Hello all- a thousand apologies for the delay! Following the return to school I had become terribly ill, and not the 'stay-at-home-watch-tv' ill, oh no. The 'I-might-actually-just-spend-three-days-in-a-row-in-bed' ill. I am on the mend, and it is the eve of a three-day weekend, so there will most probably be a following chapter shortly after this... and then this story might very well end. There's not too much more I can think of adding here without drawing this out needlessly- bloating it, some would say. So most likely one or two more chapters and then... It'll all end.

Rest in peace, David Bowie and Alan Rickman. You both will be sorely missed.

It had been as she was trying to apply a bacta-patch to the cut on a stubborn Ezra's head that Chopper had come wheeling in, beeping energetically about the sight of an unconscious, bound and disarmed commander Morden in their hold greeting him as he'd come out of his charging station. As caught up in events as she had been, Sabine had actually forgotten all about the astromech droid- and it had been with extensive amusement that both she and Ezra explained what had happened in the time he'd been unaware. Of course, they'd had even more fun analyzing the looks on the rest of their crew's faces when they'd returned from their outing.

Sabine had attempted to get Ezra to once again stay in his cabin, but the both of them had agreed that Morden needed watching, unconscious or not. The both of them would have happily delegated that job to Chopper, but they could never be too cautious. Sabine had been regretting leaving her painting still unfinished, but there just wasn't much she could do about that. Ezra had made it clear he was staying there, and if she knew him at all, she knew that he would require supervision if expected to stay still.

And there's no way in the galaxy I'm leaving him alone with Morden.

Not because she thought he couldn't take care of himself- just that right now, she wasn't going to take his injuries lightly. And, of course, Morden's talents, even though he was bound and disarmed. Underestimating an opponent led to defeat, and Morden was not someone to be underestimated.

And so, the three Spectres were in the cargo-hold (where they had unofficially assigned Morden's holding spot to be, both for security and art-related reasons) when they heard the Phantom rumbling by and dock in its established slot. Both humans felt relief sink into their bones as Chopper went ahead to greet the other half of their crew and inform them of the situation- neither of them enjoyed being alone with an Imperial squad, even if they were all unconscious.

It didn't really surprise them that Kanan came down from the hatch first. "We saw the stormtroopers from the Phantom- everyone alright?" He called, even before he'd fully started down the ladder. Sabine could only share an amused grin with Ezra, the both of them sitting on the floor and leaning on the wall opposite from Morden, before Kanan was fully down the ladder and Zeb was on his way.

"Chopper only said there was a surpri-" Kanan stopped dead, his worried gaze switching from both Sabine and Ezra to the unconscious Imperial across from them. He blinked a couple of times and seemed to want to say something, but his mouth only opened and closed repeatedly until Zeb beat him to the chase.

"Oh come on- you guys got 'im? This was supposed to be our mission."

Ezra shrugged his shoulders. "What can ya say? You just weren't quick enough, we decided we'd be better." Sabine smirked, and Zeb snorted, a smile just visible behind his eyes.

"Cocky little brats,"

"Smelly hairless Wookie,"

"Puny little Lothrat,"

"Gigantic glorified monkey,"

"You guys are unbelievable," Kanan shook his head in bewilderment, looking at both Lasat and human in turn. Sabine snorted and stood up, extending a hand to help Ezra. He grunted his thanks, and then Kanan rubbed his eyes and exhaled deeply. "Just what happened? And you didn't answer my earlier question."

"We're fine," Sabine assured, "everything okay on your end too?"

Kanan nodded silently and Zeb huffed. "Couldn' find Morden anywhere- probably because of whatever you guys did with 'im, but it drove us up the wall. Hera was close to just taking out the entire transport, Morden or no."

"That's an exaggeration," Kanan commented, "though she was pretty frustrated. She should be taking off soon as well- if there are stormtroopers here that means more of them know our position, so we're going to relocate. But what-" he shook his head again, gesturing helplessly to Morden, who still had yet to stir. "I mean, he was- what happened?" Sabine pressed her lips together as she saw the smirk develop on Ezra's face.

"We rejected a welcome-home party. How much more obvious can it get?"

"Thank you, Ghost- Commander Morden will indeed be very useful. We already have an area prepared for him onboard, we can assure you he will be well secured." Hera nodded, more to herself than to the comm unit, she suspected, and turned around to quirk an eyebrow at Sabine- she was standing in the doorway of the cockpit, pursing her lips slightly as the Twi'lek affirmed the transfer of their most recent guest with Fulcrum.

Someday, someday we'll meet Fulcrum. Maybe not now... but someday.

"That's a relief to hear- just make sure your men are well prepared. Ghost out." Hera clicked off her communicator, keeping her gaze on Sabine. "Everything alright?"

She nodded. "Yeah, yeah... Kanan's taking Morden duty. You might want to head down there to oversee transfer, make sure nothing happens and everything goes to plan." Hera nodded, pulling herself up and out of her pilots' chair and keeping an inquisitive gaze on Sabine.

"I was about to head down there anyway- are you alright? You've seemed a bit subdued ever since we got back." Sabine blinked. I have? I have, haven't I. Not entirely her fault... even if she was resolute in her cause and direction, Morden had brought up... some thought-provoking points.

"I've just been doing some thinking, is all." Hera raised an eyebrow, inviting her to tell more but not expressly asking. Sabine smiled gently, knowing that she honestly didn't need help this time- she wasn't confused about anything, more like she just needed to settle down once more. Hera nodded after a second, accepting that Sabine wanted to work on her own this time, and snorted after a second.

"It seems like no matter what commands I give you, neither you nor Ezra will ever stay out of a mission. Or trouble, for that matter." Sabine smirked slightly, shrugging.

"We couldn't really help Morden coming here, but I guess it must've felt pretty strange coming home to your target." Hera nodded, her lips pressing together momentarily.

"Not to mention a little frightening- the both of you weren't in your top condition, and we already know Morden's a league above other Imperials. When we saw those stormtroopers outside, the first thought that came to us was that you two were in some major trouble- it's not too hard to imagine all of the 'what-ifs' that could've happened while we were gone."

Sabine laughed hollowly, the same scenarios having also played in her head multiple times. Really, they had just been lucky. "Well, we don't have to worry about those now- all we need to focus on is the present."

Hera smiled softly, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder as she headed out of the cockpit. "It's nice to hear that from you, Sabine." The Twi'lek left the small room, heading to the hangar to oversee the transfer of their latest Imperial prisoner. Sabine herself staid, knowing that just like with Tseebo, anything related to the mysterious Fulcrum or his forces was to be kept under wraps, except for Hera.

Might as well be for the best- I don't think I want to deal with a conscious Morden again. Not just because of the dangers he posed to both her and her crew... but also because she wouldn't be able to stand him bringing up the issues she'd been mulling over since they'd had their talk.

Hera left, and Sabine stayed still in the silence, gaze on the docked ship through the viewport but seeing something else. I'll see them eventually... I hope.

It was often a night that Ezra retired late- he was used to sleeping only when the streets were mostly silent, so it wasn't so odd that he'd be one of the last people to get to his cabin and sleep.

Sabine was up.

Doing what he wasn't sure, but he was pretty sure she wasn't painting... though he wasn't too sure on how his newly discovered bond with her worked, he wasn't really getting the 'painting' vibes from her that he'd gotten before. To be fair though, he had to concentrate pretty hard to just access that slight connection. There was no telling if he was actually 'reading' it right or not... but it did make him curious.

I'm pretty sure Hera won't mind if I stretch my legs a little... A small excursion surely wouldn't be too much for him. He'd been 'resting' ever since they'd gotten back from the tower, and especially after their encounter with Morden, he was restless to move. This was as good an opportunity as ever, and it wasn't like walking was a strenuous activity.

I hope.

Ezra slowly slipped out of Zeb's bunk, their sleeping arrangements currently swapped. The Lasat just looked awkward hunched up in the top bunk, but Ezra wasn't really worried about it- he was thankful that he was allowed the bottom bunk. As itching to be back to normal as he was, he didn't want to go and start straining himself more than necessary just yet. Climbing up to the top bunk could only end in tears, he was sure.

Planting his feet down onto the metal flooring, Ezra slowly straightened, registering the pulls of the skin on his back and noting the levels of discomfort he felt in doing so. Yeah, a walk'll be just fine. Mouth twitching into a half smile, Ezra padded through the room exiting the cabin and softly making his way through the corridor.

Her cabin? No... up on the top. They'd landed back on Lothal, after transferring Morden, in a rather remote location so as not to encourage stormtroopers from following their Commander's lead. Hera and Chopper both had made extensive scans to discover any tracking devices Morden might have planted, but it seemed that the Imperial hadn't had any time to plant one, because their searches had turned up nothing.

Ezra walked through the halls towards the exit ramp slowly, taking it easy. He was still capable of taking care of himself, and he still made decent time. He wasn't that surprised to see Sabine out in the grass, sitting loosely and looking up at the sky. It was clear, mostly, with only a few bruised clouds blotting small patches of starlight.

"You should be resting," Sabine called out softly, not moving from her position. Ezra smiled lightly and made his way down the rest of the ramp.

"You don't sound like you expect I will," he observed, slowly lowering himself down to sit beside her.

"I know you won't, now that you've come out here," she said back, and Ezra found himself agreeing with her. No way was he going back to his cabin now- besides, he felt like talking with Sabine. She'd been a little distant ever since Morden- Ezra knew the two of them had been talking, otherwise they would have been fighting when Ezra had arrived, but he was clueless on what. Obviously something important.

They stayed that way for a few seconds, in which Ezra tried to focus on the sky but couldn't help shooting a few furtive glances at Sabine. He stopped when he saw her smirk at him.

"What did-" he started, but clamped down on his mouth at the thought that whatever she and Morden had talked about, it was obviously important enough to make her withdraw like she had- and not the 'I'm-painting-don't-disturb-me' withdraw either.

"Morden asked me to work for him," Sabine saw through him anyways, and it took Ezra a second to frown.

"He tried to recruit you?" He clarified, the concept strange to him. Any Imperial would know Sabine was a devoted rebel- Morden especially, he actually had some intelligence.

"Trust me, I thought it made as much sense as you, at first." A tingle of unease swept through him, and Ezra cast a worried eye on the Mandalorian next to him. Sabine must've noticed more than he intended her to, because she exhaled a quick laugh, shaking her head good-naturedly and smiling gently.

"I'm not thinking of defecting, trust me," she reassured, and Ezra quirked his own smile.

"I wasn't thinking that, you just kinda worried me there." They both fell silent again, but Ezra bit his lip gently. After a few moments, he quietly asked, "But what did you mean, at first?"

Sabine blinked slowly, her eyes still on the stars but her gaze somewhere else. Ezra let herself have her silence, fidgeting slightly next to her. She bowed her head and a blank look stole over her hazel eyes- in all his time with her, blank had never been a word to describe Sabine.

"He-" she pressed her lips together, looking down at the dry grass. "He offered to find my family."

Wind blew their hair in different directions, snatching Ezra's attempt at a response and flinging it over the empty plains. He was left with an open mouth and a suddenly absent stomach. He knew how much weight such a statement- such an idea -held. Living without his for so long had given him an insight to such things... and though he relished any chance to understand what Sabine was going through, he hadn't expected understanding to be so... thorough.

What would his response be, if Kallus had made the same offer?

Another lengthy silence enveloped the two of them, where Ezra mulled over what Sabine had revealed and the Mandalorian herself fiddled with the grass. Ezra couldn't honestly say what he'd do if his parents could be found. Kanan- the entire Ghost crew had become a family to him, and he would never abandon them, but his parents...

Ezra blinked.

His parents were missing because of the Empire. Sabine's family was in hiding because the Empire had tried to use them against her. It hadn't been through some roundabout accidental repercussion, either- in both their cases, their families had been hunted on purpose. Deliberately.

"If you let the Empire lead you to your family," Ezra began, surprising himself with how sticky his tongue felt in his mouth, "they would only have taken them prisoner. Or- or worse."

"I know what would happen if the Empire found my family," Sabine said softly, drawing her knees up to her chest. "Trust me, I don't want anything to do with them, no matter how organized they might be." When she didn't say anything after that, Ezra pressed his lips together, briefly wondering if he should keep her going. I'm not just going to sit here and let this stay unfinished, he resolved; if whatever was bothering her wasn't brought out into the light, it would be pressed down underneath the surface and left to stew, something to blow up later in the future. Ezra knew that from experience.

"But...?" He prompted, and he saw the conflict battle across Sabine's face. Speak, or bottle up?

"I just- it's been a long time since I saw them. Thought about them, really... I just... push those thoughts down whenever they come up." Ezra nodded brusquely. He was all too familiar with that as well. "But now... I can't really help but wonder if- when I'll... if I'll see them ever again." Sabine lowered her forehead onto her knees, and Ezra say the faintest hint of a humorless smile on her face. "I'm not really used to missing things."

Ezra looked up at the star-filled sky. He closed his eyes and inhaled deeply, letting the both of them absorb and adjust to all that had transpired between them. A grim uplift to the corners of his mouth transfigured his blank expression when he realized he'd gone through what Sabine was describing before... he was still going through it now. He swallowed thickly as all his doubts about seeing his parents again resurfaced; all his fears of never seeing them came back to life. How did I deal with all this beforehand?

He hadn't- he'd buried it all away, locked it in, let it stew; had let it slowly eat him away from the inside until his barriers were so thin they'd broken at the sight of Tseebo on that one Empire day. Ezra slowly opened his eyes, brow furrowing in a faint frown. So what's changed between then and now? The answer, of course, was obvious.

Kanan.

Ezra drew into himself, mirroring Sabine but with a genuine small smile. After what had happened on that asteroid, Kanan hadn't let him escape into his bunk without his own form of consolation- something which at the time Ezra had tried to push away, but now could see had probably been one of the things to keep him from breaking. Kanan had gotten him to talk- admittedly, Ezra hadn't said everything, and he doubted he would for a very, very long time, but he had said most everything that mattered. He'd gotten a chunk of his fears off his chest, had confided in what was bothering him- and he had no doubt that had saved him from an ungodly melt-down in the turret later on.

So, literally, the best consolation for this situation was... to be consoled. Ezra could have laughed that the obviousness of it, but it would have been extremely rude. Not that he usually cared, but this was something serious.

"Sabine-"

"I shouldn't have said that;" the Mandalorian interrupted, making Ezra frown and look over at Sabine only to recoil slightly when he saw the regret there, "I know you have it a lot worse than I do." That actually drew a snort from him, which in turn made Sabine look up with a frown.

"Family's something no one should be without; it doesn't matter if they've been away a day, a year or ten. As far as I'm concerned, we're in the same boat here. Well. Same ship." Sabine cast a glance back towards the Ghost, biting her lower lip and relaxing slightly.

"Yeah, I guess that makes sense."

Ezra looked her dead in the eyes, and he registered the slight surprise in them that he'd turned so serious so fast. "Sabine, we'll find our families." There- the slight pinch to her eyes, the near invisible tautness of her forehead. She was genuinely worrying about this- which meant Ezra knew exactly where to start consoling.

Kanan and Hera both make this look way too easy.

"Sure, we really don't have a whole lot in the way of resources, or credits, or manpower... but we have enough drive, and hope, and just stubbornness in general to make up for all of that." He let the upper corner of his mouth move upwards. "Not to mention at least two crazy-good hackers and the best teamwork in the entire galaxy." The smile faded and became a determined gaze. "I honestly have no idea where my parents are- neither do you. But we can't give up hope; they're out there somewhere, and we don't need anyone else to come along and distract us with 'help'. We'll get there someday, the both of us. We just can't give up on them, or ourselves. Right?"

Sabine stared at him, eyes wide and glossy. It slightly weirded him out that she seemed to be looking at something specific in his face- but what disturbed him more was that she looked on the verge of tears.

Uh- did I say something wrong!? There wasn't anything too bad in there, what's going-

She drew in a breath like she was about to say something, closed her mouth, swallowed thickly, and then Ezra was trying to figure out just what had happened, because no one could engage in a hug that quickly.

"Right," Sabine whispered, and Ezra pushed down his shock at the sudden close contact to wrap his arms around her as her own grip on him tightened. He felt the slightest bit of relief that she'd kept her hold higher than his mid-back, so that they could share this with minimal pain. But then Ezra heard the faintest 'ping!', and realized there were tears running down his face and Sabine's armor.

I guess this comforting stuff goes for the both of us, then, he thought, squeezing Sabine and burrowing his head in her shoulder as she did the same.

"We'll get there," he repeated, leaning into the hug for both of their sakes, "we just can't give up."

We'll find you, mom, dad. We'll find everyone.

"We'll get there."