As the Scoobies put Xander into the ground, the reaming Scoobies were as one staring blankly at nothing as they buried their Heart. The lose of Xander had destroyed them all more deeply then anything else ever had. For Xander had held them all together in one way or another and now they were all left adrift without him. Willow more than any other as proved by the fact that she was heavily drugged and spelled. For Buffy had caught her attempting to resurrected Xander and though a small part of her had wished to let her, she had not. Buffy had remembered what it was like to be ripped from Heaven and so had stopped it even as she yearned to have Xander returned to her side. After that Willow had been kept drugged and spelled as everyone feared a repeat of either the resurrection or the attempted end of the this time without Xander to talk her down. Buffy knew that if Willow did truly lose it again, there would be no other option but death.
A fact that all of the Scoobies were well aware of, even as they buried one of their own. The fact that they might soon be forced to kill and then bury another if or when she was finally allowed to remain un-drugged and unspelled she was still not sane. Most didn't believe that Willow would recover from this as they did not believe that they would recover from losing Xander. Which was why they had kept her in a coma since Xander's death and had only just woken her up so she could see Xander put to rest. And even then Willow was still kept drugged enough that she had to be in a wheelchair. Giles hoped that seeing Xander being put into the ground would help Willow accept her loss and while Buffy did not believe that for even a second, she would not prevent Willow from being at Xander's funeral.
Once the funeral was over with the Scoobies went back to command central to celebrate Xander Irish style, as he had wanted them to do. Even Dracula stayed for the Irish Wake. Willow even drugged could not bare any of it so Dawn guided her back to her bed and drugged her unconscious as the witch had begged.
The hours that followed for the Scoobies, mini Slayers, Dracula, Harry and others were spent blurry as they all got incredibly drunk. When they woke the next morning most spent it hugging the toilet while the others spent it mourning and wishing that they were hugging the toilet instead. It was over. Xander was dead and buried and now they would be forced to move on. None of them were ready for facing that so they didn't.
A few days after the funeral it was brought to the Scoobies attention that one of the prophecies the researchers were working on might be coming to pass. A fact that made no one happy. The last prophecy had cost them everything.
Dawn was the one to finally read the prophecy to the others:
+'The Heart has Fallen and been changed,
The Tree has broken and been caged,
The Queen is lost and alone
The Father is desolate and grief stricken and lost,
The Key is has lost hope and purpose,
The Reborn Fallen is cast aside and condemned,
The Lightning is becoming destroyed and dark,
The Snake is Lost,
The Time for the Reckoning is Upon them,
The Heavens shall open,
The Worlds shall burn,
Should all not be Healed,
The End shall be upon them All,
The day that does not exist,
Shall mark the beginning of the End+
With yet another prophecy before them, they all wanted to scream as they well remembered the last prophecy they had dealt with and what it had cost them all. The fact that this one spoke of an End and worlds burning did not make them any happier. Though Buffy was confused by one sentence.
"What could 'the day that does not exist' mean? How can a day not exist?"
"No one knows. The Council has been trying to decipher that for centuries. Some think that it means the day will be reverse, rewritten with some sort of time spell or maybe a memory spell so everyone forgets. Though if all the world has to forget then the power required would be..."Giles mumbled off as he thought about the sheer power needed to effect the entire world's memory.
Faith rolled her eyes. "Not even Red could wipe the entire world's memory."
"Maybe it means that the day does not exist because that is the day the world will end so it will note exist for long." Buffy knew that was not right but she was tired and grieving and.. Didn't truly care. If it was the end then she could finally rest in peace again and be with Xander.
"The rest of the prophecy is rather easy to decode. The Heat is Xander, the Tree is Willow, the Queen is Buffy, the Father is Giles, the Key is me, the Reborn Fallen is Faith, the Lightning is Harry...I don't know who the Snake is and the rest speaks of what is coming...Though it doesn't say what type of demon or,,,. evil is coming...though as for the day..."Dawn was rather exhilarated as she began to realize what the prophecy meat.
Faith looked at Dawn, "What do you mean?"
"Your all thinking to large."
"What do you mean, Dawnie?"
"What if it means does not always exist...A leap year."
"No..That's.." Giles cleaned his glasses. "No...I'm sure someone would have thought of that over the years...Its to obvious."
Buffy smirked half heartily. "Or is it right because its to obvious so no one has ever thought about if for long."
Faith cursed. "If Dawn is right then we're screwed. February 29th is but a month away.. Red is down, Xan...The Minis are all mourning and recovering from the battle with the Wizards and...We're not really in a good frame of mind to fight and win."
"Why, because a part of us all is dead and we now want..."To join him, not something Buffy would speak out loud but what she knew they all were feeling. Xander had died for her and she hated it with every fiber of her being just as she knew Harry did as well.
The others said nothing and they could not argue that fact, Xander was a huge loss in each of them that would never fully heal. Of course, if the end truly was coming then it wouldn't have to because they would end.
The leap year was upon them and they would have to face this new evil without their Heart, how could they win against that.
Dawn was the one to voice their worry. "How can we win without Xander there with is?"
"I don't know...Expect for Lothos I've never faced anything without him there for me...Helping me in some way or another even if it was just in thought...I never thought I would out live him." Buffy had never wanted to out live him,.
"I never thought I would outlive the closest thing I shall ever have to a son...I never wanted to." Giles wished with all his might that he could trade places with Xander, that his son could live while Giles had faced Voldemort instead of him. Giles in part blamed Angelus for calling him White Knight in the first place. He knew it was foolish as even without Angelus saying it, Xander still would have been the White Knight but without Angelus saying it, Xander wouldn't have known. And while Xander would have always wanted to protect Buffy and Harry, he wouldn't have risked the world. Without knowing for a fact that he was the White Knight, Xander wouldn't have done it and would thus now be alive. They'd be mourning Buffy but Xander would be alive and while the loss of Buffy would be devastating, Giles had already gone through it and he knew that a part of her wanted death. Losing Xander was thus a lot harder then losing Buffy for the third time.
"Boy Toy is dead...and we will have to fight without him or else he'll come back and kick all of our asses...We cant give up, we'd be failing him." And Faith had failed him enough. Xander had been the first person in her life that had reached out to her without expecting anything in return and she had returned that by trying to kill him. Something that Faith would regret till the end of her life. She had tried for years to get him to forgive her but Xander could barely stand to be near her most of the time and Willow had been fierce in her protection of him and just as unwilling to forgive her.
"What do you know about what Xander wanted? You, who nearly killed him before he could even live. When all he had wanted to do was help you. How dare you try to use his name like you have any right."
"Dawnie."
" , Buffy. She speaks for him, like she has any right. He.. he hated her and now.. Now." Dawn broke down into sobs and Buffy quickly pulled her sister into her arms as she too began to cry. Giles looked away as he felt his own eyes fill with tears. His son was dead and his daughters were broken. Buffy and Dawn were barely functioning and Willow...Willow had to be drugged constantly and her magic bond with many spells to prevent her from either resurrecting him or destroying the world.. And he.. He did not know what to do. Xander had been his son and his intended successor. He had seen such potential in that man and now it was all lost thanks to a prophecy and a horrid man that sought power beyond his own.
Buffy was right, Dawn was right. How could they face another prophecy when they were all so broke ad n lost.
The End was upon them all and their Heart was dead and thus their will was dead to fight.
The worlds were doomed.