Ad Astra Per Aspera
February 1, 2003
She walked slowly through the woods in the waning day, until she reached the clearing at the overlook. The same place she and Angel had stood years before, watching the miraculous snowfall that had saved him from facing the sunrise.
She knelt in the cool grass, looking out over the town as the sun sank in glorious colors in the west.
Her town. Sunnydale. The Hellmouth. From her vantage point, she could see the town hall, the post office, and several other buildings, all with their flags flying at half staff. Just as they were all over the country on this horrid day.
Her hand reached up, her fingers pensively stroking the cross that hung on a slim chain around her neck as she gazed out into the distance, lost in thought. She was not a religious person, though she had known the peace of heaven for a while. She was "action gal", and it tore her inside that there was nothing she could do to make this right.
Or maybe it was right, anyway. Sometimes heroes died.
She opened her bag and carefully set out what she had brought.
And when she walked home, seven candles flickered on the hilltop, under the glory of the dark sky and an endless sea of stars.
"A hard road leads to the stars"
In Memoriam: Rick Husband, William McCool, Michael Anderson, Kalpana Chawla, David Brown, Laurel Clark, Ilan Ramon.