The Balance and The Force {Star Wars Ep. X}

s. XIII

Ryder was worried for Anni. He was more worried than he had ever believed he could be. He wasn't worried about fighting or impressing Poe. He was worried about her.

Sometimes he sensed her. Sometimes he felt as if she was still there in his room and some days he still expected her to be sitting in his bedroom waiting for him to come back.

He stood by his ship and kneeled down to talk to his droid. Suddenly, a hand tapped his shoulder. Ryder turned around only to be faced with Ben and Rey.

Ben was staring down at him. He knew the two of them had a connection, and even if Ben wasn't too fond, he had to admit that they had starting falling fast.

Rey decided to speak up after noting the dirty look Ben was giving Ryder.

"Ryder, you're one of Anni's only friends. I know if you come in Anni will come back in a second. Sometimes I can feel how much she misses you." Rey said and pressed a hand on her heart.

"We think you should come with us to find Anni. We will most likely be dealing with Kai." Ben looked over to Rey, who had a saddened look on her face.

"You want me to go in there and get Anni out?" Ryder asked, almost shocked he was asked this. He was no awesome Jedi with cool powers. He was just a pilot.

"Yes, she cares about you." Ben said and looked Ryder in the eyes for a second. "And I know you care about her more than anyone else."

Ryder knew it was true. The day he met her he could have believed it was love at first sight. Over the past few weeks he was always wishing he could reach her somehow. If he could just tell her that he was coming for her. That he wanted to help her through every trouble she felt, it would all be okay.

Ben smiled at him before putting a hand on Ryder's ship. He used it to lean to the side a bit. "So, that means," Ben started. "You'll be going with us, in the falcon. I would usually pilot it but Rey doesn't seem to think I have enough skill."

"I'm not the one who thinks that. Chewie is." Rey said and pointed over to the falcon where Chewie was fixing something.

"He's always thought I wasn't good as my father." Ben rolled his eyes before looking back at Ryder. He gave him a slight grin. "Poe also believes you're one of the best pilots he's ever seen. So? You wanna pilot the falcon?"

Ryder thought his heart had stopped. It was always a dream of his to fly that ship. Sure it was old and probably not up to the standards of his own ship... But that ship is iconic to him.

Ryder just nodded quickly and watched as Ben patted his shoulder before walking him over to the falcon.

-

Anni sat in her room and stared out the window at the blizzard that was happening on the planet. She covered herself up with more blankets and yelped a bit at the scar on her arm.

She sighed before deciding to get up. She needed to meet her brother for training, and honestly she didn't hate it at all.

She changed into a long sleeved black sweater and a pair of tight black pants. She laced up her boots before putting on a long robe with a hood. Then, she put on her belt and clipped her lightsaber to it.

She walked down the halls and walked to the training room. Surprisingly, Kai wasn't there.

Kai knew Anni was going to have to sleep in because of the injury she sustained a few days ago. She had been off training so it could heal naturally. Alec had said that if it healed that way then it would be a learning experience for her.

Anni stood there and walked around the training room. She debated doing some meditation but her thoughts were distracted suddenly.

"Mom..." Anni muttered before looking towards the window. She saw a ship entering the atmosphere. She breathed in sharply before turning around and running towards the throne room where Alec was.