Chapter 8
Zekk should have expected trouble the moment the doors to the hall slammed open.
But he didn't.
Instead he was caught off balance and off guard, stretched out to his full height to pin the decorations to the ceiling. He lost his balance as he did, letting out a shout of surprise as he toppled backwards off the ladder.
He hit the ground hard, the breath being driven from his lungs as stars exploded before his eyes.
He was dimly aware of someone calling his name - his real name - but felt as if he were a million miles away. Time stopped as he fought for breath and then, all at once, it resumed and Jysella's concerned visage was looking down into his.
"Master Zekk?"
He sucked in a sharp breath and began to cough, feeling the stabbing sensations shooting through his chest as he did. It figured one that of three Jedi in the place who couldn't have helped him recover from that fall would be the one who knock him off. His thoughts were peevish for a half a second before He felt a concerned, strong arm slide around his shoulders.
Jysella helped him sit up, her face full of remorse. "I'm horribly sorry, Master, I didn't mean to startle you."
"No... permanent harm done, Jysella." He wheezed through the words, fighting to get his breath back.
"I hope not, or you'll never be a match for Skywalker!"
Zekk blinked, his eyes watering as he sucked in another sharp breath. "Skywalker? Why would I want to match Master Luke?"
"No, no, silly; Ben." Jysella sat back on her heels and watched him, chewing on her lip. "Are you sure you're alright?"
He nodded. "I'm fine, Jysella." He took another deep breath and let it out, the sharp stabbing pain easing into a dull ache. "It was my own fault; I should have been wearing my anti-grav belt."
"If you say so. Your color's not very good, Master."
"My color is never good," he returned dryly. He slowly pushed himself to his feet, confirming that he was indeed unharmed. Rattled, but unharmed. "So what was so important you came storming in here to find me, Jys?"
She flushed. "Ben was rolling around on the ground with Allana on those back trails! They tried to feed me some half-cocked story about Allana beating him at a foot race, so he tackled her."
"So?"
"So?" Jysella stared at him incredulous. "So you should be upset with them both! Ben is much too old for Allana."
"I agree with you, Jysella," Zekk assured her, looking up to his half-finished decorating. "But he's also her best friend and I trust Allana not to do anything foolish. If that's what they said happened, it probably is."
"But-"
Zekk's gaze snapped back to hers. "But what?"
Jysella snapped her jaw shut and he was reminded of her as a young teenager, when she'd begun following him around to pester him with questions about being a Jedi Knight - and about boys.
A smile tilted his lips. "I know you like Ben; everyone knows you like Ben. That doesn't mean he can't have other friends, Jysella."
"But-"
Zekk crossed his arms over his chest, suppressing a wince. He'd pulled something in one shoulder; he could feel it starting to bruise.
Jysella threw her arms up, exasperated. "Ben wasn't looking at her like she was just a friend, Master Zekk. He looked like he was going to kiss her when I found them."
"And you had to say something, didn't you?"
Jysella stamped her foot. "You should be furious with them, not scolding me for intervening. What kind of friend would I be if I let Ben take advantage of her? Allana always hates her life day; he was just going to take advantage of it."
"Or maybe make it better."
"Doesn't it bother you that the biggest play boy in the galaxy is chasing your only daughter?"
"He's good enough for you, Jys. Why shouldn't he be good enough for my Allana?"
"He's a rogue and she's a princess!"
Zekk arched his eyebrows at her, silently asking what that had to do with anything considering Allana's parentage - and her own.
Jysella flushed an angry red. "You're not help at all. You should be cornering them to demand an explanation and all you can do is stand here and smile while Ben does who knows what to your little girl!"
"Jealousy on a beautiful woman is never pretty, Jysella." Zekk's words were quiet. "Allana deserves whatever happiness she can pull out of today and if spending it with Ben is what makes her happy - and it is - I'm not going to interfere with it. Neither should you."
"But as her friend-"
"As her friend," Zekk cut in pointedly, "you can help me set up these decorations since you knocked me off that ladder when you entered. Call it penance for trying to make her life day more miserable than it already is."
Jysella locked her lips shut and they thinned with disapproval, but she silently held out her hand for the next decoration. Zekk placed it in her palm and watched silently as she scrambled up the ladder. She hung the decoration with precise, deliberate care and then held her hands out for more.
Having acquired an assistant - albeit a reluctant one and not the one he'd really wanted - Zekk continued to hand the decorations up to her. If he was really lucky Jaina would return before long, without the advisor in tow, and he'd be able to enlist her help as well. That thought would carry him through the next hour as Jysella's silent, brooding presence shadowed him around the room.
--
"Running is the theme of the day, is it Twitch?"
Allana turned her face away at Ben's observation, towards the trunk of the tree where she'd finally stopped and slid to the ground.
Ben settled next to her; she felt his thigh brush against hers as he did. An arm slid around her shoulders and, gently, tugged. She kept her face turned away from him, not wanting him to see her cry over something so foolish, but didn't resist as he offered his shoulder.
That he would soon belong to someone else did little to dampen her already low spirits and she couldn't deny herself the comfort of his touch.
Ben's hand gently stroked her hair. "I'm sorry about the Hapans."
"Me too." She ducked her chin to her chest even as she leaned into his embrace. "They have lousy timing."
"Not all of them." His cheek was gently as it came to rest on the top of her head. "I know one in particular who has excellent timing. In her running cadence, swim strokes and lightsaber practice."
Allana lifted one hand to swipe angrily at her cheeks before lifting her head to settle it more comfortably against his shoulder. "From what father tells me, I'm far from the norm. I may take after my mother, but she wasn't a normal Hapan either."
"Do you want to be a normal Hapan?"
"No." She sighed softly. "That's not the issue though."
"Then what is?"
She fell silent, simply enjoying the way his fingers teased the ends of her hair on her shoulder, and the gentle, calming essence of his touch. She allowed herself to forget, for a brief moment, his question as she drew strength from his embrace. A strength she found nowhere else; and one she'd never feel again when she was light years from here and he went after his new flame.
"Allana?" Ben's prompt was soft.
"Hmm?"
He chuckled softly, and the weight of his head lifted off hers. His free hand lifted to her face and gently grasped her chin in his fingers, turning her face so he could look her in the eye. "If you're happy not being a normal Hapan, what is bothering you?"
Her eyes darkened. Bothering her? The fact she'd be losing him to a girl he refused to name? The fact she would take the throne of the Hapan Consortium to ease the ache the thought of living without him brought? The fact she was the last person who should be on a throne, no matter the blood flowing through her veins?
She could see him searching her gaze, questing for answers she wasn't ready to give. For the answers she couldn't give. How could she, when it would interfere with his new happiness? She cared about him too much to foolishly announce an interest he wouldn't share. She couldn't do that to their friendship.
Pain clutched her heart at the thought of leaving him behind, but she managed to find a small smile for him. "I told you last night I don't want to be Queen, Ben."
"That's it?"
She nodded, though she could see he didn't believe her. "That's it."
"Then what about the post is bothering you so much? You know you can do it; I've seen you in class. You've a knack for leadership, good judgment and are an excellent judge of character."
She nudged him. "Present company excluded of course."
"Of course," he tugged gently on the end of her hair. "You have the skills you need to take the crown and keep it."
"Except one."
"Which one?"
She smiled sadly, looking away lest he read the truth in her eyes. "I'm my father's daughter."
The silence that descended was tense, expectant, as if waiting for something more. Ben seemed to be holding his breath only to let it out in surprise when it was clear that was her complete answer. "That's it?"
She nodded, tensing under his arm at the disbelief in his tone.
"Relax, Twitch, I'm not accusing you of anything. I just find it hard to believe that being Master Zekk's daughter is something you would count as a strike against you."
She pushed to her feet, rounding on him. "No, you idiot; you still don't understand!"
He was taken aback by her outburst and rose to his own feet slowly; looking at her like he'd never seen her before. "Then help me to."
"Why should I? You're just going to run off and leave me for some... some woman and all I'll have left are my birth rite and the memories of having a best friend!"
"Is that what this is about?" His jaw practically hit the floor. "Are you jealous?"
"Why should I be?" Her tone turned scornful. "You've been my best friend since I can remember. You've been protector and big brother; confidant and punching bag. You can't imagine what it's like... what it feels like to know I'm going to have to share it - to share you." Her voice broke, but she tilted her head defiantly despite the tightness in her throat. "I might lose you completely to someone I don't even know and that, more than anything else, is what hurts."
"You think that this relationship I want to pursue is something that might destroy our friendship?"
She jerked her head, wrapped her hands around her elbows in a completely unconscious gesture of self-protection. "I can't bear the thought of it, Ben. I thought I could. I thought I could spend today with you and not think about it, but everywhere I look there are reminders. Reminders that I'm a Hapan Princess and my future has no place for you anyway."
"So make a different choice, Allana."
He stepped towards her, but she extended one arm, her hand outstretched in a stopping gesture that almost touched his chest. "Don't."
"Don't fight me; I want to help."
"How?" She laughed, the brittle sound echoing harshly through the trees. "You can't just wave a magic wand, or make a wish to the Force, Ben. You can hack through this with a lightsaber or carouse your way by. Life is more complicated than that."
"I know it is." He placed the tip of his index finger on the center of her outstretched hand. "But life is also full of choices. When to fight and when to run; who and what you want to become - and if you let your past dictate your future. You haven't chosen to take the crown, Allana. Not yet. It's not too late to choose a different path if that's what you want."
"What I want..." She shook her head sadly. "It's not that easy."
"Why? Why isn't it that easy?" He pressed against her hand, gratified to see how her hand folded around his, though refused to let him closer. He could almost see her drawing strength from the contact. "You know as well as I do that if you refuse the crown, they'll have to find another Heir."
"And throw everything my mother worked for, fought for, died for, away? To spit in the face of her memory simply because I want something that I was never supposed to have? I know what my fate is Ben; I've always known. Nothing you say can change that."
"Then let me come to Hapes with you."
"I can't." She smiled tumultuously. "You know I can't."
"You'll be the Queen Mother; your word is law. If you say I can, I'll be allowed."
"For what, Ben? To dodge assassination attempts? Reporters? Dissenters? Kidnappers? To be the focus of gossip and mistrust?"
"If that's what it takes, yes." He stepped closer, enfolding her hand in his own and placing it over his heart. She still stood away from him, but was now much closer as her forearm, from finger tips to elbow, lay trustingly against his body. He gently rubbed the palm of her hand; the hand he still held hostage. "I won't give you up if that's your decision, Allana."
"Sooner or later, you'll have to give me up."
"Because of this woman I like?"
"Partly." She looked away uncomfortably, unable to watch his face, to see the acceptance of her fate there. She left her hand in his, wishing he'd hold her and not daring to ask. This part of her fate as Queen Mother was the most disturbing because she couldn't imagine anyone but Ben as her partner and the father of her children. "Partly because, eventually, I'll be called upon to provide an Heir, just like my mother was. Once that happens, I'll have to find a suitable male for the task."
Ben moved before she even thought about stopping him.
One moment he was half an arm's length away, the next she was pinned against the tree, his ferocious expression at eyes level with hers, hurt and something else warring for control in his gaze. He held her pinned, his body holding her even as one hand shakily cupped her cheek. His voice was rough when he finally spoke, surprising her completely. "If anyone were to lay a hand on you, Allana, I'd have to kill him."
"B-Ben?"
He managed to find a smile. "I've been trying to tell you since last night, Twitch, but you have your father's luck."
"Tell me what?"
"You are the woman I was talking about at the pool."
"Me?" She squeaked the word, staring at him wide-eyed. Her? Ben had been saying those complimentary things about her?
He nodded, his expression softening. "Yeah, you. Until today you were a little young and I promised your dad I wouldn't rush you."
"My... dad. You spoke with my father?"
Ben chuckled softly. "Don't look so surprised; he's a really easy going guy once you sit him down and explain your intentions."
"You sat down with my father and explained your intentions." Allana stared at him, completely bewildered. "You did all this... before you told me?"
"I didn't want your dad coming after me with his lightsaber," Ben admitted with a slight blush, "You've been my best friend since your arrival here, even as a spoiled brat of a kid. You grew on me, Allana. You made me realize that of everywhere I've been, of everywhere I'll go, I want to be here with you. I feel like I belong, like I can be myself. Like I don't have to pretend to be something I'm not."
"You've never had to pretend, Ben; but I have."
"Never." He brushed her bangs from her face, searching her gaze once more. "The only thing you've had to pretend to be is strong. There's nothing wrong with that. Not when everyone and everything in the galaxy is set to see you fail."
"You sound like you know what you're talking about."
"The Son of Skywalker?" His lips tilted wryly. "I'm in the unique position of understanding completely, Allana. Don't shut me out and don't push me away."
"I never wanted to." She stared at him, feeling as if she were caught in some kind of a surreal day dream. "Did you really mean it?"
"Mean what?"
"What you said about me being a free spirit?"
He nodded. "You don't let your fears get in the way of your goals. I admire that; it's not an easy thing to do."
"Dad says I get it from mom."
"And from him too, I'm sure." Ben paused, lifting one hand to brush his thumb gently across the curve of her cheek. "Allana?"
"Yeah?"
"I have this overwhelming urge to kiss you."
Her heart skipped a beat. "Really?"
"Really."
