"You may regret such rash action." The Lord of Dragons warns.
"It is a small price to pay for my friends." Willow says honestly.
"They come tomorrow. You have that long to make your peace. I will come for you when it is time." The Lord of Dragons says as he fades away.
'It is done.' Willow thinks as her relief releases all the tension in her body. Her friends will be safe. With her weight lifted, she heads back home.
Buffy is training when Willow walks back in. Buffy is pleasantly surprised to see her. Willow walks right into the middle of Buffy's routine forcing Buffy to pull her punch to avoid hitting Willow. When Willow places her hands on either side of Buffy's head and kisses her passionately, Buffy is caught completely off guard. Willow is not normally so aggressive, so fierce. Buffy likes it so she offers no resistance when Willow drags her back to their room. Willow pushes Buffy onto their bed and makes love to Buffy like she never has before. The beauty of the experience leaves tears of joy in Buffy's eyes. She didn't know it was possible to be loved like that. It brings a moment of pain as well because Buffy knows she can never return the depth of Willow's love. Overwhelmed, Buffy curls up in Willow's arms and falls asleep.
Willow feels wonderful at finally not holding back anymore. She always held back not wanting to Buffy to feel inadequate. She knows Buffy just isn't capable of that depth of feeling. It is another price she pays for being the slayer. Now it doesn't matter. Willow intends to show those she loves the full extent of her love in the time she has left.
Adding a bit of magic to ensure Buffy will sleep peacefully for several hours, she slips out of their embrace and gets up to deal with her other friends. No longer concerned about the long term effects of using too much magic, Willow snaps her fingers to change into her favorite outfit. Knowing who she needs to see first she then teleports back to the Watcher's archive.
As she hoped, Giles has recovered. He sits in a large back chair nursing a brandy. He looks at her with sadness in his eyes. That look nearly breaks her. "It is done." she tells him.
"I know. Every physic we know felt it. As soon as word spread demons starting fleeing this world. I hope you are right Willow." Giles says and then downs the rest of his drink. He with a shaking hand he grabs the bottle and pours another.
"It will be ok Giles. I will meet his price. Everyone will get to grow old." Willow tells him.
His sad eyes meet hers as he inquires "What about you Willow?"
"It is worth it." she replies. She would do anything for her friends.
"We could have found another way. You didn't have to" Giles tries to say.
"I did. My vision showed me nothing we could do would be enough. There is only one being able to kill beings on that power scale and you know it. I am sorry for earlier. I couldn't let you stop me." Willow explains. She tries to approach Giles but he withdraws deeper into his chair.
"I know you did what you felt you had to but I can't approve. It was reckless. I am sorry Willow. Please leave." Giles forces himself to tell her. He wishes he could thank her for her sacrifice but it not just her life at stake. The world is on the line. Giles doesn't think even The Lord of Dragons can defeat the forces of Heaven. He doesn't even know if they should try to stop Judgment Day. Won't only the evil be punished? Why would the slayers resist the coming of angels? Willow's vision does not make sense. It is a mystery more complex than this simple Watcher can solve.
Willow is staggered by Giles' words. She wants to say he is wrong but she knows better. What she has done was reckless but it makes it no less necessary. She knows it was her only choice. She hoped he would understand. She showed him what would happen but he refuses to accept the truth of it. She understands and forgives him.
"I will always think of you as my friend, my teacher, and a second father." she says.
In a flash, she is gone. Her words still echoing in his ears. Giles throws his glass against the far wall. The shattering glass an expression of his frustration. "Why couldn't you forget about the world for a minute and just say you think of her as a daughter? Stubborn old fool.' Giles chides himself.
Xander does not jump when Willow appears next to him. She is impressed by the man he has become. Fighting to keep tears from her eyes, she gives him her best smile.
Xander's heart stops when Willow appears next to him but he has learned not to show such feelings. To help his recovery, he calmly says "Hi Will. What's on your mind? You know its past your bedtime."
She hugs him as she tells him "I love you Xander. You are the best friend any one could ever ask for."
"Does this mean you will finally let me watch?" he jokes. Inside he is very concerned. He saw the pain in her eyes and he noticed she has been up to something. Her display of feelings now only confirms his worst fears. Willow is in deep trouble.
She playfully smacks him in the arm. "Thank you for being you, Xander." she says before hugging him again.
"You can always talk to me you know that." he replies in a more serious tone.
'Damn, he noticed something. Of course he did. He is not an idiot' Willow thinks. Out loud she says "I know that."
"Well?" he responds
"Don't worry Xander. Everything is fine. I realized I don't let you know how I feel often enough. You can blame that Cosmo magazine that Dawn made me read." she reassures him adding her best light laugh.
Anyone else would have bought her lie but Xander has known Willow longer than he has known himself. He knows she is lying. Not sure what to do about it, he decides to let it go for now. When he compares notes with Buffy and Giles then a plan can be made. To her he replies "Those mags will bring about the apocalypse one of these days. Want to watch the midnight movie?"
"That would be nice but I have a ton of things to take care of. You know witch's work is never done." she says with a smile. Just before Willow teleports she casts a spell to befuddle Xander. She does want any of her friends to interfere with what she has to do. What she fails to notice is that her spell is not able to grab hold of Xander. Some how he is immune to it.
"Ok Talk to you later then." Xander replies. When she disappears in a puff of smoke, he calls Giles. When Giles doesn't answer, Xander goes to look for Buffy.
He sees her asleep in their bed. She looks like an angel. He can't bring himself to disturb her so he goes to find Faith.
The girls tell him Faith has gone out boy hunting. They give him directions to the club she was headed for. It is a new place about an hour away. The club is easy for him to find. The line to get in is around the corner. The old Xander would never have gotten in. This Xander just walks to the front and lifts the red velvet rope to let himself in. The bouncers move to stop him but he freezes them with a look. His eye shows he has seen and dealt with far worse than they. His gaze forces the bouncers to take a step back. He nods to them as he enters the club.
Inside Faith is easy to find. She is in the center of the dance floor surrounded by guys. She is moving in the hypnotizing rhythm that only a slayer can. These poor boys don't have a chance against her animal charm. Xander is surprised a fight hasn't broken out by the way the men all push and shove to be close to her.
Not wanting to waste time, he walks right thru them. A few snap angrily at him but his gaze is enough to drive them back. Faith smiles when she sees him. She wraps her arms around him and announces "Looks like he is taking me home town boys. Sorry maybe next time." With her arm still around him, she guides him outside.
When outside she turns so she is facing him and asks "How bad? It must be major to interrupt my night off."
"Something is up with Willow. She is acting strange. I have a bad feeling about this. Also, she was using magic awfully freely." Xander informs her.
"You think she is addicted again? I didn't think anything of it at the time but I ran into her at the club a little while ago. She was all mushy. I thought she was drunk. She said she was leaving so I didn't interfere. I mean a person is allowed to blow off steam once in awhile you know." Faith asks with concern growing in her voice. 'Great, you screwed up again. If you weren't so focused on scratching your itch you would have noticed Will was off.' she berates herself.
"I think it is worse than that. She was acting like it didn't matter. I think she is preparing to die." Xander states.
"Don't worry we will find her. What did Buffy and Giles think?" Faith inquires.
"Buffy was sleeping and I just couldn't bring myself to disturb her. Hmm, why didn't I wake her? Buffy would totally want to know. Do you think Willow magiced Buffy to keep her out of the way? Oh and she probably did the same thing to Giles! That is why he isn't answering his phone. Come on we have to get back to headquarters." Xander says while running to his car. Once Faith to jumps in, he floors it.
On the drive he calls one of the girls stationed near the Watcher's Archive to go check on Giles. He instructs her to bring him back to base.
By the time, Xander gets back to the base the sun is rising. This throws Xander because it wasn't that late when he left the city. He suspects Willow cast a spell at the club. Willow is pulling out all the stops to keep her friends out of the way of whatever is going on. If he hadn't interrupted her who knows how long Faith would have stayed there with no idea time was being distorted. 'Why didn't she put a spell on him?' he wonders.
Xander heads straight for Buffy and Willow's room. He is relieved to see Buffy is wake but sadden to hear her crying softly. She is sitting half covered by the blankets with her head in her hands. She looks at him not bothering to cover her naked torso and with sad eyes says "Willow is leaving."
The old Xander would have been too busy staring at her beautiful body to think much less act but this Xander only sees his friend in pain. He walks over, sits down beside her and says "I know but don't worry we will save her."
Xander is so confident that Buffy can believe him. Drawing on his strength, she pulls herself together. She says "Hell yah. We destroyed a hellmouth and beat a god. We can save Willow from this too."
Faith knocks on the door. She announces "She is here with Giles. He don't look so good. He really tied one on. She didn't sense any magic on him though. The coven is checking him over and sobering him up."
"Thanks Faith" Xander says over his shoulder. To Buffy he says "Get dressed we have to go save your girlfriend."