Tallatte Clara

Tallatte (pronounced Tal-at) Jenette-Anna (Jenette-Anna:her much hated middle name, chosen, as most things Tallatte disliked were, by her mother.) Clara was the secret daughter of Talella Clara and Jek Clara, though for a long time she did not know it.

Early Life
Tallatte's father died a few months before her birth. Her heartbroken mother vowed never to love anyone again in anyway. When the child was born, her mother claimed she'd found the baby and adopted her. She gave the girl to the Jedi at a young age and showed no further interest.

The Alliance For Peace
Tallatte became an active member of her aunt Holly's alliance, The Alliance For Peace. Her aunt trained her as much as she could, but being a very busy woman, Holly didn't have much time for her niece. Tallatte married a fellow alliance member, Genneral Cody. It was a very small, private ceremony, with only a few members of the alliance, and a few friends present. Tallatte was happy that her aunt Holly had managed to find the time to attend. The wedding didn't go entirely to plan, with a member of Death Watch turning up and causing trouble. He was evicted by Holly and several Clones that were present.

Discovering Her True Identity (novelised format)
The discovery was a complete accident, of course. Such thigs generally are. Certainly, she did not set out to make an enemy of the woman she believed to be her adoptive mother.

Tallatte Clara had no idea that almost every word Talella Clara had told was a complete lie. She wouldn't even have guessed. Talella had always been perfectly reasonable, if a little snappy, but the heritage of Tallatte was the one thing she would never speak of.

It had been a long, hard day and Tallatte was sitting by herself in her mother's home. It was a nice place, a little posh for her tastes, but nice all the same. A gentle breeze blew through the open window, stirring a small stack  of papers. A few of the documents fell to the floor, Tallatte dropped to her knees, scooping up the documents. One in particular caught her eye. A picture, of a young man and woman, newly weds by the look of the picture. Tallatte froze. The woman in the picture - it was Talella! And the man! He had the same black hair, blue eyes and tanned skin that she was so used to seeing when she looked into the mirror! She looked at the picture again. In the background, she spotted another person. A beautiful young blonde woman. Aunty Holly, Tallatte realised. Talella will admit nothing, even if I confront her with the picture. Maybe Holly will tell me?

Tallatte found Holly Talon in The Alliance For Peace headquarters, frowning at some kind of report. "Hello Tallatte, what brings you here?" she asked.

"I was hoping you could explain something to me, Aunty Holly." Tallatte began.

"So what is it you need explaining, and I'll do my best to help you." As Holly spoke, she rotated herself 180 degrees to face her niece. Tallatte pressed the picture into Holly's hand. Holly's face paled and her hands shook slightly. Tallatte noticed, even though Holly was quickly back in control. "Where.... when.... how did you find this?" Holly's voice was barely a whisper.

"Nevermind that. Just tell me! Tell me who he is! Tell me why she lied!"

"Talella always wanted to be the 'perfect' Jedi. What she did was against the Jedi Code." Holly looked up, meeting her niece's eyes. Tallatte took a shaky breath in. Was this going to be in? Was she going to find out the hidden truth? Or would Holly lie to protect Talella? "I think there was only about five people that knew about Talella's marriage.... Jek was killed within four days of the wedding...."

"Jek?"

"Jek Clara. Your father." Tallatte stared directly at Holly, her eyes unblinking.

"Aunty Holly. Tell me everything."

"You deserve an explanation, ideally from your mother, but that won't happen anytime ever. I'll explain as best I can." Holly sighed, as if she'd rather not be having this conversation, but then it wasn't exactly Holly's responsibility to be telling her this story, Tallatte thought. "Your mother was forty when she married Jek. I don't know how long they'd been a couple, I was never told, but I know they'd known each other for years. She invited me to the wedding on the condition that I never spoke of it anyone. She didn't even invite our sister Talonia, and you know how close they are...."

"Not so close now though." Tallatte pointed out.

"True enough, what with one thing and another. The list goes on a bit there."

"It does, but stop changing the subject." Holly grinned, caught out and knowing it.

"I remember that day well.... it was exactly a week before my twenty seventh birthday. I remember the weather that day was wonderful. It was one of those days that when you think back, alot of your memories are the bright blue colour that the sky only ever is in the best memories of your life, if you see what I mean there. I remember there was a beautiful serenity about that day, like it was meant to be perfect."

"Quit it with the waffling aunt Hol." Again, Holly shot her a niece a nervous grin. There's something she doesn't want me to know, Tallatte realised. "So.... how much do you know about my father?" Tallatte asked.

"Not much. His name - his age. He was only a few months older than your mother." She knows more than she's letting on said a voice in Tallatte's head. Tallatte tried to ignore it, but it persisted with: she will not tell her the full truth unless you tell her you think there's something she's not telling you. Holly had turned back to her reports, and reading through them so quickly Tallatte would be surprised if Holly knew a word of their content. She took a deep breath. "Aunty Holly, I know there's something you haven't told me." Holly did not look round, but she became visibly tense. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Yes you do! I can tell!" Tallatte's voice rose in annoyance. Holly made no attempt to reply. "Tell me. Now." Tallatte's voice was almost a growl. Holly got up, crossed the room, searched through some things for a few moments, before appartantly finding what she was looking for. She handed Tallatte a datapad. "Your father's diary. He gave this to me to give to.... to his child, should he and Talella ever have a child. I don't know how, or why, but he knew he was going die. I was instructed to keep the diary a secret. It was to be for you only."

"How did he know he was going to die? Why did he give this to you? Why not my mother!?" Tallatte only spoke the first three of the questions that jumped into her head. Her mind was reeling. Holly looked at her. "I don't know. Maybe the answers are in the diary?"

"I'll find out. I'll find out everything about my father its the last thing I do."

Holly sighed "If the little I know is anything to go on, it probably will be the last thing you do. It was almost the last thing I did."

Questioning Talella
Tallatte Clara let herself into her mother's posh apartment on Coruscant, near the Jedi temple. For the first time in her entire 18 year long life, she was yearning to see the woman who'd decieved her for years: Her own mother. "Tallatte? Is that you?" Talella's voice called from the older woman's bedroom. Stupid question, I'm the only one with a key to her house, Tallatte thought crossly. "Yes mum." She replied breaking Talella's life long rule that she only called her Talella. Her mother stepped out into the doorway, "I am not your real mother!" She almost shouted, looking flustered. "Yes you are!" Tallatte argued back, holding out the Datapad she was clutching and showing Talella the picture resting on top. It was a faded photogragh of a young couple, smiling at each other, with a young blonde watching in the background. They were standing in a beautiful garden somewhere. The girl wore a wedding dress of brilliant white lace and had dark hair, but was clearly Talella. The elderly woman slipped her pale, trembling hands under the picture, staring at it, "But where....where....was...it? I thought they were.....all....um...gone!" Talella's usual perfect mask vanished.