Half Blessing, Half Curse

by TD Master

Ranma 12 BtVS crossover, Xander is sold to the Chinese mob by his father in between season 1 and 2 of Buffy.

27. part 27

----27----

"Say it!" Buffy desperately demanded, close to crying in the darkness of the school. Only some moonlight made the school not quite completely dark.

"You need to hear it?" Xander asked her, standing across from her, a tear flowing down his cheek. "Okay, I don't." Xander slowly turned to leave.

"No!" Buffy exclaimed desperately, tears flowing down her cheek. "A person doesn't just wake up one day, and stop loving someone!" From somewhere out of her leather jacket she produced six-shot gun, saying, "Love is forever!"

"Oh, my god," Xander said with wide-eyed shock.

"I know how to use it!" Buffy warned him, but in his panic Xander turned around and started running through a few doors out on an outside walkway. They were on the second floor, and the way down to the courtyard was long. Buffy was running after him, and cried, "Stop! Don't make me use it, -/bitch/-!"

Xander stopped in shock and slowly turned around and regarded the tears on Buffy's face. She stood just at the double doors, the gun pointing at him. "Okay, let's calm down. You give me the gun, and then we can talk-"

"STOP IT!" Buffy screamed hysterically. "Stop talking to me like I'm some stupid kid!"

BANG!

Right as Buffy finished the last word, she accidentally pulled the trigger. Xander's reflexes kicked in with unnatural speed, making him look surprised. His upper body jerked to his right, and then a powerful and sharp pain blossomed in his left shoulder. "Aah!" he yelled, his right hand grabbing the wound reflexively, as he continued twisting around, making Buffy look with shocked pain at the even. With another reflex Xander removed his right hand from his shoulder and grabbed the railing keeping him from falling over. He winced as another sharp pain tore through his shoulder when he put pressure on it. "What the . . .?" he grunted painfully, straightening up and grabbing his shoulder. He looked up, confused, seeing a stunned Buffy standing there pointing a gun at him. "Buffy? You sh-" Xander wavered, wobbled for a moment and put a clear gaze on Buffy.

"Grace?" Buffy/James asked him in both shock and confusion, but fear more so: did he hit Grace somewhere vital? Didn't he always do that? She's alive.

"I'm here, James," Xander/Grace said holding out a hand to James' gun hand shaking about. Xander/Grace smiled and close her hand around a gun, and gently took it, "I forgive you."

"I killed you, I'm so sorry," Buffy/James sobbed, shrinking down.

Xander/Grace took her in a hug, and said, "I'm the one who should be sorry. I felt like I didn't love you anymore. I do, I still do." Buffy/James looked up into Xander/Grace's face, and the latter dipped down. They kissed, deeply, passionately, but mostly lovingly. Buffy/James barely noticed the surprising feel of a girl beneath the illusion covering her up; it was really only better for him. Light emerged around them, bluish and it swirled upward to a suddenly opening white star of light. Then two denser formations of light emerged from the both of them: one blue, one orange. Slowly they circled around each other, and up into the light.

Buffy and Xander were still kissing, gently, two sets of girl lips to each other, one covered by the illusion of a guy - and then they abruptly broke apart at a cry from Xander. "AAARGH!" he yelled staggering back, grabbing his bullet wound.

"Xander!" Buffy said in concern. Their kiss quickly forgotten she came over to his shoulder, holding his arm steady. "Oh, my god," she muttered, the memories of James fresh in her mind.

"Buffy!" Xander yelled, making Buffy flinch back and look up at him. "YOU SHOT ME!" Xander screamed.

"I'm sorry, Xan!" Buffy whimpered.

"I can't believe you /shot/ me!" Xander shouted angrily, wincing and holding his shoulder tighter.

"Well, I was under control of James, a-" Buffy apologized.

Xander interrupted her, "Didn't stop me from getting out of the way, did it? You remember the anti mind control techniques Deo taught us, don't you?"

Buffy whimpered, and looked down in embarrassment, blushing. "I can't believe you /shot/ me!" Xander yelled again, pissed off. "Do you hate me that much?"

"No, no, it was James and . . ." Buffy looked down again at Xander's continuing glare.

"Don't just /stand/ there!" Xander yelled at her, looking up. "Call an ambulance, they need to take the damn bullet out!"

"O-okay!" Buffy said quickly, then turned around and ran as the rest of the Scooby Gang, Lotion up front, came around the corner.

"Xander!" Lotion called out in fear at him clutching his shoulder, then glared at Buffy.

"You're still alive!" Willow yelled with enthusiasm as Oz, Cordelia and Giles stayed absent a bit. Willow wrapped herself around Buffy first, and then around Xander without thinking, making him yell out in pain. "Sorry!" Willow squeaked and then looked at the bullet wound. "Huh? Weren't you supposed to shoot Buffy?"

"No, Buffy hates me, that's why she let James shoot me," Xander called out and glared at the uncertain Buffy. "You /shot/ me, Buffy! And get the damn ambulance!" Buffy whimpered and ran off to find the nearest phone.

-----

Lexa lay on the stretcher, slowly being wheeled to the ambulance. The Scooby Gang was around her, Buffy a bit further away then the others, horribly embarrassed, blushing furiously.

Lexa grumbled once and then said again for good measure, "I still can't believe you fucking /shot/ me, Buffy!"

"Ah, yeah, well . . . I didn't mean too," Buffy answered turning her head away quickly making everyone frown, and her blush even deeper if that was possible.

"You fucking shot me!" Lexa yelled angrily again as the two medical technicians looked at each other and decided not to say anything.

"Lexa!" Willow said in shock. "Watch your language! You don't curse."

Lexa turned her head the other way to look incredulously at her best friend since kindergarten, and said gently, "Willow." Willow turned her head slightly walking next to the stretcher to pay extra attention. "SHE FUCKING SHOT ME!" Willow flinched back, smiling nervously, as Lexa continued, "If I'm not supposed to swear now, exactly when - god, damn it - am I?"

Giles was furiously pinching his nose to try to alleviate his frustration. Lotion had done nothing but fawn over Xander till the paramedics arrived while he had grumbled angrily; they were all getting on his nerves. "Willow, I must concur with Lexa. However deplorable resorting to cursing is, this does seem like one of the rare times it is appropriate."

"A man needs his curses," Oz stated coolly, making his girlfriend squeeze their casual one-handed embrace tighter in appreciation. Willow pouted as two people agreed with Xander against her. The paramedics didn't notice Oz referring to Lexa as a 'he', or just decided to ignore it. They reached the ambulance and Lexa was quickly put inside. Buffy and Willow both surged forward to get in the ambulance with her.

"Family?" one paramedic asked, halting the two women for a bit.

Buffy snorted folding her hands over her chest and gave the man her patented Slayer-death-glare, "His dad is a drunk and in jail for selling him to the Chinese mob. His mother is barely better. If anyone of his family were here he wouldn't have want them with him."

The paramedic, blinked and the cleared the way, saying, "Okay then."

Buffy and Willow were in the back of the ambulance in no time, and waved goodbye to the other Scoobies. Willow said, "We'll see you at the hospital, hurry up!"

A little later the ambulance drove off with great speed.

-----

Buffy and Willow watched from their positions at Xander's head as the medical technician fussed over Lexa, starting with giving her a local anesthetic in her shoulder. Willow's lip quivered. As the shock of Lexa shot wore off and the full concept of how close her lover and best friend had come to death entered her mind, she became upset very quickly. She turned to Buffy, and said, "How could you have shot, Lexa?"

"I was possessed!" Buffy protested, unable to get the guilty look out of her eyes.

"Lexa kept himself from getting killed, didn't she?" Willow shrieked at Buffy. The medical technician's eyes fluttered over to the girls who were talking nonsense, and quickly ignored them, in favor of his patient. Latching on to what Lexa had said earlier, Willow asked, "Do you hate Lexa that much?"

"I do not hate, Lexa!" Buffy returned heatedly, loud enough for Lexa to turn her head and take the battling girls in; who seemed to be about ready to turn it into a cat fight. Buffy turned her eyes down with guilt, and muttered, "Okay, I may resent him just a-"

"That does it!" Willow shrieked and surged forward, grabbing Buffy's hair with her right hand, and Buffy's left breast with her left. She squeezed Buffy's breast painfully hard, while yanking her by the hear, screeching, "You hussy!"

Buffy quickly returned the favor out of pure instinct, yanking Willow's top which ripped partially down the middle, increasing the cleavage. Red hair was pulled at the same time, as Buffy accused back, "Bitch!"

"Slut!" Willow called back, readjusting her grip on Buffy's chest, making her top make an equally ripping sound, yanking Buffy's hair again. By this time both Lexa and the medical technician was looking at the two in surprise, neither having the mind to stop the girls.

"Shrew!" Buffy accused, yanking the red hair harder, getting a painful yelp out of Willow.

Buffy let out an equally painful grunt as Willow increased her strength as well, pulling Buffy partially off her seat, and yelled, "Corpse-loving skank!"

"Vagrant witch!" Buffy cried back, tears now freely pouring down her face. "I don't hate, Lexa, you stupid cow! I hate myself!" Instantly Willow's strength left her, and looked into Buffy's teary eyes. "I hate myself," Buffy said in a low voice, breaking down. "Just one stupid moment; one decision where I let my stupid curiosity get the better of my common sense, and I . . . I . . . See? I can't say it either! I disgust myself. I deserve Xander's ick. I . . . I don't deserve to be forgiven. Why did Grace forgive James? I-I d-don't understand. I-It's why I couldn't b-break free . . . he deserved t-to go through every ex-ex horrible moment of his own personal hell over and over; I didn't . . ." Buffy sniffed, and looked defeated down to her hands, before continuing, "I didn't want to. I wanted to give him what I deserved."

"Oh, Buffy," Willow whimpered and then enveloped her into a crushing hug. "I'm sorry I yelled at you, and pulled your hair, and ripped your clothes, and pinched your breasts; I forgive you." The two girls hung sobbingly into each other's embrace.

Lexa and the male nurse shared an incredulous look, and Lexa then turned back to the Slayer and the Witch, "HELLO! We're in an ambulance here, and I'm the one with a gunshot wound!"

The two girls peeked down at Lexa over their arms, looked at each other for a moment, and then sank their upper bodies down, giving Lexa a loose double hug, careful about her shoulder. "Okay," Lexa said sharply, then deflated, "okay, this is better."

-----

The Scooby Gang was sitting in the waiting area of the hospital, all in varying degrees of worry. Willow paced back and forth in deep concern. Lotion was following the witch with her head for some reason. Her head moving left, then her head moving right, and then left again. She had a scowl on her face which darkened by the moment. Finally she couldn't take it anymore, and told the witch, "Will you quit that? Lexa is tough, she'll survive a little bullet through the shoulder!"

Willow turned to regard the Amazon, giving her a huge glare. "Actually," Giles said calmly. "Unless the bullet hit an artery and it takes an extreme amount of time to get to a hospital; everyone will survive a bullet into the shoulder - neither happened with Lexa, we got here quick, and there wasn't a fountain of blood."

"See!" Lotion said, pointing at Giles.

Giles thought over his words, and said, "Unless you're allergic to the aesthetic and the doctors don't know; you'll die of the drugs." Everyone looked at Giles with extremely worried expressions. Giles finally noticed and said, "Ah, I'm sure that's not the case with Lexa, it's very rare."

"Giles!" Buffy shrieked. "Don't say those things."

"Yes, I will endeavor to keep such observations to myself from now on," Giles said sagely, and relaxed a bit.

"I'll pace if I want to pace," Willow told Lotion, and continued to do just that, making Lotion groan and settle back in the uncomfortable plastic chair, contemplating if she should beat Willow up.

A little later, much to everyone's relief for many different reasons, Lexa was wheeled out in a wheelchair. On her shoulder was now a nice thick bandage over her stitches. The nurse that wheeled her in was hot; raven black hair, and a lovely nurse's uniform - obviously. She was made up and smiled down at Lexa, who was smiling up at her and her breasts: her head back in her neck. The nurse giggled, and then Lexa got up. "Thanks," she said with a smile.

"Not a problem," she said with a smile, winked, and slowly turned around. As she walked back, pushing the empty wheelchair in front of her, she swayed her ass, which Lexa admired for a moment.

Lexa then turned to her stunned friends, and pointing her thumb back at the retreating nurse, said softly with a grin, "Lesbian!"

"XANDER HARRIS!" Willow suddenly shrieked and rapidly came over to him. "I cannot believe you! Here we are all worried, and you take your sweet time flirting with nurses!"

Lexa gave her a wounded puppy dog look, then grinned, and said, "You saw her. You'd have flirted with her too."

"We're all examining you! We don't have time for nurses!" Willow accused him.

Lexa's grinned deepened and said, "Ah, shucks, Will. I knew I was hot, but that I'm /that/ hot."

The Scoobies stayed silent, looking at the train wreck about to happen. Willow's face grew redder and redder with anger, glaring at Lexa . . . then she suddenly surged forward and wrapped Lexa in a hug, pushing her head just above Lexa's breasts. "You're okay! I'm so glad you're okay!" she whimpered, making everyone sigh in relief that Willow wouldn't tear the hospital apart in her anger.

A moment later a blonde blur attached herself to Lexa, hugging her along with Willow. Lexa made a grunt and wrapped her arms around her two best friends. Giles came over, looking mildly miffed at the sight of his charges making such unseemly shows of public affection, and said in is characteristic stiff British upper lip, "It is good to see you are fine, Lexa." Jenny wrapped one arm around his waist and smiled and nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, 'cause now we get to go to school again tomorrow!" Cordelia said with a big grin. "Wait! Why is this good again?" she added, and Lexa had the actual audacity to chuckle, making the cheerleader glower; but anyone who really knew her could see the shiny stars of happiness in her eyes.

"Good to have you still around, man," Oz spoke in his usual unflappable manner, but obviously relieved.

Lotion finally came up to Willow and Buffy and yanked them with one movement of both her arms off of Lexa and then wrapped herself around her. Two sets of breasts pressed close together, and Lexa wrapped her hands happily around the buxom Amazon's waist. Suffice it to say; any male apart from Giles in view of the two was staring. "Guns are evil - no finesse, no skill, only losers wield them - but my great warrior future husband can handle them," Lotion said with a big grin, squeezing harder.

"Ugh, do watch out for the wound, Lotion," Lexa said with a smile while Buffy and Willow glowered at Lotion for being manhandled by her.

"Sorry, just want my future husband to know I appreciate him," Lotion said with a smile.

"Hmm, not that I don't appreciate this; but how about we get out of here?" Lexa asked the others, and they complied eagerly, not liking the hospital.

-----

All of them had escorted Lexa back to her apartment, much to her annoyance. A little bullet hole that was completely numb by local anesthetic wouldn't suddenly turn her into a cripple! She could still fight her way through several vamps and demons, no problem. But of course, they wouldn't listen, and so they were now standing in front of her apartment building - all of them.

"See, I'm here, safe and sound; can we all get off the overreacting horse now?" Lexa asked them all with some annoyance, but she was still smiling.

"Ah, yes, well, I suppose we should be getting the others home safe and sound," Giles answered, and Lexa nodded.

Hugging and goodbyes were exchanged one by one, until it was Buffy's turn, and she asked, "Lexa, could I talk to you in private for a bit - and no, this is not overreacting escorting you to your apartment door."

"Uh, sure," Lexa said, and then gave the others another, more general, goodbye. They waved back and started dispersing, as Lexa led Buffy inside.

A bit later they had entered her apartment and Lexa asked Buffy, "Do you want something to drink?"

"No, not really," Buffy said as she walked over to the living area of Lexa's apartment, sitting down in the leather couch facing the kitchen. Lexa went to set next to her, to her right.

"Okay, so what gives, Buffy?" Lexa asked the other girl.

"I'm sorry," she answered her best male friend's female version, and then a flood came from her mouth with such speed, Willow would have had trouble keeping up, "I'm sorry that I was so stupid, sorry that I let a quick bit of passion, desire and curiosity overcome common sense. I'm sorry I did it again and resorted to magic to get you back. I'm sorry I couldn't stop myself today, sorry I got so caught up in my hatred and disgust for myself and James. I'm sorry."

Lexa grabbed Buffy's hands and pulled her to herself, and enveloped her in a hug. She felt Buffy hug her back fiercely, apparently not wanting to let her go. Being quite strong herself these days, she could handle Buffy's strength, but not indefinitely. Going over Buffy's words to think of the best way to handle this, she squeezed back with her own strength until she heard Buffy let out a little grunt and she eased up a bit. "It's okay, Buff," Lexa whispered gently, making the blonde look up. "You're forgiven; I've forgiven you a long time ago. Forgiving you isn't as easy as getting rid of a queasy sensation though; but look, I'm holding you completely like this, couldn't do it so fully back then, not without Willow present at least."

Buffy added a dazzling smile to her hopeful look, making her look amazing. Lexa planted a quick kiss on her forehead, and then continued, "Besides, you were a teenager; us teenagers are often ruled by our hormones, doesn't make you evil. And you know what? I'm not any smarter in that stuff than you are. If I were, I'd have swept you off your feet last year already."

Buffy felt her smile grow warmer, just before she gave non-committal grunt, and said a bit morose, "Oh, I think I got you licked in the hormonal stupidity, Xan. Think about it; I couldn't choose between the living, human guy that had three girls chasing him and a demon-animated /corpse/." Buffy shivered for a moment at the concept of having slept with that, before continuing, "A vampire cursed with a soul, whose curse I never investigated. An immortal vampire that came to me hiding in shadows, watching me and my friends risk our lives and flashing our hot bodies at him, harrowing me to do more vampire dusting, while when I ask him for help he's all; 'Are you nuts? I'm not suicidal!'" Buffy blinked as she finished her rant at herself, which turned out to be out Angel as well, and some things her hormones had made her forget about him resurfaced. She suddenly blanched, and said in horror, "Ack! God, I was stupid! Lexa, promise me, if I ever start making moon eyes at a demonic thing again, or at some smooth talking mysterious coward dropping cryptics from the shadows giving me gifts; beat the crap out of me!"

"Sure, Buffy, hereby solemnly promised," Lexa told her friend, and then asked with a straight face, only a twinkle in her eyes betraying her true feelings, "Should I go for getting you back to your senses, or kill you."

Buffy blinked, thought pensively for a moment, and then said, "Senses, but if that doesn't work, kill me, please, send me to the great beyond."

"You got it," Lexa answered and they looked into each other's eyes. Suddenly they both burst into giggles, laughing until their stomachs hurt while holding onto each other. "Oh, god," Lexa managed between giggle fits, "I'm such a girl."

"Yep," Buffy said and snuggled up to old, newfound female friend. Her head rested on Lexa's shoulder and upper left breast, while sniffling occasionally still. -Hmm, this doesn't feel so bad,- Buffy thought, and then blanched, screwing her eyes shot, -What the hell does that mean?-

-----

Willow looked up with large eyes of shock, incomprehension, and worry. Next to her stood Lotion who looked up with sparkling eyes. On Willow's other side was Buffy who looked up with somewhat of a combination of the other two. They were in the forest on the mountain that framed Sunnydale's north side. Some old branches was lying on the dirt, as well as some plants here and there between the trees. "Lexa, please, you can't do this, you're not even fully healed from the gunshot yet?" Willow called upward, once again, trying futilely to talk her best friend since kindergarten out of it.

Said friend, one super hot girl, was tied to tree a meter upward. "Hit it, Ryoga!" she called out with dogged determination.

"Ryoga! You can't! Don't do it!" Willow pleaded with the eternal lost boy, hoping to put some sense in the other guy. Said guy was standing on a tree branch a few ways off, holding a boulder about half Lexa's height in his hands. A rope was tied like a net around it, and connected to a thick solid branch about halfway between Ryoga and Lexa. "He'll get hurt! Badly! He isn't even healed yet!"

Ryoga let go. "NO!" Willow said in shock as she saw the massive boulder swing across the arc . . . straight for Lexa.

"YAH!" Lexa yelled, bringing her right hand and only free thing of her forward. Her index finger stretched out, attempting to peer into the rock to find it's mythical weak center. With a solid, muffled crash the boulder crushed Lexa to the tree. Willow felt like she was holding her heart protectively with her hands, and then came, "OW! That hurts!"

"OF COURSE IT HURTS, YOU INSANE LOON!" Willow shrieked out with worry. "YOU GOT CRUSHED BY A BOULDER!" Ryoga was already pulling a rope, reeling the boulder back to him. Willow continued ranting, "AND I CAN PUT YOU BACK TOGETHER AGAIN! JUST LIKE WITH THE STUPID FIRE!"

"Future husband is one amazing warrior," Lotion said with a proud, in-love smile.

"DON'T YOU ENCOURAGE HIM, YOU BITCH!" Willow shrieked at Lotion with worry.

Lotion turned her head to Willow with a scowl. "Again!" Lexa told Ryoga, despite the pain in her body, determined.

"NO!" Willow shrieked but the boulder was already on his way. Lexa tried to smash her finger through the boulder's weak spot once again . . . and predictably failed.

"AAGH!" she yelled as the boulder crushed her with characteristic mercilessness. Ryoga grinned as he pulled the boulder back again, liking the fact that he was getting some sort of payback after all.

Willow then turned to Buffy, and yelled, "Why aren't you saying anything? That's your best friend up there getting crushed by a giant rock!"

Buffy looked at Willow and said, "Well, I feel bad, but . . . well . . . uhm . . . she wants it and it doesn't seem to be killing him." When she looked into Willow's steaming face she took a nervous step back and muttered, "I'll help with the bandaging?"

Willow shrieked, mumbled something and Buffy flew back till she landed against a tree somewhat painful and stayed there - pinned a meter and a half above the ground. "Huh?" she muttered, looking around.

"Go!" Willow's attention was back to the horror in front of her eyes, as the large rock once gain swung without care to crush her best friend.

Lexa yelled out in pain once again, failing the weak spot once more. "Will," Buffy whined flailing her arms and legs to find someway of getting down. "Let me down from here."

"No, you stay put, you . . . you slutty nincompoop!" Willow told the Slayer angrily, who sighed and gave up on getting free; although she was pretty certain she could - she /was/ the Slayer after all. It was probably better to let Willow deal with her worry this way than in some . . . less constructive way.

As Ryoga pulled the rock back, Lotion moved her hand through her long hair and said breathlessly, "He'll be the greatest warrior on the planet and /my/ husband."

"THAT'S IT!" Willow shrieked and jumped Lotion, clawing and punching at the much more stronger girl. Lotion shrieked back and returned the favor; for some reason not interest in using her martial arts skill to beat Willow into submission within moments, and so a big hair-pulling, scratching cat fight started.

"Again!" Lotion called out to Ryoga; only having eyes for her training.

As Willow's concentration broke at a particular vicious pull on her hair from Lotion, Buffy dropped to the ground. "Oof! My butt," she whimpered, already stroking the offended spot. She looked from a Lexa in new pain, the rock crushing against her, to the catfight, and sighed, "This is going to be one of those days."

-----

"My god! What happened to you two?" Jenny called concerned, putting her work down on the counter in the library, watching as the Scooby Gang entered it. Lotion and Willow were a mess: hair in disarray, dirt everywhere, some bloody scratching covering both, while their clothes were ripped in some places making their cleavages even bigger than usual.

"Catfight," Buffy remarked dryly, still in pristine order. She came in just after her best friend, and had long since lost the interest to be all miffed about the situation. "Although without the seemingly obligatory lesbian sex afterwards."

"Buffy," Giles said aghast, but Buffy gave him a look that made him turn his head guiltily away. It was obvious that 'putting down her work' had been a cover to keep the kids from noticing what the two supposedly adults were really up to; witnessed by the fact Jenny's 'work' was upside down. After watching one of her best friends be in a good, old-fashioned, and childish catfight, while her other best friends let a rock beat her half-into the hospital for several hours straight, Buffy had /really/ long since lost the ability to be upset, or even annoyed enough to make a comment about the adults' 'work'.

Then Lexa came in. "Oh, my god!" Jenny exclaimed in shock at the bloodied bruised mess, who was smiling broadly. "That can't be a catfight! What happened? Demon?" Jenny gasped out aghast, rooted to the floor at the bruised Lexa.

"Nope, training," Buffy muttered casually moving around Willow and Lotion and walking casually to a chair.

"Training?" Giles said, shocked himself. "What kind of bloody training?"

"The best ever!" Lexa exclaimed happily, then coughed and groaned. "I already feel stronger!" Thus making Jenny and Giles look in disbelief at the mess she was. More grunting and moaning, and she added, "Although I could use a little bandaging probably."

"Uh, uh! I'm not doing it!" Willow exclaimed upset as she turned around to face Lexa; except that Lotion was in the way. "I warned you! I bandaged you with the fire, but not this! Nope, I warned you! OUCH!" The exclaim of pain came just after Lotion slapped Willow hard, the sound of skin against skin reverberating throughout the library.

"Ungrateful, cold-hearted bitch," Lotion hissed, and turned around, leaving a stunned, but rapidly starting to boil Willow. "I can't see what you see in her, future husband," Lotion said bubbly, and going over to Lexa, taking a gentle hold of her. "I'll bandage you up, my great warrior." Lexa smiled gratefully.

Buffy rolled her eyes, got up, and yanked Willow back into a chair. "Hey!" she protested.

"I've seen enough girl on girl catfighting for the day," Buffy remarked dryly, sitting back down into the chair with finality.

"I wasn't- . . . I wouldn't . . ." Willow tried to protest, and then deflated, leaving Lotion to maneuver Lexa over to a chair while a concerned Jenny came over with a box of first aid supplied.

-----

Lexa and Ryoga shimmied along the small path between the rows of chairs, in which people were sitting. A big screen was to the front of the large room. "You're gonna love this, Ryoga! Nothing like taking in a got movie with other people in the cinema," Lexa said with a grin on her face and several different kinds of snacks in his arms. "Not to mention drinking and eating tasty snacks."

"We /do/ have movie theaters in Japan, you know. As well as chips and candy," Ryoga said, wondering how he got himself roped into doing this. It had been three days since Lexa first started her training, and had gone through it another two times by now. She was still beat up, although makeup hid most of it.

"I'll bet not as great a one as here though," Lexa returned with a grin, finally reaching her seat and slowly sitting down in it.

As Ryoga did the same for his seat he said, "Yep, probably ours are bigger; Japan is all about getting the best new techno toys first."

"But did you ever go to one, Mr. Super Martial Arts Master?" Lexa asked with a little crooked grin - one side of her lips was still somewhat swollen and couldn't move properly. Ryoga finally had to concede defeat, nodding slightly. Lexa nodded enthusiastically - this was going great. "Well then, sit back, and enjoy."

-----

"That was good," Ryoga said as the two of them steadily left the cinema.

"Of course - Hollywood never fails to deliver a good ninety minutes of mindless explosions and action," Lexa said with a grin, swinging her umbrella lightly. There were many more people in the lobby of the cinema, and the two of them had to make an occasional swerve. Finally they exited the building, and Lexa added, "Which is a lot of the critique on Hollywood - they don't seem to be able to produce anything not mindless these days." She snickered at Ryoga.

"The fights were pathetic though," Ryoga said, thinking of the 'action stars' fighting. "I could defeat them all with both my hands tied behind my back. They can't even throw a decent punch."

Lexa nodded in agreement, "No chi, no understanding of true martial arts - all weak." Ryoga looked at the boy in girl form, watching her casually flip her umbrella open to guard herself from a spray of warm water. A car drove by, and Ryoga was forced to the same thing with a spray of cold water that was splashed up from the car, lest he turned into a pig. "What did you think of the babes though?" Lexa asked him with a grin.

Ryoga raised his eyebrows to go over the film, and said, "The blonde was pretty nice."

"Oh, yeah, eight out of ten easily, but the Asian was the best, nine point nine," Lexa said with sparkling eyes.

"None of them as good as Akane, though," Ryoga said with a smile, taking in a deep breath.

Lexa chuckled and put her hands behind her head, nodding, "As hot as she was, Willow, and Lotion outclass her. Which is odd, strictly esthetically speaking, a guy would probably think the Asian is better than Willow, but still . . . Willow lately makes me go rawr - and Lotion always did, for obvious reasons."

The two rounded a corner, slowly heading towards Ryoga's place of temporary residence. "Ah," Lexa muttered, lowering her arms again, and turned to look at Ryoga. "This what I like about you, Ryoga. We can have some good guy-guy talk."

"This coming from you," Ryoga said with a wry face.

Lexa looked down, noticing her breasts encased in her shirt, and chuckled. She looked around, and then rubbed the ring. A moment later Xander was walking there - a Xander who didn't have a scratch on him - and said, "Guy to talk guy." He grinned at Ryoga and said, "Don't get me wrong; love the girls, love to talk with them, especially Willow with her new bi view of things, but . . . she's still a girl. They just don't quite think and talk the way we do. Giles is . . . well, Giles. Old for one thing - okay, not old, but, adult, you know? Is more like a father than a friend."

"What about the werewolf?" Ryoga asked him casually as they steadily walked onward, both keeping eyes out for water action.

"Ah, Oz," Xander said, nodding steadily. "Oz isn't much of a conversationalist. I'm pretty sure I can talk to him when I need some real important, emergency guy advice or something, but he's Mister Cool Noncommital One Word Answer Guy. It just wouldn't be the same. With you I can talk, relaxedly, one on one, about lots of stuff. I'm already not in the mood for when you leave."

"I won't leave at least until after you've mastered the Bakusai Tenketsu," Ryoga told him, almost solemnly. "Which surprises me," he continued thoughtfully, "I would never do this for that bastard Ranma. One of these days I will beat that curd into the ground, mark my words."

"You do realize I consider him a friend, right?" Xander asked a little concerned, but not much. Ryoga may seem to have a deep hatred for his friend, but there was something about it that didn't quite ring fully serious.

"That is not your fault. It's all that duplicitous, perverted, sickening Ranma's fault. I will make him pay for that," Ryoga answered him, swinging his heavy umbrella about at an imaginary foe; one Saotome Ranma. Ryoga's face was crunched up in a grimace, his teeth clenched together. Xander couldn't help but smirk; he looked kind of good that way.

-----

It was a week later, and early morning Lexa groaned as she awoke. She blinked her eyes and looked around her darkened room. The only light was a small strip where her bedroom door wasn't quite closed and the sunlight was entering, and the numbers from the digital alarm clock. The clock was playing the radio to wake her up. She stretched a bit, arms above her head, and yawned leisurely. She found a comfortable position and turned off the radio clock. "Hmm," she muttered. "Get out, or, get out, or . . . or."

She moved her hands to her chest, and gently massaged her breasts for a short while. Then she moved her hands slowly down her taught stomach, caressing herself everywhere. "Dang, I'm horny," she muttered, slipping both hands beneath her pink, lacy g-string. Deciding to draw things out she gently stroked the flesh of her outer lips and her stomach just above it. Smiling, she tickled her short triangular hairs, having trimmed them. Finally she gave herself what she was craving, gently stroking her clitoris with her right middle finger. She shivered and moaned, feeling pleasure move up her spine. She stretched her legs with a grunt as she felt her inner muscles contract with the pleasure. Making sure not to go too rough yet, she kept her ministration to her pleasure nub short and teasing, causing small flutters of pleasure the flow through a body. Moaning she couldn't take anymore, and slipped two fingers of her left hand inside, her inner walls gripping the welcome intrusion happily. "Yes," she muttered, moving her fingers in and out, making sure to stroke the upper flesh for extra stimulation. She grunted, pushing her fingers in and out in the copious amounts of slick juices that had accumulated there - and suddenly she stopped, eyes wide.

She sat up quickly, and blindly reached for the light button. Finding it easily the light turned on, and she held up her left hand, clear juices sliding down the two fingers she had had inside of her. She blinked and opened the fingers, a string of the thin slime stretching between them. The juice was all but see-through, and much slicker than usual. "Holy shit," she muttered and then grinned, "I'm ovulating. I'm ovulating - I'm fully functional!" She chuckled to herself, and then after a thought said, "Must be why I'm so horny." Then she shrugged and slid back under the covers, hands back down to her pleasure center.

-----

About an hour later Lexa reached school. She found Willow and Buffy soon after, walking next to each other and talking. The umbrella she had casually hanging over her shoulder she quickly pushed further back into her backpack so she had two free hands. "Hey, guys," Lexa said with a grin, rudely interrupting their conversation, pushing the two apart and pulling them along by hooking her arms around theirs. "Let's go to the library, I've got some news." Boys all around took in the girl in sunglasses, super tight leather pants that showed off ever curve of her legs and ass, and a pink top with a deep cleavage. Somehow, showing off her feminine attributes while she was ovulating for the first time, had seemed proper to Lexa. Not that she ever not showed off her feminine attributes, but still; ovulation seemed right to debut her leather pants.

"Lexa!" Buffy protested, but was swept along before she or Willow could put in anymore protests.

Soon after they reached the library, and Lexa called, "Giles!"

The British librarian and demon hunter came from his office; alone this time, and he said, "Uh, yes? Found signs of another apocalypse? Shall I get out the books?"

"Bigger!" Lexa answered getting amused looks from Willow and Buffy, and horrified look from Giles before he realized bigger might not mean worse.

Lexa looked around and muttered about Jenny and the others, but quickly dismissed it, this was more for his closest two friends alone. Propelling the two forward to take a seat at the table, while Giles went toward it as well, Lexa positioned herself with her hands on her sides, pushing one side out, finding a powerful, yet feminine and teasing stance. After a moment of letting Willow and Buffy look ever increasingly expectant at her, she said finally, "I'm ovulating!"

Buffy's face went wide with a smile, as did Willow's, who then said, "Really? You sure?"

Lexa's face fell into annoyance, and looking pointedly at the apprentice witch said, "No, Willow, I don't. How about I scoop out some of the evidence from within me, and let you with the big brain check it out, so I can be certain?"

As Willow blushed and Buffy giggled at the mental picture, while Giles had removed his glasses and furiously started to clean them. The Watcher decided to speak up, "Yes, I suppose . . . uhm . . . congratulating you on being fully female and 100 operational so to speak would be a good idea?"

"Yeah!" Buffy said, getting up and hugging her best friend, "This is great, Xan! Lexa? Whatever! Congratulations." Lexa hugged her back and a moment later a red whirl had attached herself to her as well.

"Congratulations, Xander," Willow said with a smile. Lexa chuckled and laughed a bit, before they finally broke away.

Lexa nodded, and said, "So, once ovulation is over, another twelve to sixteen days and I can look forward to cramps as my body gets rid of some excess blood, eh?"

"Don't forget some jolly PMS just before that!" Buffy said with a big grin, as Giles finally felt comfortable enough to put his glasses back on. "Did I just say 'jolly'?" Buffy suddenly asked with a frown. Willow and Lexa nodded. "Oh, god!" she said horrified. "I'm using Giles-speak! I've been spending too much time around him. Get me out of here!"

The two friends took Buffy and quickly led her out of the library. Giles said, "'Giles-speak' is good, proper, jolly English, and not the hotch-potch you hormonal teenagers turn it into. And you don't need to get away from me for that." The Scooby Gang had reached the doors to the library though, and exited. Giles sighed, "Bloody Americans."

-----

"Over a 150 different symptoms of PMS have been documented. They range from mental to physical, from mood swings to depressions, to back and joint aches. They differ from woman to woman, from cycle to cycle," Lexa read out loud from the computer screen. The three of them were alone in the computer room, and Willow had turned on the internet connection, looking things up on the menstruation and PMS to further prepare their friend for hell. "Jesus," Lexa said with wide eyes, "you women don't know how to make up your minds, do you?"

"It has nothing to do with minds," Willow protested to Lexa, looking at her, "well, unless the hormones give you mood swings, but . . . you know what I mean!" She trailed off and shrugged, Lexa'd find out soon enough.

"A hundred and fifty?" Buffy said a little amazed. "I knew PMS was bad, but it's even worse than I thought!" Willow and Lexa looked at her with annoyed looks. "I'm of the 'give me your best shot, and I'll deal with it, don't bother me with all the possibilities' type, okay? Only makes me worry, and worrying gives me lines, and stress, and stress gives me more symptoms, and . . ." Buffy looked at her two friends, who were looking at her with raised eyebrows. "I'll shut up now."

"Now we'll have to decide if you're a pad or tampon girl," Willow said a little enthusiastically. "Any preference?"

"I don't know," Lexa said thoughtfully, then added with a smile, "It's always good to put something in." It earned him two playful elbows, and she chuckled. "On the other hand, I don't know how much I'm looking forward to pulling it out."

"Why? Because you're afraid you'll put it back in, and then out and . . ." Buffy said, and trailed off as she earned her own elbow from Lexa. "Ow," she muttered, rubbing her upper arm, but grinning.

"Buffy," Willow said sternly, then blinked not quite knowing where she was going with this. Then nodded, and finished, "It's obvious you've been spending too much time with Lotion, Cordelia and Lexa; you're forbidden to speak with them again, so get out."

Lexa chuckled, while Buffy looked scornfully at Willow. "I can make a dirty joke, it's not a bad influence, it's just me," Buffy said with a pout.

"Only if you're sure," Willow said sternly, making Lexa giggle out loud.

Buffy turned to Lexa, and said, "Best is to try them both out. One day tampon, then a pad, and see which you like best for the third and more days."

"So what do you use?" Lexa asked the blonde.

"Tampon," Buffy answered, and Lexa looked to Willow.

Willow answered, "Pad. Don't like insertion all day. Wanna keep it for special circumstances, if you know what I mean."

"Oh, I know," Lexa replied with a big grin.

-----

"Here it comes!" Ryoga called and threw the rock forward.

It was the same day, late in the afternoon, and Lexa was once again tied to the tree. She was exhausted, and hurting, but not half as much as that first day. The rock on ropes came flying forward. Lexa grimaced - and then she saw it! She had thought she'd seen it earlier, even Ryoga's explanation how to see it, and had been wrong, but now . . . there was a surety to her vision. The light indentation, and her mind supplying the weak lines all intersecting that point. That was it! Her index fingers had reached enough strength, that along with the little chi, it should be able to penetrate the hard material - which was quite hard even at it's breaking point. With a scream of satisfaction and effort, she slammed her right index finger in the point, and she felt it crush inside. At the very same time, in an instant the rock cracked along the weak lines, and exploded spectacularly, pelting Lexa with many pieces, but she barely felt them.

"YES!" she screamed.

Ryoga smirked. He reset his yellow and black bandana, and said, "Let's see if you've finally understood, or if it's a fluke." Ryoga jumped down from the tree and went off looking for another boulder as Lexa nodded in agreement.

He returned a little later, tied it in, and sent it flying. Lexa simply grinned as she rammed her left index finger in the rock's breaking point this time, and it exploded a moment later. "Yes!" she called out, and removed her ropes. She grabbed the umbrella she had standing close by for emergencies and went down to the ground where Ryoga was waiting for her. "Thanks, man," Lexa - in a tight enough exercise outfit her covers were visible, said breathing a little heavy.

"You did good, I learned it faster, though," Ryoga said with a smile.

"Of course," Lexa said with a wry grin, rolling her eyes at him. She took her temporary sensei in for a bit, and then asked with a sweet smile, "So, Ryoga. Now that you finished teaching me; when do you leave? Do you have enough money saved up yet?"

"Just about," Ryoga answered, as they slowly walked through the forest toward the settled part of Sunnydale again. "And then I can finally kick that Ranma-bastard's ass!" Ryoga punched his hands forward in blinding blur. "Thanks for teaching me that, by the way," Ryoga said to Lexa who smiled.

"No problem, you teach me something, I returned the favor," Lexa said with a dazzling smile, looking at the guy. "Just don't kill Ranma, he isn't that bad, and he's my friend. A good asskicking won't hurt him though."

"Yes, yes," Ryoga said non-committally. "Why did you want to know?"

"Like I said, I like having you around," Lexa told him, smiling, then stopped. Ryoga stopped to, puzzled. She drew a deep breath, bringing in her courage, and then said, "In more ways than one."

"Huh?" Ryoga asked even more confused.

"Remember the card you got?" Lexa asked him nervously.

"Valentine? What /is/ that anyway?" Ryoga asked her, thinking things through, staying put.

Lexa looked down for a moment, then back up, and said, "It's this special day where everyone sends lovers, potential lovers, and the occasional very good friends a card, proclaiming their love - or friendship, sometimes anonymously."

Ryoga frowned, looking suspiciously at Lexa, and then said, "Exactly how did you know about the card?"

"I sent it," Lexa blurted out, watching Ryoga's eyes grow. "I'm attracted to you," Lexa confessed, wondering what his reaction was. At the moment it was nothing, just remaining in that wide-eyed look, and so Lexa decided to continue. "I've got a bit of a crush on you; you're hot, handsome, sexy, kinda like your attitude," Lexa said. There still was no reaction apart from blinking, and deciding to take her chance, Lexa took a step forward, and gently placed a quick, but loving kiss on Ryoga's lips. She took a step back, and opened her eyes again.

For only a moment there was no reaction apart from greater shock on Ryoga's face. Then, staggering back, Ryoga screamed, "AAAAH! You pervert! You're a guy! YOU KISSED ME! AAAARGGH!" Then he ran into some random direction, screaming more.

Lexa's heart broke, and looked down. "Okay . . . that didn't go so well," Lexa muttered to herself, feeling hollow. After a bit, she turned around and ran the way Ryoga went. "Ryoga! Ryoga!" she screamed, trying to catch up, but after a minute she gave up. She walked defeated onward for a little while, before turning toward Sunnydale.

-----

Lexa knocked on Willow's bedroom door, which promptly opened. "Lexa!" she said with a little surprise. Willow was in a tight pair of jeans and a skimpy top which normally would have Lexa's blood boiling, but not today.

"Your mom let me in," Lexa said weakly, forcing a smile. It was testament to her having mastered the technique, that Willow wasn't all fussing over any wounds; they were now minor instead of major.

"Xan! What's wrong?" Willow called instantly, pulling Lexa inside, not once failing to see her best friend in a funk, even if he was a girl. She closed the door behind her, and pulled him a little further into the room. The room was pinkish hued, with whitish rooms. Right from the door was Willow's bed, with her head side against the wall of the room. Beyond her bed was a wall closet with her clothes, which was open at the moment. The closet was clearly divided in two; one side with her newer sexier clothes, some outrageously sexy, while the other side was her old clothes - which now did duty as bad-day clothes, as well as clothes to wear around the house doing stuff that would get her dirty. Willow maneuvered toward the bed, but still facing Lexa.

Still in her workout clothes, Lexa hesitated for a moment, and then said, "I need some girl talk, Will." Willow nodded immediately, and Lexa continued uncertain, "It's about something you're probably not going to like." She looked pointedly in Willow's eyes with a vulnerable look.

"Of course," Willow said with a smile. Raising her right hand, she said with a smile, "Friend mode to full, lover mode off."

Lexa smiled brightly and let herself be pulled to the bed. Willow sat down on it, and got Lexa to sit as well. The redheaded girl folded her legs sideways underneath her. Smiling reassuringly, she gestured for Lexa to begin. "I don't know if you've noticed, Willow, but . . ." Lexa paused to take a steadying breath, and finished, "I got a crush on Ryoga." Lexa saw the flicker of disappointment and dread in Willow's eyes, but she quickly pushed that away. Lexa realized he was such a lucky guy to have a friend like hers. It was amazing she was still there for her even if all this was going on. She was blessed - she needed to come up with a good reward.

"So, you need girl talk because you don't know how to proceed . . . or because something bad happened?" Willow asked Lexa friendly, smiling reassuringly to her.

"Something bad happened," Lex answered and looked down, gaining a hug from Willow that made her feel better.

"Go on," Willow said.

"Okay, so today I decided to make it known, to him I mean," Lexa explained with a pained look. "He was rather shocked, and I decided to give him a kiss; which wasn't such a good idea. He kinda went nuts. Screaming I was a perverted guy and ran off."

"Oh, Xan," Willow said and quickly hugging Lexa again, more fiercely this time. "He's a bastard. He's evil. He shouldn't have treated you like that."

"Will," Lexa said with a light chuckle, "just because I've got a crush on someone, doesn't mean they have to fall drop-dead in love with me."

Willow smiled, happy that Lexa at least could see the humor in things still. She told her, "First, it's a best friend's duty to her girl friend to vilify the guy. Second, it got you to smile, didn't it?" Lexa nodded, hugging Willow back. "And finally, I'm right. He could have said he wasn't interested, that he didn't swung that way, or considered a guy turning in a girl too weird for him; but calling you a pervert is just wrong. Bisexuality and homosexuality isn't even unnatural, happens with many animals as well, social ones predominantly, especially when the ratio from male to female is very uneven." Lexa looked down at Willow. "Big brain here."

"Okay, I guess you're right," Lexa muttered.

"You guess?" Willow said, breaking the hug and leaning back with offence. "Have you forgotten who you're talking to? That guy memory of yours got scrambled by the curse? Or did the mob drug it out of you to make you more complacent?"

"You're absolutely right as usual, Willow," Lexa stated with a smile and solid conviction.

"That's better," Willow replied with a satisfied nod.

"I knew I should never have done it. Must be the ovulation hormones," Lexa said a little sullenly.

"Just how much?" Willow asked him, then lowered her eyes.

Lexa looked at her, thinking of how to answer that. Finally she decided to say, "Enough."

Willow nodded. For a moment they stayed sitting, just enjoying each other's familiar company. Then Lexa got up, and turned on her Xander illusion. He looked down at Willow and with his very own male voice, said, "I better go find Ryoga before he freezes to death on the north pole, and have a little talk with him."

"You're not going to kill him are you? 'Cause, yes he's prejudiced, but you can't kill him over it," Willow asked a little uncertain.

"Not that kind of little talk, Willow," Xander said, giving her a smile, then with a heartfelt 'see you tomorrow' he was out the door.

-----

"RYOGA!" Xander yelled as he sped through the forest. Where could he be? He couldn't have gotten far; with his sense of direction he was probably walking in circles. He slowed down and checked the ground. Soon he found a set of confusing tracks; going in multiple directions. Ryoga! He'd have gone over the same section from different directions, going in every direction and circling back except the right one - ah, perhaps he did go in the right direction once in a while, but he'd have doubled back. "RYOGA!" Xander yelled out, while preparing a gamble on which trail to follow. Finally making a decision, he chose a random trail and ran off.

"RYOGA, WHERE ARE YOU!" Xander called out loud as he ran through the light forest. "Annoying halfwit," he muttered to himself without meaning it. As he ran, following the tracks, he kept yelling for the guy. Finally after a good while of searching he heard something decidedly not belonging to the forest. Turning toward the sound Xander ran onward, trees zipping by with his almost unnatural speed. It didn't take long before he found an obviously lost Ryoga.

"Ryoga!" Xander said, happy at finding his friend.

"Ack! Get away from me, you pervert!" Ryoga yelled at him in irritation.

Once again with the insult, and Xander's face grew a little darker. "I am /not/ a pervert! I'm bisexual!" Xander exclaimed finding himself analyzing his words as he said them. He blinked, and shrugged while saying, "Okay, I /am/ a pervert, but which guy isn't? Definitely nothing wrong, or disgusting about that, and especially not about me being bisexual for that matter!"

"You kissed me, you bastard!" Ryoga growled and jumped forward, making his umbrella come down in an arc. Xander bent sideways, making Ryoga miss. Immediately Ryoga pulled the umbrella right in an a devastating arc. Xander twisted himself around with a small jump, and blocked Ryoga's swipe at the wrist by putting his left foot against it. Bringing his left foot down and then his right foot out in a powerful kick he disarmed Ryoga from his deadly weapon. The umbrella flew a meter away before landing on the ground with a solid thud and making a deep indentation in the durt.

Ryoga kept his motion to his right up though, bringing his left fist along. With a solid sound and a blossoming of pain the fist landed on Xander's chin, making him stagger back. Instead of letting himself flying onward, he redirected his momentum downward, and flipped up and over his hands. His feet went up catching Ryoga with two kicks in his own chin.

Ryoga staggered as Xander rose back to his feet. "I am sorry for that!" Xander called half angry and half apologetic. "You're a raging heterosexual, and I should have checked first. But I thought - I'm a girl, you're a heterosexual guy, perfect match. And I have hormones surging too, which didn't- . . ."

"RAAH!" Xander was for too late to stop the devastating punch that landed square on Lexa's chin underneath his illusion. He/she was launched off her feet, and flew back several meters till she landed painfully against a tree - but found she could get up relatively easy. That rock training had seriously helped.

"I'll never, ever do it again, okay?" Xander groaned from his downed position. Ryoga stood over him, breathing heavily and still grimacing with anger, but rapidly deflating. "And I am /not/ bad or disgusting for being bisexual," Xander felt the need to growl out, looking at the boy in green pants and yellow shirt. "If you say or imply that again I will seriously hurt you."

"It's unnatural," Ryoga hissed.

"Nope, it isn't," Xander said, unable to keep a smile of his face as he thought, -Thank you, Willow.- He continued, "Happens in lots of animals as well; especially when the male to female ratio is uneven. It's genes and hormones, Ryoga, not a degenerative choice." Ryoga looked suspiciously at him. "This comes straight from the smartest person in Sunnydale, if not the world," Xander added to convince him.

"You should /not/ have kissed me, you asshole," Ryoga hissed, making a sharp gesture with his right hand, pointing at Xander.

Xander sighed deeply and looked up apologetically, telling his friend, "I know. I'm sorry. I should have waited, I should have gotten to know you better first." Xander sighed again, and said, "Can we still be friends? I'm still the same old sparring partner. I'll tug whatever feelings I've got deep away; shouldn't be a problem with the other ones-"

"Don't mention any feelings! You don't have any feelings toward me! Nothing what so ever!" Ryoga called out loud in desperation, shaking his head furiously.

"What feelings?" Xander asked with a smile, then held out his hand. "Friends?"

Ryoga grumbled but took his hand and pulled him up. "Fine, friends it is, but nothing more, nothing, you understand?"

"Nothing," Xander replied solemnly, and Ryoga nodded. He turned around and started walking.

Xander grabbed him by the arm and pulled him around. "Sunnydale is this way," Xander said and pulled him along.

-----

Almost two weeks later

Lexa groaned as she walked onto the school grounds. The cramp that pulled through her abdomen was most annoying. She sniffed air in deeply, ignoring it. "Hey guys," she said, wearing a pair of jeans and a white blouse. She still looked sexy, but for Lexa's standards it was downright drab.

The entire Scooby Gang stood under the tree waiting for her. It was one thing Lexa didn't like about her apartment - it was quite far enough away from school she invariably arrived last. She had liked being one of the first. "Hey, Lexa," Buffy greeted with a smile, her Slayer hearing having picked up Lexa's groan. "So . . . PMS huh?"

"It seems that way," Lexa answered dryly, looking a little annoyed at Buffy, who just grinned more widely. "Don't worry, Buffy, nothing debilitating."

"Good," Lotion said happily, her form-hugging Amazonian dress showing off what she had, "I don't want my future husband in horrible pains." She then turned her head and glared at Buffy, who had the wit the gulp slightly nervously. Willow and Lexa grinned at that, making Buffy pout.

Cordelia was finished taking Lexa in, and started, "Well, isn't that-"

Oz who had one arm around her waist gave her a squeeze, interrupting her. She looked down, and while almost imperceptibly shaking his head a bit, he said calmly, "What does she do when you snipe at her?"

Cordelia blinked while everyone looked interested at the exchange. "She snipes back of course!" Cordelia stated haughtily.

Oz nodded and raising his free hand at Lexa said, "PMS."

Cordelia frowned, took a look at Lexa. Her eyes widened and as she took a step back, she said, "Oh. Thank you."

"No prob," Oz said, tightening the single arm around Cordelia's waist a bit, into a supportive, almost protective, hug.

Cordelia then said, "Well, you're looking great, Lexa. Even in more casual clothes."

Lexa looked wryly at Cordelia while the others tried to cover their chuckles. Cordelia glared them into silence. Lexa sighed and turned toward the school building, taking the lead. The others followed and Willow said, "Well, Cordelia is right Lexa, you look delectable as usual." Willow gave Lexa a smile as she turned her head to look at the witch, who was looking delectable as well in short red dress with a white t-shirt under it.

"So do you," Lexa returned, with a smile.

Buffy's face had steadily grown a bigger and bigger grin, till it reached the status of evil. "So, you feeling irritable yet?" she asked, making Lexa turned half-way around to look at the blonde. Buffy quickly moved forward to be on Lexa's left, and said, "Just cataloging which of over the 150 symptoms you have this time around, Xan. Might help later."

"No," Lexa said with a sigh, and said, "and you can count on this; no matter the hormones, I'll never become 'irritable'. I'll be perfectly nice all the way."

"Are you sure?" Buffy asked him with a frown. "'Cause I know of few techniques to keep the killing instincts under control. Could help too."

"No, I'll be just fine, no irritability here," Lexa answered again.

"Well, just in case," Buffy said looking down, "You know counting sheep? While one of my faves is counting strangling men. I imagine strangling a guy till he's dead, count the corpse, and then go to number two."

They reached the entrance, as they stepped inside the highschool Lexa turned her head and looked at Buffy with a weird expression. Behind them Oz stiffened a bit at Buffy's casual mentioning of strangling guys. Cordelia grinned down at him and squeezed him reassuringly. Lotion took over, "Me, I just beat the crap out of any Amazon stupid enough to want to spar with me. It's very therapeutic. Sadly, there are not many people here who would spar with me, or are stupid enough to do it when I'm . . . irritable."

Lexa sighed. "So Willow, what's your technique?" Buffy asked with a smirk, partly genuinely interested.

"Oh, well, uh . . ." Willow looked down, her old shy self seeming to return for a moment. She looked up and said, "Imagining ripping off a guy's balls and making him eat them."

A paled Oz gave a grunt, and then said, "I don't think it's healthy for a guy to be listening to this." The girls except Lexa turned their heads around a smirked at him.

"So what about you, Cordelia?" Buffy asked.

"Shopping," Cordelia answered immediately.

"Duh," Buffy said immediately, rolling her eyes exaggeratingly, "I mean when you can't go shopping, when you're in school or in class."

Oz looked half dreading up at Cordelia, and she answered with an evil grin, "Tearing into fashion suicide cases."

Willow's eyes widened and then turned back Cordelia with an angry look, "Is /that/ why you've been calling me names all these years? You were PMSing?"

"Not just," Cordelia said, folding her arms across her ample chest, "I've hacked into you when I wasn't on occasion, but putting a fashion victim in front of me when it's that time of the month, is like waving a red cloth in front of a bull."

Willow let out a dangerous high pitch growl, and said, "I think I'll start to return the favor when it's that time of the month for me. Some payback is in order."

Cordelia just looked annoyed at the redhead. Buffy took up the thread again, asking Lexa, "Are you certain you don't feel any irritability?"

"No," Lexa answered.

"You sure?" Buffy asked again, in an annoying fashion. "'Cause seriously, we've got more where this came from."

Lexa sighed a bit, and said with a slightly annoyed tone, "I'm not irritable, Buffy."

"Okay then. But you better be /real/ certain, because we can't help you when we're in class," Buffy said with an overly sweet voice.

"Buffy!" Lexa exclaimed, finally fed up, stopping, and making everyone follow suit. "I am /not/ irritable! Get that through to your blonde head! /Not/ irritable! NOT! I am perfectly nice, and there is not a singe of irritability. Now quit with it, or I'm going to use this fist to show you just how not irritable I am!" Lexa held her right fist up for Buffy to see, and the blonde just looked at her with raised eyebrows. The others were standing there, looking at her with wide eyes as well. A slight smile crept up Buffy's face as Lexa turned to look at all of them looking at her. Realizing what she did, and why they all were looking at her, she rolled her eyes, and said, "Oh, please! If I were a guy, I would have done the same thing." She then turned back facing forward, and marched off.

Buffy giggled. "That was mean, Buffy," Lotion pointed out.

Buffy rolled her eyes at the sexy Amazon, and said, "Xander would never say that to me; he might bet pissed, but he'd find a creative way to pay me back."

"Doesn't matter," Lotion said and demonstratively turned her back on Buffy and stalked off.

"Perhaps not mean, Buffy, but it was low," Willow pointed out, and turned in the direction of her locker.

"Oh, come on, it was funny," Buffy said with a grin.

"Yep," Oz concurred.

Cordelia casually finished his thought, just as brief as her boyfriend, "Still low." Then they also walked off, and Buffy threw up her arms in defeat.

-----

A little later Buffy found Lexa in the gym. She was in her own clothes and doing Tai Chi exercises. The class that had gym and the teacher were still in the dressing rooms, so apart from the two of them, the gym was empty. Buffy walked over to Lexa, and asked, "What are you doing?"

"Rooting my chi," Lexa answered her.

"I /know/ that, I'm not blind," Buffy returned somewhat miffed.

Lexa took the time to turn her eyes to the Slayer, and then asked, "Then why are you asking?"

Buffy took a deep steadying breath, and letting it out she said, "I meant, why are you doing that?"

"To calm down, take control of my body, counteract the effect of hormones," Lexa answered calmly, lowering herself, putting a foot, and then gently moving her hands outward. "I'll be damned if I'm going to let some hormones control me, and I'm not going to whine either."

Buffy smiled friendly, "Is that what you call what we do?" Odd, Buffy thought, how Lexa/Xander could switch from rather feminine ways of speech to very masculine speech patterns like that. Lexa just moved her eyes toward her. "School is starting, you know," Buffy said with a smile. "Is that really going to work?" This time Lexa just looked oddly at her. "Okay, okay, I can tap my chi, I can feel it. But turning off PMS?"

Lexa rolled her eyes, and said, "I'm not turning it off, I'm pushing it down, bringing my normal response and chi patterns to the fore."

Buffy blinked several times, and then said, "I didn't think you could do that."

"Well, you can," Lexa said, smiling. She took a final deep breath and turned to Buffy. "Let's go, class was starting you said, right?" Buffy's eyebrows rose, and then nodded.

-----

Later at lunch they were sitting at a table in the canteen. "You better?" Willow asked her best friend. "Or still?"

Lexa shrugged, smiled and said, "Yeah, I'm fine. An occasional cramp but nothing that really hurts."

"And the . . .?" it was Cordelia who asked it, leaving the final word of the question out for fear of making Lexa explode again, and this time at her.

"I'm not irritable, I'm just fine," she answered, smiling, before taking a bite out of her sandwich. As everyone else ate from their food, Lexa finished her bite and swallowed it. Scowling at Buffy she said, "Unless you're determined to get me pissed off, you'll have to do enough to get me pissed off when I'm not . . . you know."

Lexa gobbled down the sandwiches she had brought with her quickly and easily, while the others took their time a little more. She sat up and looked around, still feeling hungrily. So she got up and joined the line at to the school food. A little later she returned with a plate full of many things, as well as a beaker of fruit yoghurt. She smiled and started to shovel in the food with great gusto. Her friends watched and smirks crept up their faces. "What?"

Lotion smiled friendly at him, and said, "I think we found another symptom?"

Lexa looked around confused, noticing the food finally. "I'm hungry," she complained.

Willow grinned, and pointed out the slop that past for the school's cafeteria food. "Lexa, you're eating school slop as if it were ice cream," she said.

Lexa looked from the food to Willow and back. She sighed, and grumbled, "Do I point out every idiosyncracy I notice in you guys on regular intervals of four weeks? No? Well, then don't do it with me!"

"I thought you weren't irrita-" Buffy started with a smile. She stopped as Lexa's dangerous eyes suddenly flashed at her, and her smile faltered, making her swallow. She got the message, 'You better not be starting again,' loud and clear. "Never mind," she said quickly, sitting further back on the chair.

Lexa continued feasting on the slop in demonstrative silence.

-----

The Scooby Gang including Giles, Jenny and Joyce were sitting at Xander's dining table, and Lexa came out of the bathroom. "This is actually more annoying than the PMS," she muttered seeing her friends sitting at the dining table. The table was set with a feast that she had prepared for them. They were eating, and talking amongst each other, but Buffy had looked over and smirked at her.

"Hey, there's the tampon," Buffy was the one to point out. Oz and Giles sitting across from each other tried to stay as inconspicuous as possible.

"Tried them, didn't like it, remember? I'm with Willow on that one," Lexa muttered reaching her chair and sitting back down. "Especially when it stimulates places at inappropriate times."

Oz and Giles' eyes widened, sitting completely still and looking at each other, neither knowing if Lexa meant what they thought she meant. There were several agreeing and disagreeing murmurs. Cordelia said out loud, "All I know is, I can't live without my tampons."

"Tampons are for wimps," Lotion commented from her seat, and the two were about to start a big fight.

"How about we get back to dinner?" Giles decided to interrupt with as guarded a polite smile he could manage. "This doesn't seem an appropriate subject at this time," Giles finished. He just knew what Oz was thinking: the exact same thing he was thinking: the numbers are not in our favor and why did Xander/Lexa have to invite is here when he was all girl to make it worse? Can we get out of here?

"I agree," Oz added in.

"Are the men a little uncomfortable?" Willow asked with a smirk.

Jenny cut in, half in defense of her boyfriend, half because she agreed, "I think Giles' is right. Plenty of places and times to talk about the monthly business, but not during dinner."

"Yeah," Lexa chimed in with a happy smile, finishing cutting off a piece of her stake. Holding it up, she said, "Food now, happy times, no monthly business - so decrees the man of the house."

There was some laughter, masking two relieved sighs starting a few moments after the laughter started. "This is a nice place, Xander, and you're a great cook," Joyce commented from her place at the head of the table opposite Lexa's position. "If it were possible, I'd have you cook for me and Buffy every night."

"Please, don't, Xan," Buffy groaned, after swallowing down her third helping of the lean meat and delicious - but undoubtedly fattening - sauce, along with cauliflower in delicious - and once again fattening - cream sauce, with baked potatoes with some delicious - you get the idea - sauce. "I'll be too fat to stand up in no time." She actually felt guilty for stuffing herself the way she had been, but it was just too delicious not to get a second and then third helping. Her third helping was almost gone.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Joyce commented, considering it a slight to her cooking.

Buffy had been eyeing what was left and how many people were eyeing it as well, calculating the odds at grabbing one more helping before anyone else could. She had Slayer speed; but Lotion would be just as fast. Her thinking like that about a fourth helping of food, and thinking made her feel guilty.

"Well?" Joyce repeated with a stinging tone reserved only for her daughter, who's head jerked to regard her mother - a very well trained monkey indeed.

"Hmm?" Buffy said, while she rationalized that since she was the Slayer, had a Slayer's metabolism, and she needed the energy to dust vampires for the good of mankind, she could have a fourth helping without getting fat or needing to feel selfish. Of course, that rationalization made a new wave of guilt sweep through her.

"Do you think my cooking is bad?" Joyce clarified with narrowed eyes, while everyone else became a little more nervous. An angry Joyce was scary to hear.

"What? No! Why?" Buffy said half-panicked, not wanting her mother's ire directed at her.

"Why do you think you're going to eat so much more of Xander's cooking you'll get fat?" Joyce said, directed at her.

"No, no, uh . . ." Buffy said, twitching like a fish on a hook, or a daughter in her mother's sights.

"It's just that Xander cooks so much more fattening, Mrs. Summers," Willow said politely, helping out her best friend. "Just one helping of his food, is like three helpings of yours. You being woman like Buffy, understand the need for a girl's careful diet. I myself am planning to fast for a day after this feast."

Giles who finished swallowing down some delicious potatoes, decided to say, "Well, Buffy being the Slayer- OW!" Willow's smile never once wavered as Joyce looked suspiciously over to the watcher and the witch who were sitting next to each other. Giles was reaching under the table, making rubbing motions.

"That must be what Buffy meant," Lexa chimed in with a smirk, "because I've tasted you're cooking Joyce, and it's every bit as good as mine, if not better."

"Yeah, that's exactly what I meant," Buffy quickly said with a smile at her mother, making a mental note to remember she owed Willow and Xander big time. Quickly the Slayer sent a glare to Lotion and Cordelia to make sure they wouldn't get the idea to let their blabber mouths loose. She didn't need to; Cordelia didn't seem interested in tangling with the elder Summers, and Lotion was too engrossed into stuffing herself with Lexa's delicious cooking . . . and Buffy's fourth helping. When Buffy noticed that, her glare toward the Amazon increased a thousand fold.

Buffy got a nudge from Lexa, and she said, "There's still dessert." Buffy's face lit back up.

"So, everything all right?" Joyce decided to ask. Buffy had reassured her time and time again nothing big was on the horizon, but she had the sneaking suspicion her daughter would lie to her so she wouldn't get worried. "On the supernatural end, I mean?"

"Yes, no more than the usual on top of the Hellmouth," Giles said, a slight edge of wryness in his voice.

"Everything seems to be fine, which tells me we should be more vigilant," Lexa added, frowning at her observation.

Jenny nodded, and said, "It would be nice if Amy joined us; another magic user to fight the demons is never a luxury, especially not on the Hellmouth. I have forced her to learn with me and Willow, more to instill some morality and knowledge of consequences in her than anything else; she doesn't want to be anywhere near the actual fighting though. Says she's no hero, and just wants to live her life."

"Which is her good right," Cordelia added a little testily, "an idea I had, before the weird stuff kept sucking me back in."

"And you wanted to impress one of the heroes," Willow pointed out with her fork aiming at Cordelia. The cheerleader glared at Willow for having the audacity to convey Cordelia might be here out of her own volition.

"Destroying vampires is fun, good training, sadly their numbers are down lately though," Lotion told Joyce with a smile. "Things are quiet."

-----

On the way back, Joyce drove Willow home. Buffy was sitting in the passenger seat, with the redhead in the middle of the backseat. Willow was speaking with a large eyes, "Danish pudding: vanilla pudding on red berry sauce with raisins and currants in it, and separate whipped cream for those who want it. How does she come with this stuff? That was sooooo tasty! Yummy, yummy, delicious! I still can't quite believe it."

"Oh, yeah, I'm about to explode," Buffy said with a groan, feeling her belly. "I'm going to regret going to Xander's birthday party in the morning."

Joyce nodded, and said, "Like I said, I wouldn't mind him cooking for me every day. Doubt it'll be feast every time, but if I don't have to cook, hmm."

"I kinda feel guilty," Buffy took over with a pout. "I gave him, her - ah! - a nice gift; but that feast was worthy of a house."

"With his children from your womb," Willow said dreamily, making Buffy and Joyce turn around to look at her. "Hey! I'm in love, sue me! And road!" Joyce quickly turned around and steered the car back to a nice straight line.

"Pretty sad Ryoga had left before Lexa's birthday party, they got along pretty good," Buffy thought out loud once the car was on the straight and narrow again.

"Yeah, she had a pretty big crush on him too. Happy he didn't want her, what a dumbass really," Willow commented off hand; the whole thing having past and gone.

"WHAT?" Buffy exclaimed in shock.

-----

"Ah!" Xander Harris, stepped with an overly comment of relief past Buffy into her house. "Male once more, thank god!" he added and walked onward to the living room where Willow and Lotion were already waiting. As Lotion had been present during the initial idea, she had insisted to be part of the 'debriefing' as Xander's inner soldier had dubbed this little get together. He went to his seat on the couch next to Willow and sat down.

"Being a girl is that bad?" Willow asked him both perturbed and curious as Buffy sat down next to Lotion across from Xander on the couch with the window.

Joyce joined them, sitting down in the chair, while Xander answered, "No, girl is pretty great. I've just gotten used to switching genders. I can barely grasp how I got through the first seventeen years of my life. It's just so much fun to be able to switch between them. Being stuck in one almost feels unnatural to me. Seriously, you guys should call up the Jusenkyo guide and ask if there is a cursed spring of the drowned boy, and if so, book a flight."

"EW? Being a guy? No think you!" Buffy exclaimed horrified at the thought. "Belching, and having a . . . ew." Joyce looked amused at her daughter, while Willow nodded slowly. Apparently she agreed, but not quite as overly horrified by it as Buffy was.

"Hey, you wouldn't have a period and PMS ever again without you wanting to. Every time you switch to male, the cycle gets reset," Xander told here with a grin.

Buffy's eyes suddenly widened, and then said, "Nah, isn't worth it."

"I agree; I'm too scared I turn in an Amazon male wimp," Lotion added with a grim expression. "No gender changes for me."

"Suit yourselves, your loss," Xander said with a shrug.

Joyce decided to pull the conversation to what it was supposed to be about, "So, Xander, what did you think of your period itself."

Xander nodded, and said, "Annoying, glad I don't have to go through it."

Buffy smirked at Xander, while Willow didn't quite know what to feel. Xander seemed okay, but it was her glamour idea that forced him to have to go through the annoying. "Told ya," Buffy spoke, smiling cheekily.

"Don't get me wrong, Buffy," Xander answered, sitting more forward to regard her better, "it's annoying alright, it's worse than some men think it is; but it most certainly isn't as bad as some of you make it out to be." It was Joyce's time to nodded with a sneaky smile of her own, while Buffy looked at him with a surprised pout. Xander continued, "You can definitely control your reactions, reason yourself through a hormone surge, especially now that I've taught you the Tai Chi stuff. Doing that can put you in control even more. Don't think I'm going to take PMS as an excuse anymore; unless I was being really obnoxious like you were."

"I was just kidding," Buffy repeated her defense another time, as she started to realize what it mean. "Ah, dang, I knew I shouldn't have you do it, after mom said . . ." Buffy deflated.

Willow grinned, and said, "Xan, is that all?"

"I kinda like the ovulation part," Xander said with a smile. "Hearing and eyesight are better, and the- uh . . . well . . ."

Joyce tried to stifle a laugh, but failed, making it come out like a choke. "Sorry," she said with a smirk, "You handled /all/ of the hormones very well, I see."

"Ah, mom," Buffy complained.

"Yes, he did. I expected nothing less from my future husband; he has triumphed once again!" Lotion exclaimed happily, making two sets of yes look at her with mirth, and two sets of eyes glare at her.

"So? Xander Harris is back again to woo the girls, eh?" Joyce asked Xander with a naughty smile that Buffy blanch at her mother in shock.

"What can I say?" Xander answered with a grin. "I'm irresistible; which considering whose genes I carry, is a miracle." Xander frowned as he thought it over, while Willow snickered.

"You are full of yourself, Xan," Buffy told him, half smiling.

"The only reason why I don't have a horde of Sunnydale High girls after me, is because a certain Amazon kicked some of their asses and threatened to do the same with the rest; and I don't have four after me, because I dumped one," Xander told Buffy with a grin.

Buffy opened her mouth to come up with a reply, but couldn't, making Lotion and Willow laugh. "Face it, pig-nosed girl, my future husband is full of himself, but not /too/ full of himself." Buffy folded her arms across her chest, and sat there annoyed, steaming and stewing, while three women laughed, and one guy smirked.

-----

The mayor of Sunnydale, one Richard Wilkins the third, looked out the window of his office. Smiling as he took in his quaint little town, that wasn't quite so little. "Allan, we're doing a good job here," he said proudly, "There's hardly any littering, everyone has water and heat, educational system is the best in the state, plenty of parking space, a lovely park and old buildings. Why, if it weren't for the death toll, this would the best place in the country, if not the world!" He turned around and grinned at his deputy mayor that was standing in front of his desk, and said, "Shucks, even with the death toll we might be the best in the country, most assuredly in the state!"

"Of course, sir," the timid, small man in a suit said, "we have a problem though."

"We could do with some better facilities for the kids though," Wilkins went on happily as he walked to his chair, "a few fields to play ball games on, perhaps with some playgrounds adjacent to them. The kids are important Allan, they are our future, never forget that."

"Of course not, sir," Allan answered the mayor.

The mayor sat down in his chair, and said, "Now, Allan, what dreadful business are you reporting this time?"

"You were right about the magic, sir," Allan told him and forced himself to take a deep breath. "It seems that the vampire Dalton is preparing something big, and he's doing it very quietly: wards, magical and otherwise, glamours. He's keeping his minions on a tight lease; probably so they don't tip of the Slayer and her friends on what he's doing. He's actually using his brain, sir, and he seems to have a powerful one. He was one of Spike's crew before he and his companions were destroyed."

"Well, now, that's quite enterprising of the good fellow," Wilkins said with amicable smile. "Any idea what he's planning?"

"Ah, yes, sir, uhm . . ." Allan stopped nervously.

Wilkins smile grew reassuring, and said, "Come on, Allan, spill it out. I don't kill the messenger . . . not usually at least." Allan's face blanched, and Wilkins laughed out loud. "Just kidding, Allan, out with it."

"Okay, we sent someone to infiltrate the Dalton's little circle, and he reported 'Ascension,'" Allan finished, and gulped.

Richard's smile never wavered, but the laughter in his eyes turned to ice cold, and he said, "Well, now, that is mighty inconsiderate of him. You'd think one would ask if it's your turn; it's only common courtesy."

"I know, sir, the world isn't as it used to be," Allan agreed with the mayor.

"Damn right, it isn't," the mayor said, placing a light tap on the desk with his fist. "Oh, well, we'll just have to deal with it somehow. Any ideas?"

"I was thinking we let the Slayer and her friends deal with it again, sir. They are quite effective after all, sir," Allan pointed out.

"Indeed they are, aren't they?" Mayor Wilkins said with a smile. "Like I said, Allan, the children are the future. And I must say, relocating that arm to where we knew their little group had hired a warehouse for the night, was a brilliant idea on your part."

"Thank you, sir, sending those portents to the second Slayer and her watcher was inspiring, though," Allan returned, more calmer now that the bad news was out, and all was well.

"It was, wasn't it?" Wilkins said with a smile. "I must put the blame for the Master fiasco squarely at my own two feet, I underestimated him and his minions digging him out so soon. Now that I think about it; getting the second Slayer back into the mix, might not be such a bad idea."

"Shall I buy the same ingredients as last time, sir?" Allan asked him.

Wilkins nodded with a smile, and said, "Yes, Allan, please do. Try to find an alternative for frog legs, though. The stains are very difficult to remove."

"I will try, which makes us come to a final thing," Allan told the mayor, as he pulled a large yellow envelope from his jacket.

"And what might that be, Allan?" the mayor asked amicably as Allan placed the envelope on his desk.

"An artifact has been unearthed by the Sunnydale University archeology division," Allan answered him simply. "It's a large box with some writing on it. Ancient writing, since you are better with the ancient languages, I thought you might want to take a look at it."

"Yes, that would be a good idea, Allan. If that is all, you can go so I can take a look at this," the mayor told him, opening the envelope.

"Yes, sir," Allan said and left the office.

To Be Continued . . .