Hello! How long has it been? No, don't answer that, here I am, I've finally finished college and I've just got a new computer so I thought it was high time I got back to the important stuff, so here's a celebratory new chapter.

4. Explanations and Introductions.

"Buffy!" I heard through the hazy fog of sleep. I had no problem pulling myself out of the nasty demon filled dream that was running through my mind.

"I'm up!" I called to her, sitting up and surveying the box strewn bedroom. I guess some things are innately unchangeable, including my extreme lack of tidiness. Or say, lack of care about being tidy.

"Buffy! You don't want be to be late for your first day of school."

"No, wouldn't want to do that." I said to myself as I glanced around the familiar room. Wow, déjà vu much.

When we got to school mom was full of platitudes about making friends. Yeah I'd like to think that I'm sure I'll make friends too, just as long as my, beginning to get annoying, precognition doesn't get in the way, oh and also the fact that I'm say, the slayer.

"And honey?" I turned around, "Try not to get kicked out of school." I nodded,

"I'll try mom." I certainly shouldn't get kicked out of school this time. How to avoid that? Not get caught by police while I stand over a dead body I guess. Though this issue put another in the forefront of my mind, Kendra, I died for her to be called, was that fair to her, no, and it certainly wasn't high on my to-do list. But would it work out better if I didn't die? Shit! Way too many questions and not enough answers for my liking, but my dying was a little further off than certain other things that would need to be dealt with and, it was a relief when I determined to put that issue aside for a while. There were other things to worry about and overload my mind with.

So here I was, staring at the hauntingly familiar Sunnydale High school, which I had really never actually set eyes on in my life and it wasn't a very reassuring feeling. Well, can't stand here all day, I walked towards the school; and whatever my fate was going to be.

I figured I didn't have time to go and see Giles so I went and had the meeting with Principal Flutie. I sat there while he talked about a clean slate and I tried to think of how I'd stop those possessed hyena people from eating him, least of all so we could be spared Principal Snyder. It seemed to go exactly how I remembered it.

".Not even if it says.err." I started, bringing myself back to the present; he was reading my transcripts.

"Principal Flutie."

"All the kids here are free to call me Bob."

"Bob." I said unable to stop saying it as it involuntarily slipped out.

"But they don't."

"I know that my transcripts are a little colourful." Yep, they were very colourful.

"Hey we aren't caring about that, are you sure colourful is the right word, not abysmal?"

"Well." There wasn't really very much I could say to that. They were pretty abysmal after all, though there were plenty of good reasons for that! Good reasons I couldn't tell anyone.

"You burned down the gym." He said taping the paper together again.

"I really did but that's really not the big picture, that gym was full of.asbestos?" I told him not being able to think of anything more believable that wouldn't land me back in the posh loony bin.

When I got out into the hall and bumped into someone, dropping the contents of my bag all over the floor it was very hard not to be completely taken over by the strongest feeling of déjà vu, particularly when I found that Xander had bent down to help me.

"Can I have you?" He asked smiling his goofy Xander smile. I couldn't help smiling back at him; I'd forgotten just how sweet he'd been when I'd first been here. That was before I remembered that I'd never actually been here really. That was just too weird to think about. I'd lived those six years as much as I could have without actually having lived them. Could I be making less sense? "Can I help you?" He asked this time grabbing hold of the right grammar.

"Thanks." I said as I picked some more things up to go back in my bag.

"I don't know you, do I?" He asked, not yet, boy will you be surprised. Then my mind touched upon something else, I was trying to remember how Xander found out about me being the slayer. I didn't know. He must have overheard Giles and me, or something. Oh well. As much as I didn't want to drag them into my scary world, it's probably safer for them if I do.

"I'm Buffy, I'm new."

"Xander is me, hi." Very sweet young Xander said, still having trouble articulating his thoughts.

"Thanks."

"Well, maybe I'll see you around. Maybe at school, since we both go there."

"Great it was nice to meet you." And I'll probably see you later, I thought as I made my way down the hall.

After history class I couldn't help but get caught up in Cordelia's self- involved orientation around school. When we got to the water fountain to find Willow I jumped in just as Cordelia finished her 'once you can identify all your losers by sight' ramble.

"Yeah and you know what Cordelia, I'm looking at one right now, I think I'd much rather have real friends and if you don't mind I'd like to talk to Willow for a moment." And with that I walked off, making sure I followed Willow came with me and leaving Cordelia with a stunned expression on her overly made up face.

"Willow!" I called out; she turned around where she was sitting.

"Hi, how did you know my name?"

"I have my sources." She smiled; yep this was my Willow. "You don't mind if I hang with you?" She shook her head smiling. "I heard that you were the person to talk to, to help get me caught up."

"I can totally help you with that; we could meet in the library after schools finished." I smiled unsure. In one way I was dying to get on with my life and have Willow and Xander in on my secret but on the other hand I had this overwhelming urge to protect them. But then how could I be sure they were safer not knowing? It was a fair question. Not knowing certain things in Sunnydale can get you killed. But I knew I'd already been over this and made my decision, they would be safer knowing.

"Yeah we can do that." I replied, at which point Xander and Jesse appeared.

"Hey, are you guys busy? Are we interrupting? We're interrupting." Xander said as he sat down.

"Hey." Was all I could manage, what was I supposed to say, really?

"Hey." Jesse also said.

"Buffy, this is Jesse and that's Xander."

"Oh, me and Buffy." I suddenly thought I'd better save Xander from his cringe worthy next few sentences so I interrupted.

"Yeah, me and Xander already met." Jesse nodded looking suitably impressed. "Well, it's nice to meet you guys."

"Well, you know, we wanted to welcome you, make you feel at home, that sort of thing." Jesse said as they sat down.

"And to return this," Xander said producing one of my stakes. Whoops! "The only thing that I could think was that you're building a really little fence." Not exactly!

"Um, no, actually it was for self defence, everyone has them in LA, pepper spray is just so passé."

"So what do you do for fun, what do you like, what do you look for in a man, lets hear it." Xander said in one breath as he sat very close to me. He really likes me already, oh boy.

"If you have any dark painful secrets you'd like to publish" Jesse said, he was definitely a priority, saving Jesse's life.

"Gee, everyone wants to know about me, how keen."

"Well, not much goes on in a one Starbucks town like Sunnydale, you're pretty big news." I find that very hard to believe, stuff happened, people just chose to ignore it I guess, pretend it wasn't there. Things don't change.

"No I'm not, really." Well, no harm in pretending I'm normal for a few hours is there?

"Did you hear about the dead guy they found in the main hallway this morning?" Jesse asked. I was relieved they'd changed the subject of discussion from me, even if it was to talk about that dead guy. That was my fault, I didn't save him and I didn't bother to clean it up, I got a slight depressive feeling suddenly, but what the hell could I have done with that body that wouldn't have made it more suspicious, precisely! I tried to shrug off my uneasy guilty feelings and look appropriately interested and saddened.

"No." Willow replied for us.

"Well, no one's meant to know but yeah they found this guy this morning, his blood had been drained." Jesse looked suitably pleased at our shocked reactions, while I was liking this conversation less and less by the minute. Thankfully we didn't dwell on it for much longer.

We talked a bit more before Willow and the guys went off to class and I decided to go and talk to Giles and explain what was 'going on with me' and also talk about The Harvest and our plan. At least I had a free period and I wasn't skipping class. I also needed that history textbook so I had the excuse for being in there. Not that I supposed that anyone was going to get in trouble for being in the library. I suppose that was why we never did, or I should say why we never will.

I walked into the library and stopped to take in everything. It looked the way I remembered, exactly, it was very difficult to remember that I had never actually been in here. Walking over to the counter the same newspaper story was circled. I turned to walk towards Giles' office only to practically collide with him in the process.

"Miss Summers, hello again."

"Yeah, hi and didn't we do the whole you can call me Buffy thing? Anyway, the thing is I thought I should explain about what I said at the clinic and also, did you research that demon that poisoned me and also the Harvest thing?" I said almost in one breath. And he smiled, obviously amused in his very British way.

"Well, I would like the explanation about how you know certain things, and yes I have researched that demon as you call it and the Harvest, I'm not quite finished but I think I have got the gist." I smiled motioning for him to sit down.

"Do you want to hear then? I've got to warn you, you may think that what I'm telling you is slightly insane. Like maybe I should back in that place." I sat down opposite him at the table.

"Go on, let me be the judge of whether it is insane or not."

"Okay then, basically from the time I was poisoned and in the clinic I experienced what I think was some sort of psychic premonition and that was what the doctors thought were insane hallucinations but they weren't because I actually experienced six years worth of my life from 1996 onwards." I blurted out and waited for his reaction. He leaned forward with a kind of incomprehensible expression on his face. I couldn't really tell whether he thought I was insane or just lying, but, hello, why would I do that?

"Are you saying you think you have seen the future?"

"Yes and I don't think I know, only it wasn't like seeing the future, I lived it, so much so that when I got better I thought I'd been in there for six years. Not just weeks like I had been."

"You lived it? Am I to understand that you think," I gave him a look so he corrected himself, "Am I to understand that you have effectively lived the next six years of your life and that is how you knew me, and about the Harvest?"

"Yes, though some things are obviously slightly different this time. I would have met you for the first time just now if it hadn't been for that stupid demon. But then if I hadn't been poisoned I wouldn't have known that and we wouldn't be having this conversation." I wondered whether he was following, but then he was Giles, he always did.

"Yes." He said, obviously deep in thought. He sat there not saying anything for several minutes while I wondered how long it was going to be before he started asking me all kinds of questions I wouldn't know the answers to.

"Hello, Giles?" I said waving my hand in front of his eyes instead of waiting for him to come out of his thinking mode that could very possibly last until Willow came to meet me in here after school had ended for the day and we wouldn't have discussed anything. He looked up a little surprised.

"Oh, yes, my apologies Buffy."

"It's a lot to think about huh?" I asked him hoping he would have some incredible insight, be the all knowing all wise Watcher that I needed him to be. I had been feeling a little lost without anyone to talk to about this.

"Yes, yes it is. We should talk about this in detail."

"Can't we talk now?" I said suddenly realising how much I needed to get things off my chest and share the problems with someone else.

"Well, yes we can but there is also The Harvest to consider." He stated, very rationally, why are there always other things to deal with?

"Yeah, I know, I remember and I stopped it so I don't see why I can't do the same now."

"You stopped it?"

"Well, technically not yet but I will, the thing is there's so many things that are happening, that are going to happen that my brains got very full and confused and I really need to unload at least some of it." He nodded, he seemed to understand.

"Of course, it must be rather, overwhelming, to know what is going to happen, if indeed that's what it is, what you saw." I could see him going into thinking Watcher mode again.

"Of course that's what it is, I mean, Slayers have precognitive dreams, I don't see why a little poison, or whatever, wouldn't cause a full blown psychic vision."

He seemed to be considering my remark for a minute.

"You are right Buffy, it is plausible. The matter at hand however, is The Harvest." I rolled my eyes at him, unable to stop myself, here I was trying to talk to my Watcher about the numerous problems that lie ahead and all he can focus on is the Harvest. I guess I couldn't really blame him for that. It must all be quite a lot for him to deal with as well. He had a new slayer and a whole heap of ready made problems and issues. It made me wonder, was I his first slayer? Why didn't I know that? Or know more about him in general? It made me guilty and more determined at the same time, to get to know my Watcher a lot better, maybe that way he would never leave me. But then he only left me because of my problems following my return from beyond. I smiled grimly. That wasn't going to happen, no way. But that made me think about Dawnie. I actually missed her annoying habits as much as anything else. What was I saying about too many things going round in my mind? And I was still slightly annoyed that all he could think about was the Harvest. So I almost couldn't help it when the following came rushing out of mouth mostly skipping the think before speaking brain link. Do I even have that?

"I'm not the Slayer out of choice you know, you Watchers owe me for agreeing to continue when all it's got me is trouble."

"We owe you?"

"All being the Slayer has gotten me up until now is trouble. I got kicked out of school, lost all of my friends; I saw my Watcher get killed. I have to spend all of my time fighting for my life and can't tell anyone, and not only do my parent's think I am nothing but trouble, they think I'm crazy too so you'll have to forgive me if I'm not hugely enthusiastic as far as being the Slayer goes. The only reason I'm even talking to you is because I know things that are going to happen and they aren't good." He didn't look pleased and my mood didn't let me care, I was pissed.

"It is your duty."

"Yeah," I snorted in disgust, as far as I was concerned at that moment I might have well have not have seen the six year vision because the way I was feeling was exactly how I remembered myself on that first day at Sunnydale. Pissed off at Giles for forcing me to take up my Slayer duties, but I'd never given them up and I regained some focus and perspective. I was angry but they were the old issues of not having a normal life and I was directing it in the wrong place. It wasn't Giles' fault and I suddenly felt a lot less angry. Guilt now took over, again, whoops.

"It is your duty." He repeated and I knew what was coming. "You are the Slayer.."

"Oh, yes, this is a good bit, I am the Slayer, one girl in all the world, the chosen one, one girl born with the strength and skill to fight the vampires, to stop the spread of their evil, yadda, yadda, I've heard it already, several times, a couple of times from you." I smiled a brilliant smile, in part trying to make up for the misdirected anger earlier.

He didn't seem to know what to say next.

"Giles, I don't mind dealing with The Harvest, I really don't, I know it needs dealing with, but there are more things, worse things that are coming."

"Very well,"

"Look, Giles, I gotta book, I've got a class, oh, I forgot that History book; I'll get it later." I said as I got up and headed for the door.

"You are coming back yes?" I turned.

"Yeah, I'm meeting Willow after for some catch up, we'll talk."

"I do realise the seriousness of what you are saying Buffy." I stopped this time.

"Yeah okay, I know you need to think about it, even if you don't know the details yet and I'm sorry for earlier, I'm not mad at you." He smiled.

"We will talk later then, obviously not with Willow around." Err yeah, "Will you be patrolling?"

"Maybe, I'm going to check out the Bronze, that's where The Harvest goes down." I thought it best to make him think it was a Slayer thing.

"Very good,"

"Can you not tell the Council about this, about me knowing these things?" He looked at me slightly puzzled. "I just don't want them knowing this now." Or ever, I said to myself. He nodded, conceding, I could see he would want to talk to me about that as well.

I smiled, knowing I could tell him something he would really like before I left the library.

"Oh and Giles, I staked Darla last night." And with that I left him standing there in Sunnydale High library with a very surprised expression on his face. I wonder how long it was before he moved to write it in his Watcher Diary.

Tbc,

Questions? Comments? I'm a bit rusty as far as my stories go. Feedback would be the best thing ever! And I'll try to write the next part as soon as I can.

Becca