Destiny- not the prophecy linked kind

Destiny opened her eyes and smiled. Today was her 17th birthday. But then she frowned as she remembered that her father was coming all the way from Washington D.C. down to Sunnydale to see her.

"Damn." She got up and got dressed in her usual dark coloured attire. Never black, it gave off bad vibes for her magic. And it gave off the wrong impressions to people. As she pulled on her stockings she ripped a ladder in them. "Damn, damn, damn."

After pulling on another pair, she brushed her long, golden hair that she inherited from her mother and rushed out of the room.

"You up yet mum?" She yelled as she walked past her mother's room. The running shower answered her question and she went downstairs to have her breakfast.

Halfway through her cereal her mother came downstairs with her towel still wrapped around her wet hair. At 37, Buffy was still a slight woman, she was still beautiful but if you looked too closely, you could see the damage that the years of slaying, death and fighting had done to her.

"Happy Birthday honey." She said to her, looking around for bread.

Destiny pointed to the toaster and toast suddenly popped up. Buffy glared at her and she grinned sheepishly.

"Oops, forgot. No magic in the house." She said, her mouth full of cereal. Her mother shook her head and proceeded to butter her toast.

"Riley said he would be here around 4 this afternoon after school." Buffy pointed out, cutting up the toast into squares and putting one in her mouth. "So remember to be here. No Wicca group today, okay?"

Destiny sighed and nodded. She hated missing Wicca group but she didn't want to get on her mother's bad side. Never, ever do that. The last person to do that was, well, actually didn't have a pulse but...

"Okay, I'll be here at 4." She replied, finishing off her breakfast. "You mind if I bring Chastity?"

"Nope." Buffy replied, putting another piece of toast in her mouth. "Remind her again not to use magic in the house. Even at 16 she still can't control it, and her mother did use to be a vengeance demon."

"Yeah, yeah mum. See ya later." She replied, grabbing her shoulder bag containing her laptop, disks and school stuff and went out the door. She stopped at the top step, put on her sunnies and walked off.

Halfway to school she met up with Chastity, her sort of cousin that was her age. She called Anya her aunt and Xander her uncle, but the weren't really. Then Chastity's little 13 year old brother Gibson came along and they had to take him to school. A few blocks from school they picked up her real cousins, Jenna, Andrew and William. She went inside to get them and to say hello to her Aunt Dawn.

"Dawn, you here?" She yelled, coming in. Chastity and Gibson stood at the front gate waiting for her. "Dawn?"

Loud footsteps indicated the three Summers children getting closer. Dawn was a single mother. Her husband left her after the youngest one; Jenna, was born 6 years ago. William was the oldest at 10, then Andrew, 8, was named after his father and Jenna.

Dawn entered the kitchen and saw Destiny. Her sigh of relief made Destiny smile and she ushered the three out of the house.

"I'll see you later Dawn." She yelled over her shoulder, herding the children down the front path and to school, just like she did every day.

As she got to Elementary school she dropped off Jenna, Andrew and William. Then at Middle school she dropped off Gibson and finally, Chastity and Destiny dropped themselves off at High school.

The day went by uneventfully, no-one wished her happy birthday(which she was actually glad of) and classes were boring, as per usual. Lunch was hideous as per usual and after school she did the morning in reverse. She took the three Summers kids home, took Gibson home and then went to the library till 4 with Chastity.

They practised some spells and got caught by he librarian and were banned for a month. That was not good. Then at a quarter to 4 they started to walk home.

As she got home she stopped at the door, took off her sunnies and materialised the key in her hand.

"Oh, by the way, mum said no more magic in the house." She turned and told Chastity.

She opened the door and got the key out. Stepping into the dark living room she smiled.

"SURPRISE." All her friends yelled as Chastity turned the light on and all her friends and family jumped out at her.

"Oh, I'm so surprised." She laughed. Everyone was there, Anya, Xander, Dawn, Gibson, Jenna, William, Andrew, Willow and Tara (witches), her mentors, some friends from school and her mother. She searched the room for her father but he didn't seem to be there. She sighed and got on with the party.

As the party neared the end and every started to drizzle home, her mother came over to talk to her.

"Honey, I need to tell you something." She said, gravely, sitting down next to her and taking her hands in her lap. "You know your father loved you and would have wanted to be here, but I'm afraid, he died."

Destiny shook her head to clear away the confusion. Her father was dead?

"I'm sorry honey, the news hit me hard too. I still loved him, in a way." Buffy said to her hurting daughter. She put her hand in her pocket and pulled out a small envelope and passed it to Destiny. "Here, he sent you this in his will."

Destiny looked at it and stood up. The house instantly emptied and she stared up to her room to read it. She sat down cross-legged on the floor, with her back to her bed and read it.

To my darling daughter Destiny,

Do you know why we named you that? Yes, I took part in naming you too. I left not long before your mother knew she was pregnant with you. But when she found out she told me, but it was too late. I was already gone from her life. You were the last thing I gave her. Your name was the first thing I gave you.

We named you Destiny because it was everything you weren't. There was a prophecy of the Slayer, but there was never a prophecy of either her daughter or a daughter to a Slayer. You were never Destiny, so we made you Destiny.

That is the reason Buffy has lived so long. You are the reason Buffy has lived so long.

Slayers usually live till 25 at the most, but Buffy always knew she would came back to you. She wanted to see you start to crawl, to walk, to talk, your first tooth, first day of school. She wanted to be there for you. To protect you, but for you to protect her from the inevitable. Her Death. She needed you to live.

If you are reading this letter Destiny, I am dead. Do not mourn me. I was fighting for the same cause as you and your mother. For good, not evil.

So stay at your mother's side. Help her to live, and please, save her from herself. All Slayers have a death wish.

I love you my beautiful daughter,

Love your father,

Riley Finn.

The tears fell down her face, the pent up tears she never shed her entire life. Putting down the letter she stood up and stumbled down the stairs, looking for her mother.

"Mum? Mum? Where are you." She yelled out.

"In here sweetie." Her mother's voice filtered in from the living room. Destiny rushed in and sat next to her. She hugged her and started to cry on her shoulder.

"Never, ever, leave. Never die on me okay?" She sobbed. "I love you mum."

"I don't intend to Destiny." Buffy replied, a sob catching in her voice. "I love you too."

The two sat there, holding onto each other til nightfall when the older went out to play.

Authors note: I wrote this in three hours at 1:00 at night. I know the end gets soppy and stuffs up but I am past caring. Have fun reading it and review it please...