Title: From Whence She Came
Author: Caitlinlaurie
Rating: T, for some Dark Themes
Fandom: Star Wars
Summary: A day in the life of His Serene Highness, Prince Bail Prestor Organa, Viceroy of Alderaan and Imperial Senator, and Her Royal Highness, Princess Leia Organa when they make a diplomatic trip to Naboo. A Prince makes a royal visit, and a Princess creates a memory.
Warnings/Notes: This is my first Star Wars fic, and it is meant to explain Leia's memory of her mother. The idea popped into my head, and what started as a small scene with Bail and Leia became a story about royal protocol and culture. As you might be able to tell, I use the Extended Universe sparingly. I use names and ideas I like, but often I leave the rest untouched, like the continued existence of Sheltay Retrac. I've tried to explain inconsistencies in canon, like the fact that Bail runs Alderaan, yet his wife is the queen. Much of the descriptions of Alderaan and their traditions are taken from the works of Timothy Zahn, Kevin Anderson, and Daniel Wallace. Books I used for reference were The Illustrated Star Wars Universe, Star Wars: The Essential Guide to Planets and Moons, Star Wars: The Essential Atlas, and Wookiepedia. The poem used in the epigraph is by Lawrence Hope, though I credit an Alderaanii poet.
Disclaimer: All characters and their canon histories are the property of George Lucas.
If some day this body of mine were burned
(It found no favor, alas! With you)
And the ashes scattered abroad, unurned,
Would Love die also, would Thought die too?
But who can answer, or who can trust,
No dreams would harry the windblown dust?
―"Thoughts" by Hari Seldona, Poet Laureate of Alderaan
The Tantive IV dropped out of hyperspace directly in front of a small blue and green globe. To an outside observer, the planet suspended in space was beautiful. A perfect blend of ocean and earth; a great mother bringing forth both children of land and sea, and nurturing them equally. The name of the planet was Naboo, and many would be in awe of its beauty, but His Serene Highness, Prince Bail Prestor Organa, found it far from beautiful. Unlike others, he knew the true story behind the varied history of the seemingly innocuous planet.
"Your Highness?"
Captain Antilles's voice seemed to echo loudly in the cockpit, but the Prince was grateful for it as it gave him something to concentrate on.
"Begin your approach," he commanded.
"Naboo Central Control, this is the Tantive IV requesting immediate docking at Theed Imperial Spaceport," Captain Antilles said, his finger pressed down on the comm.
"Tantive IV, request received, please transmit your access code," a disembodied droid voice stated.
"Transmitting now," Antilles replied.
The Prince watched with disinterest as the protocol for entering the planet was commenced with, fighting back a sigh. It was yet another thing that had changed in the passing years. Six years ago, during the very height of the Clone Wars, access codes had never been required to enter most systems or planets. But like so much else, the rules had changed. Those planets that were under Imperial Control due to uprisings or suspected rebellious sympathies were now under virtual lockdown. Even this planet, Naboo, birth place of the Emperor, was now nothing but a mere jewel in the Empire's vast collection, meant to be controlled and subdued.
"Tantive IV, you are clear for landing. Follow your present course."
"Acknowledged," Captain Antilles replied before switching off the channel. He then touched his finger to the speaker and said, "This is the captain speaking, we are now entering the Naboo atmosphere on approach. Prepare for landing and docking."
In no time at all, the captain had landed the CR90 Corvette on the platform and they were clear to disembark. The Prince stood then, looking out at the spaceport with a concentrated stare. "Have the men stay close to the ship," he said to Antilles. "I don't like the look of those soldiers."
The captain followed his eyes to the Storm Troopers that lined the walls of the port, proclaiming it to be an Imperial stronghold before all else. Antilles nodded in understanding. "Yes, Your Highness."
"We will be back by 1400. I don't want to spend any more time on this cursed planet than I have to." With that, the Prince left the cockpit and moved through the Corvette until he reached the first deck. On the way, he was monetarily startled out of his thoughts when one of the droids addressed him.
"Excuse me, Your Highness, but have you sent my counterpart, Artoo-Detoo, on an errand? He is not at his post."
Bail turned and saw See-Threepio, and had to resist smiling. "I haven't seen him, but when I do, I shall direct him your way."
"Oh, thank you, Your Highness. He takes so much looking after."
The Prince nodded, still holding back a smile, and continued on to the first deck. Once there, he opened the door to the stateroom and smiled at what he found.
"Little one, what are you doing?"
"Playing," was all the answer he received. Moving into the rooms, Bail tried valiantly not to laugh at the picture his daughter made with her favorite droid. The astromech was in the middle of the room, and he had been decorated with a lace shawl and a flowered crown, which perched precariously on the top of his dome. The handmaiden standing behind his daughter had already surrendered to her laughter.
"All right there, Artoo?" he asked.
Artoo whistled in good cheer, causing Bail to shake his head. He would never understand the droid's endless patience for his daughter or his devotion to her. The Prince would swear that the droid would risk programming and circuitry just to make her happy.
"Threepio is looking for you," Bail said to the droid. Artoo whistled and turned his dome, dislodging the crown and letting the shawl fall away.
"We can play more later, Artoo," his daughter announced merrily, causing the droid to beep cheerfully and depart.
Once he had, Bail turned his full attention to his daughter. "Don't you think that dress is a little formal, little one?"
The youngling shook her head. "I'm the Princess of Alderaan, Papa, I must make a good impression when visiting foreign heads of state."
She would at that, the Prince thought, laughing. Rather than the simple traveling shift and leggings she had been wearing earlier, his daughter had changed into a floor length dress of velvet and lace, with a full skirt and a fitted bodice. She looked every bit the Princess she was, and older than her five years. "Who told you that?"
"Threepio," she said, as if that answered everything. "He is a protocol droid, Papa, and he knows all about it."
Bail laughed and nodded, conceding the point. Moving into the room, he dismissed the handmaid that was moving to fix his daughter's hair. Coming up behind the little Princess, Bail lowered himself to his knees and began to draw the comb through the long brown locks. "How are we wearing it today?"
"My favorite way, Papa," the youngling commanded.
Bail hid another smile and nodded. His daughter had long since decided what she did and did not like, from food to clothing, and she could not be moved on any point. With practiced fingers, Bail began twisting and braiding her hair into a coronet that wound around her head, with the bottom section of her hair down in curls. It was a style her mother had always favored, though the late Queen had covered the bottom section of her hair in a veil. His little one had never worn her hair like that until the day her mother died, a year and six months earlier. After that, she had rarely worn it any other way.
He had never considered that fatherhood would have him learning things like how to fix his daughter's hair, but the Prince was rarely satisfied with leaving such things to others. From the moment he had held her in his arms, all those years ago, he had wanted to see every little milestone and every little moment. His wife, Breha, had taken a different perspective, Bail reflected. She knew little other than the way she had been raised, where children were to be seen and not heard, so she hadn't adapted well to the Organa way.
Breha had always preferred to see her daughter after she had been fed and changed, when she was clean and in a happy mood. She had little patience for the whims of a child. She had never been unkind to their daughter, he thought, but there had always been a distance there that never seemed to be crossed. As Queen Consort and Minister of Education, Breha's duties had often kept her away from the palace in Aldera, and as such it gave her reason to be frequently absent from their daughter's life. Relocating refugees and establishing education reform in systems still devastated by the Clone Wars was noble work, but Bail had always wondered why it seemed to come at the expense of her daughter. In a way, it was a blessing that his daughter would remember little of her mother. Breha would always be perfect in imagination, instead of disappointing in reality.
"Papa?"
"Yes, Leia?"
"Why are we on Naboa?"
"Naboo," Bail corrected automatically, putting the finishing touches on his daughter's hair. "There, all done. Now, as to your question, we are paying a diplomatic visit to the Queen, and then we are meeting with an acquaintance of mine."
"I know all that, Papa," Leia replied. "I meant why are we visiting now? On Empire Day?"
"Empire Day is as good as any other day to visit," Bail replied.
"Papa, as one of the Imperial Senators you are supposed to be on Coruscant."
"Don't forget to call it the Imperial Center in public, Leia."
"Yes, Papa," his daughter dutifully replied.
Bail stood, offering his hand to his daughter, who took it happily. Leaving the staterooms, Bail smiled down at Leia. "I don't go to the Imperial Center, little one, because Sheltay scheduled this meeting months ago, and it just happened to be on this day."
Leia giggled. She knew when her father was teasing her, and she knew Sheltay, and she didn't do anything on accident. She knew the truth, that her Papa hated the Empire and anything he could do to avoid celebrating its founding would be done.
"Come," Organa said. "It is time for us to meet with the Queen."
"Who is the Queen?" Leia asked. "What's her name?"
"Her name is Queen Kylantha," Bail replied, "and she has been Queen of Naboo for four years."
That answer seemed to settle Leia's curious nature for the moment, as she was now rather occupied by the bustling spaceport they had stepped off the ship into.
"Senator Organa," a simpering voice declared, "we are honored by your visit."
The Prince turned and had to physically prevent himself from sneering. "Colonel Panaka, what a surprise." His annoyance at seeing the toadying man could hardly be contained. The people of Naboo generally fell into two categories, those who had gained from the Emperor's rise, and those who remained loyal to the Old Republic. While the vast majority of the Naboo fell into the latter category, there were a few ambitious traitors like Panaka who had been amply rewarded for their parts in seeing the Republic fall.
"Isn't it? When the Queen informed me of your little visit, I just knew I had to be one of the greeting party," the man made a vague gesture behind himself to indicate the people behind him.
Bail nodded in their direction, recognizing Sio Bibble as one of the party. Though he had not seen the man since the funeral five years before, he knew that the man's loyalties had stayed tied to the former Republic. The same could not be said for Panaka. Organa began to walk forward, greeting the governors and dismissing Panaka easily. Though he could see the man seething from the corner of his eye, the Prince had little patience or interest in placating Palpatine's bootlicker.
After the formal greetings, Bail brought his daughter forth, "And this is the Crown Princess of Alderaan, Her Royal Highness, the Princess Leia."
Sio Bibble smiled at the diminutive youngling. "Hello, Your Highness. Welcome to Naboo."
"We are very pleased to be here Governor," Leia replied. "Allow us to extend our greetings on behalf of Alderaan." The young Princess had practiced the words faithfully after Threepio taught them to her.
"A charming child," Bibble laughingly said to Bail, to which the Prince nodded his thanks. "And a Nabooian name too," Bibble chortled.
"Oh?" The Prince asked, raising one eyebrow. "Leias are flowers that grow in the Silverpine Forest above Terrarium City on Alderaan. Do you have them on Naboo too?"
Bibble smiled. "Yes, in the Lake Country."
Bail nodded with feigned interest. "What a coincidence."
"Let's depart, Senator," Panaka said with a sneer. "We wouldn't want to keep Her Highness waiting anymore than we already have."
"By all means," Bail nodded, allowing the Governors to proceed him.
It was a short walk to the palace, and the Prince and Princess allowed themselves to be distracted by the running dialogue Sio Bibble provided about the city of Theed and its history. Leia, especially, seemed enchanted with the sunset-colored stone they had used to build their cities, and the way that nature was well represented with creeping vines and overflowing flower boxes. She liked too that all the buildings seemed to have curved arches and polished green domes, but were still all different.
"What's that sound?" Leia asked at one point, during a natural pause in the conversation.
"That, Princess, is the sound of the waterfalls of Theed," Bibble replied, smiling at the youngling.
"Waterfalls, really?" Leia asked, a smile lighting up her whole face. "The only waterfalls on Alderaan are in the Castle Lands, and we hardly ever go there."
When they turned the corner, Leia was delighted to see the palace, framed by the waterfalls falling behind it that she had only heard until that moment. The palace was built in the old Republican style, much like those planets that tried to make their buildings seem older than they were, but Leia didn't mind. It was beautiful. It had high fluted towers framing a large rounded domed building in the center. She could see tall windows and decorative columns, and the facade was flanked by the biggest statues she had ever seen, and what looked like hundreds of steps. Leia had only seen two palaces before, her own and the one in Imperial City. And the latter was a horrid monstrosity of black marble with spikes that looked like they would pierce passing ships. Her palace though was wonderful. It was in the center of Aldera, and had many balconies and transparisteel windows that opened to the Aldera Mountains and the Capital Lake.
Theed Palace was pretty, Leia thought with a biased eye, but Aldera Royal Palace was better.
In no time at all, they had walked through the courtyard and up the many flights of stairs to reach the throne room, passing endless columns and works of art.
"The Viceroy of Alderaan, His Serene Highness, Prince Bail Prestor Organa, and Her Royal Highness, Princess Leia Organa."
After the herald announced them, they entered a room with tall pillars and taller windows. The attention of the Organas, though, became fixed on the figure sitting on the throne in the middle of the room.
She did not rise.
Even Leia, young though she was, felt the insult, but Bail felt it even keener. The House of Organa had helped found Alderaan, and had ruled it for millennia. They had also been some of the original signatories of the Galactic Republic. Bail governed Alderaan with little input from the High Council, while also serving in the Senate, and he could trace his family back three thousand generations. Yet this appointed and unelected Queen, little more than Palpatine's puppet, of a planet that had barely discovered democracy in the last millennia, remained seated when they entered a room?
"Queen Kylantha," Bail said, breaking protocol by speaking first and then further breaking it by sitting without invitation. Leia followed his lead and sat next to him, mimicking his posture and the look of distain that graced his face. He easily slipped into royal speech, forcing the Queen to copy him if she wanted to be seen as an equal. In a clear voice, the Prince of Alderaan said, "You look well. We see the last four years of Queenship have not been too onerous. But, what with the Emperor supervising, we are sure you have had ample free time."
The insult was obvious, and both the Queen and Panaka bristled, but Bail was surprised to see the Governors all look anywhere but at the Queen. In fact, some of them looked down right amused. It surprised Bail that Kylantha had kept any Governors on who did not agree with her, but Bail knew that she must have been worried about support if this was the case. She obviously did not have her people's love, or respect. But considering how much the people had loved Queen Apailana, and the continued rumors that she had been assassinated to make room for her appointed successor, perhaps it was no wonder that Kylantha had to keep the previous Governors on to have control of her people.
"Senator Organa," the Queen said, "we are so pleased to have you here." Her voice belied her words.
"Really, Queen Kylantha, on Naboo we feel quite free to dispense with our elected title. You may address us by our royal one." Bail smiled engagingly, but his daughter could see the way his mouth was taught and the lines around his eyes were pronounced. He didn't like this young queen anymore than Leia did.
The young Princess didn't understand it. Queens were supposed to be pretty and kind, like in the stories that her Papa told her in High Alderaanii before bedtime. They were supposed to be gracious and care about the people. Her papa assured her this was so, and Leia thought he must be right. Her own mother had been a Queen, and though Leia couldn't remember her anymore, she was certain that this had been her mother's way. But this Queen, she was nothing like that at all. She was mean and coarse, and wore funny white makeup on her face and she barely had a bottom lip except for a red line.
"As you wish, Prince Bail," the Queen replied. "It is, Prince, isn't it? We wouldn't want to offend our royal brother by calling you the wrong title. You are not King, correct?" There was a sneer in the voice of the Queen, as if she couldn't posit a world in which Bail would be a King.
She had intended to insult the Viceroy, but Bail was not easily riled, especially not by one of Palpatine's ilk. He was proud of his heritage, and even more so of the planet he represented. It would be a warm day on Hoth before he felt anything but pride in the planet that gave him life.
With a smile, as if talking to a child, Bail answered, "Men cannot hold the title of King on Alderaan, Queen Kylantha. There has not been a King on Alderaan in the last three thousand years, since the Sith Wars and the rule of the Usurper Bouris Ulgo. He was a warlord who declared himself King without popular election or the support of the people." Bail smiled inwardly when the haughty Queen straightened in her seat. "As a male, we hold the title of Prince and Viceroy, though our wife held the title of Queen Consort. One day, when our daughter rules, she shall be Queen in her own right. A true heir to the throne."
"Ah, but there was some problem with your father inheriting the throne of Alderaan, is that not right Senator?" Panaka asked, his oily voice grating to the nerves.
"Was there, indeed?" The Queen asked, her royal mask slipping as she looked delighted at this information.
In that moment, Bail suddenly wished Darth Vader would appear and strike them both down with his light saber, and that was not a thought he entertained lightly. Biting off his reply, the Prince answered, "Our grandfather was not of Noble birth, as such the rights of his children were contested by the House of Antilles who had long served on the High Council of Alderaan. The challenge was taken up and found in our father's favor."
What Bail did not speak of was of the grasping and mercenary nature of that House, whose only goal was to ascend the throne. Breha had been a rare exception to that noble line, and ultimately a disappointment to them when she could not produce a royal heir of Antilles blood. But even worse than that, he could still remember the shock he had felt when the House of Antilles, who had managed to get themselves in a position of one short of the majority on the High Council, had proclaimed his father had no right to the throne and that he was little short of a bastard. They had even forced a vote upon the High Council, something that hadn't been done for thousands of years. It had taken three ballots, during which the Alderaan people had become more and more angry—and the House of Antilles more and more unpopular—at the thought of the Organa family losing the throne, before the Galactic Delegation had been sent for.
He had only been ten at the time, but Bail could clearly remember the anger he had been filled with on his father's behalf. The question had never really come up before. It had never occurred to his father Prestor, that he might lose his claim to the throne because of his own father's more humble origins.
"Was your grandfather very common?" The Queen asked, a moue of sympathy on her face, but the angry cunning revealed in her eyes.
Bail took a deep breath and forced himself into a calm that he did not feel. He would not give them the satisfaction of knowing that they were getting to him. "He was a general in the Alderaanii Special Forces."
"I thought Alderaan did not have a standing army?" Bibble asked, speaking for the first time since entering the throne room. He smiled encouragingly at Organa, and Bail knew in that moment that the true history behind the incident was not unknown to the Governor.
"The Special Forces are not a standing army. They are a select group of young men and women who excel at the University level, and who devote themselves to decades of study with fighting masters, language masters, and law and history masters at the Academy in Belleau-a-Lir for years, sometimes decades. At the end of their time at the Academy, they are Diplomatic Ambassadors for the planet, and are granted titles and equality with the noble families of Alderaan. Our grandfather was one of their number, and became an advisor to our grandmother, Queen Mazicia, after his time at the Academy. After many years, they married and not one word was spoken about their marriage until our grandmother died and the House of Antilles saw a chance to seize the throne."
"And, if I remember correctly," Bibble said, feigning confusion, "The Organas were unanimously supported, not only by the Alderaan people, but also by the Galactic Delegation that came to settle the matter, were they not?"
Bail smiled at the man. "They were indeed." The convention had been nothing but an exercise in frustration for the House of Antilles, and it had been a great day when they had been put in their place. The only concession the Organa family had made was to allow Bail Antilles to take up the junior Senate seat, and to agree to engage one of their children to another from the Antilles family, for peace. Celly had been the decided one, and had been engaged to Nial Antilles for ten years until she came of age. But she had surprised everyone by refusing at that time and eloping with a young noble from the planet of Chommell Minor. As his other sister Rouge had been married by then, and his sister Tia had been engaged to that noble from House Vandron, it had fallen to him to uphold the alliance. He had married Breha, and their father had never forgiven Celly for making an Antilles the Crown Princess of Alderaan. Celly had been widowed shortly after her marriage, her husband dying in a Nubian ship explosion, but his sister never dared to return to Alderaan until after their father had died ten years later. It was odd to think of now, Bail thought, that all of Prestor's children had lost their spouses, and were all widowed. Rouge and Tia had lost their husbands in the Clone Wars, and he had lost his own wife to illness.
"It is so good," Bibble said, smiling at Bail and Leia, "to see fine old families continue with tradition and loyalty to their planets. It is these upstarts who dare to think they have the right to rule by sheer arrogance who quite mistake the matter."
Bail hid his smile and gave a small sound of agreement.
The Queen stood abruptly, causing all the courtiers in the room to follow suit. Bail deliberately remained seated, returning her earlier insult. "I grow tired," the Queen announced, flicking her skirts. "I believe I shall retire. Senator Organa, you may show yourself out. Ladies," she called to her handmaidens. "Attend me."
With that she swept from the room, leaving none but her Governors behind. Even Panaka departed with her, but not before shooting a malevolent glare over his shoulder at the Alderaan Prince.
"Well, Your Highnesses," Bibble said with an embarrassed air, trying to fill the uneasy silence. "Naboo is certainly honored by your visit."
"Thank you, Governor Bibble. You are very kind," Bail declared. His words were authoritative, yet they conveyed that he held no true offence at his treatment. Bibble seemed to relax at his statement, for maybe he understood that Bail had expected as much from those loyal to the Emperor.
"I understand, Your Highness, that you have an interest in Pre-Republican sculpture. We have a lovely example in the meditation gardens, if you would care to look?"
Bail looked up at that, recognizing the cue. He nodded, and allowed Bibble to escort Leia and him from the room as the other Governors bowed to the departing royals. They were quietly taken through the palace, allowing the Organas to get a good look at the place that housed the Naboo Monarchy. While Leia was impressed with the size, Bail took a different approach. He couldn't help seeing the extravagant decadence of the palace. Though it was in good repair, it was built in the Old Republican style, and it seemed so out of place, especially considering that this was the homeworld of the Emperor.
When they had made their way through the endless hallways, Sio Bibble led them out into a sunken garden, filled with different types of flowers and shrubs. With a small smile, he executed a perfect bow and then nodded to the far corner of the garden, before departing. Bail turned, and watched as the hidden figure came forward.
The person was cloaked in black-purple velvet, which Bail idly remembered was the color of mourning on Naboo. Moving forward until they were standing before him and his daughter, two hands came up and withdrew the hood, revealing a woman of advanced years. Her face, once lovely, was now deeply lined and her hair, which Bail remembered to be a dark brown only five years earlier, was now white.
"Madam Naberrie, it is good to see you."
"And you, Viceroy," she answered, quirking her lips at him in a way that made Bail wonder if she smiled much at all anymore. "I was surprised to receive your message, but pleased."
When she looked down at Leia in expectation, Bail relaxed his speech to a more informal tone and said, "May I present my daughter, Princess Leia Organa? Leia, this is Jobal Naberrie."
"I'm pleased to meet you, Madam Naberrie. How do you do?"
Tears filled the older woman's eyes, as she fell to her knees before the startled Princess. With a shaking hand, she reached out to touch the face of the young girl. Leia looked briefly at her father, who only nodded in encouragement, so she allowed the older woman to touch her face.
After long moments that only heighted Leia's confusion, Jobal leaned back and sighed. "I thought to see my daughter in her, but I see my mother instead. She has the true look of Ryoo Thule."
Bail sighed as well, before helping the elder woman to her feet. "Perhaps that is safer, in some respects," he said softly.
"Yes," Jobal said. "Yes."
"Papa?"
"Not here, Leia," Bail said in a quiet tone. "All will be explained in a moment."
"Come," Jobal said, suddenly looking much more energetic and determined. "We have little time. Sio will return for you before the end of the hour. We must hurry." Without further words, she left the garden abruptly, with the expectation of being followed. Bail scooped Leia up into his arms, and hurried after her.
The young Princess tried to pay attention to where they were going, but the labyrinth of turns and alcoves they ducked into soon left her dizzy. Eventually, she simply settled into her father's side, tucking her face into the curve of his neck, just above the stiff material of his collar, letting his spicy scent and his warm skin relax her.
"We're here," Naberrie's voice announced in a low tone.
Leia looked up from where she had hid her face and saw a pillared and domed rotunda that sat on the edge of the water that surrounded Theed, covered in lichen and flowered vines, familiar flowered vines.
"Those are my flowers!" she exclaimed in delight.
"We had them transplanted from Varykino," Jobal said softly. "She would have wanted it that way."
Bail nodded, and followed Jobal forward when she stepped into the structure. Rather than the dark stone enclosure her had envisioned, plenty of light streamed in from the sky through strategic sections of the ceiling to create a feeling of light and warmth that permeated the enclosure. That light was focused on the sarcophagus, resting on a stepped dais, in the middle of the tomb.
It was like nothing he had ever seen before. The people of Alderaan did not bury their dead, and by coincidence he had never had the occasion to attend a funeral for a foreign head of state which did not follow the old ways. To actually see a coffin was startling. But it was even more startling to see all the flowers and notes that were tucked into the crevasses of the duracrete walls. Bail knew that the mausoleum was open to the public, but those who visited and made pilgrimages to the tomb never saw what was beneath the sarcophagus. Not like they were about to.
Jobal walked up to the side of the coffin and reached under a lip to press in a code. Her lips thinned as they pressed together in concentration, before relaxing when the lid of the sarcophagus hissed and began to move away from its container.
Leia pressed closer to Bail at the sound, not sure that she like this place. The Prince idly kissed the top of her head, tucking her in closer to his body, as if trying to shield her from what was about to happen.
Jobal steeped back, not even looking down into the coffin, before turning to Bail and saying, "I will be just outside."
Bail nodded, and once she had departed, he moved forward with Leia in his arms, walking up the steps of the dais. "Little one," he said softly, "there is someone I would like you to meet."
Leia looked at her father with little understanding until she followed the gaze of his eyes. There, lying in a transparisteel box, was a beautiful woman who looked as though she was fast asleep. Her hair was long and brown, in waves that had flowers woven within it. White leias, the wild kind. The Princess was startled, and asked, "Who is she?"
"This is your mama," Bail said softly.
Leia looked up in sharp surprise. "But mother is dead! We scattered her ashes in the Castle Lands!"
"That was your mother, my wife, but this is your Mama," Bail explained patiently. "She is the one who bore you, bringing you into this galaxy."
"Why is she sleeping?" Leia asked. "Doesn't she want to see me?"
"Oh, little one," Bail said softly, kissing her forehead again. "She is not sleeping. She is dead, and now living on the Undying Plains."
"She's dead, like Mother," Leia repeated. "How did she die? Did she grow sick…like Mother too?"
"No, dear one. She didn't." Bail paused for a moment, trying to figure out how to explain the complexities of emotion and loss to a five year old, who probably felt herself to be abandoned by yet another mother. In a gentle voice, he murmured, "Long ago, your Mama was a great Queen, and then an even greater Senator. She believed in the Republic so deeply, that she risked her life many times to keep it safe. On the day the Republic fell, she lost not only her husband, but also her purpose in life. She was simply too full of sorrow to carry on."
Sorrow, Leia knew that word. Her Aunt Rouge had a week of sorrow every spring, just before Sliver Flow and the run of the glimmerfish. She would go up to the Organa family retreat, in the mountains above the plains of Terrarium City. There she would spend a week in quiet reflection and sadness. Once, Leia had asked her why she had to go away for her week of sorrow. The dowager had replied, "When I remember my husband, and my lost sons, my sorrow becomes too great to contain. And though I am not a young Princess anymore, I am still a Princess of the House of Organa. My tears must be my own, and my sadness too. You must never let the people see you cry, beloved niece."
Now, looking down at her Mama, Leia wondered if her Mama had never taken a week of sorrow. Maybe her sadness had simply grown too big and turned inward. With a soft sigh, she said, "She looks very sad, Papa."
"Yes, little one, she was. Very sad."
"But very beautiful," Leia said softly. But then she brightened slightly when she realized that her Mama was much more beautiful than the nasty Queen Kylantha. "Just like how a Queen should look."
"She had a beautiful heart too," Bail said softly, knowing that same giving and loyal heart had been passed down to her daughter.
"Is she why Madam Naberrie is sad too?"
"Yes, Leia. Your Mama was Madam Naberrie's daughter."
Leia had no reaction to that information, not connecting the idea that it would make Jobal Naberrie her grandmother if that was so. She simply nodded.
"When did she die?" Leia asked, knowing it must have been recently for her Mama to not have been burned and scattered.
"When you were very young," her father replied.
"How young?" Leia asked, tilting her head.
Bail answered with a soft smile, "No more than a minute old."
"But," Leia exclaimed, "I shall be five on my life day later this week, Papa! Why haven't they set her spirit free?"
Rather startled, Bail looked at his daughter in surprise. While he knew her to be an advanced youngling for her age group, he was still often surprised when she repeated information that had never been explained to her, only overheard. Softly, he said, "Remember what you have learned about different cultures, Leia? Well, the Nabooians don't have the same rituals with their dead as the Alderaanii do."
"The Nabooian people keep them trapped forever in transparisteel?"
Bail smiled, and squeezed his daughter's shoulder. "Even though many planets and systems burn their dead, only the Alderaanii and the Jedi believe that the body must be burned after death to become one with the Force and release the spirit so that it might journey to the Undying Plains."
Leia tensed at the word "Jedi" but said nothing to her father. She knew it was a forbidden word, and to never say it, even if her father did. It was much like the rules about swearing.
"When we die," Bail continued, "the Alderaanii believe that we must become part of the land we were born of once more. That is why we burn our dead, but the Nabooians are different. Not wrong, just different."
"When I die, I want to be burned, Papa."
Bail smiled. "That is something we do not have to worry about for a long time. And you shall not die until long after I am space dust. Put it from your mind, little one." Sighing softly, he stepped down from the dais said, "We must go now, before we are missed."
"Papa, put me down please," Leia requested in a commanding tone. "I want to speak to my Mama alone."
Bail complied, smiling sadly at how grown up his daughter had sounded in that moment, and then stepped out of the mausoleum, saying as he departed, "Be quick, little one."
Once he was gone, Leia walked over to the sarcophagus, and walked back up the steps until it reached her waist. "I'm sorry you were sad, Mama, and had to die. I am being a very good girl for Papa, just like my other mother told me to be. I hope that you became one with the Force and reached the Undying Plains, even though they didn't burn you. My handmaiden Tusa says being one with the Force is nice, and I hope it is so that you aren't full of sorrow anymore." With that, the little Princess leaned over and kissed the transparisteel above where her mother's lips were resting. She then stepped down and walked outside where she could hear her Papa talking to the lady.
"When she is twenty, as was previously discussed," her father was saying. "Making another trip here before then would be too dangerous, one was suspicious enough, especially as there was no real purpose behind it. If you are ever on Coruscant or Alderaan though, know that a visit will always be welcome."
"You have done well with her," Jobal said, "just as you promised. Ruwee would have been pleased, as would my daughter." Then Madam Naberrie paused, taking a breath, and when she spoke again it sounded to Leia as though she was crying. "I hope you don't think less of me for not being able to take them when she passed, but from the first moment I saw their little faces, all I could truly see was him." She fairly spat the word. "Maybe if Sola and Darred hadn't died in the war, along with little Ryoo, my daughter could have taken them, but with it just being me and Ruwee then, and us already having to take care of Pooja, and my husband so sick…No, I wouldn't have been able to give them the love they deserve, not like you obviously have."
"She has been loved every day with me," her father declared, sounding very solemn. "All of my sisters are widows, and all outlived their children. Having Leia, the only living heir of our house…well, it has been a bright spot in all of our lives."
"And the boy?" Jobal asked, still sounding so sad.
"On the rare occasions I hear from Master Kenobi, Luke is well and growing like a weed."
"Such an odd name," she mused. "Certainly not Nabooian in origin."
"I believe it is a common name in the Outer Rim, especially the Tatoo System."
"Yes, my daughter always was one for sentiment, even when it was undeserved," Jobal declared coldly, turning away. "The hour comes to a close. You should go."
"Just let me get…Leia, have you been listening?" Bail saw her standing in the doorway, and began to pale.
"To what, Papa?" Leia asked, confused. Her father had been taking, but she hadn't understood any of it.
"Never mind, we have to go. Say goodbye to Madam Naberrie."
"Goodbye, Madam Naberrie," Leia repeated. "Fare you well."
The stately woman nodded, smiling at the youngling for the first time. "Goodbye, Leia. May the Force be with you."
It was a forbidden phrase, but Leia smiled at Jobal because it felt as though they had a secret. The little Princess then turned and hurried to her father's side and took his hand.
"Come, little one," her father said, lifting her up into his arms with a smile. "We need to return to Alderaan, for I believe a little girl is due for a party in five days time."
Leia smiled. Her Mama and Madam Naberrie faded to the back of her mind as she happily chattered to her father on the way back to the royal garden and then the ship.
In the years to follow, when she tried to summon a memory of her mother, all she would remember was that she had died when she was very young, and that her beauty was only eclipsed by her sorrow.
fin.
This fic is my fix-it to Leia's memories in ROTJ, but also came about due to a discussion with elizabeth-hoot on livejournal. The topic was about how it was almost like kidnapping what Yoda did with the twins, considering he didn't ask their grandparents, even though they were on Naboo at the time they made their decisions about what to do with them. And, as my love for Bail Organa (and Alderaan!) knows no bounds and I would never want to think ill of him, I included the idea that they discussed and showed the twins to their grandparents when they dropped off Padmé's body. I intentionally never mentioned Padmé by name, which I think perhaps allowed Leia to meld her with Breha in her mind and memories. I hope you enjoyed my first foray into Star Wars fanfiction.