Honestly the way I tell people to read this book is to say Ani and Padme bang in a speeder on Coruscant obviously. I managed to grab an autographed copy from Celebration 2022 in Anaheim which rocked!
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“This was Skywalker and Kenobi as they should be: a team built on emotion and intellect, bravado and control, fire and ice.
And despite no longer having the formal bond of Master and apprentice, they would always be connected. In fact, they were better this way.”
- “Neutrality in the face of extremism only gives the extremists more space to breathe.”
- “Of course. For that brief instant, Anakin didn’t care who bombed Cato Neimoidia or why; he just wished it would all disappear, that the sunless realm of Coruscant’s underworld really was a portal to another dimension, one without the Galactic Senate or the Jedi Order. But then guilt quickly draped over that, an understanding of the civilian suffering on the planet, where right now emergency medical crews attempted to rescue Neimoidians from the debris.”
- “Passion and purpose, locked together forever in a delicate balance.”
- “Oh, I don’t know. Dresses better than you. Striking eyes. Mandalorian royalty. Used to call you Ben, for some reason,” Dex said with one of his hearty chuckles. “That one. I hear she’s quite the savvy politician.”
- “Had they run off together, had he left the Jedi Order and she chosen a completely different life, what impact would they have had on the galaxy? And now, because they grew past their feelings and trusted in their paths, she led Mandalore in bold new directions while he sat newly appointed in the rarefied air of the Jedi Council.”
- “Anakin knelt down in front of R2-D2, quickly reciting memorized details about connecting to secure comm channels, something that he held on to as tightly as the hand of his wife. Because in some ways, those letters and numbers held their marriage up across the stars.”
- “Anakin, so bold in his determination, usually walked with his weight carrying him forward, nearly leaning ahead as if he were chasing the future. But here Anakin stopped and his entire body softened, from the way he held his shoulders to the way his arms hung. His head turned, waiting, and Anakin’s smile grew so large that Obi-Wan saw it across the hall. Then he understood why. Dashing across to meet him was Padme Amidala.”
- “'You,' she said, tucking a matching flower into the breast pocket of his coat, 'are not a Jedi Knight. And I am not a senator. We're just a married couple having dinner.' She gestured around, and he noticed that several other couples had donned matching flowers as well. Of course she would scout this out first. 'Yeah', he said, locking elbows with her. 'Just like any other married couple.' She rested her head on his shoulder, the glow of her flower tinting her face. Passion and purpose indeed.”
- “Padme kept her eyes locked with his, a mischievous smile on her face, as she tugged on the bag’s drawstrings, opening it enough to pull out... Folded blankets? But the look in her eye gave all the context he needed. This was the Padme he adored, someone who spent most of her days understanding the nuances of countless beings to do right for them. Yet on occasion, a fire burst through, something brighter and more intense than the hottest sun – when she allowed it. Like now. She walked to the side of the rented speeder, a barely functioning vehicle covered in dents and grime...and unfurled the blankets in the back seat. “A lot of quiet places in these lower levels”
- “Perhaps if Qui-Gon had never found him on Tatooine, he would be on the podracer circuit now, or have found a life with some other dangerous recreation. Would his mother still be there in that life? But that question led to a dark path of further questions. He buried it deep, locking that night away and reminding himself that he was here with Padmé, in a strange life that intermixed combat and justice with quiet moments as husband and wife. He just wished he could pick and choose ~when~ each occurred.”