#do you know how funny it is to have your friend's sith warrior be straight tho so you run around banging pierce and quinn

[ebitenpura]

all that being said I do think Eight was everyone's one night stand at some point but I can't bear to subject people's ocs to the insufferable ordeal of having known him

[magic-owl]

i wish these had numbers to not take up room but alas: what is your absolute favorite ship? what’s a ship you like that most people don’t? what is the most underrated ship, in your opinion? (choose any of your fave pairings for the following bc I'm curious about all your faves) rate [pairing] from 1-10 and explain why. what’s your favorite headcanon of [pairing]? what’s your favorite canon moment of [pairing]? favorite AU ideas for [pairing]? what song(s) remind you of [pairing]?

Thank you my dear! You are my Star Wars Friend so I’ll keep it SW focused (if you wanted to ask this to solely find out what else I liked BESIDES SW sorry lol just let me know and I can redo it). This got long because turns out I have a lot to say about my ships so answers under the cut!!! xD

Absolute favorite ship: This one’s kinda hard but I’m gonna have to go with Obi Wan/Anakin! I also like them a lot as a trio with Padmé, but overall I gotta say these two are just my faves? Why? Because they are such a M E S S and gosh I just love them so much. Ppl say they don’t like each other very much but come on, have you watched the TCW, have you watched RotS, they’re the greatest team there ever was, they’re constantly fretting and worrying about each other, they’re always teasing (the constant banter omg boys pls) at each other and hyping the other up and believing in each other and Ahsoka literally calls them her adoptive guardians in the Ahsoka novel, that’s how much of a family they were and ugh they’re just so married. And they’re such a TRAGEDY and it breaks my heart and it’s delicious to watch because in the final fight it’s just heartbreaking betrayal because through it all they love each other so much and that’s WHY they’re so furious with each other because to them it feels like the ultimate betrayal. Even after (when after everything, Obi Wan still loved Anakin too much to kill him himself) they’re constantly on the other’s mind, and ugh the pain hurts but in such a good way, and how in the end Anakin did the right thing and Obi Wan was RIGHT THERE to help guide him back to the light in spirit and now they can rest happily together for eternity (with some spare stressing about, ya know, Kylo Ren and the impending return of Sidious, but never mind all that). and on top of that, it’s my fave because I also absolutely love their relationship platonically as well, as much as I LIKE to see them together, it’s not necessary for me because they have such an enjoyable dynamic. *coughs* Sorry, so yea, they’re my disaster faves! 😅

A ship I like that most people don’t: See above lol. I get aspects of the Obikin ship can be problematic in the whole power dynamic and age difference thing, but I’ve only ever shipped it after Anakin was knighted as an adult when there’s literally not a problem with it (it was weird for me because I watched the prequels totally out of order. I actually saw the TCW cartoon FIRST and then I saw RotS and then I didn’t watch the first two for a while after that because I was a fool and listened to prequel bashers who said the first two weren’t good, so when I started shipping them as adults that was all I saw them as). To be honest, for the most part the PT fandom is done with the drama since ya know, like a good half of the SW general fandom still hates us, so no one’s really vocal about not liking it and our shipping community is mostly left to ourselves, but every once in a while I’ll come across a joke post/fanart of the two and OP will be all snarky in the notes like “tag as a ship and I’ll come after you with my spiked bat” (someone’s exact words btw) and it’s like ok jeez, do not interact then, was minding my own business dude...

My most underrated ship: Hmmmm....... Gonna have to go between Luke/Ezra and Satine/Padmé. Skybridger I understand since they’ve literally never met in canon, but come ON, they’d get along like a house on fire and argh they should have met, it would be great. I honestly don’t get why Pads and Satine aren’t more of a thing (THEY DON’T EVEN HAVE AN OFFICIAL SHIPNAME ;_; ) cuz c’mon they’re the subtler explosive yin to Obi and Ani’s wildfire yang. They get along great and work together really well, and they both seem to have a type. I am doing them a little better in my new OT4 fic, and I hope ppl like it!!! Ya know what, I’m also gonna add Kaeden (cute girl from the Ahsoka novel!) and Ahsoka because even if a lot of ppl actually ship them, they hardly have any content and neED MORE DANGIT THEY WERE SO CUTE!!!!!!!

Gonna go with Obikin for all the following ones cuz I haven’t had the chance to gush about my boys in a while and you’ve opened Pandora’s box

Rate them from 1-10: 10, plus a hundred more points because I love them, then subtract that hundred again cuz Anakin is an gotdang idiot who ruined it and now they both make me cry. My scoring reasons are that they make me feel all the emotions and I love them Ever So Much and argh.

Fave headcanon: Oh boy, I’ve got a couple actually!

Whenever they’re talking/arguing over the phone, they’re always subconsciously mirroring each other’s actions even when they can’t see what the other is doing. It’s kinda creepy because you’ll hear yelling and it’ll look like one of them’s talking to an invisible person in front of them when it’s actually each other.

There has been multiple instances of them both getting injured in battle because they were distracted watching the other be a total badass (not that either will admit it)

Neither of them are morning people. AT ALL. Obi Wan actually has self-discipline and is able to get up with an alarm and crankily drag them both up, but both are almost impossible to deal with until they’ve had caffeine in them, and it’s been established that unless you want to risk murder, neither of them talks in the morning until caffeine has been provided.

There has been many, many cases of accidentally taking the other’s robe and not realizing it but thinking to themselves that said robe feels more comforting than usual today.

A mutually drunken arm wrestling match absolutely turned into a mutually drunken makeout once. Neither can remember it, and they wonder why some of the clones have been acting funny all week.

Half of the Temple thinks they’re already dating.

Ok I’ll stop it here

Fave Canon Moment: Ughhh, this is HARD. I really like the “any closer and you’d be kissing it” line in TCW, basically any moment in TCW when one of them refers to Ahsoka as “OUR padawan”, the extra long stares and unnecessary touches they give each other in TCW, the elevator scene in RotS movie (THE NOVEL MAKES IT A MILLION TIMES BETTER), also in RotS the way Anakin is half-ready to straight up fight Palpatine when he suggests leaving Obi Wan behind to die, the RotS “No loose wire jokes” bit, the RotS “Roger. Roger.” bit (OKAY JUST THE WHOLE FIRST HALF OF THIS RIDICULOUS MOVIE), the way Vader built his big stupid castle where they had their breakup, the way he’s constantly mentioning Obi Wan when the convo wasn’t even about him, seeing them together again at the end of RotJ (whoops you asked for one, you get MANY SCENES)

Fave AU ideas: Again, there’s a couple!

Superpower AU: Can’t decide whether I’d put this in canon or modern. Most powers in this AU are stolen from inspired by X-Men, DC, and other popular media, so I’m torn between Anakin having Jean Grey/Dark Phoenix style powers while Obi Wan had a variation on Rogue’s with additional energy manipulation. OR it would be a thing where Anakin could commune with the dead a la Klaus from Umbrella Academy while Obes had sort of Avatar-style wind/flight powers. (Both are relevant for different plots).

Sith AU: I know these are far from unpopular in the SW fandom, but the way I’d do it would be to try and write two stories at once, update one every other week so one update a week total. The stories would what would happen if either of them became the Sith Apprentice after the events of Episode 1, and how their dynamic would be during Ep 2 and The Clone Wars with one of them on the other side. It’s funny because the way I’ve plotted it, the Sith!Ani fic would have very big Good Omens vibes, while the Sith!Obi one would have very strong Under the Red Hood vibes, so two VERY different dynamics going on xD

WWII Spies: This is one I 100% plan to write someday, even tho it is a very long time from now. It’s basically following Anakin as an American naval pilot who got injured in a crash and discharged. He still wants to serve and eventually his talent gets him into the intelligence end of the war and sent to Europe where he meets Ben, who’s been working with British intelligence since it broke out, and sparks fly. I’m kind of cheating here cuz as of now this is an Obianidala story, not just Obikin, but it’s one I’m very excited for

Phantom of the Opera AU: This idea I had when I realized that Anakin as Vader is kinda a Lot like the Phantom, but he’s also a Lot like Christine too. So it turned into Anakin as a talented ballet dancer getting preyed on by Palpatine!Phantom (there is NO romance there, Palpy is a total creep and will be treated as such) with Obi Wan as a combination of Raoul and Madame Gery and I have a bunch of ideas and idk if it’s gonna be an actual thing, but I want it to.

Shapeshifter AU: Canon, not very complicated but they can all shift into animals. Obi Wan is a kind of cougar panther cat with a fluffy ginger tail, and Anakin is a big grumpy black Krayt Dragon with a stump for a front leg.

Not A Jedi!AU: One in canon in which set like the Sith!AU, two different stories exploring how their dynamic would be if one of them wasn’t found by the Order. As of now, I’ve got Anakin as the warrior pirate prince of Tatooine, after having grown up and staged a slave rebellion, then promptly put his mother on the throne, and Obi Wan’s there to negotiate something during TCW and things happen. For the Obi Wan one, he’s a political journalist and war correspondent who keeps on running into Anakin’s assignments and popping up where he’s stationed and Anakin has to keep this idiot from getting himself killed/stop asking me annoying questions that criticize the Jedi and the government.

Dark!AU: A kind of morbid canon divergent fic where Padmé dies early and unexpectedly (Palps didn’t plan it). Anakin goes off the rails and Obi Wan agrees to go with him on a murder vengeance roadtrip to try and keep him from Falling or the Sith from getting to him. He kinda fails and they both Fall in a way and it ends with them hunting down Sidious’ players one by one. I’m not entirely sure I want to continue with this tho because it plays strongly on the Fridged Woman trope, which I can’t stand. I’d have to figure out how to give Padmé some sort of active role after her death...

Songs to describe them: There’s a couple (I could have very well gone cranky but I decided to do (mostly) serious))(also my music taste kinda stinks)

Icarus— Bastille

Anna Sun— WALK THE MOON

Animal I Have Become— Acoustic cover by Vitamin String Quartet (original by Three Days Grace) (seriously y’all listen it’s sooooo gooooood)

Warriors— Imagine Dragons

My Demons— STARSET

Ignorance— Paramore

Set Fire to the Rain— Adele

Stubborn Love— The Lumineers

How to Save A Life— The Fray (yes i am aware it is stereotypical angst song leave me Alone it FITS)

Viva la Vida— Coldplay (tbh this fits like the entire PT but I liked it)

Raised by Wolves— U2 (another more PT-centric, but this one works dangit)

Bonus Broadway Song! : Confrontation from Les Miserables (now that ya think of it, that would be a pretty good AU too.....)

Bonus Broadway Song! : The Tango Maureen from Rent (I always imagined this one as Obi Wan and Padmé about Anakin, but it would be about something other than cheating cuz canon has established Anakin views cheating as a worse crime than murder, so yea)

Bonus Broadway Song! : Anything You Can Do I Can Do Better (aight this one’s mostly a joke but come ON don’t tell me that’s not completely them xD)

[atopearth]

Final Fantasy X-2 HD Remaster Part 4 - Chapter 5, Ending and Overall Impressions

I found it so funny when the commsphere Shinra dumped into the hole to the Farplane was fixed by Gippal and he asked Nooj what he’s gonna do about Leblanc since they’re risking their lives there to save Baralai from Shuyin and Vegnagun, and right when Nooj answers, the connection dies, so Leblanc doesn’t get to hear it hahahaha. Good thing is that Leblanc is a straightforward person though, so even if she didn’t get to hear it, then she’ll just go straight to the Farplane to ask him, gotta admire her spirit and her love for him! Hilarious when Brother was talking about his love for the Yuna that keeps facing forward and doesn’t mind that his feelings will never be reciprocated and then tells Barkeep that they’re cool bachelors and then Barkeep is like “Speak for yourself, sonny” in his Hypello way hahahhaha and then a female Hypello comes along LOL. Funniest thing was if you talk to Paine, she’s like, I think I saw two Barkeeps, then she thinks she needs more sleep hahahaha! Buddy talking about how he and Brother formed the Gullwings when they went all the way north to some ice place to find the Celsius (airship) and ended up being guided by a gull and also surviving by eating a gull too LOLL, I guess the gull sacrificed itself for a good cause, because without it, they wouldn’t have formed the Gullwings and then Yuna wouldn’t have joined and saved the world once again haha.

Visiting Zanarkand first since there was apparently a bug in the original game where you might not get the episode complete if you came here last, that would suck! Anyway, not surprised Maechen was an unsent considering him always popping up anywhere he wanted and knowing so many things, I wonder how it feels to live for 1000 years just to tell stories of the past to people and experience so many things. It’s crazy to think how important that handshake was in the beginning of the game, since he was actually the one in that sphere recording who was so happy to have been able to shake Lenne’s hand 1000 years ago! And now that he shook Yuna’s hand, it reminded him of the fact that he’s actually already dead. Glad to know he had a happy long life.

(I don’t know what I did wrong but I don’t think I’m getting 100% and at this point in time, I honestly don’t care anymore because I’ve spent more time being frustrated than playing this game so whatever lol) I still don’t like Beclem btw, so I don’t really care that he’s leaving Besaid lol, the only thing I agree with is that they really do need to work the Besaid Aurochs to the bone! They’re pretty bad lmao. Wakka thinking carefully about what he should name his son was nice, a name is very important, so I think taking your time is good, I’m glad Lulu really wanted him to be the one to name him. I’m surprised Wakka doesn’t think Lulu relies on him at all, like dude! She’s ready to have a baby with you, I doubt she’d do that if she didn’t think you were reliable at all! Have more confidence in yourself, Wakka! I guess everyone is getting back together, lol at Dona having practised her lines so many times for trying to get Barthello back to live with her, since he’s been at Kilika temple all this time as a New Yevon supporter. Your beliefs are important, but so is your partner, so it’s good that everyone has stopped fighting and people can come together again regardless of their beliefs, it’s about time they stopped fighting and whining lol.

Lolll at Rikku being the culprit for the hover crash at Mi'ihen highroad hahahaha! She legit didn’t even notice that the hover crashed because it was trying to dodge her and when she jumped down a ledge, she fell on a machina and that’s why it went crazy lol. She caused so much trouble on the highroad without even realising lolll. Guess it’s good that Rin only made her clean all the rubbish on the road haha. Luca…was really just Yuna walking around reminiscing the memories of spending time with Tidus here, which is nostalgic and nice. Who doesn’t miss Tidus? XD It was kinda cool that we got to fight Lucil, always thought she was pretty cool, I liked her speech and think that she’s a very strong and worthy leader. She knows how to unite and lead people. Even without Nooj, you can tell that the Youth League will be fine with her there.

That Djose machine experiment was very interesting, don’t wanna dig to repair and make it stronger though😢 Lmao at Tobli’s success now when he was in so much debt before, I guess Yuna’s influence can just make everything go well lol. Having Tromell lead the Guado is the best choice. Considering all that the Guado had done and all the reflection they’ve gone through most of the game, with the Ronsos looking forward instead of back as well, it’s for the best that we let go of the past and hope to improve the future instead. I feel like Cid had a very crappy role in this game lol, I liked him in FFX so I’m kinda disappointed that his character is rather…questionable now with the things he did to Zanarkand and not really playing a role to redeem all that. Seeing O'aka and Wantz bond again and take care of the Macalania agency together was heartwarming though, nice to see that these brothers are still doing well and are hopeful for the future!

After finding all the cactuars (lmao at the tenth one being with the “wrong crowd” aka the rogue cactuars that don’t want to fulfill their duties) and lolll, never thought I’d see a Jumbo Cactuar! Easy fight but nice to see it lol. If only it had a moustache hahaha. That boss you have to kill afterwards though, he had so much life! Luckily it was a simple fight and I earned so much AP from it lol. Legit just used two Dark Knights using the darkness skill alongside Yuna Curaga-ing haha, all I did was hold the ‘x’ button to win XD Good to see everyone respect Kimahri again and understand that he’s wise and caring. It’s nice to see that Yuna doesn’t need Kimahri to protect her anymore, so he can now protect his tribe, and although things were a bit rocky, it all worked out! Now on to some annoying sidequests! Accessing the secret chocobo ranch dungeon was easily the most tiring and annoying thing ever. It was SO time consuming. I spent so long looking and capturing chocobos in the Thunder Plains to get 4 that had a max level of 5 zzzz. Then, I had to level them and fight 7 random battles in between until they were all level 5 AND THEN the dungeon itself was annoying because it doesn’t have a map omg. I just googled a map because I couldn’t take it lol. The only good thing about it was getting the AP egg so now one of my characters can earn triple the AP yay! Otherwise, legit so tired lol. Especially since I did the Mi'ihen dungeon as well with all the wall bombing to proceed zzz.

Anyway, things just get more tedious. Was digging at the Central Expanse for the Desert key and to upgrade the machine experiment in Djose and gg, could not find the key at all so I gave up lol. I tried to fight the machine without being properly prepared using my crappy dresspheres and I died hahahaah. I learnt my lesson XD Needed the last two crimson spheres so went to the Via Infinito and dang am I getting motion sickness with all that jumping. My head hurts so much lol. Think I need to level and use my mascot dresspheres though, the elder drake kills me hahaha. Btw, the mascot dresspheres are so cute lmao, Yuna as a moogle, Rikku as a Cait Sith and Paine as a Tonberry is hilarious to look at, I’m going to enjoy using them in battle hahaha. Really cute to see Paine opening up and show her feelings and how much she appreciates Yuna and Rikku being her friends and trying their best to talk to her, it was a funny but nice scene. I never knew/remembered that when Yuna uses the warrior dressphere, her sword is the Brotherhood! That’s so sweet to see!

Kinda surprised that when you go to the Den of Woe, they figure out that Shuyin was the one controlling Nooj and that’s why he shot Paine, Baralai and Gippal when they escaped two years ago, and that now Shuyin is in Baralai’s body. Thought they established that already and that the den made people crazy because of his extreme depression and feelings of having to relive Lenne’s death with the pyreflies since they practically replay strong memories. Anyway, that’s done and dusted so time to finish levelling and go through the Via Infinito? XD Annnnd I gave up on the Via Infinito lol! Got to like level 60 (I think) but I cbb with the way stats work in this game and how you can’t max it etc, so you’re reliant on garment grids, switching dresspheres to get the most benefits such as going past 9999 HP and damage and the accessories, and the tower itself was tedious (and motion sickness inducing LOL, why am I weak) and you don’t even get much out of it (after defeating Penance in FFX and feeling no sense of accomplishment, it’s just so not worth my time lol), so yeah I can’t be bothered😬 Aaaand I spent so much time getting most dresspheres to 100%, I’m tired😖 And lol my characters are like level 99 or close to there because I was so tired of levelling myself….so I kinda cheated and stuck a rubber band on the analog stick to move it to the left and another rubber band with a battery on it to stay on the x button and voila! DIY levelling machine lmao. I just threw Yuna at the Thunder Plains and made someone constantly heal and the rest use skills to max the (annoying) Mascot dresspheres and others lol, yay.

Anyway, Vegnagun! Yes, Leblanc never was the type to just wait there quietly for Nooj to come back haha. And yes, Vegnagun is a machina created by humans so technically, it should be possible to be destroyed without it killing everyone in Spira. But anyway, the best thing was Yuna’s speech to everyone when Nooj suggested to sacrifice himself to kill Vegnagun and Shuyin. I was touched with her words tbh, because she’s right, it was so difficult to see all the fayth die in FFX because they had “no choice” and that they had to “accept” that this is what they had to do, and Yuna did accept it and do it, but in the end, she’s only left with regret, pain and the loss of people that should be beside her that aren’t. They need to stop sacrificing people in order to win, because it’s not really a win when you lose so many before it. And although it’s cheesy to have everyone combine their powers to take down each part of Vegnagun, it’s very sweet too because it feels like the spirit of the game, and it feels like we should get to finally have a happy ending. So weird to see Shuyin use all of Tidus’ skills but just with another name lmao. And as expected, Lenne comes out of the dressphere (pretty much) and so Shuyin finally gets to talk to her properly and fade together with her and rest in peace😊

And omggg the fayth appeared and asked Yuna at the flower field/farplane whether she really wants to see Tidus again! Guess I got 100% completion??? (Edit: I got 99% zzzz) I’m happy that New Yevon (Baralai), Youth League (Nooj) and the Machine Faction (Gippal) can finally unite together and understand that they’re all a part of Spira and really don’t need to fight, although I do think that the fighting between them was rather awkward? They had differing perspectives but they resulted in physical fighting and kinda like war so prematurely without really thinking about it, you really can’t blame Shuyin for being pissed that Spira is still like how it was 1000 years ago lol. Anyway, everyone’s happy now so yay. Yuna really did have another long journey in this game to save the world, so she really should and deserves to go back home to Besaid. Always great to see Yuna and Tidus get to reunite at Besaid just like how he first came about, and to reunite with everyone at Besaid too! That’s where they can both truly call home so yeah that was nice. I YouTubed the perfect ending scenes and yeah, I prefer the normal more, I don’t think it was necessary lol.

Overall, I still have mixed feelings over FFX-2. On one hand, it was nice to see Spira after the Calm and the problems that come with that alongside a new Yuna that has lost the chains of responsibility with the happy Rikku and stoic Paine that has a background that unfolds alongside the plot of this game, and just see them go on pretty carefree adventures and have fun. On the other hand, I wasn’t really a fan of the garment grids or the dresspheres but it was still okay, but I guess it just felt like since it’s supposed to be more of a fan service game, I should have enjoyed it more? But instead I thought it was kinda boring? And the 100% completion attempt (that failed) killed me lol. I guess the story wasn’t very appealing, it’s good that it was light hearted and it was fun to follow the girls around and see their perspective of things, but I guess it lacked the fun and adventure that a lot of games have, instead it was kinda just like a short story about nothing that wanted to talk about something (saving the world again) when the only thing that really resonated with me was the last bit with Yuna when she said she had enough of people sacrificing themselves for peace. Basically, all right game but not very satisfying if you wanted something more from FFX (until you see Tidus at the end I guess) and not very interesting as a standalone imo.

[thestrongeststars]

Sabezra Meeting the Father

Okay, so anonymous requested a Sabezra where Ezra meets Sabine’s father.

Ezra and Sabine stood at the bottom of the stairs of the Wren estate, just like they had when they had gone to meet Countess Ursa Wren. 

Now, not only was Countess Wren standing above them, but there was Tristan and Fenn Rau. There was another man, Sabine’s father. 

He was tall, slim, and graceful. His blonde hair, highlighted with gray, was cut short, close to the skull. His green eyes looked at Ezra with a trusting unease. He trusted Ezra because Sabine trusted him, but he hardly knew Ezra. The green eyes took in everything, Ezra’s posture, his lightsaber, of which he took a keen, unspoken interest in. He moved like a cat, like Sabine. Actually, it would be more accurate to say that Sabine moved like him. 

“Sabine, I thought I made it clear that we were to tolerate no visitors.” Countess Wren spoke, glaring at her daughter. 

“Yes, Mother, you did, but Ezra,” Sabine started to say, but was stopped short. 

“No excuses.” Came the sharp knife. 

“Ursa, let her speak.” Came the smooth chide. Sabine’s father. He spoke calmly, but his words held a deep, hidden power and fire in them. 

“Riole, I won’t-" 

"Yes, Ursa, you will.” The man, Riole Wren, said. Ursa glared, but stepped behind her husband. 

“Sabine, speak.” Riole said, flicking his eyes over to Sabine.

“Thank you. This is Ezra Bridger, a friend of mine.” Sabine said, gesturing to Ezra. 

Ezra inwardly sighed. Of course he had accepted it as fact. It had taken him years, but he had. He was aware that all he would ever be to Sabine was ‘the friend that was once a strange thief trying to steal the supplies that they were stealing from Lothal’.

Better to be a friend than an enemy. 

Worse to be a friend than more.

“Ezra, this is my father, Duke Riole Kryze Wren.” Sabine said, with a practiced tongue. 

“A pleasure to meet- wait, how does that work? You’re a Duke, but you’re married to a Countess.” So much for smooth or classy first impressions. 

Riole Kryze smiled, all teeth, no humor. A deep bitter filled his eyes.

“Ah, a funny story, no?”  It sounded anything but funny. 

Not only had Ezra’s first impression been a bit bad (okay, very bad), but now he had managed to get this man fired up. 

Great. 

“How about a walk, boy?” Riole said, walking down the steps. Well, walking wasn’t the right adjective. Sauntering was much more accurate. 

Riole sauntered down the steps, a hand needlessly hovered above the rail. 

“Yes, I’m up for one.” Ezra said, not backing down. Riole stood a head taller than Ezra, seemingly taller because of his sheer slimness. 

“Great. Where to?” Sabine jumped in, sensing a tight tension between her father and Ezra. 

Sabine didn’t view Ezra as just a friend, even if it did seem that way. It was just the fact that Sabine couldn’t trust Ezra to stay with her. That was what happened with Sabine’s late aunt, Satine. She had loved a Jedi, but since Jedi can’t know love, they never went anywhere beyond infatuation. It had hurt Satine, and eventually, it was used against her. Sabine didn’t want to suffer. 

But she did want Ezra. 

“Oh, Sabine.” Riole turned to look at his daughter and Ezra saw similarities. Same slimness, same grace, same slight nose, same eye shape. “You’re not coming." 

"What?” Sabine asked, glaring at her father. 

“You’re going to stay here while,” Riole’s bright eyes glanced at Ezra, briefly, just for a second. Then they were no longer on him. “Padawan Bridger and I walk together.” Riole then patted his daughter’s head, tentatively, nearly fearful. “You, however, can knock some sense into your brother." 

"I heard that.” Tristan mumbled from on top of the steps.

“Don’t worry Sabine, I’ll see to it that no harm befalls him, or me for that matter.”

“Have fun, Ezra.” Sabine said, a mere breeze in the storm Ezra felt in his head. 

Ezra only felt the breeze. 

They had been walking for about 10 minutes before Ezra spoke up. 

“How did you know I was a Padawan?” He asked. Riole contemplated how to answer. 

“I used to know a few Jedi and Padawan before the Empire.” He said, his voice low and full of regret and remorse. 

“Who?” Ezra asked. He had only heard of a few Jedi. Kenobi, Skywalker, Billaba, Ahsoka. Well, technically Ahsoka had only reached the Padawan point. But she still counted. 

“Back when I was younger, when I was true royalty and back before the Clone Wars, we had a conflict in Mandalore. Naturally, the Republic sent two Jedi, well one Jedi and a Padawan, over to help resolve it. My sister, Satine, was to be constantly guarded by the Padawan. She grew rather attached to him, as he did to her." 

"I thought a Jedi can’t love.” Ezra retorted. Riole’s eyes only briefly glanced over at him, before looking straight ahead once more. 

“A Jedi shall not get attached, is how the Padawan said it. Love and attachment are two different things. Besides,” Riole now smirked and looked down at Ezra. “I’ve seen the way you look at my daughter.”

Ezra choked and stumbled. 

How could he have said that so calmly?

“But that’s not the point, is it? You asked about me being a Duke and in order to understand why I have no power, you have to know about the Kryzes, Death Watch, and a few other particulars.”

“Right, so lets start with the Kryzes.” Ezra said. Riole grinned. 

“I like how you think, boy.” Riole nodded. He looked up as if to collect himself for a long story. “I have, or had rather, two older sisters. One was Satine and the other Bo-Katan. Satine, being the eldest, inherited Mandalore first. She sought for peace after Mandalore’s long history of being feared warriors. During the Clone Wars, she lead the neutral systems. Bo-Katan, on the other hand, did not believe in peace. She wanted Mandalorians to be warriors once more. She joined a,” Riole paused, looking for the right word. “Organization, if you will, called Death Watch. They were feared, but in the worst way possible. Now,” Riole grinned as he sat down, Ezra beside him. “Remember this part, because this is Sabine’s history. You’ll have to tell it to my grandchildren at some point, so pay close attention, boy.”

Ezra gaped at him. How in Force’s sake could this man be so blunt?

“Death Watch was lead by Sabine’s great-uncle, on Ursa’s side named Pre Vizsla. He was the last Mandalorian to wield the Darksaber before Sabine. Pre Vizsla was intent on killing my sister and usurping her rule. He came across a former Sith lord.” Riole’s eye darkened, filled with anger and hate. Ezra could feel the hate emitting around him. “Maul.”

“Maul?” Ezra should have stopped speaking, but he couldn’t. “I knew him.”

“Knew?”

“He’s dead. He was killed by another Jedi.”

“Who?”

Ezra contemplated lying. But, Ezra was now a Jedi Padawan, not a thief. 

Besides, its not smart to lie to who could be his future father-in-law.

“Kenobi.”

Riole’s anger fled from him. It was replaced with something akin to awe.

“If I didn’t know Kenobi well, I would say that revenge has been exacted.”

“What do you mean?” Ezra asked, confused. 

“The Padawan, boy, that I spoke of earlier, the one that had to constantly guard my sister, that was Kenobi." 

Ezra took a few deep breaths and meditated on this information. 

"It was Maul that killed Kenobi’s master, Qui-Gon Jinn. It was Maul,” Riole’s breath shook, a traumatic memory flooding over him. Ezra could feel the pain, feel the grief. “It was Maul that killed Satine. She died in Kenobi’s arms.”

“I, I don’t know what to say.” Ezra said, shocked. Riole took this moment to grin. 

“I know what you can do. First of all, don’t hurt Sabine’s feelings. Second of all, don’t tell me where Kenobi is. Third, take care of Sabine. She really needs a guy like you." 

*3 years later*

"So,” Sabine said, sitting up in the bed, looking over at her partner. “What did my dad tell you?”

Ezra stared up into her eyes and his heart skipped so many beats, he thought he was going to need a doctor. 

“Well, he began with…”