Tara felt like her entire being was being drawn and quartered, and she drew in a lungful of burning air as it suddenly stopped, and she fell to the ground, gulping in mouthfuls of air, and she slowly lifted her head as Willow stalked towards her.

       "Where is he, you little bitch!? Why are you protecting him?!"

       "I'm trying to protect you..." Tara said softly, "Willow...look at yourself. You've lost control..."

       "I am IN CONTROL!" Willow's voice echoed throughout the apartment, and Xander grunted as he tried to push himself away from the ceiling.

       "Wills! Come on! This isn't you!" He shouted down at her, and winced when her black eyes looked up at him, "Spike isn't worth this!"

       "You would defend him?! You keep reminding everyone that he's a murderer!"

       Xander glanced towards Anya, who was still lying unconscious on the floor, "Yeah...but he's not anymore...you know that! He's one of us now!"

       "He's not one of us! He'll never BE one of us!" Willow jerked her head to the side, and Xander closed his eyes as he went careening through the air, crashing into a bookcase he had made, and he hit the ground with a grunt of pain. His eyes widened as the case tilted and he tried to roll before it fell, but it merely crashed into his back, pinning him to the ground.

       Tara struggled back to her feet, pain radiating throughout her body, "Willow...please..." She pleaded, weaving on her feet, trying to keep her balance. "You're not like this...honey...I love you...please..."

       "If you loved me, then give me the vampire!" Willow snapped, "Bring him back...right NOW!"

       "No. I can't do that," Tara squared her shoulders, lifting her head as she lifted her hands, light green energy flickering out of them, "I'm sorry..."

       Willow gasped as the energy shot from Tara's palms and wrapped around her, but it didn't have the desired effect as the redhead threw her head back and laughed cruelly as the Wizard Glass darkened even more.

       Tara tried to duck from the coming assault, but she didn't move fast enough, and Xander watched helplessly as Tara collapsed to the ground, screaming in agony. "WHERE IS HE?!"

       "Not...going...to...tell...you..." Tara panted out in pain, fists clenched so tightly, her nails dug into her palms, drawing blood, "You...have...to...kill...me...first..."

       Willow smiled, and then Tara realized she didn't know what real pain was till now.

       "I think you'll change your mind in a very short time."

       Buffy leaned forward in her seat, as if by force of will alone, she could make Sorlan's car go faster, and the sorcerer looked towards her in concern, "What makes you think William is dead?"

       "I...I had a dream, we were in a room together, and he disappeared," She told him the short form version, "That was what he implied, anyway."

       "If she kills anyone with her powers, it's my duty to punish her," Sorlan looked towards her, "Even if the one she kills is a vampire. William is a good friend of mine."

       Buffy's her face tightened, "If she killed him, you might not have to worry about that once I'm finished with her."

       Sorlan nodded, then looked towards her, "You care for him? Truly?"

       Buffy glanced towards him, and felt like his eyes were delving deep into her soul, and had the feeling that he knew things that were left unsaid, and couldn't even find the resolve to lie to him. "He's...my life," She said softly, "I just realized it recently...I just finally told him I could love him...and now, because of me...he's probably dead."

       "If it's...any consolation, I know that he felt the same exact way," He told her with a small smile, "When I spoke with him, I could feel his emotions in volumes I cannot even describe. I have never seen the like in magnitude, even when he was with that Drusilla creature."

       Buffy closed her eyes, trying to keep a reign on her emotions, trying to find that comforting nothingness that had become a part of her life since she had been brought back...but she couldn't find it.

       Sorlan watched in understanding as her eyes suddenly flew open, her expressive, hazel eyes filled with surprise. "He's awoken you, and you can't go back from there," He told her, "Not anymore."

       Buffy looked towards Sorlan, her face hardening, "Can you make this thing go any faster?"

       "Of course," Sorlan smiled as he slammed on the gas, and Buffy pitched back in her seat with a yelp. "You should've been wearing your seatbelt."

       Tara gasped as Willow let up on her assault, and she curled into a fetal ball, clutching her knees to her chest as she sobbed in pain.

       "Leave her alone!" Xander shouted as Willow approached the downed Wiccan, "DAMN YOU, WILLOW!"

       She looked towards him, "Silent."

       Xander's eyes went wide as his mouth suddenly fused shut, and he was unable to open it again. He grunted behind his closed lips, and then started to shove at the bookcase, trying to get loose.

       He heard a low moan, and he looked up, watching as Anya opened her eyes, and she immediately tensed when she saw Tara sobbing, and then slowly got back to her feet, careful not to draw attention to herself.

       "I'm not going to ask you again, Tara...where's Spike?"

       "Go...to...hell..." Tara managed to get out through her pained sobs, "I'm...not tel--telling..."

       Willow knelt beside Tara's head, reaching out to stroke her hair in mock affection, "You know...if I just kill you...Spike will just remain wherever you put him. He won't be coming back, since you're the only one who can bring him back. Why don't you just make it easier on all of us, and let me finish my business with him? I really don't want to kill you."

       Tara shuddered, trying to pull her head away from Willow, but the redhead threaded her fingers through Tara's hair and jerked her into a sitting position, ignoring the cry of pain that escaped Tara's lips.

       "Give him to me, you little bitch!" Willow pulled hard, and Tara sobbed as she was pulled to her feet by her hair, "I'm not KIDDING!"

       Tara didn't think for a minute she was, but she wasn't willing to give up Spike to her, and her gaze met Willow's levelly and then she spat in Willow's face, "Juriak!"

       Willow flew away from her to crash into the couch, and Tara collapsed to her knees, and Willow's eyes narrowed as she straightened, "Fine. Good-bye, Tara." She lifted her hands, and then cried out in pain as something stabbed into her side.

       She whirled, turning on Anya, who was holding a bloodied knife in her hand, and Willow looked down at the stab wound in her side, blood pouring from it. "Big mistake, bitch!"

       Anya dropped low to the ground as a ball of energy exploded outward from Willow's palms, then swept upwards, driving the knife into Willow's abdomen, eyes wide as she stared into Willow's black eyes.

       Willow staggered back, and Anya let the hilt of the blade slip from her fingers as she covered her mouth with her hands, and Willow laid her hands on the knife, pulling it out with shaking hands, and she cried out again as she pressed her hands against the wound. "Huria neli...heal..."

       Nothing happened, and Willow fell to her knees, unable to understand why it wasn't working, and then looked at the knife Anya had used, her eyes clouding a bit as green bled into black.

       Anya backed away from Willow slowly, feeling slightly sick as Willow began to cry, trying numerous healing spells that wouldn't break the enchantment of the knife used to stab her.

       Tara looked up as Anya knelt beside her, and she wrapped her arms around the ex-demon, "Are you all right?" Anya asked, eyes still on the desperate Willow, whose spells were interspaced with the sound of pained sobs.

       Tara didn't answer her as Willow looked at her, eyes spitting hatred, "He was worth this...? He was worth me?"

       Tara closed her eyes as Anya pulled her closer, holding her tightly. Willow stumbled to her feet almost drunkenly, going towards the Wizard Glass that had fallen to the floor when Anya had stabbed her.

       Willow collapsed halfway there, and began to crawl instead, leaving a trail of blood behind her, and Tara stood up shakily, approaching the Glass.

       Willow looked up, eyes going wide as Tara picked it up, "NO!"

       Tara looked at her apologetically, and then slammed the Wizard Glass to the floor, shattering it into a million, black shards, and a roar of wind filled the room, whipping her golden blond hair around her face.

       Willow rolled onto her back, and let out a shrill, ear-splitting scream as she stared up at the ceiling, and Tara felt as if her insides were being torn apart at the sound.

       Suddenly, it cut off, followed by a low, gurgling sound, and Willow's body jerked a few times before she lay still.

       Tara fell to her knees, her eyes wide as she stared at Willow's motionless form, and Anya slowly approached the fallen witch, then shook her head when she found no pulse.

       "Wills!" Xander finally managed to wriggle out from beneath the bookcase, his power of speech returned to him once Tara had smashed the Wizard Glass.

       He ran to his best friend's side as Tara let out a wail of pain, covering her eyes, and Xander felt his stomach heave as he stared down at Willow, feeling as if he was going to pass out.

       "Oh God..."

       "I'm sorry..." Anya said softly, looking up at Xander, tears in her eyes, "She...she was going to kill Tara...I couldn't..."

       Xander slipped to the ground beside her, then pulled his fiancée into his arms, pressing a kiss to her forehead, "I know, honey," He told her softly, "I know...it's not your fault...you had too..."

       Anya buried her face in Xander's chest, entire body trembling, and Xander glanced towards Tara, who was staring at Willow's body and rocking back and forth.

       "Tara...where's Spike?" She looked up at him blankly, "Spike, Tara...you hid him...where is he?"

       Tara closed her eyes, trying to focus and then mumbled something beneath her breath.

       There was a low groan from the couch, and Xander looked over his shoulder to see Spike's body lying prone on it. He was unconscious, but all signs of his severe burns had disappeared.

       Tara shrieked in surprise as the door was suddenly kicked open, and Xander scrambled to his feet, picking up the knife Anya had used to kill Willow, hands shaking as he turned to face this new threat.

       Buffy slowly came inside, her eyes wide as she took in the destruction of the apartment, and Xander relaxed, shoulders slumping as he looked on the Slayer, followed by a strange man he didn't recognize.

       "Oh...God..." Buffy breathed when she saw Xander standing over Willow's body with a knife dripping blood onto the floor, Anya sitting beside his legs. Tara was crying in earnest now, entire body shaking with the force of her cries.

       "Wha-what happened?" The Slayer asked as she went towards Willow, nearly moaning when she saw the twisted, hateful look on her best friend's face.

       "Tara...was protecting Spike," Anya told Buffy when it was evident that Xander and Tara weren't quite capable of it yet, and Xander closed his eyes as she spoke. "Tara sent him somewhere to keep Willow from finishing him off...and then she was going to kill Tara to keep her from bringing him back. I...I stabbed her...I stabbed and killed her..."

       Xander gathered his fiancée back into his arms as she began to cry again, looking up at Buffy, "She had too...it was choice between Tara...and Willow..."

       "I didn't come fast enough," Sorlan said softly as he looked down at the redhead, shaking his head, "I should have come as soon as William called. I'm very deeply sorry..."

       Buffy stroked Willow's hair, her eyes filling with tears, "It was my fault...she's been like this...since...since I came back..." She pressed Willow's eyelids down over wide, unseeing eyes.

       "It's not your fault," Xander told her firmly, "It's been happening since you died. The out of control spells...the way she kept using her magic for little, stupid things...we should have all intervened a long time ago..."

       Anya kissed Xander's forehead, and Sorlan knelt beside Tara, talking to her softly, a tender, sympathetic look on his face as he tried to sooth the nearly hysterical witch.

       "Bloody...effin'...hell..."

       Buffy's head shot up as Spike sat up on the couch, looking down at his body in confusion, "Jesus, Mary 'n Joseph...why am I naked?" His nostrils suddenly flared when he caught the scent of blood. Then he had approximately a hundred and five pounds of blond Slayer in his arms.

       She was sobbing loudly, clutching at him, and he blinked in surprise, but hugged her to him without question as she buried her face in his throat, her tears burning his skin.

       He lifted his head in confusion, then caught sight of the body lying on the ground and tightened his grip on Buffy, eyes slightly wide as he looked towards Xander, "What happened? The last thing I remember...is going to bed last night..."

       "Long story," Xander mumbled, shuddering a bit, and Spike turned his attention back to the Slayer as she lifted her head.

       "I thought...I lost you," She told him, her smile watery, "When...William and Spike left...I thought it was because you died..."

       Spike looked down at her, the confusion evident in his eyes, "Huh? What...are you talking about, Buffy?"

       Buffy sighed when she realized he didn't remember that, and laid her head against his bare chest, "I love you," She whispered so that only he could hear, "All of you...demon and man..."

       Spike held her even tighter at her confession, and he inhaled the scent of her hair deeply, "Love you too," He muttered in reply, his voice tinged with sorrow as he looked towards Willow's body. "I'm sorry about Red..."

       She squeezed her eyes shut, but the tears still escaped from beneath her lids. "Me too..." She said softly.

       Buffy watched as the shiny, red oak coffin was slowly lowered into the ground, her eyes slightly unfocused. She felt a gentle squeezing of her hand and she looked up at Giles.

       The Watcher was looking older then ever as he buried a girl who had been so much like a daughter to him, just as Buffy had been, his grayish-hazel eyes filled with tears.

       Buffy lifted her head, staring out across the cemetery at the idling black DeSota, and immediately felt a sense of comfort flood her being.

       Tara was standing between Anya and Xander, both of them holding one her hands, and Dawn stood beside Buffy, her head resting against her sister's shoulder. The Rabbi finished his words, and Tara stepped forward, as did several of the other attendants of Willow's final rites.

       Tara and the other Wiccans linked hands, wanting to guide their lost sister. "Zemes Mate, mother goddess, guardian of the otherworld, please guide your child, Willow Rosenberg to her final rest. Let her sins be forgiven, for she is our sister, led astray," Tara's voice was strong and steady, though her eyes were filled with unquenchable sorrow.

       Willow's parents watched on mistrustfully, still sure that somehow, Willow's chosen religion had led to her death, but they remained silent, due to respect for Tara, who they knew had loved their daughter.

       "Zemes Mate, guide her there so that her sisters may be reunited with her when our time comes. So that I may join her. Peace be with her."

       The other Wiccans muttered small prayers and protective wards to help Willow on her journey, and then they dropped hands and stepped back from the grave as Sheila Rosenberg picked up a small handful of dirt, and dropped it on the coffin, the sound of the earth hitting the wood hollow and small.

       Soon, everyone started to fade away, except for Tara and the rest of the gang. Giles glanced around, then cleared his throat a bit as he looked down at the coffin, "Willow...you were a good friend, a kind and caring person, who deserved so much better in life. I never doubted that you loved your friends beyond compare...and I am sorry that our last words to one another were harsh. I hope that you find the peace and happiness on the other side that you truly deserve."

       One by one, the others stepped forward to say a few words, and when Buffy's turn came, she stepped stiffly forward.

       "You ruined my life...you tore me out of the only peace and happiness I had known since before I came to Sunnydale..." Buffy looked over her friends as they turned their gazes away from her, and she looked back over the cemetery, back at the black car, then smiled slightly.

       "The guide in the desert told me...that I was filled with love...that I loved with all my soul and it was blinding...if you hadn't have brought me back, I wouldn't have been able to see what she meant. She told me I rejected love...and I had been...for the last two years, I've been rejecting it. It took me dying and then being ripped away again to realize that...everything I needed was right in front of me."

       Buffy looked down on Willow's coffin, tears flooding her eyes, "It was because of you that I finally found my gift, Wills, it was because of you that I found Spike...if it wasn't for you, I'd still be living in heaven...but without finally knowing my capacity to love. Because of you...I'm living again, Wills...so...thanks."

       Giles smiled faintly as he went up to Buffy and wrapped an arm around her, embracing her warmly as he whispered in her ear, "I'm glad you're finally living..." He smiled when she looked up at him in surprise, and she smiled at his blessing.

       "Thanks, Giles..." She said softly, kissing his cheek before taking Dawn's hand, and the group went their separate ways.

       Buffy headed towards the DeSota, and she opened the door, waving Dawn in, and squeezing in beside her in the front seat.

       Spike smiled at the two girls faintly, and then kissed Dawn's head, "How'd it go?" He asked quietly, and Buffy smiled a tiny bit as Dawn snuggled up against Spike's side with a sigh.

       "I don't get what happened...why did she flip out?"

       "Fact's of magic, Lil Bit," Spike told her gently as he wrapped an arm around her and Buffy, and the Slayer sighed as she leaned against her sister, "It sometimes gets out of hand...takes control...sorry it had to go down like that, if I had called Sorlan sooner..."

       "Stop," Buffy reached out and touched his face, forcing him too look up at her, "You did what you could...none of us even suspected she'd go that far...and now it's over. We have to move on...get on...with our lives...and hope that Willow's some where she can find peace..."

       "I'm sure she is," Spike replied, lighter then he felt as he started the car, "For all that happened at the end, she was a good person. Just wanted to protect her friends, is all..."

       Buffy sighed as she leaned back in the seat, and Spike pulled out, driving them towards the Summers' home, where he was now residing with the Slayer.

       He pulled into the driveway, and Dawn grabbed his blanket out of the backseat and handed it to him. He sighed as he pulled it over his head, and then darted out of the car and for the house.

       Buffy shook her head slightly as she and Dawn climbed out, and she glanced towards the street as Giles' rental car pulled up, and told Dawn to go ahead in.

       Dawn obeyed, and Buffy smiled as she heard her sister bug Spike about making some cocoa, and the vampire good-naturedly told her to make it her damn self, even though they both knew that Spike would do it, protests aside.

       Giles climbed out of his car as Buffy walked towards him, the Slayer's arms wrapped around her, and the Watcher smiled sadly at her. "I'm sorry...I confronted her before about her magic...but I didn't stick around to follow through on it," He told her, "I shouldn't have left..."

       "No," Buffy shook her head as she leaned against the hood of his car, "You have your own life now, Giles...and the Slaying gig was always my thing."

       "I should have warned you at least..."

       "Maybe...but there were warning signs we all should've picked up on. Besides...I didn't do anything...it was all Anya, Tara and Xander," She shook her head slightly, "It didn't even take a Slayer or a vampire to do it..."

       "Anya's taken it hard," Giles said softly, "She's taken on a lot of the blame on herself for Willow's death. Tara and Xander have to keep telling her that there was no other choice..."

       "I know...Spike's doing the same," Buffy told him, watching Giles' face closely, "Because Willow targeted him, he thinks he may have been the one to push her over the edge. I shouldn't have let him confront Willow like that...it should have been me and the rest of the gang...it shouldn't have been just him."

       "That's possibly the reason why she was so resentful...a crea--person with Spike's past, telling her what she did was wrong, when she think she wasn't in the wrong at all...she resented it and took her anger and frustrations out on Spike."

       Buffy sighed as she looked towards the house, "You know he moved in...right?"

       "I guessed as much," Giles told her, a small smile on his face, "Do you truly love him, Buffy?"

       "Yes...I do," She looked towards him, shaking her head slightly, "I have for a long time...but it didn't click...till that spell Willow did. The polarity one. Seeing his two different sides...and the way they both cared for me...it made me come to terms that...he's both a demon and the man...and I couldn't accept one or the other. I needed his poetry, his tenderness...and his passion, his impatience, and the whole warrior spirit thing. He's my equal, Giles...everything I need...and everything that I love about him."

       Giles chuckled, "I can see that," He reached out, tucking a strand of her hair behind her ear, "I don't think I have seen that amount of emotions in your eyes since you came back. I'm intensely grateful that Spike has seemed to wake it up in you."

       Buffy smiled up at him, "What? No, 'Buffy, be careful, he's soulless and could eat you in a second?'"

       "Of course, I will say be careful...but not of that. I've...gotten to know Spike in few months...that you were gone. He's...got a very strange sense of humor, but I don't think he'd ever hurt you." Buffy couldn't help but giggle at that, and Giles smiled in her direction. "Just don't be afraid to kick his butt. I rather think it's good for him."

       "Oh believe me, he gives me plenty enough causes to kick his butt," Buffy assured her former Watcher, "So...what do you think the Council is going to say about me, 'fornicating' with another vampire?"

       "There's no way in hell I'm going to be telling them that," Giles replied with a grin, "But then...the look on Travers' face may be worth any repercussions."

       "Hmm...get polaroids," Buffy pushed herself off the hood of the car, and she reached out, hugging Giles tightly, "Take care, okay? I don't want to go to any funeral for a long time...including mine."

       "I'm very glad to hear that," Giles said softly, then released her regretfully, "I'll be sure to visit even when there isn't a dire situation involved."

       "Summer?" Buffy asked hopefully, "You got to check on the Magic Shoppe anyway."

       "Anya's doing very well by herself," Giles shook his head slightly, "With the money she sends me, I can retire very comfortably in a few years."

       Buffy laughed, then hugged him once more before he got into his car, and she waved at him as he drove off, watching as his car disappeared around the corner before going towards her house.

       Spike was waiting inside the doorway with a cup of cocoa, and she smiled up at him as she took it and he kissed her forehead, "What the Watcher have to say? Watch out for the big, bad man?"

       "Nope..." Buffy smiled at him, "He gave us his blessing...and I think he admitted to liking you...but only a tiny bit."

       Spike looked genuinely surprised, "The Watcher likes me?"

       "Just a little bit," Buffy reminded him teasingly, wrapping her arms around his middle, careful not to spill her mug on him.

       "You gonna be okay?" He asked her softly, and she looked up into his warm, blue eyes, and she cocked her head, thinking for a few moments before answering him.

       "It's gonna...take a long time...getting used to losing Willow," She told him quietly, "Maybe longer before everything's really okay again...but...I think I'm going to be."

       "Good," Spike kissed her forehead as he wrapped an arm around her waist and started to lead her into the kitchen, where Dawn was waiting for her lunch.

       "Y'know...after finding out that shit I wrote was published...I was thinkin'...how 'bout I start on something serious...like a novel? None of that Anne Rice shit, mind you...I'm not tacky enough to start writing vampire novels...but I bet I could some great historical fiction, considering I was there for a lot of major history..."

       Buffy smiled as she leaned her head against his shoulder, shaking her head slightly at his enthusiasm as he gestured grandly with his hands, sharing with her his ideas for a novel.

       "I don't know," She put in, a slightly teasing tone in her voice, "I was thinking you'd be better at the bodice rippers."

       Spike rolled his eyes, "Is that all you ever think about?" He asked in mock exasperation, then glanced at her, eyes glinting wickedly, "Well...actually, the idea has merit...what say we go upstairs, and practice...the bodice ripping?"

       "No way," She shoved him playfully, "You still have to buy me a new shirt to replace the one you tore!"

       "When I'm a big, famous writer, I'll buy you lots of shirts..."

       "Oh, ick, you two," Dawn peeked her head out of the kitchen, "Bad enough I even know you people are ripping your clothes off, now I have to hear about it? You have a bedroom for that kind of talk!" Spike sighed, throwing a puppy-dog look at Dawn, who only rolled her eyes, "You're supposed to be making me a sandwich, not making out with my sister. Now move!"

       "Hmmphh...bossy brat," Spike grumbled, but he ruffled Dawn's hair as he went into the kitchen.

       Dawn rolled her eyes again, looking at Buffy, "You two are so gross."

       "This from the girl who had thought Spike was a major hottie," Buffy said loudly, and Dawn's eyes went wide as Spike looked towards them sharply, dropping the plate he was taking out of the cabinet.

       "I never! Don't listen to her, she's such a liar!" Dawn huffed, crossing her arms over her chest as Buffy giggled at her expense, and Dawn stuck out her tongue, "You sooo suck!"

       "Yeah, but you're stuck with me," Buffy replied with a small smile, then glanced at Spike, "Hey, you're making me a sandwich too, right?"

       Spike swore beneath his breath, then rolled his eyes when Buffy gave him a look, "Yeah, sure, why not? I'm just your personal vamp slave," He grumbled as he started to take out another plate.

       Buffy smiled as she went up to him, kissing his temple before whispering in his ear, "Yeah, but what I'm going to do to you later makes it all worth it." Spike promptly dropped the plate he was holding again. "And you're so going to replace those too."