Most fairytales tell of horrible, wicked stepmothers who mistreat their stepdaughters. Namely in princess tales. Cinderella was made a slave in her own home by her stepmother and stepsisters, Snow White was made a maid and later poisoned by her wicked stepmother, and Ella Enchanted was made a slave both by her stepfamily and her curse of obedience.
Princess Kara's story, however, wasn't like that. Her father was engaged to Shmi Skywalker, and now that they finally set a date for the big day, Shmi made a big effort to bond with her future stepdaughter.
Kara knew her stepmother's twin sons. Both of them were good boys and had kids of their own. So, she knew she didn't have to worry about evil stepbrothers. And she knew from both of them that Shmi was a very caring woman. The happiness on the kids' faces when she hugged and kissed them was solid evidence of that.
But still, Kara had a lot of doubts about this. And she hesitated at first when Qui-Gon asked her if she would fill the best man role, normally a role assigned to a guy. Qui-Gon, being Qui-Gon, didn't follow tradition like most.
And today, she was also accompanying Shmi to the bridal boutique to pick out her favorite style of dress. They were going to have a custom-made dress for Shmi. She was going to become a queen once she was married, and she was only going to marry her first love once, so she deserved to have a wonderful, memorable gown for her big day.
Shmi walked out of the dressing room in yet another white gown. This one was a sleeveless dress with lots of flower petals along the skirt.
"You look so pretty, Grandma." Gabby said, admiring the beautiful dress.
"I don't know if it's the right one." Shmi said, looking at herself in the mirror.
"How about this one?" Lamenta said, pointing to a mannequin with a wedding dress that looked like the Cinderella 2015 gown. "It has little butterflies on it!"
"Hmm. I'm not sure." Shmi said. "I do like the petals on this one though."
Gabby took a note of that.
Shmi then tried on another dress, this time one that had cap sleeves, a square neckline with little pearls embroidered in it, and a flowing long skirt.
"How lovely." gasped Padme. "What do you think, Kara?"
"It's... it's really nice." Kara said, most of her attention being on an old picture her father had gifted her.
A picture of Qui-Gon's first love, Tahl, Kara's birth mother. So much of the time, Kara wondered what might have been if she'd gotten to know her birth mother. She knew what traits she'd inherited from her, and when she looked in the mirror and saw the two gold stripes in each of her eyes, she could almost see her mother looking back at her.
The other girls got concerned when they saw Kara didn't seem very focused on helping her future stepmother pick her dress.
The same thing happened when Shmi tried on veils.
Kara decided to take some time alone in the Temple library. Tahl was once a librarian of the Jedi Archives, thus giving Kara a sense of being closer to her by being in there.
Kara sighed. She was an adult. Life worked in strange and mysterious ways, and she should know that, she figured. Why didn't she understand why her mother had to be gone forever while her half-brothers got to have both their parents?
The crown princess couldn't help feeling like she was being selfish by questioning why she never got the chance to know her mother.
Some nights, she held the picture of her mother and cried. She wanted to bond with Shmi because she knew it would make her father happy... but it felt so hard sometimes. They didn't seem to have a lot in common, and Kara still had trouble sometimes when she walked by, and she saw Qui-Gon and Shmi kissing.
Kara decided to spend some time alone in her room later. She didn't feel much better, though.
"Aunt Kara?" a little voice said.
Kara was startled for a moment, and she looked down to see Gabby standing close by. She was holding a book in her arm.
"Oh, hello, Gabriella. Do you need help with your homework?"
Gabby shook her head. "It's not homework. This is a book I was hoping to read."
"Well, I'd be happy to read to you."
"Actually, I wanted to read it to you."
Gabby explained to Kara how she and the others were concerned for her, given her behavior at the bridal boutique.
"Sometimes, when we feel unsure what to do or we need to learn an important lesson," said Gabby. "Grandpa reads us a story. And I think this one would be perfect for you."
Gabby got her aunt to leave the room and join the rest of the family in another, and Gabby sat in a big chair that normally Qui-Gon sat in to read to the children.
"My turn to be the storyteller this time." Gabby said.
"I'm certain you'll do a marvelous job, little one." Qui-Gon smiled, holding Shmi close.
Gabby cleared her throat and opened the book titled Brave. And she began to read.
"Some say our destiny is tied to the land, as much a part of us as we are of it. Others say fate is woven together like a cloth, so that one's destiny intertwines with many others. It's the one thing we search for, or fight to change. Some never find it. But there are some who are led."