Title: A World Without Shrimp

Summary: "Sure, alternate realities. You could have, like, a world without shrimp. Or with, you know, nothing but shrimp." Buffy falling through Glory's portal didn't kill her. Trapped in an alternate dimension with amnesia, it's a race against time for Willow and the scoobies to bring Buffy back. But with no memory of home, her friends or of her birthright, will Buffy even want to come back? And of course... there's the small matter of her overprotective maker.

Disclaimer: I do not own Buffy: the Vampire Slayer or True Blood or anything affiliated with either of them.

"Of all the gods, only death does not desire gifts."
- Aeschylus

The light reached inside of her, she could feel it burn as it consumed every sense. Neither thought nor memory escaped it. The burning light took hold of her as she was falling flashing images of people flickered through her vision before being stolen from her, the image of a woman with hay coloured hair and a warm smile, a small girl with long dark hair, an older girl with red hair, a boy dressed in bright colours, an older man with glasses, a man with dark hair and eyes followed by flashes of a silver ring, a sword, tears, a blonde man with dark clothes, the images overwhelmed her mind as they fled from her burning her nerves as they went.

The burning became forceful pushing her in a direction she could not discern, for matter and physical being held no meaning here. All she knew was that she was being torn from her world, fading as she was pulled into the fire of the light. Through the burning and the pain, the uncertainty and the fire, a sinking sense of dread filled her, like homesickness for a place that she could not recall the visage or name of.

The light began to get brighter, the burning hotter and when it finally became too much, the light flashed violently like a supernova, out of memory and time. The light died and darkness came, the burning inferno became icy, and fell into deep, dark water.

BtVS/TB

England, 1495

Harrison Giles was a good man. He had lived his entire life in Summersbrooke; a small town in the south of England, his family was a moderately wealthy family with titled linage and he could have gone on to do well politically, but he much preferred the simplicity and honesty of his small corner of the world. He had married young to the love of his life; she had borne him two beautiful children, his firstborn, his son, had not survived the month and had broken his mother's heart.

It was not until two years later that his wife, Ellen, had given birth to a beautiful daughter they had named Elizabeth, the girl was a beautiful and healthy child until she was cruelly taken from them at the age of sixteen by a sickness that had passed through the town, the doctors had was unable to cure her and she passed quickly. Ellen had been beside herself at the loss of her only child; she couldn't bear the pain of her loss and had taken her own life.

In the space of three months, Harrison had lost his wife and child. He turned to the legacy of his family, that had been passed down for generations; books filled with magic and the occult, knowledge that was passed down the Giles line to be hidden and protected from the world, but never used. For months he delved into the knowledge, devouring spells and incantations, but it was all for naught. It was not possible, even with magic, to make the dead living again. There were creatures, named vampires, that were the living dead, but they had to be made into a vampire whilst the spark of life still resided within their form, it was impossible to make something dead have life again. Harrison locked the books away out of sight, to never be gazed upon again.

Harrison's grief spurred him to ensure that others were spared from his own pain, which led to him studying medicine, with supplementing his newfound knowledge with his studies of lighter healing magics, it soon became clear that he had a gift for medicine and healing.

BtVS/TB

It was a cool summer's night, the sky was perfectly clear and the air was fresh and humid, but Harrison was uneasy. His practice of magic had formed a light connection to nature, strong enough to know that something was very wrong, it was this sense of wrong that led him to the lake that resided between the forest and the old Staunton property, some four or five miles from his home. It took him little over half an hour to get there, his feet well versed in travelling country paths, he was met with the most heart-wrenchingly beautiful sight his eyes had ever seen; a young girl lay on the bank of the lake her legs submerged in the murky water and her head lolled to one side, her long blonde hair was barely distinguishable from the near black mud that smothered her.

She wore clothing unlike he had ever seen before; a woollen tunic that was thinly knit and linen trousers. From the skill stitching, fine kitting, and quality of material it would have been expensive to make suggesting that she came from a wealthy family, but it was unseemly for a woman to dress in trousers, yet they were clearly her exact size. He decided to wait until she was healthy and well before scrutinizing her, and with a little difficulty he managed to bring her back to his home, questions of her origins buzzing around in his skull, demanding to be answered.

BtVS/TB

He cared for her for three days and nights, feeding her water and broth through her delirium, placing a cool cloth upon her forehead to calm her fever. He diligently gave her an herbal tea that would reduce her fever and clam her dreams. Harrison called Mrs. Lawson, an old widow whom had nursed five children of her own from babe to adult and had dealt with many of the towns ill when they could not afford to pay a doctor. Mrs. Lawson bathed and dressed the girl, Harrison leaving the room to preserve her dignity, and she aided him in her care. He was surprised at how beautiful she was, and how young. It stirred pain in his heart to notice that she looked to be about the same age as his daughter would have been if she had lived.

On the fourth night, the girl began to stir, and she was brought out of her delirium to the sight of Harrison and Mrs. Lawson by her bedside. She took a long drink from the water that was offered called out in a voice soft from disuse.

"Thank you." She coughed lightly, taking another drink "Who are you? Where am I?"

Mrs. Lawson took the girls empty cup and went to fetch more water, leaving Harrison to answer the girl's questions.

"My name is Harrison Giles, and this is my home. I found you near four days ago barely alive in the grips of a heavy fever, you were half submerged in the lake, had I not found you, and it is unlikely that you would have lived. I and Mrs. Lawson," he indicated the other woman in the room"have nursed you back to health; I was hoping you would be able to answer my questions."

The girl frowned nervously "I will try my best."

He handed her a bowl of broth, and began his interrogation "What do you remember about how you got to the lake?"

The girl tried to concentrate, her brows furrowed and her eyes were glazed as if deep in thought "There was this...light, it looked into me and it was burning. All I was began to fade away...faces I can't put names to, strange images...and pain, a searing pain then...then..." she squinted her eyes in pain and held a hand to her head "I can't... there's nothing else."

Harrison's eyes softened in sympathy, memory loss was not unheard of in cases of fever-induced illness as severe as hers had been, and if what he suspected was true, it was likely that some magic had been cast upon this poor girl.

"Do you remember your name?" he asked softly

"I...I don't remember." She whispered tearfully, she wrapped her arms around herself "Why can't I remember!"

Harrison gently took her hands in his, as he had done with his own daughter "You were extremely unwell, you suffered a great deal of stress and it is not unheard of for you to experience memory loss, I promise you I will take care of you, as if you were my own child." His words surprised not only the young girl, but himself as well.

"Why would you do that? You know nothing about me."

He smiled lightly "I found you for a reason that night; I believe that I was meant to help you." He told her, 'and you remind me of my daughter' he added silently to himself.

Days turned to weeks and months passed in the blink of an eye, as the girl, whom Mrs. Lawson had dubbed Elisabetta (in honour of Harrison's daughter), had flourished under their care. Harrison was pleasantly surprised that Elisabetta could read and write particularly well, and she was a very intelligent girl having taken to his teachings swiftly and she soon was caught up to date with the goings on of the country, the history, the ruling powers and culture that only a short while ago she was completely oblivious to.

He began to tutor her to become his assistant in healing, and as she absorbed the knowledge within the books he gave her to read it became clear that she caught on quickly to the knowledge given to her. After about a month and a half of tutelage he decided to bring her along on his house visits to his patients, it proved to be a rather clever idea as the girl learnt far faster by observing his work and assisting him as he required rather than just from reading.

He smiled as he watched the girl he had quickly come to think of as a daughter enthusiastically prepare his bag of supplies and set his travelling clothes aside; she looked up from her task and smiled warmly at him. Despite her sorrow at the loss of her memories and the initial hurtful gossip of the women of the town about what exactly her role in his life was before he dispelled their chatter by proclaiming her as his ward, Elisabetta had flourished into a confident young woman and it pained him that he would be leaving her for a little over a week as he had been called away by an old friend to care for their family who had all been taken ill.

"Now you do remember what I told you, do you not?" he asked her firmly, his face set in a serious frown.

She rolled her eyes affectionately at him "Yes Giles I remember," for life of him he had been unable to make her call him by his Christian name, for some reason 'Giles sounds right' as she would tell him whenever he had asked "I am not to allow anyone entrance into the house after dark, nor am I to entertain anyone but Mrs. Lawson." She repeated in a teasing imitation of his voice.

"And if anyone should try and force their way into the house, or try to harm you?" he questioned ignoring her mockery of his protectiveness.

"Then I am to take the sword set aside by the door and use it to defend myself as you have taught me, but only if they show inclination to violence." She repeated dutifully.

Truthfully Elisabetta had required little to no tutelage in handling a blade, he had shown her what little he could remember from the lessons of his youth, but what had surprised him was her deadly proficiency when they had sparred, clearly her body remembered what her mind did not, and that was showcased in the refined skill in weaponry. He began to suspect that before she had become Elisabetta, his darling ward had clearly been a person of some importance. Young women who were educated and trained in self defence such to the level of Elisabetta were often the daughters of very important men who had to supplement the weakness of having daughters instead of sons, by making them every bit as ferocious as the stronger sex. Likely she had been trained for intrigue and subterfuge, an asset to whomsoever she was loyal to. It was a harrowing idea, particularly when she was such an innocent soul.

"Giles," Her warm voice called to him, and he was drawn out of his inner musings of her past "be careful when travelling." She smiled at him and bid him farewell as he departed.

His darling little Elisabetta had breathed life back into him, when he had taken her in he had begun to live again, she gave him purpose and he adored her as he would if she were his own child. If he had known it would be the last time he would see her again, he most likely would have thought of something better to say than just goodbye.