Hi people. I'm Sunleaves. If you've read/reading my PJO/HP crossover, I've had no luck. My inspiration for that gas disappeared so it's being discontinued. This is my first Buffy fanfic attempt, so please don't kill me when I get OOC. I'll try to update at least twice a month because I have to start limiting my time on here. I'm also having trouble keeping my grade up to scratch, so if I don't update as often as I say I will, that' probably why. Enjoy le story.

-Sunleaves

Prologue

"Dawn, listen to me. Listen. I love you. I will always love you. But this is the work that I have to do. I have to close the door. Tell Giles... tell Giles I figured it out. And, and I'm okay. And give my love to my friends. You have to take care of them now. You have to take care of each other. You have to be strong. Dawn, the hardest thing in this world... is to live in it. Be brave. Live. For me." The tears were streaming down Dawn's face. It broke Buffy's heart to see her this way, but she knew what she needed to be done. Buffy couldn't live with it if Dawn died. Dawn would be able to, in time. What Buffy said to Giles, about her quitting if Dawn died, was true. Buffy knew Dawn would heal. If Dawn didn't survive, neither would Buffy.

Buffy had seen so much pain. Her father had left at a crucial time in her life, but she found a new one. Giles had betrayed her when he used the Cruciamentum and pretended he didn't know what was wrong. Her mother had died. If Dawn died too, Buffy wouldn't bother with living.

She'd be alive but only in the definition of the word. Her heart would be pumping blood through her body.. Her brain would be sending signals to her body. But she wouldn't be living. She wouldn't go to the movies. She wouldn't Slay. She wouldn't do anything except eat, sleep, and drink.

Buffy hardened her heart. Besides, it was a portal. Portals were doorways; people just don't know where they'll end up. If it's a door, there had to be an exit, right? Buffy held to this hope. There was a chance- a slim chance but a chance nonetheless-that she would survive.

Buffy took one last look at Dawn before turning. She ran like she had never run before. She reached the end of the tower and jumped. The portal tore at her, but it was as if Buffy was watching from somewhere else. She fell through the portal and landed with a soft thump on a sunny lakeside. She stood up dazedly and waited for the fog to clear. She saw a crowd of teens looking at her.


The portal closed suddenly. Giles looked through the wreckage urgently while the others watched. Willow supported Tara. Xander was holding Anya. Spike limped. Dawn edged down the stairs as fast as she could without her cuts burning. Giles stood up, a small smile gracing his features.

"What are you smiling 'bout, Watcher?" demanded Spike. Giles's smile grew bigger.

"There's no body. Buffy may not have died," he said. Dawn gasped as one of her cuts began bleeding again. She slid down the wall to sit. The room's occupants looked at her. Spike limped over to her and picked her up, bridal style. Dawn sobbed into his chest.

"I'm gonna take the Niblet home. Unless you want to go somewhere else?" he said, looking down at Dawn.

"Your crypt," she murmured. That was a shocker. Everyone looked at Dawn, unbelievingly. Spike looked down at her again.

"That okay with you, Watcher?" he asked Giles. Giles took off his glasses and nodded.

"Yes, that'll be fine Spike. If Dawn needs anything, just swing by the shop."

"Giles," said Dawn quietly, "Buffy said that she figured it out. And that she had to close the door." Giles gaped at her.

"It seems your sister was much brighter than I thought." Everyone began clearing out, their hearts lightened by the fact that Buffy may not be dead.