Title: Funeral for a
Friend
Author: Froxyn
Rating: FRT
Pairing: Buffy/Giles
Timeline: Eight months
after the end of Mishtwanai
Synopsis: I’m not really
sure what to write here this time. I
think the title says it all.
Giles stood motionless, the sun
shining brightly down on him. It was a
beautiful day, sunny and warm. Most
unusual for this time of year. The dark
suit and his slumped shoulders reflected his mood.
Buffy stood by his side, her
hand resting against his lower back.
Their children were currently inside with
“Giles?”
Giles stared out across the
green paddock as he leaned against the railing.
“Hm?”
“It’s okay to cry…”
He cleared his throat and shook
his head. “Not right now. Later, perhaps.”
Buffy sighed softly and gently
rubbed his back. Giles didn’t say
anything else, just continued to stare across the land. Buffy stood next to him, remaining quiet as
Giles continued to work through his grief.
He allowed his mind to wade
through the memories of the previous eight months. It hadn’t taken him long to settle into his
role as Head of Council. He was grateful
of Amelia’s forethought of appointing someone to deal with the majority of the
paperwork for him. He had always
detested paperwork.
Two weeks after Amelia left, she
had called to announce the arrival of her granddaughter. She had sounded tired, extremely tired. Giles spoke with his concerns over her health
with Buffy after the phone call had ended.
Three months after that, his
phone had rung again. His hand trembled
when he saw Amelia’s name on the caller id display. He breathed a sigh of relief when it was her
voice on the other end. And then a smile
of surprise found its way to his face when he heard the strength in her voice.
She had stated that she was feeling
much better and had received news from the doctor that the mass had appeared to
have shrunk a little. Not much, but it
was smaller than it had been. Giles
found himself grasping onto the hope that she was somehow going to beat the
disease.
Between that phone call and the
one that had been received two weeks ago, he had spoken with Amelia
weekly. She seemed well rested, strong,
and…happy. The doctor had been very
surprised at the turnaround in her health.
He had stated that she was far from being out of the woods, but the
situation wasn’t nearly as dire as it once was.
His mind surfaced to the present
for a brief moment. He was very aware
that Buffy had not left his side. For
that, he was extremely grateful.
Buffy…he sighed as he thought about his wife.
She had been the one to answer
the phone two weeks ago. He had worked
his way through a difficult week at the Council. The death of a Slayer and her Watcher at the
hands of a vampire cult hell bent on taking over a small village in the South
of France had taken precedence over his work.
A group consisting of four
Slayers and two Watchers had taken out the cult earlier that day. And that night, he slept. The first real sleep he had been able to find
in a week. He woke to Buffy gently shaking
his shoulder. He opened his eyes to find
her talking softly on his mobile.
His heart dropped as he pushed
himself up and leaned against the headboard.
He could easily see the sadness in Buffy’s eyes as she handed him the
phone.
“Hello?”
“Hello, Rupert. I apologize for ringing so late.” Andrew Clayton spoke softly.
Giles swallowed and shook his
head. “No harm done, Andrew.” He hesitated for a moment, unsure of how to
ask the question that was so prevalent in his mind. “Amelia?”
Amelia’s son exhaled
deeply. “She, uh…Mum asked me to call
you. She’s…she’s taken a turn for the
worse.”
Giles heard the young man’s
voice break. “How, uh…is she…that is…”
“The doctor has told us to make
the necessary calls.” He cleared his
throat and continued softly. “He said
that it could be a few days…maybe a week.
Mum wanted me to ask if you, and Buffy…if the two of you might be able
to come. She’d…she’d like to say
goodbye.”
Giles’ eyes filled with tears,
but he didn’t allow them to fall.
Instead, he took a deep breath and, after giving Buffy a quick glance,
gave a soft response.
“We’ll be there tomorrow.”
A few more words were spoken,
but if Giles were to be asked what was said, he wouldn’t have been able to
recall precisely. He closed the phone
and dropped it onto his bedside table.
When he heard Buffy whisper his
name, he turned his glistening eyes towards her. “She…wants to say goodbye.”
Buffy pulled him into her arms
and held him tightly. Her fingers tenderly
stroked his hair as his tears began to fall.
* * *
Ethan quickly offered to stay
with the children when Giles explained the situation to him. Buffy and Giles accepted his offer, with an
added request that he’d bring them to
All four children sat on their
parents’ bed. Braden and Lucas were
somber and quiet, and Ethan could tell that each had been crying. Haddie and Evan played with one another, not
really understanding why their brothers were upset.
Braden took a deep breath and
climbed off the bed. Giles looked up
from his bag and sighed. “Are you
alright, Ru?”
Braden shrugged a shoulder and
looked down at his feet. “My throat
hurts.”
Giles dropped to his knees in
front of his son and pulled him into his arms.
“Mine does too, son.”
Braden hugged his father tightly
and buried his face into his neck.
When he heard the child sob,
Ethan tried his best to swallow the lump in his throat.
* * *
Amelia smiled when Giles and
Buffy walked into the room. The first
thing Giles noticed was that much of the light in her eyes had gone. The first thing Buffy noticed was how much
weight the woman had lost.
She didn’t look skeletal, but
she had lost a fair amount of weight.
Buffy was expecting to walk in and find Amelia lying in the bed looking
frail and tired…beaten by the cancer that had ravaged her body. Instead she found Amelia lying in the bed
looking tired, but not frail…and definitely not beaten.
She was amazed that a woman who
had fought for so long and had been so sick could look so…beautiful, even if
she was a bit thin.
“Hello, Mealie.” Giles whispered as he leaned over and softly kissed
her cheek.
Amelia raised an eyebrow at
him. “I can’t say that I’ve heard you
call me that in a while. Years, even.”
Giles gave a sad chuckle. “Seemed the right thing to say at the time.”
Amelia smiled and turned her
eyes to Buffy. “Hello, Buffy.”
“Hi, Amelia. How are you?”
Buffy shook her head and groaned, not believing she had asked that
question. “I’m sorry.”
To Buffy’s surprise, Amelia
laughed. “Oh, Buffy…it’s fine,
really. All things considered, I’m
alright. And how are you?”
“Okay…been worried about Giles…”
Giles looked at her
sharply. “Buffy.”
Amelia narrowed her eyes and
looked at Giles. “Rupert?”
Giles shook his head. “Everything’s fine, Amelia.”
Amelia regarded him carefully
for a minute and then looked back at Buffy.
“Care to tell me the truth, Buffy?”
“Oh, no…he is fine. He was just having trouble sleeping this past
week.”
Giles gave an exasperated
sigh. “Buffy, we’re not here to discuss
work.”
Amelia rolled her eyes and
looked expectantly at Buffy. Buffy
recounted the entire ordeal of the vampire cult to the older woman. Amelia listened intently, glancing at Giles
now and then. When Buffy ended the
story, Amelia smiled.
“I knew you’d be the perfect man
for the job.”
Giles shook his head
slowly. “I really don’t want to talk
about work right now.”
Amelia tilted her head slightly
and looked into his eyes. “Rupert, I
don’t want the last few days I spend with you to be full of sadness. And…you look so very sad.”
Giles cleared his throat and
averted his eyes from her. “Anya wanted
me to ask you if you would object to them naming their daughter ‘Amelia’.”
Amelia grinned and looked at
Buffy. “Ever the master of changing the
subject.”
Buffy laughed and nodded. “He likes to think so.”
Amelia pushed herself up in the
bed and sighed heavily. “Rupert, look at
me.”
He took a deep breath, exhaling
slowly as he complied with her request.
She wasn’t surprised to see the unshed tears.
“First of all, I would be
honoured for her and Xander to name their child after me. Second of all…I don’t want to die, but I have
no choice in that. I have accepted it…I
accepted it long ago. I don’t want people
to remember me as being in pain, or unhappy about my lot. And so, I laugh…and I joke. And I want you to laugh and joke with
me. I want these last few days to be
memorable for the laughter, the stories we share…not to be memorable for
sadness.”
“It’s, um…difficult.” Giles responded quietly.
Buffy reached over and slipped
her hand into his. He lightly squeezed
her fingers.
Amelia nodded in
understanding. “I know. But, please…try for me.”
When he gave her a quick nod,
she grinned and met Buffy’s eyes. “Did
he ever tell you about the time he got caught in the girls’ locker room at the
Academy?”
“Oh, dear Lord…” Giles groaned.
Buffy’s eyes widened as she
laughed, turning her head to stare at her husband. “Um…no, he didn’t. Wanna tell me about it, honey?”
“Not particularly, no.” He responded, a genuine smile appearing on
his face. “I’m sure Amelia will have no
issues with telling you. She’s always
had a good laugh over that one.”
Buffy looked at Amelia
expectantly. Amelia laughed heartily and
began her long tale. She laughed even
harder each time Giles blushed.
* * *
Amelia’s ‘few days, maybe a
week’ stretched into two weeks. Ethan
had brought the Giles children on the third day.
Giles spent as much time with
her as he possibly could. Most of the
time, Buffy accompanied him…because he asked her to. Sometimes, he would ask Buffy to join him and
she would gently shake her head and give him a tender kiss.
Giles knew her time was close
when he walked into her room and found all three of her children surrounding
the bed. She looked up at him through
slightly unfocused eyes and smiled wearily.
“You came.”
He nodded slowly and made his
way to the edge of the bed. Her children
left the room quietly, her daughter gently squeezing his arm as she walked by
him.
Giles clenched his jaw and
lowered his eyes. He looked back up when
she covered his hand with hers.
“I’m glad you came today.”
“Amelia…”
She interrupted him with a
softly spoken fact. “I don’t have much
time left, Rupert.”
“I know.” He whispered, unable to stop a tear from
escaping the corner of his eye.
“Hey…we’ve talked about
this. No tears.” She offered him a warm smile and gently
squeezed his hand.
“How can I not?” He cleared his throat and sat down in the
chair next to her bed. “A part of me has
always loved you, Amelia.”
“I know. And, more importantly…Buffy knows and
understands. She’s an amazing woman…in
so many ways.”
Giles nodded slowly. “I shall miss you terribly.”
“Stop.” She whispered and coughed gently. “If you don’t stop, you’ll make me cry.”
He chuckled at that and leaned
forward, resting his arms on the mattress as she lightly held his hand. He spent the next thirty minutes telling her
stories of his children’s exploits. He
smiled as she laughed.
When he noticed the weakness
showing clearly in her eyes, he exhaled slowly.
“I should go. You should be
spending this time with your family.”
“Rupert?”
“Yes?”
She lifted her hand and touched
the side of his face. “A part of me has
always loved you as well.”
He leaned over and brushed his
lips across her forehead. He refused to
say goodbye, as did she. As a result,
those were the last ten words he heard her speak.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
He opened the door of the guesthouse
on Amelia’s estate that his family was sharing with Xander and Anya. He made his way to the kitchen and found
Buffy preparing a cup of tea. She looked
up at him as he walked over to her.
“You’re back earlier than I – ”
He cut her off with a kiss,
cradling her face between his hands. The
spoon she was holding dropped to the floor, the sound of silver hitting tile
resonating in the room. He ended the
kiss slowly, but left his hands where they were.
“Giles?”
“I love you, Buffy. I love you so much.”
She heard the catch in his voice
and she swallowed hard. “I love you too,
Giles. What’s wrong? Is…is Amelia…”
He lowered his hands and took a
deep breath. “She’s…fading quickly
now. I believe…” He swallowed thickly. “Her family is with her now.”
Buffy’s eyes glistened. “Oh God.”
“Where…where is everyone?”
Buffy reached up and brushed his
cheek. “Lucas, Haddie, and Evan were
tired…they’re taking a nap. Xander took
Braden out exploring. Anya is upstairs
resting.”
Giles gave a quick nod, leaning
into her touch. “Would you…would you lay
down with me?” He met her eyes and shook
his head lightly. “I’m…it’s not…”
She lowered her hand and took
hold of his, sadness filling her heart when she felt the tremor in his
fingers. “I didn’t think you were asking
for anything other than for me to hold you.”
A single tear slowly rolled down
his face. “Thank you.”
* * *
They were lying in the bed,
Buffy on her back with Giles curled around her, his head on her chest. Buffy had a brief thought that it would
probably look almost comical to anyone else, considering the size difference
between them. But, there was no humour
to be found.
Her left arm was wrapped around
him, her hand gently rubbing his back as the fingers of her right stroked his
hair. She lightly kissed the top of his
head and he tightened his hold on her.
“Do you want to talk about it?”
He sighed heavily. “Knowing…expecting…it doesn’t make it easier
when the day comes.”
“I know.” She whispered and kissed him again. “I know, honey.”
“I’m sorry.” He shook his head, loosening his arms. “I’m sorry…this isn’t…it isn’t fair to you.”
When he pushed himself up, she
placed her right hand on his cheek, gently turning his head to look into his
eyes. “What’s not fair to me?”
“You…are my wife. The mother of my children. I…I shouldn’t be…I shouldn’t ask you – ”
She silenced him by placing a
finger over his lips. “You should. For those very reasons, you should. It may have been over thirty years ago, but
you were in love with her. Really in
love with her. And…when your first
love…”
She hesitated and he swallowed,
his voice a barely audible whisper when he supplied a word for her to use.
“Dies.”
She nodded slowly. “Yes…when your first love…dies…it doesn’t
matter how long ago the relationship took place. It doesn’t matter how the relationship ended
and it doesn’t matter where your life is at the moment. It still hurts. And that’s understandable.”
She pulled him back down and
tenderly kissed his lips. “And I don’t
think it isn’t fair to me. I love
you…you are my soulmate, Giles. I know
that she will always have a place in your heart…and I know that she always
has. But, I also know that you love
me. Let me help you as much as I can
through this.”
He thought over her words for a
moment and exhaled slowly. “I have
always known what an amazing woman you are.
From our first meeting, I’ve known.
I’m glad that she was able to witness that side of you…on more than one
occasion.”
A sad smile appeared on her
face. “Amelia thinks I’m amazing?”
“She knows you are.” He replied softly and lowered his head back
to her chest.
She didn’t release her hold on
him. Not even when the phone rang two
hours later and he reached across her to answer it. And she cried with him when he dropped the
phone, not caring that it landed on the hardwood floor.
* * *
Braden and Lucas stood inside,
watching their parents through the glass door.
Lucas looked up at his older brother.
“What’s Daddy doing?”
Braden had his hands shoved in
his pockets, watching his father stare out across the green field. “He’s thinking.”
“Is he sad?”
Braden nodded slowly. “So is Mum.”
Lucas sighed heavily. He looked down and noticed Braden’s hands in
his pockets. Lucas copied him, digging
his hands deep into the pockets of his suit trousers. He turned his eyes back to the door and
watched his mother pull his father into her arms.
“I really liked Mealie.”
For the first time since they
had taken their positions at the door, Braden looked down at his younger
brother. He pulled his left hand out of
his pocket and wrapped his arm around Lucas’ shoulders.
“I did too, Luke.”
“But…she feels better now. Right?
She’s not sick anymore?”
Braden smiled softly. “She’s not sick anymore.”
“Good.” Lucas whispered.
Braden gently pulled Lucas away
from the door. “Come on, let’s go find
Haddie and Evan.”
“Okay. ‘Addie’s probably with Anya.”
“ ‘Haddie’, not ‘Addie’. Remember your h’s, Luke.”
Lucas smiled and followed his
brother into the other room.
Outside, on the back veranda,
Buffy and Giles held one another as his tears finally came.
~ End