Author's Note: Again, running out of things to say here... so to keep it simple... Enjoy :D

Disclaimer: Sadly, Buffy is not mine. Just borrowing them all for a bit :)

Set the World on Fire (I'd Give My Heart)

My Goddess, show me sympathy
For all the spirit's lost
I've prayed for salvation and peace
For ages
Standing in the summer breeze
Inhaling life again
A new day has come
A chance to relive
Forget and forgive

Kamelot – My Confession

Even as Willow stood facing the demon on the destroyed street, she had time to ask herself how it all had gone so wrong, how they had ended up in this situation; next to her, Buffy clearly had no time for such ponderings, her whole body tense as she clutched the sword she had brought, not making a move to attack yet though, merely looking at the opponent of the witch and her, any emotion she might have felt well hidden behind a stone cold poker face.

Opposite of them, a good twenty meters of distance between them, Pat let out another roar as she glared at them; and even though she wasn't in her demonic form, anything which might have been human about her was gone from her features, feral rage and hatred twisting them, her teeth bared in a vicious snarl as she raised her hands and fire burst from them in a steady, unwavering stream, forcing the two other women to get out of reach with a daring dive, both of them hitting the pavement hard enough to have the air knocked out of them.

"Hecate protect me", the witch whispered under her breath as the glowing red gaze of her lover focused on her; as if she had heard her, the demon let out yet another roar, more fire shooting from her hands a second later, hitting the shield Willow had conjured around herself and puffing away harmlessly, but still she felt as if she had taken the full force of the attack, still finding it hard to believe that her partner was so far gone that she'd attack her with the intention to not only harm her, but to kill her.

"Pat!" she called out as she came to her feet again, as she had done a dozen times since this whole mess had begun, "you don't want to do this, please! I know you're still in there somewhere, please come back to me!"

Somewhere to her left, she heard the cackle of one of those responsible for the whole situation, but she didn't bother to look there, knowing what she would see and not wanting to face it again; instead, she kept her gaze focused on her lover, forced to pour more of her magic into the shield as yet another jet of flame shot towards her.

"Please", she tried again, this time not even raising her voice anymore though, knowing her lover was too far gone to listen to her; the only response she got was another tremendous roar coming from the black haired woman, and she closed her eyes briefly as she realized how this might have to end while around them, the world was burning.

7

"Welcome back!" Buffy cheerfully greeted the witch and the demon as they entered the Magic Box together; she was still sweaty from her training, but didn't let that stop her from hugging at first Willow, then Pat, clearly overjoyed to see them again after their brief stay with the Pack of shapeshifters outside of Sunnydale.

"Thanks", the redhead smiled, discreetly wiping some sweat off her sleeve, "it's good to see we've been missed. And that the town is still standing."

"Yup", Buffy smiled, letting herself fall on the nearest chair and propping her feet up on the table, just in time for Giles to see and to give her a hard look, the Brit not bothering to say anything though, knowing it wouldn't lead anywhere anyway.

"You didn't miss anything", the Slayer now let her friends know while they sat down as well, to Giles' relief not putting their feet up on the table as well, "just the usual baddies. Vampires, a demon or two, kinda boring patrol. Did you have a better time?"

"Not sure if it was better", Pat gave back, smirking slightly, "but it was quite exciting. I got dropped from a bigass height by a bird, like you, only that I ended up in a pool of water, then we were almost squashed by a big rock at first, followed by a bunch of tree trunks, Willow got kidnapped by the Donnervögel creature thingies, when the Pack went to rescue her and a bunch of other girls they took, I got a ride on a big shaggy bear which was awesome, and don't look at me like that Willow because you know it was."

"No, it wasn't", the witch shook her head at once, "and don't try to argue with me about this again. I got a ride, too, so Buffy, if anyone ever offers you a ride on a big bear, say no."

"I'm… kinda overwhelmed", Buffy gave back, looking from the witch to the demon and back, "but I'm still glad you guys are back. And you sorted out the shapeshifters problems?"

"Yes", Willow nodded, smiling as she could understand how Pat's retelling of the events might be overwhelming, "there's no more war between those birds and them, they will stay away from each other, and the bear Pat mentioned before ended up with a mate."

"Good for him?" the blonde smirked, raising an eyebrow; nodding, Willow informed her about the fact that people shifting into bears were quite rare, then asked her for details about the last few days, making her shrug while she finally took her feet off the table and let them thump to the floor.

"As I said, nothing special", she then repeated her earlier statement, "just a few regular vamps, which I dusted easily, training with Giles, arguing with Dawn about college and taking her on patrol with me. That's pretty much it."

"Though I do have to say, I am glad you are back", Giles threw in, directing his comment at Pat, "because ever since Buffy started training with you, she got used to having a much more… robust training partner."

"Which is the reason why you suggested I should train with her in the first place", Pat smirked, almost reaching for her cigarettes, then remembering that she wasn't allowed to smoke in the shop, "remember? I hope she didn't rough you up too much."

"I'll live", the Watcher primly responded, making both the demon and the Slayer chuckle, "but I'd be grateful if you could take over the training sessions again."

"Sure", Pat shrugged, "you know I don't mind, and it's nice to have someone to train with who not only matches my strength, but exceeds it."

"Thank God", Giles sighed, making the taller woman chuckle slightly again; he gave her a brief smile, then let Buffy know that the training session was over for the day and that she could go home if she wanted to, making her nod enthusiastically.

"Will", she then started as she got up from her seat, "would you mind coming to the house with me? Dawn's so excited about college, she asked me to invite you over so you guys could talk about a few things, what with you going there and me not anymore."

"Sure", the redhead smiled, liking the thought of sharing some of her college experiences with Dawn, even though she knew that she wouldn't share campus for long with the younger girl, already close to finishing one of two PhDs, "if you don't mind, Sweetie?"

"Of course not", the taller woman gave back at once, not really surprising anyone in the room, all of them knowing that she most of the time was willing to do anything the redhead suggested, Buffy, Xander and Anya every now and then teasing her about how whipped she was, "while you guys talk college stuff, I'll head on home and make sure everything's in order there."

"I'll meet you at home then", Willow said, earning a nod from her partner; they shared a brief, but tender and loving kiss before they left the shop together with Buffy, parting ways outside, Buffy demanding to hear more details about the shapeshifters and their village from Willow as they walked to the Slayer's house together, the witch happily telling her, glad to be back at her hometown and with her best friend, none of them having an idea about the troubles which would await them in the coming days and weeks.