To my readers: Thanks for checking out my story and sticking with it. Like I said, I know where I want to go with this and I hope you'll like it.
To my reviewers: Thank for the feedback and stuff. It always helps to make sure I don't get absurd and actually lay out a case for my decisions (ref. Peter's Evil Overlord List #61 - If my advisers ask "Why are you risking everything on such a mad scheme?", I will not proceed until I have a response that satisfies them - Copyright 1996-1997 by Peter Anspach).
Doza: I was debating on whether or not to pair them together for awhile and the result is in the story below. However, in analyzing Giles and Sara's relationship I saw stark differences from Buffy and Giles and even Willow and Giles. I actually thought of it in 'Star Wars' terms. Giles/Buffy/Willow have a Yoda/Mace Windu/Obi-Wan relationship, loosely speaking; Yoda instructed both Mace and Obi-Wan (pre-Padawan and advised in their formative years) and they grew up to be respected members of the Jedi Council, colleagues of Yoda. However, Sara and Giles are more akin to Mara Jade and Luke. I mean that by saying that Mara had years of experience in her own profession before meeting Luke and learning from him. As such, they could never see each other as a father/daughter figure. I believe that despite Sara learning from Giles, he would see her as a respected colleague expanding her skills rather than like a daughter. That's my reasoning.
To those who haven't reviewed: I'll offer a bribe... Rice Krispy Treats. Mmmm... you know you want 'em.
1:14 pm, Thursday – NYU Hospital
Buffy walked toward Giles' room from the vending machine. They were set and almost ready to go; all that was left was some post-op recovery directions from Dr. Prakesh and paperwork. As she journeyed down the hall, she saw a figure near Giles' room, who swiftly put his hand in the medical chart box. She walked faster and faster toward the figure as he started to leave.
"Hey!" she yelled.
The figure didn't stop walking. She stopped at Giles' room to see if he was alright and was relieved to find him seemingly uninjured. He stared inquisitively at her worried expression. Walking toward the intersection of the hallway, she looked around for the figure, who was no where to be found. Coming up empty, she journeyed back to the room and looked in the chart box. She pulled out a card with some sort of character drawn on it. It looked East Asian, from what she could tell. Seeing Dr. Prakesh approach, Buffy pocketed the card; she would tell Giles about it as soon as they were alone.
"Hey, doc," Buffy greeted, the mysterious figure still on her mind.
"Good afternoon," she replied. Walking into the room, she said, "How are we feeling today, Mr. Giles?"
"Alright so far," he replied.
"That's good. I know you're probably eager to get home."
"Actually, aside from the injury, my stay was quite comfortable," Giles said.
"Well, the hospital administrators would be glad to hear that," she jibed. Taking out a pen for notes she said, "Alright, Mr. Giles, I've written you a few prescriptions. One is an oral antibiotic for the wound. I've also written you a pain reliever and an oxygen tank to assist in your breathing until you fully recover. Use them for about a month and come in if you have any problems."
"Thank you, Doctor," Giles said.
"Also, you're going to have to take it easy for awhile. No stressful activities and make sure you don't elevate your blood pressure too much. Keep it within normal limits. That means decaffeinated tea."
"Ouch," Buffy quipped.
"Well, if it means less 'ouch' later on, you can live without it for a while," she said. The doctor handed Giles the scripts. "There you are. Remember, if you experience any complications, come in as soon as possible."
"Will do, doctor," Giles said. "Thank you."
"Thanks, doc," Buffy replied.
"You're welcome. Just head to the outpatient desk and they'll take care of the rest of the paperwork."
As Buffy rolled Giles in his wheelchair toward the outpatient desk, she remembered about the strange card she found in his box. Taking it out, she looked over it once more briefly. She'd hoped that he would figure out its meaning."Here you go, Giles," Buffy said as she handed him the card. "I found this in your box. Someone put in there, but he left before I could get to him."
Giles looked at the card and immediately recognized its style. "It's Japanese, as far as I can tell, though I'm not exactly sure what it means. I'd have to consult some books." He turned the card over and saw the phone number. "Did you call the number?" he asked as he handed it back.
"I just found it," Buffy replied. "Did I ever tell you how much I hate cryptic?"
"Well, we'll just show it to Sara," he said as they stood near the outpatient desk, waiting for the paperwork to finish. "Maybe she'll recognize it."
"Yeah, that's if she actually shows her face some time this century," she said.
"She will, sooner or later. Just give her time, Buffy."
"Giles, I don't think time is something we have to spare."
As soon as they were handed the finished paperwork, they went outside where Kennedy sat in the van (or 'Mystery Machine I', as they called it) waiting on the both of them. When she saw them approach, she smiled and went to help Giles' in. As they folded up the wheelchair and attempted to assist him and his oxygen tank into the backseat, he slightly protested.
"Ladies, I'm not a complete invalid."
"Not completely," Buffy replied, "but we're helping you in all the same. You're going to need all the help you can get until you recover and I'm making sure you get it."
"Ditto," Kennedy said in agreement.Giles had to admit: he was touched by the gesture. They had truly become his family and would always be so, whether close like Buffy and Willow or miles away like Xander. He felt good going back to what had become his new home. The only thing missing was a certain detective. He had done a lot of thinking in the past few days and made some tough decisions, all of which required her presence.
They journeyed home, Giles pondering all the way about a myriad of things: how he would have to adjust his life temporarily for the foreseeable future, how effective he would be when Amy made new attempts at securing her power. But most of all, he thought of Sara. Would she even visit? Would she be able to recover herself before Amy took advantage? Would she…?
He was brought out of his thoughts as the van stopped at home. Exiting the van, once again with Buffy and Kennedy's help, he walked toward the front entrance and into the lobby. There he was greeted by a 'Welcome Home' banner and a group of waiting, happy well-wishers.
"Welcome home, Giles!" Adrienne greeted.
"Hey, Giles!" Monica said.
The group, eight in all including Willow, ran up to Giles and hugged him, the Slayers being as gentle as possible. Giles warmly received every hug he could.
"Thank you, all of you," he said. "You're the best friends anyone could ever have."
"Take a seat," Adrienne said as she led him to the couch. "Some of the girls will be coming later on, after school and work."
Giles happily sat, looking forward to relaxing once things settled down. Willow walked over and sat with him, saying, "The girls wanted to make sure you had a nice homecoming. They fixed up your room, all nice and neat. They even put some wood polish on the furniture."
"Well, that's quite a nice surprise," he replied.
"As opposed to the ever-dreaded, 'uh-oh' surprise," she quipped.
"Right. I… I just wish…"
"Sara was here?" Willow finished.
"Yes."
Glancing over Giles shoulder for a moment, she said, "I'm certain she'll show up."
"You think?" he asked in a hopeful tone.
"Oh, I'm more than sure." Willow then nodded her head toward the entrance.
Giles looked over and saw the young detective. The room was slightly hushed at her presence, but Willow went up to her and gave the woman a hug and said, "Glad you could make it."
"Well, you tend to be pretty persuasive. Say, you didn't happen to pick up...?"
"We got your weapons," Willow replied. "Adrienne picked them up right before we left the warehouse. We also went back later on and picked up your car. Turns out she knows how to hot-wire one."
"Good."
"Hey, Pez," Adrienne greeted.
"Hey," Sara greeted back.
"Nice to see you, Sara," Buffy said.
"You too."
Giles stood up and slowly walked over to her, smiling at her presence. Whatever pain he felt melted away when he saw her. He had hoped she would come and now she was here, in front of him, smiling at him. But in her eyes he saw a restrained sadness, overwhelming sorrow held back by a tough exterior built from years of mistrust and hurt, threatening to break forth like water from a dam.
"Sara..." he said.
"Hey, Giles," she replied softly.
"I'm glad you came."
"Me too."
Soon some of the girls started to talk to Giles to break the awkward moment of Sara's arrival and Willow was left chatting with her. The girls' conversation with Giles started with the hospital food, which Giles had found quite tasty despite its infamous reputation. After only a few minutes, however, it started to drift to the necessities for his recovery, something that Sara began listen to.
"Well, I need a few prescriptions dropped off at the pharmacy," Giles replied. "One for antibiotics…"
Sara heard that and felt her heart clutch.
"…one for pain…" Giles continued.
Her mind started to race and her heart filled ever more with pity and guilt at what she was hearing.
"I also need more oxygen tanks to last a month, to help with my breathing…"
Upon hearing that, Sara abruptly spoke up. "Giles, um… did you want some tea? I could make you some tea." She walked quickly toward the kitchen, eager to leave all the talk of his ailments.
"Um, decaffeinated," Giles said as she left. "Green, if we have any."
"Right," Sara said, "Green, decaf."
Hurrying into the kitchen she went directly to the cabinet to fetch the tea bags, only to see there was no more green tea. Looking through the cabinet earnestly, she came up dry and settled on chamomile. Grabbing the teapot she hung it from the faucet, filled it up, and set it on the stove. She then went back to the sink to clean out one of dirty mugs. As she let the cold water run through mug and scrubbed with the cleaning brush, she started to cry. She had brought herself here to see Giles and now she was avoiding him again. Though everyone told her that she needn't feel guilty for what happened, she nevertheless felt responsible. Sean may have pulled the trigger, but the Witchblade deflected the bullet and Giles almost became a casualty as a result.
Giles slowly stepped into the kitchen. He had seen how flustered Sara was when she left their presence and wanted to know why. He also knew that a prime opportunity had come about to say what he felt needed to be said and didn't want to waste any more time getting to it.
"Sara?"
"Giles!" she replied, startled at his entrance. Upon hearing his voice, Sara turned the water off and quickly started to wipe her eyes. "Um… we, we don't have any green tea. I'm afraid you'll have to go with chamomile."
"That's alright," he replied. Taking in a breath, he started to say something. "Sara…"
"Giles, " she interrupted. "I just… I just wanted to say..." Sara struggled to get the words out as she started to weep again, her hand covering her lips briefly. "I'm sorry," she said in a strained voice.
"What for?"
"I'm sorry, Giles… for everything… for what happened to you."
"You're not to blame for that," he reassured.
"I got you shot."
"I believe Sean was pulling the trigger."
"Even so, I still feel responsible," she replied. "Then the whole vengeance quest thing…"
"Yes, I heard about that," Giles said. "Surprising what goes on while you're unconscious."
"It was stupid, I know, but I just… I felt I had to do something."
"Sara, we've all done things we regret. I've had plenty of them, including something recent." Sara just looked at Giles, wondering just that regretful thing was. "You apologized to me, when it should be the other way around."
The confusion was written on Sara's face, slightly flushed from her weeping.
"I was, um, referring to the test I gave you last week," Giles clarified.
"Oh, that," Sara replied. "Well, in light of everything I think you were right to do it. I still need to learn more control if I plan on mastering the Witchblade."
"Maybe so, but some of my motives were all wrong," he said. "I didn't give you the test just to analyze your control."
"What?" she asked in a slightly astonished voice.
Not looking at her and walking around the kitchen, Giles tried to explain. "When I was in the hospital, I had time to think. Actually, there wasn't much to do but think. I thought about how close I'd come to death. There have been many close calls, too many to count, but this was the closest by far. I kept thinking about how it would have all been finished: the fighting, the endless battles. Part of me even regretted not dying."
Sara listed intently as Giles went on.
"But then I started to think about all of the people I cared about and how I wouldn't be apart of their lives anymore. I thought about Dawn, and seeing the woman she'd grow up to be. I thought about Buffy, Willow, Xander, even Kennedy for all her imperiousness. But, um, there was... " He nervously chuckled as he stopped midway in his explanation. "I thought about what I was going to say a million times in the hospital and now I'm at a loss for words."
"It's alright, Giles," she reassured. "You know you can tell me anything."
"Maybe," he said. "Maybe not. Sara, what I'm trying to say is that... there was one person I kept thinking about, someone I just had see again. It was you."
Sara just stood silent, surprised at the statement.
"I tried to think of a reason why, but…" He stopped to find the words, but something else came out. "Part of the reason I gave you the test was to push you away, to make you resent me for it."
She was shocked more than she thought possible. It was crazy; he'd given her the test to push her away? For what? "Why?" she asked. "Why would you do that?"
Giles continued. "When you live the kind of life and in the kind of world we live in, it becomes easy to cut yourself off from feeling anymore, to try and save yourself from pain. But you have no idea how hard is to be around you and keep yourself closed up. You have no idea how difficult it is to see you and keep every emotion you have bottled in and proceed as if it were just another day at the office. Every day that passed seeing you made it harder and harder. And it scared me witless."
"What are you saying, Giles?" she asked, though deep down inside she had a feeling she knew the answer.
"I was scared, Sara. I was scared of myself, scared about us, scared because…" he started to say before stopping to gather himself. He had planned this out to the letter and now was stumped for an answer. Still, she needed a response and he had to give something, anything. "Because… because…" he stumbled out. Girding himself and taking another deep, painful breath, he finally said it. "Because I'm in love with you."
Sara stood silent, her eyes widening at the revelation. She wasn't shocked now; she was absolutely flabbergasted. To say she was beside herself was an understatement. "I'm sorry... can you repeat that?"
"I said I'm in love with you."
To hear those words again threw her for a loop and she had no clue how to react; so she went with her first instinct. "Okay," she said, "whatever drugs they have you on must be good, 'cause you're talking crazy."
"Don't brush this off with your cynicism, Sara," he replied in a slightly frustrated voice. "It's not the drugs talking. Well, maybe partially, but they don't control how I feel."
"No!" she said forcefully. "No, Giles. This stops right now. You hear me? This isn't happening; this, this is crazy."
"Crazy for someone to have feelings for you? Did you hear what I said, Sara? I said I was in love with you."
"Will you please stop saying that?" Clearly agitated, she let out a loud, exasperated sigh, saying, "Don't do this to me, Giles, not now."
"To you? Sara, I'm not doing anything to you. I'm not saying this because I want to hurt you; I'm saying this because there's something in me that finds you... beyond extraordinary. Your strength, your beauty, your character; you amaze me in ways I never thought possible. And there isn't a moment that goes by without me thinking about you. I tried to convince myself it was just nothing, that it was just a mere infatuation, but I can't do that anymore."
"I can't believe you're telling me this," she said, shaken from his words.
"I'm telling you this because that's how I feel. All I want to know is if you feel the same way."
"No, I don't," Sara replied quickly.
"You're lying. I can tell."
"Whatever you think, Giles," she shot back. "It doesn't matter because you're just... you don't know what you're saying, okay? You can't know."
"And why do you think that?" he asked pointedly.
"Do you even understand how close you came to dying?" She began to yell, hoping it would drive the point home to him. "Your lung has a hole in it, from a bullet that bounced off of the Witchblade! And that's far from the worst thing that could happen to you! That's why I'm telling you that you don't know what you're saying: you don't understand the risks. Get over it, Giles."
"I do understand the risks," he replied with stern, "and I know exactly what I'm saying and what I'm asking. I'm asking if you for me the same way I feel about you, Sara, because I'm in love with you." He stepped closer to her, standing tall as best he could given his condition. "I'm in love with you, Sara Pezzini," he whispered as he leaned down to kiss her, Sara motionless as he came closer. She closed her eyes.
She could have stopped him; she could have halted him in his tracks and put an end to it all. She even put her hand on his chest in an attempt to do so, her lips quivering. But something inside of her wouldn't push him away. Indeed, it couldn't. When his lips touched hers it was like bliss, and all her troubles had momentarily melted away in a mere instance. The kiss was gentle yet firm, indicative of the man giving it. Her heart raced, its rhythm ever increasing throughout. Though it only lasted a few seconds, it felt like an eternity.
Giles pulled away only to see Sara with a surprised look on her face. He had to admit that the kiss was a bold move, but seeing her face made him think it was the wrong one to make. "Sara..."
"Giles, I... I..." she stammered.
"Yes?" Giles said, expectantly.
"I... have to go," she said quickly before rushing out of the kitchen.
"Sara, wait!" he exclaimed, following her. "Please, don't leave! I..."
Sara stopped before she reached the door and turned around. She looked at Giles, confusion and shock adorning her face.
"Sara..."
She turned back around and stepped out of the front entrance, away from the man who just moments ago had embraced her in a passionate kiss.
Too presumptuous, you fool, Giles thought. He looked around the lobby and saw the everyone stare at him in confusion.
"I think it's time for me to rest a bit," he said.
"Sure, Giles," Buffy said, still perplexed at what happened. "Let's, uh, get you upstairs."
Sara raced back to work on her motorcycle. She was taken aback by what just happened and could barely focus. Luckily, she had enough focus to make sure she didn't have an accident. When she got to the precinct, she darted toward the water cooler. Grabbing a cup she filled it and proceeded to drink as if quenching an undying thirst. Her actions didn't go unnoticed by a few of her colleagues.
"Danny..." Jake said, "what's up with Pez?"
"What isn't up with Pez?" Danny responded coldly, not bothering to lift his head from his paperwork.
"Just take a look over at the water cooler."
Danny looked over and saw his partner in a visibly anxious state. His first instinct was to go over and find out what happened to make her that way, but he remembered last week's incident and quickly stuffed the feeling down. She'd probably brush it off like she always does, he thought. "So what?" he said as he looked back down at his paperwork.
"Come on, man," Jake said. "It's been a couple of days since last Friday. Don't you think you should get over it?"
"Look, Jake, I try to be the best friend I can to her but all she does is push people away. Every time I stick my neck out to help I get kicked in the teeth for it. If she doesn't want to deal with her problems, why should I?"
"Because she's your partner, Danny. That alone should be enough."
"I used to think it was," Danny said. "Now I'm not so sure."
"Great," Jake said sarcastically, "abandon a friend when she needs you the most."
"I'm not abandoning her, I'm just... tired of trying to help her when she doesn't want to be helped."
"So essentially you're abandoning her," Jake said.
"What are you, a group therapist?" Danny asked, clearly annoyed.
"No. One, I need to know the people backing me up can actually work together. And two..." Jake paused. "you guys have been friends way too long to throw it away now. Don't kid yourself, Danny; you know as well as I do if she were in trouble you'd be there in a heartbeat. We got a risky job, man, and if anything should happen I don't want you guys to regret things. You should go over and talk to her."
As Jake walked away, Danny looked at Sara still near the water cooler. Jake was right and Danny knew he was trying to kid himself; he'd still be there for Sara even if she told him to get lost. Their friendship could survive what happened the previous week. Getting up from his desk, he slowly walked over his partner and stopped in front of her. He was just about to speak when he was preempted.
"Danny," Sara said, "can I talk to you for a second?"
"Uh... sure Pez," Danny replied, a tad confused.
They walked toward an empty conference room and closed the door. Danny sat on the table while Sara stood.
"So what's up?" he asked.
"First things first: Danny, I know that I, uh...haven't been the best friend in the world lately. And you were right, about last week. I was dealing with some stuff and took it badly. I shouldn't have blown you off like that and I'm sorry. I just wanted to know if we were, you know, cool."
Taking a few moments to think about things, Danny at last nodded his head and in a low voice said, "Yeah, we're cool." The tone was somewhat ambiguous to Sara, but for now it would have to do. "So what was the other thing?" he asked, shifting gears.
Sara took a deep breath. "I, uh, needed to talk to you about something and kind of wanted your advice."
"Sure. What is it?"
She took in another deep breath and slowly asked, "What if... what if someone you worked with told you... they had feelings for you?"
That was one thing Danny hadn't expected. Truth be told he knew it was probably one of the last questions he was expected to be asked by her.
"Um... well, I, uh..." he stammered out, feeling a tad uncomfortable. "You sure you don't want to talk someone else about this, maybe someone who was, you know... a woman? Like one of your girlfriends or something?"
"Ever since Maria died I haven't had anybody I could really talk to about this stuff."
"What about Cheryl?" he asked.
"Cheryl? And have my business be around the precinct in a millisecond? No thank you." Seeing Danny's hesitation to answer she said, "Come on, Danny, I could really use your help on this one."
"Well... I guess I'd have to ask myself if I felt the same way."
"That's the thing: I don't know," she replied.
"You've been in relationships before, Pez," Danny said. "You always know, even if you don't realize it. It's just the way you feel about them."
"But this one would be a lot more complicated."
"More than likely," Danny replied. Little did he know that he and Sara weren't thinking of the same man. While she had been talking about Giles, Danny thought Jake had made a move. "So, what did you do when he told you?"
"I, uh... I ran away."
"Wow," he said, surprised. "That's usually not the response a guy expects."
"I know, I know," Sara replied, realizing how hurtful to Giles it must have been. "He just... threw me for loop, you know? Especially when he kissed me."
"Well, Jake sometimes does... Jake kissed you?"
"Jake? No! No, I'm not talking about Jake," Sara said.
"You're not? " Danny asked. "I thought you said it was someone you worked with."
"Yeah, from my consulting gig," she clarified.
"Oh. Well, in any case the ball's in your court now. The question is: what are you going to do about it?"
They were interrupted by Jake, who had popped in get Danny. "Yo, Danny. I'm ready to head over to that murder scene if you are."
"Yeah, I'm ready," he replied.
"Thanks, Danny," Sara said gratefully.
"No problem, Pez. Think about what I said, okay?"
"I will."
6:42pm, Thursday – Slayer Base HQ
Giles awoke groggily from his bed. Though he was still a little tired, the nap was nevertheless reinvigorating. Desiring some tea before going back to sleep he walked toward the main kitchen to fix himself a cuppa. Though most of the rooms in the building had been fitted with small kitchenette areas, there were plenty that needed repairs. And it was decided that, for the sake of budget, priorities had to be made and the main kitchen in what was once a landlord's apartment would be renovated and expanded.
On the way down, he thought about what had happened in there just hours before. To say he was disappointed in the outcome wasn't doing his feelings justice. He had gone to sleep soon after Sara left. He had been weakened by his condition, but Sara's reaction to his declaration made him feel much worse, like he had been completely drained of all energy.
As he made his way to the kitchen he was brought out of his thoughts by the group in the lobby. Some Slayers had come, gone, and stayed while he slept. They had come by to wish him well but didn't want to disturb him, so they kept themselves busy talking about a myriad of things: new strategies for Amy, patrolling schedules, or just general topics. But when they saw the Watcher, all of the conversations stopped.
"Hey, Giles!" Rona said. "You feeling okay?"
"Yes," he replied. "Still a little tired, but feeling fine."
"Giles!" Michelle exclaimed. "Good to see you up and about."
"Good to see you too, Michelle," he replied.
Willow, however, wasn't happy to see the Watcher out of bed. "Which begs the question: why are you up and about?" she asked.
"I wanted to fix myself some tea," he replied.
"Giles, we could have gotten that for you. You need rest."
"Willow, I'm perfectly capable of making tea. I just wanted to do it myself."
"Okay," she replied, "but you're going back to bed right after." She had her 'resolve face' on, which Giles knew he had a hard time fighting against.
"Will do."
It was only a few seconds later after he went to the kitchen that Sara entered through the front entrance. The lobby had gone from lively conversation to a brief silence. But this time Sara was the one who broke it, asking, "Where's Giles?"
"He's in the kitchen," Willow replied. "Why?"Sara didn't respond as she made a beeline for the kitchen. She stepped through the door only to see Giles filling up the teapot. He turned around in surprise.
"Sara... I didn't expect to see you anytime soon." Scrambling for something to say he went on. "Sara, I just wanted to say..."
"Shut up for a minute," she said. "Giles, we live very dangerous lives... and the last couple of days proved that. People in my life have been put at risk and people I know have died, sometimes because of the Witchblade. I've tried to keep the people I care about safe from the consequences. And when you got hurt, it scared me. I thought you'd be a casualty because of it."
Giles looked at Sara, the concern for him evident in her eyes. She continued.
"You're one of the few people who knows about the Witchblade that hasn't tried to control or manipulate me into doing what they want. You've been someone I could trust. And when you told me how you felt about me, I... well, it was something I wasn't prepared for. I thought about everything that could possibly happen to you because you felt that way, that someone would use you to get to me... or use my feelings for you to somehow hurt you. That'd scare me more than anything."
"Your... feelings?" Giles asked.
"You asked me if I felt the same way," Sara said as she walked closer to him.
"I know," he said. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have..."
He had no time to complete his apology as he was caught by surprise… by Sara's own kiss. She willfully pressed her lips against his in a soft yet undeniably confident way, wrapping her arms gently around his neck. He had been taken aback by the sheer shock of it at first, but then relaxed as he accepted it more and more. For a moment, their lips locked in a slow dance, moving to a steady rhythm. A few seconds later, after pulling away, she slowly smiled at him.
"I'll take that as a 'yes'," Giles quipped.
Sara, ever mindful of things, started to ponder the future. Her fears crept back to the forefront and she had to admit she was more than little worried. They had defined their relationship in a new way now and the consequences would be unforeseen… and quite possibly dangerous. How would it affect them? How would it affect the girls? All of these questions raged and tugged in her mind, battling with her emotions.
"Giles," she said in a concerned tone, "what about the Witchblade? I mean… there's a lot to consider: our enemies, the complications..."
"I'm not worried about that right now," he replied.
"Giles, we have to figure out..."
"Sara," Giles interjected, "I'm not worried about any of that right now. Right now, there are no complications, no enemies, ... and no Witchblade."
Smiling at each other, they proceeded to kiss again, caught in the moment. Though only a few seconds, the emotions running through them were more powerful than anything they had ever felt before. It was as if time stopped just for them, to put them at this moment. They pulled away, Giles winded from his injury and the kiss but content all the same. They stared at each other and smiled, their foreheads touching and arms locked in an embrace.
"Giles?"
"Yes," he replied.
"I think we have an audience," she said while still looking at him.
"Yes… um, what?" he said in surprised tone. Looking toward the kitchen door entrance he saw everyone looking at the both of them intently and then loudly shout their approval.
"Alright, Giles!"
"Yeah, Pez!"
"Wooooo! Yeah!"
Willow saw the embrace and clapped in applause. Looking at Buffy, she said, "Isn't it great, Buffy?"
"Yeah… yeah, it's, um… great," the Slayer said. Willow hadn't paid attention to Buffy's response, though. Had she, she might have known that the head Slayer was more than little hesitant to celebrate the budding new romance.
"Oh, um, well, I uh…." Giles stammered.
"Yeah, um, I… uh, think I better get going," Sara said, feeling equally embarrassed. "You rest tonight. I'll stop by tomorrow night so we can, you know, um, talk."
"Y-y-yes, of course," he stuttered.
"Um, okay. Well, uh, see you, guys."
"See you, Pez," everyone said.
As she left, Giles decided it was time for more rest. "I think I'll retire for the rest of the evening. I'm rather worn out."
"You should be," Adrienne said. "After the lack of oxygen from that kiss…"
"Very funny," he replied as he made his way toward the elevator. Secretly, though, he found the remark amusing. And even he couldn't stop himself from bearing a wide smile at the prospect of a new relationship. It would be fraught with difficulty, for sure, but he knew all great things in life did. And deep down inside he felt, indeed he knew, that Sara would be one of those great things.