Before Xiri led her enemy beneath the sea, Gella Nattai watched space junk and bits of debris from the Paxion fall. It split and careened toward the water, but not before a couple of drill ships broke off parts of the canopy. Gella had the sinking memory of Chancellor Greylark saying she would be on the Paxion that day. She couldn't remember if shed kept her word or not.
"Mother, Axel whispered, panting slowly.
"What did you think would happen, Axel?"
Gella was so focused on him, she didn't notice something hit the tower until it was too late.
Metal crunched and warped, driving straight through. The ceiling above was falling in on them. It was only her control of the Force that kept the two of them from being crushed by a slab of metal. She held on by a thread -the stubborn will to keep them alive.
"Gella, I'm-"
"Shut up and help me." Her arms trembled from the concentrated effort. Face-to-face, there was nowhere for them to go.
Axel, perhaps for the first time in his life, listened without making another quip. He stood, putting everything he had into supporting the metal slab above. It was too much. Her elbows were bending at the joints.
"Where are the vials, Axel?"
Heshut his yes and took a long moment before he said, "The ones I stole are in the first two towers."
"And the others?"
"Ask the queen," he shot back. "I knew I couldn't reach the archives beneath the palace. I needed to create enough chaos to draw attention to what I did. I fed a holo I recorded into an open channel. Everyone knows what I've done" He struggled against the weight of the falling ceiling. His eyes were unfocusing.
"Snap out of it, Gella barked. Her arms trembled as she tried to maintain her grasp through the Force.'
"You can't fake your own death
if you die."
He grunted and dropped to one knee.
"I'm still weak, Gella. Can't you, I don't know, siphon my strength to make yourself stronger?"
The sound she made was between a cry and a laugh. "After all this time, you truly don't understand the Force, do you?"
"I never wanted to. Not before you."
Axel's side of the roof tilted, the ground groaning like a terrible metal giant. Beads of sweat ran down the arc of his nose from the effort. He shook his head, slipping. She grunted with the effort it took to suspend the ceiling overhead.
"If we don't live through this .." he began.
"We will live through this," she corrected but trailed off. There could be no after for them. When they lived through this, he would be in prison and she would face the Jedi Council.
"If we don't live through this," Axel said, "I hope my ghost haunts yours for eternity."
"We don't believe in ghosts."
"Leave it to me," he said, "to fall for a humorless Jedi." She didn't want to hear those words. Not from him. As Axel slumped to the floor, unconscious, Gella shut her eyes and did her best to clear her mind, to find the strength through the Force. I have every bit of faith in you, he'd said to her before he shoved her into that pit. Gella Nattai trusted in the Force, in herself. She always landed on solid ground, and this time could be no different. Slowly, it worked. The weight loosened with every piece being moved through the Force.
"The Force is with me," she whispered, imagining every piece of wreckage that was trying to bury them alive. "And I am one with the Force."
She spoke the words, again and again until she and Axel lay atop a heap of rubble. The waves were so high, she could feel the spray of surf.
The Paxion was gone, but a cluster of Eirami starfighters returned to the city, circling overhead. She was certain Xiri was leading the charge.
Pushing herself, Gella sat up.
"Don't go. Stay," Axel said, blinking awake. He rubbed at the scar over his heart.
"I can't," she said, and yet she lingered.
Gella brushed his hair back. There were fine cuts on his regal, bruised face. Perhaps Axel was right. It was impossible to regain something after it was broken. The scars would still be there. They served as memories so that it could never happen again. As she drew her hand away, and left to get help, Gella was certain she would always prefer to have the scar.

Star Wars The High Republic Convergence Chapter 33 Page 325