A/N: I OWN NOTHING OF DREAMFALL/DREAMFALL CHAPTERS OR STAR WARS REBELS! ALL RIGHTS GO TO THEIR CREATORS!

Chapter 10: Back

Ezra suddenly felt himself falling onto a hard, metal floor with a loud thunk and his head hitting the ground a bit. "Ugh…" he groaned. He sat up and rubbed the back of his head. "Well, that wasn't as painless as I had hoped." He looked around and noticed he was in his old bunk room. But no one was inside and he could hear the hum of hyperspace surrounding the ship he was in. "I'm… back," he muttered.

"Hey! Who's in my room?!" yelled Zeb's voice. Ezra slowly stood up as the door opened and watched as Zeb stared at him for a moment.

"Your room, Zeb?" Ezra questioned. "What happened to it being a room we shared?"

"Ezra! Where have you been?!" the Lasat asked tense.

"Uh, Arcadia," Ezra answered. "Long story. How long was I gone?"

"A couple weeks, kid," Zeb answered. "You had us all worried, well, except me. I was happy to have the cabin back to myself."

Ezra scoffed in amusement. "Sounds like something you would say," he responded. "But a couple weeks? I was there mayb-"

Before either of them could see her, they found a familiar Mandalorian grabbed onto Ezra in a hug. "Karabast, Ezra! Where have you been?" Sabine asked. "First you're training with us and then… gone!"

"I have been on a different world, with quite a different atmosphere to most of the universe," he explained.

"What do you mean, Ezra?" came Kanan's voice. They turned to see him in the door. "You've been missing for weeks and we couldn't find you anywhere. And how did you even get on the Ghost while we were in hyperspace?"

"Long story. It goes back to even more I met you," Ezra replied. "And hyperspace, don't really know. And I was only there for a few days. No way I was gone for weeks."

Hera walked up. "Why don't we talk about this in the living room?" she suggested. They nodded and walked into the room and sat down, though Zeb and Kanan stood as there wasn't enough seats. "Where exactly have you been, Ezra? Do you understand how worried we've been?"

"Uh, I have an idea on your worry. As for where I've been, I've been on a world called Arcadia," Ezra answered.

"Arcadia?" Kanan repeated.

Ezra nodded. "This wasn't the first time I had been there, though. A year ago, just before I met you, I had gone there. Through dreaming," he told them shocking them. "I had gone into two month long coma in which I had been in Arcadia and the Storytime. I had been called to Arcadia by a girl telling me to save a woman named April Ryan. She was a rebel who was fighting against the Azadi. Basically the Empire only more based on religion and had swords and spears instead of blasters and lightsabers. Arcadia, unlike the rest of the universe, is based on magic. When I met April Ryan, we didn't get along so well. As one point, the Azadi thought I was using magic outside the Ghetto and locked me in prison until I would stand trial. Shocking me, April helped me escape."

"What's the Ghetto?" Hera asked.

"While humans are allowed to go anywhere they want in the city, magicals or those who aren't human had to stay in the Ghetto or what was known to the magicals as Oldtown," Ezra explained. "Back when I first came, they lived there. The magicals were okay with the food, shelter, and jobs the Azadi left for them, but the Azadi had taken away their freedom, upsetting them. Back then, there were hundreds of men, women, and children magicals. Even then, I didn't like the Azadi. Though one named Kian was respectable. One of the magicals I met was a talking bird named Crow. In the end, I wasn't able to save April Ryan. She died, killed by Azadi soldiers before I could get to her." They looked shocked a bit. "When I went back recently, I met Crow again but I had to find the Purple Mountains and the Oular. The Oular were an isolated magical race that were the first children of the universe, according the Abnaxus of the Venar."

"Abnaxus of the Venar?" Sabine repeated.

"From what I could tell, the Venar are a species that travel realm to realm," Ezra explained. "He had stayed behind to watch over the First Dreamer, Lux. Lux's heart was stolen from him by the Yaga. A witch that had been alive since before the universe even began."

"Who is Lux and the Yaga?" Kanan asked.

"The Yaga is the name for the Sisters. They were once one called Nox, but when the universe was born, they were split into three sisters. Baeb of youth, Ayea of age, and Gh'aa of decay. Lux had taken the soul-stone which became his heart to create the First Dream," Ezra explained.

"First Dream?" Hera repeated.

"The First Dream is the dream that created the entire universe," Ezra explained shocking them. "Eventually, a wizard came and took the soul-stone. When he fell, the Yaga took the soul-stone back and kept it. I had to face the Yaga to get the soul-stone in order to take it to Lux and save the Dream."

"How would you get a witch of darkness like that to give up something that they obviously wouldn't want to give up?" Sabine asked.

"They said the soul-stone kept them warm and sated. Without it, when people stopped worshiping and fearing them, they would disappear and that the soul-stone would keep them anchored to the world. At first, I was just trying to convince them. Eventually, they asked me to give them a morsel of myself to try to sate their hunger," Ezra explained.

"What do you mean by 'morsel of yourself'?" Kanan asked sternly.

"Yeah, doesn't sound like something good," Zeb added.

"I had to give them a couple of my darkest secrets," Ezra answered shocking them. "I gave them my two biggest fears and they took them."

"How can they take fears?" Sabine asked.

"They're witches," Ezra answered bluntly. "And now that they have those fears, I can barely remember the fears I gave them. They're slowly fading away."

"Ezra, why would you do that?" Kanan asked sternly.

"It was either that or get eaten by them," he replied bluntly. "After I gave them those, they said they wanted more from me before they gave me the soul-stone. I admitted that I didn't have anymore to give. But I told them that if I didn't bring the soul-stone to Lux, the Dream ends and no one would remember any of us, remember them. So they agreed to give me the soul-stone as long as I remembered them as well. After that, I left with Crow and met a couple creatures that were the last of their kind. One named Ben-Bandu had met me on the way to the Yaga. The second was named Mole and she was an Elder Banda. The Azadi had massacred their race and very few were left. Some were able to flee and survive. When we left, they left to find the surviving Banda."

"So the Azadi really are basically the Empire. Just another version of them," Zeb stated.

"Pretty much. There as a resistance of both magicals and humans trying to fight off the Azadi. Actually, Kian, the Azadi soldier that I had respected, was one of the rebel fighters," Ezra responded.

"Really?" Kanan responded.

"Yeah," Ezra replied. "I didn't expect it either, but he did. He had left before I could meet him personally again. I only was able to get a glimpse of him while he was talking to a Dolmari, a young Zhid rebel, and the leader Shepherd who was a Samare. There were all sort of magicals and other creatures that weren't human there. Not sure what happened to them after I left the rebel base. I never got to see them again before I came back here. A lot of people were talking about a black fire coming to sweep across the world of Arcadia that will try to destroy it. Not sure what they were talking about really. I have a feeling it has to do with a rehabilitated wizard named Roper Klacks who had worked under the Yaga for a bit. I'm not sure though."

"So, what happened to Lux and the Dream?" Hera asked. "You obviously saved them."

"It's… complicated," Ezra replied. "I had made it to the Oular and Abnaxus in the Purple Mountains. It wasn't easy to get there at all. When I had arrived and began talking to Abnaxus, he explained to me about sending me the visions I had been having about him and the Oular with him telling me to come and save the Dream. After a lot of discussion of different topics, including about April Ryan being reborn or something that I still don't understand, he took me to Lux."

"You met the creator of the universe?" Zeb asked shocked.

Ezra nodded. "I returned to the soul-stone to him. He woke up and began to talk to me in my mind," he explained. "It was weird, I guess."

"Having someone in your head would be," Hera commented.

"If Lux was saved, you did save the Dream. So why do I feel it has more to it than that?" Kanan asked. "Not only that, but I sense more power in you than before. Half of it feels like light and the other half is darkness."

Ezra took a deep breath. "When I had given the soul-stone to Lux, not only was it the two of us there, but the Yaga as well. The reason I had to retrieve the soul-stone wasn't just because it was Lux's heart, but I needed to bring the Sisters as well. In order to save the Dream, I didn't just need to wake up Lux and return his heart," he paused.

"What did you do, Ezra?" Sabine asked.

"In order to save the Dream," he began slowly, "I had to become one with the First Dreamer." They looked at him shocked.

"Are you saying you have both the First Dreamer and the Yaga inside you now?" Zeb asked.

Ezra nodded. "I became one of the First Dreamer and now it's my job to keep the Dream alive," he explained shocking them. "If I let the Dream die out, the universe will end. And if I didn't join with Lux, the Dream would've ended and the universe would've followed."

"But now you have both the power of light and darkness in you," Kanan commented.

"Yeah," Ezra agreed. "I was reluctant to accept the job, but I had to. I wasn't going to let the universe end because of my hesitation."

"So now you have the job of keeping the universe around?" Hera asked.

"Yep," Ezra answered. "Pretty much. It's weird, I know. If I hadn't seen and done it myself, I wouldn't believe it. In all honesty, I had thought I was here while I was in Arcadia. That I was really dreaming myself there as I did last time. I didn't expect me to be missing like that."

"You said you were only there for a few days on your end," Zeb commented. "How did all that in a few days?"

Chopper came rolling in, flailing around frustrated and beeping around as his version of talking. "Chopper, not now," Hera told him. "Ezra-" Chopper turned to Ezra seemed shocked and made a happy sound.

"Good to see you too, Chop," Ezra told him.

"You going to answer my question?" Zeb asked.

"You would be surprised how much you can get done in just a few days when you have a job on your mind that you have a time limit to get done," the Padawan replied. "Can't really explain time too well."

"I'm personally worried about you having half light and half dark in you," Kanan stated. "It could change you in ways you don't want."

"I'll be fine, Kanan. If I even began to turn dark, the light from the First Dreamer and the Dream would stop it. Light and dark balance each other. From what I've learned while in Arcadia, you can't have one without the other," Ezra explained.

"That's like saying you can't have the Jedi without the Sith," Kanan stated sternly. "Is that a universe you would want?"

"I'm not going to change the universe to what I want. I'm going to keep the Dream the way it was made and keep it alive," Ezra retorted. "The universe isn't mine to change."

"Huh, I think Ezra is getting wiser than even Kanan now," Sabine stated.

"I wouldn't-" the Padawan was cut off by his master.

"In some areas, he might be. But in others, he still has some work," Kanan agreed with Sabine. "But it may have to do with the fact that he has the balance of light and dark in him." He sighed. "Just remember, Ezra, the more people who find out about this, the more people who will want you to control you. So they can try to use you to change the universe to their wants. You'll be in more danger now than ever."

"I know, Kanan," Ezra agreed. "I'll be ready for everything."

"Good," the Jedi agreed. "You mentioned a place you had been while you were in a coma. You called it 'the Storytime'. What's the Storytime?"

"Every story has a beginning and an end," Ezra began. "The Storytime is the place between. I was trapped there while I was in my coma. I had only been in Arcadia for a week. But… after I left, I found myself in the Storytime. There I helped people, souls, who were also trapped find there way to waking up again. There was the Master of the Storytime called the Vagabond. He helped me find my powers that I had in the Storytime so I could help those people."

"What powers?" Zeb asked.

"There were only about three. One, I could sense and feel the minds of people and creatures. Two, I could use powers to bring a light to any person or object. And three, I could slow down time," Ezra explained.

"Slow down time?" Sabine repeated and they all seemed shocked.

"Yeah," Ezra answered. "Those abilities came quite helpful, especially for those having nightmares or other dark dreams that trapped them in Storytime."

"I thought you didn't care for anyone until after you met us," Zeb commented.

"I only began to remember everything from Arcadia to the Storytime while I was in Arcadia in these past few days. When I woke up, at the Vagabond's request which I was reluctant to accept, I had forgotten about all of it," Ezra responded. "It… It was all vague in my mind. It took a while even in Arcadia for me to recollect everything from when I was in my coma."

They gave a small nod before they all let Ezra talk about everything from his first time in Arcadia and the Storytime to what he had done while he was there recently. Needless to say, though, they were worried about what was to come in the future.

Well, that's Dreamer! This is definitely one of my shorter stories and if I broke up the longer chapters, I could've made it a few chapters long. But I decided to keep it nice and short for you, my dear readers. Tell me what you think and let me know if you think there should be a sequel to this or not. If so, I have a couple ideas that I will write and choose one to put up. Anyway, hope to see you in another story!

-bricann