The kiss lasted minutes, but Buffy broke her head back and whispered in a shocked voice: "Ohmigod. Ohmigod. I gotta go."
"Buffy? What's the matter luv?"
"I can't do this. I have to go." And with that she dashed back into the Bronze, grabbed Willow and came dashing back out again.
"Buffy!" Spike yelled after her, but she just vanished into the blackness.
"You twit!" he reprimanded himself. "Of course she's all broken up over bloody Peaches…why the bleeding hell does he get to all my women first!"
Buffy wrapped the covers more tightly around herself on the mattress at Willow's house.
"I still can't believe it did that, Will," she whispered.
"Awww, Buffy, it's ok! It's natural! Cause you having been getting the confrontation with Angel behind you, right?"
"I thought I had. But even the fact that he knew Angel, that they were friends, or whatever vampires call their twisted little grand kids, cuts me up. And like, what about this girl he's supposedly so hung up on? What's he doing kissing me if he went through all those trials just to impress her!"
"I dunno, Buff. But he really does like you, you know. And…I think that, just below the surface, you like him too."
"How could you possibly know that? Besides, I've only known him two weeks!"
"Witch, remember?" Willow replied, tapping her nose, "But anyway, how long did you know Angel before you kissed him?"
"Fair enough," Buffy admitted, "only a few weeks but still, this is different. I could never like Spike. Especially because of past stuff with Angel. Besides, he's so similar to Angel. They're both vampires with souls; they hung around together for a few hundred years, blah blah blah. It'd be like getting into the same relationship all over again!"
"Well, I don't think Spike could lose his soul the way Angel did," Willow ventured timidly, "seeing as he's half human and the method by which he acquired a soul in the first place."
"Whatever, Willow. Goodnight." Buffy flicked off the light, running out of comebacks.
"Ok then. Night Buff." Buffy might have thought she had Willow beat, but 'Red' had other plans. A spell she had seen recently in one of her witchcraft books would be perfect.
Willow waited patiently for the half an hour it took Buffy to fall asleep, and when she heard the deep breathing signifying slumber, she pulled back the covers and tip toed over to her chest of drawers. Pulling the second one open, Willow rummaged around until she found the ingredients she needed. Treading softly down the stairs, she stopped at the fireplace and opened the spellbook. Once Willow had arranged the ingredients, she began chanting the incantation.
"Tabula Rasa!" she finished with a grin, but then passed out straight on the floor.
Upstairs, Buffy awoke with a start, but fell right back down again. Sitting in the library studying a textbook, Giles collapsed and banged his head on the table. In the kitchen in his house eating Danishes, Xander dropped the pastry and buckled and fell on the floor.
The next morning, the four of them awoke slowly in their assorted places, rubbing their various injuries.
"What happened?" they all murmured, then sucked in their breath as a flood of memories rushed straight back into their heads.
"Oh my god. No way!" Buffy yelped, then grabbed the cordless phone and punched in Giles' number. He answered on the second ring, a note of panic evident in his voice.
"Buffy? Buffy! The strangest thing has happened! Last night I was studying an ancient volume in the library, and I must have passed out, and now my head is full of all these…memories!"
"I know, Giles, me too! And- ohmigod, where's Willow?"
"Willow's gone?" Giles cried in alarm.
"Wait, she might be downstairs, I'll check." Buffy ran down the steps, calling Willow's name.
Willow answered slowly, still in the crouching position in front of the fireplace. "I'm in here, Buffy," she called.
"Giles, it's ok, I've found Willow."
"Oh, thank goodness. What about Xander? Might he have been affected too?"
"I'll call him now. How about we all meet up in the library in half an hour?"
"Yes, alright. I'll see you then."
Buffy pressed the hang up button, and without delay dialled the Harris' home phone.
"Xander?"
He answered and immediately started babbling about strange images, almost like memories that had somehow appeared in his head overnight!
"Xander. It's ok. Giles and me have these weird vision things too. Wait- Willow says she does as well. So meet us at the library in half an hour, kay?"