Star Wars Rebels: Teenage Response

Hope

For several weeks, Ketsu and Sabine had relentlessly searched the sectors around the last known position of Ezra's comlink signal, with the intent of rescuing him from his captor that was without doubt Rook Kast. Despite intel from Hera and her scouts, they had no luck. So many abandoned Deathwatch colonies and bases on barren moons...they had searched about twenty now. Deathwatch had certainly got around after the Siege Of Mandalore...
I refuse to give up.
Although she remained persistent, Sabine's hope was beginning to slow dwindle. Never had her previous searches for Ezra's been so...challenging. She and Ketsu used to find people for a living, but at least they had decent leads then...here, it was like Ezra had completely vanished.
It's alright...maybe this will be the one.
It was becoming a familiar sequence for Sabine. She'd be optimistic at the start of their searches...then completely miserable at the end of a long day of tireless scourging. Ketsu had noticed how Sabine's emotional status was deteriorating over the last three weeks, even more so than previously. She cried a lot, got angry a lot...Ketsu was worried, the swings she saw Sabine go through were scary.
"It makes sense, I guess..." She thought. "Ezra means a lot to Sabine"
She wondered if this was how Sabine responded to losing Ketsu, after being abandoned...
"Okay, the next one is a moon orbiting Yavin, in the Gordian Reach sector" Ketsu told her as she piloted the ship. "Yavin four, to be precise. It's habitable...so...that's something"
Sabine watched with attention as she saw a green rock of vegetation come into view, and closer...and then past its atmosphere. It was habitable...and it was rather untouched, which would allow Deathwatch to hold a well-cloaked base. So...this one had more potential than the last ones.
"Sabine, to let you know..." Ketsu began. "We'll only have one more base on Fenn Rau's list to search, if this place isn't the one we are looking for..."
Sabine gave her response in a slow, weary nod. Her heart sank into the depths of hell.
"Alright, I'm setting her down" Ketsu announced.
As Ketsu made her landing, she couldn't help but notice that Sabine was constantly shifting in her position. She twisted her shoulders, adjusted her bodysuit and flexed her neck, all in irritation. She had been doing it since morning.
"You itchy?" Ketsu wondered.
Sabine grunted with frustration.
"My bra feels very uncomfortable..." She muttered, which Ketsu didn't expect her to say and cause her to chuckle. "It's not funny...it's really pissing me off..."
Sports bra's are meant to be a good fit, though. I'm not wearing it any differently.
"You want me to take it off for you?" Ketsu offered flirtatiously. "And maybe inspect your chest for signs of discomfort, or a rash?"
Very funny, Ketsu.
Oh well, it was a simple discomfort. Ezra was the real issue, the thing she should be focusing on. Although she wouldn't believe it anyways, there was evidence that Ezra willingly left with Rook from Atollon. Fenn Rau told Sabine that Ezra freed Rook...and he got that head injury somehow.
But Fenn Rau hates me, he'll say anything to hurt me.
The Protectors provided locations on Deathwatch bases...which was helpful. The problem however, was that none of the bases had any clues to Ezra's location, and they were all abandoned. If these didn't work, then they'd have zero clue on how to find Ezra...he'd be lost forever...
And that's unacceptable.
Sabine didn't need to be Ezra's girlfriend to love him. She thought too highly of Ezra to let him go, as she might've done early on in their time together, back in the classic days of Lothal.
Wow, he's come so far since then.

The Shadow Caster landed in front of what appeared to be a large temple of ancient design. The growth of moss and other vegetation was growing upon its rock...this place has been abandoned for a long time. The sight made Sabine's very soul drop.
"Okay, let's...let's look around!" Sabine said as she rushed over to the temple, with low expectations. "EZRA!?"
Ketsu sighed and followed after her. She knew the procedure, at this point.
"Damn it, Ezra..." She cursed in her head. "Way to prove me right, you only cause problems for Sabine"
Ezra proved difficult to find. This was strange for Ketsu, who personally considered herself one of the best bounty hunters in the Galaxy.
"Just a little behind Boba Fett, maybe?" She wondered humorously.
She knew she was overestimating herself.
Ketsu took out her comlink and set it to Hera's frequency. The Twi'lek had requested regular updates...and due to Sabine always being busy with something, whether it be crying or staring in contemplation at nothing, Ketsu took the liberty of talking with Hera instead.
"It's not good, Captain Syndulla" She admitted. "We've had no luck, and I feel like Sabine is just gonna...gonna shoot herself at any moment. She's really deteriorating"
There was a pause. Hera knew that Sabine wasn't taking Ezra's kidnap very well, or her inability to find him...but she didn't think it would be that bad.
"Make sure you're always there for her, Ketsu" Hera told her. "I think she needs you more than anything, right now"
"No...she needs Ezra" Ketsu thought.
But regardless, Ketsu assured Hera she would keep that in mind, and cut off the signal. If it were up to Ketsu, she'd stop the search now and accept that Ezra was gone. A harsh truth, but if she couldn't find Ezra...then it was likely no one could.
But she knew that Sabine wouldn't stop until either she found Ezra, or died trying.
Ketsu helped Sabine search the abandoned base, it was clear to them that Ezra was not here. Regardless, Sabine continued to search frantically anyways, filled with some hope that it would somehow give a clue to where Ezra was.
Ketsu was ready for Sabine to just break down, as she did so many times.
"He's not fucking here!" Sabine yelled out as she violently kicked a stack of crates over. "He's not ANYWHERE!"
Ketsu calmly approached her, and took hold of her shoulder. Sabine, however, swatted her hand out the way.
"You look for people for a living!" Sabine reminded Ketsu. "Why the hell cant YOU find him? This is what you do best!"
As Ketsu looked at her, with nothing to say...Sabine was certainly going through another mood swing. Sabine sighed, she shouldn't take her frustration out on Ketsu...she used to be a bounty hunter herself, after all.
"I'm sorry" Sabine apologised tearfully as she turned around and scanned the place again. "I'm just...I-I can't cope with all this, it's just-"
"I know" Ketsu stopped her, wrapping her arms around Sabine's stomach from behind. "You miss him, and you're worried for him"
But they weren't going to find him, here. Sabine had to hope the last base proved fruitful...but after so many disappointments, she only expected more disappointment. She had grown used to it...never in her life had she left so useless, so hopeless.
"We're not going to find him, are we? Great...I'm crying again, too" Sabine said as she slowly degraded into crying once again. "Fuck! Why did I not just kill Rook? I should've just...fucking killed her!"
If she had just shot her, right then...Ezra would still be on Atollon, and Sabine wouldn't be going through this predicament.
"Have faith" Ketsu advised with a soft tone. "C'mon, it's been a long day and we're starving. Let's go back home...we can start searching again right away tomorrow morning"
Sabine sniffed and nodded. Ketsu let her go and began walking back to the ship. Sabine calmed herself and followed, but stopped suddenly when she left a feeling of nausea in her stomach. She grunted and held herself, then threw off her helmet when she felt what was coming.
Urgh...
Her breathing pace hastened, then she hunched over and vomited, which got Ketsu's attention and made her cringe at the unpleasant sight. When she was done, Sabine wiped her mouth and groaned...she felt noxious to the core.
"Ate something you shouldn't have?" Ketsu asked.
Sabine was about to slip her helmet on again, but chose to keep it off in case her body wanted her to throw up again. It was so sudden...she hadn't felt like this all day.
Damn...
She wouldn't let it falter her, the longer they spent not searching for Ezra, the more likely Ezra's life would be threatened.
"I might not have cooked that chicken properly..." She supposed with a nervous, forced laugh.
"You better hope you did, I don't want us both throwing up" Ketsu said with light humour, to cheer up the otherwise moody atmosphere. "C'mon, I'll just order us something when we get back. You got it out of your system?"
Sabine held up a finger, wanting a moment. She bent over slightly, while holding the longer half of her purple and pink hair away from her face. She then threw up once more, and almost gagged on her own tounge. She had a headache, her skin was cold and her bones felt jittery.
Fuck me, I am sick as hell.
"Alright...alright I think I'm good..." Sabine whispered as she entered the ship with Ketsu and took a seat on one of the benches in the cargo hold.  "I think I need to lower the stress-levels, maybe...I can't help Ezra if I can't help myself"
Sabine knew quite well that she'd risk her life for Ezra. Fighting two Inquisitors to save him, for example.
I'd rather go through that again than all this.
At least then, Sabine knew where Ezra was.