Title: An Unexpected Afterlife
Author: Settiai
Disclaimer: "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and other related characters are all properties of Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, and other related corporations. No infringement is intended. This story, such as it is, was written as a sign of respect and love for the characters, the show, and their creator. I claim no ownership of the aforementioned show and characters.
Rating: PG
Summary: She was surprised to discover that being dead wasn't really that different from being alive.
Feedback: Comments and helpful criticisms are always appreciated.
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Tara was surprised to discover that being dead wasn't really that different from being alive. After everything that had happened with Buffy in the past year, she had expected… well, she wasn't certain what she had expected, but she was pretty sure it had included streets of gold and eternal happiness. Instead, she had found herself in what seemed to be a carbon copy of 1630 Revello Drive, right down to the cigarette burn in the couch that was hidden by a pillow that Spike had carefully positioned.
In the beginning, it had taken Joyce hugging her with tears in her eyes to convince her that she hadn't just fallen asleep. That, and the fact that she knew, deep in her heart, that Willow wasn't waiting for her in their bedroom upstairs, the one with the coppery red bloodstains that made Tara feel ill whenever she made the mistake of looking at them.
It took months, but Tara eventually became used to wherever it was that she now lived. She knew it couldn't be heaven due to ever constant ache in her heart whenever she looked at one of the pictures of Willow that Joyce had set up all over the house, but she also knew deep down that it wasn't hell.
After six months, Joyce began introducing her to people she had only heard about in stories: a dark-haired woman with a shy smile who Tara knew was Jenny Calendar even before Joyce said her name; Bob Flutie, a smiling man who winked and as he told her that his replacement at Sunnydale High had made it to a slightly warmer place; the beautiful young Slayer, Kendra, forever frozen at sixteen; a gangly teenage boy named Jesse, with the same smile as Xander and the same light in his eyes as Willow; a young man named Larry who gave her a broad smile before announcing, "If I wasn't gay, I'd be on you in a heartbeat."
Joyce showed her how to visit Los Angeles once. There was no need for cars or airplanes… all they had to do was close her eyes, and when they opened them they were standing in a large building that Joyce called the Hyperion.
There were only two people in the huge hotel then: a handsome young man named Doyle, who Tara vaguely remembered hearing about in one of the stories Willow told her, and a teenage girl named Alonna who was the younger sister of Charles Gunn, one of Willow's friends in Los Angeles.
"I've heard a rumor that most of our friends will be showing up in a couple of years," Doyle told them, smiling sadly. "Once they get here, I'll let you know. We'll have us a big party then."
As time went by, Tara slowly became used to the strange afterlife she had found herself in. Even though she and Joyce were the only two living in the house, there was always a steady stream of friends stopping by to reminisce about times past.
Then things changed.
The first sign that something was happening took place when Tara and Joyce walked into the kitchen one morning to find an unconscious Jonathan Levinson laying on top of the table. When he had woken up, they had been more than a little disturbed to hear that Sunnydale High had been rebuilt… and the hints he had given that there was something else going on shook them to the core.
Two days later, Jenny Calendar showed up with a scared-looking teenager named Cassie who had shown up in her bedroom several week before. "She kept insisting it wasn't the right time," Jenny explained sheepishly when they asked her why it had taken so long for her to introduce them. "She absolutely refused to consider leaving my apartment until I mentioned that Jonathan had shown up here, and I still had to mention Tara's name before she actually agreed to come."
Cassie smiled nervously, reminding Tara painfully of the shy red-haired girl she had fallen in love with once upon a time. "Dawn told me about you," she said softly. "She talked about you a lot. More than she did anyone else, even her mom." She paused long enough to glance at Joyce, her face flushing slightly with embarrassment when she noticed the knowing look on the older woman's face. "She's not ready to talk about you with people yet. It still hurts her too much."
After that, she didn't smile again.
More people showed up as the time went by, many of them young girls that Cassie identified as Potentials. "They might be losing the battles," she said quietly, "but they won't lose the war."
It wasn't until Anya came barging into the kitchen one morning, complaining loudly that she hoped Xander took good care of her money, that Tara saw Cassie smile. "They won," she said simply.
That night, with Anya's assurances that Willow was finally starting to move on with her life ringing in her ears, Cassie and Tara kissed for the first time.
Tara had long since given the room she and Willow had shared back to Joyce, and she had been staying in Dawn's old room. With the lights off and only the glow of a dozen small candles lighting it, though, it didn't look anything like the room in either of their memories.
"Do you think we'll ever see them again?" Tara asked softly.
Cassie smiled as she leaned in long enough to give Tara a gentle kiss on the lips. "Of course," she said matter-of-factly, "I'm absolutely sure of it. We can't be selfish, though. We got to live out our time in the living world, and it wouldn't be fair if we didn't let them have that chance too."
Tara gave her a sad smile. "I don't… I'm not ready to move on."
Cassie blinked in surprise. "Oh, we're not moving on," she explained. "We're just remembering lost loves until they make it back to us."
Maybe they weren't in heaven, but they weren't in hell either. Even though everyone they loved wasn't there, they would be someday.
And that's all that mattered.