Disclaimer: I don't own Star Wars.
"Why didn't you tell me?" I beat my fists against his chest. "Why did you have to be so stubborn?"
"If you had a choice, knowing what we know now, would you go back and change it?"
he asked.
I rested my head against his chest. "Yes. I would." I felt, rather than heard the sharp intake of breath and the sudden tensing of his body. "Anakin?"
"Nothing." He relaxed, but I could still sense that something was troubling him.
"What is it, love?" I asked, craning my neck to look up at his face. I caught my breath at the utter hopelessness and despair I saw there. "You wouldn't?" I twisted out of his grip a little more to get a better look at his face.
"I would," he said, but his eyes were cast down. "For your sake, I would. Even if it meant not…not being able to love you as I did."
I could not believe my ears, so I reached up and grabbed his to bring his face down to my level. "I can't believe you just said that." I told him quietly. His startled eyes met mine for a moment, before he looked down again rather quickly. "I love you, Anakin Skywalker, and nothing will ever change that."
"But" he protested. "You just said you would go back and change things."
"Some things, Ani, bad things, like your mother's death, and Mustafar. Not our love. Never our love, Ani. There is much in that life that I regret, but never, not once did I ever regret our time together."
"Angel."
"I'm here, Ani. And this time, I'm not leaving you. I love you."
He sank to the floor; I caught him and held him as he sobbed.
"How can you love me after what I did?"
His sudden question took me by surprise. At my silence, he leapt up and began pacing.
"I destroyed the Jedi Order, I killed millions of being across the galaxy, I tortured our daughter, I killed Obi-Wan, I took off our son's arm in a duel, I had our daughter's boyfriend frozen in carbonite, I watched as the Emperor slowly killed our son-"
"You saved him, and then you killed the Emperor, which is actually how you ended up here." I stood and spat into his face. I softened at his expression. "I know, I've been watching over you."
He slowly sank to his knees. I gathered him up in my arms, tucking his head under my chin. "I love you, Ani. I love you, and right now, that is all that matters."