And finally, to end it all off, a large collection of fluffy (and not so fluffy :}) bits and bobs from the rest of the timeline. Thank you all so much! I really couldn't ask for a better bunch of readers! Seriously, over four-hundred reviews, near two hundred follows/favs- truly, the support has been wonderful, and I couldn't ask for a better reader base.
There are quite a few time skips, and towards the end Ezra and Sabine are actually in their early twenties. (so sad, so sad- mah babies are growing up!) Just to clear up any odd bits or misunderstandings- also, towards the very end, there's a little sentence of researched Mandalorian. I was so proud when I found a Mandalorian dictionary... :3 Though I can't speak for the grammar.
Enjoy!
Disclaimer: There are no words to express my gratitude to all of you, and neither are their words to convey my love for Rebels. There are a few words to convey my ownership status- inactive. It never was. And that is all.
No one was happy with Kanan's actions. They understood them, sure, and any single one of them would have done the same thing in his place in a heartbeat- but as it was now, they were very, very unhappy with the current turn of events.
Sabine could honestly say, that while she herself had taken the development like a punch in the gut... Ezra was taking Kanan's capture much, much harder than she was.
She'd tried, she really had, to take all their heads out of the slump they'd fallen into, and simply focus on getting him back. They were all trying, truly... But everything just felt off without the Jedi among them, helping to plan and mediating between minor skirmishes. Sabine had caught herself just staring at his likeness in her painting for long moments, and Ezra just flat out camping in front of it. They were all raring to go get him-
They just didn't have any information. At all. Not a single whisper or rumor as to where the Empire might have taken him, and slowly, bit by bit, Sabine could see the absolute lack of ANYTHING chipping away at their resolve. It was similarly disenheartening to see one of the most energetic and hopeful crew members they had wither with each passing day-
Which was why when Ezra'd suggested his mad scheme to go to Vizago, she'd jumped right on board with him.
The relief Ezra had felt upon seeing Kanan- tired, strapped to a table, hurt and smelling slightly burnt but nonetheless alive- had been paramount. It really hadn't been too long since they'd seen each other, just a few weeks, but... it had felt a lot longer. A lot worse.
It'd also been a great relief and weight off his chest to see Hera smile (which she hadn't been doing a lot of lately) at the sight of him, and the two embracing in the middle of the hall. Their teases had never come into mind as the two of them finally, finally reunited. Everything was back the way it should be; they were whole again.
But they very nearly hadn't been.
Ezra shivered as Sabine jogged over to help him out the hatch, remembering the cold sting of metal the catwalk had chilled him with, in stark contrast with the burning on his cheek. He'd felt himself flickering, then. Felt himself wavering, like he was in that little zone just before he fell asleep, only just aware of what was happening before plunging into the abyss. No wonder Kanan thought he'd lost him... Ezra had been thinking the same things.
Sabine extended a hand down to him, helping him up as Chopper rolled into the docking room. He had no doubt the Mandalorian didn't fail to see his wince- he was sore everywhere. But at the moment there were more pressing things at hand; injuries could and would be treated later. For now, he just appreciated the support she lent him as they moved from one end of the ship to the other.
He'd tell her everything later- for now, though, he was content to simply silently indulge in her assistance and take in everything else happening around them-
He was just glad they could do it all together.
Ezra didn't think his scars would ever heal. He'd never really thought they would, but now, after nearly two weeks and no signs of them going away, he was just about certain they'd never leave.
Annoying. Now I can't ever forget how close the Inquisitor came to...
Moving away from the mirror, Ezra stepped out of the fresher and headed down the hall. Sabine's room was always open to him, especially if he had an artistic idea for the Mandalorian- he was sure she'd jump at any opportunity to put her paint on his face.
"Hey, Sabine?" He called, entering her room and blinking at the brightened lights. She was crouching down in front of a wall, using her figners to smudge a small streak of blue, and Ezra cocked his head as she continued. It looked like she'd just started a new project, but he couldn't think of what she might be creating; there were only a few streaks of color that all looked like she'd smudged them as she was doing now. He snorted at the thought that she was finger painting.
"Hmm?" She responded, slightly turning her head in his direction but keeping her focus on her work. Ezra stepped into the room, sitting on her bunk and watching her work.
"Can you think of anything for my face?"
He grinned the same time her eyebrows furrowed, having drawn her full attention onto him with the oddly worded question. He was learning.
"Oh- your scars?" Ezra nodded, kicking his legs back and forth as she stood to look at him. "What do you mean?"
"I don't know- hide them, make them art, paint two more on the other side-"
"Like a Loth-cat?"
He blinked, suddenly aware she was grinning slyly. "Zeb'd have the time of his life if I did that."
Thinking about it, requesting her to add more of his nickname's name-sake onto his visage would indeed lead to intense teasing. Not that that was a deal breaker or anything, but it wasn't like he wanted to encourage that kind of behavior. He shrugged, scratching his unmarred cheek with a finger.
"Okay, maybe not another pair, but... something to balance it out?" Sabine nodded, pursing her lips and looking his face up and down. He smirked, and she rolled her eyes good naturedly.
"Well, there are a whole bunch of things I could do to cover them up, or take focus off of them, make them less distracting or whatever- but why would you want me to?"
Ezra frowned. "To... make me less conspicuous? Or noticeable?" Sabine raised an eyebrow at him.
"Oh yeah, because we're totally inconspicuous as it is." She rolled her eyes. "Honestly, as much as stealth played a part in our missions before, I don't think we're gonna be doing too much of the same stuff, now that we're part of a cell. And even if we are gonna be doing stealth stuff, an extra mark wouldn't be doing too much to give you away."
He hummed, shrugging in assent and tracing the two lines on his cheek. "Maybe not... I just feel a little lopsided. And kinda marked, I guess."
"More so than with a lightsaber on your belt? Or, you know, a highly recognizable Mandalorian next to you?"
"You know what I mean."
This time it was Sabine who shrugged, expression going thoughtful instead of teasing. "You don't really look half-bad with them, you know."
Ezra blinked. "Huh?"
"I mean, I'll paint on your face any day, and if you really want me to I'll do something about your scars, but... you're kinda cute with them." And she smiled, cocking her head as Ezra sat there dumbly. Of all the things she could've said, he didn't think she'd call him cute.
He touched the marks again. "Um, you think?" She hummed and nodded, flicking a strand of hair out of her eyes.
"Yeah. Besides, chicks dig the scars." Sabine smirked, and then there was a light peck on his forehead as she shooed him out of her room.
It wasn't until he was already out alone in the hall that he'd processed she'd kissed him.
Sabine knew something was wrong when both Ezra and Kanan stopped. She'd picked up her pace loading the shield generators into the Imperial Lambda shuttle, knowing that something bad was coming their way- until the figure in black made himself known, and by then the bad had already shown up.
She knew she wasn't able to take on a red-blade; she could hold her own against the Inquisitor, maybe, if she had her back up, but Force-wielders tended to have an edge in fights. However, she knew with the case of this one, cloaked in machinery and heavy black armor, backed by a squad of stormtroopers, was different. Whoever this guy was, he certainly held a higher level of skill than the Inquisitor.
So, at first, when presented between him and the stormtroopers as targets, Sabine motioned to Zeb that he, too, should focus on the foot soldiers instead of the commander. Ezra and Kanan needed all of their focus to be on their opponent; she figured taking out the stormtroopers for them would be most beneficial. As the seconds dragged by and she saw the black menace fighting, however, she also realized that as skilled as their opponent was, he would most likely just use whatever she and Zeb threw at him- bombs and bullets she had no doubt would be thrown back at Ezra and Kanan, doing more harm then good.
At that point, her confidence was wavering, but still there. It left once the Imperial threw Kanan the length of the docking bay, and Ezra into a pillar within the same set of seconds.
And then all but completely abandoned her when she realized it wasn't Ezra moving his lightsaber.
Her fingers stopped on the triggers, momentarily paralyzed as her eyes widened and heart stopped- the black menace was slowly forcing that thin blue line she'd only ever seen used for defense push closer and closer to Ezra's throat, his entire body pressed up against the leg of the walker without a viable escape route-
"Zeb!" She shouted, and tossed a grenade over at the Lasat. He could throw harder and higher than she could, and right now that was the only thing that she could do to help so she did it. She threw her own at the line of walkers behind the dark warrior, Zeb following up behind her, and Sabine couldn't press the detonator fast enough. As soon as she did, though, she was running- Ezra slid down the walker's leg, free of the warrior's grip as the collapsing walkers provided a large enough distraction. She saw Kanan stumbling from the wreckage, holding his shoulder, but he was moving, he was fine-
Ezra was up by the time she reached him, but Sabine still latched onto him anyways, adrenaline making her hands tremble. They were limping towards the Imperial ship when the flaming metal of her explosion's leftovers groaned- and lifted. Her helmet hid how white her face had gone when she saw the black menace standing there, lifting tons of metal, perfectly fine-
His cape wasn't even singed.
"Go go go!" Kanan shouted, just behind Zeb, and both she and Ezra picked up the pace double time. They didn't separate until they reached the mouth of the ship, where he immediately darted to Kanan and she spun around instantaneously, once again withdrawing her pistols from where she'd hastily holstered them. Her hands might be shaking, but that didn't mean she couldn't at least provide some cover fire while Hera got the ramp closed at took off-
She saw the bolts coming, deflected back at her at a speed she couldn't hope to dodge them at. The first struck her lower right torso, slamming the breath out of her lungs, but the second- the second hit her square in the helmet.
Maybe if she'd had breath in the first place the fall down to the deck would have hurt more, but as it was her head gave her the most heartache. Sabine was blinking groggily and trying to groan as she heard the hydraulics of the ramp hiss, and then there were hands and voices. She couldn't distinguish between any of them until she finally got a breath in.
"Sabine?! Sabi-"
" 'm fine," she coughed, opening her eyes and squinting past the lense on her helmet. Ezra slumped above her, visibly relieved, and Zeb turned away from them both- to Kanan, she realized absentmindedly.
Not one to sit idle, even injured, Sabine forced herself upwards, sucking in air through her teeth at the throbbing on both her ribs and forehead. It hurt; but it could have been much, much worse. Her armor had saved her life.
Sabine shifted over to look at Ezra, kneeling next to her with his head bowed, panting. His blue blade came to mind again, pressing ever closer to his throat-
"What was that?" Zeb snarled, his ears swiveling around, agitated. Frustrated. He and she both were useless against... that.
"That," Kanan spoke, still clutching his shoulder and wincing, "was something I'd prayed we'd never have to face. That was... that was a Sith Lord."
Ezra lifted his head, immediately locking eyes with her. "That was too close."
Sabine nodded, the humming blade again taking precedence in her mind's eye.
"Far too close."
The cold feeling that'd been chilling his gut ever since their arrival intensified once the woman activated her dual red lightsaber. He could feel the cold, invasive tendrils of cold oozing off of her, more restrained than the Sith they'd faced but still far, far too much for him to even consider fighting as an option.
"An Inquisitor..."
If Sabine had been tense beside him beforehand, now she was triple.
"Oh good," the woman sighed, voice robotic and distorted as she prowled closer to them; Ezra ignited his blade, and Sabine drew her pistols closer to her body beside him, "I won't have to explain it to you. So. You know what comes next." The cold chill was numbing his bones, and Ezra resisted the urge to shiver as she drew nearer-
"Run!"
Sabine shouted, voice remarkably clear as she took a few pot shots at the hovering probe droids. Ezra knew she was right in this situation; he'd been no match against the last Inquisitor, and he didn't much feel like testing his luck against this new one. They turned and bolted down the hall, turning into a corner and hoping to zig-zag their way away from this creepy woman and her pack of droids.
She ignited a second red blade, making it spin, and Ezra would have groaned if it hadn't been their lives on the line. Like Kanan had said, it was never a fair fight.
"Where's Zeb and Chopper?" Sabine cried, hitting a few more red droid eyes with well-placed shots, and Ezra ducked into another corner, trusting her to follow where he felt the Lasat's energy signature from. If he'd had a fair chance to concentrate properly, he might have sensed the secondary generator of chilling power before nearly running into him.
"Not who we're looking for!"
The two of them nearly stumbled in their haste to backtrack, Ezra's gaze slapped dead onto the woman's lightsaber as they turned, just ahead of her. Her already creepy visage was only amplified by the fact that she was, in fact, stalking them, not bothering to run or even move somewhat hurriedly. He and Sabine were powerless against both her and her backup, and she knew it.
Sabine did groan when they came face to face with the closed door, and she immediately hooked herself into the interface beside it. Ezra slipped into his defensive stance as the woman turned the corner, prepared to do his best to protect Sabine while her back was turned-
"Go, go go go!" And then they were running again, desperately hoping and praying to put as much distance between them and the pair of Inquisitors as possible-
He felt the tug of the Force before his legs abruptly halted in their tracks, eyes going as wide as Zeb's waffles when he felt himself being dragged closer to the cold, cold Imperial.
"No!"
No don't turn around don't turn around WHY ARE YOU TURNING AROUND-
"Sabine run!"
NOT TOWARDS ME NOT HERE GET OUT OF HERE-
There really wasn't any other choice for him, then. Ezra batted away the nearest probe droid and lunged for the door controls, only just managing to impale it before Sabine had gotten close enough for the woman to snatch her, too. He could hear her banging on the blast door, shouting; she was safe, though, and that was all that mattered.
"Such a noble act," the Inquisitor drawled, drawing out her words as she approached, keeping the suffocating invisible grip on his body. "Just like a Jedi."
Ezra smiled tightly as the probe droid attached to his shoulder tightened its grip.
"As long as it keeps you from hurting her, I'm perfectly fine with it."
-x-
Stupid, stupid, STUPID self sacrificing IDIOT-
Sabine bounded through the halls, snarling and cursing and slipping and praying that whatever happened Ezra didn't get himself killed by those pair of freaks-
"Zeb! Zeb, where-"
If Ezra's life wasn't at stake, she would have laughed at the sight of the Lasat stuck in the ceiling. As it was, she just tugged him down, hands shaking and heart beating painfully with each second. Her ears tricked her into hearing screams.
"Thanks, Sabi-"
"They have Ezra!"
Instantly Zeb was focused, ears swiveling forwards and eyes tightening. "There were- there were two Inquisitors, and they grabbed him, and one has probe droids, the other-"
"Woah woah woah, Inquisitors!? Plural?"
"Plural! Come on, we have to get him back!" She'd sat around for weeks when one of their Jedi had been captured by an Inquisitor. She wasn't about to do the same this time. Not with Ezra. Not when she'd felt the ruthlessness of that woman vibrating through the air. Not when those two were obviously so much more powerful than they were.
Not ever.
"So, you were a bounty hunter?" Ezra kept his tone light, but his eyes were watching Sabine closely. She lay on her back, hands behind her head, staring up at the stars above them. She nodded.
"'s soon as I got away from the Academy, Ketsu 'n me joined up as bounty hunters. For her, I guess it was just something fun, but I... I guess I was hoping to find a bounty for my family. But I couldn't stand not... doing anything. Joining the Ghost crew felt like a way to actually start doing things that matter, felt like I could make a difference... That's why Ketsu and me had a falling out, among other things."
Ezra stayed quiet for a few seconds, then turned his gaze back up the sky. Late night excursions such as this had become somewhat of a past time for them; it just felt like they were able to open up more under the sky. Though he wasn't exactly fond of the following morning... Kanan seemed to be relentless in the times they started training. Something about Jedi joojoo, no doubt.
"How long were you two traveling together? You seemed to be pretty friendly. Afterwards, I mean. Not when you two were fighting. That wasn't very friendly. Kind of the opposite of friendly, actually. Maybe even-"
"You're rambling."
"Sorry."
He heard the amused snort, and smiled ever so slightly. He might not be the best at these sort of things, but anything that made Sabine a little happier was a victory for him. Not that she needed it exactly right now, but smiling while divulging the past was better than simply letting the words out.
"We were partners for a good while; maybe a little over a year. There really wasn't much time between the Academy and meeting up with Hera and the others."
"Oh, you measure time from that point, huh? 'S it that important?"
"Course it was. The Ghost was a literal turning point for me. You too, so don't try acting all tough."
"Yeah yeah." Ezra wiped his nose with the back of his hand, smiling fondly at the memory of trying to steal the precious cargo Kanan and the others had actually stolen.
Sabine sat up next to him, sighing slightly. "Honestly, bounty hunting wasn't really my thing. I guess I used it as a distraction... but now I can't see myself doing anything other than fighting alongside you guys."
He knew the feeling.
"Still, must've been a blast to the past to run across your old friend, huh? D'you think we'll see her again?"
"Why, you interested?"
"Why, you jealous?" He grinned at the slap on the back of his head.
"Maybe she'll come around to join the Rebellion, maybe not. Other than that, I don't really know. Though I don't really need to," Sabine smiled, shimmying her way over next to him, "as long as I've got your 'amazing' powers of 'prediction.'"
Ezra scowled at the tease. "Hey, I didn't know I was sitting on the contact! No one would have thought it was that old thing. It's not my fault I wasn't as wizardy as usual."
Sabine snorted, shaking her head.
"Only mostly."
It was somewhat odd to be surrounded by people wearing armor; usually Sabine stood out quite a bit because she was the only one wearing the defensive gear. In the lower levels of the crime syndicate on Garrel, however, half the population around her was wearing it as well, she didn't stand out too much.
Though she was willing to bet she was one of the few who had died it so expressively.
A quiet blip from her comm interrupted her thoughts, near immediately followed with Kanan's voice. "There's Hera's signal- the target'll be heading out soon. Remember-
"Weequay, red shoulder-pads, three braids. We remember, Spectre one. It's kinda what we're here for." Sabine rolled her eyes as Kanan's further grumblings rolled across, shifting on the rooftop. It struck her as odd when Ezra didn't add in his own teases; he was usually all up in that particular business affair.
"Spectre six, are you in position?" Kanan asked across the channel, obviously noticing his apprentice's lack of a response as well. Sabine's stomach lurched when static was their only response.
"Spectre six?"
"Ezra?"
A blaster bolt rang out through the square, and Sabine jerked in response to it. Gunshots weren't really too unexpected in these parts- but joined up with the sudden comm-silence from Ezra, it was too coincidental a situation.
"Spectre four, stay here for the Weequay- I'm going after Spectre six!"
Zeb protested loudly, but Kanan overid him, shouting to just get the Weequay, because Sabine was already running for the noise- and everyone knew they weren't going to get her away from her goal. She knew she's probably get a huge lecture from Hera aftwerwards- but right now she was set.
More blaster fire shot out, this time accompanied with the distinct sound of a child screaming. Her worry spiked; they hadn't sounded older than ten, and a kid like that had no business in the scummy districts of Garrel. Sabine swing around the corner of the street, drawing her blasters preemptively-
Ezra was rolling on the ground with an Aqualish twice his size, cursing and dodging hits as the both of them fought to come out on top. A small Bothan girl was sobbing behind them, slumped against the shadowed wall of a building and watching with wide eyes. Her clothing was ripped; most likely at the hands of the three unconscious men sprawled on the stretch of road between her and the grappling duo. Sabine pointed her blasters towards the alien, but both he and Ezra were moving too quickly for her to get an accurate aim.
A moment later, though, Ezra apparently decided he'd had enough. With a quick maneuver, he flipped off of the Aqualish, who grunted. Taking her chance, Sabine aimed quickly and fired off a shot, taking the man out with little more than a single bolt and a grunt from him.
Ezra blinked up at her, panting slightly, and blew a strand of hair out of his face with a puff of air. "Than-"
"Ora!"
Ezra's head snapped over to the little girl, who was perking her ears up uncertainly. Ezra made little shooing motions, making the girl hesitate, and then sprint away as fast as her furry legs could take her. Ezra puffed up his shoulders, frowning slightly and crossing his arms.
"I'm sorry I didn't- didn't stay in position, but they- and then my comm- and then she was screaming and they were laughing and I couldn't just let it go, and, and they- I mean, what's the point of standing up against the Empire if we don't help the people? And-"
Sabine shook her head, smiling under her helmet, and holstered her pistols.
"Oh Ezra. You know I love you, right?" Sabine smirked. "You don't have to apologize, I just got worried when you didn't respond. And we all got concerned when you weren't in position. This is-" she stopped talking when she noticed Ezra was looking at her really, really weirdly. It was almost a mix between confusion, concern, and sheer disbelief- and then he bluhed profoundly and looked in the other direction. "What?"
"Um, you just- you just, um, you said- you said you l-" Ezra broke off with another blush, and Sabine blinked. She smiled slightly, half from legitimate reasons and half from amusement at how a few little words seemingly broke her partner.
"Come on, let's head back to get that Weequay."
He blinked and nodded, smiling like an idiot, and quickly started jogging to follow her. She thought she heard Zeb cackling in the distance; she figured it would be best to stop him from beating the thug to a bloody, bloody pulp sooner rather than later.
"Um, S-Sabine? I- um, I-"
"I know, Ezra."
Ezra stopped talking the moment he felt Sabine's gaze go from interested to amused. "What?" She smirked.
"You bonded... with a baby."
"A Force-sensitive baby!"
"A baby."
"Hey, it was easy to understand!"
"Oh really? Should I talk in goos and ga's now? Is that easier to understand?" Ezra scowled at the teasing look on her face, huffing and crossing his arms.
"Pypey was open and willing to connect, and I needed to bond with him to make him calm-"
"Goo."
Ezra blinked at the sudden coo, unsure exactly how the conversation had taken this turn and confused as to why- "Goo goo ga ga." Sabine was grinning ear to ear, raising her hands up and making crawling motions. "Wah wah, goo goo ga ga."
"Are you seriously-"
"Wah, ah, myeh myeh, wah,"
"Sabine-"
"Wah, wah wah,"
"Har har, very funny-"
"Goo!"
"Sabine!"
"GOO!"
"What did I do to deserve this?" He asked dramatically, throwing his hands up in the air in defeat. Sabine blew a raspberry at him, and Ezra groaned, planting his face in his hands. His gaze was pulled back up when a slightly lost 'um,' drew their focus to the door of the commons, where a confused looking Kanan was standing. He honestly didn't look like he knew what to make of the Mighty Mandalorian suddenly speaking baby.
Ezra let his smile take over his face at the look on his Master's, which only deepened into further confusion as Sabine tilted her head and cooed at him. Apparently deciding just not to bother, Kanan turned around and the door hissed shut behind him.
Ezra laughed. Sabine tackled him.
Apparently babies were vicious ticklers.
"Oh- they're calling back," Sabine looked up from her data-pad, Hera's proclamation enough to rouse her from the holonet article. She sat up straighter, drawing closer to the Dejarik table and feeling her stomach take a minor pitfall. Ezra- he was- did he find them?
Hera accepted the comm, her own face taunt with... not exactly worry, but anticipation. Kanan's image flickered into sight, and her hopes rose for a fraction of a second- until his expression filtered through. Grim, devastated, tired. He looked broken.
He looked like a man who'd watched his son go through hell.
Sabine felt her heart slowly, slowly sinking back down to its position in her chest. Kanan started talking, but she just shook her head and backed away. He- no. No, he couldn't- he was. He was telling Hera what they'd found. Sabine was focusing on what she couldn't see. The fact that Ezra wasn't- wasn't there with Kanan meant-
"...his parents didn't make it."
She choked down a sob. She bit her trembling lip. Sabine went to her cabin, pressed herself against the wall, and sucked in her breath. His family was gone. He'd long since revealed his fear that they were so, but now that notion wasn't a fear. It was fact. Mira and Ephraim Bridger were gone... and they'd left their son on his own.
I'm so sorry, Ezra... You don't deserve this. You don't deserve this at all.
Sabine sank down to the floor, drawing her knees close and wishing she could be there with him. Just to offer support, or comfort, or some type of... of... anything, now when he needed it the most- now, after near nine years of him hoping and praying secretly in the dark, now, when all those years of impractical hope were turned into a double-edged sword, when he needed her to stand up next to him...
"I'm so sorry, Ezra..."
He felt the little tug in his head; she was walking quietly, trying to keep her noise level down to not wake the rest of the crew, but the both of them knew Ezra himself hadn't been sleeping. For the past two days, actually.
"Hey."
He didn't respond, but shifted over slightly in the curved bench. She took his invitation, and he felt the cushiony fabric beneath him warp as she settled next to him. There was a moment of silence, in which Ezra was acutely aware of how dry his eyes felt. Besides Kanan, and the brief respite Leia had been able to provide... he hadn't really done anything to cope. He didn't really know how to do stuff like that.
Sabine took a deep breath beside him. "So. Now we know." Ezra swallowed, staring at the Dejarik board.
"Now we know."
Another beat of silence stretched between them. Ezra didn't dare look up at the mural above him; he started to regret staying out here instead of in the cabin with Zeb. But the Lasat would know he wasn't sleeping, and definitely wouldn't leave him alone.
"You... you've withdrawn. You're walling yourself off." Ezra blinked, lowered his eyes. Cocked his head. Nodded. Once he would have vehemently denied it. Sabine knew him better than that. "You really shouldn't," she whispered. A hand snaked under the Dejarik table to grasp his own. She squeezed. Ezra swallowed again. The mural threatened to overwhelm him. Sabine drew close, wrapping her arms around him and pulling him close.
Ezra's eyes watered. He returned the embrace slowly, tightening his grip when his throat caught on a breath, because he knew he'd break if it didn't.
"Come on," she whispered, and he closed his eyes. Her touch was gentle; her smell was comforting. He couldn't breath without it.
"They're... they're gone..."
"...Yeah. They are. And you're still here." Cry if you need to, remained unspoken between them.
Ezra'd never found himself so ready to indulge in her offer.
"Hey! Put that down!'
Even with his eyes closed, Ezra grinned.
"But I'm not touching it."
"Put the paint down!"
"But I'm not touching it!"
Sabine made a mad snatch for the floating can of spray paint, growling when it floated just a little higher. Just a tiny bit out of her range. She turned a scowl over to Ezra, crossing her arms, but he was staring back at her with the most innocent not-innocent look in all the worlds, cocking his head slightly. "What?"
She narrowed her eyes, planting her hands on her hips and for the moment ignoring the half-finished painting behind her. Ever since she'd discovered the curiously formed rocks dotting Lothal were perfect canvases for painting on, there hadn't been a single one of them that had gone unmarked. When there wasn't a Jedi in training playing pranks on her painting equipment, that was.
He dared to give her the goofiest grin imaginable.
"You know perfectly well 'what,' you scruffy bantha-breeder."
"I'm not scruffy!"
She raised her eyebrow.
Ezra stuck his tongue out at her, but the canister of paint came floating back down slowly. She grabbed it, shaking it and her head simultaneously. She didn't bother trying to suppress the smile. "You know, for someone supposedly devoted to the good side of things, you play an unhealthy amount of pranks. I wonder what would happen if we didn't stop you from doing them."
"Oh, you didn't stop me." Sabine moved her gaze back to his area, scanning the air for anything else of hers that was floating- he grinned, eyes closed. "I just moved to a bigger target."
She yelped as the ground moved out from under her.
"Ezra Bridger put me down!"
"But I'm not touch-" He yelped when she threw her paint sprayer at him, and she dropped as he fell backwards, concentration gone. Sabine thought she landed with just a tad more grace than him, however.
She smirked as she stood, crossing her arms in front of her as Ezra groaned, flat on his back. "I gotta say, if you're going to levitate someone, you should at least be prepared for a counter attack. Or have a plan of defense in case you get distracted."
"Right, right, ow, but point taken." He struggled up, holding his head and only looking mildly put out. Sabine, however, stared at his head, and the massive red spot on the leftmost side of his forehead. She didn't throw the canister that hard, there shouldn't be any blood at all, bruising maybe, but not- Oh. Sabine bit her lip, and slapped her hand on over her mouth to try and suppress the giggles.
The canister had apparently sprayed him right in the face.
"What's so funny?" He asked, following her gaze and putting a hand up to what must have been a sticky side of his face. Her hand proved to be an inefficient barrier against laughter when she caught his momentary confusion and then shock- he quickly turned an affronted look towards her, pointing- a little off -at the red spot on his face. "You painted me!"
Sabine laughed. "But I never touched the canister!"
This time it was Ezra who scowled at her, amusement glinting around the borders of his eyes. "Two can play at that game!"
"Two already di- EZRA!"
It was her turn to scowl once again as nearly all her canisters decided to dance with newfound life. He raised a smug little eyebrow, and Sabine lowered hers. "Like I said, all you need is a distraction, and then all your little hovering toys will come crashing back down."
"But this time I'm not gonna be distracted- there's nothing you can throw at me that I'm not expecting, now!"
Apparently he wasn't expecting her to tackle him.
The two rolled, flattening the grass around them as they struggled to come out on top. Sabine laughed as the victory went to her, some ways away from her painting station, and shook her head at a pinned Ezra below her. "Never assume you're expecting everything from a Mandalorian."
"Message received, oh Mighty Mando," he grunted, pouting and looking off to the side. Sabine's grin turned soft, and she blew a few strands of his hair away from the red spot.
"Lucky you this is one of my rare washable paints."
"Lucky me." His lips quirked upwards. "Kanan'd kill me if it wasn't."
"Mm." And she bent down and kissed him.
"Where's that explosion?!" Ezra barked into the commlink, deflecting another bolt. The advancing line of bucket-heads continued to crawl forwards through the hangar, pushing him outside into the landing bay- where there were nothing but enemies waiting for him. At first he growled at the static. Then he eyed his comm with annoyance. Had the thing shorted out on him?
Then he panicked.
If Sabine wasn't answering, it meant she was too bust fending off bucket-heads to reply (unlikely), their comms were being jammed, or she was-
"Spectre five!? Spectre five, can you hear me?" No answer; another foot backwards to the landing platform. "Spectre one?" Karabast- they are jamming our comms! Then it looked like he'd have to get their attention in some other fashion; he wouldn't hold out against the dozen or so stormtroopers for long.
Ezra ran out of the hangar, blade trailing behind him and flicking upwards just in time to deflect any shots heading towards his back. The sunlight burned his eyes, but they weren't the only things he used to help him see- the Force hummed to him as he wove inbetween cargo crates, making his way towards the back of the platform where he could leap atop the actual building itself. There was nothing that grabbed attention better than a boost in height.
A bolstered jump sent him atop the roof, stumbling slightly with his landing, but he wasn't out of the water yet. Somehow they'd known the Ghost would make a target of the facility, and had readied every defense possible- including anti-air cannons fixed along the roof. Ezra had been banking on the fact that they would only target ships.
He cursed when they slowly began pointing their turrets in his direction.
Their rendezvous point was the landing bay just across the one he'd come from, so the quickest way there would definitely be a sprint across the roofs- and a sprint it was as he tried to get to his destination before the cannons locked on. His hopes raised exponentially, though, when he saw Kanan's blue blade and Sabine's bright armor on the opposite side of the landing platform; they stood a tremendously better chance together than they did off on their own.
Hearing the whir of the cannon behind him, Ezra leaped off the edge of the rood, pouring as much power into the jump as he could to try and escape the anti-aircraft blast-
-x-
"Ezra's not answering!" Sabine cried, mowing down a few more troopers as she and Kanan darted through the halls. The Jedi let loose some particularly colorful curse, deflecting and reflecting the bolts of the last few remaining troopers back at them. The both of them picked up their pace, dashing through the halls and hoping to make it to the rendezvous in time.
"They're jamming the communicators- we'll just have to hope Ezra makes it to the platform in time!"
A curdle of fear pooled in her stomach. She'd only run across Kanan in a stroke of luck, having had no idea the Imperials had actually set up some decent fortifications within the base that required a speedy exit. Without his comms, Ezra wouldn't be likely to know that- unless, of course, he'd run across some trouble himself.
She threw herself at the panel connected to the closed door blocking them off from the landing pad, fingers tapping furiously into the security system to open it up. Kanan's lightsaber flickered back on when more bucket-heads came around the corner, but the both of them were already running out to the hangar, Sabine shooting the panel shut behind her.
"Kanan, what if he isn't h-"
Sabine jumped backwards as an orange blur came flying through the air, screaming. It took her a second to recognize the tumbling mass of limbs as Ezra. It took him a second longer to stand up and sway, blinking owlishly. "Hello!"
"What- how did you- why-"
"Let's move!" Kanan called, and Ezra just grinned stupidly at her before running to his speeder.
I swear, there will never, ever be a day where he fails to confound me.
A cocky smile.
A warning too late.
An explosion.
A scream.
And now a heart-beat steadily pumping through the dozens of monitors.
Ezra paced the room, running his hands through his hair and desperately trying to remember one of the calming techniques Kanan had tried pounding in through his skull. It wasn't like he'd be able to use one; the medical bed was drawing all his focus and attention.
Or, rather, the alert Mandalorian sitting in it.
"That was too close- you could've gotten killed, if I hadn't caught you you would've- you would've-"
"Ezra."
He took a deep breath, closing his eyes and willing away the moisture. "I know this isn't the safest line of work, but that was- that was way, way too close."
"It was a close call. We've all had them before. They're nothing new-"
"But I can't keep on seeing you in a hospital bed!"
He'd immediately regretted raising his voice when Sabine raised a thin eyebrow. He was wincing and pacing even before she started talking again.
"So what would you have me do? Sit around inside the Ghost while you go off fighting?"
"No, that's not-"
"Waiting for you to come back from some crazy mission, wondering what kind of injuries you come home with because I wasn't there to cover your back?"
"That isn't-"
"You're not the only one scared of what happens in a mission, Ezra!"
"...I know." His shoulders slumped down, hands raising to rub his eyes tiredly. "I know... I just-" He shook his head, looking Sabine straight in the eye and letting loose the pent up breath that'd been keeping him going.
"I can't lose you."
Her eyes softened, and she beckoned him over with her head. Ezra complied, coming over to sit on her bedside and gladly returning the embrace she wrapped him in. "You won't," she promised softly, and Ezra just closed his eyes, pressing a kiss into her neck and just thankful, so thankful, that he still could.
It had all started out fine. Just a regular day. She'd finished a two-day art-piece, was smirking at Ezra's attempt at a handstand, and had gotten herself a nutri bar. She'd only just settled down into the rounded bench in the commons, calling him over for a game of Dejarik, when she'd noticed he'd gone deathly, deathly pale and rigid. Thoughts of a vision flitted through her head, but his eyes seemed painfully focused on the present. That had been when worry first numbed her fingers.
Then he'd slid slowly to the ground, and she was at his side in an instant, keeping a firm grip on his shoulder and desperately trying to understand why he was breathing so quickly.
"Ezra?! Ezra, what's wrong!?"
"So many- so many people," he whispered, eyes wide and brimming and staring at something she couldn't see. Sabine was debating on running for Kanan when Ezra snatched her hand in his own, looking her straight in the eyes.
"Sabine- they just killed-" his voice caught, his chest heaving, and Sabine shook him gently.
"Who killed? What's wrong?" He shook his head, and then placed it in his hands, trying to take deep breaths and failing. She'd never, ever seen him get like this-
"Thousands- no," his voice was distant, his eyes blurred, "millions of people just... just... vanished..." Sabine didn't know what else to do but hold him as the Force showed him visions of an increasingly terrifying disaster. This was the one area she'd never known how to deal with, with him. Or even how to help him. Or how to even start.
But it was when the sobs came that she truly felt helpless.
And it had been Hera, grim-faced and ashen, walking in through the common doors with the news of Alderaan's destruction that had told her their fight with the Empire was forever changed.
Three years later...
The earthen walls rained crumbling rocks on their heads, and the two Force-sensitives looked at each other, various stages of concern written into their faces.
"This mine's not going to hold much longer-"
"It has to!"
Ezra swayed a little as the trembling of the floor put him off balance. Deny it as he might, the old and weathered mine really wouldn't be able to keep itself upright for more than five minutes- ten if they were lucky. The Empire had gotten ruthless with the increase in rebel activity, and now no longer cared for the civilian lives they were endangering by bombing the mine- or their own troopers.
Kanan growled, looking back up through the shaft towards the groaning center of the mine. They were still loading supplies to the surface- and said supplies were still being loaded through the trembling shaft, overseen by Zeb and Sabine, plus a dozen sympathetic miners who had helped them plan the raid in the first place.
"We can't count on it for holding up as long as we need- I'll head up to the loading zone, keep the troopers off Hera's back, you go down and get everyone out! Tell them to leave the ores, we'll make do with what we have!"
Ezra nodded, and then the two of them sprinted off in separate directions. His balance got worse as the tremors increased in both speed and power; the bombers were getting smarter with their shots. Loose rocks and dirt slipped under his feet, but Ezra focused and kept himself moving through the narrow tunnels- Zeb and Sabine both were smart enough to get out when they had no other choice, but with the civilians tying them down they'd need all the help they could get to make a safe exit. Or at least, an exit with their lives.
He flew down a corner and nearly collided with a mass of purple fur- Zeb growled and backed away a few footsteps, his ears folded down in annoyance. A handful of miners trailed after him, all pushing large containers of ore.
"Where's Sabine? And the others?" Ezra asked, scanning the Lasat's entourage and not seeing the colorful Mandalorain anywhere. Zeb huffed and jerked his head back, gripping his Borifle tightly.
"She's tryin' to get them out alive; they're all convinced they can mine up the last of the deposit."
Ezra cursed as the mine trembled again, and multiple pairs of eyes glanced at the ceiling nervously. "Leave the ores- this place isn't going to last long, you all need to move!" Just in case they objected, Ezra accentuated his words with a little nudge from the Force- just a little something to get them going. Heads nodded and then they were running back up the shaft; Zeb stayed with him, eying him with the faintest amount of amusement.
"Never thought I'd see the little brat grow into a mock-leader."
"Never thought I'd see a Lasat turn grey- go with them, I'm going after Sabine." Zeb nodded and sighed, shaking his head. Ezra distinctly heard him mutter 'Age won't get rid of his snark, that's for sure,' before they both took off down the crumbling mine.
He really only had a vague idea where Sabine was- he'd only been down to the actual ore deposit site once, and every junction here looked alike. His connection with the Mandalorian helped point him in the right direction, though, and soon he found himself bounding into a marginally open cavern lined with miners on all sides.
Sabine stood in the center, standing toe-to-toe with one of the burliest humans Ezra'd ever seen and arguing vehemently. From what he was able to pick out before his intrusion, he was the reason they were stil down in the deposit.
"Everyone!"
Eyes immediately fixated on him- some traveling to the lightsaber on his belt, others towards the defining marks on his cheek. Just as long as they knew who he was. "Can't you hear the Empire bombing above you!? We need to leave now!"
Mr. Burly puffed out his chest, sticking up his nose. "We will not abandon our ores, not when they are so crucial to the Resi-"
"Your lives are worth more than those ores! Get out!"
Maybe it was his status, maybe it was common sense finally kicking in, or maybe it was because the rocky crags above them actually started cracking, but the majority of the miners took his orders and fled, abandoning their equipment. Burly snarled, but a chunk of ceiling crashing down broke off any retort he might have made.
Ezra just managed to catch ahold of it before the crushing of several humanoids could commence. Fortunately, it gave everyone else in the room the kick in the rear they needed to bolt up the shaft and towards the exit- unfortunately, it wasn't the only chunk falling.
"Move!" Sabine was shouting, and then the two of them collided as she threw herself at him, pushing the both of them out of the path of a falling chunk of deadly-deadly rock. He gasped as his grip on the first wedge was broken, though it didn't make much of a difference- the entire mine was collapsing, now.
It was times like these he was grateful his partner was Mandalorian, and had no hesitation whatsoever to literally drag him behind her. It rarely came to that extreme (unless very, very bad things had happened), but Ezra himself being strung behind Sabine on a frighteningly normal basis. This time, though, her quick thinking wasn't enough- the mine was falling quicker than they could run, and by the time they'd made it towards the opening in the shaft, huge slabs of stone were already blocking their path, the ground tilting beneath them.
Aw karabast, he cursed, right before tackling Sabine into an empty pocket of space and only just avoiding near certain death.
The ceiling caved in around them, and Ezra only remembered pressing the both of them up against the only point in space not screaming danger at him, managing to find the one safe spot before his eyes glued shut trying to fight dust and consciousness...
"-zra! Ezra come on!"
His temple was sticky. The whole side of his head, more like- it made responding to Sabine difficult. Not trusting himself at the moment to reply with coherent words, Ezra settled for a sort of moan-grunt hybrid, raising a hand to his head and not surprised in the least to have it draw away bloody.
"Oh thank the stars- are you pinned?"
Left leg- check. Right leg- check. Left-
"One'm arms... elbow..."
Long ago he would have worried the Mandalorian might not have had any idea what he was saying. Now, he was just grateful she wasn't laughing at his attempts to talk- he knew she'd know. He might not be able to see her or accurately interpret his injuries at the moment, but he knew she'd know. A rock shifted next to him, and his eyes flew open as a sudden ping trilled down his spine-
"Stop!"
She stopped.
He breathed.
"Hold on- I think I can get through a different way." He winced as a new curtain of dust spewed across his field of vision. After-tremors. They weren't safe yet, though they may have avoided being squished for now. Ezra shook his head, blinking harshly and trying to pull himself together. He and Sabine had escaped a quick end narrowly- now they had to make sure it wasn't for nothing. Over the years, Ezra had learned it was down to a combination of luck, skill, and awareness that pulled them through disasters- he figured they'd just spent their luck, and their skills were next to useless in this sort of environment, so it was up to their levels of awareness that would pull them through and back to the Ghost.
The Ghost. "C'n you- contact th' others?" Ezra swallowed and ran his tongue over teeth, trying to wake himself up and get rid of the slur.
"There's just static-I think they're having problems of their own over there." A new fear curdled in his stomach- Zeb had still been in the halls, hadn't he? Was he alright? Kanan and Hera he trusted to look after themselves, and to keep the miners they were evacuating in check, but how far had the Lasat been from them?
Luck, skills, awareness.
A pink hand suddenly thrust itself into his vision, and he blinked at the sudden intrusion of light and color. More dust flew in front of him. "There we go- you feeling any danger-mojo?"
"...keep going,"
The hand and arm attached pushed itself against the ground, dragging a torso and head slowly across, waiting for him to tell her to stop. Awareness.
Sabine grunted as she managed to pull herself through whatever crevice she'd found, drawing up next to him and panting slightly. Ezra frowned when he realized that he could, in fact, see her- there was light shining somewhere. Not brightly, probably somewhere down the hall, but some light fixture or another must have survived the cave-in if they were seeing through the passage. Maybe they still had some luck on their side after all.
"Arm doesn't look too bad, thankfully- you seeing fuzzy? Concussion or headache or anything?"
Ezra closed his eyes as Sabine shifted slightly, feeling the slight movements she made with the slab of stone on his arm. It didn't feel too bad either, if anything there was just a sort of numb buzz tingling from his elbow down. Though he supposed not feeling anything could be as bad as feeling something. As it was he was just grateful the only pain was radiating from the sore spot on his head.
Also not really a 'good' thing.
"Not a concussion, don' think, but... how much blood?" He felt Sabine pause above him as the Mandalorain turned to take stock of his head.
"A fair bit. You might have a skull fracture- there's no swelling though, and no excessive bleeding, so it might just be minor. Does it hurt?"
"I got poked in th' head bya rock- 'course it hurts. Not bad, but it'sa rock."
"Then I guess you'll be heading straight to the infirmary once this is over." He heard a faint sigh. "I swear, you get yourself into more trouble than you're worth."
"Aw, love you too."
"Hush." Ezra grunted as he finally did feel his arm, once Sabine had resumed her activities. She didn't bother to baby him, but she moved quickly and efficiently, moving the apparent moderately sized rock off his arm. He didn't hear any curses, so he assumed nothing too bad had happened to it. His suspicion was further proved when she started hoisting him up into a sitting position with no comment; he most likely only had some really bad bruises, maybe a few bone bruises, but nothing major.
His sitting motion came to an abrupt stop a few inches short of perpendicularity, something he blamed entirely on the low, low ceiling bits positioned around them. Sabine was crouching next to him, helmet slightly dinged and scuffed but otherwise looking just a little dusty. That was a plus, at least.
"Well, you don't actually look too bad," she said, cocking her head slightly. He raised an eyebrow up at her, humorless. She hummed.
"I guess that makes our main problem just moving the rocks out of the way, then." This time Ezra nodded, casting his eyes up at the rocks around them and straining his eyes slightly, wishing for Sabine's amazing helmet. There might be a light source nearby, but it really wasn't too bright- just powerful enough to prevent them from being in total darkness.
"Well, you c'n see'n th dark- what's it like? You think you c'n move a piece?" Sabine sucked in a breath, gazing at the tiny empty space around them.
"Maybe. They're pretty small, medium pieces, though- it's a miracle we even had this much of a pocket to stay in. Move the wrong piece and this'd all come tumbling down." Ezra was inexplicably reminded of an old children's tune they'd used to dance to in the streets, and he shook it away. Best not tempt the Force.
"Well, I honestly don' feel up to playin 'Do or Die'. Kanan an' the others should-" Ezra blinked as another round of tremors made an alarmingly thick layer of dust fall over the both of them.
"The bombers are making another round," Sabine whispered, and they both inched closer to one another as the wall vibrated slightly behind them. It didn't sound or feel too direct, but with the unstable network of stone hanging all around them, even small vibrations could prove catastrophic.
The two waited in silence, their hands somehow finding the others, and waited out the quakes. When they had mostly stilled except for a few muffled booms in the distance, they found it sufficiently safe to start small movements again. "Kanan and the others should be coming for us soon; it'd be best to let him handle things, seeing as he could... actually... see what he'd be doing." Sabine nodded and sighed, settling down next to him.
"How long d'you think it'll take?"
Ezra fidgeted, getting more comfortable and trying desperately not to touch anything around him. "Well," he said, speaking slowly- he noticed it helped his slur, "they'll have to take off to deal with those bombers. I don't think any one of them's crazy enough to stay down here with those Imps- scratch that, they might be crazy enough. So anywhere between a half an hour and a few seconds, I guess."
Sabine hummed, and then popped off her helmet. Ezra regretted he couldn't see her hair too well in the abysmal lighting- he really liked the purple combo she'd dyed it. It didn't stop him from looking, nor did it stop her from twisting a strand in front of her face. "It's getting kind of long," she mused, and he smiled. He'd asked her once why she didn't have it out long- wouldn't there be more material to die? But she'd launched into an explanation about how long hair could get you killed in the battlefield- in several different ways -and had left it at that.
She also didn't like it puffing up too much inside her helmet.
"You could always wear a ponytail, like me and Kanan," he suggested, wobbling his head in a suggestive manner. He was mildly pleased when it didn't hurt too much to do so- though he could see Sabine's raised eyebrow even without seeing her face. He knew she was smiling, too.
"That'd make half the crew 'tail wearers- and the other three can't have ponytails."
"Unless you do something really, really weird with Zeb."
"I think two 'tails is enough. Besides, it's your thing- yours and Kanan's. It's your Jedi-thing." Ezra smiled lightly, shrugging. Sabine cocked her head, however, and Ezra hummed in questioning as she shivered.
"What?"
"Don't think of Chopper in a ponytail." Ezra frowned, the image popping up in his head despite Sabine's warnings- and then drastically altered at her next words- "It's not so much the image that's frightening, but it's whose hair he would've had to pull to get one. And I think we all know how overboard he likes to get whenever he's doing... anything." Ezra shivered slightly, remembering the way the droid had near singlehandedly won battles by displaying ruthless and reckless abandon for organic life- and suddenly the act of getting a simple ponytail turned sinister. The two of them burst out laughing.
Force, she was perfect.
Ezra's stomach rolled on itself, thinking back to the hours of research he'd done in his spare time- he'd committed everything he needed for this to memory, hoping that he'd find the right time, the right situation, the right surroundings...
"Aw, man- chest piece has a dent. I hate buffing out the dents, always manages to rub off some of the paint..." Ezra listened to Sabine grumble next to him, smiling lightly at her complaints- she honestly didn't seem to be in too much worry over their predicament. She was completely confident in Kanan and the others to come get them, and so had settled down. She wasn't like the other girls he'd seen in the market, who'd freak out at the first sign of something wrong. She wasn't dumb, she wasn't skittish, she wasn't afraid to do what she needed- she was brave, and loyal, and loving, and just... amazing...
"-and I guess it's time to repaint it anyways... Ezra?"
He breathed out a jumble of nerves, with plenty more to spare jumping around in his stomach. He'd known her nearly six years and now- now was as good a time as any.
"Sabine- I, uh..."
~x~
She'd heard Ezra stutter and trip over his words plenty of times. Near half of those times were caused by some outrageous head injury or another. It wasn't really out of the ordinary for him to stumble around talking like a blind bantha- this time, though, Sabine couldn't help but get the feeling something else was up.
"There's- there's something I've been, uh, thinking about for a while, and, um, well..." Sabine looked at his head again. She couldn't see anything on it, but that didn't stop the reflex.
Ezra breathed out a singular laugh. "I spent all that time researching, and now I can't even say anything..."
"Ezra? What are you talking about? Were you holding back about your head?"
"What? No, no no- I just..." He laughed again, scratching his head with the back of his hand. Sabine narrowed her eyes at the action, but with the lack of any of his usual signs of pain, she let the action go. Besides, he seemed to be pretty focused on whatever he was trying to get out there- and serious was an emotion so rarely displayed except for the battlefield. Something big was on his mind.
"See, I know- this isn't really the ideal place, or time, and I don't think anyone's ever done this while near buried alive- well, maybe some of the aliens who live on planets with the cities under the ground, but I don't even know if they do those kinds of things. If they do, I'm pretty sure they don't do it in the same way- well, of course they don't, they'd ha-"
"Ezra, where are you going with this?"
"Right, right, sorry." He took a deep breath through his nose and then fidgeted towards her. Or at least she thought he did- she blinked rapidly as his blue blade lit up the small space, carefully angled so as to not disturb their fragile surroundings. She smiled at the small smirk on his face, though took the opportunity to carefully analyze the mat of blood on his head. It honestly did just look like a skull fracture- something to be looked at later, of course, when they had the proper tools and equipment- "Can't believe it took me this long to remember I have a literal glow stick... anyways..." Ezra cleared his throat. Sabine shifted to look at him better. He bit his lip.
"Like I said, this really isn't the right place, or the right time, or anything, but these days I don't think we'll ever have a perfect anything... Sabine, of Clan Wren, House Vizsla... Mav gar, to kaat aliit ti te gai, kaat riduur?"
Her breath catches at the admittedly halting Mandalorian, at the sudden exposure to her native language. It takes her a second to figure out exactly what he's saying, as rusty as she is. She hasn't spoken Mandalorian except for small curses in ages- but when the meaning ticks in her head, Sabine finds herself blinking rapidly.
She'd never thought she'd have heard the traditional marriage proposal in any context other than on holo-dramas.
"Ezra," if he had loth-cat ears they would have perked upwards, "you are the most amazing person I've ever met. You are smart, you are quirky, and I won't ever meet a single person like you. But.'
"There's a but, huh?" He smiled painfully. Sabine shook her head.
"But gosh darn it if you don't have the densest head in the galaxy. You've never, ever had to ask to marry me." His eyebrows furrowed, ever so slightly, and Sabine bent down to kiss him before finishing her statement. "I've always been yours- and I'll be damned if I let anyone else take you."
Ezra laughed, leaning into her and smiling one of his genuine smiles- the ones he so rarely used and the ones Sabine treasured. "So, is that a yes then?"
"Yes, you idiot. I love you."
"I love you too."
"Don't I know it."