Rating: PG-13

Disclaimer: Yes, I'm the amazing and talented Joss Whedon and I own all of the Buffyverse! That's why I'm wasting my time posing another pointless fic on the internet.

Summary: The famous episode that never happened. Buffy is given the gift of one wish. How will she use it? Buffy/Angel, Willow/Tara, Xander/Anya Dawn/Pouting.

"You can never defeat me, you puny human!"

Buffy rolled her eyes and delved the sword that had been hidden in the ruffles of her clothes through the assustador demon. It gave a piercing screech as it's red, scaly skin burst into flame.

"How many times do you think I've heard that?" She mumbled as she dropped the sword and knelt to a crouching Xander, who was still trying to get his breath back behind a small rock.

"Just another baddie, Xander."

Quickly standing, Xander fumbled "Yah. I know. Just a really big one that could crush things with it's mind and nearly knocked me to the ground back there... But I could have beaten him..." catching Buffy's knowing eye, he finished, "In some alternate universe..."

"Well, I'm just glad he's dead. He was too tough for my liking."

"E-excuse me? Miss slayer?"

A trembling, rinkled demon came from behind a stone pillar of the underground fortress.

"You saved my life! That assustador demon was about to eat me for a midnight snack!"

Before then, the small demon had gone unnoticed by the slayer. Buffy looked at it and gave it a small smile. The "thanks for saving my life" conversation was always a little awkward.

"Well, it's part of my job description. You're welcome."

The strange looking demon gave a large grin as it slipped it's hand into a wrinkle in it's side and pulled out a small, purple box.

"Here, take this. It's a dorescaseta. It shall give you one wish that you're heart desires. Just one. It's not the whole genie crap. Please, be careful with it, young slayer. A wish can be a powerful tool."

Slightly disgusted as to where the package had just come from, she took it.

"Um, thanks," was all she could think of to say. Was this a trick?

"Of coarse, there are a few guidelines. You can't wish for evil in itself to disappear, for this stone was built by some darkness. You can also only bring back the dead for three days. After then, they will become their previous, decaying self. Keep these boundaries in mind, and remember, no refunds!" The demon said. He gave another bow to the slayer and her companion and then made his way out of the small opening in the back of the cave.

Buffy looked at Xander.

"Geez. What do you think, Buff? What was that thing?"

"I don't know. But I know somebody who could find out."

"I don't know, Buffy. I've never seen this before. It's exciting. I've heard of wish boxes but, oh, that's the translated name for it. It comes from a branch off language from Romanian,"

"Well, then why didn't he just say Wish Box? Why did he have to be so complicated?"

Willow gave a smile.

"Buffy, if this is the real deal, you're incredibly lucky. Kydieu demons are very rare, as are these." She held up the box. "If you use it, you should be really careful with what you wish for."

"So wishing for a truckload of new shoes is out of the question?"

Seeing the mixture of amusement and annoyance on Willow's face, she decided to leave the jokes to Xander.

"What's up?" Dawn had just entered the room and, seeing Willow in research mode, was ready to fight off some hungry demons. Well, not fight. More like watch big sister fight while she stood on the sidelines and cheered.

"The Buffmeister, here, got a present from some Kwandoo demon."

"It's a Kydieu demon, Xander."

"Cool." Dawn said, coming closer to see. "What does it do?"

"It grants one wish. It can be anything, and the wish will have to come true, minus a few . It's incredibly rare and so is the demon who carries them. It's hard to even find a picture in any of these books, so we all need to handle this with care."

Buffy sat in her room, pondering all the uses of this one wish. She could wish that she wasn't a slayer, that she lived a perfectly normal life, and some other poor girl could take over her duties. She could wish that Sunnydale wasn't on top of a hellmouth, but then it would have to be somewhere else, in some unsuspecting backyard. She'd think more about it tomorrow. It was late, and she was exhausted.

She turned off her bedside lamp.

As the darkness turned in around her, she began to think of more personal ways to use it. I could wish for Angel to be a human again. He would have a permanent soul, so I wouldn't have worry about him going bad again.

A sudden thought of her mother came to her. She could bring her mother back! Dawn would have a mother again...

On the subject of death, she realized she could bring Jenny back to Giles, or Tara could be alive again! Poor Willow had been through so much after the shooting, and she could tell she was lost without her ex-girlfriend, even when Willow acted okay.

Even three days would be enough for any of them. The Scoobies had all lost someone close to them. Then, a thought occurred to her. What would any of the dead be like if given life again. Perhaps they were in a good place, like she had been. She would never want to tear them out of their heaven.

Willow lay in bed, her thoughts running madly as she imagined that small purple box in Buffy's hand. She hoped that the not-very-bright slayer wouldn't waste it on her own mall. She knew Buffy wouldn't do something that dumb, but she couldn't help but wonder what Buffy would wish for.

Thoughts suddenly turned in a new direction. She saw Tara, blood dripping down her shirt, staring at her. "Your shirt." That was all the beautiful, blonde witch had said before dropping to the ground, dead. I could have done something. I should have been standing there, not her. She could be alive right now. We should have gotten up earlier, and been downstairs.

But it had felt so good to lie in her lover's arms, after being without her for so many months. That night had been unforgettable. It had been the first time Willow had realized she didn't need magic to have perfection, she needed Tara.

Warren's smirking face now stood in front of her, then his skinless, dead, body. She had killed him. An overwhelming feeling of guilt passed though her. No, what he did to Tara... he deserved it. No! The dark Willow that had been pushing to come out since then continued to whisper those words into her ear every night.

She had killed him. It was wrong and she wished she could take it back. She wished she could take it all back before she had foolishly chosen magic over Tara.

She wished for another chance. She wished for forgiveness. She wished for Tara.

Xander tried for the millionth time to find a comfortable position so that he could finally find some sleep. However, his thoughts were on Anya. The look on her face when he had told her he wasn't ready to marry her... it still haunted him.

It wasn't that he didn't love Anya. God! He loved her so much! But marriage, well, the fear had overwhelmed him. He wanted them to marry when they were both ready. He had panicked when he handed her the ring. It was an apocalypse! Of coarse he was scarred.

He had never meant to lose her. If he had just waited, and had faith that they would get through their third apocalypse. He shouldn't have panicked and gotten her hopes up. He didn't blame Anya for hating him.

I wish I could turn back time. Before I asked her. Before everything went wrong.

Dawn stood in the center of her room, staring at the pictures of her mom and sister, both looking at her with happy smiles. She hated it. She hated not having her mother there, she hated having to lose a sister and then trying to get used to seeing her again. She hated watching from the sidelines as the older Summers fought valiantly against the forces of evil.

For once, she wanted everything to be about her. She would save the world, she would have the romance, and she would go down in history for being part of the slayer legacy.

She smiled as a thought went through her mind.

And I know how to make it happen.