Quicksilver's Quill Offers
To Dance by Moonlight
A Buffy the Vampire Slayer/ Sailor Moon Xover
mbsilvana@yahoo.com
standard disclaimers
Notes: This is set second half of the second Buffy Season (maybe after Passion?), and after Sailor Stars for Sailor Moon. An EXTREMELY belated birthday gift for the one and only Bejiin. This was started BEFORE Season 3 of Buffy, so you can see it's a very old piece. And my writing in each section is a little different because of the EXTENDED lengths of time I spend between writing them! Hopefully part five will be out sooner!
!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!
Part Four: Loss
!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!
Life went on, Buffy was learning. No matter how important her nightly battles were, the next day came, the sun rose, and she had school.
The sun cast light across Buffy's face, and she awoke suddenly, having had far too little sleep. She had been up to 3 a.m. worrying, and that meant less then four hours of sleep. Stretching slowly, she looked over at Willow, who had crashed on her floor that night. The redhead was sleeping the sleep of the just, her mouth open slightly. Buffy smiled at her, wondering what she had done to deserve such a wonderful friend.
She looked over at Willow, almost regretting that she had to wake the redhead up. Willow was not what anyone would consider a morning person. "Willow," she said, poking her shoulder.
The other girl murmured something about lemon pies and skyscrapers, rolling over and burying her face in her pillow.
Buffy smiled faintly. This called for drastic measures. She crouched down and whispered in Willow's ear: "Look, Oz is flirting with Cordelia!" Even if it didn't wake Willow up, it should inspire some interesting dreams.
Willow sat up, scowling. Her hair was mussed and hanging in her eyes, and she looked grumpy. "Oz!" she yelled groggily before coming to her full senses. "Buffy!" she growled, pouncing on her best friend to tickle her, "It's war!"
Normally Buffy would have had an easy time subduing Willow, but without her preternatural strength, it was an even match. Buffy finally squirmed free, panting for breath. Her eyes were bright, but dimmed quickly. "You know I often used to wish to be a normal girl so I could do thinks like that- have a tickle war with my best friend without having to worry about accidentally hurting her. But now that it's gone... I wonder. What should I do? What does Endymion want?"
"Well..." Willow hesitated. "I could come up with a lot of answers to that question, but most of them aren't nice."
"None of the answers in Sunnydale are ever nice," Buffy said dispiritedly.
"Well, I didn't think Usagi seemed like a bad person- I have a hard time believing that she actually was going to hurt you."
Buffy sighed. "But her ally did..."
"What did he mean, I wonder... calling her the avatar of love?"
"Succubus, maybe?" Buffy suggested.
"Now that's something we haven't had. We had preying-Mantis lady, but no one that actually got their skittles off of..." Willow trailed off as she noticed Buffy's agitation. "Sorry, thoughts took a train to Memphis."
"Well, I need them here..."
"Sorry... sorry," Willow said, waving her hands. "We need to get ready for school- maybe Giles will be there..."
"And explain how the hell he knew that Endymion," Buffy agreed fiercely.
It took fifteen minutes for the girls to dig out the clothing they wanted to wear, Willow borrowing some of Buffy's since she had none of her own. The result was a rather odd-looking Willow, which amused Buffy greatly. "You look like you're playing dress-up."
Willow glared, her sympathy for Buffy's plight only going so far. "Coffee," she said. "Must have coffee."
Buffy flinched slightly. "That's right, you're one of the caffeine poster children. I'm sure mom's making a pot... she usual does."
Willow nodded and raced downstairs, skipping steps on her way to the kitchen. Buffy followed at a more sedate pace, uncomfortable. Things had been tense between her and her mother for a while.
Joyce Summers seemed glad to see the redhead. "Ah, Willow... you spent the night?"
"We were studying and lost track of time..." Willow lied.
"Uh-huh," Joyce said with a smile, grabbing a second cup and filling it without being asked before handing it over.
"I honestly don't see how you can drink Mom's coffee, Will," Buffy said. "Dad used to compare it to syrup."
"I like strong coffee," Willow said, cradling the cup between her hands and taking a whiff of the fresh-brewed coffee. "Your mom's is some of the best. She uses fresh beans and everything."
"Give me a cappuccino any day," Buffy announced, pouring herself her customary glass of orange juice.
Willow and Joyce exchanged looks of complete empathy. "Do you girls want me to drive you to school?" Joyce offered.
Willow and Buffy exchanged glances. "Sure, mom- that'd be great! We're going to go see Giles this morning, so getting an early start would be great."
"Sure, let me grab my keys," Joyce said cheerfully. "I really like your school, though.. It's great that you finally found a teacher you can relate to... too bad he isn't one who assigns grades."
Buffy rolled her eyes, relieved to feel a sense of normality returning to her life as she, her mother, and Willow made a beeline for the car.
~*~*~*~*~*~
Buffy newly-found sense of balance was ripped away when she arrived at school and made a discovery.
Giles was not there.
This was highly unusual. In fact, she wondered if she should make a beeline for his apartment, skip school, and prepare for yet another Apocalypse, since she'd been under the impression that Giles lived at the school. Then she remembered she didn't have her Slayer powers, and that seeing that Endymion guy had seriously freaked him out. All in all, it left her confused about what to do.
"Maybe we should call Giles?" Willow suggested practically.
Buffy could have hugged her. Willow's logic always kept her from panicking when simple solutions were possible. "Yes, yes... call Giles... do you know his phone number?"
"There's a phone book behind-" Willow began, but was interrupted by the door swinging open and a troll-like man entering.
Buffy's stomach dropped. He was the last person she wanted to see right now... even going a round with Angel would be preferable to dealing with the annoying, short principal.
"Ah, Ms. Summers and Ms. Rosenburg. I regret to inform you that Mr. Giles called in sick for today... I guess you can't abuse the library like usual, since it is against the rules for students to use school phones to make outside calls," Principal Snyder said, giving them a sharp smile, showing slightly pointy teeth.
"Giles is sick?" Buffy echoed in disbelief.
"He has plenty of sick days accumulated since he never takes them, so there's no problem with it, is there?" Snyder asked.
"No, no... no problem!" Willow rambled.
"Shouldn't you be doing prep work for your classes?" Snyder suggested gently. There was almost a fondness as he looked at the redhead, who had gotten into his good books by taking over the computer classes after Ms. Calendar's unfortunate demise.
"I'm all ready, no classes until this afternoon," Willow said.
Snyder nodded. "Then I suggest you head to your homeroom and do student-like things." His hard eyes bore into he two and they darted for the doorway, eager to escape.
"I hate him," Buffy muttered.
"I think the entire school shares the shares the sentiment," Willow said. She glanced at her watch. "Well, Snyder managed to help us while our spare time away. We'd better get to class unless we want to get a detention."
"Just let me grab my books out of my locker," Buffy said, and proceeded to do so. Her backpack seemed heavier then she was used to, and she wondered if this was what being ordinary meant. It seemed like forever since she had been Called to be the Slayer, and she had forgotten what being average meant.
She didn't like it.
The two girls went into class together, sliding into their seats. "I wonder if she's coming today," Buffy whispered to Willow, not needing to state which person she was talking about.
Buffy and Willow stared at the empty seat. "Now that her boyfriend's been revealed, she probably went into hiding," Willow answered, fidgeting with her pencil.
The bell rang, and Buffy nodded, momentarily forgetting that Usagi had been late the day before. Parnell started to take role, but was interrupted by a loud clanging from the door. His eyes widened as Usagi came rushing in, repeating yesterday's performance. Sean got his feet out of the way in time, but the girl who sat in front of him, Aurora Langley, didn't. Usagi managed an amazingly incredible somersault as she stumbled on the strap of Aurora's backpack. This time she rolled to a stop at the seat she had been assigned.
"Tsukino Usagi, present!" she said, standing up and bowing slightly. "My apologies for being late!"
The class tittered.
"Um... just don't do it again," the flustered teacher answered.
She rewarded him with a beatific smile as she took her seat. "Thank you, sensei!"
"I can't believe she showed up!" Willow said in shock.
"Maybe she's not a creepy crawly?" Xander suggested, earning himself a glare from Buffy.
"She was with the man who managed to strip Buffy of her powers. I say it's definitely on the creepy crawly scale of possibility," Willow said.
"She's a babe... what kind of creepy crawly looks like that?"
"Inca Mummy Girl," Willow said just as Buffy said, "Insect Teacher."
Xander groaned and rested his head in his hands. "You two are horrible to me."
"You just have really bad taste in women," Willow said lightly.
"Too bad that one's taken by her Mamo-chan... or Endymion... wanna bet that's she's the girl with the wings, that Sailor Moon?" Buffy whispered back.
"I bet-" Xander started, but was interrupted the sounds of someone clearing their throat.
"Class is starting now... you'd be wise to pay attention, Mr. Harris, considering what your last test results were," Mr. Parnell said, picking up a piece of chalk and turning to the blackboard.
Xander sank down in his chair, wishing the Hellmouth would open up and swallow him whole.
~*~*~*~*~*~
Classes dragged that day. Buffy was never the most attentive of students, but all she could do was watch Usagi through narrowed eyes, ignoring whatever her teachers said.
She didn't particular care. She'd get Giles or Willow to help her later- they were more interested in helping her do well then her teachers were. Sunnydale suffered from serious teacher apathy. Most of the teachers were busy sending out job applications to schools with lower body counts to really give a damn about disinterested students.
Usagi seemed to be dividing her
Buffy's temper was frayed at best. Reaching out, she grabbed one of Usagi's long ponytails and YANKED. The little blonde yowled as she was dragged into the library.
"OUCH!" she yelled as the doors swung shut behind them.
Buffy had little sympathy. "All right, tell me exactly what you are, and what Endymion did to me."
Usagi blinked, and then gave her a smile that would have made an airhead wince. "Who's Endymion?" she asked innocently.
Buffy slammed Usagi into the desk, knocking several books off of it. "Don't play stupid. You were there last night in that graveyard. He carried you off after doing something with my Slayer abilities, and I need them back! We're on the Hellmouth, and there's some very bad stuff going on. I can't fight it without my strength!"
She grabbed Usagi's shirt in anger, clenching it tightly. She was ready to kill the blonde if that's what it took- people were depending on her.
The doors to the library swung open, and Willow and Xander came in. Willow was holding a heavy sack of schoolbooks, which she promptly dropped on her feet in surprise when she saw the scene. "Ouch!" she yelped, bouncing up and down like a wounded ferret.
The surprise caused Buffy to lose her grip on Usagi, who took the opportunity to skitter backwards and over the desk. The blonde peeked over a stack of books in the to-be-shelved pile, her eyes confused. "Why are you so angry?" she asked.
"Your boyfriend, last night!" Buffy snapped. "Last night!"
"I have no-" Usagi began, but her eyes were twitching. She was a rotten liar.
Buffy snarled and made a grab for the girl. Had she still been the Slayer, she would have easily caught Usagi. The Japanese girl easily evaded her clumsy lunge. "Stop lying to me!"
Usagi looked slightly concerned. "Um, this may not be the best place to talk about it..."
"No one ever comes to the library," Xander chimed in, hoping to hear the story, and perhaps trying to keep Buffy from committing homicide. "No one will hear."
Usagi looked at the other two. "You were there last night, too."
"You were dressed up as Sailor Moon?" Willow asked.
Usagi seemed to weigh the three of them with her eyes, casting measuring glances at simmering Buffy, confused Willow, and eager Xander before deciding they were worth trusting. "Yes," she said very softly.
"Cool!" Willow said, lighting up. "You were doing that neat magic- I have an interest, but I only dabble- I'm not really good. Are you a full-blown witch?"
Usagi blinked. "Um... no?" She seemed confused.
"Well, I thought you might be, since I didn't recognize you. I thought you might be using a disguise spell of some sort, and since you were throwing magic bolts, and casting simultaneous spells is really hard, I thought-"
"Willow, you're babbling," Buffy cut in. "Your precious Mamo-chan managed to take my Slayer abilities, and I want to know why."
"You threatened me. That's one thing he won't tolerate."
"You were using magic. Slayer instinct- unknown person starts casting magic, Slayer attacks. It's in the handbook."
"Mamo-chan is very angry with you," Usagi whispered, looking down at her little feet. "I haven't seen him so angry since... well, I can't remember him ever being so mad."
"How did he do it?" Willow wanted to know.
Usagi expression showed her genuine confusion. "Do what?"
"Remove my strength?" Buffy wanted to know.
"I don't really know. It has something to do with his past life, when he was Endymion and I was Serenity," she said. "Ami-chan would know better then me. Maybe Giles-sensei knows."
"Giles isn't around today," Xander informed her. "He was a gibbering idiot when I left him to go home."
Usagi chewed on her lip thoughtfully. "He knew him," she said softly. "Mamo-chan knew Giles-sensei, or at least what he was."
"He also knew what I was," Buffy snapped back, "and somehow he stole my powers. And I want them back. I'm the Slayer- it's part of who I am."
Usagi stared back at her. "Yes... I understand," she said softly.
"No- I don't think you do," Buffy growled, staring at the other girl with an intensity that was downright terrifying. "I am going to be the Slayer again- or else there's going to be hell to pay, and you'll be the one to pay it."
!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!
Up Next:
Part Five: Darkness
A few different ways I can go with this- depends on how long the part IS....
Feedback is a good thing.
To Dance by Moonlight
A Buffy the Vampire Slayer/ Sailor Moon Xover
mbsilvana@yahoo.com
standard disclaimers
Notes: This is set second half of the second Buffy Season (maybe after Passion?), and after Sailor Stars for Sailor Moon. An EXTREMELY belated birthday gift for the one and only Bejiin. This was started BEFORE Season 3 of Buffy, so you can see it's a very old piece. And my writing in each section is a little different because of the EXTENDED lengths of time I spend between writing them! Hopefully part five will be out sooner!
!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!
Part Four: Loss
!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!
Life went on, Buffy was learning. No matter how important her nightly battles were, the next day came, the sun rose, and she had school.
The sun cast light across Buffy's face, and she awoke suddenly, having had far too little sleep. She had been up to 3 a.m. worrying, and that meant less then four hours of sleep. Stretching slowly, she looked over at Willow, who had crashed on her floor that night. The redhead was sleeping the sleep of the just, her mouth open slightly. Buffy smiled at her, wondering what she had done to deserve such a wonderful friend.
She looked over at Willow, almost regretting that she had to wake the redhead up. Willow was not what anyone would consider a morning person. "Willow," she said, poking her shoulder.
The other girl murmured something about lemon pies and skyscrapers, rolling over and burying her face in her pillow.
Buffy smiled faintly. This called for drastic measures. She crouched down and whispered in Willow's ear: "Look, Oz is flirting with Cordelia!" Even if it didn't wake Willow up, it should inspire some interesting dreams.
Willow sat up, scowling. Her hair was mussed and hanging in her eyes, and she looked grumpy. "Oz!" she yelled groggily before coming to her full senses. "Buffy!" she growled, pouncing on her best friend to tickle her, "It's war!"
Normally Buffy would have had an easy time subduing Willow, but without her preternatural strength, it was an even match. Buffy finally squirmed free, panting for breath. Her eyes were bright, but dimmed quickly. "You know I often used to wish to be a normal girl so I could do thinks like that- have a tickle war with my best friend without having to worry about accidentally hurting her. But now that it's gone... I wonder. What should I do? What does Endymion want?"
"Well..." Willow hesitated. "I could come up with a lot of answers to that question, but most of them aren't nice."
"None of the answers in Sunnydale are ever nice," Buffy said dispiritedly.
"Well, I didn't think Usagi seemed like a bad person- I have a hard time believing that she actually was going to hurt you."
Buffy sighed. "But her ally did..."
"What did he mean, I wonder... calling her the avatar of love?"
"Succubus, maybe?" Buffy suggested.
"Now that's something we haven't had. We had preying-Mantis lady, but no one that actually got their skittles off of..." Willow trailed off as she noticed Buffy's agitation. "Sorry, thoughts took a train to Memphis."
"Well, I need them here..."
"Sorry... sorry," Willow said, waving her hands. "We need to get ready for school- maybe Giles will be there..."
"And explain how the hell he knew that Endymion," Buffy agreed fiercely.
It took fifteen minutes for the girls to dig out the clothing they wanted to wear, Willow borrowing some of Buffy's since she had none of her own. The result was a rather odd-looking Willow, which amused Buffy greatly. "You look like you're playing dress-up."
Willow glared, her sympathy for Buffy's plight only going so far. "Coffee," she said. "Must have coffee."
Buffy flinched slightly. "That's right, you're one of the caffeine poster children. I'm sure mom's making a pot... she usual does."
Willow nodded and raced downstairs, skipping steps on her way to the kitchen. Buffy followed at a more sedate pace, uncomfortable. Things had been tense between her and her mother for a while.
Joyce Summers seemed glad to see the redhead. "Ah, Willow... you spent the night?"
"We were studying and lost track of time..." Willow lied.
"Uh-huh," Joyce said with a smile, grabbing a second cup and filling it without being asked before handing it over.
"I honestly don't see how you can drink Mom's coffee, Will," Buffy said. "Dad used to compare it to syrup."
"I like strong coffee," Willow said, cradling the cup between her hands and taking a whiff of the fresh-brewed coffee. "Your mom's is some of the best. She uses fresh beans and everything."
"Give me a cappuccino any day," Buffy announced, pouring herself her customary glass of orange juice.
Willow and Joyce exchanged looks of complete empathy. "Do you girls want me to drive you to school?" Joyce offered.
Willow and Buffy exchanged glances. "Sure, mom- that'd be great! We're going to go see Giles this morning, so getting an early start would be great."
"Sure, let me grab my keys," Joyce said cheerfully. "I really like your school, though.. It's great that you finally found a teacher you can relate to... too bad he isn't one who assigns grades."
Buffy rolled her eyes, relieved to feel a sense of normality returning to her life as she, her mother, and Willow made a beeline for the car.
~*~*~*~*~*~
Buffy newly-found sense of balance was ripped away when she arrived at school and made a discovery.
Giles was not there.
This was highly unusual. In fact, she wondered if she should make a beeline for his apartment, skip school, and prepare for yet another Apocalypse, since she'd been under the impression that Giles lived at the school. Then she remembered she didn't have her Slayer powers, and that seeing that Endymion guy had seriously freaked him out. All in all, it left her confused about what to do.
"Maybe we should call Giles?" Willow suggested practically.
Buffy could have hugged her. Willow's logic always kept her from panicking when simple solutions were possible. "Yes, yes... call Giles... do you know his phone number?"
"There's a phone book behind-" Willow began, but was interrupted by the door swinging open and a troll-like man entering.
Buffy's stomach dropped. He was the last person she wanted to see right now... even going a round with Angel would be preferable to dealing with the annoying, short principal.
"Ah, Ms. Summers and Ms. Rosenburg. I regret to inform you that Mr. Giles called in sick for today... I guess you can't abuse the library like usual, since it is against the rules for students to use school phones to make outside calls," Principal Snyder said, giving them a sharp smile, showing slightly pointy teeth.
"Giles is sick?" Buffy echoed in disbelief.
"He has plenty of sick days accumulated since he never takes them, so there's no problem with it, is there?" Snyder asked.
"No, no... no problem!" Willow rambled.
"Shouldn't you be doing prep work for your classes?" Snyder suggested gently. There was almost a fondness as he looked at the redhead, who had gotten into his good books by taking over the computer classes after Ms. Calendar's unfortunate demise.
"I'm all ready, no classes until this afternoon," Willow said.
Snyder nodded. "Then I suggest you head to your homeroom and do student-like things." His hard eyes bore into he two and they darted for the doorway, eager to escape.
"I hate him," Buffy muttered.
"I think the entire school shares the shares the sentiment," Willow said. She glanced at her watch. "Well, Snyder managed to help us while our spare time away. We'd better get to class unless we want to get a detention."
"Just let me grab my books out of my locker," Buffy said, and proceeded to do so. Her backpack seemed heavier then she was used to, and she wondered if this was what being ordinary meant. It seemed like forever since she had been Called to be the Slayer, and she had forgotten what being average meant.
She didn't like it.
The two girls went into class together, sliding into their seats. "I wonder if she's coming today," Buffy whispered to Willow, not needing to state which person she was talking about.
Buffy and Willow stared at the empty seat. "Now that her boyfriend's been revealed, she probably went into hiding," Willow answered, fidgeting with her pencil.
The bell rang, and Buffy nodded, momentarily forgetting that Usagi had been late the day before. Parnell started to take role, but was interrupted by a loud clanging from the door. His eyes widened as Usagi came rushing in, repeating yesterday's performance. Sean got his feet out of the way in time, but the girl who sat in front of him, Aurora Langley, didn't. Usagi managed an amazingly incredible somersault as she stumbled on the strap of Aurora's backpack. This time she rolled to a stop at the seat she had been assigned.
"Tsukino Usagi, present!" she said, standing up and bowing slightly. "My apologies for being late!"
The class tittered.
"Um... just don't do it again," the flustered teacher answered.
She rewarded him with a beatific smile as she took her seat. "Thank you, sensei!"
"I can't believe she showed up!" Willow said in shock.
"Maybe she's not a creepy crawly?" Xander suggested, earning himself a glare from Buffy.
"She was with the man who managed to strip Buffy of her powers. I say it's definitely on the creepy crawly scale of possibility," Willow said.
"She's a babe... what kind of creepy crawly looks like that?"
"Inca Mummy Girl," Willow said just as Buffy said, "Insect Teacher."
Xander groaned and rested his head in his hands. "You two are horrible to me."
"You just have really bad taste in women," Willow said lightly.
"Too bad that one's taken by her Mamo-chan... or Endymion... wanna bet that's she's the girl with the wings, that Sailor Moon?" Buffy whispered back.
"I bet-" Xander started, but was interrupted the sounds of someone clearing their throat.
"Class is starting now... you'd be wise to pay attention, Mr. Harris, considering what your last test results were," Mr. Parnell said, picking up a piece of chalk and turning to the blackboard.
Xander sank down in his chair, wishing the Hellmouth would open up and swallow him whole.
~*~*~*~*~*~
Classes dragged that day. Buffy was never the most attentive of students, but all she could do was watch Usagi through narrowed eyes, ignoring whatever her teachers said.
She didn't particular care. She'd get Giles or Willow to help her later- they were more interested in helping her do well then her teachers were. Sunnydale suffered from serious teacher apathy. Most of the teachers were busy sending out job applications to schools with lower body counts to really give a damn about disinterested students.
Usagi seemed to be dividing her
Buffy's temper was frayed at best. Reaching out, she grabbed one of Usagi's long ponytails and YANKED. The little blonde yowled as she was dragged into the library.
"OUCH!" she yelled as the doors swung shut behind them.
Buffy had little sympathy. "All right, tell me exactly what you are, and what Endymion did to me."
Usagi blinked, and then gave her a smile that would have made an airhead wince. "Who's Endymion?" she asked innocently.
Buffy slammed Usagi into the desk, knocking several books off of it. "Don't play stupid. You were there last night in that graveyard. He carried you off after doing something with my Slayer abilities, and I need them back! We're on the Hellmouth, and there's some very bad stuff going on. I can't fight it without my strength!"
She grabbed Usagi's shirt in anger, clenching it tightly. She was ready to kill the blonde if that's what it took- people were depending on her.
The doors to the library swung open, and Willow and Xander came in. Willow was holding a heavy sack of schoolbooks, which she promptly dropped on her feet in surprise when she saw the scene. "Ouch!" she yelped, bouncing up and down like a wounded ferret.
The surprise caused Buffy to lose her grip on Usagi, who took the opportunity to skitter backwards and over the desk. The blonde peeked over a stack of books in the to-be-shelved pile, her eyes confused. "Why are you so angry?" she asked.
"Your boyfriend, last night!" Buffy snapped. "Last night!"
"I have no-" Usagi began, but her eyes were twitching. She was a rotten liar.
Buffy snarled and made a grab for the girl. Had she still been the Slayer, she would have easily caught Usagi. The Japanese girl easily evaded her clumsy lunge. "Stop lying to me!"
Usagi looked slightly concerned. "Um, this may not be the best place to talk about it..."
"No one ever comes to the library," Xander chimed in, hoping to hear the story, and perhaps trying to keep Buffy from committing homicide. "No one will hear."
Usagi looked at the other two. "You were there last night, too."
"You were dressed up as Sailor Moon?" Willow asked.
Usagi seemed to weigh the three of them with her eyes, casting measuring glances at simmering Buffy, confused Willow, and eager Xander before deciding they were worth trusting. "Yes," she said very softly.
"Cool!" Willow said, lighting up. "You were doing that neat magic- I have an interest, but I only dabble- I'm not really good. Are you a full-blown witch?"
Usagi blinked. "Um... no?" She seemed confused.
"Well, I thought you might be, since I didn't recognize you. I thought you might be using a disguise spell of some sort, and since you were throwing magic bolts, and casting simultaneous spells is really hard, I thought-"
"Willow, you're babbling," Buffy cut in. "Your precious Mamo-chan managed to take my Slayer abilities, and I want to know why."
"You threatened me. That's one thing he won't tolerate."
"You were using magic. Slayer instinct- unknown person starts casting magic, Slayer attacks. It's in the handbook."
"Mamo-chan is very angry with you," Usagi whispered, looking down at her little feet. "I haven't seen him so angry since... well, I can't remember him ever being so mad."
"How did he do it?" Willow wanted to know.
Usagi expression showed her genuine confusion. "Do what?"
"Remove my strength?" Buffy wanted to know.
"I don't really know. It has something to do with his past life, when he was Endymion and I was Serenity," she said. "Ami-chan would know better then me. Maybe Giles-sensei knows."
"Giles isn't around today," Xander informed her. "He was a gibbering idiot when I left him to go home."
Usagi chewed on her lip thoughtfully. "He knew him," she said softly. "Mamo-chan knew Giles-sensei, or at least what he was."
"He also knew what I was," Buffy snapped back, "and somehow he stole my powers. And I want them back. I'm the Slayer- it's part of who I am."
Usagi stared back at her. "Yes... I understand," she said softly.
"No- I don't think you do," Buffy growled, staring at the other girl with an intensity that was downright terrifying. "I am going to be the Slayer again- or else there's going to be hell to pay, and you'll be the one to pay it."
!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!
Up Next:
Part Five: Darkness
A few different ways I can go with this- depends on how long the part IS....
Feedback is a good thing.