Sometimes she wished she could. Everything would be simpler that way, wouldn't it? But then it would somebody else's problem, and then somebody else's again after them. The truth was, Buffy wouldn't wish being the Slayer on anyone, and she wasn't about to pretend like she just hadn't been chosen for it. There were people counting on her, people who weren't happy with subjugation and people who were getting tortured and abused on a daily basis.
"Well, that's not gonna happen." Her voice was level as she answered him. "I'm not running away from this. I can't. And you wanna know why? Those people that are just begging to be subjugated are counting on me. Because some of them are dying because some master somewhere woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning and decided they felt like killing one of them to make himself feel better. Because some of them don't feel like living as somebody else's plaything. Because they have minds and wants and desires that, in spite of whatever you've convinced yourself, don't always include kissing somebody else's boots." She took a single step closer, unwavering with fists clenched at her sides. "Because they need to be free to make their own choices and mistakes and find their own way in life." The irony that she was fighting for something she could never fully have herself in the face of accepting her destiny as the Slayer was not lost on her.
"I know Daniel's still here. I know he isn't dead," Buffy added, her words no less confident but slightly softer as she looked up at her friend. "I'll always believe that. And if not, then why don't you just go tell your new friends that they have a Slayer in town? I won't stop you. Why haven't you done it already? Daniel's dead according to you. What would he care? It'd just be removing a thorn in your side because you know I'm not going to give up on you." She had to smile, not quite sure why but feeling it in spite of herself. "I'm stubborn like that, and I think you know that there's not going to be any talking me out of it. I'm clearly right, and you're clearly wrong. As usual."