#star;05 | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

illuminatedquill · 1 year ago

Text

Ghost Stories 05

Feat. Hera Syndulla + Kanan Jarrus/Ezra Bridger + Sabine Wren

Story Context: Kanan grows increasingly concerned about the growing rift between Sabine and Ezra after the Sith Holocron incident. With Hera's permission, he locks them both in the Ghost's airlock to force them to talk through their issues.

Breakfast time on the Ghost was usually a lively affair on most mornings (well, morning as Hera counted it - as a rule, for someone well-travelled as she was, whenever you woke up counted as morning).

Kanan could usually be found in the corner, sipping on a fresh mug of caf and reading up on the Holo-Net for the latest news of the day. Zeb typically brushed out his hair as part of a necessary daily grooming routine; Chopper was in the cockpit, checking the ship's systems.

Sabine and Ezra, the two teenagers aboard, could always be counted on to be found at the communal table together, chowing down on the meal and doing their usual back and forth about whatever held their interest at the moment: one of Sabine's newest artworks, the outcome of a recent mission, or making Zeb paranoid about potential bald spots.

With recent events however, the once cozy atmosphere of the Ghost crew sharing a meal together felt like a distant memory. Kanan had become blind, a result of his ill-fated trek to Malachor. Ahsoka had perished, seemingly, against the Emperor's top enforcer, the Sith Lord known as Darth Vader.

And as for Ezra, he almost succumbed to the temptation of an ancient Sith relic; in his quest to prevent future tragedy, the Sith Holocron had caused a dark, angry persona to develop in the young man. Ezra had become increasingly erratic and reckless in his missions, aiming to cause maximum damage to the Empire at any cost.

Thankfully, he had been saved by Kanan's intervention. But the influence, Hera noted, still remained and was keenly felt by everyone in the crew despite Ezra's apology and promise to do better. There was some distance now, between the young Jedi and the crew. Everyone was still trying to figure out how to move forward, weeks later.

One person, however, seemed particularly affected by Ezra's recent descent towards the dark side. Sabine, Ezra's closest friend, had become increasingly distant and cold towards him as of late.

Carrying two bowls of steaming porridge to the communal table on this morning, Hera announced, "Dig in. It's fresh."

Ezra, sitting at the table with a mug of fresh juice next to him, eyed the food with wolfish interest. Smiling, he said, "Thanks, Hera."

Sabine walked in, wearing her standard Mandalorian armor, hair freshly dyed and trimmed.

Ezra waved at her. "Good morning, sleepy-head," he teased.

Sabine didn't reply to him. Without glancing at Ezra, she took her bowl of porridge from the table and said, "I'll eat in my room, if that's okay."

Hera saw Ezra's smile fade. "Sabine, why don't you - ", she started to say before being cut off.

"I've got a lot to do today. Can't stay and chat. See you later," Sabine said abruptly. She turned around and disappeared down the hallway leading into her room, almost bumping into Kanan.

"Sorry, Kanan," she mumbled before continuing on her way.

"No worries," he replied. Despite his newfound disability, Hera had the sense that Kanan was observant as ever. The older Jedi knew something was up with Sabine regarding Ezra.

Ezra quietly ate his meal alone, clearly trying to act nonchalant in the face of Sabine's casual disregard. Hera sighed and stepped away to speak with Kanan privately.

"You caught all that?" she murmured to him.

He tipped his head towards her. "Of course. Sabine's emotions spiking all over the place regarding Ezra. Hard to miss; it feels like standing next to a live electric cable in the Force."

Hera watched the young Jedi eat another spoonful of porridge in silence. She knew Ezra was taking Sabine's recent distance towards him hard; the two had been close before his incident with the Sith relic. He blamed himself and had been working doubly hard since then to right the wrongs that were inflicted while under the influence.

It was difficult work to make amends, she knew. Hard to regain trust once it's broken the first time.

Still, she wondered if Sabine wasn't being too harsh towards him.

"How do we fix this?" she asked.

Kanan stroked his beard, contemplating for a moment. Then he said, "I've got an idea, if you're willing to play along."

She arched a curious eyebrow at him. "I'm listening."

He turned towards her with a small, evil grin. "I need to borrow the airlock."

A knock came while Sabine was finishing maintenance on her blasters. "Enter," she said.

The doors slid open to reveal Hera. "Can I borrow you for a second?"

"Sure," replied Sabine. "What's up?"

"Need your help checking some faulty wiring in the airlock. Shouldn't take long."

Sabine stood up, stretching tired muscles. Whenever Hera said that maintenance wouldn't take long, it usually ended up being a mess requiring hours of work. The Ghost had seen its fair share of scraps; the venerable freighter had stayed true throughout the years of service under Hera's command, but it wasn't meant for combat. The added wear and tear coming from duties outside its capabilities meant extra repairs.

Arriving at the airlock hatch a minute later, Sabine was surprised to find Ezra waiting there also.

He blinked at her. "Sabine?"

She turned to Hera. "What's this about? I thought it was just going to be the two of us."

Hera let out a brief sigh. "Change of plans."

The airlock hatch hissed open -

An invisible force gave a firm shove to Sabine's back, propelling her forward into the airlock. A moment later Ezra followed suit, almost falling over her.

"What the - " Ezra gasped.

In the opening, Kanan was standing there with an exasperated Hera. He gave them a sardonic salute -

And then the hatch shut with a resounding thud. The airlock's interior went pitch-black as the power was shut off.

Sabine awkwardly clambered over Ezra and banged on the hatch. "Hey!" she yelled. “What the hell are you two doing?"

Hera's voice was muffled through the durasteel hatch. "Kanan's idea," she replied, sounding apologetic.

"You agreed," came his reply. "And supplied the airlock."

"Yeah," Hera retorted. "And if there's any damage from these two because of your brilliant plan, it's coming out of your hide, Kanan Jarrus."

From behind Sabine came a groan. There was a rustle of sound; in the darkness, she could just make out Ezra's figure sitting up from the floor. "I've got a bad feeling about this," he sighed.

"What plan?" asked Sabine through gritted teeth.

Kanan spoke up. "You and Ezra need to talk. Can't have you two acting all frosty towards each other. Not now."

Sabine's face heated up. "I'm not acting frosty towards Ezra," she snapped.

There was a pause. Then, Ezra's voice came through the dark, sounding sad. "You really don't want to be in the same space as me, huh," he remarked.

She turned towards him. In the pitch-black, she couldn't see much of him, but it wasn't hard for Sabine to imagine those bright blue eyes - and the look of hurt in them.

"That's not - " she started, then stopped. Forcing herself to calm down with a deep breath, she said softly, "It's not like that, Ezra."

From the other side of the hatch, Kanan said, "Sounds like you two have some talking to do."

Sabine banged on the hatch in response. "We'll play along with your stupid plan, Kanan. But this will be a private talk. You and Hera can beat it."

There came the sound of a muted conversation from the other side. Then Hera replied, "We'll be down the hall. Bang three times when you guys are finished."

Sabine gave them a couple seconds to leave and then clumsily felt along the airlock's wall until she found Ezra. "Scooch over, goober," she said. "It's tight in here."

Ezra obliged her. They sat in silence for a few moments, absorbing the ridiculousness of their situation. Sabine leaned her head back against the wall, trying to corral her thoughts and feelings into something coherent.

"So, are we not friends anymore?" His tone was casual, which did not soften the question's delivery in the slightest.

Sabine winced, feeling like something sharp had pierced her heart. She took a deep breath and then turned her head towards him. "Ezra . . . I'm going to speak for a little bit, okay? I just want you to listen."

A silence hung thickly between them as she awaited his response. She really wished the lights were on, just to see his face, how he felt.

But maybe it's better this way, she thought. At least, for me.

"You scared me, Ezra Bridger," she said quietly. "You went off the rails and almost got yourself killed. And I couldn't do anything except watch it happen. You're my best friend and there was nothing I could do to prevent you from going down that path."

"The Sith Holocron," said Ezra cautiously. "I was under its influence."

Sabine shook her head. "It's an amplifier. Like any other type of power. It amplifies you, makes you able to be . . . more of yourself, do you understand? I've seen you and Kanan use the Force to do some amazing things, but this? It wasn't corrupting you."

There was a pause. "I don't understand," Ezra said.

She poked him hard in the chest. "It's you, di'kut. It was all you. The holocron brought out the darkness, but it was still you, Ezra. That anger, that recklessness, that raw power - it was always there. And it will always be there. And that scares me."

Sabine heard Ezra inhale sharply in realization. "Oh," he said quietly. "Okay. I get it now."

"Do you really?" she asked. "You'll be tempted from now on. It will be harder not to draw upon that power again when faced with tough situations in the future."

"Is it really so bad?" he shot back, frustrated. "I'm trying to save people - the people I care about from dying!"

"Like Ahsoka," pointed out Sabine.

"Yes," he replied. "You weren't there, Sabine. You don't know how it feels to be powerless like that. Our enemies wield power like that, how are we supposed to fight back? Ahsoka was my friend! What use is this power if I can't protect the people that I love?"

"And how are you protecting those same people if you get yourself killed?" Sabine shouted. "Jedi are supposed to know better - you are supposed to know better! You're the best of us, Ezra! Kanan is always saying that you have to control these feelings, or they control you! You let your anger and grief over Ahsoka's loss get to you and almost lost yourself!"

She could feel her friend's hot stare. "You're one to talk about feelings," he countered. "I've been trying to speak with you for weeks. Kanan had to lock us in this airlock just to get you talking."

Sabine deflated, feeling the sting of truth in Ezra's words. "Yeah," she muttered. "I know."

"So, what?" he asked. "You're still scared of little old me?"

"Not just you," she said wearily.

"Well, what else is there?"

"I'm also scared of myself," Sabine said. "Okay?"

She could practically see the gears come to a grinding halt in his head. "What?" he asked, confused. "You're scared of . . . yourself?"

"Were you listening? What was the first thing I said to you?"

"That . . . you couldn't do anything to help me. All you could do was watch," Ezra recounted slowly.

"Yeah," said Sabine. "So don't talk to me about feeling powerless. You watched a friend disappear on Malachor without being able to do anything - and so did I. Only it was you with that Sith Holocron."

Chagrin radiated off Ezra like a heat wave. "I'm sorry," he said softly. "Being forced to leave Ahsoka to face Vader alone . . . that's how you felt seeing me succumb to my anger, wasn't it?"

Sabine leaned against him, relief washing over her. "Finally got it through your thick skull, di'kut."

She felt him reach through the darkness and grip her hand. "You helped me plenty of times, Sabine. You never left my side."

Sabine shook her head. "I was enabling you. There were many nights that I stood outside your door . . . I knew you were listening to the holocron. I wanted to barge inside and drag it away from you. I couldn't do it."

She swallowed. "Because I was scared."

"Of yourself?" he asked. "I still don't understand."

"Of my feelings," she whispered. "All this time, Ezra Bridger, you fit into this neat little box. And then Malachor happened. And now you don't fit anymore. You're too real."

"I'm . . . too real?" He sounded bemused. "What, was I an imaginary friend or something?"

She punched him lightly. "Don't laugh."

In the pitch black she could just make out Ezra putting his hands up in a placating gesture. "I'm not, I promise."

"Good," she growled. "It's just . . . you got complicated. You weren't supposed to be. I don't know how to act around you anymore. That's why I've been avoiding you. I'm sorry about that."

"Relationships are complicated," Ezra said. "You ran away when things got difficult, in the past."

"And I did it again. I'd rather be in a shootout with an army of stormtroopers than talk feelings. It's just easier."

"Well," Ezra said dryly, "that first skill is probably more important considering what's going on."

Sabine snorted. "Don't kid yourself. They're both important. Even with this war against the Empire. Emotional baggage can be deadly in a firefight, just like a well-aimed blaster bolt."

She squeezed his hand affectionately. "My feelings for you haven't changed, Ezra. We're still friends. We'll always be friends. It's just . . . complicated now."

"Okay," he said. "So . . . we'll take it slow, then. Think of it as a fresh start."

Sabine nodded. "I like that."

"I promise not to pick up anymore Sith Holocrons. You promise not to freeze me out when you're upset at me. Sound good?"

She laughed. "Sounds like a deal, goober."

"Good," he said seriously. "Now, let's get out of here. I think my leg's starting to get a cramp."

Sabine stood up, wincing at the protest from muscles that were idle far too long. With her fist, she banged on the airlock hatch three times. A few moments later, the hatch hissed open as the power returned.

Kanan stood there with Hera, a smug grin on his face. "Had a good talk?" he asked.

She narrowed her eyes at him. "Someone's in a good mood considering he just locked two kids in an airlock without power."

"Happy to help," he replied cheerfully. Hera sighed, took him by the arm, and lead him away.

Sabine turned around to see Ezra rising on wobbly legs. "You coming?" she asked.

"Yeah. Hey - you keep calling me di'kut? Is that a Mandalorian term of endearment or something?"

"Oh," she said. She hadn't realized that some of her native tongue had slipped out while talking with him. "No, it's not. But I say it with affection when I use it for you."

"Thanks," he growled. She smiled mischievously at him.

He took a step forward - and tripped over a raised step. Caught off-balance, Ezra began to fall -

Sabine caught him.

#sabezra #sabine wren #ezra bridger #hera syndulla #kanan jarrus #star wars rebels #star wars #ezrabine #ahsoka show #ahsoka #sabezra fanfiction #ghost stories 05

25 notes · View notes