A/N: Thanks for the kind reviews! You are the people who motivate me to write more!
Destiny: Chapter 3
Buffy left the hospital later that day to check on the house and the potentials, including Spike. She felt somewhat responsible for him leaving, but Willow disagreed.
"You didn't do anything wrong to hurt his feelings, Buffy," Willow stated.
Buffy sighed, struggling to get on her coat. "I know, but I feel like something's bad about to happen here, and I can't stop it."
Willow frowned. "But what has that got to do with Spike?" she asked.
Buffy shrugged. "I don't know. It's like the world is about to end soon, and if it does, I may not get to tell Spike the truth. If he dies tomorrow, I won't be able to tell him my true feelings for him."
"Everybody should tell their true feelings to the one they love," Willow said, agreeing with Buffy. Somehow, what Willow had just said described her feelings for Xander. "You go on home, and I'll stay here with Xander," she suggested, determined to tell Xander how she felt for him.
Buffy sighed again. "Okay," she said once she got on her coat. "I'll go home," she said rather reluctantly. She had wanted to stay with Xander, but knew that she had to go home. "Oh, and Faith should be visiting sometime tonight," she added before she left.
It was Willow's turn to sigh this time. Hospitals gave off an eerie feeling whenever she was in them. Buffy often felt the same way. Maybe it was because of that incident five years ago when demon only kids' could see killed them. Or maybe it was because Buffy's mother had been in the hospital once. Whatever it was, when night rolled around, Willow was a tiny bit scared. To ease of the scariness the hospital gave her, she decided to talk to Xander instead of walking around the hospital, which was what she was doing for the past five hours.
"Hey, Xander," Willow greeted when she was back in Xander's room. "Buffy just left about five hours ago, but Faith should come around tonight."
"That's good," Xander said.
"So, do you have some strength to get out of bed? Andrew dropped off his Gamecube, and I was thinking of playing a game with you," Willow offered, holding up the Gamecube.
Xander grinned. "Yeah, I'm up to it. What kind of games does he have?"
Willow shuffled through the stack of games she had. "Um, a game called Pikman, um…Super Smash Brother's Melee, and…that's about it."
"He only has two games?" Xander sighed, and shook his head in disappointment. "For a nerd he is, he kind of disappoints me. Wait a minute," he added, "let me see those games…"
Willow handed Xander the two games. "Well," he started, looking at the back of each case, "this one is a two player game." He held up Super Smash Brothers Melee. "And this one is a one player game." He held up the Pikman game. "Which one do you want to play?" He asked Willow, throwing the two games aside for now.
Willow shook her head. "None, I mean…well, what do you want to do?"
"Well," Xander sighed. "What's on your mind?"
"What?" Willow sat down in a chair, and rested the Gamecube on the floor. "Nothing's on my mind. What gave you the idea that something was on my mind? If something was on my mind, it would be me loving you right now."
"What?" Xander asked, suddenly surprised.
Willow faltered, her eyes going wide. "Nothing. Anything I said doesn't mean anything to you, okay? So, okay, I'm with Kennedy, but that doesn't mean I can't be with you too, right? I can be loyal to both you and Kennedy, just give me time and everything will work out."
"Willow, are you saying that you…?"
"Love you? Yeah, I do. I do love you, Xander, and I'm sorry if I can't help it, the end of the world may be near, and I can't tell my true feelings to you? Is that it?" Willow stood up, breathing hard, and was close to crying.
"No, Willow, I love you, too. I'm just kind of surprised…I think…" Xander got up from bed, and walked over to Willow. "And don't cry," he added softly.
Willow sniffed. "I'm sorry," she apologized, drying her eyes with a tissue. "I just keep thinking about the end, and wonder who will die, and who will survive. You're my whole world, my whole heart. If you die in the final battle, I loose my heart, and Xander…I can't live without you."
"Everything's going to be all right," he said softly, his voice strong and sure of what he spoke. "I promise that I won't die in the end. I'm positive."
Willow laughed. "Did you see that in one of your visions of the future?" She asked, slightly interested.
"No, I just know." He smiled. "You're my whole heart, too. Every time I see you, you light up my heart. With you by my side, I'm positive that we can't loose against the First."
Willow smiled. "Really?"
Xander nodded. "Really."
"Thanks."
"You're welcome."
It grew quiet, until the only noises were the nurses pacing up and down the long hallway. Willow fidgeted at the lack of noise, and was tempted to break the silence; only she didn't know what to say.
"Hey, Xander?" Willow asked, eyes closed.
"What?" He asked.
"Remember when it was just us? You know, no Kennedy or Anya. What changed?" Willow forced herself to look at Xander. "What changed us in high school that we didn't love each other like we used to?"
Xander sighed, thinking about what to say. "I don't know what changed, Willow. All I know is that you had Oz, and I had Cordelia. But I do know one thing: our love will always last forever, even if we are with someone else."
"So do you think us being together is fate? Was it meant to happen?"
Xander didn't get a chance to answer Willow's question, because Faith walked in the room.
"Hey, guys," she greeted, and stepped into the room without knocking.
Xander looked at Faith, slightly irritated. "It's called knocking."
"Yeah," Faith said unsurely, "but the door was open. Jeez, can you feel the love tonight in this room, or what?" Willow sighed, and glanced at Faith, who frowned. "What, haven't you heard of Elton John's 'Can You Feel The Love Tonight' song?"
"Yeah, I watched the movie Lion King, just never thought it'd applied to us," Willow said.
"'Sides, I need to talk to Xander, you know how it is, everbody else is doing it, might as well do it." Faith eyed Willow cautiously. "Please," she added exaggerated.
"Okay, well, I'll be out in the lobby if you two need anything," Willow offered, and walked past Faith, glaring at her.
"What's up with Willow?" Faith asked Xander when she was sure Willow wasn't close enough to hear.
"Nothing, she's just a little…stressed," he replied, choosing his words carefully.
"We're all stressed, although I think it's taking its anger out on Buffy. She needs to lighten up a bit, have a little fun." She sat on the edge of the bed. "She's driving the girls' way too hard."
"Nah, I think she's fine. She's just a little scared. We all are," he added after thinking about it a little.
"Look, I just came stopped by here to say that I'm sorry. Granted, I don't know what it's like to loose an eye, but I can probably guess how it feels."
"It's not your fault, Faith."
"I realize that, Xander, I'm just sorry that you lost an eye." Then, she added, "I hope that wasn't your good eye."
"What are you doing here, Spike?" Willow asked as she reached the lobby. Spike was pacing back and forth, clearly agitated by something. He stopped pacing, however, when Willow walked over to him. "Spike?" That was when she spotted dark stained blood on the back of his leather duster. "What happened?"
"I ran into a Doxalton demon," he informed Willow.
"What?"
"A Doxalton demon. You know, always for the killing, of course, every demon's all about the killing nowadays," Spike said, clearly hurt. "I put up a good fight with it, but in the end, it somehow got me—"
"Whoa, wait. What's a Doxalton demon?" Willow asked Spike, a little concerned for him. "And, another thing, are you okay?"
Spike answered the first question, "A Doxalton demon kills the people who have visions of the future. That's all I know, apparently, because I only ran into it once in my past. Nasty little things, Doxalton demons. By the way," he added, "do you happen to know anyone with the gift of seeing into the future?"
"No," Willow lied. Now her concern for Spike turned over to Xander, and blamed herself as if she summoned the demon. "I don't know anyone with that certain gift."
Spike sighed, and looked over his shoulder at the entrance doors of the hospital. He was apparently searching, or looking, for something, Willow guessed, because he seemed to be in another world.
"Spike?" she asked again.
"Don't know if it followed me, but if he did…" he sighed, and looked back at Willow.
"Are you okay?" She asked, changing the subject.
"No, not much. Couple of scratches here and there, um…possibly nothing, though that demon had a strong hold on my left arm." He sat down on one of the chairs, and continued, "Probably just a bruise or something, nothing serious."
"Oh, well, okay." She sat down next to Spike. "You can stay the night here if you want," she offered.
Spike sighed. "Nah, don't want to be a bother to you."
Suddenly, the Doxalton demon burst through the hospital doors, pulling one door off the hinges.
"On the other hand, you might need help fighting this guy, won't you?" Spike asked, staring at the massive demon.
"Uh-huh." Willow nodded.