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"Credit for your thoughts?"
Imperius looked up to see Lana standing in the doorway to their quarters, minus most of her usual gear. To see Lana so relaxed pulled at Imperius's heartstrings, and she didn't respond, instead trying to bury herself more in her datapad.
"Love?" The sith sighed, powering down the device and gently tossing it onto the table beside the bed.
"I was just thinking...when all of this is over, if we survive, where do you see us going?" Lana smiled at the familiar words, a comforting reminder of the time they shared on Rishi.
"Us?" She asked.
"Any of us. The alliance, the Sith, the Jedi, you and I. What do you think will happen?"
The blonde shifted her position, leaning against the doorframe, and thought. "I suppose I hadn't much thought about it, really. I prefer to focus on now, rather than thinking what the future might hold. It can give false hope."
"Is that what you thought when you were trying to rescue me?" Imperius said.
Lana's expression soured, "I thought about you when I was trying to rescue you. I know you felt it."
"I felt hope."
She sighed, "Alright. Yes, I was thinking of the future during my mission to rescue you. It...gave me the boost I needed to reach you. Keeping you alive for so long-" Imperius winced as she spoke, and it gave the sith lord pause. She pushed off the doorframe and padded to the bed, sitting down next to her lover. Imperius was quiet for a while, but spoke softly,
"I...never thanked you for that. Or apologized."
"Apologized? There's no need for that-"
"There is. I shouldn't have been so reckless as to reject Valkorion's offer. I put everyone through hell because of it." Lana shifted, covering Imperius's hand with her own.
"You did the right thing, Valkorion is a monster. We both know that."
"When we found the Gravestone, and were ambushed by Sky Troopers. When you were injured..." The blonde moved her hand onto the Sith's arm, giving it a light squeeze and encouraging her to continue.
"Valkorion appeared to me. He said that you would die if I didn't accept his power, that he was certain of it. I couldn't figure out his mind games and I rejected him. You could've died, I could've...it would've been my fault." Lana's eyes widened, but she moved to place both of her hands on Imperius's cheeks, rubbing gently. "You did what was right, my love. All power comes at a price, and I'm here with you now." Imperius eyed the long, jagged scar across Lana's arm. "I don't look to the future, but I also don't dwell on the past. What's done is done, and the fact is we both survived when we should have died. Whether by destiny or choice, we survived. Is that not worth anything?"
Imperius looked into Lana's eyes, searching for a lie, any kind of excuse, and found none. She broke eye contact and looked back to Lana's scar, then gripped her own shirt.
"Lana."
"What?"
"You saw what Arcann did to me, because I didn't take Valkorion's power to fight him." She lifted the shirt, showing the scar on her stomach from where she had been run through with a lightsaber. "Because of that, Valkorion took something else from me instead."
Lana felt her blood run cold, "What? What did he do to you?" She asked.
"It isn't what he did, it's what I chose not to do. I...can't have children. Not anymore. No matter if we survive, if you and I wanted a family..."
Lana lifted Imperius's head to face her again, "Then I suppose we're lucky we have the Force on our side. If you think that I believe you lesser for this, don't. I love you, and that is final. But we must focus on the present. We will cross that bridge when we come to it, and burn it if necessary. What matters now is surviving to get to that point. We must defeat Arcann and Vaylin, and stop the Eternal Empire."
Imperius chuckled lowly, "Lana, I adore your pragmatism, but do try to see things from my point of view for once? Humor me."
She huffed, "Alright, fine, where do you see us in another five years?"
"I don't know...marriage, old age, and a lot of little golden-haired, yellow-eyed children?"
Lana raised her eyebrows, "Multiple children? Don't get ahead of yourself, my love."
Taking it as a cue to change the subject, Imperius grinned, "And yet you didn't object to marriage and old age? Tell me, when should I schedule our engagement in the Alliance database?" Lana pushed Imperius away, but her smile rivaled the other sith's, "Propose to me once we've defeated the Eternal Empire. Or perhaps when you're crowned Empress of the Sith?"
"And here I figured you'd prefer eloping to a grand ceremony. Are you sure you'd want to take the title of Empress's Consort?"
She chuckled, causing Imperius to raise an eyebrow, "I think I could make peace with that one."
"Good," Imperius replied.