"Defining Us"
by obi's girl
Chapter 10, Post 1
"A trial basis? What does that mean?" Anakin cried as Obi-Wan grabbed himself something to eat. Ani was very happy for his Master and Sabé, but he also felt jealous and resentful toward Obi-Wan. The Council had always restricted his access to the Senate building to keep him away from Padmé, and now the Council was allowing his Master to marry in secret… with their blessing?
"It just means, my young Padawan, that while we're both in public or in the presence of other Masters in the temple, we must keep our hands to ourselves. Sabé and I agreed to the Council's wishes because they are reasonable."
It was a double standard, Anakin knew but what was more important? The standard or his Master's happiness?
"Also," Obi-Wan added, "Sabé and I will be given our own apartment in the Temple,"
Anakin fumed inside, but kept his cool and smiled, crossing his arms, "The new suite is courtesy of the Council, I take it?"
Obi-Wan stopped eating and looked curiously at his Padawan, sensing his anger about the situation. "Anakin, I realize it's a double standard but Sabé and I deserve our happiness, don't we?"
"I know you do, Master," the boy muttered and fidgeted, "I truly want you both to be happy together… I just wish I could have the same happiness with Padmé. But I know the Council would never allow us to be together."
Obi-Wan wished he could say something comforting to his young apprentice, but for the first time, he was speechless.
"I have always loved serving the Republic as well as Naboo, but now I see that it is time for me to step down," Sabé paused and glanced at Naja, who was recording her whole speech into a holopad. "Should I say I have personal reasons for leaving?"
Naja stopped keying the pad and looked at Sabé, "I don't think the public needs to know,"
Sabé smiled and leaned back in her chair, "You do realize after I give my speech tomorrow, you and Anya will be unemployed?"
"Anya has a part-time job as a teacher," she said, "But me, I'll get by. I'm a survivor, m'lady,"
"And a great bodyguard, Naja," Sabé added, "You would have been perfect in the service of your Queen,"
Naja frowned and focused again on the data pad in her lab, re-reading Sabé's words. "Our current queen, m'lady or Queen Amidala?"
Sabé shrugged, "I'm not sure if Queen Jamilla would tolerate your attitude but I think, you would have done well in Queen Amidala's guard,"
"Thank you, m'lady," she whispered and set the data pad on her desk, "Will you excuse me for a moment?"
She nodded as Naja stood up and quietly left the office. Anya had already gone home, she knew and the security downstairs were working in shifts. Naja closed her eyes as she stood alone in the main hallway of the apartment. She breathed slowly as she removed the Nubian pistol from her boot. There were three settings on the pistol, stun, mild stun and kill. Naja switched the setting from stun to kill before walking back inside the office.
Sabé sat facing the Jedi Temple, lost in thoughts of her love. Naja checked the settings again as she stalked quietly towards Sabé.
"Goodnight, m'lady," she whispered.
Sabé hmm'd to herself and waved Naja goodnight. Strangely, Sabé felt she was still there, waiting for extra instructions. Sabé sighed and then choked back a cry as she turned her chair and faced her handmaiden. "Naja, what are you doing?" she cried, staring at the silver Nubian pistol in her hand.
"Finishing the job," Naja growled, "The life that should have been mine years ago. I would have been perfect in the Queen's guard, you were right about that. But what you didn't realize, m'lady, was that I needed it more than you. The monthly payments all handmaidens receive, especially the payment of the Decoy Queen, could have supported my poor family for years. But no, Panaka discovered you and you took the spot that rightfully belonged to me!"
Naja lifted the blaster and smiled cruelly, "Now, it all ends tonight doesn't it?"
tbc
Chapter 10, Post 2
"Master Windu," Obi-Wan cried, shocked to hear from him so soon, he feared he and Master Yoda had changed their minds about him and Sabé; but he didn't feel that from him. "Master, what is it?"
Mace waited until Anakin came into view of the holo screen and started talking, "Anakin, how far have you gotten into investigating handmaiden Naja?"
Obi-Wan frowned and looked curiously at his apprentice and then at Mace, "Naja? Master, I don't understand. The assassin has surrounded and confessed to the local police, there's no need for an investigation anymore. Right?"
"Master Windu suspects that Naja is not who she appears to be," Anakin answered, "But I haven't found anything incriminating. The Network is off-limits to all outsiders,"
Ben brought up another holoscreen and connected to the Royal Handmaiden Network. He typed in a password and it was accepted. Anakin's mouth dropped as his Master scrolled through a list of current and old handmaiden names. Obi-Wan stopped scrolling through the names when he reached Naja's name and profile. He touched his finger to the link and her entire profile popped up.
"Full Name: Najina Taré. Home Province: Outside of Theed," he paused and glanced at Anakin before continuing, "History: After Queen Amidala won the election to be Naboo's next new Queen, Naja and several other girls vied for positions on her royal guard. The position Naja wanted the most was to be the Decoy Queen. However, Naja was not chosen and instead, another girl who closely resembled the Queen was chosen to be her decoy," Obi-Wan cited.
"Did you get that Master Windu?" Anakin asked.
Mace nodded and smiled thanks, "I did. I'll report this to Master Yoda and forward it to the local police."
As Mace signed off, Obi-Wan stood up abruptly, trying to process this new information. "Sabé," he cried, "She's alone with her now; she needed to work on finalizing her speech before tomorrow!"
Obi-Wan stared at Anakin briefly before rushing out the door. Anakin didn't bother to turn off the holo screen as he raced after his Master.
"Naja, this doesn't make any sense," Sabé rambled, "Why would you want to be the decoy Queen? If you were a normal handmaiden, your life would not be at risk all the time but to be the Queen's decoy, your life doesn't even matter. You become her shadow, your life would be even at more risk… To this day, I still think it was a bad move for Padmé to reveal that I was her decoy to the Gungans and the rest of Naboo, because then I would become a target," she glanced again at the pistol in Naja's hand, "Which is obviously what has happened here,"
Naja scowled, "I didn't care about the thrills or ups-and-downs of the job. My family needed the money, they would be able to survive and prosper for years!"
Sabé frowned and looked at her coolly, "I'm sorry for your family then, but not becoming the Decoy Queen like you wanted, isn't the end of the world, Naja. There are other avenues…"
"Stop it!" she screamed, "Don't you realize that was my only chance to become something, to earn respect in the eyes of my family. After that, I became an outcast in society, as well as a stranger in my own family! I was nothing to them. But with your job as Foreign Ambassador, I'll become somebody. Somebody important,"
"You know, you have a lot of emotional issues, Naja… I seriously don't think becoming Naboo's next Foreign Ambassador will make your situation better. If anything, you'll just become worse. You think I'm happy in this job? Why do you think I'm leaving politics, Naja? Because it's held me back for years from the one thing I'd been missing in life, love and a family, a real life, Naja,"
Sabé shrugged and crossed her arms, "If the local police find out that you killed me, while you're in office as the Foreign Ambassador, they'll force you to resign and then, you'll really become nobody,"
Naja raised the pistol again and pointed it at Sabé, but her hand shook with fear that she was right. "No, that won't happen to me. I have connections, he'll be there for me. No charges will be brought up against me, 'cause he'll stop them and help me,"
Sabé frowned, curious about the identity of 'him' that Naja spoke of. She had this feeling that the 'him' she was talking about was someone with great power in the Senate, but no one had greater power in the Senate, other than the Chancellor. "Give it up, Naja. There's no point to this. Whoever it is you think will help if you're in trouble, I strongly doubt he'll save you from yourself,"
"I deserve so much," Naja cried, her grasp on the pistol loosening, "I deserve so much, a better life than this… I…"
"Sabé!" Obi-Wan cried as he and Anakin burst into the room. Naja raised the blaster again but Anakin knocked it from her hand and grabbed hold of it, using the Force. Naja grabbed a smaller knife from her boot and threw it at Sabé. The knife was barely a throw from Sabé as Obi-Wan leapt in front of her and it pierced his right side. He fell onto the ground, lying against the desk.
Anakin restrained Naja and removed her from the office as Sabé knelt beside Obi-Wan, grabbing some tissue from a nearby table. She checked the inside of his tunic and was extremely relieved to find that he wasn't hurt very badly. "Obi-Wan, Ben, can you hear me?"
He nodded, "Naja, she's the assassin…The woman who turned herself in, she was innocent,"
"I know," Sabé said and kissed him briefly on the cheek before backing away, as to not put too much pressure on his side. "It's over now, my love."
Tbc
Chapter 10, Post 3
"...the Ambassador was right to suspect someone from within her administration was behind the attempts," Anakin finished, "I just wish we could have found this information a lot earlier than we did,"
Mace nodded and sighed, "How's your Master doing? He was injured briefly during the confrontation with Naja…"
Anakin shrugged, "Only a scythe on his right side, nothing serious, Master," he paused. "The Ambassador already gave her speech earlier this morning,"
"We know, Anakin," he said, "We watched via holo-vid. Our guess is that now she's finished with politics and once Obi-Wan is able to travel, they'll return to Naboo and make their bond more permanent."
Yoda grunted, "Questioned we did, handmaiden Naja. Disturbing things she told us, about this mysterious figure she calls Master and his control over the Senate,"
"You believed her?" Anakin questioned, "Masters, she was able to fool everyone around her, even the Ambassador… You can't believe what she says about…?"
"Very serious, this is, Anakin," Yoda interrupted, "Decided we have to assign you to the Senate, you will report to Chancellor Palpatine at 0100." Anakin nodded, bowed and quietly left the Chamber.
Sabé sighed as she watched the medical droids tend to Obi-Wan's right side. They applied bacta oil to the wound, and with the touch of metal against his skin, it stung him a little. That didn't worry, Sabé. What worried her was what Naja told her about a mysterious figure that had power over her, and perhaps the Senate.
But Sabé knew, now that she was no longer a Foreign Ambassador, the Senate should not be a concern anymore. But if what Naja said was true and Sabé's suspicions were right that this mysterious power was a Sith Lord… the whole Republic was doomed.
She shook her head, looking again at the medical bed as Obi-Wan rested uncomfortably, the medical droids were gone. Sabé smiled and walked quietly to his side, grasping his hand. Obi-Wan smiled weakly once he saw her eyes, and tried to sit up, but Sabé lightly pushed him back down on the bed.
"Where's Anakin?" he said hoarsely.
"Reporting to the Council; he's covering for you," she said and squeezed his hand tighter. "I gave my speech this morning and handed in my resignation to Padmé and the Chancellor…If it's all right, we'll leave tonight for Naboo,"
Obi-Wan felt her worry about the situation, "Sabé, what is it? I can sense your fear in waves…"
She shrugged, "It's just something Naja said to me before you and Anakin arrived. It scared me. She didn't say it directly but the implication was clear," He nodded her on but Sabé smiled, shaking her head, "No, I don't want to talk about this! We should be rejoicing."
"Was it about us?" Obi-Wan ventured.
"No, not about us. It was about the Senate and change of powers from within," she whispered, leaned over and kissed his forehead, "Sleep now, my love. Rest, you'll need it for the long journey ahead."
As Sabé turned to leave, Obi-Wan grasped her hand and smiled weakly, "Please Sabé, stay with me. I know it sounds ridiculous but I don't ever want you to leave my side,"
Sabé smiled and kissed his brow, "It's not ridiculous, Ben," she whispered. Sabé grabbed a nearby chair and rested her head on the crook of the bed as Obi-Wan lay there, stroking her hair.
Anakin fidgeted as he waited for the Chancellor to arrive. An aide told him that the Chancellor was overseeing a special session in the Senate in regards to another possible third hearing of the Trade Federation viceroy. The 16-year-old rolled his eyes as he glanced at the wall chrono. He'd been waiting there for almost three standard hours, and although he respected the Chancellor, he was starting to try his patience.
"The Chancellor may see you now," the secretary said and smiled, "He's arrived back from the Senate, and thanks you for your patience,"
He smiled thanks and walked into the office. Anakin had met the Chancellor once, he was a little boy then, but since the Senator Palpatine had become the Chancellor, Anakin had heard many good things about him. He was a true leader for the people, very compassionate and understanding.
"Ah Anakin," the Chancellor began, "It's good to see you again, young Skywalker. Master Windu told me you had been assigned to oversee matters in the Senate..."
Anakin bowed his head, "It's good to see you again, your excellency, and I look forward to serving you,"
Palpatine smiled and patted his shoulder, "I look forward to it as well, Anakin."