Chapter Fifteen ~ Parent Trap
"William Edward Lancaster – father"
Everyone sat in shell-shocked silence. Richard Lancaster was unable to speak after the teen's announcement. William smirked and let the change came. The feline exterior melted away to be replaced with his human form. Even after having done it so many times, people just couldn't adapt to it like he could.
The silence of the courtroom was overwhelming and finally it was broken by a nervous cough from someone in the crowd.
"You lie, this is some kind of a trick! My son would have been dead for over a hundred years already"
"You're a powerful sorcerer wither or not you dead. Look into my eyes and tell me you don't remember the day that you died. I had to watch the whole thing and if you can't see that horror, then being granted a new life has changed so many things"
William sat in his chair unmoving as the ghost strode right through the table to come and stare into his eyes. It wasn't like anything you could say, a moment that was a hundred and fifty one years over due. For these five seconds, that moment in both their memories was relived. When it was over, Richard Lancaster turned back to the judges and shook his head.
"I cannot question the boy. He speaks the truth and by the law I cannot be in any dealings with kith or kin" the spirit stated.
William could only watch the man himself. The shattered memories of Spike held that he died when he was nine in his past life. What he remembered from his own was that this man use to be his hero. They looked similar; they had the same unruly hair, high cheekbones, only he had violet eyes and not icy blue. Thinking hard on it, he barely looked like his mother at all. Not able to take the suspense anymore, he stood.
"I didn't think that this would be so, who do you put it? Dysfunctional? I will say this fast and to the point. In the case of Kennedy Collins I only see through my eyes as a protector. She was hurting the girl I love and I felt all that pain. I stopped them from killing each other before everything was lost. I have nothing left to say"
"Wait!" Cassandra Maliki shouted out as William turned to leave the courtroom. "You say you are Richard Lancaster's son, but I do not see how that is possible"
William laughed. "Your asking me what or not is possible?" he asked. "What kind of a world do we live in? Anything is possible and if it can happen it will! But it's a long story and everyone already knows about me. Well they know about my past life. I am who I am. If you want a better reference look up Spike or William the Bloody from some of the surviving Watcher's Journals. But hear me out, I am not who I use to be. I'm just an everyday teen that just wants to have fun – well as normal as a changeling dhampire child with mage powers can get"
William tried to hurry past were Kennedy sat, as he felt rather weirded out in his position, but the 'psycho' Slayer lashed out and caught him by the throat. He had no idea she had been planing for it. His senses had been out of whack due to this confrontation that he hadn't been prepared for the worst as he went by.
She took him to the floor with a snarl. The air had been knocked out of him when his back hit the floor; his powers were on a temporary standby. The judges all jumped to their feet, ready to takeout Kennedy. He was about to use force to get her off, but quicker then lightning, Kennedy snapped the leg of her chair and brought it down to hover over his heart.
"Stop!"
They all stopped within a foot away.
"You are going to take me out of here" she whispered into his ear, pressing the makeshift stake against his skin until it broke.
William winced and that Kennedy was serious about this. Effortlessly she flipped up, dragging them both to their feet. He knew that if anyone tried to help him or if he tried to escape, she'd kill him. He turned his head to find Rowena standing in the doorway with Darcy holding her back. He knew too that William was toast if he let her go.
"Move"
Slowly William took a step forward, switching his gaze to his father. He saw that the ghost's form was flickering. Richard Lancaster was about to go invisible and Kennedy couldn't see him doing it! William kept walking; making sure that his captor wouldn't find out that her plan was soon to go belly up.
Suddenly Kennedy's feet shot out from underneath her. With a small scream she went down, allowing William to brake away from her grip. Without even caring about what anyone else would say about it, he exacted the ultimate revenge upon the fallen Slayer: he took away her Chosen powers. The light that lashed out from his fingertips wrapped around her. It lifted Kennedy to her feet and went inside of her. Exiting her, his magic held a multi-colored swirl of light. It was the power source of the Slayer. He withdrew his magic and Kennedy's power exploded into tiny fragments, being drawn into all of the present Slayers, once again restoring the balance.
Kennedy let out a pained sob. She had been separated from the power that had become a part of her life only twelve years ago. William however slumped to the ground, extracting her power had sapped up most of his energy.
"Are you all right?" Rowena gasped as she reached his side.
Darcy appeared seconds later to show that Rowena had slashed him across the face with her fingernails.
"Ditto, what happened out here?" Darcy asked. "We heard the shouting and came to see what had happened to find that crazy had taken you hostage!"
"The world's worst parent trap" was all William could reply.
"What?"
"So my spell was taken off, was it?"
The three kids turned to find Richard standing over them. Rowena and Darcy experienced a double take as they looked from one Lancaster to the other.
"You could say that"
They were distracted farther because of Kennedy's screaming.
"I can't believe you did this to me!" she yelled. "After everything that has happened. No more then a year of finding the one person in the whole world that I love and I wind up having to care for a sniveling brat!"
No one spoke while Kennedy ranted. By law she was allowed to defend herself and well, this was it.
"I was never free from her. Rowena this, Rowena that. It was driving me crazy! I had duties to do and with a kid underfoot, whom was I supposed to do what I was meant to do. She never listened when I told her she wasn't allowed to fallow my on my patrols. If it hadn't of been for me, she would have been vamp food years ago"
Buffy and Faith held on to her fast. Her struggling was futile against the strength of the two elder Slayers. She turned and looked directly at Willow.
"Also if it hadn't of been for me coming into your life, most likely would had committed suicide. Poor fragile Willow" she snapped bitterly. "It was always your problems we had to talk about. Like my life wasn't peaches & cream either. Thought you would be one for experience to know that Slayers don't have exactly a fun fill happy life. I damn you to hell!"
Kennedy was dragged away shouting insults.
"Jeez, what a cow" a voice spoke out after she was gone.
For both Willow and William it was a heart-wrenchingly familiar. Willow snapped around to find the one person in the inter world that she thought she would never see again.
"TARA!" William shouted, scrambling to his feet and rushing over to her.
He hugged her and she smiled at him. Everyone else was quite once again. Buffy, Xander and Giles actually were found with their mouths hanging open.
"You came back! So you finally got your reward from the Powers That Be! I'm so happy for you" he gushed, shocking Rowena and Darcy, as they had both never seen such a soft side to William before.
"No I'm happy for you William. I never really had the chance to thank you for bring me back as that phoenix" Tara laughed.
They both now turned to Willow. William snickered and held out his arm, allowing Tara to run up to Willow and throw her arms around her. Willow immediately burst into tears, wrapping her arms around her lost love. Rowena smiled, she hadn't in her whole life seen her mother so happy before. She went over to William and put her arm around him and giggled.
Tara and Willow parted, blushing at all the astonished people.
"Maybe be should draw this trial to a close don't you think" Willow asked Giles.
"Yes, very well" Giles replied and everyone seemed to have already taken the hint, as they were all filing out of the huge double doors at the back of the courtroom.
When there was only William, Rowena, Darcy, Willow and Tara, Buffy and Oz, Xander and Corrine, Giles, Andrew and Richard left; Richard spoke the one thing that was on everyone's mind.
"So young man. You have a lot of explaining to do"
"I want some answers," Richard said.
"Well so do I Dad" William snapped.
"Why don't you start somewhere and go" Rowena sighed, not really wanting to get between the newly reunited father and son.
"Your older. You start first"
"Fine" Richard grumbled and the assembled group of people quieted to listen.
"So as you all must know my name is Richard James Lancaster, born in 1826. My family has descended from the First Line of Watchers and Elfin lineage. All Lancaster were known to have various magical powers from their elfin ancestors that it so happened in the year 1055, the first Lancaster was granted the Mage gift. Edmund Lancaster was a stain in the family history, having used his immense powers for evil. The only thing that could kill him was an Andcromancer – the light version of a dark Necromancer. But being a hundred old more rare then a Necromancer, everyone gave up hope to his destruction.
Thirty years later the second greatest Lancaster came to be known of. Gwen Lancaster's magic was awoken late in life and the wish was granted: we had an Andcromancer! Only irony was that she was Edmund's daughter. In destroying her father, she died, laving only a cryptic journal that spoke on the Protector, the Fair Haired and the Dark One. Life was peaceful once again. No more real fear. But only then came something to fear. A relatively safe eight hundred years later another Lancaster Mage was born: my own son!"
Willaim shifted uncomfortably as all eyes turned to him, but then Richard continued.
"He was five years of age when I first discovered that he was a mage. Early on I just took him to be a talented sorcerer. It was during the summer of his fifth year when he summoned a hot patch to dry that horribly rainy English summer. Then I though he was a Fire Elemental. But when I found a tiger in the parlor, I knew for certain that he was a mage. Only a mage could do something like that and at five, children think 'the bigger the better'. Pooling all my resources, I cast a canceling spell upon him. Unbreakable, William was to be the first Lancaster without magic.
I believed it to be the right thing to do, but only four years later I died trying to protect Willaim along with the help of my Slayer, Myna Learson. This is were my story ends, only Willaim can tell you the rest"
William stood and grinned at the group.
"Well were should I start. Most of you know that in my former life I was Spike" he started, grabbing Xander's wavering attention.
"From what I have of my memories, I was a loner a the first William. After suffering a coma at the age of nine, I forgot everyone about the Lancaster family. My mother saw to it that I did remember and it led me down a dark path. I first became Spike over a girl named Cicely Addams. She sent me out heartbroken to run into the fangs of Drusilla and the rest you know.
But then twelve years ago after Spike's death closing the Sunnydale Hellmouth, I became a ghost like my father here – worst of all, I had to spend it with Angel. Though not more then a month after becoming a 'real boy', Angle had to go and be his stupid self again. He had to go and make a wish near a vengeance demon, so bang I end up a four-year-old! There you have it pops, I'm a mage again because I was the four and you didn't put the spell on me at four, you did it at five"
"What about the fact that you looked like a cat?" Xander asked suddenly, shocking everyone.
"That was Harmony's fault. Angel's ditzy secretary had to go and get me covered in Myth Dust that I become a changeling. I can become human again now – well because Drusilla tried to vamp me again and partially failed. I became a Dhampire instead.
"Harmony is Angel's secretary?"
"Unfortunately. My life couldn't have become any weirder with her around. A few moths ago I got all my memories back and now they only reside as fragments. Can't put everything together again because I'm not supposing to. It's not my 'life' to relive"
"Okay – this is a very confusing situation" Andrew muttered into his hands, it was almost too much for him to take in. "This is a very bad Spiderman comic"
"Andrew please, enough with the nerdy comic stuff, you thirty one for heaven's sake!" Giles snapped.
"Well I don't know what to make of this, But Xander and I are going home" Corrine said.
"We are?" Xander asked his wife dumbly.
"Yes. How long do you think Vivian can stand taking care of Anya and Lyle? We live our children with her cross the world for more then a few days and they begin to drive her crazy. Now come on!"
Corrine hauled Xander to his feet and dragged him from the room. Giles then had to cart Andrew out before he started spouting more superhero nonsense. Buffy and Oz had decided to live as well, allowing Darcy to stay with his friends.
"So – your Tara" Rowena started anew.
"Yes and I see that you happen to be the same little girl that I once from a fire she had created in her bedroom"
"That was you!" Willow and Rowena gasped at the same time.
Tara blushed.
"That was part of becoming human again. My mission for the PTB was to do good things. Save people, grant tormented children pleasant dreams. It was what I did. Not to long ago I became human again. I found out that Kennedy had betrayed Willow's love by harming Rowena and that there was someone to go to. Then low and behold I also find out that the child that first brought me back was the soul mate of my soul mate's daughter"
"What's that all about any way?" Darcy asked the blond witch.
"Well, when William was four, he was experimenting with transfiguring and life magic. He had created an intricate wooden 3-D puzzle of a phoenix and brought it to life. I was sent back for a second chance at life. William was a sweetheart, only having brought the sculpture to life because he wanted a friend. Though the thought of bringing me back to life irked Angel into getting mad at the poor toddler and William ran for out into downtown Los Angeles. After Fred got him back, I had to leave. I could no longer prolong my visit"
"At least you could have waited to say good bye. That experience traumatized me!" William teased in a voice full of mock hurt, causing everyone to laugh at him.
William looked to his right to find Darcy whispering into Rowena's ear quite enough so that he could hear. Rowena then went to whisper into her mother's ear and Willow spoke to Tara. The three witches and the lone werewolf stood, smiled at the two Lancasters and left the room.
"So pops – how's the afterlife been?"
"Well enough, but I never did find you mother"
"Umm, Spike kinda turned her into a vampire so that means her soul went to purgatory when the demon that took over her body"
"So she's a vampire?"
"She was, he kinda staked her not long after siring her because her evil effect his humanity. Spike wasn't like other vampires. Even if the had managed to kill to Slayers in his time and one of Angelus's brood, he never really was very bad. He was just a typical vampire, but with brains. It wasn't true evil, just bad. When he was William, it was not a life he wanted to re-live. The shy bookish poet had become the powerful cunning vampire"
"Why do you speak of yourself as three different people?" Richard asked.
"Why do I think that? Well it's the truth. The William you knew died at the age of twenty-five, Spike had a long, painful journey; because of the woman he loved, he went and got our soul back. He died at the age of a hundred and forty eight years. Then along came me! I was the out of control little mage that grew up with a vampire with a soul, a scientific genus, a former watcher, a vampire hunter/lawyer and a demon at Wolfram & Hart. With that you have three entirely different people. I am unique and I like it that way"
His father said nothing. Richard Lancaster was at a means to an end.
"I'm proud of you William" he whispered. "After all these years if finally get to tell you that"
His spirit form flickered and began to fade.
"I – I have to go now"
William ran over to his father and worked his magic. He threw himself forward to hug his father and caught him in the embrace. Richard was shocked, having become solid for the first time. He hugged his son back as though he never wanted to left go, but then a second later, William fell through him.
"Say hi to mum for me. I know she'll be there be now," he said with tears streaming down his now furry face.
Richard smiled one last time before he faded out.
"Good bye son, I love you"
"Good bye papa – I love you too"
Hello everybody, how was that? I am please to say that Forever Young has won the second round for the Throwback Award at Barefoot Awards.
I had to wrap up a lot of things in this chapter. I brought Tara back as promised and I gave Kennedy her final say of things. I hope that having added Richard Lancaster and then letting him go was a good thing. It may have been a little sappy at the end, but I think it work out all right. Well got to go. Later! *
"William Edward Lancaster – father"
Everyone sat in shell-shocked silence. Richard Lancaster was unable to speak after the teen's announcement. William smirked and let the change came. The feline exterior melted away to be replaced with his human form. Even after having done it so many times, people just couldn't adapt to it like he could.
The silence of the courtroom was overwhelming and finally it was broken by a nervous cough from someone in the crowd.
"You lie, this is some kind of a trick! My son would have been dead for over a hundred years already"
"You're a powerful sorcerer wither or not you dead. Look into my eyes and tell me you don't remember the day that you died. I had to watch the whole thing and if you can't see that horror, then being granted a new life has changed so many things"
William sat in his chair unmoving as the ghost strode right through the table to come and stare into his eyes. It wasn't like anything you could say, a moment that was a hundred and fifty one years over due. For these five seconds, that moment in both their memories was relived. When it was over, Richard Lancaster turned back to the judges and shook his head.
"I cannot question the boy. He speaks the truth and by the law I cannot be in any dealings with kith or kin" the spirit stated.
William could only watch the man himself. The shattered memories of Spike held that he died when he was nine in his past life. What he remembered from his own was that this man use to be his hero. They looked similar; they had the same unruly hair, high cheekbones, only he had violet eyes and not icy blue. Thinking hard on it, he barely looked like his mother at all. Not able to take the suspense anymore, he stood.
"I didn't think that this would be so, who do you put it? Dysfunctional? I will say this fast and to the point. In the case of Kennedy Collins I only see through my eyes as a protector. She was hurting the girl I love and I felt all that pain. I stopped them from killing each other before everything was lost. I have nothing left to say"
"Wait!" Cassandra Maliki shouted out as William turned to leave the courtroom. "You say you are Richard Lancaster's son, but I do not see how that is possible"
William laughed. "Your asking me what or not is possible?" he asked. "What kind of a world do we live in? Anything is possible and if it can happen it will! But it's a long story and everyone already knows about me. Well they know about my past life. I am who I am. If you want a better reference look up Spike or William the Bloody from some of the surviving Watcher's Journals. But hear me out, I am not who I use to be. I'm just an everyday teen that just wants to have fun – well as normal as a changeling dhampire child with mage powers can get"
William tried to hurry past were Kennedy sat, as he felt rather weirded out in his position, but the 'psycho' Slayer lashed out and caught him by the throat. He had no idea she had been planing for it. His senses had been out of whack due to this confrontation that he hadn't been prepared for the worst as he went by.
She took him to the floor with a snarl. The air had been knocked out of him when his back hit the floor; his powers were on a temporary standby. The judges all jumped to their feet, ready to takeout Kennedy. He was about to use force to get her off, but quicker then lightning, Kennedy snapped the leg of her chair and brought it down to hover over his heart.
"Stop!"
They all stopped within a foot away.
"You are going to take me out of here" she whispered into his ear, pressing the makeshift stake against his skin until it broke.
William winced and that Kennedy was serious about this. Effortlessly she flipped up, dragging them both to their feet. He knew that if anyone tried to help him or if he tried to escape, she'd kill him. He turned his head to find Rowena standing in the doorway with Darcy holding her back. He knew too that William was toast if he let her go.
"Move"
Slowly William took a step forward, switching his gaze to his father. He saw that the ghost's form was flickering. Richard Lancaster was about to go invisible and Kennedy couldn't see him doing it! William kept walking; making sure that his captor wouldn't find out that her plan was soon to go belly up.
Suddenly Kennedy's feet shot out from underneath her. With a small scream she went down, allowing William to brake away from her grip. Without even caring about what anyone else would say about it, he exacted the ultimate revenge upon the fallen Slayer: he took away her Chosen powers. The light that lashed out from his fingertips wrapped around her. It lifted Kennedy to her feet and went inside of her. Exiting her, his magic held a multi-colored swirl of light. It was the power source of the Slayer. He withdrew his magic and Kennedy's power exploded into tiny fragments, being drawn into all of the present Slayers, once again restoring the balance.
Kennedy let out a pained sob. She had been separated from the power that had become a part of her life only twelve years ago. William however slumped to the ground, extracting her power had sapped up most of his energy.
"Are you all right?" Rowena gasped as she reached his side.
Darcy appeared seconds later to show that Rowena had slashed him across the face with her fingernails.
"Ditto, what happened out here?" Darcy asked. "We heard the shouting and came to see what had happened to find that crazy had taken you hostage!"
"The world's worst parent trap" was all William could reply.
"What?"
"So my spell was taken off, was it?"
The three kids turned to find Richard standing over them. Rowena and Darcy experienced a double take as they looked from one Lancaster to the other.
"You could say that"
They were distracted farther because of Kennedy's screaming.
"I can't believe you did this to me!" she yelled. "After everything that has happened. No more then a year of finding the one person in the whole world that I love and I wind up having to care for a sniveling brat!"
No one spoke while Kennedy ranted. By law she was allowed to defend herself and well, this was it.
"I was never free from her. Rowena this, Rowena that. It was driving me crazy! I had duties to do and with a kid underfoot, whom was I supposed to do what I was meant to do. She never listened when I told her she wasn't allowed to fallow my on my patrols. If it hadn't of been for me, she would have been vamp food years ago"
Buffy and Faith held on to her fast. Her struggling was futile against the strength of the two elder Slayers. She turned and looked directly at Willow.
"Also if it hadn't of been for me coming into your life, most likely would had committed suicide. Poor fragile Willow" she snapped bitterly. "It was always your problems we had to talk about. Like my life wasn't peaches & cream either. Thought you would be one for experience to know that Slayers don't have exactly a fun fill happy life. I damn you to hell!"
Kennedy was dragged away shouting insults.
"Jeez, what a cow" a voice spoke out after she was gone.
For both Willow and William it was a heart-wrenchingly familiar. Willow snapped around to find the one person in the inter world that she thought she would never see again.
"TARA!" William shouted, scrambling to his feet and rushing over to her.
He hugged her and she smiled at him. Everyone else was quite once again. Buffy, Xander and Giles actually were found with their mouths hanging open.
"You came back! So you finally got your reward from the Powers That Be! I'm so happy for you" he gushed, shocking Rowena and Darcy, as they had both never seen such a soft side to William before.
"No I'm happy for you William. I never really had the chance to thank you for bring me back as that phoenix" Tara laughed.
They both now turned to Willow. William snickered and held out his arm, allowing Tara to run up to Willow and throw her arms around her. Willow immediately burst into tears, wrapping her arms around her lost love. Rowena smiled, she hadn't in her whole life seen her mother so happy before. She went over to William and put her arm around him and giggled.
Tara and Willow parted, blushing at all the astonished people.
"Maybe be should draw this trial to a close don't you think" Willow asked Giles.
"Yes, very well" Giles replied and everyone seemed to have already taken the hint, as they were all filing out of the huge double doors at the back of the courtroom.
When there was only William, Rowena, Darcy, Willow and Tara, Buffy and Oz, Xander and Corrine, Giles, Andrew and Richard left; Richard spoke the one thing that was on everyone's mind.
"So young man. You have a lot of explaining to do"
"I want some answers," Richard said.
"Well so do I Dad" William snapped.
"Why don't you start somewhere and go" Rowena sighed, not really wanting to get between the newly reunited father and son.
"Your older. You start first"
"Fine" Richard grumbled and the assembled group of people quieted to listen.
"So as you all must know my name is Richard James Lancaster, born in 1826. My family has descended from the First Line of Watchers and Elfin lineage. All Lancaster were known to have various magical powers from their elfin ancestors that it so happened in the year 1055, the first Lancaster was granted the Mage gift. Edmund Lancaster was a stain in the family history, having used his immense powers for evil. The only thing that could kill him was an Andcromancer – the light version of a dark Necromancer. But being a hundred old more rare then a Necromancer, everyone gave up hope to his destruction.
Thirty years later the second greatest Lancaster came to be known of. Gwen Lancaster's magic was awoken late in life and the wish was granted: we had an Andcromancer! Only irony was that she was Edmund's daughter. In destroying her father, she died, laving only a cryptic journal that spoke on the Protector, the Fair Haired and the Dark One. Life was peaceful once again. No more real fear. But only then came something to fear. A relatively safe eight hundred years later another Lancaster Mage was born: my own son!"
Willaim shifted uncomfortably as all eyes turned to him, but then Richard continued.
"He was five years of age when I first discovered that he was a mage. Early on I just took him to be a talented sorcerer. It was during the summer of his fifth year when he summoned a hot patch to dry that horribly rainy English summer. Then I though he was a Fire Elemental. But when I found a tiger in the parlor, I knew for certain that he was a mage. Only a mage could do something like that and at five, children think 'the bigger the better'. Pooling all my resources, I cast a canceling spell upon him. Unbreakable, William was to be the first Lancaster without magic.
I believed it to be the right thing to do, but only four years later I died trying to protect Willaim along with the help of my Slayer, Myna Learson. This is were my story ends, only Willaim can tell you the rest"
William stood and grinned at the group.
"Well were should I start. Most of you know that in my former life I was Spike" he started, grabbing Xander's wavering attention.
"From what I have of my memories, I was a loner a the first William. After suffering a coma at the age of nine, I forgot everyone about the Lancaster family. My mother saw to it that I did remember and it led me down a dark path. I first became Spike over a girl named Cicely Addams. She sent me out heartbroken to run into the fangs of Drusilla and the rest you know.
But then twelve years ago after Spike's death closing the Sunnydale Hellmouth, I became a ghost like my father here – worst of all, I had to spend it with Angel. Though not more then a month after becoming a 'real boy', Angle had to go and be his stupid self again. He had to go and make a wish near a vengeance demon, so bang I end up a four-year-old! There you have it pops, I'm a mage again because I was the four and you didn't put the spell on me at four, you did it at five"
"What about the fact that you looked like a cat?" Xander asked suddenly, shocking everyone.
"That was Harmony's fault. Angel's ditzy secretary had to go and get me covered in Myth Dust that I become a changeling. I can become human again now – well because Drusilla tried to vamp me again and partially failed. I became a Dhampire instead.
"Harmony is Angel's secretary?"
"Unfortunately. My life couldn't have become any weirder with her around. A few moths ago I got all my memories back and now they only reside as fragments. Can't put everything together again because I'm not supposing to. It's not my 'life' to relive"
"Okay – this is a very confusing situation" Andrew muttered into his hands, it was almost too much for him to take in. "This is a very bad Spiderman comic"
"Andrew please, enough with the nerdy comic stuff, you thirty one for heaven's sake!" Giles snapped.
"Well I don't know what to make of this, But Xander and I are going home" Corrine said.
"We are?" Xander asked his wife dumbly.
"Yes. How long do you think Vivian can stand taking care of Anya and Lyle? We live our children with her cross the world for more then a few days and they begin to drive her crazy. Now come on!"
Corrine hauled Xander to his feet and dragged him from the room. Giles then had to cart Andrew out before he started spouting more superhero nonsense. Buffy and Oz had decided to live as well, allowing Darcy to stay with his friends.
"So – your Tara" Rowena started anew.
"Yes and I see that you happen to be the same little girl that I once from a fire she had created in her bedroom"
"That was you!" Willow and Rowena gasped at the same time.
Tara blushed.
"That was part of becoming human again. My mission for the PTB was to do good things. Save people, grant tormented children pleasant dreams. It was what I did. Not to long ago I became human again. I found out that Kennedy had betrayed Willow's love by harming Rowena and that there was someone to go to. Then low and behold I also find out that the child that first brought me back was the soul mate of my soul mate's daughter"
"What's that all about any way?" Darcy asked the blond witch.
"Well, when William was four, he was experimenting with transfiguring and life magic. He had created an intricate wooden 3-D puzzle of a phoenix and brought it to life. I was sent back for a second chance at life. William was a sweetheart, only having brought the sculpture to life because he wanted a friend. Though the thought of bringing me back to life irked Angel into getting mad at the poor toddler and William ran for out into downtown Los Angeles. After Fred got him back, I had to leave. I could no longer prolong my visit"
"At least you could have waited to say good bye. That experience traumatized me!" William teased in a voice full of mock hurt, causing everyone to laugh at him.
William looked to his right to find Darcy whispering into Rowena's ear quite enough so that he could hear. Rowena then went to whisper into her mother's ear and Willow spoke to Tara. The three witches and the lone werewolf stood, smiled at the two Lancasters and left the room.
"So pops – how's the afterlife been?"
"Well enough, but I never did find you mother"
"Umm, Spike kinda turned her into a vampire so that means her soul went to purgatory when the demon that took over her body"
"So she's a vampire?"
"She was, he kinda staked her not long after siring her because her evil effect his humanity. Spike wasn't like other vampires. Even if the had managed to kill to Slayers in his time and one of Angelus's brood, he never really was very bad. He was just a typical vampire, but with brains. It wasn't true evil, just bad. When he was William, it was not a life he wanted to re-live. The shy bookish poet had become the powerful cunning vampire"
"Why do you speak of yourself as three different people?" Richard asked.
"Why do I think that? Well it's the truth. The William you knew died at the age of twenty-five, Spike had a long, painful journey; because of the woman he loved, he went and got our soul back. He died at the age of a hundred and forty eight years. Then along came me! I was the out of control little mage that grew up with a vampire with a soul, a scientific genus, a former watcher, a vampire hunter/lawyer and a demon at Wolfram & Hart. With that you have three entirely different people. I am unique and I like it that way"
His father said nothing. Richard Lancaster was at a means to an end.
"I'm proud of you William" he whispered. "After all these years if finally get to tell you that"
His spirit form flickered and began to fade.
"I – I have to go now"
William ran over to his father and worked his magic. He threw himself forward to hug his father and caught him in the embrace. Richard was shocked, having become solid for the first time. He hugged his son back as though he never wanted to left go, but then a second later, William fell through him.
"Say hi to mum for me. I know she'll be there be now," he said with tears streaming down his now furry face.
Richard smiled one last time before he faded out.
"Good bye son, I love you"
"Good bye papa – I love you too"
Hello everybody, how was that? I am please to say that Forever Young has won the second round for the Throwback Award at Barefoot Awards.
I had to wrap up a lot of things in this chapter. I brought Tara back as promised and I gave Kennedy her final say of things. I hope that having added Richard Lancaster and then letting him go was a good thing. It may have been a little sappy at the end, but I think it work out all right. Well got to go. Later! *