Chapter Forty-Three

"I'm glad you agreed to stay behind after all," Padmé said to Anakin as she prepared to board the small transport ship that would take her to a larger capital ship that was currently orbiting Figili.

They were the first and only words that she had spoken to him all morning. So, Anakin was understandably rankled that she had chosen that opener to break the silence between them. Padmé had spent every minute before then evading his every attempt to get her alone under the guise of "preparing for her mission." But it was clear to Anakin and everyone around them that she was purposely avoiding him.

The previous night Anakin had been bombarded by so many old friends wanting to catch up on lost time that it had been next to impossible to carve out a moment alone with her. After getting a recap from Rex and Fives over the mutual friends who had survived the Imperial purge and those who had not, it was fairly late in the evening by the time he was finally able to slip away. But by then, Anakin learned that Padmé had already retired for the night.

Although he was disappointed and confused by her standoffish behavior, his mother advised him not to "push it" and so he had not, especially when he considered their exchange before her briefing. Padmé was carrying a good amount of emotional baggage now. He needed to tread lightly. And while his reunion with her was hardly the one Anakin had been hoping for, given the circumstances, he supposed it was the one he deserved.

In hindsight, perhaps it had been a bit presumptuous of him to expect that he could just fall back into her bed after a ten-year absence. Then again, he also hadn't imagined that they would spend their first night together sleeping in separate spaces either, but that was exactly what had happened. He'd had been forced to bunk with his mother and Cliegg on the floor of their small living quarters. In the harsh light of morning, Anakin found himself more than a little irritated over that fact, and that was evident in his reply.

"It's not like you gave me much choice in the matter," he muttered, "You practically blackmailed me into agreeing with you by using the children against me, which was a pretty low move, if you ask me."

"If you're waiting for an apology, I'm afraid you'll be disappointed."

"Don't worry. I wouldn't want to place you the position of having to be insincere." They glared at one another in contentious silence before Anakin blurted, "So what happens now? Between us, I mean. What you said to me yesterday about not needing me…does that mean you're done?"

Padmé expelled a rueful grunt. There was a part of her that wanted to recall the words or, at least, rephrase them in a way that didn't sound like complete rejection. But then there was the part of her that simply felt what she felt. Allowing herself to need Anakin meant being vulnerable and being vulnerable meant opening herself up to the pain that would come with losing him and she could not go through that again. A second time would destroy her utterly. At the same time, she couldn't deny that she was still in love with him either.

She pondered his question for a moment. "Don't you find it the least bit ironic that we're still having this same conversation after more than thirteen years of marriage?"

"You still consider us married then?" he asked in surprise.

"Of course, I do!" she cried so vehemently that he almost smiled, "I've never stopped loving you, Anakin. You know that."

"I've never stopped loving you either," he confessed softly, "But I…I didn't want to assume that nothing had changed for you. After all, you and I have been apart longer than we've been together."

"Yes, we have," she acknowledged just as softly, "But when I made my marriage vow to you, I meant forever…and that has not changed."

Anakin swallowed around the lump of emotion that formed in his throat right then. "I'm glad."

"If I come back, maybe we can figure out where we stand with each other."

The sweetness of her suggestion was dampened by the grim nature of her statement. Anakin scowled. "Would you stop saying things like that? It's morbid!"

"Like I told you before, I don't make promises that I can't keep. There is a possibility that I might not come back, and we should be honest about that."

Anakin reacted to her reply as if it were a direct repudiation against him. "Do you think I wanted us to be apart all this time?" he flared in exasperation, "It's not like I chose to transport myself to Mortis! To this day, I still don't know how I ended up there! All I ever wanted was to protect you!"

"I believe you," she whispered, "I'm not angry with you about that. You saved my life, Ani. You saved Leia. If it weren't for what you did on Dathomir, we'd both be dead!"

"I don't know what I did."

"I do. You did what you always do. You protected us. You're always the one risking everything for us, and I've always loved that about you. But now it's my turn to risk everything…and you have to let me do it."

After he watched her disappear into the battleship and the blast doors sealed behind her, Anakin ignored the pang of guilt that rose with the knowledge that he had every intention of doing the exact opposite of what she had asked. It wasn't that he didn't respect her feelings at all. He simply didn't agree with her plans to become a martyr in the process. Anakin also had few doubts that if their roles were reversed, Padmé would be tempted to do the same. But while prudence and reasoning had mostly kept Padmé from acting impulsively in the past, Anakin had always preferred to go strictly with his gut. And his gut was telling him to follow his wife.

He stepped back from the landing site and waited until the transport was high in the atmosphere and swallowed up by the clouds above before he went off in search of a ship of his own. It didn't take him very long to find a starfighter he liked, one very reminiscent of the ship he'd flown as a Jedi Knight in his first timeline. He was grateful for that small gift. After a decade in stasis, he was more than a little rusty when it came to flying and an unfamiliar control panel would only further impede his goal.

It was bad enough that he was being forced to fly without Artoo. He'd searched the entirety of the camp for the savvy little astromech, but he was nowhere to be found. An unfortunately long and painful conversation with a very chatty Threepio confirmed Anakin's assumption that Padmé had likely taken the droid with her, as was her custom to do on similar missions. That left Anakin with an ancient R4 unit that wasn't exactly terrible, but also wasn't his first or best choice either.

Anakin climbed into the cockpit, lowered the transparisteel dome and quickly familiarized himself with the various panels and switches before him. He could practically hear Ahsoka's stern chastisement in his ear as he flipped on the controls. "Don't do anything stupid, Skyguy." Anakin strapped into his seat and fired the ship's engines in preparation for take-off.

"Sorry, Snips," he muttered to himself wryly, "It's a little too late for that."

"I hope you don't think there's a chance in this star system that Anakin listened to you about staying behind," Ahsoka mumbled to Padmé in aside as she moved to stand beside her at the Venator command station. They were set to come out of hyperspace momentarily, in orbit right above Hoth.

Padmé favored her friend with a wry, sideways look. "I know he didn't," she replied lightly, "Which is why I've already given orders that, should he have the audacity to show his face on this ship, he is to be immediately arrested and detained in the brig."

"Oh Padmé, why?"

"I was very clear in my orders. He will have brought it on himself."

Ahsoka grimaced, caught somewhere between exasperation, frustration, and laughter. "He's trying to protect you."

"And I'm trying to protect him!" Padmé countered, "This is my ship and my mission, so I get my way."

Her tenacious reply provoked an amused chuckle from Ahsoka. "It's going to be fun watching Anakin adjust to this new side of you." She smirked when a fleeting flicker of doubt chased its way across Padmé's face, as if the thought filled her with insecurity. "Don't worry," Ahsoka said, giving her friend a playful nudge, "I think he might like being bossed around for a change…well, by you, at least." She bobbed her eyebrows suggestively.

Though Padmé rolled her eyes dismissively at Ahsoka's obvious innuendo, the rosy blush that stained her cheeks ruined her efforts to appear indifferent. "This is hardly the time for that sort of talk, Ahsoka," she muttered, "Anakin and I are not in that place right now."

Ahsoka's grin practically became smug at that point. "Whatever you say, Commander Skywalker."

Padmé's would-be, sassy retort to Ahsoka was instantly forgotten when Rex abruptly announced, "We're about to come out of hyperspace now, Commander. The battle station will likely be preparing for our arrival. We'll need to be ready to scramble our fighters."

Padmé jerked a nod. "Let me know when it's time, Rex."

An instant later the ship jerked to a smooth halt, and they were immediately presented with their first in-person glimpse of Wilhuff Tarkin's Death Star. It looked so imposing that Padmé audibly gasped when she saw it. Beside her, Ahsoka had a similar intake of breath. The battle station was much larger than Padmé had anticipated, certainly more foreboding in real life than it had ever been in the digital plans she had studied. She felt a momentary tremor of fear as she surveyed it, and she vaguely wondered if the rebels standing with her in the command center felt a measure of the same.

And why wouldn't they? Their target was massive. It was as large as an actual planet, looming high above the icy world of Hoth like an orbiting moon. The station was well-armed and well-protected, and they were in an outdated battleship that hadn't seen a true battle for thirteen years. No doubt, they were going to have their work cut out for them.

"Rex," Padmé said, her eyes still glued to the behemoth straight ahead of them, "Sound the alarm."

R2-D2 didn't have a lot of wiggle room in his hiding spot, especially with Luke Skywalker pressed so snugly with him into the same space. Though it was rather uncharacteristic for him, the little astromech didn't put up much of a fuss about the cramped quarters. He was too leery of being caught. His mistress had ordered him to stay behind on Figili to look after her husband and children. Unfortunately, he had been placed in an unforeseeable position of having to directly disobey that order. If droids could feel regret, he would be thoroughly immersed in the emotion right then. He was at risk of being used for spare parts and he knew it.

Then again, Artoo supposed that he was still fulfilling her edict…from a certain point of view. He was keeping a close eye on his young master. He was also certain that his old master wasn't too far behind them so that took care of two of the three. But he was also sure that this wasn't what his mistress had in mind. He didn't doubt she would be livid if she knew where they were right then. His impetuous charge, on the other hand, didn't seem to share his same apprehension.

Luke was fairly pulsing with repressed excitement. For the better part of an entire year, he had been begging his mother to let him accompany her on missions. He had diligently practiced flight maneuvers with the other pilots. He had kept up his studies. He never slacked in his training at all. Her answer had always been a resounding "no." Technically speaking, it was still a resounding "no," but this time Luke would be going into battle, nonetheless. Or at least he would if he and Artoo could keep out of sight long enough to steal onboard one of the fighters without alerting its pilot.

The Venator-class battleship wasn't a particularly small ship by any standards, but it was carrying quite a bit of cargo, which had left Luke with limited options for keeping himself and his astromech concealed within the busy hangar. The vessel, affectionately referred to as "the boat" by those in their camp, happened to be the fastest battleship in their fleet. Of course, it was the only battleship in their fleet, but that was mostly because maintaining ships of Venator size and keeping them concealed from the Empire proved to be difficult to do without drawing undue attention.

Their group had "liberated" the Venator from an Imperial Moff only a few years prior and, since then, it had been repurposed for their group's own personal use. At times when they were actively on the run, it had served as their makeshift home. To fend off questions regarding its acquisition, they continued to perpetuate the idea that the ship belonged to the now dead Moff.

Though keeping the battleship had presented its share of challenges, Luke had been immensely pleased when his mother hadn't vetoed the idea. Though the ship class had long since been phased out by the Empire because Preet and his regime wanted to distance themselves from the Republic era entirely and fill the Imperial fleet with newer, faster vessels, to Luke The Boat was the best ship anyone could ask for. Sure, some would describe it as a "clunker" and replacement parts were almost impossible to find but he wouldn't trade it for anything.

How could he not be fond of it when he had been one of the primary ones to make modifications to the Venator? Essentially, this battleship was like his baby. He had put his literal blood, sweat and tears into the imposing hunk of durasteel, and now he would see her through her first real battle.

Tactically speaking, the Venator was fitted with eight dual heavy turbolaser turrets, two medium dual turbolaser cannons, fifty-two point-defense laser cannons and four heavy proton torpedo tubes. But it had been outfitted to move even faster despite its massive bulk and its deflector shields had been reinforced. The Boat could hold her own in a firefight. And while she was fairly outmatched against some of the newer Imperial battleships, the Venator was not without her secret tricks. Luke couldn't wait to see what she could do.

Of course, no one had asked him if he wanted to see. But he was almost certain that this was what his father had meant when he told him that sometimes it was necessary to do the "wrong thing" for the "right reasons." He had practically given Luke his blessing! Besides, if his father felt at liberty to disobey his mother's direct orders because it was "for her own good" then surely, Luke was at liberty to defy them both for the very same reasons.

Many of the rebels milling about with so preoccupied with performing last minute checks on their fighters that Luke doubted that anyone would have truly taken notice of him even if he were striding about in the open right then. The atmosphere was undeniably tense. Still, he didn't want to risk someone spotting him and reporting his presence to his mother. He was especially careful because he knew Obi-Wan was also somewhere in the hangar and the seasoned Jedi would easily detect him if he didn't keep himself shielded.

He hadn't sensed his father yet, so he could only assume that Anakin had found an alternative means of transport. Luke was thankful for that. The prospect of having to dodge both of his parents and Obi-Wan and Ahsoka all at once would have been a tricky endeavor. Doable, but extremely tricky, nonetheless. Thankfully, he didn't have to deal with very many Jedi on this mission, otherwise Leia's constant Force yammering would be bound to create a disturbance and attract unwanted attention. Then again, Luke supposed he shouldn't begrudge his sister's incessant chatter. After all, Leia was the only reason he had made it this far.

Currently, she was keeping their grandmother distracted on Figili so that Shmi wouldn't realize that Luke had left the planet. Because if Shmi figured out that he was gone then it would only be a matter of time before his mother learned as well…and the punishment would be exacting and swift. Luke had already lost every privilege imaginable. The only thing left would be to deny his lessons with Ben, and he knew his mother wasn't above doing that. She'd confine him to sitting in his room all day with nothing to do except stare at the wall if she thought it would make him miserable enough.

Either way, he was going to pay for defying her eventually, so Luke was determined to make his efforts count for something. He was going to destroy that battle station. Thanks to his sister's gift of keen intuitiveness, Luke knew exactly how to locate the Death Star's primary weakness. Timing was critical. Their sister base on Hoth was in the Empire's sights now and would become the first example of the Death Star's planet destroying capabilities if they did not intervene.

The ship's alarms suddenly began to blare, signaling that an attack was imminent and that the fighters needed to get to their ships. Luke grinned at Artoo. "You ready for this?" he asked the astromech.

Artoo gave a low, mournful whine that was an unmistakable negative.

Luke laughed. "Well…it's too late to turn back now."

By the time Anakin made it out of hyperspace, the fighters were already scrambling. The void of inky space was flashing with blaster fire as rebel ships and Imperial TIE fighters whizzed around one another in swift, dizzying circles. The confusing imagery might have proved daunting for a less seasoned pilot, but for Anakin, whose skill was honed by muscle memory and trust in the Force, he dashed into the fray without a second's thought.

There was no denying that Padmé's forces were grossly outnumbered, with even more TIE fighters pouring from the Death Star's docking station as the hefty battle station moved into position to target Hoth. But while their enemy might have numbers on their side, Padmé's men proved infinitely more skilled in a dogfight, and they used rather unorthodox flying tactics that Anakin slowly came to recognize as his own. He had offered to teach Luke his secret moves but it seemed that someone may have already passed those tips along.

Anakin had little time to luxuriate in his astonishment or wonder if that had been Padmé's doing, however. Her single ship fleet had already opened fire on the Death Star with punishing force. Most of her blasts were deflected off the station's protective shields, but that didn't seem to deter her. It seemed her aim was to draw the Death Star's attention away from the unprotected planet below to her warship. She eventually succeeded.

Knowing that it was only a matter of time before the Death Star blasted Padmé's ship into oblivion, that Anakin concentrated his efforts on picking off the TIE fighters that blocked his trajectory to his primary target…the battle station's faulty reactor. Unfortunately, it wasn't a straight shot at all. Through the flash of gunfire and whizzing durasteel, Anakin dodged and weaved to move himself into position. He was preoccupied with shaking off a particularly persistent TIE fighter when he spotted a rebel X-wing that already appeared to have a direct line of sight to the target.

Unfortunately, the pilot was without sufficient cover, which left him darting in a series of evasive maneuvers to avoid incoming fire. It was quickly evident to Anakin that the pilot was clever and quick, but he was never going to hit the target if he couldn't shake the Imperials. Anakin abruptly decided to become his unsolicited wingman.

"There are too many of them, Commander!" Rex informed Padmé urgently, "Should we pull back?"

"No! Concentrate fire power on that hangar bay," Padmé ordered, "Take it out! I don't want another ship leaving that battle station!"

"It's likely we're going to draw their fire soon," Rex warned her, "And I'm not so sure our shields will be able to withstand that cannon, Commander."

Padmé's countenance remained stony with determined resignation. "Then we'll draw their fire, Captain." She turned her attention to Fives, who was currently monitoring the progress of their fighters. "Do any of them have a lock on the target?" she demanded.

"Just one, Commander…" Fives confirmed with an uneasy grimace, "But there's a small problem."

"Does he have a clear shot or not?" Padmé demanded impatiently.

"He does. But he's got TIE fighters all over him."

"Then get him cover. And bring up his frequency. I want to talk to him myself!"

"I should probably give you fair warning then, Commander."

"Fair warning about what?" Padmé asked, an insidious vine of dread beginning to unfurl in her gut.

"The pilot. It's Luke."

Not once did Luke Skywalker ever entertain even the momentary fear that he might die. His adrenaline was pumping too furiously. He was in his element, and he felt invincible. Nothing could touch him. He was mostly annoyed that he couldn't seem to shake off the Imperials on his tail. For every TIE fighter he managed to evade or shoot off course, it seemed a new one would quickly replace it. It was also difficult to maintain his concentration with Artoo continually squealing at him.

"Would you calm down, you crazy droid?" he growled, "I've got this, you know!" He bit out several Huttese curses until his breath as he banked left and then took another sharp right to avoid enemy fire. "Artoo, we've got two more on our left! Karking hell, they're all over me!"

Unexpectedly, one of the TIE fighters at his left flank abruptly exploded in a burst of scattering light and debris. Another Imperial behind him was obliterated quickly after that. Clearly, he had a guardian angel who was watching his back. But before Luke could locate the where the blast had originated, his mother's infuriated voice suddenly crackled in over his commlink. He didn't need to be especially attuned with the Force to know she was livid.

"Luke Skywalker, I could throttle you right now!"

"Hello, Mother! I know you wanna kill me, but I'm kind of in the middle of something here! Could we talk about this later? I can get a clear shot, but I need more cover out here!"

"I'm sending Obi-Wan your way now! Luke, I need you not to miss!"

Luke grimaced in insult. "Mom, please! I never miss!"

A moment later Obi-Wan's dry commentary sounded in Luke's ears. "I would like to take this time to make clear that I, in no fashion, encouraged this latest show of defiance. Let it be known to all."

"Thanks for that, Ben," Luke groused.

"I don't care!" Padmé cried, "Just bring my child back to me in one piece, Obi-Wan!"

"You mean because you want to break me in half yourself?" Luke joked wryly as he jerked from beneath yet another barrage of laser fire.

He could practically envision his mother's ominous glower when she answered, "Exactly."

Anakin recognized Obi-Wan's cautious flying style immediately. His former master was a capable pilot and would serve as a tenacious escort to his comrade. The least that he could do was plow the path for them. And so, he did. He deftly targeted the TIE fighters at their rear and flanks, eventually drawing their attention so that two Imperials broke off to come after him while the remaining two stayed with Obi-Wan and the other pilot.

He managed to take out one of the ships still on their tail before he was forced to pull up to avoid the two Imperials that were coming straight at him. Anakin darted through the crisscrossing canopy of fighters to shake off his pursuers while also doing his measured best to keep a visual on Obi-Wan and his companion fighter. They seemed to be making good time to the target despite the TIE fighter which stayed doggedly at their rear and Obi-Wan's numerous attempts to shoot him down.

Frustrated, Anakin reached out to Obi-Wan through the Forces and growled in irritation. Are you planning to land a shot anytime soon? That would suit me fine!

Anakin? Anakin might have laughed at his echoing bluster if matters weren't so tense. Are you Skywalkers simply incapable of following a direct order?

I would worry less about me and more about that fighter that's on your tail! He's bringing friends, you know! What are you doing down there?

At the moment, trying to keep your son alive!

"Commander, we've got a problem."

Right then, Padmé couldn't imagine a bigger problem than her twelve-year old son in the middle of fierce space battle with half a dozen Imperials actively trying to shoot him into oblivion, but she knew that wasn't what Rex meant at all. She didn't have the luxury of sinking into a puddle of maternal anxiety. Their battle cruiser had already taken on heavy blaster fire, which was mostly averted by their deflector shields. However, she was very aware that those shields would provide scant protection from the Death Star's impressive ion cannon. One blast would vaporize the ship and all onboard it in an instant.

"How much time do we have, Captain?" Padmé asked him grimly.

"They will be in position in less than one minutes."

"So, our only chance is Luke hitting the target and not getting killed in the process?"

"Precisely."

Padmé closed her eyes with that bleak recognition and suddenly wished she hadn't ordered Anakin to stay behind after all.

The knowledge that the unknown pilot he had been covering that whole time was his own son filled Anakin with a different sort of motivation. Whereas before he had been driven to provide coverage out of determination and necessity to complete the mission, now he was driven by pure, unadulterated fear. Protective, parental instincts were in full control. His child was currently being targeted by half a dozen TIE fighters who were absolutely bent on killing him. The anxiety Anakin felt right then was almost crippling. He made a mental note to yell at Luke later, but for now he tried to keep focused on eliminating all potential threats to his son.

He powered his way through a host of exploding Imperial fighters. Just ahead of him, Luke and Obi-Wan sped towards the reactor. Luke was only seconds away from taking the shot. At the last moment, Obi-Wan banked left to ward off incoming sniper fire while Anakin opened fire on the Imperial that pulled to Luke's right. Luke fired a blast at the exact instant Anakin's R4 unit whined out a warning before bursting into fiery sparks. Anakin's left engine exploded in a haze of smoke and fire at the precise moment the reactor detonated.

Instantly the flashing darkness was illuminated with a billion tiny pinpoints of light as the Death Star abruptly exploded with enough force to knock back every ship within a mile radius. Anakin's fighter spun out uncontrollably, causing him to lose visuals on both Luke and Obi-Wan as he careened haplessly through space. After a few disorienting seconds, he was able to regain control of his disabled ship only to realize that any hope of flying it had been lost. His only available option was a crash landing but, fortunately he was very good at those.

Anakin gritted his teeth in stoic anticipation as Hoth's icy, forbidding terrain rushed up swiftly to greet him, and braced himself for impact.