Prologue
”Yeah, Buffy. What are we going to do now?”
Buffy looked down into the crater that had once been Sunnydale, and a smile started to form on her lips. Before she could answer Dawn’s question though, she felt a piercing pain from the wound she had almost forgotten, and everything went black.
Chapter one
May 2003
Everybody stood up as the doctor entered the room.
“Well, I’m happy to say that everyone is going to be fine. They must all have some exceptional healing power, I’ve never seen anything like it.”
The group sighed in relief.
“You can see them now, if you’d like. One of the girls...” He looked throught his papers. “Buffy Summers, is still unconscious, but her wound is almost completely healed, so she should wake up within the next couple of hours.”
Dawn winced at the doctors comment. Giles put an arm around her shoulder, trying to comfort her.
“She’ll be fine. Her body probably needs to recover from the past couple of days.”
“Yeah.” Dawn didn’t sound too convinced. She followed Giles and the others into the large room that hosted the wounded Slayers.
July 2003
“There is really no reason to why she hasn’t woken up yet.” Dr. Johnson looked up from his papers and met Dawn’s eyes.
“I’ve already heard that. You told me when she was brought here that she would wake up within hours. That was over two months ago. I want some answers!”
“I know, and I’m sorry.” He truly looked like he meant it, and Dawn regretted her outburst. “Like I’ve already told you, there is no medical reason as to why your sister hasn’t woken up yet. Her wound healed in less than a day, and all of her vital signs are normal, better than normal as a matter of fact. If I didn’t know better I’d...”
“You’d what? Please tell me!” Dawn pleaded.
“I just get the feeling, when I’m in the room with her, that her body has sort of shut down on it’s own... like she doesn’t want to come back.”
Dawn flinched at his words, even if she had thought them a hundred times herself. This world wasn’t enough for Buffy, not anymore, not without him...
She looked out the window, thinking about Sunnydale and the battle. They had all lost so much, but they were getting on with their lives. The Slayers had moved on to other places, some followed Faith and Robin to the Hellmouth in Cleveland, some returned home to protect their families, some went to explore the world along with Kennedy. She, Xander, Willow, Giles and Andrew were the only ones left in LA now, two months after the Big Battle.
During the first couple of weeks, they hadn’t really done much. She had spent almost all of her time at the hospital with Buffy, and most of the time she had been joined by Giles, Willow, Xander and Andrew. But as a month passed by, and now two, they had started getting back to what would pass as normal under the circumstances. Giles had been in contact with the ‘leftovers’, as Xander called them, of the Watcher’s Council and was working on setting up a new Council to train the thousands of new Slayers arond the world. Dawn knew it was only a matter of time before he would be leaving, even if he had never said anything. Willow had signed up for the fall semester at UCLA, she wanted to get her last year at college over with as soon as possible. Andrew had gotten a job in a comic book store, in downtown LA. Even Xander had started a new job, at a construction sight in Beverly Hills. He never spoke of Anya, but he was grieving, and it was very obvious to his friends. Dawn herself was to attend her junior year of high school at Buffy’s old school, Hemery.
“Miss Summers?”
Dawn snapped out of her thoughts when she heard the doctor calling her.
“Sorry, tuned out there for a moment. You were saying?”
“Yes, as I was saying, we don’t usually have comatose patients in this hospital for this long, and I would like you to consider...”
“You want me to ‘pull the plug’ or whatever you call it? Let her die? That’s what you’re saying, isn’t it? I would never do that, how could you even...”
“Miss Summers, calm down. That was not what I meant. I’m only saying that we don’t have the medical possibility to care for your sister the way she needs here. What I’m suggesting is that she is moved to a long-term facility, possibly Sunrise Mountain, they have a very good reputation. I have some folders that you can look at. Talk to your family, and you and I can meet later this week and make a decision.” He handed her a handful of folders and Dawn accepted them before saying goodbye and leaving the room.
August 2004
“Hi.” Dawn sat down in the chair next to the hospital bed. “Sorry I haven’t been here for a little while. Andrew and I went down to Mexico for two weeks, just needed to get away from everything, you know. Xander really doesn’t like us being together, but I don’t care. I’m happy, and I know you’re happy for me, right?” She took Buffy’s hand in hers and looked at the pale fingers.
“You really need to get out in the sun, you know that, right?” She laughed. “Mexico was great. It was nice to get something other than school to think about. I’m completely terrified. I mean, if junior year was tough, then senior year must be hell. Though, not hell as in Sunnydale hell, just in a school way hell.” She unwillingly looked for the smile she wouldn’t get.
“Did I tell you about Giles? He met some stuffy British woman over in London, and he’s bringing her here next week to ‘meet the family’” She airquoted. “He seems to really like being back in the mother country. I’m happy for him, even if I wish he would come visit more often. Especially now that Willow and Xander won’t be here anymore. I told you about that, right? Willow got into med school in Boston and Xander’s going with her. I’m really glad that they finally got together, I mean, they’ve both lost so much, they deserve to be happy, don’t you think?” She looked at the pictures on the nightstand. One of Giles in London, at the new Watcher’s Council. One of her and Andrew at Universal Studios, one of Xander and Willow on the UCLA campus and one old picture of their mother that Dawn had gotten from her dad. It was all that was left. They hadn’t been able to save anything from Sunnydale. Her eyes wandered back to the lifeless face of her sister.
“You know, it’s really time that you woke up. I mean, you can’t stay this way forever, you know. I know that there’s not much to come back to, but I’m here... and Andrew. I’m sure Willow and Xander wouldn’t leave if you were here... and Giles would come back too... I know we’re not who you need, but...” She angrily wiped away the few tears that had started streaming down her cheeks.
“Damn it! He’s not coming back, Buffy! You can’t just stop living because of that. I mean, I miss him too, really, but there’s so much to live for... please, wake up! We need you, you know...” Dawn put her head in her hands while she pulled herself together. “Sorry. I didn’t mean that.” She looked at her sister. “I just miss you so much.”
April 2005
“Hi.” Dawn pulled a few stray strands of hair from Buffy’s face before sitting down. “I got the last letter from college today. I got in. So now I have to choose between UCLA, Princeton and NYU. What do you think? I know, I know. Princeton, right? I mean, it’s a great school. It’s just, I don’t know... it doesn’t feel like me, if you know what I mean. I’m leaning toward NYU. They have this great art program, and I think I’ll be majoring in art... or journalism... I haven’t really decided yet. I’m gonna miss you though, wherever I go. I really don’t want UCLA, that was just back-up. I keep thinking that I should just go there, because you’re here, and you can’t go with me, but then I think ‘What would Buffy say?’ and I know you would want me to choose the school that i really wanted to go to, and that you wouldn’t want to hold me back.”
August 2005
“Hi. It’s me.” Dawn didn’t sit down like she usually did. “I decided on NYU. Andrew’s going with me. We’re leaving in two weeks, school starts in five, but I wanna get settled and everything first.” She didn’t look at her sister as she spoke. This was hard enough as it was. “I talked to Angel yesterday. He promised to check in on you while I’m not here. And I’ll come back on every break, I promise. I just have to do this.” She glanced a first look at Buffy. She was still and quiet, just like she always was.
“We’re gonna stop in Boston on the way to New York. The wedding’s in three weeks. I can’t believe they’re actually doing it. Willow’s completely freaked out, I mean, who can blame her, we all know Xander’s history of weddings. But I think they’ll make it. I’ll take a lot of pictures, and Andrew’s filming, so you can see everything when you wake up.” She looked at her sister one last time before leaving the room.
May 2007
“Hey.” Dawn pulled up the chair to the bed and sat down. “I just came to town for the weekend, to share the big news. Andrew asked me to marry him! We went to Florida for spring break, and it was really romantic. We were walking on the beach, in the sunset, and he asked me. I’m so happy! I just wish you will be there for the big day. We’re gonna wait til I finish college, we have to save money and stuff too. Just make sure to wake up by the summer of 2010, OK.” She laughed.
“Oh, I have pictures from Anya’s first birthday. Willow e-mailed them to me, since we couldn’t be there. She’s just sooo adorable! I can’t wait for you to see her! I’m setting up a complete photo album for you, so it won’t feel like you’ve missed a thing the last couple of years. It will be just like you were here all the time...” ‘Even if you weren’t’ she added silently.
squawks
05/18/17 04:16 am
pj! I remember wishing one of your stories would be finished seriously about a decade ago. Amazing. I just tried an old password I used to use and amazingly got in too. Memories!
pj
03/20/17 01:20 am
10 yrs later, i finally rem my username and password. Pari, you rock. Hope you are well.
Rabbit_moon1
12/23/16 01:12 pm
I donate every month. Please donate to keep this site up!
AudryDaluz1
10/06/16 08:34 am
Great post.
Chrissel
08/31/16 03:45 pm
And anyone else who loves this site, it's worth mentioning there's a nifty little "Donate" option just below the shout box here! ;)
Chrissel
08/31/16 03:43 pm
Just wanted to take a moment to thank Pari and all the mods for maintaining such a great site!
05/18/17 04:16 am
pj! I remember wishing one of your stories would be finished seriously about a decade ago. Amazing. I just tried an old password I used to use and amazingly got in too. Memories!
pj
03/20/17 01:20 am
10 yrs later, i finally rem my username and password. Pari, you rock. Hope you are well.
Rabbit_moon1
12/23/16 01:12 pm
I donate every month. Please donate to keep this site up!
AudryDaluz1
10/06/16 08:34 am
Great post.
Chrissel
08/31/16 03:45 pm
And anyone else who loves this site, it's worth mentioning there's a nifty little "Donate" option just below the shout box here! ;)
Chrissel
08/31/16 03:43 pm
Just wanted to take a moment to thank Pari and all the mods for maintaining such a great site!