:~:London, Present Time:~:
Willow was sitting alone in the Coven wing when they appeared. Buffy and Xander seemed to fall out of thin air, landing in a tangled heap. Buffy pulled herself up and away from Xander rather quickly, leading Willow to wonder what had happened in the past between them.
"Oh thank goodness you're back." Willow hugged her friends. "Are you both okay?" Buffy nodded.
"We're fine, Will. How are things here? Anymore attacks?" Willow shook her head.
"We think the battle is probably keeping Irinia busy now. Hopefully, the timeline will be fixed soon."
"Is Althenea around?" Willow nodded and told Buffy where to find her. Buffy left the room and Willow looked at Xander.
"Okay, spill. What happened with you two?" Xander sighed.
"I kissed her. For a moment, it felt like she wanted it. But then I remembered who I am, and who she is." He shook his head. "She's still missing Spike." Willow bit her lip and turned away from him.
"I had wondered if that wasn't the case. But what about that girl, Xander? The one you brought back from Scotland. I thought you were involved with her?"
"I was. I am. But she realized I still had feelings for Buffy and…well, it's a bit complicated." Willow shook her head and turned back to face him, and she smiled slowly.
"Of course it is. It's love, Xander. No one ever said love would be easy. Speaking of which, I think I am going to go track down Kennedy." Willow hugged him one more time before leaving the room. Xander stood alone, thinking. The kiss had done something. It had made him realize that the feelings he had for Buffy were vastly different than they had been in high school. Sure, he loved her. But he didn't feel it in the same romantic way he had before. Over the years, Buffy had become more like a sister to him, much the same way as Willow.
In that moment, he knew. He went to find Ruby.
:~:London, Same Time:~:
Buffy wasn't avoiding the Xander awkwardness. At least, that's what she kept telling herself. She was simply meeting with Althenea to discuss the whole Irinia situation. The more times she told herself this lie, the easier it became to believe.
"Hey, Althenea, can we talk?" Buffy knocked on the door. Althenea welcomed her in.
"I'm going to take a guess and say you want to talk about Blaine, correct?" Buffy nodded. "I'm afraid I cannot tell you much more than I'm sure he's told you."
"I understand that. What I want to know is what will happen when Irinia is gone. Obviously, there's a lot that will change. You said that, by getting rid of her, we'll bring Giles back, right? How does that work?"
"We have been developing a spell since I first sensed her building power. It will send her back to her own realm and erase any influence she has had on ours. So, it will bring back anyone that she has been directly involved in the death of without causing any harm to the timelines." Buffy nodded. She didn't want to imagine a world without Giles, so she focused on doing whatever she could to help Althenea.
As if sensing Buffy's worries, Althenea smiled and touched her arm. "I have never claimed to be all-knowing. I cannot say, without a doubt, that everything will turn out all right. But there is something you should know. You have a bright future ahead of you. One of much happiness. The fight to get there won't be easy, but it will be worth it. You need to remember something, therefore. It isn't just the futures of everyone else that you are fighting for. It's yours as well." Althenea turned her attention back to her spell prep, leaving Buffy to think about what she had said.