Disclaimer: If you know it, it's obviously not mine.

The Dance.

by darklyromantic

Sabé shivered at the sudden press of cold, night air against her skin. Though she would never speak them aloud – she had been too well groomed to do such a thing – inwardly she cursed. She squinted through the near darkness of the deserted garden and flipped her ridiculous skirts around her legs. How anyone could enjoy wearing such fragile material and in such uneven quantities, she was sure she would never know.

Sabé didn't mind wearing some of the Queen's better, simpler gowns. There were a great number of places in which she could conceal her weapons in the many folds, and she had almost liked the way that she could sink into them so far she could become anonymous and unrecognisable.

But this dress, this dress that Rabé had picked out for her was far too revealing, far too thin in places, and far too much of a hindrance. It was thanks to this dress and the way that it cascaded over her horribly slippered feet, that she had had no choice but to flee the celebrations and the palace. Sabé flushed, glad that no one was around to see it.

She was quite sure that she had just incontrovertibly humiliated herself in front of not only her own court, but also all the other visiting courts, and the greater part of the Jedi Council. Not to mention him…

'Rabé,' she hissed to the darkness, despite herself. Why this dress? Why couldn't she have gone in her usual formal suit? How had Rabé been able to wear her down, and slip this dress on her so easily? Even Jedi robes looked more appealing to her right now.

'Sabé?' The intimate call and the quiet rustle of parting leaves sounded suddenly behind her. Sabé turned towards them, remembering to pull her skirts around with her this time.

'Oh,' the newcomer said, sounding half relieved and half… unhappy to have found her. 'Everyone's been asking about you,' Obi-Wan said quietly. 'You left so suddenly, we didn't get to see if you were alright after...'

Even in the weak light, cast from the glowing windows of the palace far behind him, Sabé could see his coy expression. She hoped that he couldn't see hers quiet as well.

'I'm fine, thank you Master Jedi. I just needed some air, but I will return to the celebration shortly.'

There was a noiseless pause as Obi-Wan studied her with his oh-so intense blue eyes. Sabé had to look away under the shadowed scrutiny. But she knew those blue eyes too well already and could imagine their look all too vividly.

'Alright,' he said, his voice just barely above a whisper. And he almost turned and left her then. But, with an apparently great effort, and with a frown that was visible even in the weak light etched on his face, he turned back to face her.

'Have I done something wrong?'

'I – no,' Sabé sighed, and avoided looking back at him. She focused instead on the near-by hedges to her right. 'No, you haven't done anything wrong. I'm sorry. I just – I was just embarrassed, that's all. You saw - everyone saw - what just happened.'

'Yes, I saw. It was such an impressive display, I don't think anyone could have missed – just how did you manage to keep yourself upright anyway? You took down everything else around you.'

'Luck and a burning desire not to flash to the room,' Sabé said darkly.

Sabé suddenly had the distinct impression that Obi-Wan was trying politely not to laugh at that – at her. She wished he would just let it out because she liked that, liked the sound of him happy and laughing with her. Although she hadn't heard it very often, she'd know right from the very first time it had happened, on board the Queen's ship, that it was one of her favourite sounds.

They had been hidden together inside a small space, talking seriously at first. And then she had told him… She couldn't even remember what it was she had said, but she definitely remembered his laugh and the crinkling and glittering and warmth of his eyes. And Sabé couldn't help laughing a little as she stood there, shivering in the garden, just from that memory alone.

With great, flourishing movements, she leaned down to remove the too dainty shoes from her pinched feet, and, shoes safely in hand, she pointed Obi-Wan towards a stone bench to the side of the sheltered patch of patio. They both moved towards it, and, once there, Sabé dropped herself onto it with great relief. Obi-Wan was freely chuckling beside her now.

'Oh yes, you can laugh Mister Kenobi, but I think I may have just narrowly avoided starting an intergalactic incident because of this,' she gestured to her sunset pattern dress, 'and these,' she waved her shoes around.

'But you managed so well in those elaborate royal gowns, Sabé. I wouldn't have thought you'd let such a slight dress stop you.'

'Well, I guess I'm just not used to being myself in this style of clothes. I just feel so… exposed in this.' Sabé eyed Obi-Wan's no-nonsense robes with something like envy.

'Why did you wear it then?'

Sabe hesitated. She couldn't tell him the real reason why she had let her friends to tie her into this outfit. But she couldn't lie either, she knew that he would see straight through a lie. 'Rabé,' she said at last. 'Rabé actually thought that I might look good in it.' There. It wasn't the whole truth, but it wasn't a lie either.

'You look beautiful.'

Sabé glanced at him, not sure that she had actually heard what she'd thought she'd heard. Obi-Wan's face had darkened noticeably. But the intense emotion, and open honesty in his blue eyes was only there for a second before he turned away, leaving Sabé strangely uncertain.

As if eventually reaching a decision at the same time, they both rushed to speak at once. The hurriedly spoken words deftly overlapped, so neither was quite sure if their words were heard.

'I'm sorry -'

'Thank you -'

They laughed nervously together.

'So, do you think you'll go back inside soon?' Obi-Wan asked, resolutely addressing the ground.

'I -,' Sabé started, feeling a tug of unwarranted disappointment. 'I'm not sure I could. My credibility as a skilled bodyguard has been damaged enough for one night. And I don't think I can stomach the thought of trying to dance in this thing again, not in front of everyone. I'll make sure to take private lessons for next time, though.'

Once again Obi-Wan studied her for a silent moment. This time Sabé forced herself to meet his gaze head-on. And then he held his hand out through the night to her. Sabé looked at the offered hand for a moment, her face frowning in confusion, before she finally took it. 'What –?'

Obi-Wan quieted her with a gentle gesture, pulled her to her feet and led her into the middle of the paved clearing. Their clearing. The place that, Sabé knew later, she would always remember for these next moments. And it would forever be cherished as their place in her mind, no matter how many other, similar scenes between faceless strangers took place there.

'You want to practice before you try again? Then I'll help you. And afterwards, you can go back inside and look… good, and stun them all into forgetting what happened before.'

Suddenly, the distant music from the palace sounded much closer. Obi-Wan started to sway with it, pulling Sabé's hand along, in time with him. Sabé almost laughed, at the absurdity of it, at the strange feeling in her stomach, at herself, at everything around them that wasn't even funny. Instead she simply smiled and started to follow her partner's lead.

When he saw her start to follow, Obi-Wan hesitantly moved his free hand up towards her waist. It hovered uncertainly just above Sabé's non-too-graceful body for a moment, as if asking her permission.

As soon as she managed to meet his eyes with her own, Sabé nodded once, encouragingly. The hand finally met her waist and sent a thrill along her barely covered skin. She instantly forgot that she was still holding her shoes loosely in one hand, and at once she didn't care that there were stones cutting into her naked feet. To her, this was just the most perfect moment of all.

'Will you… will you go back and dance with him?' Obi-Wan's face was lined again, and his eyes watched their feet as he whispered the question in a thick, guarded voice.

'What?' Sabé asked breathlessly.

'Your partner; the one you were dancing with before…'

'Oh, I – yes, probably, I suppose. I did ask him to accompany me after all. It would be rude to just ignore him now.'

'He seemed to be ignoring you just now,' Obi-Wan mumbled. 'Do you like him?' he asked suddenly louder, trying, and failing, to keep the heat and weird accusation from his voice.

'He's all right. He's nice, I think, we haven't really spoken much, but… Sabé sighed in deep resignation but couldn't help laughing a little at Obi-Wan's naivety. 'But his eyes aren't blue, his hair is black and…' Sabé stopped for an instant to take a quick, rallying breath and was suddenly glad, once again, for the darkness of the scene. 'And he's not you.'