"So this is it…" Sabine whispers hoarsely.
Ahsoka, looks to her companion sitting beside her in the cockpit of their ship. This was an emotional moment for both of them, seeing as it was the end of a very long and perilous search. But Sabine had much more invested into this journey than Ahsoka did. That much was clear from how the Mandalorian stared longingly at the planet outside the front window of their cockpit. This deserted jungle planet was where someone that she cared for deeply had spent the last decade.
The Jedi stole a glance at Sabine's lap and took note of how tightly she was gripping the lightsaber in her hands.
"Are you sure this is where he is?" She asks, her voice pitching a bit at the end on account of her heavy breathing.
"I'm absolutely certain he's here with Thrawn." Ahsoka informs her and Sabine lets out a large exhale. "Nervous?" She asks even though it was obvious.
Sabine shoots her a glare before looking back at the lightsaber in her hands.
"Extremely. I don't think I've ever felt more anxious in my life. My heart is pounding Ahsoka." Sabine says. "What if…" Her voice cracks. "What if he's changed? What if Thrawn's turned him into some evil, bitter, diabolical villain like him! What if he's using him for some Imperial plot-"
"If they were up to anything involving the Empire here, then this planet would be surrounded by star destroyers." Ahsoka reminds her panicked friend. "But there's not a single one in this system. Except for the one down there." Ahsoka says and taps the monitor, showing Sabine the place on this tropical planet that they were expected to land.
"Honestly I think it's more likely that they became friends." Ahsoka says and smiles at Sabine, encouraging her to smile too.
Sabine manages to give her a somewhat hopeful look before she turns back to look at where they're flying.
"Either that or they've killed each other-"
Sabine gasps in fear and Ahsoka immediately regrets suggesting that possibility.
"But I can sense them both down there!" She quickly adds, causing Sabine to take deep breaths as she calms down and brings her hand away from her chest.
She was lying of course. The both of them being dead was a very real possibility. But only that. Given the fertile environment and the fact that they were the only two intelligent life forms on this planet, the odds that they were both alive, vastly outweighed the possibility that they weren't. But they wouldn't know for sure until they got down there. Which would be very soon as they breached the planet's atmosphere. So Ahsoka decides to break the tension with some playful teasing.
"You gonna tell him you love him?" Ahsoka teases and Sabine frowns in annoyance.
"As I have said for the millionth time. I am not in love with him. He's just a really good friend." Sabine reminds her.
"A really good friend that you dedicated ten years of your life to by living on his home planet, in his home, while painting the armor that is essentially a second skin to you with tributes to him anywhere you could fit them." Ahsoka reminds her and Sabine hugs herself in embarrassment and tries to hide the purrgil she painted on her pauldron. "Because that's totally not excessive at all for your bff. I agree." She says sarcastically and Sabine rolls her eyes.
During this whole journey, Ahsoka had been teasing her about Ezra, claiming she felt something for him more than friendship. Sabine totally denied it at first but, as she listened to what Ahsoka was saying…she started to think about it and, maybe Ahsoka was onto something? She thought she had always been certain that Ezra was nothing more than a close friend. But her actions, and concurrently her heart…said otherwise. And she wasn't sure which one was telling the truth.
But now, as Sabine spots the remains of the Star Destroyer that took the one she cared for most away from her, she knew she'd figure out which part of her was right soon.
"He could be hot now?" Ahsoka suggests.
"What?" Sabine asks, confused and embarrassed by her question. "What do you mean by 'hot'?"
"You know…" Ahsoka says teasingly. "He's been roughing it out in the wild with Thrawn for about a decade now. He could be a real handsome, rugged outdoorsman now for all you know."
Sabine scoffs and rolls her eyes at the ridiculous thought.
"Maybe he's even got a six pack." Ahsoka suggests and Sabine immediately bursts out laughing hysterically.
Ahsoka laughs a bit herself from Sabine's reaction.
"He could." She continues. "He's probably been chopping down trees and hunting stuff. He could have some muscle on him now." Ahsoka suggests.
"Yeah I mean when he got older he got less scrawny and built up some muscle but him? With a six pack? That's just ridiculous." Sabine says. "He'd only have one in his dreams."
"And in yours." Ahsoka quips and smiles as Sabine lightly kicks her leg in retaliation.
It's not like Sabine thought Ezra was unattractive or anything. Once he got taller and less scrawny he was a pretty good looking dude. She may have checked him out from time to time but thankfully that horrible buzz cut kept her eyes and her thoughts from lingering for too long. But if he grew his hair out longer…Sabine bit her lip as she tried to visualize it. But the ship landing, ended those thoughts. Much to her relief.
Besides, she wouldn't have to imagine what he might look like now anyway. Because she would see him soon enough. And she was certain that there was no chance of her swooning for him like Ahsoka was predicting.
No matter what he looked like, he was still Ezra so there's no way she would ever think he's hot….right?
As they passed by wreckage of the Chimera, they noticed a campsite had been made in a clearing nearby. And they could see smoke coming from the center, a fire pit. That meant it was lit. Which also meant that at least one of them was alive down there. And Sabine prayed it was Ezra.
But when they make their way to the campsite, Sabine's heart sinks in despair. Instead of meeting the blue eyes of the man that's been on her mind for a decade, she meets the red eyes of the blue skinned man that took him from her.
She wasn't wearing her helmet, because she wanted to see Ezra with her own eyes when she first saw him again. But now, there was nothing hiding her tears as they fell down her cheeks at the sight of the disheveled, shirtless form of the man she despises standing before her, instead of the man she-
"You two?" Thrawn asks, lowering his knife.
He thought that they might be a threat when he saw them coming. Which was understandable since he didn't know who would be coming out of that ship. They may have been enemies but they weren't looking to fight. As long as the man that left with him was with them. Unharmed.
"What did you do to him?" She growls, cocking her blaster and pointing it at him.
"Who?" Thrawn asks, confused.
"You know who!" Sabine shouts, insulted that he had the gaul to pretend to forget the man he was shipwrecked with.
Then a look of realization comes over his face.
"Oh! So he was right after all." He says with a smile. "You two actually found us."
"Us…" Sabine breathes in relief, lowering her weapon a bit.
He was alive. She would see him again! But where was he? Was Thrawn keeping him locked up somewhere, torturing him-
"Where is he!" Sabine shouts again.
"Sabine, calm down. Just give him some time-" Ahsoka urges her but she doesn't listen.
She's waited long enough for answers.
"Where is he?" She growls. "If you've done anything to hurt him I swear-"
"He's fine." Thrawn interrupts her.
Sabine lowers her weapon.
"Bridger is mulling about somewhere in the forest not too far from here." Thrawn says and points towards a patch in the brush where a clear footpath had been made.
"He's picking some fruit to go with-" He starts but Sabine had already taken off past him into the brush.
"Dinner." Thrawn finishes.
After Sabine runs off, Thrawn and Ahsoka stand in awkward silence. Focusing on their thoughts until one of them would eventually break the peace and speak.
"I apologize for my silence. And awkwardness." Thrawn says awkwardly but with a polite tone. "I've had no one to talk to except Ezra for quite some time. It'll take some time to adjust to having other company to converse with."
"I understand." Ahsoka replies, accepting his apology. "And I see you're now on a first name basis with each other."
"Only when he's tolerable." Thrawn grumbles as he picks up a shirt from a log that doubled as a table.
So that's why he's shirtless. Ahsoka realizes when she notices the torn sleeve that Thrawn was sewing. Their clothes must be pretty worn down by this point. Some new ones for both of them were definitely in order once they got back to civilization.
"He hasn't changed much then?" Ahsoka asks.
She smiles, happy and relieved to hear that this decade alone with a master manipulator hadn't corrupted the Jedi's pure heart.
"Personality-wise, not much. But in appearance…" Thrawn shakes his head and lets out a long exhale that makes Ahsoka look at him curiously.
"Given how Sabine 'greeted' me." He says with a sarcastic tone on the word "greet". "I believe it's safe to assume that she fancies him?"
Ahsoka let out a short laugh from both his word choice and how easy it was for him to see the feelings that Sabine so obviously had for Ezra, but did her best to deny.
"She certainly does. But she's too stubborn to ever admit it." Ahsoka says with a shake of her head at how ridiculous it was. Then she realized something. "You remember her name?"
"Only because Bridger made it impossible to forget." He groans. "The ship was filled with her art. And every time he saw one of her pieces he would launch into a rant about Sabine Wren: The Greatest Woman to ever exist who will come to bring us back to civilization one day. Anyone with at least one functioning brain cell could deduce how he feels about her."
"And it took Sabine long enough get there but I'm pretty sure she feels the same." Ahsoka says.
"Well if she's still on the fence about her feelings for him, I can guarantee she won't be once she sees him again. One way or another, all it will take is one look at the man he's grown into and it will all fall into place." Thrawn says as he finishes the last stitch and ties it off.
"Has he really changed that much?" Ahsoka asks and Thrawn just looks at her so she continues to probe him with questions. "Is he taller now? Has he grown his hair longer like you or-" Thrawn just laughs and puts his shirt back on.
"They'll be back soon. Then you'll see for yourself." Thrawn says and looks at the path into the forest that Sabine had taken off on.
"You're really hyping this up like it's going to be some huge climactic reunion. But knowing Sabine, it's gonna take a lot more than just some good looks to get her to admit anything to Ezra." Ahsoka says.
"And even if she does find him physically attractive I highly doubt Bridger will notice because even with his abilities, he's never been that good at noticing the obvious." Thrawn says.
"Well then this will be interesting." Ahsoka says.
"It certainly will be. Because for once, I have no idea how this venture will play out." Thrawn admits.
Sabine ran through the jungle without a single care for what dangers could await for her. Any deadly plant or animal that wanted to make a meal of her would just have to wait because she didn't have the time to waste fighting them. She had been waiting for this particular opponent for a decade. And now, ready or not she was going to face him.
The only times she stopped were to scan for tracks on the ground, or broken branches to indicate which direction he had gone. Then, once she chose a direction, she would take a deep breath and keep running.
But after what felt like hours even though it had only been about fifteen minutes, her lungs felt like they were burning and her heart was pounding like crazy. She reluctantly stops to rest against a tree. She knew she shouldn't be exerting this much energy like this. She had to pace herself. But Ezra was so close now! She couldn't take it slow when finally she made it to the last leg of the race.
But at this point it was almost like that damn Jedi had disappeared from her again-
A rustling noise up ahead removes those thoughts. Permanently. Because that noise was the signal that her search was over.
Her head immediately turns towards the direction of the noise. And her eyes landed on the sight of something moving through the branches ahead of her. To anyone else, it may have looked like an animal. But Sabine knew what-no who she was looking at. So she could tell right away that the brown thing was a cloak. And nothing else on this planet could possibly be wearing a cloak except for-
"Ezra!" Sabine shouts and charges towards the figure that had now stopped in it's tracks.
Sabine's heart soared with joy. If this person stopped at his name, then that means they recognized it. He recognized it! It was him! Finally! After ten long years he was finally here right in front of her!
But as happy as she was to see him, as she got closer, her frustration and anger that had been building up over the decade due to the fact he pulled that stunt and went missing was rising too.
The figure sensed her approaching and began to turn their head towards her.
"Sabine?" She hears a hopeful voice ask. Ezra's hopeful voice.
Sabine trips slightly as she breaks through the brush and into the clearing where he was. Caught off guard from hearing his voice after so long.
But he wasn't gonna get off easy. She was gonna make him pay for all of the anguish that had filled her heart for the past decade.
"By the Force it's really-" Ezra starts but is quickly cut off by a very angry Mandalorian woman who had it out for him.
"YOU!" Sabine shouts and leaps onto his back before he can turn around.
Sabine wraps her arms around his neck, being careful not to choke him, holding herself up by pushing her arms down on his shoulders instead which were…broader than she remembered. And she had meant to pin him to the ground with the full brunt of her weight. This move always took him down before but now she only got him to stumble a few steps forward before balancing himself as she laid on top of his back. Sabine starts to feel embarrassed and confused that it didn't work. Had he…gotten stronger? That thought made a warm feeling wash over her. One that she should not be having and that she quickly shakes from her mind because she had been waiting too long for this moment and she would not let anything distract her from the beat down he's had coming for a decade.
"You!" She shouts again and kicks him in the leg gently to make him bend his knee and fall to the ground.
Thankfully that worked and he fell to his hands and knees, with her still on top of him.
"How DARE you leave me-" Sabine starts but quickly corrects herself when she remembers she was supposed to say "us" instead. For some reason that was the one part of her What to say to Ezra when I find him speech that she always messed up on by saying "me" when she meant "us". Because she was doing this for Zeb, Hera, and Chopper too. This definitely wasn't all about herself and her feelings at all. At least, that's what she kept telling herself… "US!" She shouts and kicks him again.
But before she could say more, she gasps as Ezra suddenly bucks her off of him, making her fall to the ground, landing on her back as he stood up in front of her. Sabine was appalled. How dare he fight back during the beating he deserved! He was really gonna get it now!
He turns around to face her and she runs up to him but stops when she finds herself staring at his chest instead of his eyes. Had he gotten taller? That warm feeling returns but Sabine pushes it down again. That was not what was important right now.
She gets up close to him and starts pounding her fists against his chest in frustration. Not enough to really hurt him, but enough to make sure that her point hit home. Literally.
"Ten years! Ten kriffing years I spent searching for your self-sacrificing ass!" Sabine shouts before clutching the material of his shirt in her hands.
"Sabine." Ezra says, trying to get her attention but she still had more to say.
"Do you have any idea how badly I missed you-you little-" She shouts before she sees the fabric of his cloak moving from the corner of her eye.
He had lifted up his hood.
She looks up at him, frowning in frustration and anger and heartbreak with tears streaming down her face. But as soon as she sees his face, all of those pent up emotions instantly faded away. It was like every negative emotion she had been harboring for him got sucked out of her mouth as her jaw drops as she sees the man her best friend had grown into.
His hair had grown long again, almost resembling how it looked back when they first met all those years ago. Sabine expected that he might grow it out again and she would have been ready to tease him for it if it didn't work so well with the rest of the uh….changes, she was currently processing.
His jawline that had gotten sharper and more defined by the time he left was now covered in a thick but surprisingly well-kept beard.
That warm feeling was starting to wash over Sabine again but this time she didn't push it down. She couldn't. It felt like time had stopped and her brain was on the fritz as it works to make sense of the man in front of her and how it was supposed to make her feel.
And speaking of feeling. The flesh of his chest that was pressed against her palms was firm. Much firmer than she had anticipated. He had some legit muscle on him now. And it was making her feel warm in places she should only be feeling warm when she saw someone…attractive.
No…no no no something…something was wrong here. This was just a shock response right? It had to be! There was no way she'd ever be feeling like this for Ezra under ordinary circumstances! She was just overwhelmed with emotion from seeing him again so now she was feeling everything that there was to feel! That was it right?
Either that or the possibility that this man wasn't Ezra at all. That was the explanation Sabine was trying to convince herself of anyway. That HAD to be it right? This wasn't her long lost friend it was just some handsome stranger she had embarrassed herself in front of by mistaking him for the man she was looking for because they had the same…vibrant blue eyes that were unique to Ezra Bridger.
Who was she kidding herself! This was obviously the Ezra that left her all those years ago to live on Lothal mourning his absence but he looked so different…a good different…
Wait good different?! No! No no no no Sabine stop! She internally screams at herself as she starts to come back to reality as her over-stimulated neurons finally reach their consensus against her will and she began to mount all her will power to reject their ruling.
But then his gloved hand touches her face. And any defense she could have built against him came crumbling down as she surrenders to the enchanting power that his rare blue gaze had always held over her since their eyes first met.
This moment was more than just the culmination of everything she had been feeling for the past decade. No. In this moment, everything she had been feeling for him since the moment she met him had finally come together. And his smile was the last piece that fell into place to finally reveal the clear picture that was hidden in the puzzle that was her true feelings for this boy-No. This man that stood before her now. And her heart clenched in both joy and fear from what she saw.
"Shit…" She whispers back, finally finishing the sentence that she had started, but instead of an insult it was a compliment.
She had no idea how, but right now, to her, Ezra Bridger looked damn good. Wait what!?
"Sabine…" He whispers, bringing her out of her thoughts once more.
Her name had never sounded so beautiful before.
"I missed you too." He says before wrapping her into a tight hug.
Sabine hugs him back. Gripping him tightly out of both joy and frustration because as much as her stubborn heart wanted to, she couldn't deny the truth now that it was as clear as day before her. She couldn't deny it anymore and her heart pounded as she became flustered as she reluctantly admitted to herself…
Oh no…he's hot!
Thrawn and Ahsoka were right. They may have completed a decade long search. But things had just gotten way more complicated.