Carmine felt butterflies in his stomach as his mother got off the train that brought them to one of the richer districts on Coruscant.

This was a big thing for Carmine. Probably the biggest thing he would ever face in his life. Meeting his girlfriend's family.

Carmine loved Caroline, every bit of her. And he wanted to have a future with her. He and Caroline had visions. Carmine had his of one day getting down on one knee and giving Caroline the most romantic proposal ever, and then they would have a perfect wedding with music, flowers, and a dance to the song they fell in love to on their first date.

But first, he had to get the Mitchells' official blessing to court her.

Carmine held a lovely bouquet of lilies he conjured himself to present to Caroline's parents. According to Caroline, her mother, Kathleen Mitchell, loved lilies. So, he figured it would be a perfect way to get her to like him.

As Susy and Carmine walked down the pathway to a beautiful three-story building that was Caroline's house.

"Remember your manners, Carmine." Susy told Carmine.

"Yes, Mom." Carmine said.

Susy rang the doorbell. A droid answered.

"Welcome to the Mitchell residence. I am S3-05, server to the Mitchell Family. You must be the Lamuras. Please come in."

"Thank you." Susy said, walking into the house with her son.

The twilek and human followed the droid inside. Carmine was amazed by how beautiful the house was inside. It looked so fancy. Red carpet on the floors, antique vases and beautiful paintings on the walls, mostly of ballerinas, as well as crystal chandeliers hanging from the ceiling.

"Wow. This place is like a palace." said Carmine.

"The Mitchells have exquisite taste, don't they?" said Susy.

"Indeed, they do," said S3.

The guests were soon brought to the den where a well-dressed human couple sat on a sofa.

"Mr. and Mrs. Mitchell. Susy Lamura and her son have arrived." said the droid.

"Thank you, S3," said the man, standing up with his wife. "Nicholas Mitchell, at your service."

Susy shook hands with him.

"And this is my wife Kathleen."

"Charmed," said Kathleen.

"It's a pleasure to meet both of you." said Susy.

Susy noticed her son seemed shy as he hid his face behind the flowers.

"Carmine, Sweetie." she whispered.

Carmine cleared his throat and stepped up.

"H-Hello, Mr and Mrs. Mitchell. I'm Carmine Jinn." Carmine said shyly, presenting the flowers. "Thank you for having my mother and I here for the holidays."

"Oh, lilies. My favorite." said Kathleen, accepting the flowers. "How thoughtful, thank you. Hmm. A good first impression."

"So..." said Nicholas, looking at Carmine sternly. "You're the boy my Caroline has been raving about the last year and a half."

"She talks about me?" Carmine said, rather nervously.

"Indeed. She says you are a child of the faculty, and you attend the school. Coincidence?"

"Yes?"

"Daddy, don't intimidate Carmine. He has anxiety." Caroline warned.

Carmine looked to the entrance of the room and found himself in a trance when he saw Caroline dressed up in a lovely green dress, a lovely red poinsettia in her hair.

"Wow... you just get more beautiful every time I see you." Carmine sighed.

"You're not so bad yourself." said Caroline.

Carmine took Caroline's hand and kissed it.

The Mitchells had everyone take a seat as some hot cocoa was poured.

"It's very nice to finally meet the boy who's captured Caroline's interest." said Kathleen. "Although, we'd initially thought she'd end up with Derek."

"Why would you want her with someone like him?" Carmine asked.

"Derek is a good boy, and a fantastic dancer." said Nicholas. "He and Caroline together, I always imagined would be a perfect duo."

"Okay, you don't know the real Derek Hall. He's actually a jerk." Carmine said. "You didn't see the way he harassed Caroline in the cafeteria or when he smashed my glasses."

"It's true, Daddy. Carmine was the one who stood up for me." Caroline said, taking a sip of her cocoa. "And he's a much better dance partner than Derek ever was."

"So... how did you get into that school, Carmine Jinn?" Nicholas asked.

"I did the entrance exam for a scholarship." Carmine said. "Mom tutored me, I practiced all I could, and gave it my all on the days of the exam."

"And what is your specialty?"

"Well... I play a lot of instruments, but my best is the guitar and the piano. I also sing and dance. Mostly pop music and hip-hop dance."

Caroline's parents didn't sound too fond of that.

"You teach ballet, and you let your son do hip-hop?" said Kathleen.

"Yes. Hip-hop is one of the required classes." Susy said. "And he seems to like it."

"Are you trying to teach those children to participate in more of those music videos with all that... twerking, I think the kids called it?"

"Of course not. And Carmine's a smart boy. He would never dance inappropriately."

"Well, he should at least know ballet is the only real dance there is." Kathleen said. "Graceful, beautiful, perfect."

"Mom." Caroline groaned. "There can be more than one form of dance with grace and beauty."

"I like ballet too. It's how I met Caroline, after all."

Before things could get tense, Caroline stepped in and said,

"Carmine is really good at music, Mom and Dad." Caroline looked at her boyfriend. "Carmine, why don't you play something on the piano?"

"I think that sounds like a wonderful idea, right Nicholas?" said Kathleen.

"Yes. Let's see if you truly earned your spot at Melody Academy." said Nicholas.

Carmine went to sit at the piano and tried to think of a good song to play. It was Life Day and Caroline's parents clearly were obsessed with ballet. And then, he thought of something perfect. Carmine warmed up his hands and began to play Waltz of the Flowers.

Caroline's parents had to admit, they were impressed by Carmine's skills on the piano.

"That was... impressive." said Nicholas. "However, a true musician would go into the more traditional classical string instrument, such as the violin."

"Like this?" said Carmine, picking up a violin and playing an excerpt of famous Mozart piece Serenade in G Major "Eine Kleine Nachtmusik.

"I meant the flute."

Carmine could play that too. He could play Ode to Joy especially well on that. Caroline's parents were surprised at that.

"Um...accordion?"

Carmine pulled one (secretly using a bit of magic), and played it really well too.

"How many instruments do you play?" asked Kathleen.

"I never counted all of them." Carmine said.

Kathleen left the room for a moment to show Susy where she and Carmine would be staying, leaving Carmine alone with Caroline's father.


"It's probably not my business, but is Carmine's father not in his life?" Kathleen asked Susy.

Susy sadly shook her head. "Carmine lost his father six years ago. I never met him, but Carmine speaks highly of him."

"It must be hard raising him on your own."

"It isn't always easy. But Carmine is a good boy. He was clearly raised right in his early childhood."


Nicholas Mitchell had to admit, Carmine was very musically gifted, but that didn't mean he would just let him court his daughter.

"So... what's the deal?" asked Nicholas.

"What... deal?" Carmine asked nervously.

"What are your plans for my Caroline?"

Carmine couldn't say he knew every single thing that would happen with Caroline, but he definitely wanted a future with her.

"Well, it's always been my dream to be a great performer. I write my own music and someday I want to sing on stage and inspire future generations."

"And are you intending on being Caroline's partner?"

"I love Caroline. She's the most perfect woman I could ever hope for. I love everything about her, inside and out."

"You are aware Caroline will be attending True Pointe Academy after graduation, correct?"

"Assuming she wants to attend school there." Carmine said.

"You don't believe Caroline would make it there?"

"No, no. I believe she would. It's just, I'm not sure she'll want to go there. She might want to pursue a career in another form of dance, or even be a teacher."

"Our family tradition is ballet. My parents were ballerinas, and their parents before them, and their parents before them. Caroline will carry on that tradition as well."

"But it's her choice."

"You are a bold speaker, aren't you?"

Nicholas sounded impressed by Carmine's courage to speak up.

"Believe it or not, it was Caroline who helped me find my voice my first year at Melody." Carmine said.

"Tell me, why did you select Caroline? Did you know she was part of a rich family?"

"No." Carmine shook his head.

"Was your birth family rich?"

That struck something in Carmine. Apparently, Caroline hadn't told her family that her boyfriend didn't come from a wealthy background.

"What does that have to do with-?"

"Tell me... why did Susy Lamura adopt you?"

Carmine felt tears come to his eyes.

"My father died and then my grandmother did too."

"No mother?"

"I never knew her." Carmine said. "No one ever told me what happened to her."

"What did they do for a living?"

"Please, can we not talk about this?" Carmine said, getting uncomfortable.

"I need to know. Are you a gold digger or not?"

"Of course not!" Carmine got up. "It's true I didn't have much before, but I'd never try to trick my way into getting a lot of money! Caroline is the only treasure I care about right now, and I'd love her even if she came from a family of moisture farmers."

"I suppose then that Susy is a step up from the family you had before?"

Carmine suddenly looked angry.

"Don't you dare say my family was replaced by her!" He said angrily, Force pushing the table and making a mess. "My family loved me! My grandmother worked herself sick trying to provide for me. And she always told me that it was never about what we had, but what we made with what we had."

"I suppose your father wasn't very dedicated to teaching you not to make a mess."

Carmine really got mad then.

"My father was a very loving man!" Carmine said, starting to cry. "The only reason he couldn't raise me himself is because he was a Jedi! He gave me to my grandmother because he knew if the Jedi Order found out about me, we'd be separated forever! He only got to see me once every year on my birthday, but he made sure I was loved and that I knew he always wanted me. Giving me up was the hardest thing he'd ever done! I had to go through eight different foster homes before I discovered Melody Academy, and seven of those homes were horrible! They treated me worse than you are now. Six of them only took me in because they saw me as an ATM machine."

That was when the women came down and heard Carmine speaking angrily to Nicholas.

"Ms. Susy might not be my real mom, but she has given me not just a new place to live like my grandmother hoped to give me, but she gave me a family again too, and that was all I ever wanted and needed. So... don't you dare call me a gold digger. I came here because I'd hoped to form a nice bond with my girlfriend's family. But I can see now that's just not gonna happen."

Carmine angrily strode out of the room to get his bag and go home.

"Nicholas, what did you say to him?" Kathleen scolded.

"I was just making sure we knew if we were in for a repeat of Chandler Maitin." Nicholas said.

"Daddy, you know I know not to make another mistake like that!" Caroline scolded. "And you really shouldn't judge people before you get to know them."

"I was only protecting you, Caroline."

"From what? I can take care of myself, Daddy!" Caroline said angrily. "Chandler was a boyfriend in the eighth grade. I'm older and wiser now, and I never even told Carmine we were rich until after we started dating. Even after I told him that, he used his own money to pay for dates and surprise me with gifts when he was just a secret admirer."

"I'm going to talk to him." Susy said, leaving.

"Caroline, be a dear and get the cleaning droids to take care of this mess, please." said Kathleen.

"Yes, Mom." Caroline said, going to do just that.


Carmine picked up his bag and started to head to the stairs as Susy arrived.

"Carmine, what are you doing?" said Susy.

"I wanna go home!" Carmine said, wiping tears from under his glasses. "I'm obviously not welcome here."

"Now, Carmine. Once Nick gets to know you-"

"He'll never accept me for who I am!" Carmine said. "I don't come from a rich background, I'm only in the school because I'm on a scholarship, and I still get the jitters performing in front of people. I'll never be good enough to be Caroline's girlfriend in Mr. Mitchell's eyes."

"And are his eyes the ones you care about most?" said a familiar voice.

And that was when Caroline came in.

"Caroline... I'm so sorry about the mess, I-"

"Don't worry about it." Caroline said. "I never liked those mugs anyway. But seriously, Carmine, I didn't like how my father spoke to you. He doesn't know you like I do. But you also never told me your dad was a Jedi."

"I know. I just... I didn't want your parents to think I Jedi mind tricked you or something. I never received formal training. My dad used to write me letters, sometimes with instructions for Jedi training."

"So, that's how you flipped the table?"

"Yeah. Sanjay's the only other person I ever told."

"Is there anything else you haven't told me?" Caroline asked.

"Can you keep a secret?"

"I won't tell a soul." Caroline promised. "I'll tell you a secret of mine if you tell me yours."

"Well, you know how a lot of crazy things tend to happen when I sing? Or strange things have been going on at the school lately?"

Caroline thought about it for a while.

Flashback to a few incidents at school...

One day, Derek pushed Carmine in the hall on the way to ballet class. But then, Derek walked into the classroom after changing into his leotards, and he suddenly burst out laughing, claiming that something was tickling him. He was so busy laughing; he fell to the floor and couldn't even do a simple plie or even one of the five ballet foot positions.

Another day, Sanjay got stuck in one of the trees in the school yard after he climbed up to get a frisbee someone had thrown too high. The next thing Caroline knew, she was walking by and she saw Sanjay hopping down a staircase of floating drums.

And then one day, some kids were roughhousing in the cafeteria and starting a food fight, when everyone heard some odd singing, and the next thing they knew, the whole mess was clean, and no one knew what happened.

Present day...

"Now that I think about it, a lot of things I can't explain have been going on lately." Caroline said.

"That's because..." Carmine hesitated for a moment. "Okay, this is going to sound totally insane. Caroline, I have magic."

"Magic?" said Caroline.

"Yes. As in spells and stuff." said Carmine.

Carmine snapped his fingers. Nothing seemed to happen. But then...

Caroline walked back downstairs and found the whole den to be decorated with lilies and garlands with red ribbons on them.

"Where did all these come from?" Kathleen said, sounding surprised.

"Carmine?" said Caroline, looking at her boyfriend.

"Santa Claus isn't the only one who can create holiday magic." said Carmine, coming back downstairs.

"You did this?" said Kathleen.

"I didn't realize Jedi could do magic." said Nicholas.

"They can't." said Carmine. "It's a long story, which I'm going to guess you don't wanna hear."

"Actually, Nick has something to say to you." Kathleen said, looking at her husband firmly.

Nicholas stood up and said, "Those things I said before, that was insensitive. Highly inappropriate."

"I know you want the best for Caroline, but you really shouldn't judge people before getting to know them." Carmine said. "And you really should let her make her own decisions about her future. Personally, I believe she'd be the most successful ballerina in the galaxy if she decided she wanted to be. But if she decides to do anything else with her life, she can decide for herself."

"That aside, I apologize for before. I shouldn't have called you a gold digger."

"Well, I can't stay mad at you. It's Life Day, and you only wanted to protect Caroline. I want what's best for her too. I know I don't have a lot of my own, but I promise you I can do my best to be the man Caroline deserves."

Nicholas looked at Carmine, and his face said sincerity. And the way he was bold enough to stand up for Caroline whether it was against a school bully or confronting his girlfriend's father on letting her make her own decisions. He still had some hesitation in him about letting his daughter date him. But then again, he hesitated about his daughter dating anyone at all! But, Susy was a good teacher and the Mitchells trusted her, so why couldn't they give Carmine a chance too?

So, the families soon got ready to have dinner together, when Caroline stopped Carmine at some point and pointed to something above them.

"Oh! Mistletoe." Carmine blushed.

Caroline fluttered her lashes. "You know what that means."

Carmine leaned forward and kissed his girlfriend under the mistletoe, and continued to do so endlessly until their parents called them into the dining room.

"Coming, Mom/Mom and Dad." the couple said at the same time. And the two of them laughed together.

"Happy Life Day, Caroline." Carmine smiled.

"Happy Life Day, Carmine." Caroline replied.