Hello again! Thank you to those of you who have bothered to read all these chapters! I really don't think that I have felt this way about a story, but then again, my other story is kind of hanging unfinished. I don't intend for it to stay that way, so as soon as I get more help from my muse, it'll continue.
Now, I realise that this may sound a little harsh, but bear with me. This is a template for all those who cannot correct their grammar. Read, and know that this is how a story is supposed to be formatted- grammar wise. Use it as a helper.
Restoration
Chapter 4:
Incident
Dawn was surrounded by light, and standing in a sort of river. A clear,
yet, at the same time, misty flowing of water. It stretched endlessly
in either direction. The water didn't even reach mid-shin. It was warm,
and sparkled in a rather strange way.
To add to the confusion, she was wearing a white silky dress. It struck
her asrather odd for standing in the middle of a river.She felt the river pullingher
one way, to more light, and she was compelled to follow it. So she
walked what appeared to be downstream. All was peaceful, and a soft
sort of bright. Dawn could hear a distant roar, like a waterfall.
Wind chimes sounded, and Dawn stopped. She looked back. Cassandra was
standing a few steps behind her. Or it looked like Cassandra. The girl
looked a bit older, with much longer hair, nearly down to her hips,
pulled back from her face with small bits in front of her ears that
curled softly, as did the rest of her hair. Her eyes were timeless, a
blue the color of the sky and deep sea at the same time, her normally
just red-brown hair had turned a beautiful copper, or maybe auburn.
Dawn, while being a teenage color maven, just couldn't discern which.
"Dawn, don't." She said simply. It was Cass's voice, sure, but it was,
again, older. The Cass Dawn knew could never sound so genuinely regal.
"Why not, Cass? It's my time. I died. I have to go," Dawn stated, not
understanding why she'd said it. She never said anything that cheesy.
"No, Dawn. You can't die. Buffy, Willow, the world and I need you. Come
back with me," She held out her hand, a comforting smile on her face.
"You once told me you'd do anything to ease the pain of the people you
love. Their pain will grow, and it will chase you. Your death is
unnecessary. You can come back with me, now, and help Buffy. You can
help reassure them that you won't leave any time soon. They need that
now. It's my fault you died. I know that now."
Dawn nodded, and stepped over to the form of the friend she'd saved not
two minutes ago. She took the hand offered her, and they faded from the
light.
Dawn woke up in great pain, finding herself staring at the wall. She
rolled over, and saw a blurred version of her room, plus a few dark
smudges on the carpet. There was also a good amount of red around where
she was laying. Her chest and stomach hurt a lot, and there was a
particular spot on her forehead that was throbbing sharply. Her vision
cleared a bit more, and she could see that the smudges were burn marks,
and she was lying in a veritable pool of blood.
Suddenly a face blocked her view of herself all over the floor. It was
Cassandra, and Dawn saw a flash of the girl she'd seen when she'd died.
But it was just Cass, hair french braided, face over-freckled,
eyes a sort of dirty blue-gray. But thenCass put her hands over Dawn's
wound, and blue energy flowed from her hands into the open flesh,
teasing it to cover itself with new skin, then filled in the spots
lacking in tissue. The skin was almost new. Or it was the skin that had
been there before being mutilated. The shirt even mended itself.
Cassandra sat back on her heels a moment before helping Dawn to sit up.
"You okay now? No cuts, scrapes, anything I missed?"
"Well I think you-" Dawn stopped as she realized that her head didn't
hurt anymore, and reached up. It was a little bit sore, but nothing
bad. "Okay, never mind that unfinished comment. All's well that ends
well."
Willow looked up through her tears, hearing Dawn's voice. "Dawnie?"
Buffy also peeked through her fingers, and upon seeing Dawn alive and
talking, rushed over and smothered her in a teary hug. Cassandra looked
downwards, bashful. She put her hands on her knees while looking at the floor.
"Sorry I couldn't save the carpet," She apologized. "Upholstery seems
to not be healable."
'That's just like Cass,' Dawn thought, 'Being sorry for a stain. What a nut.'
"It's okay," Buffy sobbed, "It'll all be okay."
"Um, Buff," cut in a certain brown-haired individual, "As much as I
simply adore being able to see you again, really, I don't think this is
going to make me appreciate life any more."
Buffy released her choke hold. "Let's get you some rest. Even with
healing, nothing could do you better right now."
Dawn rolled her eyes and laughed. "Yes, mother." Buffy smiled a little
in response.
Willow came in with her own two cents. "Cassandra should get some rest,
too. Using that much magic has to be draining."
"But I-" the one in question began to argue, before Dawn elbowed her in
the ribs and gave her a 'don't ruin this, we get to be spoiled all
day,' look. "Okay, if you say so, Willow."
And so the two teens spent the majority of the rest of the afternoon in
the master bedroom, tucked between the sheets, getting pampered by
Willow and hugged by Buffy. Cassandra noticed something jumpy about her
cousin, however, and she wasn't the only one. Buffy was staring at
Willow curiously whenever she came in.
"Hey, Buff," asked Cassandra, "Does Willow remind you of someone? I'm
just asking because you have that 'what does that remind me of?' look
on. And I know it bothers you when you can't figure something out."
Buffy nodded. "Yeah, I just have this weird sense of deja vu, and I
can't place it." Buffy then looked inwardly as Cass nodded. Then Cass
looked inward too. Into Buffy, that is.
'Busy bodying. Why does Willow busy bodying around remind me of
someone,' thought the Slayer. 'bringing more blankets, asking if we
need anything, seeming like she's avoiding something... OH MY GOD! I
got it! She reminds me of Mom. Mom when... I was telepathic. And she
didn't want me to find it out. That she and Giles had sex. EEEW! Don't
think about it. Roof of a police car. Eew! Twice. Double Eew! Okay, the
wheels on the bus go round and round, round and round, round and
round...' At that point, Cassandra stopped reading Buffy's mind,
because it seemed that it would get rather monotonous.
'Oh, is Willow avoiding me because she doesn't want me find out what's
bothering her,' thought the young witch. 'I think I'll go talk to my
dear cousin now.' "Um, Buffy, I think I'll go talk to Willow, see
what's on her mind." 'Truer than you know,' she thought.
The Slayer's mothering instinct kicked in. "You sure you're okay? Magic
is like chocolate. Too much in one sitting and you end up feeling sick
and weak-kneed."
"Buffy would know," Dawn added. "She's had one too many encounters with
the bed and the toilet because of a certain sweet tooth. That tooth
will be the puke of her." They all giggled.
"I'm fine," Cassandra assured them. "I just want to talk to Willow, is
all. Dawn, you seem to be quite comfy, so stay where you are. I'm sure
you'd like a nap."
"As a matter of fact, I do," Dawn replied. "So I'm gonna just get my
well-deserved beauty sleep." She and Buffy giggled even more. Cassandra
opted out of the room.
"Why do you think she wants to talk to Willow," Asked the small
brunette.
Buffy thought for a moment. "Maybe it has something to do with why
Willow's been avoiding her."
"You noticed that too, huh?" Buff nodded.
"Willow is a fantasy book. Easy to read, and even easier to predict the
outcome." Buffy was sad that she had to describe her best friend like
that. She normally hated to make analogies about people. They were so
crude oftentimes.
Dawn agreed, but added her own part. "Only, this time, the fantasy must
end. And Willow may lose interest in the story line. Then, no more
book."
"A little bit harsh," the Slayer admonished, "But sadly, I have to agree."
(echo)
(echo)
Hikari: Ok, that's the echo from last chapter, and I have no idea how it got here. But, at any rate, Thank you to my other reviewer! I can neither remember your name that you put down, nor do I feel like searching for it, so a 'thank you' is all you're gonna get! Oh look, my muse is here! Kyoko, please say hello to all the wonderful readers!
Kyoko: Bonjour, mes amis. Je voudrais que vous mourez.
Hikari: Sorry, guys, I forgot that she only speaks in French. And one other thing I should have told you- she doesn't really like people- so please ignore her earlier comment.
Kyoko: J'aime le poisson.
Hikari: And now you know why I'm so random- I get it from her.
Kyoko: Pourquoi est-ce que tu es ici? Tu n'aime pas cet endroit, non?
Hikari: Are you kidding me? I love it here!
Kayo: Honey, why is she here?
Hikari: Hello, my wonderful boyfriendK-kun! She is here because she likes to be- right, Kyoko?
Kyoko: Je ne dites pas, maisvous etes faux.
Kayo: Is she insulting people again?
Hikari: I'm afraid so. She isn't very agreeable. But I thought it was a plus that she never lies!
Kayo: ... Right. A plus.
Hikari: I just realized that we have gotten way off-topic.
Kyoko: Tres bien. Quand est-ce que tu apprends cet?
Hikari: Just now. But I digress. To all you people who have no idea what she was saying, I thank you! Because you are some of the luckiest people alive. Please continue to be that way. Unless you go live in France. Because that would be bad. At any rate, thank you for reading yet another of my story's chapters. Please leave a review after you finish reading this!
Kyoko: Ne viens encore!
Hikari: You are not allowed back here either.