On the Wings of Valkyrie

Chapter CLXX

"How much longer do you think?"

"No idea. The droid said it should start wearing off soon and the painkillers will be kicking in so it should be more comfortable compared to when she first woke up."

"I can't believe we missed her."

"You needed to eat, Padmé. How could you have known Luna would have decided to wake up then? Especially after all this time."

"I should have been here. Waking up alone like that...."

"She wasn't exactly alone."

"It isn't the same, and you know that."

Luna dazedly wound her way back to consciousness as the conversation continued over her. It took a few minutes of her mind clearing to recognize the owners of the voices: Padmé and Ahsoka. It took even longer for her to be able to follow along with the conversation.

Slowly, Luna opened her eyes, blinking against sudden stinging as they adjusted to the light for the first time in Force knew how long.

"She's awake!" Ahsoka said, the first of the two to notice Luna's eyes had opened.

"Luna!" Padmé exclaimed, quickly moving to stand over the girl though she momentarily flinched back, as though have been met with something unexpected. The woman looked rather haggard, as though she hadn't gotten that much sleep over the past few days—perhaps much longer. Beyond her sleepless appearance, she also looked about ready to start crying. "Thank the Moon Goddess. I've been so worried, how are you feeling?" Padmé questioned, her hand ghosting over Luna's forehead. The girl couldn't help but weakly flinch at the contact, as even that light touch brought pain with it. "Luna?"

"Not well," she managed to croak—her voice hoarse with disuse. Speaking hurt too, though if the former Sith apprentice didn't do anything the pain wasn't all that noticeable. "Did we win?"

"Yes, we won," Padmé said, though the smile she gave Luna looked half forced. "Palpatine is dead. The Empire isn't going to survive for much longer."

The girl relaxed at that, feeling the knowledge take away all the weight that had been weighing on her since everything had fallen off track. They'd won.

They had won. It was almost impossible to believe. The galaxy would be free of the Empire. Without Palpatine holding it together, it was only a matter of time. It was victory, or at least would be.

"Where's Vader?" Luna questioned next, finding it strange that Padmé and Ahsoka had been waiting for her to wake up, yet he was absent. She'd have checked with the Force before asking had her head been clearer, but even without trying the girl had a feeling it would take more effort than it was worth. Regardless, his absence didn't make any sense, didn't feel right.

And with the expression spreading across the former Senator's face, Luna's mild confusion quickly turned to worry.

"Padmé, where is he?" she questioned once more, trying to force herself up out of the prone position she was in. Her arms and core rebelled at the action, but it was the lack of strength, not the pain, that kept Luna from succeeding. And that in itself was terrifying, how could she be so weak? What had happened to her? And why wasn't Vader with her? "Where's my Master?"

Had the Alliance turned on him? Imprisoned him? But then why had Luna been spared?

"Luna, lay down," Ahsoka directed, gently pushing the girl back down against the pillow and eliminating what little fight the human had managed to gather. The former Sith apprentice didn't like the expression on her friend's face either. "You're in no state to be getting up."

"Ahsoka, where is he?" Luna demanded. Ahsoka looked at her, a seemingly old yet accepted pain hiding in her eyes.

"Vader.... Anakin's.... He's gone."

"What do you mean, he's gone?" Luna asked, struggling to sit up once more and praying to the Force that Ahsoka didn't mean what Luna thought she meant. Praying that she was wrong. That Luna was jumping to conclusions. Vader was fine. Her Master was fine.

"He's dead. Palpatine shot him with a bolt of lightning, and.... And he didn't make it."

Luna could only stare at her friend as her mind worked to process Ahsoka's words. "No. That's not possible," the girl began, shaking her head even as she began desperately trying to find the bond, to reach for it despite the spinning in her skull. "It's impossible. I'd have felt it. I'd know."

"Luna, he's gone. You've been unconscious for a while."

"Lier!"

"Luna, Ahsoka isn't lying," Padmé said, her voice gentle despite the fact she was clearly struggling to keep herself together. "You collapsed when he was hit. It nearly killed you too."

"No. That's not possible! I'd know! I'd know!"