Padmé Skywalker watched her daughter closely, praying silently that in the following days Leia might return to the confident woman she knew she had once been. But the Alderaani princess grew steadily more reserved, and even the continuing affections of her family didn’t seem to be able to pull her back from the brink of despair. She was a lost soul, grieved at the very depths of her being. Padmé would have given anything to be able to heal her. Yet she knew where the root of this pain lay. It was developing steadily in Leia’s womb, a constant reminder of the abuse she had suffered. This problem was not one Padmé could mend. A mother’s love could only go so far.