Author: M. Jade
Title: Jaded
Part: 1/?

Email: m_jade34@hotmail.com
Summary: When the worlds of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Star Wars collide,
hilarity and smoochies ensue

Rating: PG-13

Spoilers: Up to "Restless" for BtVS, and "Vector Prime" for SW
Feedback: Flamers can and will be ignored, but all others are welcomed with
open arms

Disclaimers: It all belongs to Joss and George, and the novel "Vector Prime"
was written by R.A. Salvatore

Distribution: Strange Brew, Bite Me...Please?, the W/G list, the L/M list, and
any one else who asks nicely

Notes: Just give the crossover idea a chance. I think you'll like it
More Notes: I have now combined my two outstanding obsessions. Enjoy!

****************************************************************

Willow Rosenberg walked into Rupert Giles' apartment with a large smile on
her face and a book tucked under her arms. Giles had invited the young
witch over for some magic practice, and it seemed like a good opportunity.
She had been doing a lot of different types of magic with her new girlfriend
Tara, but today Giles wanted to work with Willow, and Tara was away for the
weekend, visiting relatives, so she thought the practice time with Giles
would be good.

"Hello, Willow," Giles greeted her as she entered his apartment and Willow
flashed him a smile.

"Hey, Giles." She came in and sat her book down on the table. Giles
glanced down at the book with an air of surprise.

"Star Wars?" he questioned. Willow gave an enthusiastic nod. "Aren't all
the bloody movies enough?" he muttered.

"The novels are good, Giles," Willow insisted. "There's plenty of stuff in
them that's not in the movies." Giles gave a sigh.

"I just didn't even realize that you even read that type of thing." Willow
smiled brightly.

"Well, I didn't until recently. You can thank Spike for that one." Giles
was slightly taken aback.

"Spike?"

"Sure. He's the one who introduced them to me. We were on patrol shortly
after that First Slayer incident a few weeks ago, and he started to tell me
about them. In fact, this book is his. I'm just borrowing it." Giles
shook his head. The blonde vampire never ceased to amaze him. First there
was the anti-violence chip he had been implanted with, his betrayal of the
Slayer and her friends to ADAM, and now it seemed as if Spike was doomed to
be a full-fledged Slayerette after ADAM's plot had been spoiled by Buffy and
her friends. Now it was Star Wars. If it wasn't one bloody surprise what
that prat, it was another, Giles decided.

"It figures," he grumbled. Willow gave a little laugh.

"Well, it is soap opera enough for him," Willow informed the former Watcher.
"He's still addicted to "Passions", which isn't that much different
different, so it does make sense," Willow reminded him. Giles shrugged.

"I suppose. Shall we get on with it," he finally said. Willow nodded.

"Sure. What did you want to do, Giles?" Giles walked over to his bookcase
and pulled out the appropriate book.

"There's a good calling spell in here that can sharpen the caster's focus.
I think that will be as good as any," he told her.

"Is it any harder than floating a rose," she quipped. Giles gave a short
laugh.

"It's similar to that, I supppose, but, uh, it does require a bit more
concentration." Giles gestured over to his table and sat down, placing the
book in front of him. Willow joined him and took the book, glancing over
the spell he wanted to do.

"This is it, huh?" she said absent-mindedly as she read over the
incantation. "This doesn't look too bad," she decided.

"Do you want to begin?" he asked. Willow nodded. Giles had placed a plain
white votive candle in the middle of the table and he proceeded to light it
with a lighter he had gotten along with the book. "Now, I want you to pick
an object, something to call. Focus solely on that one object and begin the
incantation. When it's done, you should have what you called. You may want
to make it something simple this time," he added.

"Like a feather or something," Willow surmised. Giles nodded. Willow took
a deep breath as she picked her object.

"Are you ready?" Giles questioned. Willow nodded. "Then just stay focused
and begin," he instructed her softly. Willow closed her eyes, took Giles'
hand, and began to recite the spell as he looked on.

"I call on the spirit of Yevetha, the bringer, to know my heart and what it
desires. I implore thee, Yevetha, to call forth what I seek. Please bring
it now." As soon as she ended the spell, the room was filled with a rush of
wind and a burst of light that took both of the room's occupants's off
guard. After the wind had died down, Willow and Giles opened their eyes to
find that they were no longer the only ones in the room.

Standing by the couch was a man in his mid-forties with a strong build,
sandy blonde hair, and blue eyes. Standing next to him was a woman of about
the same age who had a very lithe build and sported long hair of a red
similar to Willow's and green eyes. Both wore clothes of a style that Giles
had never really seen before. The man wore a black tunic and pants with
calf-length black boots while the woman wore a dark green tunic, brown pants
and short ankle-length boots in black.

"Sweet burning stars," the elder redhead muttered and looked over to the
man. Her companion let out a slow whistle.

"Bloody hell," Giles muttered as he released Willow's hands and stood up to
face his "guests". The four just stared at each other, no one knowing what
to say next. After a lengthy silence, Giles was the first to speak. "Who
are you," he asked as calmly as possible.

"I'm Luke Skywalker," the man answered evenly. "This is my wife, Mara."
Giles sighed and looked back to Willow crossing his arms.

"Eep," she said sheepishly.

Part: 2/?

****************************************************************

"Willow," Giles said gently, trying to hold his growing temper, "What were
you trying to call?" Willow shrugged her shoulders innocently.

"I was trying to call a feather, Giles, I swear! I guess I was a bit
di-distracted, huh?" Giles gave her a pointed look. "Okay, understatement
much. I really wasn't trying to call them, though," the hacker added.

"But you did none the less," Giles said a little too sharply. "Perhaps we
should look into sending them back," he added. He sat down again and began
to thumb though the book as Willow stared at the room's new visitors.

"Sorry," she told them. "My name's Willow Rosenberg, and that is Rupert
Giles. You really aren't supposed to be here, as you can probably tell.
We're going to try to send you back home," she added with a small smile.

"Where is 'here' exactly," Mara asked with a curious look in her eyes. This
place was certainly not like the one they had left moments before. Willow
looked over to Giles as he looked up from the book. He shrugged and Willow
turned back to the Jedi.

"Well, this planet is called Earth, and I'm sure you never heard of it, have
you?" Luke and Mara shook their heads.

"No, we haven't. How did we get here?" Luke questioned. Willow shrugged.

"I kind of fumbled on a magic spell, I guess. I was trying to call a
feather, but I got you guys instead. Any luck on the going home spell,
Giles," Willow asked a little apprehensively.

"None so far, but I haven't had much time yet, Willow. You may want to sit
down," Giles told the Skywalkers. "I'm afraid this may be awhile." Willow
grimaced as Giles went back to work. Willow sighed again as she stood up
and took a seat in a chair by the couch.

"He gets kind of grumpy when something like this happens. He'll be better
as soon as we find the answer," Willow explained. Luke and Mara nodded.

"So this is due to...magic?" Luke questioned, slightly perplexed as Mara
mirrored his look. As a Jedi, they had never really been taught to believe
in such things.

"I'm guessing that you don't believe in magic, do you?" Willow replied,
realizing the situation.

"Not really," Mara told the Wicca. Willow sighed at Mara.

"Well, at one time, I didn't either," she admitted, recalling the time
before she had known about the Hellmouth. "Not until I witnessed it for
myself and even then I didn't start practicing until we found I spell had no
choice but to do. After that, it was just kind of natural that I became a
witch." Giles looked up from his book after hearing that.

"I would hardly say that it was a natural choice, Willow. You became a
witch because you were interested and had the talent," he stated
matter-of-factly.

"I take it you believe in this too, then," Luke said to Giles. The former
Watcher gave a wane smile.

"I'm afraid that I've seen too many things in my years NOT too believe that
magic exists. Or that it is easily misjudged," Giles mumbled under his
breath. Mara gave a chuckle.

"Aren't the instructors always supposed to be more constructive when the
student makes a mistake?" Mara asked him. Giles gave her a small grin.

"Perhaps you're right." He turned back to his book to investigate further,
feeling a little less put off.

"So how did we get called here," Mara asked Willow. The witch gave her a
sheepish grin.

"Well, I had been reading a book that had you guys in it, and I guess my
focus was totally off, so I got you because of that." Luke gave a nod.

"What type of book?" Willow picked up the book from the table and handed it
to the Jedi. It was labeled "Vector Prime", and Luke began to thumb through
it.

"In our world, you and Mara exist as characters in these stories. This is
the one I was reading," she explained. Mara gave a nod as Luke continued to
examine the book.

"So we're basically like characters out of a holonovel?" Mara clarified.
Willow nodded.

"To us, yes. That's what it's like," the hacker agreed. Luke gave a slow
nod in reply as he put down the book.

"Kind of surreal, isn't it, Mara?" he asked his wife. Mara shook her head
and gave him a smile.

"No more so then some of the things we've been through before, Luke. Kardde
once told me that you and I have cornered the market on surreal, next to
your sister and Han," she added with a grin. Luke gave her a chuckle.

"Just don't tell them that. I think Leia has it hard enough as it is
without being reminded of it by someone like Kardde." They were interrupted
by the sound of Giles slapping the book he had been reading closed.

"I have come to the conclusion that whoever wrote the counter spell section
of this book was more familiar with knitting than with magic. I can't find
a bloody thing," he said dejectedly as he sat down next to Willow and took
off his glasses to rub his eyes.

"Is there anywhere else that you think the counter spell may be," Willow
questioned gently. Giles gave the idea some thought.

"Perhaps I could find it at the local shop, but it's closed for the weekend
by now. It won't be open until Monday. Even then, I'm not sure they would
have the correct volume. We may have to see if Wesley can find it in Los
Angeles." Willow nodded, realizing how difficult this situation could
become. "It looks as if you two are our guests for the time being," Giles
told Luke and Mara. "At lest until I can find the right book." The Jedi
nodded.

"We'll find it, Giles," Willow said as she gave him a quick, reassuring hug.
Giles gave her a wane smile.

"So we're stuck here," Mara surmised. Giles gave her a grim nod.

"I'm terribly sorry. It looks like there's nothing we can do to get you and
your husband home now." Luke nodded, along with Mara.

"We understand."

"It'll be just another adventure added to our list, which I think is in
orbit by now anyway," Mara said with a smile. Luke and the others gave her
a laugh until Willow calmed down some and her expression sobered.

"What do we do now, Giles? Where are they going to stay?" Giles gave the
idea some thought.

"Well, I don't believe there's going to be enough room here. Perhaps
Buffy's mother could put them up for the time being," Giles offered. Willow
nodded.

"It's worth trying. I'll give her a call. I should probably call Spike
while I'm at it, too. He would be better at helping them adjust and
understand all this than I could." Giles gave a nod and Willow picked up
the phone next to the couch to dial the numbers. "Hello, Mrs. Summers?" As
Willow was explaining the situation to Joyce, Giles turned to face his
visitors.

"I have to admit that I think you are being surprisingly calm about all of
this. One would assume what this would be quite a shock to the system for
you," he told them. Luke gave him a nod and his best farmboy grin.

"We're Jedi. When it comes to the Force, there's very little that comes as
a shock to us." Giles gave a short laugh and nodded and Mara shook her
head.

"Speak for yourself, Skywalker," she said teasingly. "You may have the
whole stoic, serene Jedi calm going, but I think more along the lines of
'panicking is what gets you killed'"

"That is what makes you the practical one, Mara," Luke told his wife. "I
would have to say the same thing of you, Giles. You're extremely calm
yourself," Luke said turning to face the former Watcher. Giles shrugged his
shoulders.

"I've encountered far too much surrealism in my time to be surprised by
this...I'm not even sure what I'm supposed to call you," he admitted with a
sheepish look.

"I think just Luke and Mara would suffice," he told Giles with a grin.

"Indeed. Well, it looks as if we should all get comfortable. We're going
to be here awhile."

Part: 3/?

****************************************************************

Half an hour later, Spike had shown up. Willow had explained the situation
to him over the phone, but he didn't believe it until he actually came in
and seen it. The blond vamp came in, and was greeted by Giles and Willow,
who were sitting on the couch, chatting with their new "guests". The vamp
couldn't believe his eyes. "Bloody hell! I thought this was a joke, Red.
You really conjured the whole damn thing, didn't you?" Willow gave him a
sheepish look.

"Well, it's not like I meant to." Spike gave her a pointed look.

"I'm sure you tell all the guys the same thing after a magical mishap, don't
you, Red?" After hearing Spike's pet name for Willow, Luke gave Mara a
look.

"Don't you even think it, Skywalker!" Mara insisted. Luke gave his wife a
mock-innocent look while the others tried unsuccessfully to stifle their
laughter.

"I wasn't thinking anything, Mara!" Luke exclaimed.

"Good, cause I would just hate to have to repeat the "Don't Call Me Red"
speech I did for Solo and Karrde, cause it may get drastic," Mara warned
mock-seriously, then grinned at her husband. Just then, the group was
interrupted by voices approaching the door, and then by the entrance of
Xander Harris and his girlfriend, Anya Emerson.

"Well, I happened to like the movie, Ahn," Xander told her as they walked
into the living room. Anya gave him a look. "X-Men wasn't that bad!"

"There's no accounting for taste," the ex-demon grumbled. Xander sighed and
finally looked over to say something to Giles.

"Hey, Giles. I was just coming by to return that cross... and I see that we
have visitors," the dark-haired teen amended as he noticed the room's
occupants. "Care to fill us in?" Giles took a deep breath as the others
looked to him to answer.

"Yes, well, Xander, I'd like to introduce Luke Skywalker and his wife, Mara
Jade Skywalker," the former Watcher told him, then took a deep sip from the
cup of tea he had made himself earlier while they had waited for Spike.
Xander gave Giles a hardy laugh as Anya eyed the scene curiously.

"That's really funny, G-Man! That's..." he seen the serious look on the
other's faces. "God, you're not kidding, are you?" Giles shook his head.
"Then this is the real..." Giles nodded his head, along with Willow and
Spike. "What! How! What!" he said frantically. Willow looked over to
Giles and decided to answer for him.

"This is Luke and Mara Jade Skywalker, I accidentally called them with a
spell I was trying with Giles, and you already asked that," she answered
matter-of-factly. Xander gave a disbelieving look, the shook his head.

"Leave it to you, Will," Xander muttered. "So much for magical supervision,
hey, Big Guy?" he asked Giles.

"That's beyond the point, Xander. They're here now, and we have yet to find
them a way back to their world. Unfortunately, that appears to be more
difficult than I had anticipated."

"So the hero from a galaxy long ago, and far, far away is now your
houseguest?"

"Actually, they'll be Mrs. Summer's houseguests," Willow piped up cheerily.
"Buffy and Riley are coming over to pick them up now," Willow told him.
Xander gave a sigh. Anya gave the new arrivals a final look-over.

"I always thought he's be more menacing," Anya blurted out. "He doesn't
look very threatening, does he, Xander?" Xander sighed at his girlfriend
and shook his head.

"Did we forget our "Be Nice to Guests" talk, hon? Guests don't tend to be
friendly if you insult them, Ahn." Anya nodded.

"I still don't think he's threatening," she muttered under her breath.
Xander was about to say something else until he noticed Spike in the
background, grinning at them.

"What is HE doing here, Giles? I thought we kicked his shiny white bum out
after we got rid of ADAM," the teen said.

"Well, seeing as I'm the only one who really knows anything about where
these people come from, Rupert and Red thought it may be a wise thing to
have me around a little longer. As soon as they're gone, I'll leave you and
your little Scooby Club alone to your own pathetic devices," the vamp
intoned. It was then that Luke gave him a curious look. There had been
something about him...

"You're not human are you," Luke whispered. Spike cursed under his breath.

"It really is that good, huh?" The vamp asked and Luke and Mara nodded.

"Technically, no I'm not. I am a vampire, but I'm not like the ones you've
heard of," he told them.

"What's the difference?" Mara questioned, followed by Xander giving a snort.

"They have vampires, too!" he exclaimed. Spike gave them all a goofy grin
as he let them take it in. It was an almost comical sight. Slayerettes and
Jedi being shocked was a rare sight indeed. He faced Luke and Mara to
answer.

"Well, first off your vampires are born that way. All the Anzati are known
as Snot Vampires while I, on the other hand, was human at one point. I was
bitten and turned by another vampire, which meant the end of my human life.
Also, I have a different diet than an Anzati. I drink blood to keep myself
alive, an Anzat drinks...well, I'm not sure what it is. It's just some kind
of body fluid they call Soup. Rather disgusting if you ask me," Spike
added. "I also can't walk in daylight and am practically immortal. I may
have been young when I died, but I'm well over a century and a half old, if
you count the years I was alive." The Jedi looked slightly dumbfounded.
All the others shook their heads.

"What will the literary community come up with next? True daywalkers?"
Giles muttered. Spike gave him a smile.

"I didn't make it up, Rupert, so don't ask me. To tell the truth, I didn't
like the wanker anyway. He was a bloody assassin, and a bad one at that. A
chap's got to have some respect doesn't he?" Giles shrugged his shoulders.

"But your definitely not Anzati," Mara clarified. "Because I hear they
don't make for pleasant company," she added. Luke nodded.

"Well, my kind don't tend to be a pleasant lot on the whole, either, but I'm
what you call a special case," he added with a look of disgust on his face.
Luke nodded, not sensing any danger from the defanged vamp, but also sensing
the truth.

"I see. Wasn't it an Anzati who killed those workers while you were working
for Jabba?" Mara nodded.

"That's what we suspected, but I didn't really have enough time to
investigate before Jabba forced me to leave." Willow gave a disgusted look.

"You worked for a Hutt?" the hacker asked Mara and she nodded.

"My cover at the time was as a dancer, and I got hired." Xander gave the
Jedi a surprised look that made Spike grin. He knew exactly what was going
through the teen's head.

"You danced for Jabba the Hutt, and you had to wear one of those skimpy
outfits to do it?" he intoned with a devilish look in his eye while Anya
gave him a punch in the arm. "Okay!" he told his girlfriend. "Shutting up
now." Mara smiled and took the young man's comment in stride.

"Jabba wasn't has bad as some of the other covers I had when I worked for
the Empire. I'll have to tell you about the time that I was hired to work
for a Corellian escort service. That one always gets a laugh." Luke gave
his wife a pointed look.

"What! All I did was the reception work! Of course, there were all the
stories my coworkers told me when we would all go to the local cantina," she
added slyly.

"You must have been born a Corellian," Luke told his wife with a grin and
Mara shrugged her shoulders.

"I guess we'll never know," she said decisively. The Slayerettes
collectively gave them a perplexed look. Spike rolled his eyes. This is
what he was here for.

"All right you sods, here it goes. Corellia is a planet. The people from
there are basically like you bloody Americans. The best example of a
typical Corellian is Han Solo. As for Mara's story, well, she's have to
tell it to you, because there's no reason to be familiar with it." Mara
nodded, only to be interrupted by another knock at the door. Giles got up
to answer it, to find Buffy Summers and Riley Finn standing outside, ready
to pick up their new guests. Giles let the Slayer and former soldier in,
and they were shocked at the sight.

"Holy God, you weren't kidding, Will!" the Slayer exclaimed. She turned to
face the visitors. "I'm Buffy, by the way. Oh, and Giles, Mom invited all
of you over to dinner tonight. She thought it would be a nice thing to do
for our guests," Buffy added.

"Well, that's generous of her," Giles intoned politely, covering up the
slight edge he still felt around Joyce since their notorious "Band Candy"
fiasco. After that strange night, being around Joyce only reminded him of
police cars, handcuffs, and...other things he would rather not think of.
Buffy gave him an enthusiastic nod, not sensing his discomfort, then turned
to face Willow.

"I brought what you asked for, Will. I just hope they fit," she said as she
looked at Mara. Earlier, Willow had told the Jedi that their clothes were
far too different from the ones that were worn here, so Willow had asked
Joyce if Mara could borrow some clothes while she was there and Willow had
also talked Giles into letting Luke borrow some of his. Giles nodded, as he
stood to retrieve the clothes he had told Willow he'd let Luke borrow. As
he began to leave the room, Willow placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder
that stopped him.

"It'll be okay," she told him quietly as the others chatted on, asking the
Jedi various questions. Giles gave Willow's hand a gentle squeeze and a
thankful look as he continued on upstairs, feeling slightly better about the
situation, not particularly looking forward to the dinner, but not having
much choice in the matter. "Willow would make sure of that", he told
himself. Neither of them noticed Luke watching their silent exchange.

"This is interesting" Luke thought as he watched them.

I'm not sure this part has turned out the way I wanted it to, but I'm
posting it none the less. This is just the best way I could think of to get
to the smoochies. If you want to tell me it sucks, just be nice, 'kay?

Part: 4/?

****************************************************************

Two hours later, the group was over at Joyce's for a late dinner, with Mara
dressed in the tan slacks and blue blouse Joyce had lent her and Luke
sporting a pair of Giles' jeans and a button-up shirt. Joyce had cooked
some baked chicken, some mashed potatoes, carrots, rolls, and an apple pie
for her guests, which everyone had eaten happily. Luke and Mara enjoyed the
new foods they had been exposed to, and the conversation had been
interesting. Giles had explained the Slayer and her duties as well as the
position of Watcher and Slayerettes while Luke and Mara gave some of the
details of their life together. After they were done eating, they all made
their way to the living room, taking their places around the room.

"And you really found Luke out in the middle of no where, just through the
Force," Xander said. It was still a wiggins to think that it existed, but
then again that was the same thing he thought about the Hellmouth when he
first discovered it's existence.

"Well, it's not half as difficult as it sounds," Mara insisted. "Once you
latch onto a particular presence, you don't really let go. The real
coincidence was Karrde being near enough for us to help."

"Of which, I will always be grateful," Luke added with a grin and Mara
smiled back. "And it's definitely an interesting way to say you've met
someone," he added.

"It's just sad we couldn't see everything back then," Mara told her husband
with a slight edge in her voice, remembering the difficulties of their past.
"Myrkr may have been very different if we would have taken some time to
open our eyes." Giles' interest was piqued.

"What do you mean?" Mara chose to explain.

"We were strictly friends for a very long time. Of course, the potential to
go further was always there. The interest, the respect, the way we could
read each other, we've always had that. It just took us ten years to see
that." Riley gave a short snort of disbelief.

"Ten years! What did you guys do in the mean time?" Luke gave the
ex-soldier a wry smile.

"Mara always had her work, I had my duties at the Jedi Academy, and that's
not to say that I haven't explored other options. There was Callista." It
had been a long time since he had uttered his former love's name, and it
still pained him to a point. Mara placed a supportive hand on his shoulder.

"Who's Callista," Willow asked softly. Spike looked on, wondering if the
Jedi would want to recall the sad episode. As it turned out, he did.

"A woman I had loved very much once, a Jedi. Unfortunately, she lost her
powers in a mishap and felt she needed to go on her own journey to find
them. One that didn't include me. I haven't seen her since." He remained
eerily calm as he retold the sad tale, but Mara kept up her support.

"Like Oz," Willow whispered softly, and Giles, who had sat next to her,
placed an arm on her shoulder for support. The memory of the wolf who had
left her the year before still left an ache in her heart.

"You see it too," Spike muttered as he seen the melancholy look in her eyes.
The similarity of the two stories had occurred to him from the first time
that he heard of Oz's departure the previous November. He even went so far
as to think of Oz's leaving as 'Pulling a Callista' on Willow, but there was
no one else who would have understood the reference at the time, so he kept
it to himself. The others gave him a pointed look.

"What do you mean," Buffy asked, not placing the two stories together.

"Duh, Summers. Skywalker's girl ups and leaves him, saying it's for the
best, and then dog-boy ups and leaves Red for parts unknown, also saying it
was for the best," Spike scoffed.

"Oh," Buffy said quickly. The room lapsed into an uncomfortable silence as
both groups pondered the similar stories. It was Xander who broke the
silence and changing the subject.

"So you really have to teach your own nieces and nephews, Luke? That has to
be interesting," the dark haired teen quipped. Luke gave a short laugh.

"Not as difficult as one may think. Jaina, Jacen, and Anakin aren't half as
difficult as I was at that age. As much as their parents grumble, they
don't give them the grief I gave my aunt and uncle. I always bothered them
about how boring Tatooine was, or how I wanted so badly to leave. It liked
to have driven Uncle Owen to the edge."

"I'm not so sure Solo would agree with you, Luke. I believe his favorite
saying these days is 'teenagers!', and as much time as I've spent around
Jaina recently, I can see where he's coming from," Mara added and Luke
smiled. Giles himself gave a knowing laugh.

"Care to add to that thought, Giles," Buffy teased. Giles just gave his
Slayer a pointed look.

"I have not said a bloody thing," he protested.

"But you've spent the past three years surrounded by practically nothing BUT
teenagers, so you must have an opinion," Anya interjected. Willow nodded.

"You can't say you haven't been frustrated with us even one little bit,
Giles," the witch offered. Giles relented to the look in her eyes.

"Well..." Spike gave a snort.

"Come on, Rupert. How many times have I heard 'The Slayer did this, the
witch did that, or Droopy Boy said this'. It can give one a bleeding
headache at times, mate."

"Well, it's not like I had much choice in the matter," Giles insisted. "I
was the Watcher. The company I kept came with the job. After awhile, one
just becomes accustomed to it."

"Have you always been a Watcher," Mara asked. Giles nodded.

"For the most part, yes. There was a time when I wanted nothing to do with
the Council, but I soon gave up even trying to get away from it and took up
my position. I did and eventually, I was assigned to Buffy," he explained.
Buffy gave a quick nod.

"And Slaying will never be the same," she added with a grin.

"Everything I need to know about Slaying, I learned from G-Man," Xander
mused, only to get a dirty look from Giles. "Now, I would say life lessons,
but how much can one guy learn from the tweed loving librarian?" That got
an even nastier glare from Giles' direction.

"Xander, that wasn't nice. Giles has done a lot for you, so shush!" Willow
insisted.

"Like what, Wills?"

"Who helped reverse that love spell you had Amy do for you Junior year?"
Xander blushed as he recalled the now infamous Valentine's Day episode that
involved yet another spell gone horribly wrong and the fall out it caused.
Anya, who had never heard about that particular incident, was shocked. And
pissed.

"You had some woman do a LOVE SPELL for you? This had better be good,
Xander!" The dark haired young man looked forlornly at his girlfriend,
wondering for the millionth
time why he was going out with her.

"Ahn, can we talk about this somewhere else?" Xander asked. He could feel
the fight brewing.

"If you think having sex with me is going to make me any less pissed off,
then you are so wrong," the former demoness told him coolly. Xander sighed.
The others in the room gave them a strange look.

"Okay, I think that's our cue to leave. Say goodbye to our guests and don't
forget to thank Joyce for the nice dinner." he instructed Anya as he grabbed
her wrist and began to lead her out of the room.

"Bye, and thank you. The food was lovely, Mrs. Summers," Anya grumbled as
they left.

"Lovely girl," Mara mused as they left and Luke grinned. "She reminds me of
this concubine I once knew. I always wondered how the Emperor stood her."
Luke laughed.

"I would have believed that it would be the other way around. I don't see
Palpatine as an easy person to get along with," he told his wife.

"You weren't raised around him, Skywalker. You just get used to it," she
decided.

"Much the same with Xander and Anya," Willow added and Mara smiled at her.

"I still can't get over the fact that you were raised by the Emperor.
That's just... well, freaky comes to mind," Riley commented to Mara.

"It's not like I had much of a choice. He picked me to be his assistant,
his Hand. What was I supposed to do, say, 'gee, you Highness, can you pick
some other nice little Jedi girl to do your work for you?'. It didn't work
that way," Mara shot back. Her days as an Imperial agent still stung to a
degree, even though they were long over.

"But without an Emperor, there is no Emperor's Hand, so that was the end of
it," Luke reminded her, almost mirroring her thoughts.

"That must have been quite a shock to the system, Mara," Giles said. "To be
without that position, and no support."

"It was, for awhile" Mara agreed. "Then the New Republic came along, and I
found my way into that. Brave new galaxy for us all, so I had to adjust,
right along with everyone else." Mara explained.

"I think it's kind of sound like when you find out about the Hellmouth.
Everything you knew before is different. Once you knew, there was no going
back." Willow commented wryly. Spike listened calmly with a slight edge of
earnestness. He wondered if anyone was thinking what he was thinking. The
similarities were uncanny, even for the Hellmouth. Watching Giles and
Willow absent-mindedly give each other soft looks, the same as the Skywalks.
Of course, the Slayer was too busy giving googly-eyes to her own soldier
boy to notice. Perhaps Joyce noticed. She was pretty perceptive, for a
Slayer's mother, Spike decided as he sipped the tea she had made him
earlier.

"I'm sure you have lots of interesting stories for us," Luke commented to
Giles and Willow.

"Not especially," Giles commented as he looked to his watch. "Well, I
believe it's time for us to be leaving. Do you need a ride back, Willow,"
he offered.

"Sure," the witch accepted happily as they stood up to go.

"We'll be back in the morning," Giles told Joyce and the others. Then Buffy
and Riley began to stand up, taking their cue.

"We'll be back after patrol," Buffy told her mother.

"Just be careful, dear," Joyce told her.

"And don't forget to check in with me," Giles reminded her as he and Willow
left and Buffy nodded.

"See you," she said as she took Riley's hand and walked out the door. As
they heard Giles' car start, Luke turned to his wife. Both had been paying
particular attention to the Watcher and the witch during first the dinner
and then the conversation afterwards.

"Does he remind you of anyone?" the Jedi commented. Mara smiled.

"I'm thinking the same thing, husband, dear. I guess the Force does always
have its strange ways, doesn't it?" Luke nodded. "The question is what do
we do about it?"