After

Chapter 21

The Seventh Sister's POV

 I gasped as Maul said goodbye.  Almost immediately though, my hands flew out.  I could see Ezra do the same, as we both used the Force to push Maul and the bomb out the window.  Glass shattered, flying everywhere.  As Maul fell, the bomb went off about a level below us.  

The entire building shook as pieces of the walls and ceiling came crashing down. Fire engulfed the halls.  Suddenly, I heard a huge crack, and looked up.

Regretting my decision, I watched as a chunk of the ceiling fell, right on top of Ezra and I.

I blacked out for a few seconds once the wreckage fell on us, but I quickly waked up, scanning my surroundings urgently.  Beside me was Ezra, groaning in pain.  I looked to see that Ezra and I were both stuck under the wreckage.  Thankfully, only the bottom portion of our bodies seemed to be stuck.

Pain fired through my nerves as I felt my legs and hips crushing under the weight.  I attempted to try and push the rubble away, but to no avail.

"Lucy," Ezra groaned beside me.

"Yes?" I gasped, my breath becoming short from the smoke filling my lungs from the fire.

"We need to. . . work. . .together," Ezra slowly wheezed.  "To move. . . the rubble."

I nodded, saving my breath for the effort to use the Force.  We were both exhausted from the explosion, and the smoke filling our airways did not do us any good.

"Together then?" I asked quietly.

He nodded and we both closed our eyes.  I slowed my breathing, trying to focus.  I felt the Force flow through me as I raised my arm, lifting the chunk of ceiling from my body.  I opened my eyes to watch where the rubble was going.  I saw Ezra beside me, also watching.  Once it had floated far enough away, we let it crash to the ground.

I collapsed fully to the floor in exhaustion.  Ezra laid across from me.  I stared into his electric blue eyes as we both breathed heavily.

"It looks like it is the end," I wheezed.

"Looks like it," Ezra replied.

I continued to look at Ezra, him staring back.  But, as I looked at him, on the brink of death, I realized some things I had not before.  As I gazed at his face, I realized how close we had become over this journey.  A journey to save the galaxy from tearing itself apart.

Neither of us knew if it worked.  We wouldn't know if the Empire would find out Maul was the one who had planted the bomb, who had detonated it.

But, that didn't matter right now.  

As I looked at Ezra, I realized we had become more than simply partners or comrades.  We were beyond even friends.  Slowly, I realized I had fallen in love with the raven haired teen.  I didn't know if he felt the same, and I didn't think I would ever find out.

But, I laid there, across from Ezra on the floor of a burning building as it collapsed around us and we were dying, and all's I cared about was that I had fallen in love with him.  I didn't care as smoke filled my lungs, constricting my breathing.  I didn't care about the immense pain in my legs from the rubble.  I didn't care that I was slowly dying.

"Lucy?" Ezra asked, slowly and quietly.

Instead of replying to him, I used what little left I had of my strength to lean forward and place on lips on his.  At first, the kiss was slow, but, eventually, I felt Ezra kiss back.  After a short time, I withdrew, my strength dwindling.

"Lucy?" Ezra asked again.

"Yes?" I replied quietly.

"I think I'm in love," Ezra whispered.

"I think I am, too," I whispered, quieter than him.

I gazed at Ezra one last time before I felt too weak to do anything.  I laid back on the ground, my eyes still on Ezra's.  I kept looking for a few moments, before I simply could not breath anymore. Slowly, I closed my eyes.  The world went away, and the last thing I remembered was Ezra whispering Lucy multiple times before I could hear and feel nothing.

I expected to die that day.  And it seemed that that is what was exactly happening.