Home Again

Disclaimer: I don’t own Buffy & Co. They belong to Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, and so forth. I also don’t own any brand names, songs, or anything liked that mention in my story, so no infringement intended. Also, I know there is another fanfic series with a character called the ‘Keeper’, who also has similar powers, but this is my own creation. I swear!

Rating: PG-13 for some light violence

Content Warning: Just a little violence, nothing big.

Setting: After Becoming and it’s a sequel to my story Return to Sunnydale. If you haven't read it, you better.

Spoiler: Not much except maybe a little from Becoming, and Return to Sunnydale. If you haven’t read it I suggest you do because this is pretty much a canon from the real show.

"Hello?" Buffy answered the phone with an annoyed tone because she was going to be late for work.

"Hey," the voice on the other an end said. "Is it a bad time?"

"Angel? Um, well I have to get to work," she answered.

"Oh, sorry. I was just wondering when your were planning on coming back," he said.

"Do you have to call and ask that every day?" she asked. "But anyway, for your information I’ll probably be in town Friday, for the reopening of the Bronze."

"How did you know about the Bronze?"

"I know the guys who bought it, he’s my boss. That’s why the guys were performing there the other week. He was trying to break it into his style," Buffy answered.

"Oh, so you’ll be in town Friday? Great. I’ll seen you then, at the Bronze," he said.

"Bye," Buffy said.

"I love you," he added before she could hang up.

"I love you too, bye," she said in a rush, and hung up the phone.

"Bye," he said to no one on the other end.

*****

Two days later at the Bronze.

"She said she was coming tonight," Angel told Willow, Oz, Xander, and Cordelia.

"Well she’ll probably be here. It takes awhile to here from LA," Oz said trying to ease the tension surrounding them.

"Yes, and while we are waiting we can watch the dance contest," Willow added.

The Bronze was having a dance contest for choreographed dance groups most of them were from LA. Most of it was just six people, most of the time three guys and three girls. Three of them doing one thing and the other three doing moves that complemented it.

"That was great! Give them a round of applause!" the DJ said as a group finish. "We’re up for a treat with the next group. If you’re from LA you’ve probably seen these guys. Here’s Joey Handle, Sean Horner, Charlie Parker, Jesse Long, Jen Davis, and Anne Johnson dancing to ‘Tearing Up My Heart’ by ‘N SYNC!" the DJ yelled.

The music started and it played for a few seconds and then three girls came out, one from one direction two from the other, doing continuos flip flops. The single girl was Buffy. The girls met in the middle of the floor and made a row, one in front of the other, with Buffy in the middle. Then three guys came out in the same manner, only the single man stopped on Buffy’s left and another stopped on her right and one was a little further away. The girls in front of and behind Buffy moved so that there was a pattern of girl, guy. They started to dance in the row like the other’s had only with more movement and more difficult moves.

The whole while the slayerettes gaped at what the saw. Angel was getting a little jealous at some of the dance moves they were doing. By the end of the song, the guys at the ends of the row were on their knees each holding a girl by her ankles with her arms spread, similar to a star shape, and Buffy, who was in the middle, was in the same position except the guys who was holding her was standing up. The ground went wild for them as they worked off the floor.

They came back out ten minutes later. They wearing the same the same thing as before, which were baggy overalls, and new Nike high tops. The guys weren’t even wearing shirts under their overalls, just unbuttoned baseball shirts over them. The guys made this style look very good especial the well-built black one named Joey.

"Buffy!" Xander called but didn’t even acknowledge that she heard him. She just walked out of the club the other direction with her other friends.

"What’s up with her?" Cordelia asked. Then everyone noticed Angel was gone.

"I bet he went after," Willow said, and they all nodded.

*****

Outside, the group of dancers, was piling into various pick- ups. Joey and Jesse, who was also black, into one, Sean and Jen into another, and Charlie into his own, while Buffy, who had put on a multi-colored plaid shirt that didn’t go perfectly with her outfit, just stood around.

"Hey Anne! Aren’t you coming?" one of the guys asked.

"No. I got my truck to get back to the motel. I going to go out and walk for awhile," Buffy answered, knowing that Angel was close by, and that he probably wanted some answers from her. After she said that her friends left.

"Well," Angel said, trying to stay under control and trying to think of something else to say.

"Yeah," she said agreeing and understanding.

"You lied to us," Angel said. Buffy just nodded, "Why?" he asked.

"I started a new life. It was safe and I didn’t want it to get taken away. I was afraid of losing," she confessed. "I had a different town, friends, job, house, and even name. I had a total new start. I didn’t want to lose it. I wanted something safe. I wanted to feel safe, and I had it," she continued.

He nodded in understanding, "You were afraid of losing more. You thought being the slayer was causing your loss, so you left."

She nodded. That was it. He came up with words to express her feelings that she couldn’t. He knew her, how she felt, sometimes even what she thought. That made her feel good. She knew there was someone who understood her.

"You could have told us," he said, "we would have understood from the beginning."

"Yeah, but then it wouldn’t have been safe anymore," she retorted. He nodded.

"I like your alias," he said. They both smiled at his remark.

"It works," she responded, "So, you miss me?"

"As if you didn’t know," he answered.

"Well you know what they say?" she asked coyly, getting his attention. "Miss me miss me know you gotta kiss me," she chanted. He smile and walked closer to her. Their lips met for a brief second.

"Well look what I found," said an unfamiliar voice, then he stepped forward from the shadows. They both jerked around. It was the man who attacked then in the library. "I’m glad you’re back. I’m looking forward to fighting you. But I’ll let you be, for now," he said disappearing into the shadows.

"Okay, that was weird," Buffy said after he was gone. Angel nodded in agreement.

"I think we should go see Giles," Angel said.

"Yeah, but why? I mean did he ever find anything on this guy?" Buffy asked.

"Well, no. But it might help," he answered.

"Well what did he tell us. One: he knew I was gone. Two: he said he looking forward to fighting me. Sounds like your average bad guy," she said, not sounding concerned.

"Yeah, I guess. You should see him while you’re here though," he encouraged.

"I will," she agreed. "Now, as I recall, we were in the middle of something very important," she added with a smile.

"You have a wonderful memory," he said as she pulled him closer and started kissing him.

"Ahem," Xander said as he walked towards them from the Bronze. Then he added, "AH!" because Cordelia jabbed him in the ribs.

"Oh. My friends. Hey," Buffy greeted.

"Hey," they all said.

"What’s your deal?" Cordelia asked, rather rudely. And Buffy plunged into the story she had already to Angel.

When she was done telling them the story she said, "Look, I’d love to talk some more, but I’m tired."

"Yeah, it is getting late. We should probably get home," agreed Xander. "Wait!" he shouted suddenly, "You’re not staying with ‘Dead Boy’ again are you?" Then he realized that they were already gone.

*****

"So where are you staying?" Angel asked as they walked down the street.

"Well, my friends and I have a few motel rooms book, but I figure we can hang out for awhile," she answered.

"I thought you said that you were tired," he said coyly.

"Well, I was, but now I’m not," she said innocently. "Besides, I don’t usually go to bed until four or so," she added.

"Alright then, let’s have some fun this evening," he said, as they walked on.

*****

3:45 AM

Buffy jumped the man passing her. "Got you!" she shouted in victory.

"Yeah, what took you so long?" Angel asked.

"Oh, come on stealth guy! You creep around without making a sound, and we were using the whole town," she answered.

"Well, now you know not to play hide-in-seek with me," he said.

"Yeah, well, why don’t we seek a place to sleep, I’m beat," she replied.

"Yeah, I could probably use a little sleep. You where me out too much. So where are you going to stay?" he asked.

"Well, I figured I could crash at your place, that why I don’t have people waking me up at eight in the morning," she answered.

"Okay, let’s go," he said.

*****

Buffy’s Dream

Buffy sat up, "Alice," she called lightly. (She was dreaming about her grandmother again. That’s all she ever dreamed about now.) She got out of bed and walked down the hall. She kept going until she was outside. She could see the two Weeping Willow trees in the back yard. She saw her grandmother and a man she didn’t recognize. They were fighting with fire. Buffy watched as the man hit her grandmother with a burst of wind and slammed her body into the tree truck. Then while he picked her up and was starting to tie her up in one of the willow trees, she caught a glimpse of his face. Buffy was about to call out when her grandmother sent her a message in her mind, < Buffy go in the house and go back to sleep. Don’t worry about me. Your uncle will come for you in the morning. >

Buffy did as she was told and went into bed. And she stayed there, even when she smelled the smoke. Then she heard her uncle calling her. She went into the hallway, and smelled more smoke. Her uncle grabbed her and started pushing her towards the door with the truck of books he was carrying. We they got outside they watched the house burn to the ground, with her grandmother’s dead body inside.

The next scene was her grandmother’s funeral. Her uncle led her away from the crowd. He looked deep in her eyes, penetrating them and said, "You will forget you grandmother and all the things she taught you. You will have no memory of any of the time spent with us in the past three years. You will not remember until you are ready for the battle."

*****

Buffy’s eyes fluttered open. She couldn’t get the image of the man’s face out of her head. It was the man who they ran into that night outside the Bronze. She started to shake. The memories were burned in her brain.

Angel was sitting in a chair reading a book, trying to concentrate, which was very hard with her only a few feet away, noticed her shaking. He came over and tried to get her to stop, being unsuccessful, he just lie in the bed holding Buffy, who had started sobbing by now.

After about five minutes Buffy was quiet. "Are you alright?" Angel asked worriedly.

She hesitated, "Yeah. It was just a dream. That’s all."

"Sounds like an intense dream. Would you tell me about it?" he asked.

"No, not right now. I think I’m going to go out and get some air," she said, getting up from the bed. "I’ll be back in a little while."

"You sure you don’t want me to come with?" he asked, almost hurt.

"Yeah, I’ll be back soon," she said reassuringly, as she walked out the door.

Buffy really needed this fresh air. She went over all the dreams she’d had about her grandmother. They were dreams about working ancient magic, learning languages so old they had no names, listening to family tell stories, and playing with the ancient ones, we call them fairies. She remembered all of it. But, in order to fight Shalahiem, she had to find the ancient text she and her grandmother had read when she was a child. She knew Giles wouldn’t have them because the Watcher community, she had learned, was almost oblivious to the existence of the ancient ones’ teaching. She knew her uncle would know where they were, if only she knew how to reach him.

"Hey Anne!" someone shouted. It was Sean. "Where the hell have you been?" he screamed. Sean pulled his truck over to the side of the rode. "We’ve been looking for you all day!"

"Sorry, I was at a friend’s place," she responded.

"Oh. Next time tell someone when you’re gonna disappear," he said with a smile. "You know, we won the contest," he said.

"It wasn’t really a contest, if you know what I mean. We had it won from the beginning," she said.

"Come on. Let me tell all the guys I was the one who found you," he said.

Back at the motel.

"So you ready to go Anne?" asked Charlie.

"Huh?" she asked.

"Yeah. We’re leaving, you know? We live in LA. We’re in Sunnydale. I know you think there’s stuff to do in this little group of houses they call a town, but we’re city people. So we’re going to the city," Charlie explained.

"Sure. Let’s get out of here. There’s nothing else I want to do in this town," she agreed, somewhat stressing the want. "But can I get in a shower before we leave?"

"Yeah. You shower, we’ll load cars. Let’s leave in a half hour," Sean said.

20 Minutes Later

"Hey," someone said.

"Hey. Who are you?" asked Sean.

"I’m Angel. I’m a friend of Bu-Anne’s. I’m looking for her. Where is she?"

"You’re her friend? How do you know her?" Sean asked suspiciously.

"I guess I met her through work. Why?" he asked annoyed.

"Look we’re all leaving in less then ten minutes, so Anne won’t have anytime to talk. Call her later," Sean said. As he walked away he thought < This guy is not a friend of Anne’s. I know all her friends. >

"Hey!" Angel called grabbing his arm, "I’m looking for Buffy, where is she?"

"I don’t know who Buffy is and get off me. Unless you think you can take me," he challengingly.

"Think I can take you? I could take you with one hand tied behind my back," Angel challenged back.

"I know, but you won’t!" said a new voice.

"Buffy?! What going on?" Angel asked angrily.

"Anne!" Sean asked through his teeth.

"Anne-"

"Just go!" she cut him off.

"Fine. Talk to you later," he said. "Come on guys! We’re leaving!" he shouted. The group assembled and drove off. Buffy sank to the ground.

"Were you really going to leave?" Angel asked in disbelief.

"The sad thing is yeah. I was," she said shaking her head. "We have to go see Giles," Buffy said.

"Why?" Angel asked worriedly.

"Remember the dream I had? Something big is going to happen, soon. I think," she said, almost unsure.

At The Library

"Giles!" Buffy yelled as she walked into the library.

"Buffy?" Giles asked, peaking his head out of his office. "How – Is something wrong?"

"That guy, the one who attacked us a few weeks ago, I know who he is. His name is Shalaheim," she said.

"Okay, that will help with the research. How, though, did you come to acquire this information?" Giles asked, he was very intrigued.

"I’ve been having a series of dreams about him. You won’t find many this about him in your books, if anything at all actually. I think most of the writings are kept in the Great Library," she said, started to pace.

"The Great Library?" Giles asked.

"Yeah, it’s where all the ancient texts are kept," she said.

"You mean the Great Library?" Angel asked, very interested. "The one that legends say the Irish stored all the knowledge of the ancient world in, while the Huns and Romans were trying to kill them? Oh, I would love to see that place," he said, with real Giles excitement in his eyes.

"You know your history," Buffy said, "yeah it is that library. Maybe I’ll take you sometime, it really beautiful, from what I remember," she said with the same excitement in her eyes.

"You’ve been there?" he asked. He had a grin on his face, it would remind someone of a little boy on Christmas.

"Yeah. We I was a little girl," she said, smile as she remembered it.

"Yes, well it does sound incredible fascinating," Giles said genuinely, "but I’d like to know about these dreams, Buffy."

"Yes, well do you have his phone number?" Giles asked.

"No, I don’t even know where his is. For all I know he might still be in Ireland for the summer season," she answered, "but my mother may have his address or phone number somewhere."

"Ireland?" Angel asked curiously, he was always interested in things about his homeland.

"Yes. He lived there when he was younger, and that is where most of our family still lives," Buffy answered.

"Really, I didn’t know you were Irish," he said.

"Yes, I really didn’t either, until I regained the memories of Alice. It’s really funny, because my uncle was born in Czechoslovakia, but then his father died, and his mother moved to Germany because that’s where my great-grandmother, her sister lived. They were all Jewish at the time, but then Shmuel’s mother died. My great-grandmother and he were going to the States. They were going to take a ship from Ireland, but my great-grandmother met an Irish guy, and they fell in love, got married, had a kid, the whole deal," Buffy told.

"Wow. But if they were Jewish, and a majority of Ireland is Catholic, how could they have gotten married?" he asked.

"Well see that another thing, when they left Germany, they converted to being Catholic so they could get safe passage, because, Jews weren’t liked in Germany, then they were going to convert back when they got to the States, but they never got there,

In Ireland, Rachel, Alice’s mother, found out that some of Mathew’s, her husband’s, family were involved in the Underworld. She knew about the Underworld because her family members were the actual Keeper’s. The Keeper’s are kind of like the headcheese of the Underworld, they fight our guy, who is an eighteen hundred-year-old vampire. He was, at one point, part of a Keeper family, but he was exonerated, so he swore to kill off all of the Keeper’s. So far, four of the five original families are gone, and my family only consists of about sixty people, and only I have the power of the Keeper," she continued.

"Man," Angel said as he took in everything she had said, "how did your family get to the States?"

"Well, in 1936 my grandmother was born, but the old one, as some text call him, killed her father shortly after that, so to get his attention away from the family in Ireland, Rachel moved to the States, New York, I think. And we’ve been in America ever since," she finished.

"Well, the little babushka princess has done well" a voice said.

"Of course. You told me the stories so many times I bet I could go into further detail, but I don’t think I need to," Buffy answered, "uncle. And I am not the babushka princess."

"But you are missing one key detail young one," he said in a grave voice.

"The massacre of Galway," she answered, bowing her head at the memories.

"You must never forget that sacrifice," he said with authority.

"I remember. I remember every scream, of every victim. I remember every body lying in the heap. They were my family too, and I’ll never forget their deaths," she said absently looking at the floor.

"That is good. That sacrifice was made to save this world then. And now you must save it now," he said.

"Will the Ancient Ones come?" Buffy asked looking up.

"They will come but they can not interfere," he answered.

"Buffy, perhaps you would introduce us to your uncle," Giles said.

Shmuel look them over. < Giles, just a Watcher, a talent though. But Angel, where have I seen this one before? > he though. Then it came to him.

Looking at Angel, he said, "You are an old one. But you have always served us. The one exception to a two-thousand-year-old hatred," to Buffy he added, "A fine friend indeed."

Buffy stared at him for a second, then decided that he mustn’t be questioned. "Do you still have the books you saved from the fire?" she asked him.

"Of course, but they will do you little good," he answered.

"Yes well, it couldn’t hurt to have a look," Giles said curiously.

"You wouldn’t be able to look at them. Not to offend you, but laws say that an outsider may never look at the texts. For they could be lost to us. And also they would be unreadable to you because you have not learned the language," Shmuel explain.

Giles had a very hurt look on his face, "Well, I see."

"Um, I think that we need to get some more details, if Buffy is suppose to fight this guy," Angel said.

"Yes. Buffy will be given a challenge of the elements. In this challenge, she will have to fight Shalaheim using her powers to fight with the elements of life: wind, earth, fire, and water. The first challenge is wind. In the challenge of wind the opponents shall try to try to disable each other using the power of wind, in this challenge no one is expected to die. The second element will be that of earth. This is hand to hand combat, which Buffy will probably be very effective there, do to the fact that she excels in it, though she will not be able to kill him with it. The next challenge is fire. In this he will try to destroy her with fire, she can you use the power of water to defend herself. Fire would be worthless to her, because it would only feed his power. If no one dies in this challenge then comes the challenge of magic. In this final challenge, they use all of there strengths to destroy each other. This will determine the final victor," Shmuel finished.

"And right now the Keepers have yet to win a match," Buffy added.

"I take it he is a very powerful magician," Giles stated.

"You are correct Mr. Giles, although it is true our family has never had a slayer as the Keeper," Shmuel answered with a smile at Buffy. Buffy just gave him a half-hearted grin.

"Geeze! You sure know how to put a girl under pressure," Buffy added.

"Yes, well. I suggest you rest, this battle will require all the strength you have," Shmuel said.

"Alright, I’ll get out of here. Why don’t you and Giles do the adult chit-chat thing," she added, walking out of the library with Angel.

"Well, she always has had her wit, hasn’t she?" Shmuel inquired to himself.

"You can do nothing, I can give Buffy some small training, to reacquaint her with her power, perhaps I can use the faerie. There is not much anyone can do, but to prepare for the worst, you may want to help tie up some lose ends. Anything or one she has unsolved issues with," Shmuel answered. "I must go, I need to get some things for Buffy," he said walking out the door, leaving Giles, who was lost on thought.

*****

Buffy walking with Angel.

"What was that your uncle was talking about, you being a babushka princess?" Angel asked teasingly.

Buffy frown and answered, "I don’t want to talk about it."

He put his arm around her shoulders. "You should, it’ll probably help take the sting off," he said convincingly.

"It was bad," Buffy said.

"How many?" he asked softly.

"Two-hundred. About three-fourths of them were my family. I saw it all, I watched them die?" she said, her face morphing into the most pitiful face someone could imagine.

Buffy pulled away from him and interrupted, "I remember the way the were killed. Some of the where hung, shot, one of my uncles was beaten to death, because he was struggling. But no one screamed. They knew the faeries would care to take their souls. So they were not afraid to die."

"Do you really believe that that could happen?" he asked, trying not to sound harsh.

She looked at him and said, "I’ve seen it with my own eyes. I am one of the few with the gift to see the ancient ones. I saw them come and take the souls to peace, it was very beautiful. That’s why I wasn’t afraid."

He was mystified. "How did you get away? And get there for that matter?" he asked coming back to reality.

"I was staying a Alice’s house while my parents were on vacation. Whenever I was there for along time, and wouldn’t be missed, we went to visit the family in Galway. When we were there, he ambushed us. He had some other people working for him I guess. We were taken somewhere, right after sundown. The murdering went on all night, then, those who were left, were taken back to the same building as before. Somehow uncle Shmuel found a way out, and we where able to escape, it was him, Alice, my cousin Callie, and me. Everyone else, to my knowledge, died. But the did it because they knew the war was ending. If I lose, he has successfully finished us, and if I win, the knowledge is kept alive," she finished.

"Yeah, I know. If I lose, I’ll die, and the world could lose all the knowledge it has gained over the last millennium and a half," she said solemnly.

"Well, you’ve stopped the world from ending, Buffy. I know you can do this," Angel said, almost pleadingly.

"I know, but this is different," she answered.

"How Buffy? How is it different?" Angel asked.

"He is fifteen hundred years old. He’s killed hundreds of people in my family," she answered.

"So? Think about it. He killed your family, but why should you just let him kill you?" he asked.

She couldn’t answer. He was right, but she was afraid. "The whole world is in my hands," she said.

"Like it has been before, Buffy you’re just not seeing it, are you?" he asked.

"No Angel, I guess I’m not why don’t you explain it to me?" she asked, raising her voice.

"You’ve saved the world a hundred times! This isn’t really any different, he’s just trying to make you think it is. He’s trying to undermine your strength! He’s killed your family, think about the demons you’ve killed before. How many people do you think they’ve killed? Do you understand what I’m getting at?" he asked.

"Yeah, I get your point, but these people had power. I mean major power, but he had more," she countered.

"Yeah, but the same applies to slaying. Slayers have been killed in the past, but you’re stronger. You aren’t dead, they are. You can survive because you are strong," he said.

"I survive because others help me, here they can’t interfere," she said.

"You don’t need our help! You can do it on your own," he replied.

Sighing, "I don’t know if I can do it on my own though," she answered softly.

Angel waked over and put his arms around her. "Nobody’s perfect Buffy. But I have faith in you, I know you can do it," he whispered into her ear.

*****

The next morning

Buffy walked into the library, looking for Giles, "Giles, anybody home?"

"Hello Buffy."

Buffy jerked around, "Mom?"

"Giles told me you were back," she said. "I know that he’s coming," she added.

"How do you know about him?" Buffy asked, shocked.

"I know about them, they were my family too, but I just passed it off as my mother’s tales. I was the logical one in the family, I could never understand what it was all about so I didn’t believe it. I don’t understand it now, but I know whatever it is, you have to face it," she said. "Well aren’t you going to give me a hug?" she asked with a sudden smile.

Buffy obliged. "It’s been so long since I’ve seen you, I missed you so much," Buffy said.

"Well, you’re here now, that’s what matters," she said.

"You know about the challenge, don’t you?" Buffy asked.

"Yes, Michael told me about it," she answered.

"Michael?" Buffy asked unsure, then she remembered, "oh, yeah. Uncle Shmuel."

"Buffy!" Shmuel called. "I was thinking of giving you some brush-up training, I think you’ll enjoy it. Oh hello Joycie," he added.

"Mom?"

"Hello Michael. Go ahead Buffy, a little preparation won’t hurt," Joyce answered and walked in to Giles’ office where he was sitting with a book.

"Shmuel, what did you mean that Angel was an exception to the 1500 year hatred?" she asked.

"He saved my mother from a vampire many years ago," he answered.

"Oh," Buffy replied with a grin. "So, what are we going to do?" Buffy asked eagerly.

"Well, I think some force practice, then maybe some fun," he answered.

"Ok, well which force should we start with?" she inquired.

"Wind," he answered. "You must learn to harness the strength of the force," he explained, "push these books off the table."

She shot out her hand with a force of wind and pushed the books off the table and they skidded on the floor.

"Okay, that was good," he said picking up the books and replacing them on the table. "This time, don’t let them skid, just have them drop off the table."

Buffy tried again, this time the books slid off the table on fell to the floor and didn’t slide.

"Very good," he encouraged, "now just once more. This time, make the books hit that wall and fall," he said, pointing across the room.

She did as she was instructed. "Ok, can we move on now?" she asked.

"Yes, but don’t become impatient!" he scolded. "Now, we won’t have to go over hand-to-hand combat, being that you already excel in that, and the I wouldn’t be up for it. So let’s move on to water," he said.

He placed a candle on the floor and lit it. "Put out the flame, without flooding Mr. Giles’ floor."

Buffy push up a few drops of waters from her finger tips, hitting the wick and putting out the flame.

"Very good, that’s all we’ll do with water, I don’t wish to burn anything up by accident. As I said before, you should never use fire to fight him during the challenge. That will only make him strong," Shmuel warned.

"Yeah, I’ll definitely remember. What’s next?" she asked

"Now you can practice other various magics. Here," he said bringing her a dead plant.

"Here what?" she asked dumbfounded.

"Make this live again," he said.

"I can’t do that," she said.

"Never say can’t, just try," he said.

Buffy placed her hand on the soil in which the plant was buried. She pulsed life throughout her body, out through her fingers. The plant began to stand up again, and it became green. She could feel it start to pulse with the same life she possessed. Then she felt drained and had to let go.

"Very good!" Shmuel commented, "Although you shouldn’t hold it so long, it will became more alive then yourself."

"Now you warn me," she sad sarcastically. "Okay, what’s next?"

"Now why don’t we have some fun?" he said as he brought forth what looked like a small wooden jewelry box, but Buffy knew better.

"Is that what I think it is?" she asked eagerly.

"Open it and see for yourself," he answered.

Buffy undid the latch on the box. The lid flew open and something flew out. It was a little person with wings, a faerie.

"Finally! Did you forget about me or something?" it said.

"Tabby? Oh my god! I’m sorry, I couldn’t find the box…" Buffy said.

"Typical childish behavior. Want to go flying with me?" she asked.

Buffy’s face lit up. She hadn’t been flying with a faerie in ages.

< Flying with Tabby again, it’ll be like old times! > "Ok," she answered with a huge grin.

"Do you still remember how?" she asked.

‘I think so," Buffy said.

Buffy closed her eyes and every muscle in her body relaxed. Her body size started to shrink in proportion. Wings similar to those on the faerie began to appear. Eventually she became the same size as Tabby and flew up to her level.

"Come on!" Tabby yelled, already darting way.

"Wait for me!" Buffy yelled after her.

Shmuel remained standing there, with a huge grin on his face.

*****

"What are her chances?" Joyce asked Giles.

"I really have no idea," he answered. "From what I’ve heard the, Shalaheim, has been undefeated for fifteen-hundred years. I have much confidence in Buffy’s ability, but even so…"

"She could lose," Joyce finished.

"Yes, but there is always that possibility," he said, "that doesn’t mean she will."

"Mr. Giles, I don’t know what I’d do if she lost. She’s to young to die," she said, her voice beginning to quicker.

"Yes, but she is the chosen one. She will fight with everything she has, if that isn’t enough, well then…she did the best she could, and whatever happens can not be blamed on her," he finished.

"But it’s not fair she was chosen, she didn’t want this," Joyce retorted.

"Nobody chooses this Joyce, we are the chosen," he responded, "granted its not fair, but we must deal with it. The world depends on it."

"I know you’re right, but it’s still hard," she said.

"Indeed," Giles agreed nodding his head.

*****

Later, Buffy returned to the library, after her flying adventure with Tabby. "Uncle Shmuel!" she called.

"Yes, hello Buffy," he said greeting her with a smile. "Did you have fun?"

"Yeah," she said with a smile. "Shmuel, when with challenge be?" she asked, her smile fading.

"Tomorrow night I believe," he answered.

"Oh, that soon," she said, her voice hiding her fear. "I’ll be ready."

"I’m sure you will," he said giving her a reassuring smile, "Now I’m going home, why don’t you do the same," he said heading towards the door.

Buffy just stood there, trying to take in the events of the past couple of days.

*****

"Buffy are you sure you aren’t hungry?" Joyce asked.

"Yeah mom. Really. I just want to go to sleep, its getting late," Buffy answered.

"Alright honey," Joyce answered. Joyce was spending every second with Buffy. She had never in a million years thought she could lose her daughter, and now she knew that in a day she could be gone, and she hated it. But all she could do was think positively, Buffy could get though this.

*****

Buffy lie on her bed, still in her dazed state. Unable to fall asleep all she could do was stare at the wall.

"Hey," called a voice from the window.

Buffy rolled over, "Hey Angel."

"Can I come in?"

"Sure."

"What’s the matter?" Angel asked coming to sit on her bed.

She didn’t answer, she just lay there, still looking very dazed.

"Still raveling from all the excitement?" he answered for her, lying down next to her.

"Yeah," she answered. "It’s just so over whelming. (Pause) I just want to go to sleep, and wake up to find out that it was just a dream."

"I can make it a dream, but I’ll stay here if it’ll help you sleep," he said.

"Thanks," she answered curling up next to him. "Goodnight Angel."

"Goodnight," he whispered into her ear as she started to drift off to sleep.

*****

Buffy woke the next day without Angel beside her, but that was to be expected, seeing that the sun was shining right were he had been lying. For Buffy the day was spent mainly with her mother, but she did spent with all of her friends on the phone. They had all decided to meet that night at the library at seven-thirty. Meanwhile Buffy and her mother spent the day talking, visiting the park, going out for lunch, and doing other reacquainting things.

That night, Buffy and her mother arrived at the library.

"Hey Buffy," Willow greeted.

"Hey Will," she said, giving her friend a hug.

"Hey," Oz greeted, while sitting the table.

"Hey Oz," she said smiling.

"Hello Buffy," Giles said walking over to her from his office. "Do you know when your uncle is coming?" he asked.

"Hi Giles, I’m sure he’ll be here soon," she answered.

"Hey Buff," Xander called as he and Cordy walked through the door.

"Hey," Cordelia said.

"Hey," Buffy answered.

"So, you’ve got that ritual thingie to," Xander said. "I’ve got my weeks allowance on you, you better not let me down," he joked grinning.

"I’ll try," she said grinning back.

"So, where’s Angel?" Willow asked.

"I don’t…" Buffy started.

"Angel? What do you mean where’s Angel?" Joyce asked worriedly.

"Ah, mom, don’t worry, he’s…ok now. He’s own friend, trust me mom. It’s a really long story, that I’ll defiantly tell you, just not right now," she said, comforting her mother. And turning to Willow she answered, "I’m sure he’ll be here soon."

"Good evening," Shmuel said, entering the library. "Buffy are you ready?"

"Yes, uncle, but I was going to wait for Angel before I left," she answered.

"There is no time left. You must leave now, you don’t need to find him, he will find you," he said matter-of-factly.

"Ok," she answered timidly. She gave everyone a hug, said good-bye and walked out the library door.

Buffy roomed the streets of Sunnydale. Her senses where at full height, she was walking and waiting for the attack. She came to a small clearing in a graveyard, with only a few surrounding trees.

Then suddenly she was hit with a large gust of wind and slammed into one of them.

"Good evening," he said, with his fifteen hundred-year-old, mixed accent. "Quite a nice night for a stroll."

"Yeah," she answered sarcastically as she picked herself up off the ground, "real nice."

She used the same wind on him, only because of his battle experience, was able to stop himself from being propelled as far. "Yeah must be Shalaheim," she said. "I’m Buffy. Let’s get this over with, I’ve got things to do and people to see," she said, letting a mental games slip out, only the good challengers could ever play those with her.

"Yes, that would be me," he said, regaining his balance. "I believe you are the first Keeper I have met that has been that humored over this ritual, I rather enjoy that," he said in playful retaliation. He gave her another thrust into a tree.

As Buffy pick herself up she said, "Ok, is this wind crap all you’ve got, or should we get to some real fighting?"

He went to charge her and she easily move aside, managing to knee him in the face in the process. "Now this is the fun part," she said grabbing him by the hair and knocking him to the ground. She kicked him in the gut while he still lie on the ground. He jumped up and tried to punch her, but she blocked and pushed him bad.

"You’re a much better fighter than you look," he said with a grin, "this will be fun." He went to punch her again, again being blocked but this he kicked her legs out from under her while she had his arm. She rolled backwards into a crouch position and sprang up and kicked him in the face. Then back off a little after a punch.

*****

Angel was watching from a distance. He wanted to be there if Buffy needed his help. He had been afraid of losing her, but now he didn’t think that that would be happening anytime soon.

*****

Shalaheim had had enough of Buffy. "It’s time to start the next challenge!" he yelled.

With that he through a fireball in Buffy’s direction, she was able to drive into a bush, narrowly escaping it. < Water fights fire > she though to herself. He made another shot at her. This time she shot want seemed to her a bullet of water the fire coming towards her and each opponent was blow backwards.

Again he threw fire, this time she wasn’t able to get the water off in as good of timing and was slightly burnt, but she would hardly let herself notice. She knew from experience that if you thought about a wound you felt it, if not, it wasn’t there.

"You end is coming Keeper!" he yelled at her.

This time he threw a ball of blackness. Buffy dove behind the tree, which the ball hit. When she looked she saw that the front of the tree was beginning to die. < He’s shooting death! That means I have to counter with life. > she thought.

He fired another of death, while she met it with her life, the two slammed into a tree, making it fall over. < This could go on forever! > she thought to herself. < I’ve got to think of another way to stop him! > Buffy knew that time was running out, she couldn't hold out until morning.

Then she lost sight of him! She had no idea were he was. She knew this was it, then she, "Buffy look out!"

It was Angel. She ducked just in time to be missed by another ball of death. Angel grabbed her wrist and pulled with him way to a dark corner.

"Are you ok?" He said putting his arms around her.

"Yeah, but Angel you can’t help me!" she insisted, trying to pull away.

"It’s ok, I found a loop hole," he said grinning.

"What?" she asked.

"The book, I know where your uncle read you can’t have help, I read it a long time ago. It says no living being my help the Keeper in the time of her calling. No living being, I’m not living in the alive sense, there it’s a loop hole," he explained.

"Oh god I love you," she said kissing his lips.

"I know," he said, "I love you too."

"I’m afraid Angel," she said. "I really don’t want to leave you."

"I know you won’t. Love can conquer all," he said trying to encourage her.

Suddenly Buffy had an idea, "That’s it! Angel that’s it!" she yelled. She returned to the graveyard battlefield, were Shalaheim was waiting.

"No living being my help the Keeper in the time of her calling," he said.

"He’s not living," she shot back. "Prepare to be ended," she said with confidence.

Buffy fired a beautiful pink ball, Shalaheim threw a black counter ball, but the pink blew it up and kept going. It hit Shalaheim square in the chest, making him fall to the ground. Buffy walked up and hit him with one more ball. It made him scream in pain.  "You have won," he said before his dust began to fly off his bones, they way the Master’s did.

"You did it Buffy," Angel said coming up behind her.

"Yeah. Yeah I did," she said with a smile on her lips.

"How?" he asked.

"Love conquers all. Love killed him," she answered.

"How?" he asked confused.

"He fed on evil. Good could meet him, but love could defeat him," she answered smiling. "Let’s go spread the good news, I think its time to celebrate."

Fin.

Feedback please! Sequel, yay, nay? Tell me! Send it to the address below.

BTW, major props to Sarah W. and my PB buds for the help and encouragement!