Disclaimer and summary found with prologue.

AN: Well, since it took me a little longer and nothing really happens in this chapter, I'm going to go ahead and give you two chapters today. Hope you guys like.

Once again, thank you to you guys who reviewed. I really enjoy reading what you guys think and thank you for taking the time to leave them.

Also, special thanks to my lovely beta Charlotte.

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Chapter Eight:

City Space

Buffy stood at the front of the ship with Anakin, watching as they came closer to the strange, silvery planet. It was the oddest planet she had ever seen. Okay, she hadn't seen a lot of planets in her day, just pictures from her ninth grade science class, but she was pretty that none of them looked like the disco mirror ball of space.

Ships of all sizes sailed above the planet's atmosphere, some heading down to the surface while others headed away. The closer they came, the more defined the lines of traffic appeared. They look like rows of ants on a picnic table to her.

Buffy had to close her eyes. The sight was making her dizzy and nauseous.

"Buffy, you okay?" Anakin asked.

"Yeah," she said, opening her eyes and giving him a weary smile. "Just a little dizzy is all."

"We'll be landing soon, Ma'am," Ric Olie, the ship's pilot, said.

The ship smoothly sailed through the planets atmosphere. Buffy forced herself to look up, her curiosity of why the planet looked so odd winning out over a little motion sickness. What she found made her blink once...twice.

It was a planet of skyscrapers.

"Wow," Ani said, leaning forward.

Olie laughed. "Coruscant, capital of the Republic, an entire planet evolved into one giant city," he explained. "Nice place to visit, but I wouldn't want to live there."

"Okay, New York is throughly eating its heart out," Buffy muttered.

As they cruised through the traffic and stayed in what seemed like a lane, Olie explained how it all worked to Anakin. Buffy could tell he was only half listening, he was more interested in the ships and buildings they were passing than what the pilot had to say about traffic laws.

Jar Jar was crouched low behind Anakin, terrified by everything he was seeing. Obviously, he had never seen anything like this place either.

Qui-Gon and Ben stood at the back of the cabin, watching silently. Qui-Gon had said nothing about Buffy not letting Ben inspect her wound, but she could tell he wanted to know. She didn't know what she'd tell him when he finally did ask, but she was sure she could think of something.

Ben stood beside his Master, his attention more focused on her than the planet. He had the same look on his face that Kendra had had when they found out they were both slayers. He didn't know what to make of her, and, like his Master, decided to be cautious around her.

"Look," Olie said, pointing to something on the viewscreen. Buffy glanced over and saw a landing platform that seemed to be magically hanging in mid-air. Another ship was docked there and several people were coming out. Another person was already waiting. "Chancellor Valorum has come to meet us. And there. Senator Palpatine is waiting."

The ship landed softly and Buffy followed the others towards the exit hatch she had jumped on the day before. When they arrived, a large group of people were already waiting. Most were men dressed in the same uniforms the crew wore. Olie went up to a tall dark-skinned man and spoke to him softly. Buffy guessed whoever the guy was, he was in charge of the solders and crew.

A group of young women dressed in red and yellow robes - Buffy recognized Padmé as one of them - stood around a woman. She must be the Queen Buffy had heard so much about.

She was dressed in black with a few trims of gold, appearing as if she were going to a funeral instead of meeting. On her head, she wore a head dress that had a bunch of feathers sticking up. Buffy thought it looked like a vulture dove into her head. The headdress covered her hair and most of her head, expect for her face. In stark contrast to the black, her face was painted white with two red dots on her cheeks and her top lip the same color. Her bottom lip had a single red line drawn down the center and the rest was colored white. The out gave her an air of someone unattainable and superior to those around them. However, all-in-all; Buffy thought she should fire whoever dressed her like that because one didn't have to dress in ugly clothes and have bad makeup to look superior and unattainable.

The landing hatch opened and the Queen nodded to Qui-Gon. Understanding what she wanted, he and Ben led the way, with Buffy, Anakin, and Jar Jar following close behind. The Queen and her entourage brought up the rear.

Buffy squinted and covered her eyes with her hand as she stepped out of the ship. It was overwhelming here. On Tatooine, she could just pretend she was in the desert outside of Las Vegas or in New Mexico where her grandparents had lived. Here, there was no pretending because she had never been to any place like it.

She glanced at Ani. He appeared to be struggling as well and was very careful to concentrate on Qui-Gon or her. Buffy smiled trying to reassure him. If it worked, she didn't know.

They approached the group waiting for them. Two men were dressed in classy outfits were flanked by men who Buffy assumed were guards. When Qui-Gon and Ben reached them, they bowed. Jar Jar and Anakin followed suit, but Buffy just nodded. One of the men, the shorter one with more than a few wrinkles, ever so slightly raised his eyebrows at her. He wanted to say something, Buffy could tell. Instead, he placed a large, controlled smile on his face and turned to the group coming up behind her.

Buffy didn't like him. He reminded her of the creepy guy who used to live down the street from her Aunt Sophie and Uncle Harvey in Baltimore that liked to watch children a little to much. There something majorly off about this guy, but she couldn't put her finger on what.

As they stepped to the side, allowing the Queen to come forward, Buffy pulled Anakin closer to her. She watched the man - who turned out to be the Senator Palpatine Olie had pointed out - carefully as he and the Queen spoke.

They didn't speak long. It was mostly an introduction of the Supreme Chancellor Valium - no, that's not right. Volvo. Voice-over. Crap. It started with a V, she knew that.

After the introduction, Palpatine moved to the Queen's side and led her to the shuttle parked against the platform. The Queen's entourage and the newcomers guards followed, as did Jar Jar. Anakin started to follow, but Buffy held him back with her and Jedi. He looked at her curiously, then over to Qui-Gon.

"You best go with them, Buffy," Qui-Gon said. "Obi-Wan and myself have some business we must attend to."

She shook her head. "I don't like that guy."

"Who?" Ben asked. "The Chancellor?"

"No. Papatine," she said, holding Ani a little closer. "He gives me the creeps."

Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan exchanged a look as Padmé stopped near the edge of the platform. The others were already getting into the ship as she looked back to Anakin and Buffy. "Ani! Buffy!" she called.

Buffy looked to Qui-Gon, silently pleading for him to let them go with him and Ben. Drawing a deep breath, he shook his head, then touched her back. "We'll come get you as soon as possible," he said lowly, pushing her towards the others.

Buffy frowned at him, then squared her shoulders and walked to the ship.

She really didn't like this.

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Qui-Gon watched them leave, a frown on his face well but not a defined as Buffy's. She had been acting odd - well, odder - since she boarded the Queen's ship. Obi-Wan told him of her refusal to allow him to inspect her wound. A simple 'no' would not have aroused much suspicion since Buffy appeared to be the type that didn't take offered help all that often. However, she did not mind when Obi-Wan was tending to her wounds from the correctional cuffs. Why was the one on her arm so different?

And now she didn't want to go with the Queen because she didn't like Palpatine? Qui-Gon would admit, he didn't care of the Senator either, but Buffy was acting as if she were almost afraid of him. Not afraid for herself, but more for Ani.

Qui-Gon turned to Obi-Wan. He could tell his Padawan was just as confused by Buffy as he was.

"What a peculiar girl," Obi-Wan said. "Why must every stray you find be off somehow, Master?"

Qui-Gon frowned at his Padawan, but ignored the comment. "Come. We must speak with the Council."

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Buffy stood at the window, watching as the traffic flew by - some lines traveling much slower than others. They still looked like ant lines against the sky to her, only now she was looking up at them instead of down. One of the traffic lines flew directly in front of the window she stood looking out of. She recognized none of the ships that passed or the creatures that drove them. She was quickly finding out that is this place was far more diverse than the desert planet of Tatooine.

Ani, overcome with awe and bewilderment, sat quietly beside the glass office door with Jar Jar. He watched his feet and hands, doing his best not to look like he was eavesdropping like Buffy knew he was. Well, what did they expect the boy to do, leaving the door slightly cracked like that and all?

The Queen and Palpatine were inside, discussing, Buffy assumed, the fate of their people. When they had arrived at the building, they were given a bit of time to refresh themselves and cleanup. To Buffy, that meant washing some dirt off her face and running a comb through her hair so she wouldn't scare people. To the Queen, that meant changing outfits.

She and Cordelia would so be best friends.

Buffy frowned as she thought about Cordy. Not because she missed her at that moment, but because she could hear now if she saw her. In comparison to the Queen and her handmaidens elegant robes and perfectly groomed hair, Buffy looked something like a sick desert rat with a skin problem. Even if she had spent the last year as a slave, Cordelia would quick to point out that that was no reason to ignore fashion.

Grabbing a handful, Buffy began to inspect her hair. Long gone were the soft locks she had when she first came to this awful universe. Instead, her ends were split and dry, making her hair a double for straw. Buffy pouted. She missed her shiny hair. Maybe Padmé could help her get it back to its once fine condition. That or she could shave it off and start all over again.

She better be careful with Padmé, though. If she did the Queen's hair, then shaving it off would be the far better choice.

Stupid world with its good-hair and high-fashion people. Making her feel all frumpy...

"Buffy?" Ani staring at her oddly. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," she said sighing. Leaving the window, Buffy walked across the room and sat down next to him. "Just mourning the loss of my once 'soft, silky, manageable hair'."

Ani blinked at her, still obviously not understanding what was wrong. However, he knew better than to ask and would just chalk it up to another one of those 'weird Buffy' things.

"So, what's the what?" Buffy asked, nudging her head towards the office.

"Mr. Palpatine is telling the Queen how long the Senate is going to take and that it doesn't matter anyway because the Chancellor is corrupt," Ani said, not even bothering to try and hide the fact he was eavesdropping from her. Considering she taught him how to do it right, there wasn't much point in pretending to be innocent. "Do you think that's true?"

"What, that the Chancellor's crooked?" Buffy asked. Ani nodded. "Don't know. Could be. But, personally, I would trust this Palpatine guy as far as Jar Jar could throw him."

The Gungan frowned, but Buffy ignored him.

"Why?" Ani asked.

Buffy drew in a deep breath and held it. What could she say? That Palpatine made her feel as if not all was well in Jockeytown? She just kept picking up bad, slayer vibes off him. Like he was hiding something. Then, he was a politician, and who had ever heard of an honest politician who was actually honest?

"Because he gives you the creeps?" Anakin asked, using her own phrase from earlier.

That would work. "Yeah, Ani. He does."

As if hearing them talking about him, the Senator and the Queen marched out of his office. Anakin and Jar Jar jumped to their feet, but Buffy rose deliberately slow. As they passed, the Senator looked at her for a long moment, then turned his attention to the Queen.

No, there was nothing right in Jockeytown with that guy around.

And was it just her, or did the Queen look...different somehow?