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

s. XXII

Once Kai and Rey stepped out of the throne room with Anni, they were instantly stopped by a swarm of stormtroopers and a shorter blonde man.

Kai looked at the man as a stormtrooper grabbed onto his wrists to put him in handcuffs. "Excuse me? I am your Supr-"

"Not anymore, Kai. You fled to the resistance and betrayed us. You will be kept imprisoned." The man growled before motioning for a guard to grab onto Anni.

"Take the girl to the medical bay. Rey will be taken back to Ren's quarters. Make sure she's chained to the wall like he ordered this time!" The man growled at a storm trooper.

Rey tried to get the man off of her but they were quickly taken in different places. Kai was locked up in chains in a dark and small room. Rey was kept in Ren's quarters and Anni was being healed by the medical droids.

Anni woke up a few hours after. She hopped up and noticed she wasn't were she was before. There was blood on her clothes. She winced and grabbed up at her head which still was healing. The medication they put on it would help the wound heal faster.

She noticed there wasn't anyone in the room. She tried to get up but her head was spinning too much for her to do much besides sit up. She breathed out and leaned against the hard pillow holding her up.

She didn't know where her mother or her brother were. She was really worried about Ryder as well. She was also worried about how she was going to get out of this.

Suddenly, the door opened up and Anni saw her father stepping in. If she could even call him that anymore.

He had something in his hands. Wrapped up in a blanket.

"She's hungry." He said softly before walking over to Anni. "We also found that child, Tye. He's in your quarters. We decided to leave him in a cell for the time being. There's not much to do with him." Ren reached over and handed over Laila.

Anni smiled just a little bit. She enjoyed seeing her baby girl. She reached up to adjust herself in order to feed the infant child. She noticed the dress she had on before was off. She was just wearing a low cut black long sleeve and some tight black pants.

She breathed out softly as Laila started feeding off of her. She then looked back up and over at her father.

"Are you going to lock me up too?" Anni asked him quietly. She watched his hard expression fade as Ren shook his head.

"I wouldn't do that to you." He told her.

"Yet you'd hurt Ryder? Yet you'd fight Kai?" She questioned his answer. She didn't believe much of what he was saying.

"An, for now, we need to keep you here. Most of the resistance members are dead. Slaughtered. There's not much left for you to run to, yet you all still want to run away." He said as he sat by her medical bed.

She looked down at her baby. "Are you trying to tell me I have no choice than to join the dark side? Work for this... Order... I don't want that."

"It's in your blood." He said angrily suddenly. "You got a taste of it, An. So did Kai. The only reason he came back was because you were falling to the light. You were stupid to go with your mother. Your mother doesn't know the dark side like I do." He said and shook his head. "She will know it soon."

Anni quickly shook her head. "No. No." She went to sit up more but the baby squealed in her arms. "Don't touch her."

Ren shook his head before standing up. He turned back to her. "I'm not the one that'll be hurting her."

Anni furrowed her brows. She felt the baby was done feeding so she pulled the baby from her. She then covered herself up again. A few guards suddenly came into the room. Then, a few stormtroopers pushed someone in.

Ren reached over to grab Laila. He then stepped to the side as someone looked up at her.

It was Ryder. She felt tears instantly prick her eyes. "No... No." She got up and went to the edge of her bed. Two guards reached over and grabbed onto her arms to keep her on the bed.

"Anni..." Ryder couldn't help but smile as soon as he saw her. "I am so sorry..." He muttered.

"You didn't do anything, love!" Anni argued. "I'm the one that should be sorry i-"

"I tried so hard..." He was gasping for air. He barely had anything left in him. His life was running out.

"He's holding you to the light. You know that." Ren suddenly spoke up. "You need to kill him." Ren growled. Anni shivered before quickly shaking her head.

"No! Never!" She screamed and tried to move from the two stormtroopers holding her down.

"An, please..." Ryder suddenly said. "I can't.. I can't do this anymore." He croaked out. His throat was tightening. His breathing kept getting worse.

"We injected him with something that will kill him slowly." Ren said and looked over at Anni. "Kill the light. It's useless to you now. There is no more resistance. There is no more droid fixing bullshit on Tatooine! You are powerful and you have to make this choice!" He yelled.

Suddenly, Ryder started to roll around screaming in pain. He was pushing against the guards holding him. He was screaming so loud, it was as if he thought his skin was burning.

"Do it."

Anni stared down at Ryder. His screams filled her mind. She couldn't hear anything and after a few seconds there was no sound. Tears were dripping down her tears and she pulled a hand up out one of the guards grip. She reached her hand out in a cupped position and watched as Ryder was picked up in the air by the invisible force. He was still screaming, she knew that. Though, all she could hear was a heart beat.

Tha-thump...

Tha-thump...

Thump...

Th...

It stopped.

Anni sat and watched as the body before her became limp. Her eyes and face were puffy and red. She felt nothing. She didn't wanna do that, but it was almost like someone made her do it.

Maybe it was because she knew he was going to die anyways. At least she put him out of his misery. The guards next to her pulled away as he hearing came back. She turned to see Ren was walking towards her.

"See, you've killed your light. It's not long until everyone else makes the same choice as you." Ren reached up and pulled a hair from her face. He had given Laila off to be put down to sleep.

"I didn't want to." She said honestly as she reached up to rub her cheeks.

"Yes, you did. Why would you even love someone who isn't like you, An. He's nothing. He's some stupid pilot."

"Dad, I know this isn't you speaking. Don't think this choice means I'll do anything you want." She said as she looked straight into his eyes.

"We'll see." He said before turning around. "You'll see your mother and brother later. You need to rest more." He said and turned to a guard. "Keep a watch on her. I have business to attend to."

Then, just like that. He was gone. Anni sat there and watched as some stormtroopers took out Ryder's lifeless body.

She felt her eyes water more. She felt horrible.

How could she have done that? Was she really the monster her father told her she was?

What ever happened to the father she loved? Ben? What happened to him? The man who trained her the most and taught her more about the force than she ever dreamed she could learn.

Who was Kylo Ren really? Why was he so different from Ben, and why did he have to be awakened?

Anni now believed she was a monster like her father. She truly did. Why else would she do that?

Maybe she was more connected to the dark side. Maybe there was no grey area of the force.

It called to her now... And she couldn't ignore it.