Title: A Sunnydale Christmas Carol
Part 2: The Ghost of Christmas Past
Author: Miss Witch
Email: MissWitch@witchesbrew.zzn.com
Rating: PG-13
Summary: A Buffy version of the Charles Dickens classic.
Disclaimer: Trust me, I own nothing. I don’t own BtVS, I don’t own "A Christmas Carol" I don’t even pretend to own them. Although if I did own them, Giles and Buffy would be much happier people.
Spoilers: Everything up to and including season 6 is fair game in this story
Distribution: If you’ve had my permission before, knock yourself out. If you don’t have my permission, you’ve just to ask.
Feedback: Does the word "Duh!" mean anything to you?

Chapter 2 – The Ghost of Christmas Past

Buffy awoke with a start, sitting up in bed. Outside it was still dark, and she looked over at the clock on the nightstand. The red numbers read 12:00. Buffy gaped at the clock.

<Twelve o’clock?> she thought. <That’s not possible. I didn’t get off work until 1 am. It had to have been at least 2 when I went to bed../../gt; Climbing out of bed, Buffy went to the window to stare out at the darkness, wondering if she’d accidentally slept until noon. If that was the case, she was late for work, and galvanized by the sudden surge of adrenalin through her body, Buffy turned back toward the room.

"What the…?" she started. The red numbers of the clock began to change in rapid succession. Buffy watched as the quarter hour passed, then the half hour, then three quarters of the hour. Finally, the clock flipped to 1:00.

"Well, no ghosts" Buffy said looking around with satisfaction. She started to crawl back into bed when the alarm on the clock started to buzz loudly.

Bright light suddenly illuminated the room. Buffy covered her eyes until the glow faded. When she was finally able to uncover them, Buffy gasped in surprise at what she saw.

"Ms. Calendar?" Buffy asked in disbelief. In front of her stood Jenny Calendar, much as Buffy remembered her. She was dressed completely in white, with sprigs of holly tucked in her dark, upswept hair.

"Relax, Buffy" Ms. Calendar said. "I’m not going to hurt you"

"You’re the first spirit?" Buffy asked. Ms. Calendar nodded, moving closer.

"I’m the Ghost of Christmas Past" she said. Buffy shook her head in disbelief.

"You can’t be" Buffy insisted. "That’s just a story"

"Have you learned nothing in your years as the Slayer?" Ms. Calendar asked in disgust. "How many ‘stories’ have turned out to be fact?" she pointed out. Buffy shrugged, but couldn’t argue against her logic. Ms. Calendar reached out and grabbed Buffy’s hand.

"It’s time to go" she said. Buffy tried to pull away, but the moment Ms. Calendar had touched her, Buffy’s bedroom had disappeared, replaced by a bustling street.

Buffy looked up and down the street in amazement.

"I know where we are" she said in awe. Buffy and Ms. Calendar walked up the sidewalk. "There’s the playground where Celia and I used to play" she pointed out. "There’s my old elementary school" Buffy said excitedly.

"I take it you’re familiar with this place" Jenny said drolly.

"Familiar? Of course I am. This is where I grew up. I know it backwards and forwards" Buffy insisted. Ms. Calendar gestured for Buffy to take the lead.

As they walked up the street, children ran around them, joyous in their Christmas cheer. Buffy knew them and pointed each out to Ms. Calendar. School had been let out for the holidays, and every child was giddy with the prospect of 10 days without school.

"But where are you?" Ms. Calendar asked, looking around. "Why aren’t you out playing with the rest of them?" She looked over toward a two-story house. "Ah, there you are"

Magically, both women were transported inside the house. Buffy looked around in wonder, taking in the sights of her childhood.

"Save me, Supergirl, save me!" a childish voice called out. Buffy whipped around toward the voice.

"Celia?" she whispered, hardly believing what she saw. But, lo and behold, there was Celia, pretending to be buried beneath a mountain of cushions. Suddenly, the child version of herself, wearing a blanket as a cape appeared in the doorway.

"Fear not, I’ll save you!" the young Buffy declared, hands on hips superhero style. The present day Buffy clapped her hands together and laughed.

"This was our favorite game" she told Jenny. "Celia would pretend to be a damsel in distress and I’d rush to her rescue" Buffy explained as the younger version of herself tossed the cushions off her cousin.

"Even as a child, you couldn’t escape your destiny" Ms. Calendar commented, watching the two girls play.

"It looks that way" Buffy muttered.

"But your destiny didn’t save her, did it?" the spirit asked. Buffy shook her head, eyes filling with tears.

"She was killed by a demon the next year" she murmured.

"Let’s see another Christmas" Jenny decided, and the scene around them faded into another. They remained in Buffy’s childhood home, different furniture and school pictures of Buffy and Dawn marked the passage of time.

"Do you ever even listen to me, Hank?" Buffy spun wildly as her mother walked to the room, trailing after her father. "Buffy quit the cheerleading squad and she’s getting into more and more trouble at school" Never stopping, Hank slid his arms into his sports coat.

"Then ground her or something" he suggested. Joyce threw up her hands in exasperation.

"She’s been grounded, it’s done no good" she told him. Hank turned.

"I don’t know what you want me to do" he told her. "I have to go on a business trip, and I’ll be back on Friday" Hank said, kissing her on the cheek.

"What? But today’s Christmas?" Joyce said in horror. Hank shrugged.

"Sorry, hon" he said, "Duty calls"

"Duty, my ass" Buffy said to Jenny, her arms crossed in front of her chest. "He spent the holiday with his secretary in Monterey"

"Did they fight a lot?" Jenny asked, as young versions of Buffy and Dawn entered the room from where they were hiding in the hallway. They both had shell-shocked expressions on their faces.

"More after I was called as the Slayer" Buffy said, watching her younger self wipe away tears. Mom filed for divorce and we moved to Sunnydale right after this" Buffy and Jenny watched as the young Summers girls listened to their parents continuing to argue in the next room. "Take me home, Ms. Calendar. This is just too depressing"

"One more Christmas" Jenny said, the house fading away.

Buffy found herself on top of a hill. She spun around in confusion.

"Where are we?" she asked. The spirit smiled.

"Back where we started" she told Buffy. "Sunnydale" Buffy continued to search the area for anything familiar.

"I don’t know where this is" she said. Jenny pointed across the hill at a motionless figure.

"You will"

"Angel" Buffy said in disbelief. She darted across the hill, her slippered feet making no sound on the dead grass. Jenny strode after her, arriving mere seconds after Buffy came to a halt next to Angel’s brooding form.

"He’s waiting for the sun to rise" Buffy told Ms. Calendar. "The First had been tormenting him with memories and hallucinations for days" Buffy looked over her shoulder at Jenny. "It took your form actually"

"Yes, I wasn’t particularly thrilled about that" Jenny said, annoyance tingeing her voice. Both watched as Buffy at 17 came running up to Angel, and they began arguing.

"I was so afraid he was going to die" Buffy told Ms. Calendar. "I couldn’t imagine life going on without him" Snow began to fall around them. Buffy looked around her. "This was one of the best Christmases ever" she told Ms. Calendar as Angel and her younger self walked off hand in hand, both watching the snow in amazement.

"Was it?" Jenny asked with an arched eyebrow. "Let’s see it from another point of view"

The hill faded from view and Buffy found herself in Xander’s backyard.

"Why is he sleeping on the ground?" she asked Ms. Calendar, staring at his still form on the earth.

"His family has been fighting all day" Jenny told her. "This was his only escape" Buffy watched the snow accumulate on the sleeping bag. Xander rubbed his face in his sleep and pulled the sleeping bag closed over his head.

"Why didn’t he call one of us?" Buffy asked as Xander, awake from the sudden shock of snow from the sleeping bag on his face, sat up in wonder.

"Who should he have called Buffy?" Ms. Calendar asked, a note of accusation in her voice. "You? You were so busy being worried about your precious Angel, you barely noticed the world around you"

Suddenly, Buffy found herself in the middle of Giles’ apartment. Giles stood by the window, looking out at the snow.

"For example," Ms. Calendar said, gesturing at Giles. "did you know that he spent the entire day waiting for you to check in?" Shaking her head, Buffy watched as Giles moved from the window and poured himself a glass of Scotch.

"He looks tired" she murmured as Giles walked over to his small Christmas tree. He picked up a brightly wrapped package, studied it for a moment before moving back to the window.

"Of course he looks tired" Ms. Calendar said sharply. "He stays up night after night, waiting for you to let him know you’re ok. You couldn’t even spare him five minutes on Christmas day so he could give you your gift" Jenny gestured at the bright package Giles still held. "He waited and waited, yet you never showed up"

Buffy’s head dropped in shame. Watching Giles wait for her stirred feelings in her chest that she couldn’t describe.

"I want to go home" Buffy said, plaintively. "Please, show me no more" Jenny nodded and snapped her fingers.

Buffy suddenly found herself alone in her bedroom. Jenny Calendar was no where to be seen. Exhausted, Buffy collapsed on her bed and was instantly asleep.

:: On To Part Three ::