Cordelia raced back to the library. "There was a flash of light and Xander disappeared!" She yelled, as she pushed her way passed the library doors.
"Oh dear, I was afraid of that." Giles said.
"Why?"
"There are demons that can grant wishes. Willow made an incautious wish. She wished you and Xander separated and for him to forget you."
"Forget me?" She asked forlornly. Sure, they'd just been making out, not going out. But she'd known him since kindergarten. Twelve years of memories, gone. Because of Willow. Cordelia glared at her.
"Why, Willow?"
"Because I hate you, because you're a bitch who's made my life Hell. Because you don't deserve him, I do!"
"Willow, the worst I ever did was snark on your clothes, you tricked me into destroying two hours of my computer assignment. You always make it seem worse then it is. And it's Xander's choice who he gets him, not you. He liked me, not my money, not my status, me. We were just starting to explore a connection and you took that from us. Just like you always do."
"What are you talking about?!"
"You've sabotaged every potential relationship he ever had."
"No, I haven't!"
"I heard him practicing to ask Buffy out and I heard you do an end right around him just a few minutes later, telling Buffy how much he means to you. The timing was very suspicious, since he asked her out just a little while later and she turned him down, to spare your feelings."
"No, she turned him down because she likes Angel!"
"That's only part of it and you know it. Now what do we do, Giles? How do we get him back?"
"We may not be able to. We didn't actually see the demon that granted the wish, just heard it. Without knowing which demon, we can't summon it to get it to reverse the wish. Unless Xander can find his way back to us, we may never see him again."
Cordelia dejectedly turned around and moving on autopilot, went to the parking lot and drove home.
When they told Buffy what happened, her response was. "Well, maybe he'll be safer now. And I don't have to listen to his I told you so's."
Over the next few months Angelus stepped up his terror campaign against Buffy, telling her mother they'd had sex and attacking her in a graveyard. Xander wasn't there to save her, so the attack was much worse then it would have been otherwise. She lay in a coma for over a day. Consequently, she never saw or dealt with Der Kinderstadt, which moved onto another hospital after killing all of the kids at Sunnydale Memorial. Everyone thought they died of the flu.
Then Angelus killed Ms. Calendar and Willow took over teaching her class.
"Buffy, whether you like it or not, Angel is gone!" Giles said angrily. "And Angelus murdered Jenny. You stopped me from doing anything about it and he's still killing. Sooner or later, you have to face facts."
"There has to be a way to save him. Giles. Angel doesn't deserve this."
Xander wasn't there to go undercover on the swim team, so Oz did. Unfortunately, the coaches formula reacted badly with Oz's werewolf nature and he transformed during the day. He looked like some kind of cross between a wolf and marine creature. It took a number of bullets for the cops to kill the 'mutated animal.'
And then Willow found the disk with the curse on it and insisted she could do it. Buffy was so hopeful, that Giles was willing to let her. Cordelia wasn't there because it didn't occur to either of them to invite her. Leaving Kendra to guard Willow and Giles, Buffy went looking for Angelus after one of his minions sacrificed herself to deliver a message.
Drusilla wandered into the library, leading minions.
"Oh, kitten's not here. Far away is kitten. Fighting a new war, he is. Come, dear. My turn to play with a Slayer." Kendra fought hard, but Drusilla enthralled her and killed her. She and her minions kidnapped Giles. Buffy found Kendra and was nearly arrested. The cops found Willow unconscious. She was in a coma herself for awhile. When she woke up, she still insisted on doing the curse and helping Buffy. She did so by sneaking out of the hospital and going to the library to find her supplies. Principal Snyder found her passed out afterward. Xander wasn't there to get Giles out and Buffy was too distraught over sending the reensouled Angel to Hell to save the world to remember him. He finally managed to free himself and soon learned Buffy had run away.
When Buffy returned that fall, not even Willow was enthusiastic about her return, but soon they began to talk.
"I just miss Angel so much, Willow. If only it hadn't come down to that."
"I know. I miss Xander too. Wherever he is, it seems he can't find his way back to us. Maybe his memory of all us is gone. I've been hoping, but it's been months and nothing."
"Well, I think it's time we both try dating other people. Try to find new loves."
Not long after, Angel returned and Buffy successfully kept him hidden until a student, using weird science to Dr. Jeckle and Mr. Hyde himself, attacked her. Neither of them ever revealed that he'd been back longer then Willow or Giles thought.
And then Faith came crashing into their lives, bringing chaos in her wake.