(A/N: The second half of this chapter is a little more explicit and sexual, for those of you who like that sort of thing. It wasn't a goal I set out for at the start of the chapter (I don't and can't write smut or a lemon) but, well, it happened. Just a heads-up if you don't like that sort of thing.)

"Mandalorian society is a classical meritocracy, where rank and status mean little in comparison to a being's actions and achievements. Unlike most cultures where ethnic or racial identity are the defining characteristics, Mandalorians do not place much emphasis such things, believing them to be merely petty differences." Dr. Foster lectures on before I draw a little star in my notes.

That seems to be important. Another key difference between Mandalorian society and other groups.

"Mandalorian clans were led by chieftains—usually senior members of the clans chosen for their wisdom—and the loose affiliation and cooperation between them was the closest the Mandalorians had to a standard government; However, beginning in 1831 the Mandalorian Accord of 1831 dissolved that form of government and consolidated the wealth and power of the five most powerful houses into one unified government."

No vote.

"Those houses are: Kryze, Vizla, Kast, Fett and Primus."

Star.

Doing just that, I then doodle in the margins of my notes as Dr. Foster takes a moment to do…something at the head of the class.

"I'm Clan Wren, House Vizla."

Maybe that's how she knows so much.

Her family is in one of the founding Houses of the Mandalorian government.

Intel said that her Mom is an influential figure while her Dad is an executive.

Successful people get put into positions of power.

Like Dr. Foster just said.

"Now let's zoom in on a particular facet of Mandalorian society. If there was a Mandalorian here with us today, they would likely volunteer their House and Clan if it is prestigious."

That's not true.

Sabine only told me her House and Clan recently.

…

Another point in her favor about Dr. Foster.

"Outsiders think that they can understand, but they don't."

Smiling to myself, I twirl my pen in between my fingers then try to focus back in on the lecture.

"—family is a vital aspect in Mandalorian society. And often times it is not blood, but thought, care and loyalty that makes somebody family. Mandalorians cherish family and shower affection upon those they love and care for, a direct contradiction to their infamy and violence and ruthless enemies to the civilized world for centuries."

I wince to myself and lean back in my chair at the comment as Dr. Foster continues on.

Sabine'd probably blow a gasket over that one.

Enemies to the civilized world…

Like they're some foreign invaders or some shit like that...

"—marriage was expected to be life-long and usually takes place shortly after a Mandalorian turns sixteen-years-old. However in recent centuries they have mostly relaxed these traditions and opted for a more liberal view on marriage. Arranged marriages still do occur to this day and marriage is a sacred act in their society.

For a historical note, marriage itself was usually a private ceremony between only the two involved, where the entered into a legal commitment by reciting the following pledge—"

I glance down at my notes and spot the Mandalorian language straightaway.

"Mhi solus tome, mhi solus dar'tome, mhi me'dinui an, mhi ba'juri verde."

"Translating as "We are one when together, we are one when parted, we share all, we will raise warriors." As you can probably tell, the warrior aspect is emphasized—."

Yeah. Because it used to be a warrior culture.

I hope Twos is still recording this. He's losing me today.

If Sabine hadn't talked to me I think I would have taken Dr. Foster at his word. But now…

I don't know. I see the cracks in what he's saying. I seriously doubt he's Mandalorian.

He's probably a scholar of the society and culture and turned that into a job.

Dr. Foster drones on as I slide my phone out of my pocket and tap on the screen a few times.

Good. Still recording.

"Still here. –Twos"

I laugh to myself before looking back to the front of the lecture hall.

At least try and stay focused Ezra.

"Whenever a couple chooses to have children, they become an integral part of a Mandalorian family. When naturally conceiving, if the first born is a son, parents will typically wait until the boy's eighth birthday before having another child so that by that point the boy will be old enough to accompany his father and begin his five years of military and survival training until the age of thirteen. If the first born is instead a girl, the couple will often try for a son soon after. Now these historical roles have been relaxed, with military and survival training beginning at the onset of puberty and concludes when the Mandalorian child exits high school or its equivalent."

"Mandalorian society is gender neutral in that both girls and boys learn their earliest lessons from their mother, meaning that her own fighting prowess is critical because the pledge I recited for you earlier is a joint commitment. We. Will raise warriors. Not the men will raise warriors, we will. Together. That commitment to each other and to the child is a shared Mandalorian attribute and has become a societal trait. It is very rare to find a Mandalorian lacking in work ethic."

Oh that doesn't sound like Sabine at all.

…

Still nothing.

Either Cayle told Ahsoka who informed the Council that I've slept with Sabine. Or he's keeping that intel to himself and under his hat.

Regardless, I need to tell her that I messed up.

She said don't think, and I didn't think.

That's probably how he caught me at the Temple. We'd just hooked up in the living room up until the final moments when we had to leave, her for practice and me to the Temple for that lesson with the Younglings.

Right in front of the TV and that camera.

I'm so stupid.

Thinking with my small brain instead of my big one.

…

We've chilled out the last few nights. Just slept together, no sex or anything else extra-curricular. She's been buried in homework and I've been trying to fix my grade in Creative Writing since I bombed that quiz.

We did have a memorable exchange Wednesday night though. She decided to go to bed before I did, so I decided to set up my spot on the couch and pass out there.

She's had me all up in her business, I thought she deserved to stretch out and have the whole bed to herself.

Nope.

I hadn't even finished setting it up when she marched in halfway through brushing her teeth and had a reaction.

Apparently the rule is when it's just us, that we always sleep together. More or less she said that I've seen her in every situation, at her most vulnerable and most confident. Naked and fully clothed. And that I know her almost as well as her family. So we sleep together.

She also said that I'm a very good cuddler and a decent pillow.

Maybe tonight we'll be able to get back to it after dinner and presumably a party since it's a Friday.

Surely there's something going on tonight.

It's perfect.

Great job Twos.

I'll have to be sure to tell her later.

Her speech recognition patterns are improving with every passing lecture I let her listen to. The first couple were choppy and disjointed.

Now I've got a full transcript of class, as well as my notes and what I remember from the lecture. All I have to do is annotate here and there, marking where I have notes in my notes and boom.

I've got it all.

"I think I can tell what you mean." Sabine pulls my attention back to her seated position in the living room. "A lot of this sounds like it came from a book."

"Which part are you at?"

Sabine flips a page of my notes over, setting it beside her nail polish. "Family…House and Clan."

Ahh. I know where she's at.

Feeling guilty, I flash my eyes up to the TV before Sabine speaks again.

"—ures Ijaa. Totally ridiculous."

"What was that?"

I didn't catch what she said.

"It means without honor." Sabine explains while maneuvering her toes closer to the fan so they dry quicker. There's no need to wait eight years to have another child nowadays, and you don't need to know that. Archaic information. Waste of your time."

Everybody used to have to have a lot less to go around, so fewer kids were the normal thing.

Just look at population graphs. Last 100 years or so is the largest population explosion in human history.

…

"Why's there a star by this slide?" Sabine asks, leaning back to me and pointing at a specific slide.

"I wanted to remember the Mandalorian Accord of 1831."

"Ahh." Sabine understands immediately. "Yeah, that did reorganize Mandalorian government."

Conceding the point.

…

I still need to tell her.

I need to concede that I messed up.

"—something that I guess you can get from a book—"

"I messed up." I blurt out, unable to take it anymore.

Sabine stops suddenly, then turns back to me and makes a face at me. "Huh?"

"I'm sorry." I apologize. "I screwed up."

"No you didn't…"

"This isn't about the notes." I inform Sabine, who makes another face.

"Then what's it about?"

"Tuesday."

"What about—oh!" She lights up, then gives me a devious look. "Ezra…I told you. It doesn't matter that we came together, I'm on that birth control I told you about. I've taken it every day like I'm supposed to, so we don't have to worry. And I'll take you with me on Tuesday to pick it up."

That's not…

"—don't worry so much about it. I know the Jedi and your family have you always thinking about everything but you don't have to—"

"That's not it." I cut her off.

Sabine's expression shifts to irritation. "You interrupted me again. Then what is it?"

"Sorry." I apologize.

"What is it?" Sabine says insistently. "Was it something at dinner? I thought it went great, you did too. Hera texted me and said she'd love to have us over regularly."

"I screwed up. It's my fault." I say, then get to my feet and start pacing anxiously.

She's gonna be so mad.

"What is it Ezra? I—you're never like this. How bad is it? Did you…I don't know. Hook up with a classmate in the back of their car or something? Are you in trouble or…?"

"I didn't hook up with anybody in the back of a car. Random." I counter.

That'd be cheating on Sabine, and cheating in a relationship isn't cool.

Sabine doesn't exactly reply, instead looking expectantly at me.

I'm not in a relationship with her though.

"Ezra!" Sabine breaks through my thoughts. "Tell me! You're kinda freaking me out here."

"Weshouldnthavehookedupinhereonthecouch."

Sabine's eyebrows drop. "Slow down…we shouldn't' have…what on the couch?"

"We shouldn't have hooked up. In here. On the couch." I repeat myself, this time trying to slow myself down.

Breathe.

I exhale, then add "It's my fault. I'm sorry. It's all my fault."

"Why…do you regret it? Why are you so sorry?"

She's onto me.

"Uhm…" I sputter. "I, uhm, the…the Jedi have this procedure. Everybody has to have at least some form of monitoring."

"Okay? That's unnecessary. And kind of creepy." Sabine shrugs. "They monitor you? Why?"

"it's standard procedure." I tell her the little white lie. Everybody has to have some of it."

"Okay, how do they do it? Why are you telling me?"

Briefly, I try to form the words in my mouth, before giving up and pointing to my TV. "Ezra, what, why are you pointing at the TV…"

The Force suddenly snaps in her direction, just before she looks to the TV then back to me.

Back to the TV. Then back to me.

"Wait…you mean—" Sabine puts the pieces together.

She's gonna kill—

In the matter of moments, the Force warns me of something just before Sabine leaps to her feet, closes the gap and—

"AHH!"

My stomach immediately goes from normal sized to the size of a raisin while my groin area is throbbing in pain.

OWWWWWWWWWW—

"You son of a—!" She yelps then knees me in the nuts again, eliciting an involuntary squeak from me just before I crumple to the ground.

Oh my god I'm going to die.

This hurts so much. I—

I can't hold back a whimper of pain into my carpet as Sabine walks away from me, I assume to the TV.

I'm dying. This is miserable.

"There's a fucking camera?!" She screeches, then hustles back over and kicks me in the ribs.

OWW!

"They saw us?!" She hisses form somewhere up above me. "I—EZRA!"

"I don't know if they saw." I admit, still in agony down here.

I deserve this, I do, I do. I really do.

"I don't fucking care! I—you—you knew?! And you still did what you did on the couch?!"

We did.

What we did.

"I wasn't thinking."

"THAT'S NOT WHAT I MEANT EZRA!" She hollers at me. "I meant for you to stop thinking and just enjoy having sex with me you goddamn dumbass!"

"I was thinking with my little brain."

"No shit you di'kut!" (A/N: fool, idiot, useless individual.)

I don't know what that—

OWWWWWWWWWWW!

"We, we got akalenedat…" She says before stopping to gather herself. (A/N: Hard contact.)

"We both got akalenedat. Over the weekend, multiple times. In YOUR BED! That…that's not nothing to me Ezra! And I let you have me in here, all of me, RIGHT THERE!" She exclaims, apparently pointing to the couch.

I lift my head up off the ground to indeed see that's what she's pointing at. "I…" Sabine stops mid rant and paces for a moment before striding over and—

"AHH!"

I deserved that open handed slap to the head.

I duck my head down in pain as my groin related throbbing continues.

And not the usual kind.

"I know what I said, but you at least have to somewhat be thinking. I…I gave it to you. I worked you out. And…and…"

"I'm sorry."

"Do they know?" She ignores me.

I shake my head. "I don't know. I don't think so."

"You don't think so. Are you sure? Because Cayle was awfully damn nice at that dinner! Almost like he was my friend or some shit like that."

"No." I shake my head. "He…can read me almost like you can. He figured out something was up. He didn't see…that."

I don't think.

I hope not.

"Dank ferrik!" Sabine exclaims, then a sound emits like she kicked the couch. "So he knows that something's up with us. And he's not that stupid because he knows we're both adults. Is he like…bound to tell the Jedi that we fucked?"

I shake my head before raising it. "They…they really don't care that I had sex. They loosened the rules on that…like I told you."

God this hurts.

I return to my position of misery before Sabine continues striding around. "Okay! Then you're assuming a lot that it doesn't matter to any Mandalorians that we fucked Ezra! You ever thought of that? The Jedi and my people used to be mortal enemies! There's still quite a bit of tension between the two of us!"

Oh.

I'd never even considered—

"You di'kut!" Sabine snaps at me again. "I had to do some serious explaining to my mother that you were okay and not some Jedi infiltrator. She asked a billion questions Ezra, none of which were easy to answer because of how weird your parents are…OSIK!" (A/N: Dung/shit – impolite.)

"Well hell." She continues after a moment to catch her breath. "They've already seen me naked and riding you like—wait…is that why you always wanted to go back to your room this weekend?!"

Yes.

I nod weakly but otherwise keep my mouth shut.

You deserve this. Just let her get it out.

I might be sleeping on the couch tonight though.

Just like I wanted to…

"So that's why you don't have a TV back in your room like we talked about. Because the damn Jedi would put a camera in it and try spying on you, us, anybody during sexy time or any other time. You realize how damn creepy that is?!"

"They don't really see it." I try and clarify. "There's…an intelligence branch who watches all of it. Most of it on fast forward if nothing got reported. If they see something then it probably gets pulled."

"OH THEY SAW SOMETHING ALRIGHT!" She blows a gasket. "You…"

She stops and paces all around me, then stops dead in front of me again.

The pain is finally starting to ease up…a little bit.

"At least you didn't totally go stupid and horny on main and let me hook up with you in here while we watched TV like I wanted to…I guess. But STILL!"

"Not much better." I mumble into the carpet.

Sabine ignores me for the moment before she walks over and yanks up on my shirt. "Up."

"Up?" I repeat blankly, raising my head—

"UP. NOW!" She demands before pulling on my shirt as hard as she can before I scramble to my feet.

Where are we…

Sabine leads me back to my room, throws me inside before shutting the door behind us and—

She's…hugging me?

"Hug me back dammit." She orders me, and I comply.

"I'm sorry. I really, really am."

I screwed up. It's all my fault.

"I know you are." She replies, curling closer to me. "I…I thought something was off Wednesday night and last night…"

"I was feeling guilty. Ever since we got done that day and I drove down—to work. I…I wasn't thinking."

I just enjoyed it. And did it.

"You enjoyed the hell out of it. I did too, it was great." She says before giggling quietly into my shoulder.

I pull her closer and give her a gentle squeeze. "Nobody's said anything about it. I…I just wanted to get out in front of it before something did happen. I…"

"I…what?" Her head pops right up to stare dead at me,

Through me, really.

"I don't think anybody knows. I haven't told anyone. Hopefully they miss it."

"They won't." Sabine scoffs at me. "You don't think they'll be mad? This…Council or your boss or whoever?"

"No." I shake my head. "They…"

I think I can tell her this. Without them killing me.

Sensing Sabine about to be insistent, I start up again. "On my mission, the main objective was to get…something. I can't say what. And if I had to, take her to bed and blow her mind so that she'd give it to me. They told me that."

"They told you that if she didn't give you what you needed, to take her to bed."

I nod, then wait anxiously.

…

C'mon…

"Then yeah, I see what you mean. They don't care if you have sex with somebody. You don't have to report me. Do you?"

"No." I shake my head.

"Good." She says, collapsing into a bigger hug before I feel the relief flow through her.

Closing my eyes, I hug her tight and very gingerly use the Force to lift her spirits just a bit before she settles in closer to me.

"You…I never told you what that word meant. Akalenedat."

"No." I shake my head. "Aka-what now?"

"Akalenedat." She smirks. "The word means 'hard contact', but when you're talking about sleeping with somebody it means…it's a place more than a thing or a word. I let you all of the way in Ezra…"

I am such an idiot.

"I'm so sorry Sabine…I'm so so sorry. I mean, I kind of knew that but…"

Some rounds were different than others.

I know what she means.

"Only you and…him have gotten me like that. Everything that I've got, I gave it to you. And…you'd better make it up to me tonight."

"Tonight?"

Tonight?!

Sabine closes the gap between us, sliding her hands around my neck to kiss me deeply, but only for a moment. "You're doing all of the work tonight. I've done most of it, or 50/50. Nuh uh. That…you're fixing this."

"I can dig into my bag of tricks." I give her a smirk.

I can. We've only…yeah. I haven't done anything special to her or used the Force at all.

I used the Force on Leah in our final go-round, the one that got me into her laptop, and she just about lost her mind on me.

Now Sabine, she'd...oh man.

I don't know.

"You don't have a bag of tricks." She says dismissively. "But if you do, you need to empty it."

"No I don't." I laugh for an instant before I tease her. "Gotta have something to keep you around."

"No you don't." She sighs, then curls back up into my chest. "You, I, I don't know…"

…

Hang on.

I think she's trying to say something.

"Thank you though. For telling me and not just keeping it a secret. I mean, I kind of knew something was wrong, but not totally. And you…trusted me enough to be honest and tell me the truth that you messed up and that we shouldn't hook up in the living room anymore."

"Yeah, no." I nod, eliciting a giggle from Sabine.

"I'm not an exhibitionist. This is a show for one…only one." She mumbles into my chest before reaching down and—

She pulls my t-shirt up over her head, revealing her bra before peering nervously back up at me. "I…I really do love and care about you a lot Ezra. You know that right? So much."

I nod before pulling her into my arms again, allowing myself to feel how soft her skin is. "You're too important to me."

"And I plan to keep it exactly that way. By hook or by crook, I will. Okay?"

"Okay."

—

—

—

Our lips separate before Sabine exhales all over my face before smiling at me. "You'd better come ready to play. Because if you can't last, then you're going to have to make up for it. And…you haven't done that with me yet."

OH.

That.

"Not that you'll get to. You're still very much in the dog house." She says before leaning back and collapsing onto my bed shamelessly.

Very true.

"Well?" Sabine asks, peering up at me before making a face.

What are you waiting for?