FULL CIRCLE
Prologue
Author name: Marie
Rating: PG
Summary: A woman from Spike and Angel's past moves to Sunnydale to begin again. Occurs at the end of this season's Buffy and Angel.
Disclaimer: None of the characters are mine, except Emma
Feedback: Love it.
Every life is an adventure and every adventure has its ups and downs and curves. Nothing is as it seems.
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England 1880's
It was one of those horribly stuffy English balls, where people dance stiffly and talk stiffly. After about three conversations you begin to realise how truly boring this country is and why your ancestors decided to leave it. My mother thought, though, that it would be a good idea for me to have a London season before I stepped into my first New York season. This was for practice she kept reminding me. She wanted me to see how proper English ladies act and talk. She always said that I was a bit of a buccaneer in my attitude. I always talked at the wrong times and said the wrong things. And although people may have found that charming when I was a little girl, nobody would appreciate my candidness when I am a lady. So here I am in the corner of some stuffy old ballroom, afraid to speak to anyone about anything in fear that my mother might find out.
A man at the other side of the room catches me looking bored and starts to head towards me. When he is close enough for me to hear, but far enough away to sound a bit distant he asks, "Are you the official wilting flower of this dance?"
"Pardon?" That was a bit rude, I thought.
"Every dance has one you know, a wilting flower, some poor young girl who gets stuck in the corner looking hopelessly bored. They just usually aren't so beautiful."
"You knew that you were in hot water didn't you."
"I admit, I could tell from the look on your face that you were not amused by my comment." He looked a bit caught.
"I don't bite." I added deciding that he was looking a bit too scared for someone who just braved such a rude comment.
"And I don't either, then we have something in common." He smiled god he has a good smile. "Lord William Stewart and you are?"
"Emma Colby." I held out my hand and he kissed it gently, then let it linger near his mouth as he looked up at me.
"An American?"
"A Texan, to be more specific." I replied.
"Very specific, so what brings you to London?" He smiled again; I could fall in love with that smile.
"The London season." I replied, smiling back at him.
"Ugh, and a very boring London season it is, I take it. Us, English boys aren't amusing enough for you."
"It's not that," I was caught, "Okay maybe it is that a little. It's just that nobody says anything. They all just talk."
"Your right, conversation is a bit lacking on this side of the Atlantic. But you can always spice that up can't you?"
"My mother wants me to learn how to be a proper young lady. She thinks that I am a bit too candid for my own good. So, no, I can't spice it up a bit. I can only just sit here and be bored."
"Or you could talk to me. Spice up our conversation. Nobody needs to know. And you can save me from the horrible bore that these balls tend to become." He smiled again. "Tell me about your home."
And that was how it all began. We talked for hours that night. He was so comfortable, I felt safe talking to him about anything. He didn't laugh or find me horribly rude. It was nice. Every ball that I showed up to William followed and saved me from my boredom. He was becoming my best friend in England. He wrote to me on almost daily basis.
I don't know when it was that I fell in love with him. But somewhere in between the dreadful balls and his unbelievable smile, my heart beat faster and butterflies grew in my stomach. I loved him and I was sure though I had no experience at judging this sort of thing, that he loved me. He always held my hand a bit too long after the dance ended or let his lips linger on my hand as he greeted me. His eyes would always light up when he saw me enter a room. And then there was his smile, which always came when he talked to me. I knew that he loved me and that he would love me forever.
I just didn't know how long forever really would be.
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"Emma, where do you want this Grecian vase?" Marcus yelled from downstairs in the store. I was busy trying to direct the movers on where to put my stuff. Hoping that they wouldn't break as much as the last movers did.
"On the table, near the Ticcian." I yelled down. Pointing to the couch that the mover was trying to put down. "No, that goes in the parlour. And that box goes in my bedroom, see the word bedroom written on the box. That means it goes in the bedroom." The movers mumbled under their breath. "And don't bother to curse me under your breath, it won't make your job any easier." And with that I walked downstairs to see how Marcus was doing.
"So do you think we can get this place opened by tomorrow?" Marcus laughed at my comment. "I mean it. I think that we should open tomorrow. I mean it's not that big of a deal that we won't have everything set up. Besides I have a new shipment coming in tomorrow of old books and I would rather work on them, while you set everything up."
"I think that we will be open by tomorrow if that is what you want. I can always work on my place at night while you work down here." Marcus agreed.
"See that is why I like about you, efficiency and absolute agreement. Maybe I should give you a raise?"
"You should definitely give me a raise."
"Okay. So do you think that we are going to like it here?"
"Here in Sunnydale. A bunch of laughs, I hear it's a hellmouth."
"Really, that should be interesting." I smiled at Marcus. "I can't wait to find out why its called that, can you?"
"Something tells me it won't be long until we find out."
I smiled. My instincts told me that this was definitely going to be an interesting place. "Hungry?" I winked. Welcome to Sunnydale.
