Chapter Twenty-Three: Permanent Retirement

"That's really weird." Jane said looking at Satsu with wide-eyes. "What'd you say to him?" Satsu had just gotten through telling Jane about her phone conversation with the man, Andrew Wells. Jane was leaning forward, looking at Satsu intently.

"I told him that we'd appreciate any help he could give us." She said. "He said he'd have his people here by tonight."

"Wow," she said. "he has people?" Satsu laughed and leaned forward a little.

"Well he works under Buffy. He explained to me that she and her friend, a 'powerful lesbian witch by the name of Willow Rosenberg, who when angry can turn into a Dark Willow that would destroy the world', broke the so-called Slayer Line and gave all potential Slayers their powers. That's how both Julia and I got our powers. Buffy is supposed to be the head of a whole Slayer Organization that operates kind of like the military and fights all kinds of evil."

"Damn," Jane said with a bright smile. "That's friggen awesome." The two laughed and Jane held Satsu's hand. "Sounds like something you should be a part of. Something great." She leaned in to kiss Satsu but she pulled away. Jane let go of her hand and stood up. "I'm sorry, I just—"

"No," Satsu stood up as well. "It's not—" she stopped mid-sentence. She had heard something broke. Glass. Both Satsu and Jane walked towards the sound of the broken glass, which had come from Satsu's room. They walked in and saw a piece of paper attached to a rock. Subtle. Satsu picked up the black rock and took off the rubber band. She unfolded the paper and read it.

Remember the park where we first sparred and almost kissed?

Meet me there tonight. I want to talk to you. Be alone.

Love, Julia

"What's it say?" Jane took the piece of paper out of Satsu's hand. She had stared at it for over a minute without saying a word. "Oh." Jane said giving her the note back. "Um—are you going to go?" Satsu looked up at Jane. She looked like someone had just died.

"I—yeah. I am." Satsu folded the note neatly and placed it in her back pocket. "I'm going to need to get the window fixed now…" she said frowning at the broken glass. "Do you know where Zack and Sophie are?" She was trying desperately to stay off topic.

"Yeah," Jane said picking up the rock. "Zack um—went to Betrix's. He said he's worried about her since we haven't heard from her in a while. Sophie went to talk to Martha's. Something about mending their relationship or something."

"Martha?"

"Zack and Sophie's mother…ish? I don't even know. They've got a pretty screwed up family."

"Tell me about it. Zack and Sophie seem kind of like an item—"

"A really gross, incestuous item." Jane said with a weak laugh. Satsu laughed too.

"Well it's only noon." She said. "You want to go grab lunch?"

"Um—" obviously she hadn't forgotten about their almost-kiss. "Yeah, I guess."

I hadn't seen her since I kicked her out of the pack. I was scared to death about how she would react to my coming to see her. Would she hate me? Would she kick me out of her home? Would she laugh at my face and not even let me in? I didn't know what was going to happen—all I did know was that I owed her an apology. She took me into her home and I repaid her by breaking her up with her husband and sleeping with her kid. What type of fucked up person was I? Was I still that person inside? Have I even changed at all?

Sophie knocked on the wooden door weakly. She wasn't too sure of the idea. Zack had told her that it would help her in her quest of seeking redemption and what not. I need to pee. She took in a deep breath. Her flaming hair was shining brightly as she knocked on the door harder. It opened.

"Sophie?" Martha asked. Neither Zack nor Sophie had told Martha about her turning a new leaf. So, Sophie wasn't surprised to see the contempt and disgust on the woman's face. Sophie was, however, disappointed. This is definitely not a good idea. Stupid fucking Zack…

"Hi, Martha." Sophie said with a half-smile. "Can I come in?" Martha was unsurprisingly taken-aback by Sophie's politeness.

"What do you want?" she asked, rudely but understandably.

"I—I want to talk to you. Please." Martha looked at the girl suspiciously for a few seconds before opening the door wider. Sophie nodded politely and walked into the empty house. She walked over to the couch and sat down.

"You want anything to drink?" Martha asked.

"No, I'm fine." Sophie said. Martha sat down on the other couch, directly facing Sophie. She looked older than Sophie had remembered her. She used to look so young.

"So what do you want?" Martha asked again. Sophie breathed through her nostrils, trying to make as little noise as possible.

"I um—came—to—apologized." Sophie said, moving her hands in the air.

"Apologize?"

"For everything that I've done to you." She said. "Zack's been helping me turn a new leaf. He's trying to help me change to be a better person. I want to be a better person—" For him.

"Really?" Martha said, obviously unconvinced.

"Yeah," Sophie said, trying to come up with the most convincing way to express her newfound interest in fighting the good fight. Because of Zack, she thought. No, that would make her angry. "I've realized what a bitch I was." She said. "And I'm trying to atone." Martha looked at her long and hard before she nodded.

"That's good for you, Sophie. I'm glad." The two smiled weakly at each other and sat in silence for a long time. "So are you still with Cooper?" She finally asked, breaking the long held silence.

"No—he um—I'm not sure what happened to him. We fought against the Boss and he got captured. I rescued Zack and them—I never saw him. He might be on Julia's team now—I'm not sure." Martha nodded her head and silence fell upon them again. "I'm really sorry about it. You know? The whole kicking you out of the pack thing. It really was just—"

"I think what you did was probably the best thing anyone could have done for me." She said nodding her head. "Albeit with all the wrong intentions. But if you hadn't—I don't think I could've gotten out from underneath that man's paws. He had me pinned down and on a leash. You saved me, Sophie."

"In that case I'm not sorry." The two of them laughed at that. "Zack told me that the best way for me to atone is to start mending my relationships with the people that I've hurt. So—yeah."

"Zack's a good boy." Martha said. "He's the only one out of my three children that I got to see become an adult. A man." Apparently I'm not one of your kids. "I'm glad I get to see you become a good woman, too, Sophie. And I hope you and Zack can have a happy life together." What? "Oh, don't look at me like that. I'm not stupid. You have love written all over your face." She smiled at Sophie and Sophie couldn't help but to smile back. I do love him. "Look—I know that there must be some part of you that feels like it's wrong to care about him. For one, you're over five years older than him. Two, you think it's wrong because he's your 'brother'." Sophie nodded her head. So…where's the "but"? "But, you didn't grow up with him. You lived on your own by the time he was old enough to understand anything. You're not blood. And if you're lucky enough to find someone you care about—who cares what anyone else thinks." Sophie smiled to herself and nodded.

"Thank you, Martha." Martha held the girl's hands.

"I've never looked at you as a daughter." She said. "And I don't mean that in a bad way. You have my blessing."

"You know—you're teaching me some pretty bad morals."

"Well, it is our family after all."

Zack had came back and told me that Betrix and Amy were gone and that there were lingering traces of Julia being there as well. When Sophie came back I told the three of them to stay in case Andrew and his Slayers come. Zack insisted that he go with me. I told him no. He finally gave up and stayed at home.

The whole walk, Satsu had been imagining what she would say to Julia when she saw her. What direction the conversation would even take. Would it be tearful reunion? An angry breakup? A bitter goodbye? A loathsome introduction to a mortal enemy?

The park was empty, just like the night that she and Julia had sparred. Katana was standing exactly where they were the last time. The dim lights still made her look beautiful, although she was much paler than before. Upon spotting Satsu, Katana gave her a smile. She looks…fine. Julia's fine. Satsu ran forward and threw herself at Katana, who also embraced her back. Katana ran her icy cold fingers along Satsu's face and gave her a kiss on the lips.

"I've missed you—so much." Satsu said, holding her dead girlfriend in her arms.

"I've missed you, too." Katana said softly. "I really did." They kissed again. But something was wrong. It didn't feel right. It didn't feel like she was kissing Julia. All her warmth, all her passion, all her love wasn't there. What was left was a shell, a shell inhabited by some alien being that still carried her memories.

"Why didn't you come to me sooner?" Satsu asked, trying her best to ignore the nagging feeling in the pit of her stomach. "I want to help you. I want to kill Valentine with my bare hands."

"It was something I needed to do alone."

"Needed?"

"He's gone. So is Solomon. So is most of his army. I kept the survivors to help me in my cause."

"Your cause?"

"I have a plan. An idea."

"So what's your plan?"

"To end the world." Katana said simply.

"Really? You're master plan is to end the world? Why the hell would you want to do that?" Satsu was taking a few steps away now. She stared in disbelief upon the face of the girl she once loved with all her being. The girl that once loved her back, just as much.

"I've lived. I've unlived. I want to retired. And I know you do too. And so does everybody else in this world. If I create a war between vampires and Slayers—it'll escalade into something more. And then—the world will be in chaos and everything will ultimately end. If everyone is gone...then we'll finally have peace. As long as there are people...there will be conflict. And once it ends—we'll all be in peace. No more fighting. No more dying. No more tears. It'll all be over. Total liberation. Permanent retirement, Satsu." Satsu took even more steps back, shaking her head.

"That's not how you do it, Julia. If you want to retire—I'll do it with you. We can stop all the blood shedding and live normal lives."

"Normal, Satsu?" Katana laughed out loud. "There is no normal. There wasn't any normal when I was alive, and they're no normal for me now. Especially now."

"I can't let you do this, Jules."

"You can't stop me. And if you try—I will kill you. You are the single most important person to me on this planet—but I will kill you myself if you get in my way." Satsu took out her stake.

"No. Not right now." Katana said. "I can kill you very easily, Satsu. I want you to think about it. Give it a day. If you still want to stop me—me and my people will be at the battle field in front of Solomon's HQ this time tomorrow. If you still want to stop me then find me then." Katana stepped forward and kissed her on the forehead. "I do love you, Satsu."

Jane heard the doorbell ring loudly, echoing in the empty house. Must be the Slayer Organization. She fixed her hair in the mirror. Several dozen girls. Hope someone in there's gay. I'm tired of being alone…

She opened the door to find a depressed looking Satsu. She came inside and fell onto the couch. She was silent for a long time, seemingly reflecting upon the events that had transpired. After about five minutes, Sophie explained to them what had happened and about the coming battle the next night at "Mount Solomon".

"We need those Slayers here as soon as possible." Zack said after Sophie had finished catching them up. "If not—we're in for a world of trouble. Or—no world at all." Zack let out a sigh. "Jul—Katana is way too powerful. She could rip all our heads off before we could blink. How do you defeat someone that powerful?"

"You call in for the cavalry…" Jane was looking through the window at the massive amount of girls walking towards their door. Jane ran and opened the door to greet them. A small man with long hair smiled at her. He extended his hand and she shook it. They were rather soft.

"I'm Andrew Wells. Is Satsu here?" Satsu stood up and got up next to Jane. They shook hands.

"Nice to meet you, Mr. Wells." She finally recognized him. He was the flamboyant man from the commercial she had seen when she first found out about her powers. Although back then his hair was shorter.

"Please, call me Andrew." He said with a strange voice. "May we come in?" Satsu nodded. She and Jane stepped out of the way so that he and his Slayers could come in. The living room was soon filled with girls. Some were extremely attractive...some not.

"So this is what heaven feels like." Zack said with a smile. Sophie punched him on the arms. "Ow, kidding. Geez." He put his arm around her and pulled her in close to him. "Don't be going all jealous on me." He kissed her on the top of her head. Satsu explained the situation to Andrew and after everything he nodded.

"Well, my source have already filled me in that much. Her powers are what we're concerned about." Satsu nodded. "Rona," an African American girl stepped forward. She was a decent sized girl with long dreadlock hair. "Rona here is one of the best Slayers we've got. She's captain of a squad and one of the few that was trained directly under Buffy herself. She's going to be in command of the Slayers in the battle field." Rona extended her hand and shook Satsu's.

"Nice to meet you, Satsu." She said.

"You too." Satsu replied.

"I know it's late, but what I wanted to do was test your skills first. See how strong you are and where you'd fit in when we start fighting." Rona said. "I can take it from here, Andrew." Andrew nodded and walked over to Zack's DVD collection rack.

"Oh! You have all the Star Wars! I might feel at home here yet." He said happily looking at them.

"Is he an idiot?" Zack asked Rona. She laughed and shook her head.

"He's just like that." She looked back at Satsu. "So like Andrew said, I'm the leader of the Chicago squad. Most of them are here tonight along with Andrew's squad and Vi's New York squad." The decent looking redhead from the commercial stepped forward and shook Satsu's hand.

"The name's Violet. She just can't shake old habits of calling me by my nickname." The girl said with a wink. She seemed nice.

"Alright. So here's the thing. I've got novice, trained, and experienced fighters. I want you to fight one of each. How's that sound to you?"

"Fine." Satsu said.

"Good. Let's go to your backyard." After they had all left the living room and into the dimly lit backyard, Rona pointed at three Slayers, a young girl with jet-black hair, a large girl with muscles the size of Texas, and Violet. "This is Monique." She pointed at the young girl. "Linda," she pointed at the large girl. "And Vi here's going to be my second in command out there tomorrow. She's trained and she's strong and fast. You'll fight her last. Monique get ready." Monique stepped forward and gave Satsu a bow and a smile. She got into fighting stance.

"Like—right now?" Satsu asked.

"Yes, right now." Rona said. Monique charged forward and Satsu stepped out of the way. The girl threw two punches to which Satsu blocked and punched her in the stomach. The girl fell to the ground. Satsu stepped forward to ask if she was okay but she doubled legged her. This fight reminds me of the one I had with Julia a long time ago…

"Nice," Satsu said wrapping her arm around the girl's skinny body and lifting her off the air. She threw her.

"Enough," Rona said. Monique got up wearily with a frown. "You did well, Monique. Linda!" Linda stepped forward. She was almost twice the size Satsu was and undoubtedly strong. "Linda held her own against eight vampires once." Linda got into stance. Satsu did as well. The large girl threw a punch that was faster than Satsu expected. It connected with her face and Satsu fell to the ground. She rolled backwards and got back up.

"Holy crap," she muttered to herself. I'm so in over my head. The girl charged at her. Satsu jumped as high as she could, somersaulted in the air, and landed behind the girl. She gave her a kick to the back. The girl toppled over. I need to stop copying Julia's moves. The girl got back up, anger written all over her face. Ah, hell. The girl charged again, this time she picked Satsu up and tossed her. Satsu landed on her feet.

"She's good," Rona said to Violet. Violet nodded and smiled.

"She's really good." She said. Satsu blocked three punches, found an opening, and punched Linda in the ribs. The girl let out a yell and backhanded Satsu. Dazed, Satsu took a few steps back. God damn, she's strong. The girl came at her again. Satsu punched her in the face, did a once handed cartwheel, and kicked her twice in the face. Linda fell down, unconscious. Rona smiled and pointed at two Slayers to help Linda up. She looked over at Violet.

"Nah," she said with smile. "I know where she stands. Don't you?" Rona nodded.

"Yeah," she said.

"What's that mean?" Satsu asked walking up to them.

"You got a lot to learn. But you've got potential."

"So that was all that was for?"

"No," Andrew said stepping forward. "You girls mind me explaining this to her?" Rona shrugged and Violet threw her hands up.

"Better you than me." She said.

"The girls here were testing to see what squad you would fit in best." Andrew said. "You've got potential. You're not as good as Violet and Rona yet—but you'll get there." He looked over at the two of them. "I think she should but placed in Buffy's team. What do you two think?" Both of them nodded their heads.

"I think she'd be really good if she gets to be trained under Buffy." Rona said. "Might even surpass us."

"Um—what?"

"I'm sorry," Andrew said. "We want you to join the Slayer Organization. We think you can do a lot of good."

"Um—I'm not sure—"

"Just take your time. The offer doesn't end." Rona said. Satsu nodded her head and looked over at Jane who smiled at her and gave her a wink. Join the Slayer Organization?

"So…what now?"

"Now—we're going to discuss some plans and tactics for tomorrow. You should get some rest."

So that was it. Valentine was gone. Solomon was dead. I acquired over a dozen followers. My revenge was done. Now, for the grand plan…

Katana stood looking at Betrix, who was handing a slice of pizza to Amy. Katana had been bringing them pizza on a regular interval. It was the only thing the kid would eat.

"So, what's your great plan now, Julia?" Betrix asked her. Katana stretched her arms.

"Destroying all Slayers." She said simply with a wide smile.

"Why? What would that accomplish? What's your motivation? What's the point of it?"

"That's for me to know and you to die before you find out. Now—from what I've heard there's a Slayer Organization. I don't know how big it is, how strong they are, and how many people they have. I need you to find out."

"And how the hell am I going to do that?"

"Oh, come on now, Betrix. You don't think you're all that special do you? The only reason I need you is because I need her." She looked over at Amy, who was eating her cold slice of pizza.

"That's too much—"

"Of a strain on her?" Katana laughed. "Too bad. I could just torture and kill her if that's what you prefer." Betrix closed her eyes and let out a frustrated sigh.

"Fine," she turned to look at girl. "We got work to do, Amy."