A.N: For those of you who haven't read the Han Solo Trilogy, Bria is an old friend of Han's. She was a rebel commander, and Bria is responsible for transmitting the Death Star plans to the Tantive IV at the beginning of ANH. But she was supposedly killed right after doing so. If you have read The Han Solo Trilogy, then you will also recognize the guard who lead them to the throne room.
Thank you for all the reviews, guys! Keep it up! Now, on with the story…
Chapter Eleven: A Quest Made Known
The Sorceress of the Dead giggled in a very girlish way.
"Hi, Han," she said, flashing him a winning smile.
Luke watched this in confusion. "Han, do you know her?" he asked.
Han ignored him. "Bria? They told me you were dead!"
"I am dead! What do you think 'The Sorceress of the dead' stands for?"
"But… Anakin said that The Sorceress of the Dead has been around for years! You were only killed a month ago!"
"Well, I see that I need to explain that. You see, The Sorceress of the Dead is replaced every ten years. Some of the sorceresses have been very short tempered. Others have been nice like me."
"That's it!" Anakin cried. "That explains the weird behavior of the sorceress over the years!"
"Yep!" Bria said, tossing back some of her long, red hair. "So what are you guys here for? I'll try to comply to your wishes, considering that Han's with you."
Leia watched all this in envy. Apparently, this girl and Han knew each other really well. But why did this make her feel so jealous?
"We want you to bring the Jedi back from the dead," Anakin said.
"Oh, well… I don't know…"
"What? Can't you do it?" Luke asked.
"Of course I can! But I need to ask you something, Anakin. What are you here for? Really?"
"I… I want to bring back all the Jedi."
"But that's not the full reason, is it?" Bria paused to let what she was talking about sink in before she went on. "You want to prove to your family that you've changed, don't you?"
Anakin looked up at the sorceress, surprised. How did she know about that?
"Well… I guess that's part of it," Anakin admitted.
Bria smiled and turned to Luke. "What about you? What are you here for, Luke?"
Luke, who had seen what had transpired between the sorceress and his father, decided to be truthful about it.
"I want to get to know my father. I want to see how much he's changed…"
"If he has changed at all!" Leia interrupted.
Everyone groaned, knowing what was coming next. But Bria simply turned to address Leia.
"Alright, so what are you here for?"
"I don't know. I
guess I'm just along for the ride.
Bria laughed. "Do you
really think that you can hide your thoughts from me? You something
Leia? I think that you're here because deep down inside of you, you
believe that your father has changed."
"Humph! In his dreams!" Leia declared.
"Now Leia, let's be truthful here. You know that all he's trying to do is get accepted by you and your brother. Luke has been more welcoming than you, but if you want to succeed in life, you're going to have to pull yourselves together! All of you! Arguing in never the answer; you have to talk your problems over with each other, not avoid the other person and hope it turns out alright! Leia, your tongue is the most powerful weapon you have, and you have been using it against your brother. Luke is sensitive; you can't say ugly things that you don't mean to anyone, but especially him. Okay?"
Leia looked up at the sorceress with new eyes. How could she have been so mean to Luke? What had happened to her these past few days? Now that she thought about it, she realized that she had been hurting Luke a little more than she'd intended.
"I… I'm sorry. I didn't realize that I was acting like a sith spawn."
Anakin, Han, Luke and Bria laughed before the sorceress spoke again.
"Alright! Now that we've taken care of that, what did you say you wanted?"
"We want you to bring back the Jedi," Luke said.
"Oh! Yes. Well… I'm afraid that you're going to have to prove yourselves first."
"What! What do you mean? Bria! You've made me prove myself three times already! What more do you want?" Han asked.
"Han, I know that you have proved yourself over the years, but I need them to prove themselves. It's a requirement."
Anakin sighed. "Alright, we'll do whatever we need to do."
"Good. First, you need to go to Mustafar…"
"Never mind, let's go!" Anakin said, making a show of turning around a making his way to the door.
"Now just a minute!" Leia said. "I didn't come all the way over here to just turn around and go back! We're going to prove ourselves so get over here!"
When Anakin finally complied, Bria continued. "At Mustafar, you will find a portal that you will be required to step into. The portal will take you to a place that no one in this universe has ever been to. Once there, you will go to the place where all the past sorceresses of the dead retire. They will tell you what to do."
Luke looked at her in confusion. Why did they need to prove themselves? Were they sure that they really wanted to do this? After all, it didn't sound like his father was very fond of Mustafar.
"Okay," Leia said. "It sounds simple enough let's do it!"
"One more thing!" Bria said. "It would be easier for Anakin if he didn't need to wear that armor."
"What do you mean?" Anakin asked.
The room began to get brighter, and Anakin was lifted up in the air to a light cloud. After thirty seconds of blinding light, a dark form descended from the cloud that began to disappear. When the light was gone everyone looked at Anakin.
He was back! The armor was gone; the long, shaggy hair replaced the helmet. He was wearing his old Jedi robes and all his limbs were once again flesh and blood!
"Thank you!" Anakin said. "I'll always remember this!"
"Good. Jarik will show you out."
Han's heart jumped. "Jarik? Where is he?"
Bria laughed. "Oh, Han! I'm surprised that you didn't recognize him! It's my guard."
"Hi, Han," Jarik said.
Han couldn't believe it. Jarik had hung out with him and Chewie during their early smuggler days. But he had been killed in The Battle for Ylesia; when Bria had wanted to free the slaves that were being enslaved by the High Priests of Ylesia. And now he was looking at a grown up version of a kid who was killed when he was only seventeen. But now that Bria had explained it all to them it made sense.
"Hay, Jarik. You've grown up, haven't you kid?"
"Yeah. Man, it's great to see you, Han!" Jarik gave Han a brotherly embrace. "Well," Jarik said, looking up at Leia. "I see you've gotten yourself another hot girlfriend. You always did get the best!"
"Another girlfriend?" Leia asked. "Han Solo, how many girlfriends have you had?"
Before Han could stop him, Jarik spoke up again. "Oh, we all lost count of his girlfriends after a while."
"You WHAT?"
Han cut in, "Jarik, that might not be the best thing to bring up right now!" Han glanced at Leia who was fuming furiously. "Darn."
"Sorry, Han."
"Don't sweat it, Jarik. Well, looks like it's time to go!" Han said joyfully.
The travelers followed Jarik back to the landing pad, and after saying their goodbyes, they took off once again, heading to Mustafar.
……………………………………………………………………………………………...
Meanwhile, back with Bria and Jarik…
"Bria, why are you making them 'prove themselves'?" Jarik asked. You've never done that before."
Bria smiled. "It's a test to see if they can truly pull things together and be a family. Doing what they're about to do will force them to work together to survive."
"Darn you Bria!" Jarik laughed. "As always you have to catch Han right in the middle of it!"
"It wasn't my fault!" Bria defended. "Han always goes for the challenges. Trust me, I know!"
But underneath, Bria was worried. What if the Skywalkers refused to pull things together and become a family? Of course, with Anakin back to normal, things should go a lot more smoothly. But only time could tell…
A.N: So how about that? Han was able to see Jarik again, Anakin looks like his regular old self… man alive! It just doesn't get any better than this!
You know, I just thought of something: the title doesn't fit the story anymore! I'm thinking of changing the title, any suggestions? Don't forget to review!
