Italics: Narration

Our story begins somewhere deep within the forest on a dark and stormy night. And thunder booms, spooking a beautiful horse.

A pegasus with a golden-brown coat, a long dark mane decorated with blue and yellow beads, and blue eyes with two gold stripes. But they were now filled with tears as rain fell and drenched the poor mare.

Sad isn't it? A beautiful horse all alone in the woods in the cold of the rain. Believe or not, that mare was once a human being. A queen. Me.

I'm that pegasus. My name is Kara. Queen Kara Jinn. People have told me I was a wonderful person, but then someone decided to ruin my life, and for my loved ones as well. So, in case you haven't guessed yet. I'm not the only victim here. But in order to fully understand, we need to go back in time.

Flashback to a five-year-old Kara playing with twin baby boys as they were crawling around and then playing tug-of-war with a teddy bear until its arms ripped off

Not that far!

But, aww! That's me as a little girl with my little brothers. Aren't they adorable?

The twins cried as their toy was ruined. But Kara shushed them until she went into the toy box and found two new teddies for them to play with, and the babies stopped crying

See what I mean? Even as a kid, I knew how to be kind, especially where my baby brothers were concerned. But anyway, that's not the time period we need to go back to.

Here's the real time it starts...

The beautiful Queen Kara sat as she brushed her long hair on this fine morning.

See that girl there? That's me now. Well, that's me two weeks ago. And see that picture on her vanity?

On the vanity sat a framed picture of Kara and two boys as teenagers with the same sandy blonde hair and blue eyes. One wore glasses and had longer hair, though. And in that picture, was a man and a woman.

That's me with my brothers, the twins Anakin and Carmine, and our parents six years ago. King Qui-Gon and Queen Shmi. After they passed away later that same year, it fell to me and my brothers to lead the kingdom of Coruscant. Since I'm the oldest, I was crowned queen on my eighteenth birthday. It's been hard to be without them.

In that time since their parents died, the twins both married, and each had a daughter.

Today marked another day in the life of the royals.

"Time for another day ruling this kingdom." Kara declared as she picked up her tiara and placed it on her head. "Better wake the others."

Kara pulled a rope to ring the bell that signaled everyone it was time to wake up.

Anakin heard the bell ringing and woke up with a yawn.

Carmine heard it too and looked for his glasses.

And the little ones, Gabriella and Lamenta were the last ones to get up.

Everyone got and got dressed and exited their rooms to go to the dining hall for breakfast.

And everywhere the royal family went, their staff greeted them with a friendly 'Good morning.'

"Good morning to you too, guys." Anakin returned.

"Looking great today." Carmine said.

And as usual, breakfast was served with excellent presentation and flavor. Their cooks Jango Fett and his wife Zam never ceased to please. And their assistant Strawberry Sundae ensured the quality of ingredients.

One thing the palace staff liked about the royal family was that they were very appreciative of all their people and took care of the kingdom. And in return, the staff took care of them greatly.

"Good morning, everyone." Kara greeted.

"Allow me, Your Majesty." Jango said, pulling out a chair for the queen.

"Thank you, Jango." Kara said, taking a seat. "Breakfast looks wonderful as usual. You are dismissed."

Jango bowed and left the family to enjoy their breakfast.

Everyone dug into their food and was excited about their day. The little ones were excited to get to their riding lessons today, while the grownups had a busy schedule today.

"In regards to tomorrow," said Kara. "I've summoned some village leaders to come see us today."

"You got the list, Anakin?" Carmine asked.

"Every name. It's all confirmed that they'll be here in about two hours. Just enough time to get ready for them."

Pretty sweet family, huh?

After me is Anakin, the oldest twin. He's a charming fellow, like one would expect a prince to be. But, he's also kind of a rebel where rules are concerned. Doesn't always listen to what he's told, acts recklessly, and has a bit of a need to show off. Since I doubt I'll produce any heirs of my own, it's been my job to make sure Anakin will be ready to be king someday. He's already got a wife and a daughter.

Carmine is married and has a daughter too, but he also has a bit of a problem with public speaking. He's always been a shy kid. Never liked giving speeches or standing in front of large crowds. But, being a prince, he has to get used to that. Yet, he somehow always finds a way out of it whether it's faking laryngitis, making up appointments, or running and hiding somewhere.

And then there's my nieces. Those cute little angels. Gabby is Anakin's little girl. Optimistic, energetic, a little ball of surprises. Loves anything brightly colored and being the center of attention. And then there's Lamenta, the shy little angel of the night. Shy like her father, but also fairly calm and laid back. Her favorite time: the night, when she can gaze up at the stars and make wishes on them.

My brother's each married good women too. Anakin married a beautiful princess named Padme from the neighboring kingdom of Naboo, and Carmine married her dance instructor Caroline. But at the moment, they were away visiting their family in Naboo, leaving us to watch over the little ones.

Later that same day, there was an older man sitting in the throne Kara usually sat in, and he was reluctantly listening to a peasant talking to him about the needs of some of the people.

Here we are, my least favorite person. Father's old advisor Sheev Palpatine. Seems nice at first, but I swear the air gets cold when you get too close to him.

And he wasn't alone either. In the throne next to Palpatine was a much younger woman with fair skin, raven black hair, and magenta eyes dressed in a really attention-grabbing red dress. Her name was Silvaria Navarro.

Lately, Palpatine has been getting into this habit of running the country behind my back ever since Mother and Father died. And I'm thinking, that has to stop. He's also been in this really weird habit of getting with younger women. And this time, he married one. Silvaria. Don't be fooled by her beautiful appearance. I swear, those red lips and that red dress of hers are a definite equivalent of a red flag of some kind. I'm telling you, this woman's trouble.

There was a big strong guy who worked for the advisors too. Jango had many sons, and this one was Wrecker. Not the sharpest guy, but he was brutally strong and kind of a big teddy bear.

A fly buzzed around Palpatine's head, and the man started to swat it.

"I got it!" Wrecker said eagerly, swatting away the bug.

Wrecker swatted the fly, and the fly landed on Wrecker's nose, and Wrecker smacked himself on the face hard enough to knock himself down.

Yup. That's Wrecker.

"It's no concern of mine whether you have... what was it again?" asked Palpatine.

"Food." said the peasant.

Silvaria laughed and said, "You should've thought of that before you became peasants. Take him away."

"Next!" Palpatine called, and the peasant was escorted out.

The couple trying to do the rulers' job sighed as they did not like the dealing with peasants part of the job.

"Peasants are stressful, aren't they?" said another voice.

"Tell me about it." Silvaria groaned.

"Ahem." Kara cleared her throat, scaring the couple out of the thrones."

"Oh! Your Majesty." Palpatine said. And he noticed the twins. "Your highnesses."

"Um, you were doing it again." Kara said,

"Oh, do excuse me, doing what?"

"Our job. I'm the queen, my brothers are the crown princes. And you are the leaders' advisor."

Palpatine went on and on about how he was only acting in the best interest of the kingdom, and Silvaria was simply assisting in such matters.

"Well, it didn't look like a very good job with that guy." Anakin said.

"Mom and Dad would never have treated anyone that way." Carmine said.

"Your Majesty," said Hunter, another one of Jango's sons who worked for the royal family. "The village leaders are here to see you."

"Thank you, Hunter." said Kara. "Send them in."

But Palpatine was sitting in Kara's chair again.

"Alright, who's sitting in my chair?" Kara teased.

"Ooh! I know! Palpatine's in your chair!" Wrecker jumped like an excited child.

"Very good, Wrecker." Kara took out a cookie she had. "Have a cookie."

"Mine!" Wrecker took the treat and devoured it like Cookie Monster.

The royal siblings laughed at how cute Wrecker was.

"And Palpatine." said Kara. "Your services are no longer required."

"What?" said Palpatine.

"We've decided to look into a younger mind of advisory." Anakin explained. "And according to regulations, it's time for you to retire."

"Just a moment. You are firing me?"

"Not firing. Just letting you go." said Kara. "You may remain in the palace until you find any new residency. But we've already found a new advisor."

And in came the new advisor. A Togruta who looked no older than eighteen years old. Her name was Ahsoka Tano.

"Sorry, I'm late, Your Majesties." Ahsoka said with a bow. "I was ensuring the leaders found their way safely."

"Thank you, Ahsoka." Anakin said. "Palpatine. Mrs. You may go now."

Palpatine stammered and felt so much anger build up in him as he and his wife were dismissed from the throne room.

And the queen and princes sat on their thrones.

And in came four new beings. Two were humans, the other two were a Kel Dor and a Togruta like Ahsoka.

The leaders were named Obi-Wan Kenobi, Mace Windu, Plo Koon, and his wife Shaak Tii. All of them were leaders of various villages in the Jedi district of Coruscant.

"Greetings, Your Majesty." Obi-Wan said.

"We each reach received your summons to arrive here." Mace said.

"Welcome, all of you." Kara said, getting up from her throne. "You're just the people we all needed to see today."

"For what reason is that?" Shaak asked.

"We've been working on an important project together." said Anakin. "Except, there's a teeny problem with it."

"You think you can help us?" Carmine asked.

"We'll do the best we can, Your Majesties." Obi-Wan promised.

"Great." said Kara. "If you'll kindly follow me and my brothers."

The leaders followed the royals into another room, where there was a full-scale model of the Jedi District of the kingdom. Each village the Jedi looked after was important to the kingdom in one way or another.

Obi-Wan led the village of Saleucami; their village harvested the biggest crop plantations that helped feed the country some of the best fruits and vegetables.

Mace led the village of Stewjon, the village best known for creating high-quality saddles and equipment for working with and herding the equines that helped do various jobs.

And Plo Koon and Shaak led the village of Shili, where Ahsoka was from. Their village was known for being especially good at peacekeeping, and they were great builders of many simple, but functional structures that helped the kingdom too.

All of them had important jobs that helped their kingdom.

"And that's why we've asked all of you here." Kara said. "As you know, tomorrow would've been our father's birthday. It's been so long since we lost him."

"The loss still hits hard, though," Carmine said, looking down.

"He was a good king, your father." Mace said. "And a good man."

"I knew him when I was younger." Obi-Wan added. "He was a good father even to those who weren't his own children."

"And that's why we're working on something important." Anakin said. "We just need to find some good spaces. Some place that's accessible for families and has a nice view. And a place where lots of plants can grow."

The village leaders looked at the model and pointed out an empty patch of land that had plenty of soil, but nothing growing there as of yet. And, in another part of town, there was an abandoned building no one claimed yet, but it was in an area close to where a lot of families with children lived.

"What do you plan on adding to these areas?" Plo asked.

The royals then added something in place of those empty spaces and abandoned buildings and showed the village leaders some plans they had to build. Where the abandoned building was now, Kara and her brothers planned to build a new school for needy kids, as one of their father's greatest goals was to ensure every child in the kingdom, regardless of race, social class, or learning struggles, received the best education they could get. And in the empty patch of land, they planned to build a new park and name it Tahl Shmi Park, using the names of both Kara and the twins' biological mothers. Their father had loved each of his wives very much and loved each of them even more when each of them gave him children. His first wife Tahl gave him Kara, and after losing her, he eventually married Shmi, who gave him the twins.

And now, their three children finally had it all planned out on how they would honor their parents' memories.

"All of those are wonderful ideas." said Mace. "Your parents would be proud you want to honor their kingdom in such a manner."

"They were amazing rulers, and good people." Anakin said. "When my mother was around, she never called herself queen. The only job she truly cared about was being a mother to her children and to the people. That was what made Dad fall in love with her, and we know he'd want the women he loved to be honored and remembered."

"So, tomorrow, we shall make the official announcements to the kingdom." Kara said. "And all of you, be sure to let your villages know that where education and keeping the kingdom beautiful are concerned, everyone is going to have a part in making it all possible. Thank you all so much for coming all this way and granting the royal family your time."

The village leaders bowed before their royal leaders and left as the guards escorted them out to their rides.

Anakin looked at the model of the park and picked up a fake daffodil from it. Daffodils were his mother's favorite. And every time he saw one, he thought of her, which was why he planned to plant lots of them in the new park; that way, lots of other families could appreciate them as much as Shmi did.

He looked up at a portrait of the royal family, back when Kara and the twins were children.

Kara put a comforting hand on her little brother's shoulder. She understood how her brother's felt better than anyone else. She never knew her biological mother, and Shmi was the only figure she'd ever called Mom. And now she and her father were gone.

"Mom and Dad were the best. No one could ever replace them." Kara said, hugging Anakin as he and Carmine started crying, missing their parents.

Even though it had been years since their parents' deaths, there were times when the royal children just started crying when they thought about them.

Kara held her brothers in a hug, and sang them a lullaby their father always sang to them whenever they were sad, hurt, or scared ever since they were little.

You are my sunshine
My only sunshine
You make me happy
When skies are gray
You'll never know, dear
How much I love you
Please don't take
My sunshine away

It was then that Lamenta and Gabby were running around the castle with two of Jango's youngest children, Boba and Omega.

"Kids!" Kara exclaimed. "Kids, what have we said about running in the palace?!"

"We're just playing, Auntie." Gabby said before she ran into a pedestal, and nearly broke a vase before Boba caught it.

"I got it!" Boba said, carefully placing the vase back on the pedestal. "Sorry, Queen Kara. We'll be more careful."

Anakin and Carmine looked at the children. They couldn't bring their parents back, but they could pass on what they learned about being good parents from them to their own little ones. In each of the daughters, they could see bits of their grandparents in them.

Gabby inherited Qui-Gon's determination and passionate strength to make a change, while Lamenta inherited Shmi's love for the simpler things in life and not needing to have everything handed to her to be happy. All either of them needed was their family. And that was all they needed now.