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giles_shorts2016-04-23 03:35 pm
katleept.livejournal.com) wrote in giles_shorts2016-04-23 03:35 pm
Entry tags:
Their Watcher (Willow, Giles; PG/K+; Sunnydale Airport)
Title: Their Watcher
Author: Kat Lee
Fandom: Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Character/Pairing: Willow, Giles
Rating: PG/K+
Challenge/Prompt:![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
giles_shorts Locations: Sunnydale Airport
Warning(s): None
Word Count: 751
Date Written: 23 April, 2016
Summary:
Disclaimer: All characters within belong to Whedon, not the author, and are used without permission.
She always thought she'd be eager to leave, but the truth is she's not. She dreads every step that takes her away from the safety of her home and toward the unknown. It's a funny thought really, considering that her home is the Hellmouth where Vampires and Demons are constantly causing trouble and there's very little in this world, physical or magical, of which she isn't already aware.
Giles has promised the Council will not hurt her, but she does have to pay for her crimes. Moreover, she has to learn not necessarily to control her magic -- despite what he's said, she knows that's not the real issue -- but her anger. Her anger and grief is what almost destroyed the world; her magic was merely the source of her weaponry.
She's still angry. She can't see a day when she'll ever not be furious at that trio of nerds for killing her beloved Tara. She still wants them to pay, but they already have except for Andrew, who's supposedly good now. But it's not for her to make them pay any longer or more than they already have. That right belongs to the Lord and Lady.
She swallows hard as she sees Giles waiting for her at the terminal. With only a few more steps, she'll be putting Sunnydale behind for . . . forever? They want her grief and anger to go away. They're not going to, so where does that leave her when they'll never going to be satisfied with who she is? Will she ever get to come back home?
And yet, despite all she's done and all the turmoil in her heart, Giles is looking at her with a kind smile. He's always been so kind to her, and yet she's hurt him many a time. She was ready to kill him, Buffy, even Xander. She was ready to destroy the world. This, she knows, is what Tara would want. It's what must be done to save her friends, to save herself.
But she's still so scared. She feels like the frightened teenager all over again, scared of her own shadow in the night, scared of the bullies in the hallways, of the Vampires in the streets. Yet she's more powerful than them all. She's more powerful than Giles and probably even than this Council to whom he's taking her. But she's not wiser, and it's the wisdom she needs now.
Reaching Giles, she looks up to him. Her heartbeat quickens as her mind whispers again, Only a few more steps. She wants to turn and run, to flee this airport and what it means to her, but she knows she can't. She has to go through with this, and if she doesn't, they'll come get her the hard way. If she doesn't, the world might pay, and that includes destroying the kindness in the eyes gazing down upon her now and her dearest friends.
She opens her mouth but closes it quickly. What can she say? That she's scared? She can't admit that not now, not after what she's done. That she's sorry? Words can never make things all right again between them. Nothing can. That she was wrong? She's still not entirely certain that she was. She wasn't in going after Jonathan and his friends; that's for certain.
Giles clears his throat, finishes cleaning his glasses, and slides them back onto his nose. It's odd how that simple gesture almost makes everything seem normal again, but nothing's ever going to be normal again for her. How many times, she wonders, has she seen him clean those glasses as though they can somehow make things seem better when he looks through their cleansed lenses? How many times has he been kind to her when she doesn't deserve it?
Add another time to whatever that count might be, Willow thinks as Giles reaches out his hand. She hears the boarding call's final warning, but the announcer's voice seems far away. Far away, like they're soon going to be. She swallows hard again, wipes her sweaty palms on her skirt, and finally takes Giles' hand. Her friend is supposed to be Buffy's Watcher, she knows, but the years with them all together has made him much more than that. He's all of their Watcher, which she didn't like only a few days ago, but now, she's thankful. She clings to his hand, to his steadying reassurance by her side, as together, they start her new life.
The End
Author: Kat Lee
Fandom: Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Character/Pairing: Willow, Giles
Rating: PG/K+
Challenge/Prompt:
giles_shorts Locations: Sunnydale AirportWarning(s): None
Word Count: 751
Date Written: 23 April, 2016
Summary:
Disclaimer: All characters within belong to Whedon, not the author, and are used without permission.
She always thought she'd be eager to leave, but the truth is she's not. She dreads every step that takes her away from the safety of her home and toward the unknown. It's a funny thought really, considering that her home is the Hellmouth where Vampires and Demons are constantly causing trouble and there's very little in this world, physical or magical, of which she isn't already aware.
Giles has promised the Council will not hurt her, but she does have to pay for her crimes. Moreover, she has to learn not necessarily to control her magic -- despite what he's said, she knows that's not the real issue -- but her anger. Her anger and grief is what almost destroyed the world; her magic was merely the source of her weaponry.
She's still angry. She can't see a day when she'll ever not be furious at that trio of nerds for killing her beloved Tara. She still wants them to pay, but they already have except for Andrew, who's supposedly good now. But it's not for her to make them pay any longer or more than they already have. That right belongs to the Lord and Lady.
She swallows hard as she sees Giles waiting for her at the terminal. With only a few more steps, she'll be putting Sunnydale behind for . . . forever? They want her grief and anger to go away. They're not going to, so where does that leave her when they'll never going to be satisfied with who she is? Will she ever get to come back home?
And yet, despite all she's done and all the turmoil in her heart, Giles is looking at her with a kind smile. He's always been so kind to her, and yet she's hurt him many a time. She was ready to kill him, Buffy, even Xander. She was ready to destroy the world. This, she knows, is what Tara would want. It's what must be done to save her friends, to save herself.
But she's still so scared. She feels like the frightened teenager all over again, scared of her own shadow in the night, scared of the bullies in the hallways, of the Vampires in the streets. Yet she's more powerful than them all. She's more powerful than Giles and probably even than this Council to whom he's taking her. But she's not wiser, and it's the wisdom she needs now.
Reaching Giles, she looks up to him. Her heartbeat quickens as her mind whispers again, Only a few more steps. She wants to turn and run, to flee this airport and what it means to her, but she knows she can't. She has to go through with this, and if she doesn't, they'll come get her the hard way. If she doesn't, the world might pay, and that includes destroying the kindness in the eyes gazing down upon her now and her dearest friends.
She opens her mouth but closes it quickly. What can she say? That she's scared? She can't admit that not now, not after what she's done. That she's sorry? Words can never make things all right again between them. Nothing can. That she was wrong? She's still not entirely certain that she was. She wasn't in going after Jonathan and his friends; that's for certain.
Giles clears his throat, finishes cleaning his glasses, and slides them back onto his nose. It's odd how that simple gesture almost makes everything seem normal again, but nothing's ever going to be normal again for her. How many times, she wonders, has she seen him clean those glasses as though they can somehow make things seem better when he looks through their cleansed lenses? How many times has he been kind to her when she doesn't deserve it?
Add another time to whatever that count might be, Willow thinks as Giles reaches out his hand. She hears the boarding call's final warning, but the announcer's voice seems far away. Far away, like they're soon going to be. She swallows hard again, wipes her sweaty palms on her skirt, and finally takes Giles' hand. Her friend is supposed to be Buffy's Watcher, she knows, but the years with them all together has made him much more than that. He's all of their Watcher, which she didn't like only a few days ago, but now, she's thankful. She clings to his hand, to his steadying reassurance by her side, as together, they start her new life.
The End