Author: GroovyGirl aka Lisa
Email: GroovyGirl650@aol.com
Disclaimer: I don't own anybody- Joss does.
Category: Angst/Drama
Rating: G-General
Summary: Dawn copes with the loss of Buffy. Dawn's POV.
Feedback would be appreciated- first published fanfic.

Thump, thump, thump...

The sound of Dawn's rapid heartbeat thundered in her ears.
"Buffy!" Dawn screamed as she half ran, half stumbled down the stairs, the pain from her cuts stabbing her like thousands of knives.
Dawn reached the bottom of the stairs and turned, tears streaming down her face like an icy river.
Blurry, out of focus, a figure she knew completely. Buffy's body-motionless.
Dawn watched, frozen, as Xander, Anya, Willow, Tara, Giles, and Spike emerged on the scene. Disbelief marred their features until it dissolved into heart wrenching grief.
A piercing wail broke the horrible silence and Dawn saw Spike sink to his knees, sobbing and sounding like a desperate animal caught in a trap.
I should have died, not Buffy, Dawn thought. The world needs her more than me...
Dawn's mind whirled and the horrifying scene spun in her line of vision. This can't be...this can't be happening...
She burst through the crowd, and grabbed Buffy, shaking her roughly.
"Wake up, Buffy!" she screamed. "Wake up NOW!" "You're not dead!" Giles pulled Dawn off Buffy and she sobbed. "Wake up, please..."

~*~

"Ashes to ashes, dust to dust..."
The same words had been said at her mom's funeral, Dawn remembered.
The casket holding Buffy's body was lowered slowly into the ground, each creak of the pulleys tearing a new hole in her heart.
Dawn felt a pressure on her hand, and looked up to see Spike holding her hand tightly, a mask of grief etched upon his face.
The dirt was being piled on the coffin, the sound so final. The sound of her sister being taken away from her forever. Dawn tried to shut her ears from the sound, to block her heart, her soul, from the pain.
She exchanged hugs with endless people all shrouded in black. But no matter who she held, no matter what comforting words she heard, Dawn still felt all alone. All alone- with no one and nothing left to care about.
Dawn's own words from awhile ago echoed loudly in her ears, "Everyone around me dies."
An emotional pain so fierce ripped through her, that her knees collapsed. And the only thing that kept her from falling, was the strength of Spike's arms.

~*~

That night, after seemingly endless tossing and turning, Dawn settled into a blissful sleep, and she dreamt.

Dawn's dream:

Dawn gasped as she looked around. An enormous glittering field surrounded her. Flowers of red, blue, yellow- every color of the rainbow- stretched endlessly before her. But they weren't regular flowers- they were glittering so brightly that they were hard to look at.
Dawn turned around, and there stood Buffy, bathed in sunlight. A feeling of absolute joy filled her heart as Dawn stared at her sister in awe.
"Buffy?"
The two girls, with radiant smiles, embraced each other. A bright light surrounded them, a light made by their love for one another.
Holding Dawn tightly, Buffy whispered, "I love you."
Suddenly, Dawn's vision was replaced with the white plaster of her ceiling. She realized it had all been a dream, and a glooming sadness filled her.
A flash caught her eye and Dawn looked down- to see a glittering red flower clenched in her hand. She stared at it in wonder, and a single tear cascaded down her cheek.
"I love you too," Dawn whispered.

~The End~