Falling For The Enemy

Chapter 6: A Vision In The Desert

"Ezra."

"Ezra!"

Ezra's eyes shot open at the sound of his name. But it was the voice that was scaring him. He then noticed Sabine lying next to him, her helmet's visor facing him. The Jedi carefully rolled out from under their 'blanket' and stood up. His lightsaber still humming and emitting light in the ground. Ezra picked it up and returned it to his belt.

"Ezra!"

Ezra swung round to where the sound was coming from. There, a few metres away, in the middle of the desert, stood something that was glowing blue. He ran towards it. Only when he got closer did he realised it wasn't an it but a he.

"Master?" Ezra exclaimed, his voice laced with both joy, shock and confusion. There in front of him stood his master Caleb Dume, emitting a blue aura. Ezra quickly activated his lightsaber and pointed it at the blueish figure. "H-how can this be?!" He asked.

The Jedi Master smiled. "Really, Ezra. Have you forgotten the Jedi Code so easily?' He asked. 'There is no death, there is only the Force. Though our bodies may be destroyed in time, our essence lives on through the Force."

Now, it was Ezra who was smiling. "So uh..." He begun, scratching the back of his head and returning his lightsaber to his belt. "Why are you here?" "Are you not happy to see me Ezra?" Caleb asked teasingly. "N-no as in I mean." Ezra stuttered before regaining his composure. "Of course I'm happy to see you, master. But I've been your Padawan since I was 7, you won't come to me just to say Hi' Caleb chuckled at his Padawan's response. 'You're right Ezra, I haven't come just to greet you. But rather, I am here because you need help.'

Ezra rolled his eyes. "Well, yeah. I'm lost and stranded on a desert planet with the Mandalorian that killed you. And I can't bring myself to kill her. The Republic is nowhere to be seen. So yeah, things are pretty bad." He said. Caleb now had a serious look on his face. "Are you counting on the Republic to come and rescue you?" He asked. Ezra nodded. "They're probably looking for me right now. Sooner or later, they'll find me, arrest the Mandalorian or execute her." The young man explained.

Caleb shook his head and said "You cannot rely too much on the Republic, Ezra. We may be allies, but the Republic's resources are stretched very thinly right now. They may not see it worthwhile to scour a desert planet for one Jedi. You must be ready to fend for yourself."

It made sense. It was not worth it for the Republic to send thousands of soldiers on a search and rescue mission to look for one person, especially when those troops may be needed to turn the tide of a battle to favour the Republic. "Trust yourself, trust the Force and most importantly, trust the Mandalorian." Caleb said. Ezra recoiled slightly at the three words. "Trust that crazy nerfherder?!" He asked in angry disbelief. "I think I'll rather surrender to the Empire and let them interrogate me than trust her."

His master remained calm despite his apprentice's outburst. "If you resent her so much, why did you cover with your cloak?" He asked his apprentice. "I-I...I don't know! Every time I look at her I feel this warmth in my chest. Like when we were in the cantina on Nar Shadaa with all the nearly naked Twi'lek dancers that were really pretty." Ezra replied very quickly.

Caleb let out a small chuckle. "If you told that to the Jedi Council, they'll say what you're feeling is bad and contrary to the Jedi Code of forbidden attachments. But right now, this feeling of yours could help get you out of this mess." He said. Ezra's eyes widened in disbelief. "Wait, so not only am I working with an enemy of the Republic, but I have also broken the Jedi Code?!" He asked. Caleb nodded in response, causing Ezra to roll his eyes and throw his arms up in frustration. Could this get any worse?

"Relax, Ezra. The Jedi Code isn't perfect, neither is the Council nor the order as a whole. We do what's necessary to survive, right?" Caleb said, trying to calm his frustrated apprentice. "If Master Satele, the Grandmaster of the Jedi Order, could have a child in secret and still remain in the light, there's got to be a flawed logic in the code the Jedi follow, no?" He reasoned.

Ezra stroked his chin, deep in thought. "I feel like if I go down this path, I'll end up falling to the Dark Side." He replied. "Attachments may make us more vulnerable to the Dark Side, Ezra. But that's not to say, Jedi who don't form attachments are invincible to the seductive temptation of the Dark Side. Look what happened to Master Tol Braga. Or what about his Padawan Warren Sedoru, or Leeha Narezz?" Caleb explained.

Ezra knew what his master was talking about. Master Braga, Leeha Narezz and Padawan Sedoru had been part of the elite strike force that attempted to capture the Emperor and redeem him to the light. Upon confronting him, the entire strike force except for one was brought under the Emperor's and the Dark Side's control. All were eventually redeemed by the Jedi that saved Tython from Darth Angral but it was still a painful reminder that even the most brightest of Jedi without attachments could fall.

"Trust her, Ezra. You'll be surprised what the both of you can accomplish together. It may be difficult, but you will have a greater chance of getting out of this alive." Caleb was still talking when sunlight started leaking from the horizon. He turned to see the sun starting to rise. "It's time for me to go. Manage the attachment well and you can keep yourself from falling to the Dark Side." The apparition said.

"Will we see each other again?" Ezra asked. His master turned to face him and smiled. "In time, Ezra, in time. May the Force be with you." He said before disappearing. Ezra just stood there for a while, staring at the sunset before he turned around and headed towards their resting area. When he reached there, Sabine was already awake and had her helmet off. Surprisingly, she hadn't ran off to look for a town or something. Instead she just sat on the sand, as if deep in thought.

"Morning." Ezra greeted her. Sabine glanced up, surprised by the sudden appearance of Ezra. She stood up to face him. "Where were you? I hope you were scouting ahead for civilisation." she replied. "I wasn't..." He admitted. "I went to er... Chat with an old friend." "Oh." Sabine exclaimed "Why didn't you wake me up and ask him to take us to his home?!" Ezra just sighed in response. He didn't want to explain to Sabine that he was talking to the spirit of the Jedi that SHE had killed.

"Urgh..." she grunted, sitting back down on the sand. Ezra joined her. "We don't have a lot of water and since we have no idea where we're going, I suggest we find some shelter and wait for your Republic." she suggested. Ezra lowered his head, remembering what his master had told him. "I don't think they'll come for me..." He replied. "It's not worth it to send thousands of soldiers on a search and rescue mission just to look for one person, especially if those soldiers are desperately needed on the front lines."

Sabine could detect the sadness in his tone as he spoke. She found it a bit odd since she had been taught from Day One that the Jedi were completely emotionless, almost like a bunch of battle droids with laser swords that could do fancy things with their minds. "Well then, if you're Republic isn't coming, we should at least find a cave or something to take shelter in before it gets too hot." she said, standing up and extending her hand to him. The Jedi hesitated, but remembered what he had to do. Ezra took her hand and stood up. The two continued their journey across the desert.

A/N: Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed this part. Also I just realised I'm supposed to use double inverted commas for dialogue so starting this chapter, I will. (I'm too lazy to change it in the other chapters and it's pretty minor) Anyway, thanks again and May The Force Be With You!

~Paul