It was a pretty cool day today. School was going okay, and Omega was enjoying getting to experience learning with other kids, most of all getting to learn with kids who looked different from each other.

Now that Omega was thirteen and doing well in school, she felt like her life was complete at last.

The Skywalkers and Jinns were so happy to see their children finding themselves in great new places now that they were attending a real school.

Lamenta had a real best friend in a girl from her class named Lee Ali, Gabby was enjoying being part of the school's art club, and Boba was thriving on the cheer squad with his girlfriend Roya.

Omega, on the other hand, while she liked cheerleading, found that she really enjoyed the engineering club. In that club, she and other kids could build things and learn to design new machines and structures too. She was sure given that she was adopted, and she felt leading a kingdom wasn't really her thing, Omega was sure she wouldn't become queen when she grew up. So, she decided to find her passion, and found that when she grew up, she wanted to be an engineer.

After meeting her friend Mila and seeing so many of her inventions, she was inspired to come up with ideas of her own.

Omega proved to be a very smart young lady. Not quite as advanced as Mila or Tech, but definitely enough to get straight A's in school.

Omega started getting help from Artoo with tools as she was working on a project for the engineering club.

"What'cha building, Big Sister?" Gabby asked.

"A little droid." Omega said. "It's part of the robotics project for Engineering club. We have to build a robotic animal."

"Like Gidget?" Gabby said, and a familiar little robot dog came in running around, barking her robotic barks.

Mila's dog Chika didn't seem too fond of Gidget, but Mila, not wanting to waste a perfectly good invention, decided to gift the robot to Omega when she took an interest in building things. And Gidget became a good companion for the girl.

Omega decided to create a robot dog too, and she was very nearly done with it.

"There. Now let's watch the magic happen."

Omega decided to test him out. She flipped a switch on the little dog, and it made some barking sounds and hopped on its springy little legs.

Gidget seemed to digitally sniff the other dog and start barking too.

Gabby giggled and said, "Looks like Gidget likes your new dog."

Omega chuckled.

"I think so too."

Just then, one of the palace servants arrived.

"Forgive me, your highnesses. I have a message for Princess Omega." said the servant.

"What is it?" Omega asked.

"There's a Taylor Hart here to see you."

"Oh, Taylor's here! Send them in."

"Who's Taylor?"

"Someone from engineering club." Omega said, getting her bag and getting up. "We're hanging out today."

Anakin was walking through the halls, scrolling through his phone, when he heard Padme talking to someone near the front doors.

Padme noticed her husband coming by and said, "Ani, this is Omega's friend Taylor."

Anakin looked at the kid beside Padme and was in total shock.

Taylor was a human boy with bright green eyes behind dark blue glasses, dark skin, nice hair, and dressed in cool clothes.

"Hello, Mr. Skywalker." said Taylor, bowing. "I mean, Your Highness."

But Anakin was frozen. Something inside him snapped. The fact that there was a boy here to see Omega, that activated a big RED ALERT in Anakin's head.

"Padme, can I talk to you privately?" said Anakin in a very serious tone. "Taylor... don't go anywhere."

Anakin looked at Taylor and gave him the "I'm watching you" gesture before he got Padme into the next room.

"Padme, why is there a boy in our house?" Anakin said, sounding overprotective.

"Ani, Omega told us she was going out with a friend today, remember?" Padme said.

"Yeah, and I was under the impression that Taylor was a girl."

Padme sighed and said, "You're overreacting. Omega would never hide anything like this from us."

"She hasn't even been here a year. We don't know everything about her. And this... Taylor. I just know he's not good enough for Omega. No one is! She's way too young to be dating!"

"Ani, we don't even know if this is a date."

"Well, I'm gonna find out."

Anakin quickly ran upstairs.

"OMEGA!"

Omega practically jumped out of her boots as her father burst into the room.

"Why is there a boy downstairs asking for you?" Anakin asked, sounding very stern.

"That's just Taylor." Omega said. "He's a friend from engineering club."

"Omega... what exactly are your plans with him?"

"We're just going to the mall with some friends." Omega said. "It's not a date."

Anakin wasn't so sure he believed her. He knew from experience that teenagers would often say just about anything to get away with disobeying their parents, or would just rebel if their parents forbid them from doing certain things.

"Omega, I don't like this. You're not old enough to hang with boys. Except your brother."

"But you let Boba hang out with his girlfriend all the time." Omega pointed out.

"That's because I know Roya." Anakin said. "She's a family friend and has already shown to be a good girl."

"Well, Taylor's a great guy." Omega said. "He's in a different class than me, but we've gotten to know each other a lot in engineering club. He's smart, he has a great sense of humor, and his family's been to a lot of different places. And Mom said it was okay for me to go out with him."

Omega started to go downstairs, and was happy to meet with her friend. And they went out to get into the vehicle that would take them to their destination.

"I don't like this." Anakin said.

"Ani, Omega's a smart girl." Padme said. "Besides, Taylor's brother is chaperoning. Omega will be fine. And Taylor seems like a very nice boy."

"I still don't think Omega should be dating so young. She shouldn't date until she's like... forty."

Padme gave Anakin a look.

"And how old were we when we got married?"

"That's different!" Anakin said.

"How, exactly?"

Anakin didn't know what to say at that point, but nevertheless, he still wasn't comfortable with one of his little girls dating. Sure, he knew he would have to face this eventually, but he thought Gabby would be the first he'd have to deal with, so he'd initially thought he wouldn't have to face watching his daughter date for at least another ten years. But that was long before he adopted a daughter who'd just become a teenager.

Desperate to make sure Omega would be safe, Anakin decided to take matters into his own hands.

Gabby was doing her homework with Carousella by her side, when Anakin came into the room.

"Hey, Gabby." said Anakin. "Any chance I can borrow Carousella today?"

"What for?" Gabby asked.

"Just something really important."

Gabby looked at Carousella and nodded.

Carousella got up and walked with Anakin.

"What's the buzz, Anakin?" asked Carousella.

"I need you to do a stealth mission." Anakin said. "Lamenta's too busy with homework to do it. And if you succeed, I'll buy you that new saddle you've been eyeing. So, do you think you can pull it off?"

"What's the job?"

To be continued...