Who knew a bow knot could be so complicated? Willow sighed in frustration as she sat cross-legged on a large tombstone with a ten-inch-long shoelace floating in the air above her lap. It had sounded so easy when Rowan gave her this simple exercise to test and practice her control over Air. With her fingers she had been able to do it since she was two but now using her mind and will to tie one had proven to be maddeningly complicated. Of course, using a standard spell to do it was easy but Elemental Magic, it seemed, required much, much more than a short rhyming couplet in Latin.

She had once explained to Oz how using spells was practically analogous to using computer applications. Compared to that, Elemental Magic was even more complicated than, for example, writing machine code. You had to know even the smallest details of the hardware you were operating on. And the hardware in question here was practically all around her – the element, Air.

Her brief remembrance of Oz made her concentration falter and the shoelace drop to her lap. Her eyes misted over and she felt her chest tighten around her windpipe. She managed a choked sob and then, almost immediately, strong arms were around her, soothing her.

"Shhh, Willow," Buffy whispered gently in her ear. "It's ok."

No longer able to hold back the tears, Willow buried her face in the Slayer's shoulder.

"I m-miss him so much," Willow hiccoughed amidst her constant sobbing.

"I know. I miss him too." Buffy felt her own eyes start to burn.

"E-everything's changed... everything's changing," Willow whispered and drew a deep breath. She leaned back a little and looked at her best friend's concerned face.

"Yes," Buffy admitted quietly.

So much had changed during and after the Graduation. The saddest part was naturally Oz's heroic sacrifice to save Willow's life. Then Xander had left to find himself and his place in the world. Angel and Cordelia were in L.A., Rowan was in England doing stuff for the Council and Faith was fulfilling some mysterious obligation somewhere. Buffy, Willow and Giles had also accompanied Gwen to the airport a few days earlier – now that the now one-handed ex-Watcher had fully recovered from her severe burns and other injuries in record time that put Slayer healing to shame and was able to return to England to take on her new assignment as the secretary of the Council's Cabinet.

Of those missing, Angel and Cordelia had probably left for good and Gwen's new job would most likely keep her away from Sunnydale for a long time. The other three Scoobies, however, had each in their own way indicated that they would return to Sunnydale once they had completed whatever it was that was driving them.

Buffy and Willow knew that Rowan had made a deal with the Council – his knowledge in their service in exchange for Faith's freedom. The reasons for Faith's departure, on the other hand, had been vaguer. They knew it had something to do with what had happened in the school basement after the explosion, but neither Faith's farewell letter nor Rowan's subsequent elaboration before his departure had made them any wiser. Oh, Rowan had explained things at length to them and only later did they realize that he had not said much at all of the subject at hand even though it had sounded very convincing and plausible at the time.

'Sneaky bastard,' Buffy thought with a fond smile.

The summer had so far been unusually quiet even for the usual, post-Apocalyptic Hellmouth. The failed Ascension of the Mayor and the following power vacuum had left the Sunnydale underworld in turmoil, and Buffy had a hunch that several competing vampire and demon factions were in fact doing her job for her in the shadows.

So, the vacation before college started for both of them had so far been peaceful and relaxing. It had been exactly what Willow needed to come to terms with the death of Oz. Buffy had taken her best friend duties seriously and the two had spent most of their time together, quickly reaffirming their closeness after the hectic events of the Spring had maybe caused some distance and estrangement to grow between them.

Buffy turned around so that she was fully facing Willow who was still sitting on the tombstone with her head held low. She reached out with her hand and gently cupped Willow's chin and lifted her head up.

"Hey," she smiled gently at her best friend.

"Hey," Willow replied with a sniffle.

"Wanna go to the Bronze for a soda or two? It seems our guy is a no-show tonight."

"I-I don't know," Willow hesitated. On the other hand, she wanted to, but on the other she felt like she couldn't allow herself any kind of joy until she was maybe 80.

"Please?" Buffy begged with a small pout that she knew was almost as irresistible as Willow's famous resolve face. "Only a few drinks together, no inappropriate partying or anything."

"Ok," Willow nodded simply and slid down from the tombstone. She pocketed the elusive shoelace carefully.

"Any progress?" Buffy asked as they started walking side-by-side back to the cemetery gates.

"Little," Willow sighed. "I just cannot make it bend. It looked so easy when Rowan showed me. He said that floating and bending were the first things he had had to do when he started."

"I miss him," Buffy sighed. "Faith too."

"... to look at," Willow murmured under her breath and if not for Buffy's Slayer hearing, she would have missed it.

"No! Not just... that," Buffy quickly countered. "Although..."

"I know," Willow nodded and managed a small smile. "Neither of them did exactly get beaten by the ugly stick."

"Willow!" Buffy gasped and gave a shocked laugh.

"What?" Willow asked innocently but her smile widened into a grin.

"The shy Witch has the hots for a certain Slayer and a demon!" Buffy teased good-naturedly, glad that Willow was once again smiling and joking.

"So, what if I have," Willow replied off-hand.

Buffy almost walked into a tree at hearing her friend's words. "Who are you and what have you done with Willow?" she asked semi-seriously.

"Oh, Buffy. You should have seen the look on your face," Willow laughed. "I like Rowan very much and I realize Faith did what she did because she had to. We may not be the best of friends but I don't have anything against her."

"Do you think they...," Buffy started and drew a breath. "... slept together?"

"If they didn't, they should have," Willow stated sagely and then leaned in to whisper in Buffy's ear what she had learned from Xander about a certain encounter between the two in Faith's apartment.

"You're kidding me!" Buffy burst out.

"Cross my heart," Willow promised and drew an "X" in the air above her heart. "That's what Rowan told Xander that night at the Bronze."

They walked in silence, both in thought, until they reached the Bronze. Once seated with drinks, they once again continued talking idly. Pretty soon the topic of their discussion turned to their upcoming freshman year.

"I can't wait to get my hands on the study guide," Willow not-so-surprisingly confessed.

"Yeah, Miss I-chose-my-major-in-playgroup," Buffy grinned.

"Have you given any thoughts to what kind of classes you'd like to pick for Fall Semester?" Willow asked, ignoring the jibe.

"Nah, there's still lots of time. The Summer's just started."