Closing Time
by Electronis
[reviews]
Spoilers: anything up to and including 715 — Get It Done
is fair game.
Disclaimer: All the characters from the show "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" belong
to ME. I mean ME as in Mutant Enemy, not me as in myself. If only I were so
lucky. The song "Closing Time" belongs to Semisonic and "Game of Love" belongs
to Carlos Santana and Michelle Branch.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Buffy came home from work to find Willow sitting alone behind her laptop at the
dining room table, the song "The Game of Love" coming from the computer's speakers.
"Hey Will, what ya doing?" she asked as she approached the redhead.
"Not much Buff, just some research" she replied not looking up.
"Something penguin related? Is there some sort of big bad penguin demon that the
First is throwing at us?" Buffy asked noting the penguin on both a nearby book
and the website Willow had just surfed to.
"Hunh? Oh, no, no, not demon related. Computer related. I'm going to get a new
computer, and I'm looking to get out of Macs. I'm looking into Linux, that's
what the book's about. And I'm checking my email, that's the deal with the
website. I don't know why there's a penguin in the Gossimer logo. Maybe they're
Linux fans. Or maybe they don't know why there's a penguin in their logo
either."
The slayer was happy to hear the hacker babble. With everything that happened
after that fateful day in May, Willow babbles were few and far between. "So, how
are things between you and Kennedy? Think you're going to be back to the
smoochies soon?" Buffy knew Kennedy was a big part of helping Willow come back
around.
Willow sighed at Buffy's question. "We're not dating anymore. She couldn't
handle me drawing power from her like I did. So know we're just friends. I think
she has her eyes on someone new."
"It wouldn't be Amanda would it? When I was counseling her she seemed to have
definite issues with boys."
"No, not Amanda. But she is from Sunnydale."
"Sunnydale? That only leaves me, Anya, and...Dawn?"
"Yep, surprised me too. Maybe she sees something we don't"
"Or maybe this is some kind of trick. The First working things to it's
advantage, cause now I have to kill Kennedy."
"Well, I don't KNOW that she's considering Dawn, but she has been hovering near
her quite a bit lately. Besides, isn't it a bit hypocritical of you to have a
problem with Dawn possibly being gay when you let your best friend and her
lesbian lover live in your house?"
"Oh, this has nothing to do with Dawn being gay, it's me being the
overprotective big sister. You know 'No dating till you're 21', that kind of
thing."
"You were dating Angel when you were Dawn's age."
"I know, but don't you think mom probably wanted to kill him? At least before
she knew he was already dead"
Willow couldn't resist a chuckle "Buffy, I'm sure you don't have anything to
worry about. Dawn's a big girl, you've done a good job raising her. And at least
you know all about Kennedy, especially that she's breathing."
"Good point, I'll go easy on her, especially since all we have is speculation
right now. So, what are your plans for this fine evening?"
"Watching Enterprise. T'Pol's such a hottie."
"I didn't know you had a thing for Vulcans."
"I do when they look like she does. And Hoshi's not bad looking either. And that
one ensign that went to the movies with Phlox was cute too. They should use her
more often. I wonder if there's any fanfic involving the three of them?"
"Getting out of the Doogie Howser fic hunh?"
"That was high school Buff, I like to think I've come a long way since then."
"You have Will. I remember when you were barely able to float a pencil. Now,
you're opening up big time portals. Speaking of high school and time travel,
doesn't this take you back?" Buffy asked as the computer began playing the song
'Closing Time'. "And, very true, every new beginning comes from some other
beginning's end."
"Yep. And very true too. Look at me. My relationship with Tara began from the
ending of my relationship with Oz. I'll be graduating college soon, and that
will lead to a job. My life seems to be all about change right now. Providing I
have one."
"You will, I'll make sure of it. See, you're not the only one whose life is
changing. Going out with Principal Wood was nice, but it wasn't what I thought
it would be. I think he kind of confirmed something for me that I had suspected
for awhile."
"Oh, what's that?"
"I think you know. Mind if I watch Enterprise with you?"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
June 2005
"Wake up sleepy head, you don't want to be miss Dawnie's graduation do you?"
"It still feels weird seeing Sunnydale High Graduations where the Principal
doesn't get eaten by a giant snake."
"I know sweetie, but you should get used to it. As the most popular teacher
there, you'll be seeing a lot of them. Besides, Kennedy's already up and fixing
a huge breakfast. It's not every day you get to go to your girlfriend's
graduation."
"You should know"
"Hey, I was at both of your graduations."
"Well, the first one was yours too. And you blew up the school."
"Hey, it ended up giving Xander a job in the end. And, you know, there was also
the bit about saving the town."
"I know baby, I'm just teasing you. You said something about breakfast?" Willow
asked as she got out of the bed she had shared with Buffy for over two years
now. She thought back to that day and smiled. 'Closing Time' would always hold a
special place in her heart. Because it was true. Every new beginning comes from
some other beginning's end.
End