Part 1

With her eyes closed blissfully, Willow spread and waved her arms around her as if making angels in the snow, regardless of the fact that she was lying in a bright field. The sun was shining upon her face, highlighting the red flames that were the tendrils of hair laying against the grass. Her lips
curved in a smile as she felt fluttering against her cheek and she opened her eyes to see a pair of butterflies frolicking above her almost begging her to play with them. Reaching out a hand, she felt one land on her finger and she giggled delightedly when it perched there staring at her.

"Hi little one. Hi!" Willow cooed, staring intently at the insect. The butterfly, as if it could understand her words, fluttered its wings a little before settling back on her hand content. She smiled again and turned her head to the side, taking in the beauty surrounding her. The lush trees and colorful flowers surrounding her gave her a deep sense of relaxation that nothing else could give her. Then she blushed when the bold little voice in
the back of her head whispered, "Well... Except for sex." Ignoring her naughty thoughts, she glanced back at the butterfly. She brought it closer
and reached out to stroke its wings and it sat there as if it were a normal pet being stroked instead of a creature that symbolized freedom.

"Good-bye little one, I must go. My time here is short today." The butterfly sat there for a second then flew away to join the others perched on a log a few feet away. Standing up, she brushed off her jeans and bits of grass floated to the ground in slow motion. Willow watched the grass until it landed on top of a rock where it suddenly turned into another butterfly. She clapped in excitement at seeing the bit of glamour and turned toward the sound of laughter that was drifting from the darkness.

"Hello Willow." The deep voice said, the rumbling tone of it making Willow shiver in reaction. With his face hidden in the darkness, he beckoned her
towards him in the darkness with a hand outstretched in her direction. Willow stared for a moment, the quiet of the clearing suddenly making her nervous. The sudden flight of the butterflies in the opposite direction almost warned her not to step towards the man. Or whatever he was.

"Who are You?" She asked. As many times as she had come here, she had never seen another person or being besides the other animals or the butterflies. She had seen all sorts of magical occurrences like the glamour and had even caused a few herself, but it scared her to think that someone had been there watching her when her defenses were down.

Angrily, she repeated herself. "Who are you?"

His deep voice replied. "Come with me and you'll know everything."

And Willow, even though she was scared and had no idea who or what the being was, she stepped forward and placed her hand in his. There was a tingle of electricity that ran up her arm at his touch and then there was darkness.
 

Part 2

Pacing back and forth in Willow's room, Angel growled in frustration, his eyes searching the room anxiously for any signs of struggle. There were none. Instead it looked as if Willow had just stepped from the room. The soft sounds of music floated through the room and he turned towards it, realizing that Willow must have left in a hurry if she had left her stereo on. He spotted a lit candle on the bedside table and he quickly snuffed it out, worried. After searching the rest of the house, and finding nothing he came back to Willow's room and was about to climb out of the window to check The Bronze until his eyes landed on the floor length antique mirror standing in the corner.

When Willow hadn't been there to meet him an hour ago at the mansion like they had planned, he had been worried. Running to her house, he had felt something was wrong but he wasn't sure what so he had climbed through her window, having already been invited into her room. Now he was staring at a mirror like an idiot instead of looking for Willow who could be in trouble somewhere. As he moved away to leave, he saw movement in the corner of his eye and turned quickly to see his reflection. HIS REFLECTION?! It was hard to believe, but there he was. A big guy standing there with his mouth wide open in shock and a stupid look on his face. He looked just like he remembered; Dark hair, chocolate brown deep set eyes, pale skin and lips that even now were smirking. He quickly wiped the smirk from his face. Now was not the time. Walking closer to the mirror he saw that is was shimmering and when he pressed a hand to touch the face in the mirror, a face he had only seen in sketches for the past couple of centuries, his hand passed right through. He jumped away quickly, his hand burning as if singed by the sun. "Damn!" he screeched like a wounded animal, but still snuck a quick glance at his reflection to make sure that it had not disappeared and absently commended himself for buying the extra strength hair gel that allowed his hair to be styled so well even when he didn't have a mirror.

"There is my reflection in a mirror that my hand can pass through. Inside that mirror there is sunlight." Angel whispered to himself. Looking around
the room, he realized that Willow would never just leave him waiting without telling him she wasn't coming. She also wouldn't leave music playing and candles lit. "And Willow is in that mirror," he finished.

He needed help. He couldn't go after her alone. Angel picked up the phone and quickly dialed.

"Hello."

"Giles, Willow's in trouble."
 

Part 3

Buffy burst through the door in Willow's room, causing Angel to jump guiltily away from the mirror where he had been staring at his reflection.

"What were you doing Angel?" Buffy asked suspiciously.

"Nothing." He said sheepishly. When she continued to stare at him as the rest of the scooby gang filed into the room, he threw up his hands and sighed.

"All right. I was staring at myself in the mirror. I am self absorbed, all right. But what do you expect? I haven't seen myself in over 200 years!"

Xander rolled his eyes and looked around the room. "Where's Willow?" he asked. "And how is she in trouble?"

"Hey, you can see your reflection in that thing?" Spike asked. "It sure is bloody ugly."

Angel glared. Spike chuckled and said, "Not you peaches, the mirror" while walking over to inspect it.

"If you all would, uh, stop joking and let Angel speak maybe he could tell us what is going on." Giles spoke up.

"Well, Willow was supposed to meet me at the Mansion ---"

"Why were you going to meet her at the mansion?" Buffy interrupted.

"Um.. cuz.." Angel sputtered.

"It doesn't matter why, please continue Angel." Giles said glaring at Buffy. Buffy merely pouted and continued to stare at Angel.

"Well, anyway. When Willow didn't show up, I came over here to see what was going on. She wasn't here, but the music was on and there was a candle lit. It made me think that she hadn't expected to leave. Anyway, I noticed my reflection in the mirror and --"

"Hot bloody fuckin' Damn!!" screeched Spike as his hand went through the mirror.

"That happened when I tried to touch my reflection." Angel finished. "I think the sun is shining in some kind of alternate dimension in there and Willow is there."

"So Willow is in a mirror, you are in love with yourself and we have no plan." Cordelia said bitchily to Angel.

"Well, we are here to make a plan--"

"We should just go in there--"

"I am not in love with myself--"

"Who are you in love with then?"

"Xander, wanna go have sex in the bathroom, I --"

"SHUT UP!!"

Everyone turned to look at Spike who was staring intently into the mirror, his newly found reflection marred only by the hand that he had stuck inside of it.

"Would you all quit bloody worrying about yourselves and think about Willow? She is in here somewhere and we don't know what's going on. I can stick my hand in here now so maybe we could all go inside and find her." He finally turned away from the mirror, his eyes cold as he took in the diverse group of people in the room.

Angel looked guilty, Buffy looked ready to fight, Anya looked horny and Xander was trying to pull away from her wandering hand. Cordelia just looked haughty and was giving Anya a dirty look. Giles was behind the mirror, knocking the chipped wood as if would help.

Spike glared at him for his stupid actions and when Giles finally noticed him, he blushed and started to splutter out excuses. Spike ignored him and
spoke to the group as a whole.

"We need to bring food and blood in case we end up there for longer than we expect."

"We should also look in some of her books for help to see if there is anything about magic mirrors." Angel added.

"Warm clothes." Cordelia said.

"I'll go get some weapons, that should help." Buffy said, walking out the door.

"Condoms too." said Anya. Everyone let out a big sigh. Xander just tried to hush her.

"What?" Anya asked, confused, when everyone ignored her suggestion.
 

Part 4

Willow opened her eyes to blackness. She couldn't see a thing. It was as if she were blind. Damn, she thought. I was already a mute this year, could I please skip the blindness? Thinking that if she let her eyes adjust to the dark, it would get better, she stared straight ahead of her. When nothing happened she started to panic and feel around her. She was sitting on something that felt like a bed, but whose bedroom would be so dark? Just as she was thinking about running blindly ahead into the darkness, a flame was lit to the left of her, drawing her attention to the figure that sat at the head of the bed.

She gasped, her hand flying to her throat. He was gorgeous. Not in a Brad Pitt kind of way, but a creature not of this world kind of way. His skin was almost illuminated from the inside out with an unnaturally beautiful glow, his eyes a pure gold that should have looked scary but instead only brought out the perfect gold of his hair. His fabulous teeth flashed briefly in amusement at the way she was staring at him but she couldn't help herself. The man was a God, a golden God and his body... OH MY! Willow felt saliva curl in the corner of her mouth and quickly closed it before she embarrassed herself.

Finally looking up from his perfectly chiseled chest which happened to be bare, Willow glanced up at his face, the angular cheekbones that reminded her of Spike were thrown into prominence because of the flame that was resting in the palm of his hand. After staring into his eyes for what seemed an eternity, she finally spoke.

"Where am I?" she croaked.

That deep voice from earlier responded and again, she felt a shiver run through her body.

"You are with me. Where you belong."

That finally snapped her out of her lustful trance. "Hunh?" she asked stupidly.

He chuckled and reached for her hand, pulling her closer to him. Only when she was lying on her side next to him did he continue.

"When you placed your hand in mine, you left behind everything you knew to live in this world with me. You are my Queen and I am your King."

He said it as if that was all there was to explain. Like she knew that was what she was doing when she had accepted his hand. She had just wanted to know who he was and she hadn't even found that much out. She began to get angry.

"What?! No! I just wanted to know what was going on. I wanted to know who you were and you didn't even tell me that. I wanted to know why my mirror turned into a clearing one day filled with beautiful creatures. I wanted to know why I suddenly had all these wonderful powers. I didn't want to leave my world!"

"You left your world the very first time you stepped through the mirror to frolic with the butterflies. You entered a doorway to my kingdom because I allowed it. You are privileged." He said, his voice hard.

"No!" she denied.

"Yes," he said.

"I know it was a privilege but you should have given me a choice on whether or not I wanted to stay here."

"You were given a choice. You did not have to step through the mirror the first time and you did not have to keep coming back."

Willow sighed, acknowledging that she should have told someone what was going on instead of hoarding the mirror like her own guilty pleasure. She had just gotten greedy. When the beauty of the place begun to be her relaxation she had made it her daily routine to step into the mirror to play in what she had called her field of dreams. Her growing magical abilities inside and outside the mirror had amazed her and she had kept coming back for more. Stupid! She thought. I should have known there was a catch. When the mirror had just shown up on her balcony one day with a gift card attached saying, "From a secret admirer," she should have known.

"Are you evil?" she asked.

He merely raised an eyebrow as if that question were too silly to be answered. "Do you want me to be evil?" he asked.

"NO! Why would you ask me something like that?"

"Well, you are sleeping with one vampire and in love with another. THEY are evil."

Willow blushed and lowered her eyes. "How do you know that?" she asked quietly.

"I know everything about you Willow. Remember that. I see everything you do even when you think you are alone." he said and when he saw her blanch, he added on, "Scary, isn't it?"
 

Part 5

"Why?" Willow asked.

"Why is it scary?" he asked puzzled.

"No, why me? Why did I have to get the mirror? I'm not special. I'm just plain old Willow."

"No!" he said forcefully. "You are not plain, you are a Queen. Regardless of whose dirty vampire hands you let touch you, you are my Goddess."

Willow tried not to feel flattered that this beautiful man wanted her. She felt special but couldn't he just ask her out on a date? She quickly tuned
back in realizing that he was speaking.

"I did not choose you. You were chosen for me. You are my destiny. The woman to bear my children, the witch to love, the goddess with the power. I gave you the mirror so that you could have a way here, but only the chosen could have actually opened the portal and you did.I have watched you since you were born, you know. I have always loved you."

Willow's mouth had fallen open at the bearing children part. She had barely heard anything else.

"Umm... No." she said.

"No?" he asked.

"No. You may have known since I was born but you just told me. I can't have all of this thrown onto me. I am not a chosen one. That is Buffy. I am not even a powerful witch at all, definitely not a goddess. I don't even know how I opened the portal, maybe someone came in my room while I was gone. And I can't have your children if I am in love with someone else." she said defiantly.

"Those silly vampire fools will be quickly removed from your memory, after all, why would you want them when you can have a God?" he asked.

"You are a God?" she asked, astonished.

"Yes, what did you think I was, a nasty werewolf like your last boyfriend?" When he saw the hurt in her eyes at that remark, his face softened and he placed an arm around her shoulders. "I don't mean to hurt you like he did. When he left you hurt like that I wanted to rip his head off, but alas I
cannot mess with the humans." he said sighing regretfully.

"Why? You are a God, you can do whatever you want."

"You would think so wouldn't you? It's all politics. Which God can do what and so on..."

Willow found herself smiling at him and he turned a blindingly bright smile on her and quickly placed a soft kiss on her lips. She felt the tingle all the way down to her toes.

"Well, I um no what uh I mean." She stuttered after he had pulled away. He stared at her for a second before leaning closer to plant another one on her. Quickly scooting backwards she let loose with a question that had been plaguing her forever.

"What is your name?"

"Gabriel."

Hmmm. Somehow it was an anticlimax for him to have a name like that instead of something like Hercules or Zeus.

"What are you the God of?"

"You have obviously been watching too much Xena(tm). We are beings that simply exist. We do not have jobs or roles. We just watch, sort of like
caretakers. When something that can affect what we take care of comes along, we remove it or change it to fit it into the way we like it. There are some Gods that try to get big headed and rule your world alone, that is why we have people like your friend Buffy. She helps to keep the peace." He paused for a moment, then said, "Vampires are a result of the disturbance of the peace. As are all demonic creatures and abnormalities."

"Oh." she said. Looking at him from the corner of her eye, she watched as he stared off into the darkness, his mind elsewhere.

"Gabriel, I want to go home."

His head whipped to turn towards her and he stared at her silently. "You can't." he said. "You belong here, this is your new home. You are a Goddess. You were born to a human mother, but your father was a God. You have to understand. If you go back, you will always feel as if a part of you was missing. You need me, you need to learn your new lifestyle."

"What if I had never activated the mirror? What would I have done? I would have lived perfectly fine." she argued. Willow did not believe all his talk
of her being a Goddess, but she decided to humor him.

"Yes, but you have spent to much time here. You are leaving a lot of the human aspects behind you. It will be hard for you to live with a bunch of
humans."

"I can do it." she said.

"You probably could, but I will not allow it. You are mine. The powers that be have given you to me at birth. You will rule here with me in this
dimension. My world has already accepted you." With that said, he snapped his fingers and light suddenly filled the room, the flame disappearing from the palm of his hand.

Around her there were elves and fairies. Butterflies fluttered around her and one even went so far as to perch on her shoulder. A unicorn was laying under a large tree that seemed to be growing up from the carpet in the bedroom and when she looked closely, she saw that the tree had a face and was actually talking to what looked like a tree sprite. Willow gazed around, amazed and when a little leprechaun came into the room with a piece of paper and handed it to Gabriel, she realized she was gaping like a fish.

"Quiet!" Gabriel suddenly thundered, his voice silencing the room that had been filled with delighted laughter.

With a murderous look on his face, he turned to Willow.

"It seems you left the portal open and your friends have decided to join you. Even the two vampires."

Willow tried to hide the relief that she felt, but she figured she didn't hide it too well when his glare turned even more furious. He turned to the
creatures in the room.

"Stop them from getting here. Use glamours, use everything. Just stop them." he growled and stomped out of the room.

Willow watched as they all scrambled out of the door, even the talking tree uprooted itself, leaving a massive hole that mysteriously was filled by the lush carpeting seconds later. Her eyes as wide as finished taking in the departing parade, widened even further when there was a tap on her hand and a little girl, about the size of her thumb, dressed in Strawberry Shortcake like clothing, climbed onto her hand and beckoned her to bring her closer to her ear. When she did, the little girl asked, in the cutest little voice she had ever heard, "You aren't going to leave us, are you, my Queen?"

Willow could only stare at the little girl, her heart breaking because she almost didn't want to leave this fairy tale of a place, but she knew she
must, so she just said, "I don't know."
 

Part 6

After tumbling ungracefully through the mirror, Spike started to stand up slowly, only to be knocked off of his feet again by Angel who had run through the doorway to the dimension as if he were a runningback for some football team.

"Bloody Hell Angel! Get off of me you wanker!" Spike yelled at Angel, pushing him off of him in disgust. When Angel just glared at him and stood up,
glancing around at what seemed to be some sort of field, Spike snorted. By the time he got to his feet, the rest of the scooby gang had spilled onto the ground in front of the portal that was the mirror. Spike shook his head when he saw Willow's room through it, the moonlight from her balcony window creating a dim glow upon her belongings. Hell, anyone on this side of the mirror could have seen everything that Willow did in that room, he thought. And he, mighty vampire that he was, blushed at the thought.

"Why are you blushing Spike?" Angel asked suddenly, a smirk on his face.

"None of your fuckin' business!" Spike replied, turning to walk towards the center of the field where there was a log he could sit on to wait for the
moron brigade to get their bearings. Angel looked back at the mirror and frowned, noticing the same thing that Spike had and his face took on a
decidedly red hue as a result.

"Ugh! It's just a big field! With dirt!" Cordelia said, her nose turned up.

"Why am I here again?"

"We are here to find Willow. She may be in trouble." Buffy said sharply.

Xander, meanwhile, had been looking around the field, his gaze troubled."I hope Wills is ok. That book we read said that this was a portal to another world. I think she would have told us something about it if she had any idea what that thing was. I'm worried." Anya smiled at him and rubbed his hand, trying to give the best comfort she could. Xander smiled back gratefully. Cordelia snorted in the most unladylike way at their affectionate display.

"We'll find her Xander" Buffy said, walking over to Xander to pat his arm,"She can't be that far, this is just an open field."

Giles, who had been studying the trees across the clearing with some interest, added,"No its not Buffy, those trees lead somewhere. This field is
just the entrance way. There is more to this place. We have to be careful."

"Well, we have provisions and weapons, let's get started." Buffy said. With that they started forward in Spike's direction, their eyes taking in the
lush beauty around them. Buffy got the feeling that they were going to see the wizard, but instead of following the yellowbrick road, they were going blindly into a world they didn't know, with no kind of road whatsoever. Even the bright colors reminded her of the Wizard of Oz(tm) and she had this sudden urge to link arms and skip. Shaking her head sharply, she tried to clear images of flying monkeys from her brain.

When they reached Spike, he was staring at a blanket that was laid out on the ground as if for a picnic."That's Willow's." He said, as soon as they got close enough."She must have come here willingly. Who brings a blanket along when they are kidnapped?"

"How do you know it's Willow's?" Angel asked, his eyes narrowed at Spike. Buffy heard the jealous note in his voice and she narrowed her eyes at Angel, but he didn't even glance at her, he was too busy staring at Spike.

"Because when we went on a picnic at that concert, she brought this blanket with her." Spike snarled at him.

"Does it matter?" Giles asked "We don't have time to discuss Spike's familiarity with Willow's belongings. The blanket being here tells me that she didn't think to, or couldn't bring it with her when she left or was taken. We also don't know when that portal is going to close so Angel and Spike, please stop bickering!"

Angel brooded quietly for a second before marching over to scoop up the blanket and stick it in the shoulder bag that was hanging from his shoulder, filled with food. He turned back to face the group, his face blank. Spike rolled his eyes at Angel's childish act and kicked the log he had been sitting on, just for the hell of it. Unfortunately, it seemed to be the home of about fifty little blue men who jumped out at him, their little armored bodies lunging at him and their mouths open with rage. Spike stared shocked, as they let out a little battle cry and charged. He almost didn't notice as little spears pierced his knees and calves, he was so engrossed in taking in every little detail. Then he snapped out of it when he felt one climbing up his shoulder and stabbing him with one a little too close to his heart.

"Damn it! I am being attacked by a bunch of bleedin' smurfs! Help me!" he yelled. Angel simply laughed at him, tickled to death at the image he made, little blue men dangling from his ears like earrings. Buffy quickly ran over and grabbed a couple of them, putting them on the ground, giggling when one of them shook his fist at her in anger, his little voice cursing her out. Once they had cleared away the rest of the little blue men off a Spike, they watched as they ran away towards the trees, their angry little eyes glaring at Spike as they went.

"That's payback for that big smurf you called on us, The Judge!" Buffy said, smirking.

"You watch the smurfs?" Xander asked curiously.

Spike ignored them both and proceeded to pick out all of the little spears sticking from his body.

"I can't wait to find Willow." he said, exhausted.

"Me neither," said Angel, his free hand stroking the edge of the blanket that was sticking out of his shoulder bag. Spike glared at him and yanked the blanket away from Angel. Angel vamped out and went for Spike's throat, Spike responded by wrapping the blanket around Angel's neck and throwing him into the log. Luckily, nothing ran out of the log this time, but Angel was really mad.

"Give me the damn blanket!" Giles yelled, and walked over, taking it from Angel's neck. Angel's face went back to its normal handsome features and he glanced at the others, embarrassed for his actions. Everyone looked amused except for Buffy who just looked hurt. Angel looked away. She has to find out sooner or later, he thought, I can't hide my feelings anymore.
 

Part 7

Walking into The Bronze, Willow felt the eyes on her. Hot eyes that she could feel beneath her skin. She turned to look into the darkened corners of the club, but she could see nothing but the gyrating bodies of the people on the dance floor. She could feel herself gliding through the crowd, almost floating instead of walking. Everything was so slow and she could barely see faces. It was hazy and blurry but still she trudged forward, trying to make it to the table that she knew Buffy, Xander, Anya, and Cordelia were sitting at. She had this feeling that once she made it to that normal little spot, everything would be all right. As if on cue, the crowd parted, showing her the table, her friends laughing softly, all of their eyes turned on her. She felt a burst of speed and she was at the table, only her friends had disappeared, leaving Spike and Angel to stare at her expectantly.

Her eyes went from one handsome face to the other, confused. Where had the rest of the scooby gang gone?

"What are you waiting for, pet?" Spike asked, the words coming out in slow motion.

"Choose." Angel added, his dark eyes serious.

"Choose?" she asked.

Both Angel and Spike nodded.

"Why?" she asked."Why do I have to choose?"

"I don't share Willow." Angel said.

"Choose." Spike said with no hint of that mischievous smile that usually ran across his face.

"I can't." Willow cried.

Spike shook his head sadly, his mouth turned down at the corners. "Then you can't have either one of us." he said.

Willow backed away, her head aching at seeing the two men that had inhabited her thoughts continuously for the last few months, demanding that she choose. She had been dreading this and now she sought to run away before she was forced to make that decision. Only when she turned, she found herself caught up in a pair of strong arms.

"Willow," Angel said, his mouth close to her ear. "Don't you love the way I make you feel? Don't you want me to always make you feel like that?"

He thrust a hand in her hair, pulling her head back so that she could look into his eyes. Eyes filled with lust for her. She shuddered in response and
when he placed his thigh between her legs, she groaned. He placed his mouth on her collarbone, his tongue trailing a path of fire across the tops of her breasts.

"Angel.." she sighed.

Suddenly her head was yanked forward harshly and she stared into Spike's yellow eyes. His face angry as he looked down at her. It was no longer
Angel's knee between her legs nor his hand in her hair, it was Spike's.

"No. Not Angel, Spike!" He growled. She reached a hand up to his face, smoothing the ridges out until his face softened into that of his normal
features. "Why do you let him come between us Willow?" he asked softly, bringing his other hand up to cup her face in his hand. "Am I not enough for you?"

"Spike... No, you are everything." she whispered, feeling the tears fill her eyes. "I just..."

"What? Why can't you just tell him that you love me? What's wrong with you? Be strong." he said and let go of her. The loss of his supporting leg almost made her fall and she stumbled trying to regain her footing. When she looked for Spike, he was gone and in his place was Gabriel.

"Willow. You do not have to choose. Stay with me and live however you want, surrounded by beauty and wonderful creatures who love you." Gabriel said, as he strutted towards her in those tight brown pants with his golden chest bare, just as he had appeared when she had first seen him.

"Let me love you." he continued. "Let me take all of your worries away. Let me make you happy."

Willow just watched as he circled her, his tempting words seeping through her brain, willing her to forget the decision ahead of her and just live free without the worries. Her eyes fluttered closed when he brought his hand up to stroke her hair, the tingles of electricity that she felt whenever he touched her flowed through her body.

"You don't need them Willow." he whispered against her ear, his tongue nibbling on the lobe. "You need magic and peace." He brought his other hand up and when she opened her eyes, a butterfly materialized in his hand."You need your Field of Dreams."

Willow felt a single tear slide down her face, her emotions too much for her. She whirled around and ran from the club, her sandals making loud slapping sounds on the pavement. She ran and ran until she couldn't anymore and then there was darkness.

**************************

She shot up in the bed, her breathing erratic.She glanced around the room, realizing that she was still in Gabriel's world and not in The Bronze. She
felt this horrible emptiness inside and she was scared. Scared that the dream would come true and she would lose both Angel and Spike because of her selfishness. Scared that she would give in to Gabriel and scared of the decision that lay ahead of her. Reaching a hand up to her cheek, she wiped away the single tear that she had shed in her sleep. She was miserable and she had no one to blame but herself.
 

Part 8

With the little blue checkered blanket tucked firmly under his arm, Giles led the way into the trees, his expression determined. The others followed
behind, their petty disagreements put aside as they set out to search for Willow. Each of them looked into the dark recesses of the forest, watching for any supernatural creatures that might jump out at them. All except for Spike, whose gaze was fixed firmly on the ground in search of the little blue men who had just disappeared into the trees.

After marching silently through the darkened forest for what seemed an eternity to Xander, he finally spoke.

"Can we sit down for a second? I'm hungry" he said, eyeing the bag hanging from Angel's shoulder. Giles, disappointed that all he saw before him was darkness and more trees, nodded in agreement and placed the blanket on the ground so that Angel could place the food from the bag on it.

"We haven't seen anything for miles." Buffy commented, biting into an apple.

"The silence and darkness is starting to get to me."

"Yeah," Cordelia added, "What's the point of looking this good when no one can see it? It's just a waste."

"What waist?" Anya asked sarcastically. Cordelia glared at her and rolled her eyes before saying, "You're just jealous, you demon bitch."

"Me? I think you got that backwards. Who wants my man here? If your name starts with a C, raise your hand!" Anya replied enthusiastically. Cordelia took a step towards Anya, her face scrunched in anger. Xander quickly stepped between them as Anya got a gleefully anticipatory look on her face.

"Back off loser!" Cordelia screeched at Xander, slapping his hands away from her. Xander tried to apologize for Anya, but Anya quickly grabbed him away from Cordelia, pushing him into a nearby tree.

"Xander, don't touch her and don't apologize for me. She does want you. I see the way she looks at you. All hot and sweaty when she thinks no one is looking. I know the 'I want Xander look', Cordelia. I am the QUEEN of that look." Anya yelled, causing Cordelia to turn an unattractive shade of red. Xander, leaning against the tree, shook his head and decided to give up. They were going to fight no matter what he did, he thought. Hell, they didn't even need him to argue about. They were just too much alike, it couldn't be stopped. The sounds of their bickering abruptly ceased when Spike suddenly got up and grabbed them both by the hair, dragging them to separate parts of the area where they had chosen to rest. Too shocked to do anything, the women just sat in their respective corners and pouted. Spike went calmly back to his seat on the blanket and drank from his cute little, "I Vant your Blood" mug that Willow had bought him. Angel, Buffy, and Xander smiled at him gratefully. He didn't even notice as he continued to stare into space, lost in his thoughts.

Cordelia came from her stupor and reached for a sandwich that was sitting next to Spike. She began to chew slowly, her eyes locked firmly on Anya, threat clear in her eyes. Anya smiled at her and moved closer, grabbing herself a sandwich. She quickly went back to her seat, however, afraid of another reaction from Spike if she started arguing with Cordelia again. She glanced over at Xander, who was leaning against a tree, stuffing his face with a twinkie. Watching him lick the white cream from his fingers made her hot and she almost moaned aloud. She was always horny after an argument and she needed satisfaction.

"Where are the condoms?" she asked loudly, the question aimed at no one in particular. Xander jumped and stared at Anya as if she were crazy.

"You need them to eat?" Angel asked her, throwing her the condoms that he had pulled from the bag next to him.

"No, I need them to orgasm." she replied, unconcerned at Xander's horrified reaction to her statement. He always told her that some of the things that she talked about shouldn't be said in public. The way he was looking at her made her think that her previous declaration was one of those things. She couldn't understand that though. Everyone had orgasms. If they didn't, she felt sorry for them.

She turned to Xander expectantly. He simply gawked at her. "Well, what are you waiting for?" she asked, "This is a break, lets go have sex."

She had reached for his hand, ready to go lead him off into the woods, when he yanked away from her and jumped away from the tree, squealing like a pig. Anya stared at him in confusion as he dropped his twinkie and started pointing at the tree frantically. Buffy, Spike, Giles, and Angel laughed at him for his extreme reaction to one of Anya's frequent proposals of sex until they saw the fear in his eyes.

"What is it?" Buffy asked. "What's wrong?"

"The tree.. It.. tree.." Xander stuttered.

"For Pete's Sake Xander, spit it out." Cordelia said. She stared at the tree and saw nothing wrong with it except for the fact that Anya was standing next to it.

"The tree bit me on my ass!" he exploded.

Everyone laughed nervously at this, their eyes locked on the tree, willing to believe anything after seeing the little blue army attack Spike. And sure enough, the tree developed two eyes, a nose and a very wide and smirking mouth, right before their eyes. Giles choked on the apple he had been chewing and had to be helped by Buffy before he recovered.

"Well, I'll be damned." he said.

"Yes you will be if you do not leave this place immediately." The tree replied, its shrewd eyes taking in the bunch. When they all just stood there,
staring at it, the tree tried again.

"You must leave." it said ominously.

Angel was the first to actually accept what he was seeing and hearing. He responded before he had even thought about it.

"No. We need to find Willow. Where is she?" he asked. His gaze intent on the tree.

The tree stared right back, its eyes wise. ""Willow.." it said slowly,

"Willow, Will--"

"Damn it! You stupid tree, we know you know her name. Now tell us where she is before I cut you up and use you for firewood." Spike broke in,
interrupting the tree.

The tree cut its eyes at Spike, its mouth turned down into a frown. "I do not like you, but I see you are worried. I see you are anxious and I see you care." It said to Spike after a short pause in which it had seemed to study Spike.

"She is safe."

"Safe!" Buffy said, bursting forward. "She will only be safe when she is home in her own world."

"That is what you think, but this is her world. She is a part of us. We are a part of her." The tree said. "You must accept it and let her go. This is her home now and if you do not leave soon, you will not be able to."

"No! I will not accept that Willow is stuck here. I need her." Angel yelled at the tree and realizing how badly his words could be taken, he added
lamely, "We all need her."

Buffy, deciding to ignore Angel's comment for the moment, again turned to the tree.

"Please, we need to know for sure that she is safe. If she wants to stay here, she can tell us herself."

"You must make it to the castle to see my Queen." The tree said, its voice suddenly tired. "She is there. But you must not try to make her leave. It is her decision." The tree gave them all another long look before the face dissolved and all that was left was unblemished bark.

"Whoa." Xander said.

"Yeah." Anya agreed, then she frowned.

"Fuck! That damn tree ruined my nookie," she paused and turned to Xander, her eyes hopeful, "unless you.." she asked suggestively.

"Unfortunately, you can't have your 'nookie', as you call it, break time is over. You heard that tree. There is some kind of a time limit." Giles said.

"Damn." Anya muttered and Cordelia just laughed at her.
 

Part 9

Buffy walked a little behind Angel and Spike, watching the two vampires who seemed to be in deep conversation. Her eyes traveled across Angel's broad shoulders, currently covered with one of the black silk shirts that he had become fond of lately. Unconsciously she licked her lips as her eyes lowered to take in his ass which was tightly encased in a pair of black pants, showing off the muscular curve to perfection. Sighing softly, Buffy wrenched her gaze away, gratefully allowing the uneasy thoughts that had been running through her mind all night to seep through.

Did Angel really have feelings for Willow? she asked herself. How long had they been meeting in secret at the mansion? Were they lovers? She felt a
flash of pain at the thought that Willow and Angel had been hiding a relationship from her, sneaking around like criminals. Oh my.. she thought
painfully, what if Angel had broken up with her before Prom for Willow? She would be so humiliated if he had actually shown up just because Willow had told him to. She felt her face fill with heat as she remembered the impassioned way that Angel had proclaimed his need for Willow to the tree.
She wasn't stupid, Angel had feelings for Willow, and they weren't platonic.

Hearing a low growl, Buffy was pulled from her thoughts in time to see Spike's features turn into that of his demon, a fist raised towards Angel in
threat. Shocked, she stared as Spike, instead of cringing in pain at the thought of any violence, landed the punch, sending Angel sprawling to the
ground. Buffy ran forward and tried to grab onto Spike's arm but he only swatted her away as if she were a fly. Spike turned back to Angel, who had started to stand up, and kicked him in the side, sending him flying into the bushes for his troubles. Cordelia began screaming when Spike stooped to pick up a thick piece of wood from the ground, his angry gaze focused on Angel.

"Buffy, he's gonna kill Angel!" she screeched hysterically. "He's evil again, stop him! Stop him!"

Buffy, encouraged by Cordelia's screams, pulled Mr. Pointy from the back of her jeans and pressed it into Spike's back, effectively stopping his rapid
descent on Angel, who sat staring at Spike, the fight seemingly beat out of him.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" she yelled at him. "Do you want to die?"

"No!" Spike yelled back as he pulled away from Buffy and violently threw the piece of wood into the bushes. "I want to find Willow," he snarled. Sending one more hate-filled glance in Angel's direction, he started walking, leaving a bunch of confused people to stare after him, their minds hanging open.

"What did you say to him deadboy?" Xander asked. "Why was he so angry that he tried to kill you?"

Angel sighed, his eyes sad as they watched Spike disappear from view. He glanced at Buffy, hesitated, then said, "It was my fault. He feels
threatened. He thinks that I am trying to take something that is his."

"Hunh?" Xander asked.

"Shut up, Xander." Giles said, his face understanding, "It is none of your business." Turning to the rest of them, he added, "I see the top of the
castle through the trees, we are almost there. I am sure when we get there we will find both Spike and Willow."

While he was speaking, Buffy swallowed back tears. Her mind was filled with images of Willow and Angel, their bodies entwined. She felt an urge to try and stake Angel but she quickly pushed it back because she knew it was wrong. She had already moved on with Riley and it was unfair of her not to let Angel do the same. It was just hard to watch, not knowing when that relationship had started, not knowing exactly what sort of relationship it was. She was also confused. She had seen the affection grow between Willow and Spike. Had, in fact, encouraged it. When Willow had told her, just the other day, that she was developing feelings for Spike, she had spent an hour with Willow, giggling girlishly over his cheekbones. If Willow had been sneaking around with Angel, how had she even had time to develop any feelings for Spike? Shaking her head, Buffy realized just how complex her best friend was. A friend that she was lucky to have. She loved Willow and she recognized that she had a big heart, she couldn't blame her for following it. So whatever she found out about Angel and Willow's relationship, she would not blame them, she vowed to herself. It wasn't their fault.

Walking over to Angel, who was still sitting in the bushes, she reached a hand out to pull him up. He avoided her eyes, quickly removing his hand from hers as soon as he stood up. Buffy, frustrated, grabbed his face, turning it towards her. She stared into his eyes, seeing the guilt and fear that he was trying to hide.

"I forgive you." she whispered, for his ears alone. His eyes brightened and he smiled softly at her.

"Thank you Buffy." he said.

"I don't know what's going on between you, Spike, and Willow." she said. "But I wish you would have told me what was going on instead of trying to hide things from me. I am after all, a mature college student, I can handle disappointment." she added teasingly, making Angel smile again. For the rest of them, she raised her voice slightly.

"Ok, let's go. I don't know about you guys, but I really want to see that castle."

"Yeah." Cordelia said, "But will someone please just tell me why Spike was able to kick Angel's ass and drag me away from the demon bitch by the hair? I'd say those were pretty violent things to do."

Anya rolled her eyes at the comment, opening her mouth to respond, but Angel cut her off, anticipating another fight.

"We saw our reflections in the mirror and I haven't felt the need to feed as much. I think both of those things, as well as Spike's newfound freedom to do violence is a result of this new world. It has to be because its not normal."
he said.

"Nothing in this world is normal." Giles said, eyeing a butterfly that had landed on Buffy's head, unknown to her.

"You can say that again." Xander said, rubbing his butt.

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