Even though Valentine's Day is a month away, I couldn't wait to get to this part of the story. As for Tech and Mila's part in this story, well, I decided to make that part a separate story just for them. So, be on the lookout for another Star Wars/Encanto crossover story. In the meantime, enjoy the latest chapter of this story.

Featured song lyrics:

1. "For the Love of a Daughter" by Demi Lovato

2. "I Knew You Were Trouble" by Taylor Swift


Days went by.

After school, Myra sat in her room, playing a song on her guitar and writing lyrics in her notebook.

Myra:

It's been some years

Since we've spoken last

And you can't take back

What we never had

Oh, I can be manipulated

Only so many times

Before even "I love you"

Starts to sound like a lie

You have a hollowed-out heart

But it's heavy in your chest

I tried so hard to fight it

But it's hopeless, hopeless (hopeless)

You're hopeless

Myra felt tears come to her eyes as she'd been thinking about her biological father now. She looked at the picture of her family. Lyle Dawson was the best father Myra knew when she was small. At the time, she didn't know who her biological father was; she only knew he was a Jedi after her mother told her when a Jedi came to their house when she was four, saying they believed she had a Force-sensitive child. She remembered her mother telling her to stay in her room and be quiet. And then she heard a lot of yelling as her mother kicked the Jedi out of their house and literally slammed the door on them.

Myra knew her mother wanted what was best for her. And from what she knew of the Jedi Code at the time, giving Myra to the Order would've been the worst decision Brenda could've made. As a Jedi, Myra would likely not see her mother again, nor would she be in charge of her own destiny. Jedi steered clear of so many things that invoked emotion, and music was one of them, which explained the lack of Jedi in the audiences at Count Crescendo concerts.

"Of all the guys she could've dated," Myra sniffed. "Why did it have to be Master Windu?"

Brenda didn't know Myra knew, but Myra recalled from her mother telling her about her biological father when she asked why he wasn't there. Brenda tried not to show it, but she was heartbroken.

"Myra?" said a voice.

And Myra looked toward her bedroom door to see a little boy with light skin like the man in Myra's family photo, and curly dark hair like his sister. His name was Kade. He was Myra's little brother from her stepfather. He wasn't Force-sensitive like Myra, but he was a very sweet boy.

Gabby didn't meet him earlier because he'd been on a playdate at a friend's house at the time.

Myra loved Kade very much, and they were very close, especially after Lyle passed away. Kade didn't remember the accident that killed his father, but Myra remembered it clear as day. Their mother broke both of her legs that day, and it fell to Myra to take care of Kade until she got better. Knowing her own father left her behind, she would've thought she had it worse. But, she'd gotten to know Lyle and have him as her father, whereas her little brother more than likely wouldn't be able to remember his father, and now he was gone.

Myra made a promise that day that she would make sure her little brother would never feel abandoned by anyone.

"What is it, Kade?" she asked.

"Why do we have to hide whenever Mommy's boyfriend comes to visit?" said Kade.

Myra sighed. Her brother had asked about this many times since their mother introduced them to her new boyfriend, who was revealed to actually be an old flame of hers with whom she'd gotten back together. Kade seemed happy to meet the new guy, but Myra's smile had quickly disappeared when she learned who that man was, and she pulled her brother away, telling Mace to stay away from her and her brother.

"My brother doesn't need role models to teach him to abandon his family." She had said to Mace.

It was a really touchy thing for Myra, and she also knew it was a tough issue to discuss with a little kid. Kade wasn't quite as advanced or conscientious as Gabby and/or Lamenta. He was a smart kid, but he was still learning about a lot of things, including serious topics.

"Do you remember how we discussed with Mom how babies are born?" Myra said.

"Yes."

"And do you remember how we discussed how every family is different? You and I, we are siblings, but we're technically half siblings."

"What does that mean?"

"Well, it's kind of hard to explain. You'll learn more when you're older. But, to put it simply, it's when two kids have one of the same parent, but not the other."

"Huh?" Kade was confused.

"It's like this. You and I both came from Mommy's tummy? So, she's both our mother. But, in order for a mommy to have a baby in her tummy, there has to be a daddy."

Myra took the family picture and pointed to her stepfather.

"Lyle Dawson was biologically related to you, which means you have the same DNA, and he's your biological father because he's how Mom ended up having you. But, he's not my biological father. Long before Mom and your dad met, she'd been with another man, who got her pregnant with me. But, they never got married."

"Why?"

"Because... because my biological dad decided that being a Jedi was more important to him than being my dad. It's sad, but true. Sometimes parents just abandon their kids for no reason, and they make up all sorts of excuses for why they did it. There's an old saying that every child deserves parents, but not every parent deserves a child. Just ask some adopted children. Some of them got put in the system because their parents hurt them on purpose. But, you don't have to worry about that happening, Kade. Mom loves us and takes care of us. And I take care of you too, because that's a big sister's job."

"And, Mommy's new boyfriend?"

"He's my biological father." Myra sighed. "He's got it in his head that he can just come back after sixteen years after abandoning my mom while she was pregnant. The Jedi Code changed three years ago, and he didn't come back. Mom deserves someone who won't abandon her or her kids."

"But if he's your daddy...?"

"He stopped being my dad the moment he decided to walk out on us. If he cared a lick about being my dad, he'd have stayed, gotten a job, or been a stay-at-home dad and helped Mom to take care of me. Being related and being family are two different things. My old babysitter once said that family doesn't require blood. It only requires love."

"But he wanted to take us to fun places."

"You're too young to understand right away, Kade. But that stuff is bribery. Nice things can make you happy for a while, but that effect is only temporary. It's like when you eat sugar. It makes you happy for a while, but then you get worn out. We don't need a dad anyway. We got Mom, and we got each other. That's all we need."


Gabby tried researching some therapy sites to see if there were any therapists or forms of communication that might help Mace with Myra.

From what Gabby knew about family conflict, it was that the biggest issue and most often the most effective treatment was communication. And from what she found online, she couldn't find a ton of information on how fathers just meeting their children after sixteen years could bond. But, she did find a lot of stuff about helping people with abandonment issues. Some of the top recommendations she found were talking to a professional, allowing the one with the issues to express their emotions, and letting them know it was okay to feel the way they did.

Meanwhile, Mace was trying to figure out how to help Myra himself. He did some online research himself, and got the same results as Gabriella. Unsure of how effective this would be, he decided to seek a little more help on how to handle teenagers specifically. So, he decided to talk to someone he knew had a teenage daughter closest to Myra's age.

Mace walked around the Temple and walked by the commissary as Comedia put down a jar of nuts, which Byoph picked up, and out popped a bunch of confetti, startling the poor guy and made Comedia laugh.

"Got me again," gurgled Byph.

"Comedia," said Mace. "Where's Master Mundi?"

"He said he was gonna be meditating for a while." Comedia said. "Can I take a message?"

"That's okay. I need to speak with him specifically."

Mace went on to look for Ki-Adi. Knowing how much trouble Comedia was at first, Master Mundi seemed like a perfect candidate for advice on teenagers. Comedia was fourteen and a quarter now, and Ki-Adi managed to tame her to not playing so many pranks all the time, and not reacting violently whenever someone got on her back. Although his daughter was a horse, she was a troubled teenager at one point. So, he had to search somewhere.

And he did find Master Mundi, but he wasn't meditating like Comedia said he'd told her. It turned out he was actually wrapping a joke book Comedia had her heart on as a present for Valentine's Day. Her birth parents never gave her any gifts when she lived with them. Not even on her birthday or for Heartmas. But they'd given so many to Emeraldi, and it broke Comedia's heart that she never had really any toys. It was only when her parents basically dumped her at Reigna's place that she ever got to play with toys or get a present, which she hid so her parents wouldn't take it away. And it turned out that every Heartmas, they'd taken every present Santa Claus left her and either threw them away or gave them to Emeraldi. Hence, why Comedia raided Emeraldi's room sometimes, and knew a thing or two about dumpster diving around rich people's homes.

Emeraldi especially would toss out perfectly good jewelry and stuff, which Comedia took and sold to earn some money for herself to find a better life once she was old enough to live on her own. But now that Comedia had a new family, she would be able to make up to have a proper childhood.

Benny her panda bear was the first real toy she'd ever had, and she slept with him beside her every night. So, she was determined to give her rider a great Valentine's Day gift, and he was equally determined to do the same for her.

"Ki-Adi, may I have a word with you?" Mace said. "I was wondering if you had any advice about teenagers."

"I suppose I could have some advice." Ki-Adi said. "What would you like to know?"

Mace explained to Ki-Adi about Myra and how he literally didn't know she existed until a little over a year earlier, but she wouldn't give him the time of day to be her father even though he and Brenda had a good relationship.

"It's like every time I've attempted to be a good father, she thinks I'm trying too buy her affection." Mace said. "And the more I speak with her, the more she ignores me."

"Hmm. It does sound like a difficult case." said the Cerea.

"Didn't Comedia used to ignore and disobey you, like all the time?"

"Oh, she was a piece of work. Literally bounced off the walls and ran on the ceiling."

"If I recall correctly, she started behaving better two days after you got her. What happened?"

"Well, it was actually a very simple solution. I simply asked her why she behaved the way she did."

Ki-Adi explained to Mace that he'd learned that teenagers and young children often acted out because they were crying for help in their own way. Oftentimes, suppressed feelings of pain, anger, and sadness turned out to lead to bad behavior. Sometimes, it came in the form of unleashing anger on other people, or in some cases, bullying. For Comedia, getting on people's nerves through humiliating pranks was her outlet because she was trying to make others mirror how she felt all the time.

Her birth family humiliated her by comparing her to her so-called perfect older sister all the time, degrading her in front of other people, forbidding her from laughing, and sometimes deliberately setting her up to be embarrassed or get in trouble for acting silly thinking it would make her stop being a wannabe comedian. Instead of turning her serious, it made her need to let out her silly side by pulling pranks on other people, often to the point where she humiliated other people, and even did it to her own family to make them feel the way she did because of them. In a word: revenge. But even then, they never learned their lesson. Not even when Reigna finally saw their true colors and stripped them of their royal titles.

"It turned out a lot hid behind those moments Comedia laughed at others' expense. And I discovered such when she was hiding the closet and crying. What she needed most of all was to know someone was listening to her and understood that she never wanted to cause any harm. She was afraid and unhappy. One thing that is consistent with all troubled children, is that when you take the time to listen to them, you will likely find the proper course of action to help them."

"And that would be why Myra rejected the shoes I got her?"

"It might. Material objects can make someone happy for a while, but it is like with a drug. Those effects are only temporary, and use those to treat negative emotions too many times, and soon they have no effect and you start needing to take them just to feel normal."

Mace started to think about what Ki-Adi was saying. Maybe Myra acted the way she did similar to how Comedia was before. Comedia felt abandoned by her own family, and Myra felt abandoned by her father. But, Myra wasn't gonna listen to Mace. If anything, she slammed the door on him anytime he came over. So, he thought maybe Myra might listen to another teenager.

"Do you think I could borrow your daughter for a bit?"


The next day, Myra sat in the den, watching some funny cartoons with Kade, when a knock came at the door. Brenda went to answer it and then came back to Myra.

"Oh, Myra. Your new friend is here."

Myra sighed. Yesterday, her mother told her that Mace called to let her know that one of his fellow Jedi had a daughter not much younger than Myra who might be a good friend for her to talk to. But Myra was not looking forward to it. She felt sure he was going to send some random teenager he found off the streets or some Jedi youngling he randomly picked out to try to convince her to be the very thing that her father chose over being her father.

"Do I have to, Mom?" whined Myra.

"Myra, don't jump to conclusions." said Brenda. "This girl isn't even a Jedi herself, and her father assured me that she's very sweet. And who knows? You may have a lot in common."

And that was when Brenda let Mace in, and behind him came Comedia.

"A horsie!" Kade exclaimed.

Myra looked up to see a green alicorn with curly hair entering the house.

"Oh, so the Jedi's daughter has a horse?" Myra said.

"No," said Comedia. "I'm the daughter."

"I didn't know horses could be Jedi."

"My dad's actually a Cerea. It's a long story."

"Myra. Meet Lady Comedia Evermare." Mace introduced.

"Just Comedia is fine." said the alicorn, sniffing Myra's hair.

"What are you doing?" Myra said, feeling nervous.

"Don't worry." said Mace. "All Equinaro horses do that when they meet someone new."

"Well, I'm sure we're all happy to meet Comedia." Brenda said. "She is lovely."

"You're not so bad yourself, Ms. Brenda." Comedia said.

"Can I ride you?" Kade asked.

"Not in the apartment, Kade." Brenda said.

"Maybe another time then," said Comedia.

"Myra, why don't you show Comedia your room?"

Wanting to be anywhere but with Mace, Myra agreed and brought Comedia to her room.


Comedia looked around curiously at Myra's room.

"Wow, you sure got a lot of music stuff here." Comedia said.

"Music is my thing." Myra said. "Mostly rock and pop."

"I like music too. Mostly silly songs like the gummy bear song."

"I didn't think anyone still listened to that."

"Well, when you spend as much time hiding from your parents as I used to, looking at old internet videos is one thing you get a lot of time for. And some just never get old."

Myra honestly wasn't sure what to make of Comedia at first. She seemed sweet, but she definitely seemed like she would have different interests in part because she was a horse. But, she was also the daughter of a Jedi apparently. Adopted, anyway. And for some reason, she hid from other parents she had before.

"So, Master Windu called you Lady. Are you royalty or something?" Myra asked.

"Well, yeah. Queen Reigna's my first cousin once removed." Comedia said. "My parents used to be a duke and duchess before she stripped them of their titles. She let me keep my title though."

"What happened?"

"It's kind of a touchy subject for me." Comedia said. "But for starters, I can tell you that I've always been different from my parents and my sister, and they've always had a problem with it. All because I was born a silly-corn."

"A... silly-corn?"

Myra was confused.

"You're not very versed on types of unicorns, are you?" said Comedia.

"Not really."

"Well, there are different kinds of unicorns in Equinaro. There's regular unicorns, then there's alicorns, which are unicorns with wings like me. But there are also very special types of unicorns and alicorns too. There's musicorns, candy-corns, and zebracorns to name a few. And then there are silly-corns like me, who are naturally drawn to funny stuff like jokes, pranks, and slapstick and stand-up."

Comedia explained her birth family to Myra. Reigna and her daughters were all royal alicorns, which were alicorns with the most powerful magic. Her father was an alicorn, her mother was a pegasus and so was her sister Emeraldi. But Comedia was the only silly-corn in this entire generation of the royal family. According to Queen Reigna, one of her own great-great-grandfathers was a silly-corn, and that was likely where Comedia got it from.

"But my parents didn't want a silly-corn in their midst. They're so serious about their posh and proper royal ways, they didn't let anything fun in the house. They prioritized looks, status, and all that snobby stuff above everything else. So, the only place I could really be silly was at school until my parents pulled me out and started trying to give me to a rider when I was eight."

Comedia shared some stories about some of the riders her parents tried to give her to, hoping they would fix her to stop being a jokester, but every one of them was terrible to her, so she pranked them to the point where they gave her back like she was damaged goods. Once, her parents even decided the only place she would be kept at was a circus. But even then, Comedia managed to get herself returned by biting the ringmaster and the clowns on and off stage.

"I didn't like the stables at the circus, or the fact that they didn't have decent chow for us horses." Comedia said.

"Didn't your parents at least do a background check on any of those people?" said Myra.

"The only check they did was if they were high society folks with a reputation of being classy. Nothing to do with being loving or caring towards horses."

"And they called themselves parents?"

"It wasn't until Cousin Reigna came to me and said the Equinary chose a new rider for me that I finally got a loving family. But, even though she says the Equinary was never wrong before, I didn't think it would last."

"What's the Equinary?"

Comedia explained the Ride of Love to Myra and how the Equinary matched people of all ages with just the right equine for them.

"I was pretty sure it was gonna be just like every other rider my parents tried to give me to. And then, I started playing pranks on everyone."

Comedia then shared the story of how she became the villain Silly Filly, but then was saved from Mariverde's spell by her friends, and Master Mundi, unlike her previous riders, talked to her and let her express how she really felt. And then, he gave her a panda bear to help her sleep and showed her lots of love.

"We're not even the same species, and he's been more of a father to me than my birth father ever was." said Comedia. "He says I gave him a second chance after he lost his own family a long time ago."

"But I thought Jedi weren't allowed to have families until three years ago."

"They weren't. But, he explained to me that long before I was born he was granted a rare exception for marriage and having kids because the birth rate of his home planet was low at the time, so he had something called polygamous marriage, and had seven daughters, but had to keep trying to have sons because the male birth rate was much lower. And because he kept no attachment to them, he was allowed to have them and to love them. But then, something terrible happened and he lost all his wives and his daughters. Since then, even if Jedi were allowed to have families, he couldn't bring himself to do it again."

Myra couldn't believe all the stuff Comedia went through. Her own family emotionally abused her on purpose, then she created trouble for the Jedi for a while, and yet Master Mundi still kept her and loved her as his daughter. It irked her that such parents existed, or that such people even got to give birth to kids. So often she questioned why it was that people who didn't want kids, didn't like kids, or never intended to actually love a child regardless of their preferences or personality type, were the one who got to have kids while those who wanted children to love and take care of were the ones who struggled to have kids.

So often, a lot of babies were the result of drunken nights or couple being reckless and forgetting to buy condoms or birth control. And as Myra learned in school, some of those reckless parents were teens like her, but regardless of age, people like that were one of the biggest contributors to the number of children put into foster care. And if it wasn't foster care they were placed in, some of those kids were raised in abusive homes or by single mothers who had to work tirelessly to provide for the baby after the father left them as soon as they found out about the pregnancy.

But in Myra's case, her father claimed he didn't even know she existed. That just sounded like an excuse to her.

"You know, Master Windu sounds like he's really trying to be your dad." Comedia said. "Maybe you should give him a chance."

Suddenly, Myra's demeanor changed.

"Oh, so that's why he brought you here? To butter me up? Is this a joke?"

"No! I'd never joke about that." Comedia said.

"First he used a princess, now he's using a royal horse. Who's next? The Chancellor?" said Myra. "He had his chance to be my father. And if he didn't know I existed as he claims, he could've at least let my mother speak before he dumped her."

"People make mistakes. I mean, your mom did choose to take him back for a reason."

"Yeah, that's her mistake. I once got back together with an ex-boyfriend, only for him to cheat on me a week later. Getting back together with your ex is the worst mistake anyone can make. I only wanna protect my mom and my little brother from that heartbreak of abandonment."

"What makes you so sure Mace will abandon you?"

"You don't know the other things he's done, do you?" Myra said. "Word gets around fast here. Did you know he was the one to rip Princess Gabriella from her father's arms when the Jedi found out they were related? And before that, he murdered a young boy's father right in front of him."

"Do you even know the whole story behind any of those things?"

"He didn't bother to get the whole story about my mom's pregnancy. Why should I bother hearing anything from him?"

"I know family doesn't require blood, but I really think you should give him a chance." said Comedia. "He's changed a lot over the years, so I hear. And if you gave him half a chance, you might have a great relationship. And, I think Kade might like if he could have a dad again."

That really irked Myra.

"I think you should go." Myra said.

Comedia's ears drooped.

"Myra..."

"Go!" Myra exclaimed.

Comedia said nothing and walked out of the room and spotted Mace and Brenda talking.

"Comedia, what's going on?" Mace asked, seeing Comedia's ears and head drooping.

"I'm going home." Comedia said, opening the door with her horn, and then flying out.

Mace tried to stop her, but she flew off before he had a chance.

"Myra Karissa Dawson, what did you say to her?" Brenda said, angrily entering her daughter's room.

"She's the one who tried to talk up someone who's not a good fit for you." said Myra. "I only told her the truth. That ex-boyfriends don't deserve a second chance after abandoning their ladies or their kids."

"Myra," said Mace. "I know I wasn't there for you, and I'm sorry."

"Yeah, sorry you got caught. You never even gave my mom a chance to tell you she was pregnant. And if she had, would you have left the Order to be with her?"

Mace paused. He wasn't sure about that now. He was a much different person back then, and he wasn't sure how he would've responded then.

"Wow, that's a first. Now you gave an honest answer." said Myra. "You wanna do the right thing? You can leave us alone, like you have for the last sixteen years."

"Myra, don't speak to your father that way." Brenda scolded.

"My father?"

"Yes."

"He was never my father. He left you alone while you were pregnant. He was willing to tear apart a family for the sake of growing the Jedi Order. The only father I ever knew and the only father I ever needed to know was Lyle Dawson. And no Jedi is ever going to take his place."

"Myra, this isn't about replacing anyone. It's about being a family."

"So what? You're desperate for love that you're just gonna take this guy back? What about my happiness? Did it never occur to you that I wouldn't be happy having someone like this dating my mom? Someone I know left you brokenhearted and alone? Is that the kind of person Kade should have as a stepfather?"

Now Brenda was the one who was speechless.

"Wow. So your kids really aren't the most important thing to you, are they?"

"Myra, go to your room!" Brenda said angrily, Myra looking appalled. "Now!"

And with a groan, Myra strode out of the room and back to her bedroom.

Mace was getting really desperate at this point, and then he remembered what Ki-Adi said and decided to go talk to Myra again.

"Myra, please. I just want one chance. I love your mom, and I was wrong to leave her. It's the worst mistake I've ever made. And if I could go back and change it, I would. But, I'm here now, and if there's anything I can do to help you come to forgive me, any way I prove to you I can be the father you deserve, I'll do it."

But, Mace didn't get an answer, as on the other side of the door, Myra had her headphones on, and thus couldn't hear Mace even if she were willing to listen to him. However, Mace thought she was just ignoring him again.

Mace sighed.

"I get it. You need some time alone. I'll just go." Mace said. "But I'll come back soon, and I hope things can be better."

Myra sniffled and played some music on her guitar until she got tired and went to sleep. She didn't know what to do at this point. As Valentine's Day was soon approaching, Myra questioned so much. Biologically, Mace was her family. But if he was a changed man as he claimed to be, did he understand what it meant to be a father or part of a family? Or would he just break Brenda's heart all over again?

Right now, Myra started to wish she could get her mother to just be with someone else. Anyone else. Anyone but Mace Windu.

And as Valentine's Day finally came, Myra did not want to come out of her room. She just rocked out on her guitar.

I knew you were trouble when you walked in
So, shame on me now
Flew me to places I'd never been
Now I'm lying on the cold hard ground

Oh, oh (trouble, trouble, trouble)
Oh, oh (trouble, trouble, trouble)


Mariverde looked in her magic mirror and saw Myra with tears in her eyes, so much anger, so much sadness, so much desperation.

"A young girl abandoned by her father long ago." Mariverde started to scheme. "He's come back only to distill more heartbreak into her. And now, it seems she wants her mother to be with anyone but her biological father."

That was when Mariverde changed the image in her magic mirror, and she saw Master Windu with a small velvet box with a ring inside. Strawberry was with him, finishing frosting a pretty cake Mace asked her for.

"I'm so happy for you, Mace." Strawberry said.

"I just hope I'm doing the right thing."

"Hey, nothing like a wedding to bring people together, right?"

"Oh, so now he'd deciding to get married is he?" Mariverde started to sound cheerful. "Just what my mariclava needs for its holder to be strongest of all."

Mariverde dug into some magical potions she had, and placed a drop in the palm of her hand before creating another mariclava.

"Go, my litte clava. Weaponize love, and crush this day of hearts."