𝙎𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙙𝙖𝙮

21 | Epilogue

Casey smiled, shaking the girl's offered hand.

"Nice to mee- Hey! I know you! You're the one who knocked over the candles that I tripped on fifteen years ago!" she cried.

Tara raised an eyebrow, clearly confused.

"I-I'm sorry?" she stuttered but Casey wasn't listening.

"You endangered me! You're lucky I didn't press charges!"

Willow put a protective hand on Tara's arm.

"Tara didn't endanger you! You...You're crazy! A crazy woman!" she cried.

Jim was trying not to laugh at this point, as Charles and Mr. Giles made their way into the kitchen.

"Casey. That was fifteen years ago. Tara was four years old. You tripped on a box of candles," he told Casey.

"Her mother did nothing about it!" she protested and Tara gasped softly.

"Y-you knew my mom?" she asked.

"Yeah. She was all 'blah blah blah my kids blah blah blah lunch break'," Casey replied bitterly.

Tara smiled to herself.

"Sorry about her," Jim said apologetically but Tara just laughed softly.

"No, no problem,"

"Well...This is fun. I'm Xander," the boy spoke and Casey rolled her eyes.

"That's great for you," she spoke bitterly.

"Okay, anger issues much?" he asked.

"Would anyone like a cup of tea?" Mr. Giles asked, interrupting the conversation.

"Yes please," Ellie, Willow and Tara responded in a hasty attempt to leave the room.

"You remind me of someone," Xander said once the three girls had walked into the kitchen.

"Who," Casey snapped back, one hand on her hip.

"Cordelia," he replied and Buffy laughed briefly.

"Oh God its another Christina isn't it," Casey sighed and Jim smiled, sadness laced into its cheerful expression.

Christina was the Slayer that he and Summer had created years and years ago.

Buffy was nothing like her, although neither of them had really expected her to be.

Casey still didn't understand the Christina joke, neither Jim or Summer had been bothered to explain it.

"I don't know who Christina is but you and Cordy would be best buddies," Buffy commented.

"This conversation is boring me," Anya interrupted and Xander sighed.

"Why don't you just go and have tea with the others," he spoke.

"Wouldn't I be interrupting? Willow and Tara are romantically involved," she replied bluntly.

Casey raised an eyebrow, Ellie smiled at her feet and Jim glanced over at the two witches and grinned like a proud father, despite the fact he barely knew them.

Xander sighed again.

"Never mind,"

Jim smiled as he made eye contact with the Slayer.

She was like Summer in many ways, even her last name honoring the girl he loved.

"So you're the Slayer," he spoke after a moment of looking at her, the two walking away from where Casey and the others stood.

"One of them. I kinda died," Buffy replied.

Jim laughed a little, though it pained him to hear the word.

"One of them then,"

Buffy smiled.

"Yeah. And I'm the best one. You know, for the record,"

Jim grinned again.

"You remind me of her you know?" he said and her smile slipped.

"I'm so sorry she's gone. I know what its like. Loving someone and then losing them,"

Jim exhaled softly.

"Its hard. Its been nearly four years since I lost her. Sometimes I don't think it gets any easier,"

"She must have been amazing," Buffy murmured and he smiled a little.

"She was. Loving and kind and...so much more than that," he spoke, sadness in the memory.

"You really loved her, huh?" Buffy said and Jim nodded.

"Yeah. She loved me too,"

"That must have been nice," she commented.

"It was,"

A moment of silence rippled through the two of them.

"A-A long time ago I told Summer that if I ever met the next Slayer I would tell her how high she had set the bar," Jim spoke quietly and Buffy smiled.

"I'll never be her, Jim. But I can try to be something she'd be proud of," she replied and Jim grinned, tears glistening in his eyes.

"That won't be hard. She was proud of everyone,"

The two looked at each other and smiled, and for just a moment he could see Summer in Buffy's eyes.

She was there.

She would always be there.

One girl in all the world.

The Slayer.

And guess what?

She saved the world a lot too.