Great story. Chapter 19 and the Epilogue are the same though.
Author's Response:Thank you for the review and for letting me know about the mistake with the epilogue. It should be there now, instead of a repat of chapter 19.
Aww what a great end to the story! I hate that it's over, but I do love how you put all this together and make sense of it all.
"Run away! Run away!" The best choice, ever.
Glad that Willow is forced to see the error of her ways, let's just see if she manages to stick to that.
Good that Buffy is better and Dawn wasn't hurt all that bad. Stupid Riley.
YES, beat up on Riley.
Dammit Willow.
Great chapter starting to close everything in and together. Now if they can just kill Glory, all will be well in the world again.
Ooo Major conflict time. So much going on at once.
Let's hope that Spike and Buffy can weaken stupid perm girl enough to kill the boy form.
Let's hope Willow gets distracted and can't do the spells.
Let's hope Riley.. Well we can't hope that. He's stupid. Let's hope someone coshes him over the head
This is a great chapter that shows the shifting dynamics and how everyone (including B&S) are adjusting to the changes. Oh, and look.. it's the girl with the bad perm.
YAY for Buffy finding the core of herself deep down and figuring out how to mesh all the parts together. YAY for Spike being willing to see and accept, as he always is. Do I have to talk about stupid Riley and his stupid plans and his just...stupid stupid?
Interesting how everyone is dealing with everything. And the gang hasn't really even bothered to find out how long it was for them. I like that Buffy pulled herself together and realized that Spike was a sort of glue to help her with that transition.
I'm glad the bond between Rehva and Senka is holding strong, not that I thought it wouldn't. Buffy isn't going to instantly change back into Buffy after something like 5 years in the other dimension. Stupid Willow. I'm glad you went with Xanman seeing what Riley is doing. And Giles. GO GILES
You do such a good job reflecting these characters so well. They are all being themselves, and it's heartbreaking. But yay for tea and curry for Spike. And dangit Willow.
As always, an excellent chapter. I like the bond with Giles/Spike, and once Spike comes to, he can fill in all this oddness. I don't think Buffy is up to verbalizing things very well. Not that she was ever good at it.
Well, they got through the portal, but now they have to get rid of the slugs and figure out how to deal with this new and different world. And look, it's Riley... being Riley. Excellent chapter, as usual.
OK, keeping up with who is who is sometimes hard. Thank you for using Spike's name again, that made it a bit easier. Another excellent installment, and they found her! Now, if only she and Spike can get back through the rabbit hole and without their brains imploding.
Spike is def strong enough to not internalize what Buffy is pressing upon him. And I like your reasoning that he gives for what she is going through. It makes sense, and goes back to my comment on the last chapter.
Riley is a bad bad person. Stupid Walsh. Stupid Initiative
Trauma is trauma, and people deal with trauma in their own way, ways that don't always make sense to those who haven't experienced that trauma. This made sense to me. Buffy has always been a dominant figure, and to reclaim some portion of personhood, some sense of going forward, she had to figure out a way to repress the trauma (because Buffy doesn't deal with things) and still keep going.
Stupid Willow. Bad Willow.
Poor Buffy. 🙁 It's a difficult reality to face, and to have it ripped from you without any choice... 🙁
Ahhh Willow's misuse of magic comes through already!!! But Buffy and Spike as a team is amazing, and it would be like Spike to bring everything up in the middle of a battle.
Ohhh time for smexy times! And Dawn finding out about her status. All good things. Also, freckles. LOL
And once again, showing the changing dynamics. Also, very subtly showing the time difference between the two universes. Even if they aren't outwardly showing their bond to each other, it's coming together.
I love this. A fresh take on the slave thing. A chance for Buffy to learn to trust Spike. Good stuff.
Another lovely chapter, showing the heartbreaking truth of what 'sameness' can do to you. It drags you down, and any chance for something different, something you used to love, is relished and taken advantage of. It also helps that it shows the shifting dynamic between Spike and Buffy.
What a wonderful starter chapter, it draws you in and builds tension. You are so good at this.
West of the Storm and authors claim no ownership of -nor profit from the use of- images, characters, settings, dialogue, and stories created by others, and do not intend to infringe on any entity's copyrights. Authors maintain individual ownership of their own original characters, settings, plotlines, and images. Content is intended for teens and adults. Reader is responsible for adhering to age ratings and content warnings.
