Journey's End

by The Ascended Ancient

AU S6. Overcome by grief over Buffy's death, Dawn runs away from home. On her own, she meets a new friend on his own journey, one that leads both of them back to Sunnydale, and a confrontation with evils within and without that will test them both.

1. Alone

Journey's End
Written By: The Ascended Ancient

Disclaimer: I do not own any part of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, nor am I making any money from this story. However, all characters, story concepts, etc. that are the direct product of my imagination are my property, and cannot be reproduced in any form without my express written consent.

Chapter I
"Alone"

"I love you. I will always love you. But this is the work that I have to do…"

The words played over and over in her mind, an endless torture, a gift from a world that had clearly decided she hadn't suffered enough.

"Tell Giles that I figured it out, and that I'm ok…"

She had. She'd spoken those very words, and it hadn't made either of them feel any better.

"And give my love to my friends. You have to take care of each other now…"

Her friends… their friends… were crying when she got back down from the tower. They were still crying when her legs finally gave out and she fell to the ground, tears soaking her dress.

"Dawn the hardest thing in this world is to live in it."

Of all the things that had been said, that was the part Dawn agreed with. This world was hard. It was cruel. It was filled with so much evil that no one, not even a Slayer, could make it a safe place. And then this town… it had taken her mother and sister from her in a matter of months. It was the Hellmouth, the epicenter of evil and cruelty in a world that never lacked either of those things anywhere.

Someone took her hand. It was a man – Xander? Spike? Giles? Dawn didn't look up to see. Her eyes were too filled with tears; she couldn't see much of anything. That was the way it should be though. The world around her wasn't anything worth seeing anyway.

Before long, she was in her house, being led up to her room. Willow came in later and tried to say something soothing, but it didn't come out right. In the end, Dawn went to bed that night alone.

Alone. That's how she was now. Her family was gone. Her friends would try to fill the gap, the hole in her life, but they would never be able to. She felt as if her heart had been ripped right out of her and consumed by the Hellmouth that had caused her family so much grief over the years. It was a wound that she knew would never heal.

Dawn reached under her bed and pulled it out. She'd stolen it from Buffy over two years ago, back when she was still secretly jealous of her older sister being the Slayer. None of those memories were real, though, of course. Just like her, they were a creation of some monks. Her mom and Buffy had lives. They deserved to live, not her. Someone who wasn't real shouldn't be given the gift of life that so many others were being deprived of. So many others, so many more deserving people. Buffy…

She touched the cold metal of the knife's blade to her wrist. She should've died already, up on that tower. Her life was an abomination; her existence had destroyed those she was supposed to care about. She should do the world a favor. She was about to do the world a favor.

"Live."

Buffy's last words entered her mind again as she gripped the hilt, almost ready to press down and finish this.

"Live. For me."

"I can't," Dawn whispered in between sobs. "This isn't right."

"The hardest thing in this world is to live in it."

"I can't live in it. Not without you."

"Live. For me."

The tears streamed faster as she dropped the knife to the ground. An hour passed by with nothing to hear but her muffled sobs before Dawn spoke again, "Not here."

She leapt out of bed, her grief pushed aside for a moment by a sense of purpose. She grabbed clothes, some money, and a few snacks she had lying around her room into a bag. Tying her bed sheets together, she climbed out her window and walked off into the night.

This town had destroyed her life. This Hellmouth had taken everything she'd ever loved and stolen it away from her. She would live, for Buffy if not for herself. But she couldn't do it in this town. Not any more.

A few miles away, Dawn Summers climbed onto a bus. She paid the fare and sat down in the back. She didn't know where it was going, and she didn't really care. Anywhere was better than here.

End of Chapter I

A/N: A very dark opening to a story that will have quite a bit of darkness in it. For those out there who want to read more, REVIEW!!!!!