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Author's Chapter Notes:
Betaed by Tasha
Chapter 4

"Do you think it's odd that Cordelia didn't end up with Angel?" Buffy asked softly. "I mean, she was really interested in him."

"I don't think the fountain cares about who you think you're interested in." Spike smirked. "Look at us, or at Rupes. From everything you said he was interested in the gypsy bint."

Buffy giggled. "Yeah, and look who she ended up with."

"The cheerleader was with Harris when they found the fountain." Spike pulled Buffy closer to his body. "Remember, they said they had a brief moment of attraction before they went in search of more interesting prospects.

"True." Buffy nodded in agreement. "How do you explain the fact that their partners were strangers?"

"Don't know." Spike shrugged. "Did you notice that except for your Watcher and your mum, none of the couples are traditional, luv?"

"No, I hadn't thought about it." Buffy pulled back to look at Spike. "You're right though. Doyle and Anyanka aren't really normal, except maybe in a Hellmouth-y way."

Spike showed his agreement with a kiss.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

(Flashback)

Cordelia left Buffy's house with marriage shower plans swirling around in her head. She had told Willow and Oz that she'd take Xander duty while they went on a date that they had planned weeks in advance. Cordelia huffed in disgust. She had no idea what the boy's problem was. It was clear to her that Buffy had no romantic interest in Xander whatsoever.

"Your turn to babysit?" Xander sneered when he saw Cordelia approach.

"Only because you won't get the memo," Cordelia sneered in return. "Buffy's just not interested in you that way."

"Oh, shut up," Xander snapped.

"Look, it's not my fault you're too pathetic not to notice things around you," Cordelia sniffed with disdain.

"Oh, I've noticed that Buffy only goes for the undead," Xander snarled jealously. "What's a normal guy gotta do to get her attention?"

Cordelia shook her head in disbelief. She figured that Xander would be over his tantrum by now, but she had guessed wrong. She grabbed his arm and dragged him off towards Party Town where they could take a look at party supplies.

"I don't care what your problems are. They're not important," the cheerleader informed Xander. "What's important is that Giles and Joyce have a nice wedding shower."

"What?" Xander stopped in his tracks. "The G-man and Buffy's mom? How'd that happen?"

"Same way Buffy found her new vampire boyfriend," Cordelia sighed in exasperation. "Maybe if you hadn't gotten all huffy, you'd know that Giles called from Vegas today while Buffy was watching the library."

"But what about Ms. Calendar?"

"Guess she's out of luck, isn't she?" Cordelia rolled her eyes.

A flash of movement caught the teenagers' attention. They both glanced at the little park off to their right. They saw a fountain in the very middle of the open expanse.

"I didn't know that park had a fountain," Xander said.

"It doesn't, you dolt. That must be the fountain the others have found."

"Oh, maybe I can get Buffy to change her mind about me." Xander stalked off towards the fountain, leaving Cordelia behind to fend for herself. He didn't even realize how ridiculous his statement sounded.

"That'll never work," Cordelia called out. "Spike will kill you if you get near her. Crud, he's not listening." She slowly trailed after Xander.

Xander reached the LoveWater fountain, and he plunged his hands into the magical water. It cooled his hatred and anger until all he felt was calmness. Xander smiled over his shoulder at Cordelia.

"You gotta feel this, Cordy," Xander said in a pleasant voice. "It's the best thing I've ever felt."

"I don't think so, Harris." Cordelia shook her head. No way was she going to touch the water.

"No choice!" Xander turned suddenly, and he flicked water on the girl.

"Don't do that!" Cordelia screeched.

"This will really piss you off." Xander grabbed Cordelia's shoulders, pulled her close, and covered her lips with his own.

After a few awkward minutes of kissing, Xander and Cordelia broke apart. They stared at each other for a moment before Cordelia spoke.

"That was... close, but no cigar."

Xander nodded in agreement. "Yeah, like we would have tried, but it wouldn't work just right."

"Okay. So, we have to go find someone else to try with?" Cordelia wasn't too thrilled about that prospect.

"Excuse me, miss. I've seemed to take the wrong turn somewhere. Where can I find the high school?"

Cordelia whirled around to stare at the handsome dark-haired man. Something about him called to her.

"I could show you the way there, but first would you like to check out Sunnydale's finest fountain?" Cordelia gestured towards the gurgling fountain while she ignored Xander. "I'm Cordelia Chase, by the way."

"Francis Allen Doyle at your service, but everyone calls me Doyle." The man glanced at Xander before he asked. "Are you sure I wouldn't be interrupting your date?"

"Oh, Harris and I don't date," Cordelia replied. "I was just making sure he didn't bother Buffy and her newest boyfriend." She grabbed Doyle's arm, and she dragged him closer to the fountain.

"Oh, okay," Doyle said a tad reluctantly. "But I have a meeting with the librarian in just a little while."

"If you mean Giles, he eloped with Buffy's mom." Cordelia smiled happily. "They'll be back in a couple of days. I'll be happy to show you around Sunnydale in the meantime." She dipped her hand into the fountain, and she used a wet finger to draw patterns on the back of Doyle's hand.

"That would be great, Miss Chase," Doyle whispered in a gentle voice. "Maybe we can find someplace to be alone."

"I can do that," Cordelia cooed. "You can come to the wedding shower when Giles and Mrs. Summers come back from Vegas. I'll do the introductions."

"Don't mind me." Xander rolled his eyes at Cordelia's flirting.

"Did you say something, Harris?" Cordelia didn't take her eyes off Doyle.

"Well, I need to find a place to stay if Mr. Giles is unavailable." Doyle smiled softly at Cordelia. "Can you recommend someplace?"

"Of course." Cordelia led Doyle off in the direction of the new hotel just built across town. "Do you have a car, Doyle? Sunnydale can be kinda dangerous at night."

"Why of course, my lady," Doyle replied as he steered the lovely young woman towards the vehicle. "I know this is a question a man should never ask a woman, but how old are you?"

"Um, my birthday is next month," Cordelia said slowly. "I'll be eighteen then. Will that be a problem?"

"No, my lady. I just didn't want a daddy with a shotgun and a sheriff after me." Doyle didn't mention that he had recently separated from his wife, but no papers had been filed as of yet.

"I'm older than most of my friends," Cordelia replied. "Dad had business overseas. So, I ended up waiting a whole year before entering kindergarten. Besides, Dad's too busy to even know what I'm doing." She rolled her eyes. "He didn't even notice the vamp on Parent/Teacher night."

"Vampires?"

"Ooops, I meant 'gang members on PCP'."

"You know about vampires?" Doyle stared at the beautiful girl beside him.

"Well, Buffy's the Slayer and she's boinking a vampire as we speak." Cordelia giggled at Doyle's shocked expression. "It's kinda hard to avoid the vampires, especially when they attack the Bronze."

"So, you know who Mr. Giles is?"

"He's Buffy's Watcher."

Doyle nodded in understanding. He wondered if Cordelia would freak when he revealed his true identity. That would come in time, he knew. Right now it was time to find someplace private where they could get to know each other better. Well, everything with her except his soon-to-be ex-wife and demonic heritage.

Meanwhile, back at the fountain, Xander was about to walk away when a popping noise caught his attention. He turned around to find a pretty dark-haired woman standing in the fountain.

"You're not a woman!" she said with indignation. Her face changed from human to demonic. "I am Anyanka, patron saint for scorned women. Are you gay? Because I'm totally the wrong vengeance demon to be here if you are."

"What?" Xander tried to act insulted, but he was too entranced by Anyanka's beauty and contrasting scariness. "No, I'm not gay. It's the fountain, I bet."

"How would a fountain get me here?" Anyanka muttered. "That's ridiculous."

Xander shrugged his shoulders. "Same way the Slayer is with an evil vamp, and her Watcher and mom eloped, I suppose."

"You are kinda cute... for a human." Anyanka shifted back into her human guise. "Do you give good orgasms?"

Xander gulped. How could he tell this beautiful demoness that he had terrible luck with the ladies without her laughing at him? "Uh, well... Buffy's had to slay my last two dating attempts. So, I'm not all that sure about that. Is that okay?" he asked a tad sheepishly.

"My very own boy toy that I can teach?" Anyanka clapped her hands in delight. "How wonderful."

"Uh, yeah," Xander mumbled, feeling a bit intimidated. "So, you, um, wanna go out for a soda or something?"

"Okay, maybe we can find a cheating no good man to emasculate while we're there." Anyanka nodded enthusiastically while she waded out of the fountain.

Xander paled at the thought, but he moved to help Anyanka out of the pool. Despite her demonic status, he felt the need to know her better. Xander just hoped she didn't try to kill him. That wouldn't bode well for the relationship. Besides, if Buffy could put up with a cold-blooded murderer so could he.

"The Bronze then?" Xander bowed over Anyanka's hand.

"Of course." The vengeance demon looked down at her wet feet. "Just let me change." She snapped her fingers, and she was wearing dry shoes. Anyanka didn't question why she was willing to go somewhere with a teenaged human boy. It just felt like the right thing to do.

"You do know that women aren't the only ones with bad dating experiences, don't you?" Xander led his new lady love away from the park. "Let me tell you all about Ms. French and Ampata."

As Xander and Anyanka walked away, they didn't see the two females stumble into the little park. The older woman slumped against the rim of the fountain in exhaustion.

"Mama, are you okay?" The younger girl dropped the two suitcases she was carrying.

"Yes, yes, Tara darling." The woman assured her daughter. "Just out of breath." She didn't want to tell her daughter just how sick she really was.

"We need to find someplace to spend the night." Tara looked around. "Are you sure this is the town where I need to be? It looks pretty scary."

"Of course it is, sweetie. Why don't you wet one of the handkerchiefs in the fountain? I need to wipe my face." Tara's mother Diedre requested in a soft voice. She knew the fountain was important to Tara, even though she wasn't sure how exactly.

Tara rushed to do as her mother requested. She was really worried about Diedre who was getting sicker by the day. The young woman wetted the handkerchief, and when she turned around she realized that her mother had totally collapsed.

"Mama!" Tara rushed to Diedre's side. "Mama, please be okay."

"Hey. It's dangerous to be out after dark. You should get inside."

Tara looked up to find a teenaged couple standing a few feet away. They were on the short side and both were redheads. Although, the girl's hair was like a flame while the boy's was green tipped.

"Your mom looks really sick." The boy nodded towards Diedre. "I'm Oz, and this is Willow."

"Oh, I didn't notice. I'm so sorry." Willow came to stand on Diedre's other side. "Do we need to go to the hospital?"

"No, they can't help," Diedre whispered. She could see the lovely auras around the redheads, and she knew they'd take good care of her Tara. "I'm afraid I'm dying, and there's no hope for me."

"Mama, don't say that." Tara started to cry. "Please don't leave me all alone."

"I'm not going yet." Diedre gasped for breath. "Besides you won't be alone. These two fine young people will care for you." She looked at Willow and Oz. "Destiny's an interesting thing. Look into the fountain, and I'll show you yours."

Willow and Oz glanced at each other with skepticism, but it was the Hellmouth. Stranger things had happened in Sunnydale. They both went to the water.

"Run your hands through the water." Then, Diedre silently said the words to project the visions she'd seen several weeks before to the surface of the pool.

"It's us," Willow whispered. "We're together and happy." She stared at the vision of the new girl, Oz, and herself surrounded by their friends and children.

"Wow, this water feels a little odd," Oz murmured.

"Oh my! This is Buffy's fountain." Willow suddenly noticed the hieroglyphs around the base of the pool. "It's the LoveWater fountain.'

"I'm sorry," Diedre whispered. "I needed to ensure Tara is protected from her father."

"We would have done that anyway," Willow replied.

"Even if the females in our family are demons?" Tara asked quietly. She wasn't ashamed of her mother or herself, but she worried about being shunned by the new couple.

Willow shrugged as if demons weren't an issue. "Buffy's the Slayer. If she can handle a big bad vampire like Spike, I'm sure you're easy peasy."

"She's 'handling' him, alright," Oz said with a chuckle. "I think we should get inside. We can talk then." He smiled at both Willow and Tara.

"Oz's van is just over there." Willow pointed to a van about halfway down the block. "Do you think you can make it?"

Diedre nodded. Now that the fountain magic was running through the teenagers, she was feeling much better mentally at least. She hated that they would be committed to each other at such a young age, but she didn't have much choice. Diedre knew that she wouldn't see her daughter's eighteenth birthday.

Tara and Willow helped Diedre to her feet while Oz grabbed their suitcases. It was decided that they'd go to Oz's house since his parents were as laid back and understanding as he tended to be.

(End flashback)





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