A/N: STAY TUNED FOR THE IMPORTANT MESSAGE AT THE END!!
Disclaimer: OK, it's been 31 chapters, and you STILL don't know??!!
Dedication: For everybody who reviewed this and encouraged me to carry it on, even when the threats included red plastic shovels (mentioning no names, **coughFanFreakcough**)! You guys are the best, and I hope you've enjoyed this fic!
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The figure stood in the shadows, slowly taking a drag on a cigarette as he watched the girl bend to lay a small boquet on the freshly dug earth of the grave.
Gracia gradually straightened and took a step back so she stood next to Angel, both silently reading the few words on the simple gravestone.
CECELIA REES. 1975-2008.
After a few moments, Gracia spoke.
"It's weird. I don't hate her."
Angel glanced sideways at her, and, sensing this, she elaborated.
"I mean, I know I should. She tried to kill me; she WANTED to kill me. She wanted to hurt you all. But...I don't hate her." Gracia looked at him questioningly. "I just feel sorry for her."
"Nobody deserves to have a bad life." Angel replied, remembering what Gracia had told him about the confrontation. "But you have to remember that so many people do- it can't be helped- and yet they try to do something good with it. Cecelia didn't."
"I think she wanted me to hate her." Gracia glanced at the white roses she had lain on the grave, the only tribute, and recalled the lonely funeral held earlier that day, in the hours of light. Apart from herself and the vicar conducting the ceremony, there had only been Principal Walker and two or three other teachers. "She didn't want anyone's pity."
"Some people are like that." her brother observed. "They don't want anyone's help either."
He sounded so knowing that Gracia briefly wondered if he was talking from personal experience.
"Do you know what she called herself?" she asked.
He shook his head no. "What?"
"Ambulo Mortuus." Gracia shook her head, puzzled. "Although I don't know why."
"Walking Death," Angel mused aloud, almost offhandedly. At Gracia's look, he added, "It's Latin."
Gracia felt a tiny, smile of something almost like disbelief creep onto her lips. "I thought that your schoolmaster back in Galway called you, 'the most tiresome and insolent boy I have ever had the displeasure of dealing with'."
Angel shrugged. "People change, I guess."
Gracia's smile faded. She hesitated, then continued, "She was right about one thing though."
"What was that?" came the wary reply.
She met his gaze evenly. "I am weak."
Shocked, he took hold of her arms. "No, you are not! Gracey, you're not weak at all!"
Gracia shrugged slightly. "The way I acted after she jumped...I bet none of the other Slayers you've known would have just sat there."
"They may have. Slayers have emotions as well. They are people too." he told her, remembering how scared the teenage Buffy could get, sometimes nearing hysterical. "You've only been the Slayer three months then this happens. It's OK that you felt like you did. Even later on...you'd still feel the same."
"Really?" she looked slightly like a child then, wide eyes raised to him. He smiled a little.
"Sure." He drew her into a comforting hug.
"You know something else?" she asked as they broke apart. "I'm not sure I can trust the Watcher's Council any more. It wasn't their fault, what happened, but if they can let something like this get past them, then I don't think I can totally put my life in their hands."
"You need a Watcher that's a friend as well as a mentor." he stated, wondering... "We'll make sure you do. And you have all of us to help you."
"Yeah." She grinned suddenly, considering all of the new friends and acquaintances she'd made since coming to Sunnydale. "Well, at least no one can call my life boring and ordinary."
He gave a small laugh. "What do you say we head over to the Bronze and meet up with Keisha and Luke?"
"Sounds good to me." she chirped, laughing as well.
They turned from the grave of Cecelia Rees and set off. After a moment, Gracia looked back over her shoulder and smiled at Spike, standing alone in the shadows, before he retreated back and away.
Side by side, Gracia the Vampire Slayer and her vampire brother Angel walked away into the night.
********************************************************************************
THERE WILL BE A SEQUEL!!! Expect the first chapter up in a few weeks or so. The title is...something you'll find out when the fic gets uploaded. ;-D Lol.
Anyways, thanks for reading this and please review! Tell me what you think of plots and characters- too predictable or alright or what? I really am interested to see what you think of this story.
ALSO!!! Who should now be Gracia's Watcher? A new character or...someone else? What do you want? Review and let me know.
Thanks once more, and keep checking for the sequel!
-Shadowz.
Disclaimer: OK, it's been 31 chapters, and you STILL don't know??!!
Dedication: For everybody who reviewed this and encouraged me to carry it on, even when the threats included red plastic shovels (mentioning no names, **coughFanFreakcough**)! You guys are the best, and I hope you've enjoyed this fic!
********************************************************************************
The figure stood in the shadows, slowly taking a drag on a cigarette as he watched the girl bend to lay a small boquet on the freshly dug earth of the grave.
Gracia gradually straightened and took a step back so she stood next to Angel, both silently reading the few words on the simple gravestone.
CECELIA REES. 1975-2008.
After a few moments, Gracia spoke.
"It's weird. I don't hate her."
Angel glanced sideways at her, and, sensing this, she elaborated.
"I mean, I know I should. She tried to kill me; she WANTED to kill me. She wanted to hurt you all. But...I don't hate her." Gracia looked at him questioningly. "I just feel sorry for her."
"Nobody deserves to have a bad life." Angel replied, remembering what Gracia had told him about the confrontation. "But you have to remember that so many people do- it can't be helped- and yet they try to do something good with it. Cecelia didn't."
"I think she wanted me to hate her." Gracia glanced at the white roses she had lain on the grave, the only tribute, and recalled the lonely funeral held earlier that day, in the hours of light. Apart from herself and the vicar conducting the ceremony, there had only been Principal Walker and two or three other teachers. "She didn't want anyone's pity."
"Some people are like that." her brother observed. "They don't want anyone's help either."
He sounded so knowing that Gracia briefly wondered if he was talking from personal experience.
"Do you know what she called herself?" she asked.
He shook his head no. "What?"
"Ambulo Mortuus." Gracia shook her head, puzzled. "Although I don't know why."
"Walking Death," Angel mused aloud, almost offhandedly. At Gracia's look, he added, "It's Latin."
Gracia felt a tiny, smile of something almost like disbelief creep onto her lips. "I thought that your schoolmaster back in Galway called you, 'the most tiresome and insolent boy I have ever had the displeasure of dealing with'."
Angel shrugged. "People change, I guess."
Gracia's smile faded. She hesitated, then continued, "She was right about one thing though."
"What was that?" came the wary reply.
She met his gaze evenly. "I am weak."
Shocked, he took hold of her arms. "No, you are not! Gracey, you're not weak at all!"
Gracia shrugged slightly. "The way I acted after she jumped...I bet none of the other Slayers you've known would have just sat there."
"They may have. Slayers have emotions as well. They are people too." he told her, remembering how scared the teenage Buffy could get, sometimes nearing hysterical. "You've only been the Slayer three months then this happens. It's OK that you felt like you did. Even later on...you'd still feel the same."
"Really?" she looked slightly like a child then, wide eyes raised to him. He smiled a little.
"Sure." He drew her into a comforting hug.
"You know something else?" she asked as they broke apart. "I'm not sure I can trust the Watcher's Council any more. It wasn't their fault, what happened, but if they can let something like this get past them, then I don't think I can totally put my life in their hands."
"You need a Watcher that's a friend as well as a mentor." he stated, wondering... "We'll make sure you do. And you have all of us to help you."
"Yeah." She grinned suddenly, considering all of the new friends and acquaintances she'd made since coming to Sunnydale. "Well, at least no one can call my life boring and ordinary."
He gave a small laugh. "What do you say we head over to the Bronze and meet up with Keisha and Luke?"
"Sounds good to me." she chirped, laughing as well.
They turned from the grave of Cecelia Rees and set off. After a moment, Gracia looked back over her shoulder and smiled at Spike, standing alone in the shadows, before he retreated back and away.
Side by side, Gracia the Vampire Slayer and her vampire brother Angel walked away into the night.
********************************************************************************
THERE WILL BE A SEQUEL!!! Expect the first chapter up in a few weeks or so. The title is...something you'll find out when the fic gets uploaded. ;-D Lol.
Anyways, thanks for reading this and please review! Tell me what you think of plots and characters- too predictable or alright or what? I really am interested to see what you think of this story.
ALSO!!! Who should now be Gracia's Watcher? A new character or...someone else? What do you want? Review and let me know.
Thanks once more, and keep checking for the sequel!
-Shadowz.
