It was happening, what Xander had feared. He wasn't going to make it to graduate with his friends, because his powers were manifesting. He, Faith and Cordelia had been patrolling when a mess of vampires had attacked them. With Cordelia making judicious use of her super soaker, Xander his ax and Faith her stake, they had been dusting vampire after vampire. They were down to just two more when a human appeared. One of the vampires grabbed the short human just as Faith was shoving her stake towards his chest. It hit the shorter human high in the chest. The vampire tossed him aside and turned to run, only to get hit with Cordelia's super soaker, followed by Xander's axe. Then they realized there was a bleeding human on the ground.

"He, he just came out no where!" Faith yelled. "I didn't see him."

"None of us did, Faith." Xander said, as he crouched beside the human, checking the injury. Suddenly his hands felt heavy, almost itchy and started to glow. He panicked. "Leo!" He yelled. He had a fairly good idea what was going on, but was still scared. Leo materialized beside him in a burst of bright lights. He took in the situation at a glance and knew exactly what was happening.

"Take a deep breath and concentrate. The healing ability works off the emotion of love. So think of what you love and then hold your hands over the wound."

Xander nodded, took a deep breath and thought of Cordelia. "Cordy." He said softly and held his hands over the wound. It began to heal. Before their eyes, it began to close up, including the blood pulling back into the wound. And the glow shut off. "Leo, I don't feel so good." Xander told him.

Leo didn't hesitate, he laid a hand on Xander's shoulder and the pair orbed out.

"What was that?!" Faith exclaimed.

"Xander manifesting his whitelighter abilities." Cordelia said. "Leo told him what to expect and Xander told me. Come on, let's get this guy to Professor Dormer and have her check him out, make sure he's okay. And maybe, once he wakes up, he can explain why he was in an alleyway at night."

Leo and Xander materialized at the Manor. Xander looked decidedly green. "Gods, the Hellmouth was getting to be harder and harder to ignore, but it was nothing compared to that. Now I know what you meant by feeling like your smothered. It's like I couldn't breath, like I was drowned in something dark and nasty and just plain evil! That's what make people in Sunnydale act weird. What the vampires and demons are drawn to. And they like it!"

"Leo, what's wrong?" A concerned voice came from behind them as Piper came into view.

"Xander manifested his healing ability tonight. A human was injured and Xander healed him. Could you make a cleansing potion? He kinda got dunked in Hellmouth energy."

"Sure, this won't take long." She headed to kitchen. A few minutes later she came out and handed a glass to Xander. "It's not going to taste good, sugar would throw off the balance of the ingredients, but it'll clear that stuff out of and off of you."

"I don't care." Xander said, grabbing the glass and gulping it down. Black smoky wisps moved out of him. "Gods, that feels so much better."

"So what happened?" Piper asked.

"We were attacked by a large group of vampires while on patrol. Maybe twenty, as we were about to finish off the last two, a human walked into the middle of the fight. Faith was shoving a stake towards the chest of one of the vampires, when the vampire grabbed the human and the stake went into his chest. I was checking to see if he was still alive, when my hands started to feel heavy, almost itchy and glowing. I panicked and called Leo."

"It's a good thing you did." Leo said, after drowning the glass Piper handed him. "You were too drained to try to orb out yourself, even if that ability had manifested yet. The sudden shock of the Hellmouth slamming into you like that could have caused a big problem. You can't go back, Xander. At least not for more then a few minutes at a time. You're a whitelighter now and the Hellmouth is anathema to us."

"I know. I was hoping to make it to graduation, but now it's time for those contingencies we've been talking about. Professor Dormer has made arrangements to transfer me to Baker High. I can finish out the school year there. It's a bummer that I won't be able to see my friends everyday day or help them with patrols anymore, but we all knew this was coming. And gods, I already miss Cordy. We won't be apart forever and we can talk on the phone, but the next few months until she can move here are not to going to be easy."

"No, I don't imagine it will be." Leo said sympathetically. "You should call them and make sure everything is okay with the human."

Xander immediately went to the phone and called Professor Dormer's number. "Professor? It's Xander. A human got injured tonight and I healed him. I'm alright. Leo got me to Piper and she made a cleansing potion. Yes, it was an accident. A human walked right into the battle before we saw him. One of the vampires grabbed him and used him as a shield, just as Faith was about to dust it. How are she and Cordy? Good. Yeah, it's time to put the contingencies in order. Thank you, ma'am. I appreciate it. Let me know what you find out from the human okay? There had to be reason he was in an ally way at the docks after dark. Yeah, I'll talk to you all, later. Tell Cordy to call me as soon as she can. Bye."

"They were coming up to the door when I called. Hopefully that guy will have a good explanation for why he was there."

"I'm the meantime." Piper said. "We've got Grams room made up for you. Leo wasn't sure you'd make it to graduation himself. It's yours until you're able to get your own place."

"That's really nice of you."

"You're family."

Yeah, this was the feeling he had whenever Jesse had shared his home and his parents with him when things where bad with Tony. It was a good feeling.