TITLE: Harvest Home (1/1)
SERIES: The Wheel of the Year
AUTHOR: Nymue
EMAIL: josette@aol.com
RATED: PG
DISCLAIMER: Not mine. Not yours. They belong to Joss, the WB, and FOX. This is a not-for-profit fanfiction. No infringement is intended.
SUMMARY: As the autumnal solstice and the celebration of Mabon approaches, various characters take time to connect with others and reflect on what they have reaped … or not. This is not a story in the full sense, but rather a series of glimpses at the relationships between certain characters.
SPOILERS: Up through "The Replacement" and "Are You Now Or Have You Ever Been."
NOTE: Incantation by Starhawk, from "The Spiral Dance."
FEEDBACK: Is much appreciated.
***
The rituals of Demeter
and the terrifying nights
of the goddess Hecate
are among the mysteries
I have experienced.
-- Sabina, Roman priestess
***
"Am I to believe that everyone will be attending?" Giles asked, turning to straighten up the back room after Buffy's training session.
"No," the Slayer said slowly.
"Oh?"
Buffy shoved the last of the mats into the closet and leaned against the wall, looking at her mentor who was now studying her more intently. As soon as he finished replacing the crystals in their case, he gestured to the door and asked, "Tea?"
She nodded and followed. A companionable silence reigned as the two went through the motions of the tea ritual, years of familiarity negating the immediate need for speech. Buffy rummaged through the cabinet of the small kitchenette looking for the sugar, her mind focused on setting the plates and cups on the small table rather than on the conversation to come. It wasn't a form of denial like the one she had spent nearly a year indulging in, she realized, but a way of straightening and calming her mind. Hard at times, yes, but worth the hassle for the results it yielded.
"Mom won't be coming," Buffy said as they were seated. "Not that it comes as any big surprise, but she won't let Dawn come, either."
Giles looked up from spreading the jam on his scones. "Any particular reason?"
Buffy shrugged. "She's still a little wigged about Willow and Tara. Plus Dawn told her a few days ago that she wanted to learn what, exactly, it was that they did together and … "
"Your mother wasn't comfortable," Giles finished.
"Uh huh," she agreed, her mouth too full to form words.
Giles studied his Slayer carefully. She was more like his daughter than any of the others ever could have been, and he loved her dearly. And he was even more proud of her than he had ever been when she told him that she wanted him to be her Watcher once more, that she wanted to learn more about who and what she was. There was a new sparkle in her eyes, a new confidence that was beginning to emerge in her that had nothing to do with anything or anyone but Buffy. Privately, he wondered how long it would be before they entered uncharted territory, for as she continued to train her abilities were growing far more rapidly than any of the texts indicated.
"And Riley?"
Buffy shrugged again. "He says he's busy that night."
"But?" Giles prodded.
"He's not too comfortable with magick and Witchcraft, either, so it doesn't matter," she answered.
Giles pursed his lips and wondered how best to proceed. Her tone did not even indicate the slightest trace that she was bothered by the boy's actions, but still. "Does that upset you, Buffy?"
"No," she said simply.
"Why not?"
She sat for a moment, cup raised halfway to her mouth. Slowly she pressed the porcelain to her lips, sipping the hot liquid as she wondered how much of her conversation with Willow she would need to repeat. Finally, she decided on simplicity.
"I don't love him," she stated.
Giles nodded, understanding flowing freely across his features. Watching the couple together and apart over the last several months, he had suspected as much. Nevertheless, before he could voice his opinions on the subject, their eyes met and she spoke again.
"And he doesn't understand."
Once more, no explanation was necessary. "Ah."
His Slayer gave him a small, sad smile. "I don't think it will last much longer, Giles. It can't; if it does it will hurt us both that much more."
"When will you tell him?"
Her eyes glazed over a bit, as if she seemed to be looking far beyond the moment. "Soon, I think. I can't do this much longer, but I don't want to hurt him … "
"It *will* hurt him, Buffy. Surely you know that."
She nodded. "But if I keep waiting it'll hurt even more."
Giles murmured his acquiescence and they returned to their tea, discussing more mundane matters such as school and the magic shop. Eventually though, their repast came to an end and they returned to the original topic as they rinsed out the dishes and stored the leftovers.
"So, will you come?"
Giles looked over at his Slayer and smiled. "Of course."
Her answering smile was the brightest he'd seen in weeks.
***
"What?"
Xander stood in the middle of his new apartment, his mouth open in astonishment. And while Anya occasionally liked to surprise her Xander, this was not the reaction she had expected. Or wanted.
"You heard me."
Xander's mouth snapped shut and his eyes widened again, which she thought was adorable. "Tell me again," he finally responded.
"I want you to come to a Solstice Circle that Willow and Tara are holding," Anya stated simply. "Why are you taking so long to decide? It's a very simple question -- you'll either come, or you won't."
Once more, Xander had the unique feeling of being flummoxed by his girlfriend … who was so much more than that. As he stared at her, he got the sense that this was something she really wanted and part of him simply capitulated in that instant. However, another part (my twinself? he wondered) had more to say.
"Isn't, you know, just for Wiccans?" he asked.
Anya shook her head. "As long as you don't piss off the deities in question, anybody can attend."
Another thought wiggled in his head. "Isn't it … I mean, don't you, you know, have sexattheend?"
The former demon smiled at the way he ran the words together although she still didn't understand this taboo about sex. Well, talking about sex. If you had the parts and the parts worked, you could have sex. And sex was nice. Why not talk about it? "Not always."
"Oh." Xander looked relieved, before doubt crossed his mind again. "But … "
"Xander," she said impatiently. "I told you anyone could come. Buffy went last time and she's coming again … and besides, we don't always have sex."
At that, images materialized in his brain that he knew never should have, but did nonetheless. Flashes of Buffy and Anya and Willow …
"And Giles is coming, too," she added.
The images disappeared as if doused with ice water. Xander shook his head and started to open his mouth, but Anya beat him to put it.
"Well?" she demanded.
"Okay, I'll come."
***
"Well, well, well, if it isn't the oversized hall monitor."
Riley clenched his fists as he heard the distinctive mocking tones of a British born vampire, and he turned to find the platinum blond leaning against the wall and regarding him closely, smoking an ever present cigarette. Blue eyes danced in delight as the vampire took in the former commando's displeasure, savoring the difference it made in the boy's blood. He might not be able to hurt anything living being physically, Spike reflected, but inflicting emotional pain and strife was the next best thing.
For now.
"What do you want?" Riley grated, in no mood to take any kind of shit from the only hostile to escape the Initiative without outside assistance. He would stake the annoying bastard now, but he knew that, deep down, Buffy would be angry that he made that decision after she allowed Spike to live. Why she wanted him alive -- undead, alive, whatever -- was beyond him. Unless, he thought, she wants him around because he's …
"Why, just to look after your safety," Spike replied, his voice dripping with sarcastic innocence.
"Well, thanks but no thanks," Riley said and turned to leave.
Spike, however, had other plans. "So, why aren't you over on the hill with the Slayer and the others, celebrating this lovely night?"
Riley tensed. "I have better things to do."
A slow, malicious smile curved the vampire's lips. "Can't take it? The magick, I mean, and the fact that the Slayer's becoming more and more involved in her Calling."
Riley did an about-face. "I don't mind," he told the vampire, desperately willing himself to believe the words.
Spike laughed in his face. "Oh, but you *do* mind, that's the problem. How does it make you feel to know that magick isn't the only thing that they do in those Circles of theirs?"
The taller man took a deep breath to steady his nerves, reminding himself that with the implant the vampire could do no real harm, and that he was simply fishing for a response, pushing buttons and hoping to make someone else miserable. With this in mind, he ignored Spike and started to walk away but was stopped by the vampire's next words.
"She doesn't love you."
Stopping in his tracks, Riley surprised them both. "I know."
Spike raised an eyebrow. "There's knowing, and then there's knowing. Do you know that although she'll do her duty as a good little Slayer and protect you, that she won't lay down her life for you *just* because the two of you are shagging?"
Pain nearly blinded Riley in that instant, but it was a pain he had been feeling for months, ever since that night the past spring …
"Yes," he whispered, to Spike as much as to himself.
"Good," Spike smirked. "Well, now that I've done my duty, I'm off. Tell the Slayer I hate her for me, will you?"
***
"You've seemed a bit … off, lately."
Angel looked up to see Wesley standing beside him, eyebrows raised in a discreet enquiry. Yet another thing he realized that he liked about the Englishman. Wesley might inquire, but he rarely forced the issue unless necessary; the observation was an invitation to talk but not a direct question.
"I haven't been sleeping well," he responded.
Wesley considered him for a moment, then nodded. "People do tend to sleep longer when their rest is … restless."
Angel bit back the impulse to say that he was not 'people.' "Yeah."
"If you're sure," Wesley said.
"I'll be fine," Angel smiled. "Was there anything else?"
Wesley shook his head. "No, just pondering the occasion."
Angel looked out and joined Wesley in silent contemplation. Yet another solstice, this one celebrating the waning year as day and night equalized. His thoughts turned inward, and Angel wondered about his own dual nature; he, too, was a balance of dark and light and so felt a special connection with the day. But it's only balanced for now, he mused, for tomorrow begins the long descent into the darkness of winter. Hopefully it was not a foreshadowing of his life.
Next to him, Wesley was thinking the same thing.
***
Two brunettes studied each other through a pane of glass. Both were slim and curvy in all the right places and both were paler than the average Californian, but the similarities -- the obvious ones -- ended there. If one looked closer, though, one might see a special fire burning in their eyes as they faced not only each other, but the trials brought by each new day.
The road to redemption is full of thorns.
A hand, slim and elegant, with a nice manicure reached for a phone and lifted it to her ear. Across the glass her companion did the same.
"I can't forgive you," she stated plainly. "Not yet."
The other swallowed. "That's five by five with me … I don't think I deserve it."
"You don't."
"I know."
"But Angel thinks you do, and he wants to help."
"He's been there … that makes it easier, I guess, for him to understand."
"He might, but we don't."
"But … one day?"
The manicured brunette nodded agreement. "One day."
"And the righteous shall walk a thorny path … "
"We all have something to atone for, something to make better," Cordelia whispered.
Faith nodded. "So, what's new with the business? You guys ever find a new office?"
***
In a darkened office with a view of the city, two figures stood looking out over the unsuspecting, mostly uncaring populace.
"My boy's out there," the blonde whispered.
The taller man glanced at her. "We'll finish this soon enough."
"But not before I have my revenge."
"No," the man agreed as her hands slid around his waist and under his shirt. "Not until we have revenge … "
***
On the top of hill in Sunnydale, the town that sits on the Hellmouth, six people formed a circle around a blazing fire. Her head cast back, the voice of a redhead rang out.
"This is the time of the harvest … "
In a deserted gym, a tall blond man furiously plays a solitary game of basketball, desperate to drown out the pain -- real and figurative -- emanating from his heart.
"Of thanksgiving and joy … "
In a crypt, a vampire paces and dreads the dreams he knows will surely come. Resolved, he slams his fist against the wall as he vows to do whatever he must to regain the sanity he feels slowly slipping away.
"Now day and night are equal, in perfect balance … "
In Los Angeles, the city of lost angels, a lone vampire stands on a roof and contemplates his existence. From well below him, a former Watcher lights a candle of protection as he does the same.
"We give thought to the balance and flow within our own lives … "
In a small cell, Faith closes her eyes yet again and seeks for that place deep inside, the place where the real Faith resides. Warts, insecurities and all, she feels the tears slip down her face as she once more confronts the demons within.
And in an apartment, a ghost brings a brush to his mortal roommate. Cordelia relishes the feel of the bristles on her scalp, but in the mirror's reflection her eyes are older and wiser than before and she knows that if she listens closely, she can still hear the cries of those in need.
For his part, the ghost gazes adoringly at her, and marvels at how much she has changed.
"Life declines; the season of barrenness is on us … "
On a plush carpet two bodies writhe together in ecstasy, each needing something the other cannot truly give. Their mating is soft and sensuous as they relish the thought of a victory so close, and yet a curious sense of dread lingers all the same …
"We give thanks for that which we have reaped and gathered. We meet to turn the Wheel and weave the cord of life that will sustain us through the dark … "
END