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A Shift in the Force: Chapter Twenty-One: Departure From Naboo
AN: I guess there was some love for Aayla and Kit being adorable, worry not, there is more to come, but they'll feel a bit awkward about their fledging romance, given Sabé's current situation with Obi-Wan.
The review count is almost into the triple digits now, which is really exciting, since this fic was one of my more minor fics, yet its suddenly become the third longest fic I've written in a surprisingly short amount of time.
Sadly, all the really good stuff happens when Talik is fifteen or sixteen, but I've still got ideas to fill the spaces in between, and one day the importance of Talik's dream will show up and you'll all die, but until then… ;)
In other news: FFnet has been being a little wonky for me, but I can't tell if its actually me or if its ffnet or my email being annoying, because it didn't say I'd updated Looking Beyond when I had and it didn't tell me when I got a review for this fic, when I know I did…but whatever, hopefully we won't have any kind of problems with this fic.
"You must be Sola's husband."
Darred started at the voice before looking up from rocking his daughter in his arms –once Padmé had reluctantly relinquished her to his arms once more– to stare at the speaker.
He wasn't quite sure what he'd been expecting of the eldest Naberrie daughter, but he hadn't expected her to share so many similar facial features with Padmé; their likeness was uncanny. But he could see some of Sola in her in the shape of her eyes and the curve of her jaw; the relation was undeniable.
The Jedi gave a kindly smile. "I'm Sabé Amidala."
"I'd gathered," Darred responded easily as his daughter reached out for the young woman eagerly, much to her bemusement and his befuddlement, "I'm Darred and this little beauty is Ryoo."
"'Elo!" Ryoo said brightly to her aunt, her blue eyes fastening on the many multitude of braids that Sabé's hair was bound in.
"Hello, little one," Sabé said, leaning forward with a bright smile, "I'm your aunt, Sabé."
Ryoo babbled excitedly. "Sa-bee," she said, mangling her name like she did Padmé's, but Sabé didn't appear to mind.
"It's nice to meet you," Darred added, "I've never met a Jedi before."
And she certainly didn't look like any he'd seen in the HoloNews. She wore a simple tunic and trousers that gave no indication of her affiliation to the Jedi Order, not even a billowing cloak.
"Well, there are far more impressive Jedi than I," Sabé laughed for good measure. "My old master is the most powerful Jedi in the Order, so compared to him I'm a bit…" She gave a helpless shrug and Padmé appeared at her side, throwing an arm over her sister's shoulders.
"My sister, so modest," Padmé said, a wide grin gracing her lips and Darred got the feeling that she was very much enjoying having her eldest sister around. "She once sent a droideka through the wall of the throne room during the Battle for Theed."
Sabé arched an eyebrow and Darred stared. "Well, it seemed like a good idea at the time, besides, I was your decoy then, remember?"
And then they both laughed as if from an inside joke.
"It's so good to have you back, Sabé."
Sabé wasn't sure if she'd seen her mother so pleased to see her since the time she and Obi-Wan had been sent to guard the Naberries, but she took it in stride.
"Well, it's only until the end of the week," she said, spinning her meat around on her fork as Jobal reached across the table to squeeze her hand.
"It's enough," she said softly. It wasn't enough, but it would have to do; Sabé was a Jedi after all, and she was already breaking at least two rules.
"How is the young Jedi you were with last time?" her father asked her before she could manage to get a swallow in, and Sola –who was currently feeding Ryoo– shot her an amused smirk. "I understand his master was the one that was killed during the battle."
"Obi-Wan's doing fine," Sabé said before correcting herself, "well, as fine as you can be with Anakin Skywalker as your Padawan."
And then she managed to swallow a bite of food before anyone could stop her.
"He and my Padawan, Talik, get into a good bit of trouble and it kind of drives him a little mad," she admitted with a small laugh.
She could remember a time that they had introduced semi-permanent blue dye into the Temple's shower system –Sabé, living out of the Temple, was saved that fate–, dying the hair and skin of everyone that showered that morning. The dye rubbed off the skin easily, but the blue color remained in the hair of those Jedi who were capable of growing hair.
Obi-Wan hadn't been pleased, but it had been a bit difficult to take him seriously with a head of blue hair.
Sabé had waited until Obi-Wan was finished ranting before kneeling down in front of them, a hand on one of their shoulders as she looked them dead in the eye, before saying, "Next time try to be a bit more subtle, you two, really, blue is far too obvious."
They had positively beamed, whilst Obi-Wan had simply placed his face into his hand and gave a loud sigh.
"Obi-Wan just needs to loosen up a little," Padmé laughed from her left side.
Sabé held up her thumb and forefinger about an inch apart. "Just a little. He's the ideal Jedi, following all the rules—"
"And then there's you," Sola said dryly, "the one that likes to stomp the rules into tiny pieces."
Sabé made a 'so-so' gesture with her hand. "Not all the rules, just the ones I don't particularly don't like –you probably shouldn't drink that," she said suddenly to Sola, who had reached for her glass of untouched wine.
Sola paused, eyeing the glass strangely. "Why? Is there something wrong with it?"
Her elder sister gave her an odd look. "I was under the impression that alcohol has a negative effect on a developing baby."
Silence fell around the table and Sola and Darred looked to one another, stunned by the prospect of having another child.
"Oh…I guess that's a bit of a surprise, then," Sabé said awkwardly before Jobal leapt out of her chair to hug Sola exuberantly in a way that was downright frightening.
Padmé elbowed her in the side. "Looks like we're going to be aunts again, won't that be fun?"
Sabé wouldn't have known, she'd only just found out about being an aunt.
"How did you know I was pregnant?" Sola asked her, later that night as Sabé curled herself close to the fire with a datapad held loosely in her hand.
"It's a matter of sensing the baby's presence," Sabé said, looking up to smile at her. "Your presence is different from your baby's, it's relatively easy to differentiate between the two, if you've got the training to do so."
Sabé closed her eyes and raised her hand to hover in front of Sola, making a circular motion briefly before settling on Sola's stomach and Sola watching her impatiently as Sabé smiled absently.
"Do you want to know if it will be a girl or boy?" she asked Sola, opening her eyes.
"It's going to be a girl, isn't it?" Sola asked shrewdly. Their father had only had girls, after all, and it seemed like she was continuing the trend.
Sabé smiled. "Yes, it seems so…she'll be healthy but born a little early."
"Why?" Sola asked startled.
Sabé shrugged, removing her hand and leaning back in her seat. "I can't be certain…the Force doesn't show everything…"
The flickering fire was reflected in her eyes and Sola scrutinized her.
"If you had a daughter, what would you name her?"
Sabé couldn't help but laugh at that, quiet enough not to awaken Ryoo sleeping the next room in her father's arms.
"I don't think I'll be having children anytime soon, if at all," she remarked dryly, brushing her braids back away from her face.
"Then just imagine for a moment," Sola said, rolling her eyes for good measure.
For a moment Sabé didn't say anything, contemplation flooding her face, and Sola could tell that she was thinking hard about the question.
"Coré," she decided before the silence could truly set in, lifting her eyes until they met her sister's lighter, paler ones. "I'd name my daughter Coré."
Coré was one of the old-fashioned names with the accented e that were becoming more common once more, but Sola was content in being the sibling that didn't have an é at the end of her last name. Coré was a name that held a double meaning; on one hand it meant 'daughter' and on the other it meant 'good heart'.
Sabé's attention drifted back to her datapad, frowning in consternation at what she read there. Sola couldn't read it, it was in a foreign language, but whatever it was displeased Sabé immensely.
"What is it?"
She looked up, startled. "Oh, it's nothing," she said, rubbing her temple with one hand, "it's just Talik…I'm picking up a jumble of thoughts from her."
A jumble of thoughts that she couldn't quite understand; they were moving far too fast to be comprehended.
Sabé's frown deepened, wondering what could have unsettled her Padawan so much.
Darth Sidious sat in his chair behind his massive desk that was his as Supreme Chancellor of the Republic, his fingers creating a tent as he considered the possibilities.
He had seen young Anakin Skywalker that day, walking in the Temple side-by-side with his friend Talik Shala. The girl was of no concern to him, other than the fact that she was the Padawan to Sabé Amidala, her skill in the Force was impressive to the Jedi, but not to him.
Darth Sidious could see he already had a pull on the boy, maybe not as much as Obi-Wan Kenobi did, but one day her would…and now he had to deal with the other difficulty, Sabé Amidala herself.
The Jedi was in a delicate situation, even if her views had always been borderline grey, and if Darth Sidious played his cards right, he could turn a Jedi with the potential to be someone incredibly dangerous, almost as dangerous as Anakin would be one day.
But in Sabé's case, he would have to be a bit more subtle, knowing how she wasn't nearly as taken with him as the other child of prophecy was.
He had sealed the doors and sent his staff away on an early lunch, allowing the time to call his apprentice with his hood flipped over his face.
"Darth Tyranus."
"My master," his apprentice said, his image bowing, the image of someone whom the Jedi would have found very familiar in the identity of the former Jedi known as Master Dooku, "how may I be of service?"
"How familiar are you with a young Jedi Knight by the name of Sabé Amidala?" Darth Sidious asked, her name curling silkily off his tongue.
If Dooku was surprised by the question, he certainly didn't show it. "Sabé Amidala was the last apprentice to the Jedi's Grandmaster, and thus my fellow apprentice. She has more midi-chlorians than anyone in the Temple, barring the recent addition of Anakin Skywalker, and is part of one of the two great prophecies of the Jedi."
"And how do you find her?"
Dooku blinked. "She's young but practical, and certainly not naïve. She's a Jedi Shadow specializing in finding Dark artifacts, well, she was at the time of my departure, a rising star in the field, in fact. And she's always had an interest in the Dark Side of the Force."
Darth Sidious' eyebrows rose under the hood that hid his face for the most part, but whether the movement was seen mattered to him not. "Has she?"
"The old history was always her specialty," Dooku informed him, "and her research led her to be very questioning towards several of the Jedi's most important codes."
Which, of course, gained her no allies in the Order.
"Does Sabé Amidala concern you, my master?"
"I find her a bit curious…and I would like you to appeal our interests to her…being subtle, of course."
Sabé could be a very powerful ally to him.
"Master, I'm telling you I've got a bad feeling!"
Padmé came into the kitchen the day of Sabé's departure from Naboo to find Sabé with a bowl of churro in front of her and her holo-projector active in front of her bearing Talik's semi-transparent blue form while Arthree wheeled around, hooting excitedly (if astromechs had feelings, Padmé would've been sure that Arthree was excited to leave Naboo and return to Coruscant).
"Talik," Sabé said with a patient tone that told of her experience with dealing with worried Padawans, "you worry because you saw me in pain in your vision, but it wouldn't be the first time I was tortured whilst on an assignment."
Padmé started in surprise at that knowledge, coming around the table to look for something to eat and Sabé gave her a nod and a smile before returning her attention to her young Padawan.
"But Master! You were in agony!"
"Yes," Sabé said, her voice taking on a note of dryness, "that does sometimes happen when you're undercover."
Talik was gaping at her, aghast by her nonchalance about the matter, and Padmé was a bit too, but it wasn't as though Sabé was a stranger to pain; Jedi Shadows dealt with pain better than most Jedi, particularly on the occasions when they were caught sneaking around.
"And while it's true that you should be mindful of the future and the will of the Force, I think your attention would be better served focusing on the present," Sabé added with a bit of a reprimand that made her Padawan's image wince.
"Yes, Master," she said sullenly.
"Besides," Sabé added gently, "it's possible that what you saw has already come to pass; it wouldn't be the first time that I've run afoul an electrostaff."
The things certainly left you with a sharp sting even after the tips had been removed from the flesh, which made them quite effective for torture and interrogation, though, Sabé had made a habit of breaking out rather soon after the torture began, on the rare occasions that she was caught.
Talik sighed.
"I'll be back by the time you wake up, Tali, get some sleep," Sabé said with a smile and Talik grumbled before cutting the connection.
"It's very early in the morning on Coruscant," Sabé explained, digging her spoon into her churro and swallowing it thickly. "It's likely that Talik woke Aayla up, but I can't be accountable for that."
Padmé couldn't help but snort before her smile faded. "Have you really been tortured before?"
"It comes with the job," Sabé said, swallowing another spoonful, "why do you think there aren't that many Jedi Shadows to start with? Well, obviously you've got to have a certain level of skill in sensing the Dark Side of the Force, but there aren't that many who'd be willing to undergo the extensive training required before you can go into the field."
"The Jedi tortured you?" Padmé sounded horrified.
"Don't be ridiculous," Sabé snorted, waving a hand carelessly. "The Jedi taught me how to withstand torture…I'm not a Master, Padmé, even I have slip-ups and get careless and I've got the scars to serve as lessons to remind me to be more cautious."
This was the thing that Padmé would never be able to understand about her sister; her willingness to go above and beyond for an Order that she didn't agree with. But that was Sabé for you, loyal to people, not concepts.
"Ready to leave?" she asked instead, trying not to show her disappointment in how soon her sister was leaving. She would have rather had her a month than two weeks, but she had seen Sabé getting agitated in the days leading up to her departure, clearly longing to return to Coruscant, to her friends and her student.
"Yes…and there's an hour layover at the transport station," Sabé pinched at the bridge of her nose. "Which is annoying, but manageable…and the transport doesn't depart for another two hours, so that gives me plenty of time to get there."
"Once you put on your clothes," Padmé remarked, sipping her caf absently as Sabé gave her a flat stare.
"I am wearing my clothes."
Indeed, she was wearing the very same drab grey jumpsuit that she'd arrived to Naboo in.
"You're not wearing that today," Padmé said, conniving just a little bit with Anakin and Talik –both of whom were determined to find out if their respective masters had any feelings for each other at all– ("You really are poking a gundark with a 'saber, aren't you?" Talik had asked when she found Anakin with his datapad, her eyes alight with eagerness. "Come on, you can't say you don't want to know?" Anakin prodded. "Well, if they kill us, I'm blaming you." "Hey!"). "I've got the perfect dress for you."
"No thanks," Sabé said shortly, turning back to her churro. "I avoid dresses on principle."
"Oh, I'm well aware," Padmé muttered under her breath, just loud enough for Sabé to hear her. "But what if you manage to turn a certain young Jedi's head?"
"I don't engage in romantic entanglements," Sabé said, not even blinking.
"Not even with Obi-Wan Kenobi?" Padmé asked slyly, pleased to note how the vein in Sabé's throat pulsed suddenly and she had to swallow her spoonful of churro quickly to avoid choking on it.
"I haven't the faintest idea what you're talking about." And Padmé was sure that it was experience that managed to keep Sabé's voice level.
"Come on, Sabé," Padmé chuckled, "he commed you in the middle of the night, and you picked up! You like him, don't you?"
Sabé released a short breath of air in order to scowl at her sister. "I hate you for being perceptive," she told her shortly.
"Yeah, I know," Padmé waved her off with a grin before tugging her off in the direction of her room.
"I look ridiculous," Sabé repeated for at least the fifth time as she stood in front of her family, looking down at herself in dismay.
The dress was a subtle bronze material that made it clear that it wasn't gold but it wasn't brown either, modest but flattering and falling just past her knees. And to add insult to injury, she'd been forced –practically at blasterpoint– into heels and Sabé hated heels. Then Padmé had unbound her hair, save for the three braids with beads in them ("You want to take him by surprise, don't you?"). The only consolation was that she could wrap her cloak around her –which she had discovered she had left in her bag the last time she'd used it.
"You look lovely," Jobal consoled her while Sola sniggered loudly.
"I look like a doll," Sabé complained, tugging on a curl and scowling at the unrepentant and recently re-elected Queen Amidala.
"Oh, you're being ridiculous," Padmé scoffed. "You always looked great in a dress, you were just never comfortable with them."
"Because they're impractical," she grated, pulling the cloak around her so that it seemed almost like she was drowning in the dark material. Then she checked the time. "My transport is leaving in ten minutes…so…"
Jobal hugged her and then Ruwee. "Don't be a stranger, Sabé, your mother worries."
Her mother smacked her husband's shoulder and they all shared a laugh.
"I'll try not to be," Sabé promised with a smile before curling her arms around Padmé. "You stay out of trouble, there's always someone you're going to get angry, no matter what you believe."
And it was bounty hunters that were a particular concern. There were still some Nubians that believed Padmé wasn't doing all that she could be as the ruling party of Naboo, but Sabé felt she was doing rather well with keeping the peace and being respectful of the different species on the planet.
"And I appreciate what you're trying to do," she murmured in her ear, "but I'm content to live my life the way it is right now."
"You sound lonely is all," Padmé whispered back, "I just want you to be happy."
Sabé smiled softly as they parted, leaning back to look at her fondly before moving to Sola.
"Stop by next time you're in town," Sola said, her eyes glittering. "We'd love to have you."
Ryoo gave an excited giggle and Darred gave her slight grin.
"I'll keep it in mind," Sabé agreed before bidding them all farewell and disappearing up the ramp into the transport with Arthree hot on her heels.
And that would be the last image that Padmé would see of her sister in a long time.
Sabé had expected layover to be boring, but she hadn't anticipated it being quite this boring, even Arthree was bored, but that wasn't saying much, he was a machine after all, no matter how alive he seemed.
She gathered her cloak around her a bit more, hiding the exposed skin of her legs from unwanted stares. This was possibly another reason why Sabé preferred to wear trousers and tunics as opposed to dresses, though dresses certainly wouldn't help her in a fight, she'd probably end up tripping over the material rather than landing a hit on her opponent.
"Well, well, this is a surprise," a familiar voice mentioned and Sabé started in surprise at the realization of who it was that had spoken, jerking her head up suddenly to stare.
"I wasn't expecting Sabé Amidala to be on a layover transport," Master Dooku remarked mildly. "It is an odd place to meet."
Sabé gave the elder former Jedi a slight smile. "Well, I am on my way back to the Temple, so that might explain some things…what about you?"
"Personal matters," Master Dooku said evasively and Sabé didn't press him (this was Master Dooku, after all, the former Jedi was a master of the Makashi style). "Perhaps you wouldn't mind joining me for a short walk around the transport, Knight Amidala?"
Sabé's eyebrows drew together briefly for a moment but then she said "All right, then," and took the arm he extended to her.
AN: Haha, so Anakin and Talik are trying to play matchmaker because they are a bunch of dorks, I'm going to love Obi-Wan's reaction so much.
And Palpatine is being a suspicious bastard, but what's new, really?
I hope you all enjoyed the family interactions…I probably could have had another chapter of the Naberries before I wrote Sabé returning to Coruscant, but I was really eager to get her back so we can get back into the Jedi stuff (I have a mighty need for the Jedi stuff)
Coré Kenobi is someone I wrote a short piece on for Tumblr in a sort of AU off of A Shift in the Force (I've got another one for if Sabé vanishes near the end of the Clone Wars and shows up after the events of ESB), and I have a lot of headcanons for Sabé and Obi-Wan's child, even though you won't see her for awhile.
And what are Sabé and Dooku going to talk about? Wait and find out!
As always: PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE REVIEW!
