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Re: FIC; Return (10/10) - Yoshi & M.Hamlet
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- Subject: Re: FIC; Return (10/10) - Yoshi & M.Hamlet
- From: BillGopher <asagiri@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Mon, 01 Oct 2001 23:42:41 -0400
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Yoshi,<br>
Awesome end to an awesome series :-) And Hamlet, very fitting and cool
epilogue for Glory. hehehehe. That pretty much makes the old saying, "What
goes around, comes around" very appropriate.<br>
<br>
Bill Gopher<br>
<br>
JDMeans wrote:<br>
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<div><font size="2">Hey gang, thanks for hanging out in this little corner
of my mind. The final chapter is upon us, and I'd like to thank Mad-Hamlet
once more for this kick-ass epilogue he provided for me. Props to the Melencholy
Dane!</font></div>
<div> </div>
<p> </p>
<p>Disclaimer;</p>
<p>Joss owns them, and after "The Gift", we must trust that he knows what
he’s doing. Oh, and the sharp-eyed among you may recognize characters owned
by DC Comics, and created by Neil Gaiman.</p>
<p>Author’s note;</p>
<p>This is my alternate take on how things go after the season five cliffhanger
from Hell. Spoilers for "The Gift". Duh. Shout out to Mad-Hamlet for advice,
inspiration, and one kick-ass epilogue.</p>
<p>Archives;</p>
<p>Want, take, have.</p>
<p>Feedback;</p>
<p>Yes please. <a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:Jim_D_Means@xxxxxxxxxxx";>Jim_D_Means@xxxxxxxxxxx</a></p>
<p>Rating;</p>
<p>PG-13(for angst)</p>
<p>Summary;</p>
<p>The Slayer’s final sacrifice was just the end of Act 1.</p>
<p> </p>
<font face="Dyer">
<div align="Center"><font face="AvalonQuest" size="6">========</font></div>
<div align="Center"><font face="AvalonQuest" size="6">Return</font></div>
<div align="Center"><font face="AvalonQuest" size="6">By Kirayoshi</font></div>
</font><font face="AvalonQuest" size="6">
<div align="Center">========</div>
</font>
<p>Chapter Ten</p>
<p>Bright Side of the Road</p>
<p> </p>
<p>One month later;</p>
<p>"Yes!" Willow shouted triumphantly as she sat at her computer at the
Magic Box. "Buffy Summers is alive and well!"</p>
<p>"We know that," Tara smiled as she leaned forward on Willow’s shoulders.
"Remember, that situation with Riley Finn last month? We’ve been celebrating
her return ever since."</p>
<p>"Funny, babe," Willow stuck her tongue out at her lover. "I meant in
the legal sense." She showed Tara the screen. "I just hacked into public
records, and changed her legal status so she’s no longer dead. Erased all
her death certificates, her autopsy report, all that. I also located her
birth certificate, and arranged for a notarized copy to be mailed to her
house so she can apply for a driver’s license, and I even had the title
deed for her home signed over to her."</p>
<p>"Not bad, hacker girl," Tara leaned in and kissed Willow’s cheek.</p>
<p>"Not a perfect hacking job, I’m afraid," Willow admitted. "I wasn’t
able to rescue her bank account, or the trust fund her mom set up for her.
All that money went over to Dawn’s trust fund when Buffy was first declared
dead."</p>
<p>"Hey, she’ll be okay," Tara assured Willow. "And with you moving into
her house once college starts up, you’ll be able to help out."</p>
<p>"Yeah," Willow smirked slightly. "Practically had to twist her arm to
convince her to let me pay rent, but she still needs the money. At least
until she can get a job. But she’ll be okay."</p>
<p>"Speaking of which," Tara heard the door-chimes jangle as the shop’s
front door was opened, and noticed Buffy and Dawn as they entered the shop.
They seemed to be arguing about something.</p>
<p>Willow and Tara left the backroom to greet their friends. "Hey Buff,
Dawnie, what’s up?"</p>
<p>"Buffy made me watch the most disgusting movie I ever saw," Dawn complained
dramatically.</p>
<p>"Oh?" Willow’s interest was piqued. "Which movie was that?"</p>
<p>"It’s called ‘Harold and Maude’," Buffy explained, "and it wasn’t disgusting
at all. It was one of Mom’s favorites and we still had the video, so I decided
to check it out."</p>
<p>"Buffy, it was gross!" Dawn shrieked.</p>
<p>"Harold and Maude?" Tara smiled. "I loved that movie. Remember, Willow,
we saw that at the revival house in San Francisco just before we started
our sophomore classes."</p>
<p>"Yeah, with Ruth Gordon as the kindly old woman who taught that kid
about life," Willow continued.</p>
<p>Dawn just looked at the other two women with shock in her eyes. "Are
you kidding? The movie had an eighteen-year-old boy having sex with an eighty-year-old
woman!"</p>
<p>Buffy shook her head, amused at her sister’s overreaction. "Dawn, the
movie wasn’t about that. It was about how Ruth Gordon taught the boy to
shake off his obsession with death and embrace life."</p>
<p>"Yeah," Dawn continued, "but he had sex with an eighty-year-old woman."</p>
<p>"Hey," Buffy reminded her sister, "you didn’t object to that one movie
where the guy had sex with a pie!"</p>
<p>"That was different," Dawn amended hastily, as Tara and Willow started
to giggle. "That was just dumb comedy. And say, now that I think about it,
don’t you think that Michelle in that movie looks an awful lot like—"</p>
<p>"Uh, Buffy," Willow squeaked, hoping to deflect Dawn’s interest. "You
wanna check this out?" She took Buffy and Dawn into the back room and directed
their attention to the computer. "I’ve been going into hacker mode here,
and managed to legally resurrect you. Now you can get a driver’s license,
and you now own your house." Buffy sat at the computer and perused the records
that Willow had edited. She still didn’t understand half of what she saw
on the screen, but took Willow’s assurances at face value.</p>
<p>"Great, now all I have to do is get a job," Buffy smiled at her friend.</p>
<p>"I’m sure Giles can find a position here in the Magic Box," Tara offered.</p>
<p>"Thanks, Tara," Buffy replied. "But I want to get a job on my own. Still,
the Box can be my plan B." She stood up from her seat at the computer, and
announced, "Hey girls, can you close up for lunch or something? I’ve got
something to show you."</p>
<p>"Sure," Tara smiled. She and Willow joined Buffy and Dawn, Tara taking
the time to set up the ‘Closed, back in 30 minutes’ sign in the window and
locking the door.</p>
<p>======== </p>
<p>The cemetery wasn’t quite where Willow envisioned herself at the moment,
but Buffy seemed genuinely pleased about something here. Willow was especially
curious as to why Buffy had chosen to lug a portable CD player with her.</p>
<p>They stopped at an all-too-familiar stone. Buffy glanced at the stone’s
inscription, fighting back the shudder of seeing her own name engraved on
the stone. "She saved the world a lot," she read the epitaph, a sardonic
smile on her face. "Let me guess, Wills, your idea?"</p>
<p>"Well," Willow blushed crimson, "Xander and I worked on it together."</p>
<p>"Hey, short and sweet, I like it," Buffy assured her friend with a smile.
"Anyway, it’ll be going down tomorrow. I spoke with the funeral director,
and he agreed to remove the empty coffin and the stone." She glanced at
her mother’s stone, which stood alongside her own. "I’m thinking of planting
a tree here. Maybe something in a nice shade tree. I think mom would like
that."</p>
<p>"I know she would approve," Tara nodded.</p>
<p>"Yeah," Willow agreed. "Maybe a sycamore, or something like that."</p>
<p>"Yeah," Buffy mused silently. "Well, anyway, before they come in to
remove the grave, I wanted to do something, and this is my only chance."
She placed the CD player on the ground by the gravesite, and pressed play.
She turned to the others, smiled, extended her arms, and said, "Let’s dance!"</p>
<p>A bright, upbeat melody filled the air, and Van Morrison started to
sing;</p>
<i>
<p>From the dark end of the street<br>
To the bright side of the road<br>
We'll be lovers once again on the<br>
Bright side of the road </p>
<p>Little darlin', come with me<br>
Won't you help me share my load<br>
From the dark end of the street<br>
To the bright side of the road </p>
</i>
<p>Willow and Tara exchanged puzzled looks at first, but as Buffy took
Dawn in her arms and began dancing with abandon over her own grave, they
began to understand. Buffy, in this strange way, was reaffirming her life.
Willow took Tara’s hand, and they joined Buffy and Dawn on the small plot
of land, dancing together.</p>
<p><i>Into this life we're born<br>
Baby sometimes we don't know why<br>
And time seems to go by so fast<br>
In the twinkling of an eye </i></p>
<p><i>Let's enjoy it while we can<br>
Won't you help me sing my song<br>
From the dark end of the street<br>
To the bright side of the road</i></p>
<p>Buffy glanced briefly at her friends, as they enjoyed each other’s company
and closeness. She knew that in a few days Tara would begin her classes
at Berkeley College and Willow would miss her while she was gone. And soon
Buffy would have to start Slaying again. And life, whatever it was in the
Hellmouth, would go on.</p>
<p>But now she had a fuller understanding about her life. About life in
general. Death may have been her gift before, but death, in the end, was
a part of her greater gift. Life was her gift now. She would gladly give
it in protection of her friends if it came to that. But until then, she
intended to share that gift with her friends, and not shut herself off from
them.</p>
<p>Buffy, for the first time in such a long time, was truly alive. And
she intended to stay that way, no matter what the world threw at her.</p>
<p>Buffy lived.</p>
<i>
<p>From the dark end of the street<br>
To the bright side of the road<br>
We'll be lovers once again<br>
On the bright side of the road<br>
We'll be lovers once again on the bright side of the road<br>
</p>
</i><font size="2">
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
</font>
<p>Epilogue;</p>
<p>Places of Origin</p>
<p>By Mad-Hamlet</p>
<font face="Arial" size="2">
<p> </p>
</font>
<p>When she lifted her head up she found she way lying on grass.</p>
<p>"Ooh nooo." She moaned. "Grass stains! They’ll never come out!" </p>
<p>With a sigh Glory pulled herself to a seating position. She began brushing
off what dirt and grime she could but wasn’t having a lot of luck. </p>
<p>"Super strength, speed, toughness…sure but can I get dirt out? Feh,
not a chance." She kept brushing ineffectively at the mud and grass. "This
outfit is a total loss." She moaned. "But hey! That means I can get another.
Yeah, that’s cool."</p>
<p>"Just...as soon as I find a mall." She looked around, only then realizing
she was not alone. </p>
<p>Surrounding her stood three ...people. Sort of. </p>
<p>The one to her left looked like a scarecrow. In fact he was a scarecrow.
Dressed in banged up overalls, a flannel shirt and heavy boots. His hands
were sticks tied together with unraveling twine, and his head...his head
was a pumpkin. He was also smoking a cigar and leering at her. How a pumpkin
would leer remains a mystery but it was a leer. From a pumpkin. Smoking
a cigar. </p>
<p>The one to her right looked far more normal. Other than the white hair,
pale skin, and sunglasses. A black t-shirt was stretched over a well muscled,
but slim, frame. His blue jeans were spotless ending just above the ankle,
revealing the bottoms of black, steel tipped cowboy boots. </p>
<p>His white hair was pulled into a ponytail that hung down to the small
of his back while the sunglasses completely concealed his eyes. He wasn’t
looking at her though, just scuffling the toe of one boot into the earth,
smoking a cigarette.</p>
<p>But it was the one between these two others that commanded her attention.
</p>
<p>He was dressed similar to the white haired one. Gray t-shirt, gray jeans.
Clean, if a little rumbled. However that was where any semblance of normalcy
ended. He had white skin and jet black hair. Jet black, spiky hair that
went every direction. That was fair enough though, it was his eyes that
separated him from the rest, the wheat from the chaff. Old, black eyes stared
down into hers. Perfect obsidian in every way except at their very center
where a small speck of light did shine. </p>
<p>He also possessed a sense of majesty, of time immeasurable about him.
Yes, this was definitely the leader.</p>
<p>‘Suits me.’ Glory thought. ‘Saves me the trouble of tracking this gomer
down before I kill him and take over.’ </p>
<p>"Welcome...Glorificus." The black-eyed man spoke quietly.</p>
<p>"Great, you know my name." Glory said standing up, she brushed her knees
off, examining a run in her left stocking. </p>
<p>"Yes. We do. We did, after all, create you." </p>
<p>"Come again?" Glory cocked an eyebrow. „News-flash bud, I’m a God. A
Hellgod to be precise. Y’know…God. Immortal, undying, eternal. No beginning
no ending. Hello? Any of this mean anything to you bright eyes? And I mean
that in the literal sense." </p>
<p>A small smile graced his lips. "Yes. Yes these are all true as you say,
but I did create you."</p>
<p>"Yeah…sure, whatever. Look, can we get to the killing now? Cause if
I’m gonna take over…y’know...schedules etc. C’mon, chop chop." She tapped
her wrist where most people wore a watch.</p>
<p>The smile vanished. "Killing? Me? You really do not remember?"</p>
<p>"Remember what?" Glory sneered. "Lets see. I recall…that I’m a Hellgod.
I like to kill, torture, punish, burn and…Oh yes, chew with my mouth open."
</p>
<p>The pumpkin spoke. He had a gravelly coarse voice. "Sure we got the
right one boss?" He spit the end of his cigar out.</p>
<p>The black haired man referred to as ’boss’ put a finger to him temple.
"Yes...yes I’m sure, Merv. Still..." He turned his gaze back to Glory.</p>
<p>"You misunderstand." He said calmly. "This is the land of Dreams. The
Dreaming. I am its Lord. This is the place where Gods are born." He paused.
"And where they come to die."</p>
<p>"Die?" Glory’s eyes bulged. "Gods can’t die. It’s part of the job description.
Though I like the part about killing and maiming more." </p>
<p>"Perhaps and perhaps not." Dream replied. "But this is where you are.
You have forgotten your place Glory. I will explain. I created you. Long
ago, you were a Nightmare; then the humans began to believe in you. This
gave you power and I stepped aside allowing you to have your place and time.
It is done now, and you can take back your original calling."</p>
<p>"Huh? What?" Glory looked up from examining her nails. "Do any of you
guys got a press-on kit?" </p>
<p>The white haired man shook his head slightly but said nothing. </p>
<p>"You must remember your duties Glorificus." Dream man said. "You will
need to be retrained. My...assistant here…" And he gestured to the white
haired man. "...Shall instruct you."</p>
<p>"Great!" Glory chuckled. "I’ll kill him first, then you, take over and
have a little fun till I can get back to that SlayBitch!" </p>
<p>So saying she flung herself, hands outstretched at the white haired
man, intent on shoving her fingers into his temples and feasting on his
mind. </p>
<p>Her scream of agony surprised no one there and was swallowed up by the
mists surrounding the small party. Sinking to her knees, Glory pulled the
mangled ruin of her left hand to her breast. Red blood streamed down over
the stubs of two fingers that had been severed, along her forearm to pool
in the dark grass, staining a small, but growing circle, to that of a bright
crimson. </p>
<p>"My...fingers." She sobbed. "He...he bit off my fingers with his eyes!"</p>
<p>The white haired man bent down and retrieved his sunglasses that had
been knocked off in the impromptu scuffle. He smiled at her while brushing
them off, almost white lips pulling back over even whiter teeth. Then he
smiled at her with his eyes. Not like others, he did it literally for he
had no actual eyeballs, but where they were supposed to be, he had teeth.
</p>
<p>He slipped the sunglasses back on and carefully whipped a bloodstain
off his cheek with the back of one hand. </p>
<p>"Yes." Dream said in a neutral tone. "The Corinthian, he is one of my
more...fervent creations." He turned his gaze from the sobbing woman to
the Corinthian. "Train her well, prepare for her duties but do not kill
or cripple her. She is to again be a nightmare, not destroyed. Do you understand?"</p>
<p>The Corinthian gave a flourished bow. "Oh yes, lord of the Dreaming."
Everyone ignored his growled "Ponce." They’d heard it before.</p>
<p>The Corinthian knelt down next to Glory. "Let me see that toots. C’mon,
I won’t hurt you…yet." He pulled the injured limb so he could get a closer
’look’ at it. "Aww…thass nothing babe. You’ll be fine in a jiffy. Still,
I’ll kiss it and make it all better." </p>
<p>Before Glory could react he had smeared his lips bloody with the stumps.
</p>
<p>"Couldn’t help myself." He grinned. "Yer just so tasty!" He licked the
stumps one last time before standing back up.</p>
<p>"But...but I’m a God!" Glory whimpered. </p>
<p>"You were toots." The pumpkin smiled poking in her direction with his
stogie. "Now yer a nightmare, a dream, again. Relax, it’ll be fun, you’ll
get into it."</p>
<p>The Corinthian nudged her with the toe of his right boot. "After yer...
‘trainin’ of course."<br>
He was still smiling.</p>
<p>He stood back up. "Now missy, I like you. You got attitude. You got...gumption…you
got...chutzpah."<br>
<br>
The pumpkin grinned around his cigar. "Chutzpah?"<br>
<br>
The Corinthian ignored him. "So…cause I like ya, and you did give me a feedin’,
I’ll give you ...a ten second head start."</p>
<p>Hiding his face in his hands the Corinthian began to count; "One Mississippi,
two Mississippi..."</p>
<p>Choking down another sob, Glory lurched to her feet, kicked off her
high heels and made a break for the cover of the nearby woods that had not
been there a second ago. </p>
<p>"Corinthian." Dream said quietly, the white haired man didn’t stop counting.
"Make sure she does not, nor you, enter Fiddler’s Green. He does not like
others walking, or running, upon him."</p>
<p>Without interrupting his count the Corinthian nodded. </p>
<p>"...Ten Mississippi! Ready or not here I come!" With a whoop and a leap
he disappeared into the tree line. </p>
<p>Dream watched all this, saying nothing, though Merv had a running commentary
with a stray daydream that had wandered by. </p>
<p>"...give you ten to one odds she doesn’t last five minutes." Dream overheard.</p>
<p>He wouldn’t take that bet.</p>
<p> </p>
<p><font size="2">========</font></p>
<p><font size="2">"Nowadays, anyone with a henna tattoo and a spice rack
thinks they're a sister to the dark ones."<br>
--Willow, "Hush"</font></p>
<br>
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