Title: The Coat
Author: Reetinkerbell
Fandom: Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Spoilers: Through "Band Candy" & "The Body/Forever"
Characters: Joyce Summers, Buffy Summers, Dawn Summers, Rupert Giles.
Summary: What really happened to the coat from "Band Candy".
Rating: G
Word Count: 468
Written: March 2004 –– June 2008
I don't own. Please don't archive without permission.
The Coat (1/1)
– – – – –
A week after the Candy Incident, everything seemed to go back to normal. There were still some uncomfortable thoughts and memories around Mr. Giles, but as they'd both steadfastly agreed to ignore what'd happened between them, Joyce was able to talk to him without blushing.
She had never, not even as a wild teenager acted the way she had with him, and part of her missed feeling so liberated. When she was younger, her parents had looked after her, with rules, curfews, and grounding. Then, she'd met Hank. Things had evolved from there, never allowing her time to discover her true self. Never letting her just be Joyce again. These days, it was Mom this, Ms Summers that.
It wasn't that she wanted Rupert exactly – she just wanted to be free again. Never having been able to let go before, Joyce had mourned the loss of the Candy influence. She loved her daughter dearly and enjoyed her work, but it was something about being free to do whatever she felt like doing – to not worry about bills or Buffy's slaying for a while. It'd made her feel alive again.
Joyce kept the coat Rupert had stolen for her, hidden in the back of her closet along with the wedding dress she still couldn't bring herself to throw out. And there it would stay. A constant reminder of what was and what could've been. Whenever she thinks of it, though it is not often, there is always a smile on her face. The smile is sad, as thoughts of 'what if' float through her mind, despite knowing it could never be. But still, it is a smile.
–
Years later, as Buffy and Dawn go through their mother's belongings, trying to find the right item of clothing for their mother to wear as she's being lowered into the ground, they come across the coat.
Dawn, never having seen the coat before, wants to keep it and wear it herself. But Buffy is adamant in her refusal in allowing Dawn to keep it – there is only one other person who the coat is meant for.
The following day, when Rupert Giles opens the door and finds an unmarked box standing neatly on his welcoming mat, he frowns. There is no address or note attached to it, but he brings it inside anyway.
Years of training prevent him from ripping into it immediately, but after performing a little harmless magic – and finding nothing out of the ordinary with the box – he opens it.
When he finds the coat inside, he can't help the tears that falls from his eyes or the sad smile gracing his features as he thinks back on the night, so many months ago, when he'd felt the most alive and the wonderful, amazing woman he'd spent it with.
The End.
