A soft knock on her classroom door had Jenny looking up from her computer. Willow was standing in the doorway, seemingly unsure whether or not she should come in.

"Willow… hi," she spoke in greeting, standing up and smiling gently.

That seemed to be the sign she'd been waiting for as the young girl stepped into the room, closing the door behind her. "I'm sorry I missed class yesterday. Do you have any extra assignment I can do to make up for it?"

"Willow, you're my most talented student. Missing one class is not a problem, you're already way ahead of everyone else."

"Okay," she agreed. They stood in silence for a moment, Willow nervously tugging at the sleeve of her shirt but not making any move to say anything else.

"Willow, if you need someone to talk to…" she left the suggestion hanging, not wanting her to feel pressured.

She appeared to mull it over for a second, then hesitantly asked. "Did you know? About Angel?"

"No," she admitted, the reminder of having been kept out of the loop still stinging slightly, even if she understood why. She pushed that thought away, this was about Willow who certainly had more cause to be upset than she did. "Rupert told me yesterday. Buffy had asked him not to tell me, until she had told you."

"She never did," Willow murmured, her quiet tone making her sound very young.

"I did perform the ritual, that gave Angel his soul back," Jenny confessed, not wanting there to be any misconceptions about her role in this.

"That's okay," Willow assured her. "I mean, I'm not mad about that. Just all the lying."

"Have you talked to Buffy?" Jenny asked.

"No, I don't really feel up to talking to her right now. I just… I need some time."

"I understand," she soothed. "You know my doors always open, if you need to talk."

"Thanks, Ms Calendar." Willow attempted to smile, but it was clear her heart wasn't in it. She turned to open the door, but then seemed to change her mind. "Do you want some help setting up for your next class?"

"Don't you need to attend class?" Jenny inquired. She knew Willow had top grades in all her classes and if the girl wanted to skip one class she wouldn't stop her. But she also knew that if Willow was willingly missing class then that said a lot about her state of mind.

"I have a free period," Willow assured her.

"Want to help me grade papers?" Jenny offered with a warm smile and was rewarded with a small but genuine smile in return.

Buffy was sitting at the counter in the kitchen, absentmindedly chewing on her pencil while trying to pay attention to the math book in front of her. Her musings were interrupted when the telephone rang. She didn't feel like talking to anyone at the moment, but her mother called out from upstairs for her to answer it. Reluctantly she put down her pen and went to pick up the phone.

"Hello?"

"Buffy, how are you? You didn't come by the library today," her Watcher's familiar voice greeted her.

"Did you want something?" she countered, evading his question. She would rather not have to tell him that she hadn't actually been anywhere near school since her confrontation with Xander.

"Well, I… I was thinking we could get some training in tomorrow. I know it's not the most enjoyable way to spend a Saturday but… it might be good t-to take your mind of… things."

"Actually, my mom has a gallery opening in Sacramento this weekend and she asked if I would come with her and help out," she told him, telling herself that she wasn't technically lying. Her mother had asked her, if he assumed she had agreed than that wasn't her fault. That reasoning did little to ease the guilty knot in her stomach.

"Oh… well that's kind of you."

"Hmm," she mumbled, unable to formulate a more intelligible response than that.

"Might be good for you, getting away from Sunnydale for a little while."

"That's the idea."

"I'll… see you on Monday then?" he asked, sounding uncertain. For a second she worried that he could somehow sense that she had no plans on being at school then either, but she pushed that thought aside.

"Yeah, Monday," she finally managed to respond. She wished him a good weekend, desperate to end the call before her determination could fail her.

Just as she was hanging up the phone her mother came down the stairs, hauling a large briefcase behind her.

"All right, I need to get going. I want to get there before it gets dark." She gave Buffy an apprehensive look. "Now, I'm trusting you to be on your best behaviour while I'm gone, don't give me a reason to regret it."

She nodded in understanding, not trusting herself to speak.

"You know the rules. No parties. No boys allowed. And absolutely no alcohol," her mom warned, apparently convinced that Buffy couldn't go one weekend with doing something forbidden. The worst part was that she was right.

"Got it."

"Okay. Now I really have to go, it's a long drive. Do I get a hug?" She mom held out her arms in invitation.

Buffy pressed herself close, holding her mom tight. For a moment she felt like a little girl again, being held in her mom's arms and feeling like all was right with the world. "I love you Mom."

"I love you to Buffy," she replied, her tone turning slightly worried. "Are you okay? If you don't want to stay here alone you can still come with me."

Buffy forced herself to step back, plastering a smile on her face and hoping it wasn't obvious how strained it was. "No, it's fine, I'm fine. Just… drive safe."

She watched as her mother made her way out of the house, giving her a small wave goodbye. She waited until she heard the car pull out of the driveway, then hurried up the stairs and into her room. She pulled out her already packed suitcase from under her bed and took one last look around her room.

The house seemed eerily silent as she made her way back down the stairs, her mother's concerned face still fresh in her mind. But she refused to let herself be discouraged by the guilt growing stronger, she had a bus to catch.

Jenny let out a deep breath and leaned back against Rupert. The tv was on, but neither of them was paying it much attention, content to just sit and enjoy their closeness.

"I talked to Willow earlier," she told him, absentmindedly stroking the arm he had wound around her waist.

"Oh? How is she faring?"

"She seemed alright, considering. I just wish I knew how to help her. I'm worried she's bottling up her emotions rather than dealing with them."

"She knows we're here if she needs someone to talk to."

"I'm not so sure," she disagreed, but opted to drop the subject for now. "How's Buffy doing?"

Rupert let out a deep sigh. "She wasn't in school today. I'm not sure if she's avoiding me or just doesn't want to run into Willow or Xander."

"Have you talked to Xander?"

"No."

"I think maybe you should. I know he's very angry right now, but he needs to know he's still a valued member of the group."

Rupert remained silent for so long she started to think he wasn't going to respond. Finally he hesitantly admitted, "I'm afraid my years of Watcher's training didn't prepare me for how to deal with a distressed teenager."

"Isn't that a bit of an oversight considering the slayer is usually a teenager?" Jenny questioned, careful to not let her indignation be too obvious. After the things Rupert had told her about the Watcher's council and their principles she didn't hold them in very high regard, but she knew now wasn't the time to get into that.

"The Slayer is supposed to be above such things, dedicate herself entirely to her training and her calling."

At that Jenny leaned slightly away from him and gave him a rather pointed glare.

"I didn't say I agree," he defended. "I thought I did, thought it was the right and noble thing. That the Slayer, like her Watcher, should give up her personal life for the greater good. But after coming here to Sunnydale, working with Buffy… it has thought me that reality is very rarely like what I was taught."

Jenny felt a rush of affection for the man next to her. "It's easy to have an opinion when it's all about hypotheticals. It's a different matter when it concerns someone you care about."

"Sometimes I worry that I'm failing her. If I had acted the way the council would deem a proper Watcher to act, maybe none of this would have happened."

She reached up to rake her fingers through his hair. "If you had been a proper Watcher, Buffy wouldn't be alive today."

He furrowed his brows in confusion. "I'm not sure that's-"

"I was there the night the Master rose remember? Having friends who are willing to stand by her and fight with her is the reason Buffy survived," Jenny reminded him.

His answering smile was full of tenderness. And then he was leaning in to give her a long deep kiss, effortlessly chasing all further thoughts from her mind. There were still things they needed to talk about. Their relationship need time to recover, and the kids will all need time to heal from everything that had happened. It wouldn't be easy, but she felt sure they would get through it. But there would be plenty of time for that later, after all, summer break was coming up. They would have plenty of time to focus on working through things then.