Disclaimer: Sadly, they're not mine. It all belongs to Joss, Mutant Enemy, the WB and probably some other people.
Rating: PG I guess.
Warning: Massive angst
Info: Ever wondered what happened to Buffy in that summer she spent in L.A.? This fic starts right after she's killed Angel in Becoming part two. It follows Buffy in L.A. but gives an alternate version of the episode 'Anne'. No stupid hell dimensions here!
Characters: Buffy, and some familiar faces coming up in the near future...
Dedication: no one in particular, but I would like to dedicate this fic to Sarah Michelle Gellar herself for giving breathtaking performances in Becoming and Anne.
Still in a daze, she walks out of the mansion and blinks against the harsh sunlight. Birds are singing, and in the distance she can hear an ice cream cart's bell. It's an astonishingly beautiful day, but she can't even bear to look at the little children playing in a front yard a couple of houses down the street. They'll never know how close they came to being obliterated, she thinks to herself, but it's over now. Suddenly she realizes bitterly that for her, it's not over. It never will be over. It's the first real thought that gets through to her since the fight.
The fight. Her body turns numb when she thinks about it. At once the pain of her bruised body disappears and is instantly replaced with a burning feeling in her chest, when she realizes she's lost Angel for good. No, not lost him. Killed him. Every move of the fight starts racing through her mind as she walks down the sunny street, while she looks around anxiously for passing police cars.
Then, she stops dead in her tracks in the middle of the road. She can't stay here. Not because she's wanted for murder. For some strange reason, she doesn't even care about that anymore. She can't stay here in Sunnydale, where everything reminds her of him and even her mother doesn't want her around. Where she has put her best friends in mortal danger. Where she'll have to keep fighting, until one day she loses the fight.
The loud honking of a car horn startles Buffy and brings her back to reality with a shock. She quickly gets out of the way of the annoyed driver, and turns the corner to Revello Drive. It's time to make a clean break...