Disclaimer: See Chapter 1


Episode 4 Chapter 3

In Exile: Year 3


"It's preposterous."

"It's impossible. The energy needs alone…"

"…Are no problem for a matter-antimatter reactor!"

"There is no such thing as a matter-antimatter reactor!"

"Then how do you power your ships, hmm? Don't try and cover up your government secrets from us! We have ways of making you talk!"

"Okay, no more caffeine for Andrew."

"What's going on?"

Buffy was leaning on the doorframe to the den where Andrew, Jonathon, Dawn, Vi, Zett, Xander and Aayla sat watching an old sci-fi movie. Well, watching was a subjective term - arguing around the movie was a more apt description, as they spent more time talking at each other than they did watching the old flick.

Dawn and Zett sat together, his arm around her shoulder. They had finally gotten together after a rather hilarious first date attempt several months ago and since then they had been nearly inseparable. The exception was during their Jedi training, in which case they maintained a friendly working relationship out of deference to the other, more stringent Council members.

Aayla and Xander, however, had come out of left field to everybody except for Buffy and Willow. Due to the occasional hyper-sexual drives of the Twi'lek species, Buffy hadn't had many doubts about Aayla adjusting to the new codes of the Council and had been happy when her Jedi friend had begun reciprocating the feelings her old friend had been broadcasting for some time. They had begun dating only weeks ago, but it looked to be going well.

Dawn looked over to her sister with a grin. "Andrew and Jonathon are bemoaning the fact that you guys didn't have transporters."

"Transporters are a must!" Andrew proclaimed. "Man, if Captain Kirk showed up in your galaxy, he could kick all of your butts."

"Maybe, but Captain Janeway could kick Kirks'," Jonathan argued, launching a heated argument between the two and drawing amused grins from the others. Buffy rolled her eyes.

"I've traveled the galaxy, visited dozens of worlds, met with hundreds of different species - and I end up living with these two," she sighed. "God hates me."

"But we love you, Master," Dawn said sweetly. Buffy scowled at her sister.

"Shouldn't you be practicing your saber techniques?"

"Yes, Master."

"Why is it every time you say 'Yes, Master' it sounds like 'bite me'?"

"Funny, she doesn't look like Spike…" Vi joked, then turned away abashed at the look on Buffy's face. She was about to reply when Fred came running up to her.

"Buffy, thank God I found you!" she said, pausing a moment to catch her breath. Buffy noted the concern on her face instantly.

"What's wrong?" she asked and Fred pinned her with a pained look.

"I just got a burst transmission from Tatooine," she said. "Your mother died last night."


"Anakin, are you here?"

Padmé entered their small apartment and tossed her light jacket to the couch - though it stopped a few inches from the surface, hovering in the air. Then slowly, it was pulled back into the air and placed gently on the hook on the wall by the door. Padmé chuckled. "I guess you are."

"Hi, Angel," Anakin said, leaning on the doorway to their bedroom. "How was the meeting?"

"Tiring, as always," Padmé replied ruefully, "though on the bright side, Sir Nigel has said the Slayer squads' efficiency has increased by over 150 percent with the Padawans tagging along. And he's intrigued by our newly expanded medical facilities, thanks to the equipment Fred's recovery teams have acquired from home."

"Has she said when they can speed up the acquisitions?"

"A few weeks, at least."

Anakin sighed. "And yet, we still can't see our kids more often."

Padmé moved to her husband's arms and gently put a hand on his cheek. "You know the longer we stay, the more likely it is that Palpatine would sense our presence, which would bring him and his agents to Tatooine…"

"Which would lead him to Luke and then Leia. I know…." he trailed off, a frown forming on his face. Padmé took notice immediately.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

"Buffy's' on her way here," Anakin replied. "And something terrible has happened." He gestured at the door, using the Force to open it just as Buffy stopped outside. "Buffy, what's wrong?"

Buffy looked back at her brother, her eyes full of unshed tears. "Ani, it's mom," she said quietly. "She's dead."


The current residents of they Skywalker farm revolved between muffled sobs and deafening silence. Owen and Beru sat on the sofa, with Beru's arm holding her husband close. Ruwee and Jobal Naberrie were there as well, sitting next to the sadden couple. And across the room, Luke Skywalker sat hunched over, his eyes red from crying, even as his sister Lei tried to comfort him.

Suddenly there was a flash and for an instant a purple-white cloud formed in the living room. The next instant Buffy, Anakin and Padmé appeared and the portal vanished. Owen was on his feet the next moment and pulled Anakin into a brotherly hug.

"Anakin, I'm glad you could make it."

"How…"

"She passed during the night, Ani. There was no pain," Owen assured the Jedi. He nodded and then looked over to his children. Leia was sobbing quietly in her mother's arms. His eyes moved over to his son's face which looked up and glared at him. Anakin felt a surge of anger from his son and then Luke was gone, running out of the house.

"Luke-" he started, but stopped when Beru put a restraining hand on his arm.

"He's taken Shmi's death hard, Anakin," she said. "And he's been frustrated often lately. Give him some time to calm down."

Anakin looked in the direction his son had gone, but only nodded in resignation.


Buffy stood silently in Shmi's room, looking at the body of the second woman she had called mother as it lay peacefully on her bed. Shmi had managed to age gracefully, even on this hellish planet. She had even outlived her husband Cliegg, who had died several years earlier. She once told Buffy that she suspected Willow was the reason for that, as whatever the witch had done to heal her had completely healed her, restoring her health to pristine condition. Idly, Buffy wondered how Anakin would react to that little tidbit. Buffy smiled a little at that, and then sobered once more as she sensed her brother's presence behind her.

"How's Luke?" Anakin's sigh told her everything she needed to know. "Don't worry about him, Ani. He's fifteen, his grandmother just died and he probably resents you for not being here more often. Just give him some time and then go talk to him."

"You think that's all this is? Some kind of phase he's going through?"

"Yeah. I went through the same thing with my dad when he disappeared," Buffy replied. "The thing about you is that you at least try to be here for him."

Anakin nodded and silently stared at his mother. "How are you holding up, Buffy?" he asked at length. Buffy sighed and shrugged.

"I've now lost two mothers. You'd think it would get easier over time, but it really doesn't."

"I know what you mean," Anakin replied, as both took to a silent vigil over their mother's body.


"How are things on Naboo, Leia?"

Padmé sat with her daughter and her parents in the den, using this time to catch up with her family. It had been several weeks since their last visit - several months for Leia, and Padmé wanted to know everything.

"I've been admitted into the Apprentice Legislator's guild and I'm working directly under Queen Serena. Some around the temple have started calling me Princess." Padmé smiled at that. "I hope to take my place in the Senate in a few years. Senator Organa from Alderaan has already contacted me to say he would sponsor me when the time came…"

"Bail is an old friend of mine; as well as a good man. You would learn a lot from him," Padmé said. "How are you dealing with this?"

"All right, I guess," Leia said with a sigh, glancing at her grandparents that had moved to talk with Owen and Beru. "I wasn't as close to her as Luke was. But she was still my grandmother. And if anything, it's brought home the point that Granma and Grandpa Naberrie won't be around for much longer."

"The Jedi used to teach that death was a natural progression of life," Padmé said at length, not dwelling on her own parents' mortality. "And that when a person passed on, their life force would become one with the Force. So I choose to believe that, even though their physical bodies will be gone, their spirits will live on." Padmé smiled slightly. "That's something, at least."

"You knew Jedi?" Leia asked incredulously and Padmé had to fight not to wince. She and Anakin had decided that it would be safer not to reveal to their children that their father was a Jedi and so, by extension, were they.

"Yes. When I was Queen of Naboo and later Senator, the Jedi assisted me several times," she said finally, opting to tell the truth - from a certain point of view. No need to mention it was their father that helped her out the second time. Leia grinned with awe.

"Stang!"

"Language, Leia!"


Luke stood outside to homestead looking out into the distance as the Twins slowly sank to the horizon. Behind him lay the family graveyard - Cliegg and his parents already rest there and Luke had just finished digging the latest plot for his grandmother. Now he stood, looking over the plains of Tatooine, angrily wiping away the tears that didn't seem to stop coming. He was so lost in his grief that he didn't hear the footsteps approaching.

"Luke? It's almost time," Anakin said, coming up behind his son. At his silence, Anakin looked over the plains to the slowly setting twin suns. "I forgot how beautiful a sight this was."

"Maybe if you stuck around longer, you'd remember it better," Luke snapped. "I'm surprised you actually showed up. It's not like you actually care about us…"

"That hardest part of coming here," Anakin said calmly, burying the hurt deep down in his gut, "is knowing that I have to leave again. Knowing that every time I come here, you will be a few months older, a few inches taller. Knowing that I've missed everything - your first steps, your first words." He looked at his son. "I know I haven't been here for you, son. And you have no idea how sorry I am for that."

"I don't need your excuses," Luke shouted, his arms folding tightly. "I need you to be here! You're my father and that's what you're supposed to do."

"I am here now, Luke," Anakin said patiently. "Staying away is the only way I know of to keep you safe. And that's more important to me than anything."

"Why!" Luke exclaimed. "Why do you need to keep me safe? Safe from what?"

"I can't tell you that, son," Anakin said heavily. Luke's jaw clenched in aggravation.

"Then talk to me again when you can tell me," he growled as he stalked back into the hovel.


EARTH

"Hold!"

Dawn deactivated her lightsaber and mopped her brow with the sleeve of her robe. Sera Keto deactivated her blades and hooked them back on her belt, all the while looking pointedly at Dawn.

"Are you here, Padawan?" she asked. "Because your moves were exceptionally sloppy today. More so than usual."

Dawn sighed in annoyance. "I was never good with a sword. Just ask Giles - I was terrible at fencing. The bow staff, though… he always said I was brilliant with that."

"Actually, I was thinking that perhaps your mind was somewhere else. Tatooine, perhaps?" Dawn rolled her eyes, and Sera persisted. "Dawn, I understand that your mother passed away, but you need-"

"She was NOT my mother!" Dawn exclaimed vehemently, taking Sera aback. "Look, Shmi took my sister in, gave her a home and a family when she needed one. For that, I was always grateful to her and I always respected her. But she was not my mother. I had a mother and she died several years ago," she finished calmly. "I'm serious, Sera. I'm just no good with this thing."

Sera sighed. "Well, you need to be good, especially if you want to become a Jedi Knight. I want you to practice for two hours tonight before your meditations, alright?"

"Yes, Master," Dawn said and Sera nodded.

"Good. You can start now. I have a meeting with Master Shryne."

"Be careful, or he'll try to set you up with somebody," Dawn said. "He's gotten a big head since me and Zett got together."

Sera chuckled as she made her way to the door - and nearly ran into Willow. Sera's smile instantly vanished, replaced by a hard face simmering with barely controlled anger.

"Ms. Rosenberg."

Willow bowed her head. "Master Keto."

Sera didn't reply, she merely stepped around the witch and stalked off. Willow let loose the breath she had been holding. "I see she still hates my guts," she quipped. Dawn shrugged.

"You did kill her Master," the young Jedi pointed out earnestly.

"Yeah, there was that…" Willow trailed off as she looked around the training room. "Still working on saber training, huh? How's that going?"

"In short - it sucks," Dawn grumbled. "I'm terrible with swords - I just want to hack and slash. I got no style, no rhythm - hell, even GILES admitted that."

"You're at a disadvantage, Dawn," Willow said calmly looking over the various lightsabers on display. "Most Padawans are trained from a very young age in how to wield a lightsaber. They are taught that the lightsaber is an extension of themselves - a part of them. They can feel the Force through it, and the Force can direct it. It's almost like a living thing," she sighed. "But you are having to unlearn all you have learned about how to handle a weapon. Unfortunately, as you've said, you've never been good with a sword. That presents a bit of a paradox for you - how can you learn to yield the weapon of a Jedi when you can't successfully wield a Jedi weapon?"

"Don't suppose you have an answer for me, oh great and powerful Will?" Dawn replied.

"As a matter of fact, I do," Willow smiled and moved over to the archive computer terminal Fred had installed in the wall. Deftly she turned it on and started rapidly scrolling through the tactical database until she reached the file on Jedi weapons. A few moments later, an image formed in the air and the witch turned back to the now-smiling Dawn. "Simply put, you should play to your strengths…"


The service was short. Anakin and Owen lowered the body of Shmi Skywalker into the grave and covered her over with Luke's help; Luke made it a point to stay as far from his father as he could. They each said a few words, celebrating and mourning the life and loss of one of the most important women in all of their lives.

Luke stood next to his guardians and kept his eyes on the ground. When the tears started flowing again, he struggled to hold in his emotions. Leia stood between her aunt and her mother, staring at the gravesite.

"I'm sorry I couldn't be here more, mom," Anakin said softly, kneeling on the ground at her grave. "I'm sorry for a lot of things. But I give you my word that I will see justice brought back to this galaxy and your family, my family, won't have to live in the shadows anymore."

Buffy was last. Once more she found herself kneeling at the grave of her mother - not the one who had given birth to her, but the one who had given life to her.

"Thank you, Mom. Thank you for everything."

Afterwards, everyone gathered backing the homestead as the Skywalkers prepared to leave.

"I'm sorry we couldn't stay longer, sweetheart," Anakin told Leia, pulling her in for a hug and kissing the top of her head.

"It's alright, Dad. I understand," she said, then quietly added, "Give Luke time; he will too." Anakin nodded to his youngest child as she stepped back. He saw Luke giving his mother a stiff hug and as she moved away he moved to hug him. Luke saw him and scowled.

"I don't want anything to do with you," the boy snarled. "Just go run away like you always do. It's not like you care about us anyway!"

"Luke!" Anakin called out as his son ran out of the hovel and then he sighed in defeat. Owen looked at him apologetically.

"He'll come around, Ani," he said. Anakin looked back and nodded.

"I hope so."


When they returned to Earth and the Council, Padmé headed back to their quarters while Buffy and Anakin headed to the training room to spar. It was well after midnight and the campus was quiet. Most Slayers were either on patrol or out clubbing; a few of the Padawans took sentry duties for the night.

"He'll come around, Ani," Buffy said as they walked. Anakin sighed.

"Everybody keeps saying that."

Buffy's mind flashed back to her last few seconds with Luke. She had told him to go easier on his father and trust that when Anakin felt he was ready he would tell him. He had told her to stop acting like her brother.

"He's a fifteen-year-old, angst-ridden teenager who just lost the closet thing he had to a mother. He loves you and Padmé; with Padmé he can still show it. But with you - well, you're a larger-than-life character. He hears about how great a person you are; but he never hears why. He wants to look up to you, but he can't find a reason to since you always seem to be running away. You just need to give him some time and space. Soon or later, he'll come around."

"Yeah, hopefully before the Empire's at his doorstep."

The two reached the training room just as Dawn was exiting. She spied the two Masters and instantly moved her right hand behind her back.

"Hi, guys!" she said, a bit too cheerfully. "How was the service?"

"It was nice," Buffy said slowly, trying to puzzle her out. "You would have been welcome…"

"I would have been out of place," Dawn replied. "You know my feelings on the subject. I was grateful to her, but I didn't know her well enough to love her like you."

"I understand," Buffy replied. "Now, what's behind your back?"

"Uh…nothing?" Dawn replied hopefully.

"You DO know I can read your mind, right?"

"You know you're not allowed to take a lightsaber out of the training hall, Dawn," Anakin said. "You're only permitted to train with one, not carry one. No exceptions."

"I know, I know," Dawn said. "I was just taking it back to the lab to work on it a bit…"

"NO exceptions," Buffy repeated. Dawn sighed.

"Come with me," she said, then turned and walked back in the training room. The two Masters followed. Dawn stood with her back to them, her hands in front hiding the supposed lightsaber from view.

"You know how I have problems with lightsabers?"

"Yeah, you suck," Buffy said bluntly.

"Very astute," Dawn replied dryly. "My problems stem from how I was trained with swords initially - hack and slash. That and the fact that I just have no grace with a sword whatsoever. Well, I was practicing today and I had a conversation with Willow."

Anakin's face darkened, but Buffy put a restraining hand on his arm.

"And what did she say?" the Slayer asked.

"That I should play to my strengths."

Dawn spun around and ignited the blade on her lightsaber - both of them, one at each end of the extended handle. Clinically, Buffy could see that Dawn had crudely attached two training sabers together, end on end. But in her mind, she saw another dual-bladed saber, wielded by a Dark Lord of the Sith on Naboo over eighteen years ago.

"Dawn…what the fuck?"

"Giles always said I was top in the defense class when it came to the Bo staff," she explained, twirling the dual blades around. "It was better suited to me than a sword. I like the balance, the reach. I was acrobatic when I was younger - but the Jedi training has really accentuated it. And now I don't need to learn a new style to use it - I can use my own style for now and learn as I grow."

"Are you any good with it?" Anakin asked. Dawn shrugged.

"I was practicing on drones for the past few hours. I was going to try and fine tune this so I could practice with Sera tomorrow… unless you want to go," she added to her stepbrother.

Anakin shook his head. "I wouldn't presume. Buffy?"

"I'd presume," She said, pulling out her lightsaber and igniting the silver blade. "And Dawn? Don't hold back."

Dawn smirked, brought her right blade up in salute and attacked.

The two moved as if in a dance, a graceful ballet off spinning, multicolored blades. Every time Buffy would strike, Dawn would parry and riposte almost instantly. Buffy was amazed with the speed and grace her sister was moving at - something she had showed only hints at during her training, but had never reached. She realized with a start that Dawn was using Juyo, the seventh form of lightsaber combat and very similar to her own form of Vaapad. Both were highly advanced forms of combat and Buffy was amazed that Dawn could utilize it with such style and grace.

Buffy lunged, Dawn pushed the blade away and cart wheeled to the left, striking out with her foot and catching Buffy in the jaw. She immediately followed it up with a jab to the gut that Buffy sidestepped, followed by swinging cut to her head that she ducked. Momentarily forgetting herself, Buffy swung hard at Dawn's next attack, meaning to show the blade away. Instead the impact finally overloaded the overtaxed power source, causing it to explode. Dawn cried out in pain as her right hand was burned in the small blast.

"Dawn!" Buffy shouted in alarm, switching off her own blade and rushing to her sister. Anakin was likewise at the Padawan's side in an instant.

"Are you alright?" he asked. Dawn grimaced in pain, but nodded.

"Nothing a trip to the med lab won't fix," she said through gritted teeth. "I knew the power source was going to be a problem - it wasn't meant to be rigged like that. That's what I was going to work on tonight."

Buffy nodded. "I'm sorry I stopped you, then. But you should have told me - I would have taken you on tomorrow. Instead, I'm going to have to wait until you get your hand treated - and build a replacement."

Dawn stared at her sister in amazement. "What? You mean-"

"I mean," Buffy started, "that I was waiting for you to develop your skills before I allowed you to build your first lightsaber. But I made an error, Dawn. I tried to training you like a Padawan and in the process I forgot you were already trained like a Watcher. I should have evaluated you on different types of weapons and allowed you to choose one that worked for you. But what you showed me tonight was amazing, Dawn. You're ready."

Dawn smiled broadly, then grimaced in pain. "Then I'll get started on it - just as soon as I get some bandages for my hands."

"Master Chatak should be on duty at the med lab now. Ask him for some bacta patches. They'll help accelerate the healing," Anakin advised. Dawn nodded. "Then go and get patched up. Then get some sleep, Padawan."

"Yes, Masters," Dawn said sincerely. Then she hugged both of them. "Thank you, Buffy. And I'm sorry for your loss. Both of your losses." The two Jedi nodded and Dawn raced out of the training room.

Buffy couldn't help but sigh. "Well, it's official. My worst nightmare has come true. Soon she will be armed and dangerous."

Anakin chuckled. "I dare say things are going to get very interesting around here."

"Yeah," Buffy agreed and then frowned. "And I have a bad feeling about it."

TBC


A/N: I've been putting off writing this chapter for a while now so I could read the NJO book 'Traitor', which is where Verger teaches Jacen about her views of the Force. I wanted to read this because I'm going to be using that view as Buffy and Willow's view for the story, something I started back in Episode 3. Thankfully, I finally got to it (and managed to finish it in a day- something I haven't done in a while; and I read most of it at work, to boot!) so chapter 4 shouldn't take as long.

Next TWO chapters - Willow pulls a Verger on Dawn, and Dawn herself undertakes a mission to Coruscant - and comes face to face and blade to blade with the Emperor's Hand, Mara Jade.

Oh, and Anakin and Willow talk and Buffy and Obi-Wan kiss.