Pairing- W/A
Disclaimer- all Joss's, the lucky devil
Feedback- your darn tootin' I want it
Summery- you'll have to read it
Author's note... this takes place many years in the future, still leaving me room to write a sequel to Redemption if I choose.
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The stars were slowly fading above her head as she looked around at the town below. Every so often a house light would be turned on as someone was waking up and preparing for the daily grind of going to work. From the hill top she could see the streets coming to life, but a smile tugged at the corners of her lips. From where she sat looking down, the people looked no larger than ants, and the vehicles looked as though little boys should be pushing them along the streets drawn from chalk.
Over the years she noticed that the world has gotten much busier than it used to be. Everything, everyone seemed to be in more of a hurry these days. Everywhere but here. It was still the same small town she had once known. Oh, some things did change over two hundred years, since she was last here. A few more stores had been added to downtown, a new mall replaced the old one and new faces that she didn't recognize.
Memories flooded her mind as she looked around, causing a tear to slide down her cheek. Memories of her life growing up, of Xander and Buffy. And Giles. All were gone now, gone for more years than she would like to remember.
Buffy had died at the age of thirty-eight, stabbed by- of all things- a couple of muggers. While she had one pinned to a wall, the other had thrown a knife, landing it in her back. She had dropped to the ground, desperately trying to reach for the knife and pull it out, when the man at the wall wheeled around and grabbed the handle. He yanked it out of her back and stabbed her with it again, severing her spinal cord. There was nothing the doctors could do for her... she would never walk again. A few weeks later she was taken home, but took poison, ending her own life. She had never married nor had any children.
Xander lived to the ripe old age of eighty-seven, before he died from a massive stroke. After the stroke he had barely clung to life with the help of machines, before his body gave up. After the relationship failure with Anya, he could never bring himself to fall in love and marry, and therefore remained alone for the rest of his life. He did end up owning the construction company during his last twenty three years, but that did nothing to ease his loneliness. Giles had left the watcher's counsel, but stayed in England, where he had spent the rest of his life in a monestary. After the loss of Buffy, he decided that seclusion was the best alternative, not wanting to feel that kind of loss again. He had suffered three heart attacks that had left him almost totally paralized, and a fourth attack had claimed his life five weeks before his seventy- seventh birthday.
"Are you sure this is what you want to do?" came the deep husky voice beside her.
"We have done everything, travelled everywhere. There is nothing left." she looked deeply into his brown eyes as tears flowed from hers, slightly blurring his face. "We do not contribute anymore, we are no longer productive members of society... it is time to go, my love." she said as she cupped his face with her hands and kissed him softly on the lips.
"But, why here?"
"This is where I was given life... twice, and it is here that I will give it back." she paused, "You don't have to do this."
"Where you go, I will follow. I am forever yours, my love."
They both sat down upon the cool grass, he put his arm around her shoulders as she rested her head against his chest, keeping her face turned so that she could still look out. The colours were breathtaking as they watched the first sunrise in over two hundred years.
"I love you, Angel."
"And I love you, forever and always, my lovely Willow."
the end