*Author's Note*: This one's longer then the previous one. Aren't I just
spiffy? Don't answer that . . . I don't think my poor heart could take it.
Anyway as always I don't own any of these people except Amara. She's nifty
though so I'll just have to be happy with her.
Chapter 2: Two very gorgeous guys . . .
Willow and Xander soon befriended the new girl, and accordingly Cordelia soon started to dislike her based on who she was being friends with and more likely based on the fact that the new girl was as equally as beautiful as Cordelia. She never could take any competition . . . Amara though avoided this Buffy like she was the plague. She didn't eat with Xander or Willow while Buffy was around, she didn't look at her, and she avoided her when she saw her coming down the hallway. It didn't really have anything to do with her being mean, or Amara hating her. It was all because of that dream and what that meant for her. Willow and Xander were at first confused by their friend being so scared around Buffy, running away when she saw her, but they soon put it off as one of Amara's eccentric characteristics, after all she had said some weird things in the past, including knowing about little known things from their pasts, or that time she had dyed her hair blue . . .
It was after the first person in town died of "unusual" circumstances, mirroring her dream once again, and after Xander and Willow started acting very strange and spending a lot of time in the library, that Amara gave in and headed to the library. It was time to get involved. She headed to the library and knew there would only be four people inside. At this school no one ever really used the library, they weren't that academic. She opened the door and got a surprised look from everyone sitting around a table, obviously discussing something of importance and looking a little annoyed at the interruption.
"Um. Yes. Can I help you with something . . ?" The librarian . . . Amara racked her brain and remembered his name was Giles, Mr. Rupert Giles. He couldn't exactly ignore a student since he technically worked here. Willow and Xander both rose eyebrows at her and Buffy just sat still, not knowing Amara except as a girl in her English class who liked to dye her hair weird colours, and the friend of Willow's and Xander's who didn't seem to like her.
"Actually . . . " Amara started, taking a deep breath and deciding whether or not she really wanted to get involved in all this. She smiled at Giles and continued. "Actually I thought I'd help out here."
Giles looked understandably confused at this. "I'm sorry but I don't need an assistant in the library . . ."
Shaking her head, Amara went on to explain. "No not with the library. I thought I'd help out the Slayer and her Watcher . . . being you and Buffy." She almost smirked slightly at the look that crossed over everyone's faces in the room but she held that urge back and shrugged. "Before any of you try and think it, I'm not something evil, no demon, obviously not a vampire, not a witch or a priestess . . . Nothing silly as that . . . " Amara walked over to the table and sat down. "I can help you out though . . . "
Buffy flashed a look at Willow and Xander and they both shook their heads. "We didn't tell ANYONE! We swear!" They both said simultaneously and in perfect unison, it made Amara smile slightly. She waited for Giles to come back over and sit down before continuing.
"No I didn't hear anything I shouldn't have, no one told me anything . . . It's just that . . . " Amara went on to describe the dream she had had almost two years ago, in a very general sense. She kept the events and particulars to herself since she didn't want to change history any.
Giles took his glasses off and wiped them on his shirt before putting them back on and sighing audibly. "Well this is a little . . . strange. . . " His words reflected the mood for everyone, especially Amara.
She leaned forward and looked Buffy in the eyes. " I know pretty much everything that's going to happen in the next few years, I know about the Master vampire that's in Sunnydale right now, I know that this is the hell mouth, I know about the harvest that you stopped last night, I know about it all . . ." Amara sighed and closed her eyes getting some of the more unpleasant images out of her mind. "Don't ask me to tell you . . . I won't risk changing history . . . but I will help you get to the ends even if the means are perhaps a little different."
Buffy, who had been silent through all of this, leaned forward. "How much exactly do you know about me . . .?" Amara grinned slightly and recounted the story of Buffy and how she had gotten kicked out of her last school, about her first watcher and the first major vampire she killed, about her parents . . . everything she knew that had already happened. Buffy was more then a little shocked, and she stared at the girl in front of her, unblinking before she sat back in her chair. "She's got that all right, so she's telling the truth."
"Tell me . . . do I get a girlfriend anytime soon . . . ?" Xander asked his interest poked by the idea of someone knowing his future. Willow hit him softly and he looked at her sideways, and once again Amara thought they should have been a couple, but realized that wasn't going to work at all. She shook her head. "I'm not telling you a thing Xander . . . "
That was the start of very strange things for Amara. She helped Buffy and her friends out, becoming good friends with the Slayer actually, helping them find out things that they needed to know, how to kill certain demons. Never though did she change the course of events from her dream, it was only different when it came to how the events came about since she hadn't actually been in her dream. When Angel came onto the scene, Amara really had to bite her tongue to avoid telling everyone what he was exactly, and more importantly who he had been in the past. From her dream she knew that Buffy and him would become very close, would fall very deeply in love, and she also knew that it wouldn't last. This was the first time her conscience got to her, the first time when she had to deal with a situation that REALLY hurt her friends, would have long lasting damage. Amara knew that when Buffy and Angel slept together, that he would change considerably into something evil, and Amara felt a pain in her heart at the idea that she could stop the pain that was going to happen to Buffy and everyone, stop the deaths that she knew were going to come. But if it didn't happen, nothing else would happen in the way it was supposed to, so she kept quiet. It was all just too bad, Angel was a good looking guy . . . far too good looking to be evil. Of course that thought was a little grade school now that she thought about it, there wasn't a rule that said villains couldn't be attractive.
It was therefore a surprise when Angel appeared outside her apartment one night after she got back from a patrol with Buffy. Giles had been nice enough to help her learn to fight a little as well as Buffy, of course she wasn't the Slayer but living in the Hellmouth accorded itself some lessons in self-defense. Amara narrowed her eyes at Angel as she came up the steps
Why is he here . . . ? I know he's good, so he's not going to do anything, but I've only met him once before so there shouldn't be any need of him to come see me at all.
Angel turned to look at her and smiled as much as he could. It had always amused Amara just how dour and gloomy Angel was. He certainly had that tall, dark and handsome thing going for him. It occurred to Amara that due to his age, he might have actually originally inspired that phrase. She shook herself out of her thoughts and questioned Angel about his being there.
"I wanted to talk to you . . . " Amara walked past him and opened her door, walking inside. She turned around and looked at him on the other side. "Come in Angel . . . " She knew that with that one phrase Angel would forever be able to enter her apartment, but she didn't mind, she liked him. It took a minute for what she said to register on Angel and he walked in a little suspiciously.
"I should have figured you'd know I was a vampire . . ." Angel stared at Amara as she walked into her kitchen and sat down, gesturing to a chair on the other side of the table. He walked over and sat down. "I talked to Buffy earlier, and she mentioned you knew everything that was going to happen to us all."
And you're here to find out exactly what that all is . . . I knew he had to have had a reason to come here. Amara thought a little sadly to herself, somewhat disappointed he hadn't just come to talk to her or meet her. He's a nice guy but I'm not going to do much different with him then the others, but some things I suppose are okay . . .
"Angel, I'm not going to tell you anything that's going to happen the future, but yes I do know it and it hurts because I know I can't change it or else the future is going to be different." She looked away, a little hurt by her own thoughts. The brooding vampire reached across the table and laid a hand over hers, squeezing gently, and reminding Amara that the vampire holding her hand was absolutely gorgeous and at this moment a nice guy, making her feel worse for what was going to happen.
"You're in love with Buffy . . . ? You have been since Whistler showed you her back in her Los Angeles . . . " Amara stated sadly, remembering some things from her dream that couldn't hurt anyone if she mentioned them to him. He already knew this. He looked a little shocked but nodded.
"I do, but it's not good for either of us now is it . . . ? I mean, she's the Slayer and I'm a vampire with a history . . . " Angel said the last part with amazing bitterness, but Amara shook her head.
"Yes, Angelus, of course that's not you anymore now is it Angel? You're not just any vampire, you're one with a soul." She returned his earlier gesture and squeezed his hand. "Don't worry about things so much Angel, I know you're guilty about what you did, but just think about that. My mother always told me that no matter what you do, if you feel bad about it and try and rectify it then you're not bad." Amara chuckled softly. "Of course when talking to me she meant more along the lines of making my sister cry, and then being nice to her for a week to make up for it . . . Still the same point though."
His brow furrowed, Angel nodded his head. "So you know all about my past basically . . . ?"
"No . . . not ALL about it, I know about you being changed by Darla, about some of the things you did while you were Angelus, including being sire to Drusilla and grand-sire to Spike, I know about the curse that returned your soul, about your grief and pain that came with it, I know about meeting Whistler and seeing Buffy . . . That's it . . . " Amara grinned at the shocked look on his face, not expecting someone he basically just met to know so much about him, or to understand him so much.
"So you're not going to tell me anything about the future are you . . . ? "
"Not a chance mate."
Angel nodded and patted her hand. "Don't worry, I'm not angry at you for it. I understand why you can't." He stood up and turned to leave, but stopped at turned back to look at her. "By the way . . . Thank you for trusting me and inviting me into your home . . . it means a lot to me, most people don't trust vampires . . . even one's with souls."
Amara winked at him and he turned and left, quietly as the shadows that had crept up, not surprising since he was a child of the night as that age old, and tremendously corny saying went. She liked the fact that her inviting him into her home made him feel welcome, but she had a nagging suspicion that she might regret it for a period of time in the future. While that may happen, it was worth it to make someone who was usually so miserable even a little bit happier, especially when Amara thought about what she knew for the future.
Maybe I should start stocking up on some blood in the fridge for any more visits by vampires . . . ? It's always polite to be able to offer your guest a drink, and with vampires there isn't much to offer.
Strangely enough she took her own advice and started to get things that she knew her friends liked, including some pig's blood for when any various vampire's dropped by, well the only one she knew and trusted to drop by. As for everyone else she got various teas, sodas and fruit drinks. Giles liked English Earl Grey tea, Willow liked green tea, Buffy liked her sickly sweet sodas and Xander . . . well Xander wasn't that picky. She had a feeling she could give him Angel's blood and he wouldn't even notice. Of course after he did . . . there would be no extricating of him from the bathroom for weeks.
During the weeks after first introducing herself to Buffy and that gang, and becoming friends with Angel, and helping them out with the various demon scourges, everything was going the way it was supposed to. It was at one of the daily meetings in the library right after school, a year or so later, that Buffy mentioned a new problem. It was a problem that was of considerate difficulty for Amara in particular. A new villain had arrived in town, a peroxide blonde, 200 year old vampire, who liked to go by the name of Spike.
"He totally harassed me last night while I was at the Bronze." Buffy huffed, crossing her arms over her chest, pouting. "I mean I don't have time for him . . . I have to worry about the Parent night at the school tonight . . . " Everyone shook their heads, having gotten used to Buffy's ability to amazingly prioritize things in the wrong order.
Amara sighed and slumped down in her chair, already knowing pretty much everything there was to know about Spike and never even having met him before. He was dangerous, he was a vampire after all, but she also knew that his bark was worse then his bite, at least when it came to what she KNEW was going to happen. Since it was daytime and Angel wasn't here to explain things to them, everyone looked at Amara with raised eyebrows. She was usually the one to fill in the gaps.
"What . . . ? You can't ALWAYS depend on me to tell you all everything you need! You have to at least TRY to do it yourself!" She crossed her arms and muttered. Giles pushed his glasses up further onto his nose and smiled slightly, getting up and getting an old Watcher's journals.
"Well for this point . . . I can help out a little. If this Spike is the one I think it is . . . "
"It is." Amara stated simply, not saying anything else.
"Well then . . . " Giles was still a little disconcerted by the girl who knew more about them they even they themselves knew. It was difficult to have someone around who knew what was going to happen, and it was annoying that she wouldn't tell any of them anything. Of course the future probably shouldn't be messed with. "Spike, is a 200 year old vampire . . . He's very dangerous Buffy." He stared at her until he felt that she was paying attention before he brought up his next point, the all-important one. "He's killed two other slayers, so this is serious." Everyone in the room looked immediately worried, except for Buffy and Amara. The former because she felt she could handle the vampire and was more worried about parent's night and staying in school not to mention keeping her less then stellar grades from her mother, and the latter because she knew that Spike's record would always remain 2-0.
Amara should have expected Spike being in town, she knew he was coming. Her dream had so far been exact in all ways, so why would this be any different. She couldn't have helped though that little nagging hope that he would be the one thing that was wrong. It wasn't that she had a problem with Spike, well he did horrible things in her dream and in his past, but he ended up basically . . . nice. It was just that ever since that dream, Spike worried her and excited her a little more then she wanted. He wasn't going to be good for her peace of mind at all. She had always had a thing for black and leather . . . And those electric blue eyes and those amazing cheekbones, the pale skin and the beautiful blonde hair . . . Most of the guys in her dream were gorgeous in different ways, but Spike was the bad boy type and those were never good.
She was shaken out of her dreaming by Willow waving a hand in front of her eyes and Xander's sarcastic remark about her daydreaming about Evil Dead Guys. Too bad, Xander was really close to the mark there . . .
Buffy suddenly grinned at Amara, and for a moment she worried that somehow the Slayer knew she was attracted to Spike . . . wait not attracted, merely intrigued; without meeting him in real life before. Luckily though for her no one had any reason to suspect a thing.
"Amara . . . " Buffy whined slightly and the girl her whine was directed at flinched slightly, expecting, no dreading what Buffy wanted to ask her. "You're going to come help me at Parent's night tonight . . . aren't you . . . ? " She pouted and for a moment, Amara wondered why she was trying the pouty thing on her friend, just asking should be enough but Buffy was used to having to pout and whine to make people do things. She turned and looked at everyone and grinned as everyone looked annoyed and she realized everyone had been wheedled into helping out by Buffy. She nodded at Buffy.
"Of course, I can't leave everyone else here to suffer can I . . . ? Since you have to torture us . . . " Amara blinked and an image from her dream came into her mind.
Damn . . . This is the night that Spike makes his appearance . . . I don't want to have to be close to him, I wanted him too much in the dream . . . Not want. There was no wanting involved. Just admitting to myself that he was attractive. Doesn't mean I wanted him. Angel's better looking.
It was annoying but she knew she couldn't back out now without raising some suspicions. If nothing else it would be interesting to see him, he probably wasn't that good looking in person. She grinned at everyone and decided to be ambiguous. "I wouldn't miss it. I KNOW it will be interesting." She stood up and everyone sensed by the way she stressed the word 'know' that Amara knew something about tonight. Before anyone could talk Amara turned to Giles. "Giles could I get a few lessons before I go home . . . ? "
Soon after first meeting Giles and Buffy, Amara had managed to convince them both to teach her how to fight, and now on a regular basis she trained with Giles, Buffy or both. She knew the future but living on the Hellmouth it was recommended that one should have basic fighting skills. It had even occurred to her that Xander and Willow should join in as well, but when she suggested it to the two of them, they had both looked so horrified she had dropped it immediately. Anyway it might have changed the future, the fact that neither could fight seemed to be an important factor of her dream.
Giles stood up and nodded, taking his glasses off and smiling slightly. Amara knew he still felt a little awkward around her, not surprising since she sometimes felt awkward around herself. Despite that feeling though she knew he was enthusiastic about training her, teaching her to fight, especially since a lot of the time Buffy ditched on any lessons. But she was the Slayer, and had a certain advantage over anyone anyway. Giles had immediately agreed to teach her to fight, perhaps based on boredom sometimes and also along the same reasoning of Amara. The Hellmouth was a dangerous place and a little fighting skill couldn't hurt anyone to have.
Willow and Xander stood up and excused themselves, always feeling a little strange around people fighting, unless of course they had a container of popcorn in front of them. Amara smiled slightly, knowing that in the future both would be far more comfortable with the situation. Amara raised an eyebrow at Buffy silently, not really expecting her to want to join in. If the Slayer hadn't been concerned about an evil 200-year-old vampire who had already killed two slayers in his time and was out to make her his third, training really wasn't going to high on her list of things to do.
True to form, Buffy excused herself as well, saying that she really needed to concentrate on Parent's night. Principle Snyder had given her and another the "option" of helping at Parent's Night or they would both be kicked out of school, so Amara didn't admonish Buffy for not wanting to join in. She spent the next hour in the library practicing her kicks and punches before going home to shower, and come back to the school. Tonight would prove somewhat interesting.
Chapter 2: Two very gorgeous guys . . .
Willow and Xander soon befriended the new girl, and accordingly Cordelia soon started to dislike her based on who she was being friends with and more likely based on the fact that the new girl was as equally as beautiful as Cordelia. She never could take any competition . . . Amara though avoided this Buffy like she was the plague. She didn't eat with Xander or Willow while Buffy was around, she didn't look at her, and she avoided her when she saw her coming down the hallway. It didn't really have anything to do with her being mean, or Amara hating her. It was all because of that dream and what that meant for her. Willow and Xander were at first confused by their friend being so scared around Buffy, running away when she saw her, but they soon put it off as one of Amara's eccentric characteristics, after all she had said some weird things in the past, including knowing about little known things from their pasts, or that time she had dyed her hair blue . . .
It was after the first person in town died of "unusual" circumstances, mirroring her dream once again, and after Xander and Willow started acting very strange and spending a lot of time in the library, that Amara gave in and headed to the library. It was time to get involved. She headed to the library and knew there would only be four people inside. At this school no one ever really used the library, they weren't that academic. She opened the door and got a surprised look from everyone sitting around a table, obviously discussing something of importance and looking a little annoyed at the interruption.
"Um. Yes. Can I help you with something . . ?" The librarian . . . Amara racked her brain and remembered his name was Giles, Mr. Rupert Giles. He couldn't exactly ignore a student since he technically worked here. Willow and Xander both rose eyebrows at her and Buffy just sat still, not knowing Amara except as a girl in her English class who liked to dye her hair weird colours, and the friend of Willow's and Xander's who didn't seem to like her.
"Actually . . . " Amara started, taking a deep breath and deciding whether or not she really wanted to get involved in all this. She smiled at Giles and continued. "Actually I thought I'd help out here."
Giles looked understandably confused at this. "I'm sorry but I don't need an assistant in the library . . ."
Shaking her head, Amara went on to explain. "No not with the library. I thought I'd help out the Slayer and her Watcher . . . being you and Buffy." She almost smirked slightly at the look that crossed over everyone's faces in the room but she held that urge back and shrugged. "Before any of you try and think it, I'm not something evil, no demon, obviously not a vampire, not a witch or a priestess . . . Nothing silly as that . . . " Amara walked over to the table and sat down. "I can help you out though . . . "
Buffy flashed a look at Willow and Xander and they both shook their heads. "We didn't tell ANYONE! We swear!" They both said simultaneously and in perfect unison, it made Amara smile slightly. She waited for Giles to come back over and sit down before continuing.
"No I didn't hear anything I shouldn't have, no one told me anything . . . It's just that . . . " Amara went on to describe the dream she had had almost two years ago, in a very general sense. She kept the events and particulars to herself since she didn't want to change history any.
Giles took his glasses off and wiped them on his shirt before putting them back on and sighing audibly. "Well this is a little . . . strange. . . " His words reflected the mood for everyone, especially Amara.
She leaned forward and looked Buffy in the eyes. " I know pretty much everything that's going to happen in the next few years, I know about the Master vampire that's in Sunnydale right now, I know that this is the hell mouth, I know about the harvest that you stopped last night, I know about it all . . ." Amara sighed and closed her eyes getting some of the more unpleasant images out of her mind. "Don't ask me to tell you . . . I won't risk changing history . . . but I will help you get to the ends even if the means are perhaps a little different."
Buffy, who had been silent through all of this, leaned forward. "How much exactly do you know about me . . .?" Amara grinned slightly and recounted the story of Buffy and how she had gotten kicked out of her last school, about her first watcher and the first major vampire she killed, about her parents . . . everything she knew that had already happened. Buffy was more then a little shocked, and she stared at the girl in front of her, unblinking before she sat back in her chair. "She's got that all right, so she's telling the truth."
"Tell me . . . do I get a girlfriend anytime soon . . . ?" Xander asked his interest poked by the idea of someone knowing his future. Willow hit him softly and he looked at her sideways, and once again Amara thought they should have been a couple, but realized that wasn't going to work at all. She shook her head. "I'm not telling you a thing Xander . . . "
That was the start of very strange things for Amara. She helped Buffy and her friends out, becoming good friends with the Slayer actually, helping them find out things that they needed to know, how to kill certain demons. Never though did she change the course of events from her dream, it was only different when it came to how the events came about since she hadn't actually been in her dream. When Angel came onto the scene, Amara really had to bite her tongue to avoid telling everyone what he was exactly, and more importantly who he had been in the past. From her dream she knew that Buffy and him would become very close, would fall very deeply in love, and she also knew that it wouldn't last. This was the first time her conscience got to her, the first time when she had to deal with a situation that REALLY hurt her friends, would have long lasting damage. Amara knew that when Buffy and Angel slept together, that he would change considerably into something evil, and Amara felt a pain in her heart at the idea that she could stop the pain that was going to happen to Buffy and everyone, stop the deaths that she knew were going to come. But if it didn't happen, nothing else would happen in the way it was supposed to, so she kept quiet. It was all just too bad, Angel was a good looking guy . . . far too good looking to be evil. Of course that thought was a little grade school now that she thought about it, there wasn't a rule that said villains couldn't be attractive.
It was therefore a surprise when Angel appeared outside her apartment one night after she got back from a patrol with Buffy. Giles had been nice enough to help her learn to fight a little as well as Buffy, of course she wasn't the Slayer but living in the Hellmouth accorded itself some lessons in self-defense. Amara narrowed her eyes at Angel as she came up the steps
Why is he here . . . ? I know he's good, so he's not going to do anything, but I've only met him once before so there shouldn't be any need of him to come see me at all.
Angel turned to look at her and smiled as much as he could. It had always amused Amara just how dour and gloomy Angel was. He certainly had that tall, dark and handsome thing going for him. It occurred to Amara that due to his age, he might have actually originally inspired that phrase. She shook herself out of her thoughts and questioned Angel about his being there.
"I wanted to talk to you . . . " Amara walked past him and opened her door, walking inside. She turned around and looked at him on the other side. "Come in Angel . . . " She knew that with that one phrase Angel would forever be able to enter her apartment, but she didn't mind, she liked him. It took a minute for what she said to register on Angel and he walked in a little suspiciously.
"I should have figured you'd know I was a vampire . . ." Angel stared at Amara as she walked into her kitchen and sat down, gesturing to a chair on the other side of the table. He walked over and sat down. "I talked to Buffy earlier, and she mentioned you knew everything that was going to happen to us all."
And you're here to find out exactly what that all is . . . I knew he had to have had a reason to come here. Amara thought a little sadly to herself, somewhat disappointed he hadn't just come to talk to her or meet her. He's a nice guy but I'm not going to do much different with him then the others, but some things I suppose are okay . . .
"Angel, I'm not going to tell you anything that's going to happen the future, but yes I do know it and it hurts because I know I can't change it or else the future is going to be different." She looked away, a little hurt by her own thoughts. The brooding vampire reached across the table and laid a hand over hers, squeezing gently, and reminding Amara that the vampire holding her hand was absolutely gorgeous and at this moment a nice guy, making her feel worse for what was going to happen.
"You're in love with Buffy . . . ? You have been since Whistler showed you her back in her Los Angeles . . . " Amara stated sadly, remembering some things from her dream that couldn't hurt anyone if she mentioned them to him. He already knew this. He looked a little shocked but nodded.
"I do, but it's not good for either of us now is it . . . ? I mean, she's the Slayer and I'm a vampire with a history . . . " Angel said the last part with amazing bitterness, but Amara shook her head.
"Yes, Angelus, of course that's not you anymore now is it Angel? You're not just any vampire, you're one with a soul." She returned his earlier gesture and squeezed his hand. "Don't worry about things so much Angel, I know you're guilty about what you did, but just think about that. My mother always told me that no matter what you do, if you feel bad about it and try and rectify it then you're not bad." Amara chuckled softly. "Of course when talking to me she meant more along the lines of making my sister cry, and then being nice to her for a week to make up for it . . . Still the same point though."
His brow furrowed, Angel nodded his head. "So you know all about my past basically . . . ?"
"No . . . not ALL about it, I know about you being changed by Darla, about some of the things you did while you were Angelus, including being sire to Drusilla and grand-sire to Spike, I know about the curse that returned your soul, about your grief and pain that came with it, I know about meeting Whistler and seeing Buffy . . . That's it . . . " Amara grinned at the shocked look on his face, not expecting someone he basically just met to know so much about him, or to understand him so much.
"So you're not going to tell me anything about the future are you . . . ? "
"Not a chance mate."
Angel nodded and patted her hand. "Don't worry, I'm not angry at you for it. I understand why you can't." He stood up and turned to leave, but stopped at turned back to look at her. "By the way . . . Thank you for trusting me and inviting me into your home . . . it means a lot to me, most people don't trust vampires . . . even one's with souls."
Amara winked at him and he turned and left, quietly as the shadows that had crept up, not surprising since he was a child of the night as that age old, and tremendously corny saying went. She liked the fact that her inviting him into her home made him feel welcome, but she had a nagging suspicion that she might regret it for a period of time in the future. While that may happen, it was worth it to make someone who was usually so miserable even a little bit happier, especially when Amara thought about what she knew for the future.
Maybe I should start stocking up on some blood in the fridge for any more visits by vampires . . . ? It's always polite to be able to offer your guest a drink, and with vampires there isn't much to offer.
Strangely enough she took her own advice and started to get things that she knew her friends liked, including some pig's blood for when any various vampire's dropped by, well the only one she knew and trusted to drop by. As for everyone else she got various teas, sodas and fruit drinks. Giles liked English Earl Grey tea, Willow liked green tea, Buffy liked her sickly sweet sodas and Xander . . . well Xander wasn't that picky. She had a feeling she could give him Angel's blood and he wouldn't even notice. Of course after he did . . . there would be no extricating of him from the bathroom for weeks.
During the weeks after first introducing herself to Buffy and that gang, and becoming friends with Angel, and helping them out with the various demon scourges, everything was going the way it was supposed to. It was at one of the daily meetings in the library right after school, a year or so later, that Buffy mentioned a new problem. It was a problem that was of considerate difficulty for Amara in particular. A new villain had arrived in town, a peroxide blonde, 200 year old vampire, who liked to go by the name of Spike.
"He totally harassed me last night while I was at the Bronze." Buffy huffed, crossing her arms over her chest, pouting. "I mean I don't have time for him . . . I have to worry about the Parent night at the school tonight . . . " Everyone shook their heads, having gotten used to Buffy's ability to amazingly prioritize things in the wrong order.
Amara sighed and slumped down in her chair, already knowing pretty much everything there was to know about Spike and never even having met him before. He was dangerous, he was a vampire after all, but she also knew that his bark was worse then his bite, at least when it came to what she KNEW was going to happen. Since it was daytime and Angel wasn't here to explain things to them, everyone looked at Amara with raised eyebrows. She was usually the one to fill in the gaps.
"What . . . ? You can't ALWAYS depend on me to tell you all everything you need! You have to at least TRY to do it yourself!" She crossed her arms and muttered. Giles pushed his glasses up further onto his nose and smiled slightly, getting up and getting an old Watcher's journals.
"Well for this point . . . I can help out a little. If this Spike is the one I think it is . . . "
"It is." Amara stated simply, not saying anything else.
"Well then . . . " Giles was still a little disconcerted by the girl who knew more about them they even they themselves knew. It was difficult to have someone around who knew what was going to happen, and it was annoying that she wouldn't tell any of them anything. Of course the future probably shouldn't be messed with. "Spike, is a 200 year old vampire . . . He's very dangerous Buffy." He stared at her until he felt that she was paying attention before he brought up his next point, the all-important one. "He's killed two other slayers, so this is serious." Everyone in the room looked immediately worried, except for Buffy and Amara. The former because she felt she could handle the vampire and was more worried about parent's night and staying in school not to mention keeping her less then stellar grades from her mother, and the latter because she knew that Spike's record would always remain 2-0.
Amara should have expected Spike being in town, she knew he was coming. Her dream had so far been exact in all ways, so why would this be any different. She couldn't have helped though that little nagging hope that he would be the one thing that was wrong. It wasn't that she had a problem with Spike, well he did horrible things in her dream and in his past, but he ended up basically . . . nice. It was just that ever since that dream, Spike worried her and excited her a little more then she wanted. He wasn't going to be good for her peace of mind at all. She had always had a thing for black and leather . . . And those electric blue eyes and those amazing cheekbones, the pale skin and the beautiful blonde hair . . . Most of the guys in her dream were gorgeous in different ways, but Spike was the bad boy type and those were never good.
She was shaken out of her dreaming by Willow waving a hand in front of her eyes and Xander's sarcastic remark about her daydreaming about Evil Dead Guys. Too bad, Xander was really close to the mark there . . .
Buffy suddenly grinned at Amara, and for a moment she worried that somehow the Slayer knew she was attracted to Spike . . . wait not attracted, merely intrigued; without meeting him in real life before. Luckily though for her no one had any reason to suspect a thing.
"Amara . . . " Buffy whined slightly and the girl her whine was directed at flinched slightly, expecting, no dreading what Buffy wanted to ask her. "You're going to come help me at Parent's night tonight . . . aren't you . . . ? " She pouted and for a moment, Amara wondered why she was trying the pouty thing on her friend, just asking should be enough but Buffy was used to having to pout and whine to make people do things. She turned and looked at everyone and grinned as everyone looked annoyed and she realized everyone had been wheedled into helping out by Buffy. She nodded at Buffy.
"Of course, I can't leave everyone else here to suffer can I . . . ? Since you have to torture us . . . " Amara blinked and an image from her dream came into her mind.
Damn . . . This is the night that Spike makes his appearance . . . I don't want to have to be close to him, I wanted him too much in the dream . . . Not want. There was no wanting involved. Just admitting to myself that he was attractive. Doesn't mean I wanted him. Angel's better looking.
It was annoying but she knew she couldn't back out now without raising some suspicions. If nothing else it would be interesting to see him, he probably wasn't that good looking in person. She grinned at everyone and decided to be ambiguous. "I wouldn't miss it. I KNOW it will be interesting." She stood up and everyone sensed by the way she stressed the word 'know' that Amara knew something about tonight. Before anyone could talk Amara turned to Giles. "Giles could I get a few lessons before I go home . . . ? "
Soon after first meeting Giles and Buffy, Amara had managed to convince them both to teach her how to fight, and now on a regular basis she trained with Giles, Buffy or both. She knew the future but living on the Hellmouth it was recommended that one should have basic fighting skills. It had even occurred to her that Xander and Willow should join in as well, but when she suggested it to the two of them, they had both looked so horrified she had dropped it immediately. Anyway it might have changed the future, the fact that neither could fight seemed to be an important factor of her dream.
Giles stood up and nodded, taking his glasses off and smiling slightly. Amara knew he still felt a little awkward around her, not surprising since she sometimes felt awkward around herself. Despite that feeling though she knew he was enthusiastic about training her, teaching her to fight, especially since a lot of the time Buffy ditched on any lessons. But she was the Slayer, and had a certain advantage over anyone anyway. Giles had immediately agreed to teach her to fight, perhaps based on boredom sometimes and also along the same reasoning of Amara. The Hellmouth was a dangerous place and a little fighting skill couldn't hurt anyone to have.
Willow and Xander stood up and excused themselves, always feeling a little strange around people fighting, unless of course they had a container of popcorn in front of them. Amara smiled slightly, knowing that in the future both would be far more comfortable with the situation. Amara raised an eyebrow at Buffy silently, not really expecting her to want to join in. If the Slayer hadn't been concerned about an evil 200-year-old vampire who had already killed two slayers in his time and was out to make her his third, training really wasn't going to high on her list of things to do.
True to form, Buffy excused herself as well, saying that she really needed to concentrate on Parent's night. Principle Snyder had given her and another the "option" of helping at Parent's Night or they would both be kicked out of school, so Amara didn't admonish Buffy for not wanting to join in. She spent the next hour in the library practicing her kicks and punches before going home to shower, and come back to the school. Tonight would prove somewhat interesting.