Obitine: Upholders of Peace

Chapter 1

At first, she thought she was only seeing grey colour and listening to someone talking. But when a choke on her throat lifted her, she realised she was not alone: instead, she was dangerously close to dying in Darth Maul's hands.

In the distance, she saw Obi-Wan a little bit away, held down by bounty hunters.

As she clawed at the air with no effort, she saw Darth Maul trying to turn Obi-Wan to the Dark Side. "...and yes, your anger...let your anger deepen your hatred." She heard Maul say.

In a flurry of worry, she said, trying her best efforts to fight against the closing claw on her neck, "Don't listen to him, Obi-!"

The claw tightened on her, and she was fighting to breath again, the task now harder than before. Bit by bit, her oxygen slowly ran out, and the voices drowned out, and then spots came dancing into her vision, until suddenly...the pressure on her throat was lifted. But before she could wonder why, she felt herself fly through air, and a sharp pang of pain exploded in her stomach.

And she knew, without looking down, that it was a lightsaber cut.

All she saw last was Obi-Wan's face full of horror.

***

Satine woke up to darkness. Am I dead? She went to feel frantically for her stomach and neck, and was glad to know her stomach was still one piece and her breathing was normal. Only after checking did she realise that it was four in the morning.

She tried to go back to sleep, but every time she closed her eyes, she could only see Obi-Wan's face of horror and loss, knowing that he could not save her in time. She knew he would never want to lose her, and she would never want that to happen too, but if she was to die sacrificing for her people, no matter how small the contribution was, she was willing to die.

But something about the dream unsettled her. No dream should be so acute, especially when it came to the part when she was stabbed...there shouldn't have been such a burning pain if it was just a normal dream.

This feels wrong. She needed to talk to Obi-Wan. As soon as possible.

***
As usual, Satine's day ended with her finally escaping for the night from thousands upon thousands of meetings and speeches; maintaining the neutrality of her system had always been so hard.

She entered her personal residence and dismissed her guards, totally contrary to what she would usually do.

Then she contacted Obi-Wan.

****
"Duchess, you wanted to see me?" The familiar voice of Obi-Wan came from the door half an hour later.

Satine rose from the couch, careful to maintain her usual posture in case there were cameras outside. "Yes. Please, come in and have a seat."

As Obi-Wan walked over to the couch, he said, "Well, what brings you to ask for my presence at this hour?"

"I..." Satine waited until the door behind her had hissed closed. "I had a dream last night. A terrible one."
"Really?" He said. He was sounding casual, but she could see his worry creeping onto his face.
"Yes..." Her hands quietly locked the door. "I dreamed of us being captured by Darth Maul..."

Realisation and concern hit the Jedi's face in a millisecond. "...and you being run through by his saber."

Uh oh. This is getting bad. Really bad. As she went to sit down next to Obi-Wan, she could see his face more concerned than usual, and she was definitely sure her own face was more than crunched together.