Creative Works   

Once Again (Page 7)
By Amy Mina
amymina(at)yahoo.com

Disclaimer: Characters such as Buffy, Angel, Xander and others belong to Joss Whedon and the WB. The few characters that I have made up such as Marissa and Jeff belong to me.

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Part 7

Buffy looked in the hallway to make sure that no one was coming. Seeing no orderly in sight, she left her room, trying to hold up the confidence of being a nurse. Moving slower and concentrating kept her from falling over. She kept going, even though her knees and legs felt like jelly. Turning corner after corner, she wondered if she was ever going to find a way out.

At the first pair of doors she saw, she breathed a sigh of relief and quickened her pace to reach them. Once passing through them, she looked up at the sky and gave a triumphant laugh. "I win!" she screamed out, speaking for the first time since she had given birth to Marissa. Throwing a fist up, she laughed again. Ignoring the strange looks from the people around her, she left the parking lot, debating on what to do first. She knew that the wise choice would be to either call Xander or Willow, still not sure of Angel's last name. Looking around for the nearest payphone, she began to wander from the hospital and towards downtown Sunnydale, if she could call it that.

As she walked down the curb, she saw that the town had changed some even though she had only been gone six years. Noticing that there was a separate building for the mental part of the hospital as the rest of it, she smirked. Gee, I wonder why that is. Trying to remember where the nearest phone would be, she turned in the direction of the mall. Walking down the sidewalk, she took the time to think. What will everyone say when I return? She felt her stomach turn over in nervousness. Summers, calm down, you haven't even called anyone yet. Buffy decided to take her time walking to the mall and took in the scenery around her. She watched as the cars passed her and observed some differences. Smiling to herself, she wondered if they could fly too. You've watched too much Back To The Future, it isn't even 2015, I think. After a twenty-minute walk, she arrived at the mall. Walking inside, she saw that there were different stores, but not much else had changed. Heading to the payphone booth, she picked up the telephone book. "Rosenburg, Rosenburg. Where are ya Will?" When she found the phone number, she let out a squeal of delight. Ripping the page from the book, she headed towards the address.

"Rubello Drive," Buffy murmured to herself in surprise. "1642 Rubello Drive, I'm surprised she would want to live down the road from my old house after everything that happened." Buffy stuck the paper in the pocket on the front of the nurse's outfit, and headed in the direction of her old home. Already beginning to feel tired, due to her unused muscles, she took her time and was sure to make frequent stops.

Remembering that the shortest way to Rubello Drive was through the graveyard, she turned off the path that she had been following for almost an hour to cut through it. I need to get back in shape, she complained to herself again. As she walked through the graveyard, multiple memories of hours spent in there quickly resurfaced. Looking back on them, she was able to smile. The memories that stuck out the most to her were the countless hours of making out with Angel when she was supposed to be hunting. She began to wonder if Giles ever caught on to what was really happening. Buffy let out a quiet chuckle and sat at the nearest bench to take another quick break.

. . .

"Let me do it, Uncle Xander," Marissa insisted, as Xander tried to unlock the front door. Xander backed up, and Marissa took the key and turned it. Opening the door, she ran back to Angel and grabbed his hand between her own. Slowly leading him into the house, she dropped his hand and let Xander inside.

"Thank you," replied Angel, before heading towards his bedroom.

"Is he okay, Uncle Xander?" asked Marissa.

"Probably tired. I don't think he's moved this much since before he lost his sight."

"What happened?" asked Marissa.

Xander thought for a minute before commenting. "You should ask him, Marissa. It's not my place to tell you."

"But-"

"No buts," interrupted Xander, sternly. "If you want to know, ask. It's up to him to tell you. Now, get ready for bed."

"Okay," replied Marissa. "Is Angel going to sleep on the sofa with me tonight?"

"No," replied Angel, coming into the room. "Why don't you sleep in my room. I got the sofa."

"Are you sure?" asked Marissa. "But I want to have a sleepover again."

Xander looked at Marissa's face and smiled. It was good that Angel couldn't see her face when she wanted something. With her lower lip and pouting face, he wouldn't be able to resist.

"We'll have it again another time. Now, listen to Uncle Xander and get ready for bed."

"Okay," agreed Marissa. She walked over to Angel and pulled on his arm. He bent down, and she gave him a kiss on the cheek. "Night, Angel."

"Night, Marissa." She went off to Angel's room to get dressed for bed and brushed her teeth. Angel stood up and listened to her go. When the door shut, Xander turned to Angel.

"You can't keep the truth from her forever," said Xander to Angel.

"Yes I can."

"I don't understand why you would want to. She loves you already."

Angel turned to Xander, but instead of his normal anger, he appeared sad. "I want to tell her, Xander. I want to tell her so bad, but want about when she finds out my past. What if she wants to know why I wasn't there to support her mom. How will I explain to her?"

"You just need to take care of things as they come up. I don't think you'll be sorry if she knows. I think she wants to know who her father is as bad as you wish that she knew."

"I'll think about it," said Angel. Xander nodded, forgetting that Angel couldn't see, and walked by. Angel's arm shot up and landed on his shoulder to stop him. "Thanks," he said to Xander.

"Anytime," Xander replied, before moving on to his bedroom and getting ready for bed.

. . .

"What would you like to eat?" Willow asked her fiancé from the kitchen.

"I don't know, what do you have?" he asked, walking in. Willow opened the fridge and made a face.

"Not much. I guess I haven't been shopping lately. How does take-out sound?"

"Sounds good to me. What do you want?"

"Pizza."

"Okay, I'll call it in."

"Thanks," Willow answered and left the kitchen. Heading to her bedroom, to slip into something more comfortable, she jumped as someone knocked on the front door. "I got it!" she called out. Undoing the lock and opening it, she slowly opened on the door. When she saw Buffy was on the other side, her mouth dropped open.

"Hello Willow," came Buffy's voice softly. Willow continued to stare at her friend, trying to decide if she was real. "Wil?" asked Buffy, concern showing on her face. "Are you okay?" Willow ignored Buffy and put both of her faces on Buffy's cheeks. She felt tears began to flow down her face.

"Buffy?" she whispered. "Is that you?"

"Yes," said Buffy. "It's me, Willow, I'm back." Willow dropped her hands from Buffy's face and engulfed her in a hug. Buffy hugged the girl back, but quickly found that Willow was keeping the air from flowing into her lungs. Ignoring the feeling, she just hugged Willow tighter.

"Hey, Willow, the pizza will be ready in 15 minutes." Jeff walked into the living room and stopped at the sight of Willow and the young woman she was with. He immediately recognized her a Buffy, having been to her room a few times with Willow and seeing multiple pictures. He slowly snuck back into the kitchen.

"Buffy," said Willow, her voice catching. She backed up and took Buffy's face once again in her hands. "Buffy, how are you, what are you, how?"

Buffy smiled into Willow's confused and overjoyed face. "I'm back, Wil," she whispered. "I'm finally back and I'm here to make things right."

"Oh, Buffy," she started to say. Buffy saw that Willow's tears had started again, and put her arm around Willow's waist and they walked over to the nearest couch. Buffy took the tissue box and placed it on her lap, handing a few to Willow.

"Better?" Buffy asked. Willow laughed through her tears and gave Buffy a smile. "The wonders of a tissue."

"How are you back?" asked Willow. "We never thought we would talk to you again, see you walk or smile again. What happened?"

Buffy spent the next half-hour trying to explain to Willow what had brought her back. Unnoticed to them, Jeff left and returned with the pizza about the same time that Buffy had finished explaining everything to Willow. He entered the living room and set the box in front of Willow and Buffy. "Pizza?" he asked. Buffy smiled at him graciously, realizing the hunger that she felt.

"How thoughtless of me, you must be starved," said Willow jumping up and running to the kitchen. She grabbed a few cans of Pepsi and some napkins and brought them out to the living room. Willow and Jeff sat and watched Buffy practically inhale three pieces of pizza. When she caught them staring at her, she smiled sheepishly.

"Not eating for almost six years makes a person hungry," Buffy told them, and grabbed her fourth piece. Willow and Jeff both laughed at this and each took a piece for themselves. After Buffy finished it, she bounced up from the sofa.

"What's wrong?" asked Willow.

"I just realized, I don't know who this is," replied Buffy, indicating Jeffrey. She held out her hand, and he stood up to shake her hand. "Nice to meet you, who are you?"

"Nice to meet you too. I'm Jeffrey, Willow's fiancé. And you're Buffy. Very famous around here."

Buffy sat back down and looked outside. "I can't believe it's already dark." She turned back to Willow. "I have to ask this Wil, how is Angel?"

"Joyce, your mother, called tonight. Marissa has been living with Angel and Xander for the past day. She said things couldn't be going better. Angel and Marissa are very happy together. Joyce said 'Angel has found a new purpose for living.'"

Buffy smiled. "And my mom? How are her and Giles' new twins coming along?"

"Good I guess. She hasn't had any problems yet, and they are very proud."

"Xander and Cordelia, how are they?"

"Very much in love," replied Willow. "I wonder how they ever claimed to hate each other. Their wedding is set for Marissa's sixth birthday."

"And yours? When is yours set for?"

Jeffrey took Willow's hand in his own. "January 19th."

"My birthday?" asked Buffy. "Are you trying to purposely jinx your wedding?"

Willow gave a small chuckle. "No. It is also the anniversary of Jeff's parents. They died a few years ago."

"Oh, I'm sorry," said Buffy.

"Thank you," replied Jeffrey.

"What was it?"

"Vampires." Buffy looked surprised at Willow. Willow nodded her head.

"I guess word gets around in Sunnydale," said Buffy.

"A lot more than you would think." Jeffrey looked at his watch and planted a quick kiss on Willow's forehead. "I have to go home."

"Okay," said Willow, standing up and giving him a quick kiss. "Love you."

"Love you too. Night." Jeff left the apartment and silently closed the door behind him. Willow turned back to Buffy.

"So, Buffy, I think it's time for us to go to bed. I have some clothes you can wear to sleep in."

"I would really like to see my daughter tonight," said Buffy, standing up.

"I understand, but now the vamps are out, and it's raining as well. It won't do for your daughter to see you tired and worn out, come on, get some sleep."

Buffy nodded her head and followed Willow into the spare room. After climbing in between the sheet, she tried to sleep, but found that Angel's face, as well as the face of what her daughter might look like, run through her head. Pulling back the sheets, she got out of the bed and grabbed a robe. A quick search revealed a few hidden stakes, and so took them with her. Sneaking down the hall and back down the stair, she left the house, and slipped into the night.

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