Ezra needing new clothes to change into reminded Sabine that it was time to wash hers. And it was perfect timing, considering that doing chores would be the best way to distract her from thinking about what she saw earlier in the day.

Until she sees it again when she's walking down the hall with Jabba on her shoulders and her laundry basket in her hands and Ezra steps out of the refresher, naked except for a towel wrapped around his waist.

"Ah!" Sabine shouts in surprise.

Ezra stiffens when he realizes he's been spotted, and his embarrassment only worsens when he sees it's Sabine who saw him.

Matters only get worse when his towel falls as a result of him getting startled and Sabine drops her laundry basket and turns around before she can see anything.

"What the kriff do you think you're doing?" Sabine growls.

"Taking a shower." Ezra says. "I thought that would make you happy. You keep complaining that I stink."

"You do! But I didn't ask to see you fresh out of the refresher and this is the second time you've been naked around me today! That is two times too many!" Sabine scolds him.

Or two times not enough- No, Sabine stop! We're mad at him right now, not horny for him. Sabine mentally scolds herself.

However, her mind quickly changes on that once she turns around after he put his towel back in place.

He looked just as hot as he did when he was sparring with Thrawn in the rain. The first time she ever saw him shirtless. He looked sexy with wet hair, and that bicep he was showing off by holding the towel up to his hair made it even more so.

Sabine couldn't help but stare at the towel hanging low on his hips. Very low. Right at the end of his happy trail. And she couldn't help but feel the urge to grab his towel and yank it off of him to reveal the prize that was underneath. After all, this was the second time he's had it out in the open in her presence. Even though she dreaded being pleasantly surprised with another reason to want to ruin their friendship, she couldn't deny the fact that she was curious to see what he was packing under that towel.

"And yet you can't seem to look away." Ezra teases, and Sabine immediately stops staring and drops to the ground to pick up her spilled laundry and put it back into the basket.

"I understand. It must be hard for you to believe I can look this good." Ezra teases as Sabine stands up with her laundry and Jabba curls up on her shoulders again.

"Seriously? You look like you're holo-shopped!" Sabine insults.

Ezra smirks and looks down at his torso before looking back up at her.

"You really think I look that good?" Ezra asks.

Sabine bites her bottom lip and watches the water droplets trail down his torso. Tracing the lines of his defined muscles like she wished she could do with her fingers like the way she traced his scars that night in the gallery.

She wanted touch all of him, explore his body and let him explore hers in the same way. If he was even interested in her in that way. He was at one point, and she never thought she'd ever wish he was crushing on her again but against all odds, here she was doing just that!

Sabine felt her face heat up and she grips her laundry basket in her hands so tightly that she swore she might crack the handles.

"I didn't say you looked good." Sabine reminds him. "I said you look like a digitally edited version of a person that someone would use in an in ad on the holonet."

"So I look like a work of art, is what you're saying? Which means you still think I look good." Ezra points out to her.

Sabine growls and pushes past him.

"Believe whatever you want you stupid blueberry." She says on her way past him.

Ezra smirks and turns to watch her leave. And he can't help but admire how well those shorts fit her, mainly from behind. Which made his mind wander to how well that tank top fit her. Outlining her small bosom and letting him catch a glimpse of the top of them as she bent over to pick up her spilled laundry.

But he really shouldn't be dwelling on such thoughts regarding his best friend.

"Shit." Ezra curses softly as he looks down and notices the tent in his towel.

He looks down the hall before looking back at the refresher and going back in, deciding he needed another quick shower. A cold one.

Thrawn enters the galley, and sees Ahsoka pouring hot water into a mug with a tea bag.

"I bet it's been awhile since you've had tea." Ahsoka says with her back still turned to him.

"Actually, it hasn't. Ezra and I found some trees who's leaves could be used to make some delicious brews." Thrawn explains to her.

Ahsoka turns around to face him.

"So you don't want any then?" Ahsoka asks.

"No, I do want some. If you're offering." Thrawn says and Ahsoka smiles and prepares a second mug for him.

"You know, you're being awfully kind to me, considering everything I've done when I was with the Empire. I thought you would despise me more like Wren does." Thrawn says.

"Sabine hates you more for what you did to Ezra than what you did when you were with the Empire." Ahsoka explains and hands him his tea. "And since you're still alive then I think you've obviously learned by now that Jedi are very forgiving."

"Forgiving? Is exiling me into wild space for ten years with a pod of purrgil a Jedi's idea of forgiving?" Thrawn asks.

"Yes, considering you threatened to destroy his home planet. Which is what caused him to do that which made Sabine and I have to spend the past decade searching for your asses, and you still haven't given either of us a proper thank you for rescuing you." Ahsoka reminds him before taking a long sip of her tea.

"Thank you." Thrawn says softly after a moment of silence. "I suppose I got lucky, getting stranded with someone who has people that care about him so much that they would spend a decade looking for him. And that he wouldn't kill me after everything I did to him and his crew. What became of the rest of his crew after I disappeared anyway?" Thrawn asks.

Ahsoka thought of how to answer that. Ezra trusted him but he was a very trusting person. And how things will go once they arrive at Csilla are still unclear.

But as she thought about the details of what happened to the remaining spectres after the Empire fell, she realized a coincidental parallel between their lives.

Hera's raising the son she had with the man she loved. Zeb returned to his people with the man he loves. And Sabine remained on the home planet of and searched for the man she…

"They split up to be with their loved ones." Ahsoka says simply.

"Lucky them." Thrawn answers.

"Lucky isn't the word I would use." Ahsoka says. "Considering you took away the men that Sabine and Hera cared for more than anyone in the galaxy."

Thrawn arches an eyebrow and stirs his tea.

"I find it rather hypocritical that you told me about the forgiving nature of Jedi at the start of this conversation, and yet you seem to still hold a grudge against me." Thrawn quips back.

"I am no Jedi." Ahsoka replies with a smug grin.

"Says the Force sensitive woman who was trained as a Jedi, still practices their beliefs, and was apparently enlightened in the world between worlds. Clearly I am a fool for thinking otherwise." Thrawn digs into her.

Ahsoka sets her jaw to think of another smart reply.

"Yes you are. Since you claim to be a genius strategist, and yet you were defeated by a 19 year old with a pod of purrgil." Ahsoka reminds him and Thrawn groans. "Perhaps being stuck with Ezra for a decade has dulled your mind."

"And perhaps being stuck with Wren has made you more stubborn." Thrawn retorts. "Speaking of our companions, how's Wren holding up after nearly seeing the man she's pining after naked?" Thrawn asks.

"Well I think she stopped screaming into her pillow about an hour ago to do laundry so she's okay for now at least." Ahsoka says. "Where's Ezra?"

"He's taking a shower." Thrawn replies.

Ahsoka pauses stirring her spoon, realizing that would place Sabine in his path. She giggles and continues stirring.

"What's so funny?" Thrawn asks.

"Nothing. Just thinking about how the Force is giving the two of them every opportunity in the galaxy to confess their feelings for each other yet neither of them have done it yet." Ahsoka explains.

"Yes Ezra's inability to accept the fact that the woman he's been pining after for over a decade returns his feelings is fascinating. In an idiotic way." Thrawn says.

"So he does still like her then?" Ahsoka asks.

"He had a crush on her when they first met." Ahsoka says. "She didn't like him back because she thought he was incredibly annoying but then Kanan and Hera made him drink some respecting women juice and then he backed off. But I never knew if Ezra ever stopped loving her."

"Well I can assure you, he very much does." Thrawn says and takes a seat beside Ahsoka. "I don't think a day ever passed when he didn't talk about her."

"Really?" Ahsoka asks.

"Yes!" Thrawn exclaims. And the frustration in his tone indicated to the Jedi that he was telling the truth.

"For the first year or so after we were stranded he was reluctant to tell me much of anything about any of his crew mates because we were still enemies. But as we grew to trust each other he began to open up more. He told me about the other spectres but he seemed to talk about Wren the most. And talking about her made him the happiest. I could tell from that that his relationship with her was different than the others. They were obviously very close to each other, which is why he put his trust into her specifically to come find him. His faith in her, and the way his eyes light up whenever he talks about her or looks at a piece of her art, told me exactly how he feels about her. Even though he would never admit it." Thrawn explains.

"I went through something similar with Sabine." Ahsoka says. "Ever since Ezra left she practically dedicated her life to him. When she wasn't busy protecting Lothal from the Empire she was reaching out to me to search for leads on where you two might be. And practically all of her art had something to do with him. She used a lot of blue in all of her pieces after he left." Ahsoka chuckles. "He was on her mind every day. And she was desperate to find him. Even when Mandalore was purged by the Empire she stayed on Lothal. She offered her clan safe haven there but she refused to return to Krowesnest or Mandalore to help her family fight."

"Knowing how important family is in Mandalorian culture…that says quite a lot about her feelings for Bridger." Thrawn says.

"He's everything to her. She claims he's just a good friend but her actions and the feelings I've sensed from her suggest otherwise. And now I think she's very close to realizing that she does truly love him. But trying to get a Mandalorian to change their mind once it's set is near impossible." Ahsoka says.

"Well, Ezra's certainly not making it easy for her by parading around half-naked, and now fully naked, showing her everything he has to offer her now that he's a fully grown man." Thrawn adds. "It's incredibly childish but what annoys me is the fact that he still hasn't seemed to notice the affect he has on her! She's not very good at hiding it. Her cover ups are clever but still clumsy in their execution yet he seems none the wiser! And he's a Jedi for Force's sake! If you can sense how she feels then why can't he? Why does he still deny the obvious!"

"Because it's not obvious yet. Sabine's emotions for him are still very conflicted. There's love for him but there's also anger there for abandoning her for so long." Ahsoka explains before sipping her tea.

"Ah so he's not sure which are her true feelings for him. It's risky a gamble because if he acts on her feelings of attraction then he risks losing her completely if that's not how she truly feels and if the anger is what reigns supreme." Thrawn theorizes.

"He's been waiting for her for nearly a decade. She means as much to him as he does to her. They're everything to each other they're not going to risk ruining that relationship until they're sure of each other's feelings and their own feelings for each other." Ahsoka says. "There's a lot of conflict in Sabine and I'm sure Ezra recognizes it as well as the conflict within himself. So he's waiting for her feelings to become clear. He may seem like an idiot but he's actually a lot smarter than you think."

"Jabba those are the only in tact pair of pants on board, give them back!" Ezra shouts from the hallway as they see Jabba run by the doorway with the article of clothing and Ezra pursuing him in his underwear.

"Tano I have spent a decade alone with this man, I can assure you he only has one functioning braincell." Thrawn concludes before sipping his tea.

While waiting for her laundry to finish drying, Sabine decides to go to the galley to get a snack and finds Thrawn there with Ahsoka boiling some water.

"Sabine, I'm making another pot of tea, do you want some?" Ahsoka asks.

"Sure, I'd love a cup." Sabine says.

Just as she sits down Ezra enters the galley. Clothed this time! What a concept!

But even with clothes on, he still looked hotas hell. He wore his boots that he had from before but he was wearing some new orange pants that fit him very well and a white button up shirt that was open, offering a window to show his sculpted chest.

Sabine was staring and of course Ezra didn't notice.

"That's a nice outfit Ezra." Ahsoka compliments. "Don't you agree Sabine?"

"Huh? Oh! Yeah, um, it looks nice." Sabine says softly.

"Thanks." Ezra replies. "It would look better if I could get the shirt buttoned up though."

"Oh don't tell me that after all this time you've forgotten how buttons work!" Sabine exclaims.

"This shirt's a little difficult." Ezra says sheepishly.

Sabine rolls her eyes before standing up and marching right up to him to fix his shirt.

"Here, let me button it for you." Sabine says, starting to button his shirt before Ezra even says it's okay.

She got his bottom buttons done just fine but once she reaches the buttons on his exposed torso it became a problem. She was so close to him, she could take in every detail of his sculpted torso. And even though she was supposed to be focused on buttoning his shirt, she couldn't help but let her hands wander a bit along the exposed skin, following the trails of his muscles.

He felt his face heating up as Sabine buttoned up his shirt. She was so close to him, there was barely an inch of space between them as she takes her time finding the buttons and matching them to the holes.

Ezra didn't know what to do with his hands. It felt strange to just have them just hanging at his sides. But it would be even stranger to place them on his hips, and she couldn't button his shirt if his arms were crossed.

So in a bold move, he decided to place his hands on her instead. Gently resting them on her hips. This causes her to falter in her movements and look up at him. Ezra couldn't help but get lost in her gorgeous amber eyes as they search his for an answer. And her flushed cheeks and slightly parted lips only added to how beautiful she looked right now.

Ezra's heart was pounding as he felt the curve of her hips in his hands, and he began to mentally map out the rest of her figure, and his fingers tense with the desire to roam. And he wonders if he should dare to move his hands lower, to feel if those shorts fit her just as well as they look like they do. Or if he should move them higher, to cup the tops of her breasts and squeeze them to see how well they might fit in his hands.

But he was pulled from his thoughts every time Sabine's finger would gently brush against his skin as she works to button his shirt. Or was she? She seems to be taking longer than she needs in order to complete this simple task. And her hands felt like they were wandering quite a bit. But Ezra didn't mind. In fact, it felt really nice. A little too nice.

He could feel his pants starting to get tighter and with her so close to him he didn't want to risk having her feel just how much he was enjoying this. So he had no choice but to call her out on it.

"Hey Sabine, you know you're supposed to be buttoning my shirt, not unbuttoning it right?" Ezra reminds her and he can feel her body get tense in his hold and he bites his lip to keep from laughing at her.

"I…I know." Sabine says softly, refusing to look him in the eye. "You were right. It's just hard to find the holes, for some reason this shirt decides to have them hidden underneath a flap of fabric by the seam."

She refocuses herself to cover up the tempting expanse of his chest with the shirt. And when she finishes the last button she places her hands on his chest and gives him a light, satisfied pat to signal she was done.

"All done." Sabine says with a smile.

"Thank you." Ezra says, smiling back at her.

That should have been the end of it but seconds pass and neither of them move from their position. It was so quiet in the galley you could hear a pin drop as they just stare at each other in silence, still caught in the sexual tension that they created.

Their gazes into each other's eyes shift down towards each other's lips. And both of them have the same thought in their mind.

Thrawn and Ahsoka watch with baited breath as they notice their heads moving closer together.

Even Jabba was sitting still, refusing to move from his place as he watches his human companions move to finally resolve this tension between them and-

*WHISTLE*

The kettle finally boiled and broke the trance, causing Sabine to break away from Ezra's gaze and look back down at his chest while she takes a step back.

The three spectators let out sighs of disappointment. And Ahsoka curses herself for letting the kettle boil just as the young lovers' moment hit it's boiling point.

"I think I got all of them." Sabine says shyly.

"The ones on his shirt yes, but his fly is still open." Ahsoka points out and Sabine stiffens and jumps away from Ezra with her hands up.

"We'll I'm not touching that one." She says and turns away from him.

"Don't worry, I can handle that one just fine on my own." Ezra assures her and fixes his fly.

A buzzer beeps, signaling that the dryer is finished and Sabine silently thanks the Force for giving her a way out of this awkward situation and leaves without another word.

"See Thrawn," Ezra says teasingly to the Chiss. "Helping each other out when something is difficult is what a good friend does. I hope you were paying attention."

"Oh trust me Bridger I was. And I've realized that you're even more ignorant than I previously thought possible." Thrawn groans.