RE: FIC: The Rocky Road Prelude: The Journey Begins (1/?)

[CAClarke2@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx]

Oh wicked mean! you really shouldn't live a person hanging like this. I may
have to hurt you if I don't get a fix soon. Want more!

-----Original Message-----
From: ~~Kimber [mailto:kacoe@xxxxxxx]
Sent: Thursday, March 02, 2000 6:08 PM
To: BuffyLovesWillow; BuffyWantsWillow
Subject: [buffywantswillow] FIC: The Rocky Road Prelude: The Journey Begins
(1/?)


From: ~~Kimber <kacoe@xxxxxxx> 

Relish it while you can. I won't be releasing another one for a bit until I
flesh out the rest of the plot. 

~~Kimber 



--------------- 
Title: The Rocky Road Prelude: The Journey Begins (1/?) 
Author: Kimber (kacoe@xxxxxxx) 
Disclaimer: All BTVS characters belong to Joss Whedon and Mutant Enemy. 
Summary: Fourth in the Road Series 
Spoilers: Everything is fair game. 
Distribution: Pat Kelly, Rodrigo, Gary Thompson, Syrenslure and
Serendipity. Anyone else, e-mail me please. 
Author's Notes: The more feedback I get the more fic I write. . .nuff said.

Thoughts are enclosed in < > 
Flashbacks are enclised in <<<< >>>> 
------------ 


December 2009 


As I have stated in my journals, sometimes to face the uncertainty of the
future, one must return to the shadows of the past. That is what we've
done. After we averted world domination by the demon hybrids, Buffy, Willow
and myself returned to Sunnydale. I took over my old apartment and Buffy
and Willow moved into the attic of the Summers home. It would be some of
the best and worst times of their young lives. 


Come August of last year, Willow stumbled upon a cure for the distance rule
that applied to them. It was buried deep within an old forgotten text. It
was a simple incantation and Willow didn't think twice about performing it.
The spell quadrupled the distance that they could be apart and this enraged
Buffy. They fought long and hard. With the distance limit no longer an
issue, Willow decided that it was time to return to her studies so she
packed her bags and left for England once again. Returning not to the
Watcher's Mansion but to Oxford so she could resume the end of her Senior
year. She's been gone for four months and I'm afraid that it's been very
hard on Buffy. 


Phone calls, but mostly letters, have been exchanged but the toll that it's
taken on them is going to be far reaching. Willow has attained what she's
always strived for: Academic and personal independence. She's graduated at
the top of her class with a doctorate in two fields: Demonology and
Computer applications with a minor in old world languages. 


The pride I feel is indescribable. I always knew she was bound for greater
things than this dreadful town would allow. She is now Doctor Rosenberg and
will begin her studies right here on the Hellmouth. There is no better
place to start than this. 


I fear that Buffy is feeling inadequate and lost. As I write even now,
Willow is returning to us. Buffy doesn't know it yet, Willow wanted it to be
a surprise. With all the problems she's had in these past few years, she
returned to Oxford and was able to complete her studies and graduate now in
December. She has no need for pomp and circumstance, so she simply picked
up her diploma, packed her belongings and booked the first flight she could
find. 


Time grows short and soon I will have to reveal the next obstacle that lies
in our paths. I am still struggling with the knowledge that Xander was so
kind as to bestow on me. I've received a few calls from Spike but as of
yet, Xander's status is still unknown. Willow has requested that I not pick
her up at the airport. Perhaps it is for the best. She and Buffy have a
lot to discuss. 


Rupert Giles 


--------------------- 


'you told me all your secrets' 
'and i filled you up with lies' 
'now i'm living honestly' 
'because i said goodbye' 
'i can't go home anymore' 
'i don't wanna find out what i left there for' 
'I Don't Wanna Know' by The Indigo Girls 



He stumbled out of an alley and fell on already bruised knees. 'Have to get
away. Have to get away.' The words repeated themselves in his head like a
mantra. He noticed that he was being tracked back in Santa Fe. God, that
was a month ago. What ever this thing was, it wasn't about to give up. He
opened his eyes and his stomach retched from the stench of the puddle of
liquid in front of him. This was no way to live, it was no way to die. If
he didn't get his ass off the cold pavement he'd die for sure. Not this
way, please. He'd fought vampires, demons, been kidnapped, beaten and
kicked around. He wasn't about to die in an alley alone. He picked himself
up and continued on. 


----------- 


The boy was smart. Too smart for his own good sometimes. More like a smart
ass. Spike stepped out of the alley and stayed a few paces behind the
cloaked figure. Two could play at this game. Rupert wanted to boy back
alive, he didn't say conscious. He nodded his head and four men set off
after him. Finally after almost a year, Spike had found him. And he wasn't
about to let the boy go without an explanation. He watched as they
struggled then knocked him out and bagged him. Spike considered for a
moment why he'd agreed to track him then came to the conclusion that it was
curiosity. The boy had been up to something big and if he was gonna find
out what it was, then he'd have to deliver this package to good old
Sunnydale. 


------------ 


Kick, punch, kick, punch, swing, slam, poof! <This is way too easy> The
Slayer thought to herself. As if they'd sensed her cockiness, they last two
vampires stepped up their attack. She was sent slamming into a tree and
slid down with a resounding thud. They attacked together, grabbing her arms
while she was still stunned and both leaning in for the kill. She hesitated
a moment then broke free. Two stakes emerged from her sleeves and she
jammed them home creating two clouds of dust next to her. 


"Morons." She shook out her hair and retracted the stakes. "Thank you
Angel." 


Before they all parted ways in England, Angel gave Buffy a pair of stake
cuffs. It took her only about five minutes to learn how to use them and
they'd proved to be very useful when she was faced with a group of vamps. 


Buffy glanced at her watch as she exited the graveyard. Ten o'clock.
Patrols were getting shorter and shorter and much too easy since she'd been
turned immortal. She headed up the block engrossed in thought. For the
past four months, one scene played over and over in her mind. It was one of
the first and most hurtful fights she and Willow ever had...... 



<<<<"I can't believe you'd do this to me." 


"Buffy, I did it for us. What if we need to be apart, what if I need to go
to England, or France or Russia or." 


"Then I'd go with you. There's no reason for us to be apart now. Why
couldn't have we discussed it!?" 


"Because you'd try to change my mind. I need my independence." She saw
Buffy's back go stiff at these words but she continued on. "I want. . .I
want to finish my studies." 


She whipped around with fear and anger dancing in her eyes. "Go back to
England? You want to go back to England after everything we went through
there?" 


"After everything I went through there. Me! I was the one who was
attacked. I was the one who was raped by a demon and almost drained by his
cadre, not you!" Her voice rose to a frantic pitch. "I need to face this.
I can't let it hover over me like a black cloud." 


"And what about me? Did you forget that I died and had to live as a
vampire? Do you know how hard that was for me, how disgusting I felt?" 


"But your not anymore. You don't understand. You faced what ever it was
you had to in order to get over this. I haven't. I won't run scared
anymore. I need to finish my doctorate, this is important to me. Why can't
you support me?" 


"Support you? I don't even know who you are anymore, Will. All you do is
study and practice witchcraft and go back to studying more. If I wanted to
live with Giles, I would have moved in with him, not you!" 


She stood firm with tears in her eyes. "Buffy, I'm going back. Not to the
mansion but to Oxford. I have to finish my studies, I have to do this." 


Buffy shook her head in disbelief. "You already called, didn't you? You
applied for re-admittance." 


Willow nodded her head. "I can live in a single flat right on campus." She
walked up to Buffy and tried to touch her arm but Buffy pulled away. "Don't
do this, I need you." 


"You don't need me, Will. I just wonder now if you ever did." 


"What's that supposed to mean?" 


"You went to Giles you went to Angel you went to Cordelia. . .you went to
everyone but me." 


"Buffy you don't understand. . .you don't know how much. . ." 


"Because you didn't let me know. You didn't tell me what you were going
through. You didn't trust me enough." She wiped the hot tears away from
her eyes. "I can't do this with you Will, I can't fight. I don't have it
in me to stand here and. . ." She looked at her for a long moment before
grabbing her keys and heading out the door. 


"Buffy wait!" >>>> 



She put her key in the door and opened it. That was the last time they
really talked. In four months, they'd spoken on the phone twice and letters
came very infrequently. They were mostly filled with how her studies were
going, how she'd joined a coven on campus and was improving every day.
Nothing about the fight, nothing about how sorry either one of them were.
They acted like it never happened but it did. 


Buffy opened the fridge and pulled out a can of soda. She sauntered over to
the couch and turned the TV on. Yet again, this was going to be a long
night. Nights like this were the longest ones she'd ever experienced in her
life. Nights without Willow. 


----------- 


It was drizzling lightly. Willow stood outside the back entrance of the
Summers' home and let the rain caress her skin. It felt good and
refreshing. . . and a little sad. She looked up and sighed. <The sky is
crying. I wonder if this is a sign of what I'm in for?> She chuckled to
herself. That was pretty cheesy, but it fit the situation well. 


Everything and nothing flashed through her brain in the ten or so minutes
she'd been standing there. Buffy. What was she going to say to her? Would
she welcome her back with open arms. Or? The though sent a shiver down her
spine, or maybe it was just the rain. No use in thinking about it now. .
.no thinking, just go up there, damnit and tell her how much you missed her,
how sorry you are that she was hurt so badly. 


She stood there, house keys clenched so tightly in her hand that it almost
hurt. She looked up again and sighed. This was going to be on of the
longest nights she'd ever experienced in her life. Her first night home
with Buffy. 



-- 
http://www.Kimbers-Corner.net <http://www.Kimbers-Corner.net> 


"Sure Willow is bi! And she's getting it on with a man! To all you fanboys
out there: Damn, I am an *evil bastard* ain't I?" 
Joss Whedon, Creator BTVS 


". . .and so far, well, the only thing that I know she likes is you." 
Riley to Willow, 'Initiative' 


"It's a good fight, Buffy, and I want in." 
"I kinda love you." 
Buffy and Willow, 'Choices' 


"I. . .I just kinda like having something that's just . . You know, mine." 
"I am, you know. . .yours." 
Willow and Tara, 'Who Are You?' 


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