Chapter 16

Jackson & Zara Phoenix, Harvey Lewis - Queenstown, New Zealand

Jackson was fixing his shirt as Zara did his tie while Harvey helped him with his coat. He's getting married to the woman that he fell in love with, a few years after they moved to New Zealand. 

"Looking sharp, cousin," smiles Zara as she brushes a few dust on the coat.

"Can't believe our brooding cousin got married first than us," laughed Harvey while Jackson glared at him.

"That's because you have a perverted brain," replied Jackson looking at himself in the mirror before glancing at his cousins, "You two looked dashing as well,".

Zara was wearing a dark green long dress while Harvey in a dark blue tuxedo. Harvey was Jackson's best man while Zara was a bridesmaid. They were going to do the wedding in a small chapel since the bride, Amelia who lives with her single father only invited a few of her close family members and no cameras were allowed except for their trusted photographer that they hired. It took months until finally the cousins trusted Amelia and explained to her what happened back in England, and Amelia understood everything and accepted Jackson no matter what. 

They had a lot of challenges for the past seven years. Had to move around in several locations when they started to see some suspicious looking people. After they left France, they stayed in Milan for a few days before they moved to Switzerland where they emptied their bank accounts there. That's when Harvey saw Jake who was sipping coffee outside a café and he finally alerted his cousins. They drove to Germany and stayed a night in Black Forest until they reached Munich.

They were debating whether staying in Germany would be wise or not until few months later, Zara who had dyed her hair blonde and wearing a sunglasses, saw Theseus, Jake, and Matt walking inside the hotel next to the restaurant where she work as a waitress made her rushed home and alerted both Harvey and Jackson. They quickly packed their stuff and drove to the airport where they took a flight to South Africa since that's the only flight that took off an hour after they arrived at the airport. 

After a few weeks living in Cape Town, Jackson finally decided that they should move far away from Europe for the safety of Zara. They changed their identities again with the help of a trusted friend and bought three one way tickets to New Zealand and after making sure in their new appearance that the security cameras wouldn't recognize their true identities, they finally flew to 'Middle Earth' and prayed that their plan would work.. And it did..

 Seven years later, they were now standing in a white chapel, in a small town about a few miles from Queenstown, where soon Jackson will be wed. Three of them had changed their names where Jackson was known as William Jones and worked as mechanic in a garage, Harvey as Mateo King and works as a bungee jumping instructor, while Zara as Kaia King, acts as Mateo's younger sister and works as a mechanical engineer in Arrowtown.

"Do you, William Tyler Jones, take Amelia Nora Trotter as your lawfully wedded wife, to have and to hold, in sickness and in health, in good times and woe, for richer or poorer, keeping yourself solely unto her for as long as you both shall live?," said the pastor.

"I do," Jackson smiled looking at his bride. 

"Do you, Amelia Nora Trotter, take William Tyler Jones, as your lawfully wedded husband, to have and to hold, in sickness and health, to love, in good times and woe, for richer or poorer, keeping yourself solely unto him for as long as you both shall live?," asked the pastor again looking at Amelia.

"I do," replied Amelia as she smiled back lovingly at Jackson.

"With the power rested in me, I announce to you man and wife. You may kiss the bride," beamed the pastor.

Jackson pulled his wife into a deep kiss with the sound of whooping from Harvey making Amelia's father laugh and few of her cousins giggling, there were tears streaming down Zara's face as she smiled proudly at her cousin. The wedding receptions took place in Zara and Harvey's house, not far from Jackson and Amelia's home which is only a few streets away. They made a toast for the beautiful couple and danced, with Harvey keeping changing dance partners with few of Amelia's cousins.

"You were quiet," said Jackson as he took a seat next to Zara, watching his wife dancing with her father. 

"Just thinking about the others," replied Zara, "Wish they were here in this wedding,".

"Yeah.. Me too," said Jackson, putting an arm around his cousin, "But I'm still glad that you guys are here. You know you're like my little sister too, I still keep that picture that your dad took when you were a baby and I was holding you,".

"You still have that?," Zara looked at him bewildered, "I might want to see it again you know,".

"I'll show it to you someday," said Jackson with a chuckle.

He suddenly frowned as he looked across the dance floor at Harvey who had stopped dancing and looking at his phone. He quickly looked over at his two cousins and walked towards them.

"What is it?," asked Zara looking worried, "It's not them, right? It's been seven years..,".

"I don't think so.. Look," said Harvey as he held up his phone to show it to his cousins.

"Empire Strikes Back," Jackson read, "What does that mean?,". 

"Well I'm sure it's not from Captain America," replied Harvey and suddenly his phone vibrated again, "There's another one,".

Both Jackson and Zara stood up looking at the messages: There was an ID for Zoom Conference call, time and date following their time zone, and a picture of Obi-Wan Kenobi. Three of them stared at each other. 

"I have a bad feeling about this," said Zara quietly.

====================================================================

Zoom Conference Call Few Days Later - New Zealand, China, India, Jordan, Spain, USA

Dylan, Megan, and Ben wait patiently in front of the laptop in the living room. Dylan had just put his children to sleep and was now sitting next to his wife on the sofa with Ben on the floor in front of him. There was a blink in the screen and a small black square appeared on the left of the screen. At once, Sienna's face came into view with Ezra next to her and Sam on the other side. Ezra was cradling Rey on his lap, trying to quieten her down as she chatted away.

"Master Kenobi, this is Padme Amidala.. Can you see us?," said Sienna, adjusting the camera on her laptop and waving, "Because we can see you,". 

"Loud and clear, Senator Amidala," Megan squealed and waved back, "Oh my God!! I miss you guys so much!!,".

There were tears and screaming of happiness as they both exchanged words when suddenly there was another blink and a voice joined them from another blank square that appeared on the top right side of the screen. 

"Err.. Can anyone see us?," Leon's voice was heard, "Hello.. This is Commander Poe Dameron, requesting a conference call,".

"Dameron, you have to enable your camera," said Sienna.

"Padme, is that you? Hold on," said Leon excitedly and finally the camera was enabled and both sides could see the trio from India.

"Awww.. Our little brother has grown up," said Dylan, beaming proudly looking at Leon.

"Anakin, is that your daughter?," asked Leon, addressing the codename to Ezra as Raven adjusted the camera properly.

"Yep.. Meet Rey," said Ezra holding his daughter, "Come on Rey, say hello to your uncles and aunts,".

Rey gave them a shy wave in the camera. Then there was another blink and another black square appeared under Ezra, revealing Steven and Shane.

"This is Mandalorian, ready for another rescue mission," Steven grinned.

"My baby brother," Megan starts to weep, "Look at you,".

"What's up, big sis," said Steven, waving at his sister, "Where's my Kung Fu warriors?,".

"They're sleeping.. Oh, I've missed you, wǒ de lóng zhànshì," said Megan wiping the tears in her eyes. (My dragon warrior) 

"Miss you too, Gōngfū gāoshǒu," smiled Steven. (Kung Fu master) 

There was another blink and seconds later, there were voices quarrelling in Arabic coming from another black square that appeared from the bottom right. 

"Solo? Is that you?," asked Dylan.

There was silence from the other side.

"Obi-Wan? Holy shit.. Hang on, I'm adjusting the camera," Theo's voice came next.

Few seconds later, the square box lit up and the grinning face of Theo Phoenix came into view, sitting between Meera and Miranda who were squealing with delight when they saw everyone in the conference. 

"My God.. You guys still look the same, although you're a bit plumpy, Obi-Wan," Theo teased his older brother.

"Oh, fuck off," said Dylan, "What's with the scarf on your head, anyway?,".

"It's called Kufiyah, we're celebrating Eid today," replied Theo. 

"Looks cool on you, brother," said Leon looking closely on the screen.

"I'll buy one for you, baby bro," smiles Theo. 

There was another blink and a blank square box appeared in the middle revealing Harvey and Jackson. 

"Hola gente maravillosa, Kylo Ren informando desde Star Destroyer," grinned Harvey. (Hello, wonderful people, Kylo Ren reporting from Star Destroyer) 

"Supreme Leader Snoke, reporting for duty," said Jackson.

"Where's General Hux?," Dylan frowned looking for his sister.

There was a sound of scrambling as Zara ran inside the living room and wedged herself between her two cousins and adjusted the camera. 

"I'm here.. I'm here!!," she yelled, "Move over!!,".

"Oh damn it," Harvey groaned and moved himself to give more space to Zara. 

Tears started to fill in her eyes as she realized her entire family was there on the screen. 

"I missed you guys..," she started to bawl, "And I'm an aunt now. Oh.. And Snoke just got married,". 

There was a yell of congratulations and Jackson beamed at them, promising to introduce his wife one day.

"Rose Tico!! What is that on your finger?," Zara suddenly gasped looking at Raven's finger which was accidentally shown on the screen.

"Poe proposed to me three days ago," raised her ring finger and at once the girls shrieked in happiness while the men whooped and there was a yelling of congratulations inside the conference. 

"Yeah, and I'm the wedding planner though," said Karan as he pat Adhira to sleep.

"Chewbacca here's already starting to plan everything, even the food," said Leon.

"And we want all of you to be here," said Raven earnestly, "I mean, everything's quiet now, right?,".

All of them had focused on Dylan's screen. 

"That's why we're holding this conference," Dylan sighed. 

"What's going on, Obi-Wan?," asked Ezra quietly.

"We might have a chance to go back to England," replied Dylan.

"For real?," whispered Leon.

"What's the catch?," asked Zara.

"Always feared the worst aren't we?," said Ben. 

"Duh..," said everyone, making them laugh together. 

Dylan cleared his throat making everybody go quiet.

"We have to help the INTERPOL take down a gang from Italy," said Dylan, "And they will help arrest the Hunters and we can go back safely,".

"Bloody hell," said Theo, "They can do that?,".

"Hang on.. What's the name of the gang?," asked Sienna.

"Il Macellaio," replied Dylan. 

There was a typing sound as Sienna began to search on the laptop, she raised her eyebrows and shared her screen in the conference.

"Are you fucking kidding me?," said Sienna, "This is the gang that murdered an MP in Italy and got away with it, not to mention it has a reputation of human trafficking and drugs smuggling,".

"They're twice bigger than the Hunters," said Shane looking at the information.

"We're outnumbered, cousin," said Jackson, "We're going to get killed,".

"We'll have help from the INTERPOL," said Ben, "They will supply everything including weapons,". 

"And they'll clear our record," said Megan.

"We don't have one," said Miranda.

"That's what I said but they told us even if it was the smallest one, they could just clear it," said Dylan.

"So that's their deal?," asked Zara, crossing her arms in front of her chest, "Because there's only fifteen of us and some are married and have children,".

"I know, that's why I didn't inform them anything yet," said Dylan.

"But I do want to go back, though," said Ezra.

Dylan showed the files to them which he had scanned and saved them in his laptop and they read it one by one.

"Look, it says here that the gang had kidnapped girls for sex trafficking and there were over two hundred missing person which mostly are women were being reported in Italy, Spain, and Portugal," said Meera, "You think they were connected to this?,". 

"That is why we were thinking about helping them," said Megan softly, "Three of us have already agreed, now we just have to wait for your decision, and we're not going to force you,". 

Theo had held Meera's hand and nodded at each other. 

"We're in," said Theo.

"That includes me," said Miranda proudly.

"Well since we want everyone to be in our wedding, we're in too," said Leon, "I don't know about Chewbacca though,".

"Oh I'm in," said Karan, "I'm going to show Adhira my old home,".

"Razor Crest in," said Steven, giving a salute, "Although we're going to do a lot of explanation to our wives,".

"Well you can't survive without us," said Sienna, "So we're totally in,".

All of them looked at Jackson, Zara, and Harvey who were now chatting quietly with each other. After a few nodding, they turn to face the camera. 

"Star Destroyer reporting for duty," said Zara, "Ready to execute the plan if we already have one,". 

"Not yet, but we have a meeting with the INTERPOL in Italy," said Dylan and he held a piece of paper in front of the camera, "And this is the location,".

They all memorized it carefully and some were scribbling it in their notebook. After a few seconds, Dylan finally put the paper down.

"Well, I'll see you guys in Venice, in about two weeks then," said Dylan, "I love you guys,".

There was a murmur of replies and one by on the conference box went blank.