Trust No One

Chapter 32

Ezra's POV

I took in a quick breath as Barriss swung her lightsaber back. It passed right through me. Barriss looked around in confusion.

I knew she felt me through the Force. I am not sure how I knew, I just did. Ever since I 'died', I had somehow become even more connected with the Force than ever.

I could use it without trying, travel anyway, move anything.

All of it seemed too crazy to be real.

"I must be going crazy," Barriss muttered to herself as she disengaged her saber and clipped it back onto her belt.

Barriss turned and started running down the hallways. I ran beside her without much effort.

She didn't go far when all of a sudden a voice could be heard. No doubt it was the little girl, Amari.

"Amari!" Barriss called.

We turned down a corner in a hall to see a little girl, no more then ten years of age, crying on the floor.

"Amari!" Barriss quickly slid next to the little girl. "It's alright, Amari."

Barriss attempted to calm Amari by bringing her into a warm embrace. It seemed to calm the girl down.

"Let's get you back to your sister," Barriss cooed.

Barriss helped the little girl up, another voice sounded from down the hall.

"Well, well. Look at what the loth-cat dragged in."

I turned slowly to see the Seventh Sister and Fifth Brother standing at the end of the hall.

I looked to Barriss. She had seen the inquisitors, too. Quickly, she bent down and said something to the little girl. As the little girl ran off, Barriss stood, her lightsaber engaged. She then touched the communicator on her wrist, doing who knows what.

"You must be the inquisitors. We haven't officially met," Barriss said coolly.

"Oh, you will not know us for long," the Fifth Brother said.

As quick as the Force would allow, Barriss flew down the hallway to where the inquisitors were located, lightsaber ready. I didn't realize until a few seconds after Barriss moved that she was already locked in deadly combat.

I ran down the hall to the impending battle. Blurs of red and white stood out against the blazing fire that surronded us.

I watched, helpless to do anything else, as Barriss defended herself with only one saber. She had to be quicker than both inquisitors, and that was nearly impossible.

The battle seemed to only go on for a few moments before Barriss was thrown back through one of the walls in the hallway. I hadn't even noticed the fight had slowed enough for one of the inquisitors to do that.

As soon as Barriss hit the wall and went through, the surronding structure started collapsing. The inquisitors coughed as debris fell everywhere.

The two red blades stepled through the hole in the wall to the room Barriss was now in. I quickly went in after them.

Immediately, I saw Barriss. She was slumped against the opposite wall, her face covered with soot, unconscious. Flames danced throughout the room, threatening to burn anyone who came close.

"Let's finish her off now," the Fifth Brother said, immediately followed by a fit of coughing. Then, suddenly, the whole building groaned. A sign it was about to collapse.

"Quickly!" The Fifth Brother growled.

The Seventh Sister walked over to the unresponsive Barriss. She knelt down next to her, placing her saber on Barriss's throat.

"Goodbye, murderer," the female inquisitor muttered.

In that moment, everything seemed to tense. The world slowed. Everything seemed sluggish.

But my heart raced.

Barriss couldn't die! She had saved me. She had a goal to achieve. People to apologize to.

She had everything ahead of her.

I was a street rat who had only thought about himself for years. It wasn't until I met Barriss that the word trust actually had a meaning to it.

Trust was something earned. Something some gives you to show a meaning. I didn't understand that meaning until now, though.

Barriss shed new light on it for me.

Giving someone your trust means they are family. I realized Barriss had given me her trust and I had given her mine. We were family. Or, at least the closest thing to it I had had in years.

I couldn't let her die.

Then, all of a sudden, everything sped up. I knew what I had to do.

"No!"