Author's Note: Wow. I'm really amazed at the outpouring of sympathy for Seo, after the last section! I thought people would feel a lot more hostile towards her. It basically made me need to post what should have been three sections as one section, just because otherwise it would make people feel like I was rubbing their noses in it.

This chapter, at the end, does skirt dangerously close to something that's been done a thousand times before in this fandom. I urge you not to all groan and roll your eyes.

Rest assured, it's all leading somewhere.

"She doesn't know they're dead," Xander reported.

Everyone looked at Xander like he was an idiot.

"She knows she killed them," Giles replied. "She told us as much."

"No — I mean, yes, she told us that," said Xander. "But she didn't know she was killing them for good. That's why she doesn't understand why we're mad at her. She doesn't know that when humans die, we stay dead."

"Huh?" asked Willow.

"Think about it!" said Xander. "When she gets killed like this, she's like the Doctor. She just goes all gold-glowing-light-thingy, and changes her face, and walks off completely fine. She gets thirteen lives. She assumes we get the same."

"But she's not human," said Willow. "We are. She knows that."

"As far as I can tell, the only human she's ever seen die is Buffy," said Xander. "And Buffy doesn't stay dead."

Willow and Giles both glanced over at Buffy.

"Think about it!" said Xander. "She knew the building would fall down on them. That's a physical death, based in the real world — and you can't come back from one of those. So she killed the others by overpowering their brains with a massive dose of…"

"Mystical energy," Willow realized. Her face went pale. "Oh, my God."

"She knows why Buffy came back from the dead," said Xander. "Her dad told her. But, apparently, he never told her how. And with all this talk about regenerative recyclers — she just assumed it's the same regenerative process for us as it is for her."

Even Giles was beginning to realize. "One life," he muttered. "She kept saying that. One life. Not three lives. One life."

"One life each," Xander agreed. "And none of them had died before. That's why she doesn't understand. She thinks they were on their first regeneration. She thinks they're still alive."

For a few moments, no one said anything.

Then Buffy gave a bitter, disgusted laugh. "She told you this?" Buffy said, raising her head off the table. Her eyes were red, her face filled with anger and misery. "She told you something like that, and you believed her?!"

"Buffy, it's true," said Xander. "Spend five minutes with her, and you'll see. She has absolutely no idea that they're dead. Right now, she's planning to apologize to them and take them all out for ice cream."

"If it's true," said Buffy, "it'll be the first true thing she's told us so far." She glanced around at the others. "Manipulation. Lies. Deceit. I'm not falling for it. Not again."

"Look, I'm not inclined to like Seo," said Willow. "I mean, I'm pretty much Miss Just-Kill-Her-Already. But… what Xander's saying… actually kind of makes a lot of sense."

Buffy shook her head.

"She is always… terribly confused about why we are so angry when she speaks of dying so casually," Giles admitted. "And… when I was in there, she didn't seem to have any concept that what she'd done to Rowena, Leah, and Satsu was wrong. In fact, she seemed rather inclined to believe… that she'd saved them."

Buffy said nothing for a few minutes.

"All right," she said, at last. "I'll test it out." She turned to Xander. "She stays locked up and guarded, tonight. Tomorrow, we take her to apologize."

Seo was thrilled, when they went over to Leah's parents' house. Buffy just watched her through narrowed eyes. Deciding her skips were too calculated. Her cheer too perfectly innocent. It was wrong. It had to be wrong. Obviously, there was no way she could possibly…

Buffy and Xander stayed some ways back, to allow Seo some space. As Seo skipped up to the house. Knocked on the door.

"They know, already, right?" Xander asked.

"Of course they know," said Buffy. "Ria would have told them right away. They know what happened to Leah, just the same way Seo does. She just doesn't want to admit it."

The door opened, and Seo began to converse with the man who opened it. The middle aged man, who looked disheveled. Distraught. As if he were on the verge of breaking down into an emotional storm of grief all over again.

Seo didn't seem to notice. Just spoke, chirpily.

"This is cruel, Buffy," said Xander. "If she really is naïve enough that she doesn't understand…"

Buffy rolled her eyes. "She isn't."

Seo's happiness faltered, a hair, as the man broke down. She tried to reach out to him, but he batted her away. A few more words from Seo, and the man began shouting at her — that Leah was dead, dead, she was never coming back! His little girl and she was never coming back!

Seo tried to speak to him. Tried to explain. But her every word seemed to fuel his grief. Her every placation seemed to tear him apart. Until…

Xander could see the moment Seo understood.

The moment the entire truth of what she had done crashed on top of her. The way she stumbled back, a sudden horror washing across her face, and nearly fell down the steps leading up to the front door.

Leah's father slammed the door in Seo's face. And Seo just stood there. Unable to move. Clutching the banister as if that were the only thing keeping her upright. Her eyes wide, her mouth open, a silent scream appearing on her face.

"Huh," Buffy observed. "Go figure. She was telling the truth, after all."

Xander turned on Buffy. "That wasn't fair," he said. "You could have broken it to her more gently! You could have told her—"

Something very dark swept over Buffy's face. Something angry and biting. "She deserved it," she whispered. "For impersonating him. For doing something as heartless as that, while looking so much like…" Her hands shook with the betrayal she still felt.

"She told you the truth!" Xander insisted. "About that. And probably about lots of other things. She's naïve, but she's not a bad person. I trust her."

Buffy said nothing for a long moment. Her eyes still fixed on Seo.

"Really?" she asked. "You really trust her?"

Xander nodded.

Buffy glanced over at Xander. "When we get back to London, I want you to pack your bags, move out of Giles', and stay in a hotel," she said. "I don't want you spending time with Seo. And definitely not spending time alone with her."

"What?" said Xander. "Why?"

"Because one day, Seo is going to kill you," said Buffy. "And if you trust her that much, I'm not going to be able to stop her."

Seo was quiet the entire trip back to London.

Nearly silent, actually. Her face never losing that horrified, shocked, incredulous look. That terrible, gut-wrenching sadness. She said nothing, save for one thing.

"Why?" she kept muttering. "Why didn't anyone tell me?"

Xander thought it was a pretty good question. Considering she'd been imprisoned by the Doctor for decades — why hadn't she known that people actually died? Why hadn't anyone mentioned it to her?

Half way through the journey, Xander tried to comfort her. Tried to explain it to her. But she spun around, and grabbed him by the shoulders, staring into his eyes.

"They're dead," she said, her voice so low it was almost lost in the sound of the train. "They're all dead. Forever. I murdered them all, and they're never coming back. They're never, ever coming back!"

Then she let go, and huddled up in her seat, tucking her knees under her chin, her eyes drifting out the window.

She didn't say a word the rest of the trip.

When Seo got to London, she didn't seem to notice anyone else. Walked as if trapped in a nightmare, her eyes fixed ahead at nothing. When she arrived at Giles' house, she just went straight to her room. Sat down on the bed. And stared, straight ahead, unresponsive to the outside world.

She stayed like that for three days.

The first day, they all figured she probably deserved a guilt trip.

And there were other things going on. Buffy, for one. Buffy was mega-super-pissed off, still, and she was basically shoving Xander out the door, threatening to punch him very hard if he tried to see Seo alone, again. Then there was the whole hotel arrangement thing, and Xander trying to convince Buffy that it was probably better if he didn't stay at a hotel, and Buffy refusing, and… basically, they kind of forgot about Seo.

The second day, they all started to get a little worried.

"She hasn't eaten a thing since she discovered the truth," said Giles. "Hasn't moved an inch. Perhaps she's… in some state of shock."

Yeah. Of course she was. Xander knew that. Because she'd honestly thought that she'd saved Leah, Rowena, and Satsu's lives, when she'd actually murdered them. And the way she'd found out hadn't exactly been subtle or tactful.

"Yeah?" said Buffy. "Well I really, really don't care."

"But what if she's… catatonic?" said Willow. "Like you were, when Glory—"

Buffy turned on Willow. "I thought you hated her!" she snapped. "Why with the change?"

Willow shuffled, awkwardly. "I guess… it's just…" she shrugged. "Seo… made the same mistake I made. She thought… she could bring people back from the dead. And I just… can't… condemn someone for something like that."

Xander knew what else Willow was thinking. That Seo had only made that assumption based on Willow's own actions. That Seo had only thought killing those three was okay, because Willow had used magic she should never have used, and brought Buffy back to life.

"And you think that compares?" Buffy demanded. "You think that your bringing me back from the dead in any way matches up to something as… evil… as what Seo did?!"

"Uh… Buff?" said Xander. "Just… to point out the obvious… Willow's bringing you back from the dead caused a serious magical addiction problem, the emergence of a demon that possessed us all, and the First to nearly wipe out the Slayer Line and take over the world. Seo's mistake cost three lives and actually did manage to save the world. I think… you're kind of overreacting here."

"Overreacting?" Buffy shouted. She pointed at the door to Seo's room. "That child is a manipulative, deceptive, cruel monster, who shows up to crush everything you've ever hoped for or believed in. That's what she is."

They didn't seem able to sway Buffy's determination.

Or to make Seo respond in any way.

"Look, I know I've been the super let's-kill-Seo person, recently," Willow told Seo, "but… what you did… I guess I kind of feel a bit responsible. See… I'm the reason Buffy's back from the dead. It wasn't some… regeneration thing. It was me, screwing with the laws of nature. And… I paid the price. Big time."

No response. Not even an acknowledgement that Seo had heard.

"Humans… when we die… we're supposed to stay dead," said Willow. "We get only one life, and it's a short one, but… we make the most of it. I brought Buffy back, and… that was wrong. It took me a long time to figure that out. But… it was. Truth is… time keeps going forward, and you can't turn back the clock just because you want to."

Still, no response.

They all tried to snap her out of it. Or even just get her to eat something. But there was nothing from Seo. No acknowledgement that she even knew they were there.

"Please don't tell me she's trying to starve herself to death," Xander said, after their fifth attempt to get her to snap out of it had failed.

Willow shook her head, about to negate his fears. Then stopped. Hesitated. "She… said she tried to kill herself before."

She said she'd thought about it a lot.

"Maybe that's why no one told her that people really died!" said Xander. "I mean, she's 98 years old. She must have lost Buffy at some point. Maybe whoever locked her up was afraid that if she ever knew the truth, she'd try to kill herself, again."

Willow and Giles exchanged glances.

"That theory kind of leaves a lot of things unexplained," Willow said.

"Xander is correct, though," said Giles. "It is truly baffling that Seo wouldn't know that people stay dead, when they die. Even if she wasn't told by the Doctor — surely, before she was imprisoned…"

"We don't really know how old she was when she was imprisoned, though," said Xander. "Or why she was imprisoned at all."

"Yeah, but she was locked up in the Doctor's ship, not allowed to even speak to anyone else," said Willow. "Whatever she did, it almost certainly involved a lot of people dying. And… knowing the Doctor… I've got no idea why he wouldn't make sure she knew about that. He'd probably have done exactly the same thing Buffy did."

"Only more ruthlessly," Giles muttered. "Particularly if her crime warranted such an action."

"I keep telling you," said Xander. "She wasn't imprisoned to keep her in. She was imprisoned to keep other people out!" He pointed at the door to Seo's room. "Does she look like the kind of dangerous criminal you'd need to keep under lock and key, just in case?"

"Elizabeth was," Willow pointed out. "And she didn't seem it, at first. You know, until she started acting completely insane."

Giles considered this. "It is a possibility, I suppose," he said. "Seo might have been told the truth many times, and been unable to come to terms with it. Denial. Like what we saw with Elizabeth."

"Especially if she's actually killed lots of people," Willow added.

Xander threw up his hands in the air. "Oh, come on!" he said. "Stop looking for ways for Seo to be evil. She's not evil! I mean… she's Buffy's kid! Buffy's not evil. The Doctor's not evil. So why would their kid be evil?"

"Well… maybe… maybe this is Elizabeth's kid," Willow proposed. "And that's why she's semi-psychotic."

Giles seemed rather dubious about this. "She has certain qualities we've only ever seen demonstrated in Buffy," he pointed out. "Her strength, if nothing else, appears to be in keeping with Buffy's own."

Buffy rejected the possibility outright. "She's not my child," she said. "Any version of me. And she's definitely not the Doctor's. She's trying to take us all in. Manipulate us."

Xander couldn't accept it. Couldn't believe it.

Particularly not the next day, when he arrived at Giles'. And discovered that Seo was still just the way she'd been, before.

"If she is catatonic, couldn't you do that thing you did with Buffy?" Xander asked Willow, when Seo still didn't respond.

Willow shook her head. "She's not a Slayer, she's a Time Lord," she said. "And I've been the one person who's acted most hostile towards her, out of everyone here. If I tried to get inside her mind, she'd throw me out. Like the Doctor did, two years ago."

They all looked away. Not really sure what to do.

"But… if she truly was innocent," said Giles, "if it truly was an accident — if she really didn't know — then why would she feel this sort of guilt? Why wouldn't she…?"

"I think," said Willow, quietly, "maybe… this was why no one told her."

Giles frowned, surprised. "What do you mean?"

"We all know she was in prison," said Willow. "What if… she'd done something bad, in the past? Something really, really bad. So bad that she couldn't deal with it, emotionally. Some kind of… mass murder. Something she caused. And the only way her mind could cope with the guilt was by convincing herself that everyone who died could be resurrected. Convincing herself she could save them."

"So she tracked down Buffy, along with the rest of us," Giles realized, "because she knew that Buffy had been brought back. She wanted help to revive those that had fallen."

Xander stared at them. "You're really buying the whole shape-shifter not-really-Buffy's-kid thing?" he asked. "You're really siding with Buffy?"

Willow just shrugged.

"As Buffy has stated," said Giles, "the best way to ensure that she protects Seo from the Doctor is to appear as their child. It does make logical sense."

Xander shook his head. "No," he said. "No! No, don't you see?" He pointed at the door to Seo's room. "That's not just being caused by guilt. That's only part of the reason she's like this. It's being caused by Buffy! Seo didn't come here to find any of us. She's here for Buffy. And now, Buffy hates her."

"She's been telling Buffy she's evil for some time," said Giles. "It's hardly likely that she would actually be trying to gain Buffy's favor, when she's threatening—"

"She might be smart," said Xander, "but she's still got the maturity of a little kid. She wants attention — even if it's negative attention. She wants to act out, say crazy things, make people angry — just so someone will notice her. I mean, she doesn't even understand about death! She's not manipulative — she's a little kid who doesn't understand the world, trying to impress her mommy. That's it!"

Buffy didn't buy this at all.

"Would you stop trying to get me to comfort Seo?" she demanded. "You're the ones who told me I should kill her. So now I'm doing what you wanted, and letting her kill herself!"

"But I don't think…" Willow started.

Buffy turned on her. "What?" she asked. "You don't think what? Giles saw it. Those snake aliens saw it. So did you. Everyone that's got any mystical connection at all believes that Seo is insanely dangerous. And it's about time I saw it, too."

"Buffy, are you certain you're not just acting hard on her because she reminds you so strongly of…?" Giles began.

"I'm not being hard on her," Buffy snapped. "She gave me hope, and then she took it away. How can you forgive something like that?"

"She…?" Xander asked.

"She's evil," said Buffy. "Everyone saw it. I was just taken in."

"Look, I'll confess," Willow admitted, with a little cringe, "what I felt, about Seo — that she was dangerous, threatening, evil — it's still there. Really strong. But… I was evil, once, too. And you guys didn't just give up on me."

"You had a reason to flip out and become evil," Buffy said. "Seo doesn't."

"Says who?" asked Willow. "You don't even know why she was in prison!"

"And she hasn't exactly 'flipped out and gone evil,' now," Xander pointed out. "She's been sitting in her room, refusing to move or eat anything for the last three days. If that's a killing spree, it's not a very effective one."

"She's not my daughter," Buffy said, through gritted teeth. "She's not his daughter. I'm sure."

"Buffy," said Giles, softly. "I understand you got your hopes up. I understand your disappointment. But taking that out on Seo isn't going to make this any better. For anyone."

Buffy wouldn't answer.

"You saw that Seo was telling us the truth about the death thing," said Xander. "You can see she feels guilty about it, now. You can't just leave her alone to kill herself."

Buffy gave Xander a long stare. One that seemed to bore into him with the fire from a thousand explosions. "You trust her," she said, in a low, biting tone. "But I don't. Never again!"

"But Buff—" Xander tried.

Buffy snatched up her cell phone out of her pocket, then threw it against the ground, as hard as she could. It broke into four separate pieces. Then she stomped on them, over and over again, destroying every piece, undoing every circuit, until the cell phone was in a million different tiny shards.

"Buffy—" Willow tried, putting a hand on Buffy's shoulder.

Buffy spun around. "Seo touched it," she growled. Pointing down at the debris beneath her feet. "She did something to it. Did something to all of us. Convinced us to believe in her. Messed with everything and everyone. That's how she did it! Has to be."

"Using… your phone?" Willow asked.

"Yes!" Buffy snapped. She spun around, and marched out of the house. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go buy my 8th cell phone this year."

And left, the door slamming behind her.

Willow looked after her, a sad expression on her features.

"This isn't about Seo or cell phones at all, is it?" Xander asked.

"She thought she'd see the Doctor, again," Willow said. "Get together with him. Because of Seo. Buffy really, really thought..." She shook her head. "Poor Buffy. She got her hopes up, watched them shattered, and, now, she isn't willing to take the chance she'll be wrong, again."

Giles shook his head.

"And since Buffy could be the only one to get through to Seo," he muttered, "I suppose that means… there's nothing we can do. Seo is doomed."

It was the end of the third day since they'd arrived back from Scotland, and Xander was waiting around for Buffy to kick him out of Giles'. Make him go back to his hotel room, the way she always did, these days.

But the Buffy kick-out session was late. Because Buffy was still letting off steam, fuming at Giles and Willow, in the kitchen. Xander hoped that maybe, if he just hung out down here, in the basement, Buffy would forget about him, and let him stay the night. Just so he could make sure everything was all right.

"I can't turn back the clock," came a quiet, shaky voice from the doorway.

Xander spun around, catching sight of the slender, blond figure just behind him. There was still so much sadness on her face, but a new determination had sprouted in her eyes. A determination fixed on Xander.

"Seo!" he said. "You're—"

"I'm a murderer," Seo told him, rushing towards him. "A killer. I can't bring them back. Any of them. I can't undo what I've done. But I can do this."

Then she grabbed him towards her, and kissed him.

For a moment, Xander was so shocked, he didn't really know what to do. But he was already kissing her back before he could completely register what was going on. Her lips were warm, tingly. Her hands stroking across his face. The entire thing making him feel suddenly calmer, deep inside his mind, soothed into contentment, as if she were kissing away all his fears. It made him feel warm, happy, almost glowing with a…

Except… no… he was glowing. Actually glowing! A soft, golden kind of glow. Spreading out through him. He could see it, surrounding him, out of the corner of his eye. A part of him felt confused, frightened, needing to stop. And then there was the rest of him, which had been taken over by the sudden realization that…

Holy crap, he was kissing Seo! And it was great!

And then, there was something inside his mind. Or was it… her mind? Something he could feel. Almost like… a click.

And the gold glow surrounding him seemed to freeze, in the air, then shatter into silver dust that ate away the light. Every warmth Xander had felt suddenly turned icy inside his veins, every tingle seemed to tear at something deep inside his soul.

He jerked her away from him, with sudden alarm. Turning his head to fix his single good eye on the silver, cold energy that seemed to spread through the air like a living thing. A malignant living thing. Before it twisted, turned, and then disappeared.

"Seo, what did you—?" Xander started.

But there was a thud, and as Xander looked back at her, he realized she'd fainted.

Giles, Willow, and Buffy all rushed into the basement, before Xander had a chance to examine Seo. Figure out what was wrong.

"The lights started flickering," said Willow. "What's going on down—?" Then she caught sight of Seo, lying on the floor.

"Oh, dear," said Giles, kneeling beside the girl, checking her over.

Buffy, behind them all, said nothing. Just stood in the doorway, her mouth open, a little, her entire posture rigid.

"I don't know what happened," said Xander. "She just kind of… showed up. And then she kissed me, and it was good, at first. And then there was this click thing, and suddenly, it turned… weird."

"She looks older," Buffy said, very quietly.

Willow frowned. Examining Seo's face, carefully. Seo had looked… well, like a freshman starting high school. And now…

"She looks 18 or something," said Willow.

Xander's eyes went wide. "Oh, no," he said. "I know you're thinking that I made out with another soul-stealing demon, but this was nothing at all like with Ampata. She couldn't have—"

Xander stopped. Then coughed. And again. And again — until he doubled over, breaking into a series of coughs and splutters, gasping for air, until…

He'd coughed out a shimmering golden cloud.

Willow looked at Seo. Then Xander. Then, a quick glance back at Buffy, who'd turned white as a sheet. Seo had been overcome with guilt and loss — that much was obvious. She'd wanted to help people, wanted to save them, and wound up leading them to their deaths without meaning to. Willow knew that kind of pain. She'd brought Buffy back from heaven, and that had been just as devastating to her, when she found out.

And when Willow looked down at Seo, again, she noticed…

"Xander," Willow said, grabbing something out of Seo's hand, something she'd been clutching, when she passed out. "Catch." And tossed it to him.

"Come on, you know I can't!" Xander complained, as he caught the object instinctively. "Depth perception, remember? I can't… catch…" He looked down, at what he'd just caught in his hand.

His glass eye.

Then he looked back up at Willow. "What?"

Giles stared at Xander, his own face growing truly shocked, as he understood the truth. "She… realized you couldn't regenerate," he said, "to regain your eye. So she gave you… some of hers."

"Her life energy," Willow confirmed. "Enough to age her a few years. Although — who knows how many years it'd actually take to age a Time Lord like that."

Xander's fingers started shaking. Not Ampata, then — the opposite. He'd stolen Seo's life, so he could see, again. Xander dropped the glass eye onto the ground, then reached up to touch the space that, he knew from experience, should be an empty eye socket. He winced, as he made contact with an actual real cornea. "Ow!"

Buffy still looked like she couldn't quite believe it. Could barely stand. "But… why?" she asked.

"Because she's not a bad person!" Xander shouted. He gave a little victory jump. "See? I told you! I told you she was good, deep down inside! I knew it! She's your daughter, Buffy. And she gave me back my eye! And… and she kissed me! So there!"

And a long, long ways away — longer than even you, reader, could imagine — someone looked up. As if he'd just seen, where once he had been blind.

"2007," he said. "She's on Earth, 2007. I'm certain."