Sabine's Breakdown:

D31/0 ABY, Lothal

Sabine smiled at Luke as he won another round with the lightsabres. For the last two days, his natural grace and connection with the Force had finally kicked in and all the lessons she taught him had clicked and suddenly it was all Sabine could do keep up with him and defend herself against his attacks. "I think you're as good as you're going to get with these with what I know," Sabine said as she turned off Ezra's lightsabre and clipped it to her belt. Luke beamed and did the same, wiping the sweat from his brow with a sleeve.

"You really think so?" he asked eagerly.

"Sure. But you could still use a little work on your hand to hand, so let's switch to that. We only have the rest of today and tomorrow before you go back to Hoth with Zeb tomorrow night. We should make the most of it," Sabine said, already thinking she was going to miss their training sessions. Luke had turned into a good friend and reminded her a lot of Ezra.

It almost felt like her family was sort of whole again, with Hera and Jacen, her and Luke, and sometimes Zeb, all gathered in one place. But no matter how much she tried to tell herself that she was doing okay without Ezra and Kanan, she knew she really wasn't. She missed them like crazy, and she knew Hera was the same. They spent hours just watching the lothwolves that always seemed to be hanging around and wondering if Kanan really had turned into a wolf in some fashion. But not entirely, because Hera had confessed once about how she felt Kanan's touch whenever she really needed him, giving her comfort. And the way she flushed darker, Sabine thought that Kanan's ghost might just be 'comforting' Hera in more intimate ways as well.

Sabine and Luke practiced in a small circle of mountains they'd had to retreat to after word had got out that there was a Jedi on Lothal and they'd been swamped by onlookers. Not even training by Ezra's tower was far enough away from the city, so they drove their speeder bikes all the way out here every evening for training. As they faced off, the sun just starting to set in the distance, Sabine waited patiently for Luke to make the first move, hands up in the ready position.

Luke attacked with proper aggression for once, apparently finally feeling confident in himself. Sabine quickly retaliated with a punch towards his jaw, not expecting it to connect, since his reflexes were very good and getting better every day. Something caught Luke's eye though, and he didn't duck, so her punch whipped his head to the side and his eyes kind of rolled up before he hit the ground with a solid crash. Sabine stared down at his body in disbelief. She hadn't hit him that hard. Had she?

She was just about to kneel to see if he was still alive when he suddenly swept her feet out from under her and toppled her to the ground beside him. Sabine groaned at falling for the oldest trick in the book and pushed herself into a sitting position. Luke, of course, was laughing his head off and sitting up as well. She shook her head and gave in to the urge to giggle a little. "Very funny," she begrudged. "I thought I actually took you out."

"I finally knocked you down," Luke wheezed through his laughter. "I'm calling that a win." His eyes locked with her amber ones and he was happy to see amusement and even a little bit of pride in her eyes. He was starting to think he'd never see that on her face. As the moment drew out, Luke did something really stupid that he'd wanted to do forever. He reached over the small space between them and ran his fingers through the soft strands of hair that had escaped from her messy bun and framed her face. "So beautiful," he whispered.

Sabine froze as memories of the last day she saw Ezra barrelled into the forefront of her mind. He'd said the exact same thing to her while doing the same thing. She suddenly missed him with a passion and wanted Ezra back RIGHT NOW.

Luke saw her expression turn all soft and fill with longing and thought the look was for him. He pulled an even bigger stupid and pressed his mouth to hers in a soft kiss.

That snapped Sabine out of her memories in a hurry. She pushed him back in disgust and punched him in the nose, making it bleed, just to emphasize her point, before swiftly rising to her feet and glaring down at him. "I think we're done here," she spat at him with narrowed eyes. "Get your sleemo hide out of my sight before I kill you."

Luke scrambled to his feet, hand holding his nose, backing away from the furious Mandalorian. "I'm sorry. I just thought..."

"I don't care what you thought," she interrupted, fingers caressing the blasters strapped to her legs. "I never invited you to touch me like that and you're lucky you speaking in a normal voice right now."

Luke's eyes widened in fear and he quickly turned and made a run for his speeder bike, making a note to self: Girls are officially crazy, and Mandalorian ones even more so.

Sabine watched the bike drive away as fast as it could go for all of ten seconds while her fury at everything built and built. She was mad at Luke for taking liberties. She was mad at Ezra for leaving her behind. She was mad at herself for getting into the situation. She was even madder at Ezra for not being HERE where he belonged. With a strangled scream, she pulled Ezra's lightsabre off her belt and hucked it at the nearest rocky mountain thing as hard as she could, watching it smash into the rockface and fall to the ground with a satisfying thud.

Then she pulled her folding knife out of her boot and proceeded to hack off every strand of the offending hair that she'd let grow out longer than she ever had just because Ezra thought it was beautiful. And so did other guys apparently. Well, there wasn't going to be any more of that. Her hair was staying military short until her husband came back.

As the last chunk of hair fell to the ground, Sabine sunk with it, tears streaming from her eyes, already regretting her rash actions. Through her blurred vision, she spotted the lightsabre lying on the ground, looking forlorn, and crawled over to it, clutching it close to her chest. It took her a minute to realize that it felt different. She opened her eyes and sobbed as she saw the large crack in the bottom part that screwed onto the whole, allowing access to the inner workings of the lightsabre. She'd broken it! Ezra left it in her care and she'd broken it! Sabine finally reached the end of her rope. Curling into a ball on the ground, broken lightsabre held tight in her clenched hands, Sabine cried her heart out.

Cerulia

After living with the Cerulians for just over a year, Ezra's life had settled into a consistent pattern. He started his day with an hour of meditation, loving his connection with the Force. Ezra found it hard to believe that he used to think meditating was a waste of time when Kanan first started training him. Now it was his favourite part of the day because the Force liked to show him images of his family; past, present and future. It was also the time when he felt his bond with Kanan the strongest. And sometimes, if he was lucky, they'd even have a short conversation, usually when something super interesting had happened in Ezra's life or the galaxy as whole. The only time they'd talked about Kanan's new life was the day Jacen was born. Kanan hadn't even waited for Ezra to be meditating. Instead, Ezra had been besieged by a joy that wasn't his while he was having some funtime swimming with Raign, Krystal, and a bunch of other young adults at the end of a long, hot day. "I'm a father!" had repeated through his head a few times, making Ezra laugh out loud at Kanan's enthusiasm. He'd sent back thoughts of congratulations before Kanan's presence had left again, undoubtedly to go be with Hera again.

After meditation, Ezra spent the morning hours helping Master Tia train the native Cerulians to be lightsabre wielding Jedi. But not exactly the way he had been trained. They picked up the forms incredibly quickly because they just plucked them from Ezra's mind. It was more a matter of training muscle memory than actually teaching them. When a group was considered advanced enough with the training sabres, they'd all go Kyber crystal hunting. This is where things took an interesting turn. Because there wasn't much in the way mechanical technology on the planet (except for the remains of The Seeker), the Cerulians had come up with a new lightsabre concept that Ezra thought was completely awesome and badass. They would find a forming crystal that suited them and instruct it to grow into the shape of a real sword and take on whatever colour they liked the best. (Ezra did warn them that red was considered the colour of the Dark siders, so very few chose that one.) The swords were strapped across their backs and leapt into their hands at will, practically another living entity. They hummed with life and joy and were basically indestructible. A few working blasters were still lying around and they'd tested the crystal swords extensively. They reflected blaster bolts just like a lightsabre if you wanted them to, or they could absorb the energy and contain it until you wanted it released. Most would fling the built up energy at a target with a swing of their sword and grin gleefully as the target exploded. The edges of the swords were wickedly sharp and never dulled, no matter what you hacked through, old durasteel walls included. The crystal swords were also effective against the one remaining working lightsabre on the planet; Master Tia's. The small Kyber crystal in her lightsabre was no match for the amount of Force presence in the swords and usually turned itself off when used in prolonged duels unless Tia focused a great deal of Force into it to keep it energized. Needless to say, Ezra got himself his own sword as soon as he found a baby crystal that sang to him just right. (Unsurprisingly, it was the colour of Sabine's mesmerizing amber eyes.)

Ezra's afternoons were usually spent helping Link in his clinic, or with the villagers, harvesting food or helping with the docile herd animals that the humans had tamed long ago to raise as a source of clothing and meat.

His evenings were usually his own to do with as a he pleased, which often consisted of hanging out with Raign and Krystal, but not too much, so he didn't feel like a third wheel in their relationship. At least once a week, Wayve would make time to come to the island and work with Ezra on his Force projection and a few other tricks that Ezra had never come close to mastering before, like using the Force to increase his speed, both running and swimming. He didn't think he was as fast as a native yet, but Ezra thought he could race your average speeder bike and maybe win now. At least for a short distance.

As usual, on this morning, Ezra was doing his meditation routine when the Force showed him a vision of Sabine; the same one he'd received before while fighting a noghri. But this time he just knew that this was happening at this very moment on Lothal. Eyes snapping open and heart breaking for his cyar'ika, Ezra wished he could be with her right now and comforting her, holding her in his arms until her crying stopped and he could kiss all her tears away.

He was fighting the urge to jump to his feet and pace, since that wouldn't help anything. This was the strongest he'd ever felt their bond, considering how far apart they were. With the vision had come a flood of her emotions, and wow, did they ever hurt his already aching chest. Ezra closed his eyes again and concentrated. First he thought specifically towards Link, who was making breakfast by the sounds of things, and let him know what he was about to try. Link would make sure his body was alright until Ezra got back. Assuming this worked.

Ezra had been practicing Force projection with a dedicated determination for the past year, but he'd never quite worked up the courage to go further than the far side of the planet. Today, he was figuratively jumping on the wild nexu and going all the way to Lothal because Sabine needed him and he wasn't about to let her down again.

Knowing it was now or never, while the bond with Sabine was still strong, Ezra concentrated on separating his spirit from his body. He gave a small smile at his success as he looked down on his body, still kneeling in a meditation pose by his bed. Alright. First step done. Now to get to Sabine.

As Ezra turned his focus towards the clouds, he suddenly felt an encouraging push from Wayve and a hopeful, "Good luck," from Link. Ezra sent them back a burst of gratitude and then pulled hard on his bond with Sabine to use as a guide. Suddenly he was zipping through space, and in what felt like just a minute or two, he was on Lothal and Sabine was in front of him.

Sabine's tears finally ran out and she was left feeling empty and exhausted. Sitting up, she wiped her cheeks, eyes, and dripping nose. Crying sucked. She hated crying. And she was going to have to apologize to Luke later for completely freaking out on him. That sucked too. It wasn't his fault he'd read her signals all wrong and no one had told him she was married. She knew he had a crush on her and she also knew she could have avoided that situation entirely if she wasn't such a lovesick idiot pining for her man. Sabine shook her head at her own stupidity and emotions that had gotten out of control. All that Jedi knowledge and Mandalorian training and she still managed to lose it. Mother would be disgusted, she was sure. Good thing they weren't talking to each other right now.

Unclamping her hands from around the lightsabre, she examined it closer, hoping she'd been wrong about breaking the bottom.

Nope. Not wrong. Still broken. Sabine huffed a sigh and unscrewed the broken piece, wanting to examine it and thinking it should be easy enough to replace, even if she had to forge it herself. Hopefully Ezra would never know. She blinked in surprise as a piece of paper fell into her hand as well. Suddenly she knew where the paper had come from and that it was meant for her to find. After the last note Ezra left her, she wasn't surprised at anything he did anymore.

Hands trembling, she carefully unfolded the paper and smoothed it out, torn between smiling and crying again as she read note number two in what was left of the evening twilight.

To my Cyar'ika,

Once again, I find myself writing to you on your own paper. And again, I'm sure your upset is my fault. Will there ever come a day when I don't upset you on a regular basis? I sure hope so. I just wish I got more than glimpses of you so I knew what to apologize for in advance. This time, I can guess it also has something to do with my leaving, but that was unavoidable I'm afraid. Trust me. I really really didn't want to.

Again, I like the new hair style since it makes your beautiful eyes look even bigger. But then again, I like everything about you, so it doesn't really matter what you do to your hair, I'll still love you. If you really like it that short, I'm okay with it, but I wouldn't mind if you grew it back again too. (I loved running my fingers through it.)

I know you're missing me and blaming me for leaving. I can guarantee I'll miss you more, every moment of every day. And I blame myself even more for having to leave you alone. But no matter how I tried, I couldn't find a path that kept us together and still won the war for Lothal. I'm so sorry. And I will always be sorry for causing you sorrow. I hate seeing you cry when it is my fault. It breaks my heart.

I know this is kind of silly, but if you close your eyes and just let yourself feel, I'd like to think the Force would connect our bond again and you'd be able to feel my arms wrap around you in comfort. I know I'll spend most of my time imagining you in them. And just like our vows said; we are one when together, we are one when parted, we will share all, and yes, one day, we will raise some little Mandalorian Jedi warriors. (The galaxy won't know what hit them.)

I love you, Sabine. Always.

Ezra.

P.S. Don't worry about the lightsabre. I know you'll fix it better than it was before.

Sabine hiccupped a little giggle as she read the part about their future kids. She wasn't ready to have kids yet, but she could easily picture them raising a couple of blue haired hellions. Sighing as her love for Ezra strengthened her from the inside out, she traced her finger over the marriage vows. She smiled at how hopelessly romantic he was and how much she fell for it every time. She closed her eyes as he suggested and thought of Ezra with every atom of her being as she whispered, "Ni kar'tayli gar darasuum, Ezra Bridger."

"Ni kar'tayli gar darasuum, Sabine Wren," repeated Ezra's voice from behind her, making Sabine whip around, eyes widening in shock as she took in his transparent and glowing appearance.

"Ezra!" she screamed and promptly fainted for the first time in her life.

Ezra rushed the few steps between them and sank to his knees trying to gather her up in his arms, but his spirit projection couldn't pick her up. Ezra sighed and contented himself with stroking his fingers down her cheek, almost convincing himself that he could feel the satin softness of her skin. Even with red rimmed and puffy eyes, she was even more beautiful than he remembered.

While he waited for her to wake up, Ezra scanned the area and saw the pile of hair on the ground and winced. Apparently this was a VERY recent new hairstyle then. That would explain why it looked a little uneven in places. Not that he cared. He cut his own hair for years when he lived on the streets which guaranteed it was never completely even. He ghosted a hand through her short hair, wishing he could feel the spiky tresses. It reminded him of the haircut he had when he left. They'd sort of traded hairstyles, because his hair was long again, much like it had been when they first met. He hoped Sabine liked it this way.

Her eyes finally fluttered open and she eeped a scream that she quickly swallowed. "Ezra! You better not be dead or I'm coming after your body and killing you again," she growled as she sat up.

Ezra grinned. "Nope. Sorry, Sabine. You don't get the pleasure of killing me right now. I learnt a new trick and I felt your pain and I just had to come see you. Don't know how long I can stay, but I had to try."

Sabine breathed a sigh of relief and studied Ezra's 'ghost.' He looked a little older. A little bigger. More muscular and filled out. It looked good on him. Really really good. And his hair was longer again. She was just itching to run her hands through it again. It was such an amazing shade of dark blue when left to grow and the softest hair in the galaxy, she was sure. But what in the world was he wearing? He appeared to be dressed in some sort of woven animal hair tunic and slacks in a bland shade of grey that looked ghastly on him. It actually made her prefer the orange outfits that never seemed to go away, no matter how much she hinted that he'd look better in something else. Like royal blue to match his eyes.

Ezra looked down at his clothes, sensing that she was displeased with his outfit. He shrugged ruefully. "Sorry, Sabine. This is what the native humans wear. It's made from the fur of one of the few land animals that actually live on the planet. I outgrew my orange outfit half a year ago, which sucked. It's softer than it looks though."

"Poor Ezra," Sabine tried to hug him in consolation, knowing how much he loved his orange clothes, but her arms just went right through, making her growl a little in her throat. "If I could hold you, it would be even better, husband," she said pointedly.

He ran a hand through his hair in frustration, wishing he could touch her just as much. "Sorry, cyar'ika. We'll have to wait for that part." His face transformed back into a smile. "But I'm here! Mostly. And talking to you. That has to count for something."

Sabine smiled back. "Yes, it definitely does. I missed you, Ezra. A lot has happened while you were away."

Ezra settled into a more comfortable seated position beside Sabine. "You'll have to tell me."

They took turns shocking each other with everything they'd done and that had happened over the past year. Sabine finished her turn with the story of the Death Star and Luke Skywalker and who his father was and that she was training him. She left out Luke's attempt at kissing for now, not wanting to ruin her good mood with Ezra.

Now it was Ezra's turn to gape like a fish for a minute. "I think you just won that round," he admitted.

Sabine grinned, always happy to have won something.

Ezra smiled back. "I'm excited to see Jacen. I always wanted a sibling and now I have one. I can't wait to meet him. And see Hera and Zeb again."

Sabine tried to bump her shoulder into his, like she used to do all the time, and almost fell over and right though him, before catching herself with a hand in the middle of his ghostly leg. Now that was kind of creepy. She shook it off. Better ghost Ezra than no Ezra. "I'm sure we could go see them now if you wanted. They're all by your tower in the Ghost."

Ezra lit up at the idea and jumped to his feet but then swayed alarmingly. "Uh oh. I think my time is up. That will have to wait for our next visit I guess."

Sabine rose to her feet as well. "So you'll try and come back?"

Ezra nodded, feeling his energy depleting by the second. "Yes, I promise. I'll come back as often as I can. Is this a good time for you?"

Sabine nodded, not wanting to see him go. She felt like she just got him back. She reached a hand up and he joined their fingers together carefully, so it looked like they were intertwining their fingers for real. She was just registering that she could feel a tingling in her hand when he said, "I love you," and started to fade away.

Sabine's eyes met his one last time. "I can feel you! And I love you too. Forever."

Ezra grinned a huge smile and then he was gone.

Sabine stared up at the stars that were just starting to appear and smiled an equally big grin, hugging her arms in happiness. She quickly gathered up Ezra's lightsabre, the note, and her hair before jumping on her bike. Did she ever have a story to tell Hera!

Ezra's spirit zoomed back into his body and he inhaled on a gasp as the world seemed to spin sickeningly around him even though his eyes were still closed. He took a few deep and measured breaths until everything settled back to normal and opened his eyes to see himself surrounded by the curious faces of Link, Master Tia, and a group of younglings.

"Did it work?"

"Did you see her?"

"Did you really fly through space?"

"What was it like?"

Ezra blinked as everyone seemed to ask a different question at once as soon as they saw he was he back in the here and now. As memories of the last twenty minutes went though his mind, Ezra smiled what felt like the biggest grin that had ever crossed his face. "It was amazing, and she was more beautiful than ever," he said with the last of his energy, and then promptly passed out to the sound of gasps and the vague feel of strong arms catching him just before his head hit the floor.

Mando'a words:

Ni kar'tayli gar darasuum - I know you in my heart forever.