Beau felt his whole body shake with nervous anticipation as he travelled with his parents to the royal palace of Alderaan.
The Chimera had docked on the planet after an incarceration with some smugglers. However the damage that the ship had obtained during the battle had been enhanced slightly so that the ship would have to excuse to dock on the planet. Grand Moff Tarkin had suspected Alderaan's rulers Bail and Breha Organa of being involved with the supposed rebellion for a long time but so far they had no solid evidence to prove it.
The Chimera wasn't the first unexpected arrival of imperial officers on the planet. Not too long ago Tarkin himself had landed on there also on the claim that his ship needed to be repaired so the King and Queen would be immediately suspicious of Beau's parents. However this should hopefully distract them from being suspicious of their eleven year old son.
Beau was so excited to finally be able to truly help the Empire. Sure he'd given his parents advice on missions before, but this was the first time he had been given a task specifically designed for him. He didn't want to let his parents or his Empire down.
The idea to use him had been suggested by Tarkin but Beau had largely created the details of the plan himself. Beau's parents hadn't been very supportive of it at first but after a lot of begging and puppy dog eyes they'd eventually agreed to let him do it. Beau also knew that while Tarkin's didn't particularly care about his family he'd still didn't approve of them either so he hoped that by doing his mission well he might convince the Moff that mixed species families were just as valuable as 'normal' ones.
However the best part was that Beau got to take Ginger with him.
When he and his parents made it to the palace where they were greater by the King and Queen. Beau was happy to find no disgusted look in their eyes as they surveyed his family.
As expected they introduced Beau to their own daughter Princess Leia. She was beautiful girl who was just a few years older than himself. Not having to put much effort into playing the part of an energetic young boy he boisterously went off with her whilst his parents headed off with the King and Queen.
She took him to one of the palace's many meeting rooms where they exchanged boring political pleasantries. She inquired how he was doing in school while he asked about her work in the senate. It didn't take long however for Leia to contain her genuine question.
"Who is this?" She asked pointing at where Ginger was currently curled around Beau's shoulders.
"This is Ginger." Beau told her, not having to fake his pride. "Do you want to touch him?"
She nodded eagerly, fascinated with the cute animal. Beau lifted up his arm so that the ysalamir could walk towards the princess. However as soon as she touched the top of his feathery head a shudder passed through her and she recoiled away from the touch.
"Are you ok?" Beau asked worriedly, letting his arm fall by his side once again so Ginger had to run back to his shoulders. Still worried about the princess who skin had become even paler he helped her to one of the nearby arm chairs.
"Yes thank you." Leia replied, her colour regaining once Beau backed away. "He's not a poisonous creature is he?"
Beau shook his head.
"No. Maybe you're allergic to him?" He suggested, although if it was an allergies then the princes had certainly had an unusual reaction.
"Maybe" She muttered. Leia didn't seem convinced either but also couldn't think of a better explanation.
Beau then knelt down by one of the cushions on the floor so that Ginger could hurry down his back to curl up into a ball on top of it.
"It's kind of boring in here. Could we leave Ginger here and go on a tour of the palace or something while we wait for our parents to stop talking about whatever they're talking about?" He said.
Leia nodded, standing up with haste, apparently eager to get as far away from the ysalamir as possible which Beau took a little offence at on behalf of his little orange friend.
"I think that's a great idea. We can start at the kitchens. Come on, I know a shortcut." Leia said holding out her hand. Beau took it with a beaming smile as she led him down an old corridor in the direction of the kitchens.
The princess' reaction to the ysalamir might have been unexpected but it did make his plan easier.
Once they made it to the kitchens Leia wasted no time into sweet talking one of the catering droids into making them a chocolate cake. When it was ready Beau greedily gobbled it down, exhilarating to eat something other than the ration bars they'd been feeding him at his school.
Out of the corner of his eye he saw Leia looking down at his face that was most likely covered in chocolate with kind amusement. He was surprised that she wasn't more offended by his lack of manners but the she had begun to eat the left over mixture in the bowl and had gotten a few freckles of chocolate in her face as well. She didn't seem to act much like a princess. He wondered if it was because she was adopted. He then immediately shook that thought from his head.
Beau had been ecstatic when his parents had told him that Leia had been adopted too. Secretly it was another reason he was so happy that he'd been given this mission. He'd never met anyone else who was had been adopted just like he had. He was yearning to talk with her about it but knew it would be rude of him to ask.
However as though somehow sensing his desires Leia smiled only at his as she asked him when he had been adopted. He guessed he hadn't been the only one desperate to talk about someone who could relate too.
"I was adopted when I was six. My dad found me in the rubble of my old home after rebels attacked my village."
"Rebels?" Leia echoed in harsh whisper. Her tone akin to fearful.
Beau nodded meekly. He didn't blame the princes for being scared. At school sometimes they'd confess their fears of their parents being killed in a rebel attack. Although of course Beau already knew how that felt. He supposed Leia's fear could be from him finding out about her parents involvement in the rebellion but Tarkin doubted that she knew anything.
"So you can remember them?" Leia asked interrupting his thoughts.
Beau was about to answer when he realised that he could no longer imagine the song of his mother's lullabies or the vibrating hum of his father's laugh. And when he tried to picture their faces all he see where the unsmiling black looks on the imperial data banks.
"No, not really." Beau admitted guiltily. He was slightly startled when Leia's arms wrapped around him in a comforting hug. He could feel the warmth of her body through her thin white dress and he found it comforting despite the hug causing the badge on his chest to dig into his skin.
"I was barely a few days old when I was adopted. So I can't remember my birth parents at all." She confessed gently stroking his hair. Beau hadn't been coddled in a long time and he found that he'd missed the feeling.
"But even though I never met them I still love them." The princess continued. "And I know that they would still love me if they were alive and would be happy that I found people who love me as much as they did."
"How do you know?" Beau said wanting to believe her despite knowing he couldn't. She leant back out of their embrace so that she could place her hand in his heart.
"The same way you do."
Beau looked up into her dark brown eyes, realising that for a teenager she was wise behind her years. He wished he could do nothing but talk with her for hours.
Beau suddenly shook his head. He needed to focus on the mission.
Spotting a bag of dried bugs imported from Tatooine he rushed over to the cupboard where they were stored.
"Ginger loves these! We should bring it back to him." he cried joyously. As he'd hoped Leia gave him a pitying look thinking that he was just drastically changing the subject just because he was upset which wasn't entirely untrue.
As they made it back to the meeting room Beau excitedly asking about the palace architecture partly to stop the princess from suspecting anything but also because he was genuinely interested in artistry of it and could wait to tell his Papa all about it later. All the way back Leia happily answered thinking it would distract the boy from feeling sad over his parents.
When they made it to the room they were surprised to find the cushion where Ginger had been sleeping was empty.
"Ginger!" Beau called out but no one answered.
"Ginger! Ginger!" With each shout his voice got more frantic. He turned to face the princess in panic.
"He's never run off before. What if he's hurt or lost or worse?" He cried. However she only gave him an odd look in return as though somehow seeing through his facade. That really did send him into a panic as his mind raced over how disappointed his parents would be and how much danger they'd be in from both the organs and Tarkin if he failed his mission. Thankfully after a moment Leia seemed to believe him.
"I'm sure he's fine." She told him kindly. "Now you stay here while I go look for him."
"No! He's my best friend! I can't just sit here! I need to find him!" Beau pleaded, gazing up at her with his large brown puppy dog eyes that no one that he'd ever used them on was immune from. And Leia was not exception, her resolve crumbling as she couldn't bring herself to look away.
"Fine." She sighed. "You can come with me. But I need you to stay by my side."
"But won't there be more chance of finding him if we spit up?" He suggested quickly as he had to be alone for his plan to succeed.
"This palace is ancient you'd get lost without me."
Beau suspected that Leia either still didn't entirely believe him or was under instructions from her parents not to let him out of her sight. He concluded that it was most likely a mixture of both.
Reluctantly he went out to search with the princess. She never let him out of line of sight for one moment.
After some time of searching there was still no sign of Ginger. Beau knew he his time was running out.
Eventually they came to a strange section of the palace where the corridors winded off in multiple directions like a maze. It was perfect.
"I think I see him!" Beau shouted pointing off down one of the corridors. "Ginger!"
"Beau wait!" The princess called after him but it was too late. He heard her start to follow him so he raced down tunnels at random until he was certain he'd lost her.
Catching his breath he looked around. He has no idea where he was but judging by the paintings engraved into the stone wall he was in a very old part of the palace. He wondered around for a short while hoping to come across what he was looking for but the princess had been right, without her as a guide he was completely lost. Still he couldn't abandon his mission.
Sighing he opened another door. The room inside was also had stone walls but unlike in the corridor the roof was made of exposed wooden rafters. An enormous fireplace took over most of the far wall that despite not being lit made Beau feel warmer just by looking at it. But the best part was the info portal waiting at one of the desks.
Beau smiled as he rushed over to the portal. He quickly removed the data chip from where it was hidden behind the badge on his shirt and plugged it into the portal. He held his breath as he waited for the device to unlock the screen. As soon as the screen changed from white to blue he immediately started searching through the data stored there. It mostly contained information on the royal accounts which was exactly what he'd been instructed to look for. He tried to remain calm as he searched but nothing about the numbers stood out as odd to him. After a few minutes of searching he was almost about to give up when he came across something peculiar. A staggering amount of credits had been sent to the planet Paucris Major, enough to buy and make a lot of weapons. Or even build a base.
Using the badge which was actually a concealed holocamera Beau took pictures of the funds since he wasn't knowledgeable enough to transfer the data onto a data drive without it being noticeable. He hoped his parents and maybe even Tarkin will be proud of him.
After he finished taking the pictures he quickly closed down everything he'd looked at, cleared the history and logged off. Securing the badge back on his shirt he then ran from the room so that nobody would know that he's been inside it.
Gradually the walls changed from stone, to brick, to quadanium meaning that Beau was back in the more modern part of the palace. He'd just turned down another corridor when someone shouted "Stop!"
Beau quickly turned around to find Queen Breha Organa storming towards him.
"What were you thinking running off like that? Leia told us how you'd run off, your parents have been worried sick. You should know better than-"
Her reprimand was cut off by Beau suddenly bursting into tears.
"I'm... I'm sorry." He stammered through sobs. "I couldn't find Ginger and then I got lost and didn't know where I was and... and."
He choked off as more sobs wrecked his body. Breha's motherly instincts took over. In an instant she was by his side holding him close to her chest.
"Shhhhh. It's alright. It's ok."
She stroked his hair just like Leia had done a short while ago, reminding Beau that although they weren't related by blood they were still family. That set off a chain of genuine sobs as he realised that forgetting his birth parents didn't make him a bad son. They would always be a part of him even if he couldn't remember their faces and they would be happy that he had found people who loved him as much as they had.
He stayed in Breha's arms for what felt like a life time before she eventually let him go.
"Come on." She said kindly. "Your ship has been fixed so you and your parents can go home."
He decided not to tell her that The Chimera was his home.
She took him back to the entrance that they'd come through earlier where his parents and Leia were waiting.
"Dad! Papa!" Beau cried when he saw them. He rushed from Breha's side towards where they waited welcoming arms open for embrace. He managed to wrap his arms around both of them at ounce.
"Beau, we've talked about this. You can't keep running off like that." His Dad said like they'd rehearsed.
"I know. I'm sorry." Beau answered playing along.
"And do you have anything you'd like to say to her royal highness?"
The young boy turned to face Princess Leia who didn't look particular impressed with him which he supposed was fair. He hadn't meant to get her into any trouble.
"I apologise for running away. I should have listened to you and I learnt my lesson. I'm sorry." Beau said formally, bowing like his parents had taught him.
Leia's features softened.
"You're forgiven."
Beau was about to ask if anyone had found Ginger yet when King Bail Organa came out of the door behind them.
"I believe I have found your friend." Bail said tipping his head down to where Ginger lay wrapped up in an old blue cloak in his arms.
"Ginger!" Beau cried, his happiness genuine. The ysalamir woke up at the sound of his voice before running off the cloak and down Bail's leg so he could run towards his master. Beau knelt down and held out his arms so that the creature could climb up to his shoulders. Ginger then licked the side of the boy's face with a fork like tongue making Beau laugh and everyone else wear warm smiles, even Leia who was eyeing the lizard warily.
"We must now return to The Chimera." His Papa said, placing an arm around him before addressing the royal family. "We are grateful for your hospitality."
"You're welcome. Feel free to drop by any time you're in the sector." Breha offered although they all knew that the offer was merely for appearances.
With that Beau headed back to his home, each of his hands in one of his parents and his pet around his shoulders.
"Good job boy." Beau whispered the Ginger who purred proudly. As they walked back he then turned to his parents.
"I love you both so much. Thank you for being my parents."
His Dad and Papa seemed a little shocked by the proclamation but touched nine the less.
"And we love you too. Thank you for being our son." His Papa replied, gently patting his shoulder while his Dad placed a kiss to his forehead.
Beau smiled, looking up at them with his big brown eyes. He couldn't have asked for a better family.
A/N Hi guys! So surprisingly this is my first time writing from Beau's POV. I don't know why it's taken me this long! I hope you guys enjoyed this! This story also fills in a plot point from the book Leia: Princess of Alderaan as well as has events of that book referenced. I would definitely recommend reading it! It's really good! Xxxxxxxxx