Disclaimers: All characters here are owned by Joss Whedon and co. They are in no way mine, and there is going to be no profit made from this story, except for my personal enjoyment.
Distribution: Anywhere, just tell me where it's going, and give me credit (The-Aussie-Witch)
Spoilers: Season 6, and some Season 7 rumoured spoilers (I'm not looking at all the spoilers for Season 7)
Rating: PG-13 because of violence and language, and because there is no M-15+ on Fanfiction.net (An Australian Rating standing for Mature Audiences, fifteen and older).
Summary: starts straight from the minute Grave left off! I am not a Spike and Buffy 'shipper' and I'm not sure if things will be right between those two as of yet (Maybe, maybe not). Some 'people' from Spike's past as a human might be involved as well.
Note: This was done in MS Word and is in book format. For some reason, Fanfiction.net is not picking up the single line 'enters' (ie, a new line for when a person speaks). In Word Format, it is so, but on FF.net, there is no new line.
Chapter 1
And now, the conclusion…
Buffy and Dawn walked through the graveyard. Buffy was so happy to be alive now. She had seen that Dawn could take care of herself, and it was at that moment that she realised that she had been sheltering Dawn from the world. Buffy realised that she desperately didn't want to do that, and that she wanted to show Dawn the world instead. As they had come out of the pit, Buffy had seen one of the most beautiful sunrises she had ever seen. She could only remember one other one, and that was when she saw the sun rising above the horizon just before she leapt into the blue, swirling energy mass to save the world. She could never forget that sunrise. It had been one of the last things she had seen before she died. At that same instant, she remembered Anya telling them about Giles.
"Giles! We have to go and see if he's okay," Buffy said urgently to Dawn. She was thankful that the cemetery wasn't too far away from the Magic Box. She grabbed Dawn's hand and they started to run towards it. As she was running, she wondered where Xander had gone to, but she quickly realised that he had heard that Anya said that Willow was unstoppable, and that he had gone to the Magic Box to spend his last moments on earth with Giles and the woman he loved.
When Buffy and Dawn reached the Magic Box, they found that it was ruined. Buffy couldn't imagine what had happened there while she was gone. Her heart skipped a beat as she realised that Giles and Anya might still be inside. Buffy started to head towards it at a quickened pace.
"Buffy. Over there," Dawn said to her. Buffy looked in the direction that Dawn was looking at and saw Anya helping Giles sit down on a bench. She ran as fast as she could to the only father figure she had had in her life over the last six years.
"Giles!" Buffy called out. "Is he going to be okay?"
"I-I think so. It looks like he's going to be okay," Anya replied, obviously distressed.
"Where's Xander?" Dawn asked urgently. Buffy realised that her younger sister must have thought the same thing that she did.
"H-he's not here. He's up on King Man's Bluff. With Willow," Anya replied. Buffy's eyes went wide. She had just made up with Xander, and she wasn't going to loose him now.
"Come on, we've got to go and get him!" Buffy shouted urgently while almost picking Giles up.
"He's alright," Giles managed to say. "He saved us."
"He saved us?" Buffy asked.
"His love for Willow got through to something. He stopped her," Giles replied.
"We've got to get up there," Dawn said, putting emphasis on got. Buffy and Dawn helped Giles along, while Anya walked beside them.
The first thing Buffy saw was a giant obelisk type structure jutting out from the top of the hill. After gawking at if for a moment, she saw a dark shape on the ground. As they got closer, she realised that the shape was Xander, who was kneeling on the ground holding Willow.
"Anya? Can you help Giles?" Buffy asked while looking at her. She didn't reply, but instead came over, put his arm around her shoulders, and helped him along. Buffy ran towards Xander and Willow as fast as she could. She slowed down as she approached the pair. Xander was holding onto Willow for dear life while staring at the ground in front of him. Willow was weeping furiously into Xander's stomach.
Xander saw Buffy looking at them both, and he knew that what was to come might turn pretty ugly. He thought that it might as well be over and done with. Willow had settled down a bit now. She wasn't crying as much, but he could tell that she was still extremely upset.
"Come on Will. We've got to get up," Xander said softly to her. He helped her up. When they were standing, he saw Willow look to Buffy, and then past her to Dawn, Giles and Anya who were slowly approaching. Xander was shocked as Willow turned around and clung to him.
"I can't face them," she whispered into his ear. Xander now noticed that Willow was trembling as he held her.
"You'll have to some day," Xander said to her.
Willow looked up at Xander's eyes, pleading that he will not make her face Buffy. She knew that she couldn't look at her right now. Willow also knew that if she had to face Buffy, she would have to face Dawn, Giles and Anya. She couldn't do that. Her gaze was met with a determination and a realisation that she had never seen in Xander before. It was at that moment that she knew what she had to do. Slowly, she turned around to face Buffy, and took a quick glance up at her, but then looked down at the ground again. From the top of her vision, she could see Buffy coming towards her.
"This is it. Here it comes. Buffy's going to hit me," Willow thought. She braced herself for the blow, but it never came. Instead, she found Buffy hugging her. Willow just stood there and began to cry again. She couldn't bring herself to hug Buffy back.
"Get away from me," Willow said to Buffy, her voice trembling.
"What?" Buffy asked, stunned.
"I said, get away from me," Willow said again, this time louder. Buffy broke the hug and took a small step away. Giles was at her side now.
"Willow," he said. The sympathy was evident in his voice. "I'm sorry you had to go through…"
"Get Away!" Willow screamed. "Get Away! Get Away! Get Away!" she screamed at the top of her lungs, her voice threaded with rage. Buffy took a step closer to her, but Giles held her back.
"She still has that power inside her. We'd better do as she wishes," he said to her, and everyone else. Slowly, everyone backed away from Willow, even Xander. Willow's insides were churning themselves up.
"Will…" Buffy started.
"I-I don't deserve this," Willow said, cutting Buffy off. She could feel everyone's gazes ripping her apart with their sympathy for her. "I-I don't deserve any of this… I'm a killer. I don't deserve your forgiveness," Willow said coldly and detached. Her body seemed to go into a mind of it's own as Willow backed away towards the temple. Then, before she knew it, she had turned around and was running towards the cliff.
Buffy watched as Willow started to run away from them as fast as she could. Her gut cringed as she realised she was going to resume her ritual to drain the energies from the earth.
"She's going to jump," Dawn said urgently. Buffy then realised that it was true. Willow wasn't running for the temple. She was going to run past it and jump off the cliffs. Before she knew it, Buffy was running as fast as she could towards the redhead. She didn't think that she had run so fast in her life. All that mattered was getting Willow back. Buffy had just realised how much she herself cherished life, and she wasn't going to let her best friend kill herself. Buffy reached Willow just in time and she grabbed the back of the witch's leather jacket and pulled as hard as she could. Willow went flying past Buffy and crashed onto the ground. Buffy was now standing between Willow and the cliff. Buffy spun around and saw Willow sitting up on her elbows looking at her.
"You're not going to kill yourself," Buffy said. "I'm not going to let you."
"Why?" Willow asked. It was obvious to Buffy that in Willow's mind she was already dead.
"There's so much to live for," Buffy said. This time, she meant it.
"There's nothing to live for," Willow replied, the authority firm in her voice. "The only thing I had to live for was taken away. And now… I need to be with her," Willow said. Buffy could see that she was about to break down again.
"You lived without Tara before," Buffy pointed out. There was a long silence as Willow looked at Buffy. It was obvious to Buffy that she was missing something.
"The only thing that kept me going was knowing that Tara would come back some day," Willow said to Buffy while looking straight at, and through, her. Buffy looked at Willow, and she had no idea what to do.
"Willow. You can't kill yourself… you just cant. I know that things are bad now, but they'll get better. I mean it. They'll get better. It might take a couple of months, or a couple of years, but it'll get better," Buffy said, almost pleading to Willow. Buffy saw someone stand next to her, and then someone else on the other side. She looked and saw that it was Giles and Xander. Now, all of them were standing between Willow and the cliff, and by the look in Giles and Xander's eyes, they were not going to let her through. She saw Dawn and Anya standing in front of them: behind Willow. She looked back to Willow. She saw her look at Xander, then Buffy, and then at Giles, only for the briefest second before she glanced away at the ground. Giles took a step forward and Willow scampered backwards. It was obvious to everyone that she didn't want to be anywhere near Giles. She slowly got up and looked at everyone. Buffy watched as she really looked at her, Giles and Xander. She was reading the looks in their eyes. Buffy looked into her eyes and she saw that they weren't Willow's eyes. Her eyes were usually full and vibrant, enjoying life. These eyes were dull, and it looked like they had a glaze over them, and that they were looking at something millions of miles away. Buffy observed Willow's face, and she saw the look of pain cross it. At the same time, she, Xander and Giles slowly moved towards her.
"Why'd she have to die?" Willow said on the verge of tears. She was looking right at Giles now, and she broke down and the tears were freely flowing now. Willow's legs gave way and she fell to the ground.
Distribution: Anywhere, just tell me where it's going, and give me credit (The-Aussie-Witch)
Spoilers: Season 6, and some Season 7 rumoured spoilers (I'm not looking at all the spoilers for Season 7)
Rating: PG-13 because of violence and language, and because there is no M-15+ on Fanfiction.net (An Australian Rating standing for Mature Audiences, fifteen and older).
Summary: starts straight from the minute Grave left off! I am not a Spike and Buffy 'shipper' and I'm not sure if things will be right between those two as of yet (Maybe, maybe not). Some 'people' from Spike's past as a human might be involved as well.
Note: This was done in MS Word and is in book format. For some reason, Fanfiction.net is not picking up the single line 'enters' (ie, a new line for when a person speaks). In Word Format, it is so, but on FF.net, there is no new line.
Chapter 1
And now, the conclusion…
Buffy and Dawn walked through the graveyard. Buffy was so happy to be alive now. She had seen that Dawn could take care of herself, and it was at that moment that she realised that she had been sheltering Dawn from the world. Buffy realised that she desperately didn't want to do that, and that she wanted to show Dawn the world instead. As they had come out of the pit, Buffy had seen one of the most beautiful sunrises she had ever seen. She could only remember one other one, and that was when she saw the sun rising above the horizon just before she leapt into the blue, swirling energy mass to save the world. She could never forget that sunrise. It had been one of the last things she had seen before she died. At that same instant, she remembered Anya telling them about Giles.
"Giles! We have to go and see if he's okay," Buffy said urgently to Dawn. She was thankful that the cemetery wasn't too far away from the Magic Box. She grabbed Dawn's hand and they started to run towards it. As she was running, she wondered where Xander had gone to, but she quickly realised that he had heard that Anya said that Willow was unstoppable, and that he had gone to the Magic Box to spend his last moments on earth with Giles and the woman he loved.
When Buffy and Dawn reached the Magic Box, they found that it was ruined. Buffy couldn't imagine what had happened there while she was gone. Her heart skipped a beat as she realised that Giles and Anya might still be inside. Buffy started to head towards it at a quickened pace.
"Buffy. Over there," Dawn said to her. Buffy looked in the direction that Dawn was looking at and saw Anya helping Giles sit down on a bench. She ran as fast as she could to the only father figure she had had in her life over the last six years.
"Giles!" Buffy called out. "Is he going to be okay?"
"I-I think so. It looks like he's going to be okay," Anya replied, obviously distressed.
"Where's Xander?" Dawn asked urgently. Buffy realised that her younger sister must have thought the same thing that she did.
"H-he's not here. He's up on King Man's Bluff. With Willow," Anya replied. Buffy's eyes went wide. She had just made up with Xander, and she wasn't going to loose him now.
"Come on, we've got to go and get him!" Buffy shouted urgently while almost picking Giles up.
"He's alright," Giles managed to say. "He saved us."
"He saved us?" Buffy asked.
"His love for Willow got through to something. He stopped her," Giles replied.
"We've got to get up there," Dawn said, putting emphasis on got. Buffy and Dawn helped Giles along, while Anya walked beside them.
The first thing Buffy saw was a giant obelisk type structure jutting out from the top of the hill. After gawking at if for a moment, she saw a dark shape on the ground. As they got closer, she realised that the shape was Xander, who was kneeling on the ground holding Willow.
"Anya? Can you help Giles?" Buffy asked while looking at her. She didn't reply, but instead came over, put his arm around her shoulders, and helped him along. Buffy ran towards Xander and Willow as fast as she could. She slowed down as she approached the pair. Xander was holding onto Willow for dear life while staring at the ground in front of him. Willow was weeping furiously into Xander's stomach.
Xander saw Buffy looking at them both, and he knew that what was to come might turn pretty ugly. He thought that it might as well be over and done with. Willow had settled down a bit now. She wasn't crying as much, but he could tell that she was still extremely upset.
"Come on Will. We've got to get up," Xander said softly to her. He helped her up. When they were standing, he saw Willow look to Buffy, and then past her to Dawn, Giles and Anya who were slowly approaching. Xander was shocked as Willow turned around and clung to him.
"I can't face them," she whispered into his ear. Xander now noticed that Willow was trembling as he held her.
"You'll have to some day," Xander said to her.
Willow looked up at Xander's eyes, pleading that he will not make her face Buffy. She knew that she couldn't look at her right now. Willow also knew that if she had to face Buffy, she would have to face Dawn, Giles and Anya. She couldn't do that. Her gaze was met with a determination and a realisation that she had never seen in Xander before. It was at that moment that she knew what she had to do. Slowly, she turned around to face Buffy, and took a quick glance up at her, but then looked down at the ground again. From the top of her vision, she could see Buffy coming towards her.
"This is it. Here it comes. Buffy's going to hit me," Willow thought. She braced herself for the blow, but it never came. Instead, she found Buffy hugging her. Willow just stood there and began to cry again. She couldn't bring herself to hug Buffy back.
"Get away from me," Willow said to Buffy, her voice trembling.
"What?" Buffy asked, stunned.
"I said, get away from me," Willow said again, this time louder. Buffy broke the hug and took a small step away. Giles was at her side now.
"Willow," he said. The sympathy was evident in his voice. "I'm sorry you had to go through…"
"Get Away!" Willow screamed. "Get Away! Get Away! Get Away!" she screamed at the top of her lungs, her voice threaded with rage. Buffy took a step closer to her, but Giles held her back.
"She still has that power inside her. We'd better do as she wishes," he said to her, and everyone else. Slowly, everyone backed away from Willow, even Xander. Willow's insides were churning themselves up.
"Will…" Buffy started.
"I-I don't deserve this," Willow said, cutting Buffy off. She could feel everyone's gazes ripping her apart with their sympathy for her. "I-I don't deserve any of this… I'm a killer. I don't deserve your forgiveness," Willow said coldly and detached. Her body seemed to go into a mind of it's own as Willow backed away towards the temple. Then, before she knew it, she had turned around and was running towards the cliff.
Buffy watched as Willow started to run away from them as fast as she could. Her gut cringed as she realised she was going to resume her ritual to drain the energies from the earth.
"She's going to jump," Dawn said urgently. Buffy then realised that it was true. Willow wasn't running for the temple. She was going to run past it and jump off the cliffs. Before she knew it, Buffy was running as fast as she could towards the redhead. She didn't think that she had run so fast in her life. All that mattered was getting Willow back. Buffy had just realised how much she herself cherished life, and she wasn't going to let her best friend kill herself. Buffy reached Willow just in time and she grabbed the back of the witch's leather jacket and pulled as hard as she could. Willow went flying past Buffy and crashed onto the ground. Buffy was now standing between Willow and the cliff. Buffy spun around and saw Willow sitting up on her elbows looking at her.
"You're not going to kill yourself," Buffy said. "I'm not going to let you."
"Why?" Willow asked. It was obvious to Buffy that in Willow's mind she was already dead.
"There's so much to live for," Buffy said. This time, she meant it.
"There's nothing to live for," Willow replied, the authority firm in her voice. "The only thing I had to live for was taken away. And now… I need to be with her," Willow said. Buffy could see that she was about to break down again.
"You lived without Tara before," Buffy pointed out. There was a long silence as Willow looked at Buffy. It was obvious to Buffy that she was missing something.
"The only thing that kept me going was knowing that Tara would come back some day," Willow said to Buffy while looking straight at, and through, her. Buffy looked at Willow, and she had no idea what to do.
"Willow. You can't kill yourself… you just cant. I know that things are bad now, but they'll get better. I mean it. They'll get better. It might take a couple of months, or a couple of years, but it'll get better," Buffy said, almost pleading to Willow. Buffy saw someone stand next to her, and then someone else on the other side. She looked and saw that it was Giles and Xander. Now, all of them were standing between Willow and the cliff, and by the look in Giles and Xander's eyes, they were not going to let her through. She saw Dawn and Anya standing in front of them: behind Willow. She looked back to Willow. She saw her look at Xander, then Buffy, and then at Giles, only for the briefest second before she glanced away at the ground. Giles took a step forward and Willow scampered backwards. It was obvious to everyone that she didn't want to be anywhere near Giles. She slowly got up and looked at everyone. Buffy watched as she really looked at her, Giles and Xander. She was reading the looks in their eyes. Buffy looked into her eyes and she saw that they weren't Willow's eyes. Her eyes were usually full and vibrant, enjoying life. These eyes were dull, and it looked like they had a glaze over them, and that they were looking at something millions of miles away. Buffy observed Willow's face, and she saw the look of pain cross it. At the same time, she, Xander and Giles slowly moved towards her.
"Why'd she have to die?" Willow said on the verge of tears. She was looking right at Giles now, and she broke down and the tears were freely flowing now. Willow's legs gave way and she fell to the ground.