DISCLAIMER: I do not own anything to do with Buffy the Vampire Slayer - it
all belongs to Joss Whedon.
Thank you everybody for the encouraging reviews! I was really nervous.but I've posted the next chapter - slightly longer - and you find out what happened to everybody else. Please keep the reviews coming!
Chapter 2
Spike and Anya woke up at the same time. They looked around them. It was daytime and unbelievably, they were at the edge of the canyon where Sunnydale once was. They saw each other, and realised what they both thought was a dream was real. They were both alive, both on earth, and both humans.
'Spike we're alive!' Anya jumped up to hug him, and this time didn't walk through him, but felt someone there.
'We're back baby!' he shouted. He hugged her and when he let go stopped to look at himself.
'This is the first time in over a hundred years that I've stood out in the sunlight.' He paused. 'Well, without the Gem of Amarra and that.' He touched his arms, his face, just to make sure he wasn't dreaming. Anya stood there smiling at him, giving him space for what must've been an emotional moment. He looked at her. 'Hey, if I'm human, then how old am I?'
She shrugged. 'I dunno, maybe the age you were turned. How old were you then?'
He realised something privately. 'As old as Buffy is now.' He smiled. 'I have my whole life ahead of me!'
'And I'm human too, which means I have my 1120 years erased, I'm really 23 again!' Anya screamed excitedly.
Both of them danced and laughed for a few minutes together, just because they were human again. But when they stopped, Anya's face contorted.
'Hey, Spike, what do we do now?'
He was still smiling. 'What do you mean?'
'Well, do we just find the gang, and say "hey, guess what, we're alive?"'
He paused. 'Yeah.'
'Oh, just wanted to get that clear.'
**********
It had been 6 months since they'd blown up Sunnydale. Some of the gang had gone their separate ways, some had stayed together.
Giles went back to England, after promising Buffy he would remain there for her if she ever needed anything, and apologised for almost killing Spike, which would've obviously been a dumb thing to do.
Andrew, even though it was hard for him, left them and went to Nashville to become a Buddhist and search for the positive things in life.
Faith and Robin Wood had gone to LA together and were fighting crime and demons with their combined strength and the help of Angel's crew. When Robin had met Angel, they'd gotten along instantly on the hobby of hating Spike.
All the surviving Slayerettes (except one) had returned to their homes, and come up with some pretty wild explanations to their parents about why they had been gone so long.
Buffy, Willow, Dawn, Xander and Kennedy had all moved to San Francisco together. (Kennedy was one of the new fully powered vampire slayers. She and Willow had hit it off back when they were preventing another apocalypse. She proved to be quite useful in most fighting situations, plus was a pleasant person to have around the house. Even though she always left the toilet seat up). Xander had bought his own apartment, and the rest of them had moved into one large house together.
They thought that San Francisco was a good place to live because it was close to LA, where the rest of their gang was located, but it also had very nice scenery, and its own demonic activity.
Now, since they had moved, they had all tried to restart their lives, however this was proving very difficult. Buffy was still unemployed, Dawn was just settling into her new school, but felt very left out. Xander had applied for countless jobs on building sites and anything related, and just managed to get a $5/hr job helping build small houses. Kennedy was working as a waitress in a local (human, not demon) bar, and Willow was working part-time for the CIA in the hacker-prevention department. Somehow, all of this was barely enough to pay all the bills. But, thanks to their constant positive attitude after ridding the world of ultimate evil, they didn't really seem to care. This Sunday morning was no different.
Kennedy rushed down the stairs bouncily after taking a refreshing shower and greeted Buffy and Dawn. 'Morning Buffy, morning Dawn. Is Xander coming over today?' She walked over to the counter where the cereal and milk were located. She opened a cupboard, grabbed a bowl and started pouring.
'Uh, no, he has to work. Where's Willow?' Buffy said munching her cereal.
'She's on her way down,' Kennedy gave a cheeky grin. 'I kinda soaked her in the shower, she came in and I-
'OK, we don't need details!' Buffy stopped her abruptly. Dawn secretly smiled.
'So what's the plan today guys?' Kennedy asked.
Buffy shrugged. 'Uh, nothing I guess. You guys have any ideas?'
They stared at her in amazement.
'You mean we don't have to look up stuff in books the entire day?!' Dawn seemed in awe of this newly found freedom.
Buffy gave her a sarcastic smile. 'As much as I know you'll miss it.I just thought that we could, you know, have a free day for once. We can do something together, or go do our own stuff.'
Kennedy immediately interrupted. 'Oh my G-d, me and Willow have been dying to go to this play in the city. It's all about the difficult life of witches in today's world, and.'
'OK, you guys go, we can already tell we're not interested!'
Just then, Willow came down the stairs, brushing her wet hair and in obviously just changed clothes. 'Morning, guys. What's going on?'
'Hey, Will, we can finally go see that play we've wanted to for ages!' Kennedy exclaimed.
Willow looked confused. 'Really? We have a free day?' The rest of them nodded. She smiled. 'Great, let's go!' Kennedy ran to her, grabbed her hand, and they rushed out without even saying goodbye.
Buffy began: 'Well, I guess it just you and-
'This is so cool, I can finally go to the mall with Kate!' Dawn jumped up.
'Huh?' Buffy was surprised.
'I've kept cancelling on her because we've had to study and stuff.but now I'm free, we can go!' She rushed over and hugged Buffy. 'Thanks so much, you are the greatest sister ever!' She ran to the door and grabbed her coat.
'Sure, just don't forget to leave your cell phone on!' Buffy shouted as Dawn rushed out the door.
Buffy rested her chin on the table. 'I guess it's just me. Alone. Again.'
Six months ago, Buffy had watched Spike die before her very eyes. It had been so difficult for her, because at that moment she had realised how much she loved him. All she ever thought about these days was "what if he'd survived? Would we have stood a chance?" Of course, that same day she had seen Angel, and almost thought about perhaps having a life with him one day. But somehow she knew she couldn't love him as much as she had before, or as much as she had loved Spike at that moment. But now that her love was dead, was this her only choice? When she thought about it, the only strong relationships she'd ever had, they were both with vampires. Couldn't she fall in love with a human, just once?
And Anya had died.Xander had been completely heartbroken. Why was it so unfair? OK, so they'd destroyed all the vampires, and the rest of the gang had survived.but why couldn't they all have survived? Was that just too much to ask?
But now it was time to move on. Move on from her last seven years in Sunnydale. That was all in the past. Heck, all that was left of it was a great big hole in the ground.
Now they were in San Francisco; it was a whole new beginning with all her friends. It was great.
But somehow, when she looked back on all the years; how many people she'd lost, how many emotions she'd felt; how most of it was gone now.she couldn't help but feel slightly empty. Would she ever feel full again? Was there anything or anyone that could return that feeling to her?
All she could hope for now was a miracle.
Thank you everybody for the encouraging reviews! I was really nervous.but I've posted the next chapter - slightly longer - and you find out what happened to everybody else. Please keep the reviews coming!
Chapter 2
Spike and Anya woke up at the same time. They looked around them. It was daytime and unbelievably, they were at the edge of the canyon where Sunnydale once was. They saw each other, and realised what they both thought was a dream was real. They were both alive, both on earth, and both humans.
'Spike we're alive!' Anya jumped up to hug him, and this time didn't walk through him, but felt someone there.
'We're back baby!' he shouted. He hugged her and when he let go stopped to look at himself.
'This is the first time in over a hundred years that I've stood out in the sunlight.' He paused. 'Well, without the Gem of Amarra and that.' He touched his arms, his face, just to make sure he wasn't dreaming. Anya stood there smiling at him, giving him space for what must've been an emotional moment. He looked at her. 'Hey, if I'm human, then how old am I?'
She shrugged. 'I dunno, maybe the age you were turned. How old were you then?'
He realised something privately. 'As old as Buffy is now.' He smiled. 'I have my whole life ahead of me!'
'And I'm human too, which means I have my 1120 years erased, I'm really 23 again!' Anya screamed excitedly.
Both of them danced and laughed for a few minutes together, just because they were human again. But when they stopped, Anya's face contorted.
'Hey, Spike, what do we do now?'
He was still smiling. 'What do you mean?'
'Well, do we just find the gang, and say "hey, guess what, we're alive?"'
He paused. 'Yeah.'
'Oh, just wanted to get that clear.'
**********
It had been 6 months since they'd blown up Sunnydale. Some of the gang had gone their separate ways, some had stayed together.
Giles went back to England, after promising Buffy he would remain there for her if she ever needed anything, and apologised for almost killing Spike, which would've obviously been a dumb thing to do.
Andrew, even though it was hard for him, left them and went to Nashville to become a Buddhist and search for the positive things in life.
Faith and Robin Wood had gone to LA together and were fighting crime and demons with their combined strength and the help of Angel's crew. When Robin had met Angel, they'd gotten along instantly on the hobby of hating Spike.
All the surviving Slayerettes (except one) had returned to their homes, and come up with some pretty wild explanations to their parents about why they had been gone so long.
Buffy, Willow, Dawn, Xander and Kennedy had all moved to San Francisco together. (Kennedy was one of the new fully powered vampire slayers. She and Willow had hit it off back when they were preventing another apocalypse. She proved to be quite useful in most fighting situations, plus was a pleasant person to have around the house. Even though she always left the toilet seat up). Xander had bought his own apartment, and the rest of them had moved into one large house together.
They thought that San Francisco was a good place to live because it was close to LA, where the rest of their gang was located, but it also had very nice scenery, and its own demonic activity.
Now, since they had moved, they had all tried to restart their lives, however this was proving very difficult. Buffy was still unemployed, Dawn was just settling into her new school, but felt very left out. Xander had applied for countless jobs on building sites and anything related, and just managed to get a $5/hr job helping build small houses. Kennedy was working as a waitress in a local (human, not demon) bar, and Willow was working part-time for the CIA in the hacker-prevention department. Somehow, all of this was barely enough to pay all the bills. But, thanks to their constant positive attitude after ridding the world of ultimate evil, they didn't really seem to care. This Sunday morning was no different.
Kennedy rushed down the stairs bouncily after taking a refreshing shower and greeted Buffy and Dawn. 'Morning Buffy, morning Dawn. Is Xander coming over today?' She walked over to the counter where the cereal and milk were located. She opened a cupboard, grabbed a bowl and started pouring.
'Uh, no, he has to work. Where's Willow?' Buffy said munching her cereal.
'She's on her way down,' Kennedy gave a cheeky grin. 'I kinda soaked her in the shower, she came in and I-
'OK, we don't need details!' Buffy stopped her abruptly. Dawn secretly smiled.
'So what's the plan today guys?' Kennedy asked.
Buffy shrugged. 'Uh, nothing I guess. You guys have any ideas?'
They stared at her in amazement.
'You mean we don't have to look up stuff in books the entire day?!' Dawn seemed in awe of this newly found freedom.
Buffy gave her a sarcastic smile. 'As much as I know you'll miss it.I just thought that we could, you know, have a free day for once. We can do something together, or go do our own stuff.'
Kennedy immediately interrupted. 'Oh my G-d, me and Willow have been dying to go to this play in the city. It's all about the difficult life of witches in today's world, and.'
'OK, you guys go, we can already tell we're not interested!'
Just then, Willow came down the stairs, brushing her wet hair and in obviously just changed clothes. 'Morning, guys. What's going on?'
'Hey, Will, we can finally go see that play we've wanted to for ages!' Kennedy exclaimed.
Willow looked confused. 'Really? We have a free day?' The rest of them nodded. She smiled. 'Great, let's go!' Kennedy ran to her, grabbed her hand, and they rushed out without even saying goodbye.
Buffy began: 'Well, I guess it just you and-
'This is so cool, I can finally go to the mall with Kate!' Dawn jumped up.
'Huh?' Buffy was surprised.
'I've kept cancelling on her because we've had to study and stuff.but now I'm free, we can go!' She rushed over and hugged Buffy. 'Thanks so much, you are the greatest sister ever!' She ran to the door and grabbed her coat.
'Sure, just don't forget to leave your cell phone on!' Buffy shouted as Dawn rushed out the door.
Buffy rested her chin on the table. 'I guess it's just me. Alone. Again.'
Six months ago, Buffy had watched Spike die before her very eyes. It had been so difficult for her, because at that moment she had realised how much she loved him. All she ever thought about these days was "what if he'd survived? Would we have stood a chance?" Of course, that same day she had seen Angel, and almost thought about perhaps having a life with him one day. But somehow she knew she couldn't love him as much as she had before, or as much as she had loved Spike at that moment. But now that her love was dead, was this her only choice? When she thought about it, the only strong relationships she'd ever had, they were both with vampires. Couldn't she fall in love with a human, just once?
And Anya had died.Xander had been completely heartbroken. Why was it so unfair? OK, so they'd destroyed all the vampires, and the rest of the gang had survived.but why couldn't they all have survived? Was that just too much to ask?
But now it was time to move on. Move on from her last seven years in Sunnydale. That was all in the past. Heck, all that was left of it was a great big hole in the ground.
Now they were in San Francisco; it was a whole new beginning with all her friends. It was great.
But somehow, when she looked back on all the years; how many people she'd lost, how many emotions she'd felt; how most of it was gone now.she couldn't help but feel slightly empty. Would she ever feel full again? Was there anything or anyone that could return that feeling to her?
All she could hope for now was a miracle.