Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker: Aftermath

16: A World Between Worlds

Cass looked down and all around her. Thousands of white roads surrounded her. Things that resembled mirrors were at the end of each one, or at least all the ones that she could see. She could hear millions of whispers that sounded close to her but yet so far away.
"Where are we?"
The Kiros bird flapped over to one of the mirror-like things. He tapped it with his beak and an image rippled to life.
A man that resembled Amaliea immensely was back-to-back with a (maybe?) Togruta male, and they were laughing together as they swung a green lightsaber and a purple dual-wielded one at multiple First Order troopers advancing on them.
After swinging his blade through the last one, the one that looked like a Togruta male shook his fist.
"And stay out!" he cried with a laugh.
A middle aged man joined them with a stern expressed across his face.
"Will you two stop swinging those things around? They're already all dead." he rolled his eyes. "Sam, your wife wants you to go take care of your children." he added, looking at the one with the purple blades.
"Alright, tell her I'm coming, Kallus."
The blue haired man froze. He spun in a circle, slowly. "Move!" he suddenly shouted. Then Kallus and Sam were hurtled out of the way with an invisible shove as a devastating explosion erupted.
The scene faded to black and Cass stood still, stunned.
"That was horrible," she said to the bird. "What was the point of that?"
The bird winged over to another mirror.
A hospital bed and there he was, the blue haired man.
A woman with dyed flaming red and dark purple hair holding a dark haired baby sat next to the bed, clutching the mans hand tightly.
"Ezra, why would you do that?" she whispered to him. He sighed, his breathing ragged. "They were in danger, Sabine,"
She shook her head in dismay. "The time to be a hero is long over for you!"
The medical droid tapped the woman on her shoulder. She reluctantly released Ezra's hand and nodded at the droid.
"His injuries are fatal. He will be deceased within the hour." the droid said. Sabine stepped back. He eyes were wide and blurry as she hugged her baby closer.
"Can I see her?" Ezra asked weakly. Sabine passed the child to him and covered her face with her hands, trying to keep her breath steady.
The hospital door opened and a beautiful green Twi'lek woman burst in.
"Captain Syndulla, only his immediate family can enter at this ti-"
"I am his immediate family." the woman answered fiercely. She lowered herself to his side.
"Ahsoka is still on the farm. She'll be here in an hour and a half. She can heal you," she dropped her voice as she spoke, trying to stop it from trembling.
Ezra shook his head slowly. "Hera.. I don't have that long," he admitted quietly.
Hera dropped her head. "No, no, no, no.." she mumbled. Tears began to shed as she repeated the single word.
Ezra began coughing violently.
The medical droid forced Sabine, Captain Syndulla, and the child out of the room, much to Hera's cries and Sabine's pleas.
"Wait, wait!" Sabine cried as the door was shut. The medical droid began moving around equipment.
Cass couldn't take it anymore. She reached through the mirror as if on instinct and pulled Ezra through into the starry plaza. He lay on the ground, coughing, as the scene faded. He looked around frantically and spotted Cass. She began panicking.
"W-why did I do that? How did I do that?? Crap, now I have a, a dying person on the floor a-and-"
Ezra grabbed her shaking hand. "You're a Force wielder?" he asked weakly. Cass nodded nervously.
He directed her hand to his abdomen. "Focus the Force on me," he coughed. She hesitated and closed her eyes. The Force painted a clear picture on what she had to do. Cass pulled the energy from within her and pushed it through her hands into his body.
His coughing ceased slowly. Cass opened her eyes to see that his eyes were bright, and his skin had a healthy glow to it.
"Thank you. I.. never thought i'd come back here," Ezra said as she helped him to his feet. He turned away from her and gazed around at the world.
"Are you.. Amaliea's dad?" Cass glanced at him from the corner of her eye.
Ezra stopped short. "How.. How old is she?" he asked after a moment.
"Almost nineteen," Cass answered nervously. He sighed.
"My friend, it is very dangerous, what you just did."
Cass furrowed her brows. "How?? You can go see her now, you can be her dad!"
Ezra covered his face with his hands. "I don't believe.. it isn't the will of Force," his voice was slightly muffled, but Cass knew he sounded unsure.
The Kiros bird clucked in agreement, and Cass glared up at him. "So then why did this bird bring me here?!"
"Perhaps so I can explain some things to you."
Cass frowned in confusion.
Ezra raised his head and gestured to the place around him. "This place is what I call the World Between Worlds. We believe it was created by the Mortis gods long before you and I were born. It allows you to connect with any point in time that you wish. Do you hear the voices?"
Cass listened for the whispers again. She gasped.
"I- I can hear people that I know. And.. people that I've never heard before,"
"These are the voices of every Force-wielder in history. Some of the most powerful Jedi and Sith's stories reside in this World." Ezra explained.
Cass began wandering around subconsciously. The Kiros bird flapped to her shoulder with a shriek. However, Ezra called her back before long.
"You need to help me get back to my place in time," Ezra called.
Cass looked over her shoulder. "Ezra. Why? If you come back with me.." she trailed off, realizing she didn't know where 'back' was. Ezra laid a hand on her shoulder.
"I'm going to give you back your life-force," he said. "You're going to need it more than I do."
Cass sighed. "But you're never going to know your daughter, Ezra."
"Tell me about her before I go back."
"Well, she's a strong person. She's kind, and very hardheaded. She's stubborn, but in the good way, you know?"
She stopped when she saw that Ezra's eyes were cloudy. He brushed his eyes and she looked the other direction respectively.
Cass suddenly gasped. "Ezra! There's a way you can see her!" She grabbed him by the arm and started jogging.
"You said this place holds every Force-wielders story, right? Well, Amaliea is a Force-wielder!"
She finally found the right mirror and stopped in front of it. Ezra joined her silently.
The scene faded into view. It was Amaliea, sitting in a chair talking to an orange Twi'lek while Rey lay with her eyes closed on a medical cot.
"She's beautiful," she heard Ezra say beside her.
Rey muttered in her sleep and the Twi'lek moved to her side pointedly. She began murmuring a single phrase to the Jedi. "Rey, can you hear me? My name is Evie, I'm going to take care of you."
The Jedi eventually fluttered her eyelashes and sat up slowly. Her and Evie began a conversation, which Amaliea joined shortly.
Ezra stepped back and the scene faded to black.
"Thank you for that," he said to Cass. They walked back to the mirror of which he had emerged from, where the Kiros bird hooted from the top of it.
He held out his hands as they reached it and Cass took them halfheartedly.
"Do you really have to do this?" she asked him.
Ezra lowered his gaze. "She was wearing Sabine's armour. Do you know when she lost her?"
"I think she was eleven," Cass admitted.
"Hera and Ahsoka must have raised her, then. I can see a lot of Sam in her, just from the way she sits," he chuckled sadly.
"You can still-"
"No. I shouldn't try to change this, no matter how much I want to. I cannot be selfish. If I do, nobody knows what consequences could be bestowed upon us."
Cass nodded in submission. They both closed their eyes and Cass felt energy being pushed into her. She felt more.. alive. Ezra's grip went slack and she caught him before he fell.
"What-" he coughed. "What is your name?"
She helped him back to the mirror. "It's uh, it's Cass."
"You have a beautiful name, Cass."
They exchanged a smile, and he was gone.
Cass collapsed on the ground, beaten. The Kiros bird hooted quietly. It sounded a lot like the word Toet. She gave him a confused look.
"Do you.. want me to call you Toet?" Cass asked the bird.
He bobbed his head.
"Alright, Toet it is." Cass almost grinned while stroking his colourful feathers. She got to her feet.
"So how exactly do I get out of here?" she asked the bird. He hopped to her shoulder and dug his claws into her shoulder again.
"Ow!" Cass cried, stumbling back, but she was sitting, so she banged the back of her head on something instead. She realized she was back in the ship. Toet was nowhere to be found, and neither was Jacen or Lalo. She realized the ramp of the ship was down, and her shipmates voices were drifting into the main compartment.
"Guys? you out there?" Cass poked her head out. The Mirialan boy and the Jedi glanced over their shoulders at her. Lalo waved her over.
"You were gone for at least three hours. What happened?" Jacen asked. Cass thumped down on the ground, letting her legs hang over the side of the cliff.
"It was weird," Cass admitted. Lalo perked his ears up with interest.
"What kind of weird?" he asked brightly.
"There was this Kiros bird named Toet, and he brought me to this place.." she trailed off.
Jacen tilted his head. "An animal who brought you somewhere? Kinda sounds like a Force guide."
Cass looked up at him. "Force guide?"
Jacen joined them on the grass and tapped his lips while thinking.
"Not a lot of Force-users have them. They're kind of like spirit guardians, I suppose. Amaliea's godmother, Ahsoka? She has one. Her name is Morai, and she's been around for as long as I can remember. Amaliea's dad, Ezra also had one. His name was Dume, and he liked to think that that wolf was the embodiment of my father, Kanan."
Cass pulled her knees up to her chest. "The place where Toet brought me? I, uh, kind of met Ezra there."
"Met Ezra?" Jacen asked incredulously.
Cass went on to recount everything that had happened to her in the starry realm. When she finished, both Lalo and Jacen were gazing at her in amazement.
"Woah," Lalo whispered. Cass groaned and fell back on the ground, splaying her arms out and staring at the sky. There was a thump beside her and she saw Jacen following her gaze.
"In this starry world.. you can only gain access to Force-wielders, I'm guessing. Right?" he turned his head towards her.
Cass crossed her arms over her chest. "I'm sorry, Jacen. If there was a way to bring back your mom, I'd do it. If anybody's parent deserve to live, she seems to qualify, from what I saw. She looked wonderful."
Jacen shut his eyes tightly, and Cass spotted a tear trickle out from under his green eyelashes. He wiped it away quickly.
"She deserved to live. She did. More than anyone." he said with a sigh.
Lalo rested his head on Jacen's stomach and joined their sky gazing. A few minutes passed when none of them said anything. Then Jacen's comm started beeping rapidly.
"Spectre seven, come in!" Amaliea's voice crackled through the transmitter. Jacen sat up in alert and replied immediately.
"Talk to me, Spectre eight."
"We're gonna need a pickup from the East wing of the compound. We just threw the big boss out of a window, so some of these guys are a little mad!"
"Only you would come for one person and liberate an entire compound!" Jacen rolled his eyes and guided the kids back inside. He jumped on the controls and they were up in the air, shooting towards the smoking structure in the distance.