"Oh ok..." Anakin nods, the information completely going over his head until he suddenly realises, widening his eyes at me as he looks down on my face, "I'm sorry... your what ?!"

"I have a sister, Anakin: Devica is her name... Ayzel told me before he took his last breath and said I should find her." I lifted my gaze up from the grass to meet Anakin's eyes, which I noticed them frantically darting around as he attempted to process this information. I bit my lip anxiously and scratched my forearm as his eyes met mine once more, "...I don't think he wanted me to be alone, so he told me to go to Corellia and find her. I am going Anakin, with or without you. But I do want you to be by my side, so this is your choice."

Anakin sighed and reached his gloved hand out to me and placed it gently on my shoulder, his other hand coming to rest upon my cheek, "There is no way that you're going without me, (y/n). Especially after what has happened you to today... technically I haven't been relieved yet of my role as your protector, and so if I didn't come, I wouldn't be doing my job."

I brought my hand up to place it over his on my cheek, smiling up at him and his other hand gripped onto my shoulder. "If you insist then, General Skywalker," I say, making Anakin smirk and chuckle inaudibly from my words.

Anakin's gaze remained on mine, looking as though he was about to move in a little closer as we stood alone on the grassland, the breeze blowing around us. Just as I noticed Anakin lower his head a little, his eyes suddenly are torn from me and are frantically directed just above my head behind me. I feel his grip loosen on my shoulder and his other hand drop from my cheek as he quickly shifts them onto my back, pushing me a little in the direction of the ship.

"Solarians; they're coming. We need to get you out of here now before they recognize you."

I nod to him and allow myself to be ushered by Anakin towards the ship. Just as we boarded the ship and Rex had kick-started the engine, I rushed to the front of the ship and noticed the Solarians rush over to Ventress' body discarded under the weeping willow swaying in the wind. I spotted one bending down and gently tracing their fingers over the cauterized hole in her abdomen as I watched the other stand and watch the ship hovering over the air as Ahsoka and Rex tried to get everything going.

"They didn't see me, right?" I ask quietly, folding my arms across my chest as I allowed Anakin, Rex and Ahsoka do their thing.

"They couldn't have possibly seen you (y/n)... I'm just hoping they don't recognize the ship as part of the Republic and report us and Ventress' body. But then again; wouldn't they just report it to your Government anyways?" Ahsoka explained, flipping a few switches on the control console before swivelling on her chair to face me.

"True... I'm sure Shadani would tell me before reporting to the Senate, so I'm fairly certain I can handle it," I replied to Ahsoka, biting my fingernail nervously.

"Well let's just hope that Senator Strestar is a little more trustworthy than the other Senators you've had represent your system," Anakin joked, not moving his eyes from the console and Rex even once.

"That reminds me, I need to schedule an appointment with Chancellor Palpatine so I can appeal Sarin's release from the Coruscant prison."

Ahsoka looked at me in utter confusion, her mouth dropping as Anakin turns around to face me, his eyebrows furrowed and his lips curled into a slight scowl, "Why in the force would you want that piece of scum out of prison where he belongs?"

"Well I'm not sure if you've managed to put two and two together yet Skywalker, but due to my last few interactions with my not-so-dead brother, don't you think you can realise now that Sarin wasn't the one trying to kill me?" I blew out in frustration as I placed my hands on my hips whilst responding to Anakin, making Rex snigger a little as he piloted the ship back over to the Palace.

"But he used you to bring the Clone Wars to Solaris! And because of your obvious neutral ideology, I'm pretty sure that wasn't what you wanted?" Anakin snapped back, approaching me slowly as he continued to scowl.

I rolled my eyes once he was positioned right in front of me, sighing in boredom as I examined his raised eyebrow, "I don't think this decision concerns you, General Skywalker. This is unfortunately between me, my Government and the Chancellor and so therefore you should trust my judgement."

"The decision might not concern me, my lady; but your safety sure as hell does. I don't want you to get hurt again, especially with that lunatic walking free. I mean, come on! What if he has some sort of grudge against you for imprisoning him and so has a thirst for revenge and wishes to cause you harm now he's free?" Anakin scoffs, grabbing my shoulders in an attempt to scare me into doing what he thought was best.

"I know for a fact that that is not the case, General."

"What do you mean, you know that for a 'fact'?" Anakin raised his eyebrow once more in confusion as his gloved hand gripped a little tighter on my shoulder.

"Because before we came to face Ayzel, I visited him to find out more information on what happened to my father. He told me about his death and how he was in the middle of planning my coronation to succeed the throne when Obi-Wan arrested him."

"Wha- He could be lying!" Anakin protested, clearly running out of things to say to me to stop me from scheduling this meeting with the Chancellor.

"I don't have time for this... speaking of which, where is Obi-Wan?" I sighed, pushing Anakin's hand from my shoulder as I direct my attention over to Ahsoka who was sat slumped down in the co-pilot's chair.

"Uh he's in the medbay with um.." Ahsoka says a little panicky, playing with her lekku nervously, coughing as her voice tailed off at the end.

He's with Ayzel's body.

"...My brother. Well I- I'm gonna go and spend the rest of the journey in there, if you all don't mind." My eyes grew teary as the realisation of how my brother was really dead suddenly rushed back to me.

I quickly blinked back the tears as I looked over to Ahsoka, who smiled sympathetically and nodded to me. Taking a deep breath, I smiled back to Ahsoka and looked up to Anakin, meeting eyes for a brief second before ripping them away when I turn to leave the room. The room was full of tense, thick silence; the only noises being the occasional beeping of the controls as Anakin and Ahsoka watched me leave the room whilst Rex continued to fly the ship. Once I was fully out of sight, I brought my finger up to my sore eyes and wiped a rogue tear as I neared the room with the words 'MEDBAY' painted on the door in Aurebesh.

Grasping onto the doorframe, I linger at the entrance as come into view of Obi-Wan stood next to a pale, lifeless Ayzel displayed on the table in the middle of the room, now dressed in a clean and non-bloody tunic. I felt my heartrate increase, my hands grow clammy and my throat tighten a little as I fixate on Ayzel's chest and how it was no longer rising and falling as he breathed.

This still doesn't feel real.

"I didn't see you there, my lady... I did my best to restore his dignity now that he's um- well he's-" Obi-Wan almost whispered in a friendly tone, placing his hand on the table next to Ayzel as he stammered over his words in a desperate attempt to not upset me.

"Now that he's dead? Master Kenobi, if you are trying not to cause me any more emotional distress then please just tell me how it is. I'm aware that my brother is dead and I'm aware he is not coming back; but if you cannot tell me this without stammering in fear that you will upset me, then it will probably actually make it even harder for me to accept it and move through this."

Obi-Wan stared at me with wide eyes, looking slightly embarrassed but also with a gleam of sadness in his eyes as he looked at me, "Of course, your majesty..." he said in an even quieter tone, moving towards me as he spoke. I directed my gaze to the floor as I simply did not find myself in the mood for a conversation, but I soon felt the warm touch of his hand on my shoulder gently. "I am truly sorry for your loss, my lady. Your brother... he seemed like a good man."

I said nothing in response. I knew that he was only trying to comfort me for Ayzel's death, but I just didn't have it in me to talk back. Especially now as I am with his body again. After a few moments of even more tense silence, Obi-Wan's hand slips off from my shoulder and he disappears out of the doorway behind me, leaving me alone with my brother at last.

I can do this.

All I have to do is walk up to the table and face him.

It's your fault he's dead.

Tears begin to swim in my eyes, clouding my vision as I ball my clammy palms into fists and take several deep and staggered breaths in and out of my mouth slowly.

He sacrificed himself for you, and now he's dead.

I take my first step. And then another. I continue to force myself to walk up to the table despite the voice in my head screaming at me to stop. Just a few more steps, just a few more-

Killing Ventress isn't enough to avenge him.

I reach the table.

Suddenly, the voice just completely fades from my mind as my eyes slowly drift down to observe the white, ghost-like body of my brother sprawled out before me on the table. My throat tightens, cutting off my oxygen a little at a time but leaving enough space so I can still actually breathe as I fail to blink back the tears which were now involuntarily streaming down my face. I reach out my hand, shaking as I did so, and gently pushed his brown locks from his forehead, examining his pale but familiar face as the hair drifted from it.

This is the Ayzel I knew.

It was so strange; now that he is gone, I recognize him more than ever. This isn't the man who tried to murder me or kidnap me or harm those I love dearly... this was the boy I grew up with: the one who I used to race around the palace with, the one who's shoulders I used to cry on. My big brother...

And now there's another one of us.

"(y/n)?" I heard a voice say, making me immediately go to wipe my eyes and turn to face the door. Once I realised that it was Anakin, I stopped to wash the tears away knowing that this wasn't anything he hadn't seen before.

"What is it, Anakin?" I asked, my voice breaking a little as I tried to speak after crying. As Anakin approached me, I noticed a holo-pad grasped in his gloved hand, dangling at his side.

Lifting the holo-pad up to our height, he displayed it in front of me so I could see what he was supposedly trying to show me, "I'm having a bit of an issue trying to find your sister... you see, I was tapping into the Corellia population records and I issued a virtual search for a 'Devica'."

"Well then what's the problem?" I questioned him, watching the holo-pad buffer as Anakin re-searched Devica in the Corellian records. Anakin did not reply to my query, but instead waited until a profile appeared once the holo-pad had finished loading.

"As you can see, there is only one 'Devica' reported on the Corellian records. Now the problem, is that she is not down as Devica Anara but instead as Devica Lao. I think your brother may have been wrong, (y/n)," Anakin whispers, sighing as he had already admitted defeat.

Lao...

"No, no; he was right. That's her, Devica Lao," I grabbed onto Anakin to stop him from putting the holo-pad away. He looked me in the eyes, confusion painting his face as I examined the girl on the profile in front of me.

"But you're (y/n) Anara and Ayzel was Ayzel Anara! Why would Devica be a 'Lao' if that is her?"

"Lao was my Father's name, Anakin. Maik-Sin Lao."

I watched as Anakin's blue eyes widen in both realisation and shock as he looks back down onto the holo-pad with me, the both of us now looking at the face of my apparent long-lost sister. As I carefully observed her picture, Anakin checked her location near the bottom of the profile along with her other information.

"She's located in Coronet City..." Anakin mumbles to me quietly, lowering the holo-pad back down to his side as he turns back to look at him. I offer his troubled face a weak smile as I quickly take one look at my brother laying on the table across the room, releasing a sigh of nervousness.

"Well then, let's go pay her a visit, shall we?"

***

Once we arrived back at the palace, we allowed Obi-Wan, Ahsoka and Rex to pack up their things and load Ayzel off of the ship before Anakin and I sneaked back on board to set a course for Coronet City on Corellia. We both took several precautions so no-one would recognize us. Firstly, we informed Obi-Wan and Ahsoka that we needed space to cool down after what happened on the plains with Ayzel and Ventress so that they wouldn't notice our absence or get suspicious.

Secondly, once Anakin and I were finally en route to Corellia, I changed into my Jedi robes and re-did my hair in that same braid I wore when I first disguised myself as a Jedi. I also decided to clip on both mine and my father's lightsaber on my belt for safekeeping... and just in case I should need it. Whilst I was getting changed, Anakin informed me that he had located Devica's living quarters which was situated on the outskirts of Coronet City and nearby the Coronet Spaceport... where a lot of the poorer citizens resided.

I couldn't help the nerves from climbing as soon as Anakin entered the system and flew closer and closer to the city with each second... he flew dangerously fast. Once Anakin finally landed the ship at the edge of the Spaceport and in the eyeline of a cluster of metal box-like shacks lined up across the border of the City. Anakin seemed as though he had no worries regarding this trip, but me however... well I feel as though I am glued to the seat of this ship.

I felt sick to my stomach, the butterflies swarming around inside causing me a great deal of nausea the longer I sat staring at the shacks before me. My hands grew clammy again and my head started to spin rapidly, only worsening the nausea in my stomach. As I placed my head in my hands while I wondered if I was actually going to make it off of this ship, I felt a gentle land on my shoulder from behind me.

"Come on, my Princess.. You've got this. Don't you want to meet your sister?" he asked softly, his thumb massaging my shoulder softly as I brought my head from my hands to meet his beautiful and strangely soothing ocean blue eyes.

Taking a deep breath, I nod and rise from my seat, throwing my hood over my head as I walked down the ramp onto the cold floor of the Spaceport. The Corellian air felt humid, condensation floating around in the air as we approached the cluster of shacks, causing a few miniscule droplets of water to appear on our robes. It reminded me a hell of a lot like Coruscant, just less extravagant and more... industrialized. I followed closely behind Anakin, especially when in isolated areas to ease my paranoia.

It's not as if you can't protect yourself; you killed a Sith apprentice today.

I can't do this right now.

Shaking my head to myself to silence the voice, I wait for Anakin to finish speaking with a man so he could get some form of directions. I watched the man eye Anakin's saber suspiciously, making me rest my hand on the hilt of my own so I was poised and ready to defend him. Thankfully, I found no need to do so. Listening in closely, I hear Anakin speak the name of my sister a couple of times before the man suddenly outstretched his hand to indicate to a shack two houses down. Anakin mumbles a brief 'thank you' to the man, me bowing my head to him slightly as we approached the shack.

Once in front of the entrance, I felt my heart hammer inside of my chest and the violent butterflies in my stomach returned once more. Anakin smiled at me and nodded, patiently waiting for my hand to knock on the door. And after a brief hesitation, I finally allowed a knock to echo on the hollow, metal door.

Anakin and I waited and waited, our anticipation growing the longer we stared at the door... as well as my nerves. After around a minute or so, I hear a shuffling behind the door and the rattling of a latch being flipped. Nervously, I grip onto my thumb curled in my fist, nearly crushing it as the door swings open to reveal a young man with messy blonde hair answering the door.

"What do you want?! We've already payed our credits for this month's rent; you must've got the wrong house-" the blonde man exclaims frantically, putting his hands out in front of him as he fearfully stared at the two of us.

I quickly lower my hood and put out my own hands to show him that we mean no harm, "No, no, we're not here to hurt you! We're looking for someone... Does a Devica Lao live here?"

The man looks at me unsurely from behind his door as though he still did not trust us, "...Yes, she does. Who wants to know?"

"We mean Lao no harm, my friend here just needs to speak with her. They're, old acquaintances let's say," Anakin chimed in, pulling down his own hood to make the blonde man less intimidating and therefore more inclined to let us in.

After a moment, the blonde man caves in and sighs, opening the door further to allow us entry into the home. Once we were inside, the smell of dampness and musty odours invaded my nose, making me want to almost gag from the intoxicating fumes. Scattered around the homes were several power tools, clothes, and broken pieces of furniture. The blonde man led Anakin and I through his surprisingly long home until we arrived in a main, dimly lit living area. Anakin took a seat on the crate they supposedly used as a chair and I hovered a little behind him, leaning my body on the cold walls.

The blonde man walked over to another doorway which looked a lot like a stairwell and peered his head inside, "Dev, you have people here to see you!" he hollered up the stairs, his unexpectedly booming voice startling me as it echoed across the walls.

The blonde man then walked back in to where we were and slumped on the opposite wall, eyeing Anakin and me with beady, judging eyes as the sound of footsteps came clambering loudly down the stairs.

My heart skips a beat once a tall, skinny girl with mid-length chocolate brown curls, brown eyes and she was wearing all black attire. She smirked as she entered the living area, not even noticing me and Anakin across the room from her.

She looks so much like Ayzel-

"What did you say Xavian? I thought you said I had visitors...." Devica says to the blonde man - Xavian -, her voice tailing off as she finally spots me and Anakin, her eyebrows furrowing in confusion as she studied us.

I lifted my body from the wall and slowly approached her, standing a few metres from her position. I take in a small, unnoticeable breath as I prepared to talk to my sister for the very first time, "Devica Lao? Were you ever a part of the Anara family from the Solaris system?"

I grew nervous as Devica's eyes widened once I mentioned our family name. She laughed lowly a little, shaking her head in disbelief, "I haven't been a part of family for a long time... who are you?"

"I'm Queen (y/n) Anara of Solaris... My brother Ayzel sent me; I'm your little sister."

{ a/n : damn that was a looooong one, but I hope you enjoyed it! Also, thank you for 5k READS aghhhh, I'm so grateful to every. single. one of you! Don't forget to vote/comment your thoughts if you liked this one! Also a huge thank you to YehetTender1234456 and then L0SINGFACE- and siaasf for their lovely comments and for basically bingeing my book; it means the world to me! Ily all <3 }