The Gift
AN – A quick update this time! Thanks to the bank holidays for giving me a little extra writing time, which I've actually put to good use for once. Enjoy!
Disclaimer – I don't own Buffy or Star Wars
Chapter Eleven – The Handmaiden
The next morning, Buffy was nursing a caff as she tried to chase her headache away. All around her the Traders were working flat out as they had been informed early that the newly crowned Queen of the Naboo was going to visit their encampment. Palace security had woken the Traders at first light to make sure the security arrangements were in place for the royal party to come through.
Buffy had immediately stumped them as they could tell she obviously wasn't Trader, but by the time she had smiled vacantly at them and Jakan had slung a familiar arm over her shoulders the guards decided they knew all they needed to and left her in peace. To her relief, Jakan didn't stay or try to awkwardly discuss the night before – instead he'd thrown her a wink and told her that if she wanted to be useful she could help his mother set up other stall. She'd pouted and stuck her tongue out at him but was actually grateful that he didn't make it awkward.
She'd pitched in, helping Jakmé and Jakan set up their stall for the day. Today they were selling goods produced around Naboo, some of which Buffy recognised as being distinctly Gungan. It made her think absently of Clesh, she hoped he was doing ok at their small camp beyond the walls of the city.
Buffy was caught in her thoughts and didn't immediately notice when the general chatter around the square dimmed to a whispering hush, but even she couldn't miss the arrival of the queen. As soon as Buffy saw the ornate headdress and heavy make-up she realised that this was the same candidate that she and Dawn had been looking at outside the sleazy sky bar a couple of months ago.
The Queen was accompanied by several officials, most of whom regarded the Traders with barely hidden contempt. One was obviously some form of guard, Buffy could tell the pose of a man trying to pretend he wasn't actually on guard duty whilst simultaneously scanning for threats from a mile out. Then there were a pair of older men wearing elaborate robes who were conversing quietly at the back. Buffy wondered if either of them were the corrupt senator she'd heard about back at the mine.
She was distracted from her people watching when one of the younger women that accompanied the Queen approached the stall she was sitting by and started to look at some of the fabrics. The young woman looked like she was Dawn's age, though much more serious in demeanour. She was frowning at one of the pieces and held it up.
"What kind of fabric is this?" She asked in a soft voice. "The texture is soft and yet… it's different to most fabrics I've seen. It's beautiful."
Funnily enough, this was one that Buffy actually knew the answer to. "It's a special type of fabric that isn't affected by water." She supplied helpfully, recognising it as one the Gungan produced. "Really useful if you drop your caff all over yourself of something."
The young woman looked at Buffy, who snapped her mouth shut. "Drop caff on yourself?" She asked, quirking an eyebrow at the cup Buffy was holding. Buffy subconsciously shoved it behind her.
"Well yeah, coz who doesn't need caff in the morning? Especially if they've been up all night partying with the Traders because man, those guys know how to enjoy themselves..." Buffy tailed off as the girl looked at her oddly. "Yeah, so I'm shutting up now."
The girl let out a surprised laugh, causing more than a few heads to turn towards her – including the security guy, who was watching her closely. Interesting. "Sorry!" The girl said, putting her hand to her mouth with a shocked expression. "I just… I am not sure I've met anyone quite like you before. My name is Padmé, I am one of the Queen's handmaidens."
"I'm Buffy," Buffy replied, holding out a hand for the handmaiden to shake. "I'm a gungan, here helping out the Traders as they have a shipment of kaadu for me and we can't go and get it until they're done here."
Padmé paused as she reached for Buffy's hand. "A gungan? But you look nothing like a gungan."
Buffy rolled her eyes. "Everyone is surprised by that. Yes, I'm a gungan. No, we don't bite."
Padmé moved closer, her eyes alight. "I'm not sure I've met a gungan before, how fascinating. I thought you were more of an amphibious species."
"Most of us are," Buffy conceded with a shrug. "But I didn't have a family and they took me in, so that makes me gungan now too."
"How do you find living in such a primitive culture?"
"Hey!" Buffy's eyes flashed and she drew back instinctively. "Watch who you are calling primitive."
The handmaiden backtracked immediately as she realised her error. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean… I just know that they have a very different culture to what we Naboo have. I am interested to find out more about it."
"It is a bit different." Buffy conceded, only have mollified by the girl's apology. "But different doesn't mean worse."
"Of course not!" The handmaiden looked horrified. "Please believe that I never meant to infer that."
Buffy was about to reply when she noticed someone approaching, with wide eyes she watched as the new Queen glided over to the stall. She was accompanied by a couple more girls wearing the same cloak as Padmé, Buffy guessed these were other handmaidens. There was also an older man who was smiling merrily but whose eyes seemed cold.
"We are interested in what you have found here, Padmé." The Queen stated, her gaze passing over Buffy and the stall.
Padmé did a short bow to the Queen. "I was just admiring these fabrics, your majesty."
The Queen's gaze slid over the fabric, before resting on Buffy. "And who is your new acquaintance?"
"This is Buffy," Padmé introduced quickly. "She… she's with the Traders."
Buffy's eyes widened in surprise at the blatant lie that the girl had spoken. Padmé caught her gaze and, with a subtlety that Dawn had yet to achieve, managed to indicate that Buffy should go along with it.
"Interesting," the old man drawled, looking her up and down in a way that Buffy thought was way past borderline creepy. "I thought all Traders proudly displayed their tattoos, yet you don't seem to have any."
An arm slid around Buffy. "That's just a matter of time, Senator." Jakan said smoothly. Buffy was so taken aback by the turn of events that the honorific passed her by for a moment, but when she realised what she heard she snapped her gaze back to the creep. Senator, her mind supplied. Probably the same senator who wasn't above using illegal mines in Gungan territory to line his own pockets. Her hand twitched, itching for a stake, and the scythe on her back hummed to her in response. The next moment, he was talking banally to Jakan about some of the trade routes around the planet and she forced herself to relax. Slaying the Senator of the Naboo in the middle of a square and in front of the Queen was a quick way to get a life sentence or whatever they did with criminals around here. Buffy tried to tune back into what was going on around her.
"How do you feel about marrying into a Trader family?" The Senator was asking her, sickeningly sweet smile plastered on his face.
"Oh I can't wait," she simpered, pressing one hand against Jakan's very muscular chest and gazing up at him vacantly. The smile on the Senator's face nearly slid into a sneer as he guided the Queen away to the next stall, one hand gesturing out in front while the other hovered around the centre of the Queen's back.
Once they'd passed on Buffy let out a huge sigh and slumped away from Jakan, only then realising that Padmé was still there. The girl had a slightly worried expression on her face.
"I'm sorry about that." She muttered. "I just… I know gungans aren't thought of very highly and I didn't want you to be looked down on…"
"It's ok," Buffy reassured with a smile. "It's not your fault that the Senator is a slimeball."
She'd meant to say the last bit under her breath, but a muffled snort from Jakan and the horrified expression on Padmé's face told her she hadn't been successful.
"Well, this has been enlightening," Padmé said, looking back towards the rest of her party. "But it seems as though we are preparing to depart."
"It was nice to meet you," Buffy told her, trying to salvage something out of the meeting. "Here, have some of this fabric." She pressed a bolt of the Gungan fabric into Padmé's hands. It was a mint green with a decorative swirl that resembled the currents and eddies of the waterways the Gungan frequented. "As an apology for my big mouth."
Padmé looked down at the fabric as she ran it between her thumb and forefinger. "I thank you," she said at last, returning her gaze to Buffy's face. "I shall treasure this gift from the first gungan I have had the honour of meeting."
Buffy didn't quite know what to say to that, so it was lucky that Padmé had to return to the rest of the party who were beginning to move on out of the square. Just before she left, the younger girl turned and smiled at Buffy, lifting her hand for a stiff wave.
Jakan's arm nudging hers jerked Buffy out of her thoughts. "Giving away our wares, eh?"
Buffy rolled her eyes and shoved him off again. "I'll pay you for it."
"No need," Jakmé spoke up from Jakan's other side. "It was a smart move, she'll wear it in the palace and they'll wonder where she got it from – everyone will be after some. Besides," Jakmé smiled at her. "You've earned it over the last couple of days, love. Now, what say you that we go look at these kaadu, now that they're out of our hair?"
"Sure," Buffy said with a smile. "Thanks for letting me hang with you, I've enjoyed it."
"Anytime we're in Theed," Jakan winked at her, earning a shove from his mother.
"Behave! I don't need to hear about what you're up to in your free time." Jakan rolled his eyes but leant forwards and pressed his lips to Buffy's cheek.
"It was a pleasure," he murmured, just enough suggestion in his voice to cause her to blush. He then winked at her again before disappearing off towards the rest of the Traders. Jakmé watched him go with a frown.
"My son is not exactly... reliable, towards women." She started, a note of concern in her voice.
"It's fine," Buffy was quick to reassure. "I went into this with the same intentions he did, I think. Neither of us are exactly in a position to want commitment."
"Well that's alright then." Jakmé scrutinised her for a moment before nodding, evidently pleased by what she saw. "We need to get a move on – we're planning to get some distance from this city tonight so I need to get back soon."
Buffy followed the Trader as she led the way to a hoverbike on the edge of the city. Buffy gulped nervously at the sight of it – despite seeing them a few times in the human settlements she still hadn't ridden one, although Jakmé swung into the seat with ease.
"Come on!" She called, so Buffy grit her teeth and got onto the bike. She didn't really appreciate vehicles on Earth, but within a few minutes she realised that the hoverbikes were fun. She whooped from her seat behind the Trader, causing Jakmé to laugh and shake her head fondly.
All too soon in Buffy's opinion they were at the kaadu camp, several of the bipedal creatures shying away from the edge of it as the bike approached. Jakmé cut the power and rolled her eyes at them.
"These aren't the smartest of the bunch. No gungan would go near them. The better ones are in the middle, come on."
The centre of the kaadu group was noisy, stomping and snorting animals helping to make sure that Buffy and Jakmé wouldn't be overheard. Buffy looked around at the animals.
"You are going to a lot of trouble to keep this conversation quiet."
"There is something going on." Jakmé told her soberly. "The problem is, I'm not sure what yet. It's a hundred little things that each taken individually don't seem like a lot – some shipment of minerals is held up here, a delay in paperwork there. But it's adding up to goods not arriving to the planet on time or leaving the planet on time. It might not even be noticed by those in Theed yet, but we rely on getting the first pick of the transports that come in so that we can offer something different so we've noticed it. The worrying thing is that if someone is doing it deliberately – and we've come across it too often for it not to be – then they are very skilled at hiding it."
Buffy frowned. "That sounds... a bit of a conspiracy."
Jakmé spread her hands wide. "If it goes back to normal next week, I'll take back my words. But you watch love, it won't. And it won't be long before it affects all trade, not just off-world trade. I would tell your Boss to keep his eyes to the surface, and not to rely too heavily on goods from the Naboo." Jakmé frowned. "It's an almost intangible feeling we have – something big is coming, and it ain't gonna be good. Not for the Naboo, not for the Traders and that means not for the Gungan either."
"If they start worrying about supply the gungans are going to be the first they stop trading with." Buffy stated, Jakmé nodding in reply.
"You'll always have friends with the Traders though," she told the slayer. "We've always got a better deal with the Gungan than the Naboo, we'll honour that."
"I'll pass your message on to the Boss." Buffy told her, before eyeing up the kaadu distastefully. "Does that mean I have to take a load of these things with me now?"
Jakmé laughed at her. "I'll get you set up."
Later, Buffy waved at Jakmé's retreating figure as she led the kaadu away. She had a dozen roped together, plus the one she was riding at the front. They fanned out a bit like geese, six either side of her in a large V shape. She'd chosen the most intelligent one to ride, and actually she was beginning to get a bit fond of it.
"Do you have a name?" She murmured to the creature. Its smooth head bobbed in front of her as it loped along, covering the ground back to the campsite where she'd left Clesh quickly. "Hmm, how about Gordo II?" She asked, nearly lurching when the creature slid to a stop and craned its head back to glare at her. "What? I really loved Gordo." Buffy pouted. "Well... how about... Larry?" The kaadu snorted at her. "Fine." She huffed. "Well maybe you're a woman... how about Darla?" The kaadu seemed to consider it, before turning and picking back up the lope it had been running in before.
"Huh, so Darla it is." Buffy commented to herself, before giggling at the thought of what the skeasy master vampire might have said if she realised that a weird frog animal thing was named after her.
She was still smiling when she reached the rocky outcrop that she knew Clesh would be waiting behind. The dour gungan looked up at her with a scowl.
"Is not like yousa to enjoy riding da kaadu." He muttered. "Yousa been gone for a while."
Buffy swung down off Darla's back, giving her a quick pat on the neck. "We couldn't get to the kaadu pens until just now as a royal tour came to see the Traders this morning."
"And yousa just had to stay wid da Traders." Clesh huffed grumpily, but Buffy knew him well enough by now to know that most of the gruffness was for show. She grinned at him as she gathered the belongings she had left in the camp before going into the city. The tent and bedding roll was soon secured to one of the spare kaadu, and she was back on Darla's back. Clesh walked around the kaadu contemplatively before selecting one as his own ride.
"Dese are not bad kaadu." He said begrudgingly, causing Buffy to laugh. From him that was a huge compliment.
"If I ever see Jakmé again, I'll let her know you said that. She'll wonder what she's done to earn such praise." Buffy teased as they turned their mounts around and headed back for Gungan territory.
-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-
Buffy swung the scythe around, practising some of the movements that Captain Tarpals had given her to do as a warm up. It was some time before the first of the younglings were due to arrive but she wanted to perform some of the movements to help her relax. It was similar to the Tai Chi exercises Giles used to make her perform. She complained endlessly when Giles was talking her through it, but now she found that it helped her to think about things mindfully.
She'd spoken to Boss Nass when she had returned from Theed. He seemed particularly concerned with what Jakmé had told her, saying that it was as he feared. He'd confided to Buffy that it felt as though something big was coming, there had been bad omens for a while now that the Gungan couldn't ignore. She'd nodded and agreed, even though she didn't really understand. He'd then said something about the Living Force, which apparently wasn't the same force that the Jedi used but honestly Buffy didn't know what any of this force was. Was it magic or something?
Another flowing movement didn't bring clarity but it did bring a grounding as she pushed the scythe away, focussing on the feel of it vibrating through the air. Maybe it didn't matter what it was, Buffy would deal. She'd faced wacky magic before, and worse besides. She'd keep up patrolling the surface as she had been and report anything even remotely suspicious to Boss Nass and Roos, as they knew better than she did what was normal and what wasn't.
A noise at the door had her eyes popping open and the scythe drawn back in an aggressive stance, only relaxing when she recognised Tabbem, the young gungan who had helped Buffy to blow up the illegal mine.
"Tabbem," Buffy greeted, sliding the scythe into its customary position on her back and straightening up. "And Dawn..." Buffy's younger sister was half hiding behind the taller gungan.
"Hey," Dawn started. "So Tabbem turned up at the Healing Rooms for a check-up after being shot and all and we got to talking. Turns out she wondered where you were so I said I'd show her and I know you don't like being disturbed during your exercises but you haven't seen her for ages so I thought it would be ok."
Tabbem looked slightly poleaxed by how many words Dawn could get out without taking a breath, which Buffy could understand. She turned her smile on the gungan.
"It's really good to see you again. Is there anything I can help you with?"
Tabbem shuffled from one foot to another nervously, which made Buffy curious. She became even more so when Dawn nudged Tabbem in the back, encouraging her to talk."
"Well," Tabbem started, clearing her throat. "Mesa knows dat you teach da younglings here and mesa know mesa is a bit old but...can you teach mesa how to fight too?"
Buffy blinked. "Fight?" She repeated, surprise colouring her tone.
"Tabbem and I were talking," Dawn took over at this point. "And there is something going on, there are more and more incursions into Gungan land by people who aren't even Naboo and we think we should be able to defend ourselves. And Tabbem can't go home because it isn't safe but there isn't any work for her in the gassers here so... can you teach us?"
Buffy looked from one to the other. Tabbem looked resolute but Buffy was taken aback by the fierce expression on Dawn's face. "You both want to know?"
Tabbem nodded emphatically. "Yes! Mesa want to defend mesa home, not be captured again. Mesa not want to be helpless."
Dawn looked up at Buffy, her eyes wide and sincere. "I don't... I know I'm never going to be Slayer strength, but I don't want to always be the one who needs saving. I don't want to be a victim, not like when Glory..." Dawn trailed off, her voice hitching and she blinked her eyes rapidly.
Buffy thought about her workload, her sessions with the younglings and her regular patrols. She was already very busy and this would eat into any free time she actually had. On the other hand...
"Grab a pole each." She told them resolutely, picking up one of the training electropoles and taking up a defensive stance.
"What, now?" Tabbem asked in surprise.
"No time like the present," Buffy told her with a grim smile. "Besides, I think we all know something big is going to go down, it has the feel of apocalypse season. This time, none of us are going to be victims."
Dawn and Tabbem shared a determined look before grabbing the heavy poles and standing as Buffy instructed them to, each prepared to work harder than they ever had before.
