Disclaimer: I do not own Buffy the Vampire slayer, Noir, or Naruto. All rights belong to their creators and producers so please do not sue.
Author Note 1: This is my second attempt at a BTVS fanfic and my first attempt at a crossover of this magnitude so make sure to give me feedback.
Author note 2: To those who know my work no I have not given up on "Mazoku" I do intend to finish it but this story will not die in my head and demands to be written.
Author note 3: I am in the market for a beta reader please let me know in the review if you would like the job as I am quite desperate.
Author note 4: I have never attempted a story like this and anyone who truly knows the world of "Noir" that might help me out after this chapter I would greatly appreciate it.
Summary: Memories- they are like grains of sand that can slip away or be forced into a compacted space. Who is he really? What is the path he must take? He has forgotten those times to be left waiting for the call. Yet on all hallows eve a mistake shall awaken what he has lost. Given the mind of a genius murderer and the return of what he never knew he lost. The legacy of the third will be written in blood.
Now on with the Show
Alexander
Chapter Ten: Revelations in Shadow part one
Xander sat on a tree stump watching, as Faith scrunched her face in concentration attempting to complete the chakra exercise. It had been a week and a half, since the band candy incident, and a week since he began teaching her about chakra.
"Chakra is the energy that comes from the unity of mind and body, concentrate, and stop trying to use emotions to do this." He spoke, offering some advice.
"This is stupid, Boytoy. How can trying to levitate a leaf above my forehead help me get stronger?" she asked, growing disgruntled with her lack of progress.
"If you want to learn to use chakra for anything at all, you first have to access it and learn to control it. A storm is powerful, but its power is at the mercy of the wind that carries it but if you think you can't do it, then I guess we should stop." He said wisely, before baiting the temperamental slayer.
"No way!" she responded, and went to working on the exercise. Slowly, the leaf began to wiggle before lifting gently off her forehead.
"Stay focused, do not lose control. Now, try to make the leaf turn slowly." He ordered as he watched her make progress.
He watched her face contort into a mask of concentration as she refused to allow herself to be bested by a leaf. Beads of sweat rolled down her face as the leaf slowly began to turn clockwise.
'Phenomenal, it must have something to do with the slayer essence that passes from one girl to the next, giving them a better understanding of energy. This might yet prove fun if I can get her into shape enough to spar some.' He thought with a smile, stopping her.
"Not bad, though most academy students can do it within the first week or day, usually. Still, considering we're fighting the metaphysical laws of this reality, it's quite the accomplishment." He praised.
"So what's next, teacher?" she asked, standing up.
An evil smile spread across the teenage assassin's mouth as he got up from the stump, and began stretching. Popping his muscles, he looked over at her with his sharingan activated.
"Lesson one: Taijutsu."
Graveyard
Xander back flipped on his feet catching the on coming vampire in the chin, sending her air born. Landing, he sent a wooden shuriken into her heart, dusting her before she could recover. Turning, he watched both Faith and Buffy tag-team the rest of the pack they'd run across. He enjoyed patrolling more than going to the Bronze anymore it seemed, but then considering his beautiful company out in the night, he figured he had good enough reason. Who wouldn't enjoy watching both slayers work?
Watching them finish, he turned his head to the right, waiting for the presence he felt to make itself known.
"Sloppy at best." A British sounding voice spoke, and a woman walked towards them.
"If you'd like to try your hand, I'm sure we could accommodate you." Xander replied, before ignoring the woman all together.
Who are you, lady?" Faith demanded.
"My name is Gwendolyn Post, and I'm here on behalf of the Watchers' council."
"Oh joy." Xander muttered.
Giles Residence
Lindsey, Giles, Buffy, Faith, and Xander sat in the living room along with the new Watcher they had encountered.
"So exactly why are you here, Miss Post, and why weren't Mr. Giles or myself informed that you were coming?" Lindsey asked, breaking the silence.
"Officially, I was sent to observe both of you and Mr. Giles to determine, if you were performing your duties as they should be. Also, I am here to inform you of the arrival of a powerful demon named Lagos, who is here searching for a mysterious and dangerous artifact called the Glove of Myhnegon." She replied.
"Sounds dangerous, then again, here the word 'kitten' can sound dangerous." Xander joked.
"From what I can recall, the glove is very dangerous, Xander. If memory serves me right, it involved the power of lightning or something like that." Lindsey spoke, tapping her chin in thought.
"So, if this demon gets a hold of the glove, he's like a walking bug zapper?" Faith inquired.
"Essentially, yes."
"So we get everyone together and do research, then kick the demons butt like always, no biggie." Buffy announced.
"Imagine the marshmallows you could toast with something like that." Xander mused out loud, and blinked when everyone stared at him.
"What? Can't I like a good roasted marshmallow?"
Rosenberg Residence
Willow continued to type furiously away at her computer, despite the late hour. She had been trying very hard for months to crack the password protecting the disk that Jenny Calendar had left for Xander. She refused to have her hacking skills defeated by a piece of plastic.
'Bingo!' she thought, as the code finally cracked under her program.
The computer screen went completely black, and for a moment Willow thought her system had crashed. Preparing to restart her system, she stopped as the monitor came back to life with a brown background. Several windows were opening and scrolling through lines of code, before closing just as rapidly.
Finally a window opened and remained that way, and a video began playing, though it had been uploaded onto a server. The technology behind the recording was obviously older than uploading had been around. Willow watched with rapt attention, she studied the different charts and diagrams that appeared on screen to help the video be explained.
When the brief video ended, three different password boxes appeared, each one for a different set of files inside the database. Willow didn't hesitate to begin trying to crack all three codes.
'I'm sorry, Xander, but I have to know the truth about you. The first movie didn't explain anything and I think it was a simple introduction, but now I can't turn away. I shouldn't do this, but it's the only way to understand any of this. I'll show it to Xander when I'm done, that should make everything right.' She thought mentally at odds with herself.
The night stretched on, one by one each password protected portion of the three file areas, were brought down. She watched every second of the footage, read every scrap of material, and examined every diagram from old to cutting edge graphics. Dawn was breaking the horizon, when she finally turned her computer off, and simply stared out her window.
'My god in heaven, this is what you're looking for, Xander? I can't ever let you see what's on this disk, it might destroy you.' She thought, in a daze.
Library
"This is maddening." Giles sighed in frustration, as he continued to look for a way to destroy the glove.
"Calm down, Rupert. We know where the glove is, that's a start, at least." Lindsey trying to soothe the man's growing temper.
"Yeah G-dad, we can't expect to know everything off the bat. So where is the glove? I'd be willing to go fetch it so we're sure it's not in the hands of Lagos." Xander volunteered.
"Well, the glove is in the Restfield cemetery, the von Hauptmann crypt, to be exact but please be careful, Xander."
"That usually costs extra, but for you guys, sure." He joked, then headed out. Willow had been acting strange all day, and getting out would give him time to figure just how big of secret her behavior was hinting at.
Restfield Cemetery
Xander stopped outside the crypt, and ducked low behind a tombstone as he watched the door open. He watched as the form of Angel exited the crypt with a wrapped bundle held in his arms. Eye widening, and switching to sharingan, he moved to follow the vampire without a sound.
Reaching the mansion, he peered through a window, while drawing a wooden kunai from his sleeve and watched as Buffy and Angel shared a hot passionate kiss.
'This is what she's been distracted with? How can she be sure it's even the real Angel, and if it is, why is she making the same mistake as before?' he thought with a growl, his mind conjuring up the image of Jenny.
'No, I need to report in and tell the others, then I can come back and finish the job. If I go off on my own, then any trust I've regained, will be lost. Right now, I place importance on that.'
"Rest well, vampire, she won't stop me this time." He whispered, before turning, and heading out into the night back home.
Giles Residence
"I simply don't think your methods of dealing with slayer Summers work very well. Slayers are simply tools that have to be controlled." Post said, expressing her disdain for Giles' approach.
"I assure you, I have complete control over my slayer." He replied in a clipped tone.
The door opened at that point, admitting Xander sporting his 'assassin' look, which meant his entire face was devoid of emotion.
"I need a word with you." Xander said, before dragging Giles into the kitchen.
"What is the matter, Xander?"
"I went to get the glove like you asked, but someone beat me to it, someone we both know very well."
"Who?"
"Angel or Angelus, if I was guessing right. I watched him walk out of the place with it all wrapped up and followed him to the mansion. When he got there, I discovered Buffy was already waiting for there and had quite the greeting for him."
"Are you absolutely sure, Xander?"
"Giles, I don't forget a face, especially not one associated with the loss of someone important to me. We need to get everyone together and confront Buffy, and then I will go and end this whole thing once and for all."
"I'll call everyone and let them know, but you go right to bed. I will be checking on you soon."
He sighed, but nodded, heading for his room.
Library
Buffy and Faith entered together, they were surprised that all eyes turned towards them. A second later, along with a flash of silver, Buffy found herself pinned to the door by a kunai sticking in her sleeve.
"Uh, hey guys." Faith said, staring at the upset looking people, or in Xander's case cold fury.
"Faith, go ahead and have a seat. We have something important to discuss with Buffy." Willow said, before shooting a glare at Xander.
"I promised not to kill her, she's not dead, get on with it." He said, looking annoyed, before putting his emotions away.
"Yes well, Buffy, it's been brought to our attention that Angel is alive and you have evidently been keeping his existence from us." Giles said, beginning to clean his glasses.
"How?" Buffy asked, pulling the kunai out of the door.
"I spotted him last night and then followed you, guess who I found in a lip-lock with him?"
"You were spying on me?" Buffy accused, her anger rising.
"No, I was sent by your watcher to get the glove. I discovered someone, who is most likely soulless and dangerous, already had it."
"He has his soul, I swear! You guys gotta believe me, I wouldn't put your lives in danger if I didn't know it was Angel."
"Buffy, it's not that we don't trust you, it's just that Angelus has fooled you before. We feel he could do it again, or might be a danger if allowed to be around." Willow explained, trying to smooth over the argument.
"Even if he's Angel now, you can't guarantee Angelus won't return." Xander spoke up, after Willow voicing his major objection.
"Oh, and let me guess, the ever noble Xander wants to handle the situation by killing Angel again?"
"Now, hold on a sec, B, that isn't fair." Faith piped in, defending her friend.
"This is Angel, guys. I know it's him and I promise nothing is going to happen, trust me."
"We tried that, and you lied to us at every turn about what was going on." Xander said, his eyes meeting Buffy's.
"That's enough. we have more important things to worry about then this. I want you all to go back to class this instant, we will deal with the Angel situation after this mess with the glove is settled, and that is final." Giles said putting an end to the argument.
Xander looked prepared to challenge him, but decided he held more respect for Giles than to do that. Walking by Buffy, his left hand snapped out, taking the kunai and then slipping it back into his sleeve with a fluid motion. Faith followed him out before the rest departed.
Buffy turned to thank Giles, but was stopped as he raised a hand at her.
"Angelus tortured me for a long time, Buffy, and you know full well what Xander was forced to do because of him, as well as what the others went through. You've shown you have no respect for me and my position, as your watcher, or your friends. I'm very disappointed in you, now please go to class." He stated, before going to his office.
Hallway
Faith leaned against a locker as Xander was searching for a book. This whole deal seemed to have put him in a state of anger that you could only see if you knew him as both the assassin and goofball. She was starting to think he was the only person who held that honor.
"I don't even want to imagine what kind of damage Angelus could do with that glove." He finally spoke, seemingly calm.
"You know, Boytoy, the more I hear about this guy, the more I don't like him. I mean, how bad is B endangering everyone by keeping him around, soul or no soul."
"She's attached, or maybe infatuated with him, it makes her blind to the danger. Willow has never helped with her star-crossed romance nonsense, but I can't act here like I want without risking everything I earned back."
"He's a vampire, simple and clear. I say me and you go and handle him tonight, Boytoy."
"We do this, and Buffy will never forgive us, you know that right?"
"Slayer slays vamps, not lay them. Besides, we need to go pick up the glove for G and English, don't we?" she said with a wicked grin.
"Faith, have I told you today how incredibly beautiful and smart you are?"
"Never hurts to flatter me, Boytoy, might hurt you though." She replied with a wink.
"It would be a good hurt, I imagine."
He succeeded in making Faith blush with that one.
Mansion
Alexander and Faith burst into the Mansion to find Angel in full game face attacking Gwendolyn. Drawing the obvious conclusions, Faith surged forward pulling Post away from Angel and knocking him back.
"Why am I not surprised Buffy was wrong." Alexander said, while walking towards Angel.
"Boytoy, kick his ass!" Faith cheered letting him have this fight.
"Do you know how long she suffered before I came, Angelus? She was a true survivor hanging on, no matter the pain living put her through. She gave me one last gift when I granted her wish to die in peace. We have a dance to finish, vampire, and this time there is NOTHING between us. For your transgressions against the newborns, and for killing my partner, I shall deliver judgment and vengeance." His eyes changed, then the full glare of the Mangekyō sharingan staring his enemy down.
"Xander, wa-" but it was too late for Angel to speak, as the brunette was upon him.
There was no fight as Xander seemed to be everywhere, his fists and feet raining blows onto the souled vampire. Angel wouldn't fight back and doubted if he could. Xander seemed possessed with pure anger and hate, all of it directed at him. The guilt over the death of Jenny Calendar and so many others forced him to believe he deserved this pain.
Xander spun around, his right hand drawing a wooden kunai, to end the fight quickly as they still needed the glove. The final strike was anticipated but it never came. Xander found himself flying towards the north wall suddenly, and barely had time to flare his chakra out to soften the blow, before he impacted hard. Looking over, he found Buffy was the cause of the interference.
Getting to his feet, he reached a hand up wiping the blood from his lips from when he hit the wall. Looking around, he noticed Willow as well as Lindsey had come along.
"She's blinded by her caring for the vampire, you must stop her." Post said to Faith, before Buffy could utter a word.
Attacking Buffy, both slayers dissolved into a fight of tooth and nail seemingly moving all around the floor, before flying through the courtyard doors and continuing.
Faith soon gained the upper hand though as her body flowed around the other slayers. Her mind was pulling up every spar and tip that Xander had given her, letting the meager amount of chakra, she could use to enhance her and then falling into the taijutsu moves he'd been teaching her.
'Something is not right here. Angelus would never have allowed me to land so many hits without fighting back, and in my anger, I wasn't even using my true skills.' Xander thought, as he was quickly getting back to fighting condition with each passing second.
"Konoha Reppu." Faith suddenly called, ducking low and sending a powerful low ground sweeping kick at Buffy, who predictably jumped up into the air to dodge.
"Konoha Senpu." Faith yelled, jumping into the air and spinning around delivering a powerful flying roundhouse kick into Buffy, enhanced by both slayer strength and chakra, sending the blonde chosen back into the mansion property.
Buffy slowly climbed to her feet just as the sound of thunder and chanting filled the room. All eyes turning to Post, they discovered Willow knocked out by a discharge of lightning from the glove that Post was now wearing. Angel was luckily able to drag Willow away, as she was waking up and shakily stood up.
"Faith, a little advice for the future, you are an idiot." Gwendolyn said, before launching a blast of lightning that the dark haired slayer was forced to dodge.
"Lindsey, how do I destroy that thing?" Xander asked suddenly, his mind already plotting out away to remove the ranged threat.
"It must be immolated in living flame, Willow and I brought the catalyst." She responded.
Moving in front of the now dodging Faith and Buffy duo, he did a quick hand seal, then held his hands out towards the incoming attack.
"Raikansei no Jutsu!" (Thunder Control Technique) The lightning continued to surge ahead but stopped in front of his hands, and the bolt coalesced into a ball that got continually bigger, as the Post hurled more and more attacks at him.
"Why won't you die?" she yelled, hurling another bolt that simply made the sphere around his hands grow larger.
"Faith, a little help please, or should I kill her myself?" he said, his eyes narrowed as he began directing the lightning into the ground burning off the excess amounts and reinforcing the magnetic field he had created with his chakra.
Faith quickly picked up a piece of broken glass from the remains of the courtyard entrance, and she hurled it at Post severing the hand that was holding the glove. Lightning engulfed the woman's body a second later, turning her into ash, and then glove released its hold on her severed hand.
Xander released his hold on the lightning, and with nothing to direct, watched it shoot skyward to dissipate in the atmosphere. Taking a deep breath, he moved to lean against a wall near Faith.
"You five by five, Boytoy?" she asked.
"Remind me to never make a human bug zapper remark." He responded, crossing his arms.
"Karma sucks, don't it?"
"Pretty much. Especially when it's your karma I got hit with."
Turning to the others, he watched them destroy the glove or in Buffy's case, playing nurse maid to Angel.
"Tomorrow at the library, don't make me come find either of you." He said, before making his exit with Faith walking beside him. Willow was reminded of a line from the disk as she watched him.
'I've never been fond of men and truly I hate them, but Alexander is different somehow, for that alone, I will care for him.'
Library
Faith hit the floor for the eighth time in an hour after taking a punch from Xander. The morning meeting wasn't due to start for another two hours so the two were doing their morning training, which consisted of chakra exercises and then a round of 'how many times can Faith get knocked on her butt'.
The Watchers watched from a safe distance, drinking tea. Both enjoyed seeing Xander move as it reminded them of ballet, while reminding them, he was also a very dangerous person even against a slayer.
"You're still telegraphing your moves like a first year academy student." He said as she got up.
"I've only been at this for a month or so, Boytoy, give it time and I'll show you who has the moves." She replied, falling back into a stance.
"Listen to your senses, a slayer has a natural warning or danger sense, but it doesn't work if you don't listen to it. Once you learn styles and techniques, practice them until they're natural and then go on instinct. That is the only way you can become a better fighter." He suggested.
"Are you sure you didn't accidentally dress as Chuck Norris or that old guy from the Karate kid movies?" she joked.
"Nope, just pure training, be it karate, ninja, assassin, or better yet, learning through waxing. They are all basically the same." He responded.
"I believe that's more than enough for today, you two. We do have a meeting starting soon after all." Lindsey spoke up, before they could start fighting again.
The two nodded and bowed to one another, before going to clean up. When each got back, they took a seat at the table and waited for the others to arrive for the meeting.
"So you were telling me about spending the summer as 'True' Noir." Faith prompted after a minute.
"Well, we really weren't the true Noir. Maybe Chloe was and is, but I can't ever be, it was just a name we used to identify ourselves." He explained.
"Why couldn't you be?" she asked.
"Noir is comprised of two girls. The two maidens who rule over the black hands of death and protect the safety of the newborns, and sadly, I was born a boy."
"Sounds kind of harsh to me."
"Altena has never been fond of men; in fact, I'd wager she down right hates the opposite gender for her own reasons. I don't know why but she has never treated me as scum or hated me. She treated me the same as Chloe and Kirika. I was expected to be as good, if not better, than they were in all areas. Still, it was a loving environment. I think she made us use that name to show me that I still had a place in things and a place in her heart."
Faith listened as he talked, and realized just how important that woman's opinion must be to Xander. Yet at the same time, he was trying to find out if that was who he really was, or if he was someone else entirely. It was hard for her to accept that her Boytoy could look so confused under the layers he used to hide his true feelings.
Any further conversation died as everyone else showed up in the Library along with Angel.
"I don't trust you and I never will, but everyone is going to get in my way if I try to kill you. I have no choice but to let you live. If you lose your soul again though, I will shove it back into your body and make you wish you were back in hell." It was the one thing Xander said and would say in the entire meeting.
Though he did applaud loudly, when Giles decked Angel.
In the end, most everyone decided to reserve their judgments on the vampire for now. Willow seemed to fidget more and more as the day went by, and it was starting to really worry him. When the meeting ended, the redhead latched onto Buffy and seemed to drag her away before he could even get a question out of his mouth. Making a hand seal under the desk, he whispered a jutsu, and watched as his shadow clone followed them.
"Your girlfriend's keeping a secret." He remarked.
"Probably."
"Any idea what it is?"
"Nope."
"We should talk more often."
"Cool."
Computer Lab
"Willow, what gives?" Buffy said, finally prying her arm free of the hacker's grip.
"There's something you need to see, and I have to tell someone, before I crack from keeping it secret." She said, pushing the disk into a computer near the back, and starting up the database she had watched just two nights previously.
"You finally got that disk thing to work?"
"I wish I hadn't, but you'll see."
Letting the opening movie run, she then went through each of the three file banks letting the slayer absorb all the information, she herself was having difficulty with.
"Wills, this can't be true!" The slayer stated once the disk had be thoroughly explored.
"Miss Calendar must've thought so if she protected the disk, even getting access to it so heavily."
"We can't ever let him see this."
"But do we have a right too keep it from him, this is his disk. Eventually, he's going to ask about it." Willow asked her resolve to keep the secret weakening.
"Willow, this is just what that woman wants for Xander to find so he'll come running back, we have to protect him. He's the only one of us who might live a normal life. We need to start forcing him to do that. It's the only way to stop him from becoming a murderer." Buffy stated adamantly.
"I don't know, Buffy. What if Xander ends up hating us?"
"As long as he's safe, we can live with it."
Neither noticed someone leaving the room before them, nor that it was an exact duplicate of their friend.
Library
'So that's how they want to play this? I really thought things would be different if I came back, but it seems they can't see me for me. You want to push me out, Buffy? That's fine; I can pull away just as easily as you can. I need to retrieve the disk and see what is being hidden from me and then just focus on my friendship with everyone else until I know exactly what I want to do. If I believe their reactions, then this might be the truth Mother wanted me to find. Whether it's my truth, remains to be seen.' He thought, as his shadow clone vanished after reporting.
"Seems like I can't trust Buffy and Willow anymore, Faith. It may come down to you having to choose a side, and I don't want to cause that." He said, looking over at his friend.
"You know I got your back Boytoy, long as you got mine. So don't even try and pull some noble crap, it just isn't you." She replied, making him laugh.
"And I had a speech and everything prepared."
"So, what's the next move then?"
"They want me out, I'm out, I'll pull away and just focus on you, the watchers, and my other friends. I will be liberating my property from Willow so we can watch it after the holidays."
"Why wait so long?"
"Because I want a few peaceful memories in case whatever I see, may destroy me inside."
"Then I definitely won't forget to bring the popcorn."
"Yum!"
December
"So you want all four of us together to spend Christmas in England?" Xander asked, leaning against the Library counter.
A little over two months had passed, since the whole Gwendolyn Post incident and except a small appearance by Spike, things had been unusually quiet. Xander had made good on his promise having both stolen the disk right from under Willow's nose and by allowing Buffy to gradually phase him out of the patrolling schedule. He often patrolled with Faith or went after nests himself, if the Bronze didn't give any action. He and Oz were becoming fast friends and even Cordelia was loosening up around him. Though, he never would tell her about the investigation by the IRS he had halted by paying off her family overdue taxes. She was a security risk, so why not make sure the feds couldn't use her. Faith's training was going extremely well; she was even able to do water walking, which he had thought impossible at first.
"Yes, um, Lindsey still has family in London and I believe she wants to introduce Faith to them, and give her a proper Christmas. I think it would be nice to spend the holidays in our family's ancestral home. You and I haven't had much time to bond, Xander. This would be the perfect opportunity to become a family." Giles stated.
"It's cool with me, but will you get in trouble with the council if you take a vacation?"
"No, no, I have it already arranged, and Faith is coming along as she is the official slayer. Right now there seemed to be no trouble with our plans, no need to worry."
Xander crossed his arms and tilted his head back, looking up through the skylight. It would be nice to have an actual Christmas for once in a loving environment, and he wasn't breaking any commitments by going. He let his mind drift a bit and think about other people for a minute. Altena and Chloe might have a nice holiday, assuming Chloe wasn't on assignment, and Kirika and Mireille was just the sort to forget about such a day. Smiling as an idea popped into his mind, he looked over at Giles.
"I'm in, but I have to make a stop before I join you in London." He said.
"You're not planning to work, are you?" While he accepted his adopted son's choices, he didn't have to like them.
"No, I need to play Santa for some folks that will probably forget there's a holiday, I swear, I am just delivering presents, no killing."
"How long will it take? You defeat the purpose if you miss the actual holiday you were to spend with me."
"If I catch a flight tonight, I can meet you there two days before Christmas, maybe a week if I rush, which is no problem."
"I cannot believe I am agreeing to this."
"G-dad, it's the spirit of the season, makes us all jolly giving fools." Xander stated, before running out of the room.
'I shall require Faith's and Cordelia's help with this.'
Mall
'I think I may have made a mistake.' Xander thought as he was dragged around by a pair of girls.
Faith by nature wasn't the type to get into shopping, but with Lindsey saying they were going to meet her family, she had a lot of presents to buy as well, which made the latent shopping gene in all women finally awaken in the Boston girl. Cordelia on the other hand, held the bloodline trait of power shopping in Xander's opinion, and had not shut up with ideas since he grabbed both of them.
"So how many people do you have to buy for Faith?" Xander asked as they walked past shops.
"A houseful ranging from elderly to baby. Glad I had that money saved up or I'd never be able to afford anything." She replied once again, thankful for the LA job.
"Their British buy them British things, at least, and then you would know what to buy." Xander said.
"Oh come on, Boytoy. It isn't so bad, you only need to get gifts for four people for all of which you know very well."
"It's personal for me Faith, the most expensive stuff I am getting in France, which is either special-made or very hard to find, this is for the majority of good tidings gifts."
"We have been here for five minutes and yet we are purchase-less and not in a shop, does anyone not see the wrongness of this picture?" Cordelia said before grabbing both teenagers and dragging them off to a store.
'I should have let the IRS have her.'
Hours would pass and Xander would contemplate suicide every three seconds, as he was led around like dog by Cordelia and later Faith, when she got into the spirit. He was truly kicking himself for the extra stamina chakra training he'd given Faith, as it allowed her to match Cordelia's pace.
"If I give that to Mireille, she will quite possibly shoot me." Xander said as Faith tried to get him to buy the blonde assassin lingerie.
'I'd deserve it too; damn Itachi and his closet pervert tendencies, and my teenage hormones.'
"Ah, so Boytoy is afraid of a girl, want me to come along and keep you safe?"
"I will get even with you for this, Faith, remember that."
'Plus, I'm not sure who would win in that fight, and Kirika still might have her habit of holding grudges.'
After another hour, they finally sat down at the food court with an impressive pile of bags laid around them. Cordelia looked to be in a blissful place only achievable by most narcotics, and Faith seemed to be gearing up about for another round. Xander wondered if he could pierce his heart with a plastic fork.
"How do women do this constantly?" he asked, sipping a soda.
"I don't know but I could get to like this shopping thing." Faith received a large smile from Cordelia on that.
"Oh god, she's been corrupted, someone shoot me."
France
Xander smiled as he inhaled the air of his birth country. Ok, so he couldn't prove that but he was raised here and that was all he needed. Paris was a beautiful city in winter and he had the perfect view from his balcony. He'd kept his apartment and after a little cleaning, it felt like home again.
"So, now onto the wrapping and the gift giving. I am so going to get shot for this; I can just see it now." He laughed, before diving into the bags and beginning to start the dreaded chore of wrapping.
It took him all of ten minutes to realize he had no idea what-so-ever of how to wrap things properly.
"Why can't gift preparation be a ninja skill?" he whined.
Apartment of Kirika and Mireille
Kirika opened an eye as she felt another presence within the house. In the time since Alexander had left the disk for them, she had learned to use her chakra with her senses increasing the early warning system she had for the intruders.
Picking up her gun, she silently left her room and noticed Mireille making her way to the living room towards the feeling of their intruder.
Both brought their guns up sweeping the living room as they entered. Blinking, they found the furniture had been moved back and in the center of the room was an evergreen tree fully decorated with ornaments and lights, a star resting at the top. Presents were arranged under it, wrapped with bright yellows and blues and a banner that read 'Merry Christmas!' was hung over it all.
"What the devil?" Mireille asked.
"Actually, I think the holiday is more about Christ but to each their own, I always say." Comes a voice from the kitchen table.
Turning, both girls saw a gun pointed at them and their own aimed at the smiling face of Alexander.
"We really should stop meeting like this." He stated, before putting his guns away.
"You should learn to knock then, Alexander." Mireille responded with growing annoyance.
"Then I would miss the priceless look on your face, Mireille. Now sit down, the both of you, I made coco." He smiled as he showed them the steamed marshmallow filled cups.
"You're traveling alone again, Alexander?" Kirika asked as she sat down.
"Chloe and I aren't partners, nor is it possible for me to be 'True Noir', but still to see your faces when Chloe said it." He laughed, shaking his head a little.
"You seem more comfortable since the first time we met."
"Now, now, this is no time for talk of the job. I came here to bring the spirit of the season since I know you two would likely forget it." He said refusing to speak of matters related to their mutual searches for truth.
Hours passed and the three people simply enjoyed the company sipping coco and speaking of happier days. Alexander told a few stories of Sunnydale, though he edited the details to protect the location. When dawn broke, he was standing on the balcony railing, his cloak caught in the morning wind. Mireille had gone to change and that left him and Kirika alone.
"I heard what happened to your friend, I'm sorry." He spoke, finally breaking the silence.
"I miss him, Alexander. It's an odd feeling." She replied, thinking about the painter Milosh.
"When the truth is found, I want Mireille to walk away from this world we live in. The trials, you and I now face, are preparing us for something I'm sure Chloe has told you by now."
"The trial I now undergo is for something bigger."
"The Grand Return."
"That is what she called it." Kirika looked down for a moment.
"Ask if you want, I won't mind."
"Do you care for Mireille?"
"Yes, but I can't be allowed to, just as I cannot be allowed to care for Faith or anyone else who might ignite anything in my heart. They will simply end up dead by my hand."
"What is the truth, Alexander?"
"I don't know even now, I can't see it yet, and I have the means to discover it. A part of me is afraid to look because of what might be behind that door. You and I have something to learn Kirika, and I can only guess when we reach the finality of our decisions and answers, we will be ready."
Kirika nodded before going inside. Mireille passed by her on the way and leaned against the railing watching the city.
Alexander moved so he was sitting on the railing beside her head, both staying quiet as the sun rose.
Reaching down, he silently took her hand and was not denied as the blonde squeezed his hand in a small show of affection. Alexander didn't know why he did it, and sadly, he couldn't deny it felt good. Mireille had similar thoughts, and for the first time in a while, was not reminded of her uncle's death.
"Merry Christmas, Mireille."
"Merry Christmas, Alexander."
The Manor
Altena smiled faintly as she and Chloe discovered an evergreen tree in the morning two days later in the den. The tree was decorated in an older fashion with candles and popcorn strings along with ornaments common for the age. A single candle holding angel rested at the top illuminating the presents beneath the tree.
Walking outside, she discovered a single figure sitting on the stone railing.
"I have a question." Alexander said as the woman joined him.
"Ask."
"Why do you favor me?"
She looked at him tilting her head to the side slightly.
"I know you are not fond of men, in fact, I believe you hate them with a passion but then that leaves me asking why. Why did you take me in and train me, or share with me about the grand return and the purpose of Noir, or even plan a destiny for me? I don't understand how you can stand my presence when you hate my gender so much."
Alexander would never admit it, but he was afraid of the answer he might get.
"I was there when you came into being, Alexander. I was the first sight your eyes took in, and saw you smile that first time. You were an innocent, and I saw in you the potential that you are so close to fulfilling. I hate men, this is true, I hate the corruption I see around me but I can never hate you, Alexander, because you are a son to me. Find the truth I left for you, and then come home to begin your destiny."
"Merry Christmas, Mother."
"Merry Christmas, Alexander."
Please read and review
Ending note 1: I have been making a typo since day one I think and if I have I apologize I think the name Althena was supposed to be Altena.
Ending Note 2: This is a bit of an AU because of Xander's presence but I am trying my best to keep things straight
Till next time