In E. K. Johnston’s canon young adult novel Star Wars: Queen’s Shadow, Padmé began her Senate career by employing the tactics she used as Queen of Naboo. Specifically, she still called upon her handmaidens, Sabé in particular, to act in her place in certain situations. Padmé's political identity was carefully crafted by her and her handmaidens to make these switches hard for most people, even trusted friends, to detect, and few saw through her disguises. One of the few other outsiders to uncover this particular tactic was Senator Bail Organa. While Bail's discovery of the handmaiden trick may have been accidental, the moment still cemented his alliance with Padmé and marked the true beginning of their friendship.
While Padmé's time as queen gave her excellent political experience, her former title also made her job harder on Coruscant. Because she was the ruler of her planet, other senators worried that she might not be able to see beyond Naboo when dealing with galactic issues. Her role in Chancellor Valorum's downfall also compounded these fears; Padmé had already thrown the Republic into upheaval in an attempt to save Naboo. Additionally, some senators thought that Padmé was merely Chancellor Sheev Palpatine's political pawn due to their shared homeworld.
Padmé struggled with adapting to the different political methods of the Galactic Senate and quickly learned that the alliances she chose were going to be paramount in determining her political future. Early on, Padmé identified Bail Organa as a strong possible ally, but the two were still wary of each other. Their first meeting did not help matters; almost immediately after arriving on Coruscant, Padmé faced her first assassination attempt, but Bail saved her. Still, some of her allies believed his appearance as her savior was too convenient, even though Padmé believed Bail was trustworthy. In turn, Bail was uncertain of where Padmé's loyalties lay, but he ultimately wanted her on his side.
A gala held by Mon Mothma became a key moment in determining Padmé's allegiances. During the event, Padmé switched places with Sabé once again so that she could listen in on Mon Mothma’s conversations with her faction. Padmé believed that she was only invited to the gala as a distraction so that Mon Mothma could talk with her allies in private at the party, but while spying, she learned that they were actually planning to recruit her at the party. Notably, Bail strongly pushed the group to be direct with Padme, favoring a forthright approach.
Upon hearing this, Padmé rushed off to switch places so that she could be the one to have that actual conversation, not Sabé. After all, she wanted them to trust her. In the process, Padmé was caught by Bail Organa, who passed her on her way, got a good look at her face and made the connection. Later, once Padmé was no longer disguised, she explained the handmaiden trick to Bail. He acknowledged that he only figured it out due to circumstance. While this discovery may have been a case of Bail being in the right place at the right time, he still figured out the switch when only Jedi such as Qui-Gon Jinn had been able to do so in the past. The earlier assassination attempt helped Bail understand why such subterfuge was sometimes necessary.
This moment was a turning point in their relationship. While they were cautious of each other before, Padmé now knew that she could trust Bail with her secrets and she was able to make her desire to join his Senate alliance more clear. In turn, Bail was amused, not angered, by the deception and knew that Padmé was going to be honest with him in the future. Padmé could have chosen between many alliances early in her career, and Bail's discovery of the handmaiden trick ultimately helped her decide. Thus, the unveiling of Padmé’s deception became the foundation of a strong friendship between Padmé and Bail, long before they planted the seeds for the Rebel Alliance.