Here and There: Chapter 7
by ang118
Chapter 7

Part 1: HERE

“How was your day?” Xander asked.

“Big fun. Where’s Buffy?”

“She had to stay after school,” Xander joked. “She was making trouble in study hall again.”

Dawn looked at him, not amused.

“Fine,” Xander conceded. “She had to talk to a student about something or other. She called before I left and said she’d walk home, but to be sure to pick you up.”

“Did she say anything about talking to Willow recently?”

“No,” Xander said. “Why?”

“Just wondering,” Dawn said.

“What, did you want to go visit your little friend again?”
“Maybe,” Dawn said.

“Well, Buffy wanted me to drop you off at the Magic Box with explicit instructions to do your homework.”

“Ok,” Dawn said. “Wait. Am I supposed to do it, or are you?”

“Do you really want me to do your homework?” Xander asked.

“Never mind,” Dawn said.

They rode the rest of the way to the Magic Box in silence.

“Before you go in,” Xander said. “I should warn you, Anya has a visitor.”

“Really?” Dawn asked. “Who?”

“The other Anya.”

“Oh,” Dawn said. “Why?”

***

Buffy stepped up onto the porch of her house and sighed.

She was on a mission. With Dawn safely tucked away at the Magic Box it gave her the opportunity she had been dreading. To talk to Willow.

She climbed the stairs slowly and knocked on Willow’s door.

“Will?” she asked.

No answer.

She knocked again.

Still no answer.

That’s strange, she thought.

She tried the doorknob and it turned.

“Will?” she asked again as she pushed the door open.

***

“This is getting confusing,” Dawn said. “We should come up with a way to tell you two apart.”

“Like what?” Anya asked.

“Well, I don’t know,” Dawn admitted. “You could wear name tags. But that wouldn’t work since you both have the same name.”

The Anyas exchanged an amused glance.

“It would help if you weren’t dressed the same,” Dawn said. “Maybe one of you could wear a ribbon in your hair or something?”

“I know,” Anya said. She went over to the counter and came back with a piece of the gift-wrapping ribbon and held it out to Dawn. “Will this work?”

“Sure,” Dawn said., taking the ribbon and tying Anya’s hair back with it. “Now, are you the Anya from my world, or the other?”

“I’m the other,” the other Anya said.

“Ok,” Dawn said. “That’s settled.”

“Wait,” the other Anya said. “If I’m going to be staying here for a little while we should probably come up with a nickname for me so we don’t all get confused when someone wants to talk to one of us.”

“What’s your middle name?” Dawn asked.

“Well, on my fake birth certificate it’s listed as ‘Emanuella.’”

“That’s a little long,” Anya admitted.

“How about we call her ‘Emma?’” Dawn asked.

Neither of the Anyas had any objections.

“Ok. Now that that is settled, I should probably get started on my homework.”

“What subject?” Anya asked.

“Algebra.”

“That’s like math, right?” The other Anya asked.

“It IS math,” Dawn said.

“Does it have anything to do with money?”

Dawn shook her head. “Nope, just polynomials.”

“Oh,” Anya said. “So, I guess we will leave you to do your homework while we...”

“Do something else?” Dawn asked.

“Yes.” Anya agreed.

***

“This is really strange,” Fred said. “Why can we suddenly get though to Sunnydale?”

“I don’t know,” Angel admitted. “But I do agree that it’s strange. I’m going to try Buffy again. I’ll call you back later.”

“Ok,” Fred said.

They said their goodbyes and hung up.

“I think I’m going to head over to the Magic Box,” Connor said. “Someone is bound to be there. And hopefully they will know what’s going on.”

“If you don’t mind taking the sewer route, I’ll go with you,” Angel offered. “After I try Buffy again.”

“There isn’t any sewer access by this hotel,” Cordy reminded them. “But we can take the car. Angel can ride in the trunk.”

“And,” Angel added. “There’s that covered parking lot thing about a block away form the shop. You can just drop me off there.”

“Are you sure it has sewer access?” Cordy asked.

“Yes. Dawn showed me where it was last time I was here.”

“Ok,” Cordy said. “I’ll go pull the car up to the front door and unlock the trunk while you grab a blanket.”

***

“Willow wasn’t in her room,” Buffy said. “And, look what I found in her closet.”

She placed the two anchors on the table in front of her sister.

“I knew it ” Dawn said. “She’s been secretly seeing the Tara form the other reality ”

“But, why are there two anchors?”

“One is probably for Willow and the other for Tara,” Anya said.

“If that’s true then that means that Tara has been here. On our world, and in our house.”

The other Anya looked like she wanted to say something, but she didn’t.

“What?” Anya asked her.

“I...” the other Anya started.

“Spill,” Buffy said. “If you know something it would be in your best interest to share. Now.”

The other Anya sighed. “I was just going to say that Tara was really upset when her Willow died.”

“Yeah,” Buffy said. “But what does that have to do with anything?”

“She swore that she would get her back one way or another.”

“Do you think she could’ve had something to do with Willow’s spell that went all wacky?” Dawn asked.

“I doubt it,” the other Anya said. “But I think that once you guys showed up on our world she may have done something to make your Willow want to come back.”

“You mean, like, a spell?” Dawn asked.

The other Anya nodded.

The four of them jumped when the door leading down to the basement opened.

“Angel?” Buffy asked. “What are you doing here?”

“Well,” the vampire said. “I’ve been trying to call you for days to tell you how the spell you gave me worked. But every time any of us tried to call any number in Sunnydale we would either get a busy signal, or the phone line would go dead.”

“Ok,” Buffy said. “Now that you mention it, I think we’ve been having the same problem. I tried to call the Magic Box a couple times yesterday, but it was busy. I just figured Anya was on the phone with a customer.”

“How did that spell turn out, anyway?” Dawn asked.
“It worked,” Angel said. “It brought Cordy back.”

“Really?” Buffy asked.

The front door to the Magic Box opened and Connor and Cordy walked in.

“Is this everyone you brought with you?” Buffy asked.

Angel nodded.

“We need to get to that other dimension,” Buffy said. She turned to Anya. “Do you have any idea how to make one of those anchors so we could get back?”

“Actually,” Anya said. “I do. Yesterday Willow made another one so I could go visit Emma on my own.”

“Emma?” Buffy asked.

“That would be me,” The other Anya said.

“Did I miss something?” the slayer asked.

“Well, Dawn was getting confused. That’s the reason I have this ribbon in my hair. So she could tell us apart. Anyway, to make a long and boring story short, we decided to call the other Anya ‘Emma.’”

“Oh,” Buffy said. “Where did you get Emma from?”

“It came from Emanuella,” the other Anya explained. “That is what is listed on my birth certificate as my middle name.”

“Did you want me to make that anchor?” Anya asked.

Buffy nodded. “Anyone up for a little dimension portalling?”

Part 2: THERE



“You know this isn’t right,” Tara said.

“She loves me,” Willow said.

“Look in your heart, Will. What does your heart tell you?”

“That I love you. I will always love you.”

“Yes,” Tara said. “But what else does it tell you about me?”

Willow’s eyes welled up with tears. “No,” she sobbed.

“Say it,” Tara pressed.

“No...”


“You’re awake,” the other Tara said.

“I am?” Willow asked. “I don’t feel like it.” She tried to sit up but failed. “What’s wrong with me?”

“You have a virus,” Tara told her. “Just lay down and I will take care of you.”

“Where are we?”

“At a motel. I thought we could use a little time away from everyone.”

“Why?” Willow asked. “Is what I have contagious? Can you get it?”

Tara shook her head. “Just go back to sleep.”

Willow closed her eyes.

***

“Crap,” Buffy said.

“They’re not here,” Dawn said. “Now what?”

“I don’t know,” Buffy admitted, sitting down on the other Tara’s bed.

Dawn went to the closet and opened it. “Buffy,” she said.

“What?” the slayer asked.

“I think some of her clothes are gone. And,” Dawn handed her the two anchors she had found in the closet.

Buffy turned to the other Anya. “Do you have any idea where they might’ve gone?”

The other Anya shook her head. “I didn’t even know they were seeing each other,” she admitted.

“Crap,” Buffy said again.

They heard a noise.

“What was that?” Buffy asked.

“It sounded like a crash,” Dawn said.

“I’ll go check it out,” Connor offered.

“I’ll go with you,” Buffy said.

They searched the other two bedrooms and found the other Dawn tied up in her closet.

“Ow,” the other Dawn said after Buffy pulled the tape off her mouth.

“Who did this to you?” Buffy asked.

“Tara,” the other Dawn said. “She did this weird magic mind-reading thing on me then tied me up.”

“When?” Buffy asked.

“Last night. I’m seriously beginning to wonder if she has lost her mind.”

“Well,” Buffy said. “The good news is, I think you can quit worrying.”

“What?” The other Dawn asked.

“She means we think Tara has, in fact, lost her mind,” Dawn clarified.

“Oh,” the other Dawn said. “Wait, does that mean there’s bad news?”

“I think so,” Buffy said. “Where ever Tara is, Willow is with her.”

“Yeah,” the other Dawn said. “But, she wouldn’t hurt her, right?”

“I don’t know,” Buffy admitted.

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