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Life Day was one of the only holidays the Ghost Crew took seriously. With the vast mix of cultural backgrounds and life experiences, there weren't many holidays and celebrations that every member of the crew observed, so when Life Day came around they made this most of it.
Which is why Sabine found herself decorating the Ghost with Ezra, alone.
Hera and Kanan had been called to something important by Rebel Command and Zeb claimed the only part of Life Day he liked was the food (a lie, she knew) before he made himself scarce. Chopper technically could have helped, but he was… Chopper.
She was at the bar in the kitchen sitting beside Ezra while they unraveled a string of lights to hang up when it happened the first time. It takes her a moment to notice the oddly shaped shadow that was casting down from above her head, but when she does she looks up to find herself face to face with a sprig of mistletoe hovering in the air. After taking all of five seconds to register what it is, and why it's there, she turns to him. "What are you doing?"
He looks over at her nonchalantly, "What do you mean? Oh, is that mistletoe? Well, you know what that means…"
Despite him acting oblivious, she notices the slight pinch to his brow that he gets when he is using the force. She narrows her eyes, "It means if you get any closer to me with your lips I will cut them off, now come on, we have work to do."
His eyes widen and it falls to the floor, she takes a moment to wonder where he even got it as they go back to their work. She puts the interaction out of her mind, now that she'd threatened him, surely it wouldn't be a recurring issue.
Right?
(Wrong)
-
After they hung the lights in the kitchen, they moved onto attaching little sparkly baubles to the ceiling of the hall leading to the cockpit. She it attaching the double strength tape to the strings on the tops while Ezra used the force to lift them to the ceiling.
She watches him discreetly as he focuses on the decorations, still thinking about earlier. She had known since he joined the crew that he had a crush on her. Since then their relationship had developed to something much deeper than that. He was her best friend, and they knew each other better than maybe anyone else in the galaxy, but that didn't mean his original feelings dissipated. In fact, she often worried their friendship made them stronger. But most days he was okay with where their relationship was, and rarely did he ever he hint at pressing for more, just like how most days she found it more endearing than annoying.
But not today, today it was just plain annoying.
Especially considering the mistletoe she saw rising from the floor behind her and inching toward her. Conveniently, Ezra seemed to have stopped working at the same time. She grits her teeth as she rips another piece of tape of the roll.
"Ezra…."
It drops to the floor, he doesn't give her the dignity of a response, instead going back to decorating as if nothing had transpired. She frowns, looking back down to her work.
When he finished hanging up the ones he had, he approaches her. She doesn't look up at him, not when his boots come into her sight line, not when he kneels down in front of her or when his hands grab the box she'd been putting the baubles in. When he hesitates, she turns her head up and
Oh
He was close
Their noses are nearly touching, she takes in a deep breath. Neither of the speak, time seems to slow down around Sabine as he stares into her eyes, she starts getting lost in the blue of his. Her breath catches in her throat and for just a moment, everything in her wants to close the gap between them, just to see. What's the worst that could happen?
That thought is accompanied by a dozen images of a broken friendship and she comes to her senses. She eases herself back, putting distance between them. This seems to snap him out of whatever trance he's in, and he stands up turning and walking away. She hopes the force doesn't come with increased hearing, because if it did she was sure he would hear the pounding of her heart against her rib cage from the strange amount of adrenaline that coursed through her veins. She takes in a deep breath, going back to her work, trying her best to act like whatever just happened didn't.
But no amount of trying fixed the daze she was in.
-
One thing about most of the crew being absent, was that the Ghost was uncharacteristically quiet. It was nice at first, peaceful even, but then it started to get on Sabine's nerves. She gets up from the couch in the common room where she and Ezra were stringing together a garland. He looks up at her, "What are you doing?"
"Turning on some Life Day music, the silence in here is loud."
"Do you know the frequency for the Life Day station?" She stops, no she did not.
She shrugs, "I'm sure I'll figure it out."
She can hear the couch squeak as he gets up to follow her, "I got it."
When she reaches the cockpit, she immediately flips on the radio and turns the speakers throughout the ship on as well, sending music floating through the halls. Not Life Day music however. Ezra comes in right after her, and starts flipping through channels to find the right one. As she takes a step back to give him space, she notices it again out of the corner of her eye. A spring of mistletoe hung from the ceiling, complete with a little red bow. She scowls, "Ezra, what did I say about the mistletoe!"
He jump back from her sudden harsh tone, tilting his head back to look at it. "Sabine, I swear this time it wasn't me."
She crosses her arms, "Sure."
He sighs exasperatedly, "I'm being honest, I've levitated it both times remember?"
She almost believes him, but not entirely, "Ok, then what is it doing up there?"
He studies it for a moment, she can see the thought enter his head as his eyes crinkle in mirth< "I guess somebody's trying to steal kisses from our captain."
She smiles, "Guess so."
Ezra turns back to the console and in a matter of seconds a popular Life Day song begins to play from the speakers. She turns on her heel and heads back to the common area, he follows her. They take their original seats and get back to work on the garden, now accompanied by the sound of music.
They are nearly done when a song comes on that makes her halt, her hands stilling on her project. Ezra looks over at her, concern etched on his face, "Everything ok?"
She looks at him, "Yeah, fine, it's just this song… it was my dad's favorite."
His face softens. He knew some of what happened between her and her parents, enough to know how bad it hurt. "Sabine…"
"As much as I love this time of year, it's really hard knowing they're out there, probably celebrating without me… I miss them." His arm wraps around her shoulders, and she leans her head on his shoulder, a sudden burst of gratitude filling her chest for the incessantly kind boy beside her.
They sit in silence for awhile, the song changes to another and they still stay like that. Eventually she speaks up, her voice soft, "Thank you."
"For what?"
She sighs, "For being my friend."
"Always."
Of all the billions of lifeforms in the galaxy he could have chosen to be his best friend, she was really glad it was her.
-
Eventually the rest of the crew returns, Sabine is pleased with their reactions to the decorations. Despite the occasional chaos of the day, she felt like she and Ezra had done a decent job.
After the evening meal, she sits on her bed, working in her sketchbook as she waits. The sounds of Life Day music still float down the halls, clearly Hera was also in a festive spirit. She snaps her head up when a knock sounds from her door.
"Sabine, you wanted to see me?" Ezra's voice has a slight nervous edge to it.
"Yeah, come in."
Her door opens with a hiss and he walks in, she pats the space beside her invitingly so he crosses the room and sits.
"Why do I feel like you're about to tell me something horrible?"
She can't help but roll her eyes, "Because you worry too much, that's why. Everything is fine."
The tension in his shoulders eases slightly, she knows he's worried she was upset about today, and regularly she would be. However, she was feeling a lot less strongly about that lately, or rather she still felt strongly but in a different way. He looks at her, "Ok, then what did you need?"
Her hands still from where she'd been absentmindedly been scribbling on the corner of her page, a million second guesses and regrets paralyzing her momentarily. She sets her pen down, and places her hand on his arm, his eyebrows shoot nearly to his hairline in surprise. "I just wanted to thank you for always being there for me. Your friendship means more to me than you know."
His cheeks flushed, clearly not used to her giving such unwarranted emotional vulnerability. She wasn't really used to it either but he needed to know. "Of course Sabine… I mean you're my best friend. And you know you've been there for me too more times than I can count. It's just what we do."
He never had been able to take a compliment well. She lets silence fall between them again as she starts to hesitate. When it goes on too long, it's Ezra that breaks it, "Is that all you wanted."
Now she has to make the decision of whether or not she's going to follow through. Her voice catches in her throat but she pushes the words out anyways. "No, actually there's something I need to do."
She glances upwards to the sprig of mistletoe that had been hanging above their heads the entire time. She'd seen it in the trash right before Kanan and Hera had gotten back and stashed it away in her room, it hadn't felt right to throw away. His eyes go up when hers do, and widen when they register what it is.
She doesn't give him the chance to say anything about it. Her hands find his collar, and she gently pulls him toward her. When their lips meet, every doubt she'd had five seconds ago vanishes from her mind, along with most everything else actually. She is reduced to nothing but the here and now, and how it just felt right.
His expression is equal parts dazed and flushed when she pulls away, "What was that for?"
She shrugs, feigning nonchalance as if her entire world hadn't just changed. Although the heat in her cheeks told her it was probably obvious. "I don't know, I wanted to see what it would be like."
"And?"
She flushes even more if that was possible, "It was good."
One thing was for sure, her and Ezra's relationship would never be able to go back to the way it was, and she was pretty sure that was a good thing.
And if anyone asked, she'd just blame it on the mistletoe.