'd ask for anything more." Icarus says honestly.
"Mama! Papa!" Lu'na chants and Icarus sighs.
"Except Lu'na who wants parents." Icarus explains.
"Oh! Well that's quite a wish!" Sabine says and laughs. "I'm sure you'll find someone to grant it though." She says with a wink to Lu'na.
And with that, Sabine moves away from the adorable kids and goes over to grab a drink with Ahsoka.
"Those kids are pretty cute." Ahsoka says.
"Yeah I guess they are." Sabine replies and smiles
"So do you want me to find you some adoption papers now or…" Ahsoka teases and Sabine laughs.
"No, no I don't think so." Sabine says.
"Why not? After the Purge, your clan could use some foundlings to strengthen their numbers." Ahsoka reminds her.
Sabine grimaces for a moment and Ahsoka fears she may have crossed a line, bringing up the tragedy that happened to her people. But then she smiles at the togruta and continues.
"I used to not want to be a mother. But now, maybe it's my age or other factors but I do like the idea of bringing life into this world and or raising some warriors. But I don't really think I'm cut out to be a mother. At least not yet." Sabine explains.
Sabine thinks about how she felt when Icarus told her about Lu'na's request for parents. She couldn't deny that she felt a tug in her heart. A feeling bubbling up inside of her when she looked at this little girl who was without a mother and wanted one. Almost like her mind was shouting: "I volunteer!"
But she barely knew this kid and besides, she wanted two parents and Sabine didn't have anyone, nor could she think of anyone to take that extremely important role of being a parent with her…
Sabine notices Lu'na run past her out of the corner of her eye. She turns to see the child jumping up and down in front of Ezra and holding her arms up, the universal child signal for "uppy". So with a smile on his face, Ezra sets down his drink and picks her up instead, causing her to squeal in delight as Ezra quickly lifts her up into the air before holding her in his arms against his side.
"Awww…" Sabine coos from the adorable display before her.
She thought she'd be able to look away after that but she couldn't. Seeing Ezra holding a toddler in his arms and making funny faces at her to make her laugh, it showed her how good he was with kids. She never expected that from him. And when he looks at Lu'na with such an adoring look in his eyes, like how a father would look at their child, Sabine felt a feeling of warmth spread from her chest throughout her whole body. And then her heart began to pound when she realized what that meant.
Oh no...seeing him holding a child...is making me want to have his! Sabine mentally screams.
Thankfully someone clears their throat beside Sabine, distracting her from her troubling thoughts. She turns to see who it is but doesn't see anyone there. Then the noise is made again, a bit more pronounced this time, and she looks down to see Icarus looking up at her.
"Oh! Sorry I didn't see you there. Do you need something Icarus?" She asks.
"Yes. Miss Wren, Ivant has told me many tales of the Sky-Walkers from your part of the galaxy. The Jedi, from what I've been told, were great warriors. And the Ascendancy could use warriors like that in their ranks. So I was wondering if you could put in a good word for me with Master Bridger, and see if he would take me on as his pupil, so I could learn to use the Force like he does and better serve the Ascendancy as a Jedi Knight." Icarus requests.
Sabine was stunned. That was a lot. And very direct too considering they had both only just met the boy today.
"Uh…Well…" Sabine stammers and looks at his lightsaber, still hanging from her hip instead of his. "I'm not really sure he'd be interested in taking on a padawan or a student of any kind right now. He's been through so much in these past ten years. He needs to re-adjust to being with other people besides Thrawn in civilization and things like that. But maybe if you talk to him yourself he'll agree to teach you a few basic things at least. Why do you need me to ask him for you anyway?" Sabine asks before taking a sip of her wine.
"That's all understandable. And I asked you because I figured that if Bridger might be more willing to train me and Lu'na if his wife were to-"
Sabine spits out her wine and Ahsoka nearly chokes on hers from laughing.
"WIFE?!" Sabine exclaims.
"Yes…I'm sorry, are you not Ezra Bridger's wife?" Icarus asks.
Ezra Bridger's WIFE?! Sabine repeats in her head. Out of a mix of reflexes from rejecting any sort of romantic advances from him for so long, and embarrassment from having someone assume she was married to her crush, she immediately rejects that notion.
"No! We are not married!" Sabine says sternly.
"Oh my apologies, I must have mistook your relationship with him." Icarus apologizes.
"Yes! You did!" Sabine replies.
Ezra's wife… Sabine thinks to herself and feels her cheeks heat up. This kid really thinks I'm married to Ezra…married to Ezra… She looks over at Ezra, who had set down Lu'na and was now leaning against a table holding a wine glass before drinking from it and looking sexy as hell in those tight orange pants and white button up shirt.
She looks him up and down and growls softly when she likes what she sees.
Maybe I wouldn't mind having him as a husband-WHAT THE FUCK! What are you thinking Sabine it's Ezra! The annoying fourteen year old who kept hitting on you for months when he joined the crew! Remember that Ezra, not the sexy hunk of a man in front of you that made you wet with just a sentence! Sabine reminds herself.
"So you're his girlfriend then?" Icarus asks and Sabine feels her cheeks heat up and she kneels down to the boy's level to address him.
"No! Icarus I don't know why you would think that Ezra and I are lovers." Just saying that out loud made her heart leap to her throat but she quickly pushed it aside. "We're just good friends." Sabine explains to the boy.
"My apologies Miss Wren I didn't mean to offend you. I just assumed from my observations of the way you look at each other, how closely you stand together, how he cared for you when you were ill and still continues to check on you even though you're well, and your tone of voice when talking to each other that you two were romantically involved. Or at the very least sexual-" Sabine slaps her hand over the Chiss boy's mouth to stop him from finishing his sentence.
Ahsoka nearly snorted her glass of wine out of her nose before laughing at her very embarrassed companion.
"No! We are neither of those things!" Sabine assures the boy with a fake smile. "Also how old are you supposed to be? Because you seem to know a lot for someone so young."
"I'm 9 years old. The Chiss take education very seriously. Especially if you come from an important political family like I did." Icarus explains.
"Huh. Okay well I can ask Ezra to see if he could teach you a few things-"
"Me too!" Lu'na exclaims and pokes her head out from behind Icarus.
"And you too, Lu'na." Sabine says with a smile at the girl before standing up.
Lu'na smiles and then suddenly rushes forward and wraps her arms around Sabine's leg.
Sabine felt a warm feeling of love spread through her chest at the sight of the girl hugging her. And little did she know that Ezra was feeling that too as he watched the small girl hug Sabine.
Sabine had never talked about wanting children, nor had she ever interacted with them really during their time in the Rebellion. But given how important family is to Mandalorians, he assumed that she'd want kids someday.
And he did too. If he was ever lucky enough to have a child then he'd want to be the best father he could be for them, just like the two fathers he was lucky enough to have.
And when he was an immature teenager on the Ghost, he always imagined Sabine would be the mother of those children. Obviously those thoughts faded away along with his childish crush but seeing her talk to these kids now, was making those old thoughts start to resurface.
Out of both tipsiness and curiosity, Ezra approaches her to see how she was interacting with the kids.
But Lu'na makes Sabine stumble and she ends up spilling her wine on his shirt.
Sabine gasps as the drink spills on Ezra's shirt.
"Oh no! I'm so sorry." Sabine says.
"It's okay it was an accident." Ezra reminds her and looks at the red stain on his shirt.
"I know but I got it all over your white shirt and now it's going to leave a horrible stain!" Sabine exclaims.
"Oh well, I guess I need a new shirt!" A tipsy Ezra says and starts to unbutton his shirt.
Feeling tipsy herself, Sabine watches as his hot upper body is revealed to her with each button he undoes. But as soon as he's about half-way down Sabine realizes that they're not alone and that there's people around so she screams and pulls his shirt closed to cover his chest.
"Ezra, keep your clothes on in front of the children!" Sabine exclaims, gesturing to Lu'na and Icarus who seemed completely unbothered by what they almost witnessed.
"So I'm just gonna wear a stained shirt then?" Ezra asks. "Fine by me! I've been wearing beat up clothes for the past ten years I don't mind."
"No, you deserve to wear something nice! I just need something to get the stain out, that's all." Sabine explains.
"Don't worry dear I've got you covered." Thelma says and hands Sabine a handkerchief with some sort of chemical on it.
"Thank you." Sabine says to the old woman and immediately starts dabbing at the stain on Ezra's shirt.
"You'll have to dig in a little harder than that dear." Thelma says, smirking when she sees how that makes their faces heat up.
Sabine applies a little more pressure and Ezra grunts, making Sabine gasp and her crotch feel warm.
Sabine, calm yourself! She mentally scolds herself after pressing her thighs together. All he did was grunt! That should not be enough to make you want to fuck him!
But the liquid was also cold which made Ezra squirm under it's touch so she had to press even harder and chase the stain a bit with her hand.
"Keep still Ez!" Sabine scolds him.
"I can't help it! It's cold it feels- Wait what did you just call me?" Ezra asks, realizing she just called him something other than his name.
"Huh?" Sabine asks, not even realizing what she did.
Ezra couldn't help but chuckle from how adorable she looked when she was confused.
"Sabine, you just called me 'Ez'." Ezra explains to her.
Sabine becomes flustered when she realizes her error.
"You've never called me that before." Ezra points out.
"Yeah. Maybe because of all the name talk today I just…thought of a new one for you." Sabine says playfully.
"And the best you could come up with is 'Ez'?" Ezra asks and Sabine feels embarrassed.
"Yes. I'm tipsy, I'm sorry if it's weird!" Sabine apologies and avoids his gaze as she continues to dab the stain remover on his shirt.
"No it's not weird. I like it." He says with a handsome grin that makes Sabine's heart pound.
"Then I'll call you that more often." Sabine says and continues to dab at his shirt but he still squirms. "Why can't you stay still?"
"Because it's cold 'bine!" Ezra exclaims.
Sabine blinks a few times before looking into the sapphire eyes of the man before her and gasping softly as he gently places his hands on her hips and squeezing gently, as if he was claiming her as the owner of the name he just called her.
"If I can call you that?" Ezra adds softly.
To Ezra's relief, a beautiful smile forms on her face.
"'Bine. Yeah…I like that." Sabine says and places her hands on his chest while he holds her waist and the two of them just smile at each other.
"You can call me that whenever you like…" Sabine says as she re-buttons his shirt. "Haha, fluffy." Sabine giggles and runs her hand up his exposed hairy chest.
Ezra's cheeks color and he laughs from her touches.
"'Bine careful I'm ticklish!" Ezra reminds her.
"Hehe okay Ez." Sabine giggles.
Icarus stares at them with his jaw hanging in disbelief.
"I think there must have been an error." Icarus says to Eli who was walking by. "These two clearly have sexual attraction towards each other. They're a couple, they have to be."
"Yeah well, love is complicated, Icarus. Just because two people have that attraction towards each other doesn't mean that they realize the other sees them like that." Eli explains.
"Ah, so like you and Thrawn." Icarus says and Eli nearly chokes on his drink.
Thelma laughs from the pillar she was leaning against. Two couples of mutually pining love-specific dumbasses staying at the homestead? This was going to be the most fun she's had in ages. And she already had the perfect "set up" in mind for the pairs tonight after the party.
"Thanks again for letting us stay with you in your lovely home." Sabine thanks Thelma as she leads them to the room.
"Oh please, don't thank me dear. What sort of hostess would I be if I didn't give my guests a place to sleep! By the way, you two will have to share a room because we don't have many extra rooms. But I imagine that won't be a problem for the two of you given your relationship." Thelma says suggestively.
Sabine and Ezra's cheeks color when they realize what she's saying.
"Oh no...we're not...no...we're just friends." Ezra and Sabine both awkwardly try to explain to her together.
Jabba who was walking beside them, glares at the mutually pining idiots before rolling his eyes and scampering ahead of them.
Thelma looks between the two of them and lets out a short chuckle.
"Ah, well, my mistake then." She says. "Sharing a room won't be an issue though will it?"
"Uh no, I'm sure it'll be fine!" Sabine says politely.
"Yeah we're not picky, we can adapt to whatever you give us!" Ezra agrees, wrapping his arm around Sabine's shoulder making them both flustered and he drops it.
"Well alright." Thelma says and stops at the door to the guest room they'd be staying in. "But I have to warn you…"
Sabine and Ezra's eyes go wide when they step inside and see where they'll be sleeping.
The room was well-furnished and seemed expensive. A nice couch in front of a fireplace that Jabba immediately settled in on, an ornate dresser and wardrobe against the wall by the door to the bathroom. And to top it all off, long light blocking curtains hanging from a set of glass doors leading out onto a balcony.
They couldn't have asked for a nicer place to stay! Everything about the room was perfect! Or so they thought until they both looked at the last piece of furniture in the room and felt their chests tighten when they realized…
"There's only one bed." Thelma says with a sly grin when she sees her guest's reactions.
"Of course there is…" Sabine sighs in defeat.