The next day there was no school, of course, since there was a giant hole in the wall of the building, doors were destroyed, and generally the school was a complete and utter mess and would take time to clean up. Not to mention there was to be an 'investigation' that would no doubt lead to authorities deciding this had been an incredibly elaborate student prank.

Ignorance is bliss, and all that.

I must confess I was rather exhausted after all the activity. I'd watched a friend die, come back to life, I'd watched the most powerful vampire fall (literally), I'd watched the Hellmouth itself open and close again.

I'd watched the end of the world, and I'd help stop it.

The knowledge that I'd helped prevent the end of the world, in whatever small way I had helped stop it, was a heavy one for me to grasp and mull over. I ran over the whole thing in my head multiple times, and the more I thought about it, the more incredible it seemed.

A Slayer, a Watcher, a teacher, two children, a vampire with a soul, and a half-vampire…except for two of those things, that wasn't exactly the concoction for a group of saviors, was it?

It was bewildering to think it was over. That the crisis had been averted, and no one was the wiser. Except for maybe Cordelia, but even that was questionable, given that it was…well, Cordelia.

I didn't realize I'd sat so long in contemplation that the end of the world had come and gone and we were all somehow still here. Even Buffy, who had literally died. When I looked at the boarded up window to my flat, I realized that light no longer peeked around the edge of the boards, which meant the sun had set.

I was hungry, and tired. I didn't feel like going hunting, which meant that the next best thing would be another raid on the hospital tonight.

The thought made me nervous. A part of me, the Essence part, no doubt, was excited at the thought of tasting human blood again, especially after so long of going without it, even if it wasn't exactly fresh.

Another part of me was afraid of what might happen.

Would I go into a frenzy? Surely not. But what if I did? What if after tasting the cold blood, the Essence would convince me that it would be a mercy to end the suffering of one of the patients who was trapped in a coma, or one of the elderly ones who continued to linger as little more than a vegetable?

I was afraid to risk it, but I needed to feed.

Maybe I would go hunting after all, though catching something would be difficult.

I sighed and stood up from my usual position on the floor in the corner of the room. I stretched, wincing as the still-tender flesh where the vampire had slashed me protested at being stretched so soon after healing. A side-effect of not feeding regularly.

When I emerged onto the sidewalk, the sun had set, but the sky was still dimly illuminated by the glow of the sun, and the dying colors were mingling softly with the darker blues of nightfall.

I was about to start walking towards the edge of town, when I heard a car door close, and a quick testing of the air proved it to be Giles.

Coming to a halt, I turned around and watched him approach.

He looked much better than he had yesterday, or the day before that, even. Some of the stress lines had receded, the dark spots under his eyes had all but disappeared, and he stood straighter when he walked, now. In short, he was turning back into the old Giles.

He didn't hurry to me, nor did he seem reluctant to approach. It was a calm, leisurely sort of gait. I smiled at him in greeting, and he returned it. Then I noticed he kept one hand behind his back.

He stopped in front of me, and for a moment neither of spoke, but just stood there, looking at each other. There was something important he wanted to say to me, I could tell by the way he was looking at me, but he didn't want to approach it right away.

Instead, he gave a slight cough, and pulled his hand out from behind his back and handed me something: a blood-pack.

I stared at it for a moment in surprise and then looked up at him with a raised eyebrow.

"I thought you might be needing something," he explained, "after all, last night was a bit strenuous on all of us. And you haven't been acting quite yourself, so I thought a change in diet might be the cause."

"How did you know I'd changed anything?" I asked, taking the blood-pack from him and sliding it into my pocket.

"I'm a Watcher," he said with a smirk, "I watch things, especially people close to me." He slid his hands into his pockets and started walking. I matched his pace.

"Are you all right?" he asked after a minute or so of comfortable silence. I nodded.

"I'm fine," I told him, "these past few months have just been….very different from what I'm used to." He nodded, but said nothing. He was waiting for me to continue, so I did.

"Before coming here, I was nearly always alone. And I liked it that way. It was less complicated, less traumatic." I sighed, "Every time I break that loneliness and acquire a friend, it always ends badly, sooner or later."

"Yes, I can't imagine it would be easy, living for as long as you have." Giles said sympathetically.

"I don't mean to complain," I said, "I'm sorry. It's not anything anyone can fix, really. I usually distance myself from people so I won't have to deal with the pain of losing them later. I suppose that's rather selfish, isn't it?"

"It's understandable." He said.

"But still selfish." I said with a smirk.

"Not at all," he said, "no more than it is to avoid a patch of stinging nettle because you don't want to get hurt." He glanced down at me, "But we have worried about you. When you began distancing yourself from us, I mean." He paused, "I know you came here because you felt drawn to the Hellmouth. Because of the Master, because of curiosity, because of…well, a myriad of things."

Giles slowed, and then stopped. He gazed at the ground for a moment, his jaw working though he didn't say anything.

"But the Master's gone now," he said finally, and looked at me, then, "so what does that mean for you?"

I confess the question took me aback. I hadn't really given it much thought. There had always just been another monster to face, another problem to overcome, another crisis to avert. I hadn't thought about what would happen once that was over.

But it was over, now, wasn't it?

"I-I don't know." I answered honestly, frowning. "I hadn't thought about it. Why?"

Giles licked his lips.

"Well," he said, "I couldn't help but wonder that now that the whole reason you came in the first place is gone, if that meant you would be gone now too?"

"You mean you think I should leave?" I said, my heart sinking.

"No!" Giles exclaimed, "No, that's not what I meant at all. No, I don't think you should leave, I was just wondering if you think you should leave. If you think there's a purpose for you here, or not."

I thought about it. What had my purpose been before?

I had never had a purpose. I had just…well, existed. Alone, reading, moving, keeping out of everyone's way and hoping to escape the notice of vampires and humans alike. Did I have a purpose now that the Master was gone?

Frowning, I turned away from Giles and stared out across Sunnydale.

"I don't know how to answer you, sir." I told him. "I don't know if I do anymore. Have a purpose or not, I mean."

There was a long silence.

"So you are leaving, then?" Giles asked. It could have been my wishful thinking, but I could have sworn I heard something akin to disappointment in his voice. I shrugged.

"I didn't say that," I answered, "but….I don't know of how much help I can be, now that it's all over."

"There will be new challenges in the future, no doubt," Giles said.

"I think Buffy has more than proven she's a match for whatever comes her way." I said with a proud smile.

"She has," Giles agreed, "but that doesn't mean she can't still use a friend at her side."

I arched an eyebrow at him. I liked to think of Buffy as a friend, but I still wasn't sure that to her I wasn't just an ally. The battle was over, and she may not have need for allies anymore. It was all so confusing. I didn't know what to think.

"Do you want me to leave?" I hadn't meant to ask it so directly, in fact I hadn't meant to ask it at all, but there it was. I was terrified of the answer, but there it was.

"Of course not," Giles said, and he meant it, "I want you to stay. If you want to, I want you to stay." I looked at him, almost afraid I'd imagined him saying it, "In fact I want very much for you to stay." He smiled softly at me.

"Why?" I asked, genuinely puzzled.

He blinked in surprise at me.

"Because you're my friend," he said, "why wouldn't I want you to stay? I understand how you might be afraid of close relationships with anyone, but if there's any way to convince you to stay, I'd like to try it."

"You really mean that, don't you?" I murmured.

"I do." Giles nodded.

Then a thought occurred to me.

"Giles, how did you know where I live?"

Giles blushed and chuckled awkwardly, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Willow told me." He said, "I wanted to talk to you privately, and school seems such a formal place to talk about anything." He glanced at me apologetically, "I hope you don't mind?"

"I don't get many visitors," I explained, "but no, I don't mind."

There was a long silence.

I didn't see any reason to stay, honestly. Yes I had friends here, but how long? How long would we be friends? How long before one of them was ripped from me? How long before I had to watch them all die off while I continued my plod through life?

My God, that was rather a selfish thought, wasn't it?

How would they feel if I disappeared on them? Would they think I'd held their companionship so lightly that I could discard it so easily?

It was quite a conundrum.

"If you did stay," Giles said quietly, not wanting to intrude on my thoughts, but still wanting to say his peace, "I was going to ask if you might like to stay with me?"

That got my attention.

I snapped my head up to look at him in bewilderment.

"Giles?" I questioned.

"In a strictly professional capacity, of course," he stammered, realizing how that might have sounded, "I simply thought you staying alone in…such a place," he glanced critically back at the dilapidated building, "might make you feel more alienated than you should. You're one of us, Margery, and you shouldn't have to feel so alone."

"Ergo I should live with you?" I asked.

He flushed.

"Well," he said, "you almost do now, don't you?"

He was referring to the countless nights we'd spent reading at his place, of course. He had a point; I spent far more time at his house and the Bronze, for that matter, than I did at my own 'home'.

"Point taken." I admitted.

"Oh," he said, in relief, and then frowned, concerned again in a flash, "you…you aren't…you didn't think I meant something else, did you?" he asked, "Did you…want something else?"

He looked confused, bless his dear heart. Confused, concerned, embarrassed, and trying so hard not to hurt my feelings.

"No," I said, "no I don't want something else." I smiled, and it must have been a sadder smile than I'd intended because his frown of concern deepened.

"Don't worry," I hurried to reassure him, "I've learned to stop expecting anything of…that sort, you needn't worry. And besides, that's not how I think of you." I took a deep breath, "You're the best friend I've ever had. That's how I think of you."

He looked relieved, and his old smile spread across his face again.

"I wouldn't stop expecting it altogether," he said, and I knew he meant to be encouraging, but he was barking up the wrong tree, "you're a lovely girl, after all."

"Look at me, Giles," I ordered him. He did.

"What do you see?" I asked. Confusion flickered in his eyes but he complied.

"I see a young girl, with-" I held up a hand, stopping him.

"That's it." I said, "Young. That's all anyone would see. It's what they would dwell on, when they were old and on their deathbed, they'd look at me and see a young girl. When they were older, more experienced in the world, they would look at me and see a young girl. Society would look at me and see a young girl with an older partner, and they would treat the partner with contempt and disgust." I shook my head.

"I wouldn't do that to anyone." I smirked, "Besides, I'm more than happy just having friends, now."

Giles frowned, wanting to protest what I'd just said, no doubt, but he saw the logic of it all too well, at the same time. He struggled internally for a moment, and then sighed and looked at the ground.

Bless him, he wanted to be my friend. He wanted to protect me from my own thoughts and feelings on how my existence was going to be. I'd never had anyone do that for me, or want to do that for me before.

I smiled at his consternation, then reached out and grasped the sleeve of his tweed jacket and gave it a playful tug.

He looked up at me, and took courage from my smile to smile back.

"I'll stay with you, Giles." I told him. A grin broke over his face, his countenance all but shone in excitement and he straightened.

"Then you'll stay after all?" he said, as though to be sure he hadn't heard right.

"I will." I said, and as I did, I couldn't help but think back to the times I'd drifted away from people, or lost them. Arthur Blake, Jack Thompson, and those who came before them. People I hadn't even mentioned to any of my current companions. Friends, people I had hoped I'd have some semblance of a normal future with: Garrett, Marcine, Miguel with his constantly perfect black hair, Rosa, Bertrand and his poetry, dear William, Oskar…so many I had lost.

"I suppose it's time I stopped running from the threat of pain." I added. "It hurts either way, doesn't it?"

Giles put a hand reassuringly on my shoulder, still beaming.

"I can't tell you how glad I am," he said, "I promise, you won't regret it. Willow, Xander, Buffy, they'll be just as ecstatic as I am." I smiled at his suddenly boyish enthusiasm.

"Do you need help packing your things?" he asked. I smirked.

"Other than a bag of spare clothes, I have nothing to pack." I told him. "Let me retrieve it," he said, "you go wait in the car and then I'll take you straight home and make us a pot of tea. How does that sound?"

I almost laughed at how excited he seemed. It was terribly endearing, I have to say.

"It sounds lovely, Rupert." I answered. "My flat is up there." I pointed out which one it was, and with a quick nod, he turned and strode quickly back to the building and disappeared inside while I made my way back to his car.

Perhaps I would live to regret this decision, but for the moment, I couldn't have been more happy.

(Okay guys, that was it for season 1! Thank you all so much for your support, for reading, for your reviews, you've all been really lovely and the best readers ever. I am planning on continuing the story, though I'm not sure if I should start it as a new story or just keeping adding it to this story, so let me know your thoughts on that. We'll do a makeshift straw poll lol. Anyway, again, thank you so much for reading, let me know what you think and what your opinions are on anything, really, and I'll see you in the future installments! Thank you!)