|
|
December 23, 2017
San Francisco, CA
Willow Harris gripped her kitchen table with one
while she held the phone to her ear with
the other. "Y-yes Mrs. Chase. I'm still here," she choked
out through the tears streaming
down her cheeks. "Th-thank you for calling. We'll be there
as soon as we can. I'm so sorry,"
she said helplessly. "Bye," she responded to the other woman's
goodbye and then hung up
the phone. Fighting back the sobs that threatened to overwhelm
her, she sat down heavily in
the nearest chair. "Oh God," she breathed, rocking slowly back
and forth. "Poor Oz. He
must be devastated." She allowed herself a few more minutes to
cry and then pulled herself
together as much as possible. There were arrangements to be made
after all if they were
going to get to Los Angeles that night. Drawing a ragged breath,
she called up the stairs to
her daughter. "Melissa, honey, could you come down to the kitchen
please?"
Melissa barreled down the stairs, ready to jump
into her mother's arms for one of their
regular bear hugs. When she reached the bottom and took in Willow's
tear-stained face,
however, she slowed to a halt. "Mom?" she asked quietly.
"What's wrong? Did somebody
die?" she asked in a voice so calm that it broke Willow's heart.
"What ten year-old girl is that calm about death?"
she thought to herself. "One whose
mother is a Vampire Slayer," she answered her own question. Nodding
wordlessly, she
gathered Melissa into her arms and buried her head in her daughter's
soft hair. Tears started
rolling down her cheeks again as she thanked God that her little girl
was safe. Her thoughts
turned again to Oz and she began to cry harder.
Melissa stood patiently, waiting for her mother
to stop crying. She wasn't sure what had
happened, but she knew that it was bad. One of her mother's friends
had died. As she stood
engulfed in Willow's arms, Melissa prayed silently that it wasn't one
of her three favorite aunts.
She loved all of her parents' friends of course, but she had always
loved Melissa, Buffy, and
Drusilla the most. She knew it was selfish, but she prayed that
somebody besides the three of
them had died. Then, feeling guilty, she turned her attention
back to her crying mother and
tightened her arms around her, wishing that her father were home.
*****
Xander Harris pulled into his driveway and rolled
to a stop next to Spike and Melissa's
minivan. As he saw the van his heart tightened. "Something's
wrong," he told himself, not
really sure how he knew. "Something just doesn't feel right."
He grabbed his briefcase and
headed for the front door of his house. "Willow?" he called as
he entered the house. He
could feel the tension in the house as he heard his wife call his name.
Following the sound of
her voice, he entered the kitchen and was greeted by a sight that shattered
his heart into a
million pieces. Willow still wore the business suit she wore
to the software company she
worked at. Her clothes were slightly rumpled though, and her
face was red from crying.
Black streaks stained her cheeks from where her mascara had run.
Looking around the
room, he noticed that Melissa had a similar appearance and that his
daughter and Spike
sniffled occasionally. Spike and Melissa's twins were too young
to understand what was
going on and sat in a corner playing with some of Melly's old toys.
"Wil, what's wrong?" he
asked, fear gripping him.
"Xander," she sobbed in a voice trembling with sorrow.
"It's Cordelia. She was taking
Willow home from day care and a drunk driver..." she trailed off, unable
to vocalize what had
happened.
"Oh God." His briefcase hit the ground with
a thud as he moved to engulf his wife in his
arms. "Oh God," he repeated, not knowing what else to say.
"It's just not fair," his mind
screamed as he rocked Willow slowly back and forth. "She was
happy. She got her life on
track and now she's gone? It's not fair," he thought as he tried
to comfort Willow. When her
sobs had subsided, he pulled back slightly and smiled sadly at Willow.
"We're going down
there, right?" he asked her quietly.
"Yes. Cordelia's mom called. I promised
her we'd be there as soon as we could. Oz is
going to need all the friends he can get. Mrs. Chase is worried
about him. She said that
Buffy and Angel were with him at his house, so that's good," Willow
answered, brushing away
the tears on her cheek.
"What about Giles and Dru? Are we going to
pick them up on our way out of town?"
"No," Melissa answered. "We called them a
while ago. They're on their way over. We're
going to take the van and your car." She sat with her head leaning
against her husband's
shoulder, watching her twins playing in the corner.
They sat in silence, holding onto each other as
if for dear life, until they heard the doorbell
ring. Xander went to open the door and enfolded Giles and Dru
into a hug as they stepped
into the house. They moved into the kitchen and Giles and Dru
moved around the room,
exchanging hugs with everybody while their daughter joined the twins
in the corner. Then
they packed everyone into the van and Xander's car and started in on
their long drive to Los
Angeles.
Willow sat in the passenger seat of her husband's
car and looked out the window as
Xander drove. Melly was asleep in the back seat with her Aunt
Dru beside her. The three
adults didn't speak, taking the time to gather their thoughts.
Giles and Drusilla had decided to
split up so that both Melissa and Willow would have one of them watching
over her. Giles had
chosen to stay with Mel so Dru went with Willow and Xander. Willow
glanced back to the
back seat to check on her daughter and her thoughts once again turned
to her friend and
former boyfriend. "Poor Oz," she thought again, thinking about
what she would do if she lost
Melissa. Then she thought of Cordelia and her eyes filled with
tears. Willow had lost friends
before, of course, but never anyone who she had loved as much as she
did Cordelia.
Through her grief her thoughts turned to the first day she had ever
thought of Cordelia Chase
as her friend...
*****
December 26, 1998
Sunnydale General Hospital
Cordelia stood in the hallway, looking through the
window into Xander's hospital room.
She smiled when she saw Willow sitting in the chair next to the bed,
still stubbornly refusing to
leave Xander's side. She waited for Buffy and Melissa to exit
the room before she entered.
She didn't want to interfere with the time that the four friends had
to spend together. When
Buffy and Melissa finally decided to go get something to eat, she knocked
tentatively on the
door and entered when bidden. "Hi," she said, smiling softly
at Xander and Willow. "I brought
you both presents," she added, showing them the four wrapped boxes
she carried. "One is
for Christmas and one is a get-well present."
Willow smiled and accepted the gifts Cordelia offered.
"Thanks Cordelia," she said as she
and Xander each opened their first gift. Willow opened the box
to find a beautiful green
sweater. "Wow, Cordelia, it's beautiful!" she exclaimed as she
held it up. "Thank you."
Cordelia smiled happily. She had chosen it
because she thought the green color would go
perfectly with Willow's red hair. She planned to suggest that
she wear it on her first date with
Xander. She turned to her boyfriend, well soon-to-be-ex-boyfriend,
and watched excitedly as
he opened his gift. As he pulled the top off the box and looked
inside he started laughing
hysterically. "What?" she asked, not sure what exactly was so
amusing.
"Have you been talking to Melissa?" he asked when
he finally regained control of his voice.
"No. Why?" she asked, confused.
"Yeah, Xander. Why?" Willow asked him.
Xander pulled the book out of the box and showed
it to Willow. "'How to Find Ms. Right'. I
think they're conspiring against me," he smiled.
"Well," Cordelia answered, "there were some things
in there that I thought you should
know. I marked some of them. You can read them later."
"Nope, I'll read them now," Xander said mischievously.
"Okay, here's the first one. The
chapter is called 'Why Best Friends Make Great Lovers'. Gee,
Cordy," he looked up at her,
"is this supposed to be a hint?"
"Not a hint. Just a suggestion. Wait'll
you open your other gift. It's handmade and very
helpful," she answered cryptically. "First, though, Willow gets
to open her other present."
"Cool," Willow smiled. She unwrapped the gift
quickly and pulled open the box. She
stared at the contents of the box for a few minutes before she looked
back up at Cordelia.
"Thank you," she said simply. "I guess I'm going to need these,
huh?"
"Well, that's what Melissa said. I'm sorry,
but I overheard her talking to Giles about it. I
wasn't sure if anyone else had gotten you one, so I made a couple for
you. I hope you don't
mind," she said, unsure of whether Willow liked it.
"What is it?" Xander asked, curiosity getting the
best of him.
Willow pulled out one of the stakes and held it
up to let Xander see it. His eyes widened as
he looked at it. It hadn't occured to him until that moment that
Willow probably would need that
now. Then he smiled. "Wow," he thought. "Willow's
the Slayer." Finally, not sure of what
else to say, Xander said, "Cool." This caused Willow and Cordelia
to burst out laughing.
"What? What did I say?" Xander demanded, but neither of them
responded. "Fine," he said,
"if you're just going to laugh at me, I'm going to open my present
now."
Cordelia and Willow calmed down as they watched
Xander open his gift. Cordelia smiled
expectantly as he pulled the top off the box and stared at the handmade
book he found inside.
He looked up at Cordelia then back down at the book. Finally,
unable to help himself, he
started laughing again. "Subtle, Cordy, real subtle," he said
as he pulled out the book to show
Willow.
Willow stared at the book in Xander's hand.
"'The Many Wonders of Willow Rosenberg'"?
she asked, looking over at Cordelia.
"That's not the whole title," Cordelia protested.
"Okay, let's see," Willow answered. "Oh, 'The
Many Wonders of Willow Rosenberg or Why
She's Much Better Than Cordelia Chase'. Sorry," she said, laughing.
"That's better. It's an excellent book.
I would give it four stars. Of course, I wrote it,"
Cordelia smiled.
"Well, let's take a look at it," Xander said, opening
to the first page. "Okay, page one.
'Willow is your best friend, doofus'. Thanks Cordelia.
I didn't know that."
"Keep reading," she glared at him.
"All right. This is accompanied by a nice
picture of me and Willow. See?" he asked,
showing it to Willow.
"Mm-hmm," she nodded. "Very nice."
"Now, page two. 'She's way smarter than me.
And you, for that matter.' Okay, true.
Page three. 'She's the best person I've ever known'. Also
true. Page four. 'She's beautiful'.
True," he said, looking up at Willow and smiling. "Page five.
'She's totally in love with you'.
Well, I hope so. Page...Oops that's it."
"I didn't say it was a long book," Cordelia said
defensively. "I didn't have a lot of time.
There would be a lot more in there, but I ran out of time."
"I think those were good enough," Xander smiled.
"So, are you trying to get rid of me?"
"Yup, I'm sick of you," she managed to muster a
small laugh. "Okay," she said, getting
down to business. "I need to talk to each of you separately.
Willow, if I get someone to come
with a wheelchair, could we go somewhere and talk for awhile?"
"Sure," Willow responded, "but I don't need a wheelchair.
I can walk by myself."
"I'm sure you can, but I'm going to get a wheelchair
anyway, so just sit right there," she
ordered as she left to find a nurse. After a few minutes she
returned wheeling a wheelchair.
"Okay, they said I could take you myself. Hop in."
Willow complied, settling into the chair.
"Can we go outside?" she asked.
"Sure if you want to," Cordelia answered.
"Want me to go real fast?"
"After we get outside," Willow laughed.
Xander sighed as they left.
When they got outside, Cordelia went really fast
as promised and then slowed to a halt next
to a tree. Even though it was the day after Christmas, it was
relatively warm in the Southern
California sun so they were pretty comfortable. Cordelia sat
down on the bench next to the
tree and drew a breath. She took a few moments to organize her
thoughts and then spoke. "I
love him, but you already know that," she said quietly, looking at
Willow. A solitary tear
slipped down Cordelia's cheek, but she quickly brushed it away.
"You love him more,
though," she continued before she lost her nerve. "And he loves
you. So, I'm going to break
up with him today. I don't play second fiddle to any one," she
said, her pride showing
through. "I'm sure I can find someone better soon."
"Um, okay Cordelia," Willow felt a pang of guilt
when she thought of her happiness coming
at the price of Cordelia's, but it quickly passed when she heard Cordelia's
last statement.
"Okay. Now," Cordelia said, "I have to go
break up with Xander. I'll take you inside to talk
to Melissa and Buffy. Could you wait a few minutes before you
come back to the room,
though? I need to talk to him alone."
"Sure. We'll wait outside the room until you
get done talking to him."
"Okay," Cordelia smiled and then took Willow inside.
After dropping her off with Melissa
and Buffy, she headed up to Xander's hospital room. She knocked
quietly on the door and
then entered. Xander sat propped up in his bed, leafing through
the book Cordelia had
bought him.
"Hey," he grinned sheepishly when he saw her.
"There are some really interesting tips in
here."
"Hi," she said, smiling back. "I know.
Why do you think I bought it for you?"
"So, are you going to dump me now?" he asked, knowing
that it would be difficult for her to
get to the point.
"Yeah," she answered, her gaze turning to the ground
in front of her feet. "I want you to
know that I really want you to be happy. You love Willow and
she loves you. The two of you
belong together. I do love you, though," she said, looking up
at him with tears in her eyes. "I
tried not to fall for you, but I couldn't help it. Don't feel
bad, though. It's not your fault. I don't
want you feeling guilty. I'll get over it, I promise. Anyway,"
she said, brushing the tears away,
"Willow will be good for you. She's a better person than you
are, though," she joked.
"I know she is," he smiled. "Can you believe
it took me seventeen years to figure out how
much I love her?"
"Yes," Cordelia answered, laughing. "You're
not too bright sometimes."
"Hey!" he exclaimed, smacking her arm lightly.
"Well, you asked. You left yourself wide open
for that one," she explained.
"Yeah, yeah. That didn't mean you had to take
the opportunity, though."
Cordelia walked over to the door and looked out
the window. "Well, Willow's waiting
outside for me to get done in here. Okay, well, I'm gonna go.
I'll talk to you later," she said,
giving him a quick hug before she walked out the door. Then she
walked out into the hall and
over to where Willow sat in her wheelchair. "Okay, I'm done,"
she said when she reached
her.
"How are you doing?" Willow asked sympathetically.
"I'll be okay," Cordelia answered bravely.
"Could I ask you for a favor? If I'm going to get
into a decent college, I'm going to need to seriously improve my grades.
Do you think you
could help me by tutoring me or something?"
"Sure," Willow smiled. Maybe Cordelia wasn't
the nicest person she had ever known, but
she was trying. Maybe someday Cordelia would even be friendly.
"I bet if you ask nice,
Melissa will help too. She's pretty smart."
Cordelia looked over at Melissa and swallowed.
She knew that Melissa hated her for the
way she had treated Willow and Xander. "Melissa?" she asked tentatively
and then steeled
her voice. "Could you tutor me so I can get into a decent college
and get out of this hole my
parents call a town?"
Melissa thought about it for a few moments and then
nodded. "Okay, Cordelia, I'll help
you. But only if you promise me something," she added.
"Okay, what?" Cordelia asked.
"You have to promise that you won't copy my choice
of gifts for our friends any more,
okay?" she said, laughing, causing Willow, Buffy, and finally Cordelia
to join in.
"Okay," she smiled. "You've got yourself a
deal."
*****
December 23, 2017
On the freeway to L.A.
Willow smiled remembering that day. It was
funny, but all of her memories of Cordelia
were good now. She had done so much to make up for the years
of torture she had put
Willow and Xander through, that it had pretty well obliterated the
memories of those years. "Of
course, that's why this hurts so much," Willow thought to herself.
"She became a really good
friend and now she's gone." A tear slipped down her cheek, and
Willow brushed it away. "I
didn't think I had this many tears in me," she thought idly as she
turned her thoughts to happier
times. Melissa and Willow had helped Cordelia bring her grades
up and she was accepted to
Boston College to major in English. She left her friends behind
in Sunnydale, but
communicated with them frequently. Willow could still remember
the day that she had come
home for Christmas during her second year of college. She had
been practically brimming
with news and had brought a friend along for a visit.
Next Part
An Angel Among Us Menu
Fan Fiction Chamber