Title: Any Moment

By: Dendera

Rating: PG—death and doom all around

Summary: Buffy's reaction to finding her dead mother. A prelude to the episode "The Body."

Disclaimer: Buffy and co. do not belong to me, but to the very twisted Joss Whedon. However, my words do. As such, I must ask that you do not copy or reproduce this story in any way without my permission.

The seconds between heartbeats stretched to infinity and back as the nauseating silence permeated throughout the stifled room. A gasp caught in her throat, unable to give birth to breath, as she stood waiting; desperate for a solace that would never come. A jolt awake from the nightmare that had so unexpectedly seeped into her reality. Terror had never so followed her home—had never prevailed in her quest to protect and preserve her family. But now she was helpless to it. Defenseless against the cold, paralyzing dread that had burrowed its way deep into her fearful heart. Time seemed to bow out in eerie reverence and the heavens paused long enough to hold things still, so deathly still that she might fully comprehend the unbidden horror of it all.

No…it wasn't right. It wasn't fitting. Stories like hers surely didn't end this way. Fate, the same grand destiny Giles so often spewed on about, wouldn't leave the heroine—its own chosen one—without a winning card to play. Her life, her future, wouldn't be so callously disregarded. Certainly, the winds would eventually bring change, and more than likely, alter the course of her mission. She had accepted the lonely vigil that her sacred birthright entailed, had prepared herself for the possibility that she might one day walk her path alone. But not yet. Not like this.

"Mom?"

Any moment now the queen would stir from her enchanted sleep and shake off the influence of the spell, rising out of death's ominous cocoon. She would take the young girl into her comforting arms and make the world golden once more.

"Mom?"

Any moment now and there would be tender whispers of reassurance, petal-like lips grazing her forehead. Gentle laughter would rebuke the threat of tears, and the Hellmouth, with all of its scheming minions, would simply fall away. Only the bond would remain. The fierce love that so enriched her existence, the familial cords that bound their souls together.

Buffy, her mother, and Dawn…forever. Just like it had always been.

"Mommy…?"

Any moment now…

Fin