Hello! So I would just like to say that this fic is not shipping Ezra and Sabine (Sorry). I'm not too big of a fan of the person A-is-desperately-in-love-with-person B-but-person B-is-having-none-of-it sort of thing. But that's just my opinion. It does sort of bring them closer, so however you want to view this as is up to you. Hope you enjoy, and happy Valentine's day!

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Sabine sighed at one of Ezra's attempts to flirt with her, again. This was going to be a long mission.

Sabine sat on top of a crate, leaning her back against the alley's wall, with her arms crossed. They were waiting for the shipment of Imperial crates to be forced down the street they sat by, courtesy of Kanan and Zeb. Sabine and Ezra would intercept them, and they would all rendezvous at the ship. It was a simple mission, but she just wished she was alone. Ezra's voice snapped Sabine's mind from her thoughts.

"Ugh, this is taking too long. Kanan and Zeb should have intercepted the crates by now." Ezra stood by the crates, and pushed his body up, away from the support of the wall he was leaning on. He walked over to the intersection of the alley they were in and the main street.

"I thought Jedi were supposed to be patient," Sabine said. But now that Ezra had mentioned it, Sabine noticed that it was taking longer than usual.

"I'm not a Jedi; not yet anyway. I can bend the rules." Ezra turned around from the street and propped himself against the wall again. He looked at Sabine with a crooked smile.

"Yeah, I know. You've done it so many times already it would shock me if you didn't." Sabine was getting agitated. Kanan and Zeb were late, and Ezra was getting on her nerves. She just wanted to go back on the ship and pain, or draw; do something. Sitting here grew old fast.

"Well, that's what happens." Ezra shrugged, looking at the wall across from them. Sabine was surprised by his response; she was expecting it to be warped into another pick up line. Sabine was about to respond when a group of boys came laughing and shoving down the other side of the alley they were in. The looked to be about Ezra's age, and they had Imperial school uniforms on; probably on their way home.

Sabine saw Ezra tense, but did not think much of it. She just looked back at the intersection, hoping that nothing had happened to Kanan and Zeb. The boys grew louder as they approached, and Sabine just wished they would go away.

But as they approached, their voices slowly faded. Sabine looked up to see the teens giving weird looks at Ezra, who just stared at the ground, in silence. Sabine could hear them whispering. She immediately wanted to teach them a lesson for being so rude to Ezra, who had done nothing to them whatsoever.

Sabine slid off the crate, wanting to go after the boys who had turned the corner, but Ezra had sensed her anger.

"Sabine, they're not worth it." His tone was relaxed, and this confused Sabine. Ezra, even though training to be a Jedi, still had a temper. It was unusual for him to be so relaxed.

"What do you mean?" She turned and looked at Ezra, who still was supporting himself against the wall, looking down.

"You beating them up isn't going to change their attitudes."

"Who said anything about beating them up?" Ezra looked up, and rolling his eyes, he responded.

"I know you Sabine, you'd enjoy it."

"So what do you have against them?"

"I don't have anything against them – they're against me."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"It's nothing." Ezra quickly looked back at the ground, and his eyes grew distant. Sabine wanted to pester on, to force Ezra to answer all her questions, but her com link started to beep. Pressing her hand to her pink helmet, she promised herself that this conversation was not over.

"Spector 1 to Spector 5, come in."

"Spector 5 here. You're late."

"I know, but the targets are heading your way. Be ready. Spector 1 out."

"You ready kid?" Sabine looked back at Ezra, and he was back in the present, his eyes focused. He nodded at Sabine, and began climbing up to the top of the building, using the crate Sabine had sat on to reach a windowsill. Sabine watched him climb, amazed that it came with such ease. She reminded herself that he had lived on the streets for some time, and shook off the thought from her mind. She needed to focus on trying to redirect the speeder.

As she turned back to the street, she heard the steady hum of the approaching vehicle. Sabine pulled out one of her miracles, and rolled it through the crowd of people into the middle of the street. The speeder got closer as the ticking of the bomb quickened.

Then, the beeping stopped, and an explosion of fireworks followed. Chaos erupted in the streets, citizens surprised by the sudden noise and colors. The speeder, unable to drive through the origin of the spraying fireworks, turned to the right and down the alley. Sabine was out of the way, and watched it pass. Now, it was up to Ezra.

Ezra was hunched down, looking over the edge of the tan building. The height stopped bothering him a long time ago. At that time, he had other things to worry about. A bang and a spray of fireworks signaled that the speeder was heading his way. Leaning over even further, Ezra saw the speeder turn out of the alleyway and began heading right towards him. Ezra pulled out his lightsaber, but did not ignite it. Instead, he leveled his arm and pointed it, following the direction of the speeder. Taking a deep breath, he fired.

And he hit his target.

The speeder's engine was shot, shutting down quickly. Ezra jumped off the building, landing semi-gracefully on the ground. The trooper raised his gun as Ezra looked up. Frozen in fear, for once he did not know what to do.

The trooper fired. Instincts kicking in, Ezra flinched to the side, barely avoiding a shot to the heart. However, the momentum of his flinch threw him off balanced, making him fall onto the ground. Ezra sat up quickly, but the topper was no longer a threat. He was now lying on the ground, a black spot on his white armor. He looked over and saw Kanan and Zeb, who were right by his side in a flash.

"Ezra, are you alright?" Kanan asked as he looked to boy over for injuries.

"I'm fine, Kanan." Ezra looked up at the man, who gave him a look of concern. "Really, I am." Kanan, after finishing his inspection, helped Ezra stand up.

"Zeb, get the crates. Ezra, hide the speeder, and I'll take care of the trooper." They all walked over to the speeder, and Zeb gave Ezra a slight punch for the scare. The crates were detached and taken away, and Ezra started tugging the speeder towards a different alleyway. He walked towards the side and tried to hide it in the shadows. He was about to turn around to rejoin the crew, when someone stepped in front of him.

Ezra gulped, knowing that this could not end well.

Sabine saw Zeb standing with two crates before him. He looked impatient, tapping his foot while crossing his arms. Sabine approached, unsure of what they were waiting on.

"Nice distraction Sabine," Kanan said. He was more relaxed than Zeb, but his voice wavered. Suspiciously, Sabine noticed what was missing.

"Where's Ezra?" Zeb growled in annoyance.

"He shoulda' been back by now. What's taking the kid so long?"

"Well, we can't wait anymore. The Imperials will be here any minute," Kanan said, and turned towards Sabine. "We're taking the crates back to the Ghost. Go grab Ezra and meet us there."

Sabine nodded, and began running towards the alleyway. Turning the corner, she froze in her path. She was shocked at what she saw.

Ezra was curled up on the ground, his arms blocking his face from his attackers. Glancing at them, she was surprised that Sabine recognized them. The group of teens that passed by earlier were all kicking and punching her friend who lied on the ground.

"Hey!" Sabine, in a surge of anger, pulled out her blasters and aimed it at the teens. Their eyes widened, and they fled the scene hastily. Sabine, deliberately missing even though she did not want to, fired a few shots aimed over their heads. They scurried out of the alley, frantically yelling to each other.

Sabine put her blasters away. She still stood in her place, anger surging through her. What kind of-

Cutting herself off, she sprinted over to Ezra. She kneeled down, gently placing her hand on his shoulder. Sabine was not the best with emotions, especially others, and did not know what to say. All she knew was that Hera could help. Kanan could help. They would know what to do.

And a small whimper from Ezra convinced her that she needed to take him to them now.

"Ezra, it's alright." Inspecting him, she only saw a few red marks on his face, most likely from punches. But judging by the number of teens that had jumped him, she knew that there must be more.

"Ezra, can you stand?" Ezra, eyes still unable to meet hers, nodded slowly. Sabine stood, followed by a weakened Ezra. Ezra, trying to be strong, attempted to stand. However, Sabine could see right through his act. Ezra tried to take a step before the pain seared through his body. His body quickly protested and his knees buckled.

Sabine, her reflexes kicking in, reached out and caught Ezra before he fell to the ground.

"Sabine, I'm fine. Let me walk."

"Unless you want to crawl to the Ghost, I don't think so." Ezra grunted in response, but made no further protest. Sabine slung Ezra's arm over her shoulder, and began walking slowly towards the Ghost. Ezra limped along, and Sabine was filled with questions. She knew that she should not ask, but her intellect got the best of her.

"Ezra, why did those kids do this?" She looked over at Ezra, who sighed. He must have known the question was coming. However, he made no move to answer. Sabine, slightly annoyed, continued to ask him questions. She knew that it would annoy him, but she needed answers.

"Those were the same kids from before, I'm assuming." She looked over at Ezra, who continued to stare at the ground. "I'm surprised that they got the jump on you. What did they want anyway? Did they steal anything, or was it just plain-"

"Sabine, I don't really want to talk about this," Ezra said.

"Well, it doesn't really matter anyway. Either way Kanan and Hera are going to get the answers out of you. And I'd rather hear the answers from you than Hera. And hey, maybe I'll tell them what happened, so you don't have to. I-"

"Sabine, why do you want to know so badly?"

"Because, Ezra, I don't know if you realized, but you just got beat up! I mean, look at yourself, you can barely walk!" Sabine and Ezra had made their way out of the town and onto the grassy fields. She was glad for this as well, for her voice was beginning to rise in frustration.

"I don't see what the big deal it! It's not like it's never happened before!" Sabine winced.

"Ezra, what do you mean by that?"

"Look, those kids have had it out for me for a while now." Ezra tried to break away from Sabine's support, but Sabine was stronger. Ezra slumped down, admitting defeat, and continued on. "They're my age, and when I, well, couldn't go to school anymore…" Sabine saw Ezra adjust himself, and knew it was because he felt uncomfortable. "They, well, they never looked at me the same."

"Ezra…" Sabine did not know how to respond.

"I'm sorry."

"Sorry?" Sabine was thrown off by what he said. "Sorry about what?"

"You know, for…everything."

"That's not really specific." Ezra sighed in annoyance.

"It's just…I…I'm sorry that I've been annoying. I just…No one had ever talked to me before, and I guess I-"

"Ezra?" The teens looked up, and Kanan stood on the ramp of the Ghost, his eyes wide with shock.

"Oh, heeey there, Master." Ezra said, trying to play over his injuries. But Sabine knew that Kanan would not buy it. He came rushing over,

"What happened?" Before Ezra could further try to pretend like there was nothing wrong, Sabine began to speak.

"A group of guys jumped him." Seeing the worry in his eyes, Sabine continued. "Don't worry; I only fired above their heads. They won't be coming back." Kanan smiled at Sabine, before turning back to Ezra.

"Come on, kid. We're getting you some medicine." Ezra groaned, his instincts of survival protesting the care that Kanan offered. However, he slowly obliged.

Sabine lied on her bunk, reflecting over the words that Ezra had said to her. At the time, they made no sense. But now, Sabine was slowly beginning to understand.

Ezra was trying to apologize for his flirting. And the more she remembered, the more she understood.

Ezra had lived on the streets, where the people, and children, looked at him with disgust, or did not even look at him whatsoever.

And when he came on the ship, she had treated him as an equal. Something that Ezra was not used to. Of course he would have felt certain feelings towards her; she was probably the first girl he had ever talked to for who knows how long. Sabine sighed, knowing that she would not bring up what he had said to her. She was not extraordinary with that type of thing like Hera was.

But at least she knew that every time Ezra tried to flirt, she would think back to this moment, and know.

Know that he did it for a reason.

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R & R

~ Kavella ~