"Fine." Buffy dropped her hand from Xander's throat. Xander was just reaching to massage it when she grabbed his shirt and threw him out the door. "I don't want you here," she told him coldly. "Stay away from Dawn. If you come after her, after any of my friends, I swear. I will find a way to slay you."
Buffy slammed the door shut with force, and turned to see Giles and Willow staring at her.
"What?"
"That was perhaps not the wisest thing to do."
"What?"
"Sending him away, and from our earlier conversation, I got the impression that there were others..."
"Yeah like Albert," cut in Willow.
"Er ah yes." Giles stopped and glanced at Willow. An eyebrow went up. "Albert?"
"Albert," Willow told him. He was Buffy's Angel of Death when the Master killed her."
"Ah, I see." Giles wasn't sure he wanted to. "At any rate, you can not stop all of them. If we are on their list, they will come."
"Then what's the point," shouted Buffy. "What's the point of putting my life on the line, saving them, if they're gonna die anyway." Hot tears started streaming down her face. "What the point?"
"I wish I had a good answer," Giles said, as he and Willow helped the weeping girl to the sofa. "As the Slayer, your role is that of a protector, a role you fill admirably. Perhaps you need to be satisfied with the good that you do, with the lives you can save if only for a while longer, and realize that despite your best efforts, people will die, and it isn't Xander's fault that they will. His task is to help souls onto the next world."
"You think I should've let Xander stay?"
"I think you need to come to terms with Xander's new role, and your feelings toward it. A period of being apart may indeed be of help to you. Unfortunately, it can't be a permanent situation. You will have to make your peace with him."
"Why?"
"A rather obscure prophecy, one that I read some years ago, and dismissed because I could make no sense of it, neither could those who were my advisors at the time. I thought of it again, when we faced Glory, and thought perhaps that was it, because it involved the Slayer the Key and Death. The word for death was rather ambiguous, and now I'm beginning to wonder if I didn't misinterpret Death's Angel for Death itself."
Buffy slammed the door shut with force, and turned to see Giles and Willow staring at her.
"What?"
"That was perhaps not the wisest thing to do."
"What?"
"Sending him away, and from our earlier conversation, I got the impression that there were others..."
"Yeah like Albert," cut in Willow.
"Er ah yes." Giles stopped and glanced at Willow. An eyebrow went up. "Albert?"
"Albert," Willow told him. He was Buffy's Angel of Death when the Master killed her."
"Ah, I see." Giles wasn't sure he wanted to. "At any rate, you can not stop all of them. If we are on their list, they will come."
"Then what's the point," shouted Buffy. "What's the point of putting my life on the line, saving them, if they're gonna die anyway." Hot tears started streaming down her face. "What the point?"
"I wish I had a good answer," Giles said, as he and Willow helped the weeping girl to the sofa. "As the Slayer, your role is that of a protector, a role you fill admirably. Perhaps you need to be satisfied with the good that you do, with the lives you can save if only for a while longer, and realize that despite your best efforts, people will die, and it isn't Xander's fault that they will. His task is to help souls onto the next world."
"You think I should've let Xander stay?"
"I think you need to come to terms with Xander's new role, and your feelings toward it. A period of being apart may indeed be of help to you. Unfortunately, it can't be a permanent situation. You will have to make your peace with him."
"Why?"
"A rather obscure prophecy, one that I read some years ago, and dismissed because I could make no sense of it, neither could those who were my advisors at the time. I thought of it again, when we faced Glory, and thought perhaps that was it, because it involved the Slayer the Key and Death. The word for death was rather ambiguous, and now I'm beginning to wonder if I didn't misinterpret Death's Angel for Death itself."