Author's Note: This is a work of fiction. I do not own the characters of Buffy and friends, I am just playing with them. They belong to Joss Whedon and Fox, blah blah. The characters of Cara, Natalie, James, Amy and the Lucys are based loosely on me and friends. No offence is meant. Season 5 may be spoiled for you if you have not seen it. Please r and r!

Two Halves Are Better Than One

Chapter 3 - Explanations and Goodbyes

I decide to take the floor again, try and explain myself. I had everyone's attention, even Spike's. "OK, here goes. In one of the episodes of the show, there was a demon. He was tall, robed and his skin was hanging off. His name was, crap, I can't think of his name." It was on the tip of my tongue.
"Toth." I looked up surprised. Lucy, I mean the other Lucy, knew who I was on about.
"You've heard of him?"
"Before I moved to Sunnydale, about four years ago, I fought Toth. Disgusting demon, stank of the city dump."
"Yeah, that's our guy! Anyway, he had a rod thingy, called, ferula-gemina I think." With this last remark, Willow reached for one of the many books scattered around Giles' apartment. "It was a magic rod, which would enable him to separate the Slayer into two, slayer-Buffy and Buffy-Buffy. But Xander got hit instead, he split into two, Willow reversed the spell, and Buffy kicked Toth's ass." I walked over to Lucy. "Did Toth have a rod?" she looked around the room and nodded.
"From what I can remember, he aimed it at me and I felt something go through me. Next thing I know I'm alone. Toth left and no one has heard of him since."
"Until he comes back to do the same to Buffy." I sip some of my now cold tea.
"Is this possible? Could they be the same person?" Cara asks, taking her eyes off Spike for a moment.
"Well, anything's possible here at the Hellmouth." Xander puts in. We all sit there for a moment, absorbing this information, until I realise something.
"Wait. When Xander was hit, suave Xander went home with the others. Scruffy Xander was left in the dump. He remembered everything from his life." I point to Lucy. "When you, we, were hit, how come I got transported to another dimension, with a completely different identity, and no memory of anything?"
"I knew it. One of them is evil. I should kill them." Riley gets up and reaches for a stake. He lunges towards me, as I deliver a sharp kick in his face.
"First of all, Captain Cardboard, a stake won't kill either of us. Second of all, sit down and shut the hell up!" I yell at him. He falls to the ground, as I notice Spike has a big grin on his face, probably because I told Riley off, but Buffy's isn't looking too pleased. "Hey, I'm sorry, but he was gonna kill me, us. I attacked him, because I'm rational like that." I sit down and bury my head in my hands. Amy, James and Cara are staring into their tea cups, while Natalie is up in Giles' bed. No one speaks for a while. All I can think of is that this would be boring TV and the WB still wouldn't want to pay for it.
"That's it." I cry. "I keep forgetting. I wasn't watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer - a documentary, I was watching a TV show that isn't real. They couldn't send Xander to another dimension, or have him lead a whole new life because it would be expensive and take up too much time. Maybe the rod thingy wasn't just to split the person in two. Maybe it was designed to send one away." I can see Giles' mind racing to try and figure out if this is correct.
"So maybe we are the same. Because I've been thinking. The rod separates the person into good qualities and bad qualities. I'm guessing that I'm the better half." I nod at her, urging her to continue. "Which makes sense. Ever since fighting Toth, I've been stronger than ever before. And I assume you are the, not so good parts?"
"It makes sense." I answer, a sad look coming over my face. I try to brighten up. "So what now? Do we try and undo the spell? Put the pieces back, so to speak?"
"Yes then Xander and I can go have sex." Anya feels like she needs to share this with the group while Xander looks embarrassed. Giles, choosing to ignore her remark, gets up from his seat to get some books.
"Uh, Lucy, sorry, other Lucy," I'm guessing he means me, as he points to me. "I need you to go through exactly what Willow did, to break the spell on the, uh, Xanders. It has to be exact, or it won't work."
"A star in a circle was drawn on the floor, everyone stood on a point, except for the Xanders who were in the middle, oh there was candles too, and Willow said 'let the spell be ended'." Giles gives me a pointed stare.
"And?" asks Lucy.
"And nothing. That was it. Poof, one Xander." Once again the whole room is staring at me. "What?" I ask them.
"Well usually spells like these take a lot more than 'let this spell be ended'. Like it needs charms and stuff." Willow explains. "But wait, this book does mention the ferula-gemina device and it explains that once the two separate entities are back together, they are sent back to the place where the spell was enacted and they must defeat the demon before they are hit again."
"But what if they get hit again?" Amy asks the question that I don't want to hear the answer of.
"Oh well, um, lets not talk about that." Willow closes the book and tries to put it back, but not before my other half picks it up and reads.
" 'Another direct hit will not split the two again' " My face brightens, until " ' but it will split the earth into two, causing the end of the world.' Oh." She says, closing the book. "But what are the chances are getting hit again? It must be like the odds of getting hit by lightening twice, right?" she turns to Giles, who has that worried look on his face.
"I think the best thing for us to do is to put Lucy back together. Uh, I should think that your memory will include the past, well, the past four years, so defeating Toth should not be a problem." He looks at the two of us, as we stand together and fiddle with our rings, at the same time. We both notice what each of us are doing, and stop it. "I should think that you would need to be in the exact same clothes, so that when we do perform the spell, you won't end up mismatched, so to speak." He turns to Willow and Buffy. "If you could start preparing for the spell, I shall consult my books."
"Wait." Comes a voice from the stairs. I can tell its Natalie with out looking. "So Lucy gets to go back and fight some demon guy but what about us? Are we stuck here forever?"
"Yeah, I know I would love to stay here and risk my life week after week, but I would rather stay home and watch it on my TV screen." Amy and James seem to agree with Cara. I stare at the four of them, and realise, that if this spell is to work, I will never see them again. I sit down on the nearest chair.
"No need to worry, once this spell works you will be sent back to your dimension without any memory of these events, or Lucy." Giles answers from his book. I share a silent glance with my friends who I feel like I've known them forever, before Lucy pulls me towards Giles' spare bedroom.
"I've got some clothes in here, I think some are identical, that you can wear." She smiles the smile I've been looking at in the mirror for the past 16 years, although its not 16 years as I haven't technically existed. She hands me a white vest, and a pair of black leather trousers, as she changes her top. I take the opportunity to really talk to her.
"So what's your deal, I mean, our deal? When I was fighting I could feel a force come over me that I've never experienced before. Are we some kind of supernatural force?" What she says next I never expected to hear.
"Actually, we're a demon." I bet the look on my face was priceless. "Not evil though. The Sisterhood Of Quecha, are a tribe of all female warriors, who have existed since the old ones walked the earth. We age until we reach 18, then we just stop. Forever 18. We are immortal, with the strength and skill of a Slayer, can't be killed, except by fire, or if we get married."
"Married? Why?"
"If we do find someone to marry, as soon as we are married, we begin to age like a mortal. Our powers are lost, and we wither and die. Like all mortals." With this she casts a glance to the living room. "And its even worse if we have children. If we have a girl, she is sent to live with the elders, in a forest in Brazil, where she is trained to hunt, fight and kill. Never having contact with her family." I can see the pain on her face as she says this. Even though I am her, I still can't imagine what it would be like to never see my family, no matter how much they get on my nerves. James and Amy decide to walk in at this precise moment.
"Hey, Lucy can we have a word?" I look to my double who nods, and walks out. James looks like he is going to speak. Its strange but I think I know what he is going to say.
"James, I know what you're gonna say and there is no way you can change my mind about this. I'm doing this spell." I say in a resolved tone.
"Actually, we came in to say goodbye." I'm surprised by this.
"Lucy, you know how much we are going to miss you, if we wouldn't have our memories erased and Nat and Cara were gonna come in, but Anya is changing Natalie's bandages and Spike is telling Cara how he killed this Slayer at some point, but they will say bye later." Amy sits on the bed next to me.
"There's no way we would want to change your mind, because this is what you want. And if you're happy, then we're happy." Suddenly I'm overcome with tears and once I start I, Amy starts. For a while we just sit there, until Giles comes in.
"I'm sorry, but I've figured out how to do the spell. Shall we begin?" he looks at me, and I in turn look to Amy and James.
"Yeah. Lets get it done."