I own nothing here, it's all Joss Whedon's and JRR Tolkien's, ok? And hey,
here comes Giles..!
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CHAPTER SIX- DEAR LORD
"Dear Lord."
"I should've put money on you saying that," Dawn commented. As soon as they had all finished their respective jobs for the day, the Scoobies had congregated at the Summers residence to take Dawn to the Magic Box to see Giles.
Giles smiled at the young girl's apparently flippant remark before gathering her up in his arms for a fatherly hug. Dawn accepted the hug and offered him a small smile. Giles looked deep into her eyes, as if he could sense something off in Dawn, so she swept him up in an exuberent embrace which flustered the Englishman.
He led Dawn over to the table, gesturing her into a seat. "Can I make you some tea?"
"No, I'm fine. Just wanted to stop by and say hi," Dawn responded dryly.
Buffy frowned at her sister. "Dawn, I really don't think that's funny."
"Do you see me laughing?" came the deadpan reply.
The others watched in confusion, worried by the frosty tone Dawn had taken with them. When they really thought about it, all Dawn's words and actions had been lukewarm at best. They all exchanged glances, a silent agreement to discuss Dawn's behaviour later.
Dawn herself sat oblivious to the attention. She started flipping though a book, almost as if she was bored and looking for some light reading material. The second she realised, though, while 'casually' scanning the contents, that the book had nothing to do with interdimensional portals or activities, she snapped the book shut. A quick glance up told her that the others had been scrutinising her behaviour.
With a casual shrug, she told them, "That book didn't look so interesting after all."
"They're never interesting, sweetie," Tara smiled gently at her, trying to make a light joke. "We just read them because we have to sometimes."
Dawn looked away stonily. Tara's sweetness had had her for a moment, but then the quiet Wicca had to go and say something so infuriatingly patronising. With her natural intuition, Tara sensed the frostiness in the atmosphere suddenly directed a little her way and paled. She hadn't meant to upset Dawn, she only wanted to make her feel at ease. The others noticed the exchange and grimaced to themselves. Buffy didn't like to admit it, but, besides Spike, Tara, not her, was her sister's favourite Scooby. And for Dawn to be anything but full of quiet adoration for the timid girl was truly worrying.
"So... what's going on?" Dawn finally asked, after a moment or two of uncertain silence. "Vamps, demons, other big nasties?"
"No, no," Giles hurried to assure her, as if to soothe any fears she might have. As if she was still a child. As if she wasn't over fifty years older than him now.
"We've mostly been concentrating on getting you back," Buffy admitted.
At the confession, a new ally through which to attack occurred to Dawn. "How *did* you bring me back? I mean, I thought that special Urn thingy you used to bring Buffy back was broken, and, um, disposable. And the only way to bring back the dead without heading into zombie-ville. So how did you... how did you do it?" she faltered at the last second and broke off, sure that if she kept going she would end up demanding how they could be so cruel.
Willow, resurrection extraordinare, fielded the question. "Are you sure you wanna know, Dawny?" she asked, far too gently for Dawn's liking.
"Tell me," she demanded, a hard edge in her voice suggesting she had not been denied so easily over the last century.
"Uh, ok," the redhead stammered a little. "Well, there's more than one vessel through which to channel energies and such, and basically it was the same spell we used for Buffy only with another Urn- the Urn of Cyrus."
"After Tara's whizzy little Aura-Scan, of course," Xander piped up with a big grin. "Didn't wanna be pulling the wrong thing outta the wrong place, huh Dawnster?"
Dawn was nodding, but it was more to herself than in response to Xander's comments. The same spell, she mused. That meant there was no way of reversing it... only there was.
"Hey!" she cried aloud. "What about the trade-off? Like how when Buffy came back, that demony thing came with her... What about that?" By her figuring, whatever the universe's trade-off was would be looking for her, since to kill her would be the only way for it to become corporeal in this dimension. And, hey, Dawn figured. She wasn't going to stop it from sending her back where she came from. Let the Scoobies clean up the mess then.
"Nope, already took care of it," Willow responded smugly. "Remember the Urn of Istar? Spike used to use it as an ash tray, which used to drive Anya nuts? Well, we sent the trade-off demon into that and just vamoosed it away. Problem solved."
"Great," Dawn replied sarcastically. She wondered if. any moment now, they were goning to chain her down with Spike's shackles as well, just to make extra sure she couldn't get away. She stayed silent for the rest of the evening, lost in her own thoughts and plans. Every now and then her eyes strayed to the loft of the Magic Box, where all the most powerful and dangerous supplies were kept. She hadn't come on a midnight excursion to the store since she was fourteen, and she decided it was high time she tried it again one of these days. Surely Giles would have something on interdimensional movement up there somewhere.
When Buffy insisted it was time they took her home, Giles smiled warmly at Dawn. He clasped her by her shoulders and gazed steadily at her. "It is good to see you, Dawn."
There was such sincerity in his voice that Dawn could not doubt Giles, so she nodded and let him kiss her cheek. He had no part in causing her pain and she would not hate him for what others had done.
Immortal as she was, Dawn was still no Elf, and her sleepless night the night before was beginning to take its toll on her. The second her head hit her pillow, she drifted off into sleep. She didn't even bother to answer Spike, who had slipped up to her room to ask her how her meeting with Giles went.
As Dawn lapsed into dreams, the Scooby Gang gathered in the living room. Spike was coming down the stairs as Buffy began to speak.
"I think there's something wrong with her," the Slayer admitted, a quiet sadness ringing through her voice.
"No, sweetie, she'll be fine," Tara, ever the peace-keeper, placed a reassuring hand on Buffy's knee.
"Yeah, Buffy. I mean, we knew it wouldn't be easy for her. Hundred years of torture in hell, that's gotta have some side-effects," Xander reasoned.
"Buffy we'll figure it out. I mean, whatever she's gone through, we can take it away given time. We can erase whatever that other dimension did to her," Willow promised. She and Tara had already been skimming through a few texts which dealt with post interdimensional travel issues. So far though, they hadn't come up with anything that could help Dawn. And Willow had well and truly learned her lesson with using forgetting spells.
With his deeper knowledge of Dawn's whereabouts over the last century, Spike glowered as he listened to Willow's words, innocently as they were intended. He opened his mouth to tell her soundly off, but was stopped short by the memory of his promise to the Little Bit. Buffy, however, noticed the change in Spike's demeanour and the movement of his mouth.
"Spike? You got something to say?" she asked.
"No," Spike responded quickly. He didn't want Buffy to pressure him. He hated himself for his weakness when it came to the Slayer, but if she asked something of him, he had never been able to deny her long. "I got nothing."
"What a surprise," Xander spat. Spike glared at him.
"So, for now we wait," Buffy broke in with a sigh. "We let her deal with this and we be there for her. What else can we do?"
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~~~
In her room, Dawn closed her eyes. When she opened them again, all was well in the world. Because she was in the right world. The greenery of Mirkwood rustled around her, the soothing wind whispering to her. Legolas stood before her. He looked the same, yet different.
He was a little thinner, if that was indeed possible for such a lithe Elf, and his eyes had lost some of their sparkle. He was alone, and he looked lonely. But when she appeared before him, he smiled and the whole universe brightened along with him.
"Legolas," Dawn breathed, throwing herself into his arms. He locked her up in his embrace as if he would never let her go, not this time, and Dawn snuggled into him. She knew it was just a dream and she never wanted to wake up.
"I'm here, Dawn. Always right here, Melamin. Lye naa ten'oio," he swore. [We are forever]
Dawn turned her face up to his, feeling the warmth flood back into her body as he kissed her. Still she knew she was dreaming, but she would take this dream over the empty coldness that awaited her when she was inevitably forced to open her eyes.
"Amin merna lle ikotane..." Dawn moaned, missing him already, despite the fact that she was dreaming of him right in front of her. [I want you so...]
"I know," Legolas sighed. "Me too, Dawn. Remember- ten'oio." ~~~
Dawn snapped out of her dream and felt the cold surge back into her heart.
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Hungry for reviews. Again. Feed me, please! ~Anoron.
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CHAPTER SIX- DEAR LORD
"Dear Lord."
"I should've put money on you saying that," Dawn commented. As soon as they had all finished their respective jobs for the day, the Scoobies had congregated at the Summers residence to take Dawn to the Magic Box to see Giles.
Giles smiled at the young girl's apparently flippant remark before gathering her up in his arms for a fatherly hug. Dawn accepted the hug and offered him a small smile. Giles looked deep into her eyes, as if he could sense something off in Dawn, so she swept him up in an exuberent embrace which flustered the Englishman.
He led Dawn over to the table, gesturing her into a seat. "Can I make you some tea?"
"No, I'm fine. Just wanted to stop by and say hi," Dawn responded dryly.
Buffy frowned at her sister. "Dawn, I really don't think that's funny."
"Do you see me laughing?" came the deadpan reply.
The others watched in confusion, worried by the frosty tone Dawn had taken with them. When they really thought about it, all Dawn's words and actions had been lukewarm at best. They all exchanged glances, a silent agreement to discuss Dawn's behaviour later.
Dawn herself sat oblivious to the attention. She started flipping though a book, almost as if she was bored and looking for some light reading material. The second she realised, though, while 'casually' scanning the contents, that the book had nothing to do with interdimensional portals or activities, she snapped the book shut. A quick glance up told her that the others had been scrutinising her behaviour.
With a casual shrug, she told them, "That book didn't look so interesting after all."
"They're never interesting, sweetie," Tara smiled gently at her, trying to make a light joke. "We just read them because we have to sometimes."
Dawn looked away stonily. Tara's sweetness had had her for a moment, but then the quiet Wicca had to go and say something so infuriatingly patronising. With her natural intuition, Tara sensed the frostiness in the atmosphere suddenly directed a little her way and paled. She hadn't meant to upset Dawn, she only wanted to make her feel at ease. The others noticed the exchange and grimaced to themselves. Buffy didn't like to admit it, but, besides Spike, Tara, not her, was her sister's favourite Scooby. And for Dawn to be anything but full of quiet adoration for the timid girl was truly worrying.
"So... what's going on?" Dawn finally asked, after a moment or two of uncertain silence. "Vamps, demons, other big nasties?"
"No, no," Giles hurried to assure her, as if to soothe any fears she might have. As if she was still a child. As if she wasn't over fifty years older than him now.
"We've mostly been concentrating on getting you back," Buffy admitted.
At the confession, a new ally through which to attack occurred to Dawn. "How *did* you bring me back? I mean, I thought that special Urn thingy you used to bring Buffy back was broken, and, um, disposable. And the only way to bring back the dead without heading into zombie-ville. So how did you... how did you do it?" she faltered at the last second and broke off, sure that if she kept going she would end up demanding how they could be so cruel.
Willow, resurrection extraordinare, fielded the question. "Are you sure you wanna know, Dawny?" she asked, far too gently for Dawn's liking.
"Tell me," she demanded, a hard edge in her voice suggesting she had not been denied so easily over the last century.
"Uh, ok," the redhead stammered a little. "Well, there's more than one vessel through which to channel energies and such, and basically it was the same spell we used for Buffy only with another Urn- the Urn of Cyrus."
"After Tara's whizzy little Aura-Scan, of course," Xander piped up with a big grin. "Didn't wanna be pulling the wrong thing outta the wrong place, huh Dawnster?"
Dawn was nodding, but it was more to herself than in response to Xander's comments. The same spell, she mused. That meant there was no way of reversing it... only there was.
"Hey!" she cried aloud. "What about the trade-off? Like how when Buffy came back, that demony thing came with her... What about that?" By her figuring, whatever the universe's trade-off was would be looking for her, since to kill her would be the only way for it to become corporeal in this dimension. And, hey, Dawn figured. She wasn't going to stop it from sending her back where she came from. Let the Scoobies clean up the mess then.
"Nope, already took care of it," Willow responded smugly. "Remember the Urn of Istar? Spike used to use it as an ash tray, which used to drive Anya nuts? Well, we sent the trade-off demon into that and just vamoosed it away. Problem solved."
"Great," Dawn replied sarcastically. She wondered if. any moment now, they were goning to chain her down with Spike's shackles as well, just to make extra sure she couldn't get away. She stayed silent for the rest of the evening, lost in her own thoughts and plans. Every now and then her eyes strayed to the loft of the Magic Box, where all the most powerful and dangerous supplies were kept. She hadn't come on a midnight excursion to the store since she was fourteen, and she decided it was high time she tried it again one of these days. Surely Giles would have something on interdimensional movement up there somewhere.
When Buffy insisted it was time they took her home, Giles smiled warmly at Dawn. He clasped her by her shoulders and gazed steadily at her. "It is good to see you, Dawn."
There was such sincerity in his voice that Dawn could not doubt Giles, so she nodded and let him kiss her cheek. He had no part in causing her pain and she would not hate him for what others had done.
Immortal as she was, Dawn was still no Elf, and her sleepless night the night before was beginning to take its toll on her. The second her head hit her pillow, she drifted off into sleep. She didn't even bother to answer Spike, who had slipped up to her room to ask her how her meeting with Giles went.
As Dawn lapsed into dreams, the Scooby Gang gathered in the living room. Spike was coming down the stairs as Buffy began to speak.
"I think there's something wrong with her," the Slayer admitted, a quiet sadness ringing through her voice.
"No, sweetie, she'll be fine," Tara, ever the peace-keeper, placed a reassuring hand on Buffy's knee.
"Yeah, Buffy. I mean, we knew it wouldn't be easy for her. Hundred years of torture in hell, that's gotta have some side-effects," Xander reasoned.
"Buffy we'll figure it out. I mean, whatever she's gone through, we can take it away given time. We can erase whatever that other dimension did to her," Willow promised. She and Tara had already been skimming through a few texts which dealt with post interdimensional travel issues. So far though, they hadn't come up with anything that could help Dawn. And Willow had well and truly learned her lesson with using forgetting spells.
With his deeper knowledge of Dawn's whereabouts over the last century, Spike glowered as he listened to Willow's words, innocently as they were intended. He opened his mouth to tell her soundly off, but was stopped short by the memory of his promise to the Little Bit. Buffy, however, noticed the change in Spike's demeanour and the movement of his mouth.
"Spike? You got something to say?" she asked.
"No," Spike responded quickly. He didn't want Buffy to pressure him. He hated himself for his weakness when it came to the Slayer, but if she asked something of him, he had never been able to deny her long. "I got nothing."
"What a surprise," Xander spat. Spike glared at him.
"So, for now we wait," Buffy broke in with a sigh. "We let her deal with this and we be there for her. What else can we do?"
* * * * *
~~~
In her room, Dawn closed her eyes. When she opened them again, all was well in the world. Because she was in the right world. The greenery of Mirkwood rustled around her, the soothing wind whispering to her. Legolas stood before her. He looked the same, yet different.
He was a little thinner, if that was indeed possible for such a lithe Elf, and his eyes had lost some of their sparkle. He was alone, and he looked lonely. But when she appeared before him, he smiled and the whole universe brightened along with him.
"Legolas," Dawn breathed, throwing herself into his arms. He locked her up in his embrace as if he would never let her go, not this time, and Dawn snuggled into him. She knew it was just a dream and she never wanted to wake up.
"I'm here, Dawn. Always right here, Melamin. Lye naa ten'oio," he swore. [We are forever]
Dawn turned her face up to his, feeling the warmth flood back into her body as he kissed her. Still she knew she was dreaming, but she would take this dream over the empty coldness that awaited her when she was inevitably forced to open her eyes.
"Amin merna lle ikotane..." Dawn moaned, missing him already, despite the fact that she was dreaming of him right in front of her. [I want you so...]
"I know," Legolas sighed. "Me too, Dawn. Remember- ten'oio." ~~~
Dawn snapped out of her dream and felt the cold surge back into her heart.
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Hungry for reviews. Again. Feed me, please! ~Anoron.