THE ONCE AND FUTURE HANDMAIDEN
Rabé had been working in one of the many Handmaiden cafés that filled Nar Shaddaa's Electric Town for a handful of weeks; not long enough to make her truly famous among the fevered AniHolo fans that had earned the locale a reputation of ridicule amongst the spacers of Nar Shaddaa normal, but enough to establish a reputation.
Perhaps it was the best the best reputation as Rabé could hardly claim to be as demure or sweet as the other girls but it was enough for her that, even when serving sweet teas and cake and having her photo taken by AniHolo fans, Rabé's physical strength and skill did not go unnoticed.
She prided herself on that, even if she wasn't entirely happy about the idea that the same skills that had been used to such devastating effect against Trade Federation droids in the Battle of Naboo were now being used to win the hearts of AniHolo fans.
She sighed and ran a hand through her dark, silken hair, pausing for a moment to look out the window at the flashing lights of Electric Town and inadvertently catching the eye of her own reflection.
Her lips curled in a smile, the hard gaze with which she surveyed Electric Town softening as she contemplated the absurdity of her uniform.
The frills and lace of Electric Town's Handmaiden stereotype were far from the simplicity of the robes she had worn in service of the Queen of Naboo but then, Electric Town was not famed for its subtlety and decorum.
Working in a Handmaiden café had not been her first choice of career of course. Upon her arrival on the smuggler's moon she had attempted to employ the talents for which Captain Tycho had invited her to sit the Handmaiden exam but she had been swiftly forced to accept that Nar Shaddaa simply had no need of hairdressers.
Trying to find work as a bodyguard would have meant competing with not only the Exchange but also the Hutts and the Genoharadran; something that even she, one-woman army as she might be, didn't feel up to.
She sighed, choosing not to dwell on the less than ideal situation she found herself in and reflecting that, despite everything, she really did look quite cute in her uniform.
Unbidden, the image of Amidala herself dressed likewise in a Handmaiden café uniform sprung suddenly into her mind and she giggled at the thought of it.
The sudden image of former Queen brought back the old pain in her chest and the mirth died slowly upon her dark lips. Despite the trauma of the unfolding war between the Trade Federation and the Republic, Rabé found herself yearning for the streets of Theed and the rolling hills of the surrounding countryside.
There was no greater difference than between the greenery of Naboo and the harsh grey and neon of Nar Shaddaa. Where once the small moon had orbited the home-world of the Evocii, now it was simply another bauble in the crown of industry the Hutts had fashioned for themselves. There was nothing of comparison between the two disparate locations and this, in truth, only made Rabé's heart ache all the more.
Idly, she continued to drag the soapy cloth across the table's surface, carefully to avoid eye contact with the café's Toydarian proprietor.
If Nar Shaddaa and Naboo were too distinct and disparate locales then what could be said of Rabé's differing status as Handmaiden on both worlds? She smiled sadly. There could be no comparison and she knew it.
On Naboo, she had pledged her life in service of a monarch she had admired and cared for, her hands employed in both crafting the young Queen's appearance and protecting it from assailants. Here, beneath the flickering neon and blaring dialectic of AniHolo theme songs, she was employed to dance, sing and wait tables.
Whatever had once recommended Nar Shaddaa to the honest citizen had long been lost.
She swallowed hard, trying not to think of what she had lost, concentrating on dragging the cloth in ever decreasing concentric circles upon the table's surface. In her mind's eye, she saw the Queen once again, resplendent in white and standing alongside the cheerful, rotund Gungan leader, Boss Nass as he held aloft the Kiber Crystal. She remind the smile upon her lips, the feel of her hair beneath Rabé's fingers as she had lovingly tied the young Queen's hair to make way for the adornments of jewels and metals to her person.
It all seemed so very long ago now, like a triumphant dream all but lost upon waking.
Smiling sadly to herself, those hands that had once helped beautify royalty continued to clean the café table. Yet whilst her body remained a minimum wage prisoner of the burgeoning Electric Town economy, Rabé's heart forever remained on Naboo…and in thrall to the once child Queen, Padme Amidala.