Author's Note: My final event for this decathlon is the 1500 Word Dash (an exactly 1500-word story about your character, family, friendship, or couple with any theme). This vig is a precursor to a (hopefully) longer story that I've been anxious to tell since, oh… a few weeks after I finished writing TLotD? I'll have that longer story for you eventually, but until then, here's a small glimpse. ;) I took my title from the song "Earthrise" by Starset.

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I Still Fall For You Like Suns Do for Skies

73 years post-RotS (54 ABY)

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The upper deck of the Yavin Temple is a peaceful place, one he finds himself escaping to often, whether it's to catch up on his reading or just be alone for a while. Like the observation decks at the Ossus Temple, it offers a breathtaking view of the surrounding jungle.

Unlike the Ossus Temple, it also overlooks the main landing pad.

His quiet refuge isn't so quiet anymore as Jedi of all ages crowd the upper deck, hoping to get a look at the visitors from Hapes. Even as he tries to finish the last few paragraphs of the text he's been reading, he half-listens to the chatter around him. Everyone's making such a fuss, but there's no point joining in; it's not like the Hapans' arrival has anything to do with him.

"I bet Dorian knows."

He snaps his head up at that, looking toward a trio of young men standing near the railing. Tredo Kohr, Geridan Ames, and Cass Halvior – all of them staring at him expectantly.

"Knows what?" he asks, setting his datapad in his lap.

Kohr looks over his shoulder, indicating the shuttle on the landing pad. "Didn't the old Queen Mother try to seduce Master Skywalker once?"

Dorian raises an eyebrow. "Depends on which Queen Mother and Master Skywalker you're talking about."

Cass groans and turns away, nudging Ames in the arm. "See, I told you. You can't ever get a straight answer out of him."

Ames shrugs and goes back to watching the shuttle, but Kohr isn't ready to move on. "The old Queen Mother – the Hapan one, not the Dathomiri one – and Anakin Skywalker."

Dorian smirks at Kohr's overemphasis on old, and he shifts in his seat, glancing down at the people who have started to disembark from the shuttle. "Yeah, she did. A few times, I think."

"Wait—" Ames turns abruptly toward him, suddenly interested. "—then who tried to seduce Luke Skywalker?"

"Her successor, Teneniel Djo. Although technically she wasn't the queen yet."

"How do you know this stuff?" Cass says, with a look somewhere between awe and revulsion.

Dorian shrugs and holds his datapad up between them, saying nothing.

Cass frowns and looks away again, eyes going wide as he leans over the railing. "Hey, there he is."

Kohr and Ames join him in gaping at the tall man walking across the platform, dressed in the unassuming robes of a Jedi. At his side is a red-haired girl in a sky-blue dress.

"Do you think it's true he fought the Vong overlord by himself?" Ames says, his attention entirely focused on the man.

Cass straightens up and looks over Kohr's head at Ames. "I heard he hasn't picked up a lightsaber since the war."

That would have been enough to pique Dorian's interest – how many stories has he read about the Jedi who fought in the Yuuzhan Vong War, and about Jacen Solo in particular? – if he wasn't still watching the girl in the dress.

She looks to be close to his own age, more a young woman than a girl, really. And it's not exactly a dress she's wearing either; the gauzy, ankle-length skirt is separate from her more fitted, short-sleeved top, exposing a narrow sliver of her waist between them. Her hair is arranged in a braided crown, save for the bangs falling across her forehead and a few loose strands framing her face. She's devoid of any ornamentation to indicate her status, but it's obvious to anyone with eyes that she's royalty.

"Gah, look at her outfit!" an excited voice squeals. Out of the corner of his eye, Dorian notices a couple of younger female initiates, maybe thirteen or fourteen years old, gathered at the railing several meters away. "She's so beautiful!" the other one says. "Do you think we'll get to meet her?"

While the observers on the upper deck, male and female alike, continue to enthusiastically discuss the new arrivals from Hapes, Dorian finds himself staring once again at the red-haired girl. She is beautiful, but that's not what holds his attention, what makes him unable to look away. Maybe it's the way she loops her arm through her father's and tucks into his side as they walk, sharing a private, wry smile with him that she probably thinks no one else notices. Or maybe it's the way she lights up when she stops in front of Master Solo and Master Veila, then almost leaps into her uncle's arms. He can feel her presence distinctly, even surrounded by the legendary members of her family, and he's not sure he's ever felt anything or anyone so radiant.

"You've never met Allana, have you?"

He turns his head slowly in Kohr's direction, tearing his gaze away from the landing pad. "No," he says evenly.

"She's really nice. You guys would like her."

"Yeah," Ames says with a snort, "better be careful introducing her to Veeran. The last thing he needs is a princess to try to impress."

Dorian puts on a faint, neutral smile, wondering why those words feel lodged under his skin, an itch he can't scratch. Princess.

"It's not like it could go anywhere," Cass interjects.

"Who says it has to go anywhere?" Ames says. "She's allowed to have some fun, isn't she?"

"Probably not too much fun," Kohr adds, eyebrows raised. "At least not with someone like Veeran—" He nudges Ames in the shoulder. "—or you, killer."

"Hey." Ames raises his hands in mock surrender. "We're just friends."

Kohr laughs and leans over the railing, waving one hand frantically in the air. "Hey! Hey, Allana! Up here!"

Dorian gets up without thinking and steps down from his perch, tucking his datapad in his bag as he slips away unnoticed. He doesn't wait to see if she looked up.

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He manages to make it to the dining hall just before the lunch rush begins in earnest, foregoing the line in order to secure a small table near the edge of the room. It isn't ideal – once the place fills up, he'll be lucky if he can hear himself think – but the terrace is going to be crammed with people waiting for a chance to see the Hapan visitors, and he doesn't feel like wandering the grounds to find a better spot. He pulls his datapad out of his bag and settles back into his chair. He didn't feel like eating anyway.

The steady ebb and flow of murmured conversation around him suddenly spikes, and he hears dozens of voices whispering excitedly. It doesn't take any particular genius to know what that means.

He glances up at the entrance to the dining hall and sees the Hapan princess standing there, flanked by three other young women. The crowd parts around them as they proceed into the room, and they slowly make their way to the perimeter of the seating area, a few meters away from his table. The princess doesn't say anything at first, seemingly content to let her companions debate potential seating options as her eyes roam the crowd. Stars, she's even more beautiful up close, with freckles for days and a shy, sweet smile— he should stop staring, he should definitely stop staring, why can't he just act normal for once—

"It's pretty crowded in here already," one of her friends is saying, loud enough to interrupt his thoughts.

"Yeah," another cuts in, sweeping her hand dismissively toward the rest of the room. "Everyone wants a glimpse of the Chume'da."

"We could eat outside," the third says enthusiastically. "There's a terrace with plenty of space. Tredo said he and Ames were going to be out there."

"Oh, Tredo said, huh?"

The princess looks over at her friend and smiles. "Dira," she says softly, with a hint of laughter, "I didn't know you liked Kohr."

"Well yeah, I mean… he's cute, don't you think?"

The other two girls groan in unison – it reminds him a little of Veeran – but the princess smiles even wider. He really needs to stop staring at her. "Then we should go find him," she says, turning once more to look over the crowd. He's so enthralled, he doesn't quite register the moment when her eyes meet his.

Frag.

He drops his gaze to the datapad, pretending to read. What line was he on again? Not that it matters, he's hardly the only person in here who was staring at her. She's probably used to the attention; she probably isn't even fazed by it. With all these other people around, it's more likely that she didn't actually notice him. He should get a grip and go back to his reading.

The murmuring around him crescendos, and he senses someone – her – walking in his direction. It takes everything in him not to look up when she stops right in front of his table.

Gods, he's actually ignoring the princess of Hapes. Who the hell does that?

"Hi," she says in that soft voice. He thinks he could listen to her forever. "I'm Allana."

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Fin