"Willow, I'm taking you to Arizona with me next week. I'm presenting a paper at a conference in Tucson and your father can't go."
"But Mom, it's summer and Arizona is, like, one of those hot desert places, and did I mention, it's summer? And I'm going to college this fall and I need to study, and my friends, I need to see my friends because our lives are all changing and this might be our last time together before we all go in different directions. Buffy will be leaving for L.A. to stay with her dad and Xander will soon be driving across the country, and ..."
"Willow, you're going. It'll be good for you to get away from that Bunny Summers and her crowd." She held up her hand, "Oh I know you say Bunny isn't responsible for your obsession with magic, but I don't trust that girl. I've arranged for you to undergo a little detox while we're there."
"Detox! Mom, what do you mean detox? I'm not toxed. No sirree, no tox on me! I don't smoke or do drugs or ... well sometimes I have too much caffeine, but that doesn't make me toxed! I'm nontoxed Willow."
"Oh Willow. I know you can't see it, but often when adolescents develop a fixation on something, it can adversely affect them for the rest of their lives. I wrote a paper on this last year, dear. I'm aware of the danger of having you carry irrational illusions into your college career, so I've arranged some help for you while we're there. Dr. Glover is highly respected. You'll like him."
And that was that. And here she was at a "recovery" spa in Tucson. Her friends couldn't believe it when she'd told them her mother was taking her to Tucson to detox. Buffy offered to talk to her mom, Xander told her to rebel and stand up for her rights as a fully-adult Wicca woman. Oz had said, "Huh." But she'd fallen in with her mom's wishes. It was, after all, the first time her mom had ever wanted to take her anywhere.
She had to admit the spa was nice. It had an open-air courtyard with cacti and an outdoor pool and inside it was air conditioned and quiet. She'd had a massage and a facial and had spent the last hour in the meditation room. No Internet terminals though. She had no way of keeping in touch with Sunnydale.
It was time for her meeting with Dr. Glover and she was as relaxed as she would ever be. "Think of it like a trig exam," she said to herself. "That wasn't bad. Actually, that was fun." But despite the meditation and the warm thoughts about math, she was nervous as she walked down the cool corridor to his office.
When she entered, Dr. Glover looked up from his desk and smiled. "Miss Rosenberg? Let's sit over there and get acquainted." He ushered her to one of the two comfortable-looking chairs that faced out into the courtyard. He didn't look pasty, like she imagined he would, and he didn't wear a white gown. He was heavily tanned with deep wrinkles. Big hair -- all white. Sort of a Lorne Greene as Commander Adama look. Deep voice, but gentle.
"Miss Rosenberg, your mother tells me you have something of a fixation on magic and witchcraft. What can you tell me about it?"
"No sir, Dr. Glover, no fixation. I mean -- fixation? -- that sounds so, like drugs or something. Like needing a fix. I don't need a fix. I'm not fixed. Not that I'm broken, but I'm not fixed and ... and I don't need fixing." He looked so understanding she continued, "I just like doing magic sometimes, but it doesn't affect my grades, and I don't smoke, and I'm just a normal ..."
"...Wicca?"
Willow nodded.
"Miss Rosenberg, I see a lot of people here. Some of them have ... let's call them thoughts and ideas ... that sometimes have no bearing in reality. I help them step back into the real world, if I'm able. We don't refer to this as 'detox' though some people, like your mom for instance, talk about our work that way. Of course not everyone shares the same reality. And sometimes ... do you see that pencil on my desk? Can you float it here to me?"
"What? Sure!" Willow grinned, then frowned. "Hey, are you trying to trick me or something?"
"Just show me."
"Okay." She adjusted herself in the chair and concentrated, and the pencil floated across the room and came to rest in the air in front of Dr. Glover's face. He reached for the pencil and put it in his pocket.
"Splendid! Did you teach yourself how to do that?"
"I don't understand. Aren't you supposed to be curing me of my delusions? I mean, not that I'm delusional, but isn't that what you do here? Don't tell my mom what I just did! She'll wig out and ground me for the rest of the summer."
"Miss Rosenberg ... may I call you Willow?" Willow nodded. "Willow, I can only help cure you of your delusions if you have any. But you don't. Well, not beyond the standard ones we all have. No delusions at all about magic. You know it's real and, by the way, that was the best pencil float by a patient I've yet seen. Most novice Wiccas are lucky if they can get it to roll off my desk."
"I don't get it, Doctor. You believe in magic?"
"Willow, I'm what's known as a facilitator. If people come to me with delusions, I try to help them. If they're on drugs, I arrange to get them into a proper detox facility. If they're magically talented, I try to coach them."
Saying that, Dr. Glover concentrated and the pencil left his pocket and floated back to his desk.
"Hey," said Willow, "you're a ... a ..."
"Warlock. I don't advertise it, of course. Bad for the spa business, not to mention my academic reputation. But when I encounter talented individuals, I hold special classes for them. Willow, with your permission, I'd like to personally tutor you this week. I can feel your power, and I'd like to help you develop it in safe ways."
"Well, sure! But what about my mom? What will you tell her?"
"That you're cured. That you've had all the detox you need. That you should do very well in your studies this fall. Just be discrete about what you say around her."
"A week of personal instruction from a warlock? And stuff to study? And things to learn? It'll be like chem class, like trig, like ... when do we start?"
Dr. Glover smiled. "As soon as you like."
The rest of the week flew by. Dr. Glover was able to coach her in how to stay grounded while performing advanced spells. He helped her improve her technique for getting a spell started, and trained her how to cast a spell without getting exhausted. He also shared his extensive knowledge of herbs. She would never have guessed the things that could be done with dill.
Above all, he cautioned her to stick to white magic. "Don't be tempted by the dark spells. They create their own kind of delusions. And they're extremely dangerous. I can feel your power, Willow. You'll grow strong and the dark arts may tempt you. Stay clean."
When her mom came to pick her up for the return flight to Sunnydale, Dr. Glover put his arm around Willow and they both smiled. "A very cooperative patient, Mrs. Rosenberg. She's made excellent progress this week. One of the best patients I've ever worked with. I'd say she's more than ready for UC Sunnydale."
Willow hugged him goodbye. "Thank you Dr. Glover! Thank you for all your help."
As they drove to the airport, Mrs. Rosenberg said, "I knew you'd like Dr. Glover. He has such a fine reputation for helping people."
Willow smiled. "You were right, mom. It's just what I needed."
That night, after dinner, Willow joined her friends at the Bronze.
"Look, it's the Wilster! Hey Wil. Our very own decompressed, detoxed, but not yet decommissioned Wicca," said Xander, hugging her tight.
"Wil, I am SO glad to see you. I need my Willow fix." Buffy hugged her too.
"You look ... good," said Oz as sat beside her, smelling her hair.
"Fess up, Wil," said Xander, "Are you detoxed, deloused, and defrocked? Or does Power Willow still rule?"
"More importantly, how did you survive a week with your mom?" asked Buffy.
"Guys, you wouldn't believe," she said, "you just wouldn't believe. Dr. Glover was cool! He's a closet warlock. It was like having my own personal Watcher for a week. A Wicca Watcher. A kind of Giles, but with herbs instead of stakes, and without the English accent." She grinned. "I learned more magic from him in one week than I did all last year on my own."
"That's my girl," said Oz.
"Wil, you're just the best," said Buffy.
"You can take the girl out of Sunnydale, but you can't take the Sunnydale out of the girl," said Xander, pointing his fingers like pistols.
"But how are you guys?" asked Willow. "How goes the slayage? What's happened since I was gone?"
As the conversation turned to Sunnydale news, Willow grinned, causing the lights to flicker for a moment.