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hey I got some wonderful reviews, thanks so very much, they make the fingers work faster
Xander watched as Buffy went through the portal, it felt really weird to him to see Buffy enter the swirling lights, brought back b-a-d memories.

He looked over at his bestest friend in the world. Willow looked very small leaning against Kennedy. Kennedy seems to be good for her, he thought to himself, but whatever had happened had taken some of the sparkle from her normally bubbly personality.

‘Ok Willow,’ he started, ‘why am I here? Not that I don’t appreciate the first class airfare, but it was a big emergency and I find no-one bleeding or dying. Or at least under attack…’

‘Actually Xander, that’s where you’re wrong. We’ve all been under attack,’ Kennedy answered for the overly quiet Willow.

‘What d’yer mean?’ Xander looked totally confused. ‘Under attack?’

‘Yep.’ Willow sounded the p at the end of the word. Looked at him hard. ‘And you’re not going to believe it either. We’ve had a spell put on us so we forget anything and everything about Giles being evil and Spike helping us.’

Xander started laughing. ‘Willow you’ve got it really backwards: sure your roots aren’t going dark again? Evil undead is long gone, and I know that Buffy and Dawn miss him, but he’s gone, really dead, and Giles is on our side.’

‘Seems not. I’ve done a spell,’ she held up her hand to stop his immediate reaction, ‘before you start on me, I’ve not messed up, I did it right and I’ve been careful.’ Willow was wearing her resolved face so Xander knew better than to argue.

‘Right, OK then witch friend of mine, explain it to the one eyed man again.’

‘Giles has turned evil and Spike was on our side.’

‘Yes? And you want to do a spell on me to show me the error of my ways?’ Xander asked carefully. Upsetting Willow was never a good idea.

‘No..’

‘You want to do a spell on me?’

‘Yes…’

‘To show what?’

‘The truth and only the truth: it strips away lies and shows us what’s really there. I’ve done wards on this place,’ she gestured around the hotel, ‘so it will seem that there is no-one here; I’ve sort of left a glamour, it would take an awful lot of magic for anyone to see anything going on here.’

‘And what do you want from me?’ Xander asked.

‘Sit in the circle and let me free you from the spell.’

Xander nodded: just once, he didn’t like magic but it was obviously important. He would humour Willow for a while; as if Spike could be anything other than the evil undead. Junior, of course.

Willow pulled herself together. The power started to build. Xander looked so vulnerable sitting there, she could see the depth and strength of his courage, his missing eye did nothing to diminish the handsome man her friend had grown into.

She pointed straight at him, making sure that none of the spell leaked from the circle. No use in hiding their sanctuary only to reveal it by accident. She knew when it had worked, when the spell was gone from his soul by the look of horror on his face. Tears made their way down his face and sobs wracked his body. Rona and Viv helped him up and sat him in a chair, Dawn passing him a coffee. Xander clung onto Dawn’s waist like a drowning man. Kennedy went to help Willow up.

‘Whatever he’s remembered it’s obviously a bad ‘un,’ she whispered to Willow.

Willow nodded and tried to stand. Her legs seem to buckle from under her.
Kennedy swept Willow up into her arms, made her way to one of the sofas and lay her precious burden down. ‘No more spells for you Willow tree until you’ve rested. You are working on determination and coffee, you can’t even pull power from outside of the hotel because of the glamour, can you?’

Kennedy tried to look cross at the red-headed witch but it was impossible when Willow looked so vulnerable.

Willow shook her head, almost too tired to move. Kennedy looked pensive when she turned from the woman lying down. Her attention was drawn to sheets flying back up the stairs. ‘You can cut that out as well!’ She told Willow. ‘We’re all big girls here and can make our own beds.’ Viv took the hint and hurried over to collect the sheets that had dropped onto the stairs. They started folding up the linen. With Rona helping the pair of them went off towards the bedrooms to start making beds and organising rooms.

‘Don’t forget that Buffy needs a room of her own folks,’ called Dawn.

Xander looked up at Dawn. She was holding him around the shoulders as he sat beneath her. ‘It hurts Dawn: it hurts so much.’

‘I know, we all know. We’ve all remembered things that have lain hidden for years; seems Spike was alive all this time as well. He was working with Angel to bring down Wolfram and Hart. Giles hid that from Buffy. Every time there was a chance they could meet, he would spike their chances. He left us all hating Spike: even after he saved the world, we didn’t really forgive him.’

Xander nodded, still holding tight to Dawn.

‘It’s worse, Xander, it looks like Anya should have made it but Andrew killed her. It wasn’t a tourak kan at all but Andrew that killed Anya.’

Xander’s tears started again. ‘I think I need some time on my own,’ he mumbled.

‘No trouble; let’s get you to your room.’ Dawn picked up his bag and helped the distraught Xander upstairs. It seemed strange seeing Dawn take on the carer’s roll but it suited her.

‘You alright Babe?’ Kennedy was worried. She hadn’t seen Willow ever look so pale. Willow lay with her eyes shut against the light, her arm over her forehead. She nodded slowly.

‘It was harder than it should be. Xander had a spell hidden deep in him; he’s going to remember an awful lot in the next couple of hours.’

They sat quietly until Dawn returned. She picked up more bags and headed back for the stairs.

Dawn turned her head and looked at Kennedy. ‘If you can fix that door we came through, I suggest that we all hit the sack for a couple of hours, get some rest and regroup later to talk about what’s happened.’

‘When did you get so wise?’ Willow said with a tired smile.

‘Hey: thousands of years old here, remember?’ Dawn answered with a grin.
Kennedy got up and found a picture that fitted the hole. Removing the glass the young slayer fitted it into the gap. ‘I thought this was Xander’s job,’ she complained good naturedly. The glass fixed, she returned to Willow, picked her up and carried her love to bed. ‘Thank goodness for slayer strength!’

The hotel quietened down quickly and everyone slept. Slept through until the morning. Glad for the peace.





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