Giles' home, Sunnydale, California.

Xander Harris has been Willow's oldest friend, having known each other since kindergarten. Even though, he was angry that Willow had used magic on her friends even if it was by accident; he was still her friend. And so was quite concerned when he could not contact Willow. He tried calling her home phone and the phone number for her dorm room. He even went to her home and knocked on the door, ringing on the doorbell while yelling her name. But there was no reply, the house stood empty. He then went off to the U C Sunnydale library, but he had no luck in finding her. He tried the coffee shop and the Magic Box, yet he couldn't find her. He didn't know where she could be hiding. And it concerned him.

Since he didn't have any idea of where Willow could be staying, Xander returned to Giles' apartment where the rest of the Scoobies were ignoring Spike's yells, who was imprisoned in the shower. Xander stepped into the apartment, closed the front door, waved at Anya in the kitchen preparing some coffee, and then walked towards Buffy and Giles who were speaking in hushed tones. They were shuffling through some papers – maps that had red markings indicating locations where people wearing black, light armored clothes were sighted.

'Like those guys we ran into during the last Halloween,' Xander thought, recalling the night when they were stuck in that house of horrors. Shaking his head, Xander strode forward and stood at the edge of the coffee table.

"Hey Buff, have you heard from Willow?" he asked.

"Nope, haven't heard a peep from her," Buffy said staring at a map. She then looked up towards Xander and continued, "Maybe she's somewhere clearing her head. I wouldn't worry about her."

"But…" Xander countered.

Buffy gently jumped in, "She can take care of herself."

"Come on Buffy, aren't you concerned? I checked everywhere."

Xander then turned towards Giles, seated on the other side of the coffee table, "Giles, I can't find her anywhere."

"Have you checked the library?" Anya asked, walking out of the kitchen with a mug of steaming coffee in her hand. Xander nodded his head.

Giles then asked. "Have you gone to her dorm room?" When Xander shook his head and said she wasn't there, there was a hint of worry on Giles' face.

Just as Buffy was going to speak – Xander noticed she too had a worried expression; Anya asked, "have you talked to Angel? Maybe she went to Los Angeles?" That had both Giles and Buffy looking up at the same time towards Anya. She shrugged and remined them how angry they were at Willow for what happened the previous night with her wish spell.

"You were angry too," Xander remined Anya. And she agreed before saying Willow acted recklessly.

Before Anya could continue, Buffy turned towards Xander and asked, "you don't think Willow…"

"Left Sunnydale without telling us?" Xander finished her sentence, running a hand through his hair in worry, "we were pretty mad at her but… but… Willow wouldn't do that."

"You were all pissed at her," Spike yelled from the guest bedroom where he was tied up.

"Shut up, Spike!" all of them yelled. Giles then asked Xander to call Angel; that maybe Willow had contacted him. It was just then that Giles' cordless landline started to ring. Giles got off his seat and then rushed to the phone. At the same time reassuring Xander that Willow could be anywhere in Sunnydale.

Giles strode towards the phone and then picked up the cordless receiver. The line automatically connected, he placed it to his ear and was relieved to hear a familiar voice.

"Hey Giles," Willow said from her room in the SGC.

"Willow?" Giles said, everyone in the room turning towards him, "where are you? Xander's been searching for you high and low. We were just about to contact Angel to see if you called him and were going out to Los Angeles."

Willow closed her eyes; they were worried about her. She could feel her resolve to stay shift just a little bit.

"Is that Willow?" Buffy and Xander whispered, and Giles nodded his head.

No, this was something Willow was sure she needed to do. It was something she would never have done otherwise. It was a new adventure. She continued forward with the story rehearsed with Carter and Daniel; after all, Willow couldn't just say she would be offered a place at the Air Force Academy without having shown any interest in it before. And while Willow hadn't told Carter and the others, she was certain Xander's memories of soldier guy from their high school Halloween shenanigans would know something about the Academy entrance procedures.

She took a breath before saying, "Giles, I'm in Colorado Springs."

"You're where? Colorado Springs? What are you doing there?" Giles asked. At the mention of Colorado Springs, Buffy, Xander, and Anya rushed towards Giles. Xander and Buffy were clamoring for the Watcher to hand the phone over to them. Giles signaled at them to take a break while telling Willow that Xander and Buffy wanted to speak to her. He then said, "I'll place you on speaker, Willow." Giles pressed the speaker button and placed the receiver back onto the cradle.

"Willow!" both Buffy and Xander called out; all of them, including Anya, standing around the phone.

"Hey Buffy, Xander," Willow said.

"I'm here too," Anya called out.

"Hey Anya," Willow added.

Xander leaned in and spoke, "Will, I was worried about you. I checked all your hangouts… even your house… but you weren't there."

"I just wanted to leave Sunnydale," Willow said, everyone listening in, "You, Buffy and the gang were so mad with me that I felt you guys couldn't forgive me for what I did yesterday. So that night, after a lot of thinking, I called a cab and left for the bus terminal. Then I closed my eyes, pointed at a destination on the map at the station, and bought a bus ticket. And here I am, in Colorado Springs."

"You didn't need to leave Willow, we're your friends. Hell I'm your oldest friend," Xander said, disbelief in his voice, "just come back."

Willow didn't reply as Buffy leaned forward and pleaded, "Hey Will, please come back. I'm sorry that I got mad at you and I've already forgiven you, so please come back."

After hearing Buffy and Xander plead for her to come back, Willow felt her resolve to put Sunnydale behind her diminish a little. She was seated cross-legged on the bed as she took a beat. This was her choice. This was something she needed to do. If she was in Sunnydale right now, then it would be different. She has a different opportunity now. An opportunity that would lead Willow traveling to the stars. As much as it hurt, as much as the feeling in her chest stung, Willow stayed the course.

With the speaker phone still active, Willow said, "I wanted to apologize for what happened the other night. Giles you were right, it was wrong of me to go deep into magic, especially when I have very little of what I was doing. That's another reason why I am leaving Sunnydale. If I still stay there with you guys, I feel I'll have to dig deeper and deeper into magic just so that I can be useful. At first, I thought I could do it, I thought I could handle it. But after what happened, I think I need to pull back away from magic."

There was silence on the other line. No one was speaking. Willow could only imagine the looks of shock on their faces. And she powered through, "Buffy, you should go to Stevenson Hall next Tuesday. That's when my Wicca group meets up in the lounge. Loof for someone named Tara. I sensed power from her. We haven't spoken a lot, but I think she could be the only one in the group who's a witch." Willow thought she heard a sniffle. She continued, "from what I've seen, she's gentle and a little shy. But I think she can help you guys. Think of it like this, I feel stormy right now. And whenever I've met with the Wicca group, she's like a calm sea. I think she would be far more useful to you right now than me."

"Will…," Buffy whispered.

Willow couldn't stop. If she did, she wouldn't be able to finish what she wanted to say, "Buffy, please give your mom my love. And tell Spike I'll miss his scowling face, but not the parts where he tried to kill or bite me." Willow heard Xander chuckle. Willow continued, "Please continue fighting the good fight. For now, I think I'll step back from magic, vampires, and demons." Everyone was stunned. Buffy was staring at the phone, still in disbelief. She then turned her head towards Giles… a look of desperation on her face as if asking him to say something. Anything.

Giles shook his head and whispered, "it's her choice, Buffy." He then turned towards the phone and asked, "Willow, are you certain of this?"

There was a moment that passed before Willow answered. "I am, Giles."

"Will," Buffy whispered, leaning forward. But before she could continue, Willow spoke, "everything will be good, Buffy. You'll see. We'll be in contact everyday… you know they have these newfangled devices called phones…." Willow chuckled. As did Buffy. "Nothing much will change, Buffy. You'll see."

Buffy couldn't say anything. If she did, then her voice would crack. And then she would cry… there were already tears at the corners of her eyes. But if she did cry, then Willow would cry, then maybe Xander would cry. It would be a whole crying thing between them. Instead, Buffy took a deep breath before saying, "I'll miss you, Will." She still wiped the tears that gathered.

Anya just stood at the edge of the table with her head down. "I'll miss you too, Willow."

Willow chuckled before saying, "I'll miss you too." She then mentioned that she had already been in contact with her parents. "Once I get a new number, I'll contact you guys again. I miss you all, but I need to do this for myself."

After saying their goodbyes, Willow put the phone down and took in a deep breath. Next, she needed to call her parents.

To be continued.