Bring Him Home

Chapter 16

             ... and then everything returned to color.

        Sabine bolted upright and looked around to see that she was in a prison cell with Ahsoka and Lux. They were also waking up and groaning.

    "Ugh... what happened?"

      "I don't know... it felt... strange. Sabine, are you okay?"

   "Y-Yeah... I'm fine... just trying to get my bearings back. Looks like we're in another fine pile of bantha crap."

       "We've gotten out of worse, haven't we?"

     That voice... it wasn't Ahsoka or Lux. She'd know it anywhere. It was muffled, so it was clearly coming from a different room.

     "What? Who said that?", Sabine asked. She had to hear it again.

     "Awww, come on. You don't even recognize my voice? I haven't been gone for that long."

    It was coming from the back of the room.

     "Ezra?!"

     When she pressed her hands against the wall, the Mandalorian unknowingly pressed a button. She almost fell backwards in shock when the opaque surface suddenly turned transparent.

      And she saw him.

     He looked older, obviously. His hair had grown out and was done up in a style similar to Kanan's, and the thin layer of stubble growing on his chin made him look... manly. Sabine was completely speechless. She had found him... she had finally found him.

     "Ezra... is it really you?"

       "It's me, Sabine. I promise."

      She pressed her hand against the wall and he did the same.
   
       "Ahsoka, can you verify? I don't wanna be tricked", she said absentmindedly.

      The Togruta smiled at Ezra, who returned the smile.

     "It's him, Sabine."

      The Mandalorian's lips quirked into a smile as her eyes welled up with tears.

      "Ezra... I found you."

       "You did, Sabine. Just like I knew you would."

      She pressed her forehead against the wall and Ezra reciprocated the gesture.

     After five years... they had found each other.

        Meanwhile, back in space, the battle was not going well for the Chiss fleet.

     "Admiral, we keep losing ships, we have to retreat!!", Eli exclaimed as he tried to reason with Thrawn.
 
     "I will not retreat!! My niece is on that planet and I'm not leaving her behind!!"

    "Sir, look around!! Our fleet is in shambles, and we have no reinforcements!! We can do nothing but hope that Miss Wren's rescue mission will be a success!!"

    Thrawn looked at the battle going on around him. Ships burning, bodies floating in the vacuum, laser blasts of various colors flying across the blackness. It wasn't the first time he had been defeated militarily, but this time, he felt like a true failure.

      "I... I agree, Eli. All ships, full retreat!!!"

    The ships turned around, aiming for the hyperspace lane back to Csilla. Just before they made the jump, Thrawn shed a single tear and murmured to himself.

    "I'm sorry, Sha."