(O.O)

Willow

One of cool things about being best friends with the Slayer was that life never got boring. I mean sure, my life was in constant danger, but that's normal for anyone who lived here in Sunnydale. At least with Buffy I had a chance to actually decide when I got to die. Not that I want to, but what I mean was that as a friend of the Slayer I had a fighting chance to survive. It was more than those who lived in complete ignorance to the town's darker side got.

Hanging out with Buffy has been the best-est time of my life, second only to the time Xander temporarily became my boyfriend when we were kids. Before her, I'd only been smarty-pants/loser-nerd Willow, but now I was techno-efficient/witch-in-training Willow. Yes, that's right! I'm officially a witch-in-training, or so said Mr. Giles, Ms. Calendar and Spike. He's the other vampire with a soul that my best friend obviously has the hots for, only she just won't admit it. They were the ones who told me that I needed a teacher to properly use my full potential as a witch, a discussion that'd happened after the meeting with Angel's family.

The meeting happened two nights after the muck up that'd been Saint Vigeous. It took place because, after Mr. Giles got discharged from the hospital and we had finished giving him the detailed accounts on what happened the night before, he had wanted to question the rest of the Scourge of Europe. He immediately requested an interview with the other ensoulled vampires by asking Buffy to tell a still injured Angel to contact his family and invite them to a meeting that upcoming Monday.

On the evening of the meeting at the Library, everyone was there, including Angel who was limping from his injuries. We all waited anxiously for the other vampires to show up. All of us were a bit wary of the new comers in town, because even though they'd helped us a few times, we still weren't sure about their motives or how they though. Plus, Angel wasn't very forthcoming when asked about his family. All he seems to say was that they were here because they needed his help. Coming from him that meant that we shouldn't really get involved with them. However, Mr. Giles begged to differ. He said that it was important to get to know the kind of 'people' the members Angel's family were, that way we could tell if they could be trusted to not do anything of the evil variety while they were here in town. Of course, I had a feeling that Giles' real reason for calling the meeting was so he could have a look-see at the three formally infamous and now reformed vampires.

Upon their arrival the differences between our resident ensoulled vampire and the other three were immediately apparent. From how they entered the library to how they carried themselves throughout the meeting, and even the way they talked, were all so different from Angel that it made him look like a complete bore by comparison.

While Angel liked to suddenly appear out of the shadows to surprise us, his family was all about the big dramatic entrance. They threw the Library doors wide open and confidently strode inside like they'd always belonged there. There was a dangerous air surrounding all four vampires in the room, but for each one there was a completely different edge to it.

For Angel, he was always this big looming, intimidating and mysterious guy. But one would know he had fangs even when they couldn't see them because of the way he gave everyone that hungry I-will-suck-your-blood stare, which is why my internal danger meter, that I'd been honing since I met Buffy, had always been on high alert whenever he was around. The rest of his family wasn't like that at all.

Darla has this bitch-from-hell thing going on. She walked like a runway model and acted like a Cordelia from the moment she entered the room. She dominated the conversation with ease and intimidated or insulted anyone who tried to steer the discussion away from how she wanted it to go. She answered Giles' questions rapidly, without any hesitation or lies, and always got straight to the point with her answers. Every time her children, as she referred to Drusilla and Spike, came up as part of the question her words took on a threatening undertone. She reminded me of a cheetah mother I'd seen on a TV documentary: fast, beautiful, dangerous, and fiercely overprotective of her cubs. She may have looked harmless at times, but you always knew she was a predator.

Drusilla presented a very different kind of danger. Her childlike innocence and ethereal beauty had startled and confused all of us from the moment she entered the Library. But it had been what she did that showed us just how frightening she could be.

She entered the Library, arm-in-arm with Spike, staring with awe at everyone in the room. "There are so many people. I love people, especially the nice ones," she had said with such honesty and happiness while examining at our group that we had no idea how to react to her next words: "Hello! I hope we'll all be friends."

Luckily for us, we didn't have time to say anything back because she had suddenly left Spike's side and began swaying and dancing to a tune that only she seemed to hear. We had all been so mesmerized by her elegant movements and unnatural grace that it had been a surprise to us when she had suddenly stopped dancing and turned to glare at me. I had frozen in place as her dark brown eyes shifted to gold and she slowly approached me. From the corner of my eye I saw my friends move to protect me. Drusilla spoke in a creepy and croaking voice that terrified me: "Naughty, naughty little red witch, with dark eyes and ebony hair. Crack, crack, crack she goes. Peeling skin from bones. All things come and all things end. Doors that're closed be opened again. Wishes her Will Be Bent…" As if a spell had suddenly been broken, Drusilla swayed and fell backwards into Spike's waiting arms.

Unintentionally she'd revealed to us her 'Gift of Sight', her ability to see the future. And though I had no idea what she had meant when she told my future, I couldn't shake the feeling of dread that it was something of the bad variety. Mr. Giles felt the same way, though not about her forecast of my future, but about her ability all together. He had felt that it was a much too powerful skill for a vampire to have. Of course the way he said it put Spike and Darla on guard. Fortunately, Buffy was able to calm them. She reassured them that neither her or Giles would hurt any of them for any reason, unless they reverted to doing evil.

As long as they didn't use Dru's abilities for a malicious purpose, they could rest at ease. Buffy's words seemed to relax the group. Drusilla spoke up helpfully as well: "The Sunshine speaks the truth. She will not harm us so as long as we remain good dogs. Treats and cookies await us while we are here." She stood up from Spike's hold and started pacing around the room.

Darla had chosen right then to go on with the meeting and asked everyone to ignore Drusilla.

As the conference took place, I shifted my attention to the last souled vampire in the room that I hadn't yet had the time to study. Spike. For me, he was an enigma compared to the others. For some reason I didn't get any real feel of evil off of him, nor any of the kind of badness that I usually registered when it came to vampires. It was weird because I'd seen how violent and vicious he could be when he'd fought those super-vamps. That night alone should've been enough to scare me and make me as wary of him as I was of Angel, but it hadn't.

Even though the memories of his part in bloody and gory battle from Saturday were still fresh in my mind, they were contradicted by the person I saw in front of me at the Library. The Spike that'd come to the meeting wasn't anything like the Spike that'd fought like a beast. This Spike was kind, gentle, and genuinely cared about how to do good things. He was unlike Angel, whose good deeds always seemed forced unless they involved Buffy. Spike also had such loving and caring eyes whenever he looked at Dru. He appeared harmless and could obviously pass easily as a real human. Only he'd never be mistaken for ordinary, not with his air of confidence and strength of character. That coupled with his vampire abilities and sense of righteousness made him one hell of a hero, just like Buffy. I couldn't help thinking they were two peas in pod. A very badass champion-type pod.

Another thing I'd noticed about the blond vampire was his shrewd sense of humor and quick wit that was so visible as he added his fair share of ideas and opinions into the mix. Yet, unlike Darla and Angel, he was respectful in his sharing. While he could be a bit snarky and sarcastic with his examples, he didn't turn down anyone's opinions and was always open to hearing what the rest of us had to say. Even Xander got a chance to share his ideas as we discussed the new slaying arrangements. Spike treated us as adults and actual members of the team, instead of just the backup, which was refreshing because Xander and I were so used to being treated as the kids of the group. He mediated the animosity between Darla and Giles, while at the same time pulling Angel a peg down or two each time the taller vamp would say something mean or insensitive towards me and Xander. Spike made us feel like valuable members of the Scoobies and because of that, he so went to the top of my favorite soulled vampires list.

I'd say more about the meeting, but it had to be cut short when Drusilla had a seizure. I saw the panic in both Darla and Spike's eyes as they hurried to help the brunette vampire.

"Dru, sweety, hang in there," Darla had whispered in an uncharacteristically soft and gentle voice as she held the spasming woman close to her.

"Drusilla…" was all that Spike said, worry and fear was evident in his voice.

The scene that had played out in front of us was enough to convince us of the vampiress' illness and the genuine concern the other two had for her. It was more than enough proof for us to allow them to stay here in Sunnydale. It was also enough for us to decide to help them with their search for a cure.

"Grandmummy, Spike, I'm cold..." Drusilla said, her voice tired and weak. She was visibly shivering.

Spike removed his coat and gave it to the vampiress. "This is why I told you not to come with us tonight, pet. Your body isn't strong enough for this type of thing."

"But I had to. I had to see the Sunshine, and see what kind of person she is. I wanted to see if she was worthy, worth of my Dark Knight," she said, caressing Spike's cheek, before passing out.

I knew that what she said was something important. However, everyone in the room had started to freak out because of what had happened to her and we were all talking rapidly and loudly over each other. It wasn't until Darla yelled at all of us to calm down that we managed to lower our voices. She went all bitch-mode and told everyone that the meeting was over, that all we'd discussed would immediately take effect, and that we weren't to argue. Without a backward glance she picked up Dru's unconscious form and left the Library. Spike stayed for a few more minutes to apologize to us for his family. He also spoke with Giles and Ms. Calendar about the Night of Saint Vigeous and my involvement in dispatching those vampires. He complimented my skills and called it a talent, before finally suggesting to the Watcher and my Computer Teacher the importance of properly developing my skills as a witch. I had been surprised at the idea and so were Mr. Giles and Ms. Calendar. Luckily, the two of them had agreed with him and now here I was, a real witch-in-training!

I was a new and improve Willow, who didn't only have to study her science and algebra lessons, but also her witchy skills, like how to levitate objects. Ms. Calendar said that levitation was all about concentration. It'd been easy for me, at least until Xander and Buffy walked into the Library along with a gorgeous female foreign exchange student that Xander was making goo-goo eyes at.

Disappointment rolled over me as I watched Xander, who was my best friend and secret crush, openly flirt with the girl. What was worse was that the girl, Ampata, seemed to be returning his interest.

Witchy powers may be cool, but loving a guy who didn't love you back was just awful. Maybe I should follow Buffy's advice to move on from Xander and actually get a guy of my own. If such a guy even existed, someone who'd actually find little old me interesting. I sighed. It seemed that Magic Practice would just have to wait until I could stop feeling jealous of Ampata and sad that Xander had once again overlooked me.

(O.O)