Notes:
Oh my goodness!! You guys are honestly the most amazing people!!! I wasn't planning on writing much for a little while but all your amazingly gorgeously sweet reviews chugged this one out!! Hope you like it – you know what to do J
Btw – thank you for all the exam luck! You guys are great – aah!! What I really hate is the fact that these are the mocks –as in the practice ones – not the real ones so I can't get motivated to study (like I could if they were the real ones! Lol) but they are important in themselves!! Ok. I'm done ranting!
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Now I don't really have the time but…..
Mynaorah: aww, thank you! Yes, the poems are very special to me! Lol, I can't even remember what chapter I started them on….
Smokey: I am close! Very close to the end in fact!! Things are definitely on the wrapping up front!
Anne: thank you! Lol, I have a Spanish exam soon so now I'm painfully worried! Nah, I knew 'twas niña but that chapter was done really quickly! I'm reallllyyyyy having trouble with my Spanish – I don't know enough vocab – but I learnt a some today – look ( I don't have the book in front of me so some might be wrong!!):
Rara vez –
rarely siempre – always aquí – here
a menudo - often allí – there un sobrino- nephew
Jinet: no bothering at all! Thank you in fact! Hehe and thanks for the luck – I'll need it! They're coming closer and closer…aaahhh!!!
Msu/mel: I LOVE YOU!!! It's true!! I proclaim it – YOU OWN ME man! You are such an amazing reviewer its not even true! You always succeed in making me feel really really special so thank you!! Aahh!! I'm going to miss you so much when this fic is over!!
SlayerKid: muchas gracias! You are another amazing amazing person. Thank you!! You always manage to convey that you are really interested in the plot and the little language thingies I do and you always pick up on the bits I want people to pick up on! **MUAH** thank you honey. A fit…..hmm…
Freakonature: Tank tu!!! Woah!! Out of interest – how long did it take you to read all the chapters in one go? I'd really love to know J
Neha: Thanks! Agh! I had a huge like 2 year long crush on Shah so I've seen all the films! I didn't like DTPH very much actually. I don't actually like that many Bollywood films, they are a bit too tacky but I do have several exceptions. 'Mohabbatein' was amazing for example, 'Dil Wale Dulhunia Le Jayenge' is an older one, they did a newer version: 'Dulhan Hum Layjayenge' or something like that with Salman Khan and Karishma Kapoor.
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Stuff between these lines:
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are song/poem lyrics,
Tearing up my heart - Nstnc
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FIC HERE
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--Let it go; If you want me girl let me know--
"Are you sure you have to go Miss Summers?"
Buffy smiled and hugged Verity. "I'm afraid so honey. Its' ok, you'll see me in a couple of weeks."
"But who's going to direct the show?"
"Hey now, I've taught you guys all the smooth moves," Buffy tickled the girl's ribs and after a few moments continued, tickle moment over, "Ms Dudley will take over now."
"But she's too bossy!"
"She'll be great."
After a few more words with those still awake, Buffy told Brian to go ahead to the car while she talked to Liz. The dark-haired girl refused to look up, her tears not only for her father, but for her mother, for Buffy, for herself.
"Hey, come on."
"You're going."
"Liz…" Buffy stopped and bent down, turning Liz to face her. "I have to go."
"You don't."
"I do."
There was silence and Buffy feared that perhaps Liz had known more that anyone had suspected. Perhaps for that reason, the little girl would not forgive.
Suddenly Buffy was engulfed in a tight hug. Biting her lip against the tears, the ex-slayer smiled and hugged back. "We'll see each other soon. I promise."
Pulling back, the blond smiled and stood up. Liz ran, catching up with the other kids. Taking one last glance at the camp, she turned to walk to the car.
"Oiy, Slayer. Where you going?"
Closing her eyes, she froze. No, it couldn't be him. He wasn't supposed to know.
But that voice, that tone, that smirk that peppered his words. That depth and sincerity that shone through once she finally accepted it. The loyalty and passion and -
"Planning on sneaking away again? You should have learnt your lesson. I always find out. Granted, wasn't Red that tipped me off this time, but…"
Bitterness.
"Don't do this Spike." she warned. Buffy could see Brian's car, dark but still the outline beckoned to her even as she turned to face him.
Those eyes. They came closer and closer and invaded any personal space rule that would ever exist. His arms folded her into a hug. "Congratulations."
So this was the route he was going for. No 'I love you Buffy'. Just-
"He's a great guy. What you've always wanted. White picket fence an all that."
"Yeah."
"Here."
She looked down for the first time at his hands. There, resting gently in his palm was a silver chain with a delicately carved heart pendant.
--++++---flashback---+++---
Walking towards Sara, Buffy pulled out a box.
"I'll be missing the wedding, so I figured I should give you something now. It's not anything…but it's yours. Look after it."
Sara smiled, and then frowned slightly. There was something, not quite right about the Slayer. And then. She knew. Buffy was in love with Spike.
--++++---flashback---+++---
"You gave this to Sara when she was starting a new life, so I guess it's only appropriate that I give it to you when you're starting this whole new life."
"Thanks."
"I know you and Spike will be very happy together."
Buffy's lower lip trembled and she started backing away. "Brian." She gulped out.
"Brian."
Spike flinched and in that second she was gone. The car door clicked and the engine purred away, leaving the vampire at a loss for words.
-- In the corner of my mind
Baby it feels like we're running out of time--
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Giles sighed.
"Why can't they all arrive on one bloody plane?"
"Because they're coming from different places in the world, Watcher."
Giles smiled. The moments with Spike and Liz were bittersweet, guilt and regret clouding over every time he realised how much time had gone by.
"Very well Spike, I've got a pen."
"Angel, Cordelia and newly adopted baby that they have decided to torture-"
"Spike."
"The kid's niece is older than him!"
"Yes, but you should support Angel and Cordelia's decision to have another child."
"I do not bloody count as a childe."
"Well, Cordelia was bound to you on her mating with Angel."
"Thank you for pointing it out book-lover."
"Lets continue."
"Alright, alright. Those three will be showing up on the 19th and they'll be going straight to the building I've hired for us all."
"That's only three days before the wedding!"
"I know but my new baby brother has a doctor's thing or something like that. New parents – paranoid and all that."
"Have you seen Connor?"
"Yeah, Liz and I flew over for a few days last week. Energetic tyke that one."
"Just like his older brother."
"Older by nearly 200 years."
"Spike, remain on topic."
"Oh, right. Red's coming with me and Liz and Peter."
"You're coming?" Giles' voice was soft. Spike had been debating on attending the wedding for the last two weeks.
"Liz. She really wants to go."
For a moment there was a pause that Spike broke.
"Well, we'll arrive on the 22nd. Our flight lands an hour or so before the ceremony so we will be just on time. It's at your house, right?"
"Yes, outside."
"Well, we can change real quick inside."
"Of course – but is there not an earlier flight?"
"There are a few but I have a meeting that morning about the galleries. I really can't miss it. We don't have them often, only about three times a year but this was the scheduled date and I'd piss off about 50 people – and that's only directly -if I cancelled."
"How about Xander and Anya and…Haile, Poppy?"
Giles' voice cracked horribly on the last two names especially. The old man's
heart broke to think that he had missed so much in the lives of those he loved.
The ex-watcher's soul ached to see them, to hear the laughter that the children
he had brought up in Sunnydale were denied. Rupert Giles had seen enough evil
in his time. He had fought enough and wept enough. What had he done it all for?
For the joy of the young. For the times he could cherish in those of despair –
for love.
"They'll be there on the 16th. Haile and Poppy can't wait to meet you."
"Yes. Yes, I'm sure they'll love to meet Uncle Giles."
Spike could hear the slightly bitter twinge in the Watcher's voice. So that's what the old man wanted. Someone to call him 'Grandpa'.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Buffy ran her hand along the waves of the gleaming white wedding dress. The preparations were causing a constant murmur of activity to run through the house at all hours. Giles had been working hard to make the wedding perfect and she loved him for it. Of course he was giving her away, but he had still been genuinely surprised at her offhand comment in the early stages of the wedding.
'Of course you're giving me away Giles. You're my father aren't you?'
That had meant so much more than Buffy would ever realise. Hank, her real father, didn't seem too mind too much. He was coming as a guest and no more. She wasn't even going to invite him but Giles and Brian had insisted. Friends had come and wished her well, dropped off gifts and gushed over the dress. A few old aunts and uncles had decided to arrive as well but Buffy couldn't help thinking of her real family. She wanted them to be at the wedding, purely because she wanted to see them. But Spike had not contacted her and an invitation couldn't bridge the gap she had caused. She had given it all up in a stupid heartbroken decision. They were right. Spike hadn't deserved what she had done to him – yet she had done it again only a few weeks ago at the camp.
'You always hurt the one you love'.
Those times, those years – they seemed almost part of another universe, another world, and another girl. The people, the loves, and the days – they all seemed to merge into one large ache that she labelled 'the bad years'.
What scared her most was that in the midst of her white picket fence glory – the ache could almost be described as longing – labelled 'the better years'.
~*~*~*~*~**~*~*~*~*~**~*
"Do you think we'll recognise them?"
"Of course we will Dawn, now please stop wringing my hand." Giles seemed calm, but he himself was craning his neck trying to see The Harris family in the arrivals section of the airport.
Buffy however, fell back, truly petrified to see those that she had not seen for so long. When Giles had told her that the Scooby Gang had scheduled another meeting so to speak, Buffy's whole world seemed to crumble. She knew that it was probably Spike that had asked them all to come. The ex-Slayer didn't know if he would come and she was too scared to ask Giles. The thought of seeing him again was something she couldn't face so she forgot about it. However, there was no avoiding the people from her past that she would have to face. Now, she was sorely tempted to run to the bathrooms and throw up and as she saw them turn the corner, luggage in hand, her stomach lurched, flopped and died on the spot.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~~*~*~*~*~*~*~~*
"Xander, do I look ok?"
"Ahn, honey – you look as beautiful as you always do."
"Haile, Poppy, Liz, stay close now. It's kind of crowded." Anya seemed not to be able to tolerate silence for more than a few seconds and the kids were finding it funnier and funnier.
"Honey, please try to relax. It's Giles. The G-Man."
Nodding, Anya pulled Liz and Haile back slightly, fiddling with their hair – anything to keep her occupied.
After a lot of whining and smiling and pouting, Spike had agreed to let Liz go early with the Harris'. The three girls were practically giddy with excitement, so they did not take well to being used for Anya's nerves.
"There he is!"
~~*~*~*~*~*~*~~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"There they are! Dawn, Buffy, quickly – there they are."
Dawn smiled, her heart warming at Giles' enthusiasm.
"My goodness, look at the girls."
"They have three kids?"
"No no, Liz is the one that Anya…my goodness, Anya."
Time had changed all of them. Anya, of course, had aged gracefully and with no drastic change. Goofy Xander was still there hidden in the depths of quite the gentleman it seemed. Still not seeing Buffy, the group made their way, somewhat awkwardly to Giles and Dawn.
When they were a few metres away, Liz, Haile and Poppy had had enough of the parents and broke free into a run, all but lunging at Giles whose face lit up with a heartbreaking schoolboy grin.
"GRANDPA!!!!!"
Too overwhelmed to process anything, Giles was hit by three small thumps that twisted his glasses and warmed his soul.
Pulling his arms free, Giles clung onto the three children with almost a sense of desperation.
"Girls! Back off, he's not used to your boundless energy."
The girls started to pull away but Giles stopped them. "No, no please Anya. Its fine. Please."
Anya, Xander and Dawn watched, not even acknowledging each other as Giles hugged the three girls and smiled, his eyes seeming to almost burst with each of their simple sentences.
'Grandpa, I packed this really cool picture we did at school to show you…Poppy doesn't like it but I think that…'
Tears streamed down his face while a smile was irremovable from it and finally he looked up at Anya and Xander, who seemed to have realised that by breaking off contact with Buffy that had truly taken something away from Giles.
Standing, Giles was immediately hit by an older thump as Anya clung to him, no longer able to hold back. Smiling, the ex-watcher held her close and more tears released his sadness. Anya cried too, laughed and pulled back, sniffing.
"Oh Anya. You have aged just as I thought you might."
"You're so old Giles."
"Well, yes, I'm afraid I am." Smiling, he raised his eyebrows and looked down in that way of his.
"Yo, G-man."
"Xander. My goodness."
They hugged, Xander pulling back and shaking his head. "I'm sorry Giles."
"We both are." Anya added.
"Lets forget about it."
"So where's Dawn and…Buffy?" Xander asked.
Giles frowned. Xander was standing right next to Dawn.
"I'm right here Xander." Dawn said.
"Woah!" Xander stepped back and squinted. "Dawn!?"
"Yeah." She chuckled and tilted her head at his shocked expression.
"Why are you so…"
"…much older? I grew up Xander…and cut my hair."
She smiled at his gaping mouth and giggled at Anya who rolled her eyes, shoved her husband out of the way and hugged Dawn.
"Don't mind him. He's very slow."
They all laughed. Giles had bent back down and was now hearing all about France from Poppy when he noticed an eerie silence from the group beside him. Just as he was about to comment, he heard Anya speak.
"Hello Buffy."
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Revision is so bleak
And I've become far too weak
To even write my poem
Reviews! Please sow 'em
I'm desperate, so keep me goin'
REVIEW!
