Title: Pom-Poms and Side Kicks
Author: Ani
Beta: none
Pairings/Characters: Buffy, Giles, Willow, Xander, Angel
Rating: PG
Warnings: none
Word Count: 978
Summary: Buffy's past comes back to haunt her... much to the Scooby Gang's amusement.
Author's Notes: Written for jossverse_las for challenge 1: Habits. This fic got first place for challenge 1!
Buffy executed the next move in the kata with perfect precision, silently spinning to face her invisible opponent. Oh yeah. She was in the zone. In. The. Zone. She glanced at Giles. Much to her annoyance, he only half-watched her, more interested in a book than her awesomeness.
She shifted into a new stance. Whatever. The faster he got bored, the faster she could get home and enjoy the Ben & Jerry's in the fridge. Mmm... double chocolate rocky road. Snapping out two punches and a side kick, Buffy gracefully completed the rest of the kata, ending with a bow. Casually, she edged toward her backpack.
"Again."
Buffy scowled; he hadn't even looked up. "You weren't even watching. That was perfect."
Giles flipped a page. "Hardly. Again, please."
Buffy ended up repeating the kata five more times, her frustration growing each time. Nothing was wrong! She mentally ran through her checklist of reminders, examined each hand and foot placement, and made sure she wasn't somehow skipping movements, but still nothing jumped out at her. Finishing her fifth run-through, Buffy all-out glared at Giles, daring him to find anything wrong with her form.
"Agai—-"
"Oh, come on!" Buffy complained loudly. Giles eyed her over the top of his book. "Are you serious?"
"I'm afraid so," he confirmed. "We keep going until you get this right. Get set." Buffy stubbornly crossed her arms and didn't move. After a long moment Giles sighed and set his book aside. "You are doing it incorrectly, Buffy."
"I am not."
"You are."
"Am not."
"Are so."
"Am not."
"Are—-oh, no. You're not drawing me into one of your games. Now reset."
Buffy pouted a minute more, but Giles' Disapproving-British-Glare-of-Doom forced her to submit. Reluctantly, she returned to the starting position.
Somehow it was worse knowing he was actually watching, knowing he saw something she couldn't—-did he really need to leer like that?—-but by now Buffy could do this kata in her sleep. She was confident. Block, block, half turn, punch, punch, side kick-—
"Stop," Giles ordered suddenly. Startled, Buffy lost her balance, but she quickly righted herself and glowered at Giles.
"What now?" she demanded.
"Here," Giles said, standing beside her, "do those last two sets again-—slowly." Rolling her eyes, Buffy repeated the motions. Punch, punch, side kick—-
"Your form is awful," Giles informed her helpfully. Buffy scowled. "Do it again." She did, Giles guiding her movements with his hands. "Punch somebody like that, you're liable to break your wrist," he said, adjusting her punch. "Correct your posture and bend your knees more. And don't point your toes when you kick."
"It doesn't feel wrong," Buffy muttered, fixing herself. How did she not notice all this? "And it's not like I do that when I actually fight."
"You should be able to get it right all the time," Giles lectured. "You're doing it again, by the way."
"I can't help it!" she whined, flexing her foot. "It feels..." Buffy trailed off. It felt more than right—-it felt familiar. Suddenly the pieces clicked into place and her face turned pink. "I can't help it," Buffy mumbled. "Habit."
"It's a bad one, and you better unlearn it. Soon." Giles frowned. "What I can't understand is why it's just this part you can't do correctly."
"I can do it," Buffy broke in, then quietly murmured something.
"Pardon?" Giles asked with a raised eyebrow.
"It reminds me of something, okay?" Giles gestured for her to continue; Buffy made an irritated noise in the back of her throat. "A routine! A stupid cheerleading routine," she said flatly.
A smile twitched in the corner of Giles' mouth, but he just managed not to laugh. "Oh, well, that's, um. Nice."
Ready to snap back a reply, Buffy was cut off by Xander and Willow bursting through the library doors.
"What's nice?" asked Willow, sliding into a chair.
"What is this I hear about Buffy and cheerleading?" Xander inquired with a devious grin.
Willow and Xander exchanged matching smirks.
"Oh no," said Buffy threateningly. "Don't even think about it."
Five minutes later, Buffy faced away from her friends, arms straight by her sides, counting beats under her breath.
"C'mon, Buffy!" Willow urged.
Buffy sighed—-darn Willow and her puppy-dog eyes—-before plastering the largest smile she could on her face. In. The. Zone. She rapidly turned on her heel, hands on her hips. They stared at her like she'd grown an extra head.
"READY?" she shouted, all smiles and enthusiasm.
"That's kind of creepy," Xander whispered to Willow, who elbowed him in the side.
"OKAY!" Buffy clapped her hands together and began the routine.
The cheer came back to her with embarrassing clarity, words and all. Buffy tossed her head and shook her imaginary pom-poms like her life depended on it. Her friends' cheering was probably more teasing than anything, but the grin on her face slowly became real anyway.
"We'll never stop, we'll never rest! Razorbacks, we are the best!" Buffy ended holding her right leg above her head, free hand in raised in a fist creating a "V" shape.
Xander and Willow burst into applause.
"Wow," Willow gushed. "Cordelia has nothing on you."
"I liked the part with the back flip," added Xander. "And the splits." He sighed wistfully.
"I must admit, cheerleading might have... some athletic merit," Giles confessed.
Buffy smiled in embarrassment. "It was noth—-"
"Buffy?" asked a voice from the doorway. "What are you doing?"
Buffy somehow managed to spin in place, right foot still poised above her head. "Angel!" she squeaked and promptly fell over.
The group forward rushed to help the fallen Slayer. Dazed, Buffy didn't resist the hands pulling her up.
"Do you always have to sneak in here so quiet?" Buffy asked, rubbing the side of her head as Angel fussed over her. "You're like a ninja."
"Sorry, can't help it," Angel apologized. "Habit."
Post-Story Note: