jessicas-pi

[jessicas-pi]

"It's a bird! It's got feathers! It's like a bird, it's like a—" "Like a mockingjay starbird."

[jessicas-pi]

"It's a bird! It's got feathers! It's like a bird, it's like a—" "Like a mockingjay starbird."

[jessicas-pi]

may the force be ever in your favor

also on AO3!

---

Ezra hadn't expected to be part of a team of four before the first day was out, but he wasn't complaining about the extra allies.

Of course, Sabine had been there from the beginning. She'd saved his life at the beginning, when he was too numb from that glimpse of something he'd seen to do any more than just hold onto her when she said to. Despite their prearranged alliance, she'd been snippy and rude to him all day—though he supposed he deserved it, after the little incident during his interview with Alton Kastle the day before—but she'd still stuck loyally to his side. She'd taken out four different people who had tried to shoot him. (Their blasters had been set to kill. Her blaster had been set to stun. He wondered if that was on purpose.)

They'd encountered Leida next. She was in rough shape—her blue robes were covered in blood and she had a twisted ankle—but it was mostly not her blood, and her limp wasn't too bad. Ezra had been so relieved to see her that he'd nearly hugged her. For her part, she looked like she was on the verge of tears when he said she could stick with their group.

Then that night, when they had wandered into a strange garden-room and were looking for a place to hide, they'd found Cas. He invited them to join him in the hidden alcove by the riverside, and Ezra had been a little wary of him, but he'd turned out to be really nice.

It was late now, and nearly dark. Leida had been trying to wash the blood off in the river and, for lack of anything better to do, Ezra sat by her and talked. Her dress had torn at the bottom, and so when she'd hesitated over how to wash her face off, he'd ripped a piece off and dunked it in the water and told her to hold still.

"How old are you?" she asked abruptly, as he wiped some blood off her nose and dipped the cloth in the water again.

"Fifteen," he said. "You?"

"Fourteen," she replied.

"Your mom's a senator, right?"

"She was." Leida stared past him and sniffed once, then changed the subject. "Are you really in love with that Mandalorian girl?"

"Don't be ridiculous," Ezra said lightly, even as he felt his own face grow warm. "And hold still—there's blood in your eyebrow."

He started rubbing at it with the scrap of cloth, and she screwed up her face unpleasantly, squeezing her eyes shut. It took a full minute for him to scrub all the crusted flakes of blood out, but when he was finally done, he sat back, rinsed the cloth out one more time, then draped it on a smooth rock at the riverside.

"Good as new," he pronounced her.

She opened her eyes and smiled gratefully.

"Thank you, Ezra," she said.

"Sure. No big deal."

"No, I mean—" Leida reached out and took his hand, squeezing it for a second. "Thank you for saving me. I'd be dead without you."

Her gesture seemed a little too affectionate—a little fake—and Ezra wondered if she was trying to do what some of the others thought he'd done: fake a romantic interest in the hopes of getting popular (and therefore having a higher chance of getting out alive.)

Ezra shrugged it off and smiled.

"That's what a team is for, right?"

"Right." Her eyes flicked past him, and she almost smiled. "Hey. Your girlfriend's trying to get your attention."

He followed her nod and saw that Sabine was staring at him expectantly. She nodded her head to the side, indicating that he should come over to her. Cas was nowhere in sight.

Ezra walked downstream a few paces and dropped down to sit on the grass beside her.

"Yeah?" he asked, feeling a little wary of the lack of glaring on her part.

"Cas thinks that you planned that interview stunt of yours ahead of time. That it was a strategic move."

She waited expectantly, and he hesitated, trying to measure out his words.

"It was—mostly planned. I wanted to hint that—that there was—someone—but—um—" Ezra looked away from her, reaching up to the back of his neck awkwardly. "—I, uh, didn't mean to say it was you."

Sabine sat forward a little, he expression unreadable. "Honestly?"

"Honestly," he promised, and gave her a sheepish grin before he could think better of it. "Of course I wasn't planning on saying it was you. I'm not a suicidal idiot."

Sabine actually half-laughed at that, letting out a breathy huff as she looked away from him.

"Maybe I didn't give you enough credit, kid," she said dryly. "That was a pretty smart move."

Ezra shifted a little, feeling nervous and borderline uncomfortable with her sudden change of attitude. "And you're not still furious about it... why?"

"Cas talked me out of it," she stated, shrugging one shoulder as if it were just that simple. "A survival tactic is a survival tactic." Her eyes darted to his for a second. "I meant it, though."

"Meant what?"

She gave him a half-smile that twinkled with mischief.

"I'm not kissing you."

Ezra flushed red. "Right. Noted."

[jessicas-pi]

#I like to picture their time in Lothal with Ezra’s family as peeta and Katniss having their medicine book together time#Katniss gets hurt and is in recovery and Peeta spends time with her so they get to be friends and get to know each other more#and Katniss has a whole paragraph of thoughts about Peeta’s eyelashes and how pretty they are lol#but matter is they are learning each other and he’s helping her put together like a medicine book with his drawings and her detailing all#their properties and such#idk I just picture that with Sabine and Ezra as she visits Lothal and meets his family

@alphaofdarkness Oh. Oh I like this. I think I may need to incorporate this idea actually because it's just perfect for them.

OK so back to my SWHGAU, on a related but slightly less angsty thought than the last one:

So. Because Ezra won, his parents get released from prison. And because Sabine won, her clan is more or less forced to welcome her back as a celebrity. And because Sabine and Ezra are in the middle of a messy, tense fake romance played up for the people around them, this means that:

Sabine meets Ezra's parents. This is a sweet, heartwarming moment in an otherwise angsty AU, because they welcome their son's "girlfriend" like a daughter of their own. they don't make a big deal about the "relationship"—they don't want to embarrass either kid, and it's clear that away from the cameras, the two young ones are much closer to friends than they are to lovers—and instead, they treat Sabine like just another friend Ezra might have brought home from school. Ezra drops the act entirely around his parents, and Sabine actually starts to feel a kindling of something like affection for him. it nearly breaks Sabine down into tears, because this is the first touch of family love she's felt since she ran away to join the imperial academy years ago.

Ezra meets Sabine's clan. This is a hilarious, lighthearted moment in an otherwise angsty AU, because half of them eye their heiress's "boyfriend" with barely-veiled suspicion while the other half of them are lowkey scheming how to stealth adopt him. (he has parents already? who cares! you can never have too many parents!) Tristan attempts to give Ezra a shovel talk. Ursa actually does give Ezra a shovel talk. Alrich asks them embarrassing questions. Her relatives tease them mercilessly. Sabine completely shuts down in the face of her whole extended family, withdrawing into her shell. Ezra is too nervous and awkward to even notice much. When he does, she snaps at him. Eventually, he finds a way through the walls she's so abruptly put up, and gets a glimpse of the girl inside. his trip to krownest teaches him something new about Sabine. it also teaches him two new mando'a drinking songs and a traditional love ballad. his accent makes them nearly unintelligible but he tries his best. three more mandalorians start scheming how to adopt him.

[jessicas-pi]

OK so back to my SWHGAU, on a related but slightly less angsty thought than the last one:

So. Because Ezra won, his parents get released from prison. And because Sabine won, her clan is more or less forced to welcome her back as a celebrity. And because Sabine and Ezra are in the middle of a messy, tense fake romance played up for the people around them, this means that:

Sabine meets Ezra's parents. This is a sweet, heartwarming moment in an otherwise angsty AU, because they welcome their son's "girlfriend" like a daughter of their own. they don't make a big deal about the "relationship"—they don't want to embarrass either kid, and it's clear that away from the cameras, the two young ones are much closer to friends than they are to lovers—and instead, they treat Sabine like just another friend Ezra might have brought home from school. Ezra drops the act entirely around his parents, and Sabine actually starts to feel a kindling of something like affection for him. it nearly breaks Sabine down into tears, because this is the first touch of family love she's felt since she ran away to join the imperial academy years ago.

Ezra meets Sabine's clan. This is a hilarious, lighthearted moment in an otherwise angsty AU, because half of them eye their heiress's "boyfriend" with barely-veiled suspicion while the other half of them are lowkey scheming how to stealth adopt him. (he has parents already? who cares! you can never have too many parents!) Tristan attempts to give Ezra a shovel talk. Ursa actually does give Ezra a shovel talk. Alrich asks them embarrassing questions. Her relatives tease them mercilessly. Sabine completely shuts down in the face of her whole extended family, withdrawing into her shell. Ezra is too nervous and awkward to even notice much. When he does, she snaps at him. Eventually, he finds a way through the walls she's so abruptly put up, and gets a glimpse of the girl inside. his trip to krownest teaches him something new about Sabine. it also teaches him two new mando'a drinking songs and a traditional love ballad. his accent makes them nearly unintelligible but he tries his best. three more mandalorians start scheming how to adopt him.

[jessicas-pi]

consider. the clothes shopping scene, with Tristan as Etta. Sabine leaves Ezra with her brother and the order to "buy him some clothes, please" and Ezra---who is currently dressed more or less like Disney's Hercules, bear in mind---makes a beeline for the women's section of the department store because pants are for sissies.

Thus begins the two most exasperating, infuriating, impossibly long hours of Tristan's life.

look I KNOW I already have one sabezra wonder woman AU HOWEVER I just realized that Ezra has a cool sword and can deflect bullets blaster bolts and he belongs to a group of people who have faded into obscurity and legend and it's after meeting the spectre crew that he's introduced to the wider universe beyond the small world he's always known and--

yknow what, I think I might have cast the wrong character as diana.

[jessicas-pi]

look I KNOW I already have one sabezra wonder woman AU HOWEVER I just realized that Ezra has a cool sword and can deflect bullets blaster bolts and he belongs to a group of people who have faded into obscurity and legend and it's after meeting the spectre crew that he's introduced to the wider universe beyond the small world he's always known and--

yknow what, I think I might have cast the wrong character as diana.

[jessicas-pi]

its that time again (4pm) (the time when I post random stupid things) so here's a compilation of lines of dialogue i've written that sound like unhinged writing prompts:

“Can ghosts kiss? Asking for a friend.”

“Either I’m descending into madness, or I’m having the time of my life. I’m not sure there’s a difference at this point.”

“I’m just saying, I didn’t spend my early twenties committing war crimes—”

“C’mon, we’ve helped each other murder people! We can handle some awkward talk!”

“I know we just met and I have been watching you sleep, I will admit it, but I swear I’m not an obsessive crazy person.”

“I’ve gotta go save the galaxy. Toodles!”

“Before you start monologuing at me, I have a quick question. Can I write you an ominous villain theme song? I’ve been feeling inspired.”

“I can't believe this childhood traumadump conversation started with a pop song reference.”

“Do you think it would cause a diplomatic incident if I yelled ‘get a room’?”

“Let me assure you, madam. This is mostly not our blood.”

[jessicas-pi]

Summary:

In which Sabine and Ezra are healing... and the soulbond starts acting up in some interesting ways.

writing taglist:

@keeper-of-sparkly-things @kanerallels @better-call-mau1 @seleneisrising @jedi-nurse @dootchster @ana-cantskywalker @thefinaljediknight

[jessicas-pi]

It's About Time, Pt. 6

Part One | Part Two | Part Three | Part Four | Part Five

Also on AO3!

Kanan could hardly believe his own eyes—but the video was proof enough.

Luminara was alive.

“There’ve always been rumors that she survived the Clone Wars, but—they never came with a specific location before. We can’t pass this up,” he mused aloud.

“I was hoping you’d say that,��� Hera smiled, patting Kanan’s shoulder and turning away. “I’ll set course for the Stygeon system—”

“Don’t.”

Ezra’s voice was low and detached, and Kanan glanced at him. He’d been sitting with Sabine at the dejarik table when the Senator’s broadcast started, and had watched in silence with wide eyes.

Hera paused at the door, then turned around. Kanan spoke for them both.

“Don’t?” he repeated, crossing his arms.

The kid squirmed in his seat, looking uncomfortable. Sabine’s arm moved slightly. Kanan was fairly sure she’d taken his hand, beneath the table. The look Ezra gave her in response—grateful and puppy-eyed—confirmed it.

He spoke directly to Sabine, like the rest of them weren’t even there.

“We can’t do anything. She’s already dead. She has been for years. They use her body as bait.” The kid looked down, clearly troubled. “I’ve seen it happen.”

Kanan’s heart sank—for a moment, he’d begun to hope. But he took a deep breath and moved past the feeling, sticking to business. “They must have fed Senator Trayvis false information. I wonder if we can get word to him.”

“I’ll see what I can do,” Hera agreed, and turned on her heel to go.

“If you’re contacting Fulcrum, maybe you should have Ezra talk to him, too,” Sabine piped up. “He knows a lot of things. Maybe his information could do some good.”

Hera frowned at Sabine, clearly not happy that she’d mentioned Fulcrum. Even if Hera was sympathetic to the kid, Kanan knew she was still a little dubious of his loyalties. Not that she thought he was disloyal, because he clearly was… but the question was, just how Sabine-centric was that loyalty? 

“We’ll see,” Hera said dryly, and left the room.

Kanan watched her go, then looked back at the kids—and had to restrain himself from rolling his eyes. Sabine had put her arm around Ezra, and he was leaning against her, and they both had soft little smiles.

They may have sworn up-and-down and cross-their-hearts that they saw each other as a brother and sister—it was what finally convinced Kanan and Hera to let them share a room, in the beginning—but it had become obvious in the weeks that followed that it was a whopper of a lie. The kid practically worshipped the ground Sabine walked on. Sabine’s feelings, Kanan might have been more unconvinced of; her actions could be those of an overprotective older sister to her much younger sibling. But Kanan knew Sabine wasn’t clueless, and she wouldn’t be acting that way to a boy nearly her age and with a massive crush on her unless she wanted to lead him on—and Sabine wasn’t cruel, either. She had to know what she was doing when she held his hand or put her arm around him.

Ezra seemed to notice Kanan staring at them, and frowned at him, looking puzzled.

“What?”

Kanan crossed his arms, deciding to address it head-on. “I’m reconsidering if it’s a good idea to let you two lovebirds share a room.”

The kid turned a deep red color, and Sabine rolled her eyes.

“We’re not like that,” the kid insisted, even as he wiggled a little closer to Sabine, his side pressed against hers. “We’re friends.”

“I thought he was dead, Kanan,” Sabine added, and she looked down at the table. “He’s the only friend I’ve ever had who never hurt me, you know. Of course I want him close. He means everything to me.”

Kanan knew a guilt trip when he saw one, and he didn’t fall for it. Shaking his head, he moved to follow in Hera’s footsteps out the door, and only paused to add, “Well, you two just remember that I’ll be able to sense it if there’s any funny business going on, so watch it.”

He was halfway out the door when Ezra irately called after him—

“You’re not one to talk about funny business, Mr. Syndulla!”

...Kanan did not mention the crush thing again.

[jessicas-pi]

It's About Time, Pt. 5

Part One | Part Two | Part Three | Part Four

Also on AO3!

Light as a feather-touch, Sabine ran her fingers over his scars—not fresh scars, but not very old, either.

“Who did this?” she asked. Her voice was level, but there was something in it that gave Hera chills. “Him?”

The word was spoken with deadly significance, and it was clear that Ezra knew exactly who she meant.

“Yeah,” he said hoarsely. “I—didn’t get far—the first time I ran away. He wanted me to be scared to try again.”

Hera could do nothing but stare in silent horror at the grid of burn scars pressed along his arm. This boy couldn’t be more than fourteen. If she had no other reason to loathe the Empire—and she had plenty of reasons—this would be all it took.

Sabine hadn’t so much as breathed since he spoke, and now she drew in a sharp, shuddering breath, and then she lurched over so quickly that the kid couldn’t have dodged her if he’d wanted to. Sabine gathered him up in her arms like he was no more than a child in her viciously-protective care, clutching at his face with one hand and pulling his head to rest on her shoulder. His eyes went wide and his jaw dropped a little at the sudden, fierce contact.

“I’ll kill him, Ezra,” Sabine vowed in a low voice. “I’ll kill him this time. I’ll kill him forever. I won’t let him take you—do you hear me? I won’t let him.”

Ezra opened his mouth and raised his head up a little, and Hera could see the expressions flit across his face. Independence, embarrassment, fear, and strength all battled for a moment, before one won out, and he dropped his head back onto Sabine’s shoulder, shutting his eyes wearily.

“Promise?” he pleaded.

“Promise,” Sabine whispered back, squeezing him tight.

Hera swallowed a lump in her throat and spoke.

“I promise, too, Ezra.” Reaching over, she put her hand on his firmly. “You’re safe with us, now.”

Ezra’s eyes opened wide and he stared at her in silent shock.

A second passed.

Then he broke down into sobs as wreaking as before.

Ezra turned his head, burying it against Sabine’s shoulder as he continued to cry. For a moment, Hera was sure she’d done something wrong. But Sabine looked up at her with tears in her own eyes.

Thank you, she mouthed.

And Hera realized that this boy was sobbing in sheer relief.

At first, Hera had looked at Ezra, seen an immensely talented young man, and thought, ally. Now, she looked at him and saw only a frightened, scarred, broken child, in desperate need of a safe shelter.

She slid a little closer and put her arms around them both. Sabine leaned into her side, pulling Ezra with, and the three of them stayed there for so long that the lights in Sabine’s room automatically dimmed. By that time, Ezra’s breathing had evened and Sabine was still.

Gently, Hera lowered the child and his defender down to lie in the bunk, he still held tight against her. Gathering up the blanket that had been cast aside, she spread it over them together, and left the room, turning the lights out as she went.

Kanan was waiting for her in her room, when she came back. He didn’t say anything—just raised one eyebrow.

“That boy needs a home, Kanan,” she said, speaking firmly around the knot of emotion in her throat that had never quite gone away. “And we’re going to give him one.”

[jessicas-pi]

whatever you do, don't listen to Safe & Sound from the Hunger Games soundtrack and think about Ezra going through The Horrors after Malachor at the same time

[jessicas-pi]

I'm Thinking about this again so I just need you to visualize:

[in Legacy of Mandalore]

Ursa: *looks at this boy who is not afraid of her, perfectly willing to jump off a dang balcony to go help her daughter without any hesitation, a capable warrior, clearly very loyal*

Ursa: ....out of curiosity, do you have parents?

Sabine, in the background: OMG STOP TRYING TO ADOPT MY FRIENDS, MOM, YOU'RE SO EMBARRASSING

I can't believe Rebels had Ezra interact with all kinds of Mandalorians and yet not ONCE did ANY of them try to adopt him

[jessicas-pi]

shoutout to all of you who told me yeah you do wanna hear about the blorbos I made up in my brain (you wonderful enablers, you!)

annnnyway ficcy snippy?

---

The Wren clan had always been traditionalists. It only made sense that Eris would find herself betrothed in very short order.

Really, she expected it years ago. Sixteen was higher on the average age range for Mandalorian brides, and for princesses, it was shocking. She was surprised her parents even found her a spouse her age of suitable rank.

Or—she would have been surprised, if she hadn’t known it all before it happened.

Aramis was rowdy and rambunctious when let loose with his companions to frolic and wrestle—she saw that much in her dreams of him—but when he was dressed in ceremonial armor and introduced to her at their betrothal ceremony, she’d never seen anyone look so stiff and uncomfortable.

He didn’t improve much in his supervised, formalized, halfhearted, and frankly pathetic attempts at courting her. He went still and clammed up when she took his hand. When their chaperone’s back was turned, she tried to make casual conversation, and only got stilted replies. She wished she could tease out the side of him that whooped and hollered and put his friends in headlocks to mercilessly mess their hair. She liked that side of Aramis.

She would avow herself to him as a wife, but what she needed from him—what they needed from each other, if they were to make this match successful—was a teammate. What she needed was a friend.

Desperately, more than anything in the galaxy, Eris needed a friend.

If only her dreams would tell her how to find one in Aramis Rook.

[jessicas-pi]

shoutout to all of you who told me yeah you do wanna hear about the blorbos I made up in my brain (you wonderful enablers, you!)

annnnyway ficcy snippy?

---

The Wren clan had always been traditionalists. It only made sense that Eris would find herself betrothed in very short order.

Really, she expected it years ago. Sixteen was higher on the average age range for Mandalorian brides, and for princesses, it was shocking. She was surprised her parents even found her a spouse her age of suitable rank.

Or—she would have been surprised, if she hadn’t known it all before it happened.

Aramis was rowdy and rambunctious when let loose with his companions to frolic and wrestle—she saw that much in her dreams of him—but when he was dressed in ceremonial armor and introduced to her at their betrothal ceremony, she’d never seen anyone look so stiff and uncomfortable.

He didn’t improve much in his supervised, formalized, halfhearted, and frankly pathetic attempts at courting her. He went still and clammed up when she took his hand. When their chaperone’s back was turned, she tried to make casual conversation, and only got stilted replies. She wished she could tease out the side of him that whooped and hollered and put his friends in headlocks to mercilessly mess their hair. She liked that side of Aramis.

She would avow herself to him as a wife, but what she needed from him—what they needed from each other, if they were to make this match successful—was a teammate. What she needed was a friend.

Desperately, more than anything in the galaxy, Eris needed a friend.

If only her dreams would tell her how to find one in Aramis Rook.

[jessicas-pi]

heyheyhey, anyone wanna see a snippet from a fic I wrote about two characters I made up in my brain

[jessicas-pi]

*references the shuttle in a fic* boy oh boy, I can't wait to make, like, two people scream over this