Prologue

"Is there not something we can do?" the figure in white asked. "She is our Chosen, she is a hero, she has sacrificed much for the good of the world."

The male figure frowned. "She is a Chosen. No one ever said that was easy."

"But she died for our cause and found her place in heaven, only for her friends to snatch her away. Is that fair?" the female figure argued.

"What are you proposing then?"

"Setting her on the right path to her soul mate. Love always makes the mortals happy and she deserves some happiness."

The male figure scoffed. "She cannot be with her soul mate while she carries so much anger."

"Perhaps we can show her the error of her ways," the female figure said thoughtfully. "If we show her another side to her soul mate, show her the friendship that is inside, the love, perhaps that will show her what she is missing?"

"You want to send her on a journey through the dimensions?"

The female figure nodded, a warm smile curling her lips. "Wouldn't you like to see her happy? She is not the Chosen she once was, is no longer a brave warrior."

"She is still brave," the male figure argued.

"But not a warrior. She ignores all calls for help, she feels like she has been abandoned and forgotten. No one who has sacrificed so much deserves that."

The male figure sighed heavily, knowing he would have no peace until he agreed. "Very well. We will show her what she missing out on. But if we do this for her, we must do it for the other. That is only fair."

"Done."

* * * *

Buffy sighed as she stared out of the window at the inky black sky, wondering how her life had turned out how it had. At one time she had been an LA cheerleader, popular, the girl everyone wanted to be with, her biggest concern had been spot outbreaks. Then she'd been called. Her normal life turned upside down because she was Chosen.

Moving to Sunnydale with her mother, it had been downhill ever since. First she fell in love with a vampire, died at the hands of the Master, met Kendra, found Kendra dead, killed her love to save the world; met Faith, fell out with Faith, stabbed Faith, blew up her high school, said goodbye to her first love when he decided he had to leave town. Went to college and experienced her first one night stand - unintentionally; met Riley Finn, a good, normal guy, discovered a shady Government operation was working in her town and that her normal boyfriend was part of it, body swapped with Faith, gained a sister, lost her mother, lost her boyfriend; fought a God, died.

But that wasn't the end. She had been brought back from heaven, started a sexual relationship with the notorious Spike, watched her best friend lose herself in magic, got shot, watched her best friend turn evil when the love of her life was killed in front of her; gained a house full of potential Slayers when the First evil decided to try and wipe out the slayer line, gained an ex con/ex enemy when Faith returned to help, and destroyed an entire town. And that wasn't nearly everything.

She sighed again. Nope, no idea where my life went wrong. Turning away from the window, she moved across her apartment to the sofa and sat down, grabbing the T.V. remote and turning on the television.

After Sunnydale had collapsed, the gang had headed to LA and set up home in Angel's hotel. The first couple of days had been frantic, those who needed medical treatment were rushed to hospital, while everyone else headed for the hotel to eat and wind down from the big fight. Dealing with a bunch of hungry and horny Slayers hadn't been easy, in fact it had become a full time job.

Slowly but surely, everyone had settled and caught up on the rest they needed. Then Giles ruined it by deciding they needed to make plans for the future. Everyone scattered, Faith left without a word as to where she was going, Buffy ended up in Italy, Willow and Kennedy in Brazil, and Xander she had no idea, they all lost touch. Now five years later, Buffy found herself completely alone. She had no idea where her former friends were or what was going on in their lives. Giles was busy with the new council he had set up and rarely got in touch ever since she had told him she was retiring. And Dawn had her own life.

Channel after channel went by as she flicked randomly, not really in the mood to watch anything. Now she had a normal life, she often found herself missing her old life of uncertainty, of gearing up for battle, her friends, even Faith; though she wouldn't admit that out loud. Settling on some soap opera, Buffy found herself thinking about everyone, wondering where they were, what they were doing, if they were happy, dating, or alone like she was. If she was ever to be completely honest with herself, she'd admit she was miserable and lonely and needed to do something about it.

Turning off the television, Buffy got up and walked into her kitchen to get herself a glass of wine. Pictures of her and her ex stuck to the fridge door made her frown, reminding her again that when it came to relationships there was something wrong with her. I just need to meet the right person, she thought, opening the fridge to grab the nice bottle of white wine she had. A person who loves me for me, a person who can put up with the way I am.

Glass in hand, she made her way out onto her balcony and looked out on her neighbourhood. She wasn't used to feeling so melancholic, so unsure of everything. She was Buffy the... former vampire Slayer; cocky, certain, confident in her abilities. Where did everything go so wrong? she wondered, swirling the wine in her glass. If she put her mind to it, she could think of a number of times when she had a decision to make, a decision which led her down a certain path that may have been right at the time, but had changed everything for her. She wondered where she would be now if she had made different choices.

Finishing her wine, she headed back inside, knowing she should get to bed if she wanted to be up in time for work the next day. She closed and locked the sliding glass doors, a lifetime of experience telling her things really did creep around at night, then headed for her bedroom after a brief detour to the kitchen to put her glass in the sink.

After a quick shower, she jumped into bed, eyes finding the pictures she had by her bedside. Sighing heavily, her thoughts lingered on everyone who had been in her life, even as her eyes drooped and grew heavy.

To be continued....