Au: This is the last chapter besides the epilogue. Hope you guys enjoy it and thank you again!
Everything was black. Anakin couldn't open his eyes. He wasn't sure if he was awake or alive. He kept hearing a voice. A beautiful voice. A voice that belonged to a face he wanted to see so badly.
"Anakin, my love, please you have to wake up. I need you. Luke and Leia they need you. Please don't leave me again." He heard the voice say.
Padme. Padme. He tried saying, but his lips wouldn't move. He wanted to let her know he was here and he wouldn't leave her for as long as he lived.
He felt her hand on his and tired to squeeze it, not sure if it worked.
Slowly he tried, to open his eyes and started to see light. He saw brown curls laying in front of him and then slowly a sad face that started to lift up.
"Surely those tears aren't, because of me." He said weakly, or so he hoped he said. It sounded as low as a whisper to his ears.
"Anakin!"Padme screamed squeezing him, until he grunted from the pain in his side. "Oh. Oh Ani. I'm so sorry. I wasn't thinking. I was just so excited to see you awake."
"It's okay. It was a good pain." Anakin said his voice sounding a little better. He grabbed her hand, tracing circles around her palm. "So what happened? Where am I exactly?"
"We are still on Coruscant. We managed to get you here ,after you defeated Palpatine." Padme said smiling." Anakin, you did it. You actually did it. You fulfilled the prophecy. You are the chosen one."
"I don't know if can even be called that anymore, after being the one that started this whole thing." Anakin said.
"Anakin." She frowned.
"How is Luke? and Leia and Han? Is everyone okay?" He asked her.
"Luke had a slight concussion, but other than that everyone is fine. They are worried about you. You actually just missed both of them." Padme told him.
"Leia was here?" He asked not believing her. He knew how Leia felt about him and figured she wouldn't care if he died or not.
"She was. She was worried about you." Padme smiled.
Before he could say anything, he noticed Luke and Leia walk into the room. Both of them looked uneasy, even Leia, which he was surprised about.
"It's good to see you are awake." Luke said trying to fake a smile.
"What's wrong?" He asked feeling uneasy.
"With the death of the Emperor, they want to move your hearing up. They want everything of the Empire to be gone and forgotten about." Luke said.
Anakin slumped back down in the bed. He knew this day was coming soon. He still wasn't ready. He knew even with all the good deeds he managed to do, that he still had to pay for all the years he was Vader and all the pain he caused everyone.
"But they can't. He defeated the Emperor. How can they punish him after that?" Padme asked in disbelief.
"Padme, I'm pretty much the sole reason there was an Empire." Anakin said.
"But, but you literally just woke up minutes ago. How can they put you on trial now?" Padme asked.
"Mon wants this done and over with. She has a small group waiting for us right now." Leia said.
"Well we shouldn't keep them waiting." Anakin said trying to sit up. He felt that sharp pain again and had to stop.
"Anakin." Padme said grabbing his arm trying to put him back in bed.
"My love, I need to face the consequences for what I have done." Anakin said placing his feet on the ground and trying to fight through the pain he was feeling.
He looked over as Padme bit her lip knowing there was nothing she could say to stop this. He saw the tears building up in her eyes.
He grabbed her hand. "Just know, no matter what happens. I have and will always love you. I made some stupid mistakes and ruined the life we were supposed to have, "He looked over at Luke and Leia. "The life we all were supposed to have, if i could change everything I would. I wish I could have gotten more time with you all, but I'm happy for time I did."
"Don't talk like you have already been sentenced." Padme sternly said.
He smiled up at her not sure what else to say. "Come on. Help me walk to whatever room they are waiting for me in." Anakin said as Padme helped him up.
After seeing there was no way Anakin was going to walk on this own, Padme managed to find him a wheel chair. She was still fuming that they were making his go through this after everything he has went through and done. She was just happy they did't have to go far, that Mon and the others were in a private room waiting for them.
As her, Anakin, Luke ,and Leia walked in, she saw Mon, Ackkbar, and a few others sitting around. She tried to read their faces, but since most of them were Senators, they all had good poker faces.
"We are here as you requested. Surely this could have waited. Can't you see now he clearly isn't well." Padme said trying to control her voice from shouting, which is what she wanted to do. She wanted to shout and scream and do everything she knew she wasn't supposed to do.
She wasn't sure what she was going to do, if they sentenced Anakin to Death. She couldn't loose him again.
"We are sorry about this, but this matter really needs to addressed, before we talk with the whole Senate about building the new order." Mon said.
Padme crossed her arms, not even wanting to look her former friend in the eyes.
"We are here for the charges of war crimes against Darth Vader." Mon said clasping her hands on the table.
"His name is Anakin Skywalker." Padme said angered they would still call him that.
She felt Anakin grab her hand trying to calm her down. She looked down at him and he smiled up at her. She sighed knowing her attitude and comments weren't doing anything.
Mon continued talking, ignoring Padme, "We have found Darth Vader guilty of all crimes and he will be sentenced to the full extend."
"You can't do that!" Padme and everyone looked over to see it was Leia the outburst came from. "You want to sentence the person, who killed the Emperor and saved us all. You can't be so dimwitted to not see he is no longer Vader. He is Anakin Skywalker, the Hero is no fear, the Chosen one, and my father."
Padme's mouth dropped opened and she noticed Anakin was even surprised to hear their daughter say what she just said.
"Leia." Luke said trying to calm her down.
"No. This is ridiculous. You can't kill him." Leia shouted.
Mon looked at her and Padme with a rather annoyed look. After she composed herself, she said, "If I could finish talking without being interrupted." She looked at both Padme and Leia. "Darth Vader is charged, but according to our records Darth Vader died along with the Death Star. Just like the Emperor was killed by Anakin Skywalker, it would seem Darth Vader was as well. So yes Darth Vader is charged, but as it would seem to my eyes he is already dead." Mon smiled kindly at Anakin. "Sitting here before us is Anakin Skywalker."
Padme looked at Mon, then at Anakin, then at the other Senators. She saw they didn't seem so happy about the decision, but she didn't care. Anakin was free and everyhting was going to be okay.
Mon and the other Senators slowly started to leave with Mon following from behind. She watched as Anakin stopped her, before she left.
"Thank you. There are honestly no words I can say." Anakin said and she noticed he was at a loss for words for the first time in his life.
"It's your family you should be thanking, without them I'm not so sure this decision would have been made." Mon said looking over at them.
"You are right about that." Anakin said looking over joyfully at his family.
They all came over to Anakin and hugged him, knowing they wouldn't have to be parted from him. That they could be a family. The family she always hoped for when she found out she was pregnant. It took years for it to happen and many obstacles, but they were finally a family.
They all arrived back at Padme's apartment and watched the holonet report on Mon's speech about the new order and the Death of the Emperor. Anakin was surprised to see all the cheers and celebration going on around the Galaxy. It seems everyone was happy he was gone. He hoped Mon would be able to make a new order, a better order than before. He had faith in her to do so.
He looked around him as Padme was beaming hearing the news. He looked at Leia and Han sitting closely on the couch. He noticed his daughter looked different, more carefree, now that she doesn't have the weight of the rebellion on her shoulders. Luke was looking out at the old Jedi temple. He thought back to early in the day, when he was leaving the medical bay. Luke talked about starting the Jedi order again and asked for Anakin's help. Anakin wasn't sure if he was worthy of that ,sure he was forgiven, but he didn't deserve the title of Jedi ,after he basically put them in extinction. He knew his son would do good and he would help in whatever ways he could.
Soon after the report, everyone decided it was time to turn in for the night. He followed Padme into their bedroom, not even having to be asked this time. He laid down on the bed as she placed her head on his chest. He ran his hand up and down her arm, feeling peace for the first time in a long time. No longer was there a threath on their lives. No longer did they have to hide their love or think about the next time they would see eachother. They could finally have the life and marriage they always wanted all those years ago.
"What are you going to do now that the prophecy has been fulfilled and Palpatine is gone? Seems like your life is going to be pretty boring." Padme joked. He knew a life with her would never be boring. He had enough excitement and adventure to last him a life time.
"I don't know. I can't recall a time I actually had free time. Usually when I had free time, it was spent being with you." Anakin said.
"Now there is nothing stopping us from being apart." She smiled being sighing. "I would like to go back to Naboo. Find out what happened to my family. Mon was saying how news has gone around that I'm alive, since Palpatine put a bounty on me. I'm sure they are confused and angry that I lied to them for so many years. That I made them believe I was dead."
Anakin thought back to the one time he met her parents, before they were even married and she even confessed her love. He pictured the joyful couple, who where so happy to see their daughter and the worry they felt about the danger on her life. He could imagine how broken they must have felt when they thought her dead.
"I'm sure they will understand in time." He ran his fingers through his hair. "Do you remember how we always said how when the war was over we would move to Naboo, stay by the lake county?"
Padme sat up and looked at him. "You would leave everything and go to Naboo with me?"
"Well there isn't much left for me anymore and home was always were every you where." Anakin said as Padme smiled grew bigger and she placed hundreds of kisses on his face.
He placed his hand on her face and brushed her cheek with his thumb. "I truly will never know how I got so lucky so you to walk into my life all those years ago. Besides Luke and Leia, you are one of the only good things that has happened to me."
He watched as her fingers traced the scar on his chest, his only physical reminder of the what he once was. Slowly she kissed every inch of his chest slowly moving down, before looking up at him with a devious smirk. She always found ways to surprise him, it would seem.