Disclaimer: I need to come up with more inventive ways to say "I don't own Star Wars" . . .

A/N: BOO! Happy Halloween, four or so days late. Oh, well. SPIDER-MAN JUST CAME OUT ON VIDEO!!! I watched it three times in two days. Yea. Just thought I'd share.

Dedication: I do NOT read enough SW fanfic to dedicate this to anyone in particular . . . To Silverangel, who really needs to get going and write a SW fanfic and who has urged me to update this as quickly as possible (so she can read What Happens Next)

May the Force be with you . . . (please?)

Chapter XIII: The Phoenix Effect

"Tell Anakin that we're as ready as we're ever going to be," Jaina turned to Uldir.

The resurrection team had been working in shifts for three days over a standard week, monitoring equipment and using the Force to speed the effects as quickly as they could without harming the clone. They'd prepared his body as much as they could for the outside world; a world with bacteria and virii and a million other things that it had never experienced while hanging in a fluid-filled tube. The computers had been rather astounded as how quickly the clone was adapting, and sped up their processes to keep up with the Force. By this time, however, the computers were running on excess energy, as was every living being in the Worldship. Even Jaina's shook, Kievnur, had grown used to the Jedi and begun helping, fetching food, supplies and tools when Jaina, Jacen, or Zekk asked. She had also adopted a new hobby: droid hunting!

Em Teedee found it annoying. Everyone else thought it was funny as hell.

"He can hear you, Jaina," Uldir reminded her. "He's been living in my head for longer than he thought was necessary. He's ready, too, especially after yesterday."

They'd decided they didn't want to try anything complicated with the Force until they were all up to full strength, so they'd used yesterday as a rest day, and as a day for the computers to finish getting the clone ready to get up and go. Anakin had a rather bad reaction to that – Tahiri had been moving up her timeline faster than ever, and he was terrified that she was going to find out he was dead before he had a chance to get back to her. She'd just gotten captured by the Vong, and therefore was acting as if everyone on the Errant Venture were Yuuzhan Vong. Then he'd had to go occupy Uldir's mind, and didn't know what happened after that.

"Right," Jacen had a hard expression on his face, as if he were preparing himself for this to fail.

Sannah looked around. "Hey. Lighten up. It'll work."

Tenel Ka nodded in agreement with her. The others, save Uldir, nodded, relaxed, and linked hands around the clone and Uldir. And Anakin, who was still in Uldir's head. *You ready, Uldir?*

Considering that I'm sitting here with my hands on your head, yeah I think so.

Anakin sounded embarrassed. *Ah. Yes. Here goes, then!*

Lightning raced through Uldir's body as all Anakin's Force talent and being jumped from his hands and into the clone. The bubble of Force around them kept his consciousness from leaking out, and since Uldir's body was already occupied, he leaped into the clone.

Who wasn't a clone anymore.

Ice-blue eyes snapped open and he sat up in a silent scream, face gone absolutely white.

"Anakin!" Sannah yelled, dropping out of the circle and hugging him. It took a second for the boy to respond, but he wrapped his arms around her. "You're back!" she danced away, light in her yellow eyes.

Jacen and Jaina enveloped him. For a full minute, none of the three even moved. "Hi," his voice was younger than they were used to hearing it, more prone to cracking. "Jasa. Jaya. Um, ouch," the fourteen-year-old body put a hand to his head, wincing. "My head hurts."

Tenel Ka reached past Jacen with her right hand and grasped Anakin's. "Pain means you're alive. Welcome back."