Princess Leia and the Merman

by starwenn

Princess Leia has to rescue her lost brother and a handsome merman from the clutches of the vile sea slug Jabba the Hutt...but first, she has to make it through his treacherous underwater maze.

Princess Leia and the Solo Merman

Rating: PG (violence)

Pairings: Han/Leia

Disclaimer: The franchise belongs to George Lucas and the Walt Disney Company. I just got back into this fandom in January after more than a decade away and decided I wanted to play, too.

Once upon a time, a princess named Leia lived in a beautiful kingdom by the sea named Naboo. She longed for a life of adventure as a sailor, like her twin brother Luke had been. Luke had explored the ocean on the vessel Twin Sunset...until the boat and its cargo and crew were lost in a storm two years before. She loved her father, King Anakin of Naboo, but she wished he'd stop treating her like a piece of sea glass, and she missed Luke terribly. She knew in her heart that he was alive. Father may have given up on him, but she hadn't.

She loved the sea, knew every inch of a boat, just as well as her brother. She could swim like a fish and swear like the officers on her brother's boat. The sailors in her father's navy considered her to be one of their own. She preferred being out on the ocean, speaking out for her fellow sailors' rights, than being trapped in some dusty court.

Leia was Anakin's favorite, and in his eyes, she could do no wrong, but even he thought it was time his daughter settled down. He said as much to her as he lead her down the hall to Naberrie Castle's ballroom.

"Leia," he began, "I know you claim you're not ready to get married, but Baron Lando Calarissian is the head of the Bespin silver mining colony. They say he's a very wealthy man. We need that alliance with Bespin. Our army will protect their interests, and we could use that silver. Ever since we lost the Twin Sunset three years ago, our treasury has been...unstable." He frowned. "And we all miss your brother. He was my heir, and I loved him. I already lost your mother. You're all I have left."

Leia wasn't paying him any mind. She almost seemed to be looking for someone. "I'm sure the Baron is very nice, Father," she said, "but I already have someone I'm interested in."

"You do? Whom?"

"I don't know his name." She scanned the many familiar faces in the crowd. "He's been at every ball we've held for the past six months. I've danced with him many times. He's told me so many things even I didn't know about the ocean, and fish, and sharks, and even mermaids."

Anakin snorted. "Mermaids? That's just fairy stories."

"That's what I said, too." She lifted her white tulle skirts that billowed like foam around her sea-blue satin shoes. "He says they're real. He's seen them. Of course," she added, "I told him he was crazy, and we ended up getting into an argument...but that was actually almost fun. Most men here never argue with me. They just agree with everything I say to get on your good side."

Anakin chuckled. "I'm surprised you let him get a word in edgewise. I know how you can get when you're discussing your beliefs."

Leia took a drink the family's butler Cedric handed her. "Thank you." She stirred the cool chocolate drink with a spoon. "That's the strange thing, Father. He talks about the sea and the animals and traveling, but he hasn't said a word about himself. I don't know who he is, or what he does. When I ask, he either changes the subject or runs out the door." She looked thoughtful. "And he won't go near the ocean, for all his talk about it." She sipped her chocolate. "I won't let him run tonight! I'll find out what's going on."

"Meanwhile, your date for the evening has arrived." Anakin looked up as Cedric announced the Baron. "Come on. You'll like him. I've had long conversations about boat races and the latest models of boats with him, and he discusses fashion with the women of the court like he's a designer."

Baron Calarissian was a tall man, with dark curly hair, a neatly trimmed mustache, and soft coffee-colored skin. He wore a sky-blue uniform trimmed with gold braiding, with navy trousers and the most dashing cape. He swished over to them and took her hand, kissing it softly.

"Hello, Your Majesty. This must be your daughter, Leia." He smiled, showing off blinding white teeth. "She's more beautiful than all of the goddesses of the heavens."

Leia curtsied before him. "Thank you, Baron."

Anakin coughed. "Well, yes, I'm going to leave you two to get acquainted. Besides, Leia, I see your godfather, Bail of Alderaan. Probably wants me to sign some peace treaty."

Lando gave her that dazzling smile again. "Would you like to dance, Your Highness?"

"Yes, Baron. I'd enjoy that."

The Baron was a very good dancer, as light as a feather on his toes. "Is something troubling you?" he asked after the third time Leia tripped over her hem. "Your mind doesn't seem to be on the music. Am I really such boring company?"

"It's not you. It's just someone I met a few months ago. He's been coming to our castle ever since, but I haven't seen him tonight." He took her hand, but she barely noticed. "Baron, do you believe in mermaids?"

Lando chuckled. "I've never seen one, but since I've heard they're amazing beauties with voices like angels, I wouldn't complain if I met one."

"I don't know if I'd want to. The stories say merpeople use their voices to lure ships into rocks and drag humans down to the sea."

The baron grinned. "Then it would be a beautiful way to go."

"Still..." She sighed. "I wonder..."

That was when she saw him descending the gilded staircase. Tonight, he wore a fine black silk vest and cream-colored blouse. The buttons were made from abalone, the flowing red-brown mane pulled back by a circle of frosted sea glass. The tight navy trousers with blood-red stripes amply showed off his long legs. A weatherproof oilskin bag was slung on his hip. A heavy gold collar clung to his strong neck. He had a chiseled jawline, with a distinct scar on his chin.

The tall man tried to hide the wince when he strutted up to Leia and Lando. "I told you I'd come back, Your Worship. I have for six months. Wouldn't miss your old man's parties for anything."

Lando was giving the man a strange look. "Who might you be?"

He gave him a half-grin. "Han Solo, sir." He bowed before Leia. "Glad to see you again, Your Worship. Is your old man still trying to marry you off?"

Lando's smile became tighter. "I was dancing with her first."

"Then give the next guy a turn." Han took Leia's hand and walked her to balcony that overlooked the garden.

The moment they got outside, Leia yanked her hand out of his. "What are you doing?"

"Taking you out to spend time with a real man." He sat down, still smirking. "Who was he, anyway? Looked like a jellyfish to me."

"Lando is a good man." Leia glared at him. "You have no right to talk. You won't even tell me who you are and what you do."

"I'm Han Solo. Isn't that enough?"

She turned away. The sea roared, lapping against the sparkling beach. Twilight was falling. There would be a full moon tonight, a good, solid moon. A moon like that can make people do strange things. Old Maz, the lady who sold seashells and told fortunes by the beach, said that when the moon was full, the mer-creatures came out to play, to lure, to dance.

He looked out at the rising moon. "I came to say good-bye. This is my last night here. I have a friend I have to get back to."

That got her attention. She swirled around, her velvet brown eyes surprised. "You're leaving? How will I find you? Will I ever see you again?"

He smiled at her, a big, playful grin. "Maybe in your dreams."

Han had such beautiful eyes, large and hazel-green, with gold flecks. She just wished they weren't placed over that cocky smirk of his. "You can be so infuriating. I wouldn't dream about you if they gave me all the pearls in ever oyster in the entire Naboo Sea!"

"So you say." He slowly took her hands as a muffled waltz struck up in the ballroom. "Hey, Your Highnessness, wanna dance?"

He didn't give her a chance to reply. They slowly moved to the dreamy music. She leaned on his chest, her mind swirling in time with the song. Who was this man? There was something about him that didn't feel...normal. It was all such a mystery. She wanted to know more. He challenged her in a way that no man had before. She lay her head on his shoulder, wishing there was a way the song could last forever.

They were so caught up in the moment, they didn't even realize the music had ended, or that they were now in the ballroom. It wasn't until she heard applause that Leia knew there was anyone else around them and saw the crowd laughing and sighing. Han nudged her. "Looks like we won the door prize, Your Worship. Better take a bow."

She rolled her eyes but did what he suggested, curtsying for the crowd with flourish. He gave the assembled guests a small, awkward bow and wave. He finally lead her away, back towards the patio looking out at the gardens and the beach. "Sure did the old fi...feet in. Sometimes, I forget I have these darn things." He kept up the smile, but it was tight and unconvincing. "I really need to get to the beach, and I really need to talk to your dad."

"I could walk you there."

"Sorry, sweetheart, but this isn't a job for princesses." He took her hand, rubbing it gently. His hazel eyes softened as they gazed intently into her warm brown ones.

She frowned. "Stop that."

"Stop what?"

"Stop that. My hands are sweaty."

"So are mine." He had both hands now, running his rough fingers over the delicate knuckles. "What are you afraid of?"

"I'm not afraid of anything!" She looked away. "I'm a princess. I'm expected to marry someone noble and respectful. You act like a scoundrel."

He lifted her chin to meet his own face. "Scoundrel? I like the sound of that."

"I don't! I..." She couldn't resist anymore. His soft, gruff voice was compelling and soothing. "I think there's something about you...when you talk..."

He ignored that. "You're trembling."

"I'm not trembling." She moved in closer. "Ok, hotshot, I..."

She never finished her sentiment. They were about to kiss when she saw the moon out of the corner of her eyes. It was full and high and perfectly round and white, looking like she could reach out and touch it. The moment its light fell on them, Han let out a yell of pain.

"Han?" She put her arms around him tightly. "Are you all right?"

"No...yes..." He pushed her arms aside and stumbled to his feet. "I have to talk to your dad. It's important."

She grabbed his arm. "Han, please. Stay. If your legs hurt, I could get the palace doctor to look at them."

His eyes looked for all the world like he wanted to, was even considering it...but then she heard laughter. Big, booming laughter that floated out over the water like a cannon. "Thanks, but I can't. I have to get back to Chew...my friend." He kissed her forehead and gently stroked her neck, then ducked away, pushing through the crowd.

She tried to follow him, but King Anakin blocked her way. "Where have you been?" He touched her neck. "What happened to your pearl necklace? The one your mother and I gave you for your last birthday?"

Leia's fingers went to her now-bare neck. "I don't know. The clasp must have broken." She was already making her way towards the front entrance. "Father, the man who ran through, his name is Han Solo. I need to talk to him."

"So do we." His face looked grave. "We have reason to believe he's a thief. Valuables have gone missing from the palace for the last three nights. Several of our guests have complained about jewelry and cufflinks and purses being stolen. We thought they were lost, but someone saw him taking the silver spoons from the table and stuffing them in his bag."

"Father, perhaps he's poor. He may have a family he needs to sell that for."

"That's no excuse. He broke the law. Not to mention, half the nobles in the kingdom no longer think we're trustworthy because we allowed a thief to take whatever he wants for months on end."

His daughter gave him her most innocent smile. "I could help you, Father. I know these grounds as well as your men, maybe better. I could figure out where he went."

Anakin was already directing her towards the hall that lead to the bedrooms. "Oh no. You're going to tell your guests that you aren't feeling well, then go to your room. We'll discuss this in the morning."

She yanked her arm away...but then gave him an exaggerated sigh. "Very well, Father. I am feeling a bit sleepy."

"Good." He gently put a hand on her shoulder. "Leia, this is for your own good. You'll find a better man than a criminal."

She curtsied before him. "Yes, Father." She started towards the hall...but the moment he turned to his men, she darted in the opposite direction. She had to find out what happened to Han. Why did he run from her? Why was he stealing? Who was his mysterious employer?

As she stepped onto the staircase that descended into the front garden, she saw the top of a reddish-brown head limping towards the shoreline. She followed him, taking off her dance slippers for easier traction in the grainy sand. The trailing tulle skirts of her white ball gown tripped her up as she hurried along.

Han stood on the edge of the beach. Leia hid behind a beach plum bush, watching as the largest, ugliest creature she'd ever seen waddle out of the waves. Rolls and rolls of fat sloshed over slimy, wrinkled mud-brown skin and large yellow eyes. It didn't have legs, though it did have a thick cigar of a tail. A long chain of gold links dangled in its stout fingers. It looked like an enormous version of the slugs Leia often saw in Father's garden.

"Jabba, I have the goods." Han held out the purse to the slug-like monster. "I brought you what you asked for. Now, about giving me an immortal soul and releasing my best friend..."

The creature inspected every piece of jewelry and every spoon in the bag, including her pearl necklace. "Very good. Very nice merchandise, Solo. Very good quality. However, there's one treasure missing. Where's the girl?"

Han shook his head. "No girl. The jewels should be more than enough to pay off my debts and free Chewie."

Jabba poked a sausage-like finger at him. "Why do you think I let you keep your voice while you were on land? You were supposed to bring the girl to the water and drown her. I must have King Anakin's daughter's immortal soul. I already have her brother's."

Han wobbled away from the water that lapped at his feet. His knees shook. The moon was just about at its full height. "I'm not killing her. Not now." He looked at his booted feet. "I can't hurt her."

Jabba's hoots boomed over the waves. "You love her. You fell in love with a human."

The auburn-haired man glared at him. Leia's breath caught in her throat. "So what?"

The slug-thing kept hooting. "You're no more human than I am. You're just a petty sea-crook. You can't even walk on land without feeling like you're running on sharp knives."

Han gave him his infamous lazy grin. "Now, Jabba, that hurt. If you give me one more chance with Her Worship, I'll forget you even said it."

"Nothing doing, Solo." He started towards Han with the chain. "You told me you'd get the girl, and you didn't. I can't give you an immortal soul if you didn't earn it."

"Jabba, I'll pay you triple, just as soon as I get back to the castle! You're throwing away a fortune!" Han was caught between the slug and the water. Jabba's fat hand shot out, shoving him head over heels into the moonlit sea.

"No!" Leia burst out of her hiding place. "Don't touch him, you piece of overgrown lard!" She reached for a sharp piece of driftwood.

The moonlight wreathed around the lower half of Han's body as he tried to get on his elbows. "Leia, run! Tell...your dad...Jabba will..." His vocal chords stiffened, and his throat became raw. "He...wants...to..." Slender legs melted together, forming a long navy fish tail ringed with red stripes. A white light emerged from his mouth, flowing into a lavender shell in the slug's hand.

Leia's eyes widened. "Han?" She staggered into the water. His hand reached for her hand, putting it against her smaller one. Was he so different, now? Part of him was still like her. "You didn't want me to know you're a merman." He shook his head.

Jabba moved far faster in the sea than he did on land. He was easily able to block Han from the shocked princess. "Ahh, the fairest sea-flower in all the coastal kingdoms has come for her precious lover. As you can see, you're too late."

Leia glared at him, drawing the sharp piece of driftwood up to his chest. "I order you to release him at once!"

Jabba chuckled the girl's chin. She shoved his hand away. "Feisty and gorgeous. No wonder Solo was so determined to protect you."

Leia raised her chin in the most royal manner she could manage. "I can protect myself, thank you."

The sea slug was not expecting this short human girl to stab him in the arm with her very sharp stick. Nor could he have predicted Han biting hard on the tip of his tail. The merman immediately regretted that. Jabba tasted like the old rubber shoes he sometimes found in garbage heaps near the surface. Leia had to stifle her giggles at his sour expression.

The moment the slug started nursing his sore tail, Han grabbed Leia's hand and propelled her across the water, towards the sheltered cove on the edge of the Naboo peninsula. "Han," she gasped as they swam at a blistering pace, "Old Maz lives near the cove. She might be able to make you human again." He nodded, giving her a far gentler and more genuine smile than his flirty smirks at the ball.

They were half-way to the cove when Leia heard the laughter again. Han nudged at her, trying to move her along. "I can't swim any faster!" Her lungs were burning and her legs were cramping as it was. "I don't have the tail for it!"

His strong arm wrapped around her waist. Han gave her another genuine, soft smile as he sped easily over the waves. Somewhere in Leia's bosom, her heart turned into mush.

The cove was one of her favorite places. It was hidden at the edge of Theed Town by the sand dunes and tall grasses that had been planted to prevent erosion. She and Luke used to explore the cove when they were younger. She knew every rock and beach plum bush and cave.

She was breathing heavily when they finally floated to the nearest rock. Han lifted her onto the rough granite as easily as if she were a child, then pulled himself onto the rock next to her. "Thank you." She smiled as he kissed her hand. "Turning into a merman seems to have improved your manners."

Her palm ran down his tail. It was beautiful, smooth as a piece of sea glass on the beach. His fin was gossamer red that glimmered like rubies. "I can't believe this is real. You're really a merman." He grinned mischievously and splashed a little water on her with his tail to prove it was real. She laughed. "Oh, so you want to play?" She splashed him back. They continued their little water war for the next few minutes, until they were out of breath and Leia was laughing so hard, tears ran down her cheeks.

Han was fascinated by her tears. He trailed his fingers down their tracks, even licked one finger to see what they tasted like. "What? Haven't you ever seen someone cry before?" He shook his head. "Why won't you talk to me? You haven't said a word since you turn...since it happened." She realized, even as she spoke, that he didn't need to. His soft hazel eyes told her everything. "Han," she whispered as he pulled her closer, still holding her head, "I..."

Black starlight shot between them, just as they were about to kiss. The dusty black mass threw Leia hard into the rock and Han back into the waters of the cove. Pain exploded in her temple as her head met the jagged stone.

She managed to get on her elbow long enough to see Han surrounded by five mermen with silvery shark-like tails, pointing tridents at him. Each had chains looped under their arms. The merman tried to bite Jabba again, but one of the guards shoved a length of sail cloth in his mouth. The remaining shark-men threw chains around Han's arms, wrists, and chest. "No," she panted, "he's not your servant!"

"That's where you're wrong, Little Beauty." The defeated look on Han's face as Jabba snapped the leash on his collar broke Leia's heart. "He belongs to me. Soon, so will you." The round yellow eyes roamed up...and around...her, resting on her considerable bust line. "You'll look lovely in nothing but seashells."

"You can stop using me for a model right now." She rubbed her head. "I'm not going with you, and Han isn't, either."

"Come to the wreck of the SS Alderaan, ten miles off the coast of Naboo, if you want to see him again."

Leia ignored Han shaking his head. "I'll come," she puffed. "I won't leave him."

"We shall see." Jabba shot another blast of black magic in her direction. The last thing Leia saw was the forlorn expression on the merman's face before she finally passed out.

Han was hauled like a crate of cargo to the underwater cart owned by Boba Fett, Jabba's most feared lieutenant. It was he who ensnared Han and his spotted dogfish partner Chewbacca while they were trying to flee to the Alderaan Reefs. Chewie was being held at Jabba's ship palace as extra incentive for his friend to do the fat sea slug's bidding.

If he still had legs, he'd be kicking himself with them. He had to break out and find Leia. If he could warn her somehow without talking to her, she could warn her father. The king would come and smack Jabba's wrinkly rear, and he could go back to his old life.

If I want to now. Scrounging through old shipwrecks, singing to lure innocent humans to their deaths, doing the dirty work for monsters like Jabba...what kind of life was that? He'd enjoyed being on land, walking on two feet, mingling with the humans. Being part of their world. Leia and her family had treated him with nothing but kindness. They gave him food and drink and seemed to respect him...or at least they had, until they figured out he was just some mer-ruffian. If he could just get back on land, he'd make it up to them somehow. He'd never lure another human to their death ever again.

Two of Jabba's tiger shark guards shoved him into what had once been the ship's brig. Jabba had refitted it into a dungeon for holding prisoners and the occasional mermaid being ransomed for her father's wealth. Small, barred portholes shut out what little light penetrated the deep waters. The room was empty except for a warped wooden bunk and grimy chains.

Han thought he was alone...but then, he heard the snuffle. Two wide spot-covered fins reached out and hugged him so tightly, he gasped for breath for a moment. Chewie! The brown and cream-spotted dogfish nudged and patted him playfully. I missed you too, buddy.

He looked up as a mermaid swam to the bars, carrying a tarnished brass plate of plankton and seaweed. "Here's your dinner," she croaked. She wasn't exactly what you would call a blushing sea anemone. Her fin looked like a great white shark took a bite out of it; her reddish black tail was rusty. She had pasty skin and black eyes that were little more than craters in a white sea. The keys to the brig dangled on a belt on her waist, just out of reach.

The hungry merman managed to crack open a few plankton before Chewie ate the rest of their meal in one gulp and whimpered that he wanted more. Dogfish ate a lot. Jabba hadn't been feeding him nearly enough to keep his belly from grumbling.

Han patted his friend on the back, then gave the mermaid one of his toothy grins that sent the heart of every female in the Naboo Sea racing. She ignored him. He winked at her. She didn't even turn around. He slowly stretched his long arms and tail across the floor, letting his red fin "accidentally" brush her black one. She slapped his tail away. He pulled the sea glass ring off his hair and put it on her wrist. It would make such a nice bracelet! She threw it in his face.

Ok. Time for Plan B. The moment she turned away, he tried to reach for the ring of keys around her waist. Whenever she turned back around, he'd yank his hand in and look as innocent as possible.

The moment Boba Fett popped his head in, he managed to get the keys off her waist. He slid one key into the hole. No click. The second went in less easily. Still no click. Chewie growled in the background to hurry. Fett and his mermaid friend would be coming back any minute.

It was just his luck that they returned the moment he heard that tell-tale "click." Fett came at him with his gun-like mechanical trident, only to be met by Han grabbing at his helmet. Chewie swished his tail as hard as he could, knocking the mermaid into Fett.

The dogfish and the merman sped down the hall, trying to make his way to the nearest open window. Chewie found the huge porthole at the tail end of the ship. He was just able to sprint through it. Han could see the light at the end of the passage. He'd make it! He'd see Leia again! He'd be able to warn King Anakin about Jabba! He'd...

His tail never made it out of the porthole. A pair of powerful shark jaws bit into his fin and yanked him back. Boba Fett, surrounded by two very ugly shark men, thrust their rock crystal tridents in his face. The featureless shark man threw the chain leash back on Han's collar and clapped his wrists in irons.

Jabba reclined in an enormous golden chair, among the treasures that came with the wreck. The sea slug chose to live in the deteriorating vessel because, for all its warping wood and tarnished trim, what remained was still quite intimidating.

"Solo," he hooted as Fett and the mermaid shoved Han into the throne room, "what have you done this time?"

"He flirted with me, or tried to." The mermaid's croak dripped with contempt. "Bribed me, too."

Fett tugged harder at the chain. "The dogfish got away, but we snatched Solo before he made it out."

Jabba snorted. "Forget the dogfish." The corpulent slug waved them away. "Leave us. I can deal with my slaves."

Fett handed him the leash and bowed before him, then left with the mermaid. Jabba yanked hard at the chain, forcing Han to the floor on his hands and tail. "Even without your voice, you think you can bring all the little mermaids swimming into your hands with your charm and good looks." He attached the chain to the side of his throne, then glided to a shelf behind it. The captive merman tried to pry the collar off his neck while Jabba went through the glass bottles, looking for just the right potion.

For you see, Jabba was a wicked sea warlock. He mixed nasty potions and evil-smelling drugs to keep his minions helpless and make his rivals and those who displeased him conveniently die, disappear, or change their appearance in such a way that they'd go mad from looking at themselves. His shipwreck palace was filled with traps and mazes that could ensnare even the most innocent of merfolk.

"Ahh, here it is!" He brought a sickly green bottle as the bound merman tried to draw back. "Let's see how many mermaids you'll attract when you're too ugly to look at." Thick, stubby fingers wrapped around Han's cheeks, forcing his lips open. Dark green liquid gushed into his throat.

Jabba's booming guffaws filled the air as the merman choked and reared back...and the shadow of a monster replaced him. The rotund warlock stroked the Beast's jagged skin, whispering to it. "Calm yourself. When the girl comes, you'll be ready."

When Leia awoke, the sun was just starting to peek over the hills behind the castle. Her head still ached, and her limbs were stiff and sore. She forced herself to her feet. Maz. Maz would know what to do. The elderly beachcomber knew everything about the sea and the supernatural beings who were said to live there. She was the one who used to tell stories of merfolk and monsters to Leia and Luke when they were children.

It was said that Maz was a sea witch and a seer. She could see in the future, transform herself into anything. She knew everything that went on in Naboo and in the waters below it. According to the rumors, her potions and magical shells could stop the very tides, calm a storm at sea...or allow a human to breathe underwater.

Maz lived on the outskirts of Naboo, in a shack nestled between dunes. The elderly woman had a small store in town where she told fortunes and sold jewelry and intricate boxes and bags made from shells, quartz, and sea glass. Thankfully, she was at home today. Leia could see her bustling around in her one room, stringing quartz beads together for earrings.

"Maz?" Her small knuckles pounded on the intricate door, probably taken from a shipwreck. "Maz, please, it's Leia. I need your help! It's a matter of life or death!"

The door opened, and Leia found herself staring into a pair of owlish dark eyes, blinking under enormous round spectacles. "Well, child, come in!" The elderly woman shooed her inside. "There's no need to disrupt the neighborhood. You're lucky I always get up before dawn."

Maz moved aside two cartons of wire and string and shells from a battered old chair. "You can't stay here long." The old woman was quite spry for her age, moving easily from her work bench to a wide shelf made from driftwood. "Princess Leia of Naboo, what were you thinking, running off like that?"

"I was following someone," Leia said obstinately. "He's the reason I'm here. Maz, those stories...the ones about the mermaids and the underwater witches and warlocks..."

Maz put up a tiny, wrinkled red hand. "Say no more. I know. You fell in love with the merman who stole the jewels from your father's guests. There's men searching all over the kingdom for both of you."

"I'll go back to Father and tell him everything," Leia explained. "But first, I have to get Han back."

The older witch flung open the top of a heavy trunk. "You do know the risk involved," said a disembodied voice from inside the wooden box. Maz leaned so far in, she looked like the trunk was trying to eat her.

"I know Han Solo well. He's a merman, to be more specific, a male siren, and a scavenger. He lures ships to their doom, then scavenges the contents and sells them to wealthy sea magicians like Jabba. He ran from his boss after losing one of his shipments. Jabba hates it when merfolk double-cross him." Her sprightly voice darkened. "I've seen the visions. Jabba is a strong black magic warlock. He cast a nasty spell on Solo. He's not the merman you knew at the ball."

"I have to find him, Maz." She leaned over the trunk. "Jabba was treating him like a dog on a leash. Naboo outlawed slavery almost a century ago for a reason."

"Ocean dwellers don't fall under your father's jurisdiction." Maz finally popped out from the trunk, holding a necklace made of quartz beads and three small spiral seashells. Leia could see, even with the morning sun shining against them, that they each glowed faintly, one pink, one sea-green, and one blue. "This will allow you to breathe underwater for twenty-four hours, starting the moment you dive in. You have to be out before the light in the last shell fades, otherwise you'll die. Your human lungs aren't equipped to be in the ocean for long."

"Thank you, Maz." Leia pulled the trinket around her neck.

The older woman rubbed the bracelet, softly chanting in an ancient language Leia didn't recognize. "Jabba is a warlock. His powers are not unlike mine, but far darker. He creates violent storms that wreck wealthy boats on his reefs. His merfolk salvage the treasures on board and lure the survivors to their deaths." Maz nodded towards the reefs. "He needs human souls. His magic feeds on them...and your family has some of the strongest souls on land. He wants to get on land himself. The stronger the souls, the stronger his magic will be."

The princess' brown eyes lit with angry fire. "Luke's ship...Jabba did it. He created that storm. It was out of nowhere." Her slender fingers gripped the necklace tightly. "He killed my brother and his crew."

A small red hand took Leia's before she could leave. "One more thing. Beware of the maze. Jabba sends his enemies into it, and even some of his friends, to search for their heart's desire. There's monsters there that will tear you to ribbons. Traps that can suck out your blood in an instant. No one who goes in ever comes out."

"Then I guess I'll be the first." She gave Maz a small hug. "Thanks again. I owe you at least two days worth of shopping at your store."

"Remember," Maz called over her shoulder as the girl headed across the dunes, "see with your heart, not your eyes! Don't let the magic trick you!"

Baron Lando Calarissian saw Leia hiking to the docks in her stocking feet. The poor girl looked like she'd been wrung out. Her white and blue ball gown was ripped and wrinkled. One of her hair buns had come out entirely. The porcelain cheeks were streaked with sand, and sand and salt coated her arms and legs. A pair of once-white satin dancing pumps dangled from her cramped fingers.

"Leia!" He hurried over to her the moment she strode onto the docks. He'd traded his fine cape and suit for a simpler white and navy sailor's outfit. "Where have you been? Half the island out looking for you and that thief."

"Han's not a thief!" Lando stepped back at her vehement tone. "He's in trouble. I have to save him."

"Not in the state you're in, Your Highness." Lando linked his arm with hers. "Why don't you come to my yacht, The Lady Luck? I'll give you something to drink, and then we can just take you back to your father..."

"I'm not going back to Father. Not right now." She crossed her arms. "I want to borrow your boat."

Lando gave her his most charming grin. "It's all yours, my lady. Whatever you wish, it'll be granted."

"Take me to the reefs ten miles off Naboo. The one where the SS Alderaan went down."

The charming grin fell quickly. "What? That's a ship graveyard! Those reefs tear out the bottom of your boat before you have the chance to say 'men overboard!'"

"I have to go there." She was already striding past him, down the dock. "A warlock is holding Han in one of the wrecks. I think he's the one who created those strange storms that have been sinking ships, including my brother's."

"Warlocks?" Lando had to rush to catch up with her. "Your Highness, I don't want you to get hurt. Going into the ships' graveyard is suicide. Besides, warlocks are fairy tales."

The young woman turned towards the nearest boat. "If you won't help me, I'll find someone who will."

The Baron sighed. "All right. I can't let you go running off on some leaky tub. Your father would cut out my spleen, or worse. I'll take you there...but after I do, I'm going to tell your father what's going on."

She nodded. "Please do. I want Father to know what's going on. Tell him about the ships and the storms. Tell him I know what happened to my brother."

"But in the meantime," Lando offered her his arm, "shall we?"

Though her smile didn't quite reach her eyes, she did take his arm. "Of course."

Lando did treat Leia well once she was on-board. His manservant Laurence brought her lunch and a change of clothing, a brown jacket and trousers and white shirt from a short sailor that were only a little baggy on her. She pulled her hair into a simple braid that swished across her back.

"You are truly beautiful," the Baron insisted when she joined them on-deck. "Even in trousers. You belong with us in Bespin, where the mountains touch the clouds." He gave her hand another kiss.

"Thank you, Baron. I appreciate your kindness and your compliment." Though she spoke to him, her eyes were roaming out over the water.

Lando tied down some rigging. "We should be there any minute. We're making good time." He looked up at the rapidly darkening clouds. "It's a good thing you're doing this now. As soon as you get off, we'll have to return to land. I don't like the look of that storm."

A puffed-up older man in a green and gray plaid officer's uniform harrumphed from behind the ship's wheel. "I can't believe you're doing this, Baron. On a day with weather that could break out into thunder and lightning any minute!" He pointed at Leia. "You, girl! Fetch my lunch. It's on the silver tray in the galley. I'll have to eat it up here, I suppose."

"I can do it, Leia." Lando clapped him on the shoulder. "We'll eat together, Admiral Ashton."

"No, I'll do it." Leia gritted her teeth, but she did retrieve the demanded meal. It was more difficult to get it upstairs. The ocean was becoming more choppy, with waves bobbing the yacht up and down like a toy boat. She barely managed to get it to a barrel before it slipped and dropped on the deck.

"Look at what you've done!" A skinny finger lifted in Leia's direction. "Your lordship, that woman is an idiot! What is she doing on this ship? A boat is no place for a woman."

Lando was already helping Leia clean up the mess. "She's the reason we're here, Admiral."

The look the admiral gave her was pure shock. "Are you insane, young lady? Coming out in this storm?"

"No, I'm not insane!" Leia threw the tray on the barrel and went right up to the man's face. "And I'm not an idiot! I didn't have to bring you lunch. You could have let someone else take the wheel while you got your own damn lunch. I'm not your maid. I'm here to help a friend who was kidnapped by a war...a crime lord. I am Princess Leia of Naboo, and I have no time for your ignorance!"

Lando applauded while the Admiral sputtered. "Thank you, Your Highness. Admiral, you may take the rest of your lunch down below. I'll be driving from here on in." He handed the older man the tray and gently pushed him towards the door to the staterooms.

Leia was already looking towards the sea. "Leia," Lando began, "I'm sorry about the Admiral. I don't think he ever got used to taking orders instead of giving them. He retired last year, and no one knows ships better than he does. He's just cranky in his old age."

Her eyes were still focused on the horizon. "I don't take orders well myself. Men like him are the reason I'm stuck dancing in fancy gowns instead of doing something worthwhile, like fighting pirates or rescuing shipwrecked sailors."

"Well," Lando added, "at least you won't have to deal with him for much longer. We're coming up on the reefs."

The coral reefs extended for miles across the waters. The deceptively delicate white ridges could tear a boat's bottom to splinters in minutes. Most boats that came to Naboo knew how to avoid them, but during storms or at night, it was easier to be tossed into their jagged embrace.

The Baron slowed the boat as close to the reefs as he dared. He and Leia threw the rope ladder over the side. "What am I going to tell King Anakin?"

"Tell him I went after a friend. I'll explain the rest when I return." The young woman nodded at the sun. "I should be back here in exactly twenty-four hours with Han. Hopefully, you'll have two people to treat to biscuits and cheese on the way home."

"Are you sure about this?" Lando watched as she went over the side and down the rope. "You say you've only known this Han a few days."

"He did me a favor by not turning me over to his boss." She gave him a small smile. "I'm doing one for him in return."

"But..." It was too late. Leia had already dropped into the clear turquoise waters. He sighed. "Good luck, Your Highness. I hope you find what you're looking for."

The world beneath the coral was spectacular. As Leia dove deeper and deeper, so many amazing varieties of fish and plant life swam before her. She barely paid them any mind. She had one thought now – to find Han and rescue him somehow from Jabba's clutches.

The ship's graveyard was the home to many wrecks in various state of decay, from ones still recognizable to old vessels so sunk in the mud and covered in seaweed, they were more driftwood than ship. Jabba's home was one of the newer ones, the largest in the entire graveyard.

Two more of Jabba's shark men guards greeted her at the door. They were different than the bounty hunters who captured Han. Their tails were spinier, their muscles larger. The princess didn't stop to check if they had teeth like sharks as well. She wordlessly followed them through the winding, still richly-decorated halls.

Jabba's throne room was in the captain's cabin. The bed had been made over into a gilded lounge to hold the weight of the corpulent slug warlock. Bizarre creatures brought him seaweed and red kelp. Their bodies somewhat resembled humans, but they were so coated with slime, mud, and seaweed, she couldn't really tell what they were. They all had collars around their necks like Han's. Two mermen with spiny tails and long, heavy iron tridents floated on either side.

Leia swam in Jabba's face. "Where's Han? What have you done with him?"

The warlock slug indicated the plates of various seaweed and shellfish being served. "Have a seat, Your Highness. Enjoy a meal."

"I don't want to eat. I want Han back. I want to avenge my brother. You're the one creating these storms, aren't you? The ones that are destroying our ships and our treasury." Her voice rose to a thunder crack. "The ones that killed Luke and his crew!"

Jabba shoved almost the entire plate of seaweed wraps in his mouth. "Really, girl, you have very bad manners. You're supposed to eat with the host."

Leia glared at his fat arms shoving every bit of food in reach in his mouth. "You're not exactly one to talk. You have the table manners of a fat spoiled five-year-old."

One of the slave-creatures brought Jabba another plate of seaweed wraps. "I didn't invite you here to insult me."

She gave him a wicked grin Han would have loved. "Where do you want me to do it?"

"Ahh, Little Beauty, very amusing." He let out one of his hoots. "A jest at my expense. You're a clever girl with a strong soul." One of the sausage arms extended towards the reefs. "I think you'll do well in the maze."

"I was told about your maze." One small fist clenched. "You have Han there. You will release him at once!"

One of the slaves brought Jabba a piece of treated parchment and a fish spine with squid ink on its tip. "Before I return your beloved merman to you, I want you to perform a task for me."

"Name it."

He indicated the reefs outside. "Find your heart's desire at the center of the maze. It won't be easy. It's guarded by the Beast, who's holding Solo prisoner."

Leia frowned. "The Beast?"

"The Beast is the keeper of the maze. A monster who protects the treasures in the center." Jabba slurped a whole bed of seaweed another slave brought before him. "If you can kill the Beast and find Solo, you can both go free, and I'll return your father's treasures. If you're unable to, or if you die in the maze, your immortal soul is forfeit to me. You'll become my servant, like these lovelies here." He stroked the arm of a small, slender being that was oddly familiar to Leia. His appendages looked more like legs than fins. She thought she spied a hint of sandy gold flowing around his head. It was hard to tell, with all the slime on it...

"What about Han?" She couldn't take her eyes off the slave. "Have you already taken his soul?"

Jabba's ho-hos and ha-has were even louder in the water. "Didn't you know, Little Beauty? Merfolk have no souls. When they die, they turn into foam on the waves. Had Solo done what I ordered him to, he would have earned a soul. I can't imagine why you're interested in someone like him anyway, when you could have, say, someone like me." He sighed noisily. "I suppose there's no accounting for human taste."

"If I get through this maze," she said, ignoring his crack, "you have to make Han human, body and soul."

"And if you fail to find your way through the maze," Jabba's wide lips turned up in a hideous sneer, "I take yours."

Leia nodded. "Agreed."

"Good." She wrote her name on the bottom of the parchment. The slug warlock handed it to one of the slaves. Two slaves brought what looked to Leia like a giant pearl on a gold base. Jabba rubbed his slimy hand over the lustrous gem. "I'll be keeping an eye on you through my favorite pearl. If you even look like you're even remotely trapped or confused, my court and I will know."

"My lieutenant Boba Fett will lead you to the maze entrance." The shark man wore a heavy visor of tarnished armor that made it impossible to see his face...but there was something cruel in the tilt of his head, the way he held his trident at the ready.

"I can lead myself." She pulled her arm away and followed him out one of the portholes. She swore she saw one of the slaves, the one with the bit of sandy yellow under the slime, duck down a hallway and out a window.

Leia turned so quickly, she didn't see Jabba nod at one of his men, a merman wrapped in old sail cloth that gave him the look of a fish mummy. The creature swam quickly out the window on the other side of the throne room.

As Boba Fett lead Leia to the maze entrance, the sea slug slid off his throne and into a secret room behind his shelf of magic potions. A pair of keen hazel eyes followed him in the inky darkness. "The girl is here. You must destroy her. She will try to take your treasure."

The spike-covered navy tail swung at the lock. Jabba reached out and stroked the sharp, ridged back, calming the grotesque creature. "Stop trying to break out. You won't get to her in time." He snorted. "Did you think she could love you? She never wanted you. She wanted her father's money." The sunken chin, with its crooked scar, bobbed in agreement, even as heartbreak filled the hazel eyes.

"The only way for you to become a merman again is for her tell her she loves you and to give you one of those sappy kisses humans seem to enjoy. If she declares her love to another, you'll remain a Beast and my slave until the end of your days." The sea slug hooted so loudly, he nearly fell into his potion shelves. "Face it. You're stuck that way. How could anyone love a monster?"

Jabba threw a glowing net over the cage. After a few minutes, the bell shape under it vanished. "You will reappear in the center of the maze, my pet." He hooted. "Little Beauty will never suspect in a million reefs that instead of rescuing her heart's desire, she's killing it!"

The beginning of the maze was little more than the opening of a cave covered in red and green lichen. Most of the court, including Boba Fett and several of the slaves, watched as she swam into its depths. The crystal was beautiful, glowing purple and soft in the daylight. She followed the walls to the end of the wall. She was trying to find a way out, when she noticed several fish swimming upwards. The princess followed them through a hole in the cave's ceiling.

It took her into the most beautiful aquatic garden she'd ever seen. Rows of sea lilies waved in the turquoise waters. Stunning purple and gold flowers blossomed from delicate, powdery coral fingers. Walls of sea grasses surrounded her. Some of the coral grew as big as trees, with enormous flowers that brushed against her cheek.

She was quite enjoying herself when she came to a section where two paths branched off. One path was beautiful, well-lit and colorful, passing under rows of white and red coral. The other was dark and murky, going past a formation of granite rocks that didn't look stable. The lit path was safe...but there was something drawing her to the rocks...

"Follow the darkness." The voice was scratchy and low, but...she knew it. "Follow my lead."

Leia spun around. "Who said that?"

"I did." Fingers, slender pale appendages, reached out of the rocks. "Come this way. It's safe." Slime flowed off of them in tiny rivulets of dark green as they beckoned to Leia. She followed them, wondering, watching. Her smaller hands tried to reach for the green ones, but they danced away.

"Who are you?" she asked. A diminutive figure, all mucky green and brown seaweed and sludge, waved at her to follow before vanishing into the rocks. "Your voice...I know that voice."

"I won't hurt you." Two mucky green legs kicked out. "You must come."

The young woman swam after the servant. It was the one with the sandy hair at Jabba's ship. She was certain of it. "Hello?" she called as she wound her way through the granite. "Is anyone there?" Darkness enveloped her. She touched the rough walls, feeling her way down.

Her fingers finally hit smaller rocks that wobbled. Heavy piles of rocks extended to the narrow ceiling. She could see more garden through the cracks. "Well, this is just great. How am I going to get through this?" She sighed. "I guess I don't have a choice." Her fingers reached for the rocks, scraping them away.

There were a lot more rocks than she thought. "This is taking too long!" One of the shells in her necklace was already flickering. "I could be here all day if I keep on with this."

Sounds carried longer in water. She'd just looked up as she moved a rock...to see a sail cloth-wrapped hand give the stones a good, hard shove. A flash of murky green yanked her arms, thrusting her backward into the muddy ground. The sound of stones over stones, though muffled by the water, still rang across the stone walls.

Leia sat up as the strange being moved her arms and legs, then his own, checking if anything was broken. "I'm ok." She gave him a gentle smile. "Thank you for getting me out of there. That was very brave of you."

His small fingers reached out and touched her cheek, as if trying to remember. Those eyes...they were blue, as blue as the sky above Naboo, blue as the ocean all around them. Blue eyes... She took the hand, ignoring the ooze that was slowly melting away. "Tell me who you are! I know you! You're..."

The moment the shadow fell over them, the being broke away from her. He waved in her direction, indicating the light. She ducked away as another rock landed in her direction. "Would you stop that?" The trident just barely missed her left arm. "Ok, you're not friendly." The young woman hurried over the rock barrier and into the light, following the figure just as more rocks landed in the spot she'd just vacated.

She looked down at her neck as she fled. The pink shell flickered, then faded out. "I have to get moving. I only have until tomorrow."

Jabba watched the whole exchange through his pearl. He glared at the ball. "I gave a simple order." His hand motioned to another guard, this one an upright-walking orange and green lizard in a diving suit. "Meet the Princess at the edge of the Garden of the Snapping Plants. Eliminate her, or at least keep her there as long as you can." The lizard growled and snapped its jaws.

"Oh," Jabba called, "one more thing. I know the slave who came to her aid. Get rid of him."

The lizard nodded and swam off, picking up a metal spear on his way out. Jabba sighed and leaned against his throne-chair. "You just can't find good help these days."

Leia followed the figure through the cave, past several more turns, and into the light. Her heart thumped when she realized she knew where she was. The cave lead into another shipwreck. The vessel had once been a fine one, painted gold with the flaking emblems of two suns on the sides. The Twin Sunset, she realized in shock before she even read the name under the suns. She hoped Luke wasn't still here. She held out hope that Jabba had him somewhere whole, that he wasn't...gone, or turned into a sea cucumber, or crushed under rocks.

The figure stopped and looked around. His – or its – face was both indescribably sad...and gently hopeful. She followed his slime trail into the former navy vessel.

The back half of the wreck was torn to bits. Most of the barrels and crates had been destroyed, the rusted trunks stripped of their contents. There was no sign of her brother or his crew.

"I guess it was too much to hope." She felt her brother here. He'd ordered everything stacked neatly, made sure it was all tied down and not moving around when a storm hit. He wouldn't be happy to see the way it looked now.

The rest of the rooms mostly looked like the hold. Anything of value, any rock or metal that could last for a while in sea water and bring a profit, had been taken away months ago. Most of the furnishings were in splinters. It broke her heart to see the beautiful ship her brother loved so much reduced to driftwood and a part of a warlock's insane labyrinth. She could barely keep up with the slime creature as he flitted from room to room.

She was about to go up to the deck when something caught her eye. Old Commander Benjamin Kenobi had given her brother the ship after he and his men secured the vessel from smugglers. It had many unusual hiding compartments. Some were wrenched open, probably found by Jabba's merfolk scavengers. They could not, however be expected to spot everything. The trail of slime lead under the door and to the book case.

The book case at the end of her brother's room was left untouched. She supposed books weren't of much interest to merfolk. Paper didn't last very long after it got wet. She was surprised to see that the books were in the wrong order. Luke liked an organized book shelf. She'd gotten into enough arguments with him about it when they were very little and shared a nursery at the palace. She didn't care how things were organized. He had to have everything just so.

"How would Luke do this?" Her fingers brushed against a copy of a textbook on naval military maneuvers, shoved in with the penny press thrillers her brother loved so much. The naval book went in on the shelf with Luke's books from his Navy schooling. The book of poetry they read as children went with the other poetry volumes, and the one on sea animals went with the aquatic plants and animals titles...

As she moved things around, she realized she was making a pattern. It was starting to look like an arrow. The last book at the tip of the arrow was a collection of their favorite fairy tales and folk stories, including "King Arthur" and "Cinderella." The moment she moved that book, she heard something in the wall grind. The wall with the bookcase swung open.

Her legs kicked into darkness. As her eyes adjusted, they discovered a narrow, closet-like room. This must have been the pirates' hidden hold at one time. Luke must have turned it into a private sitting room. Along with another bookshelf, there was a table, a chair, a lamp, and several crates and long cases.

One case almost seemed to call to her. It was long, shallow wood trunk. The initials AS were carved into the wood over the lock. "What is this?" she wondered. "AS...Anakin Skywalker? Father?"

The trunk seemed to have been touched lately. The lock was broken and covered in slime. She pushed it open, revealing the most magnificent sword she'd ever seen. The shining steel blade glowed blue against the sapphires inset into the finely-engraved silver handle. There was a scabbard, too, made of soft leather.

"Luke must have been bringing this to Father when the storm hit." She put the scabbard around her waist, then sheathed the sword. "I'll complete his mission. This was probably part of the treasure. I'll bet it's a family heirloom." Her face turned back to the box. "But why did he hide it here? He didn't want anyone stealing it?" There was a small knife alongside it, sharp and golden.

Several leather cases were piled on top of each other in a corner. The first held a violin, the second, a trumpet. The third had a flute. "I can't take the violin and trumpet along. They're too much to carry." She found a long piece of calico cloth that had once been part of the shredded quit on the bed. "At least I can say I brought three treasures back to Father." The flute and the knife went into the cloth, which she tied on the belt.

There was nothing else to find in the remains of the ship. The merfolk smugglers and scavengers had done their jobs too well. Not a single gold coin or piece of jewelry could be found anywhere. The only thing left that hadn't been smashed and wasn't disintegrating was a sign pointing into a long wall of thick, mossy green sea grass. Her friend seemed to have vanished, too, his figure disappearing into the shadows.

Several left turns took her away from endless walls of thick green and into another colorful garden. The plants were larger here, and even more beautiful. Some of the flowers were the size of a horse. Spiny anemones and ridged white sea stars added more subtle shades of lavender and off-white to the rainbow of sunset reds, peaches, honey-gold, and luminous green. The flowers' wavy petals were hypnotic, drawing her into their grasp.

One flower in particular held her gaze firmly. The glowing red petals extended in all directions, stroking the muddy dark sand like a lover. Fish flowed around it, nudging it and watching its waving arms. The center was filled with pale-pink spines. Petals that flowed like blood caressed her cheeks, her legs, her arms. Watching the way the tentacles danced filled her with a strange sense of calm. The spines in the center beckoned her, glowing softly. She wanted to touch them...to see what they were like...

Teeth. They were like teeth. The teeth opened, revealing a hungry mouth that waited for its prey. Leia screamed and kicked at it. Her boot hit the side of its stem. It reared back, tentacles now bucking wildly. Two blue and gold fish, fairly large in size, were dragged into those spines. The sac devoured them whole, ignoring their squeals. It even managed to spit out the bones.

Leia screamed, reaching for her sword. The tentacle wrapped around her hand before she could grasp the hilt. The young princess struggled wildly as more pink and red limbs squeezed her wrists and ankles. The fiendish creature had a damn good grip for a flower. It hardly expected its prey to fight back.

Bits of tentacles landed on the ground. She thought she could almost hear it shriek through the waters. More plants waved tentacles and spines at her, trying to capture this very large lunch. To her horror, the bones of what were definitely merfolk stuck out through the sandy ocean floor.

Her strong legs moved fast – but the tentacles moved faster. No matter how many her sword and knife hacked away, three more seemed to take their place. She had to stop them at the source. Swiping at another flower, she paddled her way to the center of the largest. The moment its tentacles wrapped around her again, she stabbed it in the center. The tentacles flared and bucked for a brief moment, then fell down, lifeless.

As she caught her breath, she heard the sound of a...a fish? She didn't think most fish made noise. A whale? No, too high. Whales mostly had deeper voices. She followed the sound further into the garden, sometimes fighting off a tentacle or long petal that wrapped around her waist.

She finally came to the source of the noise towards the end of the wall of flowers. Vines and tentacles wrapped around a flat, brown-spotted shark. The poor thing struggled and bit at the vines, but that only made them wrap more tightly. Leia swam as fast as she could, cutting away the vines and tentacles. The shark did his bit, his sharp teeth snapping through vines like they were soft moss.

The moment the shark was free, they kicked off into the garden. Leia grabbed hold of his upper dorsal fin as he wound around the sea floor, ducking under tentacles and barking at any fish who came near him. He pulled into a quiet corner near a cluster of waving sea lilies.

"Are you ok?" She checked him all over, making sure the flower didn't crack any bones. He seemed all right. His fins were certainly in good shape. His fishy hugs nearly knocked her to the sandy floor! "Yeah, you're definitely all right." The spotted shark nudged her side playfully. "You're a really sweet fellow, for a shark. How did you get caught back there?"

It took a lot of creative interpretation of fin signals, but she finally got the idea that he was looking for a friend who was lost in the maze. He became trapped in the tentacles the same way she did. He saw the wavy, colorful arms, and they hypnotized him until he was too bound with vines to escape. He was in her debt now, just as he was in his friend's debt.

"I could use your help." She patted him on the back. "Jabba didn't say I couldn't have a friend with me. I don't know my way around this part of the Naboo Sea, never mind a maze! If you help me through the maze, I'll help you find your friend."

She didn't know dogfish could grin. And she certainly didn't know they could give big, playful licks! The princess laughed, pushing him away. "Ok, ok, I like you, too." She saw an entrance under a waving line of sea lilies. "Shall we move along?"

They were just about at the end of the garden when the dogfish stopped. She nearly swam into him. "What is it?" The shark let out a low growl and dropped to the floor, its tail out and teeth bared.

Leia barely swam away in time to avoid a long, sharp-tipped metal pole being thrown in her direction. The pole stuck in the coral in back of her. The creature that attacked her walked – or swam – upright like a human, but otherwise resembled a reptile, with a long snake-like snout and bumpy leather skin. The dogfish bit into his rear. He screamed and tried to shove it off.

The distraction gave her enough time to draw her sword. The lizard kicked the flat brown fish away and reached for his spear, just in time to see a flash of gold. She lunged for him, hoping to at least lead him away from her new friend. Her sword stabbed him in the wrist. He hissed and grabbed his hand, dropping the trident.

All three went for the spear at once, but Leia was agile and quick. She scooped the metal spear easily. The lizard looked even angrier now. He came at her, his clawed hands lifted, ready to strike...

He would have clawed Leia's face if a slime-covered body hadn't launched onto him. The dogfish grabbed hold of his tail. They both dragged him around, leading him under a small cave made from a mass of rocks. She grinned when she saw that the large stones on the bottom were loose. Her nimble fingers threw the spear at the heavy pile. He managed to throw the other two off long enough to avoid the smaller avalanche. The very last and largest stone finally hit him directly over the head, knocking him to the floor.

She quickly joined the other two, tossing the spear to the green-smeared slave. "Here. You'll need this." The young woman started into the cave. The grungy slave was giving the dogfish very wary looks. Her spotted friend was more amused than upset. "Are you two coming, or what?" They finally followed her as they swam under the arbor of coral and flowers that lead into the next part of the maze.

Jabba roared with anger as he and his men watched from the throne room back at the Alderaan. "You know," Boba Fett adjusted his grip on his trident, "I could take care of that little problem right now, for the right price. Chewbacca, too. That's Solo's dogfish with her."

"No, Fett." Jabba's rubbery lips somehow formed a hideous sneer. "The next part is the Mound of Traps and Trickery. No one has ever made it out of those traps alive." He patted Fett's arm. "You just can't improve on Mother Nature."

Fett slid his arm out from under Jabba's. "And if she does make it out?"

Jabba's eyes turned to the pearl. "Then you can do what you want with her...but leave her soul to me."

"As you wish."

Leia held onto the dogfish's dorsal fin as they followed the marked reefs down, down, down. The slave followed closely behind. She shivered as the water grew colder and darker. The brilliant flowers gave way to sturdier coral, with exotic shapes that glowed softly in green, cerulean, dead white, and pale gold. Red tree coral bloomed overhead. The plant life seemed closer here, the fish less cuddly and more ferocious. Her shark friend more than once had to chase off a toothy predator who considered them an easy meal ticket. Sea fans waved around them.

"It's beautiful down here," she said to the dogfish. "I've heard there were deep-sea reefs, but most people don't know much about them. This is amazing." Her friend nodded his head in agreement

The reefs held their own dangers. Coral reached out, trying to stun them. Leia suspected they were mostly after krill and plankton and were just protecting themselves, but they did hurt. The reef become closer and closer, making it harder for the dogfish to move around.

"I think we'd better let off here," she insisted when the bush coral became too close to navigate. The dogfish followed her now, moving slowly behind her. She didn't want to break the coral. Coral was a living thing, and it was rather fragile. The sharp stick-like branches ripped into her coat and shirt and tore the bottoms of her trousers to ribbons. Her arms, cheeks, and ankles were laced with scratches and cuts. The dogfish whimpered, his own cuts stinging.

Leia wasn't claustrophobic, but she was beginning to feel a little panicky. She could barely paddle now. Fans and spines seized her jacket and got caught in her hair. She could no longer kick. The dogfish was becoming more and more agitated behind her. His alarmed noises carried through the rocky reef. The slave's slimy arms disappeared under bubbly peach coral. No matter how much she tried, she couldn't budge. Couldn't breathe anymore. Arms were caught. Hair was trapped in a spiny ivory bush. Fingers reached, trying to pull out...

Just as her fingers reached sand, the roar in the bush grew more intense. A brown-spotted blur burst out of the mound, shattering every bit of coral in his wake. He left a large enough hole for her to escape, fleeing behind him as fast as she possibly could. The young man pushed out of the fans alongside them.

They no sooner escaped the fans then they ran into the largest tentacles Leia had ever seen. A giant squid blocked the exit to the mound maze, its orange and white tentacles all but obscuring the rocks. The dogfish bit its back hard with its strong teeth. The squid let out a long plume of black ink. Leia slashed blindly, unable to see where she was going, or what she was hitting with her knife. A green hand reached for her sword, trying to cut off the tentacles.

The ink filled every crack and crevasse of the cave. Leia had no idea where she was going, or where the squid was. She waved her knife blindly. A lengthy orange tube wrapped around her waist. She screamed when she felt the stickers press into her delicate skin. The knife finally found squishy flesh. The squid screamed and dropped her. Her cohorts were similarly bound. The dogfish managed to bite the tip of the creature's tentacle. It let out another ugly squeal and released him.

Leia followed the river of slime to the young man. He was bucking wildly, his spear having been broken in his struggle. Thick green slime flowed around him in waves. The creature wrapped itself around his legs and torso, hoping to not lose one meal. Leia cut through the tentacles as the dogfish gave it one last bite. It sagged to the ground, dead.

He threw his arms impulsively around Leia, hugging her with all his might. His arms left trails of foul-smelling sludge on her white shirt. "You're welcome. I couldn't have let you be that thing's meal." She wiped more sludge off his face. That gentle smile...the blue eyes...they couldn't be...

"Luke? Luke, is that you?" His eyes closed, like he was straining to remember. "Luke, don't you know me? It's Leia. I'm here, Luke. I've come for you, my friend Han, and our father's treasure."

"L...leia?" It was her brother. No one else would look at her with that mixture of total innocence and total amusement. "Jabba...he wanted...hurt..."

"I won't let him hurt us." The dogfish butted his head into her leg gently. "Or you, boy." She patted the shark on his rough head. He purred like a kitten. "We'll find that treasure, and Han, and the dogfish's friend, too. I promise."

The maze wound down through a series of deep caves and gorges. Leia was becoming increasingly worried that they were lost. Every trail seemed to lead them right back into the network of boulders. All they found was enveloping, suffocating darkness. Inky black night was everywhere.

Leia had never been so cold in her life. Even with the jacket she'd filched from Lando, she was absolutely frozen. Luke, clad only in the remains of his Naboo Navy uniform, wrapped his arms around his torso to keep himself warm. The dogfish constantly shivered.

She took a left turn, then a right...and found herself staring at a jagged rock wall. There was nothing else behind her, and only the wall in front of her. It's hopeless, she thought. How could I get out of here when countless merfolk couldn't? I'm human. I'm not even of the sea. She felt around her, looking for Luke, or the dogfish, or something living. Rough stone brushed against her legs and poked into her jacket.

"Well," she said to herself with a sigh, "it looks like I'm stuck here." The young princess settled down in a corner, yawning. "I'm tired. I have no idea what time it is." Her hands finally found the shell necklace. It was already starting to flicker. "I need to get going...but I'm so tired." She curled up in the soft sand. "I'll just sleep for five minutes. Not a minute more." She sighed as she pulled the jacket more tightly around her. "Oh Han..." Shortly after she closed her eyes, the sea-green shell flickered its last. Only the pink shell continued to provide a tiny flame in the darkness...

Maz looked out over the ocean on the jetty. It looked to the average eye like she had been collecting shells and sea glass all day. This wasn't entirely a lie. One bucket was filled with interesting shells and large pieces of colorful sea glass. That was only part of the reason for her to be out here, especially at this hour of the night.

The moon had just risen to its full height. It was still fairly bright, its light glowing pale and soft on the rippling waters. Maz held the other bucket in her lap, stirring it with a spoon. "That girl," Maz sighed. "She thinks she's lost. She's really just cold and confused. She needs to warm up a little and remember what she really wants." Her deeply furrowed reddish fingers poured what appeared to be pale blue rocks in the water. "This should help give her good dreams. She'll need them. She's so close to solving the maze...but she'll never free Solo if she doesn't start looking under the surface."

Blue and green pebbles floated down, down, down, into the deep currents, dissolving instantly in the waters that flowed through the Naboo Sea...and the maze. It flowed around Leia, caressed her head, her shoulders. A tiny smile played on her lips as she dreamed.

In the center of the maze, among the silver and gold coral and the piles of treasure, there was a single, bell-shaped cage. Steel bars were covered in seaweed and barnacles, sheltering the misshapen form within. The Beast was wrapped tightly in a ball, his jagged tail curled around his barbed skin and the fungi-crusted black slime that all but obscured the red in his tentacles. His tail flicked as he shivered.

He was a stupid Beast who obeyed orders. Master said so. Still...there was something...someone...a human girl...someone he...loved? The girl...in the white gown that flowed like the ripples in a calm sea...she was beautiful...kind...smart. He was a monster. Or was he? What was he, before? There was a big spotted shark...he was his friend...did he have friends? Could someone love a monster?

Leia. His fractured mind managed to unearth that one, glorious name before the blue and green magic flowed around him. Magic stroked his ridged back, ran across each horn on his head, danced around his throat and tail. He was finally lulled into a peaceful, hopeful sleep.

She was looking for someone. An elusive figure with gold hair...or was it reddish brown? Her feet, clad in soft satin dance slippers, made no noise as they flitted along the hallway in Naboo Castle. The moonlight showed cool and pale through the windows. She could see the sea sparkling in the distance. Something about the sea made Leia want to reach out and touch it. It looked so blue, so pure...

She caressed something solid. A tanned hand wrapped around her slender fingers. His warm smile lit up the dark hallway. Han was there, clad in the same white blouse, black silk vest, and navy trousers he'd worn at the ball. When she looked down at herself, she realized her gown was even more elaborate than her ball outfit, a creamy dance dress with layers of delicate gold lace trim, ruffled sleeves, a plunging neckline, and a tulle skirt that swished as they twirled. The shells in her necklace glowed like they were on fire.

They swirled out of the dark hall and into the brilliantly lit ballroom. Everyone in the kingdom was there. Lando, his gold and blue cape swishing as he flirted with three ladies of the court. Luke waved, a big sunshine smile lighting up his sweet face. He too wore cream and gold, nearly a match to his gold hair. Her parents, both of them, beamed proudly. Couples clad in every color of the rainbow danced around them...and yet, time seemed to stop as their dances became even more elaborate.

She only had eyes for the man in her arms. "I thought I'd never see you again. When Jabba took you away, it was like my heart stopped. I haven't felt this way about anyone since I lost Luke." She leaned on his shoulder. "Everyone leaves me in the end. Mother left me. Luke left me. Father barely has time for me. He just thinks of me as a thing he can marry off to the nearest nobleman."

"How could you love me?" Han whispered. "I'm no one. I'm not royalty. I'm not even human! Jabba was right. I'm a no-good mer-crook. I stole the jewels from your father's house and helped lure humans to their death in the water, then took their treasures to sell to Jabba."

"You didn't let Jabba have me." Her snub nose nuzzled his strong chest. "And you carried me to the cove. You saved me. Now, let me save you."

"I want you to save me. I need you." He cupped his hands around her chin, pulling it to look into his almond-shaped hazel eyes. "Leia, please. Help me."

Leia's brown eyes locked with his. "Jabba told me a beast was holding you prisoner in the center of the maze. How can I defeat a beast?"

Han's eyes grew so sad, Leia nearly wanted to cry. "Don't believe everything you see...or hear. Follow your heart. Maybe the beast ain't so bad."

"Han," she breathed, "I..." The dancers continued to whirl around them, a blur of color and movement, but the world stood still as she gazed up at his lips. What was real? Could this be real? Was it a dream? If it was a dream, she didn't want to awaken. "I..."

He looked so hopeful. "Yes?"

"Oh, no." Jabba was watching the two slumber in his magic pearl. "Why does that sea witch have to interfere with everything? I can't have Solo giving up the game before it's done!"

He uncorked a bottle, sending its powder black and red contents into the water. "This should take care of that witch's magic. They won't be feeling so romantic when my spell gets through with them!"

No sooner did Leia open her mouth to tell Han that she loved him then the music suddenly stopped. The dancers and musicians vanished. Her parents, Lando...they all seemed to melt away. When she looked down at her feet, she realized she was ankle-deep in moonlit water that was rising fast.

"Leia!" Luke rushed over to his sister. "We have to hurry. If we stay, we may drown!"

Han tried to push her towards the exit. "Get out of here! Leave me!"

"I won't leave either of you! Han, Luke," she exclaimed, wading towards the windows, "cover these! We can't let the moonlight get near Han's legs!"

They shut the curtain of every window in the room, but their efforts were in vain. A thin sliver of moonlight trickled through the largest curtain. Beams crawled along the now knee-height water, until they encircled Han. She and Luke turned around just in time to see him collapse into the lake forming at their feet.

"Le...Leia..." he choked, "follow...your...he..." His last words were drowned out by anguished screams. Black light writhed around him, binding his arms, rubbing his throat until he disappeared all together in a burst of moonlight. His handsome figure was replaced by the shadow of a monster. Three-inch-long claws that were as sharp as broken shells reached out to slash her to ribbons. She let out a scream and ducked away, wading over to Luke.

It was too late. To her horror, the moonlight was transforming Luke, too. Slime writhed around him, turning his gold hair green, rendering his human form unrecognizable. Other barnacle-covered, almost-human creatures followed him, all of them silent and menacing, all reaching for her...they wanted to take her away...

"NO!" She burst out of the ballroom...but she could see nothing but water for miles. No beach, no castle. Just miles and miles of gray ocean. "Luke!" she screamed. "Han! Where are you?"

A familiar brown-spotted nose poked Leia in the side. She grinned at her dogfish friend. "Where have you been?" She grabbed hold of his dorsal fin, and they swam away.

They weren't quick enough. The dogfish was an expert swimmer, but the barnacle slaves were surprisingly fast. They surrounded them, reaching out for them as kelp tangled the two. Leia could no longer move or run. The dogfish was barely visible in all the seaweed.

She looked up...and into the jaws of the most hideous beast that had ever existed under the sea. The last thing she saw before she screamed was a mouth filled with razor-sharp teeth...and very human almond-shaped hazel eyes filled with anguish and sorrow. The strong claws held her beneath the waves as the last light in the necklace went out...

"NOOOOO!"

Leia's eyes finally snapped open. Luke held one her arms. Chewie nudged her with his nose. Both had concern in their wide eyes. "Sis...ter," her brother croaked, "you...scared. Scared me. You yelled." He stroked her hair. "Better?"

"A little." They helped her into a sitting position. Luke draped a heavy old coat from a wreck around her shoulders. "I had a horrible nightmare! We were at Father's ball, and Luke, you were there, and Lando, and Father. And Han..."

"Han?" Luke looked confused, even as the dogfish seemed to perk up a bit. She swore the shark grinned at the mention of that name. Her brother frowned. "He is...merman. With...Jabba. One of...his...workers."

"Not anymore." She got to her feet with the dogfish's help, holding onto his fin. "He was captured by Jabba, and now he's being held prisoner by some beast in the center of the maze. We have to rescue him. I won't leave without him." The dogfish bobbed up and down, its eyes bright at the mention of Han's name.

"If...your friend..." Luke gave her a small version of one of his sunny smiles. "Then he is...my friend. I will...help...you."

"Good." Leia smiled back at him. "Why don't we go find some breakfast? I haven't eaten since I was on Lando's yacht yesterday. I'm starved!"

Luke raised an eyebrow. "Lando? Is he...friend...too?"

"Sort of. It's long story." She put an arm around Luke. The dogfish somehow managed to put his fin around his other shoulder. "I'll tell you about it after we eat."

They finally came out of the darkness and into a series of coral reefs, these a little brighter than the ones they'd been trapped in. She had never seen so much coral, in such amazingly bright colors! It was like swimming though a rainbow. "If...when I get back," Leia said, "I'll have to write a book about this place!"

The trail came to a stop at an enormous mound of purple, pink, and green coral. It seemed to go on forever, blocking everything in its path. "Maybe we could try climbing over it," Leia started.

"Or we swim," Luke added. "It...just coral. Not...so scary."

The dogfish didn't agree. He moved back from the coral, whimpering. A tentacle shot out when he touched it with a fin. No matter how much Leia and Luke tried, their friend just would not budge.

Leia shrugged and started climbing over the coral. She was careful not to break anything or get caught in it, after the incident in the low-lying mound. Her fingers had only pulled her up a few steps when, to her shock, the mound started moving. It moved...and it growled.

"Leia!" Luke managed push off, ignoring his ruined boots. "Watch...out!"

Moving coral was a new one on Leia. Her tutor told her that coral moved when it was young, before it developed its hard outer skeleton, but this...this was something else. This coral had long, hard tentacles that stretched very slowly in all directions. Pink and purple jaws opened to reveal a yawning gap between branches. Two pinkish stalks popped out, glaring at Leia. The mound rose to fill every single crevasse of the coral garden's exit.

"What...do we...do?" Luke looked genuinely concerned. "Not...bad. We woke it...up. Just...mad."

"Mad? It's just angry?" Leia's hand slid over something cool and smooth in her waistband. "Maybe we can play for it. They say music soothes the savage beast." She held out the flute. "I only hope this works underwater."

"I could...play." Luke took it. "I can...play...I think. You sing. You were...good...singer."

"Thank you." She smiled. "Do you remember that lullaby, the one Mother used to sing for us? She used to put us to sleep with it when we were little."

Luke shrugged. "I could...try."

Leia started to sing the slow, gentle tune. Luke followed along, playing the flute. It didn't make much sound, but it seemed to work on the coral. The stalks drooped and fell back into the branches. The tentacles dropped to the ocean floor. She swore, the moment the mound fell against the ground, it started to snore. Even the dogfish helped, patting it with its fin to calm the creature.

Tiny flashes of light streamed overhead the moment the mound was down and sleeping. The trio swam slowly and as quietly as possible over it. The dogfish stuck two pieces of seaweed on either side of the mound, presumably where its "ears" were.

Jabba was roaring with anger in his throne room. The pearl showed the trio swimming over the living mound, as clear as the sea on a summer day. "Fett!" he snarled.

Fett was already there, standing behind the throne, mechanical trident in hand. "You bellowed, oh mighty one?"

"I don't want any of your sass!" His boss smacked the pearl. "I want you to detain the princess. Don't kill her. If you kill her, so help me, you'll be the one who ends up getting fed to the sharks. Bring her to me. Do what you want with the dogfish and the slave. I already have the slave's soul. They're of no use to me."

"Good." He patted the mechanical trident. "I just want to have a little fun."

"Have all the fun you want." Jabba glared at him. "Just bring me the girl alive. I want her soul."

Boba bowed mockingly before his employer. "As you wish." Jabba uncorked a bottle, allowing the yellowish liquid to flow around Fett. When it disappeared, he too was gone.

Jabba turned with satisfaction to the pearl. "If Fett doesn't get her, the Stone Cliffs will. No merfolk can make it over that. They're sheer rock. This is the end of the line for you, Little Beauty, and that brother of yours!"

His hoots of laughter could be heard for miles throughout the ship's graveyard.

"Now what do we do?"

The rock wall in front of them was sheer granite. It seemed to go on forever. Leia couldn't see the top of it, not even standing on Luke's shoulders and the dogfish's back. "We can't...swim." Luke shook his head. "Too...far. Too...long."

Leia brushed her fingers against one narrow ledge. "Could we climb it?" She placed one foot against it. It held. She grabbed hold of a rock and pulled herself to the next ledge.

The dogfish whimpered, upset over being left behind. Leia looked over her shoulder as she propelled her feet to the next ledge. "Oh, stop. You're a much better swimmer than we are. You could probably swim up there faster than we could climbing."

"Leia," Luke called when she was already a quarter of the way up, "wait...for...me!"

"Don't be a slowpoke!" His sister laughed and pushed herself onto the next ledge.

It wasn't an easy climb. The ledges were narrow, and many of them were eroded by years of seawater tumbling over them. There were a few times she almost lost hold of the rock, or the minerals under her feet crumbled, leaving her barely able to hold on. "Be...careful!" Luke called under her. The dogfish propelled himself past her, his tail swishing like crazy.

She was more than half-way up the rocks when the first boulder came crashing down. She just managed to avoid it by swimming to another ledge. "Luke, watch out!" She waved a hand where her brother could see it. "I think someone's up there!" Indeed, she swore she could see something green, red, and silvery in the light at the top of the cliff.

Another series of rocks rained down over them. One just scraped Leia on her left, leaving her side red and torn. It hurt like hell, but there was no way she wasn't going to continue. She had to find Han and get to the end of this maze. She wasn't going to lose him, and she sure as hell wasn't going to give up her soul the way Luke lost his.

Her legs and arms became more and more sore the higher she went. Her fingers cramped. It was becoming harder to hold on. Two fingers just grasped the craggy top when two sharp needles stabbed them. She screamed...then threw up the other hand, trying to grab at the thing that stabbed her.

Three wicked-looking prongs easily lifted her up to the top, dropping her on her rear on the ocean floor. "You!" It was the oddest trident she'd ever seen, more liked a three-pronged-crossbow...and it was aimed right at her. "You're one of Jabba's shark men. You were the one who helped capture Han!"

The half-shark, half-armored man bowed before her as she floated upright. "Seems I'm well-known, even among human princesses." He raised his mechanical trident. "My boss sent me to bring you back alive. He didn't say just how much alive."

"You bastard!" Leia pulled out her sword. "The only way I'm going back to Jabba is with Han...and with Jabba's head on a pole. I won't let him get away with this anymore!"

Fett's mechanical trident was faster than Leia expected. One grazed her left shoulder as she swam out of its reach. She screamed, but still went at him with her sword. The girl got as close as she could, slashing at his tail. He hissed when she left a deep cut in his tail, just under his torso.

"You little bitch!" Fett smacked her across the face, his armor leaving a stinging cut on her cheek. "I don't care what Jabba wants. For that, you die."

The bounty hunter was about to shoot her again when a familiar set of dogfish jaws clamped onto his fin. He shrieked like a girl as Luke grabbed his arms, yanking him back hard. Leia swept the sword into her hand, stabbing him in the tail.

"Son of a..." He tried to swim back, but the ragged cut in his tail limited his mobility. "You'll pay for that!"

"Later." She glared at him. "I know Jabba's been sending his boys after me ever since I entered the maze. I saw them at least twice. That mummy-fish man was his, wasn't he? So was the lizard-man. Tell Jabba I'm going to make it through this maze whether he likes it or not. If he sends anyone else to stop me, they'll end up in far worse shape than just being hit on the head with a rock. I will hack their tails off and feed them to the nearest sea monster!"

Luke's glare was nearly as frightening. "I...not...slave. Not...go...back. Ever." The dogfish just opted for looking menacing.

"I won't forget this." Fett finally limped down the cliff, his tail not moving. The others turned towards the exit just as a yellow light engulfed the defeated bounty hunter.

"YOU IMBECILE! HOW COULD YOU LET THEM GO?"

Fett had never seen his boss this angry. He'd fed at least six slaves to his pet tiger sharks, sending the others scurrying to opposite sides of the wreck. He slammed his fat fist down on the throne and turned a whole school of angelfish into very ugly snails.

"Look, boss," Fett complained, clutching his sore tail, "it's not a total loss. I got the girl on the arm and on the side with a rock when she was on the cliff. She's injured. The slave's still weak from your spells. He won't be able to help her forever."

Jabba turned to his potion shelves. "You were going to kill her."

The bounty hunter clutched his sore tail. "Yeah, and?"

"You're my best man." He handed one of the bottles to Boba Fett. "Get to the center. Most of these bottles will help you stun those creatures blocking the paths. The last one will take care of Solo and Prince Luke. Don't bother with the girl. She's no longer your concern."

Fett tried to bow again, but he wound up settling for a quick "As you wish" before sauntering out. He nearly lost two bottles on his way out and had to go back for them, cursing loudly.

As soon as he left, Jabba swept another bottle into his hands. "I can see I'm going to have to deal with this myself." He popped open the green glass vessel. "It'll be worth becoming this ugly to get that soul." He swallowed the contents of the bottle in one gulp.

The same green liquid that consumed Han wreathed around Jabba. He screamed at first...but his screams became wild laughter as he saw what was happening to him. His fat limbs stretched out, became strong and slender. The heavy torso and body metamorphosed into a broad, muscular chest. His short, stubby tail became long and smooth, with gold and green scales that glittered like a scavenger's treasure. Thick golden hair grew from the top of his head.

"Now," he boomed, "for the final touch." Among the bottles and jars on his shelf of evil magic was a single lavender clam shell. He'd used this enchanted shell to trap Solo's voice after he'd agreed to trade it for human legs. He flipped the shell open, allowing a white light to flow into his mouth.

"Well, sweetheart," he sneered, watching the trio in the pearl, "let's see how well you do when you're dealing with the master."

Leia, Luke, and their dogfish friend found themselves in a glowing garden of sea crystals and colorful sea glass. Everything shimmered, from the rather slippery floor to the jagged ceiling. The glass rippled into strange shapes as they passed.

"I like this one," Leia said as she passed a long green glass. "It makes me look taller." Indeed, she looked nearly as tall as Han in his human form. She couldn't resist putting the injured hand wrapped in seaweed on her hip and posing.

Luke laughed at a wide glass. "This one makes me look fat!"

The dogfish admired his face in a bluish glass, turning his head this way and that. He reached out to touch the similar creature before him, thinking it was another dogfish. The twins giggled when he growled and fussed at other fish in the mirror.

Leia patted him. "Silly boy. That's just your reflection. It's not another fish. It won't hurt you." The dogfish snorted at the glass and gave it a smack with his tail, just to make certain.

"Luke," she began as they continued around a corner filled with sharp white and orange crystals, "how did you end up down here? We haven't heard from you since the night of the storm that sank the Twin Sunset. And how can you breathe underwater? You're not a merman."

"I don't...know." Her brother closed his sky blue eyes, trying to remember. "Went down...crew was in a life boat...something turned it over. Sharks...took us away. Master..." Luke rubbed his head. "Master had drinks...could breathe..." He groaned painfully. "Nothing else."

"Damn that Jabba!" Leia cursed as she swam under a low-lying ceiling made of delicate white quartz. "I wish I could turn him into a pig, or worse!"

"He is Master." Luke looked worried. "You must watch for him. He has many tricks."

"Oh, I'm wise to his tricks now." They were now swimming across a bright, sparkling valley of white and lavender rocks that glowed like jewels against the deep blue of the ocean. "After what happened with those nasty creatures he sent after us, I'm ready for anything...hey!"

She wasn't looking where she was going and had swum right into something solid, but...slender. Crab traps and fishermen's nets were anchored on the crystal or hanging just under the surface. No sooner did Leia cut herself free from one net than another seemed to take its place. The dogfish was trying to bite its way out. Luke writhed like a fish desperate to avoid ending up on a dinner plate.

Leia was about to cut Luke free when another net was thrown over her. This one glowed gold, like the light of the sun. The moment it touched her, she vanished.

The princess appeared in the most beautiful room she'd ever seen. It wasn't a shipwreck. It looked like an underwater ruin, perhaps the remains of an ancient temple or castle. Leia wondered if it was the fabled original home of her Skywalker ancestors, which was said to have been swept into the sea after an especially violent hurricane. The room she was in must have been an ancient ballroom or dining hall at one time. She could see the remains of once-fine tapestries and flags. Rusted swords and shields hung on the walls.

An enormous meal was laid out before her on a long wooden table that was in excellent shape for having been underwater for likely hundreds of years. Everything the sea could offer – shrimp, plankton, seaweed, sea cucumbers, scallops, fish, even some vegetables, along with a covered pitcher of pure water – was laid before her on the table. It was even cooked, boiled on a thermal springs, perhaps.

That was when she saw herself in a mirror on the other side of the room. Her gown draped around her like lacy kelp, clinging to her shapely legs. The plunging neckline was covered in pearls and white crystals, with soft, puffed foamy short sleeves. The color looked like the sea at twilight, when the setting sun made it shimmer. She even had a delicate tiara made of coral that wound around her head. Her thick brown locks were down around her shoulders, entwined with tiny pearls. In fact, she looked rather like the traditional mermaids seen in fairy tales.

"Forgive me, Your Highness," said a familiar voice, "but you are the most beautiful mermaid I have ever laid eyes on. You look more like an enchantress."

She gasped and turned around in delight. She knew that voice! It was...to her disappointment, it wasn't Han. It was a merman. Hair flowed around his arms like a golden river. His full, pink lips were curled into a slight leer. He had very tan skin and a yellow tail that glittered like the treasure from a pirate yarn, with wide emerald-green fins. His broad chest was barely contained by a fine sailcloth blouse with abalone buttons.

"Ahh, Little Beauty," he said in a familiar gruff voice, "I fell in love with you the moment I saw you." He kissed her hand. "You're most exquisite jewel in my collection."

"Thank you," Leia said, "but...who are you? I know your voice, but I thought it belonged to Ha...to someone else." She frowned. "And you're not the first creature I've heard to call me 'Little Beauty.'"

"My name is Jab...Jasper, my lady. I'm the lord of this castle. All of the merfolk in this area work for me." He gazed into her eyes. His eyes were the only part of him that weren't unnaturally beautiful. They were a rather unattractive shade of mustard-yellow, a great contrast to his ruggedly handsome face. "Shall we eat? My people have worked to provide us a very fine meal. It would be a shame not to do it justice."

"Well, all right." Leia sat on a boulder that had been carved into chair. It was quite comfortable, for a rock. Jasper clapped, bringing mermaids and merman rushing in to fill their plates. "You have a very fine home, Jasper. I've never seen anything like this."

"It's an old castle, my lady." The golden merman sat next to her, leaning close enough to breathe in her ear. "I'm glad I found it. It's full of romance." The deft fingers reached into his meal, slurping the seaweed and shrimp rather rudely. "This was once a great manor house, but the cliff it was on was washed out to see in a storm. It's mine now." He put a great big hand on hers. "And yours. Yours if you'll be my queen. Stay with me forever, Little Beauty."

The princess pushed him away. "How could you ask me to marry you? You don't know me!" She squinted at him. "There's something...familiar...about you. We've met before, and it wasn't pleasant."

"Nonsense!" The gallant merman bowed. "Forgive me if I'm being forward, but your beauty has taken my breath away. I can't help myself around you."

She tried to concentrate on the food in front of her, but a sour feeling was gnawing in the pit of her stomach. "You're trying too hard to impress me. I don't need all this."

"Of course." His thigh brushed her half-clad leg. "I could give you the one thing you don't have." The muscular, tanned fingers gently stroked her hip. "You don't have a good man to take care of you."

She tried to pull away, but he wrapped his arms around her. "I don't need anyone to take care of me. I can take care of myself."

Round yellow eyes gazed into hers. "No, Little Beauty. Someone will have to help you rule your father's kingdom when he's gone. That someone should be me." Perfect lips breathed into her ear. "You like the sound of my voice, don't you? It calls to you." His grin became even wider...and more evil...as she nodded in agreement. "You're too beautiful to cover in algae. I'll take your voice and your legs, and you'll be my most prized pet. A dainty little angelfish intended to be seen, but never heard."

She was too busy listening to notice his fingers softly stroking the back of her neck. Her head drooped slightly. "What..." she murmured, "what was I doing?"

Jasper swept her into his arms and onto his lap. "You were going to kiss me, my love."

Wide brown eyes were as cloudy as polluted water. "Yes..." The murmur was tempered by a giggle. "My head feels so light..."

He nibbled on her ear. "It's because you're in love with me." She opened her mouth to talk again, but Jasper covered it with his fingers. "You must kiss me, and then say you love me. I want to hear those words. They will be your last."

"I..." Her head swam, caught in the pool of his strange yellow eyes. "I can't...I don't..."

He leaned her back, his right fingers running through her long, waving brown hair. "You can't help yourself. You, like your brother, are now mine."

Just as Leia opened her lips again, a brown-spotted blur crashed through the wall. Sharp teeth bit down on Jasper's shoulder. He let out a noisy screech and ducked away. A slightly greenish hand smacked his. The lavender shell floated back onto the table with a small thump.

Luke held a long, sharp piece of driftwood at Jasper's back. "You leave my sister alone!" He hurried to Leia and shook her as hard as he could. "You can't tell him you love him. He'll take your soul, just like he took mine!"

She shook her head, trying to clear the chowder in it. "Luke...what happened? One minute, I was eating dinner, and the next..."

"He stole a merman's voice and used it to lure you into a trap." The small blond youth glared poison daggers at the larger merman. "I know that voice. It's the last one I heard before something yanked me out of the lifeboat and into the water. Next thing I knew, I was covered in algae and and bringing plankton for some ugly slug."

Leia seized the merman by his white blouse. "Who are you, what did you do to my brother, and why are you talking with another merman's voice?"

The merman's eyes drifted down to her hands on his chest. "You know, I enjoy a little foreplay, but this really isn't what...urgh!"

His siren's call was cut off by a chain Leia had taken from the wall and thrust tightly around his neck. "Tell me how you got Han's voice, or I'll take it from you bodily. And get your mind out of whatever the nautical equivalent of the gutter is. I'm not interested."

"I can...see...urk!" His face was beginning to turn a shade of blue considerably darker than the water around him. "You'll ruin Solo's voice...if you keep doing...this..."

"How did you get that voice?" Leia yanked harder at the chain, her eyes lit with angry fire. "Tell me!"

"That's...for...me...to know." The merman's hands grabbed at the lavender shell. "I'm not...really..." he gasped "...hungry...right now...anyway." His fist shot out and managed to hit Leia in the arm. It was enough of a distraction for him to pull the chain from around his neck. He took off into the castle before anyone could stop him.

Luke put a hand on her shoulder. "Are you ok, sis?"

The princess nodded. "I'm fine. In fact, I'm even better." She threw her arms around her beloved sibling. "Thanks to you, brother."

He gave her one of his sunniest grins. "Hey, what are twins for?"

The dogfish swam over and wrapped his wide fins around both of them. Leia hugged him back. "You too, boy. You and Luke really got me out of a tight spot there." She gave the shark a kiss on his nose and swore the skin around his mouth turned bright red.

She gathered the chain and swung it over her shoulder. "Might be able to use this." Her laughter echoed in the hall. The two were busy gobbling the remains of the banquet. The dogfish had plowed through all of the plankton and most of the shrimp. Luke was slurping up seaweed. "Come on, you two. Let's get to the center. We have a merman to rescue!"

Leia held onto the dogfish's fin as they followed the sharp currents through the castle. Luke went after Jasper and find out what his plans were. He'd meet them in the center of the maze. His sister gave him the sword from the Twin Sunset to keep him protected in the crystal caves.

The back door of the castle lead to what had once been a walled labyrinth. The old rocks were now crumbling, but she could still see the outline of the maze. Gold and silver trees and ivory coral was covered in lichen and kelp. Narrow stone arches lead the way around sharp quartz corners.

She fingered her necklace. The blue shell had been blinking for a while now. "Dogfish, please hurry! I have to find Han before the light in the shell goes out. I won't be able to breathe underwater anymore."

Coral and rock walls became a blur as they sped past them, riding the fast-moving currents. Leia would have enjoyed the ride if she hadn't been so worried. What if they couldn't find Han in time? What if he was hurt? Maz did say Jabba had cast some kind of spell on him. What did she mean, he wasn't the merman she met at the ball? What had Jabba done to him?

They were swept right into a square-shaped garden that was surrounded by walls on all sides. "This must be the center of the maze!" It could be no other place. The gold and silver coral trees were enormous here. Beams of light made them sparkle like crystal. The seaweed and flowers draped around them gave them the appearance of land trees in the spring. Huge heaps of gold, jewels, armor, weapons, and coins lay on the ground before them. Flowers grew along the walls like vines; kelp resembled Spanish moss.

"Isn't it beautiful here?" She picked up a slightly tarnished shield. "This is our family crest. Two suns over the ocean." A fingernail scratched lightly down the surface, scraping up sand and slime. "This is the missing treasure from the Twin Sunset!" Her brown eyes darted around, searching for her dogfish friend. "Dogfish? Where are you?"

His whimpers lead her to the very center of the maze. A rusted cage sat in the middle of the room on a stone pedestal. It's lock looked like it was only recently broken. "What is it, boy? What do you see?" The dogfish's nose perked up as he felt the currents change. Leia heard the breaking coral. Someone...or something...was coming for them.

"The Beast," Leia breathed. She had just enough time to grab her knife before two long, sharp limbs enveloped her waist. A spiny tail wrapped around her legs. Absurdly long, sharp claws cut into her soft flesh. She finally gave the Beast's ribs a hard jab with her elbow, enough for him to let her go.

It was the ugliest thing she'd ever laid eyes on. She couldn't help her horrified gasp. Spines ran the length of its body, from the three-pronged tail to the two horns that sprouted from its jagged head. Its skin was a harsh mass of navy-blue ridges. The teeth were two rows of needles that could crush her head in an instant. Instead of hair, blood red tentacles waved in the currents.

What made Leia pause was its eyes. They were hazel with gold flecks, and to her surprise, very human and very sad. She knew those eyes. She kept her knife raised as the creature looked her over, as if trying to remember something...or decide where to stick his claws next.

"Who are you?" She held the sharp knife in front of her, jumping away from the claws that swiped at her face. "Where's Han? Where's your prisoner?"

The Beast lunged for her, trying to shove her away from the treasure. He covered as much of it as he could with his body, blocking it from her. "Tell me where Han is! He's the only treasure I really want."

It looked up at her in surprise. "You thought I was after the treasure." She lowered the knife. "I'm glad I found it, but it's not the reason I'm here. I came for the man...well, the merman...I love."

The dogfish nudged the Beast with its nose. He sensed that this thing was familiar. It smelled like his good friend...but it didn't look like him. He let out a bark, hoping his friend would recognize it. The Beast ran his clawed, webbed hands down the spotted shark's back, his rigid, lipless mouth somehow twisting into a small smile.

"You...know him?" Leia finally lowered her knife. "Dogfish, is this your missing friend?"

The dogfish bobbed, the closest thing he could do to nodding, and threw his fins around the Beast. The monster returned the hug, leaning into the happy shark. She swam over to them, her own brown eyes wide with amazement. "I thought...I guess I assumed your friend was a merman."

A clawed finger gently touched her cheek. "I won't hurt you, if you don't hurt us." The Beast threw his body over the chests of gold and jewels again. "I don't know what Jabba told you, but that isn't yours." She joined him on the pile of coins. "You know," she said, "you're awfully quiet, for a Beast. I thought you'd roar, or growl, or something."

The Beast gently touched his throat. He'd tried, but he couldn't make any noise. He opened the toothy mouth, but nothing emerged. The expression on his face when he realized his voice failed him...he looked so lost, so heartbroken. So much like the last time she'd seen Han, when Jabba locked the chain on his collar. The Beast wore a similar collar, a heavy gold circle around his thick neck. There was a chain on his collar as well, dragging behind him. He clutched his head, his face a mask of pain.

"That collar...I know that collar. It's the same one Han and Luke wear. You're a slave, like them." The dogfish rubbed his side. Leia put her hand against his. "We're...we're not so different, you and me. I'm just a little smaller than you are, that's all. It doesn't matter what you look like."

His claws gently moved up her neck, trailing down her cheeks. "I want to help you." The dogfish patted his tail. "We both do. My friend likes you...and that makes you my friend, too."

Hazel eyes gazed down at the dogfish, then at Leia. He swam back and forth between the treasure and the human girl, his claws outstretched but unsteady. He didn't know what to do.

"Little Beauty!" Leia looked up just in time to see Jasper, now fatter and more wrinkled, dragging Luke into the center garden. He held the silver and blue Skywalker sword to her brother's throat. "I found another treasure I think you'll be interested in outside in the maze." He growled at the Beast. "Well, stupid, what are you waiting for? Slash her to ribbons! Why do you think you have those claws?"

"I knew there was something wrong with you." She reached for her knife. "Let Luke go, or I'm going to find out if mermen have a soft underbelly like crabs."

"He's still my slave, Little Beauty." His long fingers stroked Luke's chest. "And a very pretty one, too. I wouldn't have made him one of the house slaves if he wasn't so well-known." He wore a belt of glass beads, a lavender ruffled shell, and an enormous pale orange conch shell. "The purple one is where I keep Solo's voice when he's underwater. The conch has the souls of every human I've had lured down here. Most of them are dead now, but some members of his crew are still making excellent waiters at my ship."

"Leia!" Luke kicked as hard as he could. "Get to the surface! Go get Father!"

"I'm not leaving you, or any of you!" Leia held the knife level with Jasper's neck. "Where's Han Solo? You said he was a prisoner in the center!"

Her eyes widened at the familiar booming laughter. "That's rich! You humans think you know everything. The trouble with you is, you only see with your eyes."

Boba Fett emerged from a silver coral tree, his mechanical trident raised. "Want me to kill her, boss?"

"No." Jasper shoved Luke at the shark man. "Take care of the prince. I'll deal with the Beast and the girl myself." Leia couldn't believe she'd even considered the merman to be handsome. His face was twisted into a hideous leer. Lengthy fingers clutched a red glass bottle. "Now, dear girl, I just need to get you to drink this, and your soul will be mine. Just like your brother's."

"Never!" She lunged at him, her knife drawn. "I'll never let you have my soul!"

He grabbed a gold knife from the pile of treasures and aimed for her side. She just got out of his way in time. The knife left a tear in her sea-green gown. The two tussled, wrestling each other to the sandy floor. "Beast," he snarled, "you damn moron, get her off me! I can't get her soul while she's on top!"

Leia held her breath when the Beast yanked her away from him, his claws around her waist. She lay on the pile of coins where he dropped her, certain that her soul was as good as gone. Instead, the Beast stabbed his claws into Jasper's side. The golden merman screamed and sagged into the sand. He held his bleeding, wrinkled side, his bulging yellow eyes glaring poison daggers at the creature that turned on him.

"Beast!" She hurried to his side, Luke following. "You saved me" He gave her another small smile, drawing her face into his hands. "I think...I know." The princess threw her arms around him, ignoring the ridges cutting into her skin. "Thank you...Han."

They were going to kiss when Han suddenly reared back, a knife embedded deeply in his side. Jasper was looking fatter and more bloated by the minute. His deep laugh filled the coral garden. "You had your last chance to be useful, Beast, and you blew it. Did you honestly think she could want an ugly dimwit like you, when she had someone like me?"

"No!" Leia screamed at the top of her lungs – at least as well as she could underwater – but Fett blocked her from the duo. "Get out of my way, you overgrown bait! You don't want to see what I can do when I'm mad!"

"I'm shaking." The shark man jabbed her with his mechanical trident. "My boss said he had something to give you. I think you'd better take it now."

"That's what you think, buddy!" A knife sliced through the water, hacking the end off of Fett's trident. Lando swam gracefully towards them, sending Fett into the coral with a fierce kick. His cape flowed around his slender brown body like waves on the shore. "I'd believe this lady when she says you don't want to upset her. It's not a good idea to upset a princess." Fett yanked at his arms, but Lando kicked out. The two ended up grappling, tumbling over and over in the water.

Jasper...or Jabba...was breathing heavily. "You're too late!" He held out the red bottle. "Her soul is already as good as mine. Just like her brother's...ow!" The dogfish clamped down on Jasper's hand. The moment the bloated merman-slug lost the bottle, the shark grabbed it with a flipper, quickly floating it on a current to Leia, who grabbed it the moment it went past her. "Damn you, Chewbacca!" Jabba snarled. "If I get teeth marks, you and Solo are paying for my medical bills!"

Luke yanked the belt off Jabba's waist, both shells falling into his hands. He handed the lavender one to Leia. "I think you should have the honor of breaking this one."

"Likewise," she handed him the conch shell, "this is yours."

They swam as one to the wall on the side of the center garden. Lando, Fett, and Jabba all looked up...in time to see the twins swing the shells against the wall, shattering both into a thousand pieces.

"NOOOO!" Jabba screamed and bellowed, but he couldn't stop the white light from leaving his larynx and entering the Beast's. His voice became deeper and more of a growl as Beast coughed and sputtered. Chewbacca nudged him, whimpering.

Hundreds of blood-red lights escaped from the conch shell. One streamed into Luke's chest. It pushed him back into the wall briefly, his blue eyes pained. Leia put her arms around him. "Luke? Luke, are you all right?"

He looked up at her...and there was a light in his bottomless blue eyes that she hadn't seen since the day she said good-bye to him on the Naval docks. "I'm better than all right, Leia." He hugged her. "I'm not a slave anymore. I'm great!" She hugged him back as hard as she could.

Jabba gasped, still holding his side. The magic had been slowly fading. He was fleshy and wrinkled, more like his former sea-slug self than a merman. "You're too late, Princess. You may have saved your brother, but Solo's about to become seafoam!"

"You...you bastard!" Leia grabbed the chain from around her shoulder. "Han's not a monster! You are!" She swung the chains around his thick neck, just as she'd done in the ruined dining hall. It was harder to strangle him when his neck was fatter, but he also moved slower. She strained with all her might at the creature, not stopping until his eyes closed and his tongue flopped out of his rubbery mouth.

The twins both glided to Han at the same time, Luke to one side, Leia to the other. Chewbacca stuffed sea flowers under his head to give him a soft place to rest. "Good work, Leia," Han croaked, "Your Worship...I'm a siren...I lure humans to the water...got Luke. Jabba had me over a boulder...had Chewie...I lost his shipment...had to trade my voice for legs to pay him. I could only... talk to...get you. Human souls live forever. Merfolk...become foam." He shook his head. "But I couldn't...hurt you...not ever..."

"Shh." She took his misshapen head on her lap. Luke held his hand. Chewbacca licked his cheek. "Please don't leave me. Don't leave us. You can't." Her arms wrapped tenderly around him. "I love you."

He gave her one last tiny cocky grin. "I know."

Even as she kissed him, his eyelids closed. She held him tighter, not caring that his ridged skin was cutting into her arms, her body wracked with great, heaving sobs. She wouldn't let him fade away. Luke put his arms comfortingly around his sister. Chewbacca leaned into her, letting out a mournful growl.

Lando left Boba Fett on the ground, a trident through his stomach. He went to Leia, putting his arms around her shoulders. "I'm sorry," he said gently. As Leia sobbed, the last light in her shell necklace went out.

Chewbacca was the first one to see the sea foam gathering around Han. He nudged Leia and pointed with his fin. Luke saw it, too. "Uh, sis." He shook her arm. "You might want to open your eyes. There's something really strange going on."

Foam swirled around Han...but it wasn't consuming him. It was transforming him. His claws shortened, became human fingers. The tail lost its spines, the back its ridges. Needle-like teeth became smaller and rounded. His horns vanished. The tentacles softened into unruly auburn hair.

"Han?" Leia gasped. "It's you!"

"Yeah, Your Worship." He stared at his hands, then his tail in shock. "I'm alive. I'm not seafoam." He threw his arms around her. "I'm alive! I'm ok!" She yanked him into another, more passionate kiss.

Chewbacca managed to hug them both with his flippers. Han hugged his friend back. "Thanks for coming for me, old pal." He looked up at Leia and Luke. "You two, both of you. I owe you one."

Luke was turning a slight shade of purple. "This is great, but we can't stay down here. I'm not under Jabba's spell anymore. I can't breathe!"

Lando nodded. "We have to go. King Anakin's fleet is on the surface, waiting for you, but I don't know for how much longer. There's another storm brewing" He put an arm around Luke. "So, what's your story? I heard you were lost at sea."

"I was." Luke grinned at his sister. "Leia found me."

Leia held onto Han hard. "I won't leave you."

"Your Worship, I don't want you to leave me." He put his hand to hers. "But I'm not like you. I wish I was. I'd give anything..." He shook his head. "Go to the surface. You belong there, with your dad and brother." He held out the same oilskin bag he'd had at the ball. "This is what I stole from your dad. Tell him there's a ton more where that came from in the coral garden just outside of the ruin of the original Nabarrie Castle."

She frowned. "And you?"

"I'm a merman." His cocky grin emerged. "I belong wherever the currents take me. I'm not going to raid shipwrecks or lure humans to their death anymore, if that's what you're worried about."

The human girl was having a hard time holding her breath. Han put his arms around her. "Come on. I know a shortcut to the land."

She grabbed Chewbacca's fin, and they swam across the ocean. The water felt warm and comforting at first. She kept one hand on Chewie's fin, and the other in Han's. Fish swam by them, waving their fins. The mound of living coral waved one tentacle, then went back to sleep. Even the giant squid bobbed at them, almost inking himself as they nearly knocked him into a ditch.

The closer they got to land, the more difficult the currents became to navigate. She was having a tough time holding onto Chewie's fin. Han squeezed her hand harder. "Hold on, Your Worship. We're goin' for a ride!"

The currents battered and tossed them to and fro, trying to push her away from the dogfish and the merman. Leia's human fingers weren't meant to deal with fast-moving undertows. Her hands slipped from Chewie's fin, the undertow drawing her back. She gasped, trying hard to hold her breath and fight the currents.

"Leia!" Han's sleek navy tail shot through the currents. "Take my hand! You rescued me, and I'm sure as hell ain't gonna let you die!"

She grabbed his hand, holding on for dear life as they sped past ship wrecks and reefs and coral mounds. "I can't hold on much longer!" she panted.

Within seconds, a vicious current wrenched her from Han's grasp. "Leia! NO!"

"HAN!" She tried to swim for it, but she needed air. Her lungs felt like they would burst. The riptide held her in its clutches. Delicate legs trashed in the currents, but were too weak to go anywhere. "Tell Luke...I love him...Han..."

Darkness claimed her as the swirling waters dragged her down...down...

The last thing she remembered was a feeling she was floating...something around her waist was taking her to the light. Maybe she'd finally meet her mother, or her grandmother, her father's beloved late mother. Take me to the light...

Her fingers touched sand, wet, grainy sand. There's sand in heaven? Something sharp poked her elbow. She moved it, hearing a little splash. Her breathing was greedy, heavy. She gulped air like child drinking chocolate milk. Gentle fingers ran through her long, salt-dried hair. A soothing male voice sang a Naboo sea shanty. It sounded like a choir of angels to her.

"Leia!" Voices cut through the salty air. Lips pressed an intense, heartbroken kiss on her vibrant red mouth, before her eyes fluttered open. She saw two heartbroken hazel eyes and the sun glinting off a red and navy tail before it dove into the ocean.

"Sis!" Luke and Lando hurried over. They were both dry now, but otherwise looked as they had when she'd last seen them. "What happened? We thought you were following us!"

Her eyes slid towards the water. "Han took me home. We got caught in the undertow, but he...he must have gotten me to safety, somehow."

Lando made a face. "Han? The thief?"

"Not anymore." She handed the oilskin bag around her shoulder to Luke. "This is what Han stole at the ball. He gave it back."

Luke and Lando put their arms around her. "Come on, sis. I've already talked to Father. He's worried to death about you!"

She gave him a shaky grin. "I wish I could have seen the look on his face when you turned up alive."

Luke graced her with one of his sunny smiles in return. "He nearly passed out when I hugged him."

The two men lifted Leia to her feet. "Come on, Your Highness." Lando grinned smoothly at her. "Let's get you home."

It was nearly two weeks before Leia was deemed well enough to return to Maz's house. Her father was so happy to have both his children home, he only grounded her for a week for running out. Neither she nor Luke would have been going anywhere in any case. They were both taken to their beds, treated for water inhalation and possible lung damage.

Anakin ordered his trawlers to bring up the treasure within days of his children revealing its final resting place. He also had men dive for the remaining family heirlooms on the Twin Sunset. His scientists were delighted with all the information the Skywalker Twins brought back with them about the bottom of the ocean floor. They vowed to make more extensive studies of deep-sea coral and the animals who lived there.

Leia and Luke told their father what they could, making sure to leave out any mention of magic or mermen. Leia claimed Han Solo had vanished, but she had found the oilskin bag, and evidence that he'd been strong-armed into committing robbery to help a friend. Luke corroborated his sister's story, adding that the evil nobleman Han had worked for was now dead, thanks to Leia's quick thinking.

Lando spent a great deal of time with Leia in those two weeks. She found him a wonderful, charming man. He took her out on the Lady Luck, held extravagant picnics on the beach, and bought her all manner of gifts and trinkets. She liked him a lot, and she appreciated his help with Jabba and Boba Fett.

She just wasn't sure it was love.

"I'm not ready to get married yet," she told him one day, as he drove her back from a trip into Theed Town. "Just give me some time to decide." Her eyes, as always, roamed to the sea, searching for a flash of a bright navy fish tail. "Father's fleet has found most of his treasure. We're not in quite as desperate of need as we were before."

Lando nodded and kissed her hand. "I can wait, Your Highness. I don't care how much money you have. I still want you to be my bride."

"We'll see." She smiled as they pulled up at Maz's shack. "I need to stop here. I have to return something I borrowed to a friend, and Luke said he had something he wanted to show me."

"I'll go in with you." He helped her out of the carriage. "I might be able to buy you a necklace that's even nicer than that shell one you're wearing."

Leia's hand went to the necklace Maz gave her, the one she still wore. "Oh, this is what I borrowed. I don't need it anymore."

"Then you'll have the most beautiful shell necklace in the entire shop." He opened the door for her. "You'll have dozens."

She shook her head. "I don't need dozens. I just need to return this one."

Maz was sitting behind her work bench, stringing a dangling earring made of purple sea crystals, when they walked in. "Leia!" The elderly woman went right to her. "Well, did you find what you were looking for?"

"Yes, but he...it didn't work out for me." She put the necklace in Maz's hand. "Here. Thank you for your help. You did more for me than you could ever know."

Maz pushed it back at her. "Keep it. It won't help you breathe underwater anymore, but it does look good on you."

Leia shook her head. "It reminds me too much of it...and him...and everything." She sighed. "We're too different, Maz. It would never have worked out."

"Maybe not. Maybe so." She gave the girl a gap-toothed grin. "Oh, you haven't met my new apprentice yet!" Maz winced as the sound of boxes toppling onto the floor could be heard in the next room. "Don't mind him. He's just getting his sea legs."

Luke nodded. "I ran into him a week ago. I'll go get him."

Leia had turned around to let Lando put the necklace back on her when she heard a familiar, cheeky voice. "Hi there, Your Worship. How can I help you?"

"Han!" It was him...only now, he stood on two legs, clad in tight brown and yellow trousers. He wore a navy jacket over his white shirt and had tools on a belt at his hip. Luke grinned at his side. She threw her arms around him. "What happened? How..."

Maz patted her arm. "Jabba's not the only one who knows a little magic."

"Went to Maz a week ago. I'm tired of swimming. I had nothing under the water. My home is here." He put his hand against hers. "We're not so different anymore."

She smiled at him. "No. Not anymore."

Lando put an arm around him. "Hey there. Welcome back." He grinned at them. "You're a lucky man, Solo. She's really one of a kind."

"Yeah, she is." Han looked over his shoulder as a bark sounded in the back room. "Hey Chewie, Leia's here! Let her see you now!"

"Chewie" turned out to be an enormous, brown-spotted mountain with more fur than seen in an entire zoo. He sniffed at her with his long, cold black nose. She laughed as he gave her a bark of recognition. "Hi there, boy."

Chewie nearly knocked Luke over, slobbering him with kisses. "Easy, boy." He looked up from under the piles of brown fuzz. "You be good to my sister. She's the strongest person I know. If it wasn't for her, I'd still be stuck as a slimy yes-thing to Jabba."

"That's right," Han added. "And I'd still be luring good people to their death." He nodded at the shack. "Maz said she'd exchange my tail for helping her in the shop. I've got a good job now, Leia. I'm going to take Maz's jewelry all over the kingdom and sell it. It'll triple her sales." He hugged her close, as hard as he could. "I'm never going to let you go again. I love you."

She smiled up at him. "I know." Maz grinned, Luke whistled, and Chewbacca barked as they leaned in for a kiss.

The End