One moment, everything was as fine as it could be, considering everything that had transpired. 

The next, Ezra was stumbling, his head and heart swaying with an urgency he had never felt from the Force before. 

"Ezra?" Maul asked, stopping his ascent. 

"Kanan," Ezra gasped. "He and Dev... They're in trouble. All I can feel is... Cold. Just... evil. Darkness. Everywhere." He managed before sitting down on the closest rock he could find, light-headed. 

Maul stood over him, his face emotionless. "The Inquisitors have discovered your friends. There is no hope for them, unless we make it to the top of the temple before we too, are taken."

Ezra managed to lift his head, grimacing with the effort as the touch of the dark side faded. He was beginning to realize how wrong he had been to abandon his friends–his family. "I have to go help them. It's my fault they're in danger," he shakily stood up. "I can't stop what's already happened but I can stop what's coming." 

"Ezra, listen to me," Maul grabbed his arm. "They are already lost. Your best chance–your only chance–is to use the Sith Holocron to slay your enemies."

"They could be dead by the time I even reach the top," Ezra yanked his arm out of the man's grip. "And 'slay my enemies'? I want to defeat them, but I'm not going to kill anybody."

Maul laughed. It was a malicious sound, and Ezra found himself struggling not to cower in fear. Something had changed in Maul since their duel with the Inquisitors. 

Or maybe Maul had always been this way, and Ezra had been too blind to see it. 

Former Sith Lord. 

"Ezra, you are being naive. To defeat your enemy, you must kill them. Otherwise, they will simply rise back up and take your own life." Maul said chillingly. 

"Maybe I am naive. But I'm not leaving my friends. Maul, I see clearly now. We stand a better chance of defeating the Sith together than apart. We need Kanan and Dev." Ezra explained. "My own feelings aside, they can help us!" 

Maul shook his head. "I thought you were smarter than this. Stronger than your attachments. You think more like a Sith than a Jedi, whether you would like to admit it or not." 

Ezra glared at him. "My attachments to humanity are what make me a Jedi."

The words of a long-forgotten song his mother used to play flashed through his mind.

The world's not perfect, but it's not that bad

If we got each other, and that's all we have

I will be your brother, and I'll hold your hand

You should know I'll be there for you

When the world's not perfect

When the world's not kind

If we have each other then we'll both be fine

But he didn't have his family right now. 

I should never have abandoned them. 

"There's always a comeback with you," Maul replied. He stared at Ezra, his amber gaze unflinching and hard. "If you insist upon returning to your friends on this doomed crusade, I will not help you. You are being incredibly foolish." 

"I can't take them alone, Maul," Ezra said honestly. "I need you, just as much as I need them."

"Oh, that you do," The man answered. "Not only to defeat the Inquisitors, but the Sith themselves. Alas, I still cannot help you. Your quest is suicidal. What good would it do me?" 

"I thought you were on my side!" Ezra shouted angrily. "What will it take? Force, what do you want?!" 

Maul looked him directly in the eyes, and for the first time, Ezra saw the dark fire clearly burning in the man's golden eyes. 

"Become my apprentice." 

At first, Ezra was stupefied. "Huh?"

Kanan and Dev's immediate distrust of Maul. 

To defeat your enemy, you must kill them.

Use your anger, use your pain, let it fill you, fuel you.

Former Sith Lord. 

It dawned upon him slowly, the familiar, awful sensation of ice cold water pouring over his head and down his spine. 

"You're still a darksider." 

Oh, he had been so wrong.

So wrong.

"You're still a Sith." 

He activated his lightsaber and lunged forward, the emerald blade soaring to life. 

Maul stepped back out of the the way, not even reaching for his own weapon. Ezra swung again, but again, Maul moved out of reach gracefully, delicately even. The boy gritted his teeth and swung again. And again. 

And again. 

Each time, the Sith dodged easily, needing no weapon to deflect Ezra's blows. 

"I am your only chance of defeating the Empire, Ezra," Maul said calmly once Ezra finally stopped swinging frantically and stood still, desperately trying to think of how to take Maul down. Based on what he knew of Maul's exceptional skill-set, he had very little chance against the Dathomirian. 

"Especially Vader," the man continued. 

Ezra barred his teeth at the Sith, holding his lightsaber upright in front of him. "You're no better than Vader."

Force, why didn't I listen to Kanan? 

"I hate Vader too, Ezra. I want to destroy him, the same as you. Look at what he's done to us," Maul gestured at himself, his hand curling into a tight fist. "Both in exile, merely shadows of our true powerful selves. We have more in common than you have fooled yourself into believing. Everything was taken, remember? Wouldn't you like revenge for everything he's done to you and taken mercilessly from you?" Maul asked inquisitively. 

Ezra was about to deny all of his claims when, caught off guard, the rage hit him. 

The fury. 

The hate.

The burning fire for revenge, the fire that he thought had gone out many years ago, but in reality had only been festering silently. 

The truth in Maul's words had simply stoked the embers and ignited the spark once more. 

The anger was making it hard to breath. He struggled to keep the darkness inside and forced himself not to unleash it. 

"Stay–stay away from me," Ezra managed to stammer, backing away from Maul, his lightsaber hanging heavily in his hand at his side. "Stay away from me."

He turned around and ran back the way they had come, fear for his family, fear for himself coursing through him like a terrifying jolt of adrenaline that had been waiting to come alive. 

He began to descend the few levels they had climbed since their encounter with the Inquisitors, continuously checking to make sure Maul wasn't following him. 

Kanan, Dev, Ahsoka, I'm so sorry. 

I'm so, so sorry. 

Ezra reached the lift that he and Maul had taken earlier and desperately pressed his hand to the stone like he had seen the Dathomirian do. His attempt was to no avail. 

"You must have to use the dark side," Ezra sighed, his head hanging down in frustration. Unknowingly, he fingered the Sith Holocron he still carried. How do I get down now? 

Lost in thought, he didn't look up until he felt the ground quake slightly beneath his feet. When he did look up, he was extremely sorry he did. 

Unlike him, the Inquisitors were able to use the Force-lift. 

"My son." The new Grand Inquisitor smiled with outstretched arms, but it was a smile full of malice. His companions offered no fake warmth, but neither the bloody Seventh Sister nor the Fifth Brother reached for their weapons. 

His father, however, ignited a blood red lightsaber and stepped forward, still grinning like a fed Loth-cat, only more menacing. "Let's see if your lightsaber skills have improved after all these years." 

If We Have Each Other by Alec Benjamin. -LRUF