Angel Who Has My Heart (canon version)

Chapter 17

Soon, they landed on Isorre. When they arrived, they saw the royal guard waiting for them. Ariel smiled as the ship landed, happy to be able to see her siblings. Liam held his hand out to Ariel as they disembarked from the ship. Following the guards, they walked through the castle towards the throne room. Upon seeing her daughter, Artemis ran to her and hugged her. "It's so good to see you, dear. How was good?" she asked. "It was good, mother. How have things been here?" Ariel asked. "They have been wonderful. And I graciously welcome you to Isorre, King Liam. I wish to express my condolences to you over the death of your father. He was a good man and an even greater friend. I know that you will be a great king, just as he was," Leon, Ariel's father, said. "Thank you. My father always spoke very highly of you. It is a pleasure to meet you, your highness," Liam replied with a smile. "There's no need to call me your Highness, Liam. You can call me Leon. After all, we are family," Leon answered. "I'll keep that in mind. And Ariel and I wanted you both to meet your grandchildren, Minerva and Flavian," Liam said. "Can we hold them?" Artemis asked to which Ariel replied yes. Artemis held Minerva whilst Leon held Flavian. "They're beautiful," Artemis said with a smile. "I agree. They are beautiful. And Liam, I heard that your brother-in-law Anakin is back with the light. Not to sound rude or harsh towards him as I've never had the pleasure of meeting him, I'm surprised that nobody wanted to have him arrested and put in jail," Leon said.  

"I know. But Anakin is still the war hero that he was before the empire. He truly is sorry for all his actions during that time. But it was not his fault. None of the things that he did was done willingly because he was brainwashed into doing all those things by the emperor. And since he has been free of the emperor's corruption, he has done everything he can to atone for his actions, even though he, like many others, was just a pawn in the emperor's plans," Liam replied. "He was brainwashed? If that is so, then how many people did the emperor do that to?" Leon wondered. "We may never know for sure. If Anakin is anything to go by, anyone who was brainwashed won't want to talk about it," Liam said. "That is very true. Now, you have both had a long trip so I'm guessing that you're both tired. I'll have Aurora show you to your room," Leon said. Then, he called for Aurora and asked her to escort the pair and the children to their room. Once they were in their room, the pair thanked Aurora before she left them in peace. After putting the children down to sleep in bed, Ariel joined Liam in watching the stars from the balcony, hugging him. "What's wrong? Somethings bothering you," Ariel said. 

"I'm worried. I want to be a good king like my father. But I'm worried that I won't be. And I'm worried about Anakin. I know that during the emperor's reign, Anakin was brainwashed. What if another Sith were to come along and put him through that again? It's clear that everything he was forced to do because of the emperor broke Anakin. I fear that it will break him more if it happens again. I don't think that he could cope with that. He may be good at hiding it from Alazne but not from me. Everything that he was forced to do weighs on him. And I don't know how he would cope if he had to suffer something like that again," Liam said. "You will be a good king, Liam. Youve already proved that you are a good king and your father would be so proud of you. And there's no guarantee that the Sith will return. But if they do, Anakin has all of us to help him," Ariel replied. Eventually, the pair went to sleep. Meanwhile, Eric looked on as the palace of Naboo was being rebuilt. He smiled as the flag of the empire was pulled down before being burnt. Just then, Padme joined him with a smile on her face. "The palace is nearly back to normal. All this hard work will be worth it in the end," she said. "I know. Alaric and Andromeda helped a lot, as well. I'm just glad that there is peace back in the universe again," Eric replied. As it got dark and the moon started to rise in the sky, Eric and Padme walked into the palace gardens before sitting down on one of the benches and looking up at the stars. After a while, Alaric and Andromeda joined them, all content in knowing that, with no emperor and no empire, the universe could finally return to the way it had been. 

The next day, Liam smiled as he watched Ariel's brothers, Sirius and Erebus, play with Minerva and Flavian. "You're holding her wrong, Erebus," Sirius said as he watched him with Minerva. "You know that I'm a father too, right?" Erebus asked. "I know. But they teenagers, not newborn babies, Erebus," Sirius replied, rolling his eyes. "It's the same thing. And if you remember, Nimue wanted me to hold our children," Erebus responded. "You know, as uncles, you're meant to be good influences, right?" Ariel asked as she walked in with Sirius' fiancée, Amaryllis. Both of her brothers laughed as she said that. Amaryllis went and sat next to Sirius, kissing his cheek as she did. Liam smiled and wondered how everything was going with Eric and Alazne. Back on Naboo, Eric watched as the rebuilding of the city and the palace was nearing completion. Everything relating to the empire was taken and destroyed. Alaric and Andromeda joined him soon after. "It's coming along great, isn't it? I can't wait to see what it looks like when it's all done," Andromeda said. "It is. And neither can I. Where's your mother?" Eric asked. "She's with the queen. She wanted Mom's advice on how to best rule," Alaric replied. Just then, Padme and Queen Maeve walked over and joined them. "It's beautiful. I can't wait to see Naboo in all its former glory," Maeve said with a smile. "You'll love it. It shouldn't be long before everything is finished," Eric replied. "How is Lullacaath?" Maeve asked. "It's doing well, your majesty. Liam is doing a great job at restoring the planet to its former glory," Eric answered. After talking for a while, Maeve left and Padme hugged Eric with a smile. "I'm so glad that Naboo is going back to how it was. Have you heard from Alazne recently?" Padme asked. "I spoke to her earlier. Everyone's doing great," Eric replied. "I'm glad. It seems that the galaxy is finally back to normal," Padme said with a smile.

On Lullacaath, Alazne sat by the lake while feeding the ducks. But even though she enjoyed her task, she couldn't help but miss Luke and Luna. Just then, she heard footsteps and looked to see that Leia and Eirian had joined her. The pair hugged their mother as they sat down beside her. They both took some of the bird feed and started to feed the ducks alongside their mother. "Mom, where's dad?" Eirian asked whilst feeding the ducks. "He's with Obi-Wan. He wanted to fix the mess that he made during the time that he was forced to be Vader," Alazne replied. "What about everyone else?" Leia asked. "Caelestis and Han are helping your father and Obi-Wan. Davian is with his mother and Altheria is with her parents making sure that their planet's shield is working. Meanwhile, Luke and Luna felt someone calling to them through the force. So they've gone to find them," Alazne said. "I'm worried about them. They're working themselves too hard," Leia said. "I know. But you know what they're like. They won't stop until they do what they've set out to do. And they'll be all right, don't worry," Alazne said. The trio talked for hours and after a while, it started to get dark. Soon, the three girls started to feel tired. So, picking up the empty bag of bird feed, the girls made their way back to the castle. After making sure that the girls went to bed, Alazne went to her room before going to sleep herself, smiling whilst thinking about all the happy times that she had with Anakin.