Those words – almost exactly the same ones she’d used back on Naboo to reject him then – rang like harsh judgment in his ears. And absent any confirmation what she still felt for him. He knew. He was not stupid; and though he was not subtle himself, he could connect the meaning of what she was saying to what she wasn’t.

She was returning to her original decision. The one made their last night on Naboo.

So very hurt, he pulled his hand away, though he didn’t get up. Not yet.

“So now that we aren’t facing imminent death anymore our feelings don’t mean anything.” He didn’t know if he was asking a question or making an accusation.