As the gang loaded up onto the bus, Willow stood at the edge of the crater, her eyes scanning for any signs of life. She watched as rubble settled into place and the tremors in the ground halted to a stop. She exhaled deeply from her nose and let herself down onto the ground, sitting with her feet dangling from the edge. She stared at her swinging feet, the new, deep scuffs on her boots and the slight tear at the bottom of her pants. She played with a lump of dirt in her hands, the dust rubbing onto her fingers until it was gone.

Gone.

She felt like everything that she had ever known in the world was gone. Like she was looking at a mass grave of her entire life. Everything she had ever known was buried in hundreds of feet of rock and dust. Her home, her school, the parks, the trees. Tara. Tara was gone. There was no longer a grave to visit. There wasn't a familiar local coffee shop to sit in and reflect. And there wasn't a familiar perfume to spray or candle to burn.

As the tears began to well up in her eyes she remembered meeting Kennedy. The way she burst through all of her defenses with her brash phrases and her unrelenting and unforgiving eye contact. She made her smile when she wanted to cry. She held her when she was ready to run.

She was so lost in her thoughts that she almost forgot for a moment where she was until-

"Hey Will!" Buffy shouted out the bus doors, "We're all loaded up, let's go!"
"In a minute!"

She was cut out of her thoughts and suddenly became aware of the pile of dirt and sand accumulating on her lap. She scoffed slightly and started brushing it off aggressively.

As she began to get up, lifting herself to one foot and turning to face the bus, another tremor hit, rattling the bus and shaking Willow off her feet. With a gasp and a shriek she felt her feet slip on the sandy edge, slip down, and-

Her shoulder suddenly jerked and her body slumped from the edge. She looked up and, in the glare of the sun, she saw her arm being puled up.

"Did you think I was going to let you fly away that easy, little kite?" Kennedy pulled her up and over the ledge with ease, leading her toward the bus.

"Oh my goddess!" Willow gasped, gripping onto Kennedy's upper arms with both hands, "How did you-"

"I felt the tremor in the ground before it hit and I wanted to make sure you were okay."
"You felt it before it hit?"
"Yeah," She smiled her winning smile, "I think it's a Slayer thing. Ever since you did the spell everyone is buzzing with energy. Even Buffy said she feels different- stronger. But Giles said that it will dull down as the spell settles in."
"Oh… well… good. I think."

With a final grin Kennedy pulled Willow closer and led her onto the bus and headed straight for the back. Giles latched the doors shut and revved the engine.

"So have we figured out where we are going now?" Willow asked as she began taking her seat.

"Yeah, I think I heard something about pointing this rig for Cleveland. Giles apparently has been tracking a lot of demon activity and there is word of another Hellmouth becoming active up there. I don't really know the details, but I'm sure he and Buffy have some idea of what they are doing."
"Sounds like them to me," Willow yawned.

"Tired?" Kennedy leans in and takes Willow's hand into hers.

"Yeah," she mumbles, "The spell. It's just sort of catching up to me I guess."
"I can only imagine," she scoots down the long back seat and gestures for Willow to lay down. She leans her head back and lays in comfortably on the slayers legs. Letting out a sigh she fades to sleep.