Chapter 13: Epilogue
It took Felicity about two weeks before she was ready to go ahead with Xander's eye implant. She refused, though, to do it herself. Instead, they made the trip to Central City, and Caitlyn did it with Willow assisting. Everything went perfectly.
Xander was amazed at the eye. It was weird at first because he had so many levels of sight in the eye. He could see in x-ray or heat scan. It was a great asset when trying to detect the undead.
When Buffy and Faith came to see him, Faith joked, "Now you really are The One Who Sees!"
The more he used the eye, the more apparent it was that his title was correct.
Diggle became Spartan. And Felicity…
She fell in love again. This time with a man who wasn't afraid to love. A man who didn't try to shield her from the darkness. Instead, he stood next to her. As she grew in her own power, learning to control her newfound magic, Xander never wavered.
Xander didn't push her. He knew her a few months before he kissed her for the first time on his birthday. He waited two months more before he took her to bed. Felicity loved his patience. It was vast—almost too vast. She was ready to seduce him a week before he planned a special getaway for them.
They went to Vegas and met her mother. Through his eyes, Vegas was a whole new place for Felicity, and she enjoyed showing him her childhood home. It was the perfect weekend.
Six months after he met her, they were living together. Star City was now his home. Willow had a room in their house, but she spent half her time in Ohio or England.
After defeating Damien, things in Star City began to take a turn for the better. The slayers learned how to not just defeat the supernatural but stop crimes in progress. The police appreciated their assistance.
However, Xander decided that he would not just help SCPD, but he and the few slayers still in town joined the police academy. Giles saw the wisdom in it and supported the plan. Always working around the local police was becoming problematic. Giles decided that if slayers could successfully work as police officers in Star City, he might try it in other cities. They would no longer have to cultivate relationships with the local police if they had slayers on the job. This meant, though, a few extra slayers would be moved to those cities like Star City to pick up the late-night patrolling slack. If they had to clock in for a day job, they could not always be up so late as slaying demanded.
Thea flourished under all the slayers staying in her old home. She still couldn't bring herself to live there, but now she could be there and remember the times with her parents and Oliver without so much pain. Eventually, she and Roy were back together, stronger than ever. Life was good again for all of them.
Laurel lived at the Queen mansion with the slayers. She became the house mom and was surprisingly good at it. Not being able to go out in the daytime was hard for her. A visit from Angel, another vampire with a soul, put things into perspective. Helping the slayers in late afternoons and evenings gave her purpose. Patrolling with them at night, though, was what she lived for. Her new life wasn't what she wanted, but it was bearable. The guilt of killing her own father was her constant companion. She had a lot to atone for.
She gave her apartment to Sara, who stayed there when she wasn't with Willow travelling to hotspots. They were taking things slow, but Willow was hard to resist. Sara was seen smiling by more than one person who lived to repeat the tale.
A week after, Felicity and Xander moved into their new place, Xander came home to find that Felicity had cooked dinner.
"This is a nice surprise," Xander said.
"Don't get used to it!" Felicity warned.
"You can cook? How did I not know that?" Xander asked in awe as he picked up a lid to see what was cooking. None of his girls could cook—although Willow could bake cookies when she wanted to.
"I can do lots of things," Felicity said smugly. "Who do you think did all the cooking growing up? You met my mother."
Xander laughed. "I adored your mother! I wish she was my mother!" he exclaimed.
"She loved you, too," Felicity said.
"I'm very lovable," Xander said with a grin as he wrapped his arms around Felicity as she stirred the sauce on the stove. He planted a kiss on her neck.
Felicity surprised him by turning in his arms. "I love you," she said.
Xander blinked in surprise. She had never said the words before even though they had gotten the place together. Xander had simply said the words to her and asked her to move in with him. He never waited for her to say them back, knowing she'd say them when she felt ready. Her love was obvious to him, so the words weren't needed.
Xander knew that she needed to feel completely secure before she could say the words. She had loved Oliver, and he left her. It didn't matter that he'd been killed defending his sister. Unconsciously, she felt abandoned. Xander saw this, so he hadn't been hurt that she withheld the words.
Hearing her say it now, though, was the best thing. With Anya, he'd been too young. Now, he was ready. She was his present and his future.
"I love you, too," he said.
Then he pulled her in for a kiss.
*****THE END*****
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