"I don't know", Buffy mused, staring up into the sky contemplatively. "It's kind of comforting, in a way. At least you don't have to wonder..."

"Buffy, I don't want to die", Willow insisted, hugging her knees to her chest. "I mean, sure, one day, a long, long time away, when I'm eighty, and hopefully in my sleep, but not right now."

"Five months from now", Buffy corrected idly. "That one's a horse."

"That doesn't make it any better Buffy", Willow whispered.

"Or maybe a horse-shaped carrot." Hearing Willow's sob of frustration, Buffy frowned for a moment and rolled to a sitting position and demanded, "Will, what do you want to do about this? Do you want to tell Giles and everybody and spend these last few months of your life trying to find a way out of this? 'Cause I'd rather just have some fun and let the future go."

"But it's only five months!" Willow screamed in frustration, clambering to her feet and storming to the edge of the clearing. "I was supposed to have a career! And kids! And maybe even sex! And now I'm just going to die in high school and never go anywhere or do anything or ever really live! And you're the only person who could possibly understand what I feel like, and you just don't even care, and I hate it, I Hate it, I HATE It, I HATE IT!!!" Furiously, Willow struck out at the nearest tree, sending a small avalanche of brittle bark skittering to the ground to litter the grass. "OWWW!!!"

"Are you okay?" Buffy asked gravely, watching her friend with worried eyes.

"No", Willow whimpered, "I think I broke my hand."

"Do you need to go to the hospital?"

"No", Willow admitted sulkily. "How come you're not doing this?"

"Punching trees? I don't want to take out my frustrations on helpless stakes-in-the-raw. Never know when one of these guys is going to save my life." The Slayer smiled humorlessly. "What's left of it, anyway."

"I mean freaking out. Aren't you scared?"

"Sure", Buffy confirmed, tilting her head in consideration. "But I always knew that I'd die young. Honestly? I was surprised every day when I woke up in the morning after...you know, the thing with Angel. And I wanted to die, then. Now it's...it's just...I don't know. It's like a weight's been taken off my shoulders. I don't have to worry about it anymore. I'm not going to die tonight, Willow, and this is the first time since I was fifteen that I've known that for sure." Buffy looked down for a moment, and Willow slowly walked closer and sat near her friend, absently rubbing at her sore hand as the silence stretched on.

"I don't want you to think that I don't care", Buffy murmured, shredding a blade of grass, her eyes locked on a single ant that tracked across the ground before her. "I do. And I understand what you're feeling, because I've felt it too. But knowing when I'm going to die... I'm just sorry that you... But, no, wait...if you're not in Sunnydale, then you should be safe", Buffy said excitedly, "You could just go somewhere...safe?" Buffy looked up then, and her eyes widened as she saw the tears that tracked down Willow's face.

"Then you'd be all alone. I don't want you to die alone." The Hacker smiled tremulously and swiped at the wetness self-consciously. "Sorry."

"Will...”, Buffy began, searching for something to say that would make everything better, but Willow shook her head before the words came.

"No", Willow asserted. "I'm okay. Or I will be. Didn't Giles want to talk to you after school?"

"Yeah", Buffy conceded. "But, if you want me to stay..."

"No", Willow said firmly, putting on the resolved face. "You go. Giles needs you right now."

"So you think I'll be okay until I have a baby?" Buffy asked in disbelief, furrowing her brow. "Um, why?"

"Well", Giles began uncomfortably, shoving his glasses further up on the bridge of his nose, "My, ah, theory...is that the child who your mother saw in her dream is your...son. So of course you should live long enough to...ah, reproduce..."

"Of course", Buffy offered, nodding in apparent agreement.

"And so, I believe that it will be quite some time before you...oh, dear", Giles removed his glasses as a thought came to him, and he stared hard at Buffy as he sputtered, "Unless you've already...ah..."

"No", Buffy told him firmly, rolling to her feet as her eyes darkened with something that he couldn't define. "Not a chance. I'm not pregnant. Can I go now?"

"Oh, yes, of course", the Watcher stuttered, clearly embarrassed and somewhat ashamed to have asked the question. "Do be careful, Buffy." As the young Slayer gave him the same indecipherable look Giles looked down at his hands for a moment, then slowly replaced his glasses and said quietly, "I do worry, Buffy."

"I know, Giles", Buffy sighed. Somewhat hesitantly, she laid a hand on his arm, and he looked up into her eyes, only to find himself staring into a vast, dark emptiness...an emptiness that revealed too much maturity for her tender years. "I'm not going anywhere tonight."

And as she turned and walked away, the Watcher found that, for some reason, it wasn't as comforting as it should have been.