Chapter 2. Leafy Goodness

Present day Sunnydale- late October

A cool breeze rustled a stray pile of browning leaves as two figures marched up Main street. "Ahh! Fresh Autumny goodness." The small redhead remarked to her taller, dark haired companion, bending down to examine the foliage. She picked up yellow maple leaf, gently twirling it between her finger tips.

"Much with the twirling leafy goodness today, huh Wills." Xander Harris grinned at his longtime best friend Willow Rosenberg. "So bronze tonight? Yea or nay?" He kicked a crumpled coke can lying on the sidewalk.

"I'm busy tonight." She frowned as the cold, sticky liquid splattered the ends of her skirt. 'That's gonna stain.' Willow though unhappily. "Xander." She gave him a disproving look that would've made any mother proud.

"Whoops. Sorry 'bout that Wills." He gave her his best boyish grin, knowing she would forgive him. "I'm sure you can just wash that out later." Unconcerned Xander simply changed the subject. "So why can't we meet up tonight? Anya's going to be there."

"All the more reason not to show up." She muttered under her breath.

"What was that?" Xander asked, not paying much attention as he was focused on the donut shop across the street.

"I said I'm sorry I can't make it. My history paper on the Indian Removal Act is due Friday and so far I've only got the first eight pages. I haven't even gotten to Muscogee's yet!" Willow sighed heavily. She could believe how lazy she'd been: ignoring her paper till practically the last minute.

"Those damn Muscogee's." Xander joked, giving his friend a nudge.

"Funny." She smiled flatly as they turned the street corner, closing in on the Magic Box.

Xander frowned, confused. Was he losing his witty charm and playful quipyness? He'd have to ask Anya.

They reached the shop. "After you." The bell jingled as Xander held open the door. "Hey G-man!" He called out. "How goes business?"

"Xander please don't shout in the store when there are customers." From behind a table displaying a basket of sharped stakes, and a sign bearing a smiling blonde girl with a speech bubble coming out of her mouth that said. 'I know how to protect myself at night, you can too! Read how!' A red arrow pointed to a small pile of pamphlets. (While most customers blindly chose to ignored this, the more discerning customers often took the pamphlets with relief, shoving many of the stakes into their bags.) Rupert Giles gestured to the startled patrons who'd given small jumps in fright at the sound of Xander's booming voice.

"Yes Xander." Anya strode over and gave him a kiss on the cheek. "Your loud and forceful voice, while very sexy and masculine, might discourage the customers from buying things, thus depriving us of their money." She shook her head as her eyes widened at the thought of separation between her and the precious cash. Willow snorted.

"Don't worry Ahn." He gave her an affectionate squeeze. "Your money's safe."

Anya gave a quick nod. Scanning the room, she trod over to an elderly lady holding a red pillar candle in one hand and a plastic bag filled with dried crushed rose petals in the other. "Can I help you find something?" Anya smiled kindly at the woman.

"Oh thank you dear." The women held up the goods for her to see. "I'm looking for something special. I'm having a bit of trouble at home you see." She lowered her voice. "With my husband. He never wants to-" She made a gestured. "You know, anymore."

Anya grinned, speaking loudly. "Oh you mean have sex? Don't worry I can help you with that." She pulled her over towards a mildly cluttered display of various sized crystals. Taking the items from her frail hands she began telling the women about the different types of spells and blessed charms the women could try using to spice up her sex life. Twenty minutes later the satisfied customer left beaming, a large paper bag in her hands filled with her new claims.

Anya turned back to the others, fanning herself with a small wad of cash. "Look! I've made yet another profitable transaction using knowledge from my vengeance demon days and my own personal sexual experiences!" She looked proudly towards the front door. "I told her the about this one time, there was this women in peru and her husband had a mistress who liked to-"

"Yes congratulation on your sale." Giles interrupted, sputtering, as he pulled a cloth out of his pocket and began to polish his glasses furiously.

Cash still in hand, Anya skipped over to her boyfriend. Throwing his arm around her she announced. "My most recent profit is making me feel very libidinous." She turned to Xander expectantly. "I would like to try the thing I was telling you about this morning. You know with the scarf and the ice cubes in your- ."

"O.k. Anya!" He pressed a hand over her mouth, but whispered something in her ear that sounded somewhat naughty.

Instantly she perked back up. "Ooh Xander!" Anya whispered back excitedly as his eyes began to sparkle.

The couple turned and descended towards the basement. "Anya needs to tell me something important." Xander said. She nodded adamantly. "Yup really important. For about ten-" Fifteen!" She hissed. "Yeah fifteen minutes- we'll be right back." She grabbed his hand yanking him to her towards the back, after lovingly laying the wad of cash onto the counter. (What happened to the money she was holding?) Disappearing down the steps, her disembodied voice called out. "I don't actually have anything to say- were just going to have wild, rampant sex on top of the old sarcophagus." Xander's muffled voiced muttered something indistinguishable. "What? Why can't I tell them-" Their voices cut off.

Willow rolled her eyes. Turning to a red faced flustered Giles she asked. "So where's Buffy?"