Chapter Four: Change
"Buffy," there was a voice that was very familiar. "Buffy!" The voice yelled.
Buffy knew that voice; it was her best friend Willow. Oh thank God! None of it was real. That other reality or was it a dream? In that split second, Buffy had decided it was a dream. There was Willow, Dawn, and Xander. Behind her was the bus and in front of her was what was left of Sunnydale. Oh Dawn…Buffy was so happy to see her stubborn-ass sister, Dawn. Willow was standing over her, as was Xander.
"What are we going to do now, Buffy?" Willow asked. "Are you okay?" Buffy had never been so happy to hear that question before.
Dear God she was not okay. That alternate reality really confused the hell out of her and even frightened her. Hell, Faith was her sister! That was totally unbelievable, right?! Buffy had wondered.
"Give her some air." Xander had said and both he and Willow backed up.
Buffy stood up and embraced Willow. Willow gasped out of surprise and Xander looked at Buffy with a smile. They had won the battle. It was finally, finally over and that deserved a victory hug. Inside the school bus there were injured people for sure, including Dr.-no, Mr. Wood, the man that Faith was starting to give a chance. Buffy was very happy to be back in the real world. This was her home, this was her life. She felt as though she was The Vampire Slayer again. She had never been so happy about the job that she could never escape from. Now she had Dawn to raise and she wanted Faith to take over for her, at least for a little while. Buffy scanned the heads on the bus to find her sister and she saw Dawn in the very back of the bus. Buffy smiled widely and walked quickly to the back of the bus. She sped her walk up a little to the point where she had knocked over one of the Slayers into a bus seat.
"Ow!" the girl yelled and Buffy ignored her. She was too concerned about getting to Dawn. Buffy finally was able to wrap her arms around her sister.
Dawn gasped, surprised by the humongous hug. She wrapped her arms around her sister. "I'm glad you're alive too Buffy," Dawn said. "I'm glad you made it out."
"Me too," Buffy said. "I'm glad that you're okay too. I mean, are you hurt?"
Dawn shook her head. "I mean I have a few cuts but nothing compared to Robin. He's hurt really bad."
Buffy looked up front and saw Faith anxiously trying to stop Robin's bleeding after he had just scared the crap out of her. Buffy smiled at her. That was the real Faith. Buffy remembered how Faith almost died. Well, okay, she had almost killed her. Buffy had put her in a coma and then a few months later, she came back and then wreaked some more havoc. Buffy hadn't been able to get over what Faith had done to her, hence why she had been so weird around her at the hospital. Buffy was confused again. There was no hospital. It was Andrew-Andrew! Buffy realized that she wanted to talk to him and maybe punch him a few times. Buffy turned to Dawn.
"I love you but I have to go do something right now. Is Andrew still outside with Xander?" She asked her. Dawn nodded and Buffy said, "Good." She opened the back of the bus and jumped a little so her feet landed on her ground. Buffy walked around the bus and spotted Andrew. She narrowed her eyes and tensed up.
"You," Buffy yelled and tackled Andrew to the ground. Andrew screamed like a little girl and Xander grabbed Buffy's arm. "You did this to me! It's another one of your magic tricks!"
"Buffy, Andrew hasn't done anything!" Xander yelled. Andrew's eyes welled up with tears and started to stream down his cheeks. She hadn't even started hitting him yet. Buffy turned to Xander.
"When I was unconscious, he made me believe that none of this was real again!" Buffy yelled at him. "And I want to know how." She turned to Andrew and held her fist up.
"I didn't do anything!" Andrew cried. "I swear it! I hung up my evil cloak when I completed my redemption!" He wailed.
Buffy felt dizzy and then all of a sudden the world around her had started to black out. Buffy fell on top of Andrew and woke up in the hospital. She gasped and tried to open her eyes, but nothing was happening. Open your eyes you idiot! Buffy thought and desperately tried to wake up before she was thrown into some other reality again. She hadn't wanted to leave. Buffy should have just ignored what Andrew had done and stayed with Dawn. She had tried to open her eyes one more time. This time she had been successful. The world reappeared only it wasn't what she had exactly wanted. Buffy was in the hospital room again and she was in her bed. She sighed heavily and tears welled up in her eyes. No, I am not going to cry. Buffy thought. Disappointment filled her soul. Was she going to be able to make it through this? Was this always going to happen when she had closed her eyes? Buffy wondered. Was this really the real world? Buffy had wondered.
No, Faith was not her sister, Giles was her Watcher, Dawn was her real sister, and all of them had just defeated the Hellmouth of Sunnydale. She smiled as she closed her eyes just for a moment. You never really know what you're going to get in life. Buffy thought. Buffy had not comprehended this life at all. If this was the real word, what was her past like? Was it the same past that she had known? Buffy had remembered that she had gone to high school in L.A and she was a really popular student at the school. Probably not the brightest, but life was most likely good. Buffy had smiled a little. Perhaps things were finally normal. After all, being The Vampire Slayer was not the best thing in the world. She had died twice and the people that she had loved kept dying; her mother, her father, Angel, Tara, and Spike…They were all gone.
In that other world those people were all gone. Were they here in this world? Buffy knew that her mother was in this world, which had made her extremely happy. The thought of her mother being alive was also direful. She had seen her mother go into the ground in her world; in her mind her mother had been dead for two years. Now the thought of her mother being alive was not a good thought. What if she was a zombie? No, if she were a zombie her mother would have had green and decaying skin. Her skin was healthy and normal so no zombie there. Buffy chuckled at that thought.
"Good morning Buffy," a familiar voice said. Buffy turned her head to see Dr. Wood entering her room. Buffy smiled and giggled. "What's so funny?"
"Oh it's just strange to see you in a doctor suit when you were just on a bus-"Buffy stopped in mid-sentence when Dr. Wood had looked at her strangely. "What?" She asked him.
"Buffy you and I have never met each other before yesterday." Dr. Wood told her. Buffy looked down at her hands and frowned. "What's the matter Buffy?"
"I guess I heard your voice when I was asleep?" Buffy had guessed.
Robin had considered it for a moment and nodded. "I guess so; even some doctors believe that coma patients can hear other people when they speak to them." Buffy had nodded in agreement.
"What are those?" Buffy asked Robin. She had looked at the manila folders in his hands and Robin smiled.
"These are your test results. There appears to be nothing wrong with you so you can go home today." Robin said.
Buffy was happy but nervous. She was scared all at the same time and there was a terrible knot feeling in her stomach. What if everything was different? Buffy had wondered. Well things were already different and she was going to see her parents today. Her heart jumped with joy but she kept to herself. She smiled at Robin.
"Thank you." She said.
Dr. Wood nodded. "Any time," he said. "We will see next week for a follow up and your sister is coming to get you." Buffy cringed and Dr. Wood noticed it.
"Is there something wrong?" Dr. Wood asked her.
Buffy shook her head. It was clearly a lie but Faith had walked into the room. Dr. Wood turned his attention to Faith. "Good morning Faith," he said. "How are you?"
"Good, I am here to pick up Buffy liked we talked about earlier. Mom and Dad couldn't come because they have work but they wanted me to tell you that they are really sorry they couldn't come but they will be home tonight." Faith said and walked closer to Buffy's bed. "I brought you some clothes. They're probably not your style but you don't have any recent clothes…"
Buffy nodded. "Thank you Faith." She said. It was so strange. Faith was being so nice.
"I will see you next week Buffy and congratulations on going home. It's finally nice to say you need to get out of here in a good way." Dr. Wood said and smiled.
Buffy smiled and nodded. She watched Dr. Wood leave the room and looked at Faith with caution. Buffy gladly took the clothes from Faith and walked to a place where she could change. She was happy to get out of this hospital gown. It smelled terribly. Oh God a shower sounded wonderful, Buffy would have felt like a millionaire if she was just able to take a shower. Buffy smiled as she slipped on some clean clothes. Buffy looked at her clothes once she had put them on. It was a red two inch tank top and a pair of jeans. Great, she had looked like an identical Faith. This was going to be fun, not. Buffy walked out and turned to Faith.
"This isn't really me." She said.
Faith frowned. "I know but mom promised that she would take you shopping on Saturday to get you some new clothes. That's all we have for now." She said.
Buffy felt a leap of joy inside her when Faith had mentioned shopping. Especially, since she had to buy a whole new wardrobe. What about her life now? Buffy wondered. Oh there were so many things that she had to do and that she wanted to do. Buffy was starting to like this life, but still she had wanted to pound Andrew. Okay, wrong choice of words. She had wanted to hurt Andrew really bad. Then Buffy thought of Dawn. A pinch of sadness hit her heart.
"Do you know where Dawn is?" Buffy asked Faith.
Faith looked confused. "Dawn?" She said and paused. It looked as though she was thinking, which Buffy had thought was funny. "Do you mean Dawn Harris?" She asked.
Buffy's mouth dropped. No…No…There was no way that Xander Harris had a daughter. There was just no way.
Faith looked strangely at her. "In L.A you used to babysit Dawn Harris. You became real good friends with the Harris'." She said.
"Who's her mom?" Buffy asked really fast.
"Oh you know that, it's Willow." Faith said.
Buffy was totally blown away at this madness. Willow and Xander were married and Dawn was there daughter. She had a lot of catching up to do. Her stomach felt sick and her bones ached.
"Can we go home now?" She asked. Faith nodded.
"I'll go request a wheelchair for you," Faith said. "No ifs ands or buts." She said and walked out of the room.
Buffy was glad to be rid of her. What was Faith's deal? She wondered. Faith hadn't seemed like a badass anymore. Faith was actually helping her and this whole world…It was unbelievable that Xander Harris and Willow Rosenberg were married. Okay that part was not unbelievable because where Buffy had come from; Willow and Xander had huge crushes on each other in the past. Apparently she hadn't made that all up in her head. Not too long after Faith had left, she had returned and with a wheelchair just like she had said she was going to get. Buffy sighed and looked at the thing. She felt so…Human.
Now she knew how Anya felt when Giles had destroyed her power source. The wheelchair just looked so tacky. There it was with black leather and metal wheels. Buffy took a deep breath and walked to it. She had wanted it to be night fall already. She missed her friends and her life. She felt old and crippled. Buffy had felt…Helpless. Buffy walked to the wheelchair and sat down. How was she getting home? Buffy had wondered. Buffy stared at her hands as Faith took her out of the hospital. She remained quiet and then the sun shone down on her. Buffy looked up and it was so bright. Her eyes stung and her skin tingled.
The sun was different and it had made her cringe. Buffy looked back down at her hands and legs. The sun felt hot on her jeans and it bothered her. She wanted to go home and sit in the air conditioned house. Faith finally brought her up to a car and Buffy was shocked when she had heard the familiar sounds of the unlocked button when the car was able to get into. Buffy looked at Faith.
"You can drive?" Buffy asked.
Faith looked at her and nodded. "Yeah, mom and dad needed another car and a person to do things for them." She said.
Buffy sighed and Faith helped her out of the wheelchair and into the car. It was going to be a long ride home. Faith buckled Buffy up and closed the door. She started the car and pulled out of the hospital's parking lot. Buffy was quiet the entire way home. Buffy looked at the house and smiled. It was that familiar house with the tree on the left in the front yard and the three square glass windows on the door. It was good to be home. Buffy had thought this place had been obliterated with the rest of the town. She was glad that it wasn't. Faith had pulled into the drive way and parked the car. Buffy looked at Faith.
"I think I need to rest. I'm very tired." She said.
Faith nodded. "Of course," She said and turned off the car. She pulled the keys out of the ignition and got out of the car.
It took awhile for the two girls to get to the house. Buffy wasn't feeling well and Faith was trying to be gentle. Once inside the house, Faith helped Buffy up and helped her up the stairs. Buffy had noticed that the house looked the same except Dawn's room was now Buffy's and there were more family pictures on the wall. Of course she wasn't in any of them because according to the doctors, she had been in a coma for the last seven years. Faith had taken Buffy to her room, but Buffy had stopped Faith. The room that used to be Dawn's room was now Faith's room and it was completely different. For one thing, the walls were crimson red. Most of the room was red and black.
She had a queen sized bed and it appeared that she had black sheets and her comforter was a golden comforter. The comforter had black winged skulls on the comforter and there were posters of several bands that Buffy hadn't recognized. So she had concluded the bands that Faith had liked were some heavy metal bands or punk music. Buffy wasn't sure. Buffy frowned as she looked at the room. She had so many plans for Dawn and now all those plans were down the drain.
"Is everything alright?" Faith asked her.
"That was Dawnies' room." Buffy blurted out. She hadn't meant to, the words just slipped out. She wondered what else had changed while she had been asleep. Faith sighed heavily, she had probably hurt Faith's feelings but at the moment, Buffy hadn't cared.
"Let's get you into bed." Faith said and walked Buffy to her room. Buffy looked at her bed and noticed it was the same as in your dreams. Her bedroom had not changed much at all; it was just her life that had changed. Faith pulled back the covers and then helped Buffy into bed. Faith pulled the covers over her sister's body.
"There, all tucked in." Faith said and smiled. It seemed as though Faith was proud of the job she had done. Buffy was too wrapped up in her own world to speak to Faith. She had wanted to remain silent. Faith sighed again. "Well, I will keep your door opened and my door opened, so if you need anything, just holler." She explained. "Are you hungry?" Buffy stared at her hands and nodded. "I'll make you some soup." Faith said and walked out of her room.
Finally, Buffy had thought. Buffy's heart ached as she thought about the final battle in Sunnydale that she had just fought. In her mind, Sunnydale had been destroyed. So all of this was very odd and it made her feel extremely uncomfortable. In her reality, she had gone through so much. Now that she had been awakened, she realized that none of the events that she went through were real. Buffy had technically been through nothing. She felt the tears form in her eyes. Faith was gone and that left Buffy to herself. Buffy let a few tears fall down her cheeks.
What she going to do now? Buffy wondered. She thought she had gone through college but in the real world she had never graduated high school and she had never even been to college. Buffy sighed heavily. What was a person going to do in this situation? Buffy had no clue. She wondered who her friends were and if she had a boyfriend before the accident. Was anything real? So far the people that she knew in her dreams were real in reality. That gave Buffy little comfort. At least she somewhat knew the people in real life. Buffy figured out that she had developed her friends based off of the people that she had known in real life. It made complete sense.
The telephone rang and it had made Buffy jump to high Heaven. Buffy's widened. She was never in Heaven. She wasn't expelled. That meant that she was able to go to live in paradise after she was free of this life. That note had made her feel so much better. Perhaps there were benefits to being awakened after all. There was a small ray of sunshine that made Buffy half smiled. She heard Faith run up the stairs and put on a good face for her sister.
Buffy looked at her door and saw Faith standing in the middle of the threshold with a tray in her hands. There was a bowl and Buffy could see the steam coming from the bowl.
"I brought you a bowl of a soup." Faith said and walked over to Buffy. "I remember that your favorite chicken and stars. Did I get it right?" She asked and walked closely. Buffy nodded.
Faith walked closer and gently put the tray on her bed. Buffy looked at her. "Thank you Faith." She had said. Faith sighed.
"Why do you look at me like that?" Faith asked.
Buffy was taken aback by the question. "What do you mean?" She asked even though she knew what Faith was clearly talking about.
"I mean that look," Faith said. "You look at me like you're worried that I might snap or something," She explained. "I mean you give me a look of disgust."
Buffy sighed. It was hard to describe. She had tried to keep her feelings about Faith hidden but apparently she had figured her out. "It's not your fault." Buffy had said. "You've been nice to me really, nice."
"Don't you remember me?" Faith asked. Buffy turned to her. She looked at her eyes and Faith looked really hurt. For once in her life, Buffy had thought that she had seen humanity in Faith's eyes. That made it all that much harder to tell Faith what had really happened her in her mind. So Buffy had decided to lie.
"Of course I remember you." Buffy told her. She had remembered her, just not in the way that Faith had hoped.