Silence.

No one dared to speak a word.

Anna and Luke both sat facing each other, surrounded on each side by a stormtrooper, their blasters held at the ready. He was looking at her with a mixture of shock, worry, and even anger. Anna, however, kept her poker face on, not giving anything away. She was nervous to say the least, but there was no way she was going to let Luke go without a fight. She wanted to show the Emperor that he was no longer the most powerful man in the galaxy, and that the Empire would crumble. She refused to be intimidated by him.

"Why did you come?" Luke asked.

"Funny, Vader asked the exact same thing," she said, refusing to meet his gaze. "I'm not letting you fight alone."

"This is not your battle," he said, keeping his voice calm, but she could sense the irritation in his voice.

"It became my battle when I chose to follow the path of a Jedi," she retorted. "You are not doing this alone."

"This galaxy is not meant to lose us both," he said. "You should have stayed."

"And what would I have done?" she asked. Her voice was starting to carry a hint of irritation, but she made sure to keep herself moderated. The last thing she needed was the stormtroopers that sat on either side to engage.

"You would have been safe," Luke said. "Safe from the Emperor, from the last of our kind being extinguished."

"But until when?" she asked. "He would have come after me, and no matter where I hide, he'd find me. I don't want to die on the run."

Luke was quiet. Even though he had the family tie, and he was the one that the Emperor wanted, there was no way that he would let Anna continue to breathe much longer. She had trained in the Light, fought for the Light, and was one of the the two remaining Jedi. He looked over at her, taking in all the details of her face. Every little scar, every little crevice, even the sideways way she parted her hair and how it fell down her face, covering half and leaving the other exposed to the dim light of the Imperial shuttle.

"Stop," she said, irritated and almost hurt. "I know what you're doing. You are not going to die tonight."

Luke was slightly taken aback by her little outburst, but he understood it. Even though he had come to terms with his own death, she had not. She didn't fully understand why he was doing what he was doing, but it was too late now. He just wished that she would've stayed back on Endor, been part of the team that ended the Empire, and to celebrate freedom with minimal loss of life. Now, she would be lucky to get off the station alive. However, he understood where she was coming from. She had spent so long on the run, first from the planet she was from, then from one of the high-ranking Imperial officers. She was tired of running, and this was her way of fighting that fear. The man that had indirectly destroyed her life was sitting on the Death Star, and Luke knew that if she had the chance, she would take a shot at him. Her inability to manage her emotions was still very present, and all Luke could do was hope that she could tame some of her anger.

It was impossible to know what she was thinking about. Her face was shielded with her hair, and her eyes refused to even look at him, instead opting for the floor as they flew. He knew that the Emperor would figure out the bond that the two of them hand, whatever it was. It wasn't love, at least, not yet. Yet, it was stronger than friendship, but whatever they had was uneasy to say the least. There was so much that happened between them, and they had known each other for just over a year, much of that time spent recovering and for her, training. It was definitely not the perfect relationship, or whatever label could be placed on it. Still, there was no doubt that the two cared for each other a great deal, and that was one thing that the Emperor would no doubt exploit, not matter how well they tried to hide it.

"What did Vader say to you out on the lower deck?" Luke asked.

"It's none of your concern," Anna said bitterly, still refusing to meet his gaze. However, he was patient, and she finally rolled her eyes.

"He told me that the Emperor has seen whatever we have," she said. "It's not use trying to hide it from him. Vader said that it was his advice, But I can't trust anything coming from him."

Luke turned his head to the side, lost in thought. "I'm sure he's not wrong," he said, turning back to face her.

"You're only saying that because you have a blind spot for him," she spat, and dropped her head once more.

Luke sighed at her stubbornness. No doubt she had picked that up as a smuggler, as the other one in their group was equally as headstrong as she was. Still, Luke said nothing. He needed to have a clear mind going into this ordeal, and it was clear that she didn't have the same view as he did. For a while, they were silent, each of them mulling over their thoughts.

"He'll only use you as a tool to get to me," Luke said, his gaze dropping to his bound hands.

Anna opened her mouth to respond, but was cut off as the storm troopers around her mobilized, pulling her up by her arm. She had to fight the impulse to shake the stormtrooper off of her, another thing she had learned while frequenting Coruscant's Undercity. She took a deep breath in, an opened her eyes.

The Emperor awaited.

This update was a little later than I expected, but I've been going crazy with another Star Wars-related idea that refuses to leave me alone (which I may or may not post) so writing this story was a bit slower.

We're getting into my favourite part of this story now, so updates could be daily, one every two days, something like that. Depends on my inspiration for the day.