Sabine's Reconciliation:

D340/1 ABY, Krownest

It had been two and half years since Ursa had seen her daughter and she was finally ready to admit she might have been wrong. She knew she'd overreacted to Sabine's semi betrayal of her Clan almost as soon as the words of banishment had left her mouth but she couldn't take them back. She still couldn't, not exactly, not without losing the respect of her Clan. There was no possible way she could reinstate Sabine as heir for a second time, but there was something she could do. She could visit her and hopefully restore the tentative friendship that they had been developing years ago when Sabine had come home for a short while.

Ursa stared out over the winter landscape of her lakefront property while leaning on her private balcony railing, not bothered by the cold air. She heaved a sigh and rested her chin on her folded arms. It was time to make up with her daughter, and that meant leaving her planet. Her domain. Her place of power. She didn't like doing that, but Tristan was more than capable of leading their people while she was away. Ursa was proud of her son. He had stepped into Sabine's place without a single complaint. Twice. He would be a great leader for their Clan when Ursa was ready to step down from her position as Countess. But that wasn't just yet. She was only forty-eight and could still take down any challenger who dared try. Unless something unforeseen happened, Ursa fully expected to continue to lead their clan for at least another ten years.

She heard the sliding glass door open and close, then soft footsteps walk up behind her. Ursa straightened up a little, but otherwise didn't move as Alrich wrapped his arms around her from behind and propped his chin on her shoulder. "What's troubling you, cyar'ika?" he asked, pressing a kiss into the sensitive spot below her ear.

Ursa closed her eyes in pleasure for a moment, placing her hands over his, holding his arms to her. "Sabine," Ursa said as her only explanation. They'd already had many discussions about their daughter and didn't need to reiterate it all over again.

"Ah," her husband said on a sigh, not surprised. His arms tightened a little more in support. He understood his two girls and knew this was going to have to be something they figured out on their own. However long that took.

Ursa continued to look out over the frozen lake and the sun setting over the mountains in the distance, not really seeing it. "I want to go with you," she said suddenly.

"What?"

Ursa turned her head and looked up at him. "The next time you go see Sabine," she explained better. "I want to go with you."

Alrich smiled slightly, breathing deeply in relief. "Of course, Urs'ika. I had tentatively planned to make a trip next week in fact."

Ursa nodded to herself, satisfied with that. "Good." She turned around in his arms and cupped his dear, handsome face in her hands, staring into his beautiful golden brown eyes. "Thank you, Alrich, for being who you are and not pushing me."

Alrich ran his hand down the length of her long, unbound midnight and silver hair. "Ursa, you never have to thank me. I may not have always agreed with the decisions you've made regarding our children, but I will always stand beside you. You're my Countess and I know you need unquestioning support every once in awhile."

Ursa smiled sweetly at him. "And that's why I fell in love with you. You are an incredibly brilliant man. I never would have thought our marriage would turn into something so perfect all those years ago when an artist was chosen as my husband, even if you are from a powerful, allied Clan. I remember thinking I could never respect someone I could wipe the floor with, but my father obviously knew better than I that intelligence is worth just as much as strength."

Alrich chuckled lightly and kissed her forehead before resting his chin on top of her head and hugging her close. "Ursa, I never told you this before, but I was terrified of you for the first few months of our marriage. I knew I wasn't a match for you when it came to being a warrior, and your giant father hovering around didn't help either."

Ursa pulled back, laughing. "Alr'ika, it's a good thing you hid that, because I never would have learned to love you if you acted like a coward." She cupped the back of his head and pulled his mouth down to hers, kissing him quick but thorough. She grabbed his hand and led them back into the bedroom, fully intending to have her way with him to show her appreciation for everything he did for her. (And the fun they had in bed was still the best part of her day, even after all their years together.)

Alrich smirked knowingly as she led him, knowing what was in store for him and looking forward to every moment.

D352/1 ABY, Lothal

Ursa's Kom'rk class transport/fighter (aka Gauntlet Starfighter in Basic), the Jai'galaar, came out of hyperspace in front of a pretty green and blue planet. Ursa admired the planet silently, wishing Mandalore could return to its former glory as easily. "It seems to have recovered well," she commented to Alrich, having heard about how it used to look like a ball of orange fire and grey smoke.

"It has," he replied. "I saw it once when the grass was still dead and the skies were still murky. The people of Lothal were pretty pessimistic about the grass growing back the next spring, but it did. Life is an amazing thing."

Ursa was about to comment on that when a TIE Defender flew up to them and hailed them. "Welcome to Lothal," a male voice said. "Please state your intentions for visiting our planet."

Ursa raised a brow in surprise at the welcoming party, eyes giving the small fighter a thorough once-over. So this was the ship that Sabine was proud of. Not like she'd designed it or anything, but according to Alrich, Sabine had made a few modifications over the years to make them even faster and more deadly than the original design. It was quite impressive to look at, at least. She would reserve her real judgement until she saw it in action against one of her own Mandalorian fighters.

Alrich answered the comm, familiar with the routine. "This is Alrich Wren. I'm here to see my daughter."

The TIE's pilot's voice warmed a degree. "Welcome back Lord Wren. I'm sure the Director will be very happy to see you again."

Ursa and Alrich looked at each other in confusion. "The what?" he asked the pilot.

The pilot laughed quietly. "I guess she never told you. Sorry if I ruined the surprise. Governor Azadi decided Sabine deserved an official title after everything she's done for us. She's now the Director of the Lothal Expansion Project. It's basically just a fancy way of saying she oversees and designs pretty much everything around here. There's not a single new building or vehicle or ship that doesn't have your daughter's signature written all over it in invisible paint. I think she even had a hand in designing the layout of the new parts of Capital City."

Alrich and Ursa blinked at each other, a little speechless. They knew she was working on Lothal, but she'd never said that she was single handedly in charge of basically the entire infrastructure of the planet. "Umm. Thank you," Alrich said to the unknown pilot. "I'll have to congratulate her on her formal title."

"You do that," the pilot replied. "Enjoy your visit," he said before signing off and returning to his duty of guarding the planet.

Alrich took over the controls and flew them down to the Tower, since he knew where he was going. They flew over the orderly looking city that gleamed brightly in the first rays of the rising sun, bordered by a pretty blue ocean on one side and green grasslands everywhere else, with the citizens just waking up for the day.

"You never saw it how it was after the Empire was kicked off," Alrich said, "But this city looks and feels nothing like the original. The people of Lothal have made incredible improvements to their way of life, and apparently our daughter had a lot to do with that. She really isn't one to brag, but I wish she'd told me at least a little of how important her role is here. Whenever I come to visit, she takes a day off and we spend the whole day painting and talking about her other family and what our Clan is doing and the progress Bo-Katan has made on Mandalore. Getting her to talk about what she's doing is like pulling teeth out of a nexu." Rather like her mother, Alrich thought as he glanced at Ursa's thoughtful expression.

Alrich followed the new highway that led out of the city towards the Tower. New buildings were in construction on both sides of the highway and then the grasslands took over again the closer to the Tower they got.

"A couple years ago, you said she helped train the Lothal military, both the ground and the air forces," Ursa said. "I assumed she was still with the Military in some fashion."

"Honestly, so did I," Alrich said with a shake of his head as he landed their ship beside a slightly smaller version on a new landing pad near the Tower. As he powered down their own gold, silver and black Jai'galaar, he nodded towards the silver, blue and orange Kom'rk fighter. "I never told you this, saving it as a surprise for just the right moment, but Sabine called her and Ezra's ship the Lothhawk."

Ursa raised a brow and then laughed, shaking her head. "You're right, Alr'ika. We really are alike." Ursa continued to chuckle as they walked down the ramp. Her new ship, which she just purchased two years ago and named after the native bird of prey of Mandalore, the shriek-hawk, was her new favourite toy. How Alrich had managed to keep a straight face when he heard the name of her new ship was beyond her. "Does Sabine know?"

Alrich grinned as he led the way to the entrance of the Tower. "Yes. And we had a very good laugh over the name choices."

Ursa rolled her eyes as they stepped through the door after Alrich had keyed in the code to open it. After they had boarded the lift to the apartment at the top of the tower, Alrich wrapped an arm around her waist and kissed the top of her head. "I'm glad you came with me, Ursa."

Ursa leaned into the half hug and sighed. "I just hope this wasn't a mistake."

"I'm sure she'll be happy to see you," Alrich said optimistically just before the lift doors opened.

Half an hour earlier.

Sabine rushed around the apartment, tidying things up for her father's visit. When he'd commed last night and said he was bringing a surprise, she'd been too tired to care that she hadn't cleaned up lately. Now she was wide awake and she kept spotting things that needed help. She alternated between gulping caf and running around. She still needed to shower and dress and have everything ready to go so they could have a nice breakfast together.

Finally satisfied that it was as good as it was going to get, Sabine inhaled the last of her caf and headed for the shower. She'd just turned on the water and stepped into the stall when she heard Ezra's voice beside her. "Want some help?"

Sabine eeped and spun around, hucking the bottle of soap she'd just picked up at him out of reflex.

Ezra didn't even blink as the bottle soared right through his image, smashing into the wall a moment later. He grinned at her cheekily instead and leaned a shoulder against the shower door. "What? No help then?"

"Ezra! Kriff! You scared me," she glared at him. Her eyes widened as she realized the import of seeing him right now. "Wait. It's morning. You don't visit in the morning."

Ezra smiled and lost his clothes, stepping into the shower with her so he could run the back of his now solid fingers over her cheek affectionately. "I'm strong enough now to visit you twice a day. If you want me too?" he finished, a little unsure all of a sudden.

"Of course I do!" Sabine exclaimed, wrapping her arms around his neck and pressing herself close to his hard body. Her fingers delved into his hair that didn't get wet despite the water streaming over them. "This is wonderful, Ezra," she said happily. "I'll take as much time with you as I can get."

Ezra sighed in relief and picked her up, kissing her enthusiastically as her legs wrapped around his waist.

Sabine was instantly lost in the kiss and turned on. She moaned into his mouth, so happy to have her husband in her arms. She rubbed her core against his hard length, wanting him inside where he belonged.

Ezra groaned a little, moving his kisses to her neck. This still took a ridiculous amount of concentration and was more for her benefit than his, as he didn't actually feel Sabine's skin against his or her touches, but he never told her that, not wanting her to be disappointed. If she hadn't made the connection by now that if his image didn't get wet in the shower then he also didn't feel other stimuli, he wasn't going to be the one to point it out. What he did feel was the Force in the water drops and Sabine's signature wrapped around his, which he found highly erotic. He did get an incredible amount of joy from feeling her pleasure through their bond too, and the visual stimulation of what they were doing was more than enough to make concentrating his image into a solid form a serious challenge. But one he gladly took on every day to please his wife. (And his own enjoyment once he was back in his body.)

Sabine shifted around just enough so that she could sink his hard length into her eager heat, surprising Ezra at the sudden move. He rolled his eyes at himself for not expecting it though. Sabine was usually the more aggressive one when it came to their lovemaking. He walked forward a step and pressed her up against the wall so he could thrust into her properly. Her water slicked body looked amazing wrapped around his, and he knew he'd have the image of her face with the dripping teal blue hair and the closed eyes and parted lips imprinted on his mind for the rest of the day. (Which he'd have to shield like mad from his friends.)

Sabine tightened her arms and legs around Ezra as her climax built inside her, clenching all of her muscles and her core. His hard cock moved so deliciously inside her, and his hands caressed her just right, and his mouth. Kriff, his mouth. He knew exactly which spots to kiss and suckle to drive her nuts. She would never complain about him being able to read her mind and emotions as long as this was the result. With a gasped, "Oh, Foooorrrrccceee!" all the tension in Sabine's body exploded into a shattering orgasm that left her reeling in Ezra's arms.

As Sabine finally regained enough sense to stand again on her own, she lowered her legs from around his waist and put her feet back on the shower floor. She stared dreamily up into Ezra's molten blue eyes. "Thank you, babe," she whispered before drawing his head down for a long and luxurious kiss. "You are the most amazing husband a girl could ask for."

Ezra smiled back at her, pleased with her compliment and himself for another successful trip through the land of desire. "It's my pleasure, my Lady." He kissed her forehead and then stepped back, returning to just an image again. He summoned the bottle of soap with a gesture of the hand and it floated over to Sabine. "I'm afraid you'll have to wash by yourself, cyar'ika."

Sabine grabbed the bottle out of the air with a smile. "Not a problem, babe. I'll take what we just did over a back wash any day."

Ezra smirked and stepped out of the shower, materializing his clothes again while he watched her scrub herself quickly from top to bottom in two minutes flat. "What's the hurry, Sabine?" he asked curiously. They'd done this routine before, and she usually drew out the washing scene as long as she could with a touch more sensuality than Ezra could stand but he endured the visual torture anyway. (Who wouldn't?)

Sabine glanced over at him. "My father is coming to visit today and he'll be here in a few minutes. I do NOT want to be caught in the shower when he shows up."

"Ah, I understand." Ezra smiled. "I like your father. I'll stay till he gets here and say hi."

Sabine stepped out of the shower and smiled in thanks as a towel was floated over for her. "I'm sure he'll like that. You two don't see each other often enough."

Sabine hung the damp towel on the rack and walked across the hallway to their bedroom, immediately diving into her closet for an outfit that said nice, comfortable, but she wouldn't cry if it got paint on it. She emerged wearing flowing grey slacks and a form fitting teal t-shirt that matched her hair. Sabine stopped in front of a mirror and fluffed her almost dry hair. There were a few distinct advantages to having very short hair that she had come to appreciate. Taking care of it was ridiculously easy and it dried in minutes instead of the half hour or longer that her longer hair used to take without the help of a dryer.

She turned around and caught Ezra staring at her with a dopey look on his face. "What?" she asked.

Ezra walked up to her and cupped her face in his hands, going solid again for the moment so he could kiss her. "I love your armour, don't get me wrong, but it's really nice to see you in other clothes too. They make you look more..."

"Girly?" Sabine suggested with a roll of the eyes as she pulled away and headed for the living space of the apartment.

Ezra followed her. "No, and yes. But no, that's not what I was going to say. I was going to say more approachable. Less warrior goddess and more real life woman."

Sabine stopped and turned, eyes going all soft and sultry. "Ez'ika. There is not a single thing with what you just said that doesn't make me love you more. Do you really think of me as your warrior goddess?"

Ezra nodded, eyes gleaming, stalking towards her, making her take a few steps back until her back was up against the back of the royal blue couch. "Yes, I do. My very own sexy, butt kicking, blow stuff up, warrior goddess who can masquerade as a normal woman if she wants to, but we both know the warrior is still under those clothes."

Sabine smiled a deadly smile and wrapped her arms and legs around Ezra again, not even questioning that he wouldn't be solid for her to do so. She tipped them over the back of the couch and made sure she landed on top with a deft twist that had Ezra lying along the length of the couch and her straddling him. She planted her hands on either side of his surprised face and put hers only a few centimetres away. "Well, this warrior goddess has found her own sexy warrior Jedi and she loves him very much," she whispered before starting a duel of the mouths that would have gone on indefinitely if the door to the apartment's lift hadn't opened.

Ursa stared in shock at the scene that she'd walked in on. Sabine was sitting on some man and was making out with him like her life depended on it. Her opinion of her daughter dropped like a rock as she had thought she was faithful to Ezra, who Alrich had said visited Sabine in the evenings. "Sabine!" she scolded.

Sabine looked up with a shocked face and blinked at her parents. "Mother! You're here!" She jumped off of Ezra and took a few steps towards them before stopping and eyeballing her father. "This is your surprise?"

Alrich nodded, eyes going back to the couch where Ezra had sat up as well and was hiding his very red face in his hands. Alrich started to chuckle as he looked from Ursa's accusing glare to Sabine's confused face and Ezra's very embarrassed one, already understanding everyone's thought processes.

Ursa crossed her arms over her chest. "I think coming here was a mistake. You're even less honourable than I thought," Ursa said with a pointed look at the man on Sabine's couch, then turned and walked back into the lift.

Sabine was taken aback. That was one of the worst insults you could give a Mandalorian. Why would she say that? She looked back at Ezra and understanding dawned. She whipped back around. "Mother, no. That IS Ezra." She glanced over her shoulder and hissed at him, "Get your butt over here, and show my mother that you are not some random guy."

Ezra winced and got off the couch, his eyes meeting Alrich's for a moment, getting an amused look for his trouble. He walked all the way to the lift, passing Sabine, and stopped in front of Ursa. "It really is me, Countess. I'm sorry for the confusion." He demonstrated by running a hand through the wall so she could see that he was only an image.

Ursa stared at Ezra in disbelief. This was the same scrawny child that she'd first met four years ago? He certainly had grown up and filled out in that time. The shaggy blue hair was different but the eyes were the same and he still had the distinctive scars on his cheek. And that whole transparent thing was not something you could fake. She glanced at Sabine, seeing pride in her daughter's eyes. Who would have thought that Sabine had actually picked a man worthy of her instead of the man wannabee that Ursa had first met? Ursa nodded regally at them. "I too am sorry for jumping to conclusions." She walked back out of the lift and looked around the apartment for the first time. It was a little too colourful for her taste, but everything looked like good quality and worthy of her daughter. "You're home is very nice. You have done well with the renovations," she said to Sabine.

Sabine let herself smile a little. "Thank you, Mother."

Ezra walked back to Sabine and touched her shoulder gently. "I'm going to leave now. I'll be back tonight at the usual time. Please enjoy your day with your parents," he said with all sincerity, knowing he would never pass up the opportunity if his parents walked through the door. (Not that that could ever possibly happen, but he dreamed of them sometimes.)

Sabine nodded in acknowledgement of the hidden meaning in his words (Give your mother a chance.), and kissed his cheek in farewell. He whispered a loving hand down her cheek, eyes speaking volumes, and then disappeared.

Ursa strangled a gasp at the further evidence that Ezra was real or not real, depending on how you looked at it. "Everything's true then," she said as she stared at the spot where Ezra had stood only a moment before.

Sabine smiled tightly at her mother. "Yes, Mother. Everything is true. The purrgil, The Force, Ezra, our marriage. Everything. We are very much bonded and no matter how much you dislike my choice of husband, that will never change."

Ursa sighed and met her eyes steadily. "I may have been wrong about that."

Sabine's eyes widened as she stared at her mother in astonishment. She had never heard her mother admit to being wrong about anything. Ever. She glanced at her father and got an encouraging nod. Okay then. The ball was in her court then. Sabine breathed deeply once to compose herself. "Father and I usually have breakfast first and then paint. How about instead, today, I take you two on a tour of the city after breakfast?"

Ursa and Alrich smiled and nodded. "That sounds lovely," Ursa said. "You're planetary guard mentioned that you had quite a lot to do with the rebuilding of the planet's infrastructure. I look forward to seeing your work, Director," she ended with pointedly.

Sabine blushed and winced a little at being caught in an omission. She'd been keeping that ridiculous title a secret for months now. Only Ezra knew. "About that...," Sabine started to explain but Alrich waved her to a stop.

"Don't worry about it, Sabine. We understand and your mother is just teasing you."

Sabine sighed in relief and led the way to the kitchen part of the open concept apartment, pulling ingredients out of the cooling unit to make omelettes before remembering an important detail. She excused herself from her parents' presence where they'd sat at the kitchen island and quickly walked to her room, grabbing her wrist comm off the bedside table and putting it on before keying in Ketsu's code.

Ursa and Alrich unabashedly eavesdropped from the kitchen.

"Hi, Ketsu," she said quickly. "Can you have someone deliver a speeder to my tower as soon as possible?"

"Um, sure," Ketsu replied. "There's always a few lying around the Base and a new recruit who can run errands. What size of speeder do you need?"

"One that fits three and possibly some packages," Sabine said.

"May I ask what for, or do I even want to know?" Ketsu said teasingly.

Sabine shook her head at Ketsu's silliness. "My parents are here. Yes, both of them," she said before Ketsu could make noises of surprise. "I'm going to take them on a tour."

"I see," Ketsu said with a smile. "I can just imagine you trying to get all three of you on your bike. Now that would be something to see."

Sabine laughed. "Yes it would. And it will never happen, so don't hold your breath."

"Wasn't planning on it," Ketsu replied. The sound of a baby crying in the background got Ketsu's attention. "Sorry, Sabine. Gotta go. Joshua needs help feeding Ryder Junior again. He's such a mama's boy."

Sabine chuckled again, having personally witnessed the scene of Joshua attempting to convince the one year old that baby food was good. "Okay. Thanks. I might see you later. I'll stop by the base at some point. And good luck with R.J."

"Kay," Ketsu laughed and signed off quickly to more wails from her son.

Alrich and Ursa looked at each other with complete understanding as Sabine made her way back to them. Their daughter was clearly happy here and had friends like she'd never made on Krownest. Ursa wouldn't try to talk to talk Sabine into moving back to Krownest like she'd been thinking of doing.

After breakfast, they headed down the lift and outside to find a green speeder waiting for them. Sabine silently thanked Ketsu for her efficiency as they all climbed in. Sabine's wrist comm beeped, letting her know she was getting a call on the Lothhawk's frequency, but she'd fiddled with her wrist comm to reroute voice calls straight to it. She pushed a button to answer.

"Hey, Sabine," Hera's voice said warmly.

"Hera," she replied just as happily as she started the speeder and headed down the highway. "What's up?"

"I have to go on a mission for a few days and I don't want to leave Jacen on Echo Base with a series of random babysitters. Can I bring him to you?"

Sabine smiled at the thought of seeing her little brother again. It had been almost two months and she couldn't wait to see how he'd grown and changed. "Of course, Hera. You know I love having Jacen with me. It will make Ezra's day too. Oh. And speaking of Ezra. Guess who showed up in my shower this morning?"

"Ezra?" Hera guessed the obvious.

"Yes," Sabine said excitedly. "He says he's strong enough now to visit twice a day."

"That's fantastic," Hera replied. "I'm so happy for you. I have to go now, but I'll be there sometime this evening. Hopefully in time to catch Ezra. We can talk more then."

"Okay. Bye, Hera." Sabine turned off her comm only for it to beep again with a local signal. "Good morning, Ryder."

"Morning, Sabine," he replied. "We have a representative coming from a big technology company coming in this afternoon. They're very interested in your city shield generator design and would like to meet with you about purchasing the design from you or at least the rights to mass produce it and you would get a cut of the profits. I say go for the second option, but that's just me."

"I agree, Ryder. Thank you. Send the info to my personal computer and I'll be there." Sabine said as she pulled up at the first construction site at the outermost edge of the city, not seeing the surprised looks on her parents' faces at the news. She jumped out of the speeder and they followed her.

Sabine gestured to the massive, sprawling building under construction. "Welcome to the Ezra Bridger Children's Home. This is something Ezra and I cooked up one night when we were talking about how many orphans were being fostered all over Lothal. The city is funding the materials and crew and I provided the land. Ezra and I will run it together when he gets back, but for now it will be just me and a few people I've picked out to take care of most of the day to day details of raising happy children. They'll have five acres of grassland to play in and I'm importing full grown trees compatible with Lothal soil so they'll have a proper wilderness to explore. And then there's the lothcats." Sabine nodded towards a herd of semi wild lothcats who were watching the construction process with great interest. "The lothcats will be free to come and go at will and interact with the children as they wish. Both Ezra and I believe that having animals to care for and play with will help the orphans with the stress of losing their parents."

"It's like the tookas know this place is for them too," Alrich commented.

"They probably do," Sabine said dryly. "The animals on this planet are not normal animals. They're scarily smart and some of the lothwolves can even talk to some extent."

"Director!" a man called from the construction site.

"Excuse me," Sabine said to her parents and jogged over to see what the foreman wanted.

Her parents watched curiously as the man produced a large roll of blueprints and they talked about them for a few minutes with lots of hand gestures and pointing to various places on the blueprint. "She really does have her hand in everything on this planet doesn't she?" Ursa commented quietly.

Alrich wrapped a comforting arm around her shoulders and gave her a half hug. "Yes, I think she does. She is a leader, just like you. She was just never meant to take over your position but to find her own."

Ursa nodded in agreement. "I suppose it is for the best then that things turned out the way they did. Tristan is happy with his life on Krownest. I think the girl he's courting from Clan Kryze is a suitable choice as well. He really is the better match for life as the next Count. Sabine never was and I see that now."

They smiled at Sabine as she jogged back. "Sorry about that," she said. "The foreman had a question about the training gym I want the children to have. He seemed to think having a pool indoors was more work than necessary and that they could have a pool outside. I disagree of course. Our pool is in the basement gym at home and we all made use of it on a daily basis. The weather here is much nicer than Krownest of course, but there are still winter months when no one will want to swim outside. Needless to say, I set him straight and they're putting in the pool where I want it." Sabine grinned.

"As if anyone could change your mind about something once you set your mind to it," Alrich said, glancing at Ursa and letting her know he included her in that statement.

Sabine shrugged negligently, walking back to their borrowed speeder. "I am a Mandalorian," she said as a statement of fact.

"Yes, you are," Ursa said quietly to herself. "There is something that I'm curious about," she said as they caught up to Sabine. "You said earlier that you provided the land for the orphanage. What did you mean by that?"

Sabine faced towards her tower. "I own everything you can see from here onwards. Don't tell Hera, but I'm going to build her a house near the tower so that she can retire here when she's ready to stop being a General. I'll probably end up building another house for Ezra and I if we have kids. The tower is really nice, but there isn't really room for more people."

Sabine had made her parents gawk at her yet again, but this time she saw it. Ursa closed her mouth with a snap. "How are you paying for all of this?" she asked incredulously, knowing that Sabine wasn't using any of the Clan credits that Alrich had offered her many times over the years.

Sabine shrugged again, climbing into the speeder. "The land was my salary for the first year of work for the planet, but now I get a very nice paycheque from Ryder every month that keeps me comfortable. Aside from that, I sell a painting or two and have some investments that are doing well."

"Like your shield generator?" Alrich asked after they were underway again.

"Yes, like that. I've invented a few things that others are interested in." Sabine said as she stopped at another completed building.

"Why do I get the feeling that that's an understatement?" Ursa said under her breath to Alrich.

Alrich nodded in agreement as they disembarked the speeder again. He looked at the new building curiously. Only a few speeders were parked in front of it, so it wasn't a major place of business. "Where are we now?"

Sabine smiled proudly. "This is my baby, the aforementioned shield generator. The roof opens when the generator is on," she explained as she led the way through the doors that opened into a large space with a massive generator holding center stage.

A technician wandered by, reading a datapad, absently smiling at Sabine as she passed. "Morning, Sabine."

"Morning, Taki," Sabine replied. "Everything good today?"

"Yes. Your baby purred like a kitten when we ran it through the morning checks," the technician said as she continued on from over her shoulder.

"That's good," Sabine called to her retreating back. "Because we might have a buyer for the design coming this afternoon."

Taki stopped in her tracks and whirled around. "Oh. Wow. Congratulations, Sabine. I'll tell the others. I promise your baby will be gleaming and ready to do a full demonstration of her power for them."

Sabine nodded in appreciation. "Thanks, Taki." The tech continued on her journey, an extra bounce in her step that wasn't there before.

"What's so special about your shield that differs from others?" Ursa asked curiously.

"It has different settings of power. Zeb once commented to me after the attack on Atallon that I needed to invent a shield that the enemy can't just walk through, so I did. At its highest setting, not even a speck of dust can get through. At its lowest, it will stop your average orbital bombardment, but a walking human can still pass. There's one of these babies protecting every city and town on Lothal, and the range on this one extends all the way past my tower for future growth of the city," Sabine said proudly.

"No wonder someone wants to buy it," Alrich said.

"No wonder the Empire never bothered to try to take back the planet," Ursa said, more importantly. "Between your orbital guard and your planetary defences, you've got this planet very well protected."

Sabine smiled happily at the compliment. "Thank you, Mother. That might be the nicest thing you've ever said to me."

Ursa was a bit taken aback by that. Had she really not complimented her on anything more important than that? She would have to try to remember to praise her more often. Tristan too.

Alrich saved her from having to come up with a suitable response. "I'm sure this shield thing is very fascinating, but what else have you got hidden up your sleeves that you haven't told me yet?"

Sabine smiled widely and walked out of the building. "I have a surprise for you, Father, that I think you'll appreciate." Sabine jumped back into the speeder and waited sort of patiently for her parents to join her so she could drive on. She manoeuvred through the city, now teeming with people from all over the galaxy going about their daily lives. A surprising number of them waved to Sabine as she passed and she always waved back. Sabine pulled up in front of a nice two story building in what could only be called the heart of downtown. The sign read, "Wren Art Gallery."

Alrich gaped at the sign. "You have your own gallery now, too?"

Sabine smiled sweetly. "It's not as big and successful as yours on Mandalore, of course, but I do okay."

They entered the building and stopped just inside the door as Alrich took it all in. He observed at least a dozen shoppers wandering the store, looking enthralled with Sabine's paintings, and it was still morning, nowhere near peak shopping hours. "Something tells me you do better than okay, Sabine."

She shrugged again and waved a greeting to a clerk that had spotted her. "I do okay. After paying the mortgage and utilities and the staff, I only make a small profit, but it's worth it. People like my paintings, and that's enough for me."

Alrich wandered over to a painting of the Lothal mountains in the sunset and glanced at the price tag. "You could do better if you raised your prices a little. Your paintings are worth much more than you are charging."

"Perhaps, one day," Sabine said, not worried. "But right now, I'm just a nobody in the art world. I'd rather sell them at half their worth then have them sit unsold. The day a collector from Coruscant wants one of my paintings is the day I can start charging more."

Alrich could understand her thinking in that. But he still thought she could do better. He would put the word out to a few friends, who would talk to their friends and so on. It wouldn't take long for that collector that Sabine was looking for to show up in her store.

Meanwhile, Ursa was wandering the store, pleasantly surprised at the beautiful paintings hanging on the walls, all with her daughter's signature phoenix in the bottom corner. Sabine was better than she thought and had never given her credit for. She cringed at the thought that she'd done her best to squash her artistic spirit when she was a child. Thank goodness for Alrich and his gentle encouragement. He'd always been the better parent and Ursa was starting to see that she'd been lacking as a mother for too long. Ursa was determined to change that. Even if it was just spending more time with her children and letting them be themselves and not what she expected them to be.

After leaving the art gallery, Sabine took them to the new military base on the other side of the city that spanned acres and bordered the beach. Ursa was very impressed with the training the soldiers were getting, since it was based on Mandalorian fighting techniques. They also managed to find Admiral Ketsu and chat for a brief time, before she had to run off.

Ursa watched Sabine's friend stride away with a thoughtful look. "I should have a word with her Clan. I doubt her father knows that his daughter is doing so well and with such a high ranking position. I believe that he thinks she's still with Black Sun or bounty hunting on her own. Maybe they can have a reconciliation as well."

Sabine was almost inclined to hug her mother, but didn't know how that would be received, so she refrained. "Thank you, Mother. I'm sure Ketsu would appreciate that very much. I know she hasn't talked to her father since he declared her dar'manda when she was sixteen."

"And you were only fifteen," Ursa said mournfully. "I'm sorry for that, Sabine. And the second time as well. I don't know how I can ever make it up to you. You already seem to have everything you need."

"Almost," Sabine said softly. "I don't have my mother or my Clan. Yes, I've found a new family, but they're not my true Clan and I'm sorry I ever said so. Clan Wren will always be who I am."

Ursa did something she hadn't done since Sabine was very little. She stepped forward and hugged her, drawing her daughter into her arms and rested her cheek on the dreadful short teal hair. "I am so very sorry, Daughter. My temper gets away from me and then my pride won't let me take things back. No matter where you live or who you live or your life with, you will always be my daughter and a Wren."

After her initial shock, Sabine buried her face in her mother's shoulder and hugged her back, a few tears escaping to wet the paint on her armour. "Mother. Thank you," she whispered.

Alrich wiped away a tear that escaped as his girls finally made up for real. Even when Sabine had come home the first time, they'd never really forgiven each other. This was so long overdue. Eight years in fact. Eight painful years where he hardly ever saw his daughter and Ursa had never been quite as happy as she should be, the guilt of disowning her daughter eating away at her. Alrich closed the distance between them and hugged both of them, kissing the top of his wife's head.

After half a minute, both women pulled away, a little embarrassed at the show of affection and not really looking at each other, but smiling nonetheless.

Sabine noticed that they'd drawn a bit of an audience from the people wandering around the base and gave a glower that made them scurry off with a hasty salute. She chuckled silently to herself. She might be an eye rolling 'Director' now, but she'd trained a lot of these people herself and they knew she was as just as much a leader of the Military as Ketsu and Joshua were. It was only by choice that she wasn't in charge of the Military herself.

Ursa quirked a smile as she followed Sabine to a different section of the base. She would have had to be blind to not notice the way the soldiers here saluted Sabine and made way for her as Sabine passed. They obviously respected her, despite her small size and lack of a uniform or even her armour. That was good and as it should be.

Sabine led her parents to the section where all the Defenders were parked. After what felt like years of work, for the most part building them by hand (since the factories had been torn down and there was no extra fuel for them anyway), they now had a full two hundred working TIE Defenders. And not a single one looked exactly like another. Sabine was very proud of her Defenders and it showed as she looked out over the sea of them parked in neat rows on the duracrete.

"That's a lot of fighters," Alrich commented.

Sabine grinned. "You're looking at one hundred and eighty of them. Twenty are always in orbit in various places around the planet on guard duty on four hour shifts."

"And you have two hundred trained pilots to fly them?" Ursa asked incredulously.

"I do," Sabine said proudly. "All trained by Hera, Ketsu and myself." She led the way to what had to be the brightest painted one on the lot, sitting at the end of a row.

Ursa took one look at the royal blue, orange and silver streaked TIE with Loth animals all over it and said, "This has to be yours."

Sabine patted one of the wings proudly. "Yep. I do my guard duty at least three times a week. More if I have time. Some people have tried to argue that guarding the planet is a waste of fuel and credits but the rest of us disagree. We honestly believe the Empire would attack again if we didn't have the defences in place. And everyone knows they have spies everywhere, so we can't let up on the routine we've established."

"No. I agree. You are doing the right thing," Ursa said. "I know you didn't want to be Mand'alor, but you would have made a fine leader for our people."

"That was never my place," Sabine said with a shake of her head, internally savouring the second big compliment from her mother in one day. "Bo-Katan is now and always has been the rightful person for that job. Besides, even with the Darksabre, getting people to follow me would have been almost impossible and would have caused even more dissension on Mandalore. I am happy with my life now and am where I belong. I might not rule this planet exactly, but there is very little that doesn't happen without someone asking my advice. That is more than enough for me."

"All the power without the fancy title," Alrich observed.

"Precisely," Sabine said with a grin, happy they were speaking in Mando'a so that those passing by didn't know what they were talking about. She glanced up at the sun which was almost directly overhead. "And now, I think it's time for some lunch. I'll take you to my favourite Cafe beside Kanan's Park."

"The Jedi has a park?" Ursa asked curiously as they made their way back to their speeder.

Sabine nodded solemnly. "Yes. Well, sort of. Mostly. It's more like a park in progress. The ruins of the fuel depot were cleared out a couple years ago and truckloads of dirt brought in. We planted grass seeds and every single person who lived in the city planted a baby tree anywhere they wanted. Now we have a grass park with tiny trees all over the place in what looks like no pattern whatsoever. No one dares play in it until the trees mature a little more so we don't damage them, but paths have been established around them and picnic tables placed. It's one of the nicest places to eat in the city and just happens to have a view of the ocean. Cafes and restaurants have been popping up all around the outskirts of the park ever since."

"Has Kanan seen it? Does he like it?" Alrich asked as he climbed into the speeder.

Sabine started the speeder and nodded. "Yes. And he loves it. He says that from above, the randomly placed trees will actually form the symbol of the Jedi once they've grown up enough. He thinks it is a sign that everything worked out the way it was supposed to."

"That's amazing." Alrich said.

"I know," Sabine replied. "I can't wait for the trees to be big enough to see the pattern from my ship."

That evening, Sabine and her parents prepared a cold meal that could be eaten outside on blankets in the grass. Sabine had just laid down the last blanket when the Ghost landed on the duracrete beside the two Gauntlets. She ran over to meet the ship and arrived just as the ramp lowered.

An almost two year old green haired boy toddled down the ramp, squealing happily at the sight of Sabine. "Sabie! Sabie!" he called, arms up in a pick me up position.

Sabine swept the boy up in her arms, swinging him around in a circle, making him giggle and cling to her neck. She came to a stop and rubbed her nose in his soft, wild hair. "You're just so cute, I might have to gobble you up," she teased Jacen.

Jacen's dark blue eyes widened in mock fear. "No, Sabie! No eat."

Sabine laughed and kissed him on the cheek. "I couldn't eat all of you anyway. You're getting so big!" She groaned exaggeratedly and pretended to almost drop him.

Jacen laughed again, tightening his arms around her neck and smacking her cheek in a return kiss. "Sabie no drop me. Sabie strong."

Sabine laughed again, hugging him. "You're too smart for me."

Jacen looked at her seriously. "Yep."

Sabine met Hera's eyes over Jacen's head and they smiled at each other as Hera walked down the ramp followed by Zeb, Rex, Wolffe, and surprisingly Kallus too. Sabine and Hera exchanged a quick hug after Sabine put Jacen down and he ran off to play in the grass, calling for the lothcats that he knew where hiding somewhere. She greeted all the guys with friendly smiles and a punch for Zeb. She tilted her head at Kallus. "Tired of the Intelligence division already?"

Kallus chuckled, shaking his head so his blond hair flopped over his forehead. "No. I'm just going on this mission with the others. I have a few skills that will be beneficial to the op."

Sabine raised a brow, deciding that was comment enough. She gestured to where the blankets were laid out in the distance and her parents waited patiently. "I've got dinner ready. I hope you have time to stay and eat."

Hera nodded. "We don't have to leave until morning."

Sabine smiled brightly. "That's great!"

From her place on the blankets, Ursa watched Sabine interacting with her other family and had to tell herself it was silly to feel jealous, but she did. Sabine was so relaxed and happy with them, she was like a completely different person. And the way she loved the little boy, Ursa knew she would have children of her own eventually. Ursa was happy she'd finally talked herself into making up with Sabine. There was no way she was missing her grandchildren grow up they way she'd missed a good portion of Sabine's life.

As Sabine and her family walked towards them, they were joined by the two ghostly Jedi as if they'd always been there. Ursa watched as Ezra kissed Sabine and Hera on their cheeks then dashed through the grass to rescue the child who was wondering too far away in pursuit of a bounding lothcat. He picked up the child and tossed him in the air, leaving him up there with a show of Force, the child giggling like mad at his flight through the air, putting his arms out like he was really flying. Ezra flew the child all the way to the blankets and then set him right into Kanan's waiting arms. The smiles of love they exchanged as the boy said, "Daddy!" was just about the sweetest thing Ursa had ever seen.

Everyone greeted Ursa and Alrich like they were part of the family group and were happy to see them, even if they hardly knew each other, and then dug into the many covered dishes, eating like they were starving. Ursa picked at her pasta salad, spending most of her time watching the interactions between the others. This incredibly diverse group really was a family. Sabine's family. She suddenly understood the difference between family and Clan. And right now, in this moment, family looked a lot more appealing.

"So what's your part in this secret mission?"

Ezra and Kanan were catching up on Jedi stuff when they heard Sabine ask Hera about the mission. They immediately stopped to hear her answer for different reasons.

Hera paused in the act of feeding Jacen bits of cold lothchicken and blushed a darker green. "I'm going undercover as a dancing girl," she admitted. "I'm the only twi'lek in the Rebellion willing to do it."

Sabine and Ezra gawked at Hera. "Can you even dance?" he asked without thinking.

Hera glared at Ezra and Kanan smacked the back of Ezra's head. "Of course she can dance."

"Really," Sabine said with a healthy dose of disbelief. "Hera, the straight-laced General who won't be caught dead even singing in public, never mind actually showing public displays of affection, is going to DANCE. In a skimpy outfit. For everyone to see. Not in a million years."

"Actually..." Hera started.

"She's done it before. Twice. Back before you two joined the crew," Kanan finished with a gleam in his eyes. "Hottest thing I'd ever seen. It was after the first mission that I couldn't take it anymore and talked Hera into giving us a chance as a couple. Thank the Force she said yes, because that outfit near drove me mad."

"Kanan!" Hera said admonishingly, blushing harder. "There's a child present!"

Kanan looked at his son and grinned. "Yep. And you can thank Dancing Hera for that too."

The whole group burst into laughter while poor Hera blushed like mad. Jacen crawled into her lap and put his hands on her hot cheeks. "What funny, mama?"

Hera shook her head and hugged him, hiding her face in his precious green version of Kanan's hair. "Nothing, sweetie. Maybe daddy will tell you when you're older."

Jacen nodded wisely. "Kay. Ask 'morrow."

Jacen had no idea why everyone laughed even harder, but he didn't mind. His mama was hugging him and his whole family was in one place. Everything was right with his world.