Anakin walked through the maze, feeling unafraid. He had a great strategy: pick a wall and follow it. If it hit a dead end, he could follow it back and try again.

Qui-Gon used to tell his boys that getting a job done fast was not the same as getting it done efficiently. He always reminded them that it was important to stop and think before proceeding, assess the situation, and let the Force guide them in the right direction.

Anakin was a strong fighter, as well as a fast learner. But, his need to showoff often made him a little overconfident.

"I mustn't let past successes make me overconfident like Dad said." Anakin told himself. "You can do this, Anakin. You're one step closer to becoming a Musketeer."

Anakin continued to follow his wall but hit a fork in the road. So, he sat down and meditated, concentrating on finding the right way to go.

Meanwhile, Ahsoka ran through her part of the maze, finding many obstacles she had to pass through. Hurdles to jump over, monkey bars to swing across pools of water, and balance beams to walk across too.

Ahsoka easily swung across the bars, jumped the hurdles, crawled through the tunnels, and flipped across the balance beams. That was an unnecessary way to do it, but Ahsoka learned to show off her skills from Anakin.

"Musketeer rank, here I come!" Ahsoka bragged, finishing one more flip.

Then, she came across some droids with weapons of their own.

"Oh, this should be fun."

Carmine was not feeling confident about his path in the maze. His was the darkest of all. He could barely even see his hand in front of his face.

It was really dark and there were noises coming from all around. Howling sounds, whooshing, and creaking.

Carmine breathed heavily as he slowly walked through the maze. He'd been through a haunted house once when he was younger, and this reminded Poor Carmine of that very day.

It had been Hollow's Eve, and some of the older Padawans kept teasing eleven-year-old Carmine for being so scared of everything. Carmine tried to defend himself, but ended up being dared to go into the haunted house, where he got so scared he punched one of the scarers, ran away, and fainted when he ran into someone dressed as a vampire at the exit. It was one of the most humiliating days of his life.

"Come on, Carmine." Carmine shakily told himself. "It's not real. It's just a simulation. You're gonna be a musketeer. You gotta be brave."

The Council and Captain Palpatine watched a series of screens displaying each Padawan's skills thanks to a series of hidden cameras in the maze.

"Anakin appears to be taking a slower approach this time." Obi-Wan observed as Anakin continued to meditate.

"He's begun to grow more patient in the last year." Mace said. "The question is will he be less reckless with his gifts?"

"My Ahsoka is looking to be a promising musketeer." Plo Koon said, his wife agreeing.

"Remember, Dear. We mustn't allow our attachment to our daughter hinder whether she becomes a great musketeer." Shaak Ti reminded her husband.

Being of two different species, most people anticipated having a family together would be difficult for Plo and Shaak, given the... uniqueness of their relationship. But, they found a way to have a family. Some years ago, scientists from the land of Kamino perfected a method of cloning of a man named Jango Fett to add a new chain of Musketeers. Well, almost perfect. Not all clones were as obedient as the Kaminoans hoped or willing to become fighters.

The clone musketeers' uniform looked similar to that of the Jedi-teers. However, theirs were white and black, and the feathers on their hats were either gray, blue, or orange. And instead of lightsabers, they had sabers made of metal.

Just before adopting Ahsoka, Shaak and Plo adopted clone triplets whom they nicknamed the Wolf Pack. Their names were Wolffe, Sinker, and Comet. So, Ahsoka was never without a brother to hang around whether she was training or not.

Anakin and Ahsoka were both looking very promising now, but it became clear that Carmine was shaking in his boots.

Anakin opened his eyes as he finally figured out which path to take.

He turned right and took out his lightsaber, fighting each droid that came to fight him and dodging every obstacle that threatened to throw him off course. And he ran through the exit, beating the clock by twenty minutes.

"Yeah! Made it!" Anakin cheered.

Anakin looked around and saw two other Padawans exit the maze just after he did, but neither of them were his brother or surrogate sister.

"Come on, guys. You can do this." Anakin said. He held on to his hat, wondering if he should've let Carmine wear it for good luck.

Ahsoka dodged one obstacle after another, each one harder than the last. She climbed over a net, dodged ten-pound swinging balls, and battled some droids who really put up a fight.

And after she took down the last droid...

"I made it!" Ahsoka said. And with only seven minutes left on the clock.

Ahsoka high-fived Anakin as they both made it out, but they both saw Carmine had still not made it out.

"Hurry up, Carmine." Ahsoka said. "We're running out of time."

Carmine breathed heavily as he ran through the maze, keeping his lightsaber at the ready. And out popped many droids at random spots. Carmine yelped in surprise and swung his sword around, chopping the droids to pieces with his eyes shut.

Carmine slowly opened one eye and saw all the droids he'd taken out.

"Oh." Carmine suddenly felt more confident. "How do you like me now, droids! Ha!"

Just then, Carmine felt something touch his shoulder.

Carmine screamed and zipped away, much to the confusion of a Padawan named Barriss Offee, who'd found her path to have crossed Carmine's.

Less than one minute left on the clock, and Carmine still wasn't out of the maze.

"Where is he?" Ahsoka worried.'

"That's it! I'm pulling him out of there if it costs me the spot." Anakin said, about to run back into the labyrinth, only for a screaming someone to bump into him, knocking both of them down.

Carmine picked himself up, only to find his vision blurred.

"Not again!" Carmine whined. "I can't see a thing without my glasses."

"Funny," said Anakin, getting up, wearing his brother's glasses. "I can't see a thing with your glasses."

Ahsoka couldn't help laughing at how silly her friends looked right now.

Anakin gave his brother his glasses back as time was up.

"Hey, we all made it out of the maze!" Anakin smiled.

"That means we passed." Carmine cheered.

The maze was deactivated. Five other Padawans didn't make it to the end in time, meaning they would have to train another year.

"Those of you who failed to make it out," said Mace. "I'm sorry to say you will have to train one more year before another attempt can be done."

All the Padawans who made it to the end on time were gathered before the Council to be knighted as Musketeers.

In this ceremony, Padawans were stripped of their Padawan braids or beads they wore on their heads before they received their official Jedi-teer hats and sashes.

In alphabetical order of last name, the Padawans were knighted by Musketeer Yoda.

Anakin, Ahsoka, and Carmine were so excited. Here they were, ready to become Musketeers.

Anakin was about to go first, but Musketeer Windu had something to say to Yoda. They spoke for a few moments, and then Mace was allowed to speak.

"Carmine Skywalker... I'm afraid you'll be training another year."

That shocked the trio.

"What?!" Carmine said. "But I made it out of the maze on time. Wasn't that the rules?"

"The point of the challenge was to make it out of the maze, and face the challenges the Jedi way. You ran out of there, screaming."

"But I took out lots of droids. So what if one thing scared me? The effort's gotta count for something, right?"

"Musketeer Windu, that isn't fair." Anakin said. "We all worked so hard to pass this test today. And for the first time, we all made it out together. That was our goal."

"And Carmine can have another chance next year, Anakin. For now, you and Ahsoka can still be musketeers."

Anakin and Ahsoka looked at each other. They had an agreement.

"I appreciate the offer, but I stand by my brother." Anakin said. "He doesn't get to be a musketeer, I don't become a musketeer."

"Me neither." Ahsoka said. "We've all passed at least two tests over the years. Shouldn't that count for something?"

"I'm afraid that's not how it works. Each of you has shown one thing or another that has prevented you from earning the rank of Musketeer."

Mace approached each member of the trio and pointed out why they hadn't become full musketeers.

Carmine winced and wanted to hide when Mace approached him.

"Carmine is a coward and therefore a liability."

Mace then approached Anakin.

"You, Anakin, have an unhealthy need to show off."

Ahsoka was last.

"And you, Ahsoka... you're too much like Anakin, as well as inexperienced, unfit to fight."

That angered Musketeer Plo greatly.

"How dare you talk to my daughter that way?!" Plo said angrily, getting up from his chair and grabbing Windu by his robes.

It surprised Ahsoka and everyone else how terrifying the normally very calm and level-headed Jedi-teer was when he was angry.

Shaak had to break up the two Musketeers to prevent them getting violent in front of the others.

"That's enough, both of you!" Shaak scolded. "You are supposed to be setting an example for present and future Musketeers, and you're acting like children! Now, Carmine-"

"Carmine?" Plo called.

Everyone else looked around to see that Carmine had disappeared. But, Anakin and Ahsoka had a perfect idea of where he went.

Anakin and Ahsoka went to the dormitories and found Anakin and Carmine's room.

The entered the room to find a big lump in the blankets on one bed. The bump was crying.

"Carmine..." Anakin said gently.

"Go away." Carmine sobbed.

"Carmine, we're not leaving until we know you're okay." Ahsoka said. "We didn't accept the Musketeer rank. We're more upset about you than not being musketeers."

"You should've just taken the ranks." Carmine said. "Musketeer Windu is right. I'm just a coward! It's my fault we can't be musketeers together."

Anakin removed the blanket to find a tear-faced Carmine underneath. His eyes were red with tears, his bed was filled with tissues, and he was clutching a plush rabbit he'd kept since he was little. Their mother had given him that toy, and it was the only thing he had to remember her by.

"Carmine..." Anakin sat on the bed and put a hand on his brother's shoulder. "Our choice to decline being musketeers was our own. Don't worry about what Windu says. You're not a coward."

"I'm scared of everything all the time." Carmine said. "You saw me freak at the sight of that spider yesterday. How can I be a musketeer if I scare so easily?"

Anakin sighed. Their father always knew how to comfort his sons whenever they were in need. Ever since he died, Anakin had taken on the role of watching over Carmine, even though the former was only older by three minutes. But it was not as easy as Qui-Gon made it look.

Qui-Gon was very wise and kind. The perfect mix of compassion and determination. According to Musketeer Yoda, Qui-Gon was a lot like Anakin when he was a young boy. He was one of the greatest fighters of them all, and being his oldest son, a lot of pressure was put on Anakin to be the best. He was under more pressure than Obi-Wan, who had been Qui-Gon's mentee when the twins first met him. But being someone Carmine could rely on was truly his most pressurizing challenge.

But, Anakin suddenly remembered something Qui-Gon used to tell Carmine.

"Carmine, do you remember what Dad used to say about admitting that you're afraid?" Anakin said. Carmine said nothing. "He used to tell us it was the bravest thing anyone could do."

"So what?" Carmine finally said.

"Well, you just admitted you get scared. Not a lot of people are willing to confess that. You're not the only one who gets scared. I'm still afraid of getting shots, and I'm nineteen now."

"And... I'm still afraid of clowns." Ahsoka said.

"Those didn't stop you from deserving to be musketeers though." Carmine said.

Anakin got Carmine to sit up.

"You deserve to be one too, Carmine." Anakin said. "Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but someday we will be musketeers together. And we're gonna help you overcome your fears."

Ahsoka sat on Carmine's other side and said, "My father always says patience is key to becoming a great musketeer."

"Just like ours always did."

Anakin and Ahsoka embraced Carmine in a big hug, and Carmine slowly started to feel better.

Carmine sniffed as Anakin let him rest his head on his shoulder.

Anakin continued to comfort his brother with Ahsoka's help. And then, he remembered a special song their mother used to sing to the twins as little boys.

A dream is a wish your heart makes
When you're fast asleep
In dreams you will lose your heartaches
Whatever you wish for, you keep

Have faith in your dreams and someday
Your rainbow will come smiling through
No matter how your heart is grieving

Anakin wiped his brother's tears away and gave a gentle tap on his nose like Shmi used to do. That made Carmine smile a bit.
If you keep on believing
The dream that you wish will come true

Carmine felt so much better receiving so much love and compassion. He started to believe again maybe they would be musketeers someday. He only wished they would get the chance to prove themselves.