In the twenty-one years since he had been born, he had never, ever heard a noise that shrill. She was four. The girl was four and she was screaming her little lungs out. Her stuffed bantha's leg had torn and that meant, oh Force, it was the end of the Galaxy.

"Allana."

He didn't know how to deal with this type of stuff. He wasn't a good babysitter at all. And here she was holding the bantha up to him like he was supposed to take it and stitch it back up and doctor it and make it all better again. He stood in front of her, the bantha at his stomach and all he could manage to do was take it from her and hold it in front of him - then he joined in her screaming, his gloved hands clutching the bantha and his mouth emitting a bored sounding monotone wail.

"Waiiiiiii. Waiiiii!"

Peeking through the doorway from the office into to the royal chambers, Tenel Ka and Jacen Solo wanted to know what all the fuss was about. And the scene was quite amusing, so they partook in the viewing. The babysitter caught them watching and shook his head at them, exclaiming over Allana's screams. "Your daughter is crazy. Did you get that memo? CRAAAAAAAZY."

"Thanks again, Gadell! We can tell you're enjoying this!" Jacen happily piped up, his smirk broadening to a grin.

"Yes, we are actually getting a lot of work done, thanks to you." Tenel Ka couldn't keep a smile from gracing her lips as she turned back to the task at hand. Jacen joined her and they continued to mill over flimsiplast stacks and datapads.

With a loud sigh, Gadell retreated with the bantha still in his grasp and sat up on the bed, one hand tightening around the animal's leg, the other balled into a fist under his chin. The girl had stopped her screaming, but was now caught in a fit of tiny sobs, her shoulders racking as tears continued to trail down her cheeks. "You're hurting him."

"He's not in any pain." Gadell waved the stuffed animal around, the torn leg wobbling unnaturally in the air, which made Allana frown furiously. "What?"

"Put him down! You're hurting him!"

Gadell dropped the bantha to the ground, draping his free arm across his lap, behind the arm propped up under his chin. His eyes grew distant and his vision blurred a bit as he sat there, absently noting Allana crawling up onto the bed behind him and playing with his hair.

"What are you doing?" He finally inquired, shifting slightly, his muscles tensing.

"Giving you fightin' braideses like Mommy!"

It took all his composure to stay seated and not turn around to deliver a glare that would no doubt frighten her. He always made sure his hair was perfect - it was black, shoulder-length, always had a nice sheen to it. And here was Allana, getting her grubby child hands in it. Putting it in "braideses" - Alright, no, that was it.

Twisting in his spot on the soft covers, he grabbed Allana by her sides and picked her up, moving her to the middle of the bed. "Guess what?!"

"What!?" She looked excited, like Gadell had something incredible to tell her.

"It's bedtime!" Not giving her a chance to respond, Gadell pulled the covers from under her and threw them over her, not minding that they covered her whole body, up past her face. Maybe she would get scared of the dark or something and run to her parents, then he could go get some work done, or finally eat dinner. He began to move swiftly to the exit, stopping in his tracks at a loud squeal.

"Heeeeeey!"

Spinning around, he saw Allana sitting up in bed, dark auburn hair taking the shape of a mynock's nest on her head and a frown pasted on her face.

"Hmm?"

"I'm scared and I can't go t'sleep unless Mommy is here."

"Mommy is right there," Gadell waved his hand towards the office.

"Here!" She patted her open palms on either side of her, on the bed.

Emitting a loud sigh, the Hapan Lieutenant stalked over to the bed and threw his boots off, tossing them on the floor and crawling up into the oversized silk boat that acted as a bed for the Queen Mother. He slammed his back down against the bed and stared to the ceiling, interlocking his fingers over his torso. "There. Happy? Pretend I'm Mommy. Night night Princess."

"Don't call me that!" Burying herself back under the covers, Allana was beaming now, and also reaching out to pet Gadell's hair. Mommy let Allana pet her hair while she was trying to fall asleep, so Gadell had better let her do it too.

The brat might never go to sleep if I don't.

He let her, sure, but that didn't mean he wasn't scowling outwardly while she did.

Soon after that, he had drifted off into a light sleep himself, Allana curled up in a tiny little ball under the covers beside him. Her parents emerged from the office, their eyes sunken, both of them yawning with flimsiplast stacks in their grasps. Tenel Ka threw a slight smirk towards the bed, stifling what almost could've been considered a dry chuckle. "Gadell is sleeping with our daughter."

Jacen lazily shook his head, his snicker almost matching hers, "Not even funny."

"Better than any joke you have ever come up with..." Tenel Ka led the way out of the royal quarters, a defensive Jacen in tow.

The sunlight was diffused a bit, leaving the bedroom in a hazy, dreamlike state - she noticed this after she stifled a yawn and rubbed her eyes with the backs of her hands. She was laying on her side and there was a pair of arms around her bare stomach. She knew who it was just by the waves in the Force - and that was when the previous night came back to her.

Turning over, she came face-to-face with the sleeping visage of a man she had known all her life. She could see a few small creases at the corners of his eyes; she could even see a gray strand of hair here and there, streaming from his forehead back down to his shoulders - but it was still, for the most part, a sea of black. She had watched that face many times over the years; during meetings, at banquets, a lingering glance when she would pass him in the halls. There was something about him - it was so grown-up, so mature.

It was everything her suitors weren't.

Her shifting had woken him up, as he blinked back sleep, squinting towards the windows past her. The rays that broke the clouds and shot into the room, almost blinded him and he scowled openly - the expression only vanishing when the woman in bed with him, leaned up on her left arm, blocking the light. "Thanks..." He murmured.

A tiny smile was all he got in return from her and then a pause. He knew it wouldn't be long before she addressed the matter at hand. And something in her eyes - they had that spark of hope. He felt horrible that he had to be the one to shut it out. He watched her delicate lips at they pursed and his eyes stayed there until she began to speak.

"What now?"

Letting his gaze drag up to her stony orbs, Gadell inhaled deeply, enjoying her scent before breathing it back out with words he wasn't really ready to say. "Nothing. There can be nothing now." He saw her face fall. "Allana, I have nothing to offer you. You're going to be the Queen Mother one day, I'm the Admiral of the naval fleet. I have my work and that's it. I don't have all the fortune and the manners and whatever else those suitors of yours have."

"You have a personality. And the Force too, what about that?"

"Yeah, you see what I've done with that. I use it to pick up things and bring them over to me when I'm too lazy to get them myself. I'm not a Jedi, I'm not a Sith, I'm just there. That's how I am with everything. And imagine what the people would think, marrying one of your subordinates - and your parents. I've known them even longer than you have. They would, they, they - I don't even want to think about it."

He was rambling. He rambled almost furiously when his nerves began to falter.

Her eyebrows furrowed as she stared back to him and he could feel her legs curling into a fetal position under the covers. Reaching out, he cupped her right cheek in his palm, letting his skin drag across hers for a few moments before leaning up and planting a chaste kiss on her forehead. It was exactly like the kisses he used to give to her when she was a young lady of nine or ten and he had to show his respect to the Chume Ta'. Innocent, respectful, even caring. It was his job, along with all the other officers and guards, to protect the royal family. She had received many kisses like that from many of the upper officers, right in the middle of the forehead - during events, socials, banquets, speeches.

Just another formality.

What she had never received were the kisses he had given her the night before. For him to go from those back to the small nothings he had just planted upon her forehead... it hurt.

"I should go." Vessau slid to the edge of the bed and gathered his clothes up from the floor. He began to put them all on, piece by piece, ending with his gloves. Finally turning back towards her, he tilted his head slightly, his eyes downcast. "We should just keep it simple. If you ever need me again, for... for anything, you know where to find me. Just... just remember that this didn't happen."

And with that, he exited.

Allana absently shifted onto her back, her eyes moving across the stone ceiling as she recalled the events of the night before. There had been the banquet for her parents anniversary, there had been dancing. She was dancing with him, they were laughing and joking around, planning on playing some sort of prank on her father - but when they left to find the items to put it into motion, they had just ended up in her chambers grabbing at each other feverishly with their lips locked.

It just progressed from there.

At lunch that day, Allana sat with her parents in the dining hall, Jacen blubbering on about some nonsense relating to nerf's mating habits. Tenel Ka absently nodded at his words, shooting her daughter pleading looks every few minutes like she could stop her father's rambles. Allana was about to interject something clever to help her mother, when the Admiral of the Hapan fleet stepped in the doorway. He stalked over to the table, not faltering a bit, and avoided Allana's gaze as he spoke to Tenel Ka about something fleet related. Tenel Ka began to fiddle with a datapad as Gadell stood by her side.

"You look tired, Gadell." Jacen noted, as he slurped a spoonful of soup.

Chuckling politely, Gadell shrugged. "Guess I had too much to drink last night."

He didn't drink at all, Allana kept her eyes on the table ahead of her.

Jacen emitted something, almost a cackle, as he looked up to Gadell. "Following in the footsteps of Wes Janson? I hear he's still passed out in the gardens somewhere."

"I would not be surprised," Tenel Ka added in passing, her eyes still scanning the datapad.

Gadell laughed, before nodding to the Queen Mother and turned, "Alright, I'm off to prepare for the meeting this afternoon. Enjoy your lunch."

Jacen and Tenel Ka said their thanks while Allana continued to eat and stare at the table. She was twenty - twenty standard years old - and here she sat poking at her food like a four year old.

Days passed. Nights passed. Weeks passed. Everytime Gadell saw her, he'd try to read her, but he couldn't. They rarely spoke and when they did, it was formalities. Once he caught her staring at him, a few times she caught him gazing at her. But nothing more.

"Dad? Can I talk to you for a minute?"

Jacen Solo was reclined in a chair overlooking the large table in the meeting room below. Tenel Ka was currently at that table, along with Gadell, both of whom were involved in a heated debate with other members of the Council over trade routes.

"Sure Allana. I'm sure whatever you have to say is more exciting than this debate. I just feel bad that your mom and Gadell have to take part in it. I mean, can't they debate about something more pressing? Trade routes? Those have been established for -"

Jacen continued to ramble, Allana listening to him with one ear and tuning out with the other. She let her eyes drift down to the table below, her gaze instantly landing on Gadell. His hair was pulled back into a loose ponytail and his eyes were wide and alert as they moved back and forth to whomever was currently spouting off a point. When he spoke, she could hear his voice, but couldn't really make out what he was saying - the sound was deep and commanding - but she could still hear that hint of humility that she heard from him in bed that morning. His gloved hands were planted on the table ahead of him - she hadn't seen him without those gloves since that morning, when his hands were on her skin -

"- and I just can't believe the politics and everything. There has to be something more important than this. Hmm. So what did you want to talk to me about, Al?"

Snapping out of her trance, she looked back to her father and leaned the small of her back against the railing. "There's this guy..."

"Are you pregnant?"

Allana's eyes went wide.

"You're pregnant and you're not telling him?!" Jacen scrambled around in his seat and Allana swore she could see all his hair going gray that instant.

"I'm not Mom." Allana responded calmly, breaking a smile at the thought of her mother and how she broke the news of her own pregnancy to her dad. She wished she was there for that revelation, his hair probably instantly went gray then too.

Letting an audible sigh of relief stream through his lips, Jacen reclined in the seat again, waiting for his daughter to continue.

"So this guy..."

"Do I know him?"

"Dad."

"Come on. Legitimate question."

She paused, waiting for him to calm down before she continued. "I want to tell him how I feel, but I'm not sure how he'll respond."

"Is it one of your suitors?"

Sighing, she figured she might as well humor him, "No."

"Good, because pretty much every one of them that I've seen is a loser. I've even seen some of the ones that tried to court your mother, they're back trying to court you. And they were about twice her age when they tried to court her."

Shuddering at the thought of the same suitors just working their way down the family until someone approves enough of them, Allana pushed it from her head. "So what do I do?"

"Tell him. Don't make the same mistake I did and keep it all in. I never even got to tell your mother how I felt myself, she just sort of knew, which took all the awkward fun out of it. I mean, am I that obvious?"

That moment, her dad looked just like he did in the old holos she had seen of him as a smiling, hopeful, lanky, weird teenager.

"You are."

"Damn."

"Sorry Dad."

He waved a hand and looked back down to his wife, who was finally dismissing everyone. "That took long enough. I would've fallen asleep if you hadn't come to talk to me. Trade routes, psh." Jacen stood and mussed Allana's dark hair with his left hand, peering into her deep gray eyes. "Go on and tell him. And tell me who it is later, hm?"

Nodding, Allana shot a smirk that reminded Jacen of himself and with a chuckle in response, he left the balcony to go meet up with Tenel Ka. Allana hesitated before descending to the main floor herself.

Seeing Gadell across the way milling around with some of the Council members in the lobby, she stopped and took a deep breath before waiting until he was alone and approaching him. She opened her mouth to say something, but before anything came out, Gadell spoke.

"Could I see you in my quarters tonight?" His voice was cold, almost calculating.

Her lips worked around nothing as she searched for the words to say. Had not talking to him for this long - had it really made him this distant from her?

"Good. Three hours from now would be fine." He pushed past her, brushing her shoulder against his.

All she could do was stand there, shaking her head.

What just happened?

That night, Allana stood in front of the entrance to his chambers, peering around before knocking on the surface. It opened instantly, and with another glance around to make sure no one was in the hall, she slipped into the room, the door shutting behind her.

The quarters were dark, decorated to the brim with Hapan artwork. There were old paintings on the walls, small statues along the entranceway. She saw holos on the nightstand by the table of him and his family from when he was a child - also a couple of her and her parents. They had been like a second family to him, especially after his parents died. Which made this whole ordeal seem a bit odd to her, but it also felt like something she had to do, she had to talk to him. He had been on her mind for weeks since that night.

He was seated in a chair, the high back of it facing her. Gadell was staring out the tall windows behind his desk.

"Princess."

"Don't call me that," she shot back coldly. How dare he invite her up here to treat her like -

Her thoughts all came to a halt once he spun the chair around and stood from it, something settled in his bare hands. It was a stuffed animal, a bantha. One of the legs was sewn crudely to the bantha's head and Allana's eyebrows shot upwards as she saw this. He placed it in her hands and awkwardly stood in front of her, burying his hands in the pockets of his uniform jacket. "I was going to give it back to you the day after the leg came off, with it sewn on it's head - to, you know, make you cry or something. But I forgot. And it's been in my closet ever since."

"You kept it that long? Sixteen years?"

Gadell nodded.

"That's... that's actually kind of creepy."

His head continued to bob up and down slowly, his eyes locked on the bantha in her hands. "I know." A beat passed. "But you like it."

Her nodding mirrored his, "You know, I think I do." She paused, her mind trying to form the right thoughts in her head. "So what made you decide to give this back to me now?"

"Well..." Gadell tooks his hands out of his pockets and crossed his arms over his chest. A move that suggested some sort of insecurity. "At first you were always an annoying little brat to me, all kids are - but as you got older, I actually witnessed an annoying brat maturing, which I never thought I'd see. You always handled everything with such grace and intelligence. You reminded me of your mother. So I guess at first I just admired you as a politician and as royalty - as a person. But then as you got into your late teenage years, and you and I began working together... I don't know, I just..."

Shuffling the bantha into one arm, Allana took her free hand and pulled Gadell's arms from his chest, taking his right hand in hers. He continued once he felt her interlock her fingers with his.

"I just wanted to tell you how I felt and wanted to let you know that I didn't want things getting awkward between us. Especially after that night in your chambers, I mean, I know I said we should keep it simple but there was no way I wanted to do that - that was the moment I knew I had -"

She silenced him with a kiss, the bantha mushing up between their bodies. It was an innocent kiss, but there was an underlying and inviting sense of warmth that sent a chill up Gadell's spine. She pulled back and peered up into his eyes, "You ramble like my father."

"Yeah?" With his free hand, Gadell tucked a strand of loose hair behind his ear. "That huttslime. I probably got it from hanging around him too much."

"Most likely."

There was a silence in the air after that. It was a comfortable silence though, both of them finally saying what had to be said. Gadell seized the moment by throwing his arm around Allana and leading her out onto the promenade outside his room, the bantha still in her grasp. They rambled on about her suitors, the council, the fleets, the galaxy, traveling - just about everything, and they enjoyed each others company immensely, Gadell laughing more that night then he ever had in his life. Once they sat down on the edge of the reflecting pool though, Allana fiddling with the bantha's legs between her palms, she brought up one thing, the one thing neither of them were looking forward to.

"Now we just have to figure out how to tell my parents."

Gadell gulped, yet threw out what appeared to be a nonchalant shrug. "We'll just pass it off as another formality."

Of course, little did they know that her parents were watching them at this point, from the balcony above. They already knew about the two, they could just tell.

"What do you have to say about that?" Jacen Solo tilted his head towards his wife, his fingers wrapped around the railing as the breeze blew over his face and into the royal chambers behind him.

Tenel Ka peeked over the edge once more, her daughter's laughter seeping into her ears, "I have nothing to say. And you should not either." With a sly smile, Tenel Ka covered his left hand with her right. She looked from her daughter and Gadell to Jacen, whose chocolate eyes were narrowed against the air, the brown mop of hair on his head littered with uniformed streaks of gray. Her fingers tightened over his.

"She never laughs at my jokes like that." Sticking out his lower lip, he feigned a pout.

"Well. Nobody ever does."

"Hey!"

Tenel Ka was already retreating into the quarters at that point, hiding her smile from Jacen.

"Come on, Tenel Ka, not even funny!" He tried to say this like he was hurt, but he was chuckling all the way back into the quarters. "And not nobody! I've had people laugh at them before!"

Waving her hand, she was about to crawl into bed before she responded, "They were just being nice. Think of it as a formality."