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ANAKIN'S REDEMPTION

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Hello everyone and thanks for the great comments! God, you guys have me in stitches with every chapter, soon I think the comments page is going to be more interesting than the story cos you guys are so freakin funny!!!!

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Chapter Twenty One - Finding Padme

"Here, here…no, damnit, I lost it," said Luke, eyes closed.
"I felt it too," added Anakin.

A large and familiar building loomed up in front of them.
"Oh dear, not this dreadful place," moaned Threepio. Chewie slowed down the speeder.
"Jabba's Palace?" asked Han with disdain.

Anakin and Luke closed their eyes and concentrated. "I don't feel anything," concluded Luke.
"Neither do I," agreed Anakin. "Let's get closer though. This is the only building in the area."

Chewie stopped the speeder outside the large doors of the palace.

"I feel weird," commented Luke as they stepped out of the speeder and walked around. "It's…it's the same as at Mother's house."
"I feel it too," said Anakin.
"Must be ysalamiri again," said Leia. "Yes…I think you're right."
"I thought you couldn't feel the Force?" said Luke, turning to her curiously.
"Not like you can…but I can feel something, something missing."
"Good," smiled Anakin, patting his daughter on the shoulder.
"She must be here then, if the ysalamiri are here," said Luke.
"At Jabba's Palace?" said Han with a skeptical sneer. "Why the heck would she be there?"
Luke turned to Anakin. "Would you look for her here?"
Anakin shook his head. "Never in a million light years."
"That's your answer then," said Luke. "Artoo, can you get any life readings?"
Artoo beeped an affirmative.
"There's someone in there alright," said Luke. "But who?

They ventured further into the seemingly abandoned palace.

"I'm really starting to hate these ysalamiri things," Anakin muttered. "What's the point of being a Jedi if they can take the Force from you? Imagine these things got out, Jedi would become useless."
"Then we'd have to rely on old fashioned diplomacy," said Leia haughtily. "There are other skills in life than mysterious powers…"
"…and hokey religions," added Han.
"Just like her mother," Anakin mumbled to himself.

Artoo suddenly beeped frantically. Without warning they were surrounded by Gamorrean guards. Without the use of the Force, Anakin and Luke were taken completely by surprise. They immediately drew their lightsabers while Han, Leia and Chewie whipped out their own weapons.

"Hand over your weapons," one growled.
"I've got a bad feeling about this…" said Han. The two groups stood at a stand off, weapons pointed at each other. "Drop your weapons," growled one guard.
"I don't think so," said Han.
Anakin flipped off his lightsaber and tossed it to the guards without hesitation.
"Do it," he ordered the others.
"Why should we?" objected Han.
"It's clear that Padme is here. The ysalamiri are here, we felt her presence here, this is her hiding place. These guards are hers. She'll never let us in with weapons blazing. If we want to see her, we need to give up our weapons," clarified Anakin.
Luke immediately switched off his own saber and threw it to the guards. "He's right."
Leia was next to abandon her weapon. Han reluctantly gave up his blaster. Chewie was a little harder to convince, clinging to his bowcaster.
"Come on, pal," he urged him. "They want to find their mom." Chewie growled in protest, but finally handed over his weapon.

The guards collected the weapons and gestured for them to follow. Anakin, Luke, Leia, Han and Chewie were taken to the former throne room once belonging to Jabba the Hutt. Leia shuddered, remembering her days as a slave girl to the vile Jabba.

"Your mom's taken over Jabba's corporation?" Han asked Leia out of the corner of his mouth. "She's tougher than we gave her credit for."
"I hardly think she's running a Hutt Empire," said Leia sarcastically. "This is one of her more creative ways of hiding from Father, I'm guessing."

As they rounded the corner all five stopped in horror at the being sitting in front of them.

"Welcome!" it boomed.

"Jabba!" gasped Han.
Sitting on the throne was a large slobbering Hutt, grinning at them.
"No…no it's not Jabba…it can't be…" frowned Leia. "I killed him myself."
"That's not Jabba," pointed out Luke. "This one is smaller than him, and a different colour. And I think this one's a girl..."

He was right. Slightly shorter, a little thinner, and a lighter brown than Jabba, it was still as ugly and slimy as the original.

"My name is Jessa," the Hutt introduced herself. "I am Jabba's daughter. I have taken over his operation."
"Are you the one who has been hunting us?" asked Leia, as things suddenly fell into place.

"No. That was my good friend here, Boba," replied Jessa. Boba Fett stepped forward.
"Boba Fett!" exclaimed Han. "But you're de…you fell into the Sarlaac Pit. I saw you!"
"You pushed me more like it," growled Boba. "Luckily Jessa was close enough to send down a rescue to get me out."
"Boba here was kind enough to help me out with an…old debt," leered Jessa.
Luke and Han exchanged glances. Suddenly a lot of things made sense.

"But…why?" asked Leia. "Why send him after us? What have we done to you?""
"You – " said Jessa, pointing a slimy arm at Leia. "Killed my father."

There was a moment of silence as all eyes turned to Leia.

"So you've been trying to kill me instead?" she gasped. "Yes…at first. But your Jedi friends made Boba's work a little more difficult than usual. So we thought…eye for an eye instead." She gave a simpering grin.
"What's that supposed to mean?" demanded Han.
"I have merely taken her mother in a fair exchange."
"Mother!" cried Leia and Luke, as Anakin yelped "Not Padme!"
"Yeees," she leered. "I'm quite impressed that you managed to find her so soon. Who tipped you off?"
"N-nobody," said Leia, looking worried. "We just happened to be here, and my friends sensed her…it's a coincidence."
"Will of the Force," Anakin whispered, almost to himself.
"What do you plan to do with her?" interrupted Luke anxiously.

"Kill her of course. There is a debt that must be paid."