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Author's Chapter Notes:
I think this chapter was up-but I'm not sure-and if it was up it wasn't up for long. :)
William managed to stay away for three hours. When she opened the door, he held out a Scrabble board and she laughed.

Forty-five minutes later they were arguing playfully. “That is so not a real word.”

William frowned. “Of course it is.”

“No way.”

“We can go collect a dictionary from the library if you’d like.”

Buffy shook her head. “I’m avoiding the library right now.”

“Leah?”

“Who? Oh, no.” She laughed and shook her head. “Willow. She keeps looking at me like I torture puppies.”

William frowned. “I will speak with her. She won’t bother you again.”

“No. No. She is just trying to protect you. It’s sweet.”

“Nevertheless, she will do as I ask.”

“William, what is Willow exactly?”

“She’s mortal. Why?”

“No, I mean…she works for you, doesn’t she?”

He nodded. “Yes.”

“Do you pay her?”

“Ah.” William sat back and sighed. “I see. No, Willow is not paid. Of course payment is unneeded here since she can simply create anything she requires, but that is not what you are asking. You wish to know if she is free.”

“Is she?”

“No.”

“I see.” She didn’t. She couldn’t see William, her sweet and gentle William, keeping a slave. It was inconceivable. She stood up and walked over to the window. “That’s just the norm here, right?”

“I’d ask you to get your answers from Willow herself, but I doubt you would and I’m honestly not certain whether her pain in telling the story is a better choice than my telling you a story that isn’t mine to tell. Either way it is hardly a great secret. With a little help you could find the tale in the library.”

“William.”

“All of this happened hundreds of years before I was born, you understand? I heard the tale years ago, but Willow doesn’t speak of it.” He reached up and ran his hand through his hair, mussing it without thought.

“What happened?”

He looked up at her and shrugged. “Willow nearly destroyed the world.”

Her jawed dropped. “Willow?” She shook her head. “No way. I don’t believe it.”

He smiled. “Don’t underestimate Willow; even now her power rivals that of a true immortal. Once she could easily challenge a god and she did.”

“That’s…what is that?”

“Hubris. Insanity. Take your pick.”

“What happened? Why would she even try?”

“Her love was taken from her, cursed, and she didn’t want a world without him to continue. The gods stopped her, barely, and she was sent here to serve immortals that don’t have a fraction even of the power she once had. It was meant to be humbling.”

“Your gods are big on folks being humble, aren’t they?”

William’s eyes widened. “Do try to remember that they are your gods as well. One you could even call grandfather.”

“Right. But she’s been trapped here for hundreds of years. How is that okay?”

“Ask her, Buffy. I have offered to appeal on her behalf and she has refused, repeatedly. So, yes, she serves me but trust me when I tell you she does nothing she does not choose to do. When I said that I would speak to her I meant only that if I told her it hurt me when she treated you coldly she would stop. Willow is my dearest friend. She is the only mother I can truly remember.”

“Oh.” Buffy nodded. It was all too much to process at the moment. She wondered if she could ask Willow about it.

“You still seem so determined to think ill of me, Buffy. I cannot help but wonder if you perhaps seek to make our separation easier by painting me the villain once more.”

She frowned, considered his words and rejected them. “No, I don’t think so. There is just a lot that I don’t know still about this place and about you.”

“What would you like to know?”

She sat on the bed and shrugged. It was hard to know where even to begin. Her glance passed over the game board they’d been playing on a few moments earlier, she grinned. “Tell me the truth. Is that a real word?”

Sitting down beside her, William laughed and shook his head. “No.”

Her mouth opened in surprise and she smacked his arm. “Jerk. I knew it.”

“Bluffing is an acceptable strategy, love. You could have checked a dictionary and made me forfeit a turn.”

“See, this is exactly what I was talking about. There’s still all this stuff that I don’t know.”

“About the rules of Scrabble? I’ll get you a guide book.”

She elbowed his side and laughed. “No, goofball. I meant about you. We really only met a couple of weeks ago, I know that, but I still have this feeling like I’ve always known you.”

“It’s possible, likely even, that our souls have been bonded in the past.”

“Okay, but the thing is: I feel like I know you, but you keep surprising me. I wouldn’t have thought you could keep a straight face while lying. But—”

He frowned. “Bluffing is a standard part of game play. I wasn’t cheating.”

“I know. I get it. I just didn’t see it coming. So, now I wonder what else I think I know about you. What would I find out if I had time? Two years from now, when I think about you, will I be remembering things that aren’t even true? Like your favorite color. I think it’s blue because you wear blue shirts a lot. Am I right? Or am I going to be thinking about the guy who liked blue when you really like green or red or fuchsia?”

William nodded and wrapped his arm around her shoulders. He waited for a moment, letting the simple touch calm them both. “No one’s told you much about what will happen when you leave, have they?”

She shook her head. “I guess not.”

“Buffy, love, you won’t remember this. You’ll be returned to the point when you were taken. For you, it’ll be as though you never left and we never met. You might sense that you’re missing something as time goes on, but you won’t think of me.”

Nausea hit her like a truck. She wouldn’t even have the memory to hold on to. “But that’s so…” She looked up at him with watery eyes. “Will you remember?”

“Forever.”

Her gaze dropped to the floor. “I don’t know which is worse.” He would always know what could have been. He’d know exactly what she’d had to give up. But at least he’d remember what true, perfect love felt like. Well, he would if she could tell him that she loved him.

His hand rubbed circles on her back. “Please, pet. We have twelve days left. We could enjoy them or we could mourn them. I’d prefer to see you smile.”

Buffy nodded solemnly. “You’re right.” She gave him a weak smile. “Do you sleep?”

Frowning at the sudden subject change, William shrugged. “Yes. Some. My body doesn’t require rest, but my mind does.”

“Good. Good. Will you…will you stay here tonight?”

He nodded. “I’d like that very much.”

“I’m not ready to finish what we started earlier…at the baths.” She blushed at the memory.

“I know. But you’ll let me hold you?”

She smiled shyly. “I don’t think I can sleep if you don’t.”


Chapter End Notes:
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