Oh, god, General!Wesley would send Xander out on a mission, knowing that he would likely die. And Xander would both be smart enough to know it and loyal enough to do it. The pain.

Okay, I'm going with the presupposition that in order for any of them to be happy, they'd have to be done with the fight.

they'd have to be done with the fight.

The fight against evil? It never ends. That's the point. It never ends, and these are not people that can go blithely about their days while the fight rages on without them. They've seen evil, looked at it's face. They know the sacrifice that they make will go unheraled, unappreciated, hell, perhaps unnoticed - that's what makes them heros. It's not the flash, it's the endurance.

Sorry. I'm a little tired and just need to see TTT again.

Both of them the sole survivors of their individual fights, both of them with tortured attractions in their pasts ...

Hey, Muse, welcome home! What did you bring me? No, not the Wes stuff, you said you were bringing me back some V!Giles stuff. Yeah, fine, blame jet lag. We're working tomorrow, remember htat.

I'm planning another TTT viewing on Christmas. One of the two THX certified theatrres in the state is in the next smallish town south, but everyone's going to be in the fancy, dancy mall theatres.

The fight against evil? It never ends. That's the point. It never ends, and these are not people that can go blithely about their days while the fight rages on without them.

No, but they can eventually, should they survive that long, retire to support positions. The underappreciated desk jobs of the fight.

Xander would keep everyone fed and healthy, and make sure they stored their weapons in proper, Xander-made containers. Wes would research and issue orders, and get very tense. Xander would relax him with an earnest pep-talk and a massage.

It would be lovely.

But not happy. How could they be happy while the people they are feeding and ordering to fight are getting hurt and getting dead? Ignorance is bliss; once you've gained knowledge, you can never get rid of it.

connie, you write the Wes and Xander and I'll beta the hell out of it. While I'm in my bunk.

Okay, I amend that.. They can be happy. They can have stolen moments of bliss. But there will always be sorrow in their souls. They will never be lighthearted; not fully.

Okay, I amend that.. They can be happy. They can have stolen moments of bliss. But there will always be sorrow in their souls. They will never be lighthearted; not fully.

No one ever is, really. They'd be as happy as two people who've been through hell can be. But happy as a state is not an all-the-time thing, and it's not always a synonym for lighthearted. It's more moments of light that shine though the dark, the little pinch of something that allows for a measure of contentment. They'd still be able to laugh, to smile, to enjoy waking up together.

Ignorance isn't bliss, it's just ignorance. Babies have moments of deep terror and unhappiness without knowledge. It's part of the human condition, as is finding something to get us through the day. Humans: flawed design, but able to take a hell of a lot.

t / personal feelings on happiness

You're right... But I think that because they know of true evil, because they fight it, and because the fight will never end, they can never be without sorrow and dread. Or, you know, maybe that will make them cherish the good times all the more. Because they know how transient they are; how ephemeral; how utterly necessary to life.

I don't think that Wes has good times anymore... That makes me fear for him a great deal.