FIC: Enough of Me (3/7)

[Kimber]

Title: Enough of Me (3/7)
Author: Kimber (kacoe@xxxxxxx)
Disclaimer: I am a gnat in the world that is the Joss (watch out for
the fly swatter). All characters belong to him and Mutant Enemy. I'm
only borrowing them. I promise to put them back when I'm done, maybe
with a little more angst. This is non-profit.
Summary: Sequel to 'Many Facets'. Someone wiggs out from the
encounter, two of the most unlikely allies bond, and Christmas just
doesn't seem like Christmas. Will it all work out?
Spoilers: Everything up to and including "Hush" is fair game. All
episodes are subject to bend to my will. *Bwahhhahahahaha*
Distribution: Just drop me a line and it's yours to archive.
Author's Notes: Feedback = Food. Story probably still has to be
beta'd, any volunteers would be appreciated. PG-13. I'm not sure yet.
It's probably for most audiences.
Thoughts are enclosed in < > and flashbacks are enclosed in <<< >>>
------------

"Oh, dear….she wasn't supposed to be back so soon."

Buffy and Giles were still staring in Willow's direction, mouths wide
open.

"Rupert, if you would please?" She motioned in Willow's direction.

"Get her and bring her in here. We'll put her in her room for now. Oh,
dear…I told her to stay out until supper."

Giles tenderly tried to pick Willow up. The strain and awkwardness on
his face apparent. He couldn't figure out how to pick her up without
being invasive about it.

"Giles, let me." Buffy stepped in thankfully. She gathered her best
friend in her arms and carried her into the bedroom. She placed her on
the bed, careful not to jostle her.

"Hmm, well. Someone in common, I see." Giles directed the comment to
no on in particular.

"Yes, well you see Rupert, Willow is my granddaughter. And my
granddaughter has been more distressed in the past two days than I've
ever seen in her in her short life. I'm afraid it has to do with the
prophesy I was beginning to tell you about."

"She's a witch." The comment came from Buffy.

"I know dear. It's in her blood."

"Well, that makes sense. She's harnessed some real power in the past
few years, but it's quite difficult at times for her to control it. If
she has even the smallest amount of your power in her, then….." Giles
added.

"Yes, well. Shall we Rupert? I'd like to finish the story."

"Giles, if it's all the same to you, I think I'll…"

"Of course Buffy. Stay here with Willow. I'll fill you in later."

Buffy offered them both a smile as they walked out and shut the door.
Her attention was then drawn to the now stirring form beside her.
Willow. Their parting words back at the dorm were now pushing their way
forward, as were other images……silky hair… the sunrise they shared…..her
face in the moonlight…..her back as she walked out the door.

"Grummph….mrumph…."

"Again Will, almost, but not quite human." Buffy smiled down at her
friend.

"Buffy……what are you…..where's Nana?" Willow reached up and rubbed the
back of her head.

"She's in the other room with Giles." Buffy began to get up off the
bed, "I'll go get her if you want…" Willow reached out and stopped her.

"No, that's OK….I…..Buffy, why are you and Giles here?"

"Your grandmother and Giles apparently know each other….She called Giles
and asked him if we'd come here….she said that we all had someone in
common that she was concerned about."

"Oh…that would be me. I told Nana not to worry, she shouldn't have
called you here."

"Oh yes I should have dear." The voice came from the now opened bedroom
door. "There were a few things I had to discuss with Rupert….and I
thought Buffy could keep you company. Seems to me like you needed it."

"Nana, how do you know Giles and Buffy?"

Buffy looked at the woman. Willow didn't know she was a watcher. That
much was apparent by the expression on her face.

"I'll explain everything over dinner, Willow. For now, why don't you
take Buffy downstairs to the den? Rupert and I aren't quite done yet."

"OK, Nana…but I want to know everything later. Promise?"

Nana agreed and Willow got up and led Buffy downstairs to the den.
After getting a few sodas, Buffy settled down on the couch and Willow
sat in the overstuffed chair…at the other end of the room. They sat in
awkward silence until Buffy decided to speak up.

"So, Will, I….."

"I don't want to talk about it, Buffy."

Buffy shot her a look. "Why not, Will? What's going on with you? You
are the last person I thought would run away from their problems. And
this is my problem too…whatever it is…I don't even know if there is a
problem….'cause you won't talk to me."

Willow sat there…studying her hands intently. She didn't know what to
say, or how to say it. She was afraid that Buffy would never forgive
her.

"I'm scared, Buffy……I can't….I don't want to lose you as my friend…I did
something.. it was wrong….I just missed Oz so much……and I know you miss
Angel….I can't do anything right….I did a spell…"

"And you think it didn't work, but it did." Nana was on the stairs,
listening.

"Nana….yes…I…"

"It was a spell to have your true love reveal itself to you? A few
devotions, some well placed motherwort….am I close?"

"Yes but how?"

"Come on you two….looks like I have a lot of explaining to do.."

---------

Two hours later, they were eating dessert and Nana was completing her
story. "So I never told you I was a watcher, I thought it would be for
the best. Especially since I knew how close I'd put you to the active
slayer, on purpose. I sent your mother and father, newly married, to
Sunnydale…and let fate take it's course at that point. I new the slayer
was a long time coming, and so were you. Two years later, you were
born. You had a little patch of red hair on your head, the mark of a
natural witch in our family, and I knew the prophesy was coming true.
Didn't you ever wonder why you looked more like me than your mother? It
skips a generation, the power we possess."

She got up to refill her cup and left them to absorb all of the
information she'd just given them.

"Buffy was born several months before you, in L.A, two years after the
Hellmouth there had been closed. She wasn't chosen yet, as I remember
it, she was called while she was a freshman in High School and the
watcher…."

"Was Merrick." Buffy remembered.

"Yes, good man he was. Now, the prophesy was this: A slayer would be
born unto this world, a slayer like no other. She would bring balance
to the forces of good and evil. She is, as we know now, Buffy. Don't
get me wrong, I didn't know who Buffy was, I only knew she would be
called late, without any formal training, and that she'd wind up in
Sunnydale….just as a new Hellmouth was forming."

"Nana, how could you keep all of this from me? I told you everything
about us…I always wondered why you believed me so easily…you never
questioned me about the vampires or demons or the research I did for
Giles…."

"It simply wasn't time yet, dear. And as to your next question, yes,
your parents are well aware of what goes on in that town, and how
involved you are. They knew since you were born that you were meant for
bigger things than they could ever imagine. They're away at the most
convenient times, aren't they?" She looked at her granddaughter and
smiled a knowing smile. "When you two became friends, I couldn't have
been happier. I thought the slayer would have a better chance at
fulfilling the prophesy if she had a natural born witch as her
sidekick…"

"Natural born…..Nana…you're a witch?" Willow had just picked up on what
she was getting to.

"Yes dear, natural born. As I said, it skips a generation, which
explains why your mother doesn't have any viable power. She has
some….but it's not as fine tuned as ours is." She gave her
granddaughter a chance to swallow this last bit of information. "In
fulfillment of the prophesy, the slayer was to join forces with her true
love, and together they were to close the Hellmouth for good."

"Angel" Buffy's voice was barely above a whisper, yet they all heard
it.

"Angelus? Hmm…one would think so. When I had the Codex placed in his
hands, he was supposed to deliver it immediately, yet he hesitated."
She was looking at Buffy. "That hesitation cost you your life,
literally." Her gaze shifted to Giles. "And your hesitation also. Not
telling her came at a very high price. But, as for being your true
love, only you can answer that Buffy. The Hellmouth is closed,
yes…..but is it for good?"

"I can assure you, Margaret, we did everything we were supposed to. She
faced the master, and she died. As far as we know, the Hellmouth hasn't
seen any activity since."

"As far as you know, Rupert…as far as we all know. But can you be
sure?"

"Then Angel wasn't her true love?" Willow spoke the words Buffy was
afraid to form.

"As I said before, only Buffy can answer that."

They were all lost in thought. Each reliving the time the Hellmouth
opened and Buffy died at the hands of the master. After a few minutes,
Nana cut the silence.

"What do you say we all retire for the evening? We can continue our
talk tomorrow morning. I'm sure it'll keep." They all agreed.
"Rupert, of course, can have the other spare room. I'm sure you two
wouldn't mind staying in the same room." Before anyone could object,
Nana went off to retrieve some extra blankets, taking Willow's hand in
the process.

"Nana, I don't think…"

"Why do you think the spell didn't work, Willow?" Nana cut in.

"I…well….Oz didn't come back…and neither did Angel…..I have a hard time
with getting my spells right….and….well, they don't always go exactly as
planned." Willow gave her an impish grin. "Just last week I made Giles
blind and Xander a demon magnet." She gave a shrug of her shoulders.

Nana gave a little chuckle. "You'll get the hang of it dear. Practice
makes perfect you know. As for your love spell…it was meant to have
your true love reveal itself to you, wasn't it?" Willow shook her head
in agreement. "Well, seems to me that you just need to look for a sign
that it worked. As witches, we're always aware of nature and all the
beauty it holds. A bird singing in a tree, a crashing ocean, a
magnificent sunrise…."

"A sunrise?….I…uh…." Willow gasped.

"Yes, most times, you'll find that nature will answer your questions,
but you have to have your ears open and be ready for the answer, even if
it's the one you weren't quite expecting. Now go, off to bed with
you….I'm sure your friend is quite exhausted from her trip." Nana
kissed her good night and sent Willow on her way.

This was a lot of information for Willow to digest all at once. She
made her way to her bedroom, unsure of what she was going to say to
Buffy. She walked in and realized that the conversation would have to
keep for now. The Slayer was fast asleep in bed. Silently, she walked
over to where she was laying and sat down next to her.

<Buffy. Now what are we gonna do?>

"Hmm? Don't know Will. What?"

<What?> "What?" Willow squeaked.

"Will? What happened? What's wrong?" Buffy sat up.

<Buffy….say green. Green, green, green, green, green….>

"Green! What? Wait……what the hell?"

They both looked at each other. It couldn't be, could it? Buffy could
read her mind. This little trip to Nana's was getting more and more
interesting.

"Buffy…you…you read my mind…I don't understand…..it takes years to….I've
read about it but…."

"Well, this is certainly and interesting twist to our already twisted
relationship." The words rolled off Buffy's tongue. She didn't even
think about what she'd said before it was too late. "Oh, Will, I'm
sorry, I didn't mean…."

"No, it's alright. I deserved it, I guess. I haven't exactly been
Miss-fun-to-be-around."

No, Will….you don't deserve it…..I've been so worried about you. I."

"Don't be silly Buffy, of course I would have come back, I just needed
time to" She saw the look of shock on Buffy's face, "…uh, yeah….I just
read your mind and this is REALLY starting to freak me out!"

They didn't know what to do. Willow supposed that this had something to
do with the prophesy, but what, she wasn't sure. "OK, there's only one
way to approach this…"

"Research" Buffy added.

"Ugh….this mind reading thing is gonna take a lot of getting used to.
Let's research for a while and see where it takes us. It's only 11
o'clock. If we don't find anything by 12:30, I say we hit the sack and
talk to Nana tomorrow."

"Why don't we skip the research and go straight to the source tomorrow,
Will? I mean why spend hours trying to find something that your
grandmother might already know about?" <I can think of other ways to
spend our time…>

"Buffy! You said that on purpose, didn't you?"

"Just checking to see if you're on your toes." Buffy gave her an all
too innocent smile. <This mind reading thing might not be such a bad
thing after all…>

"Yes it is, Buffy. Don't you remember what happened the last time you
were able to read minds? You almost went crazy…." Willow gave her a
reprimanding look.

"Yeah, but on the plus side, I saved Jonathan. Besides, this is
different. And if I go crazy, at least I'll have someone along for
company."

"You are incorrigible, you know that?" Willow smiled at her friend.

"God Will, I thought I'd never be able to do that again."

Willow cocked her head to the side, trying to figure out what Buffy
meant, but her mind wasn't giving any hints this time. "What?"

"Make you smile." Buffy looked at her seriously.

"Oh. You could always do that Buffy. Even when things were so bad with
Oz…and Xander with the fluke….you managed to make me smile." Willow
fell into a contemplative silence.

<I could again, you know. Make you smile. If you'd just let me in and
give me the chance.>

She looked up at the slayer who had now put her hand on Willow's.

<I know. It's like I'm on the edge of something and I'm afraid that if
I make the wrong choice then we'll never be the same again. Any of
us.> Willow squeezed her hand.

<Don't I get a choice in this, Will? It's my life too you know.>

"Mmm, I know Buffy, it's just that…."

Buffy edged closer to her…slowly, tentatively. Not sure what her
reaction would be.

<I can't think with her this close to me.>

"I know, Will. That's the point." Buffy offered a seductive smile.

"Ack, no…we can't…I mean..this is my grandmother's house, Buffy? Isn't
it like illegal or something to have sex in your grandmother's house?"

"What I'm thinking about is probably illegal in at least thirteen
states….does that mean you'd do it if we weren't in your grandmother's
house, Will?"

"Yes..No! I mean….ugh, I can't think straight."

<Well, that's one way of putting it.>

"Buffy!"

"OK, I'll be good. On the premise that we're at your grandmothers
house. Neutral territory. Now, if we were anywhere else…"

"Don't finish that thought." Willow put her finger on the slayer's
lips. "I'm beat. Let's get some sleep and tackle the world saving
stuff tomorrow."

"I'm kinda beat myself…OK, sleepy time! And if you steal the covers
this time I'll….have to do something horribly wrong to you." They
snuggled down into the bed.

<You wouldn't.>

<You're right.>

--
Willow: It's horrible! That's me as a vampire? I'm so evil and...
skanky. (aside to Buffy, worried) And I think I'm kinda gay.
Buffy: Willow, just remember, a vampire's personality has nothing to do
with the person it was.
Angel: Well, actually... (gets a look from Buffy) uh, That's a good
point.

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