The next day, Giles, Sarah, Willow, Anya and Buffy gathered at the Magic Box, Xander had to work, Tara had classes and Dawn had to go to school. Sarah told her friends just what had happened the day before, from the accidental moving of the teacup, via the side table, to the opening of the door from the other side of the room.

"I worked at it again this morning and it's still there," Sarah said, turning on her chair a bit so she was now looking towards an empty stool in front of the bookcases in the back, "look." She focused on the stool and without hesitation it moved, floated above the floor and came towards the group. It stopped before Giles who was sitting on the side of the table and wiggled before him in the air before it landed on the floor.

"Take a seat, dad," Sarah said.

"That's way impressive!" Willow said, "You've improved heaps!"

Sarah nodded

"And I like it, but I question the origin of it, this is too much an improvement to be just a left over from not using my power for days. And I find it hard to believe that turning into a vampire improved my power. I mean, I couldn't find anything about it in the books and if it were a normal thing, it should be in there, right?"

"I've never heard of it either," Giles added, "as far as I know, it's unprecedented."

"Well, let's just do some research," Buffy said, nodding to the pile of books on the table, "There's a shipload of books waiting…" She sighed.

All five grabbed a book and started researching and so the rest of the morning was spent. Around noon, they were halfway through the pile of books when Willow and Sarah decided to go get some food. Just as they were about to leave, Tara entered the shop.

"Tara!" Willow exclaimed and headed for her girlfriend.

"Hey," Tara said and they kissed.

"Sarah and I were just going to get some food," Willow said, "you want too?"

Tara nodded and indicated the back.

"I'll wait with the others," she said and headed to the other three.

"Come on Willow," Sarah said, standing in the doorway, "let's go, I'm starving."

Sarah quickly put the dark veil, normally worn by strict muslims and such, over her head and folded her sleeves down over her hands. The two then quickly left and headed for the Chinese take-out a few blocks away.

"So," Sarah began, "what do you think?" Willow looked at her and frowned. Then she realised.

"Your improvement… I don't know what to think. I think it's great for you that your power has strengthened but I have no idea about how it's possible. I mean, it shouldn't be. Because, you know… with you being dead and all… " She looked sideways at Sarah with an apologetic smile.

Sarah smiled, "It's okay, Wills. I've accepted me being dead."

"Yeah, well if anything were to happen to your power it should decrease because of the loss of the lifeforce."

"That's what I thought," Sarah said while nodding a little, "But couldn't it be that my power is a sort of sense, since my eyesight and hearing, which are senses, improved, and… well… you know…?"

Willow nodded, "Yeah, I get it. And it could be; but I'm not an expert on vamps."

"But you are on witchcraft and other stuff linked to that."

"Thanks," Willow said, smiling, "but I still don't know."

"I find it extra weird because when the vampire-you came from that other universe… Dad told me," Sarah said on Willow's look and continued, "she had no telekinesis or other power you had, right?" Willow nodded.

"Right; but… maybe it has something to do with the soul…" Willow said, thinking.

"Yeah… that could be…" Sarah said, nodding.

The two women reached the take-out and quickly entered, ordered and left again. They hurried back to the shop, since Sarah began to sweat under her veil. A few minutes later, they entered again and Sarah almost dropped the food to the floor and ripped her veil off.

"Phew," Sarah sighed, "Am I glad to take that off."

"Then why did you go in the first place, it's the middle of the day," Giles asked, concerned about her welfare.

"I needed a break from books and some fresh air. I feel freshened up now, even though the veil is hot." Sarah smiled and put the food on the back table.

She and Willow unpacked the food and the group went to eat, and talk. Buffy and Sarah began discussing some clothes they had seen in a magazine while Willow and Tara shared not only food, but also smoochies. Giles and Anya, meanwhile, talked about the Magic Box concerning, among other things, supplies.

It was an hour later when they had finished and threw away the boxes and leftovers. Afterwards they quickly returned to their books. About two hours later, just when the clock hit three-thirty, Anya looked up.

"How 'bout this?" she asked and pointed in the book. Giles pulled the book to him and read where Anya's finger had been. The more he read, the more he nodded. Finally he looked up and smiled.

"This could be something, listen… 'When a person with magickal gifts is turned into a vampyre, the gifts will be lost.'"

"So?" Sarah said, "how does that apply to me? Mine didn't get lost, they got stronger…"

"There's a handwritten addition to it, it's hard to decipher, hold on… 'But when… the vampyre re…gains its soul, their powers will… return and… may…' no… 'might… even strengthen.'" Giles looked up and smiled.

"See," Willow said, "it's the soul all right. … We discussed it a bit on the way to the take-out," she added on Giles' look.

"It also means," Giles added, returning to father-mode, "that you will have to keep working with it."

"Off course," Sarah said and raised her eyebrows; then she smiled, "this is way cool, it might increase even more then." Giles nodded.

"That is a possibility, yes."

The next days Sarah trained hard on her gifts and indeed, they increased. After two weeks intensive training she could lift the heavy side table at home without trouble. After a month, she could juggle with it in the air. But after a month or two, there was a standstill. She could now juggle the side table and some chairs together, but her powers no longer increased in force. Her mental stamina though, did increase and she could now hold objects in the air for a long time.

"What do you say?" Sarah asked her father after three months as she sat on the stairs and was holding the side table, which had been her practice object for months, in the air. "I've been keeping it in the air for three hours straight. I'll have to let it down pretty soon now but…"

"I'm impressed," Giles said, "but I think you've reached the end. At least for now."

"What do you mean?"

"You can't lift objects bigger and heavier than that side table, but you can lift it longer now, you're power… I think it's at its maximum and the only thing that can increase now is the stamina of your mind." Sarah thought about it as she gently lowered the table to the ground.

"I think you're right," she said, "'cause I can't lift the closet, but I can keep the table of the floor for hours. And… it makes me feel more useful, now I can be more of assistance than earlier. Because only being able to go out at night severely limits my helping abilities. I can go out patrolling with Buffy, but usually she can handle the fighting herself and doesn't really need my strength to help, but with this added, I might be able to do more. And not to mention the advantage I now have over other vamps."

"Exactly," Giles said, "but it's late and I'm going to go to bed, have fun tonight."

"Thanks," Sarah said as she grabbed her coat and went out to meet up with Buffy and help her rid the world of vamps.