Chapter Text
On the day Leela was born, her parents decided to take her to the orphanarium and pass her off as an alien. If it hadn't been for the clouds shifting just so that night, exposing the surface to moonlight, Munda would have succeeded.
The next night, she had almost made it to the door when she saw another person, also in a hood, also carrying a basket. They didn't seem to be a fellow mutant. Better not to risk it.
After that, Munda decided she couldn't bear to try the dropoff herself anymore, so on the third night after Leela's birth, Morris took a turn.
The less said about his encounter with the guard emu, the better.
By the time the tide rolled out the next morning, Morris and Munda had decided that the universe wanted their daughter to stay, and vowed never to leave her.
"Mom?" Leela asked Munda one afternoon as they were walking home from school.
"Yes, sweetie?"
"Why can't we go to the surface?"
Munda tried not to sigh. She'd been hoping to avoid this conversation for at least another couple of years. But she wasn't about to lie to Leela either. Before she could decide what to say, Leela continued.
"Vyolet says there are monsters up there that only eat mutants, but her mom says the humans are just afraid of us."
That was as good a starting point as any. "There aren't any mutant-eating monsters on the surface," Munda said.
Leela nodded her approval. "I guess they'd get hungry up there."
Munda smiled and held out a tentacle for Leela to hold. "You're right. And... Vyolet's mom is also right. There's a lot of reasons we're not allowed on the surface, but mostly it's because the people up there just think we're scary."
"Well, that's stupid," Leela said. "We're not scary! Not even Larry!"
"I know, honey. Some things just aren't fair, though. You know what? Your Nanna actually went to the surface when she was your age, on the Land Titanic. When she comes for dinner on Sunday you can ask her about it."
Leela smiled at that, and jumped in the puddle in front of her.
"Someday, kiddo," Munda said. "You're gonna be the one, I just know it."