Chapter Nine
The trip to Naboo was filled with tension. It was mostly was written off because they were traveling to a hostilely invaded planet with its Queen in their care and were in for quite a fight, but Obi Wan knew at least part of it was created solely by himself and Qui Gon.
While his Master (and didn't that cause quite the pang) was keeping a tight lid on his emotions and thoughts, Obi Wan didn't need the Force to know Qui Gon was both concerned and disappointed by the outcome of the meeting with the Council. Not only was his current Padawan on a path he didn't agree with but Anakin had been denied as a trainee. Obi-Wan had kept his own council about his thoughts on the denial of the boy's training, but he was sure Qui Gon could sense his own worry about Anakin – not for him, but about him. Was it possible Anakin was dangerous?
But what about himself? Did they consider him the same? Was he making the right decision? It had seemed so clear at the time, but now he wasn't so sure. This was the path he'd been on his whole life. Was he ready to abandon it so easily? Was this really a decision he was making for himself or was he involving Buffy too heavily in the thought process?
He shook his head slightly, pushing away the thoughts. They'd finish this mission, help the Queen reclaim her planet and save her people, and then…
Well, he wasn't sure what then. But he'd worry about that, and Buffy, later. For now he just needed to put her and his future out of his mind and worry about the present.
That focus had been easy enough to hang on to as they met with the Gungans and then traveled to Theed to retake the Capital. But as they made their way into the palace via the hanger, all that single-minded concentration on the mission went flying straight out the window.
One moment they were fighting droids, the door to the hall was opening, and the next Obi Wan was left gaping at a scene his eyes and brain couldn't come together on to make sense of.
He vaguely heard Qui Gon behind him, instructing the others to take another route and that he and Obi Wan would handle this. But what 'this' was exactly was where he was having difficulties.
Because there was no way he was actually seeing Buffy.
Here on Naboo.
Fighting a possible Sith lord.
With a lightsaber.
Right?
That was madness, absolutely impossible. He looked to Qui Gon for reassurance, but instead all he got was a pat on the shoulder as his Master walked by, pulling out his own lightsaber.
"Well, I'd say things just got much more interesting, wouldn't you?" He asked Obi Wan with a glance back and a smile.
Yes, he definitely had the most insane Master.
"I heard that."
While already having known the Sith was impressive since he'd witnessed his brief battle with Qui Gon on Tatooine, it was different seeing it here in such tight quarters.
And against Buffy.
The hall barely contained their ferocious fight – the Sith spinning and flipping with a blur of red blades. And Buffy (Buffy) countering with a speed and agility that was amazing. He'd already known she possessed incredible skill but this… He'd not been prepared for this.
And he'd also not been prepared to see the large wound across her back as she spun again. Her name was out of his mouth without permission and he found himself running in their direction – his shocked paralysis undone.
Qui Gon inserting himself in the fight left Obi Wan with a profound sense of relief. That combined with just seeing Buffy again, despite the circumstances, left him slightly off balance but almost euphoric. She'd been fighting a Sith! And apparently intended to continue doing so, but Obi Wan grabbed her uninjured shoulder before she could re-enter the fray.
As she spun to hit him and he grabbed her wrist, he remembered the intimate moment in her home not long ago where they'd been in the exact same position. Instead of looking lost and pale, though, the rush of the fight had brought color to her cheeks and a look to her eye that made something stir inside him.
This is what she was meant to be.
The thought both scared him and intrigued him. She had been fighting a Sith, there was no way that was meant for her. She could handle herself in a fight, sure, but…
He pushed away those thoughts for another time – easily distracted from them by the feeling of her warm wrist under his hand, pulse quick but steady.
"This feels familiar," he said, smiling as she stared at him in shock.
She sputtered a series of unconnected incoherent words, putting voice to his own earlier feelings at seeing her there.
"Eloquent," he couldn't help but tease.
Sensing his Master and the Sith moving in their direction, he used his grip to tug her to the side of the hall and out of their path as they went by in a flurry of blades clashing.
"What the hell are you doing here?"
Her question was both shocked and harsh and he keenly felt the loss of her skin under his fingers when she pulled away to chase the fighting duo down the hall, yelling after them about "kicking both their asses".
He took off after her, euphoria at seeing her quickly being replaced by dread as he realized this was the moment he'd known would come but had been avoiding thinking about. The moment where he told her he was a Jedi – a figure she both thought was repellant and nonexistent.
"Go on with the quick and dirty of the 'splaining before I steal my fight back," she said, looking back at him and giving an impatient hand wave.
How would she react? Would she not want to see him or speak to him again? He swallowed down the flash of worry that accompanied that thought, eyes straying to the brilliant red blade she clutched as he followed her down the hall. If that was the case, there was something he needed to know first.
"Um, well, see I don't think you'll be very pleased with me so I have to ask something of my own first," he said, a snide little voice in his head whispering that he was avoiding again (was it the Force? Could it be snide?). "Where did you get that lightsaber and who taught you to use it?"
"This? I stole it from him in the Factory District," she said with a wave at the Sith and a blasé shrug that belied the importance of the fact she was not only using it, but using it so brilliantly.
She rounded the corner before he could call out a warning that the pair were fighting just there, but instead of stumbling to a stop like he expected, she dropped to the ground and slid, taking out his Master's legs in the process. If he hadn't been busy gaping like a fool at the strange move he would've laughed at the look of surprise on Qui Gon's face as he hit the ground.
"And I taught myself."
The words were said with a ridiculous lack of care. As if this were no big deal. There was a moment where the revelation she had bonded so perfectly, so easily, with a Sith blade caused a sharp stab of concern, but seeing Buffy about reengage the fight forced him to put pondering the meaning of that off to a later time. Powering on his own lightsaber and preparing for the consequences, he stepped between them, blocking a powerful swing meant for Buffy.
"Does everybody have one of these things?" He heard her ask behind him as he battled the Sith. "I thought they were some super special Jedi weapon but even you have one?"
His opponent was excellent and any lapse in concentration could cost him his life, but he still felt offended at the inference she was making. It was one thing for her to think he wasn't a Jedi, it was another for her to think he couldn't be a Jedi...
Momentarily forgetting his trepidation, he glanced at her with a raised brow. "I am a Jedi. And what's that supposed to mean?"
Qui Gon was suddenly back, his own green blade drawing the wrath of the red. He was also laughing, his amusement at the situation making it that much worse.
"You're a Jedi?! And him? And him? Is this a joke?"
"No, it's not a joke. I'm a Jedi, and he's a Jedi," he said pointing at Qui Gon with his lightsaber and trying not to sound defensive. "He's most certainly not a Jedi."
The Sith managed to knock down Qui Gon just as Obi Wan pointed at him, executing a flip to bring him back to Buffy. What was his fascination with her? He had two trained Jedi to focus on yet he seemed just as interested in fighting her as she did him. It was like he and Qui Gon were annoyances, interfering in something personal. There was an ugly emotion attached to that thought that he fought to lock away quickly, the power of it startling him.
The intimacy of the fight between the two didn't help any. They battled in close quarters, the Sith saying something softly and spinning, pressing his back against hers while trying to cleave her in two. A strange dance of death and familiarity.
Qui Gon was back up and giving Obi Wan a sharp look as he passed. Buffy was complaining about everybody having a lightsaber but Obi Wan barely heard it - there was a strange buzzing in his ears and a hot rolling in his gut as that dark feeling struggled to regain traction.
He strode back into the fray just as Buffy ousted Qui Gon again, his grip on his lightsaber a little too tight and him emotions not fully under control as he blocked a strike from the Sith and countered with his own that pushed his red opponent back a few steps with a slight look of surprise.
"We can discuss this later," he said, his words tight and overly formal. "This isn't your fight. I have to insist you leave this to us."
He brutally gripped his focus and attacked the Sith with vigor, forcing him on the defensive and back through a set of doors that led to the generator room. When his opponent jumped the gap to the runway he didn't hesitate to follow, his strikes becoming more ferocious as he tried to block out Buffy's angry voice behind him. The question of why she was so insistent on this battle, what the history between her and the Sith was, clawed its way back into his head.
And almost led to his downfall.
He saw the kick coming a split second too late and Maul's foot hit him squarely in the chest, sending him backwards off the walkway. Luckily, he was positioned to land on a path below with nothing more than a bruised ego.
Focus, he chided himself. This was why relationships and emotions were frowned upon, they clouded your judgement and concentration. He'd never be able to win if he didn't push those unnecessary things out of his mind.
Gathering himself, he leapt back to the walkway above only to find Qui Gon once again pulling himself off the floor and Buffy and the Sith nowhere in sight. Casting his eyes around frantically, he heard the fight before he saw it. He ran to the edge and he caught sight of them entering another chamber below, blades a blur as they avoided some cycling laser fields.
With a running leap and a roll he sprinted for the entry, only to be blocked by a shift in the fields. He bounced his weight back and forth on the balls of his feet impatiently, spinning his lightsaber periodically while mentally cursing the lost time as he watched through the red tinted laser wall.
Buffy and the Sith were fighting at a frantic pace, but he could see the difference in training. Buffy was keeping up, which was incredibly impressive in itself, but it wouldn't last forever. Every block just barely came up in time. The Sith's training would eventually win out, and when it did…
The fields shifted again and he sprinted forward - almost making it through the last field before he was blocked again. Cursing out loud, he watched the two doing their violent dance around the circular catwalk. Now that he was closer he could see their mouths moving. He was trying to make out what they were saying when something in Buffy's stance changed – her guard dropped and her lightsaber dipped downward. Obi Wan couldn't see her face, but he could see her opponent's.
Yellow eyes narrowed for the briefest second, just as the fields shifted again, and Maul took advantage of the opening Buffy had left. There was no way Buffy would get her sword up in time to defend. Obi Wan was through the fields the second they were wide enough for him to fit, but he knew he wouldn't make it in time.
But instead of watching Buffy get cleaved two, he watched with wide eyes as she dropped the lightsaber instead of trying to defend with it and stepped in the Sith's personal space, making the strike impossible. Then using his surprise at her sudden proximity to her advantage, she used a kick to slightly unbalance him while grabbing a fistful of his robes and used a classic defense maneuver to roll his body over hers.
Right into the pit in the middle of the catwalk.
Relief washed over him, his knees feeling weak as he grinned stupidly at her. She'd beaten a Sith! But Buffy's face didn't echo her victory. She looked slightly shell shocked and unhappy as she stared down into the hole.
Feeling a little lost himself, he opened his mouth to ask what was wrong when he felt it – a strong blast of Force.
And then Buffy was gone – yanked into the hole with the Sith as if a giant invisible hand had grabbed her.
"No!"
Dropping his own lightsaber, he scrambled to the edge and watched with horror as she fell - blond hair billowing around her and arms outstretched, he would've thought her beautiful if he hadn't been choking on fear at the moment.
She's mine, he can't have her.
The thought was bold and furious, blasting across his mind as he threw his hand out. Far down he could make out the Sith, hand outstretched in a mirror image of his own position. Buffy's descent stopped suddenly and for a moment they all froze there in that odd tableau. She stared up at him with wide green eyes, then reached toward him in the same way he was reaching toward her.
All of the feelings he'd been ignoring, shoving to the corner of his mind and locking away, suddenly rushed forward - protectiveness, fear, desire and, most of all, love. The dark Force snapped under the assault of his powerful emotions like a thin string and, with his grip lost on Buffy, the Sith plummeted. Buffy shot into Obi Wan's arms with such speed that the two of them went sprawling on the ground, her on top, him with his arms wrapped around her tightly and his mind reeling.
He could sense Qui Gon by the energy fields, but didn't dare look at him. The consequences could come later, right now she was safe and that was all that mattered. His arms tightened around her of their own accord and he closed his eyes, burying his face in soft blond hair, enjoying the feeling of her cheek pressed against his chest.
After a moment he felt her pull back and released her with disappointment. But she just pushed up on her elbows and stared at him a moment with eyes clouded with… something. But before he could pinpoint what, it was gone and a slow smile was forming while she tugged on the front of his shirt.
"Did I mention that I'm digging this whole robe look?" She asked, eyes raking over him in a way that made him blush, but also smile. "And also the rescuing me with your mind? That, too. The braid, I'm not so sure about…"
"I was thinking of getting rid of that actually," he said, voice slightly hoarse.
Her smile was disappearing now and he felt a sharp pang at its loss.
"So, you're a Jedi…"
"I- Yes, I am, but-" He sighed, not sure what to say from there. It was also hard to concentrate with her laying on him like that. "Can we talk about this later? There's something I have to do first."
He mouth curled down in irritation, but she nodded and started to move off of him. Wrapping his arms back around her he pulled her close again, her elbows slipping from the floor and leaving her back on his chest, face inches away.
Then he kissed her.
