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DISCLAIMER: *laughs*
SUMMARY: Fairytales aren't what they used to be, are they?
WORDCOUNT: 950
THANK YOU: to Eleni for betaing this baby. *hugs*
DEDICATION: to DarkStar, for reminding me that the Rosebuds were fun. *smooch*
ENCHANTING
by Leni
If this were a fairytale, Buffy sure wouldn't get the role of the princess.
Princesses are always helpless. Sleeping Beauty, she couldn't even wake by herself, and go
take a walk down in that beautiful rose garden. Or even worse, Rapunzel. Poor girl, Buffy
can't imagine letting anyone climb using her hair. Not even to be rescued from a tower.
What, the girl couldn't cut her hair and tie it to the bed? Buffy knows it always works
with sheets on TV, more reason for it to work in a fairytale!
Buffy hasn't been helpless for as long as she can remember. She battles on her own against
the dragons and is even known for - God forbid! - turning down a couple of White Knights
along the way.
No, she's definitely not princess material.
---
If this were a fairytale, Buffy's not sure that she'd be the evil stepmother.
Sure, sometimes Dawn looks at her as if she deserves to be pushed into an oven or maybe
even to be boiled slowly in hot oil. Just like that witch in Snow White. But Buffy knows
that, late at night, Dawn will come to her room and ask to sleep at her side. She'll
cuddle her little sister against her body and murmur of the good old days as the girl
falls asleep.
No, the role of the evil stepmother definitely doesn't fit her.
---
If this were a fairytale, Buffy doesn't know where it would take place.
She has never owned a castle, and nowadays, green prairies and forbidden forests are very
hard to find.
Buffy isn't sure if she can offer her new apartment as the setting for this new tale. With
the tiny kitchenette and the three bedrooms where everyone - from Watcher to Slayer to
Scooby to rescued-of-the-week - has spent a night at one time or another. She has never
heard of fairytales describing a residence like hers, and she's fairly sure that nobody
ever lost her house and her whole town in these stories.
No, this place is definitely not the appropriate one.
---
If this were a fairytale, Buffy doesn't know who'd be Prince Charming.
Many have taken the mantle and left it behind afterwards.
She'd seen them come brave and young; ready to reassure her with light words and breathe
life into her when she needed it. But she’d taken their crowns and given them a sword
instead, and instead of becoming her intended, her dearest knights still guarded her back
as Fate had decided.
They'd come in peasant clothes too, easy on the eyes and eager to please. Maybe they
didn't understand the meaning of a Claddagh and maybe she'd never let them know about her
true identity, but in the end she'd loved them a little bit. Just for bringing to her
doorstep the normality she craved.
Sometimes they had knocked on her door with red roses and romantic lines. Ready to sweep
her off her feet and carry her in their strong arms. They had wanted to protect her, to
build a shelter in which she could feel like worshipped crystal. They hadn't wanted her to
be afraid and Buffy had loved them for that. But they had never understood that she needed
fear to make it into passion. That she couldn't be crystal because she was destined to
break apart. So they decided to leave her, because in the end, those princes always
deserved someone who would dedicate herself to them.
First and last are Alpha and Omega. Buffy looks at them in their opposite corners, and she
laughs because they won't admit how alike they can act.
But none of them can ever be Prince Charming, simply because there is no princess to
charm.
---
But she sees him standing at her door, already shifting uncomfortably from one foot to the
other as she thinks. Phone calls have come and gone in the last months, but this is the
first time they'd seen each other in a long time. Suddenly she remembers that he still
needs an invitation. Silly Slayer, how could she forget that? Maybe she's too used for him
being able to enter all the places she's lived in.
Maybe.
Buffy finally smiles and shrugs. "Remember. You were the one to say that this was no
fairytale," she warns before launching herself into his arms.
Angel doesn't understand her words. She knows that and laughs merrily at his puzzled
expression.
But he hugs her, and his lips are about to form a question before she quickly stops them
with hers. Buffy is sure that he doesn't mind. Taking his hand and ending the kiss with a
quick peck to his chin, she leads him into her very own tale.
"Come in," she says.
Angel smiles and follows her willingly.
This will be their own story, she decides as they begin talking about their years apart.
But as he threads his fingers through hers and she drifts closer until her head rests
against his shoulder, Buffy also knows one more truth:
Their story, fairytale or not, has to have a happy ending.
This new chapter will be -
"Enchanting."
Buffy turns around to face her - on again - boyfriend. "Huh?"
If he could blush, Angel is sure that he'd be doing exactly that. "Enchanting,"
he repeats sheepishly. "I was thinking about you and it just... came out, I
guess."
She is blushing for both of them. "Enchanting." Buffy savours the word and
decides that she likes it. "Like a fairytale?" she asks playfully.
Angel shakes his head in incomprehension but laughs anyway. "No, love." He
loosens his hand from hers and drapes it around her shoulders instead. "Like
us."
The End.
17/02/04
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