Title: Thorns

Author: mistymidnight

Rating: PG, subject to change (?)

Disclaimer: They don't beloing to me. Never have, never will.

Spoilers/Timeline: Major, major, major spoilers up until "Shiny Happy People"'s beginning.

Summary: AU from "Shiny Happy People". What if Jasmine was never stopped? Who could save us?

Author's Notes: Imzadi: Who said she's waking herself up? Maybe there's a little (innocent grin) maaaaagic involved...

Awakenings

Angel smiled at the door as he walked past. In the year or so since The Birthday, he had only passed this door seven times, maybe once or twice more. He never really felt the need to visit Cordy, not in the world Jasmine had created. The world was perfect, and Cordy was resting and at peace, and that ws all that mattered. So why was he passing her door again for the third time today?

Maybe you miss her, said a voice in his head. Jasmine's voice. It's okay to be happy without her, you know. She doesn't want you to suffer. She brought me into this world for you, for your benefit. Enjoy it. Savor it.

I do, Angel said. Enjoy it, I mean. I just wish Cordy was here to enjoy what she created.

The time will come, Jasmine said. But there is much to be done first. Remeber, we must strip away the thorns. We must eradicate the hatred. Only then will Cordelia awake.

I understand, he said. What do you want me to do?

Cordelia's eyes shot open and she sat straight up in bed, breathing heavily. Nightmare, nightmare, nightmare. Oh, God. It was one heck of a dream, that's for sure. She wrinkled her forehead. And they couldn't tell that I was evil by the witchy dress? Puh-lease. Like I'd ever wear that in real life. She looked around the room. Wait a second. There were flowers by the foot of her bed, and lit candles around the room. Oh, boy.

Apparently, her 'nightmare' was of the 'real' variety. Just great. Now, if only she hadn't forgotten what had happened. Bits and pieces of memories remained, but not much else.

She heard footsteps in the hallway and she immediately laid back down, closing her eyes and relaxing her breathing just as someone walked in.

"Cordy?" It was Fred. "Cordy? Gosh, this is stupid. I mean, you're in a coma and all but I'm talking like you can hear me..."

You have no idea. Go on.

"I just...I just wish you were awake so you could see what you've made the world into. It's perfect, Cordy, but it would be even better if you were here. Really. Jasmine says..."

Cordy lost her there, because she was too busy thinking about this Jasmine person. She didn't remember a Jasmine from her not-so-nightmare-y nightmare. The last thing she remembered was blinding pain, and then...just Being.

"Fred," she whispered, praying it was the right thing to do.

"Cordy?" Fred said.

"It's me," Cordy groaned, her eyes flicking open.

"Oh my gosh!" Fred exclaimed, jumping up from the kneeling position she'd been in. "Cordy, you're awake! You're alive! I mean, Jasmine said you'd be, so I never doubted, but--now! And--and me!"

"Fred--" Cordelia began.

"I have to tell the others!" Fred said, starting for the door. "Jasmine will be so thrilled!"

"Jasmine?"

Fred paused. "Don't you remember Jasmine?"

"No."

"Well, then, we'll have to bring you to her," Fred said. "She's your daughter. Our queen."

"Queen?"

Fred paused, then smiled broadly. "You'll understand when you see her," she explained hastily. She paused and cocked her head, as if she was listening to something. "Jasmine wants to see you," she told Cordelia. "She can feel that you've awoken. And..." Fred's voice changed from high-pitched rambling to a soft, calming voice. Jasmine's voice. "...And I want to meet my mother."

If she hadn't been taking in a deep breath at that very moment, Cordelia would have screamed at the sudden voice-change. Fred, however, seemed not only unbothered by it, but honored. "Jasmine just spoke through me, didn't she?" she asked excitedly. "Oh, that's just great. She spoke through me!"

"Yeah," Cordy agreed absent-mindedly. "That's awesome."

Fred frowned. "Are you sure you're okay? You sound glum. Are you being overexerted? Am I upsetting you? I mean, you've been in the coma for a year and..."

"A year?!" Cordy asked shrilly, reaching up to feel her face. It was an act of habit from the "Old-Cordelia": Wrinkle-Check. She used to do it all the time.

"Ever since The Birthday," Fred informed her.

"The Birthday?" Cordelia asked, confused.

"Jasmine's birthday," Fred said, holding Cordelia by the arm like she was an old lady that needed to be helped across the street or up a flight of stairs. "Kind of ironic, you waking up exactly one year later."

"To the day?"

Fred nodded, and they began to journey the hallways of the Hyperion. "A year ago today."

"So Jasmine's been around for a year?"

"Yeah. She's so...so pure and loving. Just wait until you meet her."

"So, what have you been up to? Slaying big nasties?"

"We don't slay any more. We just spread Jasmine's love."

"Has anyone ever told you that sounds just a tad like a cult tagline?"

"Nope," Fred chirped. "There are no cults any more. There's a new order. Jasmine is the only supreme being."

They stopped outside a door. Fred knocked on it. "Come in, Fred. Mother." The voice that called them in was musical, fluid.

Fred opened the door and led Cordelia in. And then Cordelia saw the worst thing she'd ever seen in her life.

It was rotting. Worms and maggots crawled in and out of holes they had chewed where the thing's face was supposed to be.

And the scariest part was when the thing said in that charming, musical voice:

"Cordelia?"

I finally posted! Yay me!

mistymidnight