LITTLE HEAVEN
Saché looked out from behind the womp-rat proof fence, the cowl of her orange robes pulled back to reveal her brown hair and soft features. Before her lay Theed, its curved streets now filled with the droids of the Trade Federation, their heads twitching as they recorded each movement of their prisoners and their aim steady.
In the distance, beyond the hastily erected fences and armed sentinels she could the magnificence of the palace, its turrets and minarets casting lengthy shadows over them in the diminishing twilight. Lower down the hill was the school she had attended in the company of Rabé and Sabé and below that the numerous tapcafés and shops of the planet's principle city.
The sight of the city held in such thrall to the cold machine servants of the invading Trade Federation all but broke her heart.
She felt a tugging at her sleeve and turned to see Yané at her side, strands of her own brown hair visible beneath her Handmaiden robes. In her free hand she held a stuffed rag doll resembling one of the native Gungan species that occupied the great cities beneath Naboo's waves whilst her other held onto Saché's sleeve.
Yané was the youngest of the Queen's five Handmaidens; a year younger than her majesty and two years younger than Saché herself.
The older girl had heard mention from Panaka of an intended sixth Handmaiden, a girl who was a year younger than Yané. Saché had not caught sight of her amongst the crowds transferred from the palace to the camps and so she could only assume that she been killed during the Federation's seizure of the city.
She smiled sadly down at the younger girl and silently promised herself that whatever had happened to the other would never happen to Yané. Whatever it took, whatever the cost, she would protect Yané, even at the cost of her own mortality.
"Don't look so sad, Yané-ya," the older girl smiled, using the other's informal nickname in the hope that its use might comfort her. "We won't be here forever."
Yané looked up, her deep, hazel eyes visible beneath the shadow of her cowl
"I'm scared we'll never see the others again..." she whimpered, her voice trembling softly with all the disproportionate fear of her younger years
Saché reached down and pushed the girl's hood back, playfully ruffling her hair
"The others are with Jedi, Yané-ya, they're probably the safest people in the galaxy. In fact right now I bet her majesty is probably getting those Jedi to do exactly as she says in order to make sure we get the support we need from the Republic. Trust me; no one's going to sidetrack Queen Amidala from her mission."
Yané smiled sadly, a smile much older than her years suggested.
"And how safe are we?" She asked carefully
Saché's reassuring smile faltered for a moment
"We're safe whilst we're in Theed." She answered honestly, her eyes turning skywards to the boundless blue heavens above and the unseen Federation blockade. "It's only when they transfer us up onto their ships and begin moving us out system that we're in any trouble..."
Her voice trailed off and inwardly she cursed herself for saying as much as she had. Quickly she turned her eyes to Yané once more
If the younger girl had understood the significance of her statement, it didn't show upon her face.
"I can't stand the idea of the Trade Federation turning Theed into one of their city-factories." She shuddered, pulling the Gungan doll close to her chest.
"They won't," Saché answered, setting her jaw in determination. "Her majesty won't abandon her mission. She won't abandon us.
Yané nodded slowly and tried her best to look as if she believed the older girl.
Sensing her hesitation, Saché inclined her head and placed a single kiss upon the other's brow.
"I can't make you believe if your heart won't trust what I'm saying, Yané-ya," she whispered. "But I can ask you to trust me and to trust the fact that I believe it."
Yané slowly lifted her head, her eyes and cheeks now damp with the flowing of her tears.
"I do believe in you, Saché." She whispered, her lip trembling
"And I believe in the Queen's mission." Saché answered
Slowly the younger girl nodded and then, in an instant, she flung herself forwards.
Saché reached out, her arms enfolding both the girl and her doll. She looked ahead, her eyes focused beyond the womp-rat proof fence even as the younger girl sobbed into her robes. Even between the fences and the blockade above, the ground they stood on was still Theed, it was still Naboo and whilst Theed stood she would fight to defend it and continue to believe in the mission of the monarch elected to rule over it.
She nodded quietly to herself as if reaffirming her faith. The Queen would return and one day both Theed and all of Naboo would be free again.
