A/N: Please go check out Gimpy72's story To Love Again by BL Clark. It is a fantastic story. You can find it on Amazon and a few other places on e-book and Paperback.

Chapter Twenty-Nine: Future Me

Willow sat quietly in her office at the new slayer headquarters, staring into the distance as her mind went wild. She couldn't believe what she had saw today. She didn't want to believe what she had saw today.

"Hey, Will. What's wrong?" Buffy asked as she walked into the room and sat down next on the desk in front of her best friend.

"I saw something today. At least I think I saw something. There's always the possibility I'm losing my mind or a demon is playing tricks, but I'm pretty sure that I'm not. It could have been a demon playing tricks, but it didn't sound like it. Maybe I am going crazy. I went crazy before. Though, me going crazy is never a good thing since I nearly destroyed the world last time I went insane and I really don't want to go insane again and..."

"Will," Buffy said, covering Willow's mouth with her hand. "Breathe."

"Oh, right, sorry," Willow replied, taking a deep breath and looking at her best friend. "I saw another me talking to Amy today. She looked like the dark me, with the veins on her face. She claimed to be from the future."

"Wait...why would the dark you from the future be talking to Amy? You and Amy aren't friends?"

"I don't know, but it was me, Buffy. At least it was another me. It wasn't just some demon using my face. I felt my magics coming off of her, but it was even stronger than it is now. She was more powerful then me...I don't want to become that again."

"I won't let you, Will. We will all do whatever it takes to keep you from becoming Dark Willow again," Buffy promised, resting her hand on Willow's shoulder.

"Even kill me?" Willow asked, her voice sounding small.

"I'm not going to kill you, Willow. We both know I won't need to kill you because of that binding spell you and Giles are working on. If you turn dark, we'll just use that on you. I'm not going to kill you."

"And if the spell doesn't work?" Willow wondered, looking sadly at her friend.

"We'll find another way. Xander was able to help you last time. He might be able to bring you back again," Buffy argued, feeling a panic begin to rise in her chest at the thought of having to kill her friend.

Willow just nodded at Buffy's words and looked down at her hands. "I don't want to kill anyone else."

"You won't," Buffy told her, grabbing one of Willow's hands and giving it a reassuring squeeze. "I won't let you."

Willow and Buffy just sat there silently, each lost in their own thoughts about what the future could hold until Xander walked in. "What's with the looks of gloom? Please tell me there's not another apocalypse."

"I saw a dark version of myself from the future," Willow admitted, turning to look at her oldest friend. "More than likely, that means another apocalypse."

"Have you talked to Giles about it? Maybe he can help us figure out what happened?" Xander said.

Willow looked at Xander in surprise and shook her head. "No. I didn't even think to ask him about it."

"I'll go get him," Buffy announced, standing up and giving Willow's hand another reassuring squeeze before releasing it and walking from the room.

"You okay, Will?" Xander asked, kneeling in front of his friend.

"No. I don't want to become a monster again."

"You won't. You know all of us will do everything we can to stop you from becoming Dark Willow again. Do I need to remind you of the yellow crayon? I will. I have plenty of stories like that," Xander offered, grateful to see the small smile cross his friend's lips.

"No, I remember the story. Thank you for that though. Thank you for bringing me back and reminding me that you love me no matter what."

"You're my best friend, Will. No matter what you do or what you become, you're still Willow."

Willow nodded and hugged Xander, happy to know he loved and supported her no matter what. After they pulled apart from the hug, the sound of footsteps approaching drew their attention and they watched as Buffy and Giles walked into the room.

"Are you alright, Willow?" Giles asked, standing in the doorway. "Buffy told me you saw something that made you worried you might become evil again?"

"I'm fine, Giles. I'm just worried. I saw a future version of myself, but she was all dark and veiny. She was talking to Amy and did some kind of spell on her. It looked like light magic though instead of dark when she performed the spell."

"How could you tell?" Buffy wondered, confused by her friend's words.

"Dark magic isn't able to be seen. Light magic gives this glow around the person using it and the person or thing it's affecting," Willow explained, looking at her two friends before turning back to her mentor and watching him nod in agreement.

"And you saw the glow around both Amy and your future self?"

"Yes. Not just Amy and me though. There was a third witch that was trapped in the spell as well. All three were glowing, but Amy and the third witch were the two the spell was affecting. Then dark future me just disappeared."

"She may have went back to her future. Is there a chance she cursed them by twisting a light magic spell?" Xander asked, confused.

"If she cursed them, then she would not have used light magic to do it," Giles explained. "Curses are dark magic."

"It looked like the binding spell, Giles. Except a more complex one then the one we've been working with. Is it possible that we may have tweaked it enough in the future for it to completely bind someone's powers?"

"But why would a dark version of you bind Amy's and an unknown witch's powers?" Buffy wondered, not understanding.

"Maybe future me wasn't dark. Maybe I was just trapped in my dark persona?" Willow offered, looking at Giles for confirmation.

"It's possible. After all, there are many spells that can be used to bring out someone's darkness to the surface. Your darkness would literally be your dark self."

Willow nodded in agreement and frowned as a thought came to her mind. "Could Amy and the other witch have put one of those spells on me? Could that be why future me stopped them from using their powers?"

"That would be my guess as well. Maybe future you was stopping Amy and ensuring her future wouldn't happen."

"I thought changing the past was bad?" Buffy wondered, frowning at Giles.

"It is, but Willow must have thought that her future would be worth the risk to change."

A/N: Thank you Gimpy72 for all the help with this story and all my others.