The funeral of Nancy the Vampire Slayer took place on a bright, early spring day. The sun was up and shining, not an ominous cloud in the sky, and birds were singing in the nearby trees. To Buffy, it didn't seem like the sort of day befitting to the funeral of a fallen warrior.
Even when she knew Nancy had betrayed her to the Watchers' Council, Buffy couldn't find it in herself to think of Nancy as anything but a warrior. Personal feelings about the woman herself aside, Buffy saw Nancy as being a victim, much like her own mother, of Quentin Travers's greed and thirst for power. Buffy knew much of the reason why Nancy had done what she had done was because the Council had shaped her to be under their control. She couldn't hate Nancy for that, not when Buffy knew what she did about the Council and what it was capable of.
Besides, looking at Nancy's casket now, it was obvious that the dead Slayer had more than learned her lesson.
If anything, Buffy felt sorry for Nancy. She knew from Giles that Nancy had been taken from her home by the Council at an early age and raised by her first Watcher, only to watch him die shortly after she was Called. From there, she'd been sent to Sunnydale with Giles. Her life must've been lonely, one in which she gave up almost everything in order to serve a group who in the end, had killed her.
She'd died at seventeen, and only five people were in attendance at her funeral. Buffy couldn't find it in her heart to hate anyone whose life had amounted to that.
Buffy stood in the cemetery as a priest spoke over the casket. She was between Giles and Willow, with Oz near his girlfriend, while Nancy's other friend, Xander, stood across from them, alone. He wouldn't look at them, and Willow had told her earlier they'd had a blow-up when she'd told him about Nancy. It appeared that Xander had known the morning after Nancy's call to the Council she'd betrayed Buffy, yet he maintained that Nancy had made the right choice. He firmly believed Nancy had been right about Buffy and that the Slayer had been killed not by the Council, but by Spike. He'd refused to listen to Willow's version of events, and branded her a traitor for siding with Buffy.
Willow was heartbroken, though Buffy felt like she couldn't exactly blame Xander for that either. Grief could make you blind to what was around you, drive you to try to force your anger into places where you could manage it best. She of all people knew that. Maybe someday Xander would come around, see the truth for what it was. Buffy hoped for Willow's sake, he would.
He'd argued when he'd seen Buffy arrive with Giles that she had no right to be there, and in a way, Buffy agreed with him. She certainly hadn't been Nancy's friend, and her arrival in Sunnydale had played a part in the Slayer's death, although that had been more of Nancy's own doing than of Buffy's. But Buffy wanted to be there. Nancy had spent almost three years as a Slayer, and despite how things had ended for her, she'd fought well and bravely. And like Joyce the Vampire Slayer before her, Nancy had been betrayed by the people who should've worked hardest to protect her, and she'd had the glory of a final battle truly worthy of a Slayer stolen from her.
Buffy felt she deserved more honor for her sacrifices as a Slayer than condemnation for her final sin. She'd already paid for that one in blood.
The priest grew silent, and Buffy watched as the four people with her placed a rose atop Nancy's casket, then approached it herself, her hand lingering for a moment on the flower she left behind. Her eyes closed as she thought of the words she'd say to Nancy now, if she could.
You were a Slayer, a warrior of the light, and I forgive you. May you find the peace now this world never would have given you.
A cool, spring breeze washed over her, and Buffy opened her eyes and breathed it in.
Buffy turned and walked off with Giles, Willow, and Oz, while Xander went the other way. They stopped at Oz's van, and Buffy hugged Willow good-bye.
"I'll call you tonight, okay, Will?" Buffy said, both girls wiping their eyes as they pulled away.
"Okay," Willow replied. "I'm sure I'm going to need someone to talk to." She looked at Oz. "Not that talking to you doesn't help…"
Oz nodded simply. "But of course. I'm hardly a replacement for girl talk."
Willow smiled, though the sadness didn't leave her eyes. "He's so understanding." She then turned to Giles, hugging him as well. "Let me know if you need anything. I can bake a casserole."
Giles chuckled softly. "I'll remember that, my dear. And do know, even without Nancy here, my door is always open to you."
"I know, Giles," Willow replied. "Thank you." She pulled away from him and returned to Oz's side.
A few silent moments passed, none of the four people gathered in the small parking lot knowing what to say, but finally settling on a simple good-bye. Oz and Willow got into the van while Buffy and Giles went to his car.
Buffy sat in the passenger's seat for several moments before she said, "Giles, are you okay enough to drive? You've been just staring at the steering wheel."
Giles jumped a little at the sound of Buffy's voice, then turned towards her. "Yes, I'm fine enough for that. I was, well, I was thinking about you, actually." He paused and reached for his glasses.
"Giles, you're cleaning your glasses. You shouldn't tell people you're thinking something about them and then start cleaning your glasses. It's scary."
With a light chuckle and some stammering, Giles put his glasses back on. "I am sorry, Buffy, I just…" He let out a deep breath. "I'm about to ask you something that I'm not sure I have any right to ask of you."
"Well, ask anyway, because now you've got my interest all up," Buffy said. "What is it?"
Giles cleared his throat. "It has come to my attention that your…relationship with Spike has afforded you certain strengths and abilities a normal girl would not posses."
"Yup. I'm all Super Buffy. Your point?"
He reached for his glasses, then remembered her earlier admonishment and dropped his hand. "With Nancy dead, the Sunnydale Hellmouth is essentially unguarded at the time in its history when it has been the most rife with demonic energy. I had hoped that perhaps Angel would be of some use now, but when I broke the news to him of Nancy's death, he seemed as if he would now be leaving town, perhaps for good. The Council has split into factions and is in the middle of a power struggle, with several people vying for Quentin's position. They all claim, of course, they were ignorant of his more nefarious schemes, but if I believe that, then my mother raised a fool. They do, however, seem to believe that the Slayer who was Called after Nancy would be of best use in Cleveland."
Buffy's eyebrow arched. "Cleveland? Ohio? Why?"
"There's an active Hellmouth there as well, it seems."
"Oh. So, Giles, are you going to find the chase and cut to it anytime soon with all of this?"
"Yes, well, I suppose I should come right out and say it then." He cleared his throat again. "Buffy, like I said this is probably asking too much of you, but would you be willing—at least for the time being—to take over Nancy's duties insomuch as guarding the Hellmouth?"
Buffy couldn't help but be floored by his request. Yet, at the same time, there was something oddly right in the thought of it.
"My home would, of course, remain open to you," Giles continued. "If you would like, I could remodel the basement to serve as a sort of flat for you and Spike so he could continue to have a place where he wouldn't have to worry about an abundance of sunlight."
"I'll have to talk to him about it, Giles," Buffy said. "I can't make big decisions like that without his input."
"Yes, of course, I figured as much," Giles replied. "Take as much time as you need to decide on an answer."
"I'll talk to him about it and let you know soon," Buffy told him.
"Thank you."
Giles started the car, and the two of them headed back towards Revello Drive.
Epilogue to be posted on Monday.
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