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Ferus let his eyes drift shut. His world narrowed to the sound of Roan's voice, and the warmth of Roan's hand.

"You are not alone," he heard Roan say.

And then he heard nothing at all.

"You are not alone," Leia whispered, squeezing Ferus's hand even tighter, wishing she could give him her strength.

But she couldn't.

All she could do was kneel by his body and watch as his chest rose and fell with slow, shallow breaths…and then fell still. There was a faint smile on his face, and Leia hoped it meant he had died in peace.

He was dead.

Leia had known Ferus all her life, but she felt she'd only really known him these last few months. She felt a hole open within her, as if she'd lost a part of her family, or even herself. He was the last connection she'd had to her past on Alderaan, and to her father. It always seemed like he had secrets he was desperate to share with her, if only she'd asked the right questions. But she'd never bothered to ask.

And now he was gone.

If she'd come back for him sooner, maybe she could have stopped it—whatever, whoever it was that had done this to him.

Leia knew she had to go. The sun was about to explode. And whoever had killed Ferus might still be here—might be coming back for her.

But she didn't move. She stayed by his side, holding his hand. Just a little longer, she told herself, and then I'll go.

She didn't want to leave him alone.

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

"Leia!" Luke finally spotted the princess, kneeling beside what looked like a body. He hurried over to her, Han following close behind. Luke had a bad feeling as he approached the body, but forced himself to look at the man's face. "What happened to him?"

Leia just shook her head.

Luke hadn't known Ferus very long or very well, but there had been something about the man that seemed so familiar, something that made him feel like part of the family. A family that was very quickly dying off.

"How about we move this party to the ship," Han said. "Before we get toasted."

Leia shot him a quick, wounded look, and he immediately softened his tone. "I'm sorry, Princess," he said quietly. "But we have to go."

"I know," she admitted, and released Ferus's hand. "I hate to leave him."

Luke cleared his throat. "We won't."

He shared a glance with Han, and they both bent down on either side of Leia to raise the body of the fallen Jedi.

Leia took hold of Ferus' hand once again. "Let's go."

They walked in silence toward the edge of the camp where the Falcon was docked.

Chewbacca had kept the engines running. The entire fleet had jumped into hyperspace, along with the Imperials. They were the only ones left in the system, with six minutes to go. But just as they were about to take off, Luke froze.

"What is it, kid?" Han asked impatiently.

Luke raised a pair of microbinoculars to his eyes. More than a kilometer away, a figure in a black robe swept toward an Imperial shuttle.

"Vader," Luke said darkly. "You think he…"

"Yes," Leia said, without doubt. "He killed Ferus."

Luke activated his lightsaber, "And I'm not letting him get away with it."

"Luke, there's no time," Leia said.

"And there's no way you face him and live," Han added.

Luke didn't care. He was tired of running from Vader. It was time to face the enemy head on. After everything he'd been through; hadn't he proven his strength? He felt like he could do anything—and right now, destroying Vader was the only thing he wanted to do.

Leia grabbed his arm.

"Luke, think. He'll kill you, you know that. And even if he doesn't, even if by some miracle, you manage to defeat him, it'll be too late to escape. You'll die in the shock wave." The enormous sun loomed overhead, blotting out much of the sky.

"Then either way, Vader will die," Luke said. "All I have to do is stall him, keep him from boarding that shuttle, and he's gone forever. Isn't that worth the sacrifice?"

Han snorted. "Sacrifice is overrated."

"He doesn't understand," Luke said to Leia. "But you must. After everything he's taken from you—"

"I won't