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It had been five years. Five years since they fought to free Lothal from the Empire. Five years since they became heroes. Five years since she lost him. In those five years, Sabine had never stopped missing Ezra or loving him. The boy had been an annoying brat when she first met him but over the past four years that they had lived and worked together on the Ghost had changed things. Ezra was no longer the scrawny little kid they had encountered on Lothal who followed her around like a little lost puppy. He had grown in to a strong young man and had grown into his Force powers becoming a Jedi in his own right. Then he had gone and done something foolish. He had stayed on Thrawn's ship as the perglis were preparing to jump into hyperspace.
Sabine knew why he did it. He had seen Kanan sacrifice himself to keep all of them safe just days earlier and believed that it was the only way. That didn't mean that she hadn't been mad at him for doing it. But as the years had gone by, that anger had changed to sadness and loneliness. But her broken heart? That was still present. Zeb had his friendship with Kallus and Hera had the son Kanan had given her. Sabine had no one. So when Ahsoka had reached out to her asking for help in finding Ezra so he could help Luke Skywalker rebuild the Jedi Order, Sabine hadn't hesitated. She was going to find Ezra and let him know what a stupid choice he made five years ago and how worried she had been ever since...And then she was going to press her lips to his and vow to never let him go again.
☆☆☆
Sabine sat in her cabin looking at a picture of Ezra. She didn't have any holoimages of him (except the one of him and his parents) so she had done a portrait from memory not long after he disappeared. She didn't want to forget anything about him. Sometimes she would take out the picture of him with his parents and try to imagine what a child she had with him would look like. Because that's what she wanted; to be married to Ezra and have his child growing inside her. A knock sounded at her door.
"Come in," she said pushing the holoprojector under her pillow.
The door opened and Ahsoka came in.
"We should be landing soon," the togruta said.
Though Sabine tried to hide it, Ahsoka could tell what her young friend was thinking through the Force.
"Hey," she said putting a hand on Sabine's. "We'll find him. I know we will."
"It's been five years, Ahsoka," Sabine said. "He could be anywhere. And why didn't he try to contact me or Hera in all this time?"
"Because Thrawn is with him and he has no way of knowing that we won the war and that the Emperor and the Empire are gone."
Sabine knew that Ahsoka was right but she still couldn't help but think that she may never see Ezra again. But she would never say anything to Ahsoka. The Togruta had lost so many people in her life. First it was her family when she was taken to the temple. Then it was the Jedi and Padawans that she had grown up and trained with. Finally it was her master. The only connections she had to her life before the Empire was Rex and he wasn't going to be around much longer. They'd check this planet and then Sabine would insist that they go home so Ahsoka could spend what little time Rex had left with him.
☆☆☆
Sabine looked around. She had never been to this planet before but Ahsoka had called Raada. There wasn't much there. There was a small settlement but most of what Sabine could see was open planes. She highly doubted that they would find Ezra here.
"It's starting to look like it did when I first came here," Ahsoka said.
"You were here before?" Sabine asked.
"A year after the Clone Wars ended; before I became Fulcrum. I was hiding from the Empire. This was a farming planet back then. It seemed like a good place to hide."
"You don't strike me as the kind to do farming."
"I didn't work in the fields. I fixed the equipment. And, when the Empire came, helped my friends fight back."
Sabine looked at her friend.
"Did you have a lot of friends here?"
"A few but six, Kaeden, her sister Miara, the twins Hoban and Neera, Vartan, and Selda, were really good friends."
"Are they still here?"
"No. The twins died during the fight against the Empire and the others joined the Rebellion. I don't know what happened to them."
They stopped before a house at the edge of town.
"This was my house," Ahsoka said.
"It's...nice," Sabine said when they entered.
"I know it's not much," Ahsoka said. "But it was on the edge of town which gave me plenty of chances to go out on the planes whenever I wanted. They brought up memories from when I was a child on Shili. There were also caves not that far off where I hid supplies...just in case."
The two women looked around the small house. It looked clean indicating that someone lived there. Not wanting to upset the new owner of the house, they decided to leave. As they were, something caught Sabin's eye. Something familiar. She thought she saw a stormtrooper helmet. Hope began to well up in her chest. Ezra had collected imperial helmets. The Ghost was just as littered with his helmets as it was covered with her artwork.
"Sabine," Ahsoka called. "Come on."
Sabine followed her friend out of the house, trying to figure out if she had really seen a stormtrooper helmet or if she had wanted to see it.
"Where are we going?" Sabine asked Ahsoka.
"If I've learned one thing from my old master that had nothing to do with the Force its that the best place to get information is the local cantina," the togruta said.
The cantina was just how Ahsoka remembered it. She half expected to see Selda behind the bar and her other friends at their usual table. It brought memories back just being there and made her wonder where her friends were and how they were doing.
"I used to meet my friends here a lot once their shift in the fields was over. We would talk, have something to eat and drink, and sometimes play a few games. And, if I ever needed to, I could talk to Selda. He was an older togruta and kind of took me under his wing."
"Did you love him?"
"As I would an older brother. There was only one I loved with all my being; a human senator about my age."
"Really?" Sabine asked. She had never heard her friend talk like this.
"Really. His name was Lux, Lux Bonteri. After we find Ezra, I think I'll try to find him."
Sabine looked at the older woman. She knew that look. It was the same one Hera had when she talked about Kanan and the same one she got when she thought about Ezra. Ahsoka was in love.
"Once we find Ezra, I'll help you find Lux," Sabine said. "He's probably on Coruscant or his home planet."
"I'm sure he's forgotten about me and married some noble girl from his home planet," Ahsoka said.
"Not if he loves you as much as you love him."
Taking her friend's hand, Sabine looked right at her.
"You're helping me find the love of my life. It's only fair that I help you find yours."
The two women found an empty table (oddly enough the same one Ahsoka and her friends always used) and took a seat. Despite the planet being small and scarlessly populated, the cantina was busy.
"Never seen a Mandalorian before," someone said coming up to their table. "At least not one that removed their helmet in front of someone."
"I've heard of those," Sabine said. "They follow 'The Way' of Mandalore but they're different from those born on Mandalore."
"So you never encountered one?" the woman said taking a seat at their table.
Sabine shook her head.
"Where did you encounter one?" Ahsoka asked.
"The first time was on a planet called Sorgan where we defended some fishermen from a band of Klatoonia raiders. The second time was on the planet Navarro. Both times it was the same Mandalorian and he had a small child with him."
"I met him," Ahsoka said. "It was on the planet Corvan a few weeks ago."
"You must be Ahsoka," the woman said. "He talked about you when I last spoke to him." The woman looked at Ahsoka as if trying to size her up. "You wouldn't happen to know where they are? I've been looking for them for a long time with no luck."
"I don't know," Ahsoka said. "The child is Force Sensitive so I sent them to a Jedi Temple so the child could choose it's own path. I don't know where they went after that."
"So what brings you here?" the woman asked.
"We're looking for a friend," Sabine said. She showed her a holo-image of a picture she had made of what she thought Ezra would look like now. "Have you seen anyone like him?"
The woman looked at it.
"He looks familiar but I can't place him."
Sabine looked a little disappointed. She had really hoped that they would find Ezra. Now it looked like they would be returning to Coruscant without him and would have to put their search on hold. Excusing herself, Sabine made her way to the bar to get their drinks.
"Your artwork has improved. But it's not exactly right," someone said.
Sabine stilled. She knew that voice. Smiling, she turned around. He looked older than she remembered and was taller than her (she would guess as tall as Kanan had been). His hair had grown out and he had it pulled back exactly the way Kanan used to and he had a small beard just like Kanan's. But his eyes were still the same blue she remembered.
"Ezra," she said. Then, not caring that she was in the middle of a cantina, she threw her arms around him. Pulling back, she looked at him, a smile on her lips. "I've been looking all over the galaxy for you."
☆☆☆
Sabine looked down at the positive test and smiled. It had been a little over a year since she and Ahsoka found Ezra and brought him home. She and Ezra had married not long after that and Ezra had stepped into his new rolls as a husband, a teacher at Luke's new Jedi Academy (oddly enough in the old Jedi Temple on Coruscant so he could be close to his sister Leia), a member of the new Jedi Council along side Luke and Ahsoka, and as a big brother to Jacen.
Hera had been happy to have Ezra back (almost as happy as Sabine had been) and Zeb and Kallus had come to Coruscant for the wedding. Sadly, Rex had quietly passed away in his sleep a month after the wedding. Ahsoka had grieved for her friend for a week but her re-kindled romanced with Senator Bontari had eased the pain a little and the two were in the process of planning their wedding.
"Here you are," Ezra said entering their room at the temple. "What's going on?"
Smiling, Sabine handed him the test. Ezra looked at it and then back up at Sabine; a mix of shock, joy, and pure love on his face.
"We're going to be parents?" he asked.
Sabine nodded, smiling. Ezra pulled her into an embraced and kissed her lips. Several months latter, the newest member of the Ghost crew/family was born: Spector Eight, Kanan Rex Bridger-Wren.