Disclaimer: I own nothing, it's all Joss's
Author's Note: I refer to it as a scythe but lets face it people; it's an axe.
________________________________________________________________________
As Dawn entered her room at the Hyperion she was met with a surprising sight, Buffy packing suitcases. Upon seeing her younger sister Buffy's expression become one of someone hiding something.
"Uh, Dawn hey, how was your day?" she asked uncomfortably.
"Fine, I went downtown with Rona, Vi and some of the other Slayers, they wanted a last day out in L.A. before shipping out to join Robin and Faith in Cleveland. What's with all the packing?"
"Well, uh I was hoping to have all this done by the time you got back, but well now you're here so I guess I should tell you, it's just that I wanted it to be a surprise and..."
"Buffy, spit it out."
"We're going to Europe."
"Europe?"
"Well, England specifically at the moment, but after that I'm thinking we take in all that European culture Giles is always going on about."
"Really!" Before Dawn could get too excited she thought about the reality of their situation "But what about slaying, and school and how can we possibly afford it?"
Buffy gave Dawn a little half-smile; "Giles has a whole army of Slayers at his disposal now, he doesn't need me and while your education is important, you'll learn more from seeing the world than reading about it."
"Still, how can you afford it? We've been just about managing to stay above the bread line for the last two years, you don't have enough money for us to travel round Europe."
At Dawn's words Buffy's half-smile grew into a full-blown grin. "I just have two words for you Dawnie, Insurance. Payout."
Slowly Dawn found herself grinning despite the reservations she still had. "Cool, um is Willow around?"
"Yeah she's talking to Fred and Wesley about the spell she performed with the scythe, Wesley wants to make sure that it's permanent and that there are no unfortunate side effects."
"It's funny, until we came here after defeating The First it had been four years since I'd seen him and he's changed so much but in some ways he's till the same worrying ninny."
"Ninny?"
"Brit-speak, you pick it up when you spend a lot of time with Giles and Wesley researching." Dawn grinned
"If you start wearing tweed, I will disown you." Buffy replied
* * * * * * * *
Dawn walked into the office downstairs where Fred and Wesley were behind the desk with a number of large tomes in front of them and Willow was sitting across from them looking slightly bored.
"Hey, Willow you got a sec?" Dawn asked
"Oh, Dawn hey, sure no problem."
"But we still need to go over your precise position in relation to the Hellmouth when you performed the enabling spell."
"Sorry Wes, but guardian duty calls." Willow replied
Willow practically jumped out of her seat, grabbed Dawn by the arm and sprinted out of the office towards the courtyard.
As they sat down on one of the benches outside Willow turned to Dawn with an expression of gratitude and relief on her face.
"Thanks Dawnie, they were really starting to bore me and that's a mean feat considering I'm research gal. Now what's the problem?"
"Did you know that Buffy's taking me to Europe."
"Yeah, she mentioned it, she figured it would be good for you both to spend some quality time after all it's been one hell of a year."
"It's just..." Dawn struggled with her words "I wonder whether she's doing this for me, or because she wants to run away from herself like she did after killing Angel."
"Dawnie, your sister loves you. She promised to show you the world and that's exactly what she's gonna do, she wants for you to be happy."
"But, with Spike gone..."
"I can't tell you that she doesn't miss him, what I can tell you is that she loves you very much and you guys spending some together time away from everything will be good for you both."
"Maybe you're right."
"Of course I'm right, I'm uber-Wicca." Willow said with a grin "So you're ok?"
"Yeah, looks like I'm off to sunny Europe with big sis."
* * * * * * * *
"So, are ya having fun?" Buffy asked her sister as they strolled down the seafront, hoping that the answer would be a resounding yes, despite the overcast weather.
"Yeah, this is so much cooler than being in London watching that weirdo David Blaine in a glass box."
"I dunno, I think he's pretty cute."
"Are you sure you're my sister? 'Cause my sister doesn't check out pseudo- celebrities in glass boxes. Plus ewww!"
"Maybe you're right" Buffy grinned "So we've been shopping down the Laines, ridden the rides at the pier, what else do you wanna do?"
"I dunno Buffy, is there really anything else that we can do in a seaside town apart from exploring the pier?"
"Sunbathe?"
"In this weather? We're not in California anymore, this is England, home of rain."
"Good point."
"Hey Buffy look at this." Dawn called out as she picked up a postcard from a rack outside of a souvenir shop.
"What?"
"This" Dawn handed Buffy the postcard she picked up, where normally a picture would be the card was entirely black except for some white text that read...
"Brighton by Night?"
"We soooooo need to buy this and send it to the gang. Don't ya think it's funny?"
"Hilarious, you really need to stop hanging out with Xander so much."
"If it weren't for Xander I'd never have discovered British comedy, you'd have me believe the Brits are all like Giles rather than like Monty Python."
"Monty Python?"
"Yeah, you know 'Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition!'"
Buffy turned to regard her sister for a moment and seeing the expectant look on Dawn's face, she just had to smile. It had been a long time since she had seen her sister this happy, away from the constant danger of the Hellmouth it was almost like they were normal sisters. The main reason for Buffy bringing Dawn to Europe was so that the two of them could have some sisterly bonding that had nothing to do with demons and was not an implanted memory. This was real.
"So we're done here, where next sis?" Dawn questioned
"I'm in the mood for Pizza."
"I think there's a Dominos around here somewhere."
"I was thinking more a nice little provincial place in southern Italy, but we can go to Dominos if you want." Buffy offered
"Italy!" Dawn exclaimed excitedly, she grabbed Buffy and hugged her fiercely, unable to believe what her sister was saying.
'Yep' Buffy thought 'definitely real.'
Author's Note: I refer to it as a scythe but lets face it people; it's an axe.
________________________________________________________________________
As Dawn entered her room at the Hyperion she was met with a surprising sight, Buffy packing suitcases. Upon seeing her younger sister Buffy's expression become one of someone hiding something.
"Uh, Dawn hey, how was your day?" she asked uncomfortably.
"Fine, I went downtown with Rona, Vi and some of the other Slayers, they wanted a last day out in L.A. before shipping out to join Robin and Faith in Cleveland. What's with all the packing?"
"Well, uh I was hoping to have all this done by the time you got back, but well now you're here so I guess I should tell you, it's just that I wanted it to be a surprise and..."
"Buffy, spit it out."
"We're going to Europe."
"Europe?"
"Well, England specifically at the moment, but after that I'm thinking we take in all that European culture Giles is always going on about."
"Really!" Before Dawn could get too excited she thought about the reality of their situation "But what about slaying, and school and how can we possibly afford it?"
Buffy gave Dawn a little half-smile; "Giles has a whole army of Slayers at his disposal now, he doesn't need me and while your education is important, you'll learn more from seeing the world than reading about it."
"Still, how can you afford it? We've been just about managing to stay above the bread line for the last two years, you don't have enough money for us to travel round Europe."
At Dawn's words Buffy's half-smile grew into a full-blown grin. "I just have two words for you Dawnie, Insurance. Payout."
Slowly Dawn found herself grinning despite the reservations she still had. "Cool, um is Willow around?"
"Yeah she's talking to Fred and Wesley about the spell she performed with the scythe, Wesley wants to make sure that it's permanent and that there are no unfortunate side effects."
"It's funny, until we came here after defeating The First it had been four years since I'd seen him and he's changed so much but in some ways he's till the same worrying ninny."
"Ninny?"
"Brit-speak, you pick it up when you spend a lot of time with Giles and Wesley researching." Dawn grinned
"If you start wearing tweed, I will disown you." Buffy replied
* * * * * * * *
Dawn walked into the office downstairs where Fred and Wesley were behind the desk with a number of large tomes in front of them and Willow was sitting across from them looking slightly bored.
"Hey, Willow you got a sec?" Dawn asked
"Oh, Dawn hey, sure no problem."
"But we still need to go over your precise position in relation to the Hellmouth when you performed the enabling spell."
"Sorry Wes, but guardian duty calls." Willow replied
Willow practically jumped out of her seat, grabbed Dawn by the arm and sprinted out of the office towards the courtyard.
As they sat down on one of the benches outside Willow turned to Dawn with an expression of gratitude and relief on her face.
"Thanks Dawnie, they were really starting to bore me and that's a mean feat considering I'm research gal. Now what's the problem?"
"Did you know that Buffy's taking me to Europe."
"Yeah, she mentioned it, she figured it would be good for you both to spend some quality time after all it's been one hell of a year."
"It's just..." Dawn struggled with her words "I wonder whether she's doing this for me, or because she wants to run away from herself like she did after killing Angel."
"Dawnie, your sister loves you. She promised to show you the world and that's exactly what she's gonna do, she wants for you to be happy."
"But, with Spike gone..."
"I can't tell you that she doesn't miss him, what I can tell you is that she loves you very much and you guys spending some together time away from everything will be good for you both."
"Maybe you're right."
"Of course I'm right, I'm uber-Wicca." Willow said with a grin "So you're ok?"
"Yeah, looks like I'm off to sunny Europe with big sis."
* * * * * * * *
"So, are ya having fun?" Buffy asked her sister as they strolled down the seafront, hoping that the answer would be a resounding yes, despite the overcast weather.
"Yeah, this is so much cooler than being in London watching that weirdo David Blaine in a glass box."
"I dunno, I think he's pretty cute."
"Are you sure you're my sister? 'Cause my sister doesn't check out pseudo- celebrities in glass boxes. Plus ewww!"
"Maybe you're right" Buffy grinned "So we've been shopping down the Laines, ridden the rides at the pier, what else do you wanna do?"
"I dunno Buffy, is there really anything else that we can do in a seaside town apart from exploring the pier?"
"Sunbathe?"
"In this weather? We're not in California anymore, this is England, home of rain."
"Good point."
"Hey Buffy look at this." Dawn called out as she picked up a postcard from a rack outside of a souvenir shop.
"What?"
"This" Dawn handed Buffy the postcard she picked up, where normally a picture would be the card was entirely black except for some white text that read...
"Brighton by Night?"
"We soooooo need to buy this and send it to the gang. Don't ya think it's funny?"
"Hilarious, you really need to stop hanging out with Xander so much."
"If it weren't for Xander I'd never have discovered British comedy, you'd have me believe the Brits are all like Giles rather than like Monty Python."
"Monty Python?"
"Yeah, you know 'Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition!'"
Buffy turned to regard her sister for a moment and seeing the expectant look on Dawn's face, she just had to smile. It had been a long time since she had seen her sister this happy, away from the constant danger of the Hellmouth it was almost like they were normal sisters. The main reason for Buffy bringing Dawn to Europe was so that the two of them could have some sisterly bonding that had nothing to do with demons and was not an implanted memory. This was real.
"So we're done here, where next sis?" Dawn questioned
"I'm in the mood for Pizza."
"I think there's a Dominos around here somewhere."
"I was thinking more a nice little provincial place in southern Italy, but we can go to Dominos if you want." Buffy offered
"Italy!" Dawn exclaimed excitedly, she grabbed Buffy and hugged her fiercely, unable to believe what her sister was saying.
'Yep' Buffy thought 'definitely real.'