She had always wondered what she would do if someone pointed a gun in her face. It had always been a stronger possibility for her than her friends because she was the daughter of politicians. In fact, her parents had strongly cautioned her as a girl to be extra safe when going out by herself. But nothing had ever happened, and she began to view her parent's concerns as paranoid.

They didn't seem paranoid anymore.

"You'll do exactly as I say," gone was the voice of the kind Finn she had been with only minutes before. His voice was hard, unforgiving. It was the voice of a ruthless killer.

She began to imagine what he would do to her. As a law student, she had studied all too many situations like this, and to think that it would actually happen to her…

No. A hard, determined voice said in her head. It sounded like her own thoughts, but somehow it was…different. Not today.

Then she moved. She moved so quickly, so confidently, it was like she had entered someone else's body.

With one hand, she grabbed the muzzle of the gun. At the same time, her other hand flashed out and struck Finn right on the inside of his wrist hard enough that he gasped in pain, his grip on the gun loosening enough that she was able to rip it from his grasp. Just as efficiently, she put a bit of distance between them, flipping the gun so that it was now pointed at Finn.

She should have been terrified. She had never held a gun in her life, and yet as she stood there, she felt confident, in control, and as if she had been in this position before. "I'll do no such thing." Her voice held no quavering.

He looked surprised, but he quickly recovered. Padme didn't know how, but she recognized the way he was standing, with his feet apart and knees slightly bent, as the stance of someone who would launch an attack at any moment. She didn't know how she knew that. She didn't know why she was doing it, but she found herself looking at him and analyzing where she could shoot him that wouldn't kill him, but would cause quite a bit of pain.

How did she even know that?

"I didn't think you were a fighter." He said.

She didn't think so either. At least, not this kind of a fighter. "It's not too late to turn around and go." Surely he would see that she had the advantage. She was not within his reach. She had the gun. Her finger was on the trigger, ready to shoot.

She was wrong. He moved, faster than she realized someone could move. She pulled the trigger out of panic. There was a burst of blood, and he cursed right as he collided with her. Her knees buckled under his weight and she collapsed backward, her head hitting the pavement so hard that her vision blacked out for a moment and she only saw stars. She heard the gun clatter across the ground. As her vision cleared, she felt him trying to crawl over her. She could feel blood dripping onto her skin, and her vision finally cleared.

She'd shot him in the shoulder, and it was bleeding profusely. It didn't seem to matter to him. His face was twisted in pain, but he was still moving to get the gun while still trying to keep her pinned under his weight.

Again, she moved without thinking. Her knee came up and she dug it into his shoulder. She didn't care that she was wearing a tiny black dress. At this point, she was fighting for her life. She would do anything for that.

He groaned, but he didn't stop. Instead he pressed more of his weight into her, making it hard for her to breathe.

She still didn't stop. She bit his arm hard, so hard that she tasted blood. He yelped in pain and she felt him smack her hard against the face. She felt the sting, she knew that it would leave a mark, but she didn't stop fighting. She began kicking, biting, screaming, pulling…anywhere that could hurt him, or at least stop him from getting the gun.

She could hear sirens in the distance. Someone had called the cops. She supposed she was grateful for that, but they sounded so far away. A lot could happen between then and now.

He heard the sirens too. He cursed again and stopped trying to hold her down as he leaped for the gun. It clattered just out of his reach, and she used that opportunity to gather all of her strength and get to her knees before she leapt onto him, knocking him flat to the ground.

She wasn't as heavy as he was, and he began to move to buck her off. She ignored him and scrambled over his body, going for the gun. Her fingers just barely touched it when his hand grabbed her hair and yanked. She cried out, but she managed to wrap her fingers around the hilt of the gun.

She didn't hesitate. She whirled around just as he lunged for her, his hands going for the gun in her hands, and she pulled the trigger, shooting him right in the face.

Thick red blood sprayed everywhere. The air was coated with the smell of it. Finn's body slumped lifelessly into her lap, the liquid rapidly filling her lap. She dropped the gun harmlessly to the cement, propping herself up on her elbows, unable to tear her eyes away from the body on top of her. The body of a man who not that long ago had taken her out on a date. The body of a man that she had allowed to touch her intimately as they danced. The body of a man who had tried to kill her.

All at once, what had happened hit her. Gone was the confident woman who had fought for her life. She began to shake uncontrollably, and sobs tore from her chest. She was too numb to move, and soon the red and blue lights of police cars filled her blurred vision.

She killed a man.

She killed someone.

And she didn't even understand fully how she'd even accomplished it.

Distantly, she was aware of men in police uniforms approaching her, asking her questions that seemed too garbled to understand. She couldn't look at them. She could only look at the body in her lap.

She felt hands on her shoulders. She watched someone pull the body off of her. She felt someone pull her to her feet and lead her away on shaking legs that could hardly support her weight. As they left the alley and she saw the horrified, but curious, looks from the patrons who had been in the bar, she finally threw up into the street.


"But there's only four of us," Anakin said for the thousandth time. It was a few hours later, and they were still discussing the fate of the Jedi in this world. They had talked for so long that the restaurant had kicked them out. So now they sat at the pier on a bench, trying to ignore the chill that the wind blowing from the sea brought. "And I can't do much with the Force right now except block some fruit."

Ahsoka frowned. "That's oddly specific."

Obi-Wan grinned. "But it's really fun."

Anakin rolled his eyes. "My point is, there are really only three available Jedi in this world…unless we can get Yoda back into this, but even though he's a Force wielder, he doesn't remember anything about the past." He glanced at Ahsoka. "Do you remember him?"

She thought for a moment. "Was he green?"

"Yes."

"Then yes, I do remember him. He could be useful if we could convince him." She paused. "But we agreed that the old Order wouldn't work here on this world. The Order that Yoda was a Master in was…rather flawed. Would he try to bring the Order back to those rules?"

It was a good point, and Anakin didn't like the thought of it. Still, it was odd to think of a Jedi Order without Master Yoda. "I don't know. But I don't think it's fair not to give him the option." He shook his head. "But even with Master Yoda, I don't think that we could really establish an Order here. In our galaxy, people knew what a Jedi was. They were likely to trust the Jedi to do what they needed to do to train Force users. But here? People don't even believe in life outside of their own world here. How could we convince people to join what they would likely see as a cult?"

"Anakin does have a point. Still, Anakin, Luke likely had to rebuild the Jedi Order in our galaxy by himself. If he can do it," Obi-Wan began, but was cut off by his phone going off. He pulled it out of his pocket, frowned at the caller ID, and stood. "Excuse me. I need to take this call." He moved away to answer the phone. Anakin longed to call him back. It had been a while since Obi-Wan had talked to him about his children. Suddenly he very much wanted to hear another story about both of them, even if he would never see them again.

"Who is Luke?" Ahsoka asked.

Oh. He hadn't told her of that part. "He's one of my children." He looked at her. "Before Padme died, she gave birth to twins: Luke and Leia." He sighed longingly, looking out towards the darkened sea. Even in the dark, he could still see the waves breaking against the shore. "Luke became the Jedi that I never was. He…he believed in the goodness in me even when no one else would. He saved me." His throat tightened. He couldn't say any more about his son. He realized, suddenly, that he still terribly missed him. Perhaps he would always miss his son achingly.

Ahsoka was quiet. "You really are proud of him, aren't you?" When he looked at her quizzically, she clarified, "Just now, when you spoke about him, I could hear pride in your voice." She smiled a little. "I'm sure he misses you too."

Did he? Anakin wondered. Luke had spent the majority of his life away from him. With a sinking heart, Anakin was certain that Luke had moved on to bigger and better things. Anakin didn't deserve more than that, but it still hurt.

"I'll talk to him," Obi-Wan's voice reached Anakin's ears, and instantly Anakin became apprehensive. "Let me know if you hear anything else." Anakin watched warily as Obi-Wan hung up the phone and returned to the group, his face gravely serious.

"Who was that?" Anakin asked suspiciously.

Obi-Wan took a deep breath, closing his eyes, as if he were preparing himself for something. That only made Anakin worry more. "Something happened."

Anakin instantly stood, his nerves electrified. "What?"

Obi-Wan looked Anakin in the eye. "I need you to stay calm." Oh great. Anakin almost asked not to know, but he knew that Obi-Wan wouldn't tell him unless it was important. "Padme's date attacked her."

The world began to shift from under Anakin's feet. His vision began to swim as a wave of anger and worry washed over him, warring with the lightness within Anakin. It took all of his strength to keep standing there, listening to Obi-Wan continue. "She's alive. She killed him in self-defense, so we don't know too much information. Mindy is there with her, and her parents are on their way."

The words sounded hollow to Anakin. He had let her go on that date. He had encouraged it. And now she was hurt, perhaps scared, and…

"Anakin?" Obi-Wan's voice sounded far away.

"Anakin, I'm sure she's okay," Ahsoka said. He looked at her, unseeing. She couldn't know for sure. If he lost her again…

Panic took hold. He whirled and ran, ignoring his friend's cries for him to stop and wait. He was too far gone. He had to be sure. She had to be okay.

He would make sure of it.


Anakin rushed through the sliding doors of the emergency room, headed straight for the receptionist desk. A tired nurse sat behind it. "Where is Padme?" He demanded in a booming voice before he'd gotten to the desk.

She looked up, startled. "Who?"

"Padme. Padme Amidala." He was frustrated that she didn't immediately know who he was talking about. Logically, he knew that the hospital had literally hundreds of people just in the ER department, let alone the rest of the hospital. It wasn't logical for her to know who he was talking about right off the bat.

But he wasn't thinking logically. He had sped through the streets on his motorcycle like a madman to get there, and now that he was finally here he wasn't going to let anything or anyone stop him from getting to his beloved Padme.

So he shifted his weight impatiently while the nurse slowly looked up her information. "Ah. She's in room 174. She's being interviewed by the police right now, so she can't have any visitors."

Not good enough. He couldn't wait any longer to see her. "I must see her," He growled.

She gave him a hard look. "No one is allowed to see her, I said. Wait patiently, and you'll see her soon."

He didn't have time to debate this. Had he been Darth Vader, he would have choked her and thrown her lifeless body out of his way. But he wasn't Vader anymore. Instead, he raised his hand. He didn't think about what he was about to do. He just…did it. "You will let me see her." He said, and for the first time, the Force was behind his words.

He saw her tired eyes dull as the Force took hold of her mind. "I will let you see her," she repeated emotionlessly.

Even in his panicked state, Anakin did feel a twinge of guilt for his intrusion into her mind, but he was also proud of himself. He hadn't been able to do that since he'd arrived on this world. It was some progression, which was always good to see. Still, he knew that had Obi-Wan witnessed it, he wouldn't have approved.

Anakin didn't care enough at that moment. He nodded his head in thanks and rushed through the swinging doors of the ER, doing his best not to flat out run towards room 174.

He walked through the cluttered hallways without being stopped. He wasn't sure if the Force was helping him, or if people were staying out of his way because they could tell that he was not a man to be messed with at that moment. But soon enough he was walking down the correct hall. At the end, two officers left the room Anakin supposed was Padme's, and they began to talk to a frazzled-looking Mindy.

"Is she in there?" He didn't bother to wait for the officers to be done with talking to Mindy.

Mindy blinked in surprise. "Anakin?" She asked, "What are….how did you get here so fast?"

"Do you know this man?" One of the officers asked.

Mindy glanced towards the officers, as if debating. Anakin felt a surge of anger. If she tried to stop him now… "Yes I know him. He's Padme's boyfriend. He has more of a right to be here than I do."

Wait. What? He would have asked Mindy that, but his mind was still largely focused on one person. "I need to see her."

The officers exchanged looks. "She's going to be okay, son." One of them said, trying to calm Anakin. Anakin would have objected to being called that, but again, he didn't give a crap about anything at that moment except Padme.

He looked at the officer that had spoken. "I need to see that she is okay for myself." All three of them, Mindy and the officers, took a step back. Anakin didn't know how he looked at that moment, but he sounded desperate, and quite frankly, scary. It was a miracle that he wasn't trying to Force push everyone out of his way.

The officers looked torn. "We need you to calm down before we let you in there," The one officer began to say, but Mindy cut him off firmly.

"He's not going to calm down until we move out of his way and let him see that she's okay. He won't hurt her. The man is crazy for her." She paused. "It might be good for Padme to see him too."

He could hardly process the meaning behind her words. His breathing picked up, and he felt like he was about to have a meltdown right there. But finally, the officers looked at each other, as if silently communicating, and stepped aside.

Anakin didn't wait for them to change their minds. He pushed past them and stormed into the room.

Padme sat alone on the edge of the white bed, still wearing a ridiculously short black dress. Her hands clutched an empty paper cup, and she looked down at the sterile white floor beneath the bed, her body shaking.

But Anakin hardly noticed that. What immediately drew his attention was the massive amount of blood that splattered her dress and had dried on her legs. He saw her hair askew, falling out of the updo that she had put it in. One side of her face had a nasty bruise beginning to form.

It was very, very good that he did not have full access to the Force. Looking at her that way, understanding that she had almost lost her life, that she looked injured to him…

He felt white hot rage.

It was also very, very good that the man who had done this to her was dead. Otherwise, Anakin would have turned and walked out of the room to hunt him down.

She looked up when she heard him come in, her dark eyes reflecting a look that he'd seen all too often in the battles that he had fought. It was the eyes of someone who had seen something so awful that they couldn't quite comprehend it.

He hated the man that put that look in her eyes. He clenched his fists so hard, his nails cut into his skin. He tried to speak, to ask where she was hurt, how bad it was, anything, but his voice was strangled.

But as soon as her eyes met his, they began to clear. "Anakin?" She asked, as if she wasn't sure he was really there. He tried to speak, but the anger was so close to the surface, he knew he would start yelling if he spoke. So he nodded. "How…how did you get in here? They haven't even let Mindy in, and…"

He had to know. He took several deep breaths to calm himself enough to ask, "Where are you hurt?"

She blinked in surprise and really looked down at herself. "Oh. Anakin, this isn't my blood." She looked back up at him. "I'll have a bruise on my cheek, but…"

He cut her off. "Are you sure?"

"Yes. I…I killed him before he could do anything else to me." Her voice shook when she said that, but she didn't cry. "Anakin…"

Anakin ignored her. He had to see for himself. He approached her and began to study her. She quieted, as if sensing that he needed to be sure, and allowed him to look her over.

Sure enough, he could find no open wounds. He only found the bruise on her cheek.

Just like that, his anger melted into concern and relief, and he let out a shaky breath. She was okay. She was alive. The threat was already dead and gone.

She was still alive.

"Anakin," she began again, but trailed off as his eyes met hers. Slowly, gently, he touched her bruise. She winced a little, but she didn't stop him from gently running his thumb over it.

"I thought…" he started, his voice breaking, "I thought I was going to lose you again."

"Again?" She echoed, her eyebrows furrowing in confusion, "Anakin, you never lost me."

But he did. And now she was alive, she was safe, and...

He kissed her. He kissed her hard, his hand leaving her cheek to tangle gently into her hair, bringing her face even closer so that he could really, truly kiss her. He kissed her the way he'd wanted to since he woke up to find that she was dead, supposedly by his hand, all those years ago. He kissed her the way he wanted to every day since that day. He kissed her the way he wanted to when he woke up on her couch in this world and saw her standing before him, alive and breathing.

After a brief gasp of surprise, Padme kissed him back just as hard. It was as if she was clinging to him to keep herself grounded, to keep herself from the painful memory of what had just befallen her. Oh Force, he had missed these kisses.

Soon though, they had to break for air. Anakin pulled away, resting his forehead against hers, looking into her beautiful eyes. "I won't let anyone hurt you that way again," He whispered. Part of him recognized that he had made that same promise before, and he had been the one to break it by choking her.

This time, that promise includes from myself. I will not hurt you again. I will not leave you again.

Padme's answer was to kiss him again, gentle this time, but sweeter. He closed his eyes, savoring every moment of it.

He would not lose his Padme again.


WOOHOO! Anakin and Padme love time in this chapter! A lot of you were getting anxious about it, but have no fear, I had a plan. You were all right. Anakin needed something to push him back to her. Well. Here was the push. It was so hard not to say anything about these plans. Muahahahaha. But they aren't out of the hot water yet. Anakin and Padme never are. We will see how this changes their relationship. AND how it changes Mindy's relationship too. You have to remember, Mindy is not a Jedi. She is a normal human being who is thrown into the lives of very different people. So that's why she's only just now starting to come to terms with Anakin's relationship with her best friend. This is the chapter that will really start to change Mindy's outlook as well. Hurray!

I just wanted to say thank you to all of your condolences. I did not expect so much heartfelt love for my loss. I only mentioned it to explain the late update, as I've done other stories for other genres where people would get really mad for late updates. It just reaffirms the fact that all of you are so amazing, and frankly, that the Star Wars fanbase really is one of the best fanbases out there. Star Wars fans tend to be really kind and understanding, and it warms my heart. You guys are the best!

Anyhow. Review! I've got over 200 reviews now, which is totally crazy, since I've never had that many before. But again, you guys are the best. You always brighten my day!

Love,

Sarah

P.S. The song that inspired that last scene is Heart By Heart by Demi Lovato. And of course, Across the Stars (Anakin and Padme's love theme) by John Williams. (Is it possible to make John Williams immortal?)