Episode 3 Chapter 18
The Last Council
Xander stumbled into the room. His clothes were disheveled; his hair askew and a small cut had opened at his scalp.
"Xander!" Buffy cried out as Dawn and Faith both rushed to his side. "What happened?"
Xander took a moment to catch his breath, then looked up at Buffy with a small, triumphant smile.
"Darth Traya's dead, Buffy," he announced. "Willow's back."
"What do you mean?" Anakin asked darkly, a glower forming on his face. Buffy shot him a warning look before turning back to Xander.
"Are you sure?" she asked. Xander nodded.
"Yeah, I'm sure. She threw me around a bit before she finally cracked, but-"
"Wait - I thought Giles bound her powers," Buffy mused, looking to her Watcher who had arrived earlier.
"I did."
Buffy looked thoughtful for a moment and then smacked herself on the side of the head. "Of course," she reasoned, "if the Powers could use magic to enable me to access the Force, what's to say she couldn't figure out how to do it to herself?"
"So you're saying she's a Jedi?" Xander asked and then stepped back when Anakin whirled on him.
"She is NOT a Jedi!"
"ANAKIN!" Buffy shouted. As the young Jedi struggled to get his temper under control, Buffy put a hand on his arm. "Go be with your family. Padmé seemed a bit upset about something - go be with her." Anakin nodded and then stalked out of the room, still glowering. "Ben, gather the Masters in the conference room. Giles, you and the Scoobies go, too. Time to make some introductions, I think."
"And where are you going?" Giles asked as she moved to leave the room. Buffy stopped and glanced over her shoulder.
"To see Willow."
Buffy walked down the hall, passed the room where she had finally reconnected with her sister towards the cell that held the former Sith Lord. Without even knocking she hit the access panel and the door slid aside. Taking a calming breath, the Slayer cautiously entered the room. Looking around, she saw the huddled form of her former friend, curled up in the far corner of the room.
"Hello, Willow."
The witch lifted her head, her red hair spilling over her bloodshot eyes. Her cheeks were still moist with the tears she had shed.
"Are you here to kill me?" the broken girl asked weakly. Buffy considered her for a moment before answering.
"No, I'm not."
"Why not?"
"Because I spent nearly three years hoping that I could somehow get you back, Will," Buffy said with a sigh. "I hoped, I prayed. Even when I was trapped on Corellia, I still had hope that Anakin or Padmé could get though to you.
"And then you went and attacked Corellia," Buffy continued, her voice hardening. Willow seemed to shrink back even further into the corner. "I'm not going to kill you, Willow, because that would be a mercy. And I can think of no more adequate punishment for what you've done than to live a long, healthy life remembering it all."
"I've saved you, Willow," she finished, turning to leave. She stopped at the door and looked behind her one last time. "But I don't think I'll ever be able to forgive you." And with that she walked out and closed the door, leaving Willow to cry fresh tears in private.
A short time later, Buffy and the Scoobies sat in the glass-walled conference room with the surviving Jedi Masters, Anakin and Padmé.
"I believe everyone is here, Master Yoda," Obi-Wan said from his place besides the aged Jedi Master. Yoda nodded.
"Then we shall begin," he turned to Buffy. "Master Skywalker, introductions, I believe are needed."
Buffy nodded and turned to the Scoobies, "Guys, you've met Masters Yoda and Obi-Wan, Jedi Qui-Gon Jinn, Padawan Starstone, Senator Organa, Anakin and Padmé. The others here today are Masters Secura," she indicated the blue-skinned Twi'lek, "Bol Chatak," she indicated the horned Zabbrak, "Roan Shryne," a brown haired human nodded his head, "Ydra Kilwallen," the Mirialan nodded as well, "and Teryl Sibwarra." The almost regal-looking Kuati nodded in greeting as well.
"Masters, this is my extended family - my former Watcher, Rupert Giles; one of my best friends Xander Harris; my sister Slayer Faith Lehane; and my sister Dawn whom I'm taking to be my Padawan learner."
There were brief murmurs from the assembled Masters at that revelation, which caused Dawn to hunker down in her chair a bit. Aayla was the first to speak.
"Buffy… I thought it wasn't possible for you to go home. How is it that your sister came to be here - and how is it that she could possibly be Force-sensitive?"
"And is it wise to train her, considering her age?" Teryl added, giving Dawn a skeptical once-over. The young girl bristled and sat up straighter.
"Lady, I've faced down a hell-goddess, helped close a Hellmouth and uncovered the secrets of dimensional travel, all in the past three years. What exactly have you done recently?"
"Peace, Dawn," Buffy laid a calming hand on her sister's shoulder, desperately trying to force down her smile. "Master Sibwarra, forgive my sister's bluntness, but like it or not she is my Padawan. As for how she can be Force-sensitive - it has to do with a special connection we share. But we are not here to talk about my sister or her training - we are here to discuss the very future of our existence. The Jedi are on the brink of extinction. With Palpatine in control of his new 'Empire', the Jedi will be hunted down and killed like wild gundarks. While we are not a true Jedi Council, it falls to us to determine the course of action we will follow now."
"What we need to do is find a safe place," Roan started. "Every minute we stay here increases the risk that the Emperor will be able to find us. And if he does, the innocents here will suffer along with the Jedi."
"Don't suppose you all have a safe house?" Faith asked. Obi-Wan shook his head.
"This is our safe house," he replied.
"Perhaps there is a diplomatic solution to this situation," Ydra supposed, turning to Padmé. "Surely there is something that you or Senator Organa could do?"
"Senator Organa cannot do anything at this time, Master Jedi," Padmé said tiredly. "And I can no longer do anything. I am wanted for treason by the Emperor."
Ydra was confused. "Then, with all due respect, why are you here?"
"She is here as my wife, Master Kilwallen," Anakin replied calmly, drawing gasps from the rest of the Jedi Masters. Roan whistled.
"When you break the Code, Skywalker, you break the Code."
"Do you know what this means, Skywalker?" Chatak asked. Buffy rolled her eyes.
"Anakin can be disciplined by the Council later - if it even comes to that," she replied scathingly. "For now, perhaps we can get back to our imminent demise."
"What we need is an Outbound Flight," Aayla remarked, pushing the disconcerting news of Anakin's marriage out of her mind.
"I'm sorry, but what's 'Outbound Flight'?" Dawn asked, eyeing the Twi'lek curiously. The Jedi master smiled at the girl.
"It was a rather ambitious project. Six Dreadnaughts positioned around a central storage core, meant to travel through the Unknown Regions and out of the known galaxy."
"I remember that," Buffy remarked sourly. "It was headed up by Master Jorus C'Bitch."
"Buffy…" Obi-Wan started, but Buffy silenced him with a look.
"C'baoth was an arrogant, ignorant asshole who believed himself to be better than everyone else because he was a Jedi. I didn't mourn his departure. But personal feelings aside, I think it's a good idea. I just doubt that we can find anybody willing to lend us six Dreadnaughts."
"We don't need ships, Buffy," Padmé said quietly, looking at Dawn. The young girl understood immediately.
"Earth!" she exclaimed, turning to her sister. "We can take you all back to Earth with us!"
"I doubt that Sir Nigel would be happy with us bringing back nearly a hundred refugees," Giles remarked before he smiled broadly. "I already love this plan."
"What exactly are you talking about?" Obi-Wan asked Dawn. "Is it even possible?"
"It's extremely possible," Dawn replied. "We open up a portal, get everybody to Earth, and set up a new Jedi Academy of sorts at the Watcher's Council. It'll be a difficult transition, but it could be done."
"What kid of problems could we face?" Master Chatak asked.
"Earth is pretty primitive in comparison to what you're used to," Xander supplied. "There's no fancy weapons, no regular space flights. Heck, the farthest anybody from earth has gotten in space was to the moon. Also, Earth has had no contact with any alien species…allegedly."
"Most people on Earth don't believe that aliens exist," Buffy added. "I have to admit that I didn't believe they existed either - till that alien-demon thing tried to eat my mother."
"And the whole alien-galaxy thing you've been pulling for the past few years, right?" Faith added jokingly. Buffy chuckled in acknowledgement.
"That's another thing - the time difference," Dawn added. "The way I figure it, for every one year that passes on Earth, about five years passes here. That could actually work to our benefit, because we could spend a few years on Earth, come back and Palpatine would be dead of old age."
"It's more than that."
All eyes turned to Padmé, who had spoken quietly. Anakin, who was increasingly worried about the sadness he was feeling from her. "Angel?" he whispered, putting a soft hand on her shoulder. Padmé took a shuddering breath and then spoke again.
"Buffy, do you remember a being named Whistler?"
Buffy nodded. "Balance demon. I met him when he told me I had to kill Angel. Never cared for him."
"He came to me earlier." At Buffy's startled look, she continued. "I fell asleep. He came to me in my dreams. He showed me…what was to come."
"Certain of this dream, are you?" Yoda asked gently. Padmé nodded.
"Very certain. And I would have to be, considering what he told me." Taking another breath, she continued. "It has already been set in motion and over the next twenty years a rebellion against the Empire will form. Twenty years from now, the rebellion will erupt into full-blown war. Many battles will be fought, many lives lost. But it may be victorious…"
"Victorious how?" Anakin asked. Padmé sighed sadly.
"There will be two who help lead the Rebellion to victory. One raised on Tatooine who will become a Jedi, and one on Naboo and educated in politics. A boy and a girl." She looked her husband in the eye. "Luke and Leia."
Buffy closed her eyes and sighed, now knowing what the grief Padmé was broadcasting was about. She knew what had to happen now - of all people, Anakin and Padmé could not remain behind. Which meant they would have to leave their children behind.
"No," Anakin said. When Padmé tired to speak again, Anakin jumped up. "NO!" he screamed. "I will NOT just abandon my children!"
"Anakin, listen to reason…" Buffy tried to interrupt, but her brother whirled on her.
"REASON? WHAT REASON!" he roared. "You want me to leave my children behind, in hopes that they grow up to be some prophesized saviors?"
"Ani, I know what you're feeling right now…"
"How could you possible know how I'm feeling, Buffy?" he interrupted scornfully. "What would you know about leaving your child behind?"
"I LEFT MY CHILDS CORSPE BEHIND! AT LEAST YOURS WILL STILL BE ALIVE!"
There was a moment of stunned silence, as everyone digested what Buffy had just said. Only a few knew of what happened to her on Corellia, but most had no idea of what she had been through. Even Anakin seemed to realize that he had stepped over the line with his comments.
"Dear god, Buffy…" Giles started, but Buffy turned around and stalked to the far corner of the room, her hand on her mouth to stifle her crying. Anakin slowly moved up behind her and put a comforting hand on her shoulder.
"Buffy, I'm sorry…I wasn't thinking…"
"No, you were," Buffy replied softly. "You were thinking like a parent. Remember - I didn't want to leave my family, either."
"Ani," Dawn spoke tentatively, "look, I know this is hard to swallow. It was hard for me to accept that my sister was alive and well, but I wouldn't be able to see her again. But that's all changed now." Dawn held up the GDO. "We got a way into this universe now. And Fred was already talking about streamlining the process, making units that open portals by themselves. Just give us a few weeks and we'll have a way for both you and Padmé to come back and be with your kids."
"You would do that?" Padmé asked hesitantly. Dawn grinned meekly.
"Sure. You're family now."
"Reactions like this are the exact reason why attachments are forbidden to Jedi!" Teryl exclaimed. "I'm sorry, Anakin. But if you will place your family above the Order, then perhaps you don't belong in the Order anymore."
Even as Anakin looked away in shame, Buffy scoffed.
"Okay, let's clear something up, right now," she said, turning her attention to the young Master. "I hate to bring this up, but the time has come when we must all face a simple, yet terrifying truth - the Jedi Order is dead."
"Not to disagree, Master Skywalker, but I'm feeling fine," Roan said deadpanned.
"Nearly twenty years, Master Shryne," Buffy said calmly. "For nearly twenty years, Palpatine connived and schemed and maneuvered himself into the most powerful office in the galaxy and then proceeded to take it over. And he fooled us all."
Buffy pointed to Padmé, "He had the Trade Federation blockade his own planet and then used the situation to have then Queen Amidala call for the no-confidence vote that put him into office."
She turned to point to Yoda next. "Master Yoda, how many meetings did you and Master Windu have with Palpatine in his office? For that matter," she turned to Obi-Wan, "how many meetings did you and Anakin have?" Finally, she turned to her brother. "And how many private meetings did you have with him?"
"Too many to count," he admitted after a moment of silence.
"Exactly!" Buffy exclaimed. "Almost all of the most powerful Jedi in the Galaxy were around him at one point or another and yet all of them failed to sense what he really was. The Jedi Order was so blinded by tradition and codes that we allowed a Sith Lord to rise to the highest levels of our government. No attachments," she spat out, almost contemptuously. "Let me tall you about attachments. I was a Slayer once, one girl in a long line of girls who were taken by their Council when they were babies, raised and trained by the Council, not allowed friends or family, or boyfriends…and not one of them lived past 18. I fell through the cracks of the Council; I had Xander and Giles and… Willow," she took a small breath to compose herself. "I survived because of my attachments. Anakin resisted the call of the Dark Side because of his attachments.
"Things are going to change once we hit Earth. We'll discuss it more then, because I think that right now we need to concentrate on getting everyone out of this dimension and settling them on Earth. But once we get settled, we will be having this conversation again. And I promise you this - the Code will be re-written, the rules will be re-arranged and the Jedi Order will adapt to live in a new century, instead of just living in the past as it has for the past millennia. Any questions? No? Excellent."
Without giving the rest of the Masters time to argue, she turned to Yoda. "If the children have to remain behind, they need to be protected. More than that, we have to keep them off of Palpatine's radar."
Pushing Buffy's outburst aside for the moment, Obi-Wan tried to concentrate on the question at hand. "It's possible that the Emperor has a way to search for Jedi or Force-sensitive's I general. The best way to beat that would to make sure that the children aren't trained - at least, not in the traditional sense."
"In my vision, I didn't see Leia as a Jedi - she seemed more like a political activist. I don't think she was trained at all," Padmé said, her sadness abated somewhat at the knowledge that she would be able to see her children after all. "Luke though, he was using a lightsaber."
"Separated, they should be," Yoda advised. "Together, even dormant, the Force in them Palpatine would sense."
"They shouldn't be strangers to one another," Anakin argued. Obi-Wan nodded.
"And I agree. But for their safety, they should live in separate places." He turned to Padmé. "How would your family feel about taking in Leia? You said you see her as a political activist; on Naboo she could learn from the best."
"And I would be happy to sponsor her in the Senate, when the time comes," Bail added, speaking up for the first time. "It could keep her background even further shrouded from the Emperor."
"I would appreciate that very much, Bail," Padmé said warmly and then turned to Obi-Wan. "And I think my parents would be more than happy to help raise their granddaughter."
"And I bet mom would be more than happy to take in Luke," Buffy said to Anakin. The Jedi considered this.
"The idea has merit," he said, "But would Luke be safe on Tatooine?"
"I will look after him," Qui-Gon announced. Anakin looked to his would-be Master, the shock evident on his face. Qui-Gon chuckled. "Are you that surprised I would volunteer? This life I find myself living is a gift. I can be of more use watching over your son and passing on what knowledge I can."
"I would appreciate it very much, Master," Anakin said. Though disappointed he never had Qui-Gon Jinn as his Master, the knowledge that his son would receive such mentoring pleased him.
"So it is decided," Master Shryne said. "Anakin and Padmé will drop their children off at their relatives, while the rest of us will prepare to depart this dimension… that is very strange to say," Roan finished, a curious look on his face. The other Masters couldn't help but agree.
"We have several cases of equipment packed up and ready for travel," Master Secura said. "Lightsaber components, training tools, holocrons and such; and the Archives are being correlated and packed as we speak. We should be ready to go in three days."
"Should we attempt to send a message and alert your council to our imminent arrival?" Obi-Wan asked Giles. The Watcher looked to Faith, then Xander, then Dawn in silent communication. After a moment, all four looked to the Jedi Master.
"Naah."
Buffy chuckled, though her mind was clearly elsewhere. Yoda nodded. "Then much to do we have. This meeting, adjourned it is."
TBC…
A/N: First, my thanks to my two wonderful Beta's for sticking with me through all of this. And now, a moment of commiseration-
Almost one year ago, I started writing a little fic that was inspired by Winterd's 'Phantom's and Slayers' (a new chapter has been posted to TTH, by the way). Nearly a year later, I find myself finishing up Episode Three, beginning Episode Four, and even doing some preliminary ploting for my own take on the New Jedi Order saga. This particular story already has well over TWO HUNDRED reviews, with a total, at the moment, of 554 reviews for all three Episodes.
Before we get to the end, I just want to say thank you to ALL of my betas, past and present. The Muse, Shadow Master, Megan Gravel, my first Beta waaaaay back on Episode 1, and most recently Winterd and Fallenstar2. I'd like to thank all of my reviewers; even if I haven't responded to your reviews, I've read them all.
Ahh, look at me. I'm getting all misty here. Next chapter- Palpatine plots. 'Nuff said.