Over a year had passed since the Collapse of Sunnydale and Buffy was finally settling down with her young charges. Over the summer the two teenagers had looked into several different small towns, but didn't find any of them particularly attractive to them. That is, until they found the small secluded town of Forks, Washington. It seemed perfect for them, especially after the busy summer they just finished. It was small, something all three of them had grown accustomed to, but not too far from Port Angeles, which is where Buffy would be able to patrol and attend her night classes at the local community college in addition to the shopping experience open for the teenage girls. The town was surrounded by nature, something essential in their training as witches, and had a counseling job open at the high school. The place was all they could-silently-wish for in a new home.
The house itself was a perfect fit for them. Tucked in a far corner of the secluded town, none of their actions would be under the microscope so they were free to do whatever they pleased. With five bedrooms and three bathrooms, they each had their own personal space, something they had seriously been lacking over the last year. It had both an attic and a basement, both of which were large and well-ventilated, so they became the magic and training rooms. With an ignoramus fenced-in backyard, there was enough room for an above-ground pool, if they ever decided to buy one, and the dog they had always longed for growing up. Attached to the side of the house was a garage, which housed Buffy's brand new cherry red convertible mustang and the teenagers' pimped out and personalized golf carts they had begged for over the last month.
The floor plan was pretty simple compared to some of the places they had stayed in over the summer. The white wooden front door opened into a wide hallway, where one could hang their keys or drop the mail. Right before the hall opened up, there were stairs set in the wall that led upwards. Passed them was a large living room with two archways on the wall opposite the staircase. One led to the kitchen and the other led to the dining room, both of which were connected by another archway. On the other side of the staircase was a hallway that led to two guest bedrooms and a half-bath. To the right of the flat-screen television was a door that led into a multi-purpose room. Upstairs, there were three bedrooms, two bathrooms, and two patio areas. Buffy claimed the master bedroom, with its private bathroom and small outdoor patio-slash-balcony, while the girls claimed the other two rooms, which were connected by a large bathroom and walk-in closet.
Each room was decked out in the best furniture possible. On either side of the living room's flat-screen TV were bookcases, one for movies and television series and one for video games. The couch was soft white and rounded into a U with a glass coffee table in the middle. The wall at the back of the house had two large arched windows at either end and the wall to the left had a sliding-glass door that led out into the backyard. Along the same wall was a self about half-way up the wall that they were going to use for photographs since there wasn't a fireplace like there had been in Sunnydale.
The dining room was formal and they just knew they would hardly use it, especially since there was an island in the middle of the kitchen. The table was long enough to seat eight – without the three leaves tucked away in the garage, but the rest of the room was pretty plain. The kitchen, on the other hand, was very modern with the gleaming stainless steel everywhere. One wall was completely taken up by counters while the one adjacent to it was taken up by two sinks, a dishwasher, two baker's ovens, and two stoves. The double-wide refrigerator and chest freezer stood against the wall with the archway leading out into the main house, one of each side of the arch.
Once all the boxes were brought in and distributed throughout the house, the three young women converged in the kitchen. Buffy had just placed an order in at the local pizzeria when the teenagers made themselves comfortable around the rather large island.
"We have too much stuff," Dawn groaned, folding her arms on the marble counter top and resting her chin on her wrists. "Some would say, too much stuff."
"Never!" Buffy scoffed, rolling her eyes as she took a water bottle from the refrigerator. "And, anyways, this is just what we're accumulated over the last year."
"Buffy," Rory said slowly, reaching across the island to rest the back of her hand against Buffy's forehead, "are you okay? Does you brain hurt?"
"No," Buffy pushed Rory's hand away. "Why?"
"You used a big word there, Buff," Dawn explained before turning to her cousin. "Is she running a fever or something?"
"Not that I could feel," Rory replied, glancing at the blond. "Maybe it was just a fluke?"
"Stop it, you two!" Buffy laughed at them. "I just picked up a word from Giles. It's not a big deal."
"Fluke," the two seventeen-year-olds chorused as Buffy's shook her head.
"Seriously, girls," Buffy sighed. "Stop it."
"Fine, fine," Rory nodded, grabbing Buffy's water bottle, which she had just set on the counter top.
"Hey!" the Slayer protested as Rory took a swing before handing it back. "I think you should get your own bottle."
"Nah."
"Oooh!" Dawn squealed suddenly, eyes alight with excitement. "Buffy, do you know what the fenced in backyard means?"
"What?" Buffy inquired, already knowing that she was going to regretting asking.
"A puppy!" the Key giggled, bouncing in her seat.
"Dawn, that's a great idea!" Rory squealed as the two of them turned their puppy-dog eyes to their guardian.
"No. No. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no!" Buffy denied, shaking her head fiercely, but she eventually caved under the dual puppy-dog-eyes-pouty-lip trick the girls were playing. "Fine. But not until after we're settled nicely in the town. And you two have to keep your grades up."
"Agreed," the girls nodded together.
"Great," Buffy muttered under her breath as the doorbell rang. "I'll get it."
The two teenagers watched her leave the kitchen before they turned to one another and smiled brightly, each hoping that this new town would be good for them and would finally give them the normal life they craved. The Slayer came back with three boxes of pizza and set them down. Each girl took a box, opened them, and then promptly switched. Neither of them bothered with plates as they picked up a slice each and took a hearty bite, watched by Buffy, who just shook her head and dug into her own pizza.
"So..." Rory put her piece back into the box as she got up, "today is Saturday, which leaves today and tomorrow to unpack and settle in. Monday is school and, hey, Buffy, when is your classes?"
"Uh, Monday, Wednesday, and every other Friday," Buffy replied as Rory grabbed two water bottles from the refrigerator before going back to her seat, handing one bottle to Dawn. "Which reminds me, we've got new rules."
"Of course we do," Dawn grinned, taking a swing of water. "Lay 'em on us, Buff."
"No inviting anyone into this house, especially after dark," Buffy began, meeting both of their eyes. "Each and every time you walk out that door you better have a stake and a vial of holy water. Keep you phones on at all times, even during school, but have them on silent. Tell me when you're leaving and where you're going. It's not that I want to control you, but it's a safety measure. Keep your protection charms Willow made you on at all times; also a safety measure as they have tracking spells on them as well. Come straight home after school and do all homework before doing anything else, and yes, this includes magic. Ask before inviting anybody over and I have to meet any guy you two plan on dating. If I don't approve of him, you better not see him again. Curfew is ten o'clock sharp and if you're late, you better have a damn good reason. Any questions?"
Silence met her words as the girls thought over the new rules. They were pretty standard for normal families, but they weren't by any means normal so they rather liked them.
"I'm not playing around this time," Buffy sighed, rubbing her eyes. "I want you two to have a fun-filled childhood and if being a little strict on the rules gives you that, I'll do it."
"We get it, Buff," Dawn assured her, picking up another piece of anchovy-covered pizza.
"How in the world can you eat that?" Rory winkled her nose at the mere smell of Dawn's pizza.
"It's yummy!" Dawn defended her food choices.
"I think the monks screwed up her taste buds," Buffy informed Rory with a smile. "Everything else is fine except her taste buds."
"Makes sense," Rory agreed, taking a bite of her own pepperoni pizza.
The three of them spent the next hour finishing their pizzas and discussing what was expected of them now that they had the chance to live semi-normal lives, but before long, they had to drag themselves back to to unpacking. The two teens went straight to their bedrooms while Buffy took the living room, which was littered with several small boxes filled with framed pictures.
As Buffy took out each photo, she smiled at the memories that arose when she looked down at the smiling faces. Most of the ones she placed on the shelf were of the Scoobies while the ones she hung on the walls were of herself, Dawn, and Joyce or herself, Dawn, and Rory. Willow had manged a spell to replicate things from memory and all she wanted was the photos of her mother while Xander chose his comic book collection and Willow brought back her pictures of Tara. The redhead's choice of 'irreplaceable' irritated Kennedy to no end and was a large factor in their split.
Buffy smiled at the ceiling as she placed the last frame on the wall. She knew the two girls had had a rough couple of years, but they kept smiling and it was for them that Buffy lived. She could hear her young charges walking around and talking and laughing as they unpacked and settled into their new lives.
Buffy only hoped that they could finally settle into a nice normal life.
# #
"Alice, what is it?" Carlisle Cullen asked his youngest daughter; her eyes had slid out of focus in the middle of their conversation and he knew she had received a vision.
"I-I'm not sure," she replied, sounding confused and unsure of herself, which was very rare when it came to her visions. "I see three women; they just moved to Forks and they will all be at the school tomorrow. Two of them, the teenagers, are covered by a green mist so I can hardly see them at all. The last one is shrouded by a purple mist, and I can see even less of her. Wait, something is clearing up. They will receive a letter from...Sineya's Watcher Council?"
Carlisle gasped at that piece of information. "Anything else?"
"No," Alice shook her head, clearing it of the vision. "I'm sorry that I couldn't get anymore."
"No, no, it's fine," Carlisle assured her, resting a hand on her arm. "We need to gather everyone and inform them of this development."
"Carlisle, you sound worried," Alice remarked as they made their way out of his office.
"I am," he replied, rubbing his face as he searched the floor below the balcony for Edward. Upon finding the bronze-haired vampire, he mentally sent out a request to gather everyone in the living room. "Where is Jasper?"
"In our room," the pixie vampire replied, glancing down the hall where a door stood ajar. "I'll get him."
"Thank you," Carlisle smiled softly before walking down the stairs and into the living room at a hurried speed. Esme was already there and stepped over to him, resting a gentle hand on his chest as his arm snaked around her waist so his hand rested on her hip. "Hello, my love."
"Hello," Esme returned with a smile as Rosalie came inside from the garage and Edward and Emmett came from the backyard. "What has you so worried, Carlisle?"
"Let us wait for-" he stopped as Alice and Jasper joined them. "Nevermind then. Alice, dear, why don't you tell them about your vision?"
Upon command, Alice brought her latest vision to the forefront of her mind, showing Edward in the process, and explained what she saw, getting little help from her mind-reading brother. When she opened her eyes again, she saw looks of curiosity and worry raging over her family's faces, especially Carlisle and Jasper, for two completely different reasons.
"Carlisle, honey, what's got you so worried?" Esme asked her husband, worry for him clear in her voice and posture.
"The Watcher's Council," Carlisle sighed again before launching into everything he knew about the Council, which wasn't much, especially after it was blown up and was transformed into Sineya's Council. Once he was sure his family understood what the Council did – kill mercilessly – he took a deep, calming breath and told them exactly how he knew everything he did about the Council. "My father was a Watcher and my mother was his Slayer."
Carlisle went on to explain what he knew, which wasn't much because his father had absolutely hated speaking about his mother. Richard Cullen had gotten custody of a seventeen-year-old Potential after her first Watcher was killed and had soon fallen in love with the girl. When the Council decided that Linda was no longer a Potential, they called him back, but the day before he was to depart, she was Called. Unfortunately, she was pregnant, though able to hide it well since it was attractive to be overweight in that time period. She fought demons until she went into labor and died giving birth to Carlisle, who was raised as a Hunter by his father until he was turned in his early twenties.
When his tale winded down, he looked at them all, meeting their sad expressions before he rubbed a hand over his face again and pulled Esme closer to him. They stood like that for what seemed forever; Emmett held Rosalie in his arms and Alice and Jasper were in a mirrored position while Edward stood by his piano.
"Alice," Edward hissed as her eyes slid out of focus again.
# #
Monday dawned early for the three young women. Buffy got up first and woke the other two up before she headed downstairs where she got out three packets of Pop-Tarts, leaving two on the counter as she took the third up to her room with her. Luckily, Rory had the foresight to shower the night before, leaving the shower to Dawn as she got ready.
Rory got dressed in dark blue skinny jeans that rumpled at the ankle above her black flats; she wore a white tank top under a black button-down short-sleeved shirt, which she had only buttoned the middle three buttons. Her make-up was light, just enough eye-liner to bring out her blue eyes and lip gloss to make her lips shimmer. Her hair was worn in a high ponytail with a *Jersey bump towards the front. The only accessory was her Med-Alert bracelet, letting the world know of her allergy to oxycodone.
When Dawn stepped out of the shower, she dried her hair quickly before sliding herself into black leggings and a dark blue jean skirt; she pulled on a flow-sleeved blood red shirt before adding the leather jacket Buffy had given her. Her leather boots reached her knees and her oval pendent finished off the outfit quite nicely. When she was dressed, Dawn went back to the bathroom and brushed out her hair, leaving it to fall naturally around her shoulders, curling slightly at the tips. Her make-up was also fairly light, just barely bringing out her eyes and making her lips pouty.
The two teenagers met Buffy at the bottom of the stairs, where she showed off her professional outfit. The blond had chosen loose tan dress pants and a white turtle-neck flow-sleeve sweater with black pointed-toed kitten heels. Over the sweater, she had thrown on her old leather jacket and finished off the outfit with a single gold chain bracelet and a rose-quarts pendent on a gold chain. Buffy had twisted her hair up in a similar style to the one she had worn when she had dropped Dawn off for her first day at the newly rebuilt Sunnydale High and kept her make-up light.
"Breakfast?" Rory asked and Buffy pointed to the kitchen, where the two Pop-Tart packets still were.
"Pop-Tarts on the counter," Buffy explained, following the girls into the kitchen. "Grab them and your book bags and let's go."
"I put our book bags in the garage last night before I went to bed," Dawn informed Rory as she handed her cousin one of the silver packets.
"Okie dokie," Rory smiled.
The three of them made their way into the garage, where Buffy directed the teenagers into the backseat of her mustang, not wanting to deal with an argument over who gets to ride up front, and popped in a Katy Perry CD. Since they lived on the outskirts of town, the drive to the high school was rather long, but they filled the time with chatter about this and that.
Upon reaching the school, Buffy pulled into the teacher's parking lot and led the way into the front office, which was cluttered and even more green than outside. There was a older woman sitting at the front desk, which was absolutely covered in papers and fake plants, as was the rest of the rather small office.
"Ms Buffy Summers?" the woman inquired as the blond approached, leaving the girls to hang back.
"Yep," Buffy smiled brightly. "Is the principal in yet?"
"Yes, and she's expecting you," the woman replied. "She's right through that door," she pointed to the closed door that read "Principal" on the right side of the cluttered desk. "Are these lovely girls Dawn Summers and Lorelai Gilmore?"
"Yes, ma'am," Buffy replied, heading to the door. "Be good, girls, and I'll see you later," with that she disappeared through the door.
"I'm Mrs Cope and I'm the school secretary," the woman said. "Who is who?"
"I'm Dawn and this is my cousin Rory," Dawn introduced as they stepped forward. "Our schedules, please?"
"One moment, Miss Summers," Mrs Cope requested, leafing through papers as Rory folded her arms on a stack of papers and rested her head on them. "Here we go, girls," the secretary said, holding out several papers. "Would you like me to go through them with you?"
"No, thanks, I think we can handle," Dawn denied politely, taking the papers from her. "If we could just get a map of the school, I think we'll be good to go."
"Over there," Mrs Cope motioned to the back wall, where a shelf held several stacks of different colored papers. "There's a paper in there for the both of you that you have to get signed by each teacher and return at the end of the day, please."
"Okay," Dawn agreed, tugging on her silent cousin. "Time to go, Rory."
The cousins walked out of the office and into the chilly air. Rory had to run back in and grab a map, so Dawn took the time to look over their schedules – identical – before separating hers from Rory's. The blue-eyed teen came back out, accepted her papers, and handed a map to Dawn, tucking another one into her bag.
"So, where to?"
"English," Dawn replied, looking over the map. It took her a moment, but she located the building she was looking for and started leading her cousin in that general direction, walking slowly as they still had plenty of time left before school started. "Our schedules are the same, by the way. English with Mr Mason, Government with Mr Jefferson, Trigonometry with Mr Varner, Spanish with Ms Hendiaz, lunch, Biology with Mr Banner, and PE with Coach Clapp."
"I'm never touching him," Rory remarked, suppressing a shudder as Dawn laughed. "I wonder if Buffy asked them to put us together."
"It's most likely," Dawn replied as they approached their first period. "She knows that neither of us do real well on first days by ourselves. I mean, my first day at SunnyD High I was attacked by ghosts who were after my sister, who my new friends mistook to my mom."
"I didn't get into any trouble," Rory pointed out as they leaned against the wall beside the door; the school was still empty so they weren't even going to attempt to enter the classroom, "so it must just be for you."
"Hey!"
"You know it's true, Dawnie."
"Whatever," Dawn grumbled, but a smile was playing along her lips anyways. "So."
"So?"
"So, I was thinking," Dawn started, turning to her cousin.
"Did it hurt?" Rory joked.
"Hey!" Dawn protested before continuing with her train of thought, "I was thinking about this weekend."
"Yeah?"
"We should go to the beach," Dawn suggested as people began to show up. "I hear there's, like, three on the reservation."
"Sounds fun," Rory nodded, pushing herself from the wall as the teacher opened the door slowly. "C'mon. It's time to get to class."
# #
"I hate this," Alice told her husband as they pulled into the student's parking lot at the high school. "I can see them, but I can't at the same time and it's really annoying!"
"I'm sorry, my love," Jasper murmured, a nice Southern accent coating his words. "Maybe we'll see them today."
"Make an appointment with the guidance councilor," Edward advised, parking the silver Volvo they had ridden in that day. "From what I'm picking up, she was just hired."
"Okay," Alice chirped, happy now that she had a plan, as they got out of the car, Rosalie and Emmett exited his Jeep next to them. "And keep an eye out of the other two girls, please, Edward."
He nodded, a look of pain crossing his face before being buried again. He hated actively looking into anyone's head, but it's not like he could help it. It wasn't his fault the thoughts of others streamed into his mind nonstop.
But he'd look if it was what Alice wanted, if that's what she needed.