New Beginnings
New Beginnings
SUMMARY:
In the midst of their grief, the SG discovers that Slayers never die. They
just find a new home.
RATING: PG or PG-13 for language
TIMELINE: Directly follows "The Gift"
DISCLAIMER: I don't own these characters...duh! None of them…not
a single person.
WRITTEN: 5/29/01
CATEGORY: Drama
Part 1
A
deep red light bled over the horizon, bravely heralding the new day.
Children awoke. Parents
turned off their alarm clocks. They
all prepared for another day, just like yesterday.
Shower. Dress.
Feed the dog. Clean the
litter box. Set out breakfast. Brush the teeth. Gather
the school books. Lock the door.
Off to another day.
Another
day.
The
world remained the same, its inhabitants blissfully unaware that the world as they had known
it came within a hair's width of ending forever just moments ago.
Only seven out of billions would ever know.
That group alone would suffer and grieve.
But that is the way of things. That
is how it's been since the beginning of time.
The
body lay haphazardly across the ground. As
monument to a hero fallen, the shell cooled quickly and began to stiffen.
The seven mourners looked on. She
was the last one they expected to meet her demise on this day.
***************************************************************
Tears
fell along with their hopes and spirits. The
only sound they heard was a morning dove, perched high above the tragic scene.
It cooed as the new day began, reveling in the sun that managed to
rise…that somehow always rose.
There
was no need for words between this rag tag group of people.
Nothing to convey aside from the terrible pain that clawed each of them
from the inside. Not a one could
pry himself from his spot. Not a
one could imagine continuing from here. What
do you say after witnessing the death of an age?
***************************************************************
Willow
briefly recalled the moment she heard of Mrs. Summers' passing, and found
solace in the idea of mother and daughter together once more and forever.
Buffy would pick out videos to play on God's VCR, while Joyce would
make hot chocolate and popcorn. Mom
always let daughter choose the movie. For
her, the time alone with her girl meant so much more than what pictures
flickered across a glass screen. So,
together, they would plop down on a cloud, press the play button and laugh and
cry together.
But
then Willow crashed back to reality. A
reality without her best friend. Her
lover held her sweetly, stroking her back, lending her strength.
Much strength would be needed in the coming days, weeks and months.
***************************************************************
Xander
felt an odd calm rush over him. Release.
That was the word his mind was searching for. Buffy had finally found release.
Her life had changed from carefree to burdensome in the blink of an eye
five years ago. He imagined her up
in heaven somewhere, experiencing those carefree pre-slayer days once more…for
eternity.
Still,
from her own burden had sprouted something undeniably good.
Before he met Buffy, his own world was burdened with the plague of a
family who had no interest or need for him.
He had no place in this world, nor any connections to anyone in
it…besides Willow. Now, through one crisis after another, Xander had found his
own release. He now belonged to
something greater than anything he had ever known or imagined. He was no longer just the son of the drunken Harris family.
Nor was he the useless, no good, piece of shit, lazy bastard that his
family had called him since the beginning of time.
Xander Harris had a place in this world, at the Slayer's side.
Anya
cuddled deeper into him, trying so hard to fill the emptiness he must be
feeling.
***************************************************************
Dawn
openly wept for the woman she had come to know as sister, friend, mother and
protector. She always knew Buffy
would protect her until her dying breath. And that she did…all too well.
The youngest Summers girl secretly longed to join her family. She even wished for her own death, if only to put an end to
her loneliness and sorrow. But then
her sister's last words would ring through her head, "You have to be strong,
Dawn. The hardest thing in this world is to live in it. Be brave. Live. For
me." Dawn wouldn't dare let her
sister down. Not after the high
price that had been paid for this life of hers.
No, now was the time for Dawn Summers to start her life.
A real life with real memories and real occurrences…by herself.
***************************************************************
The
blonde vampire crouched at her side, consumed with overwhelming grief and guilt.
His entire world for the last months revolved around the petite Slayer.
He swore to himself, and to her, to protect this woman with his life.
The end of the story and the bottom line equated to one live vampire and
one dead Slayer. Then it struck
him, and he fell into depression even further.
He hadn't always been sworn to protect her and hers.
"I'll dance on your grave." His
words rang through his mind louder and louder by the minute.
There was a time, not all that long ago, when he would have relished the
idea of leaving the Slayer for dead, not looking back for a moment.
What happened between now and then?
Why would the death of a little girl cause this Master Vampire to
collapse in grief and weep like a child? What
the hell did he have to go and fall in love with her for?
The
last end-of-the-world party they attended together, things had been quite
different. They had been allies,
sure, but unwilling allies if that at all.
They way they walked down the street suggested their extreme distrust and
dislike for each other. Even the
way he had obtained invitation to her home had been strained.
But this time, she had finally shown him the trust he had worked so hard
for. He had nervously stood at her
doorstep, fully aware that he was not allowed inside, while she, the one who had
purposely taken away his invitation, overlooked his predicament.
It was almost as if she had forgotten how afraid of him she had been in
the past weeks, feeling only trust and kinship with him now.
Then, when reminded of needing an invitation, she did so without giving
it a second thought. And most
importantly, she did it without threats or any misgivings.
Yes, something grand had happened between Spike and the Slayer.
Something that hopefully would not die along with her.
********************************************************
"Spike."
When
he heard what could only be a slayerette voice, he couldn't possibly move or
even respond. The vampire felt
completely lost. When he lost his ability to harm humans, Spike found himself
in between worlds, without a place in either.
It took Buffy to give him a purpose and a home…but now with her gone,
he couldn't even begin to imagine where to go from here.
"Spike!"
No,
he would not respond. He would sit
here until he figured out what to do and where to go.
The reason he had come to Sunnydale in the first place was dead to him
now for more reasons than one.
"William!
Get up NOW before you burn away in a vampire barbeque!"
That voice. That was
definitely not one of the girls behind him.
That was…
His
head jerked up, fantically searching his surroundings.
"Buffy?! Where are you?" He tried to jump to his feet, but only succeeded in falling
to the ground under the broken limbs. By
now, the group of humans was staring at him nervously.
"Spike," Willow began, "Buffy's gone."
The words pained her, and her tears started again.
"Oh,
crap! Don't tell me you wankers
didn't hear that?!"
Six
blank stares confirmed that they hadn't.
So, perhaps it had been a sick product of his warped mind.
Too much guilt, that was it. 'She
turned me into a damn, poofter.'
"God
damn it Spike! Get your ass inside
before I haul it in there! I have to live in this body too, you know."
This time, he calmly looked around at the faces in front of him.
They didn't hear that either. And
to compound it, he couldn't see the voice coming from anywhere.
"Um, mates. I think we
have a bit of a situation here." Spike
spoke very slowly so as not to panic himself.
"I'm hearing Buffy's voice."
Now
they were all looking at each other, various degrees of disbelief across their
faces. "Spike,"
Willow approached him gently, "let's get you inside while the rest of
us take care of things here, ok? The
sun's rising."
"That's
just what she said. She told me to
gaaaaahhh…" Suddenly, his body
began to move of its own volition, scampering to the nearest indoor spot.
"Now,
next time, listen to me, you overgrown mosquito!"
Spike
grew quiet, tilting his head to the side slightly, and looking down at his body.
"Slayer? Are you in
there?"
To
Be Continued...
