Hey there, my fellow writers and readers. I hope you're doing well with your stories; I know I sure am myself sometimes. :)

Anyway, here's a new BtVS fanfic that I cooked up one day. It's set after the Season 7 episode Him, and it's about a conversation between Buffy and Dawn. :)

Disclaimer: Genius Joss Whedon owns Buffy the Vampire Slayer. The geniuses at Paramount Pictures own the 1994 film Forrest Gump (which the quote at the beginning of this oneshot is taken from). I own the fanfics that I cook up from time to time.

No Secrets

My Mama always said, "Life is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're gonna get." ~Forrest Gump (Tom Hanks), repeating one of his mother's pearls of wisdom in Forrest Gump

Looking her younger sister Dawn in the eyes, Buffy took a deep breath. This wasn't going to be as easy as she'd first hoped. But I can do this, she thought, determined. If I can do my sacred duty as the Slayer, then I can handle a simple conversation with my little sister. Well, here goes.

"I'm really sorry, Dawn. I really am," Buffy began, the tears suddenly appearing out of nowhere and beginning their trek down her face while leaving wet tracks behind. Deep down, she really didn't mind if Dawn stayed mad at her for a long time — such as the rest of her life, probably...

Much to her surprise, there wasn't any anger in Dawn's azure eyes that was meant to be directed at her. Not one single bit, thankfully.

Instead, she gave her older sibling a smile meant to convey sympathy. Pulling out two tissues from a box of Kleenex, she handed them to her older sister. Accepting the tissues, Buffy felt grateful that her younger sibling wasn't mad at her for a change.

"Thanks, Dawn."

"Oh, you're welcome, Buffy," said Dawn. "And you won't have to worry. I'm not mad at you — not one bit."

Although relief spread through Buffy's face upon hearing those words, she wanted to be sure. "And you do know...?" she began before trailing off, not exactly sure if Dawn wanted to hear the rest. If Dawn got really sore...

Luck was with Buffy, however, as Dawn got the gist of what she was saying and nodded.

"That it was just the magic making us girls do all those crazy things in order to impress a guy? And not just any guy, but a guy wearing an enchanted letterman jacket? Buffy, you know that this is Sunnydale and the Hellmouth," Dawn grinned.

"Yeah" was all Buffy could think of to say at the moment before adding in a shrug.

"Besides that," Dawn, added, "you are my sister, and I love you. I still remember the time when I was fourteen and you informed me that we shared Summers blood when that crazy hell goddess, Glory, was looking for that part of me known as the Key, and that where I came from or how I got here didn't matter; I was your sister. Also, as I remember you putting it, there was no way I could annoy you so much if I wasn't."

After a few moments of remembering that fateful day, Buffy heartily concurred.

It was only two years ago that she remembered saying those very words to Dawn, who had been that very age at the time. This time, however, Buffy got to wondering... had she been like this when she was fourteen years old and in the eighth grade? She hoped not. Back in Los Angeles, it was very different for her. She was innocent — kind of — and her life was... well, to be honest, it was quite unique, for lack of a better word. If there had been a phrase she would pick to describe her life before Sunnydale, it would be "destiny free".

Speaking of which, that very phrase was exactly how Buffy described her life to Merrick on the steps of Hemery High a year later (before she realized that he was telling the truth about her having been called as the Slayer).

Time sure did fly fast whenever you sensed something unpleasant approaching on the horizon, or when you wanted it to slow down a bit in case something that was both big and exciting was going to take place. Buffy felt she had learned that the hard way more than once over the years, and she knew she would never forget it, either.

Now that she was on what she hoped was safe ground, Buffy then cleared her throat. "You were absolutely right about it being just the magic, Dawn. I'm not really hot for bag boys or high school jocks. As a matter of fact, I didn't have much use for them during my high school days."

After Dawn nodded in understanding, Buffy took another deep breath. Now to bring up a memory of her days at Sunnydale High. Buffy thought until one memory came to her.

"Did I ever tell you about that one time that took place a few weeks after my seventeenth birthday? If I remember correctly, it was when I... well..."

She broke off, wondering if she should tell Dawn or not. Luckily, Dawn again caught on to what she was trying to say.

"Broke the Sunnydale High Swim Team captain's nose because he groped you in his car?" Dawn finished for her, giggling a little. "Oh, yeah. That is a definite 'yes' right there."

"Well, he tried to grope me, actually," Buffy corrected, but smiled as she said it. "But, yes — that is exactly what I meant. Of course, as I'm sure you know, my high school days were quite different from yours. But I like reminiscing about them anyway. Nostalgia, I suppose I could call it."

Dawn nodded, getting the meaning behind Buffy's words. "I agree. And speaking of nostalgia, do you remember when we were getting the supplies I needed for my first day at Sunnydale High?"

Buffy nodded. "Yes, I sure do."

"Well," Dawn said after a moment, "I looked over at you, and I noticed that you had that misty look in your eyes. Of course, I knew that you were remembering when you were sixteen years old and you were starting your first day there, too."

Buffy smiled. "As sometimes is with you, Dawn, your powers of observation are quite something. I indeed was having just such a moment."

As the afternoon wore on, Buffy and Dawn shared more memories from Buffy's own high school days with each other. ‛Reminisce about Buffy's High School Days' would've been at the top of the list of Good Topics for Discussion (if there ever was one).

Buffy and Dawn knew that for sure.

After all, life had plenty of surprises — even in a small town situated on top of a Hellmouth (or Boca del Infierno in Spanish, which Dawn had studied because of her fluency in other languages besides English).

Sometimes, Buffy would often either smile or laugh to herself when recalling a conversation she had with her then-boyfriend Angel about her pre-Slayer days around the time of her eighteenth birthday four years ago. She knew that what she had told him was true back then, and it was true now.

The next day, Buffy pulled out her diary and opened it to a clean page.

Picking up her pink pen, she began to write:

When I was fifteen, before I became the Slayer, I was... well, I don't want to say 'shallow', but... OK, maybe 'shallow' actually is probably the right word there. To be precise, I was really smart, but I hid my smarts by pretending to be dumb so my old friends from Hemery High, my old school in Los Angeles, would accept me. In other words, I was never that stupid to begin with, and was play-acting the whole time in order to be accepted by my LA friends. Unfortunately for me, those so-called ‛friends' eventually showed their true colors once they figured out something was up with me, and instead of standing by my side and supporting me like true friends are supposed to do, they dumped me — or to put it another way, they kicked me out of the popular clique.

Now that I look back and remember that, I've come to a painful realization. They weren't real friends to me at all; they were actually immature, selfish and quite mean to others, especially those who were unpopular. And all they cared about was shoes, boys and clothes. As I put it to Angel around the time of my eighteenth birthday, Cordelia looked like a classical philosopher next to me.

Basically, it was one of those situations that fell under the category I would call Discovering Who One's Real Friends Are.

Thankfully, by the time my parents divorced and my mom and I moved to Sunnydale, I'd gotten some sort of empathy that let me connect quite easily with Xander and Willow, although my memories of being cast out of the popularity game are still quite sharp and painful as the bite from a vampire's fangs. So, I not only and quickly understood how Willow and Xander felt when they were picked on and teased by the other students — mostly the jocks — but I also became a friend to Willow and Xander, especially when they needed it the most. And I've never regretted it since.

I've come a long way since I discovered I was the Slayer, and my friends have come a long way too. And I feel that if my friends, my sister Dawn and I stick together and put our minds to it, we can accomplish just about anything.

~Buffy Summers

Buffy looked over what she had written just as a smile crossed her face. What she had written was true — even the last part. Very true, indeed.

Well, I hope you liked reading this oneshot as much as I did writing it. After all, writing is a healthy habit to have and cultivate, especially when it comes to writing fanfics about characters from one's favorite fandoms.

Nice feedback is very much appreciated, of course.. :)