Carmine held Lamenta over his shoulder as she was still shaking after seeing so many battle droids and watching them attack people. They were even deadlier than an ambush of fangirls during one of her father's concerts.

It was nighttime at the temple, so Carmine decided it was time to get the girls to bed.

"It's gonna be okay, Little Lamb." Carmine said. "Let's get you cleaned up and ready for bed."

Carmine gave Lamenta and Gabby their baths and got them each to bed.

Lamenta sat warm in her father's arms as he sang her his father's lullaby. He kissed her head, gently lay her down and covered her up.

Carmine looked at his daughter as she lay asleep. He sighed.

Lamenta had been through so much since she was three months. Carmine had to work three jobs in order to be able to afford a decent place for him and Caroline to live after they graduated music school, and it was stressful for both of them. Caroline had to balance taking holo-net college classes and taking care of a baby, Carmine almost never had time to be at home, and the couple was exhausted all the time. But then, Carmine took out the guitar his grandmother had given to him before she died and posted a video of himself singing with a blanket over his head so that no one saw his face because he was so shy back then, and because people always made fun of his glasses. The video got a lot of likes, so Carmine started posting more songs after that, eventually getting contacted by different sponsors, which made it possible for him to quit working three jobs, and gave him time to be at home to help his wife take care of Lamenta. But soon after that, Carmine got contacted by a huge record company, and was offered a contract that took him on his very first worldwide tour across Coruscant. After that, Caroline eventually became Carmine's manager, and they started bringing their baby to work all the time.

Lamenta never stayed in one place for more than a few days. It was always one hotel after another, occasional sleeps in the bunks on various vehicles. But, constant travel wasn't the scariest thing Lamenta had come across during their travels. If it wasn't ambushes of fans trying to get a close-up look at Count Crescendo, it was paparazzi, crazy thugs who would try to kidnap her or the pop star himself for ransom, and occasional competing pop stars trying to take him down by exposing his secret identity.

And before the Festival of Lights, Lamenta faced some mean kids she met who pretended to be her friends so she would take them to meet Count Crescendo. That was the last straw for Carmine and Caroline. They decided it was time to take a break from the superstar life and find a place to settle for a while. Sure, he loved singing, dancing, and performing concerts for his fans... but he loved his family more.

Even without fighting in battle, Carmine worried about his and Lamenta's futures as Jedi. So far, they didn't make the best impression in classes. The pillow fight showed Masters that they lacked discipline and focus, and Carmine's lack of sufficient early training didn't help either.

"I have to figure out the Force." Carmine told himself. "For my daughter... and a bit for me."

Carmine went to his room and found a box in his suitcase. It was an old box he'd kept from his old apartment when he lived with Grandma Miranda. Carmine hadn't looked inside all of it yet, but it was filled with some important items that were connected to his family's past. At least, that was what his grandmother told him. Before she got sick, Miranda told him that inside that box, he would find some important things that would help him learn about his heritage and how to control his powers after she was gone. Carmine didn't think he'd need it, but after she died, he looked inside and found a book of spells that helped him learn to use his song to create all sorts of amazing things.

Over the years, Carmine found that when he sang, he could change all sorts of things. His song could heal, destroy, change the weather, spread beauty, invoke emotions, and hypnotize like a siren. He could even create amazing illusions, which was how he created such astounding special effects in his concerts and gave himself time to switch hair and outfits.

"Okay, Grandmother. What else did you leave me?"

Carmine opened the box and found a few more things. Some photos, an old Padawan braid, an old journal, and a holo-diary with a piece of paper taped to it that gave him a code to unlock it. He then used the code and up came a message and hologram of... Qui-Gon Jinn.

"Hello, Carmine. If you are hearing this message it means your grandmother and I are both no longer here. You may be wondering now something you have asked me about for years. Where your mother is."

Carmine felt tears come to his eyes as he saw his father again. It felt so good to hear his voice and see his face again, even if it was like this. He continued to listen to the message.

"Naturally, you will be angry with me for withholding the truth from you, but you must understand that I did so for your own safety. Your mother was a slave girl. Her name was Shmi Skywalker. And you have a twin brother as well. His name is Anakin. I wanted to free both of you, truly I did. But I only had time to take one of you, and I vowed that I would return for your brother, but I was unable to find them. If ever you do find your brother, let him know that I did not favor you over him. I love both of you, and always shall. Giving life to both of you was the greatest thing I ever did, and not getting to raise you together the hardest. My duty was to the Jedi, but I wish every day that I had chosen the even greater duty of being your father. You are capable of more than you will ever know, and I will be proud of you no matter what you decide to be when you grow up be it a Jedi or any civilian career. And if you decide to have a family of your own, I hope you will make the right decisions with them. I love you, my son. May the Force be with you."

Carmine looked down as his tears fell. He lost count of how many times he wished he could have had more time with his father. The only other contact he'd ever had with Qui-Gon was through letters he secretly sent, telling Carmine about what journeys he took as a Jedi. But, Carmine was told never to reply to them so the Jedi wouldn't find him. Qui-Gon knew if they Jedi found out Carmine was his son, the would potentially expel him and prevent him from seeing his son ever again, like they had done with Gabby and Anakin years later (well, for two weeks, but still).

Luckily, Carmine kept every single letter his father had sent him, and placed them into a scrapbook he and his grandmother made together.

In some of those letters, Qui-Gon wrote down instructions for Carmine on how to use the Force and immerse himself in it.

So, Carmine got right to work reading them so he could use them to become a better Jedi, starting with the very first letter he got when he was three. Carmine couldn't read it himself then, but he remembered his grandmother read it to him.

Dear Carmine,

I am sending you this letter because I wish to stay in touch with you.

Sadly, I must ask that you do not send a letter back, or the Jedi may find you.

The Jedi are not bad people, but they have rules against attachment, which forbids anyone

in the Order from having families. It is sad, but true. But I intend on doing my best to still be

your father. You may be wondering now what exactly a Jedi does.

Jedi are peacekeepers. That means we help people across the galaxy get along and try to keep people

from getting hurt. And Jedi have special powers given to them through the Force, which binds everything

in the universe together. Some people are born with a special connection to it that grants them amazing gifts.

You are one of those people, my son. It will take time for you to learn to control them, but I will provide as much

guidance as I can. You are destined for great things, Carmine. And I will be proud of you whether you decide to

be a Jedi or anything else.

Sincerely, Daddy

Carmine wiped another tear away as he read his father's words.

"I won't disappoint you, Dad." said Carmine. "I will get better, and I will help my daughter."

Instead of going to bed, Carmine set his glasses down somewhere and sat on a pillow in an empty classroom for meditation. This time, he sat up straight and calmed himself.

"Okay, Carmine. This is just like in Caroline's yoga classes." Carmine told himself. "Just focus."

Carmine breathed as he put himself into meditation. He put calm thoughts into his mind, like he did before a big performance. He imagined himself on a field of fresh green grass near a calming waterfall with birds singing and... a fly buzzing?

Carmine was snapped out of meditation as he felt a fly buzzing close to his ear. He swatted it away, and tried to go back into meditation. But, the bug started buzzing around his head again. Carmine tried to ignore it, though.

A Jedi must learn to tune out all distractions in order to remain focused. Qui-Gon said in one of his letters.

However, this fly became really difficult to tune out, and Carmine once had to tune out Lamenta playing Baby Shark while he was answering fan mail.

"Get away, you little pest!" Carmine angrily swatted the fly again, and blew on it as it landed on his nose. But the bug was persistent.

"Carmine felt around and found a magazine, which he rolled up.

"So that's how you wanna play it, huh? Where are you?"

It was harder for Carmine to get the fly while his vision was blurry and it was dark. So, he listened for the fly in order to catch and kill it.

"I'm gonna kill you so hard."

Carmine tried to hit the fly, but missed each time, and eventually knocked over a plant and broke the pot.

Carmine winced at the sound of the ceramic breaking.

"Oops."

This was probably going to take a while.

By the next morning, Anakin and Obi-Wan returned from Onderon to continue to advise Ahsoka as she assisted the rebels in their battle. However, Master Yoda was the one to find Carmine asleep in the classroom.

"More comfortable, is this room?" Yoda said, which woke Carmine up.

"Huh? What?" Carmine yawned. "Morning, Master Yoda."

"In here, what doing are you?"

"I was meditating last night." Carmine turned red in embarrassment. "I... guess I lost track of time and fell asleep again."

"This time, at least, start a pillow fight you did not." Yoda chuckled.

"Am I ever gonna live that down?" Carmine whined.

"Likely not."

"I'll just see myself out... once I find my glasses."

Carmine started to feel around for his glasses.

"Learning to immerse yourself in the Force, you are." Yoda said as a statement rather than a question.

Carmine stopped in his tracks.

"With me, come Young Jinn."

Carmine sat with Master Yoda in his quarters. He told Yoda all about how Qui-Gon used to write him various letters over the years and taught him ways of the Force as best he could. Sadly, Miranda did not gain Force powers as her own mother had, and thus could not teach Carmine as well as a Jedi could.

"Dad told me it was my decision on whether I became a Jedi or not." Carmine explained. "But I knew if I did, he would get into huge trouble with the Jedi and get expelled. And I couldn't do that to him."

"But grant him time to be your father, that would have." Yoda pointed out. "Selfish it would have been, but wish you had more time, you did."

"It's true. But... in one of his letters, he talked about his Padawan Obi-Wan and how they grew pretty close." Carmine sighed. "I didn't get to have my father around as much as I would've liked, but Obi-Wan didn't know his family at all. My father was the best figure he had, from what I read. Getting him expelled would've given me the chance to be with my father forever, yes. But it would also mean taking the best father figure Obi-Wan could've ever gotten. And even though I didn't know Master Kenobi personally then, I couldn't do that to him. My father and grandmother always taught me to think of others. And that meant showing compassion to strangers."

"Hmm. A very big heart, you have, Young Carmine." Yoda praised. "Sense, however, you do it for another?"

"I want to get better in the Force so I can help my daughter." Carmine said. "She means everything to me. She's been through so much and feels so scared all the time. I have duty as her father to help her overcome her fears. But I can't do that if I can't master my own abilities."

"Good are your intentions. But distracted, you must not become by your personal feelings."

"I know. My father wrote about that too." Tears filled Carmine's eyes again. "I just don't want to disappoint my family."

"Proud, your father would be." Yoda said. "Strong in the Force, you are. Your daughter too. Help you, we shall. Guide you, I can while busy Master Kenobi is."

Carmine then remembered another letter Qui-Gon wrote.

Remember to always listen carefully to your teachers.

Your heart will tell you when you've received the guidance you need.

It is up to you to convince your mind that guidance is helpful.

The heart is not easily changed, but the mind can be persuaded.

Be mindful of how your mind is persuaded. Some may attempt to trick you

for personal gain. You will only gain from guidance when you take the time to

listen.

Carmine took those words to heart, and he let Master Yoda guide him through another meditation session. This time, Carmine wasn't going to let anything distract him, and he was on his way to becoming a better Jedi.