Searching For You

Chapter 73: Ani?

Rey POV:

I woke up and saw Ben next to me on the floor. "Ben! Wake up!" I shouted as I shook him awake. When he came too; he pulled me for a big hug, I found comfort in his wrap around me. He pulled back and asked "What happened?" his eyes full of fear. "I don't know. The last thing I remember was we were by the Falcon with the kids." I replied fear seeping through me and into my bones. We immediately start looking for the kids and shouting out their names as our panic continues to skyrocket. We rush outside, lightsabers blazing, ready for the fight that may await us on the other side of the door, but we immediately stop in our tracks. Ani had her ignited lightsaber in her hands and was surrounded by Final Order member bodies. They were all dead, not one survivor. "Ani..." I say voice cracking after finally finding my ability to speak. She slowly turns around with tears in her eyes as she turns off her saber. Our surroundings are silent, only the sound of Ben and my sabers humming reaching our ears. "We did it" she whispered, breaking the silence before falling to the floor. "Ani!" Ben and I yell in unison as we run to our daughter's side. Ben lifts her up into his lap. "Ani ... what happened?" Ben asks. "We kept the balance and secured the future. Take ... a ... look ..." Ani says shakingly before passing out. "Come on let's get her home before looking for our other kids." I state before standing. When I look down though, I see Ben already searching our young ones mind. He begins to cry before completely returning his attention to me. "Yeah, let's go," Ben says before standing with Ani in his arms. Once back in the Temple Ben lays Ani on her bed. "Ben, can I speak to you in the hallway?" I ask and he nods his reply. Once in the hallway I addressed my concerns, "I worried about the kids. I want to know what happened! I want to find Hanz and Lucas so we can bring them home!" I said, leaning into him, Ben wraps his arms around me once more. "I know how you feel dear but we can't bring them home." He replied with sorrow-filled eyes. "Why the force not?!" I asked growing agitated as I pulled back to look at him.

Ben's POV:

I was dreading the news I was about to give my wife. "As you know the Final Order and The Resistance are at war. What we didn't know was the fact that our kids knew about it." I attempt to explain. "What? Why wouldn't they tell us of this?" Rey asks with the obvious hurt in her voice. "Just listen to me Rey and take all of it in. Ani had two visions. One is where we took action instead of the kids. The two orders were at war because the Final Order got a wild hair to take us out. They thought that if they could they would be able to go back to conquering galaxies again. The Resistance caught word of this and decided to try to intervene for our protection. When we got news about what was going on I went to the Final Order and you went to the Resistance to try to calm the sides down and bring balance yet again. This ended up failing, causing us to go against each other once again and only making the war worse." I summarize. "Ok, I get it that would be bad. What was her second vision?" She asks. I could see the hope in her eyes for a better outcome. "She didn't see the whole picture but after she spoke to her brothers they were able to piece everything together. In short, the only way we had a chance at winning this thing was if Hanz went to the Final Order, Lucas went to the Resistance, and if Ani stayed to guarded us from doing anything stupid." Which was the truth; I didn't see much else, fearing if I stayed in her mind too long I would cause her pain. "So you're saying we lost our children again?" She says as she begins to cry. I pull her into a tight hug and rest her head on my chest. "I'm saying we should be proud of our kids. They are using what we taught them. Keeping the balance no matter the cost." I say trying to ease her worry as I run my fingers through her soft hair.