"Say what you will. I'm not talking."

"At this point, it's your only chance. The Provisional Senate is passing new laws every day, each one digging you deeper into this cell. If you want to be out of here before you're forty, you need to tell them what you know before they get the information from elsewhere. You're running out of time to accept this plea deal."

Ciena Ree knew all this, of course. Her lawyer, Miles Wright, gave her the same speech every time he came to visit. So much for Thane speaking up on her behalf. "Then I have some hard years ahead of me. When does my trial begin?"

Mr. Wright groaned, glasses catching the glint of the energy field as he scrolled through his datapad. "Next week. It doesn't have to end badly, you know. Do you still refuse to testify or call Thane Kyrell and Kendy Idele as witnesses, even though both have offered to serve as such?"

He paused, as if expecting Ciena to answer his question. When she said nothing, he continued. "Your refusal is… unusual, Miss Ree. Perhaps you know this already, but I am tasked with the defense of over three dozen Imperial prisoners. You once outranked each one, yet your path to freedom is the simplest of all. You never targeted civilians, you never ordered nor conducted torture or excessive force against your enemy's fighters… you even have a built in sob story about potential coercion due to your mother's imprisonment. Imagine it. A young girl of your, er," he cleared his throat, then gestured in the general direction of her figure, "appearance crying on the stand? The only thing standing in your way of the exit door is yourself."

The implication Ciena would use her looks to avoid jail time stung. She jerked her head up, knocking loose tendrils of hair back. "Then perhaps you should cut your time short here and help your other clients. I will not betray my oath to the Empire by sharing intel. I am guilty of every charge your list specifies. Thank you for your time, Mr. Wright."

Her middle-aged public defender shook his head, sighing. He pushed a button on his datapad, staring at nothing as its screen faded to black. "You're wasting your life here, Miss Ree. Your options are limited to two: take a plea deal or plead your case in trial. There is no third escape option. I hope you know that."

Ciena didn't honor that with a response. "Goodbye, Mr. Wright."

"Goodbye, Miss Ree. See you in your tri-"

"Wait, Mr. Wright! Don't leave yet."

Ciena heard the pounding of his bootsteps before she saw him. Thane turned the corner in a huff, still wearing half a flight suit. "I have something I want to do. According to local law, I need a 'legally qualified witness' present for it to be recognized."

"Thane, calm down. I'm not going anywhere," Ciena said. It was quite literally true. "What are you in such a hurry for? Why do you need Mr. Wright here? What has to be recognized?"

"Yes, what is this, young man? I'm rather busy today."

Thane threw his own datapad up onto the surface of the energy shield, ignoring the crackling noises it made. "Remember when I said I'd wait for you, Ciena? That I love you and that you're the only woman I'll ever want to spend my life with?"

"I don't think you used so many words…." What was this? What was Thane trying to show her? Ciena squinted, trying to read the words on Thane's datapad. It was a legal document of some kind, but that was all she could discern. The words themselves were blurry. "I remember the meeting. Now what's gotten into you? Why the rush?"

"I don't have time to explain. I'm… not actually cleared to visit you right now. I may have tricked a guard or two." Thane took a second to glance behind him. "But we promised we'd wait for each other, and I thought 'why wait until you're out of here? That might take a few years, and when you know, you know.' So, um… how do the valley folk do it? Oh, I don't remember. I'll just…" Thane took a step back, then fell down onto one knee. "Ciena Ree. Will you marry me?"

Ciena froze. Words sprung up and died on her lips as she locked eyes with her childhood friend. But he wasn't just that. He was her sole lover, her greatest conflict, her determined savior… Thane Kyrell. What was he thinking?

Thane's eyes flashed with desperation when Ciena didn't respond right away. "Ciena, please. I'm about to fly out on a new mission. I just got back here from meeting with some new provisional Senators. Spending my life with you after the war ends is my two biggest fantasies combined into one. I never thought either one would be possible, and now that both are, I don't want to wait for anything else to come between us. I know this isn't the nicest venue to marry in, but we can always have a better ceremony later. Jelucan valley traditional. Whatever you like."

"This is why you're keeping me here?" Mr. Wright glanced at his chrono. "Well… I'm a criminal lawyer. This is outside my area of expertise; however, I believe I would count as a legally qualified witness if the two of you sign the marriage contract. I would simply have to mark my signature at-"

"The bottom of the form, yes." Thane blew past the lawyer's comments. His eyes remained locked on Ciena. "What do you say, Ciena?"

"This… is all so sudden. I never expected this. All I ever let myself hope for was that the war would end without you dying. Now that it's coming true, I have no idea what I want next in life. The way my trial's bound to end, I won't be doing much of anything for a long time." Ciena's shoulders hunched inward, old thoughts creeping back into her mind. "Are you sure you still want me?"

"Yes, yes. By all the stars in the galaxy, yes. I'll keep my promise to wait for your freedom. All I want to do is add a firmer commitment to what I've already said." Thane rose to his feet. "If you want to be with me the way I want to be with you, say yes. Marry me, Ciena."

Ciena turned her head down for a second. When she lifted her gaze back up, a small smile graced her features. The first in a long time. "I'm still, um, shocked, but… yes, Thane. I will marry you. What do I need to do?"

"You will? Great! I-I could just-" Thane went to embrace her before he remembered there was an energy shield still in place. He did a little scamper as he scrolled to the relevant part of his marriage contract. Ciena noticed Thane had already signed the places that called for his signature. "You only have to mark your signature in two places. The first certifies that your marriage to me is legally binding and done out of your own free will, and the second confirms that, as the spouse of a New Republic soldier, you are the full beneficiary of my new pension in the event I am not able to collect, half beneficiary if I am. You will also be on all of my government-sponsored insurance plans."

Ciena paused. "I have to sign both?"

"Yes. If you don't sign the second one, the inheritor of my pension is whoever in my family claims it first. I refuse to give my father a single credit."

Ciena could understand that. One thing still didn't make sense, however. "How do I sign documents from my cell? Do we have to call a guard?"

Mr. Wright raised a finger to that question. "As your lawyer, I can confirm that prisoners, with witnesses present, may have their signature affixed to legal documents by another so long as they offer clear verbal consent. All you have to do is ask your…" he rolled his eyes, "husband to sign your name in your place. I have to sign next to such places to show that this action was taken on your behalf. It's how your plea deal would have occurred, had you accepted one."

Husband. It was strange to hear someone say it out loud. Ciena would need some time to get used to the idea. "Alright. I agree to let Thane sign the marriage contract in my place."

"Yes!" Thane wasted no time filling out the forms on his datapad. Never in her twenty-three years of life had Ciena seen someone get so excited about paperwork.

Once Thane was done, he handed the datapad off to Mr. Wright, who read through everything at an excruciatingly slow pace. Thane was leaning over his shoulder so much, Mr. Wright had to shove him away more than once. "Young man, I am trying to do my due diligence. You will not deceive my client into signing anything other than what you claim is stored on this datapad."

For all his burlishness, Ciena really lucked out in getting Mr. Wright as her legal counsel. She hadn't expected much of anything, but talking to other prisoners in the exercise yard made her realize just how much Mr. Wright cared about doing his job. Ciena silently promised to remember him. If there ever came a time in which she could pay him back for his help, she wanted to be ready.

"Are you done yet?" Thane glanced at the lawyer's chrono from behind. "Are you almost there?"

"I'd finish faster if you weren't hovering over me. Even given your explanation earlier, I hardly see the need to rush." Mr. Wright scrolled through the datapad for another full minute, then used his finger to sign the designated sections. "Everything seems to be in order. Send these files to your regional administrator, whomever that is in this New Republic, and the pair of you will be officially married."

"By… six minutes before time. Yes!" Thane snatched his documents back from Mr. Wright's hand. "I know exactly who to send these to. Loading… loading... received!" He smiled at Ciena, his crooked teeth on full display. "We did it! We're married."

"We are." Even from her spot in the cell, Ciena couldn't help being excited. The way Thane grinned at her sent shivers of warmth to her abdomen, overriding any lingering soreness she felt down there. For the first time in many months, Ciena felt whole. "Thanks, Thane. This means a lot to me."

"Yeah? Because it's about to get even better." Thane's smile widened ever further as he spoke, giving him the approximate appearance of a madman. "Mr. Wright! Have you been keeping up with the new laws the Provisional Senate's been passing in their current session?"

Mr. Wright, who had been slinking away until his name was mentioned, froze in his tracks. He turned back towards the couple for his reply. "Only the laws that relate to the trying and handling of Imperial prisoners. Other than those, my knowledge is only cursory."

"Do you know what law they just passed this morning?"

Mr. Wright furrowed his brow. "Something to do with granting immunity to New Republic soldiers accused of war crimes by former Imperial worlds? 'May no one suffer for their efforts to return democracy to the galaxy' and somesuch?"

Thane pointed to Mr. Wright with his arm outstretched, swaggering to close the distance between them. "Precisely. New Republic soldiers… and the beneficiaries of New Republic military pensions. That amendment was written into the law to offer protection to deceased rebels as well as their next of kin, just in case some petty ex-Imp tries to take revenge on them too. The cut off date for such beneficiaries to be covered by this law is…" Thane's grin morphed into a smirk, "right this second."

Mr. Wright's jaw dropped. His eyes blinked rapid fire, and his arm muscles went slack. If Ciena hadn't known better, she'd have taken him for a well disguised droid suffering malfunctions.

Then, just as quickly as Mr. Wright had reacted, he composed himself. The lawyer nodded to Thane, the beginnings of a smile spreading to his own face. "Well played, young man. You cut it close, though."

Ciena hadn't composed herself yet. Her jaw was locked so tight, it took a conscious effort to unscrew. "Wait. What's happening?"

Before either man could respond, a pair of New Republic prison guards ran up to join the group. Both gestured to Thane simultaneously. "Hey! You there. You aren't supposed to be here."

"No, she isn't supposed to be here." Thane turned to Ciena with victory in his eyes. "That woman is my wife and the beneficiary of my military pension. In accordance with New Republic law as of today, she is immune from any and all war crime tribunals."

The tightness from Ciena's jaw spread down the rest of her body. It was as if someone had just stunned her, but unconsciousness never came. All she could do was freeze. Thane, Mr. Wright, and the guards continued to argue in front of her, but Ciena tuned them out. Her thoughts rang louder than anything those four were saying.

He'd done it. Thane had twisted the law in a way that would get her out of jail. Just like he'd promised he would.

Ciena knew she should be happy. She should be jumping for joy with the weightless feeling of elation. So why was her body bolted to the spot?

She hadn't known her freedom was on the line when she'd agreed to marry Thane. Her intentions in accepting his proposal had been perfectly honorable. Knowing Thane, he'd hid the fact from her for that very reason.

Ciena appreciated his care for her values, but… what did that say about his? Here he was, celebrating how he'd deceived her. Had he only wanted to marry her to free her from jail? Ciena knew she should be grateful, and now wasn't the ideal time to ask, but the thought had her paralyzed. She wanted to repair a real relationship, not start a marriage of convenience.

Her ears tuned back in right as one of the guards threw their hands up in surrender. "Fine! Fine. She has to stay in town until the magistrate confirms this is real. I… will talk to the warden about a supervised release." He scoffed. "Stupid loopholes."

"A law protecting rebel soldiers that gets an Imp out of jail. Who woulda thought?"

"Laws have unintended consequences all the time. They're created by people, and people are far from perfect." Ciena no longer felt bad about her lack of enthusiasm. Thane was happy enough for the both of them. "What are you waiting for? Lower the energy shield!"

One guard stormed off, presumably to find the warden. The other one sighed, then punched a code into the panel by Ciena's cell. In a single blink, the silvery sheen separating Ciena from Thane disappeared from her vision. Thane barrelled into her cell, flight suit pieces pressing against Ciena's stomach as he threw his arms around her. The warmth of Thane's touch gave Ciena the power to move once more, and she returned his embrace with all her strength.

"I came back for you. I made it right. Ciena… this is it." Thane whispered in her ear, leaning back to kiss her cheek. "This is the ending we deserve."

"Ending?" Ciena teased, letting some humor creep into her expression. "We're just getting started, aren't we?"

"Damn right we are."

Ciena could have stayed in his arms forever. Then she remembered. "Wait. Don't you have a mission you need to leave on? Am I keeping you from your duty? What about-"

Thane cut her off with a peck on the lips. "As it just so happens, I did have a mission here today. Free the wrongfully imprisoned woman from her cage in the desert. It was a smashing success."

And so it was. The warden arrived shortly after. Though flabbergasted, she agreed with Thane and Mr. Wright that Ciena could not lawfully be held in detention any longer. The New Republic couldn't even hold Ciena on house arrest or probation. By the act of their own Senate, she was free to leave with Thane. Her husband.

Nope. Still not used to it.

A/N's: Fun Fact: Ciena's public defender Miles Wright is inspired by characters from my other big fandom: Ace Attorney. His name is a combination of the game series's two most famous attorneys: Phoenix Wright and Miles Edgeworth. However, his age and appearance is (in my mind) a slightly younger Winston Payne. I'm sure this means nothing to most of my readers, but I thought I'd throw that out there.

I had this idea when I was reading the last scene of Lost Stars and Thane insists he'll get Ciena out by appealing to his contacts in the new government. I closed the book at the end, dried my TEARS (seriously, the novel is amazing. Gray always knows how to hit me in the feels), and brainstormed ways Thane could fill that promise. Sure, he could just talk to someone with pardoning power and get Ciena out directly, but where's the fun in that? Why not a little legislative lobbying? The conditions behind the law Thane uses will be better explained in the next chapter, but until then, appreciate his genius level thinking. Ciena sure isn't.

This fic is a bit spur of the moment (outside my "normal" writing schedule), so not sure when an update will be out. Until then, thanks for reading, hope you leave a comment below, and I'll see you on the far side!