“You know we have to do this. Giles, we have to get to the bottom of this and get a new Slayer called,” Travers said in a reasonable no-nonsense tone.

“Quentin.”

The note of sorrow in Giles’s voice gave Travers pause. When he spoke again, it was out of a sense of kinship.

“Rupert...I know this is hard. She was your Slayer. I know. I lost my Slayer once, too. But this is bigger than our loss. This is about the future of the world. Buffy gave her life for that future; you have to let us do this for her. For her and the world, so we can keep protecting this world she protected with her life.”

It was the longest string of sincere words Giles had ever heard Travers string together. Giles’s reply was to sit on a nearby bench in resignation.

Travers motioned for the tweed covered diggers to continue. Giles watched as they shovelled more and more dirt off of Buffy’s coffin.

*********

“I’m glad Giles called from the airport,” Willow said as she got herself and Dawn each a glass of water. Tara poured herself a glass. “I felt bad we hung up on him last night; at least now he’s up on everything. He said he’d call back when he figures out what the Watcher’s Council is doing.”

The wiccans went back into the living room where they were ready to begin the spell they hoped would give them the answers they needed to bring Buffy back. There was an air of tension in the room. Dawn was nervous and probably more than a little scared, Willow thought, but she was excited about getting her sister back. Poor kid. Spike looked sort of like a mix between “goofy puppy” and “loaded up crossbow string.” But that was just a weird analogy. Buffy had chosen to reveal herself to Spike. Willow wondered why Buffy had chosen him. Well, we can ask her when she gets here. Or when I get there. Whichever.

Tara looked nervous, or worried. Willow knew she was scared the spell was too much for her to handle, but Willow wasn’t afraid. She had done this same sort of thing before when Buffy went all catatonic on them after Glory snatched Dawn and then they went to get her back and Buffy died. Let’s keep the casualties to a minimum this time, she told herself. We can do this. Tara’s here to help me. It’ll be just like the last time.

“Ready, Freddy?” Willow asked Dawn with a smile.

“Oh, yeah.” Dawn relaxed a little, then Willow began to feel her almost vibrate with nervous energy.

“Relax, Dawnie. Everything’s going to be fine. You sit here,” Willow put Dawn sitting on one chair inside the sacred circle, “and I’ll sit here.” She sat opposite Dawn in the other chair.

“Okay, here we go."

Willow closed her eyes and began to chant.

*********

A dull thud indicated a shovel striking a coffin. The pace increased, and in a few short moments, Buffy’s coffin was out on level ground. Giles felt the pit of his stomach drop out.

Quentin Travers turned to Giles. “Would you...”

Giles walked over to the coffin and ran his hand along the top, brushing away the dirt and feeling the smooth wood underneath. He took a deep breath and lowered his hands to handles on the lid, closed his eyes, and lifted.

*********

The air around Willow began to shimmer, like the heat coming off the asphalt on a hundred degree day. Spike watched as the shimmer grew to envelope Dawn and then grew more dense, making it harder to see Willow and Dawn clearly. Then the shimmer began to flicker in some places, and Spike thought it looked like moonlight reflecting off of a puddle all around the two girls. The flickers became more blue and then purple, and the space around the girls filled with the purple energy crackles that replaced the watery flickers. Spike took a second to glance over at Tara, who looked as awed as he felt. The spell was apparently working. He turned his attention back to the flickering girls.

*********

Willow’s chants put her into a relaxed state of consciousness, unaware of the changes in the air around her body. In her mind’s eye, she was walking down a beach toward a pier. It was night. She could hear the ocean waves breaking rhythmically to her side. As she neared the pier, she saw there was someone standing underneath the pier, next to one of the pilons. She walked faster, and when she had almost reached the person, she realized it was Dawn, and she wasn’t just standing by the pilon, she was tied to it, and she was unconscious. Willow went to Dawn and tried to untie the ropes that held her. She tried waking Dawn up, but she remained passed out. Suddenly she noticed that the tide was coming in very quickly, and that the water was rising up their legs and over their hips. Willow struggled with the knots, but they wouldn’t budge. She called for help.

“Somebody help me! I can’t get her untied! She’s going to drown!”

“I can hear the ocean,” a voice said behind Willow. She turned around to find Buffy standing five feet away, knee deep in the ocean. Buffy was holding a big conch shell to her ear. Then she held it out to Willow. “Wanna hear? It has a secret.”

“Buffy, we need to help Dawn--” Willow stopped suddenly as she looked back to where Dawn had been. Now there was just an empty circle of rope tied to the pier.

“Well, that works, too.”

*********

Giles caught his breath when he looked at Buffy’s body laying in the coffin. She looked so peaceful, so young. He felt a tear come to his eye and removed his glasses to wipe it away. When he looked back at the body in the coffin, it was covered in purple jets of energy. Giles blinked and put his glasses back on, thinking his eyes and grief were playing a trick on him. The crackles dissipated to reveal Dawn’s body laying in the coffin.

“Dear God..." mumbled Giles.