Featured song: Two Oruguitas (English version of Dos Oruguitas from Encanto)

For the time being, the Heartwoods were to be monitored very closely, just to be sure Mariposa wasn't trying to trick them. Some days went by, and Garrett's teaching was indeed effective. He knew so much about all kinds of magic and magical creatures.

Qui-Gon's strength worked better than ever with his teachings, Anakin started being able to grow bigger, stronger plants in shorter amounts of time, and Carmine got to practice charming with his music.

As for the youngest doresho gypsy, Gabby and Lamenta still let Goldie play with them at school and at home, but they kept it quiet from everyone else that she was half doresho.

Anakin, of course, shared this news with the Jedi Council.

"This is concerning news." said Eeth.

"Are we sure we can trust this woman?" said Hydrangea.

"We're still running a background check on her," said Anakin. "So far, she seems okay, and the kids and Goldie are still getting along."

"There's been no reports of any mariclava activity as if late." said Zipp.

"That's not necessarily a good thing." Ki-Adi said.

"He's right. If there's one thing I learned about some of the most devious pranksters, it's that their most dastardly method is leading their victims into a false sense of security by randomly pausing between pranks, and then... WHAM!"

Comedia jumped out, confetti bursting seemingly from out of nowhere.

"Easy prey." Comedia lifted her hoof. "And now I know where I left my confetti cannons."

"Comedia, I thought I told you to put that stuff away."

"Sorry, Daddy." Comedia's ears drooped.

The Jedi Council did come to an agreement on one thing though. For now, they had to keep a close eye on the Heartwood girls until they knew more about them.

They only knew for sure that Garrett was a respectable man in the Enchanted Teachers Committee, had many former students who could vouch for his honesty and teaching abilities. And if a man like him managed to continue doing so and married Mariposa in his own will, how bad could this particular gypsy really be?

Mariposa, on the other hand, felt relieved that at least she and her family didn't have to hide from the royal family anymore, but she also worried if they would ever earn their trust.

Goldie meant everything to Mariposa and her husband; it killed both of them that they had to keep her hidden from the rest of the Galaxy just because she was half doresho. They wanted her to be able to see the Galaxy, be with other kids, and choose whatever career her heart desired. The only reason she didn't have to wear a cloak was because she didn't have her wings yet. But, she would get them eventually. And before that happened, they had to make the galaxy safe for her and other doresho gypsies out there.

One morning, while the children were away at school, Mariposa invited herself into the palace garden, where she saw many beautiful flowers getting ready to bloom. It reminded her so much of her old home in the days before spring.

"Just hang in there, little ones." Mariposa said, gently caressing a rosebud in her hand. "Soon, you will blossom into something wonderful."

Padme entered the garden herself and spotted Mariposa as she was looking at the winter pansies and singing to them.

Two oruguitas

In love and yearning

Spend every evening

And morning learning

To hold each other

Their hunger burning

To navigate a world

That turns, and never stops turning

Together in this world

That turns, and never stops turning

Two oruguitas

Against the weather

The wind grows colder

But they're together

They hold each other

No way of knowing

They're all they have for shelter

And something inside them is growing

They long to stay together

But something inside them is growing

Ay, oruguitas

Don't you hold on too tight

Both of you know

It's your time to grow

To fall apart, to reunite

Wonders await you

Just on the other side

Trust they'll be there

And start to prepare

The way for tomorrow

Padme grew curious as she watched Mariposa grab some mulch and place some on the plants to keep them warm as she sang to them.

She knew butterflies and doreshos loved flowers. They were just exiting winter, and soon many flowers would be growing. And when she saw how motherly she was towards the plants, she wondered, how could someone who behaved with such delicate care for the plants be bad?

In all her days as a politician, when she was queen of Naboo, then became a senator, as well as before and after she knew she was a princess upon marrying Anakin, she knew that people weren't always what they seemed, and that there were always two sides to every story. She'd seen the side of Doresho gypsies as the bad guys, but she couldn't believe it never occurred to her that not all doresho gypsies were like that.

After all, there were Jedi who'd turned to the dark side, so why couldn't there be dark magic Enchanteds who chose a path of good too?

"There we go, my oruguitas." Mariposa cooed, pouring some lukewarm water into the flowers that did not bloom in the cold unlike the winter pansies. "Rest up. You will be ready for spring soon."

Padme decided to approach Mariposa and see what she was up to.

"What are you doing?"

"Oh!" Mariposa jumped. "Princess Padme. You startled me."

"I'm sorry. I just was curious about what you are doing."

"Well, if you must know, I'm simply looking after the garden. I did so everyday to my own garden back home."

"And you sing to your plants?"

"Indeed I do. You see, plants are like children. They start out as small seeds. But, once they are planted, watered, and nurtured with time and love, they will soon grow strong and beautiful. It takes more than water and sunshine to make a child grow, be it a baby or a sunflower seed."

Mariposa watered a few more plants with some warm water.

Padme was impressed by Mariposa's vast knowledge of plants and caring for them without the use of magic.

According to Mariposa, she took great pride in ensuring the flowers were cared for because not only did they create beauty in the world, but the flowers also provided key ingredients to making the planet beautiful.

"Butterflies like to lay their eggs on leaves of various plants. And only the best green, healthy leaves will do. Once they've become butterflies, they aid bees in the process of pollination, which helps more plants to grow and flourish. Everything in nature is connected, no matter how small or big."

Mariposa shivered as she felt the cold starting to catch up with her. Even her wings were starting to fold themselves in as they were getting chilled.

"Are your wings supposed to do that?" Padme asked.

"Don't worry. That only happens of I stay out in the cold for too long." Mariposa said. "I best get inside."

Padme brought Mariposa back inside and asked her if she'd like some tea to warm her up.

"That sounds lovely, thank you." Mariposa said.

And luckily for her, they happened to have a great berry brew tea, which Mariposa was happy to take a sip of, especially since she didn't have to hide her tongue this time. Shmi, Kara, and Caroline joined in as well.

"Naboo is a beautiful planet much like my old home Verden." said Mariposa.

"What is that world like?" Padme asked.

According to Mariposa, Verden was mainly a forest planet inhabited by humanoid creatures that also had the abilities of many animals, and some actually transformed into animals.

"On that world, my daughter and I best fit in. Garrett, being a human wizard, is the one citizen who has no animal characteristics, at least to my knowledge. But we led a wonderful life in a small village, nonetheless. I only hope Goldie will be able to live a happy life once she gets her wings."

Padme took a sip of her tea and wondered. What did Goldie think about all this? Did she know what side she was on or what she was fighting for exactly? How much of this did she really understand?

"Was there any kind of career you wanted to do?" Padme asked.

"Well, I always did want to be an environmentalist. You wouldn't believe how many folks don't know how to take care of nature, or how plants save them from pollution. And my little oruguitas deserve a warm, healthy environment so they can grow and help future plants after they grow."

"That sounds like a wonderful goal to have." Shmi said.

"It would be easier if people didn't always assume the worst. It's a hard thing about society. Most don't get the whole story or understand what someone has gone through before making judgments about them."

"What exactly is your story?" Kara asked.

Mariposa looked down for a moment. It was hard for her to talk about her childhood, but she thought this could be the thing to gain the women's trust, and perhaps they could eventually convince the men to trust her.

"Well, I came from a rather dysfunctional family." said Mariposa.

A long time ago, Mariposa was the youngest child of Bettina and Constantine Morphina. Each daughter had the power to communicate with and control butterflies, and each also had a specialty with them.

However, Constantine was not as bent on revenge on Solaris or the royal family as Bettina.

And one day, Constantine decided to take a little trip into society, where he got to see what life was like living peacefully among the people. With Solaris having been lost at the time, and after seeing everything good about the society and how much people had changed, he decided that he wanted to leave behind the family revenge legacy so they could raise their children in a peaceful world, but Bettina thought her husband was crazy.

Bettina argued with her husband that Solaris wronged their family greatly and they needed to pay for what they did. But Constantine argued that not only did they have no means of locating any living royal family members or even descendants of the villagers who'd escaped, but seeking revenge only distracted them from simply being a family. He thought perhaps they could find a more peaceful way, and convince the people that doresho gypsies were not monsters, but misunderstood and wrongfully placed in a bad light.

After fighting for what seemed like forever, Bettina and Constantine divorced, and made the children decide who to stay with. As you can probably imagine, Grayolanda and Mariana chose to stay with their mother, to Constantine's heartbreak. But his youngest daughter... she chose him.

For a while, Constantine raised Mariposa on his own, and together they looked among the many people of different societies while hiding their heritage from everyone.

"Father taught me how change is part of nature, and that is why butterflies start out as caterpillars. They serve as a symbol that something small and seemingly weak can turn into something wonderful if given time and proper nurturing."

Mariposa then thought back to that fateful day she'd lost her father.

It had just been an ordinary day. Young Mariposa was having one of her special days with her father. Of all things to do together, Constantine and Mariposa's favorite was picnics in the woods. Constantine taught his daughter everything she knew about foraging for food, gardening, and surviving with only whatever nature provided.

But on this day, Mariposa did not account for there being witnesses to what she was about to do next.

At the time, Mariposa didn't have her wings yet. So, when she looked up and saw a tasty-looking peach high up in a tree, she climbed up to get it, only to find herself unable to get back down. So, Constantine removed his cloak and flew up to her. Unfortunately, they had some company. It turned out that a couple of hunters were in the woods right then and there, and when they spotted Constantine, they recognized him as a doresho gypsy. And since Mariposa had no wings, the hunters thought Constantine was trying to hurt a little girl, and they shot him!

The hunters tried to take Mariposa away from him, but the girl started fighting them, and even though she didn't have wings yet, she could still summon butterflies and make them attack! It seemed like forever until she finally scared them off, and she rushed over to her father... but she was too late.

Mariposa still remembered her father's very last words to her.

"Go...go, Mariposa. Save yourself." Constantine said weakly. "Never forget... how I love you, my oruguita."

And so, Mariposa ran and ran as fast as she could to get out of the woods and eventually found her way off-world to another forest. For the next decade or so of her life, Mariposa fended for herself, living off what nature could provide for her just as Constantine taught her, and steering clear of non-doreshos when she grew wings. But then came the day she went foraging for food by the cliffside, and she spotted some climbers who just barely managed to escape a huge rockslide, all except for one who was unconscious.

Mariposa didn't know at the time why she did it, but quickly, she spread her wings and swooped in, grabbing the unconscious man and bringing him to safety right in the nick of time. But little did she know that she'd ended up saving the man who would prove himself the love of her life.

"And eventually, we got married and now we have Goldie to take care of." Mariposa said. "So you see, it still hasn't been easy. I do have a happy marriage and a wonderful daughter, but we are still trapped in this isolation that is the only thing keeping us alive."

"I had no idea you went through all that." Kara said.

"Why would you?" Mariposa said. "Anyone who's ever met me or ever been able to uncover who my family was has always assumed I'm only bent on revenge like my sisters. But the truth is, I don't need to be ruling a kingdom or living in some luxurious palace. Nor do I wish for my ancestors' actions to define me or my species today."

Mariposa took out a locket her husband had given her. In one half was a picture of a young Mariposa with her father, and the other half was a picture of the whole Heartwood family together.

"I just need my husband and a safe place to raise our daughter because she shouldn't have to live in fear of who or what she is because of the actions of people in the past."

Padme, Caroline, and Shmi, as mothers themselves, understood just how Mariposa felt. No matter how big their children were now, it still terrified them to think for even a moment that they would have to endure terrible things such as being trapped by something out of their control, or being wrongfully punished for the crimes someone else committed.

"Does...does Goldie know what she wants to be when she grows up?" Shmi asked as gently as possible.

"Goldie... she's got quite an imagination. She says one day she'd like to be a space explorer and see the many worlds of the galaxy." Mariposa sighed, loving how her daughter had inherited her father's desire to shoot for the stars. "But that wouldn't be so easy to do if everyone sees her as a monster the moment she gets wings. Unlike those in your family who earned wings, we doreshos can't make 'em go away whenever we don't need them. We're stuck with them, just like pegasi and alicorns. All we can do is fold them in and cover them."

"How exactly do you plan to keep Goldie in school when it's time for her to start metamorphosis?" Padme asked.

"Well, the getting ready to form her chrysalis, we can just tell the school she's sick, and have her wear a cloak to hide her wings. That is, assuming things haven't changed by then. Most doresho don't start until they're about eight years old but given how Gabriella got her powers at age one, and Lamenta at age three, there might be a possibility Goldie could change early."

"Well, how do you know when they're about to?"

Mariposa started to think back to when she was a child and got ready for metamorphosis herself, which was basically puberty for doresho gypsies. Classic symptoms were slow decrease in hunger, fatigue, and increased sensitivity to cold. That meant the young doresho was ready to find a warm, safe spot to sleep so their chrysalis could form, and they would spend about a week, which was only half the time ordinary butterflies spent in a chrysalis, sleeping and changing until they had their beautiful new wings.

"So far, Goldie hasn't shown any signs of such. She can still communicate with caterpillars as well as butterflies. But she doesn't have her power of transmission though them yet."

"What power do you transmit exactly?" Kara asked.

"Healing and growth. The kind of things butterflies should do. A truly magical thing about them is that they don't need to be large or powerful to make an impact. Though these creatures appear small and frail, they have the power to inspire hope and change with just one glance at their wings once they've hatched from their chrysalis."

"But... why don't you have the same powers as Gray Morpha or Mariverde?" Padme asked.

"Every dorehso gypsy who uses their power for evil had to endure a special ritual that turned their butterfly magic into dark moth magic. Moths are the butterfly's pesky cousin. In case you hadn't noticed, Grayolonda's wings were paler and flapped quicker than mine typically do, and she was attracted literally any source of light unlike butterflies, who solely rely on the sun for light."

Above all, Mariposa's biggest priority was making the galaxy safe for her daughter. She called Goldie her oruguita, which meant 'caterpillar,' just as Mariposa's late father used to call her.

"I see the way all of you care for your daughters, your nieces, granddaughters, and even that beautiful little filly Diamond." Mariposa said. "You must be wonderful mothers to have such happy children, as well as men who care so deeply for you as well as them."

Luke cooed as he crawled away from the mat he and Leia had been playing on and crawled over to Mariposa. The butterfly gypsy couldn't help feeling touched to see this sweet baby boy liked her and he didn't even know her yet.

Mariposa looked at Padme, who told her to go ahead, and the former picked up the baby and gawked at him.

"Your mommy is lucky to have a handsome little caterpillar like you, isn't she?" Mariposa chuckled as Luke gripped her finger.

Padme started to think back to when Gabby was a baby. When then Chancellor Palpatine held her for the first time, the little one immediately started to cry and scream as though a monster were holding her, and six years later, it turned out that her instincts about him were correct.

Leia soon crawled over, and Mariposa picked her up too.

"I remember when my Goldie was as little as you two are now." Mariposa cooed. "Drink your milk and eat lots of healthy veggies when you're old enough, and you'll be big and strong big kids just like your big brother and sisters someday."

If Luke and/or Leia were anything like their big sister where instincts were concerned, and the twins liked Mariposa so far, how dangerous could she really be?