Author's Note: I appreciate the kind messages and reviews that have already been sent. Hopefully, the rest of the story will continue to please.

Without further ado, I present the second chapter. This chapter is a bit of a transition from point A to point B and therefore less exciting. I tried to make some meaningful interactions between Ezra and Sabine to make up for it. I hope you enjoy.

Chapter 2
Out of the Nest

With a brief flicker of psuedomotion, the Ghost disappeared into hyperspace leaving Ezra, Sabine, and the Phantom II alone. Sabine sat in the pilot's chair and said thoughtfully, "Well they're away. Where are we off to?"

Ezra stepped up to the pilot's chair and placed a hand on its shoulder. "I haven't planned that far ahead yet."

Sabine laughed. "So I agree to go waltzing across the Galaxy with you like a homeless vagabond, and you can't even come up with a nice place to take me."

"Hey give me a break! I've only been dead for about twelve hours. I've been kinda busy."

"Alright, that's fair. Well, let's take a look at the options and figure this out." She pulled up her datapad and began pulling up maps of nearby sectors. "Here we go. Here's our current position. Lothal Sector. We've got plenty of fuel and could make it as far as the inner rim if we wanted. Other than that I'm not sure I know what we're looking for."

Ezra frowned at the map thinking. "We will want to move a few sectors out from here. Far enough that the odds of us running into anyone that's seen our wanted posters are close to zero."

"Also we probably want to be closer to Yavin IV than further. Make it easier for Hera to bring us the Nightbrother." Sabine wrinkled her nose. "By the way, we're changing the Nightbrother's name as soon as we get it back. I'd rather not be reminded of Maul every time we see the thing."

"No complaints here. As far as I'm concerned it needs a paint job too. Black and red isn't really my thing."

"Hey now, there's something to look forward to," Sabine said brightening. "I was wondering when you were going to ask me to give that thing a facelift."

"As if you needed permission."

"I don't know. It's a little easier to swipe one of your helmets and paint it than a Kom'rk class fighter. That would have been a little more difficult to pull off."

"I'm sure you would have eventually managed," Ezra said. Inwardly he chuckled to himself. Most of those helmets Sabine had supposedly stolen to paint had been deliberately left out for her to find. He knew that Sabine would have painted them if he had asked, but he always suspected she got more enjoyment when she thought she was getting away with something that annoyed him. Not that he was about to admit he was leaving them out as art bait. Some other day. Maybe.

"So somewhere near the Gordian Reach," Ezra said turning back to the matter at hand. "Maybe off the Salin Corridor."

"Makes sense to me," Sabine said. That will put us in the neighborhood of Mandalore too. Which is convenient considering that's where I supposedly am going."

Ezra let out a groan and put a hand to his forehead. "To be honest, I hadn't even thought about your family yet Sabine. I can't imagine that the Countess is going to be too happy about, well, this," he said gesturing at the Phantom II around them.

Sabine was quiet for a moment but shook her head. "She doesn't have to. I'm planning on it being a while till she finds out anyway. I'll figure something out."

Ezra just shook his head. "I get the impression that your mother is NEVER going to like me."

Sabine chuckled "Maybe, maybe not, we'll see. If it makes you feel any better, my dad likes you."

"I guess that doesn't surprise me too much; he seems a little less... intense than your mother." Ezra had liked Alrich too for what little time he had been around him. It seemed that Sabine had gotten her fierce-side from her mother and her soft and creative-side from Alrich.

He was curious why Alrich had mentioned him at all though. "So what did your dad say about me?" he prodded hoping she would continue.

"He thought you were nice, polite that sort of thing. Plus you saved his life when you first met him so that probably helped." Sabine suddenly smiled wickedly. "And he also told me about the first conversation you had on that troop transport. Quite a first impression."

Ezra felt his face turning red. "You know, I was hoping that would never be spoken of again."

Sabine laughed lightly "Sorry, couldn't resist. Like I said, don't worry. He likes you."

Ezra thought about that for a minute. "Well, at least your dad has never drawn a blaster on me. I expect the countess to do so just out principle next time we see her."

She shrugged her shoulders, conceding the point. "Yeah, that would be a safe wager."

Ezra left the cockpit area of the Phantom II and sat on one of the crew area seats. "Are you sure you shouldn't just return home to Krownest, Sabine?" She turned around in her seat to face him, concern on her face. Ezra continued. "We could be there in a day. There would be a lot less family drama for you, and it would let you go back to your old way of life. I appreciate what you're doing for me, Sabine. You're right about everything; I don't want to be alone. But I also don't want you to give up your entire life for me. Going forward I have no plan, no prospects, and no clue what I'm doing except dodging the Empire."

It was quiet in the small ship for nearly a full minute. Ezra hoped that Sabine was considering what he said. He finally looked up from the floor when he felt her eyes drilling into him. "Ezra this is the last time I want to have this conversation. You know I'm not really a big fan of getting all emotional and sentimental, and I've already had to do that once today. I've made my choice. I'm not letting the best friend I've ever had go into exile alone. We're partners, to whatever the end may be. That's something you're going to have to deal with. And whatever consequences there are, well, we'll get through those together. Understood?"

Ezra felt a smile creeping onto his face. The decision was Sabine's, and she had made her choice. A crazy, possibly unwise choice, but he'd respect it. Besides, it really was like something out of a dream coming true for him. "Yes, Ma'am. Understood." He came back to the cockpit and changed the subject. He really would try to let that rest since she'd made the effort to ask so nicely. "Well then, let's decide where we're going."

Sabine picked her datapad up and rolled her eyes. Ezra didn't know what she was thinking, but he was pretty sure she was a least a little irritated. He made a mental note not to question decisions she had already confidently reached. "Someplace small," Sabine said. "Backwater, but it still needs to have full fuel services. We'll need to get supplies as well. I don't fancy living off tasteless nutribars alone until we meet up with Hera" She picked a sector in the region of the Outer Rim they had been discussing and began scrolling through planets.

"Any reason you picked that sector?" Ezra asked.

"I picked it because I know nothing about it."

"Oh. Good enough reason, I guess." Ezra watched as dozens of planet names passed by, along with basic information about them. "What about that one?" he said.

Sabine pulled up detailed information. "Daxfor. Agricultural. One city with a spaceport. Lots of small settlements. Low crime. Low traffic. Sounds like Lothal, but smaller."

"Sounds perfect," Ezra said.

Sabine shrugged. "Looks good to me. All right let's do it." She started pulling it up on the navicomputer. "It looks like we'll have a few hour trip. Might consider getting some rest. It's been a long day."

Ezra stretched his arms, "You're telling me. I died earlier. A couple of hours sleep sounds good."

A few hours later they pulled into orbit above Daxfor. It might have had similar stats in the database as Lothal did, but it certainly looked nothing like it. Most of the planet was ocean with scattered continents of emerald green; nothing at all like the gently rolling prairies and savannas of Lothal. Sabine nosed the Phantom II down into the atmosphere towards the only city. Situated in the northern hemisphere on a large river and surrounded by hundreds of miles of farmland, it looked to be a pleasant enough place from the air.

"Daxfor Traffic Control, this is Phantom II, looking for a place to land and refuel. Do you have a public pad we could set down on?" Sabine asked.

"Phantom II this is Daxfor Traffic Control. Public Pad? Who do you think we are? Coruscant?"

Sabine narrowed her eyes and looked at the com. "Excuse me? I'm not sure I...?"

A hearty and friendly laugh came over the speaker. "Just a little joke. We don't get a lot of traffic out here, and this job gets a little boring. Only pads here are private, but we do maintain a landing field on the North side. I'll send you coordinates."

"Getting them now," Sabine said, "What's the landing fee?" Small ports were known to overcharge on landing fees to make up for the low traffic.

"If you're buying fuel no fee." Sabine grimaced. That meant the fuel would be on the expensive side. She had a few thousand credits with her but didn't particularly want to run through those too fast before they figured out how to replenish them. She had no idea how many credits Ezra had to his name. That was a conversation they would have to have soon. Today probably.

"Thanks, Daxfor Traffic Control, we'll see you ground side."

"Not so bad," Ezra said as Sabine flew a gentle loop around the city at high altitude. "The city does look a lot like Lothal's Capitol City. Except smaller."

"Hopefully there won't be nearly as much Imperial presence. One nice thing about agricultural worlds is that it keeps the Empire's industry and mining away. Can't farm much if you burn the whole place down strip mining it."

Sabine pulled the Phantom II to the north of the city and expertly set the shuttle down on a small rise in the designated area about a klick from the city. With a hiss of escaping gasses, Ezra popped the ramp and stepped outside. Sabine followed making sure that each of her blasters had a full charge as she walked out into the sun. She'd never felt entirely at ease setting foot on a new world. One could never be too careful.

She looked at Ezra as he stood on the green grass looking out over the city. He just had that goofy grin on his face he so often had when he was lost in his thoughts. Sabine smiled. She hadn't seen it much since Kanan had died and she missed it. No matter how much darkness and death they passed through, Ezra had always seemed to retain a certain naivete and innocence, a certain boyishness that refused to go away even as she had watched him turn into a man.

It was one of her favorite things about him. While it seemed with each passing year she felt more cynical and calloused, a quiet, stubborn part of Ezra seemed immune to the galaxy darkening around him. He had always deserved better than the life he'd been dealt, Sabine thought, not for the first time or the last.

"Hey, you there Loth-rat? Or are you just gonna stand there all day?"

He jumped as if startled from a dream and shuffled his feet "Sorry. It's just nice to see someplace the empire hasn't ruined yet. It just looks so peaceful here compared to Lothal."

"I know, but it's not going anywhere just yet, and we need to get going." She shut the Phantom II's hatch. "If you're ready, let's move out. Oh and maybe hide the lightsaber."

Ezra pulled the lightsaber from his belt turning it over and inspecting it gently. "Yeah, I should probably do that. I've just gotten so used to carrying it in open defiance of the Empire. I kinda wish I had my first one now with the built-in blaster. Maybe I'll have to modify this one to be like that so I can carry it out in public. Or maybe make it like Kanan's where can break it down into parts to hide." He slipped the saber into an inside pocket of his worn jacket. "I may need your help with that later. I barely understood either of these enough to build them the first time, let alone make major changes to the design after it's already assembled." He shrugged. "I'm ready when you are."

They started walking down the hill toward the city. "I'm not sure I'm the right person to help," Sabine said. "I know pretty much nothing about lightsabers other than that they have kyber crystals. You and Kanan never exactly let me take your lightsabers apart to tinker with them."

"You've got a better mind for tech than I do. I'll bet you could figure it out."

Sabine frowned "You sure you want me messing with it? I seem to remember Kanan lecturing about how personal lightsabers were. Something about the saber being your life. I don't know if I want to risk screwing something up.

Ezra rolled his eyes. "Kanan tended to be a little over dramatic about those things. Besides, I trust you." Sabine let it drop. She wasn't entirely comfortable with the idea, and she was pretty sure that for as much as Kanan may have been exaggerating, Ezra was making light of the subject. Either that or he really trusted her.

On further thought, she decided it was the latter. Ezra wouldn't be that flippant about Kanan's teachings, and she knew how much he trusted her. If he one day asked her seriously to help him modify his saber, she'd agree to do it. Carefully.

They reached the city in silence and began to set about the tasks of the day. First order of business was renting a two-seater speeder bike since dragging fuel canisters around by hand was not on the list of things Sabine wanted to do. After that, they visited the fuel depot by the landing field. As Sabine had suspected the fuel was more expensive than average, but thankfully it wasn't nearly as high as she feared. After purchasing the canister, they hauled it to the speeder and managed to get it secured to the bikes second seat. Unfortunately, that left only one seat for the two of them. Sabine already regretted not just renting a full landspeeder.

Ezra gestured to the seat. "Well you're the pilot, so I guess I'll hop on behind you."

Sabine crossed her arms in front of her, looked at the bike, then back to Ezra. "Honestly Ezra if you think I'm going to let you sit behind me and wrap your arms around my waist you've got another thing coming." She'd meant it as a joke. She always did. These little verbal spars were part of how they operated.

And yet Ezra had a hurt look on his face. He nodded and sat down on the speeder bike. She quietly sat behind and wrapped her arms around his waist, precisely what she'd said she wouldn't let him do. Good going Sabine, she thought angrily to herself as they pulled out of the city and back towards the landing pad. How else was the second passenger going to hold on sitting behind the pilot?

She knew he was used to her teasing by now. Still, she usually didn't jab him on that subject. It was the worst-kept secret on the Ghost that Ezra had been head over heels for her when he had first come aboard. As time went on, he'd matured and gotten quieter about it, though Sabine knew those feelings had only grown up with him. These days he was so quiet about it that occasionally she had doubts. But it was the little things that tipped his hand to her, the small gestures of kindness and encouraging words. The fact she had somehow not managed to chase him off after all those years of trying was something of a miracle.

His persistence was something that deep down she was thankful for. Truth be told, it was flattering, and a part of her life she took for granted. The Empire is evil, Zeb smells weird, and Ezra Bridger would do anything to make Sabine Wren smile.

And there was also the odd fact that after all these years, Sabine was pretty sure he had gotten through to her. She wasn't even really sure when it had happened or how for that matter. She tried her best not to think about it or acknowledge her changing view of Ezra Bridger, but Hera had noticed. That had led to one very awkward conversation in which the Twi-lek had managed to crack open Sabine's innermost thoughts. Hera had thought this turn was wonderful. "I figured it was only a matter of time, Sabine," she had said with a coy grin. "Maybe," Sabine had said, refusing to commit to the idea either way.

Of course, it was pointless to deny it at this point, at least to herself. She had essentially told Ezra she would never leave his side, and there really weren't too many ways their relationship could end up now. It was less a matter of if than it was a matter of how and when.

Sabine sighed to herself as they pulled up to the Phantom II. By coming with Ezra, she had assured that there was only one possible future for them. And yet she'd just scolded him for trying to ride behind her on a speeder. Sabine Wren wasn't easy to romance, she thought grimly to herself, that was for sure.

Ezra climbed off the speeder and began freeing the fuel canister. Sabine didn't move at first. May as well get it over with, she thought. "Hey, Ezra, I'm sorry. What I said back there, wasn't... okay. I... Old habits die hard I guess. I know you've always treated me with respect. And always will.

Ezra kept working not making eye contact. "It's okay. I probably deserve a little bit of the grief you guys have given me. I made myself an easy target when I was younger what with my obnoxious flirting. I must have looked like the biggest buffoon in the Outer Rim."

Sabine smiled and moved to help him with fuel. "Some days. But it was sweet. And that doesn't justify any of the grief the others gave you for it. Or what I said a back there. I'm sorry."

"Apology accepted," Ezra said simply. Whatever else he was thinking he wasn't going to let on. "Let's get this Fuel in the Phantom. We've got more to do today." They finished the fueling and strapped the now empty canister back to the bike. If they returned it, they'd get a portion of the credits they'd spent returned to them, something that Sabine was certainly not going to pass up on right now.

She looked at the bike and briefly considered sitting down on the pilot's seat as an act of good faith to Ezra, but thought that that might be a little too on the nose for today. She let him mount the bike then sat behind him again.

They spent most of the rest of the day buying the supplies they needed. Extra power cells for their blasters, self-heating food rations that didn't have to be refrigerated, a few first aid supplies for the Phantom II that had probably been pillaged after some mission and never replaced, as well a couple of other odds and ends. Last and worst of all Sabine needed a few pairs of civilian clothes.

Happy as she was in her colorful armor, she knew that it tended to draw attention, something that might be a problem going forward. She'd be a nerf herder, though, before she abandoned her beautiful armor on a regular basis.

Sabine had left most of her clothing back at Yavin IV. Convinced that they would be stationed at Yavin for awhile, she had accepted a room in the main temple complex. She'd slept in it two nights before they had shipped off for Lothal, leaving behind most of her noncombat clothes. Thankfully Sabine had never gotten around to moving any of her painting equipment or armor maintenance tools or she would probably be close to tears right now.

Locating a small clothing boutique, Sabine steeled her courage before walking in. This was going to be awkward. The Ithorian shopkeeper's eyes nearly bugged out of her head as she watched the heavily armed and armored Mandalorian and a young man in an orange shirt quietly browse through the store. All right, Ezra Bridger, Sabine thought desperately at him, if you really care for me as much as you think you do you will keep your mouth shut until this is over. By some miracle, he did just that. Mostly.