AUTHOR'S NOTE This chapter is dedicated to Timmy ..sniff.. Ever after three years and the ADORABLE Endora, I still miss him.

DISCLAIMER I don't own Passions or Buffy characters…if I did, then I would get paid for writing these things, lol

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She found her way back to the Bennett's Bed and Breakfast easily, although her luminous spell did little to drive away the shadows of the thick forest that rose on all sides of her. But the witch wasn't scared as she slipped through the night back toward the house that had drawn her so strongly.

The lights in the house of Sam's neighbor glowed brightly, casting bright patches of rectangular light on the snowy ground. Willow screwed up her courage and walked up to the front door.

She was surprised to hear a baby's cry in response to the doorbell. Faintly, she heard a second wailing join the first. Uh-oh, she thought. I hope I'm not interrupting some family. The crying was shushed by a soothing old voice. Willow just could just barely make out her words. "Hush, Endora! Mummy won't let anyone hurt you tonight."

There was a shuffle and a moment before the door opened. Willow was shocked, to say the least, to see a young woman with long brown hair open the door. "Hello. Can I help you?"

Willow cocked her head. "Uh, yeah. I'm, uh, um – "

The girl watched her expectantly. Suddenly, an older woman with a thick mass of curly hair replaced her in the doorway. "Hello there dear. Can I help you?"

Willow stared intently into the old eyes. "Tabitha Lenox?"

Tabitha smiled. "Yes. I'm sorry, you are who, my dear?"

"Willow Rosenberg."

Tabitha's grin grew even wider. "Willow, yes of course. I've heard good things about you."

The brunette looked from Tabitha to Willow and back. "Tabs? What's going on?"

Tabitha looked back at the girl. "Oh! Kay, this is Willow. I've been expecting her."

Kay held out her hand suspiciously. "Kay Bennett."

"Bennett?" Willow asked. "Are you related to Chief Bennett?"

Kay rolled her eyes. "Yeah, he's my dad. But I live here now."

"Oh." Willow peered into the house. "Uh, may I come in?"

"Of course, of course!" Tabitha ushered Willow inside to the living room where she saw two little girls playing in a playpen. Tabitha scooped up the older of the two and hugged her. "You see, Endora? Nothing to be afraid of!" She brought the child to Willow. "This is Willow, my little witchling."

Kay's eyes opened wide. "Tabitha! So much for keeping a secret around here!"

Tabitha just smiled. "No need to keep my precious Endora's secret from our friend. You see, Willow here is a witch too, am I right dear?"

Willow could only nod. The child in Tabitha's arms had more power than anyone she'd ever come across, save herself when she was dark.

Kay looked uncomfortable. "Oh." She picked up the younger girl and cradled her in her arms.

"Who's that?" Willow asked.

"This is my daughter Maria." Kay nuzzled the little girl.

"Aren't you a little young to be a mother?" Willow asked. Looking at Tabitha, she added silently, And aren't you a little old?

Kay looked slightly offended. "When two people are really in love, age doesn't matter."

"Fair enough. Who's her father?"

Blushing, Kay put Maria back in the playpen and sat on the couch. "He's, uh, out of town for awhile."

Tabitha chuckled. "I think I'll go put Endora down for the night. Do get acquainted, girls. Willow dear, don't go away, we have a lot to talk about!" She took her daughter upstairs, leaving Kay and Willow alone.

"So where did he go?" Willow asked quietly after a moment. "Maria's father?"

Kay looked ashamed as she answered, "He left town after Charity – my cousin. He was in love with her."

Willow looked back at Maria. "But Maria is his daughter with you."

Kay turned away from Willow. "Yeah. I, uh, had a bad patch."

To Kay's surprise, Willow laughed. "I know what you mean."

"How could you possibly know?" Kay demanded a little harshly.

"Oh, I uh, I don't know exactly, I just know what it's like to have things you'd rather forget," Willow stammered.

Kay visibly relaxed. "I didn't mean to hurt anyone, you know. I just loved Miguel so much." Tears filled Willow's eyes. Kay looked upset. "Oh God, I didn't mean to upset you! I'm sorry."

"No, no, it's fine. I just remember what that's like. To love someone that much?"

The two girls were quiet. Finally, Kay spoke. "I tricked him into bed with me. I used Charity's essence and he thought he was sleeping with her. He never loved me. I begged him to stay here with Maria and me, but he left me for Charity." Kay sighed. "I guess it's my punishment for all the horrible things I did to her."

"Like what?"

Kay even laughed dryly. "I left her die on railroad tracks, dumped fish guts on her at the prom, trapped her in a block of ice, and then created a zombie of her to break up with Miguel. I turned into a dog and tried to kill her."

"Are you a witch too?"

Kay shifted nervously. "No, not exactly. I sold my soul to a witch once, so that Charity would be sent to Hell. I created the zombie and stuff from a book of spells that Tabitha had." She was quiet and got up from the couch. "You've never done anything like that, I bet."

She watched as Willow looked down in her lap. "I almost destroyed the world."

Kay felt her jaw drop. "You what?"

Willow locked eyes with her. "I almost destroyed the world. Magic is an addiction. I couldn't stop doing spells and eventually my girlfriend left me because of it." Willow's voice broke. "I loved her so much, Kay. Possibly even more than you love Miguel. When she was killed, I lost my mind in dark magic. I tortured and murdered the man who killed her. When my friends tried to stop me, I tried to kill them too. I decided that humanity felt too much pain and the only way to stop it was to destroy everything."

"Oh my God," Kay whispered. "What happened? I mean, why aren't we all dead?"

"That's the big question, isn't it Endora?" Tabitha whispered to her daughter from where they hid on the staircase. "Why didn't our little California girl destroy everything?" Endora just smiled and giggled.

"I was reminded that there is still love in the world," Willow answered with a small smile.

Tabitha scoffed. "Oh please."

Kay sat back down on the couch. "Wow. So I guess you kind of do understand, don't you?"

Willow nodded. "Yeah, I do."

"Sometimes I wish there was a way to make up for everything," Kay admitted. "I did some really horrible things, but my intentions were good!"

"They always are."

Up on the stairs, Tabitha smirked. "Kay won't be able to atone for the things she did any more than Willow can bring her dead girlfriend back to life." She sobered. "Any more than I can bring back my dear Timmy." Endora put her chubby hand on Tabitha's face and Tabitha smiled. "Yes, thank you darling. I do love you." She put her forehead against her daughter's. "But now it really is time for all little witchlets to go to bed!" Endora pouted, but Tabitha wasn't swayed as she carried the child up the stairs.

Back in the living room, Kay's eyes had hardened. "I would do it all over again if I had to!" She pouted. "Of course, now I can't ever have any more children and it's all Charity's fault. You know, she took my family away from me, my home, and my man. But I have Maria and she reminds me every day that Miguel made love to me. I know he'll come back to me."

Willow sighed. "And I know that when I came back to myself and realized everything that I'd done, I wanted to die. Look, Kay, I know that the things you did weren't nearly as bad as the things I did, but just be aware that magic is a lot more powerful than you are. It can take over and make you it's bitch, to be perfectly frank."

Kay had to laugh at that. "Well I'll be careful."

Standing up, Willow said, "You better. Uh, tell Tabitha that I'm sorry. Maybe I'll stop by again before I leave." She turned back just before opening the front door. "Uh, quick question. This may sound strange, but Charity didn't by any chance have special powers or anything, did she?"

Kay rolled her eyes. "Yeah. Mom used to go on and on about how all the Standish women had these powers of light or something like that. Timmy had it too, I think."

"Who?"
Kay looked ashamed. "Timmy. He was Tabitha's…" Her voice trailed off. "Okay, he was Tabitha's doll."

She was surprised to see Willow shudder. "A living doll?"

"Yeah. Bad experience?"

Willow laughed softly. "I used to think they were cute. Uh, not living dolls I mean, just regular ones. It was a ventriloquist dummy. He was actually a demon hunter trapped in the doll's body and we helped him kill the demon he was after. It was a long time ago, when I was pretty new to the whole slaying demons thing and it freaked me out."

"Oh. Well, Timmy eventually was turned into a real boy, but when my zombie tried to kill the real Charity, he was caught in the crossfire." At this, Kay actually looked remorseful. "He died. Why the interest?"

Willow opened the door and shook her head. "It's nothing. Good night, Kay."

"Night." Kay watched her go, then picked up Maria and held her close to her chest.