Relevant Revelations

Illiandyandra

Genre: BtVS alone

Pairing: Willow/Xander

Disclaimer: All the characters contained herein are being used without permission. The characters in fact belong to Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, and UPN.

Summary: The message of a dream opens some eyes.

Xander awoke in a sweat. Paying no attention to the startled questions of his awakened bedmate, he quickly threw on clothes and raced from the apartment. The young carpenter didn't bother with his car. Instead he raced on foot to the home that housed his best friend along with the rest of the Scooby Gang with the exception of Anya and himself.

Anya was left to look after him. She knew that whatever he had dreamed of could not have been good. Despite the warmth of the room…she shivered.

Xander finally slowed a bit as he realized the structure was still whole and undamaged. But haunting remembrances of the horror of the dream urged him forward. Letting himself in with the key he'd only been given after promising, under penalty of torture with clowns, to never let fall into Anya's hands; Xander started up the stairs. He frantically awoke the girls of the house and pulled all four sleepy and irate women out of the house in their pajamas, just as Anya pulled up in his car.

Finally snapping out if his dream induced fugue, Xander realized that Buffy was yelling at him demanding to know what was going on and why he had them in the middle of the front yard in the cool night air. Xander said nothing. He simply walked forward and pulled a slightly groggy Willow into a bone crushing hug. Only Willow and Tara, standing very close by, heard his fervent, relieved whispers. "You're okay. You're alive. I will NEVER let that happen to you. I will never let anything happen to you I promise. I'm never letting you go. I'll protect you Wills. You're okay. You're safe."

Anya and Buffy's tirades were cut off by Tara. "Sh—shut up." She stuttered. "Something's wrong. Xander is very much of the sure that he just saved at the very least Willow from something." The quiet blonde beat back her own jealousy and curiosity to take up Willow's job of explaining the dark haired young man. Though honestly she was just as confused as all the others.

It was Dawn who ended their confusion. "Buffy, I think the house is on fire." The teen pointed to the basement windows, where the orange glow of flames was becoming apparent. Dark smoke oozed out around the basement's small windows. Finally as the smoke reached them with its acrid stench, Anya used her cell phone to call the fire department.

When the sirens got close, Anya tried to go talk to Xander. Buffy went with the former vengeance demon. Tara approached the hugging pair as well. All three girls were shocked when Xander snarled at them as they got to close to him and the sleeping redhead, clutched tight to his chest. The aggressive rumble shook Willow awake and she managed to get Xander to calm back to the point of cognizant conversation…or as close as their Xander shaped friend ever really gets.

He told them of the dream he'd had about the fire. How it had engulfed the house. How the fire department hadn't even gotten a call until most of the first floor and a large portion of the second floor had been consumed.

"You could have just called them, Xander. You could have told me what was going on. Instead I have to come chasing out after you to find out what was wrong with you." Anya fussed.

Tara and Buffy exchanged looks, telling each other without words that they each knew what Xander was leaving out. They took a step back as they say rage infuse Xander's still trembling body. Buffy caught Dawn. The young girl had tried to quiet Anya, at first, nonverbally. But as the jealous girlfriend continued, she was moving to shush the older woman verbally, and if need, physically. Buffy knew better than to draw any attention to herself when Xander was this Angry. She didn't worry that he would ever physically hurt her or Dawn…but she knew better than most exactly how protective Xander could be. How much hurt he could bring with just his words.

"Ever had the light go out in your world, Anya?" Xander asked so quietly he almost couldn't be heard. "Ever has your entire world die? Ever had your soul ripped out and yet you still had to try to keep breathing? Ever lose something so vitally important you wanted nothing – absolutely nothing – more than to be back with it, with her, and no matter what happens, no matter how bad your wounds are, you simply can't let go of this HORRIBLE empty existence?" with each question Xander's grip on Willow's hand grew ever tighter. He had released her, but couldn't fully let her go yet. His redheaded best friend was tried to sooth him, as each question was punctuated with another menacing step towards Anya. "Tonight in that dream. That is exactly what happened. If this had gone down the way it did originally, in just over a week I'd be burying my heart. My soul. The fucking reason I draw my next breath. And you are standing there yelling at me for how I did what needed doing? For doing whatever it took to keep that horror from becoming a reality?"

Xander let Willow pull him away from where he stood glowering down at anya. Before she could say anything, Buffy spoke up. "Xander, what happened? I would never have left Willow in there."

He gave her a half hearted, and yet reassuring smile. "No, Buffster, you wouldn't and you didn't. My, supposedly, brainy best friend ran back into the house to save Amy and got trapped. She was overcome by smoke and knocked out when a wall caved in." As Xander spoke tears coursed down his suddenly pale cheeks. "She never woke up this time. And on Sunday next we laid her to rest next to Jesse's memorial. She was gone. And you guys knew what I would do. You watched me like hawks. Dawn came right out and told me that if I left her too she would never forgive me. That one," he flung at Anya, put some kind of binding on my lifeforce…tying it to hers. As long as she lived, I couldn't die. I couldn't be killed. Only by outliving her could I see my Willow again. But of course, if I'd killed her then myself…well my soul would be damned and I'd never get to see Willow again anyway. You know what hell is its eternity without seeing Wills ever, EVER again."

Xander's voice started to shake but still he told them of what almost was. ""It took me almost four years to find Tara. She couldn't stay here without Willow, so she left after the funeral. There was another of my girls gone. But I was so – I don't know-numb without Wills, it took me like a month to realize she was gone. But Angel and Cordy helped me… and I found her. I managed to convince her to help me send my memories back to myself; or well future me did. Tonight I had the dream, and something took me over. I think it was future me. And now since Wills is safe and sound, I'm back to me cause that future me no longer exists. But neither me wants to ever see that selfish thing over there ever again."

Normally very shy and quiet, Tara's eyes were flashing with power and rage. She snatched Anya's keys from her hand and took off Xander's apartment and car keys, before flinging the key ring back at the annoying girl. The blonde witch was livid. "How dare you. What right did you have to torment him? Torture him like that? We both knew what this was. We agreed that as long as they wanted us fine…but the second the fell in love with each other, we'd step back. We would be grateful for the time the gods gave us with them but release them without any hard feelings. Unlike Cordelia and Oz, we'd bow out gracefully. Does that sound like backing out gracefully?"

"Well he obviously couldn't be in love with a corpse. She was GONE. It was only right for me to finally have him to myself. But no, you heard him…he was going to let himself be killed just to follow her. Would we have even had time to mourn her, or would it have just been a double funeral?" Anya rejoined loudly.

"Both of you…just STOP!" Dawn screamed. "We almost lost two of our own tonight…cause yeah Anya…you might have kept his body here…but we all know his heart was with Willow. And as far as backing down if they fell in love…what are you stupid? They've been in love for years. They are the only people in the WORLD who don't know it. Even SPIKE knows, heck even ANGELUS figured it out. Have you never watched them in battle. As soon as you saw them in a fight you should have backed off. The fact of the matter is that no matter how far Xander is from Willow, if she gets hit, he's always the first one to her. Oh or maybe the fact that if Xander gets cornered the vampires surrounding him get magically incinerated even if you don't think Willow knows he's in trouble. Even before Willow had magic, she'd have given her life for his and he for her." Dawn cut herself off, only because she was out of breath.

Fortunately, her sister finished her tirade. "Xander and willow have always been meant for each other. Even Vamp Willow and Vamp Xander were together." Buffy said giving Tara and Anya sharp looks. Her hazel eyes flashed fire. "Anya, you should know better than anybody that Willow and Xander are absolutely destined. You should go. Go now, before I forget the former part and slay myself a vengeance demon."

Turning her back to the now sobbing Anya, Buffy began to organize. "Ok Wills you go on with Xander. He really needs you right now. Tara; you, Dawn and I will head over and see if we can't crash at Giles. I doubt the fire department will let us head back into the house before tomorrow…well later today." She said trying to be chipper. "We'll walk Xander and Wills to his place first; I don't think any of us are up to driving right now." As she said that the slayer looked down and noticed that her hands were still shaking from the emotional roller coaster she and her friends…no, her family had just experienced.

Reaching out she pulled Willow into a tight hug. Both girls hugged fiercely soon joined by a distraught Dawn and crying Tara. A Still shaken Xander completed the hug Anya had taken herself off to her own apartment after Buffy had voiced her feelings on the actions Anya would have taken in the aftermath of Willow's adverted death.

Once the firemen had left, with their admonishments not to enter the structure until after sunlight, Buffy ran into the house and grabbed some smoky, nut otherwise undamaged cloths and sundries and the gang headed to Xander's Apartment.

What do you think...Should I continue? Its been a while since I've done BTVS, not sure if I still have the voices correct.