Leo returned before they finished making supper and had quite a story to tell.
"Pamela Halliwell wasn't exactly your mother's twin sister. Yes, she was born to Penny and yes she was born on the same day and time as Patty Halliwell, but she wasn't from this reality. She arrived here as a child, only three years old. Which was a big problem."
"Why?" Cordelia asked astonished, her mother came from another reality?
"I can answer that question too." Xander said. "Sci Fi geek knowledge here. Because having two of one person in the same reality upsets the universe. It throws the balance out. The universe tries to compensate by destroying the invader. If Patty hadn't been here, the universe wouldn't have noticed."
"Exactly. The Elders traced her back to her home reality. They hoped to send her back. Watching her die would have been horrifying for everyone involved, especially since as I understand it, it would have been a particularly violent death. They couldn't send her back thru. She was sent here deliberately, to keep her safe. Something in her reality, something that terrifies the Elders, wanted to use her in some manner that would have destroyed their world and possibly others. Since she couldn't go back without risking billions of lives, the Elders altered her slightly, so that she wasn't an exact copy, but more of a twin. Twins are naturally occurring clones of each other anyway, at least identical ones are, aside from fingerprints. Neither she nor Patty knew until after they died. Grams took the secret to her grave. She was afraid if it ever got out, Pamela would be in additional danger. The reality transfer used a lot power and some of that clung to her. As far as Grams was concerned, she was her daughter. That another version of her, bore her and was forced to make the heartbreaking choice of sending her away to keep her safe, didn't change that, she was going to do everything she could to protect her."
"Wow. So I wouldn't even be here if she hadn't been sent here?" Cordelia asked.
"Possibly, although, you could have been born to Patty just as easily. But what that means is, you're actually more of a sister then a cousin. A half sister anyway. And you have powers of your own. Like the girls here, yours were bound when you were a child. Pamela knew she was living near a Hellmouth. She had her own powers bound as well as yours, in an effort to protect you from the corrosive effects of the Hellmouth. A binding not tied to her life, like the binding Grams did on the girls. She hoped to end the threat against them before she died, but knew if she failed, they'd need their powers to protect themselves."
"I have powers?!"
"Yes, the same as both Patty and Pamela, which is also the same as what Piper has, the ability to freeze things. The Elders don't want to unbind your powers while you're living near a Hellmouth. Too much risk of the Hellmouth energies corrupting them and you."
"Wow. This is alot to deal with."
"They want you both to consider moving to San Francisco after graduation, especially you, Xander. Whether your powers ever fully manifest or not, the fact that some whitelighter abilities are already manifesting means you're at risk already. Staying in Sunnydale would mean stripping your powers entirely. But you could do alot of good with those powers. So think about it, okay?"
"Why San Francisco?" Xander asked. "I get that Cordelia and the girls might want to be near each other, but why do the Elders want us here?"
"Good catch. Because San Francisco is the entrance to the Underworld. Not quite Hell, but still bad. It needs protectors too. And while the girls are doing a great job, having more protectors would always be a good thing."
"That makes sense. If we can't escape demons and I'm beginning to think we can't, then helping people and destroying as many demons as possible, is the right thing to do."
"And you know I don't want to stay in Sunnydale anyway, once we graduate. I was considering moving to L.A. but with family to get to know here in San Francisco, I could be persuaded to come here instead. And I'm not planning on breaking up with you." She smiled that brilliant, full faced smile of hers.
"I'm not planning on breaking up with you either." His own lopsided grin answered hers.
"So the plan is, you guys go back to Sunnydale for now. I stay in touch with you, Xander. I'll continue teaching you boxing and help with any concerns you have. That's part of a whitelighter's job anyway, guiding and advising. If you want, I can also teach you carpentry. It's my cover job. I was an army medic when I died, but since I can heal, those skills are rarely needed. Cordelia and the girls can stay in touch as well. And after graduation you can move here. How much you tell your friends is up to you."
"Well, I think telling Giles is a good idea. He knows all about this kind of stuff anyway and he can help us too."
"True, being a Watcher, he knows quite a bit."
"A Watcher?" Prue asked.
"To the Slayer." Leo told them. "Although, for some reason the Elders can't figure out, we seem to have two Slayers now. That's never happened before."
"What's a Slayer?" Piper asked.
"Mystically created female warrior who's job it is to fight demon breed vampires." Leo answered.
"Um. It's my fault there's two of 'em." Xander told Leo. "Buffy drowned, I revived her, but she was gone long enough to Call another."
"Unfortunately, your good intentions have caused a lot of trouble. Buffy's bad choices have resulted in alot of death. And the world nearly ending. And what Willow Rosenberg did to herself trying to help Buffy is terrifying in and of itself."