Disclaimer: All characters, concepts and locations from Buffy the Vampire Slayer belong to Joss Whedon and Mutant Enemy Productions.

Envy

She had thought she was ready.

That she could greet her friends and withstand their wrath. That she could make peace with them.

But looking upon them she merely felt the same anger that had been there seemingly forever return. With her enhanced senses she could see the lines around Willow's eyes that had once only been there when she laughed, the scattered grey hairs amongst pitch black that only served to make Xander look distinguished, and she didn't need slayer eyesight to see the occasional stumble in Giles' once sure step.

Only Faith seemed as unaffected by time as Buffy, still looking just into her twenties with her raven hair falling around features as familiar to Buffy as her own. Though Faith's physical appearance had barely changed, it could be seen in the slight way she favored this leg; that arm. Scars left by wounds deep enough to still hinder even a slayer affecting her in ways unnoticeable to anyone who hadn't studied postures and martial arts.

Buffy looked upon the friends that she had once called family and was angry at them, at herself, at the way things had turned out. The changes in the Scoobies only served to remind her that they were slowly but surely heading towards the one thing she longed for; the one thing she would never have.

They might die tomorrow, but oh how she envied them that uncertainty.