Meira was leaning on Obi-Wan's shoulder, drifting off to sleep. "I think she's had enough for the night," he noted.
"She ought to be tired. She had to play the little mediator, and that's not easy for an adult when it comes to me and my mother." Sabé reached over and brushed a curl away from the child's face. Meira sighed and settled deeper into the hollow of her father's neck. "I've started to see that perhaps we have depended on her to get by. That's too much to ask of a baby."
"She's learned to take care of her mother that way, though," Obi-Wan said. "It's one of the signs of her intelligence and dedication. She'd have been a great Jedi."
"Still could be. If she's educated on Corellia, there's no reason she couldn't catch up. By the way, I've recently found cases where the Coruscant Temple has been known to take children as old as three, if they show promise. We're not out of the woods yet."
Obi-Wan raised his eyebrows in surprise. "Really?" Then seeing Sabé's concern, he added, "Don't worry, her place is obviously with you. The Council would sense the strength of the mother-child bond and they'd know it would be unwise to separate the two of you." He reflected a moment. "That's been the root of my problems with Ani. Nothing I have to offer will ever fill the void left when he lost contact with his mother. Qui-Gon knew enough to offer him a parental relationship, but I can't feel like he's a son, or even a younger brother. What's lacking in me, Sabé? He's not a bad boy. Why can't I feel for him?" Pain had crept into his voice.
"Patience, Love," she told him, kissing his forehead. "It will come to you. Meira can teach you a lot. Perhaps I've been overprotective, but she's never yet met someone who didn't treat her with affection, so she's very loving. I know she'll have to go out into the world and meet adversity one day, and I hope I haven't left her ill-prepared for it."
Glancing at the time, Sabé gasped. "Oh my! Let me put her down in the crib. Will you stay here while I go take care of an errand at the palace?"
"No problem. What do you need to do?"
"Amidala has offered to let me go through the attic and see if there's a suitable dress I'd like to borrow for the ceremony. I was thinking of something antique, a simple classic design."
Obi-Wan smiled. "You don't want my input on this?"
She giggled, revealing a girlish side which made Obi-Wan's heart skip a beat. "No, silly Jedi. You're not supposed to see the dress before the wedding! I have to leave something as a surprise."
"Will my robes do for this? I really feel so odd when I wear one of the local fashions."
"Of course your robes will do. They'll be quite appropriate." She leaned in, picked up Meira and gave him a kiss. "I shouldn't be long."
*******
Amidala unlocked the door to the attic and crept in, followed by Sabé, Saché and Rabé. Checking the handheld datapad containing the records of inventory, the Queen let the way to the clothing storage vault.
"Let's see, we should be able to come up with something suitable from about 100 years ago, I would think," Amidala speculated. "Here are the items from Queen Alancie's reign. Many of her gowns and some of those of her handmaidens were kept. I understand she had a wonderful sense of design. A number of these are actually from her sketches. Let's see what we have here."
The Queen entered the access code and the heavy door slid open slowly. "Lights," she called out and when the inside was illuminated, it took the women's breath away. Even accustomed to handling the fine apparal that they did everyday, this was an awe-inspiring sight. The rows of gowns were packed full of textures and colors of every kind.
"Well, what's your color preference?" the Queen asked. "That'll give us a starting point."
"Not a stark white," Sabé said. "Something with a hint of warmth to it."
"So we're looking in the champagne, candlelight, off-white family," Saché mused. "Lacy, or plain?"
"Some lace trim wouldn't be bad, as long as it doesn't go overboard. Nothing frothy. You all know my style."
For the next hour and a half a number of dresses were pulled out, examined and rejected. Sabé sat on the floor and rubbed her temples.
"I've seen so many outfits tonight, they're all starting to run together in my head. I just don't know...nothing has felt right yet," Sabé moaned.
"Take a moment and relax," Rabé counseled. "I'm sure the answer will come to you if you don't force it."
Sabé exhaled, then took a deep breath, and cleared her mind. She was expecting the image of a dress she had already seen to pop into her imagination, but instead a new design appeared. A long sleeved dress with a gathered portrait collar and a full skirt shimmered into view.
Liking what she saw, she focused a bit more, seeking the location of the garment.
Instinct told her what she would have to find. "Look for a black trunk," Sabé called out. "Let's try the corners."
"Here," Saché responded after a few moments of digging through a wall of silks, laces and netting. "Is this it?"
"Yes, I do believe so! Thank you, Saché. Now to see if this is right."
Sabé eagerly undid the latch and the container swang open. The creamy satin dress was there and perfectly preserved.
Holding it up, the other ladies oohed and ahhed over it.
"Nice choice! Classy," Rabé remarked. "I already know what sort of hairstyle will be pretty with this. Something upswept, I believe."
"I love it!" the Queen cooed. "I hope when my day arrives, I'll look half as beautiful as you're going to!"
"Your Highness, what a thing to say! You already know you'll have the grandest wedding and dress of us all!" Sabé said demurely. "Well, I guess we're agreed. Let's close the trunk up and get out of here."
"What about accessories? Are you going to wear something personal that you have already, or is there something that goes with the dress?" Saché asked.
Sabé nodded. "Good point. Let's see what's in here."
They opened a few compartments, but Sabé found nothing special there. "I don't know...I think I'd rather wear something that belongs to me rather than these. I'll need to make it personal." The other women nodded in agreement, and she was about to close the trunk, when Sabé ran her hand over the small drawers inside one more time. She got a funny feeling over one of them, and let her touch linger there.
"Wait. I sense something." Sabé opened the drawer and felt around inside it. She realized there was a false back to the compartment. Locating a tiny button, she pushed it and a pair of glittering black faceted gemstones fell out. She picked them up and a tingling sensation tickled the skin of her palm. They were oddly shaped. Not perfectly square, they were straight on one side, with curves on the other that allowed them to fit together as one stone.
"Your Highness...where are these from?"
Amidala entered a description of the stones in the inventory. "The search is coming up blank. There's no record of these artifacts in the archives. I'll have to research it."
"If you please, I'd like to know what you find out. I have a feeling about these. I can't be sure, but I think they're Force sensitive. We'll ask Obi-Wan to confirm my hunch later on. Now that I've found my dress, I have to call it a night. Thank you, Your Highness, Rabé, Saché. The plans are on as discussed. I'll see you in the morning!" With that, Sabé bowed and exited.
Amidala rolled the stones over in her hand, straining to catch a slight vibration. She let out a sigh of disapointment when her attempt failed, and tucked the stones away in a pocket for safekeeping until she would be able to discover more of their origin.
"She ought to be tired. She had to play the little mediator, and that's not easy for an adult when it comes to me and my mother." Sabé reached over and brushed a curl away from the child's face. Meira sighed and settled deeper into the hollow of her father's neck. "I've started to see that perhaps we have depended on her to get by. That's too much to ask of a baby."
"She's learned to take care of her mother that way, though," Obi-Wan said. "It's one of the signs of her intelligence and dedication. She'd have been a great Jedi."
"Still could be. If she's educated on Corellia, there's no reason she couldn't catch up. By the way, I've recently found cases where the Coruscant Temple has been known to take children as old as three, if they show promise. We're not out of the woods yet."
Obi-Wan raised his eyebrows in surprise. "Really?" Then seeing Sabé's concern, he added, "Don't worry, her place is obviously with you. The Council would sense the strength of the mother-child bond and they'd know it would be unwise to separate the two of you." He reflected a moment. "That's been the root of my problems with Ani. Nothing I have to offer will ever fill the void left when he lost contact with his mother. Qui-Gon knew enough to offer him a parental relationship, but I can't feel like he's a son, or even a younger brother. What's lacking in me, Sabé? He's not a bad boy. Why can't I feel for him?" Pain had crept into his voice.
"Patience, Love," she told him, kissing his forehead. "It will come to you. Meira can teach you a lot. Perhaps I've been overprotective, but she's never yet met someone who didn't treat her with affection, so she's very loving. I know she'll have to go out into the world and meet adversity one day, and I hope I haven't left her ill-prepared for it."
Glancing at the time, Sabé gasped. "Oh my! Let me put her down in the crib. Will you stay here while I go take care of an errand at the palace?"
"No problem. What do you need to do?"
"Amidala has offered to let me go through the attic and see if there's a suitable dress I'd like to borrow for the ceremony. I was thinking of something antique, a simple classic design."
Obi-Wan smiled. "You don't want my input on this?"
She giggled, revealing a girlish side which made Obi-Wan's heart skip a beat. "No, silly Jedi. You're not supposed to see the dress before the wedding! I have to leave something as a surprise."
"Will my robes do for this? I really feel so odd when I wear one of the local fashions."
"Of course your robes will do. They'll be quite appropriate." She leaned in, picked up Meira and gave him a kiss. "I shouldn't be long."
*******
Amidala unlocked the door to the attic and crept in, followed by Sabé, Saché and Rabé. Checking the handheld datapad containing the records of inventory, the Queen let the way to the clothing storage vault.
"Let's see, we should be able to come up with something suitable from about 100 years ago, I would think," Amidala speculated. "Here are the items from Queen Alancie's reign. Many of her gowns and some of those of her handmaidens were kept. I understand she had a wonderful sense of design. A number of these are actually from her sketches. Let's see what we have here."
The Queen entered the access code and the heavy door slid open slowly. "Lights," she called out and when the inside was illuminated, it took the women's breath away. Even accustomed to handling the fine apparal that they did everyday, this was an awe-inspiring sight. The rows of gowns were packed full of textures and colors of every kind.
"Well, what's your color preference?" the Queen asked. "That'll give us a starting point."
"Not a stark white," Sabé said. "Something with a hint of warmth to it."
"So we're looking in the champagne, candlelight, off-white family," Saché mused. "Lacy, or plain?"
"Some lace trim wouldn't be bad, as long as it doesn't go overboard. Nothing frothy. You all know my style."
For the next hour and a half a number of dresses were pulled out, examined and rejected. Sabé sat on the floor and rubbed her temples.
"I've seen so many outfits tonight, they're all starting to run together in my head. I just don't know...nothing has felt right yet," Sabé moaned.
"Take a moment and relax," Rabé counseled. "I'm sure the answer will come to you if you don't force it."
Sabé exhaled, then took a deep breath, and cleared her mind. She was expecting the image of a dress she had already seen to pop into her imagination, but instead a new design appeared. A long sleeved dress with a gathered portrait collar and a full skirt shimmered into view.
Liking what she saw, she focused a bit more, seeking the location of the garment.
Instinct told her what she would have to find. "Look for a black trunk," Sabé called out. "Let's try the corners."
"Here," Saché responded after a few moments of digging through a wall of silks, laces and netting. "Is this it?"
"Yes, I do believe so! Thank you, Saché. Now to see if this is right."
Sabé eagerly undid the latch and the container swang open. The creamy satin dress was there and perfectly preserved.
Holding it up, the other ladies oohed and ahhed over it.
"Nice choice! Classy," Rabé remarked. "I already know what sort of hairstyle will be pretty with this. Something upswept, I believe."
"I love it!" the Queen cooed. "I hope when my day arrives, I'll look half as beautiful as you're going to!"
"Your Highness, what a thing to say! You already know you'll have the grandest wedding and dress of us all!" Sabé said demurely. "Well, I guess we're agreed. Let's close the trunk up and get out of here."
"What about accessories? Are you going to wear something personal that you have already, or is there something that goes with the dress?" Saché asked.
Sabé nodded. "Good point. Let's see what's in here."
They opened a few compartments, but Sabé found nothing special there. "I don't know...I think I'd rather wear something that belongs to me rather than these. I'll need to make it personal." The other women nodded in agreement, and she was about to close the trunk, when Sabé ran her hand over the small drawers inside one more time. She got a funny feeling over one of them, and let her touch linger there.
"Wait. I sense something." Sabé opened the drawer and felt around inside it. She realized there was a false back to the compartment. Locating a tiny button, she pushed it and a pair of glittering black faceted gemstones fell out. She picked them up and a tingling sensation tickled the skin of her palm. They were oddly shaped. Not perfectly square, they were straight on one side, with curves on the other that allowed them to fit together as one stone.
"Your Highness...where are these from?"
Amidala entered a description of the stones in the inventory. "The search is coming up blank. There's no record of these artifacts in the archives. I'll have to research it."
"If you please, I'd like to know what you find out. I have a feeling about these. I can't be sure, but I think they're Force sensitive. We'll ask Obi-Wan to confirm my hunch later on. Now that I've found my dress, I have to call it a night. Thank you, Your Highness, Rabé, Saché. The plans are on as discussed. I'll see you in the morning!" With that, Sabé bowed and exited.
Amidala rolled the stones over in her hand, straining to catch a slight vibration. She let out a sigh of disapointment when her attempt failed, and tucked the stones away in a pocket for safekeeping until she would be able to discover more of their origin.