Any normal person looking at him would see a tall, black clad man sitting calmly… how wrong they would be.
Vader was fuming.
He was not so off balance for years, who would have thought that someone so…small and fragile looking could be such an irritating/yet amusing little … and to cause such mayhem for some people.
Namely him.
But since he met her she was source of much trouble for him, he wanted to get rid of her, no mater how amusing and pleasant at times she could be.
She was trouble!
He was just glad that no one else was present when she tripped him. Or, as she claims, when she 'accidentally' stepped on his cape.
And then had the nerve to comment about the color of his clothes! He was hoping that when his master met her, he would either get rid of her, or keep her in the palace to find more about her world… but did that happen?
NO!
When Buffy stopped before the Emperor, she acted completely different. She curtsied; she talked to the man …
And then Emperor, who had become quite fond of her and not in the 'you have the force, come to work for me' way, but more like 'you amuse and entertain me, come to visit often' way.
Couldn't he keep her?
No, he was not so lucky. For some yet undetermined reason his Master decided that it would be good idea if Buffy stayed with him…why that was so he didn't elaborate, he just ordered for her not to be harmed.
And now he, Darth Vader had to keep that menace in pretty package safe…and right now he was not too sure if he would begin to like her or save the future headache and just kill her.
Because his previous attempts had worked so well before, he thought crossly. Why did this kind of things always happen to him?
Buffy standing by the doorway, looking at Vader while he was sitting in some sort of egg like contraption, shrugging she pushed off the wall and started walking toward him.
Deciding to play it nice for a while paid of with the Emperor. And to top it of she was stuck with Mr. Black armor…he was so annoyed when his Emperor ordered him to keep her safe, not that she needed protecting, but watching annoyed Mr. Man in Black Darth Vader made her day.…yep she finally got the whole name.
Deciding to interrupt Vader's session of staring at the wall she steped right behind him.
"What are you doing?"
"Working, now go away." he bit out.
"Working is when you are actually doing something. You are staring at the wall."
"I'm meditating."
Maybe if he ignored her she'd go away…
"Is this what you're doing when you're bored?"
Or not.
"Can't you harass somebody else?" he hissed with a voice that made most people shiver and back away in fear. Buffy just looked at him with that peculiar expression…
"I did, but I got bored. Come on Ducky Wacky, show me around and I'll leave you alone tomorrow."
That's tempting…what did she called me!
Standing up Vader adjusted his cloak, thinking how to properly respond for Buffy's latest remark. Deciding that some payback for insults he received was in order he straightened.
Looking down on her, trying to intimidate her by towering over her petite form in backing away, like any sane person would, all he received from that infuriating female was a smirk and raised eyebrow.
"Very well Miss Summers," that erased that smirk from her face and replaced it with a glare, what brought a smirk on his face, and for a moment he wished that she could see it.
Half a galaxy away on the desert planet Tatooine, Obi-Wan was meditating, a feat that was very difficult, on this sand planet, the sand got everywhere, in his boots, on his hear, irritated his skin. The two suns were no help either, but he had five years to get used to it. But he still could not reach Qui-Gon.
Heaving a tired sigh he stood up, he failed again, he was trying for day's ewer since he arrived here. Thinking back he could not help but wondering how he managed to contact Master Qui-Gon when he was being instructed by Master Yoda on Naboo.
Naboo, home planet of Senator Padme Amidala, secret wife of his friend Anakin, thinking of Anakin brought back all the questions and all the guilt he had.
How come he didn't notice?
"Hello Obi-Wan" said kind voice behind him.
Obi-Wan whirled about to see the blue image of tall man. "Qui-Gon."
"It's good to see you." smiled Qui-Gon.
"Same here Master" replied Obi-Wan.
"It's wasn't your fault Obi-Wan."
Obi-Wan knew immediately what his Master wanted to say. But he bitterly disagreed.
"If I thought him better, make him follow the code, maybe…"
But Qui-Gon didn't let his former Padawan finish.
"Anakin's turn to the Dark side was not you fault. And the code was partly the reason why the Sith grow so powerful"
At Obi-Wan's expression, he smiled. "Obi-Wan think, how many times did you talk with Palpatine not once suspecting that you are talking to the Lord of the Sith himself. How many times did Yoda, or any other Jedi Master, even I didn't sense anything from him while I was alive. Following the rules and the code blindly brought the Jedi Order in a state where it could not evolve with the times. And all things must evolve to mach the time they live in, if they don't…"
The silence met that trailed of sentence. The Qui-Gon smiling sadly continued.
"Anakin Skywalker is still a Chosen One, and he will bring balance, but Obi-Wan the whole prophecy was deliberately lost and only one sentence that The Chosen One will bring balance to the Force. In a way Master Yoda was right, prophecy was misread, for balance doesn't mean defeat of the Dark Side and triumph of the Light."
"What…?"
"Please Obi-Wan, let me finish I don't have much time and I have a lot to tell you, this will be difficult for you to accept, but some times things have to get worse before they can be as they should be. Have you ever wondered why there have been fewer Jedi each generation?"
"I suppose the wars decreased our numbers…"
"That was true, yes but that's not the whole truth. We took all Force sensitive children that we could find to train them as Jedi, forbidding attachments."
"Attachments, especially strong ones led to the Dark side, just look at Anakin, he …"
"No Obi-Wan, think, if the Jedi allowed attachments, Anakin would not be so conflicted and so ready to believe everything that Palpatine told him. What also means that the balance in the force would already exist and Palpatine would be found a long time ago, so let's go back to the topic of prophecy, Anakin already fulfilled a part of it. But for the destruction of the Sith order, he needs a little push from the second Chosen One. So there are Chosen Two and not Chosen One."
"But Anakin no longer exists, he became Darth Vader. And Master Yoda said that once you step on the Dark path it always dominates your destiny. Was he wrong? And who is the second Chosen one? Where could I find him? Is he trained Jedi or should I train him or send him to master Yoda?"
Qui Gon smiled, "Now those are the right questions to ask. In that order, Anakin was created by midi-chlorians, he has both sides of the Force in him, but they are un-balanced. The Dark was suppressed when he was a Jedi, and now that he is a Sith the Light is suppressed, but not gone. And Yoda was wrong; it depends on the person choices."
Then smiling ruefully he continued. "Now about second Chosen One, it's not a he it's a she. And she is a child of the Jedi and a Potential Slayer, but she is not Jedi herself. Her name is Buffy Anne Summers. She is with Vader. And you will not look for her, when the time comes she will look for you."
Qui-Gon smiled at Obi-Wan who was making a good impression of a fish out of water.
"Now my former apprentice, do you have any more questions before I leave?"
"Who...wha?" Obi-Wan shut his mouth, and when he could form coherent thoughts, he voiced his questions concerning his master's explanation.
"What is a Potential Slayer? Or for that matter a Slayer? Who is Buffy's father? What she looks like? And won't the Emperor kill her?
Chuckling Qui-Gon waved his hand. "She will explain the Slayer bit, when you meet her, providing of course that she and Vader don't kill each other first. Me. And she already meet the Emperor and currently she is in no danger…."
"You…how…when?" Obi-Wan was completely shell shocked Qui-Gon had a daughter.
"Yes me, and I doubt that you want to know how." At Obi-Wan's blush, he continued.
"Its long story, so I'll give you very short version. Just when I got my Knighthood, I was sent on the mission on Outer Rim, but an accident in hyperdrive resulted in an unusual jump trough hyperspace, carrying me very far beyond Unexplored Regions. I landed on a planet meet a young woman, fell in love, got married, and when Joyce was pregnant I got a visit from two beings, strong in the Force, that told two possible futures, I could stay with my wife and unborn daughter live happily ever after, and the Sith will prevail. Or I could return to the Order, be silent of my mirage, never see my wife and child again and find the Chosen One and the Sith Order will fall."
Silence stretched after Qui-Gon's story ended, Obi-Wan didn't need to hear which path his Master took and he had a good idea why he chose this. But the quiet sadness in indicated how much did that decision cost him.
"Now how Buffy looks like, Obi-Wan concentrate and…."
Obi-Wan closed his eyes and concentrated, soon an image apered in his minds eye. He saw a young, small blond woman, …
"Buffy hates it when someone calls her small, she is very touchy on that subject. Another sensitive subject is her clothing…" After a beat, Qui-Gon added. "And we mustn't forget the hair."
Obi-Wan's eyes snapped open meeting Qui-Gon's kind gaze.
"And now I must leave you, it was good to see you again."
Obi-Wan smiled and when Qui-Gon disappeared he whispered "It was good to see you to Master."
AN/ I have a challenge for you guys, could one of you write a fic how Qui-Gon meet Buffy's mom. What happened after he spoke with the Oracles, how/why did Joyce married Hank Summers and so on…