"Again." Qui-Gon said. "You're getting better."

Gabby concentrated really hard once more on a row of apple seeds that had been planted in an empty patch of dirt by the corral. She focused on the seeds and put as much love and tenderness into the spell as she could muster, helping the little seeds grow into big, beautiful apple trees.

Qui-Gon picked an apple and took a bite.

"Perfect." said Qui-Gon.

Gabby made one of the trees lower one for her too.

"Can I stop now?" Gabby practically begged. "I'm getting tired, and I have to finish studying for my spelling test."

"I suppose now would be a good time for a break." Qui-Gon said. "Mustn't overwork yourself."

For days, Gabby and her friends all worked together to prepare for the spell that would rebuild the Jedi Temple to be better than ever before. Mila and Tech helped with creating the potion, Boba and Omega collected memories to power up the spell, and Gabby prepared herself to cast her next biggest spell yet.

According to the family's research, Gabby was their best bet of being the main caster of the spell. For one thing, she was the only one of them to cast a level ten spell at age five and recover as steadily as she did with the Amorevo spell. The other adult Enchanteds were still practicing their powers.

Anakin was still only on level seven spells, Qui-Gon still required more time practicing his own powers since he was revived, Kara was also in need of more practice with spell casting, and Carmine's musical magic was a little out of whack lately. And with Lamenta not being as experienced casting powerful spells like her cousin and the eldest twins just beginning with theirs, Gabby was their only option.

So, over the last few days, Gabby was put through a series of exercises to strengthen her powers. According to Enchanted experts, magic was like any ordinary skill, it required exercise and practice to grow, improve, and stay sharp. The more an Enchanted suppressed his or her magic, the weaker it became and harder to control. But when an Enchanted practiced some harder spells a few times and easy spells often, he or she would grow more powerful.

Gabby's father and grandfather did most of the supervising of her exercising. But it wasn't easy for the poor girl to practice these exercises while balancing schoolwork and Naboo leadership lessons. And on top of it, finding time to ride with Carousella, play with her siblings, or just sit back and read.

"Come, Gabriella." said Qui-Gon. "I have something important to show you."

Gabby followed her grandfather to his room, where he looked through some items for something.

The young princess went to sit down, but accidentally kicked over a small coffer, accidentally spilling its contents on the floor.

"Oops!' Gabby gasped. "I'm sorry, Grandpa."

"I was wondering where I put that." Qui-Gon said. "It's okay, little one."

Gabby quickly started to pick up the items that fell out and put them back into the little wooden box.

"What are all these things, anyway?" Gabby asked.

Inside the coffer, there were various items. An old Padawan braid, some different colored rocks, a photo of Shmi with her sons as babies, and a small velvet box for holding a ring.

"Each of these items came from an important time in my youth." Qui-Gon said.

Qui-Gon shared special stories about his days as a Padawan, all the adventures he had under former Master Dooku. Gabby still couldn't believe such a nice guy as Dooku once was, could've turned to the dark side.

"Sadly, not all folks who fall down a dark path can be brought back to the light as easily as your brother was." Qui-Gon said.

Gabby then looked curiously at the little velvet box. She picked it up and peeked inside. Inside was a silver ring. It was a pretty simple ring. Shiny silver band with a single, tiny diamond. Despite its tiny size, it shined bright like a little star.

"Wow. It's so pretty." Gabby said. "Where'd this ring come from?"

Qui-Gon sighed and looked down sadly as he took the ring and held the box dearly in his hands. Gabby was quick to take notice that her grandfather seemed sad.

"This..." Qui-Gon wiped a tear that almost fell from his eye. "This was the ring I'd planned to give to the love of my life. Your grandmother Shmi."

Gabby's eyes widened when she'd heard that. She already knew her grandparents were never married, but she'd had no idea Qui-Gon had actually bought a ring for her. And Qui-Gon confirmed her theory.

According to Qui-Gon, after he fell in love with Shmi and learned she was pregnant with his baby, he'd made the biggest decision he could ever make. He worked some small jobs until he earned enough money to get a beautiful ring; something simple, but beautiful, like the woman he loved. A woman who lived simply, but was still a beauty in his eyes. The plan was he would go back to her, help her escape slavery, and then he would get down on one knee and propose.

It made Gabby want to cry, knowing he never got to give her that ring.

"I never got the ring to her, but I did get the chance to tell her how much I love her." Qui-Gon said. "I still remember the last time I saw her."

Thirteen years ago...

Just after Qui-Gon got Anakin's midichlorian count on Tatooine, he saw Shmi looking at him through the doorway. It was late at night and Anakin was already headed to bed.

Qui-Gon looked at Shmi. He still couldn't believe after all these years, the woman he'd fallen in love with, the mother of his two youngest children was alive, and that his eldest son was still with her. He also couldn't believe such a beautiful, smart, and special boy was his. He had dreams of what he'd do now. He had to free them. They were his family.

One son was already freed and living with his mother on Coruscant now, and to his knowledge, she was taking very good care of him. Anakin didn't know about his siblings, nor that his father was right there, but he had every intention of telling him the truth. But first, he had another matter to attend to.

Qui-Gon got up and approached Shmi.

"Shmi..." Qui-Gon said.

Shmi looked at him.

"Qui-Gon..." Shmi let Qui-Gon take her hands into his own.

Shmi remembered that feeling very well. Strong yet gentle and loving in his grip, and a roaring flame sparked within their hearts as they looked into each other's eyes before leaning into their first kiss in years. It felt like forever since they'd felt each other's embrace. They held each other in their arms, not wanting it to end ever.

"I've missed you so." Shmi whispered.

"I thought I would never see you or Anakin again." Qui-Gon whispered, kissing Shmi once more.

"How is Carmine?"

"He is safe and happy with my mother. I've watched over him the best I could. And I intend on letting both of the twins know about each other and our family. But first I must find a way to free you."

"And what if you cannot?" Shmi said.

"I gave you a promise long ago that I would ensure our boys would not grow up in slavery for the rest of their lives. I intend to see that promise fulfilled. And I have hope I will be able to do the same for you."

Qui-Gon got down on one knee and held Shmi's hand dearly, to Shmi's great surprise.

"I do not currently have a ring to offer. I cannot offer much except for my love." Qui-Gon said. "When and if you are freed... Shmi Skywalker... would you be my wife?"

Shmi had never expected anyone would ask for her hand, not because she would be in chains as a slave, but offering her a choice of whether she gave her hand because the person who desired it loved her and wanted to care for, love, and cherish her each day of her life.

"If such a miracle does occur... yes." Shmi said, happy tears coming to her eyes.

And she and Qui-Gon kissed once more.

Present Day...

"I was more heartbroken than your father knew when I could not free his mother." Qui-Gon said. "Shmi, however, she was still grateful that at least both of our sons were no longer in slavery and could lead new, happier lives. I only wish she could've known Carmine as well, and seen how much both he and Anakin have grown. Lamenta takes a lot after her, you know."

"Where?" Gabby asked.

"Well, your grandmother was a fairly calm woman. A very gentle soul, kind-hearted, and only required the simpler things to make her happy. And when she saw the stars at night, she saw many things. Possibilities of places to see, wishes, and many wonderful things beyond the wildest imagination of any slave."

"After what Daddy has said about her, she really did deserve a better life than the one she was forced into."

"She at least had a happy marriage with the Lars family, I assume." Qui-Gon said.

Gabby didn't need Force sensitivity to know that it broke her grandfather's heart knowing that the woman he loved married another man. She probably didn't even know he'd died shortly after freeing Anakin. Qui-Gon had no idea what Shmi's thoughts were after that. What if she thought he was never going to come back for her? Or she gave up all hope of ever being free and decided that she had to move on. What if she'd forgotten about him?

"I don't think she would forget you." Gabby said, hugging her grandfather. "You're pretty impossible to forget."

Qui-Gon wrapped his strong arms around his granddaughter, the girl giggling.

"Especially once someone's felt your hugs."

"Your grandmother would be so proud to know her son was fortunate enough to have a daughter like you."

The next day, Gabby went back to practicing her magic.

This time, she'd moved on to even bigger, more powerful spells. Her magic was getting stronger and stronger each day, but she still needed more practice.

So, she took some time on her own to practice spells she hadn't even tried yet, and experimented with different ones.

Before long, Gabby decided she had to try casting something really challenging. But, she wasn't sure what spell to try.

Gabby looked through some of her spell books until she dropped one. Her book of healing spells.

She picked it up, and when she opened it, it opened to the page of the Amorevo Spell.

"You gave me the greatest result I could ever hope for." Gabby told the book.

However, as Gabby was turning the page, she discovered something she hadn't noticed before. Two pages were stuck together.

Carefully, Gabby managed to unstick the two pages, and she found something that got her curious.

According to the book, there was an extra effect that occurred every time someone had cast the Amorevo spell. Each time it was cast, the main caster experienced a new change. and that change was getting a special mark by their heart. A mark of a phoenix.

Gabby thought that seemed strange. She looked at the space by her heart and saw nothing but her clear skin. That made her start to wonder. So, she decided to do a little research on the living Force and the Jedi mastery of such a skill. What if the Amorevo spell did work, but it worked differently because her grandfather was a Jedi who'd mastered attaining his identity after death? Something some might call immortality, and with this spell, it simply gave him a physical body again. And according to what Gabby read in her book, it generally took longer for casters to wake up than five minutes. It usually took at least four hours to wake up and recover.

And that was when Gabby's curiosity got the best of her.

Sometime during the night, Gabby snuck into a couple of rooms and got some items.

A photo of her grandmother, the blanket Carmine had been wrapped in when Qui-Gon gave him to Miranda, and the engagement ring Qui-Gon showed Gabby earlier.

If this spell really did have a different effect last time because it was used on a Jedi, there was only one way to find out for sure. But it was pretty risky.

Gabby managed to cast a few more spells she thought would be helpful. She found a spell that could measure the amount of life force in an individual and a cloning spell, which she used to find had a portion of life force, though not quite as powerful as the original, but they would do and disappear once she cast this final spell.

She used these spells to create fifteen clones of herself and had them gathered in a circle around these items she'd placed, and grew a circle of big trees and plants filled with life force.

The real Gabby took a deep breath.

"Okay... I'm probably gonna be very weak after this, but there's a good chance my magic will be strong enough afterwards." Gabby told herself.

Gabby closed her eyes and began making circular motions with her hands as she began a familiar chant.

Rescucita,

Revocia,

Perdarmora,

Corforvera...