The move had been smoother than anyone expected. Giles was settled in one of Jay's guest rooms, Dawn in another, with Willow in the last. Xander was still in Cleveland, doing the last little bit of odds and ends before heading to Colorado Springs himself.

Buffy had an opened moving box at her feet and was looking around Jay's living room in curiosity. He had a beautiful painting of the southwest over the fireplace, and some kachina dolls on the shelves, along with a ton of books, but besides the dark oak woodwork, the cream colored walls were empty.

"Hmmm." She bent and picked out two of the African masks that had been her mother's and held them up, then decided to place one over the other on the narrow strip of wall between the two huge windows. She pulled out another item, a large stylized gazelle, carved out of a dark wood. Ebony, her mother had told her once. She gazed at the shelves and placed it on top, and stepped back to admire it.

"Feathering your nest?" Came Willow's voice, a smile in it.

Buffy turned, "Hey Will. I wanted to get some of the stuff that Mom had out. It's been in boxes forever."

Willow nodded and saw the masks, "I remember those."

"I thought I'd put one over the other in between the windows." She looked at Willow who nodded.

The girls continued to add things, including a framed poster of the Liá Fail, with a spectacular sunset behind it. Buffy had held it up over the phone table in the corner and Willow had smiled, "Looks great."

Giles came downstairs to the sound of a hammer and the cheerful sounds of the girls talking. He looked into the living room and found them with some of Joyce's things from her time at the gallery. Buffy held up a sculpture and Giles had a sudden memory of Joyce bringing it home soon after the 'band candy' incident. Blushing slightly, he kept back until he was in control again and then joined them in the living room.

Buffy held the sculpture up, the turned it sideways but Willow shook her head, "I wish I knew what it was Buff." She shrugged and Giles grunted in amusement, "I'll take it in my room Buffy. I remember when your mother acquired it."

"Good." And she handed it to him, watching as he turned it and took it back upstairs.

"Oh." Both of them said, realizing that they had both been wrong and Buffy had been holding it upside down.

Giggling slightly Buffy pulled out a wall hanging, "I didn't inherit her sense for art, that's for sure."

*******

SG-1 and SG-2 stepped back through the gate with feelings of relief. It had been a long 5 days, the first two hiding from some kind of giant cats, and the last two trying to get back to the gate in one piece. It had taken SG-2 two days to find the other team, and then almost all of their ammo had been used up in keeping the giant carnivores at bay as they booked it back to the gate.

"Welcome back SG-1 and SG-2. I really didn't want to talk to Miss Summers again without being able to give her some news." General Hammond stated.

Jack grinned over at Jay, "Yeah, it would look bad if most of the wedding party and the groom didn't make it to the wedding."

Jay shuddered, "Please, don't even go there."

Lt. Hailey grinned, "Only 4 more days to be single and happy like the rest of us Sir." She said cheerfully.

"Yeah, the old ball and chain." Daniel teased, limping slightly as he headed down the ramp.

Jay eyed his friends with affection, "Let's go see Janet. I have a deep-seated need for a shower and some time with my fiancée'."

****

Giles was taking his evening constitutional, familiarizing himself with the neighborhood, and envying the gardens that reminded him of England, when he stopped and eyed the 'For Sale by Owner' sign in the front yard of a blue colonial. He looked it over carefully. It was two stories, with an attached two-car garage, various evergreens dotted the lawn, and it looked to be in good shape. At least from the road. He was about to move on when a lady stepped out onto the porch, "I saw you stop. Would you like to step inside?" she asked.

He eyed the pretty older blonde and smiled, "I would love too. My daughter is moving a couple of streets over and I'm looking for a house of my own. She's getting married and I don't want to.." he paused and the woman laughed, "Cramp their style. I understand."

Giles held out his hand, "Rupert Giles."

"Sara Jensen."

"Pleased to meet you." She led him inside and he glanced around in pleasure, "This is very nice."

"Thank you, we're moving to Denver and this old house has a lot of memories." she said, looking around for a moment.

She led him on a tour of the five bedroom house and in one of the bedrooms it was evident it belonged to a young boy. He walked over and looked out of the window, then turned and stopped short. On the dresser was a picture of Jack O'Neill and a young boy.

"Charlie." He said softly, and Sara jerked in surprise.

Giles turned, "I'm sorry. I recognize Jack. He's the best friend of my soon to be son-in-law. We've actually spent a lot of time together in the past few months."

"It's a small world." Sara said, gently taking the picture and looking at it, then set it down. She quietly led him throughout the rest of the house and by the time that they were done, Giles was convinced that it would be perfect for them.

He looked over at Sara and smiled, "It's perfect. I'm a bachelor, but I will have two young people, who are like my children living here as well. Willow will be working at NORAD, and Xander will be working for Springs Century construction."

"What do you do?"

"I will be opening a magic and wiccan store in the old section of downtown." He smiled at her look of surprise.

"There's much of a market for that sort of thing?" Sara asked in surprise.

"Yes, actually there is. There is a thriving wiccan community here in the Springs and also in Denver."

"I had no idea." Sara said quietly.

Giles chuckled, "Most people don't."

Sara smiled, "So, do you want your Willow and Xander to look at the house?"

"They trust me. There is plenty of room and the fact the 3 of the bedrooms have their own baths is a plus."

"Privacy is important, I understand. You don't know what my asking price is though." She stated quietly.

"Let's get down to business, shall we?" He asked at his charming best. Sara smiled back, "Let me get you some tea."

Buffy was nervous as she looked out of the window and still no Giles. It was dark and Willow had dinner almost made when Jay pulled up in his truck. She whipped open the door and jumped into his arms. "I'm glad that you're home. Is everyone ok?" She asked, her voice muffled in his chest.

Wrapping his arms around her he held her tight, "Everyone's good, though Daniel's going to limp at our wedding."

"Limping's good. Dead's not so good." She slid down and turned to see a cheerful Giles walking up the street.

"Where have you been? I've been worried sick!" Buffy demanded.

Giles rolled his eyes at a commiserating Jay, "I went for a walk." He paused, then smiled, "I found a house, and I'm going to buy it."

Jay held out his had, "Congratulations. It must be pretty close?"

"Colonel O'Neill's old house. His ex-wife is moving to Denver."

Jay nodded, "It's a nice house." Buffy gave Giles a quick hug, "What, you couldn't call me on your cell phone?"

"This is Colorado Springs dear, not Sunnydale."

A snort, "Ok, I over reacted. But just a little." She held out a thumb and finger with a quarter inch of space between.

The men smiled and the three of them walked inside.

****

Willow stood outside the blue colonial the next day, wondering if she was doing the right thing. She walked up the walkway and knocked on the door, smiling at the woman who answered.

"Hi, I'm Willow."

Sara smiled, "Hi Willow. I'm Sara Jensen. Won't you come in?"

Willow stepped inside and braced herself, but felt nothing but happiness inside the house. She relaxed slightly, then was aware of Sara's eyes on her.

"Are you alright?"

"Um, did Giles tell you what I do?"

"He said that you'll work at NORAD."

Willow groaned, "Well, that's true, but I'm also wiccan."

A surprised look crossed Sara's face, "Oh. Well, he'd discussed his store, but didn't mention that you were wiccan."

"Can we sit down for a second, I want to be honest with you." Willow asked and Sara led her to a cherry dining room table and they both sat down.

Willow fidgeted with a napkin then looked up, "I've gotten to know Jack very well in the past year. I love him dearly, like a brother." She paused and took a sip of the ice tea that Sara had placed in front of her. "I know about Charlie, and was upset with Giles for agreeing to buy the house where there had been such a tragic death."

Sara's face was calm, though there was a tightness around her eyes. "What does Charlie's death have to do with this?"

"Um, I'- I'm a powerful witch and can sense things like that."

Abruptly angry Sara stood, "Let's go." She led the way to the master bedroom and pointed to the floor, "There. That's where Charlie died. Satisfied?"

Willow closed her eyes at the pain in Sara's and abruptly could feel what had happened, the young boy's surprise, then the sadness of Charlie, his love for his parent's, but no anger, no despair. Opening her eyes she looked at the other woman, "He was very happy here. I feel nothing but his happiness and his love for you and Jack. I'm sorry to have disturbed you." She began to move back when Sara touched her arm.

"I'm sorry. You can really feel him here?"

Willow tilted her head slightly, "Well, he's not here here. It's more of an imprint of his spirit. You do know it was an accident right? He knew he wasn't supposed to handle Jack's gun, but he did it anyway, only expecting to get yelled at."

Sniffling slightly, Sara went into the bathroom for a tissue and blew her nose, then stepped back into the room. "I was pretty sure, but there was always doubt." She looked at Willow, "I don't' believe in psychic's."

Willow grinned, "Neither do I."

"How do you know all of this?"

She swallowed hard, "I had only been a witch for a couple of years before I became addicted to magic and my lover left me because of it. I worked hard and stayed away from magic and I won her back." Willow turned to look out of the window for a moment. "The day we reconciled, a stray bullet came through our bedroom window and killed her instantly."

A quick gasp, then a, "Oh Willow, I am so sorry."

Willow turned back, her eyes sheened with unshed tears, "Several things happened, some bad and some good, and now I am a very strong witch. I don't usually tell people this, but I wanted you to understand why I came."

Sitting on the side of the bed with a sigh, Sara looked over at the red headed woman and shook her head. "I understand. It would be unbearable to live in a house with the spirit, or imprint of an unhappy child who had died a tragic death."

"Exactly. Though you still living here was a good sign. It meant that all of the good memories outweighed the bad."

Sara smiled, "Exactly."

Willow sat down on the bed beside Sara, "What was Charlie's favorite thing to do?" and the women sat and talked about the boy whose name was Charlie O'Neill.