It was surprising how well the three younglings blended into the crowds of Coruscant. Outside the Imperial Palace, everyone was abuzz. Ben Solo-Skywalker would be addressing the populace on the latest collaboration of the Galactic Alliance. Despite the rocky start, all had gone relatively well between the First Order and the New Republic.
"I hear the Princess will be making an appearance," a handsome man muttered to the regal woman beside him.
"Really?" this woman's tone was disdainful. "Princess of what, again, Isolder?"
"Of Alderaan, mother!" Isolder cried in surprise. "Of Alderaan! She's the last person alive who remembers it!"
"Indeed," Isolder's mother said in a still-icy tone. "I'd forgotten. We should find our seats-our special ones. I'd rather not have to look at some of the garish clothes these peasants are wearing."
"Yes, Mother," Isolder said meekly, and he escorted his mother away quickly. What neither he nor his mother saw, however, was the blazing green eyes of a female youngling standing in the crowd.
I see her, Jaysa.
Pushing her thoughts towards her twin was a second nature-if not her first. To her surprise, it wasn't her twin who replied first.
That's Tenel Ka's mother?
Grandmother, the female youngling corrected. She agreed with her younger brother's assessment. Jaysa?
Hold on for one minute, Jaya!
She frowned at her twin's abrasiveness.
Sorry. . . I just saw Tenel Ka. Can you maybe give me some privacy?
Why? So you and her can. . .
I didn't need that image, thanks. Please, Jaya?
Fine, Jaysa. She reluctantly agreed and ducked out of his head. She hated it. She hated being cut off from anyone. She'd never been truly alone and she feared it. Another person blocking her was another step to being completely, truly, utterly alone.
I know, he's annoying, especially when it comes to Tenel Ka, her little brother relied. I'm still here.
Thanks, Han, she replied in relief. Is Tahiri here?
No, she's still with Luke on Anch-To, Han informed her.
I meant in the Force, dummy, she snapped.
Oh. . . No. I'm going up to the platform. Dad's going to start talking soon. You should probably get going, too.
I will, she promised, and as soon as she'd finished that thought, she turned around to see her mother.
"Come on, Jaina, we need to be up to the balcony," Kira Rey Skywalker-Solo said. Jaina bit her lip and followed her mother through the crowd to their Noghri bodyguards. They were escorted to a lift, where a slightly disheveled Jacen was standing in the box.
Jaina smirked, already experiencing the flashback secondhand. Red hair, silk and scales, and the smell of Dathomiri flowers filled Jacen's mind like a fog. There was an uncanny and awkward silence as they waited for the elevator to open.
Standing behind the balcony doors were Han, (spotless and perfect-looking) General Leia Organa, (dressed in a white Alderaanian dress that had survived the destruction and the end of her princess days) and Ben Solo-Skywalker, dressed in Nubian robes.
He immediately embraced his wife, the two embracing in the Force as well. It disgusted Jaina to think of that as a use for the Force.
"Thank you, Mother, for doing this," Ben murmured, looking to Leia.
"You've come a long way from the way you were," she said. "I'm happy to help with politics, rather than the Jedi. Remember what I told you."
Ben nodded. "Let's go."
The Imperial Family plastered their usual smiles on their faces as they emerged onto the balcony. It never ceased to amaze Jaina, the people cheering for her family, people from all over the galaxy. She sat in her designated seat, and resisted the temptation to go into a trance for this. Ben always told her that history was important, and Luke only repeated that sentiment.
This was something that younglings would study in history books twenty, thirty, a hundred years later.
"Welcome to the Imperial Palace!" Ben's commanding voice took the acoustics of the seating in the outdoor area by storm. "In the coming standard week, we will be celebrating fifteen years since the death of the Supreme Leader and the beginning of the Galactic Alliance!"
A deafening roar rose from the crowd. Jaina's sharp Jade eyes caught the expression of Tenel Ka's grandmother-dry, haughty, and unimpressed.
Just you wait, Jaina thought.
"This isn't just some anniversary, however," Ben continued, briefly glancing down at his podium, quick to look up again. "This year, we will discuss our latest goal-as introduced by Resistance General and Princess of Alderaan, LEIA ORGANA!"
Whistles and cheers joined the applause as Leia approached the podium.
"I have lived a long time," Leia said amiably. "I have seen many governments. I only hope this Alliance will last as long as the Old Republic once did. We plan to negotiate with any and all groups that have not joined us-including the Remnant!"
There was an uncertainty to that in the crowd-Jaina could sense it. She understood. The Remnant, she'd been told her whole life, was bad. Led by Armitage Hux, a name cursed with Corellian and Alderaanian words Ben had hastily told the twins to never repeat, (they did, to Han, in the closet immediately after) it stood for an Empire of pure evil.
Why in the name of the Force would anyone want to negotiate with them?
"It has long been time for peace," Leia continued. "And as old and experienced as I am, I will die trying to achieve it."
Jaina wished she'd said something else, anything else, when the sniper shot rang out and barely curved around Leia's head.