The NightBrother flew over the snow-covered spruces dotting the white plains between the mountains. Krownest, especially at sunset, was always a beautiful sight to someone who rarely saw any snow and it would stay that way even now. However, the plumes of smoke on the horizon told Sabine that something was very wrong. Steering to the left, NightBrother reached a beach of a frozen lake and a glassy exterior of a large mansion on the opposite side of the lake reflected the natural light right into vessel's cockpit, almost blinding her. The house did not seem damaged so there was that. Welcoming escort did not sound all that worried so it must've been fine.
Maneuvering the ship in 180 degree turn, Sabine landed at the cleared landing pad near the front of the mansion. Sighing, Sabine put her helmet on and made her way to the ramp. It's been so long since she visited Krownest, she didn't even know what to think. Lothal had become a home for her, however unworthy she felt to be a part of its people from time to time. Two Mandalorians came out of the mansion and offered a small bow.
"Lady Wren," one male warrior stepped forward. "Welcome back."
"Thank you," Sabine inclined her head. "Where's my family?"
"Inside, in the main hall."
"Lead on, then."
"Sabine!" Tristan exclaimed as he saw Sabine being led inside. Ursa and Alrich Wren's heads snapped away from whatever plans they were looking at.
"Hello, everyone," Sabine gave a small wave as the guards resumed their station. "What's going on?"
"Oh, you know, some skirmishes here and there," Tristan shrugged. "Nothing serious."
"Giant pillars of smoke beyond the mountains disagree," Sabine crossed her arms. "So?"
"We had several rogue Imperials in this area," Ursa spoke up and descended from her chair. Sabine straightened herself as her mother drew closer. "They've tried to figure out whether we were still here."
"I see," Sabine cocked her head. Ever since the Night of A Thousand Tears, the Mandalorians scattered across the galaxy. Those on Krownest were spared thanks to the planet's remote position. Unfortunately there were some outcasts of Death Watch that also survived. Bo-Katan's whereabouts were currently unknown. And even though the Empire has fractured, the remaining fleets with huge zeal still tried to cobble some semblance of control.
Alrich joined his wife and glanced at her utility belt before looking up, "How are you, Sabine?"
"Never been better."
Ursa and Alrich shared a glance and put their hands on Sabine's shoulders with Tristan putting his hand on her back. Of course, leave it to the estranged but a family nonetheless to notice changes in her behavior.
"You've always been good at keeping things quiet rather than lying, daughter dearest," Ursa chided. Sabine's shoulders dropped.
Alrich signaled Tristan to drop his hand, Ursa dropped hers as well. The older man led his daughter to a mess hall in the back of the main hall, followed by Tristan and Ursa. Once there, Alrich nodded to one of the servants to fetch something to drink, preferably something mild.
"What ails you, Sabine?" Alrich received the tray with drinks and sat the young Mandalorian down, pouring the glass and offering it to her. Ursa sat beside her husband and Tristan joined his sister. Sabine took her helmet off, letting her hair fall onto her back and shoulders, and took a swing of the drink, brows scrunching up.
"Once I've heard about what happened on Mandalore," Sabine started and took another swing. "I was dumbstruck. I foolishly supposed that since Battle of Yavin happened, the Empire would be totally focused on the Rebellion."
"Mandalore de facto joined the Rebellion in the fight," Ursa argued, also pouring herself a glass. "Empire may have taken several huge losses, but they were still a large group. Even now, with the establishment of the New Republic, the danger has not passed."
"Now, things are looking better and better each passing week," Alrich injected some positivity.
"The victory was a costly one," Tristan rubbed his hands. "It took destruction of Alderaan and Mandalore to finally push the Empire to its death."
"For each loss the Rebel Alliance suffered, they took something from them," Ursa looked at her son. Sabine nodded to herself. Atollon for Lothal and Scarif. Alderaan and Hoth for Yavin and Endor.
"However I sense that's not all that is troubling you," Alrich chimed in, looking at Sabine then down. The girl looked back at her father whose eyes were trained below the table, in the direction of her belt. Her mother also followed the husband's eyes and raised an eyebrow. Tristan simply looked between the three but did not speak up. The pressure was felt and Sabine, with a small grunt took the object off her belt and set it on the table.
"Aaah," Alrich gingerly took the item. "Master Bridger's weapon."
Ursa and Tristan moved closed and inspected the weapon. Despite fighting side-by-side with the young Jedi, they never actually took time to look over the tools the young man wielded. The handle of the weapon was polished and some parts were replaced. Now it actually looked presentable.
"You carry this with you all the time?" Ursa accepted the weapon from Alrich.
"No," Sabine let out a small amused grunt. "Not as much as I would like to."
"You know, in eyes of some Mandalorians this would be a very controversial behavior," Ursa pointed out, handling the weapon to Tristan.
"Like I care," Sabine caught herself. "Uh, sorry mother."
"I am not one of those Mandalorians," Ursa smirked. "No apology needed."
"You still haven't told us why you're here," Tristan pointed out. "Not that it's not good to see you. It's just… odd that right now you chose to visit."
"I concur with Tristan," Alrich nodded.
"Well," Sabine looked to the side. "Recently I got to babysit Jacen, uh, Hera's son and later I just wanted to see you all."
"Ah, Hera Syndulla," Ursa closed her eyes and smiled. "Truly an admirable woman."
"Mhm."
She told them about the week she and Jacen spent on Lothal, the slow but stable economic growth of the planet and what could almost be described as cultural and natural revival of Lothal. Sabine also told them about the whereabouts of the rest of Ghost crew, about Zeb and Alexsandr's service on Lira San, of Hera's continual life of a New Republic General.
"So, Sabine. Can I take this thing for a spin?" Tristan twirled the saber in his palm. Ursa and Alrich looked at each other with raised brows. The boy had never expressed the desire to even touch the weapon. Sabine looked at him crossly and snatched the saber.
"No. You're not trained to use it."
"I could learn?"
"That is a thought," Alrich scratched his chin. "Would you be willing to train your brother, Sabine?"
"Why?" Sabine crossed her arms, lightsaber still clutched in her hand. "There are no lightsabers around here for him to use."
"Additional knowledge wouldn't harm," Ursa countered. Sabine fidgeted. When did her mother became this gung-ho with learning ways of other cultures?
"I don't know… I'm not good at teaching."
"You should think about this," Alrich advised. Looking to the side, Sabine saw Tristan's expression dancing between conviction and puppy eyes. The Mandalorian sighed.
Sabine sat on the railing of the balcony with the helmet beside her, watching the snow fall slowly and melodically onto the lake's frozen surface, the lightsaber laid in her lap with Sabine's hand over it. The columns of the smoke dissipated and she saw several troop transports carry the salvaged weapons and towling the intact vehicles. The girl looked down and inspected the saber, lost in thought. Ursa came up behind her.
"I can hear you thinking from here."
Sabine rolled her eyes, not looking away, "I'll try to think less then."
Ursa snorted and slowly walked up to the railing, leaning on it. Sabine spared her a side glance and resumed inspecting her possession.
"Any news on Bo-Katan?"
"No."
"Hm."
"So, Bridger," Ursa did not dance around the subject. At least in private. "What did you see in him?"
Sabine's lips formed into a melancholic smirk, "When we first met, he was a loth-rat, a scavenger and swindler."
"Not the best first impression."
"Yeah. Anyways, he was… fairly annoying at the beginning," Sabine had to laugh at the memory of Ezra trying to play it smooth while sliding down the glass of the gunner cockpit after falling during one of the training sessions… He almost fell to his death… "Always trying to impress me in some way, failing most of the time. But then..."
Ursa motioned with her wrist to go on though did not rush her and Sabine shook her head.
"… Then I realized that the boy I found annoying was just a lost soul, with his own struggles and fears," Sabine shrunk. "His fears were sometimes too much… even for us. Him being a Jedi with the Force and whatnot, only amplified his apprehensions."
"No, we're not leaving any witnesses!" Ezra's eyes bore into hers.
"That's not our mission Ezra!" Sabine affirmed, afraid of the energy Ezra mainly directed at his enemies now being trained on her.
"After Malachor-" words got stuck in her throat and she had to clear it. Ursa kept silent as Sabine retraced her memories. "After Malachor, he became… someone else. No, no that's not it. He was still Ezra Bridger but… he was always kindhearted, even to opponents. Ezra still joked with us, even if his jokes gotten a bit too real sometimes… but- I'm going to be honest. It was like Ezra didn't care whether people lived or died. He was willing to do whatever he thought was necessary to win… "
Sabine's eyes lit up with hateful flames as her voice rose, growling, "And that bastard Maul..!"
"What does Maul have to do with this?"
"He-!" Sabine had to take a few breaths. "He was the one who blinded Kanan after trying to take Ezra in as an 'apprentice.' He messed with Ezra's head and he went off alone to find him. And that-"
Sabine pointed to the parked NightBrother, "-is where Ezra got this."
"He killed Maul?" the older Wren questioned, her daughter shrugged.
"Said Maul won't be a problem anymore."
"If he did kill him, then that is commendable."
"Yeah..." Sabine sniffed, getting back on track. "After Maul was gone, Ezra's gotten better. His, how do I say this, uh, moral compass, I guess? He regained some of that innocence I didn't realize we've all missed. Then… Lothal happened… and he almost relapsed again were it not for Kanan."
"You didn't exactly answer my question, my daughter," Ursa interjected. "Did you feel something else for him as the time went on? I'm not blind, I saw how he looked at you couple of times and how you smiled."
"… I don't know what I felt back then," Sabine turned away. Ursa understood she overstepped her boundaries right there and then.
"I'm sorry, please continue."
The girl kicked her legs back and forth, "Then Kanan died… We were all hurt, yes. But he was hurt the most and I understood him more than I'd like to admit. Kanan was like a second father to us."
"I'm sorry, Sabine," Ursa snaked her hand over her daughter's shoulders. Sabine leaned into the touch.
"But he pulled through, rallied all of us... and then he-" Sabine couldn't even finish the sentence.
"Do you miss him?"
The young girl sighed, "Not a day passes when I don't."
"What I am about to tell you will sound cruel: I believe it's time to move on," Ursa lowered her voice. Sabine's eyes widened in mute outrage. "I'm sorry, daughter."
Sabine's breath hitched once more and she took the lightsaber in both hands, igniting it and bathing them both in green light. The shaking blade of energy was almost mesmerizing.
"I'm sorry, mother," Sabine shook her head. "I simply cannot. He said he counted on me before he disappeared. I can't let him down."
"… I see..." Ursa closed her eyes, thinking. "I want to apologize. I've pushed you too far. For too many times."
"All is forgiven," Sabine smiled sadly at her mother, turning the lightsaber off. "I wasn't exactly a perfect child either. Stupid and arrogant."
"That is an unfortunate but necessary part of growing up," the Wren matriarch smirked. "For what it's worth I believe he'd be a perfect suitor."
"Mother!" Sabine exclaimed but her smile was much more lively now. Ursa raised her hands in mock surrender and took a step back to the door, laughing for the first time today.
And that is the second part of my little trip into Rebels memories. Just a little fart of my brain, it's not good nor is it long. Man, writing the Wren family outside of Sabine is not easy given relatively small screentime they had so I had to make due. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
