Chapter 4

Two weeks later

The last couple of weeks had gone by in wink, the three of them used the time to spend some time together, Seeley used the time to get some rest and spend some time with his son. But now the reality was knocking on the door and their family time had ended and it was time to get back to reality, Bea had come over in the morning and was taking Conner to school. With Conner at school, he knew that he and Buffy would finally have to have the talk that they have been successfully avoiding.

Buffy decided to take a shower while Seeley used the time to say bye to his son and reassure him that everything will be fine and he would see him after school. "Don't worry bud, I am going to be here the whole day and once you get home you can show me how to play that new game you got on the Gameboy".

"Ok daddy" Conner said quietly as he went to get his backpack.

"Daddy?" questioned Bea, "He hasn't called you daddy in years".

"Yeah, I spoke to Sweets, he seems to think that the recent events have scared Conner a bit, that's why he has regressed slightly and he has been a bit clingy as well lately" explained Seeley.

Bea nodded in understanding, "Well if you need anything just let me know, if you need me to pick Conner up or you need me to take him for the night let me know".

"Yeah, I will do, thank you so much Bea" Seeley thanked her, just as Conner entered the room, with his backpack over his shoulder and he followed Bea out of the door waving bye to his dad, "See you in couple of hours Conner" Seeley said just before the door closed.

Seeley was still sitting on the couch, when Buffy finally emerged from the shower, covered in a towel, with a steam billowing out of the bathroom behind her. Buffy hadn't noticed him yet as she headed to the bedroom to get changed. Seeley couldn't help but wish he had the energy to follow Buffy into the bedroom. Buffy walked out of the bedroom, putting her hair into a messy bun and joined him at the couch, at the opposite end of the couch, she puled her feet up and turned around to face Seeley. Seeley turned around and imitated Buffy's position. The two of the sat on the couch in silence and watched each other. Buffy looked at Seeley silently cataloging the differences in his appearances from when she last saw him. Whereas Seeley was silently wondering how on earth Buffy looked exactly like she did, he did notice the lingering look of grief in her eyes, that look told him that something terrible had happened.

Buffy sighed, "We should talk, shouldn't we?"

"Yeah" Seeley said inaudibly, they both looked at each other, neither of them wanted to start the conversation. Finally, Seeley asked the question that had been burning in the back of his mind since he saw her standing at the door of his hospital room, "How did this happen?"

"From what I understand, the tumour has been there before you turned and it had stopped growing but once you became a human, the tumour started to grow again" she explained.

"Right, I understand that. But what I meant was how did I become human? I distinctly remember going after the dragon. How did I survive?" questioned Seeley, "I have these memories…. A childhood. But the rational part of my mind is telling me that those memories are fake". Seeley didn't know how to explain what he was trying to ask her.

Buffy understood what he was trying to ask and she knew what he need to know and she hoped she could explain it to him. "Do you remember the Scrolls of Aberjian which contained the Shanshu Prophecy?"

"I think so…." Seeley tried to sort through his mind, shifting through the different sets of memories, trying to recall what the Prophecy said.

Buffy looked at the intense look on his face and she had to stop herself from throwing herself onto Seeley. Instead, Buffy huffed in amusement and said, "Having two sets of memories will make it hard for you to remember everything that has happened". While, Seeley gave up trying to remember what the contents of the Prophecy.

"The Shanshu Prophecy foresaw the coming of a vampire with a soul, this vampire would be the crucial point of stopping an all-consuming apocalypse. In return he would be rewarded by being granted his greatest wish, of being restored as a human". Seeley looked on at her in dumbfounded silence, slowly going through everything she said over and over in his mind. Buffy continued with her explanation, "When you went against the senior partners of Wolfram and Hart's army and the dragon, you stopped the apocalypse that the Shanshu Prophecy had predicted".

"So I helped stop the apocalypse but I….."

"You died" Buffy stated bluntly, she knew from personal experience that it was better to rip off the band aid, rather than sugar coat it.

I died….. I died….. I died the thought kept rolling through his mind, then all of a the memories came to the forefront of his mind like a black and white movie.

He could see the hordes of giants, vampires, demons and the dragon getting ready to attack the unsuspecting people. He could feel the heat from the fire that the dragon spewing, the force of the wind from the beat of the dragon's wings. He could remember the force of the Abezethibou's attack with him being thrown into the side of the building. He recalled killing the demons that got in his way as he tried to get closer to the dragon. He remembered grabbing a sword which has been lying on the ground near one of the fallen demons before catching a ride with one of the flying demons to get closer to the dragon and as he got closer, he killed the demon by piercing the heart of the demon.

He remembered running towards the fire breathing dragon and attacking the dragon on the leg. Then he recalled climbing the dragon like a tree and using the sword to pierce the dragons wing causing it plummet towards the ground, Seeley remember how he drove the sword into the side of the dragon and held onto dear life as the dragon fell to the ground. He recalled the searing pain and the smell of burning flesh as the dragon continued to throw bursts of fire towards him as he dragged the sword closer to the dragon before using all his strength to drive the sword between the dragon's eyes as he went up in flames.

"I burned, didn't I?" his voice was hoarse.

Buffy nodded silently.

He looked around the flat, his gaze fell on a picture of him, his grandfather and of Conner. He didn't understand how he came to be here or the life that he has. As if seeing the pictures lifted the fog of the past from his mind and cleared his mind to ask Buffy the questions to things, he couldn't wrap his mind around, "How do I have a family, parents, a grandfather and Conner? Buffy how is Conner here with me? Please tell me… Did Conner die?"

Buffy cleared her throat uncomfortably, "After you died, your soul was left the world, but the dragon was still alive and, in his grief, Conner attacked the dragon driving a sword through the heart of dragon. Conner killed the dragon but the dragon killed him too, Conner died the same way you did, in dragon fire".

Seeley heart broke, and the dam that was holding the tears at bay broke, tears flooded his eyes. He closed his eyes in grief and fisted the hands into his t-shirt and trousers. Buffy pushed herself to him and threw her arms around his shoulders, pulling him into a tight hug. Seeley lifted his arm and pulled Buffy into his chest and lay his cheek to the top of her head, his tears slowly soaking onto the top of her head. "My son died, Buff" he whispered, he could feel Buffy nodding her head against his chest, before she said, "But now he is here with you. The way he was meant to be, you are finally getting the chance to raise your son".

"But how?" he questioned.