Hero

by Invisible Sun

Disclaimer: You know the rules, Joss owns them. I own nothing.

Spoilers: The series finale.

Keywords: S/B, kinda

I watch him as he faces his impending death. No fear. No pain. Just acceptance and a kind of wonderment.

This is his destiny. He feels it now. Probably for the first time in his entire existence, he knows he belongs somewhere. Knows his life has a meaning. He is a champion.

She's watching him, too, with tear-filled eyes. She doesn't want him to do this despite the fact he needs to. You see, somewhere along the way, she fell in love with him. And, as luck would have it, she's just now realizing it.

"I love you," she says.

Finally, after striving to get her to fall in love with him, to admit it, he hears those words. But it is too late? Does he really need to hear them to do what he has to do? Looking at her, he says, "No, you don't. But thanks, for saying it."

I know she wants to stay, be here with him, but she leaves when he tells her to. He has no plans to have her die. And so she leaves. And he becomes the hero he fought so hard to become..

The End

A/N: For those of you reading "At First Sight," no I haven't stopped writing it. I fully intend to finish it, despite the end of the series. Just give me a little longer. I need to finish up a story for a scholarship...Which is almost done.

And, if anyone actually read "The Fox and the Hound," I think I'm going to stop writing it (not that I have been), unless I get some feedback demanding that I don't.

Finally, I'm planning on co-writing with my sister Jessyca (writer of "Love in War," "La Columbe") about how Spike gets on to Angel. We will post it in the Buffy category because we're also adding a little Spuffy in it....