"All are intertwined: the Crystal, the Blade, the Jedi. You are One."

Leaving the Jedi Temple provided far easier than getting in, even accounting for Kanan taking the time to lock it up securely with some assistance from Ezra, sealing up the doors with ice and preventing anyone from being able to find it without the proper knowledge. While the grand total of the Jedi in the galaxy currently equally only two to their knowledge, the rebels held out hope that someday they would be able to breathe life back into the dying order.

Climbing back into the Phantom and cranking up the heat, master and apprentice took to the skies and angled back through the air towards where the downed Ghost lay. It didn't take them long to reach the appropriate coordinates.

"Specter Two this is Specter One, are returning to mothership, how is she doing?" he transmitted.

The comm crackled with a reply. "She's seen better days," Hera replied. "Could use some new paint, but don't tell Sabine that. But otherwise we're just about operational. Did you get what you were looking for?"

Kanan spared a glance aft, where Ezra was still engrossed in his newly acquired crystal. "Oh yeah. Well worth the trip."

"Silver lining then," said Hera. "See you in a bit, love."

"Roger that. See you soon."

Comm crackled as Kanan turned it off, easing the Phantom through the air and towards the top of the Ghost, which had never been a more welcome sight. Meanwhile, in the back of the Phantom, his young padawan was rocking back and forth in his seat eagerly, anticipating the possibilities. He could only wonder what sort of lightsaber he'd create. Not just something stylish like Kanan's, but maybe something practical too. Maybe incorporate a blaster into it so it could work as both...

By the time they'd re-attached the Phantom and climbed back into the Ghost, everyone was waiting for them.

"Welcome back," said Hera, arms folded across her chest.

Kanan moved to greet her. "We all set to go?"

"Should be. Zeb just finished the patch job to our engines... I guess now's as good a time as any to check and see if it works."

"What's that supposed to mean?" the gruff Lasak demanded.

"Oh, nothing," Hera said briskly. Kanan resisted the urge to laugh, as the purple-furred alien grumbled. Ezra ignored their conversation entirely, seeking out someone else entirely. He perked up the minute he saw Sabine heading their way, impossible to miss with her brightly painted armor. His expression turned to one of concern as he caught side of the claw marks over her right eye.

"You're hurt," Ezra said, reaching out instinctively towards the wound.

Sabine pushed his hand away, then reached up to brush back her multicolored locks of hair with a casual gesture. "It's nothing. Just some scratches. I'll put some bacta on it in a bit."

"What happened?"

"Nothing I couldn't handle," she replied dismissively.

He didn't look convinced, but wisely kept his mouth shut. Questioning Sabine's combat skills was an easy way to get introduced to them. The hard way.

"So kid, did you get what you were looking for?" asked Zeb.

"We did at that," replied Kanan, proudly clapping his padawan on the shoulder.

Sabine clasped her hands in front of her, bouncing up and down excitedly. "Oooh, can I see? I've always wanted to see a lightsaber crystal. Kanan never lets me take his saber apart."

Ezra chuckled, reaching into his pocket... and finding nothing. "The heck? Where did...?"

He reached deeper, feeling something wet against his fingers, and flicked them. Droplets of pale yellow water splashed against the floor, evaporating almost immediately. The "crystal" he'd acquired had melted into nothing more than water.

"It was just... ice... we have to go back!"

Kanan shook his head grimly. "The Temple entrance will be frozen solid for another hundred hours or so, we can't stay here that long."

"But-!" the padawan protested. Kanan cut him off with a wave of his hand.

"It's alright," his master said, putting a hand on his shoulder. "Ezra, look, I know you're upset, but it'll be alright. If we have to, we'll come back some day. We will get you a crystal, Ezra. And we will make you your own lightsaber. Trust me. Trust the Force."

The younger Jedi grumbled as he settled into a seat, folding his arms. "The Force must have one sick sense of humor," he muttered.

"Tell me about it. But it knows best," Kanan said. "It's guided the Jedi for over a thousand years, and it's still guiding us now. It wants the Empire to fall as much as we do."

The younger human sighed, slumping in his seat. "I just wish it didn't have to make this so hard."

"Adversity builds character," Hera said gently, patting his shoulder. "Don't worry, we're all right behind you. It's not just you and Kanan."

"What they said," Sabine chucked her thumbs at Hera and Kanan. "We're a team."

Zeb nodded solemnly, and even Chopper gave an enthusiastic series of beeps that indicated he was onboard. The sight of them all gave Ezra some much needed comfort. No matter what happened, at least he was never going to be alone again. "Thanks you guys."

"Well there's not much left for us here... let's get off this planet..." said Kanan.

"And go somewhere warm," Ezra added.

"I hear Coruscant has some nice beaches," Sabine added, climbing up the ladder to the cockpit.

"Seconded," Ezra and Zeb said in unison.

Chuckling at their infectious good attitude, Hera climbed into the pilot's seat and began the start-up sequence, powering up the Ghost. The ship began to power up with a distinctive hum... then began to shake.

"Everything alright?" asked Kanan as he settled into the seat beside her, not liking the sounds now accompanying the hum. The whine of metal staining.

"Just a little rough," Hera replied. "Sabine, can you re-route auxiliary power to the engines?"

"On it," the artist replied, fingers flicking over instrument panels.

"Okay, let's give it everything we got... strap in, everyone!"

Ezra and Zeb wasted no time in complying, the rest had already taken this sensible precaution when the ship started shaking. Hera pushed down hard on the accelerator, hoping to push through whatever was holding them back. There was a mighty shudder, and the whole ship seemed to roar in protest. Sparks flew from the panels nearest Kanan as he flinched away instinctively.

"Shut it down!"

Hera flicked the appropriate switches and eased back on the throttle, bringing the Ghost to a stop. Mercifully, the shaking stopped.

"More trouble?"

"Seems that way..."

"Why is it never easy?" Kanan muttered. Hera patted him on the shoulder.

Chopper provided the appropriate visual aids as Hera explained their situation. A holographic image emerged from the little droid to float in the space between the crew of the Ghost.

"We waited too long to leave, and we're iced in," she explained. "Specifically, the lower part of the hull is completely encased. We can't even get to it to crack it or heat it up, not unless we tunnel under... and if we do, we risk the whole thing collapsing on us before we lift off."

The glowing hologram Chopper was providing showcased a neat and tidy collapse of the ground, along with caricature Ghost and crew falling. An almost comedic sound effect followed, which did little to lighten anyone's mood.

"So we're stuck here?" asked Zeb.

"Not necessarily," Sabine said, rubbing her chin thoughtfully. "Chopper, bring up the current sensor readings of the surrounding area. Emphasis on weak points in the ice."

Beep. Boop-boop-boop.

As the little droid complied, Sabine studied the layout carefully. "Hmmm... if we could settle off localized blasts here... and then here... and then push for liftoff when the ice is collapsing... should be able to lift off."

"Should?" echoed Ezra, looking worried.

"You got a better idea?" she fired back.

Kanan evidently didn't. "How soon can you rig some explosives?"

"This'll require more than just some paint bombs," Sabine replied, thinking carefully. "I might be able to cobble together some thermal detonators though. Uhm... the thing is..."

Knowing full well he wasn't going to like the answer, Kanan sighed before asking anyway, "Yes, Sabine, what is it?"

"I didn't have the materials on hand for thermal detonators. But we do have those heat generators. I can jury rig a few explosives out of them."

"Costing us our cargo," he realized. "Ugh, fine... if it gets us out of here... I guess we live to steal from the Empire another day. Fair trade."

"I'll get to work," the Mandalorian said. "Chopper, gimme a hand!"

Boop-boop-beep. Beep-beep.

"And watch your tone, mister!"

Beep.

They set to work, those not actively putting together the new explosives helping to dismantle and rip apart the heating generators, stripping them down to bare wires. In the end, Sabine had to cannibalize most of the heaters, but they had the working explosives they needed. She, Ezra, Kanan and Zeb distributed them, careful to follow her carefully calculated directions on where and how to arm them.

"Too close and we risk blowing the Ghost to pieces," she said, priming a charge and setting it into the ground. "Too far and we might not achieve the proper lift we want."

"We're going to get blown to bits, aren't we?" muttered Zeb, even as he primed another explosive.

"No way," Ezra protested. "Sabine knows what she's doing. Trying having a little faith."

The big lasak grumbled as he climbed back into the Ghost, followed by the youngest members of the team. And was it Ezra's imagination, or had Sabine just flashed him a grateful smile as she climbed back into the cargo bay, shaking off the snow from her shoulders with all the grace of an asharl panther.

Idly he brushed the snow off of his own shoulders, shaking out the hood of his parka as the bay doors closed, and the Ghost prepared for lift off.

"Alright darling... once more with feeling," Kanan said, strapped in to the gun turret on top of the Ghost and gripping the controls tightly.

Hera smirked as she powered up the Ghost, easing the levels up slowly. They might only get one more shot at this, and if they didn't take off this time, they might be stuck here a very long time. No distress beacon would reach anyone, even smugglers rarely bothered to stop by a planet this far in the Outer Rim. If they didn't managed to take off, the chance of a rescue was unlikely. Far more probable was the idea that someday they'd be discovered as part of an archaeological expedition, frozen in the husk of the then aptly-named Ghost.

"Everyone ready?"

"Ready!" they all chorused.

"On my mark," Hera began the countdown. "Three... two... one... GO!"

Kanan fired the turbo lasers, detonating the first set of mines, and Hera gunned the engines. Half a second later, Sabine tripped the remote detonated for the second set of mines, and the ground collapsed underneath the Ghost. The explosion rippled along the ship's frame, pushing it skyward as the icy ground cracked and split open like some enormous egg. With the engines firing the Ghost broke free of gravity's grip and continued to climb up into the sky.

"And we're away!" Kanan announced. "You did it!"

"Woohoo, yes!" cheered Ezra. He threw up a hand and Sabine slapped joyfully.

Chopper's arms came out and his head spun around as he gave a little victory dance.

Beep-beep! Boop-boop! Beep-beep!

Kanan eventually crawled back down from the lasers and into the cockpit, settling into the co-pilots seat. "That was one fine bit of piloting darling. Well done."

"Glad to be of service, love. Oh and hey, starcharts back on-line," Hera announced, pointing at a nearby monitor.

"So where the heck are we?" asked Kanan, having no real care for their present location, except insofar as a desire to be far, far away from it.

"Asar system," the green twi'lek lady replied. "You were dead on love, this is Ilum."

He grimaced. For all the good it had done them.

"Well I'd say we're a little late making delivery on time but... we may as well go apologize to our buyers in person, don't you?"

"Better late than never, hmm?" Hera asked, already flicking switches and making the calculations for hyperdrive. "We'll have to detour to properly fix up this patchwork job but we can probably still be there by the end of the day."

He nodded, reclining back in his seat and strapping in. "Maybe we can make do selling the spare parts from the generators. Make up a little of the difference, at least. Wake me when we get there, would you?" Kanan asked, eyes already half closed.

The Ghost's captain nodded, privately resolving not to wake him unless there was something worthy of his attention. While she was the owner and captain of the Ghost, Kanan was their real leader, and he'd more than earned a respite after all he'd put up with today on their behalf. For that matter, they all did. A vacation did indeed sound lovely, Hera would be lying if she said she didn't wish she could go too... but they still had a mission to accomplish. And a cause to fight for.

Drawing back on the appropriate lever, Hera pushed the Ghost into hyperdrive and watched the stars rush past in a blaze of brilliant light.

As the rebel ship vanished in a streak of light, far below, on the planets surface, the heavy ice continued to crack and sunder. Huge chunks of frozen ground fell into deep crevices and fissures created by Sabine's carefully laid explosions. When the smoke and snow had finally settled, however, they made for an unusual shape. Carved deep down into the face of the ice planet and guaranteed to be there for at least a generation to come.

A symbol of hope, a symbol of freedom, a symbol of rogues and rapscallions across the known galaxy.

Carved into the ice by Sabine's explosions was the phoenix emblem of the Rebels.

Authors Notes:
Please leave a review if you enjoyed.

Since I wrote this story prior to the end of the first season, I had to make some small modifications in this final chapter. With the revelation Ezra created his lightsaber on Lothal, I modified the story to remove the crystal he obtained, though there is precedence for such in both 'The Gathering' and in 'Clone Wars' with Anakin's cave-vision-test-thingie. The Force moves in mysterious ways. That's my story and I'm sticking to it. The rest fit like a glove.