The BtVS and Angel characters don't belong to me...at all.
Life Lessons (7/?)
A/N:
All right, if there is a part of this story which seems totally out of character for me to write, fear not. It's all part of the master plan.
Buffy and Dawn walked up to their front door completely exhausted. Buffy had even asked Spike and Angel to do the patrolling. Training hadn't taken this much out of Buffy since, well, she had NEVER felt this tired.
"Girls?" Joyce questioned the front door opened.
"Yes" the girls said in unison, not stopping to chat, but slowly making their way upstairs.
"Are you two hungry? I ordered pizza and there is enough left over to eat."
"Mom, unless you can feed it to me while I'm sleeping, I'm going to have to pass." Buffy said tiredly.
"Same for me." Dawn said
"Oh, Dawn, Xander wanted to know if you'd be up for practice tonight. Should I call him and tell him you're too tired?"
"He called here! Did he say 'Is Dawn there' or was it like 'Is Buffy or Dawn there'? How did he say it mom?!"
"Uh, I don't really remember. I didn't think it was important."
"Mom! Ugh!"
"Just call him back, Dawn." Buffy said, irritated
"Me? Do you think that'd be weird?"
"Dawn, he called you, just call and tell him that you're too tired to practice tonight!" Buffy then slammed her door and fell on her bed.
Still on the stairs, Dawn was still thinking of a 'cool' way to call Xander. She heard a telephone ring, but was too busy thinking to pay attention.
"Dawn, honey, Xander's on the phone again!" Joyce called to her.
Dawn flew down the steps and raced to the phone, nearly jerking it out of her mother's hand. "Hello!" Dawn said quickly, then paused and said, "I mean, hello". She gave her self a mental pat on the back for how quickly she saved herself.
On the other end of the phone, Xander silently chuckled. Now that he knew what to look for, the whole crush thing was kind of funny. "Hey Dawn. I was just calling to see if you were up to practicing tonight, but your mother told me that you and Buffy were really wiped out."
"No! I mean, I'm not tired at all. Where and when?"
"Well, if you're sure you don't need the sleep, meet me in fifteen minutes at the park."
"Sure! I'll be there."
"Alright, I'll see you then. Bye Dawn."
"Bye Xander."
Dawn hung up the phone and ran up the stairs to change clothes. "Mom!" She yelled, "I'm going to need to eat something after all!" She quickly donned something that she thought would look cute, but not like she TRIED to look cute. Satisfied with her appearance, she skipped down the steps and into the kitchen.
Buffy walked slowly towards bed and fell down on it. She was asleep before she fell. She did not notice someone taking off her shoes and socks. The dark shadow then lay her straight in the bed and pulled the covers over here. Angel looked at her for a moment longer, then silently left her bedroom the same way he had entered. He left the window open behind him.
As Angel started across Buffy's yard, on his way back to the cemetery. He sensed the presence of another vampire. Going into his 'game face' he stared in the direction of the other vamp. A small light lit up a partial view of the others face, but disappeared quickly. It was enough for Angel to see.
"Spike. What the hell are you doing out here?" Angel demanded
Spike took a slow drag from his cigarette. "The Slayer seems a little tired. Be a shame for something to happen to her in her sleep. Thought I'd be neighborly and watch out for her." He took another drag.
"You do this a lot?"
"Yeah, not so much when soldier boy was around, but you never know when something might happen."
"Well, I don't think anything's going to happen. Do you want to finish patrolling now?"
"Actually, I think I'll just hang out here for another minute or so."
"Suite yourself" Angel turned to go, shaking his head at what had become of William the Bloody.
"By the way, Peaches, when do plan on returning to the City of Angels?"
"As soon as this prophecy comes about."
"So your gonna let the Slayer take care of the Big Bad, be her safety net, should something go wrong, then waltz away?"
"Spike, I have things to do in LA"
"Yeah, like run away from Buffy!"
Angel was momentarily shocked. He didn't think that Spike ever called Buffy by her name. "I'm not running. It has to be this way. She knows that. She understands that."
"And if she knows that and she understands that, then why did she fall for Captain Oblivious?"
"I don't know Spike! I don't know why she ever got involved with that spineless idiot! I don't have a clue as to what she saw in him" Angel finished angrily
"Well, maybe I can help you figure it out. You were her tall, dark and depressing hero. You told her that you loved her and then walked away, and from what Anya tells me, you didn't even look back. Oh, and I almost forgot...you told her she needed to get on with her life. Then there was a man who was unbelievably a bigger poof than you are. He was normal, if only in the sense that he could get a tan rather than combusting. He didn't have half the strength Buffy does, and after a while, it didn't bother him. He looked at her as if she hung the moon. Told her he loved her. She didn't even have to say it back. It might have upset him, but he loved her enough to still be with her.
"I don't think he would have left her if she asked him to. I think he would have fought her until she gave up. Now I wonder why that would have appealed to her? What would she possibly like about a relationship in which she called all the shots? She told him to leave and he left, she told him to stay and he stayed. Why would she possibly want to wear the pants in a relationship, when her last relationship was so far beyond her control?"
"I'm leaving" Angel turned to walk away.
"Why wouldn't you?" Spike asked, lazily leaning back on a tree "It is what you do best". Even as Spike voiced another barb, Angel continued to walk away.
Buffy woke up sometime around three in the morning. Feeling extremely thirsty, she went down stairs to get a drink of water. Momentarily blinded from the light in the kitchen, Buffy was surprised to here a voice.
"Would you please turn off that bloody light?"
"Spike? What are you doing in my kitchen?"
"Until your name is on the deed, it's your mother's kitchen. She invited me in for some hot chocolate."
"Okay, but it's three in the morning. What are you still doing here?"
"Thinking. I didn't feel like going home tonight and Peaches is out patrolling."
"Did you or my mom put me into bed?"
"Actually, Angelus did that."
"Angel" Buffy said sharply, but she had a smile on her face
"Could you do me a favor and wipe that look off your face? You know, Slayer, he's always going to leave you. And he'll never look back. He'll think what he is doing is too noble. He wouldn't want to ruin the effect by looking back."
"Shut up, Spike. He's staying for good this time. He told me so."
"Did he really?" Spike asked in more of a patronizing tone than he expected
Buffy thought about this for another minute. Her head popped up and she looked at Spike with tears in her eyes. "Where is he?"
"Where do you think he is, pet?" Spike replied. Buffy looked at him for a minute more before running out of the house.
She walked with a purpose towards Spike's crypt. There wasn't enough vampire activity to still be patrolling. She threw open the doors and saw Angel sitting on Spike's couch, staring at the wall. Angel didn't even look up when Buffy stormed in and stood in front of him.
"And how is Spike?" Angel asked without emotion.
"Not quite as misleading as you are. In fact, he's quite blunt. Are you leaving? After all this is said and done, are you leaving?" Buffy demanded, her voice rising with every word.
"Yes" Angel said so quietly she almost didn't here it. "Nothing has changed," he said a bit more loudly. "We still can't be together. I still won't know what it's like to be inside of you again, to wake up with you in my arms. I still have to fight EVERYDAY for my redemption! I don't even deserve it!"
"You're right. You don't deserve it. Nobody deserves anything that they don't believe they have a right to have."
"That is so easy for you to say! You haven't done anything wrong! You never do! You will never know what it is like to KNOW that you don't deserve to be happy!"
"You know that's not true! You said yourself that I'm selfish, and I AM selfish! You always give people a second chance. I couldn't forgive Faith, and she knew that! She still came to me, though. She still came to me in the hospital, told me that everything was going to be all right. She told me that I was going to be just fine, and she was glad that I didn't die. She told me that the world still needed me. I still can't even give her the benefit of the doubt. I still haven't gone to see her in prison. I still haven't thanked her for being my friend. You think that I'm not sorry for that? I want to tell her how sorry I am that I gave up in her. I give up on everybody."
Buffy paused, she looked up at Angel with tears still in her eyes. "I give up on everybody but the one person that gave up on me a long time ago." Buffy kissed Angel on his cheek and walked out of the crypt.
Angel didn't know where they stood with each other right now. He sat on the couch, and then, two thoughts hit him at once. Buffy just walked away from him. Buffy didn't look back.
Buffy walked home. She walked into her house, past the kitchen, just giving a "Goodnight, Spike" to the vampire still sitting at her kitchen table. She walked up the stairs and into her bedroom. Buffy let out a long sigh. She didn't need to cry. She always cried for the things that she had lost, and she lost Angel a long time ago. She finally understood. Love isn't enough. It wasn't enough that she loved him. It wasn't enough that she forgave him for all the horrible things he had done as Angelus. It wasn't enough because Angel would never forgive himself. Buffy finally got a glimpse of how Angel saw the relationship. It wasn't hopeless to him because of a curse. It was hopeless to him because he didn't think he deserved her. He never would.
Buffy lay in her bed. She wouldn't cry. She had done that already. Her mind began to wander. She was no longer in her bedroom, or her house, or the earth. She no longer existed. Her mind went on a journey that wouldn't even take her with it. She was no longer aware of anything at all.
Outside of her bedroom, Spike listened as tears ripped through Buffy's throat. It sounded bloody painful. It sounded as if every tear she had ever shed, and every tear that she had ever withheld, came out at once. Each one fighting to be heard. The noise echoed in the vampire's ears, and Spike finally held his hands up, trying to keep the noise out. The tears didn't stop coming.
Spike lowered his hands, recognizing the futility of his actions, and covered his face. The tears finally subsided into racking gulps of air, but as soon as there was breath in Buffy's body, the wailing continued.
Spike lowered his hands from his face and saw the blood there. He wiped an eye with one finger and saw the blood on it. He hadn't realized that he was crying. Spike slowly lowered himself on the ground, throwing his head back, resting it on Buffy's bedroom door. As Buffy's tears lasted through the night, so did Spikes.
Buffy woke up the next morning, feeling more refreshed than she ever had. She didn't remember falling asleep, or waking up. She was just there, sitting on the edge of her bed. Shrugging, Buffy went to take a shower and get ready for the day. She opened her bedroom door, but jump back in surprise as something fell in her way.
Spike, who had fallen asleep against Buffy's door, hit the floor of her bedroom. Groaning, he sat up. "Bloody hell!" Then noticing where he was, he jumped up, "What the hell am I..." then he stopped. The memories from the night before rushed into his mind.
"...Doing here?" Buffy finished his question. "I'm not sure, but I'd like to know, too."
Getting a good look at him, Buffy finally noticed the blood crusting on his face. "Spike? What happened? Did you get hurt? Did something happen?"
"Don't get your panties in a twist. It happens sometimes. No big deal."
"But your face is all bloody."
"Yes, and like I said, no big deal!"
"Fine! I don't care anyway!" Buffy stopped and looked at Spike "But if you want to talk about it, I'm here."
"Thanks Pet. I've got to be heading back anyway. Get some more sleep. You kept me up half the night with that bloody crying."
"I don't remember crying last night..."
"Well you did. A lot."
"Spike, it's sunny outside. You might want to wait it out."
"I've got a pretty good blanket in the basement." Spike turned to leave.
"Spike, why do you have a blanket in my basement?"
"Just in case, pet" Spike said with a smirk and left the room.
Thoroughly confused, Buffy went about getting ready for the day. Today she and Dawn had to train a little bit more. Dawn was picking up on things really well. Buffy was even considering letting her join the patrol tonight.
Buffy headed for the shower when the front door opened. "Mom? Dawn? Buffy called from the top of the stairs.
"It's me!" Dawn said
Buffy went down the stairs and looked at Dawn. "Where did you go this morning?"
"Here. Xander and I spent so much time practicing last night that he thought it would be best if I spent the night at his apartment."
Buffy noticed that Dawn was practically walking on air. "What exactly happened last night?" Buffy asked a little more roughly than she meant to.
"Well, Xander and I practiced for a while, then he said that I was a natural with the crossbow, then it got to be really late and he took me back to his apartment and we ate lots of junk food. Then we went to bed."
"TOGETHER?"
"No." She said, looking at Buffy as if she just grew antlers. "Anya went to bed with him. But- and this is a very big but, they didn't have sex! Isn't that great?"
Buffy shook her head at her sister. "It is possible to have quiet sex."
"Really? Hmmm. Do you think they did that?"
"Knowing Anya, there's a really good chance that's exactly what happened."
"Oh" Dawn said, looking a little bummed. Buffy had a great deal of experience in the crush department, so she felt bad for Dawn.
"Hey, I'd really like to see the way you shoot. If Xander says your good, then you must be REALLY good."
"Really! You want to see me shoot?" Dawn said perking up.
"Yeah, lets get some breakfast then head on out."
Buffy put an arm around her sister, and led her to the kitchen. Buffy was set on the idea of getting ready for the battle, and not thinking of Angel unless it was absolutely necessary. With that mentality, she started her day with renewed focus.
If Giles was right, she wouldn't have much time until whatever unimaginable dark force would once again reek havoc on her life. She intended to be as prepared for it as possible.
End part seven...Now please review, I'd really like it if you did!
Life Lessons (7/?)
A/N:
All right, if there is a part of this story which seems totally out of character for me to write, fear not. It's all part of the master plan.
Buffy and Dawn walked up to their front door completely exhausted. Buffy had even asked Spike and Angel to do the patrolling. Training hadn't taken this much out of Buffy since, well, she had NEVER felt this tired.
"Girls?" Joyce questioned the front door opened.
"Yes" the girls said in unison, not stopping to chat, but slowly making their way upstairs.
"Are you two hungry? I ordered pizza and there is enough left over to eat."
"Mom, unless you can feed it to me while I'm sleeping, I'm going to have to pass." Buffy said tiredly.
"Same for me." Dawn said
"Oh, Dawn, Xander wanted to know if you'd be up for practice tonight. Should I call him and tell him you're too tired?"
"He called here! Did he say 'Is Dawn there' or was it like 'Is Buffy or Dawn there'? How did he say it mom?!"
"Uh, I don't really remember. I didn't think it was important."
"Mom! Ugh!"
"Just call him back, Dawn." Buffy said, irritated
"Me? Do you think that'd be weird?"
"Dawn, he called you, just call and tell him that you're too tired to practice tonight!" Buffy then slammed her door and fell on her bed.
Still on the stairs, Dawn was still thinking of a 'cool' way to call Xander. She heard a telephone ring, but was too busy thinking to pay attention.
"Dawn, honey, Xander's on the phone again!" Joyce called to her.
Dawn flew down the steps and raced to the phone, nearly jerking it out of her mother's hand. "Hello!" Dawn said quickly, then paused and said, "I mean, hello". She gave her self a mental pat on the back for how quickly she saved herself.
On the other end of the phone, Xander silently chuckled. Now that he knew what to look for, the whole crush thing was kind of funny. "Hey Dawn. I was just calling to see if you were up to practicing tonight, but your mother told me that you and Buffy were really wiped out."
"No! I mean, I'm not tired at all. Where and when?"
"Well, if you're sure you don't need the sleep, meet me in fifteen minutes at the park."
"Sure! I'll be there."
"Alright, I'll see you then. Bye Dawn."
"Bye Xander."
Dawn hung up the phone and ran up the stairs to change clothes. "Mom!" She yelled, "I'm going to need to eat something after all!" She quickly donned something that she thought would look cute, but not like she TRIED to look cute. Satisfied with her appearance, she skipped down the steps and into the kitchen.
Buffy walked slowly towards bed and fell down on it. She was asleep before she fell. She did not notice someone taking off her shoes and socks. The dark shadow then lay her straight in the bed and pulled the covers over here. Angel looked at her for a moment longer, then silently left her bedroom the same way he had entered. He left the window open behind him.
As Angel started across Buffy's yard, on his way back to the cemetery. He sensed the presence of another vampire. Going into his 'game face' he stared in the direction of the other vamp. A small light lit up a partial view of the others face, but disappeared quickly. It was enough for Angel to see.
"Spike. What the hell are you doing out here?" Angel demanded
Spike took a slow drag from his cigarette. "The Slayer seems a little tired. Be a shame for something to happen to her in her sleep. Thought I'd be neighborly and watch out for her." He took another drag.
"You do this a lot?"
"Yeah, not so much when soldier boy was around, but you never know when something might happen."
"Well, I don't think anything's going to happen. Do you want to finish patrolling now?"
"Actually, I think I'll just hang out here for another minute or so."
"Suite yourself" Angel turned to go, shaking his head at what had become of William the Bloody.
"By the way, Peaches, when do plan on returning to the City of Angels?"
"As soon as this prophecy comes about."
"So your gonna let the Slayer take care of the Big Bad, be her safety net, should something go wrong, then waltz away?"
"Spike, I have things to do in LA"
"Yeah, like run away from Buffy!"
Angel was momentarily shocked. He didn't think that Spike ever called Buffy by her name. "I'm not running. It has to be this way. She knows that. She understands that."
"And if she knows that and she understands that, then why did she fall for Captain Oblivious?"
"I don't know Spike! I don't know why she ever got involved with that spineless idiot! I don't have a clue as to what she saw in him" Angel finished angrily
"Well, maybe I can help you figure it out. You were her tall, dark and depressing hero. You told her that you loved her and then walked away, and from what Anya tells me, you didn't even look back. Oh, and I almost forgot...you told her she needed to get on with her life. Then there was a man who was unbelievably a bigger poof than you are. He was normal, if only in the sense that he could get a tan rather than combusting. He didn't have half the strength Buffy does, and after a while, it didn't bother him. He looked at her as if she hung the moon. Told her he loved her. She didn't even have to say it back. It might have upset him, but he loved her enough to still be with her.
"I don't think he would have left her if she asked him to. I think he would have fought her until she gave up. Now I wonder why that would have appealed to her? What would she possibly like about a relationship in which she called all the shots? She told him to leave and he left, she told him to stay and he stayed. Why would she possibly want to wear the pants in a relationship, when her last relationship was so far beyond her control?"
"I'm leaving" Angel turned to walk away.
"Why wouldn't you?" Spike asked, lazily leaning back on a tree "It is what you do best". Even as Spike voiced another barb, Angel continued to walk away.
Buffy woke up sometime around three in the morning. Feeling extremely thirsty, she went down stairs to get a drink of water. Momentarily blinded from the light in the kitchen, Buffy was surprised to here a voice.
"Would you please turn off that bloody light?"
"Spike? What are you doing in my kitchen?"
"Until your name is on the deed, it's your mother's kitchen. She invited me in for some hot chocolate."
"Okay, but it's three in the morning. What are you still doing here?"
"Thinking. I didn't feel like going home tonight and Peaches is out patrolling."
"Did you or my mom put me into bed?"
"Actually, Angelus did that."
"Angel" Buffy said sharply, but she had a smile on her face
"Could you do me a favor and wipe that look off your face? You know, Slayer, he's always going to leave you. And he'll never look back. He'll think what he is doing is too noble. He wouldn't want to ruin the effect by looking back."
"Shut up, Spike. He's staying for good this time. He told me so."
"Did he really?" Spike asked in more of a patronizing tone than he expected
Buffy thought about this for another minute. Her head popped up and she looked at Spike with tears in her eyes. "Where is he?"
"Where do you think he is, pet?" Spike replied. Buffy looked at him for a minute more before running out of the house.
She walked with a purpose towards Spike's crypt. There wasn't enough vampire activity to still be patrolling. She threw open the doors and saw Angel sitting on Spike's couch, staring at the wall. Angel didn't even look up when Buffy stormed in and stood in front of him.
"And how is Spike?" Angel asked without emotion.
"Not quite as misleading as you are. In fact, he's quite blunt. Are you leaving? After all this is said and done, are you leaving?" Buffy demanded, her voice rising with every word.
"Yes" Angel said so quietly she almost didn't here it. "Nothing has changed," he said a bit more loudly. "We still can't be together. I still won't know what it's like to be inside of you again, to wake up with you in my arms. I still have to fight EVERYDAY for my redemption! I don't even deserve it!"
"You're right. You don't deserve it. Nobody deserves anything that they don't believe they have a right to have."
"That is so easy for you to say! You haven't done anything wrong! You never do! You will never know what it is like to KNOW that you don't deserve to be happy!"
"You know that's not true! You said yourself that I'm selfish, and I AM selfish! You always give people a second chance. I couldn't forgive Faith, and she knew that! She still came to me, though. She still came to me in the hospital, told me that everything was going to be all right. She told me that I was going to be just fine, and she was glad that I didn't die. She told me that the world still needed me. I still can't even give her the benefit of the doubt. I still haven't gone to see her in prison. I still haven't thanked her for being my friend. You think that I'm not sorry for that? I want to tell her how sorry I am that I gave up in her. I give up on everybody."
Buffy paused, she looked up at Angel with tears still in her eyes. "I give up on everybody but the one person that gave up on me a long time ago." Buffy kissed Angel on his cheek and walked out of the crypt.
Angel didn't know where they stood with each other right now. He sat on the couch, and then, two thoughts hit him at once. Buffy just walked away from him. Buffy didn't look back.
Buffy walked home. She walked into her house, past the kitchen, just giving a "Goodnight, Spike" to the vampire still sitting at her kitchen table. She walked up the stairs and into her bedroom. Buffy let out a long sigh. She didn't need to cry. She always cried for the things that she had lost, and she lost Angel a long time ago. She finally understood. Love isn't enough. It wasn't enough that she loved him. It wasn't enough that she forgave him for all the horrible things he had done as Angelus. It wasn't enough because Angel would never forgive himself. Buffy finally got a glimpse of how Angel saw the relationship. It wasn't hopeless to him because of a curse. It was hopeless to him because he didn't think he deserved her. He never would.
Buffy lay in her bed. She wouldn't cry. She had done that already. Her mind began to wander. She was no longer in her bedroom, or her house, or the earth. She no longer existed. Her mind went on a journey that wouldn't even take her with it. She was no longer aware of anything at all.
Outside of her bedroom, Spike listened as tears ripped through Buffy's throat. It sounded bloody painful. It sounded as if every tear she had ever shed, and every tear that she had ever withheld, came out at once. Each one fighting to be heard. The noise echoed in the vampire's ears, and Spike finally held his hands up, trying to keep the noise out. The tears didn't stop coming.
Spike lowered his hands, recognizing the futility of his actions, and covered his face. The tears finally subsided into racking gulps of air, but as soon as there was breath in Buffy's body, the wailing continued.
Spike lowered his hands from his face and saw the blood there. He wiped an eye with one finger and saw the blood on it. He hadn't realized that he was crying. Spike slowly lowered himself on the ground, throwing his head back, resting it on Buffy's bedroom door. As Buffy's tears lasted through the night, so did Spikes.
Buffy woke up the next morning, feeling more refreshed than she ever had. She didn't remember falling asleep, or waking up. She was just there, sitting on the edge of her bed. Shrugging, Buffy went to take a shower and get ready for the day. She opened her bedroom door, but jump back in surprise as something fell in her way.
Spike, who had fallen asleep against Buffy's door, hit the floor of her bedroom. Groaning, he sat up. "Bloody hell!" Then noticing where he was, he jumped up, "What the hell am I..." then he stopped. The memories from the night before rushed into his mind.
"...Doing here?" Buffy finished his question. "I'm not sure, but I'd like to know, too."
Getting a good look at him, Buffy finally noticed the blood crusting on his face. "Spike? What happened? Did you get hurt? Did something happen?"
"Don't get your panties in a twist. It happens sometimes. No big deal."
"But your face is all bloody."
"Yes, and like I said, no big deal!"
"Fine! I don't care anyway!" Buffy stopped and looked at Spike "But if you want to talk about it, I'm here."
"Thanks Pet. I've got to be heading back anyway. Get some more sleep. You kept me up half the night with that bloody crying."
"I don't remember crying last night..."
"Well you did. A lot."
"Spike, it's sunny outside. You might want to wait it out."
"I've got a pretty good blanket in the basement." Spike turned to leave.
"Spike, why do you have a blanket in my basement?"
"Just in case, pet" Spike said with a smirk and left the room.
Thoroughly confused, Buffy went about getting ready for the day. Today she and Dawn had to train a little bit more. Dawn was picking up on things really well. Buffy was even considering letting her join the patrol tonight.
Buffy headed for the shower when the front door opened. "Mom? Dawn? Buffy called from the top of the stairs.
"It's me!" Dawn said
Buffy went down the stairs and looked at Dawn. "Where did you go this morning?"
"Here. Xander and I spent so much time practicing last night that he thought it would be best if I spent the night at his apartment."
Buffy noticed that Dawn was practically walking on air. "What exactly happened last night?" Buffy asked a little more roughly than she meant to.
"Well, Xander and I practiced for a while, then he said that I was a natural with the crossbow, then it got to be really late and he took me back to his apartment and we ate lots of junk food. Then we went to bed."
"TOGETHER?"
"No." She said, looking at Buffy as if she just grew antlers. "Anya went to bed with him. But- and this is a very big but, they didn't have sex! Isn't that great?"
Buffy shook her head at her sister. "It is possible to have quiet sex."
"Really? Hmmm. Do you think they did that?"
"Knowing Anya, there's a really good chance that's exactly what happened."
"Oh" Dawn said, looking a little bummed. Buffy had a great deal of experience in the crush department, so she felt bad for Dawn.
"Hey, I'd really like to see the way you shoot. If Xander says your good, then you must be REALLY good."
"Really! You want to see me shoot?" Dawn said perking up.
"Yeah, lets get some breakfast then head on out."
Buffy put an arm around her sister, and led her to the kitchen. Buffy was set on the idea of getting ready for the battle, and not thinking of Angel unless it was absolutely necessary. With that mentality, she started her day with renewed focus.
If Giles was right, she wouldn't have much time until whatever unimaginable dark force would once again reek havoc on her life. She intended to be as prepared for it as possible.
End part seven...Now please review, I'd really like it if you did!