Green Eyes.

Rating: R

Disclaimer: All characters are the property of Joss Whedon & co.

Summary: Anya's past as a vengeance demon returns to haunt her as she doesn't realise the true extent of her actions. Her hastily contrived wish leads the Slayer and her Scoobies to re-evaluate their relationships with each other with some shocking results.

Notes: Forgive any discrepancies in details of past events, some will be deliberate but others may be down to a hazy memory. Giles has not left yet and Willow and Tara have not split up, although their relationship is on rocky ground. All feedback, good or bad, welcomed.

Starring:

Sarah Michelle Gellar as Buffy

James Marsters as Spike

Nicholas Brendan as Xander

Emma Caulfield as Anya

Alyson Hannigan as Willow

Amber Benson as Tara

Michelle Trachtenberg as Dawn

Anthony Stewart Head as Giles

Previously on Buffy …

Montage of Xander and Anya's relationship, ending with Anya in her wedding dress, in tears.

Shots of each of the Scoobies looking downhearted; Xander and Anya on their own and WillowTara, Dawn and Giles all in the Magic Box, but not talking.

Spike: (voiceover) Buffy fights the forces of evil. You're her groupies. She'd do just as well without you – better I'd wager, since she wouldn't have to go about saving your hides all the time … You're just the same tenth grade losers you've always been, and she's too much of a softie to cut you lose …

Cut

Montage of Buffy and Spike, fighting each other and then fighting side by side. Shots of them kissing, then Buffy pushing him away, then them kissing again.

Spike: (voiceover) You're a tease, you know that, Slayer? Get a fella's motor revvin', let the tension marinate a couple of days, then bam! Crown yourself the ice queen.

Cut

Shots of the aftermath of Buffy's death, including Spike crying. Shot of him kneeling in front of Buffy after her return from the grave, her hands in his.

Spike: I want you to know I did save you. Not when it counted of course, but after that. Every night after that. … Every night I save you.

Cut

Teaser …

Why did everything have to change? Just when they thought things were getting back on track, it all had to fall apart as usual. It just wasn't fair.

The younger of the two Summers sisters sighed and flipped her long brunette hair back over her shoulder, out of the way. The silence was practically deafening in the Magic Box; definitely a rare occurrence. Usually, there were a few customers to be dealt with; research to be done; Buffy training out back with Giles – a real buzz, even if they were too busy for ordinary chitchat. Today though, they were all uncomfortable with each other for some reason or other and, not surprisingly, upset by the unexpected turn the so-called happy occasion had taken. They had expected Xander and Anya to be happily honeymooning right about now, but instead the wedding had ended in tears – called off indefinitely; the would-be bride and groom going their separate ways, both obviously devastated. Dawn was never going to understand what had possessed Xander to back out when it was clear how much the ex-demon, Anya, meant to him …

The teenager sighed again, resting her chin in her hand gloomily and shaking her head –and they called her immature! What ever happened to talking things out …?

"So … what happens now?" she ventured to ask without looking up, more than a little fearful of the answer. She had lost enough lately without seeing the group split up too – her mother, her sister before she had returned … She loved them all and she couldn't wait for them to start seeing her as a grown-up so she could more a part of things – if they split now, that would never happen!

Seeing that no one else seemed prepared to answer the young girl, Tara pulled her chair closer to Dawn's and tried to smile reassuringly. The blonde Wiccan had a soft spot for the girl and saw how anxious she looked. She would have loved to tell her everything would straighten itself out, but that just didn't sound convincing when she knew full well things were really going to change over the next few weeks.

"I don't know, Dawnie." she said softly, her words honest if not particularly helpful and she thought it was important that they didn't tell outright lies, even if it was only with the intention of shielding the young girl from getting hurt. She knew from personal experience that way only led to more trouble. "I think everyone's just going to need some time right now … Process everything, you know? There's too much going on at the minute to rush things …"

"But, what happens to US?" asked Dawn, trying to get her point across without actually voicing her fears. She took a second to consider what she had said and hoped it hadn't come across as selfish – it wasn't that she didn't care about Xander and Anya.

"We just have to get on with ... stuff …" said Willow, trying to look unconcerned and not really succeeding. "Don't worry, Dawn, worse things have happened and we've stuck it out – things will get back to normal soon and then we can just put it all behind us."

"Why do you think he did it? Or didn't, I suppose." the teen asked, unable to repress her natural curiosity for long. "I mean, I can't figure it out – I thought everything was fine. Him and Anya are perfect for each other, or at least they were … Maybe something happened we don't know about – maybe …"

Caught up in her conspiracy theories, Dawn never heard the light jingle as the door of the shop opened and was only cut off by Willow's exclamation.

"Xander!"

The redhead jumped up from her seat and was about to hurry to him when she stopped awkwardly, unsure of what to even say to him. None of them understood why he had called off the wedding, considering the effect that action had on him, and it was obvious they didn't know the full story.

"Uh, hey." she said unsurely, settling for giving him a little wave from where she was. Glancing around, hoping someone else would think of something more useful to say, she saw that there wasn't much chance of that as Giles tried to speak and then settled for nodding in greeting. He set about cleaning his glasses enthusiastically, a sure sign that the now unofficial Watcher felt out of his depth. And no help was likely to come from the others either - Tara was just smiling weakly and nervously twirling a strand of hair around her fingers, while Dawn was looking guilty and obviously hoping Xander hadn't heard what she had been talking about.

"Hey." returned Xander after a pause, with an attempt at his usual cheeriness. He was still in his suit, but his tie was undone and the top buttons of his shirt were open. "Please, don't all speak at once – I'm feeling a little overwhelmed as it is." he tried to joke.

"Xand …"

"It's okay, Will – don't look at me like that. I'm fine. You know me, no keeping the Xand-man down. So what's the what round here? Any baddies to dust, apocalypses to avert, or anything? … Is that a nay? … Gee, I guess ya just can't depend on demons these days - not like I'm Mr. Dependable myself though, so I shouldn't really say anything …" Xander rambled on, ignoring the looks of concern he was getting from everyone in the room. "And Lord knows I've given up trying to understand demons – got a little personal experience in that area. Not workin' out too well."

"Maybe you should take some time …" Giles began sympathetically.

"I'm a busy man, Giles – places to go, people to see."

"You can't go!" said Willow in alarm, "You need to take it easy, get yourself together …"

"I can't." he said simply, the strain beginning to show on his face as his façade threatened to break down. "I … I have to talk to Anya … make her understand … I thought she might come here, but it looks like I was wrong – pretty much par for the course these days …"

He turned and headed for the door again, mumbling to himself about where else he could try to look and Willow made as if to follow him, but she was stopped by Giles's hand on her shoulder.

"Let him go." he said softly, "We have to give him space right now."

They all just watched silently, feeling more helpless than ever, as Xander paused in the doorway to look left and right before deciding which way to go and disappearing, his hands jammed in his pockets and his shoulders slumped.

tbc…