FIC: The Longest Night Pt 2/5

[jeepy91@xxxxxxx]

Ok gang, here's part 2.  I'll try and get part 3 typed up and out by tommorrow night and try and get the rest written by the weekend :)

I hope your enjoying it :)

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Author: Casandra
Email: rozwellrulz@xxxxxxx
Disclaimer: I of course own nothing here. It all belongs to that evil naughty mastermind Joss and company.  Also the basic theme idea credit should go to Charles Dickens for writing ‘A Christmas Carol’ 
Rating: PG-13 for a tiny brief mention of sex
Warning: If the idea of two consenting adult woman in a romantic relationship doesn’t sit well with you, well then you better avert your eyes from this fic.
Pairing: Buffy/Willow.  Well at least eventually, it might take mea little while to get there.
Spoilers: Anything is kinda open fare here, but  a part particularly pertains to ‘Lie To Me’.  Also stuff that happened in ‘The Gift’ is kinda prevalent in parts of the fic.
Distribution: Sure be my guest and take it.  But please drop me a note and let me know where I can find it.
Feedback:  What can I say, I really enjoy it when someone respondsto my writing.  Doesn’t matter if it’s praise or criticism, anything is appreciated.
Summary: Well I’m attempting to spin ‘A Christmas Carol’ into a Buffy/Willow fic.  Buffy is haunted by the ghosts of Christmas’ past, present and future. Told basically from Buffy’s POV
Author’s Note: Well I wanted to try and write a holiday fic andbrighten up my spirits since Buffy has been so dark this season.  AndI’m having a bit of trouble writing post mortem Buffy, so please bear with me. Anyway, I’m not even explaining myself very well so I might as well just get on with the fic

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I blink a few times trying to grasp my mind around what’s happening before me in my living room.  As the Slayer I’ve seen so many strange and unusual things in my time, I didn’t think anythingcould surprise me anymore.  I guess I was wrong.  Here Ford is, dead Ford, standing in my living room looking like he just stepped into therole of Jacob Marley.  Wait a second, no way, uh-uh, no way!  There is no way this happening, this is way too strange, even for me!

“Hey Buffy�  Ford smiles a bit and waves a bony hand in my direction.

“Ok, this isn’t happening.  I’m imagining things, or I’m dreaming.  It’s a freaking novel for God’s sake!�  I think I must be turning an alarming shade of red, because it suddenly feels very warm in here despite the chill that the mist around Ford carries.

“So I see you’ve already figured it out then.  That a girl Buffy, you always were quick on the uptake,�  He slowly moves closer to me, his chains rattling with each step.  He walks past me and sits down in the chair that I had just shot out of moments before, then motions for me to take a seat on the sofa.  “I know things have been difficult for you these past few months.  And I also know you feel lost and consumed by despair.  The powers that be are worried that their Chosen One has given up, and that is simply unacceptable to them.  There are great things in store for you Buffy, but if you continue in the path you’re traveling now you’ll never fully realize the potential.  So this is their way of trying to help you with your problem.�

“Wait a minute Ford, first of all, why did they send you?�  I actually asked the question just  to keep my mind from zoning out.  I kind of already knew the answer, after all, Mickey’s Christmas Carol always was my favorite holiday cartoon.

“I wear these chains and tattered clothes as a way to repent for the sins I committed while on the mortal plane.  Apparently this is my second chance to make right what I did to you while I was alive,� A guilty _expression_ crossed his ashen features, and for the first time since the incident with Ford, I actually thought he felt bad about what he had done.

“Ok, I get that, but what exactly is going to happen?  Howare they going to help me?� Ok, I pretty much knew the answer to that one too.

“Oh, come on Buffy, you know exactly what’s going on.  But if I must explain it to you than so be it.  Tonight you will be taken on a journey throughout time.  You will be show glimpses, images, of Christmas’ past, present and future.  Your guides,� he stopped at the dubious _expression_ I knew was crossing my face.

“Guides?  You mean ghosts don’t you?�  My voice was as sarcastic as I ever remember it being.  But Ford just cast me an easy smile and continued.

“No, they aren’t exactly ghosts Buffy.  Your guides will have familiar faces to make the journey less unsettling.  If you must, think of them more as a guiding spirit, easing you through the images that you will be shown.  This journey is to show you what once was,what is now, and what still could be, if you don’t change the way you have been living these last few months.  A word of warning Buffy, the spirit guide of Christmas yet to come will not wear the face of someoneyou trust. Christmas’ yet to be are the most unsettling of them all.  Prepare yourself , you may not like what you see�  With that last cryptic word he stood up and moved to leave, chains trailing behind him and noisily rattling across the floor.  “Expect the first spirit guide at 1 o’clock .  That shouldn’t be aproblem, I know you’re such a night owl�  He chuckleda bit at his bad sense of humor and then moved to leave again.

“Wait a sec, you’ve got to be kidding me!  This isreal life, not some Charles Dickens novel.  A Christmas Carol was a story for God’s sake!�  Even though I knew what was happening, and somehow I could believe what was happening,  I still wanted to know how it was happening.  Ford turned back around and cast me adisbelieving look.

“Buffy, fairytale creatures have come to life and you’ve fought them on more than one occasion.  Why is it so hard to believe that a story from a novel could be real?  Besides, who said Charles Dickens wrote fiction anyway?�  And with that he was gone.  I think I must have stood there for a good minute with my jaw hanging wide open before I realized I was alone again.  I quickly ran back and curled up into the chair I had spent the better part of the night in and wrapped the green blanket I had been using tightly around me.  I loved this blanket, it was Willow’s, and it always smelled like the sweet scented vanilla perfume that she wore.  I grasped my mug of hot chocolate again and took a long sip before settling into the chair and waiting for the clock to strike one. 

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I didn’t fall asleep, so when the digital clock clicked over to1am my eyes were boring a hole straight through it.  Just as Ford promised, as soon as the clock clicked over a warm breeze flowed into the room.  As I was scanning the living room for my first ‘guide’ I felt a gentle hand on my shoulder.  I spun around in the chair and stared up at the face the spirit guide wore.

“Angel?�

“Not really little one, I just wear his face.  The powers thought no one better to guide you through the visions of your past than someone who was a significant part of it.  But remember child, I am not him, I only resemble his features.  Now my dear, are you ready to begin your journey?�  He smiled gently down at me as he offered his hand out.

“I guess so.  Where exactly are we going?�  Iwas curious to what the powers that be had in store.  I took his offered hand as he started to lead me out of the living room.  If I had any doubts that this man wasn’t Angel they were gone the second I putmy palm in his. His grasp was startlingly warm.

“Not very far child, you’ll see, come along,�  he ushered me out the front door and when I stepped onto the porch I was suddenly standing in my old home in Los Angeles.  The spirit pulledme farther into the house until we came upon the living room.  There in the far corner stood the most magnificent Christmas tree I had ever seen.  It was covered in tinsel and silver balls, the lights sparkling from it creating an almost halo around the entire room. 

My eyes shifted to below the tree where a young girl, not more than 5, sat  wading through the presents.  A little blonde girl that looked suspiciously like me.

“Mom come on, you always let me open at least one present on Christmas Eve!�  A little blonde girl that didn’t just look like me, but sounded exactly like me.  I followed the girl’s gaze and felt my breath hitch when I caught sight of who she was pleading to.

“Mom?�  I hadn’t seen her in so long, the tears immediately welled up in my eyes.

“Yes, little one, your mother.  Do you remember this?�  His voice was so gentle with me as I tried to wrap my mind around the memory playing itself out before us.

“Yeah, I do.  It was when I was four, that was the year Dad got stuck in Colorado on business.  He got snowed in on Christmas Eve and didn’t make it home until the day after Christmas� I still felt a pang of resentment at my father for even going away on a business trip that close to Christmas, even if it wasn’t his fault he got snowed in.  “It was actually kind of nice just Mom and me though.�  I turned my attention back to the scene in front of me when I heard my mother’s gentle voice.

“Buffy, don’t you want to wait for your father?  I’m sure he’ll be home any minute now�

“Do we have to? Can’t I open just one now?� Huh, I never realized how whiny I was at that age.  Mom really did have her hands full.

“Come on Buffy, I’ll read you a story until your Dad gets home, how’s that?�  Mom was trying her darndest to compromise with me.

“Ok, but only if it’s ‘A Night Before Christmas’�  The younger me finally relented and climbed up onto Mom’s lap as she grabbed a book from beside the chair.

“Of course Buffy, I know it’s your favorite�  I watched as Mom started relating the story of St. Nick and the prancing and pawing of each little hoof.  I felt the tears course down my cheeks as I watched the memory that I had cherished all these years relived before my very eyes.  I didn’t want to ever leave this place, itfelt safe, I felt safe, for the first time in months.

“Come along child, there is something else you must see.  And my time here is quickly coming to a close�  The spirit gently guided me back out through the foyer and out the front door.  As he ushered me away my eyes never left the scene that had just played out in front of me. Before I realized what was happening though I was standing back on the front porch of my house, my house in Sunnydale.  

“I thought you had something else to show me, why are we back at my house?â€?  Just as the question escaped my mouth I heard a loud burst of laughter erupt from inside.  Curious as to which Christmas I had stepped into this time,  I slowly turned the knob of  the front door and moved inside.  The foyer was covered in garland, reaching up along the staircase and hanging from the eves.  I followed thesound of laughter into the living room.  As soon as I caught sight ofthe tree in the middle of the room  and the people surrounding it I knew instantly where I had been taken.  “I remember this, it was right before you………..I mean right before Angel tu