{ANAKIN'S POV:}

A flash of white light.

I found myself traipsing along the long stone corridors of my Princess' - sorry, my Queen's - palace, my boots echoing rather loudly on the polished stone floors like large, deafening claps of thunder. The corridor seemed to go on forever, the lighting and the stone almost making everything look monochrome, with a slight and odd tint of  yellow from the torches of fire hung from the pillars.

A shiver suddenly ran through my body and I felt the surroundings of the palace suddenly grow icy cold, the fire of the wall torches blowing out and smoking with a single gust of invisible wind passing through.

I kept walking; was this corridor ever going to end?

Where was she? Where was Devica?

I felt as though I was almost completely alone in this ridiculously large and ominous palace, sending a feeling of unease rush through me, causing my stomach to turn unwillingly, a wave of nausea monopolizing my body... something was off.

Something was most definitely not right... by why the hell couldn't I put my finger on it?

My feet kept walking down the seemingly never-ending corridor, having absolutely no control of their movements. I silently begged for them to stop so I could take a moment to gather my bearings and figure out what I could sense that felt so awfully horrible but alas, they did not answer to my brain's demands. My footsteps grew even louder than before as the doorway to the ballroom came into view.

I quickened my pace and grabbed hold of the large door to pull and open it, but as soon as my hand came into contact with the door, it splintered under my grip and felt cold to the touch. I furrowed my eyebrows in confusion as I watched the door handle begin to rust and flake, going from the ornate, polished gold to a tarnished and ugly maroon colour.

Something was definitely wrong.

The door suddenly swung out the opposite way, allowing me entry to the ballroom. Slowly, I eased myself further into the room and scanned my surroundings... but this wasn't the palace ballroom. This was the grand room in Ayzel's memorial temple where we had just held (y/n)'s birthday celebration at... but how was I here when I was just walking the corridor in the palace? I know it was definitely the palace; I recognized the royal crests of the Solaris system strung up in tapestries adorning the greyed walls, along with those stupid, almost medieval fire torches on the stone pillars.

So how was I now in the memorial Temple?

I allowed my curious eyes to search the room, my glance landing on the painting of Devica, Ayzel and (y/n) hung on the wall. The sense of dread suddenly grew in me as I noticed a huddle of black-cloaked figures surrounding the painting and something beneath it in a circle. The room was deathly silent apart from the heavy panting which was my chest heaving up and down, and the deafening sound of my heart beating as though it was lodged in my throat. Allowing myself to slowly approach the ominous circle of cloaked figures, I reached down to my belt for my lightsaber in case I needed to defend myself. As my hand gripped where my lightsaber should be, I felt nothing come into my hand. Panicking a little more, I gazed down and noticed that my lightsaber was now missing from my belt.

Gulping, feeling my heart beat faster and louder in my body, my boots making the same thunderous sound as I walked on closer and closer to the group. As I finally came up from behind one of them, the group parted a little for me to pass without even having to open my mouth to get them to move.

I pushed my way through gentler than I would usually tend to, the small sounds I heard from the doorway of the room now recognizable as virtually silent, muffled and almost ghostly wails and sobs coming from the cloaked circle.

As I came into the centre of the circle, an object came into view which made my heart stop instantly... a coffin. My eyes glanced up to examine the painting of the Anara siblings and now only properly noticed the detail that Devica seemed to be the only one painted in full colour, life prominent in her rosy oil-painted cheeks as her younger brother and sister appeared beside her in a dull and lifeless grey. I never recalled that it was painted this way, I swear that I distinctly remember the vibrant green paint of Ayzel's coat and (y/n)'s gown...

My eyes dropped back down to the coffin in front of me, my glance darting to the three cloaked people who had stepped forward to the coffin's side. I slowly approached them in an attempt to identify their faces; these three seemed to be the only ones of the group completely and utterly silent. As I reached their side, their faces became clear under the black hoods which once shrouded their identities.

I was staring at the numb and emotionless faces of Ahsoka, Obi-Wan and Devica. They were grey, devastated, and looked as though they could no longer feel any form of emotion. I waved my hand in front of Devica's eyes in hopes to catch her attention, but her gaze remained on the coffin before me.

"Lao? Lao can you hear me?" I said to her, placing my hand on her shoulder and shaking it to try and get her to meet my eyes, "Lao now is not the time to ignore me! Lao? Devica, what's going on?!" I shook her a little more, desperate to lift her from the trance she was trapped in.

As I released my grip from her, a single tear escaped from her eyes and rolled down her grey-ish cheek. Her mouth finally opened and a faint cry left it, echoing around the room surrounding us, almost bouncing off of every wall, "Why must the universe take another of my siblings from me. This isn't fair."

What the hell does she mean... Ayzel died months ago. Wait, did she say another sibling?

That can't mean... surely not.

I turned around and I walked right up to the coffin and peered inside.

No.

No, GOD NO.

"Princess?" I felt my voice come out as a shattered whisper, my hands shaking as I peered down at the person in the coffin.

Lay down in a vibrant emerald green gown, a tiara in her grip and flowers entwined in the locks of her beautiful hair, was my beloved (y/n)... lifeless and grey.

She was dead.

I felt the crowd surrounding me grow restless, their wails growing louder like a siren blaring in my ears at all directions. I tried to reach down and place my hand on the cheek of the love laying lifeless in front of me, by my arms were suddenly restrained by the cloaked people behind me, their grip digging into my arms and tearing through my tunic sleeve.

"No! Let go, let me get to her!" I screamed, struggling desperately against the cloaked  figures to try and get back beside the coffin. She can't be dead.

She can't be dead! It's not possible!

Frantically thrashing to release my arms from the people, I screamed in frustration as I saw a significantly larger cloaked figure rise up from behind the coffin, laughing at me in a raspy cackle, its scrawny, white and bony fingers from under the black cloak reaching out and closing the coffin lid, amber eyes staring at me intently and evilly from under the darkness of its hood. 

The laughs and wails surrounding me tormented me as I noticed my arms begin to drip with blood due to the sharpness of the cloaked figures' grips digging into my arms. The amber eyed person bared its yellow teeth to me and laughed in an evil tone as it slammed the coffin closed, Devica, Obi-Wan and Ahsoka still at its side, staring into mid-air, emotionless, numb and silent.

"NO!" I screamed once more, silently begging for the coffin to open and for my Princess to climb out full of life and not about to leave my side in this life.

My screams forced me awake. I sat bolt-upright, my chest heaving in cold sweat as I struggled against the silk sheets shrouding me. My eyes darted over to the window, spotting one of Solaris' familiar moons on the other side. The moonlight spilled over the bedsheets like a metallic pool, illuminating the sleeping, peaceful face of my beloved Princess.

I felt immediately at ease; she was alive.

It was just a dream.

Trying to catch my breath and steady my heartbeat, I silently leaned over and gently brushed her beautiful strands of (y/h/c) hair from her perfect face. She seemed so peaceful, which she deserved after everything she has had to suffer the past year and more. Smiling down at her, I caressed her cheek gently with my thumb and placed a small kiss on her temple lovingly. I noticed her mouth twitch subconsciously into a small smile, making me feel at ease inside.

She was ok.

Nevertheless, what if someday she won't be ok and I won't be able to prevent the unthinkable? I know I could save her should I be presented the chance; and I will stop at nothing  to ensure her safety... I just can't risk losing her. Not now that she's perfectly safe, and especially also now that she's mine.

From this day on, I will do anything necessary to keep her safe from harm... and I can start by doing one thing.

Slowly and carefully swinging my legs out over the side of the bed so not to wake her, I quietly shuffle over to the corner of the room and delve into the pocket of my new cloak. I smile as I felt a box come into my grip, glancing over to the woman sleeping in the bed across the room.

Opening the box, I admire the ring I had chosen for her, watching the fragment of one of the stars I had found on a mission glimmer an opalescent colour in the moonlight as I held it in my hand.

It was decided...

I was finally going to ask her to marry me.

~•☾❤︎☽•~

a/n: I'M BACK!! SO SO sorry that it has been so long, but it was high time I updated at last. I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, I'm sorry if it was way too short or just crappy in general; I'm trying to get back into writing so there's a possibility the expected quality may have depreciated a little :(

Anyways, thank you also for 14k READS!!!! What the hell, I'm so grateful to all of you in my little Star-Crossed family; it means the entire world to me!

{ huge thank yous to RosesInTheRain , YehetTender1234456 and dinsbeskar for trying to motivate me and keeping me sane on my little break!! }

Thank you all again and I promise my top priority as of now is FINISHING THIS BOOK!!! So expect a lot of chapters - and a lot of upcoming angst ;) - from now on!! As much as I adore Star-Crossed, I am also eager to finish it so I can get to work on several upcoming projects I have planned for y'all ;)

- heather <3