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A Shift in the Force: Chapter Three: Resolutions
AN: Now that I think about it, this chapter will probably be completely filled with flashbacks as well, so, sorry! But you all should enjoy the back story and how Sabé finally starts talking to Obi-Wan and a bit more details about her.
Edited: 2/21/16
Sabé felt numb...and downright terrible. She blinked her eyes, having around the ward dazedly; she had never been injured so horribly that she needed to remain in the Hall of Healing for days on end. She clenched her right, artificial hand into a fist. It was very odd, she had decided when she awoke to not being one-handed, and she hadn't changed her mind. The arm was lighter than her real hand, so that would be difficult to adjust to. The structure was a bit skeletal, but, Sabé supposed glumly, that was to be expected. She ran a hand through her hair, irritation spiking through her when she realized her hair was no longer in its characteristic braids, but hanging free. That med droid was starting to get on her nerves...or maybe it was doing it on purpose, meaning Sabé could take pleasure in reworking its circuits.
With a disdainful sigh, Sabé threw off her covers and swung her legs over the side of the hospital bed. Her legs tingled from disuse, but she didn't mind as she searched the room for some suitable clothing.
Unfortunately, the closest she came was a loose beige tunic and dark pants, both that were obviously suited for a male. Still, she had to admit it was better than an open medical gown. She frowned at the number of hair ties that lay on the side table, before simply hiking her kinked brown locks into a high ponytail. She grabbed both her lightsabers with her "good hand" and tiptoed out of the room. Luckily for Sabé, the other healers were otherwise occupied at the moment. Ducking between the many Jedi, she escaped down to the cavernous levels of the Temple. It was dark and quiet and calm. Sabé felt herself unraveling almost unconsciously at the familiar energy that flowed in the lower levels. For now, it was empty, and for that, Sabé was grateful.
She set down her lightsabers, their dull thunk echoing in the silent hall. She looked down at her artificial arm, twisting the wrist slightly; she couldn't get used to the fact that she no longer had a real arm, only a cheap knockoff. Sabé should have been grateful, she supposed, but she missed her old appendage. Sabé pouted slightly.
"It's no use crying over spilled muja," she told herself firmly. "You're just going to have to get used to it."
And then she ran, flipping into the air as she did so. It was a perfectly executed cartwheel, but when her arms made contact with the floor she collapsed in a heap with a loud yelp.
"Padawan Amidala?" Sabé very nearly blushed beneath her limbs; why was it that Master Plo Koon always seemed to find her in the most awkward of situations? "Do you require assistance?"
She untangled herself to look up at Jedi Master Plo Koon.
"That's alright," she said with a groan, rubbing her head. "I've got this."
"If you are certain," Plo Koon returned agreeably, turning on his heel when finally Sabé sighed.
"Alright," she admitted, "I could use a little help."
The Kel Dor master could've smiled, but Sabé couldn't really tell with the protective mask that covered his mouth.
"You seem to be having difficulty using your prosthetic limb," Plo observed as he helped her into a standing position.
"A bit, Master," she admitted, dusting off her too-big clothes. "Though I suppose it's simply a matter of...adjustment."
"I believe that as well, Padawan. So you must re-learn your skills that depend on the use of your hands," Plo told her. "You should start with balance."
"Of course," Sabé muttered mutinously.
She positioned herself and ran a few steps, launching her hands towards the floor. She gave a noise of surprise when Plo Koon strode forward and gripped her ankles tightly so she was forced to maintain pressure on her wrists.
It wasn't painful, but it wasn't very comfortable either.
"Allow yourself to become familiar with your new limitations and expectations," Plo Koon warned as he released her ankles.
Sabé gritted her teeth, but forced herself to remain in that position.
Plo Koon bent down so she could see him. "There is no room for doubt on the path of the Jedi, young Padawan."
"Yes, sir," Sabé hissed through her teeth, struggling to maintain her balance. "Always happy to learn from a master."
Plo Koon's answering chuckle was already moving farther away as he left her to her own devices.
Sabé focused, but a split second later her wrist crumpled underneath her, making him chuckle louder. Sabé sank into a few different fighting stances of Ataru, as Master Yoda had first taught her. To her eternal annoyance, she found herself a great deal unbalanced.
"Like some help, would you?"
Sabé smiled at her master's voice and turned to beam brightly at the small green ancient Jedi Master. "Master! My apologies for not sensing you, I was a bit focused." Embarrassment rippled through their Master-Padawan bond.
"Understandable, it is," he said, moving forward with the aid of his cane. "However, once healed, expect you to sense me, I will."
"Yes, Master," Sabé said obediently, bowing her head slightly.
"Problems with your arm, you are having, hm?" Yoda guessed as he came to stand before his much taller apprentice of eight years.
"Yes, Master," Sabé repeated patiently, lifting the metallic arm slightly. "It's much lighter than what I'm used to…but Master Plo says I'll get used to it."
"And so you will," Yoda agreed just as patiently, summoning his lightsaber to his hand. "Learn best in combat, you will."
Sabé barely had any time to blink, let alone activate her own lightsabers as her master struck against hers.
"Come," he commanded of her, "much to teach you, I still have."
And much to learn, she still had.
"Just do it!"
"But-"
"Kit!"
"Fine…"
Sabé hefted the pair of lightsabers between her hands, the twin blades glowing with vibrancy. Her face was set in determination as she finally goaded Kit into attacking her full-on. The dual-bladed style, Jar'Kai was more difficult than it looked, and against brute strength, Sabé's form greatly lacked, hence why she was practicing against Kit, who was much stronger than Aayla (who partnered with her more than Kit did).
She brought her blades up so that they were parallel, blocking his first attack before responding with her own. But her strikes were shallow with her left hand as she was still getting used to the artificial hand she had had for about a week.
"Master Yoda." Mace Windu came to stand beside the old Jedi. "Your apprentice seems to have bounced back quickly from her injuries."
"Left a stain on her, the Dark Side has," Yoda said solemnly. "Now fragile, she is. More susceptible to the Dark Side, she is."
Mace frowned at his words, watching the Padawan's movements carefully. They were the same as any he had ever seen from her, focused and centered, but when he reached out into the Force he could see what Master Yoda meant. The attack had shattered her confidence in her abilities; she was inwardly contemplating so much that he couldn't even focus on a single train of thought without getting lost.
"How did I not sense it?" he spoke in surprise, despite the fact that he was a Jedi Master (having recently ascended to the Council only two months previously) he had not been able to sense how deep Sabé's concerns were.
"Hides her thoughts well, my Padawan does," Yoda said as he limped forward with the aid of his cane, causing Kit and Sabé to pause and Aayla to walk over and join them as the two Jedi Masters came closer.
"You're sure you were released from the hospital ward?" Aayla asked in concern, earning her an affronted stare. "What? It's been known to happen!"
"Master," Sabé said in her calm voice that betrayed none of her internal turmoil that even Mace was impressed, "Master Windu, what may I help you with."
"Given your report, you have not," Yoda chided her.
She bowed again. "Yes Master." Sabé took a deep breath and began at the beginning in a formal voice that she often used when addressing those of higher status. Aayla and Kit called it her regal accent. "Padawan Secura, Padawan Fisto, and I split the Works up into sections to search more effectively. I was working a lot slower than the other two, so Ki- Padawan Fisto headed over to assist Padawan Secura and I continued with my sector."
"You did not find the poison?" inquired Mace.
Sabé shook her head, her braids going in all directions. "Padawan Fisto informed me he and Padawan Secura had found the remnants of a container that still had a sample of the poison and I told them to head back without me."
"Why ask them to leave, did you?" Yoda asked.
Sabé pinched the bridge of her nose. "Because I had a bad feeling- like there was nothing but the dark and cold."
"You mean the Dark Side of the Force?" Mace offered, scrutinizing her slightly.
"Yes, master," Sabé agreed. "After they left I headed to the main structure and there was a man waiting for me." She faltered slightly. "He was a Zabrak and he called me by a name that only myself and Master Plo Koon know."
Aayla and Kit shared a look of confusion. What name?
"And what name would that be?" Mace asked.
Her soft eyes hardened and her lips sewed shut. It was a surprising action, given how open she was.
Yoda watched his apprentice quietly. Artificial light glanced off her skin and in an instant he saw her growing before his eyes into a beautiful young woman, a master in every sense of the word. He saw her fighting with her twin blades with a grace he had never seen her use. But most of all, he saw her strong in the Force, firmly ingrained in the Light.
"Understand, I do," he said finally, "a private word with my Padawan, I require."
Sabé inclined her head slightly and followed him away from her friends and Master Windu.
"More to say, I sense," Yoda said in his aged voice, glancing upwards to her.
Sabé winced at how easily he saw through her.
"Yours is the name of a child destined for darkness," that was what he had said. Darkness…the Dark Side, she didn't want to think she could sink so low to fall for their ideals.
"Worry and fear I sense in you," Yoda spoke. "Fear-"
"Leads to the Dark Side, I know," Sabé said dejectedly. "Master…I feel…inadequate."
Yoda gave her a strange look, like he couldn't ascertain where she came up with this assumption. "Inadequate, you are not. Win against your enemy, you could not. Overcome your fear, you will."
Sabé didn't have his confidence.
"A new mission you have been given," he continued, "to Naboo it will take you."
Sabé blinked at the mention of her homeworld. "Naboo?"
"Hm," Yoda agreed, "Possible attack on the Governor of Theed, there is, if attacked his daughter is."
Her heart rate skyrocketed. That didn't sound like a very good idea.
"Accompany you Obi-Wan Kenobi will."
That comment had Sabé reeling backwards and she opened her mouth suddenly to disagree, but when she caught the steely glint in her master's eye, her protests fell silent. "Yes, Master."
"Meditate, you now will."
"Yes, Master," she repeated somberly as she turned on her heel and made for the meditation rooms on the second floor. Who knew? Maybe quieting her mind would do her some good, and maybe provide the perfect distraction from one Obi-Wan Kenobi.
Awkward was a good way to describe how Obi-Wan felt sitting across from Sabé who sat with her elbows resting on her knees, her hands interlocked and supporting her chin as she stared sightlessly ahead.
The light glanced off of her new arm, making him flinch slightly.
"What's the matter, Padawan Kenobi?" she asked in a voice much cooler than he was used to. "Never seen an artificial limb before?"
He opened his mouth to defend himself, but her attention had already shifted from him, her eyes drifting shut as she breathed in and out deeply.
We are encouraged to love, she thought to herself, but we are forbidden from being in love. That in itself is a contradiction. How can we understand love, if we do not experience it? Master says dangerously strong emotions can lead to the Dark Side, but isn't it just as possible that love can firmly ingrain one in the light?
That nightmarish vision she had had since she was a little girl flashed before her eyes of that hooded figure striking down Jedi after Jedi. She bit her lip.
No, she told herself, that Zabrak was wrong. I am light, I am good, and I am a Jedi. That is the path I chose, and it is the one I would choose again, if I was given the opportunity. I may not agree with some of the Order's teachings, but that does not change who I am.
"Padawan Amidala, Kenobi?"
Sabé opened her eyes as the captain came out of the cockpit. "We've arrived."
Sabé nodded her thanks and paid him the credits for the trip as she descended from the ramp with Obi-Wan sticking close to her side, to her annoyance, but, she supposed, that was to be expected. Obi-Wan had never been to Naboo, and neither had Sabé.
It was beautiful and bright…everything that Coruscant wasn't. Sabé had fallen in love with the world that she had been born on. How could she not? The very air held veins of the Force.
"This way," she barked to Obi-Wan, returning to the task at hand and searching for the Governor's house. She didn't dare to say father, she couldn't.
His home was large, but modest, she noticed as they waited patiently in the lobby area for him to greet them. She hadn't realized that her family had been very political; Governor of Theed hardly seemed like more than a title to her when she had first heard it, but it certainly explained a few things.
"My apologies for keeping you waiting," Governor Naberrie said, radiating apology as he gave the pair a swift bow.
The boy must have been seventeen or eighteen with an auburn color to his hair and bright hazel eyes that seemed a little dimmed, and his companion-
Ruwee very nearly gasped. "Sabé?"
His little girl had blossomed into a beautiful young woman of sixteen. It was almost a shame that she was a Jedi. Her hair, unlike her sisters' was tightly restrained in braids that swung around her face and her eyes, as brown as her mother's, were slightly startled.
She bowed respectfully. "I am Sabé Amidala, sir, and this is Obi-Wan Kenobi. I understand that the Jedi Council contacted you to tell you we were coming?"
"I-" Ruwee floundered for a second, "yes, they did. They said that they suspected that an attack would be made against my family?"
"Perhaps we should discuss this in private?" Sabé suggested, her eyes falling on one of the members of his staff who was taking a few sheets to be laundered.
"Of course," he said quickly, "my study is free, please follow me."
He sat behind his desk, waiting for the pair to sit in the spare chairs before him. He couldn't help but notice how his daughter angled her body away from her companion's and saw the flash of regret within the lad's soft hazel eyes. Hm…they must have been friends that recently had a falling out.
"I must admit, you were not what I was expecting," he said finally.
"Because we're Padawans?" the boy spoke for the first time with an arched eyebrow.
"Or because I am a woman?" Sabé continued before a light flush adorned her cheeks at how she and her friend had shared a similar thought.
"Oh, no," Ruwee said quickly, "I just wasn't expecting my daughter, that's all."
The boy –Obi-Wan, was it?- started slightly in surprise, staring at his friend in surprise.
Sabé's smile was sweet, reminding him of little six-year old Padmé's. "I guess I'm not quite what you expected, am I…Father?" The word felt foreign on her tongue, but not in an entirely bad way.
"Not quite," he admitted, his eyes twinkling. "Hello, Sabé."
"Hello," she said quietly, "but I'm afraid this isn't a social visit."
"It never is," Ruwee said tiredly. "Tell me about this attack."
"Last week a few Initiates at the Temple were poisoned," Sabé explained, "My master had a few friends and I check it out and somehow," irritation flickered in her eyes, "I happened across a man who knew me by my birth name, which I haven't told anyone." She wrinkled her nose slightly. "We dueled. He won and I lost my arm in the process." Sabé lifted up her metallic for him to see.
She could feel his anger and it felt like a fierce burn across her, like a sudden throb of her heart. Being so close to someone like her father she found was quite strange, but his anger surprised her. This was a man who barely knew her, but here he was, angry on her behalf. She wasn't quite sure how she felt about that.
She glanced to the side and met Obi-Wan's eyes for a split second, before they shifted away, focusing on anything but him.
The disappointment roiled in her stomach and she bit the inside of her mouth as she tried not to focus on it, but that was a bit difficult.
"Until we can ascertain if you are the true target of the attack or not, Obi-Wan and I will be stationed here on Naboo."
Padmé thought Padawan Amidala was very pretty. She was only there for a temporary assignment, that's what Mommy said, she and her friend were here to protect Daddy, that's what Mommy said. Sola hated her, but Padmé didn't understand why; Sabé was nice and confident and capable. Sabé was just like what Padmé wanted to be when she grew up. She didn't want to be like Sola who cared more about meeting the perfect man and settling down to have a family, like Mommy said they should.
But that sounded so boring!
"Sabé," Obi-Wan, Sabé's male friend, spoke from behind the curtain that hid the balcony that overlooked the city. "Can we talk?"
"We are talking," Sabé said dryly and Padmé peered though the small space between the curtains to look outside. Sabé was sitting on the balcony with her eyes closed, her hands resting on her knees, and her legs crossed. She was breathing in deep enough that she could have been sleeping, but she wasn't. "What would you want to speak of, Padawan Kenobi?"
Obi-Wan frowned at her. "Sabé," he said in warning.
Her lips twitched lightly. "Obi-Wan."
It was the first time that Sabé had said his first name in about three months, but Padmé had no way of knowing that.
"Would saying I'm sorry help me at all?" he couldn't help but ask.
Sabé inclined her head slightly to the side, her eyes still closed. "Perhaps…perhaps not." She sighed, her eyes fluttering open to reveal her amber-brown eyes. "I think I really wanted you to apologize at the beginning, but I suppose we all make mistakes, don't we?"
His brow furrowed slightly in confusion. "So, you don't want me to apologize?"
"What would you be apologizing for?" Sabé asked with a light shrug. "I have let go of my disappointment, besides," a smile twitched her lips, "I'm not very good at staying angry with anyone."
Obi-Wan couldn't deny that.
"I would make a very bad Sith," she realized with a laugh, "I'm sure my attacker will be most disappointed."
Obi-Wan's smile was only slightly there. "Did you ever consider leaving the Order?" he asked her.
"The Order is my life," she said after a long period of silence, "but it is not the only thing that is in my life. I believe that there are many flaws in its core beliefs, but that's just me…and I'm not sure Master Yoda would approve."
"But you're here," Obi-Wan said, "you're here with your family, with your sisters and your parents, doesn't it cross your mind?"
Padmé gasped loud enough for both of their eyes to turn in the direction from where she was hiding and then she ran away before they could move.
"Sometimes," Sabé admitted sadly, "I wonder how different life would have been if I hadn't been born with a high midi-chlorian count, but it's best not to dwell on things that will never be, as Master says." She smiled. "Family is important, Obi-Wan, but if I had not gone to the Order, I would not have made such strong bonds with Aayla or Kit or you. Sometimes it's just best to focus on the good of life rather than the impossible."
Obi-Wan always thought it was weird when she got all philosophical on him, but he never questioned it; that was just the way that Sabé was.
"We should send a message to the Council," Sabé decided after listening to the night for a moment, "it is clear that the threat was only to me and not to the Naberrie House."
It was strange how she referred to her family as if they were separate from me.
"That's concerning," Obi-Wan said. "Who wants you dead?"
Sabé shrugged. "Who would know my birth name? I can't really say."
She unfolded her legs and jumped lightly back onto the floor, noticing the slight height difference between her and Obi-Wan (Wonderful, he would be able to use his height to his advantage in any duel they ever had, that was just what she needed) and finding it irritating, but thank the stars she was still growing. Sabé and Aayla were among the shortest of any of the Padawans in the Temple and they were determined to beat out a few other Padawans before they stopped growing.
"Let me know when your shift is up," she continued, dusting off her pants, "though I doubt you'll find anything." She gave him a slight wave with her fingers before turning on her heel and disappearing of the stairs and off the balcony, the sunset casting red highlights into her hair as she did so.
The Force hummed in content, but Obi-Wan couldn't fathom why.
AN: Thanks for the positive response for this fanfic, it really makes me feel good about writing it, and though I really like how many of you favorite and follow this story, I would also like some reviews! Reviews make me very happy! Anyways, I might have the next chapter up by the end of the week, but don't hold your breath; I'm very bad at time management! Until next time, my faithful readers!
