From: buffyfic-owner@xmission.com (buffyfic Digest) To: buffyfic-digest@xmission.com Subject: buffyfic Digest V1 #19 Reply-To: buffyfic@xmission.com Sender: buffyfic-owner@xmission.com Errors-To: buffyfic-owner@xmission.com Precedence: buffyfic Digest Saturday, August 30 1997 Volume 01 : Number 019 In this issue: BUFFYFIC: Sealed with a Kiss 2b/11 BUFFYFIC: Sealed with a Kiss 3/11 BUFFYFIC: Sealed with a Kiss 1/11 BUFFYFIC: Sealed with a Kiss 2/11 See the end of the digest for information on subscribing to the buffyfic or buffyfic-digest mailing lists and on how to retrieve back issues. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 28 Aug 1997 20:39:30 -0400 From: Anya Subject: BUFFYFIC: Sealed with a Kiss 2b/11 Sealed with a Kiss 2B/11 by Anya anya@interlinks.net "Yes, yes. I'm well aware that she's having episodes at night. We've established that based on the testimony of her parents. What I'm wondering is whether this is a case of nightmares...or night terrors." Buffy shook her head slightly, as if jostle some neurons to differentiate that last bit. "They're the same thing, Giles. " The Watcher looked at her with a mildly wide-eyed expression. "Actually, no. They aren't. Not much is known of night terrors, other that they occur during the first hour or two of sleep. Victim's of night terrors tend to be violently restless sleepers, they tend to suffer from loud screaming and thrashing about. Although, the sleeper tends to be difficult to wake." Ms. Calendar looked up for the computer screen she'd be absorbed in since Giles first mentioned night terrors.. "I've got a website here discussing the concept of nightmares and night terrors. I don't think Willow matches your profile. People suffering night terrors don't tend to remember anything beyond an emotional impression." "You've been discussing her dreams with her then?" Giles shot at her crossly, knowing full well the woman was making leaps without facts. She pinned him with the look normally reserved for delinquent students. "Has she suffered from episodes of sleepwalking as a kid? Or bed wetting? And these night terrors have come on awfully suddenly, have they not?" "How would I know if she sleep walks? I'm simply trying to find a natural cause for her sleep deprivation as opposed to an unnatural." "Um. Guys?" Xander interrupted brewing conflict. "We're interested in Willow here, aren't we? We want to make Willow all better..and the end conclusion of this fascinating dissertation on how people sleep is...?" Ms. Calendar shot a final glare at Giles before turning to the two young adults in the room. "In all likelihood, Willow isn't suffering your run-of-the-mill nightmare. And she's experiencing night terrors either. Nor are most of the other people around here. Nightmares are being induced." Xander pursed his lips, looking at Giles for confirmation. The Watcher shut the book he had been reading, and nodded curtly to the silent question. "Okay. So that means?" "It means, we can give her a charm, or something to prevent Willow from experiencing these nightmares." As she spoke Ms. Calendar pulled at the necklace around her neck, fingers touching the small stone there. Buffy leaned towards the teacher eagerly, arms pressed against scores of books on the top of the table. "What kind of charm? Do you have one that will work right away?" Ms Calendar leaned back into the computer chair and looked towards the domed glass windows that made up the skylight. "Right away, I'm not sure. Some may...if we go the herbal route, we can always burn cedar incense, or..." She sighed softly, eyes focusing on the panel of glass that replaced the one that Buffy had thrown the Master through to his demise. Seeing no answer there, or in the corner of her brain, she stood up slowly, reaching half across the table to a black bound library book resting inside her opened briefcase. Giles smirked, "What? Needing a book? How positively archaic." "You said it! Unfortunately, because YOU are so lax about scanning all these texts, they aren't in the computer yet." She shot back sweetly. Flipping through the book, that Xander and Buffy could see was called a Herbal Grimoire, she began to make random comments. "No.. .no.. .hmmm... .Huckleberry...no, oh..hyacinth.. .not locally available....yes! Here we go, purslane placed on the bed..that would prevent nightmares. Although, I doubt that Willow would appreciate either of those two methods though. Gemstones..." Setting the black book down, she logged back onto the computer and then the web. Typing up an address obviously committed to memory, she began to tab down the page, as the audience anxiously watched. "Well?" Buffy asked, wanting to end the silence broken only by the rapid click of keys on a keyboard.. "Well, Blue Onxy protects against psychic attacks or hexes, but we haven't established that this is a psychic assault..so it may not work." The dark haired teacher tilted her head slightly to the right, eyes still focused on the screen. "Perhaps malachite...no, it would promote sleep..but..negativity and nightmares are not quite the same thing.." Her eyes suddenly went wide, head snapping up to meet Buffy's bright gaze. "Got it! Blue topaz. If we put a good blue topaz beside her bed, it will prevent or halt a nightmare, and ensure a good nights sleep!" "But will it work right away? Or at least tonight?" Xander asked, wishing he had some way of stressing the urgency of giving Willow some means to recovery. If a blue topaz would chase her boogey-men away, then he'd get one into her room at any cost. His childhood pal was not going to wake up screaming again if he had any say in it. Ms. Calendar smiled widely, "It should. It will 'halt' a nightmare, not just prevent it...so it should work. And even better, I happen to own a beautiful blue topaz pendent. All we have to do is run it in cold water for ten or so minutes, and it's purified and ready to roll." Buffy nodded briskly, "Cool. Let's do it then. Now." Ms. Calendar made as if to stand up, but Giles raised a hand restraining her. "Uh..before we do that, we should consider the other unusual activity of late. Willow is not the only victim of these nightmares, after all." "What? You want to give everyone in Sunnydale a blue topaz? Be my guest, Giles, but Willow's got first dibs on this one!" Buffy said sharply. She fixed a cold glare on the Watcher. "That's not what I meant, Buffy." He chided her mildly, favouring her with a tolerant little smile. "No. I mean, these nightmares are only one instance of bizarre behavioural patterns isolated in Sunnydale." Xander raised an eyebrow, "Uh..come again?" "He's right." Ms. Calendar interjected. "In the last six days there have been 30 reported cases of domestic pets going feral on their owners, for no apparent reason. Dogs don't tend to attack the hand that feeds them. The worst was at the park. Dog owners walking their pets found the animals 'ganging together' and attacking en masse. The Humane Society has the animals quarentined for testing." She reached over to the computer, carefully shutting it down for the night, before continuing. "And local schools are concerned with the number of children assaulting and battering other children on the playground. The rules about accepted playground behaviours are well established and enforced, and no one would expect the gentlest most well behaved students to go insane like that! What I find most alarming is that ,hospital admissions have risen 300%. But only in the last six days!" Giles sank back down into his chair. "And, if you've paid any attention to the news, there have been seven suicides since last Wednesday. Normally one a year is devastating in a town this small." Buffy frowned, "But why? I mean, when the Hellmouth was nearly opened we had unexplained situations kind of like those...but why now. The Hellmouth isn't open, we saved the world..the apocolypse is over...isn't it?" "You did beat the Master." Angel interjected from the door. Buffy's face lit up like a Christmas tree to see him, and Xander gritted his teeth. "But something or someone will always want to take his place. As for the Hellmouth, the Seal that safeguards it from opening is leaking. It should be holding the Hellmouth properly closed, and it isn't!" Giles leapt up, jerking the chair backwards, "What Seal?" ********************End of Part Two ********************** ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 28 Aug 1997 20:39:25 -0400 From: Anya Subject: BUFFYFIC: Sealed with a Kiss 3/11 Sealed with a Kiss 3/11 by Anya anya@interlinks.net The character used in this story are the creations of Joss Whedon, Warner Bros, and any other lawful group with rights to Buffy the Vampire Slayer. No infringement is intended Part 3 Xander looked at the fence with apprehension. The last fence he had attempted to jump was a less than favorite memory. In fact, he was still positive he could hear the echo of the delightful 'thud' his body made on landing. But, that fence was in his way, and it wasn't as if he could just walk up to Willow's house, knock on the door and say, "Oh hey! Hi Mrs. Rosenberg, ..I know it's nearly midnight, but I've got this stone here that will magically keep Willow from having nightmares. D'ya mind if I put this in her room?" No. That just wouldn't go over well at all. He'd never experience the sensation of a home cooked meal again. The delicious aroma wafting in from a kitchen...not a bag. The cluster of family gathered around a single table for a dinner...nope. This had to be done. Besides, he needed Willow awake, alert and with it, or else he was never going to get that English assignment done. Or started for that matter. He reached up and gripped the top of the wooden fence. "I hope Buffy's having more fun than this." Heaving himself up, he steadied his balance, loosened his knees, leaned forward and jumped. He remembered her Mom's new English water garden, sweeping along the fence perimeter at the back of the garden, right after that jump. *Splash*. Extracting himself, and pulling some gooey leaf off his face, Xander uttered a few choice phrases about the kindness of fate, and his own brand of bad luck, and a few observations on how darn lucky Willow was to have such a good friend. Walking his way across the rest of the yard, with a delightful "squoosh" to each step, he watched the ground rather carefully. He could expect a rake or hose, or some new unusual instrument of embasement to trip him up in this shadowy darkness. Somehow, he failed to catch site of a nearly glowing white mass from hell watching his every move. The little white blob slowly stalked Xander from behind, it's pathetic versions of a growl hidden by the strange wet-sounds Xander's shoes were making. Xander nearly screamed in frustration as the rat-dog from hell attached itself to his pant cuff. How COULD Willow call this little rat a dog? Even more important, how could she call it a pet? Her pet? Her lovable pet? Xander was certain this 'pet' was a creature right out of the Hellmouth. Every time Xander came over to Willow's, this hell spawn attached itself to his pant leg, uttering it's pathetic whiney little growls. And the damn thing, while small, had sharp pointy pin-like teeth. They scraped almost supernaturally well. Particularly on Xander's ankle. "Damn dog." he muttered. Reaching down, he pried it off of him, holding it by the scruff of the neck an arms length away. Fluffy glowered at him, snarling in what it considered a fierce snarl. Mental images of booting the unholy rat out of the backyard with one swift kick almost broke Xander's will. But, Willow liked the little hell spawn, and she'd have to learn about Fluffy's inherent evil in her own time. Detouring, he found his way to Fluffy's outdoor pen. Fluffy was given a lot of leeway, and the pen was usually left open, giving the dog free run of the backyard. "He probably goes swimming in that stupid water garden." Xander muttered to himself. With a light flick of his wrist, Xander dropped the would-be dog into the pen, closing the gate quickly before the mutant rat could escape. "Ha! How'd ya like that?" He bent down looking at the dog. "Next time, pick on someone your own size...if you can find something as pathetically small as you!" Feeling immensely better with his victory over the dog, Xander resumed his approach to Willow's house. The house was a sidesplit, with the living room, kitchen, and dining room on the main level, two of the bedrooms on the upper floor and two on the lower floor. Unfortunately for Xander, Willow's room was on the upper floor. ____________________________________ Interlude: Carmilla pensively nibbled on her thumb's fingernail, totally unaware of what she was doing while her mind tried to sort things out. Things were not going well. Not at all. That hideous dwarf of a man was making her immortal life very difficult. The Seal. Everything she had worked for was at risk. All the sacrifices, compromises...everything! Because that creepy hunchback monster was obsessive about having the Seal. How was a sweet angelic girl like herself supposed to keep all her promises when fate threw something that butt-ugly in her way? Her eyes widened with that last though, shocked at how crude her mental imageries were. Obviously her last stay in heaven had been some time ago ... she was beginning to think in human terms. This was not good. She had a certain image to maintain after all. End Interlude _____________________________________ Buffy, Giles and Angel sat in the confined space of the Watcher's office. Books, papers and fragile documents all carefully and meticulously laid away in bookshelves lining the walls in this tiny room, the glass doors in front of each case bearing a rather sturdy lock. Angel had discoursed to them all as much as he knew about the Seal, and it's existence. His knowledge was limited, unfortunately, due to lack of exposure. While the Master had been occupying the chamber holding the Seal, Angel had not dared go near it. The seal had lain rather dormant under the Master's occupation. The Hellmouth and Seal confined like flies in amber even as the Master was trapped, because of the failed attempt some 70 years ago. Giles felt a need for some further and extensive research on Seals, the seal, and the Hellmouth in general, before anything final was decided on the subject. Angel had conceded that blaming incidents of bizarre activity on the Seals' failure was premature. He couldn't be certain the Seal was failing, just as he couldn't be certain there was another interloper bent on violating the Seal. Angel did believe it probable, though. So, Giles had packed up what books he had deemed necessary from the table in the center of the library, wandering back to his office. Angel following close behind as the unlikely pair discussed possible sources. Ms. Calendar had taken Xander, and the two of them had gone to fetch the topaz for Willow. Ms. Calendar would prepare the stone, and drop Xander off near Willow's home. Since he knew Willow's family and house well, Xander was best suited to sneak the protective charm into Willow's bedroom. Buffy had elected to keep Angel under close personal surveillance. Sitting quite calmly on a chair she had dragged in from the study carols, she watched as the Watcher and the soul-cursed vampire began working through various antiquated scraps of paper and books. They were truly absorbed in the research, occasionally exchanging comments on whether a source was redundant, or had a piece of relevant information. Angel had proven quiten useful at this task. Living at a time when Latin was still a living language, he found reading and translating from Latin into English a trivial thing. Books that took Giles hours to read through, since he had to transliterate and translate as he went for the relevant information, took Angel a fraction of the time to work through. He didn't have to bother reading and translating, he just had to remember to switch back to English when he spoke up. Buffy felt rather redundant. For all that she had accused Giles of being no use here with his books, it was here with these books he was so intimate with that all their knowledge came from. Buffy, being the Slayer and young, had no patience for the fuss of reading and translating prophecies, or Watcher Journals of years gone by. The two men were totally engrossed in whatever it was they were reading, again. Aimlessly, Buffy wandered over to the bookcase behind her chair, fingers stroking across the spines of a few books, one in particular caught her eye. It was a strange color, for leather, and even stranger texture. Pulling it out gently, she was shocked to feel the brittleness of the fabric binding the book. It looked like leather, but leather was far more durable than this. Frowning, she opened the book just a crack to look at the pages inside. They were of the same material too. The hand written ink on the pages was difficult to read. It was both blotchy and faded, as if the ink had leaked across the page when written on originally, and faded to near illegibility over time. The book intrigued her. It was hard to imagine someone writing a book that could not last. Raising it up towards Giles, she called out. "Giles? What kind of leather is this?" The Watcher looked up in mild surprise. Buffy had been so quiet this past hour, he had nearly forgotten she was here. Refocusing his eyes on the object in the distance, he recognized the book immediately. "Leather? Human, I believe." Buffy nearly dropped the book. As it was, the volume found it's shelf again quite quickly. "Human? That's disgusting?!?!" "Quite. It's difficult to cure well. And it doesn't hold ink nearly as well as I could wish. An inferior material to document such important information on." Responded the Watcher absently, once again concentrating on Raymond Buckland's "Anatomy of the Occult". The Slayer stared at him in amazement. How could he blow off something so...so...icky? Out of the corner of her eye, she glanced at Angel. He hadn't even come up for air *Not that he needs air*, she minded herself. Both of them. She should have gone with Xander. At least then she'd be doing something, rather than just going plain stir-crazy. _______________________________________ Willow was sleeping, just not peacefully, Xander noted. Curled up in the fetal position, she faced the door with her back to the window. She was making soft distressed moans, her head tossing somewhat, and arms wrapped tightly around herself. Tiptoeing closer, Xander felt around in his pant pockets for the blue topaz. "Oh god. I hope it didn't fall into the water garden!" He thought as pockets both proved empty. Patting himself down, visions of having to climb out the window, to the roof, and down the antenna to creep across the yard and sift through the entirety of the pond haunted him. "Please let it be here! Please let that damn garden NOT have a drain..Please!" His shoulders slumped, and he leaned forward in despair, causing the chain around his neck to pull free of the wet shirt, and the blue Topaz he had carefully put around his neck so he couldn't accidentally drop it, swung free. Xander could have slapped himself for being a moron. Fingers fumbling, he unhooked the chains catch, setting the stone down on the night table beside Willow's bed. Turning, he tried to sneak across the room to write her a note. Willow was good at noticing things out of place, and a pendant like that would not be missed. Removing the seat cushion, Xander sat down on her wooden desk chair, wincing at the feel of is wet clothing pressed so close to his drying skin. It wasn't easy to see in the dark for something as small as a pen. Notepaper was easy to find on Willow's desk. She kept a block of it to the right of her computer. Squinting he looked on top of the desk for a pencil can or something. Instead, his eyes fell on a series of framed pictures. Lifting one down, he turned so that the light from outside fell onto the frame. It was a picture of him and Willow, taken perhaps a year ago. - -----------------Continued in Part 3B/11------------------------------ ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 28 Aug 1997 20:39:57 -0400 From: Anya Subject: BUFFYFIC: Sealed with a Kiss 1/11 Sealed with a Kiss 1/11 by Anya anya@interlinks.net I don't own Buffy, Giles, Willow, Xander and crew. They belong to Joss Whedon, WB and co. I'm just borrowing them. So, please, no one sue me . . . I don't have any money anyway. I do, however, own Carmilla (as much as one can own an 'Angel') and Cai. ******************************************************** Prologue: "Get stuffed, ya stupid winged freak!" snarled the misshapen old man in a harsh and rasping voice. Squat, filthy and profoundly ugly, his face was screwed into an expression of perpetual contempt. A woman of ethereal beauty looked at him from across the room, ignoring the ruins and rubble their little squabble had caused. The pristine walls were cracked, the debris of the marble ruins lying in large chunks on the floor. The stairs up to the altar were upheaved, ruined beyond repair. Miraculously, the altar and it's sacred burden remained intact. The amulet still glittered freshly. "This is not over, old man! I will not fail!" she said softly, focusing her eyes on the gnarled hunchback. "Yeah right! I'm stronger than you are, sweetheart! I got more power than a freaking 'holier than thou' screw-up like yourself, and I'm a lot younger than you, ya old bitch. I ain't giving up on the seal! It's MINE!" He swore coarsely at her. His bow legs stood strong on top of the rubble, and he sneered at her. Collecting her dignity, the angel wrapped her glowing white cloak around herself and haughtily raised her chin. "We we'll see, we will just see!". With an indignant sniff, she vanished. Tilting his head to one side, grumbling quietly, the ugly man seemed to be listening. Grunting, he glanced at the glowing amulet. "Well.. that went well. Mostly. I guess it's back to work on that stupid girl. Would've thought by now she'd have clued in. Dumb kid." **************************************************** Part One: Alexander Harris was not impressed and more than a little worried, and from the look on Buffy Summers face, neither was she. The object of their mutual consternation sat munching on her lunch in total distraction. She looked like hell, too, Xander noted with a frown. "She's still not okay, y'know." He muttered to the Slayer. Buffy flicked him a quick look. "Yeah. But she won't say what's eating her." Belatedly, she winced at the poor choice of words. "Not that something is literally 'eating' her, I hope." Xander, she knew, would be turning green as dinner memories, where he was to be the main course, came hauntingly back. Willow, oblivious to their concern, just munched on. Buffy was willing to bet everything she owned that Willow couldn't even tell anyone what type of sandwich she had. Pale, disoriented, and exceedingly skittish, Willow was backsliding into the painfully shy girl Buffy first met. And her health was also slipping downhill at a terrific pace. Yesterday, during her spare, Willow had passed out in the library. And it was only Wednesday. *God only knows, at this rate, she'll be hospitalized by Friday.* Giles and Ms. Calendar were even concerned about the young hacker. Willow, on the whole, was always bright, cheerful with a ready smile to dole out. But when she came to school last Thursday, she seemed a little overtired. By Monday, she was jumpy and exhausted. When she collapsed in the library, Giles had discreetly removed her to his office, and closed the library. According to Buffy's Watcher, Willow had woken up some twenty minutes later, screaming in apparent agony. It was agreed that something was seriously disturbing Willow, but as yet, the adults were unwilling to consider it was supernatural in nature. Buffy was worried, with all the strange things happening in Sunnydale of late, that Willow's problems were connected. Their biggest difficulty lay in the fact that no one knew what it was affecting Willow. Consequently, Xander had been given the fun task of investigating happenings at home. Willow hadn't even _cared_ that Xander was following her like a faithful puppy, and spending a great deal of time with her after school. That, more than anything, had convinced Buffy the world was truly about to end. Xander had escorted her right home, Friday night, and spent dinner with her family. Over the weekend, he had been her virtual shadow. Monday and Tuesday, he had dinner with her family again, and stayed after allegedly for 'help' on his homework. He actually had his biology homework done, and his parents were in danger of forgetting that they had a son, but he had still learned nothing revealing on Willow's homefront. And Willow was only getting worse. This morning, Buffy could have sworn someone had punched Willow, the skin under her eyes was so dark, and her face so pale. "This has got to end." Buffy muttered, earning a 'no kidding!' snort from Xander. Xander grumbled something, trotting off to sit beside Willow. Buffy shook her head bemused, if Willow had been even slightly more with it, she would have swooned from all the TLC she was getting out of Xander. Unfortunately, she was so distracted, most times, she wasn't aware that he was shadowing her so closely. Slowly, Buffy wandered over to join them. She felt so useless. She could slay vampires, fight invisible girls, she-mantis' and all sorts of other supernatural odds'n' sods, but was clueless as to how to help Willow. ********************************* In a distant corner of her mind, Willow was aware of her friends concern. And she did take comfort from it. But she was so tired, and yet, the nightmares just loomed, waiting for her eyes to drift shut. It felt like she'd been seeing her friends, and families deaths in her dreams for years now, not just eight days. And the physical toll it was having on her was brutal. Cordelia would only have to glance at her to reduce Willow to tears, her appetite was dropping off tremendously, and her schoolwork was suffering badly. The doctor she had seen had given her some sedatives, but they were worse. After taking a sedative and going to sleep she found she was trapped in those nightmares. Waking up screaming was one thing, but screaming and unable to wake up.... A shudder rippled through her body, and a jacket fell across her shoulders with Xander's scent on it. Jerking her consciousness back to the real world she became aware of Buffy and Xander sitting beside her, Xander on her right, Buffy in the front of her. Meeting Buffy's eyes for a brief second, Willow also caught the hurt in them when she unintentionally flinched away. Buffy was hunting, but this time for whatever it was that was hurting her friend. "Sorry," Willow whispered, trying to take away the hurt. Buffy reached out and took her hand, giving it a comforting squeeze. "It's okay." Taking the opportunity, she moved slightly closer, and while not letting go of Willow's hand, she eased her grip on it. "Willow, I know you don't want to, but...please tell us what's bothering you?" Willow just shook her head negatively. "It's nothing." "Like hell!" Xander cursed softly, not wanting his friend to be startled. "It's not 'nothing', and I for one don't care if it's something as small as spiders or ants, or whatever. Something has your cage so rattled it's making you sick!" He softened his voice more, and nudged her gently,"We're your best friends, Willow. You are important to us. Trust us." Willow was somewhat surprised at Xander's response. Oh, not that he didn't care, or wasn't a good friend, but this consuming need to help her...that was new. Normally he just offered sympathy and a witty, if inane comment. Despite his concern, she still just shook her head, "No. Nothing's bothering me. I--I'm just having problems sleeping." Buffy, as could be expected, jumped on this. "Problems? What kind of problems?" Her sharp gaze grew pensive as she mentally listed possibilities. Willow sighed softly, her shoulder slumping. Xander wrapped a arm around her shoulders, offering her his strength, and comfort. Ironically, something she would have died for, under normal circumstances, but right now, just wanted the warm comfort of her friend. "I---it's--uh, just, umm...insomnia. My doctor gave me some sedatives, but, they um, don't agree with me." Clearly, she could see that Buffy and Xander didn't buy this. But they also weren't willing to call her a liar. Dropping her gaze to her lap, Willow felt Buffy's slim hand catch her chin and raise it so their eyes met again. "And there's been no nightmares?", she asked, tilting her head and leaning forward. Willow felt the panic attack rise up, and forcibly held it back. "No...not really...maybe once...or twice." *A night* she silently added. Over her head, she knew Buffy and Xander were exchanging glances, and probably would have shared thoughts, if she hadn't been sitting right there. Xander's grip tightened, and even as he was about to speak, Willow was saved by the bell. Jumping up with more energy than she actually had, she scooped her lunchbag, and schoolbag together, letting Xander's jacket fall off her shoulders and onto the table. "Umm...I've, uh, gotta get to class." she said with as much strength as she could muster. Then softer, almost a whisper, "I'll see you guys later." She turned on heel, and nearly ran to the school. Xander picked up his light jacket with an angry violence. "She lied to us!" He nearly shouted. For the life of himself, he couldn't understand it. Willow was falling apart, and instead of asking for help, or talking about it, she was covering it up. Buffy placed a restraining hand on his arm, the other hand lowering her sunglasses into place on the bridge of her nose. "Yes. She did. But, we know she did. So, we can go to Giles with this information and figure out how to help her." She flashed him a bright smile, "Don't worry, Xander, Willow will be okay! We'll make sure she is!". *********************End Part One************************ ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 28 Aug 1997 20:39:51 -0400 From: Anya Subject: BUFFYFIC: Sealed with a Kiss 2/11 Sealed with a Kiss 2/11 by Anya anya@interlinks.net I don't own Buffy, Giles, Willow, Xander and crew. They belong to Joss Whedon, WB and co. I'm just borrowing them. So, please, no one sue me . . . I don't have any money anyway. Part Two: Rupert Giles pulled his glasses off and pressed the heels of his palms into his tired eyes, rubbing them in slow circles. The heaped pile of newspaper articles, books, manuscripts and other assorted pieces of paper spread out on the table of front of him hid the beautiful antique mahogany. It seemed as if no sooner did he work through a text, than another one took it's place. And Giles was beginning to despair of ever working through the accumulating clutter of research. Shoulders slumped, he cast a dark look at the mess, and an even darker look at the happily humming Ms. Calendar, as she typed away quietly and contentedly on her infernal computer. Sighing he reached for his notepad, ready to annotate what little he had found before Buffy arrived. Buffy had sashayed into the library just before her last period to announce there would be a session tonight, but not immediately after school. Two-thirds of the three musketeers were on a mercy mission. Willow Rosenberg was being escorted right home, taken straight to her room, and tucked right into bed. Only when Buffy and Xander felt that this mission had been successfully fulfilled would they hustle discretely back to the school. Willow. Giles pen froze as an image of the girl the last time he saw her today flashed through his mind. As a rule of thumb, when Willow had a free period, she came to the library. It was quiet here, generally the other students didn't have a clue where it was, and with the silence came no one to tease her for her intellectual bent. And Giles welcomed her presence. Willow's study skills had facilitated his own research tremendously. He knew, eventually, he'd have to learn to use those dreadful machines she so loved, but, so long as Willow was willing to help out ... he could postpone the inevitable. Aimlessly drifting in, the girl had wandered over to her computer perched off the main table. Her eyelids were drooping heavily, the skin beneath the eyes an alarming green/blue on her already pale skin. He should have, he realized belatedly, insisted she go home and get some rest. Willow had tossed him a sad shadow of her usual smile, waving him off. She hadn't been able to focus on much around her, although she tried. She had flicked the computer on, and as Giles sat and watched, stared at the flickering lights of the monitor for ten minutes before shaking herself out of her funk. Giles hadn't had the heart to ask her to find anything. Willow simply wasn't up to it, and he was still unnerved by the memory of her collapse the day before. Willow had been on the upper floor, pulling some book on the Eleusine mysteries. Walking towards the rail and stairs, eyes glued to the text, her head had shot up when another student brushed past her on his way to the stacks. The movement and surprise had obviously been too sudden for her body to handle. Giles had nearly had a heart attack, she had collapsed with a soft whisper of a moan so close to the iron rail guard. The student who had surprised her had ran to get Giles, and Giles had prudently shooed the child out of the library, removing Willow to the office. Laying her down on the cot he had been forced to buy (after a week of sleeping in the library), he had been sorely tempted to call the nurse, but Willow had been breathing easy, if a little fast. Even as she lay unconscious in the office, she had been in a state of obvious REM activity. Giles hadn't wanted to wake her, so clearly she needed the sleep. That decision was short-lived, regretfully. Not twenty minutes after her initial collapse she had come awake with a blood-curdling scream, her entire body shaking in violent sobs ... A hand dropped on his shoulder, and Giles breaking him out of his memories. Ms. Samantha Calendar looked down at him with a sympathetic smile. "Something wrong, Rupert? You look lost." "Lost," he sighed again. "Lost is a rather large understatement for how I feel. Overwhelmed comes closer, but still falls short." He tossed his pen down onto the notepad, watching it roll off the lined paper pad into a recessed crack between the notepad and newspapers, eminently buried. He stood up suddenly, feeling her hand drop of his shoulder as he did so, and began pacing. "No, I was just thinking about Willow." Samantha nodded, looking at the clock. "I imagine Buffy and Xander have gotten her home by now. I hope she starts to feel better soon." Sinking down into the chair Giles had abandoned, she continued. "I don't know why she came to school today. She is obviously suffering for exhaustion, unable to concentrate, listless, and physically manifesting signs of illness.... She couldn't even compose a simple string for the assignment in class today, and she finds tasks like that ridiculously easy. She simply was unable to focus. " "Yes. That's exactly it. She can't focus on the world around her. Most likely, as you implied, a result of sleep deprivation, but one would have thought her doctor would have taken care of that by now." Giles muttered, running a hand across his chin. "A doctor did," entered a confident new voice . Buffy stood in the entryway, looking her usual chic in a slim, arm baring white sheath dress . Privately, Giles deemed her wardrobe inappropriate for hunting, but it seemed to work for her. Standing beside Buffy, Xander looked like a frump. "Willow said her doctor gave her sedatives but, quote: they didn't agree with her, unquote." The young slayer stalked over to the two adults, Xander in tow behind, and flopped inelegantly into a free chair. "She's also having nightmares every time she goes to sleep." Ms. Calendar looked up sharply at that. "Did Willow say she was having nightmares?" Buffy paused, looking venomously at the woman for catching the slight variance in presentation. "No..." "But her mother did." Xander inserted. Buffy shot him a grateful smile. " After Buff's and I discussed the whole nightmare thing, and Willow denied it, I thought I'd just ask Mrs. Rosenberg. According to her, Willow's woken up every night screaming her head off." Xander smiled sadly, proud to have finally found a key piece of information. "Nightmares..." Ms. Calendar muttered. She stood up slowly and walked around the chair and table in a large circle to Willow's computer. Sitting down, she thoughtfully punched a few keys. Buffy looked at the woman, then Giles who just shrugged, before glancing at Xander with a "did we just miss something?" expression. Xander raised an eyebrow, and ambled around to hover over the esteemed computer teacher's shoulder. Reading the flashing screens as fast as he could, Xander swiftly decided to concede defeat and wait for the teacher to rejoin them in this plane of existence. Ms. Calendar moved almost as fast as Willow did on a computer. The thought brought a pang of conscience to the teen. Willow would be so hurt to know they had purposefully excluded her from tonights' meeting. But, it was for her own good, he rationalized. They needed Willow here, with her wits collected. Ms. Calendar was good on a computer, but no where near Willow's level of skill. Besides, those ethics that didn't get in Willow's way sure stopped Ms. Calendars cold when hacking was required. His conscience mildly appeased, Xander absently began lean over Ms. Calendar's shoulder, again trying to read the screen. She seemed to be going through reports, done in a spreadsheet format...* how does anyone know how to read those things?* he wondered. A sudden "AHA!" made every back in the room shoot straight up. "Aha?" Buffy asked hopefully. She gave the dark-haired woman a pixieish smile. Ms. Calendar smiled widely. "There's been an unparalleled increase in reports of insomnia! But even better, there's been a very large increase in reported cases of severe nightmares causing insomnia! Xander pursed his lips and shook his head. "And this is good news?" he said incredulously. He moved from his perch beside her to stand beside Buffy's chair. "Willow's nightmares aren't natural in origin. Or they're unlikely to be natural in origin." Ms. Calendar said crisply. "Nightmares are usually limited to children. They are part of normal development. BUT nightmares are less common in adults, perhaps 5-10% of all adults have nightmares." Giles approached the table again, thoughtfully cleaning his glasses. "Although, they could be caused by medications, or childhood traumas...is Willow on any medications other than the sedatives? " Xander seemed to consider this, "Not that I know of. Her family is really into using homeopathic medicines before anything else. And I've known Willow since we were toddlers. The biggest trauma she's ever had was the death of her goldfish. We had a lovely funeral for them. Flushed straight down with a full salute. " Giles frowned, "I don't consider Willow overly emotional, so that rules out that." He began muttering to himself, and wandered back to his office. The echoes of his mumbling faded, stopping, and then grew stronger as he returned with a book in hand. The faded blue canvas binding the book looked worn. And the gold letters that had once proudly announced title and author were scarcely visible. Giles leafed through brittle yellow pages quickly, searching for some section that lurked buried within the volume. Head tilted down, he traced his finger down the length of page, as if tracking informaton. Buffy watched him become lost in his own scholarly world. Rolling her eyes comically, she loudly cleared her throat. "Giles? Would you like to share with the rest of us here?" "Wha--? Oh, my apologies. I was just considering a final alternative. Are we certain that Willow is suffering from nightmares?..." "That's what her Mom said," Xander interjected loudly. "I think her Mom would know best, she lives with her, after all." "Yes, yes. I'm well aware that she's having episodes at night. We've established that based on the testimony of her parents. What I'm wondering is whether this is a case of nightmares...or night terrors." --------continued in Part 2B------------ ------------------------------ End of buffyfic Digest V1 #19 ***************************** To subscribe to buffyfic Digest, send the command: subscribe buffyfic-digest in the body of a message to "majordomo@xmission.com". If you want to subscribe something other than the account the mail is coming from, such as a local redistribution list, then append that address to the "subscribe" command; for example, to subscribe "local-buffyfic": subscribe buffyfic-digest local-buffyfic@your.domain.net A non-digest (direct mail) version of this list is also available; to subscribe to that instead, replace all instances of "buffyfic-digest" in the commands above with "buffyfic". 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