Part 10:
Buffy walked around her room, picking up childhood mementos, looking at photos, and lying on her old bed. One of her favourite photos, one of her, Willow and Xander, was still sitting on her bedside table. She picked it up and sat for about 5 minutes just looking at it and remembering the past. She seemed to be doing that a lot lately and she seemed to be thinking Angel a lot as well. Especially since meeting Claire.
She placed the photo back and walked over to her chest of drawers. Opening the top one, she reached into the back, her hands wandering around until her fingers clasped what they were looking for. A soft, velvet box, the kind jewellery came in.....
****
"G-giles..." Claire looked uncertainly at the ex-Watcher who had a stern look on his face and wondered how much he had heard. "Good morning."
"Actually Claire, I think it is a rather confusing one that will hopefully be filled with explanations."
Hearing that, the young girl sighed, knowing that Giles had heard everything and that she was going to be in BIG trouble with the PTB.....
****
Buffy slowly opened the box. The night Angel had left she had vowed never to open this box again, yet here she was, meaning to open it maybe even take out the contents, all because she had met a young girl who reminded her of Angel.
She snapped the box shut abruptly and put it back in the drawer, without looking at the contents. What was she thinking, bringing up the past again? That section of her life was over. Opening up that box would just cause the pain to spill out all over again.
She left the room and stopped at the top of the stairs. She could hear her mother downstairs, making herself lunch. It was almost like old times. Almost. Buffy made a decision. Grabbing her coat while calling out to her mother that she would be around later that night with Claire, Buffy left the house and headed for a trip to the past...
****
"So you're telling me that you were sent here by the Powers That Be, to reunite Buffy and Angel because if you don't you won't exist and millions of people will die?"
"Yes. That is what I am telling you." For the 500th time...
Giles looked at the young girl in disbelief.
"How do I know you are telling the truth?"
"Oh come on Rupert! You heard me this morning! What, do you think I was talking to myself? You can go in there and ask them yourself if you want!"
"So you're telling me that the PTB are in my bathroom?" Giles said, with a note of amusement in his voice.
"Very good Rupert, you made a joke! You'd better sit down, I know how much energy that uses the first time you do it. No, they are not in your bathroom, I used a thing called scrying, ever heard of it?"
Giles noticed the sarcasm in her voice. She's definitely Buffy's daughter!
"Yes I have heard of scrying." He said, just as sarcastically. He pondered for a moment before making his next comment. "If all is as you say Claire and the PTB want Buffy and Angel together, why did they go to so much trouble to keep them apart?"
"It wasn't to keep them apart Rupert, it was to test their love. The PTB had to make sure that their love could withstand anything. It went too far though. Angel wasn't supposed to leave, he made that choice all by himself and stuffed up all the plans, so to speak."
"Right." Giles straightened his glasses and looked back at the young girl who was, in a twisted way, almost a granddaughter to him. "So you have known all your life that you would have to come back to stop this?"
"Well, in a way, yes. I was actually named after myself, as strange as that may seem. No one was supposed to find out who I am, especially not Angel and Buffy. When their first baby is born, they are going to name it after the girl who helped get them back together, which is me. But they don't know that. They will eventually find out that it was their daughter who helped them back together but until then they are just gonna think it was a weird coincidence that we look alike. Get it?"
Giles' head was spinning. "The main point, yes."
"You know, you have REALLY gotten me in hot water! Why did you have to listen at the door? I'm going to be in A LOT of trouble when I get home."
"Well, sorry. But I think that there are a lot more important things to do. By the way, why do you call me Rupert? I would of thought that you would call me Giles, just like your parents and their friends do."
Claire's eyes suddenly clouded over and she looked at the ground.
"I can't tell you things like that. PTB rules. Sorry."
"Oh, right, of course. Okay, how are we going to get Angel here?"
"Don't worry, already taken care of that. Now all we have to do is get them back together."
"Oh, don't worry about that my dear. As long as we get them in the same place, I'm pretty sure that they can do that themselves."
****
Walking around, Buffy's eyes filled with tears. This place held such memories, some beautiful, others haunting. Brushing away a tear that had landed on her cheek, Buffy thought back to the night Angel had lost his soul, and the morning after. She remembered sending him to Hell, the look of confusion in his big brown eyes when she thrust the sword into his stomach. She replayed in her mind the time she found him, still wild and full of terror, after coming back from Hell. The little performance they put on for Faith, the day she slept over, the day he left.....All these memories were bought back, just from walking around a cold abandoned mansion.
She closed her eyes and stood there in the silence of her lover's old house. She just stood there, and remembered.
Buffy walked around her room, picking up childhood mementos, looking at photos, and lying on her old bed. One of her favourite photos, one of her, Willow and Xander, was still sitting on her bedside table. She picked it up and sat for about 5 minutes just looking at it and remembering the past. She seemed to be doing that a lot lately and she seemed to be thinking Angel a lot as well. Especially since meeting Claire.
She placed the photo back and walked over to her chest of drawers. Opening the top one, she reached into the back, her hands wandering around until her fingers clasped what they were looking for. A soft, velvet box, the kind jewellery came in.....
****
"G-giles..." Claire looked uncertainly at the ex-Watcher who had a stern look on his face and wondered how much he had heard. "Good morning."
"Actually Claire, I think it is a rather confusing one that will hopefully be filled with explanations."
Hearing that, the young girl sighed, knowing that Giles had heard everything and that she was going to be in BIG trouble with the PTB.....
****
Buffy slowly opened the box. The night Angel had left she had vowed never to open this box again, yet here she was, meaning to open it maybe even take out the contents, all because she had met a young girl who reminded her of Angel.
She snapped the box shut abruptly and put it back in the drawer, without looking at the contents. What was she thinking, bringing up the past again? That section of her life was over. Opening up that box would just cause the pain to spill out all over again.
She left the room and stopped at the top of the stairs. She could hear her mother downstairs, making herself lunch. It was almost like old times. Almost. Buffy made a decision. Grabbing her coat while calling out to her mother that she would be around later that night with Claire, Buffy left the house and headed for a trip to the past...
****
"So you're telling me that you were sent here by the Powers That Be, to reunite Buffy and Angel because if you don't you won't exist and millions of people will die?"
"Yes. That is what I am telling you." For the 500th time...
Giles looked at the young girl in disbelief.
"How do I know you are telling the truth?"
"Oh come on Rupert! You heard me this morning! What, do you think I was talking to myself? You can go in there and ask them yourself if you want!"
"So you're telling me that the PTB are in my bathroom?" Giles said, with a note of amusement in his voice.
"Very good Rupert, you made a joke! You'd better sit down, I know how much energy that uses the first time you do it. No, they are not in your bathroom, I used a thing called scrying, ever heard of it?"
Giles noticed the sarcasm in her voice. She's definitely Buffy's daughter!
"Yes I have heard of scrying." He said, just as sarcastically. He pondered for a moment before making his next comment. "If all is as you say Claire and the PTB want Buffy and Angel together, why did they go to so much trouble to keep them apart?"
"It wasn't to keep them apart Rupert, it was to test their love. The PTB had to make sure that their love could withstand anything. It went too far though. Angel wasn't supposed to leave, he made that choice all by himself and stuffed up all the plans, so to speak."
"Right." Giles straightened his glasses and looked back at the young girl who was, in a twisted way, almost a granddaughter to him. "So you have known all your life that you would have to come back to stop this?"
"Well, in a way, yes. I was actually named after myself, as strange as that may seem. No one was supposed to find out who I am, especially not Angel and Buffy. When their first baby is born, they are going to name it after the girl who helped get them back together, which is me. But they don't know that. They will eventually find out that it was their daughter who helped them back together but until then they are just gonna think it was a weird coincidence that we look alike. Get it?"
Giles' head was spinning. "The main point, yes."
"You know, you have REALLY gotten me in hot water! Why did you have to listen at the door? I'm going to be in A LOT of trouble when I get home."
"Well, sorry. But I think that there are a lot more important things to do. By the way, why do you call me Rupert? I would of thought that you would call me Giles, just like your parents and their friends do."
Claire's eyes suddenly clouded over and she looked at the ground.
"I can't tell you things like that. PTB rules. Sorry."
"Oh, right, of course. Okay, how are we going to get Angel here?"
"Don't worry, already taken care of that. Now all we have to do is get them back together."
"Oh, don't worry about that my dear. As long as we get them in the same place, I'm pretty sure that they can do that themselves."
****
Walking around, Buffy's eyes filled with tears. This place held such memories, some beautiful, others haunting. Brushing away a tear that had landed on her cheek, Buffy thought back to the night Angel had lost his soul, and the morning after. She remembered sending him to Hell, the look of confusion in his big brown eyes when she thrust the sword into his stomach. She replayed in her mind the time she found him, still wild and full of terror, after coming back from Hell. The little performance they put on for Faith, the day she slept over, the day he left.....All these memories were bought back, just from walking around a cold abandoned mansion.
She closed her eyes and stood there in the silence of her lover's old house. She just stood there, and remembered.