Forward:

This is a fan fiction based off of the Star Wars novels. It is supposed to take place a few weeks after the novel Sacrifice. I do not own Star Wars or any of its characters. I want to warn people that this story has been in my mind since Star by Star and I felt Anakin Solo was ripped off on his death. So…… I found some loopholes in the whole death thing. What happens is my idea of what could be made into a novel, but probably won't. It would rock, because I loved the Force Heretic series and I wish Tahiri got more roles in the new series. She is an awesome character who deserved better than some authors dealt her. I am giving it to her, so read on if you enjoy story and some action with explanations on how ANAKIN IS NOT DEAD. Oh, and I rated this M for blood, not lemons. No lemons and there probably won't ever be in any of my work.

Prologue:

Slice, parry, chop, slice, slice, decapitate, block, stab, spin, flip, decapitate...

Anakin's mind was racing, he was fighting faster than he had ever had to fight before. Three down, five, ten, twenty... countless more, all falling to his blade. Push, spin, push, flip, decapitate... there seemed to be no end in sight. That was fine by him, though. His only goal was to kill as many as he could, to stall for his friends for as long as possible. Leg sweep, knee cut, stab, swipe, cleave, jump, spin, slice... fifty more pile through the door way over the dead and dieing corpses.

Then, through the Force, Anakin felt a change, a wave of relief hits him from Jacen and he knows the mother Jedi Hunter is dead. Spin, slice, slice, slice, jump, decapitate, kick... The Vong have hit him more times than he can count, but he keeps going. Burning. The Force that is being channeled is in such quantities that Anakin appears to be wreathed in an ethereal glow. Force Flames lick at his face and hair and burn away the poison of the Amphi sticks, burn away the pain of the broken bones caused by Vong thud bugs.

Burning. Burning and then... nothing. Anakin felt like he had just gone from the center of a mass of Vong into a vast empty nothingness. He could still see the Vong and, strange he thought, he could see himself. He was still fighting, but Anakin was not in himself. Huh was all that came to his mind. He turned around and saw his retreating teammates in the distance. He saw Tahiri being dragged away. She was weeping and screaming his name. I'm sorry. This was the only way to save you… I … love you. Again, he turned around to see himself still fighting the Vong, still burning in a fire of pure Force energy made substance. Is this what death is? He thought. Then the fire abruptly left his soulless body in a spectacular explosion. An outpouring of Force energy never seen before in the known history of the Republic and one that blew hundreds of Vong to their deaths. His body lay collapsed on the ground, dead. Well, now what. Just then the world started going white, his vision of the Vong world ship fading as the vision of a new scene came into focus. A scene that took his breath away. Replacing the dark and evil scene of his own death was a white building in a white field. The only colors to be scene were white and pale blue. The building resembled slightly the new Jedi Temple on Couroscant. Towering parapets at the four corners of a giant dome with another, even more ornate, towering in the direct center. It looked to be miles away, but just as soon as Anakin thought this he was at the great doors. The doors were carved with what appeared to be stories of some of the greatest Jedi to have lived. Here was a Jedi slicing the head off of a giant beast similar to a rancor. Here was a Jedi healing wounded soldiers. Another was what appeared to be Anakin's grandfather holding the late Emperor Palpatine over his head and being shocked by pure dark side energy. Thousands of carvings covered these gigantic doors. Anakin didn't understand. Everything here seemed to defy all that he had learned of the universe. The doors were a sparkling white, bright as a star's core, but he could see every carving as clear as if they were painted there. There was no source of light, so no shadows, but light was everywhere at the same time. He buried his questions and pushed on the great doors, surprised at the ease of opening the doors that were at least 100 feet high. …or are they miles high? He walked into a massive chamber. It was beautiful beyond words, yet Anakin didn't even look at it. In front of him was something that trumped even the room for his attention. Thousands of people. Hundreds of thousands of people wearing Jedi robes. And they were all looking at him. A veritable sea of people that parted down the middle making a path for him to walk. Momentarily stunned, Anakin didn't even breath as a Ithorian Jedi walked up to him and bade him follow. Anakin shut his mouth that had been wide open moments before and followed the Ithorian. Not one person in the hall made a noise, neither did one of them stop looking at Anakin. Anakin made sure that he was walking tall and proud. "First impressions are important" his mother's words came to him. As he thought that he realized he would probably never see her or his father again. Now is not the time for that… He thought. He strode down the hall to another set of doors. The Ithorian stepped to the side and motioned for him to enter. He gathered his wits about him as pushed open the door. Inside was a few Jedi sitting in a semi circle. It reminded him of the chambers of the Jedi Counsel, though he didn't believe he would ever see it again. The seven Jedi before him were of various shapes and sizes, but all wore long robes and had their faces covered by hoods. He walked into the room to the very center of the half circle and stood, waiting for whatever they had had him come in here for. Windows bordered the room, but they seemed pointless due the omnipresent light. Suddenly one stood up, a human by Anakin's view, but it could be any humanoid. The blue and white figure took a few steps and was next to Anakin in a second. Anakin tensed up, unsure of what to expect. Whenever he reached for the Force to try to sense the feelings of the Jedi before him he couldn't seem to find it. The force was eluding him, and so was any sense of what his audience was feeling. The Jedi that was now directly in front of him seemed to be thinking. Then, suddenly, Anakin was enveloped in a strong bear hug that matched Han Solo in shear breath stopping power.

"Heh, any more of that, Anakin, and the boy will die again."

"Yes, let the boy breath."

It took Anakin a moment to realize that the Anakin they were taking about was not him, but the one that had nearly choked him to death. He stepped back and looked closely at the man in front of him. The man gave a short laugh and pulled the hood from his face revealing… a face of a handsome man that seemed vaguely familiar. It came to him almost instantly. "Grandfather?"

"Yes, but don't expect any presents or anything." Anakin Skywalker said with a laugh.

Anakin Solo was taken aback. Suddenly all of the Jedi removed their hoods and stood up. Before him were the some of the greatest Jedi Masters to have ever lived. Mace Windu, Obi-wan Kenobi, Qui-gon Jin, even the great Yoda who taught his Uncle Luke was there.

"Welcome, young Solo."

"Yes, wish it was under different circumstances we do."

"Have a seat, Anakin Solo, and we will talk about your future."

A chair appeared behind him and Anakin slumped down into it. Amazement was all the only emotion he could feel. He was in the presence of some of the most powerful Jedi he had ever heard of. Dead Jedi, got to remember that. Next to his grandfather sat a woman of amazing beauty, Anakin could only guess that this was his grandmother.

"Are you my… grandmother?" Anakin asked. He knew it sounded stupid, but how else was he supposed to say it when his brain was coming close to overload. The woman looked at his grandfather with a look Anakin had only seen between his mother and father, or his uncle and aunt. She turned back to Anakin and nodded with tears of joy in her eyes. Anakin smiled. Obi-wan Kenobi then spoke words the words that Anakin was least expecting to hear out of anything that could have been said.

"Anakin, you are not dead."

"……what?"

"You aren't dead. We have watched your progress through the Force with great interest…" at this his grandfather gave a short laugh, "hmmm… right, and we watched your heroic and humble sacrifice for your friends. And we know what happened in that last fight was something that had only happened once or twice before. Anakin, your soul left your body before your body had died. It was forced out, if you will, by the amazing amount of Force you were using. Therefore, when your body died later your soul didn't actually die with it. Just look at yourself for proof."

Anakin looked down at his body. He was still wearing his combat fatigues and special mission gear down to the lightsaber. "I don't understand, I'm wearing what I was when I died, so?" Obi-wan smiled.

"What color are you?"

"Well, black mostly…"

"What color are we?"

It suddenly hit him that he was the only thing of any color but white and blue in this room. No wonder the Jedi outside were staring at me, they haven't seen any color in maybe thousands of years.

"Oh. I see."

"What follows this observation is this. If your soul did not die, why are you here?"

"Um… I would guess that this is the only place it could go when my body died."

"Right! But as you can see, it doesn't belong here. A living soul should not be one with the Force, it would bring it into unbalance."

"Yes," Yoda chimed in, "a living soul at one with the force cause many problems in the living world it would."

"And that is why you must leave with all speed."

Anakin's jaw dropped. He had just died and now he was being told, "Nope, sorry, not totally dead, send him away."

"O-ok, so now what."

His grandfather spoke up.

"Your soul just needs its body back, or a living body with no soul in it to be sent back to the realm of the living, but that is easier said then done. Your old body will not be available, and a soulless body is impossible to come by, so the only option you have is to get a new body. There is only one way to do that and no one here can help you in it. You must begin the creation of your new body."

"Ok." Anakin was suddenly excited. If this was what he thought it meant than he would be able to go back to his family, his friends, Tahiri…

"You can't help me make it, but can you tell me how I should do it?"

"Yes," Mace Windu suddenly spoke "That is why I am here. I am the only other person besides you to have ever passed my soul into this world bypassing death. I did this before the Clone Wars, almost when your grandfather was born. Rejoining the living is a very long process and it must be done with absolute precision. A living body is amazingly complex and you will be forming one from its base elements and molecules. The benefit of this is that your new body will be saturated with the Force, to the point of being more powerful than a Sith Lord on one of your bad days. The downfall is that it might take ten or so years to make and more if you account for aging."

"Ten years…" Just the thought made him sick to his stomach. Ten years is a long time, he would be in his upper twenties. Ten years might mean his family would be dead, or his friends, or Tahiri might fall in love with some guy and get married…

"How do I do it, I must start immediately!" Anakin jumped to his feet. He was ready to rush out the room to wherever he needed to go.

"Sit down, young Solo, and we will tell you. Calm is of utmost importance, if you make a mistake in the creation process than you will just end up back here. This is a second chance that you have, don't ruin it by rushing through things. Now, the first step is to find a place in the real world that is strong in the force. Luckily for you the perfect place has already been found. It is called Zenoma Sekot, and it is a living planet. There is no place that is thicker in the Force……"

And so Anakin began the long and difficult process of rejoining the land of the living, and his loved ones.

TO BE CONTINUED