10/30/14 A/N: Okay everyone! A bit of this chapter has been edited. In order to not spoil anything for those of you have never read this before, there is an author's note explaining what's been changed so you don't have to re-read this whole thing! Also, if you're an EU reader and you see something here that makes you go 'nuh-uh! Totally incorrect!' the bottom has an explanation for that too. Hopefully it doesn't completely throw you for a loop?

To Die for the Republic

Part I: In Which Sabé Almost Dies

Chapter 2: Breakout

I flattened against the wall, trying to steady my breathing as I listened intently. It didn't sound like there was anyone nearby.

Cautiously, I peeked around the corner. Seeing no one, I quickly walked across the atrium, trying to look as casual as possible. Heart racing, I slipped out of the door and into the warm Coruscanti air.

I was free!

It had been two long and painful weeks since I had woken up to find myself in the medcenter on Coruscant. Dr. Manru continued to be very pleasant and very good at her job, but a little oblivious and very busy, meaning she didn't really have much time to answer my questions or anything like that. The grumpy woman who I had tripped—I later found out her name was Bellona—was one of the main nurses I had to work with and she remained as grumpy and unpleasant as she had been the first time we met. My other nurses—Flora and Winnamine—were only slightly more pleasant. My physical therapist was also incredibly good at his job and was my favorite of the lot. However, I only saw him for about an hour every day.

The rest of the time, I was either in the dubious hands of my doctor and the nurses or left to my own devices.

Needless to say, this was not the first time I had made a daring escape from my medcenter room.

It was, however, the most difficult escape yet. The last time I had gone out, stupid Bellona had come in to check on me and had discovered that I was missing. Apparently, it had caused something of a hullaballoo, despite the note I had left politely explaining that I had just left to stretch my legs and would be back within the hour.

They now had nurses checking on me every half hour and pretty much the entire medcenter was under strict orders to return me to my room if they found me wandering around. Figuring that those measures meant they were pretty serious about me not leaving, I had been good for the last two days, staying in my room like they had asked.

However, I couldn't take it any longer. I thought was I going to go crazy if I had to resort to counting the tiles on my ceiling even one more time.

Resisting the urge to whistle, I slowly walked down the skywalk in front of the medcenter. The skywalk led past the restaurants and cafés found in this part of Galactic City.

I had never actually escaped outside the medcenter before—my other adventures had been limited to exploring the medcenter itself—but my window had a view of this section of the city, so I had a decent idea of where everything was.

Thanking the gods for what must have been the hundredth time for the clothes and money I had convinced Padmé, Eirtaé and Rabé to send me from home, I walked very slowly down the skywalk. This was partially caused by the fact that my legs were killing me (but, let's not think about that). The fact that I wanted to look at all the restaurants also slowed my pace, as my stomach was growling.

I had eaten nothing but medcenter food since I'd woken up and I was dying to eat something that actually tasted like food.

I stopped in between a sweet shop and a bustling café, debating which one to go into first. There were pros and cons to each option.

"Sabé?" an incredulous voice asked behind me.

Uh-oh.

I whirled around, prepared to lie to my head off and possibly run if it was one of the medcenter employees.

Instead, I was confronted by a gangly boy with blue eyes, blond hair and a braid behind his ear.

"Anakin?" I stared at the boy in disbelief.

His face split into a wide grin as he ran towards me.

"What're you doing on Coruscant? Is Padmé here? What about Eirtaé, Yané, Rabé and Saché? Why didn't you let me and Obi-Wan know?" the questions flew out of Anakin's mouth so fast I almost didn't catch them.

Then, I laughed.

Next, I winced because, unbelievably enough, it still hurt my stomach when I did that.

"Slow down, Ani!" I grinned. "It's only me here, I'm afraid. The others are still on Naboo. But how are you? I haven't you seen in ages! Look how much you've grown!"

Anakin rolled his eyes a little bit. "I haven't grown that much."

I raised my eyebrows at him. "You're almost as tall as I am. That is not acceptable, by the way. I'm—how old are you now?"

"Twelve..."

"I'm—one, two—six years older than you! You should not be almost as tall as me!"

Anakin laughed and rolled his eyes again. "Sabé, I'm not that tall. You're just really short."

I gave him my best wounded look. "Anakin Skywalker! Take that back. I am not short and I am truly and deeply hurt that you would say I am."

"Whatever you say, Sabé," Anakin patted me on the arm patronizingly, his eyes shining as he did so.

Once again, I couldn't help myself. I laughed and, ignoring my sore shoulder and throbbing stomach, pulled Anakin into a hug.

There was a moment's pause and then he hugged me back fiercely.

I let go of him and just beamed. "Stars, I hadn't realized how much I missed you!"

Anakin blushed, looking embarrassed. "Yeah. Missed you, too, Sabé."

"Where's Obi-Wan? He's still your teacher, right?" I looked around, hoping to catch sight of him. My heart sped up a bit at the thought.

"Er," Anakin's blush deepened. "Yeah, he's still my master. But, um, he's not around right now, because, um… he… um…"

I raised my eyebrows and Anakin suddenly appeared to be completely fascinated by his shoes.

"Come on, Anakin," I ordered, crossing my arms over my chest and giving him my sternest look. "Where's Obi-Wan?"

"Well, he's back at the Temple…" Anakin began.

"And?" I prompted.

"And… well, I might have snuck out without telling him." Anakin peeked up at me, looking nervous.

I stared at him for a moment. I probably shouldn't have been supporting this little escapade. I should probably have told him to go back to the Temple.

But… well…

"Huh. Well, I might have snuck out of the medcenter despite strict orders to remain in my room."

Anakin's head shot up and his eyes grew to be the size of saucers.

"So if you promise not to tell anyone on me, I can probably promise not to tell on you," I told Anakin.

"Deal!" Anakin agreed quickly, sticking his hand out for a shake.

I took it, solemnly shook it and then said, "Want to get lunch at the café and catch up?"

"Yeah!" Anakin's eyes lit up and his smile was firmly back in place. "Then you can tell me why you had to sneak out of the medcenter! Why are you even in the medcenter?"

"Oh, you know," I shrugged, trying to sound as casual as possible as we headed towards the café, "got shot, but it's nothing major."

Anakin gaped at me. "Wow! What happened? Were you doing something really cool, like busting a spice ring?"

I laughed again. Then, I spotted a table near the back.

"Look! A table. Why don't you grab it and I can order us some food?" I suggested.

Anakin's face fell a bit and he shrugged uncomfortably. "I don't have any credits with me, but I can hold the table while you get food for yourself."

I stared at him and then rolled my eyes. "My treat, Ani. After all, it's not every day you run into an old friend. What do you want?"

"Um…" Anakin thought for a moment, smiled, shyly thanked me and then told me what he wanted to eat. Then, he fought his way through the crowd to stake out our table before someone else could take it.

An hour later, we had both finished our meals, but not our conversation.

Turned out, we had a lot to talk about.

We talked about our opinion on Chancellor Palpatine…

"Why don't you like the Chancellor, Sabé? He's really nice and a great listener!"

"No, he's not. He's creepy."

"He is not creepy, Sabé! He's—"

"Creepy. And manipulative."

"He is not—"

"He is. It's undeniable. Our Chancellor, excellent though he may be at Chancellor-hood, is creepy and manipulative."

"He is not!"

About our adventures…

"Wait, wait, wait! You did what?"

"Well, Master Obi-Wan looked like he was in trouble, so—"

"So you released a cage full of tuskcats?"

"It seemed like a good idea at the time! At least I didn't throw a Senator off a balcony!"

"That was an honest mistake! It looked like he was reaching for a blaster!"

About our friends…

"Well, let's see… Padmé runs for reelection in a couple months and I'll dance in the streets naked if she loses…"

"Good thing she's the best Queen ever, because no one wants to see that."

"Thanks, Anakin. Um… Eirtaé is thinking of taking some night classes at the University to start on her business degree… Yané is already taking night classes at the University, despite only being fourteen. I think she's going for a degree in theoretical physics, of all things… Rabé's learning a lot about small businesses and saving up money so she can open up a flower shop eventually… Saché's trying to convince Rabé that she'd be an excellent co-owner of a flower shop… Wicaté started up her own fashion line…um… and I think that's it. How about your friends?"

"Um… well, I don't really have that many, because I started really late and it was—anyway, Barriss is pretty cool. She's a Padawan like me, so she's doing, you know, Padawan stuff. Obi-Wan is my master, so pretty much everything I do, he does too, only better, usually. Chancellor Palpatine is doing a whole bunch of political stuff. I think. I don't really know…"

About our career goals…

"I'm going to be the best Jedi ever! You just watch me. I know I started late and that I'm only starting to catch up with everyone, but I'm going to prove that doesn't matter. I'm going to show everyone that I'm just as good as they are. I'm going to prove I'm better than they are!"

"Anakin, I think it would be perfect if we could just share your ambition between the pair of us. That way, maybe I'd have some idea what I want to do with my life after Padmé finishes her terms as Queen and you'd be setting realistic goals for yourself."

"My goals are realistic!"

"You want to be the best Jedi of all time? Ani, I hate to break it to you, but that doesn't sound very realistic. Wanting to be the best Jedi you can be? Realistic. Wanting to catch up with everyone in your year group? Realistic. Being better than everyone in your year group? Realistic, with enough work probably. Being the best Jedi in history? How would you even know? Is there a way to grade yourself on some 'Best Jedi Ever' scale? Is there some kind of mathematical equation, or something? I don't know Anakin, seems kind of like a silly goal to me. Although I probably shouldn't be talking. At least you have a goal. That means you're light-years ahead of me."

"Oh, you have a goal, Sabé. Like… like… you want to get out of the medcenter! That's a goal!"

"I guess…"

And, unfortunately, we talked about my near death experience.

"Sabé, I don't…" Anakin looked a little bit uncomfortable, but continued anyway. "I know this is probably really weird, but remember back on Naboo? When we were letting families know who died?"

I looked at him curiously. "Yes. What about it?"

"Well… remember when you said you weren't scared because you weren't going to die until you were eighteen?" Anakin asked, his eyes intent on mine.

I had a bad feeling I knew where he was going with this.

"Do you—I don't know. I mean, you're not dead but it sounds like you came close. It just seems weird."

I started to play with my napkin a little uncomfortably.

I didn't really want to talk to Anakin about my dreams but… well, it was driving me crazy, not talking to anyone about them. And Anakin was training to be a Jedi, so, even though he was only twelve, maybe…

"I'm going to tell you something sort of strange, okay?" I began tentatively. "And I want you to promise not to—I don't know—think I'm crazy or anything, alright?"

Anakin looked intrigued and nodded.

"And," I pointed my fork at him, "don't go telling anyone either. I haven't told anyone else because I don't—well, if I tell you it's going to stay between you and me, yes?"

Anakin straightened up, looking serious and maybe the slightest bit flattered that I'd chosen to tell him and not anybody else.

"I promise I won't tell anyone, Sabé. Not even Obi-Wan!"

"And definitely not the Chancellor, right?"

Anakin gave me a very dirty look for even suggesting he'd do such a thing.

"Okay, okay, just checking! The guy gives me the willies and I'd very much like it if he continued to be generally unaware of my existence." I played with my napkin a little longer, trying not to second guess telling Anakin and also trying to figure out how to go about telling him.

Across from me, I could almost see Anakin trying to hold back his impatience.

I bit back a smile and just decided to start.

"Right. I know this sounds insane. But when I was ten years old, I had a dream. It was about a little girl. She had dark hair and she looked like me, only she was scared. She said that she knew my name, but she couldn't remember hers. And then she said that she had died. That Naboo had been attacked and that, while trying to save others, she had burned. She was so, so scared. And she kept saying that I was important. And then I woke up. And, for a couple years, it was just that."

Anakin frowned, looking confused.

I shrugged and gave a rueful smile. "Hang on. It'll make sense—or, well, at least you'll know why I'm telling you—in a bit. So, anyway, a couple years later, I dreamt about her again. She wasn't as scared, that time. Instead, she talked to me and told me that she knew why she was in my dream. And she went on to tell me that the only reason she was dead was because the galaxy was at war. And that war was because of an imbalance of some kind. I don't know—I didn't really get it and she didn't explain it all that well. But, basically, she wasn't supposed to have burned. And she was in my dream to tell me how to change the future, so that the war didn't happen, Naboo wasn't attacked and she didn't burn. Then, she told me that when I was eighteen, there was going to be some extremist activists, and unless I dropped my purse on the third step, I would die."

Anakin's eyebrows shot up.

"I know," I agreed, "And it gets stranger."

"How can it get stranger?"

"Just wait," I informed him before continuing. "Anyway, she also said that when I'm twenty-five, the Queen is going to fly into Coruscant because of some Military Act, or something. And I'm supposed to hurry down our ship's ramp and then fall off of it, or else I'll die. Then, she offered to tell me the rest of the future. And I told her to go ahead. Only, I don't remember anything else happening."

Anakin stared at me.

"Bizarre, isn't it? And then—" I knew I didn't have to tell him this part, but it felt so good to get it all off my chest. "And then, just last week, I had another dream about the girl who burned. And she told me that I was alive, which was good, and that I should try to stay alive, because I was important. And, somehow, if I stayed alive, I could stop her from burning."

Anakin continued to stare at me.

I bit my lip and looked down at my napkin, only to find that, while telling the story, I had shredded it to pieces.

Anakin didn't say anything for a long while.

So, smiling ruefully, I forced myself to interrupt Anakin's silence, "Do you think I'm insane now?"

"No!" Anakin said quickly. "No! I—Can I tell someone about this? Because I really think Master Obi-Wan would—"

"No!" I snapped. "You promised, Ani. You promised you wouldn't tell anyone."

The thought of Obi-Wan knowing that I had strange dreams and thought they were actually prophetic made me want to run off and hide in a hole somewhere, never to emerge again.

"I—okay," Anakin agreed reluctantly. "But I think—the whole 'imbalance' bit sounds like a Jedi thing. And I remember Master Yoda talking about Force dreams or something, but I thought only Jedi could have those. And I think they're different from yours. Master Yoda said that they were a part of the Unifying Force—cause the Force had different aspects, you know, and the Unifying aspect is all about the future," Anakin clarified, "But they weren't the same as yours, either. Master Yoda said that when a Jedi sees the Force in his dreams, it's more symbolic—like a Jedi sees a rotting fruit the exact same color of, I don't know, some planet or other, and that symbolically means that the political structure of that planet is in decay. Or something like that. I didn't really get it," Anakin admitted, "But I know it wasn't what like what you said."

I shrugged with my uninjured shoulder. "I don't know what it is, but I do think that little girl saved my life. If I hadn't dropped that purse… well." I forced myself to smile. "On that cheery note," Anakin smiled at my sarcasm, "I think we should go. Obi-Wan's probably starting to wonder where you are and I know the nurses are probably having conniption fits over my disappearing act."

Anakin grinned and then stood up.

Together, we left the café'.

"It was really nice talking to you, Anakin. And sorry for telling you about my dreams. You should probably just pretend I didn't say anything," I said.

Anakin shrugged. "I'm glad you said something. It's interesting. And…" he sent me a sideways look, "it'd be nice if we could talk again, sometime."

I stared at him. "You know, we really shouldn't. Sneaking away from the medcenter and the Jedi Temple isn't very mature of us. We should probably just brace ourselves and handle the situation."

"Probably," Anakin agreed, solemnly. Then, a smile flashed across his face. "Want to meet here two days from now anyway?"

I couldn't help myself. Despite the ache in my stomach, shoulder and legs—I was actually starting to look forward to lying down on my awful medcenter bed I was so tired—I laughed.

"I'd love to. See you then? Same time?"

Anakin beamed. "See you, Sabé!" And then he ran off, leaving me to try and sneak back into the medcenter.

A/N: Okay: A few months ago now (yikes! This took me longer than I thought!) a lovely reviewer pointed out that there this, in fact, such a thing as the Unifying Force which deals almost exclusively with the future and prophetic dreams in the EU. Having never really gotten into the EU, I was unaware of this and, unfortunately, my plot depends very heavily on prophetic dreams being really, really, really rare. (From the way no one seems to take Anakin's dreams seriously in either movie, I assumed this was the case—it would appear I assumed wrong) I didn't want to ignore the Unifying Force's existence once it was brought to my attention but I also couldn't really add it in without screwing up my plot. So, instead, I've added in a very hand-wavey, entirely incorrect difference between Unifying Force dreams and the prophetic dreams that Sabé and Anakin have. I'm saying that Unifying Force dreams are all symbolic versus Sabé and Anakin's concrete dreams. I don't know if this works at all or if it's just really irritating, but I didn't want to ignore it and this was the best solution I could come up with.