The next day, the Madrigals were given their new jobs in the Temple. Mirabel was given a job as one of the tailors who fixed Jedi garments and made new ones for whatever new Jedi arrived, Mila got a job as a tutor and was promised proper guidance on how their technology worked, Camilo got a job in the nursery since he had experience with little kids, and Bruno got a job there as well.

The Council contacted Anakin and his family as they were on their way back from another mission.

"In all my time practicing magic, I can't say I've ever even attempted a spell to travel between universes." Carmine said.

"Neither have I." Gabby said. "I'm not even sure my spell books have one. But I can ask Abigail and my other Enchanted friends if they might know something. If there's a way to help the Madrigals get home, we'll find it."

"We've already issued search parties for the child known as Rosella Madrigal." Aayla Secura said.

Bruno showed the Council a recent photograph of Rosella, which they copied and issued to every clone squadron, every Republic army fighter, and even the police across many worlds to aid in the search for her. Thus, the Jedi made it a priority that if they saw General Grievous, they had to learn where Rosella was. They had no clue who this woman they saw in the vision was, but they did know that whatever she was planning to do with Rosella, with Grievous involved... it was nothing good.

Days went by, and no sign of Rosella yet. But, the Madrigals kept praying for a miracle, and used their gifts any time they could hoping their doors would glow back home, signaling to their family that they were alive.

The Madrigals did add some great new contributions to the Temple in a short time, however.

For one thing, they, along with Fiesta, began teaching the Jedi how to speak Spanish.

Mirabel quickly got good at improving the appearance of the plain Jedi robes. Some, she did leave plain for those who preferred to keep it simple, but in others, she embroidered some nice additions. Patterns of flowers, stars, music notes, butterflies, you name it. She even got some inspiration from a few droids she saw, and that was all just on her first day.

Mila, as usual, mastered a new skill very quickly. She learned so much about the droids, the computers, and all the technology within a mere five hours and already began sketching lots of new invention ideas. Artificial intelligence, so far, was her favorite thing to study. So much advanced math, science, physics... the possibilities were endless! Mila thought she might faint.

Mila also started teaching the kids how to dance the way they did back home, having learned a lot from her mother.

Pedro, however, wasn't so sure about meeting the other kids there, and kept hiding under his blanket.

One day, Mila brought Pedro to one of the playrooms, where some five-year-old kids were playing with toys and having fun. Today, Remix was even teaching some of the little ones some musical games like Freeze Dance.

But, Pedro kept hiding under his blanket in the corner instead.

"Come on, Pedro. Come out of your blanket." Mila begged. "Por favor?"

"No!"

"Pedro, please. There's nothing to be afraid of."

But Pedro inherited his father's stubbornness when it came to hiding.

Luckily, Boba happened to come in, looking for Remix, when he noticed Mila seeming distressed with Pedro.

"What's going on?" Boba asked, approaching the two.

"Oh, hola, Boba." Mila said. Then she muttered in Spanish that she was racking her brain at this point. "Pedro just won't talk to the other kids."

"He's shy?"

"Well, that's part of it. But, also because... he has anxiety." Mila said. "It's been a problem for the last two years. We've tried everything to help him, but not much progress."

"Can I talk to him?" Boba asked.

"Go ahead."

Mila stepped aside to give the boys a little privacy.

"Hi, Pedro." Boba greeted. "Would you mind taking off the blanket so we can talk?"

"I don't wanna."

"You don't wanna talk or you don't wanna take off the blanket?"

"The blanket. I feel safe here."

"Okay. Would you be okay if I came under with you? Just so we can talk face-to-face."

"No."

"Okay, you're not ready for that."

Boba took a breath and talked to Pedro for a little bit. He asked him why he didn't play with the other kids, and Pedro said he wanted to, but he was so anxious. He always felt himself shaking, getting sweaty, and getting all these scary dreams in his head of people laughing at him, whispering things about him, and basically treating him as an outcast.

"I don't wanna be laughed at." Pedro said, sounding like he was crying underneath. "I'm not bouncy, excited, or super good at making friends like my sister."

Boba understood just how Pedro felt; he remembered his first day at the Temple when his newly adoptive father tried to introduce him to some of the other kids there. He worried so much about what the other kids would think of him, that he ran off and hid, and he only talked to his lion. Somehow, talking to his stuffed toy was easier than talking to real, unfamiliar people.

"Pedro, I know how you feel. I went through what you are now." He told the younger boy.

Pedro lifted his blanket a little to look at Boba. There was awe in his eyes.

"You did? But you're a big kid and Mirabel said you were brave."

"I wasn't always. Believe it or not, I didn't think I would find friends either."

"Why?"

"Because I have anxiety too. I was diagnosed when I was ten. It was a little harder for me because I went untreated for so long."

"How did you get over it?"

"Well, I saw a therapist who gave me some advice on how I could practice my social skills."

Pedro seemed intrigued as Boba told him all the ways he got better at talking to people. One of those methods was practicing what he could say to a stuffed animal since it wouldn't react at all, so he wouldn't have to worry about a negative response. Later, Boba was advised to practice social interaction in front of a mirror. Like Dr. Quito said, "If you want to be comfortable with others, you must first be comfortable with yourself." That helped him practice eye contact and practicing various gestures and facial signals that would show he was being friendly and wanted to interact.

"After that, my sister helped me by being a real person for me to practice talking to. Eventually, I met my friend Remix. Animals are pretty great for anxiety too. And, I learned how to sing and dance, which helped me to express my emotions. And dancing is great exercise, which creates endorphins."

"What are those?" Pedro asked, not being as advanced as Mila to know that word at only five.

"Well, to be blunt, they make you happy and make your body feel good. And you only get them if you eat healthy and exercise enough. But one thing that really helps is taking a breath, and taking a leap. If you take the time to really take in your surroundings, and get to know people, you might find that some people have a lot more to offer than you might've previously thought."

"So, if I just talk to the other kids, I can make friends?"

"Only if you ask the right questions and know that you're happy with yourself." Boba shrugged. "A very wise woman once told me 'You have to be happy with yourself before you try to have a relationship with anyone else,' and that includes friendships, romantic relationships, and even family. Ultimately, it's up to you to decide who you are and what makes you happy. Anxiety isn't an easy thing to have, that's true, but my mom always says there's a way to overcome these things. And the right people will come to help you when the time is right."

Mila was intrigued by how well Boba was doing with her little brother. Pedro had never opened up to someone new so quickly before. And now that he was opening up, she decided to step in with a little more support.

"He's right, Pedro." Mila said. "You know, in one of my recent studies back in the Encanto, I found a few books by this author named Helen Keller. And she has two disabilities. As a baby, she became both blind and deaf."

Both boys were shocked by that revelation. A very magical thing about Mila's room was that in it appeared copies of every book ever written. To put it simply, a new book is written and published anywhere in the world, it appears on her shelves. That was also one way Mila learned to read and speak in so many other languages.

"It became really hard for her family as she got older. But her parents found her a kind teacher who helped her learn despite her lack of sight and hearing. So, if blind and deaf Helen Keller can overcome two physical disabilities and become an accomplished author, who says having anxiety means you can't make friends?"

Pedro then stood up without another word and took his blanket off from his head. He started to walk toward the other kids, but stopped, feeling a little nervous. He asked Boba if he would go with him, and the older boy complied. He took a few steps and then motioned for Pedro to go ahead and try it on his own.

"Just say hello and tell them your name to start." Boba said. "It can feel hard at first, but it's actually easy once you take a breath and settle down.."

Boba walked up to one of the kids and introduced himself to demonstrate for Pedro.

"Now you try it."

Pedro was still a little nervous, but he took a deep breath like Boba advised and approached a little Tholothian girl name Merta and introduced himself. Merta turned out to be pretty sweet. She was playing with some blocks.

"What are you doing?" Pedro asked.

"I'm building a castle." Merta answered. "Blocks are my favorite."

"I like blocks too. Can I play too?"

"Sure. We can make the biggest block castle ever!"

So, the two started building together.

Boba and Mila both smiled proudly at Pedro for making his first play friend.

Mila gave Boba a proud pat on the shoulder.

"That was amazing. Even I couldn't get Pedro to open up so well so fast." Mila said. "You have a real gift."

"I was just trying to help." Boba shrugged modestly.

Boba then noticed the time and had to fetch Remix.

"Hey, Remix. Dad says we have to go now." Boba called.

Today was a day for the royal family to get together at their penthouse. Anakin was eager to see Padme again, and they had a lot to do to get ready for the new baby. But there was also some big news the grownups had for the kids. They thought maybe Padme knew the gender of the baby already. She was already four months pregnant after all, and was starting to show.

"Sorry, kids. I gotta skidoodle." Remix said. "Don't worry, though. Camilo will keep playing Freeze Dance with you guys."

Camilo turned on the radio to play music. Luckily, some technology was pretty simple for the Madrigals to learn how to use.

"You sure you're still okay here?" Boba asked Mila. "I don't think my parents would mind if you came to our place even for a few days."

"Don't worry, Boba. We'll be fine. The Jedi have been very kind to us, and we're doing well so far. But we're hoping soon we'll find my sister... and a way home."

"Well, don't worry. My sister is great with magic. If anyone can find a helpful spell, it's her."

With that, Boba and Remix left to be with their family.

Anakin, naturally, was so glad he could get away from battle to be with his wife. He embraced her dearly, kissed her, and knelt to her stomach.

"Daddy's excited to be with you too, little one." Anakin cooed, affectionately rubbing his wife's stomach.

Anakin was determined more than ever to help Padme prepare. The first time she was pregnant, Anakin literally didn't even know about until just hours before the baby was born. This time, he intended to be there to help Padme with her pregnancy as much as he could. And, he planned on accompanying her to doctor's appointments as much as he could.

"It's a wonderful experience." Carmine had told him.

Carmine remembered his own experience when Caroline was expecting Lamenta. Getting ready as teen parents was hard, but it was worth it. And seeing the sonograms of the growing baby girl inside Caroline's womb made it worth the strange cravings, occasional morning sickness, and being tired all the time. But what truly made all of that worthwhile was the day Caroline went into labor, gave birth, and held Lamenta in her arms for the very first time. It was the happiest day of her and Carmine's lives.

So, today the family sat together at dinner. And the kids were excited at first to see that macaroni and cheese, broccoli beef, as well as nuna nuggets, all three kids' favorite dishes, were being served. However, that was a rarity in their house that all three of their favorite dishes would be served at the same time. It wasn't anyone's birthday or a holiday tonight. And unless Padme had an odd craving for all of these things due to her pregnancy, the reason behind this couldn't be good.

"What's wrong?" Lamenta asked.

"Why would anything be wrong?" Anakin said.

Lamenta gave her uncle a look. By now, the whole family knew it was useless to try to hide a secret from Lamenta, her power being seeing the truth and all. Gabby and Boba, at this point, didn't need their cousin to use their power to see that the grownups were obviously hiding something.

"You're serving all our favorite dishes at the same time," said Gabby. "Mine and Lamenta's birthdays already passed, Boba's birthday isn't for five months, it's not a holiday, and I know Mommy's pregnant, but I don't see her hogging everything for herself right now."

The grownups looked at each other and came to a silent agreement.

"It's time they knew." Qui-Gon said.

"What?" Boba said. "Mom? Dad?"

"Kids... you know how our family is growing." Anakin began. "We'll have a new baby in the house soon, and it's gonna be a big change."

"But, it's not the only change." Caroline said.

"Are you pregnant too?" Lamenta asked.

Caroline shook her head. "Afraid not, Sweetie."

"The thing is..." Carmine said. "How many people do you see in this house right now, including the horses?"

Two pairs of parents, three horses, three children, and Qui-Gon made eleven. A new baby would make a dozen. But if Carmine and Caroline decided to have another baby too, there was no telling where the adding of kids would end.

"What does that have to do with...?" Gabby froze. "Are you saying...?"

"We're moving." Padme said.

"WHAT?!" The kids and horses all exclaimed.

Remix snorted water from his nose in shock. No one could even be bothered to laugh at the little incident, as they were shocked by the news.

"Settle down, little ones." Qui-Gon said. "This change is so because we worry the penthouse will be too small for all of us. And we are moving to a place that will be great for all of us, and a peaceful place for your new brother or sister to be born."

"Where is that?" Boba asked.

"Naboo. A world you're familiar with." Padme answered. "We'll be moving into the palace."

Suddenly, the kids started to feel a bit more open to the idea. They had stayed in the palace before, and it was a nice place. Their bedrooms were bigger, there was a whole garden full of flowers and trees, and there was more room for the horses to run around. Still, for the kids, the penthouse was their home. They'd made so many memories there.

It was where Gabby grew up as a baby. It was where Boba grew up after his new family adopted him. It was the first staying-in-one-place home Lamenta had ever known since she was three months old. She might have been used to moving from place to place whenever her father was Count Crescendo, but she'd only lived in this new home with her long-lost family for one year, and now it was suddenly going to be her home no more.

"It's a big change for all of us." Carmine said. "But it's for the best. As a royal family, we also need to keep you kids better protected. The guards at the palace can help ensure that."

"Not only that." Anakin said. "But... we decided it's time for you to start going to real school."

That really surprised the kids. None of them had ever been to real school before, not including the classes the youngest children took at the Temple. According to the grownups, the kids would be going to school with other kids, as in a school with desks, real teachers, a library, and other kids.

Qui-Gon later showed the kids a web page of the school they would get to attend starting next autumn. It was called Windy Falls Academy, a prestigious private school for students in grades K-8. According to the site, the school had some great programs for arts and music, lots of clubs and extracurricular activities, and great sports teams.

"Do they even accept students who've only been homeschooled?" Lamenta asked.

"Indeed." Qui-Gon said. "And at this school, you will all have a chance to grow and make new friends as well."

"But wait." Gabby said. "What about our friends here? And the Jedi?"

"We'll still be part of the Order." Anakin said. "And you'll still see your friends. Just not all the time anymore. We know it'll be hard at first, but trust me. It'll be okay. I know how it feels to leave the only home you've ever known. And I know, slavery wasn't exactly a home, but still. I had to adapt to a lot of changes, and we all had to deal with different changes over the years. First, Gabby was born, then the war began. Then, we adopted Boba. Then Padme and I made our marriage public."

"And Uncle Carmine and his family came into our lives, and we brought Grandpa back." Gabby finished.

"Exactly. Those were all hard to adjust to at some point. But in the end, they turned out to be blessings. And with this war hopefully soon coming to an end, we'll grow to have the best change of all. Getting to be a family in a peaceful time."

The kids definitely were hopeful of that. It would definitely be nice to have their family together more, and not having to constantly worry if they would live to come home, and no longer having to worry about more worlds being taken over by Separatist forces.

Meanwhile...

Ah-aah-ahh ah-ahh-ahh ah-ah-aah-ah

Rosella sang under Lady Morpha's control. As she sang, she made numerous citizens of a Twilek village on Ryloth fall under a trance. However, some seemed to fall out of it for a few seconds and then get back in.

"Beautiful." Morpha praised. "Now... snap them out."

Rosella summoned a gong and banged it loudly, snapping every victim out of it.

"Hmm. So your power only works on organics. Not on droids." Morpha observed. "You leave much to be desired, little one. However, we will need to ensure you can hold your victims as long as necessary."

"Yes, Lady Morpha." Rosella said.