A Walk in the Clouds
by Nykademis
The Same
[reviews]
Disclaimer: See earlier parts.
FIC: A Walk In the Clouds/ The Same
Author's Notes: a continuation of the last part, with a lovely little twist.
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Buffy and Willow waited anxiously for Jenny to arrive with Amy.
The second slayer.
Jenny had called from the road, telling Giles she'd be home within the hour.
That was 55 minutes ago.
"So do you think she'll like us? I hope she likes us. We are kinda weird sometimes" Willow babbling rocking back and forth on her toes.
"Uh huh" Buffy said distractedly. She was intrigued by the fact that there was a second slayer, but the thought Sofia had put in her head that morning was still running rampant.
Take a wife?
"Buffy are you paying attention to me?" Willow waved a hand in front of the slayer's face, finally regaining her attention.
"Uh no? Sorry" Buffy had the decency to blush.
"Giles says she's untrained, I wonder what her life was like before this" Willow mused and began walking in circles around Buffy "Was she a nerd? In theater? Did she play sports? Was she dating?"
"Looking to ask her out already Will?" Buffy chuckled "She's not even here yet and you've got it bad"
"Nuh uh, just wondering ya know" Willow gently punched Buffy in the arm, only to pull her hand back and try to shake the 'ouch' out.
Just then Buffy began to hear faint voices coming the outer rooms of the house. She could identify one of them as Jenny, the other as Xander, and the last was new. 'Must be Amy' she thought before the large wooden door seperating Slayer HQ from the rest of the Mansion sized home swung open and admitted the three people.
Jenny walked in with her general air of comfort, Xander and Amy only a step behind her, both looking a bit frightened of entering the 'Slayers' quarters.
"Buffy, Willow, this is Amy" Jenny took the girls elbow, ushering her forward to the other girls.
"Hi Amy" Willow gave her patented smile and wave. To which the other girl ducked her head and blushed.
"I'm Buffy" the blonde grabbed the girls hand and shook it "Willow wants to know if you're busy Friday night?" she added quickly before shoving Amy into Willow's surprised arms.
Both girls squealed and jumped apart after the intial contact.
"Really Buffy" Jenny rolled her eyes before dismissing Xander, who pulled the great wooden doors shut behind him "Let's meet the rest of them"
"Rest?" Amy spoke for the first time "How many more are there?"
"Oh you met all the house staff, you won't be dealing much with them. Only a select few are allowed into this inner sanctum" Jenny assured the girl "There are only 3 left. My husband, our daughter, and our healer Tara"
"Oh, okay" Amy tucked her head low and followed Jenny as she led the way.
Willow smacked a giggling Buffy on the arm and followed in a huff.
"What?" Buffy faked her incredulous look as best she could.
Willow spun, pointed two fingers in Buffy's direction, before moving on.
"Okay, no more Voodoo studies for her" Buffy shivered and followed them deeper into her rooms.
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"So you've never killed anything?" Sofia asked, cuddling up next to Amy.
"Do bugs count? Because I kill them, insects I mean. I kill them all the time. And spiders" Amy was wringing her hands.
"Spider's aren't bugs they're arachnids" Sofia corrected the still shaky brunette "But everyone kills them. You've never killed demons? Vampire's? Any denizen of the night?"
"No. I didn't even see one until Jenny and I got into town" Amy pulled her legs up, tucking them under her body and leaning heavily on the arm of the couch.
"Oh so this whole thing is a 'real' shock to you" Sofia wrapped her arms around Amy's trim waist.
"No not really, I mean I've studied them, with my Mom and the Coven. I just never thought I'd be called to fight them. Much less be called to fight them as 'the' slayer" Amy sighed relaxing under the little girls kind affection.
"Technically you're 'a' slayer. There being two of you currently" Sofia correctly offhandedly " Though I have heard you being referred to as 'the' other slayer"
Amy bristled at that "Who called me that? Was it Buffy?"
"Oh no. Buffy's not like that at all. All she really cares about is getting in Tara's pants without my dad bitching about it" Sofia chuckled.
"The healer and the slayer?" Amy's brow rose with her interest.
"Yep, she's got it bad for Tara" Sofia giggled "Drives my dad crazy. He can't control Tara, and he can barely control Buffy. My mom says it's because he invoked the old ways on a slayer who hadn't really had any 'formal' council training"
"Oh" Amy didn't really understand, but the little girl seemed to know alot more than anyone gave her credit for.
"I think it's just because she's a bitch" Sofia shrugged "She's not mean or anything just...hard to handle at first? Buffy takes some getting used to"
"Tell me about it. She seemed kinda forceful at lunch, arguing with Giles the way she was" Amy frowned at the memory of the rather 'loud' discussion the Watcher and Slayer had earlier.
"Oh please, that was one of their more agreeable ones" Sofia leaned away from Amy and shot her a look "Your coven didn't have many disputes did they?"
"Never, we were very harmonious. Our mission was to strengthen Gaia. Most of our spells and rituals were blessings. Making things grow, making them fertile. Nothing like the things Willow does" Amy sighed and picture the redheaded wiccan in her mind "So tell me about Willow. Where she came from? Why she's still here? How she got so strong, is she Buffy's?"
"What do you mean is she Buffy's?" Sofia tangled her fingers in Amy's hair.
"Are they...you know"? Amy blushed unable to actually 'say' it herself, much less say 'it' to a child.
"Does Buffy boink her? No. She came 'with' Buffy though. They met when Buffy moved to Sunnydale, she wasn't a witch then. But the girls a genius in her own right. There's nothing she can't do on a computer" Sofia babbled "She and Buffy are best friends, wherever Buffy goes, Willow goes, she's really loyal"
"Loyal?" Amy repeated more to herself than Sofia.
"Yes, there was this one demon 'Notigu' I think. He abducted Willow and tried to torture Buffy's secrets out of her. It took us almost 2 weeks to get her back. She was in 'real' bad shape. He pulled out her fingernails, burned her hair" Sofia's voice dropped to a sadder tone as she remembered the state they'd found Willow in "He was even bleeding her to feed his minions. When Buffy got through with him, there wasn't a lot of the guy left. Kinda looked like green Jello with whipped cream and sliced cherries all mixed up. Only smelled worse"
Amy shook slightly at the gruesome detail, and a bit at how Willow had been treated "What took you guys so long? Why didn't you get her back sooner? From what Jenny tells me Buffy is the most productive slayer yet. Even given her total lack of discipline"
"I wouldn't say 'total' lack of discipline" Buffy's annoyed voice cut in unexpectedly "I just have a problem with Giles' authority. I wanna kill things, he wants me to wait, plan, think it through. It took me two weeks to get Willow back because he locked me away. To keep me from just rushing in there and raising hell til I got her back" she leaned casually against the door frame, her hazel eyes ablaze with past anger "That's when I stopped following Giles' rule like a puppy. That 'thing' almost killed her"
"Somehow Buffy, I think I'd do the same" Amy said quietly "Does Giles normally toss away your plans?"
"Most times" Buffy grunted with a pout "Not that I listen anyway"
"Mhm" Amy made an agreeing sound.
"Sometimes I really wish I didn't have to be here.." Buffy started "Not that I'd want to give up Tara or Will, or even Jenny and pain in the Sofia. But I could really do without this...."
Suddenly the room spun. Amy and Sofia cried out, grasping strongly onto each other as their whole state of reality, literally bent to the slayers rule.
And then they fell.
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Their landing in Nowhere was anything but gentle. Buffy landed hard on her shoulder, rolling with her momentum and gaining her feet. While Amy cushioned Sofia's fall, throwing her own body so that she landed under the girl, losing her breath in the process.
Vaya leapt in surprise, mid conversation with a serpentine being, who turned pupiless blue eyes onto the forms of the three unexpected guests.
'Failed to mention that loophole did we?' it asked Vaya telepathically.
"Didn't think it would come up" Vaya answered outloud gaining Buffy, Amy and Sofia's attentions.
"I didn't like that one. Too much drama. Is there anyway to make that place just 'not' exist anymore?" Buffy ranted without thinking.
'IT IS DONE!' the serpentine beings telepathic voice resonated throughout Nowhere, seeming to 'rattle' the void around them, as the being itself began to glow. A throbbing blue light lit the surrounding darkness, only to reveal yet more darkness around them.
Then Sofia began to scream, joined seconds later by Vaya who clutched at her torso in pain.
Sofia lay huddled on the floor, curled into the fetal position, tears making painful track down her cheeks as her body began to disolve from the feet up. In a matter of seconds there was nothing where the child once lay. Not even ashes to reveal her passing.
"What just happened?" Buffy's voice was fearful as she eyed Vaya and her 'snake' friend.
Amy turned frightened eyes to Vaya "Sofia? Sweet are you okay?"
Vaya, who had fallen to her knees the moment Sofia's body began to vanish, looked into Amy's eyes before whispering through her pain "There is no Sofia anymore"
Both slayers eyes widened as they realized what Buffy had just done.
"Murderer..." Amy whispered, and then it all went black.
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