Chapter 17: Squid in the Trees

Ben withdrew his light saber and put it in his belt. He went back into the cave. The animals went back to what they were doing before they were hypnotized.

"What was that all about?" asked Tim.

"Mara Jade. She planted the Ysalamari to weaken us so she could kill someone. The person she wanted to kill isn't here, though. She just guessed he was," Ben explained.

"Why was she so upset about me killing those nasty little buggy things?" asked Misty, who had followed Ben into the cabin.

"Mara was upset about you were taking her Ysalamari out of the tree because the Jedi are weaker and easier to kill when Ysalamari are around. As I explained, the Ysalamari make a Jedi unable to use The Force. Mara's weren't all that strong, so I was able to use it a little. Of course, Ysalamari are only helpful when they are living. Since they must eat constantly, taking them away from their food source, the trees, killed them," Ben said.

"Oh," said Misty.

"Go away, Misty. No one wants you here," said Damien.

"I think we owe Misty a thanks. After all, we might have been killed if she hadn't taken the…whatever out of the trees," said Sarah.

"No, that was just an empty threat. Mara couldn't kill all of us," said Ben.

"Well we still owe Misty our thanks," Sarah said.

"Thanks, Misty!" said everyone except Damien.

"Damien, you can at least say thanks!" said Cathy.

"No. I hate Misty, and I probably always will. It's her stupid friend's fault I lost a really good Pokemon!"

"What? You abandoned that Charmander! You would have lost it whether Ash came along or not!" shouted Misty.

"Do we really have to go through this?" asked Turtle.

"No, because I'm leaving!" Misty turned and stomped out of the cave and back into the pond to her own planet.

"Great job, Damien. She'll probably never come back!" said Lee.

"Good! I don't want to see her again," Damien shouted.

Suddenly, they all heard a whirring sound coming from outside. Anakin and the twins looked at each other.

"The Falcon!" they shouted at the same time. Jaina and Jacen got up and ran outside. Anakin tried to, but his foot hurt from being burned, and he couldn't walk on it.

"Wait for me!" he called. He hopped after them, but fell in the doorway.

"Anni, remember the wheelchair?" asked Jacen from halfway across the forest.

"Oh, yeah!" Anakin said. Ben had made him a wheelchair before. He got up, hopped over to it, climbed in, and went after the others.

Ryan had no idea what a Falcon was, so he ran after them to see. So did Tim, Damien, Turtle, and Lee.

Han, Leia, Chewy, C3PO, and R2-D2 got off the Millennium Falcon. The three kids went over to their parents.

"Anni, why are you in a wheelchair?" Leia asked.

"I burnt my foot," Anakin replied.

"How?"

"I kicked the fire over on it."

"Why were you kicking the fire?"

"'Cause I was bored." Anakin wheeled away and zoomed around the forest, bumping into people and knocking them over.

Han went to talk to Jaina and Jacen. "So, what's been happening here?" he asked.

"This morning there were calamari in the trees," said Jaina.

"Squid?" said Han, confused.

"No, Dad. Calamari! Not squid!" said Jacen.

"Calamari is squid, Jacen."

"No. It's this weird thing that lives in the trees and makes Jedi feel funny," said Jaina.

"Whatever," said Han. He went to go find Ben to see what his children were babbling about.

Ben came outside. "Oh, Ben. I was looking for you. I want to ask you about something," said Han.

"What?"

"The calamari in the tree."

Ben smiled. "Oh, they mean the Ysalamari in the tree." He explained about Mara Jade and her Ysalamari.

"Oh," said Han. "I also wanted to ask about something else."

"Yes?"

"Well, Luke said they should start being monitored for trained. He said he could do it, but it might be easier for you to do it."

"Yes. We talked about it. I could monitor them, but they will probably chose to be trained by their uncle, so it would be wasted time. However, if they choose for me to train them, they can start as soon as they're done being monitored. If they choose Luke, they'll have to wait a few months, so he can monitor them."

"Let's ask them what they want to do," suggested Han.

They went to ask. They got Jaina, Jacen, and Anakin together and explained what Ben had just explained to Han.

"I want to start as soon as possible!" said Anakin.

"You would!" said Jacen.

"Boys!" warned Han.

"I think I would, too," said Jaina.

"Well I don't want to train alone. I'll go with Ben," said Jacen, reluctantly.

"Then you'll stay here. We'll come back when your monitoring time is up. Then you can chose to stay with Ben or go with Uncle Luke, if you are trainable." Anakin had a strange feeling that his father wasn't talking about Jaina or Jacen. He gulped.

Then, Han, Leia, Chewy, C3PO, and R2-D2 left.