New Beginnings

By PSUBrat

Your Beauty Effulgent

The Magic Box was bustling with customers. Anya had called everyone in to help her with the annual Midsummer's Day Sale, so between customers and employees it was difficult to maneuver through the store. Buffy could see that the once again former demon was thriving in her element. Anya absolutely beamed as she accepted payment after payment. Buffy was waiting for the girl to do the dance of capitalism right there in front of all of the customers. Sometimes she wished she could have that much enthusiasm and zest for her job. Not that she didn't love being the Chosen One and all, but she envied Anya for being able to have it all.

Lately though, she did feel like she was starting to have it all. She was getting paid for her slaying abilities. Her sister was behaving and they were growing closer. The house was finally looking like a home again since her and Dawn had put the finishing touches on the place last night. And she finally heard from Willow and Tara last night as well. Apparently, the Coven kept the two Wiccans busy day and night. She was happy that Willow was coming to terms with her powers but there was just something about Willow's tone that had bothered Buffy. The girl hadn't completely seemed like herself but she had assured Buffy that everything was fine. Buffy was positive that if there really was something wrong, Willow would eventually tell her.

"Buffy," Anya called from behind the register, "could you show Cecily where the extra eye of newt is?"

Buffy tilted her head and gave Anya a curious look. Who in the world was Anya talking about? Had she hired someone new and hadn't told them? Buffy did a quick visual sweep of the shop…Anya, Dawn, Xander and Halfrek. Nope. She knew everyone.

"Buffy, eye of newt, Cecily. Hop to it we have paying customers!"

"Anya, I'm not quite sure who you're…"

"She's referring to me," Halfrek said coming towards the Slayer.

"You?" Buffy questioned.

"Yes, I decided that since I'm going to be human again, I want to go by my human name. Cecily."

Cecily. Buffy rolled the name around in her head. It had a familiar ring to it. She just couldn't place it at the moment. Eventually it would come to her. "Okay Cecily, let's go round up some eye of newt," she said nodding and heading towards the basement door.

***

"I appreciate your help Buffy," Cecily said as they descended the stairs into the darkness, "I know you don't like me much because of Dawn's wish but I'd like to try to put that behind us. After all, I'm stuck here now and I want to be on friendly terms with Anya's friends and co-workers."

Buffy gave the dark haired girl a knowing look as she said, "Uh huh. And I'm not living in a world full of demons."

The two stared at one another for a moment. "Okay. You got me," Cecily sighed, "Anya told me to say that. She just wants everyone to get along while we work here. Something about it being better for business…"

Buffy shook her head. Leave it to Anya to somehow tie everything back to making a profit. Oh well. "Don't worry Hal-Cecily; I don't hold it against you that you trapped us in my house during my birthday party…with a demon. Really," she said with a shrug, "you were just doing your job, right?"

"Exactly," Cecily said eyeing Buffy suspiciously. Why didn't she think the Slayer was being honest?

"Well, I guess we better look for that eye of newt before Anya has our heads." She began looking around the shelves while Cecily stood to the side. "I wish she would label these jars better," Buffy said absently, "I never could find anything down here, except a psychotic mummy hand during the hour that would never end."

Cecily frowned at Buffy not understanding what the girl was saying.

Buffy waved it off, "Never mind. I'm not very good with inventory. Anya knows that. Usually Spike is the one…" Her voice trailed off. Her mind took her back to the night that she had taken his coat out of the box. She wasn't sure how long she had sat there rocking back and forth. She didn't remember much from that night but she had awakened the next morning to the sound of the alarm and Spike's coat wrapped around her body.

Seeing the look on Buffy's face, Cecily realized that there was more to the Buffy and Spike story than Anya had told her. She knew that Anya had been intimate with the vampire one night, out of need. She could understand that. Strange things can happen when you're hurting. She decided to probe Buffy for information on the platinum blonde vampire who looked so familiar to her. "You and Spike were close?" She hesitantly asked.

"No," was Buffy's quick response as she continued to look for the item, "I mean, we were involved at one time. But he's gone now."

"Do you miss him?"

Buffy just looked over at Cecily with wide eyes, "Me? Miss the scourge of Europe? I don't think so."

"You know Buffy," Cecily began, "it's none of my business but speaking from experience…"

"You're right," Buffy snapped, "It is none of your business."

"…You shouldn't let what other people think affect the way you feel for him," she continued despite the interruption. "I know first hand how it feels to love someone that your friends and family don't approve of."

"What? Is this some kind of bonding moment between us," Buffy asked with a glare still searching for the eye of newt.

"Look, I'm just saying, if you love him then who cares what everyone else thinks? I loved this guy once, back in England…"

"You don't sound British," Buffy interrupted again.

"That's because I gave it up when I gave up being human. Anyway, as I was saying, I loved this guy once and my friends and family couldn't stand him. He was really sweet but a horrible poet."

***

Back upstairs in the shop the crowd began to thin. Dawn was up front standing around waiting to assist anyone who needed her help when the bells on the door chimed again. She turned to see who had come in. It was Steven. Ever since their first date, he had started to come into the shop for a few minutes each day, just to see her. Through the crowd, he found her. She smiled and slowly made her way over to him.

"Hi," he said as she approached him.

"Hey," Dawn said with a shy smile. Even though they had been dating for over a month, she still found herself so nervous and shy around him. Her palms would get all sweaty and her stomach would do back flips. It was unnerving sometimes.

"I brought you these," he said taking the flowers out from behind his back.

"Thanks," she gasped as she took them from him. They were beautiful. "I'm just gonna go put these in water."

He followed her to counter where she found a vase. While she went to the bathroom to put water in it, he took a seat on the stool.

"Good afternoon, Steven," Anya said cheerily.

He returned her greeting with a nod.

Xander made his way over to the counter and stood next to Anya. "Steven," he said, in an even tone, "What brings you to the Magic Shop today? As if I couldn't guess..." Ever since Giles had left, Xander had tried to act as the young Summers' father figure.

"Hello Mr. Harris," Steven said smiling his best fake smile, "I'm here to see Dawn. Just for a few minutes, if that's okay with you?" He hated acting like a good mannered boy but he would do what needed to be done.

"That's fine Steven," Anya grinned, "but just remember she's working off her debt and we're very busy right now."

"Can you two just back off please?" Dawn asked rolling her eyes at Anya and Xander, "you're embarrassing me!"

Giving Dawn a stern look, Xander put his arm around Anya and guided her over to a group of customers who were looking at the newest display. As Anya and Xander walked away from the two teenagers, Steven asked, "Do you want to go out tonight? We could go for a walk and get ice cream or something."

"Sure," Dawn said giggling. She tried to play it cool but instead she thought she sounded like a babbling idiot.

***

"Ah-hah! Here it is," Buffy exclaimed holding the jar of eyeballs up in triumph. Now she wanted to get back upstairs and away from this woman as fast as possible. "Cecily, I really appreciate what you're trying to say here but guess what? I really don't care what…" a chill went down her spine as she realized what the woman had said, "wait, did you say he was a horrible poet?"

"The worst," Cecily said laughing, "Who uses the word effulgent in a poem?"

"Good question," Buffy said in an almost whisper. Things were starting to click in her head. "What ever happened to him? Did you two get married?"

"Heavens no! My father had other ideas. As for poor William, I have no idea what happened to him. He disappeared the night that I told him he was beneath me…"

The last jar, containing eye of newt, crashed to the floor. Glass, liquid and eyeballs went everywhere.

"Buffy," Cecily cried, "are you okay? You look pale!"

"I-I'm fine," she said quickly trying to recover from the shock. "My hands, it just slipped. I think the jar was wet. I don't feel well." She turned and ran up the steps, never stopping until she was well away from the Magic Box. Only then did she bring herself to a halt. Tears threatened her dazed eyes.

***

What was that all about," Anya asked as they watched Buffy run out of the shop. "And where is that eye of newt that I sent her and Cecily to look for? She just can't leave. We have customers who are paying money. Xander! You have to go after her!"

"No," Dawn said looking at Anya, "I'll go." Then she turned to Steven and asked, "I'll see you tonight okay?"

He nodded back at her and got up to follow her out. "I'll help you look for your sister first if you want."

"No," she responded, "I'll be okay. See you tonight." They both left the shop.

Cecily emerged from the basement bewildered at what had just transpired. "Anya, you're going to have to order more eye of newt."

"What do you mean order more? According to the records, there's one more jar down there…and what's wrong with Buffy?"

"Was," Cecily corrected.

"Was…? What do you mean was?" The former demon demanded.

"It slipped out of Buffy's hands," Cecily explained, "We were talking and then all of a sudden the jar slipped and fell. She didn't look well. She said she felt ill."

Anya just stared at her friend. "You mean to tell me Buffy broke the last jar?" Anya asked incredulously. "She's going to have to pay for that. It's not cheap, you know."

"Way to go with the concern Anya," Xander stated.

"What? Well it is expensive," Anya exclaimed.

Xander sighed heavily and walked back over to the customer he had been assisting.

***

"Buffy," Dawn gasped as she finally caught up with her sister in front of their house. She put her hand on Buffy's shoulder and turned her around. "What's wrong? Are you okay?"

Buffy stood on the sidewalk just staring at Dawn blankly. Why hadn't she put two and two together before? She should have known. Wait. Why should she care? It's not like Spike belonged to her.

"Buffy," Dawn said softly, "What's wrong?"

"Nothing."

"What do you mean nothing? You flew out of the Magic Box looking like you had seen a ghost."

"I don't feel well. That's all."

"You're an awful liar Buffy. Come on, what happened?"

Buffy looked at her sister. She knew there was no getting around it. Dawn would pester her until she told her what was wrong. She sighed and lowered her head. She felt silly for even feeling this way. So what if Cecily had been the one Spike had loved the night he died. "Dawn," she finally started as she lifted her head to look at her sister, "do you remember when I asked Spike to tell me about how he killed those other slayers?"

Dawn nodded with a frown, not knowing exactly where this was going.

"Well he did tell me but he also told me how he became a vampire."

"Buffy what does this have to do with anything?"

"Everything," Buffy said, "just listen. The night Drusilla turned him; he'd been at a party. He had written poetry for a woman he was in love with, but she had ridiculed him in front of everyone."

"And," Dawn asked gesturing with her hands.

"And…her name was Cecily." Buffy stood there waiting for Dawn to make the connection.

"Just like Halfrek's human name." Suddenly Dawn looked at Buffy with wide eyes. "You don't think it's that Cecily do you? I mean, what are the odds? She's not even British."

"I thought that too. But I'm positive it's her Dawn."

"How?"

"She said something. A phrase. The same phrase that I used on Spike after he tried to kiss me that night."

"Buffy you're not making any sense."

"Dawn, the woman that Spike was in love with, she blew him off. Told him that he was beneath her…Cecily used those same words to the man that she was in love with. A really bad poet that her friends and family didn't approve of. Does this man sound familiar to you?"

"Spike," Dawn whispered in awe.

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