A/N: Sorry it so long to upload this chapter. I'm taking a few courses, so my time is divided between those and writing these chapters. Do not worry, I'm still writing but it would take time between writing the chapters and uploading them to the site. In the meantime, enjoy. Cheers.

Stevenson Hall, 2330 hours.

The door mechanism clicked before there was a low thud from the other side of the door. The medium sized room stood in darkness as the door was pushed open by Willow who was passionately kissing Tara. The blonde witch had both hands on either side of Willow's face as she backed into the room while Willow walked forward, and then closed the door – all while continuing to kiss her girlfriend.

After a second, as Tara pulled Willow closer and tighter into her, they parted while panting. They were surrounded by darkness, but Tara could still see Willow clearly a few seconds later after her eyes had gotten used to the darkness. The redhead's green eyes were smouldering as they pierced Tara's very soul- and the blonde witch felt a feeling of warmth travel up and down her spine.

"I'll turn on the light," Willow whispered looking down at Tara's lips, and then back into the blonde's eyes. But Tara continued to hold onto Willow; not letting her go.

Tara smirked before leaning into Willow's left side, and then whispered into her ear, "forget the light. Forget everything, Willow. Forget magic, forget… just forget everything else except us," Tara slipped her hands under Willow's shirt, her hands gripping the redhead's waist tightly while gently nibbling on her earlobe. Willow gasped as the both of them stood in place- Tara nibbling her ear and running her hands up and down Willow's sides. Tara's fingers brushed Willow's skin as they travelled up while Willow, panting and her eyes closed, started to unbuckle Tara's belt. The redhead was in a hurry as she, after unbuckling the belt, went on to unbutton the front of Tara's jeans.

Willow opened her mouth and released a gasp when Tara gently bit down the length of her neck before kissing each bitemark. At the same time, the redhead unzipped Tara's jeans' front. Biting her lower lip while her heart raced thanks to the sensations going through her body, Willow slipped the edge of the top of her fingers into the sides of Tara's jeans and was about ready to pull them down when she suddenly stopped.

"Will?" Tara asked when Willow pulled away, the redhead looked around in the darkness with her eyes narrowed. Tara could see Willow spinning towards Amy's cage, and even in the dark, Tara could see that Willow's brows were furrowed. "Will?"

"Amy?" Willow whispered turning away from Tara, and then walking towards the cage set next to the bed she shared with Tara. It was then that Tara realized that Amy hadn't squeaked- it was something the rat would do when Tara and Willow were about to make love to each other; it was as if the human Amy was telling them that she was still present in the room. The rat would squeak even when one of them entered the room as a form of 'hello'. Before Willow could ask Tara to turned on the lights, Tara zipped her jeans back up, and then buckled her belt, while rushing to the light switch.

"Watch your eyes," Tara said switching the lights overhead back on.

After a second of getting used to the bright light after staying in the dark room, Tara and Willow's vision cleared. Willow reached back for Tara's hand, a gesture the latter reciprocated. They grasped each other's hand tight, before they slowly made their way around the bed. Their heartbeats were racing with every step they took towards the cage.

And the both of them stopped upon seeing the rat laying on its side, "no," Willow whispered as she brought her hands up to cover her mouth.

"Goddess," whispered Tara shaking her head in sadness, while Willow released her hand and rushed to the cage before getting on her knees.

'Amy!" Willow cried, tears welling in her eyes, as she opened the cage door. Tara had her eyes opened wide while she looked around the room for anything that was out of place; she knew that the door was locked shut, she knew that no one could get into the room without the keycard, 'but someone did. Someone got in, and…..' Tara then turned to the main door and tried to remember if the door made a 'click' sound after swiping the key card.

Tara closed her eyes and recalled the moment she slid the keycard into the machine, 'yea, the lock whirred, and the clicked.' Tara opened her eyes to see Willow's shoulders trembling.

'It did, it did,' Tara thought to herself before turning back towards Willow whose shoulders were trembling as she got up to her feet and turned around, "is… is she….?" Tara stammered while Willow despondently stared at the dead rat in the palms of her hands. Tara knew she didn't need to ask. She couldn't see the rat's lifeforce, its aura; there was nothing there to see.

"She… she's dead, Tara," Willow looked up at her lover with tearful eyes, "she.. she's dead."

Tara and Willow stared at each other for a few seconds before the former rushed up to the redhead and hugged her tight. Tara didn't know Amy when she was a human, but Willow did- and from what the redhead told her, Amy was a kind girl who was caught up in her abusive mother's schemes. Willow told her that Amy was living with her father who treated her much better than her mother ever could- that she was finally coming to terms with what happened to her when her mother took over her body.

"And… and now she's dead," Willow cried softly as she held on to the rat in her hands which were crushed against her chest while Tara hugged her.

Tara didn't want to think of the one person she was sure had a motive to kill Amy, 'Dawn, did you do this?'. She didn't want to think about the older Dawn breaking into their room- violating their privacy, and then killing Amy. Tara didn't want to think that because it simply wasn't possible, at least that's what she thought. She and the others had seen Dawn walking past a church when she ran her location spell, and the older Dawn made it to the Magic Box several minutes later.

'She didn't have time.. she couldn't have had the time,' Tara thought to herself, 'or… or did she?'

"We… we need to.. to bury her," Willow whispered as Tara held her tight, "we… we… need to bury her."

"I'll call Xander, Anya, and Buffy," Tara whispered into Willow's ear before pulling back. She placed her hands-on Willow's shoulders and stared into her red teary eyes, "we'll bury her in the park." Willow nodded her head before she turned and placed the dead rat on the top of the cage. While Tara walked up to the phone, and then picked up the receiver, Willow was searching for a show box while wondering how it was that Amy died- but that thought lasted for a few seconds before she turned her head and stared at the dead Amy.

'It's been nearly three years since she became a rat,' Willow thought to herself, 'could she be dead because of old age?'

"Willow?" Tara whispered after putting down the phone. Willow looked back at her and realized that she had been so absorbed in her own grief about a friend dying that she hadn't realized Tara had already called and spoken with Buffy and Xander. Willow smiled at Tara after the latter said that Buffy, Xander, and Anya were coming over to their dorm room, "and then we're leaving for the park."

All Willow could do was nod her head in acceptance. She told herself mentally that as a rat, Amy reached an old age. Willow told herself that it was simply Amy's time to go, and that she failed to return Amy to her human form.

"I should have done more to help her," Willow whispered as Tara grabbed an empty shoe box from the closet and opened the top cover.

"You did everything you could, Willow," Tara whispered as Willow placed the rat in the box, "I… I know how hard you research for a spell to get her back."

"Don't understand, Tara," Willow said looked up into the blonde's eyes, "she was running around the cage and in the roller this morning. She was… I mean… she was active and alive, and…"

Tara then interrupted Willow by saying something that she hoped wasn't true. Tara hated herself for saying it out loud, but it was in the back of her mind, "Willow, we all know how angry Dawn… the older one I mean… was at Amy. I…"

"Tara," Willow shook her head with a frown on her face, "how can you even think that?"

"I hate thinking that," Tara explained, "I hate.. I hate thinking that Dawn could break into our room and then… then murder an innocent, and…"

"Tara," Willow gently said after taking the shoe box from her and laying it on the floor. Willow then stood tall and took a step forward before holding Tara's hands, "we saw where Dawn was when we did the location spell. She was nowhere close to the university, and…"

"I felt her rage when she saw Amy earlier," Tara interrupted, "and.. and back at the Magic Box… when.. when Xander announced his engagement, I didn't sense that rage. I…"

"Because she was happy for Xander," Willow pointed out while looking into Tara's eyes, "and she has a right to be angry, Tara. What little she told us about Amy.. I mean… the other Amy. Dawn indicated Amy had done some bad things."

"I…"

"Baby," Willow whispered caressing Tara's cheek, "do you really think any of the two Dawn's we know would break in and then kill an innocent?"

Tara closed her eyes and sighed. She had to agree with Willow because she knew the redhead was telling the truth. Tara knew that the two Dawn's wouldn't harm innocents, that the older one wouldn't kill since this wasn't a war… at least not the same war she had been through. Tara hoped the older Day knew that no matter how angry she was at Amy, the latter was still innocent. But Tara couldn't help but listened to the soft voice in the back of her head that kept on saying the older Dawn was dangerous.

Tara simply sighed, nodded her head, and then hugged Willow.

The Summers Residence, 2350 hours.

The older Dawn lay on her side with her eye closed, the patch that covered her left eye on the top of the bedside table. Her back was to the door which led out to the hallway outside. It was nearly forty minutes ago that Xander and Anya left the house for their apartment so that they could, as Anya put it, celebrate their engagement. The older Dawn could only giggle while Xander said, "Anya!" before looking at the others and trying to make a joke that they were going home to just sleep since they were tired. Once the two of them left, then it was Giles' turn, and the Tara and Willow. Finally, it was just herself, Buffy, and her younger self in the house.

"Dawnie," Buffy said looking at the younger Dawn, "go to bed. You've got school tomorrow."

"But, I'm not sleepy, and… and I want to hear what I have to say," Dawn begged motioning at the older Dawn who had her hands in her pockets. The younger Dawn then turned to look at her older self, "come on, I wanna hear stories of another life I could have had, and…"

"It was a fun life," the older Dawn said, "but Buffy's right, you need to go to bed, and…"

"Please…" Dawn begged, "I…" She then turned to Buffy and begged, "ten minutes? Five minutes, I…"

"I…" Buffy looked a the younger Dawn, and then at the older one. The Slayer's eyes were begging for help… it was the same eyes that he older Dawn remembered before they were hardened by the war. The older Dawn remembered what Buffy was like after she returned from Heaven, she was out of it… she couldn't connect to the older Dawn in the other timeline which exacerbated her kleptomania phase. The older Dawn looked into the eyes of her sister when she was still innocent.. eyes that silently asked Giles for help to take over parenting duties. Eyes that… that showed she couldn't be a parent to the younger Dawn.

It was then that Dawn's heart ached at how much trouble she caused her Buffy after the death of their mother. And the older Dawn also remembered when Buffy took parenting too far- and the former ended up skipping school before Buffy was called to the principal's office. And then there was the visit by the woman from Family Services. As the older Dawn stared at the eyes of her sister, she remembered the incident where Buffy became invisible, 'the first thing she did was make that woman's supervisor think she was going nuts. But the new person they sent approved Buffy having guardianship over me. Maybe that's something to change now.'

"Maybe she could stay a little," Buffy said staring at the older Dawn, "and…"

"We were almost separated, Buffy," the older Dawn said looking at her surprised sister,, and then at her younger self who was just as stunned. Before the two of them could speak, the older Dawn continued, "after you were brought back from the dead, there was a woman who came by from Family Services."

"Oh," Buffy said looking away for a second, her eyebrows furrowed before looking back at the Older Dawn, "but I'm guessing everything went okay and…"

"Buffy said that they could separate us," Dawn interjected as she recalled the moment I the dining room when Buffy yelled out that if Dawn didn't get her act together, then the both of them would be separated, "that I'd be taken away."

"Then help Buffy," the older Dawn said with regret in her voice as she recalled her own mistakes, about how she tormented Buffy back in her timeline, "she can't do this alone." And then the older Dawn turned to Buffy, "she needs you Buffy. She needs you to be.. well, like mom."

"And you don't need me?" Buffy asked staring at the older Dawn.

"There can't be two Dawn's in Sunnydale," the older Dawn said while thinking, 'after all, I still have to kill Cordelia, Angel, and Connor's mother, Darla.' Dawn explained that she'll probably leave in a few days, "but I wanna spend some time with the both of you, with Tara, Willow, Xander, Anya, Giles… I want to spend as much time as I can before I leave."

"I…"

Buffy stopped talking when the phone rang. She told the older Dawn to not do anything rashly while rushing over to the phone. The older Dawn smiled at Buffy before glancing at her younger self staring right back at her. The older Dawn walked right up to the younger one and whispered as she leaned into her ear, "we need to talk." The older Dawn pulled back and looked into her younger self's eyes before glancing at Buffy who gasped on the phone.

"Buffy?" the younger Dawn asked while the older Dawn stared at her younger self's profile and thought to herself that Dawn would never know the things she had gone through. The older Dawn then looked away and looked at Buffy who nodded her head with the phone on her ears.

She then said, with a cracked voice, "I'll be right there." Buffy then put the phone down and stared at the receiver for a few seconds before turning around, "that was Tara. Umm… Amy died."

"Amy?" the younger Dawn said as the older Dawn remained expressionless- the latter doing her best not to smile at the news that one of the people who caused her family so much pain was dead. The older Dawn glanced at the younger Dawn rushing up to Buffy and placing her hand on her shoulder and listened, "Amy the rat?"

"She died," Buffy whispered shaking her head before looking at the younger Dawn, and then at the older version of her sister. The older version didn't look away, in fact she gave nothing away other than saying that she wasn't going to cry over "the rat's death."

"Dawn," Buffy shook her head at the older version of her sister while the younger one remained next to Buffy and looked on at the interaction between the older Dawn and Buffy, "you don't mean that. I know that…"

"You don't know, Buffy," the older Dawn said shaking her head, "after she became human, she made Willow's life hell. She.. she even tortured Willow because she was jealous that she was soooo much better than her at magic." Buffy narrowed her eyes when she heard the word 'torture', and was about to interrupt when the older Dawn said, "whatever happened to make her die? It's karma, and Karma's a bitch. I'm not going to cry for her." The older Dawn stared into Buffy's unbelieving eyes and then shook her head before saying that she was tired. The older Dawn sighed and then hunched her shoulders before saying, "you don't know what I experienced, Buffy."

"I know I haven't," Buffy said- she and the younger Dawn walking towards the older one, "that's why tomorrow we want you to tell us. Keeping all that in is…" Buffy shook her head before pulling the older Dawn in for a hug, a hug joined by the younger Dawn, "it's not good, Dawnie." The older Dawn nodded her head as she remembered watching her Buffy torn apart, "we're here together. And we'll help you together."

"I know," the older Dawn whispered.

TBC.