The eerie silence in the gutted school seemed to drown out their footsteps; they crept along, coming eventually to the tattered door of the library.
They burst into the room; blackened beams lay scattered everywhere while all the ash had drifted away leaving a blackened floor that even the dust seemed to avoid. Buffy’s gaze was drawn to the centre of the room, at the base of a pillar of pyreflies lay the shape of a man she knew only too well.
Without a thought Rikku raced into the centre of the room, slipping through Kris’ fingers as she tried to stop her.
“Auron, Auron!” Rikku shook the man hard.
Spike stepped forward, his ears straining, a faint pulse sounded from Auron’s still form.
Auron drew a deep breath and began to stir.
Lulu stood at the edge of the room, her composure steady as always, though her already white skin suddenly seemed a shade paler. She looked up; already the Farplane entrance overhead seemed smaller. Auron sat up and looked around him, taking in his strange new surroundings.
“Auron..?” Rikku looked hopefully into his eyes as they darted around the room, finally settling on her with a look of recognition.
“Rikku?” He asked gruffly, Buffy was amazed that she could almost hear a hint of annoyance in his voice.
“Auron!” Rikku squealed, throwing her arms around his shoulders.
“I’m gonna take a stab in the dark here…” Faith began.
“I’m guessing he’s Auron.” Kris finished, flinching slightly at the raised eyebrow she received from Faith.
Kimahri turned to the two girls, gracing them with a short, sharp nod.
“Where… where is Yuna?” Auron asked, wincing as he stretched his muscles, his voice gravelly.
“I… we don’t know.” Buffy explained, moving forward to help him up.
“We’re here to cast a spell.” Willow explained as Rikku and Buffy helped the very tall man to his feet.
“It’s okay, Will, you can still cast it.” Buffy said, motioning to the spot in which Auron had been laying.
“You wish to cast a spell?” Lulu seemed interested. “Perhaps I may lend my services?” She held her arms out.
Willow stared at her, remembering the fireball she had done outside. “Yes, please, I mean, if you want.”
Tara looked levelly at Lulu. “We can explain the spell to you, I think the more of us there are, the better?” She turned to Willow for confirmation.
Willow nodded enthusiastically; a noise overhead drew the attention of everyone in the school. They looked up at the Farplane gate; a faint chanting could be heard coming from within, in a flash of light the gate vanished, leaving thousands of pyreflies in its wake.
………………..
“No, it’s not alright, you can’t ignore me like that!”
“But Anya...” Xander was frustrated. “You started it.”
“Well, this is just wonderful.” Giles said, his voice tired.
“No, you started it, you’re… you’re insensitive!”
“Insensitive!?”
“Yes, you don’t care about my feelings, you’re always badmouthing demons, well I just happen to be a demon! Yes, I’m stuck in this human body, and no I don’t have any power any more, but I’m still a demon.”
“Ahn, you know I wasn’t talking about you, I...”
Joyce smiled reassuringly at Giles. “Buffy mentioned something about a training room out the back?”
Giles looked instantly relieved at the idea of escape, “Yes, yes, right this way.”
They rushed out of the room, leaving Anya and Xander to fight it out.
“So, you spend all your time here in the shop?” Joyce asked, seated on a balance beam.
“Yes… well, no, I mean, I do other things besides my Watcher duties and looking after the shop. I… I…” He seemed to search for something, and in a very uncharacteristic manner, said the first thing he could think of. “I sing.”
Joyce said nothing for a moment. “You sing?” She asked.
“A little.” Giles admitted.
Joyce smiled, nodding thoughtfully and looking around.
………………………..
“Alright.” Buffy stood outside of the library with the other slayers, Spike, Kimahri and Rikku, her green eyes glittered with a cold, determined light.
“Yuna must be somewhere in Sunnydale, we are going to split up and find her. The fiends are still out there, kill as many of them as you can, but our main goal is to find her. Rikku, you saw her last?”
Rikku swelled with pride, she nodded, eyes wide.
“What was she wearing, do you know?”
Rikku thought hard. “Well, she was wearing a skirt like yours only in black; it went nearly to her knees, though.” She motioned to Buffy’s white, pleated mini skirt.
“And she had a top like that…” She pointed to Kris’ purple top, which opened just below her bra, exposing the mesh top she wore underneath.
“And it cut like that at the top.” She added, looking at the very plunging V shaped neckline of Faiths’ top. “With frills around the edges. And a skirt which only covers one leg, like…” She trailed off, looking sadly at Buffy.
Buffy nodded in understanding. Tidus! Yuna’s boyfriend, used to wear pants which were long on one leg and short on the other; a tribute to his father who wore what looked a lot like a long, straight skirt, over one leg.
Thinking of Tidus brought back some unpleasant memories; he had been lost in the fight against Sin. In order to truly defeat the monstrosity Yuna had been forced to ‘Send’ all of the magical beings known as Fayth to the Farplane. Somehow Tidus had been linked to the Fayth, they had dreamed him into existence and as they faded so too did their dream. Buffy had spent nights comforting Yuna as she cried herself to sleep, wishing somehow she could make all of her pain go away.
Spike put his arms around Buffy, she hadn’t even realised that a tear was tracking its way slowly down her face.
“Alright, we’ll spread out, one slayer and one Spiran in each pair.” Buffy quickly composed herself and issued her orders.
“Alright!” Rikku pumped a fist into the air, jigging on the spot.
Faith looked at the girl, thinking that it looked like she needed to go to the toilet with the way she was acting. “Okay, I’m with Kimahri.” She said, standing next to the Ronso.
Rikku grinned at Kris, “Let’s go!”
………………………
Joyce admired the golden liquid in the glass, tipping it back and swallowing. Giles refilled her glass.
The sound of shouting could still be heard from outside the room. Giles removed his glasses and drawing a handkerchief from his pocket he began to polish them. As he cleaned his glasses he reflected on how he was very glad to have stashed a good bottle of Scotch and several glasses here, in the training room. For medicinal purposes of course.
Joyce stood up and paced around the room, reminding Giles strangely of a caged canary.
“Do you think they are alright?” Joyce asked, coming to a stop in front of Giles who sat atop the straw stuffed dummy.
“I have every confidence in Buffy.” Giles answered. “And, much as I hate to admit it I also have rather a lot of confidence in Spike.” He confided with a sigh.
“So do I…” Joyce said, staring deeply
into her glass, after a moment she looked up, her eyes sparkling with tears.
“Giles, I’m scared.”
Giles looked up at her, sharply.
Joyce sighed, sitting down next to him on the dummy. “I’m not worried about all these demons, Buffy has fought worse, I just…”
Giles looked questioningly at the woman, her eyes were downcast, her lips pursed in worry.
“I have this feeling, oh, it’s probably silly.”
“No, no, not at all.” Giles urged her to continue.
“I keep having this feeling that I’m loosing my daughter, she’s changed, Giles, and it’s good.” She shook her head at the silliness of it all. “She sings in the morning and she is so much happier than she used to be, but I keep thinking…”
“She wants to go back.” Giles said, his voice filled with astonishment as the realisation hit.
Joyce looked at him. “It sounds silly, doesn’t it?”
“No, in fact, I do believe you are quite correct. The spell Willow and Tara are performing will render the one slayer obsolete. Buffy will not be needed any more.”
“All of her friends…” Joyce began, thinking of Rikku. “Giles, you don’t think she already tried to go back, do you? You don’t think that’s what brought those demons here.”
Giles looked worried. “Good lord…” He coughed, trying to regain his composure.
“If Buffy is going to these lengths to return to that place…”
“I think…” Joyce began, a tear trickling down her face. “I think it is best to let her go.”
Giles took her hand, squeezing it gently in comfort. “Are you sure?”
Joyce nodded, “I want her to be happy, to be safe. Isn’t that what any parent wants for their children? I don’t want to let her go but, I think maybe it’s the right thing to do.”
Giles nodded, a tear trying to work its way out of his eyes. He coughed, standing quickly, “A... another drink?”
…………………
Faith and Kimahri walked through the cemetery in silence; Faith reaching out with all of her slayer senses, Kimahri scanning the night with his great golden eyes. A movement in the darkness caught both their attentions at the same time. They broke into a soft run, feet hitting the ground lightly, almost soundless as they glided through the night; very few teams could have been better matched.
Faith circled around the headstone as Kimahri stalked towards it, there, on the ground a figure writhed in pain as several fiends bit and scratched at it.
Kimahri lunged forward, the lance he had borrowed from Joyce skewering a fiend completely, Faith leapt over the headstone, planting a foot into the back of one of the nasty fungus fiends’ heads before slashing with one of Giles’ swords. As they hacked at the fiends Pyreflies floated from the defeated monsters, disappearing back to the Farplane.
The Fiends’ victim now lay motionless on the ground, her shoulder length hair matted with blood. Gingerly Faith rolled her onto her back. Both slayer and Ronso stared, their eyes wide with surprise.
…………………
Buffy and Spike walked along, staring around them. Apparently many of the fiends had left the city itself, the destruction they had left behind was incredible. Buffy examined one car with huge slashes in its side.
She heard a soft groan coming from a nearby alley and shot a look at Spike, her eyes wide with worry.
They raced into the alley where somebody lay on the ground, clutching at a gaping stomach wound. Buffy crossed her arms in front of her chest.
“Clem?” Spike asked, incredulous. “What happened to you?”
The demon groaned, looking down at the blood. “Someone attacked me.” He said.
“Obvious much?” Buffy sighed, frustrated at the waste of time.
“A guy, human,” he continued, wincing.
“He came out of nowhere.”
“Which way did he go?” Buffy asked, suddenly interested.
Clem pointed down the alley.
“Alright, listen…” Buffy pulled a potion out of her pouch, unsure of why she was wasting it on healing him. “I need to know, did he have sticking up hair.”
Clem watched in amazement as the green glow surrounded him, he smiled gratefully at the slayer, nodding. “Yeah, yeah, almost unnatural, you know?”
“Wakka.” Buffy told Spike.
“You think he knows where Yuna is?”
“Maybe, we should find him anyway.” Buffy said.
“Hey, hey, thanks man.” Clem said, offering Buffy a hand, the loose, wrinkly skin hanging down. “I owe you.”
“That’s nice…” Buffy said, gingerly taking the offered hand.
“Hey, Spike, anytime you need an advance, I’m your man!” Clem announced as they walked determinedly down the alley. “Anytime, you just need to ask old Clem, alright?”
They turned the corner, breaking into a run, the Alleys led through a maze of twists and turns, they came out on the edge of town. The moon shone down on a wide field surrounded by trees on one side, and buildings on the other.
Buffy and Spike looked out across the grass to where a figure was standing, skin shining white in the moonlight. They looked at each other and then back across the field, eyes wide in recognition.
……………..
Rikku walked with an almost comic determination and Kris grinned in amusement as she watched her. The girl wasn’t actually that bad once you got to talk to her, she was a little bizarre, but compared to the giant kitty cat, the stern looking black mage and Auron with his massive tallness Kris figured Rikku was pretty normal.
She heard a noise further up the street that sounded like someone jumping onto dumpsters, beckoning to Rikku she began to run down the street; boots beating identical rhythms on the bitumen
They saw the dumpsters, lined up side by side. Somebody was climbing down one of the fire escapes and with the help of the strange red-haired man she then jumped down to the top of the dumpster, and from there to the ground.
In a second Rikku had left Kris’ side and flung herself on Yuna, enveloping her in an enormous hug. Yuna was shocked for a moment before hugging back.
Kris smiled at the two of them and then the man caught her attention. She almost burst out laughing. His hair was the funniest thing she had ever seen. It stood straight up in the air, like a wave peaking above his forehead, the rest of it was short and spiked and he had a three-day growth of matching red whiskers.
Kris grinned and then turned to Rikku, “We’d better get back to the shop, now we’ve found her.” Rikku turned around, striking a dramatic pose, in a way that Kris was coming to realise was quite normal behaviour for this girl. “Right!”
……………
“A vampire, they were attacking a vampire?” Faith stared at the girl, she would have been about seventeen in life. She stared through vacant eyes, half of her body was turned to stone and she was a sickly green colour. Faith shook her head. “Why?”
“Fiends not care.” Kimahri said gruffly. “Vampire, human, Ronso, all live, Fiends not live. Fiends angry.”
Faith shook her head. “Yeah, well fangy here isn’t gonna make any more ‘Fiends’ angry.” She pulled out a stake and crouched over the motionless girl. In a second the vampire was nothing more than dust, the stone half of her body simply corroded. Faith dusted herself off.
“We’d better head back to the Magic Box, see if anyone else has found anything.” Faith said, checking her watch.
Kimahri nodded sternly and they turned back towards the shop.
……………
“It’s impossible.” Buffy said, stepping forward, Spike put a hand on her arm.
“Watch out, love, it could be a trap.”
The figure turned around, and upon noticing them he looked back towards the forest. He spoke, his voice easily audible in the clear night air.
“Where is she?”
“We… we’re looking for her.” Buffy answered. “She’s around here somewhere, we’re going to find her.”
“How… how did I get here?” He held his hands up in front of his face.
“I don’t know.” Buffy answered.
“This is… your world?”
“It is.”
“There are fiends here too?”
“Not usually.” Buffy answered.
“Because of me?” He asked, sadly.
“Actually, I think it’s because of Auron,” Spike answered.
“Auron?” Tidus turned to them, his blue eyes widening in surprise. “He’s here too?”
“And Rikku, Lulu and Kimahri.” Buffy said.
“How?”
“We don’t know.” Buffy repeated. “Tidus… Come with us, back to the Magic Box, we will find Yuna, I promise.”
Tidus nodded, stepping towards them.
……….
Faith and Kimahri arrived at the front of the Magic Box just in time. Rikku and Yuna walked up the street to their left and Buffy and Spike walked towards them from the right.
Yuna walked next to her cousin, eyes wide with the wonders of this machina city. Lights shone overhead lighting the town as though it were day, large vehicles for carrying people around stood still on the sides of the streets.
She looked down at the road, uniform black with puzzling lines painted on it. She heard approaching footsteps and looked up, Kimahri stood on the side of the road, further up the road Spike and Buffy walked in a solemn silence, when they saw Yuna they stopped and walked off to one side of the road.
Yuna froze; a strange feeling washed over her as though somebody had removed all the blood from her veins and replaced it with the fizzy drink that the slayer, Kris, had given her on the walk back here.
Her breath came in short gasps and she felt like she was dreaming. Walking down the road across from her was a young boy, seventeen years old with spikey blonde hair. His light blue eyes shone in the artificial light and he carried a large, blue sword.
“Tidus..?” The word came out at a whisper.
“Yuna.” Tidus met her eyes, “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you earlier, I…”
Yuna shook her head. “I don’t care!” She threw her arms around him and buried her head into his chest while holding him as tightly as she could, making sure he didn’t disappear. “I don’t care, just… never leave me.”
“I’ll stay with you.” Tidus promised,
“Always.”
Yuna stepped back, eyes brimming with tears. “Always then.” She whispered, kissing him.
Rikku turned hot pink and scratched her cheek in embarrassment. Kris grinned like an idiot. Faith shook her head in amusement, and Kimahri’s face pulled into a soft smile.
Buffy felt Spike come up behind her. He put his arms around her, his head resting on her shoulder.
“You alright, pet?”
Buffy sniffled slightly. “I’m sorry. Everything… Everything is right now, everything…” She was cut off as a pure white light shot into the sky. She gasped; it was coming from the school. It spread out over the sky, flashing brightly and then disappearing, leaving everyone blinded.
“The spell?” Faith asked.
“I think I felt something.” Kris said.
Buffy nodded in agreement. “We’re not alone anymore.”
……….
Faith walked over to where Buffy was and grabbed her by the arm.
“Let’s go inside.” She suggested, sick of the mushy displays taking place in front of her. Buffy smiled, nodding her agreement. Kris followed the other slayers inside.
“Alright, Lulu and Auron should bring Tara and Willow back here now that the spell is done.” Faith began.
Kris giggled, drawing Faith’s attention to where Anya and Xander were making out, oblivious to the presence of the slayers.
“Ookay, training room.” Faith said, mildly annoyed.
“So, the witches will get back here and then… what are we going to do, how are we going to find them all?” Kris asked, eyes wide.
“Well, they’ve all got watchers.” Buffy pointed out, stopping dead as she walked into the training room, her eyes widened and she turned around, leaving very quickly, Faith peeked in and groaned.
“Well, it looks like we’re the only ones with our tongues not down each others throats.” Faith pointed out to a deeply disturbed looking Buffy who just continued to stare down at the ground.
“Okay, I know I did not just see that!” Buffy muttered to herself.
“You okay?” Kris asked.
“No.” Buffy stated firmly.
“C’mon, Buffy.” Faith tried not to laugh at her sister slayer’s obvious distress, a humourless look firmly planted on her face. “It’s not like it’s a big thing…”
“Not a big thing!? My Mother is making out with My Watcher!! How is that Not a Big Thing?” Buffy rounded on Faith.
“Buffy, love, we can… deal with this later.” Buffy gave Spike a mild glare, unamused by the faint smile which tried to pull its way across his features. “But right now we have other things to do.”
“I guess…” Buffy finally agreed.
Spike nodded as Auron walked in, followed by Lulu, Tara and Willow followed slowly by everyone else, with Tidus and Yuna bringing up the rear.
Buffy nodded slowly to herself, with her friends around her, everything suddenly felt like it would be alright.
With Spike by her side she’d attained a clarity she didn’t have before.
With Tidus and Yuna sitting before her, each of them hardly able to drag their gaze from the others eyes, she understood that although Joyce was her mother, and Giles was her watcher they were something else as well; though it disturbed her to think about it, they were just a boy and a girl- granted all old-like. If her time in Spira had taught her anything it was not to judge, and no matter how much she wanted to she shouldn’t judge this either.
Mom and Giles? Somehow it actually made perfect sense. She smiled softly as Anya and Xander came to join them around the table.
Buffy looked at all her friends, at Spike, at Willow and Tara and then at the scythe on the table in front of them.
She had to talk to them, had to outline the plan for the next week, they had to find the new slayers, deal with the council who would have thousands of questions, they had to clean up the mess made by the fiends and wipe out as many of them as possible. They had so much to do, she had so much to say, but she didn’t want to say anything, for the moment she just wanted to be.
Finally she cleared her throat.
tbc