Author's Note: The 365 Project is an experimental project to write and post at least one short every day for the next year, not including my semi-regular bi-weekly updates. Whether or not that goal can be reached, we'll see, but we have reached the end of the first week with only 51 more weeks to go... This is The 365 Project, 7 January.

Disclaimer: A long time ago in a galaxy...

You know what? Forget it. That's the most cliched Star Wars disclaimer joke in fanfiction. We all know George Lucas and Lucasart owns Star Wars and since I am most definately not Lucas, I'm doing this without permission or profit, just entertaining myself and maybe some readers...

"Decoy Empress"
By J.T. Magnus, 'Turbo'

The only people who knew Padme Skywalker was dead were her family; parents, sister, husband... and her replacement. Sabe understood, after all, she had been trained since she was a little girl to take her friend's place to protect Padme Nabarrie once she became Queen and later Senator Amidala of Naboo. But pretending to be Queen or Senator to keep Padme out of danger was very different than the situation she now found herself in. She had pretended to be Padme in front of the public and the galactic media before, but never like this.

Never before had she done so by Padme's husband's side as the former Jedi was crowned Emperor of the galaxy. Sabe still couldn't believe all the events that had happened; the Civil War, the Chancellor turning out to be a Sith who caused the war so he could take over the galaxy, the Jedi planning to take over the Senate 'for the greater good' once they had discovered that...

Part of her could believe that, actually, because the Jedi were so distanct and unapproachable to everyone, Sabe had never been able to trust them, much less hero-worship them like so many beings did. The man she was standing beside was different, Anakin Skywalker may have trained as one, but he wasn't a Jedi, he was too connected to the world around him to be one. The fact that he had followed his heart instead of their rules proved that.

He had followed his heart and the Jedi had the gall to punish him for it in the worst way, by turning his wife against him, telling her while he was on a mission to capture the Separtist leaders that he had massacred the younglings and padawans in the Jedi Temple and turning her against him, using her to get one of their survivors close to him in an attempt to kill him. As though that weren't bad enough, they had even gone so far as to cause Anakin to kill his own wife, then after leaving him to die they had stolen her body so that he couldn't even give Padme a proper burial.

Sabe hadn't trusted the Jedi before, but now she was secretly starting to hate them.

Fortunately for the galaxy, Anakin had survived and managed to defeat the Chancellor - the Sith Lord - when Palpatine had come after him, foolishly bringing clones from the 501st - Anakin's own unit - as his bodyguards; they had been loyal to their commander.

It had surprised Sabe and the others who had served as Padme's handmaidens when Anakin had asked to meet with them and explain his plan. It was simple; Palpatine wasn't wrong, just the wrong person. The Senate and its beauracracy had become so large and ungainly that it no longer represented the planets of the Republic, merely its own self-interests. Otherwise, Naboo wouldn't have had to jump through hoops to get help during the Trade Federation Blockade; Palpatine and Count Dooku wouldn't have been able to convince the Separtist leaders to secede and begin the civil war. As it was, the Senate needed to be taken apart and rebuilt in a way that it could better represent the sectors and systems of the Republic, with checks and balances to ensure that they were made to do so. For the Senate to be dismantled and reformed, though, the power held by the Senate would need to go somewhere in the interval, which is where an Emperor would enter the situation.

What he wanted from them was two-fold; one, to serve as his own check, to remind him of the people that were affected by every decision that he would make as Emperor, to ensure that what he did he did to help people, not to help himself. The other, however, was a more personal request; if he appeared as Emperor with Padme by his side, the Jedi would eventually make a move to either eliminate her or discredit her. Either way, he would have an opening to find out what they had done with his wife's body.

One of the other handmaidens, Dorme had taken offense, refusing to help and repeating the Jedi's claims that he had masscred children at the Temple.

Anakin's answer had been honest and simple; he had killed no one that wasn't a threat.

The other handmaiden had derisively asked how he defined a threat before she angrily left the apartment at 500 Republica.

There had been others who had declined - though with less hostility than Dorme - or chose to remain neutral - they wouldn't help or work against what Anakin was planning - but Sabe was the first and only one to fully volunteer to help him lead, to help him find the truth; a truth that she wanted as well. Padme hadn't just been her Queen, she had been Sabe's friend as well. If Padme was dead, then Sabe owed it to her to do what she could for what - and who - Padme had believed in. Sabe only hoped her friend's spirit could forgive her for the selfish side to her actions...

Because while she was wearing Padme's face and using Padme's name, it was a position that Sabe wasn't entirely upset to be in. standing there beside Padme's husband and pretending to be his wife...