Title: Just thought I would say hi.
Author: nodakskip
Rating: PG
Email: nodakskip@aol.com
Content: C/X friendship C/A implied
Summary: While she is stuck with the PTBs Cordy gets a visit from an old friend. (And this is as close to doing a C/A fic as I am going to get.)
Disclaimer: I don't own them. If I did, I would have given them a better ending.

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 "No! Cordelia please try to pay attention."

The dark haired seven year old looked ashamed. "I'm sorry mommy."

"Dear, remember its mother. Mommy is a word normal children use. Are you a normal child?"

"No mother. I'm a Chase."

"That's better dear. Now listen to your teacher."'

Mrs. Chase turned back to her friend Rene Kendall, and sighed. "I swear it's this town's school system. I still can't believe we have to send our daughters to public school."

Across the room a much older and blonder Cordelia Chase stood watching as her younger self tried to do the dance exercise again. She watched sadly as her, and the blond next to her tried to make their mothers proud of them.

Hard to believe that Harmony gets turned into a vampire. she thought as she watched them. Her thoughts were interrupted by a voice behind her, a voice she had not heard in almost two years. "Man, I knew your mother was a bit controlling, but I'm surprised you didn't go nuts by age ten."

Her eyes went wide in shock as she spun around to see Xander Harris leaning against the wall. "What? Xander? I wasn't thinking of you."

He smiled at her. "Nice to see you too, Cordy."

She shook her head. "No. I don't need another thing to brood over." She shut her eyes, and took a deep breath, when she opened them again she was surprised. He was still there. "What's going on? Whistler if that's you I'm so going to kick your ass! You have no right to impersonate him."

"So I shouldn't have stopped in to say hi to see how your doing, oh great Queen C?"

She got confused. "Queen C? No one has called me that since the last time I saw…"

"Me. It's really me Cor."

"No it isn't! Last time I checked Xander Harris could not just drop in on a higher plane of existence."

"And the last time I checked Cordelia Chase didn't have blond highlights in her hair. She used to make fun of Buffy for coloring her hair. But from what I understand that isn't really your hair is it?" He spread his arms out wide. "Take a good look at me Cor."

She squinted at him for a few seconds before shock showed on her face, then a huge grin. A half second later she launched herself into his arms. "You're real!" she said as hugged him.

He hugged her back. "Like I said, it's good to see you again."

When they broke the hug she looked at him. "How? You couldn't have even known where I was. Let alone get here."

"Well I might have known a little if someone could return an email or two. Last time I talked to you for more then a few minutes was when you became half demon."

"Well…" she stopped. "Let's go some where better then this." As he watched the surrounding changed. Now him and Cordelia were sitting on a large blanket under the shade of a tree on a summer day. "Much better." She said.

"Show off." He grinned at her.

"Don't even start Xander." She told him as she playfully punched his arm. "Now how are you here?"

"Well we have been working hard trying to defeat the super vamp that the First brought back…"

"Super vamp? First what?"

"Ok, the super vamp is what we have been calling the vampire that Giles says is one of the first vampires. The Master would have had a hard time with this guy. And the First is the First Evil. Remember when I told you what happened to Angel during Christmas?"

"All those visions of Angelus victims that tried to get him to kill himself?"

He nods. "Yeah. The First Evil is everywhere I guess. Giles thinks that it is evil. Everything evil from mass murder to cheating on a test is its way of saying hi. It's been killing off everyone, most slayers in waiting, plus the Watchers are all toast. The Council is a smoking crater in the ground."

Cordelia nearly jumped out of her skin. "Wesley!?"

Looking down he told her. "We don't know. Contact with LA has been something we haven't had much luck with. I did talk to that Gunn guy last week, but he didn't like when I asked for Wesley."

She looked almost panicked. "Xander when you go back I need you to go to Angel and tell him…"

He sadly held up his hands. "Sorry no can do. I wont even remember this when I wake up."

"Wake up?!"

"Cor, it's really me here, but only in ghost form you could say. I fell asleep after we got back, and next thing I know I have a demon who says his name is 'Skip' talking to me. He said you needed to talk to someone, and that when I wake up I wouldn't remember any of this so it didn't effect the master plan the Powers seem to have. He said the memories will be there, but I won't be able to get at them for awhile." He softens a bit. "Now tell me what has got you so upset."

She started to tear up. "Xander, I would never have taken this damn higher being offer if I knew this was going to happen."

"What has happened Cor?"

"There is a reason I'm only here in my well, in my soul form. My body is gone!"

"What?! Cordy, your dead?"

"No! Not dead yet. But they got tired of me watching Angel and the others, so they gave me a mission to another realm. One where I couldn't bring my body along. I had to put it in a kind of storage."

"You put your body in storage? Why would you agree to that?"

"I didn't have a choice. This place is nothing like I thought it would be. I came to help people, to become someone. But they don't let me do anything. They let people die all the time because it helps out their plan! Its not some master plan like we thought, Xander they are just winging it mostly."

He moved over, and put his arm around her. As she leaned into him he asked. "Where is your body now then?"

"It's back on earth. Back in LA."

That got him concerned. "But Cor, if you…if your soul isn't in your body then wouldn't they think your dead? They might have buried you!"

She laughed bitterly. "No, it's fine. I was told what was happening."

"Can't you see it? You know use your vision thing?"

"They won't let me! Its goes against their plan. That tiny part of a demon they put in me isn't so tiny after all. It has my body down there, and I have no clue what the hell its doing to my family! All I get to do is relive moments of my life over, and over again!"

He held her tight. "Could you do some thing to me to make sure I remember when I wake up?"

She looked up sadly. "No. If Skip told you that you wouldn't then you won't. I don't have near his power yet."

"There has to be something I can do. Someway I can…" she put her finger to his lips. "No Xander, there is nothing you can do. I will think of something." Her voice grew cold. "You can be sure of that."

"Cordy I promised you all those years ago that I would do anything I could if you needed me. I can't just do nothing."

"I remember that promise. It meant a lot to me then and now."

A few feet away the grass turned into a street. Around an old blue car was eighteen year olds Xander Harris, and Cordelia Chase. Their older selves listened to them.

"This is it, isn't it Xander?" she asked as he put her last bag in the trunk. "For now Cor. Only for a little while." He told her. She frowned. "It could be years till I'm back, if at all. A lot can happen in that amount of time." She looked down. "People can drift apart…"

He took her chin in his hand, and raised her eyes to meet his. "Cor, yeah we could drift apart for awhile. Maybe far apart. But I want you to know something. When ever you need me, just call. Whether it's to hear a friendly voice, or when you need me to be there…" she started to cry. "…or when you need a date for the Academy Awards to get your first Oscar. I mean it. Next week, or twenty years from now. Just call."

She wipes her face. "I don't know if I'm strong enough to do this. You, Buffy, even Willow were always the strong ones. I mean leaving home? I don't know if I can do this." "Yes you can Cor, and you know it. Underneath that bitchy exterior is a strong, decent young woman, take it from me I know. If you were strong enough to forgive me, and ask what you did two nights ago…then you can easily handle this."

She leans against the car. "I was so nervous when I asked you that. I just didn't want to have it happen at some party. You know how they say it's like for girls like me out there. We're a dime a dozen." "I know you Cor. I know you would rather beat the crap out of those slime-balls then do it to get a part."

She looked into his eyes. "I'm glad it was with you. Someone I loved." She wiped a tear off of his cheek. "You're my best friend. The first one to ever look underneath the mask I had for sixteen years. And Xander, thank you."

"For what?"

"It was special that it was with you, but you went all out for me a suite, candles, everything was perfect, thank you. I felt like a queen."

"You're welcome Cor. And just for the record you are a Queen. You're my Queen C, and you always will be." They pressed their temples together as they held each other as they cried. Finally she looked up at him. "I have to go, before the traffic gets too bad."

He kept gazing into her eyes. "I know. You'll call me when you get to your cousins house right? Collect if you have to, but I want to know you made it ok." She nods weakly as she grabs him in a tight hug.

As they break apart he hands her the car keys. "You'll be fine. You have more strength in that body then you know." She started for the door handle when she turned back. "Xander?"

"Yeah?"

"Could you kiss me? One last time?"

With out a word he moved in, and took her back into his arms. They kissed with the passion they always had, but this time it had something else. Love.

A few minutes later as she started the car he called to her. "Cordy." She looked through the open window at him. "You're wrong. Your not a dime a dozen." She could hardly whisper. "Goodbye." Then she was off. She looked in the rear view mirror to see him watching her go.

When she was a few streets down she pulled into the parking lot of a strip mall. She put the car in park, and just started to cry.

Older Cordelia couldn't keep the tears in as she cried watching her younger self. She looked at Xander who was crying with her. He looked down speaking softly. "And now you have a new best friend who might be more."

She turned to him quickly. "Xander, no. It's not like that. What Angel and I have is just different then what we had. I'm not trying to replace you."

"It's ok Cor. Like I said back then. We're going to drift apart. It's the way the world works, but I know I will always have a place here." He points to her heart.

She takes his hand in hers. "You know you always will Xander, no matter what happens. But there is something else your not telling me isn't there?"

He smiles a tiny smile. "I could almost never hide anything from you could I?"

"No. Now talk mister."

He looked up at the sky and said. "I have been thinking that after this thing with the First is over in Sunnydale that I might leave."

She couldn't believe he just said that. "But Xander, you can't just leave you're needed there."

"At one time I thought that was true, I thought I was making a difference in people's lives. But what have I accomplished? What will people in a hundred years think of Xander Harris? All I will have is a footnote in some book that says I was one of many sidekicks to a slayer. Is that all I am? Cor, we have been attacked by the bad guys a few times now at Buffys house, and my big thing is to repair the damn windows. I heard a few of the slayers in waiting talking one night. Damn it Cor, they thought the only reason I was there was because they thought I was doing it with Buffy!"

"Xander you've done a lot! Who got Angel to go after Buffy on prom night? Who came up with the way to stop the Judge, who stopped the zombies from blowing up the school? And who stopped evil Willow from destroying the planet?!" she yelled at him.

"That's just it Cor. Every single thing I ever did gets recorded as another victory for the slayer. The great Buffy. I was talking to Wesley once back in senior year, you want to know what he asked me? Cor, he asked if I was present when Buffy got the idea to use the rocket launcher to take out the Judge. Apparently a few back in England were proud of her that she could come up with such an innovative way to kill him."

"You can't be serious."

He continued. "Guess what? All the journals that Giles sent over to be transcribed into the official Watcher records, they were are all rewritten. We are all known as her friends, and that's it! The slayers in waiting from England had barely heard of us. Hell they didn't even know about Faith!" He tries to calm down. "I need to find out what I was put on earth to do Cor. I can't believe it's just to become a forgotten sidekick."

"Now you listen to me Xander." She said firmly. "I don't care what those now blown up idiots in England thought. You have mattered! You changed a lot of lives." She looks into his eyes. "You changed mine. I wouldn't be the kind of person I am now if it wasn't for you."

He shakes his head. "No offense Cor, you know I love you, but look at what my great change in your life has cost you! You're stuck in a higher plane while your body is being controlled by a damn demon. Yeah I really helped you out!"

She looks at him for a few seconds before she calmly smacks him upside the back of his head. "Cor! I might be dreaming this, but it still hurts here."

"Good."

"Good?"

"You didn't do this to me Xander. I made the choice to come up here. I thought I was going to be able to help people. And I will as soon as I get back to my body again. I am not going to see you blame your self for my…" she stopped suddenly.

"What?"

"You're fading!" she yelled at him.

"What?" he asked before he looked down, and he gave a little yell. His body was starting to fade out. "I must be waking up." She quickly went and hugged him. "Take care of yourself Xander. And if you do remember this I want you to come to LA if you leave Sunnydale."

"I'll try to remember Cor! Good luck getting..." and he was gone. Leaving her all alone in the grass covered field.

***

"Xander, wake up."

He rolled over. "What?"

Willow tossed a clean towel on him. "We're done with the shower now."

As he sat up he got a confused look on his face. "What is it?" Willow asked.

He frowned. "I feel like I am forgetting something important."

"Like what?"

Shrugging he got up. "Don't know. But it will come to me. It's probably just some paper work I have to finish at the site today. It's nothing."

"Ok, just hurry up. We need your car today."

"Yes mother." He said a tad sarcastically as he went into the bathroom, and locked the door. As he tossed his wallet and watch onto the counter he frowned. "I know I am forgetting something."

He climbed into the shower, and as he was complaining about the extreme lack of hot water, he didn't notice his wallet had fallen off the counter to the floor. Its tiny section of pictures covered in plastic became visible, and the first picture in it was of him and Cordelia in their graduation gowns.

***

Skip looked up as she came near. "Did you have a nice chat with your friend?"

"Yes." She said as she wiped the last tears away. "Thank you."

He bowed. "You seemed to need someone to talk to."

"Yeah, I think I did."

"Good. You wouldn't believe what your friends in LA are doing."

Her head whips around. "What did you say?"

He shrugs. "They are trying to get info on the Beast."

"What the hell is the Beast?"

"An unstoppable killing machine. You know. Same old, same old. Seems that your old body has convinced them that the Beast, and Angelus have a history. So they want to bring back old Angelus for a talk."

"Are they nuts?!" she exploded.

He held up his hands. "Calm down, it's not my idea. It's your body telling them that." He got up from the table. "But they should be able to put his soul back into his body after words. Seems his body will be soulless for awhile." He threw up his hands. "Oh well. What's a demon to do? Now if you'll excuse me they are showing a few scenes from the Matrix sequel at a comic convention in New York. So can you hold down the fort for awhile?" he doesn't wait for her to respond. "Great. Maybe you should catch up on your reading. I got a new book in that you might find interesting."

As he disappears, she moves over to the table. On it are dozens of old brown books. She notices a bright yellow one under the pile sticking out a bit. She pulls it out and checks the cover. "You have got to be kidding me!"

In bright white letters the title was Soul Transference for Dummies.

She sat down, and started to read as fast as she could.