ext_78668 ([identity profile] garnigal.livejournal.com) wrote in [community profile] seasonal_spuffy2009-10-20 10:12 am

Once by Garnigal

My first time doing Seasonal Spuffy. What a fun event, and mucho gracias to [livejournal.com profile] enigmaticblues for being a wonderful hostess.

Title: Once
Word Count: 346
Rating: PG
Medium: Fanfiction
Summary: It only took one glance, but there was so much more to it than that. (S6/7)




He almost turned around five times. She’d sent him away, hatred burning in her eyes and fire freezing her words.

But he couldn’t help but feel he was deserting her.

~~~

She looked for him five times. She’d sent him away, with furious words buzzing in his head and self-loathing churning his guts.

But she couldn’t help but wish she’d been kinder.

~~~

He almost gave up four times. His brain spasmed from the pain, and he knew she’d never forgive him.

But he’d started down this path and he refused to turn back now.

~~~

She cried four times. She cried for Tara, for Willow. She cried for Xander and Anya. She cried at a sappy movie and once she cried when Dawn laughed like she used to before Mom died.

But there was always a little part of her that was crying for him.

~~~

He fell three times. He always came back up spitting sand and blood from his teeth, grinning to hide the fear.

Fear that he might never make it back.

~~~

She smiled three times. She read somewhere that if you do anything enough times, it’ll become a habit.

All she wanted was for smiling to be a habit again.

~~~

He changed his mind twice. Before the soul, it hadn’t occurred to him to do anything but go back to Sunnydale, go back to Buffy. But the soul filled him with doubt.

How could she possibly want him back?

~~~

She looked into his crypt twice. She’d hesitated for weeks before she went. It wasn’t exactly a place filled with happy memories. But it wasn’t as painful as she’d feared.

What if it was more painful for him?

~~~

Their eyes met once. That was all it took for the fear and the pain to ease, for the tension to seep from their shoulders.

It wasn’t all solved in that one glance. They argued again. She left him again. Their wounds were still tender, still easily torn open.

But there was a second glance after the first, and three smiles, four moments of shared laughter, five kisses…
jerusha: (believe; by crackers4jenn)

[personal profile] jerusha 2009-10-20 02:20 pm (UTC)(link)
I really liked the symmetry of this.

[identity profile] zanthinegirl.livejournal.com 2009-10-20 02:28 pm (UTC)(link)
Very powerful writing. I like.
ext_15429: (bs)

[identity profile] xtanitx.livejournal.com 2009-10-20 03:00 pm (UTC)(link)
Oh, this is very nice. Loved the pattern, and the emotional weight conveyed in so few words. Thanks for sharing! :)

btw, your icon is cracking me the hell up. :D

[identity profile] missus-grace.livejournal.com 2009-10-20 03:11 pm (UTC)(link)
Love the hope here.

[identity profile] writero.livejournal.com 2009-10-20 03:12 pm (UTC)(link)
I really like the countdown format of this. It contains a good punch. Nicely done!

[identity profile] louise39.livejournal.com 2009-10-20 03:21 pm (UTC)(link)
Oh, love the countings - for both of them. Counting down and then up again. Tally together...five kisses... Very nice.

[identity profile] framefolly.livejournal.com 2009-10-20 03:30 pm (UTC)(link)
Wow -- this packed a punch! It made me feel like I was watching an amazing montage that built toward a great climax/closure!

[identity profile] petzipellepingo.livejournal.com 2009-10-20 04:00 pm (UTC)(link)
Excellent, I love the rhythm to this.

[identity profile] cindergal.livejournal.com 2009-10-20 04:04 pm (UTC)(link)
I too loved the rhythm of this. Nicely done!

[identity profile] urania-calliope.livejournal.com 2009-10-20 04:05 pm (UTC)(link)
That was so wonderful and creative! Well done.

[identity profile] larabeckinsale.livejournal.com 2009-10-20 04:07 pm (UTC)(link)
Absolutely LOVE this!! Great rhythm and emotion. And very powerful.

I'll be saving it in my memories. :D
ext_7259: (Default)

[identity profile] moscow-watcher.livejournal.com 2009-10-20 04:39 pm (UTC)(link)
Incredibly beautiful and elegant. Perfect symmetry of their characters, mirroring in each other. A truly inspired piece.

[identity profile] fangfaceandrea.livejournal.com 2009-10-20 04:40 pm (UTC)(link)
very sweet with a touch of bitter. Nicely done!

[identity profile] amyxaphania.livejournal.com 2009-10-20 05:35 pm (UTC)(link)
I loved this, very unique style that worked really well.

[identity profile] abelina.livejournal.com 2009-10-20 05:40 pm (UTC)(link)
I like the way you structured this. It's almost lyrical with the pattern, the numbers of things. Nicely done.
quinara: Spike and Buffy approaching 'their' tree in AYW. (Spuffy tree)

[personal profile] quinara 2009-10-20 05:46 pm (UTC)(link)
Ooh, I like this! Very cool.

[identity profile] rebcake.livejournal.com 2009-10-20 06:40 pm (UTC)(link)
5-4-3-2-1 Blast off! Well, not exactly, but resolution isn't their easiest thing.

I loved the way this echoed "five words or less" and the smiling section just gutted me.

Very, very nice.
readerjane: Book Cat (Spike Melodrama)

[personal profile] readerjane 2009-10-21 02:29 am (UTC)(link)
How lovely! It all comes together like a countdown, then branches out again like a tree.

[identity profile] jen-nsync-landl.livejournal.com 2009-10-21 02:34 am (UTC)(link)
Well done! This is lovely. Wonderful imagery and creative construction. :)

[identity profile] married-n-mich.livejournal.com 2009-10-21 09:56 am (UTC)(link)
I don't log into LJ for-ever and find these beautiful words. Well done. It flowed wonderfully.

[identity profile] slaymesoftly.livejournal.com 2009-10-21 11:30 am (UTC)(link)
Very nicely done!

(Anonymous) 2009-10-22 01:23 pm (UTC)(link)
Wow, really liked this.

[identity profile] riccadonna.livejournal.com 2009-10-22 02:26 pm (UTC)(link)
Sometimes there's a song fic, in this case it sounds like the fic is the song. Liked it!

[identity profile] spikereader.livejournal.com 2009-10-24 12:10 pm (UTC)(link)
This was lovely, the countdown and the symmetry (I love things to be symmetrical so it was just perfet for me) and the hopefullness at the end.

[identity profile] manoah.livejournal.com 2009-10-26 03:26 am (UTC)(link)
Very nice. It's rather like keeping score, but much nicer.

Thank you for sharing.

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