The Gift
AN – An early Easter special! By my reckoning, we're only two chapters away from the start of The Phantom Menace after this one, which is very close! I'm making good progress in the next chapter so hopefully it won't be as long ;) Thank you all for reading – enjoy.
Disclaimer – I don't own Buffy or Star Wars
Chapter Ten – The Traders
Buffy stretched tall, her gungan tunic riding up to show a small amount of tanned skin on her stomach. As she did so, the scythe knocked against the electropole, sending a jarring motion through her. In irritation she flopped her arms back down, huffing out a breath. The gungan sitting on a rock nearby looked up at the sound.
"Yousa okie?"
Clesh Grels was a tall gungan, light orange in colour. If Buffy had to guess his age, she'd say younger than Roos Tarpals but older than Jar Jar Binks. Not that it mattered, his attitude was that of a wizened old gungan and Buffy privately thought he must have been born that way. He'd lived for most of his life on the surface and knew the plains they were currently traversing better than most gungans did. They were deep within Naboo territory now, pitching for the night behind a small outcrop that would give them some shelter from the winds whistling around the plain. In the distance they could see the Naboo capital, Theed, lighting up as its residents started to switch on for the evening.
The reason they were there is that they were trying to track down a particular trading family, one with strong gungan ties but that just so happened to be in the city for the coronation of the new Naboo Queen. In fairness, almost all traders were in the city as with the influx of off-worlders for the coronation it was a profitable place to be. So Buffy had come too, accompanied by Clesh as he had some of the strongest links to this particular trading family.
Shifting position, Buffy heard the scythe clash yet again with the electropole and gritted her teeth in irritation. Clesh went back to his dinner with an eye roll, this was a common event. She just couldn't get the two to sit together comfortably, but she needed to carry them both. Well needed was probably not quite true, but the electropole was the weapon of choice for the Gungan and the scythe was something she wasn't prepared to go without.
"Yousa going to stand der all night?"
Buffy finally gave up with the weapons, stripping the scythe out and putting it on the ground before doing the same with the electropole. She sat down next to them, enjoying the feel of the cropped grass that was still warm from the sun earlier in the day.
"Sorry Clesh, it just feels like we've been on the go for a while now." She rubbed one of her feet, frowning at a crack appearing in her boot. "I can't remember the last time I walked so much. What I would give for a pedi round about now."
"A pedi?" The gungan's forehead creased, bringing his eyes close together.
"Yeah, you know, a pedicure?" At his blank expression, she elaborated. "Nice, hot bath, someone massaging your feet, tending your toes?" Buffy shook her head at the clueless gungan. "Never mind, you'll have to take my word on it. It's good."
"Is not much walking left," Clesh pointed out. "Big city is just der. Once we find Jakmé wesa can ride da kaadu back to Otoh Gunga."
Buffy grimaced. Ah yes, the kaadu. Ostensibly the reason why they had come all this way to talk to Jakmé, although that was really just a cover. Jakmé was a Trader known for being a friend to the Gungan, often selling their goods for them in the big Naboo cities – for a reasonable share of the price, of course. But since Buffy and Captain Tarpals had found the illegal mine, along with the Gungan baiting that was going on inside, she had been a valuable source of information regarding activity in the mountainous borderlands. Jakmé and her trading caravan travelled extensively to buy and sell wares and had contacts the Gungan couldn't even dream of.
That useful information had led to Buffy and Clesh following the Trader's trail all the way to Theed. They had hoped to intercept the group before they reached the city, but they had been just too far behind. Buffy bedded down in her light sleeping bag under the stars, chuckling to herself at the thought of what her friends from Sunnydale would say if they saw her now. Following a band of Traders halfway across the planet on foot and sleeping rough under the stars. The city girl has come a long way.
The next day was another fine one. Buffy left Clesh early to head into the city, carefully strapping her weapons on before she set off. She didn't want to draw undue attention to herself, hence why she was going by herself, but it would be foolish to go completely unarmed. She was expecting this meeting to take a day or two at the most, although she didn't know quite what the city was going to be like around the coronation. One of the main drivers of catching the Traders early was to avoid hold ups in the city, but it was too late now.
The answer was that the city was very busy. People of all shapes and sizes filled the streets, which were decked out in colourful banners and garlands. If Buffy hadn't been on a mission she would have enjoyed it more, there was a general feel of excitement in the air. From snippets of conversations that she heard as she went by, she gathered that the coronation itself had occurred that morning with a planned celebration that night. The crowds weren't exactly helping her right now though, as she tried to find the enclave of border traders that she had been told were in town. She knew they would be in a small area keeping to themselves – the Traders often held themselves separate from the rest of the Naboo, with different traditions and beliefs.
Despite her diminutive stature, the weapons and her expression did part the crowds somewhat, but it still took a couple of hours before she approached a series of market stalls laid out in a semi-circular fashion where distinctive hawkers were loudly proclaiming their wares. Even from the main thoroughfare Buffy could hear the slight lilt in the accents that suggested they were Traders. Buffy joined the back of the gathered audience, before realising that she had no chance of pressing forwards in the throng. She growled to herself and instead ducked into a side alley, weaving around until she was behind the stalls. She started to approach from the back when a voice shouted from above.
"Watch out!"
A heavy sack landed just in front of her. While Buffy was still staring at it in astonishment, she became aware it had been followed by a pair of feet. A pair of feet that were attached to long legs, a lean torso and… oh my.
A young man, probably about her own age, stood watching her with arms folded across his chest. His dark brown eyes and black hair complemented his dusky skin. His cheekbones could have rivalled Spike's for sharpness, except the right side of his face was adorned with an elaborate black tattoo which seemed to only enhance his natural born gifts. Once Buffy managed to stop drooling – and God it had been a long time since Riley and this was definitely something to drool over – she managed to remember that Jakmé's group all sported elaborate facial tattoos. Just another way that the Traders differentiated themselves from the general populace.
"Are you one of Jakmé's?"
He twitched up one side of his mouth into a half smirk that almost sent Buffy weak at the knees. "Depends who's askin'."
"I'm Buffy, she's expecting me." The man didn't move, just raised an eyebrow in challenge. "I'm one of the gungans."
At that his suave countenance did drop momentarily, as his eyes widened in surprise before he started laughing. "You got me there! You sure don't look like any gungan I've seen before, and I've seen a few."
Buffy rolled her eyes, her earlier swoon forgotten in her irritation. "Could you just take me to Jakmé?"
His laughter tailed off, seeing that she was serious. Eventually he shrugged. "Sure." He hefted the sack he'd dropped down earlier onto his shoulders before walking back towards the square. "It's this way."
Buffy followed him towards the back of a stall, where a tall woman with the same dusky skin but bright grey hair was calling out at the customers browsing.
"Hey ma, girl 'ere to see you, says she's from the Gungan. I'll take over for a bit while you sort 'er out."
The woman, whom Buffy correctly guessed was Jakmé herself, turned to look at her. This gave Buffy the chance to study her face. Despite being older, Jakmé was still a very striking woman in appearance and Buffy couldn't help but feel like she probably only got more so as she aged. Like her son, she had ink black tattoos on one side of her face, an elegant swirling pattern that almost mesmerised Buffy. She focussed on Jakmé's expression to see that the woman was also assessing her.
"Now you don't look like any gungan I've seen before," the woman said in the same lilting accent as her son. "And I've seen a fair few." She came up close to Buffy, towering over her. "I think that might just make you this slayer I've been hearing about."
"You…what?"
The woman smiled, lighting up her expression. "Come on, let's grab a brew. Jakan will be fine with the stall for a bit." She called back to him as she led Buffy away from the market stalls, over to a canteen that held some form of hot drink. She poured one for each of them and then perched on a low wall.
"There's been talk among the Gungan for a couple o' months now, talkin' about the slayer who was made a gungan. Now, I have never heard of the Gungan takin' in an outsider before, they don't trust us as far as they can throw us. Which makes you somethin' interesting, love." She studied Buffy's expression for a moment before nudging her shoulder. "Now don't take it the wrong way, I'm just excited ta meet you, that's all. I'm guessing you're here for the kaadu?"
"Uh, yeah." Buffy replied, trying to keep up. "The kaadu, that's right."
Jakmé looked out at the busy streets. "They are outside of the city. We won't be able to get them before tomorrow afternoon; it's just too busy here today." She looked sideways at Buffy. "There are too many people in the city to bring the kaadu in." She flicked her eyes upwards, Buffy following her gaze to see a small pair of eyes watching from a balcony above. All around there were open windows or people milling to watch the proceedings below. Buffy got the message immediately – they couldn't talk freely in Theed whilst there were so many people around for the coronation.
Jakmé stood up and stretched. "Well, sales wait for no woman. If you don't have anywhere to go, feel free to hang around. The Trader crowd is a lively place to be in the evenings."
Buffy thought about her options. "I'd like that, thanks. Do you need any help today?"
Jakmé looked at her thoughtfully. "One of my girls is off sick, I wouldn't turn ya down if you wanted to help man the stall."
Buffy shrugged. "Don't have anything else to do."
"We won't be able to pay," Jakmé warned. "Although, we can feed you in return and give you a bunk for the night."
"That saves me worrying about it," Buffy replied, smiling at the older woman. She was rewarded with a smile in return.
"Come on then, let me show you around." Jakmé led her back to the market stalls, heading straight for the central one. "Hey, Jakan, we have some extra help for the day." She gestured at Buffy. "This is... not sure I caught your name, love?"
"Buffy."
"This is Buffy, she's from the Gungan. She'll be helping us out today in exchange for food and a bedroll tonight."
Jakan looked over at her, eye brows raised. "You weren't kidding about being Gungan then?" His dark eyes swept up her, causing her to feel hot and flustered. "Reckon we could use more of the mead – large barrels, back there." He nodded down one of the alleyways. "They have it written on them. Think you can find a trolley and bring some over?"
"Sure," Buffy replied with one of her smiles, turning away before she had the chance to see him accidently drop the ladle he was holding straight into the vat of the sugary mead drink. She headed towards the alley he'd pointed at, finding the barrels easily. She looked around for a trolley to shift them with, eventually giving up and lifting it straight onto her shoulder. She took it back to Jakan, who was busy pouring out cups for customers.
"Ta," he grunted without looking at her. "Can you stand it there and add one of these jars to it? It's a mixer that's our speciality."
Buffy did as she was told, the pale yellow of the mead turning an electric blue with the addition of the mixer. She then swapped the full barrel out for the one that was nearly empty.
This was a routine she repeated several times over the next couple of hours, as the crowds swelled through the middle of the day. The stalls were selling a roaring trade – as well as the refreshments that Jakan was offering, Jakmé was selling general goods. Both were calling out for Buffy to fetch and carry, but she didn't mind. They were so busy they couldn't even spare her a glance when she arrived with the goods so she stopped pretending to strain under the weight of the barrels and just lifted them. Eventually, despite her unusual strength, even Buffy began to tire. Luckily, this seemed to coincide with a lull in the numbers of customers waiting by the stalls.
"Well, that should be the worst of it." Jakmé stated, wiping her brow with a cloth. "Lucky enough, as there ain't much left to sell."
"And we're near out of mead." Jakan replied, before nodding to Buffy. "Thanks for the help."
Buffy stretched her neck. "It's cool. Glad you've had a good day."
Jakmé smiled at her. "We'll start the fire in a couple of hours, but it'll be quiet 'til then. Get out of here for a bit, we'll be fine for now."
"If you're sure?" Buffy looked from one to the other, but both nodded at her. "OK, sure. I did have someone I wanted to go and see. Meet you back here in a bit?"
When Jakmé nodded, Buffy pulled back on her electropole and grabbed her bag. Throughout the day she had left everything but the scythe in a pile as it had all been getting in her way. Now, loaded back up again, she went looking for Thaila.
Eventually, she retraced their steps from the dingy pub. Now it was absolutely heaving with people, raucously spilling out onto the street. Buffy slunk by, not wanting to draw the attention of any of its patrons. She then followed the twisty streets until she was stood by the staircase up to Thaila's rooms – being able to retrace her steps had been convenient in the past when she'd followed vampires to their nests and she'd worked to hone the skill.
Taking a deep breath, Buffy climbed the stairs and knocked on the door. The voice inside called her to enter, on doing so Buffy saw Thaila sat with her granddaughter Erida drinking tea of some sort.
"I'm sorry, I didn't want to interrupt…"
"I wasn't sure I'd see you again." Thaila turned her gaze towards Buffy with a smile. "You're welcome here, Slayer. Would you care for some tea?"
"Um, I guess. Thank you."
"Erida, if you wouldn't mind?" The younger girl stood up and fetched another cup, while Thaila gestured for Buffy to sit on the sofa across from her.
"So what can I do for you?"
"I just wanted to tell you that you were right." Buffy blurted out, feeling uncomfortable in the domestic setting as she shuffled her weight from side to side. "I did find a weapon there, a scythe thing."
"Really?" Thaila asked, interested. "I don't suppose you brought it with you?"
In answer Buffy slung the scythe off her back, knocking it against the electropole with a loud bang that made Buffy wince and Erida to spill the tea she was pouring. With a muttered apology Buffy finally got it free, shrugging off the electropole at the same time and resting it against the sofa arm. She grasped its handle tightly for a moment before reluctantly placing it on the low table in front of Thaila.
The older woman brushed her hands over it, reminiscent of the way Buffy had when she had first found it in the mines. She then drew in a breath between her teeth. "Yes, this is yours, Slayer. It has a power never before seen here."
Buffy finally took the seat she'd been offered earlier. "Is that a good or bad thing?"
"It is… an interesting thing. You will shake things up here, of that there is no doubt. I suspect you already have." Thaila frowned, her milky eyes closing as she continued to hover her hand over it. "Would you like me to conceal it?"
"Conceal it? You mean hide it? How?"
"I'm not sure…" Thaila opened her eyes again and offered Buffy a smile. "It is telling me how to do it, I think. Conceal it so that you can wear it unencumbered and keep it from unfriendly eyes."
"I guess that would be useful." Buffy watched as the seer held her hands over the scythe again, whispering words in a language Buffy didn't understand. After a few moments Thaila had finished, lifting her hands away from the scythe completely.
"I can still see it." Buffy told her, looking directly at it.
"It is all about intent. Put it away, and tell it to stay away."
Buffy picked up the scythe, slinging it onto her back in the way she had been carrying it for the last couple of months. "Stay hidden." She told it firmly, feeling more than a little stupid. She gazed forwards and rolled her shoulders – it did feel as though the scythe was barely there.
"Now put on the pole." Thaila told her. Buffy grabbed it and pulled it into place on her back as well, wincing in anticipation of the clash she usually felt when she did so – but it didn't come. The electropole slung into place as though it was the only thing she was wearing.
"What the… where's it gone?" Buffy asked, craning her head. She couldn't see the scythe at all. "Did you vanish it?"
"It's still there." Thaila chuckled. "This time, try reaching for it."
Buffy took a deep breath, reached back and grasped the handle of the scythe. She pulled it free as though she wasn't wearing the pole at all and gaped at it held in front of her.
"But that isn't possible!"
Thaila took a sip of her tea. "And yet it is." She was almost annoyingly calm about it all. At least Erida was also watching in astonishment.
"I've never seen anything like that, Nona. How did you do it?"
The older woman looked thoughtful as she reclined in her chair, tea cup and saucer held in front of her. "It was almost whispering to me, telling me how to do it. I've wanted to see it ever since I told the Slayer of it, an urge I couldn't explain. Then when I saw it, it whispered to me, telling me how to do it. It is a power not seen here I think. Some form of force that we've never seen before."
"Magic," Buffy stated, looking at the scythe's gleaming blade. "We had magic on our world. This must have been a magical weapon." She swung it back around, easily slotting it back onto her back as though she wasn't carrying it at all.
"If I had not seen it, I would not have believed such a thing was possible." Erida breathed in awe. "Now, you do not appear to be wearing it at all! Can you feel it?"
Buffy thought for a moment. "I feel that it's there, like a big warm hug, but not really. It's hard to explain." She removed the electropole so that she could sit again, leaving the scythe where it was and noting happily that it no longer interfered with sitting on a comfortable sofa. She wriggled a couple of times before letting out a breath. "That's great."
Thaila smiled at her. "I think that others will find it much harder to see as well now, useful if you ever need to conceal your weapon from them. Although, I suspect that the Jedi might see through it."
"With their force thingy." Buffy nodded sagely. "I was told about them once."
Erida giggled nervously, one hand clasped to her mouth as though afraid to be heard. "Force thingy! You can't call the Cosmic Force the force thingy!"
"I don't see why not! It sounds as though these Jedi are pompous windbags that think they are special just because they have abilities that others don't. News flash – I have abilities, but I don't go around stealing children to mould them into my own image."
At that, Erida really did choke on her tea. Thaila smiled knowingly. "I do look forward to seeing what the Jedi make of you, if you ever meet them. I think you'll be a breath of fresh air in their stuffy towers."
"Nona!" Erida gasped. "You shouldn't talk about the Jedi like that!"
"Oh pish." The old woman grinned at Buffy, who couldn't help smiling back. There was something reassuring and maternal about the older woman that resonated with Buffy and reminded her of her own mom. Thaila's face sobered up. "The problem with the Jedi is that they have spent so long solving the galaxy's problems for it that they've forgotten how to just live in it."
"What do you mean?" Buffy asked curiously.
Thaila waved a hand. "Take their strictures on forming attachments. That's why they take the children young you know, they don't want them to form outside attachments that could lead to them doing things impulsively. Not just because it means that their main loyalty is to the Jedi temple, although that is a part of it. But they teach that forming attachments leads to passion and fear, which leads to the dark side of the force."
"They think forming attachments, having family, is bad?" Buffy gaped. "But… that's just… I don't even know where to start." She thought about her friends and her countenance darkened as she considered how they were beyond her reach. But happy and safe and healthy, thanks to her sacrifice. Her gift to them. The realisation caused a smile to form on her face. Maybe she didn't need to be with them to know that they were safe, isn't that why she'd given herself? And she had Dawn… she still remembered her friends and loved them, and for the first time she realised she was ok with that knowledge. She shook off her epiphany and focussed on what Thaila was saying.
"The problem is that almost all sentient life, and lots of non-sentient life for that matter, need attachments as much as they need nourishment." Thaila continued, smiling knowingly at Buffy. "By banning them completely all the Jedi really do is to leave their members unable to cope when they do form attachments."
"I would have died years ago if I didn't have my friends and family around me." Buffy mused, eyes distant in memory. "I mean, literally – Xander gave me mouth to mouth after the Master left me to drown. But it's not even just that… Spike said it was my ties to the world that kept me going for so long." She focussed on Erida and Thaila. "Most slayers are also taken away from their families, trained up when they are identified as potentials by their watchers just in case they are the next Chosen One." Buffy shrugged. "I slipped through the cracks I guess, they didn't know about me until I was called so I grew up with my family around me and made good friends who knew that I was the Slayer. They are what kept me alive, the fact that I was fighting for them. They would pick me back up when I was down, support me, stick by me. Yeah, I couldn't do it alone." Buffy then thought about the friends and family she'd made here – the unconventional gungans, Dawn, even Thaila and the Traders.
"I think you are beginning to see." Thaila told her with a smile. "The calling is important, but not so important that you should forget to live to follow it. Why save the world if not to live in it?"
Later when Buffy made her way back to the make-shift camp the Traders had set up in one of the courtyards that was hidden behind the buildings, she thought on the words Thaila had said. She continued to think on them as she was greeted enthusiastically by Jakan and Jakmé, as she felt the heat of Jakan's gaze sweep over her when she sat by the fire amongst the Traders and listened to their stories of their adventures on far-flung worlds.
After they'd eaten, some of the Traders started beating a percussive rhythm on some drums, using bells and a pipe-like whistle to accompany the beat. It was like no music that Buffy had ever heard but she allowed herself to be pulled into the dancers who spun and twirled. She pulled some of her best Bronzing moves out of her pocket, laughing with some of the other girls who tried to copy the motions.
Amongst the dark and mysterious Trader groups, Buffy's golden complexion shone in the flickering firelight like liquid sunshine. More than one admirer amongst the Traders watched on in awe, but none more so than Jakan.
The wine Buffy drank was just enough to bring on a heady feeling, the heat from the fire and the dancing washing over her. She could feel Jakan's gaze on her, his dark eyes boring into her as she spun and twirled, causing her body to tingle whenever she was near him. At the end of the night, when the fire burned low and he held out a hand to lead her into his tent, she let him.
Later, when she returned to her own bedding roll, Buffy waited for the guilt to crash into her. The knowledge that one night stands were bad, that she should be waiting for someone special - but it didn't. This was her life and as Thaila said she should live it. If that meant a one off with a wickedly handsome trader with very talented hands, then that is what it meant. For the first time she realised no one here would judge her choices or her. It brought a sense of peace that she had been missing for a long time.
