Though Ezra possessed only a fuzzy thread of knowledge about the dark force behind the cold, the coldness that was Darth Vader knew him. The obsessive Sith Lord thirsted for Bridger, turning him to serve the Empire, binding him to malevolence. The boy was so weak, at this stage, but the dark side would empower him and he would serve Sidious, adding to his cadre of slayers.
"Lord Vader..."
"Yes, Master?" the twisted soul beneath the mask responded, subservience leeching, as he kneeled before the power-mad autocrat. "What is thy bidding?"
"I sense conflict within you," Sidious niggled, probing, always searching his Hand through and through. The conflict the Emperor detected lay close to the surface, but Vader's preoccupation with old memories involved more than capturing the young rebel from Lothal.
Beneath his mask, Vader's eyes were closed as images of the past clouded his vision. Ahsoka…whispered in his mind, her face shivering behind his eyelids.
"You will face your old padawan," the auger augured.
"Yes, Master," Vader obediently sided, opening his eyes and tightening his hold on his lightsaber secured at his side. "She is a living memory of everything I once was!"
"And will never be again, Lord Vader," the Emperor confirmed, causing the hologram to scintillate.
"Yes, Master." The ceaseless harangue redounded in Vader's mind, confounding his restless thoughts. Everything that was stolen from me!
"Good hunting, old friend," Sidious bade and his image disappeared.
Vader lifted himself up from his bow and left his command center, heading for the cruiser's bridge. En route, the men beneath snow white armor genuflected as it was their duty to pay respect to the undisputed strength and might of the Empire. Under his breath, Vader muttered, "I shall find you, and all of your sympathizers. Don't think for one moment you will escape me, my one-time apprentice. Not you, nor any Jedi who sides with you. You reached out to me and I revealed myself to you and all of the dark side's potency." He had felt how she had collapsed aboard the Ghost, had perceived her shock, terror and pain. She'd screamed within herself and had fainted dead away, fitting that she should. Her master was now her nemesis, and would ultimately be her undoing.
Vader strode over the gantry leading to the bridge's fore viewport to stare out at the rich, vast blackness of unending space. There was nowhere in all this sprawling galaxy for his enemies to hide. Clenching his gloved hand into a fist, he swore, "I shall defeat you all…"
"Like I said, kid…" Kanan, heaving a sigh repeated what he hadn't been able to stop reminding Ezra. "We're no match for a Sith Lord. I hate using the word invincible, but it sure as the Force fits. That's why he batted us away like we were llamy-flies. He didn't kill us. Why he didn't keeps bothering me."
"Funny how you kind of sound upset about that." Engaging, but naïve, Ezra boyishly inquired, "What makes him so powerful?" Sabine, her eye-catching hair was sometimes a welcome distraction, sat beside him in the common room, brushing her slender hand along her sweetheart's long forearm. He smiled at her gesture, glad to be here among the camaraderie and sense of belonging extended by his adopted family. "When our lightsabers connected, I couldn't move. Like I'd gone all frozen. And I was burning up, like I was on fire at the same time. It was the creepiest I ever felt." Another involuntary shiver skittered through him. The hand that had brushed his arm Sabine raised, moving toward his face. Gently, she fluttered her fingers against his cheek. Appreciating the tenderness of her strokes, Ezra leaned into her touch.
Communing without words, the gazing youths smiled, mooning into each other's eyes. The harsh reality of what their lives had become all so suddenly got a bit softer around its edges. Fighting for what was right and each other called for the kind of devotion that didn't evaporate under pressure.
Kanan regarded the lovebirds with eyes full of understanding. No longer keeping how they felt about each other a secret, Sabine and Ezra readily expressed such feelings openly. The crew, especially Hera and Kanan, were happy to see their relationship blossom. The Empire was oppressive, squashing happiness wherever it saw fit, but at least in some respects, for all its domination, it would never be able to stamp out affairs of the heart.
"We've discussed this before, Ezra," Kanan seamlessly brought up, noting a look of utter bewilderment in his apprentice's minimally-scarred face. He couldn't help admire the brash young man, who had truly shown his mettle in the heat of redoubtable battle. Not once had he backed down when facing off against the fearsome Sith Lord.
"I'm gonna go check on those containment canisters we'll need once we secure the reinforcements we were promised," Sabine announced, lifting herself from the couch and the hold Ezra had of her with his arm around her waist. The smugglers they were forced to deal with were strictly 'we bring the goods, you supply what's needed to take them away in.' Sort of like intergalactic recycling.
"No, stay," he begged, not self-conscious of how needy he couldn't help but sound. Having Sabine near was like having a tonic in easy reach. "I'll help you with that later. I promised, remember?"
Kanan smiled, winking at him. The kid had all but left out, 'dear.' My how his plaintive tone smacked of Ezra's already tying the knot with the shapely and witty weapons expert.
Firmly, yet mildly, Sabine held her ground. Flashing her eyes with a little laugh, she waved her finger at Ezra. "Give me a head start so you can catch up later." With that, she rippled her fingers through his unruly ravine hair and scooted out of the hold.
Glum momentarily, Ezra sighed, bemused about her having practically turned him into putty with nary a peep of protest from him. Was he complaining? Not by the brightening look on his face.
"You've got our hands full with that one, kiddo," Kanan cajoled.
"As far as I know, my hands aren't complaining," Ezra fired back, then remembered what they'd been discussing before Sabine derailed the train. Before he could get their conversation back on track, his teacher remained at the helm.
"Have you two made plans?"
"Plans?" Ezra tossed back, looking at him with the widest eyes and wrinkled forehead.
"Yeah, the marriage kind?" Kanan boldly parried.
"I thought you said Jedi don't get married."
"I said attachments are discouraged. I said nothing about not getting married." He patted his student soundly on the back. "Think about it. You and Sabine are good together, and I think if you were without her, or she without you, it'd be like a wampa losing its jagged yellow teeth."
"Wow, nice comparison, Kay." Ezra sat further back, sinking deeper into the couch, alarmed that Chopper had stopped fidgeting as if he was paying too close attention. "Think we can discuss this another time?"
"Sure, kid, sure," Kanan acquiesced, mirth roiling in his dark, playful eyes. "The only reason I asked is that Hera and Sabine were talking, and Hera said Sabine wondered what your kids would look like…would they have your eyes, or hers. The same nose and mouth. Hair color?" The Jedi, with tongue in cheek, aped at Ezra. Looking full of himself, Kanan crossed his leg over his left knee and braided his hands behind his neck, like he owned what the Empire hadn't seized yet.
"What!" Ezra brayed.
"Yep," Kanan confirmed, then quickly added, "But you didn't hear any of this from me."