So this was written a while ago, a fair few months at least. I had intended to write all 6 planned chapters first and publish one every few days but life had a way of getting in the way of any sort of plans I had for the last few months. This has been burning a hole in my pocket for too long so I thought I'd publish now and get it out there. There's two more mostly-finished chapters to come that I'll have to touch up but they too will be out in a few days. As for the remaining 3 I haven't started, I can't commit to when if ever I'll get those done but I'm hoping I can knock them out over the first few weeks of the summer.

This story will show the progression of their relationship by looking at one specific day in each year/season of the show; Heart's Day. Obviously, somewhat an equivalent of Valentine's day. I'll apologise now for the name, it's not very creative and it's lifted straight from 'The Elder Scrolls' franchise, but it was all I could work with when writing this. I had to really fight the urge to call it Space-Valentine's or Loth-Valentine's, so be grateful...

The first chapter is set sometime after 'Idiot's Array' in Season 1, a few days perhaps. I'm going to take some liberties with deciding how long it takes for a year to pass each time, but I'll try to leave it ambiguous enough so that I don't have to commit to a specific date in the future. This first one is short and simple and focuses on the more abrasive relationship they have in Season 1, a period underpinned by Ezra's obvious crush and Sabine's weird approach of being cold one minute and surprisingly caring the next.

The common area of the Ghost was rarely so quiet this time in the afternoon. Hera would usually be ordering Chopper around to do this or that or alternatively lecturing Kanan on something he hadn't done right. They bickered like an old married couple but Sabine still wasn't sure what was actually going on between them. Something surely, but they kept it so private that even after all this time she didn't have a sure answer.

Sipping on her caf as she sat on the bench by the dejarik table, she admired the piece of art she recently sprawled on the wall on the far side of the room. Not her most extravagant work but she liked it. Her traditional 'starbird' design, spruced up with some extra flair and details, adorned a large part of the wall in the corner. The muted yellow tones at the base blended into a fiery orange at the top of the design. Graffiti was her own way of sticking it to the Empire, but she was hardly the first. She liked to think she channelled some of the more famous artists. Jaynor of Bith for example, as Lando had pointed out.

Lando had liked the piece too. To have someone actually educated on art look at her work was refreshing. No one on the crew knew a thing about it and trying to explain the intricacies of her latest work to Hera or Kanan seemed like trying to bang her creative head against a wall. Still, it didn't redeem Lando from being a slimy scoundrel. No amount of art knowledge or compliments excused his attempt to sell Hera to Azmorrigan.

She stifled a laugh into her cup. The truth was, she'd seen right through him almost instantly. He was just another swindler, out to get whatever he could from anyone. Sabine had humoured him and had, admittedly, relished sharing her art with him. However, in the end she was almost jealous Hera got to hit him where it didn't shine and not her.

Again, she wondered why Hera and Kanan had yet to make a noise let alone an appearance in the time she'd been sitting there. On cue, the door to the common area swung open.

Expecting the green-skinned Twi'lek to walk in, Sabine called out without looking away from her piece, "Hey, was wondering where you'd been."

"Really? You missed me, huh?", answered the cocky and distinctive voice that could only belong to Ezra Bridger.

Sabine looked over to see the kid standing happily in the doorway smiling at her. His orange clothes a size too big, roughed up and torn, and his hair in dire need of some attention. It wasn't difficult to tell he grew up on the street. Not to make fun of the fact, but Ezra had a way to go yet with making himself look... presentable.

"Oh, I thought it was Hera." She told him dismissively, expecting him to walk past and get on with whatever he was doing.

"Haha, no it's just me", he laughed nervously, his hand rubbing the back of his neck.

Sabine didn't answer him and turned back to think about her piece. It could do with a little something perhaps, some more colour or another symbol around it somehow. Maybe some fire around it? Or put some stars in the background to symbolise taking the fight across the galaxy? Could I make the head a deeper orange, or make the base a lighter yellow to emphasise the contrast?

Breaking from her artistic trance, she realised that the kid was still standing in the doorway watching her.

She shot an unreadable look at him, "Are you just going to stand there or do you have things to do?"

The boy shied away from looking right at her and set his eyes wandering around the room, "Well I... I.. Uh... I was going to come sit in here actually", he fumbled.

Company wasn't what she needed right now but it wasn't her ship to order him about on. Ezra's company in particular could be... draining, at times. His constant questions and jokes wouldn't give you a moment of peace. The worst part was without a doubt the atrocious attempts at 'flirting', if you could call it that, that he flung her way almost every time they were in a room together.

Praying, somewhat in vain, that he wasn't in that mood today she sighed. "Well sit then. There's plenty of space."

"Right.. right." The Lothalian boy hesitated before moving towards her, sitting on the other side of the dejarik table to her.

She didn't say a word to him as he sat and instead tried to refocus on her art. Whatever concentration she might have had was gone now though, sapped away by the sight of his shifting gaze at her from the other side of the table. Ugh, it's one of those days.

"So... whatcha thinking about?", the boy asked.

In no mood for his games, she nodded over to the far wall. "What do you think?"

From the corner of her eye, she saw him turn to look at the starbird symbol. "Ohhhhh... right." Ezra stared for a bit before shifting back to her, "It's a really good painting, I like it."

Here we go. She sighed audibly again, "Yes, Ezra. You said before."

"But I really mean it, it's really good. It reminds me of...uh...", Ezra stammered and stuttered drawing Sabine's attention. She could tell he was trying to remember something. "Of uh... Jaden of Byss?"

Jaden of Byss? Oh my stars... Sabine almost felt bad for him, almost as bad as she felt for herself right now. Ezra was making an embarrassment of himself yet again and forcing her to endure the galaxy's worst attempts at smooth-talking since the old Republic. Clearly, he'd heard Lando's comments the other day and was trying to rehash them into his own.

"Ugh, it's Jaynor of Bith, and you just heard that from Lando", she snapped at him.

"Uh... maybe.. I might have... I mean I kinda did", Ezra answered in a panic.

If she could sigh any more than she already had, she would have then. Her mind immediately started to think of an easy way to excuse herself, enduring much more of his presence like this might be too much for one day.

"Let me give you some advice. Don't take any hints from Lando, on anything", she muttered.

Brushing his long hair from his face, Ezra nodded, "Y-yeah, okay. Point taken."

"Good", she huffed. "Any other insightful comments?", she asked sarcastically.

"I-uh, your hair looks nice. Did you do anything new to it?", he tried with an awkward grin.

Blast me. Sabine brought her gloved hand to the bridge of her nose and pinched it, trying to calm herself down. "Ezra, it's the same it's been since I met you."

"Are you sure? I could swear it's different", he struggled out. His attempts really weren't going the way he'd seemingly planned.

"Yes Ezra I'm sure it's the same", the irritation in her voice palpable.

She could only put up with so much of him at a time, and he'd pushed her to breaking point in a record two minutes. Looking over to the door, she mentally mapped out how quickly she could sprint away. That idea quickly disappeared; she wasn't that cruel to just walk out on him like that. Still, she wasn't above inventing an excuse to leave if it saved her from this torture.

She shifted to the edge of the bench and looked over at him, "Listen, Ezra I've got some stuff to-"

Her sentence was cut-off by the familiar sound of an opening door. Hera, at last. Sabine found herself disappointed again when the lumbering purple figure of Zeb stepped into the room on his way to the kitchen area. The Lasat's green eyes looked the two over and noticed the look of frustration and annoyance plastered on the Mandalorian's face.

"Karabast, Sabine, life isn't that bad", he laughed to her.

Oh you don't even know, Zeb. She rolled her eyes at him as he marched past the pair. The Lasat brought his purple fist to Ezra's shoulder in a brotherly contest, making Ezra launch his own swipe back. Sabine had been surprised at how quickly the two became friends, especially given how they'd acted when they first met. They fought and argued with each other sure, but as brothers not mortal enemies. Zeb had come to care for him, even like him, and Ezra was increasingly coming to like and respect his roommate.

But Sabine was in no mood to passively watch the friends mess around. "Zeb, have you seen Hera or Kanan? I haven't seen them all day."

Zeb straightened up to look at her, abandoning his sparring with Ezra, "Didn't you know? They've gone-... wait a minute."

The Lasat stopped mid-sentence and his head darted left to right, looking at both of his young crew mates. In a few seconds, Sabine saw a smile grow on his face and then he erupted in a roaring laugh. In his hysteria, he slapped Ezra hard on the back as he tried to let himself breath.

Sabine was completely lost, a feeling she couldn't stand, and could feel herself getting even more frustrated, "What now?! What have I missed?!", she demanded.

"Oh... I can't... I...", Zeb uttered between quieting fits of laughter. Eventually he got his composure and brushed a tear from his eye. "Good try, kid. I'll let you explain this one."

The Mandalorian shot daggers from her eyes at him, noticing the boy had flushed red in his cheeks. Oh no, this'll be good. The older warrior quickly paced out of the room, still letting slip a few chuckles as he hid away in the kitchen area.

Left alone with him once again, Sabine bore into him with her eyes as she shifted uncomfortably under his gaze. "Care to explain?"

He laughed nervously and his hands started rubbing together to distract himself, "Well it's funny really... it's just Zeb being Zeb, you know?"

"Where's Hera and Kanan?", she pressured.

"They're... not here"

She folded her arms and leaned forward, "I figured that one out, laserbrain. Where are they?"

Ezra's hands moved to rub his neck as he answered, "Well, Kanan just said they were going out for some alone time. It is you know... Heart's Day after all."

Heart's Day? Sabine hadn't heard that word before, but whoever named it should have looked for a different job instead.

"Heart's Day? What even is that?", she spat. "Are you and Zeb trying to pull one on me, cause I swear I'll do much worse than take the bolts out of your bunk".

Ezra grimaced in discomfort as he watched her glare at him, "Heart's Day... it's a Lothal thing. Kanan heard about it a while ago so he and Hera wanted to go spend it together. It is... you know... for that kinda thing."

That kinda thing? It clicked with her after a moment. Heart's Day? It's a love festival. Makes sense that Hera and Kanan would... no. Oh no. Oh no no, seriously? The chit dropped in her head in an instant and she shut her eyes to avoid looking at him. Of course it's a love festival, and of course he tries smooth talking you during it...

As she fought to contain equal parts frustration and embarrassment, Ezra chimed in again. "I just thought... 'Hey, why not spend it with you?'"

She'd figured that part out on her own easily enough. Part of her wanted to snap at him, to call him out for annoying her and make sure he never did the same again. Two things stopped her though.

One was Hera. She'd asked Hera not long after Ezra had come aboard about how to handle it, and how much punishment she'd get if she was too hard on him. Hera had, to her annoyance, told her not to do anything to hurt him. 'Ezra is a boy and you're a beautiful young woman, of course he likes you. It's just a phase, he'll get over it', she'd said. Reluctantly, Sabine agreed not to shut him down completely no matter how much he annoyed her or else she'd risk Hera's anger. It didn't make it easier to endure the awful comments or the face-palmingly bad ways he'd try to smooth talk her, but it was something she just had to put up with.

It wasn't just for Hera's sake that she didn't want to hurt him. Kriff, it was for him too. As annoying as he could be and as much as she disliked enduring his infatuation, she didn't hate him. She didn't even dislike him. If she was honest, she liked him. As a friend obviously, and as a team member. The kid was brave, kind, mostly honest and he'd proved himself both useful and reliable on missions plenty of times. Early on he'd shown that under the thieving street-rat exterior he had a good heart and a sharp mind that let him fit in perfectly with their band of misfits. He hadn't been on the ship as long as the others but he'd already become an essential part of it. Ezra was part of their team, their crew, their family even. Every bit a Spectre as she was or Zeb, Chooper, Kanan or Hera were. Opening a rift between them by breaking his heart would impact the whole crew's ability to work together and, perhaps even worse, Sabine knew she'd just end up feeling bad for him for doing it.

None of those things meant she returned his feelings though. That sort of thing wasn't for her, and certainly not towards someone who seemed to be so much younger and child-like despite her only being two years older. Sabine realised she'd have to wiggle her way out of this gently, but also as quickly as she humanly could. At last she looked right at him sitting apprehensively across from her, worry etched on his face.

She sighed, "Look, kid. I like you, alright? You belong with us and I'm glad we have you".

Ezra perked up instantly, "You like me?"

Ugh, why do you have to make this difficult? I'm trying to be nice to you.

"You're my friend", she reinforced plainly, "Okay? You're my friend. Can we leave it at that for now please?"

For a second she feared she might have put him down too hard. Then he sighed and smiled genuinely at her whilst nodding, making his blue-black hair bob as he did. "Okay, Sabine. I understand, I'm your friend."

Relieved that Hera wouldn't need to have words with her, Sabine pulled herself off the bench and stood up. "Good, thanks kid."

It was progress, maybe. Letting him know she considered him a friend might make him stop struggling so hard to impress her all the time and maybe, she could pray, get him to stop trying so hard to flirt with her. Did she think he'd stop completely? Unfortunately, not quite yet. Still, at least she was starting to get better at handling it.

"Like I said, I've got stuff to do. I'll catch you later, Ezra", she said to him as she turned to walk away.

She heard his feet plant themselves on the floor behind her, but she didn't turn to look at him. "Hey, Zeb and I were going to do a prank on the love-birds when they get back. You in?"

Now that was an activity she could get behind. "Sounds good, let me know when you two are ready and I'll be there."

Sabine was almost at the door by the time she heard him call out behind her. "Good, good. We'll let you know when I want you... when we want you... for the prank I mean. S-See you later, Sabine", he called after her, a hint of his usual excitement and nervousness still in there.

"Yes, Ezra, I'll see you later", she replied monotonously as the door shut behind her.

Walking to her room, a simple reassurance played over in her head. It's just a phase. It's just a phase. It's just a phase.

Like I said, short and not completely like my usual stuff. Hopefully it doesn't fall too far out of the realm of the show. This is by far the shortest chapter

A big thank you goes to RagnarDanneskjold, my trusty proof-reader and ideas guy, I'm not sure what this garbage would look like without his careful eye checking it all over for me.

Kind regards - Lothcat1138