Disclaimer: I don't own the characters, or the universe. I just have fun playing in it.

"Cinis in Cinerem"

The sun rises above the city, warming it after the chill of night. The torrential rains had ceased, revealing a flawless sky, and an awe-inspiring sunrise.

She sits unnoticing, however, amongst the ashes and carnage. There is nothing else, only the thought that echoes, and wails, and chokes out everything else.

It's not fair...

It wasn't supposed to be like this. He was supposed to be waiting for her.

"I ain't gettin' any older."

Hadn't he told her that? Hadn't he implied that when she was ready, he would be waiting? He was supposed to be there to love her, to be her friend, and support—a constant in her life.

Why had she taken so long? A full year she had savored his promise, and done nothing. She had told him she needed time to find herself, to become something other than The Slayer. Her freedom, at first intoxicating, now seems cheap.

It's not fair...

Could she not have found herself at his side? The thought of the opportunity now gone breaks her anew.

She begins to weep. Her fingers caress his ashes, all that remains of the life she threw away.

It's not fair.