Chapter 15
Smile
x-o-x
Willow couldn't get her mind to focus the next morning. She'd had enough of people coming to her with their problems. Hearing Pansy's pregnancy concerns had been a little over the top. Having the note from California hadn't been settling either. When Padma had returned to their room later that night, Willow had basically said nothing as she'd stared at her textbooks, forcing her mind to process the information. She hadn't been able to, and when Potions came around the next morning, she found herself rolling over in her bed. She hadn't wanted to go to class. Padma questioned why her roommate had the temperament of saber-tooth tiger but hadn't called her on it. Willow was grateful. In a way, it made the events of the previous evening that much easier to bear.
There had been a note, foretelling of Faith's sudden escape from her comatose condition and her attack on Buffy. Then, without warning, she'd simply vanished. When Willow had finally been able to get through to Sunnydale, Buffy was recovering in the hospital from a serious head wound while Xander angrily said that Faith had overheard them talking about Willow being abroad. Her suspicions were confirmed when she suddenly realized that Faith knew where she was.
She chose to skip lunch to concentrate on doing the homework she'd been unable to do the night before. But she wasn't apparently hidden from all eyes as Hermione came around the corner to ask why Willow was in such a bad mood.
"Where do I begin?" Willow asked, setting her quill aside and glancing up at the wavy-haired woman standing in front of her study table.
"Padma told me that Pansy Parkinson was in your room for several hours last night," Hermione blurted, obviously interested in hearing what was going on with the girl she considered an enemy.
"She was," Willow confirmed, glancing down at her Runes book and dipping her quill in the tiny bottle of ink.
"Is something wrong with her?" Hermione asked.
She sounded a little too pleased about that, Willow decided. "Not really," she said casually, carefully finishing her translation and pushing the parchment away so that it could dry. "She just wanted to talk to someone who wasn't going to mock her."
Hermione turned a slight shade of pink and looked away, but inside Willow felt slightly guilty. She considered Hermione to be a friend and knew she should confide in someone before her head exploded, but she wasn't sure Hermione was the right person. Hermione had known Pansy from Hogwarts and she knew that the two had been enemies. Keira was a terrible person to confide in, she thought, considering that Keira and Pansy despised one another. Harry was out, as was Ron. She could go to Aura, but Aura had the same opinion of Pansy as Keira did. There was one person Willow considered confiding in, but she knew that doing so would completely piss off Harry and his friends.
Which left her in the current situation, she thought heavily, watching as Hermione invited herself to sit down, trying in vain to look concerned. "Is that all that's bothering you?" she asked quietly.
"No," Willow said, closing her Runes dictionary and pushing it away, "it's not. I got a letter from home yesterday. Apparently someone I knew once has escaped from… prison."
"Really," Hermione said, looking vaguely interested. Willow knew that of all of her new friends, Hermione would be the one most likely to understand this particular situation.
"She… she hurt people I care about," Willow began lamely, gesturing. She felt quite stupid since Hermione's eyes had yet to leave her face, but she really wanted to get the point across: Faith was out of jail and it was going to scare her to death. "She's gone after them again."
"You don't think she'd ever find you here," Hermione said quietly.
Willow shrugged. "I'm not really sure about that," she said in a glum tone. "If she wants to hurt me, she'll find a way… I'm the only one she hasn't tried to kill yet."
Hermione's eyes widened at this revelation. "Is she… magical, like you?" she asked in her curiously breathless tone. "If not, she won't find a way inside this school!"
Willow highly doubted that. When Faith wanted something, she usually worked both hell and high water to get it. But, the truth was, Faith was as magical as Buffy was. Slowly, she nodded. "She knows some stuff. I don't think these walls could hold her out. She may not have a lot of power, but the powers she has… you don't want to get in her way."
"Is she really that dangerous?" Hermione asked quietly.
"Yes, she is," Willow replied, closing her book and pushing it on top of the rest of the stack. "You have no idea what you'd be meddling in if you came across her."
"We have magic though," Hermione persisted.
"You think that matters?" Willow asked sharply. She knew she was breaching into secret territory here, but she knew also that if she entrusted Hermione with the truth, Hermione wouldn't be one to gossip about it. "She's a Slayer."
"She's a what?" Hermione asked, looking confused.
For goodness sake! Hermione knew far too much than someone her age should because she kept her nose buried in books. Why couldn't she have picked up 'the Slayer' from one of them?
"I've already said too much," Willow said, picking up her Runes translation and blowing lightly on the parchment. It was nearly dry. "No one is supposed to know about them."
"And yet you do," Hermione said, arching her eyebrows in surprise.
"There's a reason behind that," Willow said quietly. "I think it has something to do about the fact there's two of them."
"But there's only supposed to be one!" Hermione insisted.
Willow felt a smile break across her face despite her best efforts to hide it. Damn, that Hermione Granger could be sneaky when she wanted to be. "There are two," she confirmed. "One is one of my best friends and the other is… well… psychotic."
Hermione's look was sympathetic as she watched Willow's anxious movements. "And now the psychotic one may be coming after you?" she asked.
Willow nodded as she shoved her books back into her bag as the bell tolled in the clock tower. "I need to get to class," she said abruptly.
"Willow," Hermione said, watching as her friend stalked off, but the redhead didn't turn around. As she swept away, Hermione felt slightly empty as she stared at the table in front of her. Something was really bothering Willow, because she was always kind to everyone. Today she was acting as though she were completely stressed out. Keira had expressed her concerns just twenty minutes before at lunch. Harry had been so overcome with worry that he nearly accompanied Hermione to talk to Willow.
Willow continued on her way to the classroom, but paused when she saw the group of students walking inside, chattering happily. Suddenly, she didn't want to go to class. Pulling out the single page with her translation across it, she marched into the classroom and, in the chaos of the class being settled down to order, she slipped her paper on the desk and left the room unnoticed. She moved through the quiet school, glad she wasn't running into someone who knew she was supposed to be in class.
She found herself in front of her Introduction to Magic classroom and paused, her hand reaching for the knob. She knew that the last person she should be talking to was Percy Weasley, but he was easily the best adult to speak with. She couldn't go to anyone else and she knew her friends just wouldn't understand what Willow did. Without hesitation, she pushed the door open. Percy was sitting at his desk, grading papers when Willow walked in. He was about to tell her off when he saw the look on her face. She was clearly distressed about something.
"You once told me that I could go to you if I needed anything," she said before he could say anything. "I need help… I don't know if I can hold in what I know anymore without blowing up. I need someone to talk to."
He nodded slowly without taking his eyes off of her face. "Have a seat," he said, gesturing to the chair sitting next to his desk. "Are you certain you don't want to talk to one of your friends? I happen to know you have a good group of them."
"They wouldn't understand if I did," she said tightly, staring at the floor apprehensively. She decided to burst into the story before she lost her courage completely. "Someone I know is in a lot of trouble."
"Would it be anyone I am familiar with?" Percy asked her.
She nodded slowly. "She was a Hogwarts student," she replied, carefully choosing her next few words. "She thinks that she may be pregnant."
Percy arched an eyebrow and nodded, silently urging her to continue.
"I'm not sure how much more to tell," Willow admitted. "I think I've already said too much. She's worried because of her reputation and it's something that is very important to her. She's scared more than anything, but I'm not really sure if she's telling the truth. Where I come from, strange things happen to good people and although many think she's worthless, I consider her a strong lady."
"What it sounds like she needs is support," Percy said, watching Willow's expression. "You're a good friend, Willow, looking out for people like that."
She gave him a half-smile, wondering whether or not she should tell him what she knew about him. "Thank you," she finally said after a long, awkward pause. Glancing down, she folded her arms. "There's something else, too."
"Oh?" Percy asked, giving her a concerned look.
"After this girl left my room last night, I called my friend in California. It was early evening back there, eight hours back. They're having a problem with this former friend who was in a coma and is now causing some pretty bad things to happen. She's hurt people I care about a lot and I don't…" She paused, trying to figure out how to tell her Professor about Faith's latest antics. "She tried to kill my best friend."
"Willow," Percy said, his eyebrows snapping down in concern as he reached out a hand to pat hers, but she quickly withdrew it.
"I'm so far away," Willow said, shrugging her shoulders as she struggled to process her own emotions. "I can't do anything from here and she… she tried to kill Buffy. They're worried that she'll try to take revenge on the one person she hasn't personally hurt yet, which would be me. She hasn't found me yet, but she'll know I'm in England soon."
"These walls are well protected by magic, Willow," Percy said quietly. "She would have quite a chore getting inside this school."
"That's the thing," Willow said with a sigh. "She has these super powers that allow her to see things like magic. I'm pretty sure that if she wanted a way in here, she would find one. My friends are trying to convince me my life is in danger and the only thing I can do is keep my mouth shut. If Faith ever found out about Harry or Keira, God only knows what she could do to them!"
"And my brother," Percy said, leaning back in his chair with a heavy sigh. "I understand your dilemma. You are having a hell of a time with a friend of yours and now someone you consider an enemy will make an attempt on your life."
"I'm just supposed to smile and bear it!" Willow exclaimed angrily. "How can they ask me to stand back and do nothing? This is my best friend who almost died because of Faith! She tried to kill Xander and now she's coming after me… and there's not a damn thing I can do about it. So here I am, skipping the first class I have ever cut in my entire life and throwing all of my worries into your lap!"
"There are certain protections that we can place around the school to protect you, Willow," Percy finally said. "But you should tell your friends about this threat. They need to know in case something does happen and if does not, they will at least know how close they came to certain danger."
"You're right," Willow said, dropping her head onto her arms. "It's just that she completely…" But Willow wasn't able to say what Faith was entirely, because she sighed again. "I should probably go. Class will be getting out soon and I think it's high time I start telling the truth around here." Hermione may already know the truth about Faith, but the others had to know. Hermione wouldn't betray her confidence.
"I just want to know one thing," Percy said, reaching for his stack of papers. "Why come to me?"
"You're the one person I know who takes the rules as seriously as I do," Willow admitted. "I knew you wouldn't judge me because I see you as the male version of me. I don't judge quickly and even if you did some terrible things, you wouldn't be about to make the same mistakes again."
Percy dropped his quill, looking suddenly irate. "So you've heard."
Willow nodded. She wasn't about to deny anything now.
"I suppose it was only a matter of time before someone tattled on my past behaviors," he said darkly.
"Professor, it doesn't change anything," Willow said calmly. "You're still my Professor and you're still teaching me a great deal about how to use a wand."
"Which you still don't need, by the way," he reminded her.
"The point is, you're still my teacher. You're still the one that gives me the final grades. It doesn't matter what I know or what I don't," Willow said. Percy appeared to be relieved as she stood up. "Thank you for listening to me."
"I'm not just your teacher, Willow," he said in a quiet tone. "I'm also your house advisor. I am always available if you need someone to talk to."
"I know," she said, and with a last smile she departed from the room. There were students milling about now and she hitched her heavy bag onto her shoulder and made her way towards the Scioccio arena. The first thing she was going to do was make amends with Keira.
But she was sidetracked by the sudden appearance of Pansy Parkinson. She was sitting at the base of the wall, her arms wrapped tightly around her knees. She appeared to be sobbing uncontrollably into them.
"Pansy?" Willow asked gently.
The girl looked up. She didn't look so evil now. She looked vulnerable and scared, petrified for her life. "They're not human, are they?" she asked in a whimper of a voice.
"We don't know that," Willow said, bending down and gently helping the distraught girl to her feet. "We won't know until you get tested."
"Are you saying that you want me to tell someone else about this?" Pansy asked, a slight edge of panic in her voice. "I can't do that!"
"You have to," Willow said, taking the other woman's arm. "As soon as you know, you'll feel better."
After a long moment, Pansy nodded. "Where do I go?"
"This way," Willow said, and she led the girl down the hallway towards the Infirmary.
The house physician was an older woman who glanced curiously at them over her oval spectacles when they entered. "Why, hello there," she said in a friendly tone of voice, getting to her feet and shuffling forward.
"Hi," Willow said, throwing the woman a bright, cheerful smile.
"What can I do for you ladies?" the doctor asked, coming to a rest in front of them.
"I would like you to give my friend here," Willow began, as Pansy blinked up at her in confusion, "a full scan."
"A full scan?" the woman asked, turning to look at Pansy, her eyes widening behind her glasses, making them look twice as large. "Is this what you want?"
Pansy still couldn't speak. She brushed the remains of the tears from her eyes and forced herself to nod twice. The doctor looked astonished before turning to Willow. "You are a sweetheart, child, to bring your friend in here. What sort of scan are you looking for?"
Willow opened her mouth to answer, but Pansy somehow found her courage and held out her hand. "I'm… expecting," she said, giving the doctor a tremulous smile.
The doctor looked stunned as she turned to look at Willow, who shrugged. "Well, then, child… you have come to the right place."
"How did you find out?" Willow asked Pansy quietly as she ushered her into one of the four private rooms.
"Home test," Pansy replied, taking her wand from her robes and pointing it to her abdomen. "See?"
She whispered a few words and suddenly there was a small blue bubble, almost like a soap bubble. Inside the bubble was a growing mass.
"Wow," Willow said, watching as the bubble faded away. "That's… accurate."
"You don't have to be such a smartass about it," Pansy snapped, reverberating back into her normal self. "The second I saw that, I freaked out. I came to you. I know that my friends wouldn't have a clue what to do."
"But I do?" Willow asked as the doctor appeared, snapping on a pair of rubber gloves. Pansy's eyes widened in horror.
"We're going to do this the old-fashioned way," the doctor said in a sweet voice, coming forward.
"I'll be outside if you need me," Willow said, letting go of Pansy's hand and moving out of the room.
"Wait!" Pansy cried indignantly. "Don't you dare leave me… what the hell are you doing? What in the hell do you think you're doing? Ow! Owwwww!"
Willow hid her smirk as she listened to Pansy howl as she was examined. Well, she could act like a brat all she wanted. It wasn't going to change the fact that she had something growing inside of her, human or not. But, as she listened to Pansy howl in the cubicle down the hall, she sighed, leaning against the staunch white walls. It was going to be a long afternoon.
x-o-x
Padma was waiting for Willow when she appeared in front of the cafeteria. Willow was quite hungry since she'd skipped lunch to avoid her friends. Even now she could see Harry, Ron and Hermione at their usual table, chattering about the day's events. They looked so happy and safe inside, tucked away from the darkness that seemed to surround them. They had no idea what was happening or what was going to happen. They were just… people.
"You got another note," Padma said, waving her hand in front of Willow's face and handing her an envelope. "It arrived right before lunch. I was going to give it to you then, but…"
Willow took it and thanked her. Both women walked into the Great Hall and took their respective tables. However, the instant she sat down, the first words out of Neville's mouth were, "Have you seen Keira?"
"Uh, no," Willow said, tucking the note inside her bag. She wasn't going to read it in front of a table full of curious university students. "I haven't seen her since last night, in fact."
"Neither have we," Hermione said, chewing on her lower lip as she turned to Ron. "I don't remember seeing her in Potions this morning, either."
Willow could have kicked herself. She'd purposely missed Potions, deciding to stay in her room. Padma had accepted her excuse of a stomachache and had let her be, but she knew that Padma would soon get suspicious. She had skipped lunch to avoid the exact social situation she was in now. The only difference was, Keira Isley had been missing since the night before.
"Remain here," Aura said, getting up from the other side of Hermione, tucked in next to Seamus Finnigan. She walked quickly over to the table where Blaise Zabini and Draco Malfoy were holding court and began to talk to them.
"I don't know why she's asking them for," Parvati said, running a hand through her dark hair as she glowered at the table. "They only care about themselves. They would be the ones to kidnap Keira. They despise her."
Willow frowned as she studied Draco's face. Although his face was alight with malice and his eyes were full of dislike, she saw nothing in his face to indicate that he would be capable of hiding a student away. Harry frowned and followed Willow's eye line to see Draco shaking his head and talking to Aura while the others appeared to be concerned. He dropped his gaze and noticed that she still hadn't put anything on her plate. She appeared far too concerned with Keira than to take care of herself. He took initiative, spooning a bit of casserole on the plate before nudging her shoulder. "You might as well eat before you starve to death."
"Harry's right," Ron said, swallowing a mouthful of rosemary potatoes. "We'll look for her after dinner."
"She doesn't have a roommate to confide in if she had to go someplace in an emergency," Willow said, more to herself than to the table at large. "She only had us."
"She told me last night she wasn't feeling too well," Neville said, speaking up. "I walked her back from Practical Potions and she… she didn't say anything!"
Willow turned to her plate and picked up her fork, but set it down again. "She could have been kidnapped or… or…"
"Hey," Harry said, giving her shoulder a shake. "We'll go to our Head of House as soon as we're done here, okay? But the only way we're going to do anything is if you eat!"
Willow reluctantly picked up her fork. Sometimes, these friends of hers annoyed her. But, at other times, they were as reliable as Old Reliable.
"Here's what we'll do," Hermione said, leaning over the table towards Willow. As always, Hermione's head remained cool under pressure. "Harry, Ron and I will examine the grounds. That includes the Quidditch pitch, the Sciocco field, the beach, the woods, and the pond. Parvati, could you organize a search party of the houses? We need to keep this quiet or else we'll cause a panic. A student doesn't just disappear. She has to be forced to disappear around here." Parvati nodded and turned to Lavender, who also nodded.
"We're with you, Hermione," Lavender said, setting down her water goblet.
"Willow, you and Aura should search the school," Hermione continued, turning to look at Willow, who was eating her casserole as quickly as possible without appearing to be bovine. "Comb through the classrooms, the hallways, the supply closets, the library and the usual hangouts." Her face tightened as she turned to Neville. His once-round face was taut with anxiety and appeared to have drained of all color. "Maybe it'd be best if you waited in your room, Neville. Or maybe you can join Parvati's team."
A team, Willow thought with a fond smile. They were really a team now, sent out to find one of their own, a missing link to their proverbial gang. Willow had never been so thankful to have Hermione as a friend as she did right now.
"Do you mind?" Neville asked, turning to look down the table at Parvati, who shook her head, her eyes round and full of sympathy.
"It's settled," Hermione said firmly, turning to look back at Willow, who had just stuffed half of a white roll into her mouth. "Maybe you should contact Percy. He can tell the other Heads of Houses so that not everyone knows."
"Are you sure it's wise to contact him?" Ron asked, a disgusted look on his face.
"Yes, it is," Willow said firmly, the tone in her voice taking Ron by surprise. "I'll contact your brother as soon as…" She gave an almighty swallow and reached for her goblet just as Harry poured ice water into it.
"We'll find her, Willow," Hermione said, her brown eyes comforting as she glanced at the redheaded girl across from her. "I promise, we will."
Neville gave a rather apprehensive squeak. Harry had told her a bit about what Neville had been like before his role into the downfall of the Dark Lord had come to pass. He had changed so much in one year, she thought, watching as he turned nervous eyes back to his plate before pushing it away. He had lost so much. He had been through so much.
In a way, they all had. That was why this place had been created, she thought, draining her water glass and turning back to her meal. She noticed that there was something lumpy and chocolatey on her place and turned a suspicious eye towards Harry, who quickly mumbled that she still had to eat as she had skipped lunch.
For some odd reason, the thought of a rescue mission brought back the good old days.
Little did she know that in just one day, she would be wishing for the Mayor and his threatening apocalypse to appear.
x-o-x
"Keira!" Willow shouted, rushing down the corridor. It seemed almost too dark, almost a cliché. "Keira, where are you?"
This was all her fault. If she hadn't been caught up with the realization that Faith was on her way to England or Pansy's predicament, she would have been a better friend. She wouldn't have abandoned her closest friend. Willow could have kicked herself many, many times that day. She knew the pure-Dragon-bloods weren't capable of kidnapping, even if it was Keira Isley, a girl many of them despised to the point of cold, concealed hatred.
After contacting Percy, she and Aura had returned to the school. Aura had decided to search the lower-level classrooms, the library and the other hangouts. Willow took to the tower-level classrooms and the Astronomy Tower. Her footsteps echoed eerily down the corridor as she approached the staircase leading to the top level. Frowning, she realized she was running out of places to search. All she had left were the few classrooms on the uppermost floor and they remained unused. So far, she hadn't seen Keira anywhere. Harry and the others hadn't come looking for her to report that they'd found her, either.
There was a sudden sound ahead of her near the stairways. It sounded like a cross between a cough and a sob.
"Hello?" Willow asked, her shoes echoing eerily on the marble floor. "Is someone there?"
She heard it again. Someone was definitely there.
Before she could reach the stairway, a figure stepped from behind it and into the little light there was. Quickly plunging her hand into her pocket, she pulled out her wand. "Lumos," she muttered, and a shadow of a blue light suddenly filled the hallway.
It exposed something that chilled her blood to the core.
It was a figure holding Keira in front of her.
"Faith," Willow said quietly.
"That's right," Faith said, giving the bound and gagged Keira a little push, sending her sprawling onto the floor. "Good to see you, too, Red."
Keira muttered something behind her gag. Faith turned dark eyes onto her and smirked. "What was that, Raven? Didn't hear you."
"Faith, what are you doing here?" Willow deadpanned.
"Funny you should ask," Faith said with an innocent smile that didn't fool her. "See, when I woke up and found out that Sunnydale High had been blown up, I realized your little band of super freaks had saved the day and my boss was dead. I asked myself 'where do I go from here?'. It's a simple answer, really."
She sprang suddenly, her fist colliding with Willow's wrist as her wand went sailing through the air, throwing them all into darkness. Willow could hear Keira whimpering on the floor next to her feet.
"Get out," Willow said angrily.
"When we can have so much fun, precious?" Faith asked, smirking.
Willow felt her anger growing. "I know what you did to Buffy," Willow said, swallowing hard. "I know what you're capable of."
"Then you'll know I won't hesitate to kill all of your new little friends, starting with Raven here," Faith said, cheerfully nudging Keira with the tip of her boot.
Willow pressed her hands forward and a blinding white light suddenly filled the corridor.
"Leave them alone," Willow said, pleading now. "Take me, but leave the others alone."
"Why would I want to do that?" Faith asked innocently, neatly stepping on top of a murmuring Keira as she advanced on Willow. "I sent the note foreseeing my own arrival. Buffy's in the hospital and can't do a damned thing about it. You're alone, just like me and when I crush the life from those pathetic eyes, you're going to see that I'm the one you should have feared all along."
Willow realized suddenly that she had left the note Padma had given her before dinner in her bag, which was back in their room, safe and sound. This had to be what Faith was talking about.
Willow felt the cold fury. She knew she could use her magic on Faith, but she wasn't willing to just yet. "Fine, kill me, crush me, do whatever you have to do," Willow said, enjoying the surprised look on Faith's face as she taunted her. "When Buffy finds you, she's going to rip you end from end."
"That may be so," Faith said with a careless shrug. "But she'll have already lost you."
Willow drew her hands back and the light began to fade. "Just get it over with."
"Whatever you say, beautiful," Faith said, drawing a sharp curved knife as she grinned surreptitiously at the redhead before her.
But it was a different voice that answered her. It was male and commanding. "Stupefy!"
Faith looked stunned as the blast from the wand threw her from her feet and sent her into the wall, where she fell into a heap of leather and dark hair.
Willow turned around just as a figure came towards her. Two more were behind him. "Harry!"
"Grab Keira and go," Harry shouted, turning to Ron and Hermione, who immediately sprang forward to help Keira get to her feet. Spying Willow's wand, he plucked it from the ground and handed it over to her. "Are you all right?"
"Harry, I'm so sorry I didn't tell you," Willow said, her voice taking on a slight tone of panic. "She's going to… she'll…"
"Let's get out of here," Harry said, watching as Keira was led off in the distance. "When she wakes up…"
"Oh, God," Willow said, as she and Harry took to running off after the trio ahead.
Behind them, she could hear Faith's maniacal laughter. "This isn't over!" she shouted. "You're a dead witch, Red! Did you hear me? This isn't over!"
To be continued…
x-o-x
Chapter 16 – the first part of a two part series featuring the Scoobies, Faith, and the disaster that always lingers behind. Willow comes face-to-face with Oz for the first time and begins to realize he isn't nearly as over her as she thought. Keira comes to terms with what nearly happened to her. Buffy gets a rude awakening! Faith turns to madness! And, above it all… a traitor may be in their midst.
It has been over two months since I last posted this story. This is my way of making it up to you. I will post the two-part in its entirety once I return from vacation. It'll be a bit on the action-packed side and it'll definitely show a bit of drama. Couples will be tested, bonds will be broken and a psychotic will have the last laugh… for once. I'm pondering an actual supplement (for the parts rated higher than R, obviously) to accompany it… but… I'm not sure. The last line from this previous chapter was a line used by Glory. Oh, and since this is a two-year school, there might be a sequel in the works. We're working up to the grand finale here as the "traitor" comes out, and a lot of storylines start to wrap up. Twenty five chapters, right? Should be a piece of cake… and a lot of angst, drama and those lovely butterflies are yet to come.
Here are the reviewer's comments:
Chrios: You're a Devils fan? I was totally for the Maple Leaf's until I realized that rooting for Canadian hockey would get my ass kicked from here to Sweden if I didn't "worship" the Wild (or the Stars). Do you have college hockey over there? They are so serious about it here, it's hilarious. My alma mater had two teams, one man's and one woman's, not to mention their intercollegiate intramural teams, that one I played for. College hockey is the only thing keeping me from breaking my satellite dish for not allowing NHL Center Ice. I'm getting my post-college kicks though trying to teach a group of rather talented seven- and eight-year-olds… it's always fun. I can never resist lacing up though, and my lucky stick has gotten me through many a battle. (is someone that can talk about hockey ALL day and night). Oh, right, story. Thank you for your review. I'm already blonde and it would've been a GREAT blonde moment to completely leave Keira's date out of the picture, hmm? Oh, and last note… published? Me? Did I say that?
Laura: Actually, Faith is the reason they come in the first place. First, you need the supernatural demon thingies that keep happening. Next, you need a half-psycho Slayer that wakes up from her coma and decides that Willow hasn't had enough pain and misery yet. Lastly, you add in the other Slayer and the other players and you have one great big party… not. I hope they'll be around long enough for your liking!
Charity: Oh, bless your heart! I think I need to give you a big hug, too. The past few days have been rather difficult, and I must say that things are holding together quite well. Of course, I just locked myself inside my aunt's house to get away from all of the company… and sit up all night staring at the television set. I haven't been able to sleep very much, but that's something better discussed outside a chapter and review, uh huh.
Damia – Queen of the Gypsies: Actually, if you subtract Anya (for now), you do have a well-rounded visit. Anya will come into the story a little bit later, but not now. There is a reason for that, and it is a reason you will soon see, hopefully.
Lightdemondarkangel The news was displayed in this chapter. It's still pre-Adam, sort of, but if you do follow a little bit of canon, I've added a nice little bit about Faith's escape. And Faith, deciding that she really wanted payback on the only Scooby she hasn't tried to hurt yet decides to go after Willow. This is in part the reason why the old gang heads off to England as Faith vows to make Willow pay for her "hatred". I included that bit about Percy because despite the fact I love the geekier characters in the whole J.K. realm, I decided for once to play him out as a bad guy. It would be nice to see him redeemed, yet… I don't know. Thank you for your review!
Dawn of the new world: What happens next is that Buffy marries Bob Dole and raises penguins in Guam. Yes, that was sarcasm. Um, actually, Willow gets a blast from the past and her new friends have to deal with what's to come. Pansy's in a right state after realizing she may be impregnated with demon spawn and lastly Harry comes to realize that his girlfriend is "not that innocent". Ta-da. In a nutshell.
Shelby: I know it's been a month, so, yeah. Here is the update. The Scoobies will be present in the next chapter!
Liz: Funny you should mention those two… actually, the next chapter should explain it all. I felt like I owed a bit of that pairing… here's to making it actually happen.