We've reached Chapter 13. That can only mean one thing: ONE MORE TO GO! Yes, this is the final chapter before the final chapter, so I really hope you'll enjoy it.

ONE MORE!

13

They left the red planet with its volcanoes and fiery lakes at the speed of light and reached the hyperspace immediately. They will be in Tatooine in no time.

Inside the Cruiser, amazingly, after the whole tragedies occurred before him, baby Luke slept calmly beside his sister. Obi Wan was the one who put him there for his mother was nowhere to be seen.

Leaving the infants in tiptoes, he found her sitting at the corner. Her hands on her lap, her eyes staring at them. When he knelt before her, without a warning, she uttered, "Cold,

"When he kissed me. It was cold."

It was a justification from her more to herself than to anyone else.

----

The ship landed safely on the sand of Tatooine, right at the sandy hill overlooking the residence of the Lars. Padme stood there, viewing the scene hundreds of miles away below her: Obi Wan trusting the care of Luke into the hands of his uncle and aunt.

"Is she his mother?" asked Beru to Obi Wan as he handed the baby to her arms. She directed her head to Padme's direction.

He turned her head at the woman she addressed and confirmed, "Yes."

"I've met her before," she moved on, "it's very thoughtless of her, not being here to hand the child herself."

Obi Wan turned to face Beru again. "Raise him well. Always tell him his mother is a remarkable woman."

She took the baby to her husband afterwards and Obi Wan waited for her to disappear inside the house before he started walking towards the hill.

Padme was still looking intently to the house when Obi Wan came right beside her. She just noticed him there after he slowly spoke, "He'll be safe here."

"They're nice people," was all she could say.

"They are."

As she talked then, she finally faced him, "Promise me you'll take care of him."

"I promise," replied he, "I promise I will take care of him. I promise that I will never let him hurt. I promise I won't die before I know he's saved. I won't die before he does,

"I promise, he's the one who will see me die."

Padme said nothing at first, but brief words slightly came out of her lips, "I believe you."

She turned around and started trudging to the ship waiting for her at the other side of the hill. Obi Wan merely stood there, watching her leaving him, probably for the last time. But she suddenly halted. From the rear, he saw her back trembling. He merely stood there, waiting for her to turn around -- and she did eventually.

Her voice was coarse when she spoke,

"What if… You can turn back time?"

"You can't."

"But, what if you can change one thing in your life? What would it be?

"What would you change?"

Silence overtook them, but he answered her eventually,

"I would've held your hand."

And there it was; his answer. And there it was; she, standing there, listening to his answer, at last, cried.

He had seen the same tears dangling inside her eyes for too long a time. They wouldn't fall. But now, they finally flowed.

He wasn't sure what happened next, yet Padme ran to him; threw herself into his arms. And she held him hard. Her face on his shoulder. The tears she let out wetted his robe, but he gave no heed to it. He moved up his hands until they landed on her back.

At last, he was holding her.

Inside his arms, she cried still. The tears were of sadness, despair, hopelessness, relief. But most of all they were of love. Love she didn't know was evil. Love that hurt and wounded. Hurt her so much it brought tears to her eyes every time she felt the pain taking in. Tears she used to renounce, but now she suavely welcomed.

Her sobs were getting louder until, suddenly, she released herself from him. She pushed herself away from the warmth given to her, so she could freely move towards him. To give his lips a kiss. A kiss he did not reply.

Seconds passed and Obi Wan merely watched as Padme ran away, leaving him alone on the sandy hill of Tatooine, to the ship; to her new life.

Tears, kept for too long, were still flowing from her eyes.