Chapter 41
Surprise!

Roughly the middle of the next morning, Vader loaded Obi-Wan into one of the Temple's speeders and drove off towards Padmé's apartment. He'd wanted to leave earlier, but Obi-Wan slept in and moved rather slowly. Patience was never his strong point, however Vader forced himself not to rush his Master. After all, Obi-Wan had just been released from the Healers after surviving a harrowing month of imprisonment and torture. Obi-Wan was going to go as slow as he wanted and no one was going to rush him.

Vader was jittery with anticipation, but forced himself to drive like a normal person. If he sped and drove like a crazyman (his usual driving style) Obi-Wan would just get cranky and complain. So, for once, he drove slow and boring, just like his Master preferred.

And that made Obi-Wan suspicious. "You're up to something," he accused.

"Maybe," Vader smirked, "but I promise it's a good something."

Obi-Wan scowled at him skeptically. "Ugh, you're going to be the death of me, do you know that?" He sighed tiredly.

"Oh don't say that Master," Vader cringed.

"Why not?" Obi-Wan asked.

"I don't want you to die," Vader squirmed. "You're…you're the closest thing I've ever had to a father." He hesitantly admitted.

Vader could clearly sense that Obi-Wan was startled by that admission. He said no more though, instead focusing on the crowded Coruscanti airways. It would be most unfortunate – and inconvenient – if they were to crash on their way to see Padmé.

There was no more conversation for the rest of the drive. Vader spied a prime spot on one of the parking pads bordering Padmé's building and slipped right into it. And from there, it was only the small matter of sneaking Obi-Wan into the building relatively unnoticed.

Fortunately, the closest entrance to the building was also the smallest and least used. Ah, the Force is with us…me…whatever. Vader grinned and led his slow-moving Master through the door and right into–

"Captain Typho?" Vader blinked as he pulled up short of crashing into the one-eyed head of Padmé's security.

"Padawan Vader, what–?" And then the good Captain's jaw found the floor as his remaining eye caught sight of Obi-Wan.

"Hi Typho," Vader grinned cheerfully, recovering himself. "We were just going to go up to Padmé's apartment. Is she in?"

"Uh, no, not at the moment." Typho managed after a moment. "She and Ellé are out shopping."

"Do you know when they'll be back?" Vader asked curiously.

Typho glanced down at his wrist-chrono. "Soon."

'Soon' in regards to women and shopping could mean anything. "Great, we'll just wait up there for her." Vader smiled. "Oh, and keep this quiet, hmm?" He winked.

"Of course," Typho smiled, his shock replaced with amusement. "Though Sabé might be up there, she's just coming off a nasty case of Corellian Flu and Lady Amidala's been letting her use the guest room." He warned.

Vader nodded his thanks and towed Obi-Wan after him. Obi-Wan was rather annoyed, Vader didn't need the Force to tell him that; he'd probably wanted to stay and chat with the Captain for a little while. But, with women and shopping, 'soon' could mean anything…

Obi-Wan gratefully slumped down onto the Senator's loveseat with a weary sigh. It was sad, he felt wiped out and all he'd done was walk from the parking pad to the lift and to this couch. He was just so tired of being tired!

"So I'm assuming that Senator Amidala is unaware of the fact that I am alive?" Obi-Wan muttered.

"Yep. I thought about telling her, but I decided surprising her would be more fun." Vader grinned.

Obi-Wan shook his head at his Padawan's strange antics. But, watching how comfortably the young man wandered into the kitchen, he wondered. And thinking back to the brief run-in with Captain Typho, he wondered some more. The Captain hadn't been surprised at all to see Vader come in for a visit.

"Have you been visiting here often?" Obi-Wan asked.

"Not…recently," came the muffled reply from the kitchen along with some rustling, clanging noises. "But just after Jabiim, yeah I did."

"So, on your return to Coruscant, you sought out the Senator's company?" Obi-Wan frowned. From what he'd been able to tell and from what he'd heard, after getting along very poorly during the body-guarding assignment, they had a truce of sorts. He didn't think Vader was comfortable enough with her, and she with him, for him to just come over.

"Not intentionally. Not the first time anyway." There was the brief sound of running water. Was he making caf or tea in there? "I was taking a walk and ran into Sabé. She needed some help bringing some take-out back for dinner so I helped out and ended up here. Then…she asked what had happened and, well, I kind of fell apart on her. And then I ended up spending the night."

"Oh," Obi-Wan mumbled. Then a flicker of unease wormed its way into his gut. "You spent the night?"

"Yeah." There was a long pause. "I slept on the couch."

"Ah," Obi-Wan sighed in relief. "'The first time'?"

"Padmé extended me the invitation to come over whenever, so I did." Vader reappeared from the kitchen.

"And how often was that?" Obi-Wan asked.

"Every afternoon the week before I was shipped out to Varonat with Master Mundi and Padawan Hett." Vader shrugged, plopping down next to Obi-Wan on the loveseat. "And once more after I brought you back."

"Hmm," Obi-Wan stroked his beard. "So what were you making in there?"

"Boiling water for tea," Vader replied. "Did you want caf?"

"No, tea's fine." Obi-Wan smiled. "I never used to drink caf. But then war broke out and sleep was something I couldn't always afford."

Vader chuckled, "how terrible!"

"Yes," Obi-Wan murmured. As he waited for the tea to be ready, his mind drifted back to Vader's odd comment on the speeder ride over here. "So…you didn't have a father?"

There was a long pause. "That's right. It was always just me and my Mom." Vader replied at last.

"And you gave that up?" Obi-Wan asked hesitantly. This was the most he'd ever gotten out of the young man. He hoped he wasn't pushing too far.

"Not willingly," Vader mumbled. "Didn't have a choice, wasn't anything she could do about it, or me." He shifted uncomfortably in his seat, rubbing unconsciously at a spot on his left side, just below his ribs. "Can we talk about something else?"

Obi-Wan nodded, "of course."

The teapot whistled then, drawing Vader away to tend to it. Obi-Wan watched the younger man all but flee into the kitchen. And for the millionth time he wondered…

What had gone so disastrously wrong with Vader? How had Dooku gotten a hold of the boy? And just what had Dooku done to him?

"Mmm," a feminine groan jolted him out of his musings and Obi-Wan looked up to see one of Senator Amidala's Handmaidens leaning against the far wall with her eyes closed and massaging her temples. It looked as if she'd just rolled out of bed, her hair un-brushed and pulled back by a simple hair tie, and a pale pink robe haphazardly yanked on over a rumpled creamy-colored nightgown.

Thinking back, he recalled that Captain Typho had mentioned that Sabé might be here, that she was recovering from an illness, and that Senator Amidala had allowed her to stay here in the guest room. And thinking back further, he realized that he knew her.

Long ago, after Qui-Gon had been killed, she had been the one to look after him. His memory of that time was hazy, he'd mainly been going on autopilot, really only aware when he absolutely had to be. But he remembered her.

"Sabé?" He called softly.

"Ngh, must be hallucinating again," she muttered to herself.

"Uh, hallucinating?" Obi-Wan blinked, mildly alarmed.

"You can't be there. You're dead." She mumbled, still rubbing her temples with her eyes closed.

Oh, so that's the problem. "You're not hallucinating Sabé." Obi-Wan smiled reassuringly.

"Sure," she snorted. "Stupid flu. Thought I was almost through it. But no, got to hallucinate one last time."

"It was that bad?" Obi-Wan asked, concerned.

"Mm-hm," she nodded. "Padmé almost had Typho take me to the hospital at one point."

"Oh dear," Obi-Wan murmured.

"Why am I even talking to you anyway, you're not there." Sabé groaned, pinching the bridge of her nose.

"Who's not there?" Vader asked, reappearing from the kitchen with two steaming teacups.

"Hm?" Sabé opened her eyes and turned to face Vader.

"Who's not there?" Vader repeated, his expression somewhere between confused and amused.

"Oh, I'm seeing things again, that's all." Sabé shrugged, vaguely gesturing in Obi-Wan's direction. "Thought I saw Master Kenobi."

Vader visibly restrained a grin. "You sure you're seeing things?" He asked, amused. "Why don't you go over and poke him, just to be sure?"

"I have to be seeing things," Sabé frowned, annoyed. "All the Holo-Net and News-Fax reports agree that Master Kenobi died on Jabiim."

"Humor me," Vader smiled.

"Fine," she sighed wearily and walked over to do as Vader had suggested.

Obi-Wan smiled faintly in amusement as Sabé stood directly in front of him and reached down with her right index finger to poke his shoulder. When her finger contacted his quite-solid shoulder, her expression became puzzled. Then she placed her entire hand over his shoulder, giving it a light squeeze. And then the reality of his presence and current living state dawned on her.

She took a step back and collided with the low set caf table. Knocked off-balance she sat down hard on the table top, barely catching herself before she tumbled any further back. And she just gaped at him, dazed.

"Are you alright?" Obi-Wan inquired politely.

"I…I…uh…" She stammered, startled, then she collected herself. "Y-yes. Yes, I'm fine." Sabé smiled weakly, deeply confused. Then she glanced down at herself and, realizing that she was in little more than a nightgown, her expression became one of utter dismay. "Oh damn."

"Why don't you go freshen up," Vader suggested cheerfully. "We'll be here for a while."

Sabé nodded, got off the table, and headed for the 'fresher. Then she paused, a thoughtfully expression on her face. Her eyes lit up as she apparently realized something. "You're bad," she told Vader scoldingly. "You're so bad. Padmé's going to strangle you!"

"No she won't," Vader snorted, passing Obi-Wan one of the teacups.

"Yes she will," Sabé called over her shoulder as she vanished from sight.

"Nope!" Vader fired back.

Sabé made no reply.

"Hmph!" Vader grunted. "Even if she does decide to strangle me, she'll be distracted enough by you for me to make my escape," he told Obi-Wan.

"You have this all planned out, don't you?" Obi-Wan mused.

"Mmm, mostly." Vader shrugged, settling down next to Obi-Wan on the loveseat.

"Mind explaining why 'you're so bad'?" Obi-Wan asked.

"She was probably referring to what came up during my last visit here." Vader sipped at his tea. "Padmé noticed I was much better than I had been and called me on it. I decided not to tell her why that was, instead promising to tell her later. She got annoyed, but I assured her that she'd like what I had to tell her." He grinned mischievously now. "And then I mentioned that I had a friend I was going to visit in the Healer wing, and she invited me to bring my friend over to meet her as soon as he was able to come. Really, I'm just doing what she asked."

Obi-Wan shook his head and sipped at his own tea. It was a rather pleasant minty blend, he noted. "I must agree with Sabé," he commented after a minute. "You are bad."

"I know," Vader snickered. Then he sobered and took a long sip of tea, "I know."

It had been over an hour and Padmé had still not returned from her shopping trip. Obi-Wan and Vader had long since finished their tea and, growing bored, Vader had abandoned the Senator's apartment in favor with seeking out Captain Typho for a chat. Knowing that he lacked the endurance that the short walk and long period of standing around that such an activity required, Obi-Wan stayed behind and was now hovering around the edges of a nap.

A gentle touch to his shoulder roused him from his near-nap state. Obi-Wan sleepily glanced up to see Sabé smiling back at him. She was now properly dressed in a simple forest green gown, free of any elaborate embroidery. Her hair was pulled up into a simple style, unusual for a Nabooan woman according to his limited experience. And she only wore a single necklace, a plain pendant of polished gray stone.

"Did your Padawan ditch you?" She asked curiously.

"Not really, he's gone to bother Typho." Obi-Wan yawned.

"Ah," Sabé sighed, taking the seat next to Obi-Wan. "And probably to better wait for Padmé."

"When exactly is Padmé due back anyway?" Obi-Wan asked. "Typho told us she'd be back soon and that was over an hour ago."

"Hmm," Sabé fiddled with her necklace as she thought. "Padmé did mention that Moteé was due back from Naboo today. Perhaps she and Ellé went to the spaceport to pick her up."

"Moteé and Ellé?" Obi-Wan inquired, unfamiliar with the names.

"Padmé's two most recent Handmaidens. They were hired to replace Cordé and Versé who were killed during those horrendous assassination attempts before the war." Sabé explained.

"And what about Dormé?" Obi-Wan wondered, recalling another of Padmé's Handmaidens who had signed on to assist her during her Senatorial term.

"Her father became gravely ill some months back so she returned to Naboo. I came to take her place." Sabé replied.

Obi-Wan nodded in understanding as he filed away this new information in his memory. Then a new question came to him. "What did you do after Senator Amidala completed her terms as Queen?"

"I remained on Naboo and served Queen Jamilla as a Handmaiden." Sabé answered.

"So, you were still working there during my and my Padawan's visit to the Palace?" He asked and she nodded in reply. "Why didn't I see you then?"

"Well," Sabé chewed her lip. "Between serving Queen Jamilla and looking after your Padawan, I wasn't left with much time. Besides, Padmé seemed to have her heart set on being your main hostess and care-taker, so I left it all to her."

"I see," Obi-Wan murmured thoughtfully. "Thank you for taking care of him for me," he smiled, "I can't think of anyone better for him."

Sabé blushed, shifting in embarrassment. "You flatter me Master Kenobi."

"Merely stating my personal opinion," Obi-Wan smiled.

"Well, thank you," she smiled warmly, leaning over to give him a quick hug.

Obi-Wan was startled, but awkwardly managed to respond in kind. "You are most welcome."

A chime sounded and Sabé hurried to answer the apartment comm. "Yes?"

"Sabé, you're awake?" Captain Typho's slightly distorted voice responded.

"Yes I am, what is it?" She asked.

"Padmé, Ellé, and Moteé have just arrived. Padawan Vader is escorting them up now." Typho informed her.

"Thank you for the heads-up, Captain." She smiled. "We'll be ready."

"You're welcome." Typho replied and cut the connection.

"Hmm," Sabé muttered, adjusting one of her sleeves. "I think I'll brew up some caf." She smiled and vanished into the kitchen.

"And I'll just wait here," Obi-Wan sighed to himself. It's not like I can really go anywhere. But, he cheered himself, this ought to be interesting…

Padmé couldn't help but glance curiously at Vader as they rode the lift up to her penthouse apartment. She'd been quite surprised to see him cheerfully discussing starship design with Captain Typho after returning from her shopping trip and picking up Moteé from the spaceport. And Vader's barely restrained excitement combined with the Captain's odd smile hinted to her that something was going on.

Finally, half-way up to her apartment, she could take it no more. "Alright, what's going on?"

"What do you mean?" Vader asked, trying to look innocent.

"Don't play dumb with me. Something's going on, I can tell." Padmé frowned, putting down her two full shopping bags to cross her arms over her chest.

"Um," Vader shifted anxiously. "It's a surprise."

"A surprise?" Moteé scowled disapprovingly.

"What kind of surprise?" Ellé inquired suspiciously.

"A good one," Vader hurriedly assured them. "Captain Typho approves," he added.

Neither Handmaiden looked pleased with this answer, and truthfully Padmé wasn't either, but she decided to settle for it. She'd be back in her apartment and find out what it was soon enough. "Well alright," Padmé grumbled, scooping her bags back up.

"Can I carry something for you?" Vader offered helpfully.

"Thank you," Padmé smiled gratefully, passing him the heavier of her two bags.

"No problem," Vader smiled, then stared curiously down at the bag. "Yeesh, what's in here?"

"I needed some new wine glasses." Padmé shrugged.

"I didn't think wine glasses were so heavy," Vader muttered.

"And then I found some cute picture frames and some crystal figurines for my mother's birthday." Padmé continued.

"Oh," Vader blinked. "So that's what you went shopping for…"

"Hm? Oh no, I went shoe shopping." Padmé corrected. "But the shoe store I shop at was in a department store so I just had to look around to see if there were any good sales."

Vader gaped at her. "…oh…"

The lift came to a stop and chimed before the door slid open. Moteé and Ellé stepped out first, looking wary. Vader's assurances that his little surprise was cleared by the Captain had not reassured them. Padmé rolled her eyes at their backs and trailed after them with a mildly annoyed Vader at her side.

First Padmé stopped by her room and deposited her purchases by her bed to be sorted through later. Vader also dumped off the bag he'd been carrying, and Ellé set down the collection of smaller bags she'd been carrying there too. Moteé, since she'd only just arrived and hadn't had time to stop off at her own apartment, went to the guest bedroom to leave her luggage. She'd take it home with her later.

Then, free of burdens, they all proceeded to the common room. Moteé and Ellé led the way, but stopped short at the entryway. Annoyed and curious, Padmé slipped between them and…stopped dead.

He looked tired. He looked paler than he should be, and thinner, though his loose robes and facial hair made it hard to tell. There were half-faded shadows under his eyes, but his eyes themselves sparkled brightly, alert and amused. He sat there, on her loveseat, alive and well. Which, of course, was impossible. Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi was dead.

"Surprise," Vader whispered in her ear.

And that was enough to jolt her from her shocked daze, and get the wheels turning in her head. He knew, Vader knew about this, and he hadn't said a word. That was why he'd been so much better the last time she'd seen him. That was who had been in the Healer wing that he had been visiting. And that was the surprise.

"I ought to strangle you for this," Padmé told the Padawan. "But I'll forgive you this time."

She then proceeded to rush over to the haggard-looking Jedi Master and squeezed the breath out of him.

Vader was extremely pleased. Things had gone even better than he'd hoped they would. And Sabé was wrong; Padmé hadn't strangled him for it.

After Padmé had finished squeezing poor Obi-Wan half to death, the afternoon was spent in relaxed celebration. Moteé and Ellé threw together some snacks in the kitchen and brewed up caf and tea as needed. Sabé and Padmé hovered around Obi-Wan, peppering him with questions and listening intently to his answers. Then when they ran out of questions, they moved on to sharing gossip and whatever else crossed their minds. And Vader just sat back, watched, listened, and enjoyed.

Taking full advantage of his temporary 'invisibility' Vader gleefully observed things mainly unnoticed as Obi-Wan's miraculous return overshadowed everything else. He was happy to see that Obi-Wan was just as annoyed as he was at Moteé and Ellé's subtle disdain for Sabé. And he smirked when Padmé got annoyed enough with the two other Handmaidens to call them on it and sent them to the kitchen for a while.

One thing he picked up on that he found rather strange had to do with Sabé. Specifically, he noticed that she seemed to really like watching Obi-Wan. And there was something else.

While he didn't pick the women's brains through the Force, he did lightly scan them every now and then, just to see how they felt about things. Sabé was surprisingly tricky to read. There was a subtle undercurrent to her that he couldn't discern.

His first thought was that she had some kind of crush on his Master. But that was ridiculous! She had to know that he was a Jedi Master, and a rather traditionally-minded one at that. She had to know that there was no way she'd ever get anywhere with him, ever.

And what did she find so attractive about him anyway? Vader supposed Obi-Wan looked handsome enough, the man certainly wasn't ugly, but who could really tell with all that facial hair? The entire lower half of his face was buried under that prickly, scratchy beard of his. Really, what woman would want to kiss that?

So, with that theory shot, he was stumped. He guessed it might have something to do with the fact that she was just coming off an extremely nasty case of Corellian Flu. But he'd never encountered someone who had some unidentified emotion flickering around them just because they'd been sick.

But, aside from that one puzzling thing, the day went well and was over too soon. Well, it wasn't over over, but Obi-Wan got worn out easily. By dinner time, his poor Master looked about ready to keel over.

They stayed long enough to catch dinner with Padmé and her Handmaidens, but then excused themselves. Vader all but carried Obi-Wan out to the speeder and then the worn out Jedi Master ended up falling asleep as his Padawan carefully drove them both back to the Temple. And when they got there, Vader actually felt rather guilty waking the older man up so he could get him back to the room. Obi-Wan just looked so tired that he cringed at disturbing him.

Now Obi-Wan was safely in his room, in bed, and quite unconscious. And Vader was left alone and to his own devices. In this instance, that meant he was lounging on the common room couch in the shared apartment, staring blankly at the vid-screen as he idly channel-surfed the Holo-Net.

He'd meant to talk to Obi-Wan yesterday about what had happened to him in the Fountain Room, but the surprise visit from his Master's old friends had gotten in the way. Then today had been taken up with the visit to Padmé and her Handmaiden friends. And now it looked like he would have to wait until sometime tomorrow to bring the subject up.

Closing his eyes and tuning out the mumbled buzz of the Holo-Net, he looked inward, seeking that one corner of his mind that was becoming more and more familiar. For the past two days he'd been cautiously poking at the mysterious little stringy thing that arced off his own Force presence to…elsewhere. And each time he examined it, it was easier to find and 'clearer' to his 'sight'.

Now as he looked at it, it was hazy, indistinct, and when he 'touched' it, the feeling he got was a sort of blank peace. It was exactly the same every time he 'looked' at it whenever Obi-Wan was asleep. And that was just one more piece of evidence towards an impossible theory.

Gathering his nerve, he decided to try something, just to be sure. He pressed on the anomaly, gave it a mental tweak, and waited to see what would happen. At first nothing happened, but after the third tweak, he got results.

A sense of sleepy annoyance poured over him and Obi-Wan's presence flared in his mind. Vader had his answer. And a grumpy Master who didn't feel awake enough to realize what was going on.

(Sorry), Vader winced, (go back to sleep.)

The annoyance drained away, as did Obi-Wan's strong presence, leaving the usual blank feeling of peaceful sleep. It seemed his Master had done as he'd asked and gone back to sleep. With a shaky sigh, Vader pulled his mind outwards again, and opened his eyes.

The impossible theory was somehow possible. He had a bond with Obi-Wan. That was the only explanation. Never mind that he had no memory of forming one, it existed. And he found that he was more bothered by the fact that he didn't remember forming it, than the fact that it existed.

Shaking his head, he returned to flipping through the channels. Mom always said to be careful what I wished for, he reminded himself. Because I just might get it…