Disclaimer: I don't own Star Wars Rebels or any related material.

Prologue II

Sabine was tired. Very tired. The events of the day have finally caught up with her. However, she had one final task she needed to complete before finally turning in for the night. She turned on her holoprojector and decided to call her friend and roommate from the academy.

"Sabine?"

"Hey, Ketsu. Are you still at the academy?" Sabine replied with a tired sigh.

"I am. What's going on with you?" The now identified Ketsu responded worriedly.

"I'll tell you about it when I get there. I'm beyond tired right now. Long day. I'll be there tomorrow, since my shuttle doesn't have a hyperdrive."

Sabine's shuttle is a Mandalorian Aka'jor class shuttle, a shuttle designed for peaceful transportation between Mandalore and other nearby planets. It has two large triangular wings attached to its side that fold up on landing, similar to a Kom'rk class fighter. Normally, without a hyperdrive, the trip between Krownest and Mandalore would have been much longer, but the moment Sabine received the ship, she and Ketsu started upgrading the engines and other parts of the ship, like the holoprojector she was using. She would have added every weapon known to Mandalore to it, but unfortunately the academy did not allow it. Well, at least she tried.

"Alright, I'll be ready for you. Anything else you need me to do?" Ketsu replied.

Sabine gave Ketsu a sheepish grin and responded, "Uh, maybe, if you can find one, a hyperdrive to install to my shuttle?"

Ketsu just rolled her eyes. "Now I'm really curious about your story. I'll see what I can do. Getting a hyperdrive isn't easy."

"I know. Thank you Ketsu, I really appreciate it," Sabine responded sincerely.

"No problem, take care of yourself. I'll see you tomorrow."

"You too, bye."

Sabine turned off the holoprojector and just flopped onto the bottom bunk. Since she had no need to ferry other passengers often, she and Ketsu had taken the space of two of the four passenger seats in the back and had converted it into a bunk bed that they would use often if they were working late into the night on upgrades.

Being too tired to even take off her armor, Sabine drifted off to sleep, her last lingering thoughts on the family she left behind.

In Her Dreams

Sabine looked around curiously. The last thing she remembered was talking to Ketsu before passing out on her bed. However, she was now standing on the balcony of a communications tower, looking out towards a large city. She noted the Imperial dome that towered over the other buildings. "Where am I?" she whispered to herself. Quickly, she ran to the other side of the balcony before being frozen in awe by the breathtaking view in front of her. The rolling fields extended for miles, only to lead into large, multi-colored dome-like rock formations in the distance. The hills pointed at the sky, as if they were telling her to look up, where a cacophony of oranges and purples met above them. She had never seen a sunset so beautiful, having only ever lived on an icy rock and a war-torn planet. Suddenly, she was in the plains, looking up at the tower she was just on. Looking down, she could see tooka-like creatures(loth-cats, she doesn't know that) running around her feet, chasing each other with large grins on their faces. She couldn't help herself and giggled at the sight. She then heard a low growl behind her, turned around, and yelped as she saw a massive white wolf with yellow eyes staring into her soul. She didn't know why, but she felt a connection with the being, and slowly raised her arm out to touch the wolf. However, the moment she touched it, she woke up, startled. "Owwww," she whined, hitting her head against the top bunk. She quickly realized that it was a dream, but she didn't want to forget the beautiful scenery she had just seen, so she reached for her painting tools under her bed. She accidentally picked up a jetpack given to her by the academy for her performance, and thought to herself, Haar'chak, I forgot to give this to Tristan, letting out a few tears, before gently putting it back and reaching for her painting materials. She needed to capture the beauty of what she would soon know to be Lothal, using the wall next to her bunk as the canvas of her next masterpiece.

While working on her painting, Sabine thought to herself, that dream felt way too real. I can still vividly remember everything. And why did I feel connected to that wolf? Is it the force? Oh, well, I can tell Ketsu about it when I show her my new masterpiece! She beamed to herself, as she continued working on her mural.

Imperial Academy Spaceport, The Next Day

As Sabine was docking her shuttle, she could already see Ketsu waiting for her with a smile, as well as a curious gleam in her eyes. After landing, Sabine walked out of the ramp with a smile that didn't quite reach her eyes, and Ketsu noticed immediately. "Everything okay?" she asked with concern visible on her face.

"Let's go to our room, I'll explain everything there."

As they approached their shared room, Ketsu closed the door behind her and said, "Spill, I know something's up."

And Sabine spilled. A lot of tears, and a lot of jumbled words, but Ketsu understood well enough. Sabine was force-sensitive, which looking back, made a lot of sense considering her performance at the academy. Because of Imperial law surrounding force-sensitives, Sabine had to leave her family behind to protect them from the Empire. Ketsu had already become disillusioned with the Empire before this, and had planned on breaking out of the academy in the next couple years. However, after hearing Sabine's story, she could barely hold in her anger. "When I get my hands on those kriffing-"

"Ketsu," Sabine interrupted, "The Empire is too strong for us to take on right now. Please, I made Tristan promise me the same thing, don't stick out your neck for me. I understand they make you angry, and I feel the same, but we can't fight them right now. And please keep my powers a secret. I know I can trust you, but I just want to make sure."

"I know, I promise," Ketsu replied somberly. Suddenly, she had a mischievous grin on her face. "Well, I stole a hyperdrive from a storage building last night. It looked like they were going to ship it off to a place called Lothal for some kind of experimental project. Based on my information, it was en route from the factory when pirates took it. Some of our super commandos took out the pirates and recovered it, and I guess they were getting ready to ship it again. Luckily, I got my hands on it before they could. I left it in one of the Sundari spaceports a few minutes out from here, since it would be too easy for the Imps to catch us if we did it here. Wanna go install it?"

Sabine's face lit up with excitement. "Really? Well, what are you waiting for?" She sprinted out of the room with Ketsu in tow, looking at Sabine like she was crazy. Well, she is a Mandalorian, after all. They're all crazy.

As they entered the shuttle, Ketsu noticed Sabine's new mural. "That's a beautiful piece of art Sabine. Where did you get the inspiration for it?"

"Would you believe me if I said I saw it in a dream?" she replied sarcastically.

"If you told me yesterday, maybe not, but I definitely do now."

"Huh?"

"I've been trying to access classified Imperial documents in the academy for a while now. That's how I found out about the hyperdrive and its destination. And I found a few relating to force-sensitives. I read that force-sensitives tend to have visions in their dreams, and most remember them vividly. I don't know much else, as I wasn't really focused on that stuff."

Sabine thought for a moment, then asked, "Do you know what this could mean?"

"No, but clearly it is a planet. Do you have any plans for where to go after this?"

Sabine looked down and responded, "No, I've been too caught up in the events of the past two days to think about it."

"Well, maybe you could go to that planet then. I'll pilot us over to the spaceport. You can do some research on what that planet could be while I help you install the hyperdrive. Sounds good?"

Sabine looked pensive while getting out her datapad. "I don't have any other ideas, thank you Ketsu. I don't know what I would do without you."

"Float around in space without a hyperdrive," she responded with a cheeky grin.

"Shut up."

A couple hours into installing the hyperdrive, Sabine finally found something. "Ketsu, I think I found it!"

"The planet?"

"You won't believe what planet it is if I told you."

"Which one?" Ketsu asked curiously.

"Lothal."

Ketsu looked worried. "Be careful, from what I read and told you earlier, the Empire has some kind of project going on there. There will be an Imperial presence there, though the size of it I don't know."

"Could you send me some of those files?"

"I'll start transferring it to your datapad now while we finish the hyperdrive," Ketsu responded, a worried look still on her face.

Sabine looked at her, then closed her eyes for a few seconds before reopening them, a look of fierce determination in her eyes. "I know, but I just have a feeling. It's been growing stronger since that dream last night, and it won't go away. I think it's telling me to go to Lothal, but I don't know why."

Ketsu sighed. "I can't pretend to understand what you're feeling, but I will support you all the way," Ketsu replied with a sincere smile.

Sabine returned the gesture. "Thank you." Then, a massive grin appeared on her face before saying, "Let's get working on that hyperdrive, I got places to be!"

Ketsu just rolled her eyes.

Once the hyperdrive was installed, the friends knew it was time to part ways.

"I'm going to miss you, Ketsu. Thank you for everything today."

"No problem, that's what friends are for."

Sabine gave her a teary-eyed smile before asking, "Once my family calls me dar'manda, they will send Tristan to the academy to try and restore their honor. I don't like it, and I doubt they do either, but they will have to do it to keep everyone alive. Would you be willing to watch over him when he arrives?"

Ketsu understood then how much Tristan meant to Sabine, and her hatred of the Empire grew. A look of determination flashed across Ketsu's face before responding, "I will, don't worry. I know how much he means to you, and I will do my best to keep him safe."

Sabine suddenly had an idea. She ran back into her shuttle and reached under her bed, taking out her jetpack. Despite being an Imperial issue, it was painted in traditional Clan Wren colors with a purple stripe going down the side of each thruster, as Sabine couldn't stand the plain white it was before.

Ketsu looked at Sabine and asked, "Isn't that what the academy gave you as a reward for your accomplishments?"

Sabine just nodded, before handing it to her. "I forgot to give this to Tristan before I left. Do you think you can give it to him when he arrives? I know he's always wanted a jetpack since he was young."

Ketsu smiled at Sabine's thoughtfulness before responding, "Of course. I'll keep it safe until he arrives."

"Thank you. Take care, Ketsu."

"You too Sabine, especially you. Good luck."

Sabine turned around and walked up the ramp as it closed behind her. She would have to leave behind another friend, but she realized that in a couple years, she had someone she could trust to take care of Tristan at the academy. She smiled at the thought as she took her shuttle into orbit, getting ready to set the navi-computer and use her new hyperdrive for the first time. As she pulled the lever down and the stars began to warp around her, she couldn't help but admire the streaks of blue and white that passed her by for the first time in her life as her ship hurdled through hyperspace. She had a lot of time to kill, so she decided to add another mural to her ship, on the underside of the top bunk. That way, whenever she fell asleep, she would always be looking into the stars.

Lothal Orbit

As her shuttle exited hyperspace, Sabine opened her eyes and sat up groggily, subconsciously admiring her work from last night. She decided to get cleaned up before going down to the surface. Opening the door to the refresher, she remembered back to when she and Ketsu upgraded it. Originally being a short distance transport ship, her fresher only had a toilet and a sink, but Sabine and Ketsu worked a miracle with the room available to add a small 1 person shower. Sabine smiled, remembering the amount of bickering and arguing that they had over how to add it. After finishing her shower and putting her armor back on, she realized it was too dull. The academy required all armor to be boring whites, grays, and blacks. Fortunately for her, they didn't require her to reforge her armor into an Imperial style yet. But now that she didn't need to adhere to the dress code, she could do whatever she wanted. Belatedly, she realized that she could also dye her hair now. Finally, I can express myself properly! No more stuffy Imps to tell me what to do. Her happy expression faltered slightly as she realized that she would stand out too much if she went with her normal style of vibrant colors, but it didn't deter her from changing it. As Sabine walked back to her bunk, she glanced at her mural of the Lothalian plains, and suddenly a lightbulb brighter than her current smile appeared in her head. Taking out her painting supplies, she got to work.

Sabine walked out of Lothal's spaceport fully clad in her newly painted armor. Her shin guards and knee pads were painted to look like the rolling plains she saw in her dreams, a mix of yellow and gold. If one looked closely enough, he would be able to see the individual blades of grass. She painted a loth-cat on each boot, chasing each other's tails across her feet. All of her torso pieces have been recolored to those of the Lothalian mountains, a greenish-gray color with multi-colored stripes going horizontally across her armor plates. She had painted the Clan Wren insignia over her chestplate in those same colors, subtle enough so the average Imperial would miss it, but noticeable for those who knew what they were looking for. Each glove was painted with a side profile of the white loth-wolf she met, both having their rows of sharp teeth on full display. Her helmet could blend in perfectly with a Lothalian sunset. A mix of pale lavender and vivid amber covered the top of her helmet, swirling downwards and becoming darker in shade as the pair of colors reached the bottom. Light, wispy clouds were painted around the crown of her helmet.

Sabine smiled inside of her helmet, proud of her work. Her first order of business was to find a shop that sold hair dye. Food and supplies could wait. This was more important. She realized that she didn't take much money from Krownest, as she was in a rush to leave. All she had was what she had in the shuttle at the time. It would last her a couple weeks at most, and even less after she bought her hair dyes. However, she didn't care, as she was a crazy Mandalorian after all.

Sabine had just spent a fourth of her money on hair dyes, and was making her way back to her shuttle. Just as she was starting to slightly regret her purchase, she caught movement out of the corner of her visor. A vendor on the street was being questioned by a couple Imperial officers, his wife and two children cowering behind the stand while a couple stormtroopers had them at gunpoint. The sight flipped a switch on her mood, her happy and airy attitude instantly being replaced by anger and grief. She saw herself with her family in the place of the vendor and his, and an inquisitor in the place of the officers. She had a hand on each of her Westar-35's, but as she was about to pull them out and start shooting, a boy who looked a couple years younger than herself, walked through the officers asking for a spare fruit. He had his head down and a cloak covering most of his features.

"Move along, loth-rat!"

"Sorry, sorry, I'm not looking for any trouble."

Sabine noted that the boy swiped a communicator off of one of the officer's belts, and when he was far enough away from them, he talked into it, though at her distance she couldn't tell what he was saying. Soon after, all the Imperials were scrambling to do something, what she did not know, and they all left towards another part of the city. She noted that they were talking about some code red. She then saw the boy make his way back to the stand and talk to the family for a little bit before taking a few of the vendor's fruits with him in his bag.

As Ezra was walking away from the stand, he felt something he never felt in his life. He didn't know what it was, but it compelled him to turn around, and he found himself staring at a female Mandalorian in colorful armor. She only looked a couple years older than he did. He had never seen her before, yet for some reason, he felt connected to her. His eyes met her visor for what seemed like hours, when in reality it was only a few long seconds. He then turned away, and shrugged off the feeling, taking the fruit he had just acquired back to his tower. However, there was still a small nagging curiosity in the back of his mind wondering who that Mando girl was.

As the boy turned away, Sabine exhaled a breath she didn't know she was holding. She had never seen him before, yet for some reason, she felt connected to him. From under her helmet, she had stared into his electric blue eyes, noting that she had never seen anything like them before. After he turned around and walked away, it took her a few seconds for her brain to catch up before heading back to her shuttle. She filed away the feeling for later, but made sure to keep an eye out for that boy any time they saw each other down the line. She glanced back at the now happy family one last time, and the feeling of grief washed over her again, as she dejectedly dragged herself back to the shuttle.

She went to her refresher the moment she got back to her shuttle, and started taking out her new hair dyes. After seeing the family on the street, she wanted to somehow represent her own in her new hair style, yet still have it match with the rest of her armor. She went with a similar pale lavender as her helmet for the base layer, while adding amber at the tips. She thought for a moment, before adding some lighter grays and yellows to her tips as well. It represented her clan perfectly, while still matching the colorful sunset she wanted.

Sabine was back out in the market, looking for supplies to stock up on. As she walked through the streets, she kept seeing family after family, together, and each one made her remember the one she had to leave behind. After gathering all the supplies she needed and bringing them back to the shuttle, she stored them away before sitting on her ramp, helmet by her side, knees tucked to her chest and her arms wrapped around them. She had her head down, crying silently for her family. She hated crying, as her Mandalorian culture had taught her, but with the events of the past two days still freshly swirling in her mind, she couldn't stop the torrent of tears rushing out of her eyes.

Ezra was back at the market, looking for parts to steal for his speeder, when he felt a large wave of sadness and grief pass through him. Normally, he would be able to feel some emotions, but he would never be able to tell their direction, and he had never felt anything this strong. Ever since his parents were taken away by the Empire three years ago, he never cared for others, as he did everything in his own power to keep himself alive. Yet, when he felt these emotions, he felt connected to them. It didn't feel anything like what he normally felt from people around him. He felt a tug in his mind telling him to go a certain direction, so he did, all while trying to figure out why he is doing this. He unknowingly made his way to Lothal's spaceport, still following the tug in his mind. When he reached his destination, he was shocked to find the Mando girl from earlier, wrapped up in her own arms and sobbing, her colorful hair being the only part of her head poking out of her shell. Normally, he would just walk by and mind his own business, but the tug in his mind compelled him to do something for her. He slowly walked up to her, unsure of what to do, when suddenly, the girl froze and shouted, "GO AWAY!" before looking up. When he looked into her eyes, his mind went blank, as he stared into her large amber eyes. Thankfully, she broke eye contact to wipe away her tears, allowing him to function again.

To her surprise, it was the same boy from the market she saw hours ago. She had one hand on her Westar-35, while the other one wiped the tears from her eyes. She didn't want to be seen like this, yet for some reason, his presence calmed her. Here was this 10 year old boy she had never seen before in front of her, yet she felt just as comfortable with him as she did with her own family. After gathering herself, she quietly asked, "What do you want?"

"I-I don't know. I was at the market when I felt a strong feeling of sadness. It was stronger than anything I've ever felt before, and something in my mind kept telling me to follow it. I followed it and I found you here." Sabine's eyes widened considerably at what he had just said. He noticed the slight panic in her eyes and asked, "What's wrong?"

Sabine didn't say anything, and instead grabbed his arm and dragged him inside her shuttle, closing the ramp behind her.

"Hey! What's going on?" Ezra asked, completely caught off guard by her move.

"How long have you been able to feel other people's feelings?" Sabine asked, a stern yet soft expression in her eyes.

"For a few years now. I've been able to avoid trouble by sensing others feelings and avoiding them. It's helped keep me alive for a while."

Sabine just gasped silently, and whispered, "I-I think you're just like me."

"What do you mean?"

"You're force-sensitive, just like me."

"What does that mean? Wh-what's the force?"

"I don't know too much. I just found out I was force-sensitive a couple of days ago. A friend of mine told me that people like us have vivid dreams that often mean something. My mother told me that force-sensitives have the potential to become Jedi, but besides that, I know nothing."

"I thought the Empire wiped out all the Jedi."

"I'm pretty sure they're all gone as well. My mother told me and my brother stories of a Jedi that came to save my people's homeworld."

Ezra thought about that for a moment, before responding, "Speaking of, where is your family?"

That triggered a reaction in Sabine, before she sat on her bunk and broke down crying again. Now Ezra may have been smart and resourceful for a 10 year old, but he had no idea what to do with a crying girl. He just walked over to her and put a hand on her shoulder before saying, "It's okay. You don't have to talk about it."

Sabine just grabbed his hand and gently pulled it off before replying, "No, it's better that I talk about it. For whatever reason, the force brought me to this planet, brought me to you. I don't know why, but even though we've never met before, I feel just as comfortable around my family as I do you. It's a long story, so you probably want to sit down."

Ezra listened to Sabine as she told her story in detail, about her discovering her abilities, about her parents' dilemma, about her relationship with her brother Tristan, and about how she left her family behind.

"I just miss them, and it hurts to know that I might never see them again."

Ezra just sighed, before replying, "I know."

Still with tear stains on her face, Sabine looked up at him in curiosity, "What do you mean?"

"My parents were taken from me by the Empire when I was 7. They didn't like the Empire, and openly broadcast against them. I've been living on the streets since." Ezra closed his eyes, reminding himself of the times before he was alone.

Sabine gave him a sympathetic look before pulling him into a tight hug. He hugged her back just as tightly, as tears streamed down both their faces in remembrance of both their families. Eventually, they slowly let go, before Sabine started laughing out of nowhere.

"What's so funny?" Ezra asked, slightly annoyed by the sudden change of mood.

"I just had the deepest conversation I've ever had in my life with a stranger I don't know the name of," before giggling slightly and asked him with a smile, "So, what's your name?"

Ezra realized the humor of the situation before chuckling himself. "Ezra. Ezra Bridger, you?"

"Sabine Wren. Nice to meet you, Ezra."

The happy mood was short-lived, as silence creeped back in and both of them looked down at the floor. Ezra, deciding that it might be a good time to head back to the tower, looked out the window, and thought of something that might cheer Sabine up. He noticed the mural behind her of the Lothalian sunset earlier, and he remembered her talking about a dream she had where she was on a tower looking out into the distance. He just wondered if the tower she dreamed of was the one he lived in. He looked at Sabine before asking, "Hey Sabine?"

"What's up?"

"Wanna see something cool? I think it will cheer you up."

Sabine replied with a small smile, "Okay, where do we go?"

"I need to pick up my speeder before we go, and I think it can fit in here. Do you mind?"

Sabine just dragged him to the cockpit and said, "Where to?"

As the pair approached Ezra's communication tower, Sabine gasped in awe. "This is the tower I saw in my dreams."

"I remember you mentioning that, and I had a feeling this might be it, but I wasn't sure. I think we timed it perfectly, wanna go watch the sunset?" Ezra asked, hoping to lift her spirits.

Sabine beamed at him, landed the ship, unloaded Ezra's speeder, and dragged him all the way up the tower, all within 15 seconds. He had no idea how she could move so fast, and his head was spinning, but he wasn't complaining, as he could see a smile on her face. As they calmed down and looked at the sunset, Sabine couldn't help but shed a tear at the view. It was more beautiful in person. Ezra looked at the view, then turned over to Sabine. He noticed how her armor matched the view, and he couldn't help but flip his head back and forth a few times before Sabine noticed him staring at her helmet, currently resting on the ledge. She snapped him out of his trance by asking, "Ezra, what's up?"

"Y-your armor. It matches the view perfectly."

"I know, I was working on it earlier before I went out to look for hair dye. Imperial regulations can go kriff themselves."

"It looks amazing, as did the mural in your shuttle."

Sabine's cheeks tinted pink for a second from the praise before turning back to normal, before responding, "Thank you. For everything today. I don't know what's going on. Life is very confusing right now. We have some sort of connection, but I don't know how or why. If you don't mind, I want to stay here with you for now, so we can figure out what's going on together."

Ezra looked up at her and beamed. "I've been alone for so long, I would happily have you stay. I know it's only been a few hours, but you've already become my best friend. I only had my parents when growing up, and when they were taken away, I didn't know what to do with myself. I want to know what this connection is too, so you're right. Let's figure it out together."

As the sun retreated behind the multi-colored hills, the pair walked into Ezra's room. Sabine noted his helmet collection in front of her and a small table to her right, and while it was a small space overall, it worked for Ezra.

Ezra turned to Sabine with a sheepish expression on his face, and said, "Um, I don't have a bed in here. I usually just sleep on the floor with my clothes as a pillow. Sorry."

Sabine just rolled her eyes before replying, "Surely you noticed the bunk bed I had in my shuttle. You can take the top one, the bottom bunk is mine." She walked out of the tower, with a still sheepish Ezra in tow. They took turns in the refresher before getting ready to sleep. As Sabine came out of the refresher, she noticed Ezra already sprawled out on the top bunk, asleep with no blankets. She chuckled silently before grabbing a spare blanket and tucking him in. She knew that no one could replace Tristan, but having Ezra around made life a lot more bearable.

She muttered out a quiet, "Goodnight, Ezra" before lying on her own bunk, falling asleep to the calming sounds of the Lothalian plains.

AN: I know just installing a hyperdrive sounds convenient, but hey, that fish dude installed one to the Phantom out of nowhere, so I thought that might be a good idea. Sabine also installed the TIE defender hyperdrive to a U-Wing in S4, so I guess they're just built like that. Easier for me.

Ezra here is still just a child at 10, so he is more prone to being shaped by the people around him. At this point, he has only been alone for 3 years instead of 7, so he hasn't gone down that path of caring only for himself as deeply yet. Being around Sabine for the foreseeable future will change his perspective on a lot of stuff, but I haven't fully decided what yet.

At this point he and Sabine are just friends, but they feel a deep connection through the force. What that connection is will be cleared up soon. No romance just yet, that probably won't start until "Spark of Rebellion". 3 year time skip next chapter, get ready.

c: