Maybe this wouldn't be the wisest thing to do, contacting Ezra while in a nest of Imperials, but she felt that she had to. She considered her action some more. Endangering the mission, the last thing she wanted to do, weighed heavily on her mind. Sabine couldn't easily dismiss the worried look; his worry lines cut deeply into his boyish face. The face she cherished, scars and all. Maybe they wouldn't be seeing each other again; that was what he'd been thinking. That had been the saddest she'd ever seen him resonated within her.

The love they felt for each other had grown tremendously, so much so that when the crew had paid Alderaan a short visit, at Ezra's tireless insistence, Sabine had seen for herself that Moreena Krai was a friend. If she thought anything more than that she'd be deluding herself. In fact, Moreena and Ezra were more like sister and brother. The Krai family, happily resettled on their new homeworld, had taken to farming again. Ezra's family-in-Rebellion and the Krais had gotten along famously. Any bad feelings about the planet's safety that had bothered Ezra had faded away.

After Moreena and Ezra had said their goodbyes again, that had been that.

When the Ghost crew had returned from Alderaan, Phoenix Squadron had tasked them with this new assignment. The extraction of defectors from the Empire had taken center stage. He had wanted to go in her place, which wouldn't have made much sense. As had been pointed out to him, the Empire was getting to know Ezra Bridger all too well.

Although, his Jedi skills would have come in handy, especially when it had looked as though her encoded ID wasn't going to get her past security. Her stomach had never dropped so low as butterflies in it had swarmed like maddened Nubian burblebees. She was imagining how Ezra would have handled the situation in her place. A Jedi mind trick was made to order for anything like that.

Thankfully, she'd gotten through; her tactic had worked. She didn't want to think what would have happened if after she'd blown off the light film of lint on the fake credentials card, the thing still failed.

During that ordeal, she had reached out to Ezra. She'd been awed because he'd found a way to respond. All at once, a sense of security and everything would go well had flooded her, and the idea to blow on the card had come to her mind.

She couldn't explain how, or why, what had happened had occurred. She only knew that he'd reached her; Ezra had sent those vibes to calm and advise her through the Force. Not bad, and she wasn't even Force sensitive, not a wit. How glad she was that his ability somehow had overcompensated for what she lacked. Maybe their being married had something to do with how attuned the Force made them to each other. Just a wild guess on her part. She wasn't complaining. It was a nice little gift to have around when they found themselves in tight spots.

This affinity hadn't come overnight, and there were still varying degrees of rough patches to weather now and then. Largely though, their relationship was blossoming into something uniquely marvelous. The more they were together, the stronger their bond grew.

Presently, Sabine was recuperating in the airborne installation's drab dormitory she'd been assigned to. This place, where she and her fellow cadet pilots-in-training were expected to bed down, was depressing. With a capital D for depressing.

Her fingers itched. They pined for paint. If some were available, she would spruce up this boring room with its utter, ugly drabness in a flash. Sighing, she stretched out in her bunk that was about as soft as rock. The Empire wasn't big on pampering their minions, she easily assumed. She was running on adrenaline. Simulations after simulations kept her busy. Since she'd come here, she'd been burdened with an overabundance of demands. Again, she readily assumed that the Empire demanded impeccability from their multi-cultural pilots. Though downtime was granted, it was never for very long. When Instructor Goran, who had already predicted that most of them wouldn't make it, cracked the whip, they were expected to jump into their simulators and be perfect. Along with perfection came the demand that they be mindless drones, devoid of feelings and any compassion.

Speaking of which, if that had been a real TIE-fighter Sabine had flown in actual combat, she'd be dead right now. The so-called 'Ghost,' in the training simulation would have wiped her out. She had refused to fire, and had been reamed-out for being insubordinate. They hadn't faulted Wedge; they were looking at her sideways now. She'd better not let what she'd done happen again.

The Empire thought nothing of murdering innocents any way they could.

"We're not 'a desperate group of extremists,'" Sabine muttered to the empty room, refuting what Captain Vult Skerris had said. His hard-bitten brainwashing was irksome. Her voice, barely audible, she jabbed, "We're freedom fighters." Then she spat, "Not butchers, like your Empire is."

Her downtime soon to end, Sabine geared up for more grueling training. The other trainees, who shared this dorm, were hardcore. They never questioned, never resisted what they were being ordered to do, no matter how 'off,' or foul, it was. Obviously, none of them wanted to side with the Rebellion. Sabine made sure she never sounded like a sympathizer.

So far, she only knew of three who wanted to make a clean break from Imperialism and its dogmatic mores: Wedge Antilles, Rake Gahree, and Derek 'Hobbie' Klivian. Everybody called him Hobbie so much, his nickname stuck. He wasn't Derek; he was Hobbie.

Comlink in hand, she raised it to her mouth. She wouldn't make this long, not forgetting for one moment the very possible risk she was taking. She'd give her soulmate a brief update on her progress. She'd tell him how much she missed him, and they'd be together soon. Ezra, along with the rest of the Ghost crew, meant everything to her like she meant everything to her clan. Handling this solo mission was necessary, but it still felt strange not being with her loyal family. When these types of mission were required, they took them on, but when the Ghost crew fought side-by-side, as a close knit team, the fit felt better. It went without saying that they trusted one another with their lives. That would be so as long as they lived, and none of them had a death wish.

Hesitating only for another moment longer, she made contact.

"Ezra, Ezra," she whispered, her heart beating a mile a minute, "come in." Lowering her voice even lower, she beseeched, "Ezra, are you there?"

Alarming; her hand was shaking. The sound of his voice would be great to hear right now. She was on edge, being surrounded by too much of the enemy. Among his skills was his knack for steadying her nerves. Contrary to popular belief, she did get nervous. She was human, after all. The climate here aboard Skystrike was definitely bad. Especially now, since Governor Pryce and Kallus had arrived.

Rumor had it they had intel on the Academy's would-be defectors.

"Sabine..."

Her heart stopped racing. Reassured, she smiled, it spreading over her beautiful face that showed distinct signs of how much stress was taking its toll. "Ezra. Yes—"

Hearing her voice gave him a thrill. "Are you all right?" He sounded worried, overeager to know, as he combated his feelings. He had never wanted her to go by herself on this mission that might prove her undoing. He'd never see her again; the thought of that made him die inside.

She quickly put his mind at ease. "I'm fine. Never a dull moment around here. If I never put myself into another simulator, it won't be too soon."

"You know the Empire—insane." He softened his tone, cooing, "It's good to hear you."

"Same for me hearing you. I just wanted to…" She clutched the comlink, wishing she could see his face also. "Okay, okay. Now's not the time, nor place for getting…you know." She sighed, calling it what she called it. "Lovey-mushy."

Ezra had started using the phrase too.

"Maybe we should try the mind-link thing again. We almost reached a threshold last time." He relished seeing Sabine in real-time in the center of his mind. "Kanan's coaching has really helped." She wasn't as far along as Ezra was with the phenomenon, but she was coming along well for a 'non-Forcey person.'

Hurriedly, she told him, "If there was more time, sure. But there isn't. I have to report to Captain Skerris and a simulator with my rank-and-squad number on it for the next scheduled training session, soon."

"How's the recruiting going? What have you got?" Ezra asked, anticipating his wife's forthcoming exchange. Little did she realize that he was becoming quite adept at tapping into her head, picking up on her thought patterns. Sometimes he got them right on the mark, other times, he'd be close, or way off. He wasn't telling her about this surprising new aspect of his growing abilities. Not just yet.

"So far, three cadets are onboard."

"Can they be trusted?"

Sabine pouted, jutting out her lower lip.

Now, that was a curve. Never had it crossed her mind that any of them, or even just one, could be Imperial moles. Ezra bringing it up drove home that worrisome possibility. Uncertainty crept alongside her, as she told herself that Wedge had sent the comm. Even so, could this be a trap? She didn't want to think about that, right now. Stubbornly, she supported with fire in her eyes, "Yes. I believe they can be. None of them has done anything to make me think otherwise. They talk long and hard about their dissatisfaction with how this venture has turned out for them personally. They sound genuinely troubled by and disillusioned with the Empire." She paused to steal a breath. "Why? What do you suspect? Does Kanan feel there's something not right too?" she asked, growing agitated. "Who could be a spy? Wedge? Hobbie? Rake?"

Ezra's brow furrowed.

Who has names like those, he thought, not saying anything more for a moment. Maybe he shouldn't have said anything about this. But then, wasn't it better to be forewarned to be forearmed instead of having to grapple with a nasty surprise? "No, no. Nothing. I just put it out there. I don't have to tell you about being too careful." Realizing he'd upset her, he tried calming her from long-range.

It worked. Easing her tension became easier for her. Sabine firmly replied, "I'll keep my eyes open, and my ears to the walls. If things don't add up with one, or all of them, you'll be the first to know."

"And you get out of there before you wind up another of the Empire's many prisoners. Or worse. I don't even want to think about the 'or worse.'" He stopped going where he had no place going to, getting negative. Immediately, he sent positive vibes her way. "I love you."

"I like the sound of that." From as far away as he was, he still managed getting a fleeting glimpse of her, lying face up on her bunk, talking to him via comlink. He hated thinking of her in that, what looked like, an exceptionally dreary place.

"I like the sound of your liking that," she said, containing her brief laughter. "Tomorrow, we go live training, in space." Space, she thought to herself. Sometimes it seemed blacker than ink. "No more simulators. The TIEs all too real, ready to blast anybody who isn't making the grade. I'll signal with the coordinates when we're in range. I and the newcomers will fly our TIEs straight for the cruiser. Be ready to pick us up."

"You don't have to tell me twice. I'll await your signal, Sabi."

"Ezra, I'd better go. It's not a good idea to stay in comm for too long, and it's possible I'm arousing suspicions because I'm tardy a lot."

"What's a lot?" Ezra quizzed.

"Like since I've gotten here. When I'm late, I get all kinds of weird looks, like my heart isn't really in this training."

"'Cause it's not."

"Yeah, but everything depends on how convincing I am. Captain Skerris is a real hard-nose. All Empire, all the time, all the way. I've got a reputation that's sticking around here for being 'rebellious.'"

He snickered and said, "Woman after my own heart. Be careful; that's an order."

"Yes, sir," Sabine fired back, "you don't have to tell me twice." She switched off, then swiftly chided herself. She hadn't murmured to her husband that she loved him. As she sprang out of the lower bunk, preparing to collect her gear, she whispered anyway, "I love you, Ezra."

On the distant Rebel cruiser, Ezra nodded, his spirits soaring, as Kanan stood behind him, giving him pats on the back. Adoringly, not sure whether she was capable of hearing him or not, the younger Jedi softly purred to her, "I love you too, Sabi, and may the Force stay with you…"

Before she left the dorm, Sabine stood stark still. "Ezra?" she croaked softly to herself.