Dawning Strength
 by Vikki

The young girl stared into her mirror. A pretty, yet tired face gazed angrily back at her. Long strands of usually vibrant dark hair hung lankly around her  cheeks. Her big crystal-blue eyes were red and were surrounded by viciously dark circles.

After a few minutes, the girl shifted her gaze from her reflection and her  tired eyes scanned the room around her. Eventually they settled on the trinket box on the desk at which she slumped. The box had once belonged to her mother. She had given it to her daughter for her thirteenth birthday. The young girl's eyes flickered once more to her mirror, and she glared at her reflection frustratingly for a few more seconds. A fresh bout of tears filled  the eyes of the pretty fourteen year-old, and she hid her already tearstained face in her hands. After a few moments she forced herself to stop weeping and slowly lifted her beautiful head to once again stare at her reflection. She started slightly as she noticed another face had joined her own. Similarly  tired, this face also belonged to a beautiful young girl, though older than the first. The young woman's honey-blonde hair was held back from her fine  face and a bandana was tied around her head. Her big green eyes were also red and encircled by black rings.

"Buffy!" spoke the younger girl in surprise. "I'm sorry if I scared you," said Buffy softly. She knelt beside the chair in which her younger sister sat, and  began to stroke the long dark brown hair which covered her sister's head. Her little sister lowered her eyes and sighed shakily. "Dawn?" asked Buffy worriedly. Dawn lifted her head and met her sister's gaze, tears filling her eyes once again.
 
"Dawny, what's wrong?" pleaded Buffy, placing her hands protectively over her  little sister's shoulders.

"Buffy, I miss Mom so much!" tried Dawn, but her voice broke part-way through the sentence as her body, wracked with grief, shook as she sobbed her blessed young heart out. Tears rolled down those soft rosy cheeks and dripped onto her lap.

Buffy pulled Dawn to her and Dawn helplessly collapsed into the protective arms of her older sister. Buffy, tired of being the "grown-up", let go of her  emotions and sobbed alongside her. Eventually, when the tears subsided, Buffy took hold of Dawn's shoulders again and looked into her eyes.

"Dawn, why were you staring into your mirror like that?"

Dawn sniffed and looked away.

"Dawny?" tried Buffy again. Dawn looked back at her sister and saw the concern in the big green eyes which were flecked prettily with gold.
 
"I was just...thinking," she tried "about Mom." Buffy looked at her sister sympathetically. "Come on, Dawny. We both know that's not the real reason."

Dawn felt the involuntary strength of Buffy's grip on her shoulders and was once again reminded of the real reason she was staring at her herself so hatefully.
 
"I just..." she took a deep breath. "I just hate myself so much. I'm supposed to be this powerful...thing, but I'm so...helpless." She looked into Buffy's eyes and saw the deep concern and understanding that  they always harboured.
 
"I'm supposed to be so important, but..." she broke off, searching for the  right words. "You're so strong, you're so understanding and wonderful... What am I?" she added weakly.

Buffy's eyes were clouded with tears as she tried to explain to Dawn how very wrong she was.

"Dawn, I am nothing compared to you! You are fourteen years old and you have to deal with all this power you have inside you, you have to try to  understand what you are and why you are here."

Tears rolled down her face as she prepared herself for her next words. "Mom has just died and you are still here, still standing, even though you  have all this to deal with. You are so special Dawn, not because you're the  Key, but because you are my sister, and I'm so proud of you."

"But the only reason I'm still standing is because I need you to protect me  all of the time!" sobbed Dawn.
 
"I only protect you physically Dawn, that's my Slayer strength, not me. I'm twenty years old and I'm barely dealing with all this!" admitted Buffy as she
broke down in tears.
Dawn stared at her sister, frightened. She considered what Buffy has just  said. She considered Buffy's mental state right now. She gazed back at her
refection in the mirror, Buffy still sobbing on the floor beside her. She's  right, she thought. I have to be strong. I have to be strong for Buffy. She  turned to face her bedroom and gaze at the belongings that she'd collected over the years...Over the years...I am real, I have a life and I want it to  be a long one. I have to be strong...for myself.