Past Life, New Chances

Author: Anime Ronin

Rating: Mature

Summary: A trip to the summer fair leads to revelations.

Disclaimer: I own nozzing!

1

(Outskirts of Sunnydale)

"Alright, tell me again how this has fallen to me?"

Buffy smiled sweetly at him as she continued to push/prod him towards the tent in question, "Well, Willow said something about her mom and the mind sciences and not wanting to get into that."

"Alright, I'll concede that."

"And you'd probably have her make me bark like a dog or cluck like a chicken when you ring a bell, never mind what the Master did to me."

Xander flinched, but then nodded, "Alright, touché, but-"

Buffy didn't stop, though. "So that leaves you by process of elimination because Giles is being all Giles-like and has gone back to England."

Xander pouted and whined, "Whose idea was it to come to this popcorn fair anyway?"

Buffy gave him a semi-gentle shove, "Yours. Now go, get hypnotized. I put off going to LA early for this, so I need to get my money's worth."

Xander stumbled into the tent that held the hypnotist, muttering about levels lower than 'lackey' and Buffy having earned them when he looked around. It was... well, it was a tent. Maybe ten feet by ten feet square, dark, with a pair of chairs, a table and some chairs along the side as the only adornments save for a few lamps. The exterior had held up the whole 'gypsy fortune teller / shyster' schtick but inside... not so much.

"Ah, good afternoon, young man." Xander turned around and saw a woman stepped out of a curtained-off portion of section that he had not noticed before. She was strikingly beautiful, though obviously starting to get along in the years, in fact she could have passed for Raquel Welch's sister if not for her long black hair, deep blue eyes and skin that reminded him more of his grandmother's china plates with how pale yet glowing it was. Dressed in a pair of loose pants and a blouse, she wouldn't have looked out of place at Joyce's art shop or at a restaurant.

"Um... hi."

The woman chuckled, "Welcome to my place of business. The sign outside says 'Madame Helga', but please, call me Ruth."

"Um, Xander, that's me."

Again the woman chuckled, "'Xander'? How odd."

"Short for Alexander. A friend of mine couldn't say it when she was younger, so she shortened it."

Ruth nodded, "Indeed. Beware, though; names have power and if you know someone's true name, you can control them... or so the old legends state. Myself, I control others through different means."

Xander kept his eyes on hers and away from her ample chest, or her statuesque appearance, "Um... okay."

She chuckled and motioned for him to go towards the seats, "Please, sit. I finished a session about an hour ago and don't have anything planned for another two, so I have some time to work. Now tell me, Xander, what is it you're in here for?"

"Honestly? I don't know. Two friends of mine opted out of coming in here with me," he explained before he turned back to the tent flap and shouted, "cowards!" before he turned back to the now highly-amused Ruth, "and rightfully so, I guess."

"You guess? Do I scare you?"

"Um, no, no, but one of them has a mother who is into the whole 'nature/nurture' thing and tends to use her like a science experiment at times and the other... well, she was almost killed recently and it's still a little fresh."

"Ah," Ruth 'ah'd' with a nod. "So, they balked and you caved."

Xander's blush answered for him.

Ruth nodded, "Alright, then. Take a seat and I'll be right back."

Xander sat as told and took several breaths. He had not caved... he hadn't. Either way, though, it was him sitting in the chair while Ruth went around to the lamps and poured something into them, something that began to fill the tent with a spicy, almost ginger-like scent before she came back to where he sat and smiled.

"Alright, then, we're just going to get you to relax, Xander. I want you to close your eyes and let your mind begin to wander."

"Are you sure that's safe? I've been told it's too small to let out by it's own before," Xander joked.

Ruth's chuckle was not as amused this time, more of the 'humor him' set. "Just let your mind begin to drift, Alexander. Take a deep breath in, that's good, now hold it for a few seconds and then let it out. In... out. In through the nose and out through the mouth... very good..."

The heady scent in the tent, the dim nature of said tent, Ruth's calming voice and his own actions started to have an effect as he felt his heart begin to slow down and h is brain begin to fuzz just a bit, like he was falling asleep. Ruth began to to speak of doors, colors and walking through them, of rooms that were specific shapes and sizes, of things that were there and of things that were not. In his mind's eye, Xander could see every one of these and it would have been slightly freaky if not for the fact he was on the barest edge of having any control over it. Finally, though, she stopped with the doors, the rooms and all of that and told him that he was staring into a mirror, a mirror that would let him see something important, something known only to him.

"Tell me, Xander. Tell me what you see."

Xander Harris opened his mouth and screamed as the mirror in his mind shattered.