sunnydalealum | (no subject)

Historically, as a rule, the funeral of a Slayer has been a quiet affair. On occasion there have been families to make the arrangements, but most of the time, the parents and (if any) siblings have long since lost all contact with their daughter, whether deliberately or not. The Council has always seen to it that the Slayer is given a decent burial: a hardwood box, and six feet of consecrated ground, and someone to say the words, and the Watcher as sole mourner.

This, like so many other things since the Call, has changed.

It's the first time they're all back together again in over a year, the women who came to Sunnydale as Potentials and fought the First Evil there as Slayers. Caridad and Chao-Ahn, Rona and Vi and Shannon, half a dozen others. Many of them died in the battle at the Hellmouth ... but Kennedy is the first of them to have died since then.

So they're here, and so are newer Slayers who had Kennedy as their first combat instructor, and field Slayers who had her as their team leader. And so are at least one ex-lover, and at least one current one. About four-fifths of the Slayers are in somber black; the rest are in equally somber white.

Kennedy's parents and her half-sister are here somewhere too, in the crowd. Buffy and Giles are talking to them.

Soon someone's going to stand up front and start the memorial service.

Wells is silent as he makes his way into the room. He thought about it for a while and opted against his black suit for this; he looks like a gangster in that thing at best, and Father at worst. No, for this he's got his old uniform out instead and added a black arm-band to it. He reckons that's as appropriate as it's going to get.

Spoon stands, awkwardly, where he was left. He's not good at this kind of thing.

He's really not good at this kind of thing.

Somebody's not supposed to be here.

Somebody's supposed to still be in bed, resting from, you know, getting stabbed.

Somebody really doesn't care what other people say she's supposed to be doing.

The memorial service is short, and quiet. Rupert Giles speaks. Buffy Summers speaks.

Six Slayers, including Tricia and Jordie, carry the coffin to the waiting grave, with its plain headstone reading:

KENNEDY LYNN GRAY
1983 - 2005

A hardwood box, and six feet of consecrated ground, and someone to say the words.

In the end that's all a funeral ever is.