Been rewatching Buffy... Just cause... And then I got this idea... Heh

Let me know whatcha think!

In what felt like barely a second, her world went from color to blinding white. She was standing with her sister and then she was falling through the air, heading for the portal into another dimension, to god knows where. She only hoped there wouldn't be any pain, and to her surprise, there wasn't. It was like a tingling sensation through her entire body, it felt as though all her limbs had fallen asleep at once. She squeezed her eyes shut and upon opening them again, she saw nothing.

The world was washed out around her and she felt light. She suddenly realized she was lying on something soft and turned over to discover she was in a bed. There was a blanket over her face and it fell as she sat up and looked around. The bed in question was in the middle of a field.

"What the?" She asked aloud, throwing the blanket off of her and struggling to get off the bed. It was rather soft and sunken in and it was difficult to stand. Her feet found the soft grass and it gave way beneath her toes, which confused her more, as she remembered having shoes on before she jumped to her death. She was also wearing a dress, a white dress, a dress resembling her spring formal dress from her sophomore year. The one she'd died in.

"Where am I?" She asked, looking around, all around her she saw trees, the sun was shining bright but she didn't need to shield her eyes from it, in fact it was pleasant. The soft wind didn't chill her nearly as much as she thought it was going to when she first felt it.

"You're in heaven." A voice said suddenly and she whipped around to find its source. She saw no one and turned in a few more circles.

"Hello?" She asked, looking in every direction she could think of.

"I said you're in heaven. It's nice to have you, Buffy." She turned suddenly, immediately knowing where she'd find the owner of the voice. He'd appeared next to her, sitting on the edge of the bed was a man dressed in a trench coat, his tie was loose and his hair was a tad askew.

"I'm where?" She asked, looking around, her mouth turned down a bit, "Boy is heaven strange."

"This is just the beginning. I'm here to help guide you into your own personal heaven." He stood and touched two fingers to her forehead, in no time she was standing on a road, it was one she recognized, the sign in front of her said: 'You're now leaving Sunnydale.'

"Huh?" She asked, turning back to look at the trench coat guy, "My heaven is leaving Sunnydale? Or going in?"

"That's up to you to decide. It's not necessarily your heaven, but it is the road that will lead you there."

"I repeat, Heaven is weird." She sighed, turning back to the sign.

"I agree." The gruff voiced man replied, he began walking, Buffy followed.

"Hey, what's your name mister disheveled man?" She asked, catching up to him.

"I am Castiel. I'm an angel of the lord." He revealed and her eyebrows shot up, impressed.

"Wow, I didn't think this stuff existed."

"It's not supposed to in your dimension, but Glory merged the two of ours together when she opened that portal. It's an irreversible side effect." Castiel sighed, "You are the slayer, correct?" He asked, his brow furrowed.

"Yeah." Buffy replied, "Was, I guess."

"I'm still trying to get the hang of your dimension. It's a bit different in my own."

"How?" Buffy asked, her interest peaked.

"Well, for one, you're about five years behind us, time wise." Castiel said, "It made the merger very difficult. But I believe time evened out."

"Wow." She laughed, "I wonder if they realized it."

"No." Castiel replied, "It just seemed like a normal day, sort of like day light savings, or having jet lag. Everyone was tired and didn't understand why."

"Huh. So do they have a slayer in your dimension?" She asked, "Did they even have vampires?"

"Oh yes. Vampires, werewolves, ghosts... The supernatural existed already, but it was a bit different. Vampires for instance were extremely different from yours."

"So what happened?" She asked, suddenly very worried that Castiel's vampires may be worse than the ones her friends were used to.

"They both exist. Hopefully they'll never discover one another." Castiel sighed, "Though it's highly unlikely, but I will tell my contacts on earth about the merge. They'll know how to fight all the beasts from your world."

"Your contacts?" Buffy asked, she looked ahead and saw nothing but the road, it wound to the left, they kept walking.

"I often venture to earth to aid two hunters." Castiel sighed, sounding exasperated at the thought.

"Hunters?" She asked, "Do they pray for every animal they take or something?"

"No, they hunt the supernatural. There are no slayers in our world, no one was destined to fight the forces of evil, so people began taking it upon themselves to do so." Buffy was impressed at the angels explanation, suddenly the ground beneath their feet began to rumble and Castiel stopped, he looked up and sighed, "Not now." He growled, Buffy stared at him funny.

"What's up?" She asked.

"I'll be right back, keep going, you'll find what you're looking for around the bend."

"Ooh like Pocahontas." She smiled but when she looked back he'd disappeared, "Not one for goodbyes I see." She sighed and continued walking. Just as Castiel said, when she rounded the corner she saw a house. It was like her house back in Sunnydale, though it was all by itself, surrounded by a forest of trees. While it should have been in shadow, it was instead bathed in light, as if it was luring her in. The thought occurred to her suddenly that she would get to see her mom. This thought sent her running to the front door and for some reason, she knocked. The door opened and her mom stood there, staring, wide-eyed.

"Buffy?" She asked and Buffy smiled widely, stepping through and pulling her mother into a tight embrace, "Where have you been?" Her mom asked and she furrowed her brow, pulling back. She recognized the outfit Joyce was wearing and looked around, realizing that the house wasn't her heaven, it was a memory.

"Mom?" She asked and Joyce sighed, her head tilted.

"You scared me half to death, Buffy. I didn't know whether you were alive or dead, you could have picked up a phone!" Confused as she was, she didn't care, she was talking to her mother.

"I don't know what this is, mom. But I'm happy to see you." She said, running a hand through Joyce's hair.

"This is one of your favorite memories." Castiel appeared suddenly on the staircase, Buffy nearly jumped, Joyce seemed to continue on about their conversation, but her words were silenced, as if she'd hit the mute button.

"Me coming home from LA?" Buffy was confused, though she could understand why that reunion with her mom was one of her favorite memories. It was the first time her mom looked at her, knowing her true identity, and embraced her.

"The road to heaven is paved with memories." Castiel said, "This isn't the only familiar face you'll see. And if you're lucky, you will find your mom once you've made it to the light."

"So you're saying she could be there waiting for me, and she might not be?" Buffy asked, frowning, "I think I'll just stay here, then." She held onto her mom's hand and brought it to her lips.

"We need to move on, Buffy." Castiel sighed, walking through the house. Buffy reluctantly followed until they reached the back door. As soon as they opened it and walked through, Buffy realized that she was in the library of Sunnydale High, pre-ascension day. Giles suddenly walked from his office, cleaning off his glasses as usual. He was so young, Buffy grinned widely.

"Buffy." Giles said, smiling as he put his specs back on. She was so busy staring at Giles she didn't notice Willow and Xander sitting at the table bickering about the math homework that Xander didn't want to do and was trying to force Willow to do for him.

"Buff, will you tell Willow that if I fail miserably it'll be entirely her fault for not helping me?" He whined, Willow scoffed.

"And will you tell Xander that he won't be able to pass any of his tests if he doesn't at least attempt to do the homework?" They went back to bickering and Buffy smiled, Giles walked to the table in an attempt to reason with the both of them.

"Might I ask why this is a favorite?" Castiel appeared again, his brow furrowed in confusion.

"It's just a normal day." Buffy shrugged, "No big bad's or impending doom. Just a regular old day where we got to be regular old teenagers." She sighed, "We didn't get that a lot."

"I understand. I imagine the Winchester's would have similar favorite memories." Castiel said and Buffy scowled at him.

"The who now?" They walked up the stairs and through the aisles of books that Buffy couldn't remember, they walked through an archway.

"My hunter friends on earth," The angel said, "They grew up hunting monsters and as such never really got to have normal lives, so it's the boring moments that they cherish above all else. I find it to be a common trait amongst human kind."

"Ah." Buffy nodded, as soon as they turned the corner into what would have been the stacks, Buffy found that they'd entered Spike's crypt, "Oh no." She said, shaking her head, "No no no. This is a mistake. None of my favorite memories take place here."

"Heaven doesn't lie, Buffy." Castiel said, she looked to him with a disbelieving glare when someone spoke, though the voice wasn't Spike's, it was Dawn's.

"Buffy, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to sneak out, I just, well I wanted to- don't be mad! You're mad, please don't be." Dawn rambled, running up to her sister, her hands twisting. Buffy smiled and hugged Dawn.

"Don't worry, love, I was lookin after the little bit." Said the voice Buffy was dreading, but then she realized why it was a favorite memory.

"At least I know Dawn will be protected." Buffy smiled at Spike who pursed his lips and checked her out, she scoffed and turned, heading out the door and back onto the road. Castiel followed her.

"It's right through that gate." Castiel said, pointing to the familiar sight. Her gateway into heaven looked a lot like the Sunnydale Cemetery.

"Ew." She sighed, but walked through it anyway. Feeling a bit downtrodden because there was once person she didn't get to see, her eyes caught sight of the light that she supposed she should walk towards.

"Buffy?" She heard a voice and turned, Angel was standing in the middle of the graves, smiling slightly.

"Angel." She said, and walked to him, a hand flying up to cup his cheek. He pressed his hand against hers and closed his eyes briefly.

"I'm sorry I wasn't there for you." He said, "I wish I could have seen you one last time." Buffy furrowed her brow, not remembering this conversation.

"What do you mean? You were always there for me. You came when mom died." Buffy smiled up at him, tears in her eyes.

"But I should have been there when you-" He couldn't complete his statement, tears falling from his own. Buffy turned to Castiel.

"How is he here?" She asked, suddenly worried.

"I put him into a dream state, this is a dream for him where it's real for you." Castiel explained, Buffy nodded, turning back to Angel and half smiling. She leaned forward and kissed him lightly, her forehead resting against his.

"I'll always love you." She whispered, he nodded against her.

"You know I love you." He replied and Buffy stepped back, slowly removing her hand from his face she turned and headed for the light. With one last look back at Angel and then to Castiel, who nodded, she stepped through it.

Of course Buffy's heaven involved a lot of lying in the sun on a beach drinking some form of daiquiri while being pampered by attractive cabana boys. But it also included her mom, who had mixed emotions when Buffy'd arrived in the celestial kingdom.

But they spent day after day together, doing the same thing, and they never tired of it. Castiel popped in occasionally to update her on the real world. Time moved quicker in Heaven than on earth. She had been there for years, basking in the sun with her mother, but only a couple of months had passed for her friends and family.

"They still have the Buffy robot." Castiel said uncomfortably, Buffy groaned.

"Ugh, Spike's not using it, is he?" Buffy dreaded the answer.

"Spike?" Joyce asked, "He made a Buffy robot?"

"He didn't. But he used it." Buffy shuddered, "Anyway, why?"

"They don't want the monsters to think Sunnydale is unprotected." Castiel sighed, "Though I've sent the Winchesters there to check things out. They said they killed a few vampires but were interrupted by the robot and as Dean put it, 'A Billy Idol wannabe and a teenager'." Castiel smiled at the mention of Dean's name, even though he'd been the one to mention it.

"Spike and Dawn?" Buffy shouted, nearly spilling her drink. Joyce's jaw dropped slightly at the news and she shook her head, muttering something beneath her breath as she sipped her mimosa.

"They'll be going back in a couple days to be sure everything is still running smoothly. But I think your friends have everything under control." Castiel shook his head as the cabana boy asked him if he wanted a drink and Buffy squinted in the sun, even though she didn't need to and was wearing sunglasses, it felt natural.

"What about Giles?" She asked, worrying about her former watcher.

"He went back to England today." Castiel said and Buffy nodded, suddenly feeling sad.

"Oh." She said, "I guess I couldn't expect him to stick around forever after I died." Castiel was about to reply when the world around them began rumbling, Buffy figured it was Cass being summoned by the Winchesters again, but his face told a different story.

"Cass?" She asked, "What's up?"

"Something's wrong." He said, standing and looking around. Buffy stood too, only to find that she felt dizzy, which was off-putting. In the years she'd been there, she'd never once felt that way.

"Woah." She said, reaching out for her mom, who took her hand.

"Buffy?" Joyce asked, worried.

"What's happening?" She asked, sitting back down to find her lawn chair had suddenly turned to wood, "Mom?" She asked, looking next to her, but her mom had disappeared. In fact, everyone save for Castiel had disappeared, and the sun was beginning to dim.

"They're..." Castiel said, looking around, a sudden deep voice rang out above them, but Buffy couldn't understand, her ears were beginning to ring.

"Cass!" She shouted, looking down at her hands, her nails were longer and she was wearing a black dress. Her hair grew about ten inches in a split second.

"You're being pulled back." The angel revealed, his eyes wide with worry.

"What!?" She shouted, but she received no reply. For the first time in what felt like forever, her world went black.