At first no one noticed Caddie standing at the bottom of the rough-hewn stairs, staring with large eyes at the newborn Slayers struggling with the Turok-han. It was Cordy who first saw her, and dodged through the battle towards the girl.

"What do you think you're doing?" the witch hissed in anger, grabbing Caddie's shoulder. "Get the hell out of here!"

"I'm needed," Caddie replied, shrugging out of Cordy's grasp. "They called, and I came. It makes sense now, Cordelia."

Cordy stared slack-jawed at the girl for a moment before Caddie suddenly pushed Cordy aside, grabbing the stake from Cordelia's hand and holding it up. A Turok-han that had been charging toward them impaled itself on the point and exploded into dust.

"It's almost time," Caddie said, handing the stake back. "Warn Mother and Father. Tell them to get the Slayers out. It's almost time."

"Warn them about what?" Cordelia demanded, but Caddie merely started to walk away, slipping unnoticed through the mayhem. Cordelia shook her head and started after the girl.

Caddie stood at the edge of the drop. Below her teemed the army of uber-vamps, all fighting to get their turn at the Slayers. Buffy swung the Scythe, beheading two of the vampires, and then saw her daughter serenely watching the violence.

"Caddie!" Buffy screamed. "Caddie, get back!"

"I can do this," Caddie called back, and stretched her arms out to her sides. She burst into brilliant light, as if a drop of the sun had fallen from the sky and taken residence under the Hellmouth. The Turok-han nearest her immediately burned to ashes, their shrieks of pain echoing over the sounds of battle.

Spike flinched away from the light, stumbling back toward the stairs. Buffy saw that and waved at him frantically, gesturing for him to get away, to get out. He vanished up the stairs.

Caddie threw her head back, glowing even brighter. Beams of light shot out from her into the cavern, and every vampire they touched vanished with a scream of agony. The Slayers gradually stopped fighting as their enemies crumbled before their eyes. They stared at Caddie with their mouths hanging open.

The beams of light emanating from Caddie's slender form began to coalesce into a pillar of sunshine blasting straight up into the seal. Angel took a step towards her and the ground trembled beneath him. Rubble began falling from the ceiling.

"Get out!" Buffy yelled. "Everybody get out! Angel, get them out of here!" Angel hesitated, clearly torn, but Buffy called, "I'll take care of Caddie. Go!"

"Everybody to the surface!" Angel called, starting to herd the Slayers towards the stairs. "Faith, Rona, Vi! Come on!"

The light was so intense that Caddie was no longer visible. Buffy shielded her eyes as she walked closer. "Caddie, that's enough!" she called over the noise of the trembling earth. "They're all dead. Let's go!"

"Not everyone," Caddie's voice came back, disembodied and echoing. "One more…"

Out of the shadows on the other side of the cavern exploded the First in its monstrous form, horns and grasping claws. "Defeating my army doesn't mean you've defeated me!" it shrieked, looming over the ledge. Its darkness swallowed up the light until the ledge was the only lit area in the cavern.

"No, but this will," Caddie replied. A single, white-hot beam of light shot from her chest straight into the First's incorporeal form. It shrieked and writhed as if trying to escape, but the light appeared to have pinned it in place. The tremors increased, huge chunks of the cavern roof tumbling to the ground yards below.

"Caddie!" Buffy yelled.

"Not yet!" the girl yelled back. "I stand at the edge of darkness and invoke the light! I call forth the sun to vanquish the night! I banish you! Be gone!"

The First screamed again, a nightmare of sound, and then it folded up into itself and vanished with a flash of darkness. Caddie's light vanished as abruptly and she fell to her knees, her chest heaving.

"I did it," she whispered, a beatific smile on her face.

Buffy stared at her daughter. Her words had reminded Buffy rather forcibly of Giles' prophecy. Cadence was the Sun-caller, and she had just saved the world.

A boulder crashed into the ledge, tearing part of it away, and Buffy jerked back to her senses. She grabbed Caddie's arm and dragged her to her feet. "We have to get out of here!"

"Oh. I can do that, too!" Caddie replied, and threw her arms around Buffy's waist. There was another flash of light, and they were gone.

*****

Giles swerved sharply when something thudded against the roof. He glanced out the side window, fearing that it was rubble from the collapsing buildings. He was barely ahead of the implosion and he stomped harder on the gas pedal.

Behind him, the bus was full of noise. Slayers shouted to each other as the wounded moaned in pain. Wesley and Oz were holding onto a struggling Angel, who screamed the names of his wife and younger daughter.

Willow sat on the bench beside to door, clinging to the seat and craning her neck to look behind them. Her hair, still white from the spell, hid her expression from Giles. "We're clear!" she finally yelled, and Giles eased onto the brakes. As soon as the bus came to a complete stop, he jumped out of his seat and lunged out the door.

He skidded to a halt at the side of the bus to watch Buffy jump down from the roof of the bus. The Slayer put the Scythe on the ground and held out her arms. Caddie jumped and Buffy caught her, setting her gently on her feet.

"Good lord," Giles gasped, staring past the two women to the crater where Sunnydale had once stood. "Who did that?"

"Caddie," Buffy said with a proud smile, putting her arm around her daughter's shoulders. Caddie offered a tired smile in return. Giles was nearly knocked aside as Angel raced past him to gather Buffy and Caddie into his arms, holding them tightly against his chest.

Faith came up to stand beside Giles. "Looks like the Hellmouth is officially closed for business," she observed dryly.

"There is another one in Cleveland," he reminded her. "Not to spoil the moment."

Others began piling off the bus to stare at the remains of their hometown.

"So…" Oz broke the silence. "I guess we saved the world?"

Willow, who was leaning on him, still drained from her spell, smiled faintly. "We changed the world," she corrected her husband gently. "I can feel them. All over. Slayers awakening everywhere."

"We'll have to find them," Doyle said, crossing his arms and squinting at the "Welcome to Sunnydale" sign. It creaked, tilted, and then fell back into the crater. Doyle nodded in satisfaction.

"We will," Cordy said, coming up behind him. She took his face in both hands and kissed him soundly. "I'm glad you're alive, by the way."

Doyle grinned and kissed her back. "Me, too."

Wesley grimaced as he checked under the haphazard bandage on his arm. "We have a lot of work ahead of us," he said.

Faith gave him a look that bordered on pleading. "Can I push him in?" she begged. "Cause I want to sleep, yo. For like a week."

"That sounds good," Caddie said. "Dad? I think I'm going to faint." With that, her eyes fluttered shut and she slumped into Angel's arms. He lifted her easily and cradled her body, a dreamy smile plastered across his face. "She called me 'Dad,'" he said to no one in particular.

Andrew stooped, picked up a rock, and walked over to the crater's edge. He dropped the rock in, watching its progress down the canyon wall. After it reached the bottom, he turned back to face the others.

"Now what do we do?" he asked.

-THE END-