Allana hitched her shoulder blades up in an unconscious shrug, a little self-conscious under her mother’s scrutiny. She’d always been like that, even at home during their infrequent chances to talk on secure channels her mother’s eyes had always been so intently trained upon her that she’d felt the gaze like a weight. At home she’d always assumed that the intensity of expression on that otherwise calm face was a side effect of the weighing Allana always took it for granted she was undergoing, an assessment to see if she was good enough yet, mature enough, to be hauled back to Hapes to begin her ‘real’ life. Here, however, there was no possibility of that unless Tenel Ka had, through sheer willpower, managed to drag sixty-three planets through the seal (which, come to think of it, might be entirely possible Allana thought wryly) but the Hapan queen was just as focused on her daughter on a daily basis as she had ever been during her yearly calls. That she missed her daughter, had missed her all along, had never really occurred to Allana who was mired too deep in a combination of looking back on leaving Hapes with the memories of a child who had not really been able to understand the reasons behind the change and her current teenage the-galaxy-is-against-me-especially-my-parents mindset. Still, whatever her reservations, she was going along with her mother’s attempt to get to know her. It couldn’t hurt, after all.
As they exited the apartment and Allana locked the door behind them her mother made an offhand reference to Jacen’s animal collecting habit and Allana twisted her mouth slightly to one side. It got a little unnerving, hearing how alike they were supposed to be, how she reminded everyone of how he’d been as a child and teenager. So what’s the implication, she always thought, that I’m going to turn out like him too? She knew that wasn’t what they meant but it sometimes made her uncomfortable all the same.
“Yes, I’ve heard about all the pets,” she said, mildly enough, before switching topics. “So what have you been doing since you got here anyway? Are you working or are you still just figuring everything out or, what?” she asked as she headed towards the stairs down to the lobby. “I mean, we’ve talked and all since you got here but mostly just about whatever the stupid family drama is this week. I have no idea what you actually do,” she clarified gamely. She might be awkward at it but she was Jaina Solo’s apprentice and she didn’t back down from a mission. Mother-daughter bonding was at least going to get a shot.