Ezra had no idea what else to do. He'd tried the dates. He'd showered her with presents he had guessed she would like. He'd even let her paint him every color of the rainbow without too many complaints. He'd offered to dance with her despite his having two left feet. He'd given her flowers when they happened to be on a planet that had really pretty ones. He was officially out of ideas. Show me that you mean it and I'll believe you. Her words echoed in his head every time he felt as though he should just give up. He'd been at this for months, surely that proved he meant it.
What wasn't she getting?
He was going to have to try something else... but he had no idea what that else was!
Unfortunately, the last resort was one he had saved as his last. If all else failed, which it had. Ezra didn't doubt that his mentor was good at what he couldn't get the hang of. He would appeal to Kanan, beg for his help and swear the strong Jedi to silence.
A few days later, Ezra decided he wouldn't put approaching Kanan off any longer. It was now, or never, and never wouldn't work for Ezra. This teen needed results. He informed the protective Jedi that he must come to meet him immediately in their training area. It was the best place for this sort of thing, Ezra figured. Kanan was worried, considering his Padawan's anxiousness, having made it sound as though it was an emergency. He dropped what he'd been doing, going over a supply-drop run with Hera and Zeb, and sped to the training site. When Kanan arrived, he found Ezra sitting cross-legged on one of the all-purpose mats, looking expectant. Not so much looking as if he faced a life or death situation. Ezra shot Kanan a million credit grin. A bit baffled, Kanan obeyed when Ezra motioned for him to sit down with him. Kanan's skeptical look razed his student's twitching face.
"What's going on?" the Jedi asked, obviously confused, doing his best to hide impatience.
Ezra hesitated before answering while Kanan stared at him, deadpan.
"What do you want, Ezra?" he asked and the tongue-tied, self-conscious teen sighed.
"Possibly a tiny favor and a promise to keep your mouth shut about said tiny favor," Ezra painstakingly prefaced, as Kanan began folding his arms over his chest.
"It depends on the 'tiny favor,'" Kanan steered.
"Well, I'm not telling you what it is until you give me your word you won't tell anyone about this." Ezra looked like a man on a mission; one Kanan gave him an irritated look for.
"As if I'd ever repeat what you tell me in confidence," Kanan emphasized as if he were as stupid as a Sarlacc.
"Swear," Ezra implored, his face a mask steeped in seriousness.
"I swear I won't tell anyone." Kanan was done with all this mystery. "So what's this favor I'm about to change my mind about granting?"
Ezra couldn't keep himself from looking at Kanan curiously a minute longer, as if assessing if he should really ask Kanan for this.
"I need help. She still won't be with me." Ezra looked crushed. Oh, no! He told himself those tears in his eyes had better dry up!
Upon sighing, Kanan reached for his pupil's knee before stroking the arm that was closest. "Look, Ezra. You summoned me here just so I won't tell anyone you want help with..." Even though they were quite alone, he hushed his voice. "Sabine?"
Feeling those tears burn in his eyes, Ezra felt wounded, shooting him a hurt look. "I don't know what more to do! It's not like she's the Force, for goodness sake; I can't feel her. She gets all lovey-dovey. We hug and kiss, but Force forbid I call her my girlfriend." Ezra used air quotes freely. "Because this on-again, off-again 'thing' we sort of have isn't like that." More air quotes.
"You still don't get it, do you?" Kanan's inflection was confirmatory. So much for biding his time with holding his tongue.
"Get what?" Ezra inquired, dreading the answer.
"You expect her to commit, but she's not ready to. Lesson one: Women are far more inscrutable than the Force." The sage Jedi was trying to break it to Ezra as gently as he could. "Flowers and dancing won't wear her down. If that's what you thought. She's Mandalorian to boot. Male, or female, they're tough cookies. Not easily won over. Or, have you already forgotten one of our latest missions? Sitting at the table with those two was like trying to keep their strills off me."
Groaning loudly, Ezra was clearly floored. "I thought that by now she would trust me. She'd see I'm not the goofy, selfish kid I once was. I can be exactly the kind of guy she needs. I'd never hurt her. I just want to make her happy."
"What exactly do you expect me to do about it?" Kanan demanded, more gruffly than he had intended. This was hard for the kid, and not a snap of the fingers for him as well.
"Tell me what to do! You know lots more about all this mushy chick romantic junk, and I don't. Please-I need help!"
Kanan hadn't meant to roll his eyes either. Didn't this galaxy have enough real problems? "Maybe you should start by not seeing romance as 'junk.'"
"Just tell me how to get Wren. I don't need a lecture," Ezra, petulant, muttered. He'd been lectured enough to last him a lifetime. He needed know-how, not 'hear-me-out.'
"Maybe you do need a lecture. Sabine might not give off that she's into romance, but she can be sentimental. Or, haven't you noticed? Would sweeping her off her feet be too much to ask? Doing even sweeter things for her would be a start. She doesn't want presents, expensive, or otherwise, or fancy dates. She wants the sweet little things that will make her melt. Contrary to popular believe, it is the little things that count. If you aren't willing to do that for her, why should she be with you? There are plenty of other guys out in the galaxy who would be willing. If she's so important to you, why wouldn't you want to make her happy?" Kanan prodded softly, but seriously, as he caught the spark of understanding kindled in Ezra's eyes, who scowled at him.
"But I said that's what I want, making her happy," Ezra whined. "This stuff doesn't come naturally for me, Kanan. I'm from the streets." His heavy sigh filled the room, this room that faintly hummed because of the Ghost's hyperdrive. "Where do I start? I thought I had. I've done all I can. It's all the same. None of it has worked!" he fairly howled.
Kanan made no mention of how he could relate. If and when the time came, he might share from his personal experience of romance gone wrong. "Ezra, there's no need to raise your voice. I'm right here, not in the cockpit." He softened his stern expression. "Listen to what you just said. 'It's all the same.' That's the point. Where's the thought involved in that? 'It's the thought that counts,' isn't some tired old expression. Sabine might enjoy your doing something thoughtful or special, out of the blue. Show her how much you actually care." If ever he needed the Force to lend him more insight, this was a prime time.
The tinge of his voice was decidedly dismal. Willing himself to shake off his dismay, Ezra conceded, "She's probably right. I'm obviously not boyfriend material." He muttered something more, which Kanan chose not to pick up on. He saw all over Ezra's boyish face just how much the youth wanted Sabine to be where he was in the emotional scheme of things.
Kanan couldn't let his 'son' hurt like this.
"Think over every conversation you've ever had with her. Think about everything you've ever heard her say and before you interrupt me with how much she likes getting the last word in, yes I know that. Do it anyway. Have you ever heard her refer to something as being romantic?"
"Are you kidding me?" Ezra fired off as though Kanan spoke about a completely different person.
He rolled his eyes this time. "Isn't there anything, one thing at all, that you know about her that reveals what she would especially like? So you could do it for her?" Kenan bunted.
Off-hand, Ezra could not. But he wasn't obtuse about following through on the suggestion. "Fine, I'll try that. If it doesn't work I'm giving up and leaving her alone." Kanan had wanted to suggest that, and was gratified to hear Ezra arrive at it. "Live and learn everyone says, right?" He rose from the mat, thanked Kanan for his time and advice before disappearing in a blink.
Kanan contemplated the spot he'd vacated, wondering whether Ezra would give up the fight for Sabine's love. He had a feeling that the kid was too 'never say die' to give up so easily, as it truly dawned on Kanan that Ezra felt more strongly about Sabine than he'd ever let on.
He had to wonder about himself. Was he as one with the Force as he liked to think?
Ezra was sitting on his bed fiddling with his lightsaber, somewhat lost in thought. He took heart, recalling a snippet of description he'd overheard Sabine tell Hera that she thought the most romantic thing ever were Mandalorian sunsets. Well, they weren't going to Mandalore anytime soon, so that was out. Could she be sold on sunsets going on someplace else? He shook his head and thought harder. What about giving her something, like maybe a bracelet with a sunset engraved on it? Could that somehow be done?
Where was he going to get said bracelet, and locate a gifted engraver who could do it?
Ezra sighed, long and low, gripping his trusty device. "Is this even the way to go?" he muttered, by chance catching sight of Chopper skittering past the open doorway, going on about Zeb and his ritualistic 'people.' As Ezra shrugged, he wondered if he'd find what he was looking for at their next destination. Destination unknown, at present. Romance, he pondered, sighing, igniting the lightsaber. Feel the romance within you, and around you, Ezra taunted.
"I'm trying, I'm trying," he groused aloud. "A little sign would help..."
Now, or never, it was. Getting up his courage, Ezra committed himself. He was so not into this romance mumbo jumbo, but Kanan kind of had a point, as Kanan usually did. Sabine was into a little romance, and he was into her, so he was going to have to at least try.
Wait, hadn't someone once said, "Do, or do not. There is no try?"
Ezra wasn't sure where he'd picked that up.
If after this, she still wasn't buying what he was selling, he didn't want to think about what came next. Nothing.
Would he have to move on out of sheer embarrassment? Take Leia up on her offer? Taking himself as far away from her as he could, though never forgetting her?
Hmm... The Princess...
She had befriended him. He was like a brother, nothing more. Talk about unattainable; she was moons over every planet of the deep core and inner rim. He was down in a Sarlacc sub-pit, hoping for a glimpse of radiance.
Ezra, taking a deep breath, knew he must get in there, or what he had gone through would have been all for nothing. She had to like it, just had to. He took another deep breath, then went in, to see she was fast asleep, looking so amiable and so painfully beautiful. Her blue-green hair washed across her serene face. He debated whether to wake her, regretted having to wake her, but his little plan wouldn't work otherwise. He sat down next to where she lay. His movement had been slight, yet her eyes fluttered open anyway. She gave being a light sleeper new meaning.
She yawned prettily, asking sleepily, "Hey, what's wrong?" as she rubbed her eyes.
"I need to talk to you."
"Right now?" Sabine half-whined, half-growled, stretching and sitting up to lean back against the headboard.
Ezra, acutely aware of the time, nodded, half-heartedly mumbled, "Kark." Not the nicest word to say. What had made him think this couldn't wait until she was semi-conscious?
His loss of nerve, not trusting that he'd still have it if he waited until shipboard morning, that's what.
"Ezra..."
"Just, let me talk. Okay?" he whispered, with her looking at him all surprised.
With a nod, she invited, "Talk."
Who had poured molten metal down his throat in the meantime? Struggling to clear it, he began, "I know I don't deserve you, Sabine. I've known that the moment we met. I don't regret feeling the way I do about you. Never will." What he wouldn't have given to know what she thought as she looked at him like he'd lost his mind. He rushed to get to the point, before she told him to get out. "You're the best, Sabine. I don't think I really understood what it means to mean it, before. I'm not good with romance. I don't understand half of it most of the time and it's not something I have any experience with. But...but, I want to try...because it's you." His sincerity oozed from every pore under her watchful eye. "I've made mistakes, always will."
"Like, who's perfect?" Sabine butted in.
"Definitely not me. I'm not the guy somebody's daughter grows up dreaming they'll marry one day."
"Ezra..." She'd made saying his name a question with a lump having risen in her throat, now so dry.
"But-I love you." Had he really been choking, Sabine would have come to his aid. As it was, her eyes widened and she blinked rapidly. Not stunned exactly, more like thoroughly surprised. Like she had no clue? Please. "And I'll try to make you happy if you let me." How could she fail to see how much he meant it? Ezra placed his hand in his pocket to extract a glinting little blue decorative box, proud to be gifting what it held to her. "This is how much I mean how I feel about you." Yeah, that had come out awkward. Count on one's nerves to foul up the most carefully thought out sentiment.
Sabine smothered the awkward moment by lifting the lid and helpless to suppress the teeniest gasp when she saw the precious hand-crafted cuff platinum bracelet nestled on tissue paper, the same color as the box. She removed it, awed. It was a cinch, making out the engraving on its broad face. Indeed, she adored sunsets, and this bas-relief depiction was perfect. How did he know? It had never occurred to her that he knew anything about one of the many things she missed about her home world.
"Breathtaking," Sabine murmured, her eyes misty. "Oh, oh...just fantastic."
Swallowing gently, lest he did something extreme to spoil the moment, Ezra encouraged, "Look just beneath the corona." She met his eyes, dazed, then trained her eyes where he wanted them to be. Her jaw dropped.
'Sabine, you had me at, "We're a family.' - Now and Forever, your Ezra'
She gawked at him in sheer disbelief; seeing her watery eyes, he wasn't sure if that was a good, or a bad, reaction.
"Now and forever?" Sabine trailed off through quivering lips with her voice breaking as she tried to hold back those incriminating tears. "You're m-my Ez-"
"Only if you want it that way," Ezra relinquished, with his heart in his hands, offering it up to her. He'd cut her off. Well, he'd always be faithful, just not the best-mannered. "I'll always love you."
As her tears finally fell, her lips crashed against his, he kissing her back as intensely. Several long, tender moments passed and they mutually pulled back to look intently at each other. On impulse, he brushed away the few tears staining her soft, perfect cheeks with his thumbs.
"Okay, you win. I believe you," she throatily admitted with a beatific smile. "Ezra, admitting to myself that I love you hasn't been easy." Now that was the meaning of understatement. "I've tiptoed around taking it to heart, let alone saying it. But...I do. I love you too."
Nope, he wasn't dreaming this time. Her words were loud, clear and in no way fuzzy. Although, Ezra blinked as if he was the one just waking up. "So...so, I did something right?" he put to Sabine as she giggled, almost a moan.
"Yes, this is the most romantic thing that's ever happened to me." She grinned and he couldn't help chuckling. "How could you have possibly known about that?"
Careful about not smirking too much, he confessed, "I overheard you once with Hera say how much you liked your Mandalorian sunsets. In all honesty, I searched every place on that last ritzy planet for what I hoped you'd like. It had to be perfect." He made a valiant attempt holding it together while she wreathed her arms around his neck and laughed, then kissed him until he was forced to come up for air. If he never did another romantic thing ever again, she wouldn't care. This was above and beyond. This was glorious.
He wasn't perfect, far from it. But, he was adorable and she mattered to him. He mattered to her, which was all that truly mattered.
This was love.