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.
-
Rey stopped and clutched at her heart the minute she felt Anni's presence. She could feel Kai's too, but it was almost as if she had a stronger bond to her daughter. She knew that Anni wasn't as far gone as Kai.
Ben stood there and watched as Ryder helped Chewie land the ship in the snow. They were far away from the main base, far enough so that they could sneak in.
Rey turned to Ben and quickly tried to blink away her tears. She noticed he had been doing the same thing. "Here's what we do, we turn ourselves in. Ryder, Chewie, and Finn sneak inside and try to find Anni. We don't need to destroy this place yet, we just need to try and get them out of there."
Rey saw Finn walking in. "I'll take care of Ryder, I promise. Once I find Anni I'll immediately take her back to the ship. You've gotta connect with me, Rey." Finn nodded to her.
Finn was still uncomfortable around Ben, which was obvious in this moment.
"I will, don't worry. Try and contact Poe about getting information on the building of this base." Rey told Finn before watching as he took Chewie and Ryder out of the ship.
Ben stopped once he heard the three leave the ship. He looked around the falcon before shaking his head and looking outside.
"I just... I wish I knew everyone like you did sometimes." Ben said and watched as troopers we're heading towards the falcon.
"Ben, you were dead. You didn't have much of a choice. You've also come so far... I know we can do this, together." Rey told him before grabbing his hand. He smiled down at her and Rey got up on her tip toes to place a kiss on Ben's lips.
They kissed for a moment before they decided to leave the ship to turn themselves in. This was their plan in order to get to the throne room, as well as get to Alec.
-
Anni kneeled in front of Alec who was now standing up in front of her. His hand was gently placed on her shoulder.
"Your parents are coming, darling. Stand up. Show them who you've decided to become." He told her, and Anni stood up slowly. She felt her hands shaking as the two walked back towards his throne.
"Where's Kai?" Anni asked him before looking around.
"He's got some business to deal with for The Order. For now, we worry about you, dear." He said before lifting his hands up and putting her hood over her head.
Anni nodded before looking down at her hands. Suddenly, she heard the doors open. She pressed her hand on her heart before turning around to see her parents walking in.
She could almost feel their hearts dropping. She could feel the dissapointment radiating off of them, and somehow it made her angry.
"It's wonderful to see you two. I've waited for this moment for a while." Alec smirked and stood behind Anni. He gently pressed a hand on her shoulder.
Anni wanted to run. She wanted to avoid this moment. She couldn't even stand to look at her parents. She felt like everything she was doing was wrong. That's when something clicked in her.
Alec walked down to Ben and Rey who were now shoved on their knees with their hands handcuffed. Anni turned and started to walk to the side. She closed her eyes as she turned away from Alec and he parents. She stared off out of one of the windows.
"We just want our kids, Alec. That's all. We don't want any trouble." Ben told him. "We were caught by your troopers and we-"
Alec shook his head and kicked Ben in the side. Ben yelled and Alec chuckled. "You two aren't leaving here any time soon, Jedi scum."
Rey shook her head. She was mad. This man had manipulated her kids just like Ben had once been manipulated, and it made her blood boil.
"What are you going to do, kill us?" Rey asked him and furrowed her brows. "What's even the point of all this?"
"Your kids are so... Powerful." Alec growled. He got on his knees in front of the two. "If the two of them work for me they could have enough power just within themselves to wipe out half the Galaxy. The prophecy says that the children born of the two most powerful Sith in Galaxy will soon bring an end to the war. There's no fighting this anymore, soon the order will rise." Alec stood up before turning around to look at Anni.
Anni turned to look back at him. She blinked the tears out of her eyes before stepping towards him. "Yes, Master?"
Alec smirked at her and stepped closer to her. "Tell your parents, tell them what you want. How they've lied to you. How your father abandoned you-"
Ben grimaced at that statement.
"-How your mother hid your lineage from you. How does it hurt, Anni? How do you feel?" Alec asked and reached up to caress her cheek.
Anni felt hot tears fall against her cheek. Alec wiped one away. "It hurts." She muttered. She felt herself giving in. She felt as if she had no choice.
"Anni... Please." Her mother cried out. She couldn't stand to watch this. "What did he do to you? Where's your brother?"
Anni didn't respond. She wanted to block everything out. She clenched her fists at her side before closing her eyes tight. She didn't know how to get out of this. She didn't know how to find what was right.
She knew this wasn't right. She knew what Alec wanted from her but she couldn't do it. She couldn't give in to him.
She knew she could give into the darkness all she wanted, but Alec did not represent that.
A voice whispered in her ear,
You control the force, you control your destiny, not him. Not your family. Not the Jedi or the Sith. You know what you must do.
Anni recognized this voice, but she couldn't put her finger on it. Suddenly, she opened her eyes to see Kai was now in the room. His lightsaber ignited as he stood by the door.
Anni let the tears flow down her face before she looked back at Alec. She was mad, yet she still felt grounded. She wasn't out of control, she knew that.
"You don't own me. You don't own us." Anni growled before giving a glance to her parents. "Nobody does."
A/N: y'all not ready for what I've got in store