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Three years later
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Trainer-Commander Sabé Maberrie, otherwise known as Sabé Belacque, walked smartly through the deserted corridors of the Royal Security Academy towards the Recruitment office. It was half-way through the first lesson, and she'd been called to look over the new recruits for another unit of Royal Bodyguards.
Her hair, which had been long until a few months before, was tied into a plait that hung between her shoulder blades. Her trademark tunic and leggings were smarter than those she wore when actually training, and as such were less comfortable.
She reached the Recruitment office finally, and rapped on the old-style door before turning the handle and walking in. She smiled at the man at the desk, Lieutenant Ric Volmaé, whom she'd trained over a year before, and turned her gaze to the half a dozen men and women who sat on chairs next to the large window.
"These are the new recruits?" she asked Ric. Ric nodded. "Yes, ma'am," he replied with a smile. "For the Bodyguard program."
Sabé rubbed a hand over her eyes, seating herself on the edge of Ric's desk. "Does Admin realise that we're in the middle of a semester?" she asked tiredly. "I have a group in that program already. If I'm supposed to get them to the same level before spring…" She trailed off.
"I'm sorry, Commander," Ric said apologetically. "I have talked to Admin about this, but they insist that you have to train this group. Apparently it's Captain Panaka's orders."
Sabé gave a laugh. The recruits glanced over at her, a little nervously. "Trust Panaka to load me with this," she grimaced. "Well, thank you, Lieutenant." She rose, then turned back to face him as a thought struck her. "You've entered the hand-to-hand competition soon, haven't you?"
Ric grinned. "Yes, ma'am, I have. You're entering too, aren't you?" Sabé laughed at his hopeful expression, patting his shoulder. "Perhaps, Lieutenant," she replied. "We'll see." She turned and walked over to the recruits.
"Good morning," she called, quieting them. They all turned to face her, standing quickly to attention. "My name is Trainer-Commander Sabé Maberrie. I'm going to be your trainer whilst you are in this course. I'm going to take you down to the training rooms now to show you around; whilst we're there, I'll take your names and numbers. Understood?"
"Yes, Trainer-Commander," they replied in chorus. Hiding a sigh, Sabé wheeled around and walked from the office, followed by all of them. It took only a few minutes to reach Sabé's large training room, where she taught all but a few of her classes. She quickly rapped out an order for the new trainees to line up, then grabbed a datapad from the desk in a corner and started taking down their names.
She was pleased to see that of the six, two were women. It wasn't discouraged, but the Royal Guard had never been publicly thought of as a woman's job. She wasn't surprised to find that most of them were older than her – she was only twenty, after all. But she caught the look that several of the men sent her, and knew that she would have trouble with them.
"Name?" she asked the first one. "Carl Hatté," the first dark-haired man replied. She moved onto the next one, Lilié Neela, a fair-haired girl, and the next, Harré Fishé, a young man who looked to be from the eastern regions, where Rabé came from.
Then she moved to the other girl in the group, a blonde-haired, blue-eyed girl who bore a startling resemblance to Eirtaé, Sabé realised. "Name?" she asked.
"Tallé Mazioné," the girl replied. She must have seen the surprise in Sabé's eyes, because she added "Lady Eirtaé is my elder sister." A smile broke out on Sabé's face. "I should have guessed," the former handmaiden observed dryly. "You look like her, too." Then she moved on.
After she'd got the names of all the trainees, she put the datapad down on her desk and turned back to face them. "You can sit down," she told them, after finding them still standing. They sat down quickly on the mats, and Sabé rolled her eyes. "Okay, there's not really enough time now for me to start teaching you anything," she started. "You each have a schedule, so you know when we have lessons, and for what. Because you've all started this course in the middle of the semester, you'll have to work hard to make it up, and I warn you, I'm not an easy trainer. For that, transfer to the Volunteer Corps. It's where you only have half days and don't see any action."
She turned and picked up a pile of datapads with the first assignment on them. Then she turned back to the group, handing them out. "I should warn you, I only accept the best," she warned. "I happen to be a friend of the Queen. If I feel that through any incompetence or disinterest you would endanger her whilst on duty, I will not hesitate to fail you all. You work as a unit or not at all, understood?"
"Yes, ma'am," the trainees murmured, for the most part intimidated by her speech. Sabé met Harré Fishé's insolent eyes, then turned away as the bell rang.
"Dismissed," she told them calmly. They almost ran out of the room in their haste to get away from her, and once the door closed behind them, Sabé burst into laughter.
"Do you always start classes like that?" came a familiar, amused voice from the other door of the room. Sabé whirled around to see Yané standing in the doorway. The fourteen-year-old of three years before had matured into a graceful woman, her long brown hair invariably tied into plaits, her face having lost some of its baby fat, her limbs more slender than they had used to be.
Sabé grinned. "When did you arrive?" she demanded, moving to hug her friend. "Why didn't you come to see me immediately?"
"I came from the Palace," Yané admitted. "Just got here a moment ago." Two pairs of brown eyes met. "Padmé wants to see you."
"Is something wrong"? Sabé queried fearfully. Yané shook her head. "No, nothing's wrong," she replied. She hesitated, seeming to choose her words. "Naboo is having some important visitors, and she thought you might like to be there to greet them this afternoon."
Slowly, Sabé moved back to her desk and started tidying away her datapads. She didn't have a lesson to teach this period, so she had planned to catch up on some reading; she was putting herself through university as well as teaching here.
"I don't know, Yané," she evaded. "I have a lot of work to do, and there's Callé, it'll be really hard to get a sitter at such short notice."
"Sabé, Padmé said to make it a Royal Command if I have to," Yané told her softly. Sabé's eyes flashed with anger, then she controlled it. "She'd do that?" she asked quietly instead. Yané nodded. "Then I'll come. Callé will have to come and stay in the palace crèche."
"Can you come now?" Yané asked, moving to stand next to the desk. "Panaka has cleared it with Admin; it's fine for you to come, someone will cover your other lessons."
"Let me get my stuff," Sabé rolled her eyes. She moved over to the locker standing next to the desk, opened it, and rummaged through it for her cloak and bag. Stuffing the datapads into the bag, she shrugged the cloak into place and put the bag over her shoulder.
"Let's go then," Yané said, obviously satisfied. They moved from the room, and left the Academy to step onto the transport waiting for them. Settling herself on the seat, Sabé met Yané's eyes.
"So who are these important visitors anyway?" she asked, mildly curious. Yané merely smiled. "You'd better give the driver directions," she pointed out. "To pick up Callé."
Smiling slightly, Sabé leant forward and gave the driver instructions. Within a few moments, they were at the playgroup where Sabé left Callé during the day. Dismounting, Sabé quickly explained the situation to the carers and was holding Callé's hand as the three-year-old stumblingly walked out to the transport.
Yané cooed over the girl who was like a niece to all the handmaidens, and Callé gave the girl a huge hug before Sabé tied the safety strap over her lap. The child's green eyes were wide with astonishment as the transport whirled through Theed streets. Her curly brown hair was tied into pigtails, and one fist clenched over a stray curl.
Then they were at the palace, and Sabé lifted Callé onto her hip to carry her whilst Yané took her bag. "You are getting too old for this," Sabé murmured into Callé's ear, nodding to courtiers whom they passed who recognised her.
"Eth, mama," Callé giggled, her lisp showing in her speech. Sabé kissed her cheek fondly as she descended the flight of stairs to the crèche.
"Lady Sabé," the woman in charge grinned broadly. "I might have guessed. Have you visited the med. centre yet, or are you just waiting to drop Callé off?"
Sabé blushed as she carefully let Callé down to the floor and watched her run off to play with the other children. "I'll have you know I have no intention of visiting the med. centre – today, at least," she replied indignantly.
"Oh, sure," Yané agreed sarcastically. She and the woman laughed, and Sabé turned red. "Come on, Sabé, they'll be here soon."
She took Sabé's arm and dragged her through the maze of corridors that made up the Royal Palace. They reached Padmé's rooms, and Yané keyed the door open, pulling Sabé into the rooms and swiftly shutting the door behind her.
The room was a hive of activity, handmaidens rushing to and fro with various items and Padmé sitting at the dressing table, her hair half-up in a simpler style than normal.
Then they noticed Sabé, and activity ceased instantaneously. Sabé grinned at her friends' typical reaction, and then shrieked as Rabé, Saché, Eirtaé and Padmé piled on top of her, hugging her tightly. The new handmaiden, whom Sabé hadn't yet met, hung back by the dressing table.
"Hey, let me out!" Sabé demanded after a moment laughingly. Obligingly, the four dissipated. "What's this all about, Padmé?" she asked.
Padmé's face twitched into a smile. "You'll see," she replied airily. Sabé groaned. "You guys have done that too much to me over the past three years," she complained. "What's going on, Padmé?"
The new handmaiden, who Sabé presumed did not know the five well enough to be on first name basis with the queen, looked mildly shocked at the way Sabé was treating the seventeen-year-old girl.
"We're getting some visitors," Saché cut in as smoothly as ever. "It's a surprise, Sabé." Eirtaé stifled a laugh, and Sabé caught the motion. "Oh, 'Taé," she spoke up. "I met your sister today."
"Oh, did you?" Eirtaé demanded, looking deeply interested. "So she signed up for it after all." Rabé grinned. "I told you she would," she remarked. She picked up a slipper, turning it over for a moment, then chucked it to the new handmaiden.
"Here," she called. "This is yours." The girl caught it, sliding it onto her foot, and smiled. "Thanks, Rabé," she grinned. "No problem," Rabé breezed. "Oh, Sabé, this is Dormé. Dormé, Sabé."
"Hi," Sabé greeted, looking the girl over whilst not appearing to take her eyes from Dormé's. Dormé appeared to be about sixteen, younger than the others, and was obviously similar in appearance to Padmé.
Then the door buzzed, and Saché hurried to open it. Panaka stepped in, his face brightening when he saw Sabé. "Sabé," he greeted. "You're here already."
Sabé nodded. "I have a bone to pick with you, Captain," she said dryly. "How come I get another course when I've already got six to handle as it is?"
Panaka shrugged. "They deserve the best teacher," he reminded her. Then he turned his attention to Padmé. "Your highness, the ship has arrived. Shall I send the visitors up here?"
Padmé smiled. "Yes, thank you, Captain," she replied gratefully. She glanced quickly at Sabé, and Sabé wondered at her look. Then Panaka was gone, and Sabé opened her senses as Adi Gallia had taught her three years before, feeling for whoever the visitors were.
Padmé recognised the slightly vague look on Sabé's face, and couldn't stop a grin. When Sabé's eyes snapped back into focus, meeting hers, and her jaw hung open slightly, she nodded.
"Why didn't you say so?" Sabé demanded. Rabé smiled slightly. "It was his idea," she explained. "He wanted to surprise you."
Then the door buzzed, and Saché opened it to reveal Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker.
Both Jedi had grown considerably in the three years since Sabé had seen them last; Anakin was taller, more mature, and Obi-Wan had grown a slight beard. When Saché stood aside to allow them to step in, Padmé went straight to Anakin and hugged him.
Sabé turned to face Obi-Wan shakily, and for a moment they simply stared at each other, taking in each other's different appearances. Then she launched herself at him, hugging him tight to her. He returned the embrace, his eyes squeezed shut as they held each other close.
Then Sabé pulled her head back to see him, staring into his eyes for a moment before closing her eyes and kissing him. Her hand moved up to hold the back of his head, and his hands moved to tangle in her hair. They stayed standing there for minutes until Eirtaé coughed loudly and Sabé moved back, blushing.
"Well, I must say, that wasn't quite the greeting I expected," Obi-Wan remarked, earning a laugh from everyone. Rabé moved to Sabé and whispered something in her ear, and Sabé smiled gratefully at her before taking Obi-Wan's hand and pulling him out of the door, through the palace and into the gardens.
"Why didn't you tell me you were coming?" Sabé demanded once they were alone. Obi-Wan shrugged. "I wanted to surprise you," he told her, moving closer and kissing her again, leaving her breathless.
"You certainly did that," she managed. She blushed slightly under his gaze, and changed the subject. "How have you been? You haven't written in ages. How's Mistress Adi?"
"I've been fine," Obi-Wan replied with a smile. "I'm sorry I haven't written, Ani and I have been on a dozen missions in the last few weeks. Mistress Gallia is fine, and sends her regards. She says she'll write soon."
Sabé nodded, led Obi-Wan on through the gardens to the rose gardens. The red, white and yellow blossoms were everywhere, and their fragrance scented the air. Sabé's fingers trailed over the velvety petals of one flower, then she turned to Obi-Wan.
"I missed you," she admitted quietly. Obi-Wan's hand lifted to cup her cheek; she turned her head to press a kiss to his palm. "I missed you too," he replied huskily. She melted into his embrace, and they stayed like that for a moment stretched into eternity.
"Are you staying long?" Sabé asked finally. He shrugged slightly. "We've been allowed two weeks, providing nothing comes up," he replied. "Of course, I have to train Anakin during that time, but…"
Sabé nodded. "And I have classes," she reminded him. "And Callé." She was unaware of the soft look that crossed her face as she spoke her daughter's name, but Obi-Wan saw it, and felt a rush of warmth for this remarkable woman.
"Where's Callé now?" he inquired suddenly. "In the crèche," Sabé told him. Her hand crept up, her fingers tracing his lips carefully. "I brought her when Yané fetched me. I didn't realise it was you – you should have warned me!"
"Like I said, I wanted to surprise you," Obi-Wan murmured, his mouth moving to reclaim hers. She allowed him to kiss her for a moment, then teasingly pulled away and moved among the flowers again. He followed her, their fingertips brushing.
"I really ought to get back to the Academy," Sabé told him reluctantly after a moment. "I have a lot of work to do." Obi-Wan nodded, pulling her to him and pressing a kiss to her forehead. Impulsively she flung her arms around him, kissing him passionately.
"You know where I live," she managed breathlessly. "I'll be in by five, Theed time." Then she moved away through the rose bushes towards the palace.
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Obi-Wan paused before ringing the bell on Sabé's apartment door. There was a moment before it slid open, and a harried-looking Sabé let him in. Her normally tidy hair was half-loose from her plait, and Obi-Wan could see Callé obstinately sitting on the couch behind her.
"Come in, Obi-Wan," she said, before he could even open his mouth. "Sorry about this," she indicated the messy apartment as he stepped in. "Callé refuses to eat her supper."
Small green eyes glared, meeting sharp brown ones. Mother and daughter stared at each other for a moment, then Sabé sighed and turned back to Obi-Wan, taking his cloak and hanging it on a hook.
"Callé," she said then, "this is Obi-Wan. I told you about him, remember?" Obi-Wan smiled down at the little girl, who observed him for a moment, decided she liked him, then turned back to her colouring book.
Sabé closed her eyes, taking deep breaths and counting to ten. When she opened her eyes, she met Obi-Wan's amused blue-green gaze. "You wait until you have kids," she murmured rebelliously to him. Then she took him through to the kitchen.
"You hungry?" she demanded. "I made a lot…and I'm sure it's better than palace cooking."
"Thanks," Obi-Wan said gratefully. Within moments they were both eating a traditional Naboo meal. Obi-Wan had to admit that it was better than the palace cuisine.
His eyes roamed the kitchen, and rested on a lightsaber, placed well back on the counter so that Callé's tiny hands couldn't reach it. He glanced up at Sabé.
"You'll have to treat me to a spar," she remarked, watching his gaze. "I'm grateful to Mistress Adi for teaching me how to use it, but not many people can around here." Her eyes sparkled. "Why not come by the Academy tomorrow lunchtime?" she suggested.
"I might just do that," Obi-Wan agreed, his eyes twinkling in reply. Then the doorbell rang, and Sabé hurried to open it.
Saché entered, and Callé's shriek of pleasure made the handmaiden wince. "Hey, Callé," she smiled. "Sabé, is she ready?" Sabé nodded. "She wouldn't eat," she warned. "So she's likely to get hungry later on – and something healthy, Saché, not junk food," she warned.
Saché nodded. "No junk food, I promise," she agreed cheerfully. "Come on, Callé. Let's go see Auntie Padmé." She held out her hand, and Called came running to hold it, her other hand clutching her colouring book.
"Callé," Sabé stopped her. She crouched and kissed Callé's cheek. "I'll see you tomorrow, okay?"
Callé nodded. "Eth, mama," she agreed. "Ba-bye." Then she and Saché were gone. Obi-Wan moved to hold Sabé, and she relaxed into his arms.
"She's very much your daughter," he murmured, with almost awe. Sabé gave a humourless laugh. "I sometimes wonder if I'm doing the best I can for her," she admitted. "I'm only twenty, Obi-Wan."
"But you're hardly young," he reminded her. "Not after all you've seen and done." She nodded, closing her eyes. Her mouth curved into a smile as he trailed kisses down her neck.
"Save it for the bedroom, love," she reproved with a laugh. He shrugged. "So let's find the bedroom," he suggested. Turning to face him, Sabé smiled wickedly and kissed him.
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