In the first coherent thoughts she could muster, that was the name that came to her mind. Qui-Gon Jinn. Someone she had not thought of in years, why would she think of him now. Her dream came hauntingly back to her mind, as she sat up on the hard cot she had fallen into, her breathing calming back to a normal pace. Sabé felt hot and her skin warm, as if the fire had really been there. Sabé sighed, pulling her robe around her shoulders and reached for her com, calling the only person she knew might be of assistance. If it weren't for Qui-Gon's warning voice, she would have brushed this off as any other dream. Master Yoda's face flickered before her, only a few moments later. He appeared groggy, and Sabé realized she must have awoken him, having no idea what time it was here, let alone on Coruscant.
"I am sorry to disturb you, Master Yoda." She began only for him to shake his head at her.
"Sensed the disturbance, before your call, I did. Waiting for you, I have been."
Sabé relayed to him the events of the past 24 hours, General Grievous' grating voice in her thoughts and the figure in her dream.
"Troubling it is, this figure in your dream. Yet, just a dream it may be."
Sabé took a deep relaxing breath before she continued. "Yes, however, there is more." He inclined his head to her, waiting for her to continue. "I know it is impossible for the dead to remain with us, yet, I heard his voice, one I have not heard in years. Qui-Gon."
Master Yoda's eyes narrowed, a frown causing the creasing between his eyebrows to deepen. "Qui-Gon Jinn? Sure, are you?"
"Very. He urged me to awaken from my dream. I have not thought of him in so long. It wouldn't make sense for my imagination to bring about his presence."
"Hmmmm." Master Yoda mused, his face still furrowed and more pensive. "Impossible it is for the dead to remain their consciousness after death, yet Qui-Gon speaks to you?"
"I do not know." Sabé admitted, wary of his words.
"Look into this further, I will. For now, mediate on this you should. Careful, should you be, in attempting to understand these dreams, in case they are dark in their intentions. In contact, I will be, when answers I find."
She nodded to him in response, before the communications were ended. As tired as she was, there was no chance of her gaining sleep for the rest of the night. A glance at the clock confirmed her suspicions, 3:00 AM. Her mind traveled back to Geonosis and Count Dooku's words, 'Oh, how delightful, then you know, do you? Your face says it all; it is a no wonder you so willingly threw yourself in my path'. What was it she was supposed to have known? Had he just been toying with her, had he wanted to rile her up and make her believe she could make sense of the jumble in her mind? Was he the reason they had moved in such a volatile direction? Her head ached and she led herself to a new place of quiet to meditate, the storage facility aboard the ship, practically barren during the time of night. She felt like she had been meditating for hours, when Anakin stumbled upon her.
Anakin knew immediately something had been wrong, the force presence around Sabé was disturbed, despite her meditative pose and tranquil face, her eyes closed.
"Padmé has been looking for you." He spoke to her, as he sat down across from her.
"Offer her my sincerest apologies." She responded, opening her eyes. She took a deep breath, pausing, wondering how to continue. "I needed a moment alone."
Anakin reached and hesitantly touched the back of her hand. "Sabé. What is it?"
Sabé contemplated him, noting the sincere concern in his eyes. If anyone might understand her confusion, her fear, perhaps it would be this young man before her, the alleged chosen one. The prophecy Obi-Wan had mentioned to her, all those years ago, as to why his master had brought this boy back with him. So much expectation set on the shoulders of someone so young. She wondered what he knew of it then, did they tell him everything before whisking him away?
"Anakin… When they call you the Chosen One… What do they mean?"
Anakin stiffened significantly, this was not the question he had been expecting from her, someone who herself, was not a Jedi. He had heard it over and over again for the last ten years, 'The Chosen One'. He had never been sure it was anyone he had wanted to be. While it would be a noble cause, all of his life had been decided for him as a slave, and now it was being decided for him again.
"It is said I will bring balance to the force, between light and dark." He finally answered, his voice darker than he intentioned it to be. Sabé could feel the same twisting energy around him as she had on Naboo, an essence of innocence and danger struggling back and forth.
"A prophecy?" She asked. His response was a stiff nod, the guarded curiosity growing in his eyes. "Do you believe it?" She asked, so softly, he almost thought he imagined her words.
"I am not sure. To agree feels arrogant, yet something more often guides me, an instinct greater in the force than most. Qui-Gon believed in me and I think for now that must be enough." Here he hesitated and took a long drawn out breath. Padmé knew of his dreams, but mentioning to another felt awkward and intimate. Something about Sabé's broken face led him further, more than he considered comfortable. "I have had dreams before, visions."
At this Sabé looked up, startled, giving him all of her rapt attention. "Before Geonosis, I kept dreaming of my mother, screaming in pain and then silence. It plagued me for months. I'm sure Obi-Wan mentioned my appearance on Tatooine during his investigation." He paused, looking to her for confirmation. She nodded, remembering Obi-Wan's startled reaction to seeing his signal there. "It was at Padmé's request." He defended. "She insisted we go, telling me it would be against my mandate to not follow her there." They both smiled at that. Padmé cared so deeply for those around her. No one would ever question her loyalty or her directive to put herself in danger for those she cared for.
"Padmé sent me to Tatooine, you know? Several years ago." At this he looked up startled. "She wanted to free all the slaves, you really made an impact on her." His eyes bore into hers; seeking the answer to the question he so desperately wanted to ask. "I looked for her… At Padmé's request, but I couldn't find her. I'm sorry Anakin." He lowered his eyes back to the ground and shook his head.
"She was freed before then, even married." He said so softly, Sabé barely heard him.
"Let us hope she found joy in that time then." She saw his muscles flexing and his jaw stiffening as he slowly nodded in response.
"Why the sudden interest in prophecies and visions?" Anakin asked turning his face to hers once more. Sabé stayed quiet for a few moments, pushing off from her meditative position to wander to the nearest window.
"I have been having a few of my own, for quite some time now." She responded as she gazed out to the emptiness of space.
"You had a dream?" He inquired.
"Perhaps." Sabé lifted the corner of her mouth as she glanced back at him over her shoulder. "I am hoping to meet with the council upon our return. Master Yoda has been quite helpful."
A long moment of silence spread between them, each off in their own thoughts, only interrupted by the fall of footsteps heading their way.
"General Skywalker. They need you on the bridge." The Clone Captain reported as he entered the room.
"Of course, Rex." He responded, dismissing his Captain before turning to Sabé with a low nod. "Sabé. I will inform Padmé of your wished absence."
"It is alright. I will find her. Thank you." She smiled to him before giving a small nod of her own as he turned to follow his Captain out. "Oh, Anakin." She called out, waiting as he paused to look back at her. "Please don't tell Padmé. I don't want to worry her for nothing."
"I understand." His tone was light as he turned to leave once more.
Sabé lingered only a moment longer before taking her leave to find Padmé, inhaling one more deep breath as she looked back out to space. She would never tire of its expanse, the amount of planets and stars it held. The darkness had a deep silent peace Sabé was beginning to long for.
It had not taken long for Sabé to find Padmé. She had been awaiting her at the hanger, a new ship prepped and ready to go.
"I sense you could not sleep either, Senator?" Sabé asked of her friend.
"I couldn't. We were sent into a trap and I need to know why."
Sabé smiled a small smile at her friend's determination and doggedness. "Where will your search begin?"
"With the Chancellor. He did give us those coordinates."
"Do you really think the Chancellor would have sent us into a trap knowingly?" Sabé asked gently, her question tapering to a halt as she observed Padmé jerk unexpectedly, her movements stopping abruptly.
"Of course not." She responded softly, her voice faltering. "I would hope not."
"To question him could be considered treason." Sabé reminded her gently.
"Are we to just let such things slide then? To allow one man all power and immunity?" Padmé's voice shook as they sat down to begin their flight checks, her voicing rising in pitch.
"This isn't just about the coordinates is it?"
"Something doesn't feel right Sabé. I can feel it. I just can't place it."
"Then leave it to me. No need to get yourself arrested. You have an important part to play."
The conversation played in Sabé's mind once again as she awaited Master Yoda outside the council chambers. Despite her requests to see the council, Master Yoda had insisted it would be unwise and instructed for her to await him instead. It had felt like hours and Sabé couldn't help but wonder what they might spend their time speaking about. Of course the war, but what else? The more she learned from Anakin and Obi-Wan, the more she felt curious towards their life. Of course she knew Anakin wasn't fully following the code of the Jedi Order, but she wondered again how one could live in such a way. How could one truly bring peace and negotiation without any form of attachment to anything? Where was the empathy in that? If anything, such musings always brought her back to the thought that it was for the best Padme was the politician and not herself. While she had been generally well at hiding such emotions, she could not deny she felt them vividly. She could not imagine the avoidance of connection and feelings with others. It felt like such thoughts would lead to more trouble than good.
Her musings were interrupted as she heard the doors of the council open and a parade of Jedi in dark brown robes walked smoothly past her, heads nodding in her direction. She scanned their faces as they left, each smooth and relaxed in a peaceful manner save one. Obi-Wan Kenobi. His face was more animated as he gestured to another Jedi, seemingly regaling them with one tale or another. His eyes danced with his usual mirth in stories and she dared not believe for one second that his smile grew wider as his eyes met with hers. She watched as he nodded a farewell to his companion and headed her way. Sabé ignored the way her heart fluttered as he confidently strode towards her, his robe slightly billowing behind him, hair more neatly slicked back and his eyes glistening like the ocean. She felt ridiculous.
"Sabé" He greeted with a small bow of his head.
"Obi-Wan." She returned, unable to keep the smile from her face. His mere presence radiated warmth and wholesomeness, inciting her to bask in it while she could.
"And to what do we owe the pleasure of your presence?" He asked, a full on smirk plastered across his face. Before Sabé could respond with dripping sarcasm, another voice did her the honor from below.
"Tis I, that asked for the Captain's presence, Obi-Wan. If I was not also seeking yours, I might tell you to keep to yourself a little better." The older Master spoke out in his own humorous tone, knocking Obi-Wan at the knees with his staff.
"Of course, Master Yoda." His smirk turning more to curiosity, a hand raising to smooth over the top of his mustache and down through his beard as he looked to the older master intently waiting.
"A mission I have for you both, to Orto Plutonia, you will go." At this Sabé's rose her eyebrows. "Senator Amidala has acquiesced to the request. It seems you were personally recommended to the Senator of Pantora by the Supreme Chancellor himself." Master Yoda responded to her silent confusion. "Your transport will be waiting for you, speak we will upon your return Captain. May the force be with you both." He finished before turning from them and hobbling in the opposite direction.
"Shall we then?" Obi-Wan asked her, extending his arm in the direction of the hanger. Sabé simply nodded, her frustration growing by the minute, afraid her voice would betray her. She remained in silence as they checked the ship together, focusing on fuel levels and supplies. The air of stillness was only interrupted by Obi-Wan bringing her a few folded garments that looked overly thick and rough in texture.
"You're going to want these." He commented as he slid them into her hands. "Its not exactly a warm planet." Sabé just nodded in response, her eyes remaining on the robes in her hands. Her concentration on control flickered as Obi-Wan's hands hovered over hers for a moment before resting against them.
"I am not use to feeling your emotions swirling around in the force like a raging typhoon. Have I done something to upset you?" He asked in a soft voice, tilting his head lower towards her in an attempt to see her downturned face. Sabé took a deep breath in at the warmth of his hands, the same humming energy between them both.
"No, not at all." She responded her eyes not leaving their hands.
"Do you mind sharing with me then why you are so frustrated?" Sabé could hear the gentle knowing smile that intertwined with the calm lull of his voice. She said nothing but lifted her gaze to his allowing herself to sink deep into their ocean pools as she let all the frustration of the past few months flow through the force between them: her feelings of failure on Florrum, her encounter with Prosset Dibs, the voices, the trap laid for Padmé, the latest dreams, and now with a sudden mission and barely an explanation. She was tired, worn, and frustrated with the continual puzzles and lack of answers. Sabé watched as Obi-Wan's blue eyes melted into empathy, searching her face in concern before landing on the bruises of Dib's finger prints that lingered behind. His hand slowly followed his sight, the tips of his fingers grazing the purple skin, remaining there while he spoke.
"I am here you know. You do not have to think on this alone." His voice carried towards her soothingly, as his eyes lifted back towards hers. Sabé felt frozen there, only thinking of the fire his fingertips were leaving on her skin and how close he had leaned towards her in his examination. As they both stilled, Sabé's mind replayed his words from long before, following their trials on Geonosis.
"The life of a Jedi may often be difficult. Duty must come before everything and everyone else. We live by the Jedi Code, by the will of the force:
There is no emotion, there is peace.
There is no ignorance, there is knowledge.
There is no passion, there is serenity.
There is no chaos, there is harmony.
There is no death, there is the Force."
Sabé pulled away her hands from his suddenly, jostling them both back to the stark reality. She watched as his face contorted from tender care to the impassive face of the Jedi, almost as if he too felt the weight of the world sink in.
"Of course, the Jedi council is here to guide you." He remarked to her, dropping his hands to his sides.
"Of course. I continue to appreciate all they have done for me." She responded more sure and steady than she felt, a small ache growing inside.
"Well I believe we are ready for take off now. I will inform you as we near our destination. Perhaps get some rest." Obi-Wan replied before leaving her for the pilot seat. As he sat down to be alone, initiating their take off and launch into hyperspace, Obi-Wan sat in thoughtful meditation. The full intensity of her inner emotions had hit him in full force, something he was not use to with her. It was hard to ever think of Sabé as vulnerable, and yet in that moment she had been. His worry deepened as he mulled over the fact that no words had even been spoken, just a connection. It was a connection that could not be and would need to be remedied.