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Author's Chapter Notes:
This is an angst free chapter, no tissues will be needed. :)
Reunions / Part 30

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When Buffy, Faith, Joy and Kar-Hool got back to the underground room of the warehouse, Buffy and Faith carried Spike into his room and tied him up. Buffy had stayed in the room with Spike while Faith went back out to join the others. Dawn had gone into the room briefly to speak to Buffy, and make sure Spike was alright, then left them alone. At first the group, consisting of Giles, Willow, Dawn, Faith, Robin and Xander had stood together not knowing what to do next. Joy had been standing to one side holding Kar-Hools hand speaking to him inside his mind.

After several minutes of indecision and pacing of the floor, Giles took off his glasses to clean them, which seemed to have a calming effect on him. Abruptly he started speaking, “What are we going to do next. Buffy and Spike are together, but Spike is unconscious and we don’t know for how long he will stay that way. Everyone is scattered all over the place. We are suppose to attend a party for Joy in a few hours. Friends of Spikes, demon and human alike are arriving hourly. We are suppose to meet with some demon priests, or wizards or whatever they are, to discuss what they know about the Guardians, and I for one am about to start climbing the walls in frustration and anxiety. Does anyone have a suggestion?”

“Yes” Dawn said forcefully. “We sit down, shut up and wait. We all know that the only thing that really counts today, for us anyway, is that Buffy and Spike talk and work things out between them.” She looked over at Giles and stared him in the eye. “Buffy loves Spike, but he doesn’t think she can. It’s not important why he thinks this, but he does. Buffy has to convince him otherwise. Because if she can’t we all know what’s going to happen. Buffy is going to let herself die and there isn’t anything any of us can do to stop her. Not this time.” A tear ran down Dawns face, followed by another and another.

The brutal truth coming from Dawns mouth shut everyone else up. They all knew she was right, but they all felt helpless just standing around doing nothing. Faith walked over to the wall by the door and kicked it, then slammed her fist against it. Robin came up from behind her and wrapped his arms around her, holding her arms to her side, as he kissed the side of her neck and started talking to her in a low whisper. Faith had been to the point of vibrating herself right off her feet with anxiety, but as Robin whispered in her ear she visibly calmed down. Xander had walked over to Dawn and taken her into his arms, which seemed to help her calm down too. Willow stood in the middle of the floor trying to think of something she could do to help, but there was nothing she could do. In frustration she walked over to Xander, who holding on to Dawn with one arm pulled Willow into a hug with the other. Giles put his glasses back on, put his hands in his pockets and started pacing the floor again.

The arrival of a large number of the children and a few of the slayers and adult guest broke into everyone’s introspective concentration. The children all stopped near Joy as they came into the room and she made quiet cooing sounds to them that seemed to reassure them. The older children and the adults led the younger ones over to one side of the room and started handing out fruit for breakfast. While they were eating the fruit four of the older children came in through a back door carrying gallon jugs of milk and two large boxes. As soon as they entered the room the aroma of freshly made donuts filled the room. Xander, who was still standing with Dawn and Willow, noticed the enticing aroma immediately and his stomach started to grumble. In fact the grumble was so loud that it was noticed across the room and the younger children started to giggle. This broke the ice for the rest of the group and they all went over to join the children for breakfast. Because there were more than enough donuts Xander allowed himself to take one without feeling guilty.

With breakfast finished the younger children all laid down to take a nap. All of them had been up most of the night and needed to sleep for awhile before the party later in the day. Feeling that they needed to stay quiet, but not wanting to leave the room or be to far away from Buffy, the others went over to the area by the door where Spike usually sat with them when they visited. Giles was given the honor of sitting on the big cushion while the others sat down on the floor in front of him. None of them really had anything to say to each other because all of them were preoccupied with thoughts about Buffy and Spike.

As they sat there in quiet, Dawn was the first to notice sounds coming from Spikes little room. She was just getting ready to get up to investigate when Joy was at her side placing her hand on Dawns shoulder. Kar-Hool was standing next to Joy and none of them had noticed either one of them approaching. Joy sat down in Dawns lap while Kar-Hool sat down on the floor next to her.

“The Child of Light has given me permission to speak with you” Kar-Hool said in a deep, but quiet, rumbling voice. “The Child believes that I may learn from you and that you may in turn learn from me.”

“Oh, that’s quite thoughtful of you” Giles replied courteously. “I would greatly appreciate learning more about you and your people. We are especially interested in learning what your people know about ‘The Guardians’ and why you believe that Joy is a Guardian?”

“I can tell you very little about ‘The Guardians’, such are the secrets of the priesthood and not of common knowledge among the Hool. I will tell you that my father, Mar-Hool of the Hool-Mar Clan and High Priest of all the Hool believes that The Child of Light is a Guardian. The other priests of the Clans agree with my father on this.”

“Why do you call Joy ‘The Child of Light’” Dawn asked as she held Joy in her lap.

Kar-Hool looked around the group to see that they were all interested in his answer, but he seemed unsure how to start. Joy held out her hand to him. Reaching out his hand Kar-Hool let Joy wrap her fingers around one of his fingers. For a moment they sat quietly, then Kar-Hool spoke. “Prophecy! The Child of Light was prophesized to my people thousands of years ago. We have been waiting for her arrival since the time of man.”

“What exactly does that mean” Giles enquired, a look of intense concentration on his face.

“The Child tells me that you are a man of learning, a scholar, within your Clan” Kar-Hool said. “This is true?”

“Well, we don’t normally think of ourselves as a Clan” Giles replied, “but for the most part what you said would be true.”

Kar-Hool let his head tilt a little to one side and bending his head forward a little he looked up at Giles from under his brows. The similarity between Kar-Hools actions and the actions of Spike under similar situations struck Dawn immediately and she had to grin. Joy noticed as well, or just read Dawns thoughts, and giggled.

“As a scholar it is known to you that the many Clans of Demon-kin walked the surface of this world long before the coming of human-kin. During those times long ago there was war among the Clans that lasted for thousands of years until few remained. Most of those that survived went into the hidden places deep below the surface or left this world altogether. Others, like the Hool remained near the surface. Living in caves and by-ways beneath the surface, but journeying out to hunt and gather as was needed. In those times there were seven Clans of the Hool living in this way. As the Clans of the human-kin spread across the surface, two of the Clans of the Hool were destroyed, the Hool-Ken and the Hool-Yun. It was after the destruction of these Clans that a Prophecy was given to the priests of the remaining Clans. It was foretold that one day a Child of Light, of Human-kin, would come to the Hool and would bring to them a Gift. The Gift was said to be the Treasure that all of human-kin possessed, even those who did not know they had it, but that none of demon-kin had ever owned. The Prophecy said that when we received the Gift we would become the Most Blessed of all demon-kin. For thousands of years the priest of the Clans debated the nature of this Gift trying to discern it’s nature. Two of the Clans of Hool, the Hool-Bar and the Hool-Fes, left the caverns of the Hool to seek out human-kin and discover what this Gift that human-kin had without knowledge was, and how it would make the people of the Hool Most Blessed among Demon-kin. Neither Clan ever returned to the caves of the Hool, and that was thousands of years ago.”

Kar- Hool paused in his speech with a look of confusion on his face. He reached out to Joy again and let her take one of his fingers into hers. They stared at each other quietly for a few moments until the confusion left his face. He then started speaking again. “In the manner in which you count time, in the Year of Our Lord, 1649, three hundred and sixty-two years in the past, the answer to the nature of the Gift was finally brought to the Hool by a human-kin priest. Father Sebastian was sent to this land to bring the words of his God to the primitive human-kin who lived on the surface of this land. The primitives captured Father Sebastian and instead of listening to his words they put out his eyes and released him into the desert to die. Father Sebastian stumbled through the desert and found his way into a cave. Following the walls of the cave searching for water he wandered into a cave of the Hool-Mar. My fathers, father, the priest and leader of the Hool-Mar found Father Sebastian, and instead of gathering his body for food, he brought him back to the home caves of the Hool-Mar and learned his language, and over time the teachings of his God.”

When Kar-Hool paused for a moment, and before he could continue, Willow blurted out in a high nervous voice, “Did you say ‘gather his body for food’?”

Kar-Hool looked at Willow for a few moments and then a wide smile spread across his face, showing to all that his line of demon-kin were meat eaters. A sharp bark of laughter rumbled from his chest before he spoke again. “Fear not little human, one of the first teachings of Father Sebastian that the Clans of the Hool adopted was to no longer eat the flesh of human-kin.”

“Do you mean that before the coming of this Father Sebastian your people did eat the flesh of humans?” Giles asked in a manner that clearly showed he was only trying to clarify a point of interest.

“Yes, of course. Much as those of human-kin eat the flesh of ‘cows’ and ‘pigs’. It was Father Sebastian that taught us that a Christian could not eat the flesh of anything that had the ability to ‘think’ or to ‘love’. That is also why we do not eat the flesh of ‘dogs’ any longer. It was argued for years among the people of Hool that a ‘dog’ did not have the ability to think like either a human-kin or a demon-kin. But all agreed that a ‘dog’ had the ability to ‘love’, both it’s own kin and the kin of humans and demons, so we stopped eating them too.”

As Giles, Willow, Xander, Faith, Robin and Dawn all sat with their mouths hanging open at this last statement, Joy started giggling. Kar-Hool started laughing in response to Joy’s giggles. “Hearing the sound of The Child of Light’s laughter always bring happiness to the hearts of the Hool. The human-kin name she bears, ‘Joy’, was aptly chosen.”

“Your quite right” Giles said as he smiled at Joy. “The sound of a child’s laughter always brings joy to the hearts of mankind. But getting back to what we were speaking of earlier, you said Father Sebastian brought the knowledge of what the Gift was to your people many years ago, and that, if I’m understanding things correctly you have been waiting for The Child of Light to arrive and bestow this Gift upon your people. Am I correct?”

Kar-Hool smiled hugely at Giles for his understanding and nodded his head. “Yes, that is correct. But we have not just been waiting. We have been preparing ourselves to receive the Gift for three hundred and fifty years.”

“Alright, let me make sure I understand” Giles said in a most academically absorbed manner of speaking. “You have been preparing yourselves, all of the Hool people, for over three hundred years to receive this Gift from The Child of Light when the Child comes to your people. Your father, Mar-Hool, the High Priest of all the Hool, and all the other priests of the Hool, have come to the conclusion that Joy is The Child of Light.” Giles looked up at Kar-Hool and saw that he was nodding his head in agreement. “Now I’m assuming that whatever the Gift is, Joy, The Child of Light has not yet bestowed this Gift upon your people, because from what I gather you are all still waiting for it. Is that correct?” Giles looked at Kar-Hool and saw that he was nodding in agreement again. Giles was feeling very self-satisfied with his progress. “Now, if I may ask, and if it is not violating any of your religious beliefs, what is the nature of this Gift that The Child of Light will bestow upon the people of the Hool?”

Kar-Hool straightened himself up where he sat on the floor and reaching out gently took Joy’s hand between his large fingers. He smiled at Joy with love and happiness clearly showing on his face, then spoke. “The Gift of The Child of Light to all the people of the Hool will be to give us, Souls!”

The utter belief in and profoundness of Kar-Hool’s statement was a shock to everyone sitting around him on the floor. There was no doubt in Giles mind that Kar-Hool, and all of Hool he represented, truly believed that Joy was The Child of Light and that she could, or would, someday give all of them a soul. Giles was at a total loss as to what to say in response. Cautiously, Giles composed a reply in his mind before speaking. “Kar-Hool, it is the belief among all, or most of human-kin, that the bestowing of a soul is the act of God. Are you saying that your people think that Joy is a God?”

“No, but yes” Kar-Hool said as he smiled at Joy with happiness. “The Child of Light is still a child at this time, that is why she is under the protection of the Champion of Dark and Light. But in the fullness of time she will grow and mature, until she becomes The Light. At that time she will bestow the Gift upon my people.”

“How long will it be, uh, I mean, how long before Joy is grown enough or mature enough to do this bestowing of souls” Willow asked, her eyes wide with concern.

“It does not matter” Kar-Hool said to her, “it may be a year or a hundred years or a thousand years. But in the fullness of time The Light will shine upon the Hool and the Gift will be bestowed.”

Joy, who was still sitting in Dawns lap started trilling like a song bird. She jumped up out of Dawns lap and threw herself at Kar-Hool, wrapping her tiny arms around his neck and kissing him again and again. Kar-Hool laughed with joyfulness and returned her kisses, kiss for kiss.

Of all the people in their group, Dawn was the one least affected by Kar-Hools statement, that one day Joy would grow up to become a God and bestow souls upon all his people. As she looked around at the others she saw Faith and Robin holding hands and watching Joy and Kar-Hool kissing each other. Robin had a somewhat concerned look on his face, but didn’t seem to be really upset. Faith was just accepting the situation at face value. Dawn knew that Faith didn’t have any religious background in her life and that she pretty much believed in letting people believe what they wanted to believe, as long as they didn’t try to stuff it down her throat. Giles had his glasses off and was polishing them as he stared down at the floor and frowned. Willow had a vague look in her eyes as if she were running high level combinations and permutations through her mind and hadn’t yet reached a conclusion.

For Dawn it was simple, they all agreed in a vague non-denominational way that there was a God, or something, out there. Willow as a Wiccan prayed to the Goddess Hecata for guidance and assistance when she used her magic powers. They had all worked together to defeat the Goddess Glorificus, and Dawn herself was made from a big green blob of cosmic energy. So what was so hard about believing that Joy was going to grow up someday and become a God?

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