The firefight that ensued came as a shock to the newly repented Lena, who had been sure that her efforts were hopeless. The Emperor was in the custody of the Resistance, yes, but now his challenger was the captive of the First Order who had so loyally obeyed him.

No good deed goes unpunished, Lena reminded herself as she sat tied to a chair with her wrists bound uncomfortably behind her back.

Just as Lena was beginning to resign herself to her fate and recognize the view from the Destroyer's cockpit as her last, the sound of blasters echoed through the chamber, followed by the noise of bodies slammed against the closed, heavy doors.

"Kara!" Lena exclaimed, upon seeing her Jedi mentor step through the hole that had just been cut in the door by her lightsaber. "Wait... what... how..."

Sporting a broad, confident smile, Kara sheathed her lightsaber, crossed her arms over her chest, and said, "My own master was moved by my words to provide the resources needed to complete the most daring rescue mission in Jedi history - if I do say so myself."

"Kara..." the brunette whispered, full of disbelief as she stared at the droves of Jedi knights that flooded into the cockpit behind her master. "How did you do this? How did you convince her to—"

"Put simply... My love for you." When Lena's mouth fell open, Kara's smile softened, and she interrupted Lena's thoughts, saying, "There's no time. Explanations can wait. We have to go now."

With a nod, Lena watched over her own shoulder as Kara used her blade to break her shackles. Jumping to her feet as soon as she was completely free, Lena reached to her side for her weapon but found it missing.

Kara had to laugh at this - in Bette spirits than she had been probably ever - as she watched Lena remembered destroying her Kyber crystal, and the hilt of her saber along with it.

"It's okay," the blonde told her. "We got this one. You got the big guy anyway."

For the first time since Lena was her padawan, Kara heard the woman laugh and found herself entranced by the sound, just as she had been the first time she heard it.

"Master Kara," one of the Jedi knights interrupted her. "We need to go."

"Of course," the Jedi master blurted quickly.

Grabbing Lena's hand instinctively, Kara pulled her former padawan out of the destroyer and boarded her onto her own shuttle. Surrounded by X-wings, with bombs planted throughout the destroyer, the two were relatively safe in their own ship with a skeleton crew to monitor its travels. As they hit light speed and shot off away from the scene, the destroyer was shattered to pieces in a blaze of defeat.

Sitting alone in the cockpit of the shuttle, Lena turned her seat to face her mentor and simply looked. Really, really looked.

What she saw was what had always been there: kindness, warmth, devotion, and... something Lena had never noticed before.

Love.

"Kara," the brunette whispered. "Did you mean what you said, on the destroyer?"

"About what?" Kara asked curiously, trying and failing to hide her own smirk, knowing full well which word Lena was referencing.

"You know what!" Lena cried, exasperated.

"Of course," Kara laughed. "I thought that was obvious."

Pausing and remaining silent for a long time as she turned back to the view of infinite stars before her, Lena let out an inaudible sigh. Leaning back in the chair, she shut her eyes.

"What is it?" the Jedi master asked, noticing Lena's expression of an emotion Kara couldn't quite place.

"How can you say your love was obvious when you have rejected me so many times?"

Kara sighed and let go of the ship's controls, turning on the autopilot feature of the ship.

"Lena," she said gently. "I was taught from a very, very young age to reject my emotions and to let go of all attachments, without exception. That's no excuse for rejecting you, but it is an explanation that I need you to understand. My past... It has shaped who I am."

"Your past—" Lena started to protest, but Kara cut her off.

"But you have shaped me, too."

Staring, filled with disbelief, Lena asked, "How?"

"You filled me with love. Love I never could have imagined. And it freed me from the chains of my teachings, as well as my past. When I said I thought my love was obvious, I meant now. Is my devotion to you not clear now?"

Despite how hard Lena fought back the smile that threatened to spread over her full, red lips, she failed. In fact, the grin that fought threw as she looked at her master was so infectious that it broadened Kara's own smile until the blonde's cheeks hurt.

"I mean," Kara continued, immensely enjoying Lena's smile, "Why else would I risk my ass with the whole Jedi Order - including my master - to rescue you from execution?"

Laughing hard, Lena pushed herself up from her chair and stood in front of Kara's seat. When the Jedi opened her mouth to speak, Lena leaned in, cupped her face, and kissed her hard.

"I love you, Kara," she whispered against the blonde's lips, not quite pulling away.

"Love you too, Lena," Kara mumbled. "With every ounce of the Force that runs through me."

"And that's a lot," Lena teased, pecking her lover on the lips before finally pulling away.

"The Force is strong in you too, Lena," Kara said seriously. "I hope you know that I've always seen that."

After a short pause, Kara's former padawan asked, "Would you still fail me in my trial if it happened again today?"

Pausing briefly herself, the Jedi master answered, "Yes."

Looking surprised, Lena asked, "But why? I thought you said love—"

"I think," Kara said, "we both know that your infatuation with Sam was not love."

Having the revelation for the first time, the former Sith replied, "It was a selfish lust for admiration."

Saying nothing out of respect for the undoubted pain this realization may have brought her student, Kara simply pulled Lena into her arms and hugged her tightly.

"My love for you isn't that, though," the brunette blurted suddenly, after several moments of the silent embrace. "You know that, right?"

"I'm pretty sure you wouldn't have risked your ass with the Emperor for me if you didn't love me," Kara teased, kissing Lena's cheek.

"Good."

Lena chuckled and pecked Kara on the lips.

"Maybe you don't need to be a Jedi knight," Kara mused, stroking the woman's hair out of her face. When Lena looked startled, even offended, she continued, "Maybe you just need to be you."

Her expression of disappointment fading into another bright smile, Lena kissed her love a final time before sitting back down beside her chair and saying, without looking over at Kara, "I'm glad you found me."

"Me too, Lena. Me too."