Fan Fiction ❯ Buffy The Vampire Slayer: How it Should Have Been ❯ Prologue ( Prologue )
[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]
By: taras lament 
This is placed in season 6 after Willow leaves with Giles.
Anime/Manga: Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Horror / Drama / Action | Type: Alternate Universe | Uploaded On: 08.14.2005 | Pages: 1 | Words: 936 | Visits: 169 | Status: Completed
This is placed in season 6 after Willow leaves with Giles.
Anime/Manga: Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Horror / Drama / Action | Type: Alternate Universe | Uploaded On: 08.14.2005 | Pages: 1 | Words: 936 | Visits: 169 | Status: Completed
The Prologue
By Tara's Lament
It was half past midnight when Xander Harris arrived home. He was exhausted and it took all of his alcohol-distorted consentration to get the key into the lock so he could open the front door. Once inside, he tossed the keys in the general direction of the counter, not caring if they made their mark, and then he shrugged off his jacket, letting it fall to the floor as he trudged the rest of the way into the living room of his apartment.
The full moon outside illuminated the room, bathing the empty beer bottles laying around in a luminesent silver glow.
Xander sighed.
The burdens of the last couple of days weighed heavily on his mind, and for the millionth time since he had left the airport earlier that afternoon he found himself thinking about Willow. He could still see her, when he closed his eyes, defeated and broken sat between him and Giles in the slightly crowded terminal, waiting for the announcement of the arrival of the plane that would take her away from Sunnydale for a good long time. 'If not forever," Xander remembered thinking. She had cried herself to exhaustion on Kingman's Bluff and it showed on her face, leaving deep shadows of bitter sorrow where there had been laughter only a few days before.
A wry smile crossed his lips momentarily as his own words echoed within the cavernous confines of his weary mind, taking him back to the lonely road in the middle of the California dessert where Willow had mercilessly killed a robot.
"The magick's too strong," he had insisted. "There's no comeing back from it."
Her eyes had graced him for a second before she directed her wordsd to Buffy. :I'm not coming back."
His heart sank as he began to collect the empty bottles, cleaning by the light of the moon pouring through the large bay windows. He couldn't help but wonder at how true her words had been. Would she ever fully recover from her addiction to magick? Was she strong enough to learn how to control her own inner darkness? Would she ever be just Willow again?
So caught up was he in his troubled thoughts that he didn't notice the subtle shift in the atmosphere of the room around him or the drop in tempeture as the moonlight brightened almost blindingly where it shone into the livingroom.
The hairs on his arms stood on end.
"Alexander Harris."
Xander jumped, grabbing a knife from the sink as he spun around. He'd grown up in Sunnydale, spent the last seven years fighting a thousand different kinds of monsters that went bump in the night, so when the sound of a woman's voice broke the silence of his empty apartment he was instantly ready for a fight. But the moment his brain registered the sight in front of him the knife slid uselessly from his grip, falling to the tiled kitchen floor with an obscenely loud clatter. The sound reverberated throughout the spacious apartment before finally falling silent.
The woman smiled.
It was a small simple gesture that lit the room and flooded Xander with a feeling of complete calm.
"You've done an incredible thing this day," she spoke again, her voice barely above a whisper.
"Who are you?"
His own voice sounded absurd, croaking from his lips and leaving him feeling a bit more than stupid in front of the indescribable beauty that stood before him.
"Who I am is unimportant, Alexander Harris, for the name given me by my children only limits the power I wield in their realm." He blinked, keeping quite as she continued. "But my reason for being here is of extreme import, for I have come to grant you what none of my children has ever earned before. I have come to grant you a favor."
Xander rubbed at his eyes, trying desprately to figure out exactly what was going on. What had he done that was so incredible? Okay, so he had saved the world that morning when Willow had tried to end her own pain by distroying it. But saving the world was nothing new to him. He and Willow had been helping Buffy save the world since sophmore year. What was so special about today?
"Not only did you save this world and all of its inhabitants, Alexander Harris," she explained, answering the question he hadn't even asked. "But you spared the life of your enemy, giving her tainted soul the chance for redemption. It's not something often offered. And for this I will grant you one favor."
"A favor?"
"Anything you desire, my son."
"Anything?"
His voice mirrored the suddenly cynical expression on his face.
"Anything you desire," the woman repeated with more emphasis. "I will leave you to contemplate your decision. When you have chosen what you want-" She lifted a slender hand, showing him the tiny silver bell resting on her palm. "Ring this on the night of a full moon and I will return to give you your desire."
As the echoe of her soft voice died away the moonlight pouring through the windows brightened blindingly and Xander had to avert his gaze. When it faded and the room was dark again he opened his eyes to see that the beautiful woman with the sweet voice was gone and where she had been standing was the tiny silver bell.
By Tara's Lament
It was half past midnight when Xander Harris arrived home. He was exhausted and it took all of his alcohol-distorted consentration to get the key into the lock so he could open the front door. Once inside, he tossed the keys in the general direction of the counter, not caring if they made their mark, and then he shrugged off his jacket, letting it fall to the floor as he trudged the rest of the way into the living room of his apartment.
The full moon outside illuminated the room, bathing the empty beer bottles laying around in a luminesent silver glow.
Xander sighed.
The burdens of the last couple of days weighed heavily on his mind, and for the millionth time since he had left the airport earlier that afternoon he found himself thinking about Willow. He could still see her, when he closed his eyes, defeated and broken sat between him and Giles in the slightly crowded terminal, waiting for the announcement of the arrival of the plane that would take her away from Sunnydale for a good long time. 'If not forever," Xander remembered thinking. She had cried herself to exhaustion on Kingman's Bluff and it showed on her face, leaving deep shadows of bitter sorrow where there had been laughter only a few days before.
A wry smile crossed his lips momentarily as his own words echoed within the cavernous confines of his weary mind, taking him back to the lonely road in the middle of the California dessert where Willow had mercilessly killed a robot.
"The magick's too strong," he had insisted. "There's no comeing back from it."
Her eyes had graced him for a second before she directed her wordsd to Buffy. :I'm not coming back."
His heart sank as he began to collect the empty bottles, cleaning by the light of the moon pouring through the large bay windows. He couldn't help but wonder at how true her words had been. Would she ever fully recover from her addiction to magick? Was she strong enough to learn how to control her own inner darkness? Would she ever be just Willow again?
So caught up was he in his troubled thoughts that he didn't notice the subtle shift in the atmosphere of the room around him or the drop in tempeture as the moonlight brightened almost blindingly where it shone into the livingroom.
The hairs on his arms stood on end.
"Alexander Harris."
Xander jumped, grabbing a knife from the sink as he spun around. He'd grown up in Sunnydale, spent the last seven years fighting a thousand different kinds of monsters that went bump in the night, so when the sound of a woman's voice broke the silence of his empty apartment he was instantly ready for a fight. But the moment his brain registered the sight in front of him the knife slid uselessly from his grip, falling to the tiled kitchen floor with an obscenely loud clatter. The sound reverberated throughout the spacious apartment before finally falling silent.
The woman smiled.
It was a small simple gesture that lit the room and flooded Xander with a feeling of complete calm.
"You've done an incredible thing this day," she spoke again, her voice barely above a whisper.
"Who are you?"
His own voice sounded absurd, croaking from his lips and leaving him feeling a bit more than stupid in front of the indescribable beauty that stood before him.
"Who I am is unimportant, Alexander Harris, for the name given me by my children only limits the power I wield in their realm." He blinked, keeping quite as she continued. "But my reason for being here is of extreme import, for I have come to grant you what none of my children has ever earned before. I have come to grant you a favor."
Xander rubbed at his eyes, trying desprately to figure out exactly what was going on. What had he done that was so incredible? Okay, so he had saved the world that morning when Willow had tried to end her own pain by distroying it. But saving the world was nothing new to him. He and Willow had been helping Buffy save the world since sophmore year. What was so special about today?
"Not only did you save this world and all of its inhabitants, Alexander Harris," she explained, answering the question he hadn't even asked. "But you spared the life of your enemy, giving her tainted soul the chance for redemption. It's not something often offered. And for this I will grant you one favor."
"A favor?"
"Anything you desire, my son."
"Anything?"
His voice mirrored the suddenly cynical expression on his face.
"Anything you desire," the woman repeated with more emphasis. "I will leave you to contemplate your decision. When you have chosen what you want-" She lifted a slender hand, showing him the tiny silver bell resting on her palm. "Ring this on the night of a full moon and I will return to give you your desire."
As the echoe of her soft voice died away the moonlight pouring through the windows brightened blindingly and Xander had to avert his gaze. When it faded and the room was dark again he opened his eyes to see that the beautiful woman with the sweet voice was gone and where she had been standing was the tiny silver bell.