Magic Box, thirty minutes later.
The conversation about Dawn lasted for a few more minutes after the location spell was performed before everyone started speculating what their lives were like in the other timeline. The only one not doing at the moment was Tara; her mind was elsewhere hoping that she was wrong in regards to her suspicions about the older Dawn. At the same time, she felt Willow's hands around her arm when the redhead and the other Scoobies began talking about their love lives in the other timeline. While they were talking, Anya ordered some pizza from the phone lying on the counter before heading back to the table. She and Tara caught each other's eyes; the both of them knew they were in the same boat in the other timeline.
The both of them were dead.
Xander, who had already proposed marriage to Anya a few nights before the final battle against Glory, turned his head and looked at the woman he loved. Anya sat down next to him, a look of sadness on her face, before forcing herself to look away from Tara to Xander with a smile on her lips. However, as Xander smiled at Anya, he did notice the look that Anya and Willow shared while wondering to himself what the two of them were thinking. It was then that Xander looked back at Tara who looked away as well while everyone else was busy talking amongst themselves.
'I should ask them… but maybe not now… or is now a good time?' Xander then came to a decision before leaning sideways and whispering into Anya's ear, "are you okay?" Anya then turned to Xander and nodded her head with a small smile. However, Xander mentally noted that the smile never reached her eyes. 'I'll talk to her in private later then," he thought. Xander then glanced over at Tara who was eyeing Willow before placing her head on the redhead's shoulder. Xander then looked back towards Anya and whispered in her ear that he loved her.
A smile formed on Anya's face while they stared at each other. Xander then turned around and simply watched everyone; he scanned the looks of curiosity on their faces as they spoke to each other. Xander guessed that all of them fought bravely against Twilight before they were killed. It forced him to wonder to himself, 'what did I do? How did I die?' He then turned to look at Anya, and then at Tara, both of whom were still listening silently with sadness. And he hated seeing the both of them like this. Tara was his friend, and she heard that was dead in another timeline… a timeline where Willow abused magic and went out of control. He then glanced at Willow and wondered if she had already been showing signs of excessive magic use. He thought of a few times when Willow and Tara did use magic, but he didn't know if it counted as abusing magic.
'Giles said he'll ask that one Coven to help train Willow, and Tara said she'll join her too,' Xander thought to himself.
Xander then turned to Giles and sorrow went through his body at the thought of Giles being murdered; his neck snapped by a possessed Angel no less. Xander then looked at Buffy and Dawn- the two sisters who loved each other. So much so that the older Dawn was trapped in a catatonic state; just as Buffy was trapped in a catatonic state when Glory had taken the younger Dawn away a few days back. Xander felt a chill go through him at imagining standing over Buffy's grave. He wondered what was inscribed on the headstone as he thought about what could have happened if the portal was opened in his timeline.
Xander looked at all the Scoobies and then ended up looking at Anya. He could see that she was still sad. And he hated seeing her sad. He didn't know if it was because her sadness reminded him of his mother before his father would beat her when the latter was drinking too much. Xander didn't want to be that part of Henry Harris; he wanted it to be because he really didn't want her to be sad… because he loved her.
"Guys," Xander said as he looked at Anya, who shook her head when she noticed that her fiancée was staring longingly at her. Anya seemed as if her mind was somewhere else before she turned her head and asked Xander why he was staring.
"It's rude to stare. That's what you tell me, and…"
"I love this girl," Xander whispered as he reached out and held Anya's hand. Everyone stopped talking while Anya stared at Xander in disbelief. She was in disbelief not for the fact that he said that he loved her, Anya was aware everyone knew that. No, Anya was in disbelief because Xander said that they needed to wait for the right time to make the announcement that they were engaged, and she thought that she would have to wait a very long time.
"Xand?" Willow said as she and the others looked up after Xander stood up and pulled Anya to her feet. Buffy and Dawn looked at each other while Giles fixed his glasses when Xander announced he asked Anya to marry him. Everyone was so silent that any of them would be able to hear a pin drop onto the floor.
Instead, they had to settle for the chime ringing as the main door opened. The sound shook everyone out of their surprise as the ones seated around the table looked behind Xander and Anya to find the older Dawn closing the door behind her. She then walked down the step while looking surprised at the sudden attention being paid at her, and then all attention turning to Xander and Anya. The Older Dawn stared at Xander and Anya, at how they were positioned and holding hands.
'Xander must have announced their engagement,' The older Dawn wondered, as she walked towards them. She then wondered if she should tell them about what happened after their engagement in her timeline.
"We… ummm…," Xander said as he looked at the Older Dawn, and then he and Anya turned to the others while Anya grinned. "Anya and I… we're engaged."
"Oh my God!" squealed Willow as she jumped off her seat and then rushed around the table to hug Xander. A surprised Buffy and Dawn stood up before rushing around the table- younger dawn hugged Anya while Buffy hugged both Willow and Xander, who were still hugging each other. Giles then placed a hand on Anya's shoulder. He glanced over at the older Dawn walking up behind Anya, and placing a hand on her other shoulder before whispering, "Congratulations."
With Willow and Buffy parted, Dawn then went on to hug Xander while Anya turned towards the older Dawn who hugged her tight. After Tara hugged Xander, Giles shook his hand while, at the same time, the older Dawn parted from Anya. The older Dawn then turned her head towards Xander before walking up to him and hugging him tight, at the same time wondering if she should tell Anya and Xander about the doubts they would later have about their relationship.
'No,' the older Dawn thought to herself as she stepped back from Xander with a smile on her face, 'this timeline is different. I think things will already be different.' She then whispered, "congratulations, Xander."
The Summers Home, 2200 hours.
Dawn wondered what it meant as music played around her.
She was sitting on the couch in the living room with a cup in her hand while Anya was dancing in the middle of the room with Xander. She wondered what it meant to not have sympathy or regret for killing Amy. Ever since doing the deed, Dawn had been thinking to herself that she had done the right thing. The future was fluid now, and anything could happen, 'but I know Amy is dangerous. I know Warren is dangerous, I know what he's capable of,' Dawn thought. She glanced at her younger self talking to Willow and Buffy.
'Willow', the older Dawn thought as she looked away from the younger redhead and then glanced up at the decorations around the living room. It was an hour ago that they returned home after changing the pizza delivery to the Summers home instead of the Magic Box. It was an hour ago, soon after returning home, that Willow used her magic to make the decorations appear after Anya said that she wished there were decorations for her engagement party. At that time, the older Dawn glanced at a worried Tara, who glanced back at her. The older Dawn then looked away and walked over to the couch. She passed by Giles who had a disappointed look on his face as Willow turned to him and Tara and said that she used her magic to make Anya happy.
Now, the older Dawn sat back on the couch as she remembered Tara leading Willow into the kitchen. She knew what they were going to talk about, and so the older Dawn sighed and looked away to the younger Dawn dancing with Xander, and Anya talking to Giles and Buffy. And then at Willow and Tara, the two of them dancing together following their argument about magic use.
'They've always made-up after their arguments,' Dawn thought as she watched Tara holding onto Willow as they danced, their heads laying sideways on the others shoulder. The older Dawn wanted to go away as she looked away from Tara and Willow. She wanted to leave the house and just walk aimlessly so that she didn't have to see Tara and Willow dancing together, and have her heart break at the woman she loved be with someone else.
When she last looked up, the older Dawn saw Tara and Willow kissing. Dawn tried to remain calm as she looked away, especially when she sensed that someone was watching her. Glancing sideways, the older Dawn saw her young self staring at her before breaking away from Buffy and Giles. She was heading for her older self.
'What happens now?' the older Dawn looked away from her younger self and tilted her head down towards the couch cover. As the music around seemed to go silent, as everything around her seemed to slow down, her thoughts turned back to her first night with the older Willow in the resistance base.
The older Dawn recalled what she asked the older Willow the morning after sharing the same bed with each other. The older Dawn closed her eyes while gripping the plastic cup in her hand as she remembered looking up into Willow's green eyes. The older Dawn spoke in a whisper as a smile formed on Willow's face while she brushed her fingers along Dawn's cheek while the former's body lay on top of her- the both of them under a blanket. Willow's brushed the scar on the older Dawn's cheek, and then she brushed the scar on Dawn's eye… the soft fingers sending a tingle along Dawn's skin as they stayed in their cot covered under a warm blanket.
"Now I just wanna lie with you," Willow whispered before she kissed the older Dawn's cheeks, and then pulled back. "I wanna kiss you." Willow leaned in for a kiss as the older Dawn closed her eyes, kissed for a few seconds and then the redhead pulled back. Dawn opened her eyes again and listened, "and I wanna love you." Older Dawn then smiled at Willow, "I… When I die, I want to be able to look Buffy right in the eyes and tell her that I love you." The older Dawn then placed a hand on Willow's left cheek while the latter continued, "and I want to love you just as I… I loved…"
"Tara," the older Dawn whispered as she stared at Willow, who blushed, "she'll be happy, I know it."
"That's why I'll love you as much as I loved her, Dawnie," Willow whispered bringing her head down until their noses brushed against each other, "and…"
"Hey?" The music around the older Dawn came back into focus when she felt a hand on her shoulder. She shook her head and then looked up to find Xander and the younger Dawn looking back down at her. 'I should tell him about the wedding, and… no… just don't… whatever happens will happen,' Older Dawn thought as Xander sat down next to her while asking if she was alright with the younger Dawn siting on the other side, "you look a bit out of it," Xander said, "listen, I know you said that Anya, I mean… you know what happens and… I mean… are we happy? Before she… I mean before we go our separate ways, are we happy?"
"Before that," the younger Dawn said as the older one turned her head, "have we.. you.. kknow… did we have a boyfriends?"
"Yea," Older Dawn said while recalling that she cheated on a Thricewise with someone else, and that she was cursed for a little while; she had been a giant, a female centaur, and then a doll, before she regained her normal body. She stared at her younger self while continuing to say, "it didn't end that well between us." Dawn then turned her head to Xander, and then back to the younger Dawn before leaning forward, "I still had that crush on Xander."
"It's good to know I still had my magnetic pull in the future," Xander grinned as the older and younger Dawn's looked back at him, and then at each other. "Well…" Xander said, "at least until I died."
"Who else?" asked younger Dawn as the older Dawn and Xander looked at each other. The young version of Dawn wanted to change the subject, she didn't want to know how Xander died… she didn't want to know how many of them died. "Was there anyone else, or… oh… oh… what…"
"There was no-one else," Older Dawn said as she placed a hand on her younger self's shoulder before she leaned forward and whispered into her ear, "we need to talk." The older Dawn pulled back and stared at the look of confusion on the younger Dawn's face, "later. Not now."
Dawn nodded her head before she widened her eyes and then leaned forward, "have we… you know…"
"What?" Older Dawn asked.
"You know," Dawn winked. However, both the older Dawn and Xander stared at the young Dawn with confused looks. The younger brunette then leaned forward and whispered, "sex."
"Oh." Older Dawn said.
"Oh God," Xander cried as he put his hands over his ears.
The older Dawn grinned at her younger self, and then placed a finger on her own lips and winked. At the same time, Xander was shaking his head before he put his hands back down and changed the topic of conversation, "okay, Dawn, now you answer my question. Will Anya and I be happy?"
'I need to tell him,' Dawn thought to herself as she looked at Xander while contemplating a way to answer the question. She remembered how confused Xander was at the wedding after being shown the possible future; she remembered how angry Anya was at the wedding, and after it, when Xander ran away. The older Dawn remembered the resentment from Anya, and Xander's anger when Anya had sex with Spike in the Magic Box. The older Dawn remembered everything in the three seconds it took to give her answer, "the both of you will have to work at it," Dawn shifted her body towards Xander and held his hands, "the both of you will have doubts and…"
"I don't have doubts, I…"
The older Dawn breathed in before whispering, "I know…" she then nodded at her younger self, "we know you two long each other, Xander. Any relationship has doubt about how a couple would complement each other."
"But…." Xander said before being interrupted.
"In my timeline, you never physically hurt Anya," Dawn said, choosing her words carefully as Xander and the younger Dawn listened, "the two of you love each other, and at the same time you have doubts." Dawn knew the needed to be careful, without making any overt revelations about the disaster that could still happen if she didn't kill the demon responsible for braking the wedding. She knew that Xander still had doubts, she could see it on his face when mentioning that the Xander she knew had doubts as well. "But the both of you talked. The both of you talked about your doubts and... and you two were so happy."
"Happy until…" Xander glanced at the laughing Anya who was dancing with the younger Dawn. He then turned back to the older Dawn and there was a sadness in his voice, "until Anya died."
"Yea, but you and her… it's something that… that was real," Dawn whispered as Buffy walked over with Giles. The older Dawn then looked up at the both of them and smiled, "hey, Buffy."
"So, what's the stitch," Buffy asked as she saw next to the younger Dawn.
"We were just talking, Buffy," the older Dawn said while Xander looked behind Giles, and at Anya who was checking some music CD's with Tara and Willow. Xander then looked back up at Buffy and Giles before pushing himself off the couch and towards Anya. AS Xander pulled Anya back onto the dance floor, Buffy turned to her two sisters and asked, "so, what were you guys talking about."
"Apparently, I'll have sex," the younger Dawn said with a grin as Buffy opened her eyes wide in stunned silence while Giles nervously mumbled as he took off his glasses.
"Dawn," Buffy said once she found her voice and stared at the older version of her sister, "what did you tell yourself."
"Oh nothing," the older Dawn chuckled as she took a sip of her drink.
"I…."
"Dawnie!," Tara yelled as she rushed to the older Dawn, and pulled her up before pulling to the middle of the living room where Anya and Xander were dancing. She joined them, Tara, and Willow in the middle of the room as the music played. Giles, Buffy, and the younger Dawn stared at the group before the younger Dawn whispered, "I… I mean she… I mean the older me looked sad."
"This isn't the right time to talk about what happened to her in the war," Giles whispered.
"Tomorrow then," Buffy whispered before turning to the younger Dawn, "and you."
"What?" the younger Dawn said, "I had to ask to ask her."
"Well, no more questions about… you know," Buffy said while the younger Dawn sighed and then shrugged her shoulders.
"Tomorrow, then," Giles said staring at the older Dawn, "tomorrow we find out everything we need to know about the war. Tomorrow we begin helping Dawn recover."
TBC.