Queen's lost daughter

Aria first shook her head, her age old habit of handling all her problems by herself kicking in. But she decided that talking about it would make her feel better, so she opened her mouth.

Aria looked at the faces of the three people in front of her, and she was suddenly struck by how much she loved them. She would easily laid down her life to keep them safe, but she realized that they would do the same for her. And this thought brought tears to Aria's eyes.

"What I was worried about was . . . " Aria began, blinking back her tears, "Was that the Queen might actually say that I am her daughter."

". . . . . ." Aria's statement left all of them speechless.

"But you aren't. . . . . Right?" Joseph was the first to recover, but his voice also lost conviction as he thought about it.

"Obviously I'm not." Aria replied. Helen was the next to speak, "But there isn't any proof to convince everyone that you are not."

All of them sunk into a thoughtful silence upon hearing this. "The only proof would be if you would actually tell everyone who you are. Something that explains your extra-ordinary powers." Jacob said, his eyes narrow and avoiding eye contact.

Aria sighed. She knew this was what all of them were thinking. If only she could tell them who she really was, there would be no doubt left in anyone's mind. But she couldn't very well tell people who she was supposed to be, could she now? "But I don't know who I am!!! It's not my fault I don't remember who I was before I woke up seven years ago." Aria snapped, unable to think of any other response.

Jacob shrugged and didn't say anything. Helen wrapped one arm around her and gave her encouraging rubs. Joseph opened and closed his mouth a few times, something very clearly on his mind. "Just spit it out." Aria said, seeing him close his mouth for the hundredth time.

"It's just that . . . . . ." he began, "We cannot really be completely sure that you aren't the queen's lost daughter." Joseph said. Helen gasped and Jacob's eyes widened upon hearing this. They had fully expected Aria to burst out upon hearing this, like she had done just minutes ago.

But Aria surprised all of them by replying with a shrug, "Anyone will just have to take my word for it." "Which isn't very convincing, I know. Since even I don't really know who I am. But I just know . . . . . I am not the water kingdom's princess." Aria added, looking defeated.

"Besides, shouldn't a mother know her child at first glance? Isn't there supposed to be some motherly love and connection that develops in the womb?" Helen quipped in, trying and successfully saving the day as everyone dropped the topic. Joseph only shrugged with an eye-roll and Aria let out a, "I hope so." with a small smile before the conversation turned to other topics.

"I think we should take the day off. You can just revise what we studied yesterday and do some light reading on your own." Joseph spoke as the three stood up to go after half an hour.

Aria made a face and spoke, "Please no!! I'm never able to relax when I don't have anything to keep me busy. I'll just overthink myself to a breakdown." Joseph sighed.