Always Time to Say Goodbye
by hexx
Always Time to Say Goodbye
[reviews]
all characters belong to Joss
Death and the Maiden
part 2...always time to say goodbye
The rain let up, one small drop at a time, and the clouds lightened untill the moon began to slip through, the cemetary was shrouded in a light fog, but all this went unnoticed as two figures stood a lonely vigil beside a fresh grave. In silence they have waited, neither speaking, nothing they could say could possibly bring any comfort.
After an hour the smaller figure seperated itself from the larger and moved to the freshly turned earth, kneeling, she began to place items from a leather case onto the ground in front of her.
"Willow . . . are you sure about this?"
" Angel. . . . . .I. . . I have to . . . "
Coming up behind her he placed one hand softly on her shoulder, silently letting her know that he understood, even if he wasn't sure .
"She's stirring, be ready."
Clenching the stake firmly he took a step to the side, should it come to it he wanted a clear line of fire though he wasn't sure he would be fast enough. He clenched his eyes shut for a moment, hating that it had fallen on him, but if not him, who?
Willow began to chant, lighting candles and placing them before her, her chanting rose, the sounds combining to reverberate off the nearby stones. As the first stirrings of soft earth announced Her rising the witch placed a glass sphere on a small tripod, it glowed with an amber light that pulsed, briefly showing the guilt and fear etched into her features. A dirt covered form began to climb from the grave and as yellow eyes fell on Willow she placed her hands on each side of the sphere and screaming, finished the incantation. For a split second the amber light fared into brilliance, then the sphere shattered and the light speared the newly risen vampire in the chest, throwing her backwards several feet where she lay unmoving.
On shaking legs Willow cautiously approached the still form, tears glistening on her cheeks. She knelt down and pulled her up into a seated embrace. " Goddess forgive me."
"willow. . . Willow, we need to get her out of here, one of the other slayers may come back yet."
"Take her to the car Angel, I'll collect my stuff and be right behind you." She took a moment to smooth the disturbed grave as best she could and made her way to the black sedan parked nearby.
"What happened Willow? I mean, no offence, But I haven't heard from you in years, and Buffy, I never thought I would hear from her again. And now, I don't know how I let you talk me into this."
"Angel I...I'm sorry, I should have kept in touch. I haven't talked to Buffy in a while either. We all had our own lives, followed our own paths, it shouldn't take something like this to bring us back together, ...not like this. Buffy called me last week, she sounded so different, so desperate, I haven't heard her like that since, well, since Sunnydale. She said she had tracked down a master, the last master, she didn't want to involve any of the others, she wanted to do it herself, not endanger anyone else. You know how she used to get, it was all about the slaying, but this was so different, she didn't sound afraid, just resigned.
"I tried to talk her out of it, you've got to believe me Angel I really did, I told her that she wasn't twenty anymore, that she didn't have to do everything alone anymore, . . she wouldn't listen. Then, two days ago I received the letter, she sent me a letter telling me what to do if she lost, if...she....Oh goddess Angel, what have I done?!"
"You did what she asked, like you always have, like We always have, we trust her to know what she's doing. And then, if we're wrong, we live with it, like we always have."
Willow looked at him as he drove, he had always been somber, and though he looked the same, something had changed. There was something in his voice, finality? The knuckles of his hand where he gripped the steering wheel were white.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
"WILLLLOOOW!!!"
"Oh goddess give me strength, she's awake."
Willow looked at the steel door that led to the temperary prison which now held her oldest friend. Angel had picked the building, a long disused warehouse in an out of the way area. The company which used to operate out of this office had been a clearinghouse for high-end silverware, and contained a storeroom built like a vault. Even so, the re-enforced door rattled questionably when Buffy struck it.
Willow unlocked the door and prepared herself just for a moment before entering, putting out a hand to stop Angel as he made to join her. "I have to trust her, ...I have to ..." Entering the unlit room she could just make out the figure standing in the darkest shadows.
"Willow, what did you do?"
"...Buffy, I.."
Rushing forward Buffy seized her by the shoulders. " WILLOW, I trusted you with my life, my very SOUL, what did you do?" Yellow eyes glowed and the words were forced through sharp fangs.
" I did exactly as you requested, I...I swear it Buffy, only w..what you asked." The ridged brow and yellow eyes had completely unnerverd the wiccan, but after a moment the petite blonde's face reverted to normal, the feral eyes replaced by their normal hazel. " I used the spell to restore your soul, the spell you g..gave me, it's not the same as the one I used for Angel, but it worked, I..I mean you're you....right?"
"Sorry Wills. Yeah I'm me... I'm just, ... I'm so . . . "
"Hungry." Angel stood in the doorway, leaning against the jam with his hands in his pockets. He looked exactly the same as he did the last time she saw him almost twenty years ago. " Com'on out here when you're ready, I've got some...coffee."
"NO! I'm o.k. I don't need ...that."
"Buffy, it's o.k., you know you have to, putting it off won't make it any easier."
"I . . . just don't watch, o.k. ?"
Willow put her arms around Buffy's thin body and held her tightly to her. " I missed you so much!" Buffy's body was complient at first though she didn't return the embrace, but after a few seconds she stiffened and pushed Willow from her and quickly walked out into the office area. She found Angel in a small office, he removed a coffee cup from a microwave and set it on the desk and walked by her out of the office.
A few minutes later they where sitting around a conference table, the tension growing between them, so many years, so much pain that had been shared, so much history. And so many emotions between the three of them it threatened to spill out, especially for Willow, the regret of never having gotten back the relationship they once had, or the one she had secretly wished they could have had. Willow looked closely at her friend, Her eyes misting at the thought of what she must be feeling at that moment. She was now what she had fought against her whole life, the realization of her worst fear. How could she sit there looking so calm? What could she possibly be thinking? The witch didn't have to wait long to find out.
" I know I have asked the impossible from you two," the slayer began," and I know that you have serious doubts about everything but it has all been necessary, and it will all be over soon, I promise."
The way she spoke gave Willow shivers and the last part sent ripples of fear down her spine. She had so many questions and it was starting to sound like she didn't really want the answers.
"Buffy," she looked at the slayer catching her eyes with her own, " what happened? Did you face the master, alone? Why didn't you let anyone help you? "Her tears began to flow freely."Why didn't you let me help you and now the master's turned you andwhatarewegoingtodonow?"
Buffy had to smirk at Willow's descent into full babble mode, God she had missed her. But her face became serious again and she took one of the wiccan's hands into her own.
"Willow, this is going to be hard to hear and harder for you to understand. . . the master didn't turn me. I faced him, but he was more powerfull than I could have imagined. He beat me, I never had a chance, he played with me for awhile then he just beat me, and finally he just laughed at me and left me for dead. I was no threat to him."
"Well, if he didn't turn you then who did? It's not like there's many, or even any vamps left?"
Angel cleared his throat, " I did."
I will be adding more soon as well as a new short. Please keep the reviews coming.- Hexx