16 Chapter 15
Ezra & Sienna Phoenix, Sam Parker - Los Angeles, USA
It was nearly five in the evening when Ezra finally got out of work. He drove directly to the babysitter's house to fetch his three year old daughter Rey before going back home. A lot of things have changed since Ezra, Sienna, and Sam take refuge in America, one of them, changing their identities and going to college to continue their studies so they could have a proper job. Another thing, Ezra and Sienna got married a year after they graduated and had a baby daughter. Sam on the other hand has had twelve girlfriends for the past seven years.
Ezra who is now known as Ethan Owen is now working as an accountant in a company, Sienna or now known as Claire Owen works as a software engineer and works with a video game company, while Sam or Danny Wilson works as financial advisor in one of the banks in Pasadena. With the money that Dylan had split up from his account to all of the members of the Phoenix, the three of them bought a comfortable house to live together.
Just as Ezra reached home with Rey, he noticed both his wife and his best friend were waiting for both of them in the living room, both had looked at him anxiously.
"What's wrong?," asked Ezra as he put his daughter down on the sofa.
"I've got a text message saying Empire Strikes Back," said Sam.
"Who is it from?," Ezra frowned.
"The number has a China country code," replied Sienna.
Few seconds later, Ezra's phone started to ring and when he looked at the ID, it was from an unknown number but there was an unfamiliar code number.
"That's it.. That's the number," said Sam.
"Hello?," Ezra clicked the button to answer.
"Skywalker? This is Obi-Wan Kenobi," a voice that Ezra hasn't heard for a long time answer his greeting.
"Holy shit," Ezra smiles as he recognizes his brother's voice.
"Hey little bro, are you in a loudspeaker? Coz if you don't, put it on.. I want the others to hear it too," said Dylan.
"Damn, bro.. Thought you said to use the burner phone if there's an emergency," said Ezra as he put the phone in loudspeaker, "This isn't a burner phone you know,".
"I know but there's a chance that we might get to go back home in England," replied Dylan.
All three of them went silent.
"What are you talking about?," asked Sienna quietly.
"Padme, can you set up a secure ID for all of us to have a video conference via Zoom?," asked Dylan.
"Yeah.. Sure.. But what is this about?," asked Sienna, answering her code name.
"Just do it first and give it to me so I can send it to the others," said Dylan, "And I'll give you the date and time of the conference. I need to talk to all of you about this and kind of a small meeting too,".
"Alright, I can do that," said Sienna, "I'll give it to you when it's done,".
"Thanks, kiddo.. Anyway, how's little Rey?," asked Dylan.
"Bit chatty nowadays," Ezra smiled as he looked at their daughter in Sienna's arms, "How's the Kung Fu warriors?".
"Well it's like raising two Shaolin masters in the house," replied Dylan with a small chuckle, "God, I miss you guys. Can't wait to see all of you again,".
"So are we," replied Ezra, "Padme will give you the IDs as soon as possible,".
"Okay.. Give a kiss to Rey from us, we'll talk to you later," said Dylan.
"You too.. Bye," replied Ezra and he clicked off his phone.
Three of them looked at each other.
"Well, I better get back to work," said Sienna, "Sam, you're cooking for dinner tonight,".
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Theo & Meera Phoenix, Miranda Lewis - Zarqa, Jordan
Theo finishes his work on the concrete before leaving for home. He couldn't wait to see his four year old son, Sameer, who had taken interest in watching car racing on television. Thinking about his son makes him proud of raising him together with Meera who is now three month pregnant. The couple got married a year after they moved to Jordan with Miranda who lived with them as well.
Three of them had changed their names with Theo as Hamzah Abdal Rahman and works with a construction company, Meera as Aayesha Humaira Farhat and works as a nurse in a medical center in Zarqa, Miranda as Layla Naima Abdal Rahman (act as Theo's sister) and works as a receptionist in a hotel. Both Theo and Miranda had learned a bit of Arabic since they were still living in England, and now, they speak the language like it's their mother tongue. They keep their life as private as they can and blend with the Arabian as if they were one of them.
The family were just going to have their dinner when suddenly the burner phone where Theo's phone was on the counter started to beep, alerting that there was a message coming in. Thinking it was from work, he opened it and the message only had two words: Empire Strikes Back.
"Bloody hell," said Theo quietly.
"What is it, ya habibta?," asked Meera. (My love)
Theo held up his phone and showed the message to the two girls. Few seconds later, Miranda's phone started to beep with a message from an unknown number. Frowning, she opened it and narrowed her eyebrows.
"Who is it from?," asked Theo.
"No idea but there's an ID for Zoom Conference and date and time according to Jordan's time," said Miranda, "And a picture of Obi-Wan Kenobi".
Theo snorted with laughter.
"Well now we know who sent it to us," smiled Meera.
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Steven Lee & Shane Flanagan - Zaragoza, Spain
There were few more tourists, half an hour before the museum closed. Steven walked around the floor that he was stationed and made a last minute check before the museum was fully closed. After giving a small briefing to the guards, he finally exited the museum and headed towards his car. For the past seven years, he and Shane had been living as Henry Yang and Alvaro Lopez, a curator in a museum while Shane works as an administrator in a lawyer's company.
Both of them end up falling in love with two local girls where they got married once they trust the two women and tell them who they really are. The two women, Lola and Celia, accept them for who they are and vow to stay by their side in sickness and health, till death do them apart. The two families were blessed with a son each.
Steven was just parking his car inside his garage when his window was knocked, shocking him.
"What the hell, man?," yelled Steven angrily at Shane's grinning face, "What are you doing here?,".
"Our kids are having playdates today remember?," said Shane, fist bumping his best friend.
"Oh yeah.. I nearly forgot about that," said Steven.
"Celia's bringing Tortilla and Chicken Paella," said Shane as he walked together with Steven outside the garage.
They were just about to step inside the porch when suddenly Steven's phone beeped for messages. He took out his phone and frowned looking at the number.
"What's wrong?," asked Shane.
"That's weird, look at this message," said Steven as he showed the screen to Shane.
"Empire Strikes Back," Shane read with a chuckle, "Luke Skywalker must have got the wrong number,".
But Steven was still looking at the unknown number.
"It's from China," said Steven slowly.
"How did you know?," asked Shane.
But before Steven could answer, Shane's phone beeped, notifying that there's a message incoming.
"What the fuck?," said Shane looking at his phone, "It's the same number that sent you that weird message,".
"What is it?," asked Steven looking at Shane's phone.
"It's an ID to join a conference call using Zoom, with a time and date.. And a picture of Obi-Wan Kenobi," replied Shane.
Both of them looked at each other and started to laugh.
"Looks like Mandalorian are going to have another mission," said Steven, "And I'm sure it's not about saving baby Yoda anymore,".
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Leon Phoenix, Raven Davis, and Karan Malhotra - Agra, India
It was a sunny weekend and both Leon and Raven were sitting on a mat, enjoying themselves in front of the beautiful Taj Mahal as they watched Karan playing with his two year old daughter. Since the cargo heist seven years ago, the three of them had taken refuge in India with different identities with Raven as Naina Patel and acting as Karan's young cousin. Karan had changed his name to Rohan Patel while Leon happened to make a passable half Indian as Aryaan Bakshi and a boyfriend to Naina.
Two years after they moved to India, Karan met a girl and fell in love. Sadly, after they were married, his wife died of childbirth leaving him to take care of his baby daughter, Adhira, alongside his two best friends. Both Leon and Raven loved the little girl and sometimes took turns with Karan by letting her sleep in their room.
The three of them had enrolled in college after they arrived in India and now had a good job. Leon works as an architect in one of the big companies in Agra. Karan works as a lab technician in a university, while Raven works as a web developer in a software company. For the sake of Adhira's safety, the three of them bought a house together, complete with high security and a trustful day nanny to care for the child.
"Marry me," Leon murmured in Raven's hair, kissing her neck as she sat between his legs, facing the Taj Mahal.
Raven turned her face to look at him and to her surprise, he was holding a small velvet box in his hand.
"Leon..," she whispered, tears started filling in her eyes.
"Raven Hera Davies, I've been in love with you since the first day I met you in the school hallway, you've been stuck with me since then. You faced challenges with me, ran away with me, lived in another country with me.. Sacrifice everything for me, and now, let me return the favor by taking care of you," said Leon, looking in her eyes lovingly, "I love you, sweetheart. Will you marry me?,".
"Leon Geraldo Phoenix, I will marry you no matter what and where, I love you," Raven whispered back and sealed it with a deep kiss.
There was a whistle and a clap as a smirking Karan sat on the mat in front of them, holding Adhira who was still clapping her hands. Leon took out a ring from the box and slid it on Raven's finger.
"Congratulations, guys.. Looks like I have to start planning an Indian wedding for my pretend lil cousin," Karan grinned at them.
"Dhanyavaad, mere priya chachere bhai," Raven beamed at him. (Well thank you, my dear cousin)
"We could have Adhira as our ring bearer," said Leon as he took Adhira from Karan's arms and let her sit on his lap.
They were just starting to enjoy some ice cream when suddenly Leon's phone started beeping with a message. He took it out and swallowed the entire ice cream with one gulp, nearly choking on a brain freeze. Raven quickly massages his head and patted his back while Karan snatched his phone to look at the message.
"Holy shit..," Karan cursed but quickly shut his mouth when he realized he had said the word in front of his daughter.
"What is it?," asked Raven in alarm, still massaging Leon's head, "Is the Hunters here?,".
Karan held up the screen and showed the message to her: Empire Strikes Back. Then there was another message coming in with an ID for Zoom Conference, the time and date, and a picture of Obi-Wan Kenobi.
"Well holy shit indeed," Raven muttered slowly.
