Carriages arrived by the minute with every eligible bachelor in the kingdom in attendance to be presented to the two princesses.

Padme and Caroline each stood reluctantly as the steward announced the name of each man to be presented next to the princesses.

Padme wore a lovely gown of ocean blue with sparkles, while Caroline wore an emerald green dress. And both wore their tiaras to be presented as beautifully as possible.

"This is ridiculous." Caroline said after she and her sister curtsied to another man they rejected.

"How many more guys do you think there are?" Padme asked.

"No idea. But we've been here for an hour, and not one decent guy has come. I still haven't seen Carmine here tonight."

"Well, if I see that guy I met at the market, I think he'd be the most decent man I'll ever meet."

The king and queen watched from their thrones at the balcony.

Ruwee was beside himself as he watched his daughters reject one man after another. There were all kinds of guys. Guys who were big and muscular, guys with amazing hair, guys with amazing fashion sense, ones who approached the princesses with a poem to greet them, and men who presented flowers. But the princesses shook their heads at all of them. It was bad enough when a guy is rejected by just one girl, but it felt more humiliating for a lot of them to get rejected by two girls at the same time. Princesses, no less.

"Presenting Baron Rush Clovis." announced the steward. "Son of Senator and Mrs. Clovis."

Another man approached the girls and bowed. He wasn't bad-looking, and he was from a powerful family. King Ruwee thought he looked promising.

The princesses, however, both rejected him too.
Ruwee face palmed.

"This is ridiculous," said the king. "Surely there's one man who'd make a suitable father!"

"Ruwee!" Jobal scolded.

"I mean- husband!"

"Dear, I tried to warn you about this."

"The girls couldn't cooperate for one night?!"

"I think the problem isn't that they aren't cooperating, but that they feel you are being too hard on them."
____________________________

Meanwhile, the twins' carriage soon arrived at the palace.

Anakin and Carmine were ecstatic as they looked out the carriage window and saw the beautiful palace up close.

Rex opened the door for them to exit.

"The royal ball awaits you sirs." Cody bowed.

"Thanks guys." Anakin said.

"Remember, midnight." Sapphire said.

"Got it." Carmine said, bumping into Anakin. "Sorry! Can barely see anything through all this hair."

Carmine started to brush the darkened hair back a little, only for it to fall right back over his eyes. So, Anakin held his hand as they walked up the stairs so he wouldn't trip.

____________________________

The princesses rejected yet another man.
And then, two more were announced.

"Presenting two suitors, Savage Oppress and Maul Palpatine, sons of Lord Palpatine."

The princesses rolled their eyes, and the two stepbrothers approached the princesses and bowed. Savage tried to outdo his brother, but the two started pushing each other and fighting like a couple of kids.

"Definitely dodged a couple bullets with them." Padme said, making Caroline laugh.

Ruwee sighed. "I give up."

Threepio said, "Sire, the true predicament is that you are a headstrong romantic."

As Threepio went on, something seemingly magical happened.

As Padme and Caroline were curtsying to the assembly, they stopped and looked up as they saw two new guys enter the ballroom. Though one wore a mask, Padme recognized the hairstyle.
Padme began to approach the two men, approaching the one in blue, to Ruwee's delight.

Padme greeted the twins.

Anakin was shocked as he recognized the voice when she said hello. He recognized her eyes too.

"Your Highness." Anakin said, bowing.

"What's your name?" Padme asked.

"Anakin." he said quietly, but loud enough for her to hear. He offered his hand and spoke up.
"Would you care to dance?"

Padme took his hand and walked to the dance floor with her.

King Ruwee quickly urged the band to start the music, but they were met with a problem.

"It appears our singer has caught a nasty case of laryngitis." said one of the servants.

Carmine noticed the band seemed worried. There couldn't be a dance without music. And then, he noticed no one at the piano and saw this as his chance. With his hair covering his face, no one would know it was him. So, he approached the band and went to the piano.

He tested out a few beautiful sounding bars on the piano, and began to sing a romantic song.

Carmine:

Heart
Beats fast
Colors and promises
How to be brave?
How can I love when I'm afraid to fall
But watching you stand alone?
All of my doubt suddenly goes away somehow

Anakin and Padme began to join together in a beautiful waltz.
Caroline, however, gasped silently. She recognized that voice.

One step closer
I have died everyday waiting for you
Darling don't be afraid I have loved you
For a thousand years
I'll love you for a thousand more

Carmine froze for a moment when he saw Princess Caroline come closer to listen. But, he kept going.

Time stands still
Beauty in all she is
I will be brave

Carmine & Caroline:

I will not let anything take away
What's standing in front of me
Every breath
Every hour has come to this

One look at Caroline's eyes, and Carmine recognized her immediately. And they felt themselves falling in love more and more as they sang together as Padme and Anakin did when they danced.

One step closer
I have died everyday waiting for you
Darling don't be afraid I have loved you
For a thousand years
I'll love you for a thousand more
And all along I believed I would find you
Time has brought your heart to me
I have loved you for a thousand years
I'll love you for a thousand more
I'll love you for a thousand more
Ohh

Carmine:

One step closer

Caroline:

One step closer
I have died everyday waiting for you
Darling don't be afraid I have loved you
For a thousand years
I'll love you for a thousand more

Carmine & Caroline:

And all along I believed I would find you
Time has brought your heart to me
I have loved you for a thousand years
I'll love you for a thousand more

Carmine and Caroline found themselves leaning closer to each other. And Caroline brushed his hair back a little to see his face more clearly.

"It's you." Caroline sighed happily.
Carmine smiled.

Meanwhile, Anakin and Padme slipped away into the garden, where they danced more together. And their romance and love only grew.

As they danced, they could feel music flowing through their hearts, and simultaneously, back inside the palace, Caroline and Carmine got together and started dancing as the violin players played a special song.

So this is love, mmm
So this is love
So this is what makes life divine
I'm all aglow, mmm
And now I know (and now I know)
The key to all heaven is mine

Anakin and Carmine each twirled their girls as they danced and danced and danced. They forgot all about everything else as they each met a very special woman who made them feel something neither of them had felt for a very long time.

My heart has wings, mmm
And I can fly
I'll touch every star in the sky
So this is the miracle
That I've been dreaming of
Mmm, mmm
So this is love

Anakin and Padme sat by a beautiful lake in the palace garden.

"I still can't believe you're actually the princess." Anakin said. "Though, I shouldn't be surprised."

"Why not?" Padme said.

"Well, most girls in my neck of the woods don't tend to hide themselves. And that bracelet you're wearing." Anakin held her hand, which donned the same bead bracelet from before. "It's made with genuine Naboo blue pearls. Very rare, and very sacred to the royal family."

"You certainly know a lot, don't you?"

"My parents took great pride in ensuring my brother and I had only the best education."

"They must be wonderful people."

"They were." Anakin said. "They both died a long time ago."

"Oh, I'm so sorry."

"Now it's just my twin and our stepfamily."

Padme then recalled Caroline telling her about what Carmine said about his step-family.

"What is your step-family like?" Padme asked.

"How should I begin? Very demanding, a handful, and we're basically servants in our own house and sleep in the attic now."
Padme was shocked by this revelation.

"Why would they do that?" She asked.

"I have no idea. The most respectful thing our stepfather has ever done was use either of us as an example for our stepbrothers who can't sing to save their lives and once lost a fight to my dog Artoo."

"I'm so sorry." Padme said, taking Anakin's hands. "No one deserves to be treated that way."

Anakin looked into Padme's eyes. He could feel so many things he couldn't explain when he did. Ever since he became a slave in his own home, he thought he would never know what it felt like to be happy with anyone, besides his brother, again.

Anakin slowly leaned forward, and so did Padme. But just before their lips could touch...
BONG! BONG! BONG!

Anakin looked at the clock. It was midnight! And Anakin got scared.

"I have to go now!" Anakin said, running off, calling for Carmine.

Carmine suddenly heard Anakin and realized it was midnight.

"Gotta dash!" Carmine said. "It was a fun night!"

The twins ran, but the princesses came after them, begging them not to leave. But other men tried to make a move on them.

King Ruwee called the guards immediately and ordered them not to let the twins leave.

Anakin and Carmine rushed down the stairs as fast as they could, but each of them lost one of their shoes on the stairs.

Before either of them could retrieve their shoes, they spotted the guards and ran for their lives.
Luckily, their coach was just outside, and they rushed right in!

Sapphire and Harmony ran like the wind to get their boys out of there, but the guards kept chasing them.

"Hold on tight!" Sapphire said, and she and Harmony ran even faster as the spell started to break.

Anakin and Carmine's clothes transformed back into rags, Carmine's hair turned back to normal, Rex, Cody, and Jesse turned back into mice, and the carriage turned back into an apple!
The twins picked up the mice and rushed with the horses to hide as the guards ran by on their horses, crushing the apple into applesauce.

"I'm sorry guys." Anakin said. "I was so engaged in the moment with the princess and... I forgot everything. Even the time."

"Me too." Carmine said. "The way Princess Caroline's voice was so clear. The sparkle in her eyes when we sang together."

"Padme's beautiful smile. It's like we met by chance because we were."

"Made for each other." The twins sighed as they remembered the magical moments with the princesses.

"Hey, look." Harmony said. "You still have your shoes!"

Anakin and Carmine looked down at their feet and saw they each still had one gold or glass slipper. And they held the single shoes dearly. They looked up to the stars and sent their thanks to the fairy godmother for making their wishes come true for just one night.

"Come on." Sapphire motioned for the boys to get on her and Harmony's backs. "We best get your keisters home before your step-family finds you're not there."

And so, the twins got to their horses, and rushed to get back home.