Willow stared at the familiar musty bookshelves surrounding her.  She breathed in deeply, relishing in the smell of the old, friendly books.  She walked among the bookshelves and brushed her hand across the wall, trying to make sure it was all real.

"Sunnydale High," she said, closing her eyes.  Sunnydale High was gone forever, and yet she was standing right inside it.  Time travel, her mind immediately jumped to.  How else could I be here?  Gotta be time travel. 

"H-hello?  Is someone there?" a voice called out from the front of the room.  Willow smiled.  I'd recognize that stuffy, British voice anywhere!  She walked slowly out from behind the shelves to come face to face with Giles.

"Um, may I help you?" he asked, and then squinted at the woman.  She could see his lips forming the name Willow, but he said nothing.

"I think you definitely can, Giles," she said quietly.

"Do I know you?" he asked raising his eyebrows.  Suddenly, Willow saw a spark in his eyes.  "Oh, I do know who you are!"

Willow blinked.  "You… do?"

"Yes!" he exclaimed.  "You're the new slayer!"

Willow blinked again.  "I think I need to sit down."

"All right," Willow said, sipping some tea.  "Care to explain… anything at all?"

Giles took off his glasses and began to clean them.  "There was a slayer called here.  She was strong and just an amazing person.  However… she didn't think about her actions.  She got herself killed."

Willow blanched and gasped.  "Buffy," she whispered.

"Yes, Buffy," Giles said, a few tears forming in his eyes.  "The master killed her.  Ang—one of her… friends… was able to kill the master.  Unfortunately, he couldn't revive Buffy."

But this is all wrong, Willow thought frantically, trying to keep her face neutral.  Angel found Buffy, Xander revived her, and she kicked the Master's ass!

"We've been waiting for the next slayer," Giles continued.  "I spoke to a man representing the council, though I could barely understand him through his thick Irish accent, and he said that a woman with your physical features was to be the next slayer."

"Well, how do you know it's me?" Willow asked, still utterly confused.

"She's a witch," Giles said.  "And the fact that the questions normal people would ask—things such as 'How can vampires exist?', 'What's a slayer?', 'Who's the master?', etc.—were not asked by you makes me think that you are even more likely to be her."

Willow sighed.  "There are things about me that I cannot—and frankly, will not—explain about myself, things such as how I know about these sorts of things, but that doesn't mean I'm the next slayer."

"There's a test to check if you are," Giles said, his eyes glittering.

"Really?" Willow asked, surprised.  "I never knew of such a thing."

"There should be a large mark on your lower right shoulder," Giles explained.  "There's a mirror in my office," he gestured, "you can check there."

Willow nodded and left to the office.  Slowly, she brought her shirt up until she could see the mark.  She lower her shirt quickly and returned to Giles.

Giles could tell from her expression that she had seen the mark.  "As I said," Giles smiled, "you're the next slayer."  He paused.  "And you would be?"

"Wi—" Willow stopped herself.  "Rose.  Rose Williams." 

"If you don't mind me asking, why are you here, Rose?  You had no idea about the slayer part of your life until just now.  What brought you here?"

Willow closed her eyes and breathed in deeply.  "I have no idea."

"I've told the others to meet me here at 6, in about 5 minutes," Giles said to Willow later that day. 

"The others?" Willow asked, pretending to be completely clueless.

"Well Buffy was not alone.  She had… others helping her," Giles explained.

"We're here, Giles!" Xander called, bursting through the library doors.

"What was so important that you had to force us to be here on a Friday night?" Cordelia asked.  "I mean some of us might have had dates."  She paused.  "Well Xander and Willow definitely wouldn't have, but I—"

"Yeah Giles," young Willow interrupted.  "What do you want?"

Giles came out with Willow from behind the bookshelves.

"This is the new slayer, Rose," Giles said, gesturing to Willow.  She smiled weakly and waved.

"She looks just like—" Xander whispered quietly.

"Me."

"She hardly looks like you," Cordelia said loudly, rolling her eyes.  "I mean, she has cute, short, bright red hair, you have long, mousy, reddish-brown hair.  You have incredibly awful clothes—sorry Willow, but fuzzy sweaters are not in—and she has cool clothes: a bright red tight-fitting tank-top and loose-fitting sweatpants.  You guys look nothing alike, besides your eyes, hair color, facial structure, skin—"

"We get it, Cordelia," Giles interrupted.  "Rose, that tactful girl would be Cordelia," he said, gesturing, "the boy staring at you would be Xander, the young girl that you resemble remarkably would be Willow, and—"

"I would be Angel," Angel finished, entering the room from the back.  "Sorry, I encountered some vampires on the way over here."

"Quite all right Angel.  This is Rose," he said.

"The new slayer," Xander added helpfully, gazing dopily at Willow.

Angel stared at the woman in front of him, examining her from head to toe.  She blushed under his intense gaze and reached out her hand to his.

"Nice to meet you, Angel," she said, shaking his hand.  "And the rest of you also."  She paused.  "Can I have my hand back now, Angel?"

Angel let go of her hand quickly and looked away.  "Sorry, I just—"

"Rose, there's something you need to know about Angel," Giles said softly.  "He's—"

"A vampire?" she asked, looking straight into Angel's eyes.  "Yeah, I know."

Giles blinked.  "Well, yes, but how could you possibly know?"

"I'm the slayer, right?" Willow asked nervously.  "I just… knew."

"Buffy didn't know at first," Angel said softly.

"I'm not Buffy."

"Well, sorry to interrupt this touching moment," Cordelia said after a moment of uncomfortable silence, "but can we go now?"

"I think we're done here for now," Giles said. 

"Um… well there is one thing," Willow said.  "I sort of… don't have anywhere to stay."

Giles cleared his throat and took off his glasses, beginning to clean them.  "Well, I suppose—"

"You can stay with me," Angel offered quietly.

Willow ran her options through and saw it as her only choice.  "All right.  I'll find a job here tomorrow so I can get my own place."

"Kitchen's there, bathroom's there, and there's the bedroom.  Just… make yourself at home, I guess.  I'll be sleeping on the couch—"

"No, Angel, don't put yourself out for me," Willow protested.  "I want to disrupt things as little as possible."

"Vampire, remember," Angel reminded her.  "I probably won't sleep.  You can put your things in my room and watch TV now, if you want."

"I don't have any things," she said quietly.  "The trip here was sort of… spur of the moment.  Not much time to pack anything at all."

Angel looked at her strangely for a moment, but then nodded.  "I can buy you somethings tomorrow, then."

"Angel—"

"Really, I don't mind.  You can't live in the same top and sweatpants forever," Angel said.

Willow sighed submissively.  "Fine.  But I will find a way to pay you back eventually."  She turned to Angel's room.  "I'm really wiped from the trip here, I think I'll just go to sleep now," she called over her shoulder.

Angel nodded as Willow left and tried to keep his mind off the woman he knew would haunt his dreams.

A/N:  Thanks for all the reviews.  This is the last made up chapter, the rest following will be based completely on the episodes, starting with "School Hard".