Sabezra: A New Beginning

A Voice in the Dark

Zeb's burly voice woke Sabine up from her not-so-restful sleep. Something had kept her awake, a feeling that something wasn't quite right.

"Everyone, come quick! Now!" he yelled; his voice full of rare panic. Sabine jumped out of bed, grabbed her blasters, and ran over to Zeb and Ezra's room, not caring that she was in a pair of shorts and a tank top. If something bad had happened, she couldn't live with herself if she took the liberty to change.

Her speed served her well, she got there seconds before Jacin, Chopper, and Hera. What she saw was the worst she could ever imagine.

Ezra sat unconscious on the floor, and Zeb was slapping his face to wake him up. Ezra was not moving. His face looked pale. His fingers were twitching slightly.

Sabine gasped and rushed to his side. "Zeb, what happened?" she cried, grabbing Ezra and shaking him violently. Zeb looked like he was about to burst into tears. "I don't know - I woke up to get some food and he was just laying here!"

Sabine felt like wanting to cry herself, but that would have to wait. Now, she would have to wake Ezra up.

Hera burst into the room, carrying Jacin, followed by Chopper. Zeb explained what happened.

"I thought I'd felt something weird last night," Jacin muttered to himself. "I should have told Mommy..." he placed his palm to Ezra's heart and scrunched his eyebrows together. "Bad. There's bad."

Sabine gripped Ezra's hand. "We have to stop it," she stated firmly, not knowing where her calmness was coming from when she just wanted to scream and cry.

"There's nothing we can do, Sabine, but let him fight through it," Zeb said gently. Finally, the tears in Sabine's eyes spilled over and she cried. Hera put her hand on Sabine's shoulder.

"He's strong," she reminded her. "He won't give in. Not ever." Sabine let go of Ezra's hand and wiped away her sudden tears, replacing her face with a stony mask, which faltered when the rest of the crew looked at her with such pain that she could see they were all scared just as much as she was.

"I'll get a med kit to see if anything in there will help," Hera said decisively, shooting the others a look. They all made mumbled excuses and left. Sabine appreciated that they were letting her spend a few minutes with Ezra alone.

She held his hand again and leaned against the wall next to him, letting her tears out, crying into his shoulder. "Come back, Ezra," she whispered, "Pull through."

Trapped in his mind, reliving his most horrific memories, Ezra could hear her.

He could hear her desperation, her pain, her fear. But also, her love for him. And he got to thinking how a loth rat like him managed to find such a special person. He would do anything for her - as well as come back for her.

Sabine gasped as Ezra's electric blue eyes shot open. She hugged him tightly.

"Sabine," he whispered. "I'm back."