Author's Note: In BTVS it was stated that Tara's mother was a witch also. So the question I put before you all, does Tara have a power? Is she a natural born witch like Phoebe, Piper, Prue and Paige? If she is, what's her power?


Chapter 11: Paige of the Past

Cole sat on a bench inside a San Francisco police station as Darryl walked up to him. "Is this the way you treat every driver with a busted headlight?"

Darryl shook his head. "No, just the ones without ID. Now, I convinced Lopez not to cite you. But no more driving without a license."

Cole sighed. "Am I free to go?"

"Yeah," Darryl said.

"Finally," Cole said as he stood up from between the homeless man and the biker.

"Finally?" Darryl asked as a frown crept onto his face.

"I mean thanks," Cole said.

"Finally?" Darryl said again. "You think I need this? You see this assignment board?" He motioned toward a board full of information on cases. "It's full of cases. Open cases that I should be working on, instead I'm cleaning after your mess."

"Hey, I don't like it either," Cole said.

"It's bad enough I have to clean up after the suspects ..." Darryl said.

"I'm just trying to fit in but I have no ID, no job," Cole said.

"Doesn't anyone ever say thank you?" Darryl asked.

"I can't even go to the grocery store without even getting arrested," Cole said.

"It just sucks!" they both said as they stared at each other.

"You good?" Cole asked.

Darryl nodded. "Yeah."

"Me too," Cole said.

"Okay," Darryl said as Buffy, Piper and Paige walked up to them.

"Oh my god, Cole," Buffy said. "How's my car?"

Cole sighed. "It's fine."

"That was the first and last time you borrow my car," Buffy said. "Now I understand why Piper won't let you borrow hers." They turned and walked out of the police station without another word.

"Being human was supposed to make my life easier, instead it's getting worse by the minute," Cole said.

"Yeah, I know the feeling," Buffy said.

"I swear, Phoebe was closer to marrying me when I was a demon," Cole said.

"Well, to be honest, Cole, getting busted by the cops is not the best way to win her over," Piper said.

"Oh, Piper, Buffy, gosh, I'm sure Cole already feels like a big enough loser," Paige said. "I know I would."

"Well, thanks a lot," Cole said as they heard a car hit its brakes.

They turned to watch as a car rolled over and burst into flames.

"Oh god," Piper said

"It's about to explode," Cole said.

"Come on," Piper said as she froze the car. She, Buffy and (Cole and Piper ran over to it leaving Paige behind just staring at it. She tried to open the door and found it stuck. "It's stuck. Paige!"

Paige stood there in absolute shock.

Buffy turned and grabbed the car and with Slayer strength ripped the door off its hinges as Cole reached in and pulled out the woman behind the wheel.

"Careful. Hurry before anyone sees us," Piper said as Cole, followed by Buffy and Piper, carried the woman over to Paige.

The car unfroze and exploded.

"What happened to you?" Piper asked. "Paige!"

Paige stared at the burning car.

The next morning Tara was making breakfast as Piper, Leo, Buffy and Willow waited.

"Am I the world's biggest bitch or what?" Phoebe asked.

Piper smiled. "Nah, too easy."

"Cole vanquished his demon half," Phoebe said. "He has given up everything he has ever known for me, and I can't even muster up a simple yes to marriage."

"Well, you're not the marrying type," Leo said.

Buffy nodded. "So you keep telling yourself."

"You think I am?" Phoebe asked.

Buffy shook her head. "No. What I think is you're afraid."

"Oh, of what?" Phoebe asked.

"Cole's humanity," Piper said. "He was actually a much safer boyfriend when he was a demon. Even though he could rip your throat out with his teeth."

"Wanna explain that to me?" Phoebe asked.

Tara looked over at Phoebe from the stove. "Well, on some level you knew it couldn't last, a demon and a witch."

"But now that Cole is a human, the safety net's gone and for the first time in your relationship, the future lies in your hands," Leo said.

"Yeah, okay, I don't wanna analyze me anymore, let's try somebody else," Phoebe said. She like Willow and Tara had been filled in on what happened the day before. "How's Paige feeling this morning?"

Piper shrugged. "No idea. She flew out the door this morning like nothing happened."

"So we still don't know why she froze up?" Buffy asked.

Piper shook her head. "Nope."

"That is so weird," Phoebe said as Leo looked down into his coffee. "I mean, she can handle demons now, but she can't handle a car wreck?"

"Leo," Buffy said having noticed how intently Leo was looking into his coffee. "You know something."

Leo sighed. "Paige told me something in confidence."

"Okay, but it's kind of a dangerous time for us," Piper said. "If she freezes up again at the wrong moment, are you gonna be sorry you didn't tell us?"

Leo looked towards Buffy. "Paige like yourself, Buffy, lost her parents. But hers, unlike your mother, died in a car wreck."

"Oh my god," Willow said as she put her hand to her mouth in shock.

"When did that happen?" Piper asked.

"About eight years ago when she was in high school," Leo said. "She never really dealt with it."

"Of course not," Buffy said. "I still have yet to deal with mom's death. And Paige would have had it harder than me with how violent their deaths were. Plus she was a teenager and all alone. I remember how Dawn was after mom died. She was a wreck, tried to resurrect mom. She didn't succeed but came close."

"So maybe we can help her deal with it," Phoebe said. "Or at least you, Buffy."

Later Buffy, Willow and Tara walked up to Paige at South Bay Social Services as Paige hung up her phone.

"Hi," Willow said. "Got a minute?"

"No, I'm busy, you guys," Paige said as she got up and headed for the copier room.

"We just wanna talk, it's kinda important," Buffy said as they followed Paige.

"Yeah, so is my work, maybe later," Paige said.

"Paige, it's about what happened last night," Buffy said.

Paige sighed. "Not right now."

"Paige, we're your friends," Willow said. "Well technically Buffy is your sister, but ..."

"I said not now!" Paige yelled at them as everyone turned and looked at her. She turned and stormed into the copier room.

"Paige," Buffy said. "We know about your parents."

"We're worried about you and we want you to know that you're not alone," Willow added.

Tara nodded. "And we're here for you."

Paige sighed. "Fine. But just not here, okay? I'll just tell my boss I have to leave. We'll talk at home," she said as she walked out of the copier room.

"Tara," Buffy said. "Maybe you should ride with her. Do for her what you did for me and Dawn?"

Tara nodded as she followed Paige out of the room.

Later as Tara rode with Paige on the way back to the Manor. "I'm going to wait till we get back to the Manor. But I just wanted to say," she said. "That you are not alone, okay. Both Buffy and I know what it is like to lose our parents. Buffy lost her mom a couple months before she and Dawn fell off that tower. I lost my mom when I was eighteen. If you ever need someone to talk to, Buffy and I will always be there."

Paige looked to Tara and smiled. "So I wasn't the ideal high school student, you know," she said twenty minutes later in the manor as she looked at Piper, Phoebe, Buffy and Willow. She glanced at Tara who stood beside her.

Tara smiled and nodded encouragement.

"I, um, skipped classes, partied all night with my friends," Paige continued. "Pretty much anything they wanted to do I was up for."

"Hm, sounds like somebody else I know," Piper said as she glanced at Phoebe, who glared back at her. "What I mean to say is that high school is a time of searching and figuring out who you are for everybody."

"Yeah, but I was cruel. Especially to my mom and dad," Paige said. "The day they died I told them they weren't my real parents. Which is stupid because it wasn't even how I felt. I mean, just because I'm adopted it didn't mean they weren't my real parents, because they were."

"You were feeling lost," Buffy said. "I know I can relate. I remember when my mom found out I was the Slayer. She gave me this ultimatum that if I left the house that night, not to come back. I was the Slayer and Angelus was out to destroy the world. I had to fight him. So I left and I fought him. And then …"

"She left Sunnydale," Willow said as she placed a hand on Buffy's.

Buffy nodded. "I felt so lost. Then when mom died three years later … I tried to stay strong for Dawn. Then Dawn tried to resurrect mom and when I found out she and I fought about it. When I thought mom was at the door I broke down. I was a little girl again, wanting mommy to come home. Dawn reversed the spell and we consoled each other. But even now I know I'm not over my mom's death. And I may never be."

"What Buffy is saying," Tara said. "Is she changed. First when she revealed to her mom about the Slayer. She no longer had to hide it from Mrs. Summers. And later when Mrs. Summers died, Buffy changed again. This time she became a surrogate parent for Dawn. When my mom died, I changed also. I broke away from my dad to find my own place in the world. And you also have changed."

Paige shook her head. "Not in time."

"What do you mean?" Leo asked.

"It was, um, family night," Paige said. "Just something we did every week. And my dad left the fire station early, to pick up my mom and I."

"Your dad was a fireman?" Phoebe asked.

Paige nodded. "Yeah," she said. "And I started bitching, I was too old for this and I was super lame." Tears began to fall down her cheeks. "He was so angry with me. He—he didn't, he didn't see the car that swerved into our lane, and the next thing I know I'm on the pavement, the car's on fire. I still don't know why I survived and they didn't."

"But you can't blame yourself for that," Willow said.

"Well, I feel guilty every single day," Paige said.

"I know how you feel," Buffy said. "For a while I blamed Dawn. I thought that maybe the monks memory spell had done something. Then I realized that Dawn wasn't the culprit. The tumor was. Some things are just unavoidable, like your parents. Like my mom. Like Tara's mom. Every day is a struggle to move forward, but that is what you need to do."

"How can I move forward, Buffy? I killed my parents," Paige said as the tears flowed freely.

Tara pulled Paige into an embrace and hugged her.

"What do we do? How can we help her deal with something that happened in the past?" Piper asked.

"Send her back to it," Leo said.

Later they are in the attic as Phoebe lit the candles. They had been filled in on exactly what Leo was suggesting. They were going to summon someone who would help by sending them to the past.

"Okay, wait, so I don't get it," Phoebe said. "You wanna summon a ghost from the past? From where, the fiction shelf?"

Leo shook his head. "Dickens didn't make that stuff up. He was visited by a malevolent spirit."

"Doesn't malevolent mean bad?" Paige asked.

"Clyde's not the friendliest ghost that I know but he is the only one who helps the living visit their past," Leo said.

"Clyde," Buffy said with a shake of her head. "The malevolent spirit's name is Clyde?"

Leo nodded. "Yeah, he doesn't like it either."

"Wait, we're using bad magic to time travel?" Paige asked. "Should I be worried about any of those personal gain issues?"

"Not at all," Leo said. "You're only going back to learn why your parents died, that's all. Everyone ready?"

"Don't we need a summoning spell?" Piper asked.

"No, Clyde ignores them. There's only one way to get Clyde down here," Leo said before looking to the heavens and yelling angrily. "Clyde! Get your butt down here you fetid worm from the bog of eternal stench!" He looked back at the girls. "You gotta make him mad." He turned his attention back to the ceiling. "Your mother was a chunky substance from a gin cesspool. And she smelled bad too!"

Suddenly, a gust of wind appeared and flew over the attic seconds before it manifested into Clyde. "Leo!" he said a tad bit angry at being summoned. "I was with a client! 1969, Woodstock, Hendricks was on stage. This better be good."

"I need you to take Paige here back to the day of her greatest pain," Leo said.

"A job?" Clyde asked. "Why didn't you say so in the first place?"

Leo shook his head. "Not a job. A favor."

"I don't do charity work," Clyde said.

Leo smiled. "You owe me, Clyde. Or do I need to remind you of your client that I healed? The one you returned from the past, on the edge of a cliff! I believe there were thirty two broken bones."

Clyde sighed. "Alright, alright, I remember," he said as he looked to Paige. "Are you sure you wanna do this? I only open the door to your past, so don't guarantee no safe trip."

"Obviously," Piper said.

Paige nodded. "Yeah. I need to do this."

"Fine," Clyde said.

"Buffy and Tara," Leo said. "Are going with her, to guide her."

Clyde nodded as he clicked his fingers and a door appeared which he opened.

"Just don't look down," Leo said as Paige, Buffy and Tara stepped through the door and emerged in a bedroom.

The door disappeared.

"Everyone okay?" Buffy asked.

"I'm fine," Tara said.

"Yeah. I'm alright. I'm all ..." Paige said as she looked in a mirror and saw her teenage self reflected in it. "Wrong! Oh my god! I'm so screwed; I'm supposed to come back as a ghost, not a ghost with ... braces?"

"Remember," Buffy said, "Leo said you're meant to relieve the experience not observe it."

"Yeah, but I just wanted to come back and sit on the sidelines and make sarcastic comments about my lack of style," Paige said.

Buffy looked around the room. "While this was not my style when I was your age at this point in your life," she said as Paige glanced at her. "I was a cheerleader at Hemery."

"Hemery?" Paige asked. "In L.A.?"

"That's right," Buffy said.

"I went to Hemery in L.A.," Paige said. "Wait I remember you, Buffy. You were the one that Pike fawned over just before the gym burned down."

"You knew Pike?" Buffy asked shocked.

Paige smiled and nodded. "Yeah. He's my brother."

"Brother?" Buffy asked. "I thought his last name was Pike."

"No," Paige laughed. "It's middle name. His full name is Oliver Pike Matthews. When mom and dad died, he took care of me. We were both in our senior year when you burned down the gym."

"He was a senior," Buffy asked as Paige nodded.

"Buffy," Tara said.

"Right," Buffy said. "As I was saying this isn't my style. But for you, this was your style back then. We all have our own style and this was yours."

Paige looked around the room and saw all her old posters on the wall, and all her items on the shelves. "Hey, you're right, I was cool, even then," she said as she picked up a necklace. "Oh, Pike gave this to me. He's probably already left for school."

Just then there was a knock at the door.

"What do I do?" Paige asked panicking.

"Open the door," Buffy suggested.

Paige opened the door to find her dad standing there. "Dad," she said.

"Ready for school?" he asked. "You don't wanna miss your ride." Paige pulled him into an embrace and hugged him. "What's with all this ..." He then smelled something. "Is that smoke? Are you smoking in here?" He looked around and noticed something on the windowsill as he marched over to it and put out a cigarette. "You know, I don't know how much more of this your mother and I can take." He turned and left the room.

"Go after him," Buffy said.

"No," Tara said. "This not about apologizing or trying to get extra minutes to be with her parents."

"Why not?" Buffy asked.

"Seriously you're asking that?" Tara said as Paige walked out of the room. "After what Dawn did?"

"That's different," Buffy said. "Mom was dead. Yes I had a hard time of it. But I also remember what happened when someone or something knocked on the door, too. I lost it, Tara. I so wanted her back. I wasn't ready to be an adult. I'm not sure I am now either to tell the truth. If it hadn't been for you, Willow, Xander and Giles. And Dawn. I might not have made it long enough to face Glory. But with Paige she has the chance now to say her goodbyes. If I were in Paige's shoes I'd do the same thing."

"So what's stopping you?" Tara asked.

"I'm a ghost only that only Paige can see," Buffy said.

"Buffy," Tara said. "Wanting to say goodbye, wanting to be forgiven for whatever. Don't you think that I wanted the same thing when my mom died? I did. But I also knew I couldn't go back. And even if I could, I couldn't change the past. The past makes us who we are today. And for me my mom dying set me on a path to be loved by both you and Willow, the two most beautiful women I know. I wouldn't change that for the world. If Paige tries to change her past nothing good will come of it."

Buffy let out a sigh as she and Tara walked out of the room and down the stairs to the kitchen. They found Paige standing at the door listening to her parents.

"She's smoking again, "Mr. Matthews said. "This time in her bedroom. And when I went in, she had the nerve to give me this big hug, like I wouldn't be mad."

"She told me she'd quit smoking," Mrs. Matthews said.

"Oh, yeah, right, just like the time she quit drinking. She passes out at another one of those parties and I had to go pick her up and bring her home."

"School called yesterday, you know, she's been cutting her classes again."

"She's going to be like her brother and she's not gonna get into college if she keeps this up."

"Oh, well, haven't you heard? She's like Oliver and she's not going to college."

"We'll see about that."

"I changed my mind," Paige said as she glanced at Buffy and Tara. "I don't wanna go in there. They think I'm awful. I was awful."

"It's alright," Tara said. "You can do it. Just remember why you're here."

"Mom?" Paige said as she walked into the kitchen and hugged her mom. "Oh my god, I've missed you so much."

"What's gotten into you?" Mrs. Matthews asked.

"Didn't I tell ya?" Mr. Matthews said.

"Uh, guys, I have an announcement to make. Starting now I-I'm turning my life around," Paige said.

Mr. Matthews shook his head. "You're not borrowing the car. And don't think about asking to borrow Oliver's either."

"No, I mean it," Paige said.

"Yeah, like you meant it when you said you were gonna stop cutting classes."

"Uh, mom, you understand me?" Paige asked. "You've gotta believe me."

Mrs. Matthews sighed. "Oh, so now I'm mom. Last night we weren't even your real parents."

"No, you are. I was just saying that to, "Paige said as she glanced at Buffy and Tara, "hurt you."

"Did you feed the cat?" Mrs. Matthews asked her husband.

Mr. Matthews nodded. "Yeah."

"You guys, I'm not a screw up. I promise I'll change, I promise I'll go to college and, oh, please stop," Paige said. "Please, we need to talk."

"Oh, you are right about that, and we are going to talk," Mr. Matthews said. "About everything. Tonight at dinner."

"Dinner," Paige said. "The family dinner."

"Paige, be careful," Tara said.

"In this Tara is right," Buffy said. "You can't alter history. That said you can say your goodbyes."

"Please, we really need to talk before we drive," Paige said as they heard a car horn outside.

"Oh, ah, Paige, that's your ride," Mrs. Matthews said.

"You have to follow the events of the day, Paige," Tara said. "No exceptions."

Later at Hemery Paige opened her locker. "I can't believe I remember the combination. I used to live out of this locker," she said as a pager beeped. "My pager." She dug it out of her locker and looked at it. "Michelle Niglith. Uh, I can't deal with her drama right now." She closed her locker as Michelle approached her. "Michelle."

"Remember your whole peppermint schnapps theory?" Michelle asked.

Paige shook her head. "No."

"You know, how you can't tell it from a breath mint?" Michelle asked. "You're wrong, I got so busted."

"Oh," Paige laughed, "sorry."

As Paige and Michelle walked off Buffy nudged Tara and pointed. Tara followed Buffy's gaze. "Pike," Tara asked.

Buffy nodded as Pike walked past her and she sighed. "At this point I'm not a flicker in his rearview. Not for another 3 years."

Buffy and Tara caught up to Paige in her next class.

"Although the magna carter was a document of great importance to England and the American colonies, it originally granted concessions to few but the baronial families," the teacher droned on as Paige checked her watch. "The vast majority of England would remain without an active voice in government for another seven hundred years."

Michelle handed Paige a note, which read: Donny is soooo hot!

Paige shook her head. "You don't want Donny, trust me. He winds up bagging groceries for a living and driving a Camaro."

Michelle smiled. "I love Camaros."

"Would you girls please, I'm trying to teach," the teacher said looking at Michelle and Paige.

"But nobody's listening," Michelle said as the class laughed.

"Yeah, I know. That's why all you delinquents are in this class," he said as he returned to reading from his book.

Paige looked at the clock. "Ugh, this is ridiculous; I have to get out of here."

"I know the feeling," Michelle said.

Paige shook her head. "No, you don't understand, it's mine and Pike's last day with our parents. I have to find Pike."

"Okay, what are you babbling about?" Michelle asked.

"Excuse me, Mr. Martin, can I have a bathroom pass, please?" Paige said.

"What are you doing, Paige?" Tara asked. "You can't change the past. If you try you can make things worse."

"What is the problem, Ms. Matthews?" the teacher asked.

"I am tired of wasting my time here," Paige said to Tara and Buffy.

"Well, I'm sorry if I'm boring you."

"No, I'm not talking to you, Mr. Martin," Paige said to the teacher.

"Who were you talking to?"

"Yeah, really, who?" Michelle asked.

"Paige ..." Buffy said. "It's one thing to want to say goodbye. It's another thing to try and change your own history. I understand wanting more time with you parents. When Dawn tried resurrecting my mom, I wanted it to work. I wanted my mom back. But you can't change your history. Think about it for a minute, Paige. If you changed this one event, you and Pike could have your parents, yes for a while longer. But things would change. You might never meet me, Piper, Phoebe, Willow or Tara. For all we know you could inadvertently change my past too boot. With your parents alive you and Pike might move from L.A. Which means I could die when I face Lothos."

"Which means Willow could wind up dead simply because Buffy wasn't there," said Tara. "If my mom had not died it is likely I would not have moved to Sunnydale either and fell in love with Willow and later with Buffy. Changing one event can cause a chain reaction that can chain who you are, maybe not even for the better."

Paige looked at Buffy and Tara thinking over everything they had said. She had to try though. "I need to get out of here," she said to them as she got up and walked straight for the door.

"Ms. Matthews, you will sit down and be quiet and wait for the bell to ring just like everyone else!" the teacher said.

Behind Paige she heard a chorus of, "Go! Go! Go!"

"Sit down Ms. Matthews."

Paige shook her head. "No, I won't," she said as she opened the door to find a security guard standing there.

"Going somewhere?" the guard asked.

Thirty minutes later Paige waited outside the principal's office as the principal talked to her parents.

"You okay?" Tara asked.

Paige shook her head. "No, Tara, I am nowhere near okay. My time here is running out, I haven't done anything."

"You've done enough," Tara said.

"I haven't done anything. I came to stop feeling guilty, only now I feel guiltier than ever because I know what a damn disappointment I am," Paige said.

"Is that what you believe?" Buffy asked.

"Hello? Have you two been watching or eating popcorn?" Paige said. "My mom and my dad think I'm a total failure. I'm not. I can't let them die thinking that. In fact, I'm not gonna let them die at all."

"Paige," Tara said. "We explained why you can't change history. You do this you go down a road neither of us can follow. We will be unable to guide you any farther."

"What do you mean?" Paige asked.

"You've already changed history," Buffy said. "Right now it's minor. If you try and save your parents , if they live. I will be dead. You will never have met Tara."

"How do you know that?" Paige asked.

"It seems part of being your guide is also seeing the outcomes of changes you could make," Tara said. "If your parents live we will be unable to guide you further. Your future will be set in stone from that moment forward. And both of us will cease to be your guides at that moment because we won't be here."

Paige looked at Buffy and Tara as the ramifications hit her. If she saves her parents she in effect kills Buffy. Tara will never meet the loves of her life and she will have never met her own sisters. Which was the worse of two fates? She knows that from talking to Buffy that if she does not live countless lives in Sunnydale will be killed. She knows from talking to Tara that if Tara doesn't move to Sunnydale more lives will be killed. Possibly even her own.

Paige still contemplated that possibility thirty minutes later as her parents drove her home. She looked at her parents. "It looks bad, I know. But I just want to say that I don't turn out this way, I promise. I—I get a degree in social work, I help others, I even get into Berkley thanks to high test scores and a powerful essay on the death of my... ooh, let's just say a powerful essay. Uh... mom and dad, you've got to believe me."

"How can we do that, Paige?" Mr. Matthews asked.

"We've seen your act too many times," Mrs. Matthews said.

"Please, just look at me as though you actually saw me," Paige said. "I'm not who you think I am."

"How do you know what we think?" Mr. Matthews said.

"'Cause I can see it in your eyes. Disappointment," Paige said. "And, okay, yeah, I deserve it, I do. All I can say for myself is that I'm searching and one day I will find myself."

"Paige ..." Mrs. Matthews said.

"Let me finish. I'll find myself because of you two. You shaped who I am. I am not a bad daughter, you did not raise a bad daughter. I'm good. I just, I wish you could see it."

"Sweetheart, of course we can see it."

"What?" Paige asked shocked.

"We know both you and Oliver are good," Mrs. Matthews said. "We've always known. But we also know that both of you are lost and that scares us. And there's nothing in the world we want more than to help you both find your way home. We just don't know how."

"I think you just did," Paige said as she reached over the front seat and rested a hand on her parents shoulders. "I will stay up on my word. And I will make sure Pike does too."

"Mm-hm. Promise?" Mrs. Matthews said.

Paige smiled. "I promise," she said as she noticed a truck heading straight for them. "Watch out!" Suddenly she orbed out just as the truck hit their car, rolling it.

Paige orbed in on the road safe and sound as her parents car exploded.

Buffy and Tara pulled Paige into an embrace as Paige screamed and cried. "Let go of me! They weren't supposed to die till tonight!"

"They're gone," Tara said. "You changed history, but history changed with you. The Powers that Be, God, the Elders, whoever knew this was a defining moment in your life."

"So your saying this was always meant to happen and matter how I changed things …"

"Yes," Tara said. "Buffy and I bluffed a little. We didn't know the outcome of changing this, only that it was impossible. Think about it, how are you alive?"

"I orbed," Paige said. "I could always orb?"

Buffy nodded. "Yes you could. Unlike Prue, Piper and Phoebe. Your powers were never bound. They saved you, so that you could do good with them later."

"We know you think the accident was your fault because you had been arguing with your parents," Tara said. "And they had not seen the oncoming car. But what caused the accident was him." She motioned toward the truck driver who stumbled from his truck, quite drunk. "He's well over the legal limit. Not only that but he ran a red light. It's his fault your parents died, not yours. It's time to forgive yourself."

Paige shook her head. "But it doesn't matter, it doesn't matter, they'll never know how much I love them. Or how much Pike loves them. They'll never know what good parents they were."

"They do," Buffy said. "Trust me on this. Clyde! Your mother was swine herder! Get us out of here!"

The door appeared and they stepped through it and out into a church as Leo healed Cole.

"Frankie! Lulu! Where do you think you're goin'?" Clyde said as he looked up at a pair of ghosts that had somehow escaped while Paige, Buffy and Tara had been in the past. He pulled them through the door, clicked his fingers as the door disappeared and then grunted. "Ehh, it's an unfortunate slip-up. I told ya, it's a dangerous journey."

He clicked his fingers and disappeared as Cole got up.

"You never answered the chaplain's question," Cole said to Phoebe.

"What's going on?" Buffy asked.

"We'll fill you in later," Willow said.

"I never answered your question. Ask me again," Phoebe said.

"Will you marry me?" Cole asked.

Phoebe nodded. "Yes, I will."

Later that night Buffy, Tara, Willow, Piper, Phoebe and Paige sat around the dining room table.

"Thank you, guys," Phoebe said.

Paige, Tara and Buffy had been filled in on the ghosts that had possessed Phoebe and Cole and had one last mission to accomplish to get married.

"Just no weddings until we vanquish the Source," Piper said.

"Uh can we have one before?" Buffy asked as Willow and Tara's eyes went wide. She looked to both her lovers. "I know its quick and that the three of us have not been in this relationship long. But I know this, I want three of us to be together for the rest of our lives."

"Are you doing this for yourself?" Piper asked. "Or for Dawn?"

"A little of both," Buffy said.

"Well?" Piper asked as she looked at Willow and Tara who smiled and nodded.

"Apple cider?" Paige asked as she went to take a sip from her glass.

Piper nodded. "Apple cider, yes."

"Um, Paige ... you haven't told us, and we're dying to know. What happened in your past?" Phoebe said.

Paige glanced at Buffy and Tara. "Well, I found out I wasn't responsible for the accident."

"Of course you weren't," Piper said.

"Then what's the matter?" Phoebe asked.

"It just makes me sad that my parents won't see us or what either Pike or I've become," Paige said.

"Actually, that's not quite true."

They turned to see Leo standing in the foyer as Paige's parents appeared next to him.

"Uh, Leo?" Piper asked.

"Tara owes me a favor," Leo said. "And I now owe Clyde one."

"We know who both you and Oliver are, honey. Who you've both become," Mrs. Matthews said.

Mr. Matthews nodded. "We've been with both you and your brother every step of the way and we're so proud of you both, sweetheart."

Mrs. Matthews looked to Buffy. "We know Oliver helped you, and we're proud of him for that."

Paige smiled as she ran over to her parents and hugged.

"Buffy," Leo said as Joyce appeared beside him.

"Mom?" Buffy asked as Joyce nodded.

"Like Paige's parents I've always been proud of you, of you were then and you are now," Joyce said. "I was proud of you when you stepped into my shoes and took care of Dawn. I couldn't have been happier. You say you weren't ready to be an adult, and that you're not sure you still are? I don't believe that to be true. If it was, the Powers would never have given you Dawn to be your child, to raise and love as I loved you and Dawn."

Buffy smiled as she ran over to Joyce and hugged her.