Title: A Normal Life
Author: Knife Hand
Feedback: Constructive feedback appreciated, flames unappreciated
Spoilers: None.
Rating: G
Disclaimer: I do not own Buffy. I would buy the show but I am broke.
Summary: When given a chance at a normal life, Buffy is confused. Can Xander help her make the decision? (Very Short. Kind of weird.)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"This is your chance for a normal life." Xander said.
"No! I'll never have a normal life." Buffy replied.
The pair stood in a plain room, only decorated by a few cane chairs and a desk.
"That is what my normal life would be like." Buffy said, pointing to the mirror and sitting on one of the Eastern style couches.
The mirror showed Buffy in a hospital gown, strapped to a bed and screaming in a mental institution.
"Or, maybe that is my life and all this is a delusion." She commented
"Buffy. No. That is not your life." Xander said, kneeling in front of her wooden dining room chair.
"No. My life is one of death. My life is the one where people only appreciate me when I kill things, if they notice me at all. The Slayer is all I am."
"And what about me?" Xander asked. "I told you that I loved you and that you were my hero."
"You loved the Slayer, she was your hero." Buffy replied.
"Bullshit!" Xander exclaimed. "I loved you the moment I saw you. I saw your beauty, inner and outer. I saw someone who had been through a lot and had beaten it because of strength of character. I saw someone who had been burned and, if you knew what to look for, had her heart open to be loved again. In that moment I loved you, in the next I had a splitting headache because I was so intent on you, I ran into a railing on my skateboard."
Buffy chuckled at this comment, but was still concerned.
"What about you hero?" Buffy asked, fear in her voice.
"Before I knew you were the Slayer. You made friends with Wills, despite the fact that it would almost certainly kill your social life. The courage to make true friends over popularity made you my hero, everything you did after that just confirmed that the initial judgement was right. The Slayer was never who you were. Sure, it was a part of what you were, but you were always, first and foremost, Buffy. You did stuff, survived fights, which no other Slayer ever could. You were the best Slayer because of, not despite of, who you are. My Buffy."
"No. I'm nothing special, except the Slayer." Buffy screamed.
"Buffy. Everything about you is special, that's why I love you. To me you are so special that you would stand out in a crowd of millions. Why do you think I fought for all those years? It was to keep you safe, you were always more important to me that my own life. I mean that, not the Slayer, but Buffy Anne Summers." Xander said passionately
"But who is Buffy Anne Summers. I don't know her anymore."
"Look in the mirror and you will find her." Xander said.
Buffy got up and looked in the mirror, and Xander came up behind her.
"That is you. There is no Slayer in there, no Mystical Warrior, just you. Haven't you figured it out yet?" Xander asked.
"Figured what out?" Buffy responded, turning and staring Xander strait in the eye.
"We are dead. The calling has been passed. We were killed by a demon trying to open the Hellmouth. We won but we died in the process. Now we have the opportunity to go back, live a new life over. No demons, no monster, just life." Xander said.
"What's the other choice?" Buffy said.
"Stay here, in Heaven. Explore our own heaven when you're ready. It will still be here to explore if we go back. What do you say?"
"Let's go back. See what a normal life is like." Buffy replied.
********
Two babies were born at exactly the same time. One was called Alexander Parker and the other was Elizabeth O'Connell. In this lifetime they would have no trouble finding each other. They were born in the same delivery room of the overcrowded hospital and were placed in cribs next to each other in the maternity ward, crying less when together that apart. They were taken home on the same day, and as coincidence would have it, or design, they were next door neighbours and their parents were best friends. The two children were almost inseparable as they grew up, spending almost all of their time together. When they learnt to speak, they could not pronounce the other's name properly, so Alexander became Xander and Elizabeth became Buffy, which puzzled their parents but they accepted it. The pair used these names until the day they died, never answering to another name. In fact the pair were so close that no one was surprised when they started dating as teenagers or when they got married. When they had children, they told them wild stories of demons, monsters and vampires. They also told stories of a Mystical Warrior called the Slayer, who for some reason was always a girl. The Slayer and the monster was a set of stories the pair had made up as children when they were scared of the night. The monsters were their fear and the Slayer was their protection. Buffy and Xander died of old age together. If anyone else had been around they would have found Buffy's last comment odd.
"So that's what a normal life is like." She whispered just before she died.
THE END
Author: Knife Hand
Feedback: Constructive feedback appreciated, flames unappreciated
Spoilers: None.
Rating: G
Disclaimer: I do not own Buffy. I would buy the show but I am broke.
Summary: When given a chance at a normal life, Buffy is confused. Can Xander help her make the decision? (Very Short. Kind of weird.)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"This is your chance for a normal life." Xander said.
"No! I'll never have a normal life." Buffy replied.
The pair stood in a plain room, only decorated by a few cane chairs and a desk.
"That is what my normal life would be like." Buffy said, pointing to the mirror and sitting on one of the Eastern style couches.
The mirror showed Buffy in a hospital gown, strapped to a bed and screaming in a mental institution.
"Or, maybe that is my life and all this is a delusion." She commented
"Buffy. No. That is not your life." Xander said, kneeling in front of her wooden dining room chair.
"No. My life is one of death. My life is the one where people only appreciate me when I kill things, if they notice me at all. The Slayer is all I am."
"And what about me?" Xander asked. "I told you that I loved you and that you were my hero."
"You loved the Slayer, she was your hero." Buffy replied.
"Bullshit!" Xander exclaimed. "I loved you the moment I saw you. I saw your beauty, inner and outer. I saw someone who had been through a lot and had beaten it because of strength of character. I saw someone who had been burned and, if you knew what to look for, had her heart open to be loved again. In that moment I loved you, in the next I had a splitting headache because I was so intent on you, I ran into a railing on my skateboard."
Buffy chuckled at this comment, but was still concerned.
"What about you hero?" Buffy asked, fear in her voice.
"Before I knew you were the Slayer. You made friends with Wills, despite the fact that it would almost certainly kill your social life. The courage to make true friends over popularity made you my hero, everything you did after that just confirmed that the initial judgement was right. The Slayer was never who you were. Sure, it was a part of what you were, but you were always, first and foremost, Buffy. You did stuff, survived fights, which no other Slayer ever could. You were the best Slayer because of, not despite of, who you are. My Buffy."
"No. I'm nothing special, except the Slayer." Buffy screamed.
"Buffy. Everything about you is special, that's why I love you. To me you are so special that you would stand out in a crowd of millions. Why do you think I fought for all those years? It was to keep you safe, you were always more important to me that my own life. I mean that, not the Slayer, but Buffy Anne Summers." Xander said passionately
"But who is Buffy Anne Summers. I don't know her anymore."
"Look in the mirror and you will find her." Xander said.
Buffy got up and looked in the mirror, and Xander came up behind her.
"That is you. There is no Slayer in there, no Mystical Warrior, just you. Haven't you figured it out yet?" Xander asked.
"Figured what out?" Buffy responded, turning and staring Xander strait in the eye.
"We are dead. The calling has been passed. We were killed by a demon trying to open the Hellmouth. We won but we died in the process. Now we have the opportunity to go back, live a new life over. No demons, no monster, just life." Xander said.
"What's the other choice?" Buffy said.
"Stay here, in Heaven. Explore our own heaven when you're ready. It will still be here to explore if we go back. What do you say?"
"Let's go back. See what a normal life is like." Buffy replied.
********
Two babies were born at exactly the same time. One was called Alexander Parker and the other was Elizabeth O'Connell. In this lifetime they would have no trouble finding each other. They were born in the same delivery room of the overcrowded hospital and were placed in cribs next to each other in the maternity ward, crying less when together that apart. They were taken home on the same day, and as coincidence would have it, or design, they were next door neighbours and their parents were best friends. The two children were almost inseparable as they grew up, spending almost all of their time together. When they learnt to speak, they could not pronounce the other's name properly, so Alexander became Xander and Elizabeth became Buffy, which puzzled their parents but they accepted it. The pair used these names until the day they died, never answering to another name. In fact the pair were so close that no one was surprised when they started dating as teenagers or when they got married. When they had children, they told them wild stories of demons, monsters and vampires. They also told stories of a Mystical Warrior called the Slayer, who for some reason was always a girl. The Slayer and the monster was a set of stories the pair had made up as children when they were scared of the night. The monsters were their fear and the Slayer was their protection. Buffy and Xander died of old age together. If anyone else had been around they would have found Buffy's last comment odd.
"So that's what a normal life is like." She whispered just before she died.
THE END