Embers: Sequel to Crash and Burn

“Allana?”

“Go away.”

Jacen sighed and flicked the light switch in Allana’s room. She was still dressed in the clothes she’d worn earlier that day, a simple black sheath dress with a jacket, and black leggings underneath them. She hadn’t even taken off her matching leather boots.

“I know you’re upset,” said Jacen.

“No shavit! Did you have to probe my mind to figure that out?”

“Don’t take that tone with me.” Jacen folded his arms and leaned against the doorframe. “You can be sad, you can be angry, but I’m not going to let you curse at me.”

“She’s my mother,” Allana whined, and buried her head underneath one of her pillows. “You don’t understand!”

“Maybe I do,” Jacen said gently. “It’s not the same, but it’s still sad. I remember when I saw a newscast that said you died. I drank myself sick and Anakin had to hold my head up so it didn’t fall in the ‘fresher bowl. And I saw Tenel Ka die, too. I know you probably don’t believe me, but I did love her very much, and I always did. I made a mistake because I thought I loved her as a wife, but I really loved her as a close friend. That was wrong of me. But I did my best to make it right. We went on missions together, while you were still very small, before you came to Coruscant. We could trust each other with our lives even if we didn’t share a house anymore.”

“You still don’t understand. At all. It would be like if something happened to Princess Leia.” Her lower lip trembled when she pulled herself out from under the pillow. “Or maybe Uncle Anakin, since the Princess doesn’t talk to us anymore.”

Even fourteen years later, Jacen couldn’t quite forget how he felt the many times that he thought Anakin was about to die, and that Jacen would lose him – and that was long before they’d spent years sharing an apartment and their lives, with a bond that far surpassed most brothers. If Anakin died, I’d be feeling a lot worse than you are, Allana, he thought.

“Get out of my room!” Allana shrieked, and she threw the nearest thing she could reach – a crystal candle holder – at Jacen.

Shield better next time, Jacen told himself, as he instinctively put out his hand and caught the small projectile. “Allana, calm down. I didn’t mean it. I just – look. You’re right. I don’t really know what this feels like for you and I’m not going to invade your mind and find out, unless you want me to.”

“I don’t,” Allana said. “It would hurt you too much.”

Jacen hugged Allana, and her face crumpled as she put it down on his shoulder. “Who did it, Dad? I don’t know much about Boba Fett but I don’t think he hated my mother. If he hated anybody it would have been you. Not because of you. But you know.”

“I think he had better things to do than hold a grudge against my father. I think he was paid.”

“He doesn’t work for less than thousands and thousands of credits. Maybe even millions!”

“Ta’a Chume has that much,” Jacen pointed out. “And there have been four assassination attempts on your mother in the last two years.” He slumped, but remained sitting. “This one succeeded. Ta'a Chume got tired of paying Hapan assassins and hired in someone from the outside.”

“Are you sure?”

“Very sure of it. Someone told me, someone else that her spies talked to.” Jacen held his finger to his lips. “But you can’t talk about that, because it would put her in danger.”

“I know who you’re talking about,” Allana said quietly, and she sniffled.

“Well, good. Keep it to yourself. And try to get some sleep; you’ll be here for a few more days, at least, maybe a week, and you’ll need to be rested when you go home.”

“I am home.”

“That’s not what I was talking about. Your grandmother – well, your grandfather’s wife – is the Queen Mother now, but she isn’t a Jedi, and she doesn’t have the power that your mother did. It’s just a matter of time before Ta’a Chume forces her to step down, maybe through threats, and Ta’a Chume would then be the next in line for the crown. Ereneda Loralia is in danger. She’ll have to cooperate with your great-grandmother or risk being killed as well.”

Allana frowned. “I know that, but why does that mean I have to go to Hapes? Then they would all find out who I am.”

“You weren’t supposed to stay with me forever,” Jacen explained. “Only until it was safe for you to go to Hapes – or until you had to. Right now I think you have to. I know you’re young – you’re not even thirteen yet – but you’re not a little girl, either, and you are the one who should inherit the throne. Nor Loralia, and certainly not Ta’a Chume. She doesn’t know you’re still alive, and you could go home and take the crown.”

“And then they’d just try to kill me,” Allana protested.

“They’d try, yes, but it would be hard for Ta’a Chume to do anything in the next few years. It would look too suspicious, and she would be afraid that people would find out what she did. By the time they get brave enough to hurt you, you’d be old enough to do something about it.”

“Mom was thirty-four,” Allana pointed out. “In three years I’ll only be fifteen. And I’m not even a Jedi Knight. Can I go through the Trials now?”

“Well, no. You’re not ready for that yet, and you’d have to train up to the point that you could build your own lightsaber first, and that’s still a little bit down the road. But it doesn’t matter, because I could go to Hapes with you, and if anybody tried to kill you, then I could protect you. Just like the Hapan guards.”

“Then you couldn’t teach at the Academy. And Uncle Anakin couldn’t either unless he didn’t go with you and I know that you don’t want to leave him.”

“He might go if I asked him.”

“No. I’m not going back to Hapes. This is my home now and I want to be a Jedi and I’m staying here.” Allana folded her arms. “And if I’m the Queen Mother then you have to do what I say, and I say you don’t take me back.”

“You’re not the Queen Mother unless you do go, though. And there is already talk of a revolution. Many of the people don’t like Loralia. They might like you better.”

“I want to sleep,” Allana said abruptly.

“All right. Good night. We can talk about it more in the morning.”

“Kriff! Kriffing hells!” Ingvor sat on the boarding ramp of her ship and looked at the diagnostic reports on her datapad. Her hyperdrive was barely functioning, and from her estimates, it would be usable for another two, maybe three hyperspace jumps. Then she’d need to replace it with a new one – and she didn’t have the money, unless she borrowed from herself with the ten thousand credits given to her the week before. I’d have to make up that money again fast, she thought, because I don’t know when those spies are going to be coming for me.

Then again, Boba Fett killed the Queen Mother. And then he was killed with my weapon. So Skywalker’s son was the one who fired it. It was still mine. Maybe they’ll pay me instead since Fett is dead.

Fat chance.

She lit up the end of her last cigarra and leaned against the doorframe. Nothing much she could do about it now. She might be able to go on one last hunting expedition, and hope that she found the bounty quickly and that the bounty was enough that she could then get her ship fixed properly.

She saw a figure moving down the deserted walkway at the backwater spaceport, and initially ignored it; there were a dozen other ships held in the small covered port, and she couldn’t be the only one of the pilots who was awake in the middle of the night. Some species were nocturnal, anyway, even humanoid species. She put her hand on her blaster anyway, and pretended not to watch the figure as it came closer.

It disappeared behind another ship, and Ingvor thought it had gone away, when she heard her name right in her ear, in a stage whisper: “Ingvor?”

“Aaah!” Ingvor jumped. “Don’t sneak up on me like that!” She frowned through the darkness. “Red, what are you doing here? It’s oh-three-hundred hours.”

“I know. I snuck out. Dad locked his door so he won’t be coming to check on me for awhile.”

“Yeah, but if he doesn’t sense you in the next room, then he might go in anyway and see that you’re not there,” said Ingvor. “I can walk you home. This isn’t a great place for kids to be wandering around alone.”

“I’m a Jedi,” Allana snapped.

“And you’re just a trainee and a kid and don’t have a weapon. I do. Now, fine, you’re not going to go home yet. I ran away a couple of times when I was little, too. Sit down, at least.”

“You did? Did your dad get mad?”

“Red, I was adopted as an infant and my birth parents died when I was eight. I was fourteen when I left home and started bounty hunting a little after that.”

“Uncle Zekk used to be a bounty hunter, too,” Allana said.

“Yeah, I know. He’s my brother. But I grew up a lot differently than you did. I didn’t get to live in a palace or go to the Jedi Academy. But then again, nobody was trying to kill me, either. Why did you run away?”

“I didn’t run away. I just left, that’s all.”

“That’s called semantics and it means arguing about words to hide what you mean and change the subject.”

“Well, I left because I’m sad. I miss my mother, and I don’t want to go to Hapes and have to take her place. I like it here now, and all my friends are here on Coruscant, except we're going to Yavin 4 and Verayan and Xander aren't going until the next year.”

“Maybe you don’t HAVE to take your mother’s place,” Ingvor reasoned. “It’s not like anybody can make you do it if you don’t want to.”

“But then somebody has to. And if my great-grandmother knows I’m alive, then she’ll make me be the Queen or else she’ll kill me.” Allana frowned and shrunk into herself. “Or she might do other things to make me listen to her. She might kidnap my dad or my uncle, or maybe my friends. They’d be easier to catch.”

“That’s serious,” said Ingvor. “I’d tell you that she wouldn’t do that, but… but I don’t know that. I know Ta’a Chume was paying three million dollars for your mother’s life. She means business.”

“Can – can you take me to Dathomir?”

“What? No, I’m not going to do that, Allana. You need to go home and talk to your dad about this. He doesn’t like Ta’a Chume either and he won’t do anything that could hurt you.”

“He wanted me to go back there and he said he’d go with me, but that doesn’t matter because they killed my mother and they could kill him too!” Allana’s voice was shrill.

“No offense, but I think your dad is a better fighter. He’s had more Jedi training. Still, I don’t blame you for not going to Hapes. I wouldn’t want to, either. Just tell your dad no, no way, you’re not going and there’s nothing he can do about it.”

“No! I want to go to Dathomir and hide there.” Allana reached into her pocket and pulled out a few small items. “Here. This will be payment for my transport.”

Ingvor took the objects hesitantly. One of them was a Rebellion-era medal, valued, as far as she could tell, at five thousand credits to a serious collector. The second was a lump of a metal that she didn’t recognize. The third was a turquoise-colored gem that was translucent and glowed with its own inner light.

She sucked in her breath. Thirty-five years ago, a rainbow gem was rare enough to purchase a Mon Cal cruiser – with the purchasing power equivalent to several billion credits. Now that Gallinore and the rest of the Hapes Consortium had been engaging in more trade with the rest of the galaxy for awhile, their rarity plummeted with their value. Now they were worth approximately a million credits each.

A million credits. Ingvor really had to think about that one. After all, Allana had family on Dathomir, and they could take care of her. If it weren’t for the fact that she wasn’t good enough at shielding her mind to keep Jacen Solo out of it, her indecision probably would have ended just on the “yes” side.

“I’m sorry, but I can’t. Your father would kill me.”

“No, he wouldn’t.”

“I didn’t mean it literally. He’d be mad, though. And he’d find where you went, and come and get you, and the whole thing would be a big mess. It’s better if you just lay down the law and tell him what you want.”

Allana stomped her foot. “I’m going to Dathomir! You will take me!”

“Allana, that only works on the weak-minded unless you’re really powerful. You still have a few years of training yet to reach Knighthood.”

Ingvor felt something twitch at her hip, and she turned around to face it, but nobody was there. Then her belt suddenly lightened, and when she reached towards the small stun blaster in its holster, she found the holster empty.

“Sorry,” said Allana, and looked apologetic in the second before she raised up the blaster and fired it.

Jacen woke up at the sound of his desk chrono blaring. He smacked the “10 Minute Delay” button and settled back down, with the soft blanket over him and Anakin curled up next to him.

Anakin stirred and slid his arms around Jacen. “We have to get up,” he said sleepily.

“We only got four hours of sleep,” Jacen protested.

“Don’t tell me it wasn’t worth it.” Anakin leaned over and brushed Jacen’s lips with his own, and ran his fingers over Jacen’s bare chest.

“It was – aah – don’t do that, Ani. You know how hard it makes me.”

“So that means you’re awake?”

“Yeah.” Jacen stood up and took a pair of shorts out of his drawer, which he promptly pulled on. “I’ll heat up breakfast. We still have any of those spiced pastry rolls from yesterday?”

“Should be two left,” said Anakin.

Jacen only found one iced spice roll left in the plastic case on the counter. Allana’s midnight snack, he thought, and opened a sealed loaf of bread to make toast.

Where was Allana, anyway? Usually she was up long before Jacen. He went down the hall and peeked into her room, and found her gone. The ‘fresher water was running, though.

Then Anakin started singing in the shower.

Where is she?

Jacen went back to the kitchen. “Allana,” he called out, “all right, you win. I can’t find you. Now come out and get breakfast.” No response.

He turned around at the sound of the toaster popping up its two browned pieces of bread, and as he did, his eye caught a piece of flimsi resting on top of the empty dish rack.

Dear Dad and Uncle Anakin,

I am sorry that I have been so much trouble. I liked living with you and wish I could stay. But I don’t want to go to Hapes and refuse to go so that means I have to go out on my own now. I am fine. Nobody kidnapped me and I have enough money and food.

Love, Allana

“ANAKIN!” Jacen shouted, with such urgency that Anakin burst out of the fresher, dripping wet, still draping a towel around his waist.

“What?”

“Allana ran away. She couldn’t have gotten far. I’ll go find her. You come with me – no, you stay here, in case she comes back, or if anybody brings her back, or anybody stops by with information. Call me right away if any of that happens.”

“She what?”

“I’m going down to the Temple to see if she stopped by there. I’ll put in a report to the spaceport to be on the lookout for a Jedi trainee traveling alone or without other Jedi.” Jacen ran for the door.

“Jacen?”

“Yes?”

“You forgot your pants.”

Jacen was gone in less than a minute, struggling to button his pants and run at the same time. Anakin turned on the Holonet newscast and poked through Allana’s room, looking for any evidence of where she might have gone.

He found Tenel Ka’s lightsaber, lying in an open box, partially disassembled. Allana had removed its crystal. She could buy passage to anywhere with that, he thought, and his heart sank. Anakin tried to reach Jacen on the comlink, but found that Jacen was already using it to talk to somebody else. Anakin started to pace.

There was an insistent knock at the door, and Anakin rushed to answer it. Ingvor Gord stood on the other side, looking angry and a bit out of sorts.

“Ingvor? What are you doing here?” he asked.

“Where’s Jacen?” Ingvor demanded.

“He had to leave. Why? What’s the matter?”

“I have a headache and my arms still tingle. His little condom malfunction shot me and stole my ship.”

“Wait... what?”

“Allana hit me with a stun bolt and stole my ship when I refused to take her off-planet. I wasn’t going to come over tattling but dammit, the Hadron Boson is my home! And she’s too young to be flying around alone.”

Anakin grabbed his comlink and started keying Jacen’s channel code. “Did she say where she was going?”

“Dathomir,” said Ingvor.

“Damn. I can’t get through; there are already four people on the line. We need to switch up to a military frequency.” Anakin threw the comlink at Ingvor. “Call Jacen every two or three minutes until you get through. Tell him what you told me and then tell him that I’ve already left, and I’m on three eighty point six if he wants to try to reach me before I reach hyperspace.”

Ingvor caught the comlink and just stared at Anakin. “Whoa, hold on a minute.”

“Did Allana leave you the rainbow gem?”

“Yeah...” Ingvor frowned. How did he know that?

“Then you were overpaid for your ship. Sorry, but it’s not worth almost a million credits. Consider the rest payment for cooperating.”

“Sometimes I hate the Jedi,” Ingvor said, and she sat down heavily on the couch.

“There’s a spice roll in the kitchen. Have breakfast.”

“Free breakfast isn’t worth the trouble,” Ingvor groused. “It better be from Riagh’s.”

“It is. We don’t buy junk.”

Ingvor pocketed the comlink and wandered into the kitchen, and Anakin raced down to the car port.