A/N: Another response to Candle's challenge. And in this fic, Buffy knew one of the wrestlers as a child.
I don't own any of it. The song is I Learned That from You by Sara Evans.
I remember the windows rolled down and the wind in my hair
Driving 'round in your Daddy's old Chevy
Like we were going somewhere
She lay awake, her breath coming in shallow gasps. They'd been friends as children. Even with his brother and Trish, it had always been only the two of them.
They were never just one or the other.
She'd given him her virginity the summer she was sixteen and he eighteen. He'd come down to visit, and somehow hadn't gotten caught up in her world. She'd made certain that anything that went bump couldn't go bump into him.
When fall came, the rhythm they'd had for years kicked back in. He went back to Toronto and she went back to school.
They always had a relationship during the summer that couldn't be captured by letters. After about the time they were six and eight respectively, they'd given up on writing over the winter.
We thought that summer would last us forever
Going steady was just something you do
I didn't know much about love
I learned that from you
She'd thought love was what she'd had with Angel by the time she ran into him in San Francisco the next summer. He'd taught her that passion didn't dim just because they'd been friends. If anything, it increased.
Now those were some good times
Lately they don't seem to last
I guess I'm not nearly as strong as the drink in your glass
And the nights just get later
I can stay up and wait or just go on to bed like I do
I never knew nothing about lonely
I learned from that you
Edge may have not have gotten drunk, but he'd always put work ahead of her. She'd stopped trying to compete with his work. She was only twenty-one but she'd started to forget that she had ever had another life.
As she headed to bed after a night of slaying, her eyes caught on the cross that she no longer wore.
Instead of going on to bed, she picked up the phone.
And I learned how to kiss on a Ferris wheel
And I made wishes at wishing wells
And I fell into that fairytale too
And now I know that love ain't so easy
But we tried, didn't we baby
It's alright
Some dreams weren't meant to come true
I learned that from you
"Willow? It's Buffy…I need to get the hell out of here…No, I just need to leave."
She packed her bags that night, as Edge continued to do his job, seven hundred miles away. He didn't know that she was leaving, even as she was walking out the door.
One night while the whole world was turning
I left you a note
And I told you that I'd always miss you
Then I let you go
The note was simple, its message plain. He would read the note for years, until the ink had long since run from the tears he'd cried, and the paper had cracked and torn.
"Goodbye, Edge," Buffy whispered. "I can't stay here, and compete with your work."
With that she climbed into her car and drove away.
I'm living outside of some town I ain't heard of
And I think about the boy I knew
I didn't know you could fall out of love
I learned that from you
She patted her large stomach. "Just a bit longer and it'll be time for you to be in this world."
Willow grinned at her pregnant friend. "Yes, little one. This world is a dangerous place, but you'll grow up with an advantage. You'll grow up knowing that the bogeyman exists."
"But don't worry," Buffy smiled wistfully, "even though it's just me, you'll grow up loved by the entire Scooby Gang."
"Yep," Faith grinned, "you'll get all the love without the mess of a whimpering coward for a father."
"Faith, the fact that we fell out love doesn't justify you insulting Edge constantly."
"I'm sorry," the other Slayer apologized. It was just a guess on Xander's part, but he was betting that she didn't mean it. Because you just knew she had to be sincere because of that smirk.
And I learned how to kiss on a Ferris wheel
And I made wishes at wishing wells
And I fell into that fairytale too
And now I know that love ain't so easy
But we tried, didn't we baby
It's alright
Some dreams weren't meant to come true
I learned that from you
Edge watched his thirteen year old daughter playing football, and he could see Buffy in her. She was her mother's daughter…that was certainly true.
He didn't know what she'd seen during the first ten years of her life, and he probably never would. He hadn't even known that he had a daughter until some woman named Faith had shown up with her.
Faith hadn't said much, just that Jesse was definitely his daughter and she was ten years old. When he asked where his wife was, Faith had sighed deeply.
Three years later, those words still haunted him. "Buffy chose her bed, and she knew what she would have to do. Your wife is dead, Edge, and don't ever look for her grave."
He wasn't positive about how Faith had known Buffy, but it was obvious that she had known the blonde quite well. He only wished he knew why he couldn't look for her grave.
I remember the windows rolled down
And the wind…
In Michigan, another teenage daughter smirked at a vampire. "You don't know who I am, fang face. Vamps who mess with me don't live to tell the tale."
"You are but a girl," the vampire sneered. "Unless you are the Slayer, you don't scare me."
As she buried her stake in his heart, she tilted a sly smile his way. "I may not been called as the Slayer, but I was born as one."
Walking back into her house, she called out, "I'm home, Aunt Willow!"
"Hello, Jenny," Willow smiled gently at the young Slayer. "Xander and Faith will be coming to visit next week."
"Cool. I miss Jesse," she remarked out of the blue.
Willow knew that her twin was never far from the dark blonde's mind. "It was necessary, you know that."
"I know and I hate the council for it!" She grabbed a katana from above the fireplace, her green eyes flashing. "They think we are but their playthings. We aren't Aunt Willow!"
"I know, sweetie," the redhead reassured the distraught girl. "She's safe there though. The council never knew of your father's existence. Separating you two meant that they wouldn't be able to find both of you as easily."
"And since Elysian played decoy, they think that she is the next Slayer." Jenny Rosenberg was calming down a bit, each furious sweep of the katana relaxing.
"The next Called Slayer, you mean. Because they don't believe in Born Slayers," a new voice spoke from the doorway. The girl who'd spoken was about two years older than Jenny and wore her long black hair held back with two chopsticks.
"Ely!" Jenny beamed at the other Slayer. "The council still thinks that we're Aunt Willow's kids, Els?"
"Better question, why is the council so moronic?" Elysian Rosenberg sighed. "They still think that both of us are real Rosenbergs, sis. I still wonder why they're so stupid. I mean, doesn't anyone have access to a computer there?"
"Maybe they're still stuck in the past," Jenny suggested, "because if they were to admit that times are changing, they'd have to admit that Born Slayers exist. That works in our advantage though. If they were to admit that, and move out of the Dark Ages, then they would be able to find birth announcements for Elysian Morgan, daughter of Faith Morgan and…"
"And Jennifer and Jessica Summers, the daughters of Buffy Summers," Willow finished. "I just wish that Jesse and your mothers were here."
"It would make this family moment perfect," Ely agreed.
Her best friend choked back the tears. "But as long as the council doesn't change, they will continue to separate our family without even knowing it."
"Yeah," Ely responded, "and Mom will continue to only visit when she can make it appear that she's visiting Aunt Willow."
"Els, at least you can say that your mother visits. My mother is apparently dead, so she can't come back from South America!" Jenny still wasn't happy about that fact although it did allow Buffy to keep slaying without the council suspecting anything.
"The council totally sucks!" the other girl, the girl the council believed to be her sister, exclaimed emphatically.
A/N: Sappy, angsty, and all that shit. Just please review.