Chapter Thirty-Six – 500 Republica
Sabé had rushed home after speaking with Padmé, where Saché was busily turning the apartment upside down looking for her lost boot so that she could pack it. Sabé took one look at the mess, turned on her heel and left again, deciding that she would pack later.
While Padmé informed Queen Jamillia of her decision to move, Sabé headed to her mother's house to say goodbye and explain her reasoning, (excluding any information about Obi-Wan of course). Then she said goodbye to her Uncle Ruwee and Aunt Jobal, and promised to send Padmé round at once. She also found time to say goodbye to Sola and her husband Darred, and Ryoo and Pooja, who seemed sad at the prospect of losing both an aunt and a cousin at once.
All the visiting had taken up several hours, and Sabé wandered slowly back to her apartment hoping that Saché had found her boot by now. Luckily she had. It had been underneath a pile of clothes all the time, and both it and the other garments were now packed neatly into two suitcases.
"I'm impressed," Sabé admitted, grinning at her friend. "Did you have to give half of your clothes away to the less fortunate before you could fit them all in there?"
"Very amusing," Saché said unconvincingly. "At least I have packed. Your clothes are still in your wardrobe."
"That's because yours were blocking the way to my bedroom!"
Saché sniggered, and followed Sabé to her room to keep her company while she packed. The two chatted about trivial things for a while, then Saché asked to hear exactly how her friend had ended up married to Obi-Wan Kenobi. When she had finished her story, Saché looked disgruntled. "Why won't any man say things like that to me?" she whinged, fiddling with the fastener on Sabé's suitcase.
"One will some day," Sabé reassured, folding a shimmersilk dress.
"Are you sure?"
"No! What do you think I am, a Jedi?"
"No," Saché said with a laugh. "Just the wife of one!"
Sabé smiled and shooed the distracting young woman out of her room so that she could finish sorting her belongings.
In the morning, the two met Padmé at the hanger. Another figure waited with her who introduced herself as Moteé. She wore a blue hooded cloak identical to Saché's, identifying her as a handmaiden. Padmé had decided, following Cordé and Versé's deaths, that she only needed two handmaidens, and had dismissed Sabé.
Now taking the job of Senatorial Assistant full time, the older woman found more opportunities to write letters to Obi-Wan. Being often sent to the frontlines, he did not reply much, but she sent them frequently anyway, knowing that some kind of escapism might be welcoming for him. She mentioned nothing of their marriage or her affection, realising that the Separatists or an outside party may take advantage of the chaos of war and intercept them. She had not informed him of her return to Coruscant, hoping to surprise him when he got back. If she managed to surprise him. No doubt the reporters from the HoloNet news would have a field day with the story of Senator Amidala's return.
After Padmé moved into her new, bigger apartment, an expensive place in a Senatorial tower block named 500 Republica, she began to make it feel more genial by decorating with classical Nabooian ornaments. All four young women welcomed the sight of familiar deities and sculpture, especially Sabé, as she recognised a number of things from Padmé's bedroom at the Naberrie home. Included in these was a small statue of a Gungan goddess who had on more than one occasion been a third member of a tea party. Sabé smiled at the memory of being four again, drinking 'tea' out of miniature cups while dressed in some of Padmé's mother's old clothes. In actual fact, the 'tea' had been fruit juice, but a child's imagination overlooks such trivialities. The way that Padmé was smiling fondly at the statue told Sabé that she too remembered that long ago childhood.
Senatorial duties did not begin for several days. Padmé had insisted upon bringing R2-D2 and C-3P0 with her, and Sabé was glad to observe that the droids had enough sense to stay well out of the way while Saché and Moteé ran around sorting furniture and clothing. Anakin had given 3P0 to Padmé before he and Obi-Wan had left, claiming that as a Jedi he had no use for a protocol droid. Padmé had accepted him into her service as a sort of councillor droid, and he had been driving Saché mad ever since.
"If that droid tells me how many languages he's fluent in one more time," she had remarked to Sabé one day, "I'll take to him with a hydrospanner, so help me!"
When finally everything was organised and in its place, the apartment felt more like home while still managing to look absolutely stunning. It was a simple layout with an upstairs for bedrooms and a small area of seating, which was almost identical to the smaller apartment that Padmé had rented before. She and Sabé had spacious bedchambers on opposite sides of the building, and Saché and Moteé had a shared room in between. Downstairs the apartment's main feature was a large marble lounge area that had a small fountain in the centre that was pleasant to listen to in the evenings. It also had a balcony and an area for a small ship to dock.
All in all, the four Nabooian women were highly pleased with their new home, although had they not been they would have borne it without complaint.
Several days went dully by until one morning Sabé received a letter that read simply: 'To return later he is. Ask for me and allow you clearance I will.' She smiled. Yoda even wrote in his obscure speech pattern. Managing to persuade Padmé that she required a day off to buy presents to send home, (although she wasn't sure how much of the story her cousin really believed), she swung a velvet cloak around her shoulders and raised the hood before leaving the apartment. Perhaps some people would take her for a Jedi that way.
At the main entrance to the Temple she asked for Yoda, who confirmed that she was his guest, and met the tiny Jedi in a small, dimly lit chamber that he informed her was a meditation room. "Welcome, Sabé," Yoda greeted her. "Good to see you it is."
"Thank you, Master Yoda. It's good to see you too." She sat down on a low circular cushion and faced the wizened Jedi Master.
"An idea I have considering your new residence here."
"Really?"
"Mm. Want to see Obi-Wan you no doubt will whenever he returns, yes?"
She nodded. "Yes."
"Then come and visit me often you shall. That way, conspicuous your presence here will no longer be."
Sabé's face broke out in a smile. "Thank you. I will."
Yoda nodded. "Good. Glad to help I am."
"Master Yoda, I must ask…why have you continued to help us so much? I don't want to sound ungrateful, I'm not. I don't know what we would do without you, but I'm curious."
"The answer is simple. Aid you no-one else would," he replied frankly. "But too much pain your separation causes. Too much than a Jedi as loyal as Obi-Wan deserves to feel. The same is true of the war. Already over two-hundred Jedi we have lost." He paused to let out a deep sigh and clutched his gimer stick. "Had a vision I have. In the future, when there are new generations of Jedi, they will not deny themselves love. Marry they will, and still use the Force well. Perhaps wrong we were to treat love with such denial."
Sabé looked on in quiet contemplation. Then the brief moment of following silence was broken by two small fighters flying past the shaded window. Yoda looked up from his reverie. "Ah. Returned they have." Any explanation of whom he was referring to as 'they' was simply unnecessary.
Sabé stood up in anticipation, and Yoda handed her a slip of flimsi with a line of figures jotted down on it. "The code to Obi-Wan's room it is," he explained. "Hide in there before young Skywalker sees you."
"Thank you, Master Yoda." Touched, Sabé raised her hood and made her way to Obi-Wan's room. It was as she had expected; sparse but pleasant. She moved over to look out of the window. The view was not as spectacular as the one she had observed from the balcony in the Council's tower, but it was still rather impressive.
Voices outside drew her attention away from the sight of the neat lines of air traffic, and she recognised them at once as Obi-Wan's and Anakin's.
"No, Master, I don't think I will," the Padawan was saying. "Too long cooped up in that cockpit. I'm going to get some air."
Sabé smiled, having a sneaky suspicion that the air he might be sampling may well be inside 500 Republica.
"Very well. Make sure you're back before sunset. That's when the Council want our report."
"I will. See you later." His footsteps were heard walking briskly away, accompanied by the sound of Obi-Wan typing in the code on the door.
Sabé waited until he had closed it behind him before tugging down her hood and turning to run into her husband's arms. Obi-Wan released his impulsive grip on his lightsabre handle before holding her tightly to his chest. "I thought you were on Naboo," he said at last, his joy evident in his voice.
"We've moved," Sabé informed him, leaning her head on his shoulder. "We live at 500 Republica now. Padmé decided it would benefit her Senatorial duties. Personally I think she realised that it would benefit her being able to see old friends." She drew away to smile at him. "That means that it benefits me too."
"Certainly does," Obi-Wan agreed, pulling her near again for a kiss to banish the frown that had appeared at the suggestion that Padmé might have taken up residence on Coruscant to be able to see Anakin.
Leading her to sit down on the bed he asked, "Why did you not tell me?"
Her lips curved in a wry smile. "I wanted to surprise you."
He traced a finger around her jaw line. "You did. How did you manage it?"
"I had a little help."
"From Master Yoda?" he guessed.
"That's right."
"Was that a pun?"
"What?" she asked with a smile.
"Saying you had a little help?" He grinned.
"No," Sabé laughed. "Don't be so disrespectful to your Masters!"
"Sorry I am," he said with a twinkle in his eye.
She smiled and looked at him intently. "I've missed you so much."
"I've missed you too. How long has it been?"
"I don't know. Weeks."
He shook his head grimly. "Lets hope it's never that long again."
"I don't think I could stand it."
Obi-Wan chuckled. "You might have to."
"I would cope with it," Sabé clarified. "I just wouldn't like it."
"Neither would I. Not just being away from you, although that tugs at my heart, but having to command troops and play General," he complained.
Sabé's eyes lit up. "They made you a General?"
"Oh, yes."
She laughed softly. "General Kenobi. It makes you sound very important."
"Thank you," he said sardonically. "That is praise indeed, Representative Naberrie."
She wrinkled her nose. "Alright, no more titles. My name is Sabé Kenobi, thank you."
"I know, my love. It always makes me smile to hear that."
Sabé looked at him affectionately and held his hand tightly in her lap. "So, what have you been up to?"
"Oh, plenty." He swept a hand over his beard, thinking back. "Anakin, Master Windu and I had a small problem on Rhen Var, not long after we left you." Seeing his wife's curious expression he elaborated further. "Turns out they were trying to assemble an ancient Sith weapon called the Dark Reaper."
"That's not a promising sounding name, is it?"
He laughed dryly. "Not exactly. We've also discovered a new enemy."
Sabé frowned. "Just what we need in the middle of a war."
"War always uncovers new enemies, but new allies too. This one could be trouble though. She's a dark Jedi, a student of Dooku I believe. Her name is Asajj Ventress. Master Windu met her on Kamino a few weeks ago. You heard about what happened on Kamino I presume?"
Sabé nodded. "The Separatists attacked the cloning facilities. Padmé and I watched it on the HoloNet."
Obi-Wan grimaced at the memory. "Yes. And then there was that assault we led on Muunilinst. Apart from that, the only interesting part of my life for the past few months has been receiving your letters."
"They aren't suspicious are they? To Master Windu or anyone?"
"Only Anakin knows how frequent they are, and as long as you mention Padmé he isn't going to complain about them."
Sabé smiled. "His regard for her doesn't bother you does it?"
It took Obi-Wan a long moment of deliberation to decide what to reply. "Sometimes. Sometimes I think he is more attached to her than he should be."
"And that worries you?"
"Frankly, yes it does. Anakin is far too impulsive, and his attachment is affecting his duty as a Jedi."
"You mean when he wanted to give up on Dooku and put the ship down to save her on Geonosis?" Sabé asked.
"Yes. A small matter, I know, but if it continues, the consequences of his impulsiveness will get gradually more serious."
"I see." Sabé frowned, looking so solemn that Obi-Wan had to smile and change the subject.
Early that evening she returned to the apartment, arms full of gifts that she and Obi-Wan had chosen for family back on Naboo. Anakin, it seemed, was just leaving to head back to the Jedi Temple, claiming to have simply 'stopped by for a chat' with Padmé. Sabé slipped past the pair to her room, not wishing to intrude on their parting. To her surprise C-3P0 followed her.
"Was there something you wanted, 3P0?" she asked wearily.
"Well, sort of," the droid admitted, looking down at his dull silver plating. "I was wondering, Miss Sabé, if you would do me a favour."
Sabé looked up from sorting the presents. "A favour?" She had never known a droid quite like 3P0. He seemed almost human sometimes.
"Yes. I was wondering if perhaps Mistress Padmé might allow me new coverings. I don't quite know how to ask her."
"What's wrong with the coverings you have?"
"Nothing. They function perfectly. It's just that I feel it's…embarrassing for a Senator's droid to look so…grey."
Sabé fought to suppress a laugh. "You mean you feel embarrassed that the other Senatorial droids are shinier than you?"
"Well, yes."
She placed a hand on 3P0's metallic shoulder. "I'll ask her for you."
"Oh thank you, Miss Sabé. I knew you could help. Miss Saché was quite right."
"Ah. So Saché put you up to this." She smiled. "Don't worry 3P0. Go and see if Mistress Padmé needs anything doing." Shaking her head, Sabé turned back to her sorting. She would be having a little talk with Saché presently. No doubt the ever-mischievous handmaiden had said something to set 3P0 thinking that his coverings weren't good enough for Padmé's services. Sabé sighed, wondering if her friend would ever act her age, and followed the fussy droid out to where Padmé was waiting.
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A/N: Next chapter, Sabé reports war updates back to Padmé, Grievous rears his ugly head, and Obi-Wan gets promoted.