What? Had he forgotten he'd asked her to marry him? Or had imagination taken over, having her think that was what she thought she'd heard? Trying not to think about Hera and Kanan being a sore spot, Sabine, lounging in fuchsia fly-suit pjs, decorated with silvery green piping, rolled over and out of bed. Not sleeping enough made her edgy. Lack of sleep, coupled with Ezra and Kanan's impending departure, did her no good. Ahsoka was bound to show up more sooner than later. Atollon didn't lend itself to inspiration, but her muse worked in mysterious ways. She praised it for giving her some distraction. One of her works of art, a tender trompe l'oeil rendition of the couple holding hands while staring into an Atollon sunset, made her even more depressed. Creating the piece had been fine. In retrospect now, not so much. The art was supposed to be a surprise; neither of them had seen it yet. She wondered if showing it to them, gifting the picture, was a good idea.

What if… As she suited up, preparing for running a diagnostic on the sensor markers, the voice in her head nagged. Kanan was so sure. Nothing bad was going to happen to him…and… Sabine glared at herself in the little vanity mirror wedged into the 'fresher nook. The hint of makeup she wore, when she bothered to wear any at all, was okay. Instead of smoky gray eyeshadow, she chose smoldering mahogany. At the last outpost they'd visited, she'd picked up an efficient variety of lip colors, gently assorted flavored. She decided to tint her lips with a little 'rich rose' for today, orange-'nilla to the taste. Just to keep things interesting.

Leaving for Malachor…leaving for Malachor… Leaving…

The mantra was doing all kinds of unkind things to her concentration, rendering it all over the place. Not exactly the best state of mind to be in when giant many-legged predators could get the jump on you and make you their next victim. Rex had survived, still unsure why his attacker hadn't finished him off. Maybe the creepy-crawly had saved him to munch on later. Then they had come to his rescue and the gladiatorial party had really started. Sabine shivered thinking that. While finger-combing her hair, Ezra and Kanan's battle practice sessions replayed in her mind. She was extremely forthcoming with her praise, commending how significant their skill, agility and prowess were. Together, she hoped they'd be an invincible team against the Force-plagued Inquisitors.

The profoundly sad thought jarred her and the little voice in her head cried out. What if Ezra doesn't make it? He could die, like Kanan can't keep overemphasizing, or is captured. Bracing herself by latching on to the walls of the 'fresher, Sabine choked back a sob. Her head sagged, hanging way down. Why did they have to go off by themselves? Hera was so right. They all needed to be in on this. Together was the way they needed to be, not splintered off because non-Jedis would get in the way. Non-Jedis would be in too much danger against such dark and dangerous foes. When hadn't she, Hera, Zeb, even Chopper too, ever come through despite all of the scary situations they'd already encountered? Okay, so Ezra and Kanan were dynamic Jedi, and Jedi had their own ways of doing things that often made no sense to lesser mortals.

Well, this lesser, passionate mortal had, quite by surprise, fallen for the hotshot from Lothal. Incredibly hard too, if anyone asked. Thanks to what Ezra had become, she loved him so very much now, which left no room, zip, zero, none, for her acting as though she could take or leave his marriage proposal.

Which was exactly how she'd left it. Talk about looking back in regret. She did. There'd been no talk about it since he'd first asked. And now, what if he'd changed his mind? Ezra, having thought better of it, had second thoughts because she'd left that door wide open. So, now what? Again, the cerebral fretter, with its not so gentle kibitzing, non-stop, jumped right in.

Go—right now—find him. Tell him your feet aren't as cold as when he asked. You know you want him, and there's no use denying that any longer. You're a big girl, Sabi. It's time you started acting like one.

The man, the one you've always wanted, but never thought you'd ever know, let alone love, is asking you to accept him. Now, more than ever, before he goes…maybe never to be seen again…you tell him, "yes." You hunt high and low until you find him. Smother him in your arms and shower him with yeses. Yes him up and down, forward and back. Make sure he hears you loud and clear. Tell him "yes" to the best decision you've ever made, will ever make.

Sabine's heart leapt as she couldn't help but smile. Her heartbeat increasing, she laughed out loud. Overexcited, she double checked to be sure not one hair on her head was out of place. Satisfied she would satisfy, she barreled for her quarter's door. Ezra, here I come, and then, like an Imperial cruiser slamming into her, in the same flux of thought, she fell into a quandary. What made sense suddenly scrambled. They would marry. But, when? When, in the midst of all this never-ending turmoil and uncertainty? Ahsoka could arrive any moment now, and then he and Kanan would go. Was she here even as she thought this?

So, what could she do, what, before Tano actually arrived on the scene? With her heart, peace of mind and sanity on the line, Sabine activated the door. To her complete surprise, but not so much on his face, as far as she could tell, Ezra stood on the other side of the door, looking at her intently, intuitively. His eyes as round as moons. He led with the scars on his face, proud of them now.

"You knew?"

Ezra simply nodded, watching her, solely her, without a trace of smugness nor overconfidence. This moment was as delicate as rays of sunlight shimmering in a herbaceous planet's atmosphere. "Sensed."

"Of course you did. I should be used to that by now." Her eyes twinkled like stars. By now, she wasn't sure if she spoke in a normal voice. Had it sounded too high?

His words flowed, more easily than he might have imagined. "I'll never get used to you, Sabine. Not if we both live for as long as we can." When she skimmed his long hair that hid half his face from her searching eyes, Ezra smiled, all boyish, yet knowingly, at once. "This isn't goodbye, y'know. It's never going to be goodbye." Cupping her hands, his sincerity glinted like a knife. One whose sole purpose is to spread butter ever so delicately, not messing up the bread, nor laying the shortening on too thick. "We're in this together, no matter what."

"You bet we are," Sabine confirmed, squeezing his hands, inducing him to squeeze back. "I'm saying yes. Ezra, my answer is yes. I marry you. You marry me. Got that?" As she threw her arms around his neck, she stamped little kisses on both cheeks.

The Jedi-in-training, bemused as never before, stewed in his own reverie. No dream this time; she'd said yes. What next? The I-dos, naturally. But, who would do the honors? Commander Sato? Of course, why not? But, if not him, who, then? "Got it. So…uh…when do you want to get married? Before I go, or when I get back?"

"Oh, no, nothing doing. No waiting till you get back. Because, if you don't come back—not saying you're not—'cause you'd better. But, just, well—what I'm saying is—"

"What you're saying is," Ezra butted in, "why put off the honeymoon, when we could have Sato preside over the ceremony and honeymoon until Ahsoka shows up." His face clouded then. "But, but what about you in a nice, beautiful dress? You know, like all weddings have. Weddings have lots of nice things happening and plenty of marriage stuff going on. Important stuff. You know."

No one had such a straggled way of expressing himself like her soon-to-be Jedi hubby. Hugging him as tightly as she could, she twitched, nodded against his right cheek as their sighing, along with their hearts, intertwined. "First things first, okay?" Sounding all wife-y already, Sabine insisted, "Let's go tell everybody. We might give a certain half-hearted couple inspiration. Do what we're going to do."

As they bound hands, and she pulled him along, Ezra waffled, all for their marriage, but anticipating some negative reactions. Foremost from Kanan. What would he say? The man who loved Hera, but held off committing because of allegiance to protocol extinct Jedi once held to. "Uh, yeah…sure."

If Kanan had a fit, forbidding them to marry, what would Ezra do? A rash thought materialized in his mind. Marry Sabine anyway, and Kanan would just have to deal with it. Forever hold his peace if maybe, one was never sure when it came to life and love, Hera might insist they do the same too.

Here come the brides?