Disclaimer: I own nothing, except Sophie.
"Poor Wesley" Tara agreed.
"Poor everybody else too" Sophie added. "But since Willow's all growed up now, she can go back and help them, right?"
"Getting just a little bit ahead of yourself there, sweetie" Tara smiled. "That night, back in the rainforest, Willow, Xander, and Anya were laying down together, looking up at the stars.."
Suddenly, the peaceful atmosphere was shattered when a certain red-haired wicca let out a huge belch.
"Nice one, Willow" Anya smirked.
"Thanks" Willow smiled. "Man, I'm stuffed!"
"Me too" said Xander. "I ate like a pig!"
"You are a pig" Willow teased.
"I guess I am" Xander laughed. The trio fell into a companionable silence. "Hey Anya, ever wonder what those little sparkly dots up there are?"
"I don't wonderXander, I know" Anya replied.
"Then what are they?"
"Uh.. They're fireflies. Fireflies that got stuck up in.. uh.. that big bluish-black thing."
"Oh. I always thought that they were big balls of gas floating millions of miles away" Xander frowned.
"Everything is gas to you, Xander" said Anya, rolling her eyes. "What do you think Willow?"
"I don't know.." Willow hesitated.
"Come on, tell us!" said Anya.
"Well.." Willow began reluctantly, "Somebody once told me that the great Kings and Queens of the past are up there, watching over us."
"Really?" asked Xander.
"You mean a bunch of royal dead guys are watching us?" Anya frowned, before both she and Xander burst into a fit of laughter. "That's the stupidest thing I ever heard! What mook thought that up?"
"Pretty dumb, huh?" Willow smiled weakly, but inside her heart was breaking all over again. She looked back up at the stars, sighing sadly. "I think I'm gonna go hit the sack guys."
"Was it something I said?" Anya frowned as the wicca walked away. Xander just shrugged. Willow slumped down sadly onto the edge of a grassy cliff nearby, causing a slight breeze which blew all of the seeds of one dandelion away into the night.
Eventually, the seeds reached the cave of a certain demon shaman. He caught them in his hand, sniffing them. His eyes widened in surprise.
"Willow?" Lorne asked himself, hardly daring to believe it. "She's alive?" A smile slowly spread across the demon's face. "She's alive!" He ran back inside, howling with joy, and covered the smudged painting of young Willow with a new painting of her as an adult. "It is time!"
The next day, Xander and Anya were roaming through the rainforest together, singing a happy little tune.
Xander: Whimoweh,
Wimoweh,
Whimoweh..
Anya: In the jungle,
The mighty jungle,
The wicca sleeps tonight!
Xander spotted a bug crawling along the ground and wandered off after it, licking his lips.
In the jungle,
The quiet jungle,
The wicca sleeps tonight..
"I can't hear you Xander, back me up!
Wiiiiiiiiii-iiiiiiiiii-wiii-um-um-eweh..
Anya frowned, looking around to find Xander still MIA.
"Xander?"
Xander was still following the bug, when he heard the sound of a twig snapping behind him.
"Is that you, Ahn?" he asked. When no response came, he just shrugged, grabbing the bug and eating it.
"Excuse me" said a voice behind him, "I was wondering if you could.." Xander turned to see a young wiccan woman with blonde hair and wide blue eyes. He screamed and ran. "Hey, wait!" the woman cried, chasing after him.
"Xander?" Anya called, looking for the cyclops. "Xander, where are you?" Her question was soon answered when the man in question came speeding through the forest, screaming. He tripped over, and tried to crawl into a hollow log to continue his escape, but he got stuck halfway. "What's going on?"
"SHE'S GONNA KILL ME!" screamed Xander, slightly muffled, from inside the log. Anya looked up to see the blonde wicca running towards them, and began screaming too, desperately trying to push Xander through to the other side of the log.
"Stop screaming!" cried the wicca as she approached. "I'm not going to hurt you, I just.." The poor woman was prevented from finishing her explanation when a sudden jet of magic blasted her into a tree.
"Leave them alone!" Willow cried. The other wicca groaned, as this was really all just a big misunderstanding, but she had to defend herself, so she fired her own magic back.
"Don't worry, Xander, I'm here for you" said Anya, patting his butt before turning back to the fight. "Alright, Willow! Go for the jugular, the jugular! I knew she'd come in handy." Willow lunged at the other witch, tackling her to the ground. Anya gave Xander a running commentary as they wrestled. "Willow's got her! No wait, she's got Willow!" After some further tussling, the blonde emerged victorious. Willow felt a shock of recognition as she gazed into her wide blue eyes. Those eyes were one of her earliest memories, she would have recognised them anywhere.
"Tara?" she asked, surprised. "Is it really you?" The other girl climbed off of Willow, confused.
"Who are you?" she asked. There was something strangely familiar about the red-head, but she couldn't quite place it.
"It's me, Willow."
"Willow?" Tara paused for a second, hesitating, but Willow flashed her cheeky grin, and she knew it was the truth. Willow's smile was one of Tara's earliest memories, just like Tara's eyes were one of Willow's. "Willow!" she cried happily, flying into the arms of her long-lost friend.
"Yay!" said Sophie.