It was like something out of an episode of Sliders. A big blue vortex ripped open the sky above Sunnydale and Willow Rosenburg fell out of it. She lay on the ground, the wind knocked out of her. "Ow," was all she managed to say when she had air back in her lungs. Timidly, she sat up and looked around. Where were Buffy and Xander? She remembered being with them on patrol and then Buffy had yelled "Look out!" Willow stood to get a better appraisal of her surroundings. That's when she heard growling.

Oh, no. She felt her pockets. No stake. No Slayer. Oh, no.

William was on his way home; he figured he might as well cut through the cemetary and see if there were any fledglings that needed dusting. He was making his way between two mausoleums when he smelled it. Fear.

This was so not good. Willow couldn't think about how she ended up by herself in the cemetary where Buffy and Xander had been with her only moments before. She had the much more pressing issue of the vampire who was approaching her with dinner in mind. He was a big one, too. 

"Didn't your grandmother ever tell you to be in before dark, Little Red?" 

Cute, Willow thought. She'd play along if it bought her any time. "She also told me not to talk to strangers, so perhaps I'd better be going." 

The vampire just grinned at her, an awful I'm-gonna-eat-you-up kind of grin. And then he made a noise half between a purr and growl. She hated it when vampires did that. He took one more step closer and Willow blurted out - 

"Do you know which one is Cassiopeia?" 

She caught him off guard and the hulking vampire actually looked up to the sky where she was pointing. Willow fled. She made it about fifteen feet before smacking straight into somebody. She screamed and fell. After tumbling to the ground, she pushed her hair out of her eyes in time to see a guy in a long dark coat running a stake through the vampire that had been after her. 

Willow's heart was still pounding a mile a minute; one doesn't just immediately trust a stranger at night in Sunnydale even if they did happen to dust a vampire. The stranger came over and helped her to her feet. "Are you alright, Miss?" he asked gently. 

"Well, situation considering, I -" Willow stopped and gaped at the man before her. She was suddenly very sure that something very wrong was going on. She took in his light brown hair. She remembered his accent when he spoke. Neither of those things unsettled her as much as looking into his soulful blue eyes. 

William held the girl's arm as she started to sway on her feet. "Miss?" he prompted again. 

The girl looked at him with big green eyes. She said one word and then fainted. He caught her easily. But it was with growing unease that he supported her in his arms. She'd called him by a name he hadn't gone by in 100 years. She'd called him Spike.

"What do you mean it got away?" Buffy was frantic. The demon they had chased into the cemetary had hit Willow with some sort of blue beam and she'd vanished. In the panic of seeing Willow get sucked into some sort of vortex, the gang had let it get away. 

"We have to find it. We have to find out what it did with Willow." 

Buffy started delegating tasks. "Xander, Anya, you guys get to Giles. Find out about this thing. I'll keep looking for it." 

"Should someone tell Tara?" 

"Not yet. We will get her back."

WHAT IN THE HELLMOUTH IS GOING ON

When Willow came to, she realized she was on an unfamiliar couch under an unfamiliar blanket. She looked around the room. He was seated in a chair at the foot of the couch. The Spike who didn't look like Spike. Her muscles tensed. What was going on here? Where was she? 

"Spike?" She sat up slowly. 

"Why do call me that?" 

Willow blinked. "What do you call yourself?" 

"William." 

"Oh." 

"Who are you?" 

Something flickered over her face. "I'm Willow." 

Silence. 

"Where are we?" 

"My place." 

She took a good look at her surroundings. They were in the old mansion on Crawford Street. The last time she was here, Angel had been poisoned. "Angel," she breathed quietly. 

William heard her. He sat forward and narrowed his eyes. The little redhead on his sofa seemed innocent enough, and he tried to help the innocent. But first there was her calling him Spike. And now her mention of Angel. He needed to know more about her. 

"Why were you in the cemetary tonight?" 

Willow looked at him evenly. Did this Spike have a chip? Or had she really seen what she thought she saw earlier; did this Spike have a soul? She needed to know more. "What were you doing there?" 

"I asked you first." 

They could play this game all night. Willow decided she would be the one to go out on a limb. He had saved her life, after all. She dove in. "Look, before we can really get into any Q and A, I just want to let you know I feel a little uncomfortable, what with you being a vampire and all. And I feel sort of bad for asking you this since you saved me from that other vampire earlier, but I know you can't always trust someone's actions, so..." She paused. "Are you gonna bite me?" 

The second she started babbling, William knew this girl was no threat. He smiled. "I don't bite." 

Willow relaxed a bit. Somehow, she just knew she could trust this guy. "Well, William, I don't know about you, but I think something Hellmouthy is going on here." 

"I'm inclined to agree." 

She nodded carefully. Where to go from here? "I'll tell you my story if you tell me yours." 

"Deal." William sat back and relaxed into his chair. "Ladies first." 

Willow gave him a semi-frown and tossed the blanket aside. "My name is Willow Rosenburg. I'm a student at UC Sunnydale. My best friend's name is Buffy." She gave him a measured glance. "She's a vampire slayer." 

William couldn't hide the look of shock on his face. "Buffy? The Slayer?" 

"Yes." 

William stood up. "I need to call Giles."
 
 

AND YOU WERE THERE, AND YOU WERE THERE

Willow didn't know what sort of urgency flag William had given the situation, but it was less than ten minutes before Giles arrived at the mansion. He was still Giles. He was still a Watcher, and he'd brought his slayer with him. That slayer was Faith. 

"Good Lord," Giles said when he saw her. 

Willow didn't know how to react. She wanted to hug him, but it didn't seem appropriate for some reason. The looks she received from Faith weirded her out, too. There was no recognition in the slayer's eyes when she looked at Willow. 

I'm in a parallel universe, Willow thought. She dared not say the thought aloud. That would make it real in a way she wasn't prepared for it to be yet. She looked from Faith to Giles to William. "If Faith is the Slayer," she took a breath and steadied herself for what she was about to ask. "What happened to Buffy?" 

Giles had a pained expression on his face. "We don't know." 

For a moment, Willow lost the tenous hold she had on herself. "What do you mean you don't know?" she said, her voice rising with every word. 

And so the three of them explained as much as they could to Willow about Buffy's disappearance. It was a lot to take in. The basics remained the same. Buffy came to Sunnydale. Angel came to help her. They fell in love. He lost his soul and became Angelus. Angelus tried to open Acathla. Buffy and Kendra stopped him, but Kendra died in the battle. Buffy left Sunnydale and never came back. 

Willow sat on the couch and rocked back and forth. A world without Buffy and Angel in it, saving it, was some sort of hell, or at the very least a sick, sick joke, right? And how did she get here? How would she get back? She shot off the couch. She swayed on her feet; this was all too much. 

William watched the redhead. She was about to lose it. He went to her and pulled her into his arms. She mumbled incoherently into his chest. "This is, I, it's too, I can't..." 

"Shhh," he murmured into her hair. He rubbed comforting circles on her back. 

Giles and Faith watched in a little bit of awe. They had never seen William like this with anyone. Willow alone could have told them this was a little something he probably picked up with Drusilla. Little by little, Willow calmed down. 

Xander had gotten Faith's message to be at the mansion for an impromptu Slayage meeting. He was late because he'd stopped by to pick up Amy. They entered the mansion with Xander saying "Hey, guys, sorry I'm late. What's the wha..." He stopped when he saw her. 

Willow turned in William's arms at the sound of his voice. "Xander?" 

He was frozen. It couldn't be. She was - it couldn't be. Amy followed his gaze and her mouth dropped open as well. "Is she a ghost?" the witch whispered. 

Faith heard her. "She's no ghost. She's - Her name's - " 

"Willow," Xander breathed. 

"Ghost?" Willow asked hesitantly. She pulled herself out of William's arms. Her voice rose again. "I'm dead here?" She looked to Giles. He answered gravely. "Our Willow Rosenburg was sired by the Master." 

Xander came over. "I staked you myself," he said numbly. His eyes roamed over her. He reached out to her, like he wanted to make sure she was real. Tears started to form in Willow's eyes. Here was someone who knew her. Okay, so yeah, no Buffy, no Angel, Giles and Faith didn't know her and Spike was called William. Things were still very not okay, but here was Xander and he knew her and he cared. She mattered. When their eyes met, they both started crying. The next thing she knew, she was crushed to her oldest friend. He held her so tightly and spoke into her hair. 

"You were dead, Wills. And here you are." He pulled back to look at her. "And I know something Hellmouthy is going on for you to be here, alive. But, God! Is it good to see you." And then he leaned in and kissed her, right on the mouth. Then he hugged her again. 

Giles noticed Faith and William straighten their backs. The Watcher cleared his throat. "Xander, perhaps you could give Willow a little breathing room..." 

"Oh, right, yeah. Sorry." He pulled back from her but didn't move away. 

"'s okay." Willow wiped the tears from her cheek. There was kind of an awkward pause in the room. Amy broke it. 

"So this Willow is like from another dimension?" 

"Something like that," Giles responded. 

"How did she get here?" Xander asked. 

"And how do we get her back?" It would figure that Faith was the only one with the guts to ask the question none of them wanted to think about. Nobody answered. 

"It's late. Nothing more can be done tonight. Rest and discuss this tomorrow." William was right. It was late, and Willow's situation would no doubt not have an easy answer. Xander and Amy began trying to decide whether Willow would go back with Amy to the dorm or with Xander to the basement. The basement idea was about to win when Faith asked "Why can't she just stay here with William? She could have her own room." 

Willow liked this plan best, though she wasn't sure why. "Would that be okay with you?" she asked William. He gave her a slight nod. 

As everyone who wasn't a souled vampire or from a parallel universe left, Xander told Willow he'd come by in the morning and they could get breakfast. "If you're anything like my Xander, how about we make it noon?" Xander gave her a goofy grin before Faith pushed him out the door. 

Willow lingered at the door when they were gone. William stayed across the room from her. "You didn't want to go with either of them, did you?" She shook her head. "Why?" 

She turned around to face him. "I don't know. I think maybe because they're so familiar, but I know they aren't really the people I know. It'd be too weird, y'know?" 

William knew weird alright. He knew it was weird how happy the idea of Willow staying the night made him. He knew it was weird to feel a sense of loss when she had left his arms to embrace Xander. "And I'm not strange to you?" 

"Well, you're strange in a completely different way. You're not like the Spike in my world. I mean, I think," she kind of gestured with her hands to show she didn't know what she was trying to say. "I think you can be trusted." 

Instead of responding to the issue of trust, William began walking to the stairs. "I'm sure you're tired. I'll go get -" 

Willow interrupted him. "No, not yet." She sat back down on the couch and arranged the blanket around her legs. William looked puzzled. "You said you'd tell me your story if I told you mine. I think I'll have lots of questions." Then she patted the spot next to her, as an indication of being both willing to listen and unwilling to let the matter go. 

William hesitated; he didn't know what to make of this girl. He ended up on the couch, as far away from her as he could manage. "What do you want to know?" 

"Everything."
 

PART TWO
 

Words are flowing out like endless rain into a paper cup 
They slither while they pass, they slip away across the universe 
Pools of sorrow, waves of joy are drifting through my opened mind 
Possessing and caressing me 

Nothing's gonna change my world, 
nothing's gonna change my world

He didn't tell her everything, but he told her enough. First, she'd wanted to know how it was that he had his soul. He told her about this clan of gypsies that were so angered by Angelus killing a favorite daughter among their ranks that they sought revenge on all four in Angelus' little vampire "family." Willow had been most amazed by this and wanted to know what had happened to Darla and Drusilla. He told her that the Master had staked Darla for the abomination she had become. Soul or not, Drusilla was still crazy and he didn't know where she was, or if she was even still among the undead. 

"That must have been hard for you," Willow had said to him. 

"She made me a vampire, true. And that's very important to vampires. But once I had my soul, I wasn't sure how to feel about her." 

"Did you still love her?" 

That had puzzled him. Love Drusilla? Willow urged him to nevermind and continue. "How did you end up in Sunnydale?" she asked. He told her how Angel had met a demon named Whistler who took him to see Buffy called as a Slayer. Angel helped Buffy for over a year before he contacted William. 

"I was living in Italy, like a shadow. Angel tracked me down and told me about Sunnydale and this Slayer named Buffy. He told me she killed the Master. I just knew I was supposed to be here." Here William paused and laughed. He remembered how on his first night in Sunnydale, he swerved his car to miss a dog in the road and ended up driving over the 'Welcome to Sunnydale' sign. 

"What? What's funny?" Willow had asked. 

"Oh. Nothing. I was just remembering," he had looked at her then, green eyes sparkling, half-smile ready to share his amusement. For some reason, he suddenly wanted to seem more imposing. "I was thinking of the look on the anointed one's face when I cut off his head. He was planning this big St. Vigeous massacre..." 

Willow hadn't heard the rest of his story. A chill ran down her spine and the half-smile fell from her face. William killed the anointed one. Spike killed the anointed one. It scared her a little that some things must just be meant to happen. 

He was telling her the role he played in Faith stopping the Mayor's ascension when he noticed she had finally fallen asleep. It was almost dawn; he needed some sleep himself. He reached over to pull the blanket back over her. He didn't recall doing so, but he must have moved closer to her while they were talking. She was still sitting with her legs tucked under her, and William knew she wouldn't be able to walk when she woke if she slept like that. He didn't want to wake her, either. She'd had a rough night and she looked so peaceful. As carefully as he could, he gathered her up in his arms. He put her head on his chest to keep it from lolling back. Her hair smelled nice. 

William put Willow in his bed, since it was nicer than the ones he kept in the spare rooms. She stirred a little and mumbled the name Tara. He stood at the foot of the bed for awhile, watching her sleep. He got the feeling you couldn't help but care for this girl. He knew he should go get some rest, like he'd advised the others. He also knew he should have just left her on the couch, because he would probably never get a decent night's sleep again after seeing her lying in his bed.

WHILE YOU WERE SLEEPING

It was late afternoon when William woke up. He followed the sound of humming to the kitchen. Willow was in there, her back to him; she was arranging little jars of herbs. A paper bag that said The Magic Box was next to her on the counter, along with an unmarked white sack. 

"I thought you'd be out with Xander," William commented. 

Willow jumped and spun around. She opened her mouth to protest "don't do that!" but stopped short when she noticed he didn't have a shirt on. She turned back around quietly to her spices as the blush crept over her cheeks. It was perfectly natural for handsome vampires to wander around their abode not fully clothed. She should have no problem with that. She cleared her throat. "Do vampires have to be so stealthy when they sneak up on someone?" 

William kind of laughed. "Sorry, I'm just not accustomed to guests, I suppose." He was still standing in the doorway. Willow lifted something out of the white sack and came over to him. 

"Xander used to say we needed to get Angel a little bell. He's was always sneaking up on us." She held a container out to him. "Breakfast?" 

William looked down. She was holding a little plastic tub of blood. "Um, where did you - why did you?" 

"Oh, I made Xander take me by Willy's. I wanted to do something of a more proper thank you for saving my life last night. It's supposed to be good stuff." Willow wrinkled her nose. "I didn't try any myself." 

"Thank you, Willow." William's fingers brushed over hers as he took the container from her hand. She smiled and nodded before abruptly turning and going back to the other side of the kitchen. She wanted the kitchen counter between them. 

William brought his blood over to the counter. "So, what did you and Xander do all day?" 

"Talked, mostly." Willow drummed her fingers on the counter while she babbled. "He told me all about this world. I told him all about mine. Do you know Oz?" 

"Doesn't talk much? Good with computers?" 

Willow smiled brightly and nodded. "Yeah. He was my first love, and here we never even met. But here he isn't a werewolf; I'm happy for him. And Xander says when you guys need some hacking, you go to Oz. I'm so proud of him. I'd like to meet him, I think." 

"Your first love was a werewolf?" 

"Mmm-hmm," Willow didn't seem phased over William's question. "And Amy is still the big wicca. In my world, she's a rat. I can't figure out how to de-rat her. But not here! Xander says she was pretty close with Buffy ever since the whole cheerleading deal, and that she was close to Ms. Calendar before -" Willow looked down. "I have something I need to ask Amy." 

"What?" 

She hesitated. "Maybe nothing. We'll see." 

"What about Xander? How's he different?" 

"Can you believe he dated Cordelia for two years here? He says they even tried the long distance thing for awhile after she moved to LA. I just can't fathom it." 

"Why not? I think he really loved her." 

This gave Willow pause. "Really? Love?" She got a thoughful look. 

"Did they get together in your reality?" 

"For awhile." 

"It didn't last?" 

"I, um, sort of came between them." 

William raised an eyebrow at her. She took this opportunity to change the subject. She reached across the little kitchen island between them and gently touched his brow for a second. 

"Spike has a scar right here." Willow was still looking at his eyebrow. William sat perfectly still. "Buffy told me he got it when he killed his first slayer." Willow let her eyes drift down to meet his. 

"First?" he asked. She nodded, but didn't say anything more about it. She didn't know if she should go there. 

"And his hair is blonde. Platinum." 

"Platinum?" 

"Platinum. Very Billy Idol. And I think he only has like one set of clothes. Black jeans, black shirt, black boots." 

William looked down at his black pajama pants. He looked back up and he knew the glint in Willow's eyes was because she was thinking of his black ensemble the night before. "Black happens to be very classic," William said with a grin. 

When he smiled like that at her, Willow was sure her heart skipped a beat. She started babbling again. "He's tried to kill me a couple of times. That's how we found out about the chip." 

"The chip?" 

"Spike was captured by this group called the Initiative and they put this chip in his head. He can't bite or harm humans anymore." 

"You found out he had a chip in his head when he tried to kill you?" 

"Pretty much. He'd come to kill Buffy, but she wasn't there. He threw me down on my bed, and his fangs were on my neck, and then's he's back up, screaming and holding his head." Willow acted out the little scene with her hands. She laughed. "You know, I thought it was me at first. Oz had just left me and I thought I was so undesirable that even vamps didn't want me." 

William hadn't realized when he squared his shoulders. Of all the words that kept running through his head to describe the woman before him, 'undesirable' was nowhere on the list. It gave William a funny feeling inside to hear Willow talk about his alter ego trying to kill her. 

"Spike's kind of different than other vamps. He reassured me that, if he could, he'd bite me in a heartbeat." When Willow looked at William after saying this, she wished she hadn't said it. Maybe telling a souled vampire in one universe that your soulless counterpart in another universe considers you bitable is like a social faux pas. Maybe it was like saying "I know you'd bite me if things were different." 

William regarded her a moment. Did Willow realize what it meant when a vampire said something like that? He doubted it. "I'm sure he would." 

Willow's eyes widened a little. Was he flirting with her? Was she flirting with him? "Hey, maybe you should get dressed," she blurted out. 

Or maybe she does, William thought. "That might be a good idea." He finished off the blood and started to leave; he paused in the doorway. "Thanks for breakfast." 

She ducked her head a little. "You're welcome." Willow watched him go. William was really easy to talk to. I can't believe I told him he should go get dressed.

Willow went back to the spices she'd bought at the magic shop. She was working on a little potion for Amy. Great, now he knows you were embarrassed that he didn't have a shirt on. And that's only embarrassing if you like the guy. Great. "I really need to get home."

Buffy threw the illnon demon to the ground. It rolled over and attempted to hit the Slayer with a bolt of energy. Buffy blew a handful of dust Tara made for her at the demon. The illnon was out. "Now what?" Xander asked. Buffy was already pulling some rope out of her purse. "Now we take it to the magic shop and make it tell us what it did with Willow." 

ANOTHER YOU, ANOTHER ME

Willow found it another odd twist of fate that Amy lived in the same dorm in this reality that Willow did at home. Since Willow kept the Amy rat in her dorm room, it was like Amy lived at this dorm in both realities. She asked the student at the front desk for Amy Madison's room number. 

"Willow, hi!" Amy seemed very enthusiastic to see her. 

"Hey, Amy," Willow said hesitantly. She didn't know how enthusiastic Amy was going to be to answer the questions Willow had come with. Hence, gifts first. "Xander said you're pretty big into Wicca. I made this for you - it's just a little protection charm. You can never be too careful, right?" 

"Not when you hang with a Slayer. And thank you. This so sweet." Amy turned the pouch over in her hands. "Come on, have a seat. I have all sort of questions for you." 

"Actually, I came by because I have some questions for you, too. Ones I didn't really want to ask in front of the others." 

"Oh? About what?" 

Willow took a deep breath. "Miss Calendar." All the color drained from Amy's face. 

"Amy, I'm really sorry to bring this up. I know you two were close, but that's why I have to ask. Miss Calendar, after Angel went bad, and before he -" Amy took a step back. Willow paused. There was really no easy way to ask this. "Amy, did Jenny find the Romani curse before she died?" Amy closed her eyes. 

"How did you know?" she whispered. Willow didn't know what to say. She shrugged. "I'm not sure." There was an awkward silence. Willow guided Amy to the bed and they sat down. Willow started to relate the night in her world when Angelus opened Acathla and Buffy sent him to hell. Amy began to cry. Then she told her story. 

"I told them about the spell. They said it was too dangerous. But I knew Buffy wanted me to try it. So, that night, when they, I -" Amy looked at Willow. "I never told anybody. I didn't think there was anyway it would work. I'm no gypsy." 

Willow put her arm around the other witch. Somehow, she'd just known. Xander had told her that Jenny and Amy had been becoming close friends and Willow just knew. Now, she was pretty sure of the next thing she needed to do.

I hope this is still the right house. It was almost sunset. She'd told William she was only going to see Amy. This visit was spontaneous. Willow wondered if the alterna-scoobies would be upset with her for staying out past dark without telling anyone where she would be. She knocked on the door. 

"Can I help you?" It was the right house. 

"Joy- I mean, Mrs. Summers? Hi, my name is Willow Rosenburg. I know Buffy. Sort of. Can we talk?" 

Giles was so ecstatic over his discovery, he didn't even bother to knock before entering the mansion. Several voices called out "Willow?" 

"Er, no. She isn't here?" That took some of the edge off his excitement. The rest of the gang, William, Faith, Xander and Amy, were present. "Where is she?" 

"We don't know," Amy sounded distraught. "She came to see me at the dorm, and I thought she was coming back here, but..." 

"And she only told William that she had to see Amy," Xander finished. 

"Well, we need to find her. I think I may have found a way to send her home, but the longer she's gone from her dimension, the less chance there is it will work." 

A few sets of shoulders slumped at this. Xander and Amy exchanged a look. All they had been thinking was Willow is missing; find her. But she didn't belong in their reality. William spoke in a tone more broody than usual. "We have to find her in order to send her home." 

Faith started to put on her coat. The others looked at her somewhat numbly. "Waiting makes me ansty. She's not here; I'm going out." She made it two steps in the direction of the door before Xander said "I'll come with." 

"Wait -" Giles called out. "If you find her, take her to my place. We can do the spell tonight." And then they were gone. 

"Spell?" Amy asked. "Need any help?" 

"Counting on it," Giles answered. "William, where do you think -" 

"I don't know. I'll check the cemetaries." They gave him a puzzled look. "It's where I found her last night." 

"Right then. Find her, bring her to my place, we send her home. Hopefully." 

"Hopefully," William repeated. 

Buffy had the illnon tied to a column in her training room. "When we find out your name, you are so screwed." 

The Scoobies had figured out that the demon had sent Willow to another dimension. The plan, of course, had been to send Buffy to another dimension. His aim was just a little off. The only way to bring Willow back was for the illnon to call her. He was proving uncooperative. But then Xander found the loophole. If you knew the demon's name, you controlled it. Tara and Anya were working on getting the name from the spirit world. 

"It's only a matter of time."
 

PART THREE

Sounds of laughter, shades of earth are ringing through my opened ears 
Inciting and inviting me 
Limitless undying love which shines around me like a million suns 
And calls me on and on across the universe

Nothing's gonna change my world 
Nothing's gonna change my world

Willow made sure she stayed to the lighted sidewalks as she made her way back to the mansion. She clutched a stake under her jacket and tried to walk with confidence. She hadn't meant to stay so late with Joyce. She hoped she'd done the right thing by telling her more of why Buffy had left and where she had been in their universe. 

The mansion was empty when she got back. Please don't let him be out looking for me, she thought to herself. She felt bad enough about the possible havoc she was wreaking in their world by just being in it. The thought of William worrying over her gave her a funny feeling in her stomach. She sat down in the chair he'd be sitting in last night. It smelled like him, and she smiled. Willow would be lying to herself to say there weren't sparks between her and William, but she knew no good could come of such sparkage. 

She picked up a black leather-bound book from the table beside her; it was nineteenth century poetry. As she flipped through the pages, a couple of sheets of looseleaf paper fluttered to the floor. Willow picked them up, intent on putting them back into the book. They looked like handwritten verse and it would obviously be an invasion of personal privacy to read them. Under any normal circumstances Willow would be adamantly against such an invasion, excect this particular circumstance. The particulars of this instance being the one line Willow caught a glimpse of having reference to "luminous green eyes" and "burning copper hair." Despite her better judgement (and sense of common decency), Willow began to read with utmost interest the poem it seemed William had been composing. 

Heat rose in her cheeks as she wondered if the poem's "confection of thought and mirth" could possibly be her. The notion that it could coupled with the act of something she shouldn't be doing caused Willow's heart to hammer in her chest. Maybe that's why she didn't hear William return. 

"You shouldn't read it before it's finished." 

Willow looked up abruptly. Caught. The warm flush fell from her face, only to be replaced with guilt and a rising dread. "I'm sorry, I-" He walked briskly over to her and took the paper from her hands, folded it up and stuck it in his back pocket. "No time now; Giles has found a way to send you home." William took her hand and hauled her out of the chair. They were outside walking before Willow noticed William was still holding her hand as he drug them along. She made no effort to get it back. 

His attention still focused ahead of him, William asked brusquely "Where were you?" When Willow didn't respond, he cast a look back at her. She knew she owed him an explanation. "I went to see Buffy's mom." 

William stopped so quickly that Willow ran into him and nearly lost her footing. "You what!?" 

"There were things I thought I could tell her that might give her a little more peace about her missing daughter. I just thought-" 

"You just thought you'd lie to me and Amy about your whereabouts so we could worry about your skinny little ass and go looking for you while you go and fill Joyce with some false hope?" 

Willow shoved herself away from him. Being yelled at made her immediately mad. "It's not false hope to tell her why Buffy left! There are things you don't know!" Willow started shaking. "And I didn't lie to you! I only decided after I saw Amy that I should go see Joyce, and yes, I should have told someone, but you would have tried to stop me and it's not like I know all your pager numbers and stuff, I mean, hello! From another dimension here!" 

For such a tiny little person, Willow managed to unleash quite a fury. William softened a bit. He hadn't meant to take his anger out on her. He certainly wasn't going to tell her he was mad because he had felt so helpless when he didn't know where she was, and mad because now Giles knew how to send her back, and mad because she'd seen the poem... 

They stared at one another in silent argument. William looked at the ground and mumbled "I'm sorry I lost my temper." He looked back up. Willow's arms were crossed over her chest. "Me, too," she huffed. 

He tilted his head to the side. "You're also sorry I lost my temper or you're sorry you lost yours, too?" 

She lifted her chin defiantly. "Both, I think." 

William sighed heavily, but extended his hand to her in truce. Willow rolled her eyes, because she knew he didn't have to sigh. She reached to put her hand in his anyway, but she didn't make it. 

Willow's scream cut through the empty street as she was tackled away from William.

Buffy smiled sweetly at the illnon demon. "Time's up," she said. "Thank you for playing How to Really Piss Off a Vampire Slayer." She punched it again. She made sure to carefully enunciate its name, which was no small task in itself. "Now, bring me back my best friend."

SPARKAGE

The vampire that attacked Willow didn't have much of a chance to get a lot of real attacking done because his vampire buddy who had the misfortune of attacking William was already dust. One minute, Willow was on the ground struggling, and the next, she was covered in vamp dust. William helped her to her feet.

"Quite the vampire magnet, aren't you?" He spoke softly. 

"Well, I try," she answered. "And, thank you. Again." 

"No problem, love." William's gaze lingered on Willow only a little longer than necessary before he turned so they could continue to Giles.' But Willow was rooted to the spot. "Wait," she said. Her voice choked on the word, though she wasn't sure why. He came back to her, closer this time. He knew she wanted to say something and didn't know how yet. Her hair was still mussed from the ordeal moments ago, so he reached out to smooth it down. Willow closed her eyes briefly as he ran his hand through her hair. She reached up and caught his hand as it came down to her neck. She held it in place as she looked up at him. 

"I'll never see you again, will I?" 

He brought his other hand up so that he was holding both sides of her head. His voice was thick when he spoke. "The Watcher knows his stuff. He'll get you home." 

Willow took a deep breath. "I'm not sure how I feel about that now." She tried to meet his eyes while she spoke her next words. "Xander, Amy, Giles... they're all there in my world. Different, but there. You... there is no you where I come from. And I know I've only known you for a day, but... but you're already a part of me, y'know? And when I think about how I'll never see you again, it's... I..." There were no more words to say. 

William closed the remaining space between them, pulling Willow into his arms. He came very close to whispering into her hair "You could stay." But he didn't, because he knew she couldn't. She belonged elsewhere, even though it felt to him very much like she belonged right where she was. Willow began to cry. At first, he just held her tighter. Then, he loosened his hold so he could see her face. "Please don't cry, love" he whispered. And, of course, this only made the tears more forthcoming. He brushed away some of them with the back of his hand. When he leaned down and kissed some of them away, the tears stopped. Willow's breathing stopped, too. And blinking. She stood perfectly still. 

"I'm sorry," he murmured as he pressed his forehead against hers. Willow closed her eyes, took a shaky breath, and said "Don't be." 

He was going to kiss her. They had this one moment. He waited for her to open her eyes, to make sure he had permission. She did, and he was startled. Willow's eyes were suddenly blue, a bright, glowing blue. And then everything was blue and Willow was gone. 

Xander and Giles managed to catch Willow as she seemingly tumbled out of the ceiling. She gasped and clutched at them. 

"Give her a second," the illnon offered. "Interdimensional travel tends to knock the wind out of mortals." 

Tara and Buffy moved to Willow's side and tried to make sure she was okay. "Oh, god, she's been crying... are you alright? Can you move? What happened?" 

"Buffy, give her a minute -" 

As soon as everything stopped swimming, Willow lurched forward into Buffy and Tara's arms. She held on to them tightly and let out a sob. It was over; she was home.

William didn't bother with knocking. Xander and Amy looked anxiously at the souled vampire when he entered Giles' apartment. "You didn't find her?" 

"No, I found her. Back at the mansion." He came in and took a seat. 

"And? Where is she?" 

"Gone. Back home, I think. She was there, and then there was this blue light... She's gone." 

Nobody knew what to say. It was like the cable had gone out right before the end of a movie. Xander and Amy kept trying to ask William more questions, but it was obvious that he didn't want to talk. Giles intervened. 

"Amy, Xander, why don't the two of you go and try to find Faith. Let her know the ordeal with Willow is over." 

After they were gone, William and Giles sat silently for awhile. Giles knew the vampire had been drawn to the girl. He also knew it was probably for the best that she was gone. That didn't stop the feeling that in the short time Willow had been with them, she had opened a hole in their hearts for her. Now that hole felt empty. 

"Say, Rupert, do you have any tea?" 

"Yes, of course." The Watcher nodded and got up for the kitchen. William then went to the bookcase. He found what he was looking for down at the bottom: a stack of yearbooks from Sunnydale High for the years Giles had been librarian there. William took out the volume for 1997. Quietly, he tore out a page from the sophomore class. Lines of unwritten verse ran through his head. 

"Eyes like fireflies, laughter like rain, tears for what can never be, echo of the coming pain..." 

FOR FUTURE REFERENCE

The whole gang at the magic shop, even Spike (though some didn't quite know what purpose he had to be there) listened to Willow tell about the alternate universe. They asked a lot of questions, and Willow answered most of them. Faith was the Slayer on the Hellmouth. Giles was her Watcher. Xander and Amy and Oz routinely helped her. They did not know where Buffy was. Angel was in Hell. Anya, as far as Willow knew, was still Anyanka. Cordelia and Xander broke up after Cordy moved to LA. And Willow had been killed when she was 16. 

She did not mention William. Not once. 

After everyone had had their fill of questions and had hugged Willow and told her how glad they were that she was back, Giles began turning out the lights in the shop. There was something Willow wanted to do and she knew if she didn't do it soon, she never would. Of course, she'd have a lot more questions to answer later, but that didn't seem to matter so much. "Giles, can you leave me the key and I'll lock up? I need to speak with Spike about something." 

Willow's request was met with the dubious stares of one Slayer, one ex-Watcher, one wicca, and one very curious vampire. Xander and Anya had already left. "About what, Wills?" Buffy asked. 

"That," Willow said "Is between me and Spike." Tara looked hurt. "For now, anyway. Please, guys." 

Giles handed Willow the keys to the shop. Buffy took Tara's arm and offered to walk her home. Then it was just Willow and Spike. 

Spike stared at the little redhead. "What could there possibly be between you and me?" 

"Nothing." 

He cocked his head to the side, waiting. 

"I didn't tell them everything about the other universe." Willow paused. "I didn't tell them about you." 

"Me? Oh, this is interesting." 

"Not you-you. William-you. You had a soul." 

Spike's face wrinkled in disgust. "I don't think I want to hear any more." 

"I have no intention of telling you." 

"Then what are we doing here?" 

Willow took a step closer to him and stared intently at his face. "He doesn't have that scar. Never killed a Slayer." 

"I thought you weren't going to tell me any more." 

Willow ignored him. "I'm going to do something now and I just want you to know that it doesn't mean anything. I know you've got a crush on Buffy and all..." 

"I do not..." 

She silenced him with a look. "There's just something I have to know, okay?" Then she grabbed the neck of his black t-shirt, pulled him down to her and kissed him. It only lasted a moment, but Spike was completely flustered when it was over. 

"You were only there for a day. What happened?" 

"What do you mean?" 

"What do I mean? You adore that Tara chit, and yet here you are. You had to kiss me just so you'd know what it would have been like to kiss him-" 

"Don't tell anyone." 

"And how will you stop me?" 

"I'll tell Buffy how you look at her. I'll tell them all you're a poet. " Willow turned her back on him and started toward the exit. Spike followed her. "Hang on, just a minute-" 

Willow stopped at the door. "What?" 

"He didn't-" Spike paused. "Did he write you a poem?" 

She didn't say anything, but Spike saw his answer in the quirk of her mouth and the gleam in her eyes. "Bloody hell." 

They locked the magic shop. Spike even made sure Willow got back to her dorm safely. He muttered the whole way. Willow thought she caught something about him turning into a nancy boy in all realities. 

"If it's any consolation," Willow said to him right before she entered the dorm "I bet if you ended up in an alternate universe and met my vampire self, I'm sure you'd get along great, too." Spike just made his "piffle" noise and left.