Thank you so much for all your wonderful reactions to the last chapter! It truly inspires me as a writer to keep going. This one is a bit of a short transition chapter, but the next one is being uploaded within a half hour. It was originally one chapter, but I decided to split it for the sake of maintaining consistency. Enjoy!

"Why did you do that?" Anakin shouted, not bothering to strap himself in despite that the small fighter ship was rapidly accelerating into the atmosphere.

"Do what?" the beautiful angel beside him asked. He had to admit that he found it incredibly attractive that she could pilot a vehicle like this so well…

"Save me," he continued. "You are aware you're now a fugitive? You're harboring the galaxy's most wanted. They're probably sending ships after us right now and they will shoot us down."

"If you die, I die," said Padmé, "because I love you, Anakin. I don't care about all the horrible things you've done. I'm willing to risk being considered a traitor if we survive this."

Anakin's racing heart stopped beating for a moment, and in that second, he really was nine-year-old Anakin again seeing the brunette queen for the first time.

She loves me. She really loves me.

Disregarding their current predicament, Anakin leaned over to kiss Padmé as they broke free of Jakku. However, he was met with only her cheek and the barking order of, "Not now, Anakin!"

Anakin smirked and leaned back in his seat. "Whatever you say, Captain."

He could tell she was flying aimlessly at the moment, but the most important mission was to just get as far away from Jakku as possible…which was seeming a bit too easy.

"Why is no one following us?" Anakin asked, thinking aloud.

"I don't know," Padmé answered. "I'd say they don't want to risk my life, but I'm pretty sure they'd sacrifice me if it meant getting rid of you. Even though Mon commands the base, Obi-Wan has the final say in matters like this."

So the Jedi is letting me go…strange.

"Do you know why your friend was there?" Padmé continued.

"No," Anakin grunted, trying to contain his anger toward Piett. "I don't know why he was there or how he found the base or why he didn't bring anyone with him."

"Well, clearly he didn't know you were there judging by the look on his face," said Padmé. "So we weren't being watched, and he came of his own accord. Maybe the Empire is trying to strike a bargain with us."

"The Rebellion is 'you', Padmé, not 'us'," Anakin pointed out. "I'm not on any side right now nor do I want to be. The most important thing we need to do is hide and we'll figure out the rest from there. Do you have anywhere in mind? With your parents, maybe?"

"No," Padmé responded. "That's the first place they'll look. They've likely contacted them already and told them I'm with you. You being Lord Vader. My parents are very understanding people, but they also believe in the cause of the Rebellion above anything else. They wouldn't hesitate to turn you in immediately even if I tell them who you really are and how I feel about you. They'll think I'm not safe with you."

"Then they'd be right," Anakin said. "Though I will try my hardest to protect you, you'll never truly be safe with me, especially if the Emperor finds out I'm alive."

"He won't find out," Padmé stated, "because we're going somewhere he'll never look."

"And where is that?" Anakin asked.

Padmé slowed the ship down a bit, accepting that they weren't being followed and looked him directly in the eyes.

"I'm apologizing in advance," she said, "because you're really not going to like it."


"Every fighter to your ships immediately!" Mon Mothma shouted. "Follow them! Do not hesitate to shoot them down."

"No!" Obi-Wan yelled, causing the soldiers to disregard their original orders and turn the spotlight on him.

"Master Kenobi," said Mon, "this is Darth Vader we're talking about here. The man who murdered all your Jedi colleagues, children included, and countless Rebellion leaders and soldiers. You aren't seriously suggesting that we let him get away?"

"Of course not," Obi-Wan said, still staring at the sky, attempting to process everything that just happened. "But shoot down that ship and you shoot down one of the Rebellion's most valuable leaders, who also happens to be your closest friend. This is a mission for myself."

He turned his eyes to Mon, clearly infuriated at his overriding of her orders.

"Very well," she conceded, turning back to her soldiers. "Make sure Master Kenobi has the best and fastest ship available!"

"Not yet," Obi-Wan interjected, holding his hand up. "I'd like to interview our prisoner first."

Mon opened her mouth to protest, but Obi-Wan silenced her with a glare. He didn't blame her for her hesitancy- if he was in her place, he would probably think he had lost his mind, as well.

"What is your name?" Obi-Wan asked the man who was being held in a painful-looking position by Red and Harley.

"Piett, Sir," the man answered. "Firmus Piett."

Obi-Wan raised his eyebrows in surprise.

"Piett as in the new second-in-command of the Empire?" Obi-Wan asked.

"That is correct," the Imperial clarified.

"Now, why would the Emperor send his second-in-command directly into the hands of his greatest enemy? How did you locate our base?" Obi-Wan inquired.

Something definitely isn't right here. Nothing about this situation is adding up.

"He didn't send me," said Piett, "and I am here to tell you that you are not the Emperor's greatest enemy. As to how I found your location, that is a different conversation."

"And one we need to have," Obi-Wan responded before addressing one of the soldiers in front of him. "Red, please release our guest from his restraints. They will no longer be necessary."

Red, as hesitant as Mon about Obi-Wan's judgment, slowly untied Piett's hands. The Imperial rubbed his wrists, shooting a glance at Harley as if he would grab them and tie them in an even more painful knot at any moment.

"Shall we?" said Obi-Wan gesturing toward the main entrance of the base.

Piett nodded and fell into step beside the Jedi. Thus, Obi-Wan proceeded to a more private location with his sworn enemy for a hopefully enlightening conversation.


"Absolutely not!" Anakin shouted. "You get out of that seat right now, Padmé! I'm turning this ship around and we're going somewhere else. Anywhere else. Even Hoth!"

Padmé slapped his arm away. She hated his stubbornness, but his openness made her feel more comfortable with their relationship in the sense that he trusted her with his emotions.

"We have to, Ani," she said. "And besides, wouldn't you like to see her after all these years?"
"No, I wouldn't!" he yelled back, attempting to take control of the fighter again and causing her to swerve off-course. "She's been dead to me for over a decade, and it's better that way. I don't want her to see who I've become, and I don't want to go back to that wretched ball of sand. We just left a ball of sand and now you're taking me to another one!"

Padmé could almost feel his anguish and considered listening to him, but steered the ship back on-course for Tatooine. It was the only safe place she could think of at the moment, and he'd warm up to the idea eventually.

"She's not a slave anymore," she said.

"What?" responded Anakin.

Now I've got his interest.

"A farmer named Cliegg Lars freed her years ago and married her," Padmé explained. "She has a family now that loves her. You have a step-brother named Owen."

"And you neglected to tell me this until now?" said Anakin.

Padmé was unable to tell if his tone was one of sadness, pain, or anger, but chose an answer that would work for any of them.

"Until a few hours ago you weren't Anakin," she pointed out, "and didn't want to hear anything about Anakin's life."

He scowled and slouched in his seat like a small child. The small child that she met so many years ago on the very planet they were headed to right now.
"Don't tell her," Anakin said.

"What?" Padmé asked.

"Don't tell her I'm Vader," Anakin stated. "She deserves better than that."

"I'm not going to tell her that," Padmé answered, "because you're not Vader. What's your explanation for the scars and the missing limbs?"

"I've got a few more hours to think about that," Anakin replied, crossing his arms.

Padmé, assuming the rest of their journey would be spent in silence, concentrated on the billions of stars they were passing by, thinking about how every night she and Anakin had looked up at the same stars without knowing the other one was still out there, living and breathing. They had gone from being strangers to enemies to lovers in what seemed like a time period faster than light speed. But strangely she was okay with it, and was confident that her decision to run away with him was the right one.

And so they ran, across the stars.