Title: "Journeys End In Lovers Meeting" (8/8)
Author: Della
Disclaimer: None of the Buffy The Vampire Slayer characters are mine... They belong to Joss Wheddon and UPN and WB and any others that have a rightful claim to them and the programme... No infringement was ever intended with this fanfiction...
Feedback: Yes please... *Constructive* flames keep the fire burning, but the good stuff keeps it alive...
Author's Notes: Well, here it is, the end of, well I thought, a
lovely journey. I really hope I have not done any one of you a disservice with
the ending.. Feel free to let me know if I have, because it is one of my own pet
hates. Reading a story that I have enjoyed, only to find myself disappointed at
the end. I would just like to say that the feedback that I have received from
each one of you has been one of the loveliest experiences I have had, and I want
to thank you for it... And Nikki, my dear sweet friend, you made this story far
better than it was by your wonderful Beta-ing.. I don't know where my writing
would be without you... Thank you...
Giles simply blinked up with surprise at her, all rational thought evaporating the more he looked. He reached out and tentatively touched Buffy's leg. "Oh God," he whispered, "you *are* here."
"Well I hope so," Buffy breezily replied, "unless I've died again and this is my heaven."
Giles physically balked at such a suggesting and again fought the tears that rose in him.
"Oh God, sorry, Giles" Buffy immediately apologised and sat next to him. "I'm sorry."
Giles blinked back and swallowed all the emotions that were running rampant. Grief, pain, surprise, shock and the strongest, his love for her, and whispered in reply, "It's quite all right, Buffy, I'm... I'm simply trying to understand how you can be here in the first place."
Buffy giggled at that and said, "Well, gee, Giles, they have this brilliant invention that's called an "aeroplane". It can get you from one continent to another, usually within a day. It's really neat and you should try it sometime." She stopped there and as the breezy suggestion actually took hold, she eventually whispered, "You know, so that you can come back to Sunnydale?"
Despite the obvious seriousness that Buffy had asked with the last question, it was too soon for him to ponder, so he decided to go for a lighter tone and said, "Have you been speaking to my father?"
"Only a little bit," Buffy softly admitted, and just as softly added, "I... I wanted to see you more than him."
"Has something happened to... to Willow?" he suddenly asked, unable to keep the fear he felt out of his voice, "Or... Or Xander?"
"No," Buffy denied and to quickly re-assure him she added, "No, Willow's here with me. She's keeping your dad entertained, or it might be the other way round. Not sure about that. And Xander's back in Sunnydale, with Spike, keeping an eye on the Hellmouth while I'm here... to... to see you...Oh," She suddenly exclaimed, "Xander says "Hi" and also that he wishes he could be here too. Well, his actual words were, 'anywhere but here would be a better place, even if that place *was* in 'Merry Old England'."
Giles actually chuckled at that and said, "Same old Xander... and I see," he added, "that you've been taking lessons from Willow on how to perform the perfect babble."
Buffy giggled and with a shrug she admitted, "Yeah right," but added, "He misses you, you know... Xander... So does Willow and... and so do I."
"And I miss all of you too," Giles softly whispered.
"So, you gonna come back then?" Buffy asked with hope.
Giles stood, stuffed his hands in his trouser pockets and turned away from her. He looked over the lake again, willing his heart to keep beating, as he said, "I can't Buffy. As much as I would love to see you all there, I can't... and," he added, "there is a very good, fundamental reason why I can't and I'm afraid to say that nothing you could possibly say or do would change my mind."
Buffy blinked the tears from her eyes, ignoring one or two that fell. Of all the things that he had made possible for her to have, this, him coming back, was the *only* thing she really wanted. She couldn't put into words how much she missed him or how much she wanted him there with her, not only as a Watcher, but as her lover too. Her body ached for it with such intensity that it felt like a physical pain inside her and she knew that it would grow, because there was only one man that could ease it for her, but he was adamant about staying in a place that might as well have been on another planet.
She tried to stop the sob, but it escaped her and she knew, without looking at him that Giles had turned to her. She could picture his face, scrunched with concern and she thought she knew his thoughts too. He'd be blaming himself again, and as tempting as it was to let him continue feeling the blame until he gave in and returned with her, she didn't want him to return that way at all. She wanted him back because he *wanted* to be back with *her*, not because she had made him feel guilty enough.
She felt his arms go about her and his breath on her hair as he hushed and shushed her and whispered his apologies to her. She clung on for dear life, believing that this would be the last time she would ever have the opportunity to do so. In between his whispered apologies, she managed to say, "I... I miss you so much, Giles, and I wish I could do something that'd change your mind..."
She was going to add something else but she stopped when she felt him stiffen in her embrace. She pulled away, though still kept contact with a hand on his arm, and frowned at him. She looked to where he was looking and swallowed hard to see that he was looking at the Valentine's Card by her side. She'd forgotten about it, but where she would have freely given it to him, now she just wanted to hide it away. She grabbed at it and tried to stuff it in her jacket pocket again, but his hand on hers stopped her.
# #
"Please Buffy, let me see," he whispered, his mind whirring and denying that the writing had looked much as the writing had in the other two cards he had received. He began to feel nauseous with the emotional turmoil of the denying and then the hope that ran rampant in him. He held out his hand, though even he could see it shaking a little, and waited to see if she actually would give it to him.
Buffy looked at the card and then at Giles. She really wanted to hide the card, but it was too late now. She cringed with embarrassment and slowly handed it over.
He wanted to open it straight away, feast upon the words that were written inside, but his logic demanded he take his time, logically informed him that he could be wrong. 'Damn,' he thought, 'if only I'd brought the other two with me.' He slowly opened the card, not taking any notice of what actually *was* written inside, only wanting to confirm that the writing *was* the same. Once he was pretty damned sure that it was, he then read the words...
My Giles...
You are first light in the morning
Bursting through my window
You are the only part of my love
That I can never show...
You are all of my heartbreak
And most of the pain that I feel
You are the part of the joy of living
That I *have* to conceal...
You are the part of my existence
That puts a smile on my face
You are my strength, coated in gentleness
That gets me through this place...
*All* my love, Buffy
x x
Giles swallowed hard at the words. Whilst he had tried to cover his tracks with his abstract declarations of love to her, she had been honest and open with hers to him, despite the fear of possible rejection. And if her fear was anything like his, he could not help his admiration of her that filled his heart with love. He looked up as she tentatively reclaimed the card from his numb fingers and whispered, "You... You're my mystery woman?"
Buffy nodded and as she scrunched the card and put it back in her pocket, she whispered, "Yeah, who'd have thought, huh?"
Such was the news, Giles stood and paced in front of her, running a hand through his hair as he contemplated the revelation. Still he wanted to deny it, despite the irrefutable evidence he had just seen with his own eyes; despite Buffy's acknowledgement that she *was* his mystery woman. Only when he heard her stand and start to move away, did he move towards her. He took her by the shoulders, turned her and immediately engulfed her in a hug, whispering over and over his disbelief, but also that it was the best news he had ever, and would ever, receive.
# #
Buffy looked up at the spattering of grey hairs that now adorned both sides of his head and wondered if she had put them there, or had destiny done that for her? She raised a hand and ran her fingers through them, gasping at how soft his hair was. She smiled when Giles buried his head a little deeper in her shoulder and then almost sobbed when she heard his disbelief. "Is this really happening?" he had asked her.
Her hand found it's own journey and she moved his head from her shoulder and held both sides of it in each of her tiny hands. She smiled, nodded and then kissed him, a delicate, wisp of a kiss, but one that she hoped vanquished any lingering doubt that he might still have.
# #
He couldn't help himself. He broke the kiss, lightly kissed her neck; feeling his lips tremble against her skin; then buried his head in her shoulder and wept. All of the pain he had suffered from being without her, all of his despair he'd had thinking he had lost her, all of the love that he could not verbalise, but had felt each drop form inside of him, he wept from him. Huge shuddering gulps of emotion seeped from every pore, vanquishing him of their despair. He held her tightly to him, trying to convey that without her there he would be lost forever. He felt her arms grasp and soothe him; heard her hushed tones comforting him. He moved his head from her shoulder, held hers in his hands, unable to control their shaking, thumbed away some errant tears that had also fallen, and whispered, "I love you Buffy, with all my heart."
Buffy blinked her tears from her eyes, wanting to get a better look at him. She too wiped his tears from his face, "I love you too, Giles, and I always will," she whispered, her voice quivering with emotion, and bravely added, "See, it wasn't too hard to say, was it?"
Giles bit his trembling lip and shook his head, "No," he whispered back and held out his arms to her, his expression begging her to return to them.
"Can... can we just sit a while?" she asked in the same whisper, "I... I don't think I can stand too much longer."
He gently took her by the shoulders, guided her down so that they both sat leaning against the trunk of the old Oak tree. A splendid Royal Oak that had witnessed many a thing over the years; most recently the demise of a much loved animal, and today, the beginnings of a love that would outlive the Oak; a love that would last an eternity.
# #
Harold stood with his arm around Willow's shoulder and looked on at the scene that was unfolding by the lake. He had never seen his son look so happy and it was balm to his soul to see such a thing.
As Buffy and Giles sat by the Oak, Giles with a protective arm about her and Buffy snuggling into it, the sun broke through the clouds, instantly warming those that were not privy to the heat of a growing love.
Harold looked down at Willow beneath his arm that rested on her shoulders. He marvelled at the way her whole being seemed to smile when only her face actually did. He patted her on the shoulder and when she looked up at him, he softly said, "Willow, my dear, do you see what you have done here?"
She eagerly nodded, her eyes alight with utter joy, "What we've both done, Mr Giles," she happily exclaimed.
Harold raised his other hand in front of him and waggled his eyebrows at her.
Willow giggled, took a look at Buffy and Giles and then 'high-fived' the older man's hand.
Harold chuckled, hugged Willow tightly to him and then when he let her go, he said, "Let's leave them to their love." On Willow's silent nod, he turned them both back towards the Land Rover and said, "Tea?"
Willow nodded, beaming a grin as bright as the sun breaking through the clouds, and said, "And stories..."
Harold softly chuckled, "And stories..." he agreed.
Epilogue:
Giles held her in his arms. He really did not want to let her go, but he knew he would have to, if only so that he could return to her again. He had thought about asking her to stay until he could come back to Sunnydale with her, but as she rightly informed him, she had a Hellmouth to look after. Just the thought of being without her again, despite the short time it will actually be, he felt his heart clench with an unknown fear.
"It's all right, Giles," Buffy whispered, "I'm not going anywhere."
He bent and kissed her again, but as he drew away from her, he whispered, "My darling, if you were just an ordinary young woman, with an ordinary 9-5 job, that would hearten any man, but you are not an ordinary woman and you do not have an ordinary 9-5 job and I simply could not bare the thought of losing you again."
"I know," Buffy replied, running a hand through his half-beard, "but this time I have such a lot to live for and I'll fight for it as hard as I can."
Giles smiled down at the love that he would never live without, would never be without, kissed her again and then let her go. 'Only for a little while,' his heart told him, 'Only for a little while.'
He then hugged Willow, thanking her for all that she had done.
Willow giggled and said, "You might not be saying that to me, say, a couple of days from now."
Giles frowned at her.
Willow flipped a pad, "Boy those stories were great, Mr Giles," she enthused and then hopped into the back seat of the car.
Giles turned to his father, whom gave him the most innocent of innocent looks that Giles had ever seen. "Father?" he softly growled.
Willow "Eeeped!".
Harold simply chuckled.
Giles raised an eyebrow at his father, then turned back to the car and waved Buffy and Willow off.
Harold came to stand by him, grasped him at the back of the neck and whispered, "Don't worry son, she'll still be there when you get back 'home'."
Giles turned to his father and smiled. "Thank you, father," he whispered, "for... for everything."
"You are more than welcome, son," Harold replied, his heart filling with hope, "More than welcome."
The End
Journeys End In Lovers Meeting
Every wise man's son doth know...
Twelfth Night...