Waiting For Eternity
By Beth C.

Title: Waiting For Eternity (1/1)
Author: Beth C.
E-mail : Behappy52@aol.com
Distribution : Solo, Cap, BuffyUK, anybody who asks
Rating : PG14
Dedication : My gorgeous proofreaders
Summary: My usual angst filled, teary eyed fanfic (Death of a Main Character)
Disclaimer: I own nothing except for some Beastie Boys CD, and too many cardigans....All these characters I write with are the property of Joss (God of All)
Feedback: Please Send Me Some, All feedback is good but remember writers have feelings too

    A pale moon hung high above the town, small stars dotting the sky. It was quiet. No humans walked through Sunnydale this late at night except those with nothing left to lose.
    Giles walked slowly past the graves, his finger grazing the engraved epitaphs till he reached the marker highest on the hill. "Why did you have to leave me!" he cried falling onto the fresh dirt. She had only been buried a few days ago so wreathes and bouquets lined the front of the tomb. Giles picked them up and tossed them far down the hill before resting his head against the cool stone. His hand softly patted the ground as if he was caressing her hair and he spoke as though she was there with him and not 6 ft under the ground. "You have only been gone for a week but I feel as if I've aged twenty years," he said softly into the ground.
    He looked longingly at the name on the headstone. "Buffy Anne Summers, wonderful wife, good friend, and amazing slayer," he read, "I sincerely doubt anyone will understand the last part." He paused, tears glimmering on his cheeks in the moonlight. "It is frightening that they think they can sum up your life in a sentence," Giles said, "I wonder what they'll put on my grave when I'm buried next to you?  I think 'Rupert Giles, lived his life to serve his love' sounds right."
    Giles stood up brushing the dirt off his pants and preparing himself for what had to be done. "Come and get me!" he screamed over the town.  "Kill me, drink my blood, I have no one to go home to!" But no one answered his pleas and he sat down again leaning on the gravestone. "If only I had died with you," he said. He sighed bleakly, gazing up into the heavens, "I did die with you."

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++
1 week earlier:
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

    He sat by the side of her bed, holding her hands, praying for her to wake up soon. "Buffy, wake up," he whispered, watching her sleep, "we can't spend our last minutes together with you like this." He sat in the sparse hospital room, the sound of the slow beeping of the monitor keeping him company.  "Remember when you found out you were pregnant, Buffy," he said to her silent form, "that was four months ago."
    He looked down on her. "The baby couldn't survive," he explained. "It was a girl, she tried her hardest to stay alive, just like her mother, but she was too weak."
Giles removed his glasses as his eyes became clouded with tears.  "I wish I could do something to help you," he said, almost a silent prayer. "You've worked so hard all your life, no one's body can handle that much stress without simply giving out."
    Buffy's eyes began to open slowly, but realizing where she was, she quickly sat up looking all over the room. "Giles, is the baby okay?" she asked worried.
    He just shook his head, the drawn look on his face telling the story.
    "I'm gonna be okay?" she asked softly.
    Giles looked down, tears running down his face. "They can't stop the bleeding," he said quietly. But as he looked up, Giles saw a small smile on her face.
    "I'm not fate's toy anymore," Buffy said, smiling through the tears, "I beat it, Giles, I beat my destiny. I'm not dying at sixteen like I was supposed to, I'm dying at age twenty-nine, the oldest living slayer on record."
    "Buffy, no," he said, embracing her.
    "Giles, I'm gonna miss you, but I'll wait for you.  I mean, that white light will probably be calling, but I'll hang back a bit 'til you can catch up. It's the least I can do."
    Giles smiled weakly at her ever present wit. 
    "My main wish was to live a normal life, get married to an amazing man, and to have a child. I almost got it all done."
    "Buffy, I.."
    "It's okay, Giles, I've been preparing to die since I was young, I'm ready for it now. Just hold me."
    He looked at her smiling face which was marred by the dark circles under her eyes and the flush that had overcome her.
    "You promise you'll wait?"
    "I love you," she whispered.
    Behind him, the beeps stopped and Giles curled up next to her on the small
bed. He entwined his fingers in her hair, and closed his eyes. "Take me too," he whispered, "you know I can't live without her."

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Present Time
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++

    Giles reached into his pocket drawing out a pistol. "Buffy, you told me you would wait for me," he said softly, "I'm coming now." He pointed the gun towards his chest.  "Only you could ever have my heart, only you ever deserved it."
    "Giles, no!" a voice called in the distance.
    Giles turned as another voice called out, "Giles, drop the gun!"
    "Go away," he cried turning towards them the pistol still pointed at his heart, "I am sick of crying and tired of mourning."
    Xander and Willow ran up to him, but kept their distance, stopping a few feet away. "I know it hurts," Willow said, edging a little closer, "trust me, I know it hurts, every man I have ever loved has hurt me. But this isn't the answer."
    Giles' eyes lit up with anger.  "Then what is the answer!" he screamed. "I've lost my wife, my child, everything."
    "What about us, Giles?" asked Xander.  "We've looked to you as a father   since the day we met. Buffy's loss and our godchild's loss is heartbreaking enough, but if we lost you as well, I'm not sure my heart could handle it."
    "Xander and Willow, I've cherished you like family," he said, "but I'm empty inside. I can't go back to 'our' house, sleep in 'our' bed, and live in this bloody town anymore. I can't live anymore without her.  Everything I do and see reminds me of her and how I let her down."
    "You didn't let her down." Willow said, inching closer again.  "She died during childbirth, you couldn't stop it. It was just Buffy's time. You still have many years left, give me the gun, Giles."
    He looked up at Willow's scared face and placed the gun in her hand.  He sighed deeply, "She told me she would wait for me, she knew it wasn't my time."
    Willow grabbed him, hugging him tightly. Xander ran up next to her joining them in the hug. Giles' face turned to a smile as he saw a shooting star jet across the sky. "Look at that," he said pointing upwards as meteorites flew past the moon.
    "We knew, that's why we chose today to do the ceremony."  Willow said.  "It's a powerful day and we needed that for a closure ceremony."
    "Would it be too mu..c-can I stay?" Giles asked meekly.
    "Of course, we're always going to be here for you," Willow said taking his hand.
    "Definitely G-man," Xander said taking his other one.
    "Thank you," he said, "and don't call me that."

END