FIC; Walking the Walk (1/1)

[JDMeans@xxxxxxx]

Hey, gang!  

In honor of Mad-Hamlet's daughter, I present this little number I've been 
working on for a few months. It's set in Mad-Hamlet's Prisms universe, 
specifically an added chapter to his Feather Roads series. Check it out at 
www.fanfiction.net or at the Near Her Always site(www.nearheralways.com).

Disclaimers; 
Large props for the Dean of the University of Musical Perversity, creator of 
the Buffyverse, and next senator from the state of California, Joss Whedon.  
Equal props go out to my homeboy Mad-Hamlet from whose 'Feather Roads' series 
this story emerges. I don't own them, I just enjoy their use.

Archives; 
If you got Feather Roads, go for it.

Rating; 
PG-13. No sex, some snuggles, a little residual angst. Oh, and Dawn cusses.

Spoilers; 
Shadow, Listening to Fear and Into the Woods, but without all that yucky 
Riley Finn stuff. Also spoilers for Mad-Hamlet's Prisms series

Summary; 
When Joyce returns from the hospital, she, Buffy and Willow have a 
heart-to-heart talk. Follow-up to Mad-Hamlet's 'Feather Roads; Talking the 
Talk". Told from Joyce's POV.  


Feather Roads
Walking the Walk
By Kirayoshi

We walk the roads that Fate lays before us. More often than we would like 
that path is strewn with blades and teeth. Shadows with claws that try to gut 
us from within. Most of us struggle forward, over, under, through all these 
obstacles, hoping, even in the face of all evidence, that we'll be stronger 
for it.

On occasion, through mercy, or mayhap the whim of Gods needing entertainment, 
Fate allows the way to be softened. Cool breezes flow over our skin, all the 
living things around seem to be talking to us, and our existence is not only 
possible but also worthwhile. The road is soft and comfortable and we can 
rest as we journey onward, wounds heal, blood stops and strength returns…just 
so we can face the next shadowy terror with a far too wide, sharp grin just 
around the corner.

On occasion we're gifted with Feather Roads. This is theirs.

======== 

"Willow, I can open the car door myself, you don't have to open every door in 
the world for me!"

"Please, Mrs. Summers," she insisted, her eyes darting left and right, 
conspiratorially as she tried to ease me out of my car. "I'm just trying to 
be helpful. I mean, you just got out of the hospital and everything, and 
besides if I let anything happen to you Buffy would be mad at me, which means 
no smoochies later, and I'm overinforming, aren't I?"

I had to smile at her constant babble. Is this the kind of innocent behavior 
that caught Buffy's attention? The more time I spent in her presence, the 
more I understood why my daughter was so in love with her. If I were Buffy's 
age, I might be a little smitten by her myself, and to hell with my sexual 
preference. But her insisting on helping me in and out of my own car, that 
smacked of overkill. I just knew that Buffy put her up to that.  

I hated raising my voice to the girl, I knew she meant well but her constant 
attention was getting on my nerves. For nearly a month, since I was first 
diagnosed with a brain tumor, I've either had a nurse or an orderly at my 
elbow every time I wanted to walk, or else I've been wheeled everywhere, on 
gurneys or wheelchairs. I'm out of the hospital with a more or less clean 
bill of health, I can walk on my own, thank you very much! Even if I have to 
rest a little more often than usual, and wait for my hair to fully grow back 
from the chemotherapy. I'm fine. And, the Good Lord willing, I intend to 
stay that way for a little while.

"I'm okay, Willow," I answer quietly. "You don't have to baby me. I won't 
break on you." I'm not mad at her, really. In fact, I'm eternally grateful. 
Somehow, knowing that she was there for Buffy and Dawn while I was in the 
hospital, knowing that she loved them both and would do anything for them, 
that will always be a comfort to me. 

Dawn. As I thought about her, I knew that I had to talk to Buffy about her.  
I had some questions that needed answers. During my hospital stay I had 
experienced a strange lucidity, even when the tumor was affecting my mind.  
The webs cleared from my head and a bizarre truth unfolded before me. Dawn.  
Who was she? I mean, I loved her, she was my daughter after all. But at the 
same time, she wasn't. I didn't really understand any of this, but I knew 
that Dawn was someone truly important, someone who needed to be protected.  
And I was grateful that Buffy and Willow were there to protect her.

It disturbed me a little that Buffy wasn't at the hospital when I checked 
out, though. I guess she had a late class or something, but as I finally 
made it up the steps and to the front door of my house, it still kind of 
rankled me that she didn't even try to contact me about her plans. I tried 
to understand, of course; she's not the typical college student. But still, 
she could have called, or visited before her class, or-

"SURPRISE!"

A huge computer-printed paper banner reading "WELCOME BACK, JOYCE!" ran along 
the back wall, and a generous deli tray and six assorted two-liter soda 
bottles dominated the coffee table. Rupert, Xander, Anya and Tara stood and 
saluted me with their glasses, Dawn jumped up and wrapped herself around my 
midsection, and Buffy hugged my shoulders and kissed my cheek. "Welcome 
home, Mom," she said joyfully. I glanced back toward Willow, to see her 
grinning hugely.

Okay, I should have seen that one coming. But despite the initial shock, I 
warmed to their good wishes and generosity of spirit, and relaxed enough to 
accept a glass of diet cola, and enjoy the impromptu party.

Eric Clapton and the Kinks played in the background (Dawn must have raided my 
CD collection again to supply the tunes). I had just downed three teriyaki 
meatballs and some nachos, (a marked improvement over hospital fare) when I 
saw them. Buffy was sitting on the sofa with Willow, and my first guess was 
that they were just chatting, lover's talk, that sort of thing.

But there was something in Willow's posture, in the slope of her back and the 
lowering of her head that said otherwise. She wasn't crying, at least yet, 
but from her hooded eyes and pensive frown I sensed an air of melancholy 
about her. And the way Buffy was holding her, the gentle hand on Willow's 
shoulder, those weren't romantic gestures, they were more of a comforting 
nature. I tried to back away, to file what I had seen under the folder 
labeled "None of my business", but my mother's instinct kicked in at that 
point, and wouldn't let this one go. My girls were hurting.

Yes, I said 'girls'. Somehow, although I didn't plan it that way, Willow has 
become like a third daughter to me. Ever since I first interrupted her 
babbling to Buffy about their plans to make love, ever since Buffy and Willow 
first confessed to me that they were a couple, I started to look on Willow 
like an unofficial daughter-in-law. I had to admit, my Buffy had excellent 
taste in women.  

Finally, the last of the Buffalo wings was consumed (like most of them, by 
Xander), and Xander, Rupert, Anya and Tara had filed out, congratulating me 
on surviving my operation and wishing me improved health. Only Buffy, Willow 
and Dawn remained. "Here, Mrs. Summers," Willow offered, "I'll help Buffy 
and Dawn with the dishes."

"No, please," I insisted. I didn't know if they wanted to hear what I had to 
say, but I felt the need to say it. "We can clear everything away later.  
Please, sit for a second, both of you." Buffy and Willow both shrugged their 
shoulders, and took their usual seats on the sofa. Willow instinctively 
sought Buffy's hand in hers, and seemed to be leaning on Buffy's shoulder, 
drawing strength from their contact.  

"Willow," I started, hoping that I wouldn't end up with a mouthful of foot.  
"I want you to know that, well…I'm glad that you're a part of Buffy's life."

"That makes two of us, Mom," Buffy smiled and snuggled up to Willow. Willow 
gave Buffy a sidelong glance, and Buffy added, "Three of us."

"Uh, alright," I tried to regain control of this conversation. "What I'm 
trying to say, Willow, is that you've been a great help to me this last 
month. The other day, Buffy was telling me how you had helped look after 
Dawn while I was in the hospital. And I'm grateful for that. Really."  

Okay, I was stalling. I sensed that this was something personal, but I had 
seen Willow's watery eyes before, and instinctively knew she needed a 
mother-figure at that time. I didn't know her mother Sheila all that well, 
except for that time when we were both being influenced by the Hansel and 
Gretel demon, but from what I did know about the Rosenbergs, they weren't 
what I would call observant parents.

I sometimes wondered if they even remembered that they had daughter.

"I guess what I'm trying to say, Willow," I plunged ahead with my efforts to 
communicate with my unofficial daughter-in-law. "Is that, I saw you and 
Buffy at the party. And I noticed that you seemed to be a little distraught 
about something. If there's anything that you wish to talk to me about, 
well, I'll try to be there for you.

I could feel Dawn flitting around the room, with the faint stirrings of a 
stormcloud of anxiety on her brow. Her eyes were boring holes into the 
coffee table, her brows were deeply furrowed and her hands were flexing and 
unflexing at her sides. I knew that look all too well; she feared that she 
was about to be kicked out of the room.  

And I was afraid that she was right in this circumstance. I wanted to talk 
to Buffy and Willow alone. Whatever was bothering Willow, I guessed that it 
was pretty heavy.

Amazing how my powers of observation have improved since I discovered my 
daughter was the Slayer.

I turned to Dawn and started to ask her to leave, when Willow stopped me.  
"No, Miss Summers," she said, raising her hand to stop Dawn from leaving.  
"Let her stay. I need to unload, and I want you all here."

"Hey," Buffy consoled Willow. "You don't have to say anything…"

Willow silenced her by placing a finger on Buffy's lips. "I want to, honey.  
I've been carrying this thing inside of me, I need to talk to someone about 
it. And you're more my family than anyone else, you, your mom, Dawn." She 
stopped briefly to collect herself again, and Buffy just sat beside her, 
silently comforting her by her mere presence.

"Any time you're ready," I said softly to her. "I'm here for you."

Willow turned slowly to face Buffy again. She swallowed hard, and Buffy 
patted her hand. "It's okay, babe." Buffy looked at me, and said, "It's a 
long story, Mom."

Willow interrupted blandly; "I was raped."  

I heard Dawn fall to the floor as her legs gave out beneath her. Then, there 
was nothing but silence, and the lingering memory of Willow's words. The 
words hung over our heads, echoing in our ears. Somehow, the silence in the 
room seemed magnified, and I was afraid to break it. For ten full seconds, 
there was literally no sound in the living room.

Buffy finally broke the silence, quietly admitting, "Apparently not that 
long." Leave it to my daughter, the Vampire Slayer, to punctuate the 
sentence 'I was raped' with a lame joke. And if Willow's knowing grimace was 
any indication, one that she had heard before.

"I'm sorry," Willow said hurriedly. "I just had to say it fast, or I'd lose 
my nerve." Her voice was heavy with emotion, her hands were trembling, and 
her eyes were shining with unshed tears.

The sight of her in such a state broke the fugue her admission had caused in 
me. I leaned toward her and took her hand in mine. "No, dear," I assured 
her, willing my voice to calm, my nerves to settle, "I understand perfectly.  
It's just that…" I clenched my teeth, biting off my words. A partof me 
grew angry at the word 'rape'. If there's an uglier word in the dictionary, 
I can't think of it. To think that someone would commit such a crime against 
this young woman, this sweet innocent whom my daughter loved…

When Angelus terrified my daughter and tried to kill me, I felt no desire to 
kill.
When Faith tried to destroy Buffy's life and steal her body, I was able to 
contain any desires for revenge.

But seeing Willow, one of my girls, and hearing her say that she was raped…

For the first time, I wanted to kill. It was a disquieting sensation, rather 
numbing actually, to discover that you were capable of wanting someone dead.

I guess I'm not as good at hiding my emotions as Buffy was. Must be a Slayer 
thing. Willow suddenly looked at me, and shook her head violently. "No, 
Mrs. Summers," she half-cried, half-whispered. "I'm not angry at them, not 
any more. I mean, sure it was scary, and I'll probably have nightmares about 
it for the rest of my life, but I'm dealing with what happened. And, while 
it was the worst day of my life, in a wonky kinda way it was one of the best 
days of my life as well."

Willow spoke to me in a slow and measured tone, drawing courage from Buffy's 
love and support. "It was one year ago today, Mrs. Summers. Uh, you know 
about me being a wiccan, right?" I nodded, and she smiled. She and Buffy 
had explained about her being a witch shortly after they came out of the 
closet. That and I recall that incident with Hank and Greta, the 'children' 
who turned out to be a demon's disguise. "Well, I was attending a wicca 
group, and it was pretty incredible. We were performing a ritual of truth, 
where we hoped to learn a hidden truth about ourselves, something that would 
guide us through the future.

"When it was my turn, well, I did the chant, lit the candles, summoned the 
Goddess, all that, and when I began to meditate, the first thing I saw was 
Buffy." She absently picked up her glass and took a swig of diet cola. "I 
had always cared for Buffy, Miss Summers, maybe even crushed on her a little, 
but I never really thought of us as being all coupley, y'know? But in my 
vision, I saw her. I mean really, the whole package. As my friend, my hero, 
the Slayer…I saw all that she went through since we first met. Allthe 
heartaches. What Angelus did to her, how Faith betrayed her, all the badness 
she faced every night... I saw it all, and it didn't make me want to run for 
the hills. I saw her, I saw myself, I saw us... and I realized that she was 
the one I loved. That was my Truth. And it didn't even matter if she didn't 
want me in the same way, I knew that I had to tell her. That night, the 
minute I got back to the dorm. Just to let her know."

As Willow spoke, she leaned in even closer to Buffy, molding her body to fit 
seamlessly against my daughter's. Perhaps for the first time I was struck by 
the way they simply seemed more at ease when they were together. I never 
realized before now just how Willow and Buffy seemed to fit together, like a 
jigsaw puzzle with only two pieces.  

They belonged together. There was no other way to say it.  

I felt Dawn behind me, leaning forward on my shoulder as Buffy and Willow 
told their tale. "Anyway," Willow continued, "once the wicca meeting ended, 
I decided to head back to the dorm, and tell Buffy my Truth. I was ready for 
it, I knew it was right. I was so excited, so lost in what I was going to 
tell Buffy, that--" I could see her clenching the hand that wasn't holding 
Buffy's into a tight ball of a fist. "There were two of them. Two tough 
guys. I figured they were just gonna harass me and leave. Didn't matter to 
me; I had my Truth, that was all that I needed. I tried to push them aside, 
and after a while, they just backed off. I figured they were gone, so I 
didn't give them a second thought." Her voice sounded more ragged as she 
recounted the events. "Then…I felt their hands on my shoulders, asthey 
grabbed me, dragged me behind a nearby house… one got behind me, while the 
other pushed me backwards, towards his partner. They started pawing me with 
these big hands…one of them started to pull at his belt…" She squeezed her 
eyes shut and trembled fiercely. Buffy immediately took her in her arms, 
brushed away a stray lock of red hair and whispered assurances into her ear.  
"All I could feel was their hands…"

I sat by, wanting to comfort this fragile-looking girl before me, and not 
knowing what to say. Willow finally gulped hard and nodded ruefully. "You 
don't need to know the technical details, do you, Mrs. Summers?"

"No, no," I answered hurriedly. "You just tell me what you're comfortable 
telling me. And call me Joyce."

"Thanks, Mi--Joyce." Willow blinked rapidly for a second, squeezing out the 
tears. "I'm okay now, I just had a slight panic attack there."

"It's okay, babe," Buffy smiled warmly at Willow. She then turned to me, 
adding, "This is pretty much where I came in anyway. I was kicking back in 
the dorm, taking some 'Am I a Considerate Girlfriend' quiz in Cosmo, when she 
walked in. I hadn't been paying attention, just waved a hello at her as she 
said she was gonna take a shower. Then I noticed that she left her clothes 
on the floor. Just dropped them."

"So?" Dawn piped in. "You do that all the time."

Buffy scowled at her sister. "Right, Dawn. I do that. Me. Not Willow, the 
neat-freak. I'm Oscar, she's Felix. So when she just left her dress on the 
floor, I decided to put it away for her." She stopped speaking at that 
point, swallowing hard and letting a pregnant pause fill the room. "The 
moment I picked up the dress, I saw the rips and tears in the fabric…then the 
smell hit me. Cigarette smoke, sweat…and " Now it was Willow's turn to 
reach out and offer my older daughter a comforting arm around her shoulder.  
But the tension was still clear in the lines on Buffy's face, and the 
tightness in her arms. "It was the worst moment of my life, Mom. I mean, 
it's my job to fight evil, right? To keep my friends safe from monsters.  
And here's my best friend, dammit, and the monsters got to her. I was 
reading effing Cosmo and the monsters got to her!"

"No, Buffy," Willow had to raise her voice to be heard above Buffy's 
emotional outburst. "They weren't monsters, they were just evil men. You're 
just the Slayer. You're supposed to fight vampires and demons, not rapists.  
You had no idea what was gonna happen that night. None of us did. It just 
happened. We can't change that, no matter how much we want to."

"I know, Willow," Buffy answered quietly, her head leaning on Willow's 
offered shoulder. "It just felt like I was hit by a freight train, thinking 
about what happened to you, seeing you in the shower, all those bruises--"

"Not to mention my walking bowlegged," Willow chuckled mirthlessly. Buffy 
suddenly winced, and Willow started to caress the back of Buffy's hand with 
her forefinger. "It happened, Buffy. It's in the past. I'm just glad that 
things turned out the way they did after." Turning back to me, Willow picked 
up the narrative. "Spike smelled me out, smelled my shame he said, after it 
happened. He told Giles, Giles told Xander, then they all met me at the 
dorm. Giles recruited Spike to play bloodhound and track down the rapists.  
And we all went with him, to pay them back."  

I listened intently to Willow's words, weighing each one in my mind to fully 
understand what she was saying, before I could ask her what had happened.  
"Are you saying that you--you killed the rapists?" I almost didn't want to 
hear the answer.

Buffy lowered her head, unable to look me in the eye. I could hear Dawn's 
breathing hitch in her throat. Finally Buffy raised her head and spoke.  
"No, Mom. No, I didn't. But it wasn't because I didn't want to. I almost 
did kill them. Giles, Xander and I wanted them to die, slow and painful, for 
what they did to Willow. I ain't proud of it, but that's how I felt."

"I can only imagine," I admitted slowly. "None of us are perfect, Buffy.  
Just hearing about this a year later, I'm finding myself suppressing a desire 
to see these punks dead. I'm just grateful that you didn't follow through on 
that desire."

"Don't credit me for that, Mom," Buffy answered, patting Willow on the knee.  
"It was Willow who saved me. She saved me from myself."

"Hey," Willow dimpled slightly under Buffy's praise. "You saved me so many 
times, it's nice to return the favor." She sighed briefly, and continued; "I 
didn't think anything could be worse than what those punks did to me, Joyce, 
but I was wrong. What they had done to my friends, that was worse. After 
all we been through, after fighting off demons, vampires, the Mayor turning 
into a giant dragon and still holding on to who and what we are, we were 
being torn apart by two creeps who simply didn't have a conscience. They 
raped me, they took something from me I can never get back, I'd be damned if 
I let them destroy my family!" She drank a sip of cola, and looked lovingly 
at Buffy. "I only had one weapon left, so I used it. I told Buffy my 
Truth."

I could see the trace of a tear on Buffy's cheek. "That's what saved me, 
Mom. She just told me that she loved me. No elaboration, just 'I love you, 
Buffy.' And I realized that she did, in every way that one person could love 
another. And that's what saved me, from myself, from my rage, from falling 
to the proverbial Dark Side. From becoming another Faith, really. I mean, 
how could I deserve to be loved by Willow and still be able to kill a living 
human being? She saved me, just by loving me. For the first time, really,I 
started to realize what she meant to me. I had always loved her, Mom. I 
just didn't know it until then. Xander and Giles, they saw us, realized what 
was happening to us, I guess the desire to kill just left us."

"Except Spike, of course," Willow commented. "I don't know if he wanted to 
see justice against my rapists, or just wanted to see someone get killed.  
Anyway, leave it to him to ruin a good romantic admission. He had some of 
his vampire buddies waiting, and when he realized that we weren't gonna give 
him his entertainment, he had his buddies turn the punks."

"So," Buffy added, "I guess I got to kill them after all. Except that they 
were already dead, just vampires."

"So," Dawn commented behind me, "those shits got what they deserved."

"DAWN!" I shouted suddenly, whirling around toward her. "I never want to hear 
you use that word again!"

"What?" Dawn protested. "There's a nice way to talk about them? After what 
they did to Willow, we're supposed to be polite to them?"

"Yes, Dawn," Buffy raised her voice to silence her sister's tirade. "Because 
we're better than they are. That's what I almost forgot one year ago 
tonight. Thank God I had Willow to remind me." She snuggled up to Willow ag
ain, and Willow started to blush slightly. "Even if they deserved death, 
it's not our place to give them that death. Just because I'm the Slayer, 
that doesn't put me above everyone else. I'm not a vigilante, I don't have 
the right to play Punisher every time someone commits a crime. If we had 
killed the rapists, it would have changed who we are. It would have 
destroyed us."  

I glanced again at Dawn, who folded her hands in her lap and lowered her head 
in a show of contrition. So often she would talk first, then consider what 
she said. So much like Buffy when she was fifteen. No matter how she came 
into this world, I no longer doubted that Dawn Summers was my daughter. "I 
guess you're right, Buffy," she conceded in a quiet voice. "I'm still gonna 
hate them for what they did to Willow, though."

"That's okay, honey," I nodded. "I won't exactly lose sleep over their fates 
myself. But I'm still glad that you didn't actually kill Willow's attackers, 
Buffy. I didn't want to see you turn out like Faith."

"Don't think that would have happened, Mom," Buffy's eyebrows rose at the 
mention of her dark twin. "When she killed Allen Finch, she didn't even care 
about it. If we'd killed the others, I don't want to know how we'd have 
reacted."

"That doesn't matter now, Buffy," Willow assured her in warm tones. "What 
matters is that the Truth was out. And no matter what happened after that 
night, I would never lose her. I would never let her go."

"And you didn't," Buffy turned to Willow, her eyes watery and wanting. "Not 
even when I wanted to let go. You wouldn't let me. You reminded me of whoI 
was. You saved me that night, Willow, and every night after that." She 
lifted Willow's hand to her lips and kissed her knuckle. Willow's face 
turned pure scarlet, and a goofy grin spread across her face.

"EWW!" Dawn mock-complained, throwing popcorn at the young lovers. "Way to 
much gay kissage going on here!"

"Get used to it, squirt," Buffy fired an amused glare at Dawn. "I'm not 
hiding the truth anymore."

"Darn tootin'!" Willow added, chuckling as she wrapped her arms around 
Buffy's shoulders and kissed her cheek. The moment was almost perfect, andI 
regretted that I didn't have my camera with me; I would have given anything 
for a photograph of my older girls in such an open and casual display of 
affection.

A rough knock at the door shattered that perfect moment, and Buffy 
reluctantly disentangled herself from Willow's embrace. "No, dear," I 
assured her, rising from my seat, "I'll get it." I made my way to the front 
door, and opened it to find Spike's face glaring at me. "Evening, Mrs. S," 
he muttered as he barged past me. "Buffy, we got a situation."

"Spike," Buffy groaned, "you have five seconds to convince me not to stake 
you right now."

"Well, for a start," Spike spoke casually, "you'd have to man the vacuum if 
you got vamp dust all over your mom's carpet. Besides, this ain't a social 
call. Riley, that soldier boy from last year? Hooked up with you guys when 
ADAM attacked?"

"Yeah, I know him," Buffy said guardedly. I didn't know anyone named Riley, 
and heard Buffy mention the name once in passing before. Obviously not a man 
to make much of an impression.

"Well," Spike continued, "I spoke to Willy earlier this evening and it seems 
he's been out hunting vamps, and seems to have gotten in a bit over his head. 
He's on the run from some vamps right now."

Buffy and Willow turned toward each other, pained expressions marring their 
faces. "Man," Buffy quipped, "even if I wasn't already gay, he'd be enough 
to make me swear off men." Heading upstairs, Buffy called down, "I'm gonna 
grab my gear and go save Riley."

"I'm coming with," Willow answered as she headed up after Buffy.

"Good enough," Buffy agreed. "You think that if we pounded the tar out of 
him he'd learn to leave the vampire slaying to the experts?"

"Doubt it."

As my daughter and her beloved marched off, following Spike into the 
uncertain night, I leaned against the doorframe and watched them go. Off 
again, to save more lives and fight the evil that lurks out there in the 
darkness.  

Until tonight, I didn't know how deeply that evil had touched my girls. No 
matter how much time passed, how many pleasant memories they created 
together, what Willow lived through one year ago this night would be a part 
of her forever. Which was not necessarily a bad thing. After all, if she 
hadn't had the courage to reveal her Truth, she and Buffy would still be 
alone, waiting for true love to show them the way.

Buffy had found her love in a shy computer genius and practicing witch, and 
that fact alone lifted a great burden from my heart. Knowing that she would 
be loved, no matter what happened to me in the future, that made all the 
difference to me.  

I stepped back inside and closed the door behind me. "C'mon, Dawn," I said 
as I started collecting paper plates. "Let's get this place picked up."

========

One year later.

Buffy stands over the grave, as Willow stoops down to place a single white 
rose on top of the stone. "Hey, Mom," she whispered as Willow stands up and 
links her arm with Buffy's. "It's been a while, huh? I guess I have an 
excuse, busy being dead and all. Willow went and saved me again. Gave me a 
second chance."

"Hey," Willow adds, addressing the tombstone. "If anyone deserves a second 
chance, it's Buffy." I couldn't have agreed more.

"Yeah," Buffy answers, choking back a silent sob. "It was two years ago, 
Mom, when Willow saved me, with her Truth. I'm not sure what's gonna happen 
next," I hear Buffy say, "but as long as I got Willow, I know I can face it." 
She bends down, kissing her fingers, then touches the stone. "I love you, 
Mom."  

The two lovers turn slowly, giving one last look at the grave as they walk 
away. Buffy is leaning on Willow's shoulder, and Willow accepts the burden 
without complaint. Despite the surroundings of the graveyard, Willow's smile 
is wide and bright. The smile of one who is reunited with her true love. I 
watch unseen as Buffy and Willow walk away from the grave. They don't know 
I'm there, they probably never will. But I am, and always will be.

And as long as the fates will let me, I'll be there to look after my girls.  

All three of them.