Author's Note: It did take an extra day of editing like I thought. Enjoy!

Chapter 10
Patience and Persistence

Sabine led Ezra to a small balcony overlooking the valley. Ezra was worried it was going to be freezing cold, but Sabine explained that it had an expensive climate control field that kept the air temperature comfortable while being completely invisible. Ezra didn't even know that technology like that existed. Yet another reminder that the Wrens were wealthy. From up here, Ezra could see the lake where Sabine had fought Gar Saxon. That fight seemed to have happened a lifetime ago after everything they had been through recently. Ezra and Sabine stood for a while, leaning on the railing and enjoying each others presence.

Ezra finally broke the silence. "I honestly have no idea how to even talk to you right now. Just... yikes," he laughed.

"You don't know what to say? You're lucky I'm even standing here. I don't do the sappy stuff. Part of me wants to go hide in my room for a week."

Ezra felt the smile fading. "I'm... sorry. Maybe I went too far."

"No you idiot, I didn't say I don't like sappy. I don't do it, as in I don't know how to respond to it. This may come as a surprise to you, Ezra, but I don't do girly girl. And as far as sappy goes, you really dialed it in and went for the kill back there."

"Was... Was that a good thing?" Ezra asked hopefully.

"Best moment of my life so far," Sabine said, happily.

"Oh," Ezra said, unsure of what else to say.

They were quiet for a minute before Sabine continued. "You know, Ezra, there were some days that I still had doubts as to whether you still even liked me. You were so quiet and patient about it."

"Trust me I never stopped liking you," Ezra said. "Or maybe, said better, I stopped liking you and started loving you."

"I know, and deep down I always knew." Sabine smiled softly. "I don't know where you got the patience to wait years and years for me to get with the program, but I'm glad you did."

"Well," Ezra said, "I knew that for as long as I lived I'd never meet another Sabine. What can I say, I'm a sucker for a certain tough girl."

"Yeah..." Sabine laughed, blushing a little. "That's what you announced to literally everyone at the Stronghold tonight."

"It seemed like a good idea at the time," Ezra said cautiously, still worrying he had overdone it.

"Didn't say it wasn't." She paused. "You know that this is going to become a family legend now right?"

"Wait, what?" Ezra said confused. "What do you mean?"

"Remember yesterday when I told you how seriously Mandalorians treat marriage and romance? Unbreakable vows, things like that? We love our romance. We are a warrior culture after all. Life can be sort, so it's worth celebrating. We just don't tend to be... very public about our love and affection. We sing songs and tell stories about romance and love, but then when it comes to doing it, we keep it private and quiet. Declaring your love out loud for the world to hear displays a certain vulnerability that is difficult for us as a warrior people...

Ezra had a feeling he knew where this was going. "So a bold declaration of love in front of the entire clan..."

"Yup. The stuff of legends. Our grandchildren will tell their grandchildren about tonight.'

Ezra noticed she had said our grandchildren and almost managed to not saying anything. Then he failed. "Our grandchildren?"

Sabine laughed. "I didn't mean it quite like that. It was a figure of speech but..." She just cocked her head as if to acknowledge the point.

Ezra decided not to push it. "This explains why your dad and Fenn thought the idea was brilliant. You'd think they would have warned me. Yikes, sorry."

"Don't apologize, dummy. I already said it was the best moment of my life." She laid her head on his shoulder and looked back out over the valley. Ezra's mind began to swim with how close she was to him. This was definitely a new feeling. Sabine gave a happy little sigh. "I guess I bear some responsibility for, well everything. I kind of backed you into a corner."

"You're telling me. It even involved your family pointing weapons at me. Again."

"Yeah..." Sabine said, "I don't think either of us was surprised when that happened. That'll be the last time I hope."

Ezra laughed. "I'm not going to make any assumptions. Speaking of backing me into a corner, honestly Sabine, I was starting to have suspicions that you may have just possibly started to have a few romantic thoughts about me. And then you whisk me off to your family to marry me. You're lucky I didn't have a heart attack and die on the spot."

"Ha, the thought crossed my mind when you dropped like a rock. I still can't believe you were locking your knees the whole time my mother was drilling you."

"She can be scary," Ezra said simply. "And I mean that with all due respect."

"You're not wrong. So, I might have made a few poor decisions in the last day, and things might have snowballed out of control on me. I'm just glad you were there to rise to the challenge and catch me at the bottom with your toast. I almost think you knew what was happening and planned that all along."

There was silence for a moment before Ezra asked a question. "So why did you do it? Concoct this crazy scheme."

Sabine sighed. "I know I owe you an explanation, but I'm not sure how ready I am to talk about all this. I get out my feelings through art."

"And explosives," Ezra added helpfully.

"And explosives," Sabine agreed. "But never by talking things through. I think I drove Hera nuts anytime she tried to understand what was going on in my head. I'm being ridiculous, I know. At this point, you already know everything anyway."

"It would mean a lot to hear you say it," Ezra said quietly.

Sabine was quiet for a minute then pulled back to look Ezra in the face. "I didn't do this for any single reason. I did it for all of them. To keep you safe and away from the Empire. To keep you from ever being alone again. Becuase I... Because of how I... Oh, this is so frustrating! I can't even get out the words I want to say right now."

"You can come back to that one," Ezra said gently. Maybe he shouldn't push her on that after everything that had happened in the last couple days. He knew what she was trying to say and well, she'd say it on her own time. She was right. Words weren't her thing.

Sabine gave a small smile. "Also because well, someday we may run out of tomorrows. Hera and Kanan did, and Hera will have to live with those regrets. I'm not going to do that while you're still here right in front of me. I intend to live my life. Right now. With you, if you can live with an emotionally illiterate shipwreck."

Sabine had laid her head back on Ezra's shoulder. "I think I can learn to live with that," he said, still thinking about Kanan and Hera. Ezra knew that Kanan was at peace when he died, with his past, his present, and his lack of future. He had lived and died for his family and especially for the woman he loved. He hoped that Hera could see that and that it would be a balm to her grieving spirit. In time.

"I have never been so mentally tired in my life," Sabine laughed. "I can't believe it was barely a day ago that we were clothes shopping, of all things, on Daxfor. What a waste of time that was."

Ezra chuckled. "It was a learning experience that's for sure, one that I won't look forward to repeating."

"Good." She paused. "Ezra, I can barely form sentences at this point so if you're hoping for the grand confession to come tonight I..."

"Sabine," Ezra said quietly stopping her. "It's all right. At this point, I'm at peace with this. I know what you'll say, and I'm ready to hear you say it, but I want it to be on your own time, in your own way."

Sabine grumbled something under her breath. "You deserve to hear me say everything now,"

"It'll come when you're ready. Maybe we can go blow something up tomorrow, that might give you warm fuzzy feelings and make those words flow a little easier."

"Ezra Bridger if you're making fun of me right now I'll..."

"I'm only half kidding. On a more serious note, maybe you could do some painting. I know it's been a while since you've had the opportunity."

"Oh," Sabine said. "That's not a bad idea. Actually, that's a great idea. It's a pity it's so late. Otherwise, I'd get started right away."

"That's my, Sabine," Ezra said happily. "Okay, you're off the hook until you get some paint time in."

"Thank you," she said quietly. A moment later Ezra started laughing. "What's so funny?" Sabine asked.

"Acceptable outcomes, Sabine! I can't believe you tried to sell me on this whole nonsense by saying I'd find the outcome acceptable."

"I corrected myself." Sabine said defiantly "Admit it. It will end up being a better outcome than you could have dreamed."

"You're not wrong about that; by all the stars in the galaxy, you're not wrong about that," Ezra said happily.

"I wasn't kidding. And now I think it's time for sleep. I've got art on the brain, and if it's not happening until tomorrow, I want tomorrow to come sooner. And the sooner the art gets out of me, the sooner the words get out of me. Walk me to my room?" she asked taking his hand.

"It would be my pleasure."

The private wing of the Wren Stronghold was nearby. Too near for Ezra, as he was enjoying the feel of her hand in his. Sure, he'd held her hand before, but that was usually when one of them was saving the other from falling to certain death or getting blown to pieces. He led her to her room, if a little slower than he had to, and stopped at the door. "Good night, Bine. Sleep well."

"You too, Loth-rat." Sure turned and walked into the dark room.

Ezra decided to press his luck. "I love you, Sabine."

She paused as she entered the room and sighed audibly. Turning around, Sabine walked straight up to Ezra and kissed him lightly on the cheek. Not waiting to see his reaction, she left quickly, shutting the door. "Close enough, I guess." he chuckled to himself. As he turned to go back to his room, he saw Ursa and Alrich standing in the hallway. Alrich winked. Ursa just laughed.

"Oh come on, can I just get one break today?" Ezra said.

The next day Ezra got up early. After figuring out that breakfast was available in a small mess hall near the barracks, he helped himself and sat at a small table alone. He wasn't really sure what he was going to be doing today, but he intended to leave Sabine alone until she found him. Hopefully, she'd get that painting done and be ready to talk again soon.

His table began to fill with other young Mandalorians. It seemed yesterday had earned him a couple of fans. Ezra did his best just to be friendly. Not having anything better to do he accompanied them to the training hall after breakfast. A trade was worked out. He'd teach some blade technique if they taught him some unarmed combat.

Ezra passed the entire morning like this, gaining a few friends in the process. As he still hadn't seen Sabine or her family, he sighed and returned to his guest room to clean up after the morning's exercise. Finally, he wandered back towards the mess hall he had found and helped himself to a mid-day meal.

Beginning to be restless, he went to the Great Hall. It seemed the guards had been given orders to allow him to move freely, as they didn't even acknowledge his presence. He noted with interest that the hall now appeared to be set up as an office with desks. Several people seemed to be working on various piles of paperwork. Alrich sat at one nearest the Throne. Apparently, the Great Hall was used for more than Ezra realized.

Good use of space I guess, Ezra thought. Not knowing what else to do, he walked over to Alrich.

"Oh, Ezra. I was wondering when you would make an appearance. I trust you've made good use of your time today?"

"I'd like to think so. After getting beaten in those sparring matches yesterday, I thought I could get in some practice. Ended up trading some blade training for hand to hand training."

"Good, that is excellent." Alrich smiled. "I have a message from Sabine for you."

"Oh?" Ezra said hopefully. "I've been wondering where she was hiding."

"She's in my studio. Something about working out her feelings through art."

"At least she didn't decide on the explosives as her medium of choice."

Alrich laughed. "That's what I said. Also, you are banned from going to my studio until she has finished."

Ezra wrinkled his nose. "I was afraid that would be the case."

"It's not just you. Sabine has banned everyone but me, in case she needs advice. Also, it's a rather large piece she is working on. It will probably take a week at least if I had to guess." Ezra's shoulders drooped, disappointment clear on his face. This was not what he had been hoping for. "She asked me to tell you to meet her for dinner with the rest of the family in the private wing. She'll comm you when it's time."

"Well," Ezra said slowly. "I'm glad she's doing something productive. Not sure what I'm going to do for the next week."

"May I suggest the library. Data chips on any subject you can imagine. We even have some real, old-fashioned books on Mandalorian topics, a topic I suspect may be of interest to you right now. There may even be references to the Jedi order in those, though, they may be a little biased."

"That sounds good actually," Ezra said. "Thanks."

"If you need anything, I'm near the Great Hall most days," Alrich said, as he returned to managing Clan Wren's business affairs.

Ezra found his way to the library, a quiet and comfortably furnished room and began to browse the shelves of physical books. Selecting a book on the history of Mandalore, he picked it up and found a seat. Opening the book carefully, he realized it was very old. He'd need to be very careful with these. Starting at the first chapter, he began to read about the ancient Mandalorians.

He passed several hours trying to absorb the history of the people and planet. There were indeed references to the Jedi, but they were usually the antagonists. Aggressors from the outside, impinging on the wars and fights of Mandalore. Ezra laughed more than once, wondering what had really happened, and if the Jedi had told as skewed a version of the story as the Mandalorians did. Probably.

His comm finally pinged. "Sabine!" he answered happily.

"Dinner," she said shortly and cut the comm. He frowned. That was disappointing. He carefully placed the book back on its shelf, thinking that perhaps he could finish it tomorrow and practically ran for the private wing. He paused briefly at its door. Sabine had forbidden him from coming in unless accompanied by a family member. He knew he had been invited and was welcome, but doubt gnawed at his mind anyway. Finally, he pulled out his comm and called Sabine.

"Are you coming or not, Ezra?"

"I am, I just... You kind of forbid from entering the family wing unless I was with..." Suddenly he heard laughter from at least three different people. He was sure one of them was the Countess.

"Ezra, you dummy, get in here."

"Right, coming," he said pushing through the door.

Sabine and the rest of the family were already there seated in the small dining room at a table set for five. "Hi," he said sitting in the place prepared for him by Sabine. Then the other four laughed again. Ezra pouted and went on the defensive. "Hey, I've had members of this family threaten me with violence enough times in the past that I'm taking no chances."

"Ezra" Sabine said patting his arm, "I think you're in the clear now."

Alrich chuckled one last time. "He makes a fair point; I can't blame him for being cautious."

The Countess raised an eyebrow "If you've been invited into our private wing, you're welcome to enter," Ezra realized that she was wearing a simple tunic instead of armor. She looked much less the imposing Countess and more the mother of her family.

"There, it's official," Alrich said, "Now let us eat."

Dinner was a peaceful affair and as unlike the previous evening as possible. Ezra tried to wheedle details of Sabine's project from her, but she was tight-lipped. "Not happening. You'll just have to wait." Sabine was relieved that Ezra had been able to spend his day productively. She'd been worried he'd be bored wandering the halls alone.

"No, apparently he had a full class of eager learners in the training hall. They're hoping not to lose so badly the next time the vibroblades come out," Tristan said. "Don't be surprised if you get asked for more lessons. I may join in myself sometime."

Dinner was all too short for Ezra. Sabine intended on going back to her project and work through the evening. She promised she would make time to meet before bed.

Ezra decided to return to the library, not to read, but to write. Taking a datapad, he began to try to record what Kanan had taught him. It was a disorganized mess, Ezra knew, nothing like the neat, orderly book of history he had been reading earlier. Ezra had never really had much use for writing growing up on the street, and he was sorely out of practice. He knew he would probably have to throw most of this out and start over, but he wanted to record as much as could one way or the other.

A few hours later Sabine commed him again and asked him to meet at the balcony. He eyed his datapad. This was not going to be something he could finish in one evening or even a month of evenings. Ezra sighed. If he really intended to preserve the legacy of the Jedi, it was going to take a lot of dedication and work.

Sabine was already on the balcony when he got there. They spent the time enjoying each others company. Ezra knew not to delve into serious conversations. Sabine would talk when she was ready. Later as he escorted her to her room, he pressed his luck again.

"I love you, Sabine," he said as she walked away.

She rewarded him with another kiss on the cheek.

This went on for eight days. Every morning Ezra spent in the training hall. Half of the time he spent with the resident expert in unarmed combat, the other half he spent going through sword techniques with a growing class of students. By the end of the week, he had nearly thirty warriors going through beginner forms each morning. He knew many of them had rearranged schedules to be present. Ezra was glad of the time he spent working with Sabine and the Darksaber, otherwise, he may not have been well equipped to teach this group. It felt good passing on something he had learned from Kanan, even though this was only combat training and nothing related to the Jedi.

Most afternoons he spent in the quiet library reading book after book on Mandalorian history and culture. One afternoon he and Tristan had taken speeder bikes across the frozen landscape. Tristan had an errand in another settlement and thought Ezra would enjoy the change of pace and the chance to see more of Krownest. He spent another afternoon with Fenn Rau in a pair of Fang Fighters practicing some more advanced piloting techniques. Ezra had nearly forgotten that while Rau was a warrior in his own right, he was a legend in the cockpit.

Dinner each night was spent with the family in the private wing, and after the evening meal, he went back to the library to work on his record of the Jedi. The only time he had alone with Sabine was a short time before bed. She was always tired from her work, and so he resolved not to keep her long. Ezra began to wonder just what kind of project she was working on. Internally he shrugged. He'd been waiting on her for four years now. What difference were a few more days going to make?

Each night he told her the same four words. "I love you, Sabine." And each night she kissed his cheek in parting.

On the eighth day, before bed, Sabine said, "I finished my project tonight."

"Oh? Do I get to see it soon?"

"Tomorrow. Go about your day like normal. There will be an announcement. Mother will summon everyone to the Great Hall." She smiled. "I'm just relieved it's finished. It was a lot harder than I thought it would be. I'm not sure I'll ever create it's equal, but I'm ready for you to see it."

"Has it helped you sort out your thoughts."

"You could say that," Sabine said with a wink. "Tomorrow is going to be a good day."

Author's Note: We're entering the final act of our story. Thanks for sticking with it and thank you for all the kind reviews!