Prologue Part III
"Take care of her Jag, Zekk's watching from a distance, and keep her hidden from Jacen." Jaina said while laying a still sleeping Allana on Jagged Fel's couch.
"Jaina, what the heck am I supposed to do with a kid?? And Jacen's your brother." Jag responded, looking very confused. Jaina laughed softly, the sound bereft of any humor it might have held once upon a time.
"The person I once called my brother died a long time ago. This man with his name is a complete stranger." She responded quietly, no emotion in her voice. Allana stirred on the couch and Jaina brushed some of the girl's red-gold hair from her face. She opened innocent gray eyes, so much like her mother's and yet, they were like someone else's as well. Jaina gave a sharp intake of breath as she realized just who those eyes reminded her of.
"Maybe he's not dead after all." She murmured, reaching out with the Force she sensed two familiar presences blended into the one Force signature of this girl.
"When she's old enough be sure to tell her that her father was once called Jacen Solo, hero of the Galaxy." Jaina said as she stood to leave.
"Jaya?" The little girl cried out, her eyes still heavy with sleep. Jaina froze and fought back tears at the sound of her childhood nickname. She furiously wiped at her eyes before turning around and walking back to the girl.
"Yeah Allana?" Jaina asked, still fighting the strong emotions brought on by her old nickname, Allana of course didn't know that that was her nickname; she just couldn't pronounce Jaina yet.
"Where's my bwother? Where's Kawen?" She asked, her eyes holding tears and her lower lip trembling. Jaina blinked and remembered the boy that had been with Allana in the Throne Room.
"Kalen?" She asked and Allana nodded solemnly.
Of course, if Tenel Ka had another child she would have kept them, him, hidden from the nobles. To try and give him as much a semblance of normal life as possible. Jaina thought as she tried to figure out how to tell the girl that she probably wouldn't see her brother for a very long time.
"Kalen's safe, but he's not here." She said, biting her lip and hoping she wouldn't have to go into detail.
"Okay, where are you going?" She asked. Inwardly Jaina cursed childhood curiosity but she offered the girl a small smile.
"I'll be gone for a little while so you'll be staying with Jag here." She gestured to the solemn man behind her. "But I'll visit when I can, okay?" Jaina said, wanting the girl to agree and let her leave quietly; if Allana cried Jaina didn't think she would be able to hold back her own tears. Allana nodded and Jaina hugged her for a moment, holding her tight. Then she stood and walked out of the house. On her way to the town docking bay she stopped by Zekk's to make sure that he would keep an eye on the girl for her.
"I'll keep both eyes on her whenever possible. But I can't believe it, who'd a thought that Jacen of all people…" Here he trailed off and gathered Jaina into a hug. She stood there, feeling safe for a moment as she let the hidden tears fall.
"It'll be OK, you'll see. Every thing'll be back to normal in a couple of days."
"How can you say that Zekk? Tenel Ka's dead and I'm about to go hunt down my own brother, I might even have to kill him." She whispered the last part as if that in itself were a proclamation of his death. He held her tighter as if he could make all of this go away. She pushed away after a couple of minutes and wiped her eyes.
"Thanks Zekk, Jag's gonna need all the help he can get. Oh, and Allana has a twin brother. He's staying with Isolder." She said, turning to leave.
"Who's the father, do you know?" He asked and almost immediately regretted it when he saw the pain in her face.
"Jacen." She whispered and then was gone, leaving him gaping in the doorway.