Seasons in Rhyme
Season Four

The Council quit, high school done:
Its a new beginning and Buffy's just one
Freshman among many, hiding her slaying,
As Giles has an old friend come playing...

Living Conditions are tough
With demon roommates for our Buff
And insecurities way down deep
That make it hard for her to sleep
But which she refuses to display
In the Harsh Light of Day.

She will not admit to meekness
Fear Itself is not HER weakness,
But in her heart she knows he's wrong
Without him she neither tough nor strong
Without him, her life's out of whack
And she desperately wants him back.

(She tries to forget by drinking Beer.
Bad idea and she was near
To doing the campus some real damage;
But as always, they somehow manage...)

Time moves on and the gang drifts away
No one is talking, no one knows what to say
People are hurting and Buffy acts Wild.
At Heart she knows Giles' love is unrivaled
But still she looks for a younger man,
An all-American that she feels can
Give her the normal days she craves
When at night, its the world she saves.

"You're a coward, damn it all,
"Sitting here, hoping she'll call,"
Giles curses softly as he drinks alone,
"Take The Initiative, pick up the phone,
"Tell her how you really feel,
"She's old enough, she can deal."

But he sits silent in the cold
Feeling lonely, useless and old,
Alienated from what he holds most dear,
The Pangs in his heart mingle with fear.
He waits in the dark, resigned to suffer--
Refusing to confess he loves her.

He's forced to watch as she goes to others:
The prat Parker, who if he had his druthers,
Would be nursing Something Blue and black
And swollen from a good sound whack.

And then there was that nancy ninja boy
Who treated Buffy as if she were a toy,
Hushing her when she tried to speak
Angry that she would dare to seek
Reasons as to WHY
The military would send her out to die.

He feared their easy friendship Doomed:
And gone the future that he assumed
Would be theirs when she at last
Freed herself from the past
And saw him not through a child's eyes.
But its not to be, he sighs,
"She wants A New Man, and so it would seem
"That I'm as useful as 'The I in Team.'
"I know I'm jealous, but I cannot lie,
"I wish he would just say Goodbye.
"Iowa is a better place for him to be
"While the Hellmouth is home for me."

And while he suffers in his heart
The world continues to fall apart.
Adam escapes to hunt and kill;
Faith wakes up and decides that she'll
Be 'This Year's Girl', and take Buffy's place
And even Giles doesn't know her face....
He's forced to ask, "Who Are You?"
A question he would often rue
Because then they had to run
And he never did get his bondage fun.

(When Buffy's body was again her own
He could only tearfully bemoan
His lost chance to be a Superstar
And show Buffy Where Wild Things Are
To be found and eagerly released
As passions are tenderly increased:
Buffy at long last pleasured
In a moment forever treasured.)

But bondage fun is just a dream
Reality is that they aren't a team
And unless they can somehow find each other
They may lose this battle and one another.

The gang meets and bitter words they trade
Accusations are angrily made.
Giles is drunk, the others are mad
Buffy is confused, hostile and sad.
They all storm out, trust broken and shattered
Unable to connect when it truly mattered.

Buffy patrols to release her stress,
Wondering how to resolve this mess.
Knowing that they must act quite soon
She sits alone under the New Moon,
Rising only to kill a vampire baby
And wondering if, perhaps, just maybe
Giles knew the actual reason
She had been so horrible this season...

Oh in public, she'd blame it all on Spike.
He knew too well what they were really like.
And he pushed their buttons with great skill
Causing pain almost at will,
Laughing about 'The Yoko Factor.'
She knew he was a talented actor
But it didn't help ease the pain she felt
To know how easily their bonds could melt....

And Buffy walked back to her dorm
Knowing tomorrow she would inform
The team that they had no choice:
They would speak with a single voice
They would work and act as one
Go back to their roots and when it was done
Find a way to restore the trust
This was not an option, it was a must.

She and Giles needed to speak
The walls between them made her weak.
The connection between them was not clear:
But an ancient call pulled them near
Even as they stood apart
A Primeval power was the heart
Of the Watcher/Slayer special tie.
It would only break when one would die.

It was in their blood, in their souls
They had no choice but to play their roles.
Restless hearts might want to wander...
Nervous minds might need to ponder...
And a destiny might be denied...
But the Fates will not be defied:

The Watcher and The Slayer: The Chosen Two
It was time for them to begin anew.
 
To Season 5's notes To Season 5's poem To Giles Fan's Page