A Light in the Darkness (Star Wars Rebels)

Heat of the Moment

"Seems you've gotten yourself into quite the predicament, young Duchess!" Jared called.

"I don't suppose you'd be willing to help me?" Evelyn asked sarcastically.

"I like how things are going on their own," Jared said.

Evelyn's eyes darted around, searching for some escape from her current situation. A flicker of movement caught her eye. Switch was kneeling beside Ezra and shaking him. Evelyn hoped that meant that Ezra was still alive, because if he wasn't . . .

Ezra was having problems of his own. Once again he found himself somewhere other than the dark cave, unsure of how he got there. He was in a bright field on Lothal. There was no sign of Switch or Evelyn.

"I can't be here," Ezra said to himself. "I have to get back. I have to wake up!"

"What have you done?" Zeb asked. He was walking through the tall grass, borifle held in his hand. His eyes were dull.

"This is just a dream," Ezra told him. "You're not really here."

"Of course I'm here," Zeb said."I'm here to stop you. Here to stamp out the darkness you've brought with you."

"This is all a dream," Ezra said while glancing around. He pinched himself, trying to wake himself up. No such luck.

"If you won't release the darkness you hold, I'll have to extinguish you as well," Zeb promised. He charged forward a swung his borifle. Pain exploded in Ezra's head. He fell to the ground and covered his eye, feeling wetness beneath his fingers. His surroundings shattered into shards of darkness.

Gentle hands touched Ezra's arm, shaking insistently. He touched his eyes before opening them. He was back in the dark cave. Everything looked blurry. Switch was crouched beside him, shaking him gently.

"You need to get up," Switch said softly. Something seemed wrong. "They need you."

"They?" Ezra asked groggily. "What are you talking about?"

"You have to get up," Switch repeated. His face swam in and out of focus. He seemed bigger than he should have been. Instead of being the size of a toddler, he was the size of a teenager. His face even looked older than it should have been.

Ezra sat up and rubbed his head. It was throbbing slightly from hitting the stony ground. Ezra could vaguely hear shouting, although it sounded faint and far away. He blinked quickly and shook his head. Evelyn was on the ground some distance away, the giant beast on top of her. Jared and several mandalorian guards were holding blasters near the creature and Evelyn.

"Use the force," Switch said from behind Ezra. "Connect with the creature. Save Evelyn. Save Switch."

"Conner!" Ezra realized. "You're Conner!"

He turned around to check if his theory was correct, but no one was there. Shaking off the confusion swirling through his mind, Ezra connected with the furry creature through the force. Slowly, it raised its head and stepped off Evelyn. It turned towards Jared and the mandalorian guards, who looked frightened.

"You idiot! You were supposed to kill him! How hard can it be?" Jared shouted, grabbing one of the guards and shaking them. That's when the creature attacked, reaching them in one huge leap.

With one paw swipe three of the Mandalorians were thrown through the air and into the dark chasm. The creature leaned down and ate the fourth mandalorian guard whole. Jared backed away from the creature, firing with his blaster. It only made the creature angrier. Ezra closed his eyes as the beast finished Jared off.

"That was . . . terrifying," Evelyn said from beside Ezra. He opened his eyes. The beast was standing nearby, waiting patiently. Evelyn had Switch in her arms.

"Are you ok?" she asked.

"I'm fine," Ezra told her. "But I'm pretty sure Jared isn't."

"Ugh, don't remind me," Evelyn complained. "That was disgusting. No one deserves to die like that, even murdering traitorous bodyguards."

Ezra walked up to the monstrous creature which had just saved their lives. It thumped its foot and tilted its head, as if waiting for orders. Ezra climbed onto its back.

"Come on," he told Evelyn. "He can take us over the canyon and to the entrance."

"No way am I getting on that drooling wad of fangs and fur," Evelyn said back.

"You'll be fine," Ezra promised. "It's easy. Unless you're too scared, Kitty."

Evelyn passed Switch to Ezra's waiting arms before climbing on the creature herself. She sat behind Ezra, while Switch sat in front. The lantern was left behind. Ezra grinned at Evelyn.

"Maybe if you stay connected with it long enough, you'll become just like this thing," Evelyn suggested. "You're already nine tenths there."

The creature leapt into the air and over the chasm. Evelyn closed her eyes and held onto Ezra's waist tightly. She was making it difficult for him to breath, but he decided not to mention it.

There was a terrible moment where there was nothing but darkness. Ezra could feel the fur clenched in his fists. He could hear the creature's rough breathing, and Evelyn's fearful gasping. He could smell rancid fur and blood.

Then they landed on the stony ground with a thud which sent rocks tumbling from the ceiling. The creature leapt forward again and they turned a corner and entered a brightly lit area. The entrance to the cave was just ahead. Ezra, Evelyn, and Switch slid off of the creature. It roared one final time and bounded away into the darkness. Without any hesitation, the trio stepped out into the light of day.

"We did it!" Ezra cheered. "I knew that would work!"

"You doubted your own plan?" Evelyn asked while raising her eyebrows.

"Of course not," he replied. "I just can't believe we made it!"

He hugged Evelyn tightly before realizing what he was doing and letting go. He glanced away.

"Sorry," he told her. "Heat of the moment. I know you don't like physical contact or anything."

Evelyn leaned forward and kissed Ezra quickly on the cheek.

"Heat of the moment," she repeated to the shocked Ezra. "And I think that's proper payment for you saving my life, don't you, Fluffy?"

Without another word, she turned and began walking in the direction of the mandalorian shipyard.