By Jody E.
Giles bent down and felt Buffy’s pulse…it was weak and thready. He couldn’t leave her crumpled on the floor, so he scooped her up and carried her into her bedroom and placed her on the bed. He picked up the telephone and was about to dial 911, when he noticed that she was stiffening up in an alarming way. He felt Buffy’s arm and discovered to his horror that it was as hard and cold as marble. Her whole body had become like a statue, and he could no longer find a pulse..yet somehow he knew that she wasn’t dead. Obviously, this was no typical poison, but something magical. No point in phoning an ambulance; he phoned Willow and Xander instead.
Soon the whole Scooby gang was assembled around Buffy’s bed, including Dawn who had awoken at the commotion. Buffy continued to lie there frozen and lifeless as before.
"Are you sure she’s not dead?" Willow asked, her eyes wide and frightened.
"I can’t be 100% sure," said Giles, "But I believe that she is under a spell caused by the beast that attacked her this evening. It says that the creature’s claws are poisonous, but it doesn’t say anything else. The beast is very obscure..it doesn’t even have a name."
"And you say Buffy killed this thing in the playground? Maybe I could go and bring back one of its claws and we could analyze it."
"Good idea, Xander. I should have thought of that. I’m sorry, my mind doesn’t seem to be functioning properly."
"Mr. Giles, why don’t you sit down, and I’ll make you some tea," offered Tara. She and Willow exchanged a look. It wasn’t like Giles to fall apart this way. Willow helped Giles to a chair near Buffy’s bed.
"I-I should have realized that something was wrong. She was babbling about giving the beast a name. She sounded almost drunk..then she collapsed. I carried her in here."
"Giles..this wasn’t your fault. It was a good thing you got her onto the bed before she froze like this." Willow patted Giles on the shoulder. At a noise, she looked up. Dawn was standing over Buffy, hands over her mouth muffling a scream. "Dawn..what is it?’
"She-she looks just like m-my M-mother did," gasped Dawn rigid with horror.
"Dawn! Buffy is not dead. She is under a spell, and we’ll help her. I promise. We’ll help her!" Willow hoped desperately that she sounded more confident than she felt. As Tara came in with the tea, Willow indicated Dawn. "We need some more tea here." She sat Dawn down at the foot of Buffy’s bed.
Anya came into the room with the bestiary in her hand. "I have read this entire book and there is no more information to be found on this particular creature. I am afraid that I am only familiar with demons. Beasts are outside my expertise."
"Thank you, Anya. Nobody seems to know much about this thing."
"What do we do now? Are you and Tara going to concoct a spell? I can help."
"Without information about the type of spell..we can’t counteract it."
Tara came in with tea for Dawn. "Perhaps we should go to the Magic Box and look up some general reversal spells..maybe there is something about people turned to stone..or statues."
"Yeah..at least we’ll be doing something! Let’s go. Anya, want to come with?"
Anya nodded, and they turned to go. Willow went over to Giles. "Giles. Giles! Look after Dawn, okay?"
Giles started, as though he had just noticed Dawn was in the room. He jumped up, seeming more like the competent Giles they knew. "Of course, I will tend to Dawn. Go, find out what you can." The three women left the room. Giles approached Dawn and sat down beside her. "Dawn..we will do everything that is in our power to bring your sister back. She IS in there, I know it. Perhaps she can even hear us, and know that we are trying to help her."
"She feels so cold. Maybe we could warm her up. "
"There is an electric blanket in the storage closet. Would you like to go look for it? Maybe that will be just the ticket." He didn’t really think that warming Buffy up would help, but it probably wouldn’t hurt, and it would make Dawn feel useful. She left, and soon he heard her rummaging around in the big closet. He was alone with Buffy. He tried to move her hand but it wouldn’t budge. He looked into her face. Her eyes were closed, and she looked peaceful but her chest was still. He brushed the hair off her face with his fingers and the skin of her cheek was cold and didn’t give under his touch. The Buffy robot on display at the Magic Box felt more human than she did now. Giles felt his eyes fill with tears. He had to remain in control for Dawn’s sake, and to help Buffy as best he could.
Dawn came in with the blanket. They plugged it in and draped it over Buffy’s still form. Dawn turned the dial up to 5 and they waited. Soon Dawn could see that it was hopeless. Buffy’s body felt warmer, but only the way a rock would feel if it were wrapped in an electric blanket. She was no more alive that she had been.
An hour passed. Xander came back in discouraged. "I couldn’t find hide nor hair of this thing. Are you sure Buffy said that she killed it? I searched the whole playground."
"She said, ‘I got it, but it got me too.’"
"Well either it got up and walked away or it dusted like a vampire, because it’s gone. We can look again in the morning." Xander looked at Buffy’s still form. "Any change?"
"Nothing," replied Giles, "the girls are at the Magic Box researching spells. Odd that the beast just simply disappeared." On impulse he pulled up the sleeve of Buffy’s robe. His bandages were there, but underneath, the skin was as smooth as marble. No scratches or even the deeper gashes. Incredible. The only evidence that remained of the beast’s attack on Buffy was her strange stone like state and the shredded blouse that lay in the wastebasket. "Xander, ring the Magic Box and find out if the girls have found anything."
Xander returned a few minutes later looking a little more hopeful. He sat down next to Dawn and put his arm around her shoulder. "Willow says that they’ve found a couple of possible spells and are gathering the ingredients right now."
"I guess this electric blanket isn’t working, " Dawn said mournfully. "Warming her up was a dumb idea, I guess." She began to cry.
Giles said, "Now Dawn, we aren’t going to give up hope. We have some spells to try, and one of them is bound to work. Why don’t you and Xander go make some hot chocolate for everybody when they come back? And look for some chips or crackers of some sort. It may be a long night."
It was a long night. Willow, Tara and Anya returned and they tried three different spells, but to no avail. By this time it was almost sunrise and Giles sent everybody home to try and get some sleep. He sent Dawn to her room also, Fortunately it was Saturday, so she wouldn’t miss school. Giles himself remained in Buffy’s room. Though he couldn’t imagine what good he was doing her, he couldn’t bring himself to leave. He found himself talking to her:
"Buffy, I suppose you can’t hear me, though I can feel that you are still alive somewhere in there. It’s ridiculous speaking to you like this, but I have to let these feelings out before they burst within me. When did it happen, Buffy? When did my feelings for you change? I know it wasn’t when you were a rather silly High School girl, trying to trying to slay vampires without breaking a nail. But you touched something in me from the first moment I saw you..perhaps because I saw the sadness underneath your perky mask. Even though you quickly found friends, you were always removed from them by your Slayerness, if I may coin such a word. I too was always separate from my fellow watchers in the council. I too was always alone. Until Jenny came along. And I did love Jenny. Perhaps she and I might have found something permanent if she hadn’t been killed. I hated you and Angel for that, you know, though I knew it wasn’t your fault, and soon got over it. But since her death I have been alone. Olivia was really just a friend with bedroom privileges. She couldn’t handle my lifestyle and as soon as things got scary, she left. I didn’t even miss her.
Buffy, I hated your relationship with Angel. But only because I felt you deserved so much more..a man who could give you a home and family. When Riley came along, I rejoiced because he seemed so perfect for you. What happened between you I am not competent to judge, but I felt your pain when He left you, and would have done anything to prevent it. But still, what I felt for you was more fatherly than anything else, and I hoped that you felt that way about me too. Thank God you can’t hear me Buffy. But somehow, over this past year, things have changed. I see you here day after day, coping so heroically with the things that have happened to you. I see you caring for Dawn as though she had always been your sister, and filling your mother’s place in her life. And making this apartment a home for us. And never neglecting your Slayer duties, or your schoolwork. And the way you fuss over me, though I do complain about it..It is true that the frivolous girl is gone, Buffy, but the woman who has taken her place is more beautiful and more loving than I ever could have imagined. Buffy, the other night when I told you that every man who has ever met you has fallen in love with you, I did not exclude myself. But I have always been careful to hide my feelings. My watcher’s training and that British reserve you tease me about have helped enormously. But now I don’t know what to do. I am losing you, Buffy, and I don’t think I can bear it." He put his head down on the bed where Buffy slept, and wept until he fell asleep. Dawn found him there in the morning.
Two long excruciating days passed. Willow and Tara tried some more spells but to no avail. On Monday, Anya opened the store. Willow and Tara went to classes, Xander to work, and Dawn to school, because there was nothing else they could do. Giles remained with Buffy, barely eating or sleeping. By Monday night he was haggard and gaunt, and the gang was starting to seriously worry about him as well as Buffy.
On Monday evening the gang gathered at Giles’ to make dinner for Dawn and him. Willow and Tara looked at Buffy lying there so still and rigid. "Giles," Willow whispered, "How do you know for sure that she’s not dead?"
Giles looked at her with red rimmed eyes, "Well, for one thing I haven’t heard from the Council of Watcher’s announcing that a new Slayer has been called. I’m sure that they would notify me, to gloat, if for no other reason. And, I just know that she is alive in there somewhere. I would feel it if she were dead. "
Tara put her hand on Buffy’s forehead. She closed her eyes. "Yes. I think you are right Giles. She is alive in there. I can sense her."
"Then maybe we should call the council, put this into their hands."
"No! "spoke up Xander, "This this is Buffy! Our Buffy. Once the Council of Watchers gets their slimy hands on her, that will be the end. They’ll stand her in some Watcher’s museum and she’ll be out of their hair forever!"
"You’re not going to let them take Buffy away are you, Giles?" cried Dawn.
"Please..all of you. I am Buffy’s watcher and I have to decide what is best for her. Please leave me now. I’ll tell you what I’ve decided tomorrow."
Reluctantly, the gang started to leave. One by one they patted Giles on the shoulder or gave him a hug and they all said goodnight to Dawn and lastly to Buffy as though she could hear them.
Xander lagged behind Anya and went over to the bed and touched Buffy’s hair, which was the only soft part of her, with tears in his eyes he whispered. "Good night Sleeping beauty." He followed the others.
Dawn who had been teary eyed all evening finally went to bed exhausted. Giles should have tried to sleep, but there was something nagging at his mind. Something about what Xander had said, calling Buffy, Sleeping Beauty. Beauty and the Beast. Another fairy tale. Sleeping Princesses, a beast tamed by love, somehow Buffy’s situation had an almost Fairy Tale feel to it. Suddenly remembering The Gentlemen, Giles went into his study and dug up his ancient book of Fairy Tales. These were not the Disneyfied stories, but were darker and more gruesome. As he turned the pages he was startled to see an old woodcut illustration of a beast with long claws, just as Buffy described. The name under the drawing, and the story that followed was called, "Rufus and Leora." Rufus! Wasn’t that the name Buffy wanted to call the beast? Could she have been unconsciously giving him the answer all along? With shaking hands, Giles turned the pages; his eyes almost too weary to read the old print.
The story was about evil Prince Rufus, who was turned into a fell beast for his cruelty to women. He was destined to remain this way until he met a woman who was stronger than he. Princess Leora was such a woman. Because she had no brothers she was trained to be a hunter and athlete. But she could find no man to love her, because the men in those days feared her strength. One day while she was out walking with her bow on her back, Rufus attacked her. She couldn’t reach her bow in time so she fought him with her knife, but Rufus’ long claws were deadly and hurt her badly before she was able to stab him in the heart. She ran for home, but her footsteps became slower and slower until she reached her beloved garden and she stopped.. frozen into a marble statue, her arms outstretched toward her parents, who had run to greet her. What happened was that Rufus’ claws were poisoned and Leora should have died. But Leora was beloved by her family, and when she saw them, their love turned the poison into an enchantment instead. Unfortunately, her parents now had a statue instead of a daughter. They called in every magician from far and near, but none could break the spell. Leora’s parents soon died of broken hearts and their castle was abandoned. For many years Leora stood there while the garden grew wild around her.
One day a young Prince came riding by and saw her. He thought that she was merely a statue and admired its realism and beauty. He wished with all his heart that he could find a woman as strong and fearless as she appeared to be. And the loving look on her face as she reached out to her parents he felt was directed at him. Foolishly, he fell hopelessly in love with her. But he was a Prince and had duties at home to perform. He couldn’t live in this garden forever, and the statue could not be moved from its spot. He knew that he had to leave. But before he went he had to do one thing. He stepped into the embrace of those open arms and kissed her marble lips. Imagine his surprise when the marble turned warm under his lips and Leora became a real girl once more. He asked her name, and she said, "Leora." She asked his and he said, "Prince Rufus the Third." His Grandfather had been restored to life when Leora had stabbed him all those years ago, and the cycle was complete. They lived happily ever after.
Giles closed the book, his mind in turmoil. Where was a bloody handsome prince when you needed one? There weren’t even any knights of Byzantium still hanging about. Giles thought...fairly tales always feature handsome Princes, but did Rufus have to be a prince to beak the spell? In Sleeping Beauty, the Prince saw the sleeping girl and fell in love with her. He kissed her, and.. No..the secret was love. Love had kept Rufus’ claws from poisoning Leora, and love had set her free in the end. Well..he had love..but would it be enough?
Giles approached Buffy, his mind full of questions. Had his feelings for Buffy actually prevented the poison from killing her? How much truth did these tales contain? He looked at her face, so beautiful and serene. If this last hope didn’t work he would call the Watcher’s Council tomorrow. It was only right that they somehow call a new Slayer. He knelt down beside her bed.
"Buffy. This is probably the most foolish thing I have ever done. But I am desperate. I can’t lose you my darling. I know that I am not young, handsome or remotely a Prince. If I could find one for you, I would. If I could be fifteen years younger, I would. If I could be an appropriate match for you I would, but I can’t do any of these things. All I can do is love you with all my heart and hope that you will continue to feel affection for me, as you have all these years. I hope that you will never know of my feelings. But this I must do. " He stood up and bent over Buffy’s still form and kissed her cold hard lips.
Instantly a shock went through him, as those lips became warm and resilient under his. Good Lord, she was kissing him back! He pulled away, joy and embarrassment warring with his emotions. Her arms came up and pulled him back into her embrace. She was crying and beaming at him lovingly. "Giles, oh thank God! You saved me! You have no idea what it was like! I couldn’t move a muscle, but I could hear and think and hope desperately that somebody would save me. Oh God, Giles." He held her for a long moment. He knew he should call Dawn and ring the others, but he couldn’t bear to share Buffy with any of them right now. Wait. Did she say .she could hear?
"Buffy..I, uh." He got up and went and sat in the chair near Buffy’s bed, where he had spent most of the last 3 days.
"Giles..it’s okay. " Buffy stood up and stretched. God it felt good to move again. "Giles, I’ve done a lot of thinking the last three days..I certainly wasn’t able to do anything else." She sat down on the bed facing him. "Giles..listen to me. One day my mother was twirling around, showing off her new dress; the next day she was dead! One night I go out on a routine patrol and the next thing I know I come this close to spending eternity as a pigeon roost! My life is going to be short, Giles..at 21 I’ve already broken all the records! I’ve decided that I want it all, Giles, marriage, children, a family, and I want it now. I don’t want to wait any longer. So..are you game?"
"What? Uh, me? "
"Why not you? Has it ever been done before? A Slayer marrying her watcher?"
"Well, actually," Giles looked embarrassed, "There have been quite a few instances. But these were mostly in the days when girls married at 15 or 16. Sometimes their watchers married them, because it was their only financial protection in a feudal society. But there hasn’t been a case in over 100 years. Things have become much more professional. In fact, as you recall, I was once fired as your watcher, because my feelings for you were considered too personal. I-I have done some research on the subject."
"I see. Well, then I guess we’ll have a fight on our hands."
"Buffy. Why could you possibly want to marry me? I am way too old for you. Though I am younger than Michael Douglas."
"Giles..do you really think that you’ve been hiding your feelings from me all these months? You may think you’ve been all British reserve and fatherly concern, but I could see right through you. I just didn’t know how to break through and get you to actually admit how you felt."
"Well, this was a brilliant plan. I commend you. "
Buffy laughed, "Right. Like I would actually plan to spend three days in this ratty bathrobe! God knows what I must look like."
Giles said simply, "You have never looked more beautiful."
"Well, I can’t say the same for you Giles. You look like death warmed over. What have you been doing these last three days besides sitting here talking to me?"
"That’s pretty much it."
"I was afraid of that. We’ll have to get some food into you. And me too..I’m starving, come to think of it. But first you have to answer my question. Will you marry me, Giles/"
"Buffy. If you really want me to do this, and take on the Council of Watchers, not to mention your friends..and have you even thought of them and their reaction? Well, you are going to have to give me something more than ‘I want a home and family’. You’ve got a home and family. A husband is a different thing entirely."
"I know Giles. And I know what you’re asking. You know I’ve always loved you. But, do I love you like a husband? I don’t know. I think I could. I am certainly willing to try. I won’t hold back. I’ll give this everything I’ve got. Is that enough, Giles? " She took his hands and looked into his eyes. "I know it won’t be easy. And my friends may even be worse than the Council! But I’m the Slayer and you’re the Ripper. We can defy them all!"
"Well then, I guess we’ll have to give it a go, won’t we?" he stood up and pulled Buffy up to her feet.
Dawn woke up to hear voices coming from Buffy’s room. She listened. One of the voices was definitely Buffy’s! She was alive! She was back! Dawn hopped out of bed and ran into Buffy’s room. She threw open the door and there was Buffy alive and well and..and..and she and Giles were..kissing?
"Ewwww!" Said Dawn!
Round One had begun.