"Restless"
Based on the Episode Written by Joss Whedon
The following story is copyright © 2024 by Mark Moore.
Buffy unlocked and opened the front door of her house and walked inside, carrying a suitcase. Tara followed her, carrying a suitcase in one hand and Miss Kitty Fantastico's carrier in the other hand. Giles, Jenny, Amy, Katrina, Harmony, and Sandy followed her inside. Sandy closed and locked the door.
"Mom, we're home!" Buffy called, setting her suitcase down by the stairs.
Tara set her suitcase down as well.
Joyce walked out of the kitchen. "Buffy, Tara, welcome home. And you brought...friends."
Miss Kitty Fantastico meowed.
"And a...cat."
Tara smiled and held the carrier up to Joyce's face. "Her name is Miss Kitty Fantastico."
Joyce smiled. "Well, it's very nice to meet you, Miss Kitty." She looked at Tara and Buffy. "You adopted a cat?"
Buffy grinned and nodded. "Uh-huh."
Joyce sighed. "Are you going to take care of her?"
"Uh-huh. Her litter box is in the van."
"Fine. You can set it up in your room."
"Cool. Oh, she's an indoor cat only, so be careful whenever you open the door. She's a sneaky cat."
"Understood." Joyce looked at everyone. "I'm afraid that I don't have dinner ready. I wasn't expecting you so soon or...so many of you."
Tara smiled. "We're not that hungry, Ms. Summers, but thank you."
"Do you have any popcorn?" Sandy asked. "I can pop some."
"Sure. Uh, sorry, what's your name?" Joyce asked.
"Sandy."
"Oh. You're the-"
"Vampire, yeah."
"Do you...require blood?" Joyce asked her.
"No. Thanks."
"Whew. 'Cause...I don't have any. Follow me."
Sandy followed Joyce into the kitchen.
Buffy headed for the front door. "Okay, while the popcorn's being made, I'll get the litter box, so we can let Miss Kitty out, and she can explore her new home, and I'll take our suitcases up to our room."
Sandy and Joyce walked out of the kitchen, Sandy holding the bowl of popcorn. She set the bowl on the coffee table.
Buffy, Tara, Katrina, and Amy sat on the couch, Amy in Katrina's lap, Tara sandwiched between them and Buffy. Giles sat in the chair to Buffy's right, and Jenny sat in his lap. Harmony and Sandy grabbed cushions from the couch, set them on the floor in front of the coffee table, and sat down. Miss Kitty hopped into Buffy's lap, kneaded her pants and shirt for a while, and eventually curled up.
Joyce smiled. "Well, good night."
Amy smiled. "Let the vid-fest begin."
"You sure you won't join us?" Giles asked Joyce.
"No, you guys have your fun. I'm tired." Joyce smiled at them as she climbed the stairs.
Harmony reached behind her and grabbed a handful of popcorn. "I'm glad that our freshman year is finally behind us."
"Yeah, it did seem to drag, didn't it?" Sandy asked. "I'm looking forward to seeing what's next."
"What kind of vids did you get?" Buffy asked Amy.
"Some Japanimation movies." Amy set the VHS tapes on the coffee table one at a time after she read the titles. "GoShogun: The Time Étranger. It's about a woman named Remy Shimada that lies on the brink of death and has to wage battles for survival within her mind. Megazone 23, Part One. It's a sci-fi film of some kind. Any order preference?"
The others shook their heads. Amy picked up the second tape, took the cassette out of the box, stood up, walked over to the VCR, and inserted the tape. She resumed her seat on Katrina's lap. Buffy picked up the TV remote control, turned on the TV, and switched to channel 4. She set the remote control back on the coffee table.
Everyone soon fell asleep.
Buffy found herself sitting with Tara on their bed upstairs. Miss Kitty was playing with a ball of red yarn between them.
"I don't wanna leave here."
"Why not?" Tara asked her.
Buffy stood up, looking down at Tara. She turned away, toward a dark red curtain, and walked over to it. "It's so bright."
She pulled back the curtain to reveal a brightly-sunlit desert. The light fell on Tara, who looked over.
Buffy looked back at Tara, still holding the curtain open. "And there's something out there."
She looked at the desert and saw straggly plants and rocks. She briefly saw something - or someone - moving, then it was gone.
"Who's going to look after him?" Faith asked.
Buffy turned around. Faith was sitting on the bed, playing with Miss Kitty.
"It's a she."
"Aren't these things supposed to take care of themselves?" Faith asked.
"She can." Buffy smiled in pride. "She's a warrior kitty."
Miss Kitty stalked forward toward Buffy.
Buffy was standing on the street outside her house. Night was falling. She was waiting for Tara. She could see and hear various children, running back and forth and playing.
Eventually, Tara came around. She and Buffy hugged each other and kissed on the lips.
Buffy and Sandy were hanging out in Sandy's living room.
Buffy looked at a portrait of Sandy on the wall. "Is this you?"
"Considering that's my graduation photo that was done at Sears, yeah, that is me."
"Okay." Buffy looked at an earlier portrait of Sandy. "Is this you?"
"I believe so." Sandy paused. "Or, at least, I like to think so."
Buffy looked at her. Sandy grinned, baring her fangs, and laughed.
Buffy and Katrina were standing in Katrina's living room. In front of them, Katrina's parents were sitting on the couch. Katrina and Amelinda were sitting on the floor, in front of the couch. The entire Silber family was watching TV.
"What is this?" Buffy asked Katrina.
"The Berlin Freedom Concert - Christmas Day, 1989. Beethoven's Symphony No. 9. It was performed in East Berlin's Konzerthaus as part of the celebrations following the fall of the Berlin Wall the month prior. My parents, sister, and I watched it live - along with around one-hundred-million people in more than twenty countries." Katrina smiled. "It sparked my interest in classical music. Freiheit, schöner Götterfunken. Tochter aus Elysium, wir betreten feuertrunken, himmlische, dein Heiligtum. Deine Zauber binden wieder, was die Mode streng geteilt; alle Menschen werden Brüder, wo dein sanfter Flügel weilt."
Buffy smiled. "You have a pretty voice."
"Thanks. Do you like Chopin?" Katrina asked her.
Buffy found herself standing in a concert hall. The place was packed. A full orchestra was present. She saw Katrina standing on the stage with some other people. Katrina looked very nervous.
Buffy was standing in an arena of some kind. She looked and saw Cordelia sitting on a throne. She was dressed as a queen and wore a crown.
Suddenly, Buffy heard a loud pop behind her. She turned around.
Katrina was standing there, dressed like a maid. She poured Champagne from a bottle into a glass. Katrina raised a toast with a smile.
Buffy walked into a beam of light, and Tara was there. There was nothing beyond but darkness.
Tara frowned. "You don't understand yet, do you?"
Buffy frowned, looked around, and looked back at Tara. "Is there something following me?"
Tara nodded. "Yes."
"Well, what, uh, what should I do? I..." Buffy paused. "What's after me? Is it something I-I was supposed to do? W-Was I supposed to-"
"Shh." Tara looked around.
Buffy looked around and heard a buzzing noise. "What was that?"
Tara looked worried.
Buffy looked over her shoulder. She turned back, and Tara was gone.
"Tara?" Buffy asked, scared. "Tara, okay, this really isn't fu-"
A stake or dagger slashed through the air right by her face. She gasped and turned away. A hand covered in rags reached out of the darkness and tried to grab her. She was knocked to the floor. She screamed and covered her head with her hands. Another hand reached for her.
"Buffy! Pay attention!" Cordelia yelled.
"Cordy?" Buffy asked. "Oh, God."
"Come on." Cordelia helped her up and into the darkness.
They were in a hotel lobby, behind the check-in desk.
"Stay low."
They crouched down and creeped.
"What did it look like?" Cordelia asked.
"I don't know. I-I don't know what's after me."
"Well, you must have done something." Cordelia frowned in disapproval.
"I-"
"Excuse me."
"Shit." Cordelia stood up and faced the young blonde woman standing in front of the desk. "Hi, Amber. Whitney called. She wants you to call her back."
"Okay, thanks. Who's your friend?"
"Oh, nobody important. Yesterday's news."
Buffy stood up, irritated. "Thanks." She turned and walked away.
Buffy was standing on a sidewalk. Harmony walked out of a building.
"Buffy, what are you doing?" Harmony asked. "You're supposed to be on the rooftop with the others, posing dramatically."
"Huh?"
Suddenly, the building came crashing down.
"That rooftop?" Buffy asked incredulously.
"No, silly!" Harmony shoved Buffy.
Buffy was standing on a rooftop with a lot of women. She didn't recognize most of them, yet she did.
Faith stood to her right. "Give the word, Buffy."
"Huh?" Buffy asked.
"See? Isn't everything very clear now?" Harmony asked.
"What?" Buffy asked.
Tara stared at her. "Chase the wind and seize hold of love before this pale city crumbles away to nothing."
Buffy shook her head. "I don't understand."
Faith looked up and pointed. "Look up. The sky is falling."
Before Buffy could look up, something knocked her down. She screamed, and the attacker growled. The creature/person attacking Buffy had dark skin, feral eyes, and long, matted dark hair and was wrapped in rags. It bent as if to bite her neck. Buffy kicked the creature off her, stood up, ran, and jumped off the rooftop.
Buffy suddenly sat up. "I'm awake. I'm good. Did I miss anything?"
Giles was eating popcorn. "Not very much at all, really."
Amy was eating popcorn. "Bunch of massacring. Want some corn?" She held out the bowl to Buffy.
"Butter flavor?" Buffy asked.
"New car smell."
"Cool." Buffy leaned forward to take a handful.
Her hand grasped air.
Buffy was standing in the middle of a valley. The grass was a bright green. On five hilltops stood Tara, Amy, and three other women that Buffy didn't recognize.
"Are we ready?" Amy asked Tara.
Tara sighed. "As ready as we'll ever be, I guess."
Buffy noticed movement on the ground and looked down. A turtle slowly crossed her path.
Buffy watched it. "See the turtle; ain't he keen? All things serve the fuckin' Beam."
Buffy was standing at the base of a large metal tower. She was gripping a knife in her left hand, which was covered in blood. She dropped the knife in disgust.
Jenny stared at her accusingly. "How could you?"
"Quite easily."
"You killed him!" Jenny screamed.
Buffy and Anne were walking through East Hills Teen Center. All around them were teenage girls, talking over each other.
"I gotta hand it to you, Buffy; you sure do know how to overcomplicate a situation."
"But you can handle them, right?" Buffy asked her.
Anne shrugged. "Barely."
Buffy was standing in her bedroom.
Tara walked inside and pulled Buffy close to her. They hugged each other and started dancing, though Buffy could hear no music.
As they danced, Tara started to lift Buffy into the air. They passed through the ceiling without destroying it, and soon they were rising through the night sky.
Around and around, they spun, the stars above them seeming to spin as well.
Buffy and Sunday were sitting on a blanket in front of the fireplace in Sunday's mansion. They were eating spicy buffalo wings.
Buffy smiled. "I like what you've done with the place."
Sunday smiled. "I do have quite the talent for interior decorating."
Buffy was in a hallway at Sunnydale High School, but the colors were all weird. Everything was purple and green. Buffy heard weird noises like microphone feedback. Buffy pushed her way past students talking in the halls. Looking over her shoulder, she could maybe see something through the other students' legs, chasing her.
"Giles."
Giles was leaning against a wall, dressed casually, holding an apple. "Buffy, what are you doing here?"
"What's after me?"
"It's because of what we did, I know that." Giles took a bite of the apple.
Buffy shook her head in confusion. "What we did?"
"Hm. Now, the others have gone on ahead." Giles pointed down the hall. "Now, listen very carefully. Your life may depend on what I'm about to tell you. You need-"
Around a corner, she saw the same dark-haired person/creature from earlier. It was crawling or crouching behind a trellis. It growled. Buffy backed away.
She was in the courtyard outside Giles' apartment. She ran to Giles' door, opened it, and entered.
"Giles, it's here!" Buffy yelled.
"It's more serious than we thought."
"I can fight anything. Right?" Buffy asked.
Jenny looked from Buffy to Giles. "Maybe we should slap her."
Buffy ran past them, down the hall,-
-and found herself in the Bronze. Young people were talking, laughing, and drinking. The stage was lit, but there was no band, and she heard no music.
Buffy spotted Jenny and Giles and walked toward to a couch, where they were sitting, looking at old magic books.
"Rupert."
Giles turned to look at Jenny.
"You've gotta focus. You must have some kind of explanation. If we don't know what we're fighting, I don't think we stand a chance."
Giles frowned and began to sing: "It's strange; it's not like anything we've faced before." He got up.
Suddenly, there was a piano player and a guitarist on stage, accompanying Giles' song. People applauded as Giles walked toward the stage.
"It seems familiar, somehow. Of course!"
Drums started up. Buffy saw there were both a guitar player and a bass player.
Giles grabbed the microphone. People cheered enthusiastically.
"The spell we cast with Buffy
Must have released
Some primal evil
That's come back seeking...
I'm not sure what.
Jenny, look through the Chronicles
For some reference
To a warrior beast.
I've got to warn Buffy.
There's every chance she might be dead.
And Buffy,
Help Buffy...
And try not to bleed on my couch;
I just had it steam-cleaned."
The music slowed. People in the audience were smiling, swaying, and holding up lighters.
"No, wait..."
There was loud feedback. The microphone went dead, and the band stopped playing. Giles was confused.
"You suck!" Buffy turned and stormed off in disgust.
"Buffy! Wake up!" Veruca yelled.
Buffy opened her eyes. She was laying on her bed in her dorm room, on her side, facing the unused bed, which Veruca was laying in, under the covers. Buffy frowned.
"Buffy, you have to wake up right away!" Veruca yelled.
"I'm not really in charge of these things." Buffy closed her eyes.
"Please wake up. Oh, please."
Buffy opened her eyes. "I need my beauty sleep. So stop it, okay?" She rolled over, onto her back.
The creature was hanging from the ceiling above her. It snarled at her.
Buffy sat up in her bed at home, startled. The covers were rumpled around her. She lay back.
Buffy was standing in the doorway of her bedroom, looking at her bed.
"Faith and I just made that bed."
"For who?" Tara asked.
Buffy frowned and looked to her left. "I thought you were here to tell me."
"You think you know...what's to come...what you are. You haven't even begun."
Buffy looked at the bed, which was now neatly made.
Buffy frowned. "I think I need to go find the others." She left the room.
"Be back before Dawn."
Buffy found herself in a school hallway. She couldn't tell if it was Sunnydale High or UC Sunnydale. It seemed to have elements of both. Buffy walked through the halls, wearing a flowered dress and sandals.
"Have you seen my friends?" Buffy asked a random guy walking past.
He shook his head and walked on.
"They wouldn't just disappear." Buffy looked around, walking down the hall.
She saw a row of lockers. Suddenly, Buffy noticed a hole in the wall. The plaster was torn back, revealing a layer of bricks with a face-sized hole.
Buffy walked over to it. "Mom?"
Joyce's face appeared in the hole. "Oh, hi, honey."
"Why are you living in the walls?"
"Oh, sweetie, no, I'm fine here. Don't worry about me."
Buffy frowned, trying to see inside the hole. "It looks dirty."
"Well, it seems that way to you." Joyce smiled. "I made some lemonade, and I'm learning how to play mah-jongg. You go find your friends."
"I-I think they might be in danger."
Joyce started to laugh. Buffy was confused.
"I-I'm sorry, dear." Joyce giggled. "Um, a mouse is playing with my knees."
"I-I really don't think you should live in there."
Suddenly, she looked over and saw Tara climbing up some stairs. They looked like the stairs leading to the library at UC Sunnydale.
"Well...you could...probably break through the wall."
Buffy walked toward the stairs and climbed them.
Buffy found herself staring through a glass window into a hospital room. Her friends were gathered around a bed, all looking mournful. A figure lay there. She was hooked up to a machine and an IV bag. Her face was covered with a large oxygen mask, obscuring her features, leaving only her messy hair visible. The machine, monitoring her heartbeat, suddenly flatlined. Dawn buried her face in Tara's neck, sobbing.
Even though she couldn't see the face, Buffy knew the dead woman was herself. "In 24 hours, they'll be laying flowers on my life."
She turned away from the horrible scene.
Buffy was on a small ship in the middle of the sea, feeling alone. A storm was raging. The sail was raised. Waves crashed against the ship.
Buffy reached out with her left hand. "Tara! Help me!"
"I'm here, Buffy."
Buffy's spirits lifted.
Tara walked to her on the water. "Have faith." She grabbed hold of the bow. "I'll bring you home."
Buffy walked slowly down a hall. Riley and another man were sitting at a conference table, facing each other, in a room with high ceilings and plain gray walls. On the left wall was a big map of the world; on the right, a row of cabinets. There were two empty chairs.
Riley looked at Buffy. "Hey there, killer."
"Riley? You're back."
"I never left."
Buffy walked closer. "But how did the debriefing go?"
"It went great. They made me Surgeon General."
Buffy was surprised.
Riley was wearing a suit. He looked at the other man. "We're drawing up a plan for world domination." He looked back at Buffy, pleased. "The key element? Coffeemakers that think."
Buffy frowned. "World domination? I-Is that a good?"
"Baby, we're the government." Riley swung around in his chair to strike a James Bond-like pose. "It's what we do."
On the glass tabletop, Buffy saw a handgun.
The other guy was wearing a suit, too, with no jacket. "She's uncomfortable with certain concepts. It's understandable. Aggression is a natural human tendency." He looked at Buffy. "Though you and me come by it another way."
Buffy frowned. "We're not demons."
"Is that a fact?"
Riley sighed. "Buffy, we've got important work here. A lot of filing, giving things names."
Buffy looked at the other guy. "What was yours?"
"Before Adam?" He shook his head. "Not a man among us can remember."
Suddenly, the lighting turned blue. Buffy looked around. In the background, she saw shadows moving; she heard noises like emergency doors slamming shut.
"The demons have escaped. Please run for your lives."
At the computer's announcement, Adam looked at Riley. "This could be trouble."
He and Riley stood.
"We better make a fort."
Adam nodded. "I'll get some pillows." He left.
Buffy was very nervous. She looked down and saw her weapons bag laying at her feet. She looked up, gasping anxiously. "Wait! I have weapons!"
Riley was wearing regular civilian clothes. "Thought you were looking for your friends. Okay, killer...if that's the way you want it. I guess you're on your own." He walked off.
Suddenly, a beam of sunshine lit Buffy. She walked off.
Buffy walked along a hallway, which turned to rippled sand like on a beach. She walked past a palm tree and was in the desert from before; rocks, scraggly bushes, and sand surrounded her in every direction. There were mountains in the distance. Buffy walked down a hill. A breeze ruffled her hair and dress. Annoyed, Buffy kicked off the sandals and slipped the straps off her shoulders. Her dress fell to her feet, and she stepped out of it, leaving herself naked. She dug her toes into the sand as she walked.
Joyce appeared before her. "Don't hang on."
She turned to dust, and the wind blew her away.
Buffy sighed. "I'm never gonna find them here."
She looked up and saw Tara far off, walking toward her. Tara was naked.
"Of course not. That's the reason you came."
Tara faded out and reappeared closer, then this repeated. She stopped walking. Buffy and Tara stood about thirty feet apart, facing each other, with miles of desert stretching out behind them.
"You're not Tara."
"I am, but I was also borrowed." Tara suddenly wore a gold necklace.
"You borrow everyone else?" Buffy asked her.
"At times."
"Who are you?"
"I am."
Buffy frowned at her, unsatisfied.
"I could light the night up with my soul on fire. I could make the sun shine from pure desire."
"What is your name?" Buffy asked, irritated.
"If you insist on a name, you may call me Rio." The Lady danced on the sand.
Buffy watched her for a while.
The Lady stopped dancing and looked at her. "Do you have any other questions, Operator 7G?"
"Why are you here?"
"Someone has to speak for her."
"Let her speak for herself. That's what's done in polite circles."
The creature moved around to in front of Buffy. It was a dark-skinned woman with dreadlocks and long, sharp fingernails. Her face was painted with white or grayish paint, lines of black paint across her eyes, and she wore rags. She crouched low and walked around Buffy like a wild animal. She looked like a cavewoman.
"Why do you follow me?" Buffy asked her.
The woman shook her head.
"'I don't.'"
"Where are my friends?"
The woman backed away from Buffy, still crouching down low.
"You're asking the wrong questions."
"Make her speak."
The woman shook her head again.
"'I have no speech. No name. I live in the action of death, the blood cry, the penetrating wound.'"
The woman straightened up and looked Buffy in the eyes.
"'I am destruction. Absolute. Alone.'"
Buffy frowned. "The Slayer."
"The First."
"I am not alone."
"'The Slayer does not walk in this world.'"
Buffy frowned. "I walk. I talk. I fuck. I shop. I sneeze. I'm gonna be a firefighter when the floods roll back."
The woman lifted her chin in anger.
"There's trees in the desert since you moved out."
The woman shook her head.
"And I don't sleep on a bed of bones. Now, give me back my friends."
"No...friends! Just the kill. We...are...alone!"
Buffy had had enough and nodded resolutely. "That's it. I'm waking up."
The woman attacked her, pushed her to the ground, and tried to bash her head on it. African drum music began playing. Buffy rolled the woman off her and kicked at her. They both got up. The woman punched her. Buffy fell backward from the punch. The woman tried to punch down, but Buffy rolled to her feet and kicked her in the back. She kicked again, but the woman ducked. Buffy punched her. The woman fell backward from the punch and started to get up. There was one last drum beat. The woman got up. She and Buffy faced off.
Buffy shook her head. "It's over."
The woman shook her head.
"We don't do this anymore."
The drums began again. The woman grabbed her again, and they rolled down a sandy hill, clutching each other and rolling over and over as the drums continued.
"Enough!" Buffy yelled.
Buffy woke up on the living room floor. She lifted her head and looked around. Everyone else was sleeping in their spots. Buffy groaned and started to get up. With a growl, the woman landed atop Buffy and started stabbing repeatedly at the floor with her stake.
Buffy lay underneath the woman, rolling her eyes. "Are you quite finished?"
The woman pulled her stake out of the floor.
"It's over, okay? I'm going to ignore you, and you're going to go away."
The woman pulled back, and Buffy sat up, then stood.
"You're really gonna have to get over the whole...primal power thing." Buffy walked toward the sofa, looking over her shoulder. "You're not the source of me." She sat back down on the sofa, next to Tara. "Also, in terms of hair care, you really wanna say 'What kind of impression am I making in the workplace?' 'Cause-"
Buffy woke up for real on the sofa. She looked around. Everyone else awoke at the same instant. They all sat up and looked at each other. Miss Kitty yawned and meowed.
Faith woke up at a table in Helen's Kitchen. She slowly sat up straight. "What the fuck?"
Anne walked over to her. "Passed out again, huh?"
Faith stood up. "Yeah. I wish B would stop pulling me into her shit."
The door opened, and Cordelia walked into the diner.
"What up, bitches?" Cordelia asked. "Who would like to service me?"
Faith looked at Anne. "I'm gonna take out the trash."
Anne smiled and nodded, and Faith quickly made herself scarce.
Anne grabbed her pad and pen and walked over to Cordelia. "What can I get ya, Cordy?"
"Two cheeseburgers and large Pepsis, no ice. Oh, and large fries. Just one. Serving."
Anne smiled, writing it down. "I get what you mean. Late dinner?"
"Yeah, for me and Veruca. Angel's staying over, too, but he's more of a fruit punch guy."
"Why's Angel's staying over?"
"Our office got blown up last night."
"Oh, no!"
"Yeah. Also, I got hit with so many visions and experienced the pain of literally everyone in the fucking world. What's new with you?" Cordelia asked.
"Uh, nothing with me, but Faith just got done with some trippy vision thing courtesy of Buffy."
Cordelia nodded. "Hm."
Soon, back at Buffy's house, all of them were sitting around the dining room table, discussing their shared dream.
Giles considered everything. "Somehow, our joining with...Buffy and...invoking the essence of the - the Slayer's power was an affront to the source of that power."
Buffy glared at him. "You know, you could have brought that up to us before we did it."
"I did. I said there could be dire consequences."
"Yes, but you say that about chewing too fast."
"So who do you think the woman that helped you was?" Jenny asked Buffy.
Buffy shrugged. "Maybe one of the Powers That Be?"
"Or a goddess?" Amy suggested.
Buffy shrugged. "Might be the same thing."
Joyce came downstairs, wearing a bathrobe. "I'm, uh, guessing I missed some fun?"
Buffy looked at her. "The spirit of the first Slayer tried to kill us in our dreams."
"Oh, you want some hot chocolate?" Joyce offered.
Everyone accepted.
"Sandy?" Joyce asked.
"Yeah?"
"Be my kitchen buddy again, help me carry?" Joyce nodded toward the kitchen.
"Yeah. Sure." Sandy stood up and followed Joyce into the kitchen.
Tara looked at Buffy. "You all right, sweetie?"
"Yeah. I think I might jump in the shower."
"You seem a bit, uh..."
"A little." Buffy paused. "The first Slayer. I never really thought about it." She sighed. "It was intense."
Tara kissed Buffy on the lips. Buffy smiled faintly. She got up and walked off.
Buffy walked upstairs and into the upper hallway. She walked down the hall, toward the bathroom. Frowning, she turned and looked into her bedroom. She walked into the doorway, looking at her bed.
"You think you know...what's to come...what you are. You haven't even begun."
She slowly backed away, turned, and walked away.