*Decoy

It was rare that Sabé got the twins to go down without much of a fight. But tonight, Luke and Leia had gone to bed with only one story (their favorite about the handmaiden and her young queen). And Sabé was feeling particularly amorous tonight.

Sneaking up behind Padmé, Sabé pressed a kiss to the side of her neck.

“The twins are asleep, why don’t you and I go have some fun?” Sabé said with a wicked smile.

She loved Padmé with all her heart, and wanted to shower her with attention for one night.

Sabé rolled her eyes at Padmé but still retracted the grappling gun and let herself drop effortlessly into her queen’s arms. For a moment, her heart stopped, but Sabé quickly shook it off.

Hopping out of the queen’s arms, the handmaiden went to hide the grappling gun, hoping that Padmé hadn’t noticed her reaction.

“Let’s go, do you want to walk in the gardens?”

Padmé knew she couldn’t catch the handmaiden of equal weight bridal style so she timed it in a hug style, Sabé slipping through her arms until Padmé embraced her tightly to cease her fall. It was slightly tricky and would be much harder if her catchee were falling from a greater height with more acceleration but the short drop enabled a perfect execution. Training was paying off.

She smiled at Sabé momentarily as an “I told you I could do it,” before letting go. She hoped Sabé was at least a little proud! Padmé was slightly less athletic than Sabé who had grown up with siblings to run around with and create a muscular base that Padmé hadn’t sculpted in the legislative program. With training built up all the girls were equaling out to each other physically, a great advantage to the plan of a single identity.

The handmaiden laughed aloud at her queen’s question, it wasn’t a cruel laugh, just the idea of Sabé only having eyes for Amidala was amusing to say the least.

“Especially when your not Amidala.” She said with a smile, Amidala was regal and beautiful, everything a queen should be.

But, Padmé was brave and adventurous, and she made Sabé feel seen.

“When you’re out of the make-up, you can be you, and that’s the version I like best of all.”

Padmé glowed at Sabé’s answer. Most only knew her as queen. Amidala had few around her knew the real Padmé. To think that Sabé saw the true her and not only accepted, but liked that view was a validation that warmed her from head to toe like a cup of blossom tea on a cold night.

“I enjoy the change and prosperity I can bring to Naboo as Amidala,” she conferred, “but you’re right, I’m my true self as Padmé and that’s who I like being best.” She thought for a moment about all that she didn’t know about Sabé.

“Do you feel a divide of Tsabin and Sabé?” She asked the other teenager, reassuringly touching her hand to silently say they could always trust each other. “Or are you happiest fully as Sabé?”

Sabé paused to consider the question. Who was Tsabin Thass? A girl who was never good enough, but Sabé? She was the right hand of the queen of Naboo. Sabé was happy here, and she was good at what she did.

"I prefer Sabé," she said honestly, Tsabin felt like a lifetime ago, that time of her life was gone.

“Angry?” Padmé had been her best friend in the entire galaxy, and for nearly twenty years, Sabé had thought her dearest friend dead. By all rights she should be furious.

But instead, Sabé pulled the other woman into a bone crushing embrace. Just knowing that Padmé was alive, was enough to bring tears to her eyes.

“I missed you so much,” Sabé said, before releasing Padmé so that she could look at her.

“I’m just glad that you’re alright.”

Padmé had grown out of touch with how blissful an embrace felt. Particularly from someone who cared about her. The physical contact was so startling she dropped the data pad, pale hands lingering for a moment before she hugged back as tight as she could. The familiarity filled her heart up so instantly she thought it might burst with happiness. Padmé’s eyes scrunched shut and they could easily be young on Naboo, hugging tightly before the Trade Federation invasion with Sabé dressed as her decoy.

“I’m glad you’re alright too,” she sniffled, tears glittering in the artificial light in the hallway. “I thought about you every day since…” Anakin… The twins… The execution order… Padmé couldn’t bring herself to name one in particular, a breath catching in her throat.

"I can't take all the credit, the Organas raised her, I'm just her protector and teacher." Sabé said, Alderaan had not been her home planet, but she had come to love it like she loved Naboo. It's destruction was a blow, especially because of what the loss of Alderaan did to Leia.

Sabé sat down on the edge of the bed, Luke sleeping in her arms.

“We can leave if you want, I don’t care where we go, as long as I have you three that’s home.” The handmaiden said, this past year she had found herself a part of this little family, and she’d be damned if anyone was going to take it from her.

Sabé sat within arms reach and Padmé seized the opportunity to stroke the soft amount of blonde hair the baby grew. Leia’s grew at a shorter rate, but took after her mother’s dark color.

“No!” Padmé rejected the suggestion in perhaps too much haste. “That is to say … At least not right now.” She concerned for these people, but surely a little more time was allowable? Hopefully she would not be gazing over a destroyed village in the immediate future thinking “all I wanted was a little more time”.

"I think we should start preparing, but no, I don't think we need to leave just yet." Sabé said, as she watched Padmé stroke Luke's hair gently.

I’m finding it difficult to find memes for nonverbal characters ( be they mute, or just not fond of talking ) so I thought I’d make a few!

Neutral

☝️ Tap my muse on the shoulder

👉 Point to something for my muse to see

🤙 Bump into my muse

😊 Sit down next to my muse

🤨 Sit down across from my muse

📓 Push/Slide [an object] across a table to my muse

✍️ Pass my muse a note

🙄 Roll their eyes at my muse

🚪 Tap on a table/door/wall/chair to get my muse’s attention without speaking

Aggressive

🐺 Growl at my muse

😬 Snarl/show teeth at my muse

😠 Death Glare at my muse

🙌 Push/Shove my muse

👊 Punch my muse

👖 Kick my muse in the shin

👠 Stomp on my muse’s foot

😵 Knee my muse in the gut

💀 Knee my muse in the groin

🔪 Point a weapon at my muse

🖕 Flip my muse the bird/a similar gesture

👔 Roughly pull my muse down by the collar

💢 Bang on a door/wall/table to get my muse’s attention- angrily

Angst

👩‍⚕️ Put pressure on my muse’s wound

🌡 Push my muse down to give them medical attention

🥣 Bring my muse soup/medicine when they are sick

🤢 Hold my muse’s hair back/Rub my muse’s back while they are sick/throwing up

👐 Hold my muse when they are badly wounded/dying

👁 Wake my muse up during a nightmare

🐱 Hold my muse after a nightmare

😭 Hold my muse when they are crying

😢Touch my muse’s shoulder while they are crying in secret

💧 Wipe away my muse’s tears

💥 Try to calm my muse during an overwhelming emotional moment

⛈ Find my muse after some kind of trauma

Soft

👕 Tug on my muse’s sleeve/shirt/skirt

🐈 Lean against my muse’s side

🤝 Hold my muse’s hand

🤗 Pull my muse into a hug

🐕 Rest their head on my muse’s shoulder/knee

🐶 Nuzzle my muse with their nose [specify a location]

✋ Touch the back of my muse’s hand

🤝 Reach for my muse’s hand to hold it

👗 Fix/Straighten my muse’s clothes

😴 Stand by the bed to see if my muse will let you under the covers with them

🛌 Crawl under the covers with my muse

🥪 Set a plate/tray/bowl of food down for my muse

😚 Kiss my muse on the cheek

Playful

🌸 Put a flower in my muse’s hair

✨ Playfully shove my muse’s shoulder

💃 Pull my muse onto a dance floor/up to dance

🤞 Come up beside them and tap the shoulder opposite where they’re standing

😈 Jump out of the shadows to scare/startle my muse

😛 Stick their tongue out at my muse

😱 Make a silly face at my muse

🤭 Tickle my muse

👃 Poke my muse’s nose

💪 Pick my muse up

Sensual/Sexual

💘 Pull my muse in for a rough kiss

💕 Pull my muse in for a tender kiss

💞 Pull my muse in for a messy/desperate kiss

💖 Lean in to give my muse a sweet/chaste kiss

❤️ Lean in to give my muse a tender kiss

🔥 Pull my muse down by the collar/by their clothes - in a sexy way

😉 Pull my muse in by the hips

😲 Smack my muse’s butt

💋 Kiss my muse’s neck

👌 Push my muse down and give them a massage

👙 Pull [an article of clothing] off my muse

👀 Push my muse down on the bed

Sabé blushed when Padmé mentioned Governor Kelma’s guard, of course she had noticed the young man staring at her, but the fact that Padmé had noticed was another matter all together.

She had no interest in the guard, so Padmé had nothing to worry about, her queen wasn’t jealous was she?

“Well, it’s a good thing I only have eyes for you,” the handmaiden smiled as she willed the redness in her cheeks to go away.

Padme cheered internally that she was not delusional and Sabe noticed the young man as well. But not too much. It wasn’t the first time someone glanced Sabe’s way (even when she was addressed as Amidala, what audacity!) and certainly would not be the last. If Padme was going to be envious of every human and alien that made advances she had a long road ahead of her. 

The butterflies in her stomach rested their wings, calming the anxious fluttered to slower flaps. Present, but more tamed. 

The handmaiden laughed aloud at her queen's question, it wasn't a cruel laugh, just the idea of Sabé only having eyes for Amidala was amusing to say the least.

"Especially when your not Amidala." She said with a smile, Amidala was regal and beautiful, everything a queen should be.

But, Padmé was brave and adventurous, and she made Sabé feel seen.

@rcfekjwtaardby liked for a starter with Phantom Menace Sabé

He believed her to be the queen, a queen desperate to save her people, so when she found herself alone with the younger Jedi, Sabé had to remind herself to speak in the queen’s voice.

“Thank you, for helping me and my people.” She said, and she meant it.

Obi-Wan bowed slightly to the queen as she addressed him. He respected her desire to protect her people and admired her fortitude. If not for all this ritual coloring, the queen would look beautiful. Obi-Wan tried to shake off those thoughts. This is work, nothing personal. Not again.

"Hopefully better than before." Sabé said still using the queen's voice, as uncomfortable as she was in the make-up and clothes of the queen, speaking in the lower tone seemed to come to her easier now that she was forced to use it.

                           - ̗̀   𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐫  𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥  ━━  @hndmaidn​​  ♡   ̖́-

"Do you like it?" The handmaiden asked, reaching up to touch her hair subconsciously. She wasn't used to having someone comment on her hair, back in the outer rim, she tried to keep herself nondescript enough that no one noticed her.

cont from.

"You're not going to lose me, we're safe." Sabé murmured, the Empire had not yet come to Sorgan, one day they may have to flee this peaceful little planet, but today was not that day.

Luke fussed in his cot nearby, forcing Sabé to tear herself away from Padmé. And go over to the twin cots to soothe the little boy, so he wouldn't wake his sister.

"Don't cry, little one, I'm here." She cooed picking Luke up, bouncing him in her arms while she turned back to Padmé.

"I'm serious though, if we had never met I would be wasting my life in the back row of some orchestra, playing the halikset for Imperials. You saved me, Padmé."

Propping a single elbow against the flat pillow her head lay upon, a former queen rests temple against the heel of her palm to watch Sabé and the little ones. She would capture this image in a holo-photo if she could: Luke lulled into comfortable sleep in the same arms Padmé sought comfort too. The minimalistic beauty of this village suited Sabé, she mused, who looked more herself in less elaborate clothing versus ornate headdresses and make-up.

"Then the Imperials would have had the third best halikset player in the Dril family," she teased softly, the jibe one Sabé often lamented for herself in recognition of what her life would have been had she not been recruited as a handmaiden. Who would have served in her place? There was none like Sabé. Serving as senator, Padmé had called upon her to perform similar if not the same tasks as her post under Queen Amidala. Cordé, Dormé, Moteé -- her most recent set of decoys -- were unable to fill Sabé's presence or worth.

Sabé sat down on the edge of the bed, Luke sleeping in her arms.

With Padmé’s arms wrapped tightly around her, Sabé stepped up onto the widow sill and out into thin air. For one moment they were falling, but then the cable caught and they were being repelled downward.

“This won’t take us all the way to the ground, remember to bend your knees and don’t bite your tongue.” Sabé said as they came to a stop only a few feet above the ground.

Sabé rolled her eyes at Padmé but still retracted the grappling gun and let herself drop effortlessly into her queen's arms. For a moment, her heart stopped, but Sabé quickly shook it off.

Hopping out of the queen's arms, the handmaiden went to hide the grappling gun, hoping that Padmé hadn't noticed her reaction.

cont from. 

Sabé’s heart as pounding so loud she was sure Padmé could hear it.

She had done it, she had kissed the queen, and Padmé had kissed her back!

When Padmé told her that she was more beautiful than her, Sabé couldn’t help but burst into giggles.

Even before joining Queen Amidala’s service, before the election, Sabé had found the girl who shared her face beautiful. And now she was telling her that she, Sabé, was more beautiful?

It was preposterous!

But then there was that beautiful smile on Padmé’s face, and who was Sabé to argue with her queen?

“If you say so.”

A grin spread quickly over the young queen’s lips at the ring of Sabé’s laughter. It reminded her of the yellow flowers dotted across the Nabberie’s fields at home: mesmerizing, but with a idealistic simplicity in its beauty even a child could grasp. After all, were they not still children? Youth was anything but wasted on Naboo. Padmé was prestigious in her academic studies and volunteering, but others her age worked just as hard in their respective fields. Being a teenager was something she experienced more at the age of seven. At fourteen she was a queen and expected to rule as an adult.    

“We aren’t identical, despite our trickery to the universe.” The word OUR had a pleasant sound to it in the afterglow of their kiss. 

Sabé blushed when Padmé mentioned Governor Kelma's guard, of course she had noticed the young man staring at her, but the fact that Padmé had noticed was another matter all together.

She had no interest in the guard, so Padmé had nothing to worry about, her queen wasn't jealous was she?

Padmé laced her fingers with Sabé's so their hands pressed together in the small space between them on the bed, her head resting on the soft pillow as she gazed at the woman she'd known half her life. It felt like all her life.

Padmé had little to promise when she sought Sabé out after such tragic events on Mustafar. The hardships of raising twins, losing the luxuries they had during her time as queen then senator for outer rim planets to keep a low profile and the unspoken fact they may never see Naboo again.

There was no one else she trusted as much as Sabé. Padmé could leave behind everything else in endeavor to protect her children except Sabé. She knew if she had disappeared without even asking she would regret it for the rest of her life.

Thankfully, Sabé risked everything and joined her that year ago. Was there ever a doubt? No. Padmé relied on Sabé's vow to always choose her. She would have begged if Sabé rejected her. Padmé hadn't need of a partner in her daring escape, what she wanted was Sabé to be nearby so that Padmé could always protect her and keep her safe from heartbreak as Padmé failed to do with Anakin.

Their settled ( for now ) life was picturesque: a little hut in a village of neon blue shrimp farmers who would be visited by a Mandalorian decades from now after the wars ended. The kind villagers had welcomed the couple carrying babies when they arrived despite the minimal backstory they offered ( which of course was all lies to ensure thier covers ).

"I'm just returning the favor."

With a soft smile she pecked a kiss to Sabé's lips in the white light of dawn. Luke and Leia required constant supervision between waking and sleep, leaving early morning and evening to steal for rare, uninterrupted time together.

Padmé wounds at failing to save the Republic and her husband didn't mend with time, but the love Sabé and the twins abundantly gave.

"You're not going to lose me, we're safe." Sabé murmured, the Empire had not yet come to Sorgan, one day they may have to flee this peaceful little planet, but today was not that day.

Luke fussed in his cot nearby, forcing Sabé to tear herself away from Padmé. And go over to the twin cots to soothe the little boy, so he wouldn't wake his sister.

"Don't cry, little one, I'm here." She cooed picking Luke up, bouncing him in her arms while she turned back to Padmé.