Author's Note: This doesn't exist within any particular time-frame. It
does
however deal with the death of the Slayer so be fore-warned.
Disclaimer: Joss is da man. Buffy not mine. Blah, blah, blah.
Notes: Title is from Madonna. Have no clue who wrote the song the
quotes came
from.
"Life's so fragile and love's so pure
We try to hold on but we can't
We watch how quickly it disappears
And we never know why"
We were a group. All of us. United in a bond of fear and pain that would hold us together forever. Even when the end hit us like a ton of bricks at mach ten. We came from a place where the darkness we knew as small children was a reality even as we tried to put our childhood away in the closet. And the light which had always seemed our salvation became little more than a bitter reminder that we were only safe some of the time. And so when it faded and she fell to her destiny; so did we.
A quiet night. The type where a peaceful walk through the park should have calmed our nerves. We should have known better..our world could never exist within the childish fantasy of sanity. A church bell ringing far in the distance. We have a lot of them around here but I've never heard one quite as haunting as that. And all we knew then was a hallucinatory thought brought on by the terrifying psychosis we called our own. Danger in submission; agony in aversion.
And we found her. Red on green. Dying on the grass. She breathed in large gasps and pawed at the ground trying to find some type of control. What good would it have been to tell her that even in her finest moments, she lacked that precious balance.
We tried to ease her delirium but it was a futile effort. In her last moments, we could do little for her body so we concentrated on closure. It was all any of us had left.
We said our goodbyes. And as we took our grief and poushed it away, she took her last breath and died. Another was called. The cycle began again. Just not for us.
That was the first time I ever saw Xander cry. Head in his hands, he tried to be strong but the tears rushed down his cheeks. Oz moved cautiously over to Willow and pulled her to him, crushing her with the fierceness of his emotion. Angel collapsed to the ground and blood flowed from his eyes. And Giles, God..Giles..I've never seen him cry. And then Xander looked up at me and in that moment, he let me into his heart and soul.
