#my bro said windu would be so mad 'cause of ezra's disrespect i'm crying

[base-and-co]

i had the idea for this one-shot for a week now and we're merely hours away from Ahsoka's finale, so might as well drop it right now

Voices of the Force

The world around him was swirling in bloodstained madness, pulling him both sides and making him scream in unison with the voice of his enemy, who was biting on his name, as a loth-wolf on a prey.

"EZRA BRIDGER!"

Ezra was turning inside out, his worn out skin taking place of his broken bones and his very soul desperately trying to escape this cage of blue chaos he unleashed. His vision was veiled by sheer curtain of pain and tears, his ears could not hear anything but his pumping heart and voice of Thrawn, burning inside his mind an everlasting mark.

Force was the only thing he could rely on right now.

Oh, how much he wanted to become one with it right now.

But something was telling him he couldn't.

Not yet.

"EZRA BRIDGER!" Thrawn roared, his wrath seen by Ezra for the first time. He stumbled, feeling the pressure of hyperspace eating them both alive, and let go. Door opened, stormtroopers instantly poured in just to be taken out hy purgils' tentacles and the storm of glass shards. Ezra grabbed a blaster and drew one of the helmets with the Force. He needed to breathe. His lungs were giving up and needed help. His blood was streaming down his ribcage and thigh, staining his clothes and the floors. Ezra wanted to give in, because it was so easy.

He just needed to close his eyes and let go and it all would be over. But something was not letting him do that.

Ezra could feel his legs betraying him, and he backed off, falling onto one of the tentacles. It felt cold yet familiar - he knew he could trust purgils, even if they were dragging him across space alongside his enemy.

"Help me," Ezra whispered, his voice barely audible. He wanted to give up so badly, he wanted to lay down and let soft mist of nothingness devour him completely, he wanted his pain to stop. Tentacle gently hugged him, lifted his body and lowered him behind the doors. Ezra couldn't feel his left arm yet he rose it to channel the Force. The doors were shut, last scream out of Trawn's mouth died behind them.

Ezra leaned on the wall, his breath still supported by the helmet, and heavily stumbled on his shaking legs. He needed to go right now. Where? He had no idea.

Back? To the others?

Well, this path was closed for good.

There was no one but him, his everlasting pain and the Force.

Ezra slipped on his own blood, and flopped on the floor, so tired and scared he didn't even scream.

"Kanan..." he called, trying to grasp on anything but finding nothingness welcoming him with open embrace. "Kanan..."

Ahsoka said, Kanan became part of the cosmic Force. Ezra would be part of it as well, but... It felt so unfair. Not for him, no. Ezra learned his lesson and found the moment he was needed the most, just like his master. But for the Specters...

Ezra swallowed hardly, his throat splitting at the seams, and tried to grip the wall, leaving a bloody handmark.

"Kanan..." he whimpered, like a little boy. Why must've it been so unfair?! "I can't..."

Ezra felt tears falling down his face and could not differentiate it from blood.

"YOU MUST SURVIVE."

Ezra squeezed his palm on his injured side and tried to push himself up. He needed to go, but it was so hard...

"I can't," Ezra cried in strangled voice, feeling how last sparks of life were on their way to leave him. "I want to, but I can't."

"YOU MUST, BOY," Ezra could not recognize the voice. It was low and stern, but Ezra could feel worry behind it. "USE THE FORCE. SURVIVE."

"Force..." Ezra leaned on the wall once more, his breathing getting shallower every second. The Force was around him, dancing in some crazy waltz, ready to take him in its peaceful embrace.

"Pull the glass out of your wound," it was another voice Ezra didn't hear before. It was of a woman, calm and comforting. Ezra closed his eyes, his eyelids heavy as a thousand mountains, and tried to focus on his body.

He was in one piece still, but he could feel blood leaving his body swiftly. Glass cuts, on his arms and his legs, one right on his side, where blood was leaking heavily, and burn on his left shoulder. It was so much. It was too much to handle alone.

"You're not alone, my child," Ezra wanted to cry and collapse in the arms of whoever's voice it was. It was soothing, yet it needed him to fight still.

"USE THE FORCE," the low voice repeated, a bit softer this time, as a mentor, who was finally warming up to their student.

Ezra gathered the strength he had left and opened his palm, letting the Force course through his very being, channeling to the point in his side where pain was the sharpest. Something was off there, something alien was piercing his muscle, tearing deeper inside his body. And when he got a Force grip, he pulled.

His scream must've shaken the whole Chimera and if it wasn't for purgils, this agonizing scream itself would tear the ship apart.

"STAY AWAKE," low voice bit, and Ezra coughed on hot air in his helmet, feeling sharp tears of pain streaming down his face.

"Stop it," it sounded awfully like Hera. Ezra gritted his teeth, trying to grip the thought, have something good to think about aside from this pain that was tearing his insides out. "You're doing great, Ezra. Just a little more."

Ezra didn't even think about how in the Force the voice knew his name. All his senses were drowning in burning pain, only his grip became stronger and stronger until the glass finally left his body, opening new way for blood to escape as well.

"Listen," voice begged, and Ezra tried his best not to fall into cold pitch black slumber calling him with a promise of rest. "Ezra, you need to close the wound. Pull the sides together and let them close."

"How..." Ezra managed to breathe out, his mind becoming more and more clouded. Echo of his thoughts was deafening, it was harder and harder to keep his focus. It was all he had left.

"The Force, my boy," Ezra could swear he felt a gentle touch on his cheek, reminding him of his mother so much he wanted to lean into it and cry his lungs out. "The Force is strong in you. Let us help. Let it flow through you."

He gulped, blood in his mouth as well, and let the feeling of the Force sweep him. It was so acutely sharp, Ezra could swear he saw someone's dark skin, someone's gentle smile, he could feel someone direct his hands.

Pain was blinding. Well, a jedi didn't need his eye sight. They had the Force.

Ezra felt like he was sewing a torn cloth back together, except the cloth being himself. It was maddening and he was absolutely sure he could not do it alone. But he wasn't.

"Good job, Ezra," he could hear smile in the voice. His breathing was getting deeper, calmer. "You are very brave, my boy, and very strong."

Ezra shook his head slightly.

"It's not... Over yet..." he whispered, helmet still muting his voice.

"I know," the voice whispered again. Ezra opened his eyes, his visor covered with his own blood. "But you will be alright. Caleb taught you well."

"Kanan," Ezra breathed out once more, letting his head hit the wall behind his back.

"MOVE, YOUNG BRIDGER," low voice was there again, and Ezra had a strange willing to smirk on hearing it. "IT IS NOT YOUR TIME YET. YOU MUST MOVE ONWARD."

"Give me a break," Ezra whispered, trying to recollect control over his beaten up body. "Just a couple more moments."

"YOU MUST SURVIVE."

"I will," he nodded lightly. "Just you stop yelling in my ear."

Ezra could swear he heard a light chuckle.

"Remember, Ezra," he opened his eyes, and pushed himself up. "You are not alone. Even if you can't see or hear it."

"I know," he leaned on the wall, breathing heavily. "Force unites us. Tell Kanan I'll be fine."

"THE FORCE WILL BE WITH YOU, YOUNG BRIDGER."

Ezra swallowed, closing his eyes. Force around him was calming down. It felt like it was moving away, slowly and lazily, like a gentle tide, leaving him on the shore.

"Thank you," he breathed out, before taking the first step and slowly moving down the corridor.