Willow made sure she stayed to the lighted sidewalks as she made her way back to the mansion. She clutched a stake under her jacket and tried to walk with confidence. She hadn't meant to stay so late with Joyce. She hoped she'd done the right thing by telling her more of why Buffy had left and where she had been in their universe.
The mansion was empty when she got back. Please don't let him be out looking for me, she thought to herself. She felt bad enough about the possible havoc she was wreaking in their world by just being in it. The thought of William worrying over her gave her a funny feeling in her stomach. She sat down in the chair he'd be sitting in last night. It smelled like him, and she smiled. Willow would be lying to herself to say there weren't sparks between her and William, but she knew no good could come of such sparkage.
She picked up a black leather-bound book from the table beside her; it was nineteenth century poetry. As she flipped through the pages, a couple of sheets of looseleaf paper fluttered to the floor. Willow picked them up, intent on putting them back into the book. They looked like handwritten verse and it would obviously be an invasion of personal privacy to read them. Under any normal circumstances Willow would be adamantly against such an invasion, excect this particular circumstance. The particulars of this instance being the one line Willow caught a glimpse of having reference to "luminous green eyes" and "burning copper hair." Despite her better judgement (and sense of common decency), Willow began to read with utmost interest the poem it seemed William had been composing.
Heat rose in her cheeks as she wondered if the poem's "confection of thought and mirth" could possibly be her. The notion that it could coupled with the act of something she shouldn't be doing caused Willow's heart to hammer in her chest. Maybe that's why she didn't hear William return.
"You shouldn't read it before it's finished."
Willow looked up abruptly. Caught. The warm flush fell from her face, only to be replaced with guilt and a rising dread. "I'm sorry, I-" He walked briskly over to her and took the paper from her hands, folded it up and stuck it in his back pocket. "No time now; Giles has found a way to send you home." William took her hand and hauled her out of the chair. They were outside walking before Willow noticed William was still holding her hand as he drug them along. She made no effort to get it back.
His attention still focused ahead of him, William asked brusquely "Where were you?" When Willow didn't respond, he cast a look back at her. She knew she owed him an explanation. "I went to see Buffy's mom."
William stopped so quickly that Willow ran into him and nearly lost her footing. "You what!?"
"There were things I thought I could tell her that might give her a little more peace about her missing daughter. I just thought-"
"You just thought you'd lie to me and Amy about your whereabouts so we could worry about your skinny little ass and go looking for you while you go and fill Joyce with some false hope?"
Willow shoved herself away from him. Being yelled at made her immediately mad. "It's not false hope to tell her why Buffy left! There are things you don't know!" Willow started shaking. "And I didn't lie to you! I only decided after I saw Amy that I should go see Joyce, and yes, I should have told someone, but you would have tried to stop me and it's not like I know all your pager numbers and stuff, I mean, hello! From another dimension here!"
For such a tiny little person, Willow managed to unleash quite a fury. William softened a bit. He hadn't meant to take his anger out on her. He certainly wasn't going to tell her he was mad because he had felt so helpless when he didn't know where she was, and mad because now Giles knew how to send her back, and mad because she'd seen the poem...
They stared at one another in silent argument. William looked at the ground and mumbled "I'm sorry I lost my temper." He looked back up. Willow's arms were crossed over her chest. "Me, too," she huffed.
He tilted his head to the side. "You're also sorry I lost my temper or you're sorry you lost yours, too?"
She lifted her chin defiantly. "Both, I think."
William sighed heavily, but extended his hand to her in truce. Willow rolled her eyes, because she knew he didn't have to sigh. She reached to put her hand in his anyway, but she didn't make it.
Willow's scream cut through the empty street as she was tackled away from William.
Buffy smiled sweetly at the illnon demon. "Time's up," she said. "Thank you for playing How to Really Piss Off a Vampire Slayer." She punched it again. She made sure to carefully enunciate its name, which was no small task in itself. "Now, bring me back my best friend."
SPARKAGE
The vampire that attacked Willow didn't have much of a chance to get a lot of real attacking done because his vampire buddy who had the misfortune of attacking William was already dust. One minute, Willow was on the ground struggling, and the next, she was covered in vamp dust. William helped her to her feet.
"Quite the vampire magnet, aren't you?" He spoke softly.
"Well, I try," she answered. "And, thank you. Again."
"No problem, love." William's gaze lingered on Willow only a little longer than necessary before he turned so they could continue to Giles.' But Willow was rooted to the spot. "Wait," she said. Her voice choked on the word, though she wasn't sure why. He came back to her, closer this time. He knew she wanted to say something and didn't know how yet. Her hair was still mussed from the ordeal moments ago, so he reached out to smooth it down. Willow closed her eyes briefly as he ran his hand through her hair. She reached up and caught his hand as it came down to her neck. She held it in place as she looked up at him.
"I'll never see you again, will I?"
He brought his other hand up so that he was holding both sides of her head. His voice was thick when he spoke. "The Watcher knows his stuff. He'll get you home."
Willow took a deep breath. "I'm not sure how I feel about that now." She tried to meet his eyes while she spoke her next words. "Xander, Amy, Giles... they're all there in my world. Different, but there. You... there is no you where I come from. And I know I've only known you for a day, but... but you're already a part of me, y'know? And when I think about how I'll never see you again, it's... I..." There were no more words to say.
William closed the remaining space between them, pulling Willow into his arms. He came very close to whispering into her hair "You could stay." But he didn't, because he knew she couldn't. She belonged elsewhere, even though it felt to him very much like she belonged right where she was. Willow began to cry. At first, he just held her tighter. Then, he loosened his hold so he could see her face. "Please don't cry, love" he whispered. And, of course, this only made the tears more forthcoming. He brushed away some of them with the back of his hand. When he leaned down and kissed some of them away, the tears stopped. Willow's breathing stopped, too. And blinking. She stood perfectly still.
"I'm sorry," he murmured as he pressed his forehead against hers. Willow closed her eyes, took a shaky breath, and said "Don't be."
He was going to kiss her. They had this one moment. He waited for her to open her eyes, to make sure he had permission. She did, and he was startled. Willow's eyes were suddenly blue, a bright, glowing blue. And then everything was blue and Willow was gone.
Xander and Giles managed to catch Willow as she seemingly tumbled out of the ceiling. She gasped and clutched at them.
"Give her a second," the illnon offered. "Interdimensional travel tends to knock the wind out of mortals."
Tara and Buffy moved to Willow's side and tried to make sure she was okay. "Oh, god, she's been crying... are you alright? Can you move? What happened?"
"Buffy, give her a minute -"
As soon as everything stopped swimming, Willow lurched forward into Buffy and Tara's arms. She held on to them tightly and let out a sob. It was over; she was home.
William didn't bother with knocking. Xander and Amy looked anxiously at the souled vampire when he entered Giles' apartment. "You didn't find her?"
"No, I found her. Back at the mansion." He came in and took a seat.
"And? Where is she?"
"Gone. Back home, I think. She was there, and then there was this blue light... She's gone."
Nobody knew what to say. It was like the cable had gone out right before the end of a movie. Xander and Amy kept trying to ask William more questions, but it was obvious that he didn't want to talk. Giles intervened.
"Amy, Xander, why don't the two of you go and try to find Faith. Let her know the ordeal with Willow is over."
After they were gone, William and Giles sat silently for awhile. Giles knew the vampire had been drawn to the girl. He also knew it was probably for the best that she was gone. That didn't stop the feeling that in the short time Willow had been with them, she had opened a hole in their hearts for her. Now that hole felt empty.
"Say, Rupert, do you have any tea?"
"Yes, of course." The Watcher nodded and got up for the kitchen. William then went to the bookcase. He found what he was looking for down at the bottom: a stack of yearbooks from Sunnydale High for the years Giles had been librarian there. William took out the volume for 1997. Quietly, he tore out a page from the sophomore class. Lines of unwritten verse ran through his head.
"Eyes like fireflies, laughter like rain, tears for what can never be, echo of the coming pain..."
FOR FUTURE REFERENCE
The whole gang at the magic shop, even Spike (though some didn't quite know what purpose he had to be there) listened to Willow tell about the alternate universe. They asked a lot of questions, and Willow answered most of them. Faith was the Slayer on the Hellmouth. Giles was her Watcher. Xander and Amy and Oz routinely helped her. They did not know where Buffy was. Angel was in Hell. Anya, as far as Willow knew, was still Anyanka. Cordelia and Xander broke up after Cordy moved to LA. And Willow had been killed when she was 16.
She did not mention William. Not once.
After everyone had had their fill of questions and had hugged Willow and told her how glad they were that she was back, Giles began turning out the lights in the shop. There was something Willow wanted to do and she knew if she didn't do it soon, she never would. Of course, she'd have a lot more questions to answer later, but that didn't seem to matter so much. "Giles, can you leave me the key and I'll lock up? I need to speak with Spike about something."
Willow's request was met with the dubious stares of one Slayer, one ex-Watcher, one wicca, and one very curious vampire. Xander and Anya had already left. "About what, Wills?" Buffy asked.
"That," Willow said "Is between me and Spike." Tara looked hurt. "For now, anyway. Please, guys."
Giles handed Willow the keys to the shop. Buffy took Tara's arm and offered to walk her home. Then it was just Willow and Spike.
Spike stared at the little redhead. "What could there possibly be between you and me?"
"Nothing."
He cocked his head to the side, waiting.
"I didn't tell them everything about the other universe." Willow paused. "I didn't tell them about you."
"Me? Oh, this is interesting."
"Not you-you. William-you. You had a soul."
Spike's face wrinkled in disgust. "I don't think I want to hear any more."
"I have no intention of telling you."
"Then what are we doing here?"
Willow took a step closer to him and stared intently at his face. "He doesn't have that scar. Never killed a Slayer."
"I thought you weren't going to tell me any more."
Willow ignored him. "I'm going to do something now and I just want you to know that it doesn't mean anything. I know you've got a crush on Buffy and all..."
"I do not..."
She silenced him with a look. "There's just something I have to know, okay?" Then she grabbed the neck of his black t-shirt, pulled him down to her and kissed him. It only lasted a moment, but Spike was completely flustered when it was over.
"You were only there for a day. What happened?"
"What do you mean?"
"What do I mean? You adore that Tara chit, and yet here you are. You had to kiss me just so you'd know what it would have been like to kiss him-"
"Don't tell anyone."
"And how will you stop me?"
"I'll tell Buffy how you look at her. I'll tell them all you're a poet. " Willow turned her back on him and started toward the exit. Spike followed her. "Hang on, just a minute-"
Willow stopped at the door. "What?"
"He didn't-" Spike paused. "Did he write you a poem?"
She didn't say anything, but Spike saw his answer in the quirk of her mouth and the gleam in her eyes. "Bloody hell."
They locked the magic shop. Spike even made sure Willow got back to her dorm safely. He muttered the whole way. Willow thought she caught something about him turning into a nancy boy in all realities.
"If it's any consolation," Willow said to him right before she entered the dorm "I bet if you ended up in an alternate universe and met my vampire self, I'm sure you'd get along great, too." Spike just made his "piffle" noise and left.
Willow was really tired; it had been a rough 24 hours. She would never see William again, so it was probably best to start not thinking about him, either. Except for this one last time. She would think about him until she fell asleep. She replayed everything he had said to her. She thought of every face he had made. And she thought of the kiss they almost shared. Only, by now she was asleep and dreaming. In her dream, he had the lightest touch. It was almost like he wasn't there.