Three o'clock could not come soon enough for Ki-Adi Mundi. He anxiously waited outside the school for his daughter to come outside as the bell rang for students to go home.

All the kids eagerly ran out of school as the day was finally ending.

Ki-Adi looked around but didn't see his daughter among the children. He immediately began to worry his daughter got lost or hurt, and he was about to rush into the school to look for her, but then she came right outside and spotted her father, whom she tackled to the ground and started licking.

"Daddy!" Comedia exclaimed happily.

Ki-Adi laughed as his daughter's kisses tickled him.

"I take it the first day went well?" He chuckled, sitting up.

He gently patted Comedia's head and she started hopping excitedly as her father got up and got out the leash. But Comedia was moving around so much, it was very difficult for him to get in on her.

"It was amazing, Daddy! I got to write on the board, sit in a special desk made just for me, see the library, play on the jungle gym... I love school!"

"That's wonderful, Dear, but would you please hold still so I can get the leash on?"

"Aww! Do I have to?"

"It is for your own safety. And if you want to continue attending school, you will do as I am asking of you."

Comedia snorted with annoyance. Just when she thought her father was finally loosening on the overprotectiveness. She loved him for wanting to keep her safe, but she did not love that he did not seem to know the difference between living and survival.

Comedia continued to go to school, and she was very happy each day she went. She loved when they learned different dance moves in gym class, reading stories in literature class, and of course when Mr. Jinn brought out little bags of candy to teach them math. But when the weekend came, while all the other kids went to fun places with their friends, Comedia stayed home (not by choice) with her father.

According to Ki-Adi, all the things the other kids were doing were too dangerous for one reason or another. Amusement parks were too crowded and potential feeding grounds for kidnappers looking for children, sport games were too dangerous because of all the heavy equipment and lack of protective pads and/or helmets in every game, and move theaters were too dark and potential places to get lost or kidnapped.

But then one day, Comedia was happily surprised when her teacher said that next Friday they would be going on a field trip to the aquarium.

"Be sure to have your parents sign these permission slips," said Qui-Gon, when he saw Comedia raise her hoof. "Yes, Comedia? You have a question?"

"Is it safe?"

"Are you scared of sharks or something?" Caleb teased.

Comedia just rolled her eyes when her classmates laughed, though she was embarrassed to admit the real reason for her question.

"No, but my dad is scared of me going anywhere he thinks I'll get hurt."

"Rest assured, Comedia, the aquarium is very safe as long as everyone follows the buddy system and does not wander off alone."

"Could you tell my dad that?"

Back at home...

"But, Daddy! You heard what Mr. Jinn said. It's safe! I'm not gonna get hurt from one field trip."

As you can imagine, Ki-Adi was not okay with letting his daughter go out, even though her teacher told him it was perfectly safe.

"You're not going, Comedia. It is too dangerous." Ki-Adi said.

"How, exactly? You think a shark is gonna suddenly jump out of the tank and eat me? Or their gonna have us pet the jellyfish? The fish are all in sealed tanks that only the employees and professional scuba divers can get into."

"But... you could slip on a wet floor."

"Then I'd just pick myself up."

"What if you get separated from your group, and some strange person attempts to touch you?"

"Mr. Jinn showed us a stranger safety video earlier this week. If I get lost, I'll go to someone who works at the aquarium for help, and if a stranger tries to get too close to me, I'll yell for help as loudly as I can and run away. I'm a horse, and I can outrun most species with two legs, which is what a majority of the population of this city is made of."

Ki-Adi had to admit, his daughter did make some good points. She was a smart filly, and there were not a lot of horses in the city. Most equines, if there were any, resides closer to the countryside. And if you did see any equines in the city, most of them were pulling carriages, working pony rides at birthday parties and amusement parks, or on the police force. If someone tried to nab her, Comedia could naturally outrun them, kick them, or bite them, no problem. But still, she was a child.

He never told Comedia how he'd had another family before he found her. When she asked him how he adopted her, seeing as she was just a baby and didn't remember at the time, all he told her was that a terrible storm broke out and he found her lost and drifting in a flood from which he rescued her and decided to take care of her as his own. As much as he wanted Comedia to know that he was protective of her because he'd experienced loss before, he was even more terrified that it might make Comedia feel like she was just some consolation prize or that he only took her in to replace his wife and biological daughters.

If there was anything any good parent should want to protect their children from, it is from emotional scars, which were a lot harder to heal than the physical wounds.

Ki-Adi looked at his daughter and saw she was losing her patience with him.

"You know, when you said I could go to school, you said I would be able to make my way in the world if I got a good education." she said. "But what's the point if you're just having me come straight home and hide from the world while all the other kids get to go live their lives, have play dates, go to the mall, and spend time with their friends. Well, I finally have friends my age, and I can't even visit them because you're scared I'll fall in with a bad crowd, and you don't want anyone coming here because you worry they'll somehow turn the apartment more dangerous."

The Cerea sat down and sighed as he started to feel guilty. He looked at the permission slip his daughter set on the table. It was just a field trip, and Comedia's teacher was a good man, trustworthy with children, and he was a father himself who naturally understood the natural parental desire to keep his young safe and loved. So, against his better judgement (or what he thought would be better judgement), he decided to sign the permission slip. But, when the day of the field trip came, he had a condition he wanted his daughter to follow.

Comedia was so excited when she saw the school bus all ready to take her class to the aquarium for their field trip.

"Before you go, Dear..." Ki-Adi said. "There's something I want you to take."

Ki-Adi then pulled out a purple rope that looked like a necklace, and attached to it was a charm that looked like a little panda bear.

"It's beautiful." Comedia said, eyeing the necklace as her father placed it around her neck.

"It's a very special necklace, so while you're on this trip, you must promise me you won't take it off for any reason. That way, you will never lose it."

"I promise, Daddy."

"Comedia, time to get on the bus." Qui-Gon called.

"Coming, Mr. Jinn." Comedia said, standing on her hind legs and kissing her father's cheek. "Bye, Daddy. I love you."

"I love you too, my princess."

And so, Comedia ran up to the bus and got on with the rest of her classmates.

"Be safe." Ki-Adi said as he watched the bus leave, praying inside that his little girl would be safe.

Now that he'd dropped off his daughter, it was time for him to get to work.

Ki-Adi Mundi worked in a slightly different area than where his apartment was located.

Much like his home, there were lots of nice people in this neighborhood, and all the workers knew each other, like you would hope to see in any neighborhood full of people. He passed by a few places where some of his friends work on the way. Cham and Eleni ran a diner where Ki-Adi sometimes went for lunch breaks, and occasionally took Comedia when they didn't have time to go grocery shopping. Obi-Wan worked as a veterinarian, who happened to be Comedia's doctor (her being an equine, she couldn't very well be checked by a people doctor), and Depa Billaba worked as a social services worker where Ki-Adi also worked.

After seeing how many kids lost their families in the storm that took his, Ki-Adi knew very well that he couldn't take in all of them like he'd done Comedia, but he could help make sure they got placed into loving homes that would take care of them properly. If Ki-Adi recalled correctly, at least one childhood friend of his had grown up in foster care, and was placed from home to home only to find that they just wanted the money that was supposed to be to care for them so they could instead spend it on themselves. Ki-Adi couldn't quite explain it, but he'd always had this gift for sensing when something was off.

Ki-Adi arrived at the office and got right to work, as they had many cases of placing some new children assigned to them through the system. Helping these kids find loving homes was rewarding, but the process before then was often terrifying. So many of the kids put into the system had been through traumatizing events before they arrived. Tragic accidents that killed their families, abusive guardians performing unspeakable traumatic acts towards the children, and too many transfers in such a short amount of time for certain children (which was usually a warning sign, according to this particular system, that the child was constantly being placed in abusive homes). It was all just terrible.

Ki-Adi's job was not just to process the paperwork, but to run a very thorough check of each family before they dared to give them a child. It was his idea to give each child a secret communication device that they could use to contact social services if they are being abused in any way by their foster family, and it would send out a signal that had the child's name, their location, and have help sent right away.

"I only hope Comedia is doing okay now." Ki-Adi said sometime later.

"Ki-Adi, I think you are worrying a little too much." said Depa. "Comedia is a smart young mare. If anything, I think she would be a good influence on my Caleb. As much as I love him, he's so much like his father, always getting himself into trouble, especially since the divorce."

"Then I suppose it is a good thing you gained custody of him. He just needs more time to process what happened." Ki-Adi said. "You know children. They face a problematic event, they will often shy away, but eventually they will talk when they feel ready."

"I only wish that they did not have to pay the price of their parents' actions."

One of the reasons Ki-Adi and Depa became friends was that they were both single parents each raising a child by themselves, though each was for a different reason. Ki-Adi had never been able to find love again after losing his wife and daughters, and most women seemed to think he was odd for having an equine for a daughter, which irked him, though he thought it for the best that he found out sooner than later. He did not wish to remarry if it came at the cost of his daughter's happiness, or if his bride could not accept that Comedia's species did not change the fact that she was his daughter and always would be in his eyes and in his heart.

Depa had a story that was pretty rough. When she had Caleb, she was married to a man she thought would be with her forever. But then one day, he started drinking a lot and started going around to see other women, and he didn't even try to hide it from her. Thus, Depa was left with no choice but to file for divorce. That had only been a year ago, and Caleb didn't understand because his mother had him go to a friend's house frequently so he wouldn't fall victim to his father's abuse, and so she would be able to buy herself time to do something. And then came the scariest part of any divorce involving children: the custody battle.

Caleb didn't want to believe what he heard in court, or at least what he could make out from his mother covering his ears every time they spoke about why his father was being put on trial. What child wants to believe his or her father is a monster? Watching the judge bang her gavel and the cops putting his father in cuffs and taking him to jail was perhaps the most traumatizing moment of his young life. He still hadn't fully recovered from it, and probably never would.

So, hoping to make a fresh start, Depa took what money she got from the divorce as well as her own savings and moved herself and her son to a new town with nice people, good schools, and an overall safe environment to continue raising her son as a working single mom. She took her son to a therapist to help with his emotions and even had him talk to the school guidance counselor. But Caleb didn't want to take his mother's maiden name even after the divorce, and Depa respected his decision. Nevertheless, she was going to make sure he didn't turn into his father.

In the time they'd spent in Coruscant City, Caleb turned into an overall good boy, but a bit of a troublemaker from time to time. He was a young boy, bound to get into at least a little mischief during his youth.

Someday, Depa planned to explain to Caleb what happened between her and his father when he was a little older, hopefully mature enough to understand. The last thing she wanted was for her son to think he was doomed to be a monster when he grew up. All she could and did tell him shortly after the divorce was that none of the things that happened between his parents were his fault, and that his mother's love for him was at least one thing that would never change. But when he asked why the judge said that his father was to stay away from him and his now ex-wife, all his mother told him was "every child deserves parents, but not every parent deserves a child."

Ki-Adi, even before he started working in social services, knew that such facts could not be closer to the truth.

"It is sad but true," said Ki-Adi. "but Caleb has you to love him and be his mother. He is of your blood, and I have faith he will grow to be a good man."

For a while, work went on as usual, and eventually it was time for a meal break.

Ki-Adi and Depa went to join some of their friends for lunch at the Syndullas' diner, when Ki-Adi noticed something on the TV. A news report.

"Excuse me, could you turn up the TV, please?" Ki-Adi asked one of the waiters.

And when they did, Ki-Adi saw a rather distressing news casting. It showed a picture of a young Twilek girl from the town of Nabat in the Ryloth District named Numa who looked no older than seven years old, who was kidnapped during her school's field trip to the art museum.

"Police have confirmed that a kidnapping of a young girl has occurred here today. Anyone with information on Numa Bril, please contact the police immediately."

Ki-Adi immediately went into a panic. A young girl was just kidnapped during a field trip to a museum, and Comedi was on a field trip not too far from the museum right now!

"Comedia!" Ki-Adi exclaimed, getting up from the table immediately. "She may be next! I have to go!"

Ki-Adi burst through the doors, rushing through people to get to his vehicle, which he started going as fast as he could go to get to the aquarium, praying desperately that his daughter was okay.

"I should've known better than to let her go on that field trip!" Ki-Adi scolded himself.