Ana- Thank you. This story is actually finished being written, with only an epilogue to be posted. It's the sequel that's giving me troubles.
MidnightPrincess- Thank you. More reviews is always a desireable thing. LOL
Lindele- Yes, free. It was a fun moment to write.
Jokerisdaking- I always thought that would have had a pretty amazed reception.
Dragon Girl Revlis- I love romance myself, but this story is really a coming-of-age tale. I've always thought the idea of Sabé-Obi when she's as young as she is in TPM was a little unrealistic. So my intent in this story was to lay the groundwork for a romance only. However, there will probably be more romance than you can stand in the sequel, with various characeters. Heh.
RivendellWriter- Thanks! I guess technically my Sabé is an interpretation of a minor character, since she's not strictly OC, but I appreciate the compliment nonetheless!
In the days following the liberation of Naboo, Sabé was glad to find herself nearly too busy to think. There was a good deal to be done– more than enough work to go around for all five of the handmaidens. There were Federation prisoners to take charge of and accommodate, supplies to be ordered from offworld, and camps full of refugees to be taken care of. Disease and malnutrition had started to take alarming hold in the camps before the liberation, and hospitals and clinics were full to bursting with patients for several days following. P In addition, they were hastily preparing for the arrival of the Jedi Council and the as-yet-undetermined new Chancellor, who would set out for Naboo as soon as the elections took place. The Chancellor would be coming to oversee the situation on Naboo and supervise the removal of the Federation leaders. The Jedi would be coming to bury one of their own.
Sabé remembered well the shock and amazement she'd felt upon learning that Master Qui-Gon had fallen in the battle. If she had supposed anyone impervious to the dangers of warfare, it would have been the Jedi. The fact that a highly respected and powerful Jedi Master had been destroyed came as an unwelcome surprise to many. Fortunately, Obi-Wan had been able, in turn, to eradicate Qui-Gon's killer, the mysterious, black-cloaked creature, but the loss was still great. Sabé was surprised at how sad she felt about it. She hadn't known Master Qui-Gon well, but she had respected him. And she'd been grateful for everything he'd done for Padmé.
As for Padmé, it was clear she felt the loss most keenly of any of the Naboo, yet she was distracted from her grief by two things: the first, obviously, was supervising all the restorative efforts of the planet. The second was the agonizing wait before the Naberrie children received word of their father.
It was not until five days after the liberation that at last they found him– a decimated figure almost unrecognizable amidst the throng of survivors from Camp Seven. "He's very weak," said the head medic, who led the four Naberrie siblings down the cool, brightly lit hallway of Theed Hospital. "He was severely affected by the fever that was spreading through the camps. I believe, however, that he will recover, though it may take several weeks of care." He stopped before a plain doorway, and held out his hand, indicating they were permitted to enter.
"Thank you," Padmé said softly. The medic gave a small bow as the four of them filed quietly into the hospital room.
Sab's heart lightened considerably at the sight of her father alive, though it sobered again when she saw how pale and weak he seemed. He was propped up slightly on the clean hospital bed, looking very tired, but at the sight of the four of them his handsome, dignified face broke into a smile, and he held out his arms. Richard was there in an instant, the girls only a little slower. "Thank the Force," Armand whispered, holding his son as close as his awkward position would allow.
Sabé was last to get to embrace him. When she pulled back, his eyes were sparkling. "Have you been behaving yourself, maati?"
She smiled. "As well as I was able, papa." She looked at Padmé. "The queen keeps a close watch on me."
"She's done quite well, surprisingly," Padmé added, her eyes also full of mischief. "Despite getting guards shot and having spats with fellow handmaidens and picking on Jedi Padawans..."
"Shut up, Padmé," Sabé sighed. Armand laughed.
"You both realize that you're going to have to sit down and tell us about all these adventures, right?" Claria said. Her curiosity and amusement seemed to be warring with one another for dominance.
"Ah, yes, the grand tale of Naboo's liberation, as told by the Naberrie twins," said Armand. "Indeed a story worth hearing." His eyes fell on his oldest daughter. "I'm very proud of you, Padmé. Your mother, too, would have been proud beyond words."
"Thank you, papa."
They did not stay long. Armand tired quickly, so their visits over the next couple of days were usually short-lived, but they came often to see him, Claria most of all. Sabé and Padmé were still consumed with bureaucratic duties.
As for Richard, he spent a good deal of time entertaining Anakin. Everyone in Theed had been marveling over the role Anakin had played in the battle. It had been he who had destroyed the control ship above Naboo, using the starfighter he'd inadvertently commandeered from the hangar. But for all that, nobody was quite sure what to do with him. Obi-Wan was the obvious choice to be his supervisor, but Obi-Wan had a great deal to take care of on behalf of the Council, in addition to trying to deal with his own grief. So Anakin had been temporarily adopted by the Naberries and the handmaidens, something to which he seemingly had no objections, considering how much he admired Padmé.
Word came that Senator Palpatine had succeeded in winning the election, an event worth some excitement on the part of all the Naboo. Three days after that, the newly-appointed Chancellor arrived with the Jedi Council. Watching Palpatine step down off the gangplank, flanked by Chancellor's guards, Sabé decided she had never seen him look so confident. Clearly, being appointed Chancellor sat very well with him.
Obi-Wan, with Anakin following just behind, moved ahead to greet the Chancellor first. This felt a bit improper to Sabé– Obi-Wan wasn't the leader here, after all– but she knew in reality it was proper. The Jedi, though not permanently sworn to any headship, did generally answer directly to the Chancellor, and therefore ranked slightly higher than the leadership of any individual planet. When he met the Chancellor, Obi-Wan gave a formal bow. "We are indebted to you for your bravery, Obi-Wan Kenobi," Palpatine said when Obi-Wan came out of the bow. "And you, young Skywalker," he added, turning his attention to the boy and patting him on the shoulder. Moving past them, Palpatine added, almost to himself, "We will watch your career with great interest."
Finally, Palpatine turned to the queen and approached her with a very satisfied smile. Stopping before her, he gave a pleased sigh and a small bow.
"Congratulations on your election, Chancellor," Amidala said, returning his smile.
"Your boldness has saved our people, Your Majesty, it's you who should be congratulated. Together, we shall bring peace and prosperity to the Republic."
"That is my fervent hope, Chancellor," the queen replied. She extended her gaze to the Jedi Council, which had now assembled near the Chancellor. "Welcome to Naboo, Masters," she said, giving them a respectful nod of her head. "I extend my most sincere condolences on the loss of Master Qui-Gon. Naboo will never forget his assistance or his sacrifice. We owe him much."
"We welcome your condolences," replied a tall, bald man, stepping forward and bowing in kind. "With your permission, Your Majesty, we would wish to investigate the strange circumstances of his death."
"Certainly, Master Jedi. Eirtaé, would you please see that the Council is comfortably settled? After that, please show them the battle site, as well as the artifacts we recovered." She paused before adding, "This evening, Masters, we will honor Master Qui-Gon with Naboo ceremony, as you requested."
"Please find Padawan Kenobi, Sabé. We wish to extend our wishes that he stand at a place of honor in the parade tomorrow. We had intended to do so earlier, but with one thing and another, it has not yet been done."
Sabé managed to hide her disappointment. As the first handmaiden to be ready for the memorial, she had hoped to use the spare minutes for a quick visit to her father. Clearly, though, that wish would have to be met later. "Certainly, Your Majesty."
"We will meet you at the memorial, then." Sabé fought an impulse to roll her eyes. Whatever signs of Padmé that had begun to leak to the surface of Amidala during the invasion were slipping beneath it again. Sabé was a little bit disappointed; for one thing she'd always found the royal 'we' a bit tiresome.
It took a little while to find Obi-Wan. At last, she happened upon one of the Council members, Depa Billaba, who communicated that he was in a private audience with Master Yoda in the throne room. By the time Sabé reached the throne room, the sun was nearly set, filling the sky outside the windows with crimson-colored clouds.
Sabé entered the room by the side door, used by the guards and handmaidens for everyday use. She was so accustomed to coming and going unhindered that she forgot the meeting taking place there was supposed to be private until too late. Only until she heard the voices of the two Jedi echoing softly in the empty hall did she remember, and she winced at her lack of foresight. Her entry had been unobtrusive, however, and if either of them noticed it, they gave no indication.
She should have perhaps turned around, but curiosity prompted her feet to carry her a little closer, though still keeping hidden in the shadow of the room. What exactly did Jedi talk about in private councils?
"Qui-Gon believed in him," was the first thing she distinguished Obi-Wan saying.
Master Yoda paused and sighed. "The Chosen One the boy may be," he said. "Nevertheless, grave danger I fear in his training!" Sabé blinked in surprise. She assumed they were speaking of Anakin, of course, for his fate had seemingly been a spot of contention within the Jedi, but really— Anakin, dangerous? He was just a boy.
"Master Yoda," said Obi-Wan. In the half-light of sunset his features were resolute. "I gave Qui-Gon my word. I will train Anakin." He paused, then added, "Without the approval of the Council if I must."
"Qui-Gon's defiance I sense in you," Yoda replied without hesitation. "Need that, you do not." He was quiet for a moment, then he said, with seemingly utmost reluctance, "Agree with you the Council does. Your apprentice Skywalker will be."
Obi-Wan nodded respectfully, and Sabé took a few steps backwards as Yoda sighed deeply and headed for the main doors. She felt more keenly the rudeness of her intrusion. After Master Yoda had left the room, she had decided to leave the way she came, and intercept Obi-Wan in the corridor to deliver her message, but she wasn't given the chance.
"You can come out now, Princess," Obi-Wan called, rising to his feet from where he'd been kneeling.
Cheeks flaming, Sabé stepped out into what little light was now left in the middle of the throne room. "I'm sorry for intruding on your meeting," she said meekly. She might have been less embarrassed under different circumstances, but the seeming gravity of the conversation was enough to humble her. "It was just presumption, you understand. I'm used to being here. Will Master Yoda be very angry?"
Obi-Wan frowned. "I'm not even sure he noticed you were here, to be honest. He has a great deal on his mind. If he did, he clearly isn't concerned about it, or he would have called out to you himself."
"But you sensed me."
He gave the smallest of wry smiles. "I seem to be strongly attuned to your Force signature, no doubt from everything that's happened over the past couple of weeks."
"Oh," was all Sabé was able to reply. She wasn't sure she felt entirely comfortable with someone being strongly attuned to her Force signature.
"Was there something you needed, Princess?"
Sabé shook herself, coming back to her senses and her errand. "Yes, Padawan Kenobi. The queen asked me to search you out."
"Just Obi-Wan, please," he reminded her.
Sabé favored him with an imperious glare. "Please, sir, this is a formal communication. I would ask you to allow me to proceed properly."
Obi-Wan made a valiant effort to disguise his mirth, but was not very successful. "Very well." He leaned in conspiratorially and whispered, "In that case, I would inform you that I have been elevated from a Padawan to the level of Jedi Knight."
Sabé smiled. "Congratulations, Jedi Kenobi."
"Thank you."
She cleared her throat. "Jedi Kenobi, as you know, tomorrow afternoon the Jedi have been invited to join the Naboo as our special guests in a celebration of our victory. Her Majesty, Queen Amidala, requests that you stand beside her during the festivities, in special recognition of your contribution to the battle."
He bowed at the waist, "Please extend my thanks to Her Majesty, and inform her of my acceptance. I am honored."
Sabé smiled again. "Very good, Jedi Kenobi. You must make an exceptional ambassador indeed."
"Etiquette is the easy part of diplomacy," he replied.
"Yes, I think I could agree."
"Tell me, Princess— on Tatooine, when you spoke of a desire to become an ambassador someday– were those your own wishes expressed or those of the queen?"
Sabé was surprised he remembered such a detail. "They were my own," she said. "Fortunately, there is a good chance I will be able to fulfill them, someday. If there's one thing I've learned from all of this..." she paused and gave a small laugh, "it's that I'm not nearly prepared enough as I would have supposed myself to be." She looked out at the window, where she could see the last sliver of the sun on the distant horizon. "Come and see the sun set over Lornaira, Jedi Kenobi. I can assure you it is the most beautiful of sights."
He followed her out onto the balcony, the largest and highest in the palace. They stood there together and were silent for a long time, until the sky was fully dark and the stars began peeping through the dusky evening sky.
"I think you will make a fine representative for your people someday, Princess Sabé," Obi-Wan said at last. "If you should have any particular questions, feel free to ask me. You can send any communications to Coruscant care of Ben at Foley Park."
She turned to him with a quizzical expression. "Ben?" she repeated. "Who's Ben?"
"Ben is me," he said. "Jedi have a practice of cultivating contacts and informants of various kinds across the galaxy. It's one of my code names."
"Oh," Sabé replied, mildly surprised. "So... I would be an informant, then?" she then asked, curiously.
He laughed. "Well, perhaps. From a certain point of view. Not all information must be received for subtle purposes, after all."
"Hmmn," Sabé reflected, "In that case, perhaps I shall accept your offer. I'm certain I will have all manner of questions."
They were quiet for another few minutes, until Sabé asked, "Obi-Wan, why do the Jedi make such a fuss over Anakin? Master Yoda said he was dangerous, but I do not understand how that could be. He's barely older than my brother."
"Anakin is powerful," Obi-Wan said. He gazed down into the darkened valley, without seeming to see it, his thoughts somewhere distant. "He has the potential to be more powerful than any Jedi in known memory." He sighed. "And I am to train him." The uncertainty in his voice made Sabé shiver.
"You seem as if you don't want to," she noted. "Yet you were so insistent."
"Because I promised Qui-Gon that I would," he said sadly.
"I'm sorry about your Master, Obi-Wan," Sabé said quietly. "I know you must miss him very much."
"They way a son misses a father, I imagine," he agreed.
"Or a daughter her mother."
He finally looked at her then. "Your mother died quite recently, did she not?"
Sabé nodded. "Not three months ago."
"I am sorry."
"Thank you."
"Tell me, how do the Naboo bury their dead?"
"Here in Theed cremation is the tradition. I understand that Master Qui-Gon's remains are to be honored thus. How is it the Jedi have no tradition of their own?"
"Jedi are servants of all the galaxy's people," he said. "On Coruscant the Jedi have our own rites, yes, but for those warriors who fall on other planets, it is our custom to observe that people's own traditions."
"That is very interesting," Sabé commented thoughtfully. "The ancient Naboo said that when a person died, their spirit ascended to the skies to join the dance of the stars above, forever watching those they loved and left behind. Perhaps if you think of that, the ceremony will seem less alien to you."
"To dance with the stars?" he replied softly, as if considering. Then he said, "It is a beautiful sentiment."
"Everything on Naboo is beautiful, in some way."
He turned his gaze back to the valley below them, now thoroughly enshrouded in darkness. At last, he said quietly, "Yes, so it would seem."
"We should probably head for the temple now, Jedi Kenobi," Sabé said gently. "We do not want to be late."
Qui-Gon's memorial was not held in the palace temple, but rather at a more remote location on the outskirts of Theed. Sabé had always liked this temple. Alongside the temple, a small tributary flowed underneath a bridge before plummeting to the valley with all the other waterfalls. On the other side of the bridge was a small torch kept always lit, a symbol of Naboo's belief in Peace.
The ceremony was lovely, almost as lovely as Leiandra's had been. After the Naboo portion, the Jedi Masters added their own ritual, lining up on the bridge and extending their lightsaber blades to the heavens, while Master Windu said a few words. The sight was both breathtaking and sad, and Sabé felt a strong surge of sympathy when she saw two silent tears on Obi-Wan's face as he gazed up at the night sky. The glow of his lightsaber blade gave his face a luminescent quality.
The following day's festivities were considerably more heartlifting. A grand Peace parade was the crowning event, and the Gungan leaders were the guests of honor. Queen Amidala had never looked more radiant. Her gown had been a surprise gift from Madame Trillium the day before, as a thank you gift to the Queen. It was made of soft shimmersilk the color of réka eggs in the spring, cut in clean lines, trimmed in pale pink. The sleeves were made up of hundreds of petal-shaped pieces of shein, a very rare fabric from Chandrilla, translucent, and cleverly woven with muted shades of the same pink the gown was trimmed in. Sabé thought Danae had quite outdone herself.
The people of Theed and many other cities packed the streets in celebration. The sky fairly snowed confetti, and there was music and laughter on every corner. They cheered and clapped and jumped as Boss Nass and the Gungan army progressed through the streets towards the palace, where they were at last met by the Queen, who presented them with a dazzling Peace Globe, a gift from the Jedi. Sabé could hardly remember any moment where she'd felt such unrestrained joy as when the Gungan leader lifted the Globe high in the air, shouting "Peace!" for all to hear.
Later in the evening, there had been a Royal Reception, complete with lights and food and dancing. Sabé was able to greet many of her friends, including Jon, who made it a point to dance with each and every handmaiden, including Yané, who declared she'd never danced before and seemed a bit confused on how to go about it. It made for quite a sight, and Sabé and Saché spent a good fifteen minutes on the sidelines trying to contain their laughter, which Jon's facial expressions did nothing to appease.
Sabé also spoke with Maia Daris for the first time since the blockade, and endured the evening's only low moment, when she learned that Maia's younger sister Camille had been killed by a stray blaster bolt when being escorted to the Federation camp near Oxon. Sabé reflected with shame how she'd behaved towards Camille at Naestral's Grove. Her behavior seemed more petty than it ever had, looking back. She tried to remember exactly why she'd thought to dislike Camille, and found she could think of no reason, except the feeble offerings of the girl she once had been.
The Jedi Council departed for Coruscant the next day, taking Anakin with them. He gave Padmé a very long, very tight hug goodbye, and she seemed very sad to see him leave. Richard too, seemed highly disappointed, though Sabé knew it was for less sentimental reasons than those of her twin. There weren't very many boys Richard's age for him to play with around the palace.
With the Jedi gone, things finally started getting back to normal, though there was still much to be settled in the wake of the battle. Sabé guessed it would be a good long time before things really calmed down. The hospitals were still full, and there was the lingering issue of distributing food supplies, as the re-emergence of imports into Naboo would take a while to fully reestablish itself.
The queen had also resolved to personally visit the families of all the Naboo soldiers and pilots who had died in the battle. Sabé accompanied her on several of these calls, and they were always sobering. She made a particular request to accompany the queen when she called upon the family of Private Jens, and suggested Typho, who had been promoted to Lieutenant after his actions in the battle, be invited to come as well. Between the two of them, Sabé and Typho were able to account to Jens' family his heroic final moments, and they were very grateful.
There was more to be attended to, however, than just the present and the past. The future demanded its own share of attention. Preparations were made towards establishing permanent ties to the Gungan leadership, and Sabé was surprised to find herself heavily involved. Several weeks after Victory Day, on the day Prince Armand was finally released from Theed hospital with a clean bill of health, the Royal Court received Kessa Shanbo as the first Gungan ambassador to Theed.
Looking on, as the alliance treaties and contracts were signed, however, Sab's thoughts dwelt only on the past, and the strange and haphazard road that had led them to this place. Freedom was never free, Captain Panaka had said. Well, they'd all certainly learned that firsthand. Sabé, for one, knew she'd never again take for granted the blessed life they had on Naboo.
Peace was restored, and the future promised nothing but the best.
END PART FOUR
A/N:- Only the epilogue left to go. Thanks for your reviews!
Saché