Title: From Here to Serenity
Author: Bastard Snow
Rating: PG-13

Summary: Buffy's fall through Glory's portal took her somewhere nobody had ever imagined. Now, it's up to Willow and Xander to get her back.

Disclaimer: I don't own either of these.

Author's Notes: Much, much thanks to Drake, without whom this story would not exist. Also, obviously, thanks to Joss Whedon for coming up with two universes that have nothing to do with each other. Makes it a challenge to make them have everything to do with each other.

Author's additional note: Sorry for not updating for so long. Hope to be better about it now.

Feedback: Yes, please!

They were still half a day from where they would drop out of FTL, which itself would still be a couple of days at sub-light speeds from Earth. But certain precautions were necessary if, for instance, the demons had managed to build themselves a fleet of ships. Since they had left behind Admiral Brubaker's ship two days earlier, Book had been running all of them except Willow through physical exercises and some basics of hand-to-hand combat, and with the exception of River, they were all tired, sweaty and grumpy. But now, at least, they were relaxing.

Wash sat across from Xander, the two of them sharing a large bottle of beer and joking about various things. River was off to one side practicing one of the 'forms' that Book had shown her. As with every Slayer Xander had ever met, she had picked it up immediately. This one in particular, however, seemed to calm her mind.

Inara walked in to the kitchen and smiled at them. "Do you mind if I join?" she asked.

"Not at all," Xander said, standing and pulling a chair out for her.

"Thank you," she said.

"So, you never really did say," Xander said. "How did you come to know about the Slayers?"

"Approximately three hundred years ago, before Shepherd Book's order became the sole official keepers of history, the Watchers were a joint group. The patriarchy became… shall we say, overzealous? In their adherence to doctrine. A significant part of the female membership felt this was poor judgment and split away."

"To become companions?" Wash asked. "That's a big turn-around from priests."

"And yet, it is still a spiritual undertaking," Inara told him. "We keep more in touch with the needs and beliefs of the people, we help guide in spiritual matters, and in fact have a very structured hierarchy. Only those deemed worthy are told of our true heritage.

"You must also understand that with as few of us in the Alliance as there are – we are only now starting to approach the population levels in the rest of the galaxy that lived on Earth during your time – a much more liberal attitude toward sex was inevitable. And with such hard lives on the rim colonies, the oldest profession grew in stature, as someone with whom you could speak, let down your guard, relax. The women who were in charge of my order simply... formalized the process. Made sure it was safe, and clean, and that the women held the power."

"I can get behind that," Xander said. "No pun intended."

Inara smiled graciously. "In any event, these women kept the secret that the Watchers did, but disagreed with many of the policies. But those of us..." she paused and glanced at Wash. "I'm sorry. I've never discussed this openly."

Wash sat forward a little. "I... can leave if you..."

Inara shook her head. "It's all right. Those of us who have been among the leadership of the companions know the truth. It is hard to accept at first, but we are shown proof. And honestly, I believe we have some information that even Shepherd Book's group does not."

"Oh?" Xander asked.

"I believe that my group has more information on the personal lives of those of you who started in Sunnydale, the group that... that revolutionized the training and treatment of Slayers. That changed the way the world thought about the occult."

"We did what?"

Inara nodded. "It was you and your friends and family who led the charge against the invasion of the demons."

"Who, exactly?" Xander asked.

"Well, Willow," Inara said. "The Slayer, Buffy Summers, and her sister Dawn. Rupert Giles. Robin Wood."

"Who?"

Inara paused for a moment. "You may not have met him yet. And of course, yourself and your wife."

Xander smiled. "My wife, huh?"

"Oh, yes," Inara said, her voice taking on a little bit of awe. "In fact, the story of the two of you is one that... well, it has been one of my favorites for years. It's all... such a fairy tale romance."

"Knight in shining armor?" Wash asked.

Inara nodded. "A wonderful story."

"Fairy tale romance, huh?" Xander asked. He smiled and leaned back in his chair, his hands supporting his head. "Me and Anya. Who'd have thought?"

Inara's eyes widened.

"What?" Xander asked.

"I... apologize," she said, clearly thrown off by something. She rose and started out of the kitchen. "I've said too much."

"Hey, wait," Xander said. "You can't just do that. You can't just... you can't just have that kind of reaction and not explain."

Inara shook her head. "I'm sorry," she said. "It's unfair. Things probably won't work out the same. Almost certainly will not, in fact. I shouldn't –"

"You started this. I only asked about your organization, you're the one who started talking about my life. You can't just not follow that up."

Inara rested her hand on the door frame, and her head on that hand. She took a deep breath and turned to face Xander. "You're right, of course. It is my fault. If you truly want to know, I will tell you."

"I want to know," Xander said.

Inara sighed. "Anya, your..."

"Fiancée," Xander said.

Inara nodded. "Died. In the fight with the First Evil that activated all of the slayers, and once and for all closed the Sunnydale hellmouth."

Xander felt the blood drain from his face. "Then who..."

"You saved her," Book said. He appeared from the other side of the kitchen. "There was a cult who got their hands on the drugs that had been used in a ritual called the cruciamentum, with which I believe you are familiar."

Xander nodded weakly.

"They drugged her and abducted her. Tortured her and drove her to the brink of insanity. They believed that she was the key to one of their prophecies, that when driven mad, her words would lead them to the key to ultimate power. You and she had, until that point, been having a physical, if not an overtly emotional relationship, though it seems that perhaps it was deeper than either of you had thought. When you eventually found them, you barged in, slaughtered the group of them and carried her out in your arms. Within a month, you were married."

"When you say slaughtered..." Wash said.

"Killed them all," Book said.

"Who?" Xander asked. "Who did they kidnap? Who was I willing to kill for?"

Book looked at Inara and she nodded. "The last true Slayer," she said. "The last one called in the old ways. The Slayer Faith Lehane."

Xander fell out of his chair

Xander had asked that nobody present share that information with anyone else, especially Willow. They had all agreed, and he decided that he would keep it to himself, at least for the time being. They had bigger things to worry about. Later that night, when he was in the kitchen, looking at but not really reading a book, he felt a slight shift in the vibration of the ship and looked up in time to see Mal walking through the kitchen toward the cockpit.

"Problems?" Xander asked.

"Not this time," Mal said, not slowing his stride. "Come on and see."

Xander lay his book down and followed Mal to the cockpit.

"Where are we looking?" Mal asked as they stepped in behind Wash.

Wash pointed out the front view port of the ship at a small blue dot.

"That should be it," Wash said.

"Can you bring it up?" Mal asked.

"Just a minute…" Wash pressed a short series of buttons, and as Xander watched a familiar looking blue orb appeared on one of Wash's screens. Xander smiled.

"Gentlemen," Xander said. "Welcome home."

Willow stepped into the cockpit. "We're here, aren't we?"

Xander nodded, looking at his friend. "You okay?"

"I feel great," Willow said. "Why?"

Mal and Wash turned to look at her.

"You do look a little… flushed," Mal said.

Wash shook his head. "I don't know, I'd say more… glowing."

Willow looked at Xander, who was obviously worried. Xander reached out and poked her arm.

"What?" Willow asked, pulling her arm away from her friend.

"I don't know," he said. "I can't quite put my finger on it." Xander wrapped his arm around her. "Don't worry, I'm sure it's nothing. Look."

He pointed at Wash's screen, and a smile blossomed on Willow's face. "We're home."

"Almost," Mal said, nodding.

"How um…" Willow started. She looked out the view port. "How far away are we?"

"'Nother couple of days, at sub-light speeds," Wash said. "We thought it would be safer to stop a little farther out than normal. Give us some time to assess the situation."

"Any early readings?" Mal asked.

Wash shook his head. "We're a couple hours away from maximum sensor range," Wash said. "We knew that was possible, depending on Earth's orbit. Could have been as much as a day."

Mal nodded. "Call me when you know something."

Xander and Willow split apart to let Mal pass, then quickly stepped back together and continued looking out the view port. After a couple of minutes Wash looked back at them.

"You uh… you guys just going to stand there?"

Xander nodded absently.

"Okay," Wash said.

Willow leaned into Xander's shoulder, and the two of them watched, tricking themselves into believing they could see Earth getting bigger.

They were almost home.

Willow looked up from her bed to see Xander standing in the doorway. "What's up?" she asked.

"You," he said. "You look... healthier."

"Do I?" she asked. "I feel good. Really good. Like... powerful."

Xander raised an eyebrow.

"I can't explain it," she said. "But it suddenly feels like for the last few weeks, I've been listening to music with earplugs in and now, I can hear a lot more clearly. Like I was just hearing strains of the music before and now..."

"You're getting the whole orchestra?"

"Most of it, anyway," she said. She took a deep breath, and said quietly, "It's a little scary."

"If anything changes... well, there's not much I can do, but I'm here."

"I am, too," she said.

Xander raised an eyebrow at her.

"Something's bothering you. I can tell."

"It's not important," he said.

"Of course it is," she said. "Or you wouldn't be worried about it."

Xander sighed and sat down at the foot of her bed. "Inara told me something she shouldn't have. She realized her mistake, and tried not to tell me, but... you know me."

"Had to know."

Xander nodded. "It was... bad. Unhappy. And in one part, very strange and surreal and not at all likely."

"What'd she say?"

He took a deep breath, and released it before responding. "That Anya was going to die," he said. "Or did in this dimension, anyway. During the fight where we closed the Hellmouth."

"Oh, Xander," Willow said. She gripped his arm in her hand squeezed, lovingly. "I'm sure that that won't happen to us. Especially now that you know about it, right?"

Xander nodded. "That wasn't the weird part, though. I mean, it's horrible, but the idea that Anya might die in one of these fights... that any of us might, I mean..."

"We deal with it all the time," Willow said. "It's not a new feeling."

Xander nodded. "The weird thing was later. Who I eventually did marry."

"Who?" Willow asked.

"You're going to laugh," he said. "Faith."

Xander waited, but Willow's laugh never came. He turned and looked at her.

"Actually..." she said. "In the right circumstances, I can kind of see that."

Xander looked at her like she'd grown an eighth head.

"Not that I want you to, or I think you should. I think my feelings on her are pretty well known. But given the right circumstances, I can see you and her... being close. Really close."

The look continued. "I mean, 'What? No way! That would never happen.'"

"Thank you," he said. "Anyway, I'm gonna let that one simmer for a while and deal with it later."

Willow patted him on the shoulder. "You're going to be fine."

Xander nodded, leaned over and kissed her on the forehead. "Good night, Willow," he said.

"Night, Xander."

He smiled at her, stood up and slid the door shut as he left.

Malcolm Reynolds slammed into the floor for the third time in as many minutes. "Oh, ow," he said, his back arching up as he reached around to rub his tailbone. "That one's gonna leave a mark."

"Okay, okay, everyone take a break," Book called, clapping his hands together. He walked over to Mal as the others grabbed some water or just took a seat to rest. "Captain Reynolds, is there something wrong?"

"Nothin' at all, Shepherd," he said, peeling himself off the floor. "Why do you ask?"

"You appear not to be doing very well, is all," Book said. "Constantly being outmatched, always on the floor. One could come to believe that you're not putting your full effort into this."

"Or that the freak of nature you got me paired up with is just better'n faster than me," he said.

"She may be better and faster," Book said, "but Inara is hardly a freak. The problem that I see you having is you're afraid to hit her."

"Well she's a girl," he said.

"But a strong one, who may, in fact, be better and faster than you. Captain, we've had only a few days to prepare, and I obviously can't teach everyone to actually fight in that short a time. I'm trying to give you shortcuts, ways to cheat, basically. But you're not going to learn even those if you're constantly on your backside. So toughen up. Or I can have you fight Jayne."

"I'll do better," Mal said. "Do got a question for you. How come you got the boy fighting River?"

"Who, Xander?"

Mal nodded. "You're looking for size and strength, right? Shouldn't Jayne be…"

Book shook his head. "He is the one most used to dealing with that type of speed. He's been fighting things stronger and faster for years, and he already knows all the shortcuts I'm teaching you, because he has to use them just to survive."

"You think he could take me?"

"In a sword fight, certainly. Hand to hand… only if he got you out early. With guns, you take him every time."

Mal nodded. "How useful are guns going to be down there?"

"If it's anything like what I've read? Not very. If there is a fight with demons, and he tells you to do something, I suggest you do it. Just as he should listen to you if there was a war on. Fighting prowess is one thing, experience is quite another."

"What about the girl?" Mal asked.

"Which one?" replied Book.

"His friend, the Witch."

"Willow?"

"She ain't training with us."

"Captain, if I were to fight demons regularly, I would rather have Willow Rosenberg on my side than a regiment of Alliance troops," Book said. "At least, if the stories are true."

"She has looked kind of… glowing recently."

Book nodded. "We should get back to work," he said. "Are you going to actually fight this time, or am I going to have to come down here and beat on you to get you to move?"

Mal grinned. "Oh, I'm ready to fight," he said. "I just got one question. If you came to fight me, who would we have to say your last rites?"

Book smiled back at him. "Everyone, back to your positions," he called out.

A minute later, when Mal's back hit the floor again despite a full effort on his part, Inara smirked at him and said, "Quite a bit faster and better, it would seem."

Mal just glared.

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End Chapter 14