Title: Sith Rise

Author: Shadowsword

Summary: Buffy didn't die when she went through the portal. And now she's needed in Sunnydale again.

Rating: T

Pairing: Canon for now

Feedback: desired.

Author's notes: During the final confrontation with Glory, Buffy disappears for a year and a half before being returned. Faith goes through most of the season six and the first half of season seven with a few minor differences.

Disclaimer: BtVS belongs to Joss Whedon and Mutant Enemy. KotOR belongs to LucasArts and George Lucas.


Buffy turns. In slow-motion, she runs down the platform as Dawn stays there crying. Buffy leaps off the end of the platform and falls into the portal.

Dawn and the Scoobies continue to watch, sobbing and yet, unable to turn away.

Buffy falls into the portal and hangs there motionless, pain wracking her petite frame as energy dances over her. The portal writhes and spits before it shrinks to nothingness and disappears, taking all signs of Buffy with it. The sun begins to laboriously climb above the horizon.


Faith impatiently waits with the Scoobie gang. Despite the year and a half she's protected the world since Buffy's disappearance, she still feels like an outsider. She sighs deeply before glancing around the living room. Willow sits nervously on the couch for Giles and Anya's return, clinging to Kennedy's hand with desperate strength. Xander idly carves on a stake as he passes the time, his eyes the only sign of unease. Spike walks into the room sipping at a mug. The other potentials sit waiting as Dawn outlines just what Giles and Anya are trying to uncover. She jumps to her feet and rushes to the window and looks out. She turns back, her relief evident as she informs the group "They're back."

A few minutes later, Giles looks around at the potentials and what he has come to see as his family. He clears his throat. "We have discovered out why the First is able to act. It's because the slayer line is split. And as long as this continues, it's strength and influence will continue to grow."

Willow holds up her hand. "Um, I thought that with Buffy's death, the disruptions in the line had straighten out."

"That would normally be the case, but in this instance, somehow, Buffy is still alive. Her absence from our world, our dimension, has aggravated the situation. And so we need to find a way to bring her back to prevent the first's opportunity and to begin to reduce it's power."

Kennedy asks "Why? If she's so great, then she should be able to find her way back."

"That would depend on what kind of world she is presently residing in. If magic use is widespread, then finding her way back should be comparatively easier. On the order of facing twenty vampires at once with a single stake rather then empty handed."

Anya sits. "I would feel much safer with her here. She has a tendency to take risks and unusual actions."

Willow looks up, a desperate hint of hope gleaming in her eyes. "We tried to bring her back once before, Giles."

"The reason you failed is that you tried to resurrect someone who is still alive. We need to locate her and then we can return her to her home."


A month later. Willow looks up from her latest effort to find Buffy and grins. Xander looks at her. "Why so happy?"

Giles looks up from his efforts to find some weakness, some vulnerability of the First. Spotting Willows faint smile in a face that had been driven since they found out Buffy still lived, asks her "Did you find something?"

"I found her!" she squeals, her eyes shining with delight.

"That's good news, Willow. Now we can prepare the spell to recall her to our world." Giles stops and looks at her, her manner more upbeat then any time since Buffy's dive into the portal.


Another week passes and with the assistance of the coven in England, they are ready to make an attempt to bring Buffy back.

Willow wakes from her sleep, moping until she realizes what day it is. As a rush of energy sweeps through her, Willow dashes through her morning, impatient at the small delays that seem to rise. After an early lunch, Willow, Xander, Dawn, Giles and Anya gather at the site where Buffy disappeared . Faith and Spike remain behind, Faith to train the potentials and Spike because of the sun.

As they carefully inscribe the circle, each one thinks back to that day. Xander trembles at the thought of his hero returning. Giles smiles at the woman who wormed her way into his heart as a daughter. Dawn wants her sister back. Anya remembers how much everyone change afterwards. And Willow thinks about the women she holds deep in her heart, in a place she has hidden from everyone but Tara. The place that Buffy held since they met all those years ago.

Willow stands and arranges the others to their posts. Willow delivers a silent prayer 'Goddess, let us succeed. Let us recall the warrior to her home. Please, let me see her again, even if I can't be with her.' She looks at the others, Giles at the north, Xander to the south, Anya across from her to the west and Dawn in the center of the circle. She begins. As the spell is spoken by the five participants, the wind builds. The crashing of thunder obscures their voices and she carries on, trusting that the others will do their parts.

As the eldritch power builds, Willow focuses on Dawn for an instant, marking what they seek. The power builds and lightning strikes the four corners. A final bolt stretches down, engulfing the center of the circle and Dawn.

Then a moment of silence as the pillar of light blazes brightly, forcing everyone to look away and cover their eyes. Then as they regain their sight, they see a hooded and robed figure beside Dawn, a figure who promptly collapses to the ground.

As they stand stunned, Dawn drops to her knees and slowly collapses, breaking the spell upon them. They rush forward.

Xander grabs Dawn and checks her, relieved that he can find no sign of injury, he glances at the other figure. Giles rolls the mysterious figure over and sees blood flowing. "Dear Lord." He yanks his handkerchief out of his pocket and tries to staunch the wound. Willow kneels beside him and pushes back the hood, gasping at the sight of Buffy. Quickly, they do what little they can before taking her home.


Buffy slowly wakes, her senses reaching out for any sign of danger. But aside from a familiar but unknown something, the only things she senses are worry and concern for her. She opens her eyes and looks around. She finds herself in a room filled with items and things that she swears she's never seen before and yet they seem familiar. She looks around at the small room that shows signs of multiple individuals sleeping on the floor. She sits up, wincing at the wound in her stomach. She finally notices the pajamas she's wearing. "Yummy Sushi?" the words slip out before she even realizes she knows the strange language. She focuses and reaches out, touching the life force of the universe. Channeling a small fragment into her body, she relaxes as the wounds to her body close. She forces her self to her feet, and makes her way to the desk.

Looking at the pictures there, she starts slightly at her presence in them, her and two people from her dreams. The guy, brunet with warm brown eyes summoned up feelings of friendship. The other one, the red haired girl, called to her in way no one else ever had. Not even what few memories of Malak before they went off to fight. She picks one and carefully studies it, lost in though. Suddenly, she began to move. Imperatives calling for food and water sent her moving, while still lost in the photo. Unconsciously, she leaves the bedroom and slowly descends the stairs.


In the dining room, Faith looks at the five scoobies. While Spike sits to the side looking smug. Andrew gazes longingly at the weapon belt that Buffy was wearing, the belt lying on the table. What looks like two guns lay holstered and two tube like objects hang by each weapon. An assortment of spheres fill two compartments and what looks like a nose and mouth mask fits in another. Several other items peek from gaps in their compartments. "Just what is everything anyway?"

Xander carefully removes one of the two pistol like weapons from it's holster and carefully examines it, making sure not to push or pull on any of the buttons or the apparent trigger before returning it with equal care. "It looks like a pistol but I've never seen anything like it before."

Willow looks around. "Guys, none of this stuff seems to have spells on it. Why don't we wait for her to wake up and ask her then?"

Giles clears his throat. "Her injury and general condition indicate that she will most likely remain asleep till tomorrow morning. Until then, it behooves us to ensure that this equipment is benign. We have no idea just how disturbed she may be or even how she will react."

Willow opens her mouth to say something but surprise freezes her as Buffy silently pads into the room on her way to the kitchen. As the others become aware of her, they also fall silent. She walks as if in a trance, slowly and surely. As she passes the table, the belt leaps into her out stretched hand. Slinging the belt over her shoulder, she enters the kitchen and heads toward the sink. She fills a glass and drinks while opening the fridge and removing and beginning to fix a sandwich.

Willow joins her as the rest watch from the door, observing as Buffy sleep navigates through the room. After she finishes, she seems to wake and looks around confusedly.


Buffy suddenly becomes aware of her surroundings as she swallows the last bite of her sandwich. She looks around and sees a half dozen persons watching her, five from the doorway and one just a few feet away. Felling no menace from them, glances at the face of the closest one. Her heart leaps into her throat as see gazes into the eyes of her dream angel. She reaches out one hand hesitantly and touches her cheek. Softly speaking, she asks "So you are real, and so beautiful. Who are you? And how do I know you?" She looks around at the strangely familiar and yet completely unknown room. "And where are we?"


Willow freezes as Buffy reaches out to her and gently, lovingly touches her check. And then she speaks. Willow frowns as the unknown words flow from her friend's mouth. And when she looks around, obviously confused, and asking something, Willow's heart goes out to her again. She reaches out and takes hold of Buffy's hand and guides her to the living room. Pulling her down beside her as she sits on the couch, Willow turns to her and studies her long lost best friend.

The others look on in confusion as they follow and take seats around the room. Xander pauses as Buffy looks at him and then beckons him to sit beside her. Thinking of how much he missed her, he joins them on the couch.

After a minute, Giles begins the questioning. "How are you Buffy?"

Dawn leaps off her chair and tries to get her sister in a hug. Buffy's recoil at her approach startles her. "What's wrong with her?"

Spike grabs her and pulls her down beside him. "Quiet, little bit. Give her a chance to adjust to everything."

Faith just sits quietly, studying the elder slayer.

Willow begins, "I can't understand her, Giles. I don't have any idea of what language she's speaking." Suddenly, she stiffens momentarily and inspiration fills her face. She holds up her hand and points to herself and says "Willow." A pause "Willow Rosenberg."

Buffy, after several repeats, gets the idea. One by one, each one of them names themselves for Buffy.


Buffy looks around at the group sitting around her, the two she remembers beside her and the others scattered around the room. She starts with the apparent eldest. He wears glasses and at one time touched the dark side. He seems intelligent and, if not the leader then a close advisor. The blond haired man reeks of darkness and yet, the force seems to ignore him. However, some other part calls him a potential foe. The third man, the youngest, seems to embody a thirst for knowledge and a brush with the dark side. The last man, sitting beside her, is neither light nor dark but grey and dangerous. Still, her instincts label him a friend. Looking at the women, she smiles. The youngest, a brunette is full of anger and sorrow, there is something about her that calls both pain and green to mind. The other brunette has walked on the dark side and now regrets it. She seeks redemption and yet is filled with remorse. With this one, there is a connection, little that of sisters in arms. The light brown one is unusual, she is greedy and fearful, and yet in love with the man who sits beside her. She has walked on the dark side for a long time and yet is so little touched by it. The last one, the red-haired one from her dreams sits beside her. Yet another that has touched the dark side, her being speaks of grief and joy. Sorrow for her actions and a fear of her self combined with great compassion for others.

She smiles inside when the red-haired one suddenly points to her self and says something. After several repeats, she pronounces the strange word. "Willow." The others follow along, each apparently naming themselves. The names are unfamiliar and yet, seem to fit the people here.

She points toward herself and tells them her name. Unusual where she was at, it fits better here."Alexi."


Willow smiles as Buffy points to herself. The name itself surprises everyone there. "Alexi. Alexi Rose."

She glances around at the rest of them, their surprised faces telling her what she needed to know. "Guys, she doesn't remember. Any ideas?" At their continued lack of response, Willow stands and pulls Buffy up.

As they start to walk off, Faith asks "Where are you ...?"

Willow looks back, her resolve face on. "Upstairs. Tomorrow, I'll show her around town. See if anything jogs her memory." With that, she leads Buffy back upstairs.


Buffy looks around the room she woke up in. The red head, Willow, has lead her around the place, and something deep inside her tells her that this person she has no memory of has her trust, in fact has something more then that. She watches as Willow takes several photos from their place by the mirror and sits on the bed beside her. As Willow identifies her in the pictures, Buffy thinks. Even after she had received access to her records, there were gaps in her life.

She studies the room and it's shrine like atmosphere. She looks as Willow opens the closet and the drawers revealing the cloths. She checks a few out and discovers that they all are her size. She shrugs and strips before choosing what to wear, ignoring Willow's surprised gasp.


Willow stares as Buffy strips and starts to dress. Recovering her self after Buffy has clad herself in under wear, Willow touches her arm and gestures to her wound. Buffy sits on the bed and lets the young woman carefully remove the bandages and examine the tender area. She smiles, remembering back to the inability of the order to explain why she healed so fast.


Buffy studies her companion's face and makes a decision. She remembers how to trade the knowledge of languages with others. She finishes getting dressed in before grabbing the other's hand. She points outside and pantomimes the two of them sitting and meditating together. This time, she urges her guide to towards the back of the residence.

When they get outside, she sees the youngsters practicing fighting moves and skill. At her presence, they slowly stop and stare at her. She looks over them and shakes her head. She spots a patch of ground under a tree and walks over to it. Turning to Willow, She points to the ground there and "Xander, Giles, Faith, ..." She mimes the waking with her fingers and again points to the ground under the tree.

After several attempts, she sees the dawning comprehension in Willow's eyes. She sits and waits as Willow hurries back into the house. She leans back against the tree and, for just a moment, relaxes and leaves behind her worries. The snap of a twig forces her to open her eyes to the intense young woman who was leading the others. She looks at the overconfident person and waits. The woman finally starts speaking, her tone imperious. The lecture drones on, her words completely unknown until she breaks out laughing. The woman finally falls silent as Buffy regains control of herself. "I so needed that. I still have no idea of what you just said so..." She makes a shooing motion.


Willow leads the others, except for Spike outside into the late afternoon where they find Kennedy trying to order Buffy into the ranks of potentials. When Buffy breaks up laughing, Faith sniggers, Giles wearily shakes his head, Willow sighs wearily and the others stand stunned. And Buffy's words clearly call out the language barrier that exists. The final straw is Buffy shooing her off as Xander, Anya and Dawn start to snicker.

Giles begins to walk over to the two where Kennedy looks like she wants to start something when Faith grabs his arm. "Wait. We need to see if she still has it."

Willow pops up. "Buffy wants to see us. I think she may have some idea on our communication problem. You can see how she does later." She puts on her resolve face and walks to the tree.

Kennedy looks at her and begins "She won't.."

"Not now, Kennedy. Besides, Buffy doesn't answer to you." She sits down beside Buffy ignoring her girlfriend's shock.

The other six take their positions in a circle and wait. Within seconds, Willow looks at Buffy, her eyes going wide. As she opens her mouth to speak, Buffy puts her hand over Willow's mouth. Anya and Giles notice the growing sense of power for Buffy . Dawn and Faith pick it up next, and Xander and Andrew last.

Willow feels Buffy use the power, not wicca or magic as she knows it, to carefully reach inside her mind. She witnesses Buffy sliding for her knowledge of languages and begins to steal, no not steal, copy the knowledge and add something beside it. Within a few minutes and the group looks at Buffy in shock.

She is still staring at Buffy when the blonde asks "Okay, that's out of the way. Now where are we and what's going on?"

Giles speaks first. "Do you remember any of us?" not realizing that he is now speaking a new tongue.

"I used to think that those two were figments of my imagination. Other than that, the Jedi Council tried to mind wipe me about five years ago. There isn't much left. But my records before that don't say much about where I came from or if I even have a family, despite going back another thirty years." Buffy explains to their surprise.

Anya breaks in. "Oh that's because time flows at different speeds in different universes. It's only been not quit two years since you saved the world. And I for one am glad to be living."

Kennedy interrupts "What are you saying? I can't understand a word you're saying."

Buffy grimaces as she switches languages. "We're speaking in galactic standard basic. The language I've used for most of the past thirty five years. And who are you?" The others start as they realize that they've been speaking another language.

"I'm Kennedy. I'm the one in charge of basic training for the potentials. Who are you?"

Xander glares at her. "This is who we've been looking for."

Giles takes over. "Do you believe any of this?"

"It's an explanation. Now if you can explain why I can beat a wookie in arm wrestling and heal so fast with out the force, it'll help your case even more. So, tell me what you think is the truth and I'll with hold judgement for now."

They explain the story of her life as they know it, and when the sun sets and they go inside, the potentials gather around to listen to the stories. Buffy listens and thinks about what they tell her.


Buffy stands up and heads upstairs as she thinks of the story they've woven. It is consistent among them and doesn't seem rehearsed. As she uses the sink to wash her face, she smirks. "You can come out now." She turns around to see a tall bald man with facial tattoos wearing a dark red tunic and trousers and his lower jaw replaced with gray metal.

The figure speaks "You know that you will lead them to the dark side. Everyone you have ever cared about went over."

"Won't work. First, you're not him, you may have taken his form but you don't have his feel.'

"No, you made sure of that. You ripped my jaw off to teach me the power of the dark side. And then you killed me, old friend."

"Second I'm not her anymore. And if you ever use his form again." She turns and backhands the figure calling on assistance from the force. He steps back, looking impressed. "I actually felt that, Revan." he says, before disappearing. She turns back to the mirror and grips the counter leaving the impressions of her fingers in it.