You could have knocked me down with a feather when I died. Not when Luke forgave me - he has so much of his mother in him, so I wasn't surprised about that at all. But when I arrived in the light side of the netherworld instead of the hell I should have been sent to?

Oh, yes, I was astonished. After everything I had done, I had been forgiven, it seemed. Saving my son and destroying the Emperor made up for twenty some years of cruelty and anger. But I wasn't going to question the Force's decision, not this time. If I was supposed to be here, then I would be.

It seemed as if I had woken up from a dream, after I died on the Death Star. The only way I knew that it was not, and that I would not be returning to that terrible suit and mask in a few minutes, was that I could feel my hair blowing across my face. It was something completely alien to me but, at the same time, something so familiar. My next feeling was that of my feet, actual feet and legs.

And then my vision adjusted to darkness. At first, I felt some panic - had the Force changed it's mind, was I to be sent to the hell I deserved? But then, I felt Obi-Wan's calm presence next to mine, and Yoda as well. My breath was taken away as I looked up, for there was Luke, forgiving me for only being his father at the end as well as all of the torture I had put him and his friends through. Then I saw her - Leia, the daughter I should have recognized when I first saw her as a child - coming to stand next to him, then entreating him to join her and the others back at the celebration.

We watched them for a few minutes, though I could have stood there forever, watching my children. But Obi-Wan reached over and tapped me on the shoulder.

"It's time to go, Anakin," my Master said.

I took one look back at them and nodded. Obi-Wan was right. My children had their own lives to lead and my time with them was over, no matter how much I wished otherwise.

The netherworld was beautiful. I had never spent much time thinking about it, but whenever I did, I pictured a place that would feel like home, but better, because I would never have to leave.

Again, I was shocked when we arrived. Everyone I knew - and even more that I didn't - was there. I saw Mom first, or, she ran into me. Literally.

"I'm so sorry," I whispered as she hugged me, tears falling down my face. "Please, I'm sorry."

She rubbed my back, just like when I was a boy. "It's all right now, Ani. Everything's all right."

Most of the faces are a blur in my mind. Qui-Gon was there, and so were Master Windu, Barriss, and a few others. Someone was missing, someone I desperately needed to see. I kept looking over beings' heads, praying that I would see her, my darling Padme.

Soon everyone had departed, and it was clear that my hopes were in vain when only Mom, Obi-Wan, and Yoda remained with me. I tried to hide my disappointment as I swallowed the lump in my throat.

"Anakin?" Obi-Wan asked me, noticing the tears in my eyes.

I turned away as I felt a pain in my heart, which doubled as I realized what Padme must have felt every day since that fateful one when I had turned against her.

"It-it's nothing," I mumbled. "I was... I was just..."

I knew that if Padme had no wish to see me, then I should leave her be. I deserved nothing from her but hatred. Of all the people, I had hurt her the most.

"She is here, Anakin," Obi-Wan said quietly.

"If she doesn't want me," I said, "then I won't bother her."

"Anakin-" Mom began, but I interrupted her.

"Why would she?" I tried to laugh, to pass my words off as light, but it was fruitless. Everyone there knew exactly what I was feeling. "After all, I destroyed her. She was the best thing that ever happened to me, and I destroyed her for power. I helped annihlate everything she believed in. Oh, and I almost killed our daughter and tortured our son. No, I can understand perfectly why she would never want to look at me again."

"Anakin."

I looked down at Yoda and noticed that his clawed hand was pointing in the direction of a small garden, almost hidden by a house.

"Go there, you must."

Padme was wearing a blue dress with her long hair down as she tended the Nubian blossoms. I had been gazing at her for several minutes, trying to find my courage to speak with her as she cradled the soft pink petals in her hands.

I stepped forward and accidentally crushed a twig that had been forgotten after the walkway had been swept. She jumped and spun around, and her lovely eyes grew wide. I wasn't surprised to see that she was as beautiful as the day we were married.

"Ani," she whispered.

Our eyes locked then, and I couldn't look away, as much as I wanted to. I was on tenterhooks, my heart beating faster than it ever had in life.

"Padme," I whispered, memorizing every facet of her, just like I had done when I was nine. Both then and now I had been afraid that I would never see her again. "Padme."

Her eyes filled with tears, and, though I wanted to go to her and comfort her, I did not, unwilling to disturb her even more. Surprisingly, she walked towards me, slowly at first, and then faster and faster. I waited for the slap that I was sure was going to come.

Instead of that, however, her hand caressed my face, starting at my temples and then it paused on my cheek. I was speechless at her actions and I hoped she could read the look in my eyes that I was sorry and I still loved her.

Her hands ran over my lips and I kissed them, feeling a tear run down the side of my face as she spoke.

"Ani," she murmured. "My love."

I felt the pain in my heart disappear and in its place was the most amazing sense of relief. My beautiful angel had seen me in my darkest days and yet she still forgave me.

I held her so tightly. I wasn't afraid to let go of her, but it had been so long since I had been with her that I wanted this moment to last forever. I could feel her tears as my tunic was quickly soaked and I knew that she could feel mine as they coursed down my cheeks and into her hair.

She pulled away from me, just barely, so I could see her face. I bent my head as she raised up on her toes and we kissed. It was amazing, that feeling of being in love, being loved, and of course, forgiveness. She truly was an angel.

"Welcome home, Ani," she said as we slowly pulled apart. "Welcome home."

I stroked her hair. "Thank you, my love. Thank you so much."