Time began to pass since former Jedi Count Dooku took his late former Padawan's family in. All the while, Dooku did everything in his power to make sure the children would have the best possible future.

Being of an aristocratic bloodline, Dooku, of course, went all out in ensuring the children's education by enrolling them in the finest schools in Serenno. Of course, they had other lessons to learn besides schoolwork.

Dooku began to train the three children in the ways of the Force, while Miranda taught the children how to control their magical powers. But for the first year since Anakin and his family moved in, he was still the only kid who hadn't gotten his powers. So, Miranda took a piece of a strong branch from a nearby tree, and with a little magic of her own, built him a magical wand so he could practice casting spells.

Some in the Enchanted world called it pretty much a late bloomer's learning tool. Age five was when most Enchanted children got their specialty powers, but not all of them. So, for those who did not receive their powers on their fifth birthday began with using a wand to practice spell casting so they could learn to wield their abilities after they blossomed, for without the proper knowledge, controlling their magic would be a little more difficult.

Still, Dooku was mainly focused on ensuring the children grew strong in the ways of the Force. He regularly had them meditate together with him. But, that became a challenge at first. One time, Anakin fell asleep, another time, Carmine started a pillow fight, and another time,

"Alright, Anakin..." Miranda showed a now ten-year-old Anakin the proper way to hold the wand once more, and placed a few rocks in front of him. "This spell is very simple. Just wave the wand slow and steady, and concentrate on the desired transformation."

Anakin picked up one of the rocks and concentrated on the spell he was currently learning: turn regular rocks into gemstones.

"Macione diamente" Anakin said, and aimed at the rock, turning it into a diamond. "I did it!"

Anakin was ecstatic to get that one on the first try.

"Good job, Ani." Miranda kissed her grandson's cheek. "Keep practicing, and who knows? It might help when you meet your future wife someday."

Anakin sighed as he thought of his crush Padme; it been months since he'd last seen her, but he already had the hots for her. He could practically see himseld all grown up with Padme at his side, treating her as his queen, and some nights he dreamed of someday being at the altar saying "I do" and sealing the deal with true love's kiss. But, that dream usually ended with Anakin waking up to find he was kissing his teddy bear.

"She'll be a lucky girl when you do meet her, Sweetie." Mirands ruffled Anakin's head.

Miranda looked at her watch and decided Anakin was done with lessons for the day.

"Why don't you go out and play, Anakin? It's a beautiful day today."

Anakin ran out to the garden to run around and play with his siblings. Dooku was away most of the time on business, thus leaving Shmi and Miranda to care for the kids. But, over time, the women did start their own business from the palace. With the time on her hands, Miranda eventually got to grow her clothing business, and Shmi helped her out with marketing; having seen a lot of twisted minds on Tatooine, Shmi was very helpful in helping Miranda spot raw deals or potential scams in order to protect her growing assets.

Shmi too was glad to see her children (including Kara) were getting to grow up in a place they deserved. As devastated as she was to learn that the love of her life was gone, she knew he would've wanted her to continue on and raise the children. And while going through his things, she found the engagement ring he'd meant to give her, and she wore it in his honor. Though they technically never had the wedding, they were married by all other counts. They loved each other unconditionally, vowed to love each other always, and they'd sealed their love with a kiss the last time they'd seen each other.

And, they had two beautiful, wonderful little boys as a result of their powerful love.

"Oh, Qui... if only you could see the children now." Shmi sighed as she watched the children play from her window.

Miranda was equally glad that her grandchildren were getting to live in a better place. Now that they had more money, she was able to provide for all three of them.

But Miranda, though she was skilled for an Enchanted her age, she was growing old, and knew she might not have enough time to teach her grandchildren everything they needed to know. She needed to find someone who could teach her grandchildren how to use their powers. Someone younger and good with children.

So, Miranda contacted the Enchantra High Commission, and they sent her their best teacher, someone with award-winning teaching methods and a reputation for having students who were always in a hurry to get to school just for his lessons. His name was Garrett Heartwood. And he wasn't alone either. With him, was his beautiful wife Mariposa.

"Princess Miranda, I presume?" Garrett kissed Miranda's hand.

"Yes. Pleased to meet you, Professor Heartwood."

"Garrett. And this is my wife, Mariposa."

"Pleased to meet you, your highness." Mariposa said.

"Miranda is just fine. Come, let me introduce you to the family."

Miranda introduced the teacher and his wife to her daughter-in-law and to Count Dooku of course.

"Dooku is the children's Jedi trainer." Miranda explained. "Part of their heritage resides in Jedi abilities, and therefore I am counting on you to work together to train the children to balance between their abilities."

Miranda wasn't a Jedi herself, but she hypothesized that learning to control magic and the Force at the same time wouldn't be easy, and therefore the children require teachers from both worlds. And Mariposa assisted her husband in many of his lessons. She was an expert on enchanted botany, spells involving butterflies, but she was also an expert in the medical field. A nurse, currently, though she dreamed of being a doctor, which sadly didn't come easy for someone of her kind (though she didn't share that information just yet).

"Children, come meet your new teacher." Shmi called.

The children dropped their regular school work and came downstairs to meet the new teacher. Garrett could see potential in all three children, and he was more than happy to meet them. He had a special method though before he would begin any lessons.

With their parents' permission, Garrett had a private meeting with each of the children in their rooms. He sat in a chair and talked to them, asking them all kinds of questions and seeing what he could tell about them from the style of their rooms. According to him, it was a method of learning what made each of his students tick; in order to teach them properly, he had to know how each of their minds worked, and earn their trust. A relationship between student and teacher was more than just a profession to Garrett; it was about being a mentor, a parental figure, someone his students trusted to confide in if they were struggling.

Kara appeared a simple case. Though, she gave the vibe that she was a bit of a rebel, and so did Anakin. It didn't seem that surprising, that being a personality trait from their father's side, so Garrett could definitely tell, these two were siblings. But when he got to Carmine, that was another story.

Carmine seemed shaky when Garrett sat down. According to his record, he was diagnosed with severe anxiety when he was much younger, and a bit of PTSD from being bullied in school. And sometimes he still was in school, though Anakin was usually there to push the bullies away. No one messed with his little brother on his watch. Carmine, sadly, had trouble defending himself, and making his voice heard, which seemed kind of ironic with his ability being music.

"Don't worry, Carmine." Garrett said gently. "This is a normal procedure. We're talking here in your room so we can communicate in an environment you're comfortable in, and so I can get to know who you are. Now, it's perfectly normal to feel nervous. I've had many students before who were nervous, even a little scared when I first met them. I myself felt nervous meeting new teachers when I was your age."

Carmine didn't say anything and just squeezed his bunny.

"I see you have a plushie there. Did your grandmother make that like your siblings'? She's a very talented woman."

"Grandma is the best clothing maker ever." Carmine said. "She makes lots of great plushies too. Lots of people love her work."

Garrett chuckled and said, "You know, my grandmother was great at making things too. I grew up in a tropical area, so we didn't need a lot of warm clothes. My grandmother, she worked mainly making things out of plants. Wood, coconut husks, bamboo, things like that. She was a great builder."

Garrett took off the wood bead necklace he was wearing and let Carmine get a better look at it.

"She actually made me this very necklace. Where I come from, they're a traditional gift of love, and often used in place of a wedding ring at marriage ceremonies. Sadly, she passed away when I was twelve. And I wear this necklace in memory of her."

"My dad died last year." Carmine sniffed. "And then I found out I had other family I never knew about."

Carmine told Garrett all about how he was still feeling all kinds of emotions, and had all these questions still running through his head.

Garrett had seen a few cases like this. He wasn't a therapist, but he'd been told often that he would do a magnificent job as one had he chosen the path of psychology. He then asked Carmine to tell him how he felt about all this.

Not surprisingly, Carmine felt overwhelmed, similar to his brother and sister. Why wouldn't he? One minute, he was living a sheltered life with his grandma in a simple apartment and going to school, believing he was an only child, the next a strange man who apparently knew his father and a girl who was apparently his half-sister, followed by meeting a boy his age, who was actually his twin brother. Now, he was meeting his mom for the first time, going to private school, and learning to be a prince.

Dooku enrolled each of the children in the finest schools he could find, and so far all three of them were doing well. Kara was captain of the debate team and the track team, Anakin excelled at both sports and all his classes, and Carmine... he got good grades, but found himself a bit of an outcast among his fellow students, and he was bullied sometimes too, mostly by this boy who was a grade above him. Luckily for Carmine, though, Anakin was always there to jump in and defend his twin, but the guidance counselor told his mom that Carmine needed to learn how to defend himself instead of relying on his older brother.

Garrett talked to Shmi and Miranda some more, and they both confirmed Carmine was a very anxious child. According to them, Carmine's school guidance counselor told them Carmine almost never raised his hand in class, didn't interact with a lot of the other kids, and seemed terrified all the time. But, he did seem to like spending time in the school's music room. It was impressive the number of instruments he played too.

Carmine didn't even use magic; somehow, all he had to do was pick up any instrument, and he could play a beautiful song on it almost instantly. The teachers called him a musical prodigy. Garrett took Carmine's hand and walked him over to where there was a piano and asked the child if he would play a little song for him.

So, Carmine played the first song that popped in his head. Fur Elise. Garrett was impressed. He didn't know a ton of children who could play classical pieces so perfectly. And music was definitely something that made Carmine happy and let him unleash his emotions.

When he finished interviewing the children, Garrett had a meeting with their guardians while his wife took them into the garden to show them some gardening tricks she knew.

"All the children have very unique personalities." Garrett said. "And currently, they are each doing well in their respective schools. I am concerned about the twins, however. Anakin has shown signs of anger issues, which I understand is provoked by his protectiveness over Carmine, who is incredibly anxious and has been bullied in school."

"Carmine has always been very shy." Miranda explained. "He grew up in a neighborhood with few children, and I could only afford to send him to a good school for so long. I had to transfer him to public school just to avoid going into debt."

"Anakin may still suffer from trauma caused by our days as slaves."

"Ah... Anakin mentioned that." Garrett said. "Let me just say I'm very sorry you had to go through that. I wouldn't worry too much though, I have experience with students who had special needs, as well as ones who came from abusive homes. I believe I can work out a lesson plan that works for all three of them. But, my recommendation would be to enroll Carmine in dance classes. I understand he did those with you, Miranda?"

"Yes. It was one of our special times. We would put on dance videos and learn them together mostly for fun. Carmine is a talented little dancer."

"Then I believe he would really benefit from a professional teaching." Garrett said. "I myself took dance lessons as a child, and such is beneficial to anxiety patients."

"How would this affect the boy as he grows up?" Dooku asked.

"With time and patience, Carmine will hopefully gain better self control, improved emotional well-being, and given his love of music, he'd have a good chance of getting into Melody Academy when he turns fourteen."

"What is this school you speak of?"

Garrett explained that he had a friend who was an alumni of that very school was called the Musical Educational League of Dynamic Youths Academy, a.k.a. Melody Acadmey, famously known for teaching the galaxy's greatest musicians, dancers, and sending more than 90% of their alumni to the greatest music colleges. Getting into the school wasn't easy, but they offered scholarships every year to the best auditions.

"Who knows, Carmine might even meet his perfect partner among the female dancers." Garrett chuckled. "You'd be surprised how many boys I've met who joined ballet class purely to meet women."

That intrigued Dooku a little bit. One job he took very seriously as the children's male guardian was ensuring each of them found suitable spouses, and from his understanding, Carmine being so anxious wouldn't make finding even a girlfriend easy. So, he agreed to have Carmine enrolled in dance.

Suddenly, Anakin ran in.

"Mom! Grandma!" Anakin exclaimed, screeching to a stop, being caught up by Carmine, who bumped into him and fell down.

"Boys, what have we said about running indoors?" Dooku scolded.

"Sorry, Master." said the twins.

"What is it, Ani?" Shmi said.

"Look." Anakin said. He waved his hand, and some flowers grew on the floor.

The grownups couldn't believe this. Anakin had powers!

Mariposa, being a certified nurse, did a blood test, and confirmed Anakin was starting to develop his gold blood cells. According to Garrett, recent enchanted studies showed that late bloomers in developing their powers sometimes started developing them faster if they connected with something that would be related to their powers. Since the type of power young enchanteds got was an unpredictable process, a common place to start experimenting was among things related to powers their parents and/or ancestors might have had.

Garrett called in a few favors, and confirmed that according to the archives of Solaris' royal families, their great-great-great-great-aunt Princess Penelope, was a chloropath, an enchanted who could control plants. On the day Anakin got his powers, Mariposa testified that more of the plants started to grow bigger and more beautiful after Anakin touched them and talked to them. Now that Anakin had powers, Garrett could start a new lesson plan for him.

Over time, Garrett began to teach each of the children all about each of their powers through hands-on lessons which involved spell-casting, enchanted science experiments, and enacting various scenarios to prepare them for anything, similar to safety drills for natural disasters.

Days began to turn into months, and months turned into years, and Qui-Gon Jinn's children grew and changed. There were many good days, but also days of tragedy. Shortly after the twins' thirteenth birthday, Miranda fell gravely ill, enough to join her son in the afterlife.

Anakin grew some beautiful flowers for him and his siblings to each make a lovely bouquet to leave at her grave. It was a grave loss for the family. Dooku got Miranda to the best doctors he knew, but they just couldn't save her. Carmine probably cried the most out of the three of them, having known their grandmother the longest.

Shmi held her boys close to her all night after Miranda's funeral. And in the aftermath of Princess Miranda's death, Dooku sought even harder to ensure the children's protection and find them suitable spouses. As the eldest child, Kara was naturally next in line to be queen of Solaris. Thus, on her twentieth birthday, the Enchantran High Council told Kara that the throne was hers if she accepted.

Kara was hesitant at first. Despite Garrett's teachings to control her powers, as well as the etiquette lessons Dooku enrolled her in, she felt unsure how she would do as queen. But, with her brothers still young enough to have time to find brides, and her having no interest in marriage at the moment, she decided to accept, believing it was what their father and grandmother would've wanted.

Kara looked in the mirror as she was all dressed up in the golden gown that was custom designed just for her. Her hair was done up nice and neatly, not a flaw in sight, like most would expect from a fair princess. She looked at her old lightsaber, which she'd kept since Dooku took her from the Jedi Order. Even though she never became a master according to the Jedi Council, Dooku trained her and her brothers well, and she kept her weapon in order to defend herself.

"How lovely you look, Kara." Dooku commented.

"I don't know if I've made the right decision." Kara said. "After six years, I still don't know why I, of all people, would be put in such a role."

"Kara Jinn, you are more powerful than any ordinary Jedi. I have taught you as much as I could, though I could never match to the wisdom of your father."

Kara looked down and felt a tear come to her eye as she thought of her father.

"I wish he were here."

"He is. Your father is one with the Force, which surrounds us all. If I know Qui-Gon Jinn, he is watching over you and your brothers as we speak."

Suddenly, there was a noise from a dressing room a couple doors down the hall.

"Anakin! That's not funny!" Carmine exclaimed as it sounded like the twins were running about.

"Boys, stop the roughhousing immediately!" Dooku called. "Yet another reason you are the best decision to be queen, seeing as your brothers have much growing up to do."

Kara giggled. Her godfather was right to an extent; her little brothers never ceased to be the playful ones no matter how much they grew. She did know one other thing for sure. Jedi or not, she was no damsel in distress. She was going to be a great leader. In the name of love for her family and restoring their once beautiful home, she needed to be the queen they so lacked for many years. And with many royal families and members of the Galactic Senate in attendance, there was a big chance for creating great alliances that may help fight the coming darkness Dooku worried so much about.

The Grand Councilwoman of the EHC sprinkled the pollen of the poisunna flower on Kara's head, and the traditional coronation poem was said.

The time has set on another day, and upon another the crown shall rise. The royal member before us tonight, we hope and pray shines a brighter light, we crown you now and through your reign you will learn the light and power of which a true sun burns.

Kara knelt down as a beautiful crown of gold was placed on her head.

"The time of Princess Miranda has set, her granddaughter Kara kneels before us." said the councilwoman. "Rise a queen."

Applause filled the air as the new queen stood tall. Kara could swear she felt a slight breeze in her hair that could only be her father's presence through the living Force. The twins couldn't be happier for their sister. She looked so beautiful and all grown up as she stood as the new queen. But she wasn't the only one to receive a crown tonight. As the second born child, being the older twin, Anakin received a crown of gold leaves, officially dubbing him crown prince of Solaris.

Dooku was proud of how the children were growing and becoming fine young men and women. However, he did not let them know he was sensing something even darker than he'd initially felt.

In his dreams, Dooku began to have visions of Sidious with a new partner in crime. He couldn't see a face, but he could tell it was a woman in a dark green hood, but to his great surprise, the rest of her cloak had no back; just a big open space for what looked like huge green butterfly wings. He didn't want to admit it, but something about her terrified him.

Dooku couldn't be bothered as the coronation ball was in full swing... at least, until a certain former grand padawan of his approached him.

"Dooku," said a familiar voice.

Dooku couldn't believe his eyes to see none other than Obi-Wan Kenobi, only he looked different. His hair had grown, and he'd started to grow a beard too.

"Obi-Wan Kenobi." Dooku said. "It has been a long time. What brings you here?"

According to Obi-Wan, the Enchantra High Commission contacted the Jedi Council sometime after learning two of Solaris' royal children were part of the order, and they became curious as to how many other Enchanted were hidden within the Order. But, as the Jedi were initially known as keeper of the peace, though public opinion said otherwise, they saw fit to invite them to Kara's coronation in order to negotiate an alliance.

Obi-Wan and many other Jedi had been shocked to learn that the leaders of Enchantra were sensing an oncoming darkness much like Dooku claimed he had. They'd thought the late Qui-Gon Jinn's former master was just plain out of his mind, but with many royal families with rich resources, as well as reputations for being guardians of many great sources of power, they started to wonder if maybe it was they who were wrong.

Currently, the Jedi didn't know what they could do exactly to gain the public's trust, but Dooku told Obi-Wan that if the Council would be willing to listen and negotiate with the royal family, they could come to an arrangement.

There were many royal families with whom Solaris already held an alliance with long before the Jinns were born, many of them guarding ancient artifacts that, according to the late King Reginald and Queen Serafina, would likely provide some aid in restoring their home when the time came that new heirs to their throne could be found.

Among the leaders was the very lovely Queen Reigna of Equinaro, one of the Nine Kingdoms of the planet Mythiria. Each kingdom was known for holding a crown jewel, each one wielding mainly the power of one of nine essential elements to being a true leader, hence why many lands, especially when struggling with a newly crowned or elected ruler, turned to them for an alliance, or aid in creating balance in their kingdoms.

The Jedi were more than honored to meet these great leaders in person; with public opinion not being so hot on them, and new evidence of the coming darkness being true coming to light, they were willing to accept any help they could get at this point.

According to what anyone who'd seen a vision like Dooku, this threat was both connected to the Force and the Enchanted worlds alike. Each was powerful on its own, but brought together on either the light or the dark side, the potency of such power was unimaginable.

The many leaders of the kingdoms had a code similar to the Jedi, except theirs was a little different.

Anyone can wear a crown

Anyone can hold a scepter

Anyone can even sit in a throne

But only one with a heart of gold

And a balanced mind can rule

But not alone.

The Jedi didn't know what they meant at first; they thought it just meant that each king or queen was required to have a spouse, but Queen Griselda clairifed.

"What our code pertains to is family." Griselda said. "To be a leader is like being a parent. You've heard the expression every child deserves a parent, but not every parent deserves a child, right?"

"A few times, we have." Mace said.

"Well," said Queen Reigna. "In our realm, we have a similar saying. Every kingdom deserves a ruler, but not every ruler deserves a kingdom. We did not receive our crowns simply for being born royal or marrying into the throne. We had to earn our ranks, and what helps each of us be good rulers is having someone to lead an example for, and that is our dear children."

Except, the Jedi weren't sure what to make of what the royal family was suggesting. Their code basically said no attachments, which meant no relationships. No romantic relationships, no marriage, no children of their own to love and take care of. From their point of view, people looked down on the Jedi because they didn't fully understand what it was like to have a family to love and care for, a family who gave them a reason to fight for what was right.

From the royals' understanding, the Jedi Code said to ignore attachments and emotions rather than teach younglings and each other to confront emotions, uncover outlets for them, and exercise compassion by helping someone to let go, rather than telling them to just get over it, like in bad therapy sessions.

The Jedi Council wasn't sure about this, but they promised the royal family they would think about it.