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Ezra Bridger was absolutely certain about two things in his life. The first being that someday he would liberate his homeworld, no matter what it took. Somehow, someway, he would save Lothal from Empire rule and avenge his parents demise, even if it meant sacrificing himself.
The second being, that he was head over heels in love with Sabine Wren; he was more certain of that than anything else.
As evening fell on Lothal, he and the rest of the crew were retiring to their cabins for the night; all of them more than happy to get some well deserved rest after a full on day helping the local people of the planet whilst managing to avoid being caught by Imperials.
Ezra laid flat on his back just staring at the ceiling from the top bunk, trying to block out Zeb's incessant snoring from below. After a while, he could take it no longer and decided to take a walk. He needed to clear his head after what he had seen today. His people were suffering and things just seemed to be going from bad to worse everytime he came back here.
He sneaked out of the room quietly, careful not wake the Lassat and closed the door behind him. He was now standing in front of Sabine's door and noticed her light was still on. He figured she must still be up painting as a way to distract her from what they had been faced with that day.
Sometimes Ezra forgot that he and Sabine were still just kids, caught up in a rebellion that neither of them could have ever prepared for. They were so much older than their years and it saddened Ezra to think that their lives could've been so different if the Empire had never rose to power.
Ezra thought that maybe Sabine would like some company; after what they'd had to go through today, he certainly would. He straightened himself up and knocked on her door gently and waited. The door slid open and there she stood, paint sprayer in hand and the beginnings of a masterpiece adorning her bedroom wall.
"Oh, hey," she said, a little shocked to see him standing there.
"Hi, Sabine," he said, rubbing the back of his neck.
Ezra suddenly felt flustered and nervous. After knocking on her door he wasn't sure what he was supposed to do next, he hadn't really thought that far ahead.
"Is there a problem?" Sabine asked.
"No, not at all I just uh -,"
"Lemme guess, Zeb's snoring," she smirked, placing her hand on her hip.
"You guessed right," Ezra chuckled nervously.
"Wanna come in?" Sabine offered, causing Ezra's cheeks to flush.
"Uh, yeah uh - actually I was wondering if you'd maybe want to get out of here?"
Sabine cocked an eyebrow at him and glanced at her crono.
"It's late Ezra,"
"And yet you're still awake," Ezra quipped.
Sabine gave him a look and rolled her eyes.
"Hera will go mad if we leave the ship, y'know that Ez," Sabine pointed out.
Ezra sighed in defeat.
"Which means we'll have to be extra careful," Sabine winked as she set her paint sprayer down and grabbed her jacket, "So, where are we going?"
Remarkably, the two teens had managed to sneak off of the Ghost undetected and took a speeder bike to the outskirts of the capital city. Sabine sighed happily, resting her head against Ezra's back whilst holding onto his waist as they made their way towards the mountains. Ezra parked up and helped Sabine down off the bike, steadying her.
"Where are we?" Sabine asked.
"Come on, I want to show you something," Ezra smiled, taking her hand in his and leading her up one of the hills.
The night sky above Lothal resembled that of a giant velvet blanket, covered in diamonds as far as the eye could see. The sight took Sabine's breath away as she sat beside Ezra on top of the hill.
"Wow,"
"I used to come here with my parents when I was little," Ezra said as they cosied up to one another, "This is where I come sometimes, y'know when things get a little too much down there and uh - I guess I just wanted to show you, in case you're ever here and I'm -,"
Ezra couldn't finish what he wanted to say. Since Kanan had sacrificed himself, he knew that if they couldn't stop Thrawn, he was going to have to make a similar decision. But he couldn't do that and not have Sabine know just how much she meant to him.
"It's beautiful," Sabine gasped, "I've never seen a night sky quite like this,"
Ezra couldn't help but look across at her. He'd never told anybody about this place and it meant a lot to finally share it with somebody he loved.
"I've never done this before," Sabine said, "I wish we could just stay here forever, Ez,"
Ezra sensed her sadness and moved closer before tentatively wrapping his arm around her shoulder.
"Sabine?"
"Yes?"
"There’s uh - something I need to tell you,"
Sabine turned her attention away from the night sky and focused on Ezra. She could tell he was nervous about something.
"What is it?" She asked gently.
He took a deep breath and laced his fingers with hers.
"If things don't go to plan, y'know when we -,"
She knew what he was referring to and simply nodded, patiently waiting for him to finish.
"Well I just wanted to say that I -,"
His mouth ran dry as he tried to string his words together in a coherent way.
"Ezra?" Sabine said, giving his hand a gentle squeeze.
"If things don't go the way we want them to, I just want you to know that -," Ezra sighed and gathered up the very little courage he had left, "I want you to know that you mean everything to me and that no matter what happens, I'll always be with you,"
"What are you talking about?"
Ezra adjusted his position and sat cross legged opposite Sabine, clutching both her hands in his.
"Sabine," he said, pausing before he finally said the three words that could potentially make or break their relationship, "I love you,"
Sabine's heart skipped a beat as she listened to Ezra's confession.
"You love me?" Sabine asked with a slight gasp.
"I do," Ezra confirmed.
Sabine looked down for a second and gathered her thoughts. The truth was, she was in love with him too but had tried to suppress her feelings in recent months. She wasn't stupid; she knew that every day they fought in this rebellion could potentially be their last. She didn't want to admit how she felt for fear that any chance of happiness she and Ezra could share would be ripped away from them, just like Hera and Kanan. So she shut down her heart; she couldn't cope with anymore heartbreak.
Sabine eventually looked back at him and let a small smile appear on her face. She leaned forward and cupped his cheek in her hand as her lips hovered by his ear.
"I love you, Ezra Bridger,"
Ezra sighed happily, mostly in relief as he rested his forehead against Sabine's while her fingers entangled themselves in the tuffs of hair at the nape of his neck. He lifted her chin up delicately and gazed into her now tear filled eyes before leaning in closer.
"Can I kiss you?" He whispered.
Sabine bit her lip with a grin and nodded.
Without any hesitation, Ezra let his lips fall onto hers, a huge spark running through the course of his body. She kissed him back eagerly, her lips moulding together perfectly with his as he pulled her onto his lap and cradled her in his arms.
Neither of them knew what the next few days or weeks would entail and right now it didn't matter. For this one night, they had each other and no Empire or Rebellion was going to take that away from them.