Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Father’s Day

This story takes place about a year after Mace returned into Myra’s life.

Featured song:

”You’re the Reason” by Victorious Cast

It was that time of year again. Father’s Day. A day to say I love you to all the great fatherly figures out there. The thing about dads, they come in all shapes and sizes, and species too.

Now, not to put a damper on things, but a sad truth to Father’s is… well, it doesn’t get nearly as much attention as Mother’s Day. Why, you may be wondering? Well, some think it’s because moms are easier to find gifts for than dads, but I think the real reason is this: there are a lot of kids who grow up without a dad.

Unfortunately, a lot of children have been forced to grow up without a father for one reason or another, and it’s hard to say who has it the roughest. Maybe the child’s father died when they were very small, maybe their mom got pregnant very young and the father left as soon as he found out about the pregnancy, or maybe the dad abandoned the family for selfish reasons. If it’s not any of those reasons, it may be that the child’s father was an addict and became abusive, thus forcing the child to be raised by a single mother or another relative.

But… there are plenty of wonderful fathers too, and lots of kids do have different kinds of dads. Some kids have their biological dads, some kids have a stepfather, and some kids grow up with a different fatherly figure. Maybe it’s their grandpa, their uncle, a teacher, a pastor at a church, maybe even their next door neighbor or an older brother. However, there are even kids who celebrate Father’s Day with their moms because growing up with a single mom, that means Mom has to be Mom and Dad while she takes care of her babies on her own.

Father’s Day this year was extra special for the Jedi because it was the first Father’s Day that a couple of new members of the Jedi Order were celebrating. In fact, there was going to be a party for lots of kids and their fathers or fatherly figures.

Today, Myra was in her quarters, playing her guitar as she was working on a song to play for her dad. She was also brainstorming what to write in the card she was sending to her grandfather. However, Father’s Day was also hard for her family this year because Lyle wasn’t here anymore, and last year was Myra and Kade’s first Father’s Day without him.

Myra remembered last year Kade drew a picture of the family, then Brenda took him and Myra to the cemetery to visit Lyle’s gravestone, and Kade left his drawing there, Myra adding a bouquet of orchids, Lyle’s favorites, and they wished him a Happy Father’s Day.

This year, Myra had her biological dad, but that was a hard gift to figure out. What do you give to a dad who just came back into your life after thirteen years? Myra got thirteen presents for her birthday from her dad to make up for missing all her birthdays, and the pressure was on to top that.

Mace had done a lot for Myra in the year since they found each other, and since he proposed to Brenda, that put a bit of pressure on little Kade too.

Kade wasn’t sure what to do. He didn’t know anything about stepfathers, even if he didn’t have one officially yet. He only heard stories about mean stepmothers, and he initially got worried the same thing went for stepfathers. But Brenda told him,

“Kade, being a stepparent doesn’t make someone an evil villain. That’s just a fairy tale stereotype. Mace actually wants to be your father and help take care of you like your daddy did.”

But Kade was only four now; there was a lot he had left to learn about there being different kinds of families.

Myra also felt bad for her cousin Rhett. He hardly celebrated Father’s Day even before his parents’ divorce and the whole ordeal with the restraining order. It was uncertain if Aunt Heidi would ever find love, true love this time. The only reason she was even married to that abuser Walter was because her parents arranged it. Walter was a rich lawyer, a church goer, and handsome; everything the Monroes thought was enough to qualify a man as a good husband. But outside the church and behind closed doors, Walter abused his wife, his son, and drugs. Heidi feared for her life everyday, and she would frequently send Rhett to a neighbor’s place just to get him away from the abuse.

Now that Walter was out of their lives though, and Heidi and Rhett found a new place to live, Heidi was able to recover from the physical aspects of the abuse, and she’d started attending law school, where she was specializing in domestic violence. But in her free time, she had to be Mom and Dad to her son. So, he was one of those kids making a Father’s Day gift for his single mother.

Speaking of different families…

Comedia Evermare-Mundi was excited for Father’s Day this year because it was her first one with an official, loving father. Since Ki-Adi Mundi adopted her as his daughter, Comedia finally got to feel the love of a loving family everyday instead of waiting for the next time she would be visiting her cousins. But, she had one little problem: she didn’t know what to give her dad for Father’s Day.

When Comedia was little, she tried making Mother’s Day and Father’s Day gifts, hoping it would get her parents’ affection, but nothing she did was ever good enough. She hoof-painted a picture of hearts made of horseshoes, her parents didn’t like it. She picked lots of pretty wildflowers she came across in the meadow. Her parents didn’t like that either. Comedia even put her chemistry skills to use and baked a beautiful cake for her father for Father’s Day, and he just pushed it onto the floor and Comedia cleaned it up. 

But, Ki-Adi was different; he did everything Comedia’s father and mother never did. He fed her good food, gave her a bath whenever she was dirty, took her to the doctor for a regular checkup, hugged and kissed her, and as serious as he appeared, he proved to have a better sense of humor than Comedia’s birth parents ever did.

Comedia had never been so excited about Father’s Day before; actually, she looked forward to a lot of first holidays with her new dad when she got adopted. Her next birthday was just a few months away, and she couldn’t wait to celebrate Halloween, Life Day/Heartmas, and explore every milestone with him.

Except…

Comedia wasn’t sure what to give Ki-Adi for this special day.

Comedia decided to head out to the mall with Ahsoka to see if she could find any good ideas for a gift. 

Ahsoka was working on a Father’s Day gift too. For as long as she could remember, Master Plo had been like a father to her. He was the one who brought her to the Temple when she was really little, and he took a big part in raising her as she grew. She wanted to do much more than just hug him and say “Happy Father’s Day” this year.

Except, finding a gift for Father’s Day, it often turns out to be a lot harder than shopping for Mother’s Day gifts because for Mother’s Day, there are often sales on things like jewelry, flowers, cards, spa kits, clothes, perfume, shoes, chocolates… a lot of things. On Father’s Day, however, things like ties, wallets, and/or watches are typically more prevalent. In other words, the options appear more limited, but that also depends on the father.

Comedia had never seen her adoptive father wear a tie, so that was out. And finding clothes for cereans on Coruscant was really difficult. Most of Ki-Adi’s tops were button-up because they were easier to get in and out of than trying to pull regular shirts over his head. Jedi also didn’t tend to wear expensive watches, not that Comedia had enough for one anyway despite coming from a wealthy family.

Ahsoka picked out something she thought Master Plo would love.

“What do you think of this, Comedia?” Ahsoka asked.

Comedia looked at Ahsoka’s gift. It was a little model of a starship. Master Plo was a great pilot, and this particular model looked just like a ship he’d flown the day he found his adoptive daughter. That sounded like a perfect gift for him in Ahsoka’s eyes.

“That’s nice, Ahsoka.”

Comedia looked at a display window again.

“Hmm…. what do you get your dad for your first real Father’s Day?” Comedia asked herself.

“Well, what does your dad like?”

“I don’t know. Gummy bears, I know he’s addicted to them. And he likes me too. Hmm… maybe I can ask other kids what they’re doing for their dads.”

Gabby and Goldie were working on gifts for their dads too. But when you’re a little kid, even when you get an allowance, your options are usually limited for getting gifts for your parents. Luckily, kids are also introduced to a little thing called arts and crafts, which can help kids embrace their creative talents and use their imaginations.

The girls were each cutting and pasting things in the library. Anakin was away on a mission right now and Garrett was busy working on lesson plans; that gave them plenty of time to work on their Father’s Day gifts.

That was when Comedia entered the room.

“Hi, Gabby. Hi, Goldie. What’cha got there?” 

“Oh, hi, Comedia.” Gabby said. “We’re just working on Father’s Day gifts.”

“Mommy always says handmade gifts are the best kind of gifts.” Goldie said. “So, I’m making a collage for my daddy.”

Goldie groaned as she now had some leaves and flower petals glued to her hands.

“Ohh! I used too much glue!”

“And I used too much glitter!” Gabby groaned, amid a bunch of sparkles that spilled on her pants.

“What are you making, Gabby?”

“A scrapbook.” Gabby said.

Gabby put the last page she finished into a clear folder, which she put in a binder of some kind.

Comedia looked at a box Gabby had that was full of pictures, most of them with Anakin in them, and they seemed fairly recent.

“So, you’re both making things for your dads?” Comedia asked. “Your gifts both seem… different.”

And there was a reason for that besides the artists’ different styles and personalities. 

Goldie drew a picture of her with her dad and wrote “I LOVE DADDY” at the bottom with two little hearts made of two leaves she found shaped like hearts. But she thought it needed more, so she glued some colorful leaves onto it, added a few bee and butterfly stickers, and an owl sticker because her dad was fascinated with creatures of the night as a boy. Goldie chose those things because ever since before she could remember, her father was the first teacher she ever knew, and he taught her a lot of things. Her father did teaching for a living, but teaching his own child was the one kind of teaching he didn’t receive a paycheck for, yet it was the kind he dedicated the most time to. That was just one reason when Garrett had emotional troubles as a teenager, he tended to attend church groups made to help those in need or confide in a trusted friend because he’d seen too many therapists who were more interested in getting through the session until they got their next paycheck than actually helping their patients. Goldie loved her father especially for that reason; he cared more about the wellbeing of all children, his own and his students, than he did about getting paid.

Gabby, on the other hand, had a slightly different reason for making her scrapbook. Her father was a general in the Republic army, meaning he had to face battles that were not like the pillow fights the kids started sometimes with feathers flying all over the place. Although, Gabby could imagine that would be hilarious, clones and battle droids pillow fighting each other and getting feathers everywhere. But instead, everyone fighting the war had to face darkness and often traumatic events. But not every day during the war was a bad one. That was why Gabby gathered as many pictures of good memories from during the war as she could find, and now she was making a scrapbook, two actually, one handmade, and one digitized so whenever Anakin was feeling down he could look at the pictures and they would make him happy again.

Comedia thought those sounded like very sweet gifts. Then she thought, maybe she could make something for her dad too. But what? The only thing she knew how to make were pranks, and she was pretty sure it wouldn’t be nice to trick him on his special day.

Then Comedia thought maybe she could ask the girls’ horses if they had any ideas.

So, Comedia went and found Carousella in the commissary. She was using magic to cut up some fruits.

“Hi, Carousella.” Comedia said.

“Hey, Comedia.” Carousella said, not taking her eyes off the kiwi she was chopping.

“Mmm. You making a snack?”

“Not exactly. This is actually for my Father’s Day gift. My mom and Crescent are gonna prepare a special dinner for him back home, and I’m making a cake out of fruit. A fruit cake made completely of fruit. My dad loves sweet things, but being general of the guard, he has to be very strict about his diet. So, I’m making a cake that won’t hurt his diet and that’ll be extra special.”

Comedia got a good look at the fruits Carousella chose for her project. Watermelon, kiwi, strawberries, bananas, blueberries, and blackberries too.

“Mmm… blackberries. My favorite.” Comedia licked her mouth and snuck a berry for herself. “Hmm… too bad I’m not a great cook, or I’d cook for my dad. Hmm… do you know where Buttercup is?”

“I think I saw her in the courtyard, but I’m not so sure it’s a good time. She seemed in a bad mood this morning.”

Comedia went to the courtyard, where Buttercup was laying down underneath the tree that grew there, a soccer ball sitting in front of her. She couldn’t be bothered to kick it.

“Buttercup?” Comedia said, concerned.

“Hi, Comedia.” Buttercup said flatly.

“Buttercup, what’s wrong?”

“Nothing.”

Buttercup turned away.

“I’m serious, Buttercup. You seem sad. Is something wrong?”

Buttercup said nothing.

“Buttercup… is it because Father’s Day is coming up and… you can’t see your dad?”

“Don’t mention him to me!”

That only raised Comedia’s concerns more, especially when she saw the tears in Buttercup’s eyes. Comedia told Buttercup she wasn’t going to leave until she knew what was wrong so she could help her. Buttercup, however, felt sure there was nothing to be done.

“How do you know if you don’t confide in someone?”

Buttercup sighed. She explained to Comedia that her mom died when she was a baby, so it’d always been just her and her dad. She took out a photo. In it was a photo of her as a foal with two horses. The male was a zebra with the typical black and white stripes and green eyes like Buttercup, and the mare was a pegasus with a coat the same golden color as Buttercup’s stripes and an orange and pink mane like hers too. Buttercup’s mom and dad were very much in love, and that love only grew when they had their baby, but their family was not to last.

Buttercup’s father, Zeeb, worked very hard to take care of her on his own after that day they lost her mother. It was a challenge in every way, but he still managed to pull through somehow. He worked as a coach for some of the school horses’ sports teams, so he often brought Buttercup to a lot of sporting events, which you can probably guess was when Buttercup got interested.

“He never gets tired of telling the story of when I was really little and I ran out on the field during a soccer game and started to play and scored a goal… and I never once dropped my pacifier.”

Comedia laughed a bit. That sounded like a fun story.

“Sounds like you and your dad are very close.”

“We always were… but then in came Karmela.”

“Who’s Karmela?”

“My dad’s girlfriend.”

Buttercup took out another picture to show Comedia. In it was Buttercup’s father, but this time he was with another mare. She was an earth horse with a chestnut brown coat and a darker brown mane in which she always wore a red hibiscus. And she had markings on her legs and her back end that looked like ocean waves.

“They met three years ago at my dad’s friend’s beach wedding. Karmela was the bride’s cousin. Next thing you know, he’s inviting her to dinner, and she’s around a lot more in the last few months.”

“Is she not nice to you? I’ve been there.”

“No, Karmela’s very nice. She’s so sweet. She taught me how to surf, scuba dive, and swim like an olympic champ. And she makes amazing smoothies too.”

Comedia wasn’t sure why Buttercup seemed upset though; Karmela sounded like a wonderful mare, the kind who would make any stallion who dated her happy. But then, Buttercup announced why she was upset.

“I just found out my dad and Karmela are getting married. He never even told me he was gonna propose! I mean, what dad does that? I may have left the nest, but I’m still eight!”

“When did you find out?”

“Last night. Dad sent me a letter, which meant the proposal happened days ago. I mean, this is the kind of thing you’d think a single dad would talk to his daughter about.”

Comedia needed to think about this. It sounded like Buttercup was upset because she and her father were close for a long time, and in that kind of relationship, you’d think the father and daughter would share everything with each other, especially something as big as this. In other words, Buttercup felt left out, but that wasn’t actually the main reason she was upset.

“It’s like he doesn’t remember my mom even existed anymore.” Buttercup said. “And once he’s married, he’s gonna forget me too.”

“Why would you think that?”

“You’ve seen those stories with stepmothers. Once they enter the picture, it’s bye-bye Daddy’s little princess, hello drama queen making your house her empire.”

Comedia pointed out to Buttercup that those were just stories, and it wasn’t just stepmothers who could be bad, and she would know.

“My mother didn’t even want me or my sister. She didn’t even take care of us. Our nannies did… well, for as long as they lasted. But… Karmela…. It sounds like she cares about you, and she’s not even related to you. And your dad? I doubt he’d put his lady love above his own daughter. No good father would ever do that.”

“Wouldn’t a good father also tell his daughter that he’s getting married in person?”

“Have you tried talking to your dad?”

“Well… no. I was so angry with him I didn’t even respond to his letter.”

“Maybe now’s a good time to do something more than just a letter.”

Buttercup got up and left to go do something. Comedia, however, still wasn’t sure what she would do for her dad.

Comedia walked through the hall and saw Boba and Vinnie, both of them looking kind of sad. They were sitting down moping to themselves. Well, Boba was moping. Vinnie was writing something in a notepad.

“Hey, guys.” Comedia said. “Why do you look so sad?”

“Father’s Day is coming, and my dad’s gonna be working again.” Vinnie groaned. “He’s never around even for special days. He missed my ninth birthday because of a music video shoot. He missed the day I won a big game when he’s the one who forced me to play football in the first place, and he’ll probably miss my wedding because of the Micro-Phony Awards. It’s likes he loves his job more than he loves me.”

Comedia nuzzled Vinnie.

“I don’t think that’s true, Vinnie. Maybe he just works a lot because he worries about not being able to provide for you.”

“Why would he worry about that? We could literally swim in cash if we wanted.” Vinnie said. “But money doesn’t actually talk. It can buy a ticket to a game, but it can’t enjoy it with me. I haven’t been able to have a good Father’s Day since before my mom died.”

Comedia looked at Vinnie’s notepad

“Are you writing him a letter?”

“No. This is actually a letter for my grandpa. He sends me letters and pictures all the time.”

Vinnie’s grandparents didn’t work in music like his father; they actually owned a beautiful ranch. Multiple ranches, actually. Vinnie took out a picture on his phone from when he was little, and an older man was guiding a little brown horse around with Vinnie riding on its back. Back then, Vinnie and his parents would go visit his grandparents every summer and they would have so much fun. 

Mr. Hall would often share stories of how he grew up on the ranch; if it weren’t for the fact that the Halls were wealthy, people would think Armando Hall came from humble beginnings at first glance. But even as a former heir, he had to work on the ranch and help out just like his sisters. 

“Former heir?” Comedia said.

“My grandparents gave Dad the ultimatum, either he would call off the wedding to my stepmom, or he’d be cut out of their will. I’m surprised she didn’t dump him after that, but then again, Dad became rich on his own, so I guess she figured settling for six figures was better than having to actually work for a living like the rest of us.”

“You don’t even have a job.” Boba said. 

“Not yet. But I get an allowance like you, which I still work for.” Vinnie said. “Besides, at least your dad’s gonna be around for Father’s Day.”

“My adoptive dad, yes.” Boba sighed. 

Comedia’s eyes went wide as she realized why Boba was sad; this was his first Father’s Day without his birth father. In other words, Father’s Day was really hard for him this year.

“Oh, Boba. I’m so sorry.” Vinnie said, hugging Boba, who started to cry, prompting Comedia to join in the hug.

Boba didn’t like to talk about it, but even though he’d attended the grief group many times, he still felt so many thoughts running through his head of all the things he would never experience with his birth dad, all the milestones as he would continue to grow. Jango Fett wouldn’t be there to see Boba’s first day of high school, when he got a girlfriend, graduated high school, or see any grandchildren either. Although, Boba wasn’t sure he would’ve gotten to do those things with his birth father even if he begged him, but now he’d never truly know.

“It’s not just my birth dad being gone… it’s… my new dad.” Boba said.

Just because Boba called Anakin ‘Dad’ now, didn’t mean it was always easy to do so.

It wasn’t that Boba didn’t love Anakin as his father now that they’d bonded, but sometimes he couldn’t help feeling guilty as though accepting his new family meant he was replacing his father. Boba didn’t know everything about different kinds of families. He did know that lots of kids grew up with single parents, separated families, but also parents who were married and lived together. But he did know one rule about family: you can’t replace them like a pair of shoes you’ve outgrown or that were worn out. You treasure every moment you have with your family because unlike whatever toy, video game, or piece of clothing someone in your family gives you for a birthday or holiday, your family members cannot be bought, exchanged, or replaced at a store.

“Boba, accepting a new family doesn’t mean you’re replacing your family.” Comedia said.

“Didn’t you replace your parents?”

“Um… did your dad bite and kick you around and force you to watch horror films as a baby?”

“Fair point. But… you have a good reason to replace your family.”

“Okay, I’m gonna stop you right there. I’m not replacing my whole family. Just my so-called parents. But just because they got pregnant with me and gave birth to me, that doesn’t make them parents. Myra’s mom once told me anyone can conceive a child, but it takes a special someone to be a parent. Like…my dad.”

Comedia sighed, and now the boys noticed she seemed down too.

“What’s wrong, Comedia?” Boba asked.

“I haven’t figured out what I’m gonna give my dad for Father’s Day. I’ve never had a good one before because I didn’t have a loving dad before. Now that I do, I don’t wanna blow it.”

“I doubt you could.” Vinnie said. “You’re always making people laugh, sometimes without even trying.”

“Maybe. But I don’t know if that’s gonna be enough to-” Comedia  noticed she had a feather stuck to her tail. “Oh, I gotta watch where I place my tail.”

Comedia tried to bite the feather from her tail, but ended up spinning in circles instead, making her friends laugh as she stopped and her eyes were spinning around. The alicorn shook her head.

“See? You just made us laugh.” Boba snorted. 

“I wasn’t even trying to be funny that time.”

“You’re just that good a comedian.”

“Well, it’s not helping me get a gift for my dad. What are you guys gonna give your dads?”

Despite his initial depression for this being his first Father’s Day without Jango Fett, Boba still put a lot of thought into his gift for Anakin. Boba pulled up a picture on his phone of a little model ship he got. Boba knew how much Anakin liked working on ships, and this was a model he could put together and paint any color he wanted. He also picked out a special card that was specifically for adopted children’s first Father’s Day.

“There’s a market for that?” Comedia said.

“You’d be surprised by the markets that pop up every year,” said Vinnie. “Dad’s actually taken me to work with him a few times. As you already know, since my brother got expelled from school, he’s hoping I’ll take over someday.”

“Are you gonna give your dad a gift, Vinnie?”

“What exactly do you give a dad who works all the time?”

“You could get him a spa day. He’s gotta relax sometime.”

“Tried that last year. He didn’t have time for it.”

“Maybe you can try something simpler,” said Boba. “Like a tie. That is what men who work wear, right?”

“Might as well. Working’s all he ever does.”

“Have you tried calling him and telling him you miss him?” Comedia said. “If you just tell him how you feel, I’m sure he’ll make time to be with you and go to the party with you.”

“I doubt he’d even pick up.”

“How do you know if you don’t try?”

Comedia’s ears wiggled then as she heard something.

“My dad’s calling me.” Comedia said. “I gotta go.”

And off Comedia went.

Boba wasn’t the only one having mixed feelings about Father’s Day either.

Myra went back to her mom’s apartment to continue working on her gift. But she saw Kade in his room. He was crying.

“Kade?” Myra said gently entering the room. “Kade, what’s wrong?”

“Nothing.” Kade squeaked.

Myra didn’t need to give a ton of thought to know he was not okay. She sat down and asked Kade why he was crying.

“People don’t usually cry unless they’re feeling something, and I don’t think these are happy tears.” Myra wiped a tear from Kade’s cheek.

Kade hugged his plush kangaroo and just turned his back.

Myra didn’t need to be a Jedi to have a good guess what was upsetting Kade.

“Father’s Day is coming up… and… your daddy is gone… you’re upset that you don’t get to celebrate with him anymore.”

Kade sniffed and yelled,

“It’s just not fair! Why did he have to die?! Why isn’t he here?”

“I wish I knew, Kade.”

“But you have a daddy to celebrate with. I don’t. He’s your daddy. Not mine.”

“Kade, Mace Windu may be my biological dad, but… your father was my father too.”

“But you said he was your stepdaddy.”

“That’s not what I mean! What I mean is, even though he was my stepdad, he was still as much my dad as he was yours. Dad loved both of us so much and wanted what was best for us. That’s what made him our dad. And… well, we can still share a daddy. My birth daddy… he cares for you too, and he’s been helping Mom take care of you as much as he’s helped her take care of me.”

Kade never thought of it that way. But he was hesitant too. He could barely even remember his birth father, and now a new man was in his mom’s life, and that new man was actually an old flame and Myra’s birth father. Poor Kade was so confused about everything, and unfortunately as good a big sister as Myra was to him, she didn’t have all the answers for him.

“All the kids at school who have daddies, they have their real daddies. I don’t.”

“Kade, do you remember what the pastor said at church last week?”

Kade shook his head.

Myra reminded him that in last week’s sermon, the pastor talked about how fatherhood was more than just the conception of a child. It was an honor to be earned as well. Rhett’s family was one example of that. The way Myra described it to Kade so she wouldn’t scare him… much…

“Our no longer uncle Walter… he got Aunt Heidi pregnant with Rhett long before you were born, but he didn’t do any of the good things a good daddy does. He was mean to Aunt Heidi and to Cousin Rhett. He was a big bad bully. A good daddy would protect his children from a bully, and even teach them to stand up to a bully. They wouldn’t be one themselves. That’s why Aunt Heidi left Rhett’s daddy and took him with her, to keep both of them safe.”

“So, cousin Rhett doesn’t have a daddy to celebrate with either?”

“No. Not the traditional one, anyway.”

Kade was confused again. So, Myra told him about how long before he was born, it was just her and Brenda (Mom, as they knew her). For a little bit, it was Myra and Mommy. Myra didn’t quite understand back then why she didn’t have a daddy, at least for a while. Brenda had to be her mom and her dad. Traditionally, families with two parents split the work. A mom was the homemaker, whereas a father was a provider. Now, most would think that means the dad works to earn money and the mom stays at home doing household chores. That does work in some families, but either of those positions can mean different things. No parenting or marriage book or religious text specifies that either spouse is confined to a certain space to fulfill their position. Some moms were homemakers by working a job that helped make money for their family to be able to have a home and everything they need to take care of their home, and some dads were providers for the family from home by being the parent who takes on the role of primary caretaker while the wife works outside the home.

In Myra’s case, Brenda played both the role of the provider and the homemaker. To fulfill both positions solo, that took a special, very strong individual. Brenda was no weakling, and the first Father’s Day Myra could remember, she spent it with her mom, helping her send a Father’s Day card to her grandpa. Over time, Myra even realized Brenda was being both her mom and her dad.

“After we lost Dad,” said Myra. “She took on that role again. And then my birth dad came back to help out, and now they’re together again. So, in a way, you have a stepdad now too, Kade.”

“But I don’t look anything like your daddy.”

“That doesn’t matter.”

Myra took Kade’s hand and had him hold it up, palm facing her, and she touched it to hers like they were giving each other a high-five. Even though Myra’s hands were bigger than Kade’s it was clear they were the same shape and both were made of flesh and blood.

“See, Kade? Even though our skin colors are different, we’re the same. And the same can be said for you and Mace too.”

Kade looked at his hand against his sister’s and thought about what she said, his eyes wide with wonder. He started to wonder more and more about how he could still celebrate Father’s Day, even if his birth dad wasn’t here anymore.

Meanwhile, Comedia met her father in their apartment, where Ki-Adi told her it was time to start cleaning up around there. Just because they were busy with a war didn’t mean they didn’t still need to keep their house clean.

They were starting in the master’s room, where Ki-Adi needed help clearing through some boxes he had stored in the closet.

“I thought Jedi had hardly any possessions,” said Comedia. “What could you possibly need a bunch of boxes for?”

“You’d be surprised how much of a hoarder I was in my youth.” Ki-Adi chuckled. 

It was then Comedia realized she spent so much time with her new father and he spent all that time teaching her how to be a Jedi and how to face different problems, but she didn’t know everything yet about his childhood. She knew he had older sisters like she did and he was the youngest in his family, and that he first arrived at the temple when he was four years old. But there was a lot more she didn’t know about him.

“Daddy? What were you like when you were a kid?”

Ki-Adi had to think hard about this. Jedi training didn’t usually teach you to recall the past; usually you were taught to focus on the now and the future. That, and because it was a while ago for him.

“Well, Comedia. Before I arrived here, I grew up on farmland on the planet Cerea, where my species is from. It is not part of the Republic, unfortunately, which is why I never brought you there to meet what remains of my family. It’s a shame. I believe my sisters would adore you if they met you.”

“You don’t think they’d be weirded out by the fact that I’m a horse?”

“They might be a little surprised, but I am certain they would love you as much as I do.”

Comedia found one box, which she looked into. Inside were a bunch of twigs and old leaves Ki-Adi collected over the years, and among them, Comedia also found an old drawing of a flower. It looked kind of like a stargazer, but the petals were more round than pointed. It was orange with a lovely yellow center and lots of little leaves on the stem.

“Hey, Daddy. What’s this?” Comedia asked.

Ki-Adi looked at the drawing and felt a smile creep onto his face.

“You found my old drawing! I thought I lost that a long time ago.”

“What’s it a drawing of?”

Ki-Adi told Comedia that it was a drawing of a beautiful flower native to Cerea called the Inisa flower. When Ki-Adi was very small, he used to love going outside to smell their sweet aroma, and he would sometimes pick some of them to give to his mom and his big sisters.

“They grow all over Cerea, but…” Ki-Adi sighed sadly. “It’s impossible to find them anywhere in the Republic, or we would’ve had some of them added to one of the gardens years ago. Quite a shame.”

It was then Comedia had a big idea!

The night before Father’s Day, Comedia gathered some critical supplies. A trowel, a flower pot, and the drawing Ki-Adi drew of the inisa flower. She looked into her father’s room and saw that he was sound asleep.

Comedia decided she needed to leave a note so Ki-Adi wouldn’t worry. She picked up a pen with her mouth and wrote on a notepad.

Dear Daddy,

If you’re wondering where I am, I went to Equinaro on some important business.

Don’t worry. I will be back in time for the party.

I love you. Happy Father’s Day

Love, Comedia

Comedia placed the note onto her teddy.

“Keep this note safe, okay, Benny?”

The panda just plopped onto its back, Comedia giggling.

She switched her beanie for a gardening hat and put on a khaki vest for her little adventure.

Using the magic of her silver horseshoes, Comedia apparated herself onto a quest to locate an inisa flower for her father.

 The next morning, Ki-Adi woke up and was ready to start another day. But this wasn’t any ordinary day. It was Father’s Day. He half-expected to wake up to breakfast in bed like Anakin said Gabby did for him last year (with help from Padme). But, nothing. He thought then maybe he’d find Comedia waiting for him in the kitchen to have breakfast. However, he didn’t find her there either. He got worried, but he shook it off.

“She must still be asleep.”

Ki-Adi entered Comedia’s bedroom to wake her up.

“Comedia, rise and shine.” Ki-Adi sang. “Today’s the big day.”

But he got no response. He looked around and saw no sign of Comedia, and then he spotted the note, which he picked up and read.

“Important business?” Ki-Adi stroked his beard.

He decided to contact Queen Reigna and ask her if he could talk to Comedia, but she looked confused.

“ Comedia’s not here ,” said the queen.

“But she told me she went to see you on important business.”

“ Well, it is Father’s Day. Maybe she wants to surprise you. I’m sure she can’t have gone far .”

Ki-Adi hoped she was right. He thanked Queen Reigna for her time and decided to go look for Comedia.

Meanwhile, Comedia appeared in a forest, where she frightened some little pink frog-like creatures called Cerean hoppers. It was nighttime, so Comedia wouldn’t be likely to run into locals, because according to her research, outsiders to Cerea had to be in these things called Outsider Citadels, which Ki-Adi said was just fancy talk for “literal tourist trap”. And Comedia needed to be outside to find the flower she wanted to get for her father. She spent the last week researching the planet so she would be able to find the flower and identify it even with its petals closed.

Comedia looked around the forest. There were a few fireflies lighting the way, and even in the dark the forest looked so pretty underneath the starry night sky.

She looked all around and spotted a lot of plants, but for a plant that supposedly grew all over the planet, Comedia was having a hard time finding it.

“Hmm… I wonder where those Inisas could be.” Comedia said quietly.

Ki-Adi walked around the temple looking for Comedia.

“Comedia? Where are you?” the cerean called.

Ki-Adi passed by Master Plo and Ahsoka, the latter looking happy as her adoptive father opened his gift and gave her a hug in thanks.

“Master Plo? Padawan Tano? Have either of you seen Comedia anywhere?”

“I’m afraid not.” said Plo.

“Have you checked the commissary? I hear they're serving peach pancakes today.” Ahsoka suggested.

That made sense to Ki-Adi; Comedia couldn’t resist peach pancakes. So, he went to check the commissary, but there was no sign that a hungry horse was gobbling them up… well, there actually was one. But it wasn’t Comedia. It was Citrus. There were plenty of other Jedi eating too.

“Has anyone here seen Comedia today?” Ki-Adi asked.

Everyone gave the same answer: No.

“Comedia!”

Ki-Adi left, becoming more and more worried. He passed by other Jedi and asked them, guards, even droids if they’d seen his daughter for hours, and no one saw her. He tried calling her on her phone, but no answer. Ki-Adi sat down and hugged himself.

“Where could she have gone?”

Meanwhile, Comedia spent a long time lurking through the forest, hiding in the bushes so she wouldn’t be spotted by any locals. There were a lot of sleeping flowers in the forest, but eventually, Comedia spotted something in a spot of moonlight.

Cue the angelic choir singing as Comedia spotted the very flower she was looking for!

“Yes! Finally!” 

Comedia rushed over and got to work carefully digging around the flower so she could get to its roots. Once she was deep enough, she proceeded to place it into a pot and cover it with dirt, and she placed the pot into a special pouch in her bag so she wouldn’t lose it. She also picked a few more flowers purely for the seeds, which she also packed away.

“There you go, little flowers. You’re gonna love your new home.”

However, Comedia wasn’t without running into a bit of trouble as she prepared to leave. She backed up, not realizing there was a creature behind her. A creature that snorted an angry snort. Comedia froze and looked behind her very slowly to see a strange creature that looked like a cross between a bull and a stegosaurus. The beast roared and what do you think Comedia did next?

Comedia ran for her life screaming like crazy!

The beast chased her through some of the trees, the bushes, and a pond too! Comedia started to fly so she could get out of reach of the creature, but she ran into some birds too.

“Now I can see why Daddy didn’t want to bring me to this planet!” Comedia complained, swatting some feathers away with her tail.

She looked at her bag quickly and was relieved to see she didn’t lose her gift.

“Daddy better love this gift for what I had to go through to get it!” 

The time for the party soon came. Everyone, Jedi and friends, put on their best clothes for the party. There was food, music, and everyone was looking forward to giving their gifts to their dads. 

Gabby and Boba presented Anakin with their gifts, Goldie with Garrett, Ahsoka with Master Plo, and Myra and Kade were both with Mace. Myra told her father she would be presenting her gift a little later, but for now, Kade had a special present for his stepdad.

Gabby also made a scrapbook for Uncle Obi-Wan; he was her godfather after all.

Kade presented Mace with a drawing he made. In the drawing, it looked like it was supposed to be Mace holding Kade while he gave some leaves to a giraffe.

“That’s the day you took us to the zoo and we fed the giraffes.” Kade said. 

“I remember that day. Those giraffes were very affectionate.” Mace chuckled, remembering one of the giraffes licking him.

“That baby giraffe probably thought you were his dad too.” Myra joked.

All three of them laughed. 

“This is a great drawing, Kade. Thank you.”

Buttercup was also happy to see that her father and stepmother-to-be came. Zeeb asked his fiance to let him have a moment alone with his daughter.

“Buttercup, my precious flower. I’m so sorry if the way I announced my engagement upset you. I should’ve come to you beforehand, knowing this would be a big change for you. You’re my little filly, and the one thing I have left of your mother. No one will ever replace her, and no one will ever replace you either.”

Buttercup cuddled affectionately with her father in response to that.

Ki-Adi, however, looked all around, but didn’t see his daughter. He was very worried now. Comedia said in her letter she would be back in time for the party, but so far she was a no-show. He began to think something bad must have happened to her. But before he could leave to go call for help, he heard a voice.

“Happy Father’s Day,” said the voice.

And that voice belonged to…

“Comedia!”

Ki-Adi was extremely relieved to see Comedia. She was all dressed up in a lovely royal purple dress decorated with sequins and glitter sparkles, her hair tied back in a nice updo with a big purple flower topping it off.

“Hi, Daddy.” smiled the alicorn.

Ki-Adi wrapped his daughter up in a big hug.

“I’ve been looking for you all day. Where have you been?”

“Long story. It was harder than I thought, getting a gift for you.”

Comedia brought out a little pouch for Ki-Adi, and inside he saw seeds.

“Seeds. How nice. Thank you, Comedia.”

“Not just any seeds.”

Comedia unwrapped her tail from something, and that “something” was the flower in the pot she got earlier.

“An Inisa flower?!” Ki-Adi gasped. “How? Where did you find one?”

“Let’s just say I learned the hard way that picking flowers can be dangerous on other planets.”

Ki-Adi hugged Comedia again. He really appreciated the gesture so much, and he planned to plant those seeds with his daughter present. For now, it was time to enjoy the party.

Vinnie was at the party too, hugging himself as he looked around, seeing the other kids with their fathers. He called his father days ago and it went to voicemail a bunch of times, so he gave the message about the party and how it was a big deal to him that he would get to celebrate with him. But… it didn’t look like that was going to happen.

“Hey, Vinnie!” Anakin said. “Someone’s here to see you.”

Vinnie looked to where Anakin pointed and a huge smile appeared on his face when he saw….

“DAD!”

Vinnie ran over to his father in a big hug.

“I thought you weren’t coming.” Vinnie cried happy tears.

“I would’ve been here sooner…” said Mr. Hall. “but Derek got himself into trouble again.”

“What’d he do this time?”

“Got pulled over for distracted driving and then fought with law enforcement. And little Jacob had to stay home, so it looks like I’m all yours tonight.”

Vinnie was so happy his father could make it, and just in time too because Myra stepped on stage with her guitar.

“If I could get everyone’s attention please.” Myra said into the mic. “For those of you who don’t know me, I’m Myra Dawson-Windu, daughter of Master Mace Windu. As you know, it’s Father’s Day, and this is my first with my dad now that he’s back in my life. I wrote this special song to sing for him tonight, and I’d like to dedicate it to all the great dads out there.”

Myra began playing her guitar, Remix helped out by spinning a beat with his dad.

Myra: 

I don't want to make a scene

I don't want to let you down

Try to do my own thing

And I'm starting to figure it out

That it's alright

Keep it together wherever we go

And it's alright, oh well, whatever

Everybody needs to know

You might be crazy

Have I told you lately that I love you?

You're the only reason that I'm not afraid to fly

And it's crazy that someone could change me

Now no matter what it is I have to do, I'm not afraid to try

And you need to know that you're the reason why

Everyone thought Myra was doing so amazingly with her song. Mace felt so touched by the way Myra looked at him with so much love in her eyes when she sang. The song had lots of people clapping and dancing too.

I don't even care when they say

You're a little bit off

Look me in the eye, I say

I could never get enough

'Cause it's alright

Keep it together wherever we go

And it's alright, oh well, whatever

Everybody needs to know

You might be crazy

Have I told you lately that I love you?

You're the only reason that I'm not afraid to fly

And it's crazy that someone could change me

Now no matter what it is I have to do, I'm not afraid to try

And you need to know that you're the reason why

Myra’s family and friends weren’t the only ones who were impressed either.

If it was raining, you would yell at the sun

Pick up the pieces when the damage is done

You say it's just another day in the shade

But look at what a mess we made

You might be crazy

Have I told you lately that I love you?

You're the only reason that I'm not afraid to fly

And it's crazy that someone could change me

Now no matter what it is I have to do, I'm not afraid to try

And you need to know that you're the reason why

You might be crazy

Have I told you lately that I love you?

You're the only reason that I'm not afraid to fly

And it's crazy that someone could change me

Now no matter what it is I have to do, I'm not afraid to try

And you need to know that you're the reason why

Everyone was cheering when Myra finished her song.

“Happy Father’s Day, Daddy!” Myra said. “And Happy Father’s Day to all the great dads out there.

Myra gave her father a big hug.

“Do you know that girl, Vinnie?” Mr. Hall asked his son.

“Yeah, that’s Myra, one of my friends. She’s in my class, and a great musician too, as you can see.”

“Yes, I did see.”

Mr. Hall decided to approach Myra and her dad.

“Master Jedi,” said Mr. Hall. “Armando Hall.”

“Hello. You must be Vinnie’s father.” Mace said.

“Yes, and I understand you are my son’s friend Myra’s father. She’s got quite the talent.” 

“Myra is quite a rock star,” said Mace, pulling his daughter close to his side.

Mr. Hall took out a business card from his wallet and gave it to Mace.

“At Hall of Fame Records, we’re always looking for new talent, interns and performers alike. With your permission, Master Jedi, if your daughter’s interested in pursuing a career in the music industry, she’s welcome to come audition at our next showcase in a few months.”

“You mean it?!” Myra practically squealed.

“You do show a lot of potential, Myra. Keep practicing on that guitar of yours and you could be a big star someday.”

Myra could practically see it now.

“Now, if you’ll excuse me, I believe my son and I have catching up to continue with.”

Myra was ecstatic! She now had a chance to become a big star someday, if she practiced.

“He seems like a nice man.” Mace said.

“Yup. And Vinnie seems pretty happy.” Myra said, watching her friend.

Slower music played as it was now time for father-child dances. You may have seen father-daughter dances, and there were those, but there were also father-son dances and father-daughter-and-son dances tonight.

However, this was something Comedia wasn’t prepared for. She had four legs and her father only had two. This was gonna be tricky.

“Shall we dance, Comedia?” Ki-Adi asked.

“Uh…. okay.” Comedia stood on her back legs and let Ki-Adi take her front hooves.

The cerean and the alicorn tried to waltz together, but they had a little trouble. Given the difference in the shapes of their bodies and the positioning of Comedia’s limbs, waltzing did not come easy for either of them.

“Careful now!” Ki-Adi said as Comedia almost stepped on his foot.

“Sorry!” Comedia gasped, then she accidentally bumped her rear into Obi-Wan as he was taking a turn dancing with Gabby. “Sorry, Obi-Wan!”

Then Ki-Adi backed into Myra.

“Hey, watch it!” Myra said angrily.

“My apologies,” said Ki-Adi.

“Ouch!” Anakin hopped holding his foot after Comedia stepped on it.

“Sorry!” 

But then Comedia accidentally backed into Ahsoka, who bumped Master Plo, and as she tried to stop him from falling, they instead both crashed into Comedia and Ki-Adi, who bumped into some other party-goers, and they all toppled like dominos, spilling a punch bowl all over Garrett and Goldie.

“Anakin, get off of me!” Myra said angrily. “Can’t… breathe!”

“I’d love to, if your dad would get off of me!” Anakin grunted.

“Well someone is on top of me as well.”

It looked like everyone was piled up, and it was a real hassle trying to get back up.

“Daddy! Are you okay?” Goldie helped her father up. “You’re all wet!”

“And sticky.” Garrett squeezed some liquid from his jacket.

“But you smell nice.” Goldie giggled.

Garrett laughed too. Pretty soon everyone was laughing.

Even with the domino ending to the dance and the punch spilling on Garrett’s head, the party turned out to be pretty awesome. That’s another thing about family: no matter how many things may go wrong, in the end the time you spend together is precious whether you’re family by blood or simply family by love.

It was a Happy Father’s Day indeed.

Writing this chapter was kind of hard for me since, as some of you are aware, not everyone has a father to celebrate Father’s Day with. 

A couple of weeks ago, my uncle, my mom's younger brother, passed away from a heart attack. He never had his own children, but he had a stepson he loved as his own son, and that stepson is a father himself now, but this is his first Father’s Day without the stepfather he considered a father.

My biological father is alive, but he’s out of my life because he left the family for another woman when I was a kid. Why anyone would give someone a wedding vow to stay loyal no matter what only to cheat later, I’ll never understand. 

If you have a father or mother who walked out on your family, remember that it’s NEVER your fault. They’re the broken ones for breaking the most sacred rule of being a family: Nobody gets left behind.

If your father is in your life and loves you and you love him, don’t forget to show him how much you love him everyday, and the same goes for everyone else in your family too, and your friends. But if your father or father figure is passed on, use Father’s Day, or any day of the year, to honor their memories and what they meant to you.

For now, I wish a very Happy Father’s Day to all the great fathers out there. And those of you celebrating Father’s Day, whether it’s with your dad, your stepdad, your uncle, your grandpa, your older brother, or any other fatherly figure there is, I pray you had a wonderful day to send good wishes to your fathers for all they do for you.

Chapter Text

Here’s an early Halloween story for my dear readers. Well, one part anyway. Anakin Skywalker is known as the Hero With No Fear, but if you really think about it, how often have you ever seen other Jedi get scared? Namely, Jedi Masters.

I myself don’t like being scared. And I would never try to scare a little kid, especially since some bigger kids dressed as scary clowns did that to me while trick or treating when I was little, and I’m pretty sure that’s how I became afraid of clowns. However, I do enjoy a challenge, and giving someone who does not scare easily a good scare… challenge accepted!

It was a dark and spooky night…

A teenage couple was joyriding in their speeder through the streets in a fancy speeder, when the vehicle suddenly started to shake and the front gave a loud POP! 

“Dang it!” said the boy. “Come on!”

The young pantoran tried to get his speeder working, but it just wouldn’t cooperate, giving him no choice but to pull over to the corner.
He popped the cover at the front, and got a bunch of black smoke to the face.

“Johnny, maybe I should call a tow shuttle,” suggested a human girl in the car.

However, when she tried to use her phone…

“Oh no. I’ve got no signal!”

“Don’t sweat it Kristy. Johnny Blue’s got this covered.”

And then he got hit with another cloud of smoke.

Kristy laughed.

“Actually, I think your car’s got you covered.”

Johnny spat out some residue.

“No kidding. Well, there’s gotta be somewhere here we can call for help.”

Johnny looked around and saw a sign that pointed towards the direction of the “Museum of Waxy Arts”. Perfect! He thought. Museums always had security guards, so he thought maybe they’d have a working phone they could use to call a tow shuttle and get home before their parents got worried.

“I’m gonna go see if there’s anyone at this wax museum.”

“Wait, Johnny! Don’t leave me alone!” Kristy begged, getting out of the speeder and clutching her boyfriend.

“Kristy, chillax. I wouldn’t leave you all alone in this…. Dark, creepy… spooky space. We’ll just walk together to the museum and….”

The two teens heard a hoot, then squeaks, and then a howl.

“Run!”

The two teens made like gingerbread men and ran, ran, ran as fast as they could!

Johnny and Kristy both panted as they raced to the Waxy Museum and up the stairs to the doors. Both of them were panting as they were tired from all the running.

“Next time, let’s just go see a movie at a local theater for a date.” Kristy said.

“Where’s the fun in that?” Johnny said.

Johnny knocked on the front door.

“Hello? Anyone in there?” He called. He knocked louder. “I know it’s late, but my speeder broke down, and my girlfriend and I were wondering if you had a phone we could use.”

“Look, it doesn’t look like anyone’s here, Johnny.” Kristy said.

She took her boyfriend’s hand and insisted they just keep walking and look for a convenience store or someplace they could call for help. But just as they were leaving, a voice called from the museum.

“Hello?” the voice said.

The young couple looked back to see a woman with an apron on. She looked like a nice woman. She asked if the teens were lost, and Johnny said they just needed to use a phone to call for a tow shuttle and a ride. So, the lady, who called herself Maxine Waxton, invited them to come inside to warm up. Johnny was ready to go in without hesitation, but Kristy had a bad feeling about this. Why weren’t there any security guards in this museum? The cameras didn’t look like they were working either, and there were cobwebs around a lot of corners of the outside. And all the dead plants didn’t exactly scream “popular tourist destination”.

“Johnny, look at this place,” whispered Kristy. “Does none of this cross you as suspicious?”

Johnny, however, just cockily straightened his varsity jacket and insisted nothing was wrong with this museum and the lady was perfectly nice. So, they went inside. 

It was dark, but via some lights flickering a little bit, Kristy could see wax figures of all kinds of people in the halls. But… Kristy could swear those statues looked awfully realistic.

“Beautiful aren’t they? My finest work if I do say so myself.”

“You made those?” Kristy said, albeit nervously.

“Oh, yes. And many more in progress. You came at a good time. I was just working on my latest creation when I heard you knocking.”

Ms. Waxton brought the two teens to a door, which led to a long hall. There was little light in there, and the lights were flickering. Kristy didn’t want to go in there, but Johnny thought she was being paranoid.

“Stay here in the dark if you want, Kristy.” Johnny said. “Sorry, Ms. Waxton. Kristy’s got a little bit of a nerve issue.”

“I do not!” Kristy said, offended.

Johnny rolled his eyes and said, “I’ll be right back. Don’t get too scared while I’m gone.”

“No, no!” Peppermint whispered. “It’s a trap! Don’t go in there!”

That’s right, those weren’t real events you just saw. It was a movie. 

Peppermint Twist, a pale pink unicorn with candy cane colored hair, was the steed of Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi. She was a candy-corn, and a bit of a scare enthusiast for someone you’d think would be associated more with the winter holidays by looking at her.

When you were little, your parents probably had a strict limitation to how much sugar you ate. Well, there’s usually a good reason for that. One, it’s bad for your teeth and can give you cavities if you have too much. Second, it’ll drain your energy and make you feel sluggish and weak if you have too much. And third… too much sugar can make you really jittery and jumpy.

However, being a candy-corn, eating a lot of sugar was a requirement for Peppermint, so the only way she got jumpy was if she was in the middle of watching a horror movie, and she happened to be getting to the scariest part, but then all of a sudden…

Kristy ran through the hall as quickly as she could when she heard Johnny screaming, but when she got to the end, she saw Ms. Waxton hanging him by his ankles in chains over a cauldron of wax! Kristy tried to fight Waxton off and rescue her boyfriend, but the crazy woman grabbed a knife and tried to stab her as Johnny was slowly being lowered toward the cauldron. Kristy grabbed the switch and tried to get Johnny out, but he shouted,

“Save yourself, my love!”

Waxton tried to stab Kristy again, but instead hit the control panel, and Johnny dropped quickly into the cauldron.

“NO!”

And then began the chase scene, and not a comedic one with running through doors in a hallway. Rather, one that took place in the museum with flickering lights, and Kristy bumping into a statue to find a corpse underneath the wax!

Peppermint was shaking as she watched the scene get more and more suspenseful by the minute, especially as Kristy was finding herself running out of places to hide.

“Come on, Kristy! You can outrun her!” Peppermint shouted at the screen.

But the movie began getting more intense as the psycho lady closed in closer and closer, and then….

Peppermint felt a hand on her back.

“AAAAHHHHH!!!!!”

Peppermint screamed.

“Ahh!” gasped another voice.

Peppermint looked behind her to see Obi-Wan taking a breath as though he’d just been startled. He was in his pajamas and he had bedhead too.

“Oh, it’s just you, Obi-Wan.” Peppermint sighed with relief.

“Peppermint Strudel Twist, do you have any idea what time it is?” Obi-Wan said.

Peppermint removed her headphones and looked at the clock. It was almost three in the morning!

“I do now.”

Obi-Wan caught a glimpse of the tablet on which Peppermint had been watching her movie.

“Peppermint, I thought we said no more late-night horror marathons. You know those keep you awake at night.”

“But nighttime’s when they’re the scariest.”

Obi-Wan took the tablet and turned it off, taking it with him as he left the room.

“Hey!” Peppermint whined.

“You’ll get this back tomorrow. Right now, most people including myself are trying to sleep. Now, go to sleep.”

Peppermint sighed as she reluctantly lay her head down with a yawn.

Peppermint wasn’t the only one who liked horror movies in the Temple either.

When you’re a parent with little kids in the house, you’re limited to what you can watch whenever the little ones are home. For Anakin, being a general in the Republic army, didn’t always have time for movies, but when he did, he enjoyed exciting movies, and ones that gave him a good scare. But, since he had two three-year-olds in the house, it was mostly Bright & Barly, The Adventures of Carolina South, and Blue’s Clues on the screen. If he wasn’t sure horror movies would traumatize the little ones, he would put on whatever he liked no problem. But even Anakin Skywalker wasn’t reckless enough to put on a scary movie with little kids around.

At the moment, Anakin was watching a scary movie called “Blink Twice”. It was a movie about these mischievous frat kids who instead of studying, pulled all-night shenanigans, and then one night, one of them rode his bike through some woods until the bike broke down. And then, in a very dark space, he saw a pair of green eyes staring right at him, not blinking at all. But when he looked into the eyes  and blinked twice…. Bad things happened.

“Don’t blink! Don’t blink!” Anakin yelled at the screen. “And she blinked twice.”

Then someone touched Anakin’s shoulder.

“AHH!”

“Ahh!” Ahsoka screamed.

“Oh, Ahsoka. What is it?” Anakin said.

“I heard you sounding like you were panicking, and… you’re watching a scary movie?”

“Yup. This one’s really good too. I’d show you it, but it might give you nightmares.”

Speaking of nightmares… Anakin saw Gabby walk into his room, rubbing her eyes with one hand and clutching Teddy in the other.

“Gabby? What are you doing here?” Anakin said.

“I’m scared, Daddy. I kept dreaming a monster with green eyes was after me, and then I heard a scream! Teddy’s scared too.”

Anakin grimaced. He must have been yelling at the screen louder than he thought. This was exactly what he was concerned about; Gabby hadn’t even watched the movie and it was scaring her already.

Anakin turned off his tablet and sent Ahsoka back to her room and picked up his daughter.

“Come here, Baby Girl.” Anakin said, hugging her as he sat her in his lap. “Don’t fret, little one. There’s no monster here. Except your Biscotti Monster. But he only eats biscottis, not little girls.”

Gabby looked up at her father curiously and asked him,

“Does being a grownup mean nothing scares you, Daddy?”

That was yet another big question from a little kid. Anakin told her,

“No, Princess. The media likes to call me the Hero With No Fear, but I do get scared sometimes. Like whenever there’s anything that could put you or your mother in danger. Things like wild animals, creepy sounds, or the dark can instill fear when you don’t know what you’re dealing with. But unlike those things, nothing can truly stop anyone from fearing harm coming to their loved ones.”

Anakin nuzzled Gabby’s nose.

“That’s just one reason I take such pride in protecting my loved ones. Like you.”

Anakin lay down, placing Gabby beside him and pulling the blanket over both of them. Kissing Gabby’s head, Anakin held Gabby close to his heart and softly hummed a soothing song to help her fall back asleep. And being held close to Daddy, Gabby felt safe and secure once more.

“No monster will ever hurt you as long as I’m around, my little princess.” He whispered.

Anakin gently kissed Gabby’s head once more and went to sleep himself.

But the horror fanatics didn’t stop when the night did.

“We’re almost to the end,” said Boba, who was wearing a headset while playing on a computer in the Temple library. And he wasn’t alone.

Vinnie was also playing on a computer with a headset on his head, and so was Myra. And their friend Rachel Kharen was connected via her laptop from her own bedroom.

“Careful with how we use our power, boys.” Rachel said. “If we run out, we’re doomed.”

“Uh-oh!” Myra gasped. “I think I see something in the hall.”

“Activating door switch now!” Vinnie said, hitting a key.

“Phew! That was close!” Rachel said. “Alright, everyone. As long as we remain focused and nothing distracts us….”

“Hi, guys!” exclaimed Skeeta, skating by, startling Boba into hitting the wrong button, and then a jumpscare happened on the screen, making the tweens jump in their seats and all of them groaned as GAME OVER appeared on the screen.

“Skeeta! You made us lose the game!” Myra said angrily.

“Sorry,” said Skeeta, dropping some books on a table. “Shouldn’t you guys be doing your homework though?”

“I did mine! Seriously, though. Who are you, our mother?”

“Garrett said we could take a break,” said Boba. “And since he’s taking the little kids out to pick their Halloween costumes, we’re playing a game. Multi-player mode.”

“ We were so close to winning, until someone startled Boba into making us lose power ,” said Rachel.

Rachel then looked at something off-screen.

“ I gotta go, guys. Mom’s calling me .”

Rachel hung up, leaving her friends to do whatever they needed to do.

“Speaking of Halloween,” said Myra. “Has anyone seen Comedia anywhere?”

Halloween was just a few weeks away, and everyone was excited. This was Boba’s first Halloween ever, and he was excited to go trick or treating. I mean, how could he not want to join in an activity where he could dress as anyone he wanted, then all he had to do was walk up to people’s houses, yell “trick or treat” and then people would give him candy. But it wasn’t just his first Halloween. This would be the first Halloween Myra and Kade would be celebrating since they moved into the Jedi Temple, and Vinnie was excited to spend Halloween with his friends. Everyone anticipated that Comedia would be super excited for Halloween too because not only was this her first Halloween where she wouldn’t have to sneak out to go trick or treating and hide her candy from her parents, but Halloween was a time of year for pranks. And Comedia was the queen of pranks.

Master Mundi had a day off today from fighting, so he was doing some chores in his apartment. And he was just about to walk into his bedroom to clean, when something jumped in front of him: a lion roaring at him!

“Hello, Comedia.” said Ki-Adi.

It wasn’t a real lion, It was just Comedia with a lion mask on, a golden brown onesie, and paw slippers on her feet.

“Weren’t you scared?” Comedia said, surprised.

“I was close to being scared, Comedia.” Ki-Adi ruffled Comedia’s real mane. “Now, if you’re done being a lion, would you be a dear and go finish cleaning your room?”

“Okay, Daddy.” the alicorn sighed.

A little later, Masters Windu and Fisto were walking down the hall, talking, when suddenly, a mummy horse with a gold face that looked like a falcon popped out and roared at them.

“Nice Halloween costume, Comedia,” said Kit.

Comedia removed the mask from her face, her real face looking confused.

“Didn’t I scare either of you?” Comedia said, sounding disappointed. 

Comedia looked at her mask.
“I thought I made this thing look super real and scary.”

“It does look scary,” said Mace. “Nice job.”

“Then how come neither of you got scared?”

“We don’t scare that easy, Comedia.”

Mace scratched Comedia under her chin, and left with the nautolan master.

“Hmm… if costumes aren’t enough to scare a Jedi Master….”

In the Council Chambers, the Jedi Masters arrived for a meeting, and they came to a rather adorable sight too.

Comedia was laying next to Master Mundi’s chair, fast asleep.

“It seems as though Comedia’s pranking tired her out.” Ki-Adi commented.

The Jedi Council started to approach their seats, when Yoda asked Obi-Wan what was so urgent. Obi-Wan was confused.

“I thought you were the one who called this meeting,” said Obi-Wan.

“Messaged me and said you all needed to discuss urgent business, you did.” Yoda said.

All the Jedi Council were confused all of a sudden, and Comedia was asleep, so it couldn’t have been her, they thought.

Master Plo was about to take a seat, but ended up plopping down on the floor instead.

“Ouch!” the kel dor groaned.

“Are you alright?” Mace asked, helping Master Plo up.

“Nothing hurt but my dignity… and my derriere.”

The other masters tried to take their seats, only to plop on the floor too. They tried again, and they fell on the floor again. This time, just Obi-Wan tried, and his chair moved. Any time any of the masters tried to sit in his or her chair, it dragged across the floor. Then suddenly, it wasn’t just one chair dragging across the floor, it was all of them, and they started to spin around floating in the air, then the lights started to flicker, and a gust of wind started to blow.

“GET OUT!” A voice echoed.

“Very funny, Comedia.” Adi said sarcastically.

Ki-Adi ruffled Comedia’s head to wake her.

“Comedia, you can stop this now.” said the cerean.

“Stop what?” Comedia said, then she looked up. “Ahh! Ghost!”

“But if you’re not doing this…” Obi-Wan said. Then he looked someplace and rolled his eyes. “Out of the air vent, Gabriella.”

Gabby placed the chairs down and came out from the air vent she’d been hiding in.

“Seriously?!” Comedia said. “That didn’t frighten any of you?”

All the masters shook their heads.

“How’d you know it was me?” Gabby said.

Obi-Wan picked up Gabby’s Barly plush from the floor.

“Perhaps start taking better care of your toys if you’re going to play a prank.”

“Barly! I’ve been looking everywhere for you.” Gabby hugged her toy.

Comedia sighed. Third time was not the charm this time.

“A clever prank, that was, Comedia.” Yoda said. “A great comedian you may become someday.”

“But I didn’t scare any of you.” Comedia said.

“Like Master Windu said earlier,” said Kit. “Jedi Masters do not scare easily.”

It was true. Every Master on the council grew up learning to control their emotions, and that included fear. So, Halloween pranks did not usually affect them very well. Comedic pranks, sure, because Comedia was very clever at hiding her pranks, but scare pranks… not so much.

“You might not scare us, but you’ll give lots of trick or treaters a good scare this Halloween.” Obi-Wan said.

“Well, those were just my warm-up tricks. Gotta stretch before you run, you know.” Comedia said, stretching herself a little before she galloped out of the room.

“She’s as excited about pranks as Peppermint is about horror movies.” Obi-Wan said. “Now if only Peppermint didn’t keep me awake when she enjoys them.”

“At least you didn’t drink Comedia’s latest prank with your coffee this morning.” Ki-Adi said.

“What’d she make this time?”

The masters got their answer when Anakin drank some juice, only to start hiccuping shortly after, and it wasn’t because he drank it too quickly, that they knew because every time he hiccuped, bubbles came out from his mouth.

*HICCUP*

Anakin coughed as bigger bubbles exited his mouth.

“Are you alright, Anakin?” Obi-Wan asked.

“Comedia snuck a new prank in my drink.” Anakin groaned.

“Hiccup Fizzy Candies.” Comedia said. “My latest creation. Once you ingest them, they make fizzy bubbles come out of you when you hiccup.”

“Hmm, very creative. But are they safe?” Kara said.

“Of course. I’m always the first guinea pig for edible pranks.” Comedia said. “But I’m gonna have some gross pranks ready for Halloween. Just you wait.”

Anakin chuckled and said, “I heard you kept trying to scare some of the Masters. How’d that go?”

“Not so well. They don’t scare easily, apparently.” Comedia said. “I used them as test subjects partially to make sure my pranks weren’t too scary. But… maybe they’re not scary enough. Not for Masters anyway.”

“Comedia. Like we said. Jedi Masters don’t scare easily.”

Comedia thought, and she said, “Challenge accepted!”

Meanwhile, Rachel was helping her mom out with a big project. Actually, it was a project that Senator Chuchi was endorsing. For this project, they took clothing and costumes people threw away and used them to make costumes for families who couldn’t afford to buy their kids Halloween costumes. They got a lot of requests from the kids they were helping as well as measurements.

“Costumes may be the most fun part of Halloween.” Rachel said. “Making them especially.”

“Pass me the jar of buttons, please, Dear.” Mrs. Kharen said.

“Here, Mom.”

Rachel picked up a little tube of glue to attach some more rhinestones to a tiara for a princess costume. That was definitely a popular costume choice among little girls this year.

Once that crown was done, Rachel picked up something else for another costume, and it turned out to be a fake lizard. But it had Rachel jumping because it looked so real.

“Ugh! Lizards.” Rachel shuddered.

Ever since that incident with Chameleon, Rachel gained a terrible fear of lizards and everything about them. Their quick-moving tongues, the way they stuck to walls, how fast they moved around, and their shedding skin. All of it was so disgusting to her now! And the fact that she’d been wrapping in Chameleon’s tongue, saw her throw up a bunch of phones, and her parents ended up in the hospital trying to protect her from that monster didn’t help either.

Rachel’s parents called the guidance counselor to make sure her trauma wouldn’t interfere with her education too badly, and Dr. Kharen contacted one of his colleagues from the psychiatry department to see if he could help Rachel conquer her fear. But so far, not much progress. She could handle school just fine, but when she came across a lizard in the girls’ locker room at school, she freaked out, as did many of the other girls. And it turned out to be a lizard that escaped from the science lab; they were learning about animal classes with some real animals brought in by an expert that week.

“Don’t overreact, Rachel. It’s just a toy. It won’t hurt you.”

“No, but Chameleon hurt you and Dad.” Rachel said.

Mrs. Kharen sighed.

“Sweetheart, your father and I are fine now, and that woman is in prison now. She can’t hurt you anymore.”

“But what if she escapes again?”

“I’m sure that won’t happen. Besides, if you’re going to let some little lizards frighten you, how are you supposed to enjoy Halloween with your friends?”

Rachel sighed and got back to work helping with the costumes.

“Look, Rachel. You want to be a senator when you grow up, right? Well, there are much scarier things politicians deal with than runaway lizards. Sometimes, you just need to consider what you’re more afraid of in the situation.”

“What do you mean?”

Rachel’s mom told her that life was full of unpredictability, and oftentimes, moments of fear or uncertainty were sent to test people, to help them grow. Everyone was afraid of something, and it didn’t always need to involve a monster with beady red eyes, sharp fangs, claws, or venom. One instance Rachel’s mom knew was when she was in high school and she had a boyfriend long before she met her husband. Back in those days, Kira Chuchi’s love life was anything but a dream. Her ex-boyfriend was a toxic fellow who always threatened to dump her if she didn’t start acting “more like a girl”. Kira was a tomboy type of girl, and she liked working with vehicles, getting dirty, and wearing baggy clothes. But, due to peer pressure, she started wearing dresses and makeup to impress a cute boy in school who didn’t like when she wasn’t being the proper eye candy. Sometimes, he even pinned her against the wall to yell at her, threatening to hit her if she upset him. Like anyone in a toxic/abusive relationship, Kira was terrified to leave. But after talking with her sister, she had to ask herself what she was more afraid of. Being single or being trapped with a monster for the rest of her life?

“It took a while to gather my courage, but after practicing enough, and getting my best friend to stand by me, I put on my most tomboyish outfit, walked straight up to that jerk Mason and told him, “this is who I really am, and I’m not going to apologize for it. If that’s not good enough for you, then this relationship is over.” After that, I wasn’t so scared anymore. If I hadn’t braved my fear then, I never would’ve gone and met your father, and you wouldn’t be here now.”

Rachel was astonished by her mom’s story. Escaping a bad relationship, she’d heard, was both scary and challenging, especially seeing all the cliques in school and how oftentimes members followed their leaders like lemmings. But her mom sounded like she’d done it so effortlessly.

“Lizards will only continue to frighten you if you let them, Rachel.” Mrs. Kharen said. “Consider if they’re really what you’re the most afraid of.”

Speaking of reptiles…

HISS!

A young scientist shrieked as a giant king cobra towered above her and her colleagues. It was dark in the rainforest, and a storm hit loudly with thunder, lightning flickering.

Everyone ran as fast as they could, but the snake quickly slithered after them.

“Run, doctors! Run!” Peppermint shouted at the screen on her tablet.

“Another horror movie, Peppermint?” Obi-Wan said.

“Shh! King Cobra’s just getting good.”

“Have you ever thought of watching something other than horror?”

“I do watch other stuff besides horror, I just like this genre best.”

“Why is that? Doesn’t any of that stuff frighten you?”

“Yes, but it’s just one way I face life being so on alert.”

Peppermint munched some popcorn.

According to Peppermint, watching horror movies unleashed a lot of adrenaline in her. Since she was the middle child in her family, she had to be both an example to her little sister and learn from her older sister, which was kind of tricky in the Twist family. Peppermint’s big sister Sugar Cane could be kinda bossy from time to time, and their little youngest Firework was very excitable and needed to be kept as calm as possible in order to prevent her accidentally activating her still developing firework power. In other words, it meant Peppermint didn’t always get a lot of excitement at home.

“We don’t really know how it happened,” said Peppermint. “But Firework has this condition where she can’t eat as much sugar as us without getting jittery. I thought she probably got switched at birth, but a DNA test proved that theory wrong. So, all we can do is make sure she doesn’t get too excited until she’s old enough to keep her own power under control. But I’m a unicorn who needs thrills, and horror movies do that quicker than action movies. And you gotta admit, it’s kind of interesting to wonder what’s going on inside these monsters’ heads. Every real monster we’ve seen stems from something starting out so innocent.”

“How so?”

Peppermint thought back again. You know how everyone starts out as tiny babies before they’re grown up? You started out as a baby yourself, so did your parents, even your grandparents. Even Master Yoda was a baby once, but so was every member of the Separatist Alliance. As babies, every living being starts out the same, innocent and dependent, and someday they’ll grow up to be something, whatever life has in store for them. But… that depends on how the baby is raised, and oftentimes the influences they have later in life. Not everyone is lucky enough to be raised by loving parents or have a big brother or sister who sets a good example for them, or even a mentor.

Comedia was one example. Had her big sister Emeraldi not been around to teach her things and love her, Comedia might have turned out a lot different being left completely alone with her biological parents. Or Anakin. Obi-Wan did his best to be a good father to Anakin, though he saw his master as more like a big brother, but that didn’t stop Anakin from getting into trouble, even with Anakin’s big sister Kara around. Being around bullies and even masters who didn’t trust Anakin took a toll on his mental health. Luckily, he had a caring master and his loving sister to take care of him, and look at him now, a proud loving papa with an adoring wife and a beautiful daughter of his own. 

“Sometimes I look at the monsters in these horror films and wonder if there’s some off-screen backstory to them. I mean, were they always that scary? Or were they just dealt a really bad hand and they chose the dark side?”

Obi-Wan stroked his beard in thought; Peppermint did raise a good point. Many of the villains in various stories did raise a lot of questions. Why did they do the things they did to begin with? Revenge? Greed? Or simply a sick game for kicks?

“I admit, horror does have its questionable moments,” said Peppermint. “Like why they have to make sacred places like churches where the most horrific parts take place. But, some you gotta admit are very creative.”

“True. I’d advise you to watch for Comedia, though. She’s been practicing her scare pranks all day today.”

Obi-Wan opened a cabinet, only for a goblin to jump out at him with a loud “Bleh!”

“Hello again, Comedia.” Obi-Wan said.

“You like my goblin mask? I made it myself.” Comedia said, taking the mask off her face.

“If being ugly is a compliment in this case, it fits the bill.” Peppermint said.

Obi-Wan chuckles and said,

“If all your masks are that good, perhaps you might consider a career in theatrics. For now, since you’re in there, would you mind grabbing the green tea box on your way out?”

“Sure.”

Comedia grabbed the box of green tea in her mouth and jumped out of the cabinet to give it to Obi-Wan before leaving.

“Just you wait until Halloween. I’ll give you a good scare, and I’ll have the last laugh.”

“The last laugh… sounds like a good movie title.”

“If you wanna see creative, you wanna come hear the new comedy routine I’m working on? Normally I practice in front of Benny Bear, but he’s… a pretty silent audience.”

Peppermint laughed and said, “Even when you’re not even trying, you make people laugh.”

“Go ahead, Peppermint. I can handle things from here.”

So, off Peppermint went to join Comedia on her comedic creative journey.

Garrett soon arrived with the girls after they finally made up their minds about their Halloween costumes. It took forever to pick the right ones, and to find the girls after a couple of very realistic decorations as well as some bratty kids taunting them with one of the scary masks had them running and screaming across the store. But they eventually picked out just the right outfits and some new trick or treat baskets so they could carry as much candy as possible.

“I can’t wait to go trick or treating!” Goldie said. “I’ve never gone before!”

This was Goldie’s first Halloween too. At least, one she would remember, and it was her first time trick or treating. Gabby’s too.

“Me neither. I hope we get lots of chocolate!” Gabby said. “I love chocolate candies.”

“I can’t believe how many werewolf costumes there were. They didn’t even look like Daddy when he turns into a wolf.”

“That’s true, unfortunately. Most scary movies give werewolves a bad rap.” Garrett said. “But that’s why we educate people on what they’re really like, because the more we learn about something…”

“The less scary it’ll be,” said the little girls.

“That’s right, my smart girls.”

"Hey, Garrett! Good, you're here." Comedia said. "I could use your help with a little something. And the little ones' too."

"I'm sure we'd all be happy to help." Garrett said. "What exactly do you need help with?"

"Come with me and I'll show you."

Chapter Text

Featured Music:

“Pop Goes the Weasel” (music box version) 

It was another day on Coruscant.

Today, Comedia was doing some grocery shopping with her dad. Candy was on sale everywhere with Halloween coming up, and you can bet Master Mundi took the chance to get his hands on some gummy bears. Comedia was definitely going to need to hide her Halloween candy, and that was assuming her adoptive father didn’t clean everyone out of gummy bears first. But thankfully, they were at the store for more than just candy.

Comedia held a box of kettle corn crunchies in her mouth as she helped her father carry their groceries to the speeder; it was her favorite cereal, and for a limited time, there was a prize inside the box, which was why she was so eager to get home to open it. Most people had to wait days, maybe even weeks to finish the cereal and get the prize, but Comedia, being a horse, could finish the box in a day if she so pleased. So, it meant they often got more than one box.

So, when they got home, Comedia opened the box of cereal and was already digging into the box she’d held in her mouth.

“Comedia!” Ki-Adi groaned.

It was just as well though; by now that box was covered in horse spit from Comedia literally drooling over her favorite cereal. And then Comedia took her head out of the box.

“Hey! I found the prize.” Comedia said, still chewing on a bit of cereal. “Ooh! It’s a big one!”

Comedia swallowed the cereal and now had something else in her mouth. It was a little blue pouch and she was quick to chew it open. Inside was a toy. It was a cute little bear with cymbals. Comedia pulled a string on the back of the bear with her mouth, and it played the cymbals. They made a chiming sound like a little bell.

“Aww!”

“What an adorable prize.” Ki-Adi said.

“I gotta show my friends.”

“After you finish helping me put these groceries away.”

Comedia used her magic horn and the Force to quickly put the stuff where it belonged.

“All done!”

Comedia picked up her toy in her mouth and ran out.

Master Mundi sighed and shook his head.

“Kids. Always in a hurry.”

Meanwhile, Garrett was giving a lecture on the M.A.R.E.D database and which criminals were high-priority captures. After Butch Melody almost got away with everyone’s horses, Garrett and the Jedi realized they needed to be more prepared than ever before. If certain criminals’ powers specifically affected a particular species, they needed to list all the criminals whose M.O’s matched the bill and which ordinas’ biology was similar enough to that of the intended enchanted to the point where they would be affected too.

Members of the Jedi Council were watching this lecture, and so were some of the kids, when Comedia entered.

“Thank you for joining us, Comedia.” Garrett said, then he noticed Comedia holding something in her mouth. “What you got there?”

“A prize from my cereal box.” Comedia said, placing the toy down. “Isn’t it the cutest thing you’ve ever seen?”

Comedia pulled the string and made the little bear play its cymbals, but Garrett looked worried.

“Comedia, put the toy down and back away from it slowly.”

“Why?” Comedia looked confused.

“Just do it!”

So, Comedia did put the toy down and back away from it, and Garrett put some gloves on and grabbed it.

“What’s wrong?” Magenta said. “It’s just a bear. One of those classic cymbal-playing toys.”

“I don’t know how it ended up in a cereal box, but this thing, as cute as it may look, is a cursed object!”

That made everyone worry and quickly back away.

“Cursed? How is it cursed?” Obi-Wan said.

“This bear has a backstory, and it’s not a happy one.”

According to Garrett, a long time ago, there was a kind man who adored children, especially his daughter Isabel. She was his inspiration to make many wonderful toys that brought joy to children, and many called him the Main Street Santa Claus for making so many kids’ wishes come true. Mr. Toymaker, that’s what most called him, made many wonderful toys for his Isabel. Tops that spun, balls that bounced, and dolls that talked, but Isabel’s favorite toy of all was a little bear with cymbals that chimed like a jingly bell. She called it Old Chimer.

Isabel loved Old Chimer like he was her little brother. She hugged him, kissed him, played with him everyday, and she always had him right beside her on her night table when she went to sleep. Mr. Toymaker was so happy to see his daughter happy. To him, she was as precious as a new toy is to a child, and he often nicknamed her Baby Doll because Isabel was so pretty and looked like a little doll. But then one day, tragedy struck.

A terrible storm broke out one night. Isabel was sleeping upstairs in her room while her father was working late in his workshop downstairs. The thunder was booming very loudly that night, and naturally Mr. Toymaker wanted to make sure his daughter wasn’t getting too scared by the noise. But as he climbed upstairs to his daughter’s bedroom, lightning struck their home, and sparked a fire.

Mr. Toymaker tried to run up the stairs to get to his daughter faster. He called to her, but fell through a step that broke, and he landed in the basement rather roughly. Mr. Toymaker tried to get up but he was badly wounded, and he heard Isabel crying “Help me!” and “Daddy!” But Mr. Toymaker couldn’t move.

Fortunately, a neighbor called the fire department, and they managed to get Mr. Toymaker to the hospital to be placed in a cast. All the while, he called for Isabel, but…. All they found was Old Chimer in his special pouch, but Isabel was gone.

Mr. Toymaker was overcome with grief when he learned what’d become of his daughter. He no longer felt the desire to make toys with his daughter gone, and each time he saw parents with their children, it only made him lose what little remained of his sanity. But then, he lost his mind and decided to do something unthinkable.

In the dark of night, Mr. Toymaker went to the graveyard and dug up his daughter’s coffin and took her body to his workshop, where you probably would’ve expected him to pull a Frankenstein type of deal. But he didn’t. Instead, with Old Chimer by his side, Mr. Toymaker combined what remained of Isabel’s body with various parts from some of his dolls and moving toys and performed a seance, hoping to bring her soul back into her body. But what he didn’t know was that by making contact with the dead, he called something else. 

Isabel’s soul did get called to her new body, but something evil entered Old Chimer, and whatever it was, it took control over Isabel and ordered her to kill her father!

Isabel, under this demon’s control, attacked her own father. He tried every which way to break her out of it, and people were scared when they caught sight of the chaos that hit.

Mr. Toymaker’s shop caught fire once more in the attack, but this time he grabbed his daughter and threw her outside before she could be killed again. Perhaps because that was an act of love, Isabel broke out from her trance, but the shop collapsed on top of her father!

Neighbors witnessed when Isabal attacked her father, all of them becoming scared when they saw she’d become part machine, and they accused her of murder. With no time to explain herself, Isabel ran and didn’t look back, once again leaving behind the only surviving item, her bear Old Chimer.

“No one knows for sure how Old Chimer survived. Some say it was by witchcraft, others by the demon that possessed him, but… a new toy shop was eventually built on the old grounds where Mr. Toymaker’s shop once stood. And legend has it that the ghost of Mr. Toymaker still roams those grounds, calling for his daughter, whose ghost also searches for her father. Only when they find the bear Old Timer together can they reunite and pass on into the afterlife. And whomsoever finds Old Timer must never pull the string three times, for this would call back the demon that possessed Isabel, to exact his revenge.”

Comedia squeaked.

“But… I just… I just pulled it two times!” 

“Comedia,” chuckled Anakin. “Don’t tell me you’re falling for this little Halloween prank.”

“It’s no prank,” said Garrett.

Garrett pulled out a satchel in which he often kept important items for his lessons, and he pulled out what looked like a folder of some sort, inside which he kept some old historical documents.

“I was saving these old newspaper clippings for our next lesson on dark magic, but take a look at this one.”

Garrett showed everyone an old newspaper, the headline reading: TOYMAKER MAKES A MONSTER!!! The picture was also one of a little girl who looked like she’d been turned into a living doll. The newspaper definitely looked old, very old. And the picture looked so real. Maybe the legend was real.

“I didn’t believe the story at first either, but remember… not everything is what it seems at first.”

“Well, I know I’m getting rid of this thing!” Comedia said, about to pick it up with her mouth.

“Actually, Comedia. Old Chimer should be kept in a safe place. If what’s said in the legend is correct, Old Chimer will act as a beacon for reuniting Mr. Toymaker and Isabel. Just take him to a safe spot and leave him there, and under no circumstances pull that string. Understood?”

“Yes, Sir.” Comedia picked up the toy and went to take it somewhere she hoped no one would find it.

Later, Master Mundi went into the holocron vault to retrieve a holocron to help with Comedia’s Force lessons. But when he got in there, he spotted something that shouldn’t be there.

“Hello, what are you doing in here?” said the cerean.

It was Old Chimer!

Ki-Adi pulled the string and made Old Chimer play his cymbals again, and all of a sudden, all the lights in the Temple started flickering and a cold breeze blew within every room in the Temple.

Myra, Boba, Vinnie, and Rachel all groaned as they were playing their computer game again, and the flickering lights made it turn off right in the middle of a hard level!

“Seriously?!” Myra groaned.

“Is it cold in here, or is it just me?” Vinnie asked, closing his jacket.

“No, it’s cold in here.” Comedia said, shivering a little. “I think I better get my coat.”

And Comedia was just about to leave the library, when she heard someone calling her.

“Comedia, there you are.” Ki-Adi said. “I found something that belongs to you.”

Comedia whinnied at the sight of the toy.

“Dad! Please tell me you didn’t pull Old Chimer’s string!”

Ki-Adi was confused. Even with two brains in his head, he couldn’t deduce any reason Comedia would be afraid of him pulling the string on a cute little bear.

“Is that the bear’s name?” 

“Yes, but that bear is cursed! I pulled the string two times, and now you did the third pull!”

Ki-Adi thought Comedia was just being dramatic, which was typically of grownups whenever children came to them with a problem that had them screaming or panicking. 

“Comedia, there is no such thing as curses. And this toy is not-”

He tried to hand the toy to her, but she quickly backed away and whinnied like crazy before kicking the switch to open the door and running out, shouting for Garrett.

Ki-Adi sighed. It was clear Comedia didn’t want her toy.

“Would one of you like to keep this?” Ki-Adi said, pulling the string again. “One of the little ones might enjoy it.”

“I’ll take it,” said Boba. “I think Gabby will like it. But, I’ll tell her that Comedia might want it back later.”

“Either way, I hope it doesn’t go to waste.”

Ki-Adi gave Boba the toy, and he decided to go look for his sister.

Boba looked in his adoptive father’s apartment to see if Gabby was there.

“Gabby? Where are you? I’ve got a surprise for you.”

Gabby didn’t seem to be in the room, so he left Old Chimer on Anakin’s bed with a note. He really wanted to get back to hanging with his friends; Anakin could give the toy to Gabby if he came into the apartment before Gabby did.

And…

Anakin did enter the apartment before Gabby did. He spotted Old Chimer on his bed.

“Old Chimer? What are you doing here?” Anakin asked the bear as if it would answer.

Anakin saw a piece of paper sitting next to the bear. He picked it up to read.

Dad,

If you’re reading this, this toy is for Gabby

Please give it to her and let her know it’s from

her big brother.

Boba

Anakin chuckled.

“I knew this thing couldn’t really be cursed. Since when is a cute little teddy bear anything to be afraid of?”

Anakin was going to look for Gabby, when he noticed something on the floor. It was a case for a video game. Anakin sighed and picked it up.

“I thought I told Boba not to leave his stuff lying around.” He grumbled, placing the game on the table. 

Anakin was just about to leave the room to go look for Gabby, when he got a notification on his comm that Kara needed his help with something right away. So, he put Old Chimer on his desk on top of Boba’s game, where he’d also left his tablet, and left to go see what his sister needed.

Meanwhile, Kara was in her apartment dealing with a little… situation.

“Comedia, get out from under there!” Kara groaned.

Just then, Anakin entered the room and asked what was going on. Garrett was in there too.

“Apparently, Comedia hid Old Chimer in the holocron vault, and Master Mundi found him.” Garrett explained.

“Pfft. That little bear?” Anakin scoffed.

“Yes, that ‘little bear’, and since he didn’t hit the story, it didn’t occur to him not to pull the string because it’d already been pulled twice.”

“And…. how did that lead to Comedia being… where?”

Kara pointed under her bed, out from which a curly yellow and orange tail stuck.

After Ki-Adi Mundi foolishly pulled the string on Old Chimer, Comedia ran straight to Garrett and told him what happened, and then he told her that this was very bad because since she pulled the string two times, the same demon that possessed Isabel would most likely go after her, so she did the only thing she could think of in a case where a monster would be after her: hide!

“I’m not coming out!” Comedia said stubbornly, moving deeper in and this time getting her tail in.

Anakin rolled his eyes and said, “Comedia, there’s no demon after you. I admit, the newspaper looked convincing, but Garrett, you can stop with the joke already. We get it, alright? You’re smart and a good actor.”

“I’m not playing a joke, Anakin. That bear is dangerous.”

“I don’t believe that. I just found that bear on my bed, and it was completely safe.”

“What?!” Comedia said, popping her head out. “How’d you get it?”

Anakin shrugged.

“Boba had it, apparently. To give to Gabby.”

Garrett suddenly looked very worried.

“You didn’t give it to her, did you?”

“No. It’s back in my apartment. Why?”

“We have to get that bear and take care of this now!”

Garrett rushed out of the room, but not without grabbing Anakin by the wrist to find precisely where he’d left Old Chimer. But when they got to Anakin’s apartment…

Anakin’s desk was completely empty, except for the lamp he used whenever he was working late on a droid or something.

“Huh? What? Where’s my tablet?” Anakin looked around the desk, and on the floor. 

No tablet, no game, and no Old Chimer.

“Forget your tablet. Where’s Old Chimer?” Garrett said, looking around rather frantically.

“Well, judging by Boba’s video game being missing, I’d say he probably took it and Old Chimer to give to Gabby.”

“You look for Boba, I’ll look for Gabriella.”

So, the two men activated their clava-detectors and went on to search for their chosen children. But, when they each found the two kids on the Temple playground, neither of them had seen or had with them Old Chimer, Boba’s game, or Anakin’s tablet.

“I went back into the apartment to look for my game, but it wasn’t there, and neither was the bear. I thought Gabby found it.”

And Gabby said she didn’t even know about the bear.

“This isn’t good.” Garrett said.

Garrett put out an emergency alert in the Jedi Temple that a cursed object was in the Temple, and if any of them came across a teddy bear with cymbals and a pull string, they were to keep their distance from it and report its location to Garrett right away.

But throughout the day, no one saw Old Chimer anywhere. Anakin also looked around for his tablet, but couldn’t find it anywhere.

Later that night, while the kids went to bed, Garrett had the Jedi Council gather again to lecture them on the importance of finding Old Chimer, especially given that Comedia was one of two people to pull the string.

“So that’s why Comedia placed garlic all over her bedroom door?” Ki-Adi asked now that he was all caught up.

“Yes. But garlic won’t repel a demon.”

“Doesn’t that stuff usually deter vampires?” Anakin pointed out.

“Only a particular breed of vampire.” Garrett said. “But, Master Mundi, I hope you didn’t leave Comedia by herself.”

“Not to worry. That is why I asked Master Koth to loan Zipp as her night guardian, she’s watching Comedia now, and I’m certain she’s fine and fast asleep.”

Suddenly, there was the sound of a loud whinny through the air vents. Master Mundi recognized that whinny; each horse had a distinct sound in regards to pitch, volume, as well as the typical length of whinnying. And this particular whinny belonged to…

“Comedia!”

But there wasn’t just one whinny. There was a second one that belonged to…

“Zipp!”

Both Master Koth and Master Mundi rushed downstairs and into Master Mundi’s apartment. It looked normal in there, but neither of them could see Zipp or Comedia.

“I’m sure they’re fine.” Ki-Adi said. “Comedia probably just had a nightmare and Zipp was startled when she screamed.”

“Except, Zeppeline doesn’t startle easily.” Eeth said. He only ever used Zipp’s full first name when it was a serious matter.

The two Jedi Masters approached Comedia’s bedroom, Master Mundi opening the door.

“Comedia? Sweetheart? Is everything all…” Ki-Adi gasped when he looked in the room.

The blankets on Comedia’s sheets were torn, Comedia’s prank supplies were scattered all over the floor, and her panda bear was laying on the floor next to Comedia’s favorite hat.

Ki-Adi picked up Comedia’s propeller beanie and looked worried. Comedia never went anywhere without her hat. She even slept with it on, and the tears in her bed sheets looked like they were made with something sharp… like a knife or sharp claws! And Zipp was gone too.

This could only mean one thing.

“Someone or something took them!”

Ki-Adi was about to press the red gem on his clava-detector, but there was one problem…

“My clava-detector! Where is it?!”

Ki-Adi rolled up his sleeve a little from his left wrist, but there was no sign of the bracelet whatsoever. Eeth checked his wrist too, and there was no clava-detector on his wrist either. But it wasn’t just their clava-detectors missing. Their communication devices were gone too.

“Okay, that is a little creepy.” Eeth said.

Ki-Adi shook his head. 

“There must be a logical explanation for all of this.” Ki-Adi said. “Comedia? Where are you?”

Suddenly, Ki-Adi heard a sound like someone crying, and…. A chime. Three chimes, actually.

“Daddy….”

That was Comedia’s voice!

The two Jedi rushed out of the apartment, where the lights flickered on and off for a bit, and lightning flashed as a storm began outside. Ki-Adi recalled Comedia being afraid one other night when there was a storm. This didn’t seem like a prank to him now, especially not when he heard what sounded like a bear roaring, and he heard Comedia crying again.

Ki-Adi looked to his left and saw, at the end of the hall…. A giant teddy bear! Only, this one looked anything but cute and cuddly. It had huge, sharp teeth, long sharp claws, beady red eyes, and he was holding a crying, struggling Comedia over his shoulder. The bear growled at the two Jedi before taking off with the young alicorn. Ki-Adi immediately ran after the monster, but when he got around the corner, it was gone!

“Comedia? Comedia!” Ki-Adi breathed heavily.

But it wasn’t just him.

Master Koth thought he could cut the monster off by going in the opposite direction, but instead, he was brought into a dark hallway, where there were only three working lights… barely working, actually. He could swear he felt a presence. Quickly, he looked back and in front. He didn’t see anything, but he did feel a cold wind blow, and then… he heard… music.

It sounded like a music box, and it was playing… Pop Goes the Weasel.

Then, Eeth heard a low growling sound. He turned around very slowly, and…

The other Council members, Garrett, and Anakin all soon exited the Council chambers and saw how the lights didn’t seem to be working right.

“What’s going on with the lights?” Anakin said.

“Hmm…. the storm it must be.” Yoda said. “Check the power, we must.”

“Do you think Comedia and Zipp are okay?” Magenta pointed out. “Maybe we oughta check on them.”

“I’m sure Master Mundi and Master Koth are handling-”

“AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!”

Everyone froze when they heard two more screams, and around the corner came Masters Mundi and Koth, both of them screaming non-stop as they ran for their very lives!

Mace and Luminara had to grab the two of them to get them to stop running.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa!” Mace said. “What’s going on?”

“Bear! Comedia! Storms! Lights!” Ki-Adi panicked until Peppermint whipped her tail in his face, making him cough.

“Take it easy, there.” Peppermint said. “What’s this about a bear?”

Ki-Adi and Eeth both told everyone that they saw some kind of bear creature, and it took Comedia, but they didn’t see Zipp anywhere. All either of them saw before they saw the bear was a little music box.

Peppermint’s eyes went wide.

“Uh-oh!” Peppermint said. “Call me crazy, but it sounds like that stuff with Old Chimer is really real!”

“Don’t be ridiculous.” Obi-Wan said. “I’m sure there’s a logical explanation for what these two saw. It might have just been the lights playing a trick.”

“It was no trick! I saw my daughter being carried by a giant bear!” Ki-Adi said, shaking Obi-Wan.

“I’m sure it wasn’t a monster.” Obi-Wan got the cerean to let go. “Look. Why don’t I go with you to Comedia’s room and we’ll find out what’s really going on?”

“I’ll go with you.” Garrett said. “I have night vision, after all. If I can sniff the scene of the crime, I think we can find Comedia.”

Suddenly, Anakin looked worried. If there really was a monster in the temple…

“I think I’d better go see my kids!” Anakin said. “Mace, maybe you oughta check on your family too.”

“Uh… yeah. That may be best.” Mace said.

“And I’ll go check on Vinnie.” Luminara said.

Everyone started to go separate ways, but Peppermint gasped.

“No, no, no! Don’t split up! You never split up in horror movies!” Peppermint said.

“Now I know you’ve been watching way too many horror marathons.” Obi-Wan said. “Look, Peppermint. I’m sure it’s nothing. It is stormy tonight, and it’s dark, yes. But, worst case scenario, the children are afraid of the storm. Why don’t you go with Anakin and Master Windu, if you’re so worried?”

“Okay…” Peppermint said. “But before everyone goes, remember these rules. No one say, ‘I’ll be right back,’ no making out, no letting your guard down, and if you sense something is weird, listen to those instincts!”

However, all the Jedi Masters thought, like Obi-Wan did, that Peppermint had been watching a few too many horror films. So, they split up and looked around the Jedi Temple for their children and for any sign of Comedia… or “Old Chimer.”

Anakin, Mace, Strawberry, Sapphire, and Peppermint were about to split to go check on their children, but Peppermint said,

“Wait! We can’t split up again! That’s how characters die in horror films!” 

“Peppermint, we’re not in a movie.” Anakin said.

“So? When’s the last time you saw Ki-Adi Mundi or Eeth Koth screaming and running away from anything?”

Anakin thought, and he had no answer.

“Exactly.”

“Okay, let’s say Peppermint’s right. Mace. We’re closer to your quarters, let’s make sure your family’s okay first.”

So, the group did go into Mace’s apartment. Brenda was fast asleep in bed. Myra was also asleep in her room… until she heard everyone come into her room.

“Dad? What’s going on?” Myra asked.

“Nothing, Myra. You can go back to sleep.” Mace said.

“No, she can’t!” Peppermint exclaimed, waking Myra more. “If you wake up from sleeping in a horror movie and go back to sleep, you get attacked minutes later. Myra, you gotta get up and come with us.”

“Fine.” Myra groaned, getting her boots on and coming with the others.

Just then, Kade came in too, yawning, and holding Kade Jr, his kangaroo, in his arm. 

“What… what’s happening?” Kade yawned. 

Peppermint picked Kade up with her teeth and placed him on her back.

“No matter what happens, Kade, hang on.” She said.

The group then went to Anakin’s apartment, and Anakin got worried when he saw Boba wasn’t in bed! Neither was Gabby!

“Boba? Gabby?!” Anakin panicked.

Anakin began hyperventilating.

“Calm down, Ani.” Sapphire said. “I’m sure the kids haven’t gone far.”

“Daddy?” cried a little voice. It was Gabby’s voice!

Anakin looked around, and then he immediately knew where to look. He opened the closet door to see…

“Kids!” Anakin breathed with relief, Boba coming out with Gabby in his arms.

Anakin hugged his kids tightly, so glad they were safe.

“You guys are lucky it was us who found you and not Old Chimer.” Peppermint said. “Because a closet is one of the worst hiding places to pick, along with under the bed or behind a curtain. They offer little to no protection, which is why they’re most often the first place a monster will look for you.”

Gabby squeaked, prompting Anakin to take her into his arms.

“Peppermint! Don’t scare the little ones.” Anakin scolded. He gently patted Gabby on the back. “It’s okay, Princess. Daddy’s got you. We won’t let that monster hurt you.”

“Let’s get the heck outta here. And stay alert.” Peppermint said. “In a movie, this would be the moment where everything seems normal, but the beast is just waiting to pounce at any moment.”

“Peppermint, we’re not in a movie.” Mace said, facepalming in annoyance. He was going to press the green butterfly on his clava-detector, but… “Let’s go find the others before- Wait! Where’s my clava-detector? And my communicator?”

Anakin looked at his wrist too.

“Hey! Mine’s gone too!” Anakin said.

“And so it begins.” Peppermint said mysteriously, thunder booming as though on cue.

“Peppermint!” Myra groaned. “You’re not helping.”

“But horror movies always have means of communication cut off in one way or another. Which means we’re on our own.” 

Meanwhile, Garrett exited Master Mundi’s apartment with Eeth and Ki-Adi.

“Isn’t there anything that can be done?” Ki-Adi said.

“The Jedi Temple is huge,” said Garrett. “If Old Chimer has Comedia, they could be anywhere. But, the good news is he won’t leave the temple. This demon inhabits the place it’s awakened, until it can be banished. But we have to find Comedia first before that beast finds the other children.”

“The other children?!” Eeth and Ki-Adi panicked.

Luminara went into Vinnie’s room, only to find his bed empty.

“Vinnie? Vinnie?!” Luminara breathed.

Luminara calmed herself. It was probably nothing; Vinnie’s father probably just called him to return home. Except…. Luminara heard something. It sounded like bells ringing, and it was coming from… Vinnie’s cell phone?!

Luminara picked up the phone and saw Vinnie had been getting text messages from an unknown number. And there was a video that looked like a swirly for hypnosis.

Luminara shook her head. Vinnie probably just got out of bed to go to the bathroom or get a drink of water.

“Vinnie? Vinnie, where are you?” She called.

She looked around her apartment, but didn’t see Vinnie anywhere. Now she was getting worried. She was about to press the green butterfly on her clava-detector, only….

“Where’s my clava-detector?”

Suddenly, Luminara heard a whinny.

“Gingerbread?!”

Luminara ran into the hallway and saw something on the wall. A message written in big dripping red letters.

COME AND FIND ME!

Luminara then saw the lights flickering, but she tried to calm herself.

“Vinnie? Are you here?” 

She just went on and looked around, hoping to find Vinnie in one piece, and alive.

Master Fisto came across his lady love Master Secura as he was looking for any signs of danger in another hallway. The lights were still flickering.

“Something very odd is going on in here,” said Aayla. 

“Not to worry, my love.” Kit said, wrapping his arm around his lady. “I’ll protect you.”

Aayla rolled her eyes. She loved Kit, but she was no damsel in distress.

The lights flickered again.

“Not to worry, we can light the way with-” Kit reached for his lightsaber. “Where’s my lightsaber?”

“You must have dropped it.” Aayla said, then she reached for hers, only… “Mine is gone too! And is my clava-detector!”

Kit checked his wrist and saw…

“So is mine!”

Suddenly, the two Jedi heard a whinny. And they looked to the end of the hallway to see Grassi being dragged away by something as she screamed for help.

“Hang on, Grassi!” Kit exclaimed, running toward the corner.

But by the time Kit and Aayla got there, Grassi disappeared into the dark.

Mace, Anakin, and their kids all passed through the hallways. The lights were still flickering, and it was quiet… too quiet. And with no means of communication, they were on their own unless they found the other Jedi.

“Obi-Wan?” Anakin called. “Luminara? Yoda? Anyone?”

“Something is very off about tonight,” said Mace. Thunder boomed. “And not just that storm.”

Suddenly, there was a growl, which scared Boba and Gabby.

“What was that?!” Gabby exclaimed.

“I don’t know.” Anakin said. “Boba, take your sister.”

Anakin gave Gabby to Boba and reached for his lightsaber, only…

“Where’s my lightsaber?”

“Lost it again, Skywalker?” Mace shook his head in disappointment and reached for his. “You really need to stop being so reckless with your- where’s my lightsaber?”

Anakin crossed his arms.

“You were saying?”

“Um… did anyone see Sapphire leave?” Myra said, sounding a bit freaked out as Sapphire was gone.

Sure enough, Sapphire was nowhere to be seen. How do you lose a horse so big and blue? Anakin looked around for his horse, but he tried not to panic. He figured maybe Sapphire was just scouting for the others.

“Oh no. Not this.” Peppermint said. “One unsuspecting character always wanders off at some point. The worst possible decision.”

“How do we find her?” Kade asked.

“I’d tell you the answer, but it would probably give you nightmares.”

Suddenly, everyone heard music… Pop Goes the Weasel on a music box.

At the end of the hallway was a music box.

“How’d that get out here?” Boba wondered out loud. 

Boba put his sister down and walked toward the music box.

“Big Brother! Don’t touch it!” Gabby said. “What if it’s cursed too?”

Boba rolled his eyes and said, “It’s a music box. What’s it gonna do? Sing me to death?”

Anakin felt inclined to agree with Gabby.

“Boba, I really think you shouldn’t-”

Boba picked up the music box, and then the lights started flickering faster and then all went dark and the group heard a scream!

And when the light came back on…

“BOBA!” everyone exclaimed.

Boba and the music box were both gone.

Gabby ran around the corner, calling for her brother.

“Gabby, don’t!” Anakin ran after his daughter, and then heard a growl and a scream!

Anakin breathed heavily as the lights flickered again, and he looked around to see claw marks on the walls, and on the floor, he found… Gabby’s teddy bear!

“NOO!!!” 

Obi-Wan, meanwhile, walked down the hall with Master Yoda and Magenta to check on the younglings. The lights were still flickering, and nothing seemed wrong… at first.

“I’m sure Peppermint’s overreacting.” Obi-Wan said. “You know, a few weeks ago, she was convinced that if she didn't lock the door to take a shower, a serial killer would come after her.”

“Mmm. Impressionable, she is. Also young. But wary, she is right to be.” Yoda said.

That was when Yoda and Obi-Wan heard someone screaming in despair.

“That sounded like Anakin!” Obi-Wan said. “Anakin?”

The two Jedi and horse all ran together toward the sound, and they came across a distressed Anakin and Master Windu’s family.

“What happened here?” Obi-Wan said.

“Sapphire! Gabby! Boba! Dark!” Anakin breathed.

Obi-Wan gently patted Anakin’s cheek.

“Breathe, Anakin. Breathe. Start from the beginning.” Obi-Wan said calmly.

Anakin explained to Obi-Wan what happened with the music box and how all of his family suddenly disappeared. And then Anakin thought about Kara.

“Kara! Where is she?” Anakin breathed.

“She went out on important business, remember?” Obi-Wan said. “Too bad we can’t seem to find our communicators… or our lightsabers.”

“Your stuff went missing too?” Mace gasped, showing his bare wrist and missing lightsaber.

“Odd it is, I must confess.” Yoda said, sounding slightly nervous.

“Odd might be an understatement,” said Anakin. Then he looked behind Obi-Wan and Yoda and screamed.

Everyone looked in the direction of whatever made Anakin scream.

There was a pair of green eyes at the end of the hall, like in that movie Anakin watched. But then…

“Hey… wait a minute.” Anakin said.

Now that Anakin was really looking, these green eyes didn’t look like the ones in the movie. These eyes looked too friendly, and they blinked. And then the owner of the eyes came into the light.

“Hey, guys.” Citrus said, a piece of bread in his mouth, which he gobbled up.

Anakin laughed, feeling so silly for getting scared like that.

“It’s no monster.” Anakin patted Citrus’ muzzle. “Just a horse with a monstrous appetite. I’ll admit, I was sure for a moment that Blink Twice came to life. If that were the case, the eyes wouldn’t blink and we’d have to avoid blinking if we looked into them.”

But something else appeared behind Anakin that had everyone looking scared. Obi-Wan pointed to the something behind Anakin, finding himself unable to speak without stammering as the “something” behind Anakin was a scary-looking pair of green eyes, and this pair, unlike Citrus’s eyes, didn’t blink, and they were looking right at everyone!

“An-An-Ana-Anakin?!”

“What?” Anakin said, noticing the scared looks on everyone’s faces. “Do I have something on my face?”

“No, but I don’t think we wanna see the rest of his face!” Myra said, pointing behind Anakin.

Anakin turned around very slowly and saw… the eyes!

Anakin gasped, and without realizing, he blinked once looking into the eyes. And then…. He blinked again. The eyes glowed, and a strong wind blew and green smoke appeared as whatever the eyes belonged to roared and sent everyone running away screaming!

Everyone ran and ran and ran until they had to be on the other side of the temple, everyone panting tiredly.

“Do you think we lost it?” Anakin breathed.

“I sure hope so.” Mace said, holding Kade and making sure Myra was still in front of him. “And it looks like the little ones are safe.”

“I’m twelve and a half.” Myra said. And then she saw someone else was missing. “Wait, where’s Strawberry?”

“Oh no! We didn’t let her keep up!” Peppermint said. “She’s doomed!”

“Kade Jr’s missing too!” Kade said, his arms empty.

“Relax, Kade. I’m sure your kangaroo will be fine.” Mace said.

But Kade wiggled and squirmed until he could jump out of Mace’s arms and run back for his toy!

“Kade! Don’t run back for your toy or-”

Kade screamed.
“KADE!” Myra screamed, looking around. “Peppermint, shine some light.”

Peppermint lit up her horn. Sure enough, Kade was gone.

“Oh boy. This isn’t good. We might not all survive the night.” said the unicorn. “Magenta’s gone too!”

“Find the others we must, before that… monster does.” Yoda said.

Luminara searched the halls for Vinnie again, calling for him, but getting no answer.

“Vinnie? If you can hear me, shout out!” Luminara called.

The lights flickered again and then Luminara could swear she smelled cinnamon and… strawberries?

“Gingerbread? Is that you?”

Suddenly, Luminara heard Pop Goes the Weasel playing on a music box. And then, she looked at the end of the hallway to see two horses. It looked like Strawberry and Gingerbread, but they were standing right next to each other, both of their faces looking emotionless, and for some reason they were both wearing pink gingham and and their manes tied in two braided pigtails each.

Luminara didn’t move as she looked at the two horses; they didn’t move either. The lights just flickered faster until they stopped for a moment, and the two horses said,

“Come play with us.”

Luminara screamed and ran away from this creepy scene as quickly as she could.

Meanwhile, Kit and Aayla managed to find what they hoped was a quiet spot they could hide from whatever took Grassi and come up with a plan to save her. But for some reason, they ended up doing more kissing than thinking. It did calm them down, though. Suddenly, they heard footsteps, and they stopped kissing, Aayla quickly shushing her boyfriend as they prepared to use the Force against whatever threat was out there. And when they opened the closet….

They just fell to the floor.

“What did I say about making out earlier?” Peppermint said. “You never do that in a horror movie.”

“We’re not in a horror movie!” the grownups said.

“Then how do you explain everything that just happened?” Myra said. “Whatever’s in this place definitely isn’t a Jedi or a friendly fairy or anything.”

Just then, Master Mundi entered the scene.

“It got Garrett!” Ki-Adi yelled.

Everyone was startled by Master Mundi’s reaction.

“What got Garrett?” Anakin said.

“Old Chimer.” Ki-Adi breathed. “He tried to get Master Koth as well. We escaped, but Garrett was captured!”

This definitely wasn’t good! So far, the horses had been captured, and so had many of the kids. If whatever it was could catch Garrett… it was definitely a powerful beast. It didn’t help when everyone heard someone else screaming either, and Master Plo ran in with Ahsoka in his arms…. And Ahsoka was not the one screaming.

“What happened?” Obi-Wan said.

“Something with green eyes attacked us!” Ahsoka said. “It got Fiesta, and it almost got us too and… oh! Citrus, you’re okay.” And then she caught a whiff of something. “What smells like garlic?”

“Probably the garlic knot I had for a late-night snack.” Citrus exhaled into his hoof and smelled. “Ooh! That is strong stuff.”

“And probably why that monster didn’t attack you.” Myra said. “Until we survive the night, don’t brush your teeth.”

“Okay, I cannot believe I’m saying this,” said Obi-Wan. “But… Peppermint… we need your horror movie expertise. It may be our only chance of surviving the night and finding the children alive.”

“Really? Okay.”

“In a horror movie, what usually happens at this point?”

“Well, seeing as we’re in a group. We have to stay together, because at this point, characters would be getting picked off one by one.”

Peppermint peered around the corner.

“All clear.”

Peppermint walked everyone down the hallway, everyone holding hands with someone… those who had hands anyway.

“So, how does that part usually work exactly?” Ahsoka asked. “Is there a certain order in horror films to how characters get picked off?”

“Well, there are a lot of stereotypes. A lot of people think it’s a blonde girl who always dies first. And there are also those who think it’s always a black guy who dies first.” That last bit scared Mace a bit. “Or the religious one. But it’s usually the comic relief character who gets taken first, which is probably why Comedia disappeared first. But if this group in particular were the one to be picked off one by one at this point, the most likely suspect would have to be-”

“Citrus!” Plo exclaimed.

“Called it!”

Everyone looked around.

“Hey, calm down, everyone.” Mace said. “I’m sure there’s a logical explanation. Citrus might’ve smelled a treat and-”

Suddenly, someone else vanished.

“Ahsoka?!” Anakin gasped. “Oh no! We’re getting picked off. Peppermint, what do we-?”

But Peppermint was gone!

“Peppermint?!” Obi-Wan gasped.

“Uh-oh!” Myra panicked. “Peppermint’s gone! What do we do?!”

Myra moved a little farther down the hall.

“She was the only one who knew what the heck was going on!”

Myra’s last word echoed as something very fast zipped by and took Myra!

Now all the Jedi were running through the halls and screaming. They soon came across Master Luminara as she pushed a bookshelf in front of a door.

“Luminara!” Anakin said.

“Help me board this door!” Luminara said. “Vinnie’s acting like a maniac!”

“Vinnie may be big and strong for his age,” said Aayla. “But I know he is not a maniac.”

Inconveniently, a sharp axe chopped through the door Luminara boarded, and then a fist punched through to reveal a boy with messy looking hair and grime on his face.

“Here’s Vinnie!”

That had the masters running and screaming again as Vinnie started to break more of the door down!

The Jedi Masters and Anakin all continued to run for their very lives. None of them had lightsabers, clava-detectors, or any means of communication whatsoever. And without Peppermint, they had no way of knowing what to expect next.

“How do we get out here?!” Kit panicked.

Aayla touched Kit’s shoulder, scaring him into Mace’s arms.

“Master Yoda, surely you don’t believe there’s really a monster in here, do you?” Obi-Wan said, hugging Anakin.

But even Yoda was shaking at this point.

“Mmm. Not sure I am anymore.” Yoda said.

“Daddy?” a voice called, echoing in the vents.

“Gabby?!” Anakin said. “Gabby, are you okay? Where are you?”

“I’m over here! We’re trapped!” Gabby said. “Follow the trail to find us!”

“Trail of what?”

Anakin looked around, and he saw a white daisy by the wall. He certainly didn’t grow that. It must have been Gabby!

Quickly, the Jedi looked around for more white daisies, and they followed them into the lower levels of the Temple.

There, they found a room that was normally used for storage, and they saw lights flickering there, brighter and faster than any other light they’d seen previously, then they heard the sound of three slow, gonging chimes, and then a child screaming!

“Kade!” Mace gasped.

Mace tried to run to help his stepson, but Eeth and Anakin held him back.

“Shh! We don’t know what we’re dealing with.” Anakin whispered. “We have to approach it very carefully.”

So, Anakin went in front and tiptoed towards the open door and carefully peered inside the room. And there… he saw….

To be continued….

Chapter Text

Featured Music:

1. “Five Nights at Freddy’s” by Living Tombstones

Let’s recap real quick.

Where we last saw the Jedi Masters, they faced some pretty strange stuff, actually scary might be more accurate. First, Master Mundi’s alicorn daughter Comedia found a teddy bear that turned out to be cursed, then all the horses and the children started disappearing one by one. Vinnie turned into some kind of axe maniac that tried to murder Luminara, and Gingerbread and Strawberry turned into some kind of creepy twins. Lights flickered, scary music boxes were heard, and there was a pair of green eyes somewhere in the Temple watching their every move. And then, the Jedi eventually heard Gabby’s voice and followed a trail of flowers that led them to some hidden hideout none of them knew about, and Anakin volunteered to go up front and see what they were dealing with.

Anakin gasped and had his back against the wall. He motioned for everyone to be quiet.

“On the count of three, we’ll go in together.” Anakin said. “Everyone hold hands.”

Everyone did hold hands, and on the count of three, everyone followed Anakin inside, and they were all horrified by what they saw. Inside that room, the Jedi all saw the missing kids and the horses, even Goldie! However, none of them were moving, nor did they look like themselves. Actually, they looked like they’d been turned into something… robotic almost. Animatronics, like in Boba’s video game.

“No one make any sudden movements,” whispered Anakin.

(Cue: Five Nights at Freddy’s)

Suddenly, all the kids and horses turned their heads to stare right at the Jedi Masters. All of them had a scary look in their eyes, even the little kids.

We're waiting every night

To finally roam and invite

Newcomers to play with us

For many years we've been all alone

We're forced to be still and play

The same songs we've known since that day

An imposter took our life away

Now we're stuck here to decay

The Jedi took that as their cue to run for their lives. They all ran out and Anakin and Obi-Wan shut the door, but on the other side, they quickly heard the sounds of all the animatronics trying to break out.

“Normally in the game, the animatronics can’t break through the doors,” said Anakin. “But that door?”

“Just keep running!” Obi-Wan said.

Then Aayla screamed as the Blink Twice eyes appeared in the dark again.

Please let us get in!

Don't lock us away!

We're not like what you're thinking

We're poor little souls

Who have lost all control

And we're forced here to take that role

We've been all alone

Stuck in our little zone

Since 1987

“What did that bear do to the children?!” Ki-Adi said.

“Turned them into toys, like in the story!” Eeth panicked.

Join us, be our friend

Or just be stuck and defend

After all you only got

Five Nights at Freddy's

Is this where you want to be

I just don't get it

Why do you want to stay

Five Nights at Freddy's

Is this where you want to be

I just don't get it

Why do you want to stay

Five Nights at Freddy's (Oh)

The Jedi continued running, but they ran into the two creepy horses in one hallway and Vinnie holding an axe in his hands.

“We’ve been waiting for you,” sang Vinnie.

“Come play with us,” said the ponies, sending the Jedi running again, this time scattering.

“Every man for himself!” Mace screamed.

Master Plo ran into another hallway, only to run into an animatronic Citrus… and Ahsoka!

“Come play with us.” Both of them said, which had Master Plo screaming and running away in the opposite direction.

All the Jedi ran in different directions, but all of them ran into something terrifying. For instance, when Kit and Aayla ran down one hall, they came across Grassi and Lala as animatronics coming right toward them, but neither of them were even moving their legs. The lights just flickered, and they got closer and closer.

In another hall, Mace came across Kade and Myra as animatronics.

“Come play with us, Daddy.” Myra said with a scary smile, scaring Mace away screaming.

Mace even tripped over Master Yoda, who was also screaming and running away from something, so Mace just picked him up and ran with him in his arms.

And in another hallway, Eeth and Ki-Adi caught sight of a pair of brown eyes flashing in the dark, and they saw Garrett in wolf form, growling and snarling at them as he clawed the walls and drooled from his mouth. Both Jedi screamed then bumped into each other before actually running away.

Obi-Wan and Anakin ran through one hall together, but came across an animatronic Peppermint, Gabby, and Boba, terrifying the two of them. Obi-Wan actually got scared into Anakin’s arms. 

We're really quite surprised

We get to see you another night

You should have looked for another job

You should have said to this place good-bye

It's like there's so much more

Maybe you've been in this place before

We remember a face like yours

You seem acquainted with those doors

Anakin and Obi-Wan ran into one of the training halls and locked the door, but in there, they came across a familiar pair of scary green eyes, and they ran back out, screaming again. But not for long, as Obi-Wan tripped and something grabbed his legs. It was Peppermint and Gabby!

“Anakin! Help!” Obi-Wan panicked, trying to escape without kicking either of the girls he loved.

Anakin grabbed Obi-Wan’s hands and tried to pull him free, but something grabbed Anakin’s ankle, scaring him and making it easier for the monsters to drag Obi-Wan away into the dark!

“OBI-WAN!” Then Anakin found himself being dragged away too. “AAHH!!!”

Eeth found himself being pursued by Zipp and captured quickly, whereas Mace found himself being grabbed and dragged away by his children.

Please let us get in!

Don't lock us away!

We're not like what you're thinking

We're poor little souls

Who have lost all control

And we're forced here to take that role

We've been all alone

Stuck in our little zone

Since 1987

Everywhere you looked, one of the Jedi was being dragged by the now animatronic children and horses. All except Luminara, who was dragged by Gingerbread and Strawberry and Vinnie held the axe.

Join us, be our friend

Or just be stuck and defend

After all you only got

Five Nights at Freddy's

Is this where you want to be

I just don't get it

Why do you want to stay

Five Nights at Freddy's

Is this where you want to be

I just don't get it

Why do you want to stay

Five Nights at Freddy's (Oh)

Anakin breathed heavily as Sapphire and Ahsoka held his arms and Boba and Gabby held his legs.

All the Jedi were dragged to one spot and towered over by whichever animatronic used to be their kids or their horses. Ki-Adi begged Comedia.

“Comedia, please! It’s me! It’s your father!” Ki-Adi tried to shake Comedia out of it, but instead, she and the others….

All of the roared an terrifying shriek which had all the grownup Jedi screaming.

It looked like it was the end for the Jedi Masters. Death by their own loved ones turned into machines.. Until….

The lights suddenly came on and….

“Gotcha!” Comedia laughed. And it wasn’t just her.

All the kids and the horses were laughing so hard, much to the Jedi’s confusion.

“But, you were- I…. We…. you!” Mace stammered.

“Where did? What?” Plo scratched his head.

“Happening here, what is?” Yoda said.

“What’s going on?” Anakin said.

“I second that question,” said Obi-Wan.

That was when another friend entered the picture. Teatra Stagehoof, as well as Kara, Carousella, Remix, and their kelpie friend Kelly.

“I think we can all explain that,” chuckled Kara.

“This was all a prank,” said Comedia.

Cue Flashback… (Comedia’s P.OV.)

I realized that just jumping out in masks and creating one little illusion wasn’t going to be enough to scare Jedi Masters. It occurred to me that it would take a special kind of scaring to get you guys frightened, so I decided to consult an expert.

That day I tried to scare Obi-Wan by hiding in the cabinet and jumpscaring him with a goblin mask, Obi-Wan thought it was just to try and scare him, but really it was so I could get to Peppermint without looking suspicious.

“ If you wanna see creative, you wanna come hear the new comedy routine I’m working on? Normally I practice in front of Benny Bear, but he’s… a pretty silent audience. ”

Peppermint laughed and said, “ Even when you’re not even trying, you make people laugh.”

“Go ahead, Peppermint. I can handle things from here. ”

I brought Peppermint to a safe space where she knew the Jedi wouldn’t overhear us. 

“ Okay, what’s the real reason you brought me down here? ” Peppermint asked me .

“ I need your help with something much scarier. You watch horror movies, right? ”

“ Day and night. Why? ”

I told Peppermint all about how I kept on trying to scare the Jedi Masters, but all of them were proving tough nuts to crack. It occurred to me that despite my parents forcing me to watch horror movies as a baby, my expertise in it is more trauma than knowledge. So, I asked Peppermint if she would help me pull off a prank that would give the Masters a good scare.

Then Peppermint smiled and said, “ I’ll do it! But…. we’re gonna need a lot of help. ”

(No P.O.V.)

Comedia knew the prank had to be pulled before Halloween; pranking on Halloween would’ve been too obvious, and the Jedi would see it coming easily. So, she and Peppermint brainstormed together, and they got help from someone who could memorize the habits and actions of multiple people and not forget a single detail if he tried: Dash.

Using Dash’s H.P.I, the girls narrowed down things that were horror related, such as the last scary movie Anakin watched, as well as the horror survival game that Myra, Boba, and their friends had been playing lately. Then, they recruited the other horses to help out, and got the kids in on it too, even Ahsoka. However, they were also going to need help from someone who was not tricked so easily. So naturally, they recruited Garrett, and looking through some old scripts Téatra had of scary movies that were never made, he selected the perfect on to be the foundation of the story. Plus, with his knowledge in magic tricks, he would be very helpful in guiding the group in brainstorming methods of misdirection. But before the team could officially proceed with their plan, they needed another kind of recruit too. If they wanted to scare Jedi Masters, they needed a Jedi Master on their team.

It was then Gabby told the ponies… 

“Auntie Kara’s been saying she’d like to get back at Daddy for the laundry basket incident.”

“What’s the laundry basket incident?” asked Citrus.

“Not sure, but it made Auntie Kara angry.”

So, that became the leverage the group needed to recruit Kara. But, they still needed one more helper. That was when Carousella and Remix got in touch with Téatra. So, combining Comedia’s pranking expertise, Peppermint’s knowledge on horror movies, Téatra and Vinnie’s combined theater experiences, Remix’s lighting skills, as well as Gabby’s weather magic, they came up with a perfect strategy to give each of the Jedi a good scare.

The axe that Vinnie was carrying? It was a prop made to look real, but didn’t actually hurt. The door he smashed when Luminara tried to escape him? Téatra replaced the real door with one made out of styrofoam topped with painted balsa wood. Everyone looking like they’d turned into animatronics, scary twins, and/or an axe maniac? Costumes and makeup, the latter of which everyone wiped off now to show they were okay. The lights flickering? That was Remix and Carousella using Remix’s light equipment to connect with the power and make them have the right effect on Téatra’s cue. The giant bear? That was just Kelly the kelpie shapeshifting to look like a giant bear. And the lightsabers, communicators, clava-detectors, and everyone getting picked off one by one? That was just Kara using her super speed to get rid of any real weapons and avoid any unnecessary emergency contacts, plus added effect. And the “blood” writing on the wall and claw marks? Just paint and special effects. And Téatra oversaw it all from the security cameras with Cin Drallig, who agreed to help after notifying the Temple guards it was all a prank.

Present…

“Okay, I can see how you used all that stuff for the illusions,” said Anakin. “But how did you do the eyes from Blink Twice?”

“You mean these?” Garrett said.

Anakin looked behind him, then screamed and jumped into Kara’s arms as he saw the eyes again, this time in the light.

Garrett laughed as he took off a giant pair of glasses. It was just one of Comedia’s pairs of funny giant glasses with the lenses decorated to look like the eyes from the movie, and painted with glow-in-the-dark paint.

“Got you back for that little prank you did back home too, little brother.” Kara teased Anakin, still in her arms.

“Will you just put me down, please?” Anakin said.

“Okay.”

Kara dropped Anakin on the floor.

“So, that story really was just a prank! I knew it!” Anakin said.

“We still scared you, Daddy!” Gabby said. “And Uncle Obi-Wan, Uncle Mace, Aunt Luminara-”

“Okay, we get it!” Mace said. “You got all of us.”

“We really got you, Daddy.” Myra laughed.

“You didn’t get me that bad-”

“BOO!” Kade shouted.

Mace jumped with a gasp, both of his kids laughing.

“Okay, seriously that’s enough, you two.”

“I must admit,” said Kit. “That was very clever.”

“Never scare me like that again, Vinnie.” Luminara said.

“Come on, you know we were only playing.” Vinnie laughed.

Ki-Adi stroked Comedia’s muzzle, glad she was okay and she wasn’t really hurt, and the bear wasn’t cursed either. In fact, Comedia had the bear with her.

“It’s just a cute little toy we found on clearance at Toys R Fun.” Comedia said, pulling the string and making the bear chime its cymbals cutely.

“What a relief,” said Ki-Adi. “You really scared all of us, Comedia. I don’t think we’ll forget this prank for a while. And the music boxes were a nice touch.”

Comedia suddenly had a confused look on her face.

“What… music boxes?”

“The ones you put out?” Boba said. “Like the one I picked up before Aunt Kara whisked me away?”

“Didn’t you put them there?” Myra said.

“No.”

“Téatra?” Carousella asked.

“Not me.” Téatra shook her head.

“Garrett?”

“Not guilty.”

Everyone else denied placing the music boxes. So, if Téatra didn’t plant the music boxes, the kids didn’t plant the music boxes, the horses didn’t plant the music boxes, and the Jedi didn’t plant the music boxes. Who did?

Suddenly… Pop Goes the Weasel played again… on a music box down the hall!

As soon as it stopped playing….

Everyone screamed and ran away except for Comedia… who fell on the floor and started laughing.

“Okay, Emeraldi. You can come out now.” Comedia said once she calmed down.

Emeraldi came out from a closet that had a Keep Out sign on it. She was laughing too.

“We so got them!” Emeraldi laughed.

The Evermare sisters hoof-bumped each other victoriously as their prank succeeded.

“That was a great prank, little sis.” Emeraldi said.

“I didn’t do it alone.” Comedia smiled. “Come on, let’s go find my dad and let him know it was just you.”

“Do you think that whole story with Old Chimer could be really real?” Emeraldi said. “And Mr. Toymaker and his daughter Isabel?”

“Hey, I literally drenched that toy in holy water to make it look extra convincing that I feared for my life, but I’m pretty sure the whole ghost thing was just a cancelled movie.” Comedia said. “But… even if it were true, hopefully by now, Mr. Toymaker and Isabel are able to rest in peace.”

Comedia went to sleep with Old Chimer on her nightstand. But as she was sleeping, she didn’t notice a new presence in her room in the form of a little girl with blonde hair tied in two pigtails in a yellow and white polka dot dress.

“Thanks for watching Old Chimer, Comedia.” said the ghost. “Take good care of him for me, okay?”

The little girl ghost was picked up by another ghost, this one of a kind-looking man with round glasses, a blue shirt and green suspenders on his pants. And together, they disappeared, leaving the bear behind.

As soon as the ghosts vanished, Comedia woke up and looked around.

“Huh?”

Nothing seemed out of the ordinary, so Comedia just went back to sleep. And as though to cue the end of the movie, Old Chimer had a cute twinkle in his little button eyes as he chimed his cymbals three times one more time.

And that’s the end of this Halloween tale. How’d you like the big finish to the prank? It would’ve been longer, but I have another Halloween story in the works for a chapter in Secrets of the Hearts. I hope you’ll enjoy it once it’s ready.

Chapter Text

Five months before Valentine's Day, a special Valentine's Day story for this series. 

Hope you enjoy. Please don't forget to leave a comment if you like the story

That time of year had come. Valentine’s Day. At least, it would be in just a few days. Though it may be just a commercial greeting card holiday to some, it could also be used as an excuse to say “I love you” to someone you care about… or to buy and eat lots of chocolate.

Commercial holiday or not, lots of people were super excited across the galaxy for the big day. Guys were prepping romantic gifts for their lady loves, or the other way around. People who were even just friends began preparing something special to say “I love you”. Even family members got something special ready for their loved ones.

Now that the Jedi were allowed to fall in love if they so pleased, even they were preparing something for their loved ones. Friends were making cards for each other with personalized touches, kids were personalizing special crafts for their parents, and some folks… had a very special surprise in mind for a very special someone.

Days before Valentine’s Day, Master Fisto invited his girlfriend Aayla Secura to join him in the Room of a Thousand Fountains, one of the most beautiful rooms in the Jedi Temple, and a great place to have some quiet alone time.

The two spent some time making out until Kit had something he wanted to say.

“Aayla. Since we’ve rekindled our romance, I’ve never been happier. My love for you is deeper than even the deepest depths of all the aquatic worlds combined.”

Aayla smiled and said, “I used to wonder if I made the right decision to end the relationship before, and now I know it was truly my biggest regret. Now, I am grateful that we could have a second chance.”

“As am I. In war time, second chances are a rarity. But finding a woman who lights up my world as brightly as you, an even more precious rarity. That is why I wanted to take this chance today with you, my blue beauty.”

It was then that Kit got down on one knee, to Aayla’s great surprise, and he pulled out what looked like an oyster shell. Kit opened it to reveal a simple silver ring with a tiny blue garnet on it.

“Aayla Secura, will you marry me?”

Aaylas couldn’t believe this was happening. She was speechless as happy tears came to her eyes. And when she finally found her voice, she said,

“Of course I will!” 

Kit slid the ring onto his girlfriend’s finger, and she pulled him into another passionate kiss.

You can probably imagine, everyone voiced their congratulations to the happy couple when they announced their engagement.

Kit wasn’t the only one with a special woman in his life this Valentine’s Day either.

Mace Windu, second in command on the Jedi Council, a powerful Jedi, and a stickler for rules. He wasn’t the kind of man you would’ve expected to have snuck out to have a forbidden love story when he was younger, and yet… he did just that. A while back, he made the biggest mistake of his life leaving his girlfriend Brenda, the love of his life, for the sake of the Jedi Order. But eventually, he got a second chance, and not just with her, but the daughter he didn’t even know about until he and Brenda found each other again.

When Mace and Brenda got back together, he gave her a simple ring made of copper wire as a promise that he was committed to her, and this time, he was not intent on leaving her, thus promising one day they would finally get engaged. And now, he was planning on fulfilling that promise.

Today, Mace held a little box of purple velvet inside which was a lovely ring of silver with a small diamond on it. To some more shallow women, that ring would hardly be a real engagement ring. It was nowhere near as big as the ring Lyle had given Brenda when he proposed to her, but Mace knew Brenda wasn’t the kind to flaunt or measure love by the size of a rock on her finger.

This was it, this was going to be the moment Mace Windu finally proposed to Brenda. He had a whole great Valentine’s Day date planned out and everything. Dinner at a nice restaurant, just the two of them, and attending an open mic night where Mace intended on confessing his love to Brenda in a poem he spent weeks perfecting and then getting down on one knee to pop the question.

“Brenda’s in for a big surprise this Valentine’s Day.”

Not everyone was celebrating the holiday, of course, but even those who weren’t celebrating Valentine’s Day would have to be crazy to reject one of Strawberry Sundae’s chocolate heart cookies drizzled with pink frosting topped with pink and chocolate sprinkles. Outside of each classroom, Strawberry left out a box of her cookies to be passed out to the students. Each cookie was wrapped in pink foil and had a random Valentine message written on it. “You’re amazing,” “You’re so special,” “Hugs and kisses!” things like that.

But when Myra went to the library to get started on her homework, she spotted something on the computer desk. It was a red rose taped to a card of some sort, and there was a smaller card on top of it with Myra’s name on it.

Myra picked up the card. It had a picture of a hamster on it with a message “Chews Me as Your Valentine,” and she found a poem written inside too:

Myra, oh Myra

You make my heart sing 

Like a song straight from heaven

Beasts so vile bow at the girl so fierce

Suns are put to shame when compared

To the glints of your smile

When you strum your song

I am under your spell

Like a rock star with a beating drum

My heart beats loud

For you are the one

Happy Valentine’s Day

From, Your Secret Admirer

Myra was silent. That poem was beautiful! It really touched her, but… the card didn’t have a name on it. Just “Secret Admirer.”

“A secret admirer? I have a secret admirer?” Myra couldn’t believe it. 

That was when she saw Boba walking by.

“Boba!” Myra called. She approached him as he stopped. “Did you leave me this?”

Boba looked at the card and shook his head, saying he didn’t leave the card; he just walked into the library. He didn’t see anyone leave it there either. Myra believed him; she was good at spotting liars, and Boba learned early on that messing with Myra was basically a death wish.

“Maybe someone in one of your classes left it for you.” Boba shrugged.

So, Myra decided she needed to look for the one who left her this card. Unfortunately, the message inside the card had been typed and stuck in, so she couldn’t match the handwriting for a clue. Thus, she decided to do the next best thing: ask every boy in her class if they left the card, and whichever ones said yes, she’d ask them to say what was written in the card to make sure they were being honest. 

Myra searched all day, but couldn’t find her secret admirer. She even showed her mom the card she got.

“Oh, how romantic.” Brenda said. “Well, Myra… I may not know who wrote this, but whoever he is, he sounds like a real prince of a young man. But if he wants to win my daughter, he’ll need to do more than poetry.”

Myra rolled her eyes; she could practically see her mom getting all Mama Bear all over her secret admirer… that is, if she could even imagine what he looked like.

Later that night, Mace put on some nice clothes to take Brenda out on their romantic night on the town, just the two of them. Brenda’s sister Heidi came over to babysit the kids.

Mace’s jaw dropped when he saw Brenda all decked out in a lovely purple dress. His favorite lady

“You two be good for Aunt Brenda while we’re out, okay, kids?”

“We will,” said Myra. “Have a nice, romantic night.”

“Okay, Mommy.” Kade said.

Mace and Brenda went out to enjoy their Valentine’s date. It was already a beautiful night, and there were lots of couples walking down the streets for a lovely stroll. Couples were sitting on benches while holding each other in their arms, love songs were playing on all the radios, and practically everywhere you looked, you’d see a guy presenting beautiful flowers to a lady, lovely ladies holding their boyfriends in a dip to smother them in kisses, and occasionally, a man popping the question to the lady love of his life…. Much like Mace was planning to do tonight, starting with treating Brenda to a romantic dinner at a nice restaurant he made a reservation at. Except… when they got there…

“What do you mean you gave our table away?” Mace asked, sounding reasonably upset. “We’re right on time. I booked this reservation a month in advance.”

“I’m sorry, Master Jedi… it appears our host got the reservations mixed up. We can get you another table, but it’d be a ninety minute wait.” said the hostess.

Mace groaned. No surprise there; if you wanted to eat out on Valentine’s Day, you had to book a reservation months in advance just to have a place to sit, what with all the couples going on dates and other men choosing romantic spots to propose to their girlfriends.

“Normally, I’d just let this slide, but how on Coruscant do you manage to give a reserved table away to some random patron?”

Brenda, however, grabbed her boyfriend’s shoulder to calm him down,

“It’s alright, Mace. We can find somewhere else to go.”

Mace looked all around for any place that he could take Brenda to dinner, but every nice restaurant was fully booked, even Dex’s Diner. The only place Mace could find with any decent food was a burger place, which they might have been a little overdressed for, but at least they wouldn’t go hungry for the night.

“Okay, so dinner didn’t go as planned,” said Mace. “But, we still have the open mic night to go to. I know how much you love poetry.”

“Aww… how sweet. You know, I still remember that poem you wrote on our first Valentine’s Day when we were dating the first time.”

“You do?”

Most guys probably went with the cliche of “Roses are red, violets are blue,” but in a special Valentine poem for Brenda, Mace went with…

Orchids are white

And purple too

Sunflowers are gold,

And follow the light

A light so bright

The one of my life

Her skin is dark

Her hair like silk 

Her eyes so hazel

Her spirit is bright

The one and only 

Light of my life.

Mace was impressed with how well his girlfriend remembered poetry so well, including some from years ago. But, the way Brenda put it, how could she forget a poem so romantic? Most wouldn’t know it when they first met Mace, but underneath that tough exterior was a soft inside with a bit of spice, which was why Brenda sometimes nicknamed her boyfriend Snickerdoodle, but only when they were alone. Brenda knew Mace was all serious about his image as second-in-command to the Grand Master of the Jedi Order.

“Well, I can tell you definitely won’t forget this night.” Mace said.

Brenda and Mace soon arrived at a lovely cafe where the open mic was taking place. There, people sang a song, spoke poetry, or even did a comedy routine, and tonight all of them were Valentine’s Day related.

Mace was pretty anxious now, especially once he signed his name on the list of people to go next. He had a great new poem he’d spent weeks writing and rewriting until he got it perfect so he could speak it on stage and then get down on one knee to pop the question.

Mace pulled out a chair at one of the tables for Brenda as a teenage girl playing her guitar was finishing her song.

“That was a song for my grandpa. Love you, Pop.”

There were a lot of aww’s from people in the audience when the girl blew an older man, presumably her granddad, a kiss.

As coincidences go, Mace and Brenda saw a pair of familiar faces in the form of Comedia and her adoptive father. But, that was no coincidence. Mace needed someone around to help make sure nothing went wrong at this poetry night, and Comedia had been working on a new comedy routine, so it was a perfect cover for her and Master Mundi being there.

Mace held Brenda’s hand and kissed her lips.

“I don’t want to jinx it, but I think this part of tonight is going to be perfect.” Mace said.

“It already feels perfect, my love.” Brenda smiled.

And it’s about to become even more perfect. Mace thought.

Soon, it was Mace’s turn to get on stage, but as he was about to step up, he tripped and dropped something. The velvet box he’d been holding in his pocket. Fortunately, he managed to grab it before Brenda could see it, but when he looked inside, the ring was gone!

Suddenly, Mace saw the ring rolling away, and he immediately went after it, chasing it all the way outside. He kept trying to grab it, but it always managed to slip away, and it was moving too fast for him to use the Force to grab it. But while he was chasing the ring, Brenda was sure to notice he was gone, so he contacted Master Mundi right away.

“Master Mundi, I have a bit of a situation!” Mace tried to grab the ring again. “You need to tell Comedia to go on with her routine as long as she can! Tell Brenda… I needed to warm up for my turn.”

Master Mundi put his hand over his communicator so Brenda wouldn’t overhear Mace. He didn’t need the Force to sense that Mace’s proposal was in jeopardy, so he told Comedia that she needed to prolong her routine once her turn came up, and almost inconveniently, it was Comedia’s turn now!

“Uh, how long should I keep it?” Comedia asked.

“Until Master Windu has…” Ki-Adi looked around to make sure Brenda wasn’t listening, then he whispered. “The ring.”

“Oh… okay.”

So, Comedia stepped on stage to begin her routine.

“Alrighty…. Good evening, everyone. I’m Comedia Mundi, and it’s Valen-time for some real romantic comedy. Ah, Valentine’s Day, a day of love, and a good excuse for chocolate too, am I right? You know, I have to say I’m green with envy right now, but then again, I’m always green.”

That earned a few chuckles from the crowd.

“I’m green with envy because I can see so many of you out there who seem to know what to say when it comes to love. But from what I know, love is no joke, but two horses I knew didn’t see it that way.”

Comedia proceeded to make her routine funny by telling stories about the times she played pranks on her birth parents and creatively adding a few Valentine’s Day puns to them… hopefully enough to give Mace time to rescue his engagement ring for Brenda.

Mace chased the ring down the streets and managed to grab it just before it could fall down a storm drain.

“Phew! That was a close one!” Mace breathed.

That should’ve been the end of it, but then someone walked out of a nearby flower shop, carrying more flowers than they could manage, and bumped right into Mace, making him fling the ring into the air, and it landed on the other side of the street and then landed in a basket that a human man picked up. Mace ran and tried to stop the man before he could take off, but he already got into his speeder and drove off.

“No!”

Mace exclaimed in frustration, but then calmed himself. He got a good look at the vehicle and saw which direction it went in. If he took the right path, maybe he could catch up to it, and quickly too.

Back at the café, Comedia was telling more jokes, making the audience laugh so hard.

“A friend of mine, he was the ring bearer at a wedding once. He said it was a bore, but he might’ve been upset because while charged with the rings, he had to grin and bear it.”

Comedia looked at Ki-Adi with a certain look in her eyes. Ki-Adi contacted Mace on his comm.

“Master Windu, where are you?”

“I’m still going after the ring! You gotta keep stalling.”

Ki-Adi looked at Comedia and motioned for her to keep going. Comedia felt a bit of pressure now. She started to brainstorm any Valentine’s Day jokes she knew.

“Speaking of weddings, did you hear about the phone and the radio’s wedding? I hear the reception was great.”

Cue rimshot and laughter.

Brenda, however, was beginning to worry when she realized Mace was nowhere to be found, and she didn’t need to be a Jedi to have a sense he didn’t just go off to the men’s room.

“Where could he have scampered off to?”

Comedia saw that Brenda was about to get suspicious; she needed to distract her.

“Hey, Brenda! Knock-knock!”

“Who’s there?” 

“Iguana”

“Iguana who?”

“Iguana get you up on stage for a joke or two.”

Meanwhile, Mace rushed all the way to a fancy restaurant across town, where he was sure he’d seen the man with the gift basket go into.

Mace rushed inside, but the hostess asked if he had a reservation.

“No, but there’s someone I urgently need to speak to.” Mace said.

Mace took out his lightsaber to show he was a Jedi; a pretty simple way to get inside. Now if only that had worked at the other place where he and Brenda were supposed to have their date. But when Mace got inside, there were a lot of people at different tables. He searched and searched until he spotted the man with the gift basket sitting at a table with a purple skinned mirialan woman. They seemed to be having a good time together, enjoying a fancy dinner together. Mace hated to interrupt their evening, but he needed that ring back if he wanted to give Brenda a proposal to remember.

The mirilian laughed as her boyfriend said something that amused her.

“Oh, Adam. You tell the best stories.” said the girl.

“And you know my favorite story, Everly?” The man, named Adam, took Everly’s hand into his. “It’s our story.”

Adam pushed the gift basket to his girlfriend and told her to look inside, where she’d find a surprise in there he was sure would have her surprised. So, Everly began to go through the basket.

That had Mace panicking. What if Adam wasn’t planning on proposing tonight and Everly found the ring and thought he was? He had to hurry! Mace tried to rush over to the table but he bumped right into one of the waiter droids and spilled a drink, got bumped into by another patron, then accidentally took a ride on a dessert cart and crashed into Adam and Everly’s table and accidentally caused Adam to get a face full of cream pie and Everly to get spaghetti sauce all over her dress.

In short, the place was a mess! 

“Everly, are you okay?” Adam helped his girlfriend up.

“I’m fine.” Everly said. “Wish I could say the same for my dress.”

“I am so sorry!” Mace said. “I didn’t mean for any of that to happen. I just… Adam, was it? I think something of mine accidentally fell into your basket. Do you mind?”

Adam was a little confused, but he checked in the basket anyway and found something that wasn’t meant to be in there. Mace’s ring for Brenda.

“Huh. You’re right. I don’t remember this ring being in there.”

“Oh…” Everly sounded a little disappointed. She caught sight of Mace’s lightsaber. “So… you’re proposing to someone tonight, Master Jedi?” 

“Yes. The love of my life.” Mace said, glad to have his ring back. “But so far, everything’s gone wrong, and this ring is the only thing left that could actually make it a good night for her now.”

Adam, however, realized his girlfriend was probably expecting a proposal tonight of her own. And, as it turned out, he did have a velvet box in his pocket.

“Well, it’s like my mom always says. The best moments with people you love aren’t always the ones you planned.” Adam said. Then he took Everly’s hand. “Like with you, Everly… this isn’t how I pictured tonight going at all. But… I think I know what you were hoping for tonight.”

It was then Adam got down on one knee and presented a diamond ring to Everly.

“What do you say, Everly? Will you be my wife?” He asked.

And without hesitation, Everly said, “Yes. Of course I’ll marry you!”

Despite the mess that happened tonight, a proposal seemed to lighten the mood for everyone at the restaurant tonight.

Now that Mace had the ring back, he was going to keep it extra safe. Although, he was a mess now, and to make matters worse, a vehicle sped right by and caused a nearby fountain to splash water all over his nice suit, and it started to shrink on his body.

“Ugh! This is dry-clean only.” Mace groaned. He sighed. “I’d better call Brend and let her know that-”

But Mace patted himself down and found something else was missing.

“Where’s my phone?”

Mace tapped his communicator, but it glitched and gave him a static shock!

“Shoot! Now this thing’s broken!”

Comedia kept telling jokes for as long as she could, but she was starting to run out of jokes, which was not something that usually happened. But then again, most stand-up comedians probably didn’t have to tell jokes for three hours straight.

“Let someone else have a turn,” said someone in the audience.

Comedia was panting at this point.

“Okay, okay. I’m done! I’m seriously in need of a rest,” said Comedia. “Goodnight.”

And Comedia collapsed.

Brenda, on the other hand, was beginning to lose patience. Mace vanished, Comedia tried to get her in on her act even after she kept asking where Mace was, and she’d tried calling him eight times, but it kept going to voicemail. And when Ki-Adi tried calling Mace, the same thing happened both on his communicator and his phone.

“I was okay when we couldn’t make our dinner reservation, but leaving me here all night?” Brenda said. “What is going on?!”

“I’m sure Mace has a good reason for not being here,” said Ki-Adi.

“Like what? He hasn’t answered any of my calls, and he’s been so secretive all day.”

Brenda started to worry now. Was this a repeat of the first time she and Mace dated? Was he going to choose Valentine’s Day of all days to break up with her all over again? No, that couldn’t be it. Could it? No! Brenda shook the thought out of her head.

“I’m getting to the bottom of this right now!” Brenda declared, getting her phone to call a cab home.

After a quick trip to the nearest thrift store to get some clothes that actually fit, the only thing he could find being a plaid shirt and some jeans, Mace ran as fast as he could to get back to the cafe for the open mic, only to find everyone leaving and the workers getting ready to close for the night.

“Brenda?” 

Mace called for Brenda, but got no response.

“Uh… she left.” Comedia said. “And… what are you wearing?”

Mace held his head in his hands with a groan. Nothing was going the way he planned it!

“That’s it! I give up!” Mace cried in frustration. “Nothing has gone the way it was supposed to! First, the restaurant gives away the table I reserved, then I drop the ring and get my suit covered in sauce and cream, then my nice suit get shrunk and I have to get thrift store clothes, then I lose my phone, and now my girlfriend thinks I ditched her! What else can go wrong?”

Then, the ring box slipped out of Mace’s hands again, but when he bent down quickly to catch it… riiip!

Some people walking by started laughing as Mace now had a hole in his pants, exposing his underwear, prompting Master Mundi to take off his jacket and tie it around his friend’s waist.

“I just had to ask.” Mace groaned.

“Come on, let’s go home. I’m sure we can fix things if you just explain to Brenda what happened.”

Brenda arrived at the apartment before Mace did, and she threw her purse on the couch as Heidi was leaving the kids’ room.

“Brenda, how’d the-” Heidi then saw how upset her sister looked. “Oh… not so good, I guess.”

“Mace ditched me mid-date, and he hasn’t been returning my calls. Is he here?”

“No. He isn’t. But, I don’t get it. Why would he ditch you in the middle of your date, especially on Valentine’s Day?”

“That’s what I’m trying to figure out. I didn’t want to think that we’d grow apart like before, but… I can’t help wondering if it’s because he wants to… break up.”

“Of course not!” said a familiar voice.

And then Brenda looked behind her to see Mace at the door.

“Mace! Where were you?! Do you have any idea how humiliating it was to be sitting there all by myself?”

Mace sighed; he fully expected Brenda to be upset with him, not that he blamed her.

“Brenda… I don’t blame you for being upset. I didn’t mean to ditch you. I have a very good explanation. You see, I… well, tonight was supposed to be… it was supposed to be… special. I… I wasn’t trying to break up with you, I was trying to… to… give you a perfect Valentine’s Day. And I couldn’t give you that. Everything went wrong. First dinner, then I’m chasing… something all over town, then my suit got ruined, I tore my pants in public, and I made this the worst Valentine’s Day ever for you. I’m sorry, Brenda. I thought I could be the man you deserve, but I guess all I can do is mess things up.”

Mace had tears in his eyes, and he ran out of the apartment.

Mace sat in one of the temple gardens to meditate, but instead found himself crying. But then, he was met by someone he did not expect.

“Master Windu?” said a familiar voice.

Mace saw the owner of the voice was none other than Anakin Skywalker. This was just great, Mace thought sarcastically. He was sure Anakin would never let him, the toughest Jedi and second-in-command on the Jedi Council, live down the fact that he was crying.

“Leave me be, Skywalker. I’m not in the mood for teasing.” Mace said.

“Why would I tease you for crying?” Anakin said. “I admit, I can be reckless, and maybe a bit stubborn, but I’m not insensitive. You, on the other hand… uh…. Sometimes you could come off as…”

“What was that about not wanting to tease me?”

Anakin sighed and said, “Look, Comedia told me what happened. I guess she thought I’d be someone good to talk to about this?”

“What would you know about a proposal gone wrong?”

“Not a proposal, but more of a date night gone wrong.”

Anakin told Mace about a time when Padmé had a really rough week at work. This was before anyone knew of his marriage. She was stressed out and Anakin decided he wanted to find a way to cheer her up. He’d decided to surprise her with a date night at home. He got Kara to agree to babysit Gabby, he cooked dinner, and he looked through the gardens to pick her a lovely bouquet of flowers. But… nothing went as planned that night. Dinner got burnt, Anakin knocked an expensive bottle of wine on the floor and broke it, and then he sneezed the whole bouquet into a bunch of empty stems. The only thing that was still okay was the beautiful little cake Anakin picked in the bakery for dessert, but when Padmé came home, Anakin accidentally made her smash her face into the cake. In other words, it was a disaster.

“I expected Padmé to be really mad at me for making such a mess of everything, but… once I told her what happened, she actually wasn’t that upset.” Anakin said. “She felt better anyway just because I was putting in effort. Not everyone is able to find a romantic partner who does that very well. And according to Padmé, my effort was the most special gift she could’ve asked for. To this day, I still put as much effort as I can to show her I love her every day of the year, whether it’s with a surprise dinner date, or a simple ‘I love you’ and a kiss. If there’s one thing I’ve come to learn since marrying Padmé, it’s that if you truly love someone, bad times are a test of how true your love is.”

Mace was shocked to hear Anakin sounding so wise. It actually made sense, and then he remembered what Adam had said in the restaurant earlier: “The best moments with people you love aren’t always the ones you planned.” This gave Mace an idea.

At breakfast the next morning, Brenda felt a little worried when Mace didn’t return any time last night. She and Heidi thought he might’ve needed some time to cool off, so she went to bed by herself last night, hoping today would be a better day.

“So, the date didn’t go well?” Myra said. 

“No, unfortunately.”

“Did you and Dad get into a fight? Are you…. Splitting up again?”

Myra sounded worried; she’d known kids whose parents split up at some point, and most of them had emotionally disastrous stories of custody battles or having to escape an abusive relationship. Brenda didn’t want her kids to have to go through that; she really hoped it wouldn’t come to that, especially knowing how hard it was the first time.

“I don’t think so, Sweetie. Valentine’s Day just…. Didn’t go as your father and I hoped. But, hopefully we’re both feeling better today and we can just forget it happened. So…”

“Brenda…” said a voice, entering.
“Mace…” Brenda felt a bit awkward.

“Brenda, about last night…”

“Forget about it, Mace.”

“I can’t. Last night was supposed to go another way.” Mace had his hands behind his back and was nervous. “Brenda…. I wrote a poem for you that I was going to say at the open mic last night, but… you see, I dropped my big finish and that’s what I was chasing after and then it led to so many disasters. But… if you’d be open to hearing it… I would like to say it to you now.”

Brenda was touched to hear her boyfriend had written a poem for her, but what could the big finish be that was so important he had to chase it all over town?

Brenda sat in a chair as Mace began to recite his poem.

Dearest, Darlingest, Delightfullest Brenda

Why I love you

Makes the longest agenda

The way you light the room each time you laugh

Soft and gentle with a tigress soul

My love for you, I can’t bear to lose.

Brenda, Brenda, Brenda

The woman I love and will defend a

Lifetime and beyond

For now and forever

Till death should we part

Forevermore

The apple of my eye

The beat of my heart

And that was when Mace got down on one knee, to Brenda’s great shock, and that of the kids. Myra made sure to capture this moment on her phone.

“Brenda Kalissa Monroe-Dawson, will you make me the happiest man in this and any galaxy, and marry me?”

Brenda really couldn’t believe this! Could it be? The moment she’d always wished for since she and Mace had their first kiss? The proposal. She’d dreamt of this moment for as long as she could remember, and if she was dreaming now, she didn’t want to wake up before saying…

“YES! YES! YES!”

Kade and Myra both got excited as Mace slid the ring onto Brenda’s finger and kissed her hand. And then Brenda pulled Mace into a passionate kiss on the lips.

“Mommy’s engaged!” Kade cheered despite his initial gagging at his mom and soon-to-be stepdad’s kissing.

“About time, you two!” Myra said. “Congratulations.”

Brenda and Mace were both so happy to finally have this moment. Even though Valentine’s Day was a disaster, that didn’t mean any other day couldn’t be a day for them to commemorate their love for each other.

“I love you, Brenda.” Mace said.

“I love you too…my future husband.” Brenda said, kissing Mace once more.