Title: Season of Change 1/?
Author: Katy Hart
Pairing: B/G
Rating: FRT
Spoilers: Part One, Dead Man’s Party. See A/N.
Disclaimer: Joss and company own them. I’m just changing things for the better.
Distribution: You want it? Really? Just ask.
Feedback: equals happy muse. Happy muse equals more stories.
Dedication: With many thanks and much love to my beta goddess, Antennapedia

A/N, Part One: Written from the perspective of Buffy’s Diary and Giles’ Journal. I think Giles would keep a personal journal, something that the Council would never see.

A/N, Part Two: I’ve seen many B/G authors try to fix seasons to patch up the B/G relationship, mainly five and six, I chose three. Why? Because that’s where I think the relationship really started to crumble, so many places where it went wrong, so I decided to rewrite it all. And mostly because it all began with a simple….

From Buffy’s Diary Oct 6th, 98

Welcome home Buffy.

That was all he said. No shouting, no questions, no blame, no lecture about destiny. Just welcome home. After all I had put him through; Giles just smiled and hugged me. This is what I remember best about coming back.

Yeah mom was happy, but she immediately slipped into denial mode, going on about the gallery and this new mask she got. Creepy thing. I found the guys out doing patrol. Night hawk? C’mon who do they think they’re kidding? I know they tried their hardest but I know they were glad I was back to the slaying. They were the ones who insisted I see Giles. I was gonna put it off, but they pushed.

When he pulled me into that hug, I breathed in his familiar scent. Tweed, tea and something I’d always labeled as Giles. My heart fluttered as his strong arms held me close. Why? He was still just Giles wasn’t he? I wasn’t so sure anymore. I’d dreamed of Angel all summer, less and less in the last few weeks. Instead I’d been dreaming of Giles. Why? As we sat drinking tea and talking about stuff, I kept looking at him until he caught me. We stared for a while before I turned to Willow. That look in his eye, so weird, but it almost could have been love.

I’m writing this after our meeting with Snyder, ugly troll man. Who cares if I ever go back to school? I’ll only be missing Will and Xand, I can see them anytime. I’d also be missing Giles which is kinda weird. Who knew I’d ever miss him? What do I care about Homecoming and senior Prom? Who am I kidding? Of course I care, but I’m trying not to think about it.

From The Personal Journal of Rupert Giles October 6th, 1998

When I opened the door, she was the last thing I expected to see. I ignored the others, my eyes fixed only on her. An eternity happened in that brief moment before I spoke. She was home, she was safe. I’d spent the entire summer looking for her. I knew it was important to find her because the Hellmouth needs the Slayer to keep the forces of dark under control. But it was more than that; I followed the slimmest of leads

I can’t explain why I tried so hard to find Buffy. It may have something to do with the Watcher/Slayer bond. However, it can’t explain the high expectations I had with every lead, the ache I felt when it went nowhere. I updated Joyce on my progress. She blamed me for Buffy running away, said we had a ‘relationship’. We do, we did, but what kind? I dare not go down that path. I still mourn Jenny, but part of me wants to dare, wants to hope.

When my brain finally kicked in again, all I could say was “Welcome home Buffy.” Everything that had happened was forgotten. We would have to reform the bond we had as Watcher and Slayer; learn to trust each other again before we could begin to talk about the events of the last year. As I gathered her close, I breathed in her scent. Vanilla, sunshine and pure Buffy. Something inside me stirred, but I ignored it to make tea. That seems to be my excuse to avoid over emotional situations, brew tea. When I brought the tray into the living room, the group was already regaling her with tales of their nightly exploits.

I caught her staring at me. We held each other’s gaze before she turned to give attention to Willow. Today she had the meeting with Principal Snyder. I heard from Xander it didn’t go well. That loathsome troll! I’ll have to look into ways of getting Buffy back into school, perhaps involve the Council somehow. She deserves to enjoy her senior year.

Buffy’s Diary

As part of her let’s make everything better campaign, mom invited the guys, and Giles, over for dinner. Why do I get all nervous when I think about Giles and me and formal setting? It’s just Giles. Tweed wearing, info having Giles. So I go to the basement to get the ‘company’ plates and find a picture of me and Will and Xand. Look at us, so happy, so innocent. Can we ever get back to that?

I’m putting the picture back and something falls from the top of the shelf. Dead cat. Eeeewwwww. Mom and I buried it and I thought that was it. Should have known better living on the Hellmouth. This morning it zoomed into the kitchen, zombified. When did my house become the Hellmouth petting zoo? Giles came to get the thing and made some comment about mom’s creepy mask (cat was in her room.) Just glad to have the thing gone.

The Personal Journal of Rupert Giles

When I went to Buffy’s house, I was quite surprised to find the cat. Rather interesting phenomena, I must say. As I placed the creature in the cage I noticed the mask on Joyce’s wall. Something about it stirred in the back of my head. I took the cat back to the library where the rest of the children teased me endlessly about it while they planned a party for Buffy. Young Oz can be quite loquacious when he wishes to be. I absented myself from this gathering to do further research on the cat. The Hellmouth seems to have no end of surprises for us.

Buffy’s Diary

They threw me a party. I don’t know how it came to that, but in the grand tradition of Buffy parties, it went badly. Everyone started showing up at once, including Oz with the Dingoes. I tried to talk to Willow about all this with no success, the music was too loud. I pushed through the crowd, wondering where Giles was, why he didn’t show. Overhearing mom with Pat really threw me for a loop. I never knew she felt that way, so I ran upstairs and started flinging clothes on the bed. Will found me like that and started with the major guilt trippage. Went downstairs and Xander joins in. I thought they were my friends. But all of this was interrupted by zombies. Yep, zombies.

So I’m doing my Slayer thing again and they badness is forgotten because they need me again. Hypocrites much? Everyone’s screaming and fleeing and I’m kicking zombie butt. The fight makes its way upstairs and Pat gets killed. No time to feel bad for her because she’s a zombie. She grabs creepy mask and puts it on, talking about blah blah evil and her eyes glow and crash we’re going through the window. (Mom’s taking that out of my allowance for sure.) More fighting and I grabbed a shovel, heaving it into her eyes. Poof, Pat’s gone and the zombies stop. When it’s all over I saw Giles standing to the side. He came over and gave me another hug. Two in one day, must be some kind of record or something.

From the Personal Journal of Rupert Giles

When I found the picture I thanked the Fates for having my own collection of demonology books. It all made perfect sense now; it was all connected to the mask. Stupid Americans. Just because something is pretty doesn’t mean it’s non-threatening. It isn’t surprising some of the most successful vampire masters are also handsome or beautiful in their human form.

Of course I was stupid enough to stop for that man I believed I had run over. Hindsight is twenty-twenty. I was just glad for the lessons Ethan had given me in hotwiring cars. One of the few good things about our…involvement. When I reached the house the children were fighting. Oz informed me of Buffy’s whereabouts. I held off the undead allowing him time to find her and impart the information I learned.

Once the zombies ceased to be a concern, I went to find Buffy. She stood in the middle of the lawn, shovel in hand. She seemed pleased to see me. I walked over and enveloped her in a hug. It was still hard for me to accept that she was back, was safe. I vowed to do anything I could to get her back in school.

Buffy’s Diary I got a call today; I get to go back tomorrow. I guess Mom’s talk with the school superintendent worked. While I was out shopping for new clothes and shoes. I heard tons of stories about what happened, none of them close to the truth in traditional Sunnydale style. Yay me. I called Will and we promised to hook up soon. Called Giles and he seemed happy, told me he was looking forward to our first training session. There was something in his voice that caused butterflies in my tummy. And it wasn’t wigsome, which is weird. This year should be interesting.

From the Personal Journal of Rupert Giles

I met with the wanker Snyder this afternoon and threatened him. For a short time I let Ripper out. It felt empowering to do this small thing for Buffy. Snyder backed down; I hope he won’t be a problem anymore. Buffy will be returning to school tomorrow. When I called her, I kept the information about my involvement from her. She needn’t feel indebted to me. Having her close by every day will be reward enough.

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