(After about three chapters of development that would be incredibly boring to read, so I skipped it…)
I sat on the bunk with Ezra. I felt excited, like I had just gotten something really amazing for my birthday. A new jetpack, maybe.
"I think... I think I have feelings for you, Ezra," I stammered. I never felt comfortable doing anything with my feelings. And now, I was practically grappling with them.
Ezra continued to sit on his side of the bed, his pose normal but his eyes bright. He returned the love that I had just confessed, I knew. I could tell from his eyes, blue and beautiful.
I leaned forward, nearing Ezra. Then, without me noticing exactly when it happened, our lips met and parted. The small bit of satisfaction that I had felt left me.
No, that's not enough, I thought, and all of a sudden I was hugging myself to Ezra, and he was hugging himself to me. And our lips met.
His lips were so unbelievably soft, aside from a small cut on his lower lip, over to the left of it. That was rough, but it wasn't directly hindering me, so I didn't care. I dug my fingers into the short hairs behind Ezra's head. My eyes closed unintentionally.
I opened my mouth slightly, allowing my tongue to graze the edge of Ezra's lip. But, before I could retract my tongue, Ezra responded in kind as mine fought his fervently. The feeling was unbelievable. I felt a rush that was only equaled by charging into battle against more than nine foes.
I could have stayed in Ezra's arms forever.
Third Person POV
Mira slid the datapad back to Sabine, sitting across the table from her. "Well, I wasn't expecting that," the older woman said. It was about five minutes later.
"Thanks?" Sabine responded, not sure if the statement was a insult or compliment.
"You're welcome. So, last question."
And thank god for that.
"When he asks you to marry him, you're not going to toy with him or anything like that? Or worse, say no and break his heart?"
What? Sabine thought. But, repeating the question in her head, she knew the answer.
"I won't say no. I will make him sweat it a bit, though," the young Mandalorian woman said, grinning slightly. "He can't get too comfortable."
"Good. That wouldn't be good for him," Mira agreed.
"So, what's your relationship currently at with Sabine?" Ephraim asked, an eyebrow raised.
"Girlfriend. Cyar'ika. Currently, nothing more," Ezra answered truthfully. They had walked away from the bar to talk privately, and it had taken roughly two minutes. Maybe three.
"And do you plan to change that?"
"Yep."
"When?"
Ezra took up an air of defiance now. "Not telling," he said firmly.
"Oh? So it must be soon," Ephraim guessed.
"Maybe, maybe not," Ezra said, not elaborating.
"Do you want some advice?"
"Shoot."
"Do it soon. You'll only hurt her, and by extension yourself, by waiting," Ephraim advised, speaking from experience.
"And your other advice is 'don't hurt her, because you'll hurt yourself more'?" Ezra added.
"Yep."
"And now you want to know if I'm gonna follow your advice. And the answer is: not telling."
"You really don't want to tell me about that," Ephraim observed.
"Gee, how'd you tell?" Ezra retorted sarcastically. But his dad had struck a nerve.
"Hey, I won't pry. And lastly, we might want to get back inside. I think your mother will be done interrogating Sabine now," Ephraim said, striding back to the door. It hissed open, and both the father and son walked into the bar.
"Or not."
Sabine and Mira seemed to be deep in conversation. It was very animated, with both participants hands moving rapidly as they tried to explain whatever they were talking about with both words and gestures.
Ezra approached the group warily. Obviously, he didn't want to disturb the conversation between the two. But, alas, his stealth skills were outmatched by Sabine's abilities.
"Hey, Ezra, is Geonosis controlled by the Empire?" she asked, turning around and looking straight at him.
"Last I heard, yeah," Ezra answered. He was a bit crestfallen at the fact that Sabine had known he was there, but he recovered quickly.
"See?" Sabine said, returning her gaze to the woman sitting across from her. Ezra sat back down, next to Sabine. Ephraim did the same, across from his son. He gave his wife a sideways glance, all but confirming the suspicion that Ezra and Sabine both had that said they had organized this.
"Most of the Galaxy is controlled by the Empire, Geonosis included," Ezra said after he sat down.
"Well, I knew that," Mira said. "I thought the Rebellion had liberated Geonosis already."
"No, we haven't. I don't know when we will," Ezra responded.
Across the bar, someone rose, clad in all black, with a small cloth over their mouth. Ephraim was the only one to notice.
"Hello. That looks like trouble waiting to happen," he said to the rest of the group, pointing to the cloaked figure.
"Hold up. He's coming this way," Ezra tacked on. He had now seen the person too.
The figure strode through the crowd unobtrusively. They had a small emblem sewn onto their left side, just below their neck, but it was mostly covered by the cowl of the cloak they were wearing.
And a glint of silver, just below the person's waist, caught Ezra's eye.
Sabine hadn't noticed when Ezra got up and walked over to a cloaked person in the crowd. Nor had she noticed when Ephraim unobtrusively pulled a pistol from the holdster he had on his hip.
She did notice, however, when all hell broke loose.
She had just gotten done explaining that Lothal was back under Imperial control when she heard a lightsaber activate. Then other. Turning her head, she saw a green glow, combined with a red one.
Then, she heard a clash of saber on saber. And some gunshots.
She quickly rose, running to the general area of the sound, where a thick crowd stood. Nobody, except for the front row, could see what was going on.
She was gonna get to that front row.
Roughly, she started weaving, and occasionally shoving, her way through. Her eyes were longing for an image of what was happening. Behind her was Mira, but she eventually had to break off, settling for a position at the middle of the crowd. Ephraim was nowhere to be seen.
Jostling the last person aside, she saw what was happening. Ezra, his green blade flashing and parrying, was almost dancing, weaving an intricate form of combat against a black clad opponent with a circular saber, which spun around.
Another man, also clad in all black, also stood near the small battle. Now, he decided to take a hand. His hidden lightsaber leapt to his palm, and he ignited his crimson-bladed weapon.
Quickly comming Barriss and Ahsoka, Sabine told them to get there fast. The crowd was beginning to evaporate as another Sith joined the duel. Then, when Sabine ignited her Darksaber, those remaining dove behind tables and walls, and watched the fight from behind those areas. One couple, most likely on a first date, was holding a recorder and videotaping the duel, as Ezra danced with death and Sabine used her Darksaber to ward off the strikes of her opponent.
The door to the establishment opened, and Ahsoka, followed closely by Barriss, entered, lightsabers drawn.
"Oh, kriff," Ahsoka muttered. Her lightsabers flew behind her as she charged inwards.
On some silent command, seven more black-cloaked figures dropped downwards. One of them made a gesture, and immediately, fourteen more red blades hummed to life.
"Oh, chit," Sabine cursed under her breath. Ahsoka was a little more flagrant.
"Oh, give me a karkin break!" she cursed, her words carrying clearly to everyone as she and Barriss began to fight the new opponents.
Ezra dodged a thrust from one opponent as he deflected another cut from a different opponent. He spun around, exposing a small flaw in the defense of one of his three opponents. He stabbed his saber into the gap, the blade sizzling as it found flesh. The Sith he was facing clutched feebly at the wound and fell, moaning in pain. Ezra would have felt bad, but he didn't have the time, as his other two opponents were suitably, and understandably, maddened by the fact that one of their number had just been taken out of the fight. One of them shouted as they brought their blade down it a stroke that would have cleaved Ezra from head to toe if it had made contact.
If.
Sabine dodged past her opponent's slash, jumping off of a stool to take out another one of the fighters. She plunged her black blade into one of the fighters, who had her blade held above her head. The Sith gave a cry of pain and alarm.
Then she fell silent.
Ahsoka was engaged with several opponents, her silvery-white blades flashing as she blocked and parried the cuts and barbaric slashes of her enemies. Her bladework was beautiful as she almost flew across the small field of combat.
A cut from the left met her left saber, and she deflected it to the side, lunging forward, thrusting her saber into her opponent's midsection. An instant kill. She quickly spun and parried a cut from other opponent. Her riposte caught the enemy in the upper torso, wounding them, but not seriously enough to put them out of the fight. Ahsoka solved the problem with a sideways cut into the Sith's ribs, the black line able to be traced clearly.
Barriss had only one opponent fighting her, but they were clearly outmatched. She flashed her twin sabers around, battering her opponent's guard from a million different angles. Finally, a small cut dropped her opponent's guard and raised her base. Already, Barriss was capitalizing on the error, with her other saber severing the saber in half. Saber gone, the Sith tried to retreat, but Barriss had other ideas. Quickly, she summoned the Force and sent the enemy duelist flying into one of the walls, overturning a table in the process.
Meanwhile, Sabine was dueling her two opponents. Barriss watched as she used her sonic repulsor to send one flying back and stun the other. The fact that it was only a momentary respite was rewarded with a sidekick to one of her opponent's midsections, tossing them back. Then, a quick saber cut across the throat cut off an chance at survival. Her other opponent rebounded from his blast backwards as a white blade sunk into his side. He gave a choking cry, his face white as he staggered and fell. A small bit of blood leaked out of his mouth.
Ahsoka jumped backwards from her striking position, using the Force to boost her jump height as she came down hard on her final opponent's shoulders. He was pushed to the floor, exhaling sharply. His lightsaber came down onto his back, burning through his flesh. The all-black man died, victim of a fatal accident.
Ezra blocked one Sith's slash and finished her off with a quick riposte, the lightsaber plunging into her ribs. His final opponent, enraged by the loss of his final comrade, charged at Ezra, roaring. His onslaught would kill Ezra for sure.
Suddenly, the tip of the Darksaber appeared from his chest. The lightsaber he was holding dropped, clattering to the floor.
Sabine spun on her heel and withdrew the blade from the back of the final opponent. She brushed one of her bangs out of her eyes. Her fancy bladework had been unnecessary, but it had impressed Ahsoka and Barriss, so all was well.
"Fancy bladework," Barriss commented. Sabine nodded.
But the brief and insanely bloody skirmish had not left the party unharmed. Across the room, the group of four Jedi heard a wail of grief and pain.
Mira sat back on her haunches, her face wracked with guilt. Her hands cradled Ephraim's head. A small red stain was on his chest.
"They shot him… they… the b*****ds shot him!" Mira cried, tears sliding down her face. Sabine looked over to the edge of the room. A man, clad in a jacket, grey jeans, and a black tee shirt, lay face down on the floor. Next to him was a woman, slumped over a chair. She wore much the same as the man, save for shorts instead of jeans and no jacket.
Barriss knelt down, next to the prone figure of Ephraim. Slowly, deliberately, she placed her hands on Ephraim's chest, a small green glow enveloping them.
The green glow slowly got more and more powerful, shining brightly, the walls turning a beautiful shade of green as the Force healed Ephraim. His breath slowly became more regular, as opposed to the normal, ragged breaths of the wounded.
"If we can get him to a bacta tank, he'll be alright," Barriss reported. Mira nodded, still crying softly.
Ezra called his comm, and almost thirty seconds later, Kes and Shara arrived with a small stretcher. The landing pad, fortunately, was basically right next to the bar, so medical supplies from the Starhawk were easy to get to.
"What- oh. Oh. Get him on," Shara said, her eyes full of concern.
Ezra quickly floated his dad onto the white fabric of the stretcher. He grimaced slightly when the movement aggravated a small burn on his lower arm. No doubt he was worried- his hand was shaking. Several barely audible curses were overheard by Sabine and Kes, presumably from Ezra or Ahsoka. Barrisse's mouth wasn't moving.
A small crowd of people had formed outside of the bar, like moths to a light. They formed a nearly immovable wall for most.
Not for the Jedi.
All they had to do was draw a lightsaber.
Ahsoka ignited both of her silvery blades, almost burning through the crowd as the pedestrians parted, letting the Jedi-Rebel group pass by. Several muted comments were heard, mostly just vague comments about what happened. None were accurate. Sabine guessed that most were just shots in the dark.
A medical facility was nearby, thankfully. Ezra had secretly been worrying that they would have to walk for hours to reach a medbay. But, as luck would have it, only about five minutes had passed when they reached the area.
"In here," the med techs called. One of them had grey hair, with small bags under his eyes. He looked about eighty. The other looked much younger, maybe twenty, with sleek black hair that flowed down her head and onto her shoulders. She wore glasses, with black frames and a rectangular design.
Ezra and Sabine increased to a jog, with Ahsoka and Barriss doing the same. Kes had left to go back to the Starhawk for guard duty some time earlier.
The medbay was a stark place. All white covered the area, with small rooms on the sides. Each had a single bed in them, along with some basic medical necessities. Among them, Ezra saw some blood bags, along with several AEDs and even some thermometers. Also, there were a few Pulmonary Resuscitation Kits evident.
Sabine lay a comforting hand on Ezra's shoulder. Obviously, he was (understandably) in turmoil. Barriss and Ahsoka, walking ahead of the two, were oblivious.
"It'll be okay," Sabine said softly. Ezra looked sideways at her. Understanding. Caring. Loving. All of these emotions swirled together in her amber eyes.
"Thanks, Sab," Ezra responded. Sabine landed a quick peck on his cheek.
"Don't mention it."
The med techs eventually reached a room. Above the door, a small sigh read Treatment Room A24. The room was spacious.
"Will he be alright?" Mira asked desperately. The older medic nodded.
"He should be. Now go away. I can't work with an audience."