One more epilogue after this, and I will have it done by tomorrow night.

Chapter 17-Coronation

"All hail The Hero With No Fear!"

"All hail Emperor Anakin Skywalker!"

"All hail the Emperor!"

As he listened to their chants Anakin could not help but feel a growing contempt for the supposed elite of the Republic. They were politicians, first of all, and few of them compared to the better and rare ones that had gained Anakin's respect through the years that he served them. How ironic, he thought. All these years I have clamored to wipe the blood off the back of you leeches, and now you are begging me to be your Emperor. He was the leeches' new prey, Anakin realized, and he hated them all.

But hate wouldn't help him right now. Hate wouldn't help Padme either, and it certainly wouldn't help the Republic that she loved so much. Well, not the Republic, exactly. Whatever it was, it needed him to act a politician's role. He would do what was needed. Anakin had promised that to his wife. And Anakin would take the path that the Force was subtly nudging him towards.

He raised his arms, beckoning the crowd with his outstretched palms to settle down.

"Honorable Senators," he cried, his voice blasting far beyond the walls of the chamber itself. "It is with great humility that I hear your pleas. Today, you ask me to serve. I have served all my life. Call it what you will, an Empire, a Republic. I call it a Galaxy brimming with life and light, and I have done my best to serve it."

The anticipation rose to even higher levels. There was no doubt among those gathered what the end result of this speech would be. Only one heart still held hopeful doubt. Padme pleaded to her husband with her eyes, but he did not see her.

"I have served for as long as I know, but in this short life that I have known, I have only served as a warrior. That is what I am, and that is what I know. I have never been known to serve with balance, with justice, with vision, nor with wisdom. I wield an extraordinary power, that is true. But again, I have only used that power in action and never in vision. The few times that I have tried have led to disaster.

I am not a perfect man by any means. I am prone to faults that are, incidentally, common knowledge to many of us here. I have been known to be possessive, jealous, hateful, and yes, extremely fearful. These qualities may come handy in my role as a warrior, but they will be utterly detrimental in any role as a leader.

Honorable Senators, the darkness that enveloped this galaxy for so long has died along with the previous Emperor, Palpatine. We enter today into a hopeful and glorious age of peace, but there is no role in peace for the warrior. If I were to accept the crown that you are promising me today, I promise that I will at worst an evil and tyrannical dictator, and at best an ineffective and weak figurehead.

But I am still a servant today, as I have always been. And though I have no desire to rule and hold unlimited power, I will do what I need to serve this Galaxy well. I, Anakin Skywalker, accept the position of Emperor that you have given to me."

Padme's heart sank into the icy depths of hopelessness.

"I do this for two reasons. First, I accept the crown to set an example, a precedent that I hope will be followed by those who succeed me. I promise that I will willingly give up my title and all my powers when the time calls for it.

And that time is now.

Because the second reason that I have accepted this title of Emperor is to appoint my successor, one who possesses all the qualities I lack. She has the vision and wisdom that I severely lack. She has been born with an extraordinary aptitude for grace and compassion that my soul will never touch. And most importantly, she has a spine of dura-steel when it comes to her beliefs in what is right. Those beliefs are most important, because she believes in qualities such as freedom, justice, and liberty for every soul in this galaxy, from the powerful Senators to the powerless beggars, from the righteous warriors to the wayward smugglers. She has the experience too. At fourteen she became the greatest queen her planet had ever seen and guided Naboo successfully through her greatest crisis. She has also been a longtime colleague of yours. I know that those of you who may have served with her before the inception of the Empire may have disagreed with her, but I also know that in the bottom of your hearts you still hold the mightiest respect for her, because she is the perfect model of a Senator as well as the perfect prototype for a leader. That is why today I, the legitimate Emperor Anakin Skywalker, choose to abdicate my throne and hand over all the powers that come with it to my successor, the Empress Padme Naberrie Amidala Skywalker, if she would choose to accept it."

He turned and looked over at his wife, who still showed visible signs of shock. In only mere minutes Padme had journeyed from supreme happiness to dreadful fear and finally to eternal despair. She had yet to recover from any of those emotions, and now he wanted her to be an Empress.

Please do this, he sent her through the Force his thoughts. I would love nothing more than for the two of us to return to Naboo and raise our family, but this galaxy needs you.

Anakin, you know that to accept this crown would betray all of the ideals that you have just mentioned.

You would not only betray yourself but betray the galaxy as a whole if you leave it in the paws of these scavengers.

But Anakin, you ask me to take over an Empire. That very word makes me sick to my stomach.

Then make it into something else then. Dedicate your work as Empress to destroy the very Empire under you and mold it into a more perfect Republic than the one you served as a Senator.

That all sounds good, but what if I can't? What if MY pride or greed got in the way? What if in my efforts to shape a utopia I end up repressing and purging all who stood in my way?

I know you better than that. And Padme, as your husband I will always be here for you. I will always love you, but I will always remind you of the precedent that I have set, and when the time comes, I will remind you of the choice that only you can make to give up your power. There is nothing more powerful than that.

Anakin, I still don't know. We'd be giving into the mob if I were to accept this.

Padme, accept to crown to give them what they want, but serve the crown to give them what they need.

Those words vaguely sparked what was already a distant memory in her mind. As she stepped forward up to the podium in their pod, Padme felt it more and more appropriate by the second that she would be given a chance by her husband to put out a fire that she had helped ignite in the first place. And to give her that chance he had made his own ultimate sacrifice of ultimate power. She felt Anakin nudge her on and then fade into the background the pod. Padme Naberrie Amidala Skywalker faced the Senators in their spotlight.

"Honorable members of the Senate gathered here today, I accept the title of Empress not to rule over you and dominate over the galaxy with unreasonable power. Instead, I come before you with hopes that we may all work together to serve and to forge a greater future than we have all known in our lifetimes.

I promise to live up to the lofty praise that my husband has spoken of in my favor, but it will be my ultimate goal not to rule, but to lead, and lead with balance. I will keep leading until the day in which the title that I hold will only be one in name. I will keep leading until the day in which every sentient being in this galaxy will have their chance to bathe in the joys of liberty, freedom, security, and peace without an Empress nor an Empire to lean on. And when that day comes, I will follow the courageous example set forth by my husband and I will step down. I promise you that as well, and you may hold as collateral the fact that there is nothing I desire more than to live with my husband and raise my children in a peace that will be shared by everyone else equally, near and far."

Her speech was short but effective. The chamber burst into wholehearted applause as even the most jaded Senators felt in their hearts a new hope for a brighter future. As Anakin soaked in the sights, sounds, and feelings of the room, he knew that the unadulterated worship of his wife would not last, but he trusted in the Force that it will continue to guide his family as it had guided him so well so far.

Anakin thought he saw a familiar spirit floating over the chamber. A bearded man adorned in the plain colors of the Jedi robes smiled back at him.