A/N: Timeframe here is pre-ANH. Same as "Leia's Laugh" this oneshot was already shared on the Han and Leia Fanfic Writer's blog, so, sorry for the repeat if you've read it there. Inspiration here came from an early picture of Carrie Fisher that I ran upon on a random tumblr. If you want to see the picture, feel free to visit the blog (there's a link on my profile page).

I Know

Alderaan – 4 BBY

"Yes, but how do you know?"

Leia shrugged. "I just…know." Like I know not to ask about my real parents. She never understood it, but she had also never questioned it. It was an innate ability she had always had, like the way Winter could remember everything. It didn't have to or couldn't be explained. Her mother seemed uneasy with her response. She excelled at making her mother uneasy. Leia shuffled on her feet. "Can I go now?"

Her mother studied her, like she was one of those puzzles Bail would bring back from a business trip. Then her eyes softened and the edges of her mouth ticked up in a smile. Leia's insides flushed with warmth and she took two steps and engulfed her mother in a tight hug, burying her head against her chest. Breha immediately reciprocated, stroking Leia's hair and kissing her on the top of the head as she whispered, "Oh, my precious daughter."

The words were laced with a sorrow Leia was all too familiar with but, yet again, had never understood. It's as if I have a terminal illness they're not telling me about. She had even discussed her suspicions with Winter, who had wholly dismissed the idea as preposterous. Of course, Winter also thought that those deportment lessons were fun.

"It's not for me to understand, my sweet Leia," her mother said as she began to pull away. Leia looked up to her mother, her chin lifted just a tad as she continued to catch up to her petite mother's height. Breha cupped Leia's chin in her hand, her eyes puddles of liquid warmth. "Always trust your heart," she said emphatically.

Leia swallowed. Bail may very well have served as a more prominent figure in her life in the eyes of many, but Leia admired and trusted her mother just as implicitly.

Breha took a breath and continued, "Sometimes, just knowing…is more than enough."

"I know, Mother," she replied seriously and then instantly smiled at the unintended drollness of her response.

Breha's eyes lit with humor and mischief. Leia always enjoyed seeing this side of her royal mother. "Yes," she responded lightly as she released Leia's chin. "Just as I know you just can't help yourself sometimes."

"I was being serious," Leia returned in a half-argument, half-pout yet total playfulness. She's right, I can't help it.

"Go," her mother replied, indicating the doorway as the older woman returned to her work. "You'll be late and your father will worry."

"I love you, Mother," Leia said. Once again she felt a warmth blossom in her belly. Quiet, intimate moments with Breha Organa were hard to come by, even for her own daughter. For as much as politics and travel took Bail away from her, obligations and unseen worries took her mother even further and more often. She cherished unexpected times such as these where the two of them were able to be simply a mother and daughter. Of course, they happened so rarely that it was an old habit of Leia's to try and drag them out as long as possible.

Breha stopped. "I love you, too, Leia," she replied warmly in silent understanding. But then her eyes widened and she put on her no-more-arguments-about-this face and added, "Now go."

Leia beamed. Somehow her mother always made her feel loved and understood even when it was very clear that in some ways she didn't understand her at all. I don't know what I would do without her, she thought as she turned on her heel and scampered out the door.