A/N: Sabé's happy that Obi-Wan knows one of her secrets, but what will happen when he discovers the one she really didn't want him to know?

Chapter Nine – Revelation.

The wind whipped Sabé's hair as she drove back to Palpatine's apartment, causing her to grunt as she spat strands of it out of her mouth. It did not take her long to reach Padmé's quarters and she entered the social area to find Rabé finalising another headdress ensemble, answering her queries of whether she would be playing decoy again or not.

Padmé glanced up at her in the mirror. "Sabé! There you are. What kept you?"

"Jedi security." Seeing Padmé's amused expression she added, "It's nothing."

"Did you deliver my message?"

"Yes, don't worry. I had to wait for Anakin to come out of the Jedi Council's room though, that's mostly why I was so long. I think Master Jinn and Jedi Kenobi are joining us at the landing pad, but I'm not sure about Anakin. Why are we going back to Naboo so soon? What happened in the Senate?"

Padmé made a disgusted sound. "I had to call for the vote of no confidence. But at least Senator Palpatine has been nominated as a successor."

Sabé frowned but made no comment, pulling her flame-coloured dress over her jumpsuit, hoping that nobody would notice that she was the only handmaiden wearing black boots instead of the custom-dyed shoes.

"We're going back to Naboo to ask the Gungans for help."

Sabé choked back a startled, "What?" and managed a more restrained, "Why?" instead.

Rabé smoothed down Padmé's purple silk veil at the back of her dress and the Queen stood up.

"Because I need their army to distract the Federation battle droids while we take the Palace and capture the Viceroy. I'm tired of sitting and doing nothing. The Senate will take months to decide what is to be our fate. I don't know about you, but I am not willing to wait that long. We have to act, however much it may pain us."

"The real problem will be persuading the Gungans," Sabé mused, tucking her hair inside her hood. "Easier said than done, I think. Just because we have one of them as a friend doesn't mean the rest will follow."

"Perhaps."

Padmé paused and moved to stand by the window. Sabé followed while Eirtaé and Rabé packed up the minimal luggage and put it outside the door for the guards to take back to the ship.

"Sabé, I'm going to have to ask you to be Queen again for the battle," her cousin said awkwardly. "I hate asking it and I have no right to, but I fear I must."

Sabé nodded. "I understand. And of course you must use a decoy."

"Must I?" Padmé said wistfully.

Panaka entered the room, interrupting their conversation with a brief, "Your Highness, it's time."

Padmé turned to Sabé. "Pull the hoods down further, the Jedi must think that you're Padmé Naberrie or they'll notice that I have a handmaiden replaced."

Sabé did so and Rabé and Eirtaé did the same.

"So she doesn't look out of place," Eirtaé explained to the questioning expression on Panaka's face.

The small party made their way back to the landing platform. Night had now fallen on Coruscant, but it was by no means dark. Hundreds of thousands of lights from the buildings gave off an eerie artificial glow, quite different and less spectacular than the beautiful sunset earlier. Sabé could see very little underneath her velvet hood, but she could hear Qui-Gon's voice softly talking to Anakin. So the boy was still with them after all. Technically then, her trip to the Jedi Temple was a waste of time. Somehow though she didn't seem to mind. The conversation with Obi-Wan had more than made up for it.

Padmé led them up to Qui-Gon and Sabé glanced up to watch the Jedi Master. There was no sign of Obi-Wan.

"Your Highness, it is our pleasure to continue to serve and protect you," Qui-Gon said in a gracious tone.

"I welcome your help," Padmé replied truthfully. "Senator Palpatine fears the Federation means to destroy me."

"I assure you, I will not let that happen," Qui-Gon promised.

As they entered the ship Sabé could hear Jar Jar yell, "Wesa goin home!" She had to laugh quietly at his enthusiasm, however irritating she found the Gungan.

They entered the Queen's chamber and Padmé settled on the throne.

"Sabé, I'm going to need you to wear a dress suitable for battle," she said. "Go to the hold and see if there's one you would feel comfortable in. Rabé, go to Master Qui-Gon and tell him I wish to call a meeting with both Jedi, Captain Panaka and Jar Jar Binks in one hour."

"Yes, Your Highness." Rabé bowed and headed out.

Sabé did the same and headed for the storage hold. Once there she began to look for the wardrobe container. Her low hood hindered her progress and she stumbled over a box that she didn't see. She fell, yelping a short curse, only to land at a familiar pair of brown Jedi boots. The question remaining now was which Jedi did they belong to?

"Excuse me, my lady, in which direction did you mean to go?"

It was Obi-Wan. How embarrassing. "Not downwards," she managed to say.

"Sabé?"

She tugged both hoods back, brushed her hair out of her face and glanced up at him.

"Who else would have thrown themselves at you?"

Was it her imagination or was there a faint blush on his cheeks?

"What are you doing down there?" he asked, towering over her with an amused expression on his face.

"Well, I was looking for the Queen's wardrobe. She requires her battle dress," Sabé explained.

"She does, or you do?" Obi-Wan whispered, pulling her back on her feet.

"I do," she hissed back.

"It's over there," he said at normal volume.

"Thank you."

She hauled it upright with Obi-Wan's help and began to sift through the extravagant clothes.

"So why are you down here?"

Obi-Wan was silent for a long while before giving his answer. "Qui-Gon and I had a bit of a disagreement about the boy."

"Anakin?" She shot him a look over her shoulder.

"Yes. I came here to calm down and be alone."

Suddenly feeling guilty for her presence there, Sabé said, "Oh, I'm sorry."

"It's okay. I should go up and find him soon anyway."

Obi-Wan questioned the amount of information he was giving her. He found her incredibly easy to talk to and often said far more than he meant to. It wasn't any of her business anyway. But no, that was unfair. He knew that despite the short time of knowing her she had become one of his closest friends and it would not be right to pretend otherwise. Deciding to change the subject, he asked, "You're looking for a battle dress, did you say?"

She nodded, selecting a black and red gown. "And I think this is it." It was cut shorter both in skirt and sleeve than any of Padmé's other dresses. It would allow for more freedom of movement. She didn't want to be hindered while fighting the battle.

"Why?"

She gave him an odd look. "What do you mean 'why'?"

"Why do you need a battle dress? I didn't know the Queen was planning on there being a battle. I thought you Nabooians were pacifists."

Sabé shrugged and hung the dress at one end of the wardrobe.

"I really don't know. We Nabooians are pacifists most of the time, but one can't stick to that forever or we get taken advantage of. That's why the Neimoidians invaded. We will not let the Trade Federation bully us. I thought Padmé had made that clear."

"Yes. Yes she did."

"Padmé and I will change roles for what may be the last time when she puts her plan into action. I'm not sure what will happen. I know the majority of her intentions, but I'm still unsure on some details. She's thought it out carefully though. Very carefully. I hope this guise won't be the death of me. I may die with people thinking I'm the Queen."

Obi-Wan frowned. "Don't say that."

"It's true. I become the main target as soon as I put that dress on," she said, pulling her hood cautiously back up. "That's how a decoy works."

Obi-Wan ignored her sarcasm and impulsively touched her hand. He could sense a thousand thoughts, a thousand emotions, a thousand sides to the woman before him. He could sense her apprehension and fear, her hate of fighting, how she loved life and did not want it cut short, how she would do anything to help Padmé. She was the quieter one of the two and she was often in the shadows while her cousin stood in the light. He sensed also her determination, her dislike of anything that would harm her homeworld and also her love and concern for her family. There was something else there too, something elusive. A deception on her part. Something she did not want to reveal. Her deepest, darkest feelings. He knew then that he had touched her soul, the core of all that she was. He sensed her anxiety of those feelings being discovered. She was shrouded by hundreds of barriers, protected, cocooned within herself. She was empty to him, surrounded by the emotions that he was aware of.

All this he sensed in a heartbeat, a brief brushing of his hand over hers. In that moment he completely and utterly knew her. Then, as she pulled her hand away, she was gone. But before she moved he found a breach in her defences, sensing something else. Love. She was in love with him.

He was stunned by the last emotions he had sensed from her. He had been aware that she felt affection for him, but never had he imagined it ran so deeply. What she felt towards him she hid extremely well. He would never have guessed it through anything other than the Force. Part of him was glad to note that she was obviously just as irrational as he was when it came to matters of the heart.

Sabé was unaware of the revelation in Obi-Wan and quietly closed up the wardrobe, pulling her hand away from his in an almost careless manner. She knew the Jedi rules about love well enough. She knew it was foolish for her to love him the way she found herself doing and she knew that in the long run it would bring her nothing but pain. She would have brushed it all aside if she could. But she knew that she couldn't.

"Padmé wants you to attend a meeting in about forty-five minutes to discuss her plan of action. Remember, Sabé doesn't exist aboard this ship. I'm Padmé Naberrie."

Obi-Wan nodded, searching her eyes for any sign of affection. She gave none, but he could see it anyway. She held his gaze for a long while before muttering, "Bye," and leaving him to his thoughts.

He sighed. Sabé was not the first young woman to fall in love with him, but she was the only one who he was in danger of truly loving back. The others had mostly been young teenage girls who had wanted someone handsome to fantasise about. They had never taken the time to get to know him and he had never particularly wanted to know them.

"Sabé Naberrie, you're going to cause me trouble," he murmured to himself.