(This chapter is set within the fifth season; before Joyce's death)
On a Saturday afternoon in Sunnydale, Joseph Cooper, a nine-year-old boy, was walking home from a friend's house when he spotted something glittering near the front wheel of a parked car. He quickly ran over to it and picked it up.
"Wow, an Olympic medal," he said. He then put it around his neck and ran home. He ran passed four two-story houses and after reaching the fifth two-story house he turned into the yard. He ran up the steps and swung open the door. "Mom! Mom! Look at what I found!"
"I'm upstairs, Sweetie!" Liz, Joseph's mother, yelled.
Joe ran up the stairs and into his bedroom. Liz was putting away Joe's clothes into a drawer when Joe ran in.
"Mom, I found an Olympic medal," Joe said as he held it a few inches from his chest.
"Take it off your neck Little Buddy and let me see it for a minute," Liz said as she closed the drawer.
"I found it while walking home from Ned's house," Joe said as he took it off his neck. He then handed it to his mom. "Isn't cool, Mom?"
"This is cool, Little Buddy. But Sweetie, this isn't an Olympic medal."
"It's not?" Joe asked with a disappointing expression on his face.
"I'm sorry, Little Buddy, it's not. But hey; this way, if the owner doesn't come looking for it, you get to keep it. If it was a real Olympic medal we would have to find the owner and give it back."
"What is it, Mom, if it not an Olympic medal?"
"Well, looking at the unusual doubled image encircled by stars, it looks like a very cool looking amulet necklace."
"It's just a necklace?" Joe asked with even more of a disappointing expression on his face.
"It's not just a necklace, Little Buddy. Some people think that this type of necklace possesses magic. That is why it is called an amulet"
"What kind of magic?" Joe asked with renewed excitement in his voice.
"You know I bet it's the kind that will drive away those monsters out from under your bed when you try to sleep."
"Ah, Mom, you're teasing me."
"I'll bet you if you will ask your dad when he comes home from work he will tell you the same thing."
"But, Mom, I'll be in bed by then."
"I'll tell you what. If you promise me that you will go to bed right afterwards without giving me or your dad any trouble about it, I will let you stay up until your dad gets home."
"All right! I get to stay up after midnight!"
"Only if you promise me you will go to bed after you get to see your dad."
"I promise," Joe said as Liz handed him back the amulet. There was then a short pause. "Mom does this amulet have other magic than just keeping the monsters away?"
"Well, Little Buddy, I'll bet if you believe strongly enough, then this amulet will make any of your wishes come true."
"Oh cool! Mom, can I go show Ned?"
"Joey, you just got home from Ned's."
"I know, but Ned would think this is cool."
"You can show Ned the amulet tomorrow. The sun is about to set and I don't want you out after sunset."
"All right. Mom, can I have a piece of cake?"
"A small piece. I'm about to start dinner and you don't need to ruin your appetite."
"What are we having?" Joe asked as he was backing up towards the door.
"How does spaghetti and meatballs sound?" asked Liz.
"Delicious," Joe said as he entered the hallway.
"Remember, Young Man, that I said a small piece of cake," Liz said loudly as she too began to leave the bedroom.
"Yes, Mom," Joe yelled back as he slightly ran down the steps.
After leaving Joe's bedroom she entered hers. She went over to the phone next to the bed and picked it. After dialing, she sat down on the edge of the bed.
"Sunnydale fire department, Mark speaking," a man said on the receiving end.
"Mark, hi. This is Liz. Is Scott there?"
"Hold on Liz and I'll get your husband for you."
"All right, thanks, Mark." Liz waited for a minute before Scott got on the phone. She then proceeded to tell Scott what Joe had found and what she had told Joe about it.
11:40 that evening, Liz and Joe were playing cards when they heard a vehicle pulled up in the driveway.
"Dad's home," Joe yelled as he dropped his cards on the table. Liz quickly glanced at the clock on the VCR as she laid her cards down.
"If that's your dad, he's home early," Liz said as Joe ran to the door.
As Joe was opening the door, Liz walked up behind him. As the door opened, Liz wasn't sure what to think when she saw who it was.
"Who's that, Mom?"
"That's Capt. Henderson. He's your daddy's boss, Little Buddy. Joe, Sweetie, go to your room for a few minutes."
"But what did I do?" Joe asked as Capt. Henderson was getting out of his car.
"You're not in trouble, Little Buddy. I just have to talk to Capt. Henderson alone. So, please, Sweetie, go to your room. I promise you, you won't have to stay up there long."
"I want to stay with you," Joe said as Capt. Henderson began walking towards the door with an uncomfortable expression on his face.
"Joe, do what you're told!" Liz exclaimed in a stern tone; a tone that Joe had never heard from his mom before.
"Okay," Joe said as he backed away from the door. "You're starting to sound like Dad."
As Joe went up the steps, Liz stepped outside and closed the door behind her. "You are here and Scott is not," Liz began. "Please tell me that there's nothing wrong."
"Elizabeth," Capt. Henderson said. He then paused for the correct words.
Liz asked with tears running down her cheek, "How bad is he hurt and how did it happen?"
"Scott was able to hand Mark a five-year-old girl out of a third-story window of a burning building. The girl was barely in Mark's arms when the roof collapsed," Capt. Henderson said.
"How is my husband?" Liz calmly asked as she wipes the tears from her eyes.
"I don't know how else to say this, Elizabeth, except to come out and say it. Scott gave his life to save a family tonight." Liz backed up against the door and then slid down into a crouch position. Her face became hidden as she pressed it against her legs. "Elizabeth, I'm here if you need someone to talk to." Except for the weeping, Liz kept silent and motionless. "Elizabeth, if you won't talk to me then you should find someone who you will talk to." Again except for her weeping, Liz kept quite. "Elizabeth, please talk to me. Please tell me how I can help."
Liz lifted her head up and wiped her bloodshot eyes. She then stared into Capt. Henderson's eyes while saying through clenched teeth, "The only way that you can help me, is if you can turn back the clock and make sure my husband comes home."
"Please don't do this to yourself, Elisabeth. Please tell me how I can help ease your…"
"Don't you dare finish that sentence!" Liz exclaimed while cutting him off in mid-sentence. She then stood up again. "Capt. Henderson, will you please leave."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes, I'm sure."
"All right. But before I leave I want to give you a business card," Capt. Henderson said as he pulled out his wallet.
"Your business card?" Liz questioned.
"No. It's a number to a support group," Capt. Henderson said as he was pulling out the card. "Before you say anything, I know you probably feel that you don't need it. But please take it. Days or even weeks from now you might decide that you would want to talk about your grievous loss. There's nothing that will help more than a support group."
Liz just stood motionless and silent just for a brief moment. Capt. Henderson saw in her face that she was trying to sort things out in her mind. She then calmly held out her hand and said, "I won't promise you that I will use the card."
"That's okay," Capt. Henderson said as he laid the card in her hand. "I just want your promise that you will keep this card handy just in case you do decide to use it."
Liz just nodded her head as she put the card in her front pants-pocket. She then turned toward the door. She paused for a moment to collect herself before opening the door and stepping in. Liz went directly to Joe's bedroom door where she took the time to wipe the tears from her eyes one last time. She then knocked on the bedroom door. When Joe opened the door she walked in.
"Mom, did Capt. Henderson hurt you or make you sad?"
"Joe, I want you to sit down," Liz said as she pointed to the bed. Joe sat down without saying a word. Liz then sat down beside him. "Joe." Liz was having trouble speaking. While her tears flowed down her cheeks, she turned away from her son while trying to get her emotions under control.
"Mom, you're scaring me."
Liz took a deep breath. She then turned to face Joe again. "Joe, I'm hoping that you are old enough to understand what I 'm about to say."
"Old enough to understand what?"
"Your daddy had done a very good thing today. He had saved a family from a burning building."
"When is dad coming home?"
"Joe, this is the part that I want you to understand. Your dad had to go into a building that was on fire to save this family. He then had to stay inside the building to make sure that the family members got out one by one."
"I understand that, Mom. But when is dad coming home?"
Liz practically barked out, "Joe, please stop interrupting! This is hard to say as it is!"
Joe had a slight terrified look on his face before saying, "I'm sorry, Mom."
"No, I'm sorry, Little Buddy. I'm sorry. I'm trying to tell you that your dad did not get out of the fire in time. Joe, please understand this. Your dad is in heaven now."
"No!" Joe exclaimed as he began to cry. "Why did he have to save those people? Why did he have to go to heaven now?"
"Joe, now you need to understand this. He was able to go to heaven because he saved those people. God doesn't want people in heaven who allow another person to get hurt. Those people go to a place called hell. And hell is a place that god sends people to be punished."
"If dad had left that family in the burning building god would have sent dad to hell to be punished?"
"I think that you understand very well, Little Buddy."
"Mom, if I use my amulet, could I wish dad to be here instead of being in heaven?"
"I'm afraid not, Little Buddy. You see god had allowed the amulet to be made under the condition that god has power over the amulet. The only way for your dad not to go to heaven is if god would turn back the clock and start the day all over again. But things would have to be change to keep the same things from happening all over again."
"What kind of things?" asked Joe.
"Things like keeping the fire from happening. Or even if the fire was discovered before the family got trapped inside; anything that would stop your dad from entering that building."
"I think I understand."
"I'm glad. Now, it is time for both of us to get ready for bed. And Joe, if you want, you can sleep with me tonight in my bed."
"Can I sleep in my own bed?"
"Of course. I just thought you would want to sleep with me tonight."
"How about tomorrow? Could I sleep with you tomorrow?"
Liz smiled before saying, "Sure you can, Little Buddy. How about a hug and kiss goodnight." As they hug each other, Liz found that she had trouble releasing Joe from her hug. After Liz finally turned loose, she quickly gave Joe a kiss before standing up.
"I love you, Mom."
"I love you too, Little Buddy," Liz said as she brushes Joe's hair with her hand. "Now you need to put your pajamas on and try to get to sleep. Tomorrow is going to be a long and busy day."
"I will." Liz then turned and walked out of the room. Joe quickly got his pajamas on. He turned off the lights except for a dim night-light. After grabbing the amulet off of his dresser he jumped into bed. While holding the amulet tight with both hands he chanted with a hundred percent concentration, "Please restart the day and don't let my dad die this time."
6:00 A.M. a knock on the door woke Dawn up from a sound sleep. "I'm sleeping," Dawn cried out as the bedroom door was pushed open.
"Well, you need to wake up if you want to come with me," Buffy said.
"Where are you going and why would I want to go with you?" Dawn asked as she put her pillow over her head.
"I'm going to the parade and you told me for a week that you wanted to go too."
"The parade was yesterday," Dawn proclaimed as she pulled off the pillow and sat up. "Don't you remember? One of the floats came loose from the car that was pulling it and crashed into a TV repair shop."
"That an interesting dream you had, but we don't have time for this. The parade starts at 7:00. And I would like to get there to get a good spot before it starts."
"I think you got hit too hard in the head last night by those vampires. You're starting to have memory problems."
"Dawn, I didn't even fight a single vampires last night. It was so quiet last night that I was in bed around midnight."
"That was Friday night when you were in bed around midnight."
"Dawn, last night was Friday. So will you please get dress?"
"You're definitely losing your mind and your memory, Big Sister. Because today is Sunday," Dawn said as she lay back down. "So if you don't mind I don't want to get up now."
"Fine; if you don't want to go to the parade then that is your loss, but I'm certainly not going to miss it."
"Have fun and close my door on your way out."
"Fine."
"Fine." Dawn mocked.
Two and a half hours later Buffy was again shaking Dawn awake while saying, "Dawn, wake up."
"I'm awake. I'm awake."
"How did you know that the float was going to come loose from the car and crash?"
"What are you talking about?" Dawn asked as she sat up.
"You told me what was going to happen at the parade today. How did you know that?"
"I must be having a bad dream because Saturday was yesterday. And I knew what happened at the parade because I was there… yesterday."
"Dawn, I just came from the parade and it happened just like you said. How did you know that?"
"I'm either having a bad dream or this day is some how repeating itself. Either way I would like for it to come to an end."
"Don't be ridiculous, Dawn, days can't repeat itself."
"Then I'm having a really-really bad dream."
"You're not dreaming. But perhaps you did have a psychic dream though. What else can you tell me about today?"
"Fine. I'll play along… at least until I wake up anyway. Which I hope will be soon." Buffy just grinned and slightly shook her head. "Some time after 9:00 A.M. Giles falls off a stepstool at the Magic Box and breaks his ankle. Around 10:00 A.M. while we were waiting at the hospital for Giles to get done a fight broke out in the cafeteria between two patients. You, Big Sister, broke up the fight. Xander loses a filling while eating lunch. Around 2:00 P.M. Mom gets a flat tire. Mom's spare was even flat so she had to walk to the nearest gas station to call for help…"
"Dawn, get dress. We are going to go see Giles. And if your dream is coming true we need to stop Giles from breaking his ankle. We will also check to make sure Mom's spare isn't flat."
"Fine," Dawn said as she was getting out of bed.
Minutes later, as Buffy and Dawn walked into the Magic Box, Buffy saw Giles stepping on a step stool with a duster. "Giles! Stop!" Buffy exclaimed.
Giles quickly came off of the stool while barely keeping his balance. Anya looked up from what she was doing. Giles said while giving Buffy an annoyed look, "Buffy, you shouldn't go around frightening people like that. I could have fallen and hurt myself."
"Sorry. I didn't mean to frighten you," Buffy said. "I came here to stop you from falling off of that stool."
"Well, it seems to me that you caused me to fall off of this stool."
"No, let me explain. Dawn had a dream that a float at the parade was going to come loose and it did."
"I find this all fascinating, but what does Dawn's dream have to do with me."
"If you ask me, this event is the dream," Dawn said.
"Dawn please," Buffy said. Dawn just slightly smirked. "Giles, Dawn also dreamed that you broke your ankle after falling off that stool."
Giles sarcastically asked, "It wasn't after you came in and frighten me off the stool was it?"
"Giles, I'm serious. Dawn has a complete knowledge of the entire day. "
"Are you certain of this?" Giles asked.
"Well, the events haven't occurred yet, but she was right about the parade and you being up on a stool."
"Perhaps you need to get back on the stool," Anya said. "So if you fall off and break your ankle we would know for sure."
"Anya, your concern for my well being is touching," Giles sarcastically said.
"May I say something?" Dawn asked.
"Certainly," Giles said. "What do you have to say?"
"Buffy believes that I dreamt about being at the parade. It wasn't a dream. I wasn't there today, but I was there yesterday. I remember waking up yesterday going to the parade. I remember everything that I experienced yesterday up to the time that I went to bed at 11:00. Today should be Sunday."
"Dawn, today is Saturday," Giles said. "And there was no parade yesterday."
"Buffy. Giles, I barely remember my dreams," Dawn said. "But I have a perfect recollection of being at the parade and experiencing the rest of the day. The day that I experienced could not have been a dream."
"Dawn, I find it very unlikely, but the only other explanation is if Saturday is repeating itself," Giles said. "And if the day is repeating itself somehow, why are you the only one who is retaining the memory of it?"
"I don't know," Dawn said.
"I'll tell you what, Dawn; it might be a waste of time, but I'll research my books and see if they say anything about any time anomalies," Giles said.
"Can I help?" Dawn asked.
"I don't know what we'll be looking for, but certainly you can help," Giles said. He then pointed to a bookshelf. "The books we will be using are over there."
"I will help too," Buffy said. "But don't neglect anything in the books on psychic dreams. Dawn, there's still a possibility that you were dreaming."
Dawn said while sounding positive, "I know that I wasn't dreaming."
Because business was slow that morning, Anya also was able to help. When 11:00 A.M., rolled around Anya got bored and turned on the radio. The volume was somewhat loud.
"Anya, do you mind?" Giles asked as the news started. The story that came on caught Dawn's attention.
"Not at all, but if you mind, I will turn it off," Anya said.
"No. Wait," Dawn blurted out. "The reporter is talking about the fight at the hospital."
"… Billy Cranston was killed during the fight after James Spellings picked up a knife from a nearby table. James Spellings has been charged with second-degree murder…" the reporter announced over the radio.
"My god," Dawn said. "That wasn't supposed to happen."
"Are you sure?" Giles asked.
"Yes," Dawn said. "Buffy was supposed to break up the fight while we were waiting for you to get done at the hospital."
"But I didn't go to the hospital," Giles said.
"That's because Dawn and I stop that from happening," Buffy said. "I didn't even give a thought about what might happen at the hospital if I wasn't there. My god; why didn't I think about stopping that fight?"
"Buffy, you shouldn't blame yourself," Giles said. "No one could have known that this would happen."
"Dawn, if Saturday is truly repeating itself and if it repeats again you must make sure that I'm at the hospital to stop that fight," Buffy said.
"But what if I don't remember, like everyone else?" Dawn asked.
"Well, you remember this time," Buffy said. "Let us hope that you'll remember the next time too."
"If there is a next time," Giles said. "We aren't finding anything in these books on time anomalies; if indeed that we are experiencing one. And if we are experiencing one, who's to say that the time anomaly won't correct itself."
"We still have a couple of books to look through, so should we continue to look?" Dawn asked as Willow opened the door to step into the shop.
"Hey. What's everyone doing?" Willow asked as she stepped in.
"Willow. You might be the one person who could shed some light on things," Giles said.
"What am I supposed to shed light on?" Willow asked.
"Willow, do you know of any incantation that could cause time to repeat itself?" Giles asked.
"You guys want time to repeat itself?" Willow asked.
"Willow, according to Dawn, time has already repeated itself," Buffy said. "We are trying to find the cause of it if we could."
"Time has repeated itself?" Willow questioned.
"We aren't certain of that yet," Giles said.
"I am," Dawn said. "Both yesterday and today has been a Saturday."
"Is that even possible?" Willow asked. "Wouldn't that go against some law, like the law of physics or something?"
"I was hoping you could tell us," Giles said.
"Oh, right," Willow said. "I don't know of any, but I will go home and see if I could find any incantation in any of my books. I'll be back as soon as I can." She then turned and left again.
As the hours passed, Willow along with Tera couldn't find any incantation on time repeating itself. Buffy made sure that her mother had a proper spare tire. Buffy also, with Dawn's knowledge of the day, made sure that all mishaps and incidents were avoided. Then after sunset Dawn pointed out the hot spots of the vampires' activities. When 10:30 P.M. rolled around Dawn went to bed and fell asleep hoping that she would wake up on Sunday morning.
At 6:00 A.M. a knock on the door woke Dawn up from her sound sleep. She quickly sat up as her bedroom door came opened and Buffy came walking in.
"Buffy, what day is today?" Dawn exclaimed.
"It's Saturday. Wow, you must be more excited about this parade then you let on all week."
"Oh god, it's happening again."
"What's happening again?"
"I will tell you on the way to the parade," Dawn said as she quickly got out of bed. "But right now we must hurry and get to the parade so we can stop a float from crashing into a TV repair shop."
"Dawn, what are you talking about?" Buffy asked as Dawn was quickly getting dressed.
Dawn proceeded to tell Buffy about the day repeating. Buffy had remained skeptical the entire way to the parade; however, she had allowed Dawn to prove herself. After they got to the parade the attempt to stop the float from crashing into the TV repair shop had failed. The failure; however, convinced Buffy that there was a possibility that Dawn was telling the truth.
As the day progressed, Buffy and Dawn stopped Giles from breaking his ankle along with stopping the fight that broke out at the hospital. As the day was coming to the end for another time, Dawn decided to take Giles suggestion by staying up. Buffy stayed up with Dawn. They talked for a while in Dawn's room, but after a while Dawn decided that she wanted to listen to the radio. Ten minutes after listening to the radio the news came on with a lead story of a fireman losing his life while battling a fire.
"Oh, my god," Dawn said. "I never knew about that."
"You said that you weren't up this late the passed two times," Buffy said. "So you wouldn't have known."
"Buffy, I'm hoping that time will repeat again so we can save that fireman; except I don't know who he was or where he was killed. And could there be more tragic events that I don't know about? If so, we need to stop those too. These tragic events might be the reason time is repeating…"
Buffy quickly said, "Slow down, Dawn. First of all the chances that the tragic events are causing time to repeat is very unlikely; however, we might be able to find out more about the fireman."
"How are we going to do that?" Dawn asked as Buffy got up and started out the bedroom door.
Buffy said as Dawn was only two steps behind her. "I will call the fire station and see what I can find out,"
Buffy walked to the telephone and started dialing.
"You know the number?"
"No. I'm calling information right now to get the number."
After getting the number and after dialing the fire station Buffy started to get the information; however, as Buffy was hanging up Dawn suddenly felt strange. Dawn then saw Buffy's movements slowing down as if life itself was coming to a complete halt. Dawn was then awakened from a knock on the door.
As the day progress for another time, Giles was able to get his hands on a police scanner for Dawn.
Buffy, along with Dawn and the rest of the Scooby gang stayed close to the scanner. Most of the day light hours remain quiet; however, after sunset, Buffy went out to stop the vampires' hot spots that Dawn had told her about. While Buffy went to each hot spot to save someone, Dawn and the others would hear about it over the scanners as an attempted assault crime.
As 10:30 P.M. came around the moment that Dawn and the gang were waiting on had arrived. A severe fire had broken out on the far side of Sunnydale. Giles quickly jotted down the address as it came over the scanner and within minutes Giles and Dawn were on their way to the fire.
Giles had taken a wrong turn and got caught up in some heavy traffic and when they arrived at the fire, they arrive at the time the roof collapsed.
"We're too late!" Dawn exclaimed.
"I'm really sorry," Giles said. "We might have made it if I didn't take that turn."
"Giles, the time repeating itself must not stop now. We need one more time."
"Dawn, we don't know what is causing this time anomaly. The time anomaly could end at any one of the repeating cycles. So I don't want you to be disappointed if you wake up in the morning and find yourself on Sunday morning."
"But something is causing this day to repeat itself. What if that something is getting repeated also? And so far, except for attempting to save the fireman, we haven't done anything to stop that something."
"Well maybe we should find out all we can on what cause the fire, and if the day begins again we need to do all we can to stop the fire."
"Giles, what if we stop the fire and the time keeps repeating itself?"
"You must keep convincing us of the fact that time is repeating itself and with everyone pulling together, we might stumble on a factoring clue. Until we get a clue on how it got started we are stuck in a vicious cycle."
Before the day had finished the cycle, Dawn had found out what had caused the fire.
As the day started again, Dawn again convinced the gang about the time anomaly and with the gang's help every incident and mishaps that Dawn knew about were either stopped or suppressed.
At 10:00 P.M. Giles and Dawn went to the apartment building and with Dawn's knowledge of what caused the fire that too was stopped.
Dawn and the rest of the gang sat patiently at the Magic Box listening closely to the radio while the remaining minutes of the day ticked away. Dawn kept a close watch on the clock after 11:30 P.M. and as the time got close to midnight Dawn crossed her fingers.
A minute from midnight Buffy grabbed hold of Dawn's hand and said, "If the time anomaly continues, we will find the cause of it. I promise."
"But how do we do that?" Dawn asked.
"We'll go door to door looking for any charms or anything else that could be considered supernatural if we have to," Buffy said. "We'll figure this out."
Xander gave Buffy a look before saying, "What I can't figure out is how Dawn knows that time is repeating and no one else does."
"We may never find that out," Giles said.
"Hey, everyone, look," Willow said. "It's midnight."
"Dawn, how do you feel?" Giles asked.
"I feel fine," Dawn said.
"Did we break the cycle?" Anya asked.
"Well, Dawn?" Giles asked. "Is the time anomaly over?"
"I believe so," Dawn said.
"Dawn, I should get you home," Buffy said as she stood up. "It's now past midnight and Mom is going to have a fit as it is."
"I may go home, but I'm not going to sleep," Dawn said as she got up. "I'm scared if I go to sleep I'll wake up and it will be Saturday again."
"Good night everyone," Buffy said as Giles was preoccupied with his own thoughts and didn't respond with the others.
"Giles. Giles!" Buffy exclaimed.
"I'm sorry, Buffy," Giles said. "What were you saying?"
"I was saying good night. But are you all right?"
"I'm fine, Buffy. I was just thinking that we haven't really discovered what caused the anomaly."
"I wonder if we will ever find out," Willow said.
"Well, we should worry about this tomorrow," Buffy said. "As I said, my mom is going to have a fit when Dawn and I get home."
Again everyone said their goodbyes and went their respective ways.
At 12:15 A.M, Sunday morning, Scott Cooper parked his car in his driveway. Before Scott was able to reach the front door, Joe swung open the door and ran outside while holding the amulet high in the air.
"Dad, look what I found," said Joe as Liz stood in the doorway while smiling. "Mom said it's a magical amulet."
Scott gazed at the amulet while saying, "That's so cool, Little Buddy. I may have to borrow it from you to protect me from those tough fires."
Joe smiled before giving Scott a hug.