Spoiler: "Tabula Rasa." Spike didn't come to the Magic Box, vampires never attacked, and Willow's crystal was never broken. (Spike was killed in the stand-alone companion piece to this fic entitled "The Mayor's Legacy," archived at AdultFanFiction. The companion piece, which is definitely NOT Spike-friendly, is not at all necessary for understanding this fic.)

Feedback: Always desirable. Kind, cruel, hateful, adoring; I don't care. It's all good.

Disclaimer: I don't own anybody or anything in the Buffyverse. That honor falls to Joss Whedon and Mutant Enemy. The only thing that is mine is the elderly Macintosh computer that I am using to write this story, and even that falls prey to periodic demon possession. (Don't ask.) Suing me would be an exercise in futility, so please don't.

Author's Notes: This is based upon a challenge that I issued to ODD. You can read it in its entirety , but the basic outline is as follows:

What if Spike had been dusted by the loan shark before he ever made it to the Magic Box? If Spike hadn't been there, the vampires never would have attacked, Willow's crystal never would have been broken in the confusion, and the memory loss spell would have remained intact at least until Giles' plane left.

Requirements:

Leave the memory loss spell in effect for at least one week but for less than one month.

Xander should be furious about the fact that Giles slept with Anya.

Anya graphically comparing the two men in bed.

A bright, cheerful season one-ish Buffy, one that almost justifies Willow's decision to do the spell in the first place.

Many, MANY thanks to Morrwen for the beta!

PROLOGUE

Giles had never been so nervous in his life. When would Willow and Xander get here? Lord, he just wanted to get this over with and get to the airport as quickly as possible. He wasn't sure that he could take Buffy's glare for too much longer. Before he could reach the breaking point, however, he heard the bell over the door tinkling quietly, and the two missing Scoobies entering his shop. He waited for them to walk over towards him; now that they were here, he wanted a few more seconds to prepare himself.

"Thanks for the jacket," Willow said as she entered. "It's cold out there."

"Not a problem," Xander replied, "the cold only makes me stronger and more macho-like."

They were behind Giles; it was time for him to get this over with. "I'm glad you're here, um..." Giles trailed out as when he realized that the others were all staring at him. He couldn't see Buffy, but he could feel her glare lancing through the back of his chest. "I have something I really have to tell you all. Um... I know it feels like we've been through this before—"

"Why don't you just jump to the chase," Buffy interrupted snidely, finally coming back downstairs. "Tell them that you're ducking out of your sacred duty again, just like when you were a kid. Tell them that you're abandoning me, well, all of us actually, while you—"

"Buffy!" Everyone looked startled at his tone, but no one was more surprised than Giles. He hadn't meant to yell at her, and didn't know where his sudden irritation came from. He turned to towards Buffy, who was staring at him with equal parts of hurt and resentment. "I'm sorry, Buffy. I shouldn't have snapped at you like that." Buffy just watched him, with no hint of forgiveness upon her face. Well, what did he expect?

Sighing in resignation, Giles turned towards the rest of the group. "Buffy's right. I should jump to the chase.' Um... I'm headed back to England and I plan to stay... indefinitely." Giles fell heavily into his chair beside Anya and tried to avoid the shocked looks that everyone other than Buffy was giving him.

Xander, as Giles might have predicted, was the first to recover his voice. "Now? Not now, I mean, not after... everything."

He had to be firm here, or they would dissuade him from doing what he needed to do. "Yes, now."

"For real this time?" Anya's chipper voice reminded him that not everyone would try to prevent his departure. "'Cause honest to Pete, a young shopkeeper's heart can only take so much..." Anya trailed out, as she felt Buffy's hostile gaze moving towards her. "I mean, not that I want you to go—"

Buffy cut her off, sounding hard and angry. "I can't do this." And just like that, she was running away from them all, up the stairs, toward the door. She put her hand on the doorknob, but then paused. "I just, I don't think..."

As ever, Willow tried to act as the peacemaker. "Buffy, listen." Buffy took her hand off of the knob and turned around to face the group again, but made no effort to move any closer to her friends. "I know this must be awful for you, and I, I'm sorry, I... I'm so sorry for..."

Buffy nodded her head impatiently, looking impossibly old and bitter. "Sorry. Everybody's sorry. I know that you guys are just trying to help... but it's just, it's too much. And, and I, I can't take it any more." Buffy shook her head angrily or perhaps simply in hopes of fighting off impending tears. "If you guys... if you guys understood how it felt... how it feels. It's like I'm dying, it—"

After months of hiding her feelings from everyone, Buffy was finally opening up to her loved ones about how she truly felt. Because this was the Hellmouth, however, she never got to finish. Willow's spell kicked in at that moment, and they all fell unconscious. It would be over a week before they came back to this moment, and by then, the Scoobies' small world had been turned upside down.