"Thank you," Tara said. Willow looked over, waiting for an explanation. "For keeping my stuff."

Willow smiled. The two of them were in the basement of her parents' house, trying to track down all of Tara's boxes. Buffy and Dawn had invited Willow and Tara to move in with them. Willow wasn't ready to explain to her mother who Tara was or why she needed to move in with them, and Tara certainly wasn't ready to go back to school and live in the dorm.

"Of course I kept it," Willow said. She laughed a little. "Although my mom was confused about why I was coming back with twice as much stuff as I left with."

Tara smiled slightly as she opened a box. She pulled out a framed photograph and stared at it. It was a picture of her and Willow that had been taken at her 20th birthday party. Her memory flashed back to that evening.

"Good birthday?" Willow asked.

"Best birthday," she replied.

"You okay?" Willow asked, snapping Tara out of her thoughts. She looked over to see concern on Willow's face.

"Uh, yeah," she replied. Willow walked over and looked over her shoulder. "Just remembering things."

"Oh, your birthday," Willow said with a smile. "I was surprised that picture turned out. Anya couldn't figure out how to work my digital camera."

"Then when she did she said she wanted to keep your camera," Tara said with a smirk. Willow laughed.  She brushed her hand down the long braid that ran down the length of Tara's back and then rested her hand on the small of her back. Quickly Tara put the picture down and moved away. Willow felt slightly hurt. She was about to say something when Xander and Anya came down the basement stairs.

"Okay, Will, we've got all your stuff over at Buffy's," he said. "Did you find all of Tara's stuff?"

"Yeah," Willow replied, trying to forget the reaction Tara just had to her touch. She pointed at the boxes. "Pretty much all of these."

Xander and Anya each grabbed a box and started to take them out to the car. Willow turned to see Tara grabbing her own box.

"Tara, if I did something to—"

Tara just shook her head and interrupted her. "It's fine."

Willow watched her walk out of the basement, worried. She wasn't sure why Tara had recoiled from her touch. She wanted to know. She just wished Tara would talk to her. She knew it would take time for Tara to open up, but she didn't know what to do until then.

* * *

Buffy and Willow gathered plates from the kitchen while Giles cooked dinner. They went to set the table. They were having a small get together with dinner as group. It was sort of a celebration for Tara's return. Tara, Dawn, Xander and Anya were in the living room talking.

"Will, are you sure this is a good idea?" Buffy asked as they set the table. "It's not going to be too much for her? She's barely been back a week."

"I asked her about it," Willow said. "She said it would be fine." She glanced out into the living room. Tara was listening to a story Xander was telling. "It seems like she's doing okay."

"She hasn't talked much, has she?" Buffy asked, having noticed Willow's almost constant worried expression.

"No," Willow replied. "I mean, I understand. It's gotta be hard for her. I just wish I could know what she went through. I wanna help her."

"I know the feeling," Buffy said. She got a thoughtful look on her face as she looked out at Tara. Xander had finished his story and Tara had a small smile on her face while the others laughed. She had an idea of how to help Tara. She just had to make a phone call.

* * *

They had finished dinner and now they were just sitting around the table talking. Willow would shoot glances over at Tara periodically, making sure she was doing okay. She seemed fine.

During a lull in the conversation, Anya nudged Xander and gave him an annoyed look. "Let's tell them."

"Anya, not now," Xander said.

"But everybody's here," she argued. "Tara's back. Willow's happy now. Why can't we tell them?"

"Anya…"

"Tell us what?" Dawn asked. Xander looked around sighed, knowing he had no choice now. He stood and cleared his throat and took Anya's hand in his.

"Well, uh, I wasn't sure when to tell everybody, but I guess I have to now," he said with a nervous smile. Everybody waited impatiently. "Anya and I are engaged."

It took a moment to sink in, but slowly everyone reacted. Buffy stood and walked around the table.

"Oh my god, this is great," she said with a huge grin, giving Xander a tight hug. "I'm so happy for you."

"Congratulations," Willow said with a smile. She and Anya hadn't always seen eye to eye on things, but she knew Anya loved Xander and Xander loved her. Her best friend was getting married. It was great news. "This is amazing."

"Yes, congratulations," Giles said. He stood and was ready to head into the kitchen. "Well, this is call for celebration. Um, more celebration."

"Exciting announcements always call for champagne," Anya said with a smile.

"Oh, we don't have any," Buffy said. "Uh, I think there's some wine in the cupboard. I'll go look."

"I'll help you," Giles said. The two of them went to the kitchen while the others moved out to the living room. A few minutes later Giles and Buffy returned with glasses and a bottle of wine. Once everyone had their wine and Dawn had her soda, Buffy raised her glass.

"To Anya and Xander. May your marriage be long, happy and fun," Buffy said with a smile. "You two were meant for each other."

"Cheers," everyone else said, clinking their glasses together. The group then fell into a discussion about how Xander proposed to Anya. After a few minutes, Buffy and Willow went to clean up the dishes. Giles joined them shortly.

"Wow," Buffy said. "Who would've thought Xander would be the first one of us to get married?"

"I know," Willow said. "It's kinda weird."

"I certainly am surprised. I thought he and Anya would've split up a long time ago," Giles said. "They've both proven me wrong."

They looked over when they heard someone clear their throat. Tara was standing in the doorway of the kitchen.

"Everything going okay out there?" Buffy asked.

"Yeah," Tara said. She smiled a little. "Anya's making up a list of things she wants for wedding presents…and bridal shower presents and engagement presents." The others chuckled. "I'm, uh, going upstairs. I just wanted to say goodnight."

"Are you okay?" Willow asked, glancing at the clock. It was only eight o'clock.

"I'm just tired," Tara said. "Thanks for dinner, Mr. Giles."

"Of course," Giles said. "Goodnight."

Tara left the room and headed upstairs. Giles turned to Willow.

"How has she been doing? At night?" he asked.

"Okay, I guess. She's still sleeping on the floor," Willow explained. "She says the bed's too soft."

"Well, she's slept on solid stone for a couple hundred years," Giles said. "I can imagine the floor is a step up."

Buffy hadn't been listening to their conversation. She was looking at the door where Tara had been standing. She set some plates in the sink and walked out of the kitchen. "I'll be right back."

She found Tara in the bedroom. She had already changed into blue and green plaid flannel pants and a t-shirt and was sitting on a sleeping bag on the floor, looking out the window at the moon. She glanced over briefly at Buffy before her gaze returned to the moon.

"It's calming," she said. "There was no moon in Moktar."

"Moktar?" Buffy asked. She walked in and sat on the edge of the bed.

"It's what the demons called the dimension I was in," she explained. "There was so much dust that if there was a moon, there's no way you could see it. I missed the moon."

They sat in silence for a while. Tara pulled her legs up and hugged them to her chest. Finally Buffy broke the silence.

"I know there's no way any of us can understand what you went through or how horrible two hundred years in a demon dimension must have been. None of us have been to a demon dimension," she said. She reached into her back pocket and pulled out a white card. She held it out to Tara. "But I know someone who has."

Tara took the card and stared at it. There was an abstract sketch of an angel on it. Printed underneath the angel were the words Angel Investigations with the address and phone number.

"I already called him," Buffy said. "They'll have a room ready for you if you decide to go." Tara returned to looking out at the moon, unconsciously running her thumb back and forth over the embossed lettering of the business card. "He can help you, if you want."

"You think I should go to Los Angeles?" Tara asked.

"I think that Angel might be the best person to help you," Buffy said. "What you do is up to you."

Buffy stood and headed for the door.

"Buffy," Tara called after her. Buffy stopped in the doorway and looked over her shoulder. "Thank you."

Buffy nodded her head and left Tara alone to contemplate her future.