The idea to do an exclusive Ben-Allana fic came to me while reading GravityNeko's The Redhead Chronicles.
Setting: Just post-LOTF. Coruscant, The Solos' apartment.
He stood silently in the doorway, watching the little girl with dark red hair, so similar and yet so different from his own, as she continued to play with a stuffed taun-taun upon the bed. An uncertain smile hovered about his lips, but he dithered, engrossed in watching the child, herself engrossed in an imaginary world. Finally, she straightened and turned to look directly at him, with thoughtful grey eyes which felt as though they could see through to his soul.
"Why are you watching me?" she asked, coming straight to the point.
Ben Skywalker smiled.
"I was wondering if maybe you would grant me permission to join you."
The girl continued to look at him for a moment, then nodded. Ben walked forward and perched on one corner of the bed. Six-year old Allana Solo re-arranged her dress as she plopped down to face him.
"My name is Ben," he began with the introduction.
"Mine is A...Amelia."
Ben grinned lop-sidedly at her, his blue eyes twinkling.
"No it's not."
Allana's eyes widened.
"You know my real name?"
He nodded.
"But that's supposed to be a secret! No one's supposed to know! Except-"
"Family," he finished for her.
She cocked her head, but remained silent, waiting for him to carry on.
"I'm your cousin...Allana."
The name, alonwith the look in her eyes, roused a flicker in his memory, but it vanished before he could grasp it.
"You're Uncle Luke's son, aren't you? You came with Grandma and Grandpa to rescue me."
Ben chuckled softly.
"You're a funny little girl! How do you know so much?"
Allana drew herself up imperiously.
"I'm a princess."
Ben raised one eyebrow humorously.
"And I'm a Jedi Knight. Well, ok...not a Knight, not yet, but I will be," he admitted with a shrug.
The girl brightened.
"My mommy is a Jedi Knight! She even has a lightsaber!"
Ben nodded again.
"Yes, we all do."
Allana appeared to be considering something.
"I want a lightsaber."
"Well, then you'll have to become a Jedi Knight."
"Can I become a Jedi Knight?"
"But I thought you said you were a princess?"
Allana pouted.
"My mommy's a queen, but she's a Jedi."
"Why do you want to become a Jedi?"
"Because Jedi are strong and they're not afraid of anything and they have cool powers and can do loads of stuff. And lightsabers," she finished in triumph.
Ben leaned back.
"You know," he began slowly, " Uncle Han doesn't have Jedi powers, or a lightsaber. But he has a blaster and he's strong and can do loads of cool stuff. He can fly better than a lot of Jedi I know and I'm willing to bet he's not afraid of anything."
Allana pursed her lips and folded her little arms across her chest, staring down at Ben over the bridge of her nose.
"That's coz he's Grandpa Han," she pointed out, as if emphasizing the patently obvious.
Ben let out a guffaw and reached over to affectionately tweak the little girl's nose, much to her annoyance.
"Can't argue with that, kid!"
Allana pulled the stuffed taun-taun into her lap and settled herself down before her cousin once more. Ben's gaze strayed down to the toy.
"Whatcha got there?" he asked.
Allana stood the toy upon the bed.
"His name's Jacen," she said.
Ben's mouth opened and closed a few times, his smile completely dissolving as he tried valiantly to stall the wave of dismay that arose in his chest at the mention of the name. Too late. Allana had felt it. She scrambled toward her new-found cousin at the sudden rush of emotion she felt from him.
"Ben? What-what's wrong?"
Ben shielded his face from her and bit his lip hard, trying to regain a semblance of control.
Allana sat back on her heels, her expressive grey eyes reflecting her concern.
"That name," she said slowly, "It makes you sad. Shall I change his name? I can call him whatever you want. It-it doesn't matter."
Ben looked up, shielding his emotions to the best of his abilities, trying to keep his voice steady and atleast a slight smile on his face.
"Why- why did you name him...Jacen?"
Allana twisted the suddenly controversial toy in her hands as she answered.
"He gave this to me. I-I used to think he was a nice man. He-he was my daddy."
There was a plea in the child's eyes that made Ben's throat threaten to close up. He felt a new surge of anger toward the memory of his departed cousin.
How could you, Jacen? Your own daughter! You had no mercy even for her?
He felt an urge to take the girl in his arms and hug her. He could possibly relate better than anyone to the betrayal of her love. But he restrained himself. He swallowed uncomfortably, fidgeting with the silken coverlet, one of his Aunt Leia's most expensive, as he cast about in his mind for another way to change the topic.
"You know, Allana, I keep getting the feeling I've met you before. Do you... feel that too? Can you remember me?"
Allana pulled her brows together in a pert frown as she considered his question.
"I've lived my whole life on Hapes. This is the first time I'm away from there. Since my daddy brought me away... Did you ever visit Hapes?"
Ben frowned, concentrating.
Hapes... it seemed to ring a bell. He shook his head, trying to clear his memory, but the haze surrounding it remained. All he had was a niggling feeling. He decided to let it rest for now and meditate upon it later.
"So you enjoying Coruscant, kid?" Ben attempted to lighten the mood in the room which had suddenly grown oppressive for both of them.
Allana smiled.
"Yeah, my Grandpa's fun."
Ben winked conspiratorially at her.
"Oh? Try watching him when he's playing sabacc with his buddies. He's even more fun then! And if you catch him when he's drunk and ask nicely, he'll even teach you a couple of Corellian drinking songs!"
A soft cough sounded from the direction of the doorway, interrupting the two cousins in their bonding session.
"Jedi Padawans should know better than to be teaching Hapan Princesses about Corellian tavern tunes."
Queen Mother Tenel Ka Djo's rich voice wafted musically into the room. Ben sprang from his seat, his face turning scarlet as he executed a formal bow.
"Queen Mother."
She smiled fondly down at the boy, laying a hand on his shoulder.
"You don't need to be so formal with me in private, Ben. I'm glad to see you taking an effort to make friends with my daughter. The role of a Chume'da can be quite a lonely one."
Allana's face was a bright light in the presence of her regal mother. Ben smiled, but didn't entirely let his formal posture go. He was trained far better than that. Tenel Ka reached for her daughter's hand, helping her jump off the bed. The smile on her face at the sight of her daughter caused Ben's memory to stir again, but again it remained elusive.
"Come on. Dinner's waiting. Allana, why don't you go help your grandmother set the table?"
Allana bounced off happily, trailing her soft toy behind her. Ben noticed even Tenel Ka's brow creased at the sight of it.
"Queen Mother?" he queried softly.
She collected herself and looked at him with a well-rehearsed smile.
"Yes?"
Ben looked unusually thoughtful.
"I don't know why, but I keep getting the feeling I've met Allana before."
He looked at her, his blue eyes troubled.
"Would you happen to know anything about that?"
It took all of Tenel Ka's considerable training, both as a Jedi and as a queen to keep the blatant shock she felt at his words from showing in her expression or her Force-aura.
"Why, Ben! I-I'm sure I don't know what you mean. No one knew of her before now. Before...Caedus forced my hand."
Ben didn't pursue the matter. He could tell when he was being lied to. But he didn't know why.
Tenel Ka watched in silence as the boy left before her, tightening her lips imperceptibly. She remembered having been shocked at how willing Jacen had been to attack and rub out his younger cousin's memory of their visit to Hapes. He'd said it was so that the boy wouldn't feel the trauma of the Dark Nest attack, but it had really been to protect Allana's identity. She wondered if she should have recognized the obsession bordering on madness in him right then. If for nothing else, Jacen had deserved his fate because of what he'd wrought against these two children, who had committed no greater fault than that they had loved him.