A Walk in the Clouds
by Nykademis
A Circle Unbroken
[reviews]
Disclaimer: I only own that which UPN won't show.
Archive: www.thedge.fateback.com/index2.htm
Title: A Walk in the Clouds/ A Circle Unbroken
Author's Note: No real spoilers though parts of this do resemble Season 7. But only PARTS OF IT. The rest was my idea.
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Previously on 'A Walk in the Clouds'
"Sorry but what can I say. I can appreciate the female form" Vaya laughed as she vanished. Her amused chuckles still ringing though she appeared to be gone.
In the complete blackness of Nowhere a single white door appeared. Opening by itself it gave Buffy a view of clouds and a gorgeous blue sky.
"Enjoy" Vaya voice rang out.
"I really hate this part" Buffy closed her eyes and took a faithful step out the door expecting to fall.
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Buffy didn't expect to land on something soft. Considering she hadn't started to fall yet.
Opening her tightly closed eyes she found herself sitting on a bed. Cautiously she gazed about the room, recognizing nothing. The furnitiure, the decor, even the the scent of it was alien to her. Creeping stealthily to the door she peeked out into the hall.
Just as Dawn peeked in.
"Buffy!" the teen leapt forward and hugged her sister tightly, checking her over for injuries "You're healed already. Man gotta love that slayer healing thing"
"Yeah, it's great. Where's Willow?" Buffy brushed pass her sister and headed towards the stairs recognizing Giles town house once in the hallway.
"She's downstairs doing the hacker thing. Kate's helping Tara with the magic thing, and I think Xanders here now" Dawn had to double step just to keep up with Buffy's determined stride.
"Good, I need to have a little talk with Willow about Kate" Buffy took the steps two at a time, a look reminiscent of Willow 'resolve face' plastered on her fine features.
Dawn followed close behind looking worried.
Skipping the bottom two steps completely Buffy strode purposefully into the living room stopping short only when both Willow and Kate looked up at her. Identical smiles on their pale features.
Buffy crooked a finger at the two Rosenbergs who in turn looked at her, then at each other, before following her. Kate still holding the mortal and pestle in her hands.
"What's up Buffy?" Willow grabbed the slayers hands looking pensive, her eyes showing how concerned she was about Buffy's stiff demeanor and the nervous bounce she was doing.
Buffy was doing her best not to laugh. She knew she could hold onto her nervous face for only a few more minutes, but she had some news to deliver.
"It's about Kate" Buffy bit her lip at the double quick intakes of breath the Rosenbergs did in perfect unison.
"What is it Buffy?" Kate stepped closer looking older than her 15 years, something Buffy sometimes regretted "I can take it. Just tell me"
"Kate sweetie.." Buffy paused for effect, milking her little drama facade as long as she could.
"Don't baby me. I've been doing this as long as Dawn. Just tell me what's up" Kate placed the porecelin bown down on the table closest to her and faced Buffy like many of her recruits would.
"Kate. Dawn's been training with me since we moved here when she was eleven. You were only dabbling in magic then. And usually only with Willow and Jenny's help" Buffy smoothing the curly red hair on Kate's head, looking into green eyes that matched Willow's "But now you're training Tara, who's my age" Buffy looked to Willow knowing the Wiccan could sense what she was building up to say.
Willow turned away appearing to need to compose herself, though she was only hiding a smile.
"You've surpassed all the expectations I've and Giles have had. Your power as well as Willow's has been a great help in this fight of our's" Buffy rested a soothing hand on the teens shoulder.
"It's a good fight Buffy. And I want in" Kate shrugged hoping this wasn't a poorly hidden let down.
"You did get in" Buffy smiled as Willow started laughing behind her hand.
"What?" Kate's eyes brightened highlighting the flecks of gold deep withing the green color.
"You got in. The Center expects you early tomorrow morning. You are to be trained as an ally to one of our Slayer Potentials" Buffy hugged the littlest Rosenberg to her, squeezing her until she squeaked.
"I got in? I got in!" Kate bounced in a circle after Buffy released her, giving a quick squeeze to both her surrogate sister and slayer, as well as her sister she rushed out to tell Dawn the good news.
Willow faced Buffy again, tears in her eyes as she held in her happy laughter "I hate you sometimes slayer"
"I know. But you love me all the other times" Buffy said brightly pciking up the forgotten mortal and pestle "What's the katinator making anyway? Cookies?" poking at the brown dough she noticed the interesting scent it gave off. Not to sweet, and not medicinal.
"Gamug actually" Willow took the bowl and headed into the living room once again "It's a disinfectant. You put it in an open wound and it clears out all those nasty bacteria's. Which might help your slayer factor heal faster"
"Her idea?" Buffy linked arms with her best friend and resident butt kickin' Wiccan.
"All the way. You know how protective she is of you" Willow chuckled "I think she has a crush on you"
"No way. Protective yes. Lusty no" Buffy and Willow watched the rest of their gang congratulate their youngest Scooby, who aged a miraculous three days younger than Dawn.
"Remember the Riley incident?" Willow pointed out waggling her brows.
"Riley? Riley..."Buffy thought back to all the encounters between Riley and Kate "She did spill a whole cup of coffee in his lap"
"Six times" Willow corrected pointedly.
"Ok so she didn't like Riley" Buffy conceded.
"She gets this hinky look even when 'I' hug you" Willow stepped behind Buffy and embraced her around the waist.
Kate's eyes flashed as she tried not to reactly to her sister cuddling with the smaller blond, before turning back to Dawn's excited description of the training at The Center.
"Oh my god she does" Buffy spun a mock frightened look on her face "and Willow had places pressed to places"
The redhead blushed before punching Buffy firmly in the arm "Sorry babe, I'm strictly of the Faith persuasion"
"Tell that to your sister" Buffy goosed Willow and made her way over to where Tara sat.
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Tara Lynette Giles had been to The Center many times before. She'd trained in hand-to-hand combat at her father's insistent while living in England among the Watcher's Council. But she'd never had to do the things these girls did.
The Center, as everyone called it, had replaced the Watcher's Council when a rather organized Sect of Vampires had blown the Council's Main gathering to bits (literally), and scattered the remaining members to the four winds.
They had begun to identify Slayer Potentials and training them, the old way of the Watcher's having been destroyed. Buffy as the only active slayer, with Faith in prison, had taken the crisis into her own hands and gathered those who shared a like destiny with her and began to teach them how to fight. She wouldn't be around forever after all.
Faith had joined her after getting out on a techinicality that the Council had kept hidden. Much to everyone's relief she had changed her ways, her anger at Buffy and her kin gone as if it had never been. She was working hard at regaining what she had had with the Scooby Gang for a short time. The unconditional frienship, the comraderie, hell even the silent fights. She had also found love, in the form of one Willow Rosenberg.
Now she stood before a group of girls who should only be worried about which Barbie to choose, teaching them how to kill a vampire with unconventional weapons.
"It doesn't seem fair does it?"
Tara jumped a bit when Buffy's voice came from behind her.
"N-n-no" Tara shook her head, embarrassed that she stuttered.
"It isn't. But that's not what life is all about" Buffy stared long and hard at the group before her, noticing who excelled and who dragged behind. She noticed a few who looked scared, Tara was one of them "You'll make a great Watcher someday"
Tara turned her confused blue gaze on the slayer "M-me?"
"Yeah. You're watching them all the time" Buffy joked drawing a smile from the impossibly shy woman.
"Just making note of who needs a little extra push" Tara turned back around to hide her blush. She fixed her eyes on one of the smaller girls. She was wobbling, and dropping her stance to quickly.
"Who's lagging and what can I do?" Buffy squat next to her gazing through the crowd noticing a few promising girls.
"Nicole Bijou" Tara looked at the smaller blonde. Sometimes she couldn't get over the difference in size. She was a good inch and a half taller than Buffy. If felt weird to be bigger than the slayer. It made her just a little self-conscious.
"Nicole Bijou? Which one is she?" Buffy was just a litte put out that she didn't know most of the girls by name anymore. When they'd started out she could name every single one of them, but now when hundreds attending and 3 to 5 arriving daily, she was hard put to keep count of the class sizes.
"The little one in the blue" Tara pointed to the tiny black haired girl.
"Ni-ni? She follows me around and does stuff for me" Buffy stood and got Faith's attention. She spoke briefly with her sister slayer and moved to the side next to Tara again "Show me who else"
"Left face!" Faith's command rang out seconds before the distinctive 'thump, thump' of the girls responding to her military fashion of teaching.
"How?" Tara looked slightly frightened.
"Just go to each and touch them, I'll do the rest" Buffy assured her helping the blonde to her feet.
Tara cautiously walked to the back of the crowd.
"Everyone eyes forward. When Ms. Giles touches you I want you front and center. You're gonna be training with Buffy for a while" Faith joined Buffy at the head of her rank.
Tara moved agilely through the girls, tapping one every few steps, pulling a total of seven out of Faith's formation of thirty-five.
Faith ordered them to form a line in front of Buffy, who found herself staring into the ice blue eyes of Nicole Bijou.
"Ni-ni" Buffy smiled when the girl flinched hoping to calm her a bit "How old are you?"
Nicole had a sweet voice, one most people remember a friend having during their own childhood. It was girlish and had a certain 'tinkling' sound to it that made you smile.
"I'm seven ma'am" Nicole couldn't force herself to look up after flinching away from the slayer. She'd been told what the world was like, she'd been told what her duty was. And it terrified her.
"Do you believe in magic Nicole" Buffy choose to use the girls full name with brought the ice blue eyes back to her's.
"Yes. I see it done everyday" Nicole managed a not so scared smile for the woman she idolized.
"Well you and your cohorts in my line are gonna go train, and with a little magic, who knows what we could do" Buffy stepped aside and pointed out the door. The girls in line filed out ahd waited patiently for her in the hallway. Turning back to Tara once Faith regained her class's attention Buffy took her trembling hand "I'm sure these aren't the only girls who need a little more help. Do you know where more are?"
Tara nodded silently.
"Show me" Buffy followed the blonde out, the tiny potentials marching behind them.
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Vaya sat atop a stack of mats watching Buffy training a room full of Potentials who found the fighting a bit harder to learn.
She kept a close eye on Buffy's smile as she moved through the lines adjusting an angle here, or bringing the 'other left' arm up to block.
She also watched Tara, who watched Buffy proudly. Helping to conduct the class by pointing out faults in the potentials Buffy might have missed.
This Tara who didn't have the predisposition to magicks. Who was only now learning from a girl nearly 6 years her junior.
Vaya waited while Buffy dismissed her class, the proud smile that matched Tara's clear on her face.
"All they needed was a different teaching strategy" Buffy sat down comfortably next to Tara smiling at the shy blond "It's been so long since I've actually taught a class. Just running everything from behind that desk. Accepting girls, goddess we have a waitlist!"
"We do?" Tara was unaware of how big The Center had gotten.
"Yes. We might have to start a second Center just to handle it. And we might have to take some regular human girls as well. That's most of the waitlist"
"We c-could always s-start a school" Tara shrugged "You know, make a real income from this. Teaching girls to defend themselves, teach some of the mroe accepting ones about Magicks, and Slayers"
"We could start a whole new Watcher's Council" Buffys eyes lit up as she realized the positive effects of Tara's idea "A slayer friendly Council"
"It's s-something to think about" Tara blushed. Hearing the bell for lunch ring "It won't just be a summer thing, more like a way of life" she thought aloud as she left the training room.
And Buffy to her thoughts.
"She has a point you know" Vaya hopped down "Steady income for doing what you're good at. Helping girls and other slayers. Rebuilding and order of good to last until evil is destroyed or the sun goes Nova"
"Wow aren't you just a little ball of sun-shine" Buffy rolled her eyes and spun on her butt to lay flat of the folded mats.
"Hey every world implodes upon it'self eventually" Vaya shrugged and sat on Buffy's stomach.
"I see they let you out of the Bunny suit" shoving Vaya off so she couls resume her normal routine of breathing she smiled at the girls dark frown.
"You know they almost outruled this as a good reality to place you in" Vaya carelessly executed three back handsprings and a layout, spinning in the mirror to check her hair. Not a strand out of place.
"Why? The stresses of running The Center?" Buffy rolled her eyes.
"Yes actually" Vaya snapped her fingers changing into a uniform much like those that the Potentials training in The Center wore. Though unlike the gray with white stripes, the blue with red stripes or the black with white stripes yoga pants and tops, the girls wore the signify which phase they were in, Vaya wore a pale purple with gray stripes.
"Interesting color scheme" Buffy commented before standing "what are you here to tell me?"
"Nothing actually. I just happen to like this reality. Hard times come and go. But your little Scooby Gang doesn't quit. Not even when Willow and Faith get hitched" Vaya tried to get a rise off of Buffy, knowing she'd been in a relationship with both so far in her reality skips.
"As long as they're happy" Buffy shrugged having got over the shock of the Willow/Faith connection long ago. Or this realities Buffy had already.
"Oh and Katie? She's a little firestarter. She's got it bad for you" Vaya sat close behind Buffy lifting her head to rest it in her lap "But I think little Dawnie's got designs on the littlest Rosenberg"
"How cute" Buffy smiled though she flinched inside. Dawn and Kate? They'd been off again on again friends until Dawn let slip that Buffy was the slayer and Willow was one of her sidekicks. They were great friends now, But their past fights were legendary.
"Xander wants the baby Giles" Vaya lied. Xander had sacrificed himself to a demon to save Willow years ago. The selfless deed had granted him his life back, though he was part demon. And currently dating a Demi-goddess.
"No!" Buffy covered her mouth and shook off that visual "Tara would never go for it"
"She looks a bit different as a Giles doesn't she?" Vaya leaned on thin air, a scrying bowl materializing seconds later. She gazed into it, staring into the eyes of Tara Giles who sat eating with some of the younger potentials "Her eyes have gray in them, darker hair, different past. She didn't even do magick until she had to help Kate in Willow's absence"
"She's perfect anyway she wants to be. She's alive" Buffy bit her lip trying to ignore the memories she had of this worlds Tara. Several that had to do with last Christmas and a certain Misltetoe incident.
"It's not just a river in Egypt" Vaya quipeed vanishing before Buffy could find something to hurl at her.
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Kate stretched her tired bones. She'd worked out most of the day at The Center. Starting an exercise regimen as well as learning a few martial arts moves.
Both Buffy and Faith had refused to teach her to fight, on the few occasions she'd been allowed to partol with them they'd used her for magick back up.
She wasn't complaining. It had taken her and Dawn 'years' to be allowed to even attend meetings let alone patrol.
But after the death of Jenny Calendar they'd come to accept as well as ask for more help from both her and Dawn, who showed some talent in the magick area.
"Stick a fork in me I'm done" Dawn flopped back on her bed, shielding her eyes with her arm.
Kate poked her in the ribs dodging the blow she knew was coming.
"Just checking to see if you 'well' done" Kate joked pulling her chirt over her head. She felt sticky from sweating so much and could use a shower in the worst way "I think I smell like I'm done"
Dawn sniffed the air "Nope. Not too stinky. But you have that 'full day of stuff' smell"
"Want me to open a window?" Kate offered.
Kate and Dawn shared a room, the Rosenbergs having kicked both their daughters out when they'd flat out refused to tell the police where Buffy was after the death of Kendra at Drusilla's hands.
"Nah, just bathe" Dawn ground the last out in mock desperation.
"Ha ha" Kate pulled off her pants and panties, her bra topping off the pile. Stretching once more she grabbed her robe and towel and made her way to the bathroom.
While Dawn tried not to openly drool over the picture of Kate nude.
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"So, how'd the training go today?" Faith twirled the stake lazily in her hand as they walked carelessly through the cemetery.
"It feels so good to be teaching again" Buffy gushed "Nicole, and Rabbit, and my other girls, they want to learn so badly. Some just need a different kind of training"
"Sometimes I think we should wait just a little longer to train some of our girls" Faith shook her head "I know we take them so young because we lost way to many potentials when the Council got fried. But I mean we've found so many more. And the coven keeps identifying the signatures in lots of girls"
"Some of the mystic signatures aren't potential slayers. Alot of them are Willow's recruits, and we need them too. Look what the happenstance of magicks has done for us!" Buffy spun and grapsed her sister slayers arms "If every slayer had a witch on their side, even one that's not as powerful as Will and Katie, that's a plus. A chance that they'll live one more night..."
"One more fight" Faith finished "You do have a point. But my youngest Potential is 6 years old. Nicole was 6 when we first got her. She's still terrified"
"Aren't you?" Buffy stopped short looking at Faith in question.
"Aren't I what?" Faith shrugged looking uncomfortable.
"Aren't you still scared?" Buffy began fiddling with the stake in her hands "Aren't you scared that one night you won't make it home to Willow? That some demon with be an even bigger bad ass than you? Aren't you afraid you'll fail one day? Aren't you afraid that everynight you go out partolling will be youtr last?"
"Geeze B you really need to get laid" Faith tried to brush it off as a joke.
"Hiding fear with humor. I thought so" Buffy rolled her eyes "Your terrified"
"So what if I am-!"
Faith lifted her arms to slam down her cross bow when everything stopped...
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Buffy opened her eyes and found herself back in Nowhere.
A fully decorated Nowhere.
"To decorate or not to decorate" Buffy said waxing poetic "Make up your fucking minds" she waved a choice finger every direction figuring the TPB would catching at least one of them.
This time Nowhere was a large room, comfortable looking chairs sat in strategic places. Hand carved Mahogany tables, Tiffany lamps, and several pictures of Winnie the Pooh.
"That's what I said"
Buffy turned to find Vaya dressed in a flimsy purple fairy princess costume. With a matching wand and tiara.
"You have the cutest clothes" Buffy pinched her cheeks and made kissy faces.
Vaya crossed her eyes at the slayer and showed her a choice finger.
"In your dreams" Buffy turned away choosing a Lazyboy and resting her feet.
"A dreams is a wish your heart makes" Vaya sang in a delightfully talented voice.
"You dream of fucking me. My life is so much better now" Buffy non-chalantly picked her nails.
"That last one made you think didn't it?" Vaya straddled a nearby foot rest, her wings bobbling behind her as she situated herself.
"Yeah. I mean, something like that could work" Buffy started thinking about all the things that could be accomplished, if she'd simply took Tara's advice. Her face scrunched up as she defined the difficultlies of such and endeavor. Her lips pulled to one side she blinked rapidly as she tried to fix the problems in her head.
"You need a Willow to do that honey. Trust me. She helped you pull all of it together. Giles helped, but Willow was the true Mastermind" Vaya offered before the slayer hurt herself thinking.
Buffy smiled ryely at her catching what was unsaid.
"Hey don't get all squinty faced at me. You're pretty smart for a blonde, but it is still an oxymoron"
Vaya wasn't sure quite how she accomplished it.
Buffy threw the chair she was sitting in at her, before she got out of it.
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TBC