Rating: PG, just general Buffy-ish type things a-happenin'
Feedback: I'd like that very much, thank you.
Spoilers: If you know about Tara and Spike's Chip, you're good to go.
Distribution: Here. If you're interested, please let me know.
Summary: Willow's magic has backfired again, and this time she's so upset she decides it would be better if she leaves Sunnydale.
Author's Note: Set sometime during Season 4.
Disclaimer: All characters are owned by Mutant Enemy (Joss Whedon), a wonderfully creative company whose charcters I have borrowed for a completely profit-free flight of fancy. Kindly do not sue me, please, as I am terrified of you. Thank you.
Dedication: For Joe, who is going to have a great future ahead of him.
Chapter 6
The world around them had begun to change once more. In a moment they had left L.A. and were standing in the middle of Giles's familiar living room. The first thing Willow noticed was that every single horizontal surface in the room was covered in stacks of books. The place was a mess.
"What happened here? Bomb explode?" Willow couldn't help the slightly hurt and angry tone in her voice. After all, it had been Giles who had yelled at her so violently.
"He's too busy to do much organizing anymore." Jenny's voice held a note of wistfulness that hadn't been there in any of the other situations. Willow knew immediately that, ghost or not, she was still very much in love with the Watcher.
Suddenly, he appeared in the kitchen doorframe. Giles looked like death warmed over. There were bags under his eyes that plainly showed he hadn't slept well in a very long time. He was clutching a cup of coffee as though his life depended on it. He made his way over to the low table in front of the fireplace, pushed aside a few tomes, and sat on the floor. He started to pour over the volumes at once. Willow noticed that his face was pressed very close to the pages.
"His eyes have gotten weak from straining to read so many old texts by himself. No one was able to help him with research, and the computer, as I'm sure you know, is not an option for him," she said as she gazed at the man gently, shaking her head. "That's all he does anymore, morning through night. Just reads."
Giles lifted his head and blinked his eyes rapidly, rubbing his forehead as though trying to chase away a headache. There was no sparkle in his eyes at all. He was obviously unhappy and desperately lonely.
"But the other Scoobies always helped him out. He's, like, everybody's friend: the one we'd all go to if we were really in trouble. We love him." She turned her eyes to Jenny. "We've taken good care of him for you."
"I know," she smiled at the younger witch, "and believe me, I bless you for it. But in this reality, none of that is the case. You were really the one who helped Giles be accepted by the rest of the group as a friend instead of just a Watcher. Besides, there aren't any Scoobies anymore. Giles and Buffy are it."
Willow blinked as the reality of this statement hit her. Jenny was right. In this world there was no Xander or Anya, no Cordelia or Angel, no Tara. Even Spike was gone.
As Willow let the fact of this sink in, Jenny quietly moved closer to Giles. She knelt next to him on the floor and studied his face. Slowly, she raised her hand and reached her fingers towards his cheek, obviously wanting to caress him. She didn't allow her fingertips to quite reach his skin, knowing that neither of them would feel anything and wanting to keep the illusion of possibility. She shut her eyes in heartache.
"I look down on him often, watching over him, but I can't bear to see him like this."
Willow had watched the whole scene with tears in her eyes. She couldn't help wondering what Giles's life might be like if Angelus had never killed Jenny.
"I didn't know. I swear I didn't know!" Giles suddenly shouted at no one, and he threw the book across the room. It landed face up on the hearth. Willow saw the title emblazoned in Gothic script on the red leather cover: On the Habits of Werewolves.
"How was I to know he was a human?" he asked himself angrily. Guilt seemed to weigh heavily around his shoulders.
"Jenny, what happened?" Willow had a feeling she wasn't going to like the answer to her question.
"About two years ago Giles ran into Oz in werewolf form. Because Oz didn't meet you, he didn't know what was happening to him during the full moon, so he was never confined. I'm afraid Giles wouldn't have been his first victim. As it turned out, Giles was forced to kill him in self-defense. He's never been able to forgive himself since he found out that the werewolf was really a teenage boy."
"Oz is dead? Giles killed Oz?" Willow's face turned as white as the ghostly woman in front of her. She knew in her heart that Giles would never want to hurt anyone, and without even stopping for a moment she had already forgiven him. Still, her heart felt as though it had been ripped from her. A part of her would always love Oz.
