Disclaimer: I don't own Star Wars. The idea of a curfew belongs to JadeMax
Title: Our Mother, Our Queen
A/N: Dukat will probably enlist an army of Hapans and kill me for what I'm about to do to him. Let's thank emeraldshadow, who owns the plot bunny and betas the story.
Time: TSW and beyond
Summary: Jacen kidnapped his daughter from Hapes and fourteen years later, she returned to contest with her half-sister for the throne after Tenel Ka took ill. See plot bunny thread for details.
Characters: See below
Dramatis Personae
Allana; Jedi Padawan (female human from Ossus)
Alyssia; Princess (female human from Hapes)
Ben Skywalker; Jedi Knight (male human from Coruscant)
Isolder; Prince (male human from Hapes)
Jacen Solo; Jedi Master (male human from Coruscant)
Kala; Princess (female human from Hapes)
Luke Skywalker; Jedi Master (male human from Tatooine)
Nikor; student, citizen (male human from Hapes)
Rei Ti; Jedi Knight (female human from Dathomir)
Riko; Jed Padawan (male Twi'lek from Ryloth)
Tenel Ka Djo; Queen Mother (female human from Hapes)
Trisde Aleson; Lady of the Eastern Seas (female human from Hapes)
Vin; Senator (male Mairan from Maires)
More will be added

Jacen knew that Tenel Ka could never forgive him for what he was about to do, but there was no choice, for only Jedi would be able to adequately protect Allana's life. Besides, it would guarantee Allana the dream life that her mother had never had. With one gentle scoop, the Jedi Knight whisked his daughter away from the dangerous life of politics for a period that he hoped would last forever.

-scene change-

As Luke received the baby from Jacen, he could not help but believe that Jacen was concealing part of story. Though the child's presence was mushy, it was beginning to take the shape of Jacen's and the girl was slightly stronger than the average Jedi. It made sense that Jacen knew the girl's name because the girl was his friend's daughter, but it took more than an ordinary friend to do what Jacen did. And since the 'friend' was not… Luke dismissed the thought. If his nephew did not wish to reveal any affairs or children, then the child would remain anonymous.

-scene change-

As Tenel Ka snuck out before dawn for some morning exercise, she could not help but to think of the daughter who should have awakened her two hours ago. It had taken her years of careful plotting to create a daughter, a suitable heir with the only man she could ever allow into her private chambers. She was livid about Jacen's actions, holding a grudge against her former lover for kidnapping the child and shaming her before the other Dathomiri women, for she had promised to send Allana to her clan.

However, in order to buy her daughter a few years of happiness as a Jedi, the warrior queen had much to sacrifice. With the heir 'dead', the nobles were harping her to conceive again, and that was not an option for her. Despite the grudge, she wanted another child with Jacen, but her trick could not possibly work more than once and even if they did have another baby, that child would best be sent to Ossus too. To the nobles, having a child with one of them was a viable option, but to a Dathomiri witch who had already had a daughter with another man, it was not. By clan law, she had claimed Jacen and therefore could have no other until his death.

Tenel Ka shook her head as she treaded the secret path just outside her palace, working to regain some of the strength she had lost over her yearlong pregnancy. As long as she was the mother, the child would be Force-sensitive and sent to Ossus, no matter who the father was. In other words, even having another child was out of the question. As Tenel Ka raised her head, she felt a tug through the Force and came closer to the city than she normally would.

"Excuse me, Lady? Can you help my dad?"

Tenel Ka stopped dead in her tracks when she saw a little girl with short, white-blonde curls. Allana had hair just like that. Tenel Ka forced the thought away and snapped back to the present. That girl was Kala Gray and the tears in the child's eyes indicated that there was more to this bad situation than met the eye. Reaching into the Force, Tenel Ka confirmed that the girl was nothing but sincere and devastated.

"Yes. Lead me to him, my child."

As soon as Tenel Ka spoke, the child darted off toward a busy sector of the city. Tenel Ka knew that she could no longer take a morning workout alone on her current route anymore, but she did not care as she commed for a guard and a medical unit to meet her in the sector where the five-year-old was heading. Dukat Gray had fought under her command during the Yuuzhan Vong war with unquestioning loyalty and risked his rank as Dume'da when he insisted to both his mother and Lady AlGray, the aunt of his late wife, that they should treat Allana like their own ally. She could not forget such a loyal friend.

"It's too late." The medic confirmed Tenel Ka's suspicions when they arrived on the scene. At first, the Queen Mother wanted to ask what happened, but the crash site told her all that she needed to know. Nobody, not even a hotshot like Dukat, could maneuver a speeder bike to avoid the out of control ship that got out of the hangars and into the city.

"Lady, thanks for being nice." The child managed as tears streaked down her face. "Do you know how to get to the sky?"

"Yes." Tenel Ka began to head for the Rock Dragon, but then stopped. "Where do you wish to go?"

"Those two moons up there." The girl pointed to two of the Hapan moons, which were ready to set over the horizon. "Daddy said they're the Relephon Moons. My Grandma's there. I don't want to go to her, but Daddy said I have."

"I will help you." Tenel Ka replied. One glance at Dukat and another at the girl told Tenel Ka what she needed to do in order to solve her political problems and comfort the child. Dukat had done her a favor, and by Hapan tradition, she had to return it with something of equal value. "If you do not wish to go to your grandmother, I can arrange with her to have you stay here and become a princess."

-scene change-

Fourteen years had passed since the fateful day when Kala lost her father, and now, she was on the brink of turning twenty-one. As the young woman closed the doors to her quarters, she cried. It had been a choice between two pains and she had finally chosen to leave Tenel Ka's sight when she could no longer hold back the tears. Kala could not allow for a strong Dathomiri witch like her adoptive mother to see her cry.

Why did Tenel Ka Djo have to take ill in the prime of her life? It was not uncommon for a Hapan to have a short lifespan, but Kala was neither ready to suffer a third major loss nor ready to accept Tenel Ka's crown. She had heard stories of Tenel Ka's transition into the position of Queen Mother and was certain that she was now in the same position. She had always thought that Lady… no, mother, would either clone the dead daughter or delegate powers to Kala one by one at some later time, not pile them all on a helpless, scared girl at the same time. She shook her head. Such a notion was too out of character for Tenel Ka to even consider.

As Kala silently begged for the illness to release its grip on Tenel Ka, someone knocked on the door. Why couldn't she be a Force-sensitive who knew how to heal? Kala shook her head. If the guest, one of Tenel Ka's Dathomiri friends, could do nothing, then Tenel Ka was doomed.

"Come in." The young woman finally said after she cleaned herself up. Once again, she wished that she had the Force and was able to project illusions and then scolded herself for such envy. Even though she did not have the Force, Tenel Ka still treated her like a daughter and even presented her to the Singing Mountain Clan. Whenever she complained about how hard the Jedi queen was, Tenel Ka merely said that Allana would have been treated the same way and Kala believed it.

When the aging Isolder stepped in instead of a servant, Kala knew that it was something serious. He offered, "Your mother asked me to deliver the seal to you."

"Thank you…" Kala began as she accepted a mahogany box from the old prince. She tried to call him grandfather, but failed, like every other time she attempted it. How could she not accept the father of the woman who had taken her in as her grandfather? In attempt to hide her turmoil, Kala turned away from Isolder and toward the window, which showed a setting sun and seven rising moons. As the sad, orange rays bounced off of her flawless face, she opened the box grudgingly, knowing that, nine chances out of ten, it would contain something she did not want to accept.

Kala was correct, for it was the round, crimson seal with gold trims that she never wanted in her hands. Why did Tenel Ka have to hand the regency to a totally unprepared twenty-year-old with no more experience than what she had when she took Teneniel's crown? Maybe the tendency to be forced to take the crown at a young age ran in the family, except that Tenel Ka was not her biological mother.

-scene change-

As Allana parted with her Master and retired to her quarters, she sighed. For the teen, it was just another boring mission that wasted the time that she should have spent on doing something more important. Though she never told any of the Masters, she always felt that the Force told her that she never belonged at the Temple. Allana shook the negative thoughts away, remembering that pessimism often led to the dark side. At least her Master took her before Ben Skywalker could arrive and pick his first student.

The other Temple students told her that it was an honor to study under a Skywalker, but they didn't understand. Something about each of their Force-presences made her uncomfortable, leaving her feeling as if she should have known much more. With her wonderful Master, she felt none of that; at least not until the Master decided that Allana might make a worthy member of her Dathomiri clan.

Allana hissed in frustration as she let down her long, blonde curls. She should have been, by all means, honored to be deemed worthy to become a Jai witch in the Singing Mountain Clan of Dathomir, but she felt the same discomfort around the clan leader as she did around the Skywalkers and Solos. She tried to tell herself, "Master Ti's being nice, so be grateful for once!"

As the teen closed the door and settled into her bed, she found herself unable to sleep. She wanted more than anything to shut the distant echoes of pain and suffering out of her mind, but was not trained to do so. "Blast you for giving me this stupid empathy and sticking me with a bunch of Jedi so that I have to know how to feel the Force, whoever you are."

Just when she thought that she had fallen asleep, she heard several rushed footsteps clatter down the hallway outside her quarters. Too restless and curious, Allana hurriedly stuffed herself into a set of robes to see what was going on. Though she knew that mere apprentices should not approach the Council chamber on normal occasions, especially at nights, she could not help but to follow the footsteps there.

As the room came into sight, Allana saw the blurred reflection of a holo on the metal walls of the temple. Though it was an especially dark, Ossuan night, she could make out bits of orange and gold in the image.

"We are no longer able to hold off our enemies. Please assist my daughter and come, Masters."

"That we shall, Queen Mother." Allana recognized the voice as that of Jacen Solo's and immediately felt her dinner rising up her digestive system. Though she dared not say anything, she always had the feeling that the Skywalkers felt weird to her because she was Jacen's illegitimate daughter. There was a small chance that she was actually a child that Jaina Solo did not wish to own up to, but that was unlikely considering Jaina's jovial personality.

When all of the Jedi present, except for Jacen Solo, began to file out of the room, Allana hurriedly trotted back to her quarters, desperate not to get into trouble for snooping around at night.

The next morning, Allana saw a list displayed on a screen outside of the lunchroom where all available Jedi, Masters, Knights, and children ate. It read:

Destination: Hapes
Purpose: Diplomacy/Aid
Requested by: Queen Mother Tenel Ka Djo
Requested for: Queen Mother and regent
Jedi called for: Master Jacen Solo, Knights Ben Skywalker, Rei Ti…

The girl carefully scanned the mission roster, but much to her dismay, her name was not on the list of apprentices, even though her Master was on the Knights list. Blood rose to her face as she clenched her fists in anger. She thought that she could get a part in a big mission, but that Solo just had to keep her off the list. Since Jacen Solo was the only Master on the roster, she was certain that he handpicked the team members. Forgetting her breakfast and her messy, blonde hair, Allana strode off towards the hangar where the mission's escort ship would be docked.

"Allana, I've been looking for you." The apprentice stopped to find her Master, Rei Ti, standing before the Hapan convoy.

"Master…" The girl reddened even more so as she backed off ashamedly. Almost immediately, she regretted her actions, for she did not wish to let on that she suspected herself of carrying Solo blood.

"Can you tell Riko to referee the Temple's next stick ball tournament in addition to the exercises?" Asked the Jedi Knight, who was also Kirana Ti's Dathomir-trained daughter. Riko was the Jedi's other student and a year younger than Allana.

"Yes, Master." Allana replied as she withheld her storm of emotions from her voice. Immediately afterwards, the older Jedi nearly squeezed her in a bear hug.

"That's my good apprentice," grinned the older Jedi, brushing back a long, dark braid as she boarded the ship.

Allana sighed as soon as her Master was out of hearing range. That meant that she had a very limited amount of time to find Riko and then somehow sneak aboard the shuttle. She wished that she had a comlink, but knew that those were reserved for the missions to the rogue worlds.

Fortunately for the teen, she quickly found Riko hanging around outside his quarters, still struggling to wake himself up.

"Lan?" The tentacled apprentice called Allana by her nickname.

"Master Ti wants you to referee the next ball game for her. Can you do that?" Asked Allana hurriedly.

"Why? What's with her? She never misses these games. Well, for that matter, what's with you?" The short, tentacled boy asked as he threw a brown tunic over his tan robes.

"Master Solo's leading a mission to Hapes and she's on the list. The Queen Mother called for some sort of emergency," explained Allana as she placed her hands on Riko's shoulders.

"Master Solo and Master Ti on a mission to help the queen? This'll be an interesting story," chuckled the boy. When Allana looked into his chocolate eyes, she read glints of amusement and incredulity.

"Why?" Asked Allana.

"Didn't you know? Rumor says that she had an affair with Master Solo and Master Ti said that the queen's from her clan. With that in the mix, things have got to be interesting." The tan Twi'lek replied. "Then there's you."

When Allana shied away, Riko asked in a quieter, less excited tone. "You are going with them, aren't you, Lan?"

"No." Allana almost sighed.

"Sorry about that. I think you should be there," reassured Riko, offering a hug that Lan refused.

"Thanks." The girl began to stride back towards the hangar when Riko stopped her.

"Wait! Where are you going?" Asked the younger apprentice.

"I have stuff to do," Allana lied, hiding the guilt on her face behind her large hair. Even though she knew that she could not tell the boy of her plans to sneak away and that it would have been even more wrong to drag another into her scheme to land herself in Hapes, she could not help but feel guilty for lying to one of her best and most supportive friends. Perhaps, in a way, Allana did have something to do. The girl grinned as she saw that all of the cameras in the hanger were pointed away from her for the moment. She knew that she had little time left when the engine started up with a booming roar and generated a gust of wind strong enough to send her crashing backwards into the closed door behind her back. Allana had been counting on the wind's force for increasing her momentum.

With a Force-assisted leap, Allana bounced off the wall and straight into the escort though the baggage port just before it closed on her.

"Kriff." The girl cursed silently as she heard a combination of her own noise and another Jedi's footprints from above, but luckily for her, she had already disguised her presence and the Jedi above could hear nothing over the engine noise. Then, when Allana was certain that all was clear, she climbed up to find a more comfortable hiding spot and used the Force to rearrange the luggage so as to make it appear undisturbed. When she finally settled down in a warm, hidden nook, she began to clean up her long, blonde curls, which matched her granite-gray eyes.

-scene change-

Almost as soon as Kala straightened out her formal clothes and sat down on the throne---where she felt only her adoptive mother could sit---she heard footsteps. She wished that she had her mother's powers and was able to determine who was approaching her, but had long ago accepted herself for not being able to train in the Jedi ways.

"Come in, milady." Kala heard a shuffle and turned to see a servant bow as he admitted in a woman wearing a royal, scarlet veil.

"Queen Mother… My my, Princess Kala! So the tragedy is true! Tenel Ka is still alive, isn't she?" Though there was no sign of age behind the veil, Kala could tell that the speaker was about as old as Isolder.

"Yes, unfortunately. And you are?" Asked Kala.

"Oh my! How rude of me as to not introduce myself!" Gasped the woman. There was something fake about the dramatic display of emotion, but Kala could not make certain without the ability to use the Jedi sorcery. "I am Princess Alyssia, your mother's aunt. I come to offer my condolences and my help."

"Thank you." For a long, pregnant silence, Kala pondered her response, but finally decided to accept the help, as much as she found the source questionable. In such times, she had to use any and all resources that she could get. "What have you to offer me?"

"My princess, although you have sat on this throne longer than I have, I have some advice that I thought you might find useful. May we discuss this alone?" The lady bowed gracefully, her elaborate, green and blue robes sweeping the mosaic on the floor as she did so. Albeit hesitantly, Kala nodded and flicked her wrist, telling the servants to leave. The lady then continued. "Even though I have never sat on the throne, my mother had received much training from one of your late predecessors, which that she had passed on to me."

"Go on." Kala stepped down from the high throne to walk beside the thin but elegant, elderly woman.

"I know the ways of this government and I come with a few propositions."

"So what do you suggest that I do, milady?"

"Your majesty, your mother has won widespread support. Now, you must do the same." The ancient woman paused, letting a glint of the moonlight flash past her emerald-green eyes. "By pleasing our women."

"Yes, that is key to winning support, but how would I… we do it?" Asked Kala as she curled one pale finger around her smooth, creamy chin.

"Well, first of all, take my gift. The people tend to rally around good girls and good girls wear red." Though Kala could not see past Alyssia's veil, she knew that the old woman was grinning.

"Thank you, princess." When the young woman unwrapped the package, she found a scarlet veil, which royal women often donned. Careful not to offend the giver, Kala donned the veil.

"Ah, as I've predicted, this suits you perfectly, Queen Mother." Alyssia purposefully flattered Kala with the title that she did not earn. "I have spoken with many of my people, and they wish to instate a curfew from dusk to dawn."

"Okay. I assume that this is for the children?" Asked Kala skeptically.

"No, they demand a curfew on all sentient males," sighed the elderly woman.

"But that is unfair! I must treat my people equally!" Kala would have pounded her bony fist against something, had there been something for her to hit. She felt something collapse within her, as if they were walls that finally caved in under all of the grief that she had been suffering.

"I wish that they wished it so, but even the men of the region agreed to it."

"But I can't treat my men like that!" Kala thought that she had no energy left after crying her eyes out in her chambers, but found a hidden reserve within herself when she heard the arguments. Still, she was expended and knew that the strength could not possibly last long.

"And you also need to please these women. They're having some problems with the treacherous males running loose. The males merely wish to cure themselves," sighed Alyssia mournfully as her hood fell back far enough just to reveal a few strands of her silver hair.

"Milady, I appreciate your kindness, but I really can't accept this offer," stuttered Kala as her face paled.

"These women and men will support you if you do it." When Alyssia saw Kala opening her mouth to protest further, she continued. "Did you ever wonder why your mother did not tell you much about her lost baby?"

"She always avoided the subject because something about it pained her. I respect her for that," replied Kala, uncertain as to where Alyssia was taking the conversation.

"It's because a man whom she had trusted with her soul betrayed her and stole her only child from her. He left her to die emotionally and, had you not found her, she probably would have," Alyssia told the younger woman in a hushed but powerful and alluring tone. When the regent opened her mouth to voice her hesitation, Alyssia added, "Ask your mother. She knows better than I do."

Kala wanted to ask Alyssia how she knew more about Tenel Ka than a daughter would, but stopped when she remembered that Alyssia was the Queen Mother's aunt. Though she did not fully trust the woman, Kala did not wish to offend a potential ally and could not find the strength to refuse after seeing her mother suffer either. "Very well. This curfew will be instated. No man may walk the streets without female or droid supervision between dusk and dawn. Thank you for your aid, milady. I'm sure I'll be needing more soon."

"Thank you for hearing me out, Queen Mother." Alyssia emphasized the last two words as she bowed in rather sarcastic manner before leaving. Though Kala was not Force-sensitive, she could not shake the feeling that the other royal was too pleased and that something in the minor gestures was warning her of some sort of danger that hovered about Princess Alyssia.

"Milady, a party of Jedi have just landed in the hangar and Lady Aleson wishes to enter the palace," a servant reported as soon as Alyssia strode out through the large, double doors of the throne room, clicking her high heels against the stone floors as she walked.

"Let Lady Aleson enter. In the meantime, entertain our Jedi guests." ordered Kala. Even though it was boiling under her thick, crimson veil, her face paled and she was glad that she had something to hide behind. Cold sweat ran down her skin as her gloved hands began to shake uncontrollably. She had not requested Jedi presence. What were they doing in her palace? Most likely, they were there at her adoptive mother's call, but why was her estranged aunt there?

"As you wish, your majesty." the servant responded with a bow.
-That's it for now-