Featured Song:

"River Lullaby" from The Prince of Egypt

"Come out, wisps." Kara called. "Come on out. Lead me to the gypsy's cottage."

Shmi looked around, but saw no wisps.

"Fine. Don't come out now that my stepmother's watching."

"Are you sure you're looking in the right place?" Shmi asked.

"I was standing right here and the wisp appeared right there." Kara said. "And then a whole trail of them led me off into the forest."

Shmi sighed.

"I don't have time for this."

And Shmi then began walking, or rather crawling off in the direction of where Kara said the wisps appeared.

"Oh, so you think we're just going to happen upon the gypsy's cottage?" Kara said.

"It will take less time than waiting for magical spirits to find the path for us."

The dragon queen and human princess walked into the forest together. It was getting dark, the forest was silent, and it got creepier as they got farther in. The only sound they could hear was that of an owl hooting, a howling in the distance.

But then, as they came across a familiar patch of trees, Kara stopped her stepmother by grabbing her tail.

"Kara!" Shmi scolded. "Don't startle me like that! I may breathe fire next time."

"I know this place! The gypsy's cottage..." Kara looked around until she remembered. "It's this way! Come on! Hurry!"

Kara rushed through the forest and there, just ahead, she found... the gypsy's cottage.

Shmi followed Kara and couldn't believe her eyes when she saw it.

Kara knocked on the door. No answer. She tried again. No answer. Then she pushed the door open, only to find the cottage empty... except for a cauldron and a stool with five potion bottles on it.

"No. She was here." Kara gasped.

Shmi snorted a bit of smoke as her stepdaughter looked at her.

"No, really, she was just here."

Kara thought maybe it was just a trick, so she opened the door again, then closed it. Then she opened the door again, but again, nothing was there. She did this three more times to find the cottage empty every single time.

"No, no, no , no! This can't be happening!" Kara stepped into the cottage, and then she stepped on something that activated a trigger that started an assemblage of pulleys and other triggers that ended at the cauldron unleashing a mysterious green smoke.

Kara was astonished. And Shmi, being a dragon, had to be creative in fitting through the door to see what was inside.

To both royal ladies' shock, an image of Miss Morpha the gypsy, appeared in the cauldron's smoke.

"Welcome to the Crafty Carver," said Morpha. "Home of wonderfully themed carvings and novelties, our specialty: butterflies. I am completely out of stock at this time. But if you'd like to enquire about portraits or wedding cake toppers, pour vial one into the cauldron. If you'd like the menu in Mandalorian, vial two. If you are that speedy princess, vial three."

Quickly, Kara picked up the third vial and poured it into the cauldron. And then came a new message from Morpha.

"Princess, I'm off to the Wickerman Festival in Naboo and won't be back until spring. There is one thing I forgot to tell you about the spell. By second suncrise, the spell will be permanent, unless you remember these words."

Luckily, Kara had a notebook and pencil with her. And as the green image turned red, she began to write down the gypsy's words.

"Fate be changed, look inside, mend the bond torn by pride."

Kara wrote down every word quickly and repeated it to herself.

"What the Force is that supposed to mean?" She asked.

"One more time." said Morpha. And she repeated the words once more. "That is all."

And the message was ended. But, Kara still wasn't sure what to do, and she started to look around the cottage, hoping to find a spell book or something lying around that could've been helpful to her case. She tried pouring the vials into the cauldron for another solution, only for the cauldron to heat up some more and nearly blow her and her stepmother to smithereens!

Luckily, Shmi spread her wings and protected Kara just in time.

Shmi sighed in relief seeing as they were both okay. The same couldn't be said for the cottage, however.

"Thank the heavens, you're okay." Shmi said.

But, with the cottage gone, the two girls had no place to sleep for the night, which was even worse considering it was beginning to rain.

Fortunately, there did happen to be a cave close by deeper in the forest.

Shmi began to lay herself down as best she could while Kara built a nice campfire... or she tried to anyway. And then, Shmi gently blew on the wood, lighting them on fire.

"Wow. You're already in control of your fire breath." said Kara.

Shmi said nothing and lay her head down as she was tired and not wanting to speak right now.

Kara sighed and said, "We'll sort it out tomorrow."

Kara saw Shmi was worried, and not just because of the chance she would be a dragon forever. She worried about her boys and her husband.

"Don't worry. Daddy and the twins will be fine."

Kara looked outside and saw the rain falling. She looked to the heavens above and started to wonder what her birth mother would've said if she could see where her daughter was tonight. And in her mind, she recalled the one memory she had of Queen Tahl. A beautiful song she sang to her baby Kara.

Tahl:

Hush now, my baby
Be still love, don't cry
Sleep like you're rocked by the stream

Sleep and remember my lullaby
and I'll be with you when you dream

Drift on a river that flows through my arms
Drift as I'm singing to you
I see you smiling so peaceful and calm
and holding you I'm smiling too

Here in my arms, safe from all harm
Holding you I'm smiling too

But then, Kara remembered a memory from when she was little and she was terrified of a thunderstorm. It had been shortly after Qui-Gon and Shmi got married. Shmi took little Kara into her arms and promised her she would always be there for her, and then, she sang an old song her own mother sang to her when she was little, and KAra realized that it was something they'd had in common.

Shmi:

Hush now, my baby
Be still love, don't cry
Sleep like you're rocked by the stream

Sleep and remember this river lullaby
and I'll be with you when you dream

Here in my arms, safe from all harm
Holding you I'm smiling too

Sleep and remember this river lullaby
and I'll be with you when you dream
Sleep and remember this river lullaby
and I'll be with you when you dream

I'll be with you when you dream

And that had been the first time Kara ever called Shmi 'Mommy.'

Kara now, looking at her sleeping stepmother, knew she had to make this right.

"Don't worry, Mom. I am going to find a way to fix this, or die trying." Kara promised.

Kara made herself as comfortable as possible leaning against her stepmother's scaley body, which was surprisingly comfortable to lean on. And then, she slowly drifted off to sleep.

When Kara woke up the next morning, she found Shmi setting up what looked like a table with makeshift plates and utensils. There were various berries and nuts on the table.

"Ah, Kara. Good morning." Shmi said. "Come sit. Breakfast is served."

A bit surprised that Shmi could still behave as a queen even though she was a dragon, Kara took a seat. Though, she probably shouldn't have been that surprised. Shmi was a dragon outside, but inside she was still Shmi.

Kara looked at the berries on the plates as Shmi started to eat them with her claws, finding utensils useless at the moment. But Kara Forced pulled them out of her claw.

"Kara!" Shmi scolded.

"Did you find these berries by the creek?"

"Yes."

"These are nightshade berries. Poisonous. Diamond almost died from eating these."

Shmi was about to drink some water from a pot, but Kara stopped her, seeing as it had worms in it.

"AGH! This forest is disgusting!" Shmi said.

Kara chuckled and said, "Not everyone lives in a castle with servants to cook for them, you know. Come on."

"Where are you going?"

"We are going to find some real food." Kara said. "Unlike you, I've spent time out here and learned lots of wilderness skills both from books and hands-on experience."

At the river, Kara spotted a fish swimming in the clear water. Carefully, she aimed her arrow, and... speared the fish!

"Ha! Breakfast." Kara said.

"I'm impressed, Kara." Shmi clapped her clawed hands approvingly.

"Oh, wait." Kara teased. "A princess should not have weapons, in your opinion."

Shmi look dumbfounded for a moment, then sighed as Kara held the fish on a stick to her.

"I do think it's a bit undercooked, don't you?" Kara said.

Seeing what Kara was getting at, Shmi aimed carefully and breathed fire onto the fish, cooking it in an instant. And the fish turned out delicious. But, Shmi, being a big dragon, was still hungry. So, she and Kara went back to the river together to catch some more fish.

At first, fishing was really hard because Shmi was used to having food brought to her by now or making it in a kitchen, not having to chase after it. But Kara showed her how she could catching it with her mouth and her claws, and she continued to catch more with her arrow and the Force. The stepmother and daughter then eventually found themselves having a water fight, splashing, and playing in the water like a parent and child just having a good time together, the two of them laughing as they did so.

Kara couldn't remember the last time she'd laughed so much with her stepmother. And Shmi couldn't remember the last time she'd laughed with Kara or seen her so happy.

But after a while, Shmi started to wander into the forest.

"Mom? Where are you going?" Kara asked, following her stepmother.

But when Shmi turned around, her pupils changed to thin slits like a monster.

"Mom? Is that you?" Kara asked nervously.

But Shmi growled loudly and snapped her sharp teeth at Kara, almost burning her to a crisp. Luckily, Kara ducked out of the way just in time.

And then, Shmi's eyes turned back to normal. Shmi gasped. Had she really just tried to eat her daughter?

"Kara...?" Shmi gasped.

"Mom... You... changed. Like you were a... I mean, like you were a dragon on the inside."

"No. That's not possible!" And then, Shmi spotted something behind Kara.

Kara looked where Shmi was looking, and she spotted...

"A wisp."

Suddenly, Shmi was following the wisp until she bumped into a tree.

"Mom! I know you're scared, you're tired, and you want to be human again, but we've both got to keep our heads. Just calm down."

"Calm down?!" Shmi said. "I'm slowly turning into a full-fledged fire breathing lizard, and you want me to calm down!"

"You expected me to be calm when you announced my betrothal." Kara retorted. "And then it led to this debacle. So instead of being stuck up and shouting, this time, listen."

The queen and princess were both silent, and they could hear a faint whispering. A whisper of the wisps.

And then, behind them, there came a new path of wisps.

"They'll show us the way." Kara said.

And so, Kara and Shmi followed the wisps, hoping to find the answer to their dragon spell predicament.