Chapter 9: The future of the Force
The destruction of an Imperial experimental cruiser certainly drew the attention of the Empire onto Phoenix Cell. Analyzing radio traffic, Jinx informed Jaral and the commanders that the Sector Fleet of Lothal had received reinforcements and that the Empire was cracking down even harder on the sector and had doubled the patrols, forcing the rebels to reduce their activities for a time.
Despite the fleet's inactivity, the Bridgers were using the free time to train new abilities or refine some of those they already had.
Ezra turned his Jedi training up a notch, intensifying the fencing lessons and also reinforcing his Force abilities. However he also asked for flight lessons. Jaral started to instruct him on how to use her old A-Wing, since it was just sitting on the Liberator after she got her X-Wing. The boy had showed some promise and the siblings could already see themselves taking on entire TIE squadrons by themselves.
Ezra had also been learning with Sabine. Not just new ways to keep themselves busy in bed, but he also started to speak Mando'a with her, something that she really took at heart since she missed her home at times, and also started to help her paint. There were only some minor tasks, like repainting some faded colors or coloring the spaces she had already delimited.
Jaral used the fighter lessons with Ezra to keep her own abilities in that sector sharp. One week and a half after the Interdictor they went on their first flight together in orbit. Other than that, she spent most of her time on the bridge of the Liberator, every day learning something new about strategy. She took especially at heart to learn all the secrets of the art of logistic, since getting supplies was by far the biggest vulnerability of the Phoenix Cell. She and Ezra also spent a lot of time in the workshop of the corvette, working on new projects. During this time, they came up with a grappling hook for their armors, a project to which Sabine gave a pretty big input.
The elder sister spent most of her short free time with Darvos. The man had seriously impressed her during the escape from the Interdictor and now she felt her love for him reaching new levels.
12 days had gone. Ezra was in the cargo bay finishing a check-up on Chopper when Kanan came down and invited him to follow him down the ramp. As they did that, Ahsoka and Jaral showed up. The young woman was wearing her normal blue attire and Ezra noticed that she had two batons that seemed like the heads of an electro-pole. Though curious, he decided to let Kanan and Ahsoka speak first.
"This is unexpected." Kanan told Ahsoka in an amicable tone. "Don't get me wrong, it's always good to see you. But usually it means there's trouble."
"What I have to say is Jedi business." Ahsoka announced calmly.
"Then I guess we qualify." Kanan said, tapping the shoulder of his Padawan, who made a lopsided grin.
"You qualify more than I do."
Then Ezra looked at his sister. "Ok, I have to ask. If this is Jedi business why you brought her and sis, is that the new weapon?" he asked with genuine curiosity, pointing at the two batons.
"Let's step in, first." Ahsoka invited cordially.
From his sister's smirk, Ezra could already tell the answer to his second question.
As the four stepped into the cargo bay, away from curious eyes, Jaral picked the two batons, pointed the head to the upper side and ignited them. The two heads were covered in a bath of yellow plasma. Kanan was startled.
"Wait," he asked after his bewilderment was gone. "is that the staff of a Temple Guard?"
"Close enough." Jaral said with a smirk, waving the batons slowly. "The project is indeed the same, but we worked on making the heads a tad bigger and we built two plasma generators thanks to a project from the Milky Way."
"We already tested it against my lightsaber before coming here." Ahsoka said with a smile. "I assure you that it works."
"Can you connect them too?" Ezra asked, knowing the answer already.
Jaral pointed the bottoms of the batons and pushed them together. The two weapons were now one and the girl assumed a ready position specific for that weapon.
Kanan chuckled. "I don't even know why I still get surprised by you two."
Jaral smiled and turned off the weapon, separated the two batons and attached them back on her utility belt.
"Zeb told me how to fight with his Bo-rifle, but I still need a lot of training before I can even dare to dream to defend myself from a lightsaber, but that's a start."
"Good." said Kanan. "Recognizing your own limits is a good way to stay alive." then he turned to Ahsoka. "Now, shall we discuss the reason why you came here?"
"Indeed." Ahsoka said with a serious face back on.
Kanan led the group to his cabin and closed the door.
Ahsoka crossed her arms in front of her and spoke a bit gravely. "I've been monitoring transmissions from Mustafar to find out more about the Sith Lord."
"And?" Kanan asked.
Ahsoka sighed. "Information about him eludes me, but I've learned more about his Inquisitors. It seems they have a secondary mission to make retrievals."
"We know they hunt Jedi," Ezra commented. "so what else are they after?"
Ahsoka stroke her chin with two fingers. "At this point, I could only guess. With the help of Jinx I managed to decode two sets of coordinates." she turned toward Jaral, who in turn summoned the AI.
"There is one set of coordinates signaling a civilian-faring-route in the orbit of the planet Chandel, while another one leads to a residential area on the planet Takobo, an Ithorian colony."
"Thank you, Jinx." Ahsoka said. "I'm on my way to check the first one."
"And you want us to check the second one." Kanan said with a smile. "I'm in."
The two Jedi and the Force-touched took Chopper as support with them and went to say goodbye to Sabine and Hera, since Zeb was helping a supply run for one of the corvettes.
The girls weren't too happy to be left behind again, but this was Jedi business. Even if Jaral wasn't a Jedi, she was definitely someone in touch with the Force, and besides she had already outsmarted the Inquisitors on the old Republic medical station and now she had a weapon that could help her to defend herself against them, even if she still had to start to train with it first.
After three hours of hyperspace, the Phantom reached Takobo and landed into of its perfectly circle-shaped metropolis.
They landed into the spaceport which was nearest to their coordinates and dismounted.
"Hey, I was thinking…" Jaral said while jumping down. "We still don't know what the Inquisitors are looking for."
"No," said Kanan. "but we have to find out and take it away before they do."
As they stepped out of their bay, Ezra brought his forearm up near his mouth.
"Jinx, show us those coordinates."
The AI complied and showed up a hologram of the nearby neighborhood.
"The coordinates lead us in this specific agglomerate." Jinx said while highlighting in red a squared pack of houses.
"I doubt they're renting." Kanan joked. "They're most likely looking for someone."
"Maybe we should split up." Jaral suggested. "You two go there while I and Chopper take a look in the other bays of the spaceport. If the Inquisitors are already here…" she stopped.
"Good idea." said Kanan. "But be careful, and stay in touch."
"Don't worry. I have no intention of dying." Jaral said with a half grin. Then she motioned Chopper to follow her as she walked away.
The two Jedi then started to walk toward the coordinates given by Jinx.
Jaral didn't have to search for long, actually. After a half an hour, Jinx and Chopper had found something in the spaceport registers that led them to one of the private bays.
There she found the two TIE Advanced of the Inquisitors, their half-moon wings folded.
"Sometime I wonder what I would to without you guys." she chuckled.
Chopper grunted smugly.
"You're welcome...organic." Jinx said.
Jaral just rolled her eyes playfully and went inside the bay, taking cover behind a pillar on the wall.
She quickly noticed that one of the TIEs was under watch by a seeker droid, the same used by the woman Inquisitor. Who, by the way, had been identified as the 'Seventh Sister', while the brute she and the others met on the station had been identified as the 'Fifth Brother' thanks to the communications that Jinx intercepted from Mustafar.
Jaral turned on her armor and immediately engaged the cloaking device, which also kept her heat emissions under control. She then took out her Suppressor silenced pistol and, after getting close enough without alerting the squealing droid, she gunned it down with a clean hit to its photo-receptor.
"Damn, they are creepy." she said after giving a closer look to the tentacled machine.
Chopper grunted.
"All right. Let's blast these things and get out of here." she proclaimed, taking out a couple of high-power thermal detonators, but then she head a very unexpected noise coming from inside the Sister's TIE.
Jaral looked through the cockpit's glass and saw a baby girl, wrapped in a blue blanket with some yellow motifs. The baby was crying.
"What the actual…" Jaral whispered with wide eyes.
Chopper grunted.
"No! We're not leaving her here!" Jaral whispered harshly and climbed up onto the spherical cockpit, opened the hatched and grabbed the little girl gently.
The baby was still crying. Jaral hushed her gently, remembering the times where she used to cradle Ezra when she was only 5 and he a little less than 3.
"It's okay." she whispered, trying to show as much confidence as she could. "I'm here to help you." she put on a gentle smile and caressed the baby's cheek with her right fingers.
Surprisingly, the baby stopped crying and cooed, slowly drifting back to sleep.
Jaral breathed a sigh of relief and climbed out the cockpit.
"Keep her, will ya?" she said to Chopper, who extended his handlers to keep the "small meat-bag" as he had called her a moment before.
While Chopper reached the door of the bay, Jaral placed the detonators, but only set them to explode on command, then she deactivated the armor, took the baby again and they headed back to the Phantom.
After separating from Jaral and Chopper, Kanan and Ezra reached the entrance to the flat complex that Jinx was signaling. So far no signs of the Inquisitors, something that Kanan actually found unsettling.
They spent around ten minutes looking for every sign of the passage of the Inquisitors, until they found a door that was visibly forced open.
"This is it." Ezra said, then pushed the door to the side it was supposed to slid open, allowing him and Kanan to get in.
"Damn it. We're too late." Ezra said baring his teeth.
But then they heard a painful groan.
The room had been clearly turned upside down, but between the sofa at the wall and a toppled table, the Jedi found an ithorian female.
"She's alive." Kanan exclaimed, and the two knelt in front of her.
The woman still had the force to talk in her language.
"Jinx, translate." Ezra ordered, and his AI started to turn the words of the woman in a synthetic voice into his ears.
"What's your name?" Kanan asked.
"Oora."
"Save your strength, Oora."
"Help. They came for my child, Pipey. Two red blades." the woman stopped to catch her breath. "I...I sent him away with the custodian droid…" she stopped again.
Ezra listened carefully, then looked on the sofa and took a soft toy that most likely belonged to Pipey.
"I promise you, Oora." Ezra said in a cool tone. "We'll find your Pipey." and handed the toy to her while Kanan helped her sit on the sofa.
"Thank you. Thank you…"
"Oora, as soon as you're able to, get to Docking Bay 12." Kanan informed her, then the Jedi left the apartment.
"Why would they want her child?" Ezra asked his Master.
Kanan sighed. "I don't know, Ezra."
Ezra mumbled, then called Jaral.
"Specter-7 to Specter-6, come in."
Jaral answered almost immediately.
On the Phantom, Chopper had been charged with being the baby-sitter, and was holding the little girl with a handler while moving the other over her to entertain her. The baby mumbled in appreciation.
Jaral received the report from her brother.
"I found a baby girl in one of the Inquisitors' TIE as well. You say there's another one?"
"Yup, headed your way apparently. When you find the droid, tell it that the mother, Oora, sent you."
"Copy that. On my way." she declared before raising from the pilot's seat.
"Chopper, take care of her while I'm gone."
The astromech grunted in frustration.
Jaral immediately took the streets and looked around her. To speed things up, she activated Jinx's scanner to detect any droid that was moving in the open spaces of the streets.
Luckily, the scanner picked one fast, and even better, it was exactly the service droid she was looking for, with a wooden basket in his tiny arms.
Jaral approached it with her arms in front of her and as slowly as possible to signal she intended no harm.
The droid rolled a bit back and squeaked.
"It's okay. Oora sent me." she declared firmly.
The droid chirped again.
"Yes, Oora. That's Pipey, right?" she asked pointing a finger.
The droid concluded that was true and thus came forward, allowing Jaral to look inside. She found the baby ithorian squealing at her. From the movement of his eyes, Jaral hoped that he was just curious and a bit amused.
The girl smiled at him and gently pulled him out, taking him in his arms.
"Hey, Pipey." she whispered. The kid now definitely laughed.
"Okay, it's not safe for you, here." Jaral said to the droid. "Get back to your building."
The droid complied and went back on his tracks.
"Kanan, Ezra, I found the baby." she announced in the comlink.
"Already?" Kanan asked amused. "You're pretty good at this."
Jaral rolled her eyes playfully. "I sent the droid back and I'm heading to the…"
She was startled by a sudden crack coming from the direction the droid just went. A moment later, from behind the corner, the droid came flying down on the street, cut in half by what was clearly a lightsaber.
"Jaral?" Kanan asked worried.
The girl gasped as she saw the Seventh Sister with the ignited lightsaber and the Fifth Brother throwing the basked away with a frustrated snarl.
To make things worse, Pipey began to wail, frightened. And the Inquisitors immediately noticed the two.
Jaral gave her a glare and dashed away immediately, with the Inquisitors on her tail.
As she tried to lose them behind a corner, she called the others.
"Specter-1 and 7, I've been spotted by our creepy friends." she said, retaining enough calm.
"Copy that, Specter-6," Kanan answered. "Where are you?"
Jaral spotted an entrance.
"We'll be in the tower at the grid nine intersection. Specter-7, track my beacon." she said.
"Already on it. Hang on, sis." Ezra answered. There was hurry in his voice, but no doubt about her safety.
Without saying anything else, Jaral ran into the door, hoping to lose the Inquisitor, but Pipey just kept wailing.
The Jedi reached the grid nine, and they definitely found the tower when they saw a seeker droid guarding the entrance.
They waited for it to look away, since destroying it might alert the Inquisitors of their presence, then they dashed into the building.
They almost ran into the Sister on the second floor. Then, following the tracker, they quickly found Jaral hiding in an abandoned apartment on the third floor.
Except that she was sitting on a chair, cradling the baby and gently singing what Ezra immediately recognized as a lullaby that their mother used to sing to both of them.
The Jedi were in awe at how calm and natural the girl seemed to be in that situation, and they also appreciated her voice, which was incredibly melodic.
Pipey cooed a bit, grabbing her right pointer with his right hand and slowly drifted to sleep.
Only then the girl noticed the two Jedi looking at her with big smiles.
"You took your sweet time, uh?" she joked.
With the main door closed behind them, Ezra answered.
"It was just so cute, it felt like a sin to stop you."
Jaral smiled back, then looked at Kanan with a serious expression.
"Kanan, I think I know why the Inquisitors want these kids." Kanan stood at attention. "They are Force-sensitives."
The Jedi widened their eyes, then Kanan quickly reached through the Force to verify it.
"You're right." he whispered in admiration. "How did you know?"
"When I tried to send some positive waves to Pipey, I just...noticed it, I think." she tried to explain.
"That makes sense." Kanan exclaimed, but always keeping his voice down. "They are like Ezra. The Inquisitors are hunting the children because they're afraid they might become Jedi."
Kanan stopped as the Force screamed that he was in danger and he moved out from where he was standing. A second later, a red lightsaber pierced the floor from beneath, startling everyone. Luckily, Pipey seemed to be fast asleep.
Kanan and Ezra looked at each other and immediately ignited their lightsabers to create a hole in the roof from which they all jumped on the apartment on the next floor.
Jaral was tempted to throw a grenade back from where they came, but she realized that the Inquisitors would most likely send it back with the Force, so they just focused on running away, floor after floor. But the Inquisitors could sense their presence in the Force. Even if Kanan and Ezra could suppress it, Jaral wasn't trained to do this.
"We need another solution." Jaral said.
Kanan thought for a moment. "They hunt Jedi. So I say we let them have us." he said sternly. "Me and Ezra will distract them while you find a way out."
Ezra nodded. Jaral understood that this was the best route of action, even if she didn't like it.
"I'll get on the rooftop and climb down with the grappling hook."
"Be careful, will ya?" Ezra said. Highlighting the fact that she had to climb with the baby in an arm.
"Look who's talking." Jaral smirked, pointing out that they were the ones going to face two dark-siders.
The group splintered. Kanan and Ezra took their lightsabers and went down one floor. Ezra removed his armor's plates and left only his nano-suit. As the Inquisitors entered in their field of view, Kanan called them off. "Hey!"
The Jedi ignited their lightsabers as the dark-siders walked closer.
"Well, well, well." the Seventh Sister said with the voice modified by her mask. "Kanan Jarrus. Finally you came out of hiding. And, the cute Padawan boy. I've been waiting to see you again." something sound malicious and definitely disturbing in that.
"I'm just going to ignore that." Ezra said.
The Inquisitors ignited their blades and the Sister charged forward. Kanan intercepted her, and since the hallway was too narrow, only two could fight at a time.
Meanwhile, out from the tower, Jaral successfully used the grappling hook to lower herself. The rope could not bring her down to the street, since the building was too high, but still, she could easily survive the remaining five or so meters.
She disengaged the hook and fell nimbly on the sidewalk, before taking a quick look around her. It was almost night and since it was winter on that side of the planet, some snowflakes were starting to fall down.
Pipey now had woken up, but he was still calm.
Jaral smiled at him. "Don't worry Pipey. You and your mother will love Garel." she let her escape before heading to the spaceport, unaware of the seeker droid above her head.
After a brief duel, Kanan was pushed back by the Seventh Sister, who then had to confront Ezra as the boy covered his Master's withdrawal.
As he crossed blades in a lock against the woman, the latter removed her mask and showed a malicious face.
"You've become stronger, boy. It makes you even prettier."
Ezra grinned back at her. "Sorry, I already found the girl of my dreams." he said mockingly.
"Then I'll just have to take you some other way." she said and charged again.
Ezra parried her attack but had to jump backward anyway to avoid a kick from her.
"Time to go." Kanan said, touching his Padawan on the shoulder. The two dashed up the stairs with the dark-siders on their tail.
Kanan led his Padawan on the last floor and against a glass door giving directly out on the street. He shot at it three times, crashing it.
"I hope you know what you're doing." Ezra exclaimed, but when his Master jumped without hesitation, he did the same.
They so casually landed on a speeder that was parked temporarily a couple of floors down, on a terrace. Kanan took the commands and spirited away as the owner complained loudly.
However, the window was right above a trafficked route, so the Inquisitors jumped down on a passing speeder, yanked out the driver and took control. The Sister drove, the Brother stood up, hids dual blades ignited.
"We'll take the long way." Kanan announced. "Will give Jaral some more time."
Ezra nodded and called his E-11 in his hands, firing at the speeder.
As the two parts flew at a crazy speed around the city, Ezra eventually managed to hit the engine of his enemies' speeder, but as theirs went down, the Fifth Brother threw his lightsaber, which span toward the Jedi and cut one of their engines off as well. Luckily they weren't too high, so the crash didn't kill or injure them. Since they were close to the spaceport, Ezra and Kanan started running before the Inquisitors could catch up with them.
They managed to reach the spaceport, where Jaral was trying to open the door.
"Kanan, the hangar door is shut." she said with the comlink, since she hadn't noticed them.
"I'm a little preoccupied at the moment." Kanan shouted, making their presence known to her.
The Jedi couldn't allow the Inquisitors to get near Jaral, who was still holding the baby, so they formed a line and intercepted the dark-siders
Ezra found himself up against the Seventh Sister again, while Kanan went against the Brother.
However, the latter quickly dispatched Kanan by opening a gap in his defenses and tossing him away with the Force, after briefly strangling him. Kanan dropped down on the floor, senseless.
"Kanan!" Jaral screamed, reaching for him.
Ezra now had to face the two Inquisitors alone. Unlike last time, however, the dark-siders seemed to have learned their lesson and attacked him with coordinated strikes. Ezra withstood bravely against four waves, but eventually he was no match for that. The Brother managed to land a hit on his right arm, only by a narrow margin, so Ezra's shields deflected it but were immediately took down and he stumbled back. The Sister used the opportunity to Force push him violently on the ground. Ezra hit his head and was stunned, unable to get back on his feet.
Jaral put up a fighting face, but she was sweating cold. She was tempted to take one of her batons, but she wasn't a match for them with her hands free, so fighting with Pipey in her arm was out of the question.
The Inquisitor started to walk toward her, savoring her fear.
But then, the hangar door behind Jaral opened. The girl looked up and the vision of Ahsoka walking calmly out and with a deadly serious face, filled her heart with hope.
The Inquisitors stopped in their tracks and gazed at the Togruta as the latter ignited her two white lightsabers and took the ready stance of her Form.
"Unexpected, but not unwelcome." The Sister said with a grin.
Without breaking eye contact with the dark-siders, Ahsoka talked.
"Jaral, get the youngling to the ship." she said calmly.
Jaral reacted with a confident grin and Ahsoka briefly winked at her before jumping and bearing down against the Inquisitors. Jaral watched in awe as Ahsoka almost effortlessly pushed back the Inquisitors.
"Kanan, Ezra, wake up!" she said, kneeling down to her comrades, who were trying to stand up. "We need to get moving!"
"Wait, what about Ahsoka?" Kanan asked.
"Oh, she's doing great." Jaral dismissed the worry and led the others toward the Phantom.
As they stepped into the small vessel, the group found Oora, who had reached the bay as instructed, and was holding the human children, who apparently was called Alora.
Kanan sat at the commands as Jaral stood right behind him with Pipey still in her arms.
"We need to go back to her." he said.
"If we get airborne, I bet she'll just come to us." the girl declared confidently. Then she pushed a button on her omni-tool and a big explosion could be heard in the distance. She had just blown up the Inquisitors' TIEs, which could be the only immediate aerial menace to their escape.
Kanan agreed and started to warm up the engine, while outside, Ahsoka was literally owning the Inquisitors, sending them crashing against nearby decorative pillars on the sidewalk.
But the arrival of a big detachment of the Imperial Army aboard ITTs changed the balance and Ahsoka went on the defensive. The Seventh Sister cackled, saying that Ahsoka's capture would have pleased Lord Vader.
Then the Phantom showed up and Ahsoka just jumped on the lowest rooftop, using it to jump into the door of the fighter that Ezra opened.
Kanan brought the Phantom in orbit before any imperial ship could intercept them and jumped into hyperspace.
Pipey was given back to Oora, who was clearly overjoyed, while Jaral took Alora and went sitting down on one of the backseats. Ezra went to sit in front of her, smiling at her.
"Seems like you have a knack for children, sis." he teased her, plenty of allusions.
Jaral rolled her eyes playfully. "Well there were times where I had to take care of your baby ass that would never stop complaining." she smirked.
Zeb chuckled while listening. "Was he already unbearable?" he asked not seriously.
Jaral smiled at the remembrance. "Oh, yes. But I wouldn't have changed it for anything."
"Oh, save your sweet talk for Darvos." Ezra replied with a grin.
Ahsoka and Kanan looked from the command panel with satisfied smiles. Then they turned to each other.
"They're Force-sensitive." Ahsoka understood that as well. Apparently, she had found a ship attacked by the Inquisitors, where the grandmother of Alora was also attacked and left to die. Luckily, Ahsoka had brought her and the other survivors to safety, but the old lady had hinted that Alora was gifted in the Force.
"I've seen this before." the Togruta kept going. "A Sith Lord attempted the same thing back in the Clone Wars, but the Jedi Order stopped him."
"And now there's no Jedi Order to protect them." Kanan commented grimly. "I guess that task falls on us now." he said with a bit more of determination.
The two Force-users took a last gaze at the crowd behind them, where Chopper was lifting the two children with his handlers to make them play.
The trip back to Garel wasn't interrupted, luckily. Kanan dropped Ahsoka, Jaral and the civilians near the Liberator before bringing him and Ezra back to the Ghost.
Both of them were exhausted but satisfied.
"Ezra, the Inquisitor hit you on the arm, right?" Kanan remembered and got worried.
"The shields took the hit, Kanan, don't worry." Ezra reassured him as he climbed down the ladder leading to the common room.
Then the boy chuckled. "Just don't tell Sabine and Hera."
"Tell us what?" Hera's voice said with curiosity behind him.
The boy turned around, clenching his teeth behind his tightened lips, mumbling a 'Karabast'. Hera was smirking with her arms folded, while Sabine was narrowing her eyes at what she just heard, her hands on her hips.
Ezra knew he wouldn't get away so easily, so he tried to make it appear like it was nothing by rubbing his neck.
"Right, uh...funny story about that. You see, an Inquisitor's blade only barely grazed my right arm." he said, lifting the limb, still covered by the nano-suit.
"Take it off." Sabine commanded.
"Sabine, it's nothing." he insisted, actually wanting to rest.
"Ezra..." Hera said with a long 'a'.
The boy sighed in desperation. "Ok, I'll show that there is absolutely noth- Oh well, maybe there is something."
While saying the first sentence he deactivated the suit, revealing his usual orange attire. Then he immediately verified that there was indeed a wound. His jacket had a small cut with the black mark of a burn and the skin underneath had a small livid around an edema. Ezra theorized in his mind that the hit of the saber probably overloaded the systems of the suit and created a short-circuit in the area where the hit landed, which in turn affected the body underneath.
Basically, the hit was too strong and the plasma had so much energy that the suit was unable to disperse along the entire body, which is its basic task: disperse the kinetic energy along the entire surface of the suit so that the body underneath doesn't get affected.
The others in the room were horrified at the wound. And surprised that Ezra wasn't feeling anything.
"Med bay! Now!" Sabine grabbed his left wrist and started to pull him toward the infirmary.
"You know I can still walk, right?" he teased her.
"Shut up and come here!" she retorted, pushing him into the room.
Knowing that he wouldn't convince her otherwise, he simply made a lopsided grin and sat on one of the two beds, removing his jacket calmly while Sabine took the necessary medicament.
Ezra knew that the wound would most likely disappear the next day, not even leaving a permanent scar like the one on his left cheek. Still, he was happy to see that Sabine was concerned with his well-being, so he let her do her thing.
While the girl applied a bit of bacta on a gauze and disinfected the wound, Ezra looked at her all time with his grin.
When she was done with the first part of the treatment, Sabine sighed.
"Will you stop making me worry like this?"
"We're in a war, cyar'ika, could you promise me the same?" he said with a gentle tone.
Sabine forced a smirk on her face. He was right on that.
"How was the mission, anyway?" she asked, getting away to take a bandage.
"Pretty interesting." he said with a smile. "I learned that Jaral will make a good mother, one day."
"What?" Sabine chuckled. "What is that supposed to mean?"
As she applied the bandage, Ezra gave a quick account of what happened and how Jaral was particularly gifted to keep babies in her arms. Sabine smiled at the image.
"Well, she has been taking care of you her entire life." she commented. "I guess she has developed an instinct for that."
"Perhaps." Ezra said.
Sabine finished to apply the bandage. "Here. Though I guess by tomorrow morning it will be completely gone for you."
"Yeah. A pity I can't give you another scar to admire." he said with a grin. At the same time, he put a hand around her waist and gently pulled her in for a kiss.
"Well, maybe when you get older I'll allow you to bear more scars. Right now, I want to admire you in your best shape possible." she said while sliding a hand on his naked abs and pecs.
"As you wish, my goddess." and he kissed her again.
Then he jumped down the bed, stretching his neck. "Now, I think I'll grab something to eat and then straight to sleep. Would you like to join me?"
"For dinner, yes. For bed, I'll wait a little bit more."
"Great."