Chapter 25
Willow stood next to the fireplace with Edward, his arms wrapped tightly around her waist, waiting for their family to come through the portal she had opened. She hadn't held anything back, she told them everything that had happened, and ever since then, Edward had been practically glued to her hip. He wouldn't let her leave his side for a minute, and if she had to go anywhere, he was there. Normally, she knew his actions would annoy her, but she didn't mind his over protective gestures. Willow had thought, due to the spell, that she had lost him and to her relief she hadn't, so she craved his nearness as much as he craved hers.
After she had explained the spell, Willow and Edward made a quick trip over to the Magic Box and gathered what she would need to trace who had cast the mind fuck that had been her life for the last few days. When they returned to the mansion, she had cast a water mirror spell in the courtyard in the back, under the full moon.
~*~flashback~*~
Willow chanted a protective spell as she traced a circle in white chalk around an already drawn pentagram, but hesitated before closing it. She glanced up at Edward with a thoughtful look. "Do you want to help me?" she asked.
"How? I don't have any experience with magic," he said, startled that she asked.
"Actually, you might be surprised, but you don't have to if you don't want to."
"I don't want to mess up your spell, but I'll help. What would I have to do?" Edward asked a little nervously as he stepped forward into the circle over the blank space, careful to not step over any of the already drawn lines.
"Not much. Just kneel opposite me and open your mind. Don't fight the power if it pulls at you, it could disrupt the spell," Willow instructed as she drew the final line and felt the protective circle settle around them. She knelt and motioned for him to do the same. Willow lit the candles that sat at the five points of the pentagram with a flex of her mind, then faced the bronze bowl that sat between her and Edward. It wasn't very tall, but it was wide, with runes etched along the outside brim.
Willow held her hands over the bowl and with another flex of her mind, she gathered moisture from the air and willed the water to fill it to the very brim. She closed her eyes and centered herself, pushing all thoughts out of her mind. Willow dropped her shields, her hair and eyes bleeding to an inky black and she started to glow softly as her power welled up around her. Haunting sighs echoed teasingly in the air, and shadows began to dance along the edges of the courtyard. She willed her power to pool in her hands, and all her skin but her lower arms and hands started to shimmer slightly as her magic gathered around her. The shadows that had danced on the edges, now covered her hands like long icy gloves, and seemed to eat the light that glinted from the rest of her.
She felt her power as it caressed and covered Edward, laying over him like a blanket, and he gave a quiet gasp as he saw her in her full glory. Willow could feel his calm presence and it helped her anchor herself in the here and now, helped her not get lost in the rush of her own power. She opened her eyes and gave him a soft smile of thanks, then picked up the vial of mercury that she had set down next to the bowl. After opening it, she tilted it over the bowl, letting a few drops fall into the still water.
Edward watched in fascination as the silvery liquid hit the surface of the water without a ripple to betray it. The mercury didn't sink into the water, instead it spread out along the surface, giving it the illusion of a mirror.
Willow chanted her incantation after placing the vial on the ground, her hands once again hovering over the bowl of spelled water. "Ostendo mea uter adactus contra mea. Indico uter injuria mea." {Show me the one who cast against me. Reveal the one who wronged me}
The mirrored surface of the water rippled and showed nothing but grey cloudiness. Willow gave an almost silent growl, then said, "Whoever it is, is blocking the spell."
"Can you push through it?" Edward whispered, he could feel her power as it pressed around them. It pulled at him at bit, and he let her take what she needed, surprised that he had anything to offer, at least magic wise.
She gave a slight shake of her head and said, "I don't know. I'll try."
Willow concentrated more of her power into her hands, in some back corner of her mind marveling at how the shadows that covered her lower arms and hands began to be flecked with dark red sparks, and forced it into the image in the bowl. She felt the resistance give a shudder, then it buckled, and she pushed through. The image cleared, showing the top of a man's head. He had brown hair that was beginning to go grey. He was bent over an old wooden table, magical paraphernalia spread out in front of him. He was frantically throwing herbs into a noxious looking mixture. As if he could sense their gaze on him, the man looked up, his eyes shifting around the room he was in.
Willow growled as she recognized him, "Ethan Rayne. Why am I not surprised."
"You know him?" Edward asked, anger lacing his voice, as the man who had hurt Willow was finally revealed.
She gave a sharp nod and said, "He has a long history of trying to either hurt or kill Buffy and the rest of us."
"What are we going to do?"
Willow gave him a feral grin, then looked behind him and asked, "I think it's about time Ethan gets what he deserves, don't you Buff?"
Buffy was standing by the french doors, her arms crossed over her stomach, a deep frown twisting her lips downward. She stepped forward and stopped just outside the circle. She looked down at the surface of the bowl and said, "Ethan. Again. Figures it was him." Buffy gave Willow a searching look, then turned to walk back into the mansion. "Karma is such a bitch," she said over her shoulder with a grin before going in to check on Xander.
Willow's grin turned into a full smile as she was struck by inspiration. She knew the perfect solution to handle dear old Ethan. "Three fold law, no longer spurned; let your justice be felt. Hold this man to the crimes he has committed, let him harm no other. Probo ea confui confieri." {Let it be done}
Willow and Edward looked into the bowl with interest as her spell took hold. Ethan opened his mouth to scream, but seemed to choke instead. Tears streamed down his face as he tried to gasp in air. He clutched at his throat, eyes bulging a bit with pain. He looked around, frantically searching for something to help him. Willow had no sympathy for the man who had forced her to feel as if she would also choked to death on despair and heart wrenching pain.
Ethan fell to his knees, his face turning red with strain. Flecks of blood dotted his throat as his fingernails tore into his skin. His struggles started to weaken and he crumpled to his side. Eventually, he was as still as the dead, his life taken by the bad karma his own actions had created. Magic had rules for a reason, the saying, 'What you put out, comes back times three', wasn't just pretty words. It was a lesson Willow had had to learn the hard way, and now the reason she tried to respect the nature of her magic as much as possible.
Too bad for Ethan, he'd never learned that all important lesson.
~*~end flashback~*~
Carlisle stood next to Xander, removing the bandages that swathed his face. He had already removed the metal scaffolding that surrounded Xander's head. Willow's attention was distracted from the portal momentarily as she watched the gauze removed from her best friend's face. Her gaze zeroed in on his left eye, looking for any discoloration.
The skin above and below the eye didn't show any signs of bruising, it was a pure, snowy white, just like the rest of his face. The lid itself looked normal, with the swell under it that signified that Xander's eye had grown back. Willow gave a sigh of relief, she knew if the venom from her bite could replace the missing orb, then it would heal his spine as well.
Edward tightened his arms and rested his chin on her shoulder as he whispered, "See, everything is going to be alright."
Willow sighed again and leaned back into his embrace. She looked up sharply as an unmistakable scent came from the french doors, where the portal was. Her eyes went wide as she saw Alice standing in front of the swirling blue vortex with a stunned looking Bella. Alice stepped forward, keeping her hold on Bella's arm, making room for the others to step into the room. After the others came through, Willow closed the portal behind them and stared at the last person she had expected to see in her home dimension.
"Bella?" Willow gasped in astonishment.
Edward had straightened up and was now staring at the pale human standing next to Alice, his jaw clenched, eyes narrowed as he listened intently to Alice's thoughts. "What?" he exclaimed, his eyes flicking between Alice and Bella in disbelief.
"Willow! You're ok!" Bella said with extreme relief, her frown of worry smoothing out.
"What do you mean?" Willow asked in confusion as she stepped closer. "And what are you doing here?" Her confusion turned to shock as Bella rushed forward and hugged her.
"I thought for sure that James and the other bad vampires were going to get you! I'm so glad you got away from them, but how? And I'm so sorry about whatever you saw between me and Edward, I thought for sure that I was losing my mind and that I'd made you up! I would like to think I wouldn't have let things go so far with him if I'd known you really existed. But, where were you?" Bella babbled as her emotions swelled and she continued to hug the redheaded vampire.
Willow was completely floored, her mouth opened and closed like a stranded fish. Alice was no help at all, she just kept snickering at the dumbfounded look on Willow's face. The redhead didn't know how to respond to the other girl's flood of questions and comments, so she simply raised her arms to hug Bella back. The brunette's scent surrounded Willow like a tempting cloud, but she stomped back her instincts to bite and made a conscious effort to enjoy the warmth that radiated from the soft body pressed against her own.
Bella pulled back a little sheepishly and rolled her eyes as she said, "Sorry about that, I should know better by now to not rush a vampire. Are you ok? I didn't swamp you with my scent, did I? Edward tried to teach me to move slowly, so I wouldn't shove the smell of a full course meal into his nostrils, but I'm just so happy to see you alive! Plus, of course, to know I'm not crazy is a huge relief."
"Jeez, Wills, she babbles almost as bad as you do," a soft masculine voice said with humor.
Willow disentangled herself from Bella's arms gently, and spun to face the voice that had spoken. She stood in front of Bella protectively and gazed with wonder at Xander. He was sitting up in the hospital bed as he looked around the room, his expression filled with amazement as he took everything in with his new eyes.
Willow glanced back at Bella and said quietly, "Go stand by Esme."
Bella looked a little confused as her eyes darted to Xander, then comprehension dawned and she nodded. She scurried over to Esme and stood behind her, but couldn't keep the interest off her face.
Willow approached Xander cautiously, until she stood at the foot of the bed. Absently, she noted that the rest of the Cullen's, except Esme, fanned out in a protective half circle behind her, ready to block any attack the newly risen vampire might make on the easily harmed human girl.
Willow couldn't help her sigh of relief as she gazed into 'both' of his crimson eyes as Xander looked at her and smiled. "Xander? Are you ok?" she whispered.
"Great! A lot better than I was, and can I just say how much it sucked to feel like I was burning alive," he said amicably, only a slight trace of a pout on his lips. His voice sounded musical, and a little deeper than it had before.
Willow gave a snort of laughter and rushed to his side, flinging her arms around him as she sat next to him on the bed. "Xander, thank goodness you're ok. I was so worried," she murmured as he hugged her back tightly. "I'm sorry you had to go through that."
"It's alright, healing can be painful. Mine was just a bit more... extreme, I guess. Gods, Willow, you smell amazing."
She chuckled and pulled back a little as Carlisle stepped forward, Jasper and Emmett shadowing him, and asked, "How do you feel, Xander?"
"Overwhelmed. There's so much..." he trailed off, looking at everyone as they came up behind Carlisle to stand at the foot of the bed. His eyes went wide as he took in how everyone looked to his new eyes.
"Yes, it can be quite confusing," Carlisle paused for a moment as he considered how to ask what he wanted to know next, "Xander, can you smell Bella?"
"Of course, why?" he asked.
"Is her scent having any effect on your thirst? You do feel your thirst, yes?"
"Well, if you mean the slow burning in my throat, yeah I feel it," Xander stopped talking and focused on Bella. Her scent filled the room, like a sweet and warm floral bouquet, but it didn't make his hunger spike. He could also hear the sound of her heartbeat and it was so moist and appealing, that his mouth started to water. He swallowed convulsively and jerked his attention away from her as he closed his eyes and took a deep breath to calm down.
Willow saw the look of amazement on Carlisle's face as Xander reigned in his thirst. Calmly she asked, "Was it her scent or the sound of her heart beating that got to you, Xan?"
"Her heart," he murmured without opening his eyes.
"Fascinating," Carlisle said, the way he spoke was as if he was studying an interesting experiment.
Willow thought he sounded a lot like Giles and apparently so did Xander, because he opened his eyes and looked incredulously at the pale doctor. He snuck a quick look at Willow and both burst out laughing. Bella's eyes went wide at the sound of their combined laughter, it sounded like music to her human ears.
Carlisle wisely chose to ignore their outburst and asked Xander to stand up so he could check his spine and reflexes. Willow shifted back a little to let the newly awakened vampire rise off the bed. He swung his legs from under the blanket and over the side of the bed. He was still wearing his hospital gown and compared to the white of the clothe the skin on his bare legs shone white as snow, with a pearly gleam.
Xander slid to the edge and placed his bare feet on the stone floor, then he cautiously stood and took on the full weight of his body. He stood up straight, and from what Willow could see of his back, his spine looked normal. She averted her eyes and would have blushed if she could have, because the hospital gown gaped open in the back. There was a clear view of skin, from the nape of his neck, down to his feet.
"Enjoying the view?" Xander snarked to her, then wiggled his butt. Willow rolled her eyes and hopped off the bed next to him. In a fit of pure childishness, she smacked his ass and laughed as he yelped and jumped away from her.
She continued to snicker as she moved to stand next to Edward, while Xander pouted at her, rubbing his rear end. He stuck his tongue out at her and followed Carlisle's instructions. Xander twisted and turned, then held still while Carlisle felt the top of his spine, along the column that protected the spinal cord. The pale doctor seemed satisfied that the previously crushed vertebrae were completely healed. He gave Xander a clear bill of health.
"Are there any clothes here for me?" Xander asked as he looked hopefully at Willow.
"Yep, I grabbed some from Buffy's," Willow answered him as she picked up a plastic bag behind the couch. "After you get dressed we'll take you hunting."
"Good," he breathed as he took the bag, then went upstairs to change. When he reappeared downstairs, Alice wrinkled her nose at the loud and vibrant shirt he was wearing. "What?" he asked her.
"I have to take you shopping," she said.
"Why? What's wrong with what I'm wearing?" he asked with a frown.
"Don't fight her on it, Xan. Trust me," Willow said with a chuckle, while Alice just rolled her eyes at his oblivious and nonexistent fashion sense.
"Oookay. Hunting now?" he asked hopefully.
"Right, who's coming with us?" Willow asked as she looked at the others. Edward raised his eyebrow at her and she said, "I know you're coming, I meant who else."
In the end, it was decided that Jasper and Carlisle would join them, and that the others would stay with Bella. Willow pulled the girl aside and said, "When we get back, I'd like to talk to you."
Bella nodded and said with a slight tremble in her voice, "Alright."
Willow gave her a reassuring smile and turned back to Xander, "Ready?"
"Definitely. Where are we going?"
"The Los Padres National Park. It's a few miles to the northeast."
"Are we going to drive?" Xander asked.
Edward smiled and said, "No. We're going to run."
"Run?"
"Yep," Willow said happily.
A few minutes later and Willow gave a giggle at the expression on Xander's face, they were running at top speed, weaving through the forest that bordered Sunnydale. Xander had a smile of pure delight stretched across his face, and she could tell he loved the freedom that running gave them. Willow, and Xander were a bit ahead of Jasper and Carlisle, due to their newborn strength, but Edward didn't have a problem keeping up with them.
Unfortunately, the sky was unusually overcast and promised rain, otherwise Xander would have been able to see what his skin looked like in the sun. A while later they reached the national park and Xander's first hunt began. Almost a mile into the forest, they came across a clearing that had a small herd of black-tailed deer grazing in it.
Willow watched as Xander dipped into a hunting crouch as the scent of the deer wafted to them on the breeze. The others fanned out a bit, but held back, letting Xander lead. He waited a moment longer and then pounced on the lead deer. He struck with an unerring accuracy, and took the large herbivore down, biting into it's neck. Willow didn't go after her own deer until she saw him finish his first and go after a second.
After they all fed, the five vampires began to range a little further into the park. Xander's thirst was muted for the time being, but Carlisle insisted that he eat a little more. He didn't want Xander to get hungry around Bella or Buffy and the other slayers in training. When the newly healed vampire had drank his fill on a black bear, the group started to make their way out of the park.
The run back to Sunnydale was as much fun as the one to the park. Willow, Edward, and Xander made it into a race, and what surprised Edward the most was that Xander seemed to be as fast as he was, despite the newborns strength.
When they reached the mansion, Xander realized how messy he was and went to one of the bathrooms upstairs to clean up. His shirt was torn from his encounter with the bear, and blood was splattered along the front. He had been gone for only a few moments when they heard a startled oath. Willow leaped up the steps, and rushed into the bathroom. She found Xander standing in front of the mirror, staring at his reflection
"My eyes..." he whispered in shock and horror.
Willow stepped into the bathroom, Edward and Alice following close behind her. "Oh, Xander, I thought... I'm sorry I didn't warn you."
"Will they stay this way?" Xander asked in a distressed voice.
"No, not if you only drink animal blood. If you drink human blood, they will darken a little, but will remain red," Edward explained to the distraught vampire.
Xander looked over to them and said, "But, Willow's aren't red like mine are. Isn't she a new vampire?"
"They aren't?" Willow asked and looked at her eyes in the mirror. He was right, her eyes weren't the startling crimson they had been in the beginning. They had darkened to a pretty, reddish amber color. "Cool! Their finally turning gold!" she said as she turned to Edward with a big, happy smile.
"Yeah, yeah, lucky you," Xander snarked.
Alice smiled at him and held out her hand, in it was a dark blue, button up shirt. "You should change," she said simply, but firmly.
"Where did you find that?" Willow asked.
"In the closet of the main bedroom," she answered.
"Ugh! Deadboy clothes!" Xander exclaimed.
"Deadboy?" Alice asked in puzzlement.
"Angel," Willow explained, trying not to giggle at Xander's horrified expression. "You do know, your technically dead now too, don't you Xander?"
"Oh no," he moaned as he shut his eyes. "I didn't think of that! Shit!"
Willow couldn't hold back her giggles any longer, the look on his face was too comical. "So would that make you Deadb-"
"Don't say it! Don't you dare say it!" Xander growled at her as his eyes opened enough to glare at her.
"Or what? You'll growl at me? I'm sooo scared! Please save me from Deadboy the Third!" she teased in an over dramatic voice.
"Oh, that's it! You're gonna get it, missy!" Xander yelled and then lunged at her.
Willow giggled and pushed past Alice and Edward to run into the hallway, Xander hot on her heels. Willow raced down the hall and then suddenly ducked into one of the rooms upstairs. Xander skidded to a stop and dived in after her. Soon, her shrieking laughter filled the house and when Edward and Alice came into the room, they saw that Xander had Willow pinned to the bed, tickling her mercilessly. They couldn't help their amusement as they saw the redhead howling in laughter.
"Uncle! Uncle! I'm sorry! I give!" she gasped out.
"That's what I thought," Xander said in triumph as he stopped his torture. He gave her a mock glare and left to go back into the bathroom, his head held high. Before he left the room, Alice held the shirt out to him wordlessly. Deflating a little, he took the shirt and grumbled about pushy vampires as he stalked out of the room.
A little while later, after Xander had changed and Willow calmed down from her laughing fit, they trooped downstairs and joined the others gathered on the couches. The hospital bed had been moved to rest against the far wall, and the furniture was moved back into the living room.
After sitting on the couch between Edward and Xander, Willow turned to Bella and said, "Now, please tell me how you remember what happened."
Bella told them everything she had already said to Alice, Jasper, Rosalie, and Emmett. As Bella started to talk about her and Edward's time together, she stumbled over her words a bit, embarrassed and slightly horrified at having to tell Willow and Edward what happened between them. Her heart felt like it was shattering as she watched the inseparable couple sitting across from her. She could feel Jasper trying to sooth her with calming waves, but she didn't want to be soothed. If she was going to lose Edward, she didn't want to feel alright with it now, and crumple from her despair later. So, she fought off Jasper's influence and continued to talk.
As Bella haltingly continued to speak, Willow watched the emotions flow over the other girl's face, and the redhead's heart went out to her. Willow knew first hand what it was like to watch your love be yanked away, and not be able to do anything about it. Willow snuck a quick look at Edward to see how he was handling what Bella was saying. She was surprised to see curiosity and longing in his eyes as he listened. She was even more surprised to find that the thought of Edward longing to find out what it would be like to be with Bella, didn't upset her. Edward turned his head to her quickly and gave her a startled look.
Willow gave him a soft smile and thought, 'I know what it's like to lose you, Edward. I know what she's feeling and how painful it was for me to go through the same emotions.' She let a tendril of her magic touch his mind, so he could talk back to her and they wouldn't have to leave the room to converse.
'What are you saying, Willow? Would you be willing to share me with her?' Edward thought to her in disbelief as they both continued to listen to Bella's experience.
'Edward, I won't lie to you and say that the idea of sharing you completely thrills me, especially after what happened with that awful spell, but I can't let her go through what I did. Honestly, I have to admit, it's not pity that's pushing me to offer this. Not at all.'
'Do you have... feelings for her?'
Willow hesitate a moment before answering him, 'I think... I think I do. Do you?'
'I don't want to hurt you, Willow,' he thought firmly.
'You won't,' she reassured him.
'Then... yes, I do.'
'Alright, but if we do this, we do it right. We have to talk to her, but it'll have to wait until we figure out what happened and why she remembers.'
'Agreed.' They turned their full attention back to Bella as she was describing what happened in the baseball clearing.
"...shifted forward like he was going to attack, and Edward crouched in front of me in defense. Then, out of nowhere, Willow came flying from the forest and tackled James. They rolled on the ground, knocking Victoria and Laurent down. Willow started punching the shit out of James, but he bucked her off. Carlisle ordered Esme and Rosalie to take me to safety, and James made as if he was going to attack me, but Willow did this blurring kick and nearly knocked him down. Esme had to pick me up and carry me out of there, because I couldn't stop looking at Willow. When we got into the forest, we started to run and then everything changed, and I was sitting on my bed at my dad's last night. I went down stairs to call Edward but got his voice mail. Then saw the calender and the date, and realized something was wrong. Then, this morning I talked to Alice and the others, now I'm here," Bella finished her story, but her tone didn't sound happy as she said the last.
Alice leaned forward, placing her elbows on her knees and asked Edward, "Do you think her remembering has something to do with the fact that you can't read her mind?"
Edward shrugged. "I'm not sure. Possibly. You should tell them what happened on your end," he said to Willow with a gesture to the others.
Bella tried to pay attention as the redhead talked, she really did, but she couldn't stop her mind from wandering. Her eyes kept straying to where Willow and Edward were holding hands. She could feel the pain in her chest swell as she thought about how her time with Edward was now over, and that now he wouldn't even remember being with her. She wished she could go back to before they had gotten together and just forget what it was like to be with him. Bella didn't know why she remembered their time together and he didn't. At least she now knew what had caused the time flux, she learned as Willow described the spell Ethan had cast.
And love's light blue, led me to you
Through all the emptiness that had become my home
Love's lies cruel, introduced me to you
And at that moment I knew I was out of hope
Bella blushed furiously when Willow told them that she had been present to her and Edward's time together in the meadow. She felt horrible that the redhead had to see and hear Edward professing his love for someone else. Bella knew if their roles had been reversed, she wouldn't have been able to stop herself from storming in there and demanding that Edward remember her and to leave the other girl. Shame filled her as she realized that was what she sort of wished she could do now. Bella didn't want to give up Edward, not for anything or anyone. But she also knew that Willow had first claim to Edward's affection, but she wasn't in the least bit happy with the notion of saying goodbye to him.
Kill me, I begged and love said no
Leave me for dead and let me go
Kill me, I cried and love said no
Kill me, I cried and love said no
Love's icy tomb, dug open for you
Lies in a cemetery that bears my name
Love's violent tune, from me to you
Rips your heart out and leaves you bleeding with a smile on your face
Bella knew she had to be noble and let them be happy together, but she didn't think she would be able to see them ever day at school and know what she had given up. She wanted to rail against the unjustness of the universe, she wanted to yell and scream her pain at having to lose Edward. Logically, Bella knew that he didn't remember being with her, but that didn't change the fact that she did.
Kill me, I begged and love said no
Leave me for dead and let me go
Kill me, I cried and love said no
Kill me, I cried and love said no. And love said no
And love's light blue, took me from you.
And at that moment I knew I was out of hope
Kill me, I begged and love said no
Leave me for dead and let me go
Kill me, I cried and love said no
Kill me, I cried and love said no. And love said no
Tears started to well in her eyes and she made the mistake of looking up at Willow. The redhead was gazing at her with understanding and something like pity, and Bella dropped her eyes back to the floor. She didn't want pity or sympathy from the only other person to remember what had happened, especially not from the girl she had had to surrender Edward to. Bella had worked herself up into such a frenzy that she was about to excuse herself from the room and go cry in private, so that none of them would see her tears, when a small group of people entered the mansions front door.
An older man with glasses and four women, two blonde's and two brunettes. The one brunette looked a little bit younger than Bella, but the other three looked around Willow's age. Bella was startled to realize that Willow appeared older to her now, but that the redhead was able to blend into the high school students and seem around their age seamlessly.
"Willow, I had an idea last night. Do you think you could tap into the scythe..." one of the blonde's started, but trailed off when she saw all of the Cullen's plus Bella sitting around the living room. "Oh, hey, I didn't know everyone was here. Hi, everybody. Hi, Xander. Xander?" she yelped, startled. She froze for a second, then rushed forward and began hugging Xander tightly and burst into tears.
"Buffy, it's ok, I'm ok," the dark haired vampire said soothingly as he held the weeping girl in his arms. He had tensed up at first, but seemed to be in control of himself as he hugged Buffy back. Bella blinked as the other blonde and the younger brunette also ran across the room and flung themselves onto Xander, and couldn't help her giggle as all three girls were talking and crying at the same time.
Willow and all the other vampires in the room were very tense as they waited for Xander to be overwhelmed by his blood lust, since he was surrounded by the three very human girls. But he held his control, much to everyones amazement.
"How?" Jasper whispered in total shock.
"I don't know," Carlisle answered, also stunned at Xander's control.
"He's tempted, but he's able to push it away. It's like he can turn his senses off or something," Edward said as he read Xander's thoughts.
"What are you talking about?" the younger brunette asked as she lifted her head and gave them a little glare.
"Dawnie, I'm a vampire," Xander said, his voice steady despite the warmth and sound of the girls heartbeats thundering in his ears.
"I know that, but what are they talking about, Xander?" Dawn insisted.
"Well, silly, if you hadn't refused to meet with them in the first place, you might have known a little about the type of vampire that Willow and I are now," he said with a mock glare.
Dawn looked down as she blushed at the reminder that she had been less than nice when Willow had come back to them the second time. She looked up at Willow and murmured sheepishly, "I'm sorry I was such a bitch to you, Willow."
"It's alright, Dawn, I understand. You were still mad at me, and I didn't want to push you away even more by forcing myself on you," Willow told her softly.
"It's just that... you hurt us all so much, and you didn't seem like you even cared if we lived or died. And then, you left without saying goodbye when you went to the Devon coven. I missed you so much, Willow, and you didn't call or write or anything! It felt like I lost another sister when Tara died, and then I was losing another as I watched you go insane," she started sobbing harder as she explained.
"I'm so sorry you had to go through all that, Dawnie. I really am," Willow said sincerely as she held her arms out, inviting the younger girl to embrace as her eyes stung at the memories Dawn was invoking. With a stifled sob, the brunette flung herself off of Xander and into Willow's arms.
The other Scoobies looked on in relief that the two were finally making up. Buffy had been hard pressed to keep her temper a number of times in the past when Dawn had refused to even see the redhead. Her sister hadn't been willing to tell her why, even though Buffy had a good idea as to the reason, but it would have been nice if Dawn had come out and told her, instead of burying her anger or lashing out and almost tearing them apart. The Summers' home had been rift with tension for the past few months and Buffy hadn't been able to heal the hurt that lay between them. Dawn had taken it very personally that Buffy had been willing to forgive Willow, when she hadn't been ready herself.
When Buffy had died saving the world from the portal Glory's plan had opened with Dawn's blood, Willow and Tara had taken the role of Mother in the young girl's life and heart. And when Buffy had been brought back to life, at first she had been so cold and distant that Dawn had still looked to the two witches for the familial love she had needed so badly. Then, Dawn had had to watch helplessly as Willow became addicted to her magic and Tara leave. The day she found out the two witches had gotten back together was one of the happiest days of her life. She had nearly burst with the knowledge that her family was coming back together.
Then, Tara had been taken so cruelly from them and Dawn, yet again, could do nothing but watch as Willow lost her mind to her grief. Dawn had never told Buffy how that day at Rack's, when Willow had made her offer/ threat to turn her back into a glowing green ball of energy, she was close to accepting. Her heart had shattered when she had found Tara's cold body on the floor of her mother's room, and then seeing Willow consumed by dark magic, Dawn had thought her family was all but dead. But, Dawn's rage at the world had kept her alive, kept her from begging the dark witch to end everything. Later, that rage transfered to Willow and Dawn felt better knowing she could hate and blame someone specifically, instead of hating a nebulous idea of how the world should have worked fairly and hadn't.
A half hour later, when things calmed down some, Bella was introduced to everyone and Dawn had been told the finer points and differences of the type of vampire that Xander and Willow had become, Carlisle asked, "Not that we aren't glad to see you all, but what brings you here this morning?"
"I have no clue. Buffy herded us out the door without telling us anything," Giles said with a pointed look at Buffy.
"Oh, right!" Buffy said as she bounced up from the couch and gave them a devious look. "I had an idea last night!"
"Uh oh," Xander said in a stage whisper to Willow, making her giggle.
They quieted down when Buffy glared at them, but she couldn't hold back her smile as she told them her idea. "What do you think?" she asked when she finished.
"That depends. Are you in any way...kidding?" Xander asked.
"You don't think it's a good idea?" Buffy asked with a pout.
"It's pretty radical, B," Faith said with a grin.
"It's a lot more than that. Buffy, what you said, it... it flies in the face of everything we've ever...every generation has ever done in the fight against evil." He paused to give her a wide smile. "I think it's bloody brilliant."
"You mean that?" Buffy asked hopefully.
"If you want my opinion," Giles said teasingly.
"I really do."
"Whoa, hey. Not to poop on the party here, but I'm the guy that's gonna have to pull this thing off," Willow protested.
"It is beau-coup d'mojo," Faith said seriously.
"I wouldn't ask if I didn't think you could do it," Buffy said confidently.
"But, my magic might be too dark, and I don't want to corrupt..." Willow said weakly.
Giles gave her a reassuring look and said, "You can do this, Willow. We'll get the coven on the line, and we'll find out how they can help, if you want."
"Come on, let's go assemble the cannon fodder," Anya said to Dawn as she stood.
"That's not what we're calling them, sweetie," Dawn said as she rolled her eyes.
"Not to their faces. What, am I insensitive?" Anya asked, making Xander and Dawn snort with laughter.
Buffy turned to Willow as she said, "Come on over to my place, the scythe is there if you want to look at it." She looked to Bella and the Cullen's, "You're all welcome to come over too."
A while later, after Willow had a chance to quickly study the scythe, they were all assembled in Buffy's living room, and Willow couldn't contain her grin at the effect Xander had on the potentials. They had all known him before his transformation, and most couldn't believe their eyes when they saw how different he looked. The Cullen's were also being gaped at, but they were used to startling people with their appearances.
"I hate this. I hate being here. I hate that you have to be here. I hate that there's evil, and that I was chosen to fight it. I wish, a whole lot of the time, that I hadn't been. I know a lot of you wish I hadn't been either, but this isn't about wishes. This is about choices. I believe we can beat this evil. Not when it comes, not when its army is ready, now. Tomorrow morning I'm opening the seal. I'm going down into the hellmouth, and I'm finishing this once and for all. Right now you're asking yourself, 'what makes this different? What makes us anything more than a bunch of girls being picked off one by one?' It's true none of you have the power that Faith and I do. So here's the part where you make a choice," Buffy said to room of listening potentials and her friends.
"So here's the part where you make a choice: What if you could have that power...now? In every generation, one slayer is born... because a bunch of men who died thousands of years ago made up that rule. They were powerful men. This woman," Buffy paused to point to Willow, "is more powerful than all of them combined. So I say we change the rule. I say my power...should be our power. Tomorrow, Willow will use the essence of the scythe to change our destiny. From now on, every girl in the world who might be a slayer...will be a slayer. Every girl who could have the power...will have the power... can stand up, will stand up. Slayers... every one of us. Make your choice. Are you ready to be strong?"
All the potentials looked around at each other with hope shining in their eyes.
"Now, if we're agreed, I say we take today to relax and go over last minute battle plans for tomorrow," Buffy said to the assembled group..
Willow pulled Bella aside as everyone started to drift from the room to either help with the battle plans or do something else and said, "I think I should send you home, Bella."
"I agree," Edward said quietly as he came up next to Willow.
Bella was relieved and scared when she heard this, she didn't want to think about either of the two standing in front of her being hurt, but she didn't know what help she would be able to provide in a fight like this. After a few moments, she nodded to Willow and said, "I want to be able to help, but I know there isn't anything I can do. But, you both have to promise me something."
"What?" Willow asked curiously.
"You both have to come home and tell me what happened," Bella requested with a soft smile.
"Deal," Willow agreed, smiling warmly back, while Edward nodded.
"Good. Um, where is the other side of the portal going to put me?" Bella asked hesitantly.
"That's a good question. I can put you... well, crap. Someone might see if I open it at the school, and the same goes for your place, Bella."
"You can send her to the house, Willow," Edward suggested.
"But, my truck is at the school," Bella said with a grimace.
"You can drive my car to the school," Edward offered, and gave her his crooked grin when she gaped at him in shock. "Just leave it at the school and I'll get it later."
"O-o-kay," Bella stuttered. "Thank you."
"Willow and I would like to talk with you when we get back," Edward said a little nervously, his previous humor forgotten as he thought about the conversation that they needed to have.
Bella gave him a questioning look, but didn't press the issue. She was very curious, though. Not many things could make Edward Cullen nervous. She said goodbye to everyone and wished them luck with the upcoming battle. To Esme's and Alice's surprise, Bella gave them each a quick hug, and when the redhead opened the portal back to Forks, she was ready to go back home. Except for one last thing. Before she could change her mind, Bella rushed over and gave Edward, and then Willow a tight hug, and as she did so, she inhaled each of their scents. Locking both unique smells in her memory, Bella gathered her courage and dashed into the swirling, blue vortex that hovered in the air next to the staircase.
Later that evening Giles, Xander, Emmett, Amanda(one of the potentials), and Andrew were looking intently at a map that was laid out on the dinning room table as Rosalie looked on in disgust.
"I'm-I'm-I'm all turned around. You're here?" Giles asked Xander as he studied the map.
"By the pillar, yeah. I'm protecting this area," Xander said, pointing to a specific region of the map.
"That puts me over by the door. Demons around the perimeter- Right! I open the door," Giles said as he sat back a little with a satisfied look on his face.
"You go through the door and are confronted by Trogdor the Burninator," Andrew said reading from a book in front of him as he twitched the material of his red hooded cloak out of his eyes.
"Oh, bugger it. Fight," Giles sighed as he rolled the dice and took a sip of his wine.
"Adios to 5 hit points. Trogdor has badly wounded you," Andrew said in a mildly pretentious tone.
"Well, wait a minute. What about my... bag of illusions?" Giles protested as he slipped on his glasses.
"Illusions against a Burninator? Silly, silly British man," Andrew scoffed. Giles just gave him a look and took another sip of his wine.
"I invoke a time flux on Trogdor," Amanda said happily.
Andrew looked at Amanda in disbelief and snipped, "Step down, girlfriend, you can't just-"
"Ninth level sorcerer, and I carry the emerald chalice. Trogdor is frozen in time. Deal with it," Amanda said as she wrote something down.
"Smack down on Red Riding Hood. This could get ugly," Xander joked.
"Could it possibly get uglier? I used to be a highly respected watcher, and now I'm a wounded dwarf with the mystical strength of a doily. I just wish I could sleep," Giles sighed.
"What kind of person could sleep on a night like this?" Amanda asked as she studied the map.
Xander looked over at Anya, who was passed out on the table in the chair beside him. "Only the crazy ones," Xander said as he smiled softly and rubbed Anya's hair as she snored gently.
"You people are so weird," Rosalie said and wandered out of the room.
"Her loss," Emmett shrugged. "My turn? Let me see the dice."
The next morning Robin Wood lead everyone into the school as he said with false cheerfulness, "Welcome to Sunnydale High." He walked into the hallway and continued in a mock serious voice, "There's no running in the halls, no yelling, no gum chewing. Apart from that, there's only one rule." He stopped walking and turned to look at the crowd behind him. "If they move, kill them."
"OK, potentials, in the basement. Follow Faith and Spike," Buffy instructed as she pointed down the hall. Faith and Spike walk off and the potentials followed behind them.
"If you have to go to the bathroom, it's to your left. If you don't have to go to the bathroom, picture what you're about to face. Better to go now," Xander called after them.
"Willow, my office is straight through there," Robin said as he pointed to the left.
"It's right over the seal," Buffy said.
"I'll start getting you set up," Alice said as she took the bag of magical paraphernalia from Willow.
"Thanks," Willow said with a smile. After a lingering kiss with Jasper, Alice went into the office.
"Ok, civilians. The vampires, err, the bad vampires get upstairs, we have 3 areas they could get through to another building and then down into the sewers. Down the hall in the atrium, the north hall here, and the primary target, through the lounge straight to the science building. Now odds are, most of them will head there," Robin said as he pointed out each direction he talked about.
"Teams of 3 then. I suggest you, Carlisle and I take the lounge," Giles said.
"I concur," Robin said, and Carlisle nodded.
"Xander, I want you and Esme with Dawn," Buffy said firmly.
"I concur," Xander replied in mock seriousness. Robin, who was about to head off to where he would make his stand, turned to glare at him. Xander only smirked in response.
"We'll take the atrium," Dawn offered.
"So that leaves me, the princess, and the dungeon master in the north hall?" Anya asked, making Rosalie growl softly.
"We will defend it with our very lives," Andrew promised.
"Yes, we will defend it with his very life," Anya said and Rosalie nodded in agreement.
"And don't be afraid to use him as a human shield," Xander quipped.
"Good, yes, thanks," Anya nodded.
"I just want to say how proud I am to die for this very special cause with you guys," Andrew said as he took a paper out of his pocket and started to read. "There's some, um- there's people I'd like to thank, both good and evil. Um, a shout out to my brother Tucker, who gave me the inspiration to summon demons and also-"
"Nobody cares, you little monkey," Anya snarked as she grabbed his arm and pulled him away to their post. "Come on, princess."
Rosalie curled her lip at the nickname, then turned to kiss Emmett passionately. When they pulled apart she headed after the retreating figures of Anya and Andrew. The others could hear her as she said to Anya, "Don't call me princess."
"You know, I had a good speech prepared. You could have let me finish it," Andrew complained.
"Sure you did, Andrew. And I'm sure they all wanted to hear it," Anya's voice floated back, the scorn thick enough to walk on..
"I'm gonna check out our field of engagement," Dawn said and turned to walk away.
Buffy went after her and said, "Dawn..."
Dawn turned to face her, and said resolutely, "No. Anything you say is gonna sound like good-bye." She didn't give her a chance to say anything else as she walked away again.
"Don't worry, I'll look after her," Esme told her with a reassuring smile. Buffy nodded her thanks and watched with a bit of jealousy as Esme and Carlisle kissed softly before Esme went after Dawn.
Carlisle gave them a smile as he said, "Good luck, stay safe." He left to take up his position with Robin in the lounge.
Buffy walked to the group still standing in the hallway that consisted of Willow, Edward, Xander, Emmett, Jasper, and Giles. They stared at each other in a heavy silence a moment before Buffy broke the ice, "So, what do you guys want to do tomorrow?"
"Well, mini-golf is always the first thing that comes to mind," Xander joked.
"I think we can do better than that," Giles said.
"I was thinking about shopping. As per usual," Buffy quipped.
"I could use a few items. I know Alice is dying to take me shopping," Xander said as he rolled his eyes making Jasper laugh.
"Well, now aren't we gonna discuss this? Save the world to go to the mall?" Giles complained.
"I'm having a wicked shoe craving," Buffy said ignoring Giles.
"Aren't you on the patch?" Xander asked.
"Those never work," Willow replied.
"Here I am, invisible to the eye..." Giles sighed, and Edward chuckled at his put out expression.
Xander, Willow, and Buffy walked down the hall together away from Giles, with Edward, Emmett, and Jasper a little behind them.
"See, I need a new look. It's this whole new vampire thing," Xander said.
"Oh, you could go with full black creature of the night look," Buffy suggested.
"Or the broody, I must repent-" Willow started to say with a wicked gleam in her eyes.
"Don't! Don't you dare!" Xander exclaimed, cutting her off.
Giles rolled his eyes and mumbled as he turned to walk away, "The earth is definitely doomed."
Buffy, Xander, Willow, Edward, and Jasper walked down the hall together in silence. When they passed the Principal's office, Willow stepped in, with Edward following after her. Xander, Buffy, and Jasper continued walking, and when they passed a corridor, Xander grabbed Buffy's hand and squeezed it before walking away down the corridor. Buffy walked down the hall with Jasper and Emmett, all three silently preparing for the battle ahead.
Buffy, Emmett, and Jasper joined Spike, Faith, and the other potentials in the basement room where the Seal of Danzalthar was located. They form a circle around the edge of the seal, with Buffy standing beside Faith.
"You first, B," Faith said as she handed Buffy a knife.
Buffy sighed, taking the knife from Faith and used it to cut the palm of her hand so that it would bleed. She then handed the knife to Faith. Moments later, after all the girls had cut their hands, they all held their bleeding hands out over the seal, activating it. It opened and parts sank into the ground forming a staircase into the hellmouth. Buffy went in first, followed by Faith.
Emmett and Jasper were able to ignore the scent of fresh blood only because Willow had cast a spell to mask the smell for all of the Cullen's before they had left for the school that morning.
Upstairs, Willow sat on the floor of the Principal's office with a semi-circle of white candles lit in front of her. There were other candles set around the room as well. Edward and Alice sat across from Willow, watching her.
"They should be in place. Ok, magic time. You guys ready?" Willow asked nervously. They both nodded. "Good. Fun. Great. Brace yourselves."
Buffy, Spike, Emmett, Jasper, Faith and the other girls had climbed down through the seal into the hellmouth. They were standing on a cliff overlooking a vast cavern. It stretched on for what looked like miles, but it wasn't empty. There were thousands and thousands of Turok-Han everywhere.
Spike looked down at the amulet Buffy had gotten from Angel a couple of nights ago, that he wore around his neck and said, "Not to be a buzz kill, love, but my fabulous accessory isn't exactly tingling with power."
Buffy tried psyching herself up as she looked around slack-jawed, "I'm not worried."
"I'm getting zero juice here, and I look like Elizabeth Taylor," Spike complained.
"Cheer up, Liz. Willow's big spell doesn't work, it won't matter what you wear," Faith said in a dark tone.
Buffy, Faith, Spike and the others walked forward to the edge of the cliff where they could look out and see Turok-Han below them on the floor of the hellmouth better.
"I'm not worried," Buffy repeated, but her voice didn't sound as firm as it did the first time. The Turok-Han growled and made horrible noises as they mobbed below them. Spike backed up a little with a worried frown.
"Really? 'Cause I'm flashing back to Xander's whole bathroom speech," Rona whispered, terrified.
"Buffy..." Amanda gasped completely frightened.
"I'm not worried...as long as Willow can work her spell before they-," the Turok-Han looked up at Buffy and gang, "see us."
The snarling and hissing army of Turok-Han rushed toward the cliff where Buffy and the others were positioned.
Buffy whispered under her breath, her voice taking on a desperate edge, "Willow..."
Up in the Principal's office Willow was performing the spell while she held onto the scythe laid out in front of her. She had dropped her shields, her hair and eyes bleeding to inky black, as she reached out with her power to the weapon in front of her. Suddenly, as her power connected to the essence of the scythe, magic surged out from it and overwhelmed her. She looked up, as both the scythe and Willow started to glow with a bright white light, and Edward and Alice look on in awe.
"Oh...my...Goddess..." Willow whispered breathlessly, as the scythe glowed white in Willow's hands like a star.
Downstairs in the hellmouth Vi, Rona, Amanda and the other potentials closed their eyes and breathed in with a start as power from Willow's spell awakened their inner slayer. The Turok-Han rushed toward Buffy and the others as they stood on the cliff's edge waiting for the battle to begin.
"These guys are dust," Vi declared confidently.
As the Turok-Han army rushed the waiting warriors, Buffy, Jasper, and Emmett fought them off with powerful kicks and punches, but they weren't the only ones. The now awakened potentials had the strength of slayers as well. Vi jumped and kicked a Turok-Han making it fly back over the cliff, Rona punched one in the face, knocking it down. Faith fought one off as Amanda staked a Turok-Han through the heart, and Kennedy beheaded another one in a clean stroke with a broadsword.
Back in the office over the hellmouth, Willow was still riding the spell that released the slayer power to the potentials below.
"Willow?" Edward whispered in concern.
Willow's hair had turned completely white, no trace of black in sight, and she was glowing with a white luminescence from the spell. Willow's face was filled with divine ecstasy as she looked heaven-ward, and panted as the power flowed through her. When the spell ended, the scythe stopped glowing, and so did Willow. The white covering Willow's hair seemed to absorb into her, but her hair wasn't completely normal. There were faint highlights of white that gleamed among the dark ruby tresses. Willow herself seemed energized from the incredible experience of the spell.
"You...looked like a goddess," Edward told her in awe.
"Ha! That was nifty," Willow said with a huge smile. She grabbed the scythe and jumped to her feet, the action only took a millisecond and she seemed to float up from the ground. "Let's get this bad boy to Buffy," she chirped and sped from the room. Edward and Alice stared after her wide eyed for a split second and then flew after her.
The three vampires raced through the halls and down to the basement. They didn't hesitate as they reached the open seal, and leaped down the stairs, blur after blur. The sheer size of the cavern and number of enemies made the trio stop and gape. Their shock doesn't last long as they saw Buffy fighting off the Turok-Han, who are starting to out number Buffy's team. Faith, Spike and the others are still fighting them as best as they can. Willow can see that the spell worked as she watched the previous potentials kicking the crap out of the Turok-Han.
"Buffy! Catch!" Willow called over the din of the battle and tossed the scythe to Buffy. The blonde's head whipped up and she caught the scythe and was immediately able to kill the Turok-Han faster than before, as she dusted them left and right.
The battle in the hellmouth was going well as Willow, Edward, and Alice quickly joined the fray. They were able to keep up with the endless number of Turok-Han that came for them. Buffy used the scythe to behead a Turok-Han, but as their enemies numbers increased, some of the Turok-Han were able to get past them and go up through the opened seal into the school.
Andrew, Anya, and Rosalie defended the exit together, each human had a sword, and Rosalie was ready to tear anything that came their way apart.
"I think they're coming," Andrew squeaked as he darted behind Anya.
"Oh, God. I'm terrified. I didn't think. I mean, I- I just figured you'd be terrified, and I would be sarcastic about it," Anya whispered.
"Picture happy things... a lake, candy canes, bunnies," Andrew said, trying to boost their courage.
Anya hissed angrily, "Bunnies! Floppy, hoppy...," she held up her sword, ready to attack, "bunnies."
Rosalie looked at her like she was crazy, but shrugged and murmured, "Any port in a storm, I guess. Get ready, here they come!"
The Turok-Han swarmed into the hallway and advanced toward the three waiting for them quickly. Anya slashed violently at the Turok-Han that approached her. Andrew backed away as a Turok-Han rushed him, snarling menacingly.
"I have swimmer's ear!" Andrew squealed as the Turok-Han pushed him against the wall, but didn't get any further as Rosalie grabbed it by the head and wrenched it from it's shoulders. A few feet next to them, Anya dusted two Turok-Han in a row.
Bringers made their way into the fight and attack Andrew. Anya tuned to fight them off, but there were too many. While she stabbed one with her sword, another started to slice diagonally though her torso from behind, but Rosalie caught his arm before he could connect. She gave a feral grin before she ripped him apart.
"Thanks," Anya panted, then turned back to fight. Somehow she knew, without the blonde vampire's assistance, she would be dead.
Giles, Carlisle, and Robin defended another exit together as the Turok-Han flooded the hallways. The enemy far outnumbered them, but they managed to hold their own. Giles sliced one of the Turok-Han across the neck as Robin rained punches and kicks down on them. Carlisle made his way through them with a savage dignity, felling the enemies around him as he watched the two humans backs.
Bringers had found them as well. While they fought the eerily blind men, one stabbed Robin in the stomach. Giles killed the Bringer that stabbed Robin, then caught the wounded man in his arms as he fell toward Giles.
"Get him behind us!" Carlisle snarled as he laid into the Turok-Han that tried to take advantage of the distracted men.
Giles eased Robin to the ground, then gripped his sword tightly as he turned to help Carlisle.
Spike was fighting off the Turok-Han alongside the others when he stepped back and looked down at the amulet around his neck. He touched the amulet, and pulled his hand away as it burned him.
"Buffy! Whatever this thing does, I think it's-" Spike was cut off as he winced and moaned in pain.
"Keep the line together! Drive them to the edge! We can't let them do-" Buffy shouted to the others, but stopped mid-sentence and looked down to see that a Turok-Han had stabbed her with a sword from behind, piercing her abdomen. She stumbled forward and collapsed to the ground, face first.
Faith and the others continued to fight off the Turok-Han, when Faith noticed Buffy lying on the floor and yelled as she rushed to her side, "Buffy!"
Buffy leaned up on her elbows weakly and whispered, "Hold the line." She then handed the scythe to Faith. She took the scythe and dived back into the battle as Buffy stayed in place on the floor, grunting in pain.
Xander, Dawn, and Esme guarded their exit as the Turok-Han made their way towards them. Dawn held a sword, but stayed cautiously away from the fight as Xander and Esme engaged the demons full-on. The two vampires held them back, but started to fall back a little, when they had them in position, Dawn pulled a rope. A sandbag dropped to the ground and opened a skylight window in the ceiling, the room suddenly flooded with sunlight and caused the Turok-Han to burn to dust in front of them.
Xander smirked and said, "We call that the greenhouse effect. Very dangerous-" Another Turok-Han had rushed forward, avoiding the sun beams and attacked Xander, knocking him down. Dawn stopped gaping at Xander's and Esme's sparkling skin and went to help fight it off.
Spike continued fighting the Turok-Han, as did the others. A group of Turok-Han attacked Rona, and she called out.
"Rona!" Faith looked over and yelled as she threw the scythe to Rona.
Rona's hand whipped out and caught the glittering weapon and used the scythe to mow down a couple of Turok-Han.
Buffy was still lying on the ground, weak and wounded as the First materialized next to her.
"Oh no..." Buffy/First said as it looked down at Buffy's wound reflected on its body, "ow! Mommy, this mortal wound is all...itchy. You pulled a nice trick. You came pretty close to smacking me down. What more do you want?"
Buffy snarled through gritted teeth, "I want you..." she sat up, "to get out of my face." She stood and glared at the First.
Rona saw Buffy standing and threw the scythe to her. Buffy caught it without looking and with a powerful swipe, knocked three Turok-Han off the cliff at once. Seeing this, Faith dug deep inside her and with renewed strength, began to kick her assailants off of her as well. Vi staked one after another as Kennedy disarmed one and dusted another. Buffy knocked one off the cliff and beheaded another one with the back swing of the scythe.
Spike gasped and stumbled backward away from the fight as he clutched his chest, then his burned hand. "Oh, bollocks," he murmured as a bright blue light shot up from the amulet and knocked a hole in the ceiling, going up through the floor of the Principal's office and after bursting through the ceiling, continued on to the open sky beyond. As it reached the sun, the light turned a warm orange color.
"Buffy!" Spike yelled out.
"Spike!" Buffy exclaimed as she saw the amulet shining. Before she could go to his side, the amulet refracted the orange light out into the hellmouth like rays of sunshine, but with a concentrated intensity, like a laser. Buffy stared at Spike as the amulet worked its magic, and the Turok-Han were dusted throughout the hellmouth.
The ground started shaking, and Faith called out to the others, "Everybody out, now!"
Everyone rushed to the stairs that lead up to the seal, and Buffy ran to Spike's side.
"I can feel it, Buffy," Spike said in amazement.
"What?" Buffy asked in concern.
"My soul. It's really there. Kind of stings," Spike said with a grimace.
The girls rushed out of the basement up to the hallway. They went past Andrew, as a Bringer hovered over him, but it fell back and revealed Andrew's sword in its chest. One of the girls helped Andrew to his feet as Anya and Rosalie came up next to them with Anya breathing heavy from exertion
~*~.
Giles helped the wounded Robin walk, with Carlisle protecting their back. As the ground started to shake even more, they saw the school bus sitting out front.
"The bus. Get them on the bus," Robin gasped to Carlisle.
Carlisle nodded once and took off to direct the girls and his family, "Everybody, this way!"
Down in the hellmouth, Buffy and Spike were the only ones left. Spike still glowed from the amulet, sending rays of light out into the hellmouth. Buffy stood in front of him, staring, still holding her scythe.
"Go on, then," Spike said to Buffy.
"No. No, you've done enough. You could still-"
"No, you've beat them back. It's for me to do the cleanup," Spike insisted as the walls began to crumble around them.
"Buffy, come on!" Faith called down.
"Gotta move, lamb. I think it's fair to say school's out for bloody summer."
"Spike!" Buffy exclaimed worriedly and tried to pull him up the stairs..
"I mean it! I gotta do this," he said and held out his hand to stop her.
Buffy laced her fingers through Spike's, and they burst into flame together. She said softly, "I love you."
"No, you don't. But thanks for saying it." There was another earthquake, and Buffy let go of his hand. "Now go! I wanna see how it ends."
Buffy smiled at him one last time and after ducking under his arm, raced up the stairs.
The school building exploded, debris flying everywhere. Faith ran out from the cloud of smoke and jumped into the bus. The doors slammed shut and the bus drove off with all those that survived, except Spike and Buffy. Dawn, sitting all the way in the back, stared out the back window of the bus, searching for her sister.
Buffy raced down the hallway, still carrying the scythe, and avoided the debris that had fallen to the floor as well as the pieces still falling, as the ground continued to shake. The way out was blocked, so Buffy changed course and headed upstairs.
Spike stood in the crumbling hellmouth with light shining down on him from above, he grinned from ear to ear and laughed as he burned up from the sunlight. He dusted slowly, first his skin singed, then his muscles, then his bones, until he's gone. The hellmouth crumbled in around him.
Those who were less injured tend to the badly injured survivors on the bus. Carlisle moved from girl to girl, helping however he could, the others helped where ever possible.
Vi grabbed Rona's face and yelled, "Look at me! This is nothing! Stay awake! This is nothing!"
Dawn continued to look out the back window of the bus, searching.
Buffy was running along the rooftops of the shopping mall as the bus drove down the street a little ahead of her. The buildings were collapsing behind her as she tried to catch up to the bus. She leaped from building to building, still carrying the scythe, then finally jumped toward the street, landing on the bus.
Behind them, the whole town was collapsing in on itself, being sucked back into the Earth.
"Ease off. We're clear," Faith said as she looked out the window.
The bus screeched to a halt with Buffy still clinging to the top. Emmett turned in the drivers seat and said, "Man, you guys know how to party."
Faith burst out laughing and slapped him on the back, then said, "I could say the same to you, Hulk." Still chuckling, she stood and moved down a few seats to where Robin was sitting, to check on the injured man.
Buffy jumped down off the top of the school bus and looked around. Dawn opened the emergency exit door at the back of the bus and leaped down to give Buffy a warm hug.
Giles followed behind Dawn and stood looking down the street behind them. "I don't understand. Who did this?" he asked, bewildered.
"Spike," Buffy said softly.
As everyone who was able to, got off the bus, Buffy walked away a few feet toward Sunnydale, which was now a vast chasm in the ground. The 'Welcome to Sunnydale' sign still stood, perched precariously on the edge of the canyon. The sign teetered a little before falling backwards into the pit that used to be its city.
Buffy was still staring at the canyon that was once Sunnydale. Dawn stood beside her, then Giles, Xander, Willow, Edward, Anya, and Faith joined them.
"Looks like the hellmouth is officially closed for business," Faith said happily.
"There is another one in Cleveland. Not to spoil the moment," Giles said as he bent to pick up a rock and threw it into the canyon.
"We saved the world," Xander said with satisfaction.
"We changed the world," Willow said and then walked up to Buffy's side. "I can feel them, Buffy. All over. Slayers are awakening everywhere," she murmured.
Dawn heard her and said, "We'll have to find them."
"We will," Willow replied confidently as Edward walked up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist. After laying a kiss on her neck, he rested his chin on her shoulder.
"Yes, well, the mall was actually in Sunnydale, so there's no hope of going there tomorrow," Giles said somewhat relieved. He detested going anywhere near something resembling a shoe store when his slayer was around.
"We destroyed the mall? I fought on the wrong side," Dawn joked.
"We have a lot of work ahead of us," Giles reminded them.
"Can I push him in?" Faith asked Willow.
"You've got my vote," Willow replied with a grin as Edward chuckled.
"I just want to sleep, yo, for like a week," Faith sighed.
"I guess we all could, if we wanted to," Dawn said with a nod.
"The First is scrunched, so... what do you think you guys will do, Buffy?" Willow asked.
"Yeah, you're not the one and only chosen anymore. Just gotta live like a person. How's that feel?" Faith chimed in.
Dawn looked at her sister and asked, "Yeah, Buffy. What are we gonna do now?"
As the others chattered around her, Buffy just stared straight ahead at the hole formerly known as Sunnydale. As she contemplated what would happen next, she smiled.
A/N 2: It is now 6:30 a.m. and I just finished the final edit to this chapter. I've been up all night writing and editing, and I'll have you all know, I had to physically restrain myself to keep from continuing to write. So, needless to say, there's a healthy portion of the next chapter already written. Hope you all enjoyed this as much as I did when I wrote it. Reviews are like my oxygen, necessary, and kinda makes me dizzy. : )