CHAPTER ten
*VYN POV*
The deafening silence was crushing me, it could have been hours since we took off but I wouldn't know, I wouldn't care. All I can focus on is that we took off without Ezra, Kanan ran aboard but Ezra didn't. Campbell reappeared from the med bay, continuing to some crates and hunching down on them, I waited for a reaction, a plan, something. But he just sat there in silence, not even daring to look back, rage burned in me before I finally had enough and snapped.
"Are we really just going to sit and here do nothing!? We just lost Ezra!" no one moved, Campbell stood still. I growled, walking up and shoving him forward. His head banged against the wall until he spun around to me, his eyes narrowed at me, anger glowering in them.
"What is your problem?!" I snarled.
"WHAT IS YOURS?!" I screamed back, my face flushed with anger. I watched him move to retaliate but I wasn't done, not by a long shot.
"We just lost Ezra! The same person who saved our asses before and our families as well now!" I held the rest in, waiting for a response. What I heard was not what I could ever imagine him ever saying to us.
"SO?!" I fell back in shock, I looked away. I stood still for moment before-
"So – she is family, she saved us and our families. She almost died once, do you want to see it happen permanently?" I grounded out at him. I wanted to scream at him, he was 24 and I was 18, I had nobody and he had everything.
"Lanae-"that is it!
"IS ALIVE! Ezra saved her! Yeah we all saw that her deflecting that bolt sent it to her am. Have you ever thought of where the original trajectory was? It could have killed one of us! She was stabbed! Ezra is HURT! What is wrong with you?!" I huffed over, all energy gone from shouting. My heart hurting from knowing that after finally getting a family, I lost whole chunk of it in one hit, the rest falling apart again with it. The room hung in silence, I laughed bitterly.
"Weren't you the one who called her family? Now she's the only family I've got left and I'm not willing to lose her, my life be forfeited or not" I walked away from them and climbed the ladder leading to the 'living-room'. I dropped to the seat beside me, exhaustion running through. Now what?
Blurred lines and shapes circled me, my sight slowly coming back, I yawned as my back straightened while I sat up. A hand shot out from behind and clamped down on my shoulder, lunging me forward, swinging my arms everywhere.
"Whoa! Calm down" Kanan came into view, he took the seat next to me.
"Thank you" I looked at him from the side. His eyes were dull, pain echoed in them, I can't begin to understand what he's going through. He had her and lost her, more than once.
"I heard you defending Ezra. But I don't want this to tear you apart, I know how it feels to have no one because for a long time that was me. He, he has a family and when we have something to lose, it can break us when we almost do. Don't be mad at your friend, he's trying to hold it all together when he's being given every reason not to, we all are" and with that he left. Smartass.
I sighed, dammit. I launched myself and proceeded to climb back down the ladder into the quiet room of people. Lanae stood by a hunched over position Campbell. Kaleen saw me and ran over to him, pulling his shirt and prompting him to turn around to me. I waved at him awkwardly.
"Look I'm sorry about what I said" I spoke, catching the tired lines under his eyes and dull light of them too.
"I don't have a wife or a kid and I didn't think about how much that scared you, and then losing Ezra again." He nodded at the thought. Everyone stood around, watching us for a move, I hate this.
"Can we just forget that now?" I pushed out. He paused for a second before smiling and shaking my hand. I breathed in relief.
"Now what?" Lanae called, we faced her. Kaleen hid behind her.
"Now we find Ezra and teach him what it truly means to be afraid" Campbell growled out, I smirked, a Jedi is one thing but all of us? He better start running.
(EZRA POV) * EARLY NIGHT TIME*
Pain exploded in my mouth as another gloved fists made contact with my face. More red hit the ground from my lips. I chuckled dryly, if he thinks he'll get anything from me this way, time to start hitting himself.
"You'll talk" unlikely. I doubled over again from another kick to the stomach, I'm amazed I'm still conscious after this but I suppose anything is possible here.
"I'd rather die" he snorted and walked away, his ugly bald head blocking my view, why he saved it all off I have no clue but if he hadn't I would have. I groaned in pain, the blood loss slowly affecting my ability to think straight and surely sit straight too. I can't take much more of this, half of my original wound gushing again from the previous knife cutting through. I get through one thing and another comes. Can't catch a break can I these days?
"Ugh" I passed out.
(3rd POV) * CLOSE TO MIDNIGHT*
"I can't believe it, we finally got OUT of the city and now you want to go back IN?" the two boys stood side by side, looking at each other briefly before nodding.
"Yup" Campbell.
"That's pretty much it" Vyn. Groan fell out from the other two.
"Look" Campbell spoke, moving forward alongside Vyn.
"That's exactly where we know he has Ezra" Vyn took over after Campbell started.
"Where else would he take her? There's nowhere left" Campbell finished off.
"Her home" Koda answered, catching on. Canditt sighed in agony but understood, this was personal, and they couldn't risk waiting.
"We have to go get her now" everyone agreed, minus the families, who remained the 'living-room', away from this all. The ghost crew stood in their seats while the guys held against the walls around them. Kanan sat there, taking all this in. being the last person to see her, being so close to having her safe and finally going back to normal. He still had the final say. Everyone looked to him, expressions or worry and fear. He nodded.
"Alright"
*ONLY AN HOUR OR TWO LATER*
"Come on, hurry!" feet scattered across the ground, through dark pathways leading roadblocks of all kinds, from cement to simple wooden and tape crossed ones. Curses and mutters of irritation entered the extremely palpable air. A singular droid rolled up behind the huge group of people, ready for shocking anyone for it's favourite past time.
"Come on this way!" the leader hushed back to everyone behind him. Turning a corner, the figures revealed to be the ghost crew and the ¾ guys that now counted Ezra as family. Only Canditt, Koda and Vyn ran along, Campbell stayed behind to act as their getaway driver, so to speak.
"Up ahead!" they moved closer to reach an old abandoned house, Ezra's home from her childhood.
"You sure she's in there?" a muffled scream burst out from it. Kanan growled dangerously, his eyes narrowed in restrained anger.
"I'm sure" a few hands signals followed and everyone spread out around the outside of the house. Kanan and Zeb stood by the door with Vyn and Koda on one side near a window and Canditt and Sabine on the other. Chopper stood by the door as well, hacking it to get in, Hera had stayed behind as well with Campbell to give cover just in case when leaving. The air was eerily silent, no movement sounded from inside.
"NOW!" the door opened but before anyone could make a move, they froze, each of their hearts leaping into their throats as their breaths caught. Brusied, bloodied and beaten, Ezra kneeled before them at gun point in front of the commander, oblivious to them.
"Just kill me" her voice cracked on the end.
(EZRA POV) *SEVERAL MINUTES EARLIER*
"You think they care about you, how they will come to save you. Stupid girl" the idiot scoffed under his breath as he paced around the room again.
"Where are they now? Hmm? Gone, not because they told you to run but you caused the death of someone, you 'fell to the dark side' why would they want you?" I bit back another smart remark as the words kicked my already scarred heart. It's not true and you know it Ezra. I repeated over and over as my mantra, he's a bastard and he'll do anything, he's desperate.
I blocked him as he pressed for answer to his obviously rhetorical questions.
"ANSWER ME!" a scream tore from my mouth unwillingly as he swung his blaster across my abdomen again, no doubt leaving yet another bruise. I breathed heavily until he pulled back on my hair harshly to bring me eye to eye, I grunted in pain but stayed silent. He glared long and hard 'till he drew a datapad of sort, a video played across it. I watched in horror as the day's earlier battle took place up until he shot at Lanae, but instead of hitting her arm, it glowed on her chest as she fell. Tears spilled over in agony. No, no! I-I saved her! S-she's al-ive! NO!
"She's dead and it's your fault, you deflected it from only injuring on them and now she's dead along with her unborn child, you murdered them" he sneered at me.
"N-no-o" I choked out desperately, unable to believe what I saw.
"You're a murderer!" he grounded out at me, shock ran through with horror, I killed them, they're dead and I killed them. I'm a murderer. He let go and I fell forward the ground, kneeling, tears streamed down my cheeks as everything vanished around me.
"Just kill me" I whispered, I'd rather die than turn to the dark side or hurt my family any more than what I have. I knew that what was he was trying to do, had been for hours. I closed my eyes as my skin felt the hot piercing burn of the blaster warming up to meet me. I still win, you asshole.
"NO!" my head snapped up in shock as the room burst open with pretty much the whole of both crews. My eyes watered, they came back. A blast flew right past me, snapping me away from my thoughts. I jerked to the side, hitting the ground with a pain ridden thud. Ow.
"EZRA!" a voice screamed at me through the chaos before Kanan appeared, his blaster pistol at the ready in his hand. Tears billowed once again as they tumbled over down my face. My hands at some point were freed so I through them out just he caught me, pulling right to his chest. Shouts and blasts flew around us as I sat there crying in his arms, the emotional strain worn too thin on me to show the side of me I never did.
"It's okay, I got you and we're leaving" I grabbed his hand when he started pulling for the exit, suddenly seeing everyone dashing out and calling back us. I froze when I realized they were shouting warnings, only Kanan wasn't hearing them. The hairs on my neck stood up from hearing a blaster load up. Before I processed it, I took Kanan's pistol and fired back, sending the other blast to the roof. Horror spread through as I saw the commander fall to the ground, motionless. No, please god no. NO!
(KANAN POV)
I felt Ezra let go of my hand as she dropped to her knees, I turned around and found the commander, dead. His blaster right next to him, still smoking from a blast, realisation dawned on me, she fired to protect me. I moved closer as the sight of tears coming dangerously close to spilling over grew in my view. I could feel the despair and shock noly rise in her. Taking a risk, I kneeled down before her.
"Ezra, Ezra look at me" she glanced up at me, pain and fear glowed in her features.
"None of this is your fault, you protected me and you had no choice, okay?" she nodded numbly, standing up with me.
"K-kan-an" she mumbled, I faced again in confusion before she fell backwards.
"EZRA!" I jolted forward to catch her, her breaths now fair but few.
"We have to go now" before anyone found us here.
Author's note
Hi, so I updated chapter 9 about an hour ago and I just finished this chapter like 5 mins ago. I think this one could be better, especially with the ending here but I guess that adds to it? You know how obviously they would be strained no matter what still. Also I watched 'the siege of lothal' and of course it was amazing but the minister's death almost killed me, un-goddamn-fair! Sadly though life goes on, so I actually started writing future chapters the other day and if any of you have a idea or ideas for future parts of this story please tell me as I would love to be able to fit them in and make you guys feel more involved (it's fun). I lost my muse for this story for this week so that slowed me down, I'm going to give her a name right now, her name is Cara, Cara is my muse for this story, my second muse. I have another muse for a different story not up yet but I hope to have up soon, his name is Jukoll and one more muse for a story I will post after I finish this while I work on the next, so I can upload that weekly while I work on the ext instalment for this one, her name is Myra. I probably sound really weird here, don't worry that's normal.
Anyway moving on, after next week I will have a lot more free time in my schedule to write or I plan to, but if things come up then this will have to take sideline, sorry. Okay so you might not be pleased with waiting so long for updates but I honestly wanted to give you guys a happy ending for this adventure here, don't worry about this cliffhanger, I'll give you guys a rest, Ezra is fine but due to injury and shock she's, well, gonna be asleep for a while so I'm not sure how the next few chapters will pan out just yet. Things are going to heat up for sure. Okay with finally seeing the premire for swr season 2, I know that Ezra's house burned. I would guess, it was somehow fixed but has basically nothing in it. Moving onto review answers.
lchichi05 – thank you, I grinned like an idiot here. The reassurance for this fanfic is always welcomed and greatly appreciated. I'm glad you still love this story, even when I should move my butt more often to write and some chapters can still suck pretty bad, thanks xx
okay so I'll shut my mouth here and go, I hope you enjoyed this chapters and consider everything I just said, bye! xx