Chapter 20: Jade

"My name is Brea Jade." Mara was stunned at hearing these words. And then, it all made sense: the familiar twinge upon seeing this woman, the urge to press her for her identity. Her unconscious mind, or the Force, had been guiding her all along. Mara knew then and there that this was her sister. She had no memories of her, but the Force confirmed what her memory could not. Mara Jade had a family once more. Mara was drawn from her reverie by a warning from the Force. She raised her lightsaber just in time to bat away her sister's gold blade as it was swung for her shoulder.

Luke's saber could not be tracked by the human eye as he called on the Force to remain on guard to deflect the constant barrage of blaster bolts from Fett's rifle. The ceiling above him was crumbling due to the constant ricochet of blaster bolts Luke had deflected into the duracrete. Luke knew that sooner or later the bounty hunter's power pack would lose it charge. Until then, the Jedi Knight had to stand his ground and wait for an opening. Luke Skywalker would not go down this day.

Han looked at the blurry sight in front of him. He could almost make out two dark figures, one a hazy black shape surrounded by a green glow and the other a dull grey-green. Han quickly realized the source of the green aura. 'A lightsaber. That makes the one to the left Luke…which means the one on the right is Fett.' Han brought up his blaster pistol and pointed it in the direction of the grey-green blur. He moved his barely visible weapon a little to the left, going with his instincts to line up the shot. "Here goes nothing." Han's finger squeezed the trigger and a red bolt lanced out toward his intended target.

Boba Fett heard the shot coming from his side and lunged forward in order to dodge it. He was able to escape bodily harm, but the bolt still hit its mark, short circuiting the controls for the bounty hunter's rocketpack. Before Fett was able to bring his weapon around on the new attacker, the rocketpack engaged sending him hurtling through the air. Luke ducked and rolled out of the way as the bounty hunter rocketed towards him. The Jedi regained his footing in time to see Fett crash through the blaster riddled duracrete wall, frying the imbedded circuitry.

Luke turned to where Han was sitting and gave his friend a small salute and quick smile. "Thanks Han. I guess I owe you another one."

Han's mouth curled into a lopsided smile as he lowered his blaster pistol. "After this, I think we're even Kid."

Leia caught up with the fleeing Hutt and threw her lightsaber at the at the back of his hoversled. The spinning weapon sliced through the destroying it and stopping the slug in his tracks. Leia called the blue blade back to her hand and pointed it at Jabba, her anger starting to take control. She could not make out what the gangster was saying, but knew from his tone of voice that Jabba was trying to make a deal. "You think I'm going to make a deal with you!" The Hutt's eyes went wide with fear as the lightsaber neared his throat. Jabba changed tactics and began to plead for mercy. Leia grew angrier at this display of cowardice. "Mercy! The same kind of mercy that you show your own enemies! You deserve everything that's coming to you and more!"

Leia raised her lightsaber over her head, intent on bringing it down in a killing blow when a furry paw caught her arm in a strong grip. She twisted her arm free and spun around to face the Wookiee. "What are you doing!"

Chewie howled at Leia, howling at her that he wasn't going to let her become a murderer. Leia continued to glare at him, standing defiantly before the Wookiee. Chewbacca knew that he had to do something. He growled at her to think of Han and what he would think if she became a murderer due to him. Leia's face sobered as she realized how close to the Dark Side she had come. The Jedi turned back and glared at the Hutt who was nervously sitting on his broken hoversled. "You're right. Jabba may deserve to die, but that isn't for me to decide."

The relieved expression that came over the Hutt's face turned to terror again as Leia brought her lightsaber centimeters from Jabba's face. Her eyes were cold as she gave him her orders. "Leave this place. I never want to hear even a rumor about you bothering my friends or anyone on this planet ever again. If I do, you will see me again and next time, I won't be so generous." Chewbacca howled his own threats toward the gangster and turned to follow Leia who was quickly making her way back to the main chamber and Han.

Mara was unable to regain her bearings when Brea locked their blades and twisted her wrist. The Jedi's violet blade spun away from the combatants and deactivated as it hit the floor, rolling towards Luke. A quick kick to the sternum sent the distracted Mara falling to the ground. Before she could roll away, the Jedi Knight could feel the heat of her sister's blade on her throat. She looked up at her opponent and saw a flash of hesitation in Brea's eyes. "You can't do it can you? You don't want to kill me."

Brea pushed her weapon closer to Mara's throat, the skin beginning to turn red from the blade's heat. She sneered at her fallen foe "Shut up! Your mind tricks won't work on me." In spite of herself, Brea's found herself unable to deliver the killing blow. Some unknown Force stilled her blade. The assassin continued to glare at the woman below her. Brea couldn't help but be reminded of her lost sister looking into the Jedi's emerald eyes.

Mara looked upon her sister with soft eyes. Brea could be released from the Emperor's manipulations just as she had. Her sister just had to be shown that there was another choice. Brea had no need to seek revenge. "You won't kill me because you know I'm more to you than just some Jedi…My name is Mara Jade."

Brea pushed her blade closer to her foe's throat until she was just millimeters away from killing Mara. The Jedi had no right to toy with her emotions in that way. The woman had no right to rip those memories from her mind and use them to talk her way out of death, regardless of her physical similarity to the sister she had lost years ago…even before she had died. "You lie!"

Luke's smile faded from his face as he looked down, noticing something bump his foot. His eyes grew wide in fear when he saw Mara's lightsaber lying on the ground at his feet. Luke called the weapon to his free hand and ignited the violet blade as he ran to where he saw his fiancee with a lightsaber held at her throat. "Mara!"

Brea turned to face the approaching Jedi and her blade lifted just enough from Mara's throat to allow her room to breathe. Mara turned her head toward Luke and yelled to him. "Luke, stay back!" Luke running into the situation would only fuel Brea's anger. Mara needed her sister to calm down. Luke looked at Mara in confusion but her glare stopped him. If Mara told him to stay back, she knew what she was doing and Luke would trust her judgment.

Mara turned her head to once again face the newfound sister, whose attention she held once more. Brea's gold blade was once again just millimeters away from killing Mara, but hesitation was clearly written on her face. Meeting her sister's distressed brown eyes with her own pleading emerald eyes, Mara appealed to her sister to rethink what she was doing. "You won't kill me because you know it's true." Mara closed her eyes and called on the Force, sending the truth of her words to the woman standing above her.

The Force was able to finally pierce through the fog surrounding Brea's mind. Brea was overwhelmed when she finally realized what had happened. Her sister had never died at all. Mara was here with her. The Emperor had manipulated Brea even more than she had known. The aurburn haired woman deactivated her weapon and it slipped from her grip. Brea dropped to her knees in tears as the emotion of the situation overtook her.

Seeing his would be assassin drop her weapon, Luke switched off the blades in both of his hands and rushed to Mara's side. She shrugged him off as he attempted to help her to her feet. Mara was intent on doing it herself. Luke looked at his lover with confused eyes "What just happened?"

Mara closed her eyes and took a deep breath in order to collect her thoughts. She turned her gaze toward her trembling sister. "She's my sister. Somehow, the Emperor convinced her that I was dead…and that you were the one responsible. I know it sounds farfetched, but it's true. The Force tells me it's true."

Luke took Mara's hand in his and squeezed reassuringly. "I believe you." He could feel the connection between the two in the Force. Luke handed Mara back her lightsaber, feeling a sense of danger growing with each passing minute. "We need to find Leia and Chewie. I think it would be best if we didn't linger."

Mara nodded and picked up her sister's weapon as she approached Brea's huddled form. She stood before Brea and extended the hilt of her lightsaber toward her. Brea quickly raised her head, tears streaming down her face, and met her sister's soft green eyes. Mara addressed her sister in a gentle voice. "We're leaving. You should come with us. I know firsthand how unsafe it is to defy the Emperor." After a moment of contemplation, Brea nodded her head and took her sister's offered hand. They reached the main exit of the room just as Leia and Chewie reentered the chamber.

Leia gave Mara a puzzled look when she saw the auburn haired dancer standing at her side. Why was the woman who had snitched on them to Jabba standing next to Mara, obviously distraught? Mara's eyes met Leia's and the princess could see the emotion held within them. The Force sparked between the two women and Leia's eyes went wide when she noticed how similar the dancer's Force signature was to Mara's. Sensing Leia's realization, Mara nodded to confirm the princess' suspicions. Before either could exchange actual words, Luke called out to the group. He had found the source of the danger he had sensed.

"The self destruct mechanism was short circuited during the fight. Something tells me Jabba didn't want anyone else playing with his toys. We have to get out of here now." Luke took a step towards the exit of the chamber, but a frantic beeping from the back of the chamber called his attention to the corner of the room. He saw R2 was emerging from his safe haven, rocking back and forth wildly. "And don't forget the droids."

The group quickly made their way through the empty corridors of Jabba's palace and reached the docking bay. Using the access codes Lando had acquired while undercover, Luke started up a nearby skiff. As soon as everyone was on board, Luke pushed the controls to full throttle and raced across the dunes of Tatooine, wanting to put as much space between them and Jabba's place as possible before the inevitable explosion.

They were nearly a kilometer away from Jabba's palace when Luke heard the first explosion and looked over his shoulder. A series of fireballs exploded around the building like dominoes. The supports of the palace gave out and the structure collapsed into itself in one final explosion that consumed the entire palace. All that remained of the gangster's headquarters was a pile of rubble and a cloud of dust. Leia closed her eyes and reached out towards the palace in the Force. She opened her eyes when her suspicions were confirmed. "Jabba didn't get out. Neither did Fett. They both got what they deserved in the end."

Han turned his head in the direction of Leia's voice. He was able to make out a blurry form of tan, red and gold with a halo of brown at the head. "Now you're talking like Luke."

Leia's mouth formed a small smile as she moved closer to Han and pulled him toward her. "Family thing."

Han's face showed his confusion at her statement and he opened his mouth to speak, but Leia cut him off by placing her index finger on Han's lips. "We'll talk later." Leia grabbed Han by the collar and pulled him into a kiss to stifle any protests. There were none.

Luke set the skiff on auto-pilot and walked over to Mara at the side of the craft. He sat down next to his fiancee and put his arms around her drawing Mara's head to his chest. As she leaned back into Luke's chest, Mara's eyes never left the solitary form of her sister. Brea sat in the back corner of the skiff, curled up into a ball, unblinkingly staring out into the barren wastes of the Dune Sea.