Hand of Fate

Chapter 9 / Final Words


Dusk was warm over the city of Theed, leaving the sky a dark purple that was fading into velvet blue. Earlier that day, the joyful city-wide parade and celebration ceremonies had left the streets strewn in ribbons and confetti. Human and Gungan alike were celebrating planetwide, with Queen Amidala hosting a regal celebration in the palace ceremonial halls. Hundreds of people and Gungans were in attendance. Including one not-so-enthusiastic guest.

Sitting on a stair and leaning into a huge column at the edge of the large banquet hall, Obi-Wan's expression was shrewd and serious, not matching the atmosphere of the party he felt obligated to attend. In his hand, a forgotten drink that was surely half-melted by now.

The din of conversation, glass clinking, people laughing, and upbeat, stringed music playing was hard to think in. The air was thick with the scent of wine and liquor, as well as every type of roast and baked good conceivable. Obi-Wan cast glances about for the other members of the council who had chosen to attend the dinner banquet and afterparty. While some of them had elected to go straight to the shuttle that would taken them back to Coruscant soon, some had seen fit to make an appearance here at Amidala's grand dinner feast and celebration. Mace Windu was currently talking to Governor Bibble, no doubt about politics. Master Yoda was in Padmé Amidala and Palpatine's company. Depa Billaba, Ki-Adi-Mundi and Adi Gallia had been in conversation over drinks for going on an hour now. Anakin had asked to go outside and play with the other children in the gardens. Obi-Wan hadn't had the heart to say 'no, a Jedi does not play.' When they got back to Coruscant the real training would begin. So for now, Obi-Wan was left to bide his time. Leaving felt rude, that and… there was someone he felt he owed an earnest goodbye to.

Obi-Wan scanned the room for Sabé, who he'd been more or less keeping track of all night. During the two-hour dinner she'd stood behind Padmé opposite of Rabé, a few feet off, remaining as still as a statue the entire time. Nothing but her eyes moving, and even that had been difficult to see because of the hood that had been up. Having handmaidens offsetting the queen in every situation wasn't an ornamental move and Obi-Wan understood that now. No doubt she and Rabé had been standing guard.

Now, it seemed she'd been given relief from the post. Standing a few yards off from him with a drink, she was in a conversation circle, but seemed to just be listening rather than participating… her eyes wandering and the nervous tapping of a finger against her glass giving away her restlessness. Obi-Wan found himself smiling in a private moment of entertainment: she could remain statue-like for two hours at her guard post, but barely stand still during social engagements as herself. He could relate.

She was dressed differently than he'd seen her before: she wore a lighter sage green dress, and over it was a darker green sleeveless floorlength cape emblazoned with swirled Naboo symbols. The lack of sleeves showed strong arms cuffed by mid-bicep bands—her injury from Tatooine, an angry red slash underneath—and her wrists were encircled by wide bracelets. The hood of her outfit was down unlike earlier, showing her hair elegantly pulled back into three knots—the first just below the crown of her head, the second close below it at the back of her scalp, the final one at the base of her neck. A delicate gold chain jewelry piece was draped across her forehead and ran down either side of her head with twinkling loops of chain, giving her a regal appearance. Although all of the handmaidens wore the same outfit tonight, they all had different hairstyles and accessories. He found himself reflecting on how Sabé really did look strikingly similar to Padmé but… if he had to quantify it, he would have to admit that he found Sabé more physically beautiful.

As he studied her from halfway across the room, he thought about how she was the only person here he'd formed a real connection with. Panaka and Padmé, he'd formed a working relationship with. Jar Jar too he supposed (unfortunately). But with Sabé, something deeper had come forth. Friendship was the best word, he decided. And allyship the runner up. Tonight, however, was the closing chapter of this fleeting friendship. A fact that made him feel… a touch melancholic. Noticing his feelings, Obi-Wan grew frustrated and uncomfortable with himself. The typical human part of him routinely experienced many feelings and thoughts that were not becoming of a person who lived by the Code. The Jedi part of him understood some feelings and thoughts were inevitable, and he had learned to overlook or discipline himself out of his own tendencies throughout the years. But he still had his moments.

At that moment, Sabé caught his gaze and sent a little smile—a silent hello—his way. They hadn't spoken much that day outside of the necessary in passing. He raised the drink her way, mirroring her little smile. She thought for a second, then darted her eyes toward the left end of the room, then looked at him questioningly. Brow furrowing, Obi-Wan looked in that direction seeing nothing but doorways to the outdoor veranda. He looked back at Sabé with questions of his own silent on his face. She nudged her head this time, once as a question and then the next as a decision. She began to go that way, slipping through the tightly packed room like silk. Obi-Wan tensed, bracing himself to stand. His feelings were warning him against following her. Writing it off as overthinking, he stood decisively and did it anyway.

Obi-Wan stepped out onto the balcony, breathing deeply the Naboo night air which was thick, cool, and full of the rich smell of earth, ozone, and plants. The sound of the waterfalls filled the air, diminishing the loud sounds of the party within the palace. Immediately, he felt calmer and clearer.

Ahead, Sabé had her glass at the veranda railing and awaited him with an expression that gave it all away: she didn't like being at the party either. Obi-Wan approached, going with a joke as his greeting. "So I see you enjoy a good party too."

"If by 'enjoy' we mean I'd rather shoot myself in the foot, then yes," she said, halfway joking but halfway serious too.

Obi-Wan lifted his glass, chuckling, as he came to stand beside her, facing outward to the gardens below. "Cheers."

She looked conspiratorial. "Cheers." Their drinkware clinked and Sabé saluted her glass to him once more before sipping. "Here's to hiding from everyone and everything."

"I'll certainly drink to that," Obi-Wan agreed, sipping his too through a pleasant smile. Sabé turned to face the same direction as he was, leaning against the railing in what might be considered too casual a manner for her fancier outfit. They watched the children racing back and forth between the hedges of the garden that stretched out directly under the veranda. Zana was there, as well as Anakin and various other children Obi-Wan didn't know. Shrieks of delight drifted upward as the children tried to catch invisible things out of the air. Was this some type of game he'd never heard of before? Obi-Wan frowned thoughtfully. "Do you know what they're doing?"

Sabé put her face into a hand as she leaned, turning a touch nostalgic as she watched Zana leaping high and grabbing at air. "Chasing firewing bugs," she said with a smile. "If you can catch one, you can make a wish." She gave him a knowing look. "But they're very tricky to catch." She watched Anakin for a few moments longer. "How's he doing with everything?"

Obi-Wan didn't know how to answer, which vexed him further. He might not have even answered at all if it were someone else who asked, but he felt a growing sense of trust in Sabé and her judgment. "I'm… not entirely sure," he shared hesitantly. "His energy is very chaotic and conflicted. He's a child who lived a very different path than a Jedi youngling would. Slavery, poverty, isolation on a barren world…" He moved his glass, listening to the melted ice cubes hit dully. His path felt heavy to him and very uncertain. That, and the council's apprehension about Anakin made Obi-Wan feel immensely pressured. "I sense much fear in him."

Sabé didn't view the statement as deeply as it was meant. "I'd be scared too if I was suddenly taken from a parent and my homeworld then thrust into all this."

"It's… not as simple as being scared," Obi-Wan said, thinking deeply about how to put it so she would understand. "It's… fearfulness. I'm not sure how to describe it."

"It's an overall energy that you feel through the Force, you're saying?"

"Yes, the makeup of his spirit and soul, more or less," Obi-Wan replied. "Everyone has a certain energy to them."

Sabé's face indicated that this was a new revelation to her, but that it made sense. She then grinned somewhat challengingly, turning sideways while leaning an arm on the railing still. It created a certain impish effect. "What's my energy like, then?"

Obi-Wan looked at her unguardedly for a long moment. He should have known she would ask that. He remembered that moment when he'd touched her face and had felt her energy so intensely. "Steadfast. Focused." He felt something like a good-natured smile catching his lips to curve them upward. "Very stubborn."

She grinned in a carefree, full way he'd never seen her do before. It made her look even prettier than he'd thought she was, cutting dimples into her cheeks and making her eyes sparkle. "I can think of a few people who would agree," she said, chuckling almost self-deprecatingly. "Especially with the stubborn part." But Obi-Wan didn't laugh along. He was thinking of the other words that described her energy as he watched her helplessly. Vulnerable but intimidating. Pure of intention. Quietly powerful, like a tranquil river whose currents underneath could drown an able-bodied man. Some part of her drew him in like a magnet, and he found himself wanting to know more and simultaneously trying to reject that instinct. Feeling how soft his expression was and noticing how at ease he was suddenly made him feel guilty. Noticing her companion's changing expression, Sabé's face faded into brief concern. "What?"

"Nothing, nothing." He cleared his throat and cast around for something, anything to say to make conversation flow. He tried to be light, and change the conversation to something surface level. "I, uh—I noticed everyone has different hairstyles tonight. Is there some hidden meaning?"

She looked at him oddly, like she knew he was up to something and wasn't sure whether to laugh at him or be suspicious. "Yes, it means we were allowed to pick our own styles for once," she answered with a touch of friendly sarcasm. She visibly decided to let her curiosity about his changed expression go, and touched a loose hair that had come out just above her ear and tucked it back into place. "This is a traditional style worn by both warriors and royalty in ancient Naboo history. I always used to train and wear this style. Never wore it to something nice before, so…" She shrugged, then turned her back to the railing, leaning and taking a sip as she watched the party inside for a few brief moments. She looked amused. Obi-Wan glanced back to see what she was smiling at: Mace Windu was trying to refuse drinks being offered him by a very jovial, very inebriated Boss Nass. Windu's cantankerous expression made Sabé chuckle in the base of her throat and throw an entertained glance Obi-Wan's way. "Jedi don't go to parties very much, do they?"

Celebrations had their place, but Jedi preferred the simple way. "It's not the most familiar place for us," he said, attempting to be more professional and less personal with his responses. "We don't celebrate things really."

She definitely noticed his sudden change of demeanor. "Holidays? Birthdays? Promotions?" she prompted, maybe trying to see if she could get him to be more easygoing again.

Obi-Wan looked over the gardens, keeping his expression tight. "For a Jedi, selflessness is the goal. We view celebration of those type of things as being unnecessary and extravagant, rooted in the ego." He realized he was beginning to sound rude, and attempted to backpedal, feeling guilty again. He threw a glance her way. "However, celebrating the liberation of a people is acceptable."

She had a doubtful but good humored look on her face. "Ah, what a relief," she joked, making a face then downing the rest of her drink in a single gulp, apparently not caring to appear delicate or ladylike. She winced and made a sound of mild disgust, dashing at her mouth with the back of her hand. "This Gungan wine tastes like it was brewed in a tree trunk."

Obi-Wan couldn't stop the sly little smile that popped onto his face. "You still drank it all, didn't you?"

Sabé said nothing, just smiled and chuckled, turning to the railing and setting her drink aside, joining him in looking off into the stars that were beginning to come out. A long few seconds passed, then she spoke again, sounding thoughtful and a little subdued. "I guess you're leaving soon, aren't you."

She turned her head to look at him, waiting for his reply, and he met her gaze. "Tonight."

Her face fell. Surprise showed. "Tonight?"

"Whenever Master Yoda gives me the signal."

Sabé's eyebrows rose a little further. "That could be any moment!" She looked at him with a question in her eyes, as if she was considering feeling hurt. "And you weren't going to tell me?"

He gave her a sidelong look that was almost sly, sidestepping a more telling answer easily. "You do seem to have found out."

His reply made her chagrinned. Shaking her head and trying not to smile while sighing lengthily, she leaned onto her elbows. "I appreciate the vote of confidence." She paused a long moment. When she spoke again, she sounded distinctly vulnerable, like asking made her nervous. "Would you really leave without saying goodbye?"

The question hurt him, there was no way around it. He knew what she meant, but he still tried to skirt it with his answer. "The queen is occupied, I'm sure—"

Sabé cut him off quietly. "You know she's not who I meant."

Yes… he did know. He looked at her fully then, his heartbeat feeling more rapid than it should. Their gazes held and he swallowed. This could be a problem, and his instincts told him just how easily. It wasn't Sabé's fault that he felt this battle inside of himself. Nothing she'd done was inappropriate or deserved the cold shoulder treatment. So he answered her truthfully. "No. I wouldn't." That softened her tense forehead. It felt like he was opening himself up in a defenseless position to say the words, as simple and as they were, but he did it anyway: "You've been very kind to me during a difficult time, Sabé. And I thank you for that." He could have elaborated on just how meaningful it was, but he thought that was better left private. "Our friendship has been an unexpected but welcome experience."

Sabé's expression mirrored his, and a soft smile grew. "I feel the same." For a moment, she contended herself to look outward at the skyline, turning a shade more wistful, her eyes thoughtful and dark. "Will I ever see you again, Obi-Wan Kenobi?" she asked, looking at him after she asked.

A question that made him feel another quicken in his heartbeat. Replying was difficult, not because he didn't know how to answer, but because of how her words had caused him to feel. She wanted to see him again. "Who am I to say what life has in store?" he replied softly, answering a question with a question.

A loud burst of laughter and general drunken happiness erupted in the hall behind them, and movement drew both their eyes. People were coming out, in droves. "Oh—the light show," Sabé said, and as if on cue, overhead, there was a sudden brilliant streak of light paired with a high pitched squeal, then a huge boom. Lights began exploding overhead. Obi-Wan recognized them as fireworks. Children ran up the garden staircase, crowding against the bannister for a better view as guests from the party filled the previously empty veranda.

No longer just the two of them, Sabé and Obi-Wan held a lingering gaze, then watched the light show together. Or, Sabé watched anyway. Obi-Wan kept looking at her instead, watching how the lights reflected in her eyes, how the sudden brightness and fade into darkness hit the features of her face. Zana wiggled her way in from nearby, leaning into her sister's side, and one of Sabé's arms hugged her close as they watched together. Anakin had stationed himself close to Obi-Wan, and on a whim, the master reached down and put both hands onto Anakin's shoulders. A gesture he hoped was reassuring and strengthening. Anakin peeked up at him briefly, then smiled. Obi-Wan smiled back.

Just then, Obi-Wan sensed a call, and looked through the crowd where Mace Windu was signaling him. It was time to go. Reluctant, but not serving that feeling with his actions, Obi-Wan leaned down to speak into Anakin's ear above the noise. "Anakin. Come with me. It's time to go."

Panicking, the boy darted off with a, "I gotta say bye to Padmé!"

Sabé was already alert to what was happening, already watching after Anakin then looking to Obi-Wan with a sad smile. So this was goodbye. He felt the way her smile looked. Not knowing what else to do, he settled on putting his hand out for a handshake. "Until we meet again."

She smiled softly, an expression tinged with a certain bittersweetness. She put her hand into his, but neither of them shook. Their hands just held briefly. "Until we meet again," she replied, a promise. He was feeling that intense sensation again, just like on Tatooine when he'd touched her face. The one where looking into her eyes felt inescapable. He made himself go, letting his hand slip from hers. He backed up a few steps, then tore his gaze away and turned to disappear into the crowd.

Sabé watched him go, the lightshow forgotten completely as her eyes followed his retreat. The feeling of loss and disappointment was strong, although she logically didn't know what she had expected. She made herself return to watching the lights, stooping a little to hug Zana close. Her ability to focus was temporarily destroyed.

The fireworks ended about five minutes later, and Zana begged Sabé to come walk the gardens with her and try to catch a firewing bug. Sabé complied, not entirely there mentally, but aware that Zana's more childlike wishes like catching bugs would fade in the next few years. Even as Zana leapt around trying to catch the barely visible glowing bugs, Sabé's eyes frequently watching the sky, searching for the shuttle that would take off soon with the Jedi on board.

She was so distracted that a sudden question of, "So what do you like so much about him?" startled her.

Sabé stared with veiled surprise at Zana who stood straight in front of her with an expectant look. A defensive at her sister's question, Sabé crossed her arms. "Like who so much?"

Zana made an unamused, overly dramatic face. "Are you really going to pretend not to know who I'm talking about?"

Sabé supposed it might be too much to hope her own flesh and blood wouldn't be able to see through her, but it bothered her nonetheless. She did find herself thinking over what she liked about Obi-Wan despite herself. There was just something about him—a nobleness, a strength of character—and something unnamable that drew her in despite her best efforts. "Doesn't matter," she answered, trying to downplay it all and act casual, picking a loose petal off of a nearby shrug and flicking it. "We'll probably never see any of them again."

Zana contemplated her sister for a thoughtful moment, becoming less fondly antagonistic in favor of empathetic. "I think he liked you too."

Distinctly embarrassed, Sabé tried to change the narrative. "Some friendships are only for the blink of an eye," she told her sister, putting an arm around her sister and walking them forward and back toward the warm lights of the palace.

Zana looked up and sidelong, a cheeky smile on her face. "Mmmhmm," she said, then pulled at Sabé's hand and arm. "You promised me earlier… can we please go dance now?"

Sabé sighed, knowing she had to give in. She had promised, and seeing as such, she nodded. Zana let out a whoop and the sisters made their way in, Zana more excitedly. When they got to the veranda, Zana was at a run to make it inside, while Sabé paused at the doorway and searched the stars above. There was a longing in her chest, a feeling of reaching and not wanting to let go. She thought about his final words to her: Until we meet again. Just then, she saw the shuttle rising up into the sky and ascending into the darkness above.

She stood straighter and drew in a deep breath. And so it must be.

With little idea of what the future held, Sabé resolved to keep her focus in the current moment and went inside, doing her best to leave the thought of Obi-Wan behind.


Author's Notes: And just like that, TPM is a wrap! Whew, the feelings and tension…! Hope you enjoyed.

There's a post on the story blog that has concept art of Sabé's outfit and hair for this chapter btw.

Okay so now we are off into the wild unknown with original content. I had posted on the blog that anyone who can guess at the next part of the story gets a character named after them. I still got characters to name, so leave your guess in your review if you're feeling prophetic :P

PS, I often reply to reviews via PM - sitewide notifications are off, so check your PMs if you recently reviewed, you might have a note from me!