Categories > TV > Buffy the Vampire Slayer > Choices of Life
It's funny how other people's problems or life in general can make you forget about your own problems. With the tension between Willow and Tara the past few days, it was a wonder that they could even be in the same room. But here they were, walking hand and hand as quickly as they could to The Magic Box.
Looking back, the slayer stuff was always getting in the way of life. It's what had caused a rift between Riley and Buffy before his unfortunate demise. And it's what cost Giles and Jenny precious moments before her untimely death. All the scoobies in one way or another had their lives effected by the slayer gig.
This time, it was keeping a very loving couple from being able to really work out the things that they needed to. For no matter how much you love someone, once the trust and faith in one another is broken, only time and being with one another can regain what was shattered.
And the call to duty had hit home for the couple. For wasn't it over Buffy's possible resurrection that there had started this rift between the two witches. And it was growing every day because of lack of talking. Not just talking, but really and truly communicating.
Two minds were now focused on the task at hand. Getting to The Magic Box and seeing how they could help. There was always the possibility of a locator spell. But that was just in finding where she was. And if this mysterious woman wasn't Buffy, then the spell wouldn't work.
There were also thoughts about how they'd find out how she was brought back. Maybe where she had been. All these things could help them to help her deal with being back. For by what little was said, no matter who this woman was, she wasn't exactly with it at the moment.
Tears formed at the corner's of Willow's eyes. It was giving her great pain and great joy at the same time at the thought of Buffy being back. Joy was obvious. She and the others had missed the slayer a great deal. But the pain was for the fact that if she had been able to deal sooner, Buffy never would have been sent out and would still be alive today.
Those tears were quickly pushed away. There were no time for tears or feeling sorry for oneself at the moment. There were more important things for everyone to deal with. And she knew she had to be focused for the magicks to work.
Tara could see the little glints of tears in her everything's eyes. It made for very guilty feelings on her part. For she knew that part of this was the emotional state that she had created by not telling the whole truth. She never exactly lied to her, but just didn't share everything with her. And now, there was still that rift between them. How was it going to be mended. Tara really didn't know at this point.
She just knew in her heart that it would. For long ago she knew. She knew that there were never two people on earth that were more meant to be together then she and her Willow. That there was something between them that could never be broken. It was just a matter of time.
Both their thoughts were broken by a streak of blond in front of them. They looked at each other before beginning to chase whatever it was that they had seen. For both were thinking it could be one thing and only one thing.
They found themselves at the back entrance of The Magic Box. They hadn't realized that they were so close. But here they were to the place that they had been intending to go to. And the blond that they had been chasing was nowhere to be seen. Both witches were slightly out of breath and stood there allowing themselves to breathe deeply.
There was disappointment on both their faces. They knew that odds were that it was indeed Buffy or the woman that looked like her that they had just lost. But there was nothing that they could do at the moment. So, they both made their way inside.
The moment the door opened, there was someone tackling them. Willow instinctively put her hand up. An instant barrier formed and the attacker was thrown several feet across the room. The form was slammed into the punching dummy that Giles had made for Buffy when he had setup the back room for her training.
Cautiously, the two witches made their way over to where the form lay still. Blond tresses were streaking down a dirt covered face. The skin underneath was quite pale. And there was the sign of a little bit of dried blood on the neck.
Tara made her way to the door to The Magic Box. It wasn't long before everyone but Xander was gathered in the training room. Including Mrs. Summers. She had insisted on coming with Giles to see if indeed it was her girl or not.
Willow carefully rolled over the blond. Her breath caught the instant that she could clearly see the face. She backed away and found herself wrapped in her everything's arms. Though things were not totally smooth with them, they were still there and still loving with one another. And this was the biggest shock that any of them had gone through since they had seen Spike bring in the limp body of the slayer.
"Buffy?" Mrs. Summers tried to reach out to the woman that she thought was her daughter. But her hand was repelled by something. She looked at Willow with a question on her face. "Why?" That was all she managed to say.
Giles put his hand on her shoulder. "We still don't know for sure if it is Buffy. And if it is her, she may very well been trapped in a dimension where she had to fight every day. She may need to be reminded of her life here."
Joyce turned to look at him. "How can she forget something like that? How can she forget me? That can't be right."
"I assure you that she hasn't forgotten." Giles pulled her into a hug showing the first real signs of affection for her that he had wanted to so desperately over the past few weeks. "She's just pushed that out of her mind, her survival instincts taking over for her. Buffy said the same thing happened when Angel returned from his time in the other dimension."
"I guess." Joyce sighed heavily. The words were meant as comfort, but nothing but the return of her daughter could bring her true happiness. Not even the loving touch of Giles. Something she had wanted for sometime now.
Tara and Willow had stepped closer to the still body of the blond woman. They held hands tightly and Tara concentrated. "It's not Buffy." All eyes were on her in an instant.
"What do you mean?" Spike was the first to react. He came up and pointed to the woman. "That is Buffy. She even smells like her. I'm telling you, that is Buffy."
Tara turned toward the vampire, a sad look on her face. Her grip tightened a little on Willow's hand for comfort. "She is Buffy. But she is not the one that belongs in this dimension. She is from another time. Another place. I'm not sure where or when. But that is not the Buffy that we know."
There was stunned silence in the room. Xander walked in to see everyone standing around a blond. "There she is! So, is she Buffy?" He came up and put his arm around his girl.
"That's the question." Anya's voice was strained. "Yes and no she isn't Buffy."
"OK." Xander sighed heavily. "For those of us just getting in the game, be kind, rewind."
Tara knew she was the one that had to try and explain. "There are infinite number of dimensions out there. For every choice we make, another one exists. This Buffy is not from this reality. And I'm not sure which one she is from."
That's when blond eyes opened. There was a wildness about her. Her blue eyes flashed fire. She threw herself at the strange but familiar looking people. She came crashing to the floor in an instant. The barrier Willow had put up was still holding strong.
"Buffy, please do calm down." Giles voice was soft and gentle. It was almost fatherlike. Which wouldn't be much of a stretch. He had been more like a father then her real one. "We all are here to help you."
"Help?" Her voice shocked all of them. It wasn't the same as they remembered. It was darker. Deeper. Almost scary like. "You evil things wouldn't help me one bit. You'd rather destroy me and all the slayers. I won't let you."
"Slayers?" Giles took a step forward. "There are more then one slayer where you come from?" His eyes lit up with the thought of the possibility.
"You know there are." Buffy's eyes were shooting daggers at everyone. "Every since that witch..." She pointed to Willow. "She activated all the slayers. That's when all hell broke loose. Evil came on an epic level. It was said to balance out the sudden influx of good. And you lot embraced the evil. Decided to join forces with it. Especially with Faith. I can't believe you all turned your backs on me! When I needed you the most." Again, she threw herself at the barrier only to be knocked down hard to the ground. "I'll kill you if I get the chance."
There was more stunned silence from the scoobies. The thought that any of them would go evil was too much. They had already had to deal with Angel when he had gone evil. But that was one. Not all of them as a group against one slayer. And Faith was the evil leader.
Finally Giles stepped toward his slayer. At least, this version of his slayer. "Buffy, this comes as a great shock to us all. None of us have ever thought about activating the slayers. Didn't even think it was a possibility. And the thought of us joining forces with evil is absurd. In fact, in this realm, Faith is being held by Drusilla. She tried to take care of the insane vampire on her own. Now she is held captive."
"What?" Buffy seemed to calm for a second. "Shit!" The slayer put her head in her hands. "We're sophomores in college aren't we?" Silent nods confirmed her statement. "I remember this. I'd almost forgotten." She looked over at Willow and down at her belly. "I didn't see. I didn't realize." The anger seemed to drain from her face. "I can't believe this."
"Can't believe what?" Giles hated to ask. For if from what he inferred, she was from the future, he didn't want to learn things that could change their future. Though with her showing up, it most likely already had.
Buffy was about to speak when tears began pouring down her face. The dirt was washed away in streaks. "Mom?" Joyce walked a little closer to her little girl. "Is that really you?"
"It's me baby." Joyce was more then confused to say the least. Why was she crying that she was here.
"Oh God!" The slayer collapsed to the ground in a heap of sobs. "I never thought I'd see you again. Not after, oh God! I can't believe you are really here."
"Why?" Joyce didn't want to know the answer. And she probably shouldn't hear the answer either.
"Please, don't answer that." Buffy looked up at the sound of Giles' voice. "If what I get from you is that you are from an alternate future reality, we don't need to know things that could change the future of this one. Although you being here changes things anyways."
Buffy stood up suddenly. "You've got to find a way to get me back to my time. I'm corrupting things just by being here."
"That maybe so." Giles took off his glasses and began cleaning them. "But we have no idea where you are from. And how in the bloody hell you got here in the first place. You say that we are in your time. I don't want to ask, but when exactly is it that you come from?"
Buffy eyed him for a moment. "We would have been seniors in college had things not happened the way that they did."
"Would have been?" Willow didn't want to ask. But this was sounding so ominous already.
The two best friend's eyes met for a moment. She couldn't tell Willow what had happened in her time. She couldn't inflict the pain that she knew that her best friend had suffered through the first time. And if they worked together, maybe she could prevent the death of Tara. And the real reason for the downfall of the scoobies into the ranks of the ultimate evil.
Looking back, the slayer stuff was always getting in the way of life. It's what had caused a rift between Riley and Buffy before his unfortunate demise. And it's what cost Giles and Jenny precious moments before her untimely death. All the scoobies in one way or another had their lives effected by the slayer gig.
This time, it was keeping a very loving couple from being able to really work out the things that they needed to. For no matter how much you love someone, once the trust and faith in one another is broken, only time and being with one another can regain what was shattered.
And the call to duty had hit home for the couple. For wasn't it over Buffy's possible resurrection that there had started this rift between the two witches. And it was growing every day because of lack of talking. Not just talking, but really and truly communicating.
Two minds were now focused on the task at hand. Getting to The Magic Box and seeing how they could help. There was always the possibility of a locator spell. But that was just in finding where she was. And if this mysterious woman wasn't Buffy, then the spell wouldn't work.
There were also thoughts about how they'd find out how she was brought back. Maybe where she had been. All these things could help them to help her deal with being back. For by what little was said, no matter who this woman was, she wasn't exactly with it at the moment.
Tears formed at the corner's of Willow's eyes. It was giving her great pain and great joy at the same time at the thought of Buffy being back. Joy was obvious. She and the others had missed the slayer a great deal. But the pain was for the fact that if she had been able to deal sooner, Buffy never would have been sent out and would still be alive today.
Those tears were quickly pushed away. There were no time for tears or feeling sorry for oneself at the moment. There were more important things for everyone to deal with. And she knew she had to be focused for the magicks to work.
Tara could see the little glints of tears in her everything's eyes. It made for very guilty feelings on her part. For she knew that part of this was the emotional state that she had created by not telling the whole truth. She never exactly lied to her, but just didn't share everything with her. And now, there was still that rift between them. How was it going to be mended. Tara really didn't know at this point.
She just knew in her heart that it would. For long ago she knew. She knew that there were never two people on earth that were more meant to be together then she and her Willow. That there was something between them that could never be broken. It was just a matter of time.
Both their thoughts were broken by a streak of blond in front of them. They looked at each other before beginning to chase whatever it was that they had seen. For both were thinking it could be one thing and only one thing.
They found themselves at the back entrance of The Magic Box. They hadn't realized that they were so close. But here they were to the place that they had been intending to go to. And the blond that they had been chasing was nowhere to be seen. Both witches were slightly out of breath and stood there allowing themselves to breathe deeply.
There was disappointment on both their faces. They knew that odds were that it was indeed Buffy or the woman that looked like her that they had just lost. But there was nothing that they could do at the moment. So, they both made their way inside.
The moment the door opened, there was someone tackling them. Willow instinctively put her hand up. An instant barrier formed and the attacker was thrown several feet across the room. The form was slammed into the punching dummy that Giles had made for Buffy when he had setup the back room for her training.
Cautiously, the two witches made their way over to where the form lay still. Blond tresses were streaking down a dirt covered face. The skin underneath was quite pale. And there was the sign of a little bit of dried blood on the neck.
Tara made her way to the door to The Magic Box. It wasn't long before everyone but Xander was gathered in the training room. Including Mrs. Summers. She had insisted on coming with Giles to see if indeed it was her girl or not.
Willow carefully rolled over the blond. Her breath caught the instant that she could clearly see the face. She backed away and found herself wrapped in her everything's arms. Though things were not totally smooth with them, they were still there and still loving with one another. And this was the biggest shock that any of them had gone through since they had seen Spike bring in the limp body of the slayer.
"Buffy?" Mrs. Summers tried to reach out to the woman that she thought was her daughter. But her hand was repelled by something. She looked at Willow with a question on her face. "Why?" That was all she managed to say.
Giles put his hand on her shoulder. "We still don't know for sure if it is Buffy. And if it is her, she may very well been trapped in a dimension where she had to fight every day. She may need to be reminded of her life here."
Joyce turned to look at him. "How can she forget something like that? How can she forget me? That can't be right."
"I assure you that she hasn't forgotten." Giles pulled her into a hug showing the first real signs of affection for her that he had wanted to so desperately over the past few weeks. "She's just pushed that out of her mind, her survival instincts taking over for her. Buffy said the same thing happened when Angel returned from his time in the other dimension."
"I guess." Joyce sighed heavily. The words were meant as comfort, but nothing but the return of her daughter could bring her true happiness. Not even the loving touch of Giles. Something she had wanted for sometime now.
Tara and Willow had stepped closer to the still body of the blond woman. They held hands tightly and Tara concentrated. "It's not Buffy." All eyes were on her in an instant.
"What do you mean?" Spike was the first to react. He came up and pointed to the woman. "That is Buffy. She even smells like her. I'm telling you, that is Buffy."
Tara turned toward the vampire, a sad look on her face. Her grip tightened a little on Willow's hand for comfort. "She is Buffy. But she is not the one that belongs in this dimension. She is from another time. Another place. I'm not sure where or when. But that is not the Buffy that we know."
There was stunned silence in the room. Xander walked in to see everyone standing around a blond. "There she is! So, is she Buffy?" He came up and put his arm around his girl.
"That's the question." Anya's voice was strained. "Yes and no she isn't Buffy."
"OK." Xander sighed heavily. "For those of us just getting in the game, be kind, rewind."
Tara knew she was the one that had to try and explain. "There are infinite number of dimensions out there. For every choice we make, another one exists. This Buffy is not from this reality. And I'm not sure which one she is from."
That's when blond eyes opened. There was a wildness about her. Her blue eyes flashed fire. She threw herself at the strange but familiar looking people. She came crashing to the floor in an instant. The barrier Willow had put up was still holding strong.
"Buffy, please do calm down." Giles voice was soft and gentle. It was almost fatherlike. Which wouldn't be much of a stretch. He had been more like a father then her real one. "We all are here to help you."
"Help?" Her voice shocked all of them. It wasn't the same as they remembered. It was darker. Deeper. Almost scary like. "You evil things wouldn't help me one bit. You'd rather destroy me and all the slayers. I won't let you."
"Slayers?" Giles took a step forward. "There are more then one slayer where you come from?" His eyes lit up with the thought of the possibility.
"You know there are." Buffy's eyes were shooting daggers at everyone. "Every since that witch..." She pointed to Willow. "She activated all the slayers. That's when all hell broke loose. Evil came on an epic level. It was said to balance out the sudden influx of good. And you lot embraced the evil. Decided to join forces with it. Especially with Faith. I can't believe you all turned your backs on me! When I needed you the most." Again, she threw herself at the barrier only to be knocked down hard to the ground. "I'll kill you if I get the chance."
There was more stunned silence from the scoobies. The thought that any of them would go evil was too much. They had already had to deal with Angel when he had gone evil. But that was one. Not all of them as a group against one slayer. And Faith was the evil leader.
Finally Giles stepped toward his slayer. At least, this version of his slayer. "Buffy, this comes as a great shock to us all. None of us have ever thought about activating the slayers. Didn't even think it was a possibility. And the thought of us joining forces with evil is absurd. In fact, in this realm, Faith is being held by Drusilla. She tried to take care of the insane vampire on her own. Now she is held captive."
"What?" Buffy seemed to calm for a second. "Shit!" The slayer put her head in her hands. "We're sophomores in college aren't we?" Silent nods confirmed her statement. "I remember this. I'd almost forgotten." She looked over at Willow and down at her belly. "I didn't see. I didn't realize." The anger seemed to drain from her face. "I can't believe this."
"Can't believe what?" Giles hated to ask. For if from what he inferred, she was from the future, he didn't want to learn things that could change their future. Though with her showing up, it most likely already had.
Buffy was about to speak when tears began pouring down her face. The dirt was washed away in streaks. "Mom?" Joyce walked a little closer to her little girl. "Is that really you?"
"It's me baby." Joyce was more then confused to say the least. Why was she crying that she was here.
"Oh God!" The slayer collapsed to the ground in a heap of sobs. "I never thought I'd see you again. Not after, oh God! I can't believe you are really here."
"Why?" Joyce didn't want to know the answer. And she probably shouldn't hear the answer either.
"Please, don't answer that." Buffy looked up at the sound of Giles' voice. "If what I get from you is that you are from an alternate future reality, we don't need to know things that could change the future of this one. Although you being here changes things anyways."
Buffy stood up suddenly. "You've got to find a way to get me back to my time. I'm corrupting things just by being here."
"That maybe so." Giles took off his glasses and began cleaning them. "But we have no idea where you are from. And how in the bloody hell you got here in the first place. You say that we are in your time. I don't want to ask, but when exactly is it that you come from?"
Buffy eyed him for a moment. "We would have been seniors in college had things not happened the way that they did."
"Would have been?" Willow didn't want to ask. But this was sounding so ominous already.
The two best friend's eyes met for a moment. She couldn't tell Willow what had happened in her time. She couldn't inflict the pain that she knew that her best friend had suffered through the first time. And if they worked together, maybe she could prevent the death of Tara. And the real reason for the downfall of the scoobies into the ranks of the ultimate evil.
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