Revenge of the Jinn

by Net Girl

Sequel to Star Wars * Buffy crossover, Death Of The Chosen One. Saar's sister comes to Sunnydale to exact revenge on EVERYONE for her brother's death.

Rating: PG-13: Mild Violence

Spoilers: Some for Buffy. If you haven't seen The Phantom Menace, reading this is not recommended!

Category: Crossover

Summary: The sister of the evil Jinn, Saar has come to Sunnydale to exact revenge on everyone involved with the death of her brother. Everyone.

Disclaimer: All Buffy characters belong to Joss Whedon and Mutant Enemy Productions. The Star Wars characters belong to George Lucas, Lucasfilm and whatever else Lucas owns. Imoen is an original character, she belongs to me. I'm not making any money off this, nor am I trying to infringe on anyone's copyright. So don't sue me.

Author's Notes: Since the Buffy finale did not happen in this universe, the school is still standing. In the Star Wars verse, not much time has passed since "Death of the Chosen One".

Send any and all commentary to: donnacsoprano76 AT yahoo DOT com. All flames are read, laughed at then deleted with extreme prejudice.

"Revenge of the Jinn" By Teresa Owens

Buffy Summers jerked out of her thoughts when she heard her doorbell ring. She hadn't realized she'd zoned out until then. Her mind left the television program her best friend, Willow Rosenberg, and Imoen were watching to reflect back on life.

Graduation had come and gone with out a hitch. An amazing feat considering that some sort of supernatural thing almost always threw a wrench into every major school related event. She would never forget the hellhounds a fellow student used in an attempt to wreck the prom the month before.

The doorbell rang again. Willow turned around from her spot on the floor beside Imoen. She gave Buffy a curious look.

"Are you going to see who that is?" she asked. She jerked a thumb towards the door. "'Cause I can go answer it if you want me to."

Buffy shook her head as she got up from the couch. "No, I was just spacing out, Will," she replied. She headed for the door. "I've got it."

Willow was worried about Buffy. The Slayer had been acting very strange since the incident with the evil Jinn, Saar. She couldn't really blame Buffy for the behavior, though. It's not everyday you get kidnapped to a fantasy universe and almost get gutted by a lightsabre wielding psycho. The redhead turned back around, focusing her attention on the program she and Imoen watched.

Buffy opened up the front door. "Giles," she said. She was surprised to find Rupert Giles, her Watcher, standing on the stoop. She checked her watch. "It's barely even 7 o'clock. It's time for Imoen to leave already?"

Giles shifted the two books he held from one arm to the other. "Oh, no," he answered. "I only wanted to drop these, uh, books off for Imoen." He tapped them with his fingers. "She's been asking about them."

Buffy smiled. Imoen had been staying with Giles for the last two weeks, since Buffy accidentally brought her out of the Star Wars universe. The former handmaiden of Queen Amidala had taken to the boring books and lifestyle that Giles adored so much. Imoen was constantly reading about the new world she'd been brought to.

Buffy accepted the books from Giles, taking a quick look at the titles. "Hmmm... 'The History of Modern Jazz' and 'The Works of Ludwig Von Bee-thoven'." She said 'Beethoven' as if it were two words: Bee Thoven.

"Beethoven," Giles automatically corrected Buffy's pronunciation of the composer's name.

She lopsidedly grinned at her Watcher. "Giles, I know," she told him. "I was making a funny. Ha ha. Lighten up a little."

Giles forced a short laugh. "Yes... I see," he replied. He cleared his throat. "How are things going? Everything... all right?"

Buffy stopped sifting through the Beethoven book and looked at him. "Oh, yeah, everything's cool," she answered. Then added, "All things considered."

Giles nodded knowingly. "Yes, the severe culture shock Imoen's been experiencing," he said then sighed. "I can most certainly relate. Exactly what are you and Willow doing with her?"

Buffy glanced over to the two red heads sitting on the floor in front of her TV. "We're watching educational programming with her," she said. She saw the look on Giles' face. "We've been really careful about what we show her, Giles."

Since Imoen arrived in Sunnydale, she'd been blissfully ignorant of the fact where she came from was nothing but a fantasy land. Giles felt Imoen should adjust to the real world before they dropped the bombshell on the girl. Buffy hated keeping the truth from Imoen, but Giles almost always knew best, especially with stuff like this.

Giles relaxed, but only slightly. "Oh, educational programming?" he said. He gave a nod of approval. He was quite surprised Buffy would watch anything educational, even for Imoen's sake. "What are you watching? A&E? The History Channel? PBS?"

Buffy's eyes rolled a bit and her gaze settled on the floor. "Well... not exactly that kind of educational programming, Giles," she said after a moment of hesitation.

"What, then?"

Buffy scratched her head, daring to look him in the eye as she replied, "A Best of the Real World marathon on MTV." Giles' eyebrows arched questioningly at her reply. Still, he refrained from commenting. "Oh, come on, Giles!" Buffy let out a sigh as her arm dropped to her side. "What better way to teach her about the real world than to let her watch a TV show titled that?"

Giles removed his glasses and rubbed the bridge of his nose. Some of the things Buffy did sometimes drove him crazy. This one was no different than those times. "Uh... how is she handling it?" he asked then put his glasses back on.

"She likes it," Buffy replied.

Imoen turned around, wondering what was keeping Buffy at the front door for so long. She saw Giles standing there. "Oh," she said, catching the attention of Watcher and Slayer. "Is it already time to leave?" She frowned. "I was hoping to see that new Ricky Martin video."

Buffy grimaced as she looked over to Giles. "Ok, so I still have to teach her about taste."

Giles looked to Imoen. "I'll be back in a little while," he told her. He could see that Imoen was relived.

"Actually," Buffy said, getting Giles' attention. "Is it ok with you if Imoen spends the night at Willow's?"

"At Willow's?" Giles repeated.

"Yeah. Imoen wanted to see what kind of computers we have here and who better to show her?" Buffy replied. She could tell Giles wasn't hip to the idea. "Please, Giles. Willow's excited about it. You don't want to be the one to crush her joy, do you?"

"All right," Giles said after a moment. "Tell Willow to be extremely careful about what she shows Imoen, though."

"I will," Buffy promised. She crossed her heart, a serious expression on her face. She started to close the front door.

"You know it's in her best interests, Buffy," Giles said. He saw the look on Buffy's face change. "She should be more comfortable... with... her surroundings before--"

"Before we tell her everything she's ever known is a highly successful movie franchise," Buffy finished. She nodded. "Yes, Giles, you've been over this a gazillion times with us. We'll be careful." She paused, then looked at him. "We'll drop Imoen off at your house tomorrow afternoon."

"I'll be at the library the next few days, mostly," Giles reminded her. "All of my books are there... even if you children, uh.. are not." He put his hands in the pockets of his tweed jacket. "I'm still researching the myth of the Book of Exiphor." He stopped when he realized that none of this was really important to Buffy. "I'll see you tomorrow, then."

Buffy shut and locked the front door. She leaned against it, letting out a long sigh. She shook her head as she came back into the living room and dropped the books on the couch.

Willow hopped up from her place on the floor and joined Buffy. "So... did he say it was all right?" she asked, hopefully.

"He's cool with it, Will," Buffy said. "He wanted me to remind you of The Rule, too."

Willow nodded. She knew what 'The Rule' was. She glanced back to Imoen. The marathon had ended and the other girl used the remote control to channel surf. Willow lowered her voice when she asked Buffy, "How much longer can we keep the truth from her?"

Buffy shrugged. "Probably not much longer," she replied, equally quiet. "She's learning so much, so fast, Will. She's not stupid. She'll expect an explanation for our sometimes odd behavior about certain things."

"Yeah," Willow agreed. She gazed at Imoen for a moment. "And Xander's loose lips aren't really helping us out either."

"Xander's big mouth almost cost us the whole gig at the Bronze last night," said Buffy. She frowned. "Talking about Return of the Jedi." She let out a breath. That look on Imoen's face when Xander let the name Anakin Skywalker slip...

"Good thing Oz distracted her with his story about animal crackers," Willow put in. She bit her bottom lip then added, "It's getting so much tougher to do this, Buffy. To keep this secret."

Buffy hung her head. "I feel so guilty, you know," she said. And this is all my fault, she added in her mind. All my fault she's even stuck in the real world when she could be where she belongs.

"We're doing the right thing," Willow assured her friend. In actuality, Willow wasn't too sure herself.

Buffy started to reply but Imoen's "Oh... my!" caught her attention. She looked up to see Imoen pointing to the TV screen, a look of utter shock planted on her face. "Uh oh," Buffy said. She quickly snatched the remote from Imoen and flicked the channel back to MTV.

"But... Buffy!" Imoen exclaimed when she found her voice. She waved her hand at the TV. "Didn't you see? Obi-Wan was on there, I am certain of it! He didn't very much look like himself, but it was him!"

"You were seeing things," Buffy matter of factly told her. She squeezed the remote in her hand, almost breaking it. "It wasn't him." She closed her eyes momentarily as she walked back over to Willow. "That was so close," she whispered.

Willow glanced at Imoen. The girl kept shaking her head, confused by Buffy's odd behavior. "What was that all about?" Willow asked Buffy. "Was another Phantom Menace commercial on?"

Buffy shook her head. "Worse. She stumbled across Trainspotting," she said. "The last thing she needs to see is Obi-Wan Kenobi shooting up heroin." She dropped the remote on the couch before she crushed the thing without realizing.

"Oh.. yeah," Willow quietly replied. She paused, her brow furrowing as she looked back to Buffy. "Wait... did... did he really look like Ewan McGregor? You know... the Obi-Wan you met in the.. the book?" Buffy'd never mentioned that before when telling them about her weird adventure in the Star Wars verse.

"Yeah, he did," Buffy replied. She half shrugged. "And Windu looked like Samuel L. Jackson. It was very disconcerting." She looked at Willow, seeing that awe on her friend's face. "But I got over it real quick when they were jerks of the highest order to me."

"That would be disconcerting," Willow said after a moment. She and Buffy looked to Imoen who sat on the floor watching the new Ricky Martin video.

-

Next Day - Afternoon

Buffy knocked on Willow's front door then rocked back and forth on her feet while she waited for someone to answer. Soon, the door opened and she smiled at Willow. "Hey," she greeted as Willow motioned for her to come inside. "How is the computer instruction going?" she asked as Willow closed the front door.

"Really well," Willow replied. They started up the stairs, headed for Willow's room. "Imoen runs my PC almost as well as I do." She shook her head in amazement. "All I did was give her the basic programs and now she's whizzing around them like an old expert."

Buffy saw that her friend hid the hurt that someone else was so skilled at using a computer. It was like Willow's superhero secret power--that and the witch thing. "You shouldn't worry about it," she told Willow. "The stuff you showed her was probably kids at play junk where she's from. Of course she's gonna excel at simple programs."

Willow's eyebrows arched as she looked to Buffy. The two girls stopped just short of Willow's open bedroom door. "Not really helping my self-esteem, Buffy, but the efforts are appreciated," she said. "Oh! I almost forgot. Xander called me last night. He wants to know if we're still on for the Bronze tonight?"

"I dunno," Buffy said, slowly. She looked at Willow. "Are you sure he can keep his trap shut about--" She gave a nod towards the bedroom.

"Oh, he felt bad about that, too," she told Buffy. She brightened. "I'm ready for the Bronze because Oz and the band are playing tonight. Imoen really likes their music, you know."

Buffy grinned. Willow was the biggest groupie for her boyfriend, Oz's band Dingoes Ate My Baby. Imoen, though, had firmly taken the second place spot after hearing the band play last week.

"Well, I always find the Bronze relaxing," Buffy said. "Well... when we're not being attacked there... but I haven't been on a patrol in two nights." She frowned. "Giles thinks I'm getting lazy, but I prefer to think of it as 'Slayeritis'."

The two girls entered Willow's room. Imoen was busy on Willow's computer. She clicked the mouse button then turned around, smiling when she saw Buffy there.

"Hello, Buffy," she pleasantly greeted. She motioned to the computer screen. "Willow showed me all the things her computer could do." She tapped the mouse button as Buffy and Willow joined her. "She introduced me to this... Internet. It's intriguing." She looked up to Buffy. "Did you know they store just about every piece of music ever recorded on here? I'm very impressed that such primitive technology can achieve this."

Buffy watched Imoen scroll through the list of songs and musical pieces available for download. Imoen showed a great fascination with all forms of "Earth music" since she'd arrived. It amazed the girl how so many beautiful and unique forms of music could all exist on the same small planet.

"Look at this," Imoen said as she clicked the button. On the computer screen a video clip of a young woman dancing to a Middle Eastern tune played. "Isn't that fascinating? See how her body moves... flows."

Buffy had to admit the woman was good at whatever kind of dance she was doing. It resembled some sort of belly dancing. "Well, you won't see me dancing like that," she said. "I used to be a cheerleader and cheerleaders don't have flow like that. Our movements tend to be jerky, sort of like the cheers we perform. And I don't have grace."

"Neither do I," Willow added.

Imoen logged out of Willow's online service then turned off the computer. She got up from the chair. "Thank you again for teaching me about your machine, Willow." She looked to Buffy. "I suppose it is time for me to rejoin Mr. Giles?"

"Yeah," Buffy replied. "But I'll probably be at the library for awhile. Giles wanted to do a workout."

"Ooo, I'll tag along," Willow said, a little too excited. She blushed. "You know... the old school. Strange, but I miss the place."

"I don't," Buffy flatly said. She watched Imoen gather up her things and place them in her overnight bag.

"We had some fun times there, Buffy," Willow said.

Buffy's gaze shifted to Willow. "Oh, yeah, like the time Spike and his goons crashed Parent Night and almost slaughtered us all?" she asked with mock enthusiasm. "And how about the time we had ghosts haunting the school and we almost died trying to stop them from hurting anyone? Then there was the time we had a huge praying mantis for a substitute teacher and it tried to eat Xander!"

Willow frowned. "It wasn't all bad, Buffy," she quietly replied. "College will be better," she hopefully added.

"The Hellmouth willing," Buffy grumbled. She sighed. "Let's get going. I'm feeling built up frustration and I need to take it out on something."

---

Outside of Willow's house, a woman watched Buffy, Imoen and Willow walk up the street. She could hear the girls laughing and talking. Her eyes narrowed on the blonde in the middle--the Slayer. The Slayer was the one she sought vengeance on the most.

Buffy the vampire Slayer, she thought. Her face twisted up in anger as the words flowed through her mind. The Slayer and her friends would pay for what they'd done. She would be certain of it.

She dematerialized into a dark mist, continuing her surveillance on the three humans.

-

Sunnydale High Library

Imoen turned the page in her book, The History of Modern Jazz, glancing over to Giles and Buffy. She half-smiled at the sight before her. Giles, dressed from head to toe in protective padding, holding a practice quarterstaff, trying his best to defend himself from Buffy's attacks.

Willow sat at the same table, completely immersed in a spell book. She'd found a spell which could enable her to throw a ball of fire from her hand, if only she could get it to work right. She flinched remembering the stupid attempt she'd made two nights before in Buffy's house to show her friend the spell. The look on Joyce Summers' face when she found Willow and Buffy frantically dousing the fire on the desk in the den was one Willow never wanted to see again.

Buffy blocked Giles' staff, spun around on her heel then hit him in the back with the opposite end of her staff. She gasped a little when her hit sent her Watcher stumbling forward a few steps. She immediately dropped her guard.

"I'm sorry, Giles! I didn't mean to lay into you like that!" she quickly apologized. She came over to him, wincing as he put a hand to his back. "I forgot what I was doing. Honest."

Giles held up his hand to Buffy when she reached out to help him. "No... no... it's quite all right, Buffy," he said as he stood straight. His hand rested on his back. "That was an inspired move. I didn't see it coming. Good show."

Buffy rested the end of her quarterstaff on the floor. "Almost getting hacked up by a wacky Jinn really aids the 'thinking on your feet' area of your brain," she told him.

Giles used the moment to swing his staff around, trying to hit Buffy. She ducked down just as his staff came whirling around. He grinned slightly when Buffy gave him a dirty look.

"You faker," she snapped, pointing a finger at him.

"Strike three and you're outta there!" Xander Harris declared as he waltzed into the library. He looked around, taking in a deep breath. "I must really like you people because I graduated... and I'm back in this place. Yeah... just like I remember it."

Willow sat up in her chair. "Xander, it's only been a week. How much could it have possibly changed?"

Xander turned to Willow, pointing a finger at her. "Do not talk... while I am reminiscing," he said. He smiled at Imoen as he approached the table.

"Xander, what are you doing here?" Buffy asked as she used the staff to support her as she leaned on it. She glanced over at Giles who busied himself with removing his protective pads. "Or are you here to annoy us... as per usual?"

"Ha ha," Xander flatly said looking at Buffy. "Actually, I went to Willow's house first because someone--" He gave a great show of focusing his attention on the girl. "--said she would be there. We won't mention any names, but the initials are 'Willow Rosenberg'. Anyway... this someone's mother said she had left with Imoen and Buffy. Relying on my keen powers of deduction, I ended up here."

"Xander," Willow started to protest to his dramatics.

Xander held up a hand to her. "It's ok," he said. "I should recover by tonight."

"If you live that long, boy."

A female voice startled everyone in the library. The group looked towards the source of the voice.

A tall, slender woman with dark toned skin and long, black curly hair strolled further into the library. Her coffee colored eyes had no friendliness in them. In contrast to her body was the ankle length, pure white sheer dress she wore. The material seemed to shimmer as she made her deliberate steps towards them. A gold braided rope was neatly tied about her waist and around her neck was an amulet with the symbol for fire carved into it.

"May we help you?" Giles asked when he finally found his voice.

The woman's eyes had not left Buffy since she'd entered the library. Her focus of attention shifted to Giles. "You can die," she told him. She looked to everyone else. "All of you can die."

Buffy's face reflected the confusion of everyone present. "Ok, I'm sensing big time anger here."

The woman snorted in disgust. "As well you should, Slayer," she hissed.

Buffy's defenses went up as soon as the word 'Slayer' left the woman's lips. Trouble usually followed after this point.

The woman came closer. "And you will pay for what you've done. All of you will suffer for your part in it," she declared pointing to Willow, Imoen and Xander. Her finger lowered. "All of you."

"Uh... not liking this suffering idea," Xander nervously said. "Exactly what did we do to gain this unwanted attention, lady?"

Her eyes narrowed on Xander. Xander shivered despite his every effort not to. "You killed my brother," she evenly said.

"Are we gonna get a name?" Buffy asked, gaining the woman's attention again. "Because we've killed a lot of bad guys in our time."

"My brother... was Saar," the woman answered. She wickedly smiled when she saw the look on the Slayer's face. "I am his older sister, Serena. And I've come for vengeance on you for his murder." She walked by Buffy who was still stunned. "I felt it would be an honorable gesture to inform you and your friends as to why you will suffer my wrath."

"You want to kill us because of what happened with Saar?" Willow asked as she got to her feet. "It wasn't murder! Buffy was defending herself against him!"

Serena's head whipped around. "I am well aware of Saar's Game, girl," she snapped at Willow. "I continually warned him for centuries that interaction with humans only led to trouble."

"You sound as if you did not like Saar yourself," Imoen quietly said.

Serena's eyes flashed as she came closer to the table. Imoen did not allow the Jinn to see her fear. "You can not like someone yet love them," she informed her. "For generations, members of my clan of the Jinn have fulfilled their duty to each other by gaining vengeance on those humans who have wronged us. My laws require this, and I obey them."

"That isn't fair!" Buffy exclaimed as she closed the distance between her and Serena. "My friends and I have to die because your brother couldn't finish what he started?"

"Buffy," Giles warningly said as he put himself between her and Serena. He motioned for Buffy to back off then looked to Serena. "You seem to be a reasonable.. Jinn," he said. "Surely you understand the circumstances under which your brother was --"

"The circumstances are irrelevant, Watcher," Serena cut in. "A human killed a member of my clan. She and all responsible for it will perish." She looked past Giles to the open doorway leading to the librarian's private office and raised up a hand. A book floated out of the office and into her grasp. "Sadly, however, someone is missing," she added holding up the book. It was the book Saar used to draw Buffy into the Star Wars universe.

Imoen's eyes widened. "Obi-Wan," she whispered.

Serena looked over her shoulder at Imoen, pleased with this human's sharp mind. She smiled a little as she tucked the book under her arm. "Yes..." she said.

Xander shook his head. "You can't do that!" he declared. "You can't bring a fic--" He tossed a look back at Imoen, relieved he caught himself that time. He coughed. "You can't bring him here!"

Serena's eyebrows arched in amusement at the gall of this little human boy. "He can be killed," she told him. "In this world, he has no future, no destiny... a clean slate." She didn't care for the glare Xander shot at her. "With my power, I can easily reopen Saar's portal..." she let her words trail off.

Buffy stepped in Xander's path as he started for Serena. She grabbed his arm but that didn't stop him from saying, "You can't do that!"

Serena's eyes flashed at the continued insolence from this boy. She never actually intended on bringing the other offender out of the fictional universe, but this human child presumed to dictate to her what she could and could not do. How dare he?

"Watch me," she snapped in reply. With a wave of her hand, Serena, and the book, disappeared.

"Oh my God," Willow's whispering voice broke the silence. "We are in so much trouble."

"This is just great!" Buffy sarcastically declared as she threw the quarterstaff down on the floor. "It just figures! I survive vampires, demons, witches, hyena-men, hellhounds and high school just to have my life snuffed out by some crazy Jinn guy's sister because I defended myself! Life is just so not fair!"

Giles sighed. "I don't believe the situation is as hopeless as it seems," he said. "Serena definitely sounded as if she regretted her duty to avenge Saar. Perhaps we can sway her..."

"Well, you'd better do all this swaying before she reopens that portal," Xander broke in. "And before she brings Obi-Wan Kenobi here." He pointed to the floor, meaning the real world.

"There is a possibility she doesn't yet know how she will destroy us," Giles remarked. "That allows us time to convince her to excuse Buffy, and the rest of us.."

"Or maybe she does know what she's gonna do and us not knowing is part of the punishment," Willow suggested.

"Oh...no," Buffy gasped as the blood drained from her face. She looked from her friends to Giles. "What if she plans to open the Hellmouth?"

Giles mulled the idea over a moment then replied, "Doubtful. She's not an inherently evil Jinn. And she made it quite clears she only intends us harm. She seeks revenge, not the destruction of the human world."

"Well.. what could she have in mind?" Imoen asked. She felt a little self-conscious calling attention to herself. She swallowed. "What sort of things could she manipulate into doing her work for her? I do not believe she will kill us herself or she'd have done so now."

Giles nodded in agreement. "Sunnydale offers such a wide range of evil for Serena to choose from," he said.

"I, for one, plan to barricade myself in my room until I die," Xander said, motioning to himself.

"Well, I'm not hiding," Buffy told him. She put her hands on her hips. "I stand behind what I did. We were in the right."

"You won't be standing behind much if you're dead," Xander replied.

"Xander, Buffy, please," Giles interrupted, holding up a hand to the two teens who were facing off. "Fighting will not help us."

Xander looked to Willow and Imoen. "I sense the big 'R' word coming," he said. "Research."

Willow stepped forward. "You know me, Giles," she said. "I'm more than happy to offer my services. If we find out more about Serena, we might get an idea of what she'll do."

"Willow is correct," Imoen agreed. "Mr. Giles, I would like to help as well."

Xander let out a groan as he tossed up his hands. "Ok, I guess I'm in too!" he said, resigned. "No better place to die than with all my friends. I just knew I wasn't getting out of this school alive!"

Willow smiled, happy that Xander chose to stick with them. "I'm going to give Oz a call and let him know I won't be able to make it tonight." She went into Giles' office.

Giles began to pull books from behind the checkout counter. He handed one to Xander then to Imoen. "We'll start with these," he said to them.

"Ooo! Jinn and Their Magick," Xander said, feigning excitement when he saw which book Giles had given him. He opened the book, lovingly stroking his hand over the pages. "Oh... my beautiful book of Jinn, how I've missed you." He joined Imoen at the table. She was already thumbing through her book.

"I'm not going down without a fight," Buffy said when Giles turned to hand her a book. "And I'm not letting Serena scare me off the streets."

Xander looked up from his book. "You're not really gonna patrol tonight, are you?"

"It's Serena's duty to try to kill me and it's my duty to slay the vampires," Buffy said to him. "We both have our respective jobs to do." With that, Buffy left the library.

-

Later that evening...

Willow yawned as she rubbed her eyes with her fingers. The words in the book before her were getting blurry. Not much of interest in it anyway, so it wasn't a loss. Giles, glasses in hand, paced back and forth by the table, pondering all of the information the group had amassed on Serena so far. None of it sounded promising. He placed his glasses on as he stopped.

"So... what we know," he started. "Serena is generally a good Jinn spirit, who minds her own business--"

"Unlike Saar," Willow muttered.

"Her entire clan disapproved of Saar's Games, but loyalty to family members is extremely important with this particular group," Giles continued. He nodded, thinking for a moment. "Interesting."

Xander leaned back in his chair. "There's little chance of us talking Serena out of this whole 'you killed my brother, prepare to die' thing, huh?"

"I refuse to rule out the possibility," Giles simply responded.

Imoen's head lowered. "I feel sorry for her, in a way," she softly said. "Forced to do this thing because rules say she must."

Willow sighed then looked to Giles. "So, in the meantime, we have to look over our shoulders, wondering when she'll strike?"

Xander slammed the book in front of him shut, got up from his chair and headed for the doors of the library.

"Where are you going?" Giles asked as Xander walked by him.

Walking backwards, Xander replied, "I'm going to make out my last will and testament, seeing as how I'm a dead man walking." He turned around, shoved open the library doors and was gone.

"Xander!" Imoen called, but it was useless. She frowned as she sank down in her chair.

"I don't suppose we can accomplish much more here tonight," Giles quietly said, glancing at the two girls. "I'll give you a ride home, Willow."

-

Local Park

A gentle, sweeping breeze blew through the small Sunnydale park. The empty swings on the nearby swing set creaked on their chains as the wind rocked them back and forth. Sunnydale was much like a ghost town at this time of night. And many ghosts were afoot in the little village.

Serena took soft steps as she strolled through the cool grass, her dress fluttering about her legs. Her eyes closed as faint whispering voices filled her mind. She nodded. Yes, it was time to put her plan for revenge into motion. The breeze died away and Serena's eyes slowly opened. She could sense the Slayer nearby. The girl emitted a very powerful, distinctive aura.

Raising the book high above her head, Serena chanted a few words in an ancient language. She made a motion with her free hand and a bright flash of light followed. When the light subsided, Serena was gone from the park. But Obi-Wan Kenobi lay on the ground under a nearby tree.

Obi-Wan sat up on the ground, baffled by the odd event that had just taken place. One moment, he was with Anakin Skywalker at the Jedi Temple on Coruscant then he was... He looked around, not recognizing a single thing about the planet he was now on. Getting to his feet, Obi-Wan felt a disorientation not related to the sudden change in location. This was something... deeper. Whatever it was, it wasn't right.

He raised his eyes up to the night sky in hopes of determining where in the galaxy he could be. He turned around a few times, scanning the sky, searching for something... some familiar planet or star up there. But he found nothing, absolutely nothing, in these completely alien skies.

"Where am I?" he mused as he shook his head. He didn't have much longer to dwell on his current location. A low, guttural growling nearby caught his attention. Placing a hand to his lightsabre handle clipped to his belt, Obi-Wan turned to face whatever was making the noise.

Three strangely dressed humanoid creatures with very distorted facial features and eerie yellow eyes were a few meters from him. He'd never seen a species quite like them, not that he could recall at the moment, anyway. The creatures bared their fangs at him, growling as they slowly advanced. It was obvious to Obi-Wan now that the inhabitants of this particular planet were not going to give him a warm welcome.

Another of the creatures dropped out of the tree, landing silently behind Obi-Wan. Obi-Wan whirled around when the creature's growl startled him. He held up his hand towards the creature, in an attempt to Force push the being away from him. But nothing happened.

The creature roared and lashed out at Obi-Wan's outstretched arm with its claws. The nails ripped right through the material of Obi-Wan's Jedi tunic sleeve and dug right into his arm. Obi-Wan backpedaled, mostly in shock, but also in fear when he realized what that disorientation he felt was. He looked from his bloodied and ripped sleeve up to the creatures coming towards him. The Force had left him upon his arrival in this bizarre world.

"Friend of the Slayer," snarled one of the creatures then the being knocked Obi-Wan to the ground, laughing.

"We're going to rip you apart, Slayer's friend," growled another as the four of them surrounded the Jedi. Their triumphant, taunting laughter stopped, though, when they heard a voice say, "Oh, now, boys, is that any way to treat a visitor to our fair little town?"

Buffy grabbed two of the vampires by their collars and threw them out of her way. She pulled out her stake, plunged it into the chest of the third vamp before it knew what was going on. She yanked the stake out of it before it dusted, pivoted on her heel and did the fourth vampire the same favor as it moved to attack her.

As the dust from the two vampires settled, Buffy looked around for the other two. They were nowhere to be seen. Hmm, she thought as she lowered her stake. Cowards. She shifted her attention to Obi-Wan, still on the ground, staring up at her in amazement. He'd never seen creatures do something like that when killed. She grinned as she held out her free hand to Obi-Wan. "Welcome to Earth," she greeted. She pulled Kenobi to his feet when he grasped her hand. "You ok?"

He absently nodded then looked at the piles of dust the creatures had left behind. "What sort of beings were those, anyway?" he inquired, motioning to the dust. "Quite an interesting effect your... weapon has on them."

"Oh, those are vampires," Buffy replied. She kicked one of the dust piles with her foot then looked at him. "Shove a nice wooden stake in their hearts and they go bye-bye." She held up the stake so he could see. "They're just one of the things that fall into my Must Slay category."

Even though she was making conversation with him like it was nothing, Buffy's mind was whirring. She couldn't believe Obi-Wan Kenobi was actually in Sunnydale and only two feet away from her. Serena had really done it. And it complicated the situation to astronomical proportions.

Obi-Wan looked past Buffy. "And I suppose those are more of the same?" he asked then nodded in that direction.

Buffy turned to see about six vampires, including the two she'd assumed ran away, coming towards them. The vamps continued to growl and snarl as they surrounded the two humans.

"No rest for the wicked," Buffy said then sighed. She punched one of the vampires that tried to jump her sending it flying backwards. "Jerk," she muttered. She spun around on one foot, arm extended to backhand another vamp.

The sound of Obi-Wan's lightsabre igniting caught Buffy's attention. As she staked one of the vampires, she whirled around to see a glowing blue-white blade jutting from the sabre hilt. What did he plan to do with that?

"They're vampires!" she yelled at Obi-Wan. She paused to give a back kick, hitting a vamp attempting to sneak up on her. "You have to stake'em!" she added. She rammed her stake behind her, catching the same vamp she'd just kicked in the chest. The vamp roared out as it dusted.

One of the vampires made a lunge for the Jedi. Obi-Wan easily sidestepped his way out of the vampire's sloppy attack, whirled around bring his sabre blade down at an angle. The blue-white blade smoothly sliced through the vampire's neck, decapitating the creature. The vampire's remains fell into a pile of dust on the ground.

Buffy's eyebrows shot up pretty impressed with the move. "Or that'll work," she said. She turned to face off with another vampire but was caught off guard by a wicked punch. The Slayer stumbled backwards, ending up back to back with Obi-Wan.

The number of vampires had greatly increased since the fight began. Perhaps a dozen or so were making a rather large circle around them. It was clear they were out-gunned in this particular battle.

"Do you have any suggestions as to how we get out of this?" Obi-Wan asked, glancing over his shoulder at Buffy. He gripped his sabre handle tightly, wondering what move these creatures would make next. Without the Force to guide him, he was fighting blind.

"Yes," Buffy replied. "On my planet, we have a name for what to do in sitches like this."

"And that would be?" he impatiently asked when Buffy didn't continue.

"Run!" Buffy yelled. She gave Obi-Wan a shove to get him moving.

As the two of them sprinted down the street, Obi-Wan shut down his lightsabre then gave a quick glance behind him. The vampires were not giving up on killing them so easily.

"Don't watch'em, stupid!" Buffy snapped, hitting Obi-Wan in the shoulder.

Other people walking the streets of Sunnydale stopped and watched the odd sight with an amused interest. A gang openly chasing two people down the streets of a small town wasn't exactly something they witnessed every day. Especially when one of the chasee's wore a Jedi costume.

"This way!" Buffy led Obi-Wan up the sidewalk towards front door. She reached out for the front door knob, hoped it was unlocked and turned it. Buffy grunted as Obi-Wan slammed into her back, forcing her into the house along with him. The two of them tumbled to the floor of the Summers' home.

Buffy fell at the foot of the stairs so hard the wind was knocked out of her. She groaned as Obi-Wan collapsed just beside her. She put a hand to her ribcage, gasping for air. Slowly, she turned around as the sounds of the growling vampires neared. Obi-Wan struggled to get up but Buffy held up a hand, motioning for him to stay where he was.

The vampires charged the front door but an invisible barrier kept them from entering. Obi-Wan sat up on the floor as the vampires clawed and snarled at the barrier between them and the Slayer and her friend.

"A force field of some sort?" he asked as he looked over to Buffy.

Buffy watched the vamps give up on trying to get inside the house and let out a pained breath. She reached out with her left foot and kicked the front door closed. "Yeah... a force field called 'you're not invited'," she replied. "Uhhh..." She leaned back on her stairs, brushing her sweat soaked hair off of her forehead. "This is great... juuuust great," she muttered. She used every ounce of her willpower to get to her feet.

Obi-Wan did the same and turned his concerns to his weapon. He'd made a few stupid mistakes with his sabre in the past. And he didn't plan to make anymore, especially when on some strange planet infested with lifeforms that attacked without provocation.

"Oh, I'm fine," Buffy flatly said when she saw Obi-Wan putting all his attentions to his lightsabre hilt. "Nooo need to ask." She stopped her smart aleck commentary when she noticed something about him though. "Oh... you've been hurt." She gently took hold of his right wrist. She pushed back the sleeve then made a face upon seeing the nasty scratches on his forearm. "They got you good. Come on."

"What? Where are we going?" He followed her into the kitchen. Not really followed, more like she pulled him there. He was curious as to why Buffy retained her strength in this world while he could not.

"Sit." Buffy pushed him down onto one of the stools positioned around the kitchen counter. "Now don't touch that. Who knows what kind of germs are on your hands." She walked out of the room and returned shortly carrying a roll of white gauze and a bottle of hydrogen peroxide.

Obi-Wan continued to look around Buffy's kitchen, baffled by the sad residence such a powerful person on Buffy's planet was forced to live in. On Coruscant, she would have much better living arrangements. Then again, Buffy never showed a bit of interest in staying on Coruscant. He wondered why.

"How long were you gettin' rough and tumble with those vamps before I showed up?" Buffy asked as she unscrewed the cap from the peroxide.

"Not long," he answered turning his attention to Buffy. "They were not friendly creatures. Are all of these... vampires like the ones we met?"

"99.9 percent of them," she replied as she unrolled the gauze. "It's what they do: maim, kill, suck the blood out of people. You can't expect much else from demons." She picked up the bottle of peroxide then met his gaze. "This may sting a little," she warned him.

Obi-Wan nodded. He watched as Buffy held onto his wrist then spill the contents of the brown bottle onto his wound. "Ahh... ahhh!" he whimpered to his own surprise, let alone Buffy's. "That hurts!"

Buffy suppressed the urge to laugh out loud as she set the bottle down. She shook her head a little. "I never thought a big, bad Jedi Knight would be such a big baby," she teasingly said.

Obi-Wan, however, wasn't amused by it in the least. "I can handle the pain just fine," he informed her. He flexed his fingers as the strange liquid bubbled a little on his arm. "If only the Force had not left me, I could take care of this myself," he added.

Carefully, Buffy began to wrap up Obi-Wan's forearm with the gauze. "Hmmm... well, why don't you have it?" she asked.

"I'm not certain. Once I arrived on your world, things have been vastly different," he replied.

"You'll find my world is full of surprises," Buffy said, glancing up at him, smiling.

Obi-Wan watched Buffy gently work on her bandaging. "You are quite skilled at this," he remarked, looking from his arm up to her.

"Yeah... well, some things you tend to pick up out of necessity," she quietly said, her eyes not leaving her work. "I've had my share of injuries being Slayer over the last four years." She finished up then met his gaze. She felt her face momentarily flush when she saw how he looked at her. Her eyes flicked down to the bloodstained, shredded sleeve. "I... I can't fix the damage done to your clothing. I don't do sewing. Unless you'd like my fingers to become a permanent decoration on your sleeve."

Obi-Wan pushed his sleeve down over his bandaged arm. "You've done more than enough," he assured her.

After a few moments hesitation, Buffy gathered up the peroxide and the left over gauze. She left the room once more and when she returned, the items were back where she'd gotten them. Her wiped her hands on her black sweatpants, feeling strange. It was only natural... She had a fictional character sitting in her house.

"You mentioned you've been a Slayer four years," Obi-Wan said, trying to break the uncomfortable silence that had fallen between them.

"Four wonderful years," she confirmed as she leaned against the counter. "I'm hoping for more. Maybe fifty or sixty years more. I'd like to die of old age, you know." She placed her palms on the countertop, her fingers automatically drumming on it.

"How many other Slayers are on your planet?"

"Just me," she answered, her fingers stopping the annoying drum solo. "I'm the Chosen One. The only girl in all the world with the strength and skill to kill the evil... blah blah blah. There's a whole prophecy thing, but it gets really old, really fast when you have it repeated to you all the time. And I don't want to bore you with it. You get the gist." She tucked her hair behind her ear. She decided it would be best to leave out that second Slayer fluke. It required much more explanation than she was prepared to give.

"Only you?" Obi-Wan said, gaining Buffy's attention. She noted that surprise on his face. "Only you to fight all of those... vampires?"

"Among other things," she said as she nodded. She slapped her hands on the counter. "Lots of evil crawlin' around this world. My job is to slay it, protect humankind, save the world and yadda yadda... life goes on." She bit her lip as her shoulders slumped. "And that's the reason you're on my planet, my job."

Buffy did her best to explain to Obi-Wan about Serena and her plans to exact revenge on them for what happened with Saar without tipping him off about the "truth". She'd become quite skilled in selective omission from three years of hiding her Slayer identity from her mother. The skill, she found out, was quite handy in other situations.

"That Sith Lord has a sister?" Obi-Wan said when Buffy finished her story.

"No, he wasn't a Sith Lord," she replied. She sighed as she put a hand to her forehead. "How many times do I have to tell you this before you get it?" She lowered her hand. "He was a Jinn spirit, a particularly powerful and evil being indigenous to Earth. And Serena brought you here so she could kill us all in one fell swoop." She drew an index finger across to her neck to get the point across. "And we have no idea how she's planning to do it."

"We?"

"My friends, the one who helped me get back here," she replied. "They're all marked for death, too. And so is Imoen. But I'm not letting Serena rub me out. I'm putting up a fight."

"Why not dispatch of this Jinn, like you did the other?"

Buffy folded her arms across her chest. "I didn't exactly have a chance to try," she said then paused, a thoughtful expression crossing her face. "And...I can sort of see her side of this whole mess. She's got her duty to her brother, avenge his death and all."

"And it is your duty to protect the lives of your friends, is it not?" he countered.

Buffy frowned as she gave him a look. Ugh... she hated it when he had her. It was just a tad bit annoying. She was about to respond when the kitchen door burst open, startling her and Obi-Wan.

Xander rushed into the kitchen, panting hard. He slammed the door shut and fell against it, doing his best to catch his breath. "Va... Vam... Vam... chase," he choked out as he tapped on the door.

Buffy held up a hand as Obi-Wan got up from the stool, prepared to defend himself. She shook her head. "Xander," she said to her friend. She watched Xander slide down the door and collapse to the floor. "What happened? Who was chasing you?"

Grasping his side, Xander coughed loudly as he raised up his eyes to Buffy. He drew in a few calming breaths. "I was walking home from the school when I got into a cross country race with about half of Sunnydale's vamp population." He grunted as Buffy helped him to his feet. "I barely got away. It was pure luck I managed to make it here." He turned and immediately jumped back when he came face to face with Obi-Wan. "Dear... lord... she really did it."

"That she did," Buffy said as she glanced from Xander to Obi-Wan. "I guess you two should be formally introduced. Obi-Wan, this is one of my friends, Xander Harris." She clapped a hand on Xander's shoulder and smiled a little when she saw Xander staring at Obi-Wan in awe. "And, Xander, I don't think I need to tell you of all people who this is."

Xander gave Buffy a side-glance. "Are you sure he's real?" he asked in a whisper.

Buffy made a sweeping motion with her hand, directing Xander's attention to Obi-Wan's bloodstained sleeve. "I'm pretty sure he is," she replied.

Xander gave Obi-Wan a nod. "Welcome to our humble planet," he greeted after a pause. He then asked Buffy, "Does he know everything?"

"Not everything."

Xander understood. The Rule was still in place, much to his dismay.

"Buffy?" Joyce Summers' voice startled Buffy. Dressed in her pajamas with a robe firmly tied shut around herself, Joyce squinted as she entered the kitchen. "Buffy, what's all the noise down here?" She noticed Xander and some strange man in her house. "What is Xander doing here? And who is this?"

"Mom," Buffy interrupted as she came around the counter and joined her mother in the doorway. "It's no big deal, Mom," she assured her. "Nothing's going on." She put on a smile and hoped to God her mother would go back to bed.

"Honey, who is this?" Joyce inquired, pointing to Obi-Wan. "I think I should know who is in my house, Buffy."

Obi-Wan started to reply to Joyce's question, but Xander stepped up. "This is... uh... Ben," Xander told Joyce. He grinned briefly. "Uh.. yeah, Ben. We met him at the Bronze, Mrs. Summers."

Joyce looked to Buffy. Her daughter smiled brightly as she nodded. She started to say something but only let out the breath. "Just... don't stay up all night, Buffy," she told her. "I have a lot of work ahead of me tomorrow with that Peruvian Exhibit, so keep the noise down to a roar?"

"We'll be very quiet, Mom," Buffy promised.

Joyce felt that Buffy was hiding something from her but let it slide. If it was a life and death matter Buffy would certainly tell her. "Good night," she said then smiled a little at Xander and Obi-Wan. She started to leave but turned back around. "And, Buffy?"

Buffy tensed up again when her mother addressed her. "Yes, Mom?"

"Would you please finish cleaning up the mess you and Willow made of the desk in the den?" she asked. She shook her head. "I can't get the people to come and pick it up for refinishing until Monday. See what you can do, ok?"

"Yes, of course I will," Buffy obediently replied with a firm nod. Pleeeease go back to bed! she begged her mother in her mind.

"Good night, honey," Joyce said then left the kitchen.

Buffy practically deflated when Joyce was safely out of the room. "That was so close," she said then looked at Xander. "Good thinking there, too."

Xander shrugged and made a dismissive gesture with his hand. "I'm just fast on my feet tonight, in more ways than one," he said. He nodded to Obi-Wan after a pause. "Where'd you dig him up, anyway?"

"He was in one of the parks," Buffy answered as she came back over to them. "He was getting acquainted with our nocturnal residents." She lifted up the curtain on the kitchen door window. "Huh... that's weird."

"What's weird?" Xander asked as he joined her at the door.

"The vamps," she replied, pointing a finger to the window. "They're lingering out there. Don't see that much."

"Really," Xander commented, peering out of the window. "It's not like there aren't a bunch of other people in Sunnydale they can kill."

Buffy hit him in the arm. "Xander," she hissed, scoldingly.

"Ow," Xander said as he put his hand on his upper arm. "I'm not saying that's a good thing, Buffy. But it's better than me dying."

Buffy let the curtain drop. "Well, at least they're not hurting anyone else since they're camped outside," she said.

"Guess that means I'm here for the night," Xander replied, letting go of his arm. He broke into a giddy grin. "Ooo, sleepover!" he exclaimed. "Are we gonna paint our toenails and play Truth or Dare?"

"I cannot stay here," Obi-Wan simply stated, his eyes on Buffy. His contribution to the conversation reminded Buffy he was even there. "I have important duties to attend to on Coruscant, Buffy. You must understand."

Xander's face lit up. "Oh, yeah! That's right! You're training Ana--"

Buffy's hand clamped over Xander's mouth before he could get the rest of the name out. She narrowed her eyes at him and mouthed, "Shut up", then took her hand from him. She turned her attention back to Obi-Wan.

"Look, I'm aware of your sitch, ok? And I'd love to get you back to your pressing duties. Unfortunately, this is out of our control," she calmly explained to him. "We can't do anything now but wait."

"I do not have the time to waste on your planet," Obi-Wan continued. "Time is vital in--"

Buffy groaned, cutting him off. "I can't do anything about it!" she declared tossing up her hands in frustration. "If you want to go out there and get yourself slaughtered, be my guest! But we're not going anywhere until sun up." She motioned from herself to Xander. "Serena is our enemy here--"

"The death of Saar returned you to your world, one would assume Serena's death would do the same for me," he cut in.

"Oh, one would assume?" Buffy repeated, folding her arms across her chest. She took a step closer to him. "Well assume this: Serena's not playing some Game like Saar. She's not gonna walk up in here and confront us like Saar. She knows her limitations--you should know yours. Obviously complex thought processes are not within your parameters!"

Xander stepped between Buffy and Obi-Wan. "Excuse us," he politely said to the Jedi then led Buffy out of the kitchen and into the foyer area. "Can we please stow the sniping contest for a later date?" he asked once they were out of Obi-Wan's earshot.

Buffy's hands balled up into fists as she gritted her teeth together. "That's what I had to put up with last time," she growled in a low voice. "Mr. I-Know-More-Than-You. It's annoying, Xander. He's so damn... stubborn!"

"And you're not?" Xander replied, surprised that. "Hey! White flag!" he exclaimed when Buffy shot him a glare. "Cut the guy some slack, though, Buff. Role reversal is happenin' here. All he wants to do is go home and he needs your help. Stop me if this sounds at all familiar."

Buffy's eyes narrowed on Xander briefly. "I hate it when you're right," she muttered.

Xander grinned and he stood a little taller. "Yeah, I am right, aren't I?" He chuckled then became serious once again. "We need to figure out what's going on around here."

"Yeah, that would help a lot," Buffy flatly replied.

"Let's take a look at what we know," Xander said. He thought for a moment. "We know Serena wants us all dead. We know Obi-Wan's here..." He paused, his mouth hanging open then he shook his head. "And what else do we know?"

"I think you covered it all."

"And I started out so well," he said with a somber sigh.

"Oh, wait, there's another thing," Buffy said, remembering. "Obi-Wan mentioned he no longer had the Force."

Xander pondered it then said, "That's understandable. It's something that only exists in the Star Wars universe. You had the Force when you went there, even though you didn't know how to control it."

"Really?" Buffy asked. She tilted her head slightly. When Xander nodded, she added, "That's sorta cool." She frowned. "But why does his lightsabre still work?"

"It does?"

"He used it to decapitate a vampire, I'd say it works."

Xander shrugged. "You've got me on that one, Buffy."

Buffy sighed as she and Xander looked back towards the kitchen. They saw Obi-Wan standing there, watching them.

"I guess he knows how you felt, too," Xander commented.

Buffy's expression turned sympathetic. "He's probably just as scared as I was. He'd be stupid not to be."

"Thrust into a strange land with no Force to guide him? Yeah, he probably is."

"He's only human," she told Xander. She bit her lip, feeling back about being such a bitch to Obi-Wan earlier. "Well... I guess I'm making sleeping arrangements for two." She looked to Xander. "We'll see Giles in the morning and figure out what to do. If we can do anything."

-

Buffy's House, Next Morning

Buffy slapped her hand down on her alarm clock, shutting it off. She groaned as she rolled onto her back. Why was her alarm going off at 7 AM? Surely it wasn't because she had school so it must be--

"Xander!" she gasped as she sat up in bed. She tossed back her blankets, threw her legs over the side of the bed then slipped her feet into her pink slippers. "Please, Mom, don't be up," she muttered as she rushed out of her room.

Buffy hurried down the stairs, trying to remain quiet at the same time. She stopped at the foot of the steps and listened. Nope. Her mother was most likely still asleep. She went into her living room. Xander lay in the armchair, his legs hanging loosely over one of the arms. Her friend was still soundly asleep, his head drooping onto his left shoulder.

"Xander!" Buffy whispered, poking him in the arm with her finger. "Hey, wake up." She gently shook his shoulder until he groaned. "Xander, get up."

Xander's eyes opened and focused on Buffy standing in front of him. Her hair was matted like she'd just got out of bed. She wore a pair of gray sweatpants and a light pink T-shirt. She was still a beautiful sight to him.

"I'm up! I'm up!" he mumbled as he stretched his arms over his head. He yawned as he rubbed the sleep out of his eyes then sat up in the chair. "I was having a pretty good dream, too--" He stopped when he realized who he was talking to. "But you wouldn't care about that because it was a guy type of dream."

Buffy sighed. She didn't really care about his dream, whatever it was. "Xander, you've gotta get out of here before my mom wakes up," she reminded him.

Xander blinked as the events of the night before flooded back to him. He flicked his gaze over to the couch where Obi-Wan slept. "Oh, right," he replied. He pushed himself out of the chair, wincing at the pain in his neck. "When are we leaving?"

"'We' aren't going anywhere," Buffy said as Xander massaged his neck with his hand. "I have to clean up that mess in the den or my mom's gonna hang me. You heard her last night."

"Ok, I get the picture," Xander said. He nodded towards Obi-Wan. "What are we gonna do with him, though?"

"Take him to your house," Buffy answered after a minute of pondering it.

"My house?" Xander exclaimed, forgetting to keep his voice down. Buffy put her finger to her lips, reminding him to be quiet. He lowered his voice. "My house? Are you crazy?" He paused as he hand dropped from his neck to his side. "Of course, it's not such a bad idea," he thoughtfully added. "My parents won't notice a Jedi Knight in the house, they rarely notice me."

"Great!" Buffy said, relieved that Xander was seeing her way of things. She paused. "Oh, I didn't mean 'Great!' your parents don't notice you," she quickly said to him. "I meant 'Great!' about them being non-observant and all. You know."

Xander nodded a little letting Buffy know he understood. He glanced from Obi-Wan to Buffy. "Well," he said. He pointed to the Jedi. "Wake him up."

"Why do I have to do it?"

"Because you know him better than I do. Personally, I mean," Xander replied.

"Geez," Buffy grumbled. She kicked the sofa cushion with her foot, the result of which jerked Obi-Wan awake. "Rise and shine, Jedi boy," she pleasantly greeted him.

"I had the strangest dream," Obi-Wan said as he sat up on Buffy's couch. He looked up to see Buffy and Xander staring back at him. His hopes that everything that happened the night before was all in his mind were immediately dashed. "Oh, it wasn't all a dream."

"It's a real nightmare, I know!" Buffy said to him. She ran a hand through her hair, trying to smooth it down. "Look, Xander's gonna take you to his house. My mom is so not gonna take to the fact some stranger's sleeping on her couch."

Obi-Wan understood. "What about those creatures? The vampires?"

"It got a little sunny for' em," Xander replied. "Contact with direct sunlight makes them break out... into flames." He saw the look on Obi-Wan's face. "Trust me, they're not outside anymore."

Buffy clamped a hand on Obi-Wan's arm, careful not to touch his wound and she pulled him to his feet. "So get up and get out," she ordered. She tossed a nervous look towards the stairs. "I'd simply love to go into all the details about vampires with you, but we're working within a time frame here. You'll be ok."

Obi-Wan looked from the Harris boy to Buffy. The idea of leaving the only person he knew he could trust his life with on this planet didn't appeal to him. Buffy was a proven skilled fighter while this boy she prepared to send him away with didn't look like much. He preferred to stay with her.

"Don't wig," Buffy said as she patted Obi-Wan's arm. She offered an encouraging smile. "You'll be fine with Xander. Really."

"I've got you covered," Xander assured Obi-Wan when the Jedi look at him. "Sunnydale's safe in the daytime. Well... mostly safe."

It appeared Obi-Wan wouldn't have much choice in the matter. "If you trust him..." he said as he looked back to Buffy.

"Completely," Buffy declared, herding the two of them towards her front door. She opened her door and made a motion for them to leave. "You enjoy the rest of your visit to our little planet, ok?" she told Obi-Wan as he walked out of the house. "You--" she grabbed Xander, bringing him to a stop. "You watch what you say around him? Got it?"

Xander worked his way out of her grasp. "Yes, I will," he said. "I've got it all under control, Buffy. Don't worry."

"You better. I'm going to give Giles a call and let him know what's up," Buffy continued. "You just take him to your house and keep him occupied."

Xander gave Buffy a sharp salute. "Yes, ma'am."

"And, for the love of Mike, when I say keep him occupied, it doesn't mean to show him the friggin' Star Wars trilogy, ok?" she added as Xander started to leave.

Xander snapped his fingers. "Darn, well, there goes that idea," he sarcastically told her. He gave her a look. "Don't worry, Buffy, I'm not gonna tell him anything that'll ruin the illusion he's simply on another planet in a galaxy far, far away." He turned and left.

Buffy shook her head as she watched Xander and Obi-Wan walk away. "I'm so gonna regret this," she said. "I just know it."

-

Giles' House

Giles placed a hot cup of tea on the kitchen table by Imoen. He took a seat at the opposite end of the table with his own cup of tea. That was one of the many things he'd grown to admire in Imoen--her love of tea.

Imoen flipped through her book and settled on a new chapter. She looked at Giles. "Thank you," she said as she picked up the cup of tea.

"How... how are you finding the couch?" Giles asked as the girl sipped the hot tea. "I am sorry I don't have more appropriate guest quarters."

"It's fine," Imoen assured him with a smile. "I'm grateful you've allowed me to impose on you like this."

Giles returned her smile. "It's no imposition at all," he said. "It's rather pleasant to have a young person so interested in learning staying here. And one who enjoys my tea is even better."

Imoen raised up her cup. "It's an interesting drink," she remarked then put the cup back on the saucer. "As is this book. The chapter on Latin music was very good. I have not heard such music in my galaxy, it's very spirited."

"I've noticed your attraction to it," Giles said.

Imoen turned back a few chapters, a more serious expression on her face. "I found this chapter on gospel music fascinating," she said. "How music created by people being held in slavery can be so joyous is amazing." She frowned. "It's sad that anyone should be held as a slave. At least your planet has rid itself of the institution."

Giles decided it was time to change the subject. "How are you enjoying Sunnydale?" he inquired. "I haven't heard you say much about it."

"A strange sort of place," Imoen replied as she thumbed through her book. "But I am adjusting. Buffy and the others are very helpful but..." She paused as she shook her head. "Sometimes, I get this feeling they are keeping something from me. They act oddly at times, become hesitant with their words. What do you think?"

Giles shifted in his chair. "Well... children are a mystery to me," he answered. "I'm pretty much baffled by them, period." He was relieved to hear the phone ring and got up to answer it. "Hello?" he said after he picked up the receiver.

"Giles?" said Buffy's voice. "There's a big problem."

Giles listened as Buffy related the story to him about Obi-Wan Kenobi. "My God," he said. "Is that all?"

"Well, I sent Obi-Wan with Xander over to Xander's house," Buffy replied.

"It's worse than I originally thought," he said, shaking his head.

Imoen looked up from her book. "What is happening?" she asked.

Giles held up a hand to her. "Buffy, why don't you call Willow. Have her and Oz pick up Xander and meet me at the library in about a half an hour," he said into the receiver.

"Sure," Buffy answered. "I'll be there as soon as I get done with my mom's desk."

"Good, see you soon." Buffy hung up.

Giles hung up his phone. Serena really did do it. And that complicated things a lot more.

"What's wrong?" Imoen asked again.

"Uh..." He looked over to the girl, the worry and concern apparent in her eyes. "It seems we have a new addition to the Sunnydale population."

---

Xander cracked open the front door of his house and poked his head inside. He could hear the TV on from outside and he only hoped his parents had fallen asleep in front of the thing.

"Damn," he muttered. No such luck. His father sat on the couch, swigging beer and watching a rerun of Battlestar Galactica. If there was one day Xander most wished his father had a job to be at, it was today. He quietly closed the door and turned to Obi-Wan. "We're stuck out here," he said. He jerked a thumb towards his house. "Surprisingly, my dad's awake and coherent enough to be watching television. I'm somewhat amazed he's up this early." He sat down on the front steps of his porch.

Obi-Wan would've rather gone inside, despite the boy's father, but for some reason, Xander and Buffy wished to avoid them meeting. He joined Xander on the steps and surveyed his new surroundings.

The area in which Xander Harris resided was quite rundown. The dwellings in Buffy's part of this strange village were temples compared to these rickety old shacks. So far, he'd made note of nothing of importance or great interest on this Earth planet. Even that desert world Anakin Skywalker was from--Tatooine--had something going for it.

Xander nervously tapped his toes on the steps beneath his feet, occasionally glancing at Obi-Wan beside him. Obi-Wan Kenobi, live and in Sunnydale, Xander thought. The geeky side of him got an enormous charge out of that. How many people could say they actually met the real Obi-Wan Kenobi? Besides Buffy, not one person.

He had so much he wanted to ask this guy. And a lot he was dying to tell him. But everything that came to Xander's mind to say to Obi-Wan was a no-no, off-limits. He wondered in the grand scheme of it all, did it really matter if he tried to warn Obi-Wan about Anakin Skywalker's destiny? Would it really be a huge blunder to try to stop genocide by saying, "Hey, that Anakin kid's gonna grow up to be Darth Vader and terrorize the galaxy!"

Listen to yourself, Harris, he thought. You're thinking like this is all real. You've seen one too many movies. He glanced at Obi-Wan. Then again, Kenobi looked pretty damn real. No, he finally decided. It was better to just keep his mouth shut. And even if he did say anything, what was already written couldn't be erased.

Xander was about to give up on trying to talk with Obi-Wan when the Jedi spoke.

"That name...Ben," Obi-Wan said, looking over to Xander. "Where did you get it?"

"Huh?" Xander blinked. He shook his head, a panic washing over him. "I didn't say anything about any 'Ben', I swear!" He used a finger to cross his heart. "Honest."

"Yes, you did," Obi-Wan replied. He wondered why this boy was so edgy. "You told Buffy's mother my name was 'Ben'."

"Oh." was all Xander could muster. He did say that. "Yeah.. well, it just popped into my head. There was no reason whatsoever behind my picking the name 'Ben'. Uh... why do you ask?"

"No reason. Curious, really," Obi-Wan answered. He paused. "Ben. I sort of like it."

Xander felt a swell of pride. He liked my name, he thought. Oh, wait. That wasn't my name. George Lucas already gave it to him. Or will give it to him...

"Is every place on this planet as dreadfully dreary as this?" Obi-Wan asked. He waved a hand at Xander's neighborhood.

"Oh, no," Xander replied, shaking his head. "It's not all like this. I've seen pictures." He saw his joke didn't register with Obi-Wan, but why should it? "Uh... no, it's not all like this."

Obi-Wan looked down to his torn sleeve, mindlessly picking at a loose thread there. "I have never been on a world where the Force was not," he commented. "Something about your planet, it blocks the Force."

Xander's mind whirred. He had to come up with some explanation as to why the Force wasn't with Obi-Wan. Something... anything...

"Cats!" he blurted out. Obi-Wan lost interest in his sleeve and turned to Xander. "Yeah, that's it. Cats. They're animals here on Earth and they hinder the Force somehow. That's why none of us on earth can use the Force." Okay, so he altered an idea of Timothy Zahn's!

"Cats?" Obi-Wan replied. A creature that could keep the Force from him was on this odd little planet? These cats were obviously powerful. "How is it that Buffy still retains her use of the Force, then?"

Xander's mental back patting fest ended when Obi-Wan asked that question.

"Uh... well..." Xander spluttered. He shrugged slightly, trying to think of something to tell Obi-Wan. "Oh! Because she's the Chosen One, and she was born different. That's why." He looked at Obi-Wan. The guy seemed to be buying it.

Obi-Wan nodded after letting Xander's reply sink in. Yes, it was logical. For a person like Buffy to be without the use of the Force with her particular calling it would certainly be hopeless. He was about to ask Xander another question, but a car drove by.

"You have a very primitive little civilization," he remarked, instead, as he watched the car pass.

"Hey!" Xander said, insulted. "Watch who you're calllin' primitive!"

"What else could I possibly call it?" Obi-Wan asked Xander. "You have no spaceships, no connections with planets in other parts of the universe and rather.. basic ground transports." He motioned in the direction the car had gone.

Xander scoffed. "This from the guy sittin' around in a bathrobe," he mumbled.

"I cannot fathom why Buffy would want to return to such a backward planet," Obi-Wan continued, ignoring Xander's mutterings.

"This 'backward planet' is Buffy's home," Xander defensively replied. "Her friends and family all live here. Also, she has a job to do here. You should understand all about that sacred duty stuff--"

Xander cut off his rather nasty response when he realized he was treading into the off-limits zone. Luckily, Obi-Wan didn't call him on his knowledge of the Jedi.

"Yes, I do know," said Obi-Wan. His expression became thoughtful. "Instead of being here on your planet, I should be fulfilling my promise to train Anakin."

Xander involuntarily winced at the mention of Anakin's name. Scenes from A New Hope kept replaying in his head. The duel aboard the Death Star, mostly. "I've been waiting for you, Obi-Wan. We meet again at last. The circle is now complete - when I left you, I was but the learner. Now I am the master," rasped Vader. To which Ben Kenobi replied, "Only a master of evil, Darth."

Xander had to clench his teeth together to keep his mouth shut. If he started blurting out all of this stuff, who knew what would happen? Maybe nothing, but then again, maybe the Star Wars universe would pull a Pleasantville. If the latter were true...

He slapped a hand over his mouth, grunting a little to keep himself from saying anything. He had no idea how much longer he could control it.

"If I had not promised Qui-Gon," Obi-Wan went on, softly, "I would not have this burden." He sighed, recalling how the Council originally denied Qui-Gon permission to train Anakin. "I do wonder... am I doing the right thing?"

"Gah!" Xander grumbled, but it was muffled by both his hands over his mouth. He doubled over in an effort to keep his trap shut, and succeeded in falling off the steps. He thumped onto the ground. With a groan, he pushed himself up. That was a close one.

Just then, Oz's van pulled up in front of Xander's house. The passenger's side window rolled down and Willow called out, "Xander!"

Xander scrambled to his feet as Obi-Wan stood up. He held up a hand to Obi-Wan. "It's ok," he assured him. "They're friends." He turned his attention to Willow. "What are you guys doing here?"

"We're meeting Giles at the library," Oz called back. He leaned forward in the driver's seat so he could see Xander. "He told us to pick you up on the way."

"Buffy called me and told me what happened," Willow added as Xander and Obi-Wan came up to the van. She waved a hand. "Let's go!"

Xander slid open the side door of Oz's van. "Time to catch a ride in one of our 'basic ground transports'," he said to Obi-Wan then jumped into the van. As soon as Obi-Wan joined him, Xander shut the door.

Willow turned around in the front seat as Oz hit the gas. She couldn't believe the uncanny resemblance Obi-Wan had to the actor who had portrayed him. Buffy was right--it was disconcerting.

"So what's the story, Willow?" Xander asked.

Willow blinked then switched her gaze to Xander. "Buffy called Giles then she called me," she said. "He told us to meet him at the library. I think he has a plan, or at least an idea."

"Willow," said Obi-Wan. He'd finally put his finger on why the name was familiar. When the girl looked at him, he added, "You were the one Buffy spoke to on Naboo?"

Willow nodded. "Yeah, that's me, Willow." She motioned to Oz. "And this is Oz."

Oz glanced in his rearview mirror and gave Obi-Wan a nod hello. He noted the bloodstain on Obi-Wan's tunic sleeve. "There's a robe in the trunk back there," he said. "If you want it."

Xander maneuvered his way over the equipment Oz stored in his van and opened up the trunk when he reached it. He pulled out the battered dark beige hooded cloak and tossed it over to Obi-Wan. "Here ya go." He shut the trunk then made his way back over all the junk.

"Devon left that in here after our Halloween gig a couple of years ago," Oz said. He glanced in the mirror again to see Obi-Wan put it on.

Willow frowned. "I think we're calling unwanted attention to ourselves with him dressed like that."

Oz shrugged. "It's California, nobody cares." He paused and looked over to Willow. "Is current location on the No Go list? I forget."

"No, location knowing is absolutely fine," Willow assured him.

Oz pulled into the school parking lot and found a spot close to the front doors to park.

"What sort of place is this?" Obi-Wan asked as he looked up and down the halls of the high school. He spotted a lot of signs in a language resembling an ancient form of Basic, which read: "Seniors of '99" and "Congrats, Grads '99!"

"It's a high school," Willow told Obi-Wan. "Kids our age spend a lot of time matriculating here. Then we get a diploma, leave and go onto bigger and better things."

"Just think Jedi Temple, except 99 percent of the students would rather not be there at all," Xander said to Obi-Wan as the four of them entered the library.

Giles and Imoen looked up from a book they were mulling over when they heard the library doors open.

"Oh, you're here," Giles said when he saw them. "That's wonderful. All we need now is--" He paused when he saw Obi-Wan. "Uh... yes, all we need now is Buffy." He came closer to Obi-Wan, giving him a critical once over. "Amazing. Simply amazing," he remarked. He noticed the curious expression on the Jedi's face. "Oh, pardon me," he apologized. "I'm Rupert Giles."

Imoen joined them. She shook her head as she looked at Obi-Wan. "She did it," she said. "She really brought you here." Obi-Wan removed the cloak to reveal his ruined clothing. "Oh my..." she gasped, taking a step closer. "Whatever happened to you?"

"He got a little too close to the local wildlife," Xander answered.

"You said your name was Giles?" Obi-Wan said looking to the Watcher. "Buffy spoke of you. She said you have much knowledge."

Giles half-smiled. "I do the best I can," he replied.

The library doors opened again and this time, Buffy entered. "Ok," she greeted them. "Giles, please tell me you have something."

"Actually, I do have something," Giles told her. He retrieved the book from the table. "Imoen and I discovered a ritual that will enable us to summon Serena. So...we can plead our case to her."

"This is a waste of time, Giles," Buffy sighed. She waved a hand at the book. "We pleaded our case to her last night and that got us nothing."

"It's worth a shot," Giles told her. "We have time to reason with Serena before she... Well, whatever she has in store for us."

"Maybe her plan's already in motion," Oz said.

"How do you come to that conclusion?" Xander asked.

Oz nodded to Obi-Wan. "He's here."

"We say Oz is right," Willow spoke up. "What's the revenge?"

A silence fell over them.

Buffy suddenly snapped her fingers. "The vampires," she said. When everyone looked at her, she went on, "It has to be. When we--" she briefly pointed to Obi-Wan, "were running to my house last night, we passed a lot of people on the street. The vamps didn't even acknowledge them."

Xander shrugged. "I don't have a clue if I was singled out," he said. "I saw 'em chasing me and didn't look back."

"We cannot assume that this is the revenge Serena has in mind," Giles cautiously said to Buffy. "You are the Slayer, and it is well known among the vampires here in Sunnydale. Such a relentless pursuit is quite explainable."

"And I'm Mr. Nobody, and I got chased... so?" Xander look to Giles to explain that.

"Like you stated, you did not notice if they singled you out," Giles responded. He looked at each of them. "There is simply not enough evidence to base your assumption on, Buffy." He let his gaze settle on Oz. "But... there is one way to test such a theory."

"How can we do that?" asked Imoen.

"Oz," Giles replied. He nodded towards Oz. "He wasn't present when Buffy was transported. He had no part in Saar's death."

Buffy took a step closer to her Watcher. "Giles, you're not suggesting what I think you're suggesting. Are you?"

"Putting Oz into an area of vampire activity is the only way to be sure," Giles started.

"I won't allow it!" Willow declared, stepping in front of Oz. "There has to be another way."

"I agree with Willow," said Buffy.

Xander half-raised his hand then cleared his throat. "I call for a vote of 'no confidence' in the leadership of the librarian," he stated.

"I second that," Buffy told Xander then said to Giles, "Have you lost your mind?"

"I believe the plan has merit," Obi-Wan put in. He had been listening very carefully to the discussion, remaining quiet. These people knew this planet and its creatures much better than he did.

Buffy whirled around. "That figures! You would!" she snorted.

"We cannot ask Oz to risk his life," Imoen said to Obi-Wan. "Not to prove some theory. You don't know what sorts of monsters lurk on this world."

"We would not put the boy in danger," Obi-Wan replied.

"Boy?" Oz said, rather amused at how he'd been referred to.

"How can we do that?" Imoen inquired.

"It's simple: wherever he is, we are."

"I can handle that." Oz shrugged.

Willow turned to him. "You don't have to do this, Oz."

"I want to help you, Will," he replied. He offered a small smile. "If doing this helps you, then whatever happens is well worth it."

Willow sighed. She still didn't like it. Their lives were almost always in danger. Why should they go looking for trouble? "Where would we test this theory?" she asked Giles.

"Preferably somewhere with a getaway car nearby," Xander put in. He placed a hand to the back of his left thigh. "I think I pulled a hamstring when I made like Jesse Owens last night."

"You know these vampires the best," Obi-Wan said, looking to Buffy. "Where to they tend to dwell?"

"Dwell?" Buffy repeated. "Oh! You mean hang out! A lot of 'em loiter around a club called The Bronze. Steady supply of fresh young blood there."

"Buffy, are you certain you want to go there?" Giles asked. He gave a pointed look to Obi-Wan.

"It's where they hang out the most," Buffy replied. She shrugged her shoulders as if to say 'What else can we do?'. "It's better than walking around half the night looking for them."

"Plus, there's a big crowd in the Bronze," Xander added.

"Easy to get lost in if need be," Oz said.

"What do we do?" Imoen looked from Buffy to Giles. "Do we go there and see if any vampires attempt to kill us?"

"I'm guessing that's the plan," Xander said. He frowned then turned to Giles. "Not really diggin' the plan."

Giles nodded. "If Serena has put some sort of... of spell on the vampires, all of you in a confined space... could prove... disastrous."

Buffy thought it over. "Well, I could stay outside the Bronze, control the perimeter," she offered. "Keep an eye on who's going in since I can spot the undead patrons."

"And if they spot you first?" Willow asked.

"I believe we file that under the Pointless category," Xander told her.

"I'm thinking more Defeats The Purpose, myself," Oz said.

"I shall keep watch with Buffy," Obi-Wan said. It wasn't an offer, it was a statement of fact.

"I don't need your help," Buffy snapped at him. She looked to Giles. "I don't need his help."

"It is much safer than you being alone," Giles admitted.

Buffy grumbled a little. Giles did have a good point. "Ok, ok," she agreed. "While all of this is going on, what are you doing, Giles?"

Giles motioned for Buffy to join him by the table so he could lay out t his plan. Imoen watched Oz, Xander and Willow join him. She already knew what the plan was. Instead, she decided to speak with Obi-Wan.

"Are you sure that's gonna work?" Willow asked after Giles explained the ritual. "What if you summon Serena and that only makes her even more mad?"

"Like I said, there is no guarantee it will work," Giles replied. He took off his glasses, massaged the bridge of his nose then put them back on. "I must speak with Serena. It may be our only hope."

"We'd better find a way out of this mess," Buffy said. "Who know what will happen if Obi-Wan Kenobi becomes a permanent member of the real world?"

"They've been very kind to me," Imoen said as she leaned against the counter. She pulled her book about Beethoven across the counter to her. "I've been reading so much about this place." She opened the book. "Their language resembles Basic. Once you learn it, it's easy to follow."

"It's an odd world," Obi-Wan commented as he looked over the words in the book.

"It is," she agreed. A smile spread across her face. "But so much of its beauty is hidden."

Obi-wan flipped the book shut. "I do not care for this planet at all," he told her. "Something that boy Xander called a cat, these creatures render the Force useless."

"Oh, it hasn't even occurred to me, about the Force," Imoen replied. She looked down. "I rather enjoy the fact these cats keep the Force from this planet."

"Don't you miss your homeworld?" Obi-Wan asked.

"Oh, of course I do," she answered, raising up her head. "But here... on this planet, I can do anything." She met his gaze. "It may not be as advanced as our galaxy, but they do some interesting things here."

Obi-wan waited for Imoen to elaborate. When she did not, he prompted, "Such as?"

"They take music and put it on something called a TV. The people on the TV sing and dance to the music. They call it a 'video'." Imoen explained. She wore a broad smile.

"You prefer videos over an honored position in Queen Amidala's royal court?"

Imoen's smile meted away. The way Obi-Wan had said it made her feel rather cheap. "Queen Amidala battled against evil and injustice in her own way," she said. "But here... this is more hands on. I feel like I am part of something." She looked at him, her eyes narrowing slightly. "I have a duty now, like yours, except I don't have to be so special to do it."

Obi-Wan didn't need the Fore to sense the anger and resentment behind Imoen's words. The flash in the young girl's eyes as she spoke surprised him. She was always so docile and reserved before, never showing emotion such as this.

"In our galaxy," Imoen continued, trying to restrain her rising anger. "This sort of work is delegated to the Jedi. But not here. Buffy's friends do not have the special powers she does, but they fight alongside her."

Tears welled up in her eyes. For years, she resented the Jedi and the fact she couldn't do what she really wanted to do. And now this Jedi criticized her for enjoying a new world, one where she was free.

"Yes, I miss Naboo," she went on, her voice cracking. "But I like this planet, too." Her tears spilled down her cheeks. "I'm glad you've lost the Force, Obi-Wan Kenobi!" she snapped. "Now you will see what life is like for the rest of us!"

Buffy turned around in time to see Imoen run out of the library. It was like the girl couldn't get away fast enough.

"What did you say to her?" she snapped, glaring at Obi-Wan.

"Imoen?" Xander called. The girl kept going.

"I didn't say anything," Obi-Wan replied as Xander raced by him. He watched the boy burst through the doors and into the hallway.

Xander skidded to a halt outside of the doors. "Imoen?" he called. His voice reverberated in the empty hallways. He waited for a reply, but only heard the sound of someone sobbing softly. He looked to his right.

Imoen sat on the floor a little way up the hall. Her legs were drawn up to her chest, her face buried in her knees.

"Imoen?" Xander gently asked as he kneeled down beside her. "Are you all right?"

Imoen loudly sniffled and raised up her head. She quickly wiped the tears from her eyes with the back of her hand, avoiding his gaze. "I'm fine," she hoarsely whispered.

"Well... you don't sound fine," he replied, placing a hand on her shoulder. He tried to look at her, but she wouldn't let him. "What's wrong?"

She sniffled then looked at him. "Have you ever felt completely useless?" she asked, softly. "Like you are only holding others back?"

"Oh... once or twice," he answered. "Why?"

"When Saar held me hostage on Coruscant, I realized I was a liability," Imoen said. She rubbed her nose, sniffling. "I almost died because I insisted on going along. Buffy could've been killed."

Xander shook his head. "That was not your fault."

"Buffy was right." Imoen lowered her gaze to the floor. "I should've stayed on Naboo. I was of no help to her."

"But you were," he insisted. Imoen looked at him. "You gave her support when she needed it. You were a friend to her."

Imoen sighed, not convinced by Xander's words. He was only attempting to make her feel better. She admired the effort.

"Hey," he said, gently turning her head so she would look at him. "If you hadn't been on the ship with Buffy, she and Obi-Wan probably would've killed each other."

She finally cracked a smile, recalling the rather snide arguments between the two of them. Yes, the probably would've caused each other physical harm. Neither could keep his/her temper in check around the other, it seemed.

"Good," Xander said when the girl smiled. "Now... repeat after me: I am...somebody."

"I am somebody," she rather flatly repeated.

"Mean it," he scolded with mock seriousness.

"I am somebody," she said again, this time with feeling. She smiled.

"That's better," Xander replied. "Let's get out of this hallway." He helped Imoen to her feet and they went back into the library.

Willow watched Xander return with Imoen. The girl's eyes were red as if she'd been crying. "Is everything ok?" she asked, concerned about Imoen.

"Everything's cool," Xander assured Willow. He gave Imoen a side-glance. "She just had something in her eye. It's all better now."

"Well," Buffy sighed. "I guess we're hitting the Bronze later." She shifted her gaze to Obi-Wan. "One more task to complete before then, though." She looked him up and down. "You're gonna need to blend in!"

-

The Bronze, That Evening

"I still don't like this, Buffy," Willow said. She held onto Oz's arm tightly, her eyes nervously flicking around the area outside of the club.

Buffy gently pushed her friends towards the doors of the Bronze. "You go inside and enjoy yourselves," she said. "This'll be no big. Just relax, ok?" She hoped she sounded convincing to them because she sure wasn't convincing herself.

Imoen nodded. "We'll stay alert inside as well," she told Buffy.

Xander rubbed his hands together. "I'm all ready for some wacky vampire fun!"

"Buffy, if Giles is wrong about this--" Willow started.

"We deal with it when it comes," Buffy cut in. She waved a hand, shooing them towards the Bronze. "Now, just go inside, all right?"

Willow gave a small nod as she sighed. She still didn't like it. Even so, she and Oz went inside the Bronze with Imoen and Xander.

Buffy let out a long breath as soon as her friends were inside the building. "Well, that's that," she said then turned to Obi-Wan. "Would you knock that off?"

Obi-Wan looked up to her. He'd been examining the material of the T-shirt Xander had lent him. More interesting, though, were the things called "jeans". A strange sort of clothing a lot of the people Buffy's age favored on this planet.

"Come on," Buffy grumbled, motioning for him to follow. "And quit messing with the clothes, ok? It's annoying." She and Obi-Wan stepped into the side alley by the Bronze. They'd have a pretty decent surveillance position there.

Obi-Wan checked over his lightsabre. He'd rigged it so it could hang from one of the belt loops on the jeans. Buffy'd given him a hard time earlier about his insistence on bringing it along. He inwardly grinned. That was one argument with her he'd actually won.

"What do we do now?" he asked, looking over to her.

Buffy pulled out a stake and leaned against the wall. "We wait," she replied.

---

Willow turned in her chair, scanning the crowd in the Bronze. The place was exceptionally full, but that was understandable with school being out. She couldn't shake the feeling that something terrible was on the horizon.

Xander returned to the table, taking a seat next to Imoen. "Well, all's quiet on the western front," he reported. "I made it across the room without being maimed or murdered."

"Not funny, Xander," Willow said giving him a Look.

"Wasn't supposed to be, Will," he told her. "Not in any way, shape or form, do I find the prospect of a rather messy death at the hands of a vampire funny."

Serena, invisible to everyone in the club, strolled through the crowd of the Bronze. Her eyes never left the table where Imoen, Xander and Willow sat with a new boy. He was of no concern to her, this other child.

Oz turned in his seat, looking in Serena's general direction, but of course could not see her. "Hmm." He looked back to the others. "Any of you have the feeling you're being watched?"

Willow shivered as she looked in the direction Oz had. "Yeah, I do, too," she replied.

Xander's eyes flicked from Oz to Willow. "Ok," he said. "You two are officially giving me the wiggins." He stood up then offered a hand to Imoen. "Would you care to dance, madam?"

Imoen smiled as she accepted Xander's hand. "I would like that very much," she said.

Willow watched Xander and Imoen go out onto the dance floor. Deep inside, she felt a twinge of jealousy. But that jealousy quickly melted away when she felt Oz's hand slip into hers, giving it a light squeeze.

"They'll be fine," Oz assured her when she looked at him.

The rather slow song came to an end as soon as Xander and Imoen got onto the dance floor. A more upbeat song, "So Pure" by Alanis Morissette, began to play.

Xander snapped his fingers to the beat. "Oh yeah," he said. "It's time to get down."

Imoen laughed as Xander broke out into what he called dancing. She put a hand to her mouth, but she couldn't control herself. It was just too funny.

"You remind me of someone I met once on my homeworld," she said when Xander stopped his silly show.

"Really?" he asked. He felt his pride swell. He wondered what great hero she would liken him to. "Who?"

"A Gungan by the name of Jar Jar Binks," Imoen answered. She pressed her lips together, trying not to laugh again.

Xander's shoulders slumped, his bubble burst upon hearing that. He opened his mouth to protest, but decided just to let it slide. Jar Jar Binks! he thought, disgusted. I get compared to Jar Jar. He hoped Buffy was having better luck outside. --- Buffy's eyes remained on the entrance to the alley. She studied every single person who passed by. So far, no vampires. She tapped the tip of her stake against the wall to the beat of the song playing inside the Bronze.

Whenever you want these suckheads to show up, they never oblige, she thought with a scowl.

Her mind went back to Giles. He was all alone in the library. She knew Giles could take care of himself, but that didn't ease her any. A number of terrible things had taken place in that library. Memories of every single one traveled through her mind with pristine clarity.

"What's troubling you?"

Obi-Wan's voice startled her out of her thoughts. He'd been so quiet the last twenty minutes, she'd forgotten he was even there.

"What makes you think something's troubling me?" she asked as she looked at him.

He pointed her to stake that she still nervously tapped against the wall.

Buffy immediately stopped and grasped the stake in both hands. She hadn't realized she was doing it. "Oh," she said, embarrassed. "I'm just edgy about this idea of vampires zeroing in on us."

"Hi, Buffy!" called a familiar voice.

Buffy whirled around, instinctively hiding her stake behind her back. Jonathan, a kid she knew from school, stood at the entrance of the alley. "Hi!" she replied, giving Jonathan a stiff wave.

Please, Jonathan, don't come down here, she begged in her mind. I like you and all, but please don't come down here.

Jonathan couldn't tell who was in the alley with Buffy, but the girl obviously wasn't in any danger. Not that Buffy needed help defending herself if she was in danger. He gave her a wave good-bye then continued on his way.

"Thank God," Buffy sighed as she relaxed.

"Who was he?" asked Obi-Wan, nodding towards the alley entrance.

Buffy leaned on the wall. "He's a friend from school," she answered. She began to tap her stake against the building once more.

"You're doing it again," Obi-Wan informed her.

Buffy sighed, this time in frustration. "I'm nervous, ok?" she said as she looked at him. "This is not the way I planned to spend my summer vacation, you know. Standing in an alley beside the Bronze with you." She folded her arms across her chest. "I'd rather be enjoying my last bit of childhood." She pushed the thoughts of college from her mind. "Don't you get nervous? Scared?"

Obi-Wan's mind flashed back to the death of Qui-Gon. All he could do was watch as that Sith lord ran his Master through.

"Fear does not help one in a situation such as this," he quietly replied.

"Well, excuse me!" Buffy snapped, letting her arms drop to her sides. "Some of us around here can't flick off our emotions like a light switch! Besides... I need my emotions. They keep me alive in situations like this. I feed off them."

Obi-Wan, however, couldn't fathom how emotions would help Buffy in a fight. When he allowed himself to draw on his fear and anger, he was almost killed. He flinched slightly, recalling that extreme rush of power he'd received from his fear, his anger and his grief. It was rather intoxicating.

Buffy calmed herself down. Yelling at him wasn't helping the situation any either. It wasn't his fault. She leaned back against the wall, listening to the music in the Bronze.

"Do you know what it feels like to lose control over yourself?"

"Huh?" Buffy snapped out of her daze and looked to Obi-Wan. "What do you mean by that?"

"To be so full of rage that killing another being is the only thought on your mind," he explained. He met the girl's curious gaze.

Buffy shrugged. "Well, sure, I've felt plenty of anger in fights--"

He shook his head. "Not like that, Buffy," he interrupted. "I mean a rage that takes you over completely. No reason, no control."

"No," she replied, shaking her head a little. "Not that I recall."

He hesitated before he continued. "I witnessed the death of someone I cared about very much," he went on. He couldn't figure out why he was telling this to Buffy. She seemed to be someone who could relate, understand. "He was like a father to me, and I watched him die. Powerless to stop it."

Buffy remembered the event Obi-Wan spoke of. She hadn't given it much thought since the movie either. But suddenly, all the pain and grief in his voice made it more than just 'a scene in a movie'. This... person beside her, this character, was as real as she was. The events in the Star Wars universe were not fiction to him. And now they were no longer fiction to her. She knew that pain in his voice very well.

"Everything after Qui-Gon's death happened so fast," Obi-Wan was saying. He fought back the tears, not wanting Buffy to see him that way. "Before I knew it, I'd taken Anakin as my student." He paused and dared to look over to her. She listened to him attentively. "I... I had to be strong for us both."

Buffy swallowed hard. "And you never had time to grieve," she softly said. Her thoughts went back to Giles and the original question Obi-Wan had posed. Would she go berserker if something happened to Giles, especially something like that? She knew the answer: Yes. If anything like that happened to Giles, her mother, her friends...

"The Slayer," hissed a voice from up the alleyway.

Buffy jerked out of her thought and looked up to see two vampires approaching. She went into a defensive stance. "That's my title, don't wear it out," she replied with a smile.

"Time to die," said the second vampire.

"Thought we'd never get around to it!" Buffy grunted as she used a punch to stop the second vampire's advance on her.

The first vampire headed straight for Obi-Wan. It's eyes flicked down when it saw Obi-Wan's hand snatch up his sabre handle. The vampire growled as it slapped Obi-Wan's hand, jostling the sabre loose. The handle clattered onto the ground.

"Stupid human!" the vampire snarled as it grabbed Obi-Wan by the throat. It slammed him back against the wall of the building. "Ever heard the sound a neck makes when it's snapped in two?" it asked of Obi-Wan then laughed. "Don't worry... you will soon enough."

Buffy flipped the vampire she fought over her should. The vampire landed flat on its back in the middle of the alley. Surprised, its eyes looked up at the grinning face of the Slayer.

"Bye-bye now!" Buffy said then gave a wave.

"No!" the vampire exclaimed as Buffy drove the stake into its chest. The vamp roared as it exploded into a pile of dust.

"One down," Buffy mumbled as she rose up to her full height, brushing herself off. She looked to her left to see Obi-Wan's predicament. "One to go."

"Once I snap your neck, I'm gonna tear you apart, limb by limb," the vamp growled as its grip tightened on Obi-Wan's throat. It laughed as the weak human tried to pry its hands off.

"Excuse me," said Buffy's voice from behind the vampire. "Mind if I cut in?"

The vampire jerked as it felt a stake go into its back. The vampire's eyes widened in shock as it disintegrated into a dust pile.

Obi-Wan doubled over, gasping in huge gulps of air when the vise-like grip of the vampire left his throat. The loss of the Force put him at a considerable disadvantage, he realized. He coughed loudly as he reached down for his sabre. He didn't like being a "regular" person one bit.

"You know," Buffy said with a crooked grin as she watched him pick up his sabre. "It seems like I'm always saving your ass."

Behind Buffy, a vampire dropped out of nowhere. It raised up its claws to her, ready to strike.

"Get down!" Obi-Wan shouted, giving Buffy a hard shove to the ground. At the same time, he activated his sabre and brought the blade around. Before the vampire knew what was happening, it exploded from being decapitated.

Buffy pushed herself to her knees, blinking as the dust from the vampire settled to the ground. She'd been so busy with gloating she didn't sense the third vampire. She blinked again and looked up to Obi-Wan. "Thanks," she said, almost whispering.

Screams from inside the Bronze caught Buffy's attention. She scrambled to her feet, panic washing over her. Willow, Xander, Oz, Imoen... they were in trouble. She and Obi-Wan rushed to get inside.

---

Inside the Bronze, a group of about fifteen vampires pushed its way through the hysterical crowd of kids. None of the vamps paid attention to the other people as they frantically escaped the club.

Xander and Imoen stood together on the dance floor, watching the vampires. The vampires appeared to be searching the place for particular victims.

Xander swallowed as he tried to keep himself under control. "I have a bad feeling about this," he muttered.

Willow and Oz, on the other side of the Bronze, were handling the situation with all the calm they could muster.

"Oz, look!" Willow said, pointing to the vampires heading for Imoen and Xander. She grabbed Oz's shoulder. "We have to do something!"

A loud snarl drew Willow and Oz's attention away from Xander and Imoen. A vampire reached out for Willow, baring its fangs.

Oz shoved Willow behind him as he stepped up to face the vamp. Nothing would hurt his Willow, not as long as he lived.

The vampire roared in annoyance then backhanded Oz out of his path. Oz flew back a few feet and crashed landed onto a table.

"Oz!" Willow cried out when Oz didn't move. Her fear rushed away as anger replaced it. Her eyes narrowed on the vampire slowly coming for her. She raised up a hand. "Goddess Hecate, work thy will," she yelled. She completed the rest of the spell in another language.

When the spell was done, Willow pushed her hand towards the vampire. A fireball leaped from the open palm of her hand, striking the vampire square in the chest. As the vampire sailed backward from the force of the hit, it disintegrated into ashes.

Xander and Imoen watched in wonder as the vampire exploded in mid-air. After that, they saw Willow rushing over to Oz to help him to his feet.

"Well," Xander said to Imoen. "I guess we know one of the elements Willow can call upon now."

Imoen looked at him. "Xander!" she cried out.

But it was too late. One of the vampires grabbed Xander from behind. Xander didn't go quietly, however. He struggled with the vampire, doing everything in his power not to get bit.

"Imoen, get out of here!" Xander managed to call out during the fight. He glanced over at her. "Find Giles! Buffy! Just go!"

Imoen took a few steps back. Her eyes flicked towards Willow and Oz. The confusion allowed the two of them to slip out through one of the side doors. She couldn't leave Xander there all alone. She grabbed a nearby chair and charged the vampire wrestling with Xander. She whacked the vampire across the back with it. The chair broke into pieces.

The vampire growled as it shoved Xander away then spun around to face Imoen. It chuckled when it saw who had attacked.

"You made a mistake touching him," Imoen informed the vampire.

Xander snagged a piece of the broken chair then got to his feet. He met Imoen's gaze. He grinned when he showed her what he had.

The vampire laughed at her. "You're nothing, girl!" it declared pointing at her. "What can you do to me?" It started for her.

Imoen surprised the vampire with a nasty side kick to the solar plexus. The vampire stumbled backwards and landed right on the jagged piece of wood Xander held in his hands. The vampire erupted into a dust cloud.

Buffy saw Imoen and Xander take out a vampire together, but Willow and Oz were nowhere to be found. Obi-Wan brought out his sabre but Buffy stopped him before he could turn it on.

"No," she told him. "With all these people in here, that's too dangerous." She rammed her stake into a vampire as it rushed her then she looked around. "Do you see Willow or Oz?"

"No," he answered. He heard the growl of a vampire behind him. He turned his lightsabre hilt around and ignited it. The vampire impaled itself on the blue-white blade.

Buffy whirled around as Obi-Wan flicked his sabre off and she finished off the vampire with her stake. "Didn't I just tell you not to do that?"

"Buffy!" Xander's voice called out. He and Imoen finally made it through the madness to join Buffy and Obi-Wan.

"You guys, ok?" Buffy asked, turning her attention to them.

"Yeah," Xander said, nodding. "Will and Oz slipped out one of the side doors."

"I believe it would be wise if we take this discussion elsewhere." Obi-Wan pointed to the group of vampires headed their way.

"I concur," Xander said.

The four of them slipped out of a side door and ended up back in the alley. Buffy plucked up a metal pole lying among some garbage. She jammed one end against the door and the other onto the ground.

"I guess that proves the theory," Xander said.

The vampires began to bang on the heavy door. The metal pole kept them from getting out of the Bronze.

"We gotta get out of here," Buffy told them.

"Likin' that plan." Xander glanced back to the door. The pole wouldn't hold much longer.

"We would have a better chance of survival if we split up," Obi-Wan told Buffy.

She nodded her agreement. "Xander, you and Imoen head out the back way," she said, motioning in that direction. "The both of you get to safety. We'll go out the front here, keep the vamps distracted while you get away."

"But, Buffy, all of those vampires!" Imoen protested. "It would be too dangerous."

"Done worry about us! Just go!" Buffy ordered. She gave her two friends a push to get them going. "Get to safety!" she called after them.

Xander and Imoen ran up the alley as Buffy told them to. They exited the alley, ending up behind the Bronze. As soon as they were out of immediate danger, Imoen pulled Xander to a stop.

"We're forgetting about Mr. Giles!" she frantically said. "He's all alone in the library!"

Xander wiped the sweat from his forehead. "Imoen, we can't be running all over town. Giles can take care of himself. Let's go!"

"You can hide, Xander," Imoen replied as she started in the direction of Sunnydale High. "But I'm going to the school."

Xander sighed as he watched her run away. "Imoen!" he yelled, but she kept going. "I know I'm gonna regret this." He took off after her.

Library

Giles checked his watch and shook his head. He turned his attention to the small metal dish, its contents simmering over the low flame of a Bunsen burner. According to legends, the contents of the dish--Libban Al-Dakar--was supposed to attract Jinn. He'd been waiting quite awhile for results but Serena didn't show.

"Pointless," he muttered as he walked over to the table. He shut off the Bunsen burner. Why did he even waste his time? Buffy was probably right. Serena would never rest until her vengeance was finished.

"You called for me, human?" Serena's voice asked, coldly.

Giles turned around. He saw Serena taking deliberate steps towards him. The Jinn did not appear pleased with the fact he'd summoned her.

"What do you want from me?" she demanded.

Giles cleared his throat and adjusted his glasses. "I...I've called upon you to ask that you re-reconsider your mission of... of, uh, revenge."

Serena's eyes narrowed on him slightly. "This is why you called me here, human?" she snapped. "Did I not make it clear before that I am determined to see those involved in Saar's death brought to justice?"

"I... I know you feel bound by your clan's traditions," Giles replied as he took a few steps back. "B-b-but they are just children, and they dedicate their lives to battling evil. You understand, surely?"

"I understand," Serena evenly replied as she came to a stop. "But the laws of my clan are much older than you, much older than anything in this world, and they must be obeyed. If I do not fulfill the obligation, an older, more powerful member of my clan will. Are you afraid of death? Is that why you called me here? To beg?"

"I do not want to die," he replied. He saw a flicker of interest in Serena's eyes. "But this isn't about me, it's about the children, Serena. They have so much to live for. Please... reconsider."

Serena's face hardened. "I reconsider nothing," she growled. --- Xander slowed to a stop in the hallway as he desperately tried to catch his breath. "Imoen!" he called as she continued on her way to the library. He grunted as he forced himself to catch up with her.

"Are you all right?" she asked as Xander fell into step beside her. Xander held his left side with his hand.

"Oh, other than the fact that I dropped a lung about two blocks back, I'm going great!" He pushed open the library doors. "Uh oh," he said when he found Serena in the library.

Giles' eyes flicked from Serena to Xander and Imoen. He smiled a little, relived the two of them were alive. "Are you two all right?" he asked.

Xander nodded. "But, sorry, Giles, you were wrong," he said. He pointed to Serena. "She did put some sort of spell on the vampires. We got jumped at the Bronze."

Serena scowled upon hearing the news. These little brats still managed to survive with all the vampires in Sunnydale chasing them? "I was certain all of you would be dead by now!" she hissed.

Imoen approached Serena. "Please, mistress," she said. "Release Obi-Wan Kenobi from your death sentence. He is very much important and needed in my galaxy."

Serena snorted at the very suggestion. "Why, he's the most useless of you all."

Imoen's face twisted up in confusion. "What do you mean by that?"

"It does not matter if he lives or dies, girl," Serena declared. "He truly did not exist until I brought him here!" She waved a hand. "Much like you did not exist until you were accidentally brought out of your fictional universe by the Slayer."

Imoen shook her head as she looked to Giles. The librarian's head lowered. "What... what does she mean by that?"

Serena came closer to Imoen. "Your galaxy is nothing but a fairy tale! The product of a human's overactive imagination!" She smiled, wickedly. "There is nothing beyond this reality which surrounds you, girl. Your life... is... nothing."

Imoen backed away from Serena. "No!" she yelled. "You're lying! That isn't true!" She looked to Giles who still hung his head. Why wouldn't he look at her? "Xander?" she asked turning around to him.

Xander couldn't bring himself to look Imoen in the eye either. He lowered his gaze to the floor. The panic, the confusion in her voice ripped right through the middle of him.

"Xander?" she whispered as tears streamed down her cheeks.

The library doors opened and Oz and Willow entered. The two of them stopped just inside when they saw Serena there and Imoen crying.

"Tell me it's not true, Xander!" Imoen shouted as she charged up to Xander. She gave him a shove. When he remained quiet, she said, "Answer me!"

Slowly, Xander raised up his head and his gaze met Imoen's. He bit his lip. That hole inside of him grew larger and larger. He couldn't bear to say the words to her. He'd never wanted to be the one to tell her.

Imoen sniffled as her tears dropped onto the carpet. She didn't need to hear the words, it was written all over Xander's face. "Why, Xander?" she asked in a whisper. "Why didn't you tell me the truth." She jerked back when he tried to touch her. "Why didn't you tell me?" she shouted at him.

"Imoen, I--" Xander started.

"No! I can't!" She pushed her way past him and ran out of the library, sobbing.

Giles swallowed back his own pain as he looked over to Serena. The Jinn was quite pleased with the trouble she'd caused. "That wasn't necessary," he quietly said.

Xander walked up to Serena, any fear of her was long gone. He pointed a finger in her face. "I think they need to rewrite the description of you in the books," he evenly said. he motioned to the library doors. "Because what you just did, that was pure evil, lady." He started to walk away but stopped and turned back to Serena. "And wherever your brother is now, I hope he's in complete agony. You come near me or Imoen again, and I'll make sure you join him."

Serena stood in the middle of the library, aghast at the way Xander had spoken to her. She watched him leave. How dare that human speak to her in such a manner?

Willow focused her own steely gaze on Serena. "I think you should leave now," she said in a haughty tone.

"Defiant humans!" Serena scolded, glaring at Willow. "How dare you treat me this way?"

Willow came closer, her arms folded across her chest. "Maybe it's because you're acting like a big jerk! Just like your nasty, evil brother did!" she replied. "You're extremely rude and spiteful, and I think you should leave."

Serena eyes flashed as she locked gazes with Willow. She waved a hand and disappeared from the library.

Giles sat on the edge of the table, shaking his head. "I believe we've destroyed any chance we had to persuade Serena to call this off," he solemnly said. He closed his eyes, remembering what Serena had done to Imoen. Why did Serena have to say that? Why?

"Who cares?" Willow said as she let her arms drop to her sides. "Let her send all the vampires after us. I, for one, think we'll do just fine!"

"It's more than just us, Will," Oz said. Willow turned around. "Or did you forget about the recent addition to Sunnydale?"

"Oh," Willow said in a quiet voice. She frowned. "Oops."

Giles opened his eyes and looked over to Willow and Oz. "Where are Buffy and Obi-Wan, anyway?"

---

"Argh!"

Buffy landed flat on her back after taking a hit from one of the vampires. She sighed. The sweat stung her eyes, every muscle in her body hurt and she found herself wishing she'd not had the bright idea of going out the front of the alley. The vampires had been chasing her and Obi-Wan ever since the Bronze.

Buffy quickly rolled to the left and onto her stomach. Obi-Wan, equally tired and sweat-laden, fell to the ground right where she'd been. His sabre shut off a moment after he landed.

The Slayer wiped her hair off of her face as she looked over to him. "If you twirl that damn lightsabre one more time... I'm going to backhand you!" she snapped.

She rolled onto her back then flipped up to her feet. Her stake plunged into the chest of another vamp. While the vamp dusted, Buffy helped Obi-Wan up to his feet. They surveyed the situation. Two against an army of vampires, an army with growing numbers. Buffy had no idea how many vampires she and Obi-Wan had taken out. She'd lost personal count long ago.

"I fear we won't last much longer against these odds," Obi-Wan informed Buffy.

"What happened to 'fear doesn't help one in a situation such as this'?" Buffy asked, glancing over her shoulder at him. She sighed as the growling vamps continued to bide their time, waiting for their chance to strike again. "This totally sucks. Didn't we just leave this party?"

"May I suggest the running option?" Obi-Wan offered.

Buffy nodded. "You read my mind."

Once again, the two fled down the street with a cadre of vampires hot on their heels.

Serena, invisible to Obi-Wan and Buffy, watched the two blow past her as fast as they could go. She wasn't there to gloat or savor the taste of the revenge. These particular humans had put themselves in such a hopeless situation to save their friends. It was a curious act. Such selfless beings...

She shook her head, confused. Was she doing the right thing? she wondered. She remembered what the little snotty redhead said to her in the library. "You're acting like a big jerk. Just like your nasty, evil brother!"

She'd always despised the way Saar handled his power as a Jinn, and his silly, pointless Games with human beings. Now what was she doing? In a roundabout way, she was playing a Game with these human beings under the guise of revenge. Had she really become like Saar?

---

Buffy threw open her front door, careful not to get bowled over this time by Obi-Wan. After Obi-Wan dove into the safety of her home, Buffy slammed the front door shut. She leaned back against the door, doubled over with her hands on her knees, breathing hard.

"We... we made it," she gasped in-between breaths. She looked over to Obi-Wan sitting on her stairs. Like her, he was covered with sweat, dirt and minor cuts and abrasions. She brushed her hair, which was stringy and grimy now, away from her face.

Obi-Wan checked over his lightsabre. All the recent battle was taking its toll on his weapon. If it gave out during another battle, he was certain he would be without a way to defend himself. He highly doubted the materials he would need to construct a new one could be found on Earth.

"Mom!" Buffy called out. She waited for a reply, but no answer came. "Good, she must still be at work."

"Are you certain you're all right?" Obi-Wan asked as Buffy stood up straight.

"I'll survive," she assured him. She wiped her forearm over her forehead and groaned. "This can't go on," she muttered as she headed for the kitchen.

Buffy spent about five minutes bathing herself in the kitchen sink. Her wounds were fast healing and soon would be gone. She cupped her hands together under the running watch, allowing them to fill with cool water. She splashed the water on her face, leaning on the counter afterwards, letting out a tired, yet relieved, sigh. She turned off the faucet.

Buffy picked up a towel from the counter and dried her face and neck with it. The water had refreshed and revived her. But her muscles were still aching. Her eyes fell on the phone hanging on the wall in the kitchen. She decided to call Giles and see if everything was ok. She picked up the receiver and dialed Giles' office number.

"Hello?" Giles' voice answered after two rings.

"Giles, it's Buffy."

"Oh, Buffy, thank God you're all right," Giles sighed in relief upon hearing the girl's voice. "I began to fear the worst after Willow told me what happened at the Bronze."

"Willow's there? Is everyone with you?" Buffy wound the phone cord around her arm.

"We're all here... and most of us are ok," he replied after a long pause. He explained what happened with Serena in the library and how Imoen learned the truth.

"I can't believe this!" Buffy exclaimed. She slammed her open palm against the wall.

"The damage has already been done, Buffy."

Buffy snorted. "Oh, like hell it is, Giles! I'm going to find that bitch and kick her ass."

"Buffy, now is not the time for irrational actions," Giles' said. "Try to remain calm."

She knew Giles was right. Going off half-cocked wouldn't be of any help. "Where is Imoen now?" she asked.

"In one of the girls' restrooms. Xander is trying his best to talk with her, but I don't believe he's having much luck."

"I'd come over, Giles, but I've got the from dusk 'til dawn patrol sitting on my house."

"It's best if the two of you remain where you are. And rest."

Buffy leaned back against the wall. "I don't know how much longer I can put up with this baloney, Giles."

"I wish I knew what to tell you, Buffy," Giles replied.

"Yeah, I wish you did, too." She closed her eyes. "Bye, Giles." She hung up the phone as she opened her eyes.

"Who was that?"

Buffy almost jumped out of her skin when Obi-Wan spoke. She whirled around, gritting her teeth as she tried to compose herself. "What did I tell you about sneaking up on people?" she snapped at him. She rolled her eyes. "For God's sakes, make some noise when you enter a room!"

"I am sorry," he apologized. He looked at her. "I didn't mean to startle you."

Buffy made a dismissive motion with her hand. "Oh, it's ok. I'm Rude Girl lately," she replied with a sigh. She paused when she noticed he'd changed back into his old clothes. She was pleased the bloodstain came out of the sleeve. Her mother had been proven wrong. Buffy did know how to operate a washing machine. "Anyways... that was Giles on the phone. He says everyone else is at the library with him." She walked into the living room.

"I trust the others are unharmed?" Obi-Wan said as he followed her.

"Yeah, they're cool," she answered. She dropped onto her couch with a groan. "Which is more than I can say for myself." She massaged her left shoulder with her hand. "I hurt all over and I could sleep for a month!" She noticed the look on Obi-Wan's face. "What's wrong? Besides the obvious."

He came over to the couch. "I cannot help but feel this is all my fault," he replied. He shook his head. "If I had not stepped into that fight on Naboo--"

Buffy sat up. "I would've been completely skewered!" she cut in. "Look, this is nobody's fault. We were in the right. I haven't questioned my actions before and I'm not about to start."

Serena's head tilted as she listened to Buffy. She'd been watching the two since they'd been in the house. She noticed the odd expression on Buffy's face. The Slayer most likely sensed her presence.

"What is it?" Obi-Wan asked as he, too, noted the look.

"I'm... not sure," Buffy slowly replied. "I have this feeling we're not alone."

"I don't sense anything," he replied. He then remembered he didn't have the use of the Force. "I haven't since arriving on your planet," he added.

Buffy gazed upon him sympathetically. "Somehow... I'll get you back where you belong," she promised him. I hope, she added in her head.

Obi-Wan joined Buffy on the couch. He hadn't realized how difficult it would be to say these next words to her. It was something he'd been wanting to say all night. "I feel I should apologize to you, Buffy," he said, quietly. "I treated you rather harshly when you were stranded in my galaxy."

Buffy looked over at him, fairly stunned. This was a sincerely apology. "It's ok, I understand," she replied after a moment. "You had a lot of people you were responsible for. I certainly didn't make things any easier." She hesitated then said, "And I'm sorry I made you look bad in front of your Council and all. But I'm not sorry for decking you," she quickly added.

Obi-Wan looked up as Buffy turned away from him. He smiled faintly as his hand brushed his jaw where she'd punched him. "I suppose I deserved that," he said.

"You did," Buffy replied as she turned back to him. She froze when she noticed how close he'd moved to her. Oh, no, she thought as he leaned towards her. He's not gonna. No, he's not even. No. No way. "Are you lookin' to get punched again?" she asked.

"No," he whispered.

Oh, God, Buffy thought when his lips met hers.

---

Xander sat on the floor of the girls' restroom in front of the closed stall door. Any other time he'd have been amazed by the place--the sacred meeting ground for a group of creatures he rarely, if ever, understood. But now, his full concentration was on Imoen. He could hear her sniffling on the other side of the stall door. Every time he said something to her, Xander would get the same reply: "Go away."

He rested his head on the door. "We always meant to tell you, Imoen," he said. "We were waiting for the right time."

"When were you going to tell me?" Imoen's voice snapped in response. "Maybe five years is the right time? Ten? When is the right time, Xander?"

He sighed. "We wanted you to be comfortable in the real world first."

"It doesn't matter," she told him. "The amount of time I spent here wouldn't have changed how I feel now. How it feels to know your entire existence is all in someone's mind." Her voice became more hurt and angry. "To know that everything you've ever known is a fantasy. The pain and misery of the people you know... it's all been for the entertainment of... of people like you!"

Xander placed a hand on the stall door. He wished she would come out so they could discuss this face to face. This was hard enough.

"I don't have the words to make this easier, Imoen," he softly said. "The only thing I can think of to say is pretty corny." He paused. "You're real to us. You always have been. Nothing can change that."

Inside the stall, Imoen wiped away her tears with a piece of toilet tissue. She heard the sincerity in Xander's voice. She sniffled.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you the truth earlier," Xander continued. "None of us meant to hurt you by keeping it from you."

Xander waited for a reply, but none came. He'd tried everything he could think of. Maybe she just needed some time alone. He got up from the floor and started to leave the restroom. When he heard the stall door open, Xander turned around.

Imoen stepped out from behind the open door. She stared at Xander a few moments then offered him a weak smile.

Suddenly, the door to the restroom flew open and four vampires charged in. Xander threw a punch at one but completely missed his target. He was tossed against the wall for his efforts.

"Xander!" Imoen cried out when the boy fell to the floor.

"Come here, girl!" one of the vampires growled, coming for her.

Imoen used the stall door to whack the approaching vampire in the face. The gesture was a futile one because there was no other way out of the bathroom aside from the door the vampires blocked. She screamed as another vampire grabbed her by the arm. Another vampire hauled Xander to his feet and they all headed into the library.

Inside the library about six more vampires stood watch over Giles and Willow. Willow's hands were bound and a gag was snug around her mouth. Two dust piles lay on the floor. Imoen figured Willow must've used her fireball trick on the invading forces. Oz, Imoen noticed, was locked up inside the bookcage. He was unharmed and calmly sitting on the floor.

"Sit down," one of the vampires snapped as it shoved Xander and Imoen into chairs at the table. It snarled at Giles and Willow then backed off.

"So," said another vampires, the self-appointed leader, to the group of humans at the table. "Where are the other two?" It stopped pacing. "Where is the Slayer?"

Giles remained silent, his eyes never leaving those of the lead vampire. He glanced over to Imoen and Xander then back to the vampire.

"You'd better answer," the vampire went on, narrowing its eyes on Giles.

"Or what?" Giles countered. "You'll kill me?" His brow furrowed when he noticed the group of vampires sway momentarily, almost as if they were disoriented. What was going on?

The lead vampire got its bearings back and refocused on Giles. It flashed the librarian a toothy grin. "No," it evenly replied then pointed towards Oz in the bookcage. "We'll kill him."

Willow's eyes widened as she struggled even harder against her ropes. A few muffled protests came from her as she shook her head.

"I want the Slayer to watch all her friends die," the vampire said to Giles. "Now... where is she?"

Giles glanced over to Oz. This was a rather strange turn of events. If the vampires had no interest in Oz, why bother threatening him? From the way Willow and Oz explained what happened at the Bronze, Giles thought that the vampires had no interest in killing anyone but the six offenders. Wasn't that how Serena's spell worked? Still, he couldn't risk Oz's life.

"She is at home," Giles finally replied.

The lead vampire grabbed Giles by the coat then dragged him into the librarian's office. "Call her and tell her to come here," it ordered, bringing the phone closer.

Giles hesitated. He grunted when the vampire punched him in the back.

"Do it!" the vampire snarled.

Wincing in pain, Giles picked up and phone and dialed.

---

Buffy Summers, what are you doing? Buffy scolded herself. This is beyond crazy.

But that didn't make her stop kissing Obi-Wan. She let her arms slip around him as she felt herself falling back on the couch. Or being pushed back. She didn't know and didn't care. Logic and common sense left long ago. All she did know was she enjoyed it.

The phone rang.

Buffy's eyes flicked open as reality rushed back to her. She pushed Obi-Wan back, perhaps a little too hard, because he ended up on the opposite end of the couch, looking at her in surprise. She stumbled to her feet as the phone rang again.

"Phone," was the only word she could formulate. "And... I'll answer it," she added. She turned around. "Stupid, stupid!" she muttered as she hit herself on the forehead with the heel of her hand. "What is wrong with me? First, it's a vampire with a soul and now it's a friggin' Star Wars character!" She entered the kitchen. "God. Why can't I find someone normal?"

The phone rang once more.

Buffy shook her head as she snatched up the receiver. "Hello?"

No answer on the other end.

"Hello?" Buffy said again.

"Buffy..." Giles' voice weakly replied. Then another voice hissed, "Tell her!"

"Giles? Who's there with you?"

"Buffy, I..." Giles' sentence stopped. The other voice snapped, "Gimme that." A moment later, it said into the phone, "I suggest you come to the school, Slayer." The line went dead.

"Giles!" Buffy exclaimed. Her face paled as she hung up the phone. Oh no, she thought, panicked. Vampires. She turned around as Obi-Wan entered the kitchen. "The others are in serious trouble," she said before he could ask what was wrong. "I think some vamps have 'em at the school." She pushed her way past him.

"What are you doing?" he asked as Buffy ran up the stairs. "Buffy?"

A few minutes later, Buffy came back down the stairs. She had a crossbow with eight bolts attached to it slung over her back and a sharpened stake in her hand. She'd pulled her hair back into a ponytail as well. Buffy stopped at the bottom of the stairs.

"Surely you're not going over there?" Obi-Wan said when he saw Buffy armed.

"Those are my friends," she said as walked over to her front door. "If there's any chance I can help them, I'm taking it." She looked at him. "You can stay here and hide, but if these punks want a fight, I'll give 'em one. Serena's not winning this game."

Buffy was determined to go, he could see that. And he couldn't let her go alone.

"They've got me angry," Buffy said when Obi-Wan joined her. She opened up her front door, ready for anything. She stepped outside but not one vampire was still loitering on her porch. She looked back at him. "They won't like me when I'm angry," she added. "Let's go."

Serena appeared on the porch, curiously watching the Slayer and Obi-Wan head in the direction of Sunnydale High. The Jinn stepped down off the porch. What was going on? She had removed the spell...

A gentle breeze stirred, swirling around Serena. Her eyes closed as the whispering voices filled her mind. She nodded upon hearing what her elders had to report. As the wind died away, Serena's eyes opened.

She had to accomplish one last task before she was back in the good graces of her clan. She waved a hand and vanished.

---

"Don't worry," said the lead vampire as it circled the table full of victims. "The killing will start as soon as the Slayer arrives."

Xander looked at the group of roughly a dozen vampires. He focused his attention on the leader. "You know, this is your last chance to leave before Buffy gets here," he warningly said.

The vampire leaned over towards Xander. "I doubt she'll be a problem." It motioned to the other vampires and chuckled. It walked over to Willow and placed a hand on the girl's head. "But I'm a little hungry. All this waiting gives me an appetite. The question is, though, who to eat?"

Willow squirmed in the chair, her wrists raw from rubbing against the rope. She grumbled a few curses under gag as she narrowed her eyes at the vampire.

The vampire laughed. "I'm thinking the little fire girl."

"And I'm thinking not," Buffy said as she and Obi-Wan walked into the library.

The vampire removed its hand from Willow when it saw Buffy. "Slayer."

Buffy rolled her eyes. "Why do you guys feel you have to remind me of that fact all the time? Duh, I already know!"

One of the vampires growled as it charged Buffy. Buffy snagged the vampire's outstretched arm, swung it around and slammed its face down on the checkout counter. She pulled out her stake and rammed it into the vampire's back. She turned to the rest of the vampires as the one she'd staked exploded into dust.

"Since we're all gonna die here, why don't we get this party started instead of doing all this boring talking?" she asked. She raised up her stake.

Serena appeared in the middle of the library. "Enough!" she declared, holding up a hand.

The lead vampire growled as it came towards Serena. "Who the hell are you?" it growled. "Wait a second... who really cares?" It attacked.

Serena raised up her other hand to the vampire. A scintillating light enveloped the vampire and swirled until the creature finally disintegrated. She lowered her hand as the light faded away then looked to the other vampires. "Anyone else care to try?"

Snarling, the rest of the vampires fled the library.

Once the vampires had gone, Serena waved a hand at the bookcage. The door unlocked and swung open. Oz carefully stepped out, glancing from the door to Serena.

Giles finished untying and ungagging Willow. "You all right?" he asked of her.

Willow rubbed her wrists as she nodded. She stood up when Oz joined them and put her arms around him.

Buffy shook her head. "Ok... wait a minute... did I miss a step here?" She looked to Serena. "Would you please explain what just happened? Because... forget the same page, even the same book, I don't think we're in the same genre! What gives?"

Serena, guilt and shame on her face, looked from Buffy to the others, Willow and Xander in particular. "I was shown rather harshly that I was becoming dishonorable," she replied. "Saar's evil, his obsession with his own power found it's way to me during the course of my revenge." She lowered her head. "It was not revenge, but an evil game. I discussed the situation with my clan's elders and they have decided to waive the laws in this case." She looked over to Buffy. "I asked them not to continue to seek vengeance for Saar's death."

Buffy blinked, stunned. "So that's THAT? You came here and turned the place upside down for nothing!"

Willow nodded. "Yeah!" she said, drawing Serena's attention. "And that's all you have to say about it? No, 'Hey, I'm sorry I almost tried to mutilate all of you'?"

Xander stood up. "Not to mention what you said to Imoen about--"

"Xander!" Imoen exclaimed as she jumped to her feet. She clamped a hand on his shoulder and nodded in Obi-Wan's direction.

Serena frowned, her shame growing. "I cannot take back the knowledge I gave her, not while she is here," she replied. "But I can return her to her own realm. There... she will not remember."

Imoen shook her head as she looked to Serena. "No, I do not wish to return," she told Serena. She switched her gaze to Obi-Wan. "I am not needed there. He is, though." She motioned to him.

"It is your choice," Serena said with a nod. She held up a hand and the book appeared.

Buffy turned to Obi-Wan. He made it no secret he was pleased he would be going back to his own world. Strangely, Buffy found herself very relieved by it. That awkward moment in her living room was nothing more than a fluke, something brought on by the stress of the situation.

"Hey...uh, good luck back there," Xander said to Obi-Wan, breaking the odd quiet in the room. You're gonna need it, he added in his head.

"We're sorry you had to visit our planet under these circumstances," Willow added. "It's a pretty nice place. Well, you know, when you're not being chased by vampires who want kill you and stuff."

Imoen smiled a little as she looked from Willow to Obi-Wan. For once, she didn't feel any anger towards him, towards the Jedi.

"For being inhabitants of such a primitive planet," Obi-Wan said, looking from Imoen to the others. "You're quite advanced as people."

Buffy raised an eyebrow. "I'm gonna assume that was a compliment. A badly delivered one, but a compliment all the same." She looked to Serena. "So... I guess it's time for you to... do your thing."

Serena faced Obi-Wan as she held up the book. She uttered a few words in another language and motioned with her empty hand. A brilliant flash of light filled the room. When it subsided, Obi-Wan, along with the book, was gone.

"It is done," she reported as she lowered her hands.

Xander let out a breath as he sat down on the table. "Thank God! I didn't know how much longer I would be able to keep my mouth shut."

Giles looked to Serena. "Will he... remember anything about being here?"

"No," Serena said shaking her head. "It will be like he never left his own world. However, I could not fix the damage to the universe left by Saar's Game. He will still recall those memories."

Xander grumbled. "You mean I was killing myself by keeping my mouth shut for nothing?" he asked. "Man! I coulda asked him all sorts of questions. You know how valuable the information I would've gotten would be? I'd be like the master of Star Wars knowledge."

"Even if he did retain memory of something you told him, it would not matter," Serena told Xander. "One cannot change his destiny." She let her gaze shift to Buffy. "No matter who he is."

Buffy bit her bottom lip as she looked down. Yeah, that's what caused the whole mess the first time, Buffy wishing she were someone else, someone with a future.

"You know..." Xander said after a moment. "We never did figure out why Obi-Wan's lightsabre worked outside of his universe."

"I was responsible for that," Serena replied. She smiled when the humans looked at her, surprised. "He had to have the chance to defend himself here. Otherwise, it would not have been fair." After giving a slight bow, Serena waved a hand and vanished.

"So..." Oz said as he looked at the others. "Anyone hungry?"

"I could eat," Xander answered as he stood. He turned to Imoen. "How 'bout you?"

Imoen nodded. "Yes," she replied. "Yes, I am." She accepted Xander's outstretched hand with a smile.

"I'm starved," Willow said as the four of them started to leave the library. "That fireball spell really drains you. They didn't put that little footnote in the book. Hey! I know.. let's go get sugared up on mochas!"

Imoen and Xander stopped by Buffy as Oz and Willow continued on out of the library. "Are you ok, Buffy?" Imoen asked, placing a hand on her friend's shoulder.

"Yeah," Buffy quietly replied, meeting Imoen's gaze. "I'm... I'm feeling awkward, but I guess that'll go away soon enough." She frowned as she removed the crossbow from her back. "The last twenty four hours have been some of my weirdest since moving here." She paused as she placed the crossbow on the counter. "Imoen... about keeping the truth from you--"

"You do not need to apologize, Buffy," Imoen interrupted. She smiled. "You were only trying to do what you thought was best. Friends do that for each other. Come on... let's get something to eat."

Buffy nodded as she looked over to Giles. "What do you say? You wanna hang out with us? Or would you rather sit in this stuffy, boring old library until school starts again?"

"It is his destiny, Buffy," Xander reminded her. "To sit in this library and be boringly British."

Giles joined them. "No... I don't believe so, Xander."

"I'm thinking of a large pizza with everything and extra cheese," Xander said as he, Imoen and Giles walked out of the library. "We haven't introduced you to pizza yet, have we, Imoen?"

Buffy stopped as the others left. She held up the stake still clutched in her left hand and looked it over. Carefully, she placed it on the counter beside the crossbow, smiling a little.

"Hey, Xander!" she called as she darted out. "You'd better not even think you're putting anchovies on that pizza!" She left the library without even looking back.

Da End.

this is the part where you cue up the Star Wars theme