Good story.

Don't let folks like Joe "I hate the namesake of the show that I moderate a story board for" Hundredaire.
Amusing that every one of his points against you for Scoobie bashing can be levied against him for Buffy bashing.
I mean, the man thinks Cordelia's development into a mature, intelligent character in Angel shows how she had to ALWAYS be secretly a mature, caring character.
But Buffy behaving like a typical California bottle blond means the character must be an airhead in perpetuity; with any development of the character into the more grounded, intelligent, and/or heroic personality seen to develop in the show being just a ploy of Whedon. What that ploy is, I never am really able to decipher.
About the only things I agree with him on are 1) Spike is evil, 2) Cordy has a hot bod, and 3) lesbians are awesome (even if they do compete with me for the honeys).
I think I will always kind of hate the man because I would probably love his work if it wasn't for the completely OOC take he has on Buffy.

Anyway, sorry about the rant against Joe. I read his comment and it set me off. Really just wanted to throw my appreciation of your story in with the others who feel the same way.
And also to say, the best sequel to this would be one that doesn't even mention the Scoobies. A happy Buffy is a Buffy who doesn't have to think about the people who crapped all over her.

I appreciate the support, but would prefer if you made the review private. Since it's happened to me, I don't like when an author gets mentioned in a negative way for somebody else's story (where they can't easily respond).

About the sequel, that'd be nice...if people would allow me to write a story that didn't mention them at all. Apparently it's Buffy's duty not only to protect the world, but to allow the Scoobies to control her life without complaining.

Wow. I know you don't like Xander and all for some reason, but he would have slightly more empathy for the fact that a 16 year just died. You make him sound like he's one step above Angelus here. In fact, everybody in the story sounded like a grade A sociopath.


Yea, that's not how they acted on the show, ever.

He honestly thinks that it was just a simple accident and should automatically be forgiven. After all, that's what always happens when he or Willow screw up and somebody gets hurt or killed.

finally Buffy is leaving the Hellmouth. I never understand why they let Buffy guard the Hellmouth. Normally a slayer lives in another town or goes across the world to places she is needed. It can't be good having a Slayer 24/7 guarding. Doesn't it seem strange that after they put a guard that so many apocalypses and strange things happened. The attraction off a Slayer and the dark vibes the Hellmouth gives attracted evil. double doses if you get what I mean.

I hope that one day you will do a sequel where we can read how strong Tara has become and how Willow can't stop abusing her power. Buffy has enough of it and has plans to bound Willows power. Together Buffy and Tara are much stronger than Willow or a coven off witches will ever be. Oh and don't forget the single-minded Xander who needs to learn that he can't control every body's live and Giles who has to take of his eyecaps so he can see what really is going on.

Please a sequel to this good story.

edit: Well the coven didn't do it when Giles took her to them in the series. So I have little hope Giles will let them. And about the Helmouth. You are right on the other hand there wasn't a Slayer on the Hellmouth before and not much happened and when there was a Slayer a lot happens. So to me it seems Slayer and dark vibes pulls more evil to it. A well we will never know.

Good point about having a Slayer on the Hellmouth. I suppose it's one of those circular argument things though. You need a Slayer there to stop anyone from opening the Hellmouth, but if she isn't there, then most of the demons (lesser ones at least) wouldn't be attracted there after the Mayor dies. Or at least an argument could be made that it would quiet down after she leaves.

My guess is that a true coven (based on what little I know about Wicca) would bind Willow's powers regardless of whether she claimed to be remorseful or not.

very nice story Mmmoch hope to see more

Thanks. Glad you liked it.

Now I really want to read "Buffy and Tara's American Adventure".

I agree that Willow got too many chances to redeem herself.

Overall a good little story.

Thanks. I'm personally stunned that any of her spells actually worked the way she intended them to when we see stuff like 'Tabula Rasa'.

You are right. Anger. Succinct. Well thought out. Interesting read. Thankyou.

Figured that since I did a story where people died during Xander's love spell (the one he made Amy cast), I should do the same for one of Willow's flubs. It was dumb luck that people didn't die during this spell or the 'My Will Be Done' spell.

There's no rule that says the slayer has to be in Sunnydale. Nikki Wood was in NY, Buffy Summers was in Los Angeles. The Council will not be after Buffy as she is not the latest slayer.
Imagine if someone is a town sheriff and the town council appoints a new sheriff, but the old sheriff hangs around in a voluntary capacity to help; it's their choice and can leave anytime.
Kendra, and then Faith, are the new sheriff (slayer); Buffy was doing everyone a favor by continuing to act in the slayer role.

I agree with those that say that Buffy's reaction was actually understated; I suppose due to her emotional deadening it is hard for her to be truly angry at this stage.
I realize this is a one-off deal, but I would actually like to read a follow-up story with Buffy and Tara in NYC.
Comparison of mmooch with a certain other author are crazy - that author hated all BtVS characters (except possibly Dawn, or her version of the character; however I only looked at some of her stories, and that was over a year ago, so I'm not completely certain of this). Anyway there are plenty of pro-Xander, anti-Buffy, authors and reviewers, Joe, that you can checkout.

And, Harry, it's not Buffy's duty to get Faith out of jail - that's the Council's job.

But...but...if she isn't in Sunnydale, she might get to experience a better life or something! Heck, after the last few encounters with Buffy, the Council might decide that as long as she isn't actively helping evil, they'll leave her alone because they know she won't be able to stop helping people for long. More likely, they'll find a way to kill Faith in jail and start with a new Slayer, hopefully one they can control...like they did with Kendra.

I think the reason why I didn't have Buffy kill Willow was because of how justified it would be, it's still murder since it's after the fact. Now if she caught Willow casting another spell, that could be a different story; then she might be able to claim self-defense. While it wouldn't make it to a court of law, it's still important for Buffy's psyche not to kill without it being in self-defense or in the line of her duty.

Nice Short.

The one thing I didn't understand was Xander's position. At this point in the series, he and Tara were trying really hard to stop Willow using magic. And him forgiving Willow when Dawn dies? That threw me out of the story, as I can't see that happening. He'd be all for sending her to the coven, minimum, with her death as a possibility.

I liked Giles in this a lot. He came across just right.

And it's a pity Buffy is going to die, but she did let her temper get away from her a little too much. Walking away from Slaying has never been an option - especially since demons can apparently sense her.. Travers will have her killed for walking away from her 'duty'.. And since they won't be trying to catch her, they'll probably use a sniper.

Still regardless, this was really well written, and I mostly enjoyed it.

But it's Willow. When it comes to her, he can be irrational. All he would see was that Willow was trying to do something good for Buffy (he would guess what it was based on the conversation at his apartment the night before). That's why he'd think that the only option to deal with her actions would be to send her to the coven.

She's not walking away from slaying, just from Sunnydale and her former friends. Faith's the holder of the Slayer line now, so if the Council wants somebody on the Hellmouth, all they have to do is kill her (since I don't think they'd give her a second chance). As long as Buffy's not actively helping evil, I don't think Travers would bother with her. Plus he probably knows that it's not in her to ignore her duty for too long, despite anything she says. She's already proved in the past when she's 'quit' that it never lasts.

normally i don' like bashing of various characters, but your story was good and solid and really, it's nice to occasionally see a change of pace like this. so, interesting read.

Glad that my bashing made sense. I can't say I'd be too forgiving if one of my best friends got my sister killed...even if it was an accident. Not given the history Buffy has with Willow's magic.

Wow. An mmooch tale with anti-Scooby sentiment and character death. This is my shocked face.

Hmm. You know, we haven't seen Kate lately. Did she pass her crown on to you? O_o

EDIT: I wasn't commenting on your summary or a supposed lack thereof. If you had a problem there, I would have simply quarantined you and moved on. I was just sharing my amusement in that a supposed fan of the series seems to get her jollies by indulging in a Kate-esque campaign of hate against everyone outside of her favorite character.

As for Kate... she's dealt with pretty much every moderator on this site at one time or another regarding her behavior. She's got a whole bunch of people demanding an author-wide hide system from our coder so they can permanently ignore her. I think it's safe to assume that she knows how she's viewed.

EDIT 2: I have. Regularly. Just like how I treat you. Just looking at the stats, this thing's getting untracked and/or hidden faster than the homophobes go after my stuff. That's impressive. :)

Hey, I warned people upfront, so if they don't like it, they can hit the back button or hide the story.

Last I heard, she was doing some original writing. Not that I expect better from you, but it's rather unfair to make negative comments about other authors in reviews for somebody else's story - especially public reviews. It's not as if they can defend themselves against the attacks...unless they happen to review the same story and read the other reviews.

EDIT: Regardless of how sure you are that Kate knows how people feel about her, it isn't right to go after her in a way that she has no recourse. If you want to gripe about an author, either do it privately or to their face (so to speak).

EDIT2: I'd rather they stop tracking a single story than stop tracking me as an author and I've grown a thick enough skin not to care if anyone hides my story. If they do, I probably am not writing with them in mind as my audience.

Yay!! Tara & Buffy off to their new lives together! I love this idea. (I'd love it a little more if Spike had lived, but it's all good. lol) So glad Buffy cut everyone else out of her life & only wanted/allowed Tara to stay close. Xander can bite it. LOL Great one-shot!

Can't remember why I killed Spike; maybe to keep him a hero in Buffy's eyes. After this episode was when he started manipulating her (in my opinion), so if he dies before that, he's still a good friend to her. Despite the fact she helped with the resurrection spell, Tara was the best friend to Buffy in season 6 of all the people in her life. Plus she was messed with too, so Buffy had no reason to leave her behind.

Buffy, you are making a MAJOR mistake! I know you are made, I know you feel the world on your shoulders, but you still have a job to do! Now, if you want to delegate that to Faith, then you need to figure out how to get her out of jail, how to get her to Sunnydale, especially with Giles and Willow taking off for England. That leaves Xander all by himself to handle the threat of the Hellmouth. B, you are going to bring out the Wishverse if you go this route.

Why should Buffy have to get the 'real' Slayer out of jail? Shouldn't that be the Council's job? And the wishverse only happened because the Master was there with no real opposition. Angel's less than 2 hours away and way different than 'Puppy'. Besides, all Giles has to do is get Willow to the coven; then he can come back and defend the Hellmouth if it needs to be defended. Still think the Council would just kill Faith and send the new Slayer to Sunnydale because they'd never trust Faith not to turn on them again.

Ok, in all honesty Buffy would have killed Willow. Spell that results in the death of an innocent? Means Willow would have been in the slay category especially since it was Dawn.

We can dream, can't we? It's such a nice dream. Unless Willow was intending on somebody dying though, the most I could reasonably see Buffy doing is smacking her around a bit. Maybe threatening that if she ever caught Willow so much as rhyming again, she'd kill her...on the off chance that Willow was doing another spell.

I like it!

Thanks.

And what a rant! Am glad to see that Tara is going along with Buffy and that they found Joyce's hidden box!!!

Didn't want them to have to worry about anything tying them to Sunnydale, and it makes sense that Joyce would have life insurance great enough to cover bills for the girls.