DAY FIVE
The next morning, after Dawn got off to school, Buffy laid down for a nap. 6:30 was just too damn early when you'd been out until 2:00. She had those bizarre, life-like dreams one has during late-morning naps. In one, Ulog ran along the beach as the sun was coming up over the horizon. Buffy lay on her stomach watching the sunrise. When she glanced over at Ulog, all she could see were the light-filled bubbles and spots one sees after staring at a bright light for too long. She was still squinting at the place where Ulog had been when the heat of the now fully risen sun brought her attention back to the horizon. She flipped over onto her back and gasped when she saw a man kneeling beside her.
She was speechless as their eyes locked. His eyes were a warm, dark brown. His black hair was pulled tightly back and braided. He had a short, black beard along his jaw line, which merged with a perfectly trimmed and shaped goatee. She glanced briefly at his full lips then back into his eyes. *I could drown in those eyes, * she thought sleepily, and then she woke up with a start. It was 12:00 noon.
Buffy showered, dressed, and without leaving a note, began walking due west.
She walked to the empty plot where she had tracked Ulog to-only now, it wasn't empty. There was a pretty, blue house with a white picket fence and a lush green lawn. Ulog came running to the gate, just as excited as a dog is when his master comes home from a long day at work. She looked at the beast quizzically. Just then, a man came out of the house. He looked vaguely familiar.
"I see you've met Ulog," the man said. His voice was low and silky. And as he strode toward her, she couldn't help but notice his thick, muscular limbs, his jet-black hair pulled tightly back into a braid. But mostly she noticed his eyes. They were a rich, dark brown and they seemed to bore into her soul.
"You!" she said in sudden recognition. "I had a dream about you."
"Did you?" he asked, but it was more of a statement.
As he came closer to her, she had the sudden urge to run away. Something seemed off to her. She looked the man from her dream up and down. His bare feet weren't webbed. He had five clawless fingers on each hand. And his face, while the most gorgeous, sensual face Buffy had ever seen, was definitely human and male. She looked at his eyes again and briefly lost her ability to speak. When she regained it, she said, "What are you doing with a diberus?"
"A what?" he asked sincerely.
"A diberus," she repeated, and pointed to Ulog.
"Yes, he is rather unusual," the man said, "But he's the result of . . . well, it's a very long story."
Buffy decided she could listen to this man's voice for quite a long time. "I've got time," she informed him.
"Glorious day, isn't it?" he said, "The sun nice and hot on the skin."
She was suddenly aware of how hot she really was, especially after walking all that way in the middle of the afternoon. And she was thirsty.
"Would you like to come in and join me for some lemonade?" he asked her, "And I can tell you the story of the creation of Ulog."
She followed him in without questioning it.
Once inside, he turned to face her and grasped her hand. "My name is Lani," he told her.
"Buffy," she said.
"Well, Buffy, make yourself at home while I get our lemonade."
Buffy sat down and looked around the living room. It was exquisitely decorated in rich reds, warm browns and gold. There were exotic-looking plants throughout the room as well as pieces of art that looked African in origin, not to mention pricey. As she admired her surroundings, she said to herself, *It figures. This man is either married or gay. * Besides the fact that it was well decorated, the living room held no other clues about Lani's lifestyle. There were no photos, no videocassettes or CDs, no magazines or books lying around. There were some books in a bookcase. When Buffy walked over to inspect them, she found several classic novels and many medical books. There were books on molecular biology, genetic engineering and quantum physics. Some part in the back of her brain was trying, unsuccessfully, to get a message to the rest of her. *You're forgetting something,* it was trying to say. But she was too curious and captivated to hear it.
"Here we are," Lani said, returning to the living room with two large glasses of lemonade. He smiled at her as he handed her a glass, and waves of pure, masculine energy seemed to leap off of him and brush her skin, giving her goosebumps. She looked at his face and her eyes immediately drifted to his straight, white teeth and full, tender lips. She wondered how that succulent mouth would feel on hers, and then quickly blinked the image away. She looked down at his hands. Big mistake. They were large and rough-looking and she imagined them squeezing her breasts and gently caressing her nipples. Again with the goosebumps and her halter-top suddenly seemed too tight; almost binding. She needed to break this spell.
"This room is beautiful," she said, "Did you decorate it?"
"Yes," he answered, then quickly added, "Well, my ideas, anyway. I had an interior decorator who helped me immensely in order to achieve the look I wanted."
Material things did not normally mean much to Buffy. But she found herself wanting to know the number for his decorator.
"Are you married?" she asked suddenly. *Very subtle, Miss Summers, * she berated herself.
"My wife was killed in an accident several years ago," he answered.
"Oh. I'm sorry," she said.
"Thank you."
Buffy remembered why she was there. "You were going to tell me about Ulog."
"Yes."
Lani told her he used to be a geneticist working in Oregon. "Most people don't realize just how far the field of genetics has come; nor how quickly new developments are being achieved." He told her how at first, his research concentrated on plant DNA. Buffy quickly looked around at the exotic plants in the room. Lani continued explaining combining DNA, mutations, his failed experiments and his successes. He acknowledged the plants in the room.
He went on to tell her how one day he stumbled upon another experiment going on in a small, secret laboratory in the building in which he worked. This one involved animals; dogs, specifically. Realization began to dawn on Buffy, but she let him finish the story.
Even though she guessed the rest of Lani's story, she was stunned to hear him tell how he rescued Ulog from that lab, which had deemed it a failure and sentenced it to death. He had run with the beast as well as with enough documentation to blackmail the genetics company into leaving them alone.
"This poor creature has one soul and two, separate brains," Lani continued. "My research is partly the cause of his existence. Therefore, I feel compelled to help him cope with it."
Buffy was both amazed by his story and moved by his compassion. But that tiny part of her brain that was still on red alert found its voice. "How do you explain your house? Yesterday, there was nothing here."
"A cloaking spell," Lani answered. "This may be difficult to believe, but one of Ulog's two brains is developed quite beyond our own. Though he has no capacity for speech-his vocal chords won't support it-he does have some paranormal abilities. Even I am not quite fully aware of all he's able to do."
"Well," Buffy responded, "I suppose that's just as plausible as the fact that he exists at all. But then why could I see your house today?"
"I guess Ulog likes you and believes you're trustworthy." Lani smiled at her and she blushed. The tiny, suspicious part of Buffy's brain switched down to yellow alert, and she relaxed a little.
"So, tell me about yourself," Lani asked her, "And tell me what in the world a diberus is."
Buffy laughed and filled him in on her and her friends' encounter with Ulog and the subsequent research. That conversation seemed to flow right into her being the slayer. Because he had trusted her with so much information, she decided to share her slayer side with him. As she spoke, Lani seemed fascinated and hung on her every word. He refilled their lemonade, and they continued to talk.
As they got to know each other, the minutes ticked away into hours. Anyone observing them would have surely felt the sparks between them, almost as if the air between them were charged.
The tiny part of Buffy's brain that was supposed to be keeping track of things must've nodded off, because as she became more and more comfortable in Lani's presence, all memories of Dawn, Giles and everyone else floated away, like leaves in the wind. She lost all concept of time, and didn't notice when it grew dark outside.
"Let me make us some dinner," Lani said, and Buffy realized how hungry she was. "We'll go to the kitchen and see what we can find."
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When Dawn got home from school, she was surprised to find Buffy was not home. She did her homework, checking the clock every ten minutes or so. By 6:30p.m. she had finished her homework and had started to become really worried about her sister. She called around, but no one had seen nor heard from her all day.
When Dawn called Giles back, he told her not to worry and to remain at home in case Buffy called or showed up. He would stay home as well, for the same reasons. Willow, Tara, Xander and Anya were all going out to look for Buffy.
Anya and Xander began their search at Spike's crypt, but no one was there. They even checked the underground parts. Then they checked the Bronze. She wasn't there, either, and no one there had seen her. They then walked through the cemetery, glad to encounter no demons, although they were prepared just in case. "This is so not good," Xander remarked of their fruitless search.
Willow and Tara went to the place where Buffy had tracked the diberus to, because Willow had a funny feeling about it. When they arrived at the property where Buffy had stopped, they were met with the same nothing Buffy had encountered the previous night.
"I don't get it," Willow said, "I was sure this place had something to do with Buffy not being home."
Tara was looking past her at the empty plot of land.
"Tara, what is it?" Willow asked.
"I don't know. It just . . . doesn't it seem strange that the tracking spell just stopped?" Tara replied.
"Maybe it just pooped out here," Willow speculated.
"I don't think so," Tara answered, "I mean, every plot of land in this plan has a house at least started on it, yet this one has nothing but grass. And why the nice lawn if a house is going to be built there? This lawn isn't part of either house on its sides. Can you see where the ground is different along the edges of the property?"
Willow looked at her with her mouth open. "Buffy!" she yelled. She yelled a couple more times until a man came out of a nearby house and screamed at her to be quiet.
"I can't just give up," Willow complained to Tara.
"Maybe we should go to Mr. Giles' house and try to find a spell to uncover any magicks going on here," Tara offered.
"You're right," Willow answered, and they went back to Giles' house to meet up with the others.
As Buffy ate dinner with Lani, oblivious to the fact that she was missed, her friends and her sister searched for a de-cloaking spell, or any other ideas for getting her back to them.
It got later and later, and still the group had found nothing. Dawn and Xander fell asleep, both having gotten up early for school and work, respectively. The rest of them were having trouble keeping their eyes open, as well. Finally, Willow said, "I've read the same sentence four times in a row. I can't do this anymore. My eyes are all unfocused."
"It's okay, honey," Tara said, "We can try again tomorrow, can't we, Mr. Giles?" But Giles and Anya had also fallen fast asleep.
-------------------------------------------------------------
'Dinner' had been the best meal Buffy had had since 'Joyce's Kitchen' became 'Buffy's Kitchen.' Of course, a meal at Burger Barn would have received the same compliment. But Lani had cooked her grilled salmon with teriyaki sauce, fresh asparagus and roasted new potatoes. Buffy didn't normally like wine, or any alcohol, for that matter. But Lani served her a fruity, white wine, and she found she enjoyed it very much.
After dinner, he refilled their wine glasses and they went back to the living room. Lani excused himself, then returned with a classical jazz CD, which he put in his player.
They continued talking. After a time, Lani told her about his wife's accident. Buffy could see that it was painful for him to talk about. At last, he stood up and faced away from Buffy. "I knew I would be lonely, but I never expected . . ." he broke off.
Buffy went to him, put a hand on his shoulder and squeezed lightly.
"I didn't expect to be so angry at her for it," he finished.
Buffy empathized completely. She spun him around to face her and then she hugged him, tears spilling down her face.
They remained in that position for several long minutes. Then Buffy, who had been absently stroking his back in comfort, began inching her hands up further; caressing the back of his neck, letting her hand rest on the back of his head. He responded by pulling her closer, and she could feel his desire coursing through him. She unfastened the leather clip that held his hair back, letting it drop to the floor. She ran her hands through his thick, black hair, then pulled back to look at his face. He looked at her hesitantly. And then desire and passion took over his features and he kissed her. He gave her two quick pecks at first, as if he were trying to find out if he was merely grateful for her company and her understanding, or if his feelings for her were more powerful than that. Buffy saved him the trouble of deciding.
Maybe it was because she hadn't been with a man in a long time. Maybe it was because she was lonely. Or maybe it was because she was so drawn to this man, not in any way she could explain, but she wasn't planning on leaving any time soon. She brushed a stray hair off his forehead, took his head between her hands and kissed him tenderly. He kissed her back more urgently, pressing his lips forcefully against hers. Her mouth opened almost involuntarily, and Lani took advantage and explored her mouth with his tongue. Soon, Buffy was thrusting her tongue deep inside Lani's mouth and running her hands up under his shirt, playing with the dark, curly hair on his chest. Suddenly, he broke away.
"Will you excuse me for a moment?" he asked.
"Sure."
Lani went into the bathroom. He removed his shirt and hung it on the doorknob. He placed his hands on his chest where Buffy's had been moments before. He closed his eyes and inhaled deeply. He shuddered. He pressed his fingertips into the thickest part of the dark curls-and began peeling his skin off.
Buffy felt silly standing there waiting for Lani to finish up in the bathroom, and so she sat down on the sofa. She reached for her wine and was disappointed to discover it was empty. She closed her eyes and listened to the music--not normally her preference, but it was very relaxing. She waited for a while, mildly curious what was taking him so long. But eventually the combination of the wine, her full belly and the soft rhythms filling the room resulted in her falling asleep on the sofa without a care in the world. She slept without dreaming for twelve hours straight. While she slept, her mind succumbed to her new world. She no longer remembered she had a sister, a watcher, enemies or friends back in Sunnydale. She accepted that she was meant to be with Lani and Ulog.
The next morning, after Dawn got off to school, Buffy laid down for a nap. 6:30 was just too damn early when you'd been out until 2:00. She had those bizarre, life-like dreams one has during late-morning naps. In one, Ulog ran along the beach as the sun was coming up over the horizon. Buffy lay on her stomach watching the sunrise. When she glanced over at Ulog, all she could see were the light-filled bubbles and spots one sees after staring at a bright light for too long. She was still squinting at the place where Ulog had been when the heat of the now fully risen sun brought her attention back to the horizon. She flipped over onto her back and gasped when she saw a man kneeling beside her.
She was speechless as their eyes locked. His eyes were a warm, dark brown. His black hair was pulled tightly back and braided. He had a short, black beard along his jaw line, which merged with a perfectly trimmed and shaped goatee. She glanced briefly at his full lips then back into his eyes. *I could drown in those eyes, * she thought sleepily, and then she woke up with a start. It was 12:00 noon.
Buffy showered, dressed, and without leaving a note, began walking due west.
She walked to the empty plot where she had tracked Ulog to-only now, it wasn't empty. There was a pretty, blue house with a white picket fence and a lush green lawn. Ulog came running to the gate, just as excited as a dog is when his master comes home from a long day at work. She looked at the beast quizzically. Just then, a man came out of the house. He looked vaguely familiar.
"I see you've met Ulog," the man said. His voice was low and silky. And as he strode toward her, she couldn't help but notice his thick, muscular limbs, his jet-black hair pulled tightly back into a braid. But mostly she noticed his eyes. They were a rich, dark brown and they seemed to bore into her soul.
"You!" she said in sudden recognition. "I had a dream about you."
"Did you?" he asked, but it was more of a statement.
As he came closer to her, she had the sudden urge to run away. Something seemed off to her. She looked the man from her dream up and down. His bare feet weren't webbed. He had five clawless fingers on each hand. And his face, while the most gorgeous, sensual face Buffy had ever seen, was definitely human and male. She looked at his eyes again and briefly lost her ability to speak. When she regained it, she said, "What are you doing with a diberus?"
"A what?" he asked sincerely.
"A diberus," she repeated, and pointed to Ulog.
"Yes, he is rather unusual," the man said, "But he's the result of . . . well, it's a very long story."
Buffy decided she could listen to this man's voice for quite a long time. "I've got time," she informed him.
"Glorious day, isn't it?" he said, "The sun nice and hot on the skin."
She was suddenly aware of how hot she really was, especially after walking all that way in the middle of the afternoon. And she was thirsty.
"Would you like to come in and join me for some lemonade?" he asked her, "And I can tell you the story of the creation of Ulog."
She followed him in without questioning it.
Once inside, he turned to face her and grasped her hand. "My name is Lani," he told her.
"Buffy," she said.
"Well, Buffy, make yourself at home while I get our lemonade."
Buffy sat down and looked around the living room. It was exquisitely decorated in rich reds, warm browns and gold. There were exotic-looking plants throughout the room as well as pieces of art that looked African in origin, not to mention pricey. As she admired her surroundings, she said to herself, *It figures. This man is either married or gay. * Besides the fact that it was well decorated, the living room held no other clues about Lani's lifestyle. There were no photos, no videocassettes or CDs, no magazines or books lying around. There were some books in a bookcase. When Buffy walked over to inspect them, she found several classic novels and many medical books. There were books on molecular biology, genetic engineering and quantum physics. Some part in the back of her brain was trying, unsuccessfully, to get a message to the rest of her. *You're forgetting something,* it was trying to say. But she was too curious and captivated to hear it.
"Here we are," Lani said, returning to the living room with two large glasses of lemonade. He smiled at her as he handed her a glass, and waves of pure, masculine energy seemed to leap off of him and brush her skin, giving her goosebumps. She looked at his face and her eyes immediately drifted to his straight, white teeth and full, tender lips. She wondered how that succulent mouth would feel on hers, and then quickly blinked the image away. She looked down at his hands. Big mistake. They were large and rough-looking and she imagined them squeezing her breasts and gently caressing her nipples. Again with the goosebumps and her halter-top suddenly seemed too tight; almost binding. She needed to break this spell.
"This room is beautiful," she said, "Did you decorate it?"
"Yes," he answered, then quickly added, "Well, my ideas, anyway. I had an interior decorator who helped me immensely in order to achieve the look I wanted."
Material things did not normally mean much to Buffy. But she found herself wanting to know the number for his decorator.
"Are you married?" she asked suddenly. *Very subtle, Miss Summers, * she berated herself.
"My wife was killed in an accident several years ago," he answered.
"Oh. I'm sorry," she said.
"Thank you."
Buffy remembered why she was there. "You were going to tell me about Ulog."
"Yes."
Lani told her he used to be a geneticist working in Oregon. "Most people don't realize just how far the field of genetics has come; nor how quickly new developments are being achieved." He told her how at first, his research concentrated on plant DNA. Buffy quickly looked around at the exotic plants in the room. Lani continued explaining combining DNA, mutations, his failed experiments and his successes. He acknowledged the plants in the room.
He went on to tell her how one day he stumbled upon another experiment going on in a small, secret laboratory in the building in which he worked. This one involved animals; dogs, specifically. Realization began to dawn on Buffy, but she let him finish the story.
Even though she guessed the rest of Lani's story, she was stunned to hear him tell how he rescued Ulog from that lab, which had deemed it a failure and sentenced it to death. He had run with the beast as well as with enough documentation to blackmail the genetics company into leaving them alone.
"This poor creature has one soul and two, separate brains," Lani continued. "My research is partly the cause of his existence. Therefore, I feel compelled to help him cope with it."
Buffy was both amazed by his story and moved by his compassion. But that tiny part of her brain that was still on red alert found its voice. "How do you explain your house? Yesterday, there was nothing here."
"A cloaking spell," Lani answered. "This may be difficult to believe, but one of Ulog's two brains is developed quite beyond our own. Though he has no capacity for speech-his vocal chords won't support it-he does have some paranormal abilities. Even I am not quite fully aware of all he's able to do."
"Well," Buffy responded, "I suppose that's just as plausible as the fact that he exists at all. But then why could I see your house today?"
"I guess Ulog likes you and believes you're trustworthy." Lani smiled at her and she blushed. The tiny, suspicious part of Buffy's brain switched down to yellow alert, and she relaxed a little.
"So, tell me about yourself," Lani asked her, "And tell me what in the world a diberus is."
Buffy laughed and filled him in on her and her friends' encounter with Ulog and the subsequent research. That conversation seemed to flow right into her being the slayer. Because he had trusted her with so much information, she decided to share her slayer side with him. As she spoke, Lani seemed fascinated and hung on her every word. He refilled their lemonade, and they continued to talk.
As they got to know each other, the minutes ticked away into hours. Anyone observing them would have surely felt the sparks between them, almost as if the air between them were charged.
The tiny part of Buffy's brain that was supposed to be keeping track of things must've nodded off, because as she became more and more comfortable in Lani's presence, all memories of Dawn, Giles and everyone else floated away, like leaves in the wind. She lost all concept of time, and didn't notice when it grew dark outside.
"Let me make us some dinner," Lani said, and Buffy realized how hungry she was. "We'll go to the kitchen and see what we can find."
-----------------------------------------------------------------
When Dawn got home from school, she was surprised to find Buffy was not home. She did her homework, checking the clock every ten minutes or so. By 6:30p.m. she had finished her homework and had started to become really worried about her sister. She called around, but no one had seen nor heard from her all day.
When Dawn called Giles back, he told her not to worry and to remain at home in case Buffy called or showed up. He would stay home as well, for the same reasons. Willow, Tara, Xander and Anya were all going out to look for Buffy.
Anya and Xander began their search at Spike's crypt, but no one was there. They even checked the underground parts. Then they checked the Bronze. She wasn't there, either, and no one there had seen her. They then walked through the cemetery, glad to encounter no demons, although they were prepared just in case. "This is so not good," Xander remarked of their fruitless search.
Willow and Tara went to the place where Buffy had tracked the diberus to, because Willow had a funny feeling about it. When they arrived at the property where Buffy had stopped, they were met with the same nothing Buffy had encountered the previous night.
"I don't get it," Willow said, "I was sure this place had something to do with Buffy not being home."
Tara was looking past her at the empty plot of land.
"Tara, what is it?" Willow asked.
"I don't know. It just . . . doesn't it seem strange that the tracking spell just stopped?" Tara replied.
"Maybe it just pooped out here," Willow speculated.
"I don't think so," Tara answered, "I mean, every plot of land in this plan has a house at least started on it, yet this one has nothing but grass. And why the nice lawn if a house is going to be built there? This lawn isn't part of either house on its sides. Can you see where the ground is different along the edges of the property?"
Willow looked at her with her mouth open. "Buffy!" she yelled. She yelled a couple more times until a man came out of a nearby house and screamed at her to be quiet.
"I can't just give up," Willow complained to Tara.
"Maybe we should go to Mr. Giles' house and try to find a spell to uncover any magicks going on here," Tara offered.
"You're right," Willow answered, and they went back to Giles' house to meet up with the others.
As Buffy ate dinner with Lani, oblivious to the fact that she was missed, her friends and her sister searched for a de-cloaking spell, or any other ideas for getting her back to them.
It got later and later, and still the group had found nothing. Dawn and Xander fell asleep, both having gotten up early for school and work, respectively. The rest of them were having trouble keeping their eyes open, as well. Finally, Willow said, "I've read the same sentence four times in a row. I can't do this anymore. My eyes are all unfocused."
"It's okay, honey," Tara said, "We can try again tomorrow, can't we, Mr. Giles?" But Giles and Anya had also fallen fast asleep.
-------------------------------------------------------------
'Dinner' had been the best meal Buffy had had since 'Joyce's Kitchen' became 'Buffy's Kitchen.' Of course, a meal at Burger Barn would have received the same compliment. But Lani had cooked her grilled salmon with teriyaki sauce, fresh asparagus and roasted new potatoes. Buffy didn't normally like wine, or any alcohol, for that matter. But Lani served her a fruity, white wine, and she found she enjoyed it very much.
After dinner, he refilled their wine glasses and they went back to the living room. Lani excused himself, then returned with a classical jazz CD, which he put in his player.
They continued talking. After a time, Lani told her about his wife's accident. Buffy could see that it was painful for him to talk about. At last, he stood up and faced away from Buffy. "I knew I would be lonely, but I never expected . . ." he broke off.
Buffy went to him, put a hand on his shoulder and squeezed lightly.
"I didn't expect to be so angry at her for it," he finished.
Buffy empathized completely. She spun him around to face her and then she hugged him, tears spilling down her face.
They remained in that position for several long minutes. Then Buffy, who had been absently stroking his back in comfort, began inching her hands up further; caressing the back of his neck, letting her hand rest on the back of his head. He responded by pulling her closer, and she could feel his desire coursing through him. She unfastened the leather clip that held his hair back, letting it drop to the floor. She ran her hands through his thick, black hair, then pulled back to look at his face. He looked at her hesitantly. And then desire and passion took over his features and he kissed her. He gave her two quick pecks at first, as if he were trying to find out if he was merely grateful for her company and her understanding, or if his feelings for her were more powerful than that. Buffy saved him the trouble of deciding.
Maybe it was because she hadn't been with a man in a long time. Maybe it was because she was lonely. Or maybe it was because she was so drawn to this man, not in any way she could explain, but she wasn't planning on leaving any time soon. She brushed a stray hair off his forehead, took his head between her hands and kissed him tenderly. He kissed her back more urgently, pressing his lips forcefully against hers. Her mouth opened almost involuntarily, and Lani took advantage and explored her mouth with his tongue. Soon, Buffy was thrusting her tongue deep inside Lani's mouth and running her hands up under his shirt, playing with the dark, curly hair on his chest. Suddenly, he broke away.
"Will you excuse me for a moment?" he asked.
"Sure."
Lani went into the bathroom. He removed his shirt and hung it on the doorknob. He placed his hands on his chest where Buffy's had been moments before. He closed his eyes and inhaled deeply. He shuddered. He pressed his fingertips into the thickest part of the dark curls-and began peeling his skin off.
Buffy felt silly standing there waiting for Lani to finish up in the bathroom, and so she sat down on the sofa. She reached for her wine and was disappointed to discover it was empty. She closed her eyes and listened to the music--not normally her preference, but it was very relaxing. She waited for a while, mildly curious what was taking him so long. But eventually the combination of the wine, her full belly and the soft rhythms filling the room resulted in her falling asleep on the sofa without a care in the world. She slept without dreaming for twelve hours straight. While she slept, her mind succumbed to her new world. She no longer remembered she had a sister, a watcher, enemies or friends back in Sunnydale. She accepted that she was meant to be with Lani and Ulog.