A Scarlet Letter



As Angel drove into the night he could only wonder what Xander was getting himself into. He was just a kid. He shook it from his mind as he concentrated on driving-and not crashing. Soon enough he was at the "WELCOME TO SUNNYDALE!" sign and hung a left in the general direction of the Sunnydale High School. Angel neared the looming building and put the vehicle in park.

The letter tumbled in the deep pockets of his duster as he entered the brightly lit library where everyone sat, crowded around a table. Giles sat at the far end cleaning his glasses. Buffy was fiddling with her hands and picking at her pretty pink nail polish. Willow typed vigorously on her Apple laptop, searching the 'Net, no doubt. Cordelia just sat with her head slightly cocked to one side, lost in her own thought. No one even looked up when Angel entered. He glanced around, giving everyone a once-over, four limbs, a head, all was good! He cleared his throat and suddenly all eyes were on him.

"I, uh, got something from Xander." He announced

"Is it my car?!" Cordy yelled, jumping up

"No. But it is for you, and Buffy, and Willow. Here." He said rummaging though his pocket for the paper, he pulled up the worn, soggy, torn paper. "He said that you three, and only you three, could see it, okay?"

"Sure, whatever." Cordy said nonchalantly Buffy walked up to Angel and gently took the note from him, "Thank you Angel." She whispered fondly

The three women trotted over to a neighboring table and unfolded the, just barely readable, scribble that was Xander's handwriting. Buffy sighed and begin to read the letter just loud enough for the three of them to hear,

"To Buffy, Willow, and Cordy: Everyone makes mistakes, right? Will, remember kindergarten, with the yellow crayon? Yeah. I love you guys more than anything, but there comes a time in every man's life when he has to make tough decisions. This is mine. I don't think I'm gonna come back. Buff, I know that you are going to try and come charging out here to save me and drag me back to SunnyD kicking and screaming, but I need to do this! Cordy, I promise I will get your car back to you, I swear. I love you babe, don't cry for me.....Alabama. Ha ha ha, okay not trying to side-track, but this is pretty hard for me to write. This is a though decision for me, you know? But I do think that in the end it is the right one. You guys really don't need me, after all. I don't bring anything to the group. I want to do something important for humanity. Don't worry, I'm not gonna get all Miss American Teen Princess on you and say how 'I want to bring peace to the world and save everyone' and blah, blah, blah! But, it is just me, Xander. I want to help people. Help the helpless, you know? Okay, yeah, so it's really corny, but is just a way of explaining. I am staying at a motel, I don't wanna tell you which, I will eventually. I need my time right now. I love you, wish me luck!

Love to all (even Giles and Angel), Xander xoxo"

Buffy sighed and folded the letter back up and stuffed it into her pocket. She looked up at the other two who both had tears filling in their eyes. Giles-after hearing the sobbing-walked over to investigate.

"Girls! My word, what on earth is the matter?"

"He---" Willow began

"Later Giles. I'll explain later." Buffy sniffled.

TBC.