The Artist and the Jedi - Sabezra Oneshots

Injured (Part Two)

Set during season 3:

Summary – In the wake of admitting her feelings for him, Sabine and Ezra work on their vivid new relationship and try not to let their fears take over...

Credit to Sabinexoxo for suggesting a sequel.

Exactly one week had passed since Ezra had woken up and it had been anything but normal. For a start, the entire crew had been walking on eggshells around him, clearly more afraid at his recent injury than they had let on. Zeb had even stopped punching him in the arm all of the time, instead gently patting him on the shoulder repeatedly. Stranger still, Chopper had stopped shocking him at every opportunity, most likely on the orders of Hera. The Jedi wasn't really certain that he enjoyed such behaviour. Yes, it was nice not to be punched or electrocuted all of the time, but in truth he just wanted things to go back to the way they were. All of this paled into utter insignificance, however, compared with the changes to a certain Mandalorian demolitions expert on the crew. Ezra was over the moon when she had kissed him and admitted her feelings moments after he had woken up, but where Sabine was concerned, nothing was ever so simple...

It is said that the early days of a new relationship are among the best, with excitement and giddiness being the prime emotions. In this particular relationship, however, frustration and worry seemed to dominate. The dynamic duo found themselves sitting in the galley of the Ghost, enjoying their downtime with cups of refreshing blue milk.
"So, Commander Sato wants a team to travel to Ansion and infiltrate an imperial base there. Apparently, it's housing encryption keys that the alliance needs to help crack imperial codes. I figure the two of us can manage that easily," Ezra suggested, kicking his feet back onto the table. Sabine seemed to choke a little on her blue milk, causing the Jedi to frown. That was unlike her.
"Really? Ansion...I don't know, it's a long way off," she said, the worry abundantly clear in her tone.
"When has that ever stopped us? Come on, we go in, steal the keys, and break out again. Textbook operation," Ezra replied, leaning close to her. She huffed, folding her arms.
"That's the thing, Ezra, nothing is ever textbook with you. Look at that job on Yarma, you lost the Phantom...you almost lost your life, again," Sabine stated. Silence followed. She wasn't wrong, that had been far from Ezra's finest moment. But the rebels had close calls all of the time, it came with the job. How was this any different?
"Yarma was...bad," Ezra admitted sheepishly, "but you know I wasn't in my right mind then." He was referring, of course, to the influence of the Sith holocron. Following Malachor, Ezra had delved a little too deeply into the dark in a bid to grow stronger and protect his friends. This attitude reached breaking point on Yarma where his brash tactics had almost gotten him killed. Naturally, these events remained a sore spot for him.
"I know..." Sabine cooed. She placed her arm over his shoulder and held him supportively. It was a small movement but coming from her it made his heart flare.
"I get that you're trying to protect me, but I still have to take on missions. Ansion seemed like one of the low-risk ones," the Jedi commented. He didn't want to press his girlfriend into an argument, far from it, but she could hardly keep him constrained to the Ghost forever. There was a war on. Sabine sighed.
"Alright...give me the lowdown..." she relented. Ezra grinned, standing up at once and activating a tactical hologram atop the table.
"Okay, so, on the outskirts of Korumdah there's a small imperial facility, nothing too major. Rebel intelligence has identified it as the softest target we can hit to get access to the encryption keys. There are others, but they're too heavily guarded," he began to explain. The hologram showed 3D blueprints of the facility in question and, as it turned out, Ezra was telling the truth. The base was relatively insignificant with only a single landing platform and two prefabs. Also, being on the outskirts of a city meant that they would be able to slip in and out without gaining the attention of the bulk of Korumdah's imperial presence. Ezra had indeed chosen a fairly risk-free mission, for once.
"Hmm...it's surrounded by a laser fence, but it looks like it's only a few feet high. You could use the force to throw me over and then I can disable a section of it for you to follow," Sabine suggested, stroking her chin in thought. Ezra smiled widely.
"Hah, knew I'd get your attention," he remarked, rather too cockily for Sabine's liking. Fortunately, however, she had a very effective counter. She stood up, standing close to him.
"You've enjoyed sleeping in my cabin the past week, haven't you? Away from Zeb's snoring and next to your, very patient, girlfriend?" she asked with a fake tone of sweetness.
"Uhm...yes, it's been very...nice," Ezra struggled to find the words. In truth it had been surreal. After years of flirting with Sabine, to sleep in her cabin and be able to call her his girlfriend, it almost seemed like a dream from which he would soon wake up. In fact, knowing his luck, it would be Zeb's snoring that woke him.
"In that case, do shut up. I'd hate to have to ruin your fun by throwing you out," she said with a broad smile of her own, briefly stroking his cheek.
"Ahem...yes! Of course, fair enough," he replied, coughing awkwardly. Sabine had a remarkable ability to make him blush like a redspar from a simple brush of skin. He was always highly embarrassed, naturally, but she found it adorable when her tough, buzzcut Jedi went red at the slightest touch. She grinned as he struggled to regain his composure, eventually taking pity on him, and bringing the conversation back to the matter at hand.
"Ansion. You're right, the job seems fairly simple. There can only be a handful of stormtroopers inside. Done properly, we can grab the keys without alerting a soul. And if you do screw up, it won't be a challenge to take on twelve troopers," Sabine thought aloud, turning her attention back to the hologram.
"So...does that mean you're in? The new Phantom could use a ride out," Ezra queried. Sabine nodded her head before quickly throwing him a wicked smile.
"I'm in...but I'm flying. You have a poor history with Phantoms..."