Chapter Eleven
"So, I take from the brood-y look on Key's face that leaving this Order of Jedi is a pretty big deal?" Buffy asked Juan as they walked up the ramp to the ship.
It wasn't as big as Bal's ship, but it was definitely newer – lacking all the mysterious scorch marks, dings and scratches inside and out. It even smelled new. New ship smell, she mentally joked, knowing no one would get it but her. Much better than that weird musty odor she kept getting whiffs of in Bal's. He probably had something rotting away in some secret smuggling compartment he'd forgotten about.
Sliding into a seat, she looked up at Juan, still waiting for his answer.
"It's not exactly a common occurrence and," Juan said, shifting slightly while looking away from her. "It doesn't always turn out well…"
"What's that mean?"
"The Jedi mantra of not making attachments didn't come about out of theory…"
Buffy swallowed hard as Juan sat down next to her. She was glad Key wasn't there to go into detail on that subject, as she was sure he would've done. He'd left them alone and went back to the party to get somebody and to say their goodbyes, but part of Buffy knew it was more than that. Key didn't like or trust her. She just wasn't sure if it was because he thought it was her fault Juan wanted to leave this Order or because he still thought she was some kind of sneaky evil Jedi.
"Well, that sounds ominous…" She said, twisting in her seat to face him more. "I guess it's just hard for me to grasp the thought that caring too much can make you turn evil."
Juan gave a slight laugh and leaned back in his seat. "It does sound ridiculous when you say it like that, but… Even a person sworn to do good can go to unimaginable lengths in protection of, or in avengement for, someone they love deeply."
Buffy suddenly remembered her fight with Faith - the fury at watching Angel die, the conviction that killing her was the only way…
"Concept grasped," she said softly, staring at the floor.
A warm palm slid into hers, large fingers closing around her hand and squeezing slightly.
"But, as you said, a person doesn't have to have great power to do great evil," Juan said. "And love can mean salvation instead of damnation."
Buffy couldn't help the small, goofy smile when their eyes met – which only grew when it was met with a goofy smile from him.
"Oh man, they're not going to start kissing are they?"
"I sincerely hope not," Key said, leading an odd procession of a small boy and a rolling blue and white droid.
Juan was saying something, but whatever it was Buffy didn't notice. Instead her attention was locked on the boy with Key, who was eyeing her just as warily. She'd thought that the weird buzzing feeling that had been getting stronger was because of Juan and his sexy proximity, but it was actually coming from the boy (and wasn't that a kind of a squicky realization…). It wasn't evil tinglies, it was… She didn't know, actually. It was just weird.
"Who're you?" He asked.
"Buffy. Who're you?"
"Anakin."
They stared at each other another moment before the weird vibe she got from the kid settled to the background and she realized that both Key and Juan were watching them.
"What?" She asked defensively.
"Something wrong, Anakin?" Key asked, looking down at him.
"No," he shrugged. "Just felt like I knew her for a second. You ever come to the pod races in Mos Espa?"
"No," Buffy said, thinking yeah, maybe it was some kind of weird recognition she'd felt. "Never been off Courscant until today."
"Really?" Anakin said, looking less wary. "I've never been off Tattooine until not that long ago."
"Well, what did you think?" She asked, amused when he hopped up on the seat next to her.
"It was okay. Cold, I guess."
"Yeah, I can see that," Buffy nodded. "Where I'm from is pretty warm most of the time."
"Me, too!"
"Coruscant's atmosphere is temperature controlled for comfort," Key said, taking a seat across from them as Buffy felt the engines start to whine to a start. "Even in the Antipodes."
Buffy shrugged. "I've noticed. I'm not from-"
She realized her mistake and cut herself off quickly.
"But you just said you've never been off the planet before today."
Whoops, he had to catch that, didn't he? This had to potential to get a little awkward…
"That's kind of a long story…"
"We have a long flight," Key said, leaning back and looking amused again for the first time since their little chat in the woods.
"What happened to your shirt?"
Buffy looked at Anakin in confusion until she realized she'd shifted in her seat, leaning forward slightly so her back was exposed. Juan hissed something she was sure was some kind of alien curse beside her.
"I'm so sorry, I forgot about your injury. We should-"
"It's fine," Buffy said, leaning back again. Ugh, this was getting worse and worse. She was going to kick Bal's ass…
"It's not fine for you to sit there in pain for no reason," he said, releasing her hand that she hadn't realized he was still holding and standing up. "We have-"
"It's fine because it doesn't hurt," she said, deciding she might as well embrace the awkward because avoiding it wasn't doing her any favors. "It's probably already healed."
She could feel both Juan and Key's eyes on her, but instead turned to Anakin again.
"So what's the what with you? Why are you hanging out with these two?"
"Well, I was supposed to train to be a Jedi," he said, oblivious to the tension in the air and looking down at the floor. "But they said no."
"What? You guys actually have people that volunteer for this and you turn them away?"
"About your back-" Juan said, sitting back down and tugging on her shoulder so he could look.
"They said I'm too old. And too scared," he muttered, feet swinging now. "Fear turns to anger, anger-"
"Yeah, yeah, heard that today once already," she interrupted, feeling more and more irritated as she watched the boy slump in his seat. "They said you're too old?"
"Jedi training usually starts when one is very young. Those that are strong in the Force are sought out and trained," Key said, eyes on Juan as he continued tugging and pushing her to get a look at her back.
"And Anakin is strong in this Force stuff?"
"Very much so," Key said, giving Anakin a small smile.
"The more you talk, the less sense you make," Buffy said, drawing a surprised look from Key while giving up and leaning forward so Juan would quit prodding her. "I mean, Jedi must be kind of rare - I thought they were a myth until today. But you turn down trainees for being 'too old and too angry'? Shouldn't they be the most important people to train if this Force stuff is so powerful? What happens to those people? Oh, let me guess – they get more angry and use that Force power for not so good stuff, right? That doesn't make any sense."
"In the case of Anakin, I agree," he said, looking like it pained him to say so. "I will train Anakin, whether the Council approves or not. He is much too special to be turned away."
Anakin's eyes jerked up and a smile bloomed over his face, taking away some of her irritation at Juan's "master". Speaking of Juan…
A shiver ran down her spine as warm fingers ghosted over the bare skin of her back through the rip in the fabric.
"It really is almost healed," he breathed behind her, so close she felt it against her skin. "How did you do that?"
Buffy shrugged, dislodging his hand and leaning back against the seat as she felt the ship start to ascend.
"I don't 'do' anything, it just happens."
"Are you a Jedi, too?" Anakin asked. "I heard they can heal themselves."
"No, I'm not. And they can?" She asked, directing the last at Juan.
Key answered instead. "Some can, with training. Even though we can't sense anything from you, you must have access to the Force to heal as you do. You're from Coruscant?"
"So, what exactly is this Force you keep talking about?" She asked, avoiding the question she wasn't sure how to answer – though she wished she would have instead of listening to the lesson on the Force that followed.
Once Buffy felt she had the gist of it she zoned out, figuring the detailed explanation was more a part of Anakin's training than meant for her. Not that it wasn't kind of interesting, she just didn't need to write a paper on it.
She'd was close to dozing, ignoring the stare she could feel Juan directing at her like he could do some kind of Jedi mind trick thing to make her spill her secrets, when she heard those dreaded words…
"-Chosen One?"
Her eyes snapped open and her neck actually cracked from whipping her head around to look at Anakin so quickly.
"What did you just say?"
He shrunk back a little from her intensity and she felt a distant pang of guilt, but it was mostly overrun by the shock of hearing that title after so long.
"The-the Chosen One – Master, sir, he told the Council that's who he thought I was. I was just wondering what that meant…"
"That title means something to you. You've heard the prophecy before?"
Key's eyes were far too assessing for her liking, but she couldn't help the way hearing that name, and the word "prophecy" in connection with it, pulled out a visceral reaction from her.
"Prophecy?" She asked, mouth dry.
"Yes," he said, leaning forward and watching her closely. "There's an ancient prophecy that foretells the coming of The Chosen One, who will bring balance to the Force."
You've got to be freaking kidding me…
But, they weren't talking about her, right? They couldn't be. They thought it was Anakin. Looking back down at him she felt more aggravated instead of better. The only thing worse than the thought of the universe laying out her future for her again was the thought that it would fall on this little boy's shoulders.
"That's ridiculous - he's just a little boy! You can't put that weight on someone so young," she hissed, hands bunching into fists.
"What do you know of it?"
To her surprise, Key's words were soft and curious – an actual honest question and not a demand. But what could she say? Just tell them she knew exactly what it felt like to carry the burden of being "The Chosen One"?
What if they thought she was this world's Chosen One after telling them?
And, the bigger, badder question that made her heart rate kick up was - What if she was?
She glanced down at Anakin who was looking back and forth between her and Key with a furrowed brow and wondered if that would be so bad. Better her carry the burden than him. Still, she couldn't seem to get any words out. Maybe it was just that her past was none of their business. Or that she didn't want to think that everything that had happened was just to start her on the same journey again. Or maybe it was that it was still too painful to dredge up memories of what she'd had and lost. Who she'd had and lost.
And worse to think it could all happen again…
"Prophecies are tricky bastards. They're big on word play and never quite mean what you think they do," she said softly, leaning back in her seat and closing her eyes and the conversation.
She could still feel their eyes on her, but refused to talk about it anymore without more time to think on it. Juan was stiff and still beside her. Was he going to change his mind about leaving the Jedi now? She didn't like what she'd heard about the Jedi way of things, but she wasn't sure leaving was the right thing for him either. Selfishly, she couldn't deny that the thought of having him with her kicking intergalactic mob ass and wandering the dark allies of the Crimson Corridor gave her warm fuzzies, though…
A moment later she heard him shift beside her and held in a sigh, knowing he was leaving – probably going to talk to Key about changing his mind. But instead, she felt his shoulder brush up against hers before settling against her more definitively – shoulder to shoulder, hip to hip, thigh to thigh. A warm hand covered hers, which she hadn't realized she'd still been clenching in the material of her pants.
She'd given him nothing but vague answers and more questions, but he trusted her anyway. Could she do the same?
Buffy took a deep breath and relaxed her hand, turning it upwards so her fingers could slide between his and gripping tightly.
Buffy had thought that landing Coruscant would be a relief after the tense silence of the ship.
She'd thought wrong.
"Where are we?"
It was definitely Coruscant – the area looked vaguely familiar as she peered off the landing platform down at the city spread out below – but the building they were attached to was huge and they were too close to it for her to see anything but the seemingly neverending white wall the platform was attached to.
"The Jedi Temple," Juan answered looking almost as uneasy as she suddenly felt. "We have to report on the mission. And I have to…"
The word Temple triggered her memory of distant white spires jutting up into the sky. She'd never been able to see what they were attached to, but apparently it was this massive white building. Seemed a little excessive for a "temple"…
"I'm sure The Council will want to speak to you as well, Buffy," Key said, walking by with Anakin at his heels.
Her lip curled up in distaste without her permission. It at least served to make Juan laugh, taking away that awful anxious look for the moment.
"Yes, I can relate to that feeling," he said under his breath, looking a little better.
"Do I have to?" She whined.
She'd had her fill of Councils for a lifetime.
Or two.
"No, you don't," Juan answered, causing Key to pause and look back. "You're not a Jedi, you don't have to answer to them. Talking to them is your choice."
Key looked like he didn't quite agree with that and Buffy wondered what exactly would happen if she left. She had a feeling that going on her merry way wasn't really an option despite Juan's thoughts on it. But just how far would this "Council" go to talk to her? Part of her was curious to find out (and, really, just thought it would be fun to piss them off), but the other part knew that being difficult would probably affect Juan more than it would herself. She wasn't sure what all this "leaving the order" would involve, but she didn't want to make it any harder on him than it needed to be.
With a sigh, she grabbed Juan's sleeve and followed after Key. "Let's get this over with. I'm starving. Wanna grab something to eat after we're done here?"
"Um, yes," Juan said after a beat, jogging to get up next to her and smiling. "Yes, I'd like that very much."
"Good, maybe you can explain some of the stuff on the menus to me. It's been kind of a roll of the die and sometimes that's fun but sometimes… not so much. This one time-"
She let her mouth run away with the babble while her mind whirled on meeting this "Council". Juan looked nervous enough, she didn't want him to be worrying about her, too.
Besides, how bad could it be?
Buffy stood next to the door, listening intently to what was going on inside. Or trying to at least. Between Anakin's chatter, the thickness of the door and the tendency for one of the people inside to talk all out of order she wasn't getting anything useful – basically just a rundown of what she already knew so far.
"What's your mother like?"
The question was random enough to draw her attention back to Anakin who was sitting on the floor at her feet. His feet legs were drawn up, arms resting on his knees and chin resting on his arms – giving him just that right amount of "forlorn" to make Buffy answer.
"She was… mom," she said softly with a sad smile and a shrug. "She was funny and smart and she was… home."
"Was?" Anakin asked, blinking up at her with big eyes.
"She died," Buffy said, throat feeling a little tight as she struggled to push away the memory of finding her on the couch.
"I'm sorry…"
"What about your parents?" She asked, suddenly wondering what they thought of their kid running off to become a Jedi when he was so small. "They're okay with you being here?"
"I never knew my father. My mother said I didn't have one," he said. Guy must've been a real piece of work for her to deny he even existed… "She was glad I was leaving."
Buffy blinked and replayed that. "Glad?"
"Uh-huh," he nodded. "She was glad I didn't have to be a slave anymore."
"Slave?" Buffy blurted in surprise, starting to feel like a parrot.
"Yeah, I worked in a scrap yard. But it wasn't so bad. I found lots of neat stuff. Even built a droid to help around the house. And my own pod racer!"
"Wow, you must be pretty good with machines," she said, trying to muster up a smile. "So, your mother is still…"
"Still in Mos Espa," he said, looking downcast again. "Qui Gon sir only won me in the pod race. I miss her…"
Buffy was glad he wasn't looking at her right then because she was sure she would've scared him. This boy they were going to train to be a Jedi was "won in a pod race"? And they left his mom there as a slave? What the hell? Is this how they got all their Jedi trainees? They said they're usually trained even younger than Anakin was now.
She was practically vibrating with fury when she heard from inside -
"Bring her to us, you must."
She was on her feet, waiting at the door when it opened.
