"Here you go. Aarzoo Demon."

Willow pushed the book across the dinning room table toward Buffy for confirmation. Buffy nodded at the picture of the demon and began reading the text about its capabilities.

"The Aarzoo Demon, native to what is now the middle east, possesses three rows of teeth for shredding its unfortunate prey as well as a nearly impenetrable flesh that makes killing it a challenge. I kinda knew all of this."

Willow nodded sagely, replying in a slightly sing-song tone. "Keep readin'."

Buffy returned her attention to the text, skimming the parts about its slow speed yet incredible strength until she got to the part that explained its death. "The Aarzoo's tough skin will begin to dry and crack upon its death, releasing its life force in a violent burst. Those within range are imbued with this force as is the environment surrounding the creature's body. Once imbued, anyone within range retains an aspect of the demon."

Buffy rolled her eyes. "Great, wonderful, just what I need, the aspect of another demon. What will it be this time, drinking its brains or some other tasty concoction before I go nuts hearing everyone's thoughts or try and kill everybody in the house during a psychotic delusion?"

Willow repeated her original sing-song reply. "Keep readin'."

Buffy looked down at the rest of the text one last time and her eyebrows shot up. "This demon is able to manifest desires. Upon its death, those who are imbued with the aspect of the demon will have a diluted and temporary ability to make one wish. Often the power remains available for, at most, twenty four hours."

Willow smiled as Buffy looked up into her eyes with a dumb struck expression on her face. "I can make one wish?"

Willow nodded. "See why I told you to keep readin'?"

Buffy jumped to her feet, the feeling of the energy in her body still strong as she paced back and forth in front of her friend. "This is huge."

"What's huge?" Buffy directed her attention to the doorway as Xander entered the room.

Willow's eyes stayed on Buffy as she fielded her friend's question. "Buffy was granted the ability to make one wish in the next twenty four hours by an Aarzoo demon."

Xander took a seat next to Willow, his eyes large and intrigued. "Can she wish for more wishes?"

Willow rolled her eyes and pulled the book back toward her. "It doesn't specify, but it seems pretty unlikely. The power to make the wishes is what Buffy got and it was diluted when it went from the demon into her. Most likely, she will use all of the power reserves she has in just making that one wish and then she won't have enough left to make any more, no matter how many she wishes she had."

Xander wagged his eyebrows. "Hey Buff, could you at least dress up in a Jeannie costume and nod your head when you make the wish? That would be granting your wish and mine all at once, it's a win-win."

Both Buffy and Willow hit Xander with mild looks of annoyance before Buffy continued her pacing. One wish. She hated that she was on a time crunch, what if she made a hasty wish and wasted this opportunity.

Crossing her arms over her chest she began to think out loud. "One wish. One wish. There's no time to think this through thoroughly enough to avoid wishing for something that could turn around and bite me in the ass. I have to go about this responsibly."

She snapped her fingers. "I know, I could wish for the mortgage company to disappear into the Hell Mouth."

Willow leveled Buffy with a faintly scolding look. "Oh right, that would be a totally responsible thing to wish for."

Buffy knew that it was probably the manic energy ripping through her, but she found herself slightly annoyed by Willow's understandably reproachful look. "Hey, you don't know. There are a lot of people who are having a hard time with money. I could be like Sunnydale's version of Robin Hood."

The reproach in Willow's eyes stayed put. "Sure, Robin Hood. Except, instead of stealing from the rich to give to the needy you will upset the fragile balance that is our socio economic structure so you can stop paying your bills."

Xander could sense the sudden and unnecessary tension that was building between his friends. "Ladies, lets not get ahead of ourselves here." He turned to Willow. "Buffy was just thinking out loud. She really wouldn't wish for something that frivolous, she was only making a joke. Right?"

Buffy's annoyance grew as opposed to being quelled. "How do you know I was joking? You know, none of you have any idea what its been like since my mom died, or since I died for that matter. Sure, you may have acted like you know but neither of you are the proud parent of a teenager in your early twenties. The more we talk about this, the more I feel like I deserve to make as frivolous of a wish as I want to. I should be able to wish for a huge ice cream cone right now and neither of you should have anything to say about it!"

Buffy stormed from the room and out of the house, feeling enormously childish as she did so, but completely incapable of stopping herself.

At the sound of the front door slamming Willow and Xander exchanged silent looks for a moment before Xander broke the heavy silence. "Well, that was a fairly "Days of Our Lives" moment."

Willow stood and gathered the books she'd used to find the Aarzoo demon up, irritation painted vibrantly across her face. " Yeah, if Days of Our Lives took place in a Gymboree."

She walked toward the stairs to take the books back to her room with Xander following closely behind. "We should cut her a break. She does have to deal with a lot of things that we don't have to think about, she deserves her moments of immaturity."

They entered the master bedroom and Willow replaced the books in her chest before sitting on the edge of the bed with a sigh. "I know she does, but that doesn't mean she's the only one on earth with problems."

Xander could see where Willow's thoughts were going and he sat on the bed beside his friend. "I know you haven't had any easy time there yourself."

She looked world-weary as she leaned her head against his shoulder and let him put his arm comfortingly around her. "Some days are easier than others. I'm not complaining, I'm grateful that I got a second chance. It's just that sometimes I have to fight harder than other times not to slip into the bad place."

Xander laid his cheek against the top of her head and smiled. "I think we all wish we could just wallow in the bad place sometimes." He patted her knee, knowing that for Willow the bad place had an entirely other meaning, but choosing to keep things light.

They sat in companionable silence for a moment before Xander spoke again. "You miss Tara a lot, don't you?"

Willow sighed, her eyes falling gently closed at the pain in her heart that hearing Tara's name could bring. She often wondered if it would ever hurt less than it did right now. Somehow she couldn't imagine it. "Every minute."

Xander gave her a gentle squeeze. "In times like these, there's only one thing that can cure what ails you."

Willow lifted her head to smile up into her friend's face as he finished his thought. "You pop the popcorn, I'll get "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory."