Spoilers: Nopers
Rating: PG-13
Far From Home Part 13
Buffy awoke with a sense of fear and dread, but the arm around her stomach assured her that she had not been dreaming. "Angel," she cooed softly. It must have been midmorning already, judging from the sunlight streaming into the slightly open window. Angel was asleep. Buffy lay there a long time staring at him and smiling. She felt warm and glowy inside. She wanted to sing to the world about how she felt, which she decided would have been a painful idea for the world. Speaking of world, how am I going to explain this to Giles? Buffy frowned. She still wasn't even sure if she could explain it to herself. She took his hand to make sure that Angel was still real. He gave a slight moan before clutching her hand back and shifting. He was still asleep, though. Buffy was amazed at how in that instant, it seemed as if he was never gone. All her suffering disappeared when Angel was returned to her. Now she only had that Slaying thing to worry about...
Angel groaned again and held Buffy tighter. His breathing rate increased as he squirmed around. "Buffy," he whispered anxiously.
He's having a nightmare, Buffy thought in alarm. She quickly kissed him back to reality.
"Buffy," Angel murmured, half opening his eyes. "You're here." He smiled sleepily, obviously relieved.
"Always," Buffy smiled back, "but it's morning and I have to go find Giles and... explain you."
"Stay until I fall back asleep?" Angel pleaded softly.
"Of course." Angel smiled his thanks and kissed her before he rolled back against her. As Angel drifted back to sleep, Buffy couldn't shake the ill feeling that suddenly had overcome her.
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"Spike and Drusilla you say?" Jen's grandmother asked, suddenly worried. "That isn't good at all."
"No, it's not," Giles agreed. "And it seems that they are after Jen."
"They also don't know I'm here," Buffy added, leaning on the counter and eating an apple. Jen looked up from her seat and quickly looked away. She still hadn't gotten up the nerve to apologize to the other Slayer. She seemed so curt and able to speak her mind. Kind of like Joey...
Willow glanced over at Mrs. Ryan's library again and finally asked to be excused before she burst with excitement. "Come on, Buffy," she grinned, dragging her out of the kitchen. Buffy barely had time to throw out her apple core before Willow whisked her out of the room.
Jen glanced up nervously at Xander. Mrs. Ryan looked at them for a minute before sending them both upstairs. "You'll be bored stiff listening to me talk to Mr. Giles. Why don't you show Xander around the house?" Jen's grandmother coaxed. Jen blushed but obeyed and took him into her room. Mrs. Ryan looked back to Giles with a very serious expression on her face. "Do you think Jenny stands a chance?"
"I really don't know," Giles said sadly. "She's still pretty new at this and has a lot to learn. I was hoping she'd have more time before she'd have to face enemies this powerful."
"I hope prayer will help," Mrs. Ryan said, "and that maybe Buffy can too."
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"Why did you look so uncomfortable?" Xander asked Jen when she shut her door.
"I still feel bad about what happened with me and Buffy," Jen sighed. She looked more at ease. "And quite frankly, Giles kind of scares me." Xander laughed in understanding. "Where are Oz and Cordelia?" Xander's smile immediately faded into a look of heartbreak.
"Cordy won't come near me, so Oz stayed back in the hotel with her."
"How long were you guys together?" Jen questioned.
"A long time."
"Do you love her?" Xander looked as if he was considering the question for the first time.
"No," he said, looking startled at the sound of his own voice. "I love Buffy. I can't believe I just said that. I feel so awful for hurting her like that, though. Cordy is blunt and seemingly superficial, but she's a nice person inside and I hurt her so much. She didn't deserve that."
"Whenever you have to choose, someone is going to get hurt. Someone has to," Jen said sadly.
"Dawson chose Joey?"
"It's my fault, I made him choose. I let him go in the first place."
"How did you know what happened with me and Buffy and Cordelia anyway?"
"Oh, Giles told Grams. Don't worry, your secret is safe with me if you want it to be."
"And so is yours, Ms. Jen the Vampire Slayer," Xander smiled warmly at her before they shared a friendly and much needed hug.
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"Look at this, Buffy!" Willow said excitedly. "Why can I never find magic books like this in Giles's library?"
"Willow the witch," Buffy smiled. "What did you find?"
"Temporary time freeze. That could totally come in handy."
"Hmm..." Buffy looked at the book thoughtfully, "except it takes to days to prepare, which kind of defeats the purpose. Let me see this."
"Oh, I know, but it could be a learning experience," Willow handed Buffy the book. "And think, if I prepare a bunch in advance I could have them handy whenever I needed them and then they would have a purpose, right, Buffy? Buffy?"
"Oh my god," Buffy whispered, putting her index and middle fingers to her bottom lip. She continued gazing intently at the page.
"Let me see," Willow crawled behind her to look over her shoulder and began to read out loud. "Onto each generation there is only one Slayer. A time will come where there is an unnatural exception to the rule and two Slayers will live. If this comes to disrupt the Hellmouth rather than to destroy it, the following can be done to remove one Slayer's abilities and make the other the sole Slayer once again," Willow slowed down as she neared the end.
"Could you do this?" Buffy asked suddenly.
"The spell? Why I-- yes, probably." Willow watched Buffy's expression. "Oh no, that doesn't mean I'm going to."
"Just think, no more monsters, no more responsibilities. No more having to give up adolescence to save the world. Freedom, Willow."
"But you help people," Willow pointed out. "You have the power and opportunity to do good that few people get."
"Do you know how much I've already helped people? And one day there may be a fight I can't win. I can't help people if I'm dead."
"It says only in case having two Slayers is causing more problems than it solves. It isn't like that now. It's not like you or Jen are using your powers for evil."
"I can be evil," Buffy looked at Willow narrowly. "Grrr." Willow rolled her eyes. "Well, okay, but prophesies have been known to be slightly off. Come on, Wil. I am the oldest 17-year-old in the world. I need some time to live my life."
"You'd be selfish enough to put your fate solely on Jen?" Buffy turned away. "She's a nice person, and she doesn't deserve it any more than you."
"Willow, I can't keep Slaying. I can't keep doing this, I need to live my life. I need to--"
"Where did this selfish streak come from? This isn't like you. Or it wasn't..."
"Angel came back last night," Buffy said quietly. Willow's mouth almost dropped to the floor. "There's too much drama in my life. I need to go home and go to school and be with my mommy and be me without all the violence. Please, Willow," Buffy pleaded. "We won't tell anyone what we've done. We deserve some normalcy." Willow sort of frowned at Buffy, who was almost in tears.
"No one," Willow shook her head.
"I love you, Wil," Buffy smiled and hugged her tightly, "and I mean that."
"I know," Willow said sadly. She felt like such a traitor. "Get some paper and a pen and copy the spell down exactly. Then you have to tell Giles about Angel."
"I will, I will," Buffy jumped happily out of the room. Willow sat pensively with her head on her hand.
"I'm sorry," she said aloud as she waited for Buffy to return.
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Is Buffy really going to go through with it? Will Willow really go along with it? Where the heck are Dawson and Joey? Stay tuned for part 14 to find out.