Xander pounded on the door to 1630 Revello Drive, knowing that Willow was inside. He could hear her on the other side, a ‘Hold on‘…He couldn’t ‘hold on’ though, he had to see Willow now. Instead of waiting, he shoved the door open and rushed up the stairs to meet Willow. He had, obviously, woke her up because she was pulling a robe over her nightgown. Xander didn’t give himself time to feel bad. He had more important things on his mind.
“Willow, I need your help. I need you to summon, Anya,“ he breathed. “I know you can. She’s a vengeance demon again but I need her.”
Willow stared at him before admitting, “I don’t practice magic anymore…”
Xander practically begged her as he pleaded, “Please, I wouldn’t ask if it wasn’t important,“ he clasped his hands together. “Please you’re my only hope…”
Willow had known Xander long enough to know that he was serious. She could hear the strong emotion of desperateness in his voice. She sighed, then started to collect the ingredients needed for a summoning spell.
“I seriously don’t do magic anymore. I can’t believe you are asking this of me. But I can see, based on your crazy actions, you’re desperate.”
Xander nodded as he watched Willow create her circle. She started chanting and Xander closed his eyes saying a prayer, to whoever might listen, that it would work.
A few minutes later Anya, in all her vengeance glory, shouted, “What is the meaning of this?!”
Willow stood up, gesturing to Xander. “He needs you.”
Anya’s face settled into her human form as she looked at Xander with tears in her eyes, “What do you want now, Xander?”
Xander threw himself at her, wrapping his arms tightly around her, even as she stood rigidly, “Anya. I’m so sorry. I know I hurt you and don’t deserve you but I love you. I messed up and I was so wrong. I never should have made that decision. I was scared and unman-like and-God, I’m so sorry.”
Anya looked down at him as he wept, pitifully, on her shoulder. He continued to blab so she stayed quiet, bringing up her arms to pat his back awkwardly. She was still upset with what he had done, tears were still falling down her face.
“Anya I can’t imagine my life without you,“ Xander sniffled. “You are the light in my life. You are perfect for me in every way. Please, oh please, say you will forgive me.”
Anya left his embrace to take a step back. She stared at him, a frown on her face and her brow furrowed, thinking everything over in his head, wondering if going back to him was the right choice to make.
She straightened up, wiping the tears out of her eyes, then whispered, “I will forgive you under one condition.”
Xander’s face filled with hope as he pleaded, “I’ll do anything to make this right. Anything. I need you in my life. I can’t go on without you.”
“I want us to go to Vegas and get married. I don’t wish to plan another wedding only to be stood up again.” the Vengeance demon stated, never breaking eye contact.
Xander looked at her with tears still pouring down his face, then closed the distance between them, pulling her into his arms and planting his lips on hers.
“We will and can. Let’s go get married,” he kissed her.
“Let’s do this right and start out lives together. I’m so sorry, Anya.” Xander promised.
Anya smiled, then turned her gaze to her locket. She looked up at him, a knowing look planted on her face. She knew that she couldn’t stay a vengeance demon. Xander would age and she would stay just how she was forever. Xander followed her gaze, sighing when he noticed the locket.
“I can’t be married to a vengeance demon.”
“I know,“ she nodded, grasping the amulet, giving it a squeeze before tugging it off and dropping it to the floor. “I swear, Xander, if you hurt me, one more time, I’m going to see to it that you end up with so much vengeance done to you that you will no longer be able to live without pain. Understand?”
Xander nodded, looking a little fearful, as she glanced around, noticing Willow was gone. She lifted her foot and stomped on the gem, crushing it to pieces.
Xander wrapped his arms around her as he exclaimed, “Forget packing. Let’s just take the car to the airport and get on the first plane out of here. We can buy what we need when we get to Vegas.”
Anya’s face lit up with joy for the first time since her wedding day.
Taking his hands, she asked, “Can we buy another dress when we get there?”
Xander leaned over to kiss her lips. “Of course. Let’s go.”
Both disappeared out of the house, leaving Willow alone.
In the other room, Willow picked up the phone to call Tara.
“Can we talk? I have something I’d like to tell you…”
Spike and Buffy were both sitting on the edge of the sarcophagus, and awkward silence washing over them. He stared at her, becoming very impatient as he waited for an explanation. Finally, Buffy took a deep breath, preparing herself to speak.
“I made a wish.-A vengeance wish--”
“You... “
“Wait, don’t give me a lecture. Just hear me out ok?” Spike grumbled but agreed to listen, “I made a wish to Anya. I was upset about Xander and Anya breaking up. I had also assumed that if Anya and Xander could make things work being a human with an ex-demon, then we would have a chance. When they broke up, all my dreams and hopes crumbled so I was upset. That’s why you found me crying in the cemetery only this wasn’t how it turned out the first time.” Spike looked intrigued as Buffy continued, “The first time, you asked me what was wrong and I made a wish. I wished…” She paused, not wanting to make the same mistake, “I wanted a different world. I wanted a life where I could be normal without all the complications.”
Spike frowned. “Why would you want that?”
Buffy stared directly at Spike as she admitted softly,
“Here, my mother died only to have me die shortly after. My friends abandoned me-well all but you. Dawn hates me sometimes and I can’t make things right with her. I can’t go to college, I work at a crappy job and I have no future. I feel so alone sometimes that I wish I were dead. Why wouldn’t I want something different?”
Spike sighed but he didn’t say a word. Buffy stared down at her hands for a moment before she started to talk again, “So I made the wish, and Anya, since Xander left her at the altar earlier today, went back to her vengeance gig. She granted my wish, sending me spiraling into a normal world. Things were good for a while. I suddenly had my loving mother back and my dad was back, too, but he was pretty much what I remembered…basically none existent.”
Spike frowned but, still, he stayed quiet, not wanting to interrupt her.
“And Dawn was there. At first I struggled because, well, I was normal. Remember Justin who Dawn dusted?”
Spike nodded, “Well he was back to life and Dawn hooked up with him and went out parking in the woods. I panicked thinking he was still a vampire. Tried to get you to help.”
Spike grinned. “I was in this perfect world of yours?”
Buffy frowned. “Not exactly. You were William. You know your poetry writing, shy and quiet alter ego rather than your sexy Spike ego.”
“Sexy Spike? Is that so, Slayer?” he laughed.
Buffy waved her hand in front of him, “Point is, you turned me down flat, preferring to stay on your little rock at your thinking spot and watch the stars.”
“This bloke doesn’t sound like me.”
“It was you before you were turned. You were never turned into a vampire because vampires didn’t exist there.” Spike went quiet as Buffy continued to talk, “So I punched out Justin, thinking he was a vampire and ended up beating up a legit boyfriend of Dawn’s and winded up grounded. I was then upset and went back to see you and ended up grounded for yet another day.”
“I tell you, that wasn’t me.” Spike said, frowning.
Buffy didn’t look bothered as she continued her story, “So there I was a normal girl in college. I didn’t fully understand my classes and you had to help me with my math a lot and I took art…”
Spike stood up, pulling a folded paper from his duster. “Did you draw this?”
Buffy nodded with a smile. “That was my art project. I had to draw a superhero that was fictional. The only fictional hero I could think of was you. I couldn’t draw you without me by your side so I drew me as well. I never did find out what grade I got.”
Spike chuckled slightly as he studied the likeness of him. “Probably an ‘A.’ That’s great work. So, if this is from the other world, what is it doing here?”
Buffy grew quiet as she thought about it. Finally after a few minutes of silence she whispered, “I was holding it. Let me finish my story.” Spike nodded, not letting go of the image Buffy had drawn of him, “So all was going well in that world. The past was similar in that I had before I arrived I had a one-night-stand with Riley, Parker and Angel who was Liam.”
Spike growled slightly, “You stayed away from him in that world right? As Liam he was an abuser and a troublemaker. He used to brag about how he raped the maids in his mansion growing up. That was without a demon in him…”
Buffy nodded, not surprised, “He was still interested in me but was a slimeball. There was even a rumor that two years ago, Liam almost raped Dru and would have if you hadn’t of saved her.”
“I guess even that false William had some redeeming qualities. Too bad he wasn’t me though.”
Buffy sighed as she continued her story.
“So anyway, day one I was grounded after a rough day of school. I went and spent some time talking to you then got grounded some more. I had to spend the weekend cleaning my house. You’d think in my ‘perfectly normal’ world I’d have some kind of maid or something rather than child labor.”
Spike laughed out loud. “Child labor? Dawn perhaps can use that excuse but Buffy you are hardly a child…and I would know after shagging you senseless.” Spike looked her up and down wagging his eyebrow as he licked his lips seductively.
Buffy blushed red as she cleared her voice. She gave herself a minute to re-gather her thoughts away from Spike and her having sex and started her story again, “So every night I could, there for a while, I was sneaking out at night to go sit with you on the rock at your thinking place. We would watch the stars and spend time together…” Spike started to grow angry as Buffy continued, “You were so sweet to me and so shy around me. You stuttered because you were so amazed by me. You loved me even though you weren’t a vampire stuck with me.” Buffy’s eyes grew slightly cloudy as she continued her story, “But you saved me. I was about to die and you pushed me away at the last second and died in my arms. It was a sad moment and I couldn’t take it anymore. I couldn’t deal in that world without you in it. I did nothing for two days until you were finally buried. I didn’t attend the burial service but I did go to your grave afterwards. First I went to the woods to your thinking spot and read a few pieces of poetry only to fall asleep in tears. Then when I woke up which was about an hour later, I went to the cemetery to find your stone. It was pretty obvious which stone was yours….the ground was all freshly dug on. A ton of flowers were left on your grave from the ceremony but I had no flowers. Instead I sat at your gravestone and traced your name---William Pratt.”
Buffy wiped her eyes from the tears that had fallen. “I couldn’t live without you in that world, so again I made a wish to return here, as though that place never happened. The world had already changed me though, I had watched you die… you just don’t forget watching someone you love die and know it is your fault.”