Lightning flashed through the sky, twice. But for our heroes, and our heroine returned
from the dead, this was not far off distant, 'ooh isn't that cool'
lightning. This was ten feet away. All they knew was, the area around the gate
of the cemetery was all of a sudden bathed in a blinding white-hot light. Those who could see saw that at the exact
same moment, another bolt of lightning struck the tree by Buffy's grave.
Actually, the tree was undisturbed, it was the grave that
was struck and obliterated by the lightning. But nobody cared about that, because they were ten feet away from a
massive lightning strike, and if you've ever even been near something like
that, and not struck, aside from being lucky, you also know it's very
intense. Especially since the thunder
was like right there, and deafening as much as the light was blinding.
After the brief episode, during which Buffy threw everybody
to the ground and protected them all with her body, the strangest thing
happened. The dark on dark
thunderclouds that had appeared in the sky, disappeared within a matter of
seconds and leaving blue sky and the bright sun. Getting up, Buffy helped the others to stand, and took a look at
what had happened.
The gate was a mess, crumpled and blackened, and surrounded
by scorch marks in the cement. Further
on, she could make notice of a rising column of smoke, roughly about where she
and Tara had just walked from. Yet,
what held and kept her attention was the strange man standing in the center of
the ruined gate and scorch marks. He
was about six foot, she guess, had long wavy soft brown hair, and was dressed
completely in pure white.
Slowly, he began to walk towards the group. Buffy was immediately wary of him. She double-checked and made sure that
everybody was behind her, just in case.
"Wow! What the hell
was that?" Xander asked.
"I don't know." Willow answered. "But maybe we should ask him. I think he might know." The redhead pointed to the man in white walking
towards them.
When he was less than two feet from Buffy, he stopped. He looked down at her, she was at about his
chest height, and smiled the brightest smile they had ever seen on a human
face. Buffy noticed that he had deep
blue eyes that held a softness and kindness she had never imagined before. It eased some of her wariness, yet she was
still on guard. It wasn't every day
that strangers appeared in strikes of lightning. Well, maybe every month or week, but not every day.
Then, the stranger did something that nobody expected and
certainly had no idea how to respond to. He leaned down, and hugged Buffy. It wasn't a casual hug, but it wasn't a groping hug either. Rather, it was more a hug that one would
give to a long lost friend that you were very glad to see. Unsure, Buffy hugged the man back, not sure
what was going on, and confused enough already. After a moment of being held in his arms, something was touched
deep inside of the young woman. She was
suddenly very glad to see this man, though she had little idea of who he was,
and she hugged him even tighter.
Finally, the two released each other. The man was still smiling, but he had tears
on the edge of his eyes, and Buffy noticed that she too was on the edge of
wetting her cheeks. She sniffed as he
spoke for the first time.
"God in Heaven,
it's good to see you again Buffy." He
had a pleasant baritone voice, one that could speak with authority, but was
often used in light and soft conversational tones. Buffy was confused, and she wasn't the only one. How did this man know her? And who was he to appear in a bolt of
lightning? They were all asking themselves.
"Oh, but I see that you don't recognize me. It's all right. I'm sure the memories will come in time. I see that you've found some of the others,
but they have not realized their pasts yet. It's all right. I will explain
myself, and what I speak of in time. For now, how about we go get something to eat. Being part human, we might not need to eat Buffy, but its still a
good idea to retain energy."
Everybody just stared at him, then Buffy blinked, and
finally finding her voice, "What do you mean, part human? I'm not human anymore? Then what am I? And who are you? And how
did you know I was hungry?"
The tall white stranger just smiled mysteriously and began
to walk past them. "Coming?" he asked.
Reluctantly, and mostly in shock, they all followed him,
until he stopped in front of Xander's car. Buffy wanted more answers, so she stepped in front of him and asked,
"OK, enough with the cryptic stranger crap. Who are you, what are you doing here, and most importantly, why did you
show up in a bolt of lightning?"
The stranger's eyes lit up a little, and he turned back to
see the point he had entered the world. The scorch marks, the bent and melted metal, and signs of a fire in the
distance did indeed point towards a lightning strike as the cause. "Wow, a lightning bolt, huh? That's new. Usually it's a beam of light from the sky, or chariots of fire and so
forth. Oh well, still pretty cool
though." He stopped when he caught the
look on Buffy's face, and his face fell.
"OK, OK. I
give. Geez, and I thought Willow's
resolve face was tough. OK, my name is
Joshua. It means 'God with us'. And to put it in the simplest of Earth terms, I'm an
Archangel. As for why I'm here, well,
I'm here for you Buffy." He answered.
The way that Buffy's face caved in as he said that,
immediately led 'Joshua' to know what she was thinking. He hastened to undo his mistake. "Oh! No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. I'm not the Angel of Death or anything like that. You aren't dead Buffy. You're the farthest thing from it. And I'm not from the Powers That Be, or
anything else like that. I'm here to
bring you home. But that doesn't mean
you'll be the only one to go home."
Buffy seemed much relieved, but there
was still worry etched into her features. "Do you mean home…as in, home in Heaven?" she asked.
"Well, yeah, sort of. I mean our home Realm Buffy. And
yes, our home Realm is in Heaven, but that doesn't mean it's the after
life. Well, considering what happened,
it might be for you. The gist of it is,
I've come to bring you and the others back to our home Realm, which is so
ready to have all of you back. So, this
is a real car? Cool. I trust that there are flashier cars though. Otherwise, I'm going to have to do some
major redecorating. Whose is it?" he
asked.
"Uh, it's mine, and what do you mean 'redecorating'?"
Xander asked, stepping forward.
Joshua took one look at Xander, and that million-watt smile
again, and before anybody could do anything about it, he was hugging
Xander. "Alexander! My man! I have missed you! Man, have I
missed you! So, I heard on the wire
that you're dating an ex-demon. How's
that working for yah, huh?" he exclaimed as he stepped back some.
Then his gaze shifted over to Tara. "Tara." He said quietly. Willow made a slight protective move to put
herself between Tara and the white-clad man, but Buffy put a hand on the
redhead's shoulder and silently told her that it would be all right.
Joshua came up to Tara and looked down into her eyes. "I-I heard about what happened. I'm…I'm so sorry that you had to go through
that. I wish with all my heart and soul
that I could've done something. I'm
just real glad that your mother was there for you and could help you in the
end." Then he kissed her gently on the
forehead.
Tara looked up at him and said, in her quiet way, "My-my
mother's dead. She has been for nearly
ten years."
Joshua's eyes widened and then he glanced back and forth
between Willow and Tara. "Uh, I-I-I,
mean, I-I, mean I…I…mean, uh, what do I mean?" he said, directing the question
to Buffy.
In response, her stomach could be heard growling for
attention. "I think he means that we're
both getting hungry and could use some food right about now." She said aloud.
"Yeah, yeah, that's what I meant. So, do you want to do this the fast way, or the car way? I mean, despite being as cool as it is, I
seriously doubt that Alexander's car can carry all six of us. Can it?" observed Joshua.
"What do you mean the fast way? You don't happen to have angel wings under there, do you? And despite that, what other way is there,
except to walk ofcourse?" Buffy asked.
Joshua only smiled mysteriously and asked another
question. "Is there any place where you
all hang out, where we can talk privately, but still eat?"
"The shop?" Buffy suggested.
For the most part, the ordinary humans had stayed quiet, so
now faced with answering a question posed from a tall and imposing man that had
just appeared out of a bolt of lightning, it would be easy to understand why
they were a bit flustered. "Uh, yeah,
the shop. I'm sure Giles has some kind
of leftover thingies somewhere there. Right guys?" Willow began.
"Um, yeah. And if
not, then I can swing by and pick up some pizzas after I drop Dawn off at
school." Xander added.
"Great!" Joshua commented. "Oh, and get some pepperoni. And
I hate onions and peppers, so try and get something lower than a supreme, OK."
"And don't forget my favorite Xander, just because I died
like two weeks ago doesn't give you permission to forget the greatest pizza of
all time." Buffy accused.
"Right, right. The
great Hawaiian Specialty Deal. Don't
worry, Buff, I got your back. Willow,
Tara, any requests?" Both girls shook
their heads, so Xander made his way to the car, with Dawn in reluctant tow.
"Um, is anybody else coming? I mean, I can drop you off on our way to school, but not if we
keep sitting around here." said Xander.
Joshua smiled and said, "No, that's all right Alexander, we
can handle it from here. Don't worry,
unless you're late, then you'll have something to worry about. See you at the shop."
Buffy nodded, and Xander shrugged and got in the car,
started it up and pulled out. "So are
you going to show me this fast way or what Joshua? And how do you know everybody? How do you know me for starters?" asked Buffy.
Joshua was staring after the car, fascinated at its
function and apparent capabilities. Realizing that he had just been spoken too, he turned to look at the
speaker, Buffy. "Huh? Sorry what?"
Willow giggled a little and Tara just smiled. "For an Archangel, you sure are slow." Buffy
commented. "The fast way. Show me how to use it, if I can." She said,
getting him back on track.
"Right. Well, since
you might as well be considered a rookie, I'll take Willow and Tara, and walk
you through it. But don't worry, enough
practice, you'll feel like you've been doing it for years." said Joshua, taking
his hands and putting either one on Willow and Tara's shoulders. "OK, just so I know, would this be the shop
called the 'Magic Box' would it?" he asked. All three girls nodded. "OK,
Buffy, do think you can remember what the inside of it looks like, where it is
in more or less relation to where we are?" She nodded. "Good, now for
concentration purposes, close your eyes, and imagine to the best of your
ability, the inside of the shop. Have
it? Good. Now, think about where you are. Think about where that picture inside of your head is. Now, listen carefully, you have to want to
be there, at the place that you've pictured in your mind. You don't want to be here anymore, you want
to be in the shop. Want it so bad that
it's all you care about, all you are focusing on. Aaannd…"
Suddenly, Buffy was surrounded by an aura of pink, red, and
gold sprinkles, and then she faded away, as did the aura, save for a couple of
gold sprinkles which quickly dissipated. "Three…Two…" Joshua was saying. As he said the word, "One." Buffy reappeared in the identical aura, and
everyone swore they heard bells as she appeared.
"I did it! I did
it!" Buffy was practically jumping up and down looking giddy. "What did I just do?"
Joshua chuckled and answered, "Well, I'll explain that in
the shop, now I'll go first, and this time follow the exact same way. OK, here we go." "We?" Willow asked as she found out what he meant. Unlike Buffy's teleportation, Joshua's was
an aura of bright, pure white light, and as he disappeared, a ball of white
energy went from the middle of the aura to the top of it. Then there was no trace of Willow, Tara, or
the white-clad stranger called Joshua. Buffy immediately focused on the Magic shop, wanting to be there now. And she was.
Buffy heard the bells as everyone else did, but she didn't
see the aura or anything like it. When
she found herself atop Giles' table that they often had done research on, she
wished with all her heart that nobody could see her like this. It was embarrassing enough. She quickly got down off of the table.
As soon as she did, Willow, Tara, and a Joshua in far more
normal clothing came out of the back room. At the graveyard, he had been wearing a white tuxedo like suit, no
tie. Now he was wearing blue jeans, a
white t-shirt, and white tennis shoes. Giles was behind the counter, helping with a sale, and Anya could be
seen by the display window, adjusting something or other. Willow and Tara looked around, Willow almost
frantically. She turned to Joshua, who
only casually looked around the shop, and said something to him.
"Where is she? You
said she'd be here! Where is she
then? She's not here. I'd think we'd see her if she were here, so
where is she?" the redhead was on the verge of shouting.
"Calm down Willow. I know she's here, I think she just ended up someplace embarrassing and
didn't want anyone to see her. At
all. Anyway, I'll find her in just a
minute, as soon as you talk the shop owner over there into closing early." said
Joshua as he moved over to the table, pausing slightly when he passed
Buffy. Then he sat down.
Giles finished with his customer and Willow hurried around
the counter and whispered something urgently into his ear. He visibly paled and nodded. "Anya!" he called to his assistant. The brown haired young woman stood up and
came back to the counter. "What is it
Giles?" she asked in her deadpan sort of way.
"We're closing early. Put the closed sign on the door and lock up everything. Then join me in the back room. If Xander shows up, let him in.," said the
Englishman.
"But…" Anya protested.
"No buts Anya. Something very important has come up. It involves Buffy," was all he said. Anya immediately got quiet and went to do as Giles had asked.
"All right Willow, what's going on?" he asked as he came to
the couple standing near the table.
"Um, Giles, this is Joshua. He showed up in a flash of lightning at the graveyard when…when
we went to visit Buffy." explained Willow, indicating the brown haired young
man sitting at the table.
"Oh, I see. And you
said this had something to do with Buffy. What does this young man have to do with that? Is she…" Giles was interrupted by Tara saying, "Giles, trust us,
and just listen to what he has to say, and, and try not to have a heart attack,
OK?"
Giles, confused nevertheless nodded and turned his
attention to the stranger. Joshua
smiled at the elder man, and indicated that he was waiting for Anya to get
back. Three seconds later, "OK Giles,
what's up? What does an Archangel and
Willow and Tara showing up have to do with Buffy?" Joshua only raised an eyebrow at the statement while Willow
seemed to become even more flustered. "How-how, Anya! How did you know
he was an Archangel?" she practically shouted.
"It was fairly obvious, from the way he held himself, his
dress, but what always gives it away is the eyes. All Angels and Archangels have the same kind of eyes." said the
ex-vengeance demon casually, as though discussing the attributes of Archangels
was something she did every afternoon.
Joshua smiled again and decided to go ahead with revealing
Buffy. "Anyway, Buffy, I know you're
here, but as you guessed, none of us can see you. It's kind of like the teleporting thing. You have to want us to see you, especially
after you wanted no one to see you. Wanting no one to see you makes you invisible. A trick that only you ever seemed to do. Oh well, just concentrate Buffy."
"Sorry," said a voice by the table where no one saw
anything. Then, as before, there was a
flash of red and pink aura, and gold sprinkles, and Buffy appeared out of the
thin air. "Just curious," said Joshua,
"where did you end up in here?"
Buffy blushed slightly, enough that her cheeks matched her
sweater, and answered, "On top of the table." "Oh," was the only response, with a wider grin.
"Buff-Buffy…" Giles stuttered identically to Willow and
Xander.
Buffy turned to the elder Englishman and smiled at her
surrogate father figure. "Hey Giles,
how's it hanging?"
"Buffy, is it-is it really you?" he asked haltingly. Buffy stepped closer and stared into the
taller man's eyes. "What do you think
Giles?" said the Slayer. He stared for
only moments longer before taking her up in crushing bear hug and finally
letting down the wall of separation between him and his emotions.
"Thank God your
alive. I thought I'd lost you. I didn't know how to go on." He muttered as
he cried into her blond hair.
"Listen, I'm real sorry to interrupt, but I figure a lot of
you would like the answer to why Buffy is still alive, and here, as opposed to
dead and in Heaven." Joshua pointed out from his seat.
Quickly, Giles and Buffy separated and paused only long
enough for Giles to stare at her for two moments more before indicating
everyone a seat around the table. For
some reason, Buffy sat next to Joshua, and beside Willow. Tara next to her, then Giles opposite
Joshua, and Anya opposite Tara. "So,
what's the story Joshua? How do you
know all of us? And where did I get the
funky new powers? And while we're on
that, what's the deal with the bells every time I do something with them?"
asked Buffy.
Joshua raised an eyebrow and did his best to answer her
questions. "Well, the whole story is
rather long and involved, and as I know you'll doubt, you already know it. How do I know all of you? Heh, that's the real shocker. Buffy, I want you to keep an open mind about
this. OK?"
Buffy raised her own eyebrow and countered, "Keep an open
mind? I've seen things that no regular
person would believe. I've been to Hell
and back, I jumped into a dimensional rift not two weeks ago, and I've fought
and killed things that would make grown, trained soldiers cry and beg for their
mommies. I think I've got an open
mind."
Joshua stared at her, his face blank, waiting for her to
finish. After a few seconds of silence,
he simply stated, "Buffy, I'm your brother."