Title: Relative Ease

Author: Jade Hunter

Disclaimer: None of the characters or properties of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Highlander belong to me.

Prompt: 002 - Death.


The first time she saw him come back to life, she locked herself in the bathroom. It took him an hour to coax her out, and even then she wouldn't tell him what was wrong. He knew better than to push, of course, being the oldest man alive and all, and she was grateful for that much, at least. She didn't think he would understand why exactly his return from death had affected her so much, didn't think she could explain it properly to him.

It had been so easy for him.

He'd just taken a sharp breath, stood up, dusted himself off, and that had been that - no muss, no fuss, ready to go on with life once again. Death was a part of him. Not in the way that he had been Death once, but in the way that he often found himself coming back from the dead. It was easy for him, because it was a relief. He liked not being dead, and every time he came back, he breathed a little sigh of relief.

The first time, she'd been like that, too. A little more freaked out about the fact that she'd been dead, but she had been glad that she was still alive.

The second time... That hadn't been easy at all. It still wasn't easy. It had been years, but she still woke up every morning and found herself just a little bit depressed as she went through her morning routine. She no longer wanted to die, that was true, but that didn't mean she'd forgotten the time when she came home from patrol disappointed that she was still alive. She had stopped dwelling on it, true, but she had never stopped hurting. She tried not to think about it, but, deep in side, she knew that the hurt was a wound she would carry for the rest of her life.

However long that may be.

She loved him. She knew that. He understood what it was like to have something inside of you that craved blood; it was a different kind of monster, for him, one he wasn't proud of, but he knew it was different, and didn't make her feel ashamed for being the Slayer. He didn't expect her to be cheerful every day, let her do stuff like lock herself in the bathroom for hours without getting frustrated, and he knew when to be there for her and when to give her space. She loved him, because he understood her. She loved him because he made her laugh.

But a part of her resented him, because it was so easy for him.

A sharp breath, and then he was ready to go on with life again.

He didn't know. It wasn't his fault that he didn't know, death is not supposed to be easy, not supposed to be something you wake up from and shrug off, and she hated it when it happened because he made it look easy.

It wasn't.


FIN.