"Stop! Anakin, listen to me!"

"We've been over this, Padme – no."

It was difficult to argue while climbing stairs. No stairs in the Coruscant and the hospital meant that her stamina had taken a slight hit, apparently. Once, she had climbed the Empire like the task was nothing, now, the young woman's legs and chest burned with the physical strain. Padme wheezed, following the Imperial leader up flight after flight of stairs, trying to slow him down before her knees gave out.

Finally, she grabbed at his arm just as Anakin made to start the tenth staircase, trapping him in her desperate grasp.

"You have to let them go, Anakin... both of them! They can't stay here."

"They have to. They're my leverage," he huffed, "they're all I have against him."

"Leverage?" Padme's hand fell away from his arm as she recoiled, "Leverage? Rush is my friend… He's a good person, he's – they're people not something to bargain over."

"They're not in any danger, I'm just making sure Palpatine can't take them back."

"No you aren't," she shook her head, "You're going to hold them prisoner here!" Her voice rose of his own accord. How could he begin to think this was okay? Rush and Roganda should be free to stay or go wherever they chose – being tied to Palpatine didn't give Anakin the right to hide them away until they could be useful to him.

"What do you want me to do, Padme?" His voice rose to match hers. "Should I give them back to Palpatine so he can bomb the city to nothing? Hm?"

That sentence stunned the young woman into silence. She felt herself frowning, an unbearable unease settling in her chest. Honestly? She had no answer. What could she say? She didn't know what to do and Anakin just wasn't changing his mind. Her nerves were frayed and she was exhausted.

Drained.

Her stitches began to tug and ache also.

To make matters worse, every time she closed her eyes, Aphra's dying gaze haunted her mind.

She wanted to scream.

After Roganda's revelation, something inside of Anakin seemed to snap. He morphed so easily back into the leader Padme had come to know, he barked orders to take Roganda away and made quick arrangements for Imperials to transport her and Rush somewhere in the city. A location he refused to tell her.

And she was furious with him for it… but not as much as she was terrified by the whole situation.

Palpatine and his people were going to wipe New York off the map forever.

Beasts and military trucks were circling the city to stop anyone getting out, according to Roganda. Everything was in place. The sky was set to fall down upon them very soon… as it stood, everyone she knew was going to die beneath a shower of fire and smoke frighteningly sooner than later.

"What are we going to do?" She asked quietly. For once, she didn't have an idea… she couldn't begin to think of a way out of this mess. They weren't the military, they weren't prepared for anything like this! They were just people who learned to survive in hell. They had guns and blades to take down monsters – what hope did they have of escaping a city facing mass bombing?

"I don't know," Anakin admitted through grit teeth, his whole body seeming to tremble beneath a quiet rage within him, "I… Padme, I don't know. Palpatine coming for his family is our best shot. You don't have to like it but it's all we have. I'm sorry."

As he stormed up the stairs, Padme watched him go with a sinking feeling that maybe he was right.

Less than twenty-four hours later saw the infamous Sheev Palpatine step foot in New York City, seemingly alone. The Imperials were on edge regardless. It was unlikely a man of his apparent importance would come without back-up, without someone guarding him against the dangers of the feral survivors holding his family captive.

He stood there, tufting white hair, his face hard and deeply wrinkled, dressed expensively in a deep burgundy suit and leaning heavily on a black cane with a dazzling golden tip. The very image of wealth and power. But just like with the younger man opposite him, a storm brewed inside the man who held their fate in his hands.

The Imperial leader and the secretive face of whatever death campaign New York faced seemed locked in an unending, vicious battle for dominance with their eyes only. Palpatine was unflinching, utterly formidable despite his smaller stature and age while Anakin was all brute force in every single one of his movements. One was subtle and calculating, the other strong and determined. No one could truly predict the outcome.

"My boy," the old man cracked a smile dripping in faux warmth and familiarity, "it's really been far too long since we've talked business together."

"You mean since you tried to screw me over?" Anakin threw back, his long dark coat was opened and loose against the slight chill in the air. Their words were muffled through The Empire's thick glass windows for Padme, Kit and the others as they tried to see what was happening. The former med student had helped her find a room last night and pulled her slight frame into his strong arms for what had felt like forever and it had been wonderful. His presence was all that had kept her from breaking beneath the guilt which tore at her.

Thankfully in the daylight, there were more important matters to think about.

"Now, now, let's not be dramatic," Palpatine tutted, "Our agreements simply fell through, that's all."

"You went back on your word," The Imperial leader said coldly, "and your boy almost died for it. If I had a kid, I'd do anything to protect them. I can see why Rush chose to live in this hell over you."

"My son is immature and petulant. I let his mother ruin him. He's too soft. Useless, really," the old man hissed hatefully and Padme glared angrily through the window. How could he talk so horribly about his own child? It broke her heart to know Rush hadn't exaggerated their relationship. "Now you… A son like you, young Skywalker," he said Anakin's name slowly, tasting every syllable as it passed his lips, "Such potential. Such strength. I believe we have much to discuss."

Anakin was quiet for a few moments. With his back turned to them, Padme couldn't see his face. How did he feel about such a comparison? At least this one was favourable, something guilty whispered within her, forcing her to relive the poisonous words she'd thrown at him in their fight.

"Let's talk," he said, at last, gesturing toward the doorway of the hotel.

As he looked at the once glamourous hotel, Palpatine's features contorted into a mask of displeasure, as if the building itself was beneath him. Padme watched him closely as the façade of warmth fell away, he obviously loathed to be beckoned and told what to do – especially by someone younger and, in his unfriendly eyes at least, lesser than himself like Anakin.

But if the man wanted his family back in his control, Palpatine had to play by the rules he was given… and the Imperial Leader knew it.

"They're coming in," Kit murmured beside her, "I hope Anakin knows what he's doing here."

"We should take the old man and hold him with his wife and kid," Maul mattered darkly, the thick, jagged tattoos on his face dancing with the movement of his lips, "if he's really all that, they'll hold off the bombs until he's safe."

"No," Padme shook her head, shifting away from the window as the two men began to come inside the hotel, "if an entire city full of people is disposable, then one man is expendable regardless of who he is. I'm sure others could take his place if we did that."

"So you're saying bartering with him is the only shot we've got?" Maul growled, folding his arms as Anakin and Palpatine strode into the hotel's crowded lobby. Palpatine looked around each Imperial carefully, measuring their gazes and stances before flicking onwards to the next. Padme's body shivered as his piercing eyes lingered on her momentarily, searing into her as if one look could tell him everything he possibly needed to know about her.

"They're not here," Anakin drawled boredly, "I'm not stupid enough to keep them in the building."

"Yes… Yes, so I see…" The old man's calculating look became irritated, "Shall we get started then? I'm afraid we're both rather short on time in this matter."

Anakin's gaze hardened at once but he nodded anyway and gestured Rush's father toward an old, disused staffroom no one ever used these days. Palpatine entered first and Padme threw herself off the table she'd been kneeling on and crossed the lobby in as few steps as her legs could manage. The fate of the people in this city couldn't be left to Anakin and Palpatine alone. She had to make sure the deal struck saved everyone. Imperial, Rebel, stray… Rush and Roganda.

Today, Padme stood for them all.

She reached the doorway just as Anakin made to move inside and shut the door behind him, he looked down at her tiredly, his eyes caught between annoyance and defeat as she held her chin high and determined. They spoke with their gaze. Argued. Debated. He did not want Padme near Palpatine. She would not stay away. After a moment, the Imperial leader sighed and held the door open wider so that she could enter alongside him.

Behind them, the Imperials were silent as the door swung closed.

Palpatine glanced, one eyebrow raised curiously, between Padme and Anakin as he circled the small, dusty table. Implications lay heavy in his eyes as he took in the former couple. Padme leaned her back on the door and folded her arms over her chest. She would not shrink beneath this husk of a man's gaze, he would never have the satisfaction of intimidating her, regardless of his power.

"You wanted to talk," Anakin gestured at Palpatine, "so talk."

His tone was commanding, a true leader, the king of this building and its territories and his confidence showed. He had what Palpatine wanted and he knew what the old man and his friends were doing – the cards were firmly in his control… and yet, the man before them both was obviously no stranger to games of power and the mind. He wasn't pretending to be unfazed, he simply was.

"I made a deal with one of your people not very long ago…" Rush's father began, "but I see she's not here anymore."

The mention of Aphra made Padme wince before she could stop herself, the image was still so fresh… just yesterday she was alive and had a life ahead of her and now she was… No, not now. The young woman steeled herself, forcing back her pain and regret just for now. This wasn't the time to mourn and show weakness – lives were depending on this conversation.

"Well observed. She didn't speak for me," Anakin's voice came carefully neutral and unfeeling.

"Well, my terms are simple. I want my son and Roganda delivered to me alive and intact."

Anakin scoffed and gave his head a slow shake. "Did you really think this would work? That we would be so desperate for food and weapons that you'd get your little family back in one piece?"

"My offerings were more than agreeable to your – "

"Rush and Roganda won't be much use to you when we're all dust in the streets."

The Imperial leader's tone was cold and final. Palpatine expression didn't shift but his shock betrayed itself in his silence. He hadn't been expecting anyone to know what was coming for them.

"Ah," the other man said at last, "So you're aware then."

"I know everything," Anakin bluffed without missing a beat, "Your soldiers on the city borders are chatty and your wife sang like a pretty little bird the moment I held her face against one of my beast's cages. She told me everything. So your useless son and gold-digger aren't going anywhere. If we burn, they burn with us."

"I want them back, Anakin!" Palpatine snarled dangerously and anger shone in his cruel gaze for the first time, "You and your gang of degenerates will not stop me."

"Won't we?" Padme spoke up from the doorway and the old man sneered at her. She hated to use Rush and Roganda as tools to be bartered over but what other choice was there? Anakin was right before, they had to. "You've come into the city from whatever place of safety I'm sure you and your like-minded friends have created to build this new government we've heard so much about… that means you know there isn't much time. It means you're afraid. Believe me, you can send your army to search this city to search it street by street but will they find Rush and Roganda quickly enough to spare them from the bombs? Is that a risk you're willing to take?"

Anakin looked over his shoulder with fire in his eyes. Pride beamed in his expression as he smiled at her. Despite everything, Padme felt her heart quicken at the sight of it.

"She's right," he said when his eyes returned to Palpatine, "You and I both know how difficult I can make things for you when I want to."

The old man set his jaw, infuriated. Although veiled, the struggle in his eyes was unmissable – he refused to give into Anakin and Padme but he knew the truth in their words. Anakin and the Imperials knew this city better than any outsider could fathom. They knew every corner and alleyway, every stop sign and building as intimately as their body bodies. Sending out a search party would be useless.

"Fine then," Palpatine said curtly, "Give me Roganda and my boy and I'll make sure that you and your woman here live, Anakin." He threw a weak, thoughtless flick of his hand in her direction. "We can work together, my boy – build a better world than the last… A fair world. Isn't that what you always wanted?"

Padme's breath caught in her throat and she glanced at Anakin, wishing desperately that she could see his face. Turn around, Ani, she thought, look at me and see this is a bad idea… Please…

"I'm listening," he said instead.

"Wait – " She begun but Palpatine simply spoke above her, as if her voice meant nothing in this discussion between men.

"I can get you both out," he continued, "before the bombs fall… I'll have you somewhere safe."

"Wait," Padme found her voice again, approaching the table and slamming her palms down onto its dirty surface without a care. "What about the others? What happens to them?"

Palpatine's gaze took her in, appraising her for a moment before giving a gentle shrug. "The offering is good for two. That's all."

She couldn't believe what she was hearing. An out for her and Anakin if they left everyone else here to die? That wasn't a fair solution at all – it wasn't right! Her throat and lungs constricted at the thought of leaving all their friends behind… Obi-wan, Kit, Dorme and Sabe, Mon… All the Imperials and Rebels… The people who lived out there alone – how could they leave those all people behind?

She looked at Anakin but he didn't turn to met her eyes and her stomach sank. Padme only had to take in his stance, the way he looked unflinchingly forward, avoiding her gaze and she knew… No… No, no, he couldn't, not Anakin, he wouldn't…

"No," the young woman said as firmly as she could, "We're not taking that deal. You should be ashamed. People are going to die and you don't even care! Stop this before its too late. The whole thing is…" Her words died in her throat and none followed it. She felt all too caught up in a terrible whirlwind of anger, fear and desperation.

Palpatine looked at her as if she was a mere inconvenience to the order of his day, as if Padme was small and lesser, as if she were nothing at all. "My dear…" he chuckled coldly, entirely unfazed by her indignation, "if you are of the belief that all this depends upon me then you are mistaken. Even if I had a desire to stop it, I could not. And I wouldn't. Sometimes in life, difficult choices must be made… from the ashes of what was, a new kingdom will arise."

"If I get your family back to you, Padme and I get out. That's it?" Anakin said, at last, his voice strained with the effort of it.

"Some would say that's rather generous given the circumstances, my boy."

"Padme and I could find a way out ourselves," he rolled his eyes, "and we could take everyone with us. What makes you think that we need you?"

"You could try to get out yourselves," Palpatine nodded calmly, tapping the tips of his fingers on the table, "but you and I both know that I could make things difficult for you."

The echo of Anakin's words was enough to set him fully on edge and Palpatine knew it. He fixed the former couple with a cruel smirk.

"As I said before, Anakin," the old man drew out the syllables of his name, "I see your potential. You lack focus. You lack vision but the potential is there. I can see the greatness you could achieve if only given the chance… Well, here it is. Take my deal. I'll get you a seat at the table. A say in what's to come. A place in our new society… You two can play house and witness the rebirth of our once-great nation. Pledge yourself to me, Anakin and you'll have all that and more. This is my offer…"

"If you can get us out, surely you must – " Anakin began only to be sharply cut off by the older man glaring harshly from across the table.

"Take or leave it, boy…"

"Fine," he said at last and Padme's eyes widened in angry horror at the startling defeat in Anakin's voice – he sounded desperate. Worn down. As if he'd weighed his options and chosen the best of the worst. "Just get Padme and I out and you can get your family back."

"No," she shook her head, grabbing Anakin's arm through the thickness of his coat and digging her nails in until he looked at her. Brown eyes met blue and she barely even recognised him. Nothing of the burning, passionate, angry man she loved existed within him now… He was distant. Mechanical. Running on the fumes of fumes. "Anakin," she hissed, her heart beating wildly in her chest, "What are you doing? We can't do this – no! You're a good person, don't do this!"

"We have a deal then, Anakin," Palpatine chuckled smugly, ignoring Padme without remorse for her distress. "I think that you'll come to enjoy an apprenticeship beneath me, son. You'll go far in my new world order."

Releasing her love, she snarled at Rush's father with every burning morsel of fury she could muster, "get out! Just take your poisonous deal and leave us alone!"

Palpatine was silent, watching Padme's outburst with distant amusement until his eyes returned to Anakin callously. "I'll be in touch. Make sure your house is in order in time to leave." He glowered at her for a moment, the implication clear. "A woman should know her place."

"Maybe this is why your wife left you!" She cried, "And your son! You aren't getting them back – they don't want to be with you. Rush wants nothing to do with you!"

"If they stay here, they die," Palpatine brushed down his coat as if the grime of the building would somehow follow him out. "Perhaps you should think twice about such… righteousness, Padme… One day you'll thank me. When Anakin has risen within our ranks, when you find yourself safe in a big house with obedient children – "

"Get out!" She roared, louder, angrier than any cry she had ever given before. The Imperials beyond the door had to have heard it. Even Palpatine recoiled sightly though a quiet, disturbing excitement quickly replaced his surprise. "Get out of my home and don't come back! I never want to see you here again!"

"Such fire… I can see why he wants to save you, dear," he chuckled, rounding the table at last to leave the small room. Padme watched him leave, trembling with a wave of anger more blistering than she'd ever felt before. Something evil lived inside of that man, something dark and vicious which thrilled in the needless deaths he commanded. How could someone be so awful?

A moment later, the older man was gone but the room felt no lighter for it.

Padme barely waited for the door to close behind him before rounding on Anakin.

"What are you thinking?" She hissed, mindful of anyone outside the door, "You can't do this, Anakin. I won't. I'm not leaving this city unless everyone comes with us."

"It's a chance to get out. To live, Padme!"

"And what about your friends? The Imperials? What about Kit? You'd just let them die while we get away to live with people like Palpatine?" This wasn't him, this wasn't the Anakin she knew. He was fiercely loyal to his friends – the Imperials were the family he'd chosen. His brothers in arms. "Think about what you said to Aphra, Anakin – Palpatine can't be trusted. He'll turn it around – you don't have any way to know you can trust him."

Her pleas grew desperate as Anakin turned away from her, rubbing a hand harshly over his face with a frustrated groan. He wasn't listening! Couldn't he see what she saw? What anybody else would see?

"We just…" He began after a moment but the words drifted off into nothingness, "Padme, I – "

"We are not agreeing to this."

"I already did," he muttered distantly, "it's done."

"Anakin, think!" She hissed, "You would be happy to leave all our friends to die? Really? That's not you! This isn't the man I know – he would die to keep his friends safe. What's going on with you?"

"Staying here to die with them won't do them any good either," his voice was flat and dead. He wasn't here with her at all. "This is the best chance we've got."

"There has to be another way," Padme shook her head and ran a hand through her hair. Desperation clung to her heart. There was another way out, they just had to find it. She just had to think… they needed to think! "We'll figure something out – all of us…"

"All of us?" He repeated softly, his eyes empty when he looked at her again.

"Yes!" She reached forward to grab his coat, "Everyone. The Imperials, the Rebels – anyone we can find who's still alive out there!"

At the mention of the Rebels, Anakin shoved her back and moved away, glaring ferociously. "Of course, that's what you'd want," he snapped, "all of us together like one big, happy family. That's not going to happen, Padme. I won't risk my neck for them."

"And what about the Imperials? You're going to leave them all behind – people who trust you with their lives, who've followed you all this time! Could you really live with yourself?" Her mention of the Imperials made Anakin's jaw clench so hard that Padme almost winced – it had to be painful. His gaze fell guiltily to the floor as the stress seemed to weigh down on him all at once. She watched him closely, witnessing his inner turmoil begin to tear him apart. "Ani," she murmured his name softly, "Ani, please… Look at me…"

He didn't move. They were maybe three steps apart but he was entire worlds away. Unreachable. Unattainable. But she had to keep trying… The lives of everyone in the city depended on it. She whispered his name, touched his arm and muttered small, quiet pleas to change his mind before it was too late.

Of course, she knew he was torn between a chance to save them and the fight to save everyone. He wasn't as uncaring as he tried to seem sometimes. Anakin did care, he loved with his whole heart and felt everything with an intensity that trembled his very core. Padme knew that all too well. He had to feel so confused right now, and he was, in the secret parts of his heart, mourning his friend. Aphra's death was still like a burning iron rod in her stomach, so raw, so fresh. The other woman's face haunted her. Punishing Padme for what she had done.

In this bloody world, caring came as a dangerous body of vines. It clawed its way inside slowly, twisting and wrapping itself around your heart, your soul until you were forever entangled with someone you loved. Padme felt it sometimes, gripping at her, crushing her, she understood Anakin in ways she never thought possible because even she, who loved and cared like her very life depended on it, wished she could push it all away sometimes. How nice it would be to just let people die. To run away and never look back while the world became ashes in their wake…

And yet, the very idea of indifference left the young woman nauseous.

It wasn't in her to stop caring. It couldn't be in her. At the end of everything, Padme Naberrie had fought too hard to stay human.

"They're all right in what they say about me," Anakin's voice crackled as he tried to sound detached, as if his decision wasn't painful for him. As if it wasn't killing him. "I don't care about people. I don't care if everyone in this city has to die so that we can live. Even if we stay apart for the rest of our lives, I don't care. I'll do what I have to do to make sure you get out of this." His eyes blazed with menace and desperation and love. Deep down, it thrilled as much as it overwhelmed her.

"Don't say things like that! I know you, Anakin, you do care. You would never forgive yourself if you did this."

"You know what's funny?" Angry tears shone in his reddened eyes, "I can't even make myself hate him for what he's doing… It's war. Casualties happen."

"But you refuse to be one of them?"

"Yes."

Padme let out a frustrated sigh and covered her face with her hands. She wanted to scream. From nowhere, the memory of that day in the convenience store with Bail flickered before her mind. The man he'd once been stood before her now, that same man who scared her in the store, who'd threatened her, who almost kidnapped her, the one she thought might kill her if she didn't do what he said… It hurt her heart and twisted her stomach but she saw that him now in place of the man she loved.

The ruthless, merciless, cruel Imperial leader who took lives without hesitation or regret, the man who stole, cheated and smiled a knife-grin, the memory sent a terrible jolt of cold, rigid fear through Padme and she couldn't hide it from him. She shuddered slightly and exhaled a trembling burst of air. Her hands began to shake.

Devastation painted his face as Anakin looked at her now – he reached out to touch her but stopped himself before his fingers found her. Padme pulled her gaze away, her throat too tight to speak. Silence fell like a heavy blanket upon them, weighing them down, crushing whatever hopeless words that waited on their tongues to nothingness. Eventually, after several, soundless minutes, he cracked.

"I don't want to die."

This made Padme look at him again. Such vulnerability in Anakin's voice was rare and even now it was hushed, no louder than a secretive whisper. The man of the past was gone. The man she loved was gone. Before her stood a scared boy whose control had been taken, whose life was about to be destroyed. It wounded her to see him like this, he was always so strong and brave but even he had been shaken by their impending fate.

She didn't want to die either. Padme knew what it was like to die and the prospect of experiencing it again terrified her. She wanted to live. Desperately. She wanted every single day she could have. Every moment, every breath this world let her have. She wanted it all for as long as she could have it.

But there were costs she wasn't prepared to pay.

He composed himself for a moment, eyes shut tight until his breathing steadied itself once more. "I don't want to die," he said again, "When I think about dying – about everything just… being gone? It terrifies me." She nodded along with him, understanding his feelings completely. How could she comfort him, when the same exact fear crippled them both? "But you know what scares me even more?" Before he spoke, she knew exactly what he was going to say, and yet it still hurt her heart to hear it. "You dying."

A tear she hadn't felt well up escaped her eye as her chin trembled. "Anakin, you can't live like that."

"But it's true," he choked, "When you got hurt – when I thought you were dead… It made me want to die, Padme. I thought about it. I wanted to throw myself at the first beast I saw because living without you just didn't feel possible. I am terrified of dying but I'd give my life for yours in a heartbeat. I wouldn't even hesitate."

"Stop saying these things," she began to break, face crumbling beneath the stress, "Anakin… My life isn't worth more than anyone's – especially not yours. You have to make it through this too."

"I want to," he said right away, "I want to make it, Padme, you have no idea… I don't like Palpatine, I don't. He's scum but we don't have a choice. Doing this, giving him what he wants by working for him – that'll get you out. This is my chance to get you out! I – if you don't want me to go with you… that's – then take whoever you want. I'll stay in their place… just – just let me save you, my love, one last time." Anakin's free hand moved to caress her cheek gently and despite herself, she held him to her.

It lasted only for a moment until Padme closed her eyes and breathed out in a quiver, gathering the strength to push his hand away. The spell around them broke at once. She was only human, the prospect of safety and living was tempting. It tugged at her, whispering tantalizingly about a life she could have outside the city.

The idea of a life of safety and normalcy and peace was enticing and she wanted it. She wanted it so terribly…

She could almost see them getting out, living somewhere quiet and preserved, free of beasts and guns and death. They had a house somewhere. Padme imagined grass beneath her feet, the sun shining warmly, Anakin's scent in her lungs as he held her in his arms… No more beasts. No bloodstains on their clothes. Only sun, only light and their love for a beautiful, harmonious eternity…

"I can't," Padme broke her own heart in a whisper. She pulled herself from the fantasy before it could take her away and turn her head in Palpatine's direction. She shook her head and watched Anakin's face fall and his shoulders slump. "I can't do it. If we leave, we might have a life together but it would be built on blood. On the deaths of our friends. How could anything we create survive that"?

"I don't understand," he sounded flustered, "Do you want to die here?"

"We won't die," Padme said with a confidence she wasn't sure she truly possessed, "we'll find another way to get out and live."

"For how long?" The hopelessness in his voice tore at her. He was so close, she could feel how his body trembled and quaked beneath the anguish that painted his eyes. It set off a fire in Padme, something she had never felt before. More than hope and beyond strength, resolve steeled her blood and strengthened her heart. She was strong She could be strong enough for both of them now.

Anakin had been her sword and shield for years and now Padme would be his.

"Weeks. Months. Maybe even years if we get lucky, but we're going to do it, Anakin. We're going to get out and we're going to bring everybody with us." She took his hands into hers and laced their fingers together tightly, "I need you to trust me. Can you do that?"

"With my life," he said immediately, the beginnings of a smile began to pull at his lips and Padme matched it with one of her own. Hope bloomed in her heart. She was steadfast and resolved. They were getting out – they were getting everyone out. Screw Palpatine and his friends. Screw his evil deals and manipulations. They didn't need him, they never had before.

"Then let's do what we should have done all this time."

"What's that?" His eyes bore into hers curiously.

"Lead. You and I, together. We can get the Rebels on board and save everyone we love, I know we can." Slowly, a spark came into his gaze as, at last, as he chose to believe in her, to trust her judgement above his own and let Padme step forward in his place. His eyes revered her, worshipped her as his smile grew bold and adoring.

"Alright," he nodded and her heart soared, "My command is yours. I'll follow you to the end, my love…"

As twilight began to fall on the world they'd fought and killed and scraped to survive within, the new Imperial leader was ready to rise.