Star Wars Rebels: Teenage Response

Looking Back

"I swear, I'm not letting Sabine go on any missions by herself anymore..." Hera said aloud as she entered the Galley, where Kanan was eating. "...seems like something complicated happens to her every time she goes off on her own..."
Ever since she had that heated argument with them, anyways. The first time, she got raped...that was the worst. Then, she broke her arm and was left out of action for six weeks. Now, she's supposedly not coming back for a while.
Hera would have to hope nothing serious happened to her...Sabine told her to trust her, after all.
"I hope she's...not mad at us for some reason" The pilot thought.
"Why, what's up?" Kanan asked after swallowing, removing his eyes from a datapad. "Has something happened?"
Hera sat opposite to Kanan and sighed.
"She said she's alright..." She began. "But she's not coming back for a while...but she did promise me that she is coming back...who knows when".
Hera grunted in frustration. Sabine had been very complicated these past two months....for understandable reasons, of course.
Kanan looked at her rather confused. Sabine wasn't coming back, not for a while? Why? Something didn't sound right...why wouldn't Sabine come back? He brought out his comlink and set it to Sabine's frequency, but there was no signal on the other end.
"She turned it off?" He wondered.
"Do...do you think we're being supportive enough?" Hera asked him. "I know it's a...strange topic...but you and I, Kanan? We're like parents to the kids. Ezra and Sabine? We are their adult figures in life...we may not realise it but...we are raising them, I guess".
It seemed so. Ezra had originally only cared about looking out for himself, and Kanan had turned him into a much more thoughtful person...someone who was able to consider the lives of others aside from his own. As for Sabine? She had certainly changed quite a bit. Kanan supposed that was due to him and Hera.
"Remember when we first took in Sabine?" Kanan brought up with a smile on his face. "She...was certainly tricky".
When Sabine first joined the Ghost Crew, which was about two years ago by now, she had great difficulty trusting anyone. Zeb also often returned her mistrust, even claiming she was an Imperial spy. She isolated herself to an even greater extent to what she does now...and she wasn't particularly friendly...but not exactly mean either. It was certainly a rather different experience compared to Ezra, who didn't take long before warming up the crew. Sabine took weeks.
"Hey, when Sabine asked for the first time if we had any paint or paper?" Kanan said, chuckling. "That was cute".
The event crossed Hera's mind, and she shared in his laugh.
"That was so adorable..." The Twi'lek agreed as she remembered the events in her head...

Kanan, Zeb and Hera were eating at the table in the Galley, while Chopper was to one side to provide his gloriously annoying company. The crew were discreetly discussing their newest addition to the team: The ex-Imperial ex-bounty hunter Mandalorian.
It had been three days since Sabine joined the crew, her skills were quickly noticeable as great assets with her expertise with explosives and diversion potential. She didn't really question anything...she just nodded and did what she was told.
"She's no bother" Kanan said to his comrades. "I think she's a nice girl"
Zeb didn't exactly share his opinion. He found it hard to trust the girl, with her once being a cadet at an Imperial Academy.
"Of course she's no bother..." The Lasat began. "She hardly ever speaks to us...she's just...there".
"Cut her some slack, Zeb" Hera told him. "She's just fitting in...give her some time. I bet you two will be best of friends before you know it!".
Zeb grumbled. He doubted that outcome. He hated Imperials with such a passion that even an ex-Imperial wouldn't gain much sympathy from him. Despite that, however...Sabine wasn't unlikeable. She was bearable...just hard for him to trust.
Chopper beeped loudly when the Mandalorian herself went into the room without greeting them, quietly walking past and seemingly looking around for something.
"Hello Sabine!" Hera greeted her, turning in her seat to look at her. She was certainly an interesting person to look at...she had painted her armour red and black, with matching hair dye. She even dyed her eyebrows.
"You doing alright?" She asked the girl.
The Mandalorian gave her a small glance and an even smaller nod. She continued looking around the room, but for what? Hera didn't know. Maybe she was hungry.
"If you're hungry, you can sit with us" The Twi'lek offered. "C'mon...socialise a bit".
Sabine looked at the free seat on the table and rubbed her arm nervously. She found being in peoples company almost unbearable after what Ketsu did to her.
I can't trust anyone...I just can't...everyone is my enemy...
She knew that wasn't true. The Ghost Crew were pretty nice people, except for maybe the Lasat, she knew he wouldn't have liked her, anyways...his species were decimated by the Empire...and she used to be an Imperial. Still...she didn't regret telling the crew just who she was...and what she used to be. She figured they wouldn't have taken her in if they knew she was an Imperial cadet...as well as a bounty hunter...but still they were willing to have her join them.
Why did I join up...? I should've just refused.
But for some reason, she didn't.
"Uh, I...I was just..." Sabine found it difficult to speak the words. "...uh, I'm okay. I'm just gonna go..."
Hera raised an eyebrow and sighed. The Twi'lek then looked at Kanan, who gestured to the free seat, requesting that Sabine join them.
"Sit down, Sabine" He said to her. "You like space waffles? Everyone likes space waffles".
Well...okay...
When the Mandalorian hesitantly sat down beside Kanan, her heart almost exploded. She felt so uncomfortable...she didn't want to be near anyone right now...she was quite hungry, though. After sitting awkwardly for a while, she eventually reached out for the various nutrition on the table and slowly munched.
When Kanan noticed the girl was shaking slightly, he felt rather bad for her. Being near people was clearly a rather unpleasant experience for her...it was sad. Even his rather inactive connection to the Force could feel the unease in her.
"Hey, you don't have to be frightened..." He assured her, placing a hand on her shoulder and calming down her shakes. "We're all friends here, right?"
The only person Sabine wanted to be near to right now was Ketsu...but she was gone. She was abandoned by the only person her life that she could call her friend. They were so close...and now they were just torn from eachother. Despite the crews inviting company, Sabine felt so alone.
Why Ketsu...? How could you...?
Hera just wanted her to feel welcome. A team couldn't truly work optimally if the people in it were not all strongly connected.
"Are you settling in okay?" Hera asked opposite to her. "Is there anything we can do to make you feel happier?"
The Mando would've preferred to say nothing, but there was a certain thing that was really bugging her: her lack of tools to be creative...to bask herself in her passion.
"My room...it's a bit boring" Sabine admitted. "It's dull".
The adults minus Zeb chuckled. There wasn't really anything they could do about that, that's just how the cabins were integrated in the ship. They let her have the spare cabin, the one with the bunk and table, all to herself. She had all the privacy she could want.
"Heh, well I don't know if there's much we can do about that" Kanan told her.
The Mando shook her head slightly in response to this, and looked up at them.
"No, no..." She began. "Like, I could...lighten it up a bit...I just don't have the tools to do it".
Ah, it was clear now. The girl was an artistic expresser...that's cute. Her dyed hair and painted armour should've given it away, but no one seemed to have picked up on it.
"Tools?" Kanan asked. "What do you mean by that?"
Urgh, I left all my supplies on Ketsu's ship. No way I'm seeing them again.
That didn't mean she couldn't build up a new selection of art equipment, though.
"Well, I mean stuff like..." She began to list her wanted items. "Paint...sprays...pencils...and paper...lots of paper".
There it was. Sabine seemed like an anti-socialist, someone that didn't seem all that interesting. Yet, it appeared that she had a great passion for art. There's something about everyone, and everyone had something that made them interesting.
"Well...we'll see what we can do about that, won't we Kanan?" Hera said to Kanan, who gave her an approving nod, and placed an assuring arm around Sabine's shoulders.
Although it was brief, Hera saw a small smile creep on Sabine's face. Good, that was the first of many signs to come of an improving relationship.
When Sabine was done eating she stood up and silently left the Galley for her room, feeling less uneasy than when she first went in.
"See, Zeb?" Hera told the Lasat. "She's a nice girl".
The Lasat reluctantly nodded in agreement.
"Yeah...I suppose she is no bother" He admitted, with a sigh. "She's nice, I guess".