Luke's P.O.V.
... She is still standing after all this time and picking up the pieces of this fallen world, just as I did before her.
Smiling at the sight in front of me, I let out a thin breath while remembering how I was at Evangeline's age. Back in the day, I had the galaxy on my shoulders, kept my head high through all my struggles, let the force guide me on the right path, and trusted in my friends. Which is what I see Evangeline doing at this very moment and I can't be prouder of her.
Standing off to the side on a hangar at the Resistance base, I watch everyone come together and celebrate today's victory. After rescuing Poe, Rey and Eva in the arena, the Resistance ships destroyed half of the cloning base before retreating. Good men and women died today to save a Commander, a Padawan, and a Jedi Knight, along with damaging the First Order's cloning facility.
All of which deserve to be celebrated and honored.
Yards away from me in the hangar is a group of friends with hope radiating around them like a burning star. Though the hangar is full and stuffed with people, the group in the center shines the brightest to me. I can't take my eyes off the band of friends from feeling as if I'm looking at a memory of me and my friends.
Rey and Finn are hugging and shoving one another while leaking laughs that echo through the hanger. Beside them are BB-8 and R2-D2, both of them are swinging side to side as if they're dancing. Grogu is clapping his hands at the two dancing droids and chuckling as if it can't get any better than this.
... And then there is Poe and Eva.
Poe has a million credit smile on his lips as he sweeps Eva off her feet. I can faintly hear her giggling at him with a rare genuine smile that I haven't seen in a long time. The two are close beside Grogu and the droids, but it's as if nothing can pull their attention away from one another.
The commander has one arm wrapped around Eva's thighs with the other arm around her waist. He spins her around in the air while holding her against his chest and he peppers kisses all over her jaw in pure happiness that they are both alive. The Jedi is holding onto Poe's shoulders while taking in the affection without an ounce of fight in her.
The group reminds me so much of...
"Looks like the good old days..." I suddenly hear Han's voice from beside me. "Doesn't it?"
Forcing my gaze off of the young group of kids, I find Han walking towards me with Leia and Chewie. Han has one arm slung around my sister's shoulders as Chewie stands beside them. As the three of them come up to me, my smile widens at the sight of all of us together again.
"Yeah." I sigh and nod my head once to Han before peering back over at Evangeline's friends. The three of them come to stand on either side of me as I whisper in appreciation and to no one in particular. "It does."
"Like it should be."
Leia hums out with a smirk while glancing around at Chewie, Han, and me. We've all just come back from escaping the First Order and there is much to be done, but none of us wants to leave this feeling we haven't felt in years. It's been so long since the four of us were together and no one wants to be the first to break apart.
The four of us watch the kids celebrating with each other in the distance like it's a sight for sore eyes. Han's smirking at the group while Leia is grinning from ear to ear and Chewie is chuckling at the scene. With a crooked smile, I glance at my family and get the sudden feeling this is a turning point for everyone.
We're all together again and I don't see anything changing that anytime soon. I sense from this day forth, we're going to stick together for the sake of the galaxy, for the sake of Eva and her friends. Evangeline is the reason we're all together now and she will be the reason we stay together.
All we're missing now is Lando Calrissian.
As if he read my mind, Chewie roars out about Lando and where he is right now. Han raises a curious eyebrow from also wanting to know about his old friend's whereabouts. Glancing at our group, I then notice a smug smirk forming on Leia's lips, like she knows exactly where our old friend is at this exact moment.
"Lando's around... Don't worry. You know how he is." Leia answers Chewie while tilting her head proudly. "Would you like me to call him in? For old times' sake?"
Han smirks at her words before glancing around us with a glint in his eyes. Letting out an amused breath, I face over to the group of kids yards away from us. I see Poe set Eva back down on her feet just as Finn, Rey and Grogu move to face the couple.
The group is chatting away with one another while wearing bright, wide smiles. They're looking back and forth from one another as if they don't know where to look first. Sucking in a breath and simply marveling at the thrown together team, I see Eva notice me in the distance with the corner of her eye.
Evangeline then turns to completely face me and we meet one another's gaze through the hangar. Her golden upbeat smile lowers slowly while staring at me in the distance, as if she's suddenly remembers something. When her expression becomes stiff and her smile turns into a thin line, she snaps her head and eyes away from me to say something to the group.
Poe nods to whatever she's saying before kissing the side of her forehead and rubbing her lower back. Leaving the commander's grasp, Eva spins away from her friends and strides toward me with a crossed expression. Frowning at her sudden change of mood, I take a cautious step in her direction.
She pushes through the crowd of celebrating resistance soldiers to reach me and I can't help wander to her in alarm. How can her aura change so abruptly from one look at me? When we come to meet one another in the middle, we're both wearing matching concerned expressions.
"Uncle..." Eva murmurs in a heavy tone like the thoughts in her mind cannot wait another second. "I must speak with you and every remaining Jedi... Alone."
Eva's P.O.V.
"Are you sure?"
Ashoka speaks up after I explained what I saw on the First Order base in Baocarro. Nodding my head seriously, I glance around at what is left of the Jedi Order before setting up and revealing a hologram. Grogu takes in a deep breath at the sight he sees before darting his gaze over to me.
Everyone left of the Jedi Order is sitting around a wide, round table in a battle plan room at the Resistance base. Luke and Leia sit on one side of the table, while Ahsoka and Rey sit on the other side. Grogu sits on the opposite side of where I'm standing at the table while R2-D2 and C-3PO stand off to the side of the room.
... This may as well be the Jedi Council and half of us aren't even Jedi Masters.
"I know what I saw." I declare while leaning on the table with one hand and pointing at the hologram with my other hand. Clenching my jaw and trying not to show how much this is worrying me, I announce with a short tone of certainty. "They're looking for them... All of them. All four of the Great Crystals Of Aantonaii."
After returning to the Resistance base alive, I barely celebrated our victory before remembering what I saw when searching for Poe. The second my eyes met my uncle in the hangar, I realized that this war was far from over and my brother wants more than a clone army to control the galaxy. He wants the power of all four Great Crystals Of Aantonaii, which is something no one has ever seen before.
"Kylo Ren intends to find all four of them and use them to his benefit. I don't know how many he has already found or if he has even found any yet." I confess while walking around the table and pointing at the hologram that shows images of the crystals bred from the Sith. Glancing around to the last Jedi Knights in the galaxy, I state honestly from knowing this is a problem we cannot afford to ignore. "We have to find them before the First Order does. Destroy them, if possible."
I know little about the Great Crystals Of Aantonaii since there is little to no information about them. However, the Jedi Order my grandfather once served believed they were a dark energy source. I can remember reading about them as a kid with my brother and the biggest fear we read about them is what they could all do when together.
... And I know that is what my brother wants to do. Put them together as one.
"What would happen if the First Order finds all of them?" Rey speaks up curiously while glancing at my mother and uncle. Shaking my head slowly, I admit while studying the hologram. "I'm not sure... Though, I know it would be catastrophic if all four came together as one, and I know that is what Kylo is hoping to achieve-"
"I know what would happen." Grogu interrupts me with a heavy expression as his hand cautiously rubs his chin. Peering at everyone at the table, his gaze then lands on me as he confesses in misery. "Know what they are, I do... And only one way to destroy them."
"You do?" Ashoka blurts out in surprise while glancing from him to the hologram. "I don't even know what their purpose is in the dark side of the force. Grogu, how do you know?"
"A story for another time, that is. Learned of their worth during a time before meeting any of you."
Grogu sighs as if he doesn't have the words or the memory to explain how he knows about the crystals. Everyone at the table then stares at him, waiting for him to reveal what he knows of these Sith crystals. Though, his eyes stay rested on me and I can see in his expression he's thinking deeply about the situation at hand.
Frowning at him when he has yet to say anything more, I watch as emotions change and drift through his expression. His gaze never leaves me as his expression shifts from fear to pain and I suddenly grow restless for him to just spit it out. Grogu is holding back from speaking for a reason; whatever he knows about the Great Crystals Of Aantonaii is something he doesn't wish to share with everyone.
"Grogu." I speak up in a tone while offering him a pleading look. "Say it."
"The crystals contain a massive energy... In the hands of the dark side, it could power ships... Weapons... And more. Though only if a dark lord possesses all four. With all four... Have the capacity to command another Empire, they would."
Grogu explains slowly while thinking thoughtfully about every word he's speaking to us, as if not to reveal too much, but just enough. Sucking in a shallow breath, I understand this would be a turning point for the First Order and how easy it would be for them to build a Starkiller Base if they have all four crystals. Nodding his head once with an intense gaze, Luke questions in a knowing but hopeful tone.
"Alright. You said there's a way to destroy them... How?"
"Only one way, there is. All four crystals must be together."
Grogu murmurs before rubbing his forehead as if he doesn't want to explain any further of how to destroy them. He glances at his hands for a moment and clenches his jaw as if he knows he has to say more. I feel my heart pounding in my chest without my consent from knowing whatever he says next is the reason to the fear and pain lingering in his force.
"For a Sith to use all four, they must go to Exegol and bleed the crystals with the core of their hate... With the root of their angry. Only then will all four crystals combine and become one active source of power."
Grogu confesses while moving his conflicted eyes back up to meet mine. We stare at one another without blinking from across the table and I sense regret in his surrounding force. Letting out a shaky breath, he mutters in a faint tone, as if he doesn't want me to hear it.
"The reason for the hate and anger must destroy it, nothing else... No one else can destroy it. When the Great Crystals Of Aantonaii break, they will burst with the influence of the dark side... With energy like the sun and stars. Nothing surrounding the crystals could survive the explosion."
My heart drops to my stomach and my knees suddenly want to give out from understanding why Grogu didn't want to tell us how to destroy it, why he didn't want to tell me. If Kylo Ren bleeds the crystals, it will be with his core anger and hate for me. I will have to be the one who dismantles it and if I destroy it, I will be there when the crystals erupt with the energy it contains.
The act would take my life.
Letting out a shattering long breath, I rest a hand on my stomach and turn away from the table to have my back facing everyone. I attempt to calm my heart and mind, but all I can think about is how this will all end with my death. The Sith made the Great Crystals Of Aantonaii in such a way that no matter the outcome, someone will pay for their pain and suffering.
The only way to destroy the Great Crystals Of Aantonaii is with my life... I will have to die.
Closing my eyes, I feel the need to scream on the top of my lungs at how I can never escape. It doesn't matter that I hid for seven years, that I trained with a lightsaber and with the force my whole life. I'm going to die at the hands of my twin brother one way or another. I can never rest as long as both me and my brother are alive.
"Evangeline... Eva..."
I hear my mother stutters out as if she knows what is going through my head. Listening to her get out of her seat, I raise a hand to stop her from walking towards me. Shaking my head while keeping my back to everyone, I let out a strangled cough, hoping it will hide my emotions.
Clenching my jaw with my eyes shut, I suck in a shallow breath of air and force myself to bury the thought of my evident death in the back of my mind. Letting go of what the crystals mean for me, I focus on what we should do next to prevent the First Order from having an energy such as this. Thinking about anything other than myself, I finally feel my heart calming down and my mind becomes relaxed again.
"We must find the Crystals Of Aantonaii before the First Order does." I declare while masking my tone and turning to face everyone again. Nodding once, as if to get my head on straight, I submit to no one in particular. "I will lead the expedition to hunt them down."
"I will go with you, Eva. I'll help you find them." Rey blurts out instantly while standing up from her seat. Humming gently, Ashoka tilts her head and agrees with a tight expression. "So will I... But you both must finish your training."
"They will. They shall do both." Grogu announces before correcting himself with a determined gaze. "We shall do both."
My expression softens when hearing Ahsoka, Grogu and Rey agreeing to help me in finding the crystals. They all stare at me in understanding while Luke and Leia study me with anxiety about what may happen down the road. None of us say it out loud, but we all understand what will happen if we allow the First Order to obtain all four crystals.
Gulping as tension fills the room, I try to ignore the fate I have because of my twin brother. I should have killed him when I had the chance. Why didn't I? No one dares to speak more about the future of the crystals from knowing it will only end with me.
My thoughts are spinning with the realization of my fate, but I continue to hold back from acting on them and instead, focus on the Rebellion and Republic. I must push down what I know will happen to me for the sake of the galaxy's future and not dwell on what will become of me when all is said and done. The second I think of the galaxy's future, something dawns on me and my heart skips a beat in heartache.
... Poe.
"I wish for us to not tell anyone outside of this room how to destroy the Crystals Of Aantonaii." I say without thinking twice about it while glancing at everyone around the table. Thinking of Poe freaking Dameron, I claim with no room to argue about it. "The only people who will know how to destroy the crystals will be us. Understand? Let us not speak of it again."
Ashoka stares at me in confusion but nods in agreement with my demand. Grogu huffs while looking at me as if he knows why I'm asking this of them before tipping his head. Rey smiles at me like she respects my decision on keeping this knowledge to ourselves and knows the rest of this council will too.
My mother stares at me carefully, as if she doesn't enjoy hiding this insight from the people outside of this council, but rocks her head in compliance. Luke studies me with sad eyes as if he knows I've already accepted my fate and now I'm just taking precaution for when the time comes and I must die. Rubbing his jaw and peering away from me, my uncle declares like he will not dare deny my wishes.
"Alright. This stays between us."
"Thank you."
"He deserves to know, Eva." Leia whispers in a heartbreaking tone. "You have to tell him."
I shake my head immediately and glance away from her as my mind fills with thoughts of Poe. He has so much hope for the future; he truly is a wide-eyed pilot and I will not kill his belief of us making it out of this war alive. Poe Dameron has hope like my mother, and I won't have my fate crush the pure hope he has.
He'll be better off not knowing.
Pursing my lips and coming to terms with everything, I meet everyone's eyes one more time. They all watch me with no expression the same while waiting for me to say something more about what has transpired here. Though I don't, and instead, I simply turn around and leave this meeting with what I consider as the Jedi Council.