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Surprises

By Rach

"Yes. I would like that one, please." The sales assistant turned to take the dress down off the rack, and Willow made a face.
"What? What’s wrong with that one?" Anya asked, impatiently.
"I don’t know … it’s just …" Willow tried to find a tactful way to tell Anya that the dress she had chosen was absolutely hideous. It was times like these she wished Cordelia was still there. She would have told Anya what she thought, no holds barred. ".. it’s a little … fluttery."
"If I want a fluttery dress I’ll have a fluttery dress. It’s my wedding, and besides, you’re a lesbian."
"What the hell does that have to do with *anything*?!" Willow was exasperated. Having spend the entire afternoon looking for the perfect wedding dress for Anya, to know avail, she was getting a little testy.
"You won’t get to have a wedding, so you can’t know what its like looking for a dress. There’s all this pressure!" Anya threw her hands up in the air. Willow took a deep breath, telling herself to calm down before she spoke.
"Anya. Take a step back and look at the dress you just chose." Anya did as she was told.
"It still looks the same to me."
Ignoring that last comment, Willow continued. "See the green? It’s not a … typical wedding dress. Granted, this isn’t *exactly* a typical wedding, but don’t you think … don’t you want at least part of it to be traditional?"
"I guess … are you sure this isn’t conventional?"
"I’m absolutely positive. Especially with the .. the .. uh" she made a face and gestured wildly with her hands. "uh .. tassel ... thingys."
"Well…" Anya was clearly taken with the dress she had chosen, but she dreamed for a slightly normal wedding, so she trusted Willow’s judgement. "OK. What dress do *you* think I should wear?"
"Anya, I’ve been showing you the kind of dress that I think you should wear for the last 5 hours! We’ve been in every bridal shop in Sunnydale, this is the last one!" She rummaged around in the rack, and pulled out a long, silky, cream dress. It had spaghetti straps, and would match Anya’s complexion perfectly. "How about this?" Anya opened her mouth to speak, but Willow stopped her before she had a chance. "I know, I know. Its too long, its too heavy, it looks dirty coloured, it doesn’t go with your hair, it’s-"
"Perfect."
"Not fancy enough, it - wait - perfect? Did you just say it’s perfect?"
"Yeah, now outta my way, I’m gonna try it on!" The saleswoman smiled, and showed Anya to an empty changing room, before turning back to Willow. "Bit of a handful, isn’t she?!" she whispered.
"A bit? Do you realise this girl could talk the hind legs off a donkey. And the front legs too. And probably the rest of the donkey also." The saleswoman laughed. "But she’s great. We didn’t used to get along - she’s marrying my best friend …"
"But you’re not gonna do a Julia Roberts on him are ya?"
"Huh?"
"My Best Friend’s Wedding. She told him she loved him right before he was about to get married, and she was the bridesmaid."
"Oh, right! No, he already knows I love him, but not like that. We’ve been through a lot together."
"And besides, she knows I’d turn her insides inside out if she even tried it." The two girls looked up to see Anya in the doorway of the changing room, wearing an amused expression, and the most gorgeous dress Willow had ever seen. It looked even better on Anya than it had on the hanger. "Don’t you go gettin any ideas though, you’ve got Tara at home! She’s a lesbian." She added, in a confidential tone.
"Anya, why does everything always hafta be about me being a lesbian? Now do you want the dress or not?"
"Yes, I definitely do. It’s absolutely gorgeous!"
"Thank God!"
"I thought you were Jewish." Anya walked over to the cash till to pay the girl. They'd already gotten Willow’s dress - that had been much easier to do because Willow had insisted on choosing her own.
"Give me strength!" She muttered, before following Anya to the desk.

***

Xander wandered into the Magic Box as if he hadn’t a care in the world. Which would be a lie, because he was nervous. Absolutely terrified.
"Get a grip on yourself Xander, you’ve faced demons, vampires and the odd apocalypse. This is nothing!" He had been trying to tell himself that all morning, but it wasn’t working. Oh well, it was time to seize the bull by the horns.
"Hey, Giles. Where is everyone?" The Englishman looked around the shop, as if noticing for the first time that he was completely on his own, customers included.
"Um .. well, Tara went to pick up Dawn, and I think I heard something about Willow going shopping for a dress with your future wife."
"Good." Xander realised that was more for his own benefit than for Giles’.
"Hmmm?"
"Uh, Giles? Can I speak to you for a second?"
"I was under the impression that we already were."
"Yeah. Right. Good. Uh ... you see, the thing is …" This was hopeless. Xander just couldn’t get the words out straight. He tried coming from a different angle. "Well, you know my mom and dad aren’t exactly the nicest people in the world, and Dad isn’t even coming to the wedding. And Oz, well, I don’t even know if we’ll be able to get a hold of him on time."
"Xander, what on earth are you yapping on about?"
He took a deep breath. "Giles, willooeiiestan?"
Giles did a double take. "What? What on earth is "willooeiiestan" supposed to mean?"
"Will - you - be - my - best - man?" There, he’d done it. He looked at Giles. "Well, at least you aren’t laughing at me," he began, hopefully. "That’s a good start."
"Xander, I’d be honoured, but … surely there’s someone else you’d rather have?"
"Like I said, my Dad’s not coming, and who knows where Oz is. And even if I did know, I wouldn’t want either of them over you. We’ve stuck together over the years, you, Willow, Buffy, and me. Others have come and gone, over the years - Wesley, Cordelia, Oz -"
"Jenny."
"Exactly. And now, there’s Anya, Tara, and Dawn. And, for some strange reason, Spike."
"There’s always got to be a vampire. Ironic isn’t it."
"Exactly. And now Buffy’s gone, it’s like we’re even closer. I wouldn’t even consider asking anyone other than you."
Giles’ face had softened during the last conversation, and his eyes had misted over at the mention of Jenny. He looked at Xander. "In that case, I’d be delighted."
Xander broke into a broad grin. "Excellent."
"Have you actually set a date yet?!"
"Well, we’ve spoken to Father McConnell, and he’s gonna call us if there are any cancellations. Otherwise, we’re looking at about 6 months."
Suddenly the phone rang, making them both jump. Giles picked it up. "Hello, Magic Box. Your one stop spot to shop for all your - oh, hello, Father McConnell. Yes, he’s right here, I’ll just get him."
"That was spooky." He commented, as he took the phone off Giles. "Father McConnell. Yeah, this is Xander. Two weeks on Thursday? Umm … hang on, let me check with Anya." The morning was full of coincidences, with Anya and Willow entering just as he began to speak into the phone. He covered over the receiver. "Anya?" He said, softly. "Father McConnell says he’s had a cancellation for two weeks on Thursday, and do we want it?"
"Yes!! YES!!" He looked at Giles.
"No apocalypses planned for then are there?"
"Not that I’m aware of, but then, it’s not really our job any more. Even if there was something it shouldn’t stop you two enjoying your day."
Xander lifted the handset back to his face. "Father McConnell? We’d be happy to take it. OK. We’ll see you on Wednesday."
"Wednesday?" Anya queried.
"He wants to meet us to discuss the details. Next Wednesday at 6pm."
Just then, Tara entered with Dawn, amidst all the celebrations.
"Dawn! Tara! We have to go, now." Anya was suddenly in a hurry to get somewhere, although nobody was quite sure where.
"Go …?" Dawn was tired after the day at school - she just wanted to go back to Giles’s apartment and watch TV.
"We have to go to the dress shop and pick out your bridesmaids dresses. Willow’s already got hers, cuz she’s the maid of honour."
"What’s the rush?" Dawn gravitated towards the stairs and sunk down onto one of them. Anya reached for her and pulled her back up. "I’m getting married in two weeks time, and *everything* is going to be perfect."
Dawn resigned herself to an afternoon of trailing round dress shops.
"Come on then, let’s get this over with."
"Tara and I will drop Dawn home. We’ll see you tonight!"
"Yeah, bye!"
As the three girls left, Willow collapsed onto the step Dawn had just vacated. She looked completely exhausted.
"So, how’s my favourite witch then?" Xander perched himself next to Willow, and gave her a friendly squeeze.
"Xander, are you sure you know what you’re getting yourself into?!! Anya has had me in every bridal shop in Sunnydale, and it took me almost the whole day to stop her from picking the very first dress we saw."
"What's the matter with that?"
"Xander, it was hideous!"
"Aww, c’mon Will, I bet it wasn’t that bad!"
"It was green. And it had tassles."
Xander made a face. "Even fashion unconscious me can tell that’s a no-no."
"Exactly! But the dress she eventually picked was sooo gorgeous, it was cream, with - oh!" She slapped her hand over her mouth in realisation of what she’d done.
"What?"
"You’re not s’posed to know anything about the dress! It’s bad luck!"
"I won’t tell if you won’t!"
The bell on the door tinkled, and the two best friends looked up to see Anya dash back in the store. Willow could see Tara and Dawn waiting impatiently outside.
"You have to come too! I need my maid of honour!"
"Ah, jeez Anya! I’m sure you could do it yourself!"
"No. You hafta come!"
"Go on, Will," Xander whispered into her ear. "Humour her. It’ll be better for you in the long run."
"But will it be better for my feet?!" She moaned, before accepting her fate, and trailing after Anya.
"My two favourite girls." He commented, when they’d gone. He was so glad they were such good friends now. The way it had been before was just too hard on his brain. And his arms, too, from all the pulling they did to him. Yeah, he was certain, he liked it much better like this.
*

***

Xander and Anya watched Giles with admiration. They’d known Giles could sing for well over a year, but only since Buffy’s death had they started to watch him. It had become a regular date - the two of them, plus Willow and Tara, watched Giles’s performances at the Espresso Pump every Thursday night. Spike looked after Dawn, not that she really needed it. It was more the other way round - after the way Spike had given up everything for Buffy, he’d been completely drained. None of them wanted him to stake himself , so they figured that giving him an important job like looking after Dawn would keep him as grounded as they could expect.

No one knows what it's like
To be the bad man
To be the sad man
Behind blue eyes

This was the first song they had heard him sing. Buffy hadn't been there that time, either That was one of the reasons he sang it more than any other, although Xander suspected he had other reasons.
"Hey." Willow took a seat on the empty sofa next to Xander and Anya, and Tara sat down beside her.
"Hey," he replied. With a wistful look in his eyes, he decided to voice what he’d been wondering for weeks. "Guys? You don’t think that Giles sees *himself* as the bad man, do you?"
Willow looked horrified at the thought. "Of course he doesn’t! He knows we don’t blame him."
"But he blames himself. You know he does. He blames himself for not being able to help Buffy. And he *hates* himself for killing Ben."
"Ben was -"
"A regular guy." Xander finished for her. "We know he had to it - but he still feels it was wrong. He feels dirty."

No one bites back as hard
On their anger
None of my pain and woe
Can show through

"He hides it really well. I mean, he hasn’t seemed his usual self recently, but … none of us have." Tara looked down at her hands, feeling as if she shouldn’t have spoken. Although she knew they’d all accepted her as a member of the gang now, sometimes she felt as if there were things she shouldn’t be involved in. Times when she didn’t fit.
"Sometimes I’ve seen him crying," Anya spoke up. "He doesn’t do much work in the shop any more. He spends a lot of his time in Buffy’s training room. He thinks I don’t know, but I’ve gone in to ask him things before and seen him. I usually leave before he notices."
Xander swelled with pride in the way Anya had grown since he met her. In the past she would have barged right in and said something that would have gotten Giles even more worked up, and most likely gotten her fired too.

When my fist clenches crack it open
Before I use it and lose my cool
When I smile, tell me some bad news
Before I laugh and act like a fool

"He seemed really happy today when I asked him to be my best man."
"Of course he did, Xan." Willow’s face was a mixture of exasperation and amusement. "He’s always liked you the best, after Buffy. I mean … you can always think of a joke to lighten the mood, even when it seems like we’re all gonna die. And I know sometimes he snaps at you, but he’s always grateful."
"He deserves to be happy, after all that’s happened to him. I mean, everything with Jenny, and all the spells he’s had cast on him - more than the rest of us - and now Buffy. Maybe he’s distancing himself from us coz he thinks we’ll get hurt too."
"But he agreed to be your best man."
"Yeah, An, but … I think that’s coz deep inside he knows that we work better when we’re in a group, rather than on our own. Remember that was how Adam planned to get the better of us? Split us up?"
"He thought it was the only way he could win. He was right."
"Who was right?" Willow jumped out of her seat as Giles appeared behind her. He’d obviously finished his song while they’d been deep in conversation.
"Uh ... um … Adam."
"My God, what on earth makes you think that?!"
Xander chose his words carefully. "He knew the only way to beat us was to break us apart. We’re all the strong members of this gang - we all need each other. Right?"
Giles answer was a mumble, and none of them caught it, but they weren't actually sure if it was actual words. They doubted it.
The conversation drifted to a natural halt. They watched the next singer setting up, and Anya noticed his rugged charm. He had played after Giles for the last few weeks, and occasionally Xander had struck up a conversation with him afterwards. They knew that he was good, and yet every time he began to sing they were as taken aback by the quality and strength of his voice as they had been the first time they saw him. He had short brown hair, deep blue eyes, and he was wearing a blue button up shirt with a pair of jeans. Straightening the stool until he was comfortable, he pulled his guitar onto his knee and began to play.
The audience was captivated immediately. He had a strong voice, and it sounded so good … Giles was always a tough act to follow, but this guy managed it no problems.
"Wow."
"Second that." Xander spoke without taking his eyes off the singer. The five of them sat in almost complete silence, until the song was over. Xander leant over and whispered something in Anya’s ear, before standing and making his way over to the where the songster sat.
"Hi again."
"Hey." The guy sipped his coffee, not ignoring Xander, but not being overly enthusiastic.
"Um … you were really great there."
"Thanks." His face seemed to soften some. "So, you guys are here again?"
"Yeah, we just can’t seem to keep away. Uh ... Lindsey?"
"Uh-huh?"
"Are you gonna be in town long?"
"Why?"
"I realise this is gonna seem kind forward, given that we hardly know each other, but … I’m getting married in a copula weeks … would you like to sing? I … we … would love it if you could."
Lindsey smiled. "Sure, that’d be … I’d be honoured!"
"Brilliant! Do you want to join us?" He gestured to their table, where the others were sitting quietly. "To be honest with you, we could do with someone to liven us up!"
"Sure."
Leading Lindsey over to their table, he sat back down next to his girlfriend. "Guys - this is Lindsey McDonald. He’s just agreed to sing at the wedding." Noticing that Giles looked the teeniest bit put out, he hastily added "we were gonna ask you, G-man, but now you’re best man you’ll be busy doing … other stuff."
"I understand." Although he said that, his voice didn’t seem to agree. Xander still had the feeling that Giles was upset, and made a mental note to speak to him about it anyway.
"So, Lindsey, Xander told us you’ve come from LA." Willow tried to get the conversation going again. Although Xander had been chatting to Lindsey since he started singing there, the others only knew the few bits Xander had told them.
"Yeah. That’s where I’ve spent most of my life, and I just fancied a change."
"We have some friends in LA, maybe you know them," began Willow.
"Will, I don’t think he’s gonna know them, La’s a huge place." Xander told her, gently.
"You’re right. I’m sorry - we’ve been going through a rough patch - a friend of ours just died, and we’re all having a hard time adjusting. My brain’s all over the place at the moment."
"I’m so sorry - so you were close?"
"Yeah." Willow’s voice became teary, and Tara got the feeling she was having trouble holding the tears back.
"Shah, baby," she whispered into Willow’s ear, just loud enough for Willow to hear, but nobody else, stroking her hair at the same time. Giles cleared his throat and stood up.
"Its getting late, I should go. Spike won’t mind if I leave Dawn with him a little longer, would he? I feel like being on my own tonight."
"We can stop by on the way home, and let him know. She can always come with us if he’d rather," Xander reassured Giles.
"Thank you, Xander, I appreciate it." Giles said goodbye and left the Espresso Pump in silence, carrying only his guitar.
"He still gets upset, it hit him harder than the rest of us." Xander explained. "He doesn’t like to talk about it."
"I understand completely. He’s right, anyway. It *is* getting late, I’d probably better go." Lindsey felt uncomfortable discussing such a personal matter with these people he hardly knew.
"OK … you can usually find one of us in the Magic Box, Giles there - the guy who just left - owns it."
"Cool. I’ll come see you sometime soon, it was really nice to meet you all."
"Yeah, you too, Lindsey." Lindsey left the four Scubas to chat, but none of them really felt like it. As they left, Willow noticed a small business card on the chair where Lindsey had been sitting.
"Guys … you think maybe he does know Angel?" She asked, holding up the card. Xander took it from her.
"Angel Investigations … maybe. But I guess there aren’t too many vampire detectives working in LA, and there is a lot of evil. Perhaps he just … found it."
"Maybe. OK, Tara, are you coming? Night, you two."
"Night."

***

A grey haired man sat in the cemetery. In his lap was a large book, and the page he had it open at read "restoration rituals."
They had thought it would never come to this. In thousands of years this book had been passed down through generations of watchers, never once being opened. But it had become necessary. The Slayer had died, and come back to life. Another Slayer had been called, and another when she died. But never had they expected the disaster that had occurred after Faith was called. She began to use her Slayer powers for evil, to help the people she was supposed to be fighting. Twice she had eluded capture by the Watchers Council, and now she was in prison, repenting the normal human way. Whether she had changed or not wasn’t the issue. It was clear that no Slayer could be called until Faith died, and it was important that she served her time in prison. There was only one way this could be rectified. Buffy Summers had to be resurrected. The Council had wrestled with this decision for weeks, and had eventually come to the conclusion that it was the only sensible possibility. So he, Quentin Travers, had been sent to Sunnydale carrying the Book of Ahm Sherik, and every night he had sat in this graveyard, at midnight on the dot, to carry out the chant. Every night for the last two weeks. So far, nothing, but he had been forewarned that this could be a lengthy process.
Travers finished reading and snapped the book shut, sighing as he did so. Still, it seemed there was nothing.
He stood up, dusting off his trousers, and walked away from the grave, towards his hotel. Had he stayed a few moments longer, he would possibly have noticed the earth shaking around the grave. Just a little, at first, then stronger, until finally there was no mistaking it. The Slayer was rising.

***

Lindsey McDonald poured himself a glass of water and pulled the file out of his bag. Taking a gulp, he sat himself on the end of his bed, and began to read over what he already knew.
Sunnydale was on top of a hellmouth, and the Slayer was here. He needed her help, now he just had to find her. Maybe his new friends from the Espresso Pump would be able to help him.
"Where are you, Buffy?"

***

Giles flicked on the lights as he entered his apartment, and going through his mail, he sunk down onto the couch. He smiled slightly as he recognised his niece’s handwriting on the one package that stuck out amongst the other envelopes he found, containing what appeared to be bills and junk.
Ripping the selotape off the package, he tipped its contents into his hand. He placed the cassette on the arm of the chair, and began to read the letter.
Dear Uncle Rupert,
How’re things in Sunnydale? Have you decided if you’re going to come home yet? We all miss you here, you should at least come back for a holiday. Mum said you’d be feeling a bit sad at the moment, so I should try to cheer you up. She didn’t tell me why though.
He smiled. A letter from Nicole always cheered him up, even if the feeling didn’t last long. Ever since he’d moved to Sunnydale, she’d been writing to him every month. And every month, she included a cassette of her favourite songs so he "wouldn’t be out of touch" when he got back. The music was often awful, but he dutifully listened to each one.
He took the tape out of its box and placed it in the machine, before he settled down to the rest of the letter. Nicole had always been a good writer, and it wouldn’t surprise him at all if she followed it as a career.
He spent the best part of an hour wading through her epistle, imagining her voice telling him about the exams she’d just finished - "the RE paper had a question on why Catholics see the Pope as an authority figure - how dumb is that! He’s head of the church, of course they see him as authority!!" and the holidays she was now enjoying. "Three months until I have to go back to school - I might come over and see you!" He hadn't seen her since he came here, and it was true that he missed her, but Sunnydale was no place for her to be.
He reached over and turned the tape over, before standing up and digging some writing paper out of a drawer. He might as well tell her straight away that she couldn’t come.
"If you see me walking down the street,
Staring at the sky, dragging my two feet,
You just pass me by,
It still makes me cry,
But you can make me whole again."

For the first time in five years, one of the songs Nicole had sent him made some sense. Or, at least, it related to something in his life. Setting the paper out in front of him, he decided to listen to the rest of the song before replying to her letter.

"Looking back on when we first met,
I cannot escape and I cannot forget,
Baby you’re the one, you still turn me on,
You can make me whole again."

The words were exactly how he felt. Well, most of them, anyway. Since Buffy died he’d felt empty, as if something was missing. He’d loved her like a daughter, and now she was gone. This must be how most of the adults in Sunnydale had felt, at one time or another, having had their children cruelly snatched away from them.

"Time is laying heavy on my heart,
Seems I’ve got too much of it,
Since we’ve been apart,
My friends make me smile, if only for a while,
You can make me whole again."

That was true, too. When he was with Xander, and Willow, they did make him laugh. He’d felt so proud when Xander asked him to be his best man, he’d actually felt happy for a few moments. But it didn’t last long. When he realised that Buffy wouldn’t be there, wouldn’t be able to watch one of her two best friends get married, he’d felt even worse.
Picking up his pen again, he began to write.
Dear Nicole,
Thank you so much for your letter, it definitely did help to cheer me up. I’m glad your exams are over - it feels like centuries since I had to take any - but I remember how horrible they were!
Although he knew in his heart that Sunnydale was no place for a young girl, Nicole had just turned sixteen. She wasn’t a child any longer.
I would love for you to come and stay in Sunnydale over the summer - it’s been getting a bit lonely here recently, and it has been years since I’ve seen you. I’ll get in touch with your mother and we can sort something out.
It’s late here in Sunnydale, so I’ll say goodbye now. I’m sorry this was short and sweet, but I’ll write again soon. Thank you again for your lovely letter and cassette, I’m really looking forward to seeing you again.
Signing the letter, he dug around some more in the drawer until he found an envelope. He carefully wrote Nicole’s address on the front, and then turned of the lights and made his way up to bed.

***

Giles opened his eyes, to discover that he was no longer in bed. Instead, he was standing by Buffy’s grave. A cool breeze brushed his arms and he looked down at himself, noticing that he was no longer wearing his pyjamas, he was fully dressed in what he had been wearing yesterday. Well, at least that ruled out sleepwalking.
"Giles." The voice came from behind him, cutting through the stillness like a knife. He spun around. There stood Buffy, wearing exactly what she had been wearing when she died.
"Buffy? I-" He was completely choked - although he realised that he was dreaming, he still couldn’t function properly. Luckily, Buffy wasn’t in the mood for inane chat.
"Giles, something’s happening."
"Happening? In what sense?" Inwardly he chuckled. He was sure this was the first instance of a Slayer coming from beyond death to warn their watcher of some coming evil.
"With me. Someone’s doing something, I can feel it."
"You mean…" he trailed off. "No, I’m sorry, I don’t understand."
"I think someone is trying to bring me back to life."
That shocked Giles. Whatever else he’d been expecting, it hadn't been that. "What? But - why are you telling me?"
"It’s not working. They don’t have enough power. You have to help."
Giles noticed that Buffy had begun to fade. He’d always thought that was just TV's portrayal of apparitions, not that it would be real. Although, he reasoned with himself, it had to come from somewhere. "Help? Help how?"
Buffy was almost transparent now, and her voice was no more than a whisper. "Go to my grave at midnight tonight. Then you will see."
Giles blinked, and when he opened his eyes again, he was in his bedroom, breathing heavily. Surely what he had just dreamt couldn’t be real? It was his subconscious showing him what he wanted, not an actual occurrence. That must be it. He looked at the clock, and was surprised to discover it was almost 8am.
By the time he had showered, and eaten some breakfast, he had convinced himself that Buffy had not been to visit him from beyond the grave.
But he would still go to her grave tonight, just to be sure.

***

Xander and Anya were minding the store together, after Anya had ordered Giles to go home early. He had seemed distracted all day, and she decided she’d probably get more done if he wasn’t there. The bell rang on the door, and Xander looked up as Lindsey entered.
"Hey, Lindsey!"
"Xander."
"What can I do for you? A little dragons saliva maybe? Or how about one of these lovely … ah … um … thingys?"
Lindsey laughed. "Actually, no. I’m looking for someone, and I thought that maybe you would know - what with Sunnydale being one of those towns where everyone knows everyone!"
"Hit me."
"I’m looking for Buffy Summers." He didn’t notice Xander’s expression completely change as he continued. "I have a … uh … business proposition for her. Do you know where I could find her?" He looked up at them, and hesitated. "Have I said something wrong?"
"You know … you remember last night we were telling you about a friend of ours who died?" Anya began, keeping an eye on Xander as she spoke. "That … that was Buffy."
Lindsey was shocked - his files didn’t give him much information about her, but he did know that she was only twenty. It was always unfair when people died at such a young age - especially someone like Buffy, who’d obviously spent a good deal of her life doing something she didn’t - shouldn’t - have to.
He cleared his throat. "I … I don’t know what to say. ‘I’m sorry’ always sounds so insincere, y’know? It must be so hard for you."
Xander focused on Lindsey’s face, trying hard not to let grief get the better of him again. "What did you want with her, anyway? Maybe we can help?"
"I don’t think so." He looked around the shop, and realised that it was likely that they could. If they were as close with Buffy as it sounded, they probably knew who she was. He’d heard plenty of things around Wolfram & Hart that suggested she was pretty unorthodox, as Slayers go. And after the disaster with Faith, he was ready for anything. "On second thoughts, maybe. I have something after me…"
"This thing … are you talking person, or something … slightly … unnatural. Super, even?"
"Demon."
"Then you’ve come to the right place. What’s the sitch?" Now that he had something to get his teeth into, he was able to push the pain over Buffy to the back of his mind. For now. But he knew it would be back later, when he was alone.
"Big, tall, blue demon, yellow horns. Ugly looking fella."
"Aren't they all," Anya muttered.
"How do you know he’s after you?"
"I … I did something to upset some … guys, and they sent him after me."
"Pretty powerful guys, to have the ability to send a Picckrl demon after you." Giles’ voice came, matter-of-factly, from the doorway.
"Giles! Why are you back? Didn’t I send you home?" Anya’s voice took on the tone of a teacher telling off a five-year-old.
"I forgot something. Not that I have to answer to you anyway." He turned and made his way up the staircase in the middle of the shop. "To kill the Picckrl demon, you need to drown it. It’s the only way, otherwise he’ll just keep on getting stronger and stronger." Almost as an afterthought, he added, "That is, if it’s a ‘he’ you’re dealing with. If it’s a ‘she’, then you’re in serious trouble."
"I’m sure…that is…" Lindsey faltered. "I wouldn’t put anything past Wolfram and Hart."
"Wolfram and Hart. I know that name." Giles was too tired and too pre-occupied to match the name to his many lengthy discussions with Buffy on Angel’s latest nemesis.
"I … uh … I doubt it. Anyway - if I’m dealing with a female version of the demon, what do I do?"
"You’ll need a practising witch with you. You’re going to have to create a vortex and suck it in, for lack of a better term. If you were there on your own, there would be a serious risk of you getting ‘sucked’ in with her. And it is a complex spell to begin with." He stood. "Xander, Anya, I’m sure you’re capable of finding the Picckrl and the spell in the books, and contacting Willow? Sooner, rather than later."
"What’ve you got there?" Xander gestured at the large book Giles had now tucked under his right arm.
"This? Uh … bedtime reading. Goodnight." As Giles left, Xander turned to Lindsey.
"I’m sorry, he’s not usually that short with people. Buffy’s de … losing Buffy has hit him harder than the rest of us, like I said."
"Was he … was he her watcher?"
"Yeah." It suddenly occurred to Xander that he hadn't questioned how Lindsey had known that Buffy was the Slayer. He opened his mouth to speak, then thought better of it. Lindsey needed help, and that was all he needed to know. "Anyway, I’ll call Willow and Tara. It would probably be best if they were both here, just in case. Anya, can you start looking though the books, honey?"
"Sure."
Giles paused outside the window long enough to check they were alright, and then continued on his way to his house. If he was going to be at the cemetery at midnight, he should probably get some sleep.

***

He left his apartment at 11:30. It was only a ten-minute walk to the cemetery, but who knew what was going to happen once he was there.
As he approached the spot where Buffy had been buried, he noticed a shadow hovering nearby. Whoever it was seemed to have a book of some sort. He crept slowly up behind the figure, and prepared to hit him if necessary. Just as he was about to speak, the shadow spun round and the two men found themselves in exactly the same stance, all their weight on one foot with a book raised above their head. As Giles recognised the man opposite, he sighed with a mixture of relief, and anguish.
"Quentin."
"Rupert? What are you doing here?!"
"I live in Sunnydale, remember? I think the more appropriate question may be what are you doing here?"
"I … well … uh …"
"Oh, don’t play games with me Quentin." Giles exploded, frustrated. "Are you, or are you not, attempting to raise Buffy from the dead?"
"Of course I’m not, Rupert, don’t be absurd. Whatever would make you think that?"
"You’re carrying the book of Ahm Sherik, and apart from raising a Slayer the only other reason you could have for carrying that book around Sunnydale’s cemeteries at midnight would be to throw it at a vampire before running away. Now I’m imagining that you wouldn’t want to be thought of as a coward, so it must be the first. Besides, Buffy told me in a dream last night."
Quentin appeared to be delighted. "Excellent - apparitions! I’m getting close!"
"Good - now we’re getting somewhere. So you admit you’re trying to resurrect Buffy. Well, you can’t. As much as I miss Buffy, and I would give almost anything for this never to have happened, I won’t let you do it. It would be completely immoral, especially after the way we refused to let Dawn bring Joyce back."
"Well, I wouldn’t know about that particular instance, but I have to do it. You know as well as I do that until Faith dies, there will be no slayer."
"Get her out of prison then."
"Rupert, you know that’s out of the question. She has to complete her sentence. Even the Watchers Council can’t go against the laws of society."
"You bring Buffy back, and you could well be bringing back what is essentially a zombie. You can’t do that to me, or the others. And what good would she be as a slayer?"
"She won’t be a zombie. It’s the way the spell is written, mixed with her being a Slayer. It will work, Rupert, I guarantee it."
"I won’t let you."
"You’ve already said that, but frankly, I don’t see how you plan to stop me."
"The spell. I have done my research, you know. There’s only a small chance one person has the strength to work it, and forgive me, Quentin, but your magic isn’t particularly strong. You will need help, and you won’t find it here." As he turned away, he called over his shoulder. "You let her rest in peace, or you deal with the consequences."
Quentin watched as Giles trudged away, and then sat down and began to chant. They needed a Slayer. The spell *had* to work.

***

Giles spent all of Saturday in bed. He called Anya to tell her he wouldn’t be coming in, and she all but accused him of skiving. His sleep was restless, and most of was spent thinking about what he'd done. Had he been right in refusing to let Travers do the spell? Well, whether it was right or not, he doubted that Travers would pay any attention to him. He had done his best, and that was what mattered.
"Its not good enough, Giles." He jumped a mile into the air, and looked around his room. At the foot of his bed stood Buffy. "I thought that my last visit would be enough, but I was wrong. You have to help him, Giles. I can’t die. There’s something connecting my spirit to your world, and unless you help him get it back into my body, I’ll never be able to rest peacefully."
He watched as the apparition walked around his room, finally seating herself on the end of his bed. "Buffy ... I can’t let him do it. It’s completely against the natural order of ... well ... everything."
"You’re wrong. It’s not against the order of anything, because it has to be done. I can’t explain it, but you’ve always trusted me before. Why can’t you do it this time?"
"I do trust you. But ... even this is painful, and you aren’t even real. What is it going to be like if you come back? Everyone has been through such a lot, neither of us has the right to ask them to accept this too."
"Please, Giles. For me. I promise you everything will be alright if you’ll just do this one thing for me."
Giles woke with tears in his eyes. He knew it was wrong, and that it shouldn’t be done, but he was going to do it. He would go to her grave tonight and he would help Travers bring her back. And if it didn’t work, then at least he had tried.

***

"So, you’re back then?" Quentin looked up at Giles from his position on the floor.
"I’m back. You’re trying again?"
"I am. There’s no point trying to stop me."
"As surprising as it may seem, I’m not here to stop you. I want to know if you’ll allow me to help you."
For a second, Quentin looked offended, but then slowly he nodded. "I think I’m going to need some help if I expect this to work."
Giles took the book from Quentin, and glanced through its contents. Any other time, he would have felt honoured to be holding this book, but today, he wished there were no need for it.
The two men sat on the ground, and Quentin began the chant he had become familiar with over the last couple of weeks, while Giles read the English translation from the book.
Spirits, I implore thee.
Brothers of man, sisters of the slayers.
Bring forth she who was taken from us prematurely
She who I summon now
The Slayer

He continued to repeat the chant, whilst he watched the ground surrounding Buffy’s grave. He had done some research into the revival of a Slayer, but not wanting to upset the others more than they were already, he kept it to himself. He had long since resigned himself to Buffy being gone forever, as he knew there was no moral way Buffy could ever be with them again.
As he concentrated on the earth, he noticed it had begun to shake. Evidently two minds were better than one. It shook slowly at first, so he was the only one who noticed, but as it became stronger, Quentin obviously noticed too. Giles nodded at him to keep chanting. They had to keep going until either she was alive, or until the ground stopped shaking. If that happened, it was too early, and they would have to come back every night until they succeeded. Missing even one night could mean they would have to start all over again.
The ground begun to shake stronger and stronger, until Giles was certain that they were in the middle of an earthquake, and it wasn’t their spell at all. He looked around, and noticed that the rest of the cemetery, and what he could see of the town, were perfectly still and calm. This was surely it.
Suddenly the shaking stopped. Giles felt his heart plummet - they’d come so close. He was so devastated, he immediately turned away. Slowly, the earth over Buffy’s grave began to part, as if someone was gently sieving it away. When there was enough space, Quentin leaned in to the hole slightly.
The sight before him was certainly not what he had expected, although he hadn't really been sure what he *had* expected.
"Giles," he whispered. "Giles."
The watcher turned around. "What?" he snapped.
"Look." The elder man pointed into the hole that had appeared, and Giles bent his neck to see what Quentin was indicating. When he saw Buffy, dressed in the clothes they had buried her in, breathing normally as if she was sleeping, he almost stopped breathing himself.
"Buffy," he whispered. "it worked."
Quentin watched Giles tenderly lifting the young lady he loved like a daughter from her grave, and knew his work was done. With a brief "I’ll be with the council if you need me," he left Giles to it.
Buffy continued to breathe steadily as he carried her back to his apartment. His arms began to ache, but he didn’t care.
When they entered his apartment, he laid her down on the sofa. He wasn’t strong enough to carry her upstairs, so instead, she would sleep down here, and so would he. As he pulled a blanket out of the cupboard, and covered her over with it, her eyes flicked open slightly.
"Giles," she murmured happily. "I knew you’d do it." With that, she went back to sleep.
Giles smiled.

***

For the next two days, Buffy slept. She woke intermittently, and each time she insisted that Giles go to work, but he refused. Both times he called to tell Anya he wasn’t coming in, he had the feeling that she was suspicious something was going on, but he didn’t care. It was more important that he stayed with Buffy until she was well again. He also called Tara early on Saturday morning to ask if she could look after Dawn until he was feeling more like himself again.
By the third day, Buffy was back to her usual chirpy self, although she was still weak. She forced Giles to go into work, and eventually he relented. She also made sure that he got the group together later that day, because she wanted everyone to know she was back. She couldn’t stand Giles lying to them, because that would have been exactly the same as what she had done when Angel came back, and she had learnt her lesson the first time. But first, she told him that she wanted him to call Tara and Willow and have them send Dawn over before he left. She wanted her to know before anyone else, because it was only fair. She knew Dawn would have been torturing herself about Buffy sacrificing herself, and Giles agreed.
When Willow answered the phone, she sounded sleepy.
"Willow, I do hope I haven't woken you up."
"Giles," she yawned. "Is something the matter?"
"Not as such. Is Dawn there?"
"Yeah, she’s been up watching TV for a couple of hours. I don’t know how she does it - when I was her age I was staying up as late as I could, and sleeping in til noon."
"Can you send her over?"
"Sure … Giles, are you sure there isn't anything the matter?"
"I’m positive, but I would be grateful if you would send her."
"Of course, I’ll drop her off on my way to class. Is 9:30 OK with you, or is this more urgent?"
"No, 9:30 will be fine, Willow. Thank you."
That gave Buffy just over an hour to prepare herself for seeing Dawn. She felt her palms sweating, and felt angry. "Buffy, she’s your sister. Why are you nervous?" she scolded herself.
She had asked Giles to take advantage of Dawn’s absence to drive over to her house and pick up some fresh clothes during one of her more coherent spurts yesterday. With Giles’ help, she went upstairs, and then he left her while she showered and changed.
Giles cooked some pancakes for Buffy while she was upstairs. He was sure that her meeting with Dawn would be very emotional - he would be an idiot if he didn’t think so. He wanted her to have a decent meal inside of her beforehand.
After Buffy had eaten her breakfast, Buffy told Giles he had to go to work. "Anya will be even more suspicious if you don’t go in now."
"Buffy, another ten minutes won’t make a difference."
"You haven't gotten any better at taking a hint, have you?! I want to be on my own when Dawn gets here."
"Oh. I see … well in that case, I’ll leave you to it. Don’t do too much, and I’ll come and pick you up around 4ish. I’ll make sure everyone’s there."
"Don’t forget anyone."
"I won’t."
"I want Spike there."
"Spike?!"
"He promised he’d protect Dawn. I know he got sliced because of it, and he got pushed off the tower. He didn’t deserve that. He’s one of us now, and I want him there at the same time as the rest. Now go!"
She actually pushed him out of the door, and he grudgingly left her alone. It seemed to Buffy like only seconds since he left when there was a knock at the door. She looked out of the peep hole, fully prepared to see Giles insisting he’d forgotten to do something, or pick something up. But instead she was looking into her sisters face, and it seemed that she lost control of all her muscles. It was all she could do to turn around and reach for the door handle. With the last bit of energy she could muster, she turned the handle and pulled the heavy wooden door towards her.
"Giles, I was in the middle of watching Sabrina. What do you -" she stopped, as she looked up and realised that she wasn’t looking into the face of her guardian, but that of her sister. Her dead sister, come to that. She knew anything could happen in Sunnydale, but Giles had assured them all for weeks that he had done everything he could, and there was no way he would bring her back, even if he could.
No words would leave Dawn’s mouth. Instead, tear after tear ran down her cheeks, and Buffy took her little sister in her arms and hugged her tight. It felt so good to hold her again. Like she had told them, Dawn was more than her sister. She was her.

***

"Giles!" Anya gushed. "Decided to show up today, have you? Not that its not up to you, or anything, coz you’re the boss," she added hurriedly, "and of course it’s none of my business, but what’s been wrong?"
"Oh, not a lot, a bit of flu, just general tiredness. Nothing major."
"That’s good! I mean, not that you were ill, but it’s good that it’s not serious."
Giles laughed. "Anya, you don’t have to tip-toe around me. I’m not going to fire you, I promise."
"You swear?"
"I swear."
"Phew." Her whole body seemed to slump slightly, as if she suddenly stopped trying so hard. "That’s good."
"Now, Anya, before I forget, I need you and Xander to be here at 4pm. Don’t be late."
"Oh God, not something else we have to fight is it?"
"Not as such, no! How did helping Lindsey go the other night?"
"Oh, it was fine, like you said. It was a female, but Willow and Tara had it no problems."
"Great. I just have to pop out for a minute, but I’ll be back in about an hour. You’re OK here?"
"I’ve coped just fine over the last couple of days, which, might I add, include working on a Sunday, ALONE! I think I should get a pay rise."
"Of course, Anya, yes. Well, perhaps not a pay rise, but certainly some form of increased overtime. Two hours, tops."
"Yes, yes, go!"

***

Buffy carried her tea into Giles’ living room, and handed a mug of hot chocolate to Dawn.
"You OK now?" She asked her sister, with a large amount of concern in her voice. She had known it would be a shock for her, but she didn’t think there was any other way she could bare to tell her. She knew it had to be alone, before the rest of the gang saw her, and she couldn’t ask Giles to do it, that would be unfair. She felt sorry that she hadn't been able to prepare Dawn for it, but she knew it was the only way.
Dawn nodded. She had only said a couple of words since she first came to the door, and she hoped that Buffy realised how happy she was. Her silence was more through shock that anything else, but she knew that once it sunk in, she would be fine. She sipped at her hot chocolate, trying to think of something to say that would break the ice.
"You still make great cocoa," she grinned.
"Thanks, Dawnie." Buffy placed her own cup down on the table, and turned to Dawn. "Have you been OK? I know Giles will have looked after you … I’ve been worried you know."
"I’ve been fine. Everyone’s been great. It was hard at first, but … it got better. A little. Not much." Finishing her drink, she looked at Buffy. "How did it happen? And … when?"
"You mean, when I … came back?" Her sister nodded. "Well … there was this spell. I don’t know a lot, just what Giles told me. Apparently there’s this big ol dusty book called the Ahm Sheriff or something. Anyway, it’s been handed down through every generation since the watchers council began, and in it, there’s a spell to resurrect a Slayer. It’s never been used before, because every time a Slayer has died, a new one’s been called. But that didn’t happen with me -"
"Because of Faith?"
"Exactly. Because of Faith."
"We wondered."
"Wondered what?"
"If there would be a new Slayer."
"Oh. Anyway, because of Faith, they couldn’t call a new Slayer. They decided the only way was for them to use this book. And Quentin Travers sat at my grave every night for two weeks doing this spell, but it wasn’t until I told Giles he had to help that-"
"Whoa. You *told* Giles?"
"I kinda spoke to him in a dream or two. Apparently. I don’t remember doing it, but … who knows! So, Giles went to help, and here I am."
"So when?"
"Saturday night."
"You’ve gone two whole days without trying to contact any of us?!" Dawn looked ready to explode - Buffy was shocked, she’d been so calm a moment ago.
"Dawnie, I’ve been asleep. I *was* DEAD, remember. I slept right through to this morning, I only woke up a couple of times. You wouldn’t have wanted to see me until you could talk to me, would you?"
"I … I guess not. So when are you going to tell the others?"
"Today. Giles is gathering them all together at 4pm in the Magic Box."
"Can I come? I wanna see their faces. They’re going to be so happy!"
"You betcha! I’m not letting you go now I’ve got you again." To demonstrate her point, Buffy caught her sister in a big bear hug and began to wrestle her on the floor, both of them in fits of giggles.

***

"Spike?" Giles called. He opened the door of Spike’s crypt a bit further, whilst trying not to let too much light in. "Spike? Are you there? I don’t want to open the door."
"Why not?" He heard a grunt from deep within the crypt, and stepped through the door. "Why do you care? You don’t give a rats arse whether I burn or not."
"That’s not true and you know it."
"Do I? Since Buffy kicked it, I’ve just been a babysitter for l’il bit. Not that I mind, she’s a good kid, but you’ve treated me like crap and I just don’t care anymore."
"I think you will."
"Oh, I will, will I?"
"I’ll come and get you sometime before 4 this afternoon. I’ve got a blacked out car for you."
"Who says I wanna come?"
"You don’t even know where I’m taking you."
"I bet it’s your poxy Magic Shop. I’ll give you …" he trailed off as he searched through his pockets and failed to find anything of value. He glanced around the crypt. "I’ll give you a Weetabix box and … an empty vodka bottle if it’s not."
"An incentive to prove you wrong if ever I heard one," he retorted dryly. "Now, on any other day I would probably go and leave the door wide open so that you *do* burn, but partly because I’m in such a good mood, and partly because I’ve got my orders, I’m not going to. I’ll be here. Be ready."
"Yeah, yeah. Now leave me alone."
Kicking his way through the debris, Giles made his way back to the door. He knew why Buffy wanted him to be there, but honestly, he was so awkward. "I suppose that’s what 150 years of vampirism can do to a perfectly pleasant man," he muttered.

***

Anya looked up as the bell on the shop door tinkled.
"Oh. It’s only you."
"Yes, Anya, it’s *only* me. Don’t forget I own this shop, I employ you, and I have your Sunday bonus here in my pocket."
"In that case, I won’t tell you that you’re 18 minutes late."
"I - you - why I -" he spluttered
"Correction, sorry - 19."
"I’m going to use the phone in my office. Please don’t disturb me." He ground out, through gritted teeth.
"Yes, boss."
He closed the door, and sat down. He leant back and stared at the ceiling for a minute, before lifting the receiver off its hook. He dialled his home number, and waited for Buffy to pick up. After the phone rang for almost half a minute, he hung up. Just as he was about to dial again, it rang.
"Hello?"
"Giles, hi." Dawn spoke breathlessly. "Sorry about that - Buffy and I were just upstairs."
"What on earth have you been doing?! You sound like you’ve been running the London Marathon!" he joked.
"She convinced me to go and take a look through the cupboards in your spare room."
"She what?!" Giles heard a muffled "Dawn! I told you not to tell him!" from the background, and smiled.
"Anyway, she found a treadmill, and we’ve been trying it out."
Giles laughed. "Fitness and fun, both in one go!"
"That’s really sad, Giles."
"What?!"
"You remember what it says on the box!"
He could hear Buffy howling with laughter in the background. "Dawn, tell your sister she will dearly pay for this when I see her later. And I told her not to overdo it!"
Dawn repeated his message to Buffy, and then he heard her lift her hand from the receiver. "She says ‘I don’t care, I feel fine and I’m the Slayer - I can kick your ass.’ "
"Tell her I have to go now, I have to call Willow and Tara for her - and if she ever wants me to do any more favours for her, then she’ll at least sleep for an hour. And when I say ever, I really do mean ‘ever’". Ask Buffy - she still isn't allowed to touch my record collection after she accidentally scratched my Stevie Wonder LP."
Buffy began to giggle again, and he realised that she was now listening into the ear piece with Dawn. Giles sighed.
"I honestly give up! I’ll see you at four - and Dawn, please tell her she has to rest!"
"Pfft - like she’ll listen to me!"
"Goodbye, Dawn!"
"’Bye."
He pressed down the button with one hand, and then began to dial Willow and Tara’s number. He still had to explain why he’d needed Dawn over there so early. This was definitely going to be the most difficult of his conversations so far.

***

Giles left the shop to pick up Spike shortly before three-thirty. Xander and Anya were already chatting away, and Willow and Tara were expected soon.
When he reached Spike’s crypt, he gently pushed open the door. "Spike?" he called. "Are you ready."
"Yes, I’m bloody well ready, now let’s go." Pulling his coat over his forehead, he ran out in the direction that Giles usually parked his car. Giles closed the crypt door, and then ran after him. As soon as he unlocked the door, Spike jumped into the back seat and straightened his coat. After a while, he spoke.
"So, what’re we doing then?"
"Wait and see."
"You sound like someone’s mum."
"Thank you Spike darling." And as he pulled up outside the shop, he leant over to the back seat and pretended to rub some non-existent dirt from Spike’s face with his finger.
"OI!" the vampire protested, and Giles laughed.
"C’mon, OUT!" Spike pulled his coat back over his head and ran into the shop.
"What’s *he* doing here?" Xander asked Spike. "In fact, what are any of us doing here?"
"I’m afraid I can’t tell you. That job is for someone else, not me. I have to go out."
"Again?! Then you brought us all here to wait around?" Xander had been forced to finish early for the day at the site, and he was a bit put-out as he and Anya needed all the money they could get for the wedding.
"It’ll be worth it. I’ll be 10 minutes. Maximum."
"That’s what he said this morning. He was twenty minutes late, and he’d already been out for two hours!"
"TEN minutes Anya!" And with that he left the shop before he could be bombarded with any more questions, comments, or general defamation on his character.

***

"Buffy! Dawn! Are you ready to go?" He called as he walked in the door of his apartment. "Everybody’s waiting. They’re all there."
Buffy emerged at the top of the stairs, and took a deep breath. "I’m ready. Dawn, you coming?"
"Yep, I’m here." Dawn hopped out of her bedroom, pulling on a shoe. She ran down the stairs and grabbed her coat as she followed Giles and her sister out of the door.

***

The bell on the shop door tinkled once again, and they all looked up as Giles and Dawn entered.
"Dawn’s the special person that we’ve all been waiting here for?"
"Not exactly."
They all froze out the sound of the voice. Slowly, Buffy stepped through the door and into full view of her friends.
(BtVS-style scene blackout goes here, and then lights go up to reveal the same scene. It’s great how they do that, doncha think??)
"Buffy?" Willow whispered, disbelievingly.
"No." Xander stood up, and turned away. "There’s no way that’s Buffy. You’re sick, Giles, you must have fixed that stupid robot."
"Hey! She wasn’t stupid!" Spike interjected.
"Shut up, Spike."
"Besides, I can tell when it’s the robot. That’s the real deal." Spike ran over to Buffy and wrapped his arms around her neck. Buffy couldn’t help but smile.
"Thanks, Spike," she croaked. "But could I have a little air-room, please? Might help keep me in the land of the living."
"Sorry." Bashfully he withdrew, his hands in his pockets and his eyes on the ground. Buffy walked over to Xander and put her hand on his arm.
"Xander -" He didn’t turn around.
"Get off me." Buffy was so shocked at the lack of feeling in his voice that she did as he asked, and removed her arm. She looked at Giles, who shrugged. She’d known they mightn’t all take it well, but she hadn't been expecting Xander to react like this.
"Xander, honey ... how can you be sure? I mean, she looks real enough."
"Anya, so does the robot. It took us almost a whole day to figure out that she wasn't Buffy, and that was only cuz Buffy herself walked in and told us. Spike created her to look like Buffy, remember? Because he couldn’t have the real thing. So excuse me if I’m the sceptic here."
"Xander, it’s me. Look at me." He remained facing the back of the store, so she moved so he could see her. "How can you be so sure I’m not real if you won’t even look at me?"
"You’re just not. You can’t be. You’re dead. We buried you. I carried the coffin, so whoever you are, you aren't the real Buffy Summers."
"I died before, remember? And you didn’t give up on me then. Why are you doing it now?"
"That’s it!" Dawn exclaimed from the doorway.
"What’s ‘it’?" Xander asked. Dawn ignored the sharpness of his voice, and continued.
"The robot was only programmed to know certain things, right? The things Spike told it originally, and then what we programmed into her for the fight with Glory. So there’s gotta be things that real Buffy knows about Xander and the rest of the gang that robot Buffy wouldn’t."
Buffy could have kissed her sister, if she hadn't been so worried about the way Xander was acting. "Dawn, you’re fantastic! OK, Xander ... I remember ... I remember the way you fawned over Miss French and she was a praying mantis lady. I remember Ampata, and ... and I remember when you were soldier guy. That was really creepy. When it was all over, that was what you said. "It was like you were in there but you couldn’t get out." Right?"
Slowly Xander turned around, listening, but the expression on his face remained the same. "I guess the Buffybot wouldn’t know most of that stuff. Spike wouldn’t know about it, and I know we didn’t program it into her ... but Dawn and Giles could easily have put some stuff in when they brought you back. In case this happened, and someone saw through you like I have."
"Then ask me something."
"Huh?"
"Anything. Something they couldn’t possibly have prepared me for."
"OK ... when the kid was in a coma, and everyone’s nightmares came true ... what was the name of the kid?"
"Billy."
"And what were my nightmares?"
"You ... you suddenly mysteriously lost all your clothes as you entered class, and ... there was something else, damnit! Oh, I remember - clowns."
"OK, so you got the questions right. That still doesn’t mean anything. You aren’t roboBuffy. You could still be ... I don’t know, demon Buffy or something."
"I have an answer for that."
"What a surprise."
"Spike, come here. I want you to hit me."
"You want me to what?"
"I want you to hit me. Hard. Punch me. If it hurts you, I’m human Buffy. Real Buffy. ME."
"If you’re sure ..." he pulled his arm back to hit her, but faltered at the last second. "Hang on, seeing as I know you’re real, I shouldn’t do this! It’s gonna hurt me!"
"Spike." Buffy’s voice took on a warning tone, and Xander watched carefully as Spike pulled back his arm for the second time, and swung at Buffy. The split second in which his fist connected with her face, he immediately pulled away, screaming in agony.
"She’s not a demon!" He yelled, in between screams.
"Now do you believe me?"
"I don’t know. I want to, more than anything I want to, but ... if I do, and you’re not ... then I’ll have to go through it all again."
"We all will, Xander." Giles spoke up from the doorway, where he still stood.
"Xan ... look at me. Look into my eyes. Feel my hand. Smell me. I’m me. You know it."
"I ... I ... can’t handle this, Buffy. Whoever you are. Anya, we’ve got a long day tomorrow. We have to meet with the vicar tomorrow night."
"Xander, that isn’t until six. You have to face this now." Buffy marvelled at how tactful and ... well ... feeling Anya had become since she last saw her. She smiled at the ex-demon gratefully, before something in their last sentence made her think.
"You’re meeting with a vicar? Like, baptisms, weddings, funera -" suddenly realisation appeared in her eyes. "Weddings? There’s going to be a wedding?!! You guys are getting married! That’s fantastic! Congratulations!" She stopped. "You are getting married, right?"
"Yes!" Anya exclaimed, no longer able to contain her excitement. "I have a ring!" And she held out her left hand, proudly, to show off the ring Xander had bought her.
"Oh my God! Anya it’s beautiful! I’m so happy for you guys!" Buffy rushed forward and took Anya in a tight hug, which caught the shop-assistant completely off guard. Then she moved on to Xander, holding him tightly. And the longer she was in his arms, the more comfortable Xander felt. His arms tightened around the girl he’d wanted more than anything for almost four years, and memories flashed through his mind. Memories he’d tried to block out since Buffy died. He remembered that spine-tingling slow dance at the Bronze after her first summer vacation since moving to Sunnydale. He remembered when she was going to strip for him when Amy accidentally turned the whole population of Sunnydale into Xander lovers. He remembered all of the good times they had together and as he let her go, he knew without a doubt, that this was the real Buffy. He wasn’t sure what made him so sure, but he knew.

***

Tara had been interested in the mechanics of the spell. At first, like Giles, she had been adamant that it was against the laws of nature, just as it had been with Buffy’s mom. If she was truthful with herself, she still wasn’t sure it was right. But it was nice to have Buffy with them again, and Willow had certainly cheered up since she came through the door.
They’d been talking for almost an hour when the bell above the shop door tinkled, and they remembered that they were in the shop. Xander looked up, and noticed that the customer was Lindsey.
"Hey, Lindsey, what can I do for you?"
"Well, actually I just thought I’d drop in and say hi, but it looks like you’re busy, so I’ll come back later."
"No, no, it’s fine. Lindsey, I’d like to introduce you to Buffy Summers. Buffy, this is Lindsey McDonald. He’s from LA."
Lindsey’s jaw dropped. "But ... I thought you said .. she was ..."
"Dead?" Xander supplied. "Yeah, I guess I did. It’s a long story. She was. And now she isn’t. Great world we live in, huh?"
"Uh ... I guess."
"Buff, Lindsey has the most fantastic voice! He’s singing at the wedding."
"No Giles?"
"He’s the best man." Xander eyed Giles warily, as he still hadn’t spoken to the ex-librarian about that.
"And that means ‘no singing’?"
"Well ... kinda - he’ll be busy doing, lots of ... uh ... other stuff. But I’m sure he could squeeze in one song, at least!"
"It’s alright, Xander, I don’t mind having the spotlight taken away from me. Besides, I’ll have to spend my time writing a blasted speech, so I won’t have time to practise. No, Lindsey is very welcome to do all the singing."
"Excellent! Oh, hey, Lindsey, I meant to ask, how come you ... uh ... how come you knew Buffy was the Slayer?"
"Uh ... I got the information from Wolfram and Hart before I left." Buffy’s ears pricked up at the mention of W&H.
"Wolfram and Hart? You’re connected to them?"
"Kinda. I used to work for them."
"WHAT?! Wait ... Lindsey McDonald ... you’re the one! You’re the one Angel always talks about! You started all the business with Darla & Drusilla!"
"Uh ... you guys know Angel?"
"Oh I heard all about you hiring Faith to kill him. He forget to tell you that he and I used to date during your last little rendezvous?"
"Maybe ... maybe it would be best if I left ... now. Uh ... Xander, you should find someone else to sing at your wedding." Alarm bells started to ring in Buffy’s head. She’d been back with her friends less than an hour and she’d lost Xander’s wedding entertainment?! Way to go, Buff.
"No! Lindsey wait ... the last time I spoke to Angel, he said you two left LA on pretty good terms."
"Well ... good for us, I guess."
"Then you should sing. If you’re as great as these guys say you are - and to get a compliment from Giles is pretty hard going! - then they shouldn’t lose you because l’il old me has a big mouth and a lot of emotional baggage." Lindsey smiled.
"Alright. I’ll sing, but still, I’d better go. It looked as if I interrupted you in the middle of something."
"See ya later, Lindsey." As Lindsey left the shop, Giles moved to close up. Buffy turned to Xander.
"Xan ..."
"Yeah?"
"Are ... uh ... are Angel and Cordy coming to the wedding?"
Xander and Anya exchanged glances. "It’s a bit of a sore point," whispered Anya. "He wants to invite Cordy and Wesley, but doesn’t want Angel."
"I can’t help it if I don’t like the guy!"
"Xander, he’s coming."
"Sheesh, is this what its gonna be like to be married?!"
"Yep!" His future wife grinned. "You’ll never win another argument again!"
"Did I ever?!" He muttered.
"Then I think you should invite them." Buffy continued. "And if nobody tells them I’m back ... it should give Angel something else to think about in case he isn’t too happy to see Lindsey."
"OK, if you promise to keep him tame, he can come."
"Deal."

***

"Where are my shoes? I can’t find my shoes!"
"Calm down, Anya, calm down. They’re here!" Willow sighed. The morning of the wedding was at least 10 times more hectic than any of the preparations had been. Why had she agreed to be the maid of honour?! Anya was getting ready at her place, so she wouldn't see Xander before the wedding.
"Oh. Good. Right, OK, so, I got old, that’s me, right? You said it was OK for me to be the old thing didn’t you?"
"Yes, Anya. You are very old."
"New, well, that’s the dress and the shoes. Borrowed. I don’t have anything borrowed! I’m going to have bad luck forever!"
"Anya! You’re driving me insane! Your borrowed is the same as your blue, remember? Dawn leant you her blue earrings."
"Right. So where are they?"
"They’re in your EARS, Anya. You put them there about 10 minutes ago."
"Oh, yeah. I remember now." She studied them in the mirror. "Hold on. Hold EVERYTHING."
"What now?!" sighed Willow.
"These earrings. They’re mine! They went missing months ago!"
"How can they be?? Dawn leant you them, remember."
"They’re mine! I put them down on the table, when Dawn was staying with us while Buffy was away with Giles, and I haven’t seen them since."
"You’re saying Dawn STOLE these?!"
"Who cares about that?! They aren’t borrowed if they’re mine! I need something borrowed, and FAST!"

***

Xander paced up and down his apartment.
"I can't do this, Giles! It's all too much! What if I stuff up? What if she isn't there? What if-"
"Xander! Would you please stop 'what if-ing' and get ready? You have to be at the church in an hour and you look like you've just fallen out of bed!"
"But Giles!" he flung himself down onto the sofa. "Aren't you listening to me? I can't do it!"
"Yes, Xander, I'm listening to you." The elder man sat down next to Xander and softened his tone. "You love her, don't you?"
"Well, yeah, but-"
"Then you don't need any more 'buts'. That's all you need to know. You wouldn't have proposed to her if you didn't want to go through with it."
"But maybe she was right."
"Right? How do you mean?"
"When I proposed. She said I was just doing it because it was romantic and sexy, and I knew I wouldn't have to go through with it cuz the world was gonna end." He looked up at Giles. "Maybe she was right."
"And how did you reply to that?"
"I told her ... I told her I was doing it because the world wasn't gonna end. That I believed I was gonna live a long and silly life, and I wasn't interested in doing that without her around."
"So what's changed?"
"Well ... nothing."
"Then what are you waiting for? Get ready, get to that church, and marry the girl! It's going to be the best day of your life. Enjoy it!"
"You're right. Nothings going to go wrong! Anya planned this. She'll have gone through every last detail to make sure its perfect. I love her, and I know she loves me." He voice became more confident with every word. "It's going to be amazing."
Giles looked at Xander and thought, not for the first time, how much Xander had grown up since they first met. If someone had told him all those years ago that Xander would be the first of the gang, including himself, to get married, he would most likely have laughed in their face. But now he seemed the obvious choice. He had a good job, and the most normal life out of all of them.
Three-quarters of an hour later, as they left the house, Xander was still pretty hysterical, but he seemed to have it under control. It wasn't second thoughts any more, it was just nerves, pure & simple. Giles had tried to calm him down, but had given up, knowing that he would be no better until he was standing at the altar and watching Anya walk down the aisle to meet him. Only then would he be calm.

***

"Thanks, Buffy, that would be fantastic."
"I'll be back as soon as I can!" Willow closed the door as Buffy half walked-half ran down the hall, and ushered Dawn into the room. "Anya, she's gone to get you one. Don't worry!"
"Dawn, how much make-up do you want to wear?" Anya yelled through from the other room.
"Shouldn't I put my dress on first?"
"Yes. Actually yes, that would be sensible." As Anya continued to rush around the room, yelling orders to Willow, Dawn whispered to Tara.
"What on earth has she been drinking? She's even more hyper than usual!"
"I think it's just nerves." Tara whispered back.
"What are you two waiting for?!" bellowed Anya, spying them chatting. "You should be getting your dresses on."
"You can go first, Dawnie."
"Sure." Dawn slipped large closet, today doubling as a changing area, where her dress hung on the handle. Five minutes later she reappeared in a dress similar in style to Anya's, but a slightly different colour of cream. Willow was already dressed in hers, and Tara changed after Dawn. Anya, however, was still in her bath robe, even though they only had half an hour to go. Any other, normal, bride would have been dressed a couple of hours ago, to make sure everything was on time. But with Anya, it seemed she was determined to make sure that the tradition of the bride being late was one of the customs she stuck to.
As Tara came out of the closet, Willow turned to Anya. "Don't you think you should put your dress on now? We still have your hair and make up to do after that."
"Right. Yes. OK." While Anya dressed, there was a knock on the door, and Buffy peered round.
"Everybody decent?" She enquired brightly, before entering anyway.
"Buffy! Did you get it?" came Anya's muffled voice from inside the closet. Having lived on a hellmouth for over five years, Buffy had learnt to ignore most of the unusual things that happened around there, so she shook off her confusion and spoke to the door.
"Yeah. Is this OK?"
Anya's head peeped around the door and took the necklace that Buffy held in her hand, complete with a sapphire in the centre. "It's perfect. Thank you so much for getting it, Buffy."
"It's no big. How come you needed it to be blue, anyway?"
"Oh, we had a problem with the earrings that Dawn lent her." Willow answered, as Anya had already popped back into the closet.
"A problem?" Dawn piped up, sounding worried.
"Yeah ... uh ... her holes had started to close over, cuz she hasn't worn earrings for a while. We thought it would be better for her to not wear any at all than try to push the earrings through and leave her in agony for the next hour." This was what they had decided to say. They didn't want to upset either Buffy or Dawn today by accusing Dawn of stealing; this was the easiest way out of that.
"Makes sense. You got nothing?"
"Blue's not my colour." Buffy laid her coat down on the bed, to reveal the dazzling low cut black dress she was wearing. She'd also had her hair cut since her rebirth - no matter how many times she washed it, she couldn't get the earthy feeling out of it. So she had it cut just above her shoulders, and she had immediately felt much fresher.
"Wow. Buffy, you look great!" Tara stated.
"Thanks." Giving a small twirl for Tara's benefit, she suddenly felt very self-conscious - and a little dizzy. She sat down on the bed to catch her breath, and immediately Dawn was at her side.
"Buffy? Are you alright?"
"I'm fine, just got a little dizzy there." Willow and Tara exchanged worried glances. Since when did Buffy get dizzy? Especially after such a little twirl as that. Buffy saw the looks on their faces, and smiled. "I'm FINE!" She stated, confidently. "I think it's maybe seeing Angel again. I'm not sure how he's going to take this."
"You mean, you being back? He'll be fine. Maybe a little shaken at first but not ..."
"Not like Xander? God I hope not."
"People! I'm the one getting married today - a little assistance, please!"

***

Xander stared at the back of the church.
"Where is she?" He hissed at Giles. "Why isn't she here yet?"
"It's early. We're just on time. And brides are traditionally late, you know that Xander."
"Or perhaps not showing up?"
"She'll be here."
"I hope so."
At that moment, the congregation rose, as the first notes of "here comes the bride" rang throughout the church.
"My God." Xander watched his future wife walk through the church door, with Willow on her arm. Anya had decided that there wasn't any guy she wanted to give her away, so she asked Willow instead. Dawn and Tara followed, all three of the bridesmaids beaming. Anya's face remained straight until she saw Xander, and she gave him a brief smile. Out of the corner of his eye, Xander saw Buffy slip into the back of the church, and took a deep breath. This was really happening.
Anya reached the front and Xander automatically reached out and squeezed her hand. The bridesmaids slipped into the front row and the service began.
"Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to celebrate one of life's greatest moments, to give recognition to the worth and beauty of love, and to add our best wishes to the words which shall unite Alexander and Anya in marriage." He dropped his voice slightly. "Please sit." As the congregation settled in their seats, Buffy began to look around. She noticed that although Xander's mom had been able to spare the time to watch her only child get married, his father hadn't, and she felt bad for him. She saw Cordelia sitting alone a few rows in front. Angel had politely declined the invite to the wedding, although he was coming to the reception, along with Wesley. Buffy resisted the urge to go and sit with Cordelia for a couple of reasons. Part of it was because she was sure seeing someone who's supposedly been dead for three months suddenly sitting beside her would most likely give her a slight wiggins, and partly because she didn't want Cordelia to have the chance to dash off and tell Angel. She wanted to see him herself.
"Should there be anyone who has cause why this couple should not be united in marriage, they must speak now or forever hold their peace." The couple both visibly tensed, hoping against hope that nobody would speak up. Nobody did. "Alexander, do you take Anya to be your lawful wedded wife?"
"I do." It came out more as a croak than a word, but everyone knew he said it with love.
"Do you promise to love, honour, cherish and protect her, forsaking all others and holding only to her forevermore?"
"I do." This time it was stronger, and more confident. Father McConnell turned to Anya.
"Anya, do you take Alexander to be your lawful wedded husband?"
Anya beamed broadly. "Yes, I do."
"Do you promise to love, honour, cherish and protect him, forsaking all others and holding only to him forevermore?"
Willow wiped a tear from her eye and Tara gave her a comforting hug.
"I do." Father McConnell asked Xander and Anya to kneel at the altar, while he Dawn walked to the lectern and began to read, in a clear, slow voice.
"A marriage ceremony represents one of life's greatest commitments, but also is a declaration of love. I wish to read to you what Paul wrote of love in a letter to the Corinthians a long time ago. I believe this is a true model of love, and it is a model of love I would hope you both would pursue in your marriage:
"Though I speak with the tongues of men and angels - but do not have love, I am only sounding brass or tinkling cymbals. Though I have the gift of prophecy and understanding all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith so that I could remove mountains - but do not have love, I am nothing. Though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned but do not have love, it profits me nothing."
Buffy smiled at her sister encouragingly, and Dawn continued. It had been a nice idea of Xander's to ask Dawn to read - originally they'd asked Buffy, but she had politely declined, wanting to watch instead of being involved. Especially as a lot of people still believed her dead, it would be a rather large shock to see her get up and read a bible passage, her vocal chords completely intact and her being in no way decomposed.
Father McConnell indicated that it was time for the couple to rise. "Alexander, repeat after me - 'I, Alexander LaVelle Harris, take thee, Anya Christina Emmanuella Jenkins to be my wife. To have and to hold, in sickness and in health, for richer or for poorer, and I promise my love to you forevermore."
Xander repeated this, smiling broadly all the time.
"Now, Anya, after me. I, Anya Christina Emmanuella Jenkins, take thee, Alexander LaVelle Harris to be my Husband. To have and to hold, in sickness and in health, for richer or for poorer, and I promise my love to you forevermore."
Anya spoke with a shake in her voice the others had never heard before. While she spoke, a couple of tears ran down her cheek, and Xander reached over and wiped them away. As if this gave her a renewed confidence, Anya continued, her voice clearly becoming stronger.
When they were done, Giles stepped forward and placed the rings onto the bible in the Priest's outstretched hand. After a nod from Father McConnell, Xander took one of them and placed it onto Anya's ring finger.
"With this ring, I thee wed. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen." Anya repeated the process, and Father McConnell smiled at them.
"Alexander and Anya, in so much as the two of you have agreed to live together in Matrimony, have promised your love for each other by these vows, the giving of these rings and the joining of your hands, I now declare you to be husband and wife."
Dawn managed to stifle a cheer just in time, and Willow no longer tried to stop the tears of joy from streaming down her face.
"Congratulations, you may kiss your bride." As the congregation stood, Xander took Anya in his arms and kissed her as if he hadn't seen her for weeks, before whispering in her ear. "I love you, Mrs Harris."
In reply, she gave him another kiss, before the couple turned, and walked back down the aisle, hand in hand, smiling for all the world to see how happy they were, the three bridesmaids following them. Buffy waited until she saw Cordelia turn to leave, before she moved into the row behind and tapped the brunette on the shoulder. "Cordelia?"
"Yeah?" She turned around, and saw who had spoken. Her voice cracked and dropped to a whisper. "Buffy? But ... you ... but ... really?"
Buffy laughed. "Really."
"But I was at your funeral! Angel ... he's been brooding for months. Why didn't you tell him?"
"I couldn't. Not over the phone."
"What, you've never heard of a car?" Cordelia was beginning to get angry. "It takes TWO HOURS to get to LA, Buffy. You couldn't spare that much time for him?"
"I wasn't ready." Buffy avoided Cordelia's gaze. "He ... when he came back, after I ... killed him, he was uncomfortable around me. I think that sometimes he wishes I hadn't found him. It took a long time for him to be ready to be around people again. I just needed time to think." She looked up. "I need a favour."
"What?"
"I need you to bring him here. I don't want to risk him walking in to the reception and seeing me just sitting there, laughing and joking as if nothing's happened. I want to be alone when he sees me."
"Too late." Angel's voice came from the doorway. "I came to pick Cordelia up." Gunn's head appeared around the door and Cordelia walked towards it, claiming she'd find her own way to the reception, and dragging Gunn away with her. She met Fred and Wesley in the car, climbing into the driving seat herself, explaining breathlessly what had happened.
"Why didn't you call?" Angel had taken a seat at the back of the church, feeling his legs couldn't support him any more.
"Like I told Cordy, I had a lot of thinking to do, and I didn't want to do it over the phone. I wanted to see you, and tell you face to face." Anticipating his next question, she interrupted, not allowing him chance to speak. "I know, I know, I should have come to LA, but ... well, I didn't think I was ready. In fact, I got all dizzy this morning just thinking about what you might say ... what I'd do if you wouldn't believe it ..." her voice began to shake a little, but she forced herself not to cry.
"Hey, you know there's not a lot I won't believe. I've seen a lot, I've done a lot, and I know this is the real you. Nothing else could smell like you, or look as beautiful as you." Buffy smiled slightly. "I saw the robot Spike had made, you know, and I knew straight away it wasn't you. It just wasn't ... right. So, are you and I going to this reception or do you plan to starve?"
"Let's go." She slipped her hand into his, more for comfort than anything else, and they walked out into the cool night air. They wedding had been deliberately planned for an evening, so that the two vampires would be able to attend, although Spike had shown up late and headed off to the reception as fast as he could, where he knew there would be alcohol waiting for him. "Uh .. Angel?"
"Yeah?"
"Where's your car?"
"I left it right h-" He looked around at where his car wasn't for a second, before laughing. "Good old Cordy. Now we have to walk."
"I don't mind."

***

Giles stood up from his seat next to Xander, and struck his spoon on the side of his glass. "Ladies and Gentlemen, can I have your attention please?" The room began to quieten down, and Giles pulled his speech out of his pocket. "When I first met Xander, I must confess, he did grate on my nerves a little. He was always making jokes at inappropriate times, and thinking more about his stomach than anything else -"
"Nothing's changed there then" Dawn piped up.
"Hey! I resent that!" Xander laughed.
"Shut up honey, its true." Anya replied, before returning her attention to Giles.
"Yes, thank you Dawn. But once I got to know him better, I knew that was just the outer facade of a very complex boy. He has always been loyal, and brave - sometimes stupidly so - but if any of his friends were in danger, he would risk his own life to save theirs. Often he was frightened, but he always did anything he could to help. When Buffy was in hospital with the flu, he stood guard outside her room, despite the ... uh ... dangers." Having just seen Buffy and Angel slip into the room, he was unwilling to name Angel as the evil Buffy was being guarded against by her white knight. "We have fought in so many battles, and Xander has always given his all despite the risks. He's been like a son to me ... and ... oh who am I kidding? None of you want to hear all this mush - you want the dirt."
Xander laughed nervously. "Uh ... G-man, I'm not sure you want to ... uh .. Oh God." At this point he shrunk down in his seat and blushed furiously.
"Well, for a start, the ..." Buffy leaned her head on Angel's shoulder, only half listening to Giles. She was pretty sure his tales of praying mantises and Inca mummy girls would make a good three-quarters of his audience think he was completely insane, but they were still getting him a few laughs.
She must have drifted off for a minute or two, because she opened her eyes to find Willow offering a toast to the bride and groom.
Angel looked down at Buffy and noticed she was awake, whispering into her ear. "Why is Willow doing the toast?"
Buffy's reply of "because she's the father of the bride" left him completely stumped, but he decided not to ask any more questions. Buffy sat up straight in her seat and yawned, apologising to Angel. "It's been a long day." She grinned, sheepishly. "But nice." She noticed Xander rise from his seat, and look in her direction.
"I'd just like to propose a toast to an old friend of mine, who's come back to us from far away. We missed you, Buffy." Her face went scarlet, as the whole room raised their glasses, and chanted "To Buffy."
She buried her head back in Angel's shoulder and muttered "this isn't happening, right?"
He laughed. "Not if you don't want it to be."
"Good."
"Now if you'd all like to make your way into the Wilson Suite, the bride and groom can have the first dance."
It took a while to get everyone into the room, but once everyone was settled, they heard some guitar chords float across to them, and Xander led Anya into the centre of the room. As they danced, a strong voice began to sing, and Angel sat bolt upright. He would recognise that voice anywhere. Evidently, so had Cordelia, as Buffy heard an exclaimed "Lindsey?!" come from the other side of the large hall.
"Uh-oh," she muttered, before leaning in so that only Angel could hear her. "Yeah ... about that."
"You knew?"
"Well, yeah. He's living in Sunnydale, and ... well they didn't know who he was when they asked him. And he does have a great voice, and ... well ... didn't you say you two were almost getting along when he left the last time?" There was a pleading tone in her voice that Angel had never learnt to say no to.
"Almost being the key word here, Buffy." He replied, dryly.
"Angel! Lindsey! Here!" Cordelia came over to them, pointing incredulously at the singer.
"So I see."
"You aren't going to make a scene, are you?" Buffy asked, fearfully. She didn't want anything to spoil their day.
"No. You're right, we were sort of OK when he left - we even worked together without me killing him."
"Thank you so much! So ... do you want to dance?"
"No, thanks Buffy, Gunn is my date." Cordelia replied. Realisation dawned. "Oh - you mean him. Right. I'll just be going ... over ... here now." And she walked away quickly, embarrassed at what she'd said.
"Well? Would you?" Buffy turned to Angel, her hand held out.
"I'd love to." The two of them made their way onto the already crowded dance-floor, joining Wesley and Fred, who seemed to be having an intimate moment, and Cordy and Gunn, who ... weren't. They looked as if they were having a contest to see who could look the stupidest - and so far it appeared that the scores were level.

***

A couple of hours later, when everyone was danced out and most people had gone home, only the Scoobies and their LA counterparts were left. Angel excused himself and went to have a quiet - but as he assured Buffy, polite - word with Lindsey, who was packing up, leaving the others to talk.
"Wow. What a day," stated Willow.
"I'll say." Dawn looked thoughtful. "They aren't gonna .. fight, are they?" She nodded towards Lindsey and Angel.
"They'd better not. If they do, they've got me to answer to. Nothing is going to spoil their day." She looked over at the dance floor, where the happy couple were still dancing. Although Lindsey had finished playing, Dawn had asked a barman for a CD player and some CDs and he'd been happy to oblige. Although in her opinion the music had sucked, it didn't seem to bother Xander & Anya.
"So who do you think'll be next?" spoke up Cordy. "To get married, I mean."
Nobody answered.
"I guess we'll just have to wait and see." Angel replied as he rejoined the group, leaving Lindsey to sneak out the back of the room before anyone noticed he was gone. He smiled as he noticed Fred, who had fallen fast asleep on Wesley's chest. His left arm was draped around her shoulders, and his right gently stroked her hair.
"What did you talk to Lindsey about?" queried Buffy.
"Not a lot. Asked him why he left Wolfram & Hart. He said he realised what he should have done a long time ago - they were evil." As the last song on the CD ended, Xander and his new wife came to join the gang.
"Where did Lindsey go?"
"He had to go. He said he'd stop around sometime and see you guys - he's planning on staying here for a while."
"Cool." Everything was quiet for a few minutes before Buffy spoke up.
"Congratulations guys. I didn't get chance to say it before, because, well, everyone else was saying it. But I'm really happy for you, I really am."
Xander smiled, and pulled Buffy into a hug. "You have no idea how happy I am that you could be here."
Not knowing what to say, Buffy returned the hug, and then changed the subject. "Shouldn't you guys be going, anyway? What time is your flight?"
"Not til tomorrow afternoon, we're staying here tonight. But we should probably get going anyway, we need a good night's sleep."
"Oh, we won't be doing any sleeping," Anya told her husband, who groaned. Perhaps she hadn't gotten as tactful as he'd thought! She shook her head, realising what she'd said. "I mean ... uh ... because ... we ..."
"Give it up, Anya." Cordy jumped in. "Just throw the bouquet already!"
"Oh, right. I forgot about that." She looked around. "Where did I leave it?"
"You left it carelessly lying around on the table over there. I picked it up and kept it safe for you." Cordy replied, jokingly. "Here." She passed the bunch of flowers over to Anya, who took a few steps forward with her back turned to them. Almost as one, Angel, Giles, Gunn and Spike took a step back. Buffy turned around to see where they were going a split second before Anya threw it, allowing it to hit her on the head. As Cordelia strained to catch it, Buffy's automatic reaction was to raise her hands and catch the thing that had hit her. The second she realised what it was, she tried to get rid of it, but they'd all seen her catch it. Cordy slumped to the ground, dejectedly, and Dawn squealed with delight.
"Yeah!! Can I be your bridesmaid, too? It's fun!"
"No!" Dawn's face dropped. "Oh, Dawnie, I didn't mean, no you can't be my bridesmaid, I just meant ... well I'm not planning on getting married anytime soon, honey, and I'm not going to change those plans just because I get told to by a bunch of flowers!"
Angel smiled to himself. He still hoped, somewhere deep inside him, that he would "shanshu" and be able to be the one that Buffy would eventually marry, although who knew when that would be. He tried not to get his hopes up.
Slowly, the gang left the hall. First Xander, being dragged up the stairs by Anya who was keen to "not sleep" as soon as possible. Spike made his exit next, claiming the sun would be rising soon, and he didn't want to be left in this "bloody hole" with those two lovebirds once it did.
Wesley carried Fred out to the car, trying not to wake her, followed a slightly tipsy Cordelia.
"You comin, Angel?" questioned Gunn.
"No, I was thinking I might stay at Buffy's for a few days. If that's OK with her, that is."
"Sure." Buffy attempted not to let her face and tone betray her joy that Angel had taken so little convincing to know it was her, and that he wanted to stay with her, even if they just spent time talking.
"Just as long as you don't go losing your soul," warned Gunn. "I don't really wanna hafta stake you - I'm kinda getting attached! And getting eaten would be a lot worse than getting fired ..."
"Don't worry, Gunn." Buffy cut in. "I'll make 'strictly no soul-losing' one of the house rules." She stopped. "In fact, I'll make it the only house rule."
Angel laughed, and Gunn conceded, heading out in the direction the others had gone.
"Buffy, do you want Dawn to stay with Tara and me for a few days? I'm sure she'd enjoy it, and we like having her."
"Thanks, Will, that'd be great." Willow and Tara herded Dawn out of the door, the younger girl complaining all the while that she wanted to stay longer.
"So, Miss Summers, just the two of us left."
"Yeah, Mister ... Angel. Hey, do you even have a surname?"
"Wouldn't you like to know?" He smirked.
"Well, actually, I would." Buffy grinned, and began to tickle Angel. She was always amazed that vampires were so easy to tickle - she would have expected their skin to be so tough it wouldn't bother them.
"Hey! No fair!" He exclaimed, between laughs. "No using the tickle offensive! That's house rule number two!"
"We're not in the house yet," she grinned evilly, and he ran for it before she had chance to start up again.
As soon as the room was empty, the receptionist entered the room, and looked around. She'd worked in this hotel for 20 years, and she'd seen a lot of weddings. The sad thing was, she'd lost count of the times those same people came back, marrying someone different. Today's couple had seemed nice enough - she just hoped this one lasted. Flicking off the lights, she closed the door behind her and pocketed the key, settling back down behind the desk with her book for this week's night shift - "Vampires and demons - fact or fiction?"

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