Xander Harris was happy.

Happy was of course a completely insufficient descriptor for his emotions. After his journeys, his battles, his years trying to make his way home, his heart felt as if it would burst out of his chest in pure joy. Feeling two of his favorite ladies (Buffy and Glory) hugging him made him feel completely at home. Seeing his best friend, Willow, alive and well made him feel like shouting out a primal scream of gratitude to the universe. Seeing the befuddled look on the face of a battered Giles, made him feel a nostalgia for a past long since thought lost. No, one word could hardly express the utter extremes and complexities of his emotions. But, if one word had to be chosen, happy would have to do. Perhaps, to express the purity of that emotion, a two-word descriptor would better suffice.

Xander Harris was purely happy.

As Xander held Buffy in one arm, her body curled up and with her head on his chest, he looked down at the other woman occupying his other arm. A fond expression formed on his face. A sight which shocked the observers. The Hell Goddess, Glory (aka Glorificus), had been the bane of their lives for the past year. A psychopathic engine of death and destruction, whose cruelty was only matched by her clear insanity. The observers' minds were stuck trying to comprehend this powerful foe acting like a little girl hugging her dad after his returning from a long business trip.

Xander tucked a lock of Glory's hair behind her ear and gave her a gentle kiss on the top of her head before he began speaking to her in a voice full of gentleness and love. "So, this is where you got to, Morning Glory. You know, your father was so upset at your brothers for tripping you into that portal. How long have you ended up being in this dimension?"

Glory sobbed into Xander's shoulder. "More than twenty years"

Xander grimaced. "I'm sorry Morning Glory. That had to be so tough on you, your energy draining from you for so long. Did it get bad enough for you to have to feed off the locals?"

Glory paused and then silently nodded her head into his shoulder.

Xander silently sighed and kissed her head again. "It's OK sweetheart. I take it the portal was so unstable because you tried to force The Key to take you home, instead of asking?"

Glory's nod was even smaller.

Xander looked around at everyone watching and mouthed a silent "sorry", then looked back down at Glory. "OK, I'm not going to lecture you about why that was a bad idea. We both know that you know better, and it was the drain psychosis talking. I'll send you back home now, and then your dad can help get you back into shape."

Glory lifted her head and looked into Xander's eyes, her eyes glistening with unshed tears of joy. "Really!? … Is dad mad at me?"

Xander chuckled. "No, honey, he's been worried about you all this time. And your brothers will also be happy to see you, they've been suffering through their punishment all this time. Someone, I'm not saying who, may have suggested to your dad that they should be forced to clean the hound pens until you returned. That unnamed honorary uncle may have also suggested that they do it by hand and with no powers."

Glory giggled. "You're horrible, Uncle Xan. Can we go now?"

Xander shook his head. "I'm afraid not going, Morning Glory. This is my home dimension and these people are the friends I told you about. So, it will be a while before I come to visit again."

Glory's eyes widened, and she gulped loudly. "These are the Scoobies?"

Xander smiled indulgently. "Yes, they are, and I suspect you will owe them an apology before you go. But, first, you have to return the mental energy back to the people you fed on."

Glory whined. "But, Uncle Xaaaaaaan!"

Xander's eyes hardened. "A certain honorary uncle can still suggest that a certain wayward Hell Goddess needs some time in the hound pens too, to make sure she learned her lesson".

Glory's eyes filled with panic. "You didn't let me finish. I was going to say 'but, Uncle Xaaaaaan, I would be happy to do that'".

Glory raised her face to the sky and a solid river of white energy flowed from her eyes into the sky. The energy flew rapidly to every corner of the globe Glory had fed, and into the eyes of the various people milling around the base of the tower, including a smaller portion of energy flowing into the eyes of the young woman holding Willow. As the energy entered each person, the confusion and listlessness left their faces as they regained their sanity. For many, the confusion returned, but that was more of a function of suddenly finding themselves milling around an unfamiliar rickety tower.

Xander looked at the pained face of his honorary niece and kissed her head again. "I know it hurts, but you'll be home in a second. Now, give me another hug and then let me use my sword arm again. While I open the portal, you can apologize to my friends."

Glory hugged Xander hard, and then let go. She stepped away and Xander pointed his sword at a spot on the ground. As green energy swirled around the sword, Glory looked to a gaping Dawn Summers (aka The Key). "I'm sorry I tried to force you to open a portal to my home. I should have asked you nicely."

As Xander's sword shot a beam of green energy at the ground, Glory looked at the silent crowd of onlookers that had previously been fighting desperately against her earlier that evening. "I'm sorry I tried to kill everyone on your planet and destroy your dimension. That's my bad."

Glory looked down at the swirly and stable portal on the ground. As she felt the familiar energies of her home dimension leaking through the portal and beginning to heal the damage to her mind and essence, she looked at Xander. "I'm glad you found your home Uncle Xan. Make sure you come visit me again. Thanks for finding me. I'm glad dad decided to not try too hard in eviscerating you."

With that, Glory stepped into the portal and disappeared. With another stream of green energy from Xander's sword, the portal was gone.

He sheathed his sword and looked up at his old friends with a large smile on his face. "So, G-Man, why aren't you wearing tweed?"

With that, everyone's minds finished rebooting and their silent stupefaction came to an end.

Xander felt at home the moment the barrage of questions began to be thrown at him. Giles was throwing a series of questions about what had just happened mixed with a healthy dollop of British curse words. Willow was asking a rapid series of questions about where Xander had been and how he got back, while seemingly being emotionally torn between running to hug him and continuing to hug the young lady next to her. Dawn was more interested in asking about the dragon. And Spike, the bleach blonde Vampire, just stood there.

Xander frowned at that last thought, and then looked back at the milling people standing in hospital gowns.

"Hold up! Guys! Listen, I will answer all your questions. But we should probably get all these people off the streets and back to the hospital. I know the sun is coming out, but I assume dark alleys are still dangerous around here?" The question being directed at Giles.

Giles, thrown off from asking his stream of unanswered questions, looked around the tower base and truly, for the first time, took in the people standing around with confused expressions. Before this moment, they had been unwitting foot soldiers for Glory, but now they were just innocent victims again. His Watcher training kicked in to help regain his composure as he responded. "Yes, quite right. You are, of course, correct that they should not be left to wander these streets by themselves. I also suppose it would be for the best to ask these questions in a more… private setting."

"Sounds great! But first… should I dust Spike?"

"Ah, no. I am afraid not. He was recently implanted with a chip of some sort, that prevents him from touching humans with harmful intent. Somewhat unbelievably, he has even become a bit of an uneasy ally."

Xander, surprisingly, just shrugged his shoulders. "Fair enough. If the chip ever fails, of if you change your mind, I'll make sure to end him quickly"

Spike snorted in response. "Like Droopy could even lay a finger on me."

In the blink of an eye, Spike was slammed up against a nearby wall. An exceptionally sharp sword was pressed firmly against his neck, and Spike found himself staring into the eyes of a suddenly serious Xander Harris. When Xander spoke, all traces of joviality and kindness were gone.

"Listen closely, Demon, because I rarely give warnings and I never give them twice. They may believe you to be harmless, and even believe you capable of one day becoming a true ally. I know the truth though. You are not harmless, you will never be harmless, and you are only an ally because you find it to be to your benefit. Giles said you couldn't touch people, so that means no fighting back if Buffy came after you, but I'm guessing it also means non-humans are available targets. Your history speaks of a demon who took joy in visiting violence upon others, and I doubt that lust for violence has disappeared. So, it's a fair bet that you get your jollies off slaughtering demons now. Your… alliance is one of convenience and survival."

"Know this, Demon, you have proven that you know how to harm humans without directly touching them. You have proven you can be just as devious as you can be vicious. Most importantly, you have proven that you should always be thought of as a deadly threat. You may lull the others into complacency, but I always see you as the evil being that you are."

Spike felt the sword press harder against his throat, feeling not even the slightest tremor or twitch evident in the dangerous man's muscles. Thoughts of throwing out casual insults disappeared as he focused all his attention on the words being spoken. "Now here is your one warning, Demon, if you ever harm one of my loved ones, or an innocent, I will end you. There will be no quippage, prolonged fight to show who is superior, or final victory speech. I will simply find you and destroy you. You have proved to be far too dangerous and wily for me to even think about toying with you."

Xander then stepped back and lowered his sword. Spike noticed that Buffy was still held in Xander's non-sword arm and was smiling peacefully as she curled into his chest. Xander's smile returned and his voice became jovial again. "Now, the sun is about to fill in the remaining shadows. So, I recommend making your way to the sewers if you don't wish to get a tan."

Spike looked up and saw that he only had about half a minute to spare. He moved at vampiric speeds and was in the sewers before most of the people could recognize that he had started to run. As the manhole cover finished settling above him, he found himself smiling. It had been a long time since someone had treated him like the Big Bad that he was, and even longer since he had been told he was too dangerous to toy with. Of course, he would never hurt Dawn, his Little Bit, but it still felt nice to be appreciated.

Up above, Xander looked over at his friends and sighed. They were once again frozen in shock. "You know, it's going to get irritating if you just keep freezing up every time I say or do something shocking. Tweed up people!"

As Xander's friends shook off the shock (Giles muttered 'Tweed up? It really is Xander'), Xander looked over at the dragon, who had been waiting patiently. Xander spoke to the dragon with great affection. "You look as magnificent as ever boy, but Sunnydale is not great ready for a dragon as awesome as you. Maybe try something a bit more inconspicuous, Ripper?". The dragon huffed a puff of smoke in irritation and then shrank and transformed into a black and light brown furred wiener dog with a lolling tongue. Xander scratched the dog's ears and chuckled. "Smartass dragon. Don't blame me if the girls start cuddling you and trying to dress you up in cute outfits."

Xander turned to the former mental patients who now found themselves with questioning their newly returned sanities. "OK people, there were a series of gas leaks and you all went a bit loopy. Please follow me and we'll get you back to the hospital, and then you can get checked out and back home to your families."

With that, Xander began to lead the patients, Scoobies, and wiener dog down the street and off to the nearest hospital.

Half a block down the road, Xander stopped and looked over at Willow. "Um, it's been a while, Wills. Where's the nearest hospital?"

Willow rolled her eyes at the classic Xander moment and pointed her finger. With that, Xander turned 180 degrees and began to lead the patients, Scoobies, and wiener dog (which was barking in a way that sounded suspiciously like a mocking laugh) going the opposite direction down the street and off to the nearest hospital.

With the patients safe at the hospital, and already starting to be taken home by grateful families, the remaining demon fighters made their way towards Buffy's house. Buffy still being held up with one of Xander's arms, and the dog/dragon named Ripper occasionally rushing into a dark alleyway followed by a startled shout and the dog running back out while shaking ashes off his snout.

While everyone had many questions, they all had independently decided to hold the questions to themselves until they had reached Buffy's home. All except for one Dawn Summers.

Halfway to their destination, Dawn moved to walk next to Xander with a worried yet determined look on her face. Silently, she spoke just loud enough for Xander to hear her.

"Do you… remember me?"

Xander felt Buffy's muscles tighten slightly and her head shift slightly to listen better. This had been the first real response to outside stimulus that Buffy had demonstrated. He squeezed her slightly to reassure her.

Xander smiled at Dawn. "Of course, I do, Dawn Patrol. You Summers girls are unforgettable. How could you think I would ever forget you?"

"You heard Glory's… 'apology'. You know… what I am!"

Xander sighed slightly. "Yes, I do. You are Buffy's little sister. You are Joyce's daughter. You are my friend. You are a young woman who is finding her way in the world, and who I am sure will grow into an amazing adult. You are Dawn Summers. As for what you are really asking about, you are also the human avatar of The Key. That last bit is simply what you are, the rest is who you are. Who you are is vastly more important than what you are. Always remember that!"

Dawn's eyes glistened, but her expression remained determined. Forcing herself to speak words she would rather not say. "I'm not... I'm not Buffy's little sister. We love each other as family, but I didn't exist until this year. The Key is not just what I am, it is who I am. Buffy tried to sacrifice her life for me, and I'm not even human! How can you even think of me like a person when your memories of me are all fake!?"

Xander's face scrunched into confusion. "Why do you think my memories of you are fake?"

"The monks that made me into a person also gave me and everyone fake memories, to help fool Buffy into protecting me. I know that she loves me, but… it's all built on a lie."

Xander's eyes widened. "Who told you that?"

"One of the monks"

Xander chuckled. "Dawn, as a person who has spent quite a bit of time trying to find his way to his home dimension, believe me when I say that I am well versed on the nature of The Key. An entity that has the power to get me home… of course I researched it! The most important thing to know is that The Key is so insanely powerful that nothing can force it to do something it doesn't want without causing crazy amounts of collateral damage. Those beings that are powerful enough to attempt to force The Key are also smart enough to not do it, and the others just fail and are usually destroyed for trying. Human monks are not nearly powerful enough to force The Key into human form, all they can do is cast a spell that is the equivalent of a polite request. You are here because The Key agreed to make you its avatar, and The Key does not mess around with something as weak as simple memory alteration effects. The Key has power over all dimensions, including time. You have existed since the day your mom conceived you."

Dawn looked over at Xander with an expression of tentative hope. "But, how is that possible? I mean, when mom was sick, before… well, she sometimes couldn't remember me as being real."

Xander got nervous at the way Dawn talked about her mother but felt now was not the time to open a potential can of worms. "Your mom wasn't dealing with false memories, Dawn Patrol. She was dealing with memories of a deleted timeline. I dealt with the same thing."

Xander noticed that the rest of the Scoobies had gotten close enough to listen and were clearly interested in hearing more.

"You see, a while back, I was talking to Glory's father. And, I started to feel my head filling with duplicated memories and sometimes slightly different memories. Frank, that's Glory's father and his real name causes my tongue to bleed, is a fully matured Hell God. He felt the wave of changes to the timeline washing over all of reality, and his nature allows him to understand exactly what was happening. Basically, The Key manipulated time to ensure it could be conceived as you, and then it forced the original timeline to remain tightly coupled so that the changes were minor enough and non-cascading, so it could force the timelines to come together like teeth in a zipper and ending with only one timeline at the point where the monks cast the spell. In short, The Key rewrote reality to ensure that your past is very real. Incidentally, that level of power is also why most entities leave The Key alone."

Dawn's face was slack in shock. "So… I'm really… real?"

Xander smiled at the open look of relief in Dawn's eyes. "Yes. You're really real."

Xander then found his free arm filled with the younger Summers sister, and the two sisters curled into his chest hugging him and each other.

"G-Man, I think you're going to need to get the door for me when we get there"

Soon enough, the group made it to the Summers house. While Giles and Willow were eager to hear Xander's tale, they agreed with him that they should probably give everyone a chance to sleep and recover from the stress of the previous evening. This agreement was made easier considering that Buffy and Dawn were clearly not interested in talking, nor in letting in letting go of their Xander-shaped safety blanket. And Tara was likewise holding on to Willow with all her strength.

Willow and Tara took off for the master bedroom to cuddle. Giles laid down on the couch. And Xander ended up laying on Buffy's bed, with Dawn and Buffy using his chest as a pillow while hugging each other.

Soon enough, everyone in the house was sleeping peacefully for the first time in months.

As Buffy drifted off to sleep, she felt safe. She was certain that everything that had happened after her leap into the portal was either a dying dream or the afterlife. Once she knew that the dragon rider was Xander, she had known that it couldn't be real. The world had thoroughly proven that it was a cruel place for Buffy Summers. Much too cruel to allow for the miracle of a living Xander returning to her. Certainly, the world was too cruel to let Glory be removed without further harming people, or to give everyone back their sanity (especially poor Tara), or to ease the last of Dawn's doubts about her nature. No, this wasn't real, but this just might be heaven. For now, she would simply accept the joy of the moment, and ignore the small (and growing) part of her mind that was telling her that this was real life. She embraced the happiness of hugging her long-lost friend and her baby sister, while drifting off to the sound she had been enjoying since Xander caught her. The strong and steady beat of Xander's heart.

Buffy Summers was purely happy.