A/N: This scene takes place directly after the episodes 'Empire Day' and 'Gathering Forces'.

Sabezra's First Kiss:

D2/4 BBY, Lothal

Everyone slept the whole trip back to Lothal after the emotional rollercoaster of the last day and a half. Hera picked a random spot on the planet to park, where the sun was just coming up. (Since the whole planet basically looked the same, unless you were parked by a city, you'd never know where you were if it weren't for the navigational systems.) This time, when Sabine asked Ezra if he would go for a run with her, he was more than happy to, which made her breathe in relief. The Empire Day angst is finally over.

As they were running, Ezra kept looking around at the mountains near them, like he was searching for something.

What in the galaxy is he looking for? When a big smile broke out on his face, Sabine guessed he'd found it. He pointed them in the desired direction, and she ran after him, dying of curiosity. Ezra stopped by a cluster of mountains, pulling her to a halt with him.

Ezra turned and looked at Sabine with big eager eyes. "I don't know when your birthday is, but consider this a very late birthday present." I hope you like it as much as I loved the image of my parents.

The girl looked at him suspiciously. What could possibly be out here that he would consider a present? It better not be a kriffing lothcat. "Oookkaayy?"

Ezra just grinned and grabbed her hand, pulling Sabine into the mountain cluster. She stared at their joined hands in confusion, surprised that she didn't feel even remotely offended that he had taken such liberties. It actually felt really nice, to be honest.

When he stopped and let go of her, Sabine looked up and gasped. It's a TIE! It has to be the one Ezra and Zeb absconded with months ago. "Wha...?"

Ezra blushed and kind of stammered. "I thought, since it wasn't going anywhere, that maybe you'd like to paint it?"

Sabine gawked at him for a moment. How does he know me so well? Painting a whole TIE is literally a dream come true.

Staring into his beautiful blue eyes, she melted. Just gave up all her inhibitions and tossed them away. I'm probably never going home again anyway, so who's there to stop me from enjoying this wonderful boy who has appeared in my life like a sunrise after a week of rain?

Certainly not my 'loving' mother.

Making a decision that had been a long time coming, the Mandalorian girl grabbed Ezra's shirt and pulled him closer as his eyes widened in shock. She mentally smirked. He probably thinks I'm going to kill him or something. But that was the last thing on her mind. Even though she had no clue what she was doing, except for watching other people do it, Sabine kissed Ezra like he was the last source of air in the galaxy.

Holy nerfherders! Sabine is kissing me!

That was the last thought in Ezra's brain as it overloaded.

It felt like his heart stopped.

For absolutely sure, he stopped breathing.

The moment he'd been dreaming of for months had finally come true, and he just stood there frozen for at least a minute, like a complete idiot. Sabine pulled back eventually and looked at him with pain filled eyes that nearly broke his stuttering heart when she realized he wasn't kissing her back. Force, I'm such an idiot.

Ezra gasped in a lungful of air, forcefully kick-started his stupid brain, mostly closed down the bond between him and Kanan, and gently peeled her hands off his shirt. He determinedly held onto her hands when she went to pull away. And then he started apologizing and begging as fast as he could make his tongue go before she punched him and walked away forever. "Sabine, I'm sorry. You just really took me by surprise, and my stupid brain turned off, and you stopped my heart, and would you please do it again? Because I love you and you just made my dreams come true."

Sabine's mouth dropped a fraction and she gave up trying to tug her hands away. By the Manda, he's just so cute. How can I say no to that?

I can't. Plain and simple.

She could easily read the anxiety on his face as he waited with baited breath for her to answer, and that just wouldn't do. Sabine put him out of his misery by smiling widely. He responded with a relieved grin of his own and they laughed quickly at the awkward ineptitude of the moment.

This time when she tugged her hands, Ezra let them go. He'd said his piece; it was up to her now to do whatever she was going to with it. He was vastly relieved when she put her hands back on his chest, grabbing his shirt again a little more gently than before, and leaned her face right back in front of his, narrowing her eyes at the dark blue haired boy. "You're lucky you're so cute, Ezra, otherwise I'd have to kill you for being an idiot. You better kiss me back this time."

And oh, did he ever.

The second her lips touched his, Ezra wrapped his arms around her back and pulled her as close as her arms between them would allow. He returned her kiss with a lot more enthusiasm than skill, but he didn't think she minded, judging by the dreamy eyes she looked at him with when they stopped to gasp in air. Her arms crept up around his neck and she stepped the last few centimetres of space closer. Ezra realized rather dazedly in that moment that they were exactly the same height now. Hey, I grew! That is definitely worth celebrating too.

He leaned his head towards her again and she met him halfway.

Sabine had no idea how long they spent just exploring this new and wonderful way of communicating, but by the time she decided to pause for a moment, they'd definitely improved their technique. By a lot. I think I really, really like kissing. Ezra held her in his arms like a safe haven from the rest of the universe, and she could hear his heart pounding in time with her own. Smiling softly, she rested her cheek on his shoulder. "Don't tell anyone, but I love you too, Ezra Bridger," she murmured.

He nearly gasped in shock. I never thought I'd hear her say that. Hoped and prayed, yes. But actually hear it? No. His arms tightened around her and he kissed her hair in gratitude. "You have no idea how happy that makes me, Sabine. No idea."

She smiled against his shirt that smelled like fresh air and clean sweat, which she quite liked, and tightened her arms around his neck in return, fingers playing with the ends of his soft, shaggy hair. "Oh, I think I have a little bit of an idea," she said laughingly. She slid her hips slightly against his to point out the fact that she could feel just how 'happy' he was.

Not that it bothered or disgusted her. Quite the opposite in fact. Sabine was actually pleased that he was feeling just as turned on as she was. It would have been disappointing otherwise.

Not that she was going to do anything about it.

Yet.

A few more months, maybe.

Ezra momentarily thought about being embarrassed about his excited state, but then he realized that Sabine wasn't, so he just went with it, hugging her even closer with a chuckle at her words.

As Ezra basked in their new relationship, he realized that he could feel her happiness, more clearly than he ever had. It wasn't unusual for him to pick up on her emotions, when she felt something strongly enough, but this was different. It's like... my bond with Kanan!

Closing his eyes, Ezra concentrated on the Force and saw the new bond between them. It was beautiful, like a little piece of lightning stretched between their souls. I wish she could see it too; it's amazing.

He didn't know whether to tell her about the bond or not, afraid it would scare her. After a few moments of contemplation, he decided to leave that for another day. There were other things he'd rather be doing than explaining the whys and wherefores of Force bonds.

He reached up and touched her hair; something he'd wanted to do for ages, to see how soft it was. Ezra wasn't disappointed. It felt like silk between his fingers. He sighed in contentment and played with her perfect orange and blue hair. In his opinion, she couldn't have picked better colours if she'd tried.

Sabine echoed his sigh, liking the feeling of his fingers threading through her hair over and over. "You know, I never thought I would ever actually do this. Technically, we're still enemies."

Ezra leaned back a little so he could see her face and grinned at her. "Never say never, Sabine. I've been waiting for this to happen since the day I met you. I was going to wait for as long as it took for you to realize that you and I aren't enemies and that we'll never be, no matter what your people say. I'd even go so far as to say we're the opposite of enemies now," he teased with a smirk.

She rolled her eyes at him, punched him in the arm, and then kissed him again.

Yep. That's my fiery Mando in a nutshell. And I think she's perfect.

He kissed her back, pouring every ounce of his feelings into the kisses.

This time, by the time they stopped, she had both her hands buried in his hair and he had her pinned against the wall of one of the mountains with his hands on either side of her head. Ezra wasn't even sure how they had ended up there, but he certainly thought it felt great to be pressed up so close to her. This is definitely a day I am never going to forget.

They stared at each other, breathing like they'd run a marathon, love and desire shining in their eyes. She'd never looked more beautiful to him, with her cheeks flushed and her lips swollen from his kisses. I want to kiss her forever so she looks just like this every day for the rest of our lives.

Do you think Kanan and Hera would notice the difference?

Probably.

We're going to have to be careful about that, I suppose.

How frustrating.

I wonder if Kanan will be able to sense the change in our Force signatures?

Uggghhh. I'm going to have to figure out how to mask that too. Cause I can almost guarantee my warrior goddess is going to want to keep this a secret.

Speaking of Kanan, why do I feel a hint of disappointment coming from him?

Ezra carefully opened up his bond with Kanan a fraction wider, and felt even more disappointment. His eyes widened as remembrance struck.

Sabine was just leaning forward to kiss Ezra again when he suddenly pulled back and his hands fell from the rockface like he'd been burned.

"Karabast! I'm supposed to be training with Kanan right now!" Ezra kissed Sabine quickly on the cheek. "Sorry. Gotta go. See you later!" he called even as he took off like a shot.

Sabine blinked after him for a moment, her jaw dropped in surprise. Collecting herself, she huffed and crossed her arms over her chest. Well, I know exactly where I fall in the totem pole of importance, now don't I?

She seriously thought about being pissed off about it, but then she turned her head a fraction and the TIE came into view again, and she was reminded about just how sweet Ezra really was.

Fine. I guess I can take second string to Jedi training. As long as nothing else climbs above me, that is. And getting interrupted just when things are getting amazing doesn't become a habit. Besides, who else would kiss me like I'm the most precious thing in the universe?

Now smiling rather dopily, Sabine sank further into the rock wall and let the last few minutes replay in her mind.