My Heart is Yours:

Sabine dropped Ezra's hand as she turned and faced her father with heat rapidly rising to her face. "Father!" Shit, he's seen me practically throw myself at Ezra twice now. What must he think of me? " I was just… um…"

"Checking for signs of the Karatos Plague in Ezra's eyes?" Kanan provided helpfully, all but laughing his ass off at her if that grin was anything to go by.

Sabine nearly growled at him. "Not helping, Kanan."

The masked Jedi Knight simply shrugged unapologetically.

Nerfherder.

"Relax, Sabine. I've already given your young Jedi my stamp of approval," Alrich reassured, pushing himself off the doorframe he was leaning on.

"Oh. You did? That's… good." When did Ezra have time to win over Father? Then again, who doesn't Ezra win over? He's literally one of the most liked people in the galaxy. Even the scum of the universe likes him. (Cough, cough, Hondo, cough.)

"The rest of the clan, on the other hand…"

"I know, Father. They're not exactly going to break out the good whiskey to celebrate my choice." More like dump Ezra in the lake and then eject him into space and laugh as he fractures into a million pieces. Or maybe that's what they'll do to me after they find out about Mother and Tristan. She sighed dejectedly as she walked up to her father and joined him as they moved into the common room. Eyeballing a couch that looked mighty comfy right now, wishing she could take a ten year nap, Sabine continued with, "Between that and the resurfacing of that weapon I wish I never invented, I'll be lucky if all of Mandalore doesn't eviscerate me." She huffed out another mournful sigh, aiming for the couch. A ten year nap might not be possible right now, but she was hoping for at least a ten minute sit. Preferably with Ezra beside me.

She never made it to the couch.

Ezra managed to cool off his face by focusing on Kanan's comment, brows rising in curiosity. What's the Karatos Plague?

Kanan sure is enjoying this whole thing. I wonder how long he's been waiting to be able to tease Sabine and I about our love lives like we tease him about his? Did he anticipate that we'd be together, though? I sure didn't. I was so worried Sabine would fall for some buff Mando guy while we were apart.

Someone her clan would approve of.

Ezra sighed as he listened to Sabine and her father discuss the consequences of her getting together with him. This doesn't sound like a good idea for her at all. Maybe I should back off now before things go any further. I don't want to hurt her standing with her clan any further. With her mother gone, doesn't that mean that she's the Countess now? Or does her father take over?

I have no idea. Sabine is always so reluctant to talk about her culture and her past.

He followed Sabine as she moved into the common room with her father, but stopped beside Kanan, just inside the doorway.

"Hey, what's the Karatos Plague?" Ezra whispered to his Master, keeping half an eye on Sabine as she walked towards the far side of the room and a rather comfy looking grey leather couch.

Ezra backed up a step to let a frowning Lady Kryze pass him as Kanan replied with, "Originates from Concord Dawn." Fenn's broken planet. Lovely place. "Causes blindness in forty minutes and death in sixty."

"Wow."

"Yep."

"Fenn mentioned it…" Kanan's words sputtered out as his head whipped to the side, prompting Ezra to look fully towards Sabine.

What he saw had him tensing in an instant and dropping his helmet.

In the adrenaline rush of winning a fight, Bo had let herself forget for a moment that she was seriously peeved with one Sabine Wren. The girl's teasing of her adorably young and somewhat inept Jedi lover had been amusing, but when Bo heard her mention that weapon that had just obliterated three of her clan members, including her beloved nephew, Korkie, Bo's fuse was lit once again.

Setting her helmet down on a table, Bo rushed the traitorous girl who should still be known as dar'manda. Ursa is… was… too forgiving.

The hairs on the back of Sabine's neck rose in warning just as she felt herself attacked from behind, her helmet flying out from under her arm. She had no time to react as Bo-Katan shoved her up against a wall face first and held the blade in her vambrace to her throat, breaking the skin. Ow. Haar'chak, I should have seen this coming.

The Countess of Clan Kryze growled at her as she shoved her harder. "You're a Mandalorian! Why would you create such an abomination? That THING is the weapon of a coward."

There was another clatter on the floor, like a second helmet being dropped, followed by the sudden easing of the pressure. Sabine turned around to find Bo-Katan had been pulled back by Ezra. With the Force. His face was a study of concentration and anger as he held the woman in an invisible hold and she struggled in his grip. Bo-Katan stopped moving after a moment as she realized fighting was futile. Go, Ezra.

"No blades," Ezra growled. He didn't mind the girls having it out, as he sensed this was something that needed to be cleared up, but he wasn't going to watch Sabine bleed. Kanan had almost stopped him, as he sensed what Ezra was going to do, but then thought better of it, and didn't interfere. He realized Sabine was Ezra's to take care of, now more than ever. Even if it's just as a friend, for her own good.

The thought of giving up the dream of having Sabine as his own was gut wrenching and made him feel sick, but Ezra would do it for her long-term happiness. She couldn't possibly be happy with him if her people hated her for it, no matter what she said.

Ezra walked around the furious redhead, holding her still with one hand held up, and came to stand beside Sabine, but kept his eyes pined to the Mandalorian leader. "If you promise to play nice, I'll let you go."

Bo-Katan's green eyes blazed murder, but she nodded stiffly. This is why Mandos hate Force users. How can you fight something you can't see or feel or hear?

Ezra glanced at Kanan, sending him a clear thought. "Can I trust her?"

Kanan frowned for a few seconds, studying her Force signature carefully before he nodded slightly.

Ezra let her go. Hope I don't regret this.

Bo-Katan took a deep breath and visibly calmed herself down. She turned her attention back to Sabine. "Why?" Just one word, but the hurt and pain in her voice was readily apparent.

Sabine sighed and consciously squared her shoulders to appear stronger than she felt, grateful for Ezra's comforting presence beside her. She was careful to keep her eyes locked with Bo-Katan's; she needed her to see her remorse. "I was young. It was a challenge. And I was arrogant. But when I realized the Empire tested it, and actually planned to use it, I sabotaged the prototype and destroyed the plans. Blew up a good chunk of the Academy in the process. I thought that was the end of it, I swear to you." Please believe me.

I think I remember that. The Empire called it a terrorist bombing. "Then how is it back?" Bo-Katan accused. "How come a dozen of your Clan and a few of mine are literally blowing in the wind? My nephew was there. Who's going to tell his wife and children that their father isn't coming home?"

Oh, stars! Not Uncle Korkie! Everyone loved Korkie. He used to play with me when I was little. He was the perfect blend of protective older brother and fun uncle. In terms of politics, the only worse person to have died would be Bo-Katan herself.

Ezra frowned in concern as Sabine went deathly pale and she shook her head hopelessly. Kriff, she's breaking again. Need to help her. How… Touch helped her before. I can do that.

Sabine's lower lip trembled as she stared at Bo-Katan with stinging eyes. "I'm sorry! I don't know how they brought it back. I destroyed it, I swear," she finished in a whisper, wishing for oblivion to free her from her mistakes. But then she felt Ezra lace his fingers with hers and Sabine found the courage to stand straighter again and face up to her past. He's like a shot of positive energy to the heart. I could get used to that. It might even be addictive. She took in a steadying breath. "But I promise I won't rest until I make it right again. This is my mess and I'm going to fix it."

"Not by yourself," Ezra said. "I'm with you to the end."

Sabine looked up at him and almost got lost in the sincerity and commitment she found in the blue depths of his eyes. She squeezed his fingers appreciatively. "Thank you, Ezra."

"I'm with you too," Kanan said firmly, quickly followed by Chopper's beep of support.

"As am I," added Fenn, who'd walked into the room at some point during the dramatics. "I promised I would follow you, back on Atollon, and I meant it."

"I will always support you, Daughter," Alrich added.

Sabine smiled a shaky smile at everyone in turn as they lent their support, and then she turned questioning eyes back to Bo-Katan, seeing the conflicted look on her face. And you?

Bo sighed. "I suppose I am as well. You do deserve the right to make things as right as you can, but this doesn't mean I won't forget what you've done." She turned and swiftly stalked off to the door that led to the cockpit, shoulders stiff.

The room as a whole kind of exhaled in relief that things were settled for the moment.

Damn, I hope I don't let her down, Sabine thought as she sagged back against the wall and a little to the left so she was leaning on Ezra too. He squeezed her fingers in sympathy and her she relaxed another fraction. Thank you, Ezra. Kriff, I missed having you by my side these last few months. In an unprecedented move for her, she relaxed even further and let her head tilt sideways and up, so she was resting on the hard muscle of his upper arm but she could still see his face, getting drawn into the fathomless blue of his eyes and letting the rest of the world melt away.

Ezra looked down at her, smiling softly, sensing her emotions settling back into contentment. Having her lean on him a little meant a lot to him since it was something she rarely let herself do. There'd be the odd occasion where they were on the couch, watching a holomovie or whatever, and she'd use his as shoulder as a backrest, but this was the first time her head had made contact with his arm. He was in awe of the vulnerability she was showing him (and everyone else in the room) right now. To show his appreciation he subtly stroked his thumb over hers, heart stuttering a little when he heard her breath catch. Oh, stars. She's really responsive.

Little Ezra thought that was a very interesting observation and twitched with the first stirrings of life.

Control, moron! Her father is in the room! Not to mention Kanan and Fenn. The dose of reality was an instant mood killer, thankfully. But even having the other three men talking quietly about who-knew-what on the other side of the room wasn't enough to stop Ezra from drinking in Sabine's beautiful features as she gazed up at him with big, trusting eyes. Force, I missed you. Please let me be in your life more. Even if it's just as a friend. Surely your clan wouldn't object too much if I came to visit you every couple of weeks?

As usual, the words were trapped in his throat. He was so afraid of hearing a negative response that it seemed better to just let things be as they were for the moment.

The sensation of having her fingers laced with his while he stroked his thumb gently over hers was doing funny things to Sabine's heartbeat and sending tingly little flutters of awareness through her... and they were both wearing gloves. She couldn't imagine how much better it would be without them, because even though hers were fingerless, she still had his layer of leather between them. And his eyes; they were melting her stuttering heart with how they looked at her. He loves me. He really loves me. And... I think I love him back. Maybe I always have. By the Mando, I love those gorgeous blue eyes. That look can't be anything but love. It's so obvious. This is far beyond the crush he used to have on me years ago. How long has he felt like that? How long has he been hiding it from me because I was too stubborn to see how perfect we are together?

However long it was, Sabine was grateful for it. She was quite determined to see that look in his eyes for the rest of her life, for she felt like she was finally right where she belonged. The love in Ezra's eyes was helping her forget, just for the moment, how WRONG the rest of her life was right now. Ezra, on the other hand, was RIGHT. Being with him felt right. Leaning on him felt right. Holding his hand felt right. She was actually thinking about moving even closer to him (possibly by climbing up into his arms and wrapping her limbs around him) and trying the whole kiss thing again, when her father spoke and tore her out of the trancelike state she'd found herself in for the last ten minutes.

"Sabine, I'm getting you a bacta bandage before you bleed out in increments."

She startled away from Ezra a bit, raising her free hand to touch the wound on her neck that she'd completely forgotten about. Her fingers came back shiny red with liquid life. "Oh. Yes. Thank you, Father." Now that she was focusing on it, her neck throbbed a bit from the shallow slice, like a really bad paper cut, and the neck and shoulder of her bodysuit was sticking to her unpleasantly. I should probably hit the refresher and clean that up before we land. She wiped her fingers off on her leg with a faint grimace.

Ezra frowned as he focused his gaze on the still bleeding cut on Sabine's neck just above the collar of her bodysuit, just beside her jugular. That was too close. "She hurt you," he said softly, regretting that he hadn't acted sooner and stopped Bo-Katan before she'd even touched Sabine. He'd known that the woman was harbouring resentment towards Sabine and had even told himself to keep an eye on her emotions. Just because she was amused one moment did not mean she would remain so the next. Unfortunately, Ezra had been mostly focused on imagining what kind of plague could blind a person. (It probably involved copious amounts of pus leaking from his brain.) Distraction wasn't a great excuse, but it was all he had. His only consolation was that Kanan hadn't picked up on Bo-Katan's intentions in time either.

"It's nothing, Ezra. A little bacta bandage will heal it by tomorrow."

Ezra touched her neck gently, quirking his mouth up in a crooked smile. "I wish I could fix it for you now, but Force Healing isn't in my bag of tricks."

Sabine laughed rather pathetically at his equally sad attempt at lightening the mood. "It's okay, Ezra. We have much bigger things to worry about than a tiny cut."

"Like not getting fried to a crisp in our armour," Fenn said, only half joking as Alrich reappeared in the room, carrying a damp cloth and an appropriately sized self-adhesive bandage. (The main refresher / med bay was the next door down the hallway if this ship was laid out the same as Ezra's.)

Ezra raised a brow at that. "Okay, so this weapon only targets Mandalorian armour, right? So why not make your armour out of something different?"

Sabine snorted and dropped his hand, smacking his arm for saying something so stupid. "Ezra, the armour I wear is five hundred years old. I reforged it to my liking, but, the battles, the history, the blood, all lives within it. And the same goes for every Mandalorian."

"Beskar armour is part of our identity," Alrich added in a patient teaching type voice. "It makes us Mandalorians who we are. Even though I rarely wear it, I do have my own set. I couldn't call myself a Mandalorian if I didn't. Even my cousin, the pacifist to the extreme Duchess Satine, had a set of Kryze coloured armour." He was busy cleaning off Sabine's neck as he said it, matter-of-factly unzipping her bodysuit as needed to reach the blood that had trickled down. It felt really nice to be taking care of his little girl again, even if she was quite grown up now. It was even nicer that she was letting him.

"And now our set-in-our-way heritage is going to make us dead," Fenn scoffed.

"Not if I have anything to say about it," Sabine said determinedly. "I AM going to fix this."

Bo sagged against the wall as soon as she left the room, just breathing as she fought back the urge to bawl like a baby from too many emotions. Too much had happened in one day already and most of it had not been planned for. And despite the mayhem she'd already committed, she still felt the urge to kill something; preferably over and over again until it was nothing more than a bloody heap of bones. And since she couldn't target Sabine anymore, the next person on her list (who'd been there for months, in fact) was one Tiber Saxon; Imperial ass kissing mongrel of a pervert Tiber Saxon.

She wasn't usually this bloodthirsty by nature, but Bo's instincts had been triggered and she was pretty sure she wasn't going to rest easily until both that thrice cursed weapon and Saxon were wiped from the galaxy.

Once she had herself under control again, she continued down the hallway to the cockpit and all but fell into the empty co-pilot chair. She stared blankly out at the passing scenery of dry red dirt followed by more dry red dirt and a rock formation or two while Kar flew in silence beside her.

He glanced over at her after a minute. "Do you want to talk about it?"

She rolled her heavy head to the side and looked at her best friend blearily. "No. But I should."

He smiled wanly. "You can tell me when you're ready. There's probably not enough time anyway. Even with only half power, we'll be landing in a minute."

Even just knowing he was always there to support her was enough to put a little durasteel back in Bo's spine. She sat up taller and then pushed all the way up to her feet, taking a deep breath to center herself once more. She touched Kar's shoulder before she left. "Thanks, Kar. I needed that minute of peace."

He caught her hand and squeezed it reassuringly, flying one handed and with only half an eye on where he was going. "I could tell."

She ruffled his short brown hair fondly and moved to leave when a thought stopped her. "At least we rescued your brother. That's something."

Kar's amber eyes lit up as he all but turned around to look at her. "How is he?"

Bo smiled softly. "He looks good, aside from quietly grieving over the loss of Ursa and Tristan. The Saxons treated him well enough, I think."

Kar sighed and turned back around, focusing on the camp that was now in sight. "Poor Alrich. He didn't deserve any of this."

"No, he didn't," Bo muttered as she left the cockpit. And it's all his daughter's fault.

She walked back into the common room to hear the only words that could have made her opinion of Sabine improve.

"I AM going to fix this."

"I'm holding you to that," Bo-Katan said with incontrovertible steel in her voice and everyone felt the ship come in for a landing. She stopped in front of Ezra and Sabine as Alrich finished applying the bandage, squeezing her shoulder in affection as he finished, zipped her suit back up, then moved a step away, tossing the bloodstained cloth onto a table to be dealt with later.

Bo only quirked a brow at the move, unconcerned and somewhat amused since her cousin was usually very fastidious. She wasn't even remotely surprised that he'd already taken care of Sabine's miniscule cut; the man was caring to the extreme for his daughter. He always had been. My father would have ignored it even if I was bleeding out in front of him, believing a Mando had to be tough in any situation. Fortunately for Sabine, she had Ursa for a mother, or Alrich would have coddled her to death. How Ursa ever came to love someone who was such a polar opposite to her is beyond me. Pretending her mind hadn't been elsewhere, Bo pinned the girl in a commanding glare, "We're landing at my camp, and they've been informed of what has transpired. There are several clans here, since we were actually planning an attack on the Imperial Saxons before I was informed by Ursa of the plan to free her husband. This is your chance to prove yourself, Sabine Wren. DON'T disappointment me."

Sabine nodded, her eyes not leaving Bo-Katan's until the older female flicked her chin towards the cargo bay, indicating Sabine should go first.

Sabine squared her shoulders, picked up her helmet, which she'd dropped when Bo-Katan had body slammed her, and walked proudly out the door.

As the ramp lowered, she found herself flanked by Ezra, Kanan, Fenn, and Chopper. Ezra and Kanan both touched an arm on either side of her at the same time in the same show of support, and Sabine couldn't help but smile slightly at how alike they were now. I doubt they even realize it.

The first thing Sabine saw as the ramp opened was the number of people waiting for her. The second was the vast expanse of the camp nudged up against a cliff wall that told of a bigger operation than the Empire would ever care to allow if they knew about it. They clearly didn't.

I can do this. Taking a deep breath, she walked down the steep ramp with her heart-family at her side, Bo-Katan and her father following behind.

As she was spotted by the crowd of about thirty that had come to greet the ship, blasters were drawn and immediately pointed at her.

"Sabine Wren."

"I know you built that weapon."

"You betrayed us all."

"You're a traitor to Mandalore."

She didn't know who any of these helmeted people were, but their accusations cut her to the core. Ezra and Kanan drew their lightsabres on either side of her and got into a protective stance, which made the hurt just a little less. She glanced further over and saw Fenn had his blasters drawn as well, ready to fight for her. Even Chopper had his electric prod out and ready for action. Stars.

The rest of the galaxy might despise me, but this is my family and they DON'T. If Hera was here, you can bet your ass she'd already have put these people in their place for badmouthing me.

Sabine squared her shoulders and raised her chin, staring the Mandalorian warriors down defiantly. If my family can stand up for me, then I can fragging well stand up for myself too.

And then her father's voice came from above them from his position halfway up the ramp, and her breath caught on the rush of love she felt for him.

"Lower your weapons," Alrich called firmly. "Sabine did everything she could to stop this from happening. You must believe us. Any attack on my daughter is an attack on Clan Wren and an attack on the new Countess."

New Countess? Oh, right. I'm the new Countess. Osik bat bevik.

That seemed to shock the crowd, as their blasters lowered ever so slightly and they looked at each other in confusion. Attacking a Countess was NOT a good idea. And this one was protected by two Jedi. Which made it even more confusing, since Jedi were supposed to be the enemy.

The opposing sides stared at each other for a whole minute, no one making a move to DO anything, but no one actually backing down either.

"You think we can take them if we have to?" Ezra thought to Kanan as he stared down the barrels of about sixty blasters. (Every Mando had two, of course.) He doubted they were set to stun.

"Uhhhhhh. Let's hope we don't have to."

"Way to think positive, Kanan."

"I thought I was." The thought came back completely deadpan.

Ezra snorted under his breath. "They open up, I'm Force pushing the lot and grabbing Sabine and hightailing it back into the ship."

"I'll cover you."

"You always do. Have I told you lately that you're the best Master ever?"

Kanan mentally snorted back.

Sabine couldn't take the tension anymore. She threw her helmet on the ground and all but screamed, "No!"

Ezra looked at her in shock, his fingers tightening restlessly on the hilt of his lightsabre. "Sabine! What are you doing?" Don't piss off up the natives! Can't you see we're seriously outnumbered here? These aren't exactly stupid stormtroopers holding us at blaster point!

"I'm prepared to take responsibility for my actions," Sabine explained quietly to him. I have to if I'm ever to live with myself. Ezra blinked and then nodded slightly in acceptance, but he didn't turn off his lightsabre. She didn't blame him.

Sabine addressed the crowd, raising her voice so all could hear her, especially as it seemed that even more had joined the back of the gathering. (Hard to tell for sure, though, since she was so short.) "It's true. I designed the weapon as a loyal student at the Imperial Academy. The Empire is using my prototype. But it's only functioning at a fraction of its capacity. At full power, it will destroy armies. So, you've got a choice to make. We can fight each other, or we can destroy this weapon once and for all!"

Bo had been watching the whole thing, not taking sides. She came to a decision as she'd seen what she'd needed to from the girl. She stepped forward and downward and addressed the crowd as well, after giving a quick nod of approval to Sabine. "I understand your anger. In many ways, I feel the same. But Sabine is right. Now is not the time for us to be divisive. She knows the most about this weapon and how to destroy it. We need her."

The crowd fell into quiet mutters, their blasters lowering a bit further, but most certainly not put away yet.

Bo stared down her own clan members, telling them silently to put their blasters away or be in very big trouble.

Fortunately for them, they caved to her willpower. As they holstered their blasters, bowing their heads to her slightly, the members from the other clans followed their lead, the Jedi put their weapons away, and most of the tension evaporated from the air. With a murmur as people talked amongst themselves, the crowd dispersed, going back to their tasks for the evening or to their tents.

Bo turned to Sabine and gave her a look that said the rest was up to her now. "It's time for you to prove your loyalty. Not just to your family, but to all of Mandalore. Come with me and we will make plans." Her eyes swept over Sabine's protectors and she raised an imperious brow until the Jedi nodded in obeisance. Even the blind one. How did he know I was even looking at him? From what I've seen, his talent with the Force must be at least as good as Kenobi's. Impressive. The boy, on the other hand, seems rather mediocre. What does Sabine see in him? Now this one, she thought as her eyes came to rest on Fenn Rau, this one is also an impressive specimen with more than adequate fighting skills. No Force powers are needed to make him a worthy warrior. Fenn did not dip his head down under her stare, but met her eyes steadily in a look of curious assessment. That one was too proud to bow down to her. They had been on opposite sides of a triangular war, once, but now found themselves on the same side. Bo found him to be quite intriguing and thought he would make a good ally. She didn't mind him not prostrating himself at her feet like so many other men did in an attempt to win her favour. His studied aloofness and confident stance was by far more appealing. She'd have to keep an eye on that one.

Bo-Katan turned on her heel and stalked to the large command tent in the center of the camp, followed by Fenn, who thought she just might be the fiercest, hottest female he'd ever encountered. Between her commanding leadership skills, her kickass fighting style, and her elegant beauty, Fenn was thinking he might be in love and how come it had taken so long for him to meet her? Seriously, we've been fighting the same wars for years, but I've never managed to meet her in person? There is something seriously kriffed up with that.

Ezra and Sabine looked at each other. That was tense. But we survived to fight another day, the look said. A look they'd given each other many times over the years.

She raised a shapely purple dyed eyebrow at him. Did you really have to question me in front of everyone?

Ezra shrugged with a bashful look, rubbing the back of his neck for a moment before he remembered that that was an unattractive show of insecurity. Sorry. My mouth thinks before my brain sometimes. I know you're a Countess now. He summoned over Sabine's helmet for her as a pathetic peace offering.

She shook her head at him as she accepted the offering of her own helmet from the air. Such a sweet, talented, dork. Then she leaned over and kissed his cheek gently, letting her lips linger on a spot just below his sexy double scar. Think about that when you go to sleep tonight, Ez'ika. I promise we'll try some real kissing soon.

Ezra blushed scarlet in the scorching heat of the late afternoon sun. Oh Force, that was definitely not just a friendly kiss! I think I might swoon. Can a manly Jedi get away with swooning?

Sabine gave him a sexy, suggestive smile, biting her bottom lip in attractive white teeth for just an instant, her amber eyes flashing promises at him, before turning and walking away in the same direction Bo-Katan had gone. Her distant cousin was not one to be kept waiting.

Ezra was left behind, staring at her confidently striding, exceedingly hot, figure with his heart in his eyes as he held his hand to his tingling cheek in awe. He startled when Kanan clapped him on the back. "I think it's safe to say that you two are dating now," he said, a hint of laughter in his voice.

"But… What if our dating is not the best thing for Sabine? Mandos don't like Jedi."

Kanan shrugged. "I'd say that she doesn't seem to be too worried about it so you shouldn't be either. That girl has clearly chosen you. Her signature practically clung to yours before she walked off."

Ezra gaped at Kanan, doing a good impersonation of a landlocked fish before he snapped his jaw closed. Wow! Oh kriff. Okay. Okay. We can deal with any haters together, I guess. I doubt I'd have the fortitude to turn her down now anyway. Not after that kiss and even hotter look.

And then he was clapped on the back again by Alrich. "Kanan's right. Sabine has definitely staked a claim on you. Us Jedi hating Mandos will learn to deal with her choice." Alrich winked cheekily before he followed after Sabine, calling over his shoulder, "Congratulations, son. Don't make me wait too long for the grandkids."

Kanan snorted with laughter as he followed after Alrich, catching up to the slightly shorter man in only two long legged steps.

Ezra's jaw practically dropped to the ground again as he stared after the two men who were now laughing like lothloons. They've lost it. "I am NOT having kids anytime soon!" he all but yelled into Kanan's mind in protest, because he had to protest to someone.

"But Alrich wants them," Kanan teased back.

"Don't care."

"You should." Kanan was still laughing both out loud and in Ezra's mind.

"Nerfherder." Then Ezra closed down the bond with a snap like a mental 'frag you'.

Chopper bumped into the back of his legs, beeped something like, "Get a move on, meatbag," and rolled after the others.

Ezra startled out of his frozen position and ran after the older men. He caught up to Alrich and jogged backwards in front of him. "You were kidding, right? Please tell me you're kidding?"

Alrich just grinned and swept into a huge guarded tent like he belonged there.

Ezra turned to Kanan, eyes pleading. "He was kidding, right?"

Kanan shrugged, a smile still playing on the corners of his mouth. "Probably not. Their clan is a little depleted at the moment. They have to grow their numbers somehow. And I believe it is quite common for their people to marry young and produce children early since their life expectancy tends to be on the short side."

"Kanan!" Ezra said in shocked despair that his Master was still playing along with what Ezra sincerely hoped was cruel joke.

Kanan just squeezed his shoulder and ducked into the tent.

Ezra looked from one guard to the other, standing on either side of the doorway and armoured in Bo-Katan's clan colours of silver and royal blue. "Was he kidding?"

They shrugged as if in practiced synchronicity and then one held the door open for him.

Well, kriff that. Alrich can't make me have kids while I'm still a teenager. Sabine, on the other hand…

Ezra shook his head at himself, quickly dispelling the thought before it took root. His eyes were still wide when he entered the massive tent.

Mando'a translations:

Osik bat bevik - Shit on a stick.