Guys, I just wanted to thank everyone who has read this story. I never imagined my story would get 100 favorites and followers. I am so happy and proud.
Thank you all :)
Chapter 168
Everything was messy and loud. Everyone was screaming in horror. They were either frozen in shock or running to get a weapon to defend everyone.
Laetitia turned around to get a look of everyone around her. Luke, Han, Chewie, Ahsoka, Lux, Mina, Rex and ... Thexan. They were all there and alright ... as much as they could be.
"How the hell did the find us? I thought we were monitoring them!" Han asked angrily.
"Our spies didn't mention anything of an attack! We thought it was weird that it was a bit too quiet, but ..." Ahsoka tried to say, but Leah cut her off.
"It doesn't matter now! What we should focus on is getting out of here. We're not prepared to take them on now by ourselves!"
"You're saying we'll run?" Han asked.
"If that'll save our people, yes. We don't have time to be proud right now." Thexan answered for her.
Leah couldn't believe how things turned around in a minute. Two minutes ago, she was happily married. Now, she was being hunted by her father!
"Han, you and Chewie get to the Falcon. We need to take off as soon as possible. Luke and Rex, you guys find as many people as you can. We're not leaving anyone behind. Lux, you just go with Han and get Mina to safety. She should be the first one to go." Leah ordered.
"But I can stay here, auntie Lee!" Mina protested.
Leah just put her hand on her niece's shoulder to calm her down. Now wasn't the time for her to be in the battlefield for the first time.
"Another time, Mini." She promised her.
"What about you, me and Thexan? Where do you want us?" Ahsoka asked.
"You and I are getting the data in the Command Center and in my room. BB-8 and R-2 will back everything up."
Ahsoka nodded in agreement.
"Come one, buddies! We've got information to back up!" She ordered them as they ran with her.
Everyone was divided as they went on their own ways to do what they were told. Leah and Thexan were alone together for a moment.
"He's here." Leah quietly said.
"They both are." Thexan corrected her.
It was no question how they could've missed something like this ... Not when Arcann and Darth Vader were involved. They were too smart and powerful for their own good.
"You need to get out of here." He suddenly told her.
Leah almost jumped out of surprise as if she had been slapped across the face.
"Excuse me?"
"Your obsessive dad and my lunatic brother are here. They want me, but ... not as much as they want you."
"So you're gonna give yourself up for me? No way, Thexan. I'm not letting you sacrifice yourself for me." She strongly said.
"Hey, believe it or not, I do want to live. I'm not gonna give myself up." He promised.
"Not without a fight, anyway." He finished his sentence in his mind.
"Then where are you going?"
"To give you guys enough time to do what you're supposed to do. The non-Force-sensitive Rebels are no match for our too-powerful family. I'll go and hold them up while you guys get the data and everyone to the Falcon. I'll see you there."
"But ..."
"Can you, for once, not 'but' me and just do what I ask you to do?" He asked desperately.
Leah pressed her lips together and didn't say anything. She knew he was right ... That was why she was willing to let him go.
"Thexan ..." She called after him when he started to walk away.
He turned around and faced his wife. The look on her face took away his breath.
He knew what she was worried about. It was the vision Luke had of his death. And it was the perfect timing and everything. Arcann was here with Darth Vader on their wedding day to kill both of them.
Leah just grabbed his arm tightly as she forced herself to not let the tears fall. She knew that if she let go of that hand ... she might never see him again.
Thexan smiled warmly as he held her closer and kissed her. It was a desperate kiss ... like a goodbye.
"I love you." He quietly said as he held his head against hers.
"I'll say it back when I see you back on the Falcon." She challenged him to definitely come back.
Thexan smiled as he slowly let her go.
"I'll see you again ... I promise." Was the last thing he said before they both went on their way to do what was right.
Once he said goodbye to Laetitia, who was now his wife, Thexan ran towards the line of fire to stop his brother and Master.
Father-in-law. Argh! Our kids are gonna have hell of a family!
He just ran and ran to find his crazy family. They needed to be stopped, and he was the only one who could do it. He knew he made a promise to Leah, but ... he couldn't leave the others behind and let them die. Leah knew that and loved him for it.
He stopped when he saw a man with a mask in white royal robes. It was Arcann ... He looked even more unrecognizable since the last time he'd seen him. He was killing everyone on his way.
"Arcann, enough!" Thexan shouted to stop his brother.
Arcann didn't turn around and just scowled under his breath. He finished killing the Rebel he was toying with and faced his brother. He was truly angry. Thexan had never seen him angrier than that.
"I won't just watch as you destroy my home." He strongly said.
Arcann laughed in ridiculousness of what his brother just said. How could one person just change like that?
"Your 'home'? Force, you're even more pathetic than I thought!" He stated in disappointment and anger.
"Do you even realize what she put me through?" He asked.
Thexan's face was emotionless. He knew that his brother and wife hated each other, both for good reasons. But no matter how much he loved Arcann, he wouldn't let him talk bad about his wife.
"What happened to you wasn't her fault. The blame starts and end with father! He wanted her to do that to you, so you would turn into a monster." Thexan stated.
"You even sound like her."
"He's made weapons of us both. She helped me break free of him. You're my brother. Let me help you break free of him. Of yourself!" He begged his brother.
Despite everything that had happened between all of them, Arcann was his twin brother, his family ... He loved him.
"I don't your help!" Arcann shouted in rage.
He ignited his red lightsaber to fight his own brother. Thexan had no choice but to defend himself. He just activated his own lightsaber and fought against his brother.
"Why are you doing this, Thex? That bitch turned you against us!" Arcann shouted between the blows.
"No, she didn't. She made me see the truth." Thexan calmly replied as he had no choice but to go along with his blind brother.
It was inevitable. They both had seen something like this happen in time. They were on two sides of a bloody war.
Red vs. Gold ...
While Thexan and Arcann were fighting, Laetitia was waiting outside the Millennium Falcon. Everyone had done what she asked them to do. They were all ready to leave ... Except Thexan wasn't there.
She didn't know what to do. She didn't want to leave her husband behind, but what were her other options? Just stand aside as Darth Vader and Arcann murdered the people she could save?
The thing was, she could save them ... She just couldn't save the one life she wanted to protect the most. She was on the crossroads. One lead to saving her husband, and the other to saving everyone.
What should she do? What could she do?
She had no idea how to choose the next step, but she did know one thing. No matter which one she chose to save, she would lose the other.
If she saved Thexan, thousand others would die brutally or wished they had. Thexan and Laetitia would both blame themselves, and maybe, they would even start hating each other. Because she made a decision for both of them.
On the other hand, if she decided to leave Thexan behind, all the Rebels she was supposed to protect would be protected. She would do her duty as the Leader of the Rebellion ... but not as a wife.
What kind of a wife would leave her husband behind on their wedding day?
"Promise me that if a time comes that you have to choose to be a Jedi or a wife, you'll choose being the Jedi. You can live without me. But the Galaxy can't live without you. If you choose me and let everyone else die, you won't be able to live with yourself. I'm just one person. I may mean the world to you but ... my life isn't worth everyone else'. So if it comes to me and everyone else ... you leave me."
Lea couldn't see clearly because of the tears in her eyes. She knew he was right. He knew her better than she knew herself. If she let everyone else die to save Thexan, she would drown in her own guilt. That ... she couldn't fight.
She closed her eyes and just let herself cry for only a second. It hurt so much that she had made her decision.
"I'm sorry." She moaned quietly to Thexan who wasn't there.
She just walked crying to the Falcon to take off and save everyone.
Meanwhile, in the Millennium Falcon, everyone was waiting for Laetitia to make her decision. They all had done as Leah asked and were ready to go. The only thing was that Thexan wasn't there.
Ashoka, Rex, Luke and Han were just watching Leah struggle to make a decision. Neither of them wanted to even suggest to leave Thexan behind. He was their friend, and Leah's husband. How could they even bring themselves to ...?
"We're running out of time." Rex stated quietly.
"He'll be here." Luke nervously said as he paced around. He was mostly trying to convince himself.
"I hate to be the one who even says this ..." Han tried to say, but Luke gave him a death glare.
"Then don't!"
"We have to go. Like Grandpa said, we don't have time. One versus the others. We shouldn't even debate on it." He finished his sentence despite the hate he received.
"Yeah, but that 'one' means the world to her. We can't ask her to leave her husband behind. I wouldn't want anyone to tell me that if it were Lux." Ahsoka said.
She also thought that they should leave ... But how could she say that to Leah? She, herself, knew that if it was up to her, she wouldn't be able to make the right decision.
Suddenly, Laetitia started walking to the Falcon. She got on the ship and started closing the doors to get ready for take off.
"Han, go to the cockpit. Get ready to take off." She ordered as she busied herself with closing the doors.
She wasn't even trying to hide her tears. She didn't care if that made her weak or something. She just cared about what she was doing, which was right for everyone ... but herself.
"You sure?" Han asked.
"Take off NOW!" She cried out, begging him to stop arguing with her.
Han didn't say anything. He knew that she was already making a hard decision. She didn't need him to make it harder.
"You got it, Princess." Was all he said before he ran to get everyone out of here ... except Thexan.
Thexan and Arcann were now in the Command Center of the Rebel Base. They didn't even notice where they were going as they were only focused on fighting each other.
Well, Arcann was focused of fighting Thexan. Thexan was just dodging his deadly strikes and defended himself. He didn't want to hurt or kill his brother. No matter how much he hated him, how much he had tortured Laetitia, how much she hated him ... he was and would always be his brother.
He Force-pushed Arcann away and knocked him down against the wall. He needed to take a break. He stopped fighting him when he felt something in the Force.
Leah ... was gone. They all were. She, Ahsoka, Lux, Mina, Rex, Luke, Han, Chewie, Senya and thousand other innocent Rebels were no longer in the Base. They had left and saved themselves.
Thexan sighed out of relief when he felt that. The thought of them leaving him behind didn't even cross his mind. Did that matter? They saved everyone else.
That's my girl.
He could only imagine what Leah was going through at the moment. She had left him behind ... as she promised. She respected what he asked her to do. No one else would have done the same.
Before Thexan could get out of his thoughts, he was suddenly Force-pushed against the computers. He could no longer reach his lightsaber as another red lightsaber was burning his neck.
It was Darth Vader. His Master ... his father-in-law.
"Sorry, brother." Arcann panted as he got up and walked to Thexan.
"Father wants a word."
Done :(
