Chapter Text
Sabine is sick of Peridea. Day in and day out all they do is train and try not to starve. She can feel the anxiety Shin feels seeping through their connection, both of them beginning to grow restless. She sits at the table and drinks from their dwindling supply of caff as she watches Ahsoka and Shin train. It’s interesting to see—having sparred with Shin several times. Watching her fight with someone else is not something Sabine got to see often. She really is one of the best fighters Sabine has ever seen—she’s not sure how she survived as long as she did against her. Granted, the one close call still haunts her. Sabine’s hand ghosts across the scar on her abdomen.
In the sparring room, Shin’s eyes flit over to her, distracting her in her match with Ahsoka. Ahsoka almost brings down the staff against Shin’s shoulder, but she snaps back to attention and grabs it before it can hit her. With a real lightsaber, it would slice clean through Shin’s palm and she sighs as the two of them pause—the match done after Shin’s move.
“Sabine, can you stop distracting my apprentice?” Ahsoka asks with an exasperated yet entertained tone, resting the point of her staff against the floor as she turns to Sabine with a hand on her hip. The word apprentice is not lost on Sabine. It is not typical for a Jedi master to take on more than one Padawan, in fact, it is typically forbidden. But on the floating graveyard where they currently reside, it seems the rules of the old Jedi have taken a step aside.
Sabine raises her hands in surrender. “I didn’t say a single thing!”
Ahsoka shoots a glance between the two of them, a disbelieving look on her face. She shakes her head and holds out her hand for Shin’s staff, bringing the two weapons back over to the wall. “I am going to go assist the Noti with their gathering, I think it’s due time for a break. Good work today, Shin.”
Shin nods, looking uneasy at the praise as she avoids the eyes of both Ahsoka and Sabine. They have not seen Baylan since Shin last spoke to him, but Sabine knows part of her aches for her former master. To know that he roams and yet she is no longer a part of him the way she once was. Sabine felt something similar when Ahsoka first abandoned her—the loss of the only purpose she’s ever known. It’s not something that someone gets over in a few weeks. Sometimes, years later, Sabine wonders if she’ll ever get over it.
Ahsoka departs the ship and Shin stands there in the training room for a moment, sweat beaded on her forehead. She wipes it off with the back of her palm, eyes darting over to Sabine. After a moment, she clears her throat and settles down at the table. Shin is wearing one of Sabine’s black tank tops, a far cry from the armor she’s usually seen in. She’s been much more casual in recent weeks, clearly adjusting to life around Ahsoka and Sabine. Despite the turmoil she feels over the loss of Baylan, she seems to be settling in nicely. Part of Sabine still isn’t sure this is real or not—not as if she doubts Shin’s devotion, not in the slightest. She just fears that one day she will wake up and it will be her first day on Peridea and Shin will be on the other side of the planet, still wanting her dead.
“What do you think will happen?” Shin asks, using the Force to steal Sabine’s caff from her hand and take a sip from the ceramic cup. Sabine just lets her, biting back a smile as she rolls her eyes. Over the rim of the cup, Shin clarifies. “If someone comes to get us. What will happen to me?”
Sabine considers it for a moment because she isn’t entirely sure. She’s never had to deal with something like this before, not so intimately. In her head, she had just assumed everything would work out and that Shin would be allowed to assimilate into the New Republic. But if there is a war waiting for them when they get off of Peridea, there is no knowing what sort of attitudes Shin is going to face.
“I’m not sure,” Sabine answers honestly, stealing her caff back. She places her lips over the same spot Shin had just drank some, stealing the remnant of a kiss because she can. “I imagine you’ll stand some sort of trial. But Ahsoka and I will be able to vouch for you—and if we’re vouching, then Hera probably will as well. Best case scenario… I guess Ahsoka would be able to take you on as an apprentice, that would probably be the safest course of action. If you’re a Padawan, officially, you’re being watched, guided. Better than advocating for setting you loose on the city streets. Worst case scenario… I don’t know. They throw you in a jail cell the moment we land on Lothal? I wish I had better answers.”
Shin chews on the inside of her cheek, looking down at where her hands rest on the table. Sabine watches as she picks at raw cuticles, fingers red and irritated with the anxious habit. Sabine can’t blame her for being nervous—if they make it off of Peridea (which is a strong if at this point), there really is no real knowing what Shin’s fate may be. Sabine hopes for the best, but her fear for the worst overtakes what little hope she has left.
“If we get rescued, if they come for us,” Sabine begins to say, trying to piece the words together carefully as she keeps her voice controlled, “you don’t have to take it. You could stay here, find Baylan, and continue on with his plans. Or, stay here and leave it up to fate, I don’t know. I just… you have choices.”
Shin finally lifts her head to meet her eyes, loose blonde locks falling from the small bun at the back of her head, splitting her irises as she looks at Sabine. “It does not feel like I have much of a choice. Baylan… he is not an option. I can hardly feel him anymore, something has been severed between the two of us, I can feel it. I can feel its absence. To stay on this planet is a death wish.”
Sabine tries not to feel too much relief—as much as she wants Shin to stay by her side no matter what planet they traverse, she does not want Shin to have to trade one prison for another. That is not the fate she wants, even if it is the one that aligns with Sabine’s best interests. She would rather Shin be free the way she chooses than have Shin be a prisoner by her side.
“Then I suppose we can take our chances with the New Republic,” Sabine says with a lingering sigh, reaching out and finding where Shin’s restless hands land on the table and covering them with her own. “Just know I’ll do whatever it is I can to make sure they don’t touch you. I don’t care what I have to do, I will keep you safe.”
Shin’s eyes are piercing, wrought with worry and fear as she looks over at Sabine. Her shoulders drop slightly when she sees Sabine’s calm yet determined expression, but Sabine can still feel the intensity. She opens her mouth as if to speak, but closes it, considering. After a moment, she finds her words. “Thank you.”
“Shin—” she’s unsure where she wants to go with the sentence, the only thing on her mind being the woman in front of her and all the emotions she elicits from Sabine without even trying. Sabine had never truly allowed herself to fall in love—her affairs were always brief and fleeting, never daring to open her heart up to anything more because everything she ever loved had abandoned her—her family, Ahsoka, Ezra. The last thing she really counted on was an unbreakable bond forming in her barely Force-sensitive mind, tying a red string around the beating hearts of her and Shin. “Do you regret… this?”
It’s unclear what this refers to. Even Sabine does not know. It could be the ship they reside on, Ahsoka’s apprenticeship, or it could be them. The budding relationship formed on a dead planet, the connection that has managed to meld itself to Sabine’s bones, managed to become a part of her very being. Every breath she breathes, Shin breathes the same. It is not something Sabine is sure she will ever be able to truly comprehend. She is not sure there are words in any language that truly capture everything Shin has grown to mean to her.
Shin’s eyes search hers, looking for the same words, but coming up empty. “Regret? No, never. Maybe, if anything, I regret putting it off as long as I did. I should have taken Ahsoka’s hand when it was first offered to me, that much has become increasingly clear the more time I spend on this ship. But then again, none of that matters.”
“Because you’re here?” Sabine offers, a hopeful and affectionate expression on her face. Shin nods. “I’m glad you are. I know I’ve said it before, but it keeps being true. The way I feel about you, Shin… It’s nothing I’ve ever felt before.”
Shin shakes her head, turning her hand to intertwine their fingers and squeeze Sabine’s hand. Sabine leans forward and bumps her forehead with Shin’s, the closest thing she can manage to a kov’nyn with no helmet on. Shin presses forward further and captures her lips in a chaste kiss, smiling into it. Sabine has to admire that they’ve managed to find some joy on this wasteland of a planet, searching for it in the darkest corners and coming back with hands full.
“Sabine! Shin!” Ahsoka’s voice comes from outside the ship, sounding distressed.
Both of them turn towards the entrance of the ship, now alert but with hands still intertwined. Sabine stands up from the table, regretfully letting go of Shin and reaching for her lightsaber and handing Shin hers in case of any danger. Side by side, they run outside, but there does not seem to be any immediate danger.
In front of them stands Ahsoka, arms crossed with a saccharine expression on her face.
Behind her, Sabine hears a new voice. “You really thought we weren’t going to come back for you?”
Sabine whips around, face to face with Ezra. Behind him is a ship she doesn’t recognize, larger than any New Republic ship she’s seen. His arms are crossed and there’s a smile on his face, almost identical to when she first turned to look at him in the middle of the Noti camp.
“Ezra?” Sabine asks, bewilderment lacing her tone. Beside her, she can feel Shin tense up.
He seems to notice Shin at the same time, brow furrowing as a hand reaches for the lightsaber he has on his belt—from the looks of it, it’s still the one he put together when he was last on Peridea. “Sabine, what is she doing with you guys?”
Sabine steps between the two of them, noticing that despite her tense shoulders and nervous expression, Shin didn’t reach for her weapon. Instead, she looks over at Sabine, waiting for her to explain. Sabine tries not to let her heart warm at the small action—or lack of action, but the affection seeps between their connection anyway.
She turns to Ezra with a hand held out in front of her, beginning to explain, “A lot’s changed since you left. She’s with us now.”
He still looks unsure, the reunion (the one Sabine still isn’t entirely sure is actually happening) dampened by the anxiety of Shin’s presence. “She tried to kill us.”
Ahsoka steps in between the three of them now, a gentle hand on Ezra’s shoulder. “She’s abandoned the path she was on when you first encountered her. I’ve been training her alongside Sabine these last few weeks. You may quell your fear. Sabine’s right—a lot’s changed.”
Instinctually, Sabine reaches back and takes Shin’s hand, squeezing it as if to remind her of her earlier promise of keeping Shin safe, no matter what. Knowing Ezra, it won’t come down to a fight. Not even close. His expression softens beneath Ahsoka’s touch, hand leaving his lightsaber and instead grabbing Ahsoka in a hug.
“How did you even get here? That hunk of metal?” Sabine asks, disbelief evident as she steps forward and grabs Ezra in a hug.
“Old Imperial garbage,” Ezra explains, “The whole time you’ve been gone, we’ve been working out how to get enough power to get to another galaxy. Sorry it took us so long, but in my defense, you took several years.”
Sabine punches him softly in the shoulder, “It doesn’t count if you already knew where you were going. Is Hera with you?”
Ezra nods, waving towards the ship where Hera is now stepping off and walking down onto the planet. Her eyes find Ahsoka first, motioning to the gray wasteland surrounding them. “Your new digs are kind of shit.”
“You two are a sight for sore eyes,” Ahsoka just laughs as Hera hugs her. “Now, please tell me this thing can get us back to Lothal.”
“She’s going to try her damn best,” Hera says with an exasperated laugh. She notices Shin’s presence as well, nodding over to her, recognition flashing in her eyes. “And what do we have here?”
“Shin Hati,” Ahsoka takes the lead on explaining. “My new apprentice.”
Hera’s eyes flit between the three of them, noticing the assured expression on Ahsoka’s face and the protective stance Sabine has taken in front of Shin, standing half in front of her as if something were going to attack at any moment. Fear flows across her mind, overwhelmingly Shin’s.
“Leave it to you to land on a dead, lifeless planet and manage to find another apprentice,” Hera just chuckles, shaking her head at Ahsoka. “Looks like we’ve got our work cut out for us, then. But I say we worry about getting back to our home galaxy first, how’s that sound? We’ll deal with the diplomats later.”
Sabine turns to Shin, eyebrows raised, question poised. “Well?”
Shin reaches forward and laces her fingers with Sabine’s, squeezing tightly. Sabine hopes she never lets go. “Please just let us get off of this terrible planet.”
Ezra chuckles at this, motioning to the ship behind him as the crew turns towards the entrance of the ship. There’s even a landing bay for them to carry Ahsoka’s ship back to their own galaxy. There’s no knowing what will await them when they return, but with Shin’s hand in hers, she manages to find the hope, the hope that it will all turn out okay, the way it should. Everyone turns to head for the ship, but Sabine pauses for a moment, stepping to stand face to face with Shin.
She presses her forehead against Shin’s, meeting her lips in the middle of a kiss—a kiss that she hopes quells every fear the woman has ever felt. When she breaks away, Shin’s eyes are soft, hopeful. Sabine smiles. “Come on, let’s go home.”