"This is good. I mean, this is excellent. People gotta respect a solid work ethic. Look at you, motivated Buffy. Eager to soak up learning."

Buffy Summers was a busy girl.

On her first go-round, she hadn't known what she was doing in college. She'd discovered that she could do well, and it was exciting, but she'd never had an academic plan. That was Willow's forte.

Things were different now. She'd picked up the counseling bug, even if she'd been too inexperienced and distracted to do much good. She'd also had to really lead, and now had tons of girls looking to her for guidance, even if they were spread out around the world, and were supposed to be able to handle themselves. She wasn't abandoning her place as lead slayer. She was taking a much-needed sabbatical.

She was Buffy Summers - individual studies girl. Military History. Non-profit Management. Abnormal Psychology. Family Studies and Adolescent Development. Swimming twice a week. Working as an on-campus self-defense instructor.

"I'm not just taking classes for the heck of it - I've got a plan. See, what I want to do most is help people out. Being the slayer is how I found that. I've learned that there's so much more I can do, and so much I still need to learn. Check my slate. If I'd had the time to study this before, I'd have kicked so much more ass. But that's the thing...I've died twice, and lived like there was nothing beyond the next apocalypse, so there wasn't much point. Now, though I'm thinking about how I'd do things if I'm going to live past fifty. All these slayers should..."

She was Buffy Summers - serious student and future professional. Going to lectures. Meeting professors. She was even auditing an Art Appreciation class and going to the museums.

Things with Dawn had really improved too. Sometimes Buffy still felt so, almost, compelled to get freakishly overprotective, but Dawn was in LA, and Xander and Angel would look after her if she needed it. More importantly, Dawn seemed to have really blossomed once out from under Buffy's shadow. Which was of the good, considering how much Buffy used to complain about Dawn being a baby...

"I never really knew how to tell you, but Mom would always get so worried for you. Especially when she got sick. We always knew you'd take care of us, but we were both so afraid you wouldn't look after yourself. That's why I worked so hard studying Magic with Tara, learning languages from Giles, and training with the Potentials when you weren't watching. I knew that if you didn't have to worry about me as much, I wouldn't have to worry about you so much either. Okay, so I also felt left out and I wanted everybody to stop looking at me like I was some useless kid, but since we aren't in the same house every day, I want you to remember my more noble motivations. But, mostly just couldn't let you kill yourself again because of me. And I'm not just talking about Glory."

She was Buffy Summers, slaying the monsters with her trusty scythe-axe-thingy; whatever the heck it was, it worked. She was even starting to pun again, although she was still rustier ... than a big rusty thing.

So if two nights a week, she went dancing downtown with folks from the building, or if she took a night to see a movie, it wasn't a big deal. She'd gone so long without blowing off steam, that well let's say lessons were learned. In any case, she'd re-learned the value of take breaks. She'd earned them. And she needed them.

"I used to shop in LA, and I dimly recall being good at this. So tell me again, oh Evil Fashion Nazi, what's wrong with these boots. I need every inch I can get, so don't call me 'Princess Impractical' again or I'll show you just how"