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TITLE: These Roads We Travel (22/?) AUTHOR: Kimber (feralspirit@xxxxxxxx) DISCLAIMER: All BTVS characters belong to Joss Whedon and Mutant Enemy. SUMMARY: The long awaited next story in "The Road Series". SPOILERS: Everything is fair game. DISTRIBUTION: The usual suspects. Anyone else, e-mail me please. AUTHOR'S NOTES: This comes because I've had so many great responses to the series and many people begging for another. Be careful what you wish for.
{{Indicates flashbacks}} -----------
The sun rose up into the blue sky. Birds came out of their nests, ready to face a brand new day and the world was alive again. Things have a way of changing, literally, overnight. The night holds secrets and sadness and shadows of the unknown. But when the sun lifts itself up into the sky, it all disappears and fades as if it never existed.
Buffy Summers sat in an empty room adjacent to Willow’s room. The doctors had been in there for over two hours, examining her. Two hours ago, Faith came tearing down the hall screaming that Willow was awake. Sincethen, her family and friends had gathered in the room and waited. And waited. And waited.
“I’m gonna snap.” Buffy finally said. “What the hell are they doing in there?”
“Buffy, Willow has been through a very traumatic experience. We have to be patient and let them check her over thoroughly.” Giles placed his hand on hers. “If they don’t come out here in two minutes,I’m going in.” He deadpanned.
Buffy couldn’t help but smile.
Buffy rose to her feet. “Yes? How is Willow? Can I see her? What’s going on? Is she okay? There isn’t any memory loss, is there? Cause, I’ve heard about that kind of thing. Makes people devolve.”
The doctor laughed. “Slow down. She’s fine. As
fine as can be expected for now.
She’s awake and alert and very evolved, I assure you.” He smiled at Buffy and looked around
the room until his gaze settled on one particular person. “She’s asking for youand Buffy to come
in now.”
-----
“Hey.”
Lisa turned around to see Faith standing
behind her. “Hey back.”
Lisa shrugged. “Needed some thinking time. Things are moving kinda quick and I feel like I can’t catch my breath.”
Faith nodded in understanding. She walked over next to Lisa by the
window in the waiting room and looked out. “Seems so different.
Doesn’t it? We live our
lives in the darkness, patrolling, fighting the baddies, but then you look at
something like this and it’s just amazing.” Faith looked over at Lisa and smiled. “It’ll be okay, you know. Everything with you and Laurel. You two have been through a lot and I
think that there’s plenty of sunshine ahead for ya.”
“Very funny. Come on. Let’s
go see what’s going on. I hope
Buffy was able to see Red by now.
She was going crazy before.”
“Yeah?”
“I’m sorry. I mean, I am and I’m not. Laurel has her mom back and that’s so amazing, but.. .”
-----
Willow Rosenberg sat in silence in her bed in Sunnydale Memorial Hospital. She was bruised all over her body, and felt like she’d been hit by a mack truck that came back for more at least three times; but at least she was alive and solid.
It was all thanks to her daughter, Laurel. Laurel, who, was being told right now that her mother was alive and wanted to see her. Laurel who had gone through so much in her sixteen years. But isn’t that the way it always goes with slayers? They live an amazing and intense roller coaster ride of a life because precedence has shown that their time on this earth isn’t very long.
Willow looked up as she heard the door open slowly. This was it. She finally, after all this time,would get to see Buffy and Laurel.
Buffy pushed the door open slowly and settled her eyes on the person sitting up in the bed not ten feet away. Her hair was jostled, her skin paler than she’d ever seen in her life. There were bruises evident all over her face and arms, and she could only imagine the black and blue welts that were covered by the hospital gown. She looked at her and decided that she was the most beautiful thing she’d ever seen in her entire life.
She and Laurel walked slowly over tothe bed, trying to absorb the moment and savor it. Long before she even touched her hand to the door knob, tears began to stream down Buffy’s cheeks, and now they were flowing even more freely.
She reached the side of the bed. Willow had much the same _expression_ on her face as Buffy did. Tearsof joy, of loss, and of immense relief coupled with the biggest goofiest grin both of them could possibly have plastered on their faces.
“Hey.” Willow croaked out between tears. She lifted her arms and opened them wide.
“Hey, yourself.” Buffy managed to say before falling gently into those arms. The arms she’d dreamed about for over a year. And it was so much better than she’d dreamed because it was real. This was Willow, alive. It felt like her, smelled like her, and she could hear her heart beating and it was the most amazing sound she’d heard since Willow had an ultra sound almost seventeen years ago and they heard Laurel’s heartbeat for the first time.
“Laurel.” Willow whispered and reached over to her daughter, their daughter.
Laurel reached her hand out and touched her mother’s for the first time in over a year. Everything hit her all at once, and she finally broke down and sobbed.
Buffy managed to catch her and put her on the bed next to Willow. Laurel looked up and reached a tentative hand out to Willow’s face. As she made contact, she gasped. “Momma.”
“Hey there, little one.” Willow said in a voice thick from
emotion. “It’s been a while.” She looked up at Buffy and smiled. “Too long a while.”
~~Kimber
List Gutter Lust Goddess, Masked Road Runner (meep, meep!!), Keeper of the crazy lil comma, Pat's Elmer to his Wabbit, self proclaimed 'perfect drug' addict, and Official Tormenter the Phantom Chimpunk and her band of crazy nuts. Proud supporter of the Mad Poet Society and the Troll under the Bridge.
"What's that feeling you get when you're driving away from people and they recede on the plane until you see their specks dispersing? It's the too huge world vaulting us and it is goodbye; but we lean forward towards the next crazy venture beneath the sky." Jack Keruac, 'On The Road'
Member of the BtVS Writers Guild: Because fic makes anything possible.
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