see part 1
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Part Two
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Monday. Glorious Monday. Everybody *loves* Monday. (Sorry)
Buffy, Willow, Xander were walking into the library when they stopped short in front of the doors. Giles and Erinne were at the table discussing bringing back the dead. The trio walked towards them quietly in order to catch part of the conversation.
"There's basically two ways you can do it." Erinne was flipping through the book in front of her.
"And that pertains to the most common type of death and the rarest type of death, right?" Giles was listening attentively to what she had to say. He noticed the trio walk up and held his hand up as to keep them quiet.
Erinne noticed the group also. "Yeah. You know what, maybe I should leave. I could write it down and bring it tomorrow." She got up to leave, but Buffy set her back down.
"Don't leave. Giles seems quite interested in what you have to say. And am I."
"Alright. The first is for those killed wrongfully, like your Ms. Calendar." Giles sat up in his chair. Buffy, Willow, and Xander took seats around the table quietly. "Because it's the most frequent type of killing, it has the less privileges. You can bring the person back, but only for a short while. Maybe a few hours. All you have to do is burn some sandalwood and rose and perform a little chant."
"That's it?" Giles seemed surprised, as did everyone else in the library. It didn't seem to be that much.
"It's the chant that does the trick. Don't ask me why. I just learn the stuff, I don't try to dissect magick."
"What's the second way?" Buffy still hadn't heard what she wanted to hear.
"Ah. That's a little harder. It's to bring back those who were killed through love. And because not that many people are truly killed for love, those who are brought back are brought back for a whole other lifetime...or afterlife...depending on the dead person."
"What makes it harder then the first?" Willow was interested in all this magick stuff, ever since she had looked at Ms. Calendar's techno- pagan stuff on-line.
"Well, the trick for this one isn't in the chant. You don't have to burn anything, but there has to be a sacrifice."
"One life for another." Giles was now busying himself in the book Erinne had been looking through.
"Exactly. The trick is that it can't just be someone who is willing to die. It has to be through fate. A person is killed and then before they die, they recite that chant. They die, and the person mentioned in the chant comes back."
Everyone just stared. Willow was the first to speak.
"That's definitely harder. But I suppose it's reasonable, since not that many people die through love."
"How exactly is one killed for love? I mean, what's the difference." Giles asked what was on everyone's minds.
"The person who does the...um...killing has to have love in their hearts. They have to be ridding the world of that person for love, or the good of humanity. Much like Angel." Everyone gave Buffy a sideways glance to see her reaction. She had her head down.
"Well. Since that won't be happening any time soon...let's get back to slaying, shall we."
"Yes. I guess we should." Giles shut the book.
Erinne got up to leave, but turned back. "Look. I'm sure that I have brought around some pretty awful stuff the past few days. But, I promise you, it's information you would've come across sooner or later." She saw Angel come out from behind one of the bookshelves. "And I really don't want to be the messenger of more bad news, but I have heard from a reliable source that Spike and Drusilla are back in Sunnydale."
Everyone looked at her, except Buffy, with a look of shock.
"That's not true. Spike told me he would leave with Dru and never come back." Buffy was quite sure of what she said, since she didn't bother looking up.
"Well, I know Spike pretty well, and he's not the type to leave a slayer walking around perfectly healthy."
Buffy looked up. "Look, I think you've done enough alright. Could you just leave!"
Erinne looked pretty fed up with what had happened in the last couple of days. All she was trying to do was help. That was what she felt she was suppose to do. But she was sick of being knocked down and she was not going to do anything else to help this slayer.
"Fine. Don't believe me. Maybe if you heard it from another source you would believe it. So go right ahead. But don't blame me for the con- sequences."
She waved her hand in the direction of Angel. Everyone turned to see where she was pointing and was shocked to see a now visible Angel standing next to the bookshelf.
"Have a nice day," was all Erinne said as she walked out the door.
* * *
She just walked out. No explanation or anything. She just left them there, staring.
Everyone backed away from Angel, not really knowing if it was him or his twisted, alter ego, Angelus. And no one, not even Buffy, wanted to get close enough to find out.
"Angel?" Buffy questioned, still keeping her distance.
"You can see me?" Angel was just as unsure as they were. What had Erinne done now? Why had she let them see him if she knew the trouble it could cause?
"Um...yeah." Buffy inched closer, Angel backed away. He didn't want Erinne to be right, so he tried to keep a safe distance. The closer he got, the more he would want to hold Buffy.
She noticed his cautious behavior and stopped. "Erinne said you had something to tell us."
"She's right about Spike and Dru. They are back in town. You have to be careful. I'm sure Spike is pretty upset about what happened and he'll do anything to finish what he started with you."
"I know. I just....are you really here?" Buffy was still unsure about the whole thing. The rest of the gang just stood behind her, still wide- eyed and open-mouthed.
"I guess. Not totally...hell's a pretty rough place. Look I should go." He turned to leave, but stopped short, sensing Buffy's longing stare. He turned back to face her, came forward a little, and stopped. "It wouldn't do any good for us to be together right now. Erinne may be annoying sometimes, but she's always right. Maybe, if I can work with her, maybe....."
"Okay...." Both Buffy and Angel looked down at the floor. Angel turned to leave. "Just look out for Spike." And with that he disappeared.
"Weird." Xander broke the silence this time. They still stood, glued to their respective spots.
"What are we going to do about Spike and Drusilla?" Willow turned to Giles and asked.
"I'm not sure. We'll just have to wait and see what he plans to do." They turned and resumed their normal after-school activities.
Buffy stood staring in the direction Angel had been just a few moments ago. She then turned and sat at the table in silence.
* * *
Another Tuesday.
Erinne walked into the library to find Willow standing next to the table, setting up incense holders. Erinne wondered to herself.
Willow looked up at the sound of the door. "Oh, hi. Um, Giles is in his office getting some stuff together. I was just helping him out."
"Oh. Is anyone else here?"
"No. Everybody else is at the Bronze. I was just hoping I could stick around...you know, to see what happens."
"Yeah, sure. I don't mind." Erinne seemed a little depressed, but Willow didn't want to ask. Maybe she was just preparing herself.
Giles came walking out of the back office, holding some rods of incense and some candles. "Oh, Erinne. I thought I heard you come in. It's alright if Willow stays, yes?"
"Yeah, she already asked. I don't mind."
"Well, she was quite close to Jenny also. I figured she might like to see her also." Giles put the stuff he was holding down and Willow began setting it up on the table.
"The candles are a nice touch." Erinne looked at the table to make sure everything was there.
Giles seemed to sense what Willow saw earlier. "Are you sure you want to do this? You don't have to if you don't want to."
She looked up at him. "Hmm. No, I'm fine. Let's get this show on the road."
The three formed a triangle around the table. Willow and Giles closed their eyes and were absolutely silent as Erinne began the chant. As she finished, the candles blew out and the library was completely dark. And then as sudden as they went out, the flames of the candles slowly flickered back to life. As the light became brighter, Giles opened his eyes and saw Jenny standing at the doors into the library.
"Jenny?"
"Yes Rupert." She walked closer to the table as Willow opened her eyes and gasped. It really was her.
"Well, that's that. Just remember, you have until dawn." Erinne turned towards the doors, about to leave.
"You're leaving?" Willow figured she would have to stay in order for Ms. Calendar to stay.
"I wouldn't want to impose...I don't really know Ms. Calendar here that well, so I would probably lose interest in the conversation." Seeing the look on Willow's face, she added, "Don't worry. She won't disappear as soon as I leave."
Erinne continued out the doors as the three began a conversation they would never forget.
* * *
Another wonderful Wednesday. (I figured you would like to know the days of the week as they came about during the story :>)
Anyway, in the library on this wonderful Wednesday afternoon, everyone was sharing their stories of Tuesday night. Xander told of his lonely night at home watching Must See TV - Tuesday night. Buffy told of her long talk with her mom and how their relationship was more on the mend. Willow and Giles told of their visit from Jenny (leaving out what happened after Willow left). Everyone seemed to be in a very cheerful mood when Cordelia walked in practically floating.
"I am finally leaving this hell hole of a town!" Strangely enough, in everyone's opinion, that described the town perfectly.
"What?" Xander popped his head up from the table.
"Yeah. My dad got this super job in LA, so were moving there! I leave at the end of the week! And I've already got a job with this fancy modeling agency! It's great!"
Everyone, except Xander, seemed very happy for their friend.
"You're leaving?" Xander was near tears....or at least it looked that way.
"Yeah. Glad you understood me. I thought I was going to have to interpret." That's Cordelia for you.
Xander just set his head back on the table as Cordelia cheerfully said she had to finish packing and walked out, walking right into Erinne.
"Hi. Bye!" And Cordelia disappeared down the hall.
"Why exactly was she so cheerful?" Erinne continued towards the table.
"She's leaving Sunnydale for Los Angeles," Xander sadly explained.
Buffy quietly sat in the corner of the table as Erinne asked about the goings-on of last night.
"It was amazing! She was really here and we really got to talk to her! It was great!" Willow exclaimed exuberantly.
"Yes. It was quite something. She seemed very happy and peaceful." Giles tried to contain his joy, but Erinne could see the grin on his face.
"Well, I'm glad everything went well." She took a glance at Buffy and met her evil glare just as Buffy was looking away. "I just dropped in to see how everything went. I'm leaving, too, and thought I'd come in and say good-bye."
"Really? How come all the girls are leaving? Buffy, Will....you're staying right?" Xander seemed concerned that all his buddies were leaving and he would be stuck with Giles, by himself.
"Yeah, Xander. We're staying." Buffy looked over at Erinne. "So nice of you to stop by. Try not to in the future. Bye."
"Okay. Well, bye." Erinne turned and walked out the door.
"You didn't have to be so mean, Buffy. Erinne helped us, and you, out alot. Even when you were mean to her." Willow looked over at her friend still hunched in the corner. "I'll be right back." And Willow walked out to the hallway.
* * *
"Hey Erinne, wait up!"
Erinne turned to see Willow rush up to her.
"Yeah?"
"I just wanted to thank you...for what you did. I haven't seen Giles this happy for a while. It's nice. So, thanx."
"No prob." She turned to walk out the door, but turned back. "Make sure Buffy watches herself. Spike is pretty dead set on killing slayers."
"We will. Well, maybe I'll see ya around." And Willow walked back into the library.
"Maybe." Erinne continued out of the school.
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