Author's Notes: This chapter is closer to canon than usual, but it has some scenes I've been dying to write. The ripples will spread farther eventually, make no mistake.

Chapter Five: Half Way

October marched on, and somehow Buffy managed to feel more at ease around her friends. At least a tiny, teeny, almost manageable amount. It wasn't easy. Part of her still wished she could be at rest and smoldered with rage at the betrayal she couldn't forget. At the very least the visions had stopped since the thaumogenesis demon was killed. Strange Hellmouth things kept right on coming, so she had plenty on her plate even with no more need to wash dishes. There had been a stretch of three days where everything was so stressful and weird that she ended up binge drinking with Spike and unsuccessfully hitting up a demon bar for answers. They never did find out who owned that black van that had shown up there and at Dawn's school. Time skips, time loops, dissolving demons; whoever was behind this mischief had a seriously deranged mind. Beyond the time theme the attacks didn't even seem to have a coherent pattern, like whoever was planning them was just throwing everything to the wall to see what stuck. In the end she decided to mentally file it under "things to deal with if they come up again and ignore now for sanity's sake."

Working the store Halloween night was like a brutal session of immersion therapy for her issues with the Scoobies. Everywhere Buffy turned she had to be in close contact with one of her four resurrectors. She was almost relieved when she started to be more annoyed with Anya's bossiness than disgusted by her part in the spell. Maybe all she needed was some more time and the rest of her pain would fade. In her mind she knew that they had only done what they had out of love, and she couldn't stay mad at them for that. Willow was still a challenge. Since she'd had her revelation she had started to notice just how much Willow relied on magic, whether the girl was patrolling or doing simple things like getting ready for school in the morning. Watching her best friend fall so deep into witchcraft made Buffy feel guilty. She'd been the one who pushed the redhead to be her big gun, even after seeing how far Willow was willing to dive into the darkness to get things done. Some friend she was. Don't go all dark and paybacky, unless it's for Dawn. Then knock yourself out.

Buffy was so in her own head as she went through the basement she bumped into Spike and nearly spilled her box of returned merchandise. She winced in her head at the failure of her Slayer instincts to warn of her of his presence. Why was it that when she got to know a vampire personally they became better at sneaking up on her? He really needs a bell around his neck. On one of those leather collars. Ugh, again with the collar. Well, Spike is more of a dog's name anyway. He was watching her fluster in amusement. Oh god just shut up brain.

"What are you doing lurking down here?"

"Runnin' low on Berber weed. I stir it in with the blood, makes it all hot and spicy. Not as good as otter's blood mind you, but decent." The Slayer set down her down her box, shuddering at the over-sharing. "What? Blood is what I do." She shook her head. At least it's otters and not people. Spike knew he was pushing it a little, but if they had any chance of making things work he couldn't hide the basic truths of what he was. "And what brings you down here? I thought the Watcher just had the witches toiling under him."

"One time holiday deal. We're all pitching in." She looked around at the bizarre range of jars and boxes, remembering the task that had brought her down here. "Where's the mandrake root?" As sexy as Buffy was when she was a deadly force of nature, Spike was just as charmed by the helpless pout that accompanied the request. He went to the shelves and pulled down the jar.

"Here. There are three to a jar." He handed it to her. "Tend to go a bit wonky if you cram 'em too close." She looked at the gnarled roots, trying not to let her gaze linger on the vampire too long.

"Thanks."

Spike wanted badly to tease her like he had the first time around, but tonight was too important. Dawn could end up a snack if they messed it up. It would be a shame to miss the look on Buffy's face when he asked her about the 'rough and tumble' though. November was just around the corner. With luck and careful flirting he wouldn't have to wait much longer.

"Fancy going on patrol tonight?"

Her first impulse was to emphatically agree and head out with him right then to escape holiday retail purgatory. But the responsible adult side of her nagged in a voice that was part Joyce and part Giles that she had obligations here.

"Oh, I should stay. Maybe tomorrow." She made for the stairs, eager to distance herself from the temptation of skipping out on work. Spike just shrugged.

"Well, I'll be in front of my telly if you change your mind. The Great Pumpkin is on in 20." He turned and left for the tunnels. She exhaled, having gotten more worked up than she realized being close to the blonde vamp.

"So much easier to deal with when we wanted to kill each other." She said to no one.

…

After the mad rush died down and the store closed for the evening the gang sat back to relax. Anya had to remind them about the post-holiday clearance coming up the next day, which reminded Giles about cleaning, which reminded the rest of them to groan. Willow suggested a self-cleaning incantation and Buffy had to agree with Giles that it was a bad idea. Tara seemed about to criticize her girlfriend but made a nervous joke instead. The Slayer been busy with her own stuff, but recently she couldn't help but notice something was off between the normally lovey-dovey pair. Not all the time, but talk of magick, normally the thing that they shared most closely, seemed to make the older witch uncomfortable. Buffy couldn't blame her. She wasn't feeling very pro-dark arts herself these days.

Dawn and Anya twisted their upper bodies back and forth in an odd dance behind the counter, money stuffed in the ex-demon's hands.

"You do this every night?" The teenager asked.

"Every time I close out the cash register." Anya said exuberantly. "The dance of capitalist superiority."

Xander watched them in his pirate costume, sitting closer than Buffy had let him in some weeks. His eyes were full of affection, and though his friend couldn't see it, fear. "I'm gonna marry that girl."

Buffy smiled, her heart warming. New, ooky feelings for Xander and Anya aside, they were still the light at the end of her tunnel. Believing in their love had been one of the few things that got her through Riley's departure.

"Anxious to get to the wedding?" She saw his face turn pale. "Or just anxious?"

"Both." He said with a gulp. Since the announcement his fiancée had been aflutter with endless lists and plans for the ceremony and their future. There had been nights where he couldn't sleep worrying about hypothetical houses, cars, children, and puppies. He had managed to convince her that a spring wedding was the way to go after using financial logic. Without more money saved up they'd be leaning heavily on Xander's family to pay for the wedding, and he wanted to leave them out of the preparations until the last possible minute. Her own guest list gave him a hefty dose of heebies and jeebies, but demons were still preferable to the majority of the Harris clan.

…

With Dawn going to stay at Janice's Buffy decided to take Spike up on his offer to patrol, leaving Willow and Tara to handle the trick-or-treaters. She half wished her sister had stayed in with them, as next to Giles she was the least off-putting companion she had. She couldn't deny she was drawn to Spike, but sometimes there was just too much creepiness, both from him and her ever more bizarre and unasked for reactions to him.

For the first few blocks to Spike's cemetery it seemed like a peaceful Halloween, harmless spooky decorations and less harmless children. She saw a couple hugging and felt a loneliness she had managed to push aside for more pressing concerns for a long time. How many months had it been since Riley had deserted her? How many more since she had actually been happy with him, or he with her? Had it really been two seasons since the last time she had approached a boy, vessel of a hell god or otherwise?

Her ruminations were broken by the sound of sirens and the sight of an ambulance crossing her path. She followed it to the scene and watched as the paramedics wheeled an injured woman to their vehicle. The telltale puncture wounds of a vampire bite marked her neck. Buffy swiftly turned and made haste to find Spike. Someone was breaking the monsters-stay-in-on-Halloween rule and they needed to find them before anyone else got hurt.

…

Meanwhile Tara was answering the dining room phone.

"Hello, this is the Summers'. Oh, hi Mrs. Penshaw. That's right, Tara. No, Janice hasn't been here. Dawn said she was going to stay the night at your house. O-oh… I see. I'm sorry we didn't call to check but Dawn doesn't usually… I-I understand, I'm worried too. I'll get Willow and we can go looking for her. I'll call you back as soon as we know anything, okay?" She hung up the phone with a heavy exhale.

"Willow?" She said as she entered the living room. Her partner could sense Tara's fear before she explained.

"What's happened?"

"It's Dawn. Janice's mother called, and she never showed up there. She…"

"Said Janice was supposed to be coming here?" Willow finished for her. "Classic con. We used that one a lot in high school."

"Willow…" Tara pleaded, growing more anxious by the second. Dawnie was out there in the night, alone or with someone even more helpless. Willow rubbed her shoulders to calm her.

"I'll call everyone right now. She'll be fine."

The older witch pursed her lips and nodded as the redhead went to call Giles. The ex-Watcher declared he was going to Spike's crypt to find Buffy and insisted that someone remain at the house to wait for the girls or a phone call. They agreed to wait for Xander and Anya to come over before heading out, wanting their own magic firepower on hand if anything Hellmouthy went down. Willow did her best to soothe Tara's nerves as they waited for reinforcements. She already had an idea of where a temperamental teen might have run off to.

…

Janice and Zack had left them alone in the parked car. Dawn had never been so nervous in her whole life. Justin was so cute, so fun, and amazingly sweet. Best of all he seemed to think she was cool too. Now that they were alone she was terrified of what he might be expecting of her. Terrified and thrilled at the same time. Then he was kissing her and it was amazing, and so much softer and cooler than she'd ever dreamed. She kept willing herself not to screw it up. When they pulled back he began to question her and she lied, not wanting to admit she was such a kid at this. Justin just looked at her plaintively and Dawn had to confess.

"Okay, okay. It was my first kiss." She closed her eyes to avoid seeing what she was sure would be a mocking face. "I know, I know. I suck. My-My lips are dry and my tongue's all horrible and sticky and I'm pretty sure I drooled on you. So just please tell me how awful it was."

Dawn never expected him to pull her in by the back of her head and kiss her again. Her eyes shot wide open in disbelief.

"It was perfect."

…

Willow led Tara up the walkway that overlooked the dance floor of the Bronze. She was glad that Tara had calmed down enough for some flirting. Any other night she wouldn't have stopped with one smooch but time was of the essence.

"Do you see her?" Tara asked as they pushed past the costumed club-goers.

"No, there's too many people."

The blonde witch was already losing the momentary peace the distraction of Willow's kiss had provided. She still didn't like crowds, and the thought of Dawn lost in the throng of potential vampires was almost as unsettling as the thought of the girl alone on the streets. "Maybe we could ask security to-"

"No." Her girlfriend interrupted as she made her way up the last section of stairs. "That'll take too long." Willow put her hands on the railing and observed the crowd. She had to thin the herd if she wanted a chance to spot her teen ward. "One among many, many fade to one..."

Tara almost didn't stop the spell in time. She knew her partner was using magick more frequently again since the destruction of the robot, but what was she thinking now?

"What are you doing? Will…"

"I'm just gonna clear the crowd."

That statement didn't explain much. "How?"

"I'll just shift everyone who isn't a 15-year old girl into an alternate dimension." She smirked in pride at her ingenious solution. She'd become curious about dimensional shifting since the appearance of the dimension hopping demon and was eager to try it out.

Tara was so beyond stunned that for a moment her brain couldn't comprehend that her normally brilliant lover had just suggested something so profoundly stupid. It took all her will just to stay coherent long enough to push out one word summing up her astonishment.

"What?"

"No, it'll be for like a fraction of a second. They won't even notice."

"Will, no, you can't."

"Why?" The look on Willow's face told Tara she was honestly baffled. The little Wicca had thought her senior partner would be impressed. This was a spell to help Dawn after all, not something frivolous like party decorations.

"Wh-What if something went wrong?" She hated that her stutter was resurfacing. It couldn't be helped; this kind of stress always brought it out of her. Her confidence was shaky enough without her damn speech impediment getting in the way of her trying to talk sense into Willow.

"Well, it won't."

"Willow you can't know that. Any spell can go wr-wrong."

The redhead chanted a word to block out all voices but theirs to their ears. It was a charm from the most meaningful chapter of the first spellbook they had ever shared, "Spells of Speech and Silence". Only in the last year had they grown strong enough to use it.

"This is about the thaumogenesis demon, isn't it? You think I'm the one who made it!" Her anger was only partly directed outward. She was still suspicious of herself, as hard as she tried to deny it. Tara was harder to ignore than her own conscience. Sometimes she seemed to be all the conscience she had.

"It could have been." Tara said lowly. "Or it could have been me. That's not what this is about."

"Then what is it about?" Willow demanded, her voice growing louder. "Is it some kind of jealousy with you thinking you're not as powerful as me? Or do you not think I'm powerful enough to keep it from going wrong?"

"No, god. I'm worried about you. You're using too much magic."

"So I still frighten you? You don't trust me?" Both their voices were nearly sobs by now. "You know how that makes me feel?"

Tara shook her head. "I've been t-trying to explain this for months, but you aren't listening. What do you want me to do? Just-Just sit back and keep my mouth shut?"

"That'd be a good start." The words were out before she could stop them. Willow's harshness cut through both of their hearts like a knife. Tara caught her breath and managed somehow to respond.

"If I didn't love you so damn much, I would." With that she turned to leave, chanting the countercharm to restore the ambient sound. Willow could only stand and watch helplessly as her love descended the stairs.

"Tara." She called once. A few minutes later the P.A. system broadcasted a call for Dawn Summers. She didn't show up, and the witches met at the exit, continuing to search downtown in silence.

…

"Ow."

"Sorry.

"It's okay. As long as it's not bleeding. …Justin. Could we-"

"It's just… God, you are so beautiful."

Dawn traced her hand up his left arm as they resumed kissing. When she finally reached his face she felt it. The hard, bumpy flesh of game face.

…

Buffy burst into Spike's crypt stake at the ready. She was surprised to see him waiting with a crossbow in hand.

"Spike?"

"I know." He replied coolly. "Need to get our gear together." She cocked her head questioningly. "Giles was just here. He was looking for you."

"Giles? Why?"

"Dawn and her little friend pulled a Houdini." Buffy was about to speak but the vampire kept right on going. He wasn't going to waste words now. Not when the bit was in danger. "Giles is checking the cemetery. There are some idiot vamps out tonight with no respect for tradition. I reckon we better go find the nibblets before…" The Slayer was just nodding and heading straight for the door again. He hadn't suspected it would take much convincing.

…

They caught up with Giles just as he was confronting Dawn's vampiric captor. The boy had her by the throat.

"Now, you have a choice, son. We can do this the easy way, or we can do this the har…" He stopped his threat as a bunch of bright headlights formed a circle around their spot in the forest. There were vampires coming out of cars from all directions, some of them already having blood dripping from their fangs. Spike was pleased to note there were at least three less teen vamps this time. The fiend holding Dawn smirked at Giles' distress, not seeming impressed with the Watcher's allies.

"Dawn, are you…" Buffy took in the scene, realizing just what her kid sister had been up to. The undead boy let go of Dawn. "Were you parking with a vamp?"

"I- I didn't know he was dead." She said timidly.

"Living dead." Justin corrected, as if explaining the politically correct term.

"Shut up." She snapped. Of course the first boy who was interested in her would turn out to be a monster. It had been too good to be true.

"How could you not know?"

"I just met him."

"Oh. So you were parking in the woods with a boy you just met."

"We've seen each other at parties." Justin offered defensively.

"Shut up." Buffy said to him mirroring her sister. "I don't believe you." She said turning back to Dawn. Spike looked around cautiously, picking out his targets for when the fight began. This time he'd be quick.

"Oh, like you've never fallen for vampires?"

"That was different."

"It always is when it's you."

"Uh, excuse me." A large vampire asked. "Can we fight now?"

"Hey, didn't anyone come here to just make out?" The Slayer joked, hoping to spare Dawn a melee. A human couple raised their hands. "Aw, that's sweet. You run." They did. She pointed to a vampire at their right. "You scream." Giles and Spike charged off to begin the battle.

Justin turned to the younger Summers, seeming impressed. "Your sister's the Slayer? I totally get it. I knew there was something about you."

Oh that is it. She kneed him in the groin and he doubled over in pain. No one thinks I'm special unless it's because of her.

"What is your malfunction, man?" The big fellow who had asked to start the fight complained to Spike. He lunged at the vamp, knocking him over. He didn't bother making a speech about the rules of Halloween this time. His reasons were much simpler now.

"No one hurts the girl." Spike grabbed his arm and unleashed a succession of punches and kicks until the other vampire's back was against the tree. He loosed a crossbow bolt at him and reloaded quickly, anticipating the girl vamp who was going to try and tackle him from the left. A minute later he met Buffy after she won her own bout and they went after Dawn and her pursuer.

The girl heard leaves rustle the moment before Justin leapt out behind her.

"Trick or treat."

She yelped. Her training sessions with Spike melted away in the face of an opponent with no chip to hold back his strength. She tried to run but he caught her around the ankles. As she rolled onto her back with him looming over her she hatched a desperate plan. Dawn wasn't strong or fast like her sister, but she could be clever.

"Give me somethin' good to eat."

She breathed heavily. "I thought you really liked me." He pulled back as she lowered her arms to her sides.

Buffy was about to charge in and intervene, but Spike's hand on her shoulder held her back.

"Spike!" She hissed. He shook his head.

"Just watch her."

Her hands were tightly balled into fists and every muscle in her body tensed with the desire to kill Justin, but she stayed put. She could trust Spike with Dawn. That much had proven time and again to be true.

"I do." Justin answered Dawn softly. She looked at him wistfully, almost regretting what had to come next. "And you like me too."

"I do." He leaned down to sire her, and impaled himself on the stake she'd positioned while they gazed at each other. Her breath came out almost as a sob as Justin's dust fell on her.

Buffy's mouth hung open in amazement. She turned her eyes to Spike.

"You knew she was going to do that?"

He chose his words carefully. "I knew what he would do. Poor idiot was besotted, thought he could make himself a honey. But the bit's resourceful. You Summers women are like that."

The chipped vampire had known that urge himself, the desire to sire as an act of love. His first attempt had been an Oedipal disaster, but in the century and a quarter that had followed he'd felt it again. The last time he'd felt an itch to sire it had been for Willow, who was a damn sight smarter than any company he'd had in decades and cute besides. Now that'd he'd gotten to know her better he imagined she would have made quite the hellion, perhaps even turning out as wild as Drusilla. But Buffy, Buffy he could never turn. It was folly to turn someone you truly loved he had learned. It ruined them and ruined you.

They found Giles and he called the others to let them know Dawn was safe.

…

Dawn went to wait for her inevitable lecture in the dining room. Spike was the first to leave.

"I guess I should bugger off. Something about big bads not venturing far from their crypts on Halloween."

"Good fight." Buffy called after him as he left. A minute later Tara and Willow returned from downtown, the former doing her best to avoid looking at the latter.

"How about this, I make a Dawn locator spell. No dimension shifting, no one in danger."

"This isn't the time Will."

"Well, when is it going to be then? If you have such a problem with my magic…"

Willow stopped when she realized they were arguing in front of the whole group. No one said a word, the sight of the two fighting being almost unheard of. Tara was already hugging Dawn.

"I'm so glad you're safe." Dawn sighed guiltily as her friend pulled back. "Don't lie about where you're going anymore, okay?" She asked meeting the girl's eyes with seriousness and affectionate worry.

"Okay."

Tara walked past Willow without a glance to stand beside Buffy. The redhead gave Dawn a little squeeze.

"Just be careful." The teen shook her head and sighed again. This was just one of those nights. At least the Wiccan couple was understanding. Buffy and Giles were going to rip off her head.

"I will."

"Sorry we missed the monster bashing." Willow said to Buffy, attempting to rejoin her girlfriend's side.

"As long as Dawn's all right."

"Yeah, that's what's…" Willow started, hoping agreement would appease some of the still simmering anger she could feel coming off of Tara in waves. No dice.

"I-I think I'm gonna turn in. Good night." The farewell seemed directed at everyone but Willow.

"Tara. Tara." The younger girl called after her worriedly.

Xander and Anya made some hasty goodbyes, both unsettled by their respective best friends' distress. Giles came back from the kitchen holding an ice pack to the left side of his head.

"How's your face?" His Slayer asked him. He had put up a hell of a fight this evening.

"Oh, still ruggedly handsome. 'Grandpa' indeed. Ow." He looked in at Dawn, concern and disappointment both evident in his expression.

"She's taking it pretty hard."

"Well, it's not surprising. Still, we can't ignore this kind of behavior. Something needs to be done before it spins out of control."

"You're right." She took a few steps toward the dining room. "Thanks again for coming Giles."

He smiled, the movement of his facial muscles evincing another twinge of pain.

"Always glad to be of help."

Buffy stood with her hands on her hips, wishing she didn't have to be the one to do this. Her sister just looked at the floor for a long minute before piping up.

"So, on a scale of one to ten, how mad are you? Twenty?"

"Try a thousand. What made you think you could just run off with no one knowing where you were? And with a vampire?"

"It was stupid to trick you guys like that, I know okay?" She wanted to bury her head under her pillows and just forget the whole night. "And it's not like I knew he was a vampire."

"Giles said you were standing there, neck tilted while he was about to bite you. What in the hell made you do that?"

"I don't know! He was just… he was really sweet and cool and he said he liked me." Dawn knew how dumb it sounded, and how dumb it was. It just hurt that it wasn't real. It hurt even more that it wasn't all fake. "I thought for a second… maybe he was a good one."

"Dawn there are no good ones. You can't go around thinking vampires are people. They're demons. Evil bloodsucking demons." She couldn't believe she was having to say this. Dawn had either known about vampires since she was nine or for her entire life depending on how one measured it. The teen curled her lip in anger.

"So Justin was evil and I was stupid. What's your excuse?"

Buffy remembered Dawn's retort from earlier. "Don't make this about me. Angel had a soul. That made him different, us different."

"Who said I was talking about Angel?" The brunette said crossing her arms and leaning back.

The Slayer hadn't really noticed in the heat of the moment before, but her sister had used the plural. "What are you talking about?"

"Oh please. You and Spike. You're totally into each other. You think I didn't notice?"

"Me and Spike?" She was floored. That was completely absurd. Utterly ridiculous. "There's nothing going on between me and Spike."

"Then why do you spend more time with him than your friends?" More time than you spend with me?

"We just patrol together. He's not…"

"In love with you? Come on, even you have to admit that."

She took a deep breath. There was that word again, love. "What Spike feels for me, it's not real. He can't love because he doesn't have a soul. He just has a chip that keeps him from hurting people. That's not the same thing."

"Then what made him save me?"

"It's not…" Buffy struggled to explain. "He thinks he's in love. He's just acting like… like he would it were real. But it's not." That logic didn't seem convincing, even to her. She could see tears forming in Dawn's eyes.

"What about me? I'm not real, and you choose to act like it. Does that not count either?"

Buffy's throat clenched. "Dawn…" She kneeled at the younger girl's feet, placing her hands on her knees. "You are real. You have a heart, a soul, and a family that loves you. I love you. Don't you ever think any differently."

…

It was a while before they felt comfortable enough to go to bed. The lecture had backfired spectacularly and now Buffy felt like the one who had done something wrong. Maybe she was spending too much time with Spike. She had to believe that the things she had told Dawn were true, because they were all that kept her from doing stupid things of her own. Being a good role-model would mean backing off from the bleached blonde, something she probably should have done a long time ago.

She wasn't even asleep before she started to regret the decision.

…

The Wiccans stood on opposite sides of the room in their night clothes, the air almost fogged with the tension between them.

Willow tried once more to apologize. "I'm-I'm sorry, okay?" Tara picked up a throw pillow from the bed and tossed it to the floor.

"It's not that easy."

"Well what do you want me to do? Give me a clue here." The blonde just looked at her darkly, not stopping with the pillows. She hadn't seen anyone so upset with her since Oz had caught her with Xander. The werewolf hadn't offered her a path to absolution either, just told her it would take time. She couldn't stand the thought of waiting to make up. "I want things to be right between us."

Tara put a hand to her forehead and sighed. The crisis with Dawn had already drained much of her emotional fortitude for the night. Working things out with Willow would take time and multiple long, long conversations about magic and balance. It was more than she could deal with right now. "Can-can we not do this now? I'm tired."

Sadly that was what Willow had been expecting to hear, but already she was coming up with a plan to fix it. She couldn't spend a whole night with Tara mad at her. "Okay." She said, letting it go. Her girlfriend pulled back the covers and slid into bed. "Let's just forget it ever happened." She walked over to the vanity and picked up a sprig of Lethe's bramble from a little dish of herbs. She placed it gently in her left hand, willing her power into it. "Forget." It shimmered with a soft pink light from bottom to top. The witch turned off the lamp and turned to the bed inquisitively. She flipped the light switch and tucked the bramble beneath her pillow before finally joining Tara in their bed. The blonde smiled as she entered.

"Ooh. Your feet are cold."

That was reassuring. "Better warm me up." Tara snuggled her head into the crook of Willow's neck.

"This is how every day should always end… and start, and all the stuff in the middle." She punctuated her lovely thought with a kiss on the redhead's cheek.

"So, uh, you're not mad?" It seemed that the spell had worked, but she had to check to make sure.

"About what?" That was the last confirmation she needed to be comfortable. Willow smiled broadly as Tara snuggled into her, wrapping her arm over her chest. The fight was forgotten, and all would be well between them.

…

Anya and Xander spent a good portion of the night improvising a tale about a "Charlie angel" tracking down a despicable but dashing pirate. She got almost as caught up in creating the story as the sexcapades. Timbers were well shivered, but once again Xander's worries caught up with him once they were post-coital. Seeing his best friend and her girlfriend have a fight was a damn rare occurrence and had shaken him somewhat. The ladies were going to be the best man and maid of honor at their wedding, and trouble between them felt like a bad omen. He only wished there was some way he could know if he and his demon would end up happy.

The carpenter found his answer the next day as he helped his fiancée sort through their artifacts for the clearance sale. In a mahogany box was an amulet with a pendant the color of amber. It had a small note with it, thankfully in English.

Revealed in song and dance

All secrets of the heart

To find the truth you seek

Invoke this Sweet art

He looked around to check that no one was watching and read the incantation. There was the slightest scent of smoke from the pendant, but he didn't hear any music. Xander shrugged. It had been worth a shot. When he returned upstairs he carelessly left it on the counter as Anya called him over to look at an article in Tomorrow's Bride magazine. Truth would have been nice, but he'd had to live with uncertainty for now.

…

Author's Notes: The next chapter is going to be a bit tricky, what with lyrics being involved and all, so there may be a delay. Buffy, Spike and Giles all have something different to sing about this time. It'll be fun to write, even though it can't hope to match up to the awesomeness of the original. Hopefully I can post it on time.

Cellyber: Glad you think so. The hardest part of writing this is keeping everyone in character while giving them reasonable motivations to act differently or the same as they did in canon. For example Buffy isn't delegating as many of her responsibilities to Giles. Anything that stays the same as before I at least try to flesh out with the character's thoughts and feelings.

Trouble Lurking: Thank you. :) The apology wasn't directed at you, just anyone who likes to write slash of a different gender/orientation and might have been offended.

A story where nothing goes wrong isn't a story at all. That's one of the reasons Joss Whedon hasn't given the characters any happy endings: he still has comics to sell and he needs conflict. I don't have that constraint, so I can. However, the major things that are going to be "fixed" in this story will only come after a lot of suffering and effort on the part of the characters. The wish was just a catalyst to make the changes possible.