Disclaimer: George Lucas owns Star Wars
A Shift in the Force: Chapter Eighteen: Explanations at Varykino
AN: Since it was asked, what's likely to happen is that in book two we'll go into the Clone Wars, but you'll see more of the Clone Wars in book three. Book two will end soon after the start of the Clone Wars, I think.
Lots of agreement on the Jedi attachment rule, which is great.
This chapter features a character from the Clone Wars Gambit series by Karen Miller who I absolutely fell in love with.
Obi-Wan and Anakin returned to the Temple with Siri Tachi in tow after a rather unexpected mission that had been given to them so suddenly that Obi-Wan still had whiplash. And he had to admit that he'd been a bit apprehensive about the mission, especially given Anakin's background.
The Council had sent them to accompany a Colicoid diplomatic ship. It was a mission that was intended to be delicate in nature but not dangerous, but the slave trader Krayn had complicated matters…and his right hand, Zora, who was in fact the Jedi Padawan known as Siri Tachi.
"No matter what Sabé says," Siri said with a wide yawn as she dislodged the kinks in her neck, "undercover work isn't fun."
Anakin wrinkled his nose at her. "Wouldn't the mission and the Jedi make a difference?"
Siri blinked and Obi-Wan sent a ripple of reproach towards his Padawan. "Anakin," he warned.
But Siri laughed and Obi-Wan couldn't quite remember the last time he had heard such a sound from her…perhaps when they'd both agreed to give up on their romantic feelings for each other in order to continue as Jedi.
"I suppose it would," Siri said with amusement, "besides, undercover work was never my specialty, leave that to the Shadows, they're better at getting things done."
"Well, that's something I'd never thought I'd hear Siri Tachi say," a mild voice commented.
Taria Damsin was striding towards them with Sabé Amidala at her side, her golden eyes glittering as she grinned at them.
"Taria, you're looking well," Siri spoke smoothly, her lips twitching.
And she did. The Ghaina-born female's thick blue-green hair was mounted into a high ponytail and her soft brown skin shimmered with health. Compared to Sabé, she was positively radiant, which was something Obi-Wan had never considered. It might have had to do with the fact that Sabé had a noticeable slump in her shoulders, than with the drab grey uniform she was wearing.
"Always the flatterer, Siri," Taria responded with a wink before smiling at Obi-Wan and Anakin. "So, how was the first mission with the Padawan?"
Obi-Wan opened his mouth to speak when a lavender blur flew through the air, tackling Anakin with a yell of his name. The next thing anyone knew, Anakin Skywalker and Talik Shala were on the ground in a tangle of limbs.
Sabé's lips twitched in faint amusement as Arthree rolled up beside her with an irritated beep.
"Going on another Shadow mission?" Obi-Wan asked her instead, drawing her eyes from their crumpled Padawans to focus on her and Sabé was sure that he noticed something off in her, if how a line appeared between his eyebrows and his lips drew down in a frown was any indicator. "Weren't you just on a mission?"
"I'm not going on a mission," Sabé said, her words slightly sour in her mouth, "the Council is sending me on a mandatory meditative retreat."
Obi-Wan stared, and he wasn't the only one; Anakin gaped and Siri positively goggled.
"What for?" Anakin asked, tugging on the loose material of her pant-leg from where he was still trapped to the floor by his friend's weight. "You meditate all the time, Master Sabé!"
"I think peace of mind is what they're going more for, Anakin," Sabé said with a sigh before steeling her nerves, "Korinth'Kel Dorma is dead."
"Kori –what?" Siri looked as though all the air had been forced from her lungs, and Sabé felt that was a rather apt description of how she felt about the matter as well. "I –I don't understand…"
Obi-Wan was just as startled and Taria and Sabé exchanged a somber glance; that was the usual response to the news when they were informed of Korinth'Kel's passing.
Anakin and Talik disentangled themselves and Anakin looked from Jedi Knight to Jedi Knight, not all that familiar with the one of whom they spoke, other than the fact that her leaving the Jedi had been so abrupt and unexpected.
"She had a vision, I don't really know the particulars," Sabé said, tugging on one of her braids, a sign of how uncomfortable she was with the topic, but she'd already lost count how many times she'd had to recount the events that had occurred on Anobis. "Whatever she saw completely shattered her beliefs in the Order, so she left and became a Dark Jedi and decided the best course of action was to take over a planet and attempt to turn an old friend."
It didn't take a genius for the others to ascertain that by 'old friend' Sabé meant herself.
Sabé lifted a hand to rub at her eyes before forcing a smile on her face as she tilted her face to look to Siri. "But I'm glad your mission was a success, Siri."
Siri was as lovely as ever, even with her hair still dyed that horrendous orange and with that terrible hacked haircut. The facial tattoos that Sabé had pasted to her cheeks herself with semi-permanent dye were finally starting to fade.
"Only because of your input," Siri responded humbly with a wry smile of her own.
"I doubt it was just that," Taria snorted, crossing her arms before grinning widely, "we'll make a Shadow out of you yet, Siri."
"How about 'no'?"
At that, both Sabé and Taria laughed. "Well," Sabé conceded with a straight face, "it does take a certain degree of talent—"
"—the ability to blend in effortlessly—" Taria added.
"—the ability to replicate different accents—" Sabé ticked off on her fingers.
"Oh, and then there's always making a quick getaway without breaking cover!"
"I am surprisingly good at that," Sabé hummed in agreement, which only served to make Siri roll her eyes while Obi-Wan coughed to hide his snort; Talik and Anakin bypassed them completely, howling with laughter on the floor.
"You know I honestly wouldn't have found it surprising if you two were related," Obi-Wan said, shaking his head at the pair, though they couldn't have looked more different; Sabé with her fair complexion, brown eyes and brown hair, and Taria with her light brown complexion, golden eyes, and blue-green hair.
The pair often worked together as Shadows, and while Sabé was best friends with Aayla and Kit, she was also very close with Taria.
"Ah, but I have two sisters," Sabé said.
"And I have none!" Taria's eyes gleamed as she threw an arm around the brown-eyed Jedi's shoulders. It was a clear effort to keep her mind off of Korinth'Kel, and Obi-Wan was sure she knew it, even if she didn't mention it. "But we are the same age—"
"Ooh, and the same height!"
"Do we have the same taste in men? Or women, I'm not picky." Taria spared the younger Padawans a saucy wink that reduced them to giggling fits; Taria was rather good at easing the tension.
"You know, I have no idea," Sabé said thoughtfully. "I do have a Padawan, Taria, exactly how much time do you think I devote to romantic feelings?"
And was it just Obi-Wan, or was there a light flush to her cheeks as she said that.
Unfortunately, Taria caught on it to. "Aw! You do!"
Crimson painted across Sabé's cheeks. "Oh, stop making these things up, Taria! You know how I feel about you!" She batted her eyelashes and Taria faked a swoon.
"Oh, I could just kiss you, Sabé!"
"Restrain yourself, Taria, we wouldn't want to give anyone heart attacks," Sabé responded, brushing her braids out of her face as she checked the time on her datapad before leaning down to grasp her bag.
"Talik, if you and Anakin get into trouble, make sure you're not caught." And Talik grinned widely, bouncing on the balls of her feet while Anakin sniggered. "I'll see you all in two weeks, but I've got to catch a transport…"
Talik gave her master a last fleeting hug before Sabé turned away with Arthree whistling at her side, making her way towards the front of the Temple and Obi-Wan was filled with a sense of nostalgia…like Sabé wasn't sure if she was coming back.
"The queen has another sister?"
Captain Panaka was dearly regretting his choice to bring their newest recruit with him to guard Queen Amidala from the shadows while she sat in a simple dress, looking just as ordinary as one could imagine, waiting for the transport to dock. But now she was simply Padmé Naberrie awaiting her elder sister's imminent arrival while Yané played her part in the palace.
"Yes, she has another sister," Captain Panaka said, giving the lad a glare out of the side of his eye. "No, I'm not going to tell you anything else."
The boy scowled, but there wasn't much he could say as the transport landed and people spilled out onto the street.
The queen must have seen her, because she stood with a bright grin on her lips before darting into the crowd to throw her arms around a young woman who looked startlingly similar to her, from the curve of her laughing mouth to the rosy hue of her cheeks, but the boy's eyes were drawn to the blaster holstered at her hip.
"What happened to your tunic?" the queen asked the young woman once she'd released her to look her up and down. "And your leather jerkin? And your lightsabers? You never go anywhere without your lightsabers."
The newest recruit started briefly at the mention of lightsabers, which, if he was correct, were the weapons that the Jedi used…but the young woman didn't much look like a Jedi, and, besides, Jedi didn't have any family, did they?
"I left them back at the Temple," she said before turning back to whistle sharply to an R3 unit that had been blocked by the crowd. "I'm not being a Jedi for the next two weeks, besides, I never take them with me when I'm undercover, imagine what would happen if I was discovered to be a Jedi?"
The queen shook her head with a laugh, patting the astromech on its domed head before linking their arms and leading them to where her two guards were standing beside the speeder.
"Captain Panaka," Queen Amidala said with a smile, "I'm sure you remember my sister, Sabé?"
"Of course, Your Majesty," the captain responded with an easy smile and a tip of his hat to the woman now known as Sabé. "It's good to see you, Knight Amidala."
"Sabé," she corrected, "I'm on meditative retreat for the next two weeks, so Knight Amidala is just Sabé." Her pained grimace was fleeting.
"Are you really a Jedi?" the recruit blurted out and when her gaze fixed on him, he swallowed nervously, red splotches appearing on his cheekbones.
She didn't look much like a Jedi, more like a deck officer, even with the blaster holstered at her side. But there was something about the way she held herself, the way she spoke, and the way her eyes held an ancient knowledge.
"Depends on the day, really," she said blandly, brushing her braids back with her free hand, "but, usually, yes, I am Jedi Knight Sabé Amidala."
Padmé tugged on her arm. "Come on, Sabé, we've only got so long until I have to be back at the palace."
Sabé quirked an eyebrow before following her younger sister into the speeder, situating Arthree by her side. "Don't trust your decoy enough to make too many decisions without you?"
"Well, she doesn't have the added ability to read my mind."
Both sisters shared a secretive smile.
"I think she went to Naboo. You think she went to Naboo?"
Talik shoved her elbow into his side and he recoiled slightly. "I think that if Master did go anywhere, Naboo would be pretty high on the list."
Anakin wrinkled his nose at her, slumping against the table in the Jedi Archives while Talik did some research on Force-healing. "You've spent so much time with Master Che you're beginning to sound like her."
"Master Vokara is a great healer," Talik sniffed, her nose high in the air, but her glittering eyes made it clear that it was an act.
Anakin goggled at her. "She's not going to take you away from Master Sabé, is she?" That would have been utterly terrible. Anakin couldn't imagine Sabé and Talik not being master and student.
"Don't be ridiculous!" Talik gave her friend a scowl. "The only way someone's taking me away from Master is by killing one of us."
The Tatooine-born male couldn't help but snort. "That's likely." Talik was good at dodging, and what were the chances of anyone taking out Sabé Amidala? Very low, in Anakin's opinion, especially since most of the missions either of them took on didn't usually end in a fire of blaster bolts; their mission to Anobis was an outlier and not to be counted.
"I think Master was planning to take me away for three months before the Council sent her on the meditative retreat," Talik hummed, leaning back in her seat.
"Taking you away?" Anakin said flummoxed. "What for?"
"Well, when Master was still Master Yoda's Padawan he took her to the planet Dagobah for three months of training," Talik explained, "Master Aayla told me when Master came back she was more one with the Force."
"Master says she's always been in tune with the Force, that's why Yoda picked her as his student," Anakin countered, locking his arms behind his head.
Talik hit a few buttons on the computer in front of her, contemplation in her eyes. "I don't think it really works like that…like when Master agreed to train me…"
Anakin sagged his shoulders slightly. "And Obi-Wan only became my master because Qui-Gon asked him…it's not like he picked me."
"But you picked him," Talik said, reaching over to pat his arm kindly. "And he knew it even if he didn't want to admit it…Master always had a talent for telling bonds between masters and students, even if they hadn't formed it yet, that was why she was always so irritated with Master Jinn."
"Because he tried to deny his bond with Master," Anakin said, nodding; he had heard the story. Sabé had told it to him once in an effort to remind him how grateful he should be that his master didn't do the same, and he was grateful, so grateful to have Obi-Wan as his master.
"At least you didn't try to shut yourself off from the Force," Talik told him sagely.
And Anakin had to agree with her there.
"Do you think she's going to get into trouble?"
"Who?" Talik asked absently, flicking through the data.
"Sabé," Anakin hissed under his breath, leaning close so he didn't have to speak very loud. "Jedi aren't allowed to have families."
It was quite a sore subject for the boy, Talik knew well. If Anakin had his way, he would have probably gone right back to Tatooine, freed his mother, and brought her back to Coruscant with him. Anakin had a big heart that way, but maybe he was also a bit jealous of Sabé.
"I'm not telling the Council that my master was so shaken up about killing an old friend that she happened to choose her home planet to spend her meditative retreat on and that she could possibly be spending the next two weeks in the presence of her family, are you?"
There was a challenging tilt to her head.
"No, of course not," Anakin said, his words a little sulky.
"Master always said she would have been fine if she'd never known her family," Talik said, shifting her gaze from him to the computer's screen once more. "But when the Force keeps throwing you into situations like that, you have to listen…all the times Sabé's seen her family were on officially sanctioned missions, which is ironic, given the Jedi's view on familial attachment…"
Talik pursed her lips thoughtfully. "But Naboo is a very peaceful planet, if I had to pick a place to go on a two week meditative retreat, that's where I'd probably go too."
Anakin grumbled something under his breath, but Talik opted to ignore it, pulling out a spare datapad and jotting down a few notes onto its surface.
"Do you agree with the no attachments rule?" he asked his friend curiously and Talik couldn't help but sigh, her head-tails twitching down her back.
"No, but I don't make it obvious," she said dryly, tapping her fingers against the table. "The Council throw enough of a fit about Master's views that it's just easier to act like I agree with their beliefs."
Anakin grinned widely. "That's the same as lying."
Her cheeks flushed a mauve. "It is not!"
"It so is!"
"I hate you," Talik decided, wrinkling her nose at him for good measure, removing the datacards from the computer and collecting her datapads.
"No, you don't," Anakin snorted as he followed after her, his lightsaber at his belt bouncing with every movement, and it was a weight that Anakin would have to get used to.
Talik rolled her eyes at him before handing in her datacards to Madam Jocasta Nu who gave the both of them a kindly smile.
"I've got to meet Master Aayla in a training room to work on my forms, are you coming?"
"Nah," Anakin said, waving his hand carelessly, "Master's going to be helping me with mine for the next few hours."
Talik couldn't help but snort at that. She remembered all too well when Sabé had taken her on as her student and had her train endlessly in the lightsaber forms right after she'd made her lightsaber. "Well, if you're still alive afterwards, you know where to find me."
He glared.
"And if you're dead, I'll need to tell Padmé why you can't datamessage her anymore."
His glare deepened as she laughed.
Varykino was beautiful this time of the year, as Sabé came to realize, and it had been such a long time since Sabé had been back to Varykino, which had been where she and Obi-Wan had once guarded the Naberrie family –her family– and the flowers were in full bloom while the lake was a calm and clear blue.
Padmé had to return to the palace once she'd dropped Sabé off there with a jab of her finger threateningly towards her elder sister, warning her off going anywhere.
Once she had gone, Sabé had tried her hardest to meditate, but all she seemed to do was give herself a massive headache instead, which was just perfect, if you asked Sabé.
And it was only well into the night that Padmé finally questioned her about her arrival on Naboo.
The pair was gathered near the fireplace as it crackled, their bodies curled around a bowl of fruits.
"You haven't told…anyone else I'm here, have you?" Sabé asked after swallowing a muja berry.
By 'anyone', Padmé assumed correctly that Sabé was referring to their family.
"Not yet," Padmé said, giving her elder sister a small smile, "and not if you don't want me to…I know things have always been a bit difficult between you and Sola."
Difficult was about as delicate as one could possibly describe her relationship with the younger sister that hated absolutely everything about her. Sabé gave a small sigh. If there was one thing her family was, it was complicated.
"Sabé…why are you really here?" Padmé pressed as Sabé sat up, crossing her legs as she pulled out a shurra fruit, tossing it lightly in her hands. "In your last datamessage it seemed like everything was going great."
"It was," Sabé agreed, "which goes to show how fast things can go downhill."
Padmé stared at her in the flickering firelight. It was one thing to realize that Sabé was holding something back, it was another for Sabé to admit it herself.
"There was a mission," Sabé told her, leaning her back against the couch's edge, "a dispute on Anobis between the Zabrak colonies there that required someone with diplomatic experience and it was suggested that I go, with my experience, and I knew it would be good for Talik…she's not a very diplomatic person." Sabé gave a short chuckle. "She and Anakin, actually."
Padmé's smile prompted her to continue.
"I hadn't sensed anything was amiss until we touched down…and then all I could sense was fear, the whole planet was practically saturated in it." Sabé swallowed thickly, her eyes distant. "There was a bomb and the explosion sent Talik flying—"
"Is Talik all right?" Padmé asked, vaguely startled. She hadn't interacted very much with her sister's Padawan learner, but the girl was fierce and fiery and it didn't take much to like her.
"She's fine, just a few bumps and bruises," Sabé waved a careless hand, "which is far better than I was, being attacked, strangled, and knocked out." She reached a hand up to massage her throat, even though the bruises had long since faded by the help of Force-healing.
"You're all right, though, right?" Padmé asked her, concern flooding her eyes.
"My injuries are healed," Sabé told her before continuing on, "the planet had apparently been taken over by a former Jedi who had left the Temple just that week…she was old friend of mine."
The bowl of fruit rattled against the ground and Sabé scowled at it until it stilled, something that earned Padmé's attention.
"Has that been happening a lot lately?" she queried, gesturing towards the bowl, but it only served to increase Sabé's annoyance.
"I have less control over the Force than an Initiate," she grumbled, raking a hand through her braids.
"Whatever happened really messed with you, didn't it?" Padmé surmised in a sage-like manner.
"That's putting it lightly," Sabé muttered before clearing her throat. "Her name was Korinth'Kel Dorma and she was exceptional."
"Like you and Anakin?"
"No one's like Anakin and myself," Sabé informed her wryly. "But Korinth'Kel had a certain gift with Force-visions."
"Like seeing the future?"
"Or the past, the Force isn't too picky," Sabé conceded. "She was a rising star in the Jedi Consulars…there aren't very many Jedi Seers to begin with, but none were more skilled than her." She picked at the stem of her fruit. "But then she had a vision and it –it essentially drove her mad."
Padmé leaned back, visibly startled. Though it was true that Padmé did know a bit more than the average person concerning matters of the Jedi Temple –and while Anakin was very open about what went on, Sabé was more controlled– there were many things she couldn't even begin to comprehend.
"That can happen?" she asked numbly.
"Visions were never my expertise…but the Korinth'Kel I knew would never have taken over a planet in order to get my attention, to try to turn me to the Dark Side, and she certainly wouldn't have tried to kill my Padawan."
Nothing was said for a few moments, then Padmé asked: "What happened to her?"
"She died."
Padmé snapped her head up to look to her sister, though Sabé did not raise her eyes to meet Padmé's, she could plainly see the pained grimace on her face that told her it was Sabé that had dealt the killing blow.
"I'm so sorry, Sabé," Padmé murmured.
No wonder she'd been sent off on a meditative retreat. Padmé was sure that if she'd killed an old friend she'd be more of a mess than Sabé…but Sabé had always been the most put together of the Naberrie sisters. And Padmé could see how wrecked inside she was.
Her sister had never asked for anything, but she had asked to come home, to see Padmé…and that meant something to Padmé, so she leaned over to wrap her arms around her, holding tightly to her and feeling how Sabé shook against her.
And that was all that was needed.
AN: So, Taria Damsin is a really great character that I literally fell in love with because she's the first Jedi I've read of being a Jedi Shadow, especially in the Republic Era, so I was really excited. It's likely you'll see more of her, since she and Sabé work in the same field.
The Dagobah bit was an idea I've had for awhile, even though whether or not Yoda had been to the planet before his exile is up for debate, especially since Dagobah was one of the worlds discovered to have been deleted from the Jedi Archives during the war…maybe that'll be something to look into. But I have a headcanon that Yoda and Sabé do training similar to Yoda and Luke there.
This is likely to be my last ASITF update before school starts on Tuesday, so…
As Always: PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE REVIEW
