Author: Jinni (druscilla@cox.net)

Pairing: W/Gunn

Rating: PG13

Summary: Sequel to "A Chance Meeting" - Willow finally makes a trip back to
Sunnydale and Gunn goes along for the ride.

Disclaimer: BtVS and AtS characters belong to whomever is currently claiming
responsibility for them.

Distribution: A Witch's Love and anyone else who has my fics.

Feedback: Is nice.

~*~Part One~*~

"Are you sure we have to do this?"

Gunn looked up from the bag he was about to toss in the back of his truck,
arching an eyebrow at his girlfriend. "You haven't seen your friends in months,
babe. Haven't even gone home since we 'found' you. Don't you think it's about
time to just get on with it?"

Willow nodded, biting her lip. The butterflies in her stomach seemed to be
performing a never-ending ballet to the tune of her nerves, making everything
seem much worse than they would have been otherwise. Gunn was right, though.
She hadn't seen anyone in Sunnydale since the day after she had almost gotten
Dawn killed and runaway. It had been a week since she had called them, letting
them know where she was and that she was okay. Wasn't going back to at least
visit them the right thing to do? And didn't she feel an emptiness in her
heart, not having seen or hugged Buffy or Xander for months? She sighed. "It's
just."

"Nervous?" Gunn prompted her. He reached out, motioning for her to step closer
to him. When she was within range he gathered her up in his arms, rubbing her
back in what he hoped was a soothing motion. "Don't worry about it. What could
possibly go -"

"Uh uh!" Willow shushed him, placing a hand firmly over his mouth. "Don't ever
say that when we're about to leave to go to Sunnydale. You just don't
understand. That place breeds trouble. If the Fates hear you saying that -
we'll be doomed. An apocalypse will rise up and swallow us from the ground."
She shivered, the words she had spoken ringing a tone in her own heart. How
true was it that every time things in Sunnydale looked like they were going for
the better a crisis popped up to change everything?

Gunn gave the red head in front of him an odd look and shook his head. She was
still very much a mystery to him at times, the things she did and said evoking
intense confusion within him. On the plus side, she was always so cute, even
when spouting off about things he knew nothing about, that she also evoked
intense lust in him. He kissed her forehead. "Your friends wouldn't want to see
you again just to yell at you. They missed you, baby. Deal with it - they still
care about you. Why else would they have had Angel find you?"

"To string me up like a hangman in the center of town and poke red hot pokers
into me? Or maybe to burn me at the stake like the bad witch I am?" Willow
snorted, sticking her tongue out at him. It was silly, she knew. Buffy and
Xander missed her and she missed them. She still needed to apologize to Dawn
for what had happened. So much to do and say. It would be best if they just got
it over with. But they couldn't do that if they were standing there in each
other's arms. She pushed lightly on his chest, pointing to his side of the
truck. "Go on then, get in and drive me back to that Hell."

"It can't be that bad." He laughed, sliding into the truck and shutting his
door behind him. He heard her do the same, the sound of her seatbelt snapping
into place coinciding with the mild laugh she gave.

"It's a Hellmouth, darling. When I say it's Hell - I really mean it." She
sighed, suddenly tired by the whole thing. Buffy would have gathered everyone
to her house for her glorious 'return' by the time they got to Sunnydale. But
how would that actually play out? It was hard to believe that there would be no
harsh words at all to her for what had happened or for her running away. In
fact, if they held their tongues about the entire matter there was a good
chance that the apocalypse very well was coming. She sighed, leaning against
the passenger's side door as the scenery began to slip by. There were very few
inroads and before she knew it, they were on the highway, the green signs
announcing exits she was unfamiliar with. It would be a while before they were
anywhere near Sunnydale. At least she would get that much of a reprieve.

What was she going to say to Buffy? To Dawn? 'Sorry' just didn't seem to be
good enough. But it was all she had to give. She hadn't used magick since that
night and never planned on using it again except in a case of dire emergency.
Would

She yawned, sitting up to stretch before laying down across the seat, her head
resting on Gunn's right thigh. Despite all of her apprehension about the visit,
she found the sounds of the road whooshing by to be soothing, a lullaby. As
Gunn began to stroke her hair with the hand not holding the wheel Willow found
herself quietly drifting off to sleep.

'Next stop.' She thought sleepily, mentally bracing herself for what was to
come even as her body shut itself down to rest. 'Sunnydale.'

~*~*~

"What have you gotten me into?"

Willow glared at Gunn, the expression hidden by the fact that she turned her
head at the last minute. Across the room Anya and Xander were arguing over how
much longer they had to be there. It seemed that Mrs. Alexander Harris wanted
to go home and blithely continue her honeymoon, which had been going on for
nearly two months, while Xander wanted to stay and catch up with his best
friend. Per the usual, Anya didn't have a clue in her head about the tactful
thing to do. She just spoke her mind, much to Gunn's irritation and Willow's
embarrassment.

"Oh." She said sarcastically, glancing towards the hallway and wondering where
Buffy and Dawn had run off to. "Mister 'It Won't be That Bad' changes his tune,
I see?" She smirked.

"Well - at least they're not yelling at you or anything."

They had arrived in Sunnydale only three hours after leaving LA - despite
Willow's best attempts at getting Gunn to drive slower, much slower, for the
remaining 100 miles. Staying with Buffy meant that that was their first stop of
the evening - and it appeared it would be the last one as well. Like expected,
Buffy had arranged for everyone Willow had left behind to be there when she
arrived. This meant getting this over with quicker, and also making things much
tougher on the former witch. How much simpler would it have been if she had
only had to deal with Buffy first? And then Dawn? Maybe later she could have
visited Anya and Xander at their apartment and oooh'ed and aaah'ed over their
wedding pictures.

But, nope. Things never went that simple in her life. It had been hard to stand
there and be hugged, hear them cry over her. She hadn't left to make them sad -
she had left to get her life together. Even Spike had given her a hug before
running off into the night, presumably to go beat up something to get rid of
the human-loving feelings he had just had. The red head had been sad to see
that Spike was still running around behind Buffy like a little puppy, taking
whatever attention he could get from her. Had Buffy ever admitted to that
little relationship? She doubted it. Otherwise Xander would have staked him for
sure - just out of principle.

"An - we're not going home. I haven't seen Willow in months. Let me have some
time, ok?" Xander gave his wife a look, daring her to say anything further.

Which of course she missed entirely.

"Why? You need to catch her up on all the important stuff she missed? Like our
*wedding*?"

Willow winced at the venom in the girl's words, opening her mouth to excuse
herself from the room and the fight she could tell was about to ensue. But at
that moment Buffy walked back into the room, Dawn behind her. Someone else was
in the hallway, though she couldn't see who it was very clearly with Dawn and
Buffy standing in the doorway glaring daggers at Anya. Then they moved, and her
mouth dropped open in shock and surprise.

"Tara."

~*~Part Two~*~

Out of everyone Willow had thought about, everyone she had dreaded or feared
seeing again, Tara hadn't even come to mind. She had taken for granted the fact
that she would probably never see the blonde haired witch again. They had
split, after all, nearly a month before Willow had left town to begin with.

"Willow." Tara smiled, giving the red head a little wave.

"Hi. H-How are you?" Willow stammered, rising up. She let go of Gunn's hand
after giving it a small squeeze. He knew who Tara was, of course, but, like
Willow, he hadn't expected to see her here. Or really ever for that matter.

"I'm good. You?" The blonde murmured, noting the man sitting next to her former
lover. She had been prepared in advance by Buffy for the fact that Willow had
found someone else in her process of moving on with her life. That didn't make
it any easier to see. In fact, it was pretty hard to watch someone she had, at
one point, planned on spending the rest of her life with be with someone else.
But that was life. She had chosen to let Willow go, after all. She had been the
one to end their relationship. It hadn't been Willow's choice for them to split
up and maybe, if she had been there for the red head when she needed someone,
the other witch may not have gotten so far out of control.

Would have. Could have. Should have.

None of it mattered now. All that *did* matter was making sure that her former
lover was doing okay. That she was over the problems she had gotten into and,
most of all, that she had found someone to care for her.

"I'm good. Great even." Willow smiled hesitantly. She gestured to Gunn. "This
is Gunn.my -"

"I know." Tara cut her off, hiding the pain she was feeling. "Buffy told me."
She explained, giving Willow a reassuring half-smile.

Willow noticed for the first time that Xander and Anya had left the room, Buffy
and Dawn with them. It seemed like everyone wanted to give her and Tara time
alone. But she didn't want time alone with the blonde haired witch. She was, in
fact, glad to have Gunn still there with her. He was a part of her life now.
Tara was nothing more than an old friend. Sure the other girl was someone that
she had once slept with on a regular basis. But not no more. Now when Willow
looked at her all she could see, all she could feel, was friendship. "How have
you been?" Willow finally asked, motioning for Tara to take a seat. She felt
Gunn's hand grab at her own the second she re-took her own seat next to him,
this time with him offering a squeeze of reassurance.

"I've been good. Classes have kept me busy." The blonde said. She took a deep
breath. "How have *you* been? I'm not going to lie to you, Willow, I came here
to make sure you had gotten everything with the magicks under control. I need
to know how you're doing."

It took a moment for the other witch's words to digest and, when they did,
Willow sighed unhappily. "I'm fine, Tara, really." She shrugged, leaning back
into Gunn's embrace. "It was hard when I first left. I had to force myself to
find a new way to do those things I normally would have just zapped into being.
But I managed. And I've been living a magick free life since That Night." An
involuntary shudder went through her lithe frame at the thought of the night
she had almost gotten Dawn killed. That Night was the reason she had moved to
LA, though. And wasn't moving to LA the entire reason she met Gunn? If she had
to think it over she would almost say that everything had happened for a
reason, though that would be attributing a higher power, Fate, to her abuse of
magick and she wasn't about to assign it to a scapegoat. Her problems were just
that - her problems.

"That's good to hear." Tara said simply, turning her eyes to Gunn. She stared
at him for a long moment before speaking again, her voice neutral even though
the words she said weren't. "Don't hurt her. If you do I will send a thousand
little ghostly gnats to pick and claw at your skin every time you try to sleep.
Okay?"

Gunn blinked once, twice, three times, trying to get over what the seemingly
meek woman sitting across from him had just said. Had she actually just made a
threat? And a pretty good one at that? He smiled slowly, the expression finally
reaching his eyes. "I won't hurt her. Promise."

"Good." The witch grinned, letting go of her pain. "Because I'd hate to have to
do that to you. Goes against everything I believe."

Willow turned her head, hiding a grin at her ex-lover's comments. It was
endearing that she still cared enough to threaten Gunn, even though the red
head was well aware that Tara would never do anything like she had just said.
Gunn didn't know that, though. So the threat was still valid. Let him think she
had people willing to hurt him for her if he ever did anything to hurt her.

That people loved Willow enough to threaten evil things to him was all very
well and good with Gunn. He had no intention of ever hurting the woman in his
arms. If he had his way she'd never know another moment of sadness or hurt.
Even as he swore that to himself he knew that the idea of keeping her
completely sheltered from harm wasn't realistic. She was bound to get hurt by
other things in this world, all he could do was be there for her when it
happened. The blonde haired woman across from him knew that, thus the reason
she made her threat. She would protect Willow against him, and any big bads of
the world as much as she was still able.

"So. How's LA?" Tara asked, breaking the comfortable silence that had settled
amongst the three of them. It was almost time for her to go back to the dorms
and get some sleep for classes the next day. Better to catch up while there was
time.

So they sat, and talked, the others slowly making their way back into the
living room once they deemed Gunn and Tara were not only not going to fight,
but seemed to be getting along pretty well. The Sunnydale crew listened in
amusement at the story of Willow meeting Gunn and the time they had spent
together. It seemed to be an ironic twist of fate that Angel had been looking
for the red head the entire time Gunn had been dating her. As they had
discussed previously, the two from LA did not mention the dance of desire
currently being done between Angel and Cordelia. Willow wasn't quite sure how
Buffy would take the entire thing and neither one of them wanted their time in
Sunnydale to be unpleasant.

By the time Tara excused herself everyone was getting tired, yawns slowly
making a circuit around the room only to start back up a few minutes later. "I
think Gunn and I would very much like to sleep now." Willow murmured tiredly,
green eyes begging Buffy for a reprieve.

"Yeah. There'll be plenty of time to catch up later." The Slayer nodded.
"Besides, I'm sure Xander and Anya need to get home, too."

"Yes." Anya yawned. "Much sex to make.up..for.." Though her yawns made her
difficult to understand, they all got the picture - it was indeed time for
Xander and Anya to go home. Xander stood, pulling Willow from her chair and
giving her a hug.

"Good to see you again."

Willow laughed softly at the sadness in his voice. "I'll be here tomorrow, too,
Xan. And the day after even. I'm not going to run away in the middle of the
night. No need to cram everything into tonight." She smiled at him as they
parted, watching wearily as Buffy showed them out of the house.

"You know where your room is. Its still there, like you left it." Buffy smiled
sadly. "I'm going to clean up down here and then get some rest, too."

"Night, Buff." Willow yawned, leading Gunn up the stairs and into the room she
had used for the brief time she had lived in Buffy's house. It was the same
room that had once belonged to Buffy's mother, Joyce. She sat down on the edge
of the bed, hearing the click as Gunn shut the door. Finally they were alone.
Now she could rest, at last.

And then her cell phone rang. She fumbled for the tiny piece of plastic,
glaring at it venomously when she finally found it. The little display read
'Angel'.

What could *he* want at almost one in the morning?

~*~Part Three~*~

"Willow?"

The red head was immediately taken aback at the worried sound of Angel's voice.
She sat down on the edge of the bed, her body aching and tired from the long
day she had already had. Hopefully whatever he had to say wouldn't involve her
getting up any time soon. "Hey Angel. Is something wrong?"

"Cordelia had a vision. It seems to involve Sunnydale and some demons making
their nest in the ruins of the old high school. Looks like it could get bad if
they are allowed to get too comfortable. Bad in a Hellmouth kind of way, if you
get my drift. They get more powerful the longer they are around it - even if
its closed down."

"Great." Willow muttered, rubbing her eyes. She felt Gunn sit down on the bed
behind her and then his hands were on her shoulders, massaging away some of the
stiffness. "I assume you two will be coming down to help with this?"

"Actually - we were thinking that you two and the Sunnydale gang will probably
be able to handle it. Why? Do you think we need to come help out?" He sounded
genuinely worried and she knew he'd jump right in his car if she asked him to.

Willow shook her head then realized the vampire couldn't see it. "No. If you
think we'll be able to take care of it then I'm sure we can." She yawned. "Any
reason to believe that we need to go do this tonight?"

"She didn't mention anything about time. If you need to rest - rest. Going out
there when you're tired will just get both of you hurt."

"Okay. Thanks for calling. I'll let you know how things go. Tomorrow." She
yawned again, barely mumbling out a goodbye before hanging up. Great. Her first
trip back to Sunnydale in months and already there were demons to slay. Just
absolutely perfect.

"What'd he have to say, baby?"

"Nest of demons in the ruins of the old high school." She mumbled, leaning into
his hands. "It can wait until tomorrow. They're not coming. We handle. All
good."

"What kind of demons?" Gunn asked quietly, aware that he was much more awake
than his girlfriend was.

"Dunno. He didn't say."

"Did he say what they looked like?" He prompted her, smiling. She was adorable
when she was tired. Not too intelligible - but still cute.

"Nope. Nada. Nothing." She whispered, her eyes falling shut under the soothing
ministrations of his hands on her aching body. Within seconds she was sleeping.

"Sleep tight, sweetie." Gunn grinned, gently maneuvering her so that she was
laying down completely on the bed. He reached for her cell phone, dialing
Cordelia's number. They would need as much information on the demons as
possible if they were to go out and fight them the next day. "Hey - Delia, it's
Gunn."

"Like I didn't recognize your voice." She chuckled. "Are you calling about the
vision?"

"Yeah - Angel just called Willow to let her know about it. She was tired and
didn't really ask any questions. Do you know what kind of demons these are?"

"Kvorrsh. They're big. Need to hit them with steel. Wood and silver doesn't
work. Holy items are useless. And they feed off the energies of the Hellmouth.
Anything else you need to know?"

He laughed, amazed that she was this wide awake in the middle of the night.
"Nope that's - " He paused, sure he couldn't possibly have just heard what he
thought he had heard. "Cordy. What's Angel doing in your apartment this early
in the morning?" He registered in his brain that Angel must have been calling
from his cell phone a few minutes prior. The vampire would never have been able
to make it to the brunette's apartment in the short time Willow had been off of
the phone with him.

"He. Um. Oh..Damnit." He heard her put her hand over the phone, muffling the
fact that she was speaking to Angel. "Why'd you say something? Couldn't you see
I was on the phone. Now they're gonna know. Oh. Just say that you're hear
because of the. Good idea."

Gunn smirked, hearing every word that was being said despite the Seer's
attempts at hiding what she was saying. The sound of her hand sliding off of
the receiver indicated that her attention was back to him. "Uh uh, Cordy. Don't
even bother to give me that lame excuse. Angel's over there for a little
'quality time', isn't he?" He heard her splutter, cough, and could just imagine
how red her face was at that moment. And then there was the fact that the two
of them were apparently very much together and had been hiding it from them.
For how long? That didn't matter. He'd get some teasing in at another time.
Like when he got back to LA and could do it to their faces. "I'll just let the
two of you get back to doing - well, whatever."

"Gunn.this isn't what you think.." Cordelia protested weakly.

"Sure it isn't. You two kids don't do anything I wouldn't do." He clicked off
Willow's cell phone, grinning to himself. The soft sound of his girlfriend's
breathing reminded him that it was late and there were things to do tomorrow.
Though it was tempting to wake her up and tell her about Cordelia and Angel, he
knew it was better just to let her sleep. He somehow doubted she would find the
information about their friends nearly as amusing tonight as it would be in the
morning. He pulled his shirt over his head, kicking off his shoes and reached
for the bedside lamp. The room was flooded with darkness. He pulled the
blankets from underneath of Willow, arranging her against his body without so
much as disturbing her for a moment.

"Love you, Will." He whispered, closing his eyes to get some rest. Tonight had
been awkward - sitting in a room full of people he didn't know, meeting his
girlfriend's ex. At least tomorrow he would be on semi-familiar turf, killing
demons and fighting the forces of badness.

~*~Part Four~*~

"Saturday - bright, sunny, and best of all - no school." Dawn Summers grinned,
spreading open the curtains in the kitchen so that she could better see what
she was doing. She looked at the box of pancake mix, reading over the
directions carefully. She frowned at it, her forehead wrinkling in confusion.
There certainly were a lot of steps to making pancakes. How did Buffy always
make it look so easy?

"Hungry?"

Dawn's head snapped up at the sound of Willow's voice and she quickly shoved
the box of pancake mix behind her. This was supposed to be a surprise. Didn't
Willow have the decency to just stay in bed until she was done. "No, no, no -
what makes you ask?"

Willow arched an eyebrow at the young woman, her mouth twitching up into a
smile. "I dunno - maybe the fact that you were glaring at a box of pancake mix
when I came in the room?"

The younger of the Summers sisters watched in dismay as Willow took a seat on
one of the kitchen island's stools, apparently getting quite comfortable . She
sighed, pulling the box back in front of her. "You caught me. I was going to
surprise you and Gunn and make breakfast - pancakes even."

Laughing, Willow stood up and pulled Dawn into a hug. "Aw - thanks for the
thought, sweetie. But why were you looking at the box like it had just attacked
you when I walked in?"

Dawn shrugged. "Because the silly things have so many directions. Measure this,
mix that - and that's all before the cooking part." She shook her head in
amazement.

"Tell you what." Willow began, setting the box on the counter. "How about you
and I make breakfast for Buffy and Gunn and surprise -them- instead?" Her eyes
flickered to the clock on the microwave - a little past eleven in the morning.
Just about time for everyone to get up and on with things. They had demons to
slay today and Buffy didn't even know yet.

"Sounds like a plan to me." Dawn grinned, relief in her voice.

~*~*~

'And to think, cooking breakfast was the most enjoyable part of my day.' Willow
thought grimly, deflecting a punch from one of the demons they were fighting
with the handle of the axe she was holding. The creature swung again, leaving
itself wide open to the attack coming from behind it, courtesy of Gunn. The red
head sighed in relief as her boyfriend neatly pierced the demon through the
chest, the steel of the sword immediately burning the creature's flesh. The
glowing burn worked its way outwards, consuming the demon in less than a
minute. Soon there was nothing but a pile of ash and bone.

"Lovely." Willow murmured. She heard a scream behind her and turned to see
Xander on the floor, his own sword on the floor, too far for his grasping hands
to reach. She ran, hefting her axe over her head and burying it into the
demon's head just as it reared back to slice into Xander. Ash rained down on
her childhood friend as the creature crumbled under the weapon's might. She
gave him a smile, offering her hand to him to help him stand.

"Way to go, you strong woman, you." Xander grinned, joking to hide the
discomfort he was feeling at almost having been demon fodder. He looked around,
his eyes clouding over with worry. "Where's Buff?"

Willow's eyes traveled over the ruins of the hallway. She could see doorways
she recognized still, making it that much creepier to be here, in the school
she had helped destroy. It wasn't too long ago that this had been one of her
favorite places. Lunches in the library, science class - all that fun stuff she
had so much enjoyed. There had been bad things too - being teased by the
'popular crowd', the students that had died - and let's not forget that awful
principal who had been in league with the demonic mayor, shall we?

But now there was nothing more than blackened chunks of lockers, half-caved in
ceilings, walls that were either blasted to nothing or bore the scorch marks of
the explosion. She could still hear the screams from that day, only a few years
before. It had been horrible to sit there, through the graduation ceremonies,
and know that at any moment all Hell was literally going to break loose. How
many had died that day? Larry had and, despite the fact that he was an arrogant
jerk at times, she mourned his loss like she did everyone that gave their life
that day.

Except Harmony - she would never mourn the loss of that -

"Wills?"

Xander's questioning voice snapped her out of the pain of those memories.
"Sorry, Xan.it's just. hard to be here, you know?"

The young man nodded, running a hand back through his hair. Yes, it was odd, if
not outright creepy, to be standing in the once sparkling halls of Sunnydale
High, but they didn't have time for that right now. "I know what you mean. But
we need to find Buff right now, k?"

Willow nodded. "I thought I saw her go down the hall that led to the
cafeteria." She pointed for Gunn's benefit to the crumbling ruins of the
hallway. Knowing the two men would follow her, the red head started off, at
first slowly and then breaking into a run as the sounds of fighting grew
louder. As she rounded the first corner her heart leapt into her throat. Buffy
- surrounded by at least seven demons, maybe more - she really couldn't tell in
the dim light coming in from the cracks in the ceiling, and the demons were
moving too fast to easily count.

They had been stupid to come here without more backup. What had possessed them
to not ask Spike and to leave Anya at home? Having those two with them would
have at least helped even the odds a little.

"A little help - please?" Buffy gasped, one of the demons surrounding her
landing a blow to her mid-back. She stumbled, barely regaining her balance in
time to fend off another smashing punch.

"I'm not liking these odds very much." Gunn murmured, darting into the fray
before Willow could stop him. She joined in almost immediately, determined not
to stand by and watch any of her friends get hurt.

"Wills - can't you do something?"

"Something?" Willow yelled above the roar of the demons, her face confused and
strained. "Not sure what you're meaning, Buff."

"A spell or something. Something to knock them out maybe?"

The former witch felt the air rush out of her, though not because she had been
hit. Buffy was asking her to do a spell. After everything that had happened -
after almost getting Dawn killed. Buffy was asking her to do a spell. "Are you
sure, Buff? I haven't done any magick since -"

"That night?" Buffy managed to grin, despite the circumstances. "I appreciate
it. And I'm sure Dawnie does too. But let's not die because of one mistake,
Wills."

The red head nodded, managing to dispatch the demon she was fighting within
another few minutes. She stepped back, away from the fighting, and blocked
everything out of her mind, concentrating on her task. The spell she needed
was, fortunately, one of the few she had made a point to remember just in case
she was ever in this type of situation again. The words tumbled from her lips,
a language she didn't know and probably would never fully learn. All that
mattered was that she say them correctly and put enough of her willpower behind
it to make it all go off without a hitch.

The last word spilled from her mouth and she paused, eyes still closed, her
breath held. The sounds of fighting died off immediately, until all she could
hear was the sound of her friends' labored breaths. She smiled, daring to open
her eyes. The demons were laid out on the floor, each looking as though they
had simply gone to sleep. They would never wake up from this, though. One by
one Gunn, Xander and Buffy stabbed the demons until there was nothing left but
piles of demon-remains. She smiled as Gunn walked over to her, offering her his
arm for support. She took it, knowing that the spell had taken more out of her
than was probably good for things like walking and, even, standing.

"That's my girl - the oh-so-powerful one." He smirked. "Remind me never to get
you angry, baby."

Willow just smirked, leaning against him and letting him lead her back out,
into the afternoon sunshine and away from this building and all it represented.
She caught Xander's eyes, then Buffy's, seeing their approval and gratitude.

And that was enough for her.

Gunn glanced sideways at the woman sitting next to him, admiring her beauty and
courage. It had been less than twenty-four hours since the fight out in the
old, crumbling remains of the high school. Less than a full day since she had
expended a good portion of her own personal energy to save them all. Her
friends assured him that this tiredness she was feeling was normal - that it
would leave her in another day or so. That didn't mean he had to like it.

In the space of only a few minutes Willow had gone from just his regular human
girlfriend who needed someone like him to protect her to something much more
powerful and dangerous. She didn't need him to watch out for her - it was
pretty clear to him she could handle herself all on her own. Especially now
that she had come here, faced the fears she had held regarding her friends. He
somehow doubted she would be squeamish about using her magicks again. Not with
their blessings for her to do 'good' behind her. She was spectacular in more
ways than one.

But not someone he needed to protect.

He wrapped his arm around her shoulders, pulling her closer to him. With her
forehead in reach he leaned down for a quick kiss on the smooth, white flesh,
returning the smile that she gave to him. Something on the television brought a
laugh from the other people assembled in the room with them, strewn haphazardly
on chairs, the sofa and the floor. It was a cozy little scene. Not something he
would ever likely share with Angel and the others because it ruined his tough
guy image; but still nice. The movie they were watching, some cheesy horror
thing that he would have thought above them considering what they had lived
with a good portion of their lives, was coming to a close, the credits
scrolling, thankfully, down the screen.

"That was great." Xander grinned. He stood up from the floor, ignoring the look
of disdain Anya was throwing his way.

"Great?" The former demon asked incredulously. "It was about someone getting
posessed by a dog. How lame can you get?"

"Considering he was posessed by a hyena - I think he's probably just relating."
Buffy grinned. "We had some fun during high school. Us Scoobies. Fighting evil.
We were a team."

Willow knew the second the blonde's eyes turned to her that she wasn't going to
like what the Slayer had to say. So, when the next words spilled from Buffy's
lips, the red head was at least a little prepared for it.

"So, speaking of teams, when are you going to come home for good so we can have
a big old Scooby reunion?"

At once Willow could feel all eyes in the room turn to her. She swallowed,
hard. "I never said I was coming back, Buff."

"What?" Xander and Buffy said at once, giving her a look that could have frozen
time itself. Their faces were mixtures of shock and something else close to
anger.

"You heard me, Xander Harris." Willow said firmly. "I never said I was coming
back to Sunnydale for good. In fact - I'm not. I went to LA to start over and,
one way or another, that's what I've done."

"But...but..." Buffy stammered, her eyes wide. Tears were threatening to break
through at any moment and Willow just didn't know if she could handle that. She
stood, coming to kneel in front of her friend.

"C'mon, Buff. You don't need me. You did just fine without me all those months
I was gone. Why not just let me be happy? In LA? It's not that far - you can
come visit - or I can. It doesn't matter. It's not like I'm moving across the
country or anything."

The blonde haired woman nodded, slowly, wondering in the back of her mind how
she was going to explain to Dawn why Willow was sticking around. Knowing her
sister, though, she would undoubtedly take it better than Buffy herself was
currently feeling.

"I say - good for you." Anya chimed in, this time finding herself in the
position of trying to avoid Xander's baleful gaze. "Have fun. Live your life.
Be happy. Away from Xander."

"Should have known you'd stick up for me Anya. Even if it was only to keep me
from Xander." Willow smiled sadly, giving the other woman a grin.

Xander just watched, silently, as Buffy and Willow talked quietly, their
conversation apparently too private to share with the rest of the people in the
room. Buffy was crying and so was Willow. And he didn't want that. He just
wanted them all to be happy - like they had back in high school. "It's over -
isn't it?" He whispered at last, his voice managing to make it through to the
crying women. "Our little gang is through."

"Not through, Xan." Willow sighed, giving him a weak smile. "Just different.
I'll always be there if you need me. But, truth is, you don't need me as much
anymore. And that's okay by me." She stepped close to him; close enough to
reach out and touch if she wanted to. "Still my friend?"

Xander nodded. "Of course, Wills. No matter what." He was the one that closed
the distance between them, then; his arms reaching out to pull her in for a
hug. Anya would be sure to say something about it later - but that didn't
matter to him. For now he just needed to hug Willow and reassure himself that
this wasn't the end, just a new beginning.

"So - you guys are leaving tomorrow?"

Willow pulled away, giving Buffy a brief smile. "Yeah - Angel needs us back in
LA to help with some new cases." She pulled away from Xander, turning to the
blonde. "I enjoyed coming back to visit, though."

"This will always be your home." The Slayer said firmly and with a touch of
sadness. "But you have a new life. Maybe a better one than you were working
towards here." She shrugged, standing up to pull Willow into a hug of her own.
She felt Xander' arms encircle them and, for just a moment, everything felt
like it had back then. When it was just the three of them against the forces of
darkness.

"Feeling left out over here." Gunn smirked, winking at his girlfriend when she
turned to stick her tongue out at him.

"You could join in you know."

"Now that would -completely- break down my bad boy image, wouldn't it?"
Willow's boyfriend chuckled. He stood anyway, though, walking into Willow's
outstretched arms and joining their little circle of friends. Xander's
girlfriend was still sitting by herself, glaring daggers at them, and he found
himself pitying the other man for what he would be going through later that
night.

'This is perfect.' Willow thought happily, surrounded by those people she loved
and cared for the most. Of course there was Angel and Giles as well. But they
would never have suffered a group hug. She was surprised Gunn was, for that
matter. Everything had come full circle in her life. She had left Sunnydale and
then came back and now was about to leave again.

This time, though, she was leaving for happy reasons - and she intended to keep
it that way.

~*~The End~*~

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