The moment was shattered by the angry beeping of the commlink. With a worried glance at the two other handmaidens, Sabé rushed to answer its call. Captain Panaka's voice pierced through the room with a deathly calm.

"Tusken Raiders. We're being attacked."

Sabé's mind raced to process this information. The mechanics were all out in the open, tending to repairs and taking advantage of daytime. She had hoped that their stay would not attract too much attention, but that seemed to be too much of a stretch knowing Tatooine's profile.

"Where are our people now, Captain?" she asked. Behind her, Eirtaé and Rabé were getting ready for fighting, clasping holsters and checking their blasters with grim faces.

"They're taking refuge near the starboard hull which they dismantled earlier. They're armed, but they need backup." with that, Panaka's comlink transmission was abruptly cut.

Sabé turned to Eirtaé. "You have to check if the deflector shields are working, and put them up as soon as I say so." She was grateful that their shared training almost made them of one mind in situations like this. She just wasn't so sure about her leadership capability, but clearly the two handmaidens had given it up to her. "Come with me," Sabé practically barked to Rabé, and the two ran out through the ship's winding halls, down to the open gangplank, where the sounds of fighting were.

Sabé made a quick assessment of the situation. These Tusken raiders had come in a great number, but all of them seemed to be armed with primitive weapons, and so far they had been kept at bay with the blasters, but one couldn't be too sure with how long with how it would hold out, seeing that the majority of them had huddled behind a dismantled piece of the ship's hull.

She nodded towards to Rabé. "Check on our people," she said, to which Rabé nodded an assent, narrowly avoiding blaster fire to check on their ship's cornered pilots. Sabé began firing shots at the confusion of Tusken raiders with a practiced hand, approaching them with a steady step, before she realized that the Jedi was in the middle of the rabble, bright lightsaber slashing through the air and several raiders' throats.

He saw her immediately. "Your Majesty!" he yelled, as he pushed several of the raiders away with a flick of his hand. "Get back into the ship!"

Not this time, Jedi. No more of her people would die on her watch. She put away several more raiders with well-aimed shots, but they were coming in too fast. She finally gave up her blaster before drawing out a collapsible fighting stick in one hand, snarling as she hit another raider at the back of its neck.

"Jedi! Listen to me!" A ferocious kick to its stomach sent a Tusken Raider sprawling. "We need to push them out just enough for the deflector shields to kick in."

"Oh? And when WILL it kick in?" the Jedi retorted, uncharacteristic sarcasm in his voice as he skewered two Tusken Raiders at once, drawing the lightsaber back out in one fluid motion. Sabé had to fight the urge to throw up as he drew out internal organs in the process.

"I'm-" she punched another one smack in the face. "-waiting for a call."

He gave her an incredulous look. "Oh. Lovely!" he ducked an attack from a growling creature before smacking it in the jaw. Behind them, blasters were still firing willy-nilly into the fray.

"Just push them back! Just do it!" She almost was growling herself. She didn't know what it was called-that huge push that threw groups meters away. The hand-wiggly thing. She had seen it done on escaping Naboo and she wanted it done YESTERDAY. He didn't look too happy with being ordered around, but she didn't really care about that right now. At least he seemed to understand what she was pertaining to. She just about managed to switch her comlink on as she slashed another raider that rushed towards her.

"Eirtaé, what's the status?!"

"The deflector shield's ready, all we need is one more meter and you two on the right side of the shield." Eirtaé's voice crackled through the comlink.

She caught the Jedi's eye then. "Now, Jedi, now!" she yelled, and almost instantly, the seemingly-unending stream of creatures were thrown in the air, but one was reaching out to grab the Jedi...

..and before she realized what she was doing, she had pushed the Jedi out of the way, and was thrown in the air with the rest of the raiders. He stared at her in shock, his mouth forming a soundless word before the deflector shield cut in between them.

Blood streaming down her eyes, Sabé didn't have enough time to scream before a hand closed around her neck, forcing her to surrender to darkness.

"Obi-Wan," she finally said, "I..."

Before she could say more, a sudden beep informed them that Rabé had arrived. She looked back up at his face, but the moment had passed. They broke apart uneasily, neither one quite willing to look at the other in the eye. A knock on the door drove them further apart, and a handmaiden of Rabé's entered her quarters.

"The Queen has asked for your presence, Captain." the handmaiden announced, and if she found Obi-Wan's presence in the room strange, she did not show it. They exchanged a look, with Obi-Wan assenting for her to go.

Sabé and handmaiden walked through the winding halls of Theed, and in the dead of the night, it was almost like being transported back in time, when she was decoy and had to go out to meet the invaders. The palace had been emptied out too, and only the rustling of skirts and the disquiet of her thoughts to accompany her.

From what little Rabé had told her, it seemed that the whole of Naboo knew that the former queen's remains have arrived. Quiet preparations for the funeral were underway, which just underlined the fact that she and Obi-Wan had to leave as soon as possible. Her old friend did not seem too pleased that he had come along, but held her tongue, out of deference for the past services the Jedi have done for Naboo.

They finally reached the throne room's antechamber, and Sabé felt her heart stop. In the middle of the room was her beloved Padmé, lying in state.

Rabé looked forlornly at her, and reached a hand out. "My friend. I had thought you might want to see her for the last time."

Sabé took the outstretched hand and drew nearer. Padmé looked serene, almost sleeping, beautiful and cold. Her hair was laid out and fixed with tiny white flowers, and in her hands she clasped the amulet she received from Anakin. They didn't know it then, but those were innocent times. Sabé reached up to touch the amulet Padmé had given her, but decided against having it buried with her. She didn't deserve to forget it.

"You made the pregnancy obvious." she finally said to Rabé.

"It's best that all those concerned be convinced that her child died with her."

"Yes." Sabé reached out to touch Padmé's brow. Nothing can touch her now, nothing could break her heart anymore. But things had to be done, and now strangers may have to raise Padmé's children. It made her unbearably angry and sad. Padmé, how could you be so selfish? How can you leave when everyone needs you the most?

Rabé looked like she wanted to say soft words, comforting words, but Sabé could not bear it, not even for her old friend. Instead, she focused on what needed to be done. "What's the status on our presence here?"

"Still the same, but we will not begin the funeral as long as you're not off-world." Rabé frowned. "We are all grateful for bringing Padmé home to us, but the danger you pose..."

"I am sorry, your Majesty." Sabé acknowledged that Theed taking in known enemies of the Empire could bode very, very badly for them. "But it was something I had to do."

"Sabé, I understand why you are here, but I must admit, I had not expected to see him here." Rabé said gently.

Him. Obi-Wan. Sabé knew she was asking too much for Rabé to let his presence unremarked. "I'm sorry if I didn't alert you about this additional party, Your Highness. It's just that the secured comlinks were tenuous enough as they were, and he insisted on coming along." the Queen look unconvinced. "Padmé was his friend too."

"Of course, Sabé." the reminder of security risks must have raised Rabé's cautiousness again. "Then I think it's time for us to part, my friend. It's best if I don't know the details of your departure." she smiled a bit mischievously, reminding Sabé of Rabé's younger self. "Don't forget to leave behind the breadcrumbs."

Sabé grinned back. "I won't," she promised, moving to hug her friend tightly, protocol be damned. She looked back at Padmé and placed a kiss on the cold cheek. "Goodnight, love." she said softly. She turned to the Queen and forgot protocol by fiercely hugging her friend. Who knew if this was the last time they would see each other? "Take care of yourself, Rabé. Take care of everyone."

"I will." Rabé whispered, her voice grim, her thoughts probably echoing Sabé's.

It was time to go.

She didn't expect an upside-down world to greet her awake.

Sabé blearily blinked awake in the harsh sunlight, taking several seconds to orient herself to her surroundings. Sandal-clad feet shuffled around her, throwing dust up into her eyes. She had been apparently flung over some sort of smelly animal, had her weapons divested from her, and her hands and feet tightly bound.

The Tusken Raiders. She remembered throwing the Jedi out of the way, only to be carried along with the rest of them when he threw them off. She frowned, critical of herself even in a dire situation. They must have had retreated very quickly, thanks to their mastery of their environment. Typical of her to be in over her head in her own gambit. She tried to decipher the Raiders' language, only to be rewarded with several growls that she had no hope in understanding. She could only see desert sand as far as the eye can see. Even if she did escape, she had no way of finding her way back to the ship.

She wanted to kick herself. The Tusken Raiders were probably going to sell her off for slavery or do something terrible like butcher her for meat, if not worse. She didn't want to be someone's next dinner. Based on how high the suns were, they had been walking in the desert for around two hours since their skirmish. Not that that information helped her any-it would take days or weeks for her to even figure out the geography of this vast desert.

Before she could think any more, a large Raider loomed in front of her and proceeded to dump stagnant-tasting water down her face. She gave a cry of surprise and sputtered, nearly drowning in the onslaught, and proceeded to yell and scream at her captors. She was quickly rewarded with a blow to the head.

When she came to, she found herself lying in rags in an enclosed space, with a fire burning low. Her head throbbed in protest as she sat up to survey her surroundings. Night had fallen, but no Tusken Raiders in sight, but she wasn't going to wait around to let them make their presence known again.

She needed to make some kind of torch out of the fire, which can double as a weapon, but as Sabé looked around, it was quite clear that there was nothing here but the fire and the damnable rags. In her current weakened state, Sabé had to admit that even if she had a torch, she was in no shape to fight against a whole tribe of Raiders. And even at her most optimistic, Sabé knew that any rescue effort might take too much of the precious time needed to reach Coruscant.

She was on her own.

Angry guttural voices heralded the arrival of several Raiders, one of them rudely grabbing her hair and practically dragging her out of the tent, into a bigger chamber, more richly-furnished, clearly the home of their leader. She quickly scanned the room, noting that no one else from her party had been captured. The Raiders' leader stepped forward and made what sounded like a short speech, punctuated by the group's hyena-like laughter.

She quickly paced around the room to look for any sort of weapon. No such luck. Sabé drew nearer the crude fire, which was surrounded by a ring of stones. Pushing the largest stone out with her foot, she waited for it to cool before picking it up. Crude, but it was better than nothing.

The tell-tale sounds of the Raiders caught her attention, and she darted to the darkest corner of the tent, stone clutched in her hand. Two guards walked in, and before they could even realize that their prisoner was no longer there, Sabé leapt behind them, cracking the stone soundly against their skulls, adrenaline pushing her strength temporarily, leaving her quite breathless after the guards crumpled into a heap on the ground. She was surprised that their headgear was a lot more brittle than she thought.

Now, what? The tent was rather solidly built with stiff leather, and even her small frame couldn't hope to squeeze through. The only way out was where the guards came in. Keeping close to the wall, she cautiously began to make her way down the hall, but she had a strange

Sabé was pushed into the center. Her mind raced, trying to recall the fate that awaited slave trade victims. First, they would make sure that her spirit was broken, and that usually entailed beatings on the first few days, and they had been quite heavy-handed with her on the way. In fact, another Raider just raised its arm to hit her again, and she tensed to at least deflect the blow in some way, only for the blow to be stopped by another Raider.

Her unlikely savior said something in gurgled words, but she managed to catch the words "Amidala" and "Naboo."

Trouble. This could mean big trouble.

She was hoisted to her feet. She fought the urge to do something violent...there was something unusual in the situation, especially when the Raider who stopped the blow approached her and gently touched her cheek, and she knew her bruises were plain to see.

He spoke in Galactic Basic. "They hurt you." It was not a question.

The Jedi's voice. Sabé gave him the tiniest of nods, and with that, the Jedi drew off his mask, revealing himself to everyone. Sabé gasped with everyone else, but he seemed to be unafraid, and even bowed to the Raiders' leader.

"What are you doing?!" she yelled. "Is this even a good idea?"

"Probably not," the Jedi responded with a half-shrug, eyes trained on the chieftain.

He drew out a lightsaber, and issued what sounded like a challenge. The chieftain was quick to take up the challenge, bringing out some kind of crude sword, while Sabé felt two pairs of hands hold her tightly down.

Sabé's heart was pounding, her head swam, trying to catch up with what was happening. She hated that she couldn't do anything with all the hands holding her down like a vise. She watched helplessly as the two exchanged blows, the Jedi's bright lightsaber sending sparks flying, much to the amazement of the Tusken Raiders. He was putting on a good show, but Sabé wasn't quite sure if it was a good thing or not.

Finally, mercifully, the Jedi finally caught the chieftain off-guard, almost lazily lopping its head off. To her shock, the Tusken Raiders cheered loudly, and the hands instantaneously released her, and practically threw her towards her rescuer.

She shocked them both by throwing her arms around him. Relief flooded her veins as they made their way out quickly. She had been so scared, and only admitted it to herself now. "Thank you, thank you, thank you," she murmured, trembling, still not quite able to let him go. She had been preparing herself for the worst, and the worst, she knew, was not pretty.

"Your appreciation is noted, but I need to breathe." the Jedi said, amused, as he extricated himself from her embrace. He surprised her by reaching up to touch her face again, examining the bruises there, and held her gaze a second too long than what was polite. "But we're not quite out of this yet."

"Has your master returned yet?" she asked as glanced nervously behind her lest the Raiders changed their minds. He gripped her tightly, one arm around her waist as his other hand gripped the lightsaber. They shuffled quickly out of the tent, towards the vehicle that he had brought along. She wondered how he had acquired it, but figured she could ask later.

"No, not yet.. your Majesty." he replied, but there was something a bit off with the way he lingered over the words Your Majesty.

"And the pilots and the mechanics? Are they safe?"

"Is this an interrogation? So soon?" there was an amused lilt to his question.

"Jedi Kenobi." she put on her most stern voice which clearly brooked no argument. Savior or not, she wanted to know the status of her people, and if she had endangered them in any way.

He stopped walking and faced her squarely. "Everything is fine and well, except for a lady of the crew who's been manhandled by the Raiders." his voice slightly wavered at the last part.

"Jedi Kenobi..."

"Please call me Obi-Wan, Your Majesty. I am not ordained yet."

She should really give him a break. "I apologize, Obi-Wan." She glanced back at the receding Raiders' tents. "I'm just very concerned about my crew."

He gave her a calculated look. "Are you?"

She didn't understand. "Am I what?"

"Are they your crew, Your Majesty? I couldn't help but notice the way you practically threw yourself in the front lines without a second thought."

She didn't have time to respond to his question as a blast of cold wind passed through them. Obi-Wan looked around. "We won't make it back in one piece in this weather. Better find some shelter, and soon."

Sabé nodded uneasily. Padmé and the others were expected to be back by daybreak, but it would do no good to expose herself and Obi-Wan at the mercy of the elements. "Lead the way, Obi-Wan."

She wondered what kind of training the Jedi gave to their recruits to give Obi-Wan so much familiarity towards the landscape. Or had he been on this planet before? No matter. Within an hour of driving on the anti-gravity vehicle, Obi-Wan announced that the winds were too strong to continue. He had managed to find a small, uninhabited cave where they could settle in for the night. He brought along an emergency kit which quickly produced a self-fueling flame, as well as a device that extracted water from the air, which was good as Sabé was parched to the bone.

After they had done all the necessary arrangements to make themselves comfortable, Sabé spoke up. "What did you tell the Tusken Raiders' chieftain when you rescued me?"

Obi-Wan had been gazing thoughtfully into the fire, as if trying to discern the future. "The Raiders are a pretty primitive group, and very few opportunities for entertainment come their way. Challenging the leader for a prize, the Queen of Naboo, is something that's not too out of the ordinary. They don't even care if you really are the Queen, but they are fond of challenges like that."

"Oh." Sabé tried to look not too impressed with the matter-of-factly way Obi-Wan imparted this information. Was there something the Jedi didn't know about? "Should you have told them that?"

"I don't think our presence here is a great secret, Your Majesty," Obi-Wan replied as he ruffled his bag for some rations. "The great giant Nubian spacecraft in the middle of the desert rather announced it, I should think."

He was right, of course. "Just as well." she said glumly. Better let informants think the Queen was out here than...out there.

He raised an eyebrow at her. She shrugged, almost helplessly. There was no point in pretending that he hadn't figured it out yet. She could see it in his eyes, somehow. "I'm not the Queen of Naboo."

"Thought as much." he replied casually. "Guess we've all been withholding information from each other then." He was echoing her words, but she couldn't be mad at him, considering that he HAD saved her life.

She extended one hand. "My name is Sabé. Sabé Aston, handmaiden to the Queen."

He seemed slightly surprised at the gesture, but took her hand and shook it cordially. "Pleased to meet you, Sabé."

She laughed. "It would be a crying shame to die here after having rescued a fake monarch in the middle of nowhere, Obi-Wan." but her tone softened. "But thank you again, for doing so. And," she added as an afterthought, "I hope you keep it a secret."

He smiled, almost impishly. "Your secret's safe with me." He furrowed his brow momentarily. "So tell me, do you keep extra ammunition under that voluminous skirt of yours?"

Sabé burst out laughing. "No, just our extra underthings I'm afraid!" On a normal day, talking to a Jedi about her underthings would've been shocking even to herself, but she had just narrowly escaped slavery and was sitting in the middle of the desert waiting out the night. She could use a laugh.

It looked like he could use a laugh too. He practically threw back his head laughing at the hilarity of the mental image.

"And to think this is one of the Queen's battle dresses," she commented ruefully.

When they'd both recovered, she found herself telling more about herself and her role as a decoy, and what the clothes deeply represented for their people. It felt good to just talk to someone she had no history with, to consult on her suspicions on what was behind the Trade Federation's actions. Obi-Wan gave careful, measured answers, probably not wanting to give too much privileged information. The night deepened, and Sabé found herself wondering how Eirtaé found Obi-Wan to be like an advanced droid. He laughed, he smiled, he talked, and he was anything but robotic.

The air became chillier, and he noticed her rubbing her arms to fight against it. "Would you like my tunic?" he offered, already taking it off his shoulders.

She shook her head quickly. "I can't..." then she added, "I'd only agree if you share it with me." she suddenly realized how forward it sounded, and she was glad the firelight helped mask her reddening cheeks.

If Obi-Wan thought it was too forward, he gave no indication, merely scooted next to her. He threw the tunic over both of them, and they sat in quiet, shoulder to shoulder. And for the first time since they left Naboo, Sabé felt completely at ease. "How do you know so much about this planet?" she finally ventured to ask, her voice just slightly above a whisper.

"My brother Owen lives here. I visit every now and then." his eyes seemed to soften at the mention of his brother. "My family-well, my biological family-came from Stewjon. But it's never been a prosperous planet like Naboo, so a lot of people are forced to try their luck in planets even like these. It was their best bet, with their limited resources."

"Sounds tough." she said.

"Yes, but nothing he can't handle." Obi-Wan replied with obvious pride. Sabé found she couldn't take her eyes away from his face, spattered with dirt and blood as it was. He was looking at her closely, and without any warning, reached up and touched her face the way he did earlier, making her feeling a little self-conscious. They were sitting down hip-to-hip. He was observing her bruises, that was all. His face was all grim lines again.

"Everyone back at the ship alright?" she finally asked, looking at the fire just for the sake of something to do.

He drew his hand back, completely oblivious of her discomfort. "For the last time, yes. All the repairs have been made, just waiting for the spare parts to be delivered to us."

"Sorry for ruining your schedule."

He shrugged, as if traveling a half-day's worth through a desert with two scorching suns was something he did everyday. "You didn't cause any delay and it's the least I can do. It's not like I can just let them take the Queen away, you know."

She smiled at that. "If only you knew that you were getting a knock-off." she said ruefully.

"If only I knew." he echoed, slightly smiling as well. They shared a look and laughed. Something warm had risen between them, and it wasn't just because of shared body heat. Sabé quickly looked away and fixed her attention on the fire. If Obi-Wan felt any sort of embarrassment, he didn't show it. These Jedi were good at keeping a poker face.

She was exhausted by the day's events but somehow her adrenalin still hadn't gone down. She wondered what Obi-Wan was thinking, whether he regretted not seeing his brother despite the fact that they were both on Tatooine, after surely years of not seeing each other. A Jedi's life. How little she knew of it, really. But a lifetime of sacrifice...

Maybe that, she could understand.

She was suddenly distracted by his light snoring. He had fallen asleep. With a smile and a sigh, Sabé pulled the blanket a little tighter over the both of them.

A/N: I just felt like updating this, but I won't make any promises on how regular the updates would be. Thanks for reading!