Shin paced the empty hall broodingly. Upon arrival on the ship, Master Skoll had requisitioned the unused training room, so he could keep on training her during the long trip.

The early hour was killing her, her head fuzzy from not getting much sleep last night. She had tried, but the exhaustion had been no worthy opponent from the storm of her thoughts. She had replayed again and again that impromptu kiss with Sabine, unable to know what to feel about it.

She wanted to be mad about it but that was an acrobatic opinion when she had been the one kissing first. So there wasn't much to pin on the girl. She had felt the guilt of committing treason too. To her Master, her imperial dreams, and her personal hate for Sabine.

But she had also felt very… hot, her blood running warm and pounding in her head. As the scene had played over and over in her thoughts, she had felt an unusual warmth inside of her. Very much inside, and quite down below, to be precise. On one hand, she had felt it to be wrong and misguided to let herself feel such excitation. On the other hand… well, it had been very hard to let that other hand idle. And failed she had. More than once.

And I'm taking this to my grave, she thought, blushing.

The long cold shower she forced herself into had done very little to chase these thoughts or the persisting wet smell of Sabine's kisses on her face. That one seemed engraved in her senses for quite some time and made her uneasy in ways she wasn't used to.

Then, there was Master Skoll. He had been waiting for her, outside her cabin, when she had returned after the kiss. To her surprise, Baylan didn't reprimand her for letting Sabine steal the comlink and escape. He had been more upset about how she had injured the girl upon finding her and didn't relax until she confirmed her ankle was not broken, which had seemed odd to Shin.

Then, suddenly, Master Skoll had gazed at her very intensely with a prying look making Shin very self-conscious about her disheveled appearance. But Baylan had just cut the conversation short and instructed her to meet in the morning for their regular practice.

And there she was, waiting for him as he was slightly late now. But sure enough, his heavy pace echoed out, seconds before he stepped in.

"Good morning, Shin. Excuse my tardiness, as I had to make a little detour for preparing today's lesson." Baylan said, cheeringly.

Shin squinted suspiciously at first and then gasped as a second figure appeared through the door. Oh, fuck no, she thought, paling. No, no, no, that's very bad.

"Good morning Wolfcut," said Sabine, in the flattest tone one could summon. "Yeah, fair enough, I made the same face when Cool Daddy Sithlord here told me where he was bringing me to."

"Still not a Sith, Miss Wren." Corrected Baylan.

"Still don't care, bantha-face." Replied Sabine.

Shin just stood in place, silent and mortified. Can any new day on that dreaded ship not beat the previous record for the worst shitshow ever? She asked internally, to whatever high power was putting her through this.

Baylan ignored Sabine's last banter and pressed her inside, calmly. The girl was walking with a noticeable limp, periodically leaning on walls and doorframes to keep straight. Nevertheless, she walked and a bacta splint was strapped to her ankle, noticed Shin.

"The reason for our delay." Said Baylan, catching her gaze. "To participate in today's lesson, I had to get Miss Wren a small head start on her recovery."

He proceeded to gather two practice staffs and tossed them to both girls. Seemingly unstable, Sabine caught hers swiftly with a twist of her hand, her body already tense for the fight. Shin snatched hers hesitantly, looking at her Master in disbelief.

"May I… enquire where this is going, Master? Why is the prisoner here, and… armed?" She asked.

Baylan smiled, clasping his hands behind his back with a self-satisfied look.

"In the light of recent events, I thought I'd swap our usual sparring for an object lesson," explained Baylan. "Though even in sparring, there's only so much you can learn with me," continued Baylan, turning to Sabine. "Miss Wren here, albeit uncooperative at first, was ultimately glad to oblige and be my substitute in that regard."

Shin screamed in her head.

"I feel like Miss Wren and I have sparred more than enough of late." She said, high-pitched. "Amongst other interactions."

"Oh, I'm glad running-girl here mentions other interactions," intervened Sabine, "because I would very much like to talk about that last…"

"AND SURELY MISS WREN OR WHATEVER," cut Shin, in a strangled scream, "is not so consensual in cooperating with my training. Let's respect that, Master. And offer her the right to remain alone and silent," she begged.

Baylan shrugged, extending a hand toward Sabine, who in turn, grinned and shrugged, facing Shin.

"Yeah, I was very keen on telling Darth Daddy here to blast off, but he explained I could have some fresh air and kick your sorry ass once again, so I jumped at the occasion." She said, joyfully.

See this is exactly the kind of nightmares I had growing up. But I'll take the one where I forgot my pants before a fight any day, thought Shin darkly. She tried a last way out of this madness.

"Hum, Master, no offense to three-time-loser here, but in addition to being very bad at counting and knowing when to shut her mouth, she forgot that her ankle is sprained. That wouldn't be a very fair fight" Shin tried. "Bacta patches got her this far, but they are not that effective."

Baylan seemed to think on the matter and nodded in agreement.

"A fair point my apprentice. Easily addressed, fortunately."

The fallen Jedi picked a practice blaster on a rack, and examined it conscientiously, setting its stun level to the maximum. Then without warning, he spun and shot Shin in the ankle.

Taken aback by the surprise attack, Shin brought her staff in the way of the laser as she would have with her lightsaber. Unfortunately, wood was quite less good at deflecting blaster bolts. The stun shot pushed through her staff, straining her wrist as she resisted, then went through and crashed on her ankle in a sparkling crack.

Shin felt her right foot go numb like it was severed from her leg. It wasn't even painful, but her brain went crazy with the feeling. Her foot was there, but to her nervous system, it had vanished. She fell to her knee, gaping and speechless, shooting a betrayed look to her Master.

"What the hell!" she screamed at him.

Baylan ignored her, and putting the blaster away made a wide gesture with his hands.

"Proceed," he said, simply, launching the fight.

Sabine didn't miss the cue. She charged, leaping on her good foot and managing her sprained ankle to cross the distance to Shin. She brought her staff in a downward slash, aiming at Shin's head.

The apprentice barely raised her staff in time to block the strike, the impact resonating in her arms. She hated wood staffs, they clanked clumsily and harshly, making for more heavy and slow combat than lightsabers. But we already established this day will not go my way, I guess, she thought.

Shin rolled on the side, breaking the standoff, and spun around Sabine, keeping herself in a crouched stance, as her knee was all she could stand on right now. She slashed at Sabine's back, but the girl brought her staff behind her in a spinning block and then turned to strike downward again. I forgot about the smooth moves, fulminated Shin. Without mobility to harass her, she's a nightmare.

She blocked again, pushing back. Shin felt some tickling in her sleeping foot, faint sensations coming back. For long minutes, they sparred some more, both struggling to stand up and gather some balance. As a result, no blow landed on either side, despite their respective efforts and rage.

Finally, after a new blade lock, Shin unexpectedly launched herself up on her good leg and threw her numb foot into Sabine's gut. Surprised, the girl stumbled back, almost falling over.

"Below the belt moves? Again?" Said Sabine, grinning. "Is sloppy and unexpected your signature move?"

"Will you stop running that mouth, you moron? You can't talk about…" Shin hissed, speaking low as if Baylan would not hear it. She stopped, knowing he would get every word.

As the Mandalorian recovered, Shin drew on the force to stand up too. Her foot was still numb but she could feel just enough of it to balance herself awkwardly. Both girls brought their staffs up in guard, gauging each other. Sabine was grinning playfully at Shin, something ferocious in her eyes.

"Oh, I have some things to say about people here running their mouths," jeered Sabine. "But come and shut mine again then, you were so creative about it last…" started Sabine.

Shin launched herself forward, pushing hard on her good leg, and slashed up at Sabine with an upward strike.

To her surprise, Sabine didn't block. She planted her baton on the ground, instantly giving herself strong support, and stepped back to let Shin's staff swoosh right outside of reach. Then, casually, she kicked the staff upward still, sending Shin's staff with amazing force. The apprentice made the mistake of strengthening her grip and regretted it instantly, under Sabine's triumphant smile.

The staff, launched in a perfect circle with too much force, arced back right into Shin's face before she realized it. A white-hot pain spread in her forehead, and she stumbled, dazed by the strike.

"Oh, you want creative? I got you," declared Shin, striking the girl with a massive force push.

Sabine gasped and flew backward, crashing on the floor. Shin launched herself again, her footing returning more and more to normal. She brought the staff up, ready to strike down Sabine. But the girl stayed on the ground and swept Shin's legs with hers, catching her mid-strike. The apprentice fell hard on the floor, unable to recover in time.

They stared at each other, panting, neither of them feeling strong enough to stand back up. Their gaze locked, fury and passion shooting back and forth from their eyes. Shin could read both hate and concern into the Mandalorian look. Time seemed frozen for a moment. She was so fierce and beautiful, thought Shin, holding her breath. Her blue short hair was dripping with sweat, in a wild and mesmerizing mess. Her mouth was panting, and Shin could hear that warm and sweet breath of her that she had tasted so profoundly yesterday.

For a moment there all she wanted was to close the distance to Sabine and lose herself again in the embrace of that wild insufferable woman. She wanted to bite and eat those fierce smiling lips again so badly and wrestle that little nimbly tongue with her own in a rematch of yesterday's kiss.

And for a moment right there, deep down in Sabine's gaze, she thought she read the same longing, burning right back at her.

Baylan's legs suddenly cut the eye exchange, as he stepped between them.

"That will be all for today, ladies," he said, offering a hand to Sabine to help her up. "I think I got the necessary material to teach what I intended."

Sabine took the hand reluctantly and grimaced in pain as she stood up, her ankle painful again from the fall. Baylan offered her his help some more but she shot him an angry look and leaned on the wall instead.

"Miss Wren, thank you for your brilliant sparring and cooperation. You were perfect. Your Master obviously had some talent in teaching," said Baylan, in a respectful yet fawning tone. "Would you please wait outside that corridor for a minute, as I conclude my own apprentice's lesson? And actually wait. Please don't have us running after you again, you're depleting our infirmary's supplies fast."

Sabine shot him a murderous look at the mention of Ahsoka, but refrained from acting on it, as she proceeded back to the corridor outside, limping.

"Yeah, sure thing Dark Lord of the Pompous. I'd watch you finish Blondie off with your bombastic mantras but if I hear one more shitty fortune cookie speech of yours, I'll fall asleep for good."

Baylan waited for her to step out and turned back to Shin, who had since stood back up on her own, a grumpy look on her face.

"So," said Baylan with a stern look. "You have just been presented with an unexpected challenge, and been deprived of your usual routes to face it. What do you take from it?"

That you are an asshole and I get the Sith tradition about killing one's own master, thought Shin angrily.

"That there are ways to adapt and fight on," she answered, between her teeth.

"Precisely," noted Baylan, grinning in amusement as he was probably reading the general meaning of her thoughts. "Then there's the fact that despite your best efforts to fight Miss Wren head-on, you came to a draw, once again."

"Wow, no! You interrupted us, I was just about to kick her…" protested Shin.

"Telling you, not asking," cut Baylan. "What does that teach you?" he insisted, detaching every word.

Shin closed her eyes, less to think than in an effort to calm herself. Breathing deeply, she answered.

"Brute force got no results; she is as stubborn and strong as me… I should have gone with a more cunning way of fighting her," Shin said, reluctantly.

Baylan smiled, nodding in approval.

"I guess I can still teach a lesson," he said. "Now that we are in agreement on the general philosophy, let me put it in plainer words. Your task with Miss Wren is a fight. For intel, for her trust, for her obedience too. I'll be insisting now that you stop any kind of physical harm toward her, in your enterprise. I don't want to see a stunt like yesterday again, is that clear?"

"I needed to make a point!" protested Shin. She won't respect me if there are no consequences!"

"Now, where was this wisdom every single time you disobeyed me and complained about the punishment?" jeered Baylan.

Shin shot him a flat look worthy of the most appalled teenager.

"Anyway," said Baylan, dismissively. "I want Miss Wren unscathed. So you will find it in yourself to gain her trust and get her talking to you in more considerate ways than your usual brutality. Get close to her. Get through to her. Like I did on Seatos. I'm sure you've made a breakthrough already with less conventional means," he stressed. "Just embrace those new ways…"

That comment. Shin froze, eyes wide. I mean, he can't know… right? He's good but not that good? She made an effort of not twitching at the thought.

"Please keep at that and get better, more consensual results," continued Baylan, firmly.

He did not wait for an answer and turned to the hall's exit.

"Oh, and please bring Miss Wren back to her cell. Gently. I believe she's in no condition to walk alone."

Oh, for chutta sake! raged Shin mentally, as Baylan stepped out.

But she paused, going back on those last instructions. She couldn't prevent herself from thinking that in a way, Master Skoll had just given her not only permission but almost an order, to keep on… doing what she had done, with Sabine. She wasn't sure what to make of the thought, but it lingered in her head as she stepped out to find the Mandalorian.

Sabine was waiting for her in the corridor, sitting on the ground.

"So, Dad said you had to be nice and take me back?" she mocked, looking up at Shin.

"I do have to take you back to your cell, but I got attention span disorders sometimes, I can't remember the whole part about being nice," said Shin grumpily.

She helped Sabine up reluctantly, and the girl clasped on her shoulder to stand, hesitantly. Shin's heart skipped a beat, feeling Sabine's arms around her, the warmth of the girl's body feeling comforting and familiar. She unconsciously grasped Sabine harder, and the Mandalorian shot her a grin, feeling her eagerness.

"So there's firm muscles underneath that skinny build and that bad temper!" teased Sabine. "Actually, can you carry me back in those arms, my ankle is sooo weak… I don't feel like walking at all."

"Or I can drag you behind me and wipe that floor with your ass in the process", said Shin, darting an exasperated look at her.

"You can't, Daddy said no!" Said Sabine with a grin.

They were walking excruciatingly slow, Sabine seeming to make a point of leaning hard against the apprentice and tripping every few steps.

"Can you please focus on walking?" Said Shin, rolling her eyes.

"Can you please focus on not being a bitch?" Replied Sabine.

They had made their way to the elevator, and Shin punched the cargo deck number. The lift took its usual eternity to move them down.

"I'm focusing on that moment in the future when my Master gets tired of you and I can finally dump you out through that airlock," Shin said, angrily.

"Well, says the girl obsessing about my ass…" replied Sabine, absently.

"I did not…! I said dragging it! Oh, the Force gives me the strength…" mumbled Shin.

"Like earlier in that fight where you cheated and pushed me with it? Yeah, I guess you can't do without it."

Shin ignored her, trying to pick up the pace as they walked through the corridors toward the brig. She could swear Sabine was making a show of leaning against her and grasping her chest with unnecessary clinginess. She tried to ignore the fact that every time the Mandalorian girl's hand would accidentally slip on a more intimate part of her chest, she didn't really mind about it. And she ignored the fact that it didn't feel that accidental either.

Then finally, they reached their destination.

Shin entered the cell once again and came to the conclusion that she would never have a normal experience doing so. Looking at the wall behind Sabine's bunk, it was clear the Mandalorian girl would never run out of ideas to wreak havoc on the confined space.

Indeed, the once pristine bunk wall was now ornate with some sort of fresco. Shin recognized the dark tint of the nail polish she had given Sabine the other day. That's not the intended use, but points for creativity, she thought. She looked at the murals curiously.

Traced in small brushes of black, elegant forms and symbols surrounded a more evocative painting. A face with distinctive eyes made-up in kohl, thin lips, and stylized bangs. Half the face was giving a very dark and menacing feeling, shadows creeping over it. The other half seemed more relaxed and bathed in light. But Shin was taken aback at how clearly, she recognized herself in the crude portrait. The girl had incredible talent. But if Master Skoll saw that, then yeah, I'm not wondering anymore where those last comments came from.

"Uh. What the… Is that me?" Shin asked, nodding toward the mural.

"That annoying sound passing for a voice?" Replied Sabine. "Yeah, that's all you." Though teasing her, she was looking at the apprentice with an inscrutable gaze, seeming to gauge her reaction.

"I'm talking about the… painting or whatever." Said Shin, rolling her eyes, but moving one step forward to look at it closer, as Sabine sat awkwardly on the bunk.

"Oh, that?" Said Sabine, innocently, turning toward the mural like she forgot about it. "Oh yeah… It's you. Kinda."

"Who's obsessed now?" said Shin, in disbelief.

"Yeah, don't get too many ideas, I was just exorcising in the way I know to," said Sabine. "It's more like… a representation of you, and your two sides."

"Two sides?" Asked Shin, skeptical.

"Well yeah. There's the homicidal, crazy-ass bitch, sith-adjacent, war-criminal side of yours that you practically advertise." Sarted Sabine, in a matter-of-factly way. "And then there is the side of you that just offers nice blueberry-scented showers and angry-kiss beautiful prisoners on a whim." She shrugged with an awkward smile.

Shin shot her a scornful look, crossing her arms.

"I seem to remember not doing all of the kissing." She admonished. "And I kissed one okay-looking prisoner, for the record."

"Glad that you own to the torture and murder part without protest." Replied Sabine, sourly.

"Hey, you said it's a mix, right?" Protested Shin broodily.

"Well, you're sure sending mixed signals, Blondie." Said Sabine. "Can we finally talk about all that, though?"

Shin didn't respond, hoping the girl would let it go. But of course, she wouldn't.

"Like I said yesterday," continued Sabine, with a serious tone, "what the hell was that? And by 'that' I mean you kissing me out of fucking nowhere right after you had me tortured and pass out from the pain."

She paused, then resumed.

"Ok, fine, I kissed back," admitted Sabine. "There is… something about you. And then there is the 'murdering me' part. And I'd love to make sense of it all."

Shin moved closer, arms still crossed, making a point of looking over Sabine's shoulder and avoiding her gaze. She mumbled an answer.

"What's to talk about? I had to shut you up, so I went for desperate measures," tried Shin.

She noticed Sabine's fingers, her nail polish still scratched and undone.

"Did all that nail polish go into that mural or you're embracing the grungy look?" said Shin, trying to steer the conversation away from the kissing matters.

"You gave me all but a small bottle," shrugged Sabine, "I had to make a choice on the use."

Shin paused, silent. She had a stupid idea, all of a sudden, that could be her way into the girl's good grace, and take out her revengefulness on someone Master Skoll didn't forbid her to. She turned to Sabine, trying to put some kindness into her tone.

"Do you want more?" asked Shin. "More improvised supplies of the sort I mean," she added quickly, catching Sabine's grin. "As you know… a de-escalating gesture?"

"Well, I won't say no, I get bored down here," replied Sabine, shrugging.

Shin nodded at the girl's ankle. Sabine was actually mindlessly tapping her injured foot nervously.

"Were you acting out earlier, with the ankle, or you really can't walk on your own?" she asked, squinting.

Sabine met the question with a broad victorious smile.

"Oh I was definitely fucking with you, yeah." she grinned. "It was painful for a few moments after you threw me on the ground, but I've been okay to walk since you met me out in the corridor."

Shin sighed, drawing on the Force not to lose her mind. A minute with this girl is like five years' worth of surviving a fight with a rancor.

"Ok Sabine," she said, finally. Then come, let's go find you some supplies."