Chapter 7-Running Away
Willow had no idea what to expect. All she could think about was when Xander bought the bracelet for Buffy just before cheerleading tryouts. She remembered throwing Holy Water into Darla's face to get her off from Giles when they were at the Bronze. She remembered Buffy talking about a tall and dark stranger who was both handsome and mysterious. That was Angel she later found out.
She remembered confronting Amy Madison in the corridor and asking her if witches really did ride upon brooms. Then she opened her eyes to discover her world was gone. She sat in silence as Giles drove to Sunnydale. Faith sat with her in the back, but for the most part, they didn't talk. What could they say? What could they possibly tell Willow that would change things back to the way they were?
Giles hadn't told Buffy what had happened yet. He had tried, but each time he had called, he just couldn't bring himself to do it. It was hard over the phone to break this kind of news so he decided to do it in person.
As he pulled the car into Buffy Summer's driveway, time seemed to slow down for all of them.
Faith wondered how Buffy would react when she saw her. Giles worried how everyone would take the news that Willow was not who she had been and was now who she should have been. Willow was just scared to death. She began to tremble as she looked out the window at Buffy's house. She had been there a few times that she could remember, but she had to remember that Giles told her she lived there.
Willow wondered about that as Giles turned to face her. "Willow, are-are you ready for this?"
Willow looked at him with tears in her eyes. "Uhm...no, but, I-I have to."
Faith regarded her. "No, you don't have to. You can leave. You can go anywhere you want to go, and we'll take you there. The life you knew is gone, Will. Things are different."
Willow looked at her. "I h-have to know what happened to my life."
She paused. "Okay."
"J-just don't leave me."
Faith smiled reassuringly at her. "I won't."
Giles and Faith climbed out of the car. Willow couldn't bring herself to move until Faith came around and opened the door for her. Willow wiped at her eyes, took a deep breath, and climbed out.
"You're back!" someone exclaimed with excitement from behind.
They all turned and stared as a young woman raced up the walk toward them. Giles turned white when he recognized the girl and he was too late to stop what happened next. The girl wrapped her arms around Willow and pressed her lips to hers.
Giles could have slapped himself for his own stupidity. Throughout the talk he had with Willow, he had stupidly forgotten all about Tara. How could he possibly have forgotten, he would never know. Now it was too late to say anything about it.
Willow tensed and her eyes stared as the girl continued to kiss her. She couldn't bring herself to move. Tara finally stopped kissing her when she realized that something was wrong. Slowly, she backed up and looked at Willow with concern.
"W-Willow, what's wrong?" She looked into her eyes, searching.
Willow took a step back. She stumbled and nearly fell, but Faith caught her by the arm, helping to steady her.
Tara took a step closer, a puzzled frown on her face. "Willow?"
Faith held up a hand in front of her. "Back off, sister." The look she gave the girl stopped her in her tracks.
"Ta-Tara," Giles said softly, "something has happened."
Tara looked at Willow fearfully. She was shocked at what she saw. "Oh, my God, she-she doesn't recognize me." She bit her lip nervously. "Giles, what-what's happened to her? Is she going to be alright?"
Giles looked at Willow.
Willow stayed beside Faith and watched Tara carefully. She looked scared as she absently wiped at her mouth with a shaking hand. There were tears in her eyes. She kept thinking to herself, I was kissed by a girl. Ewwww!
Tara wanted to hold her so badly, but she didn't move. She didn't want to frighten Willow any more than she already had.
"Is Buffy home?" Giles asked.
Tara paused, looking at Willow. "Yes. Xander and-and Anya are here, too."
"Dawn?"
Tara nodded.
Giles paused. "Okay. I'm-I'm going to take Willow into the kitchen. Would you please get Buffy and Xander and have them meet us there?"
"Yes. I can do that." She looked at Willow one more time, and went into the house through the front door. By the time she was inside, she was on the verge of tears.
Dawn, Anya, Xander, and Buffy were all in the living room. They were just sitting around shooting the breeze. To be able to kick back and relax in the company of friends was the ultimate hangout thing to do. When they saw the look on Tara's face, however, the mood in the room suddenly changed.
"Tara, what's wrong?" Dawn asked her with concern.
Tara hesitated. "W-well, there's, uhm, Giles is b-back with Wil-Willow, and-and there's some other g-girl with them." She looked at Buffy. She knew the other girl was Faith, and she remembered how mean Faith had been to her when she was in Buffy's body. She didn't know how to tell Buffy about Faith being the other girl without Buffy getting a little too upset about it.
"Anybody we know?" Xander asked with a casual grin.
Tara swallowed nervously. "Uh, I-I don't know how to tell you th-this, b- but, uhm..." She took a deep breath. She looked from Xander to Buffy. "Giles wants to s-see both of you in the kitchen."
Buffy regarded her with a troubled expression on her face. "Tara, what's going on?"
"S-something's wrong..." Tara closed her eyes as she felt them fill with her tears. She took another breath, and she made herself look at Buffy. "Something's wrong w-with Willow, Buffy. She looked at me...and-and she didn't even know me."
Xander raised himself from the sofa. "Hey, what do you mean there's something wrong with Willow?"
Anya frowned and looked at him. She remained silent, but she didn't like the way things were going. Every time something happened to poor little Willow, up went Xander, ready to defend her in every possible way.
Tara looked at him, desperation in her eyes. "I-I don't know, Xander. She just doesn't know w-who I am. I-I kissed her, and-and she acted like I-I gave her the plague." She was trying hard to understand what was happening.
"Hey," Xander said as he put his hands on Tara's shoulders reassuringly, "we'll find out what's wrong. Okay? Whatever help Angel needed in LA, something happened, and now they're back home. Maybe it's just a little setback. Give Willow a little time and everything will return to normal." He smiled. "Okay?"
She shook her head. "No, Xander. I-I don't think this can be fixed."
Xander looked at her. He was beginning to wonder what had happened in LA. What happened to my Willow? he wondered. One thing was certain, and that was if anything did happen to Willow, he was damned well going to find out what it was. He turned to Buffy. "Let's go in the kitchen," he said calmly.
Buffy nodded. She turned to Tara. "Who's the girl you saw with Giles and Willow?"
Tara didn't answer.
"Tara?"
She closed her eyes. "I-it's Faith," she said softly.
Dawn looked at her closely. "Who?"
Buffy glared, but she knew it wasn't Tara's fault. "Did you just say the name I think you said?"
Tara nodded.
"She's here? In my HOUSE?"
Anya looked at Buffy curiously.
Tara shrugged hopelessly. "B-Buffy, I'm sorry, b-but, yes. Faith is in y- your kitchen."
Buffy turned around and headed angrily for the kitchen. Xander went to follow when something made him stop in his tracks.
Anya said under her breath, "There goes our hero, off to save the Willow- damsel in distress."
Xander looked at her. "What did you say?"
She smiled sweetly. "Nothing. Forget it."
He regarded her. He knew what he heard, but he didn't have time to deal with it at the moment. If Willow needed him, he was there. That's all there was to it. He turned and went after Buffy to the kitchen.
______
Giles and Faith lead Willow through the back door into the kitchen. Willow stood by nervously as Faith stayed with her and Giles closed the door. He noticed that the sun was just going down and let out a weary sigh. He feared that any moment now, Spike would show up.
Buffy came into the kitchen with Xander following behind, and they both went to Willow. Their concern for her was all over their faces.
"Tara said something happened to Willow," Buffy said. She glared daggers at Faith. "She also told me that YOU were here, too!" She took a deep breath in an attempt to calm her nerves. "Giles, what's going on? What happened in LA?"
"Will, are you okay?" Xander asked with concern as he put his hands on her shoulders.
Willow looked into his eyes. She took a deep breath. "X-Xander...?"
Xander looked into her eyes. "Hey, Will, you're shaking." Deeply worried, he put his arms around her and held her close. "Hey, it's okay. I'm here now. I've got you."
Willow broke down and cried. She was so glad to see him again. She never thought he would ever be this close. She closed her eyes and felt him against her.
Buffy turned to face Faith. "Did you do something to her, because if you did, I swear to God, I--"
"It wasn't me who did this," Faith told her harshly. "Catherine Madison did, and you should have known somehow." She looked at Xander. "You especially."
"Catherine Madison?" Buffy inquired, puzzled. "What the hell are you talking about? Catherine Madison is dead. She went to some dark void a few years ago."
Xander just looked at Faith as he held Willow. He remembered when Madison had been stopped and Buffy had been saved, but he didn't know what any of that had to do with Willow now.
"How did you know about that, anyway, Faith? You weren't here then!" Buffy turned to Giles in frustration before the raven-haired girl could respond. "What happened?"
Giles let out a weary sigh. "We told Faith ab-about Madison, Buffy."
"Before I take your head off your shoulders," Buffy told him sweetly, "can you tell me why you would tell her about that?"
Faith rolled her eyes and shook her head. "God, B! Lighten up. I'm trying to help Willow."
Buffy glared at her.
"Buffy, f-for five years, the Willow Rosenberg we-we knew was not the real Willow Rosenberg." He paused for affect. "It was Catherine Madison."
Buffy and Xander stared at him. Willow looked up at Xander and waited for him to throw her aside.
"The real Willow," Giles continued, "has be-been trapped within a cheerleading trophy for five years while Catherine Madison lived the life that should not have been hers."
Xander took Willow's head gently in his hands and looked at her face closely. He looked into her eyes. He looked at her nose, her mouth. He drank her in because he didn't want to believe it. It couldn't be true. He would have known. He WOULD HAVE KNOWN!
Willow didn't move. She looked at him helplessly. She hoped against hope that he wouldn't hate her.
"This-this can't be!" Buffy exclaimed. "Willow's my best friend, I would have known if something was different."
Giles shook his head. "You and I both were new, and-and we were both just getting to know her." He paused. "We were both easily fooled."
"Why would she do this?" Buffy asked. "Why would Madison take Willow's life? It-it doesn't make any sense!"
"She wanted to be young again, and for a time, she was."
Buffy looked at Xander and Willow. She ignored Faith. She made a fist and turned to glare at Giles. "Willow...or Madison..." She sighed. "Giles, this is wrong. If that was Madison, she was good. She helped us! She-she wasn't bad, and everybody loved her. How could this be? The Madison we knew was evil!"
"I don't know. Perhaps she-she played the part of Willow so well that in a sense, she became Willow. The fact remains. She wasn't Willow." He pointed at the weeping girl in Xander's arms. "She is."
Buffy frowned. "Where is Madison now?"
"In the goddamn friggin' trophy," Faith answered.
Buffy looked at her. "And you're here because...?"
"I'm helping Willow."
"Is that right? How? You tried to kill her once."
"I tried to kill you, too. Look, B. I'm not perfect. I made a lot of stupid ass mistakes, but I paid for them. I don't expect you to forgive me and welcome me back with open arms--"
"That's a relief," Buffy interrupted, "'cause you're sure as hell not going to find one OUNCE of forgiveness here!"
Faith let out a sigh. "I'm not here for any cheap, crackerjack forgiveness, B. I'm here as Willow's friend whether you like it or not. She needs me and I'm helping her."
Xander held Willow, listening to the conversation around them. "Willow, is this...God, is this true?" he whispered hoarsely to her. His eyes were wide. "Is it?" His throat felt tight with emotion.
Willow nodded. "How...?" she trailed off. She looked into his eyes, searching.
Xander knew what she was about to ask him, but she didn't have the strength to form the words. How could he not have known? He thought long and hard about it, and he was ashamed of himself for not having an answer. He looked at Willow. "I'm so sorry."
She looked into his eyes. "Me-me, too." She felt useless. She felt more alone in that moment than she had ever felt. How could she be important to anyone if no one really knew who she was?
Xander knew what she was thinking. "No, Will. Please, I'm so sorry, more than you can know, but you are special. We do love you. Please don't shut us out. Don't shut me--"
"Why are you cuddling with her again?"
All eyes turned toward the sound of that voice. Anya was standing in the doorway with her hands on her hips.
Xander swallowed. "Anya, please go in the other room. This is NOT the time."
Anya, however, didn't move. "But look at you. You're holding your best friend. Again! You always hold her. You hold her when you're at the movies. You hold her when she breaks a nail. You hold her when she smiles at you. I smile at you. You would think you'd hold me."
Xander let go of Willow and moved toward Anya. "This is very important, Anya."
"Oh, I'm sure it is." She looked at Willow. "Why do you hug other girls boyfriends? Is that a human thing? Is that something I should try?" She paused. "I suppose some people like it when their boyfriends are hugged, but I don't like it. At least, I'm sure I don't." She looked at Xander. "What is wrong with Willow now that she gets a hug and I don't?"
Buffy shook her head. "You've got a lot to learn."
Faith took a menacing step forward. "I'd like to be the teacher."
Anya looked at her. "Who are you? Are you threatening me?"
"Please," Giles began, trying to smooth things over, "everyone just-just calm down. This is hard enough for us all, and we-we need to remain rational about this."
No one calmed down. Anya was still trying to get answers from Xander, and Xander wanted her to leave the room. Buffy was holding Faith back from taking off Anya's head. Giles couldn't get anyone to listen to him.
Suddenly, there was a loud whistle.
All eyes turned to see Spike and Dawn standing in the doorway. Spike had whistled to get their attention. When they all looked at him, he let out a sigh and frowned at them. "What's wrong with Red?" he asked. "And where the bloody hell is she off to in such a fired up hurry?"
"Where is she off to?" Xander asked. He looked around.
Willow was no longer in the kitchen.
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TO BE CONTINUED--
Willow had no idea what to expect. All she could think about was when Xander bought the bracelet for Buffy just before cheerleading tryouts. She remembered throwing Holy Water into Darla's face to get her off from Giles when they were at the Bronze. She remembered Buffy talking about a tall and dark stranger who was both handsome and mysterious. That was Angel she later found out.
She remembered confronting Amy Madison in the corridor and asking her if witches really did ride upon brooms. Then she opened her eyes to discover her world was gone. She sat in silence as Giles drove to Sunnydale. Faith sat with her in the back, but for the most part, they didn't talk. What could they say? What could they possibly tell Willow that would change things back to the way they were?
Giles hadn't told Buffy what had happened yet. He had tried, but each time he had called, he just couldn't bring himself to do it. It was hard over the phone to break this kind of news so he decided to do it in person.
As he pulled the car into Buffy Summer's driveway, time seemed to slow down for all of them.
Faith wondered how Buffy would react when she saw her. Giles worried how everyone would take the news that Willow was not who she had been and was now who she should have been. Willow was just scared to death. She began to tremble as she looked out the window at Buffy's house. She had been there a few times that she could remember, but she had to remember that Giles told her she lived there.
Willow wondered about that as Giles turned to face her. "Willow, are-are you ready for this?"
Willow looked at him with tears in her eyes. "Uhm...no, but, I-I have to."
Faith regarded her. "No, you don't have to. You can leave. You can go anywhere you want to go, and we'll take you there. The life you knew is gone, Will. Things are different."
Willow looked at her. "I h-have to know what happened to my life."
She paused. "Okay."
"J-just don't leave me."
Faith smiled reassuringly at her. "I won't."
Giles and Faith climbed out of the car. Willow couldn't bring herself to move until Faith came around and opened the door for her. Willow wiped at her eyes, took a deep breath, and climbed out.
"You're back!" someone exclaimed with excitement from behind.
They all turned and stared as a young woman raced up the walk toward them. Giles turned white when he recognized the girl and he was too late to stop what happened next. The girl wrapped her arms around Willow and pressed her lips to hers.
Giles could have slapped himself for his own stupidity. Throughout the talk he had with Willow, he had stupidly forgotten all about Tara. How could he possibly have forgotten, he would never know. Now it was too late to say anything about it.
Willow tensed and her eyes stared as the girl continued to kiss her. She couldn't bring herself to move. Tara finally stopped kissing her when she realized that something was wrong. Slowly, she backed up and looked at Willow with concern.
"W-Willow, what's wrong?" She looked into her eyes, searching.
Willow took a step back. She stumbled and nearly fell, but Faith caught her by the arm, helping to steady her.
Tara took a step closer, a puzzled frown on her face. "Willow?"
Faith held up a hand in front of her. "Back off, sister." The look she gave the girl stopped her in her tracks.
"Ta-Tara," Giles said softly, "something has happened."
Tara looked at Willow fearfully. She was shocked at what she saw. "Oh, my God, she-she doesn't recognize me." She bit her lip nervously. "Giles, what-what's happened to her? Is she going to be alright?"
Giles looked at Willow.
Willow stayed beside Faith and watched Tara carefully. She looked scared as she absently wiped at her mouth with a shaking hand. There were tears in her eyes. She kept thinking to herself, I was kissed by a girl. Ewwww!
Tara wanted to hold her so badly, but she didn't move. She didn't want to frighten Willow any more than she already had.
"Is Buffy home?" Giles asked.
Tara paused, looking at Willow. "Yes. Xander and-and Anya are here, too."
"Dawn?"
Tara nodded.
Giles paused. "Okay. I'm-I'm going to take Willow into the kitchen. Would you please get Buffy and Xander and have them meet us there?"
"Yes. I can do that." She looked at Willow one more time, and went into the house through the front door. By the time she was inside, she was on the verge of tears.
Dawn, Anya, Xander, and Buffy were all in the living room. They were just sitting around shooting the breeze. To be able to kick back and relax in the company of friends was the ultimate hangout thing to do. When they saw the look on Tara's face, however, the mood in the room suddenly changed.
"Tara, what's wrong?" Dawn asked her with concern.
Tara hesitated. "W-well, there's, uhm, Giles is b-back with Wil-Willow, and-and there's some other g-girl with them." She looked at Buffy. She knew the other girl was Faith, and she remembered how mean Faith had been to her when she was in Buffy's body. She didn't know how to tell Buffy about Faith being the other girl without Buffy getting a little too upset about it.
"Anybody we know?" Xander asked with a casual grin.
Tara swallowed nervously. "Uh, I-I don't know how to tell you th-this, b- but, uhm..." She took a deep breath. She looked from Xander to Buffy. "Giles wants to s-see both of you in the kitchen."
Buffy regarded her with a troubled expression on her face. "Tara, what's going on?"
"S-something's wrong..." Tara closed her eyes as she felt them fill with her tears. She took another breath, and she made herself look at Buffy. "Something's wrong w-with Willow, Buffy. She looked at me...and-and she didn't even know me."
Xander raised himself from the sofa. "Hey, what do you mean there's something wrong with Willow?"
Anya frowned and looked at him. She remained silent, but she didn't like the way things were going. Every time something happened to poor little Willow, up went Xander, ready to defend her in every possible way.
Tara looked at him, desperation in her eyes. "I-I don't know, Xander. She just doesn't know w-who I am. I-I kissed her, and-and she acted like I-I gave her the plague." She was trying hard to understand what was happening.
"Hey," Xander said as he put his hands on Tara's shoulders reassuringly, "we'll find out what's wrong. Okay? Whatever help Angel needed in LA, something happened, and now they're back home. Maybe it's just a little setback. Give Willow a little time and everything will return to normal." He smiled. "Okay?"
She shook her head. "No, Xander. I-I don't think this can be fixed."
Xander looked at her. He was beginning to wonder what had happened in LA. What happened to my Willow? he wondered. One thing was certain, and that was if anything did happen to Willow, he was damned well going to find out what it was. He turned to Buffy. "Let's go in the kitchen," he said calmly.
Buffy nodded. She turned to Tara. "Who's the girl you saw with Giles and Willow?"
Tara didn't answer.
"Tara?"
She closed her eyes. "I-it's Faith," she said softly.
Dawn looked at her closely. "Who?"
Buffy glared, but she knew it wasn't Tara's fault. "Did you just say the name I think you said?"
Tara nodded.
"She's here? In my HOUSE?"
Anya looked at Buffy curiously.
Tara shrugged hopelessly. "B-Buffy, I'm sorry, b-but, yes. Faith is in y- your kitchen."
Buffy turned around and headed angrily for the kitchen. Xander went to follow when something made him stop in his tracks.
Anya said under her breath, "There goes our hero, off to save the Willow- damsel in distress."
Xander looked at her. "What did you say?"
She smiled sweetly. "Nothing. Forget it."
He regarded her. He knew what he heard, but he didn't have time to deal with it at the moment. If Willow needed him, he was there. That's all there was to it. He turned and went after Buffy to the kitchen.
______
Giles and Faith lead Willow through the back door into the kitchen. Willow stood by nervously as Faith stayed with her and Giles closed the door. He noticed that the sun was just going down and let out a weary sigh. He feared that any moment now, Spike would show up.
Buffy came into the kitchen with Xander following behind, and they both went to Willow. Their concern for her was all over their faces.
"Tara said something happened to Willow," Buffy said. She glared daggers at Faith. "She also told me that YOU were here, too!" She took a deep breath in an attempt to calm her nerves. "Giles, what's going on? What happened in LA?"
"Will, are you okay?" Xander asked with concern as he put his hands on her shoulders.
Willow looked into his eyes. She took a deep breath. "X-Xander...?"
Xander looked into her eyes. "Hey, Will, you're shaking." Deeply worried, he put his arms around her and held her close. "Hey, it's okay. I'm here now. I've got you."
Willow broke down and cried. She was so glad to see him again. She never thought he would ever be this close. She closed her eyes and felt him against her.
Buffy turned to face Faith. "Did you do something to her, because if you did, I swear to God, I--"
"It wasn't me who did this," Faith told her harshly. "Catherine Madison did, and you should have known somehow." She looked at Xander. "You especially."
"Catherine Madison?" Buffy inquired, puzzled. "What the hell are you talking about? Catherine Madison is dead. She went to some dark void a few years ago."
Xander just looked at Faith as he held Willow. He remembered when Madison had been stopped and Buffy had been saved, but he didn't know what any of that had to do with Willow now.
"How did you know about that, anyway, Faith? You weren't here then!" Buffy turned to Giles in frustration before the raven-haired girl could respond. "What happened?"
Giles let out a weary sigh. "We told Faith ab-about Madison, Buffy."
"Before I take your head off your shoulders," Buffy told him sweetly, "can you tell me why you would tell her about that?"
Faith rolled her eyes and shook her head. "God, B! Lighten up. I'm trying to help Willow."
Buffy glared at her.
"Buffy, f-for five years, the Willow Rosenberg we-we knew was not the real Willow Rosenberg." He paused for affect. "It was Catherine Madison."
Buffy and Xander stared at him. Willow looked up at Xander and waited for him to throw her aside.
"The real Willow," Giles continued, "has be-been trapped within a cheerleading trophy for five years while Catherine Madison lived the life that should not have been hers."
Xander took Willow's head gently in his hands and looked at her face closely. He looked into her eyes. He looked at her nose, her mouth. He drank her in because he didn't want to believe it. It couldn't be true. He would have known. He WOULD HAVE KNOWN!
Willow didn't move. She looked at him helplessly. She hoped against hope that he wouldn't hate her.
"This-this can't be!" Buffy exclaimed. "Willow's my best friend, I would have known if something was different."
Giles shook his head. "You and I both were new, and-and we were both just getting to know her." He paused. "We were both easily fooled."
"Why would she do this?" Buffy asked. "Why would Madison take Willow's life? It-it doesn't make any sense!"
"She wanted to be young again, and for a time, she was."
Buffy looked at Xander and Willow. She ignored Faith. She made a fist and turned to glare at Giles. "Willow...or Madison..." She sighed. "Giles, this is wrong. If that was Madison, she was good. She helped us! She-she wasn't bad, and everybody loved her. How could this be? The Madison we knew was evil!"
"I don't know. Perhaps she-she played the part of Willow so well that in a sense, she became Willow. The fact remains. She wasn't Willow." He pointed at the weeping girl in Xander's arms. "She is."
Buffy frowned. "Where is Madison now?"
"In the goddamn friggin' trophy," Faith answered.
Buffy looked at her. "And you're here because...?"
"I'm helping Willow."
"Is that right? How? You tried to kill her once."
"I tried to kill you, too. Look, B. I'm not perfect. I made a lot of stupid ass mistakes, but I paid for them. I don't expect you to forgive me and welcome me back with open arms--"
"That's a relief," Buffy interrupted, "'cause you're sure as hell not going to find one OUNCE of forgiveness here!"
Faith let out a sigh. "I'm not here for any cheap, crackerjack forgiveness, B. I'm here as Willow's friend whether you like it or not. She needs me and I'm helping her."
Xander held Willow, listening to the conversation around them. "Willow, is this...God, is this true?" he whispered hoarsely to her. His eyes were wide. "Is it?" His throat felt tight with emotion.
Willow nodded. "How...?" she trailed off. She looked into his eyes, searching.
Xander knew what she was about to ask him, but she didn't have the strength to form the words. How could he not have known? He thought long and hard about it, and he was ashamed of himself for not having an answer. He looked at Willow. "I'm so sorry."
She looked into his eyes. "Me-me, too." She felt useless. She felt more alone in that moment than she had ever felt. How could she be important to anyone if no one really knew who she was?
Xander knew what she was thinking. "No, Will. Please, I'm so sorry, more than you can know, but you are special. We do love you. Please don't shut us out. Don't shut me--"
"Why are you cuddling with her again?"
All eyes turned toward the sound of that voice. Anya was standing in the doorway with her hands on her hips.
Xander swallowed. "Anya, please go in the other room. This is NOT the time."
Anya, however, didn't move. "But look at you. You're holding your best friend. Again! You always hold her. You hold her when you're at the movies. You hold her when she breaks a nail. You hold her when she smiles at you. I smile at you. You would think you'd hold me."
Xander let go of Willow and moved toward Anya. "This is very important, Anya."
"Oh, I'm sure it is." She looked at Willow. "Why do you hug other girls boyfriends? Is that a human thing? Is that something I should try?" She paused. "I suppose some people like it when their boyfriends are hugged, but I don't like it. At least, I'm sure I don't." She looked at Xander. "What is wrong with Willow now that she gets a hug and I don't?"
Buffy shook her head. "You've got a lot to learn."
Faith took a menacing step forward. "I'd like to be the teacher."
Anya looked at her. "Who are you? Are you threatening me?"
"Please," Giles began, trying to smooth things over, "everyone just-just calm down. This is hard enough for us all, and we-we need to remain rational about this."
No one calmed down. Anya was still trying to get answers from Xander, and Xander wanted her to leave the room. Buffy was holding Faith back from taking off Anya's head. Giles couldn't get anyone to listen to him.
Suddenly, there was a loud whistle.
All eyes turned to see Spike and Dawn standing in the doorway. Spike had whistled to get their attention. When they all looked at him, he let out a sigh and frowned at them. "What's wrong with Red?" he asked. "And where the bloody hell is she off to in such a fired up hurry?"
"Where is she off to?" Xander asked. He looked around.
Willow was no longer in the kitchen.
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TO BE CONTINUED--