Disclaimer: I own nothing, if I did I'd be in Fiji, not writing fanfiction. Please, please, please don't sue.
Summary: Post-Tabula Rasa. Giles muses over his life in Sunnydale on the plane to England.
City Lights
He looked out the small window of the plane and sighed. They'd been in the sky for at least ten minutes, shouldn't Sunnydale be gone? He should be able to see the soft glow of the city. It should be long gone.
"You look sad."
Giles turned, breaking away from his thoughts. He looked at the woman sitting next to him. "Excuse me?"
"Sorry," the woman, shrugged, looking down. "You look really sad is all."
Giles forced a weak smile. "I suppose I do."
"What happened? You leaving your wife or something?"
"Heavens no," Giles said, shaking his head. "I've lived in Sunnydale for six years now, and, and it's just strange. Picking up and leaving, that is."
"Well, then why are you leaving?"
"Had to," Giles responded. The answer came so quickly, he didn't even have to think about the words, they just slipped off of his tongue. He'd thought about leaving so many times. And now he'd really done it. He'd really left. It was best for all of them. He knew that. It wasn't making it any easier.
The woman nodded. "Are you sad, because you're going to miss someone then?"
"Yes," Giles said calmly, looking around the plane's small compartment. "I'll miss her terribly."
"I'm sorry," the woman said, smiling at him politely. She turned back to whatever it was that she had been doing before.
He sighed, wishing that he hadn't even begun talking about the subject. It was just too painful. Now all he could think about was how much he would miss her. How much he'd miss the arguments they always had. He'd miss all of her suggestions for things. Whether they were ridiculous ideas, or whether they were brilliant ones. He'd miss the way she could say things so simply, but have so much meaning behind all of her words. He'd miss the way she always could make him laugh. He'd miss the way she laughed. He missed the way her face lit up when she was happy. The way her eyes narrowed when she was angry. The way her whole voice changed when she was worried. The way she could either panic or stay calm when situations were bad. He'd miss the way she always made him smile. Even more, he'd miss her smile. And he already missed her.
At least I got to kiss her goodbye…sort of.
Giles sighed, at that very moment, he almost wished Willow's spell hadn't yet ended. He wished he could still be with Anya at that very moment.
He sighed again, softer this time, not wanting to bring anymore painful thoughts up.
He turned back towards the window, looking outside.
The city lights were gone.