Chapter 2: The Jedi Ways
*****Coruscant*****
Dawn had been at the Jedi Temple for two weeks. Things were so weird. They had freshers instead of showers. They had banca tanks instead of regular medicine, and they flew cars in the sky. It was the craziest and most wonderous thing ever. However, she missed her sister. Seeing aliens made her miss the hellmouth—even Clem. There were no vampires here—no one to remind her of Spike. There was magic here, but they called it the Force. Ironically, she could feel it all around her like a warm, tingly blanket. Qui Gon was teaching her how to access it and use it to fight. It was the closest she came to feeling like her sister, Willow, and Tara were there.
"Dawn—Master Qui Gon says it is time for our morning meditation," Obi told her.
"I'm coming, Obi," she said.
"It's Obi-Wan," he said in annoyance. "I've told you a thousand times."
"Obi-Wan sounds super pretentious. I like Obi better," she said, giving him a cheeky smile. Her new friend was so uptight, but he was kind of cute. He could also be very nice when he wasn't being totally lame. He had taught her how to use the fresher and how to wear her robes, which she really hated. When he tried to tell her that he had to get a haircut like all the padawans, she flat out refused.
When his master just smiled indulgently and said Dawn didn't have to cut her hair as long as she had her beaded braid in, she couldn't hide her smirk. The whole master thing, though, bothered her. When she explained that on her planet, Master was a title for very old and ugly vampires, Qui Gon explained it was a title only. It didn't make them his slaves or minions—a word Dawn had taught him.
"Tell, Qui I'm coming," Dawn said. She didn't mind meditation time because it made her feel close to her sister.
Qui Gon smiled warmly at her when she joined them on the mats. Both males were sitting Indian style, so Dawn copied their pose.
"Clear your mind and reach for the Force. Let it flow through you. Let it guide your thoughts," Qui advised.
Dawn did as he suggested, clearing her mind. She had heard Giles give similar instructions to her sister. When Buffy had trouble mediating, she had mocked her sister, secretly pleased that her nearly perfect sister didn't excel at something.
She reached out to the Force, finding it so easy to pull it close. It was the oddest thing—like a missing part of her was finally found. The Force was not in her dimension back on Earth because she had meditated with Willow and Tara. She had never felt the presence of the Force back on Earth. Maybe, this was like using magic for Willow. Willow felt it so easily while Tara had to work at it more. Willow drew energy from plants and other living things, which is kind of what using the Force was. However, the Jedi didn't need words, only their will.
As she allowed the Force to flow through her, she relaxed more and more. Instinctively, she reached out to Qui and Obi, linking them. It was like they became one person, and the Force connected them. She felt Qui's compassion and absolute belief in the Living Force. Obi's determination to always do the right thing, to please his teacher was tangible.
Then she saw Buffy. Her sister was yelling at Giles and Willow. "We have to find her. I don't care what you have to do or where you have to go. My sister didn't die—there was no body. She is trapped somewhere, and I'm not going to leave her to some hell dimension. Is that what you want?"
"Of course not, Buffy," Willow said. "Tara and I are going to England with Giles, and we'll check out all the covens he knows until we can find a way to get to her."
"We will find her," Giles said.
Dawn opened her eyes. "Did you guys see that?" she asked. "I had a vision of my sister and friends back home!"
"We can't see what you see," Qui Gon said. "However, we can sense your strong emotions." Dawn did something that few Jedi could do and no padawan ever—she instinctively joined other Jedi to her, connecting their powers. Obi-Wan did not realize she was doing this, so Qui Gon didn't mention it to him. When he discussed it with Dawn, he knew she found it very natural. Yoda told him to allow her this freedom, especially since it came so effortlessly to her. For someone so new to learning about the Living Force, Dawn was a natural Jedi. Qui-Gon was quite pleased at her progress.
"Buffy thinks I'm trapped in a hell dimension of some kind. How can I let her know that I'm okay?" Dawn asked.
"The Force told me you would be here, so I believe your arrival is the will of the Living Force," Qui Gon said. "If it's meant to be, your sister will be reunited with you. Master Yoda believes it will happen, so I do, too." He didn't mention his own strong pull toward the girl in his vision. Nearly every night when he closed his eyes, he saw her face. He didn't know if it was dreams or visions or what, but he hoped that she would come to them soon.
******Sunnydale******
Two years had passed, and Buffy was so over the hellmouth. She fought with Angel and Illyria when their enemies unleashed hell in Los Angeles. Faith was released from prison to help with the fight there.
Angel was happy to have Buffy although the two were nothing more than friends. Losing Dawn that way had hardened Buffy. The girl he had loved was not really there anymore. Not long after losing Dawn, Angel had a child with his ex, which killed any future that he and Buffy could have had. Buffy, though, supported him. Cordelia had envisioned Angel's son being kidnapped, so Buffy had been there. Wesley had told Giles about the prophecy.
"You cannot allow a prophecy to cause you to hurt your friends," Giles told him. "Buffy defied a prophecy, and we will make sure Angel's son does, too."
Wesley agreed, sharing the prophecy with Angel, who could not fathom what it might mean.
Cordelia was outraged and asked Buffy to stick around a few days, so Buffy was there when Angel's old enemy, Holtz tried to take Conner.
Buffy killed a human in a fight and felt a piece of her die. Holtz, though, was trying to take the baby.
Death was her gift. Feeling more like a murderer and less like a slayer, Buffy went back to the hellmouth, leaving Angel and Cordelia with the baby. The fact that she had kept Angel from losing his baby did bring her a measure of comfort, however.
Buffy demanded that the Council support her financially while she traveled in the summer, looking for magical and mystical means to locate her sister. Since she kept saving the world, proving her worth as a slayer, they did so. Also, the Sunnydale hellmouth was growing weaker all the time—much to everyone's relief.
A year after she nearly died, Buffy found a seer in Tibet who told her that her sister was alive and well. That helped Buffy keep her darkness in check, but she was growing more and more weary of the daily grind of fighting on the hellmouth. Angel was working behind the scenes to get Faith released, so she could return to Sunnydale and take over for Buffy.
When Angel angered Wolfram & Hart so much that they unleashed demon hordes, he was not caught off guard. He sent Connor and Cordelia to Giles on the hellmouth, convinced that Willow and the darkness of the hellmouth would shield his son.
Tara adored babies and the three women enjoyed playing house with Angel's son, who was walking and getting into things like toddlers were known to do.
Although Angel had things in motion, it was Wesley who ultimately succeeded in getting Faith out of jail. For once, his father was good for something and had gotten the Council to push to obtain Faith's release from prison. The fact that she had been a minor at the time of her initial crimes had never been taken into consideration. That meant that there were two slayers fighting by Angel's side when the demon hordes were released. They were broken when Illyria destroyed Fred. If only they had not been convinced to take over the L.A. branch of Wolfram & Hart. Angel had refused, but Cordelia had believed the firm would keep Connor safe. It was a mistake; Fred was dead. Illyria wore her face and could take on her appearance.
Wesley worked to keep his hatred in check. When he killed the man in the Black Thorn that Angel wanted dead, he knew he would not survive.
Then Buffy Summers came through the door, refusing to let him be killed in battle like he wanted. Damn her. Between her and Faith, they even managed to keep the demon hordes from fully evading Los Angeles.
"I can't believe it's over," Angel said.
"I can't believe we won," Spike said.
"Man, that was fun!" Faith exclaimed. She looked at Buffy, who was not the same person at all. No quips, no jokes. No smiles. She was all slayer.
"The dragon was cool," Buffy remarked. "Dawn would have liked that."
"I know she would have," Faith said. Faith waited a long moment before asking what she had to ask. "Do you think she's alive?"
Buffy nodded. "I do. I've seen her in my dreams," Buffy said. "She's not in a hell. She's on another planet or in another dimension."
"You really know that?" Faith asked, surprised. "Not just a dream but a slayer dream?"
"I feel it, Faith. Deep inside. She's alive, and I'm going to go to her," Buffy told her. "This Earth will have you as it's only slayer after I'm gone."
Faith was more than a bit stunned at her pronouncement. She glanced at Angel, who was talking to Spike. "No, they don't know," Buffy answered her unasked question. "I'll tell them soon. I thought you should know first."
Faith was surprised again. "Your friends?" she asked.
Buffy nodded. "They know," she said. "And you know them. They would follow me anywhere, but I'm not going to let them. They've spent enough time sharing my destiny. Lost enough."
Faith knew she was right and understood what Buffy was saying, but she didn't know that anyone could stop Red once she put her mind to something. Then again, Faith doubted Willow would ever leave Xander.
"So what's your plan?" Faith wondered.
Buffy looked at Illyria. "Willow told me that she used to open up portals," Buffy said.
"Wes took away that power Angel said," Faith told her.
"We're going to get it back," Buffy announced.
Illyria smiled. She was okay with that.
*****Six Months Later****
It was time. Illyria had gotten her portal opening powers back thanks to Willow's help, and she and Buffy had been checking dimensions the past few months. Finally, Willow and Wesley figured out a magical way to help Illyria narrow down the search. It was time to say goodbye to her friends.
"You're coming back, right?" Xander asked.
"I don't know," Buffy said. "I'll try my best."
"You have to let us know you are okay, and Dawn is," Xander said. "Please."
Buffy nodded. "Okay," she said. "I love you, Xander. Thank you for being the best man I have ever known." She hugged him tightly but not too tightly.
Then it was Willow's turn. "This isn't goodbye, Buffy. I refuse to say that. I can't," she said. "I want to know that Dawn's okay. Your dreams aren't enough for me. I have to know that she is okay."
Buffy nodded and hugged her. "I promise. I will make sure you know," she said. "But you have to give us time, Will. We don't know what kind of world she is in or the complications there will be."
"Okay," Willow said.
Tara hugged her. "Tell Dawn how much we miss her," she said.
"I will," Buffy assured her. "Take care of each other."
She hugged Angel, who promised to watch out for them.
Spike wanted to go with her. "We can't take the chance that a sun will burn you up as soon as we get to the world we're going to, Spike," Buffy told him.
Spike glared. "I don't like it," he said.
"I have Illyria, Spike. She's all the backup I need," Buffy pointed out.
Illyria gave them a haughty sniff but refrained from saying anything. She respected Willow's power and Angel's craftiness and strength. He had defeated the Wolf, Ram, and Hart. Buffy, though, she had come to actually admire because she was single-minded in her goal to find her sister. The loyalty she had to her sister was something Illyria admired greatly. Buffy was also very patient with her, explaining the ways of the modern world. Illyria would not admit it to anyone, but she had no plans to ever leave Buffy's side for long as she was the only thing in this new world who needed her.
"Take care of yourself, Blue," Spike told her.
"I will rip out the spine of any who oppose me," she announced.
Buffy had some photos in her backpack, and the troll hammer on a harness Xander made for her next to her. Her favorite stake, Mr. Pointy and Mr. Grodo were in her bag as well as some food and water.
It was time.
******Corellia******
It was Dawn's sixteenth birthday, and Qui Gon was letting her celebrate by getting her pilot's license. She had told him about driving a car back home and getting a license at sixteen. He and Obi had been teaching her how to fly for the past six months. They'd been in Corellia the past few weeks on assignment, plus Obi said it was where all the best pilots lived.
There were a few kids that ran errands for the pilots. One in particular seemed to know everything about fixing them and flying was named Ovan. He was close to Dawn's age, and whenever he smiled at her, Obi frowned. Dawn loved flirting with him just to make Obi nuts.
"Why do you keep doing that?" Obi-Wan asked as they entered the apartment they rented, which was near where their ship was docked.
"Doing what?" Dawn asked.
"Flirting with that boy," Obi-Wan said.
"He's close to your age, so I wouldn't say he's a boy," Dawn said. "I asked, and he's seventeen. One year older than me and one less than you."
"So not the point," Obi said. "You were flirting, and that might give him ideas."
"That I like him? I do," Dawn replied, unrepentant. "He's cute and nice. He's not always lecturing me and treating me like I'm stupid—like someone else I know."
Obi felt both offended and hurt at her words. He only lectured her because he cared about her. "I don't treat you like you're stupid, and I just want you to do well," he said.
Dawn stepped into his personal space with a cheeky grin. "Would you rather that I flirt with you?" she asked. She really liked Obi when he wasn't treating her like a student he needed to teach. He was cute and a bit nerdy. Sometimes, he reminded her a bit of Giles. However, he was sweet.
Obi blinked, surprised at the way she turned things around. Although he was a Jedi, he was also a man. He wasn't immune to her many attractions. The gangly girl who had appeared two years ago was blossoming into a very beautiful young woman.
"You know the Jedi Code forbids attachments," he reminded her.
Her eyes flared in anger. "And I say that's still the dumbest thing I've ever heard. If my sister were here, she would tell the Council their Code was stupid and was just a way to deplete their numbers because if Jedis aren't falling in love and making babies, their numbers aren't growing, which makes them weak, which means the enemies numbers are growing stronger," she said.
"We have defeated the Sith, so you are wrong," Obi-Wan told her.
Dawn laughed. "That you know of. Evil is never defeated. It just becomes better at hiding. I lived on a hellmouth, Obi. I sacrificed myself closing an interdimensional rift because some hellgod didn't care that her ride home would collapse countless realities, including my own. Evil never dies. It just gets smarter at hiding," she informed him. Then she turned to leave.
Qui-Gon finally stepped into the room, not wanting to interrupt the exchange.
"She is right," he told Obi.
Obi turned, surprised to see him. "How long were you watching us?" he asked.
"You should've sensed my presence, Obi-won," Qui-Gon chided him gently.
Obi's cheek flushed in embarrassment. "I am sorry, Master," he said.
"We can never assume the Sith are defeated," he said. "Our numbers are depleted. The Jedi Code was created to protect the Jedi from falling to the Dark Side, but it has come at a great cost. We must consider whether or not we continue holding fast to that code because I cannot, in my heart of hearts, ever believe that hate is stronger than love. For I must admit that I have grown to love Dawn like a daughter. I am very attached to her—no matter what the Code has taught. If she were to die or be in danger, I would not embrace hate to defend her, however. My love would propel me to fight to protect her."
His admission shook Obi-Wan. "I will consider what you have said," he told him.
"Very good," he said.
He went and knocked on Dawn's bedroom door. "Come in," she called.
"I wanted you to know that your test is scheduled for six this evening, and then we will go to dinner to celebrate your birthday," he told her.
"And give me presents?" she asked.
"As it is a tradition of your home world," he said, grinning. He knew that holidays from her home and her birthday were particularly hard for her because she missed her sister even more on those days.
"Thank you, Qui," she said.
"Can I give you one of them now?" he asked, reaching into his robe.
She got up and gave him an excited grin. "Of course!" she exclaimed.
He handed her a piece of paper, and since he had been teaching her to read the language it was written in, she could actually read it. "You have adopted me?" she asked in shock. "Really?"
"I probably should have asked, but I wanted it to be a surprise. I know you like surprises," he said, smiling warmly at her. "I know I can never replace your family, and I believe the Force will find a way to bring your sister back to you. But I want to be your family and offer you the protection of my name."
Dawn's eyes filled with tears as she was deeply touched by his gift. From her very first day, he had been kind, patient, and loving toward her. Everything a father was supposed to be. "Can I call you Dad?" she asked.
"How about Father?" he asked.
Dawn wiped her eyes and pulled him in for a hug. "I love you, Father," she told him.
She hoped he was right and that one day, Buffy would get to meet this wonderful man.
*****Chapter End*****
