Title: That Was Then This Is now
Author: Nicole
Disclainers:Nope they don't belong to me they belong to Joss and Co pouts
Pairing: B/F eventually
Summary: Buffy is dying, but The Powers that be have something else in mind. Question is will Buffy take it or not?
Author's Notes: I know I am not supposed to be writing another story until I completed my other ones. This would not leave me alone; it's a lot different than my other stories and a product of hard work and lots of thinking.
Distribution: If you want it let me know, ask and you shall receive but I guarantee it won't be given up that easily.
Notes 2: This story is dedicated to the love of my life; I love you forever and always.
Introduction
There are times when we are given choices and paths we must take. What happens when you take the wrong path and things don't turn out how you want them? This is a story about choices and how the wrong ones can affect the future. Everyone thinks we can play with our lives, but we are all just players in the game. My friend Buffy has had a hard life since she became the slayer. The choices she made predicted the outcome of her future. See destiny, fate and chance are very tricky things, I should know. But what if in a moment of weakness or clarity you are given the chance to go back and redo all the choices you made to predict a different future. You are probably looking at me like I have grown a second head, but it could be possible if you believe. Buffy will be given the choice to go back into time and rewrite everything that's happened. It's up to her if she is going to take it or not.
You see, Buffy has made choices in her past that lead to a future of self-destruction and heartache. She had the chance to fulfill and change her destiny, but she chose to go down the wrong path. Buffy's dying at the hands of the master pretty much changed things in her, but what if she didn't have to face the master alone? What if she had help? Would things be different? That we will never know, but then again if she were given a second chance, I think things would change.
I know you are saying "Get on with the story." Well I am getting there, I just wanted to make sure that you're sitting there scratching your heads and looking dumbfounded. This is a story of Buffy's life and how she gets the second chance to change it. Watch as the story unfolds...
Buffy lay still in her bed, the machines beeping all around her. She was slowly losing her battle with the cancer that had come back full swing. Her room was partially dark with only a faint light illuminating her frail body. A lone figure was standing in the doorway watching as the tiny blonde slept. She watched as the machines did their jobs, checking her blood pressure, monitoring her heart and administering the meds she needed. With a resounding sigh the woman entered the room a little more and sat in the chair beside her bed. She took a frail hand in hers and smiling softly, began to whisper.
"How did you get here Buffy? You said everything was fine and that you were ok. I got the message from Dawn saying you were deteriorating." Her voice trailed off as tears threatened.
The woman looked around the room, gazing at all of the pictures and cards adorning the walls and shelves. It never really occurred to her just how much the little blonde was loved. She looked on the nightstand and saw a picture of herself with her two girls Elizabeth and Angelina. Angelina had just turned 5, and everyone was there except for Buffy. She wasn't feeling all that well, but sent a present along with Dawn for the little girl that she loved so much. She glanced over to the bed again.
"Ya know, Angelina asks about you everyday. When is her Aunt Buffy coming to see her? I have to explain to her that you won't be visiting because you are sick. It's hard on her being so little and all. She really loves you and when she smiles, she looks like you."
A smile played on her lips as she said it, thinking how funny it was that the little girl looked so much like the blonde. It just melted her heart and made her long for the other woman more.
A nurse came into the room and looked at the other woman. They exchanged smiles as she wrote down the statistics of Buffy's vitals.
"She seems to be doing a lot better today than she was yesterday. A little color came back into her skin." The nurse commented as she continued documenting her findings.
The other woman smiled at this, "So how long has she been in for? I just found out a few days ago?" She questioned.
The nurse stopped writing on her clipboard and looked up at the brunette with a sigh. "Before I tell you anything are you a family member or just a friend?" She asked.
She looked over at Buffy and then back to the nurse, "I am her sister." She lied.
The nurse looked at her incredulously, "She only has one sister and her name is Dawn. So really who are you?" She asked again.
"Buffy and I were lovers a long time ago, but we've been friends forever and she is the God-mother to my children. Please tell me how long she's been here?" She pleaded.
The nurse saw the hurt and worry in her eyes. She decided to tell the woman what she needed to know.
"She has been in the hospital for about a month now. She was diagnosed with a rare form of leukemia when she was younger, but thanks to a rigorous regimen of chemo, she went into remission. It came back full blown before we had a chance to treat it." She said sadly.
"I knew she was sick, but didn't know it was this bad. So is there any chance she can over come this? I mean isn't there something that can be done to...you know... prolong her life?" She questioned.
The nurse smiled ruefully, "At this stage no. We are doing everything we can to make her more comfortable. It's up to the guys upstairs if she is going to make it through this or not." She finished writing her findings and looked up at the brunette, "I'm sure she will pull through this with a large amount of Faith." She smiled and left the room.
The brunette looked back at the delicate girl in the bed, "A large amount of Faith huh? I don't know if it will work or not. You need to try and fight this B; you got too many people here who love and care about you. I know we haven't had the best relationship but you were there for me." She whispered and kissed the blonde on the forehead.
Reluctantly, the brunette let go of the woman's hand and walked toward the door, uttering a faint 'I love you" through trembling lips as she closed it softly behind her.
ELSEWHERE
Buffy found herself in a big room with two huge windows swirling with fog. Warm and bathed in bright light; it was reminiscent of the dining room in her house in Sunnydale. She looked around in confusion because she wasn't in her hospital gown, but rather a pair of blue jeans and white shirt with tennis shoes. Gone was the bed and the machines she was so used to hearing. Mercifully, she wasn't in any pain.
"Hello? Is anyone here?" She called out into the room.
A few minutes had past when two robed figures came into the room. They were cloaked in white, almost like they were angels. They approached her and looked at her with a small smile.
Buffy went on the defense; it was the slayer in her. Always be prepared and never let your guard down.
The first Angel spoke, "There is no need to be on the defense young one. You are in a sacred place. The forces of darkness and evil are not allowed to tread here. You are Buffy Summers correct?" She asked.
The petite blonde smiled, "Yes, I am Buffy Summers. Am I dead?" She asked hesitantly.
The man and the woman laughed before the man answered, "No dear you are not dead, if you were you would be met by the Arch Angel Michael. You are in a place that defies all time and presence." He answered cryptically.
This served to confuse the woman even more, "If I am not dead then why am I here? Cause the whole out of body thing is not of the good. And who are you guys then?" She furrowed her eyebrows as she queried.
The female angel smiled at her spunk, "Forgive us little one my name is Carmen and this is my brother Rafael. We are the higher beings; we are the messengers for the Powers." She answered.
"So why am I here? What is the purpose? I'm not a slayer anymore and if there is a big evil brewing then there are a whole mess of them out there to fight this." She stated.
Rafael chuckled at this, "No we know you aren't the slayer, you haven't been for quite sometime now. No, we are here to give you a choice. Now you can either take it or you can go back and be hooked up to the tubes and confined to a hospital bed."
Buffy thought long and hard, being in the bed with all those tubes in her wasn't a very pleasant place to be. Especially when you have doctor's coming in poking you, but the sponge baths weren't so bad. She smiled at the thought of the nurse coming in and washing her down.
Carmen clears her throat, "So what are you going to do? Hear us out or go back into your body?"
"I will hear you out, but this doesn't have to deal with me dying again cause I've done that twice already and I really don't want to be brought back. It does a job on the psyche." She joked.
Rafael rolled his eyes at this, "Be serious little one. Now we are here because you have a choice to make, make it wisely because it will change the fate of your life. You being sick with cancer is a consequence of the path you were not meant to take. You were destined for so much more, but the decisions you made ruined that. Now you are going to see what your life was like if you would have made the right ones. At the end of your vision you will be asked if you want the life you were supposed to lead or the life that you have now."
Carmen cleared a hole in the wall to show Buffy lying almost lifeless in the hospital bed. Buffy cringed at the sight. The image swirled and faded away, leaving her dreading going back to that.
"Let me get this right? I am going to be looking at the life I was supposed to lead and then when it's over I am supposed to choose which one I want?" She question.
Carmen answered, "Yes. You will be watching. No one will be able to see or touch you. We want you to see what the other life would have been like and how lives would have been changed and affected."
Buffy looked thoughtful, "That is the upside, but what is the downside?"
Rafael answers, "Downside is you go back to dying and never being able to see your loved ones again." He said grimly.
The blonde looked at Carmen and Rafael, the image of her in the hospital playing in her mind. This was going to be a hard decision to make, on one hand she didn't want to die, but she didn't want to take the risk of seeing what could have been because of a few mistakes she made.
The angels saw the emotions playing on her face and knew it was hard for her, but the Powers wanted to give her a second chance at life. She had sacrificed herself for the world, her family and her friends. They weren't ready to lose her yet, the blonde being one; if not the strongest warrior for their cause.
Buffy looked up at the two entities, "I want to see what life would have been like if I had made different decisions and choices. I want to know if my family and friends would have had better lives." She stated.
Carmen closed her eyes and tapped Buffy on the shoulder, "It shall be done."
TBC... let me know what you think, if I should continue it or not.