Willow looked out of the expanse of desert that used to be Sunnydale and smiled. She squeezed her friend lightly on the shoulder. “Well done.”

Buffy didn’t say anything, just nodded with a mixture of sadness and content.

Willow turned around and glanced at Xander. He had a solemn, yet satisfied expression n his face. Willow stepped closer to him and clasped both his hands in hers.

She knew what he was feeling, she understood. She had felt the same way he was feeling right now. It may have been over a year ago but all the emotion was still fresh in her mind.

She knew that no words could ease the pain of loosing someone close. Him and Anya had their differences but deep down, they loved each other. Deeply and passionately. She smiled at him and tenderly embraced him, enjoying the familiar warmth that she found so comforting. Then she turned away from him and walked back towards the bus.

“So what is the deal now then, B?” she heard Faith ask as she walked away.

None of them honestly knew. Not even Giles, Willow thought with slight amusement. He usually has an answer to everything. But it didn’t really matter. They had won.

She could hear the gravel of the slightly crumbled road crunch beneath her feet. Everything was already so quiet and calm, save for the gentle breeze and the sound of voices. The whole scene now was in stark contrast to what it had been like only 5 minutes earlier. And entire city had crashed into the ground and now everything was silent.

Vi looked up from bandaging Robin’s wound and grinned at Willow as she climbed the steps back into the safety of the bus. “You did it” she said, “It’s all because of you.”

Willow offered a halfhearted smile back. She knew it wasn’t true. It was down to everyone, Spike, Buffy, Faith… Everyone who fought by her side had their part to play.

She didn’t answer though. She was not being selfish, or arrogant because she truly believed that their victory wasn’t because of her. She just didn’t have the energy to fight anymore. And she was only partly paying attention to Vi and the other girls who sat, bleeding around her.

She had her eyes fixed on Kennedy. She sat near the back of the vehicle with a huge beaming grin on her face. It made Willow smile too. Despite her exhaustion, she couldn’t help it. She just had a way of making everyone feel better about themselves. Willow walked towards her down the aisle.

“She’s right you know” her girlfriend said, “You are the reason we won. You were awesome.”

Willow blushed and shyly turned away, squeezing up next to her on the seat. “It wasn’t just me” she said, then paused and raised her eyebrows. “Bet it doesn’t seem so much like fairytale crap anymore, huh?”

Kennedy rolled her eyes. “Well, I guess it’s kinda cool” she admitted, laying her hands on Willow’s knee and grasping her hand. “But I still prefer kicking ass the good old fashioned way.”

“Getting used to this whole slayer deal then?”

“Oh yeah!”

Willow smirked. She raised her hand and lovingly brushed Kennedy’s hair out of her face. She flinched slightly in pain but then relaxed.

“Oh, I’m sorry” Willow apologized. “Here, let me take a look.”

“No, I’m fine” Kennedy protested. “Just a scratch.”

“Sure?” Willow asked again, concerned.

“Positive.”

Both girls turned to face each other and Willow’s expression slowly turned serious.

“I’m so glad you made it” Willow said, tears pricking the backs of her eyes. “I don’t know what I’d have done if it happened again…”

“Shhhhh…” Kennedy soothed, interrupting her. “Don’t think about that, it doesn’t matter. The important thing is, we won.” Kennedy wrinkled her nose in that cute way she always did as she smiled. She reached up and stroked Willow’s cheek.

“Yeah, we did, didn’t we?” the whole situation was only just sinking in for Willow. Sunnydale, and everything in it was gone forever. The Bronze, the house, the grave…

Willow dropped her head and a single tear fell onto her lap. Kennedy pulled away slightly and lifted Willow’s head, looking deep into her eyes, searching for the problem.

“Something the matter, honey?”

Willow could only manage a whisper. “Tara.”

That was all she needed to say and Kennedy understood completely what she meant. She put her arm around her and Willow rested her head on her shoulder.

“It’s ok” she reassured, “she will always be with you in spirit.”

Willow nodded, wiping a tear away. She took a deep breath. Kennedy was so patient with her when it came to Tara. She knew she should move on, not forget about her, but at least come to terms with it. It wasn’t fair to keep bringing it up. She didn’t want Kennedy to think she didn’t love her now.

Love. Willow hadn’t really thought about it until now, but she supposed she did. She smiled quietly to herself. It took an apocalypse for her to admit her true feelings.

“I love you,” she thought aloud. They both sat up and Kennedy looked at her with surprise. Willow didn’t flinch. She just smiled and her expression soon turned to joy.

“I love you too.”

Wow, that was easy she thought and couldn’t understand why she had taken so long to say it.

The looked into each others eyes for a second, deep into their hearts, and felt the warmth and security that came with saying those three short, but meaningful words.

They were drawn closer to each other at that moment and their lips touched tenderly. They felt the spark ignite between them and their embrace turned more passionate.

At the other end of the bus, Dawn and Xander stood, leaning against each other for support with grins on their faces.

“At least someone’s happy now” Xander said, turning to the youngest Summers. “No one else has a clue what they want now but…”

Dawn giggled. “I think it’s cute,” she said. “All that’s left now is for the rest of us to figure out what we want.”