COMING TOGETHER AND SPLITTING UP

DISCLAIMER: I don't own the characters of BTVS or W.I.T.C.H. and I earn no profit in writing this.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: This takes place in the same continuity as 'I'm Done' but is not a sequel and stands alone quite well. If you have any comments or preferences, please don't be shy. RandR.

Will had been wandering for some time. She had started out in Aldarn's company, but she wasn't sure where he was now. Ever since she'd awakened, she had felt drawn toward something. The pull had been vague at first, and she was barely aware of it. The pull had grown stronger, though, and her plans to go to Kandrakhar had evaporated, as had her worries about her mother. Will wasn't sure where she was going, or why. She just knew she had to keep moving. The unfamiliar weight on her chest caused her to glance down. The odd necklace with the green stone bothered her for some reason, but she wasn't sure why. Her concerns evaporated, and she kept walking.

She hadn't seen anyone in the time she'd been walking, which seemed odd. She knew there was a village less than half a mile from her current course, and she had passed thee farmhouses. Yet, she hadn't seen anyone. The road was deserted when it should have been busy. Will didn't wonder about this. She just kept walking.

OOOOOOOOOO

"We need to find her," Willow agreed, "before this sorceress does, but at the moment, I'm kind of stuck for a way to do that."

"It we got you to Meridian, could you find her?" Matt offered.

"I think so, but the way the last spell cast on her went wonky…. I'm kinda wondering if I should."

"It's got to be better than doing nothing," Susan declared. "If we do nothing, this sorceress gets her, and we know what will happen. You have to try! What's the worst that could happen?" Four sets of eyes swiveled to stare at her with shock and a little fear. "What?"

OOOOOOOOOO

The fold closed behind them, and Susan looked around curiously. She was really on another planet, one ruled by her daughter's friend from school, Elyon Brown. Things could be stranger, she supposed, but she didn't give voice to the thought, not after the bizarre reaction Dawn and the others had had to her earlier question. Instead, she asked, "what now?" She tried to keep the impatience out of her voice as she had tried for the last day and a half while they made preparations. Willow had been unwilling to just jump to another world with the contents of her purse. She wanted to be prepared for as many contingencies as possible. Susan couldn't fault her for it, but the delay had chafed.

"Now," Willow answered, "we do a locator spell. Just finding her isn't interfering and-"

"OW!"

"What?" Willow jumped back a bit.

"You stepped on my foot," Hay Lin complained as she hopped around. "You know, if I'm stuck like this just 'cause I might interfere, why do you think your locator spell will work?" This question had been raised before, and the redheaded witch still didn't have a good answer despite her research. Giles had found references to the Guardians of the Veil and Meridian, but there was nothing concrete, mostly conjecture and a few second hand cautionary tales about strange interactions between different types of magic. Dawn had stayed behind to continue the research, keeping the smelly creature with her in case she turned up something and needed to reach them quickly.

Willow repressed a sigh and put as much confidence into her voice as she could. "My magic seems to be working fine. I think it's because our magics are so different. The weird way they interact may cause problems for the locator spell or it may not. One way to find out."

She looked around the countryside. They had emerged at the top of a hill overlooking a large village and Elyon's palace was visible beyond it. It looked like a fairy tale setting, and Willow found herself smiling at the sight of it. "Very 'Brothers Grimm'," she allowed. "No wonder you guys are so protective of this place."

"Meridian has the potential to be a paradise," Yan Lin agreed, "with the right person on the throne." She led the way to a flat area at the crown of the hill. "This should do for setting up the spell." Willow gave the spot a critical look and nodded.

"Let's get started."

It took half-an-hour of careful preparation as Willow reviewed every detail and tested what aspects of the spell she could to look for signs of interference. Finally, she was ready. "Here's the thing," she said to the others. "Since this stone of Threbe might interfere with the magic, I'm going to have to interfere with it first. I've prepared two spells; the first should weaken the pull the stone exerts. The problem is that I don't really know how the stone works…in a mystical sense. I mean saying that it draws a lost person to it is sorta like saying a microwave cooks food. Not a lot of information there. I had to make the spell real general so it's hard to tell what effect it will have."

"Will it hurt Will?" Susan demanded.

"No. I don't think so. I could layer in a protection charm, but the Stone of Threbe is already providing protection. I don't wanna complicate things too much. The second part, the tracking spell should work just fine. It's just a pointer, really."

"As with machines," Maria supplied, "so with magic. The simpler it is the less that can go wrong."

Willow nodded, but Susan looked dubious.

"I guess we don't have a lot of choice, but wasn't that spell to look at Will's aura pretty simple?"

The witch and slayer traded nervous glances. "The theory is sound," Willow finally answered, "but there are no guarantees."

Susan worried silently for a moment, but was forced to admit that she had no better ideas. "Let's get on with it, then."

OOOOOOOOOO

Will had walked until she was exhausted and had then fallen asleep by the side of the road. She never knew how long; an hour, three, a day, but she woke suddenly when something changed. The pull was still there. She had felt it even while asleep. Now, however, it was different, and it took a moment to figure out what had changed.

Taking a moment to orient herself, she started off in a new direction, and then stopped. The pull had been drawing her steadily northeast and now she was headed due west. The fog in her mind lifted long enough for her to find that strange. She started off in the new direction, but stopped again when the pull shifted, this time to the south. It then shifted back to the east. Will wasn't aware enough to be confused, but she was starting to get dizzy when the pull did something that penetrated the fog again. It split. The pull to the northeast was back, but there was now an equally strong pull to the west.

Will stood undecided as both became more insistent, finally growing painful. Gritting her teeth against that pain and trying to focus, to understand what was happening, she suddenly felt something give way inside her and the conflict was resolved. She rose to her feet and started walking northeast again. The westward pull had entirely vanished. A sound made her start and glance over her shoulder.

Walking off toward the west, her head turned to glance back and wearing a startled expression that mirrored her own, was Will Vandom.