Title: Helping the Rain
Author: tpk757 (tpk757@yahoo.com)
Description: Xander and Willow as children play one summer afternoon but something else is going on. . .
Spoilers: None
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: You know they don't belong to me. They belong to Joss and his minions not a mere slave like myself.
Distribution: Ask. Then I'll say yes but I want to know where it goes, blah, blah. And also – the power rush, gotta have that.
Feedback: Yes! Seriously though? How did this part start? It's just there to remind people to review right? I mean no one seriously looks at that and goes "Hmmmm I don't thing I want feedback today." Do they?
Authors note: Umm. . . This is just. Huh. I think I should apologize for it. See, it kinda jumped into my brain. Odd place my brain is. . . And now. . .
Helping the Rain
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Something was wrong.
He stood in the backyard. The screen slammed somewhere behind him. He looked over to where she lay. A cloud had gone over the sun, dimming the whole scene. He took a few hesitant steps towards her, she didn't move. Her hair lay in a halo around her head, duller then usual without the sun to light it. Everything seemed to stand still as he took one more painful step towards her. The step went on forever.
The sun came out, her hair was ablaze. The world crashed into regular speed again and she opened her eyes and looked at him. Her eyes sparkled in the light.
"Come over and look at the tree, Xander." She patted the cement next to her. The sun sifted through the leaves lighting her in an irregular pattern.
He looked at where her hand lay doubtfully. "On the ground?"
"Yes." She turned her head so that her cheek was lying on the ground. "It's warm." A smile crossed her face as she enjoyed the warmth on her face.
"The whole day is warm, Will." He complained but galloped over anyway. He sat down with a thud, jolting his entire body, then leaned back and lowered himself to a laying position slowly. The cement dug into his elbows and feet. Then he was lying next to her watching the leaves toss in the wind. The sky was so blue. The clouds so white, they rushed past fast for clouds slightly dizzying to watch. A breeze brushed softly over their faces and bodies. It smelled of plants and the tree, the warm cement and summer. The cement dug into his back but it wasn't really unpleasant, she was right it was warm. His eyes darted over different parts of the scene above him. The power lines hardly moved. The leaves however, tossed as if there was a great storm. A few birds flew back and forth. Their song was in evidence over the soft sound of the wind through the leaves. A dog barked in the distance. Very far away a siren wailed. He watched the birds. She was studying the clouds. As he watched a big black bird swooped down closer. As it came closer and closer he realized it was falling. He tried to get out of the way but he couldn't move. He was sure it would hit him soon, but it didn't, it disintegrated into only feathers. They rained down on him. He franticly tried to brush them off. Before logically possible they were gone. He turned to Willow, she was covered in black feathers of all sizes, she didn't move to clear them off of her. Her eyes stared at him, dull despite the sun, unblinking. He reached to clear the feathers off of her.
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He sat up with a gasp. He quickly looked at the sky. Fine. He looked at Willow. She stared back at him in puzzlement.
"What is it?"
He looked at her for a minute in shock before shaking his head and saying. "Nothing, nothing, I'm just bored of the tree." He looked up at the sky once more. Still fine.
She looked at him undecided for a few seconds. "Ok then. Oh! I know what we can do!" She ran into the garage and came out with a bucket of chalk. "We can take turns tracing each other!"
Xander looked doubtful.
"Please? I want to see how it would look."
"Well...Ok. But how about I just do you? Then we can do something else."
"Sure." She smiled and handed him the bucket.
A few minute later he was just finishing the outline. She had insisted that he do it "good" so he was taking his time tracing the last few inches of her hand.
"There!" He sat back on his heels and looked satisfied.
She lifted her head slightly, a small cloud of dust and dirt drifted from her hair. "Help me up. I don't want to mess it up."
He dropped the piece of pink chalk. It fell harshly to the ground bouncing once. It left a small pink mark on the ground and little flakes of chalk flew away from the impact.
She reached up her hand and he grabbed it and started to pull her to her feet.
Suddenly the whole place lit up a bright blue fading quickly down to a strange inverted green. Her hand slipped out of his and for a brief second he could see panic on her face as she fell backward. When she should have hit the ground she didn't, she just kept falling like there was no ground. He stared where she should be without comprehension. But before he had time to think about it everything was eaten up in a bright burst of light. A buzzing that had been so faint up until now that he hadn't consciously heard it drowned out all other noise and became unbearably but then a huge boom exploded in his ears, a burst of noise that sounded like a huge slow heartbeat and was even louder then the droning. The light faded into spots of different colors. They slowly floated away. The humming became a small whine.
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Now there was nothing but a little darkness around the edges and that too slipped away. The buzzing was once again imperceptible.
She sat cross-legged on the ground. Bubbles rested all over her hair. She tried to see the ones on top but of course she couldn't.
He sat a little way away, they were both on the other side of the yard from the chalk outline but he was furthest. A grin spread over his face at the sight of her. "Now you're a bubble princess."
A huge smile broke over her face. "If I'm a bubble princess." She stopped here for a minute enjoying the thought. "Then you should be a bubble prince!" She picked up a bubble wand and sloshed it around in the jar. She pulled it out. A yet to be bubble glistened on the wand. She put it to her lips and blew, slowly, so that the bubble would be big. It filled gradually and then broke free of the wand. It drifted gently towards his face. He couldn't resist. He swiped at it, trying to pop it.
"Xander!"
He missed. The breeze from his movement made the bubble glide towards the other side of the yard. He raced for it. A light wind caught it moving it along just ahead of him. He pulled closer but a gust pulled it up too high for him to reach. He jumped even though he knew it was to far away. Before his feet touched the ground another draft pulled it swiftly to the ground. It was headed for the chalk outline. He tried to stop it. It fell softly on the neck of the tracing and burst. The force from the small explosion blew chalk particles away from the landing point, marring the clean line that had been there. He fell to his knees looking in dismay at the damage done. It shouldn't have upset him so much but it did. He reached for the smeared spot unsure as to what he was going to do about it. Another bubble popped on the outline. He looked up. More bubbles were falling heavily. Splashing wetly on the tracing, much to heavy and wet for bubbles. He glanced back at Willow. Bubbles were falling on her too. She was covered in them. Her eyes stared vacantly out through the bubbles covering them. The world inverted again. The buzzing rose to a nauseating pitch. Another boom filled the air. Once more it passed.
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They sat together in silence. Both covered in sticky popped bubbles. One of the bottles was lying on its side empty and the other almost empty. A few puddles of spilled bubbles lay around them. Thunder sounded in the distance. A raindrop fell out of the sky. Then abruptly it was raining hard. A foam rose where there had been puddles of bubbles, it was rapidly washed away. The big warm raindrops began obliterating the tracing. He got to his feet watching. The water ran away from where it had been in pink rivulets. He walked over and sloshed it away with his feet, scrubbing at some of the places where the chalk clung stubbornly with his toes.
Willow watched him from the other side of the yard. "Whatcha doing?"
He shrugged. "Helping the rain."
She nodded, then raised her arms and face to the sky, squinting into the rain.
He ran his feet over the traces again until they were gone. He sloshed his feet in the pink tinged puddle feeling the water run over his dirty feet. He looked back to Willow. She wasn't there. "Willow?" He turned and looked behind him. "Will?" Something caught his attention. He looked down at his feet. Mud squelched between his toes. A cloud covered the sun. He moved his feet up and down enjoying the soggy noises it made. Something was it between his toes. He curled his toes around it and pulled it up through the mud. He knelt down and examined it. It was hair, Willow's hair, covered in mud. He gave it a gentle tug. It was connected to something under the mud. He stared at the mud. His head turned slowly to look slightly to the side of where he was crouching. A hand protruded through the mud. It clutched a muddy bubble wand. He tugged on it. The bubble wand fell into the mud. A wrist emerged from the mud but the rest of the arm was stuck under the mud. He began to franticly dig up the mud. There was her face. He wiped the mud from it. Willow? "Willow!?" Her eyes were open. They were filled with mud. He shook her. Nothing. "Willow?" The buzzing filled his ears and became a roaring. The image of her body wouldn't fade though. He could still feel her mud slicked shoulders grasped in his hands. She blinked. Relief washed over him. "Willow!" Her eyes opened. They were a brutal yellow. "Willow?" His relief fell away. She smiled a cruel smile, like Willow but not. Finally the image faded with the heartbeat boom, the last thing he saw was those horrible eyes staring at him.
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This time when the world clears I see something entirely different. The buzzing noise is quieting down and I can hear my heartbeat clearly despite the fact that it is slowing.
Willow. But not the same Willow, for one thing she is grown up. Somehow that seems right. Everything seems so much more real. The pain in my neck is real but far away. She leans over me smiling. I try to talk. 'You're dead.' It comes out as a small groan. Her smile widens and she leans closer and sits down on my stomach, her legs straddled across me. Her hair brushes my face. She whispers in my ear. "Don't worry. It will be better soon." She nuzzles closer to my ear then swoops further down to my neck where she delicately licks up the few drops of blood there. Then she pulls back and looks at me still smiling. Her eyes glint that awful yellow. She carefully cuts one of her wrists and dribbles blood into my mouth. There is nothing I can do to stop it. My eyes gradually move to where my stake lies a few feet to one side. I make no effort to reach it. She follows my gaze. She shoves her wrist against my lips holding it in place with her other hand and leans close again. "Shhhh. Just drink. You'll be better soon." It seems to me that she's right. The memory of what had been running through my brain is already faded like a dream. I notice how good the blood is. I want more. The grin comes back to her face. "Very good. Uh, uh, not too much." A mock scolding look on her face she pulls her wrist away from me. I crave more but I'm too weak to do anything about it. As the world darkens I can hear my heartbeat becoming ever more feeble till it stops. The buzzing is gone. Everything is silent.