She felt her nerves ease as the hot water worked out her muscles. She had a massage earlier as well and she could still feel her muscles relaxed. She lay back against the hot water pillow and just floated in the water as her mind continued on its thoughts. She thought about the changes in her since she was first called to slaying.
She was just a 15 year old with no cares in the world. Her watcher had taught her faithfully step by step what she was to do and who she was. No matter how much she fought against her calling, it was still always there. Then he had died and she had been moved to Sunnydale after her parents got divorced and she had spent time in the mental institution when she had tried to tell them of her calling.
She sighed as she wiggled her fingers and toes enjoying the way the hot water flowed between them. Then she remembered Sunnydale. She was determined to be normal and to be just a normal girl but callings don’t go away. They continue to hack at you until you accept it. It was like Spiderman. She grinned thinking about that analogy. A spider had bitten him, causing him to have a great and wonderful destiny. She had been told about him by Spike when he had shared some comic books with her.
Peter Parker, an average high school geek, was bitten by a spider and turned into some super hero and had to continuously give up what he wanted in his life for his calling. She knew that feeling oh so well. She had given up so much in her life with her final thing being Spike. He had died to save her. She would never forget that as long as she lived and would make sure no one ever forgot him. She constantly was telling the new recruits the story to create a legend of the great Spike who saved the world and loved her with all his heart as she did him.
She frowned as she felt tears pool in her eyes. She couldn’t think about him without her emotions going crazy. She loved him and wanted to spend her days with him, not to have him die for her. She sighed as her thoughts turned towards Xander and his reaction. He recognized her hurt right away because he was feeling it himself. He had lost Anya who was the love of his life so he had been very sympathetic towards her. He had held her while she cried for a few nights crying himself for Anya. They had shared memories back and forth of both parties and of the time they shared together. She had never felt so close to Xander.
Willow was great as well. She had often shared in the crying fests since she was still mourning Tara. Dawn occasionally would join but she mostly stayed away, mourning in her own way for the ones she lost. Since they all had lost the ones they loved and their soulmates, the Scoobies had to become stronger to survive. She was stronger but still Spike was her weakness. That’s why England made sense. Spike had loved England and was from there so she had the ability to be close to Spike. With Sunnydale gone, it was the only place that had made sense to her.
She glanced up at the clock noticing that only 5 minutes were left. She closed her eyes determined not to think anymore and spent those last few moments in quiet solace not thinking about anything.
Buffy hadn’t been shopping for fun in a very long time. She used to do that every year with her dad before the divorce. Then once they divorced, her dad would often not make it to the arranged times so Buffy’s shopping trips became fewer and fewer. Over the past few years. Buffy didn’t have the money to really do any shopping trips. She again wished Dawn had come because she would have loved shopping. She would just make a point to pick up a few items for Dawn. She knew her size after all.
Buffy smiled at Lorne as he dragged her into the mall area that was outside the law firm but owned by it. She glanced around the mall and was amazed. Every kind of fancy store was there. These weren’t Walmart but instead designer clothes stores. She stood back for a moment while Lorne studied the fancy glowing map. She noticed things like Calvin Klein, Prada, Abercrombie & Fitch, Ann Taylor, Zara and even Chanel. She was floored.
Lorne looked at her and smiled, “Brighten up cupcake, this is state of the art shopping and you don’t pay a penny. It’s the place where every girl dreams of shopping and you have the whole place at your fingertips.” Buffy glanced around seeing demons, vampires and even humans shopping carrying tons of bags. She whispered, “Are all these people evil?” Lorne shrugged, “The stores are mostly owned by what you would consider evil but I wouldn’t accuse them of being evil. You’d be surprised at the music industry. We represent tons of famous music artists and they are all considered evil even though you would never imagine it. Just enjoy!”
Buffy smiled as Lorne then dragged her into Chanel where he immediately began picking out clothes, most of which Buffy wouldn’t have been caught dead in. Lorne noticed her frown and set the clothes aside and took her to the counter where they would fix her up with makeup. She sat down and looked dubiously at Lorne. He chuckled and said something to the lady demon at the counter who clucked. She then reached down and took out a mirror and a ton of makeup and began to work on Buffy’s face. The lady would say something in another language and Lorne would repeat it in English. Buffy was told to relax her face and trust Georgetta to making her look fabulous.
She trusted Lorne because he seemed to be safe but this Georgetta was black skinned with what appeared to be scales on her arms. That made Buffy nervous but she kept still per Lorne’s request. She closed her eyes as asked and thought about this strange evil world. She was actually being a hypocrite by participating in such things. She wondered for a minute if there was a Gap nearby because she didn’t like the styles of clothes in this place. She heard Lorne say something to Georgetta and she said something back and they seemed to be bickering, and Buffy felt her face being washed clean. She was about to open her eyes when the makeup process started again, only this time without all the fuss. She felt a cool sponge working over her face followed by a brush. She then felt something being applied to her nose and under her eyes and then felt a brush move over her eyelids. Then she felt a pencil trace her eyes and finally she felt some lip stuff being applied. She was asked by Lorne to blot which she did and then he whispered, “Open your eyes sweet thing.”
Buffy opened her eyes and she saw that her face looked gentler and softer. Her eyes were accented and looked even bigger if that was possible. She smiled and whispered, “I like it but it’s a lot of work.” Lorne waved his hand, “Nonsense! She used a bit of foundation because you were so pale and some powder, which every girl needs in order to make sure she isn’t shiny. Then she added a bit of color brushed on your cheeks to accent them followed by eye-shadow and traced your beautiful green eyes with a light color pencil to make your eyes appear even more beautiful if that were even possible. She didn’t use mascara because she said you didn’t need it. So really it’s not that much trouble once you get used to it, but again you wouldn’t need this except for a special occasion where you were dressing to impress. I have an idea about your clothes. I think this will be better than designer places if that’s ok with you.” Buffy nodded as Georgetta started packing a bag full of items. Buffy glanced around at the store and was thankful to be brought somewhere else. Lorne took the package from Georgetta and said something causing her to smile and wave. Buffy waved back and as soon as they left the store Lorne tossed the bag onto his arm and grabbed her arm pulling her towards the back of the mall.
Lorne entered a shop called Bloomingdale’s. Buffy glanced around and grinned. This was definitely her style. This was a place she was familiar with. Instead of fancy dresses with weird hats, this place allowed you to pick and choose from all the designer clothing. She grinned as Lorne released her arm allowing her to choose a dress or two. She looked at the price tags trying to work up how much she was spending and frowned glancing towards Lorne, “How much can I spend?” Lorne grinned, “Don’t worry Popsicle. You aren’t paying so just have fun!” Buffy nodded and Lorne admired the three dresses in her hand, “Those are amazing! Here try on these too!” Lorne handed her a large handful of tank tops and shorts and capris that actually were her style. She grinned as she raced to the dressing rooms trying on the clothing. Every piece they had picked out looked amazing on her.