CHAPTER FOUR: DISCOVERING

Five friends ran across the sand of the beach, laughing and kicking a football around, the girls teamed against the boys as they attempted to play a somewhat even game.  Xander was frantically trying to catch up to Buffy, but, even with Buffy going a lot slower than she could have, Xander had no chance.

Buffy slammed the ball to the ground between the two sticks acting as the goalposts and Willow and Cordelia cheered.

"Touchdown!" Willow yelled triumphantly.

Xander leant his hands on his knees, doubled over and panting for breath.

"No fair!  You guys cheated!" he complained.

Cordelia moved towards him and grabbed hold of his arm, forcing him to stand up straight.  The two shared a kiss, leaving Xander even more breathless than before.

"You still complaining?" Cordelia asked.

"Complaining?" Xander repeated.  "About what?"

Cordelia smirked at her two teammates who grinned triumphantly.  

From atop a hill near where Cordelia's car was parked, a large shaggy black dog watched contently.  His gaze was fixed on the blonde girl as she laughed and teased her friends.

When the game was finally over nearly half an hour later, the group made their way back to their beach towels, flopping down in the sand and lazily watching as the sun began to set. 

Willow cuddled close to Oz while Cordelia did the same to Xander.  Buffy tried desperately not to let the thought of Angel get her down, and just let the contentment of being able to have fun with her friends seep through her.  She lay down on her towel and looked up at the clouds that had streaks of red from the sunset shining through them.

The dog that had acted as their watcher ran down the hill and towards the group.  Willow tensed slightly as she noticed its presence and Cordelia wasn't much better.  It was larger than an average dog, nearly the size of a small bear.  Buffy hadn't noticed it quite yet, but could feel a familiar sensation tingling at the back of her spine.


She sat up, worried that either vampires or her mother were about to intrude on their perfect day.  She nearly laughed at the category her mother had recently been placed into, but shook it off. 

She followed Willow's gaze and started slightly as she saw the black dog slowly coming towards the.  It was creeping slowly, but not moving at all like a predator.  Its head was slightly low, though its eyes were on the group.  It didn't have its teeth bared, and there was no warning growl escaping its lips.

"Uh, I don't think I want a dog that size coming anywhere near us," Xander said nervously.

"I don't think it wants to hurt us," Oz replied.  As a werewolf, he was somewhat skilled at reading the movements of animals, and there was nothing in the dog that looked as though it was about to pounce.

"I don't really want to find out," Cordelia said.

But the dog advanced, its movements slow and careful.  When it reached the edge of the towel it sat quietly and laid its head at Buffy's feet, looking up at her.

The Slayer hesitantly reached her hand over to touch the dog's head, despite a warning from Xander.  The dog raised its head to meet Buffy's hand and leaned into her touch.  Buffy brought her other hand forward, and the dog licked her palm, making Buffy giggle slightly.

The others looked at the Slayer in shock.  They hadn't heard her giggle like that since before Buffy's seventeenth birthday when Angel had gone bad. 

"I think it likes you Buff," Oz commented.

Buffy smiled slightly and continued to pat the large black dog's head.  She couldn't explain it, but it was incredibly soothing.  She wondered if it was because animals were supposed to be therapeutic, but she knew that she was breathing easier and all thoughts of vampires or her mother, or school, or Angel were gone from her mind.

Oz was the next to reach across and touch the large dog, shifting Willow slightly so that he could reach the dog's fur more easily. 

"He's pretty friendly," the werewolf commented. 

Xander, not wanting to be shown up by the only other male in the group reached forward and began petting the dog as well.

The dog seemed to tolerate the others touching him, but it continued to look at Buffy.  The Slayer suddenly noticed something odd about the dog in front of her.  From the corner of the dogs hazel eyes, two tears were leaving a trail through the black fur.

"He's crying," Buffy whispered.

Willow looked closer and saw that the Slayer was right.  The dog was crying!

"Maybe he's lost," Willow suggested.  "He doesn't have a collar though."

"Maybe he's a stray," Cordelia said.  She wrinkled her nose slightly at the thought.  "Just think of all the germs."

 "He probably needs a home," Buffy said quietly.

Willow looked at her friend closely and noticed that for the first time in the last week, the haunted look in Buffy's eyes had dimmed considerably.  She'd heard about the healing power of animals, and she couldn't help but wonder if the day out with her friends as well as the sudden visit from the friendly stray had put something of the spark back into Buffy's eyes.

"I always wanted a dog," Willow said.

Buffy looked up at her best friend, and noticed the redhead's grin.  Her own smile matched Willow's, and Buffy knew that when she'd chosen to speak to the redhead on her first day of school, she'd made the right decision.

"He's not coming in the car!' Cordelia cried.  "He wouldn't fit!"

Buffy laughed slightly, knowing that the room issue wasn't Cordelia's only problem.  "That's okay Cor.  Me and Blackie here can walk back.  I need to do a quick patrol anyway."

"Blackie?" Oz repeated.

Buffy just shrugged.  "Not original, I'll grant you, but…I thought it suited."

The animagus that was Sirius Black just grinned at the name.  Yes, Blackie did suit, and rather well at that.  Sirius couldn't help the grin that came to his canine features.  Not only was he being taken home with his daughter, but he was being taken on patrol as well.  He'd be able to see his daughter in action and hopefully see how good a fighter she was.  And if need be, he'd be able to protect her from anything that tried to hurt her.

He supposed he wouldn't be needing his godson's invisibility cloak after all.

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Toodles.

DKG.