A/N: A second fill for Round Two of buffy_genfic. The focus for this round was Willow and Magic vs Technology.

Recipient/prompt: mierke
Magic vs. Technology: Technology
Three elements you'd like included: Post-season six Willow, finding comfort in technology, Willow and Buffy friendship
Two things you don't want: Mentions of the trio, Kennedy
Warnings: None
Setting: The summer between S6 and S7
Betas: Un-beta-ed, so if you see something, point it out. :)
Notes: Skype and other similar programs debuted the summer following S7. But somebody had to beta test them, right?

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Choose 1 for Ready, 2 for Not Ready

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Okay, Willow typed. Now click on the 'start call' button. She crossed her fingers - literally - and held her breath. A moment later, her laptop binged. Accept call?

She clicked okay, and Buffy's face filled the screen.

"Willow? Willow? Are you - is this working?" Buffy squinted and moved closer to the camera on her end, one hazel eye filling Willow's screen. "Hello?" she said again, her voice staticky across the internet connection. Just like a real trans-Atlantic call.

"My, grandmother, what big eyes you have!" Willow said, and Buffy jumped backwards, her entire head visible now. Willow chuckled. "I'd call this test a success."

Buffy smiled. "You did it! Not that I doubted you could, but go you with the tech smarts. And the fat bonus cheque! Not bad for a summer contract."

Or an addict on the mend, Buffy didn't say. Actually, Buffy probably hadn't even thought it, only Willow, but it didn't really matter. It was a valid thought, no matter who it came from.

"I'm just glad they had some work for me," Willow said. The money was nice, no question there, but more importantly, beta testing the internet video chat program gave her something to do - something non-magical and unlikely to make her go all vein-y; something that distracted her whenever thoughts of Tara grew too painful. Something that, by virtue of belonging to Life Before Tara, didn't remind Willow of her absence whenever she worked on it, unlike every painful, heartwrenching moment spent with Giles and the coven witches. On the other hand, working for BitaSoft did remind her of Oz. Oz, and canapes, and long summer nights spent arguing the merits of C++ versus Visual Basic. But that pain was older, and easier to bear now. Willow wondered if time would lessen this pain too. "You know me. I get bored without something to do, and this seemed like the most practical option. Plus, bonus with the bonus cheque: rent money!"

Face squinching, Buffy said, "You know you don't have -"

"Last year was hard on you, financially." Among other things, neither of them said. "I didn't help much as I should -"

Buffy looked away. "Things are better now… I don't need..."

Willow's lips thinned. They were all so determined to forgive her, for everything, and it wasn't fair. She didn't deserve it, didn't they get that? "But I need. I should've before, and now I can, and don't say it's - I have to, okay? I have to," she said again.

"Okay," Buffy agreed. "Um. Thanks." She was a good enough friend to not point out that rent money months late didn't make up for much of anything - not for the way Willow had dragged her out of Heaven or the way she had gone crazy and tried to end the world or for any of the little ways she'd let Buffy down in between - and Willow was a bad enough friend to not point it out either.

"So, um," Willow said instead. "How are things there? Dawnie?"

"Missing you. It's lonely here - just me and Dawn and Xander left. Sunnydale feels… empty."

"Anya's still…?"

"Gone."

Willow winced. Maybe Xander had left Anya at the altar, but Willow had destroyed the Magic Box, and she wasn't sure which would be harder for Anya to recover from. Or forgive. But Anya wasn't the only one who'd abruptly disappeared from Sunnydale. "And still no sign of -"

"None," Buffy said quickly, and immediately moved onto a new topic. "Got a return flight booked yet?" Her perky faux-smile melted into a more natural one. "It's not just Dawn who misses you, you know."

"I -" Willow's voice caught, and she had to blink, faster and faster, to hold back the tears trying to burn their way free. She missed Buffy. Missed all of them. But… she couldn't go back. Not yet.

Maybe not ever.

How could they forgive her? How? Before she could make a fool of herself, she clicked End Call.

The laptop binged. Accept Call?

Willow clicked no.

Willow? Did I break it? popped up in the chat box.

Taking a deep breath, she swiped at her eyes, then set trembling, damp fingers to keyboard.

Sorry about that. Looks like I have more work to do. She paused to wipe her eyes once more, and then added, Not quite so ready as I thought.

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Fin