9

Willow, Dawn, Buffy, Angel, Spike and Giles were gathered haphazardly in Angel's office. Willow and Dawn sat on a couch, on either side of Buffy, unconsciously saving her from deciding which of the vampires she would sit with. It was a small gesture, but welcome nonetheless. Spike was perched on the arm of another couch, Angel leaned against the wall and Giles paced, nervously, every so often removing and cleaning his glasses. Finally, Buffy had had enough.

"Giles, I swear, if you keep doing that you won't have anything left to clean" Giles looked up, perhaps realizing for the first time what he was doing.

"Right, well, as I told Buffy on the phone, I've found something, I couldn't bring it with me because, quite frankly, I didn't think it would make the trip"

"What is it?" Dawn asked, gazing at the older British man with the same expression that the rest of the Scooby gang had adopted when dealing with the Watcher, attentive but with a hint of impatience.

"A document, it seems to be a prophecy. I don't know why I haven't heard of it before now; actually it seems no one has, it seems to be a lost prophecy and well, it concerns you, Buffy."

"Concerns me? Like mentions me by name?" Buffy asked, listening intently.

"Well, no, that would be quite impossible, no, if my memory serves, it says; 'A Slayer shall come, one that has embraced the face of death and of resurrection. A Slayer unlike any other, she will bestow upon the earth, a gift of unimaginable proportions, an overwhelming army of good. This Slayer will know the love of not one but two ensouled vampires, this love shall not last, as one of the vampires shall fall, strong in battle, and will bestow upon the Slayer a gift, known only once before. A gift that will change the face of the Earth.'" Here, Giles paused, gauging his listener's reactions. Buffy, looking thoughtful, exclaimed, half to herself.

"So this is what Anya meant" All eyes turned to her.

"Anya, isn't she . . . ." Angel began.

"Dead, yes" Buffy confirmed.

"So, does this mean the First is back?" Willow asked, fear flooding into her features.

'No, she wasn't part of the First, I could touch her. She said The Powers That Be sent her and she said . . . . She said there was a battle coming, one that I couldn't fight in, that I had to leave it to Spike and Angel and that one of them wouldn't make it."

"Did she mention anything about this gift they would bestow on you?" Giles asked, sitting down on the other arm of the couch that Spike was on.

"Yeah, kind of, she let it slip that whoever died would leave me something, something huge."

"But she didn't say what?"

"No, she was upset that she had let that much out. That wasn't what the Powers sent her for."

"What did they send her for?" Dawn piped up.

"To warn me that there was a big battle coming and that I couldn't fight in it, that it wasn't my battle and if I did fight, that I would be endangering mine and the lives of everyone close to me." Everyone looked thoughtful for a moment until Spike spoke up,

"Well, that's it then. We can't risk Buffy's life, she has to leave." Buffy's eyes widened in disbelief. Angel, from the corner, put in;

"I agree." For a second, it seemed as though Buffy would explode from disbelief.

"Okay, wait, what?" Angel and Spike exchanged glances, obviously mentally arguing over who would answer her, Angel won.

"Look, Buffy, if The Powers don't want you in this, then you can't be here." He said quietly.

"Since when do I ever do what other people want?"

"Buffy, this is different, we've all lost you too many times to count, the world needs you for something bigger and you can't risk your life by rushing blindly into battles where you don't belong." Angel pressed his point and moved closer to her, his eyes blazing with the infallible strength Buffy had always loved about him, now though it only annoyed her as she realized he wouldn't back down. Spike spoke up, quietly;

"You know, Luv, if you don't leave, we can use force, even you can't stand up against me and peaches over there." Buffy couldn't see Spike's downcast eyes so she couldn't tell if he was joking or serious. She decided to heed his warning, but gave one last feeble defense.

"Look, guys, I've died twice before, what's to say I won't come back again?" Giles' smooth accent cut into her argument like a knife.

"The prophecy" Buffy's brow creased with confusion.

"Excuse me?"

"The prophecy." The Watcher repeated, "It mentioned a Slayer that has embraced the face of death and resurrection twice, not three times, twice." The Slayer, in an instant, realized she was outnumbered; this was a fight she was not going to win. In the same moment, an overwhelming sense of grief swept through her, she had lost both vampires before but they had always come back, this time they wouldn't and there was nothing Buffy could do about it. Dawn, sensing her surrender and all the other emotions floating just beneath the surface, quickly grabbed her sister by the elbow and lifted her to her feet.

"I think it's time that we leave" her tone was full quiet confidence and everyone sensed it. Once on her feet, Buffy removed her arm from her sister's grip and moved over to where Spike and Angel stood, side by side. She laid a warm hand on either of their faces and smiled sweetly, forgoing a long-winded speech that would do nothing but make her departure even harder, she told them the only thing that she knew in her heart to be true.

"I love you, both of you and I'm sorry I can't be here to help you." Spike spoke, "You're always here, Pet" Angel finished Spike's train of thought, seamlessly.

"You're the reason we fight" Buffy smiled, despite all their fighting, in the end they were very much the same man.

"Okay, guys, enough with the sappy, I'm the verge of barfing here" Dawn said, from behind them, breaking the tension with child-like innocence. Still smiling, Buffy dropped her hands and walked out of Angel's office doors, a hundred years older than the first time she had entered them, just days ago.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

To Be Continued . . . . . . .