I didn't think she was healed actually. I had hope she was healed at the end of Chosen, but after years of abuse I think it takes more than that. And her being freed from the Hellmouth and saddled with global responsibility (in this version) seems like the perfect way to put more stress upon her that keeps her from retreating. She's going out into the new world, but she doesn't have a new world philosophy. Her great epiphany in Chosen with Angel is "I'm not done baking yet" which totally reads to me as "I don't know who I am yet." And so when she goes out into the world with this mission to help her Slayers, she feels the pressure of being the leader, she feels all eyes looking to her, and she FREAKS OUT.
Because she doesn't know what they're seeing. She doesn't know who she is. This is how I see her and how I characterized her in my fic Mirror Mask. And so she puts on a front and in lieu of a more appropriate worldview, she leans once more on her fantasy bubble because she doesn't know how to let anyone else in. I imagine even her grief for Spike she might try to rationalize away so as to dull the pain of his loss.
I think Buffy had the potential to heal by the end of Chosen, but with so much added pressure, without that much needed break--that tentative step forward (she sounds almost scared as she says "I love you" to Spike) goes to a place where she doesn't know the terrain and doesn't feel safe.
It's not that she didn't make great strides at the end of Season 7. It's that life got worse in Season 8 and she really did regress. It reminds me of Angel in AtS Season 2--life gets really hard and he goes back to being Mr. Disconnected.
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Because she doesn't know what they're seeing. She doesn't know who she is. This is how I see her and how I characterized her in my fic Mirror Mask. And so she puts on a front and in lieu of a more appropriate worldview, she leans once more on her fantasy bubble because she doesn't know how to let anyone else in. I imagine even her grief for Spike she might try to rationalize away so as to dull the pain of his loss.
I think Buffy had the potential to heal by the end of Chosen, but with so much added pressure, without that much needed break--that tentative step forward (she sounds almost scared as she says "I love you" to Spike) goes to a place where she doesn't know the terrain and doesn't feel safe.
It's not that she didn't make great strides at the end of Season 7. It's that life got worse in Season 8 and she really did regress. It reminds me of Angel in AtS Season 2--life gets really hard and he goes back to being Mr. Disconnected.