fanfic

PEACE OF MIND
Written by Gemma Anne Buckley
Story set a few days after Buffys death in season 5.

SETTING: Graveyard
Xander sat in the graveyard by Buffy's gravestone gazing sadly at the inscription on it. A hand touched his shoulder. When he turned round he discovered Willow and Tara standing, staring at him sadly. No words were spoken, but the atmosphere said it all. Willow and Tara sat down next to Xander. It was almost dusk.

SETTING: Spike's crypt
Spike was all cried out. No words could describe the pain he was going through. He thought he would never get over Buffy's death. He sat mournfully waiting for darkness to arrive so he could sit by her grave and think of the good times. Well there were no good times for Spike and Buffy. But he could think of when she was happy, with her sister and mother and Scoobies. He wasn't happy, but Buffy was. And that's all that mattered.

SETTING: Giles' apartment
Giles sat drinking his fifth or sixth brandy. Alcohol was not the way, he knew, but it made the pain a little more bearable. He still couldn't believe his slayer, whom he loved like a daughter, was dead. Giles rose and looked in the mirror at his dishevelled reflection. Dark circles surrounded his eyes. In time, he would heal, but now it was time for grief. This time Giles did not stop the tear rolling down his cheek.

SETTING: The Espresso Pump
Anya sat drinking a cup of coffee that had now gone cold. She pushed it away in disgust. 'Another dead', she thought 'there have been too many deaths to people I know and like'. Anya looked down at the ring on her finger. She knew she was supposed to feel something when Xander placed it on her finger. It was customary, but she only felt shocked and sad. Anya found it too painful to even look at Buffy's grave. She had never been that close to her, but she hated anyone she knew dying and seeing the pain on Xander's face was enough to make her extremely upset. She ran her finger over the smooth crystal and left her cold, half drank coffee on the table.

SETTING: The Summers' House.
Dawn gazed sorrowfully out the window, at the setting sun and sighed. She too, was all cried out. She glanced down at the scars that were just peeking through her skimpy top. 'Bad choice of clothing' she thought 'but Buffy liked this top on me'. Angel sat in the corner, watching Dawn. He was so shocked when he heard Willow relay what had happened, his first instinct was to hug her. After that he immediately travelled to Sunnydale. Cordelia and Wesley wanted to come to pay their respects, but a rouge gang of vampires arrived in L.A, so they had to stay behind. Angel hoped they would be okay dealing with them. He sighed and looked back again at Dawn. It seemed she was not cried out after all.

GILES SHORT STORY
Written by Ben Hendry
Set shortly after 100th episode in season 5

Rupert Giles sat in his sitting room. He'd tried to read a bit of a novel he'd recently purchased but he could not stay focussed. His mind was slowly churning out more and more memories of Buffy.

There was the funeral to attend and Giles had made a pact with himself that after the burial of his slayer, he would try to finish grieving his loss. Buffy, he thought for the millionth time that day was more than just his slayer, she was his unbiological daughter.H

Hank Summers, Buffy's father, Giles thought, did not seem like a bad man in the slightest. Giles, though, still did not feel anything more than sympathy toward him. Hank had spent time with Buffy immediately following his divorce from Joyce but soon thereafter had swanned off with his secretary. Giles felt for the man, knowing he had wasted the time he could have spent with his now gone child. He will try to make up for it with Dawn, Giles thought. After all, for Dawn the choice was to go into care or to live with her dad so the obvious thing to happen will be for the only remaining Summers woman wopuld be for her to go back to Los Angeles with her father.

Rupert, still perched on the edge of a seat in his formal black suit delved into his pocket for the tatty and folded sheet of paper containing his speech. Giles was sure he had learnt it off by heart but still he skimmed the contents of it, cursing his nearly illegible handwriting on the tear stained sheet. Buffy was not the only loss Giles mourned. The Englishman was grieving on amuch lesser scale for the life he, himself had taken. a young male doctor in training named Ben. Giles didn't know much else about him other than he shared his body with the God, Glorificus and needed to be killed for the sake of humanity - if Glory was to return to the body she would surely bring chaos with her. However, Giles thought, that knowledge still did not make him feel any more noble in his murder.

His eyes lifting from the scrawled speech, met with his empty whiskey decanter. "Bloody hell", Giles groaned. He had finished the entire thing in the last few days. The drink didn't help. Giles was still a very sad man. Rupert then lifted the beautifully carved and engraved glass. He held it out in front of him letting his eyes wander across the glass. At that point, the pent up emotions inside of Giles all released themselves as he allowed the decanter to slip from his hands. The crash as it hit the floor relieved Giles of his frustration for a split second, but that was all. Rupert Giles took one last look over the fragments of smashed glass that were scattered all across his floor before taking the one last thought, why am still in Sunnydale? With that Giles left his house for the funeral of Buffy Anne Summers.