The story of how Kara's father fought the demon dragon Sidious became legend. He nearly lost his life in battle with that beast, almost being eaten alive. But he fought off that beast and sent it running back into the Forbidden Mountains. It was no surprise to anyone else that King Qui-Gon could survive such things, as his power was having the strength of over ten thousand men all on his own.

Things changed for Kara over time. She became a sister to two little brothers, the princes Anakin and Carmine, each with powers of his own like Kara had gotten when she was small. Anakin made plants grow and was more of a mischievous and reckless little devil while Carmine was just a shy little angel with the power of charming people with his music in more ways than one.

On this day, the two fourteen-year-olds managed to snag themselves some chocolate danishes that were supposed to be for dessert later. But, not being first in line for the throne, neither of them seemed to get in trouble at any time. Even with one of them being less of a troublemaker than the other, those two could get away with murder if they tried. Kara can never get away with anything...

Including being in the middle of biting an apple as the doors opened for her to make her entrance into the throne room. With a little motion of urgency from her stepmother, Kara bit her apple and wiped her mouth before walking into the room with about as much dignity as she could.

Kara was princess of Coruscant, the most powerful of the four leading clans of Jedi Isle. She had duties, responsibilities, expectations. Her whole life was planned out for the day she became... well, her stepmother. Despite her not being Kara's biological mother, she made it her job to take charge of every single aspect of every single day of Kara's life.

And, just because Kara had super speed, it doesn't mean she could make her lessons go by any faster. Sure, her speed gave her the advantage of speed reading efficiently and running to the far side of the kingdom within seconds, but Shmi still had her ways of making Kara's days feel eternal, such as practicing speech projection.

"How much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood?" Kara said, sounding bored out of her mind even with the tongue twister being fun to say.

"Project!" Shmi said.

"As much wood as a woodchuck could if a woodchuck could chuck wood." Kara said louder.

"Enunciate. You must be understood from anywhere in the room, or it's all for naught."

"This is all for naught." Kara mumbled.

"I heard that." Shmi said.

Kara rolled her eyes with an exasperated sigh.

"From the top."

Shmi held a stick and pointed to a map of the various clans.

"A princess must be knowledgeable about her kingdom." Shmi said, except Kara was busy quickly sketching something on a paper, which Shmi snatched.

"She does not doodle." Shmi scolded, holding the picture of her holding up the paper as she was doing now.

Later, Shmi was doing a music lesson with Kara and Carmine. Except, Kara wasn't having any fun, not even when Carmine started playing "Camptown Races" on the piano to make it a little more fun.

Later that same day, Kara was with Qui-Gon as he demonstrated some fighting stances, while Anakin was playing fetch with his dog Artoo, and the dog ran toward the king and jumped on him and started licking.

"Artoo, no!" Qui-Gon laughed. "No licking!"

Anakin and Kara both started laughing seeing their father, the two of them snorting as they laughed really hard.

"A princess does not chortle." Shmi scolded.

"Oh, but it's okay for Anakin to chortle?" Kara talked back.

"She doesn't talk back either."

"Mom! Lighten up!" Anakin said.

It was the same thing everyday. "A princess does this," "A princess does not do that."

A princess doesn't stuff her mouth. A princess rises early. A princess is compassionate, patient, cautious, clean, and above all, a princess strives for, well... perfection.

Inconveniently, Anakin burped after drinking something too quickly.

"Eww!" Carmine grimaced.

"And what does a prince strive for?" Kara said as her parents walked by. "Who can burp the loudest?"

"Excuse me." Anakin blushed.

But every once in a while, Kara found a day to herself, where she didn't have to be a princess.

On that special day, Kara got her little pegasus friend Diamond, and she sped across the forest, the little horse keeping up as Kara also practiced her archery and parkour across many targets and wooden steps and obstacles she'd set up over the years. But that wasn't the only thing she did on this day, for high up in the mountains, Kara ran and climbed and she took a sip of water from the legendary Falls of Fire.

Diamond licked up some water for herself too, and the princess screamed excitedly.

She couldn't wait to tell her father and brothers about her journey when she returned home for dinner.

Kara soon arrived back at the castle and got Diamond some watermelon salad, her favorite feed. And she made her way to the kitchen, where she managed to pick up some chocolate danishes, her and her brothers' very favorite dessert.

In the dining room, Qui-Gon was once again telling the boys the story of how he defeated Sidious in battle.

"The biggest dragon you ever did see." said Qui-Gon. "I raised my lightsaber, and-"

"Whoosh!" Kara jumped in. "One swipe, the light didn't even scratch the beast. And 'chomp,' the beast nearly swallowed Dad. But with his strength, he forced the creature's mouth open just before he could slip down his throat, and knocked his tooth clean out!"

"Oh, that's my favorite part." Qui-Gon groaned.

"Sidious has never been seen since," continued the princess. "and is roaming the wild, waiting for his chance of revenge for what he lost."

Kara pointed to a large white tooth that was at least five feet long that used to belong to the very dragon her father fought.

"I still can't believe Dad actually fought a dragon." Carmine said. "And all this happened literally right before we were born."

"Believe it, Car." Kara said. "That tooth trophy didn't just come from out of nowhere, you know."

"Let him return." said Anakin. "I'll take him down for messing with my dad."

But in his excitement, Anakin made a bunch of roses grow all over the table.

"Aww! Anakin! You got rose petals in my soup!" Carmine groaned.

Kara rolled her eyes and placed her bow on the table.

"Kara," said Shmi. "A princess does not place her weapons on the table."

"Mom! It's just my bow." said Kara, exasperated. "Besides, why don't you tell Anakin to keep his flowers out of the soup? Or Carmine to keep his guitar off the chair?"

"A princess should not have weapons in my opinion."

"Leave her be, Shmi." Qui-Gon said. "Princess or not, learning to fight is essential."

Kara smirked. "Oh! And you'll never guess what I did today."

"Hm?" Shmi was a little busy looking at documents at the moment.

"I climbed the Crone's Tooth and drank from the Fire Falls."

The twins looked impressed when their sister shared this.

"Fire Falls?" said Qui-Gon, equally surprised. "They say only the ancient kings were brave enough to drink the fire."

Kara shared a good chuckle with her father. Of both her parents, despite Shmi taking a lot of her time, Kara was still closer to her father than her stepmother.

"What did you do, dear?" Shmi said.

Anakin whispered something to Kara, which made her snicker.

"I set a house on fire today." Kara said mischievously.

"What?!" Shmi jumped and dropped her documents.

The twins and Kara all started laughing at Shmi's response.

"Kara, that wasn't funny." Shmi scolded.

"Anakin dared me to say that!" Kara laughed, pointing at her brother.

The kids kept on laughing for a while as Artoo also came in and started licking Qui-Gon and trying to eat off the table.

"Artoo, down!" Qui-Gon laughed.

And that was when one of the serving ladies, Aayla Secura, walked in with three envelopes on a tray.

"My lady." said Aayla with a bow.

"Thank you, Aayla." smiled Shmi, accepting the envelopes.

While their parents weren't looking, Kara looked at her brothers and motioned to the chocolate Danishes and placed the plate under the table for them to take some.

"From the Lords of Sorreno, Mandalore, and Kamino, their responses, no doubt." said Shmi, looking at the three letters.

"Most likely." Qui-Gon said. "Artoo! Okay! Enough!"

"Qui-Gon." Shmi said, getting her husband and stepdaughter's attention. "They've all accepted."

Kara looked at Qui-Gon and then at Shmi.

"Who's accepted what, Mother?" asked the princess.

Shmi was silent for a moment and looked at the twins. "Boys, you are excused."

Though they were curious about what was happening, the twins left the table without another word.

"What did I do now?" Kara asked. This wasn't the first time Shmi sent the boys away to discuss a serious matter with Kara. If it wasn't to give her 'the talk' about her changing body when she was younger, it was a lengthy discussion about how Kara's behavior was unbecoming of a princess.

"Your father has something to discuss with you." said Shmi, looking firmly at Qui-Gon, who suddenly looked worried. "Qui-Gon?"

Qui-Gon seemed scared now. He cleared his throat.

"Kara... er...you know you are growing up... and, well..."

"If this is about my body changing again, I already got that lecture in biology class." Kara said.

Shmi sighed. "The lords are presenting their sons as suitors for your betrothal."

"What?!" Kara exclaimed with horror in her eyes.

"The clans have accepted."

Kara looked at her father.

"Dad! You didn't even think to come to me about this?"

"Uh, Shmi?" Qui-Gon sounded unsure.

"Honestly, Kara." Shmi said. "I don't know why you're reacting this way. This year, each clan will present a suitor to compete in the games for your hand."

"Oh, so a princess is just a prize for the pleasure of men?" Kara said angrily.

"A princess does not raise her voice."

"Common women also do not marry kings, and yet here we are." said Kara.

Qui-Gon had to agree. "Kara does have a valid argument there."

"Your father was betrothed to your mother long ago." Shmi pointed out.

"So, I'm supposed to marry some guy I don't even know and wait for him to die to find a man I love?" Kara said angrily. "When did I ever say I even wanted to marry at all?"

"Kara," said Shmi. "this is what you've been preparing for your whole life."

"No, it's what you've been preparing me for my whole life."

Kara took off her tiara and placed it on the table.

"If this is what it means to be queen someday, my brothers will rule the kingdom." Kara said. "I refuse to go through with this, and you can't force me."

Kara took her bow and left angrily.

"Kara! Kara!" Qui-Gon called, going after his daughter.

Kara sliced some logs with her lightsaber in her room, turning them into cute wooden statues as her parents walked into the room.

"Mother. Father. Suitors? Marriage?" Kara questioned.

"Once, there was an ancient kingdom..." Shmi began.

"Ugh! Here she goes again with this story." Kara groaned as her stepmother picked up a chess set to tell the story of the ancient kingdom.

Its name long forgotten, ruled by a wise and fair king who was much beloved. And when he grew old he divided the kingdom among his four sons, that they should be the pillars on which the peace of the land rested. But, the oldest prince wanted to rule the land for himself. He followed his own path and the kingdom fell to war, and chaos and ruin.

"Oh, such a nice story." Kara said sarcastically.

"It's not just a story, Kara." Shmi said. "Legends are lessons. They ring with truth. I would advise you to make your peace with this. The clans are coming to present their suitors."

"It's not fair."

"It's marriage. It's not the end of the world."

"Actually... a marriage was the end of my world as I once knew it!"

Kara used the Force, a power many of her people had as use for defending themselves and their people.

"You say legends have lessons? Well, I know one you don't, apparently."

And Kara told her own story with the chess pieces.

"Once, there was a fair kingdom, its name known for miles, its king much beloved. The king was very wealthy and powerful. He lived in a beautiful palace with many treasures of gold and jewels, but his greatest treasure of all was his queen. And she gave him his next greatest treasure. A daughter, with whom they developed an instant bond. But, by cruel fate, the queen fell gravely ill and was lost, leaving the king alone to raise his daughter. And then one day, he met a woman who was neither rich nor powerful. Though her dress was neither cashmere nor silk, to the king she was the most beautiful girl he'd seen. And as though under a spell, they fell in love and were soon married. The kingdom once again had a queen, and the princess had a stepmother, who soon gave her twin baby brothers."

Kara used various chess pieces to represent each of the characters. A white chess king and queen for the couple, then a black chess queen for the stepmother. A white pawn for the princess and two black pawns for the baby brothers.

"At first, the princess was happy to once again have a mother. She'd heard many stories of wicked stepmothers, but her father assured that such were only that. And while the step-queen seemed kind and loving to her sons and stepdaughter, she lost her way. The queen began controlling everything the princess did! The princess became a slave while her two little brothers were free and happy. A prince ran in the halls and broke a vase, the queen would simply sigh. The princess does the same, the queen would choose to yell! And then one day, when the princess least expected, the queen decided... the princess was to marry. She was to become a trophy to one of three strangers! Her parents never thought to ask if this was what she wanted, and when they refused to listen, they lost their daughter... for good."

The king and queen were silent.

"Kara..." Shmi began. "I don't know where these ideas of yours are coming from, but you must make peace with this."

"You're still not listening!" Kara cried out in frustration. "Get out of my room!"

And Kara pushed both of her parents out and slammed the door!