Things collapsed on each other when Buffy died. The world was shattered. I had only just begun to see the world as a place that accepted me. It was beginning to be my world too. The one person who showed me that had to leave. Why'd you go Buffy? Why didn't you take me patrolling with you that night? Maybe I could have helped. Or maybe I could have taken your place. You were my sister. No. You are my sister. I love you. Thanks; for showing me life, and just how much I deserve it.
Buffy raised her elbows in the air and grabbed a hold of her shirt. Straightening her arms out she slipped the shirt over her head and pulled it off, letting it drop to the ground. She tried to twist her head around enough to see the cross that had burned into her back, but she could only see a tip of the red mark. She grabbed the shirt she had peeled off a young, blonde girl, lying in a pool of blood near Buffy's feet. She pulled the new, skintight, black shirt over her shoulders and tugged it to make it fit. A slit of her belly shown because the shirt was just a little too short. Or maybe it was supposed to be that way, Buffy didn't know. The sleeves were a little uncomfortable, being long. The neckline was a large V, showing more cleavage than Willow had.
"Mmm. Looks good," said Buffy, admiring the curves that the shirt showed. She brushed at a spot of blood on the right shoulder, and sighed when it wouldn't come off.
* * *
"It was her, I'm sure," Willow whispered, her voice cracking, on the verge of crying.
"But Will," trailed Xander. After Willow had awakened, the two of them had returned to the Summers' house, where Willow resided with Tara and Dawn. His voice began to get whiney, not wanting to know that Buffy was back, but a vampire.
"Xander!" Willow snapped. "I'm. I'm sorry. I didn't mean…"
"It's okay. I-I believe you," Xander said, moving to comfort Willow.
Dawn squeezed closer to Tara, who sat on the other side of Willow on the big couch in the living room. All four of them sat, huddled together, on the couch, creating another mass of sniffles and cries.
Suddenly there was a knock at the door, and all the sounds inside the house were hushed. Willow pulled herself out of Xander's grasp and Tara's hold, and stood up, trying to peer around the corner to look at the front door. She took a couple of small steps and stopped. The banging on the door increased in both speed and sound. Willow shuffled across the floor to the door, trying to be as quiet as she could.
"Y-yes?" called Willow through the door, trying to reach whatever was on the other side. The banging ceased immediately.
"Willow? Willow is that you? Let me in, please, I need to talk to you," came a voice from the other side. Willow quickly grabbed the handle of the door and flung it open to see Anya's face streaked with tears. "Oh Willow! Have you seen Xander? Why are you crying, did something happen? I told him. I told him…"
"Anya?" yelled Xander, rushing into the front hallway to meet his wife with a hug.
"Xander? Where were you, why didn't you call me?" she asked.
Xander glanced by Anya and saw the rays of the morning sun gleam over the hillside. "I'm sorry, An, I didn't know it was so late," he replied, running his fingers through her hair and petting her cheek. She leaned her head closer into his head, feeling the comfort that had forsaken her that night.
Willow returned to the living room with the two trailing behind, Xander still holding Anya close to him. Willow took her place next to Tara again, and leaned in close, creating a symmetrical type picture with Dawn on the other side. Xander sat in the chair this time, and Anya sat on his lap, where he cradled her.
Willow repeated the story to Anya, and still had to restrain herself from crying with each passing memory of the previous night when Buffy tried to kill her. She broke down at the end again, and Tara snatched her hand in hers and lightly rubbed her cheek, kissing her lips softly.
* * *
Buffy stalked the little boy in the shadows, which were depleting thanks to the rising sun. However, she was trusting enough in her skills as not only a Slayer, but as a vampire, to finish the task before the sun shown over the horizon. She began to pick up her pace though, in case unforeseen obstacles crossed her path.
"Help," came a small voice from behind the boy. He immediately turned around and glanced at the shadows, finding Buffy right off.
"What is it?" asked the boy, curious of this lady hiding in the shadows.
Buffy walked forward toward the boy, but still remained under the shade of a nearby tree. "I lost my kitten," she said, glancing at the small cat the boy carried in his arms, "And I noticed that you might have found him."
The boy had only been out to get the paper for his parents that morning, like he did whenever he could get the chance. He had stumbled out the door, only half-awake, and heard the purring of a precious, little kitten down the steps of his door. He had walked towards the cat, but the kitten was obviously shy of humans, and had jumped back a little and made short gallops down the street, tripping every so often. He had finally caught the kitten, and was bringing it back to his house when Buffy had stopped him.
Buffy walked forward, now gazing into the kid's eyes, as she pulled the kitten from his hands who let out a sharp yell. The boy began to become scared, and made a startled fall onto his rear, making a groan as he landed. Buffy smirked and carried the tiny kitten's head in her hand, the rest of the body hanging there. The cat tried to make meow sounds, and even tried to hiss, but Buffy had its head held too tight to let it open its mouth.
The boy's eyes opened wide as Buffy held her hand and the cat out open to him, and began to swing her hand from side to side. A sharp, low crack was heard as the tiny kitten's body went limp, and Buffy grinned. The boy finally found the ability to scream within himself and let loose, trying to wake anyone that could hear. Buffy laughed at the boy's pointless attempt at saving himself, and used both hands to pull him up by his neck.
The boy gasped and struggled to scream, but Buffy held his neck too tight, and the boy could only make moaning noises deep in his diaphragm. Tears began to slide from the boy's eyes as he realized he couldn't breathe. Buffy saw the tears and lowered here offense, setting the boy to the ground and gasping; holding her hand over her mouth, she crumbled to the ground.
"Oh my God," she whispered.
The boy slipped to the ground, after the lack of oxygen to his body. He took deep breaths, trying to fill his lungs, which were burning. Buffy's arms shook as she raised herself up and laughed, picking the boy up again, this time by the scruff of his shirt. She let the demon inside her out, changing the features of her face. She ruthlessly sank her teeth into the boy's neck, sucking all the blood his body had just struggled to make.
When the boy was empty, she dropped him to the ground and licked her teeth, savoring every last bit of blood she could.
"That was good."