Alright... here is the prologue for the sequel to the Way Things Are... While I recommend you read that one first, I think you could muddle your way through without reading that one. Oh and Spuffster, I promised you a wedding in this one... here you go.
I hope everyone enjoys this
PROLOGUE: Wedding Day
Buffy was determined to stay asleep, and while it was difficult, she seemed to be succeeding. The constant bouncing of the mattress, and the constant chatter, however, were starting to get to her. With one swipe of her leg, she knocked the feet of the one responsible out from under them. A soft thump, and a "heeeeeyyyy!", followed by an "uh-oh" and a rather loud crash, accompanied by a series of groans told the slayer that she had succeeded in ridding herself of the nuisance for the moment. But a moment was all it was, for not even a minute later, the bouncing and the chatter resumed. Grumbling, Buffy cracked one eye open and saw that the man next to her had his head stuffed under his pillow, from which was coming a long stream of muttered curses. It was then that it occurred to Buffy that there was something special about today. Some reason she was supposed to get up. It certainly wasn't the fact that it was Halloween. There would be no cause to get up early then... The normal Halloween festivities wouldn't begin until much later.
So why then, was her daughter bouncing up and down on the end of the bed, saying that she had to get up or they'd be late? Was it later than she'd thought? Was the fact that it was dark a sign that it was late, and not ridiculously early? A quick peek at the clock answered that question. Nope. It was five-forty-five am. Surely whatever it was that she had forgotten didn't require her to be out of bed that early. After all, she'd had a busy night, what with vampires, and demons to slay, and girls to train... a head-over-heels-in-love sister to watch out for... The list went on. Wait... Head-over-heels-in-love. That was it!
"Oh, damn!" Buffy exclaimed, suddenly shooting up, surprising Corrine, making her momentarily stop her attempts to drag her parents out of bed, "Willow, and Oz! Spike," she shook the protesting man's shoulder, "Get up." There were more curses from beneath the pillow, and Spike's grip on it only tightened, when Buffy tried to pull it off his head. Okay, so, not a true vamp anymore, but he still matched her for strength.
Buffy looked towards the end of the bed, where Cory still sat, her ravens-wing black hair pulled into a loose and messy ponytail. "Get him up, will you?" she asked, slipping out of bed. Just as she was entering the bathroom, she heard one big squeak, from the springs of the mattress, then a loud "umph!", followed by the rather breathless voice of Spike. "Bloody hell!" he gasped, "Get off, tidbit! I've got t' soddin' breathe!" Buffy chanced a glance back into her room, to see Cory firmly planted on Spike's back, bony knees digging into his shoulders. She gathered that the girl had jumped on him. As she closed the door to the bathroom she heard an argument start about why Cory had lept on him. She sighed, and shook her head. A special occasion or not, this was starting out as a normal day in what was literally Slayer Central.
She still had a couple of hours to get ready, thank goodness. For a moment she couldn't believe she'd forgotten what that day was- other than Halloween, the only holiday a slayer ever got- but after she considered the way the past few days had been, it wasn't such a shock. With so many new slayers to train, and the vamp activity going up, the fact that Willow and Oz's wedding was today had gone right out of her head. At least Cory hadn't forgotten. But then, she was to excited about being the flower girl to forget. Buffy, for the second time, and likely not the last, in her life was a bride's maid. Dawn was a bride's maid as well. Xander, much to his surprise, and pleasure, was best man. As Willow had long since lost all contact with her parents (as far as anyone could tell, they assumed her dead, buried in Sunnydale), Giles was going to be the one walking her down the aisle, and giving her away.
As she reached out to turn on the hot water in the bathtub, Buffy paused a moment to look at the burn scar on her hand. Every now and then a new slayer would ask why she didn't cover it with makeup, instead of letting it show. This would earn the newbie snickers from the other girls. Buffy never answered that question. Thinking for a moment about the wedding she'd be attending later that day, Buffy smiled slightly. Sure, there may not have been a fancy ceremony, for her and Spike, but in Buffy's opinion, everything they'd been through, topped off with the crumbling of Sunnydale was more binding than any wedding, and the scars they shared, better than any ring,
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Dawn sat at the kitchen counter, yawning, and tiredly stirring her coffee. She could barely keep her eyes open. Unlike Buffy, she'd remembered what was special about that day the moment she woke up. The problem was, she hadn't remembered the night before, so she hadn't gone to sleep until just a few hours before. She didn't even notice that her friend, Crys, had shuffled into the room until the fridge opened, illuminating the still dark space. Neither of the teens said anything. They were both too tired. Crys plopped down on the stool next to Dawn, and opened a can of soda. That was her morning source of caffine, and sugar, instead of coffee.
Moments later, Crys' brother, and Dawn's boyfriend, Eason, trudged into the kitchen, and, unlike his younger sister, headed straight for the coffee pot. "Morning," he mumbled, running a hand through his close-cropped black hair. Both Dawn and Crys waved vaguely. If too many more people joined, they'd be moving to the dining room, which was usually reserved for dinner, as that was the only time of day that all the residents of the slayer central mansion were home. Also the only meal at which they had company. Sometimes it was Faith and Robin, others it was Oz and Willow. Sometimes Andrew showed up, but that was rare. He generally scampered off home for dinner, or took his girlfriend, Tandy, out.
Only a few minutes after Eason had ruffled his sister's hair, and kissed Dawn good morning, Willow came bouncing in. She had stayed over the previous night, saying that she wanted the first time her and Oz saw each other that day to be when she walked down the aisle. She was un-naturally cheerful, and it was only making Dawn's grumpiness worse. As the witch bade the slayer, and watchers-in-training good morning, Crys finally spoke.
"Say, aren't people supposed to be nervous and fidgety on their wedding day?" she grumbled.
"Generally," Eason commented dryly, trying in vain to get just a little bit more milk to come out of the empty jug, so he could have enough for his cereal.
"I'll be plenty nervous later," Willow informed them, cheerily. She looked towards the door, "Morning Buffy!"
The forementioned slayer groaned, seeing Willow's smile, and hearing her chipper tone, "You're not human... " she growled "If you're going to be cheery and ruin my grumpiness, I'm going back to bed," she attempted to turn, and leave, but Spike stopped her, grumbling something about if he had to be up, so did she.
The non-morning people were only made to suffer further when Cory skipped in, humming various rhymes, and there were more than a few comments about strangling both the bride, and the flower girl.
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Robin Wood laughed at his girlfriend, as she ranted about reasons why she shouldn't be wearing the dress she was in. Despite the fact that she had picked it out, weeks ago, she was having second thoughts about it now. That was Faith, for you.
"It just isn't me," she finally finished, and Robin began to actually listen again, prepare to resume tuning her out, if necessary.
"Look at it this way, Faith, it's only for the ceremony," he reasoned, "And then everyone's headed back to the mansion for the party. Just be sure to take a change of clothes, or a costume, if you bothered to buy one, and you can change there."
Faith sighed, "Fine... But I still don't like it."
"You picked it."
"During a lapse of sanity, I'm sure," she turned away from the full-length mirror, and faced Robin, "At least you look good."
Robin fidgeted with his tux. He'd never been comfortable in formal clothing. He nodded in thanks. In truth, Faith looked stunning in her dress. It was dark burgundy in color, and made entirely of a soft velvet fabric. It was low-cut, like Faith always wore, without being slutty. It was tight around her upper body, but loosened at the hips, to allow the skirt to hang and fold perfectly. Running her hands over the soft, shiny fabric, and sighing, Faith turned to the mirror one last time, to make sure that every strand of hair was still in place.
"You look fine, Faith," Robin interrupted her, knowing that when she was uncomfortable, she could find something wrong with everything. "Come on, or we'll be late."
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Spike was not amused. Why he'd let Buffy talk him into wearing this get up, he didn't know, but looking in the mirror, he realized he must have gone insane. I look like a bloody poofter! he thought. Both Buffy and Willow however. thought otherwise. According to them, he looked great. He would have much rather worn his normal attire. But nooooo. Instead he had to wear a sodding tux.
At least this wedding would be a bit more bearable than the last he had attended. That one had not only ended badly, but the place had been full of people he didn't know. This time, at least, there would be no strangers. Grumbling, he went to find Buffy, and Willow, who had slipped away at some point during his complaints.
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Now the nervousness was getting to Willow, as she looked at Buffy, Cory, and Dawn, in their dresses. They only reminded her that soon enough she'd be in hers. Their dresses, like Faith's, were velvet. They were also the same shade of burgundy, though they had dark green accents to them. The green matched Willow's gown. She was going against the tradition of a white dress, and instead using dark green. She'd never been one for white, anyway.
If she and Oz'd had any normal friends, they might have questioned their choice to have the wedding on Halloween, of all days, but since none of their friends were normal, there was no question about it. That was the only day of the year when they were almost guaranteed a few hours of peace with no apocalypse... Granted, there was that incident where they all turned into their costumes... Then there was the fear demon fiasco... And Dawn getting smoochy with a vamp... But that was just a few Halloweens out of many, right? Surely her wedding could be one of the many that didn't get interrupted by some evil spell. And since Dawn was currently dating a normal human there was no chance of a repeat of the Dawn/Vampire incident. Please, Goddess, let today be apocalypse and demon free.
There was no doubt in her mind that this was a good decision. She hadn't hesitated, even for a moment, to say yes, when Oz had proposed to her. Sometimes she thought that he could have asked her the day he arrived at the mansion, to tell them that something paranormal had been following him, and she would have said yes... But that had been over a year ago, so there was no telling... She'd still been with Kennedy, then. Kennedy... Her ex-girlfriend, and now dead slayer. She, along with eight other new slayers had been murdered by Angel... Or rather, The First, in Angel's body. That had been one hell of an adventure. There was no apocalypse that time. Just good old fashioned revenge.
Every now and then, Willow still felt a pang of guilt over Kennedy's death, but for the most part, she no longer blamed herself. She'd had nearly two years to move on from Kennedy's death, and over three to move on from Tara's. Today she was taking the final step in that process.
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Oz fidgeted slightly, unlike his bride to be, he hadn't remained impossibly cheerful until the last minute. No. He'd woken up cheerful, but it had dissolved into nervousness within an hour.He didn't bother asking Xander if he'd been that nervous at his wedding...He'd heard what happened with Anya, and doubted that Xander would be much help. Any moment now, Willow was going to be walking down that aisle, and the closer it got to time, the more nervous, and excited the werewolf got.
There, the music had started. Cory was happily skipping down the aisle. throwing rose petals. Moments later, there was Willow, on Giles' arm. The witch looked absolutely breathtaking. Her hair was pulled away from her face, and it had been curled, so the shining red ringlets cascaded down her back. Emerald studs sparkled in her earlobes, matching her eyes perfectly.The dress she wore was several shades of green; dark green, for the upper part of the gown, and the skirt that was split in the front, to reveal a second, lighter colored skirt. Burgundy served as the trim as well as the off-the-shoulder sleeves. In her hands was a bouquet of red roses, and baby's breath.
Oz was pretty sure his heart stopped when he saw her. He was also sure that at any moment he was going to wake up.He felt just as entranced as he had when he'd first seen her, back in highschool, when he'd constantly been asking "Who is that girl?". Meeting his eyes, Willow flashed him a nervous smile. Seeing her smile, all nervousness left the werewolf. He loved this woman. He had since the moment he'd seen her, and that wasn't going to change. This was the right decision, and he had no reason to be jittery.
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Xander watched happily as Oz and Willow were pronounced husband and wife. He was happy for Wills. Happy that she'd found someone she could easily spend the rest of her life with. He'd found someone like that, once. Anya. But he'd blown that, and he hadn't gotten a second chance with her, even though she'd offered him one, once. He wondered if he'd find anyone like Anya again. He'd dated a few women, since Sunnydale, but whenever he did, he'd realize that they did and said things Anya never would have, and he found himself losing interest. Although, there was that new watcher, AnnMarie. Okay, so she didn't have quite the forwardness of Anya, but she still spoke her mind. She also had an innate ability to provide sarcasm at the wrong times.. Always an endearing trait.
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Buffy smiled, as Oz kissed Willow. Seeing them together brought back memories of her highschool and college days... Back before Sunnydale had been too bad, with the hellmouthy stuff, before Glory the hellbitch, before she'd died the second time. Sneaking a glance at Spike, who sat beside her, looking rather uncomfortable, she couldn't help but wonder what would have happened, if she hadn't died, to keep Dawn alive? What if they'd stopped Glory before she could start the ritual... What if Spike hadn't been knocked from the tower? Things certainly would have been different... would she have started sleeping with the bleached vamp? Would he have gone and recovered his soul? Would the incident in the bathroom still have occured? Even now, so long after, the memory of the attempted rape left her with chills. She'd forgiven Spike, of course, but that didn't change what he'd done.
No, no... Thoughts away from that. She was supposed to be enjoying today. To reassure herself of this, she took Spike's hand in hers and gently squeezed it. He looked at her, for a moment, then a small smile tugged at his lips, and he nodded to the spot next to her. Cory had fallen asleep, sometime during the ceremony. Oh well. She would be awake soon enough. The only thing she'd been more excited about that being the flower girl, was her halloween costume. She'd chosen to be Little Red Riding Hood. The thought made Buffy remember what it'd been like to be eight years old, still able to enjoy dressing up on Halloween, for trick-or-treating. Of course, that pleasure would be denied Cory this year, as they were staying home. Though they often ended up with alot of people stopping by the mansion, so she could entertain herself handing out candy.
Whoops... she'd been too caught up in her thoughts... It seemed as though it were time to return to the mansion, and begin the festivities. As she rose from her seat, she caught the former Willow Rosenburg and pulled her into a tight hug. "So how's it feel to be Mrs. Daniel Osbourn?"
"Feels perfect," the witch replied, beaming. She was about to say something else, before Giles caught her, and hugged her as well, surprising the poor woman. "Congratulations, Willow," the watcher said. He turned, to give Oz the same treatment, before deciding against the hug.
Dawn practically skipped over, fingers entwined with Eason's -which Spike clearly disapproved of... this was evident from his glare-, and hugged both Willow and Oz. Still smiling, Buffy turned, and lifted Cory from her seat. The child was still out cold. Spike stroked the girl's hair affectionately, and she stirred briefly, before settling again. Buffy shook her head. Cory was like Spike. She could sleep through anything.
Noting with amusement that Spike was fidgeting anxiously again, Buffy tugged on his arm, to signal that they were leaving. He may have known most everyone there, but that didn't make it any less uncomfortable for him, being around that many people. It wouldn't be as crowded at home, thankfully, since she knew that eventually some of the girls would clear out and either go their rooms, or go out with friends from school.
"Hey, Buffy, hi Spike," two voices chimed near by. Buffy turned. There were the only other slayers, who lived in the mansion, instead of in the dorm. Summer, and Jory. At nineteen, Summer was the same age as Dawn, and more of a watcher than she was a slayer; she rarely if ever patrolled, and was every bit as quick to go into research mode as Giles was. Jory, fifteen, on the other hand, reminded Buffy a bit of herself; she loved a good fight, and left research to the bookworms, saying she'd handle things the easy way. Violence.
"You see where Willow and Oz went?" Jory asked, "I didn't get to hug them to death yet."
Summer rolled her eyes at the younger girl, and asked a question of her own, "Where's Giles? I need to ask him about Monday's lessons."
"Back off girls, you can hug them or bother them, or whatever, when we get home," Buffy scolded... She'd gotten good at that, after two years of living with so many teenagers. Her mom-tones were superb. Enough to rival any real mom, or so she thought.
"C'mon, love, it's gettin' a bit too crowded for my tastes," Spike urged, as Buffy tried to keep Jory and Summer from chasing after Giles and the newlyweds. "An' I think th' bits are abou' t' burst from lack o' excitement"
Buffy nodded in agreement, and stopped her attempts to reign in the two teenage girls. Time to get home, and get things in order. However, as she turned to leave, she was stopped by a sudden dizzy spell. She blinked for a moment, trying to steady herself. For a moment she wondered what was up, but a moment was all she got, for she was being urged to hurry up by her companions. Maybe I just turned too fast... She thought, as she headed for the door. Yeah, that's it... turned too fast... But something told her that's not what it was.
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Forgive me for the lack of detail on the wedding... I've only ever attended one, as the flower girl, 9 or 10 years ago (making me 6 or 7 at the time) so I don't remember much of it...
Also, it has been almost 2 years since the end of my last fic... Now, that's two years after the END, so that makes it probly two and a half, maybe a bit more, since sunnydale