After her aunt and uncle and cousin retreated to the guest wing of the palace to rest before dinner, Mama said they could all watch Tarni the Tooka together. Leia thought about saying no and going outside to play instead, but it was a good holofilm. Plus, her parents had been busy organising this party and Papa had been on Coruscant before that, and they hadn't spent any time with her in ages.
When they were all sitting on the couch, the opening credits just starting, her mother turned to her and took her hand. "Papa said that you told him you weren't a real Organa," she said. She looked worried, like Leia had seen her when Leia had fallen out of a tree and landed on her back and she gave her a heatsack to make it feel better, but her voice was much gentler than it was then. It took Leia another moment to identify the other difference — she sounded sad.
Leia wasn't sure how to respond, so she nodded. Mama certainly wasn't angry, so she figured there was no point in lying — although it might be best to make sure.
"Am I in trouble?" she said, and she didn't like how her voice sounded small. Even though she was mostly sure that her cousin had just been mean, there was a tiny part of her that knew it was true. She didn't look like the other Organas, and it had never been a secret that she was adopted. When she'd asked about her real parents, the people she was related to, her father had looked so sad she thought he might cry, and she hadn't asked again. Had he been sad that she wasn't a real Organa? Did they wish for another child, one that had grown inside Mama's tummy?
"No," Mama said immediately, shaking her head. "I promise you aren't, and nothing you say will make us angry, alright?"
Mama brought the hand she was holding to her lips and kissed Leia's knuckles. "We just want to know — did someone say that to you? Where did you get the idea?"
"Niano said it," she said. "And he said that you don't let me leave the planet because I'm not one of you, and you don't want anyone to know."
Papa breathed in sharply, and Mama gathered her up in her arms and gave her a hug, pressing Leia to her chest. Leia could hear her mechanical heart beating, and when she closed her eyes, the inside of her eyelids were lit red by the soft glow of her pulmonodes.
When Mama loosened her grip and Leia pulled away, she saw that Mama's face had turned stony as she looked above Leia's head at Papa. She turned to see him looking grim in turn.
"He was wrong, and we'll be talking to Auntie Celly and Uncle Kayo about it. Was it before or after you got angry with him?" Papa said.
"Before," Leia said. Well, she had said he was a lower lifeform first, but it was mostly before.
"Why didn't you say something, sweetheart? We wouldn't have made you apologise if we'd known."
Leia shrugged, looking down at the hand that was in her lap, her thumb rubbing the material of her tunic. She'd been afraid to, but she wasn't sure why.
"Do you know what we did on your first Name Day?" Papa asked, and Leia shook her head, looking back up at him. "Just like our ancestors — like your ancestors, because you're an Organa — we took you into the throne room, and we declared you our daughter by adoption and by love. And when we did that, we told the whole galaxy that you were an Organa just like we were. Other Organas have been adopted, too — we can look in the library to find the family tree that says so, if you like."
Leia was happy to take her father's word for it. Looking at old books didn't sound very fun.
"We have loved you from the moment we saw you. Even before the ceremony, you became an Organa the moment I held you in my arms. It was—" Her mother seemed to choke up as if she was close to tears, though Leia didn't know why. "You were a miracle. We'd given up hope of having children — but then there you were, tiny and perfect and ours."
Now it was Leia who felt like she was going to cry; she felt her ears getting hot and took a hitching breath which made Papa put his arm around her. Mama let go of her hand so she could better lean into his side and as he kissed the top of her head, the last of her doubts disappeared.
"If blood was the only thing that mattered, then I wouldn't be an Organa, would I? I'm not related to your mother, because that would be silly," Papa said, the words rumbling in his chest. "But I'd like to see Niano say I'm not an Organa."
Leia wondered if there was some way she could make him do it, just so she could watch her father tell him exactly what he thought. Probably not, once her parents got him in trouble, but it was fun to imagine, and she giggled. In response, Papa huffed and kissed the top of her head again.
As Leia shifted to get into a better cuddling position, Mama said, "Would you like to start the holo again? I think we have time to watch it from the beginning before we go speak to your aunt and uncle before dinner."
"Can I come?" Leia asked. That would be even better than making Niano say Papa wasn't an Organa, and she could probably make faces at him the whole time.
"No," Papa said, and she pulled her saddest face to try to change his mind. It didn't work. "It'll be grownups things."
She twisted around and pulled her saddest face at Mama, who shook her head. "If you change out of your outfit, you can go play outside instead."
Leia grinned. It wouldn't be as good as watching her parents say that Niano was wrong and mean, but there were always more ships in the afternoon, and she could tell Papa all about them after dinner. "Alright," she said, wiggling a little in excitement.
In response, Mama started the holofilm again, and as the opening credits played again, Leia thought she was probably happier than Niano would ever be.