Before beginning this chapter, I've decided I'm gonna create a story like this for Omega now too. It may be a while before I get the first chapter up. In the meantime, be sure to check out my other stories that are currently up and in progress:

1. Jedi Storytime: Omega & Company

2. Madrigal Mischief- an Encanto fanfic

3. A Skywalker-Jinn Miracle

4. Return of the Royals

After that Moana story with Ahsoka, I've been thinking of writing a Lilo & Stitch story with Clone Wars characters. I haven't figured it out yet, but it's gonna be great.

Almost four months after Boba got adopted...

On a fine morning like any other, Young Gabby Skywalker woke up to the warm sunshine.

"Children, breakfast is ready." Threepio called from downstairs.

"Coming!" Gabby called.

Gabby ran over to the stable and wished a good morning to Carousella and Remix as they were each waking up themselves.

Carousella yawned and stretched herself out, while Remix just snored and tried to go back to sleep.

"Five more minutes, Dad." Remix grumbled.

"Remix, get your tail out of bed." Carousella said, licking her cousin.

Gabby giggled and realized there was still someone else to wake up and say good morning to.

Gabby walked into Boba's room and jumped up on the bed.

"Good morning, Big Brother!" Gabby sang as she jumped on the bed.

Boba just groaned and didn't get up.

"It's time for breakfast, Boba." Gabby said.

Boba just covered his head with the blanket. But Gabby crawled up and pulled it down.

"Peek-a-boo. I see you."

"Gabby, grow up." Boba grumbled, not looking so happy this morning.

Gabby crossed her arms.

"Someone's cranky this morning." Gabby said, climbing off the bed.

The little girl figured maybe her brother would feel better once he had some breakfast. She'd seen Carousella when she went too long without eating before. Carousella got scary when she was hangry.

Gabby sat at the table and dug into her waffles, which were shaped like kitties.

But, Padme was quick to notice one of her kids wasn't at the table.

"Is Boba still sleeping?" Padme asked.

"I woke him up before I came downstairs." Gabby said. "Maybe he's in the bathroom."

"Boba, come down for breakfast." Padme called.

Boba came downstairs still in his pajamas. He looked awful this morning. His hair was a mess and he looked exhausted.

"Good morning, Boba." Padme said.

Boba just looked down and didn't say anything.

"Boba? Did you hear me?"

"I don't know what to think these days." Boba said, confusing the others.

A waffle was set in front of Boba, but the boy just pushed it away.

"I'm going back to bed."

Boba got up from his chair and went back upstairs. That only drew concern from his mother.

"Boba, are you feeling okay?" Padme asked.

Boba didn't answer and just went into his room and hid under the blankets.

Padme knocked on the door.

"Go away." Boba whined.

"Boba..." Padme said, coming in. She approached her son's bed. "Boba, what's the matter? Are you sick?"

Boba didn't answer.

"Does your stomach hurt?" Padme asked, recalling how Boba didn't take one bite of food.

"Yes." Boba sniffled.

Padme got Boba to lay on his back and felt his forehead. He felt a bit sweaty, but he didn't seem to have a fever.

"It's going to be okay, Sweetie." Padme said, getting Boba his lion. "Mommy's here."

Padme left the room to summon a medical droid, when Gabby went into her brother's room to check on him.

"Big Brother, are you okay?" Gabby said.

"Do I look okay?" Boba said with a bit of attitude.

Gabby didn't know how to respond at first; Boba hadn't talked to her like that since they were on Slave I. Suddenly, Gabby could tell her brother wasn't feeling sick because of a stomach bug or anything. He was obviously upset about something.

Gabby climbed onto the bed with concern on her face.

"Boba, why are you so upset?"

"You wouldn't get it." Boba said, turning to his other side.

"Boba, you can tell me. I'm your sister."

Boba still didn't say anything. He just started to cry.

"Boba..."

Gabby tried to comfort her brother, but Boba pushed her away.

"Leave me alone!" Boba exclaimed. "Will you just get out of my room?!"

Gabby froze at that outburst. Suddenly, she was the one with tears in her eyes. Boba had only been her brother for a few months now, but in all that time, he'd never yelled at her like that before. And it hurt.

The little girl ran out of her brother's room and back to her own, crying as she hugged her bear. And like Boba, her lack of happiness didn't go unnoticed.

"Gabby, what happened?" Carousella asked, approaching her princess' bed. "You were all happy-go-lucky just a minute ago."

Gabby looked teary-eyed at her pony and told her what happened with Boba.

"He wouldn't tell me what's bothering him, and instead he yelled at me. He's never done that before."

"Well, that's just wrong." Carousella said. "I know he's been through a lot, but that's no excuse for him to verbally abuse his sister."

"I don't think he meant to. He was angry about something. I sensed something odd in him."

Now that Carousella thought about it, she did sense something off earlier at breakfast when Boba entered the room. A great deal of moodiness. She wondered if Remix sensed it too. And, now that she thought about it, she should probably ask Remix if he'd noticed anything else lately.

Carousella didn't know a whole lot about human biology, but she was pretty sure it wasn't puberty making Boba act this way.

"Gabby," said Carousella. "Did anything happen recently? Anything that could've provoked Boba's behavior?"

"Like what?"

"Well, has anyone been bullying him? Or did he get into a fight with anyone lately?"

Gabby thought, and she said, "I don't think so. I'm not with him every minute of the day, even when we're at the Temple. He's usually with Remix though, even when I'm not with him."

"Did you notice Boba acting odd lately?" Carousella said. "Like when we were at the Temple a couple days ago?"

Gabby thought again, and she realized Boba did seem nervous while they were at the Temple. And, she didn't see him almost all those two days. And Carousella had been called to assist with physical training, so she was busy.

"Why weren't you with Boba?" Carousella asked.

"Uncle Obi-Wan was giving me a meditation lesson the first day. Well, trying to. I kept running around and playing Tigger Tag with him instead." Gabby started giggling as she reminisced about that. "And then the next day, Ahsoka and I were having what we call our Sister Time. You know, because she's like my big sister."

"Okay, so someone else might've noticed something with him."

Carousella nuzzled Gabby and told her not to worry. And she left the room to find Remix exiting Boba's room.

"Hey, cous. You notice Boba's been kinda off?" Remix said.

"Yeah. I was just talking to Gabby about that." Carousella answered. "What happened just now?"

"I tried to ask Boba what was up, he told me he wanted to be alone. So, I tried offering music, and he said he wasn't in the mood. Then Padme told me to leave the room so the medic could check him out."

"Well, the droid won't find much." said Carousella. "I don't think Boba's sick. Gabby and I think something's upset him. The question is what. Were you with Boba at all in the time we were at the Jedi Temple?"

Remix started to think. He told Carousella that he remembered Boba seemed to zone out sometimes, seeming depressed. He asked Boba what was wrong, but he blew it off and sometimes even forced himself to smile as he tried to hide something. But then he bumped into Mace, and Boba immediately looked away and ran off.

"Maybe he feels guilty about all that stuff he did before." Remix guessed.

"But that was almost four months ago and he showed his remorse." Carousella said. "It has to be something else. Do you remember anything else happening then?"

Remix shook his head.

"I was busy helping Anakin with a gift for Padme. It's their wedding anniversary tomorrow."

That was when it hit Carousella.

"Anniversary..." she gasped.

"Yeah. And with their second wedding coming up, I wonder if they'll be celebrating twice now."

Carousella walked into the room as Padme asked the doctor how Boba was, only for the doctor to tell her that nothing serious appeared wrong with her son.

"For now, I recommend getting him to eat something healthy and get some fresh air." said the doctor before he left.

"Padme, can I talk to you?" Carousella asked.

"Of course." Padme said. "Boba, by the time I get back, please be dressed."

Boba just groaned and pulled his blanket over his head again.

"Boba..."

"Stable. Now." Carousella said, biting Padme's sleeve and backing out of the room with her in tow.

Carousella got Padme to sit on one of the pillows, knowing Padme wouldn't want hay on her clothes.

"Padme, I talked to Gabby and to Remix." Carousella said. "Both of them said they noticed Boba acting off before today."

Carousella told Padme everything the others told her and that she started to gain a hypothesis as to why Boba was acting the way he was today. And Remix theorizing about what happened before Boba was adopted, and then mentioning Padme and Anakin's wedding anniversary was the final piece of the puzzle.

"Do you remember when the Battle of Geonosis happened?"

Padme thought about it, and she started to realize what her daughter's horse was getting at.

"Today. One year ago."

"The day Boba's birth father died." Carousella nodded, frowning. "That's why he's upset."

The anniversary of Jango Fett's death. Who could blame Boba for being upset? It had officially been a year since the most traumatizing day of his entire life. The day he was left all alone. A child who was forced to watch as his only family was killed. Naturally, seeing Mace again just before the anniversary provoked PTSD in Boba. His therapist said it would naturally take time for him to move on, but even she, one of the best in the business could not predict exactly how he would behave later.

"How could I let this slip my mind?" Padme sighed, feeling guilty.

Since Boba came home, Padme did her best to be a good mother for Boba, especially knowing he never had one. And she remembered his first night home; he embraced her and every loving gesture she gave him from a big hug to tucking him in and giving him kisses. Most boys his age would be trying to get away from all that affection, calling it mushy and stuff like that. But, they might feel differently if they'd been without a mother like Boba.

Padme started thinking she wasn't being as good a mother for not even thinking about how Boba would be in a bad mood. She and Anakin never planned to adopt a child until they saw how in need Boba was, or to be raising a ten-year-old for at least another seven years, much less of the opposite gender.

"Padme, you are an amazing mother." Carousella said. "And I should know. My mom was a lot like you. She was a royal guard and a mother of two, and she sometimes had doubts about whether she was doing a good job in either field, but more so in motherhood."

"Your mother?" Padme said in disbelief.

Padme saw for herself how confident and tough Carousella was when it came to her job as a royal guard and Gabby's friend. According to Remix and Armorous, Carousella took mostly after her mom. Lavendera had been one of the strongest female guards in Equinaro's forces. She had no magic, but she was a swift flyer and rarely lost a battle. She showed no fear when it came to protecting the royal family and bringing wrongdoers to justice... especially when it came to protecting her foals. But when the war began, she paid the ultimate price to help her children live to fight another day.

"Yup. She didn't show it when she was working. But underneath that armor was a devoted, loving mother who wasted no time showing her family lots of affection." Carousella said. "This ribbon I wear in my mane... it's the last one she ever tied in my mane before she died."

"Which is why you wear it more than any other bow." Padme said, grabbing a brush and stroking Carousella's mane.

Carousella nodded.

"It's like I still have her with me." Carousella sighed. "But this isn't about me."

Padme went back to Boba's room and found him getting a hoodie on and hiding underneath the hood, which Dr. Quito told her and Anakin was pretty common among her patients with anxiety or depression.

"Boba..." Padme said.

"I'm dressed. I'm dressed." Boba said, picking up his lion and squeezing it tight.

"Boba, I just want to talk."

Padme sat on the bed and got Boba to sit down. She told her son that she realized why he was acting this way.

"Now, yelling at your sister earlier, that was wrong, and you are going to apologize to her when you're calm." Padme said. "Nevertheless, I understand you're hurt. You're still grieving over your birth family. It's natural. But not talking about it isn't going to make it go away."

Boba looked down and said nothing.

"I know you've been through a lot, Boba. A year ago, you were alone in a time of desperate need. But you're not alone now. You have a family again who will always love you no matter what, and will be there for you no matter how long you need to grieve, including now."

Still, Boba said nothing. But then, he started crying.

Padme took that as her cue to pull Boba into a hug. This time, Boba hugged back and cried into his mother's shoulder. Padme kissed her son's head and stroked his hair, telling him to just let it all out.

Suddenly, Padme wasn't alone in hugging Boba. Gabby came in and joined in on the hug. Carousella joined in too and nuzzled Boba. So did Remix.

Boba kept crying for a little longer as his human and equine family continued to embrace him in a group hug. He felt so loved at this moment. And he started to feel a little better getting his emotions out.

"It's going to be okay, Boba." Remix said. "We're here for you."

Gabby got out a little handkerchief and wiped her big brother's tears away.

"You're a Skywalker now, Big Brother." Gabby said. "We're here for you. We're not going anywhere."

Boba sniffled and held his baby sister in a hug.

"I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to hurt you." Boba said.

Gabby returned the hug and said she forgave her brother. She loved him too much to be angry at him for very long.

"I... I love my new family. But... I just... my birth father... I can't help..."

Boba seemed like he knew what he wanted to say, but he couldn't get the right words to come out of his mouth. But Padme wrapped a caring arm around him.

"You don't need to explain, Boba." Padme said, kissing her son's cheek.

"We get it, Boba." Carousella said. "You don't wanna forget your birth father and how much he meant to you. It's normal. And it just shows more that you have a heart."

"We have a couple of friends who went through the same thing." Remix said. "You remember when you met Dance Step and Twinkle Toes back in Equinaro?"

Boba thought back to when he first met Remix, and then while he was meeting all the different horses in Musicorn Meadow, he met two musical earth ponies. A brother-sister duo named Dance Step and Twinkle Toes, who were adopted by a loving couple with a daughter a little younger than Dance Step named Round 'n' Round. Aside from learning more about music and dance, Boba learned they'd lost their family tragically too.

Twinkle Toes was too young to remember, but Dance Step remembered the whole thing. The burning of the forest, the falling trees, the screaming of their parents for Dance Step to keep running and get Twinkle Toes to safety. After the fire was finally out, the two never saw their parents again, and they spent three years in the orphanage until they were adopted by one family willing and wanting to take both of them. Despite the loving devotion their adoptive parents gave them, that didn't stop them from missing or wondering what might've been had their birth family survived.

Even though neither of them were the pony he picked as his Ride of Love horse, Boba was glad to call them friends anyway because they empathized with each other.

Carousella also remembered just how horrible it was after her mom died. The poor mare was a mess! She couldn't concentrate on her training, go on patrols, or even do beauty stuff with Fantasia, her best friend. And at her mom's funeral, she was so busy crying she couldn't even get out one word of her speech. And then she remembered something a family friend of hers did to help her through it. So, she asked Padme if she and Remix could take Boba to Equinaro.

Carousella and Remix brought the Skywalkers to Equinaro, where they met with the Marehearts' family friend Fiesta, one of many other horses Boba met when he was choosing an equine.

"When my mom died, Fiesta showed me and Crescent a very special way we could honor her memory." Carousella explained.

Fiesta walked everyone to a meadow that had a big fence around it with a garden of white lilies. One of which Carousella picked with her mouth. And she walked over to one grave with a headstone that read Lavendera Mareheart: Beloved Wife, Mother, Guard, Friend.

Around this grave sat some framed pictures of the deceased mare with her family and friends, some candles that had previously gone out, and a few wilted flowers, which Carousella replaced with the lily she'd picked.

"You see," said Fiesta. "In my familia's tradition, there is a holiday we celebrate called Dia de Muertos, which means Day of the Dead. A special day when we honor the memories of loved ones who've passed away."

Fiesta explained how part of this holiday tradition was building special altars called ofrendas, which traditionally had photos of the deceased, things that the deceased loved in life as gifts, as well as marigold petals which were believed to guide the spirits of the loved one to the realm of the living.

"You can't actually physically see them." Fiesta said. "But you can feel them. You can feel their presence when you remember them and keep their memory alive."

"Sadly, since Jango was buried on Geonosis..." Carousella said. "That's not the best place to make an altar."

"But we can make one right here for your father, Boba. If you'd like."

"Really?" Boba said.

Fiesta nodded.

"It would be a special way to honor his memory. Do you have any pictures of him?"

Boba took out a photo he had of his father, and with the others' help, they began making an altar for Boba's father. The real Dia de Muertos was months away, but according to Fiesta and anyone who loved their family, there was no rule that said you had to wait for a specific date to honor your loved ones.

Once they found a good spot to place the altar, Boba set up some photographs. Gabby grew some beautiful flowers. Remix even put a cinnamon bun on the altar as a gift. And together they all lit a candle and placed them around the altar in honor of Jango Fett's memory.

"There you go, Dad." Boba said to the picture with a sad smile as he placed a freshly picked pair of marigolds by the picture.

Boba looked at his father's altar. He closed his eyes for a moment and stood still. He could feel his father's presence right then and there.

"I can't see you, but I feel you here." Boba sighed, hugging his lion in place of hugging his father.

Even though he knew the lion he held was a copy made by his adoptive family, to him, it was a form of revival of his memory of his father and early childhood. And even though Boba couldn't see his father, somehow, he knew he was smiling at him as he looked down at his son honoring his memory with his new family.

"We'll always take good care of Boba, Mr. Jango Fett." Gabby told the picture. "You should be very proud of him."

Knowing his family was here for him and that he could always honor his father's memory, Boba felt so much better. He was still sad knowing his father was gone a whole year, and he'd never come back in body, but he felt happy knowing he would remain with him in his heart, and his adoptive family, though they could never replace his birth family, they were the greatest miracle he could've ever hoped for after all he'd been through.