TITLE : SOLITUDE
PART : 3
AUTHOR : Catherine
EMAIL : catzen20@aol.com
DISCLAIMER : The characters are the property of Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, Sandollar Productions, Kuzui Enterprises, 20th Century Fox Television, the WB Television Network, and whoever else may have a hold on them. I do not mean to infringe upon any copyrights.

Days passed, and Buffy did her best to handle everything. She was surprised and proud of herself to realize that she managed to succeed at everything; college and slayage both. That wasn't easy, but she managed to do it. Even if she felt a little satisfaction at that, she wasn't really happy, though; she felt herself missing…him. She missed Willow and Xander too, but was glad for them. They were happy, and, as their best friend, she was happy for them, but for herself…it was another story. When she was laid in her bed, after her patrol and her research at the Library, when her mind wasn't focusing on something, but was totally free, all her thoughts went to an only person. She thought about him always in fact, but here, in these moments, in her bed, it was stronger than the rest of the day. Not to mention her dreams…

Even in her state of sadness and missing him--which she hid successfully from Willow while they shared their class--she found very funny to see Willow as she tried in vain to find who was that mystery student who had almost, nearly every time, a better grade than she did herself. Willow saw Buffy grin when she was involved in her 'research,' but with a glare from her resolve face, Buffy only nodded and used her expression to say firmly, "You're right. I'm with you." But Willow wasn't really convinced about her sincerity…

When Buffy wasn't in class or patrol, she spent her time at the library for her studies and her research about demons.

During one of her patrols, she fell on a demon that she hadn't ever seen before. *Not a usual demon,* she thought, and to her reflection she added *Wait, since when demons are totally usual…* Then she shrugged; after all she lived on a place where supernatural was customary; in fact, the contrary was unusual.

She approached the demon to fight him, but quickly realized that she was going to lose the fight. The demon was stronger than her. But what was really terrifying her, was the fact that her blows didn't seem to affect him.

Fortunately, and paradoxically, some vampires came, and she used them as a diversion to escape from the demon. She reached her dorm room quickly. When she closed the door, she took a deep breath of relief.

"Buffy?" asked a sleepy Willow, "Everything's alright?" Her concern was audible.

"Will!" Buffy was surprised to find her here, "Yes, don't worry. It's just…I thought you were with Oz tonight." She tried to change the subject; she didn't want to talk about her earlier 'meeting' with that demon. *I really need to do some research about that.*

"Yes, I was," yawned Willow, "but I was so tired…You're sure, everything is fine, right?" She asked again. "I mean you would tell me if there was something-"

"Yes, Will." Buffy cut her off, "So, now stop worrying about me and go back to sleep. Apparently you need it, and so do I."

"Okay," that was all Willow needed to go back to sleep. She hadn't any reason to not believe Buffy.

Hearing her soft sleeping, Buffy smiled lightly with relief. It wasn't like she didn't want to talk with her, but there were too many things to explain now, and Buffy wasn't sure how to begin or even if she wanted to explain them, at least now. And then, with that new demon in town, she needed to concentrate on that new problem, alone. She didn't want her friends involved in that, seeing how that demon seemed so strong and, well, in a way, invulnerable. That had frightened Buffy. She needed to be sure they were safe--as safe as they could be on a Hellmouth.

With that she went to her bed to try to have some rest.

After a good night, Willow and Buffy rejoined Oz for their class, where they got back their last homework from their psychology class. As usual, Willow groaned when she heard that the mysterious student had once again received a better grade than she did; a thing that amused Buffy.

"You find it funny, don't you?" Willow glanced at her.

"A little, Will." Buffy winked to her. "Why are you so curious about it? I don't think that will change anything, and if that student wants to keep-"

"Buffy," Willow cut her off, "because, it will be only fair to know his or her identity. The better you know your enemy, the better you can defeat him." Willow said with conviction, "If someone knows that, it's us." She nodded fiercely.

"Enemy?" Buffy shook her head. So did Oz, though less lightly than Buffy.

"Yep," then she looking to her watch, "Oops, We should go, or we will late; Oz and I-"

Buffy raised her hand, "No need to explain," she smiled, and finished by a "So, go!" Buffy grinned, as she saw their friends went away hand in hand.

Once alone, she sighed lightly, and wished she could say the same about her and…
She shook her head to clear her mind, *Don't go there. And I have some research to do.* With that, she went to the library.

AT THE LIBRARY
Buffy had been researching for a while now, switching between the books and Internet with no real success. She thought about taking a break when her attention was caught by a familiar figure, "That's it!" she exclaimed, loud enough that the other people in the room threw her a not very amicable glare. "Excuse-me," she said shyly. She returned her attention to the book, saying to herself, "I got you." She was satisfied by her discovery and undertook to read what she had found. It was a Pokara demon, rare, powerful--*What a surprise!*-- protected by an invisible barrier, *That explains a lot,* she thought; a barrier which could be erased thanks to a spell. A spell, which unfortunately could be only found in one book--The Pokara's Demonology--and which was written in an old language…"Etruscan." Buffy whispered. *Lucky me, I have some basis in that language. Who said curiosity was a nasty default…* she laughed softly. *And as for that book, there is only one place where it can be.* She smiled weakly, then made the decision to go there the next morning.

********************************************

Buffy felt very nervous at the idea of seeing him. She wondered how he would react and if he would propose to help her with the demon. She hoped he could.

She was near his flat when she saw him go out. He wore only a tee shirt and a pair of shorts. *Wow!* was her only thought, seeing him prepare to jog. *Very very nice, I know that he is handsome but…here, and his legs. Big wow!* She was dreaming and was a little disappointed that she hadn't be able to see him longer.

Shaking her head, she focused on her purpose, the book. With Giles out, her plan could be modified. She saw here the opportunity to take the book without asking him.

She used her key that he had given her some time ago; when she entered his flat, though, she couldn't help but to be sad. She missed him so terribly, that it was awful. She didn't notice the tears that flowed on her cheeks; mechanically she wiped them away with her hands. It was a thing that she'd done a lot lately.

She went upstairs to look at his books, and Giles being Giles, she found very it quickly under the letter P.

She grinned at that, and smiled when she realized that even that didn't bother her.

Before she left the flat, she took a last look at that place, his place, where she felt secure and whole.

Then she turned and went back to the library; she had a lot to do.

Upon his return from his jogging, when he entered in his flat, Giles smelt a special and particular odour of vanilla. "Vanilla?" he whispered.

"Buffy!" he exclaimed happily. He looked around his flat, almost hoping she was there. Then, he faced the facts that there was nobody in it, especially Buffy.

He shook his head, "No, that's impossible. She hasn't come here for a long time. Why would she come? My imagination is playing with my mind. You're dreaming old man," he said sadly to himself, before going to upstairs to take a shower.

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