ONE: GILES
Giles,
I love you dad
Buffy.
Giles hadn't spoken a word since he had had his confrontation with Buffy a little over an hour ago. The last words he'd spoken to her hadn't been the words that a Watcher had the right to say. They hadn't offered her what he had once promised her so many years ago. He hadn't supported her, and he hadn't respected her choices. As much as he understood them, he didn't want to say goodbye to her.
He took the paper that Dawn handed him, his ands shaking a little. He tried to muster up a smile of thanks but found he couldn't even get his mouth to move at all. He unfolded the paper and read the six words written on it.
Tears pricked his eyes, then overflowed, spilling liberally down his cheeks. A small half-smile came to his face as he read the words he'd longed to hear without knowing that it was what he wanted.
I love you dad.
So simple, but so meaningful. He'd hoped that he'd had an impact on his Slayer, and reading the words from her showed him that he truly had meant a great deal to her.
He could still recall the first and only time that Buffy had told him the words aloud. It had been just after Joyce's death, when she'd told him that she didn't want to return to the slaying because she didn't like what it was doing to her heart.
Giles…I love you. Love, love, love…Giles it sounds strange!
He missed her already. He wished that he'd stayed in Sunnydale instead of leaving. He'd admitted to her that he'd been wrong to leave, and now he truly regretted the months he had spent away from his 'daughter'. He'd never get to see her again, would never get to tell her that he loved her too.
He tried to swallow the lump in his throat but found he couldn't. Instead, he just folded the paper and let the tears flow for his daughter for the second time in two years.