The two rebel ships that had retrieved the three survivors lost in the snow landed in the Echo Base hangar one after the other. Princess Leia rushed over anxiously. They had told her that her two friends were in poor condition, and she assumed they spoke of Luke and Han.
Leia had not seen Tess all day but that was not uncommon considering the teenager often wandered around the base. So when Han climbed out of the ship perfectly fine and the pilot handed him down a small frame in a familiar red snowsuit, Leia's heart almost stopped.
"What happened?!" Leia demanded frantically, rushing to Han's side and holding back her tears. Seeing Tess so pale and hanging so limply terrified her.
"Apparently, she went out to save Luke soon after I did," Han explained, mad at himself that, as close as he was to the base, he had not seen her leave it. "She found Luke and built shelter, but in the morning Luke found her outside it calling for help. It looks like she was out there for at least half the night."
"Oh no…" Leia whispered, her emotions getting the best of her. "And Luke?" She turned her around and saw the man who was piloting the ship that found them helping a barely conscious Luke. Like Han and Leia, they were taking him to the medical bay.
"Attacked by a wampa," Han explained. "He has some nasty gashes but not much cold damage. Luke said they would have died if Tess hadn't brought the shelter."
As if to clarify that it was true, Leia looked at the seemingly lifeless form. She brushed Tess' hair aside and planted a kiss on her frozen forehead.
"You're going to be alright," she whispered.
Leia turned to the medical droid when they reached the medical bay.
"You will give this girl the upmost treatment you can offer," the princess demanded. "Understand?"
"Of course, Princess Leia, we—"
"This girl is my family, understand?" Leia continued. "Her last name is Naberrie—she was related to my biological mother. Please be certain that she is treated just as I would be."
Tess was taken from Han's arms by one of the medical workers. Luke was already in a bed, getting covered in blankets and attached to vitality monitors so he could warm up before an eminent dunk in the bacta tank. But Luke was strong—Leia knew he would be fine. Several other medics entered the room.
"Do all of you hear me?!" Leia shouted at the medical bay. "This girl will be treated like royalty! If something happens to her…"
Her voice breaking, Han saw the pain in her eyes before Leia even realized what she was feeling. He wrapped a hand around Leia's shoulder. Normally, the princess would resist him, but instead she covered her face with her hands and turned towards him. Han watched as they took Tess to a separate room, holding Leia as she cried.
"Master Luke, Sir, it's so good to see you fully functional again," the golden droid C-3PO told his master. Artoo added his own beeping expression of relief for Luke's recovery.
Luke nodded absent-mindedly at the droids, his mind focused on the fourteen-year-old who remained unconscious in the bed on the other side of the room. He was so used to her bumbling about the base, exploring the ships in the hangar, feeding the tauntauns, and running errands for people in the command center. Seeing Tess so lifeless really bothered him.
As if that was not enough for him to be concerned about, Leia had not left Tess' side all day. The princess had fallen asleep at the end of the bed about an hour ago, but now she was coming to and trying to play it off as if she had been awake the whole time.
"Leia?" Luke called, sitting himself up. She looked over in acknowledgement, her eyes tired and puffy. "I heard you say something when they were bringing me and Tess in here…about her being related to you? Was that just to get them to pay more attention while taking care of her?"
Leia wanted more than anything to say yes. It would have been so much easier. But she could not lie to Luke even if she wanted to.
"No," she admitted with a sigh. "She doesn't even know it herself." Leia shifted in her chair, clearly uncomfortable that she had been holding on to this secret so long. "Three years ago," she continued. "When she finally told me her name was Tess Naberrie—that's when I knew."
Luke seemed confused.
"The royal Naberrie family on Naboo?" he asked. "Was your family related to them?"
"No…" Leia breathed. "Just me. Remember when I told you I was adopted? Well, my birth mother—her name was Padme Naberrie. I wasn't sure Tess was related to her until I saw a list of the names of several members of the royal Naberrie family in her notebook. Padme Naberrie was on top. She must have looked up her last name and of course found Padme first—she was a young queen and later a Senator, so she was by far the most famous member of the Naberrie's." Leia took a moment to wipe a tear that fell down her cheek. Luke allowed himself a moment to take it all in.
"Could Tess be your sister?" he asked tentatively. Leia shook her head.
"Padme Naberrie died when I was very young," the princess explained. "Tess is fourteen, so she wasn't born until eight years after my mother died. But Tess looks exactly like me when I was her age, so I would guess she was an illegitimate child of one of Padme's brothers or sisters. Maybe they wanted to give her away or put her up for adoption, but my father got word and wouldn't have of it. That might be why he made sure she had guardians up until she started staying with us."
Suddenly, the idea that Bail Organa was a part of Tess' life—which Tess and Leia had told him soon after the Battle of Yavin three years ago—made much more sense. It explained how Leia was so protective of Tess, too. Luke smiled to himself.
"What?" Leia asked, unable to resist smiling back.
"It just makes sense," Luke told her. "You know…through the Force, I can often sense people, and each person has a sort of signature. And out of everyone I've met, the only person whose signature was anywhere near as strong as yours was Tess."
Leia grinned at him, almost blushing.
"I have a strong signature?"
"I guess it runs in your family," Luke shrugged.
Making his usual loud entrance, Han stepped into the room and came to Luke's side. Chewbacca followed close behind him.
"How 'ya feeling, kid?" he sauntered. "You don't look so bad to me. In fact, you look strong enough to pull the ears off a Gundark."
"Thanks to me," sang a familiar voice from her medical bed across the room. Tess sat up slowly as her eyes adjusted to being awake.
Leia jumped to a stand and rushed to Tess' side. The princess held herself back for a moment, not wanting to overwhelm the kid, but when Tess' eyes welled up with the mutual relief that she was okay and back with her friends, Leia could not resist wrapping her arms tightly around her.
"I was so worried you—"
"I'm fine," Tess promised, hugging Leia back just as tight. She couldn't put her relief into words, and when she thought to hard about it, it just brought more tears to her eyes. "I thought I would never see you again." Tess felt Leia's comforting hand on the back of her head, stroking her hair. The princess pulled away a moment to look into Tess' eyes.
"You know I love you, right?" she said softly. Tess immediately nodded and hugged Leia again.
"I love you, too."
"You scared the hell out of us, kid," Han interjected. Somehow, he noticed his burning need to yell at Tess for leaving the base disappeared completely as soon as her big, brown eyes opened up.
Luke nudged his friend for his insensitive front.
"We're glad you're okay, Tess," said Luke.
As if to retaliate from almost sounding sentimental, Han crossed over to Leia.
"Well, your worship, it looks like you managed to keep me around for a little while longer."
Leia pulled away from Tess and squeezed her hand as if to excuse herself before dealing with Han. She scooted off the bed.
"I had nothing to do with it," the princess insisted. "General Rieekan thinks it's dangerous for any ships to leave the system until we've activated the energy shield."
Luke and Tess exchanged looks as if to say 'Here we go again'.
"That's a good story," Han threw back with a smug grin. "I think you just can't bear to let a gorgeous guy like me out of your sight."
Leia shook her head slightly.
"I don't know where you get your delusions, laserbrain."
"Something he picked up on those smuggling expeditions, I'm sure," Tess suggested, planting her hands behind her head so she could enjoy the show.
Chewie let out a deep chuckle. Luke barely suppressed his own laughter. Han shot a sharp look back at his furry copilot.
"Laugh it up, fuzz-ball," he muttered. "But you should have seen us alone in the south passage." He crossed over to Leia and wrapped an arm around her. "She expressed her true feelings for me."
Leia's eyes went wide with embarrassment and anger. She bit out her words at him.
"Wha—Why…you stuck up, half-witted, scruffy-looking, nerf-herder!"
"Who's scruffy looking?" Han demanded. He crossed back to Luke with a slight grin of success. "I must have hit her pretty close to the mark to get her all riled up like that, huh kid?"
"Nah, it doesn't take much to get her like that," Tess interjected. Leia shot her a quick glare and the kid held her hands up in surrender. Then the princess nodded slightly at Han as she walked over to Luke.
"Well I guess you don't know everything about women yet."
At that, Leia pulled Luke into a powerful kiss. Tess smacked her own forehead and let her head drop to the pillow.
"I give up!" she confessed in exaggerated defeat. "I give up on trying to make sense of all three of your relationship issues because clearly they will never make sense!"
Ignoring Tess, Leia pulled away from the kiss, shot Han one last look, then left the room. Han looked after her, then back at Luke, then Tess.
"You guys take it easy," he said quickly. As expected, he promptly sought after Leia.
Tess chuckled at Luke, who had his hands behind his head as if he was the king of the world.
"You know she likes Han, right?" the fourteen-year-old reminded him. "Heck, if you weren't in here it could have been on of the medics she made out with."
"Yeah, I know," he told her, his grin unwavering as he looked in Tess' direction. "And for the record, that was definitely not making out—just a kiss. Just glad to be of service in Leia's mind games until she wakes up and smells the smuggler."
"Ew," Tess said, wrinkling her nose. "I mean, I want them together, too, but there is a reason that 'smugger' is not a scent you see in perfumes." Realizing how revolting that analogy actually was, Luke grimaced.
"Yeah, you're right."