Author's note: The third Chapter is edited and ready to go. In answer to a couple of questions I've received, the entire story is already written. I'm just doing final edits and proofreading before posting. Hence the daily schedule I'll be attempting to keep.

Although with the back half of the season coming up I may miss a day. I'm sure anyone else reading this is looking forward to it as much as I am.

Chapter 3
A Senatorial Complication

Sabine and Ezra returned to the Phantom II just before sunset to pack away their purchases. Ezra sighed, glad that was over with. Clothes shopping with Sabine had been one of the more painful experiences of his life. He had managed to keep his mouth shut nearly the entire time, only messing up once when he'd seen a shirt he'd thought would look nice on Sabine and showed it to her. She had stared at him for a long moment and then burst out laughing. He must have looked bewildered because she shook her head and pointed at the shirt. "What color is that Ezra? I don't think we need to dress alike." It was the same orange color he wore nearly every day. He hadn't even noticed. Ezra was pretty sure he had never been more embarrassed in his life.

That had put Sabine in a better mood, and she had finished getting what she needed shortly after. "The problem with civilian clothes," she had explained on the way back "is color. Color is kind of my thing, and I can't just repaint civie clothes on a whim like I can my armor. And matching clothes to the color of my hair is almost impossible. So what I'm saying is you'd better hope I don't have to wear these in public because we'll both be miserable." She had laughed, but Ezra wasn't sure that she was kidding.

After stowing their things on the Phantom II, they stepped back outside to watch the sunset. "Dinner in town?" Ezra asked. "We can return the bike and then make some long-term plans over a meal."

Sabine nodded. "Sounds good. There was a little cafe across from where we rented the bike" They boarded the speeder bike one last time and took it back into town. After dropping off the bike, they spotted their first Imperials, a squad of four stormtroopers patrolling the street.

Ezra tensed at first but then noticed how both the troopers and the citizens were entirely relaxed around each other. It seemed that their first impression was correct. The Empires control over Daxfor was only loosely enforced. For now. Ezra and Sabine still weren't in the mood to take chances, so they kept out of sight until the squad passed before crossing the street to the cafe.

The cafe was just that distinct sort of local that Ezra loved. It reminded him of Old Jhos, with bits of local history and memorabilia plastered all over the walls. They opted for a seat on the roof under the growing twilight. Sabine ordered something Ezra didn't recognize. Apparently, it was a Mandalorian dish or a close approximation; a rare find either way outside of Mandalorian space. Ezra was tempted to try it himself until Sabine warned him it would probably be spicier than he liked. Instead, Ezra asked the waiter for a recommendation on the best local dish. It turned out to be a combination of vegetables and cheese with a meat fillet on the side. Ezra had no idea what any of it was, but it was delicious.

After they had mostly finished eating, Ezra finally turned the conversation to the pressing matters at hand. "So just what are we going to do. I've got a couple thousand credits, and I'm betting you do too, but we're going to have to do something to earn our keep. Food and fuel aren't free."

"No," Sabine said, "and the Nightbrother will burn a lot more fuel than the Phantom will too."

Ezra wrinkled his nose. Not the most pleasant thought. "Truth is I think we'll be fine; we'll just have to figure out something for us if that makes any sense. Between the two of us, we've more than enough skills and talents."

"Okay, Sabine said, "what do you have in mind?"

Ezra rubbed the back of his neck nervously. "Well, I don't really know yet. There's a bunch of things we could do. Honestly, we're both pretty good with machines, though if we're talking high tech you've got me beat. I'm sure both of us could easily hold down a mechanics job."

Sabine cocked her head. "We could, yes, but we're used to a little more action at this point. I think we'd both be bored to tears working in a mechanics shop somewhere. "

"Not saying we wouldn't be," Ezra said defensively. "I'm just saying we could probably put food on the table easily enough as mechanics." Sabine just cracked a smile. "What is it?" he asked.

"It's nothing. I think I'd rather starve than end up doing something so banal. Too much Mandalorian in me."

"All right we clearly need something more adventurous if we're going to keep our favorite Mandalorian from getting bored," Ezra rolled his eyes. "What do you have in mind?"

"Hey, I didn't say I had anything in mind either. I asked you, remember? Let's just keep talking and see what we come up with. What else are we good at?"

"Hmmph." Ezra chuckled. "Well before I met you guys I was a master pick-pocket."

Sabine rolled her eyes. "Somehow I don't think a life of thievery is going to sit well with your Jedi conscience."

"No probably not." Suddenly Ezra laughed out loud.

"I'm almost afraid to ask," Sabine said.

Ezra nodded and went back to his meal.

Sabine frowned and then kicked him under the table. "Well, are you going to tell me or not?"

"You said you were afraid to ask. So I thought you didn't want to know."

She eyed him narrowly. "Spill it."

Ezra put on his biggest, dumbest grin. "Circus acrobats. With the Force, I could..."

"Yup, I'm sorry I asked." Sabine cut him off. She did smile though.

Ezra chuckled. "Okay well how about your skills? You were a bounty hunter before joining Kanan and Hera."

Sabine looked thoughtfully at her nearly empty plate. "I'm not sure. I mean, yes we could hunt bounties with the best of them. The two of us would have no trouble pulling in even the most dangerous quarries. There's just... other difficulties involved."

"Like what?"

"Well there are three kinds of bounty boards," she explained. First up are Imperial bounties. I don't think I have to tell you why those are just a bad idea. Most of the bounties on there are political dissidents, innocents, probably even some people we know. There will be a few legitimate law enforcement bounties there as well, but few and far between. That's not the kind of peacekeeping the Empire is interested in usually. Mostly these boards are filled with the Empire's dirty work, which isn't something I'm interested in doing for them."

"Can't really argue with that. What's the next kind of bounty board?"

"Underworld. Every contract dirty. And while some of those people do deserve to be hunted down, it's never for justice. It's either business or revenge or who knows what else. These are the bounties Ketsu and I took after we left the academy. We... did a few things I regret. Ketsu had no problems with it. When I became a liability, she left me for dead with no hesitation. Underworld bounty hunting is out. Trust me."

Ezra grimaced. Sabine rarely mentioned her brief stint hunting bounties with Ketsu, but he knew it had not been a pleasant experience. "Yeah, that sounds bad too. What's the last kind?"

"Local law enforcement boards. Almost entirely legitimate and upright jobs, supposing the local government isn't too corrupt. An honest person can work these boards. The only problem is that the pay is terrible. You've got to be good and pull lots of bounties if you want to make a decent living."

"Hmm," Ezra said turning that over in his mind. "Okay, so bounty hunting isn't a great option, but isn't entirely out the airlock if we're running local law enforcement bounties."

"That about sums it up," Sabine said. "We could probably put food on the table. I'm not sure it should be our first choice. Maybe something on the side for a little bit of action on occasion."

Ezra raised an eyebrow. "And she's already bored."

"Nope. Just Mandalorian. Besides, do you think you wouldn't go crazy sitting in a garage fixing speeders and farm equipment?"

"Yeah, I probably would. What about using the Nightbrother for smuggling?"

Sabine thought about it for a moment. From how long she was quiet he could tell she was really thinking this one through. "That would probably actually work. We'd have to make some modifications to the interior. Tear out the troop deployment rack, add a few magnetic clamps on the hull for exterior containers." She laughed. "I seriously doubt anyone has ever used a Kom'rk for smuggling. It wouldn't have too much cargo space so we'd have to stick to small high-value goods. I'm going to go ahead and assume spice and gun running is out so we'd probably have to stick to other goods heavily controlled by the Empire. Electronics, surveillance gear, medical equipment that sort of thing."

"That... actually sounds reasonable," Ezra said. "Not to mention we would be in a ship much better equipped to defend itself than a stock light freighter."

Sabine nodded proudly "Mandalorian designs are solid. We'd avoid some problems just because it's a Kom'rk. A lot of pirates and even some Imperials know better than to mess with a Mandalorian." She quickly put the last bite of her food into her mouth and chewed it thoughtfully. "It would be some work at the start getting the Nightbrother prepped, making contacts, and then finding jobs, but there's no reason to think we couldn't pull it off."

"Okay well, that gives us something to..."

Sabine's wrist com pinged. She frowned and checked it. "Huh, glad I routed the Phantom's comms to my wrist," she said, surprise registering on her face. "It's Hera."

"That didn't take long."

"You're telling me. If Hera's calling because she's already worried about us I might have to have a few words with her." She took the call, and a small holo of Hera appeared above Sabine's wrist.

"Hey you two, hope I'm not interrupting. It looks like you're at dinner."

Sabine shook her head. "No you're fine Hera, we've already finished. We're just a little surprised to hear from you so soon. We've been out of the nest for less than a day, and you're already checking on us."

"That wasn't the plan trust me. Hate to say it Sabine, but I've got some news you're not really going to like."

"Great. Let me have it."

Hera paused briefly. "Have you two seen any holo-news today?"

"Nope," Sabine said. "Been busy."

"I figured you hadn't. News of Kanan and Ezra's death is all over the Holo. The empire has declared today a holiday to be celebrated yearly to commemorate the final end of the Jedi Order. It's been nothing but anti-Jedi propaganda all day long."

Ezra chuckled. "What do you know? Now the Empire celebrates both the day of my birth and the day of my death as holidays. I don't even think the Emperor himself can claim that."

Sabine rolled her eyes at Ezra. "I hope they haven't been putting pictures of Ezra up all over the holo-net," Sabine said nervously.

"Ezra and Kanan both. It's been hard..." Hera said looking at her feet. She looked back up at Ezra. "Thankfully they've still been using the old holo of you with long hair. I don't think you'll be immediately recognized. Still, you might want to lie low and out of public sight for a few days."

"I'll do that Hera, thanks for the warning," Ezra nodded. "Also Hera you really need to take some time off. We're all grieving. But you... I can't even imagine. This Imperial holiday can't be helping."

"No, it's not. And I will soon. I promise. But that's not even what I really called for." Hera turned to Sabine. "Apparently the Countess Ursa Wren saw today's news and called me. Kanan had given her my contact on Mandalore in case she ever needed us."

"You're right, I'm not going to like this," Sabine said closing her eyes. Ezra grimaced. Of course, Sabine's mother was the cause of this.

"At first she wanted to make sure you were okay Sabine. She was afraid you had died alongside Kanan and Ezra." Hera smiled. "She was naturally relieved when she found out you were okay. And wanted to talk to you."

"What did you tell her?" Sabine asked nervously."

"Well here's the problem," Hera said. "I wasn't alone when I took the call."

Ezra looked over at Sabine. She was trying to decide how to take this. "Who else was with you, Hera?" he asked for Sabine.

"Senator Mon Mothma."

Sabine merely covered her face with her free hand. "This cannot be happening."

And then Ezra laughed out loud. Both women glared at him. "Sorry," he said. I know this is probably going to be bad, but you have to admit it's at least a little bit humorous. No? Okay sorry. Go ahead Hera." It was a little bit funny Ezra thought. It wasn't his fault the women had no sense of humor.

"Well, Mon Mothma told your mother the cover story that you were on your way back to Krownest."

"So she's expecting me soon," Sabine said clearly irritated. "So much for us making a clean getaway. Is there anything else Hera?"

The Twi-lek paused unsure how to continue. Finally, she just sighed and said it outright "Mon Mothma then went on to tell your mother that your boyfriend, the Jedi, was a brave young man that gave his life so that others could live."

"WHAT?!" Sabine stood up from the table nearly pushing it aside. Ezra managed to stifle the urge to laugh. This was another one of those situations that would only get him in trouble. On further reflection, he realized that his dream of slipping away into the night with Sabine was about to go up in smoke.

Hera sighed apologetically. "I'm sorry Sabine, I couldn't correct anything Mon Mothma said without admitting that I had lied to her or that she was just flat wrong about the two of you. If I had embarrassed her in front of the Countess, someone the senator views as a potential long-term ally, I would have been in a lot of trouble. I had to choose between getting myself in a bind and putting you in one Sabine. I panicked, stalled, and before I knew it, the conversation had moved on, and the senator and your mother were exchanging other pleasantries. I missed the chance. I'm so sorry Sabine. I know this is going to cause some family drama for you.

Sabine sat back down and closed her eyes. "No, it's... It's fine. Your position in the Alliance is probably more important to the Galaxy than my tumultuous relationship with my mother. Did she react to the whole... boyfriend thing?"

"Maybe? I couldn't tell for sure. The Countess might have stiffened a little, but I may have imagined it. She may have been keeping a sabaac face while talking to the Senator. Is that particular misunderstanding going to be a problem?" Hera asked glancing back and forth between Ezra and Sabine.

"Yes," Sabine said simply.

The three of them were silent for a minute. Ezra decided that the next time he saw Ursa Wren, she was going to draw a blaster on him again. She would probably shoot this time too. He made a mental note to carry his lightsaber with him anytime he was on the same planet as Ursa for self-defense. Suddenly he was more worried about Sabine's evil cousins then the Empire.

Hera finally broke the silence "Sabine I can call your mother back and tell her the truth. I know you weren't planning on going home anytime soon. Probably not for a long time."

Sabine let out a weary sigh and shook her head. "No. I'll take care of it. Hera, thanks for the heads up. I'm sorry you got put in the middle of that."

She smiled "It's fine. I was the one that botched the conversation. But I do have to go now. Stay safe you two, and talk to you soon."

"You too Hera," Sabine said.

"Take some time off!" Ezra added quickly before the transmission was cut.

The holo faded and Ezra and Sabine sat in silence for several minutes. He wasn't sure what all this meant just yet. Knowing that the Countess Ursa Wren tended to react rather severely to things, he imagined she wasn't going to appreciate him and Sabine supposedly being a couple. Inwardly Ezra chuckled. He'd spent the better part of the last five years trying to charm Sabine into giving him a chance, and then Mon Mothma declares to the world that he was Sabine's boyfriend. Sure there would probably be consequences, but for the moment he just wanted to appreciate the irony.

Ezra shrugged his shoulder and said out loud, "Well, this ought to be fun." He barely managed to dodge the utensil Sabine aimed at his head.