Part 5

Piper and Prue moved Phoebe's unconscious and pale form off the floor carefully placing her on the couch. Prue knelt beside her baby sister. This is not a sight she could ever get used to, one of her sisters looking so sick. She bent her head to Phoebe's ear, "Pheebes can you hear me? I want to wake up, okay. Phoebe, wake up. Please wake up."

Prue looked at Piper saying as calm as possible, "maybe we should take her to the hospital."

"She looks a lot better now but if she doesn't wake up soon I'll be the one dialing 911", Piper said running light fingers through her youngest siblings hair. Worry etched both of their faces. Phoebe had not woken up to her sisters' ministration and it was disturbing them greatly.

Their complete attention had not left Phoebe. The two sisters effectively ignored Leo while he stayed with Buffy. Both of them were now on the floor. Buffy had backed into the wall then slide down tucking her knees to her chest. Leo knelt beside her in an attempt to ease the pain. A pain he had caused with to many broken promises to count. He did it to Piper now Buffy.

He took away the pain the only way he knew how. He placed a hand to Buffy's head allowing the healing glow to emanate. The last time he had done this kind of healing in had back fired tremendously. He had been trapped away from his charge and not able to ease her back in the world as she was meant to be. The last time the girl under his healing glow nearly lost her mind and her self. That was not going to happen this time. It was a promise he planned to keep.

Leo kept his hand upon Buffy's head for a long while. The glow went unnoticed by the Halliwell sisters. Buffy was fighting Leo emotionally and mentally. She might not have meant to but she wasn't allowing him to help her.

When the golden glow finally ceased he told her, "Buffy, I am with you and I will not leave you again."

Briefly Prue's attention fell on Leo and the stranger. When she heard his last statement she became livid. He was speaking so tender to this strange woman proclaiming love or whatever to her. She wanted to put Leo's head on a platter and serve it to Piper. Coming to sister's defense as she always did she said, "Leo what is this! You son of a bitch!" Prue yelled moving quickly to the couple.

Piper stopped her, "Prue wait. You missed a lot before you came in."

Prue still looking pissed reluctantly did as she was asked, "okay tell me before I take his head off…both of them."

Leo looked startled by this announcement, "Whoa, Prue no need to get violent. There is an explanation for all of this."

"This better be good or I will hurt you", Prue told him honestly.

"It's not his fault", Buffy said after a long silence. She was getting to her feet.

"I'm listening", Prue said impatiently waiting for the logical reasoning for this situation.

"The simplest explanation is…Leo feels responsible for me because I am his charge."

"His charge?"

"Yes. He was my guardian angel before and then my teacher after I died."

"You died?"

"Yeah, you wouldn't believe that story even if I told you." Buffy paused thinking about the past couple of hours remembering Piper's freezing the scene outside and Phoebe's premonition. Shaking her head slightly she said, "Then again maybe you would."

Prue waited without a word. She was starting to be intrigue rather than angry with this young girl before her. It was hardly explainable now. But she did want to hear this outrageous story of how Leo met this tiny blonde girl claiming to have died and what had happened to Phoebe.

Buffy spoke quietly at first, "I am a Vampire Slayer. You really need Giles for this part. His delivery is so much more enthusiastic than mine ever could be. You have no idea how many times I wanted to quit but I the Slayer. I can't quit. Do you know how hard it is to save the world when you are a freshman in high school? I was 14 and knew then I would never live to see 20."

Just like that Prue's heart broke for girl in front of her. She didn't know if the story was true but the tone in which it was told was gut wrenching.

Buffy continued breaking through the older woman's thoughts, "into each generation there is a Chosen One. She alone will stand against the vampires, the demons and the forces of darkness…blah, blah, blah the Slayer is born. I heard so much I memorized it...most of it anyway. I never wanted this but I had no choice. You know I was different from the rest. I survived time after time. Giles told me I lived because I had friends and family. I lived because I loved and was loved. A Slayer is supposed to fight alone but I never did. I never had to…"

Prue interrupted when a thought struck her, "Slayer? Why does that sound so familiar?"

Buffy gave a slight shrug of her shoulders it was now her turn to wait. She would carry on with the story once she was permitted.

From behind them someone said in a hoarse voice, "Slayer? Wait you're in the book. It says you are a great force of good with strength beyond the supernatural but you're so…so little."

Prue turned around nearly yelling in surprise, "Phoebe you're awake. How do you feel?"

"I feel like I've hit by a 10 ton truck. I'm exhausted", Phoebe answered taking a deep steady breath and closing her eyes again.

"What happened? What did you see?" Prue asked anxiously.

"I don't know if I can explain it. When I touch her I had a…I don't know what I had. It was a premonition of nothing. It was like there wasn't a future to see. It was one of the strangest experiences I ever had. My entire brain filled with bright white light. It was painfully blinding but I couldn't let go. I wanted to but I was stuck there. After that I don't know."

Buffy broke it in saying, "you didn't see a future because I'm not supposed to have one. I mean who has a future after being dead for three months."

"Three months?" Phoebe asked excitedly forgetting how she was feeling.

"How did you come back?" Prue asked once again intrigued.

Buffy showed them the only smile she had given them all night. She felt calmer than she had in a very long time. To her surprise her anger and fear had drained away almost completely, "I had to fight a God but I lost. On a journey to find myself I found out that death was my Gift. At first I didn't understand but then I realized I wasn't afraid to die. I knew what I had to do. I willingly gave up myself to save my friends. I saved the world with my blood sparing my sister. My friends had a funeral. Then I was pulled from heaven to find myself buried alive and clawing my way out of the dirt."

"Do you know what brought you back?" Phoebe asked.

Buffy's answer was simple, "Willow…"