"Ezra, Sabine, do you have a moment?"
The would-be Jedi and the Mandalorian were a little startled when the voice of Kanan Jarrus hailed them over the comms just as they stepped off the ramp of the Gaunlet. They'd just finished testing out the new flight system Sabine installed, and the artist was planning on finally painting the fighter a color that wasn't red.
"Uh," Ezra intoned, glancing to the side at Sabine, who looked equally as baffled as he was. "Sure thing, Kanan, we'll be right there."
Normally, meeting with his teacher wouldn't be a problem for Ezra, but there was something in the Kanan's voice, just a slight inflection, that made him suspiciously worried. From what he'd seen on Sabine's face, she'd come to the same conclusion. Anything that could unsettle a Jedi was worrying, to say the least. Something in his master's tone made Ezra feel uneasy, but Sabine took his hand, giving it a gentle squeeze.
With a smile, he returned the gesture, careful not to let anyone else catch them; they weren't ready for someone to catch them in a relationship just yet. They hadn't even told the rest of the Ghost Crew. Not because they feared disapproval, but rather that Ezra wasn't ready to deal with Zeb's teasing just yet.
"Over here," Kanan called to them after a short walk, raising a hand to signal them over into a small room. It took Ezra a moment to realize this was the base's surveillance room; a narrow slit of room with monitors lining one of its walls. Retrofitted with new tech to mesh with the old systems needed to maintain coverage on the happenings of the base. He knew such rooms existed, and during his probation from missions following the Y-wing extractions, had been unfortunate enough to be tasked with the duty. The presence of AP-5 had only made the experience worse.
Speaking of which, said droid was also in the room, along with Hera and, oddly enough, Captain Rex. Exchanging looks of equal bewilderment, Sabine and Ezra shuffled inside, somehow feeling trapped when the door slid shut behind them. The Padawan took a moment to read the expression of the three adults in the room, wondering just what was going on. Twi'lek had her arms crossed, sure-tell sign that something was wrong. Meanwhile, the clone-captain briefly met Ezra's gaze, only for his eyes to dart to another corner of the room.
"Ezra, Sabine," Hera unfolded her arms, a mother's smile on her face. She gestured to a pair of spindly chairs in front of the line of monitors. "Have a seat."
Sharing another unsure glance, the two younger members in the room pulled the chairs next to each other and sat, Sabine crossing one leg over the other while Ezra drummed his fingers along his knee.
"So… is this a court-martial or something?" Ezra joked, trying to lighten the mood. "Cause whatever this is about, Chopper did it."
"No, no," Rex answered, rocking back and forth on his feet as he avoided eye-contact with Ezra or Sabine. "Nothing like that, at all."
"Although, it should be," AP-5 droned from the corner. "But against my strenuous suggestions, Captain Syndulla has elected to spare you a rightful punishment."
"Okay…" Sabine narrowed her eyes. "What's he talking about?"
Without a response, Kanan removed his mask and pinched the bridge of his nose—no doubt resisting the urge to snap at the droid. Finally, he moved forward and situated himself next to Hera, and directly in front of the two teens. Try as he might, Ezra couldn't decipher the look on his master's face, though he wondered if maybe the Knight's jaw was set tighter than usual. A quick glance at Sabine revealed she was having no luck either. The Padawan felt his anxiety flare up as he waited.
With a sigh, Kanan began, "I don't have to tell you that there are camera's placed throughout the entirety of the base, do I?" At their confirmation, he continued, "And I'm sure you're also aware that all footage is monitored and recorded."
"Yeah, obviously," Sabine frowned. This meeting was… bizarre to say the least. "After all the work we put it trying to get this place online, it'd better be."
"You speak as though you were the one who'd spent hours arranging the systems into proper order," AP-5 drawled, sounding as annoyed as he could. The Mandalorian rolled her eyes.
"AP-5," Hera sighed. "Enough."
"Yes, General."
"So," Ezra rubbed the back of his neck, "What's all this about, again?"
"As it turns out, there are few cameras in the base we didn't know about," Hera explained. "We've had our people looking through them, so we can find and disable the unneeded surveillance. For example, Rex was sorting through some footage today that he felt needed our attention."
Hera let the words hang for a moment, as if they were expected to drive something home for the two young ones before her. All she saw was utter confusion on both their parts and she grimaced.
"Okay," Ezra said, starting to feel frustrated; he felt Kanan poke at their bond to reassure him. "Are trying to put one or both of us on monitor duty?"
"No," Rex said. "It's just that two people were caught on camera in one of the rooms that shouldn't have been monitored."
"Meaning?" Sabine huffed.
"That you and Bridger were caught on tape exchanging saliva with each other, "AP-5 chimed in to the dismay of Hera, Kanan, and Rex.
It took a few moments for the words to sink in for Ezra, and when they did, a look of pure horror crossed his face. He could feel his cheeks heating up and suddenly wished there was a Force technique that allowed one to teleport themselves out of a conversation. He glanced over at Sabine, who was currently staring at the ground like it was the most interesting thing in the galaxy. Her cheeks were flushed, and he stupidly thought it was the cutest thing ever.
This can't be happening, he thought, struggling to avoid the gaze of every person in the room. He wanted to jump out of his seat, run out of the room, and take the Gaunlet to the deep reaches of space.
Sabine said something Mando'a, face falling into her hands.
Hera took pity on her kids and stepped forward to try and ease the awkwardness.
"Look, we understand that you probably didn't want us finding out this way," the Twi'lek coughed. "But I want you to know we're not angry and we're only telling you this, so that you'll know to be more careful in the future."
Ezra couldn't think of any words that wouldn't sound warbled and unintelligent in his current state, so he simply nodded.
"Right then," Rex cleared his throat. "I think that's our cue to leave, AP-5."
"Very well, I must scrub the surveillance footage clean, lest the entire base take inspiration from these two."
Ezra sputtered, face darkening a deeper shade of red, while Sabine crossed her arms as if to protect herself. When the clone and droid left the room, Hera sighed, sinking into a chair beside Kanan, who took her hand in comfort. The four of them sat in awkward silence as the two teens slowly regained their composure.
"So," Kanan said. "Congratulations, I suppose."
"Thanks," Sabine's voice dripped with sarcasm.
"We were going to tell you," Ezra said.
"We know," Hera smiled tightly. "But that leaves the matter of Sabine's parents."
At that, Sabine and Ezra went still.
"We aren't going to tell them," Hera assured.
Ezra deflated a little; Hera was an angel.
"You are," Kanan said.
Kanan was pure evil.
"Kanan!" Sabine shouted.
"He's right," Hera affirmed. "This isn't something you want to keep from them for too long."
"But the Countess will shoot me," Ezra whined.
"Don't be dramatic, Ezra."
"No," Sabine interrupted. "She'll shoot him. I'm 99 percent certain of it."
"Right," Hera said. "Don't tell them right away, obviously, but you will tell them, understood?"
"Yes mam," the two teens replied.
With that, the Jedi and Twi'lek left them room.
"Well," Ezra said, "that was horrifying."
"You think?" Sabine growled.
"What are you mad at me for?"
"Because this is all your fault!"
"My fault? I'm pretty sure you were kissing me in that video."
Sabine flushed, "Well, you could have stopped me!"
"Why would I stop you?! I like kissing you!"
An awkward silence hung in the air as the two stared at each other.
"So, we just pretend that whole thing never happened," he said.
"Deal," Sabine nodded.