No Matter What
by Kevin
Part seven
[reviews]
TITLE: No Matter What
AUTHOR: Kevin
DISCLAIMER: All original characters belong to Joss Whedon and Mutant Enemy. I own Joy and Anne.
SUMMARY: Buffy didn't return to Sunnydale after running away to LA.
DISTRIBUTION: I Kind of Love You.
Sorry it's been ages coming but this bit kinda killed my brain. What your seeing is the 8th attempt. I hope it follows on okay. Enough of my exscuses. Read on.
Part 7
One thought that was uppermost in her mind was this time there would be no secrets, no hiding stuff, everything out in the open. Buffy relaxed on the stool and smiled as she watched her mom cook dinner. She could hear Joy and Dawn laughing at something in the other room. 'They seem to have hit it off okay. Maybe this won't be as hard as I thought.' Turning to her mom Buffy said, "So where do I begin. You got the short story version this morning but there's stuff I need to tell you that goes way back but please stop me if you've heard it from Giles or the gang."
For the next half hour, Buffy told Joyce all about what happened after she was called. How Merrick had come to her and told her that she was the chosen one. How he trained her to fight and slay. This culminated with why Buffy had burned down the gym at Hemery. Joyce had remained silent while Buffy was talking realizing that it was better to just Buffy explain. As she stood and turned to check on the dinner, she said, "Well, I'm still not sure that I condone your action of burning down the gym, but that explains a lot to cover the changes you made to your life back then." Going over to the door she said, "Can you set the table please Dawn, dinners ready." Turning back to Buffy she continued, "Let's eat and you can tell me more later."
Moving into the dining room Buffy watched as Dawn finished setting the table then helped Joy onto the chair she had placed a cushion on so that Joy could reach the table. "Thanks Dawn." She said. Dawn sat herself down next to Joy and turning to Buffy she said, "Is it okay if I help her?" Looking at her daughter Buffy said, "Joy, you want your Aunty Dawn to help you?" "Yes please. I like Aunty Dawn. She's funny" Joy replied, with a big smile on her face. Dawn just screwed up her face while looking at Buffy. 'Those two are gonna get on okay' thought Buffy as she moved round the table to sit down. Dinner was quiet, though Buffy did notice that her sister kept looking at her as if she wanted to ask something and then changed her mind. Buffy was just glad when it was over and she was able to escape back to the kitchen without an interrogation from Dawn. All she wanted to deal with tonight was her mom. When she heard Dawn and Joy return the lounge, she went to help clear the table. After everything had been cleared, Joyce made drinks for them, returned to the kitchen, and sat down opposite Buffy.
Looking at Buffy she said, "Darling, I wish you had told me all this back then. It might have saved all this." "Yeah, right. And you would have acted differently. I don't think so. You probably would have had me see a shrink or something worse." Buffy's tone came out sharper than she wanted it to. "Sorry mom. I didn't mean it like that. But you know what I mean?" Buffy dropped her head down to avoid her mom's eyes. After a pause Joyce said, "Apology accepted and your right, I would have probably acted just the same, if not worse. But you have to admit, it was a lot to take in." Buffy just nodded. Lifting her head she said, "So, how much have Giles and the gang told you since I've been gone?" "Not a lot." Joyce replied. "Giles told me about the one girl in all the world thing. Then he had to really when Faith arrived. That freaked me out when I thought that you had died somewhere with nobody around you. Though I calmed down a bit when Xander explained how he gave you CPR. He also told me about the other girl, Kendra wasn't it. We had the police coming round for months afterwards asking if we'd heard from you. They all said that you should be the one to tell me the rest."
Taking a sip of her drink Buffy said, "Well, that's fairly easy apart from the Angel bit. Most nights I'd sneak out, go and kill things or should I say slay things, just like I did in LA. I'm surprised though that you never asked why you were always washing blood out of my clothes. A couple of time though it was harder. The Master was one. That's when I died and Kendra was called. The second and hardest one was Angel." Buffy paused to take a drink. "That was the man you said was helping you with history or something?" asked Joyce. Buffy laughed. "Right, he could help with the history okay." she said. "Mom, we had the talk and everything but one piece was left out. Angel was like 224 years older than me. He was a vampire." Buffy heard the intake of breath and waited for her mom to say something. When Joyce didn't say anything Buffy continued, "The end result of that one night was he turned evil again. Lost his soul, part of the curse that had been placed on him. That night you found out what I was, what I did, he was about ready to raise a demon, which literally would have sucked the world into hell, so I did the only thing I could, I went and killed him even though I loved him. The hard part of that, when it was too late to stop the demon from rising, Willow managed to restore his soul through magic. So, with you telling me not to come back and me killing the man I loved even though I knew he was no longer a danger, I ran, cause everything just hurt so much." Buffy sat back on her stool and finished her drink.
Joyce didn't reply, rising from her stool she went round to Buffy and putting her arms round her said, "Thank you. I understand now why you did what you did. But your home now, that's all that matters to me." Buffy turned round and hugging her mom, started to cry. After a few minutes she shook herself loose and said, "Sorry mom, I'm too big for that now." "You're never too big to cry on my shoulder Buffy." replied Joyce. Moving back to her stool Joyce said, "So, what do you intend to do now." Buffy finished drying her eyes and said, "Well, the first thing I've got to do is find a job. Then somewhere to live." Before she could say anymore Joyce said, "But, surely you'll come home, won't you?" "Mom." Buffy replied, "Where would I sleep, where would Joy sleep. You have Dawn here, not to mention Willow and Faith. I can't just stroll back into town and expect to move back in. I'm used to living on my own now, just Joy and me to look after. I couldn't just have them left without anywhere to go. I mean, I know I don't know Faith but I will not have Willow and her left looking for somewhere to live." Buffy was interrupted by a knock on the kitchen door. Dawn poked her head in and said, "Buff. Joy's falling asleep out here, you want me to take her upstairs." Buffy looked round at the clock. Seeing how late it had got she said, "No thanks Dawn, I'm gonna head back to the motel and put her to bed." Turning to her mom she said, "We'll talk more I promise and we'll sort this out, but like I said, no way am I gonna be responsible for people having nowhere to go." "Dawn said, "Who's got nowhere to go?" "Don't worry Dawn, I'll explain. I'll try and talk to you tomorrow but the next person I gotta have a long talk with is Giles." Buffy replied.
Getting up from her stool Buffy put her cup in the sink and walked into the lounge. Joy was curled up at one end just managing to keep her eyes open. "Are we going now Mommy? I'm tired." "Yes sweetie." replied Buffy, "We'll get you into bed soon." Bending down, Buffy scooped Joy into her arms and moved towards the door. Dawn moved past her to open it. Buffy passed Dawn the keys to the car asking, "Can you open it for me please." While Dawn did so, Buffy turned to her mom. "Thanks for dinner mom." she said and leaned in to kiss her goodnight. Joyce kissed her back and then bent down and placed a kiss on Joy's forehead. Dawn came back saying, "I put the keys in the switch Buffy." Buffy gave her sister a kiss goodnight and let Dawn do the same to Joy. "Bring her back soon please." she asked, "I'm gonna like being an aunty." "I think she's gonna like you being her aunty.," said Buffy. Going to the car, Buffy carefully put the sleeping girl in her seat. Turning to get into her seat she stopped, the ran back to her mom and sister and pulled them into a big hug, saying, "Thank you. I've really enjoyed tonight." Buffy went back to the car, climbed in. As she drove off the drive she turned and waved goodnight.
TBC