The Dark Years
Part Eleven: Homecoming
Posted: October 10, 2004
Disclaimer: See previous chapters.
Note: This, as well as many other stories, are nominated at the Primordial Souls Awards. Just letting you know! The link, as well as the other stories, are in my bio!
Author's Notes: I'm sorry to have kept you guys waiting, but I did get more reviews than I have been getting lately!
There is one more touching chapter after this, and then we're done. I hope you guys have enjoyed the ride, and I hope that you will give me at least one more review before we are done!
Sorry, but I don't think there will be a sequel. Nobody has asked for one yet, but this is the fourth and final part of this series, and I don't think my muse can handle anymore, no matter how much I love these characters. There might be short ficlets when I feel like writing them, and I will let you know about those if and when they come...
Reader Responses:
Carol: I'm sorry for leaving it like that for so long! I'm glad that you read the others, and I'm glad that you enjoyed them!
BuffyAngelFan32: Good, I'm glad you don't think me that mean. Sorry for the long wait, here's the second to last installation!
TrickStarr: Well, it got you to review, didn't it? I'm sorry about that huge cliffie, or whatever it was. At the time, it felt like the worst place to stop, and those are some of the best places! And if it gets people to review, then I win!
Author's Notes Cont: I just remembered that I should give credit where credit is due: the songs mentioned are: Here for the Party, by Gretchen Wilson; Total Eclipse of the Heart by Bonnie Tyler; I Swear, by John Michael Montgomery; God Must Have Spent a Little More Time on You, first version, to my knowledge, done by either NSYNC, or Backstreet Boys (can't keep those guys straight!) second version done by Alabama; I Could Not Ask For More, by Sarah Evans.
The Pixies were the 'band' my two friends and I went to our 8th grade Halloween Dance as, I had to substitute a friend, but that's where that comes from. I think it was the Pixies, anyway...
"I-I-I thought...I'd never see you again..." he whispered, not believing what he saw.
Everyone quietly slipped out of the room, until it was only Piper, Leo, Buffy, Angel, Joyce, Wyatt and their girls that remained.
"I-I thought you were...dead."
She turned to him, standing, "I'd never leave that way without telling you, you know that," she whispered. He tentatively reached out a hand to touch her face, before pulling her possessively to him.
"I love you," he breathed.
"I love you."
Slowly he let her go, and he turned to his three beautiful, strong daughters, "I-I'm sorry," he said finally, after looking each one over from head to toe.
"We love you, Daddy. We never stopped," Grace said, and all three raced to him, and he wrapped his arms around them.
Once they let him go, Melinda pulling Faith away from him, he turned to his parents, "I-I should never have left them, never should have left you to raise them alone... If you can ever forgive me..."
"We love you, we always have," Piper said, staring at her son, tears in her eyes.
"We only wanted you to be happy. That's all we've ever wanted," Leo told him.
"I'm sorry Mom," he stepped over to her and hugged her.
"I missed you," Piper murmured in between her tears. She let him go, though she didn't ever want to, and Leo hugged his son.
He then turned to Buffy and Angel, his face tear stained, but reddening from shame, "I've done your granddaughters harm in not being here for them all these years...If you can ever find it in your hearts..."
Buffy hugged him, "Welcome home."
"I-I don't deserve your forgiveness-"
"We understand," Angel said, "We've all done things these past years we regret." He looked at Buffy, and she avoided his eyes. He too hugged Wyatt.
"Is everything in here ok?" Phoebe poked her head into the room. When no one answered, she rushed in, quickly followed by Paige, Andrea and Amanda. Each took a turn hugging Wyatt, and then Joyce, and then the girls.
And then everyone came back in, and it was noisy, and crowded, and both Wyatt and Joyce started to feel flustered, and stressed. It had been over thirteen years since they had been around such crowds.
Grace saw the uncomfortable glances between her parents, and felt their stress. She went over to Grammy Summers, and whispered in her ear a moment.
"Hey, guys! Attention please!" Buffy called, "I want to thank all of you for staying with us during these last, horrible hours of worry, and I'd like to invite you all to a welcome back party in..." she looked at Angel, Piper and Leo, "A week? At the hotel-"
"At P3. It will give me an excuse to clean the place up," Piper interrupted.
"At P3, I'll get you guys more information later, but, ah, right now I'd like to spend some time with my daughter."
People got the hint, and most asked if they could stay at the hotel. Leo and Paige, and even Sam, who came to see what the hubbub was about, orbed everyone there.
Buffy, Joyce, Wyatt and Piper squeezed onto the couch, not minding the close quarters. The three girls sat on the floor, resting on their parent's legs, wanting to be as close as possible.
Buffy played with Joyce's hair, "I missed you so much, baby."
"I missed you too, Mom." But she knew it was a lie, after the first few days, she had no memory of any emotions at all.
"So, the First is gone, for good?" Dawn asked. Ron had gone back to the hotel with William, both knowing how important it was for her to be with her sister and niece.
"Yeah," Joyce murmured, running her free hand through Grace's hair, much like her mother was doing with her.
"Yeah, Mom killed it," Melinda said, beaming. Grace and Wyatt were the only ones to feel her flinch at the word.
"Mom vanquished it. It's different."
"How?" Buffy asked gently, and Joyce let out a wavering breath, knowing the story had to be told sometime, but she didn't want to tell it right now.
Faith started the story, with Melinda interrupting her every so often. Grace silently monitored her mother's growing stress.
"It was Grace who figured out the First was bluffing about our powers," Faith said, beaming up at her grandmother.
"Yeah, she saved the day!"
"No, I didn't," Grace shook her head.
"If it wasn't for you, I wouldn't have broken free," her mother bent down and hugged her, before taking over the story. The telling was hard, and she broke down around the end, but there were no interruptions until she was finished.
Phoebe looked at Grace a moment, lost in thought, "Then I guess the prophecy was right after all," she murmured from behind Piper.
"Prophecy?" Joyce, Wyatt, and their three girls asked.
"Opps," Phoebe looked appealingly at Piper, who just glared.
"Mom?" Wyatt asked, confused.
She sighed, "Ron found this prophecy when you were 16, about you, Joyce, and your child."
"But we were only teenagers then..."
"That's why we didn't tell you, sweetie, because she didn't want to pressure you," Buffy said gently, "When the girls were born, we hoped it was wrong, but..." everyone looked at Grace.
"What? You think I completed some prophecy? N-no, not me. Faith, or-or Mel-"
"You're the one that came up with the spell," Faith told her.
"And you saw Mom in that alley."
"That was- that was a fluke!"
"And you had the premonition."
"And figured out what was going on."
"And saw through the First's bluff."
"I'm not the prophecy fulfilling kind!" she argued, "I'm not special, or-"
"Don't ever think that," her mother said, a bit too harshly, "You are a bright, talented, special, one of a kind girl. Don't ever measure yourself with someone else's standards. Though you three look the same, except for this," she held up Melinda's red highlights, "You are totally different people. Just as different as your powers. Do you understand?"
Grace nodded.
"Uh, Mom?" Wyatt looked at his mother, "I hate to interrupt this little lesson, but is there any chance we could have an early supper? They're not big on sustenance up there."
"Oh, of course! I bet you're all hungry!" Piper jumped up and rushed into the kitchen. Wyatt moved over a bit, and Joyce followed him, resting her head on his shoulder.
She stood there, watching them sleep. It was past midnight, but she couldn't help it.
"Buffy," he alerted her to his presence, voice not even a whisper, "it's late."
"They're so peaceful. I can almost pretend..." she looked at the three smaller beds pushed together.
"Leo's going to take us back to the hotel. Come on." She let him pulled her down the stairs.
Once they were in his room, they said goodbye to Leo, before she headed for the door.
"Buffy," she stopped, her hand stretched towards the doorknob, "stay."
"You said you'd never leave me, but you did," she said, her back ramrod straight. They had never really talked about it before.
"I also said I'd love you forever, and I have, I will. Please."
She turned to look at him, tears once more in her eyes, "Promise?"
"Always."
It was an old routine then had once been used to, and they fell into it again, getting ready for bed. He wrapped his arms around her, and she used his chest for a pillow, reveling at being near him once more.
"I love you."
"I love you."
The club had never looked better. The band, an up and coming threesome known as the Pixies, was currently playing an old country favorite, Here for the Party. Couples littered the floor, rocking to the up-tempo beat.
It had cost a pretty penny to get the club ready, including insect and other pest eradication, new floors, updated lighting systems, and a whole new liquor selection, but it had been worth it to Piper. The sign outside read, "Grand Re-Opening," with a simple, tasteful banner near the Nook that declared, "Welcome Back Wyatt and Joyce." People, most they didn't even know, came by to welcome them back home, and to ask about certain rumors they had heard. The official story was they had been shipwrecked off of Madagascar, with no money, and no way home.
Tons of kids danced on the outskirts of the dance floor, while the younger adults tried to out dance each other; the older adults just watched in amusement.
"So, how are you adjusting?" Buffy asked, sitting next to Joyce and Wyatt in the nook.
"It's...tough," Joyce said finally, looking at Wyatt for agreement.
"I believe it," Buffy put her hand on her daughter's knee, "It's great to have you back."
"Are you and Dad..." slowly but surely, they'd been caught up on what had happened while they were gone. It grieved Joyce to learn that she hadn't gotten to say goodbye to Giles or her roommate.
"I hope so, honey. These past years have been hell without you three. I wouldn't have been able to get by if it weren't for your sisters."
"I'm glad some people were able to move on with their lives, even if I missed so much."
"Whether they went on with their lives or not, they missed you. They never forgot about you."
The song ended, and the three young adults onstage launched into an even older song, Total Eclipse of the Heart. Wyatt looked at Joyce as Angel came to collect Buffy. The two couples walked onto the dance floor as the blonde onstage began to sing. The three singers must have known the three couples dancing nearest the stage were something special, because they went from one song to another, I Swear, God Must Have Spent a Little More Time on You, I Could Not Ask For More, and so many more as they danced in each others arms.