05 | secrets inside of secrets

"YOU ALL ARE SO UNBELIEVABLY FULL OF SHIT, YOU KNOW THAT?"

CEYDEA PALACE, CENTIUM CITY, CERADICIA-

There was something strange about the Ceydea family.

It wasn't only because he had been chastised by the youngest in his first five minutes upon being on their planet, but there was something about them that Luke couldn't put his finger on. (Which, the Jedi had to admit, wasn't a reaction he was necessarily used to when the Rebellion and a Jedi were coming to help your planet from being overtaken by the Empire). It was strange, really, and he had seen all sorts of strange things when it came to the Force.

The Force operated differently around them, and it confused the Jedi. There was something that stopped the Force dead in its tracks when it was around the royal family, almost as if it didn't want to even come into contact with them. A cold feeling was pushing it back towards Luke, rejecting the Ceydea's presence at all.

The Force had called him to come and assist Leia and Han (albeit somewhat begrudgingly as well, as Leia thought it would be good for him to do something other than his training that he continued outside of what he learned from Yoda), something telling him down to his bones that there was something different about this planet. The Rebellion helped many to try and flush out the Empire, but when Leia had gotten the distress signal from Ceradicia, something felt... different.

And Luke was sure that it had to do with the fact that the Force was different around the Ceydea family.

Wandering through the designated part of the palace that the Falcon had been stowed away in, far from the Ambassador that the Empire had sent to keep an eye on the transitioning monarchy, which was a whole other issue that the young Jedi was sure Leia would be handing, Luke let out a long sigh. It was all so confusing, what was going on here, what with the two sons of the Ceydea family being keen on accepting help, and the daughters? Well, one had already cozied up to the Empire and the other one was... well, stubborn, to say the least.

It was all so baffling to him, and that was putting it lightly. Experiencing something he had never felt before, he was sure that the Force was trying to tell him something. It had wanted him here in the first place, and now the mythical force was conveying something he had to understand. He was sure Master Yoda would have all of the answers to his questions, but the insightful Jedi Master had insisted that Luke not return to him until he had deemed it the correct time.

There was a foolish idea that sprung into Luke's head at the prospect of going back again to Dagobah, searching for answers from Yoda, but he knew it would be a mistake. The Jedi Master would sense him coming from a mile away and send him back with more questions than answers.

The interaction he had just finished having with the youngest princess didn't help, either.

It wasn't the fact that she was not only strikingly different from the rest of her family in personality and respect, but that something was drawing him to her. While he wasn't going to be the first to admit it, what with her attitude being so hostile and stand-offish, there was something about Alora that made Luke want to get to know her more. He wanted to learn more from her, the Jedi sensing that the secrets of the Ceydea family would not be ones given up so easily.

Alora seemed to trust the Resistance the least, which might've been the exact opposite reaction to what Luke wanted and what might see, counterintuitive to gathering information. (And whatever in his heart fluttered more than what his mind and mission informed him to do.) But to Luke, he saw the secrets of the palace and the information that one would not normally expect to need behind her eyes. There was a desire for something- and he couldn't put his finger on it.

Whatever that feeling was, it was something that Luke had felt himself before. He had even told her that, finding himself being candid with the young princess- something he didn't find himself often doing around others. There were very few he felt comfortable sharing something like that with, and it normally didn't come with such ease.

But with Alora, for whatever reason, it had felt easy. Sure, he had made fun of her for looking nothing like what he expected out of a princess. (Although the other example of that in his life showed him that he knew jack shit about princesses.) But when he had stopped her, every guard that he normally would have - especially after someone had insulted him and promptly left the room- had left him.

It was all confusing for the Jedi. And he didn't have time for this many confusing thoughts when he was supposed to be focusing on the mission the Rebellion had at hand. The war with the Empire was escalating, quickly, and this was one piece of the puzzle that Luke was anxious to solve so that the Rebellion could continue preparing for the inevitable attack of the Jedi's father and his allies.

Especially because she didn't seem to appreciate his oversharing nature and the way that he had so blatantly just flipped his personality and attitude around her. He had to admit, he really wasn't being what a Jedi was supposed to appear as, and Luke swore he could hear the begrudging sigh of Obi Wan in the back of his mind.

Heaving a sigh, realizing that his thoughts were getting away from him, what with him dwelling on his past mistakes (once again, very un-Jedi-like of him) Luke focused back on the present. Walking away from the princess, he had wandered into the territory he had known to be safe, hoping that Han and Leia were somewhere close by to give him the full run-down on what had happened after he had excused himself.

Coming to the end of the corridor, he typed the code that Leia, Han, and him had mutually agreed would be their locked entryway when having a room in Ceradicia, seeing the husband and wife already inside. They were talking in hushed tones, perking up when Luke walked through the door. He was sure that he had interrupted something far more private than whatever the mission was, as he seemed to always do that with the somewhat quarreling couple. "So," the Jedi started, "What do we have so far?"

"Well, Roki's been involved with the Rebellion for a while, since the destruction of the Death Star, so we have the information from him." Leia looked down at the tablet that she had kept with her, a worried look crossing her face. "When it comes to the new info we got from King Aroyo, it helps us, but not much. It gives us some idea of the motives as to why the Empire wants this planet- resources, people, good trade centers, but-"

"It's not clear enough." Han grumbled, leaning back in the chair he sat in across from his wife. "We still don't fully understand what's going on here. What's at play. It seems like we came in the middle of an attempted power-grab by the Empire, but Aroyo is too new of a leader to really give us any idea of how he wants to confront this."

"That makes sense. He was literally crowned as king two days ago and didn't have even half of the preparation that he anticipated when ascending the throne." Leia pointed out, trying to turn her husband away from the pessimistic attitude. "Their parents were killed on a diplomatic mission only a few months ago– the laws here operate very differently, with current rulers surrendering the throne when they believe that the successor is ready. None of the Ceydeas expected this. They thought that they would have more time."

"So what's the plan? We can't hide here for very long until the Empire notices. The way that the Ceydeas have to skirt around certain parts of the palace most certainly won't be easy. We're all but sequestered away until we know the coast is clear to assist them, and even then we're operating inside of the shadows." Luke asked his two friends, seeing the couple exchange a look before continuing.

"We have to get close to the Ceydeas. Really understand where they're coming from as a family, and try to come up with a game plan with them moving forward. The best way to know who you're working with is to get close to them." Leia mapped out, the stern voice of the Rebellion general coming out as she continued to discuss the plan. "Which means that we should all probably get close to someone inside of the family- barring the oldest daughter. I'm pretty sure she's already within the Empire's pocket, given her lack of knowledge on our arrival."

"I can take Roki. He and I already know each other pretty well, and I have a feeling he and I have a couple of things that we can relate upon." Han called out, seeing his wife nod in approval at his choice. Han and Roki had become fast friends when talking through coded transmissions to and from the Rebellion, and it made sense to continue that camaraderie. Since the first day that the Ceydea family had reached out to the Rebellion (very discreetly, what with the looming threat of the Empire above them), Roki had been a vital informant on what the Empire was doing in the attempted takeover of more planets. Roki had even once gone on a "diplomatic mission" to visit Han and Leia after having their child.

"I can talk to Aroyo. As a former Princess and supposed former future ruler of Naboo, there might be some things that I can pass on in terms of advice and things that we might share." Leia looked up at Luke, something inside of her eyes telling him that the obvious pick of pairing the two princesses together was not something Leia wanted. For whatever reason, he had no idea. But Luke wasn't one to question his sister's agenda, not with the stern look that was evident in her expression. Leia's choice did, however, leave Luke with a very stark realization.

"So I now have to get to know the one Ceydea I insulted." Luke put together, giving his friends a glare that was joking but frustrated at the same time. Heaving a sigh, he crossed arms as he thought about the fact that not only would he have to deal with the awkward lack of words that occurred when he was around the Ceradician princess, but her icy attitude towards the Jedi– something neither Leia or Han had with the other two Ceydea siblings. "You really are giving me the short end of the stick, huh?"

"While you two might have not gotten along at first, I think you might have more in common than you think. I caught the last of that conversation in the hallway." Leia gave Luke a knowing glance, seeing her brother slightly flush up in embarrassment. It was still something new to the both of them, understanding their familial bond, something that Luke had figured out on one of his adventures as a Jedi.

It had been awkward at first, both unsure where to go and how to move forward, but Han quickly reminded them that nothing truly changed, barring that one awkward kiss. They were almost a family anyways, and this just meant that they were in more ways than one.

"You've got me there." Luke sighed, placing his hands on his hips as he turned to look around at the room, making sure that he couldn't sense any bugs or anything that would cause the three members of the Rebellion harm. "Plus, I was going to tell you both something that I sensed from the moment that I stepped foot in front of the Ceydea family."

"And what is that, you magician?" Han asked, earning a light smack from Luke. The smuggler let out a small chuckle, glad to see Luke lighten up a bit- it had been a bit since he had seen the Jedi smile. The chaos and quick movement of the Rebellion rarely allowed for the three to just have time to enjoy with each other anymore–what with Leia and Han and their son and Luke with his responsibilities as a Jedi–and it was nice to see a small return to that.

"Thanks for that Han." Luke gave a small grumble, a smirk peeking out before he returned to address what he had brought up in the first place. "The Force moves differently around them. I really could tell when I was talking to Alora, but the Force seems to... stop around them. I don't know how to describe it, but it feels different than how it moves around the three of us."

"You think that they're aware of it?"

"Probably not. If they are, it would be a pretty big secret that they've kept." Luke walked to sit with his friends, taking the seat directly next to Leia and across from Han. Tapping his hand on the table where there were some small hologram devices depicting Ceradicia's place on the map of the galaxy and the history of the Ceydea family, he pointed to the fact that there was no information about Force-sensitive or anything Force related that correlated with the Ceydeas. "And, it would put an even bigger target on this planet's back. Vader and the Empire wouldn't let something like this just fly under the radar."

"That's for damn sure." Han murmured, giving another long sigh, standing up from where he was sitting, placing his hands on his blaster belt as he walked to stare out at the Ceradician's capital city. It was twinkling with the start of day, the markets that operated just below the Centium City castle. "And they would definitely already have been taken over if the Empire was any wiser about it."

"So I guess the plan remains the same, but with caution towards whatever Luke is sensing about them." Leia acknowledged, seeing the two men dip their heads in agreement. "We see what we can do to keep the Empire from taking over this planet, and then we go back to stopping the Empire from hurting the entire galaxy."

"It sounds so simple when you say it like that." Luke remarked, giving the woman he was sitting next to a small nudge, poking fun at the way that she was laying everything out so easily in front of them. The plan was simple, but the Jedi was sure that something would probably derail everything- with their track record, he was sure of it.

"Let's hope that it is."

. ࣪⋆✦ ⋆ ࣪.

IT HAD BEEN A WEEK SINCE THE RESISTANCE HAD ARRIVED ON CERADICIA. And Alora suspected that there was something more than Roki just randomly sending out a distress call to the Rebellion and the three most important members of said Rebellion being so keen on answering it.

There was something going on, something that her family wasn't telling her. And it frustrated her to hell. Since her parent's death Alora had been left out of many things, whether it be the coronation preparation (which honestly, she could have given less of a shit about) or the investigation into her parents and what went wrong exactly when they went on the diplomatic mission to Naboo.

Alora was the youngest, but she was most certainly not stupid.

All it had been since the Rebellion had arrived was slammed doors in her face and silence, leaving Alora to wander the halls of the palace (which wasn't a bad hobby all things considered, but with the fact that she was antsy to do something, to help, the palace suddenly became a cage). It was maddening– no it was more than that, it was enraging to desire for any sort of  answer and the response to be turned backs to the youngest Ceydea.

She had expected it from Aroyo, a king had many more duties than anything that Alora could have anticipated. He had warned her well in advance, and her family had taught her some of what was to be expected of her eldest brother since the moment the two had become the closest of the four Ceydea siblings. Alora knew it was an attempt by her mother to let her down gently with the fact that Aroyo could not simply just go on the adventures the two had envisioned when they were children, but this was something different than that.

But she hadn't expected it from Roki. Roki, who had been keeping a secret from Alora for the past few years about what he had done to help the Rebellion. It was obvious from the embrace that he had with Han and Leia that there was history there, tangible and true. It was yet another thing that Alora had no idea how to deal with, the fact that she had no knowledge of the fact that both Aroyo and Roki had a semblance of an inkling what was going on (whether it started with their parents deaths or went even earlier than that) and left her in the dark, drowning in her grief and lack of answers, hurt.

The three of them were supposed to hide nothing from each other, harbor no secrets (barring Aroyo's that he had to protect for the sake of the crown). That promise seemed to have shattered in Alora's hands the second that the Rebellion had landed their ship and tilted her entire world on its axis. Or maybe it happened before when someone tried  to kill her eldest brother. Or even before then, the day that she had seen the ship that had taken her parents on their diplomatic mission to Naboo return with their bodies in boxes instead of warm embraces.

Alora was tired of the games, of people dancing around her to try and keep her out of the loop. "For the greater good" be damned, Alora was about to start finding out the answers for herself if anyone else told her one more time that "the less she knew, the better." Which led her to the position that she was in now– stalking the halls of the King's quarters to finally try and get a conversation with her oldest brother.

Turning the corner, Alora saw the familiar hallways that used to house her mother and father, mostly unchanged since Aroyo's ascension to the throne a week and a half prior. There were still childhood portraits of all four Ceydea children hanging on the walls, the scuff marks of pranks past still there. It was almost as if Aroyo did not want to erase his parents and the legacy that they had left behind them– and it wasn't like Alora was blaming them for that.

And there, studying the portrait of her entire family at the end of the hallway, was the last member of the Rebellion that Alora wanted to see– Luke Skywalker. A scoff involuntarily escaped her lips as she rolled her eyes, alerting the Jedi to her presence. Of course her brother wouldn't be anywhere without some sort of surveillance, and it was one of the people she was trying to most actively avoid.

Seeing the man look up at the annoyed noise that she made, Luke showed no reaction as he stared at the youngest Ceydea princess, seeing a look of unamusement cross her face as he began to speak. "You and your sister look nothing alike." He finally settled on saying, seeing Alora's annoyed expression deepen into a frown.

"We've gotten that a lot." Alora responded dryly, not in the mood for small talk. Being stuck in the castle, whether it was merely for security protocol because of the Empire's heightened presence or for the ease of monitoring the family, for the Resistance had taken its toll on the young woman. She was antsy, ready to go out and fly in the skies of their solar system like she had with her father, not be relegated to some damsel in distress, helpless to do anything inside of her daily home.

"I didn't–" Luke stuttered, shaking his head as his face flushed ever so mildly. Strike one. The task that Leia had set out for him to get to know Alora was going excellent, (sarcasm obviously noted), and the Jedi definitely had made it worse with that statement.  "Sorry. That was a bad comparison to make. It's just–" He looked back up at the painting, scanning the faces for any attempt to try and salvage the conversation that he had so blatantly butchered with the younger Ceydea princess. "You and King Aroyo and Prince Roki look so similar. She–"

"Doesn't fit into that picture." Alora finished for the young Jedi, seeing him nod in agreement. It was something that had always separated Rienna from the rest of the Ceydea family, and when they were younger, had always been a point of contention. "Yeah, that was something I always noticed too. She looks a lot more like our aunt on my mother's side, the younger princess of Ceradicia."

"Your mother was the one directly related to the Ceydea line?"

"Yeah." Alora nodded, her eyes slightly judging Luke at the lack of information that he knew about the Ceydea family– that fact should have been one of the first things the Rebellion knew about the ruling family. But, then again, it wasn't like the Rebellion was the type of organization to share all of their information with everyone. Maybe the Jedi was in somewhat of a similar situation as she was– somewhat stuck as he was tasked with helping a planet that he had no desire to come assist with, missing some of the information. "My dad married into the Ceydea line, and assumed my mother's last name. He loved her so much that he didn't care to keep his last name. He wasn't one to keep with tradition anyways."

A hint of a smile spread across Alora's lips, Luke almost perking up at the fact that she was sharing something, even a sliver of information, about her family and what it meant to her. An expression could demonstrate a thousand words to the Jedi, and it was obvious the love that Alora held, and continued to hold, for her late father. "That sounds very noble of him. He was from a family that was of nobility then, I assume?"

"Hardly." Alora laughed, shaking her head at the memories that her father would recall of his rambunctious family. He had always said that was where she had gotten her adventurous and cheeky nature, and he was the first to blame his side of the family's genetics whenever the girl would stumble into trouble. "He was from a city on the other side of the planet, Xiernon, and his family was one that had fled Naboo after the change in regime and the danger of war during the Clone Wars to the planet. I think they were a family of refugees, if I'm being frank. I believe they were originally from Mandalore."

"Your father wasn't Cereadician born? I thought that they had to be to marry into the royal family."

"Yeah well, that rule was outdated for many reasons. Ceradicia has always been a safe haven for those in danger, and when my mother and father fell in love, my grandparents thought it was high time to have that rule abolished. With a war ongoing, they knew love was rare enough to find in it of itself, and they weren't about to stop my mother and father because of an old rule."

"That's very..."

"War changes things, Jedi Skywalker." Alora narrowed her eyes at the young man as she realized that she had been sharing much more information to the young Jedi (though she had no idea what had possessed her to talk to Luke, maybe it was that sort of look in his eyes that he was looking for friends and answers outside of his family just like she was). "You of all people should know that. Now if you'll excuse me–"

"Wait! I didn't mean to bring up bad memories, truly." Luke sighed, seeing her dismiss him within seconds and move past him, very evidently trying to go talk to her eldest brother, Aroyo, who was bound to still be in a meeting with Leia about war strategy and how to mitigate intelligence spreading to the Empire. That was something Leia would most certainly not be happy to be interrupted by the youngest Ceydea, his sister somewhat harboring resentment towards Alora. (For what reasons, he had no idea– other than the fact that she reminded Leia of a life that she could have lived.)

"What do you need, Skywalker?"

"I just–" Luke looked back at the hallway that he had just left, seeing the youngest Ceydea stalking her way over to the chambers of her eldest brother. He had to admit, out of all of the siblings (barring Rienna of course) Alora had been left completely in the dark about everything, evident in her somewhat exhausted and desperate look in her eyes. While she did look a little bit insane, Luke remembered the days of the Rebellion that had left him like that. And, if the man wasn't kidding himself, it was mildly... endearing to see the woman in such a vulnerable position.

To be able to wear one's emotions on their sleeve was something a Jedi was not allowed to do, and to see Alora so vulnerable in her emotions, even with a somewhat complete stranger like Luke, it was refreshing. Leia and Han he could read most of the time, their adventures together leading to an open line of communication about most things, Rebellion or personal. (He was little Ben's uncle and somewhat loosely decreed godfather, after all.)

"Listen." Luke sighed, seeing Alora standing before him, unamused, her arms crossed as she stood the furthest distance away from the Jedi. It didn't offend him that she was keeping her distance, but it did hurt to see the amount of distrust that was slowly growing between Alora, the Rebellion, and her siblings. From what Roki had told the three Rebellion members, the youngest Ceydea was often the most outgoing, always doing moderately illegal escapades with their father and pulling pranks on the other Ceydea siblings. 

"I know that you're looking for answers."

"Understatement of the galaxy, Skywalker."

"Can you just–" Luke sighed, irritation rising in his voice as Alora got more and more combative with him. One moment she was talking to him like a real person, and the next it was like she had remembered who he was, and the fact that the Rebellion was here with an agenda, one that she had no inclination to. "Just hold on for a moment. I've been where you have."

"Have you, Jedi?" Alora retorted, raising an eyebrow in disbelief. "Yes, I'm sure that your parents were killed on a diplomatic mission with no investigation even being done to see what the hell happened to kill your family. And I'm sure that your brother almost got shot before your eyes while he was assuming the throne of the planet that your family rules, which is something that none of us asked for." Her words were filled with venom as she rolled her eyes at Luke, seeing the door to her brother's chambers open, seeing Roki and Han walk out and move in the opposite direction of where Luke and Alora stood, speaking in hushed tones.

Great. Just another thing that Alora was being left out of that her family was no doubtedly orchestrating with the Rebellion. The more that she saw of the Rebellion, the more that she wanted to punch one of them in the face– especially with the way that Leia would all but completely ignore Kyra like she was some sort of plague or shoot her a sneer.

Whatever the deal was with the Princess of Alderaan, Alora didn't care. Quite frankly, she was over the games that the Rebellion was playing. If they wanted to keep their secrets, that was just fine, but from the moment that the Millenium Falcon had landed in the hidden docking bay of the palace, the Ceydeas had been keeping nothing but secrets. And Alora was quite tired of those.

Her face souring into an even more upset expression, Alora turned her back to Luke, who was still standing in somewhat shock at the outburst that had just occurred in front of him. What could he say at that moment? It wasn't like he had anything like what she had experienced in the past two months, and yet–

"If you think that's bad, my own father is the one who chopped off my hand and is actively destroying the galaxy." Luke blurted out, seeing the young woman freeze at that statement. "That isn't something I go around flinging about to people in order to make myself feel better. So whatever you're going through? It's entirely valid." He spoke plainly, arms folded in front of him, seeing Alora look over her shoulder at the young Jedi. "Just don't use your anger to drive everyone away. There's a reason for everything going on, even if you have no idea what it is."

"Oh there's a reason alright." Alora muttered, briskly walking away from her brother's quarters with a new idea in mind– and it all had to do with that stupid fucking ship that the Rebellion had brought with them. She would be getting the answers that she wanted alright– but it would be on her own time and without the help of anyone else. "When you want answers, you have to get them yourself."

"Time to go hijack a ship."

₊˚✿𑁍.ೃ࿔*:･

so uhh....

five years, no see!

the star wars renaissance is truly so back, and with me going to star wars celebration this weekend, it honestly came at the most opportune time. HOORAY!

me lore dumping to matz about the ceydea family made me be like.... wait... the bickering children who just need to talk need me... and here i am < 3

not much to say, i condensed a few chapters into this one from my original plan but it's also cause this is going to be a shorter story just for the sake of condensing things ( i spread out the last time i was planning for this fic far too much when the timeline of these events occurring is super short and honestly yea)

this will be a fic i probably come back to from time to time because i just need a fun little adventure story because no one else is having a fun time in my fics and this isn't an entirely fun time but you know what the kids are kids let them be idiots

college has started, im now studying abroad, and somehow you guys are getting the most consistent updates out of me that i have ever given. everyone say thank you to japan for giving me a horrid cold and giving me nothing to do but rot with my characters

that's all love u all very much kisses mwah mwah